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Marketing agency - client relationships: towards a research agenda
|
[
"Relationship Marketing",
"Marketing management",
"Co-creation",
"Advertising Agencies."
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Advertising expenditures are seeing year on year increases, with the US advertising industry estimated to have spent up to $170 billion this year, whilst advertisers in the UK spent PS17 billion in 2015 (WARC, 2015). Agencies have a significant role in marketing strategy development such that any attempt to understand the processes associated with \"how marketing happens\" must take into account the contributions of marketing agencies. Furthermore, the importance of the agency-client relationship (ACR) has long been recognised (Pollay and Swinth, 1969; Wackman et al., 1986). An ACR has both contractual and relational aspects and involves two parties working together to achieve a successful creative campaign outcome. The power balance and the understanding of mutual roles is pivotal in determining whether the relationship is a partnership, or a battleground (Beard, 1996a; Zolkiewski et al., 2008). In addition, both the agency and their client organisations are exposed to the consequences of contract termination and agency switching (Arul, 2002; Henke, 1995). Furthermore, the advent of digital and social media marketing has seen increases in the complexity of ACRs, with many organisations using several different advertising and marketing agencies (Komulainen et al., 2016).\nMethod: To explore the extent of previous theory and research on the ACR, a systematic review of the literature was performed across a variety of databases. Such reviews differ from the more conventional, narrative literature reviews in that they adopt a replicable, scientific and transparent process (Tranfield et al., 2003), in contrast to narrative reviews that typically gather together articles through assorted routes over a period of time. The purpose of systematic reviews of the literature is to identify key contributions in a field, and to identify patterns in the knowledge base, or as a way of analysing the past to prepare for the future (Webster and Watson, 2002). To do this, they are conducted using a specified search strategy based on appropriate search terms, in appropriate databases, at one or more given points in time. Typically, this initial search generates an article set that needs to be refined, before the remaining articles are used as a basis for developing a profile and concept matrix of the literature. In narrative reviews, authors make judgments on the most appropriate articles to cite for their purpose; this type of selection is not part of the process for a systematic review of the literature. As early indications were that literature on ACR was extensive, and scattered in terms of publication date, discipline and theoretical lens, a systematic literature review was deemed appropriate for examining the literature relating to the ACR.\nProfile of extant agency-client relationship knowledge base: Table II shows the journals that have published the most articles on the ACR. These journals account for the majority of the total dataset. Four of the top five journals in the list focus on advertising and communications (e.g. the Journal of Advertising and the Journal of Advertising Research) and several other journals in this area also feature. Other key journals in the list are generic marketing journals, such as the European Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing.\nThematic analysis of extant knowledge base: This section provides further details of the extant knowledge base, discussing each of the themes in the concept matrix and identified in Table I in turn. It thereby seeks to provide deeper insights into the existing knowledge base and provide a basis for the identification of key areas for further research. The focus is on insights from empirical studies, but the contributions from conceptual articles that variously propose theoretical foundations for understanding the ACR, or reflect on and make recommendation with respect to best practice are also acknowledged.\nAgenda for future research: The ACR is pivotal to marketing practice, and therefore, studies in this area have the potential to contribute to marketing-as-practice knowledge and theory. However, the extant knowledge base on the ACR is fragmented, using a range of different theoretical perspectives and investigating a range of different themes. This review has sought to address this fragmentation be drawing together a diverse range of research contribution on the ACR. This analysis suggests three key strands for a future research agenda.\nConclusion: Whilst the importance of the ACR has been recognised and discussed for decades, overall, considering its importance to effective marketing strategies, campaigns and communication, it could benefit from more attention. Marketing theory tends to discuss marketing communications, branding and, more recently, digital and social media strategies adopted by large and small firms, whilst managing to remain eerily silent on the role of marketing agencies in these endeavours. Thus, in general, there is a need for further research into the ACR and the impact of both good and bad relationships on marketing outcomes and campaigns.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present the first systematic review of the literature relating to the relationships between organisations and their marketing agencies, the agency-client relationship, and presents a concept matrix that identifies the key areas of investigation, and topics where further research would be beneficial. As agencies play a pivotal role in operationalising marketing strategy, this relationship is central to marketing theory, management and practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A systematic review of the literature was performed using key databases and search terms, and filtering on the basis of criteria relating, for example, to relevance and format, to create a core set of refereed papers on the agency-client relationship in the marketing and advertising domains. Bibliographic and thematic analysis was used to profile the literature in the dataset, and to draw out key themes.\nFindings: The paper provides an analysis of the extant knowledge base, including key themes, journals and research methods. The following themes emerged from the literature, and are used to elaborate further on the existing body of knowledge: conflict, client account management, contracts and agency theory, cultural and international perspectives and co-creation. An agenda for future research is proposed that advocates a focus on theoretical foundations, research strategies and research topics and themes.\nOriginality/value: This is the first systematic review of the literature on agency-client relationships, which is scattered across disciplines and informed by several theoretical perspectives. Given the increasing complexity of agency-client relationships in the digital age, and increasing need to understand \"marketing-as-practice\", the coherent overview offered by this paper is of particular value for guiding future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Industry 4.0 and effective talent management: The role of employer branding
|
[
"Skills development",
"Engineering",
"Human resource management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A disruptive effect has been inevitable with each industrial revolution. In this regard, the impact of the latest incarnation is unparalleled in its magnitude. The range of technologies that comprise Industry 4.0 pose significant implications for all sectors, disciplines and economies.\nWhy talent management is evolving: Talent management is one area where its game-changing abilities are already apparent. New technologies result in new roles emerging and not enough talent to fill them. A major reason for this is the fact that the skills required are not yet fully incorporated into education and development frameworks.\nThe need to be future-oriented: So the development game is all pretty straightforward then? Not exactly, it would seem. A big part of the problem is the age-old issue of meeting current and future needs simultaneously. The tendency among companies is to prioritize forward-planning in order to anticipate what capabilities will be required in the future. Given the incessant pace of change, such logic is hard to dismiss.\nDeveloping talent in the UK engineering sector: Engineering companies in the UK are all too aware of the challenges facing the sector. In their case, a strong employer brand is arguably a double-edged sword. Experience, heritage and convention are considered key aspects of a powerful brand. But such characteristics point to an outdated image that the industry is trying to shake off. Notions of hard hats are far removed from the virtual reality and computer modeling which characterize the discipline today. It clearly helps when HRM informs potential recruits about the wide variety of engineering roles available to them.\nComment: The review is based on: \"The new talent management challenges of Industry 4.0\", by Whysall et al. (2019), published in Journal of Management Development. Industry 4.0 has increased the already critical nature of effectively developing and managing talent. An exploration of the UK engineering sector suggests approaches firms can take in order to successfully meet the challenges emerging as a consequence of this unprecedented rate of change.\n",
"role": "user"
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"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 their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Effective talent management has become more difficult given the unprecedented rate of change triggered by the latest industrial revolution. The impact is especially strong with the UK engineering industry meaning that new and varied ways of developing talent are essential in order for organizations to remain competitive.\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"
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Constituting gender and gender equality through policy: The political of gender mainstreaming in the Swedish forest industry
|
[
"Governance",
"Politics",
"Policy",
"Forestry",
"Male-dominated organizations",
"Subjectification"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In Sweden, gender mainstreaming as a strategy has been practised since the 1970s. On strategic level, it is the main approach used in national gender policies since the Platform for Action at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions 1997/2 define mainstreaming as \"[...] the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels\" (UN, 2002, p. 1). The strategy of gender mainstreaming is now also promoted by the European Union (EU) (EIGE, 2016). However, in the Swedish context, the strategy has been labelled \"gender equality mainstreaming\" or \"gender equality integration\", which alters the meaning in that it is not gender, but gender equality, that is being mainstreamed (Ronnblom, 2008). This emphasises the plural and paradoxical nature of gender mainstreaming. Although Sweden is one of the highest ranking countries for gender equality (WEF, 2016) and mainstreaming has been the official strategy for over two decades, there are still variations in policy and implementation within different fields and sectors on both national and organisational level (Hudson and Ronnblom, 2007; Ronnblom, 2005; Sainsbury and Bergqvist, 2009; Wahl and Hook, 2007). This is often due to specific organisational conditions, structure, histories and the nature of policy as an ongoing process of governing, involving plural and contingent practices (Bacchi, 2017). One sector with limited implementation is Swedish forestry (SweGov, 2004). This is an industry of significant importance as a net exporter and in terms of regional growth (e.g. Hyttinen, 2002), but also has one of the most gender-imbalanced and gender-segregated workforces in the Swedish labour market (Lidestav and Sjolander, 2007). Gender equality work in male-dominated primary industries has been shown to face specific challenges and obstacles due to the fact that men have numerically, culturally and symbolically dominated these industries and their organisations throughout history (Abrahamsson and Johansson, 2006; Andersson, 2012; Andersson and Lidestav, 2016; Brandth and Haugen, 2005; Johansson et al., 2017, 2018; Johansson and Ringblom, 2017; Lidestav and Sjolander, 2007). In the forest industry, this is evident in work and organisations continuing to be associated with certain notions of masculinity (Brandth and Haugen, 2000, 2005; Johansson et al., 2017; Lidestav and Nordfjell, 2005; Lidestav and Sjolander, 2007). Today, more than 80 per cent of employees in Swedish forestry are male (SFA, 2014).\nDoing gender equality (policy) and doing gender: Gender equality is now an explicit goal in the Swedish forest industry and gender mainstreaming is regarded as one of the main means to achieve this (SweGov, 2011). However, as Magnusson et al. (2008) pointed out, gender equality is an \"empty signifier\" that is filled with great variations in meaning, definitions and understandings depending on context (e.g. Callerstig, 2014; Lombardo and Meier, 2006; Lombardo et al., 2009; Scala and Paterson, 2017; Squires, 2005). This also gives great variation in course of action, implementation and outcome (Squires, 2005; True and Parisi, 2013). Rectifying this lack of clarity has been identified as one of the main prerequisites for wide acceptance of gender mainstreaming (Daly, 2005). Understanding how gender equality is filled with meaning in a specific context is necessary in order to better conceptualise its implementation and constitution of its political subjects (categories such as \"men\" and \"women\") and their \"subject positions\".\nMaterials and method: The empirical material analysed in this study comprised GEAPs produced during implementation of the national gender equality strategy by the ten largest companies in Sweden's forest industry, which volunteered to gender mainstream their policies. These companies, both private and public, are the largest employers within the industry, with each having between 100 and 700 employees. The Swedish forestry industry employs over 20,000 people in total, of which 83 per cent are men and 17 per cent women. The companies operate throughout the whole of Sweden, including in cities and more rural areas, and have a major impact on both the industry as a whole and forest activities in general, e.g. as a result of their dominant market position, significant forest ownership and practical forest knowledge. The aim of this study was not to compare or rank the companies' GEAPs, but to provide a comprehensive view of how gender mainstreaming and these \"practical texts\" are constitutive of gender and gender equality in Swedish forestry. Consequently, the illustrative quotes extracted from GEAPs provided in the results section of this paper are anonymised (as Companies 1-10).\nResults: In the construction of the problem of gender inequality in the documents (cf. Bacchi, 1999, 2009), two main strategies, inclusion and reversal, were identified from the Squires (2005) conceptualisation, based on two different main notions of gender and gender equality.\nConcluding discussion: Our ambition in this study was to explore how the construction of gender and gender equality in a male-dominated industry (the Swedish forest industry) structures the political of gender mainstreaming. By doing so, we sought to contribute to the identification and discussion of conflicting meanings and their political effect on gender equality and gender mainstreaming, which is vital to understanding the process of implementation in a given context. Analysis of the empirical material showed that the assumptions made by companies and their strategies for gender equality could be conceptualised in terms of Squires (2005) as inclusion and/or reversal, while the strategy of displacement was mainly absent from the GEAPs studied. Despite the few traces of a deconstructionist understanding of gender and the organisation, a critical aspect in pursuing a strategy of displacement is the acknowledgement of power and conflict concerning gender equality interventions, issues that are crucial parts of politics (Mouffe, 2005). However, these were not recognised or discussed in any of the GEAPs studied here, where consenting ideas of gender equality were instead the main focus. Motives for gender equality emerging from the GEAPs analysed were strongly driven by business logics, such as increased efficiency and better financial results. These conceptualisations of gender equality as beneficial for everyone risk masking power structures and the political dimension of gender equality and reproducing the political subjects and categories of \"men\" and \"women\" (cf. Hudson and Ronnblom, 2007). We argue that these particular constitutions inhibit transformative change in organisations by closing off discursive space through the reproduction of specific subject positions and realities (cf. Foucault, 1990).\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: In Sweden, gender mainstreaming policies have a long political history. As part of the national gender equality strategy of the Swedish forest industry, the ten largest forestry companies committed themselves to gender mainstream their policies. Limiting the impact of policies and the agency of change, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the varied and conflicting meanings and constitution of the concepts, the problem and, in extent, the organisational realities of gender mainstreaming.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In both, implementation and practice, gender mainstreaming posse challenges on various levels and by analysing these documents as practical texts from the WPR-approach. This paper explores constructions of gender and gender equality and their implications on the practice and the political of gender mainstreaming in a male-dominated primary industry.\nFindings: The results show that the organisations themselves were not constituted as the subject of the policy but instead some of the individuals (women). The subject position of women represented in company policy was one of lacking skills and competences and in the need of help. Not only men and the masculine norms but organisational processes and structures were also generally invisible in the material. Power and conflict were mainly absent from the understanding of gender equality. Instead, consenting ideas of gender equality were the focus. Such conceptualisations of gender equality are beneficial for all risk concealing power structures and thereby limit the political space for change.\nOriginality/value: By highlighting the scale of policy and the significance of organisational contexts, the results indicate how gender and gender equality are constitutive through the governing technologies of neoliberal and market-oriented ideologies in policy - emphasising the further limiting of space for structural change and politicalization within the male-dominated organisations of Swedish forest industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Factors affecting creativity in information system development: Insights from a decomposition and PLS-MGA
|
[
"Creativity",
"Expertise",
"Task motivation",
"Creative skills",
"Information system development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There are many definitions of creativity. In general, creativity is the production of something new through imaginative ability, such as a new method or solution to a problem, a new device, a new platform, or a new artistic object. The modern era is an age of creativity, with a constant stream of new products and services in food, clothing, housing, transportation, and education. Creativity is a part of our everyday lives (Tanggaard, 2013) and is also studied and recognized as being a crucial factor in many disciplines such as psychology (Glaveanu and Karwowski, 2016), pedagogy (Cheung, 2016; Hui et al., 2015), philosophy (McGregor et al., 2014), and organizational management (Shahzad et al., 2016; Tan, 2015; Yoon et al., 2015).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Conceptualizations of creativity\n3. Creativity research model and hypotheses: Most people have creative potential to perform in a team or organization. In 1983, Amabile proposed that creativity can be conceptualized as domain-relevant skills, creativity-relevant skills, and task motivation (Amabile, 1983; Elam and Mead, 1990). Consequently, Amabile (1997) specified that three components of creativity are task motivation, creative skills, and expertise.\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Instrument\n5. Data analysis and results: The data in this study were examined using SPSS and partial least squares (PLS) analysis (Ringle et al., 2015). SPSS was used to assess the demographic information of the respondents. PLS was appropriate for several reasons. First, the model was complex and comprises many latent and manifest variables. Second, the sample size was small in relation to the number of latent variables. Third, the model had less strict assumptions about the distribution of variables and error terms. Finally, PLS supports both reflective and formative variables (Henseler et al., 2009; Hair et al., 2017). PLS makes minimum demands on measurement scales, sample size, and residual distribution (Chin and Newsted, 1999) and provides an analysis of both measurement and structural models. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the measurement model and evaluate the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminate validity. To explain the phenomena, a structural model was used for determining the significance of each hypothesized path coefficient and the variance explained (R2 value). A total of 407 responses were collected, including 220 student samples and 187 practitioner samples. Of these respondents, 74.2 were male. Table III details the respondents' demographics.\n6. Discussion: Overall, the research models accounted for similar proportions of the variance of creative behavior: 51.0 percent for the student sample and 57.1 percent for the practitioner sample. One salient factor influencing creative behavior in both the student and practitioner models was UCT. The decomposed model results show that UCT affects creative behavior for both students and practitioners, but that challenges and DBP do not. Recognition, cognitive style, and network management significantly affected creativity among students, but not among practitioners.\n7. Conclusion, limitations, and future research: Given the growing body of research demonstrating the influence of creativity (Cooper, 2000; Couger et al., 1993; Seidel et al., 2010), it is important for professors in the classroom and managers in the workplace to understand the task motivation, creative skills, and expertise that underlie creative behavior in an ISD project. The applications of ISs are increasingly diverse, and it is crucial that creative behavior in a IS be encouraged and managed effectively. This study investigated the factors influencing IS creativity by using state-of-the-art PLS path modeling, including HTMT, SRMR, second-order identification, and PLS-MGA. The results of the decomposed research model show that the most salient factor influencing creative behavior in both the student and practitioner samples was creativity technologies. The groups differed in that recognition and cognitive style each had a significantly positive effect on creative behavior for the students, but not for the practitioners.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the factors influencing creativity in information system development (ISD). Specifically, this paper compares two groups, students and practitioners, in order to identify salient factors influencing creativity in this field.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical study was conducted through two online surveys in Taiwan. The subjects were university students (n=220) and practitioners (n=187) who had ISD project experiences. Data were collected via an online survey and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling. The authors present state-of-the-art PLS path modeling, including heterotrait-monotrait, standardized root mean square residual, second-order identification, and partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA).\nFindings: Both the student and practitioner results showed that the most salient factor influencing creative behavior was use of creativity technologies. In addition, cognitive style, recognition, and database programming had a significant positive effect on creative behavior for the students but not for the practitioners. The PLS-MGA results indicated that differences in creative behavior between the students and practitioners need to be considered.\nResearch limitations/implications: There are two main limitations. The first one is its design. This study was cross-sectional and there is a likelihood of common source bias due to self-reported data. In the future, researchers can use brain-imaging tools (e.g. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) or eye tracking measurement to reduce self-reporting bias in creative behavior research. The second limitation is related to the sample. The subjects were university students and practitioners who had ISD project experiences; however, the heterogeneity of the investigated individuals (e.g. background, ability or experience) in university or industry may limit the power and generalizability of this study. Future studies may take same samples into consideration.\nOriginality/value: No previous study has investigated factors influencing the creativity of information system (IS) students and practitioners by using a decomposed and second-order research model. Thus, this paper, based on Amabile's creativity theory, attempts to elucidate the factors influencing IS students' and practitioners' creativity.\n",
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Relationships in reform: the role of teachers' social networks
|
[
"Teachers",
"Public sector reform",
"Social networks",
"Leadership",
"Change management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Efforts at improving public educational systems in support of better student achievement are commonplace across the globe. Many countries have experienced or are experiencing prime ministers, premiers, or presidents that define themselves as the \"education\" leader and as such enact a series of changes targeted at improving their nation's schools. For many of these schools there is almost a revolving door of reforms (Henig and Stone, 2008). This \"reform churn\", while intended to improve performance, often constrains efforts at organizational improvements as change-weary schools often engage reforms with a lack of depth and breadth (Coburn, 2003; Datnow et al., 2006; Hubbard et al., 2006). Reform efforts are typically implemented using a variety of formal structures, processes, and accountability levers to improve performance. However, while these more formal, technical approaches at improving education are important and have been well documented, what has been less thoroughly explored in the change equation are the relational linkages between actors, through which reform flows (Coburn and Russell, 2008; Penuel et al., 2009).While educational scholars throughout the world acknowledge the importance of interpersonal relationships and social interaction for continuous school improvement and organizational change (Carmichael et al., 2006; Hopkins and Reynolds, 2001; James et al., 2007; Moolenaar et al., 2009b), knowledge about the social structures in which school reforms take place is scarce. Findings from organizational literature indicate that organizational improvement is closely linked to the ties within and across systems (McGrath and Krackhardt, 2003; Tenkasi and Chesmore, 2003). In education, this has led to the development of professional learning communities and emphasis on collaborative structures targeted at the grade level (McLaughlin and Talbert, 1993; Newmann and Wehlage, 1995; Wood, 2007; Stoll and Seashore Louis, 2007). Most often, these types of communities are developed to increase communication and collaboration among teachers within and across grade levels (Stoll and Seashore Louis, 2007). Recent research has suggested that informal social structures, in particular, provide opportunities for information transfer and development of new knowledge between individuals and levels in organizations (Ahuja, 2000; Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998). To date, there is little empirical understanding of how the underlying social networks, in which district-wide change efforts take place, support or constrain reform efforts (Coburn and Russell, 2008). A more in-depth investigation of the social networks within schools may uncover important characteristics of these social structures that facilitate or impede efforts at system-wide reform.To better understand how underlying patterns of social interactions within schools may affect reform efforts over time, we draw upon social network theory and methods. Social network analysis is a systemic approach used to quantify and visualize the ties and overall structures of formal and informal networks. Given the increasing number of underperforming educational systems across the globe there is an urgency to better understand the relational complexities of these organizations (Lima, 2009). Examining the structure of social networks may assist educators in better managing and leveraging patterns of interactions in support of meeting specific targeted academic goals (Ahuja, 2000; Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998).In this study we examine the social networks of teachers in five schools as they engage a district-wide effort at reform. A \"district\" in this context refers to a group of schools within a specific geographic region that are supported by a singular central office. Our exploratory case study takes place in the Esperanza[1] School District, an urban fringe district that is in the third year of progressive sanction for under-performance. In an effort to improve student achievement, the district has undertaken a targeted system-wide approach to reform focused on reading comprehension targeted at the grade level. In this article, we explore three social networks among teachers that represent social interactions related to these reform efforts, i.e. the social networks of:1. lesson planning;2. reading comprehension; and3. effort recognition.Our aim is to determine how these networks may facilitate or constrain the reform initiative in this under-performing district. Our study is guided by the following research questions:1. To what extent do formal and informal social network structures within grade levels support or constrain the access and exchange of collaborative lesson planning, knowledge of reading comprehension, and reform-related effort recognition around the district-wide change effort?2. How do teachers in different formal and informal positions in the network both perceive the relational linkages through which the reform is diffused and enacted?3. To what extent are social network structures related to teachers' perceptions of collective action, efficacy and satisfaction with regard to the reform?We first provide our theoretical framework, in which we briefly outline the importance of the district in reform efforts and how those efforts may be supported by teacher action and collaboration. We then provide a review of social network theory and analysis as a conceptual lens to understand the impact of social linkages on reform. We propose that these literatures provide a useful frame to deepen our understanding as to how social networks may facilitate or inhibit efforts at reform.\nTheoretical framework: District reform and collaboration\nMethodology: An exploratory case study design was used to examine three social networks that described the reform-related social interactions in the sample schools: the social networks of collaborative lesson planning, knowledge around reading comprehension and effort recognition. In addition, we collected a series of grade level teacher work measures related to collective action, efficacy, and satisfaction. A case study approach is most appropriate when the phenomenon of interest has a level of complexity that requires multiple data sources and methods to gain an in-depth understanding (Yin, 2003). We used social network analysis (SNA) (Scott, 2000; Wasserman and Faust, 1998), grade level work measures (Bryk et al., 1999, Goddard et al., 2000), and semi-structured interviews (Patton, 1990) to better understand how these social networks support or constrain the uptake of the reform initiated by the Esperanza School District (ESD). We selected this particular district as it has been enacting a district-wide reform effort around reading comprehension for the past two years in response to its underperformance.Context\nResults: Analysis of the social networks and interview data provided a detailed and nuanced understanding of how the district reading comprehension reform has been diffused and implemented. Our findings are presented around four major themes from the data:1. principals are the primary conduits through which the reform is initially diffused;2. significant variability exists within grade levels where the reform is primarily enacted;3. instrumental and expressive interactions are associated with collective action; and4. instrumental and expressive interactions are associated with efficacy and satisfaction.Principals are the primary conduits through which the reform initially is diffused\nDiscussion: In this paper we examined a district that is implementing a system wide reform around literacy across twenty-four schools. Drawing upon the broader literature of social capital and social network theory we examined three reform-related networks - i.e. lesson planning, reading comprehension, and recognition - within five schools that were also receiving additional support for reform implementation. The findings suggest that the underlying social networks played a significant role in either supporting or constraining the ability of the grade level to understand and implement the reform. Grade levels with more dense interactions between members reported being able to enact the reform at a greater depth than those more sparsely connected grade levels. Moreover, these interaction patterns were associated with a greater focus on teaching and learning as well as increased collective action, grade level efficacy, and collective satisfaction. This suggests the importance of attending to relational linkages as a complementary strategy to a focus on the technical core of enacting reform efforts. We will present several major themes related to reform efforts that are suggested by our study.Leadership in reform\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - Scholars have focused their attention on systemic reform as a way to support instructional coherence. These efforts are often layered on to existing social relationships between school staff that are rarely taken into account when enacting reform. Social network theory posits that the structure of social relationships may influence the direction, speed, and depth of organizational change and therefore may provide valuable insights in the social forces that may support or constrain reform efforts. This study aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This mixed-methods exploratory case study examined five schools within one under-performing school district as it enacted a system-wide reform. Quantitative survey data were collected to assess social networks and teacher work perception of five schools enacting the reform. Qualitative data were gathered through individual interviews from educators within representative grade levels as a way to better understand the diffusion and implementation of the reform.\nFindings: - Despite being enacted as a system-wide reform effort, the results suggest significant variance within and between schools in terms of reform-related social networks. These networks were significantly related to the uptake, depth, and spread of the change. Densely connected grade levels were also associated with more interactions focused on teaching and learning and an increased sense of grade level efficacy.\nPractical implications: - The findings underline the importance of attending to relational linkages as a complementary strategy to the technical emphasis of reform efforts, as social networks were found to significantly facilitate or constrain reform efforts. Implications and recommendations are offered for leadership, policy and practice that may support the design and implementation of reforms, which may ultimately increase student performance.\nOriginality/value: - The study makes a unique contribution to the reform literature by drawing on social network theory as a way to understand efforts at reform. The work suggests that the informal social linkages on which reform is layered may support or constrain the depth of reform.\n",
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A novel watermarking algorithm for resistant geometric attacks using feature points matching
|
[
"Digital computers",
"Simulation",
"Algorithmic languages"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: There has been a lot of interest in the digital watermarking research over the last few years, mostly due to the fact that the digital watermarking might be used as a tool to protect the copyright of multimedia data. A digital watermarking is an imperceptible signal embedded directly into the media content, and it can be detected from the host media for some applications. The insertion and detection of digital watermarking can help to identify the source or ownership of the media, the legitimacy of its usage, and the type of the content or other accessory information in various applications. Specific operations related to the status of the watermarking can then be applied to cope with different situations.As a copyright protection tool, the digital watermarking has several requirements. First of all, the watermarking must be robust against watermarking attacks. Watermarking attacks are referred to those procedures applied to the media content for the purposes of editing, storage or even circumventing watermarking detection. The watermarking must survive all possible attacks that degrade the data to the extent that the commercial value of the media is still maintained. These attacks include but are not limited to compression, noise-adding, geometrical modification, and even anti-watermarking software. Second, the watermarking must be embedded in a sophisticated way to avoid degrading the perceptual quality of the host media. Users should not sense the existence of the watermarking by viewing or listening to the watermarked media. Besides, watermarking detection should be done without the original data as a reference. Detection algorithms that require the original data restrict the applicability of digital watermarking since it is impractical to search the original data file in a huge database, whenever we would like to detect the watermarking from a suspected media. Watermarking detection without the original media is called \"blind\" watermarking detection.Recently, quite a few schemes (Barni et al., 2003; Shih and Wu, 2003; Furon and Duhamel, 2003) have been proposed for digital image watermarking. However, in watermarking applications, the robustness of the watermarking to geometric manipulations is a critical issue. This is due to the fact that changing the image size or its orientation, even by slight amount, could reduce the receiver ability to correctly detect the watermarking. This can be compared to losing synchronization in a communication system. Correction of geometric transformations has not been studied extensively in the past.By geometrical modifications, we refer to all image manipulations that change the image spatially. In this research, we consider geometrical modifications that most image users can apply easily while the value of the image is still preserved. In particular, we focus on the affine transform, which can be defined by a 2 x 2 affine matrix plus translation. Given the input position (x, y), the new position (x',y') can be determined by using six parameters in the following model: Equation 1 In Mitiche and Aggarwal (1983), shape-specific points (SSPs) are computed in spatial or image domain for the purpose of contour registration. This technique is translation, rotation, and scale change independent. In this research, we present a new watermarking algorithm, in which SSP is used for resisting geometry attack.We first introduce the following notation. Integer I(i,j) and I'(i,j) indicate (grayscale or) luminance of the original image I and the watermarked image I' with coordinates (i, j), (1<=i<=N1, 1<=j<=N2), respectively.In this research, according to the approaches proposed by Cox et al., watermarking embedding is achieved by modifying a set of full-frame DCT coefficients of the image. The amount of modification each coefficient undergoes is proportional to the magnitude of the coefficients itself as expressed by the following rule Equation 2 Where, o indicates a parameter controlling the watermarking strength, and W(i,j) is watermarking data.\n2 Definition and properties of SSP: We introduce the definition of SSPs (Mitiche and Aggarwal, 1983) at first.In the following discussion, G is a discrete set of points {(xi,yi), i=1, ... ,n} in a planar. If s is a transformation on G, then s induces a transformation on the individual points of G. For convenience, in this paper, we will designate this transformation and the corresponding induced point transformation by the same name.\nDefinition: Given a point set G in a plane Th and a set S of transformations in Th, let r=f(G) be a point in Th computed from G according to procedure f. Also, let G'=s(G) where seS and let r'=f(G'). Then r is a SSP of G with respect to S if and only if r'=s(r) (Mitiche and Aggarwal, 1983).The above definition simply says that if transformation s takes G onto G', then it takes r onto r'. By Mitiche and Aggarwal (1983), we know that SSP is invariant with respect to translations, rotations, and scale changes. We are interested in just these transformations.To points set G, there are two kinds of most frequently used calculation SSP methods (Mitiche and Aggarwal, 1983). The calculation methods are as follows:1. Given points set G described by the discrete set of points {(xi, yi), i=1, ... ,n}, considering the unweighted mean point (centroid) G, the coordinates of which are given by Equation 3 It is very ease to know that (xG, yG) is a SSP of G with respect to S.2. Another example of a SSP is the radius weighted mean point H, the coordinates of which are Equation 4 where ri is the distance from the centroid G, as defined in the previous example, to the point (xi, yi) on the G and R=[?]ri. It is very ease to know that (xH, yH) is a SSP of G with respect to S, too.Note that using any SSP and radii from it to the points on the G, one can obtain a new SSP.In this paper, we adopt block-based methodologies, i.e. the image is divided into blocks for extracting the feature points of image. With divided blocks and their local SSP, we can estimate the parameter of geometry transformation undergone by watermarked image. Once detected, these transformations are inverted and then synchronization can be realized. The goal of resisting geometry attack can be achieved.\n3 Feature points extraction and matching: 3.1 Feature points extraction\n4 Design of watermarking: In our research, watermarking is generated by secret key. After referenced point set P obtained, the secret key may be generated. Given m feature points of P in the original image, i.e. (p11, p12), (p21, p22), ... ,(pm1, pm2), Table I shows the detailed construction of a secret key. Here, each pj1 or pj2 is represented by a binary code denoted by c={ci|ci[?]{0,1}},i=1,2, ... ,L}, where L is the length of the binary sequence of each pj1 or pj2. Usually we use c'={c'i|c'i=1-2ci, i=1,2, ... ,L}. So c' is a binary polar sequence of {-1, 1}.Where p(1), p(2), ... , and p(m) are 2D pseudo-random binary sequence of {-1 ,1} with zero mean, generated using the key as the seed. So the whole secret key is 2D binary sequence of {-1, 1} too. This binary sequence of {-1, 1} is denoted B. The length of B is defined Ks, where Equation 23 In other words, Ks equals the size of the original image. Suppose d is a secret message hidden in an original image, where d={di|di[?]{0,1}}, i=1,2, ... ,V}. We let still d'={d'i|d'i=1-2di, i=1,2, ... ,V}. So d' is a binary polar sequence of {-1, 1}, too. There are V binary sequences of {-1, 1} the same as size of B using different key as the seed, respectively. The watermarking will be W(i,j)=B * d'=[?]k=1VBi,j(k)d'k.The watermarking can be embedded into an original image additively by equation (1). A simple detection can be performed using correlation detector. The correlation is calculated as Equation 24 where l=1,2, ... ,V. In the above deduction, because Bi, j(l) is a zero mean pseudo-random binary sequence of {-1, 1}, and it is independent with I(i, j), term [?]i,jBi,j(l) * I(i,j) is supposedly close to zero. Other terms are all zeros when k[?]l because pseudo-random patterns Bi, j(l) are uncorrelated with each other. So secret message can be decoded by d'l[?]sign(Cl).\n5 Experiment results: In these experiments, we will investigate the blind decode problem of the secret message. Let us consider 256 x 256 grayscale images. Let Figure 1 be an original image, and Figure 2 a secret message. Figure 3 is the watermarked image after embedding the secret message into Figure 1 according to equation (1), when o=0.03 (Figures 4-7, Figures 8-11, Figures 12-15 and Figures 16-19).In the experiments, the parameters of our algorithm are set as, original image divided into 64 x 64 blocks. We calculate SSPs of every block. Table II shows that the coordinates of these points. The length of binary code for each coordinate is 9. For the experiments, the following values for the constants were used: T0=0.4, Tfinal=0.0009, r=1.065, g0=0.4, a=0.03, I0=8, I1=40.In the experiments, because the size of secret message is 41 x 141=5,781, we produce 5,781 B random matrixes, and its all elements are binary random variable of {-1, 1} with zero mean. The size of B equals the size of the original image. According to the design method of watermarking, after some elements of B are replaced by referenced point set P, we received new B matrix.To Table II-IV,\n6 Conclusion: In this paper, a blind image watermarking algorithm is design using feature points matching. Key of this algorithm is that referenced points information of the original image is contained in secret key. By utilizing referenced points information, we can realize the blind secret message decoding. Through experiment we know that the blind secret message decoder has the good robustness to scaling, rotation, Gaussian noise, JPEG compression, and cropping attacks, and it has very high similarity between the decoded secret message and the original secret message. It points out a new way for designing the better blind secret message decoder.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Aims to report a novel method of estimating the geometric manipulation to which present day data hiding is subjected.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Computes the feature points matching measure for the geometric manipulation using shape-specific points. The feature points matching is realized by simulated annealing algorithm.\nFindings: - Finds that the purposed scheme does not require the original image because reference point information on the original image has been contained in the secret key.\nOriginality/value: - Experiments herein have proved the method's robustness in face of geometric attacks and a new way of designing a better blind secret message decodes has been revealed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Businesswomen in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Characteristic, growth patterns and progression in a regional context
|
[
"Saudi Arabia",
"Women entrepreneurs",
"Raising capital",
"Business development",
"Public policy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: On November 2010, the Gender and Public Policy Program at the Dubai School of Government (DSG), partnered with Al-Sayedah Khadijah Bint Khuwailid Businesswomen Center and Monitor Group to present the panel discussion \"Growing Aspirations: Supporting Women's Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf,\" with the recently published report Businesswomen in Saudi Arabia: Characteristics, Challenges, and Aspirations in a Regional Context as a backdrop. The panellists and representatives for the round-table are from the report authors and a panel of prominent business leaders and experts from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The programme provided a vibrant forum for a research-driven intra-regional discussion on women's entrepreneurship in the Gulf, the aspirations of female entrepreneurs and businesswomen in the region, and the challenges facing them and the growth of their businesses. This paper will summarise the key points of the findings of these reports, which provided the audiences with a unique perspective of environment women entrepreneurs, its characteristics and business profiles in the Arabia context in general, and Saudi in particular. The purpose of the study was:1. to bolster understanding of the business and regulatory environment for Saudi Arabia's businesswomen;2. to contextualise the situation of Saudi female entrepreneurs by creating a meaningful comparison between them and other female entrepreneurs in the region; and3. to identify and address the business challenges these women face in order to establish a more supportive environment.\nResearch methodology: A note on research methodology: in order to ensure that all questions were answered completely and accurately, a face-to-face survey (through references and snowballing techniques) of 202 registered businesswomen and 62 unregistered businesswomen with varying levels of experience in Jeddah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province (Dammam and Al-Khobar) was conducted in 2009. In addition, 50 prospective businesswomen who were in the process of starting their businesses were interviewed as a comparative sample. The questionnaire focused on three key areas for business formation: starting, managing, and expanding a business.The following is a summary of the most important findings related to the characteristics of the women and their businesses, their economic contributions, the challenges they are facing, and the recommendations they would make to policy makers in their country. A complete study report - including executive summary from the study, the complete survey instrument, and bibliography - is available online at: www.monitor.com/Portals/0/MonitorContent/imported/MonitorUnitedStates/Articles/PDFs/Monitor_Businesswomen_in_Saudi_Arabia_Dec_6_2010.pdf\nPersonal profile and business characteristics: In terms of their personal backgrounds and business characteristics, the Saudi women business owners surveyed were:* Operating businesses in a wide variety of fields. Typically, however, they are most likely to own firms in the service sector such as consulting, marketing, public relations, event management, and education, in retail/wholesale trade or in non-durable manufacturing.* On a personal profile, like most women in other countries, Saudi women entrepreneurs are married with children, between the ages of 25 and 44, sole-ownership of their business, well-educated (completed a high school degree or some form of postsecondary education), spend on average 42 hours per week managing their business, and have an average 11 years of business experience.* The Saudi women entrepreneurs employ an average of 6-19 workers per firm. In terms of employment preferences, full-time non-Saudi females are the most employed workers, while part-time Saudi male workers are the least employed.* In terms of geographical location, almost all (99 percent) of businesswomen in Riyadh operate their businesses in Riyadh only, while businesswomen from Jeddah and the Eastern Province also operate in other cities.* With respect to international trade, the majority of Saudi businesswomen are not actively involved in international trade but rather they are more likely to be importing goods or services than exporting them.\nBusiness challenges faced by Saudi women entrepreneurs: The women entrepreneurs surveyed reported that gender and regulatory environment are among major obstacles of doing business in Saudi Arabia. The findings of the report indicate that Saudi businesswomen:* consider \"unclear regulations and policies\" to be an important issue affecting their businesses;* believe that many social and regulatory interactions are more challenging for them because of their gender;* rely heavily on their male relatives to complete the business registration process; and* face female-specific challenges that are a result of extra restrictions and requirements for businesswomen that are not required of men.The women business owners surveyed are financing the growth of their businesses, but that growth is likely being hindered by their current financing practices. Very few of the women surveyed are utilising formal bank loans and credit:* 82.2 percent of Saudi registered women business owners surveyed rely on personal savings to fund their businesses and do not seek external financing. In the case where additional capital is sought, family or friends most often provide the financial support.* With limited access to formal finance, registered women are financing their businesses mostly through personal sources - such as savings (82.2 percent), friends and family (12.9 percent), personal bank loan (10.4 percent), grant, loan from government, or philanthropy fund (8 percent), and business/commercial bank loan (2 percent).A very important element of promoting the growth and development of small business in general, and certainly women-owned firms in particular, is providing adequate support systems for information, gaining access to the tools and services needed to support their businesses, advice and guidance:* When asked about the use of some common technology and marketing tools in their businesses, 56 percent of registered businesswomen do not have a web site. Instead, Saudi businesswomen tend to rely mostly on mobile phones and personal computers to conduct business.* The most common method for Saudi businesswomen to promote and share their products and grow their businesses is through word of mouth (79.7 percent), followed by brochures and leaflets (53 percent), bazaars (29.2 percent), print media (27.2 percent) and SMS text messages (17.8 percent).\nConclusion and policy recommendations: Given the opinions expressed by the women business owners surveyed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there are some initial conclusions that can be made to policy makers, entrepreneurial support business associations and to financial institutions:1. Policy makers should consider addressing:* establish a Ministry of Women's Affairs to monitor the implementation of related royal decrees and to devise a national strategy for women's transition into the economy;* appoint Female Shoura Members to ensure that the interests of Saudi businesswomen and women in general are represented;* eliminate the requirement for women to appoint a male manager in businesses that serve both sexes;* ease restrictions on mobility for women, in terms of public transportation, driving and international travel;* create registration categories for the types of businesses that are in demand by businesswomen, such as beauty salons and day-care centers, and identify the process for creating new registration categories in the future;* commission further research on how to increase the effectiveness of businesswomen's access to government services by improving female sections as well as the main centers in government agencies;* launch a nationwide public campaign to promote women's economic participation and support the implementation of existing Royal Decrees; and* ease hiring practices for businesswomen in areas that require international female expertise or that are unable to be met by Saudi female labour. This includes studying the possibility of granting work permits to non-Saudi women residing in Saudi Arabia on non-work visas.2. Women's business organisations should consider providing the following to their members:* adopt programs to improve the visibility of female role models for female high school and university students;* provide practical courses and workshops for businesswomen to improve their knowledge in financing, marketing, technology, and how to access new local and international markets;* help new businesswomen navigate the regulatory environment by making government rules and regulations more accessible and by supporting their registration process;* encourage unregistered businesswomen's entry into the formal economy; and* provide opportunities for businesswomen to build networks with other business owners in their country to share ideas and experiences.3. Financial institutions should:* commission further research to understand why businesswomen rely on personal savings to finance their businesses;* increase awareness of different business financing options and facilitate businesswomen's access to appropriate funding sources; and* ensure that lending institutions are given appropriate incentives and operate in a regulatory environment that encourages lending to businesswomen.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to highlight findings from the dialogue and proceeding research report presented by the Gender and Public Policy Programme partnered with Al-Sayedah Khadijah Bint Khuwailid Businesswomen Center and Monitor Group at the 2010 Dubai School of Government.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A selected paper on women entrepreneurship activity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was chosen from the proceedings report at the conference for this paper. The programme participants included prominent business leaders and experts from the Gulf region.\nFindings: - The findings presented in this paper clearly illustrate that Saudi female entrepreneurs are generally confident, educated, optimistic about the future and resourceful. However, they face several main challenges such as gender-specific obstacles in the regulatory environment, limited access to and use of formal capital and financing mechanisms, and the need for increased integration of sophisticated marketing and technology tools into business operations and greater availability of key support services.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper mainly focuses on women entrepreneurs in the KSA. To give a clear picture of the women's entrepreneurial activities in Middle East and North Africa region, the opinions of women located in other countries need to be investigated.\nPractical implications: - The research has implications for government and non-governmental organisations, financial institutions or other related business development agencies to formulate effective policy and appropriate strategy to motivate Saudi women to become entrepreneurs.\nOriginality/value: - There are few Arab studies that have focused on growth-oriented, women-owned and operated businesses. The selected research paper gives some insight into the issues of women entrepreneurs from an Arab world.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Careers in cross-cultural perspective
|
[
"Careers",
"Culture",
"Gender",
"Organizational structures",
"Social networks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This Special Issue on careers in cross-cultural perspective contributes to the growing body of literature that addresses careers from different locations in the world (Thomas and Inkson, 2007), including countries far from the mainstream of careers research (e.g. Ituma and Simpson, 2006; Counsell and Popova, 2000). It focuses on differences and similarities among careers and career attributes in different cultural and national contexts. The contributions included provide insights into career beliefs in China, Russia, Canada, Argentina and Mexico; social networking for job search in the USA and China; and the dynamic character of career concepts and attributes driven by social, political and economic changes in the various countries.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to introduce a collection of papers about careers in cross-cultural perspective, which contributes to the growing body of literature that addresses careers from different locations around the world.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Introduces the topic, providing some background and discussion of the main concepts.\nFindings: - Briefly introduces the papers and their main findings - differences and similarities among careers and career attributes in different cultural and national contexts.\nOriginality/value: - Contextualizes the issue and extends the overall knowledge in the topic.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Let us measure, then what? Exploring purposeful use of innovation management self-assessments: A case study in the technology industry
|
[
"Competence",
"Self-assessment",
"Follow-up",
"Performance information",
"Interpretative perspective",
"Purposeful use"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"You are what you measure\" is an expression meaning that what you are putting the spotlight on when doing performance measurements and audits is also what will likely be prioritized activities in the organization (Hauser and Katz, 1998). What happens, however, when people in the organization have different views of - or even do not understand - what is actually being measured? Who will you then become? In this paper, we focus on how first-line and middle managers engage in a particular innovation management self-assessment (IMSA) that measures innovative climate in organizations (Ekvall, 1996) and how they engage to achieve a purposeful use of the performance information (PI) generated by the self-assessment.\nMethod: This paper is based on empirical material from two research projects exploring the use of IMSA as a means to increase organizational innovativeness. The first research project, the pilot, spanned over nine months in 2014, and the second, the research project, had a duration of three years, and longitudinal data were collected over a period of 18 months. The projects were designed as exploratory longitudinal case studies (Gerring, 2007) and adopted an interactive research approach (Ohlsson and Johansson, 2010; Svensson et al., 2007).\nFindings: In this section, RQ1 is addressed. To provide a thick description of how the participants engage with the continuous self-assessments as a part of the IMSA, as well how their engagement changed over time, we use the case of John at case A as a storyline. First, John's conception of innovation relative to the IMSA and his situation when he first entered the pilot project is described. The case description then continues with a general account of how John's engagement in different stages of the continuous assessments changed during the projects. Intertwined with the case of John, comparisons with other respondents - primarily the other feedback providers - are made, in order to put the case of John into context with the other respondents.\nDiscussion and conclusions: In a time when organizations face the challenge of being dependent on a continuous flow of new knowledge in order to survive, performance measurements - in this case an IMSA - are supposed to provide organizations with increased knowledge about a specific assessed area. This increased knowledge about its current state, weaknesses or strengths, is often supposed to form the basis for positive changes regarding how the organization is to take future actions (Karlsson, 2015). However, as indicated in this paper, there are several challenges on this road, which will be further discussed in this section.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding regarding how managers attempt to make purposeful use of innovation management self-assessments (IMSA) and performance information (PI).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An interpretative perspective on purposeful use is used as an analytical framework, and the paper is based on empirical material from two research projects exploring the use of IMSA and PI in three case companies. Based on the empirical data, consisting of interviews and observations of workshops and project meetings, qualitative content analysis has been conducted.\nFindings: The findings of this paper indicate that how managers achieve a purposeful use of PI is related to their approach toward how to use the specific PI at hand, and two basic approaches are analytically separated: a rule-based approach and a reflective approach. Consequently, whether or not the right thing is being measured also becomes a question of how the PI is actually being interpreted and used. Thus, the extensive focus on what to measure and how to measure it becomes edgeless unless equal attention is given to how managers are able to use the PI to make knowledgeable decisions regarding what actions to take to achieve the desired changes.\nPractical implications: Given the results, it comes with a managerial responsibility to make sure that all managers who are supposed to be engaged in using the PI are given roles in the self-assessments that are aligned with the level of knowledge they possess, or can access.\nOriginality/value: How managers purposefully use PI is a key to understand the potential impact of self-assessments.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Information culture: a perspective from Mainland China
|
[
"China",
"Libraries",
"Archives",
"Information management",
"Information control",
"Information culture"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 2006, interpretivist research on information culture led to the development of a three-level framework for assessment. The empirical data used to develop the framework were initially drawn from three case studies of universities in different parts of the world, including Hong Kong. In the intervening time period research interest among information management scholars in Chinese culture has continued unabated. The objective of the research reported in this paper was to investigate the utility of the three-level information culture framework in Mainland China. Accordingly we reviewed the literature relevant to information culture in China and Chinese organizations, using both English language and Chinese sources and then used the framework to conduct a case study of a department in a Chinese university. The paper begins by explaining the concept of information culture, and describes the multi-level framework for its assessment. This is followed by a review of the literature, and findings from the case study. The discussion and conclusion consider findings in the context of the literature, with a particular focus on insight into Chinese cultural characteristics. Xiaotong Fei's opinions on traditional culture of Chinese society were used to illustrate some of our findings. Fei is one of the founders of Chinese sociology and anthropology, and his classic work - From the Soil: the foundations of Chinese Society - is regarded as one of the most important works on the traditional culture and social structure of Chinese society.\nInformation culture: Research into organizational information culture can be divided into two broad categories: one taking the perspective of identifying or promoting a culture of or for information (e.g. Ginman, 1993; Grimshaw, 1995; Curry and Moore, 2003), and the other using the lens of information behaviors as a perspective on organizational culture. This body of research includes the writings of Chun Wei Choo (2016) and also the perspective taken in this paper (see Oliver, 2011; Oliver and Foscarini, 2014).\nInformation culture in Chinese literature: The term \"information culture\" was first proposed by Taihong Lu, a well-known Professor in marketing at Sun Yat-Sen University of China, in 1990. He did not define this term clearly, but explained that information culture was a kind of technology culture because it was the technology that engendered revolution and then resulted in information culture (Lu, 1990). For Lu, information culture was characteristic of information society. Since 1990, some scholars (e.g. Dong, 1998, 2001; Dang, 1999) have studied the definition, characteristics, values and effects of information culture. They defined \"information culture\" in a broad sense as well as in a narrow sense: in a broad sense, information culture is defined to be the culture in information society, in the same way as agricultural culture and industrial culture. They articulated that information culture is the material and spiritual wealth created by people during their use of information, information resources and information technology to conduct information activities, and it consists of four subsystems: material subsystem which refers to information resources and information technology; spiritual subsystem which refers to information consciousness and information literacy of individuals and communities; regulation subsystem which refers to the means by which to moderate the information relationships between people in the human activities; and behavior subsystem which refers to the information needs and information behaviors formed in the information communication and information management; in a narrow sense, information culture is regarded to be a new kind of enterprise culture in an enterprise or an organization influenced by information technology. The definition of information culture in a broad sense is widely accepted in China and has influenced the definition of information culture in a narrow sense. Chen (2003) asserted that enterprise information culture consists of three kinds of culture: material culture(i.e. the information technology facilities including computer, internet and multimedia); spirit culture(i.e. the information consciousness and information literacy); and regulation culture(i.e. the means by which to moderate the information relationships between people in the process of enterprise management and performance). Li et al. (2008) defined the information culture of the library as the combination of material culture, spiritual culture and regulation culture created by librarians and readers in the information activities and service activities.\nInformation culture in Chinese organizations: Although there is minimal reference to the concept of information culture per se in Chinese organizations in the English language literature, there is ongoing research into related areas which are very relevant to any consideration of information culture. Related areas include information technology systems and knowledge management.\nThe case study: A case study was conducted of one organizational unit of a university in one of Mainland China's largest cities. The initial plan was to replicate the methodology used in earlier research in Hong Kong, and to start collecting data by interviewing staff working in the university library and university archives. Subsequent research has developed a toolkit to operationalize the information culture framework (Oliver et al., 2018) and this provided the template for the interview questions (see the Appendix for interview questions used). Analysis of findings was carried out in the same way as the original research, including the development of a summary \"information culture profile\" for the unit, and categorization according to Davenport and Prusak's political typology (Davenport and Prusak, 1997; Oliver, 2011).\nDiscussion: Our interview data clearly demonstrated that library staff regard information as their personal assets rather than organizational resources, and given the absence of any regulations on information management and sharing in the library, sharing information depends on personal relationships - if the colleagues have a good relationship, they will share information with each other, if not, they may not. The points made by two interviewees about reluctance on the part of departments to transfer custody of important records to the university archives also reflect attitudes to sharing information. Whether or not records are archived is very dependent on the guanxi (relationships) or renqing (mutual benefits) between the university archivists and individual departments as there are no penalties for not transferring valuable records or delaying their archiving. Therefore, when information is regarded as a personal asset and there are no regulations on information management and sharing, \"guanxi (relationships)\" or \"renqing (mutual benefits)\" would have a great influence on information sharing.\nConclusion: The interview data provided rich insight into unique cultural factors that influence information culture in organizations in Mainland China, namely, egocentrism, guanxi (relationships), mianzi (face), hexie (harmony) and renqing (mutual benefits). These factors have not previously been documented in either the international or Chinese literature on information culture. The information culture framework proved to be expansive enough to assist in identifying these factors, thus contributes to our understanding of the complexity of information culture.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of information culture in Mainland China and apply the information culture framework to an organizational setting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The foundation for the research is provided by a review of Chinese and English language literature and a case study of a university library was conducted, involving semi-structured interviews.\nFindings: The information culture framework facilitated identification of factors not recognized in previous information culture research, including uniquely Chinese factors of egocentrism, guanxi (relationships), mianzi (face), hexie (harmony) and renqing (mutual benefit). A further finding highlighted the profound differences between archives and library institutions in China.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides the first step toward further exploring features of Chinese organizational culture which will not only influence information management practices but also highlight the issues relating to collaboration between libraries and archives in China.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Unzipping the psychological arsenal of a magnetic recruiter: An interplay between recruiter political skill and organizational reputation
|
[
"Political skill",
"Recruitment process",
"Candidate attraction",
"Organizational reputation",
"War for talent"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Skilled and knowledgeable people are an organization's golden ticket to building and maintaining an edge against their competition, resulting in the prevalence of the often cited phenomenon of a war for talent between organizations. A research paper by Lawong et al. (2019) aims to determine how the political skill of recuriters and an organization's reputation interrelate to influence the extent to which candidates are attracted to join an organization via the recruitment process. The individual politically skilled behaviors that successful recruiters employ are uncovered by the authors to crystallize the organizational value they add by applying their communication skills and experience of successful candidate attraction and conversion strategies. Multi-study data were collected from 576 survey respondents, who were students of an online management course provided by a university based in the USA's south east. Two scripted video blogs of an actor speaking with candidates allowed the respondents to identify characteristics of both high and low political skill, and of how recruiter descriptions of an organization's reputation may influence a candidate's impression.\nDemystifying a recruiter's political skill: In the elusive pursuit of a slick hiring technique, organizations are keen to limit the costly failure of their recruiters to competitively convert attractive candidates into onboarded employees. Political skill can be conceptualized as an ability to quickly read people, build trust, and emotionally connect, and to then significantly influence their actions and decisions at a social level. Qualities underlying this people-leveraging skill that manifest in its use include sincerity, the ability to effectively build and maintain an eclectic network, and an astute awareness of the concerns of others. This political skill can be learned, but importantly the recruiter must master the art of being perceived sincerely as a catalyst who's helping the candidate to achieve their dreams. Thus recruiters sequentially assess a candidate and convince them to view an organization in a positive light.\nResults: The power of recruiter skill and organizational reputation: Analyzing the study's survey responses - that is the level to which the respondents agreed or disagreed with statements like \"The recruiter had a warm personality\", \"I would accept a job offer from this company\", and \"The recruiter seemed sincere\" - reveals the following results, that:\nEnjoying the advantage: The advantage of a high political skill capability in recruiters manifests due to their opportunity to create a trusting relationship at speed with a hopeful candidate, through which they can inspire the candidate about the organization's reputation. Recruiters highly adept in the execution of political skill can add value to an organization regardless of whether the organization's reputation is high or low, but where the reputation is high the recruiter's job becomes easier.\nCommentary: The review is based on \"Recruiter political skill and organization reputation effects on job applicant attraction in the recruitment process: A multi-study investigation\" by Lawong et al. (2019), published in \"Career Development International\". This research paper focuses on the relationship between a recruiter's level of political skill and an organization's reputation when measuring the success of an organization's recruitment efforts. The findings confirm that high levels of political skill in recruiters delivers value to organizations with both good and bad reputations. This is because when a recruiter with high political skill is involved any increases in organizational reputation - in part through the recruiter's own efforts to boost the organization's brand - causes the candidate to become more strongly attracted. However this effect doesn't happen when a low political skill recruiter is involved.\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 their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: This research paper focuses on the relationship between a recruiter's level of political skill and an organization's reputation when measuring the success of an organization's recruitment efforts. The findings confirm that high levels of political skill in recruiters delivers value to organizations with both good and bad reputations. This is because when a recruiter with high political skill is involved any increases in organizational reputation - in part through the recruiter's own efforts to boost the organization's brand - causes the candidate to become more strongly attracted. However this effect doesn't happen when a low political skill recruiter is involved.\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"
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] |
Innovation in judicial services: a study of innovation models in labor courts
|
[
"Service innovation",
"Public administration",
"Judicial administration"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Innovation is part of the worldwide agenda of the public sector and contributes directly to the modernization of government in terms of facing complex problems such as social inequality, urban violence, mobility, social participation (Bekkers et al., 2011a, 2011b, 2011c) and improving judicial performance (Sousa and Guimaraes, 2017). Innovation represents new approaches to public action as well as the art of thinking of and developing ideas and actions in ways that are better than those that have been practiced in public administration in the past (Anttiroiko et al., 2011a, 2011b). There are various typologies of innovation, but these classifications almost always deal with organizational innovations and innovations in processes, marketing, communications or services (Bloch, 2010; OECD, 2005).\n2. Theoretical references: The service sector is so poorly understood that it compromises the analysis of innovation in this sector (Gallouj, 2002, 2007) despite its growing economic importance. This incomprehension has generated myths, which originate from the emphasis given in economic theory to the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. According to Gallouj (2002) these myths are as follows:\n3. Methodological procedures: To identify the innovation models that have been adopted by the courts, according to the models defined by the integrated approach to innovation in services, this study uses a quantitative approach. We have collected our data through a questionnaire sent to labor court public servants and judges in a Regional Labor Court in the Midwestern region of Brazil.\n4. Results and discussion: This section has been subdivided based on the characteristics of the respondents and the innovation analysis, to provide the best visualization of the personal and professional features of the respondents as well as the innovation process that occurs in the court.\n5. Conclusions: To identify the innovation models used in the judiciary according to the integrated approach to current innovation theory for services innovation, we have used a questionnaire sent to a sample of 162 public servants and judges, who represent 11.70 per cent of the population.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify innovation models in the judiciary according to the current integrated theoretical approach for innovation in services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses a quantitative approach. The authors collected the data through a questionnaire sent to labor court public servants and judges in a Regional Labor Court in the Midwestern region of Brazil. They performed a principal component analysis to identify the factors to map the innovation models present in the court.\nFindings: Two factors were obtained from the results, which describe innovations in processes and services in the court studied. In terms of the examples of innovations cited by the respondents, one may note that those related to information and communications technology are the most remembered, especially the introduction of the electronic lawsuit.\nOriginality/value: The results can contribute toward a deeper understanding of which vectors of service innovation are affected as well as the nature of the court's underlying structure. Also, the research instrument used allows the identification and analysis of the innovation model for services and thus contributes to its validation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Climate change risk perceptions among green conscious young consumers: implications for green commodity marketing
|
[
"Young adults",
"Green marketing",
"Climate change risk perceptions",
"Depth interviews",
"Environmental paradigms",
"Climate change risk perceptions",
"Depth interviews",
"Environmental paradigms"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Concerns about climate change are widely shared among global communities. However, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012), Australians' concerns about the environment are dynamic and have continued to shift in the past few years. Concern about climate change decreased in Australia from 73 per cent in 2007-2008 to 57 per cent in 2011-2012, with climate change ranked low in importance when compared to other concerns (Leviston et al., 2014). A 2018 public opinion survey exploring the concerns of Australians revealed that only 10 per cent of 650 respondents consider environmental issues as being the most important problem facing Australia. Currently, economic issues such as unemployment are at the forefront of Australians' minds, yet climate change is the single biggest issue facing our world (Roy Morgan survey, 2018).\nLiterature review: Climate change risk perceptions\nMethodology: This study uses an interpretive approach with a view to exploring individuals' subjective experiences relating to green conscious behavior as opposed to intentional behavior (Thompson et al., 1989). This approach also responds to the criticism that quantitative studies based largely on simple liner models may not adequately capture the vital elements of contemporary issues in environmental debates (e.g. climate change issues; Kronlid and Ohman, 2013).\nFindings: Overall, three themes emerged from analysis of the data: \"non-local\" climate change risk, oscillation between environmental paradigms and anthropocentric environmentalism. In this section, each thematic category is elaborated.\nDiscussion and theoretical propositions: This research investigated whether environmental paradigms inform climate change risk perceptions and green conscious behavior among young adults. Overall, the study found that young adults perceive climate change to be a \"non-local\" problem owing to various reasons. They have no local (personal) experience of climate change, are reluctant to engage or are unable to relate local environmental problems, if any, to climate change. They also hesitate to be associated with discourses pertaining to climate change programs run by various governmental and other organizations as they perceive the programs as largely unsuccessful.\nImplications: As shown in this study, young adults' environmental concerns - especially those of climate change - are shadowed by several experiential and non-experiential factors and young adults seek emotional benefits through engaging in green conscious behavior. They either reject or ignore negative connotations associated with climate change, such as its possible local impact and distrust of governmental actions. This presents special challenges for marketers of green commodities.\nConclusion: This study postulated three key theoretical propositions pertaining to how young adults relate to climate change, their environmental paradigms and green conscious behavior and recommended that environmental programs should revisit the idea that the anthropocentric paradigm inhibits engagement in green conscious behavior. Further, the promotional campaigns of green commodities can be largely benefited through incorporating messages with positive appeals providing young individuals with opportunities to engage with the campaigns collectively.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to explore how young adults understand the climate change problem. It also explores whether environmental paradigms explain how young adults perceive climate change risks in their everyday green conscious behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This interpretive research draws on in-depth interviews with 20 young Australians (aged between 19-25 years) who engage in green conscious behavior.\nFindings: Three thematic categories (\"non-local\" climate change risk, oscillation between environmental paradigms and anthropocentric environmentalism) emerged from the data. The study finds that \"non-local\" climate change risk perceptions and environmental paradigms inform green conscious behavior. However, no association between environmental paradigms and climate change risk perceptions is found. The study postulates a skeletal theoretical framework for understanding the green conscious behavior of young adults.\nPractical implications: Recommendations are provided on how to sustain young adults' interest in environmental wellbeing and in promoting green commodities in young consumer markets. Suggestions include creating a clear awareness of climate change with a constructive or positive appeal resolving 'non-local' climate change risk perceptions and position green commodities as \"pro-actions\" or \"solutions\", as opposed to \"reactions\", when reaching young consumer markets.\nOriginality/value: A high level of green consciousness among young adults is recorded in recent global surveys. This green conscious young consumer segment, however, appears to be largely ignored by green commodity marketers. This study provides green commodity marketers with necessary insights to explore the opportunities that might arise in this unique market segment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Seven recommendations for creating sustainability education at the university level: A guide for change agents
|
[
"Higher education",
"Strategic evaluation",
"Long‐term planning",
"Sustainable development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Universities have the potential to be leaders in research and technology, teaching and learning, and community engagement. They are intended to be spaces where ideas are expressed freely, paradigms are challenged, creativity is promoted and new knowledge is produced. Given what academics know about the current ecological condition of the planet, there is an obligation for universities to become leaders in the movement to prevent global ecological collapse. \"There is little question that the world is on an unsustainable development path. There is even a consensus among scientists in various fields that excess energy and material consumption is at the heart of the problem\" (Rees, 2003, p. 88). How can universities realise their powerful role in dealing with issues of over-consumption, environmental degradation and social injustice? There is a need to envision what a \"sustainable\" university might look like, including visions of sustainability education programs and sustainable university communities.This paper presents a facilitated process by which a group of faculty, staff and students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) considered the future of higher education. The UBC drafted and signed a policy committing the university to sustainability in all of its actions and mandates (UBC, 1997, Sustainable Development Policy 5). UBC has also made international commitments by signing the Talloires and Halifax declarations on sustainability and by joining the organization University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF, 2004). The paper outlines a concrete set of recommendations for universities committed to becoming leaders of the sustainability movement.For the past three years, a small, interdisciplinary team of researchers have been actively engaged in creating a proposal for an undergraduate program in sustainability studies at UBC. An early task of the team was to engage with faculty, staff, students and administration (Vice Presidents, Associate Vice Presidents, Deans) about the possibilities for an undergraduate interfaculty program in sustainability studies. The team designed a process that would elicit creative ideas and feedback and would secure buy-in from people who would potentially be involved in the program and others who would make decisions about funding.\nWorkshop process and results: Given the recent awareness of the higher education sustainability movement, Fien (2002) outlines the importance of considering how sustainability research is conducted. He suggests that alternative research paradigms need to be considered and investigated in educational research about sustainability. Sustainability is a concept, a goal, and a strategy. The concept speaks to the reconciliation of social justice, ecological integrity and the well being of all living systems on the planet. The goal is to create an ecologically and socially just world within the means of nature without compromising future generations. Sustainability also refers to the process or strategy of moving towards a sustainable future.Dialogues about sustainability are ultimately a discussion of individual and collective values (VanWynsberghe et al., 2002). The value-focused thinking model helps participants consider the values that underscore objectives and uses these values as input for decision-making (Keeney, 1992). For example, if someone identifies community as an objective, value-focused thinking processes asks the question \"why is community important to you?\" The individual might suggest that underlying this a desire to be connected with other people and being treated with respect. The desire for \"community\" is related to the underlying value of respect. The value-focused thinking process allows participants to determine what is important to people by eliciting clear connections between values and objectives.The first workshop held on Saturday, 11 January 2003 had a total of 24 participants including faculty, staff and administrators. The workshop was advertised to people who had shown interest in sustainability education and the creation of an interfaculty program in sustainability studies. Invitations were sent to over 50 individuals at the UBC who were identified by the team. The second workshop involved gathering a group of undergraduate students who would be interested in discussing the future of higher education with relation to sustainability. The workshops were advertised using posters on campus and by sending e-mails through a range of departmental lists. In total we had 25 undergraduate students attend the workshop held on Saturday, 25 January 2003. The students who attended were keen on sustainability issues and were not intended to be a random sampling of undergraduates. The goals of the workshop were to create alternatives for sustainability education at UBC, to create momentum for the implementation of alternatives and to gain buy-in for the idea of an interfaculty program in sustainability studies. These two workshops, along with in-depth interviews (outlined later in the paper), helped to create a framework of recommendations for sustainability education. The following outlines the six steps used in the workshops:1. Story of present day situation. The story of sustainability education at the university (up to present day) and the objectives of the workshop were outlined.2. Brainstorm and create a list of values. What matters? What are your individual values that relate to sustainability education, ecological and social justice education and global citizenship education?3. Brainstorm and create a list of alternatives. How might these values play-out in practice in higher education? What are the current practices and possible future practices of this kind of education (i.e. things you have dreamed of doing, things you have heard of other institutions doing)?4. Brainstorm and create a list of continuums on which to place the alternatives. What are the relationships among these practices? Participants vote on the two most distinct continuums for the sector. Draw diagram to represent two continuums and four quadrants.5. Brainstorm and create four future scenarios that fit within the quadrants of the diagram. Ask hard questions about where the alternatives would fit on the continuums.6. Next steps and new stories. Participants describe in detail four future scenarios using specific examples from the list of alternatives and values.The workshop began with introductions and an explanation of the process. To set the tone for the workshop one of the facilitators read a short story about the present situation of sustainability education at UBC. The intention of the story was to remind people about UBC's commitment to sustainability, reduce potential conflict and to get people thinking creatively. The second important step of the workshop involved creating a list of values. Workshop participants were then asked to consider the question - what are your individual values that relate to sustainability education, ecological and social justice education and global citizenship education? Participants worked in small groups and facilitators collated responses on chart paper. Examples of the values listed included; freedom, relationships, love, compassion, creativity, imagination, being a part of nature, and responsibility (both individual and collective).The third step was to create a list of practices that people were familiar with or had only dreamed about considering at the university. There were no constraints to this list of alternatives and the groups were prompted with questions: how might the values (from step two) play-out in practice in higher education? What are the current practices and possible future practices of this kind of education? All ideas were written on the chart paper, including practices happening elsewhere in the world, and ideas that were in the development stage. Examples of alternative practices included; student cohorts, block teaching, changing admission criteria, community/local learning on campus (not just off), using the campus as a living/learning lab, rewarding reflective learning, moving beyond our cultural worldviews, and finding ways to create smaller classes. The fourth step involved arranging the first two lists of ideas (values and alternatives) in a series of continuums. The group was asked to brainstorm continuums that described the tensions or polarities in the lists of values and practices. Ideally, the final two continuums would represent opposites and be distinct so that they would create four quadrants or scenarios. Table I outlines a number of the examples of the continuums.The final stage of the workshop involved placing the two continuums (as x- and y-axes) onto a diagram to create four quadrants. Participants were then asked to work in groups in order to place alternatives onto the quadrants. As explained in VanWynsberghe et al. (2002), this is a difficult step and it helps to start with the most extreme properties of each the quadrant. In the last 20 minutes of the three-hour workshop, participants were asked to describe in detail each of the four quadrants and describe possible future scenarios for each. The intention was to consider how UBC should move toward a program in sustainability studies. The four quadrants displayed a range of options and opportunities as well as allowed creative ideas to emerge during the final visioning of scenarios. The goal was not to create one vision for the future but instead to creating a range of scenarios that would allow participants to recognize that they shared values related to sustainability and university education.\nInterviews: Over a period of three months following the workshops, 30 key people were interviewed including undergraduate students, staff, faculty members from a range of disciplines, Deans, Associate Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents - many of whom had attended the workshops. The interviews elicited a number of specific recommendations for how the university might be transformed. During initial interviews, respondents were asked to identify others potential participants. From this process, the interview population shifted from faculty and staff focused on sustainability towards administration and faculty who were not working directly on sustainability education initiatives (and had not attended the workshops). The second round of interviews focused on change-agents and decision-makers. All interviews lasted approximately one hour, were semi-structured and included ten questions.After the interviews were transcribed and analysed, participants were allowed time to review their remarks and quotations in the context of the manuscripts. They could view the complete transcripts or withdraw their comments at any time during the study. At an early stage in the research, it was decided not to identify the participants by name or position in the university. The final question during most interviews was \"If you had a magic wand and could change anything about UBC - what would you change?\" This open-ended question generated hopeful answers, suggesting participants had a strong beliefs in the merits of higher education.\nResults: After analysis of the interview transcripts and workshop results there was a long list of recommendations and suggestions for moving UBC towards a program of sustainability education. The following recommendations are divided into seven categories that will aid universities in a transformation towards a long-term vision of sustainability. Table II outlines the seven categories of recommendations that create the framework for this paper. These recommendations suggest ways to transform university structures to promote and support the practice of \"sustainability education\", and not the recommendations to create a \"sustainable university\". A sustainable university would obviously have more recommendations about campus operations, building codes, and development practices that are not the focus of this paper.Infuse sustainability in all decisions\nFuture directions: The facilitated workshop outlined in this paper is an ideal process for promoting dialogue in the area of sustainability and sustainability education programs at an institutional level. Unfortunately, creating a list of recommendations is a much simpler task than finding ways to implement them. After participants had brainstormed a long list of wonderful alternatives, they were quick to change tone and discuss the realities of lean budgets, increasing student numbers and reduced government support. Despite international and local commitments to sustainability, a small percentage of people are engaged in sustainability education or sustainability research at the UBC campus.Sustainability should not be left for one discipline or one institute to consider and implement. Sustainability suggests a movement towards transdisciplinary and transformative ways of knowing and being at the university. Further research is needed to determine how universities can create educational programs that have the ability to transform perspectives and ways of being in the world. Long-term educational studies and evaluation programs would need to track students after the course and programs are completed. The institution is going through change and advocates are pushing for funding in a number of competing areas - long distance learning, web-based technology, sustainability issues, global and international concerns to name a few. Because the university \"supports\" ALL of these initiatives there is a lack of coordination between groups and not all projects receive funding. It is difficult to predict how the landscape of UBC will change as a result of this project or how it will change in the future. Many recent initiatives by sustainability groups and conversations with administrators suggest that sustainability education may be featured more prominently on the UBC campus in the near future.More research is needed that focuses on transformation, alternative pedagogy and new kinds of organizational and evaluative structures at the university. Important research questions for the future focus on the implementation of sustainability education in the classroom. What does it mean to have a process (or a classroom) that encompasses sustainability? Research is also needed that will investigate whether alternative methodologies and pedagogy in the classroom reproduce the status quo or create leaders and change agents working towards a more sustainable future. Future research should focus on the short and long-term impacts of community service learning and integrated community-university partnerships related to sustainability initiatives. The overall goal would be to make university research more accessible and to provide a setting for academic and community researchers to integrate and implement sustainability in their communities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper describes a set of recommendations that will aid universities planning to create sustainability education programs. These recommendations are not specific to curriculum or programs but are instead recommendations for academic institutions considering a shift towards \"sustainability education\" in the broadest sense. The purpose of this research was to consider the possible directions for the future of sustainability education at the university level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Through a series of workshops using a \"value focused thinking\" framework, a small team of researchers engaged a large number of stakeholders in a dialogue about sustainability education at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. Recommendations were compiled from workshop data as well as data from 30 interviews of participants connected with decision-making and sustainability at UBC.\nFindings: - The recommendations include infusing sustainability into all university decisions, promoting and practicing collaboration and transdisciplinarity and focusing on personal and social sustainability. Other recommendations included an integration of university plans, decision-making structures and evaluative measures and the integration of the research, service and teaching components of the university. There is a need for members of the university community to create space for reflection and pedagogical transformation.\nOriginality/value: - The intention of the paper is to outline the details of a participatory workshop that uses value-focused thinking in order to engage university faculty and administration in a dialogue about sustainability education. Students, faculty and staff working towards sustainability education will be able to adapt the workshop to their own institutions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Economic sociology and the ARA interaction model
|
[
"Interaction",
"B2B marketing",
"Economic sociology",
"ARA interaction model",
"Business relationships",
"Future research directions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In a special issue of JBIM on emerging frontiers in business-to-business (B2B) marketing, Mandjak and Szanto (2010) presented a fresh and promising perspective titled: How can economic sociology help business relationship management? However, while Mandjak and Szanto (2010) answer this headlining question by showing that economic sociology can indeed contribute to a better understanding and management of business relationship, they do not answer how this can be done in a systematic and integrative manner. First, I believe their paper does not provide a sufficiently structured presentation of economic sociology to the uneducated reader. Second, it does not show how the economic sociology perspective can be systematically integrated with B2B marketing theory, or which specific areas of business relationship theory would benefit most from such integration. Third, their paper lacks any clear directions for future research which would guide future B2B marketing research on business relationships in a structured manner. To be fair, I believe this was not Mandjak and Szanto's (2010, p. 202) intent, and that by positioning their work as an \"early bird\", their main goal was primarily to open the door for others to follow.\n2. Key economic sociology concepts and the extent of their usage in B2B marketing literature: 2.1 Embeddedness\n3. The ARA interaction model: Hakansson et al. (2009, p. 562) describes the formulation of the ARA interaction model through the emerging \"dissatisfaction with how business relationships were looked upon in general [...] as [...] the results of specific goals driving the actors to develop the relationship\". The extensive industrial empirical background (Ford, 1990) leading to the formulation of the model showed that business relationships do not only have a function (forming a relationship to achieve a goal) but also specific content (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995). This content provides \"substance\" to the \"business landscape\" (Ford et al., 2008, p. 2) and characterizes interaction \"as a confrontation process that occurs between companies and which changes and transforms aspects of the resources and activities of the involved companies and the companies themselves\" (Ford et al., 2008, p. 3).\n4. Future research directions: This section presents eight future research directions connected to eight key economic sociology concepts, which are applied specifically to the ARA interaction model. These directions illustrate how an economic sociology perspective can be systematically applied to study interaction in business relationships and motivate future research in a specific area of B2B marketing theory.\n5. Managerial implications: While it is hard to outline managerial implications to a conceptual paper, this paper can still aid managers in their understanding of business relationship management. As the analysis on the use of the eight key economic sociology concepts in the B2B marketing literature has shown, concepts like networks, embeddedness and identity are most often used as metaphors. Bearing this in mind, one cannot fully agree with Stewart et al. (2012, p. 644) in their opening statement that \"elements of relationship management are well documented [in the B2B marketing literature]\". This should motivate managers to transcend their transaction and relationship-marketing understanding of business relationships and networks. As Medlin's (2012) recent focus on the \"human perspective of relationships and networks\" shows, the actors involved in business relationships should become human and be managed accordingly - not just at the individual but also at organizational and network levels. Managing business actors as \"humans\" should build on the acknowledgement of economic actors as \"socially constructed entities\" (Smelser and Swedberg, 2005, p. 4). This represents a cornerstone idea of economic sociology and should bring to the B2B marketing literature a new social dimensions, complementing the transactional and relationship-marketing understanding of business relationships. But what does this mean for the management of business relationships and for interaction?\n6. Conclusion: The first aim of this paper was to provide a more systematic account of economic sociology to the B2B marketing audience. It has done this through identifying and describing eight key economic sociology concepts, which are particularly relevant for studying interaction in business relationships. The provided overview of the current usage of these eight concepts in B2B research shows a huge conceptual and operationalizational fragmentation, indicating a need for definition, more systematization and better understanding of economic sociology itself. In most cases, economic sociology concepts are used as metaphors. This issue is perhaps best illustrated by Smith-Doerr and Powell's (2005, p. 379) point regarding networks in the B2B marketing literature, by saying that one is never \"quite sure whether networks are a metaphor, a method, or a theory\".\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply an economic sociology perspective to the activity-resource-actor (ARA) interaction model for business relationships. Interaction has been chosen as a conceptual domain where economic sociology has a particularly high potential to advance business-to-business (B2B) marketing in terms of its future research directions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper provides a structured account of economic sociology through the description of eight key economic sociology concepts and discussion of the structuration theory. This is followed by an overview of the usage of the eight key economic sociology concepts in current B2B marketing research, and concludes with outlining eight specific future research directions which guide future research on interaction in business relationships.\nFindings: Eight economic sociology concepts are identified: embeddedness, networks, institutions, power, social capital, identity, social structures and cognition. An overview of the application of these constructs within the B2B marketing literature shows how most of them are used as metaphors with a gap in understanding their economic sociology background.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research directions are described individually, do not include potential interaction effects and are developed within the ARA interaction model framework. Given the conceptual nature of the paper, it does not provide any empirical data and illustrations related to any of the eight key economic sociology concepts.\nOriginality/value: The paper answers a call for a wider integration of economic sociology into the B2B marketing literature. It provides a systematic eight-concept economic sociology framework to be used by B2B marketing theorists and researchers. The paper finishes with eight concrete future research directions through which an economic sociology perspective can help advance B2B marketing theory and business relationship management practice. A brief discussion of managerial implications is also provided at the end.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Using Futures 2.0 to manage intractable futures: the case of weight loss
|
[
"Forecasting",
"Personal health",
"Motivation (psychology)",
"Scenario planning",
"Behaviour modification",
"Diet"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since its emergence several decades ago, the discipline of futures has concerned itself with describing the forces shaping the future, while also revealing the future's contingency and open-endedness. We futurists have devoted less energy to studying how futures are actually made: how people act on ideas about the future in the present - or just as interesting, why people or organizations fail to act on them. There are several reasons for this. Few of us have opportunities to follow our ideas into client organizations and see how they are used. We want to avoid the appearance of advocating for particular futures, and thus compromising our objectivity. Finally, we have assumed that people are rational actors, who when presented with a variety of future choices can be counted on to make a self-interested decision. This is a default assumption among financial planners, policymakers, and others who advise on long-term strategic issues, and it reflects and complements the self-perception of our clients, who usually see themselves this way.In this world-view, implementation is not unimportant; it is just not very interesting. However, research in behavioral economics and neuroeconomics has shown that clear-eyed, calculating rationality is in short supply outside economics textbooks and treatises on Realpolitik. What this literature teaches us is that there are deep, interesting reasons why people fail to act in their own long-term self-interest. For futurists, this work presents both a challenge and an opportunity, as I argued in a previous article published in Foresight in 2010. The challenge is to understand how a behavioral economics understanding of decision making should inform futures research, and how we can develop practices to counter cognitive biases in our own research (Pang, 2010). The opportunity is to expand the domain of futures beyond research and facilitation, and to help clients design tools that help them act in the present with the future in mind.This article explores that opportunity in greater depth. It focuses on applying behavioral economics and tools to personal futures, a subject that has attracted several writers. In the futures community, Charlesworth (2010) has explored the future of self-knowledge and personal futures. Koponen (2009, 2010) has described the architecture of a \"personal future simulation system.\" Wheelwright (2003, 2005, 2009, 2010) has advocated applying scenario planning and other traditional forecasting techniques to individuals. There is also work on personal futures outside the futures world. Alexandra Carmichael, co-founder of quantified health company CureTogether (www.curetogether.com), Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf, co-founders of the Quantified Self project (http://quantifiedself.com), and others have advocated self-monitoring as a tool for improving personal health. Disabilities advocates use of a collaborative process of \"personal futures planning\" to \"develop strategies for success for a person with disabilities [...] [and] take action to accomplish positive changes for the person\" (Mount, 1994; Moss and Wiley, 2003; Mount et al., 2003)For the sake of clarity, I will explore the opportunity through a case study involving a simple personal futures-oriented challenge. The case is an example of an intractable future: it is difficult but not impossible to realize, it requires persistent effort for an extended period, and it can be subverted by biases, instincts, and our willingness to let rationalization trump rationality. The case reveals how we can design tools to counter them, and what intellectual instruments we can use when doing so. This intractable future also has the virtue of being exceptionally easy to describe and familiar to many readers.My case is weight loss. I have lost about 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms) over the last two years; taken up running, cycling and weightlifting; and today am in the best physical shape of my life. For a profession accustomed to thinking about big issues and megatrends like nanotechnology, global warming, and Peak Oil, losing weight might seem trivial and beneath the interest of futures. But it should not be, for two reasons. First, by any objective measure, in much of the developed world obesity is a substantial public health problem: it affects the lives of tens of millions of people, increases chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, and costs governments hundreds of billions of dollars. Second, despite the inevitable specificities of personal experience, weight loss illustrates at a human scale the kinds of complex, interconnected problems that characterize life in the twenty-first century, and for which we are poorly-adapted to deal (Gilbert, 2006).\n2. Autobiography: Losing weight is at once the simplest thing in the world, and the most complicated. All you have to do to lose weight is eat less food: that makes it simple. But humans are poorly-adapted to a world of cheap abundant food, we have a tremendous capacity for rationalization and irrational behavior with eating, and the impacts of changes in diet, exercise, and work habits on weight loss can be frustratingly unclear: that makes it complicated.For most of my life, that complication was a source of trouble. From early childhood I was substantially overweight, and often unhappy about my shape, but was prevented from losing weight by a combination of factors. Cooking is one of my favorite activities: it is mentally absorbing, it engages the senses, and feeding family and friends is emotionally satisfying. I also have a genius for rationalization: I can always convince myself that I deserved a hearty meal to celebrate some accomplishment, that I will balance today's indulgence by eating half as much tomorrow, or that I wi;ll pursue my diet with a renewed vengeance next week. I am good at eating mindlessly, and my body is partial to foods that can be eaten in large quantities. Finally, college and graduate school exposed me to both bad food, and encouraged an academic's casual contempt for the body.But as I entered middle age, I had a growing feeling that if I did not change now, I never would. My sense of urgency was charged after I stumbled across the remarkable Grant Study, a long-term survey of the lives of 272 men who graduated from Harvard University in the early 1940s (Shenk, 2009; Vaillant, 1998; Vaillant, 2003). Physical condition, it showed, is an important predictor of long-term mental health; it is particularly influenced by health in middle age. I also encountered Ratey and Hagerman's (2008) Spark, which summarized recent scientific research connecting showing how exercise and cardiovascular activity improved mental performance. My academic disregard for physical excellence was not just medically unwise: for someone who needed a sharp mind, it was functionally maladaptive (Ratey and Hagerman, 2008).At the same time, I discovered that behavioral economists and neuroeconomists had mapped the limits of rationality and planning. Two observations in particular seemed germane to my thinking about weight loss. First, we respond quickly to immediate, tangible, human-scale threats to ourselves and those around us, but complex, slowly-unfolding problems are hard for us to grasp and respond to. Second, we have trouble vividly imagining, and consequently acting in the interests of, our future selves. While this may be part of our \"psychological immune system\" (Gilbert, 2006, p. 162) that helps us find a good side to bad events, it makes it harder to make sacrifices or defer gratification for future rewards (Bloom, 2008). As a result, putting money away for retirement rather than spending it today, or passing up delicious food before you, often feels like an uncertain sacrifice for an unknown person. This literature gave me a vocabulary for describing why diets failed and discipline faltered. It also gave me a futurists' way of thinking about the problem: namely, as a challenge motivated by long-term concerns, made extremely difficult by short-term interests and cognitive biases.Clearly it was now or never. I had reached a point where losing weight would have significant lifetime benefits. The question was, could a futurists' perspective help me with a problem I had never before been able to solve?I started trying to lose weight in the spring of 2008, and since then I have lost about 50 pounds. I have succeeded because I have learned to pay close attention to my body's response to food; to develop new incentives around food; and see more clearly the future consequences of choices and patterns in the present. Together, these have made it possible for me to let the future - my future, and my long-term goals - influence my choices and strategies today.Paying attention\n3. Weight loss, intractable futures, and futures tools: Tracking what I ate, paying closer attention to satiety and outside influences on appetite and eating, being more conscious of the influence of irrational factors on eating, and using the idea of my future self to guide my choices around food, helped me lose a substantial mount of weight - something I had never managed to do before in my life. What larger lessons can we extract from this story? First, weight loss is a type of intractable problem whose properties make it a microcosm of global challenges. Second, recent research and new technologies have created new means that we can use to help manage intractable future problems.The intractability of weight loss\n4. Conclusion: In an earlier article (Pang, 2010), I argued that futurists needed to move from producing future-oriented texts to making future-revealing things, and in particular learn to design choice architectures and nudges, as Thaler and Sunstein (2008) call them to help move people to better futures. My experience with weight loss suggests that while nudges can be valuable, there are times when they are simply insufficient. The smaller bowl is a nudge. However, not refilling it, making restraint part of a new pattern of behavior, and appreciating the sensation of the food rather than the large quantity of it - all that demands mindfulness. Nudges and mindfulness are mirror-image twins: both are valuable, but neither works in all situations. Both are useful in situations characterized by uncertainty, temptation, the need to make immediate sacrifices for long-term gains. But nudges are great for the occasional decisions that are highly subject to influence by defaults, while mindfulness is necessary for conscious everyday choices.This is true both at the personal and the global level. Global challenges like climate change require being able to see the cumulative impacts small changes and everyday choices made over long periods by large numbers of people can have. Climate science will take decades to deal with; while we cannot disregard the value of indirect means like carbon taxes, cap and trade markets, and setting defaults in energy-consuming appliances, there are always going to be conscious decisions we have to make that will affect our, and the world's, future. Having tools that let us understand our own behaviors; explore the consequences of different courses of action available to us; and see how a choice before us unfolds different futures - in short, being able to self-monitor and self-experiment, and consequently be more mindful - can make the difference between reaching intractable personal futures or falling short, and helping to alleviate global challenges or being part of the problem.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - Futurists have tended to take little interest in the hard work of implementing changes necessary to reach particular futures. This paper aims to argue that the field should pay more attention to these issues, and to use the challenge of weight loss to illustrate how tools can be developed to help both individuals and organizations deal with futures. It also aims to argue for the importance of mindfulness in managing long-term futures challenges.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper describes how the author applied concepts outlined in Futures 2.0 to his own program of weight loss, and lost 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms).\nFindings: - The paper shows how futurists could use concepts from behavioral economics and design in personal futures and futures work more generally. It also suggests that mindfulness - a concept borrowed from Buddhism and other contemplative practices - can give perspective necessary see the long-term consequences of decisions they face in the present, and the self-discipline necessary to make good choices.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper argues that futurists should not just focus on helping clients see unexpected trends or wild cards, or thinking about the future in new ways, or reframing their underlying strategic assumptions. Complex, intractable futures subvert the best efforts of rational actors; clients are most interested in getting help on the problems they are least likely to solve.\nPractical implications: - More value for clients can be delivered by helping them understand common roadblocks and designing the means to reach long-term future goals.\nSocial implications: - For a profession accustomed to thinking about big issues and megatrends like nanotechnology and global warming, losing weight may seem trivial and beneath its interest. But by any objective measure, in much of the developed world obesity is a substantial public health problem: it affects the lives of tens of millions of people, increases chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, and costs governments hundreds of billions of dollars. More generally, weight loss is a microcosm of the kinds of problems that can only be managed through the collective action of large numbers of people.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is a contribution to the literature on personal futures, and to the ongoing discussion of the scope and methods of futures.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A review of research into knowledge sharing: Directions for future research
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Systematic literature review",
"Thematic analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Knowledge sharing plays a key role in the success of any organization and consequently knowledge management policies have been put in place to facilitate knowledge sharing between employees through guiding exchange, application and creation of knowledge to produce positive value. Much of the research in this area has focused on factors that promote or hinder knowledge sharing, in particular knowledge sharing enablers such as technology, the culture of the organization and rewards. Consideration of value as an outcome of knowledge sharing has received less attention.\nSummary of findings from past research: Over the last decade increasing attention has been given to research into knowledge sharing with 76 per cent of the studies being published after 2010.\nDirections for future research: Five areas were identified for future research:\nCommentary: The review is based on \"Impacts of knowledge sharing: a review and directions for future research\" by Ahmad and Karim (2019) published in the Journal of Workplace Learning. The purpose of this study is to summarize findings from research into knowledge sharing and to provide suggestions for further research. The review looks at the impact of knowledge sharing in three categories - individual, team and organizational. The main factors studied were creativity, performance and learning. Knowledge sharing goes beyond work-related impacts and has a positive effect on team climate, job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Directions for future research were identified as adopting an interaction and process perspective, investigating negative, differential and psychological impacts and improving methodology through use of qualitative and longitudinal studies. As knowledge sharing does have positive psychological effects including enhanced job and life satisfaction it would be beneficial to build it into the organization's well-being program. This paper has an original approach as it is the first systematic review to be carried out on research into knowledge sharing and suggests areas for further investigation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to summarize findings from research into knowledge sharing and to provide suggestions for further research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was carried out through three phases - review protocol, conducting the review and reporting the review. A thematic analysis was carried out on 61 peer reviewed studies.\nFindings: The review looks at the impact of knowledge sharing in three categories - individual, team and organizational. The main factors studied were creativity, performance and learning. Knowledge sharing goes beyond work-related impacts and has a positive effect on team climate, job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Directions for future research were identified as adopting an interaction and process perspective, investigating negative, differential and psychological impacts and improving methodology through use of qualitative and longitudinal studies.\nPractical implications: As knowledge sharing does have positive psychological effects including enhanced job and life satisfaction it would be beneficial to build it into the organization's well-being program.\nOriginality/value: This paper has an original approach as it is the first systematic review to be carried out on research into knowledge sharing and suggests areas for further investigation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Reasons for working part-time: Subgroup differences in job attitudes and turnover intentions
|
[
"Part time workers",
"Employee attitudes",
"Employee turnover",
"Job satisfaction",
"Careers",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Although a substantial and growing proportion of the workforce is employed part-time (Barling and Gallagher, 1996), only in the past two decades have organizational researchers paid significant attention to these workers (Feldman, 1990; Rotchford and Roberts, 1982). Thus far, examinations have focused primarily on attitudinal differences between part-time (PT) and full-time (FT) employees (e.g. Eberhardt and Shani, 1984; McGinnis and Morrow, 1990; Miller and Terborg, 1979). A recent meta-analysis of this research revealed that, although considerable variability existed across studies, the two groups of employees held similar levels of overall job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Thorsteinson, 2003).The lack of PT-FT differences on job attitudes is but one indication that categorizing employees as belonging to one of these two homogeneous groups based upon the number of hours worked per week is overly simplistic (Rosendaal, 2003). Just as with FT employees, PT employees vary widely in terms of the individual characteristics they possess, the job duties they are responsible for, and the organizational cultures in which they work. Past researchers have also noted that many different life situations and preferences may lead an individual to seek out PT employment (e.g. Caputo and Cianni, 2001; Gappa and Leslie, 1993; McComb et al., 2003; Nardone, 1995). The primary goal of this research is to examine the specific reasons employees have for working PT, and to investigate the extent to which such reasons may help predict their job attitudes and turnover intentions. By exploring the variety of reasons for working PT, we hope to gain a more complete understanding of this growing segment of the workforce than could be achieved by treating PT work as a homogeneous experience (Barling and Gallagher, 1996; Feldman, 1990). A second and related goal for this research is to develop a self-report measure designed to assess employees' reasons for working part-time.We begin this section by reviewing the evolution of organizational research on PT work. We then explore the various reasons that people may have for engaging in PT work, and how each reason may predispose an employee to develop either positive or negative job attitudes and intentions, relative to FT workers, or PT workers with other reasons for taking PT work. Finally, we use this discussion to identify research questions and guide the development of the self-report measure.\nPast research on part-time employment: The definition and growth of part-time employment\nReasons for choosing part-time employment: One possible extension of the research on voluntary versus involuntary PT employment involves the investigation of the particular reasons individuals have for working PT (e.g. Caputo and Cianni, 2001; Nardone, 1995). A review of the recent literature on PT work reveals numerous such reasons, many of which can be labeled as voluntary or involuntary. On the voluntary side, for example, employees may pursue PT work in order to have more leisure time or less responsibility (Wetzel et al., 1990), stay active in the field (Wetzel et al., 1990), explore a new career field or apply one's expertise to a different job (Gappa and Leslie, 1993), or transition to retirement (Gappa and Leslie, 1993). Note that most of these reasons are directly related to career-related and work-life balance considerations. On the other hand, employees may involuntarily accept PT work because of job loss or the loss of hours (Tilly, 1991), the lack of available FT jobs (e.g. Armstrong-Stassen, 1998; Barker, 1993; Bowman, 1995; Caputo and Cianni, 2001; Nardone, 1995), health reasons (Wetzel et al., 1990), or geographic immobility (Gappa and Leslie, 1993). As can be seen from these examples, involuntary reasons for working PT revolve around obstacles to FT employment.However, not all reasons fit neatly into either the voluntary or involuntary category. For example, some researchers have argued that taking PT work to care for children or relatives is a voluntary choice (e.g. Armstrong-Stassen, 1998; Wetzel et al., 1990), whereas others have suggested that it represents involuntary employment (e.g. Barker, 1993; Bowman, 1995). Because of difficulty in labeling common situations such as these as voluntary or involuntary, there may be value in directly tapping the specific, identifiable work-life situations which influence one's preference for a certain employment status. Such specificity may result in the improved prediction of later employee attitudes and behavior, as compared to the more abstract voluntary/involuntary classification. Past research has examined the various reasons for accepting a temporary work arrangement (Ellingson et al., 1998), and a similar approach was taken in studying PT work by van Rijswijk et al. (2004). However, although van Rijswijk et al. (2004) measured several specific reasons for working PT (e.g. lack of FT jobs, wanting more leisure time), they dichotomized responses into those who worked PT to balance work and family and those who provided other reasons, preventing exploration of linkages between the specific reasons provided by PT workers and outcomes such as job attitudes.A PT worker may fall into one of several common groups, with individuals within each group tending to report a similar array of reasons for taking PT work. If so, the reasons which define each group might help to predict outcomes for individuals belonging to that group, such as whether they will experience positive or negative job attitudes and whether they intend to find other employment in the near future. For example, Gappa and Leslie (1993) interviewed PT (or adjunct) college faculty and categorized them into one of four groups (e.g. \"career enders\", \"aspiring academics\"). They found that aspiring academics, whose reasons for teaching as an adjunct faculty member were largely involuntary in nature (i.e. lack of available tenure-track positions), were the most frustrated by their situation. To explore the potential value of contrasting the attitudes of groups of employees who had similar motivations for taking a PT position, we utilize cluster analysis techniques in order to identify such groups of workers, and then test hypotheses about group differences in job attitudes and intentions among groups.The current study\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Cluster analysis of the reasons scale\nDiscussion: In general, the results of the current study demonstrate, as others have argued (e.g. Feldman, 1990), that PT work is not a homogeneous experience. Because of the varieties of reasons for taking PT work, simple comparisons between PT and FT workers on outcomes such as job satisfaction have resulted, and likely will continue to result in, null findings (Thorsteinson, 2003). Results suggest that the voluntary/involuntary distinction that has begun to gain popularity in the literature (e.g. Holtom et al., 2002) does seem to have value as a tool for distinguishing between PT workers who are likely to have a positive or negative work experience, respectively. However, because not all PT work situations can be clearly identified as voluntary or involuntary, examining particular reasons behind an individual's job choices may provide additional explanatory power, as they did in our regression analyses.Results from cluster analyses identified four groups of PT workers: workers attending school, workers caring for relatives, workers blocked for some reason from FT employment, and workers making voluntary life or career choices. Therefore, although clusters did emerge which were characterized by voluntary or involuntary reasons, two additional groups - students and caretakers - seem to represent common, well-defined life situations which prompt the search for, and acceptance of, PT work (Armstrong-Stassen, 1998; Barker, 1993; Bowman, 1995; Caputo and Cianni, 2001; Wetzel et al., 1990).Differences emerged among these groups with respect to several facets of job satisfaction (work, pay, and coworkers), affective and normative commitment, and turnover intentions. With the exception of continuance commitment, voluntary PT workers exhibited more positive job attitudes than involuntary PT workers (though differences were not significant for satisfaction with promotion or supervision). The results also provided some new insights into the attitudes of students and caretakers - two groups likely to be either excluded or hidden in analyses based upon a voluntary/involuntary measurement approach. Although working part-time while going to school may be seen as voluntary in nature, students tended to report relatively negative job attitudes, perhaps because they frequently hold jobs that do not directly relate to their intended occupation, and such jobs are most often viewed as temporary (Feldman and Doerpinghaus, 1992; Morrison, 2002; Sinclair and Martin, 1999). Caregivers, who have been viewed as involuntary PT workers by some researchers and voluntary PT workers by others, held relatively positive attitudes, similar to FT workers and voluntary PT workers. Of particular interest is the fact that differences among clusters of PT workers were more numerous and striking than differences between PT workers and FT workers. FT workers were more satisfied with work and pay than involuntary PT workers, but in general were no more satisfied with, or committed to, their jobs than PT workers.Implications for research and practice\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explores the factors that might lead an individual to pursue part-time (PT) employment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper hypothesized that employees have very different motivations for PT working, and that these motivations will affect their work experiences. The paper builds on recent research focusing on attitudinal differences between \"voluntary PT\" and \"involuntary PT\" employees by developing and evaluating a measure of reasons for accepting PT work. Current full-time (FT) and PT employees from several samples (n=1,069) completed a survey including our reasons scale, plus measures of facet job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions.\nFindings: - Cluster analyses of reasons indicated four groups of PT employees - voluntary, involuntary, caretakers, and students. These sub-groups differed from each other, and from FT workers, on most outcome measures. Students and involuntary PT workers generally reported lower job attitudes and greater intentions to turnover than did caretakers, voluntary PT workers, and FT workers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research should attempt to sample a larger number of PT workers, and begin investigating understudied outcomes (e.g. task and contextual performance, actual withdrawal behavior).\nOriginality/value: - It is shown that PT workers are heterogeneous in both their reasons and their attitudes. The paper stresses the value of examining specific factors which result in an individual choosing to work PT in an effort to better understand his or her experiences on that job. A short measure is presented which may be used to further examine the implications of various reasons behind PT job choice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Food safety practices in milk collection centers in Turkey: a case study
|
[
"Milk",
"Dairy products",
"Food safety",
"Turkey"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Milk is a nutritive medium for pathogens, so that milk is listed among high risk carrying food products. It is estimated that 1.5 percent of foodborne illnesses are caused by milk (Bean et al., 1996). In the milk industry mistakes during the pasteurization process, consumption of unprocessed raw milk and dairy products, contamination of milk by heat resistant pathogens and chemical adultery in milk are the main threats to consumers. In addition to these threats the indirect effects of animal diseases on farms should be considered. Thus, adequate safety and quality practices and controls throughout the milk supply chain from farm to fork are important for food safety in the dairy industry (Piddock, 1998; Payne et al., 1999; Khan et al., 2000).The issue of quality and safety in milk and dairy products in the Turkish dairy sector gain importance as an expected result of relations with the European Union (EU). Currently, the common trend in the milk sector is towards a food safety approach that utilizes quality assurance systems such as; HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), GHP (Good Hygienic Practice) and ISO 9000 (Quality Management System Standards) (Demirbas and Karagozlu, 2007). Certain rules must be followed in all processing and distribution steps along the supply chain for food safety assurance. One of the most remarkable milestones of quality production is the farm-to-fork approach (SPO, 2006). This approach is a process that requires certain monitoring, and auditing is compulsory in the chain starting from the farming facilities and ending on the table of the consumer, especially for processed food products of animal origin such as dairy products. For this reason, in order to produce high-quality and safe milk and dairy products, as well as to build up food safety systems, the food safety approach should be realized by all means in the dairy farming sector, in which the industry is linked with an organic bond in terms of raw material. However, one of the most important obstacles hindering high-quality and safe production procedures in the Turkish milk and dairy industry is the shortage of hygienically milked and properly preserved raw milk (Demirbas and Karagozlu, 2006).As opposed to a proper organizational structure, the farming facilities which are the source of raw material for the dairy industry display a small-scaled patrimonial structure. According to the 2001 General Agricultural Survey data, there are 3 million farming facilities in Turkey and just 2.36 percent of them are specialist livestock farms (Tuik, 2007). This fact not only hinders the utilization of knowledge and technology in the farming facilities, but also cripples food safety in the farm to fork concept. The fact that the rates of contract breeding and cooperatives in Turkey, which enhance vertical integration between the farming sector and milk industry, are low, delays the solution of food safety problems. From this perspective MCCs play an important role between the dairy farming and dairy industries. In the poorly integrated Turkish dairy sector, MCCs add important values to the dairy farming facilities, the dairy industry and sustainability of the sector. They enhance the supply of safer and cheaper milk in adequate amounts for dairy processing firms. Specifically, they maintain a market guarantee for small scale farmers, considering the fact that in under-developed rural areas milk is a vital income source for the farmers. One of the important roles that MCCs play in the sustainability of the whole milk sector is to regulate the technical information transfer on production issues to the farmers and facilitate the farmers' education. In addition, as seen in some practices through the world, MCCs can supply feed, veterinary services and informative seminars on special topics for the dairy farmers (Urraburu, 2000; Hovhannisyan et al., 2005; Adesiyun et al., 2007).From the perspective of food safety for the consumers, they shorten the distance between the dairy farms and process facilities in the supply chain. Due to the time limitation on raw milk transportation, when the number of dealers increase, the quality of raw milk decreases, indicating the MCCs' direct role in food safety and maintenance of milk quality. In this study it was aimed to illustrate the position of the MCCs in the Turkish milk sector specifically from the food safety view.\nMaterials and methods: This paper consists of three data groups. The first is the statistics that contain the total number, addresses and the other achieved information of MCCs in the Izmir province, which are obtained from Rural Organizations of the Ministry of Agriculture. The data of The State Planning Organization (SPO) were also utilized for various statistics.Second group material consists of the data that are directly collected by surveys from the MCC managers. Third group consists of the related published material in Turkish and in foreign languages. The analysis of the data was performed by using E-views and SPSS statistics programmes.Izmir is situated in the west of Turkey and it is the third biggest city in Turkey in terms of population and economic indicators. Therefore, Izmir is the leading area in the country for dairy products. In 2006, 43 MCCs were detected in Izmir province. For this reason, face-to-face surveys were carried out with all of the MCC managers. The number of the MCCs based on districts of Izmir is as follows:* Tire (1);* Bayindir (15);* Odemis (9);* Kiraz (5);* Menemen (2);* Bergama (3);* Dikili (1);* Seferihisar (2);* Foca (2);* Aliaga (1);* Beydag (1); and* Kinik (1).Before the survey, a detailed questionnaire form was prepared. After some pre-surveys, the survey stage was carried out. In the questionnaires, first, questions related to data on the characteristics of the MCCs' and the managers' specifications were asked. A five-point Likert scale (Malhotra, 1996), in which \"1\" was set as \"highly inferior\" and \"5\" as \"highly superior\", was applied to collect data on the food safety practices and the problems confronted in MCCs, in addition to the managers' knowledge level on food safety and their practices as well.The grouping of the facilities was based on the milk collection capacity. According to this, the facilities were divided into three groups (Table I).The difference between the groups in the managers' and MCCs' specifications and the food safety applications in the MCCs were determined by one-way ANOVA (Statsoft, 2007) for continuous variables.For the continuous variables, a Normal Distribution test was applied by Jarque-Bera test (Gujarati, 2005; Akkaya and Pazarlioglu, 1998). For variables displaying normal distribution, analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was performed. For the variables not displaying normal distribution, Kruskall-Wallis test, which is a non-parametric one-way variance analysis, was applied (Statsoft, 2007a). It is often used for the data obtained from more than one independent sample to analyze whether the data shows the main trend for a single population. In the evaluation of other data descriptive statistics were applied. The interviews with managers were held during the period of July-September 2006.\nResults: General characteristics of milk collection centers and managers\nDiscussion: The results on the findings of the food safety applications in MCCs in Turkey could be expressed in three main groups. The first group depends on the structure of the dairy sector, which is closely linked with the small-scale farming in the Turkish agricultural sector that directly affects the capacity of the MCCs. In the second group, the current structural conditions of the MCCs are involved. Last group is related with the governmental dairy policy that involves the legal arrangements and their practices on food safety.1. One of the most important structural problems that restrict the food safety practices in the MCCs is the low rate of contract breeding and cooperativization in dairy sector. In addition, the financial deficiency of the present cooperatives to compensate the fund, which is, needed to staff experts on the field and quality control laboratories. The lack of experts and laboratory problem is also valid for the non-cooperative MCCs due to their low capacities.Encouraging the contract breeding in dairy sector is one of the key solutions to the lack of cooling tanks in the farms, which appears as the most important food safety problem, confronted by the MCCs.2. According to the findings of the survey, the MCC's have young supervisors but their education level seems to be rather insufficient. In addition, a low rate of experts from food and/or agricultural disciplines is employed in the MCCs, which affects negatively the food safety practices. The statements of managers in the surveys reveal that more than half of the MCCs the workers have had at least once a course on hygiene, but this rate appears to be inadequate for the food safety.3. Extra premium payments to quality milk and price cut for under quality milk are evaluated as appropriate policy tools, which same payment system is valid in the EU. However, organization of the sector based various type and multi-level educational programmes by the Ministry of Agriculture must be the primal aim of the governmental dairy policies. In this perspective, the education issue should be handled concisely and in details. The farmers' education on animal welfare and hygiene must be priory; rural organizations of the Ministry of Agriculture can organize short-term and continuous courses. However, the education of the MCC workers and managers must involve two steps, the first step is the effective information flow of the obligations in the food safety regulations, the second step is the application, and the requirement to fulfil these obligations stated in the regulations.Farmers, MCCs and the processing industry as a whole should endeavour to assure food quality throughout the supply chain. In addition, an effective organizational structure must be established to monitor food safety and related practices.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this study was to reveal the role and importance of the milk collection centers in Izmir in assuring food safety in the Turkish dairy sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A five-point Likert scale was applied to collect data on the food safety practices and the problems confronted in MCCs. The difference between the groups in the managers' and MCCs' specifications and the food safety applications in the MCCs were determined by one-way ANOVA for continuous variables. For the continuous variables, a normal distribution test was applied by Jarque-Bera test. For variables displaying normal distribution, analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was performed. For the variables not displaying normal distribution, Kruskall-Wallis test. In the evaluation of other data descriptive statistics were applied.\nFindings: - Because the milk in the MCCs is generally obtained from small-scale family farms, it is not of the desired quality from a food safety and food quality perspective. The quality control analysis of raw milk cannot be carried out because of the lack of qualified specialists and equipment inadequacies. The most general test applied on milk delivery is based on the monitoring of the sensory properties of the milk.\nResearch limitations/implications: - All MCCs were covered in the sample size of the research and the questionnaires were applied to all 43 MCC managers in Izmir.\nPractical implications: - An effective organizational and educational structure must be established to monitor food safety and related practices in MCCs.\nOriginality/value: - The paper adds to the body of knowledge on procecessors and their attitudes to food safety and suggests implementation of various practices which could improve results.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Future strategic considerations and development priorities for national museum libraries
|
[
"Information technology",
"Scenarios",
"Strategic planning",
"Digital age",
"Museum libraries",
"National museums"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Museum libraries have been described as \"an information system within an information system\" (Navarrete and Mackenzie Owen, 2011). This is due to the similarity of purpose that they share with the museums to which they belong, most obviously in terms of the acquisition and management of cultural resources and the support provided for learning and research. Museum libraries therefore have a role which is quite distinct and different to that of many other types of libraries. However, as Koot (2001) notes, the position and influence of museum libraries within their organisations is often not as clear cut as this portrayal might appear. Koot, referencing a study of museum libraries undertaken by Esther Bierbaum (1996), describes how issues relating to lack of organisational status, funding, and staffing, coupled with low utilisation rates, means that many museum libraries frequently struggle to maintain a suitable level of visibility or make a significant impact within their museums.\n2. Literature review: To set these research questions in a wider frame of reference, it is useful to first examine some of the main strategic and operational issues that have impacted national museum libraries to date. However, due to the limited available literature on the specific theme of national museum libraries, these issues are considered here from the perspective of museum libraries generally.\n3. Methodology: This study was undertaken over an eighteen month period between 2014 and 2016. It assesses the main strategic considerations faced by national museum libraries over the following decade, and examines possible strategic development priorities they may enact to address these.\n4. Findings: The findings from the research are reported in two parts, with the results of the online survey presented first followed by the results of the semi-structured interviews.\n5. Discussion: The findings of the survey and the interviews show that there is fairly strong agreement about some of the key external and internal issues that are likely to impact upon and influence the strategic development path of many national museum libraries over the next decade. In particular, there was a clear sense of the likely direction of travel in two specific areas: technological infrastructure and development, and strategic positioning and prioritisation.\n6. Conclusion: National museum libraries function within rapidly evolving landscapes. Externally, the socio-technical environment is constantly progressing, and digital technology is exponentially growing. Internally, the museum programmes that libraries support are regularly changing, and the research and information needs of the museum staff they serve are becoming more diversified.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the main strategic considerations facing the libraries of national museums over the next decade, and to examine anticipated future service and resource development priorities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was undertaken, consisting of a quantitative research phase followed by a qualitative phase. An online survey was sent to the head librarians of two hundred national museum libraries for the quantitative phase. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with the head librarians at seven national museum libraries for the qualitative phase. The survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the interview data were analysed through use of recursive abstraction. Mixing of the data occurred following the qualitative phase.\nFindings: National museum libraries are facing a complex array of future challenges and opportunities as a result of a rapidly changing socio-technical landscape, evolving organisational needs and priorities and ongoing operational constraints. The main strategic considerations for many national museum libraries relate to their preparedness for these issues, and their ability to deliver services and resources that are relevant, required, and responsive to the future research needs of internal and external users. It seems likely that development priorities will focus on consolidating high impact services and resources, whilst also expanding provision into new areas that have the greatest potential for growth.\nOriginality/value: This study identifies issues of strategic importance for national museum libraries and examines the main priority areas being considered by museum librarians as they prepare to develop their libraries into the third decade of the twenty-first century.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The expatriate family: an international perspective
|
[
"Expatriates",
"Family",
"Cross‐cultural studies",
"Sociology of work"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The number of expatriate assignments continues to rise. Recent studies by consultancies (GMAC, 2006; Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2006) show substantial continuing growth in the numbers of people sent abroad by their organizations. The consultancies report that about 60 per cent of expatriates are accompanied by a spouse or partner, and about half are accompanied by children. Before the assignment 60 per cent of partners were employed, but only 21 per cent worked abroad. Historical averages going back to 1993 are of similar magnitude (GMAC, 2006). Academic research (Dickmann et al., 2006) confirms the findings, with three-quarters of a UK sample of expatriates being accompanied by at least one family member[1]. These numbers attest to the continuing importance of family issues and the work-family interface in expatriate assignments. In spite of this, research on expatriate assignments has paid only comparatively little attention to expatriate families, focusing instead on the adjustment of individuals.This paper attempts to outline the theoretical elements of expatriate families' adjustment to living abroad. In particular, we:* develop a model of expatriate family adjustment based on family stress theory (Patterson, 1988, 2002a) by focusing on demands, capabilities and shared meanings in families on assignment;* explore the notion of crossover among family members and discuss variables that influence the crossover process; and* show areas of systematic omission in expatriate family studies.\nThe history of research on expatriate family adjustment: Although the literature on expatriate families is scant, it contains the seeds of a theoretical approach to the topic. Cleveland et al. (1960) were among the first authors to include a family perspective in a book on living abroad. Nash (1967, 1969) included the \"domestic side of a foreign existence\" as part of his study of American expatriates in Spain in the early 1960s. Hays (1971, 1974) investigated factors playing a role in success and failure of expatriate employees. To the variables commonly studied at the time he added preparation and support by the company, language skills, and the adaptability and supportiveness of the family among others. Cohen's (1977) extensive review of expatriate communities had a few words to say about the expatriate family. He pointed out that expatriate communities tend to be male-centered, that while the husband's working life is \"continuous\" the wife bears the burden of transferring family life, and that those women who had worked at home but had to stop while abroad faced the most difficult situation. These authors did not provide fully-fledged analyses of expatriate families' adjustment. Rather, their contribution was restricted to recognizing that the accompanying partner or family faced a situation that was distinctly different from that of the expatriate employee and that warrants separate attention.At the beginning of the 1980s, Tung published some influential articles (Tung, 1981, 1982, 1984), in which she identified the family as a critical success factor in expatriate assignments. One of her articles pointed to \"the inability of the manager's spouse to adjust\" as the major problem for US and European multinational companies (Tung, 1982). To this day this statement plays a role in academic and professional publications on the topic. Harvey (1985) pointed out that, despite this, research on expatriate assignments did not pay much attention to families. He discussed issues in selection and adjustment abroad, including the partner's and children's perspectives. His and Tung's contributions could be called \"expatriate-centric\", because spillover from the family into the work domain is the reason for the family focus. Black and colleagues (Black and Stephens, 1989; Black and Gregersen, 1991a, b; Black et al., 1991; Stephens and Black, 1991) looked at partner adjustment as a separate area for research. In addition, they investigated the crossover between partner and expatriate adjustment. Forster (1992) offered a theoretical contribution in answer to Black et al. (1991) that gave the partner and family more prominence in the overall model. Yet the model itself remained rather unclear. Fukuda and Chu (1994) added a Japanese perspective to the research on family variables in expatriate employee adjustment. Their study was expatriate-centric, but was one of the few to include respondents outside of the English-speaking world.Caligiuri et al. (1998) referred to family systems theory when they analyzed spillover between family and work adjustment of expatriate employees. This was an innovation in expatriate studies. Partner and family variables continue to feature in expatriate research (Shaffer et al., 1999, 2000; Kraimer et al., 2001). Takeuchi et al. (2002) explicitly looked at both crossover and spillover effects among expatriate couples for the first time, and others followed (van der Zee et al., 2005). Recently, initial attempts have been made to integrate theoretical knowledge from family studies into the theory of expatriate adjustment (Westman et al., 2006).In order to lay the groundwork for the discussion of expatriate family adjustment it is necessary to introduce relevant concepts from both family and expatriate studies.\nOverview of relevant concepts: Adjustment and adaptation\nElements of a family perspective in expatriation: Having introduced some key concepts we now turn to discussing some of their implications as we focus on the elements of dyadic and family crossover in expatriate adjustment.Crossover among individuals may involve all types of demands. A straightforward crossover may be the stressors of one partner creating stressors for the other partner, or the strains experienced by one causing strain in the other (Bolger et al., 1989; van der Zee et al., 2005). The crossover may also be more complicated in that the stressors of one partner produce strain in the other, and vice versa, i.e. one partner's strain results in a stressor for the other. Similar dynamics are likely to exist regarding daily hassles (Westman and Etzion, 1995, discuss these relationships, though using a different terminology). Crossover is not limited to demands. It includes capabilities, too (Westman, 2001). Resources may be shared and effective coping behaviors may be passed on among family members. The impact of positive coping behaviors of one member will be felt by the others as well.Crossover can have a positive or negative direction. Demands may reinforce each other, leading to greater demands as a result and vice versa. Alternatively, some demands may actually reduce others. One study found that cognitive demands at home and at work were negatively related to burnout and positively to work engagement (Bakker et al., 2005). While this is a spillover phenomenon, there is good reason to assume crossover as well since the cognitive demands of home are influenced to some extent by all family members. The challenges of learning a new culture and, possibly, a new language can be interpreted as cognitive demands for expatriates. As long as the capabilities of the individuals and the family are sufficient, an international move may have a positive effect. The so-called \"honeymoon\" phase (Oberg, 1960) in expatriation may be related to the positive effect of demands. Only as demands pile up over time and exceed the adjustment capabilities of the expatriate family does crisis result.The potential positive effect of demands is also recognized in stress theory via the recognition of qualitative and quantitative \"underload\" as work stressors (Greenberg and Baron, 2003). Expatriate partners who give up their jobs may eventually experience boredom and underload in addition to a loss of professional status. They may feel overload at first - regarding culture, language and setting up a new family life - followed by underload in terms of having too much time on their hands. Like demands, capabilities may also have a reinforcing or weakening effect. In most cases support and effective coping will further strengthen a family's capabilities. Sometimes, however, this does not hold true. One study found that family support related to a partner's work problems increased rather than decreased burnout (Westman and Etzion, 1995). The authors emphasized that support has to be relevant for the situation to create the desired results. This raises some interesting questions about support provided by companies to expatriates and their families. The wrong type of support may aggravate rather than alleviate problems. We will return to this issue later.Crossover may occur as a result of conscious processing of information, as Westman (2001) points out referring to social learning theory. Partners empathize by imagining how they would feel in the other's place. Alternatively, crossover may be automatic: an involuntary synchronization of feelings called emotional contagion (Goleman, 1995; van der Zee et al., 2005). Goleman (1995) cites research showing that even strangers synchronize their moods while just sitting next to each other and waiting. Not everything that appears as such is actually crossover (Westman and Etzion, 1995; Westman, 2001). If a demand on one individual causes a reaction in another individual, we can speak of crossover. Alternatively, both individuals may be affected by a common demand causing independent reactions, which might otherwise appear to be crossover. One necessary condition to speak of crossover is a time lag between individuals' reactions. But a lagged reaction is not sufficient to show crossover. Individuals may have realized the demand at different times or may show reactions at differing speeds.Demands on expatriate families\nConclusion: Evidence from expatriate and from family research shows systematic omissions and points out questions about expatriate families that can guide future research in the area.The literature on expatriates and expatriate families covers only some of the demands and capabilities discussed. Many of the variables studied fall into the category of independent stressors. Strains, which result from ongoing tensions, do of necessity not feature in a field that has produced hardly any longitudinal data sets. It would be interesting to find out which stressors eventually lead to strains for expatriate families and the conditions under which this happens. Further, are stressors and strains equally likely to cross over among family members, and if not, which ones do so the most? These questions are important for effective planning and support of expatriates and their families by companies. Stressors that lead to strains as well as stressors and strains likely to cross over from one family member to another should get special attention in the design of effective support programs. While outside the scope of this paper, these questions are also relevant for spillover among different roles of expatriates. The third type of demands, i.e. daily hassles, also has not been studied systematically. It might be productive to find out the impact of the various items in the Hassles and Uplifts Scale (DeLongis et al., 1988) on the adjustment of expatriates and their families. Again, this would help in the planning of assignments and targeted support provided by companies to expatriates.Expatriate families face more demands than single expatriates. They also have capabilities that go above and beyond those of individuals. There is very little research on the resources and coping behaviors of families. We know about the role of personality characteristics in expatriate adjustment (Caligiuri, 2000a, b; Graf and Harland, 2005; Mol et al., 2005). We do not know if and how personality characteristics of family members impact the adjustment of others. The crossover and compensation of personality characteristics will differ between expatriate and partner; the expatriate has more opportunity to influence directly the adjustment in all domains of a non-working partner than vice versa; the partner can influence work adjustment of the expatriate only remotely. The family as a resource, its structure, organization, cohesion, and communication skills, etc., has received little attention. There is a need to raise theory and empirical research on expatriates from the level of the individual to the level of the family unit in order to gain additional insights into the process of cross-cultural adjustment overall. In addition, companies would benefit from recognizing the full impact of families on expatriate assignments and involving families more in selection. Awareness by the company of the special issues faced by families is a crucial element in adjustment and its support. Such awareness can alleviate many problems. From the company's perspective, the degree of involvement of families should vary for optimal results depending on factors such as the overall difficulty of the posting and the criticality of the mission for the business. Future research based on the model advanced here will uncover specific contingencies for the better management and support of expatriate assignments that involve families.The drawing in Figure 2 incorporates and modifies Patterson's (1988, 2002a) ideas to provide an overview of some important areas of study in the field of expatriate family adjustment.Figure 2 shows possible interactions among various demands and capabilities of a two-person family. The drawing focuses on adjustment and excludes the crisis-adaptation dynamic, which may follow a lack of adjustment with the resulting pile-up of demands. One person's stressors may become stressors for the other; they may develop into strains for either or both. Stressors and daily hassles are, by definition, independent of each other. Clearly not all paths shown will turn out to be relevant. In order to design studies on expatriate families systematically researchers should consider all the paths to be aware of the scope of their approach.The ethics of sending families abroad\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to review and explore the relatively neglected notion of the adjustment of expatriate families to living abroad with the aim of developing a new model that can be used for future research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on the few studies of the topic that have been carried out, but widens the search to include evidence from the related adjustment and family stress literature to create a new model of the process. Using the ideas of stressors, strains and hassles, capabilities, and shared meanings, the paper examines the situation of the expatriate family and explores how families can adjust to life in another country.\nFindings: - By adopting a salutogenic approach and incorporating insights from these other literatures, the paper shows that family adaptation is a complex and many-faceted process. It is a process that greater awareness on the part of the family and the organization can improve.\nResearch limitations/implications: - With the help of the model of family adjustment the paper points to systematic gaps in studies on expatriate families and outlines a consequent research agenda.\nPractical implications: - Awareness is a crucial element in adjustment. The paper shows that awareness by the family can alleviate problems, and that organizations employing members of the family can assist in the adjustment process for the family.\nOriginality/value: - The contribution of the paper comes in its attempt to encompass what is known about expatriate family adaptation directly with a wider view of family adjustment. This provides both a practical framework for future research and some practical implications.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Promoting sustainability in a college cafe by opposite-sex cashiers
|
[
"Customer behaviour",
"Sustainability",
"Gender",
"Evolutionary psychology",
"Green marketing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Universities and colleges today attempt to promote sustainable behaviors on their campuses. Many attempts focus on curricula that educate students to act more sustainably (Blewitt and Cullingford, 2004; Dawe et al., 2005; Roberts and Roberts, 2007). However, some have claimed that conventional pedagogy may have limitations (Hopkinson et al., 2008; Mulder, 2010; Podger et al., 2010) and that experiential interventions can be more effective (Hull et al., 2016; McCormick et al., 2015). One of the ways to encourage students to experience sustainable living is through green campus initiatives. These initiatives allow the students to engage actively in green practices (Watson et al., 2015).\nMethod: Observations were conducted on 324 students (60 per cent male) who purchased cold drinks in disposable cups from a college cafe in Israel. For the purposes of the experiment, customers were offered the choice of adding 20 cents to their purchase for a bio-degradable cup that was visibly different from the standard plastic cup and that had the word \"Compostable\" printed in black near the bottom. This green practice was chosen because customers perceive the use of bio-degradable cups as a key green practice (Jeong et al., 2014). Students, specifically, view recycling as the most effective green practice and prefer it over alternatives such as eating organic or composting food (Campbell-Arvai, 2015).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: People engage in green consumption for many reasons, both conscious and unconscious. This paper aims to draw on evolutionary psychology to propose that hard-wired mating strategies encourage both men and women to increase their green consumption in the presence of members of the opposite sex.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Observations were conducted on 324 students who purchased cold drinks in disposable cups from a college cafe. The students were offered the choice of adding 20 cents to their purchase for a bio-degradable cup.\nFindings: Overall, 160 students agreed to pay the premium for a bio-degradable cup, with green purchases 46 per cent higher among women and 61 per cent higher among men when facing a cashier of the opposite sex.\nOriginality/value: The findings suggest that the activation of mating cues prompts students to display prosocial, altruistic behavior and/or to engage in conspicuous consumption (i.e. agreeing to pay more for the sustainable product). The study was conducted in the field using naive participants and demonstrates the application of evolutionary psychology to green marketing. It also adds to what is a surprisingly small literature on the effect of employee-customer gender mismatch.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Foreclosure loss severity and distressed home mortgage refinance
|
[
"Transaction cost",
"Housing crisis",
"Coase",
"Foreclosure",
"Loss severity",
"Refinance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Watershed financial industry events have combined to change the role of home mortgage finance in the US financial markets. In particular, ubiquitous securitization across the housing finance industry has turned home mortgage debt into a major sector of the secondary debt market, which has strengthened links between the home mortgage market and primary market sources for other secondary debt market sectors. At the same time, an increasingly prominent role within housing finance for subprime mortgage debt has created a point of vulnerability within the home mortgage market where none had existed. The events have combined to transform the vulnerability into a source of instability for the entire US debt market.\nTransactions and associated costs: Black et al. (1991) defines a transaction as follows:transaction: the conduct of any business between two or more parties that involves an act, agreement, or several acts or agreements, in which alteration of the legal rights of the participants occurs.\nModeling FCs: Coase (1960) shows that a universe without transaction costs is an excellent starting point for analysis of obstacles to value-increasing property transactions. As illustrative examples, Coase (1960, pp. 2-8) introduces and analyzes the now-paradigmatic problem of the rancher's cows in the farmer's corn and revisits the Pigovian analysis of fire damage caused by sparks from antiquated railroad engines (Coase, 1960, pp. 29-34).\nQuantifying individual model input parameters: The model in the previous section suggests that financier FC can be quantified by Equation (6) together with parameter values for the set {i, s, t, w, L}. Each parameter can be expected to display both idiosyncratic variability and dependence on various systemic factors, for example, borrower creditworthiness, mortgage market regime at loan origination, initial loan-to-value ratio, loan-to-value ratio when default occurs, real estate market regime when loan default occurs, and whether the legal jurisdiction favors statutory or judicial foreclosure in event of uncured borrower default, to list just a few. Nevertheless, there is enough constraint on the real-world variability of individual parameters to enable assignment of representative parameter values to compute the financier's FC and loss severity for some purposes, such as to determine whether as-yet-undefined new refinancing products can introduce meaningful transaction cost reduction based on knowledge of the essential financial characteristics of the new products.\nFCs: origin and avoidance: Financier FCs have their origin in the resolution of conflicting property rights of home buyer and lender in the event of a financing default. The costs arise in effecting an involuntary change of property ownership and use rights if the home buyer does not cure the default or consent to voluntary ownership and use rights transfer.\nReducing FCs: As discussed, substitution of the above-described all-equity refinancing structure for refinance with mortgage debt reduces the duration of foreclosure by replacing ownership transfer and property sale with lessee eviction and property sale. This section shows that the FC model developed above quantifies at least part of the financier's FC reduction.\nConclusion: The extensive literature relating to the economics of the housing crisis includes recognition that the crisis persistence resulted in part from \"key forces originating from within the housing market itself [...] (reflecting) the costs that an unwieldy and inefficient foreclosure process imposes on homeowners, lenders, and communities\" (BGFRS, 2012, p. 1). Absence of an analytical model of foreclosure process dynamics made it difficult to cope with the persistence part of the market problem by directly addressing the foreclosure process cost. However, the present study suggests that regarding foreclosure as a transaction or a transaction component could provide a way around the difficulty.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The problem in alleviating homeowner mortgage distress through refinance is how to achieve meaningful alleviation without prospectively harming the financier. The problem revolves around two parameters from real estate finance - the probability that the distress leads to foreclosure and resulting foreclosure loss severity for the financier if foreclosure does occur. Previous analysis focuses on reducing the probability that homeowner distress leads to foreclosure. By contrast, the purpose of this paper is to focus on reducing foreclosure loss severity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study develops a new intuitive formula for foreclosure loss severity to quantify its dependence on transaction costs. The study shows that foreclosure loss severity reduction is feasible by introducing a new refinancing instrument that lowers foreclosure transaction costs and applying property law to derive the structure of the refinancing instrument.\nFindings: Foreclosure loss severity reduction can subsidize concessions on scheduled payments for homeowners with arbitrarily poor credit without prospective harm to the financier.\nResearch limitations/implications: Quantification of mortgage distress relief is limited to distressed mortgages described by representative parameter values from various government studies.\nPractical implications: For most distressed homeowners, payment and principal reductions could exceed those available from the recent government programs.\nSocial implications: Implementation should significantly enlarge the pool of homeowners eligible for mortgage distress relief.\nOriginality/value: The mortgage refinance is qualitatively different from that available under existing government refinance programs because it is based on an arms-length exchange of property rights that makes market sense regardless of whether the refinancing results in subsequent homeowner default.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
High-priority directions of modernization of university education in innovational society
|
[
"University education",
"Modernization",
"Innovation-oriented economy",
"Innovational society",
"Pedagogical education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the most important characteristics of modern stage of development of the global economy is orientation at the development of innovational society and formation of innovation-oriented economic systems. Innovations are the most important factor of competitiveness of countries in the global economy and the most important condition for their growth and development. The role of innovations as a tool of anti-crisis management and factors of stable and sustainable economic growth is generally acknowledged.\n2. Transformation of the role of university education under the conditions of transition to innovational society: 2.1 Peculiarities of innovational society and role of innovations as a key driver of its development\n3. Problems and perspectives of modernization of university education in innovational society: 3.1 Substantiation of necessity for modernization of university education under the conditions of transition to innovational society\n4. Discussion: As a result of the research, the offered hypothesis was proved, and it was confirmed that development of innovational society requires modernization of university education, for which corresponding recommendations were offered. Their realization supposes increase of interest of each participant of the educational process in its result.\n5. Outlook: It should be concluded that the experience of modern Russia could be useful for many other countries with the same problems in university education. In particular, certain closeness and internal orientation is peculiar for the Asian counties, while a low level of knowledge of English is peculiar even for some European countries, e.g., France. Joint solution of these problems can ensure higher effectiveness during the development of innovational society.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to verify the offered hypothesis and to determine high-priority directions of modernization of university education in an innovational society by the example of modern Russia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: During the empirical study of connection between university education and innovational development of economy, the author uses the method of correlation and factor analysis.\nFindings: As a result of the research, the author has come to the conclusion that under conditions of transition to innovational society, there is transformation of the role of university education from the means of transition of knowledge and skills, necessary for practical activities, to a platform for the creation of innovations. The author analyzed the peculiarities of innovational society and found out that innovations that are the key driver of its development are provided by the system of university education.\nPractical implications: Practical value of the work consists in a possibility for use of the developed recommendations for modernization of university education in the innovational society in modern Russia and other countries with similar problems.\nOriginality/value: Theoretical importance and scientific value of the performed research consists in the development of innovational society and innovations-oriented economy, as well as the concept of university education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Investigating directionality for a media consumption construct: Establishing the utility of confirmatory vanishing tetrad analysis
|
[
"Mass media",
"Multivariate analysis",
"Modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: When analysing questionnaire items and relations between latent variables (LVs hereafter), social researchers make decisions concerning the directionality of all path relationships. At the level of construct validity this involves assessing indicant directionality before testing structural relations within the posited model. The present study is designed to examine the treatment of constructs as formative or reflective, and indicant directionality.The paper proceeds by first discussing the germane literature concerning theoretical and empirical approaches available for testing directionality. Second, the construct employed in the present analysis, that is, \"mass media consumption information exposure\", is examined. In doing so, particular emphasis is placed on the origins of the construct, before a post hoc test termed the confirmatory vanishing tetrad analysis (CTA) test is applied in order to establish whether this construct should be treated either as a formative or reflective operationalisation of the LV. Third, a CTA is undertaken with this LV, and the results are presented. The analysis undertaken involves the testing of data assumptions for appropriate CTA results behaviour. This paper aims to raise the awareness of CTA for research implementation within the marketing and logistics disciplines. The business domain has selectively applied CTA in recent times within the information systems (Klein and Rai, 2009) and international business literatures (Bucic and Gudergan, 2004; Venaik et al., 2004, 2005) but its application suffers from a lack of awareness and adequate knowledge for implementation in the marketing and logistics domain. Finally, discussion focuses on recommending practical guidelines that researchers might follow when implementing research of the type discussed. This includes some caveats underlying the CTA results obtained.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Directionality assessment methods\n3 Methodology: 3.1 Sampling and data collection\n4 Empirical analysis: First, all values within the data file were visually inspected. This was undertaken to determine whether values were within acceptable ranges and to ensure that the data were complete. This resulted in a useable sample of 585. The item polychoric correlations are presented in Table I.The preliminary data analyses and results are comprehensive to circumvent the identification problems one might experience later on when selecting an appropriate estimator to derive the model-implied covariance values for input into the CTA SAS macro. To determine whether to apply the newer macro (Hipp et al., 2005), an assessment of data normality was undertaken with PRELIS 2 (Joreskog and Sorbom, 2006a). As shown in Table II, there would be sufficient evidence that the assumption of multivariate normal data appears to be violated (Mardia, 1970, 1985; D'Agostino, 1986). Such a test shows that the combined hypothesis of having no skewness and kurtosis was rejected.Next, the CTA analyses were undertaken. As stated previously, this required the data input of the PCM and the ACM. Also, the implied population covariance matrix represents the estimated results for a single factor congeneric model estimated within the Mplus CBSEM software. This Mplus syntax is presented in Appendix 2. The Hipp et al.'s (2005) macro was subsequently run and the CTA result was kh2=14.814 with 10 df, p=0.138 (see the SAS syntax in Appendix 1) with n=585. This resulted in over 100 pages of tetrad output before the kh2 result is calculated. Overall, the test reveals that the possibility of this construct being reflective cannot be ruled out. The results imply that the theorising in earlier stages of conceptual and definitional development would need to provide solid reasons for choosing a formative specification, as this CTA result is in conflict with what has been established previously.However, following the steps suggested by Bollen and Ting (2000), it was checked whether the outcome could be affected by possible:* lack of power; and/or* near-zero (p>0.05) item correlations to vanishing tetrad.The authors suggest that the possibility of modest power may lead the non-significant tetrad test statistic. However, considering n=585, it would seem unlikely that this had occurred in the analyses being reported herein. Nevertheless, using the LR power test given in Preacher and Coffman (2006), it was concluded that power was not an underlying issue (cf.>0.9). Then, the item correlations (Table II) were analysed and, in reading the matrix, it was observed that seven correlations were not statistically significant. Thereby, it can be deduced that the reason why the tetrad vanishes is due to non-significant item correlations. To double check this assertion, a one-factor congeneric measurement model was examined using the LR test configuring the model as being reflective. The LR suggested a bad overall model fit, with a kh2-value of 99.1 with 14 df and a p-value=0.000, Comparative Fit Index=0.881, Tucker-Lewis Index=0.822, and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation =0.102. These results would appear to be incongruent with the reflective indicator model configuration.These results raise questions in regard to the CTA data analysis method chosen. As it exists, the conceptual argument for this construct being treated as formative is deemed to be sound. Consequently, it is believed that the conceptual development should be given more weighting in deciding what type of orientation ought to be used[3]. The next section outlines some of the issues emanating from the results. In particular, the issues regarding analytical process for directionality determination and functioning of CTA are outlined.\n5 Discussion: The contribution of this work is that it alerts researchers to the process they might follow when establishing directionality, that is, a theoretically driven process that employs post hoc testing. The implementation of this type of analysis is not always straightforward due to the required formatting and shifting of data output between software packages. Transferring the relevant saved binary PRELIS file matrices into an ASCII text format using another program, bin2asc.exe, was found to be cumbersome. Accordingly, as of this writing, the use of Mplus to run such analyses is highly recommended.It is believed that researchers ought to implement data driven directionality tests post hoc as a part of standard analytical procedure, especially for constructs that have not been replicated with multiple studies and are developmental. This fits within the spirit of most social research and also with what Joreskog and Sorbom (1993) outline as understanding whether one's work is strictly confirmatory, alternative models or model generating. Joreskog (1993) suggests that most social research may be more concerned with model generating. Engaging in post hoc directionality testing allows researchers to test alternative models as part of the measurement model validation process. The need for testing alternative models in structural equation modelling has much support (Joreskog, 1993; Kline, 1998; MacCallum and Austin, 2000). Overall, it is believed that, with the increasing level of computational ease with which such tests will be able to be run, it offers a valuable decision aid to researchers.Notably, most marketing literature making use of CBSEM reports on models that have a reflective measurement configuration. However, there are also situations where the researcher may have difficulties to theoretically and empirically advocate such a structure configuration. This paper highlights the importance for marketers to become cognizant of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods they apply. Our study results do not find adequate support for our a priori directionality expectations for the construct under investigation. As such, this study has outlined some reasons why this may not be the case in regard to CTA. In this respect, we have presented a substantive example to highlight those issues. Bollen et al. (2009) have recently attempted to raise awareness of directionality issues and CTA application in the important medical research domain. Similarly, one of the goals of this study was to increase the awareness of marketing and logistics researchers of the method offered therein.It is to be noted that in the present study, although CTA was only run on a single construct, the technique also offers some clear advantages when testing nested structural models. These advantages are outlined in Bollen and Ting (2000) and, in a branding context, within Wilson et al. (2007). It can be argued that researchers are at risk of inherently focussing too intently on the vast array of fit measures and predictive diagnostics that currently exist within available CBSEM output, at the expense of considering directionality issues pre and post hoc. An investigation of alternative and equivalent structural models is necessary if managerial studies are to be more highly regarded. Kline (1998) suggests that this should be standard research practice. The main concern regarding the CTA results not being to prior expectation remains. The properties of a tetrad are not without estimation problems, that is, it is the difference between two covariance pairs. For the data used in this study, the vanishing tetrad test which entails calculating the product of all covariance permuted combinations is significantly affected by a number of small covariance values tending towards zero. The product between two covariance terms trending toward zero contributes to a tetrad that is not sufficiently robust and sensitive. That is, the difference between a product of zero and zero is a misnomer[4]. Herein lies one of the main problems with the CTA approach, and future researchers are urged to check covariance values in the future. Modifying or constraining values may be one choice if the problem is isolated within a couple of covariance pairs. Future research is also called for to outline stages of directionality testing procedure, and much of the choice is at the analyst's discretion.\n6 Conclusion: It is apparent that, in the theoretical development and model building stages of research, many assumptions are made about causal direction and may not be subsequently revisited. The mixed approach forces the researcher to address these issues again. It is noteworthy that, mentioning a more recent recommendation by Coltman et al. (2008), all researchers ought to follow extensive theoretical development and also investigate directionality hypotheses for constructs and models post hoc. The debate may now revolve around weighting. Should conceptual development dominate post hoc results when in conflict? This is open for future researchers to address. The approach espoused herein does, at least, allow the reader to determine the \"state of research\" rather than presenting work labelled as definitive and strictly confirmatory when it may, in fact, be more developmental in nature. Here, it is not implied that conceptual directionality is not important. In fact, it is the cornerstone of good research practice. Improving presentation transparency and improving pragmatic reporting is called for. Not considering directionality issues with alternative models post hoc may be a small problem when the model is based on extremely well-established theoretical underpinnings, that is, when the evidence is clear cut. Alas, this is often not the case in much social science research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - When assessing the psychometric properties of measures and estimate relations among latent variables, many studies in the social sciences (including management and marketing) often fail to comprehensively appraise the directionality of indicants. Such failures can lead to model misspecification and inaccurate parameter estimates. The purpose of this paper is to apply a post hoc test called confirmatory vanishing tetrad analysis (CTA hereafter) to a single construct called mass media consumption information exposure, which antecedent studies conceptually posited to be a formative (causative) representation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper analyses a consumer sample of 585 US respondents and applies the CTA test to a single construct by its inclusion in various matrices within a statistical analysis system-macro that takes into account nonnormal data characteristics. The matrices are derived from Mplus 5 through the estimation of a single-factor congeneric model. The CTA test calculates a test statistic similar to an asymptotic kh2 distribution with degrees of freedom equal to the number of nonredundant tetrads tested.\nFindings: - The preliminary data analyses reveal that the data characteristics are nonnormal which is not uncommon in social research. The CTA results reveal that the reflective (emergent) item orientation cannot be fully ruled out as being the correct model representation. This is in contrast to prior theoretical conceptual work which would strongly support this construct being a formative representation.\nOriginality/value: - Insofar as the authors are aware, there is no paper with a particular focus on how the CTA might not provide sound results with a demonstrated example. The paper makes a valuable contribution by discussing modelling philosophy and a procedure for directionality testing. The authors advocate the implementation of pre and post hoc tests as a key component of standard research practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Towards task-sensitive assistance in public spaces
|
[
"Human-computer interaction",
"Assistance system",
"Cooperative problem solving",
"In situ study",
"Mobile information behaviour",
"Mobile information needs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Chatbots have seen increasing interest in recent years (e.g. Chandel et al., 2018; Ma and Ho, 2018). One particular focus has been on acquiring knowledge about the cohesiveness of discourse across multiple turns based on dialogue corpora (e.g. De Gasperis et al., 2013; AbuShawar and Atwell, 2013; Callejas-Rodriguez et al., 2016). State-tracking capabilities of chatbots have seen less interest, though. This is a major research gap, in particular with respect to mobile chat-based information companions which may be used in scenarios where providing information in a timely manner is highly important. These activities, which are often performed in public spaces, are frequently standardized, resulting in two challenges for people: first, the correct order of sequences is less obvious for inexperienced persons (e.g. first time air passengers). Second, disruptions of the sequence of activities by unforeseen events may require users to find alternative solutions (e.g. switching modes of public transportation in case of breakdowns of a bus). In both cases, the perceived complexity of the activities performed in public spaces increases heavily, even for experienced persons. Personal information systems capable of tracking the current state of the activities can provide a means to reduce this perceived complexity. Building systems requires major implementation effort, though. With these costs in mind, it is useful to, first, understand the benefits a chatbot with basic capabilities to track a user's state within a particular workflow might even have.\n2. Related work: Three different strands of prior evidence are important for the work presented in this paper. The first of these provides a justification for studying personalized assistance by reviewing literature on delivering information in public spaces. The second field of interest is concerned with state-of-the-art, goal-oriented chatbots which focuses on the importance of task awareness to provide meaningful personalized assistance. Finally, the third part of this section deals with existing mobile information systems providing assistance to airport passengers.\n3. Learning about information needs: The discussion above suggests that information, tailored to an individual user's situation can be provided via smartphone, in particular as smartphones can be used to track the user's current task. A model of the workflow to be tracked is, however, required to enable the development of suitable task-tracking algorithms. With this aim in mind we conducted interviews with both passengers and information personnel. We will, first, provide descriptive information about these interviews. We, then, move on to the most important aspects emerging from these interviews. While the interviews conducted with experts reveal which information needs are to be fulfilled by an information assistant, the passenger interviews reveal their mental model of the workflow. Two main conclusions can be drawn from these interviews. First, there is an ideal workflow leading to successful boarding according to the experts. The passengers' mental model is in line with this workflow which seems to be rather simplistic on first sight. Passenger interviews indicate, however, that it is sufficient to successfully complete boarding. The second conclusion relates to the importance of context because the situation passengers are in is unfamiliar to many of them.\n4. Evaluation method: This section details, first, the latent variables (LVs) used in our study, the hypotheses about their relationships and their measurement, which, in combination, result in a structural equation model. We move on to justify the size of the sample in the study. Third, the acquisition of control (non-AIRBOT users) and treatment (AIRBOT users) group participants will be outlined. Finally, descriptive statistics will shed light on the participants in both groups.\n5. Data analysis: Based on these descriptive statistics, the data analysis conducted comprises three steps:\n6. Discussion: In applying PLS path modeling the user study presented yields three major results:\n7. Conclusion and future work: This paper reports on a least-effort study about the impact of task-tracking capabilities in chat-based mobile information companions. To this end, we implemented AIRBOT, a chatbased smartphone companion which provides assistance to air passengers during passenger services. Given the goal of a least-effort study, AIRBOT only provides minimal functionality to track passengers between arriving at an airport and boarding their plane; its main feature is the ability to monitor changes in workflow states over time and, thereby, to provide information proactively at the right time. Understanding this workflow is, consequently, a key element of the system design. Conducting interviews with both information personnel and passengers revealed that it is most important that the application can assist users in handling tasks at the right point in time or within the required time frame. Based on an in situ user study contrasting AIRBOT users and non-AIRBOT users, we provide evidence that task-tracking capabilities, albeit very basic by design, have an impact on the way passengers perceive waiting time, covered walking distances and time pressure at airports. While AIRBOT's workflow is specific for the airport domain, the general approach employed can be transferred to other domains which require users to perform a task by adhering to a predefined workflow. In scenarios like these the integrating basic task-tracking capabilities in proactive and personalized mobile chatbots is a suitable means to increase user satisfaction.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Performing tasks in public spaces can be demanding due to task complexity. Systems that can keep track of the current task state may help their users to successfully fulfill a task. These systems, however, require major implementation effort. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if and how a mobile information assistant which has only basic task-tracking capabilities can support users by employing a least effort approach. This means, we are interested in whether such a system is able to have an impact on the way a workflow in public space is perceived.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors implement and test AIRBOT, a mobile chatbot application that can assist air passengers in successfully boarding a plane. The authors apply a three-tier approach and, first, conduct expert and passenger interviews to understand the workflow and the information needs occurring therein; second, the authors implement a mobile chatbot application providing minimum task-tracking capabilities to support travelers by providing boarding-relevant information in a proactive manner. Finally, the authors evaluate this application by means of an in situ study (n = 101 passengers) at a major European airport.\nFindings: The authors provide evidence that basic task-tracking capabilities are sufficient to affect the users' task perception. AIRBOT is able to decrease the perceived workload airport services impose on users. It has a negative impact on satisfaction with non-personalized information offered by the airport, though.\nOriginality/value: The study shows that the number of features is not the most important means to successfully provide assistance in public space workflows. The study can, moreover, serve as a blueprint to design task-based assistants for other contexts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Impact of fashion innovativeness on consumer-based brand equity
|
[
"Brand image",
"Brand loyalty",
"Fashion innovativeness",
"Lovemarks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Brand equity is the brand's overall strength (Aaker, 1991). Brand equity refers to the value derived from consumer recognition of the overall superiority of a particular brand, which raises a firm's competitive advantage based on brand value propositions besides low price (Lassar et al., 1995). According to Keller (1993), consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) occurs when a brand's marketing mix leads to the following consumer responses: familiarity with the brand; favorable, strong and unique brand associations; and consequent consumer loyalty toward the brand. Brand associations consist of the amalgamation of meanings that a consumer connects to a brand (Aaker, 1991). These associations are categorized as cognitive, sensory or affective dimensions, yet most branding studies concentrate on the cognitive aspects of consumer associations (Cho et al., 2015).\nTheoretical framework: extended CBBE theory: Researchers (i.e. Esch et al., 2006) have emphasized the centrality of cognitive aspects of consumer associations in branding. A few studies (i.e. Chang and Chieng, 2006; Esch et al., 2006; Low and Lamb, 2000) have acknowledged sensory and/or affective aspects of consumer associations along with cognitive associations. However, these associations have been geared toward a particular product category or cursorily addressed. The present study adopted the extended CBBE theory developed by Cho et al. (2015) to provide a parsimonious brand equity model for fashion-related brands. Cho et al. (2015) illustrated that brand awareness and the three brand image dimensions lead to a lovemark, which consequently affects consumer loyalty toward fashion-related brands. It offers all three aspects of cognitive, sensory and affective associations applicable to a range of fashion-related brands. Cho et al. (2015) proposed brand image is a three-dimensional construct that consists of mystery, sensuality, and intimacy. Mystery captured cognitive associations shaped by great stories as well as past and present interactions with a brand. Sensuality reflected sensory associations formed by pleasant visual, olfactory, auditory and tactile sensations from the store and product. Intimacy captured affective associations shaped by a consumer's commitment to the brand and enjoyment from interacting with the brand. Cognitive (Manlow and Nobbs, 2013), sensory (Clarke et al., 2012; Manlow and Nobbs, 2013) and affective associations (Manlow and Nobbs, 2013) are central to impactful fashion-related brand experiences. Therefore, research supports the relevance of the tripartite nature of fashion-related brands in Cho et al.'s (2015) extended CBBE theory.\nLiterature review: Fashion innovativeness and CBBE\nMethod: Sample and data collection\nResults: Preliminary data analyses\nDiscussion and implications: Consumers having high FI may contribute to long-term brand success because they increase brand awareness (Goldsmith and Flynn, 1992; Goldsmith et al., 1999) and perpetuate positive brand associations (Beaudoin and Lachance, 2006), important elements of brand equity. Despite the potential importance of FI to brand success, the present study appears to be the first to confirm how FI relates to brand image variables in an extended CBBE model (Cho et al., 2015) for fashion-related brands. FI was associated with the importance of all three brand image dimensions - cognitive, sensory and affective associations. These dimensions, in turn, led to brand love and respect (i.e. a lovemark), as well as a lovemark experience, consequently contributing to brand loyalty.\nLimitations and recommendations for future research: Brand experiences vary by age and culture (Zhang et al., 2014). Therefore, caution must be given to generalization of the present results to all US consumers and consumers outside the USA The focus on fashion-related brands affects generalizability to other product categories because esthetic (sensory) aspects are more critical to fashion-related products than other product categories (Fiore, 2010). To further validate the scale and verify the role of FI in building brand equity, future research could test the brand image scale and extended CBBE model with consumers in other countries and other product categories. Finally, future research could explore other consumer characteristics (i.e. fashion involvement, status consumption, identity expressiveness) that may affect variables leading to CBBE.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationships between fashion innovativeness (FI) and brand image dimensions (cognitive, sensory and affective associations) for favorite fashion-related brands, the contribution of these dimensions to lovemarks (brand love and respect) and lovemarks' consequent effect on brand loyalty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A Web-based survey was conducted using a national sample of 2,492 US male and female consumers between the ages of 18 and 76. Structural equation modeling tested the hypotheses.\nFindings: Results indicated positive, statistically significant associations between the six variables. Among the three brand image dimensions, sensory associations exhibited the strongest relationship with FI, whereas lovemarks displayed stronger relationships with cognitive and affective associations. Lovemarks affected loyalty toward fashion-related brands.\nResearch limitations/implications: The survey of the US consumers and the focus on fashion-related brands may limit the generalizability of the findings. This empirical study illustrated how FI impacts an extended consumer-based brand equity model.\nPractical implications: Fashion-related brand managers should not only promote pleasant sensory associations to attract those with a high level of FI but also promote cognitive and affective associations to foster lovemarks (high brand love and respect) to achieve the end goal of customer loyalty.\nOriginality/value: Even though consumers with a high level of FI may contribute significantly to long-term brand success, past research has not explored the relationship between FI and the factors that lead to consumer-based brand equity. The present study is the first to examine the role of FI in fostering brand equity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Innovation strategy in the US: top executives offer their views
|
[
"Strategy",
"Innovation",
"Culture",
"Alignment",
"Fortune 1000",
"Performance management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Box 1\nIs the innovation nation still working?: The USA is still the leading economy in the world as measured by the total GDP, but over the next 20 years, this is predicted to change, as the USA will yield to the economies of China and India. The one way to slow or reverse this regression will be through innovation. This is not a new discussion, but it has taken on new relevance as economic recovery in the USA has been slower than expected.\nThe many faces of innovation: The DNA of innovation is grounded in almost every functional discipline of management and includes leadership, processes to support innovation activity, knowledge management and execution. Frameworks and matrices abound outlining the spectrum of innovation. They range from one dimensional for a new product development focus to multi-dimensional and disruptive, forces of which attempt to set existing industries back to zero or create such value that entire new industries are spawned.\nDefining and measuring innovation health in the USA: Innovation has been widely defined, but not always fully understood. The definition ranges from being uni-dimensional (a measure of R&D expenditures or the number of new patents registered) through to a transformational, enterprise level approach. We define innovation as \"the creation, development and implementation of a new product, service, process or business model, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or competitive advantage\". In this sense, innovation may create new or improved customer value, more competitive business models and contribute to more nimble organization designs. At the organizational level, the output of enterprise level innovation is ultimately reflected through how much value is created. At the country level, growth in GDP beyond that of organic growth is predicated on the aggregated value created by organizations (Figure 2).\nFindings of the F1000 survey: One of the leading questions this survey set out to answer is the current measure of innovation orientation amongst America's largest organizations. Our findings suggest that US business is just beginning to catch the wave of innovation. The aggregate profile is presented in Figure 3, followed by the top-level findings:\nManagerial considerations (operational): The model used in this research is based on peer-reviewed published research outlining 12 drivers across the four tenets supporting innovation in organizations. Each one of these four tenets is further considered below.\nManagerial considerations (strategic): Closing the perception gap\nBehind the numbers: We have described what a 68 per cent IHI is, but an even more interesting story is told behind the numbers. The standardized demographic profile of the F1000 is wide, and given the large number of respondents to this survey, we were able to drill down and consider differences in innovation orientation based on industry, business performance and other top-line factors where we had sufficient response to support the analysis. Overall, F1000 rank and overall revenue do not play a role in the score. These markers resulted in small variances. There was a considerable variation by relative industry performance, position held in the organization, level of optimism and by industry. The IHI varied by up to 5 per cent by industry and position held, and by over 20 per cent when considering performance and optimism. Those in the top 10 per cent of their industry (financial performance) averaged 73 per cent, while those in the bottom 50 per cent based on performance averaged a score of 51 per cent. These differences are stark but not surprising given the evidence we have about the relationship between innovation and performance.\nFinal thoughts: Innovation will be key to global competitiveness and advancing the agenda will be a first step in addressing the crisis drift in major economies. Our findings would suggest that US business is just beginning to catch the wave of innovation. Currently, the scores suggest that US firms could greatly prosper from innovation leadership aimed at closing the gaps identified. By adopting systematic and planned approaches to innovation, combined with innovation leadership at the executive ranks, we feel that the IHI score could be moved by 5 per cent in the short term, and even higher in the long term. This would firmly place US organizations on a path to regain a dominant innovation position worldwide.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The USA is the world's largest economy, but is it a leading innovation nation? As economies mature and slow in growth, innovation will prove to be a key driver in maintaining transient advantage. This article presents a pulse on innovation in the USA as F1000 C-suite executives weigh in on their organization's innovation health. It also compares the US score with proxy benchmark measures in other countries, and provides operational and strategic considerations to advance innovation platforms in US organizations. Managers will gain insight into common hurdles faced by some of America's most prominent companies, as well as how to improve innovation practices in their own organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This current article reports on findings of innovation health in the USA based on responses from 1,127 F1000 executives (manager level and higher). F1000 executives report their innovation culture through completion of an innovation culture model survey developed by the authors. The F1000 is a listing created by Fortune magazine detailing the 1,000 largest companies in the USA based on revenues. This survey is considered one of the largest surveys on innovation culture in the USA to date.\nFindings: One of the leading questions that this survey set out to answer is the current measure of innovation orientation amongst America's largest organizations. Our findings suggest that US business is just beginning to catch the wave of innovation. Other major findings include: innovation amongst the F1000 is average at best; innovation is random and incremental; innovation strategy is missing in most organizations; there is an executive/employee innovation perception gap; innovation governance is missing; employees can not be blamed for a lack of innovation; and companies that fail to innovate will struggle even more.\nPractical implications: There are a number of operational and strategic considerations presented to support the advancement of innovation in organizations. These include considerations around the leadership, resources, knowledge management and execution to strategically support innovation.\nOriginality/value: This is an original contribution in that it uses a scientifically developed model to measure innovation culture. It is the largest survey of innovation to date amongst the US Fortune 1000, and the finding present considerations to advance the innovation agendas of organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Time banks, co-production and foresight: intertwined towards an alternative future
|
[
"Co-production",
"Foresight",
"Time banks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The financial crisis experienced by several European countries since 2008 paved the way for several types of different service provision models in an effort to overcome or limit the negative impacts of the austerity measures on income, employment and quality of life in general. At the same time, there is a growing trend that people become more conscious about their lives, want to be more informed and take action in the shadow of falling trust to established institutions and governments.\n2. Time banks in context: 2.1 Definition, origin and evolution\n3. Analytical framework: The literature as analysed in the previous section provides insights in relation to the possible rationale, aims, operation, impacts and core values, as well as the novelties of time banks in relation to the mainstream market economy and their potential in contributing to new models such as sustainable development. These are summarised in Table I.\n4. Analysis of the features of time banks in Greece: 4.1 The wider context\n5. Foresight in the service of communities and vice versa: The time banks studied are wide social networks that aim to strengthen public engagement while building individual and collective social capital. They take pride in adopting principles such as direct democracy in decision-making, equality in valuing and reciprocity. Their main focus is on community-building, collective action and building new social institutions around wealth, value and work, encouraging different/more sustainable consumption and production patterns and, consequently, ways of living. In terms of future orientation they aspire to multiply at the local level and connect to similar-minded ventures in Greece and beyond thus cultivating people's minds and attitudes in bring wider societal change towards more sustainable and resilient communities.\n6. Conclusions: The financial crisis in Greece has been the main cause for the emergence of several forms of alternative currencies. Among these forms, time banks are an important group. They have been \"alive\" for less than three years, but the underlying enthusiasm of their members is remarkable. Being born within the context of the recent financial crisis that still haunts the country, they present significant differences in relation to the time banks covered in the available literature, which have existed ever since the 1980s in the USA or the 1990s in the UK. On the one hand, they apply the same core values that infuse the broader concept of co-production: recognising people as assets, valuing work differently, promoting reciprocity and building social networks. On the other hand, they operate in a unique way implementing the principle of direct democracy, equality and openness in participation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the emergence, operation and features of the time banks that were created during the recent financial crisis in Greece as grass-roots initiatives of different communities, and to examine their relation to the concept of \"co-production\" and possible relevance to foresight. Time banks are particularly interesting for the future of services: they address all sorts of services while the time-bank \"value\" of these different types of services does not necessarily reflect their actual value in the free market; impacts may spread from the mere coverage of people's needs, to increased social capital and community empowerment; and some scholars consider them as flexible forms of co-production, or even as enablers of wider social change. The purpose of the paper is to examine the emergence, and features of the time banks created during the recent financial crisis in Greece as grass-roots initiatives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Primary information and data were gathered through eight extensive face-to-face interviews with key members of the four time banks based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The methodology also included desk research and review of the information included in time banks' websites. The selection of these four time banks was based on the fact that they are the most active ones in Athens, which is the capital of the country gathering around 40 per cent of the Greek population and presenting the severest consequences of the financial crises in terms of unemployment, poverty, shutdown of businesses, share of people with no insurance, etc.\nFindings: Based on a specific analytical framework summarising the available literature, the Greek time banks are compared with each other but also in relation to the findings in the literature, where some interesting differences emerge. The paper also explores the role that foresight can plan in the development of alternative initiatives like time banks. The interesting conclusion is that foresight can help time banks as much as time banks can help foresight in upgrading its processes to deal with challenges of the twenty-first century.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research focuses on the four most active time banks in Athens. While this selection is justified, future research would be good to include all the time banks in Greece.\nSocial implications: The paper explores how time banks in Greece emerged as well as how they can further develop. This is of direct relevance to society as time banks are by default a community initiative.\nOriginality/value: Time banks in Greece have not been previously studied. Second, time banks in general were never linked to approaches like foresight. This becomes increasingly important in examining possible approaches toward more sustainable and resilient societies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Marketing communications in planned shopping centres: evidence from the UK
|
[
"Shopping centres",
"Marketing communications",
"Promotion",
"Corporate branding",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and research context: Planned shopping centres - defined as planned retail developments comprising various retail outlets which are under one freehold ownership and managed and marketed as a unit (Guy, 1994) - are an integral part of the retail landscape of the UK (Guy, 1994; Howard, 1995, 1997; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999). They have been extensively researched. Much of this research has focused on the attributes of these centres (e.g. McGoldrick and Thompson, 1992a, b) and their impact - particularly on unplanned retail provision in town centres (e.g. Guy, 1998, 2000; Howard, 1992; Williams, 1992; Williams, 1991). Yet despite the move toward \"off-centre\" retailing (i.e. out-of-town and/or edge-of-town locations) in the UK over the last 30 years (of which planned shopping centres have been a crucial element), town centres and the planned shopping centres within them remain a vital force in the UK retail industry. The continuing importance of planned shopping centres to traditional urban retail centres remains key - Hillier Parker (2002) state that town centre-located schemes account for over 80 per cent of shopping centre floorspace under construction.Another research theme relating to planned shopping centres is consumer preference and patronage (e.g. Burns and Warren, 1995; Finn and Louviere, 1990, 1996; Gautschi, 1981; Nevin and Houston, 1980; Severin et al. 2001). Shopping destination choice has been frequently modelled, and Frasquet et al. (2001) identify two different objectives to this research: market share estimation to aid locational decision making, and identification of the factors determining shopping centre selection.However, explicit attention to the management, and particularly the marketing, of planned shopping centres has been somewhat lacking in comparison. As centres face a more intensely competitive environment (Dennis et al., 2002; Frasquet et al., 2001; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999; Parsons and Ballantine, 2004; Sit et al., 2003), the need for effective marketing and promotion is increasingly acknowledged (Dennis et al., 2002; Howard, 1995, 1997; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999).\nThe marketing task for planned shopping centres: The specific characteristics of planned shopping centres and the implications for their management have been considered (Dennis et al., 2002; Howard, 1995, Dawson, 1983; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999). Howard (1995, 1997) identifies three broad manageable elements of shopping centres: access and accessibility (both within the centre and to and from the centre itself); range and specialisation (of the tenant mix within the centre); and internal environment and service. Utilising a services marketing perspective, Kirkup and Rafiq (1999) expand this into eight elements which they divide into pre-opening and post-opening (or 'active marketing') elements:1. Pre-opening elements:* Centre location;* Internal design;* External design; and* Tenant mix.2. Post-opening elements (active marketing):* Customer services;* Cost;* Participants; and* Communications.At the pre-opening stage tenant mix in particular is perceived to be very important (see Dawson, 1983; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1994; McGoldrick and Thompson, 1992a). The importance of early letting to appropriate anchor tenants who are \"major space users\" (Guy, 1994, p. 43) is critical to success (Abratt et al., 1985; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1994). Once in place, these aspects \"can be extremely difficult and costly to manipulate\" (Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999, p. 123). It is acknowledged however, that centres will need to adapt and change in response to external forces, and that the ongoing maintenance of a centre's market positioning and image will most likely require periodic incremental change.Indeed, issues relating to market positioning are also an explicit element of post-opening decisions, if a centre is to remain relevant to the needs and wants of its target catchment area. Parsons (2003) argues that managers of planned shopping centres need to be sensitive to customers' patronage motivations, identifying two broad motivation types - hedonic and utilitarian - which will have implications for ongoing promotional activities. The importance of segmentation is emphasised by Frasquet et al. (2001), who regard effective segmentation and positioning as indicative of a strategically-oriented approach to shopping centre management.For Kirkup and Rafiq (1999), post-opening decisions (or \"active marketing\") refer to such issues as customer services, cost, participants and communications. They distinguish between \"relief\" services (e.g. seating, toilets, telephones) and \"distraction\" services (e.g. food outlets, entertainment), stating that \"the quantity and quality of service elements can be the basis of an effective differentiating tool\" (1999, p. 127). Although planned shopping centres do not charge customers for admission, Kirkup and Rafiq emphasise that customers do incur costs, particularly in terms of time and effort expended (and also monetary cost in terms of travel and/or car parking). They state that \"centre managers need to constantly ensure customer costs are competitive relative to other forms of shopping\" (1999, p. 127). \"Participants\" with whom the shopper comes into contact (in this context, customer service staff, operational staff, security officers, store staff and other shoppers), will influence customers' perceptions of the shopping centre, and thus need to be \"managed\" as far as is possible.Kirkup and Rafiq highlight the importance of marketing communications in the management of shopping centres:Communication strategies are critical, because the success of a shopping centre requires a change in the shopping habits of customers and communication is critical to encouraging and sustaining such change (1999, p. 126).This is reiterated by Dennis et al. (2002), who argue that many of the concepts of branding (including the use of marketing communications to increase brand awareness) can be applied to planned shopping centres. They argue that applying the concepts of branding in this context and \"building brand values\" could provide significant benefits relating to shopper satisfaction, rental levels and asset value (2002, p. 357). They articulate the concept of \"active brand management\", many of the components of which (e.g. \"general layout\", \"access by car\", \"cleanliness\", \"quality of stores\") have much resonance with those elements identified by Frasquet et al., 2001), Howard (1995, 1997) and Kirkup and Rafiq (1999).It has been argued that planned shopping centres satisfy \"the commonly accepted characteristics of a service' (Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999, p. 121). Using Booms and Bitner's (1981) conceptualisation of the extended services marketing mix, Kirkup and Rafiq's eight manageable elements can be classified as follows:1. Pre-opening elements:* Product - tenant mix and Interior design;* Physical evidence - exterior design; and* Place - location.2. Post-opening elements:* Price - costs;* People - participants;* Process - customer services; and* Promotion - communications.The concept of the marketing mix involves the blending of the various elements. This holds true in this specific context as all the pre-opening elements (i.e. product, physical evidence and location) are inter-linked, as are the various post-opening elements. If, as Dennis et al. (2002) argue, planned shopping centres can be thought of as brands, then the blending of these various elements to develop an offer which will lead to customer preference - which as Doyle (1994) argues, is the point of branding - is a key issue for management. However, if some of these key branding decisions in the context of planned shopping centres have been made at the pre-opening stage, then the autonomy of centre managers on a day-to-day basis could arguably be confined to a limited range of elements, specifically people, process and promotion. The remainder of this paper will specifically focus on marketing communications (promotion) activities. Such activities have been identified by various authors (e.g. Dennis et al., 2002; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999; Parsons and Ballantine, 2004), as being of crucial importance in developing centre image, which itself is an important determinant of consumer patronage (Dennis et al., 2002).In doing this, the framework used to structure the analysis is Shimp's (2000) hierarchy of decision areas in the marketing communications process. The first two of Shimp's main decision areas relate to \"structuring the organisation for marketing communications decisions\" and \"monitoring and managing the marketing environment\". They provide what might be regarded as a corporate context for the third stage, comprising more detailed operational \"brand-level marketing communications decisions\". In this particular context such corporate decisions may be made at the shopping mall \"group\" level, relating to owner (or management) groups that have a portfolio of malls (Parsons and Ballantine, 2004).Within the context of these corporate decisions, more operationally-oriented 'brand-level' communications decisions need to be made. Shimp (2000) classifies such decisions into three broad areas - general choices (i.e. targeting, objective setting and budgets); specific choices (i.e. mixing the communications mix elements, creating messages and selecting media) and programme evaluation (i.e. measuring results). In the context of an individual planned shopping centre it could be argued that many of Shimp's general choices (particularly centre positioning and budget allocation) will be made at the pre-opening stage. Specific choices (i.e. blending the various marketing communications mix elements, creating messages and selection of appropriate media) relate to the ongoing post-opening management elements. However, the distinction between pre- and post-opening decision areas may not constitute a complete dichotomy as initial pre-opening decisions may have to be periodically and incrementally adjusted in order to remain relevant to market needs, as noted above.Shimp states that, \"the touchstone of all marketing communications activities is ultimately the ability to enhance a brand's equity\". He argues that, \"brand equity is enhanced when consumers become familiar with the brand and hold favourable, strong and perhaps unique associations in memory about the brand\" (Shimp, 2000 original emphasis). He regards \"enhancing brand equity\" as the final stage in the marketing communications decision process.\nResearch design: This research is part of a wider study into the marketing of urban shopping destinations more generally, the results of which are reported in Warnaby et al. (2002, 2004, 2005a, b).After three exploratory semi-structured interviews with three town centre-based shopping centre managers relating to their knowledge and use of marketing principles, the main stage of the research comprised a postal questionnaire. This investigated two main areas: the nature of the process by which marketing/promotional activities were planned; and the actual \"marketing\" activities used by respondents (and their perceived importance), with particular reference to marketing communications activities, as this factor was identified from the qualitative research as being particularly relevant. The questionnaire was administered to shopping centre managers in urban shopping destinations classified as major city, major regional, regional and sub-regional in the Management Horizons Europe UK Shopping Index (MHI) 1998-1999 (MHE, 1998) - 173 destinations in total across the whole of the UK.Respondent details were obtained from the listing of shopping centres in the UK Retail Directory (2002), and for each of the shopping destinations relevant managed shopping centres were identified. In all, 282 possible respondents were identified, to whom the questionnaire was administered. Of these, 118 questionnaires were returned, constituting a 42 per cent response rate. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, the results of which are reported below.\nResults: The overwhelming majority of respondents in the quantitative stage implemented marketing/promotional activities (n=116). Only two respondents claimed not to carry out any \"marketing\"1. This section discusses the use of promotional activities and is structured using Shimp's (2000) broad decision areas at the brand level - general choices, specific choices and programme evaluation.General choices\nConclusion: The literature on planned shopping centres highlights the importance of the promotion element of the marketing mix, particularly at the post-opening stage (e.g. Frasquet et al., 2001; Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999; Parsons, 2003). This article has investigated the use of marketing communications activities in town-centre based planned shopping centres in the UK using Shimp, 2000 framework for brand-level marketing communications decisions (comprising both general and specific choices, and also programme evaluation).Many of Shimp's general choice areas (particularly targeting) relate to decisions made at the pre-opening stage (which as Kirkup and Rafiq, 1999, argue may be hard to subsequently change later), and as such provide a context for the specific choices which are the main focus of this article. Fill (2002) notes that an organisation's specific choice of marketing communications activities should focus primarily on those target customers the organisation seeks to satisfy. In this particular context, the primacy of the general public at the local/regional level, and also local/regional media (as a channel to reach the general public), has been highlighted. The range of communications activities used by planned shopping centres certainly focuses on these target groups.Shimp (2000) states that the purpose of communications activity is the enhancement of brand equity. Indeed, the need for differentiation is a key theme in the literature on planned shopping centres (e.g. Frasquet et al., 2001; Parsons, 2003; Sit et al., 2003), and the issue of planned shopping centres as brands is attracting more attention (Dennis et al., 2002; Frasquet et al., 2001). Given the inflexibility of many of the elements of the planned shopping centre marketing mix, it could be argued that the most effective, ongoing way to enhance brand equity - though the generation of familiarity and strong or unique associations in the minds of customers (Shimp, 2000) - will be through the use of marketing communications activities, which will themselves become an increasingly important element of the overall marketing mix in this context.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper investigates brand-level marketing communications decisions of town centre-based planned shopping centres in the UK.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Following exploratory semi-structured interviews with town centre-based shopping centre managers, the main stage of the research comprised a postal questionnaire. This investigated two main areas: the nature of the process by which marketing/promotional activities were planned; and the actual \"marketing\" activities used by respondents (and their perceived importance), with particular reference to marketing communications activities. The questionnaire was administered to shopping centre managers in urban shopping destinations classified as major city, major regional, regional and sub-regional in the Management Horizons Europe UK Shopping Index - 173 destinations in total across the whole of the UK.\nFindings: - The results are structured using Shimp's categories of general choices, specific choices and programme evaluation. Regarding general choices (i.e. targeting, objectives budgeting), centre positioning was regarded as very important and key target audiences were general public and media at the local/regional level. Objectives focused on raising centre profile and improving footfall. Centres spent an average of 13.6 per cent of operating budget on promotional activities. With regard to specific choices (i.e. mixing communication elements, creating messages), the most widely used promotional elements were found to be press and radio advertising, events and festivals, leaflets and other promotional literature and also public relations. Evidence of integration between communications elements existed although there is potential for greater synergy.\nOriginality/value: - Research into the marketing of planned shopping centres has been somewhat lacking in comparison to other aspects of their operations. As centres face a more intensely competitive environment, the need for effective marketing and promotion is increasingly acknowledged, and this paper provides evidence of the current use of marketing activities in this context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Cultural context in word-of-mouth activity: How consumers respond to monetary incentives in WOM
|
[
"Theory of reasoned action",
"Word-of-mouth",
"Consumer incentives",
"Cross-country study",
"Mobile couponing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Offering consumers incentives to engage in WOM activity is a common marketing instrument in companies' marketing strategy (Ryu and Feick, 2007). Marketers can utilize incentives, such as coupons, to create word-of-mouth (WOM). Coupons can influence the social dynamics of WOM activity, because the senders and/or receivers of these coupons receive an incentive to engage in WOM. Marketing managers thus need to decide how couponed incentives should be divided between WOM senders and receivers. To investigate this budget allocation issue, we investigate a generic form of incentivized WOM by means of mobile technology - a mobile coupon (M-coupon) that consumers share by forwarding it to their friends. According to Hsueh and Chen (2010), most e-WOM studies have not, to date, addressed the sharing of M-coupons.\n2. Literature review: According to research from the behavioral economics field, people are more motivated to perform a particular behavior if they receive a larger proportion of the provided incentive (Ahrens et al., 2013). This causes a dilemma for marketing, because a \"reward both\" program can provide an M-coupon to both parties (senders and receivers) of an incentivized WOM. The question arises: should companies provide senders and receivers with equal or unequal incentives?\n3. Method: Our experimental study aims to investigate H1-H8. We thus manipulated the variable incentive differentiation (different vs not different). Furthermore, we utilized two product categories (McDonald's vs Starbucks) as prototypical examples in our experiment. As we are interested in generalized results, we do not differentiate between the two product categories. Instead, findings should provide a general basis for understanding influence that the receivers' attitude and subjective norms have on their behavioral intention to redeem an M-coupon.\n4. Findings: SEM was undertaken to assess the structural model fit and test the hypothesized relationship between the constructs (see structural model Figure 2). The result of the SEM indicated a good model fit with kh2/df ratio: 4.3; GFI=0.86; CFI=0.88; NFI=0.85; IFI=0.88; TLI=0.86; RMSEA: 0.07.\n5. Discussion: This study analyzed social effects in WOM activity by examining mobile coupons as a novel tool of incentivized WOM. We investigated an important incentive component of mobile coupons, namely the incentive differentiation between senders and receivers. We elaborated the receivers' perspectives regarding the distribution of incentives and compared the perceptions of consumers from a Western society and those from an Eastern society. German receivers represented Western society and Indonesian receivers Eastern society. To shed light on the context of incentivized WOM, our study highlighted receivers' perception of different amounts of incentive by using the TRA (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980).\n6. Implications: This paper contributes to the scientific literature in various ways. We provide a holistic view of the causal effects of incentivized WOM on receivers' attitudes toward, and behavioral intention to redeem, an incentivized WOM coupon. We add a new point of view by comparing a Western and an Eastern society's perspective on incentivized WOM. An experiment was executed, using a mobile coupon as a novel tool of incentivized WOM. We focused on the key component of an incentive, namely its distribution between senders and receivers. Marketing managers can use the findings to divide resources between all the participants in a WOM activity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how monetary incentives foster purchase intention in WOM settings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study investigates offering mobile coupons as an incentive and word-of-mouth (WOM) tool. An empirical study compares achievable effects on WOM behavior in an Eastern cultural context, which an Indonesian sample represents, and in a Western cultural context, which a German sample of incentivized WOM represents.\nFindings: Providing senders and receivers' with differing incentives leads to German consumers having an unfavorable attitude toward such incentives, but not for Indonesian consumers. Furthermore, Indonesian consumers base their decision to redeem mobile coupons more on their personal judgment and their overall deal proneness, while German consumers rely on their personal judgment and on others' opinion.\nResearch limitations/implications: There is a need to explore more countries to enrich the Western and Eastern cultural perspectives.\nPractical implications: Western firms should consider providing senders and receivers with the same incentives. Alternatively, a non-transparent strategy might be a solution. For firms located in Indonesia, or in other Eastern societies, the transparency of the provided incentives is not a main concern, because inequality is not a big issue in an Eastern society, while senders' or receivers' deal proneness character strongly influences their intention to redeem a coupon.\nOriginality/value: The use of a mobile coupon as a novel incentive and WOM tool.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Effect of dining experience on future intention in quick service restaurants
|
[
"Service quality",
"Convenience",
"Food quality",
"Ambiance",
"Overall satisfaction",
"Quick service restaurants"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As the restaurant industry continues to expand rapidly across the USA, more people are choosing to eat outside of their homes. The quick service restaurants (QSRs) have evolved in the USA as the demand for such types of foodservice convenience increased. In 2018, consumer spending inside the QSR restaurant segment in the USA was $299bn (Lock, 2019). Consequently, competition has become fiercer as more QSRs are opening and new restaurant concepts are being introduced into the foodservice market. Subsequently, the competition between all QSRs could result in placing more challenges on the foodservice operators to provide their customers with superior dining experiences (Mason et al., 2013). For QSRs to have enduring success, operators should adopt strategies to improve customers' experiences, and thereby, increasing perceived customer satisfaction, which could lead to future behavioral intentions (Bagozzi, 1995).\n2. Theoretical background and hypothesis development: 2.1 QSRs' dining experience attributes\n3. Method: 3.1 Instrument design\n4. Results: To analyze the proposed framework, this study conducted a two-step process including assessment of the measurement and structural models. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to assess the measurement model (i.e. the latent variables (LVs) and their related observable items) and the structural model (i.e. the relationship between LVs) (Ali et al., 2018; Hair et al., 2017).\n5. Discussion: The results of current study could not support the mediation role of overall satisfaction between dining experiences factors (e.g. food quality, service quality, convenience and ambiance) and future intention. The results showed that the food quality, service quality, convenience and ambiance directly influence on future intention of visitors to come back and repurchase, and their overall satisfaction does not matter in this issue. Therefore, the findings of this study indicate that food quality, service quality and convenience are strong predictors of both overall satisfaction and intention to revisit and recommend QSRs. However, our study results indicated that ambiance did not directly influence the customer overall satisfaction in a QSR setting, which is consistent with previous studies on fast food restaurants (Pettijohn et al., 1997). This could be explained that customers are more focused upon food quality, service quality and convenience than ambiance attributes of QSRs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the dining experience including food quality, service quality, convenience and ambiance on overall satisfaction and customers' intention to revisit in quick service restaurants (QSRs). In addition, the mediating effects of overall satisfaction between dining experience dimensions and customer intention to revisit have been investigated in this study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected online from 278 participants in the USA and analyzed using partial least square structure equation modeling (SmartPLS).\nFindings: Food quality, service quality and convenience are strong predictors of both overall satisfaction and intention to revisit and recommend QSRs. However, ambiance did not directly influence the customer overall satisfaction in a QSR setting, Also, overall satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between the dining experience attributes and future intention to revisit and recommend QSRs.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study makes a significant contribution to the QSRs literature by examining the effects of dining experience on satisfaction and intention to revisit, as well as the meditation role of satisfaction. Moreover, this study has several practical implications for QSRs practitioners and foodservice marketers. Self-selection to take the online questionnaire is considered one of this study's limitations.\nPractical implications: Restaurant managers, especially in the QSR segment, could benefit from the outcome of this study by utilizing their limited resources on improving their customers' satisfaction and restaurants profitability.\nSocial implications: By understanding which attributes of the dining experience value most during their visit to QSRs, this study aims to provide some insight on how to improve QSR customers overall satisfaction and future intention.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique as it applies attributes from fine dining and casual dining attributed to QSRs in the USA. In addition, this study is the first on QSRs to use SmartPLS as statistical tool for analyzing the collected data and simultaneously accounting the relationships between the constructs introduced in this study.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Determine the optimal capital structure of BOT projects using interval numbers with Tianjin Binhai New District Metro Z4 line in China as an example
|
[
"Optimization",
"Risk management",
"Project management",
"Decision support systems",
"Strategic management",
"Novel model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Urban infrastructure is the material basis to realize urban modernization. In China, for a long time, urban infrastructure development is mainly financed by fiscal investment and financing (Adams et al., 2006) and largely influenced by the change of financial revenue, which leads to the increasingly acute contradiction between the construction expenditure of urban infrastructure projects and the relative shortage of funds (Zhan et al., 2017). To solve these problems, diversified financial models are needed (Zhao et al., 2018). The BOT scheme is considered to be a suitable financial option in promoting transportation infrastructure development (Zhang and Kumaraswamy, 2001). However, due to the long construction period and the large amount of investment of urban infrastructure projects, there are many uncertainties affecting the investment, output and income of the projects in the process of construction and operation (Kumar et al., 2018; Jeong et al. 2016; Wibowo and Kochendorfer, 2005). When making decisions on financing urban infrastructure BOT projects, social capital should consider both the economic and the financing feasibilities of a project and comprehensively and truly reflect the risk of cash flow of the project so as to accurately judge the economic strength of the project and achieve project investment success (Feng et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2015; Yun et al., 2009).\nLiterature review: In the economic evaluation of the feasibility study of BOT projects, after completing the project investment estimate, it is necessary to analyze the source of project funds and financing plan and comprehensively consider the ratio between project equity and debt, which is a problem of capital structure in financial management. The theory of capital structure originates from the MM theory of Modigliani and Miller (1958, 1963), which proposes that the capital structure is independent of company value. After considering a default cost and tax shield effect, scholars paid attention on an optimal equity ratio that maximizes the value of the firm (Williamson 2010). Researchers also found that debt can be used as an alarming indicator to decrease the agent cost, and the optimal equity ratio is the trade-off between agent cost and debt cost (Myers and Majluf, 1984; Myers, 1993). The traditional optimal capital structure is established by finding such as balance between the benefit and the cost of the debt that the benefits of the company and the shareholders are maximized. In other words, it is to find the equilibrium between the benefit and the cost of the debt. Therefore, the traditional optimal capital structure is also called the trade-off theory of capital structure. Nonetheless, the optimal capital structure of the project financial feasibility analysis is different from that of the general financial management theory for two main reasons. One reason is that while the optimal capital structure discussed, in general, financial management is focused on the operation period, the optimal capital contribution ratio of a project when calculating its financial feasibility is applicable to the whole lifecycle of the entire project, including the construction period and the operation period. The other reason is that while the goal of the optimal capital structure discussed, in general, financial management is to maximize the value of the company or maximize the shareholders' profit, the goal of the optimal funding structure of a project is to maximize the financial feasibility of the project investment plan. Therefore, the financial scheme for project financing pays more attention to financial feasibility and is mainly aimed at the stage of plan evaluation when the project company has not really been in operation and, as a result, the optimal capital structure theory of general financial management cannot be fully applied to project financial plan analysis.\nSummary of the financial plan: Financial assumptions\nResearch method: A BOT project is influenced by many factors, and uncertainties associated with these factors are one of the major complications with the investors. Many academic and practical fields began to use stochastic and fuzziness to describe the uncertainties. However, the probability distribution in stochastic optimization is usually hard to understand. Therefore, the interval number is a proper way to describe the uncertainties. The interval number decision-making model in this study consists of the determination model of attribute weights and computes the overall values of alternatives in the form of interval numbers (Zhang et al., 2008). In the fuzzy decision-making process, the decision maker can use interval number to judge each alternative. Then, according to this information, AHP is used to determine the attribute weights. Finally, the comprehensive scores of all alternatives can be obtained to rank the alternatives in order of preference. The specific description of the interval number decision-making model and some basic definitions are given blow.\nCase study: the bot project of the first stage of Tianjin Binhai Rail Transit Z4 line: This section illustrates a real case application to demonstrate the proposed model. The case study is the Tianjin Binhai No. Z4 Metro Line first phase project, which started in 2016 based on a contract between the Construction and Transport Office of Binhai New District in Tianjin and Tianjin Teda Urban Rail Investment Development Co., Ltd, which is the specified concessionaire. The project has a concession period of 25 years, consisting of a 5-year construction period and a 20-year operating period. In the construction period, it is planned to complete 20 per cent of the work volume in each year.\nConclusions: Based on the uncertainty in the financing process of urban public infrastructure projects, this paper probes into the optimal capital structure of a project from the perspective of investors carrying out an optimal capital structure evaluation for a project and selecting the optimal one to invest. This paper uses the interval number method to mathematically express the influences of the irregular fluctuation of unpredictable factors in the actual construction of a project such as construction investment, operating costs and passenger flows on project NPV, debt servicing coverage rate, the ROE and other indexes by taking the BOT project of the first stage of Tianjin Binhai Rail Transit Z4 line as an example. On this basis, the ranking vectors of possibility complementary matrices are calculated to determine the rankings of the capital structure plans for project financing.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Various factors may influence project finance when a multi-sourced debt financing strategy is used for financing capital investments, in general, and public infrastructure investments, in particular. Traditional indicators lack comprehensive consideration of the influences of many internal and external factors, such as investment structure, financing mode and credit guarantee structure, which exist in the financing decision making of BOT projects. An effective approach is, thus, desired. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper develops a financial model that uses an interval number to represent the uncertain factors and, subsequently, conducts a standardization of the interval number. Decision makers determine the weight of each objective through the analytic hierarchy process. Through the optimization procedure, project investors and sponsors are provided with a strategy regarding the optimal amount of debt to be raised and the insight on the risk level based on the net present value, as well as the probability of bankruptcy for each different period of debt service.\nFindings: By using an example infrastructure project in China and based on the comprehensive evaluation, comparison and ranking of the capital structures of urban public infrastructure projects using the interval number method, the final ranking can help investors to choose the optimal capital structure for investment. The calculation using the interval number method shows that X2 is the optimal capital structure plan for the BOT project of the first stage of Tianjin Binhai Rail Transit Z4 line. Therefore, investors should give priority to selecting a capital contribution ratio of 45 per cent for this investment.\nResearch limitations/implications: In this paper, some parameters, such as depreciation life, construction period and concession period, are assumed to be deterministic parameters, although the interval number model has been introduced to analyze the uncertainty indicators, such as total investment and passenger flow, of BOT rail transport projects. Therefore, more of the above deterministic parameters can be taken as uncertainty parameters in future research so that calculation results fit actual projects more closely.\nOriginality/value: This model can be used to make the optimal investment decision for a project by determining the impact of uncertainty factors on the profitability of the project in its lifecycle during the project financial feasibility analysis. Project sponsors can determine the optimal capital structure of a project through an analysis of the irregular fluctuation of the unpredictable factors in project construction such as construction investment, operating cost and passenger flow. The model can also be used to examine the effects of different capital investment ratios on indicators so that appropriate measures can be taken to reduce risks and maximize profit.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Corporate culture and ethics: from words to actions
|
[
"Expectancy theory",
"Consumer perceptions",
"Cultural values",
"Communication imperatives",
"Controls and records",
"Corporate ethics",
"Ethical code",
"Ethical hazards",
"Legal compliance",
"Privatization of compliance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Business managers often ask, \"Is a business ethics program the same as a compliance program?\" When shown the differences between the two and the importance of each to large and complex organizations, those same managers frequently reply, \"If we're in compliance with the law, why do we need an ethics code?\" Good question.\nCodes of ethics: Corporate ethical codes have received increasing levels of attention in the past decade, especially following the 2008 financial crisis and consumer fears of corporate scandals. While concern for \"justice\" is hardly a new concept, J.C. Penney drafted the earliest published ethics statement for use in his outlets, which he called \"The Golden Rule Stores\". Penney's 1913 statement included seven points, summarized in its ending question: \"Does [every policy, method, and act] square with what is right and just?\" (Kruger, 2017). Fast-forward to the twenty-first century and consumers applaud any corporate ethical statement that includes \"major philosophical principles\" as well as a set of values to guide the firm's actions (Murphy, 2005).\nEthisphere Institute: Since 2006, the Ethisphere Institute in Arizona has published an annual ranking of the \"World's Most Ethical Companies\" to reward organizations with good practices and offer a model on ethical corporate conduct. The evaluation process considers ethics and compliance programs, corporate citizenship, culture of ethics, governance and leadership. The 2016 ranking highlighted 54 industry sectors, including healthcare. Henry Schein, Inc., based in Melville New York, provides healthcare products to office-based dental, medical and veterinary practitioners. The company, with 21,000 employees, has received the honor of \"world's most ethical company\" for five consecutive years (Henry Schein, 2016).\nExpectancy theory: Expectancy theory forms the basis of a two-part management model. The model would have chief executives teach moral theory first. Then, the model encourages executives to create an environment that rewards ethical actions. Three factors shape expectancy theory: effort-performance expectancy (\"E-P expectancy\"), performance-outcome expectancy (\"instrumentality\") and valence.\nReinforcing company culture: A second academic approach to ethics implementation focuses on company culture. Communicating culture starts with explicit ethics codes and policy statements, which, in theory, are taught and distributed. But creating a strong culture relies more on implicit cues, beginning with the behavior of upper management.\nCommunicating corporate ethics to the public: Creating an ethical business environment is an essential first move to avoiding high-profile scandals. But going the next step and communicating ethical business practices to the consumer may strengthen brand loyalty and, ideally, generate additional business revenue.\nConclusion: Ethical cultures attract business partners and consumers alike, thus safeguarding long-term performance success. In rewarding ethical actions, punishing transgressions and modeling appropriate company behaviors, management can migrate from ethical words to ethical actions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Business organizations should strive to create ethical cultures to win consumer loyalty and thus safeguard long-term performance success. Management bears ultimate responsibility for promoting ethical behavior. By rewarding ethical behaviors and punishing transgressions, management will reinforce morally upright behavior and create a positive company culture. Successful promotion of corporate ethics, in turn, will boost employee morale, increase performance beyond bare minimums and retain employees in the long run. With a well-structured ethics code and strong reward system, management has all the tools necessary to create an ethical company culture.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This viewpoint paper, while advocating for a systematic approach to ethical behavior in a business organization, carefully reviews both well-established literature in this area as well as current best practices. The aim is to provide senior managers with a sense of how the best corporate ethics programs are organized and structured.\nFindings: A successful corporate ethics program must involve all employees from executives to hourly wage workers, with each taking personal responsibility for his or her own performance and results. While no guarantees of success are offered, one reasonably certain path to failure is for an organization to post an ethics code and then ignore it. Ethics must be discussed, modified from time to time and actively integrated into the life of every organization that hopes to avoid ethical missteps.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers a fresh viewpoint on both the value and the organization of a potentially successful corporate ethics program. While time-honored ideas serve as the foundation for our discussion, a thorough review of current issues and best practices form the directional heading for the paper's conclusions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The embodiment of social capital at individual and communal levels: Action, rewards, inequality, and new directions
|
[
"Social capital",
"Social networks",
"Inequality",
"Social dynamics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: the embodiment of social capital: Social capital has been at the heart of many influential agendas in the social sciences, where it has flourished in a multitude of directions. The volume and breadth of the social capital literature have sweltered. A quick search on major social science databases shows a staggering, even frightening, quantity of articles that number close to 2 million. Its broad utility comes from the loose definition it is afforded. Many divergent camps have emerged in the conceptualization of social capital, but most converge on a loosely bound association of social capital with \"the advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships\" (Burt, 2005, p. 4).\nConceptual definitions and the social dynamics of instrumental and expressive action: Proponents of the individual level embodiment of social capital predicate their postulates on the assumption of humans as instrumental actors intent on upward mobility, the ultimate goal toward which one's social capital is invested and yielded (Burt, 1992/2009, 2000, 2004, 2005; Granovetter, 1973, 1983, 1992, 1995; Lin, 1982, 1999, 2001a, b; Lin and Dumin, 1986; Lin and Erickson, 2008). Within this camp, Lin (2001a) influentially defines social capital as \"an investment in social relations with an expected return in the marketplace\" measured by \"resources embedded in a social structure that are accessed and/or mobilized in purposive actions\" (2001a, p. 29) to demonstrate why and how social capital is crucial to purposive action.\nThe rewards and activation of social capital: The previous section demonstrates how social exchanges, broadly defined, offer a glimpse of the social dynamics that institute and permit the flow of social capital (Blau, 1964). This section builds upon the first by reviewing the types of rewards social capital engenders and the ways they are activated. Lin's formalized theory of social capital as a relational asset articulates four different types of profits in the inevitable drive toward upward mobility: information, influence, social credentials and reinforcement (Lin, 1999, 2001a, p. 57, 2001b). Individual and communal conceptualizations of social capital differ in the mechanisms that activate (or mobilize, as it has also been called) social capital in obtaining each type of reward.\nNetwork diversity and inequality: the usefulness and detriment of social capital: Diversity and network advantages\nNew directions for the study of social capital: measurement and tie characterization: It is appropriate to end on the note that this paper began. There are many shortcomings with social capital as a concept, an important source of which is how social capital is a victim of its own success, beginning from a broad conceptual definition to inspire an even broader range of work. They also offer directions for future research. Here, I suggest two future directions concerning empirical clarity for the concept and two concerning the characterization of ties.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the study of social capital focused on the level at which it is embodied, cross-comparing two prominent camps that have emerged in the social capital literature: a communal level and an individual level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the intersections and departures between communal level and individual level conceptualizations of social capital according to the social dynamics of action within social exchanges that they stimulate, the processes by which social capital is activated/mobilized and the rewards they yield, and their linkages to inequality through network diversity.\nFindings: This paper articulates new directions for future research in social capital: more analytical precision for studying returns to social capital; more efforts to transcend the individual-communal divide; the depreciation of social capital or tie decay; and recognizing the importance of ties whose value does not come from the ability to provide instrumental gain, but just from their very existence.\nOriginality/value: Social capital has informed many influential agendas in the social sciences, but the sheer volume of which has largely gone unscoped. This paper reviews this literature to provide an accessible introduction to social capital, organized by social processes foundational to sociology and a novel contribution to the literature by articulating new directions for future research in the area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Benchmarking QFD application for developing packaging products: A comparison between a company in Italy and one in Brazil
|
[
"New products",
"Product development",
"New product development",
"Quality function deployment",
"Packaging processes",
"Benchmarking",
"Italy",
"Brazil"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Customer satisfaction through enhanced product and service quality is currently a core focus for business success. To become more responsive to the customers, one has to go out and understand what their actual needs are in order to fulfil their requirements. One effective tool in capturing the customer's voices is quality function deployment (QFD). It is a method that systematically translates customers' expectations into functional requirements for developing new products and services.Historically, QFD emerged in Japan in the late 1960s as a method for translating customer demands for quality into product specifications. In the early 1980s, the QFD product development approach was adopted by American (Cristiano et al., 2000) and European industries, e.g. in Italy (Zucchelli, 1995), Sweden (Ekdahl and Gustafsson, 1997), and the UK (Martins and Aspinwall, 2001). Later on, in the 1990s, it started to be used in developing countries, e.g. in Brazil (Cauchick Miguel, 2003). By adopting QFD for product development, organisations have their inherent benefits, as pointed out by a number of previous studies (Griffin, 1992; Cristiano et al., 2001; Martins and Aspinwall, 2001; Cauchick Miguel, 2003).The literature on QFD has evolved over the years. From the past decades, applications of the method for product development have included a wide range of products, such as X-ray equipment (Andriesse, 1994), cameras (Dickinson, 1995), safety shoes (Bergquist and Abeysekera, 1996), aircraft (Omar and Kleiner, 1997), food (Jonsdottir et al., 1998), automotive engines (Nogueira et al., 1999), electronic components (Balasubramanian and Tiwana, 1999), and software (Herzwurm and Schockert, 2003). A comprehensive literature review is presented by Chan and Wu (2002) from which many other examples are provided.An important part of some products is the package system, particularly in the food industry. QFD has also assisted in improving packaging systems either by developing packaging components (Yeung and Lau, 1997; Cauchick Miguel, 2004) or the package itself (Cabral, 1999; Pergola et al., 2002).In this sense, the present paper aims at analysing QFD application for new product development (NPD) in a company that produces packaging systems located in Italy. In addition, a comparison with previous work conducted by the author is carried out. The Italian case is compared with a Brazilian company that supplies the packaging industry. Specifically, this paper focuses on the following specific objectives:1. empirically compare the two QFD usages concerning the \"operational\" aspects (use of matrices, teamwork, meetings, etc.); and2. analyse if there are contextual differences between those two cases.The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 contains a brief theoretical background on QFD theory considering its definitions as well as key implementation factors. Section 3 describes the research methods, including data collection procedures and data analysis. Section 4 presents the results of each case followed by a comparison between them. Finally, Section 5 draws some conclusions, limitations, and implications of this work.\nQFD related literature: QFD can be defined in a number of ways, as shown in Table I. A more robust definition states that QFD is a generic term consisting of two parts (Akao, 1990): quality deployment and narrow QFD. Quality deployment is defined as translating the user demands into substitute characteristics, determining the design quality of a completed product, and systematically deploying quality into each component and production processes. A first matrix is the \"house of quality\", an integrated map that shows customer requirements and how they can be met by product attributes. Quality deployment may go beyond the house of quality by developing other matrices that consider resource allocation related to production processes, process parameter control, raw materials, and so on.The second part is a narrowly-defined QFD. It is defined as function deployment or as a process that systematically deploys the job functions and operations that contribute to quality, i.e. the business or task functions responsible for quality. In other words, that means work deployment. Broad or comprehensive QFD is then the combination of those two parts (quality deployment and narrowly-defined QFD). Although the essence of this definition is similar for other authors (Kathawala and Notwani, 1994), other definitions place an emphasis on keywords, such as \"people\" - \"QFD is primarily a people system\" (Bouchereau and Rowlands, 2000a) and \"planning\" - \"QFD is a flexible but disciplined planning and implementation procedure\" (Bier and Cornesky, 2001). Nevertheless, it seems that the consensus for all the definitions is that QFD is a method for bringing customer perspective into the product development, and the optimisation of the product is the route to maximum customer satisfaction (Ginn and Zairi, 2005). QFD is employed to manage design information and assist decision making in human centred product development (Chong and Chen, 2009).A large amount of work has been published on QFD. A number of established reference texts provide specific instructions on QFD process steps (King, 1987; Akao, 1990; Mizuno and Akao, 1994; Re Velle et al., 1998), how to implement it (Kathawala and Notwani, 1994; Parkin et al., 2002), and the key aspects for successful QFD operation (Griffin, 1992; Govers, 1996; Cristiano et al., 2001; Ginn and Zairi, 2005). Others pose potential benefits for implementing QFD in some nations (Ekdahl and Gustafsson, 1997; Cristiano et al., 2000; Martins and Aspinwall, 2001; Cauchick Miguel, 2003) and present case studies (Cauchick Miguel, 2005). In addition, an extensive literature review is provided by Chan and Wu (2002). This work is based on a reference bank of approximately 650 publications, including a categorical analysis by functional fields, applied industries, and methodological development.By examining the QFD literature, a number of key implementation success factors for its implementation can be identified; some that are relevant for implementing QFD are presented in Table II. The first column shows a dimension, which is a wider issue that embraces a number of success factors (second column), that was extracted from the literature (third column). Those dimensions and factors are used to empirically analyse the data collected from the cases, after presenting research procedures.\nResearch methods: A case study approach was employed to conduct this research. Guidelines in the existing literature (Yin, 1994; Voss et al., 2002) on how to conduct case research were followed. The cases were selected based on an existing experience on QFD usage, similarity of industry, difference of location, as well as facility to access data and information.The first case was conducted in a site in Italy (for confidentiality purposes called \"company A\"), which belongs to one of the world's largest suppliers of packaging systems for liquid food, in particular filling equipment for long shelf life non-refrigerated liquids (milk, fruit juices, drinks, and other products). The second case was carried out in a Brazilian firm (named \"company B\"), which supplies the packaging industry by producing polypropylene flexible films. The company belongs to one of the largest Latin American corporations. Further details of this case are presented elsewhere (Cauchick Miguel, 2004, 2005).The main technique employed in gathering data in loco in company A was a semi-structured interview. Four individuals involved with product development were simultaneously interviewed. The interview lasted about three hours, followed by a one-hour site visit to see QFD applications. Then, the aggregation of results was carried out a posteriori. An interview protocol checklist was employed on which notes and annotations were made as the interview progressed. It consisted of ten questions, with subsequent queries according to the respondent's answers. Other methods for gathering data, such as direct observation (the plant tour mentioned earlier) and archival documents (some technical and managerial reports made available), were also employed. All sources were reviewed and analysed to identify and validate data. Then, a case study was constructed based on those sources of evidence. A similar approach was used for company B.\nCase study results: This section first describes a general profile of both cases and then compares the cases.Company A - the Italian case\nConclusions: This study attempted to make a contribution to the understanding of QFD practice by comparing two usage experiences in Italy and Brazil. First, at a more general level, the company QFD practices, experienced difficulties, and benefits are in agreement with the literature. Therefore, the empirical data found support in the existing theory to some extent. This research also sought to check some similarities and contrasts between the cases in addition to contribute to research on QFD application. In doing so, the relevant aspects of QFD operation (such as type of matrices developed, data sources used, and product development stages that QFD is employed) were identified. The findings suggest that QFD was effective for both companies but their experience is not very broad. Therefore, this assertion should be considered with caution. Second, some outcomes indicated common experienced difficulties, lack of QFD knowledge by team members and employees and the benefit of increasing companies' internal know how and know why. However, the findings are not subject to generalisation for other similar plants. The practitioners can use the findings to learn more about those factors that should be taken into consideration when applying QFD. Finally, this study does suffer from some limitations. A shortcoming is that the study was incapable of verifying the context of QFD application. The stage of the QFD degree of use by the companies did not allow for identifying contextual differences. Moreover, the study is limited to two units of analysis in addition to some constraints in data gathering. Thus, future work should ascertain whether this can be further investigated.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to report case studies conducted in a company in Italy that produces packaging systems, in comparison with a Brazilian company within a similar industrial sector. The paper compares those two cases in terms of quality function deployment (QFD) usage and discusses the lessons learned from the cases.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Case-based research was employed. Data were mostly gathered through semi-structured interviews with engineers and managers involved with product development. Direct observation and archival data were also used to extract more evidence towards triangulation. Then, the aggregation of results was done a posteriori.\nFindings: - QFD implementation process was found to be similar in both companies but with some differences in terms of managerial aspects of product development, e.g. gathering the voice of customer and a more extensive use of other matrices besides the \"house of quality\".\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study was limited in two companies. Although one of the purposes was to analyse if there are contextual differences between those two cases, this study was unable of verifying the context of QFD application. In addition, the study findings are not generalisable to other similar plants.\nPractical implications: - The research shows the importance of QFD implementation and similarities between the cases, in addition to contributing to application by identifying relevant aspects of its introduction. It enables practitioners to use the findings on factors that should be taken into consideration when applying QFD.\nOriginality/value: - Besides the comparison between two companies, the paper discusses the innovation on QFD projects in one of the companies. In addition, the empirical results found grounding in existing theory to some extent.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Maintenance management of load haul dumper using reliability analysis
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Preventive maintenance",
"Productivity",
"Agent-based component model",
"Maintenance analytics",
"Regulations reliability centred maintenance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Production and productivity of any industry mainly depend on the effective utilization of men and machinery. In the commercial area, maintaining of machinery with a greater level of reliability is also one of the crucial aspects (Military Handbook, 2003). In the underground mining operations, machinery such as load haul dumper (LHD) plays a vital role in the plan of production. Underground metal mine's production in India for the last few decades is not according to the plan. The unavailability of the machine is the major cause for the drop of production levels in the industry (Dhillon, 2008). Santos and Dourado (1999) proposed need for the process industries reveals an increasing need for proficient organization of all the aspects that can diminish their operating costs, leading to the necessity of a large-scale multi-objective optimization methodology that will facilitate the generation of best possible approaches, satisfying the necessary limitations. Superior level of availability gives scope for the best possible utilization, which increases the production rate of capital intensive items. Improvement of percentage availability of any kind of machinery is only possible by minimizing its downtime hours. This can be achieved by comprehensively evaluating the performance of equipment.\nMethodology: Primarily, the individual subassembly/subsystem criticality is recognized by TBF data consideration (Sinha and Mukhopadhyay, 2015; Bala et al., 2018). The failure data of all the four LHD machines have been collected for a selected period of time from the maintenance records of an industry where each LHD is in operating condition. The collected data sets are tested for independent and identical distribution (IID) characteristics to check whether or not any trend and correlation are present among the info. The collected data are assumed to be in IID, when there is no existence of trend and correlation between them (Barabady and Kumar, 2005, 2008). Then, the data sets have been considered for estimating the goodness of fit allocation through K-S analysis (Ahluwalia, 2003). Best-fit distribution models are more significant for forecasting the reliabilities of each individual components/subcomponents (Balaraju et al., 2018). The procedure of reliability analysis for a critical subassembly was explained in a flow chart (Figure 1) (Ascher and Feingold, 1984).\nCase study: The present investigation describes the reliability analysis of four number of Sandvick LHD machines (LH 517 No.21, LH 517 No.22, LH 517 No.24 and LH 517 No.25) operated in zinc mine. LHDs are treated as intermediate level mechanized systems for underground mining operations. This is used as a main workhorse for transporting the ore from mined out area to the primary crushing point. A typical LHD machine at maintenance section is shown in Plate 1.\nResults and discussion: Key performance indicators (KPI)\nTrend and serial correlation tests: These tests are used to test the breakdown data of each individual subsystem to determine the IID characteristics. The presence of trend in the collected data can be determined by plotting the graph between cumulative frequencies of failures vs cumulative time between failures (CTBF). In a trend test, if the data set points are in a linear manner, it indicates that the investigated data sets are free from the trend (Kumar et al., 1989; Mohammadi et al., 2016). Furthermore, a serial correlation test was also carried out to check the relationship between ith value of TBF and (i-1)th value of TBF. Scatter plots of data sets between ith value of TBF and (i-1)th value of TBF demonstrates the correlation among the two values (Balaraju et al., 2018). From the graphical analysis (Figures 4-11), it was observed that the data set points are connected in a straight line manner in the trend test. Therefore, there is no trend existing in the collected data sets. In the case of serial correlation test, the points are scattered randomly, which exhibited no correlation. Result of these tests shows that the data sets of all the subsystems were found as trend free and the points were identically distributed. Hence, IID assumption for data sets was not denied for each subsystem.\nStatistic U-test (kh2 test): The statistical analysis called kh2 test (statistical U-test) has been carried out to identify the hypothesis of significant level of rejection for the collected TBF data sets. Graphical analysis includes trend test and serial correlation were conducted and identified that the collected data sets were trend free and identically distributed. Similarly, statistical analysis has been adopted to validate the IID assumption. Hence, this statistic method has been utilized to know the type of modeling method (HPP, NHPP and RP). The results of statisticU-test are calculated from Equation (3) and findings are illustrated in Table V. The calculated values of stastic-U (a) are tested with 5 percent level of significance values (p).\nGoodness of fit/best-fit distribution: Once the validation of IID assumption has been completed, probability distributions of data sets need to be performed. These are explained by the best-fit/goodness of fit distribution analysis. The analysis was performed in the present research work by the utilization of \"Isograph Reliability Workbench 13.0\" software. In this, a wide variety of parameters for example exponential, 1-parameter Weibull, 2-parameter Weibull and 3-parameter Weibull have been examined in the analysis. Among these, the goodness of fit allocation found to be 2-parameter Weibull and 3-parameter Weibull distribution for various subassemblies (Table VI). Identification of goodness of fit for the data sets was made by the utilization of K-S test. Least rate of level of significance (e) in K-S test can be considered as the better fitment. Parametric estimation for theoretical probability distributions was made by utilizing the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) method. The estimated parameters for best-fit distribution function with MLE are presented in Table VII.\nReliability and maintainability analysis: Estimation of unreliability and reliability/dependability\nReliability estimation of LHDs: The ability of a machine or equipment to carry out the essential functions beneath affirmed conditions for an acknowledged age of time. It is typically indicated as a probability or an achievement. It always focuses on the improvement of economical growth of an industry by the effective utilization of capital intensive equipments. The reliability analysis of each subsystem has been carried out in the present analysis to identify the percentage of system reliability (Rs). The reliability of each subsystem was estimated (Table IX) by utilizing the percentage of unreliability redundant values. Percentage of each individual sub-system of LHD machines are shown in Figure 16. These results are also validated by using Equations (4) and (5) in accordance with the estimated values of MLE parameters (Table VII). The equation of cumulative density function (CDF) for the 3-parameter Weibull distributions is.\nReliable life estimation of LHDs: It is the useful life of the equipment that it performs its intended function in prior (threshold) to the occurrence of failure. The reliable life. TR (Equation 7), of a machine/equipment for a particular reliability, R, beginning the work at age zero, is.\nMaintainability estimation: Maintainability is an integrated intend and equipment feature and it presents an ensuing system with an intrinsic capability to be maintained, leading to factors such as better mission availability and lower maintenance cost, required tools and equipment, required skill levels, and required man-hours (Engineering Design Handbook, 1972). The mean time between failure (MTBF) and the mean time to repair (MTTR) were calculated to evaluate the metrics of maintainability and failure rate (Table XI). The value of MTBF for each LHD machine can be computed by the ratio of CTBF and the total number of failures. Similarly, MTTR was estimated from the division of CTTR with total number of failures. These are calculated based on the best-fit distributions. In the present analysis, data sets have been followed weibull distributions. From the results of failure rate (Equation 9) and maintainability (Equation 8), it was clear that maintainability of machine LH21, LH22 and LH25 reached almost equals to 100.00 percent except LH24 (94.69 percent). There is a requirement to maintain the machine LH3 in an appropriate level. On the other hand, from the calculated results of failure rate, the failure rate of machine LH21 reached to maximum value and least value is reached to LH25 as compared with others. As the failure rate increases, the corresponding reliability percentage of the system decreases. The rate of reliability and the failure rates are inversely proportional. If we want to improve the system reliability, then there is a definite need for the reduction of FF. Maintainability equation for the weibull distribution is as follows.\nReliability-based preventive maintenance (PM) time schedules: PM is defined as the actions executed in effort to hold the components in an indicated condition by giving efficient assessment, identification of occurrence of early failure (Fan and Fan, 2015; Allahkarami et al., 2016). Also, reliability-based PM time intervals are the indications that consequent failure of the machine/system and can be calculated from Equation (5) (Mohammad et al., 2013). At the time of 3-parameter Weibull distribution consideration, all the scale parameter n, shape parameter b and location parameter g are need to be considered. But in the case of 2-parameter Weibull distribution calculation location parameter should not be considered. In this research, PM time schedules have been calculated against to the expected rate of reliability levels (Table XII). From the computed values of PM time schedules, it was understood that if the reliability requirement as 90 percent for LH21, then the scheduled maintenance must be conduct in every 154 h, similarly, for LH22, LH24 and LH25 are 77, 266, 117 and 79 h, respectively.\nConclusion: Enhancement of continuous operation of equipment can be achieved by organizing proper maintenance practices. Reliability analysis is a technique exclusively used to determine the maintenance schedules. In this study, reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) of numerous LHDs was modeled as a case study: four numbers of electrically operated LHD machines used in zinc mines were considered for the analysis. This analysis provides information on several aspects such as present working condition of the machines, occurrence of different failure modes, influence of failure modes on its performance and reliable life, etc. Also, these investigations asses the forecasting of necessary managerial practices or control measures like possible design modifications and replacement of components to ensure the required levels of availability and utilization of the equipment. Results of the calculations and analysis are explained as follows:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Load haul dumper (LHD) is one of the main ore transporting machineries used in underground mining industry. Reliability of LHD is very significant to achieve the expected targets of production. The performance of the equipment should be maintained at its highest level to fulfill the targets. This can be accomplished only by reducing the sudden breakdowns of component/subsystems in a complex system. The identification of defective component/subsystems can be possible by performing the downtime analysis. Hence, it is very important to develop the proper maintenance strategies for replacement or repair actions of the defective ones. Suitable maintenance management actions improve the performance of the equipment. This paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Reliability analysis (renewal approach) has been used to analyze the performance of LHD machine. Allocations of best-fit distribution of data sets were made by the utilization of Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test. Parametric estimation of theoretical probability distributions was made by utilizing the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) method.\nFindings: Independent and identical distribution (IID) assumption of data sets was validated through trend and serial correlation tests. On the basis of test results, the data sets are in accordance with IID assumption. Therefore, renewal process approach has been utilized for further investigation. Allocations of best-fit distribution of data sets were made by the utilization of Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test. Parametric estimation of theoretical probability distributions was made by utilizing the MLE method. Reliability of each individual subsystem has been computed according to the best-fit distribution. In respect of obtained reliability results, the reliability-based preventive maintenance (PM) time schedules were calculated for the expected 90 percent reliability level.\nResearch limitations/implications: As the reliability analysis is one of the complex techniques, it requires strategic decision making knowledge for the selection of methodology to be used. As the present case study was from a public sector company, operating under financial constraints the conclusions/findings may not be universally applicable.\nOriginality/value: The present study throws light on this equipment that need a tailored maintenance schedule, partly due to the peculiar mining conditions, under which they operate. This study mainly focuses on estimating the performance of four numbers of well-mechanized LHD systems with reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) modeling. Based on the drawn results, reasons for performance drop of each machine were identified. Suitable recommendations were suggested for the enhancement of performance of capital intensive production equipment. As the maintenance management is only the means for performance improvement of the machinery, PM time intervals were estimated with respect to the expected rate of reliability level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does training benefit the SME employee? Research to suggest the current understanding is wrong
|
[
"Training",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Employee development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: As the competition for good jobs gets fiercer, potential employees are increasingly aware of the need to improve their skill sets. Developing soft skills and achieving qualifications are ever important in gaining competitive advantage in the labor market, for in-house promotions as well as job moves. Because of this, the training programs a firm can offer is becoming a major interest area for employers and employees alike. Can employers offer training to improve the quality of their staff's work as they compete with other firms? Yet also, will that training manage to keep valuable employees challenged and entice them to stay? Is an employee who is interested in their own development better off with a large firm?\nComment: This is a review of \"Employer characteristics and employee training outcomes in UK SMEs: a multivariate analysis\" by David Devins, Steve Johnson and John Sutherland. The paper is a write-up of a research project, which investigated the impact of training on employees in SME workplaces. The survey was concerned primarily with how training affects the employability of SME employees, and considers benefits such as increased confidence and qualifications. The findings lead to the conclusion that there should be increased focus on the employee dimension in research and policy regarding training in SMEs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Reviews training benefits for the SME employee.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - The majority of employees questioned had attained a qualification following training, though this was more frequent in women than in men. Also positive was the feedback that just under 50 percent of the 1,000 employees had gone on to further training, most of this number being in the younger age bracket.\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"
}
] |
Interview with Richard Lepsinger
|
[
"Leadership",
"Organizational performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Richard Lepsinger is president of OnPoint Consulting and has a 20-year track record of success as a human resource consultant and executive. He was a founder and managing partner of Manus, a human capital consulting firm, which he grew to over $4 million in revenue and sold to Right Management Consultants in 1998. At Right, Rick was the managing vice president of the Northeast and Eastern Canadian Consulting Practice, where he was responsible for 55 professionals and grew the region's revenue from $7 million to $20 million.\nCan you summarize for our readers the key points of your model of flexible leadership?: The model starts with the three drivers of organizational performance - efficiency and reliability, adaptation and innovation, and human resources and relations. These success factors however are not necessarily compatible, and frequently actions to address one area have an adverse impact on another. Motorola is a good example of this. They have found it difficult to balance innovation and low cost and have suffered fairly extreme ups and downs because of it.A key premise of the model is that success is not just about leader behavior. The effective use of organizational systems and programs supports and \"magnifies\" behavior so it can affect an entire organization. With this in mind, we provide a road map for leaders, consisting of a set of leader behaviors and organizational systems and programs that focus on each success factor.We then offer guidance on how leaders can determine the proper balance among the three success factors and bring the right behaviors and systems to bear.\nCould you use a case study to demonstrate to us how this model has been successful?: A great example is Carlos Ghosn from Nissan Motor Co. When Ghosn was appointed the chief operating officer of Nissan in 1999 the company was in a state of serious decline, and it was only Renault's willingness to assume part of Nissan's debt that saved the Japanese company from going bankrupt. But by 2001 profits were at a record high. This turnaround was due to a series of decisions that represent effective leading and managing.Ghosn improved efficiency by reducing purchasing costs, and improved creativity by appointing leaders in the design department to create more exciting models of cars. He created cross-functional teams in order that people could identify problems and recommend solutions to him and the executive committee.He also made a number of changes to human resource practices. This required changing practices that were strongly embedded aspects of company culture, such as guaranteed lifetime employment, and pay and promotion based on seniority. A major decision he made was to establish a merit pay plan, where employees were offered incentives in relation to effective performance. These changes made it possible to replace weaker managers with more capable ones. He also reassured employees about plant closings and kept them up to date about which plants would be closing and who would be affected.\nYou explain how \"management programs are relevant for effective leadership in an organization\". What is your opinion on theory that suggests that management development and leadership development are the opposite of each other?: Treating leading and managing as opposites is misleading. They need to be seen as complimentary. Trying to figure out what managers do and what leaders do diverts attention from the real question, which is what does it take to deliver consistent results over time. If we focus on outcomes - efficiency, adaptation, and people's performance - the question of leading versus managing becomes mute. The focus is now on what needs to be done to succeed, whether you call me a leader or a manager, and the Flexible Leadership model provides that guidance.\nWhat are the limitations of current theories about leadership, and how does your theory improve on these?: There are four key limitations that the flexible leader model addresses:1. Most theories focus on one or two aspects of leadership (e.g. transformational leadership, emotional intelligence, leading from the heart). Although clearly relevant, these theories tend to oversimplify the dynamic of leadership.2. Most theories focus on motivating individuals versus influencing financial performance.3. Other theories do not show the relationship of the leader behaviors to each other or to organizational processes. The message is \"do the things on this list and you'll be successful\" without any guidance on when a behavior would be most appropriate or effective.4. Most models assume one type of leadership can be used in all situations and neglect the situational aspects of leading effectively.\nHow crucial is a leader to the survival of a company?: As we were doing the research for the book we wanted to understand why some companies consistently outperform their peers. We found several factors that can explain this: an innovative business strategy, a unique business model, and favorable economic conditions. But when companies that face identical factors are compared, one variable stands out among the winners - the quality of leadership.\nWhat advice would you give to leaders trying to encourage their employees support towards organizational change?: Our research on change points to ten things leaders can do to encourage support for change and avoid the \"commitment dip\" that occurs during the first months of a change.1. Make sure leaders at all levels are involved and aligned right from the start.2. Hold everyone accountable for behaviors that support the change.3. Continue frequent and honest communication for the duration of the change.4. Maintain enthusiasm and excitement for the change.5. Set realistic goals and milestones which can be achieved in the time available.6. Prioritize change initiatives.7. Anticipate the resources needed for the duration of the change.8. Frequently revisit and revise the plan.9. Look for obstacles that may become apparent during implementation.10. Maintain focus on change objectives and expected outcomes.\nWhy are so many leaders hesitant to discuss a change with employees?: There are three key reasons. The first is quite legitimate, when information is deemed to be confidential and they have been asked not to share it yet with employees. But even here they should be forthright about why they are unable to discuss the change in any detail.The second reason is that they may feel they do not have sufficient information and would not be able to answer questions very well.Lastly, they are also going through the change and may be experiencing feelings of anxiety, frustration, and uncertainty themselves. Because of this they may find it difficult to talk about what is happening around them.\nHow can leaders be encouraged to communicate more effectively with employees?: The answer to this is a reflection of the reasons why they do not communicate well in the first place. It is critical to involve middle level leaders early in the change process. Making them part of the process increases ownership and commitment. Our research shows top performing companies do this particularly well.Help leaders deal with their own change issues before they are asked to help others manage through a transition.Provide leaders with the tools to communicate effectively. For formal presentations it helps to have a \"communication package\" that contains PowerPoint presentations, guidelines for conducting effective meetings and answers to frequently asked questions. For informal conversations, leaders need tools to make these conversations more focused and comfortable. That's where Change Talk comes in.\nWhat is Change Talk and how and when should it be employed?: Change Talk is a tool that helps leaders assess the readiness for change among his or her employees and facilitates their movement through the phases of change. Change Talk gives the leader a way to talk about the change that is directed to a specific purpose or outcome.The leader uses four core questions as part of change talk:1. How important is this change?2. How confident are you that we/you can make this change?3. What are the pros and cons of changing?4. What are the pros and cons of not changing?As the response to these questions about change the leader can gauge change readiness and determine what phase of the change process the person is at.\nIn your opinion do companies pay enough attention to their human capital?: Although it may not be universal, I think most organizations understand the role and impact human capital plays in achieving a competitive advantage. The key is their ability to execute and move from intent to results.This challenge is captured in the need for organizations to balance the success factors that I discussed earlier. For example, a focus on enhancing the skill and motivation (and performance) of human capital may require investment in training or an increase in compensation that may adversely impact an equally important focus on efficiency and cost containment.\nWhat do you think will be the biggest challenge for leaders over the next few years?: Closing the gap between strategy formulation and execution will be the main challenge facing leaders over the next few years. It will not be enough to have a powerful strategy or a disruptive technology to drive success. The ability to close the strategy execution gap will differentiate the winners from the losers.Look at Toyota. They face the same competitive and economic issues as others in the industry, yet they have succeeded where other auto manufacturers have failed.Thomas Edison is another example. He was innovative and had hundreds of patents but his business acumen was so poor he was unable to convert them into commercial success (although others were).For more information, please visit www.onpointconsultingllc.com\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to provide an interview with Richard Lepsinger on flexible leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper provides an interview with Richard Lepsinger exploring the model of flexible leadership.\nFindings: - Richard Lepsinger provides views and a case study of flexible leadership.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides an insightful interview with Richard Lepsinger.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Transformative HR practices and employee task performance in high-tech firms: The role of employee adaptivity
|
[
"Organizational change",
"Task performance",
"Employee adaptivity",
"High-tech firm",
"Perceived transformative HR"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Change is inevitable in a dynamic business environment. Intensive competition has been observed, particularly in high-tech organizations since a couple of decades. The high-tech industry has considered a hot spot for research regarding change and transformation (Collins and Smith, 2006). It consistently seeks new opportunities, develops processes, and acquires new knowledge to remain competitive. Therefore, high-tech firms develop proactive strategies and train their employees to perform effectively in a change process (Tummers et al., 2015). Firms do comprehensive analyses of its capabilities and resources, and take every change initiative decision carefully. Boudreau and Jesuthasan (2011) observe that, in a change process, organizations do segmentation of important and urgent decisions, take right level of risk to improve employees' potentials and performance, develop integration and synergy between different organizational functions, and utilize financial and human capital at an optimal level to achieve desired outcomes. Relatively, a firm survives and gains competitive advantages if it copes successfully with future challenges and embraces change (Huber, 2004). A volatile business environment brings a lot of challenges for organizational external and internal processes. Organizations stagnate, fumble, and often fail if they could not tackle change strategically and efficiently. It has been estimated that two-thirds of change projects end up with failure (Beer and Nohria, 2000).\nTheoretical background and hypothesis development: Perceived transformative HR practices and outcomes\nMethodology: Sample and data collection\nResults: CFA\nDiscussion: In this study, we indented to examine the effect of perceived transformative HR practices on employee task performance. We developed and empirically tested the relationship between the perceived transformative HR practices and employee task performance. This contributes to the theoretical arguments of Boudreau and Jesuthasan (2011) about the concept of transformative HR practices. We set a stage for empirically examining the transformative HR practices concept and did moderate effort to operationalize it. Our reasonably moderate efforts to examine and understanding the operationalization of perceived transformative HR practices illuminate the way transformative HR impacts employee performance. Moreover, we found that employee adaptivity, as an underlying mechanism between perceived transformative HR practices and employee task performance, mediates the relationship. These findings advance the current understanding of the relationship between perceived transformative HR practices and employee task performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of perceived transformative human resource (HR) practices and employee task performance. Drawing on evidence-based approach, the transformative HR practices intend to transform employees' behavior to cope with organizational change. This study intends to answer how does the perceived transformative HR practices influence employees' behavioral capability to enhance their task performance. This investigation proposes that the perceived transformative HR practices positively affect employees task performance, however, employee adaptivity mediates the relationship between them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors used a random sample of 224 employees, from a large high-tech company in China, to test the hypotheses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the perceived transformative HR practices in the context of a high-tech firm. The authors performed multiple linear regression analysis to examine the proposed model.\nFindings: The results of this study indicate that the perceived transformative HR practices positively influence employee adaptivity and task performance. Furthermore, employee adaptivity mediates the relationship between the perceived transformative HR practices and employee task performance. Therefore, employee adaptivity illuminates and explains the underlying mechanism of how the perceived transformative HR practices lead to employee task performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: Data collected from single firm may limit the generalizability of the findings and cross-sectional research design may raise the concern of common method bias. Future studies should test and validate the operationalization of the perceived transformative HR practices in different research contexts and with larger sample size. Organizations should design and implement transformative HR practices to cope with change. Furthermore, organizational managers should encourage and facilitate employee adaptivity to achieve better performance.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to change management and the HR literature by identifying and operationalizing the perceived transformative HR practices as a predictor of employee adaptivity and task performance. Through the underlying mechanism of employee adaptivity between the perceived transformative HR practices and employee task performance, this study provides a new perspective to look at the HR-performance relationship in the change process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An examination of traditional versus non-traditional benefits
|
[
"Human resource management, Benefits management, Job satisfaction, Employee benefits",
"Perceived organizational support",
"Employee‐employer relationship",
"Job performance",
"Contextual performance",
"Employees turnover"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: There has been much discussion in the popular press about organizations cutting employee benefits to reduce costs and survive the recession (Curran, 2009). Yet others contend that benefit programs are important enough to employees to be linked to their attitudes and behaviors in the workplace (Lambert, 2000; Muse et al., 2008). Given the price associated with offering a diverse range of benefits, it is not surprising employers would look to reduce this expense, especially in poor economic times (Pudlowski, 2009). The cost of employee benefits to organizations in the US has risen from 3 percent of employers' payrolls in 1929 to 44 percent in 2005 (US Chamber of Commerce, 2007). With the steep price tag associated with such benefit programs, the study of their relationship with employee attitudes and behaviors in the workplace is important to practicing human resource managers. As Dreher et al. (1988, p. 251) noted, \"compensation managers are ultimately interested in the affective and behavioral consequences associated with changes in benefit system components\".\nLiterature review: Benefit value\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Hypothesis testing\nDiscussion: The current study contributes to the literature in three ways, first, by identifying how benefit value, as perceived by employees, is related to the employee-employer relationship; second, how the perception of that relationship is linked to work behaviors, and third, whether demographic variables moderate the connection between benefit value and the employee-employer relationship. Implications of these findings are discussed in more detail below.First, corporations offering non-traditional benefits that are valued by their employees will generally also find greater levels of POS among their employees. However, the finding that traditional benefits were not related to POS is also important. This is consistent with the arguments of Shore and Shore (1995), who stated that traditional benefits should not be related to POS because they are not discretionary and are offered to all employees of the organization. Thus, companies who strategically want to build positive employment relationships with their workers should signal to them that their welfare matters to the organization by offering benefits beyond that typically offered by most firms. According to social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), employees will feel obligated to reciprocate for this support through subsequent greater task and contextual performance, and reduced turnover intentions.Second, our findings support a direct positive relationship between POS and important work behaviors, specifically, task and contextual performance, and turnover intentions. This pattern is consistent with previous research (Eisenberger et al., 2001; Settoon et al., 1996) and provides support for social exchange theory (Blau, 1964; Shore et al., 2009) and psychological contract theory (Dabos and Rousseau, 2004; Rousseau, 1990) by suggesting that employees who feel valued by their organizations are more likely to participate in positive work behaviors that will be of benefit to the employee and to the organizations.And third, this study provides some interesting findings regarding demographic factors. Surprisingly, gender did not moderate the relationship between perceived benefit value and POS. Very little research has been conducted on the differences in benefit preferences by gender, and much of the research that has been conducted is based on responses from students, rather than employees in the workplace (e.g. Tocher et al., 2006; Waner et al., 2007), suggesting that these differences might be related to projected, rather than actual, benefit value. A notable exception found no significant gender differences on the impact of benefits during the recruitment process (Garcia et al., 2010). In contrast, marital status does moderate the relationship between perceived benefit value and POS, but only for non-traditional benefits. This finding might be a result of the increasing number of dual career couples in the workplace (Abraham and Royalty, 2005), thereby decreasing the need for both spouses to receive traditional benefits through their employment. One of the spouses can then focus on benefits above and beyond the traditional health and financial benefits. It would then follow that their single counterparts might have not have any other means of receiving health or financial benefits (Abraham and Royalty, 2005); if so, more traditional benefits would be more likely to resonate with them.Strengths and limitations\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the perceived value of traditional versus non-tradition benefits may be related to the employee-employer relationship, and how the perception of that relationship might be linked to job performance and turnover intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Multi-source data were collected from a random sample of employees and their supervisors at a healthcare organization (n=457).\nFindings: - Non-traditional benefits have a positive direct relationship with perceived organizational support (POS), whereas traditional health and financial benefits are not related to POS. The relationships between benefits perceptions and POS are moderated by marital status, but not gender. In addition, POS had a strong negative relationship with turnover intentions, and a positive relationship with task performance, job dedication and interpersonal facilitation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Whereas data collected were multisource in nature, data were collected at the same point in time; therefore the authors could not test causality. Moreover, females were over-represented in the sample, limiting generalizability.\nPractical implications: - Managing benefits costs is one of many challenges facing human resource managers in the current economy. This study provides a better understanding of the relationship between employee benefits and important outcomes. The paper's findings emphasize the importance of assessing employees' perceived value of benefits when human resource managers are making decisions about benefit programs.\nOriginality/value: - This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, this study offers evidence to solve past conflicts regarding the existence and nature of the relationship between benefits and POS. Second, this research contributes to the need to document potential work outcomes of benefit packages. Third, it distinguishes among different kinds of benefits (traditional vs non-traditional), and shows that non-traditional benefits can signal to employees how much they are valued by the organization.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Mobile TV: a new form of entertainment?
|
[
"Mobile TV (m-TV)",
"Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)",
"Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mobile telecommunication has been growing at an incredible pace with the rapid wide spread of mobile internet such as third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) wireless networks. The development has led to new business opportunities within the area of mobile services and has since caught the attention of researchers and practitioners (Chong, 2013). The distinctive characteristics of mobile devices (m-devices) such as flexibility, ubiquity and personalization have added advantages over traditional electronic commerce (Siau et al., 2001). The usage volumes of mobile users are also wide spread since users can go online anytime and at any location (Wang et al., 2013). Hence, various mobile applications have been developed to fulfill the information and entertainment needs of mobile users in their daily life, for instance, mobile shopping (Wong et al., 2012) and mobile credit card (Tan et al., 2014a). Another emerging area which is currently gaining popularity is mobile TV (m-TV). According to Yu et al. (2010), m-TV was introduced along with the other expansion of mobile communications due to the development of internet. Users, for example can watch TV programs such as news, sports and entertainment at any time and location (Zhou, 2013). Hong and Kim (2013) stressed that m-TV is expected to be a major growth in 4G mobile wireless networks.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 A brief overview of m-TV\n3. Hypotheses development and research model: 3.1 PE\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Questionnaire design and sampling\n5. Data analysis: 5.1 Demographic characteristics of the respondents\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Relationship between PE, EE, SI, FC and BI on m-TV\n7. Implications: Theoretically, the proposed model not only examines the direct effects between the predictor factors and BI, but also examines the moderating effects of gender. The suggestion from our study provides valuable insights to the marketing strategy for mobile marketers, wireless communications vendors and application developers within the m-TV industry.\n8. Concluding remarks: Our empirical study has successfully examined the predictors in influencing the adoption of m-TV by employing a modified UTAUT2 as a base model. With the revolution of mobile telecommunications, users are expected to adopt m-devices to watch TV for news, sports and other entertainment programs. Therefore, findings from the research model will provide valuable insights for practitioners in the m-TV industry.\n9. Limitations and future studies: Several limitations have been acknowledged. First, the sample of this research was collected from a homogenous group of students in a private university. In order to fully reflect on predicting users' adoption, future research should be targeted to general population using respondents from diverse groups of income, education, academic qualification and industry. Second, this study only measured users' BI; the actual adoption behavior was ignored. To overcome this limitation, it would be worthwhile to collect longitudinal data to provide more insights on the actual adoption behavior for future research. Lastly, this research model is limited to the adoption factors derived from UTAUT2. Future research may consider adopting other models such as Task Technology Fit, Motivational Models or other adoption factors such as perceived playfulness, perceived cost and perceived flexibility to facilitate understanding on m-TV acceptance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: While mobile TV (m-TV) is beneficial and is currently an emerging area within mobile commerce, the adoption rate is at the infancy stage. The purpose of this paper is therefore to adapt the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model to explore on the factors in predicting users' behavioral intention (BI) of m-TV.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Partial least square structural equation modeling approach was employed using 193 respondents to test the findings.\nFindings: The findings revealed that effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), hedonic motivation (HM) and habit (HT) have significant effects on BI. In addition, gender was found to have moderating effect between FC and BI.\nPractical implications: Findings from this study provide valuable insights and contribute to the marketing strategy for mobile marketers, wireless communications vendors and application developers in the m-TV industry.\nOriginality/value: Since the emergence of m-TV is regarded as a new concept, what factors that may motivate users to watch TV using m-devices remains unexplored and therefore is currently a neglected research area. This paper provides clues and valuable insights for mobile marketers, wireless communications vendors and application developers in the m-TV industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A bibliometric analysis of literature on engineering research among BRIC countries
|
[
"BRIC",
"Bibliometrics",
"Engineering",
"Scientometrics",
"Scimago",
"Research output"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The channel of science communication is based on the publication of articles in journals for centuries (Miguel 2016). Acronym, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) was coined by Jim O'Neil in a paper entitled \"Building Better Global Economies BRICs,\" and it is estimated that BRIC economies will overtake G7 economies by 2027. Further, Goldman Sachs forecasts that China and India would become the first and third largest economies, respectively, by 2050 with Brazil and Russia capturing the fifth and sixth spots, respectively. BRIC nations account for much of the increase in science research investments and scientific publications. From 2002 to 2007, the current spending on science research was doubled by China, India and Brazil (BRIC, 2016). BRIC countries have been investing heavily in developing infrastructure for research and development in different fields of science and technology, as well as in the frontier areas such as atomic energy, space sciences, electronics, telecommunications and more recently in biotechnology (Kumar and Asheulova, 2011). As emerging countries, BRIC countries show remarkable progress in many science indicators, including publications or citation impact (Wang and Levitt, 2012). Traditionally, research in academic institutions in many of the developing countries including India has focused largely on pure science. However, with few notable exceptions, institutions of higher education in India have largely focused on undergraduate level teaching especially in engineering (Raghavan and Rao, 2015).\n2. Literature review: A number of studies have been conducted to examine the scientific productivity in the field of engineering and its sub-fields.\n3. Objectives: The major objective of the study is to evaluate the research activity and scientific impact of BRIC countries in the field of engineering. Specifically, the objectives of the present study are:\n4. Methodology: SJR database (SCImago Journal & Country Rank) (www.scimagojr.com) was used to retrieve the bibliometric information for BRIC countries in the research area of engineering. SCImago is an open-access Web portal for journals and scientific indicators, which uses information from SCOPUS database since 1996. The research covers the scientific productivity in the field of engineering and bibliometric indicators for BRIC countries during the period from 1996 to 2016. The database was accessed during April 2016 and updated during February 2018. Bibliographic information about number of articles and citable articles, number of citations and self-citations, percentage of articles not cited, citations per paper and international collaboration are collected. With the collected data, the following two indicators are used:\n5. Results and discussion: Table I illustrates the bibliometric characteristics of BRIC countries in engineering research during 1996-2016. China stood 1st in the world in terms of number of articles in the field of engineering research, whereas India was at the 8th rank, Russia was at the 12th rank and Brazil was at the 18th rank. The citations per document reached 6.62 and 6.37 for Brazilian and Indian papers, respectively, followed by Chinese (4.37) and Russian (3.42). On the other hand, China received the highest h-index with h = 296, followed by India (h = 242), Brazil (h = 174) and lowest by Russia (h = 167). The highest percentage of self-citations is 66.33 per cent for Chinese, followed by 39.01 per cent for Russian, 33.23 per cent for Indian and lowest 26.45 per cent for Brazilian. Percentage of articles not cited in the subsequent literature is more than 50 per cent for Russia, whereas it is lower than 50 per cent for China, India and Brazil. It is because of larger number of articles were published in the national language (e.g. Russian and Chinese).\n6. Conclusion: In this study, a comparison of BRIC countries in the field of engineering has been conducted based on the data obtained from SCImago database which yielded some interesting things. Among the top countries, China was ranked 1st in the world in terms of number of articles in the field of engineering research, India was at 8th rank, Russia was at 12th rank and Brazil was at 18th rank; Russia slipped three positions from being at the 7th rank in 1996 to being at the 10th rank in 2016, while others improved their ranks. Even though China ranked first, it has poor contribution in the high impact journals (Elango, 2017). Among the BRIC countries, China registered the highest average annual growth with 17 per cent, and the lowest average annual growth was registered by Russia with 5 per cent. In terms of quality of publications, percentage of articles not cited in the subsequent literature is more than 50 per cent for Russia and nearly 50 per cent for China, whereas it is lower than 50 per cent for other BRIC countries. It is because of larger number of articles were published in Russian and Chinese language of which can be read by a minority of researchers worldwide (Elango, 2016). The highest citations per paper are received by Brazil (6.62), and this is because the highest percentage of articles was published in collaboration with international coauthors. Even though, China received the highest value of h-index (386), it has received lowest citations per paper after Russia because of the publication language. Each BRIC country concentrates on different sub-disciplines of engineering, e.g. Brazil on Automotive and Industrial Engineering, Russia on Computational Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, India on Control and Industrial Engineering and China on the related disciplines of Mechanical Engineering. Even though the use of SCImago database is useful for undertaking the study of this kind and provides a wide variety of avenues to explore further, there are some limitations. In future study, we would like to combine the socio-economic indicators with scientometric mapping tools.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to make a quantitative analysis and compare the scientific productivity in the area of engineering among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data were collected from SCImago. Various parameters such as number of articles and citable articles, world share and rank, citations per paper and h-index, and international collaboration were analyzed.\nFindings: There was a fluctuation trend in the pattern of international collaboration among the BRIC countries during the period. Among the top countries, China ranked first in the world in terms of number of articles in the field of engineering research, whereas India was at the 8th rank, Russia was at the 12th rank and Brazil was at the 18th rank. Among the BRIC countries, Russia slipped three positions from being at the 7th rank in 1996 to being at the 10th rank in 2016, while others improved their ranks.\nOriginality/value: The results of this study reveal publication trends and collaboration pattern of BRIC countries in the field of engineering which may be useful for the academic fraternity and decision makers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Open innovation: past, present and future trends
|
[
"Open innovation",
"Networks",
"Knowledge",
"Spillovers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Open innovation derives from a concept first proposed by Henry Chesbrough (2003a). While the idea and discussions around some of the consequences (especially about R&D-based cooperation between companies) date back to the 1960s (Berkhout et al., 2010), the term originally referenced a paradigm that assumes that companies can and should make recourse to external ideas alongside those internally generated alongside internal and external approaches to markets to the extent that such companies strive to advance their technological evolution (Chesbrough, 2003a).\n2. Literature review: The White Paper NCOE (2001), produced by the \"National Commission on Entrepreneurship\", defends that the greatest contribution from entrepreneurship at the local level stems from innovation. From the 1980s onwards, there has been steady change in the vision of the traditional and linear model of innovation and correspondingly endowing this view with greater dynamism and interaction (Kline and Rosenberg, 1986; Von Hippel, 1988). Currently, innovation receives widespread recognition as one of the main drivers of growth in an era designated the \"age of knowledge\" (Stough, 2003; Mention, 2011).\n3. Methodology and data: Co-citation analysis provides a consensually based methodology for mapping in detail the relationships between the core ideas prevailing in any specific scientific field (Small, 1973) and serves to identify the fundamental scientific articles to that same field (Zitt and Bassecoulard, 1994). Two articles attain the co-cited classification when they are jointly referenced by one or more other published articles (Smith, 1981), with the number of joint citations one means of summarising the literature existing on a particular area of knowledge while also identifying the most influential authors and displaying their respective interrelationships (White and McCain, 1998). Various studies have demonstrated the validity of co-citation analysis for grasping the intellectual structure of fields of research (Di Guardo and Harrigan, 2012).\n4. Results: 4.1 MDS and cluster analysis\n5. Final considerations: This research project sought to map and analyse the intellectual knowledge on open innovation. To this end, we carried out a bibliometric study with recourse to co-citations before then applying cluster and factorial analysis to ensure the identification and classification of the various theoretical perspectives within the field of open innovation. While consisting of a somewhat fragmented literature, scientific production on this field has risen over recent years that have registered not only the highest number of publications but also citations. The analysis and systematisation of the articles returned by the search resulted in six clusters or lines of research that concentrate the main subjects discussed within the scope of open innovation, among which there is also a clear interdependence of subject matter: the open innovation concept, open innovation and networks, open innovation and knowledge, open innovation and innovation spillovers, open innovation management and open innovation and technology.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide interested parties with the means of grasping how the literature on open innovation has evolved over the course of time. In this way, the authors furthermore contribute towards a better understanding, scaling and positioning of this field of research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study applies a combination of bibliometric techniques, such as citations, co-citations and social network analysis in order to map the scientific domain of open innovation. Currently, bibliometric analysis represents a methodology in effect on a global scale to evaluate the existing state of fields of research (Mutschke et al., 2011). This spans the application of quantitative and statistical analysis to publications such as articles and their respective citations and serving to evaluate the performance of research through returning data on all of the activities ongoing in a scientific field with summaries of these data generating a broad perspective on the research activities and impacts, especially as regards the researchers, journals, countries and universities (Hawkins, 1977; Osareh, 1996; Thomsom Reuters, 2008).\nFindings: This research aims to map and analyse the intellectual knowledge held on open innovation. To this end, the authors carried out a bibliometric study with recourse to co-citations. Based on cluster and factorial analyses, it is possible identify and classify the several theoretical perspectives on open innovation across six areas: open innovation concept, open innovation and networks, open innovation and knowledge, open Innovation, and innovation spillovers, open innovation management and open innovation and technology.\nOriginality/value: This paper aims to map and analyse the intellectual knowledge held on open innovation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Top executive compensation in less developed capital markets
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Agency theory",
"CEO remuneration",
"Executive compensation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nCorrigendum: It has been brought to our attention that Jose Paulo Esperanca was not named as an author of \"Top executive compensation in less developed capital markets\" that was published in Corporate Governance, Vol. 15 No. 1. This occurred through an author error. The authors sincerely apologise for this. The additional author attribution for this article has now been added to the electronic version of the article.\n1. Introduction: Executive compensation has attracted significance in both the popular press and the scholarly literature (Boyd et al., 2012). Executive compensation is of considerable interest to the business and academic communities, as well as policymakers (Graham et al., 2012). The compensation paid to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of large publicly traded corporations rose dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s, stimulating much debate on the determinants of managerial pay (Murphy, 1999).\n2. Hypotheses and the model: 2.1 Characteristics of principals\n3. Data and methodology: In this study, the data were collected from primary and secondary sources, in contrast with a large number of studies that relied on secondary sources such as those supplied by compensation consultants.\n4. Empirical findings: The main empirical findings of the study are displayed in Table III.\n5. Summary and conclusions: This paper shows that agency theory is particularly attuned to the analysis of situations in which contracting problems are difficult. These include situations in which there is a substantial goal conflict between principals and agents such that agent opportunism is likely. By emphasising these issues, the paper uses agency theory to deduct testable hypotheses and generates empirical findings consistent with this theory. Other issues such as compensation in high-tech and service firms, where monitoring is particularly difficult, are also addressed.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to study the determinants of variable compensation for top Portuguese executives (chief executive officers, chief financial officers and commercial directors).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from 101 firms were collected through an email questionnaire sent to the human resource directors of 500 largest and best Portuguese firms of Exame, a business newspaper. A Tobit regression analysis was used to estimate the basic equation of the study.\nFindings: The conclusions are generally consistent with findings obtained in more developed capital markets. It was found that public and older corporations are more intensive users of variable pay, consistent with the agency theory prediction. A location in the centre of economic activity and a higher executive education increase the propensity to receive higher levels of salary in the form of variable compensation. The relation between compensation and performance was more elusive.\nResearch limitations/implications: There are limitations as to the extrapolation of the obtained results, as the level of potential idiosyncrasy cannot be measured. Ideally, the study should be replicated in different contexts to control for country-specific influences. Nevertheless, the main finding that performance-related pay mechanisms are less used in countries where public corporations and potential agency problems are less pervasive should hold.\nOriginality/value: As the focus is on a small economy with a developing capital market, this paper contributes to executive compensation literature that has mostly analysed firms based in well-developed capital markets, with a higher separation of ownership and control (Anglo-Saxon countries).\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Gendered and diversified? Leadership in global hospitality and tourism academia
|
[
"Academic leadership",
"Global hospitality and tourism academia",
"Full professors",
"Gender and diversity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recognition of academia as a strategic actor in the knowledge economy has stimulated research on leadership, including in the field of hospitality and tourism since the 2000s, with the establishment of both the research strand and study programmes. Studies have addressed the impact of hospitality and tourism scholars (Timothy, 2015; Becken et al., 2016; Koseoglu et al., 2016), research collaborations and dissemination of results (Benckendorff and Zehrer, 2016; Bramwell et al., 2016; Melissen and Koens, 2016) and gender inequality in hospitality and tourism (Figueroa-Domecq et al., 2015; Small et al., 2017). However, while recognising excellence in research in terms of the impact and knowledge transfer to broader public and into practice, past scientific inquiries have inadequately addressed leadership issues, associated with gender and diversity, in hospitality and tourism academia specifically. Notable exceptions (Fotaki, 2013; Munar et al., 2015; Becken et al., 2016; Chambers et al., 2017; Munar, 2017) show a considerable gender gap in tourism academia and claim, \"[...]we simply do not know what gender looks like on the career ladder in tourism academia\" (Munar et al., 2015, p. 17). A gap also exists in our understanding of the links between migration and ethnicity and the diversity of leaders within this field.\nLeadership in tourism and hospitality academia: background: In the European report on gender equality \"She figures\", the European Commission (2015) stressed that \"striking gender inequalities persist when it comes to career advancement and participation in academic decision-making\" (p. 7). This observation remains accurate, especially against the background of the global educational expansion that brought women to the forefront of knowledge and skills acquirement. In various fields of study, women outnumber men in undergraduate enrolment rates, and their share is almost equal to that of men in business studies that includes tourism, leisure and hospitality, as Table 1 demonstrates. Yet, the situation exhibits a scissors-shaped trend when it comes to academic degrees higher than bachelor's level and this is particularly evident at the highest levels of academic hierarchy, such as (full) professorial positions. This pattern is similar globally, irrespective of the academic organisational structures in place; with every step up the ladder and increasing responsibility, the proportion of women in senior positions reduces dramatically. This is not a new phenomenon. The body of research on gender differences in academia provides evidence for persisting inequalities and even discrimination, either subtle or overt (Bagilhole and White, 2008; Nielsen, 2016). Table 1 is the first acknowledgment; however, this pattern can be observed globally for hospitality and tourism studies, where information on gendered leadership and other forms of diversity is still lacking. The desideratum is, thus, to ascertain concrete factors that make up academic leadership in global hospitality and tourism academia and find possible explanations for their existence.\nTowards a synthesised understanding of academic leadership: Informed by the lack of fit and leader identity development theories, this study offers a critical and reflexive framework for academic leadership grounded in rationales of diversity and intersectionality. Gender equality and diversity represent the core global equality agenda that acknowledges the urge to depart from self-reproducing homophilic leadership structures towards diversified teams. Contrary to recent investigations on academic leadership concentrating on research productivity of full professors (publications, citations and journal editorships), this study considers further factors for an integrative and reflexive notion of academic leadership. The diversity concept, rooted in cultural understandings of social disparities, represents a reflective framework for studying academic leadership, as it takes up the lack of fit model and sheds light on socially relevant differences at the individual level that, in turn, generate institutional practices (Crenshaw, 1989). Diversity categories are the result of relative, relationally established sets of differences, called diversity dimensions. They are culture-sensitive and imply a variability of key factors (\"age\", \"gender\", \"sexual orientation\", \"impairment/disability\" and \"ethnicity\") depending on cultures of dominance (Cho et al., 2013; Pritchard and Morgan, 2017). The diversity concept sheds light on individual differences perpetuating social inequalities on the institutional level against the background of the dominant culture.\nData and methods: This investigation examines the careers of senior researchers (R3 and R4, according to EU definition) in hospitality and tourism with special attention to gender, diversity and professional external partnerships. It provides insights into the role of gender in academia in this field of study in the UK, the USA, German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland, so-called DACH-countries) and the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea). The examination is based on a reconstruction of the professional history of individuals and quantitative analysis of Curricula Vitae (CVs) of professors collected through online screening of at least five popular higher education institutions that provide bachelor's degrees in each respective region. To build a more comprehensive picture, the study deploys a census of full professors in the regions based on a quantitative methodology. Criteria are not only ascriptive - gender, age and migration background - but also use indicators of scientific productivity, usually defined as publications, affiliations, topics of interest and academic mobility, as well as service activities. Decisions on diversity dimensions were met based on the availability of the data on full professors. Taking into consideration the specificity of hospitality and tourism academia, the extent of collaboration with industry and online self-promotion are also analysed as knowledge transfer. The general model can be seen in Figure 1.\nFindings: The reconstruction of individual academic life courses commences by exploring the diversity dimension initially through nascent academic careers in the relevant professions. It then proceeds to current professional achievements, focussing on diversity aspects. Lastly, ex-academic professional partnerships and patterns of self-representation will be highlighted to complete the picture of academic leadership.\nDiscussion: Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to represent a unique and original piece of research on full professors in global hospitality and tourism academia. Aimed at revisiting academic leadership, this study identifies its components and gains insight into the so far understudied dimensions of diversity in academic contexts worldwide.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study examines the careers of senior researchers (R3 and R4, according to European Commission) in hospitality and tourism, with special attention given to diversity. Based on quantitative methodology and a standardised online search, it uses individual-level data to give insights into dimensions of academic leadership. Full professors from the UK, the USA, German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea) build the sample.\nFindings: Academic leadership in hospitality and tourism academia is not yet fully tied to cooperation with industry, as predicted by the \"Triple Helix\" model. Currently, the majority of the intellectual component constitutes academic leadership, outweighing administrative and innovative angles. Gender, age and ethnic diversity are underrepresented. While some regions can be considered sealed to ethnic diversity, others are more open and attract international scholars.\nOriginality/value: Rooted in interdisciplinary explanations, this study is the first of its kind to consider various diversity dimensions of academic leadership from a global perspective. It not only enriches the notion of academic leadership but also provides several practical implications and suggestions for further research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Is internal and external mechanism of governance enriching the performance of the banking sector of Pakistan?
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Performance",
"External mechanism",
"Internal mechanism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In a global world, the focus of organizations is on developing corporate policies to weed out the problems of extreme prejudices. The recent corporate scandals and the deregulation of capital markets have created governance issues regarding the internal management and investors. In a competitive environment, organizations need to take care of not only its nature, rules and intricacy but also of their customers and investors. In an organization, the investors may relate to the same region or may belong to a foreign country, so the manager needs to know how to deal with agency issues, as they can harm the company's financial position in the market. Many theories (i.e. signaling and agency theory, etc.) play a vital role in establishing the profound relationship between the investors and management.\n2. Review of literature: A wide area of research is directed toward explaining the relationship between corporate governance and financial performance, but the results are inconsistent. Previous literature has provided empirical evidence on the relationship of internal and external governance on the performance of an organization. Specifically, the financial strength of an organization has a direct relationship with corporate governance (Aguilary, 2016; Outa and Waweru, 2016). Meanwhile, some studies have proved that corporate governance has a negative relationship with corporate performance, highlighting the inconsistency problem under agency theory (Hassan et al., 2015). Some studies also showed an insignificant association between corporate governance and firm performance (Hassan et al., 2015;Singh and Davidson, 2003; Prevost et al., 2002). Firms in developing countries require progression of corporate governance practices in both established and developing markets (Molla et al., 2016). The study has citied the work that relates more to the financial sector rather than the non-financial sector.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Description of data\n4. Results and discussions: 4.1 Multicollinearity test\n5. Conclusion and discussions: The study explored the impact of internal and external governance on the performance of the banks of Pakistan. The panel data techniques have been used as the sample size consists of 30 banks (public, private and specialized) for the period of 2008-2014. The study used four models to check the impact of internal and external governance on the performance of banking sector. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors of governance which uplift the performance of the banking sector. The findings explored that the board structure of a banking sector does not play a substantial role in the performance (Yermack, 1996; Jensen, 1993; Nyamongo and Temesgen, 2013), but the board of directors help to focus the firm's efforts on enhancing the shareholder's wealth and profitability of the bank (Al-Saidi and Al-Shammari, 2013). Outside directors' work as advisors to the board on sensitive issues and to monitor the managerial work. The results showed that the AGM's and outside directors are incongruent with their roles, and hence, they cannot enhance the efficacy of the banking sector (Al-Saidi and Al-Shammari, 2013; Sheikh et al., 2013). The direct significant impact of financial transparency on the performance shows that the positive image of banks helps in improving its performance (Bai et al., 2006).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how governance mechanisms (internal and external) enhance the performance of the return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE), earning per share (EPS) and dividend payout ratios (DP) of the banks of Pakistan. The study incorporates not only the internal factors of governance (board size, out-ratio, annual general meeting, managerial ownership, institutional ownership, block holder stock ownership and financial transparency) but also the external factors (legal infrastructure and protection of minority shareholders, and the market for corporate control).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample size of the study consists of 30 banks (public, private and specialized) listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) for the period 2008-2014. The panel data techniques (fixed or random effect model) have been used for the empirical analysis after verification by Hausman (1978) test.\nFindings: The results revealed that not only do the internal mechanisms of governance enhance the performance of the banking sector of Pakistan but external governance also plays a substantial role in enriching the performance. The findings conclude that for a good governance structure, both internal and external mechanisms are equally important, to accelerate the performance of the banking sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: Internal and external mechanisms of corporate governance can also be checked by adding some more variables (ownership i.e. foreign, female and family as internal and auditor as external), but they are not added in this work due to data unavailability.\nPractical implications: The study contributes to the literature and could be useful for the policy makers who need to force banks to mandate codes of governance through which they can create an efficient board structure and augment the performance. The investments from different forms of ownership can be accelerated if they follow the codes properly.\nSocial implications: The study facilitates the bankers in incorporating sound codes of corporate governance to enhance the performance of the banks.\nOriginality/value: This work is unique as no one has explored the impact of external mechanism of governance on the performance of the banking sector of Pakistan.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
I shall, we shall, and all others will: paradoxical information security behaviour
|
[
"Information security",
"Human behaviour",
"Behavioural threshold analysis",
"Lemming effect",
"Privacy paradox"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Humans play an integral part in all the phases of technology utilisation; from the initial development to the intended use of technology, the human factor is an inexorable aspect that needs to be managed on many levels. One of the more prominent factors where humans play a vital role is in the protection of technological systems (Evans et al., 2016). This protection of systems is twofold: First, humans implement technological security that is developed to protect systems from unauthorised access and intrusion. Systems become enveloped in a cocoon of technology so that all but those who are authorised may gain entry. Second, those who are duly authorised to have access are entrusted to keep their access private so that no other may intrude upon that which is theirs to guard. On the first account, the security of systems is well thought-out. The protections are methodical, well-designed and near impossible to penetrate. It is on the second account where the true vulnerability of systems lies. The human is untrustworthy and relinquish their control over their own small, albeit very important, part of the system's security defences at the drop of a hat. Often, this is unwittingly, the human is fooled into relinquishing control to another. Other times the human is set on abusing their access for personal gain.\n2. Behavioural threshold analysis: The concept of behavioural thresholds, as well as threshold analysis, will only be revisited briefly in this section to serve as background information as the concepts were already presented in detail in the previous papers. For a more in-depth review, see Snyman and Kruger (2016).\n3. Application of behavioural threshold analysis: The behavioural threshold analysis exercise was conducted with 63 respondents from a large utility corporation. From the existing structures at the corporation, three groupings of employees were identified, i.e. permanent staff, contractors and management. Participation in this study was voluntary and the questionnaire had a specific consent section in line with acceptable practice. All information supplied by the respondents was strictly anonymous. Ethical clearance for the exercise was obtained from the human resources department and the CEO. Each respondent completed an online questionnaire on their willingness to perform certain information security actions, given the number of others whom also perform the actions.\n4. Results: This section shows the aggregation of the information security behavioural threshold analysis results that were obtained from the respondents for each of the questions in Table I. The results are presented in a graph format. These graphs represent a plot of the cumulative behavioural thresholds for a corresponding question plotted against a uniform distribution of thresholds called the equilibrium line. The shape of the behavioural threshold graph and the intersection with the equilibrium line allows for an interpretation that may predict a percentage of members of the group that may eventually participate in the relevant information security behaviour. It should be noted that a detail analysis of all the nuances conveyed by the graph is omitted and only the crux of the analysis is presented. An overview of other measures and analyses (e.g. information conveyed by gradient measurement of the graph) is presented in Snyman and Kruger (2017a).\n5. Discussion: Based on the results that are reported in Section 4, this section provides a twofold overview. A discussion is presented in terms of issues relating to this specific research exercise and then remarks of a more general nature relating to behavioural threshold analysis and the privacy paradox caused by the lemming effect is presented.\n6. Conclusion and future work: This paper presented the first application of information security behavioural threshold analysis to measure the lemming effect in practice. The lemming effect is shown to be a possible cause for the privacy paradox because of the influence of group behaviour on the individual. Given the number of factors that have an influence on this analysis, the results should be handled carefully. Further research into these topics is warranted. Consideration might be given to other social theories that explain the influence of a group on an individual such as social capital theory and social cognition theory. The aforementioned notwithstanding, the results indicate the presence of the lemming effect in information security behaviour and that the effect can be measured with the use of behavioural threshold analysis as presented in this research. Furthermore, the results give a good indication of the levels of security awareness of the group in question and helps determine areas in which awareness still needs development. In conclusion, it is therefore in the light of the lemming effect and the privacy paradox that because one individual initiates a behaviour (I shall), more individuals will join in (we shall) and participation grows until all the members of the group also participate (all others will).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lemming effect as a possible cause for the privacy paradox in information security.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Behavioural threshold analysis is used to test for the presence of the lemming effect in information security behaviour. Paradoxical behaviour may be caused by the influential nature of the lemming effect. The lemming effect is presented as a possible cause of the privacy paradox.\nFindings: The behavioural threshold analysis indicates that the lemming effect is indeed present in information security behaviour and may lead to paradoxical information security behaviour.\nPractical implications: The analysis of the lemming effect can be used to assist companies in understanding the way employees influence each other in their behaviour in terms of security. By identifying possible problem areas, this approach can also assist in directing their information security education endeavours towards the most relevant topics.\nOriginality/value: This research describes the first investigation of the lemming effect in information security by means of behavioural threshold analysis in practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
IFRS and convergence in China and the USA
|
[
"China",
"USA",
"Adoption",
"IFRS",
"Accounting",
"International business",
"Convergence",
"GAAP"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Theorists around the world have argued for a common set of accounting reporting standards for companies, which would allow for a greater level of financial reporting transparency that would increase investor confidence, increase the ability for companies to raise capital and lower the cost of capital for individual companies. As such, one of the principal objectives of the IFRS Foundation is \"to develop a single set of high quality, understandable, enforceable and globally accepted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) through its standard-setting body, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)\" (IFRS, 2013a, para. 3). The IASB has made great strides towards this single set of standards with nearly every major economy, including China, outside the USA, using or committing to use IFRS (Bunting and Frank, 2008). Due to this progress, it is important that all stakeholders are aware of the changes and how IFRS could affect their country and business operations.\nIFRS overview: History\nCountry examinations: China\nConclusion: IFRS convergence on a global scale is possibly inevitable with so many countries already using IFRS (Gornik-Tomaszewski and Showerman, 2010). The global adoption and convergence comes in spite of various experts questioning the long-term benefits of such a costly endeavor. This drive towards IFRS is likely due to the attractive benefit of increased financial market competitiveness that countries gain when their financial statements begin to follow a single global standard (Daske et al., 2008).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to perform a brief examination of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the progress towards IFRS convergence in the accounting environments of China and the USA, providing useful information on the current status and future of IFRS convergence in these countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A range of IFRS-related literature from 1993 to 2013 was analyzed to provide the current status of IFRS and to determine the past, present and future of IFRS convergence in the country examinations.\nFindings: IFRS convergence and adoption has occurred on a global scale due to the call for a single set of standards. China's most significant obstacles include training accounting professionals and becoming more involved in the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) standard setting process. The USA's most significant obstacle is completing the Securities and Exchange Commission roadmap milestones, which will progressively move the accounting industry towards IFRS convergence.\nResearch limitations/implications: These findings have been limited to an overview of IFRS convergence and adoption within China and the USA. Additional research opportunities exist by examining how successful countries have been in protecting individual economic interests by working with the IASB in the standard setting process for the IFRS, as opposed to being passive in the process. One economic indicator that should be examined is foreign direct investment, which has major impacts on country development and can be influenced by financial standards such as IFRS.\nPractical implications: China and the USA both have milestones identified in this paper that will need to be reached before benefits may be reaped from the converging to IFRS.\nOriginality/value: These findings show that IFRS standards are being implemented globally in many nations, providing a common set of reporting tools to businesses and investors. Through these standards, China and the USA are working to be even more competitive forces in financial markets.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Effect of digital transformation on organisational performance of SMEs: Evidence from the Taiwanese textile industry's web portal
|
[
"Information services",
"E-commerce",
"International business"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With increasing competition in the global market, firms confront a substantial number of challenges to their business operations. Firms in emerging markets face even more difficult challenges (Jean et al., 2010), which significantly impact small- and medium-sized enterprises (hereafter SMEs) in traditional industries that must adapt to government policy changes. SMEs tend to suffer the most due to the highly turbulent and competitive environment in which they operate (Moreno et al., 2012). In Taiwan, recent trade policy changes, such as the trade liberalisation policy with China (under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement), is likely to significantly affect SMEs.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1. ICT and organisational performance\n3. Methodology: 3.1. Data collection\n4. Results: 4.1. Data analysis\n5. Discussion: This study presents a model of industry-specific portal delivery functionalities that examines the effects of portal usefulness, portal interface, and service-oriented portal functions on organisational performance. The model is empirically tested on SMEs in the Taiwanese textile industry. The statistical results indicate a strong and positive relationship between portal functions (includes the three variables of portal maintenance service, B2B, and cloud computing) and perceived organisational performance. This finding provides general support for the argument that SME users may support service-oriented portal functions as their IT-enabled intangible resources which contribute to improved efficiency and effectiveness. As we expected, for SMEs constrained by their lack of resources, the service-oriented functions of a web portal outweigh its other functions (such as speed or system capacity). SME efficiency is enhanced by cost reductions in portal maintenance service and cloud computing, and its effectiveness is also derived from the B2B function which may bring more transactions for SMEs in dealing with external partners. These findings are in line with those of Bharadwaj (2000) and Melville et al. (2004) who state that IT resources are valuable in reducing costs or increasing revenues for firms, which creates competitive values. From the resource-based perspective, the firm-specific competitive values in cost reduction and revenue increase possessed by SMEs serve as heterogeneous, imperfectly mobility resources to support sustainable competitive advantage (Barney, 1991).\n6. Conclusion: This study contributes to the IT business value literature by assessing the linkages between portal usefulness, portal interface, service-oriented portal function, and perceived organisational performance in the context of Taiwanese textile industry SMEs using in-depth interviews and a survey-based research methodology. Taking a resource-based perspective, this study developed and investigated a model connecting these dimensions. The study found support for the positive and significant performance outcomes of service-oriented portal functions, as well as the negative moderating role of portal training on portal interface. Service-oriented portal functions, comprising of portal maintenance, B2B function, and cloud computing, serve as essential non-physical IT resources for textile firms. This study thus fills a gap between theory and practice for industry-specific IT resources for SMEs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the pilot implementation of an industry-specific web portal as an IT resource on textile SMEs organisational performance. Using a resource-based perspective, portal delivery functionalities, considered as non-physical IT resources, are analysed using the dimensions of portal usefulness, portal interface, and service-oriented portal functions on SMEs users' perceived outcomes of organisational performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to explore the research hypotheses. Data were collected using field interviews and survey from senior executives of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Taiwanese textile industry.\nFindings: Results indicate that the service-oriented portal function dimension, consisting of portal maintenance service, B2B function, and cloud computing, significantly influences organisational performance. Unexpected findings, such as the negative impact of greater industry benchmark information on perceived SME performance, deserve further investigation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study extends the theory and knowledge on the resource-based view and its implications on e-business organisational performance of SMEs. The study also offers findings relevant to the design of portal sites for SME administrators and information service providers. Limitations of the research include a small size and the industry-specific data limiting the generalisability of the findings.\nPractical implications: Research results practically serve as informative indicators for policy makers, information service providers, and SMEs executives to evaluate feasible elements for web portal design in traditional industry. Findings from this study may help portal service providers in designing better web portal functionalities for SMEs.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the IT business value literature by identifying the linkages between industry-specific portal delivery functionalities and perceived organisational performance through the examination of portal usefulness, portal interface, and service-oriented portal function for textile SMEs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Optimal parameters and tolerances in concurrent product and process design using simulation and fuzzy goal programming
|
[
"Optimization",
"Product design",
"Parameters",
"Process planning",
"Simulation",
"Fuzzy goal programming"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Intense global competition has forced firms to design and deliver high-quality products at minimal manufacturing cost (Paul and Cho, 2011). Typically, quality engineering includes all activities related to the analysis of a product's design, development and production processes to ensure that a product performance is minimally sensitive to various causes of variability during the early product and process design stages.\n2. Literature review: Concurrent optimal product and process designs have received significant research attention. Day (1993) developed a cost model for parameter design. Jeang (1999) determined optimal component tolerances for critical components in an assembly process using response surface methodology. Minimizing total cost was objective function, which includes the quality loss and tolerance cost. McAdams and Wood (2000) carried out tolerance design issues via adjusting single performance parameters of product that affect the customers' needs of heavy-duty manual stapler. Jeang and Chang (2002) conducted tolerance design utilizing orthogonal array, computer simulation and statistical analysis. The parameters' design (component dimensions) was implemented before the tolerance design in an assembly process. The approach was implemented on a wheel mounting assembly in which the tolerances and components dimensions were considered as input factors in three levels for each. The dimensions and tolerances values were obtained by minimizing the items cost of quality loss and the tolerance cost. Jeang (2003) utilized response surface methodology and computer simulation in electronic circuit design by expressing a simultaneous optimization of parameter and tolerance component. The response value consisted of quality loss, tolerance cost and failure cost. Gao and Huang (2003) conducted optimal process tolerance balancing based on process capabilities. Singh et al. (2004) utilized a genetic algorithm-based solution to optimal tolerance synthesis of mechanical assemblies with alternative manufacturing processes. Noorul et al. (2005) conducted tolerance design optimization of machine elements using genetic algorithm. Huang et al. (2005) performed concurrent process tolerance design based on minimum product manufacturing cost and quality loss. Jeang et al. (2008) presented a combination of engineering knowledge, computer simulations, statistical analysis and optimization technique to determine optimal product design. Kumar et al. (2009) optimized design tolerance and asymmetric quality loss cost using pattern search algorithm. Agyapong-Kodua et al. (2012) proposed an integrated methodology of the product and process design for cost-effective product realization. Jeang (2013) proposed product and process design associated with the quality and cost terms. The total cost was identified as the integrated cost of mean, tolerance, quality loss, inspection and failure. Jeang (2014) introduced the optimization for concurrent process mean, process tolerance and product specification. A combination of various levels of mean, tolerance and specifications was developed based on Box-Behnken experimental matrix. Monte Carlo simulation and response surface methodology were utilized for developing mathematical optimization model. Jeang and Lin (2014) determined product and process parameters concurrently for combined quality and cost. The objective functions optimized the mean cost, tolerance cost, quality loss and failure cost. Chattinnawat (2015) performed statistical tolerance design to minimize dual responses of APFA height deviations with tolerance cost-quality loss model. Zong and Mao (2015) performed optimization of tolerance design based on the manufacturing costs of assembly quality. Jin et al. (2015) conducted optimal tolerance design for products with non-normal distribution based on asymmetric quadratic quality loss. Zhao et al. (2016) carried out optimal tolerance design of product based on service quality loss. Chen and Chou (2017) adopt the Burr distribution to determine the optimum process mean, standard deviation and specification limits under non-normality. Han and Tan (2017) optimized robust and tolerance design for computer experiments with mixture proportion inputs. Zhang et al. (2019) performed optimal tolerance design of hierarchical products based on quality loss function. Contrary to most previous studies, this research deals with the high degree of fuzziness incurred at the early design stage, including fuzzy customers' and manufacturer's preferences on product specifications as well as process settings. In this regard, the design targets and tolerances, the process means and tolerances for critical product components, and the desired quality responses are expressed by membership functions. Then, objective functions are formulated to maximize the membership values, equivalently minimize the positive and/or negative deviation from desired values and maximize process capability indices. Finally, most of the previous functions are based on the normality assumption in calculating indirect quality responses, such as reliability and dependability, rather than using the best-fit models.\n3. Methodology: A balanced design of a product can be expressed, as shown in Figure 1, which simplifies the relationship between these variables and the response values as block diagram.\n4. Wheelchair design: Wheelchair designs shown in Figure 4 vary greatly due to the diverse needs of users. For ensuring appropriateness of wheelchairs, designers must thoroughly understand the needs of the intended users and their environments. The proposed approach was implemented to optimize wheelchair, and it is described as follows.\n5. Research results and discussion: Table IX displays the optimal values of design means and standard deviation with their corresponding optimal process means and standard deviations, and the response values obtained at optimal factor settings. It is found that the values of wheelchair's quality response of the average mass, reliability and dependability, y1, y2 and y3, at the optimal design and process parameters and tolerances are found equal to 3.2000, 0.9900 and 1.0000, respectively. Comparing these values with the desired customer requirements, it is obvious that all requirements are fully satisfied (membership function value =100%). The desired values of wheelchair's quality responses are achieved by assigning the design parameters (standard deviations) of the inner seat tube diameter, outer seat tube diameter, screw diameter and screw plate thickness,\n6. Conclusions: This research proposed an effective approach for determining the concurrent optimal design and process parameters and tolerances utilizing simulation and FGP. The optimization of the wheelchair design was provided for illustration. The results showed that the proposed optimization approach is characterized by the following factors: first, flexibility and effectiveness: the proposed model allows the decision maker to determine the optimal parameters and tolerances of product and process under various conditions, such as changes of the ranges of design means and standard deviation; second, accuracy: the proposed model establishes a mathematical relationship between the design and process parameters and tolerances with the desired quality responses; third, consideration of the best-fit probability distributions for calculating quality responses, such as reliability and dependability; and, fourth, dealing with multiple objective functions concurrently in an efficient manner. Nevertheless, the proposed approach has the following limitations: the coefficient of determination for the multiple regression models should be large, greater than 90 percent, and moderate-to-high knowledge of design and statistical analysis, probability estimation, simulation and product design is required.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to determine the optimal parameters and tolerances in concurrent product and process design in the early design stages utilizing fuzzy goal programming. A wheelchair design is provided for illustration.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The product design is developed on the basis of both customer and functionality requirements. The critical product components are then determined. The design and analysis of experiments are performed by using simulation, and then the probability distributions are adopted to determine the values of desired responses under each combination of critical product parameters and tolerances. Regression nonlinear models are then developed and inserted as constraints in the complete optimization model. Preferences on product specifications and process settings, as well as process capability index ranges, are also set as model constraints. The combined objective functions are finally formulated to minimize the sum of positive and negative deviations from desired targets and maximize process capability. The optimization model is applied to determine the optimal wheelchair design.\nFindings: The results showed that the proposed approach is effective in determining the optimal values of the design parameters and tolerances of the critical components of the wheelchair with their related process means and standard deviations that enhance desired multiple quality responses under uncertainty.\nPractical implications: This work provides a general methodology that can be applied for concurrent optimization of product design and process design in a wide range of business applications. Moreover, the methodology is beneficial when uncertainty exists in quality responses and the parameters and tolerances of product design and its critical processes.\nOriginality/value: The fuzziness is rarely considered in research and development stage. This research considers membership functions for parameters and tolerances of a product and its related processes rather than crisp values. Moreover, presented optimization model considers multiple objective functions, sum of deviations and process capability. Finally, the indirect quality responses are calculated from the best-fit probability distributions rather than assuming a normal distribution.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Consumer perceptions of genetically modified foods: a mixed-method approach
|
[
"Consumer perceptions",
"Labelling",
"Genetically modified food",
"Ingredient disclosure",
"Online experiments",
"Projective technique"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: By July 2018, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is expected to have established a national standard for implementing the recent National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law (NBFDL). This law is designed to standardize labeling of foods with genetically modified (GM) ingredients. These developments come over two decades after the introduction of genetic technology into the human food supply.\nOverview of GM food, labeling and transparency: GM foods entered the USA food supply in 1994 with the approval of the Flavr Savr(r) tomato. Despite the general public's long-term exposure to GM technology, consumers lack understanding of what GM entails. A 2013 survey showed 54 per cent of consumers claim little to no knowledge about GE (Hallman et al., 2013). An absence of labeling to distinguish GM foods may strongly contribute to this dearth of consumer understanding of the meanings and distinctions. Diversity of terms that describe GM may also be a part of the problem. Beyond \"genetic modification\" as a catchall term in the media, GE, GM organisms (GMOs), recombinant DNA (rDNA) and biotechnology, are frequently used interchangeably to describe changing an organism's genes. Despite consumers' lack of knowledge of GE, up to 64 per cent of consumers are against GM foods (Scott et al., 2016). GM crops are either ingredients in processed foods or fed to animals that are part of the food supply. The most prevalent GM crops provided 83 per cent of soybean, 29 per cent of maize and 24 per cent of canola production in 2015 [James, 2015; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) 2016].\nTransparency and labeling: Lack of appropriate labeling and transparency may also be a contributing factor to consumer knowledge deficiencies about GM foods. The NBFDL requires standardization for the labeling of products containing GM ingredients (USDA, 2018). Gostin (2016) examined the question: \"What could be wrong with transparency and disclosure?\" stating that scientific consensus exists that GM foods are safe for human consumption and have significant nutritional benefits, as in \"golden rice,\" genetically enriched with vitamin A. Darian and Tucci (2011) found high nutritional value is the most important health benefit influencing consumer food purchase intentions. GM and non-GM foods are considered to have the same nutritional profile. However, the USA has no consistent or mandatory labeling requirements, except for products with different nutritional properties resulting from modification (Byrne, 2010). The NBFDL offers companies the options of a product label disclosure statement, a symbol (to be developed), or on-package direction to a website with content explaining genetic modification and meanings relative to engineered foods (USDA, 2017).\nStudy 1: Using an online projective survey, we explore consumer beliefs about benefits and risks of GM and non-GM foods. With the introduction of the first animal-based GM food, we sought to examine if differences exist in perceptions of GM plant-based versus GM animal-based products. Projective studies are a structured way of examining a consumers' unconscious mind, beliefs, feelings and attitudes, which aligns with our purpose (Webb, 1992).\nResults and discussion: We conducted iterative analysis to determine emergent themes in the data (Strauss and Corbin, 1988) noting commonalities and differences. We used axial coding to group segments of data related to common themes. We examined themes and related data to recognize underlying meanings and beliefs that participants attributed to GM foods.\nStudy 2: Consumers' experience with GE included several scientific announcements that influenced their perception of the practice, efficacy and effect on nature (Harmon and Pollack, 2012). The controversy regarding GM animal-based foods ensued without much information to counter the myths and negative perceptions, or to present a well-balanced understanding for consumers. With the introduction of AquAdvantage salmon, consumers' opinions are likely to remain connected to past stereotypes, influencing receptivity. With low receptivity, consumers are unlikely to fully grasp or assess potential inherent value or benefits of GM foods. In fact, Valente and Chaves (2018) determined that consumers are less willing to accept a price discount for foods with GM ingredients.\nStudy 3: Study 3 aims to build on the findings of Study 2, expanding the examination of food types and considering the \"organic\" label, often used by manufacturers as a contrast to GM. We propose that opinion and purchase intention may be conditionally based on food type and meanings consumers ascribe to GM foods (single ingredients and processed foods). Further, the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM; Lindell and Perry, 2012), suggests that the effects found could be in response to changing perceptions in food technology (e.g. technology in food production is trustworthy). According to PADM, external cues - including on-package content, warning messages and social cues - influence pre-decision processes, which in turn lead to perceptions of threat and protective action. These pre-decision processes influence protective action decision-making and behavioral responses. When individuals perceive a threat through an external cue (e.g. a GM label) as a personal risk, they are motivated to search for protective actions to mitigate such threats (e.g. purchase avoidance). In response, Study 3 compares the effects of food technology perceptions (in general) with product-specific opinions. Thus, consumers' level of trust in food technology may provide an alternative explanation to our findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine consumers' opinions and behavioral intentions toward foods labeled as containing genetically modified (GM) (transgenic) ingredients across plant and animal-based categories. In light of marketplace changes (i.e. labeling requirements), we explore behavioral measures based on labeling options.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three studies, one online projective survey using a convenience sample of consumers and two experiments conducted with Amazon mTurk adult US participants, are included.\nFindings: Consumers have negative associations with GM products vs non-GM and are more likely to purchase unlabeled GM products. GM products may offer positive economic, societal and environmental benefits. However, the need for labeling overshadows these benefits and presence of GM labeling increased avoidance. Furthermore, changes in product opinion mediate consumers' purchase intention and willingness to pay.\nResearch limitations/implications: GM labeling negatively influences consumers' opinions and behavioral intentions. This is important for legislators and marketers concerned with counter-labeling effects (e.g. Non-GMO Project Verified).\nPractical implications: Debates on efficacy of labeling, inclusion disclosure of ingredients, short-term risks and long-term implications are ongoing globally. Consumer reception and purchase intention can only be changed through governmental and corporate transparency.\nSocial implications: Widespread misinformation about GM foods, presence in our food supply, impact on health, economy, environment and the marketplace still exists. The findings reflect consumers' responses to changes proposed by the 2016 National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard legislation.\nOriginality/value: With the paucity of research on consumer response to the release of a GM animal product into the food supply, this work breaks new ground as the first to examine the impact of disclosure of GM animal-based food type.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Recruitment messaging, environmental fit and public service motivation: Experimental evidence on intentions to apply for public sector jobs
|
[
"Public service motivation",
"Organizational attraction",
"Job choice",
"Person-job fit",
"Person-organization fit",
"Survey experiment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Demographic change and a shortage on the supply side of labour have recently become a challenge for many public sector employers. Public organisations face increasing difficulties to attract young and highly qualified staff and struggle to gear their recruitment towards the needs and desires of potential applicants in this generation (Ployhart, 2006; Ritz and Waldner, 2011). An expanding field of research suggests that a potential solution to this problem is to capitalise on the finding that people with high levels of public service motivation (PSM) feel attracted to public sector jobs (Lewis and Frank, 2002; Vandenabeele, 2008). PSM is defined as \"[...] an individual's predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions and organisations\" (Perry and Wise, 1990, p. 368). One of the most often repeated implications of previous research in this field is to align the human resource management (HRM) practices of public organisations with PSM and, more specifically, to address applicants' PSM in the recruitment process, e.g. by employer branding (Ritz et al., 2016a).\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Recruitment and recruitment messaging\nData and method: Sample\nResults: Table III displays the results of the SEM. To evaluate the measurement model, we used nonparametric evaluation criteria. Since PLS-SEM does not use maximum likelihood estimation but ordinary least squares (OLS), \"classical\" fit indices (e.g. TLI) are not available. In line with OLS techniques, we use adjusted R2 as our main fit index (Hair et al., 2014, p. 174). Model 1 (adj. R2=0.212) as well as Models 2 to 7 (adj. R2=0.523) show moderate predictive accuracies.\nDiscussion and conclusion: Among the most prevalent practical implications in the literature on PSM is to account for individual's PSM in personnel marketing and employer branding in the public sector (Ritz et al., 2016a). However, how public managers can build on these insights and develop their HR practices accordingly still awaits further exploration. Our study makes a step in this direction by investigating the role of recruitment messages in an early stage of the attraction process. The results of our experiment provide several important insights as to how the association between recruitment messages and intentions to apply for public sector jobs is mediated by perceived PO and PJ fit, and how the different dimensions of PSM affect these relationships.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Public organisations face increasing challenges to attract young and highly qualified staff. Previous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is associated with a higher propensity to apply for public sector jobs, but the implications from these findings for the design of the recruitment process are still unclear. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how differently framed recruitment messages (i.e. inspirational and rational) affect perceptions of person-job (PJ) and person-organisation (PO) fit, how these associations are moderated by PSM and how they translate into application intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a survey experiment and tested the hypotheses in a sample of 600 students in Germany. The experimental stimuli were hypothetical job advertisements in which inspirational and rational messages on organisational missions and job tasks were varied.\nFindings: Results show that recruitment messaging, as mediated by perceived PJ and PO fit, can increase application intentions depending on the framing of the messages. Inspirational framings are more effective in attracting personnel than rational framings, especially when such messages convey specific and extensive information about job tasks. The extent to which recruitment messages translate into perceptions of fit depends, in part, on the level of the applicant's PSM.\nOriginality/value: By focusing on recruitment messages and their framings, this study is among the few that explore how human resource management can capitalise on previous findings of research on PSM. The findings have implications for the selection and presentation of information on organisational missions and job tasks in the recruitment process. In a more theoretical vein, results contribute to the emerging consensus on the role of perceived PJ and PO fit in the attraction to public sector jobs. The authors deepen this reasoning by introducing self-discrepancy theory to the field of public management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Return and co-movement of major public real estate markets during global financial crisis: A frequency domain approach
|
[
"Global financial crisis",
"Contagion",
"Frequency domain",
"Co-movement",
"Public real estate markets",
"Volatility spectra"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In this paper, we study the return and co-movement dynamics of five major public (securitized) real estate markets, namely the USA, the UK, Japan (JP), Hong Kong (HK), and Singapore (SG) during the pre- and post-global financial crisis (GFC) periods. In contrast to the time domain approach, we adopt the frequency domain analysis to show at which frequencies the returns and co-movements are active. Given the context of economic globalization and frequent occurrence of financial crises over the past years, the GFC provides an excellent empirical opportunity to study the changes of the cyclical components in asset market returns and volatilities, thereby providing fresh implications for market interdependence and diversification. A related issue is whether any observed higher market co-movements can be attributed to integration or contagion. This paper contributes to the limited research on the cyclical return and co-movement dynamics among major public real estate markets during financial/economic crisis in international finance.\n2. Previous literature: Co-movements of stock markets have become a hot research topic in the literature (e.g. Hamao et al., 1990; Janakiraman and Lamba, 1998; Cha and Oh, 2000; Tay and Zhu, 2000; Chan et al., 2008). These studies employ the usual time-domain approach such as time-series linear or non-linear co-integration, vector error-correction, vector autoregressive, standard correlation analysis, and the GARCH related models to study temporal properties of stock market return co-movements, with different degree of success depending on the data sets examined and the methodology used.\n3. Methodology: This study comprises three major parts using spectral and cross-spectral techniques. Essentially, they are carried out in the \"frequency domain\" that describes the variations in a time series in terms of cycles of sines and cosines at different frequencies. This is portrayed in a graph called a periodogram that provides an estimate of the amount of variance of the series accounted for by cycles of each frequency. They are considered to be more appropriate over the time-based correlation, regression approaches, and co-integration techniques. This is because in cycle analysis not only cycles of different duration can be distinguished, but also subtle relationships between the two markets at different cycle periods can be discerned. As noted by Wang (2003), analysis in the frequency domain does not bring in new or additional information. In our context, it is simply an alternative method with which information on the real estate market co-movement is observed, processed, and abstracted. Specifically, cycles are better and more explicitly observed and represented in the frequency domain. Furthermore, through cross-spectral analysis, this study has identified common cycle characteristics and patterns in the interaction among the five major public real estate markets, covering the whole spectrum of short, medium and long cycles, the coherency, and phase relations[1].\n4. Data and preliminary results: We study the weekly returns of indices in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate indices which incorporates REITs and stocks of the listed real estate companies via Thomson Reuters DataStream over the period from July 14, 2000 to June 27, 2014[2]. This 14-year period includes the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, stock market downturn in October 2002, the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Chinese stock market decline in February 2007, the 2007-2009 sub-prime and GFC, the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis, etc., all of which had clear observed effects on volatilities of international financial markets. For the purpose of this study, we focus on the GFC.\n5. Empirical results: 5.1 Spectra dynamics\n6. Conclusion: The frequency-domain analysis conducted in this paper adds to better understanding regarding the impact of GFC on the cyclical return volatility and co-movement dynamics of major developed public real estate markets in international investing. In comparing the return spectral of the five major real estate markets during the pre- and post-GFC periods, we find that whilst none of the real estate markets examined are spared from the GFC, the three Asian public real estate markets are less severely affected by the GFC and are accompanied by a reversal in volatility increase three years post-GFC. Whilst the lack of common dynamics between the Asian and non-Asian markets provide some motivation for investors in diversifying geographically (by continent), a wider implication is that similar to major stock markets, the more advanced public real estate markets have become more integrated, which in turn may have weakened international diversification benefits.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the volatility spectral of five major public real estate markets, namely, the USA, the UK, Japan (JP), Hong Kong (HK), and Singapore (SG), during the pre- and post-global financial crisis (GFC) periods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, univariate spectral analysis is concerned with discovering price cycles for the respective real estate markets. Second, bivariate cross-spectral analysis seeks to uncover whether any two real estate price series share common cycles with regard to their relative magnitudes and lead-lag patterns of the cyclical variations. Finally, to test the contagion effects, the authors estimate the exact percentage change in co-spectral density (cyclical covariance) due to high frequencies (short run) after the GFC.\nFindings: The authors find that whilst none of the public real estate markets examined are spared from the crisis, the three Asian markets were less severely affected by the GFC and were accompanied by a reversal in volatility increase three years post-global financial crisis. Additionally, the public real estate markets studied have become more cyclically linked in recent years. This is particularly true at longer frequencies. Finally, these increased cyclical co-movements measure the outcomes of contagion and indicate fairly strong contagious effects between the public real estate markets examined due to the crisis.\nResearch limitations/implications: The implication of this research is that benefits to investors from international real estate diversification may not be as great during the present time compared to previous periods because national public real estate markets have become more correlated. Nevertheless, the findings do not imply the complete absence of diversification benefits. This is because although cyclical correlations increase in the short run, many of the correlation values are still between low and moderate range, indicating that some diversification benefits may still be realized.\nPractical implications: Given the significant market share and the highest levels of securitization in Asia-Pacific markets including JP, HK/China, and SG, this cyclical research including major public real estate markets has practical implications for ongoing international real estate investment strategies, particularly for the USA/UK and Asian portfolio managers.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the limited research on the cyclical return and co-movement dynamics among major public real estate markets during financial/economic crisis in international finance. Moreover, the frequency-domain analysis conducted in this paper adds to better understanding regarding the impact of GFC on the cyclical return volatility and co-movement dynamics of major developed public real estate markets in international investing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Are all internships beneficial learning experiences? An exploratory study
|
[
"Communities of practice",
"Workplace learning",
"Internships",
"Undergraduates"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Internships are a phenomenon which, it is claimed (Hurst and Good, 2010), have been in existence for thousands of years (mainly in the form of apprenticeships) and are \"structured and career relevant work experiences obtained by students prior to graduation from an academic programme\" (Taylor, 1988, p. 393). Perrin (2012) describes how the first true interns appeared in medical schools in the latter half of the nineteenth century, but now have spread to many other settings. In the USA, internships are an established part of student life, and in the UK they are becoming increasingly common (Wachman, 2010), though they are not without their critics (e.g. Gardner, 2010). Internships are seen by organisations as a way of getting work done at a fraction of the cost, especially in the USA where even paid interns will not receive other benefits such as employer-funded health care (Bushong, 2009). Other benefits to organisations include the financial savings that might come from reduced recruitment and training costs arising from employing the intern after their internship has ended (Sullivan, 2003; Gault et al., 2010).For those who have undertaken internships, there is an increased likelihood of securing employment (Callanan and Benzing, 2004) and of increased earnings in subsequent employment (Gault et al., 2000). Burnsed (2010) reports (again with regard to the USA) that universities are pushing all their students towards internships, as undertaking one (or more) may be crucial in finding meaningful employment. Not only are internships opportunities for building appropriate skill sets for work in a particular field (Miller et al., 2010), they can provide a practical experience which smoothes the transition from studying a topic to using it in the real world (Ewing, 1973) and can give those who have undertaken them greater informal workplace contacts from whom to learn about permanent job opportunities (Taylor, 1988).Whilst organisations might see interns as a source of cheap labour, or a way of evaluating potential employees, it is important that the developmental opportunities of internships are not overlooked. Beenen and Rousseau (2010) showed that learning during an internship is a critical factor in MBA students' intentions to accept a permanent job from their internship provider and D'Abate et al. (2009) also concluded that intern job satisfaction is significantly predicted by both the significance of their work and the amount of feedback they receive from their supervisors, the latter being vital if interns are to develop effectively. Gault et al. (2010) make the point that relatively little research has been conducted on the effectiveness on internships, and although this gap has been filled to some extent (e.g. Hynie et al., 2011), there is little research informed by any theoretical framework. Given that internships should encompass learning and development in the workplace, it would seem appropriate to examine them from the perspective of communities of practice.Communities of practice\nMethodology: In the iteration of the internship scheme under study, 39 projects ran, involving 55 interns and 56 supervisors. Six interns (Greg, Harriet, Imogen, Janet, Kath and Lewis) and six supervisors (Anne, Barbara, Clare, Dave, Ed and Florence) were interviewed for the study. Interviews have been established as an acceptable tool for exploring communities of practice and social learning (O'Donnell et al., 2009). Due to the issues regarding access to the population, the interviews were conducted between six and eight months after the internship was completed. Of the interns interviewed, two were male and four were female, which is roughly representative of the proportion of males and females in the overall intern cohort. One (Greg) had completed his course prior to undertaking an internship, two (Janet and Kath) had completed two years of their studies and two (Imogen and Lewis) just one year when they embarked on the programme. The sixth intern (Harriet) was completing the final element of a course concurrently with being an intern. Three had been the only intern on a project, and three had been one of a pair. Of the supervisors, two were male and four were female, again reflecting the proportions in the overall group of supervisors that year. Of the six supervisors, three were experienced, having had at least one intern before. Only one supervisor had worked alone with their intern, the other five had been part of a supervisory team of at least two. The interns and supervisors came from a range of disciplines.The internship programme is coordinated by a research and teaching centre within the institution in which it runs. Permission to conduct the study was sought from the head of the centre. Ethical approval was obtained in line with both BERA and BPS guidelines. Interns and supervisors were initially contacted by the centre organising the scheme to ask who would not want to take part in this research. Three responses were received. The remaining supervisors and interns were contacted directly via email, although a number of interns had taken part in the scheme at the end of their degree programme and many, therefore, no longer had active e-mail accounts in the institution and were not contactable. All those who were willing and able to take part within the timeframe of the study were interviewed. Most participants were interviewed alone, but in some situations where there were natural bonds between participants (e.g. co-supervisors), group interviews were conducted, however, the types of participants were kept separate, so no intern was interviewed at the same time as their supervisor. Interviews were semi-structured, with key questions based on the CoP literature. The shortest interview was 20 minutes and the longest, a group interview, 60 minutes.\nResults: All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Initially, deductive thematic analysis (as described by Braun and Clarke, 2006), was conducted, using concepts both present in the CoP literature (e.g. learning) and those criticised as being absent (e.g. expert practitioner power: Fuller et al., 2005; learner predisposition: Roberts, 2006).The initial thematic analysis indicated that learning was a key element in the interviewees' accounts, but that it was not always positive: not all interns progressed in the way they assumed they would, and not all supervisors saw the expected learning in their interns. Expert (in this case, supervisor) power and learner (in this case intern) predisposition issues were evident in the data. To explore these in more detail, a focused analysis and presentation of the data and development of a model was then undertaken.In order to create the model's categories, the two key dimensions were used: the willingness of the supervisor to encourage learning in the intern and the predisposition (defined as capacity or inclination) of the intern to engage in learning from the community, each of which could range from high to low. Given the different foci of these two dimensions an orthogonal relationship between them was assumed. This created four quadrants (as can be seen in Figure 1) which are:* high supervisor willingness to support learning; high intern predisposition for learning;* high supervisor willingness to support learning; low intern predisposition for learning;* low supervisor willingness to support learning; high intern predisposition for learning; and* low supervisor willingness to support learning; low intern predisposition for learning.The following four cases have been chosen to illustrate the four quadrants.Harriet - optimal conditions for development\nDiscussion: With regard to movement from the periphery to the centre of the CoP, four types of internship experience have been identified in the data: optimal conditions for learning, intern non-development, supervisor frustration and mutual dissatisfaction. The four cases presented suggest that in some of the internships, supervisors (the experts or old timers) were making efforts to ensure that their interns were given opportunities to move from the periphery towards the centre of the research community, whether that was fully appreciated and fully utilised seems to have depended on the motivation and interest of the intern themselves. In other internships, supervisors made less of an effort to help their intern on a learning journey, in one case because the intern was fully conversant with what was required of him and the time was particularly short, and in the other because the supervisor appeared not to see the intern as acceptable for helping through the learning process (Safran, 2010), which was exacerbated by the intern's preference to do things his own way. It should be emphasised that the majority of the accounts in the whole sample indicate experiences tending towards the \"optimal conditions\" category.The internships provided varied possibilities for engaging in the fullest way with the CoP, sometimes because the interns were relatively physically isolated (e.g. Florence's interns who were housed in a research facility away from the other interns in their department) or because they chose to do some of the work off-campus (Greg and Harriet). Imogen, Janet and Kath, who formed a little network of their own, all said how useful they had found it, and knew there had been other interns who were feeling isolated. Kath had also been taken by her supervisor to a meeting of research partners on a multi-institution project on which she worked. As such, it would appear to be beneficial in many ways for wider engagement with the CoP to be encouraged by the institution. Although Safran (2010) suggests that legitimate peripheral participants need not, if they do not wish to, engage in meeting other members of the community and only engage with the wider community through newsletters and web sites, when members of the community are all in one institution at the same time, it would seem sensible to encourage closer contact.The small size of the sample means that the findings should be seen as tentative, though a useful start to the consideration of how learning takes place in internships. Also, these interns and their supervisors are all part of the same scheme within the same institution, and whilst this may have benefits with regard to research design, it may bring with it limitations with regard to generalisability to other intern schemes. If one of the benefits of taking on interns is the savings organisations can make through the reduced recruitment and training costs arising from employing the intern after their internship has ended (Sullivan, 2003; Gault et al., 2010), then the scheme which is the focus of this study is not a typical internship, as there was no employment available at the end of it, though this may be an increasingly common feature of internships in general (see e.g. Perrin, 2012). If there had been a prospect of employment, a more effective selection procedure may have resulted in better \"fit\" between supervisors and their interns and thus a more positive experience. It should be noted though, that although there was no direct employment prospect, of the interns who took part in this study, Jamie (Florence's intern), Harriet and Janet all started doctoral studies with one or more of their supervisors when they completed their degrees.It should also be acknowledged that the internship scheme under discussion is, in an important way, unlike the situations that were the basis for Lave and Wenger's original thesis. Lave and Wenger (1991) argue that learning activity is characterised by strong learning goals which learners derive from their developing sense of what the whole enterprise is about. In these internships the opportunities for that are limited, either because the short duration means that interns do not get a sense of what the whole enterprise is about, or because they are sometimes reliant upon one or two key individuals (their supervisors) to help them to see it. In some cases, their relative isolation from other interns, meant the opportunity to learn from others at the same level, an important feature of CoPs, was limited.CoP theory has, however, been a useful lens through which to examine these internships, and in so doing, difficulties with the theory have been brought back into focus. Fuller et al. (2005) and Bentley et al. (2010) point to the notion of old timer power being unacknowledged in Lave and Wenger's work. This study has provided further evidence that newcomers may not be allowed to develop if the old timers (their supervisors) do not wish it, which may arise from supervisor-imposed constraints on opportunities, or their supervisor not wishing to have them there or value their input. The study also supports the criticism by Roberts (2006) about there being no acknowledgement of differences in newcomers' attitudes to learning.Future research might usefully address the criticisms of CoPs further, by examining the issues in other internship schemes and in other types of community. Also, building on this study's highlighting of the finding that not all internships are beneficial learning experiences, more work could be done to investigate how to move more experiences into the \"optimal conditions for development\" quadrant of the model. The first step here would be to identify more clearly the factors that can inhibit this (both with regard to the people involved and organisational factors), which could then be used to devise selection and training tools to ensure that the ever-growing numbers of interns around the world (and the organisations for which they work) gain as much as they can from these experiences.\nConclusion: Internships are increasingly common, with research showing their potential benefits, although with some concern about their potentially exploitative nature. To maximise the benefits to all parties, internships should provide the opportunity for interns to develop. This study has suggested that development is not always optimal, and that characteristics of the intern and their supervisor may impact on the learning that takes place. More research is needed, however, potential interns and internship providers should consider their motivations and expectations to ensure that the experience is as positive as possible.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Internships are becoming a more common feature of the career paths of young people, however there has been little consideration of how people learn on internships. The purpose of this paper is report on the experiences of interns and their supervisors on a research internship programme.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study analyses the experiences of interns and their supervisors on a research internship programme, using communities of practice as a theoretical framework. In total, six interns and six supervisors were interviewed approximately six to eight months after the internships were completed.\nFindings: - Extreme types of experience in the internships are illustrated by four cases derived from the interviews: optimal conditions for development; intern non-development; supervisor frustration; and mutual dissatisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although the research is exploratory and limited to the experience of a small group of interns and their supervisors in one setting, it suggests that characteristics of the intern (such as motivation to learn) and the supervisor (e.g. willingness to provide support) can reduce or enhance the learning and development that is achieved during internships.\nOriginality/value: - This paper questions implicit assumptions that internships are always positive and valuable learning experiences.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Sustainability strategies in the Indian leather industry: an empirical analysis
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Social value",
"Indian leather industry",
"Economic value",
"Environmental value"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Burgeoning challenges of climate change and poverty alleviation across many parts of the world have enforced the policy makers and researchers to develop an alternate system for performance assessment of an individual, a country, and a corporate (Allen, 1980; Rees and Wackernagel, 1996; Wackernagel and Rees, 1996; UN, 2002; Horta et al., 2012; Park and Kremer, 2015). With lot of discussion and brainstorming, they came up with a concept of sustainable development, which was formally defined as \"Sustainable development is economic growth that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs\" in a report titled as \"Our common future\", published by World Commission on Environment and Development, a body constituted under UN (WCED, 1987). Since then many matrices or frameworks for sustainability assessment have been proposed; among them Triple Bottom Line (TBL) (Elkington, 1997) and (Global Reporting Initiative, 2006) are very common. A few studies used balanced scorecard as a measure to predict sustainability assessment framework while considering the social and environmental performance of the firms (Figge et al., 2002; Yongvanich and Guthrie, 2006; Hubbard, 2009; Panayiotou et al., 2009; Sureeyatanapas et al., 2015). Another study suggests the sector-specific assessment for sustainability assessment for more precise results (Salzmann et al., 2005). The concepts of sustainability have been applied across a range of industries and regions to assess their relative performance and survival strategy (Morse and Fraser, 2005; Sarkis, 2006; Schmidt and Taylor, 2006; Kloepffer, 2008; Nourry, 2008; NRC, 2011; Luthra et al., 2015; Gopal and Thakkar, 2016; Irani et al., 2017). However, it is more relevant for industries with high ecological footprint (Rees and Wackernagel, 1994; Wackernagel and Rees, 1996) in terms of resource consumption and pollution intensiveness with present technology, such as leather, textile, and other chemical-based industries.\n2. Research methodology: The concept of TBL was coined by John Elkington (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006) with respect to different corporations for value creation and deletion toward economic, social, and environmental domains. Although the concept is widely used for the private undertakings for small activities, but it is equally applicable for public organizations for their performance assessment (Allen et al., 2012). The reason behind using this approach is to highlight all associated outliers and to attain sustainability (Dubey et al., 2015, 2017; Dubey and Gunasekaran, 2015, 2016; Mani et al., 2016; Shibin et al., 2016; Tayal et al., 2017) through proper planning and development activities (Fredline et al., 2005). This study applied the TBL approach (Elkington, 1997) to assess the progress of the leather industry in TN, WB, and UP states, in terms of the economic, social, and environmental value created, over a 15-year window, 1998-2013. The methodology employed is a case study method, based on quantitative as well as qualitative techniques. Aggregate data on a variety of parameters has been obtained from the ASI database for leather and leather products. In addition, data on effluent treatment and waste disposal for each state was obtained from two sources: the reports of the Central Pollution Control Board of India, and the State Pollution Control Boards. This information was augmented and verified by data from two other independent sources (triangulation approach), namely, personal interviews with business executives/leather industry experts and secondary literature reports.\n3. Results and discussion: 3.1 Economic value creation\n4. Key findings and implications: This study examines the sustainability of the Indian leather industry in TN, WB, and UP states, in terms of economic, social, and environmental value creation over a 15-year window (1998-2013). Indeed, the results are mixed for the three states, with each state leading in different categories. Thus, none of the three leading states in the Indian leather industry has complete domination over the others in all three dimensions of sustainability. In economic value creation, the results of this study show that UP leads over WB and TN. Thus, a comparison of the growth in total turnover - which includes both domestic and export turnovers - indicates that UP has grown at the fastest rate (CAGR = 22.5 percent), followed by WB (12.8 percent) and TN (10.4 percent), respectively. The relatively slow growth rate observed with TN may to be due to the expansion of the existing players rather than entry of new players, whereas in WB and UP, the growth rate may be attributable to the entry of large numbers of small players into the market. During 2008-2013, TN has shown huge losses in domestic market share (-21.5 percent), while WB has posted smaller losses (-2.4 percent). On the contrary, UP has shown the largest gains in market share (26.6 percent) over the same period, at the expense of other key dometic players. In social value creation, WB is the leader, followed by UP and TN. Thus, WB paid the highest average wages/worker/month (Rs4,991) during the period 1998-2013, while UP is the second best (Rs3,688) and TN is the last (Rs3,030). The field studies further revealed that the basis for higher wages in WB is twofold: strong labor unions and constraints in the availability of labor due to locational differences. Among the three states, WB maintained its lead over the others in terms of average welfare expenses/worker/month during 1999-2008. However, WB began to decrease welfare expenses during the years, 2009-2013. During the same period, TN stayed in second position and UP continued as the bottom player in welfare expenses/worker/month. In environmental value creation, TN leads over UP and WB. Thus, while WB has shown the highest growth in MI (6.7 percent), followed by UP (4.2 percent), TN recorded a marginal decrease in MI (2.7 percent) over the same period. Indeed, it appears that TN is the environmental leader with its zero liquid discharge policy and superior leather value chain management practices. However, it is nonetheless pertinent to mention that leather industry contributes to environmental pollution/degradation to a great extent which requires an intervention by the government. Further, care must be taken while allocation of resources to these industries. The policy makers are advised to think over for the practices which can help to reduce the uses of leather to the extent possible while giving due consideration to global competition.\n5. Limitations and scope for future research: The opaqueness with which the Indian leather industry conducts social and environmental practices clearly limits the sources of accurate and reliable data, and the ability of researchers to precisely identify the problems and suggest solutions. For instance, many crucial performance indicators such as Effluent Treatment Index, Solid Waste Disposal Index, Emission Index, and Percent Community Welfare Expense were dropped, due to unavailability of data. In future, to understand the role of various kinds of leather production technology on three dimensions of sustainability, there is an imperative need to conduct in-depth case studies over the selected leading states. Moreover, the functioning of CETPs, which is quite mysterious in terms of fixed investments, operating costs, has to be investigated in great details to ensure sustainability of the CETP projects and the industry as well. The conceptual framework of sustainability can be used in other similar industries having high ecological footprint such as textile, sugar refinery, pharmaceutical, etc.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Burgeoning challenges of climate change and poverty alleviation across many parts of the world have enforced the policy makers and researchers to develop an alternate system for performance assessment of an individual, a country, and a corporate. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the sustainability strategies of three leading states in the Indian leather industry - Tamil Nadu (TN), West Bengal (WB) and Uttar Pradesh (UP) - to gain insights into their efforts and progress in generating economic, social, and environmental values.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used case study approach for investigative analysis, and triangulation method - interviews and field visits, for data verification. The study examines the various sustainability strategies by applying economic value creation (evaluation of growth in total turnover, evaluation of the growth in profitability, evaluation of leverage), social value creation (evaluation of the growth in wages, evaluation of the growth in employee welfare expenses), and environmental value creation (conservation in raw material consumption, conservation in energy consumption, evaluation of waste management practices).\nFindings: The findings reveal that the three states differ significantly from each other both in terms of efforts made and progress achieved during the period of study, 1998-2013. UP seems to be making the most consistent progress in achieving economic value, while WB shows the most progress in creating social value, and TN leads the pack in terms of creating environmental value. Thus, the three leading states in the Indian leather industry have been allowing trade-offs to get competitive advantage over others.\nResearch limitations/implications: The opaqueness with which the Indian leather Industry conducts social and environmental practices clearly limits the sources of accurate and reliable data, and the ability of researchers to precisely identify the problems and suggest solutions.\nPractical implications: The opaqueness with which the Indian leather Industry conducts social and environmental practices clearly impacts the policy makers, practitioners, and researchers to continue such initiatives and improve the lives of people in India for whom continuing this profession is a big challenge and a hurdle to accomplish their livelihood.\nOriginality/value: The paper gives a theoretical explanation of the sustainability in the leather industry with respect to its strategies in terms of economic value, social value, and environmental value.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A multivariate segmentation model of senior consumers
|
[
"Older consumers",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Market segmentation"
] |
[
{
"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.\nThe older consumer market: As the United Nations' analysis of world population statistics reveals, increases in older adults and accompanying declines in the number of younger people is unprecedented in human history, and will result in the old outnumbering the young by 2050. The number of older persons has already trebled over the last 50 years, and is forecast to more than treble again over the next 50 years (United Nations, 2005). In developed regions, older adults are also getting healthier and wealthier (Van Auken et al., 2006). People are living longer and thus, when considering the lifetime value of consumers, adults spend longest at the later adulthood stage than in any other traditional marketing life stage (Nielson and Curry, 1997). In addition, seniors are willing to spend. Analysis of household expenditure by age in the UK reveals that 50-64 year olds spend more per head on automobiles, foreign vacations and recreation and culture, including cinema and theatre admissions, than any other age group. At the same time people over 50 have fewer debts than do younger age groups (Office of National Statistics, 2004a, b). Thus, in terms of sheer size, longevity of demand and willingness to spend, the older consumer market is an increasingly important one. Despite this importance, many marketers appear to still be reluctant to target seniors (Niemela-Nyrhinen, 2007; Simcock and Sudbury, 2006), and one possible reason for this is their diversity (Reisenwitz and Iyer, 2007).\nSegmentation of older consumers: Researchers (e.g. Greco, 1986) have long realised that grouping all older consumers into one age-based category may result in marketers overlooking crucial segments of this important market. Moreover, Moschis (1996) asserts that no other consumer market justifies segmentation more than older consumers, because as people age they become more dissimilar with respect to lifestyles, needs, and consumption habits.Early attempts to segment older consumers tended to be based on chronological age groupings. McCann (1974), for example, segmented older consumers using housewife age, but no differences between segments in terms of advertising responsiveness or deal proneness were found. In response to the realisation that age alone is not sufficient to explaining apparent differences in behaviour (Moschis and Mathur, 1993), alternative segmentation models based on a wider range of socio-demographic variables began to emerge. Leventhal (1991) proposed segmenting older consumers on the basis of chronological age, and then took into consideration factors such as buying power, marital status, and health. Lumpkin (1985) offered a model based on retirement and age to ascertain different segments, which was subsequently refined (Lumpkin et al., 1985), and on the bases of different shopping orientations toward apparel and some lifestyle factors, three unique segments emerged.Many other segmentation methods for use with older consumers are also based on specific product categories. These include five segments for over-the-counter drugs (Oates et al., 1996), Morgan and Levy's (1993) segments for health products and food, and four segments for apparel shopping (Mumel and Prodnik, 2005). Two studies also offer ways of segmenting the travel and tourism market for older consumers (Lieux et al., 1993; Sellick, 2004). Although all are no doubt useful in particular circumstances, the obvious limitation of these models is that they are based on specific product categories, and thus cannot be extended beyond those categories.A further group of studies that are not applicable to specific product categories, and which have the benefit of using multiple segmentation bases, do exist for segmenting older Americans. These include Towle and Martin's (1976) model comprising six segments based on buying styles, personality traits, self-concept measures and demographic variables; a six-segment model based on lifestyle dimensions (Sorce et al., 1989); and finally the most comprehensive segmentation model of older Americans, the gerontographics method proposed by George Moschis and his colleagues at the Centre for Mature Consumer Studies at Georgia State University (Moschis, 1993; Moschis et al., 1997). Gerontographics is based on a variety of social, psychological, and biophysical variables, which offers four distinctive segments. Subsequent research has found the model to predict responses to consumer behaviour twice as accurately as segments based on chronological age groupings (Moschis and Mathur, 1993). The one drawback to these general models is that few demographic differences between segments emerge, and, as Ostroff (1989) notes, the best and most useful profiles of older consumer segments integrate a wide variety of variables, including demographic data. Nevertheless, these methods, particularly gerontographics, do offer American marketers the opportunity to target specific segments of older consumers with specific offerings. Knowledge of additional consumer behaviours, demographic information, and psychographic details of each segment, however, would have obvious benefits to the marketer.In terms of UK older consumers, only one study (Tynan and Drayton, 1985a, b) identified a potentially important segment for a variety of products and services, known as \"Methuselahs\", which although it had some similarities to Schiffman and Sherman's (1991) American \"new age elderly\", it also exhibited significant differences. Other than Tynan and Drayton's work, there is only one known piece of commercial research to have identified segments of older UK consumers (Silman and Poustie, 1994), which used the target group index to identify five segments which differ solely on the basis of attitudes toward money, travel, and media.A limitation of many of these studies is that they are now dated. Segments are snapshots in time, and change as people change. Indeed, Leventhal (1991) noted that the ageing consumer of tomorrow will be different: and tomorrow is now here. Thus, with the exception of gerontographics which has recently been applied to the US health-care market (Moschis and Friend, 2008), few are likely to be useful for profiling today's 50+ consumers. The most recent interest in segmenting older consumers has focused on the use of cohort effects (Littrell et al., 2005; Noble and Schewe, 2003; Schewe and Noble, 2000), but the most comprehensive of these studies (Reisenwitz and Iyer, 2007) found few differences between cohorts of older consumers on a large number of behavioural variables. Thus, recent calls for further research pertaining to the segmentation of seniors (Eastman and Iyer, 2005; Jayanti et al., 2004) are yet to be fulfilled.\nPurpose of the study: There is therefore an obvious need for a comprehensive, empirically based segmentation model of the older consumer market in the UK that uses a range of criteria, which incorporates a wide variety of consumer behaviour variables, and is not limited to specific product categories. It would also be advantageous if the resulting segments were differentiated on a range of socio-demographic factors, and included both chronological and self-perceived age. This last concept is important because research shows that older consumers perceive themselves to be at least ten years younger than their actual age. This is true in both the USA (Barak and Schiffman, 1981; Mathur et al., 1998) and the UK (Sudbury, 2004; Sudbury and Simcock, 2005). Moreover, Reisenwitz and Iyer (2007) found cognitive age to be the only significant variable among the plethora of variables used in their segmentation study, and called for further research to address the role of cognitive age alongside other variables. The successful inclusion of such information would give marketers even more insight into how to effectively target one or more of the segments derived from the model. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to develop such a segmentation model.\nMethodology: Measures\nSummary: This research has confirmed that the older consumer market in the UK is not homogenous. Moreover, the segmentation model that emerges has a number of advantages over existing segmentation models discussed earlier in this paper. First, it is more comprehensive than previous models. Second, many previous models used only chronological age, despite the acceptance that self-perceived age may be a more useful age variable to understand older consumers (Barak and Stern, 1985; Reisenwitz and Iyer, 2007). Third, the model presented here is not limited to a specific product or product category. Moreover, it is not based on speculation or conjecture, but rather is the result of the largest known empirical study into the consumer behaviour of older adults in the UK, and is based on current knowledge about ageing and the behaviour of older people. Finally, the model meets the criteria long suggested (e.g. Frank et al., 1972) for effective segmentation, in that the resulting segments are measurable, accessible, substantial, and differentiable.\nManagerial implications and applications: Identification of the five discrete segments provides firms that wish to target older consumers with a starting point for a range of marketing decisions. Product policy should differ between segments based on differences in cognitive age, marital status, health and fitness, and income. For example, the cognitively young and relatively energetic self-assured sociables, positive pioneers, and cautious comfortables take more vacations outside of the UK, and enjoy better health than the cognitively older solitary sceptics and bargain hunting belongers. Thus it makes sense to target the former segments with active pastimes, overseas vacations and perhaps even adventure vacations, whereas the latter segments would seem natural targets for own-country vacations, more leisurely pastimes, mobility and dexterity aids. Further, opportunities to target older consumers in their role of grandparents should not be overlooked, and while solitary sceptics and bargain hunting belongers have older grandchildren, a range of toys and gifts suitable for younger children could be targeted at self-assured sociables, positive pioneers, and cautious comfortables.In terms of product adaptation and augmentation, it is interesting to note that the two segments that are the most sceptical toward marketing and consumerism - solitary sceptics and self-assured sociables - are also the most nostalgic. Given that the scales that measure these constructs contain items that refer to product shoddiness in comparison to \"the good old days\", and to a range of items relating to product quality and guarantees, it may be that products targeted at these segments need particular attention to after-sales service in order to persuade these consumers to purchase. Equally, financial services should be adapted or developed based on the identified segments. Solitary sceptics, for example, who value security, should be the target for health care, insurance and funeral plans. Different segments can also be targeted based on empty nest status, with solitary sceptics and bargain hunting belongers needing smaller portions, smaller appliances, and smaller pack sizes.Pricing policy should be informed by the insights provided relating not only to income, but also to price consciousness, attitudes toward credit, and senior discounts. For example, although solitary sceptics and self-assured sociables are middle-income consumers, solitary sceptics are actually the least price conscious, and self-assured sociables are the most. Thus, self-assured sociables like to shop around for bargains, and are likely to be influenced by low prices, whereas solitary sceptics, perhaps due to their scepticism towards marketing and consumerism in general, are less likely to be influenced in the same way. However, despite their diametrically opposed levels of price consciousness, both segments are highly averse to credit, preferring to pay cash, and are unlikely to be swayed by offers of credit or store cards. On the other hand, bargain hunting belongers, despite being the oldest (both chronologically and cognitively) and least affluent segment, are not averse to credit, so although they might have the lowest disposable incomes they should not necessarily be automatically excluded as a target for more expensive purchases, as it may be possible to offer them the right type of credit and allow them to spread the cost.Traditional assumptions regarding senior discounts also need revising in light of this research. Bargain hunting belongers have highly positive attitudes toward senior discounts, but marketers cannot assume that the cognitively younger and more affluent positive pioneers will all have negative attitudes towards senior promotions that, by definition, undermine their youthful self-image. Rather, this segment is unsure about, but not completely averse to, such age-based discounts. This segment needs to be targeted carefully, and might prefer such offers in private via mail, telephone or, given that they are the highest users of the internet, online. Conversely, despite their eye for a bargain, self-assured sociables exhibit highly negative attitudes towards senior discounts - they are simply cognitively too youthful, and such discounts compromise the image they have of themselves.Targeting, positioning, and advertising strategies may now be improved by using the wide range of information pertaining to cognitive age, values, attitudes, and psychographic details provided for each segment. A sense of belonging, for example, which is of crucial importance to bargain hunting belongers, is the least important value to solitary sceptics, and thus the need to portray older models in social settings in advertising campaigns clearly differs between these segments. Both solitary sceptics and positive pioneers are more concerned with the kind of public impression they make (higher levels of self consciousness) than are other segments, and these segments are more aware of others' reactions to them and are sensitive to those reactions (higher levels of social comparison). Thus, targeting and advertising portrayals based on presenting the self as looking and feeling good may be well accepted by these segments. For increased effectiveness and efficiency, media strategies need to be tailored. Solitary sceptics and bargain hunting belongers are best reached using television and print media, self-assured sociables listen to the radio, and positive pioneers watch television and use the internet.This research has also identified a segment that is far more venturesome and displays far greater market maven tendencies than any other. This segment, named positive pioneers, clearly comprises the innovators, the early adopters, and the generalized opinion leaders in this market. Interestingly, positive pioneers also display the most positive attitudes toward marketing and consumerism, which is good news for marketing practitioners. Here is a segment which is likely to be a prime target for a range of new and improved products and brands. They are venturesome in that they will purchase a new brand out of curiosity, and they like to do so before others. Moreover, given their maven tendencies, these consumers like to introduce new brands to their friends and neighbours, and like to share information about a range of brands and different aspects of shopping. On this basis, as long as they are satisfied with their purchases, they are likely to be highly beneficial to the marketer in terms of word-of-mouth communications.The fact that the proposed model is not product- or industry-specific provides many advantages over alternative segmentation models proffered in the past. However, this does mean that it may not be appropriate for all product categories, and bespoke marketing research will still be needed for in-depth understanding of attitudes and behaviours toward certain products and marketing practices. Nevertheless, it provides some insight into the many facets of opinions, attitudes, and perceptions among older consumers, previously unavailable to marketing practitioners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and behavioural variables previously shown to be pertinent to older adults in the gerontology and marketing literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A self-complete questionnaire was administered to an age-based quota sample of 650 older consumers (aged 50-79) in the UK. Using the age and consumer behaviour variables, cluster analysis was performed. The clusters were then profiled using ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and kh2 techniques, using those variables not included in the initial analysis.\nFindings: - The results confirmed that the older consumer market is not homogeneous. Rather, five distinct segments emerged which differ considerably from one another on a range of variables, including consumer behaviours.\nPractical implications: - The model has practical implications for targeting older consumers, and the paper provides guidelines on how to reach the different segments.\nOriginality/value: - The paper, the result of the largest known empirical study into older consumers in the UK, provides a comprehensive segmentation model that overcomes many of the limitations of previous segmentation studies pertaining to older adults. It also fills a research gap noted by several previous researchers in that a variety of different types of age are utilised.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Salesperson roles: are online retailers meeting customer expectations?
|
[
"Electronic commerce",
"Shopping",
"Customer relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The future growth of online retailing seems optimistic, as an increasing number of consumers worldwide are using the internet to shop for products (Ernst and Young, 2001). In the US, online retail sales are expected to reach $96 billion in 2003 (Hines, 2003) and projected to increase to $230 billion by 2008, accounting for 10 percent of total US retail sales (Shop.org., 2003). Globally, apparel products have recently emerged as important selling items despite their need for sensory product evaluation (Ernst and Young, 2001).\nLiterature and review: Customer service\nTheoretical framework: The expectancy value model (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) was used to conceptualize the perception of online customer service as an attitude toward online customer service (Bolton and Drew, 1991) and its relationship with online purchase intentions. This model has been widely used to study the relation of beliefs to attitudes. It proposes that one's attitude toward a behavior (object) is a function of one's salient beliefs about that behavior (object). The belief strengths and belief evaluations are two determinants of attitude toward the behavior (object). Belief strength refers to the likelihood that behavior will lead to consequences (i.e. unlikely-likely) and belief evaluation refers to the evaluation of consequences (i.e. bad-good). Both bi (belief strength) and ei (belief evaluation) are measured using semantic differential evaluative ratings. Prior research evidence supports reasonably strong positive correlations between beliefs and attitudes, ranging from 0.55 to 0.80 (O'Keefe, 1990). Equation 1 whereAB=attitude toward behavior (object),bi=belief strength,ei=belief evaluation.In our study, we propose that attitude toward online customer service is a function of one's salient beliefs about online customer service. A consumer's salient beliefs about online customer service may be largely influenced by their previous service experiences in traditional stores and other retail formats (e.g., catalog) both in the presence and absence of a salesperson. Based on customer services that shoppers have previously received in traditional stores, they may formulate salient beliefs about attributes of online customer service, and these beliefs are further weighted by the customers' evaluation of each attribute to form attitudes toward online customer service. Therefore, attitude toward online customer service may reflect the relative importance of various online customer services desired or expected by online shoppers. The more an individual believes that specific online customer services will lead to positive outcomes such as a satisfactory shopping experience, the more favorable his or her attitude will be toward online customer service.According to Ajzen (1991, p. 181), behavioral intentions are \"assumed to capture motivational factors that influence a behavior\", and can also measure the amount of effort one is willing to exert to perform a behavior. In online shopping, attitudes toward online customer service may influence how motivated online customers are to purchase online. The more favorable attitudes toward online customer service, the more likely one is willing to purchase online.Hypothesis development\nMethodology: To explore online customer service dimensions, a content analysis of retail salesperson job descriptions was performed. Based on dimensions identified in the content analysis, a paper-and-pencil survey of consumers was conducted to examine the relationship between attitude toward online customer service and online purchase intent.Instrument development\nResults: This study focused on:1. exploring online customer service dimensions using a human factors approach; and2. examining how attitude toward online customer service influences online purchase intent.Statistical methods used in the study included frequency distribution, principal component analysis, and simple regressions. A significance level of p<0.05 was established as the rejection criterion for all analyses (Kennedy and Bush, 1985).Sample characteristics\nDiscussion and conclusion: This is an exploratory study on online customer service. Using the \"human factors\" approach, this study explored online customer service dimensions that may be expected and wanted by customers as a function of their prior customer service experiences in retail stores. This study further assessed how attitudes toward online customer service influence online purchase intent based on the expectancy value model (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975).Seven dimensions of online customer service emerged:1. ease in searching;2. availability of FAQs;3. availability of in-stock status information;4. ease of comparison shopping;5. availability of additional service;6. availability of personalized shopping; and7. availability of product updates.Attitude toward each online customer service dimension was examined in its relationship to online purchase intent and supported the predictive validity of some dimensions. Simple regressions showed that among the seven dimensions of online customer service, ease in searching, availability of FAQs, availability of in-stock status information, and ease of comparison shopping were significant predictors of online purchase intent.Ease in searching has been recognized as a core element of successful online retailing by online retailers like Timberland.com and LLBean.com (Internet Retailer, 2003). Timerland.com emphasized the human factor approach in its site design by knowing its customers and how they shop, and the company has been praised for making it easy for shoppers to locate the products they are looking for.The availability of FAQs was also an important customer service dimension predicting online purchase intent. This finding is consistent with prior research suggesting that one significant reason for failed purchase attempts was that some online shoppers were unable to get their questions answered. In the absence of salespeople in online shopping, when online shoppers have questions, they need ways to get answers. Available FAQs allow shoppers to get immediate answers for common questions.Our study found that the availability of in-stock status information was an important customer service dimension predicting online purchase intent. Product unavailability was useful information that Internet users needed (Retail Forward, Inc. 2001). Tamimi et al. (2003) found that product availability information was frequently provided, but not until the checkout process was nearly complete, which is inconsistent with the in-store shopping experience.Another customer service dimension identified in our study was the availability of comparison shopping. Singh (2002) also supported the critical role of comparison shopping to transform online shoppers to purchasers by accommodating easier comparison shopping to facilitate the purchase decision.Perceived availability of additional service and product updates were only marginally significant. Availability of personalized shopping was not a significant predictor of online purchase intent. A recent study by Jupiter Research found that only 14 percent of consumers are enticed to purchase by personalized web sites (CyberAtlas Staff, 2003), because they do not accommodate shopping process or help shoppers accomplish their shopping tasks (e.g. buy a pair of shoes).\nImplications and future research: The findings of this study provide useful information that online retailers can utilize in the development and operation of more successful shopping sites. First, online retailers need to understand that previous shopping experiences influence expectations about online shopping. Many online shoppers are goal-oriented and have a task to accomplish (CyberAtlas Staff, 2003). Thus, online shoppers may need help in locating a product. The utilization of search engines may be a great resource that can expedite search processes. However, recent industry reports showed the low utility of search engines. Many fail to function when terms are misspelled or searched results are difficult to sort by online shoppers (Shop.org., 2003). Therefore, online retailers need to refine search engines that can enhance easy searching.The well developed list of FAQs helps online shoppers get common questions answered. Online retailers may want to pay more attention to questions frequently asked by their customers and to develop an extensive library of FAQs accessible by their customers. A toll-free telephone number and e-mail address available on the web site will also be useful for more specific questions.Timely in-stock information may also help online retailers provide a more satisfactory shopping experience for their prospective customers. By making in-stock information available before checking out, it will reduce the time that online shoppers spend to purchase a product and may facilitate additional browsing.This study was exploratory in nature and thus entails several limitations. First, the scales measuring online customer service developed in this study need to be replicated and refined in future research. Another limitation includes a relatively small sample size and a narrow demographic representation using college students. Future research thus needs to develop a more thorough and extensive measure of online customer service using more diverse demographic groups.Because we measured more general attitudes toward online customer service and online purchase intention without matching the behavior on the action, target, context, and time between attitude and behavioral intent (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977), the correlations between attitude and intention came out somewhat lower than previous studies. Thus, future research may want to investigate attitude toward online customer service and online purchase intent by matching four elements of a behavior.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to explore online customer service dimensions and to examine how attitude toward online customer service influences online purchase intent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The human factors approach was employed to identify online customer service dimensions by analyzing service provided by salespeople at retail stores. Regression analyses supported the predictive validity of these measures, revealing that customer service dimensions of ease in searching, availability of frequently asked questions (FAQs), availability of in-stock status information, and ease of comparison shopping were important predictors of online purchase intent.\nFindings: - Results from this study suggest that online retailers need to provide more information (e.g. FAQs) and make browsing easier to help customers have satisfactory shopping experience.\nOriginality/value: - Provides useful information that online retailers can utilize in the development and operation of successful shopping sites.\n",
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Shared leadership and team creativity: Investigating the role of cognitive trust and team learning through mixed method approach
|
[
"Mixed methodologies",
"Shared leadership",
"Mixed methods",
"Team learning",
"Cognitive trust",
"Team creativity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The era of information technology, technological advancement, globalization and emergence of knowledge as the key competitive advantage has made the work environment complex, volatile, competitive and uncertain. To remain relevant in this complex environment, organizations have shifted to team-based structure with an increased focus on self-managing and cross-functional teams (McGrath et al., 2000; Salas et al., 2008) because teams bring in the synergy, which facilitates creativity and innovation (Hulsheger et al., 2009).Innovation is considered essential for the survival and long-term success of the organizations (Amabile, 1998; Kanter, 1998; Mumford, 2000). Naturally, it is a crucial mandate for the management (Hoch, 2013) particularly in current rapidly changing business environment (IBM CEO Survey, 2013; Liu et al., 2012). Innovation essentially begins with development of new and useful ideas, which is a creative process (Amabile, 1998; Hulsheger et al., 2009). Research in creativity and creative process is key to understand and promote innovations in organizations (Ford and Gioia, 2000; Joo, 2007).In the given context, it is critical to understand, while working in teams, what are those conditions that enhance creativity. Among other factors, past research has identified leadership as a key antecedent of team creativity (Eisenbeiss et al., 2008). Leadership research, in the context of team, can be broadly categorized into two streams - vertical leadership and shared leadership (Avolio et al., 2009; Nicolaides et al., 2014). Vertical leadership occurs when a single person is involved as a leader of the team. However, in the past, a few leadership scholars conceptualized leadership as a group phenomenon (Gibb et al., 1954a; Katz and Kahn, 1978). This approach gained attention in the last two decades. This approach conceptualizes leadership as the function of the team as opposed to that of a single individual. Shared leadership theory advocates leadership as a function where leadership roles and responsibilities are shared among the members of the team. Researchers have called it by different names such as distributed leadership (Gibb et al., 1954a), collective leadership (Contractor et al., 2012), shared leadership (Pearce and Conger, 2003). Vertical leadership and shared leadership are not opposite to each other but rather they are at the extreme of the same continuum (Gronn, 2002).However, the underlying dynamics of shared leadership are still a grossly underresearched area (Sweeney et al., 2019). The role of shared leadership is crucial, particularly in the context of knowledge economy and its increasing complexity, volatility and uncertainty (Sotarauta, 2016).The past research underscores the positive association of shared leadership and team creativity (Lee et al., 2015). However, the research on creativity in the shared leadership context is scant, and the comprehensive understanding of the process through which shared leadership fosters creativity is not well understood. An understanding of this process is crucial as it would provide insights in developing managerial skill, attitude and strategies to enhance creativity at workplace.Team learning is another critical aspect for preparing organizations to respond to challenges of current times, created by technological advancements, globalization and increasing social and environmental responsiveness (Ashauer and Macan, 2013). Team learning is also vital to promote innovation at workplace (Barker and Neailey, 1999; Pandey et al., 2019). Like creativity, team learning literature is also vast and has examined the role of leadership and yet mostly, implicitly or explicitly, focused on vertical leadership (e.g. see review Koeslag-Kreunen et al., 2018). Despite the growing importance of shared leadership, the studies on team learning in this context are scant.Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the process through which cognitive trust, shared leadership and team learning impact team creativity. The study explores the influence of cognitive trust on shared leadership and how shared leadership influences team creativity through the mediating influence of team learning. We aim at contributing toward the scholarship of shared leadership in multiple ways. First, the study examines the underexplored dimension of influence of shared leadership on team creativity. There are only a few studies that report positive relationship between shared leadership and creativity (Lee et al., 2015; Wu and Chen, 2018; Wu and Cormican, 2016). Gu et al. (2018) found positive relationship between shared leadership and creativity partially mediated by knowledge sharing but called for further research to explore other intervening mechanisms in that relationship. The present study addresses this need by examining team learning as a mediator between shared leadership and team creativity relationship. Thereby, this study explains the phenomenon of how shared leadership influences team creativity.Second, we propose and examine a conceptual misplacement of cognitive trust in the existing literature. Trust plays a crucial role in any dyadic and team interaction. Affective and cognitive trust is widely recognized in the acceptance and effectiveness of vertical leadership (Ciulla, 2017). In view of the pervasive impact of trust on leadership effectiveness, we examined the role of cognitive trust in shared leadership. The past research has examined trust as a consequence of shared leadership (Drescher et al., 2014). However, in this study, we propose and examine cognitive trust as an antecedent to shared leadership as it is the trust in the competence of team members that makes individuals to accept or exert leadership leading to shared leadership.Third, the study also contributes in terms of its methodology, by examining and understanding the dynamics of shared leadership through both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Majority of the studies in the area of shared leadership have adopted quantitative research design (Serban and Roberts, 2016; Sweeney et al., 2019). The systematic literature review on shared leadership in commercial organizations by Sweeney et al. (2019) found only one study using mixed method approach. Using a quantitative approach alone fails to provide a complete understanding of why members accept leadership for others and how shared leadership translates into positive organizational outcome. Grint (2000) advocated the use of interpretative approach to study the subjective understanding of followers about their leaders, which would complement quantitative studies. Use of qualitative methods in shared leadership studies would be beneficial in providing important insights into the shared leadership process (Sweeney et al. (2019). Also, using a purely quantitative study can cause validity issues pertaining to common method variance, which refers to inflated or deflated results because of the method used to collect data (Spector and Brannick, 2009). Because of overreliance on quantitative method, shared leadership research area can benefit from mixed method approach as it overcomes the limitations of both quantitative and qualitative research and builds on the merits of both the methods (Bryman, 2006; Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The present study adopts mixed method approach with sequential explanatory design. The findings of the quantitative study are explained through the qualitative study. Therefore, the study contributes to the scholarship in shared leadership through its methodology.Considering the contribution of shared leadership toward the changing needs of organizations, this study aims to furnish a deeper understanding of shared leadership and the applications therein.\nLiterature review: Shared leadership\nMethods: The study adopted the research paradigm of dialectical pluralism (Johnson, 2012). Dialectical pluralism does not consider either/or arguments, instead, it is built on both/and arguments (Johnson, 2012). Mixed method research built on dialectical pluralism focuses on collecting data using two or more methods. Mixed method research helps in studying reality through converging and diverging findings (Brewer and Hunter, 2006).The study adopted an explanatory sequential design (Creswell and Clark, 2007). The objective of the qualitative study was to carry out an additional explanatory study with a mixed method approach (Creswell and Clark, 2017). Explanatory research involves first conducting quantitative study and using a qualitative follow-up study to provide a better understanding of the quantitative results (Harisson and Reily, 2011). Therefore, the questions were developed based on the findings of the quantitative study and were directed to seek an explanation to various findings of the quantitative study.Quantitative study\nResults: Quantitative\nDiscussion: The study adopted a mixed method sequential explanatory design to examine the team dynamics, which leads to shared leadership and team creativity. Given that team creativity is a complex and dynamic phenomenon, using mixed method design facilitated a thorough understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of how cognitive trust leads to shared leadership, which in turn impacts creativity through team learning. The findings of quantitative and qualitative data provide a comprehensive understanding of the shared leadership phenomenon. Specific findings and theoretical contribution of the study are presented further:Theoretical contribution\nPractical implications: The managerial implications of the study are evident in the areas of team norms, team climate, team building, leadership development and development of entrepreneurial teams. Self-managed teams, cross-functional teams, virtual teams with flatter structures are becoming prominent features at the workplace nowadays. Peer-to-peer influence without formal authority is becoming increasingly essential to perform in these settings. Moreover, the increasing complexity of work, particularly in the knowledge-based firms, is making it impossible for one member to know about all aspects of the work or project. The criticality of the shared leadership concept is increasing with all these advances. It is imperative to highlight the relevance of shared leadership to the teams during the forming stage itself; the members of a team may not hold the notion of shared leadership in their implicit leadership theories. A clear articulation through training or coaching about shared leadership will make the members aware of this possibility and potential of claiming and granting the influence while working in teams, which in turn encourages team creativity, creative problem-solving and innovativeness.The task structure and design, norms and reward system may be attuned to shared leadership in the teams operating in knowledge-intensive jobs. Previous studies suggest that shared leadership is more effective in knowledge-intensive work as compared to a routine task. Shared leadership can be encouraged by enhancing interdependence in the design and structure of the job. Norms that promote distributed power sharing and facilitate collective reflection, experimentation, equality and intellectual freedom in the group may promote shared leadership.Further, the study suggests that to build such an environment, the manager would have to build cognitive trust. Cognitive trust emerges from the knowledge that the trustee is an expert in a given field. Thus, the study has implications for talent acquisition teams of organizations, to assess and ensure the optimum knowledge among the members according to the team or group that they are going to be part of.In addition, based on the finding that shared leadership enhances team creativity, the study has implications for teams in different settings such as research and development professionals, student project teams and so on. Creativity is an important mandate for research teams; development of shared leadership in such teams will help the members learn from each other and will further enhance creativity levels of the team. Therefore, educational institutes and research and development organizations should put in effort to enhance shared leadership by training its members. Such efforts would be augmented if the teams are formed in such a manner wherein members are aware about each other's skills and trust them with their competence.\nLimitations and future direction: This study has several limitations, which can be addressed in future studies. First, the study examines only the impact of cognitive trust on shared leadership. Future research can explore other team-level variables such as team empowerment, team mental models (Mohammed and Dumville, 2001), team mindfulness (Yu and Zellmer-Bruhn, 2018) and investigate how they influence or mediate in a bid to enhance shared leadership. Similarly, various variables such as task and process conflict can be explored as the boundary conditions to shared leadership and team creativity relationship.Second, although the members were working on a challenging team task, which is very close to real-life team activities, the teams examined in the present study were student teams. Also, the nature of shared leadership may be different in virtual teams where there is no face-to-face interaction. Replication of the study in a virtual setting may provide important results regarding the degree to which shared leadership is relevant in virtual teams and how the same would impact the degree of creativity in such teams.Third, to measure both antecedents and outcomes, self-reported measures were used. To mitigate its negative impact, data was collected at two different time intervals. However, future research can design the study in such a way that data pertaining to shared leadership and its consequences are collected not only at different time intervals but also from different sources.Fourth, following Carson et al. (2007), shared leadership was measured using social network method with a single-item scale. This approach has the limitation of capturing only the members' implicit theories of leadership; it ignores the various behavioral dimensions of leadership function (Carson et al., 2007). Future studies can use the social network approach by measuring all leadership behavior.Future studies can also focus on a detailed underlying mechanism through which members exert or accept leadership. It seems clear that in shared leadership, multiple leaders emerge but under what condition a member chooses to be a leader and when prefers to be a follower would be an interesting study to explore. Also, future studies can address how personality dimensions play a role in members' preference for a leader/follower role even in an equal-status team. It would be interesting to study what makes an individual who prefers a follower status to exert leadership while working in groups. Answers to these questions would lead to a better understanding of the phenomenon of shared leadership.\nConclusion: As organizations move toward a culture of creativity and innovativeness, there is a need to identify various factors that promote creativity in organizations. This study examined the effect of cognitive trust on shared leadership and the mediating effect of team learning on the relationship between shared leadership and team creativity. It provides an important contribution by explaining the comprehensive mechanism through which shared leadership impacts team creativity. Our research highlights the importance of shared leadership in creating teams and workplaces with enhanced creativity, individually as well as collectively.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the theoretical understanding and conceptualization of shared leadership by examining the impact of cognitive trust as an antecedent of shared leadership. Further, the study examines the mediating effect of team learning on relationship between shared leadership and team creativity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopted a mixed method approach with sequential explanatory research strategy. Using a survey questionnaire, data from 44 teams were collected at two different time points. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 22 teams to explain the results that emerged from the quantitative study.\nFindings: The study found that cognitive trust positively influences shared leadership. Further, team learning fully mediates the relationship between shared leadership and team creativity. The major themes that emerged from the qualitative study are participant's experiences of shared leadership in team, reasons to exert leadership, reasons to accept leadership and consequences of shared leadership.\nPractical implications: Organizations can enhance team creativity by promoting shared leadership in the organization.\nOriginality/value: This study examines the mediating process of team learning between shared leadership and team creativity. Mixed method approach adopted in the study explains the shared leadership process by building on both quantitative and qualitative research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The prediction role of feeling of injustice on network social mobilization: The mediating role of anger and resentment
|
[
"Network social mobilization",
"The feeling of injustice",
"Anger",
"Resentment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: With the rapid development of internet technology, more and more persons are entering the cyberspace. Cyberspace, characterized by anonymity and rapid information dissemination, provides a new development field for social mobilization and makes social mobilization a new form of development. Social mobilization refers to the process in which social members are purposefully guided to participate actively in some major social activities (Wu, 2003), and it is also the process in which the society exerts influence on the thoughts and behaviors of its members (Gan and Luo, 2011). Network social mobilization is the social mobilization embodied in cyberspace (Liu, 2010). In addition to having the basic characteristics of physical social mobilization, network social mobilization has greater flexibility because of the relatively decentralized nature of cyberspace.\nNetwork social mobilization: Different scholars have different views on the definition of network social mobilization. Some scholars believed that network social mobilization is a type of social mobilization that happened on the network. It is the process that the network users use the internet as a medium to publish and disseminate information, exerting influence on network participants and achieving their desired goals (Zhang and Zhou, 2007). Some scholars insisted that network social mobilization is the process through which netizens or political interest groups who are protected by the identity of netizens to manipulate other netizens to participate in the attention and evaluation of certain events, and its main characteristic is interaction and through which the netizens change their values and opinions (Li, 2010). Others stressed that network social mobilization is in-organization and non-leadership (Ding et al., 2006).\nPrediction of feeling of injustice on network social mobilization: Relative deprivation theory believes that when people perceive they themselves or similar persons are unequally treated or their rights or chances are deprived, they will be angary or even resentful and then will start some actions to change their situations (Crosby, 1976; Runciman, 1966). It was regarded that injustice is the cause of crowd behavior (van Zomeren, Postmes and Spears, 2008). Therefore, at the phenomenological level, negative social events cause widespread social mobilization. In fact, negative events can only lead to widespread social mobilization when accompanied with feeling of injustice.\nThe mediating role of emotion in predicting network social mobilization: Social construction theory holds that people's dissatisfaction with social reality is more than a reaction to social reality, but a result of personal construction (Gergen, 1985; Harre, 1986). The later one is usually accompanied with certain emotions, just as commented by some researchers that perceive social injustice or unfairness is not only a cognitive concept, but also a kind of feeling or emotion (Kawakami and Dion, 1995; Leach et al., 2002). Then, emotional stimulation is often the premise and basis of social mobilization (Yang, 2013). Relative Deprivation Theorists suggests that it is the emotional response that drives people to act in crowed actions (van Zomeren et al., 2008).\nMethod: Research procedure\nResults: Multicollinearity diagnosis. VIF < 1.2 for all predictors was tested, so there was no serious multicollinearity problem.\nDiscussion: The predictive effect of injustice on network social mobilization\nTheoretical and practical significance: The present study is a pilot explore on the subject of network social mobilization, and speculated a potential mechanism of network social mobilization under the framework of crowed behavior, and found that feeling of injustice directly predicted network social mobilization, and predicted network social mobilization indirectly via the emotion of anger and resentment. These findings may expand and enrich the research on social mobilization, and may deepen the understanding of social mobilization.\nLimitations and future directions: In this study, Python language was used to write web crawler to obtain microblog data and conduct word segmentation and word matching operations on microblog contents, which is innovative to some extent. But the use of computer technology to obtain large amounts of data have its inherent drawbacks - accuracy is not high enough. In this study, the compilation of the feeling of injustice vocabulary is derived from the network social mobilization that has taken place, and the word segmentation technique was used to cut the words on Weibo comments. Due to the limitations of computer technology, the results of the word-cutting were not always satisfaction. Because of the difference in parts of word, it is not intelligently recognized when the word segmentation is presented. Although the researchers had dealt with and supplemented such problems, it is inevitable that some omissions will have an impact on the research. In addition, the comments of netizens in the network environment are completely subjective and free, and their expression of sentences were diverse, which also brings difficulties to the work of matching the vocabulary. Although a large number of comments have been drawn, the content of the research materials is still small. In the future, studies using the same or similar methods need to increase the amount of data collection as appropriate to ensure sufficient sample size.\nConclusion: The feeling of injustice predicted directly the network social mobilization.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: By drawing on the research paradigm of collective action that occurs in physical space, the present study aims to explore the antecedent predictors of network social mobilization - feeling of injustice - and discuss the emotional mechanism of this prediction: mediating effect of anger and resentment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Micro-blog postings about network social mobilization were collected to develop the dictionary of codes of fairness, anger and resentment. Then, according to the dictionary, postings on Sina Weibo were coded and analyzed.\nFindings: The feeling of injustice predicted network social mobilization directly. The predictive value was 27% and 33%, respectively during two analyses. The feeling of injustice also predicted social mobilization indirectly via anger and resentment. In other words, anger and resentment account for the active mechanism in which the feeling of injustice predicts network social mobilization. Mediating effect value was 29.63% and 33.33% respectively.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is our first exploration to use python language to collect data from human natural language pointing on micro-blog, a large number of comments of netizen about certain topic were crawled, but a small portion of the comments could be coded into analyzable data, which results in a doubt of the reliability of the study. Therefore, we should put the established model under further testing.\nPractical implications: In the cyberspace, this study confirms the mechanism of network social mobilization, expands and enriches the research on social mobilization and deepens the understanding of social mobilization.\nSocial implications: This study provides an empirical evidence to understand the network social mobilization, and it gives us the clue to control the process of network social mobilization.\nOriginality/value: This study uses the Python language to write Web crawlers to obtain microblog data and analyze the microblog content for word segmentation and matching thesaurus. It has certain innovation.\n",
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Production and maintenance performance analysis: manual versus semi-automatic LHDs
|
[
"KPI",
"Indicator",
"Productivity",
"Load haul dump (LHD)",
"Automation",
"Maintenance",
"Underground mining",
"Data integration",
"Sweden",
"Performance management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Load haul dump (LHD) machines are used in underground mines to load and transport ore and minerals. Loading and hauling ore constitute a significant portion of the production costs for mining companies. With the increasing complexity and degree of automation of today's equipment, capital costs have steeply increased. Therefore, a cost-effective operation of equipment is essential. This has pushed manufacturers and users to try to decrease the cost of operation and maintenance through measures directed toward improvement of reliability, availability, and productivity. The use of automated LHDs has been in focus for a number of years due to its potential to increase productivity, safety, and ergonomics. Important performance indicators (PIs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) to consider when deciding between using manual or automatic LHDs are, e.g. availability, reliability, productivity, and maintenance cost.Maintenance is the combination of all technical, administrative, and managerial actions during the life cycle of an item intended to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform its required function (EN 13306, 2001). It is both costly and challenging to properly maintain mining equipment. Factors like complexity, size, competition, cost, and safety continue to challenge maintenance engineers despite recent progress in maintaining equipment in the field. The issue has been further complicated by increased mechanization and automation (Kumar, 1996). The maintenance costs of a typical mining company account for 30-65 percent of the total mine operation cost (Cutifani et al., 1996). Therefore, mining companies are focussing on optimizing preventive maintenance (PM), reducing manpower, deferring non-essential maintenance, and establishing more efficient spare part control, etc. Good maintenance strategies are essential to optimize the maintenance of mobile equipment. It is costly and time consuming to measure performance (Parida, 2007), however, it is important to establish and maintain relevant indicators (Lynch and Cross, 1991).A PI is a combination of a set of measurements. A KPI can be a combination of several indicators and metrics. One KPI used by managers in mining companies is the maintenance cost per ton, but many other technical, organizational, and economic parameters can be helpful in decision making. For example, many mines use availability, production volume capacity, and utilization as KPIs to evaluate the performance of the maintenance and operation groups (Lewis, 2001). Reducing the number of unscheduled breakdowns as well as reducing the repair time is important to improve equipment availability (Knights, 2001).To achieve the production volume capacity, maintenance becomes an important improvement tool. For this purpose the maintenance performance has to be measured in order to optimize maintenance parameters such as availability. With IT, it is possible to collect large amounts of data on, for example, production, maintenance, and duration of activities (Gelders et al., 1994), but this can cause other problems (Woodhouse, 2004):* Too much data and too little information: through the introduction of powerful and modern hardware and software, collection of data has become relatively cheap and simple. However, a large amount of data can be difficult to analyze, making data a problem in and of itself.* The number of PIs: the number of indicators used for each department is limited by the identification of the key factors. Having too many indicators can hinder the work.* Objectives and measures: there can be situations where different departments within the same company have conflicting interests relative to the maintenance of their equipment. Each department's efforts must be aligned with business needs and the company's goals.* Time lag between action and monitoring results: once a measure has been identified and implemented, the frequency and method of data collection have to be specifically fitted to the factors involved: physical, human, financial, or organizational. There can sometimes be a lag between the monitored results, for example, time between failure and action taken. One cannot expect an immediate change in indicators when performing an action. It usually takes time to implement new strategies.* Data collector: the data collection method ensures the success of any measurement system. When the data entered into a reporting system are poor or incorrect, the result will be unreliable and of low value. The data will be more reliable if the data collector understands the purpose of the action, collects the data appropriately, and achieves his/her own objectives.Problems can arise when management fails to set goals at management level, or fails to ensure that these objectives are correctly translated into sub-goals at lower levels. The objectives must be communicated through all departments to ensure that everyone is going in the same direction. It is also important to have the right maintenance indicators. For example, using reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety as indicators yields a small and easily quantifiable amount of information on the state of the machinery (Cutifani et al., 1996) and the successful establishment of measurable objectives. Mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) (EN 15341, 2007) can be modeled using the quantitative data of the system components. These parameters can be estimated from the historical maintenance data and have traditionally been used to evaluate the maintenance of LHDs (Knights, 2001). Other well-known maintenance indicators include downtime, utilization, cost, and availability. In mining, an indicator used for productivity is often the number of tons produced per unit time.Automation of LHD machines\nCase study: This paper focusses on the first part of the underground mining process in a Swedish underground mine looking at the LHD machines (Figure 1) that load and transport the ore and minerals. This particular mine deploys 13 LHDs which are 11 meters long, weigh 55 tons and are diesel powered. The LHD machines have two different operation modes: out of 13 LHDs, 12 are manually operated and one is semi-automatic and operated from a control room situated close to the production area.For this study, two LHDs, one manual and one semi-automatic, have been selected which have the same age and specifications. Both were manufactured in 2006 by the same company. The only difference is that the semi-automatic LHD has an automatic system fitted to it and can therefore operate in either manual or automatic mode. The installation of the automated system was finalized during the first year of operation, starting in 2007. Basically, the semi-automatic LHD is put into automatic mode for greater safety and productivity. More specifically, every night, blasting occurs and after that the gas has to be ventilated. No human can be in the production area until the gas has been ventilated. The semi-automatic LHDs can be used in automatic mode and continue to produce when there is gas and dust in the mine and humans cannot work.Since the LHD machines are operating in a harsh environment, several issues other than maintenance affect the operation and the total downtime. Besides machine and personnel-related issues, certain mining-related issues, such as fragmentation, over-sized boulders, road conditions, ventilation, etc., must be considered when optimizing the operation.\nData: Maintenance, operational and production data covering the period from January 2007 to August 2010 have been collected, analysed, and integrated (Figure 2) for a manual and a semi-automatic LHD. Data originating from different sources are not always compatible, and this must be considered in the analysis. For purposes of comparison, the data must be made compatible which makes it important to match the data and classify it correctly:* Maintenance data: the workshop records contain information on the time spent in the workshop, the estimated time for entering and leaving the workshop, the reason for maintenance and the measures taken. The workshop data are manually entered into the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and are not as reliable as the production data that are automatically generated. From the maintenance data, it is possible to classify the failures and maintenance types that correspond to the different components and subsystems of the LHD.* Operational data for the semi-automatic loader: the data consist of idle times (giving reasons for the idle times and the idle time in hours), operation time in hours for the automatic mode, and tonnage produced for each day. This information is only available for the semi-automatic LHD and is manually entered into the system by the person responsible for LHD automation.* Production data (Table I): automatically accurately generated production data regarding time for each bucket unload, ton/bucket, location of the loading, and idle times. The downtime registered between the loading on January 1 and 2 shows a gap in production which, in this case, relates to the LHD being in the workshop. The advantage with this data is that it is possible to track down, for example, every bucket load in every relevant mine tunnel. Having automatically produced data is very unusual and is a great advantage when doing the analysis and calculations.Mean time to repair (MTTR) is a commonly used maintenance PI. The workshop data (Figure 3) collected in this mine include both time to repair, as well as logistic times, such as waiting time in the repair queue or spare parts delays. This is an important weakness of the data collection system: it is not possible to evaluate the real abilities of the maintenance team in repair tasks because these times are hidden in the logistic aspects of workshop management. The logistic delay time is rarely specified and can many times be relatively large compared to the time to repair. Furthermore, because enter and exit times to the workshop are manually entered into the system, their accuracy is questionable.When calculating maintenance indicators like reliability and availability, the most common source of input data is the workshop record which in one way or another is manually fed into the system. This human element needs to be considered when analysing the data since it points to the possibility of errors in the calculations. In this case study when the workshop data and the automatically produced production data were compared, it is found that occasionally when the machine is supposed to be in the workshop, it is really operating and vice versa. In this case study, up to one-third of the manually entered times are not consistent with the automatically recorded production times. This means that only trusting workshop data for reliability and availability analysis might make the results unreliable. It can also be difficult to sort the data needed for reliability studies since it is not always available in a proper format (Kumar, 1989).\nKPI selection and extraction: The main goal of the production and maintenance department is to achieve optimum production with minimal or no obstructions. The KPIs of the department include for the production performance, e.g. tons per month, production cost per ton and for the maintenance department, e.g. availability, equipment downtime, maintenance cost per ton (SEK/ton), mean time to failure (MTTF), and MTTR.The capacity of the LHD is a demand from the top management (Figure 4). Simultaneously some resources are allocated to perform the required maintenance tasks. Depending on the labor force, spare parts, contractors allocated and the selected maintenance policies, technologies, etc., some outcomes will be achieved, and measured through proper maintenance and production PIs. They will reflect the success to achieve the required capacity. If the management does not invest enough resources or they are spent in the wrong way, the indicators will show lower capacity than expected and additional modifications will be needed in the maintenance methodology used.KPIs should be determined by aligning the available data with corporate goals. Each activity should have appropriate metrics, focussing on maximizing the benefits and adding value. The maintenance and production departments must work together toward the same goal using a combination of maintenance and production indicators. Using contradictory indicators can cause unnecessary conflicts, and balancing the tons produced with the maintenance cost is essential for the success of the operation. In the following section, production and maintenance performance are analysed separately and then compared.Production performance\nFusion of maintenance and production KPIs: In Figure 12 the total costs for both corrective and PM are presented vs the accumulated production in tons. No clear difference between the manual and semi-automatic LHDs can be seen in the figure. If the productivity increases, the maintenance costs simultaneously increase for both machines. The balance between production and maintenance cost is an important issue, and it seems difficult to lower the maintenance cost while simultaneously increasing the productivity. By combining the productivity indicator and the maintenance indicator, a common tool to the production and maintenance departments are provided. It is in both their interests to optimize these indicators.\nConclusions: In this paper it was found that up to one-third of the manually entered workshop data are not consistent with the automatically recorded production times. To prevent the data from being poor and unreliable, the various systems need to be aligned and connected. If wrong or corrupted data are introduced into the performance measurement system, decisions can be based on faulty assumptions. Reliable KPIs require reliable data. Since indicators like MTBF and MTTR are statistical averages of a physical value they are particularly sensitive in terms of accuracy. For MTTR, proper data collection is important, so a company can break down the time spent in the workshop into various components; this provides users with valuable information on maintenance team skills and reveals the logistical management of the workshop.It was also found that the utilization and filling rate are similar between the two machines while the manual LHD load more tons per machine hour. This can partly be explained by the differences in cycle times and that loading the bucket in manual operation may be faster. It has also been shown that the semi-automatic LHD was operating in automatic mode for about 30 percent of the total operating time; this seems reasonable given the reasons for using it in automatic mode.The critical subsystems differ for the two machines based on number of work orders. The amount of CM (84 and 87 percent) compare to the amount of PM is unacceptable high. When using automatic LHDs, it is important to increase the planned maintenance and decrease the unplanned maintenance. With a decreased amount of CM the availability of the LHD increases. This can be obtained through better maintenance planning and also through better data management. Having a good maintenance plan, based on accurate data, facilitates the possibility to plan the PM so an optimal control of the operation process can be obtained.The difference between the semi-automatic and the manual LHD is very small when it comes to maintenance cost vs produced tons; both indicators show similar slopes in the figures. However, the use of automatic LHDs can strongly be justified when safety and environmental issues also are taken into account.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and analyse the production and maintenance performance of a manual and a semi-automatic load haul dump (LHD) machine to find similarities and differences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Real time process-, operational- and maintenance data, from an underground mine in Sweden, have been refined and aggregated into KPIs in order to make the comparison between the LHDs.\nFindings: - The main finding is the demonstration of how production and maintenance data can be improved through information fusion, showing some unexpected results for maintenance of automatic and semi-automatic LHDs in the mining industry. It was found that up to one third of the manually entered workshop data are not consistent with the automatically recorded production times. It is found that there are similarities in utilization and filling rate but differences in produced tonnes/machine hour between the two machines.\nOriginality/value: - The originality in this paper is the information fusion between automatically produced production data and maintenance data which increases the accuracy of reliability analysis data. Combining the production indicator and the maintenance indicator gives a common tool to the production and maintenance departments. This paper shows the difference in both maintenance and production performance between a manual and semi-automatic LHD.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Managing dramaturgical dilemmas: youth drinking and multiple identities
|
[
"Alcohol",
"Interviews",
"Youth",
"Goffman",
"Visual methods",
"Multiple identities"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The roles that alcohol and intoxication play in young people's lives and identities have been well documented (Griffin et al., 2009; Piacentini et al., 2012). Recent research has focussed on the social context of the \"night out\", with the most excessive or extreme forms of drinking capturing the researcher imagination (Thurnell-Read, 2015; Maclean, 2016; Griffin et al., 2009). Additionally, the relatively recent polarisation of drinking behaviours amongst young people (Measham, 2008) has led researchers to focus on either contexts of heavy or excessive drinking or those of abstention and light drinking (Martinic and Measham, 2008; Szmigin et al., 2008; Piacentini et al., 2012; Nairn et al., 2006). Little research, however, directly addresses the role that alcohol plays in the multiple contexts of people's lives (Thurnell-Read, 2015), and for young people in particular, there is limited understanding of the role of alcohol across a range of situations (such as home, school and athletic settings), as well as the social context. Exceptions include the influential work, Learning to Labour by Paul Willis (1977), which argues that young working-class \"lads\" used alcohol to resist the culture of the school and to ready themselves for a life of labour. In addition, more recent work by Szmigin et al. (2008, p. 4) argued that youth intoxication and drunkenness can represent a \"form of planned letting go\", a way for young people to balance out or respond to the more formal and structured aspects of their lives of work or school. Beyond these few studies that consider alcohol in relation to the wider settings of youth lives, extant research has yet to examine how young people navigate the multiple audiences and contexts of their lives, each with different alcohol-related norms, rules and expectations. This paper is focussed on addressing this gap in understanding, drawing on the idea of dramaturgical dilemmas (from Goffman, 1961) to develop new understanding of the management and performance of multiple selves in context.\nMultiple identities and risky health behaviours: The social sciences have long recognised that individuals have multiple identities (James, 1890; Gergen, 1991; Goffman, 1961), and that the self we choose to present may differ depending on the audience and the social setting. For Goffman (1961), the individual can be considered as a \"holding company\" of multiple identities, focussed on managing these multiple identities to retain some sense of stability, coherence and conflict avoidance. Goffman suggests that individuals engage in a form of audience segregation to manage multiple identities, referred to as the individual's efforts to ensure that \"those before whom he plays one of his parts will not be the same individuals before whom he plays a different part in another setting\" (1959, p. 43). However, this vast array of potential identities available to individuals can play a role in creating dilemmas, tensions and conflicts (Bauman, 2001). Recent work has drawn on Goffman (1959) to show how young men adopt multiple identities and adjust their performance of self to suit the audience and the context, a process of \"chameleonisation\" and a \"constant practice of code-shifting\" (Ward, 2015, p. 222). Ward (2015) notes how engaging in risky health behaviours such as drinking alcohol can help young men perform identities acceptable in some contexts (e.g. peer context) but hinder the successful performance of identities activated in other contexts (e.g. academic and athletic contexts).\nGoffman's dramaturgical perspective: Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical perspective uses the theatrical metaphor to examine day-to-day performances and impression management, and this perspective has been emphasised in the marketing and consumer research literature (Fisk and Grove, 1996), with recent applications found in studies of fashion blogging (McQuarrie et al., 2013) and selfie postings (Pounders et al., 2016). Goffman assumes that individuals have the ability and motivation to control the impression they make on others across different social settings. Individuals are inclined to present idealised impressions to their audiences, modifying and adapting their performances to suit the understandings, expectations and values of society. Herein lies the notion of dramaturgical dilemmas. Drawing on Scott (2005), we use this term to encapsulate the difficulties individuals face dealing with, or reconciling, potentially inconsistent identity performances and multiple audiences. A key aspect of the required self-presentation in the face of such dilemmas is the maintenance of \"front\", that part of the individual's performance which functions in a general and fixed fashion for the situation and observers of the performance (Goffman, 1959, p. 486). Actions that are incompatible with these idealised standards are often concealed in the maintenance of front, while other actions may be accentuated, and this process is labelled mystification. Mystification facilitates a degree of social distance between the performer and audience and allows the performer the space to craft the impression of their choice. Individuals may also modify their personal front in ways that would be considered misrepresentative - for example, under-age drinkers who position themselves as over 18 years to be served alcohol (Goffman, 1959). For Goffman, techniques of misrepresentation can include strategic ambiguity, crucial omissions/non-disclosure and prevention of discovery. Other techniques of misrepresentation have been identified in consumption research on fashion bloggers. Bloggers use the techniques of feigning similarity and engaging in self-deprecation to maintain their audience and appear \"ordinary\" and unchanged by their success, denying the boundaries that exist between themselves and their audience (McQuarrie et al., 2013).\nMethod: This study explored alcohol consumption and multiple identities of young people living in the north of England and aged 16-18 years. There were 91 participants (48 male, 43 female) from four different educational institutions: two secondary schools (sixth formers), one further education and training college (a college providing apprenticeships, entry to employment schemes, etc.) and a sixth form college. This resulted in a diverse sample in terms of educational experience, localities and social class backgrounds. With the legal drinking age in the UK set at 18, 10 of the 91 participants were legally allowed to consume alcohol, and 81 were classified as underage drinkers. Ethical approval was sought and granted by the university's research ethics committee.\nFindings: Techniques of audience segregation: compartmentalising drinking and drunkenness\nDiscussion: Our study focussed on the dramaturgical dilemmas young people faced around alcohol and examined the techniques young people use to successfully perform and stage manage multiple identities when navigating different audiences with competing demands and expectations (Thurnell-Read, 2015; Piacentini et al., 2012; Hackley et al., 2013). Extant research has argued that consumers find multiplicity unmanageable (Carrington et al., 2015) and cope with multiple identities through the use of internal dialogue (Bahl and Milne, 2010). In contrast, our interpretation develops an understanding of the practical techniques that young people use for the \"successful staging\" of identities (Goffman, 1959) and management of the impressions they present to different audiences. We demonstrate that young consumers experience multiplicity as a manageable, and perhaps inevitable, aspect of this life stage of developing maturity. Our Goffmanian theorisation problematises the fairly neat compartmentalisation and fragmentation of identities associated with risky consumption behaviours that have been suggested in other research (Goulding, 2002; Bahl and Milne, 2010). We provide an enriched understanding of how consumers manage multiple, conflicting identities that arise as a result of engaging in risky health behaviours, which could have connotations beyond the alcohol context, such as smoking (Bahl and Milne, 2010; Hamilton and Hassan, 2010) or drug consumption/rave culture (Goulding, 2002). This focus on identity performance allows us to consider alcohol's protracted influence. Alcohol is not experienced within just one social/recreation region and can compromise or impact upon the performance of identities even when the sports field, the home and the school take front stage. We therefore demonstrate how young consumers continuously and skilfully juggle multiple identities across multiple contexts, where identities overflow and audiences overlap. Within an alcohol context, young people use audience segregation, mystification and misrepresentation and justification techniques to manage multiple identities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to understand how young people manage the dramaturgical dilemmas related to drinking alcohol and performing multiple identities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on qualitative data collected with 16-18-year olds, the authors adopt Goffman's dramaturgical perspective to examine youth alcohol consumption in relation to multiple identities.\nFindings: Young people continuously and skilfully juggle multiple identities across multiple contexts, where identities overflow and audiences and interactions overlap. Techniques of audience segregation, mystification and misrepresentation and justification are used to perform and manage multiple identities in a risky health behaviour context.\nResearch limitations/implications: The approach may facilitate some over- and under-claiming. Future studies could observe young people's performances of self across multiple contexts, paying particular attention to how alcohol features in these performances.\nPractical implications: Social marketing campaigns should demonstrate an understanding of how alcohol relates to the contexts of youth lives beyond the \"night out\" and engage more directly with young peoples' navigation between different identities, contexts and audiences. Campaigns could tap into the secretive nature of youth alcohol consumption and discourage youth from prioritising audience segregation and mystification above their own safety.\nOriginality/value: Extant work has argued that consumers find multiplicity unmanageable or manage multiple identities through internal dialogue. Instead, this paper demonstrates how young people manage multiple identities through interaction and performance. This study challenges the neat compartmentalisation of identities identified in prior literature and Goffman's clear-cut division of performances into front and back stage.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Brand relationship, consumption values and branded app adoption
|
[
"Brand relationship",
"Banking",
"Branded apps",
"Consumption value",
"Use intention"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The growth trends in smart phone and app marketplaces worldwide have been remarkable. In 2013, more than one billion smartphone units were shipped worldwide in a single year for the first time. This was a 38.4 percent increase from 2012 and the volume has doubled in just two years (International Data Corporation, 2014). Meanwhile, mobile app marketplaces are also booming. In 2012, worldwide annual downloads in mobile app stores reached 64 billion and generated $18 billion in revenue (Gartner, 2013). The forecast predicts that by 2017 worldwide annual downloads in mobile app stores will reach $268.7 billion (Gartner, 2013). By offering great opportunities in marketing and branding in mobile apps, the app market is now attracting more and more big companies with well-known brand names (Banham, 2010). Those companies develop and distribute their own apps and attach their companies' brand names to the apps. We call such apps as branded apps. Companies hope that consumers' past engagement and experience with the brand can influence their consumption behaviors in mobile app markets. Moreover, companies realize that via apps they may market and advertise their various products and services and add new values to consumers. They also hope that by fostering consumers to play and interact with their apps, they can make the existing bond between the consumers and the brand stronger, or develop new bonds with consumers.\nLiterature review and model development: Research on mobile applications (apps) adoption\nResearch methodology and data analysis: We used survey methodology to empirically test the research model and hypotheses. We developed a survey instrument based on an extensive literature review and followed the guidelines suggested in IS literature (e.g. Straub et al., 2004). Most of our measures were adopted from the literature and adapted to fit the current context of the study. Items to measure brand attachment and brand identification were adapted from Park et al. (2010). Items for the four reflective consumer value constructs were adapted from Sheth et al. (1991), Parasuraman and Grewal (2000), and Mathwick et al. (2002). Perceived value is a formative construct and indirectly measured by the four reflective consumer value constructs (Turel et al., 2007, 2010). Demographic items were also added to the survey questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale ranging from \"strongly disagree\" to \"strongly agree\" was used for each item in the instrument except for those demographic items.\nDiscussion and conclusion: Drawing upon brand relationship literature (Blackston, 1992; Fournier, 1998) and the theory of consumption values (Sheth et al., 1991; Zeithaml, 1988), we developed an integrated research model in which the effects of brand relationship and perceived consumption value on use intention of branded apps were investigated. To empirically test the model, we surveyed 245 participants recruited from online app market forums and communities in Taiwan. The data analysis results supported all the hypotheses, strongly supporting our conceptualization of the research model. Our findings related to brand attachment and brand identification are consistent with brand relationship literature, indicating that relational marketing strategy plays a crucial role in promoting branded app use. We also found that the overall value perceived by consumers is a salient factor in consumers' use intention of branded apps. Moreover, our findings provide useful insights into what kind of value components should be included in branded app development to increase the consumption value of an app. In detail, our findings indicated that branded apps need to satisfy consumers' functional needs such as efficiency and emotional needs such as joys.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine influential factors on branded app adoption from the perspectives of brand relationship and consumption values. Thus a research model integrating consumer-brand relationship literature and the theory of consumption values is developed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using the survey approach, 245 participants were recruited from several app market forums and app fan communities. The banking apps issued by three large banks in Taiwan were used in the research.\nFindings: The findings support the research model and confirm that brand relationship in terms of brand attachment and brand identification, and perceived overall consumption values are influencing factors in branded app adoption.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research advances the understanding of the effect of brand relationship on branded app use behavior and the functional and non-functional value components pertaining to branded apps.\nOriginality/value: Little research has investigated if brand-consumer relationship and consumption values can sustain and continually impact consumers' choice in mobile apps.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Assessing the effects of exogenous factors for benchmarking hospitals with double bootstrapping
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Benchmarking",
"Data envelopment analysis",
"Health services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When the USA had a presidential election, the reassessment of the health care system took one of the highest priorities in campaign debate, which had resulted in enactment of health care reforms over the last few decades. Despite the effort to ameliorate the system better, finding a unanimous solution addressing all aspects of the system was not that simple due to its complexity and entanglement in insurance coverage, cost, care quality, legislation and financing. Among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations, consisted of advanced or emerging economies, US marked the highest on health care expenditures by spending $8,713 per person or 16.4 percent of its gross domestic product in 2016 (Department for Professional Employees - AFL-CIO, 2016). The amount was much higher than even the twice of the OECD mean or $3,453 per person. Although drivers of the high spending in USA were varied and difficult to agree upon, they might be attributable to the high costs of introducing new technologies and prescription drugs, the rise of chronic diseases requiring preventive treatments or high administrative costs (Department for Professional Employees - AFL-CIO, 2016).\nLiterature review: There are some studies that compile and review studies on DEA applications for a period. Hollingsworth et al. (1999) reviewed 97 DEA studies on productivity measurement published between 1983 and 1997 in the health care industry. They compared the efficiency of the health care system between the public and private sectors in both USA and Europe and concluded that the efficiency of the public sector was superior to that of the private sector in both regions. Following this study, Hollingsworth (2003) also reviewed 188 research papers on efficiency measurement using meta-analysis and reached to the similar conclusion that that the public sector was more robust than the private sector in the variability of efficiency.\nTheoretical background and methodology: Because OLS and Tobit regression models are well established, we avoid reiterating their mathematical properties for this study. Instead, we review DEA and truncated regression with double bootstrapping for our methods that involve a two-stage procedure.\nData and variables: The variables and observations for our study are taken from the 2015 annual report prepared by the state government of Washington. Excluding the institutes with no report and missing values, our data set represents 33 counties and includes 85 DMUs. We compile data by counties for the government to examine the efficiency of the counties and develop desirable health care policies for the management of health care institutes in each county. Based on the existing DEA studies and the availability of data, we select four input and two output variables for the CCR model. Four input variables are full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (Employees), number of beds (Beds), inventory (Inventory), and salary and wages (Salary and Wages). Two output variables include net revenues (Revenues) and patient days (Patient Days). The descriptive statistics of the input and output variables are presented in Table I.\nResults and discussion: We tried a two-stage approach for examining the influence of exogenous variables on efficiency scores. First, we obtained the efficiency scores of the health care institute using a DEA model or CCR model (Charnes et al., 1978) at the first stage. Next, we ran a series of regression models for the efficiency scores and exogenous variables at the second stage. Although three regression models, such as the truncated, Tobit and OLS, provided somewhat similar results, we chose the results from the truncated regression model proposed by Simar and Wilson (1998, 2007) to overcome the assumption on the independent error distribution.\nConclusion: Original DEA models such as CCR and BCC models measure the efficiency of DMUs using observed inputs and outputs, which are endogenous variables. To examine the impacts of exogenous variables on the efficiency, an additional analysis is required by employing regression models. Although many DEA studies have been conducted in the various industries including the health care sector, most of them are applications using endogenous variables, which could miss the impacts of exogenous variables on the efficiency of DMUs. Accordingly, DEA studies with the two-stage approach that utilizes double bootstrapping for measuring the impact of exogenous variables in regression models at the second stage are rare. We fill the gap by applying truncated, Tobit and OLS regression models along with the double bootstrapping algorithm to the data set from the health care industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is based on the production possibility set that involves the process of converting resources or inputs to outputs. Accordingly, most DEA models include endogenous variables and need an additional step to find the influence of exogenous variables on the process. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the efficiency scores of DEA and the exogenous variables using truncated regression analysis with double bootstrapping along with two additional methods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, the authors employ DEA for benchmarking the comparative efficiency of the health care institutes. Next, the authors run and compare truncated, ordinary least square (OLS) and Tobit regression analysis using the double bootstrapping algorithm for finding the influence of exogenous variables on the efficiency of the health care institutes.\nFindings: The authors confirmed the amount of bias for the Tobit and OLS regression models, which was caused by serially correlated errors. Accordingly, the authors chose results from the truncated regression model with double bootstrapping for examining the influence of exogenous or environment variables on the efficiency scores.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study includes cross-sectional data on health care institutes in the state of Washington, USA. Collecting data in various states or regions over time is left for future studies.\nPractical implications: In this study, three exogenous variables such as Medicaid revenues, locations of health care institutes and ownership types are significant for explaining the relationship between the efficiency scores and a group of the exogenous variables. Managers and policy makers need to pay attention to these variables along with endogenous variables for promoting the sustainability of the health care institutes.\nOriginality/value: The study demonstrates the usefulness of the truncated regression analysis with double bootstrapping for confirming the relationship between the efficiency scores of DEA and a group of exogenous variables, which is rare in the DEA literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Gender diversity in the boardroom: Do women directors help improve firm performance?
|
[
"China",
"Diversity management",
"Automotive sector",
"Corporate boards"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In these days of supposed gender equality, imbalance between the sexes still remains the order of the day in many environments. A prominent example is the often scant representation of females on corporate boards.\nSome benefits of having a diverse board: Pressure to change is building, though from policy makers who want to see the number of female executives increase significantly. Such moves are not simply a gimmick so that firms can fulfill diversity expectations. On the contrary, different observers present strong business cases for appointing more women as directors.\nGender differences in attitudes to risk-taking: Almost by definition, business involves risk to some degree or other. When it comes to risk-taking behavior, conventional wisdom has it that men and women differ significantly. Such notions are dismissed in certain circles as stereotyping. However, a number of psychological experiments show that there is considerable substance to the claims. Men show greater willingness to engage in risky behaviors, whereas a conservative approach is the norm where women are concerned. One of the more obvious conclusions to draw from this is that attitude to risk will differ on mixed boards relative to those exclusively composed of males.\nFemale executives in China's automotive industry: The Chinese automotive sector therefore provides an ideal study context, not least because of its tradition of being a strong male domain. Emergence of new technologies is likely to further strengthen the competitive position of a market that is already the world's largest.\nComment: The review is based on \"Financial performance and risk behavior of gender-diversified boards in the Chinese automotive industry: initial insights\" by Horak and Cui (2017). Diversity in the boardroom can strengthen an organization. Female directors offer new perspectives which might boost innovation and enhance firm performance. Their presence can also provide a steadying influence in the evaluation and potential consequences of risks.\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 their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Plenty of research indicates that organizations can become more competitive if women are better represented on corporate boards. Evidence suggests superior financial performance in terms of stronger sales and asset growth and higher returns on equity are attainable. More efficient risk management is also widely documented. Indications are that female executives have a similarly positive effect on performance and risk in firms operating within the Chinese automotive industry. However, low overall representation of women executives in the sector means that their impact remains limited. Companies and policy makers must therefore embrace initiatives that encourage greater gender diversity in the boardroom within a country still influenced to some extent by its patriarchal past.\nPractical implications: The paper 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"
}
] |
Servant leadership and transformational leadership: from comparisons to farewells
|
[
"Servant leadership",
"Transformational leadership",
"Concepts",
"Scope",
"Definitions",
"Organizational outcomes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Several researchers have examined the servant and transformational leadership theories in order to determine similarities and differences between them. The purpose has been to understand these theories. A theory can only be understood in the way in which it differs from other theories. All knowledge is conceptually mediated and thus concept dependent. Concepts, moreover, are required to be well defined. The clarification of different concepts, their content and relation to other concepts is in itself an important task in research. Ultimately, servant leadership and transformational leadership must be different theories based on different concepts in order to make comparisons between them a meaningful scholarly endeavour. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the conceptual and theoretical differences between these two theories in order to answer this question: is it possible and useful to compare the servant and transformational leadership theories with each other? Hoch et al. (2016, p. 20) have written: \"Scholars have pointed out that the organisational sciences are plagued by construct proliferation and, consequently redundancy\". New constructs similar to existing ones are frequently proposed and many constructs lack discriminant validity relative to other constructs. Here are two examples. Hoch et al. (2016, p. 7) stated: \"Servant leadership posits that by first facilitating the development and well-being of followers, long-term organisational goals will be achieved\". We must ask, however, where in the works of Greenleaf (1970, 1977) did they find support for the claim that \"long-term organisational goals will be achieved\". Rafferty and Griffin (2004), furthermore, added personal recognition (recognising the performance of followers) to the four characteristics of transformational leadership proposed by Bass (1985). They thus presented a different theory. There are two striking similarities between the original works of Greenleaf (1970) and Burns (1978). Both focused on the direct relationship and impact of the leader on the follower that would make the followers become leaders themselves or something like leaders. Greenleaf (1970, p. 7) asked: \"[...] do those served grow as persons, do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?\" The second similarity concerns the expected consequences of leadership defined by the quality of the society or nation. Greenleaf (1977) regarded servant leadership in relation to \"the whole range of institutions that exist to serve society\". For Burns, the purpose of transformational leadership was the same. Burns (1978, p. 430) addressed the \"end variables of justice, equity, and human rights\". Since the publication of Greenleaf's works, servant leadership theory has inspired a large number of researchers. Burns (1978) was the foundation of Bass's (1985) scholarship on transformational leadership. For many years, studies of transformational leadership were explicitly based on Bass (1985) and pertained to formal leaders (managers) in private enterprises. Since then, however, the scholarship has fragmented because the support for this theory did not materialise, despite an unprecedented amount of empirical studies (e.g. van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013; Andersen, 2015). Greenleaf (1970) never defined servant leadership. It is assumed to correspond to present-day scholarship that uses the same term. Burns's (1978) picture of transformational leadership and Bass's (1985) definition are vastly dissimilar. In order to compare these two theories, it is imperative to clarify whether the comparison is between Greenleaf's servant leadership and Burns's transformational leadership or between subsequent interpretations of Greenleaf's ideas and Bass's theory, including subsequent elaborations. Leadership scholars have different ideas regarding what to lead and whom to lead. Managers lead business enterprises or public agencies. Political leaders lead political, religious and humanitarian movements. In the latter case, leadership is related to groups whose members follow the leader's goal or common goals. Formal organisations, however, are not based on common goals. Corporate law states that the shareholders (owners of the organisation) make major decisions regarding goals for the firm. The core of managerial leadership is that managers are hired to contribute to the attainment of organisational goals which can only be done with subordinates performing tasks that enhance goal achievement. The setting of goals for organisations is not within managers' remit. This is precisely why they hold executive positions. Because the performance of tasks is missing in both servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1970) and transformational leadership theory (Burns, 1978), they are theories of political leadership. The conflation of managerial leadership with political leadership creates problems, especially when it is argued that scholarship on political leadership is relevant and useful for managerial leadership. Bass (2000, p. 33) wrote that servant leadership goes beyond transformational leadership in selecting the needs of others as its highest priority. He added that servant leaders' principal focus is on their followers while transformational leaders primary focus on organisational objectives.\n2. Servant leadership and transformational leadership theory: A stream of research has examined the relationship between transformational and servant leadership (Graham, 1991; Smith et al., 2004; Stone et al., 2004; Humphreys, 2005; Van Dierendonck et al., 2014; Hoch et al., 2016). Although these theories share several characteristics, servant leaders focus on their followers' well-being, while transformational leaders tend to focus more on organisational goals. Liden et al. (2008) argued that the community orientation of servant leadership differentiates it from transformational leadership According to Graham (1991), the concept of servant leadership goes beyond Bass's transformational leadership in two significant ways. First, it recognises social responsibilities in the call to serve. Second, servant leadership tells us why people should grow, even if they do not want to. Graham (1991) argued that since servant leaders follow moral principles, it differs from transformational leadership. Like transformational leaders, servant leaders encourage others to visualise the followers' future and are persuasive by offering compelling reasons to motivate others to carry out tasks (Barbuto and Wheeler, 2006). Transformational leaders' visions are driven by what leaders believe is beneficial to the organisation; this is in contrast to servant leaders' visions, which seek to benefit organisational members (Van Dierendonck, 2011). Another purported difference is that servant leaders appeal to the affect-based trust of followers, while transformational leaders promote cognitive-based trust (Schaubroeck et al., 2011). The empirical study by Conchie et al. (2012) found the opposite to be the case, however.\n3. The method of comparison: Suddaby (2010) introduced the notion of construct clarity. Constructs are conceptual abstractions of phenomena that cannot be directly observed. A construct is deliberately invented or adopted for a specific scientific purpose. Precisely defined constructs are easier to operationalise and test. The essence of construct clarity comprises four basic elements: scope, definitions, relationships between constructs and coherence (Suddaby, 2010). The method or procedure applied here for comparing the theories is based on the characteristics of construct clarity (Suddaby, 2010). Servant and transformational theories are described in terms of the four categories: scope or applicability, leadership concept, definitions and organisational outcomes. In each category, two different alternatives and competing versions are identifiable, leading to 16(24) versions of both transformational and servant leadership theories in current scholarship. The implications of this variety are twofold. First, when comparisons are made, it is not evident which version or versions of each theory are being used. Second, the presence of 16 versions of these two theories implies the difficulty of capturing the uniqueness of each theory.\n4. Servant leadership theory: 4.1 Scope\n5. Transformational leadership theory: 5.1 Scope\n6. Conclusions: from comparisons to farewells: The identification of 16 versions or kinds of both the servant theory and transformational theory is clearly a strong indication that these theories lack construct clarity. When comparisons are to be made, it is not evident which version of each theory is to be compared. It is bewildering to know even where to begin. For example, is it meaningful to compare a version of servant leadership which says that \"servant leadership is a political leadership theory\" (1A), \"all leaders are servant leaders\" (2B), \"servant leadership is defined by the more than 40 attributes\" (3A) and \"servant leadership enhances organisational outcomes independent of contingency variables\" (4B) with one that holds that \"transformational leadership theory is a managerial leadership theory\" (1B), \"leaders are either transformational or transactional\" (2A), \"transformational leadership is defined by four dimensions\" (3A) and \"transformational leaders are more effective than transactional leaders under specific organisational and external conditions\" (4B)?\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to question the usefulness of comparisons between theories on servant leadership and transformational leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of scholarly works on these two theories is presented from the original works of Greenleaf, Burns and Bass to the current research.\nFindings: Based on the four categories of construct clarity, two competing alternatives are identifiable in the scholarship of both servant and transformational leadership. There are thus 16 versions of each theory.\nResearch limitations/implications: The literature review contains no new empirical data. The many versions available today of each theory do not make comparisons meaningful. The prevalence of several versions of theories on servant leadership and transformational leadership implies that they are no longer specific and useful theories.\nOriginality/value: Critical comments are presented on the usefulness of comparisons between servant leadership and transformational leadership. Thus, the value of these theories is also questioned.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Enforcement of the purports of binding banking documents in Rastin Banking - Part II
|
[
"Law",
"Banking",
"Rastin Banking",
"Banking documents",
"Enforcement of the purports of documents"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the first part of this paper, a part of Rastin Banking regulations in enforcement of the purports of binding banking documents[1] was addressed. Enforcement of the purports and subjects of the official documents, without referring to the judicial courts, and through the bank itself, is one of the characteristics of the official documents[2]. In Rastin Banking, all contracts, which are concluded and exchanged between the parties in the bank and along with the execution of Rastin Banking, are regarded as the binding official documents, and the bank can collect its claims arising from the contracts and commercial documents, through the newly established \"Bank Documents Execution Unit (BDEU)\". The legal pillars for enforcement of the purports of binding banking documents were discussed in Part I of the paper, and we explained executive pillars considering the issuance of the writ of execution, notification, the order of execution, seizure of movable properties and seizure of the properties with the third party. In this part of the paper, it is being continued by the subjects of seizure of immovable properties, evaluation, collateral, bidding, eviction and termination of the executive operation, executive expenditures and handling complaint against executive operations and other miscellaneous related executive affairs.\nSeizure of immovable properties: Immovable properties, including the principal and surplus items, are seized according to the instructions mentioned before, and the BDEU officer will prepare the list of seized properties, with the specific information regarding date and purports of the writ of execution, location of the property and its brief description, estimated area, etc., and its appurtenances, such as cattle, machinery and other remarks, which are effective in facilitation of the sale of the property on the printed sheet. In case the bounds or a part of the property is contentious, the details shall be mentioned in the minute and it shall be expressed that who is the disputing party, and where the dispute is under investigation.\nEvaluation: In any case that a property is identified or introduced (including seizure for debt documents or a collateral case for evaluation), the identified or introduced property will be evaluated by the evaluator of the BDEU and the evaluation minutes will be notified to the owner or debtor after confirmation by the head of the BDEU. In case the stakeholder (the owner or the debtor to the bank) objects to the valuation price, he or she can register his or her objection in the execution book or in the preliminary commission for handling complaints against executive operations within 10 days of the notification date and receive the receipt in return. The mentioned offices are obliged to inform the objection to the head of the BDEU at most within 48 hours of registration of the objection. The head of the BDEU will issue the order for referring the evaluation to the board of three official experts of the Administration of Justice. The view of the board of three official experts of the Administration of Justice is appealable in the preliminary commission for handling complaints against executive operations within 10 days of submission to the BDEU or notification to the owner or debtor. The cited commission refers the evaluation of the mentioned property to the board of five official experts of the Administration of Justice. The decision of the latter board about the evaluation will be final. Election of the members of the expert boards will be performed by a lucky draw. The evaluation fee shall be paid by the objector and if both the sides are objectors, half the amount shall be paid by each party.\nAbout collateral: In case the object of collateral is movable, the BDEU can seize it immediately after notification of the writ of execution. In case a property is pledged for a debt or a guarantee, and does not have any title of mortgage and transactions with refund right, all the executive regulations of the mortgage documents and transactions with refund right will be effective for it. In case the collateral's benefits have been transferred to the pledgee by rent, the writ of execution, which is issued for collection of remuneration, is like the writ of execution of the debt documents and the obligee can request for seizure of the other properties of the obligor. In cases where the pledger is not the principal debtor, notification of the writ of execution and the other executive operations shall be performed towards supporting the collateral owner and the debtor.\nBidding: In enforcement of the collateral or debt documents, after evaluation of the property and finalization, the bid notice shall be published in accordance with the specific terms and conditions[4]. The bid notice shall be published once in a local widely circulated newspaper, and in case there is no local newspaper in the district, in a widely circulated newspaper of the nearest district. The period between the publication and the bid date shall not be shorter than 15 days. Along with this notice, some notices shall be prepared and affixed on the property building, the bid place and public buildings such as municipality, sheriffdom, governorship, police force, the Administration of Justice and the Office for Registration of Deeds of the district. Additionally, it shall be published on the professional website for property bidding. For the properties which are bid at a price lower than a specific amount, only an affixed notice and publishing on the professional website for property bidding shall suffice. In case the object of collateral is multiple properties, located in different regions of the country, the bid notice shall be affixed in all the mentioned areas, and the bid area shall be stipulated in the notice with a full address. In case the bidding property has been insured, this shall be stipulated in the bid notice. In case the bidding property is transferred to another party, the insurer shall be announced.\nEviction and termination of the executive operation: In the final transfer of the property, whenever the writ of eviction is issued and a third party lives in the property, subjected to eviction by virtue of an official rent document, the bank does not evict the building until the end of the duration stipulated in the mentioned document. In cases where inhibition of the third party has not been performed by virtue of an official rent document or the duration of inhibition has expired in the document, the BDEU is obliged to evict.\nExecutive expenditures: The execution fee (i.e. the executive half tithe) shall be collected in the same way as the payment of the subject of obligation. The BDEU can adopt any other method for the payment, which seems appropriate, considering the execution fee. The execution fee of the binding documents is the half tithe and shall be taken from the party that the execution is against him or her, unless the creditor has made the request of execution without having any right. Half of the execution fee shall be paid to the public revenue account of the government and the other half to the revenue account of the BDEU, whether this execution fee has been received from any office, department or branch. In every executive file, after notification of the writ of execution, the execution fee shall be collected, unless the party obliged to pay is exempted from payment by virtue of certain regulations. If the debtor enforces the purports of the writ of execution within 10 days from the notification, he or she will be exempted from paying the execution fee. If the debtor pays all his or her debts before drawing up and signing the bid minutes, half of the execution fee shall be collected.\nComplaint against executive operations and the procedure of handling complaints: After the issuance of the order of execution (as soon as the execution is stamped), the executive operation will start. Anyone (including the obligor of the document and any stakeholder person) who has a complaint against the executive operation can submit his or her complaint to the head of the BDEU through stating the reasons and presenting the proofs. The head of the BDEU is obliged to notify the preliminary commission for handling complaints against executive operations, with the attachment of a copy of the file contents. The preliminary commission can make a request for further explanations from the BDEU and the subject parties, whenever necessary. After drawing up and signing the bid minutes, no complaint of the executive operation is heard from any of the parties. However, this point does not prevent that before drawing up and signing the transfer document or delivery of the property, the preliminary commission for complaints of executive operations, by virtue of the final decision, recognizes the executive operation against the laws and issues a decision to re-perform the executive operation. The preliminary or appeal commissions can issue the order of suspension of the executive operation in any stage of performance, according to the purports of the file, and the complainant contents, and the proposed reasons and evidences.\nMiscellaneous affairs: Regarding the bank's claims, the bank shall recognize what amount of the debtor's payments is related to the principal amount of the debt. If the debtor has any objection to the bank's discrimination, the hearing authority for settlement is the commission for handling complaints against executive operations. With regard to all the due dates, the notification and execution days will not be counted. If the last day for enforcement is a holiday, it will be ignored, and the immediate day after the holiday will be deemed as the last day. The contracts, drawn up by the parties for the executive file, in the commission for handling complaints against executive operations, are valid and effectual, and deemed as the binding official documents. Any of the parties can put the subject of the document into effect by the BDEU.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to facilitate and accelerate the enforcement of binding banking documents and to decrease the enforcement burden of the registration offices, courts and judicial authorities and to transfer it to the banks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A new mechanism for \"enforcement of the purports of binding banking documents in Rastin Banking\" is proposed. In the proposed regulations, a part of the executive path for enforcement of the purports of binding banking documents is transferred into a newly established unit located in every bank. The method considers all financial, legal and executive issues.\nFindings: Promotion of practical justice is a main factor to promote social and economic circumstances; the proposed model can prepare a way to improve the social and economic well-being.\nResearch limitations/implications: Codifying the law and regulations is a highly sophisticated task, and the art of codification can be examined after scrutinizing and executing the full text of the law.\nPractical implications: Though this paper presents the concept, the detailed proposed regulations are presented in two drafts of the bill and bylaw for enforcement of the purports of binding banking documents and handling complaints against executive operations in Rastin Banking.\nSocial implications: This procedure is a model that can be adapted for other countries, especially those countries that have a large number of legal disputes and where the process of dispute settlement is very lengthy and cumbersome.\nOriginality/value: It fulfils an identified need to solve the practical legal problem in vindication of rights that can lead to positive and important effects towards creating public trust in financial obligations and increasing the speed of collecting demands.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does the denomination taste better than the wine?
|
[
"Denomination of origin",
"Experimental auctions",
"Regular wine buyers",
"Price points"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Nowadays, a wealth of literature is available on the role of product expectations on individual's perception of a food's sensory attributes (see for a complete overview Piqueras-Fiszman and Spence, 2015). This stands also for wine, for which many scholars have shown that the evaluation of the product is clearly influenced by both intrinsic (as taste) and extrinsic cues (as brand), and the relations among these cues strongly affect the overall perception of the quality evaluation of the wine (e.g. Bruwer et al., 2011; Lockshin and Corsi, 2012; Saenz-Navajas et al., 2013; Schaufele and Hamm, 2017). In addition, literature reveals that quality is not always the main parameter according to which wine is evaluated, as wine styles also have important implications for wine appreciation (e.g. Bruwer et al., 2011). To the best of our knowledge, few studies have explicitly analyzed if different price-point wines receive dissimilar consumer preferences and the effect of denomination of origin information on consumer evaluations.\n2. Materials and methods: This section describes individuals participating in the study, the experimental procedure applied, stimuli used in the research and the statistical analysis performed.\n3. Results: 3.1 Price points and consumer preferences\n4. Discussion: The wine market offers an overwhelming variety of options to buyers (Veseth, 2011), and thus competition among wineries is quite fierce. In this context price plays a prominent role. On one hand, price is an important quality cue in the wine-purchasing process (Charters and Pettigrew, 2007); on the other hand, higher prices discourage potential customers to try the product (Thach and Olsen, 2015). Therefore, wine managers must carefully balance benefits and drawbacks of their pricing strategies, identifying both the optimal price point for their wine and the most effective communication tools to foster sales.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate whether consumer preferences differ for wines with diverse price points and second, to analyze the effect of denominations of origin information on preferences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In, total 150 regular wine buyers expressed their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for 12 red wines of 3 denominations (Chianti Classico DOCG, Morellino di Scansano DOCG and Toscana IGT) with three price points (basic=EUR5, medium=EUR10 and high=EUR20) in an incentive-compatible experiment, involving two consecutive rounds: a blind tasting and an informed tasting.\nFindings: The findings reveal that price points are not statistically related to consumer preferences measured in the blind round, while information on the denomination of origin leads to a statistically significant increase in WTP for wines of all price points for all denominations.\nOriginality/value: This paper investigates whether Sangiovese-based wines at varying levels of price points (basic, medium and high) receive different WTP by consumers in non-hypothetical experimental auctions. Furthermore, the effect of denominations of origin information on preferences is explored, comparing evaluations without and with this specific information.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The Brisbane flood: CALD gatekeepers' risk communication role
|
[
"Australia",
"Flooding",
"Brisbane",
"Community leader",
"Culturally and linguistically diverse",
"Emergency risk communication"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In January 2011, following an unusually wet summer, severe flooding affected much of the eastern part of Australia. More than 78 per cent of the state of Queensland was declared a disaster zone - an area bigger that France and Germany combined - with the floods affecting 2.5 million people, and 33 deaths. In the state capital Brisbane and the nearby city of Ipswich, flooding affected 22,000 properties and 7,600 businesses (Brisbane City Council, 2012), and evacuation centres were set up to accommodate people forced to leave their homes. Brisbane residents had not experienced significant flooding since 1974, but they regularly experience violent storms, bush fires, hail and localised flooding, and these are expected to intensify as a result of climate change. Furthermore, the region's population growth alone can account for increases in social and economic vulnerability to natural hazards, which can be life threatening and cause severe damage to property (Risk Frontiers, 2011). Therefore residents need to be aware of and prepare for these events.\nCALD communities, disaster communication and gatekeepers: There is little research that examines CALD communities' responses to disasters, but what is available suggests they are more vulnerable than the general public due to language barriers, unsuitable housing and poor employment opportunities (Emergency Management Australia, 2007; ECCQ, 2011). Several US studies found that African-American and Latino communities are more likely to be affected by disasters than mainstream populations (Ng, 2005; Muniz, 2006). Access to appropriate and accurate risk information can therefore go some way towards reducing their vulnerability.\nResearch approach and analysis: The research adopted a qualitative approach, recommended for research with ethnically diverse populations (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000). The role of CALD gatekeeping has not been adequately investigated in the context of disasters and emergency risk communication, so an exploratory approach is a vital first step to understand and identify the major themes, issues, connections and concepts in this area. Participants were selected with the assistance of ECCQ, and \"hand-picked\", an approach often used in pilot studies where the researcher has some prior knowledge of the people or events likely to produce the most valuable data (Denscombe, 2010). Jeanette Shepherd, an employee at ECCQ, selected participants by deploying the organisation's contacts with several church-based, voluntary associations, non-government and government agencies who work with CALD communities, including Spiritus, Access Community Services, Brisbane City Council (BCC), the Multicultural Development Agency and the Community Action for a Multicultural Society network. Participants had to meet the following criteria: identification as community leader of a CALD community; affiliation with a voluntary association; and involvement in the 2011 flood. Potential participants were identified with the assistance of ethnic community members and organisations, and then invited to participate in the study. Through this process eight participants agreed to be interviewed, representing migrant and refugee communities from Burma, Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Samoa, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and India. The number of participants means that result from this study cannot be generalised to other communities or areas. It is, however, a starting point to further explore the role of CALD gatekeepers in emergency responses.\nFeatures of Brisbane's CALD gatekeepers: The overall profile of CALD gatekeepers in Brisbane generally conforms to the limited research in this area (Agada, 1999; Metoyer-Duran, 1991). These include a higher education level, absence of an age bias, involvement with community-based organisations and employment in a diverse range of occupations. In this study gatekeepers were between 26 and 56 years old. Five gatekeepers had at least a university Bachelor degree, and two a PhD. Except for the student participant, the gatekeepers were employed across a wide range of occupations, including a mechanic, two public servants, a programme manager, pastor, factory hand and university researcher.\nThe role of CALD gatekeepers in the 2011 flood: The CALD gatekeepers saw information dissemination as their most important function in the 2011 flood. This included: passing on information to community members, checking whether people had been affected by the flood, responding to enquiries from community members, providing emotional support, and where possible meeting with people in person to provide information. Two gatekeepers also provided information to people interstate, other community groups and the media. For Deng (South Sudan, age 26), his role as gatekeeper was not just about passing on information but also advocating for the community:\nConclusion and recommendations: This study examined the existing literature to explore a gap in knowledge about CALD gatekeeper roles during the 2011 Brisbane flood. Participants were recruited from Brisbane's peak CALD community organisations, and employed semi-structured interviews. The study cannot be generalised to other locations, disasters or populations, but it does provide initial insights that may be useful for Brisbane's emergency management services. It offers a foundation upon which to design future studies that examine information behaviour of CALD gatekeepers during disasters, and is a call to governments and agencies to build relationships with CALD communities in preparation for future disasters.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an original research project that explored the experiences and actions of immigrant and refugee communities during the 2011 Brisbane flood. It specifically examines the role of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community leaders who acted as \"gatekeepers\" in communicating emergency responses to the disaster to their communities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight \"gatekeepers\" who met the study's selection criteria.\nFindings: The study found that the characteristics and demographics of CALD gatekeepers in Brisbane, their use of multiple sources related to their involvement in the community, their use of interpersonal sources for information-seeking and use of the mass media, is largely consistent with previous studies.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study departed from previous research with respect to issues of trust in government sources, gender and warning confirmation behaviour. These differences affected the behaviour of the CALD gatekeepers, especially around risk perception, information dissemination and filtering. Although the study points to the potential challenges facing emergency management services in fully incorporating the needs of all CALD communities, implications are limited given the small number of gatekeepers who agreed to be interviewed.\nPractical implications: Despite its limitation, the study does indicate that a critical gap exists in understanding CALD community responses to natural disasters.\nSocial implications: The paper concludes with suggestions for a research agenda to gain better knowledge of the ethnic, demographic and personal factors that influence gatekeeping behaviour.\nOriginality/value: The study is original because no prior research has directed attention to Brisbane's CALD community responses to disasters.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Leading cultural coherence: cases from New Hampshire
|
[
"Organizational learning",
"Case studies",
"Professional community",
"Central offices",
"Districts",
"Response to intervention"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Reform in education is not a new endeavor. Many efforts, however, often fail to make substantive and lasting change to educational organizations or to teaching practice. Policies often travel down a hierarchical chain of loosely connected organizations, losing meaning, intent, and potential for impact along the way (Datnow, 2006). In particular, local leaders are often left with few opportunities to negotiate meaning between their conditions and the demands of new policies (Honig and Hatch, 2004).\nDistrict coherence and sense-making: The two districts in question used the project in question to create more cohesive approaches to teaching and supporting students. Johnson and her colleagues (2015) have argued that district coherence is a correlate to increasing achievement, provided that resources, structures, and systems (e.g. time, staffing, and processes) are all used in complementary ways. These authors note that shifting roles and resources to accommodate a new project is a difficult, but realistic prospect for local leaders.\nData sources and methods: The paper presents two case studies of districts in the state of New Hampshire, USA who chose to participate in the NH Responds (NHR) project. The research questions that guided this study were:\nNew Hampshire Responds and districts' experiences: In 2007, several New Hampshire agencies worked together to launch NHR, including the New Hampshire Department of Education, the US Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (using Federal funding in the form of a State Personnel Development Grant), the Institute on Disabilities (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire, and other agencies. The project included several elements designed to foster what Fullan and Quinn (2016) might call a coherent approach to improvement: opportunities for districts to design and lead systematic local implementation plans, support for instruction, and teacher collaboration. At the time of this study, NHR was entering its fifth and final year of implementation in five districts throughout the state.\nLessons from New Hampshire: Authors from Sarason (1971) to Datnow and Park (2009) have all touted the importance of culture in the process of implementation. In particular, Datnow and Park reminded readers that teachers engage in active sense-making of new initiatives in the context of their environments and existing knowledge and beliefs, forming new \"ways of thinking, relational patterns, and practices\" (p. 351). Coburn and Stein (2006) argued that new formal structures in schools can help to establish and sustain these new cultures and relationships. Springdale and Norton began to achieve success in implementing NHR through not only new technical procedures like data meetings, but also through increased attention to existing relational patterns: Staff reported learning a great deal from the initial \"process,\" or focus of team formation and cultural norms while also implementing structural changes and new procedures.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper is concerned with the cultural components of change and district coherence. The purpose of this paper is to present two district cases studies, illustrating their experiences with a particular initiative that guided local leaders through both structural and cultural changes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses two qualitative case studies to illustrate how a new initiative led by an external partner might help local district leaders learn to shift from financial pass-through or compliance-oriented observer to coherence-making, capacity-building force for schools. Cases were conducted in New Hampshire, USA, studying two districts implementing an RTI-related initiative.\nFindings: The project was an opportunity to use a common objective - improving learning for all students - and several common school elements - team meetings, student data and job-embedded professional development - in combination to impact how staff work and how they work together for the benefit of students. In particular, team-based leadership, instructional coaching, and collaboration structured around instruction and student data were all powerful practices with structural and cultural impacts.\nResearch limitations/implications: It remains to be seen if the districts can both initiate these changes on their own as well as sustain these culture-making roles over time.\nPractical implications: The paper illustrates several activities that other districts may use to work toward becoming cultural learning organizations.\nOriginality/value: The value of district central offices taking on new roles, such as learning organization or cultural coherence maker, is established by authors like Honig. This paper illustrates on way district offices might learn to take on these roles.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Marketing process adaptation: Antecedent factors and new product performance implications in export markets
|
[
"Standardization",
"Global marketing",
"Relationship marketing",
"Export"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Firms look beyond domestic markets to realize the full potential of their products and engage in multiple inter-firm export relationships to fulfill this goal. An important goal in an export relationship is the successful introduction of products into these new markets (Cavusgil and Kirpalani, 1993; Reid, 1981). Effectively managing such multiple export relationships has been an important area of academic inquiry within the international marketing literature (e.g. Griffith and Myers, 2005; Srivastava et al., 1999). A significant amount of research in the field of international marketing has been devoted to understanding when firms decide to standardize or adapt their marketing program strategies in certain markets and how the different strategies influence performance (Boso et al., 2013; Cavusgil and Zou, 1994; Szymanski et al., 1993; Theodosiou and Leonidou, 2003; Zou and Cavusgil, 2002). For example, the export marketing literature has addressed firm and environmental drivers of marketing product standardization/adaptation (e.g. Jain, 1989; Cavusgil et al., 1993; Chung et al., 2012), performance implications of export marketing strategy (e.g. Johnson and Arunthanes, 1995; O'Donnell and Jeong, 2000; Szymanski et al., 1993; Zou and Cavusgil, 2002), and the appropriate alignment of export marketing strategy and environment on performance (e.g. Boso et al., 2013; Cavusgil and Zou, 1994; Hultman et al., 2009; Katsikeas et al., 2006; Vrontis et al., 2009).\nTheoretical foundation: GVA and the standardization/adaptation of international marketing strategy\nHypotheses development: Griffith and Myers (2005) argue that effective relationship portfolio management necessitates a manager's simultaneous understanding of the unique needs of each relationship and the effective management of multiple relationships. Firms also consider the level of uncertainty and risk inherent in relationships when making governance decisions (Ghosh and John, 1999; Rindfleisch and Heide, 1997). The characteristic of uncertainty is expected to influence the firm's decision to standardize/adapt governance. When a firm adapts its governance strategy toward a focal partner, they interact with the particular partner in a more customized manner compared to their other exporting partners. On the other hand, a firm opting for a more standardized approach to governance utilizes the same approach with all partners (Figure 1).\nMethod: Sample\nAnalysis and results: Analysis\nDiscussion: In this study, we set out to better understand the standardization/adaptation of the governance process and provide insights to a number of important questions related to when governance strategies should change across multiple partners in the export market. Our motivation was to not only theoretically decompose the drivers of the process of governance adaptation by delineating a few antecedent factors and their influence on the adaptive approach to social (i.e. relational behavior) and economic (i.e. detailed contracting) governance elements of the marketing process, but also to examine how export performance (e.g. new product outcomes, jointly created value) is influenced. Employing GVA, this research reveals that adaptation of governance strategies can play an important role in the export marketing process, but that export managers must proceed with caution in balancing social and economic governance adaptation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the marketing \"processes\" of governing multiple export relationships under the theoretical framework of governance value analysis (GVA). Specifically, this work examines the internal exchange attributes of transaction-specific investments and psychic distance on the adaptation/standardization of relational behavior and detailed contracting and how process adaptation/standardization influences new product outcomes and jointly created value in the focal export relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted of 151 US manufacturers regarding their relationship with their primary foreign buyers. Data were analyzed with partial least squares estimation.\nFindings: The results indicate that high levels of transaction-specific investments lead to the adaptation of relational behaviors whereas high levels of psychic distance lead to less adaptation of detailed contracting. The adaptation of relational behaviors and detailed contracting reflect differential direct effects on export performance. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is a significant positive interaction effect between the adaptation of relational behavior and detailed contracting on jointly created value in the focal export relationship.\nPractical implications: The findings of the study reveal that adaptation of the marketing process related to relationship governance strategies can play an important role in the export marketing process, but managers must proceed with caution in balancing relational behavior and detailed contract adaptation. The results also point to the importance of understanding the underlying source of uncertainty and adapting appropriate aspects of governance for enhancing jointly created value in the export relationship.\nOriginality/value: The value of this research lies in its goal to highlight the issue of marketing process adaptation across multiple export relationships. Less attention has been paid to the marketing \"processes\" of governing multiple export relationships in the international marketing strategy literature relative to \"program\" standardization/adaptation. This is one of the first empirical studies on marketing process adaptation of governance employing the theoretical framework of GVA.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Do return and volatility traverse the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) stock markets borders?
|
[
"Diversification",
"Conditional correlation",
"MENA stock markets",
"Return spillover",
"Volatility spillover"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Understanding volatility of national stock markets to quantify potential risk is crucial in making financial decisions, and a significant aspect of international financial relations. In particular, the degrees of return volatility and correlation linkages among the national stock markets are essential for constructing properly diversified portfolios. Financial theory emphasizes the positive impact of market segmentation on portfolio value. Investors can mitigate the negative effects of market volatility by spreading risks across markets (Lagoarde-Segot and Lucey, 2008). As crises and shocks modify the linkage among stock markets, international and regional investors should take into account not only volatility but also correlation dynamics in their investment strategies to reduce risk and maximize return. High-correlated stock indices as opposed to low indices generally lead to an increase in portfolio risk. To reduce risk, portfolio managers tend to switch to the least positively correlated or negatively correlated stocks (Markowitz, 1959).\n2 Data and preliminary statistics: Our data sets consist of the daily closing prices of Morgan Stanley capital international (MSCI) equity indices in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. Because the MSCI ceased to cover the Saudi Arabia equity market, we use instead the Standard and Poor's Saudi Arabia Broad Market Index (BMI). For the sake of consistency, the data only cover the period from June 1, 2005 to January 3, 2012, as several indices are not available before this date. Nevertheless, our data coverage is ideal for this study because it allows us to cover the global financial crisis of 2008.\n3 Econometric methodology: This section presents the structure of the multivariate model to be used in order to capture means and volatilities of returns dynamics across markets. Spillover effects in mean (or variance) occur when a change in returns (or volatility of returns) in one market has a lagged impact (one day) on returns (or volatility of returns) in one or several other markets. The effect of squared residuals in one country on the others is interpreted as volatility shock. However, the operating hours of the 11 markets are synchronous, i.e. they open and close at about the same time which implies that these markets affect each other contemporaneously. As a result, there is no need to incorporate the squared residuals as lagged variables into the econometric model.\n4 Empirical results and analysis: In this section, we report and analyze the empirical results of mean, volatility, and correlation dynamics across the MENA stock markets. All the results are statistically evaluated and analyzed at the 1 percent significance level.\n5 Summary and conclusions: The quest for seizing reliable degrees of time-varying return volatility and correlation linkages among the recently emerging stock markets of MENA region, beyond the unrealistic and too restrictive assumption of constant volatility and correlation, has been the motivation for much research by scholars and practitioners. To deal with this defy, we propose a model which provides time-varying volatility and pair-wise correlation processes as key inputs for asset allocation, hedging, and risk assessment. Construction of an optimal portfolio entails a time-varying covariance matrix of all the assets in the portfolio. As such, we incorporate the dynamic conditional correlations between MENA equity returns which varied significantly over bearish periods, suggesting substantial diversification benefits.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the dynamic relationship across stock market returns in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arabic Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Oman from June 2005 to January 2012.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses a multivariate model with leptokurtic distribution which allows for both return asymmetry and fat tails. The paper also derives from the model the conditional correlation between stock markets and examines the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 on the conditional variance and correlation.\nFindings: The empirical results show that the Middle East and North African (MENA) markets are interconnected by their volatilities and not by their returns. Volatility persists in each market and significant volatility spillovers from small to relatively larger markets. During the crisis, the paper finds that conditional volatilities across markets increase but then during the post-crisis period return to their pre-crisis levels. More importantly, the conditional correlation behaves differently, with a significant evidence of downwards trend in some correlations across the MENA stock markets.\nResearch limitations/implications: One limitation of the study relates to the relatively short-sample period which drives the empirical results.\nPractical implications: The key results imply that there is still a possibility of benefits from portfolio diversification across specific MENA countries during periods of high volatility.\nOriginality/value: No previous study investigates the transmission of both the first and second moments of the return series across the MENA stock markets allowing for time-varying volatility and correlation and accounts for the 2008 global financial crisis to examine whether the conditional volatilities and correlations have strengthened or weakened during the crisis and afterwards.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Work-family balance through border theory lens: the case of a company "driving in the fast lane"
|
[
"Leadership",
"Work attitudes",
"Qualitative research",
"Organizational culture",
"Border Theory",
"Work-family balance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Work-family interface is a topic that has generated interest over the last two decades because reality has shown that, although work and family are separate domains, they greatly influence each other. This ascertainment is supported by the growing body of research and publications focussing on the work-family interface (Glaveli et al., 2013).\nWFB through the lens of BT: BT conceptualizes work and family as two different, but interactive, environments that people have associated with different rules, emotions, values, thought patterns and behaviors. Individuals are seen as border-crossers who are managing and negotiating the work and family spheres and the borders between them to attain WFB. Adopting a rather situationalist perspective (see Reiter, 2007), Clark (2000) defines balance as \"satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum of role conflict.\" Under such a perspective, WFB is viewed as a state that leads to a variety of satisfactions which are valued by the individual and his/her stakeholders, thus providing the possibility of evaluating ones' actions within a situational context (Reiter, 2007).\nResearch methods: This research is based on a case study of one of the largest Greek companies in the Lift Systems sector (employs over 600 employees). Despite the richness of data generated by single case studies, they have been criticized in the literature due to their lack of generalizability. They are, however, a particular relevant research strategy in the present research since single cases are useful for investigating specific research questions, developing new theory and/or countering/expanding existing theory (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008).\nResults and discussion: The research results and discussion are organized under the current study's objectives related to providing support to BT (as a framework that can be used to study and promote WFB) and expanding it by visualizing organizational culture as an aspect that determines the nature of the work domain and its borders' strength and permeability. Furthermore, the study aims to examine the relationship between organizational (organizational culture, leadership style, work attitudes) and individual (e.g. life phase) factors and (central) participation in the work domain, relationships that are expected to intervene in the balance process and affect the choice of WFB strategy.\nConcluding remarks: The results of this case study provide support for, and extend, BT's current thinking related to the strength and permeability of borders, central participation in the work domain, and choice of work-family coping strategy to attain WFB.\nPractical implications: The present research findings have implications for HR practitioners when addressing WFB and the contribution of work settings to imbalance. Practitioners need to better understand and interpret the nature and dynamics of the work and family domains, of their borders, and of critical aspects of the WFB process. This knowledge provides perspective to expand their repertoire of potential antecedents of WFB and particularly of employees' central participation in the workplace. For central participation to be a powerful tool in the long run, however, the family friendly attitude of the organization should be reflected in the company's culture and values, a much more complicated and difficult issue to address. Communication and open discussions on work-family themes reveal issues that can positively contribute. The research findings are also supportive to the view that organizations need to consider individual differences when they deal with WFB issues and frame interventions to facilitate this process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to seek to provide support and extend work-family Border Theory (BT) in order to investigate organizational and individual factors that determine the complex nature of work-family balance (WFB).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Qualitative research was conducted in a company in Greece. In total, 20 in-depth interviews were conducted. Data analysis was guided by interpretative phenomenological analysis.\nFindings: The key findings illustrate that strong borders protect the investigated, powerful, work domain and expand only to accommodate its' needs. In congruence with BT, employees choose to be central participants in the powerful, highly impermeable and inflexibly bordered, work domain. The deeply entrenched organizational culture, as well as leaders' behavior and leadership style, support the development of an array of positive work attitudes which boost central participation in the work domain. Due to the strongly bordered work setting, employees were found to choose segmentation as a WFB cope strategy; however, shifts in the participants' life phase, as well as unfulfilled expectations, lead them to reset priorities and reevaluate their central participation in the dominant work domain.\nPractical implications: The present study has implications for HR practitioners. Communication and open discussions on work-family themes reveal issues that can positively contribute to WFB. Further to this, organizations need to consider individual differences when they deal with WFB issues and frame interventions to facilitate this process.\nOriginality/value: This paper adds to current thinking in BT by illustrating that organizational culture, leadership and work attitudes have a strong impact on the nature of the work domain and its borders, as well as on employees' central participation in the work setting and the attained WFB.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Investigating differences in job-related attitudes between full-time and part-time employees in the foodservice industry
|
[
"Internal marketing",
"Organizational commitment",
"Job satisfaction",
"Turnover intention",
"Employee status"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: From 2008 through 2010, more than 1.6 million jobs were gained in the leisure and hospitality industry, and almost 75 per cent of the increase were from the foodservice industry (Coughlan, 2014). Owing to the changes in economic, demographic and social conditions in the USA, there has been a substantial increase of non-standard work arrangements such as part-time, contingent and temporary work (Barling and Gallagher, 1996; Quinlan and Bohle, 2003). In particular, a significantly high proportion of part-time employees are present in the foodservice industry. According to the United States Census Bureau (2014), about one-third of restaurant employees (i.e. 31 per cent) work part time - compared to 19 per cent in the total US workforce. This is not only due to the business model of the restaurant industry, which produces a relatively low profit margin, but also because of employees' needs for flexible arrangements between their job and personal endeavors. As the cost of labor is one of the most significant line items for restaurants, they employ more part-time employees compared to other industries. From this perspective, hiring part-time employees seems very attractive due to the cost effectiveness; however, the drawback is that they may not be satisfied with the job, committed to the organization and are more likely to leave (Abbott, 2006). Sobaih et al. (2011) also found that part-time employees are more likely to feel mistreated compared to their full-time colleagues. In this regard, Rotchford and Roberts (1982) indicated that part-time employees were considered to be \"missing persons\" in organizational research, left out from researchers' interests. According to Feldman (1990), research about part-time employees is critical because of the increasing part-time workforce and their emergence as an important labor supply. In addition, understanding part-time employees' attitudes and behavior is critical for the success of restaurants, as most part-time employees work as front-line employees, being customer-contact employees representing organizations. Thus, it is necessary to address whether there are significant attitudinal and behavioral differences between full- and part-time employees. Despite the presence of a high proportion of part-time employees in the foodservice industry, little research has been published, and several questions still remain regarding the nature of employment status and employees' attitudes and behavior. Part-time employees should be considered as human capital and as a sustainable competitive advantage; therefore, retaining valuable employees must be one of the top priorities for restaurant operators (Milman and Dickson, 2014).\nLiterature review: Theoretical backgrounds\nMethods: Measurement\nResults: Demographic profile\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine differences of the perceived internal marketing practices (IMP), job satisfaction (JS), organizational commitment (OC) and turnover intention (TI) between full- and part-time employees and to incorporate employment status as a moderator in the restaurant employee turnover model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The target population included current restaurant full- or part-time employees in the USA. The questionnaire was distributed to potential participants through an online survey that the company used to collect nationwide data.\nFindings: Full-time employees' perceptions of the IMP were comparably greater than those of part-time employees, and full-time employees were also more committed to the organization and had less intention to leave than their part-time counterparts. Significant moderating effects of employment status existed in the restaurant employee turnover model.\nResearch limitations/implications: The current study may not adequately capture the differences between full- and part-time employees by asking respondents to identify their employment status.\nPractical implications: IMP should be facilitated at the management level to provide insight and value to their employees, and more attention and effort in the internal marketing and human resource practices for part-time employees are needed to have more satisfied and committed employees, and, in turn, better performance.\nOriginality/value: The literature on full- and part-time employees was incomplete, and there was minimal research that tested differences between full- and part-time employees in the foodservice industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Experience-based co-design to improve a pulmonary rehabilitation programme
|
[
"Quality improvement",
"Co-production",
"Experience-based co-design",
"Patient-centred",
"Pulmonary rehabilitation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an effective intervention for patients with respiratory conditions. Beneficiaries wee improvements in exercise capacity, health-related quality of life and reduced dyspnoea (Lacasse et al., 2006). There is also evidence that hospital stay is reduced (Griffiths et al., 2000). PR programmes are multi-disciplinary interventions tailored to patient's individual physical and social circumstances (Hutchings et al., 2014). Although clinically effective, PR is under-utilised with only 30 per cent of referred patients completing the programme (Steiner et al., 2016). Our purpose therefore was to understand the challenges patients might face when referred to or attending a PR programme and to identify improvements, we undertook a UK case study, i.e. patients were central to this PR case and the improvement activity. Patient and public involvement in improvement projects can be beneficial but requires careful management if full potential is to be realized (Armstrong et al., 2013). Justifications for involving patients in improvement projects are broadly similar to those for their involvement in healthcare more generally. They include framing patients as the users and funders who have a legitimate stake in health services and are entitled to influence service (re)design (Bate and Robert, 2007). The research questions we address in this qualitative case study are:\nPulmonary rehabilitation: In the UK, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2011) and the British Thoracic Society (2014) issued guidelines for PR programmes in relation to participant selection, session numbers and timing, exercise intensity and type, educational, psychological and behavioural components, oxygen supplementation and outcome assessment. Often PR classes have long waiting lists with referrals coming from several sources including respiratory consultants, GPs and specialist nurses. Dropout and patients not attending are often issues for those managing and running the classes (Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, 2018). Patients who complete the course (usually between eight and twelve weeks) often want to continue (Williams, 2017).\nCase study: Our qualitative case study focuses on a PR programme based in Solihull, UK, which offers twice weekly 2-h sessions for eight weeks for up to 21 respiratory patients per class. The programme is among eight programmes offered by Heart of England NHS Trust, held in the hospital. The classes are also run at various community-based sites in the same manner. After referral, patients have a one-to-one assessment with a physiotherapist, if appropriate, then the patient is added to the PR waiting list. The PR plan is a rolling programme (e.g. three new patients start and three patients complete each week), which accepts referrals from GPs, consultants, respiratory nurse specialists and acute ward staff. To attend the programme, patients must have a respiratory diagnosis (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and pulmonary fibrosis). The service is oversubscribed and often has a 27-week waiting list (around 61 patients). The service is run by a highly specialist physiotherapist, a specialist physiotherapist and a physiotherapy assistant. In 2015, the \"Did not attend\" (DNA) rate was running at 22 per cent, which led the team to discover how they could improve the service to try and limit drop-outs and DNAs. The ethos the team adapted to improving the programme was based upon co-design principles.\nData and methods: Ethics approval was gained from the Wales REC Committee 1. Three focus groups were held with patients who had attended PR in the preceding six months. In all, 100 patients were invited by letter to attend. In total 33 current and former patients attended. The group discussions were between 45 min and 1 h long. The focus groups were purposely informal and patient-led and were supported by two facilitators to ensure that all discussion points were captured. Additionally, individual experience-based semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 patients who completed their PR programme. These participants were identified and invited to participate in the study while attending a respiratory clinic. The interviews were held at the patient's home and lasted approximately 45 min. The interviews and group discussions focused on patients' PR experiences, what they liked about the programme and what could be improved. Participants were asked for ideas on how improvements could be made. The focus groups and the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Reliability and validity were assessed, i.e. interview and focus group data were triangulated and compared, transcriptions were checked and coded by two researchers and anonymised results were presented to the local patient respiratory groups. Anonymised participant quotations are included in the findings using a P1, P2, etc., notation.\nData analysis: The qualitative experience-based interview and focus group data were analysed using King's (2004) thematic analysis framework, an approach that allows conceptual theme clustering and development (Cassell and Symon, 2004). Template analysis requires a code list or a \"template\" that represents themes identified in the textual data (King, 1998). An initial template was constructed to analyse the data and identify codes. The initial template was based on the research topic and the themes that emerged from reading the first few transcripts. The analysis was an iterative process and the template and codes updated as new themes emerged. Key themes included: access; expectations; information; social interaction and improvements. From the qualitative analysis, it was possible to produce a high-level respiratory condition map (Figure 1) (e.g. COPD). From this analysis two critical points were identified: Exacerbations and PR. We focus on the latter.\nFindings: When patients were asked to describe their diagnosis journey and managing their respiratory condition, many referred to their frustration in not being able to do the things that they would like to or had done previously. Coming to terms with being less mobile or active was particularly distressing for some participants. For others, the PR programme helped them to understand their condition and they welcomed the opportunity to share experiences with others in a similar position. From analysing participant experiences, it was possible to construct a generic high-level process map (Figure 1). It was also possible to map the PR programme, which includes patient and information flows and the main enablers and barriers to accessing the programme (Figure 2). In addition to visualising how patients access the PR programme, a thematic analysis of focus group and interview data identified six key themes, which are presented as they emerged from the data, i.e. not ranked by importance.\nManaging expectations: Most participants could explain their referral to physiotherapy to be assessed for PR. However, the information they received about the programme was variable depending on how and who made the referral. If participants had met a physiotherapists or specialist nurse they were more likely to have a clearer understanding and knew what to expect from the PR programme. Often participants had been presented with information from their GP or attending a clinic appointment, and in these cases, participants were less clear what to expect. Some participants noted there was a long wait between having an initial discussion with either the GP, specialist nurse or consultant and follow-up assessment by the PR team. For those participants, not used to doing any physical exercise, recalled their apprehension to join the PR programme.\nAccessing and leaving the PR programme: Some participants relied on hospital transport to enable them to attend the PR classes. Several respondents recalled times when they had arrived late for the class and had to wait several hours before they could return home. As one patient noted \"this makes a very long and tiring day and concern to whether the next trip will be the same\" (P3). Several interviewees reflected on whether referral to PR programme timing was right for them. Reflecting on the benefits accrued from attending the classes and particularly for those participants that had continued with the maintenance classes, they thought they could have been referred sooner. Some participants were unclear about what had changed in their condition to trigger a referral to PR. Others recalled the referral being triggered by an admission to hospital or the attendance at a respiratory clinic.\nInformation and communication: Participants were unclear about the information they had received about PR before joining the programme. All participants felt the information given about the first appointment and what to expect could be improved. Particularly the commitment required from patients (e.g. twice weekly attendance for eight weeks). The information about PR from GPs and practice nurses was inconsistent, with some referrers being unclear as to what PR entails. Participants recognised getting the balance right, i.e. providing enough information to prepare the patient for attending PR and not frightening them was difficult. One participant recalled whilst attending a clinic appointment \"I was given a lot of information on paper, which I'll be quite honest [...] Was it helpful? Sort of [...] what I read [...] I get bored with reading\" (P14). Another patient commented: \"[...] she just gave me some leaflets, and then I had a letter come through the post I think, and it was a leaflet, I remember looking at them, I thought [...] I haven't got to do that have I?! And I thought, well I can't go on the way I am\" (P2).\nEducation and self-management: The PR programme's education sessions were particularly well received by all participants and many noted how these improved their understanding and managing their condition. For example, \"then there's like lectures, if you want to call it that, but good advice on how you can help yourself and things to do for yourself\" (P11). Several participants found the educational sessions helped them to better understand COPD and the self-management required. The sessions around inhaler user, breathing techniques and general information about respiratory conditions were popular. The handouts that accompany the talks are well received and are often referred to many months later. Having the opportunity to hear what healthcare professionals had to say about their conditions was helpful but also reassuring.\nSocial contact: One key benefit reported by some participants was the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation. The ability to share experiences and to see how people progressed was beneficial and motivational. As one participant commented \"But it's nice to go there [PR] as well because you know a lot of the people there. So that's good too. So, it is actually, most of it is knowing people who understand how you are\" (P9). Another participant commented: \"The camaraderie, just you could have a laugh, you know, you didn't think about what was ailing you and [...] you sort of forgot about that and you were able to do better\". Another participant recalled hearing about her local Breathe Easy group (patient-run monthly meeting supported by the British Lung Foundation) while attending PR, which enabled her to stay in contact with fellow patients after she had completed the PR programme. One participant also noted the friendships made through attending Breathe Easy group meetings: \"You know, my friend from Breath Easy will phone me up and she'll say, oh I'm phoning you up [...] because I know you know how I feel\" (P11). Several participants mentioned the different speakers attending the Breathe Easy meetings were also a way to learn about their conditions and updated on the services available to them.\nMotivation and sustaining the gains: The fact that exercises were designed to be done at home was described by several participants as being hugely beneficial, e.g. one participant commented \"Each exercise [...] they're so simple, you can adapt them for home you see [...] all these exercises they give you are easily adaptable [...] And I found that my lung functionality really improved over the eight weeks, which encourages you to do it at home as well, so you know, when you're fit enough\" (P10). However, some participants recalled that maintaining motivation to attend maintenance classes was difficult. There were various reasons, which included difficulties accessing the classes; one participant recalling the class being held some way from the bus stop and being extremely breathless when he arrived. One participant described the maintenance class as \"just not being the same as the PR class\", he felt his condition was not understood the same by the maintenance staff. He went on to describe the reassurance gained from specialist physiotherapists and the ability to ask specific questions about his condition.\nPulmonary rehabilitation pathway: Figure 2 illustrates a high-level pathway map of patients accessing and attending PR classes, which was first drafted from the patient interview data. The map was presented to the PR team and patient groups (e.g. Breathe Easy) to ensure it represented the key steps within the pathway. Typically, when starting the pathway, physiotherapists receive a referral letter, fax or e-mail. Referrals came from stakeholders including respiratory consultants, specialist respiratory nurses, practice nurses and GPs. One-to-assessment is conducted at the start, which can be reduced from 60 to 30 min if the patient has already been seen by community respiratory nurse specialist and assessment details are included with the referral. If the patient is suitable to attend the class, then their name is added to the waiting list. It is a rolling programme that allows three new patients to leave/join the class each week.\nDiscussion: It is evident from our qualitative data that patients do not feel sufficiently informed about the potential benefits gained from attending a PR programme, i.e. the reasons why they have been referred or what they might expect. As noted by Yohannes et al. (2011), there is a need to increase PR awareness and improve the communication about service provision. Our research has provided an insight directly from patients about their experiences and the benefits they gained from attending R programmes. The engagement with patients has been central to this case study as advocated by Efraimsson et al. (2011). From our analysis, improvements to the PR programme have been identified and actioned.\nImplications: It is our intention to follow up with further focus groups annually to enable the team to ensure PR continues to meet patient needs. Our results have been used to redesign the existing service, as described above. This experience-based approach ensures that the patient voice is captured and is central to service redesign (Bate and Robert, 2007). We highlight the critical points in the patient PR journey where specific interventions may ensure service continuity when patients and information cross-organisational or functional boundaries. Quality improvement projects/interventions need to ensure that information flows and patient flows are considered. How information is provided and used within patient pathways needs to be mapped (at a high level is usually sufficient) to visualise critical points where teams need to focus their efforts, e.g. in this project referral or transition points in and between services.\nLimitations: This case study is limited to one UK PR service. However, results should assist healthcare professionals in (re)designing PR services or similar rehabilitation services. We have demonstrated the value of gaining patients and relatives' perspectives in relation to re-designing services. Further research is needed to explore staff perspectives and to further engage with patients to evaluate and prioritise the recommendations put forward for improving the PR programme. An economic analysis was outside our remit, so a cost-benefit analysis is needed to evaluate the impact on key indicators such as hospital admissions and inpatient stay. Such data are critical to PR programme design and development.\nConclusion: PR is an evidence-based exercise and education intervention for patients with a respiratory-related condition. Our case study identifies from a patient perspective some key benefits and challenges attending PR programmes. Several improvements have been identified; some have been addressed within this case study. Although there are limitations as noted above, there are implications for those that are involved in delivering and designing PR and other rehabilitation programmes. Our study encouraged patients to share their experiences, which enabled high-level maps to be constructed, which helped to identify transition points. The information flows and good communication were identified as being important to current and future PR programmes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate patient perspectives on attending pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). This qualitative case study identifies the benefits and challenges to attending PR and presents areas of improvements as recommended by patients.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative case study of a UK case study based on a PR programme based on undertaking focus groups (n=3) and interviews (n=15) with current and former patients.\nFindings: The findings report patient perspectives of the challenges and benefits of attending a PR programme along with recommendations on how the service could be improved.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors focussed solely on a UK PR programme, so the findings might not be applicable to other countries if PR is organised and provided in a unique way or setting.\nPractical implications: This paper provides valuable insights to patient perspectives offrom patients attending PR programmes, which are useful to those running and designing these services.\nOriginality/value: The findings identify the benefits and challenges for patients attending PR programmes and suggest areas where improvements can be made.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
State versus private MNCs from China: initial conceptualizations
|
[
"China",
"Multinational companies",
"International business",
"Market entry",
"Nationalization",
"Privatization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: One of the contemporary developments in the international business landscape is the emergence of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the developing world, especially in transition economies undergoing historical economic transformation (UNCTAD, 2006). Particularly, China, the largest and fastest growing transition economy, has recently accelerated the pace of its outward foreign direct investment (FDI) through indigenous MNCs. In early 2005, approximately 8,300 non-financial corporations were established overseas. Of these, more than 6,000 are still in operation, and 70 percent have been profitable (People's Daily, 2005). In the first quarter of 2008, Chinese companies announced FDI of almost $26 billion - nearly twice as much as during the same period in 2007 (Luedi, 2008). A more relaxed policy regime would undoubtedly lead to a sharp increase in FDI and M&A activities. In fact, China's Ministry of Commerce predicts outward investment will maintain an average annual growth rate of more than 22 percent over the next five years, exceeding US$60 billion by 2010 (Xinhua, 2006).While increasing research has focused on the global expansion of the Chinese firms, a review of existing literature suggests that the research to date has been limited in its scope, focusing on large, high-profile, and state-affiliated Chinese MNCs (Zhao and Wang, 2008). Although investigating this type of Chinese MNC is important, not all Chinese MNCs can be categorized in this way. For example, a growing number of non-state, entrepreneur-led Chinese firms have entered overseas markets. According to a recent study of China's 500 largest firms, privately owned firms have actually surpassed state-owned firms in their degrees of internationalization (Chen, 2006). Interestingly, the IBM (2006) Institute for Business Value identifies a group of 60 Chinese firms that are favorably positioned to become global players over the next decade; 13 of these are privately owned. Though most private MNCs are comparatively small and invisible at the moment, it is expected that their role in China's growing global presence will increase. Just as scholars researching the Chinese economy have increasingly shifted attention to China's private sector, emerging research on Chinese MNCs should take into account privately owned firms based in China. Reuters reported that the US State Department planned to change its procurement process following Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC operations (China Daily, 2006). However, such a reaction could be too simplistic if research showed that Chinese private MNCs behave differently from their state-owned counterparts along major dimensions.Distinguishing state MNCs from private MNCs will also help advance theory development. The emerging literature on Chinese MNCs, whether drawing on the advantage-exploration perspective based on developed country experience (Dunning, 1993), or the latecomer argument derived from an analysis of Asian \"tigers\" (Mathews, 2006), has tended to conclude that many Chinese MNCs are not motivated by rationality, poorly managed, and financially inefficient because of their state affiliation. However, the contention that emerging market-based MNCs \"are far from homogeneous\" (Luo and Tung, 2007, p. 483) certainly applies to China as far as ownership is concerned.Until the late 1970s, private ownership was not legitimate in China[1]. Recently, in contrast to the state sector, which has seen their share of national industrial outputs shrinking steadily, the private sector has seen rapid growth[2]. The internationalization of Chinese private firms has accompanied China's emergence as a manufacturing power. In industries such as white goods and electronics, close-to-perfect competition, coupled with a transitioning economic system lacking the kind of self-correcting mechanism present in a typical market economy, has led to oversupply, and subsequent, low-gross margins. As a result, private firms are forced to expand overseas (Kynge and Roberts, 2003). Other industries such as auto parts and brown goods have witnessed so-called inward internationalization in which private firms collaborate with foreign-investment firms as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and joint venture partners. Through such experiences, Chinese private firms are able to upgrade skills, develop the required knowledge in preparation for launching their own brands, as well as competing independently in the global marketplace (Child and Rodrigues, 2005). Finally, membership in the WTO has accelerated the pace for private firms to go international, as they now have to compete with financially and technologically more advantaged Western MNCs. On the other hand, they are offered unprecedented opportunities to participate in the potentially more rewarding global value chain. Therefore, private firms have shown increased propensity toward overseas markets while enhancing their position in the upper echelon of Chinese corporations at the expense of their counterparts in the state sector (Chen, 2006).The objective of the current study is to advance our understanding of outward FDI by recognizing Chinese private MNCs as a distinct element of the phenomenon in contrast to their counterparts with active government involvement. Focusing on Western economies as the destination for Chinese MNCs, we explain why and how the two types of MNCs might be different in terms of internationalization motives, entry strategies, managerial competence and discretion, and efficiency. In the main section of the paper, we offer an initial conceptualization and four testable propositions by synthesizing existing theories and taking into consideration China's peculiar conditions. Case studies are cited to support our arguments. In the general discussion and conclusion section, we consider theoretical, managerial, and policy implications, and offer direction for future research.\nConceptualizations and propositions: Organizational heterogeneity and firm ownership\nGeneral discussions and conclusion: The emerging literature on Chinese MNCs has largely focused on large, SOEs. Because of their state affiliation, these enterprises face difficulties in their entry strategies and management integration, and thus do not meet performance expectations. As a consequence, there is great uncertainty with regard to the legitimacy and viability of Chinese MNCs in competitive, market-driven Western economies. However, not all Chinese MNCs are alike. In this paper, we call attention to the existence of another breed of Chinese MNCs, i.e. privately owned enterprises from China. These enterprises are relatively invisible not only because of their small size but also because of their low-profile strategy, a tradition developed over the years in China's environment wherein private entrepreneurs remain subject to unjustified scrutiny and occasional mistreatment (Tan, 2002). Importantly, private Chinese MNCs come from a background different from their SOE counterparts and may assume rather different strategies and behaviors.Recent research suggests that Chinese MNCs, while expecting to receive financial support from their national government, will be weakened by this very method of support (Child and Rodrigues, 2005). To a large extent, however, this description only applies to state MNCs. Private MNCs, on the other hand, have their roots in China's marketizing private sector and the internationalization of Chinese private firms tends to be a rational choice made by their entrepreneurial owners, rather than a politically motivated move out of state mandates. As case studies have shown, when entering the international marketplace, private Chinese firms may have to overcome additional barriers put in place by the government (Buckley et al., 2007). Also, domestic and internationalization experience will probably have a profound impact on how Chinese private firms behave overseas. A key strategic characteristic of private Chinese MNCs, evidenced by the case of Wanxiang, is their tendency to be locally embedded. This takes the form of flexibility and adaptability in responding to local situations, or partnering with local organizations for the purposes of uncertainty reduction and resource leverage. Prior research suggests the case of Chinese MNCs conforms more closely to the latecomer perspective than to competitive-advantage-based theorizing originating from Western experience (Child and Rodrigues, 2005). Our analysis shows that the descriptions of latecomer MNCs emerging from the Asia-Pacific region is more applicable to Chinese private MNCs than to Chinese state MNCs (Ge and Ding, 2008).A basic tenet of Western management theories is the efficiency assumption. In this regard, we have predicted that private Chinese MNCs tend to outperform state Chinese MNCs, but we by no means suggest that private MNCs will have a better survival rate. As long as a Chinese MNC is institutionally embedded by the state, it will have to meet criteria beyond economic rationality to maintain legitimacy (Shenkar and VonGlinow, 1994). On the other hand, it will be interesting to see how long the Chinese Government will be able to sustain control over the state sector and state MNCs as the Chinese economy further marketizes and opens up to the world economy (Child and Rodrigues, 2005). While many believe that the emergence of Chinese state MNCs is modeled against Korean Chaebols, fundamental differences exist between the two types of \"big businesses,\" such as Chaebols' private ownership and Korea's less competitive market (Lee and Woo, 2002). After the Asian financial crisis made explicit Chaebols' inherent problems, internationalization through state-sponsored big businesses can no longer be bluntly adopted. Perhaps, China can learn more from the experience of overseas Chinese family-owned firms in their international endeavors. While conventional wisdom associates these firms with irrationality and inconsistency in management, recent evidence suggests that Chinese family firms can overcome such limits under the pressure of more sophisticated international operations (Yeung, 2000). In this study, Chinese private MNCs have demonstrated their ability to familiarize themselves with and take advantage of a different business environment by actively participating in it. The degrees of success they have had in the international marketplace show a kind of dynamic or developmental capability that enable these firms to leverage existing assets into new and related businesses (Teece et al., 1997).In light of the differences between state and private Chinese MNCs, it would be a mistake for Western governments and the private sector to treat all Chinese MNCs as equals. Concerns about communist state control through acquisitions may be justifiable with regard to Chinese state MNCs, but certainly are less relevant to Chinese private MNCs. As far as the private Chinese firms are concerned, emphasis should be placed on their ability to compete and collaborate as autonomous economic entities. As shown in the case of Wanxiang, Chinese private MNCs are not only more flexible and quick to adapt but also less exposed to the kind of liability of foreignness typically associated with state MNCs. Consequently, they seem to have enjoyed greater success in participating in the worldwide value chain restructuring (Craig and Douglas, 1997). Emerging from a competitive and sometimes hostile environment, Chinese private MNCs could be extremely aggressive and innovative and even challenge Western incumbents with unique capabilities. Take the example of Huawei, a private firm and one of the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers in China. With an emphasis on R&D as well as effective marketing and service mechanisms, the company has now become a serious challenger to Cisco in the field of network technology (Chen, 2006).The current study is only a small step toward understanding the different MNCs coming out of China. Our propositions need to be expanded and refined, and subsequently tested with systematic empirical data. Our conceptualizations do not distinguish a key operating context - developed versus less developed countries - but the Chinese MNCs, whether state or private, may function differently depending on the characteristics of the countries in which they are established. Since the story of Chinese firm internationalization is still unfolding, future states of the two types of Chinese MNCs are difficult to predict at this moment. Yet scholars who have decided to seize this historical moment will be rewarded by the opportunity to become the witnesses of a growing trend in the global marketplace.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop initial conceptualizations on two types of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs), that is, state- and privated-owned MNCs, in terms of internationalization motivation, entry strategy, and managerial capabilities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a conceptual paper. Existing case studies are cited as illustrations.\nFindings: - Compared to Chinese private MNCs, state MNCs are more likely to be driven by internationalization motives that are not based on economic rationality, to adopt an integrated entry strategy, but less likely to contain dynamic capabilities necessary for competing internationally. In the short run, Chinese private MNCs should outperform their state counterparts, which however does not necessarily translate into better survival rate.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The conceptualizations advanced in this paper should be tested empirically in future studies.\nPractical implications: - Given the differences between state and private Chinese MNCs, it would be a mistake for Western governments and the private sector to treat all Chinese MNCs as equals. Particularly, the concern about the private Chinese firms should place more emphasis on their capabilities to compete and collaborate as autonomous economic entities.\nOriginality/value: - While much research attention has been given to \"Chinese MNCs,\" the author makes a distinction between state versus private MNCs from China and compares the two types with regards to internationalization motives, entry strategy, managerial capabilities, and performance potentials.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Audiovisual aids application in the secondary-level vocational education establishments: Efficiency analysis and assessment
|
[
"Audiovisual teaching aids",
"Cognitive interest",
"Creative development",
"Education efficiency assessment",
"Educational innovations management",
"Secondary vocational education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Modern world and human activity are characterized by high rates of information and knowledge growth. In this regard, effective tools for intensifying the learning process are required. Currently, audiovisual teaching aids are widely applied in the teaching and learning process (Salasiah et al., 2018). The general problem of applying audiovisual teaching aids is to find ways to apply them most effectively. Audiovisual teaching aids are well known as tools that allow updating the information, increasing the perception level and improving the cognitive interest of students (Deal et al., 2017). Moreover, media technologies allow not only the students, but also the teachers to improve their qualifications. Pedagogical experiments, conducted in this area, confirm the positive impact of audiovisual teaching aids on teacher's performance, as they allow developing teacher's creative and communication abilities (Arnold et al., 2009). Synchronous (video communication) and asynchronous (e-mail) communication means, as well as the interactive media, allow turning the distance learning into an effective learning tool for everyone, regardless of distance or time deficit (Curran, 2006). The audiovisual aid application is multicultural and multidisciplinary. In the context of speech-to-speech translation technology development, audiovisual training aids are applied in arts and sciences, for teaching medicine, music, business, psychology, technical professions and specialties in the field of services (Ingraham, 2006).\nMethods: A student poll was conducted in the secondary-level vocational education establishments of the Republic of Tatarstan within the framework of a research on modern demands and opportunities for audiovisual aids application. The sample group included 300 students (boys - 55 percent; girls - 45 percent). The average age of respondents is 20 years. The sample group included students, who began to take \"The Social Studies: Economics and Law\" course. Audiovisual aids were applied upon learning the course. The interviewees had an experience in learning by means of the audiovisual teaching aids during 36 academic hours. \"The Social Studies: Economics and Law\" course was planned to be taught for another 36 h after the survey and after eliminating all mistakes that were identified during the process. There were three teachers at the survey. The survey was conducted within one working day in the secondary-level vocational education establishments. The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was used to organize and analyze the results of the survey. The respondents have written a consent for us to use their personal data. Refusers did not participate in the survey. The statistical error was 5 percent.\nResults: The learning process organization and its main components should be considered in more detail in the context of secondary-level vocational education establishments in order to determine the efficiency of audiovisual aids application.\nDiscussion: This research has confirmed that audiovisual aids increase the learning process efficiency both in terms of student performance and learning skills, as well as in terms of time saving indicators. Many scientists come to such a conclusion (Manzoor, 2017).\nConclusions: The analysis of modern demands and opportunities for audiovisual aids application in the secondary-level vocational education establishment of the Republic of Tatarstan has shown that there is a need to develop methodological recommendations for organizing the learning process by means of audiovisual aids in order to achieve a greater application efficiency. The latter would make it possible to ensure the optimal use of these teaching aids and their compliance with the main learning goal and psychological-pedagogical requirements.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the audiovisual teaching aids are applied in the modern educational environment and to assess their application efficiency in the context of the secondary-level vocational education establishments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A pedagogical experiment was conducted to confirm this hypothesis. At the preparatory stage, the authors have analyzed the teaching and learning process, as well as students learning at the secondary-level vocational education establishment. Statistical sample was 300 people.\nFindings: Based on the research results, main mistakes made while applying the audiovisual teaching aids were identified, formulated and investigated. These mistakes were related to the insufficient methodological preparation. As these mistakes were eliminated, student achievements and learning skills have increased by 15-20 percent (experiment data). The average marks, obtained by students before and after eliminating the methodological mistakes, were taken in points (from 2 to 5) as achievement and learning skill criteria. Research conclusion is that audiovisual aids application quality can be improved only through the research on students' educational and creative potential, their perception of various learning materials, and their preferences in the information structure, composition, types and forms.\nOriginality/value: Applying audiovisual teaching aids in the learning process is a challenge. This paper is driven by the need of new unique methods for applying audiovisual aids related to identifying the optimal temporal lesson structure, as well as the composition and the amount of auxiliary teaching materials, interactive communication level and ways to stimulate the emotional and creative activity of students.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Interpersonal characteristics associated with different team roles in work groups
|
[
"Personality",
"Team working",
"Group work"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In any group there is differentiation between the group members in terms of the functions they perform (for a review, see Hare, 1994). These different functions constitute the roles of the group members whether they be formal (such as chairperson or secretary) or informal (such as facilitator or joker). Although a great deal has been written about social roles (Biddle, 1979; Mills, 1984), little research of an empirical nature has been carried out into the different types of roles in small groups. Most research on roles has come either from sociologically-oriented psychologists (Heiss, 1981; Stryker and Statham, 1985) who focus on theoretical accounts of roles or from management psychologists who tend to rely on descriptive case studies (Adair, 1986; Handy, 1985). Even social psychologists have tended to concentrate almost exclusively on just one role in the group - the leader. Although the leader is the single most influential member of a group, the collective influence of the remaining members can easily exceed the leader's influence (for a review, see Hare and Kent, 1994). One exception to this is work based on Belbin's team-role model (for recent examples, see Fisher et al., 1998, 2000, 2002).\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Table III shows correlations between scores on the Belbin team roles and on the SYMLOG and EPQ personality dimensions.As can be seen, the upward-downward (dominant-submissive) SYMLOG dimension correlated significantly positively as predicted with the roles of implementer (r=0.36), coordinator (r=0.45) shaper (r=0.20), and resource investigator (r=0.34). The SYMLOG dimension of positive-negative (friendly-unfriendly) correlated significantly positively with the roles of resource investigator (r=0.22) and team worker (r=0.28) as predicted but not with coordinator (r=0.16). The significant correlation with plant (r=0.17) was not predicted. The SYMLOG dimension of forward-backward (accepting-not accepting authority) correlated significantly positively as predicted with the roles of implementer (r = 0.20), coordinator (r = 0.23), monitor evaluator (r=0.33) and completer finisher (r=0.37). The negative correlations with plant (r=-0.25) and shaper (r=-0.24) were in the direction opposite to predicted and the significant correlation with resource investigator (r=0.17) was not predicted.The extraversion dimension of the EPQ was significantly positively correlated with the roles of coordinator (r=0.20), shaper (r=0.23) and resource investigator (r=0.31) as predicted but not with monitor evaluator (r=0.16). The significant negative correlation with plant was not found (r=-0.04) and the significant correlation with implementer (r=0.20) was not predicted. Neuroticism was not found to be correlate significantly with any of the team roles predicted and the negative correlation with monitor evaluator (r=-0.17) was not predicted. Psychoticism was only found to correlate significantly negatively with the role of implementer (r=-0.17) as predicted. The correlation with team worker (r=0.11) was opposite to predicted and the significant correlation with resource investigator (r=-0.19) was not predicted.Further, examination of the relationships between the Belbin team roles and the SYMLOG and EPQ personality dimensions was carried out using canonical correlation analysis. This is the most appropriate method of analysis when the variables represent two conceptually distinct sets (team roles and personality) and it provides an overall picture of the dimensions (or variates) underlying the relationships between the two sets of variables. The method of analysis is similar to factor analysis except that factor analysis is carried out when the variables are conceptually related rather than consisting of two distinct sets of variables. For the analysis of SYMLOG dimensions, all three canonical variates were found to be highly significant. As can be seen from Table IV, the first canonical variate produced a correlation of 0.65 and a Wilks' l of 0.33, F(24,398)=7.61, p<0.001. The second canonical variate produced a correlation of 0.57 and a Wilks' l of 0.58, F(14,276)=6.26, p<0.001. The third canonical variate produced a correlation of 0.39 and a Wilks' l of 0.85, F(6,139)=4.16, p<0.002.As can be seen from Table IV, the upward-downward SYMLOG dimension was the single most important personality component of the first canonical variate: implementer, coordinator and resource investigator were the most important team roles. The forward-backward dimension was the most important personality component of the second canonical variate: completer finisher and monitor evaluator loaded positively whereas shaper and plant loaded negatively on this variate. The positive-negative dimension was the most important personality component of the third canonical variate: plant and team worker loaded positively on this variate.For the analysis of EPQ dimensions, all three canonical variates were found to be significant. As can be seen from Table V, the first canonical variate produced a correlation of 0.46 and a Wilks' l of 0.62, F(24,398)=2.92, p<0.001. The second canonical variate produced a correlation of 0.36 and a Wilks' l of 0.79, F(14,276)=2.44, p<0.005. The third canonical variate produced a correlation of 0.30 and a Wilks' l of 0.91, F(6,139)=2.23, p<0.05.As can be seen from Table V, the extraversion dimension was the single most important personality component of the first canonical variate: implementer, coordinator, resource investigator and team worker were the most important of the team roles. There was no single EPQ dimension associated with the second canonical variate, all three dimensions loading positively on it. Only one team role - Shaper - loaded highly on this variate. Similarly, there was no single EPQ dimension associated with the third canonical variate, Neuroticism loading positively and psychoticism loading negatively. Completer finisher loaded positively and team worker loaded negatively on this variate.\nDiscussion: The findings of the present experiment provide support for the idea that a classification of team roles based on interpersonal personality characteristics is better than one based on intrapsychic personality characteristics. The canonical correlations were much larger when SYMLOG dimensions were involved than when EPQ dimensions were involved. The squared canonical correlations between team roles and SYMLOG dimensions indicated 42 per cent shared variance for the first variate, 32 per cent shared variance for the second variate and 15 per cent for the third variate. By contrast, the squared canonical correlations between team roles and EPQ dimensions indicated shared variance of only 21 per cent for the first variate, 13 per cent for the second variate and 9 per cent for the third variate. In addition, the canonical variates were more clear-cut for the SYMLOG dimensions (a single dimension accounting for most of the personality component on each of the three variates) than for the EPQ dimensions (a single dimension accounted for most of the personality component on only one of the three variates). Finally, 10 of the 13 predicted correlations between team roles and SYMLOG dimensions were significant, whereas only 4 of the 14 predicted correlations between team roles and EPQ dimensions were significant.In Belbin's analysis, the ideal team consists of members who together have all the requisite skills for achieving group goals (Woods and Thomas, 1992). The useful people to have in teams are those who possess the strengths or characteristics which serve a particular need without duplicating those already there. Effective teams consist of individuals who balance well with one another rather than well-balanced individuals. According to the present findings, however, there appears to be duplication of important personality characteristics across the different team roles. Thus, implementer, coordinator, and resource investigator all scored highly on the upward (dominant) SYMLOG dimension. Implementer, coordinator, monitor evaluator and completer finisher all scored highly on the forward (accepting authority) SYMLOG dimension, and resource investigator and team worker scored highly on the positive (friendly) SYMLOG dimension.It would seem from the SYMLOG analysis, therefore, that effective teams could be built from a combination of some of Belbin's team roles, but not all of them. This conclusion supports the work of Fisher et al. (2001) who found that confirmatory factor analysis of Belbin team roles did not support eight distinct constructs. In addition, by combining team roles, they found that \"condensed\" team roles could fit quite easily with the Big-five personality dimensions, but although a five team-role model possessed convergent validity it lacked discriminant validity. For example, the roles of coordinator, implementer, completer finisher and monitor evaluator could be readily interchanged without greatly affecting the fit of the model. This mirrors the present findings for the correlation of these roles with the forward SYMLOG dimension. Fisher et al. (2001) suggested that their findings, along with those of Broucek and Randell (1996), provided better support for a \"Big-5 team-role model\" than for Belbin's team-role model in terms of psychometric validity and also in terms of theory given that Barrick and Mount's (1991) meta-analysis had shown that the Big-five personality dimensions were very good predictors of job performance.Belbin (1981) himself had noted the intrinsic relatedness of pairs of his team roles and had proposed a 4 x 2 taxonomy: negotiators (resource investigators and team workers); manager workers (implementers and completer finishers); intellectuals (monitor evaluators and plants); and team leaders (coordinators and shapers). The present findings for SYMLOG dimensions suggest a somewhat different pairing of team roles. Resource investigators and team workers share the common characteristic of being positive (friendly) which would be useful in negotiators. Implementers and coordinators share the common characteristics of being both upward (dominant) and forward (accepting authority) which would seem most useful in team leaders. Completer finishers and monitor evaluators share the common characteristic of being forward (accepting authority) which seems most like manager workers. Shaper and plant seem to fit more into the intellectual category if this involves challenging and questioning the accepted authority of the group.In contrast to Belbin's view that effective teams consist of a mixture of individuals who balance out one another, the SYMLOG scheme (Bales, 1999; Bales and Cohen, 1979) proposes that an effective team consists of homogeneously effective individuals. An ideal team consists of upward, positive and forward members: downward, backward, and negative people are not useful team members. One problem with this analysis, however, is that research shows that homogeneous teams are not particularly effective and may be ineffective under some circumstances (Davies, 1994; Hill, 1975; Shaw, 1981). In extreme cases, if group members are too similar and too uniform, this can lead to \"groupthink\" (Janis, 1982) which has been linked to policy fiascos such as the Bay of Pigs. The present findings showed that shapers (dynamic, challenging, pressurizing) and plants (creative, imaginative, unorthodox) are perceived as going against the authority of the group. The challenging and pressurizing aspects of shapers may be seen by other group members as running counter to the group's direction and authority, whereas plants may be seen by other group members as going against the group's authority and goals because of their unorthodoxy, but these attributes and roles may nevertheless serve a very useful function in preventing groups from becoming too complacent, conformist and resistant to change.The present study suggests that organizations might improve the functioning of their teams by analysing the mixture of roles existing in their teams. In addition, organizations might improve their training and development needs to identify the strengths and weaknesses of team workers so as to facilitate those group behaviours vital to their team roles. For example, if a particular team consists of an Implementer and a coordinator but no resource investigator there is an obvious duplication of function on the one hand and an obvious absence on the other. Similarly, if a manager scores highly on SYMLOG dimensions of dominance and conforming to authority, he/she would seem to be suited to the roles of coordinator or implementer, whereas if he/she scores highly on the SYMLOG dimension of friendliness, a more effective role would be resource investigator or team worker.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate interpersonal characteristics associated with Belbin's team roles in work groups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The SYMLOG Interpersonal Effectiveness Profile (an interpersonal measure of personality), the EPQ (an intrapsychic measure of personality) and a revised version of Belbin's behavioural checklist measure of team roles were administered to 145 UK managers.\nFindings: - Canonical correlation analysis showed that SYMLOG personality dimensions were much more clearly and strongly related to team roles than were EPQ personality dimensions. The dominance (upward) SYMLOG dimension was positively associated with the roles of implementer, coordinator and resource investigator, and this was the most important canonical variate. The accepting authority (forward) SYMLOG dimension was positively associated with the roles of completer finisher, monitor evaluator and negatively associated with plant and shaper, and this was the next most important canonical variate. The friendly (positive) SYMLOG dimension was positively associated with the roles of team worker and plant and this was the least important canonical variate. Only the extraversion dimension of the EPQ was clearly associated with team roles (implementer, coordinator, resource investigator and team worker).\nResearch limitations/implications: - The present findings are too dependent on self-report questionnaires which are prone to biases such as positivity, leniency and halo effects. Research using observational analysis of behaviour in groups would be useful for extending the present findings.\nPractical implications: - Organizations might improve the functioning of their teams by analysing the sorts of interpersonal characteristics that are duplicated or lacking in their personnel so that a balanced mix of personalities can be established across different roles.\nOriginality/value: - There has been little research on the interpersonal as opposed to the intrapsychic personality characteristics of different social roles in small groups.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Shaken and stirred: New Zealand's interlending scene
|
[
"Interlending",
"Libraries",
"Standards",
"National libraries",
"New Zealand"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background: In 2004 New Zealand published seminal research (Cullen et al., 2004) describing the nation's interlending scene. It was clear from this report that three things were vital to the ongoing health of interlending in New Zealand:1. a national electronic interlending system;2. a strong National Union Catalogue (NUC); and3. the continued support of the National Library of New Zealand (Reid, 2005).Given the period of time that has passed since publication, the timing is now opportune to review the interlending scene, consider what issues are impacting on it and postulate its future course.\n2. New Zealand interloan trends: 2.1 A historical perspective\n3. Environmental conditions: Having considered New Zealand's interlending performance and developments over recent time this section will consider current and future events. These are having, or will have, an impact on the interlending environment and here an attempt is made to outline the effect of these.3.1 321 toru ki tahi\n4. ISO-ILL protocol: 4.1 Where is the protocol going?\n5. The future: 5.1 What place for traditional interloan services in the digital world?\n6. Conclusion: From the above discussion it is simple to conclude that there remains a significant interloan traffic in New Zealand and that the bulk of it occurs across Te Puna Interloan. In many ways Te Puna Interloan is the hub of New Zealand's interlending wheel. While request and supply rates are down from historical highs, Te Puna needs to refresh and bolster itself and its operation. Te Puna Interloan needs to provide that gateway for libraries to pass their requests on to other suppliers. These may be commercial suppliers or traditional library services so that the world becomes one of interconnected hubs. National services need to build on one another's hubs and links in order to provide the best access and service models available. To achieve this some new thinking may be necessary to overcome any real or perceived obstacles.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the interlending environment in New Zealand. It aims to consider a number of changes that have occurred since research was published in 2004 and the significance of these for interlending operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology adopted in this paper is one of description and interpretation.\nFindings: - Included is a statistical analysis based on 20 years' worth of data and comparative analysis of key service indicators. The scene is best described as one of continual change and in a state of flux.\nPractical implications: - As the operational model of interlending changes consideration is given to various operational issues and the impact of these for ongoing support and service provision. Also included is an initial analysis of how natural events can also impact on patterns of use and delivery.\nOriginality/value: - Just as there have been personnel changes, so has occurred a loss of corporate knowledge. This leads into a discussion of a model for \"better practice\" and how this could be delivered.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Knowledge creation and utilization in project teams
|
[
"Knowledge",
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge creation",
"KM processes",
"KM strategy",
"Knowledge utilization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Growing interest in knowledge management has moved the topic from a relatively new discipline to an important strategic resource for competitiveness (Prusak, 1996; Zack, 1999). The role of knowledge management in leveraging organizational performance has often been undervalued. However, recent research and practice evidence suggest that an increasing reliance on knowledge capabilities is required to garner competitive advantage (Maqsood et al., 2007; Argote and Ingram, 2000; Oluikpe, 2012). The importance of knowledge management not only lies in its capabilities to enable the capture and leverage of intellectual capital but also in the deployment of this capital in a way that delivers organizational advantage.\nKnowledge construction: Knowledge construction is the process of creating knowledge within a specific context, while knowledge appropriation is the process of utilizing knowledge for beneficial ends and putting this knowledge within operational contexts where it makes meaning. Furthermore, three major philosophical viewpoints dominate the theoretical and practical knowledge space. The first is the exogenic viewpoint, the second is the endogenic perspective and the third, the social construction of knowledge, seeks to marry the first two perspectives.\nConstruct variables derived from the social construction of knowledge: The author derived four construct variables as Interpretation, Assimilation, Reproduction and Codification from Gergen's social construction of knowledge viewpoint. In developing the CRAI Model, the author recognizes the four KM success factors of people, culture, technology and strategy in project management teams. However, these success factors are not the subject of this paper and would be explored in a subsequent paper. The model is specifically focussed at exploring knowledge construction and appropriation enabled by social interaction in project teams and their relationship with project outcomes such as project success, innovation, operational efficiency, completion times and generation of new knowledge. The CRAI Model is outlined in Figures 1 and 2.\nTesting and operationalizing the model: To test the assumptions behind the CRAI Model (a social construction of knowledge model), the author chose to operationalize the constructs within Project Management contexts using a survey. The survey was chosen to measure the impact of the model on five critical outcomes of projects identified from Crawford et al. (2006):\nMethodology: The study identified a potential study population of 10,000 people and then narrowed to a sample size of 1,000, using a stratified random sampling technique. Projects were selected based on a review of three project databases, which covered 11 project areas selected for the study. These databases were secured from an academic institution in the UK, a British construction and design company and an international online development project directory.\nProject selection: Project management classifies the status of projects as ongoing, completed and abandoned (Baker, 2000, World Bank, 2002). The author decided to use ongoing and completed projects for this study. Ongoing projects provide the opportunity for answering questions on the usefulness of knowledge from previous projects. They are also more likely to be adopting new and current practices. The rationale for using ongoing projects is because it is felt that they could offer information in the interpretation and assimilation boxes of the model which completed projects might have forgotten. Therefore, to gather useful and recent information on interpretation and assimilation perspectives of the model, the author felt ongoing projects were a good fit.\nProject region: The World Bank (2005) regional classification of projects was used as a standard. The survey was designed to be executed in 12 regional divisions of the world. This decision was made for ease of classification of data and also for clarity and detail in analysis. The following section shows the regional classification of projects:\nQuestionnaire design: The author developed a web questionnaire to enable faster collection of information. The questionnaire was structured on a six-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Questions were placed randomly in the questionnaire to avoid response bias. The questionnaire was coded with options to add to the fields of project management through a free-text tool, as long as respondents were working in these unlisted areas. On a general note, the areas listed above were very representative of current day project areas.\nSurvey administration: The questionnaire was loaded on a website and administered to each project contact using email. A link to the questionnaire was provided on the email, after introducing the research.\nDiscussion: Based on the data analyzed, the author found that project teams tend to utilize knowledge that has a common/collective interpretation over knowledge obtained from elsewhere. In effect, they adopt a low-risk strategy to knowledge application. Knowledge seeping into the team from external sources first undergoes a transformation and a conformation process before being deployed. This is because common interpretation is necessary to further project objectives.\nConclusions: This paper postulates a theoretical and operational framework for explicating, appropriating and operationalizing knowledge using the project management life cycle.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the knowledge processes that interplay in the social construction and appropriation of knowledge and to test these constructs empirically in project teams.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature research and quantitative survey were used. The research identified project success, faster completion times, operational efficiency, innovation and generation of new knowledge as dominating project management expectations in the past ten years. It studied how these projects construct and appropriate knowledge within project teams to achieve these five objectives. Using a quantitative approach, data were sought from 1,000 respondents out of a population of 10,000 from 11 project management areas in eight world regions to test the conceptual model in real-world scenarios. The data gathered were analyzed using quantitative analysis tools and techniques such as reliability, correlation and regression.\nFindings: There is a lingering difficulty within organizations on how to translate tacit knowledge into action. The transfer and utilization of tacit knowledge was shown to be embedded and nested within relationships. Innovation in projects was found to be mostly linked to replication and codification of knowledge (explicit dimension) as opposed to interpretation and assimilation (tacit dimension). Arriving at a mutual interpretation of project details and requirements does not depend on canonical (formal documentation) methods but mostly on non-canonical (informal) and relational processes embedded within the team.\nOriginality/value: This work studies, in empirical and geographical detail, the social interplay of knowledge and provided evidence relative to the appropriation of knowledge in the project organizational form, which can be extrapolated to wider contexts. The work scoped the inter-relational nature of knowledge and provided further evidence on the nebulous nature of tacit/intangible knowledge. It also proved further that organizations mostly rely on explicit knowledge to drive organizational results, as it is easily actionable and measurable.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Anomaly data management and big data analytics: an application on disability datasets
|
[
"Decision support systems",
"Data analytics",
"Anomaly data detection",
"Data management systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the development of the big data management and storage techniques, more and more data which contains the information of disabled population has been collected. Through analyzing these precious disability datasets, people can gain knowledges such as what are the living conditions and demands of the disabled population and how the current assisting services work for them (Mcdermott and Turk, 2015). In this way, the professionals who work with disabled populations can have a better understanding of how to make working plans and policies to help the population in a right way (Janssen et al., 2017). However, researchers have pointed out that there are two major challenges for managing and analyzing the disability datasets with traditional methods (Hoffman, 2017; Nambisan et al., 2015). First, as most of the data are collected manually from the disabled individuals, the data qualities (e.g. data accuracy, data authenticity, missing values, etc.) are highly affected by the individual's subjective factors. Second, as disability datasets usually consist of a huge amount of disability data attributes which are correlated and interactional with each other, traditional data statistics methods are not intelligent enough to explore these correlation and interaction between the data attributes. Hence, to better support the disabled populations. An intelligent approach which can improve the quality of data and perform comprehensive and effective analysis on disability datasets is needed.\n2. Big data management and mining approach: data management phase: 2.1 Data interpolation analysis\n3. Big data management and mining approach: data analytics phase: 3.1 Association analysis\n4. Experimental evaluation and results: 4.1 Experimental dataset\n5. Conclusions: In this paper, we proposed a data management and analytic approach for disability data based on a set of data mining algorithms. The approach can improve the quality of disability big data, and then explore useful information from it. These information been explored can help professionals making policies and decisions to improve the wellbeing of disable population. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of our approach. Furthermore, since the results generated by different analysis are all regarding the difference between male and female disability population, the results generated by different analyses mutually proofed each other. For instance, all the three analyses have shown that:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The disability datasets are the datasets that contain the information of disabled populations. By analyzing these datasets, professionals who work with disabled populations can have a better understanding of the inherent characteristics of the disabled populations, so that working plans and policies, which can effectively help the disabled populations, can be made accordingly.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors proposed a big data management and analytic approach for disability datasets.\nFindings: By using a set of data mining algorithms, the proposed approach can provide the following services. The data management scheme in the approach can improve the quality of disability data by estimating miss attribute values and detecting anomaly and low-quality data instances. The data mining scheme in the approach can explore useful patterns which reflect the correlation, association and interactional between the disability data attributes. Experiments based on real-world dataset are conducted at the end to prove the effectiveness of the approach.\nOriginality/value: The proposed approach can enable data-driven decision-making for professionals who work with disabled populations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An exploratory study of the decision processes of fast versus slow fashion consumers
|
[
"Consumer decision‐making",
"Divestment",
"Fast fashion",
"Satisfaction",
"Slow fashion",
"Consumers",
"Fashion",
"Decision making"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The present study is an exploratory investigation into the concepts of both fast fashion and slow fashion. Fast fashion is most commonly referenced as a business strategy that creates an efficient supply chain in order to produce fashionable merchandise rapidly while quickly responding to consumer demand (Levy and Weitz, 2008). Slow fashion is suggested to be the opposite of fast fashion; however, it has no formal definition. Slow fashion is often a stigma given to retailers who produce long-lasting clothing that is typically not in response to quickly changing fashion trends. Fast fashion's quickness to the market and revenue growth has allowed fast fashion retailers to outperform many department and specialty stores (Karr, 2009). This quickness and success justifies their importance and continued presence in the fashion market.The concepts of fast (vs slow) fashion are chosen because they have been minimally researched from a consumer perspective in academia (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2006) although past research has demonstrated the importance of understanding the supply chain and business model aspect of fast fashion (Levy and Weitz, 2008).While there is little consumer research regarding fast fashion, researchers have introduced fast fashion in the consumer context. Morgan and Birtwistle (2009) studied young fashion consumers' disposal habits and referenced fast fashion to justify the need for their research. According to Morgan and Birtwistle (2009), the concept of fast fashion encompasses several reasons to address the issue of textile waste. Some of these reasons include fast fashion retailers' ability to send products from the design stage to store shelf within two weeks; encouraging consumers to buy vast quantities of low-priced goods every week (Keynote, 2008). Although Morgan and Birtwistle (2009) found that young fashion consumers who are style hungry and in low socio-economic groups may have an excess of lower quality clothing they need to divest and are unaware of the need for clothing recycling, they did not examine whether fast fashion consumers may have different consumption and disposal habits compared to other consumers.Purpose\n2. Theoretical framework: The CDP model (see Figure 1), developed by Blackwell et al. (2006), formats the activities that occur when decisions are made and shows how different internal and external factors affect consumers' decisions. The model includes seven stages, starting at need recognition, and followed by search for information, pre-purchase evaluation of alternatives, purchase, consumption, post-consumption evaluation, and divestment. The first three stages are called the pre-purchase stage, followed by the purchase stage, and then the post-purchase stage. The key areas under evaluation in this study are purchase/consumption, post-consumption evaluation, and divestment. The inclusion of the divestment stage can help formulate ways that consumers can be more sustainable in their disposal choices. Divestment is important to research in the context of fast fashion because some consumers of fast fashion purchase with the intent of disposal (Murphy, 2005). The three aforementioned stages of the CDP model were chosen because the researchers propose there will be differences between consumers of fast (vs slow) fashion apparel during the purchase/consumption, post-consumption evaluation, and divestment stages of the model. These differences may stem from the significant variations between fast and slow fashion clothing. Examination of the final three stages allowed the researcher to concentrate on the behaviour after the product choice has been made and will subsequently be consumed, evaluated, and divested.\n3. Review of literature: Fashion theories\n4. Methodology: Research design\n5. Results: Profile of participants\n6. Discussion: The purpose of the present study was to explore the differences between fast fashion and slow fashion consumers in regards to their CDP stages (i.e. purchase/consumption, post-consumption evaluation, and divestment). Specifically, this study attempted to characterize fast (vs slow) fashion consumers by potentially defining them based on their decision-making characteristics and perceptions of fast (vs slow) fashion and investigated whether fast fashion and slow fashion consumers differentiate on the CDP stages. The following section will address the purpose of the study by answering the two research questions.Research question 1\n7. Conclusions and implications: The present study aids theory in several ways. First, this study explores the purchase and post-purchase stages of the CDP model, separate from the other stages of the CDP model. This particular focus on the CDP model, in the context of fast (vs slow) fashion, has not been researched in the past. Additionally, this research added to the body of knowledge by utilizing the CDP model to understand the differences between fast fashion and slow fashion consumers. Blackwell et al. (2006) found that the internal factors that affect the post-purchase stages of the CDP model include individual differences such as consumer resources, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, personality, values, and lifestyle. The present study confirmed these findings by illustrating how fast (vs slow) fashion consumers are possibly different in regards to resources (inexpensive clothing vs investment clothing), motivation (buying trendy clothing vs buying clothing to build a wardrobe), attitudes (favourable towards quantity over quality vs favourable towards quality over quantity), and values (disposable, replaceable clothing vs long-lasting, couture clothing).Managerially, this research may be utilized by fashion industry managers to better understand their consumers and the components they wish for their clothing to possess. By determining whether their target markets are fast fashion consumers or slow fashion consumers, managers can utilize the information for why these consumers choose to purchase and consume and cater their product lines towards these needs. Additionally, it appears that both fast fashion and slow fashion consumers realize the wasteful nature of disposable clothing. Several fast fashion participants mentioned that they are embarrassed by the amount of waste their fast fashion clothing procures. Apparel retailers may need to be more cautious and consider the life cycle of their products. Past research also warns that price-led marketing strategies will not stimulate needed consumer demand in the future (Gorman, 2007). Marketing strategies that do not focus on price may include: receiving a percentage off a future order for bringing in old clothing to recycle, or advertising friends and family events that entices the social component of shopping that fast fashion consumers identify with. Slow fashion retailers may want to consider promoting quality over quantity as well as offer versatile product lines that allow consumers to mix and match pieces throughout the seasons. Further, slow fashion consumers appear to have strong connection with slow fashion as a form of art; apparel retailers may want to bridge this connection with their marketing and advertising.This research does not intend to suggest that fashion consumers are only two-faceted (fast vs slow consumers). Utilizing the concepts of fast vs slow fashion allowed for comparison in exploratory research. Cholachatpinyo et al. (2002) concluded that fashion is a dynamic process which begins and ends at an individual level depending on lifestyles and social trends. This suggests that environmental or societal factors may be shifting the popularity of these constructs. As consumers change, popular fashion concepts such as fast and slow fashion need to be explored in a variety of contexts to expand the body of knowledge.Limitations and future research\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the study is to explore the differences between fast fashion and slow fashion consumers in regards to their consumer decision process stages (i.e. purchase/consumption, post-consumption evaluation, and divestment).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Qualitative data were collected via focus groups and personal interviews. Participants were recruited through flyers that were posted at various locations, including a college campus, select retail stores, and www.craigslist.com The sample consisted of 38 participants, 22 fast fashion and 16 slow fashion. All participants were female, 18 years of age or older, with a mean age of 21.2 years.\nFindings: - Three groups of themes emerged. The purchase/consumption themes were buyers' remorse avoidance, utilitarianism, hedonism, and style/self-image congruence. The post-consumption evaluation themes included instant satisfaction vs continued satisfaction and consumer expectation confirmation. Finally, the divestment themes consisted of divestment frequencies, divestment reasons, and divestment approaches.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study explored the purchase and post-purchase stages of the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) model. This particular focus on the CDP model, in the context of fast (vs slow) fashion, has not been researched in the past. Additionally, this research adds to the body of knowledge by utilizing the CDP model to understand the differences between fast fashion and slow fashion consumers.\nPractical implications: - Fast fashion and slow fashion retailers may use this research to better understand their target markets by understanding why they choose to purchase/consume, what influences their post-consumption evaluation, and how and why they choose to divest their clothing.\nOriginality/value: - Past research has demonstrated the importance of understanding the supply chain and business model aspect of fast fashion. However, no empirical studies have been found that examine the decision-making process of consumers of fast (vs slow) fashion.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The psychological secrets behind improving work performance: the individual and cumulative effects of employees pursuing intrinsic and extrinsic goals
|
[
"Work performance",
"Well-being",
"Goal content theory",
"Extrinsic goals",
"Intrinsic goals"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Hooking into the motivations and goal orientations of employees is a way of finding out how they might be able to add more value to the organization; yet, the impact of employee goal orientations on work performance remains underresearched. A research paper by Zhang et al. (2018) therefore aims to, first, explore how intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientations impact different categories of work performance and, second, the effect on work performance when both of these goal types interact. Questionnaire data were collected from 319 participants working across a range of companies in China. Employees were asked about their work goals, whereas their managers were asked questions about assessing work performance in their team.\nDifferentiating goal types: Different people have goals of varying ferocity and looseness across a range of periods, which makes it crucial to understand how those who perform best in their jobs are wired toward goals, and whether their driving forces from within can be harnessed to train less well-performing individuals to follow suit. Work performance can be described as employee actions that relate to the goals of the organization they work for. According to goal content theory (GCT) employees who operate with intrinsic goals naturally work toward realizing their talent and potential, whereas employees with extrinsic goals do their work for the purpose of gaining money and the acceptance of others.\nHedonism and the pursuit of money: Within workplaces, there is a conflict between an unanalyzed common sense managerial view that an extrinsic goal orientation increases employee performance, and the GCT view of work performance being hindered by an extrinsic goal orientation. Existing day-to-day within the former view has been referred to as living in a hedonic treadmill, meaning that hedonism is a trait encouraged by pursuing and placing high value upon extrinsic goals - goals that are advanced by a crude personal strategy of working more to simply earn more. However this causes the individual's basic needs to be shunned. If money is their only goal, this can negatively impact their work performance, as acclimatization causes the expected satisfaction to fade after a greater pay level is achieved. Meanwhile, the pain of not having basic needs met bubbles under the surface.\nUnderstanding the psychology that drives goals: An example of the survey questions used in the study, which employees were asked to rate on a scale of their strength of agreement or disagreement, is \"I will have many expensive possessions.\" Managers, on the other hand, were asked questions like whether an employee \"maintained good relationships with colleagues from other departments.\" These questionnaires yielded the first result that an intrinsic goal orientation causes improved performance in all four performance categories: task, dedicative, interpersonal, and adaptive performance. Second, the study results show that pursuing extrinsic goals increases task performance and adaptive performance. As adaptive performance involves the employee engaging in creative activity, it follows that an extrinsic goal orientation can, perhaps counterintuitively, also be a source of creativity.\nStrategic actions for employers: This Chinese study reveals that intrinsically minded employees have and retain more energy toward their work - energy which they are able to spare to drive all-round work performance. Strategic advice for managers is, first, to begin to consistently assess job candidates to identify a desirable intrinsic orientation as part of the organization's recruitment process. Second, to focus on developing intrinsic qualities and priorities in employees by providing regular and structured training; for example, training on living a healthy lifestyle and on improving higher-level communication skills. Developing an intrinsic mindset is to be encouraged among employees while scaling back any historic extrinsic culture within the organization, as a strategic way of adding new value from within.\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 their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: This research paper explores the impact on work performance that an employee's goal orientation type has. Intrinsically, goal-orientated employees perform well across the board, but having both intrinsic and extrinsic goals simultaneously turbocharges an employee's work performance.\nPractical implications: The paper 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"
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] |
Gender gap and labour market participation : A composite indicator for the ranking of European countries
|
[
"Labour market",
"Gender gap",
"Discrimination in employment",
"Composite indicator"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Gender gaps in employment rates and wage returns concern all European countries, even if in these latest years they began to close[1]. Besides these, other gender gaps have been assuming importance, because disparities may occur in many aspects and ways and concern also opportunities in jobs and careers, such as workers' engagement, segregation and human capital characteristics.\n2. Males and females in labour market: a very complex framework: Labour market is a key factor market, which influences overall economic efficiency. In fact, in a dynamic and flexible labour market, workers are able to switch jobs relatively quickly, encouraging businesses to create jobs and contributing to higher employment-population ratios. In contrast, large barriers to formal employment push workers, especially the weakest labour force, into less productive informal sector jobs, and into inactivity (Kuddo, 2009).\n3. Composite indicators and methodological aspects: Composite indicators measure multi-dimensional concepts (e.g. competitiveness, e-trade or environmental quality) which cannot be captured by a single indicator. Ideally, they should be based on a theoretical framework, in which individual variables are selected, combined and weighted in a manner which reflects the dimensions or structure of the phenomenon being measured. Variables are hierarchically organized into pillars, that are the dimensions or aspects of the phenomenon to synthesize into a single measure.\n4. Ranking European countries: The ranking of the different methods show some differences. Anyway, given the non-compensatory propriety of multi criteria methods, which are preferable also for their easiness in comprehensibility and interpretability, we refer to results obtained through methods 8 and 9, stating the supremacy of Ireland, followed by Lithuania.\n5. Concluding remarks: In this paper an analysis of female conditions in labour market in comparison with the male ones across European countries is proposed. At this aim, an ad hoc database combining different information about presence and engagement of women in labour market, gender pay gap, segregation, discrimination and human capital characteristics was compiled. According to the composite indicators methodology, we compared 26 European countries, characterized by different socio-economic, cultural and political contexts. From these countries very different scenarios of analysis arise, whose comparisons result, sometimes, very difficult.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The measurement and comparison across countries of female conditions in labour market and gender gap in employment is a very complex task, given both its multidimensional nature and the different scenarios in terms of economic, social and cultural characteristics. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: At this aim, different information about presence and engagement of women in labour market, gender pay gap, segregation, discrimination and human capital characteristics was combined and a ranking of 26 European countries is proposed through the composite indicator methodology. It satisfies the need to benchmark national gender gaps, grouping together economic, political and educational dimensions.\nFindings: The results show that female conditions in labour market are the best in Scandinavian countries and Ireland while many Eastern and Southern European countries result at the bottom of classification.\nResearch limitations/implications: In order to take into account the subjectivity of some choices in composite indicator construction and to test robustness of results, different aggregation techniques were applied.\nPractical implications: The authors hope that this new index will stimulate the release of a sort of best practices useful to close labour market gaps, starting from best countries' scenarios, and the launching of pilot gender parity task forces, as it happened with the Global Gender Gap Index in some countries. Finally, relating gender gap indexes with country policies frameworks for gender inequalities and the connected policy outcomes, it is possible to evaluate their effectiveness and to identify the most adequate initiatives to undertake because policies reducing gender gaps can significantly improve economic growth and standard of living.\nSocial implications: The analysis gives a contribution in the evaluation of the policies and regulations effectiveness at national level considering the existing welfare regimes and the associated gaps in labour market. It can help policy makers to understand the ramifications of gaps between women and men. The Gender Gap Labour Market Index is constrained by the need for international comparability, but limiting its analysis to European countries; it has been based on ad hoc indicators concerning developed economies and could be readily adapted for use at the national and local levels.\nOriginality/value: In this paper the authors propose a new composite indicator index specifically focused on gender gap in labour market. Several papers analysed gender differences in wages, employment or segregation, but few of them consider them together, allowing to get a satisfactory informative picture on gender inequalities in labour market and studying in deep its multiple aspects, including discrimination indicators ad hoc calculated, giving to policy makers an useful tool to evaluate female employees conditions and put them in relation with the different input factors existing within each country.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Product involvement, price perceptions, and brand loyalty
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Brand loyalty",
"Consumer psychology"
] |
[
{
"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 issue.\n1. Introduction: Research into the determinants of consumer loyalty is voluminous. This mirrors the relevance of loyalty both to consumers and to firms (Horppu et al., 2008). The performance of firms should benefit from having a loyal customer base, which contributes to market share and premium prices (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001), constitutes a barrier to entry, provides time for firms to respond to innovation from competition, protects from price competition (Aaker, 1996), generates favourable word of mouth (Dick and Basu, 1994) and provides a strong reason for retailers to carry such brands (Garretson et al., 2002). The increasing power of store brands makes the issue of brand loyalty even more important (Allaway et al., 2011). Manufacturers' brands now compete for consumer preference not only with other manufacturers' brands, but also with retailers' brands. Not surprisingly, Pritchard et al. (1999, p. 333) state that \"understanding how or why a sense of loyalty develops in customers remains one of the crucial management issues of our day\". In this regard, Brexendorf et al. (2010) note that all points of contact between a customer and a brand provide an opportunity to enhance loyalty. Accordingly, a wide body of research has emerged on the antecedents of consumer loyalty.\n2. Research background and hypotheses: 2.1 Research background\n3. Method: 3.1 Setting of the study\n4. Results: To test the hypotheses comprised in the research model, the study relies on SEM. The measures of overall fit of the structural equation model meet acceptable standards (kh2 = 1776.80; df = 683; p = 0.00, IFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, CFI = 0.92 and RMSEA = 0.055). The results support many of the hypotheses, but some were rejected (Table III).\n5. Discussion of findings and theoretical implications: Understanding consumer factors that determine brand loyalty has been an important research avenue in the past decades. This study has sought to further that stream of interest by investigating the extent to which product involvement and price perceptions combine to influence brand loyalty. Overall, the results support many of the predicted hypotheses, but others failed to obtain support. We initially discuss the results associated with the overall sample and, at the end, we comment on the findings in respect of low- and high-involvement products.\n6. Managerial implications: The results of this study provide a number of suggestions for managers. Our findings indicate that firms should focus their strategies on reinforcing consumers' product involvement to enhance brand loyalty. This outcome can be achieved by reinforcing the importance that consumers attach to certain product/brand attributes, whether functional or symbolic (Malar et al., 2011). Price perceptions appear to impact differently on brand loyalty, hence implying that firms must look carefully at the management of their price signals. Non-coupon sales tend to promote brand switching, whereas discount coupons tend to enhance loyalty. Such knowledge may be useful for manufacturers, namely, those who want consumers to perceive their brands as having a higher image and, thus, have higher reference prices. Therefore, brand managers must pay particular attention to the selection of sales promotion strategies, as different types of deal impact differently on brand loyalty. In support of this, a meta-analysis determined that sales promotions can either increase or decrease brand preference, depending on characteristics of the sales promotion and the promoted product (DelVecchio et al., 2006).\n7. Limitations and directions for future research: This research suffers from a number of limitations, and future research should consider these. The study relies on a self-report questionnaire to collect information regarding the dependent and independent variables from a single informant and, hence, CMV might be influencing the results. To minimize this potential bias, we took some procedural remedies, as described previously. In addition, we have also conducted some statistical tests, which indicate that such bias should not be a major concern.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the literature on brand loyalty by illustrating the mechanisms through which product involvement influences brand loyalty. In doing so, the study is original in considering the mediating role of the multidimensional price perceptions' construct.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two thousand questionnaires were distributed in two shopping malls, yielding a sample of 535 consumers, covering eight different grocery products. To test the hypothesized model, the authors relied on structural equation modelling.\nFindings: Product involvement influences on brand loyalty are partially mediated by price perceptions. This is a novel finding. Moreover, product involvement relates positively to six price perceptions, and this is also original. As expected, value consciousness and sale proneness are detrimental to brand loyalty, whereas price - quality schema contributes to it. Unexpectedly, however, price consciousness, sale proneness and price mavenism are positively related to loyalty.\nPractical implications: Managers can improve brand loyalty by increasing consumers' product involvement, by reducing the reliance on a value-for-money orientation and on non-coupon promotions and by focusing on lower or higher prices and on coupon promotions and emphasizing a price - quality association.\nOriginality/value: The product involvement/brand loyalty relationship has been characterized by mixed findings. This paper contributes to this debate by clarifying the mechanisms through which involvement relates to loyalty. In doing this, this paper also innovates by investigating the relationship between involvement and the multidimensional price perceptions' construct. In this process, this paper also inquires how seven price perceptions relate to brand loyalty, with novel findings emerging.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An integrated study of entrepreneurs' opportunism
|
[
"Entrepreneurs",
"Marketing opportunities",
"Relationship marketing",
"Partnership",
"Retailers",
"Suppliers"
] |
[
{
"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.\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, the business environment has become more dynamic and complex than ever before. Rapidly changing and competitive environments reinforce the importance of business cooperation. Moreover, a business can hardly succeed without their partners' cooperation. Therefore, firms must build collaborative and long-term relationships with their customers and suppliers. Relationship marketing can help attain these goals by attracting, developing, and retaining customer relationships (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991). Relationship marketing pursues relational exchanges that are longer in duration; reflecting an ongoing process, not discrete transactions that have a distinct beginning, a short duration, and a sharp ending by performance (Dwyer et al., 1987).Entrepreneur's opportunism is neither ubiquitous nor unusual (Maitland et al., 1985). Entrepreneurs' opportunism is a critical variable in relationship marketing. If the risk of entrepreneurs' opportunism in a particular relationship is sufficiently high, considerable resources must be spent on controlling and monitoring functions rather than deploying those resources for other productive purposes (Wathne and Heide, 2000). In principle, any form of opportunistic behaviors has the potential to restrict value creation and cause redistribution (Wathne and Heide, 2000).Transaction cost analysis and relational exchange theory are the dominant theoretical perspectives taken in the investigations of relationship marketing. The normative goal of both perspectives is to minimize the costs of exchange. One means to that end is the development of governance mechanisms that prevent, or at least minimize, the impact of entrepreneurs' opportunism on channel members (Brown et al., 2000).Ample research has discussed entrepreneurs' opportunism, but most past research viewed entrepreneurs' opportunism as an explaining variable (Rindfleisch and Heide, 1997), while others viewed entrepreneurs' opportunism as an explained variable (John, 1984; Anderson, 1988). Unfortunately, the literature about entrepreneur's opportunism lacks a thorough connection combining the antecedents and the consequences of entrepreneur's opportunism. As a result, it is hard to simultaneously understand how entrepreneur's opportunism forms, and what results entrepreneur's opportunism produces. Therefore, our purpose is to provide a more thorough model describing the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneur's opportunism by integrating past findings.After completing a literature review, this study chose four variables as conditions of facilitating entrepreneurs' opportunism: uncertainty, information asymmetry, asset specificity, and relational exchange; five variables for the outcomes of entrepreneurs' opportunism: transaction cost, trust, commitment, performance, and cooperation. Although this study still does not include all antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurs' opportunism in the model, it does at least propose an integrated model as a starting point of relevant studies. A more sufficient model of entrepreneurs' opportunism still needs subsequent studies.This study takes Taiwan's computer retailers as subjects to test the proposed model. Through empirical results, this study offers some suggestions to entrepreneurs. These suggestions attempt to persuade entrepreneurs to build a strong cooperative relationship with their partners, rather than viewing their partners as competitors. This should result in developing a more synergistic relationship that should provide more long-term benefits to the entrepreneur.\n2. Literature review: Opportunism involves \"self-interest seeking with guile\" (Williamson, 1975, p. 6). Williamson (1985, p. 47) describes guile as \"lying, stealing, cheating, and calculated efforts to mislead, distort, disguise, obfuscate or otherwise confuse.\" Muris (1981, p. 521) goes further and contends that opportunism arises when a party \"behaves contrary to the other party's understanding of their contract, but not necessarily contrary to the agreement's explicit terms, leading to a transfer of wealth from one party to the other.\" Partners can engage in opportunism before the actual formation of the relationship (i.e. ex-ante opportunism), or they can behave opportunistically after the relationship has been launched (i.e. ex-post opportunism) (Brown et al., 2000). However, in this study we focus on the ex-post form of opportunism.The antecedents of entrepreneurs' opportunism\n3. Research methodology: Data collection and sample\n4. Results: First, this study describes the validity and reliability of measures and displays the detailed figures in the Table I. The scale items of different constructs were factored and analyzed separately. The results of factor analysis indicate that those one-dimension constructs, such as information asymmetry, performance, cooperation, and entrepreneurs' opportunism, indeed were extracted one factor, so the unidimensionality of one-dimension constructs is supported. For multi-dimensions constructs, including uncertainty, asset specificity, relational exchange, transaction costs, trust, and commitment constructs, the results of factor analysis show that those constructs contain multi-factors. Further, the study checked the factor loadings after oblique rotation. These loadings are very high (above 0.5) and correspond with the intended dimensions. This information provides support for convergent validity of the measures. For the reliability of measures, each of the dimensions shows very satisfactory Cronbach's alpha values (above 0.7) and item to total (above 0.4), reflecting high internal consistency of the measures.The main analysis method used in this study is linear regression analysis, including multiple regression analysis and simple regression analysis. The purpose of using regression analysis is to verify the relationships between entrepreneurs' opportunism and its antecedents as well as the relationships between entrepreneurs' opportunism and its consequences.The antecedents of entrepreneurs' opportunism\n5. Conclusions and managerial implications: The major objective of this study is to integrate the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurs' opportunism in one model. From a managerial perspective, the results of this study are of importance because they provide evidences for the causal relationships of entrepreneurs' opportunism.The study results indicate that uncertainty and information asymmetry will induce the generation of entrepreneurs' opportunism. Therefore, this study suggests that suppliers must reduce uncertainty and information asymmetry to develop a good relationship with their retailers. For example, building a control mechanism would make retailers' and suppliers' information more transparent to each other. In that way, each side can know about the other side's information, and then the uncertainty and information asymmetry would be lowered, reducing entrepreneurs' opportunism.This study also finds that asset specificity and relational exchange have a significant negative influence on entrepreneurs' opportunism. Specifically, the higher asset specificity and relational exchange that exist in the relationship between computer retailers and suppliers, the lower entrepreneurs' opportunism appears. In the case of asset specificity, to reduce the partners' opportunism, enterprises should attract partners' investments, whether physical or mental. In relational exchange, this study supposes that business-to-business relationships, or supplier-to-retailer relationships should build long-term oriented relationships instead of short-term profit-oriented relationships. Through the establishment of relational exchange relationships, parties can acquire closer relationships with their partners, and reduce opportunistic behaviors.As mentioned in the conceptual framework, under certain conditions, entrepreneurs' opportunism can take place more easily, but some governance mechanisms can change these conditions. Wathne and Heide (2000) proposed that monitoring, incentives, selection, and socialization could be used to manage entrepreneurs' opportunism. However, these four governance mechanisms are not appropriate for all conditions of uncertainty, information asymmetry, asset specificity, and relational exchange.In summary, monitoring a partner's behavior or its outcomes can overcome the problem of acting opportunistically due to information asymmetry without being detected. As to the mechanism of incentives, by creating an incentive structure that makes the long-term gains from cooperative behavior exceed the short-term payoff from opportunism, it will help parties establish the norm of relational exchange. As to the mechanism of selection, where selection means to select the exchange partners who are not opportunistically inclined or are inherently cooperative with respect to a particular task. As to the mechanism of socialization, it means to promote goal convergence by internalizing a partner's goals to the other. The results of socialization will motivate partners to invest specific asset and help partners establish the norm of relational exchange.In the relationship between asset specificity and entrepreneurs' opportunism, this study finds asset specificity will reduce entrepreneurs' opportunism. Provan and Skinner (1989) indicate that there is a negative relationship between dependence and opportunism. Although asset specificity and dependence are different constructs, the two constructs should be highly correlated. Therefore, one can conclude that there are similar findings of this study such as in Provan and Skinner (1989). Provan and Skinner (1989) suggest that a relationship with high levels of dependence means that the relationship is highly cooperative, resulting in little need for opportunism. Conversely, low levels of dependence on suppliers may well lead to high levels of opportunism of dealers; if caught, these dealers can easily shift to other suppliers.In the consequences of entrepreneurs' opportunism, the results of this study strongly support that entrepreneurs' opportunism has a direct positive influence on transaction costs. Specifically, the more opportunistic behaviors on business transactions, the higher transaction costs will be. Therefore, opportunistic behaviors of retailers are unfavorable to themselves because they will incur higher transaction costs.In addition, the results of this study also indicate that entrepreneurs' opportunism has a negative influence on trust, commitment, performance, and cooperation. Retailers with opportunistic behaviors are inclined to display lower trust to their suppliers, lower willingness of continuing the relationship, lower performance, and lower cooperative willingness with their suppliers. In the previous research, there are some similar findings. For example, opportunism is the antecedent of transaction costs (Dahlstrom and Nygaard, 1999), opportunistic behaviors lower trust (Bell and Anderson, 2000), opportunism can hurt commitment relationship (Rousseau, 2001), opportunistic behaviors reduce franchise system performance (Gassenheimer et al., 1996), and opportunistic behaviors increase the probability of the failure of the cooperation (Das and Teng, 1998).Retailers with opportunism will hurt themselves. Therefore, this study suggests that retailers must negate and inhibit the idea of opportunism. It also suggests that suppliers must pay attention to the opportunism of retailers and adopt some strategies for lowering the opportunistic behaviors of retailers.\n6. Limitations and suggestions for future research: Although this research builds an integrated model for antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurs' opportunism, some limitations still deserve attention. This study describes the limitations as follows and provides some suggestions to future research.(1) The insufficiency of model variables\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is, first, to provide a comprehensive discussion about entrepreneur opportunism's antecedents (uncertainty, information asymmetry, asset specificity and relational exchange) and consequences (transaction cost, trust, commitment, performance, and cooperation) and, second, to construct a model by linking entrepreneurs' opportunism and its antecedents and consequences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper tests the theoretical construction empirically. In total, 200 retailers of the computer industry in Taiwan participated in the investigation. The linear regression analysis is applied to the tests of the hypotheses.\nFindings: - The study finds that uncertainty and information asymmetry induce the generation of entrepreneurs' opportunism, while asset specificity and relational exchange can be used to lower entrepreneurs' opportunism. Entrepreneurs' opportunism incurs transaction costs and lowers trust, commitment, performance, and cooperation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations associate with the model variables, the cooperative willingness of retailers, the empirical industry and country, and the explored relationships. However, the model provides a basis for further studying the antecedents and consequences of an entrepreneur's opportunism.\nPractical implications: - Insights derived from this study will provide managers with the appropriate strategies of relationship marketing to solve opportunism's problem in a channel relationship and attain better relationship outcomes.\nOriginality/value: - This study integrates the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurs' opportunism in one model. From a managerial perspective, the results of this study are of importance because they provide evidences for the causal relationships of entrepreneur's opportunism.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Explaining corruption : The role of national culture and its implications for international management
|
[
"Culture",
"Corruption",
"Grid-group",
"World values survey"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Corruption research has grown in importance in recent years in response to numerous related factors. First, there has been a heightened focus by governments and public policymakers on the negative impact of corruption on economic performance and societal welfare. Second, corporate strategists and board-level decision makers have made conscious efforts to incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) into the their organizations' mission and operations in a systematic and more far-reaching way than in the past. Third, as the global reach into emerging markets of multinational companies (MNCs) has intensified in the last quarter century, companies and managers are now operating in market environments that are more likely to be prone to corruption (e.g. as illustrated by Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)). Recent high profile scandals involving Siemens Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers and others have been emblematic of this new \"reality\".\n2. Explaining corruption: empirical studies: The following section outlines previous empirical research on explaining corruption. The main goals of this are as the follows. First, the review provides readers with a notion of the breadth of empirical research on this topic. Second, it is compiled in order to draw out general themes among the empirical work developed to date. Third, it attempts to identify areas or gaps in the research that could be usefully filled.\n3. Mary Douglas' grid-group framework: Douglas (1970) developed a social anthropology-based exploration of national culture in her \"Grid-Group\" typology[4]. While initially Douglas referred to the descriptor \"Grid-Group\", it became more widely used based on a textbook authored by Thompson et al. (1990)\n4. Data set: A total of 55 countries were used for the analysis. The sample covered all major continents, varying levels of economic development and diverse histories. Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix are given in Tables I and II. The sample size is comparable to that from other studies, e.g., Selim and Bontis (2009) who had 62 observations, and Park (2003) who used 37 observations. Chai et al. (2009) used the World Values Survey (WVS) to derive grid-group characteristics. Since this research was a validated approach to computing cultural values, the same questions from the survey were used to generate the cultural values used in this analysis. As with Chai et al. (2009) all answers were rescaled to 0-1 scale. For example, on the question of the importance of religion, an individual scored 1 if they answered 1-very important, if they answered 2-rather important, the answer was rescaled to 0.66, if they answered 3-not very important, their answer was rescaled to 0.33 and if they answered 4-not at all important their answer was assigned 0 points. Then individual grid and group scores were calculated as an average of individual answers related to grid and group dimensions. Country scores were calculated by averaging grid and group scores across individuals from the same country.\n5. Results and implications for management and public policy: Models including the grid-group interaction term best represent the grid-group classifications. Across sets of regressions (CPI) and (WGI), there is pervasive corruption in cultures where societally imposed hierarchies (high grid) structures dominate. For example, by looking at model 6 for Wave 5 with the CPI as the dependent variable we see that if we move from the mean grid and group scores of 0.65 and 0.49 and increase the grid score by one standard deviation, 0.16, the CPI is predicted to decrease for 1.02 points which is substantial as CPI varies from 1 to 10, and it is equivalent to the difference between South Korea that scored 5.1 and Namibia that scored 4.1 on CPI in 2006. This is an intuitive result. These hierarchical structures are commonly reflected in the institutions of a given country or culture. Where institutions are closed to the general populace; where power is concentrated in the hands of those at the top of the institutional hierarchy and where institutions are opaque and bureaucratic, the propensity for corruption is high. Privileged relationships in these clientalistic societies drive economic success.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to feature a cross-national study that investigates the relationship between national culture and corruption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on the so-called \"Grid-Group\" framework of culture. An analysis based on a sample of 55 countries is employed to estimate the relationship between corruption and cultural, economic and political variables. Cultural dimensions were developed using the World Values Survey (WVS) Wave 4 and 5.\nFindings: The study finds robust and statistically significant relationships. Cultures with strong hierarchy and fatalism are positively correlated with corruption whereas egalitarian cultures correlate with lower corruption. The regression model employed demonstrates robust statistical significance when all variable categories (culture, economic and political) were employed.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, as a function of available data, future research should include more countries. Second, as with all previous culture-corruption studies to date, there is no explicit treatment of sub-cultures within a given country in this study: research on culture and corruption in large, multi-ethnic countries such as India, China or the USA where researching regional, sub-cultural differences may be important and insightful.\nPractical implications: Strengthening whistle-blower processes open to managers in hierarchical and fatalistic cultures will be an important tactical weapon in fighting corruption. Multinational companies who have progressively phased out expatriate managers in their subsidiaries and replaced them with local managers should invest in training for these managers designed to combat their cultural responses to corrupt behavior. Public policy must focus on institutional reform, breaking down hierarchies, promoting greater efficiency, transparency and accountability. This is a broad and far-reaching target that has to be tackled at all levels of society and across multiple stakeholders. Public policymakers should develop strategies closely with the private sector to develop anti-corruption education and training programs for both public sector and private sector managers.\nOriginality/value: This is the first time quantitative empirical research has used the Douglas \"Grid-Group\" framework to estimate the role of culture in explaining corruption. From a policy and strategy perspective, the paper offers specific recommendations to governments and companies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Regulating the sharing economy to prevent the growth of the informal sector in the hospitality industry
|
[
"Hospitality industry",
"Tax evasion",
"Eastern Europe",
"Central Asia",
"Informal economy",
"Sharing economy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent decades, there has been recognition that the informal sector is a persistent and extensive phenomenon across the world (ILO, 2013; Williams, 2014a, 2015). This has negative implications for governments, workers, businesses and consumers. Governments lose tax revenue that could provide citizens with better social protection, health and educational services. Workers lose their entitlement to loans, pensions and social protection, legitimate businesses witness unfair competition and consumers lack any guarantees that health and safety regulations have been followed (Eurofound, 2013; Williams, 2014b). Although it is commonly asserted that the informal sector is particularly prevalent in the hospitality industry (Thomas et al., 2011), and the advent of the sharing economy is widely assumed to be leading to greater informality in the hospitality industry (European Commission, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c), no studies have so far evaluated the impacts of the informal sector on the hospitality industry. To fill this lacuna, therefore, the aim of this paper is to evaluate for the first time the impacts of the informal sector on the hospitality industry and then to discuss what needs to be done to prevent the further growth of the informal sector in this industry.\nThe informal sector, sharing economy and hospitality industry: The informal sector includes any paid activity which is not declared to the authorities for tax, social security and/or labour law purposes (European Commission, 2014; OECD, 2012; Williams and Schneider, 2016). Activities in the informal sector are therefore legal in all respects except that they are not declared to the public authorities for tax, social security and/or labour law purposes. Hence, if somebody rents a room on a sharing economy platform such as Airbnb, and perhaps also offers meals, but does not declare the income for tax purposes, then they are operating in the informal sector.\nData and methods: To evaluate the impacts of the informal sector on the hospitality industry, we here analyse data from 30 Eastern European and Central Asian countries from the fifth round of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS V, 2013), conducted by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Overall, this survey involved 15,883 interviews with firms in the manufacturing and service sectors in these countries. In each country, a harmonised questionnaire was used, and a common stratified random sampling methodology to ensure that the sample was representative of the non-agricultural private sector at the national level. To do this, the sample was stratified by sector, firm size and geographical location. Following the BEEPS methodology, we here use weighting to ensure that the sample is proportionate to the universe of the population in each country.\nResults: Of the 15,883 interviews conducted with firms in the manufacturing and service sectors in these 30 East European and Central Asian countries in 2013, 623 businesses were interviewed in the hotels and restaurants sector. Nearly one quarter (23.3 per cent) of these businesses in the hotels and restaurants sector assert that they compete against unregistered or informal firms in these East European and Central Asian countries. Nevertheless, as Table I displays, the phenomenon is not evenly distributed across countries. While 76 per cent of firms assert that they compete against unregistered or informal firms in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 72 per cent in Kosovo and 63 per cent in Kazakhstan, just 7 per cent state that this is the case in Azerbaijan, 4 per cent in Uzbekistan and 2 per cent in Armenia.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: To tackle one of the main negative consequences of the sharing economy, namely, the growth of the informal sector, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate for the first time the impacts of the informal sector on the hospitality industry and then to discuss what needs to be done to prevent the further growth of the informal sector in this industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To evaluate the impacts of the informal sector on the hospitality industry, data are reported from 30 East European and Central Asian countries collected in 2013 in the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey.\nFindings: The finding is that 23 per cent of hotels and restaurants in Eastern Europe and Central Asia report competing against unregistered or informal operators, and 13 per cent view these informal competitors as a major or severe obstacle. The larger the business, the greater is the likelihood that the informal sector is considered their biggest obstacle.\nPractical implications: To prevent the further growth of the informal sector in the hospitality industry, regulation of the sharing economy will be required. To achieve this, it is shown that state authorities need to adopt both direct control measures that alter the costs of operating in the informal sector and the benefits and ease of operating formally, as well as indirect control measures that reduce the acceptability of operating in the informal sector.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper to evaluate the impacts of the informal sector on the hospitality industry and to outline the policy measures required to prevent its further growth with the advent of the sharing economy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Maturing research data services and the transformation of academic libraries
|
[
"Information services",
"Academic libraries",
"Scholarly communication",
"Research data management",
"Data curation",
"Research data services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: One of the most significant changes to academic library services in the last decade has been the development of research data services (RDS) (Pryor et al., 2014). Driven by the \"data deluge\", funder policy and open scholarship, libraries, in collaboration with other professional services and researchers, have developed a range of advisory and technical services to support research data management (RDM). A burgeoning literature on the topic reflects an intense professional debate about the meaning of RDM for librarianship.\nLiterature review: In their review of the \"RDM service bundle\", Bryant et al. (2017) offer a number of general comments about the services emerging in the RDM landscape. RDS can be divided into three types, they argue: education, expertise and curation. These are done rather differently in different institutions, shaped by local and external factors. RDS are not just what is provided locally, but involves external services, access to which is brokered. Typically, services are based on local and wider collaborations of different sorts. Yet there remains continuing \"fluidity and uncertainty\" around RDM (Bryant et al., 2017, p. 29).\nMethodology: In seeking to explore libraries' perspectives on the development of policy and services, collaboration, structures and skills and drivers and challenges, a survey designed in the form of a questionnaire was selected as the most appropriate data collection strategy (Pickard, 2012). As well as allowing direct comparison to earlier work, a web-based survey enables the participation of a large number of academic libraries spread across the globe. Therefore, a revised version of the 2014 questionnaire (reported in Cox et al. (2017)) was prepared. Changes were made partly to reduce the overall number of questions and also to ensure the survey's currency, e.g. to ask about principles or standards governing policy and practice. An open text question about drivers was added to complement an existing one on challenges. A redesigned survey of 24 questions, hosted as before on SurveyMonkey (n.d.), was piloted, and then distributed between February and April 2018[1]. The research approach was approved by the University of Sheffield research ethics approval procedure, based on gaining informed consent from all participants and a commitment from the research team to ensure anonymization of individuals and organisations in the reporting of the data.\nFindings: The results of the survey are presented here in sections broadly corresponding to the research questions outlined above, relating to policies and types of services, collaboration and competition, structures and skills and drivers and challenges.\nDiscussion: Thus our findings broadly confirm previous studies that have shown a similar strength and type of commitment to RDS by libraries (Corrall et al., 2013; Cox et al., 2017; Tenopir et al., 2016, 2017). Consultative services are usually more strongly developed by libraries than technical services (Tenopir et al., 2017). Service development is collaborative with other entities in the institution. Librarians still perceive a skill gap in providing all the RDS they would wish. The drivers and challenges, particularly around the engagement of researchers with RDM, confirm those uncovered by previous qualitative studies, such as Faniel and Connaway (2018) (Figure 10).\nConclusion: This paper contributes to the literature on the development of RDS in academic libraries, drawing on international surveys of institutions conducted in 2014 and 2018. A revised maturity model based on the data collected has been presented, which maps levels of change in academic libraries linked to the development of RDS. For library practitioners the model can be used to reflect on how things are changing and to inform local strategy.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: A major development in academic libraries in the last decade has been recognition of the need to support research data management (RDM). The purpose of this paper is to capture how library research data services (RDS) have developed and to assess the impact of this on the nature of academic libraries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Questionnaire responses from libraries in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and USA from 2018 are compared to a previous data set from 2014.\nFindings: The evidence supports a picture of the spread of RDS, especially advisory ones. However, future ambitions do not seem to have seen much evolution. There is limited evidence of organisational change and skills shortages remain. Most service development can be explained as the extension of traditional library services to research data. Yet there remains the potential for transformational impacts, when combined with the demands implied by other new services such as around text and data mining, bibliometrics and artificial intelligence. A revised maturity model is presented that summarises typical stages of development of services, structures and skills.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research models show how RDS are developing. It also reflects on the extent to which RDM represents a transformation of the role of academic libraries.\nPractical implications: Practitioners working in the RDM arena can benchmark their current practices and future plans against wider patterns.\nOriginality/value: The study offers a clear picture of the evolution of research data services internationally and proposes a maturity model to capture typical stages of development. It contributes to the wider discussion of how the nature of academic libraries are changing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Barriers faced by new-adopter of Last Planner System(r): a case study
|
[
"Scheduling",
"Case study",
"Construction planning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasing adoption of lean construction practices has allowed for many organizations to realize performance improvements in terms of productivity, project budget, schedule reliability and improved safety (Hamzeh and Bergstrom, 2010; Koskela et al., 2010; Hamzeh, 2011; Fernandez-Solis et al., 2013; Aziz and Hafez, 2013; Lindhard and Wandahl, 2013). The Last Planner System(r) (LPS) for production planning and control is one of the lean construction techniques that have been of particular interest within the industry since the 1990s. It has been \"successfully implemented in construction to increase the reliability of planning, improve production performance, and create a predictable workflow\" (Hamzeh et al., 2009). While many organizations are implementing such tools, scholars have reported multiple barriers and constraints in the process of implementation (Alarcon et al., 2008; Porwal et al., 2010; Fernandez-Solis et al., 2013; Tiwari and Sarathy, 2012).\nLiterature review: Since first named in 1993 by the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC), \"lean construction\" has been gaining popularity within the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Its rise in popularity is largely driven by increased awareness of lean techniques and the researched benefits. A number of researchers: Ballard (Ballard, 1994, 1997, 2008; Ballard and Howell, 2003; Ballard and Tommelein, 2012) Howell (Howell, 1999; Howell and Koskela, 2000; Ballard and Howell, 2003, 2005), Koskela (Koskela, 1997; Koskela et al., 2002; Koskela and Huovila, 2010; Koskenvesa and Koskela, 2012) and many more have been contributing to the understanding of lean construction, its techniques, processes, benefits and constraints for several years.\nResearch goal and objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the implementation of LPS by a project team who is new adopter, specifically how the technique is being adopted to replace the traditional project planning. The following specific objectives were identified:\nResearch method: To fulfill Objective 1, the \"scan, skim, map\" technique was used to preview, select and organize literature for review. Before the initial search on the databases, search criteria were developed which specified the timeframe and keywords. Ultimately, the literature survey was limited to articles that featured the words/phrase \"last planner,\" \"lean pull planning,\" \"pull planning,\" \"lean scheduling,\" \"lean construction scheduling\" and \"Last Planner System\" within the article or abstract. The range was further limited to those published within a specific timeframe narrowing the search to the last 15 years. The process map for the LPS implementation based on best practices is shown in Figure A1.\nFindings: The initial interview with the scheduler allowed for the construction of the case study process map. The map shows several steps where the schedule was refined using updated information, the experiences and expertise of different personnel including potential trade partners. A master schedule was produced after a final adjustment using information from post-bid meetings. This information was gathered to provide a clear understanding of a typical schedule development process that varies from contractor to contractor. The project scheduler used a commonly used scheduling software and standard procedures outlined by the organization for the schedule development and maintenance throughout the project.\nDiscussion and recommendations: Based on the observations, interviews and in the spirit of continuous improvement, several opportunities were identified for improving the process of LPS implementation in the case study project. Some areas were more vital than others but none appeared to be new. Many of the barriers discussed in existing research appear to be present in some form within the case study. Given the emergent state of the LPS within the case study project team, many of the barriers observed are considered typical for new adopters:\nRecommendations and conclusions: According to recent research, the use of the WWP meetings is \"the most commonly implemented LPS element\" (Daniel et al., 2015; Dave, Hamalainen and Koskela, 2015; Dave, Hamalainen, Kemmer, Koskela and Koskenvesa, 2015). Therefore, it is not surprising that the project team began transitioning to the LPS through the implementation of weekly planning. The difficulties were with effectively incorporating look-ahead planning, root-cause analysis and continuous improvement - areas identified by Ballard and Tommelein (2016) as the less implemented components of LPS. The project team's partial implementation would not have been considered an issue had the team been able to state the next step in the implementation process. However, interviews with the project team revealed there was no understanding of the implementation strategy - what process/technique they would adopt next or when they would adopt it. The authors got the impression that the project team would attempt to suddenly use the next component of the LPS upon direction from the upper management with little to no explanation to the team members. This approach without an effective implementation strategy contributed to the impression of the trade partners about the LPS as \"just another thing\" they had to do. The benefit of an incremental implementation strategy to facilitate the project team understand the different components of LPS and transition from traditional project planning to the LPS was echoed through all the discussions with the project personnel.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Documented evidence supports the improvements resulting from the use of the Last Planner System(r) (LPS) as a lean construction technique; however, several barriers to the implementation of the technique have been identified. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the implementation process of LPS by a project team that is transitioning from the traditional planning and control to LPS on a typical commercial project. The paper compares the adopted implementation process with that of the recommended best practices and identifies the overlaps and variances.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An in-depth case study was conducted to accomplish the specific objectives: document the process of LPS implementation in detail; identify the overlaps and variance from the recommended practices; and investigate the causes for variance from the recommended practices. The authors used direct observations, document investigations and semi-structured interviews with key project participants to gather data. Constant comparison and content analysis were used as data analysis method for this study.\nFindings: The paper identified critical barriers to the implementation process of LPS in the case study project, which are supported by existing literature and are considered typical of project teams that are new adopters and transitioning to the implementation of LPS.\nResearch limitations/implications: Based on a single case study, the outcomes may lack generalizability. However, similar findings of existing literature and evaluations by the project personnel substantiated the findings of the study.\nOriginality/value: The study attempted to conduct a systematic investigation on the implementation process of LPS, which is a less investigated topic. The paper draws attention to the major barriers experienced while adopting LPS in the case study project and suggested possible ways to address similar issues in the future. The barriers experienced by the case study project are typical of project teams who are new adopters and transitioning to the adoption of LPS, process and have the potential to be alleviated through the recommended practice implementation and process maintenance strategy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Acculturation, assimilation, and retention of international workers in resorts
|
[
"Acculturation",
"United States of America",
"Migrant workers",
"Hospitality management",
"Temporary workers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Each year resorts in the US experience a shortage of workers to fill unskilled positions during peak seasons. Most turn to H2B workers and J-1 visa holders (guest workers) to fill the gap at their resorts. As resorts are very service intensive operations, all positions require extensive interactions between the guests and employees. With the hiring of employees from one culture who deliver services to customers from another culture, there may be many misunderstandings which will lead to unhappy employees and guests (Sizoo, 2006). To alleviate this problem, managers must focus on acculturating guest workers into the host culture and assimilating guest workers into the culture of the organization. According to Tam (2004), when people understand the differences between cultures, they are less likely to misunderstand each other. Past research by the authors revealed a need to identify the acculturation and assimilation practices used for international workers in seasonal resorts. A review of literature identified no research studies in this area. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the methods used by resorts who hire H2B and J-1 workers to assimilate, acculturate, and retain these seasonal workers.\n2 Literature review: The literature supporting this study includes a review of the growth of temporary workers and the types of guest workers employed in resorts, the processes of acculturation, assimilation, and retention of guest workers, and applications to the hospitality industry.Temporary movement of people for work\n3 Methodology: The case study method was used to identify the methods used by resorts who hire H2B and J-1 workers to assimilate, acculturate and retain these seasonal workers. The case study method was selected based on the recommendation of Yin (1994) who recommended the case study method when the research questions focus on \"how\" or \"why\", when the researchers have little control over events, and when the focus is on gaining an understanding of a contemporary phenomenon within a real life setting. The case study method was selected because it is inductive theory building research that fits within the critical realism paradigm (Perry, 1998). The unit of analysis was identified as the resort that hires H2B and J-1 workers to meet seasonal demand. Perry (1998) recommended two to four cases as a minimum ranging to ten to 15 as a maximum.Semi-structured interviewing, a qualitative research method, was used to collect the data. This method was used because it involves direct interaction between the researcher and the respondent. Guiding questions were used to obtain information about recruiting, orientation and training, separation management, and relationship maintenance of the international seasonal workers. Examples of questions used are included in Table I.For this study, data were collected using telephone interviews with human resources managers conducted by the authors. E-mail was first sent to the human resources managers at six resorts identified as resorts that used both J-I and H2B visa workers for at least the past two years. Because of the poor rate of response, the decision was made to conduct telephone interviews to collect the data and two additional resorts were contacted. The same questionnaire was used to conduct the semi-structured telephone interviews. Human resources managers responsible for orientation and training of international workers were interviewed for this study.The semi-structured telephone interviews consisted of open ended questions covering the four categories of approaches for retaining seasonal workers identified by Reynolds et al. (2004). The four types of retention techniques these authors reported are: recruiting, orientation and training, separation management, and relationship building. A category of questions concerning acculturation and assimilation practices was also included in the questionnaire.Inductive content analysis was used to evaluate responses and calculate frequencies for responses. Procedures for coding results and developing categories for responses were based on recommendations by Schamber (2000). One researcher conducted each of the telephone interviews to ensure consistency in questions and two researchers conducted the content analysis to minimize discrepancies in coding.\n4 Findings: Data are reported for six of the eight resorts identified for this study. The number of resorts falls within the range of acceptable units recommended by Perry (1998). The questionnaire and this report of findings are organized using the four categories for retention strategies reported by Reynolds et al. (2004) with a final section on acculturation/assimilation practices.Retention strategy: recruiting\n5 Discussion: The results of this study are unique to the successful assimilation and retention of seasonal international workers in US resorts. There is no similar literature to use as a basis of comparison for the assimilation and acculturation of guest workers. The informal nature of this process for these results was not expected. Since the successful integration of guest workers is so important to seasonal resorts, it was expected that formal orientation programs covering adapting to the US culture would be available.The procedures used for recruiting and selecting guest workers varied by resort and were not consistent with findings from a study of seasonal restaurants conducted by Reynolds et al. (2004). These authors found that the restaurant managers were directly involved in the hiring decisions made for seasonal employees. In this study, it was found that independent agencies or governments were involved in recruiting and selecting the guest workers. The orientation and training procedures reported in this study were similar to those reported by Reynolds et al. (2004). However, the findings for separation management and relationship maintenance were different from those reported by Reynolds et al. (2004). The authors reported that the exit interview was widely used to gather information on locating other similar seasonal workers, identify training and development programs for workers, and determine contact information for the worker during the off season. One-third of the resorts in the study did not currently use the exit interview, but it is being considered. While none of the resorts in this study used methods to maintain the relationship with the seasonal worker, Reynolds et al. (2004) reported that a majority of the seasonal restaurants in their study used a newsletter to maintain contact with seasonal workers in an attempt to encourage their return.One conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that since some of the resorts rely on brokers to select, orient, and train guest workers the assimilation and acculturation of these employees is seamless. It is recommended that employers who hire international workers implement a comprehensive program for retention, acculturation, and assimilation of international workers. The comprehensive program could follow the methods used by a large J-1 broker to recruit, orient, train, manage the exit from the company, and maintain a relationship with the workers. The program should advertise the opportunity to learn American hospitality and the opportunity to experience different cultures. To assure a match between the prospective employer and employee, recruiting and selecting workers should involve travel to the home countries to interview and select the workers on site.It is also recommended that orientation sessions should be conducted upon arrival and should include practical training, educational seminars, and cultural exchange. Employees should be introduced to the American culture and be given the opportunity to showcase the cultures of their home countries. Additional training or classes during the employment period will develop an attachment between the employee and employer. Exit interviews should be conducted and an invitation to return during the following season should be extended when appropriate. Newsletters or other forms of communication should be used to develop a continuing relationship with employees. Web sites or social networking sites such as Face Book can be used to maintain contact with employees once they return to their home countries. By continuing this relationship, returning employees can be used for word-of-mouth advertising which may lead to reduced turnover and labor costs in the future.\n6 Conclusion: For many years in the US resort industry, temporary international workers have been used to supplement full time workers during peak times. A majority of these workers have held H2B visas in the past with J-1 visas becoming more popular due to the shortage of H2B visas. Owing to the importance of assimilation of international workers in the country and the organization, the purpose of this study was to identify the methods used by resorts to assimilate H2B and J-1 workers. Consistent with recommendations by Peterson (2002), assimilation into the country and the organization was found to be important for both the H2B and J-1 workers. Orientation to the culture of the country was provided informally by other workers, supervisors, and trainers while orientation to the company was provided by formal methods. Recommendations by Magnini (2003) and Perry (2006) can provide direction to HR directors for appropriate acculturation and assimilation for international workers.For some resorts, an outside agency provides seamless orientation and training programs for international workers. These procedures are different from those used for traditional long-term employees. This difference may be due to the view of international workers as temporary employees who are employed for short periods of time. J-1 workers may be viewed as a onetime investment, which is usually for a six-month period of time. Employers of H2B workers may bring workers back during subsequent seasons; however, employers who use an outside agency do not have this option.With the continued reliance on international seasonal workers in resorts, the importance of assimilation and acculturation of these workers must be recognized by HR directors. By using methods to increase the return of H2B and J-1 workers, HR directors can decrease training costs and assure continued quality service to guests. Two of the resorts in this study have been very successful in the retention and return of their seasonal workers with some workers returning for up to 18 years. This study suggests methods HR directors may use to develop best practices for acculturation and assimilation of seasonal international workers. The proposed comprehensive program can serve as a guideline for best practices. As an additional contribution to this area of study, the questions used in this study can serve as the basis for further research.As mentioned previously, no research was found that addressed this topic. The one limitation to this study is the small size of HR directors agreeing to participate. Because of the importance of this topic, additional research with a broader sample of resorts would give HR directors more guidance on assimilating international workers in their workforce.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - Managers of US resorts are using H2B and J-1 guest workers to fill seasonal labor needs. Acculturation and assimilation of international workers has a major impact on service and customer satisfaction in resorts. The purpose of this paper is to identify the methods used by resorts to successfully acculturate, assimilate, and retain international workers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The case study method was used. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with HR directors of six seasonal resorts that hired H2B and J-1 workers. Content analysis of the interviews was used to generate acculturation, assimilation, and retention practices at the resorts.\nFindings: - Results from this paper indicate that techniques for acculturation of guest workers are informal and occur on-the-job while assimilation techniques are more formal. Retention strategies varied by resort. Differences are found between the techniques used in these resorts and those used in seasonal restaurants.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample size is limited to those HR directors agreeing to participate. Given the current economic situation and job market, many HR directors are hesitant to share information about their international workers.\nPractical implications: - A comprehensive assimilation, acculturation, and retention program for seasonal workers is proposed.\nOriginality/value: - No research is found on the ways to successfully assimilate international workers to a resort's culture and acculturate them in the US culture. The results of this paper will give HR directors a guide on how to assimilate international workers in their workforce.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Exchange rate regime shift and price patterns
|
[
"European monetary union",
"Economic convergence",
"Euro",
"Foreign exchange",
"Economic growth"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The financial crisis starting 2008 made many European countries opt for a change of exchange rate regime. Most of them (e.g. the Baltic States and Iceland) wanted to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In this context a fundamental question to monetary policy is how the choice of exchange rate regime influences price behavior. Anchoring the exchange rate is a way to stabilize inflation, but will it also fix the price level relative to other countries in the same currency bloc? A flexible exchange rate regime will allow exchange rates to neutralize relative-price changes, but will expose the relative price level to risk of exchange-rate overshooting, which may be inflationary. The most extreme form of anchoring is the monetary union, where the introduction of the Euro provides ample testing ground. The change of price pattern following the introduction of the Euro has been addressed in a number of papers focusing on consumer prices. In this paper we emphasize the need to address this change of pattern from a producer price perspective.The choice of consumer prices as the focus of earlier studies has been motivated by the importance of these prices to monetary policy; the European Central Bank (ECB), as well as other central banks that have adopted inflation targeting as their primary monetary policy strategy, first and foremost measure the rate of inflation by reference to consumer prices[1]. However, this choice of inflation measure is not undisputed.Consumer goods are essentially non-traded. The buying experience is not only related to the product as such, but also to the marketing and distribution services accompanying it. Vermeulen et al. (2007), Clark (1999), and Andersen and Hansen (1996), among others, show that the cyclical behavior of producer price index (PPI) inflation is typically more volatile and less persistent than consumer price index (CPI) inflation, concluding that the retail level adds an additional level of stickiness to prices above the producer level[2]. When the retail level adds nominal rigidities above the producer level consumer prices may not capture the full effect of monetary policy on market expectations and price formation. Several recent studies suggest that focusing on producer prices as the inflation target in monetary policy is more efficient in dissolving inflation-output trade-offs than targeting consumer prices (see Okano, 2007; Benigno and Benigno, 2006; Huang and Liu, 2005; Sutherland, 2004; Woodford, 2002; Clarida et al., 2002). As shown by Huang and Liu (2005), allowing for nominal rigidities at different stages of production yields a situation where a Pareto-optimal allocation cannot be achieved and the central bank faces tradeoffs between stabilizing CPI inflation, PPI inflation, and the relative price between the two.As a result of the crisis of the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM) in 1992/1993 most currencies in Western Europe were de facto allowed to float[3]. Theoretically, this would allow relative price levels to converge. After the introduction of the Euro in January 1999 exchange rates were instead irrevocably fixed, which would rather stabilize relative prices. In the early years of the Euro, dispersion in national inflation rates in the Euro area was persistent for consumer prices (Honohan and Lane, 2003). As noted by several authors (see, for example, Lopez and Papell, 2007; Hofmann and Remsperger, 2005; Koedijk et al., 2004), the accumulated effect of this dispersion was reflected in quite significant shifts in CPI-based real exchange rates between certain Euro area countries. Hence, understanding the sources of inflation dispersion across countries is instrumental to the individual country in deciding on policy responses and in facilitating smooth adjustment. Benign transitory inflation dispersion, such as resulting from productivity catch-up or price convergence, are of no direct consequence for policy makers, whereas malign dispersion due to, for example, inconsistent economic policies or temporary or structural macroeconomic disequilibria, would motivate a policy response.This paper will fill a knowledge gap concerning the convergence of producer prices. Recent results of the determinants of convergence are available on consumer-price convergence, though sometimes with inconclusive results. Rogers (2007) and Engel and Rogers (2004) find large reductions in consumer price dispersion between 1990 and 1993/1994 among the countries that introduced the Euro in January 1999[4], especially for tradable goods, and small but significant increases in price dispersion from 1998 onwards. Honohan and Lane (2003) and Wolszczak-Derlacz (2008), on the other hand, find significant reductions in price dispersion after 1998. More generally, Isgut (2004) and Parsley and Wei (2001) show that sharing currency significantly reduces consumer price dispersion, whereas belonging to the same regional trading area does not. Turning to investigations of unit roots in CPI-based real exchange rates, Lopez and Papell (2007) find that purchasing power parity starts to hold around the introduction of the Euro, while the convergence towards PPP commenced around 1992-1993. Koedijk et al. (2004) find evidence of mean reversion of real exchange rates for a sample of nine Euro-area countries after 1992, but with no influence from the introduction of the Euro. Gadea et al. (2004) investigate real exchange rates of the Euro area countries against the dollar and find support for purchasing power parity (PPP) during the post-Bretton-Woods period up to 1996, but no support when extending the period up to 2001. Antonucci and Girardi (2006) find, with the exception of Spain and Ireland, support for purchasing power parity within the Euro area, but with only a modest influence from the Euro.Based on data for 13 two-digit manufacturing sectors in the 11 countries that first adopted the Euro, we find significant price convergence before (1993-1998), but no or modest evidence of convergence after (1998-2005) the Euro was introduced. In the first years after the introduction, we rather find evidence of non-linear convergence, with the degree of convergence being a function of exchange-rate volatility and trade openness. These patterns are only partly similar to what prior studies have found for consumer prices, and support Huang and Liu's (2005) proposal of a trade-off approach in monetary policymaking. We find import of inflation from trade partners to be a significant determinant of price dispersion in the monetary union. This suggests a difficulty to monetary policy, where any impact from monetary policymaking on the value of the Euro could have asymmetric consequences on different manufacturing sectors and, through differences in industry structures, on different countries.The paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we review arguments for an impact of the Euro on producer prices. In section 3, we discuss the methodology used. In section 4 we perform our empirical testing of producer-price convergence and the impact of conditioning factors. We also discuss and test the robustness of our results. Section 5 provides concluding remarks and policy implications of our findings.\n2. The introduction of the Euro - the potential impact on prices in the manufacturing industry: 2.1 Purchasing power parity and exchange rate regimes\n3. Methodology and data: 3.1 Price level data\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Stylized facts\n5. Concluding remarks: We find significant convergence in producer prices before, but no or modest evidence of convergence after the Euro was introduced. In particular, we find non-linear price convergence in the first years after the introduction of the Euro, with the degree of convergence being a function of exchange-rate volatility and trade openness. We also find that local prices were sticky prior to the introduction and that import of inflation was an important price determinant after the introduction. Price convergence, and sticky prices before the introduction of the Euro, is consistent with the idea that a flexible exchange rate allows exchange rates to neutralize relative-price changes. Weaker convergence and a stronger role for import of inflation after the introduction would then indicate that the price-convergence process was largely completed by the time the Euro was introduced. The change to stable price dispersion after the introduction is consistent with the change in exchange rate regime, since the monetary union should anchor inflation rates. In this sense, the common currency seems to be the perfect companion of Euro-wide inflation targeting. On the other hand, the lack of convergence after the introduction of the Euro could also mean that the monetary union conserves any remaining price dispersion, or at least slows down the convergence process. This would be negative to intra-Euro-area competition and trade, as well as to the acceptance of the common monetary policy.Our results for producer prices are in line with studies of consumer prices, who also find evidence of convergence prior to the introduction of the Euro (Engel and Rogers, 2004; Gadea et al., 2004; Koedijk et al., 2004; Lopez and Papell, 2007; Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2008). However, producer prices exhibit a markedly slower speed of convergence, with half-lives from 16 to 46 years, which is consistent with the greater tradability of manufacturing outputs. After the introduction of the Euro, conclusions are more mixed. A majority of prior evidence suggests that consumer price dispersion remained stable (Gadea et al., 2004; Koedijk et al., 2004; Lopez and Papell, 2007; Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2008) in the first years after the introduction of the Euro and then began converging again around 2002 (Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2008). We, on the other hand, find non-linear convergence in the first years after the introduction and then stable price dispersion.We find import of inflation from non-Euro-area trade, and country differences in cyclicality, to be important moderating variables for price changes after the introduction of the Euro. Honohan and Lane (2003) find a similar result for consumer prices. The risk of asymmetric shocks is perhaps the strongest weakness of a common currency. This adds a difficulty in monetary policymaking in the monetary union, as the impact of monetary policy on the value of the Euro and on the business cycle could have asymmetric effects on countries and sectors.Purely focusing monetary policymaking on consumer prices appears inefficient. Different information content in producer and consumer price developments provide support for Huang and Liu's (2005) proposition of a trade-off approach in monetary policymaking. This is not least important when it comes to the impact of changes in the value of the Euro. Low remaining price dispersion suggests that barriers to arbitrage will not protect local producers from exchange rate changes. Since trade partners differ between countries, this will mean that exchange-rate changes will influence economies asymmetrically.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The financial crisis starting in 2008 made many European countries opt for a change of exchange rate regime. The choice of price measure as an entry requirement to the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and as input in the monetary policy decision process re-appeared as an important political and research issue. This paper aims to argue that, considering the importance of producer prices in international competition, their role is underplayed by policy makers and researchers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Producer prices are analyzed in the transition from national exchange-rate regimes to the EMU for 13 two-digit manufacturing sectors in the first 11 countries to adopt the Euro.\nFindings: - It was found that significant price convergence before 1993-1998, but no or modest evidence of convergence after 1998-2005 when the Euro was introduced. This pattern is partly different from what prior studies have found for consumer prices, and is consistent with the change of exchange rate regime to a monetary union anchoring inflation rates. A conditional b-convergence analysis reveals effective exchange-rate changes and differences in cyclicality as important determinants of price convergence, suggesting that import of inflation is an important determinant of price developments in the EMU.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper concludes that considering the role of producer prices and their deviating pattern from consumer prices, producer prices are underplayed in the research and deserve more attention. It is argued that increased attention to producer prices is warranted.\nPractical implications: - Focusing monetary policymaking on consumer prices alone appears inefficient. Rather, then, support for the trade-off approach in monetary policy-making is supported.\nSocial implications: - In considering different solutions to the financial crisis, increasing attention should be paid to the development of producer prices.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first study to focus on producer prices in the research on the transition from a national exchange rate regime to a membership of a monetary union.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Is methodology destiny? Religiosity and charitable giving
|
[
"Religiosity",
"Bivariate probit",
"Bivariate tobit",
"Charitable giving",
"D11",
"D12",
"D64",
"H3"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For purely and impurely altruistic reasons, many individuals donate to charities[1]. Charitable giving by a given individual is often relatively small, but total individual giving represents the largest share of philanthropic funding. For instance, although charitable giving by individuals, foundations, and corporations topped as high as $316 billion in the USA in 2012, individual donations accounted for almost 72 percent ($229 billion) of the total[2]. Moreover, such donations have risen at a rapid rate over the past two decades: the 2012 figure represented an increase of 85 percent from the amount given in the late 1990s[3].\n2. Conceptual framework: Previous studies have investigated the various motivations that lead people to give to charity. Generally, two types of benefits from charitable giving are documented. Public benefits refer to any potential benefit that a donor may receive from improving the charitable organization's total output. By contrast, private benefits represent any potential benefit that is not related to the level of the charitable organization's output (Vesterlund, 2006). Donors receive private benefits in many ways. For instance, giving to charity may make them feel generous and that they have fulfilled their obligations of giving back to society. It may also raise donors' reputations and prestige (Harbaugh, 1998). Andreoni (1990) labels these potential private benefits as \"warm glow.\"\n3. Data: The cross-sectional charitable giving data set used in this study comes from the 2001 \"Giving and Volunteering in the United States\" survey, which was conducted on 4,178 US households[11],[12]. The survey collected data on various types of charitable giving, demographics, and household economic variables. One advantage of this data set is that it categorizes destinations for charitable giving into religious organizations, youth development, education, health services, human services, political campaigns, and international programs as well as less-formal giving to relatives, friends, neighbors, and strangers. These variables are available in both discrete and continuous formats (i.e. indicating both the existence of giving and the amount given), allowing researchers to use both multivariate probit and multivariate tobit systems (including bivariate models) to study the relationship between religiosity and charitable giving[13]. To align to the bivariate models, this study names giving to religious organizations as religious giving and generates a secular giving measure by summing all non-religious giving (e.g. giving to youth development, education, health services, and human services). Since the survey used the most extensive and detailed method of collecting the data, this study is able to generate estimates of the relationships between household characteristics and giving that are more accurate than those produced through less extensive methods (Bekkers and Wiepking, 2006)[14].\n4. Econometric methodology: To investigate whether more religious people are more generous in terms of higher giving incidences and donation amounts, this study uses the BVP and BVT models. This circumvents the problem that may arise when using separate probit or tobit models to test whether people with high religiosity are more generous. Separate models ignore the potential correlations among donations to different types of charities from the same individual that are not reflected in observable characteristics (Ramful and Zhao, 2009). Owing to unobserved characteristics, such as individual tastes or attitudes toward money, the probabilities of an individual giving (and the amount given) to different types of charities are likely related through error terms.\n5. Results: The impact of religiosity on charitable giving is examined via the BVP model for giving propensity and the BVT model for the donation amount[19]. Table III presents the impact of religiosity on religious and secular giving. The marginal effects from the BVP suggest that religiosity positively influences both types of donations, providing evidence that greater religious involvement increases the likelihood of giving to charity. In addition, the results of the BVT model suggest that a religious individual donates more, on average, than a less-religious individual. These findings are consistent with many previous studies but provide uniquely unbiased and efficient estimates. Interestingly, the impact of religiosity on religious and secular giving is smaller than expected after taking into account the correlation between different types of giving.\n6. Conclusions and policy implications: This study examines the impact of religiosity on generosity. From a methodological standpoint, this study used BVP and BVT models to control for the potential correlation between religious and secular giving owing to unobserved individual characteristics, thereby addressing the problem of inefficient estimates found in previous studies. In addition, to investigate the causal relationship between religiosity and charitable giving, this study added a theoretical framework to the existing literature.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether people who engage in religious activities are more generous in terms of both religious and secular giving.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Bivariate probit (BVP) and bivariate tobit (BVT) analyses show that religious people have a greater propensity to give and higher levels of giving to both religious and secular charitable organizations. The bivariate systems permit a test of the correlation across the different giving decisions, and the correlation between religious and secular giving is found to be highly significant.\nFindings: Religiosity positively influences both religious and secular donations. After controlling for this correlation, the impacts of religiosity on religious and secular giving are more efficient estimates but smaller than expected.\nOriginality/value: As a result of these methodological shortcomings, the causal relationship between religiosity and charitable giving is far from clear. To overcome those problems, this study uses BVP and BVT models to control for the potential correlation between religious giving and secular giving by the same individual and then draws appropriate interpretations. This study adds a firmer theoretical foundation to the existing literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Spatial and socioeconomic analysis of host participation in the sharing economy: Airbnb in New York City
|
[
"Gender",
"Methodology",
"Trust",
"Empirical study",
"Community",
"Panel data",
"Level of analysis",
"Individual attribute",
"Unit attribute"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past few years, shared accommodation platforms such as Airbnb have made rapid forays into large, populous, metropolitan markets and fundamentally impacted how residents in neighborhoods use, rent, or share a critical asset they own - their home (Coles et al., 2018). This is part of a larger digital revolution in which ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, shared accommodation platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway, carsharing enterprises such as Zipcar and Getaround, to name a few, have fundamentally redefined traditional business models, traditional employment, and reorganized economic activity in many sectors and industries. Collaborative consumption, based on the notion of \"what's mine is yours\" (Botsman and Rogers, 2010) has birthed the sharing economy. The sharing economy creates markets that enable the exchange, sharing, renting of goods and assets, and creation of new services that crowd-based networks of connected users can access and use with intermediation provided by sharing economy platforms (Sundararajan, 2016). The sharing economy has blurred lines between full-time employment and casual labor and opened up flexible avenues for its workers to share their assets with others in lieu of additional income, personal enjoyment, and a shared commitment to responsibly and sustainably use finite resources.\n2. Literature review: As sharing economy platforms multiply, profoundly challenging traditional business models and engendering social, economic, technological, managerial, privacy, and security challenges, academic interest in the sharing economy - especially from the perspective of management information systems -- has been steadily increasing. In this section, we primarily discuss prior academic work that has focused on behaviors, patterns and antecedents of participation in the sharing economy by sellers and consumers and myriad relationships between these important stakeholders enabled by intermediaries including the sharing economy platforms.\n3. Conceptual model: The conceptual model of this study is based on the Spatially Aware Technology Utilization Model (SATUM) (Pick and Sarkar, 2015), which induces and examines associations of socioeconomic, innovation, societal openness, and social capital factors with the adoption and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Independent variables that are part of SATUM include demographic factors of race and ethnicity, age, gender, and educational attainment, economic and employment factors such as household income, GDP per capita, service sector employment, professional, scientific and technical services (PSTS) employment, and cost of technology access (e.g. mobile cellular tariffs), social factors such as family structure, social capital, and finally policy variables such as ICT infrastructure availability. These factors are posited to be associated with ICT dependent variables such as internet penetration and social media use. Several of the independent variables of SATUM are part of this study's conceptual model. Also, similar to this study's independent variables, SATUM's independent variables are implicitly spatial. An additional feature of SATUM is its ability to diagnose and account for spatial bias in ICT adoption and diffusion. Last but not the least, SATUM is an inductive reasoning based model of ICT adoption that explains digital divides.\n4. Methodology and data: To explore how host participation in home-sharing is determined, a model of host-participation is developed. To empirically validate the research model, a four-step analysis approach is employed. First, the Airbnb host participation data and economic, educational, demographic, social capital, attitudes toward trust and greener consumption are aggregated into the spatial unit of analysis, which is the zip code level in NYC. Second, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to investigate posited relationships between variables in the research model. Diagnostic tests (Joint Wald, Koenker (BP) and Jarque Bera) are employed to check conformance to regression assumptions. Third, K-means clustering is employed to determine zip codes with significant similarities in property densities and local indicators of spatial autocorrelation (LISA) analysis is applied to examine presence of geographically outlier zip codes. Fourth, to ensure the validity of the results, tests of multicollinearity and spatial autocorrelation are utilized.\n5. Spatial patterns of host participation: findings: The density levels of Airbnb property listing are mapped at annual time intervals to reveal distinctive spatial distributions and longitudinal changes that describe the Airbnb densities. The overall pattern of all Airbnb properties, with densities averaged for the three years shows the strongest NYC prevalence in lower Manhattan, Governor's Island and the northern tip of the Borough of Brooklyn (Figure 2). The lower-mid Manhattan concentration reflects the prevalence in those areas of tourist sites, financial and other corporate headquarters and buildings, and tourist amenities such as restaurants, shopping and entertainment. The high demand for accommodations in Manhattan is obvious, but it is conditioned by higher rental costs. A study focused on the balance of short-term and long-term Airbnb rentals in New York identified the centrality of Airbnb listings, with about half within three miles of the Empire State building in midtown Manhattan (Coles et al., 2018). Although real estate prices are high in this area, the area has on average an older population, i.e. people who might have extra space and might be conducive to renting it. This area also has a higher than average percent of workers in professional and technical occupations, who are likely to be more comfortable as shared accommodation hosts.\n6. Regression results: OLS regression analysis was conducted based on a sample of 182 zip codes in NYC to test posited associations of 14 independent variables with the dependent variable - represented by densities of of Airbnb properties. Regression results for NYC (Table IV) are largely in concert with prior findings and explain 56 - 68 percent of the variation in host participation for all property types combined for all years, and for two of three Airbnb property types - entire home/apartment and private room, for all years, 2015 - 2017. For shared room, our conceptual model explains 30 - 44 percent of the variation in host participation. VIFs are consistently below 3.5 (against an accepted cutoff of 5.0) indicating that the model is not biased by multicollinearity among independent variables.\n7. Discussion and implications of results: The spatial and regression findings are elaborated further with regard to the spatial contours of Airbnb host participation in NYC and relationships based on the conceptual model. Among the questions discussed are - why posited relationships of trust, educational achievement, and social capital were not present; and, whether the findings confirmed in the model for entire NYC would also be supported for two contrasting socio-economic boroughs of Manhattan and Queens. Also discussed is the extent of support of the conceptual model, comparing it to other conceptual models proposed for the sharing economy. Following the discussion, implications of the findings are examined.\n8. Conclusions and future research: This paper has explored spatial patterns and motivations of host participation in the shared accommodation economy. The research model is developed based upon SATUM; this spatially aware model explains host participation in short-term peer-to-peer homesharing using Airbnb in NYC from 2015 to 2017. The effects of demographic, economic, education, social capital, emphasis on trust and greener consumption attitudes on property listing densities are investigated. Some of the independent variables that explain supply-side motivations in this study have been used in prior studies which examined the motivation of demand-side participation of consumers in the sharing economy using Self Determination Theory and the Theory of Social Exchange. Findings of the research provide signification theoretical and practical contribution for the sharing economy and information systems research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In recent years, short-term sharing accommodation platforms such as Airbnb have made rapid forays in populous cities worldwide, impacting neighborhoods profoundly. Emerging work has focused on demand-side motivations to engage in the sharing economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze rarely examined supply-side motivations of providers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To address this gap and to illuminate understanding of how Airbnb supply is configured and influenced, this study examines spatial patterns and socioeconomic influences on participation in the sharing accommodation economy by Airbnb hosts in New York City (NYC). An exploratory conceptual model of host participation is induced, which posits associations of demographic, economic, employment, social capital attributes, and attitudes toward trust and sustainability with host participation, measured by Airbnb property density in neighborhoods. Methods employed include ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, k-means cluster analysis and spatial analytics.\nFindings: Spatially, clusters of high host densities are in Manhattan and northern Brooklyn and there is little proportionate change longitudinally. OLS regression findings reveal that gender ratio, black race/ethnicity, median household income, and professional, scientific, and technical occupation, and attitudes toward sustainability for property types are dominant correlates of property density, while host trust in customers is not supported.\nResearch limitations/implications: These results along with differences between Queens and Manhattan boroughs have implications for hosts sharing their homes and for city managers to formulate policies and regulate short-term rental markets in impacted neighborhoods.\nOriginality/value: The study is novel in conceptualizing and analyzing the supply-side provider motivations of the sharing accommodation economy. Geostatistical analysis of property densities to gauge host participation is novel. Value stems from new insights on NYC's short-term homesharing market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Kaizen in Japan: transferring knowledge in the workplace
|
[
"Japan",
"Sustainability",
"Business excellence",
"Kaizen",
"Exercise",
"Intergenerational",
"Acknowledgement",
"Drift"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The Japanese quality management movement has developed a specific set of tools and techniques in the continued pursuit of business excellence. These tools include cost-cutting, time-reducing and continuous-improvement activities in the workplace, developed through the underlying philosophy of kaizen, common to both Japanese society and business. To replicate the success of industrial Japan, business managers in the West have adopted a perceived standardized set of tools and techniques to pursue sustained business excellence in the workplace. These tool sets are known as kaizen, Six Sigma, Just-in-Time and Kanban, to name a few. However, while these secondary Western tools and techniques are replications of quality-management kaizen tools and activities employed in Japan, they hold little or none of the essence of the underpinning philosophical, cultural or societal norms of Japan. Further, although these tools and techniques resonate across industry in Japan, they are anything but universal in nature, instead being developed off the back of interpretations by individual employees within the bounds of their workspaces. The tools and techniques Japan exports to the West are predominantly developed in and for the auto industry in the pursuit of sustained efficiencies in assembly-line production systems.\nKaizen activity: The Japanese philosophy of kaizen and related activities provide a window through which to explore Japanese industrial life and the mindsets of employees. Through extensive research and experience in Japan, we have endeavored to provide non-Japanese managers the opportunity to comprehend and appreciate the Japanese approach to quality management, kaizen activity and resultant organizational life. We note that the Japanese commonly observe two manifestations of the continuous improvement kaizen philosophy. In daily life, it literally refers to improvement and ingenuity, but in industry and business, it is the result of management's engagement of the organization to pursue business excellence through the interplay between management's pursuit of profit and competition, and employees' skills, creativity, confidence and pride. Management and employees are then codependent through the development and acquisition of multiple tools and methods - the observable outputs we see - that create an energy across and through the organization that in turn encourages employees to seek and achieve proactive change and innovation. The level of this energy and subsequent activity is dependent upon the proximity of these management and employee elements, for the closer they are the more activity, the further, the less. (Macpherson et al., 2015).\nKnowledge transfer across generations: As employees move up through the ranks of management, the context and content of their work within the industrial organization changes from improving daily operations and surroundings to guiding and educating more junior employees. To a new employee, kaizen is a workplace activity to be implemented; it is visible, but not fully understood. It is provided largely through company training and manuals. To the seasoned veteran who has moved up the corporate ladder, kaizen is the accumulation of tacit knowledge and accumulated experiences, and seen as more than just a means of reducing costs, increasing productivity and decreasing lead times. Kaizen becomes something invisible that can generate real results for the company's profitability and the manager's reputation, moving from a duty to a matter of personal, group and organizational responsibility.\nResearch method: This research set out to explore the practical pursuit of sustained business excellence in the context of Japanese industrial organizations, as they have demonstrated exemplary growth and sustainable resilience since Japan's resurrection after the Second World War. A requirement of sustainability is that common knowledge is transferred between generations over the longer term. We asked the following research questions:\nResults: Statistical analysis identified two emergent groups: Generation 1, or those employees equal to or under 47 years old; and Generation 2, being those over 47 years old. Participants of both generational groups held management and administration/line positions. The mean age of Generation 1 participants was 38.9 years and that of Generation 2 was 54.5 years. Hierarchical positions held by employees were to some extent related to age. Statistical analysis[1] of the data identified an inflexion point of the attributes of kaizen at 47 years of age.\nConclusion: As employees progress through their careers and in many cases the hierarchical ladder of the organization, the positions they hold change, as does their approach to their jobs and their organizations. We observe a shift in how employees acknowledge their approach to kaizen from a process-oriented form to a result-oriented form. This shift most often occurs mid- to late-career, as employees reach 45-50 years of age, at an inflexion point of 47 years. The shift from managed employee to manager becomes the vehicle for organizational sustainability as workplace knowledge and understanding are transferred from one generation to the next. This in turn creates relationships of junior and senior, student and teacher, and disciple and mentor within the bounds of the organization, further strengthening intra-organizational relationships. While this phenomenon was identified through the processes of Japanese quality-management kaizen-philosophy and practice, the understanding is not necessarily bound to a Japanese context, but is one that can be incorporated into the management regimes of non-Japanese organizations in their pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage and business excellence over the longer term.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: As employees in the lower ranks of a Japanese company advance through the levels of management and seniority their role in day-to-day kaizen activities shifts from that of directly improving their own job, operations and surroundings to guiding, educating and facilitating understanding and practice. The emphasis of kaizen to the employee during career progression changes in an embedded, sequential and predictable manner. To a new employee, kaizen is a process to be implemented, something that is visible and largely provided through company training and job manuals, while not necessarily being fully understood. To the senior manager, however, one who has advanced up the corporate ladder, kaizen is tacit knowledge and accumulated experiences, and is seen as being more than just reducing costs, increasing productivity and decreasing lead times. At this point, kaizen becomes something invisible, something that can produce real influence on both the company's profitability and the manager's reputation. Consequently, what kaizen is actually changes from being a duty associated with employment to a matter of personal, group, collective, and organizational responsibility. The purpose of this paper is to explore the mechanism underpinning the transfer of kaizen (acknowledgement and exercise) in the Japanese workplace that results in it being sustained across multiple.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from research participants (n = 53) through a mixed-method multi-language field design comprising questionnaires and unstructured interviews conducted in genba, the workplaces of five domain-name multinational companies in Japan. Multi-level statistical analysis identified two largely mutually exclusive generational groups.\nFindings: During their late 40s, employees were found to transfer their understanding of kaizen between the two forms. At this age, employees were identified to shift from being student to teacher; follower to leader; and disciple to sensei. This study identified how kaizen shifts from one generation to another; when kaizen shifts through the change in responsibility of employees; and changes in the understanding and practice that creates sustained business excellence.\nOriginality/value: Importantly, the study reveals how kaizen itself is a sustainable business activity in the workplace, one that Western business is struggling to emulate.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Lifestyle pattern underlying organic and traditional food consumption
|
[
"Bosnia and Herzegovina",
"Lifestyle consumption determinants",
"Traditional and organic food"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Changes in lifestyle and socio-demographic structure, increasing awareness that food quality affects public health, and that quality of environment depends on sustainable consumption patterns, combined with the recent food safety scandals, have generated increased interest for and consumption of both traditional food products (TFP) and organic foods (OF). The same reasons have aroused interest of the research community. The research done to date strives to identify factors that promote or impede consumption of such products, factors that significantly shape involvement and loyalty of buyers and their attitudes, or in other words, determine behaviors of TFP and OF consumers, and potential of these two product groups to improve public health, quality of environment, while providing better living to local, typically marginalized rural areas by transforming TFP and OF into innovative, modern and attractive tourism product. The studies done to date suggest there are a number of similarities between these two product groups:\nResearch method: Research approach\nResults and discussion: The survey was used as a basis for developing profiles of TFP and OF consumers (self-reported consumption). There is a difference between the two profiles, but it is of no statistical importance (t-test, 5 percent significance level). Buyers of both product groups were middle-aged women (36 to 55), with secondary education, living in lager households (two children) on average income (self-reported level of income). These results only partially correspond to the EU profile of TFP buyers (Vanhonacker et al., 2010). BH buyers of both products group have similar attitude towards health as the EU TFP buyers, meaning that they consider health very important and they believe that they take better than average care of their health; in addition, they believe that the food is the basis of their health and that children should eat better food even when it is more expensive. For them, cooking the main meal is a demonstration of care for family, they are trying to cook at least one meal a day, typically use seasonal foods and traditional recipes and tend to buy and choose foods they got used to in their youth or are accustomed to. In other words, their attitude toward food is very similar to the one of EU TFP consumers (Vanhonacker et al., 2010). In most cases, they buy food in stores located close to their homes or workplace. Similarly to the EU TFP consumers, BH consumers want to know who are producers of the food (brand or country of origin); they are very ethnocentric, they believe that BH has the best traditional products; that people should buy domestic products to support BH economy, and when they cannot buy BH products, they should buy the products made in the Region of former Yugoslavia/West Balkans. BH consumers say they like to try new foods when in situation to do so; that the TFP are mandatory part of family celebrations (similar to the EU consumers according to Molnar et al., 2010); that they would buy food that makes them happy regardless of its price; and that they believe that their lifestyle benefits the environment. For BH consumers, traditional food is the food produced locally, in the same natural way for generations, by known producers. This is in line with the opinion of EU buyers (Vanhonacker et al., 2010; Guerrero et al., 2009; Molnar et al., 2010).\nConclusions and implications of the study: The paper identifies common BH lifestyle pattern that frames OF and TFP consumers' behavior. It is formulated by the consumers' need to know the producers' attitude toward social and natural environment, animal welfare, as well as how they treat their employees. Very expressed ethnocentrism of consumers essentially underlines that the producers' attitude toward local community formulates food purchase intentions of such consumers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to set out to define lifestyle pattern framing behavior shared by traditional food products (TFP) and organic foods (OF) consumers to identify, if possible, a generic way to facilitate development of TFP and OF production in order to pave the road for more sustainable food production and consumption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A convenience, non-probabilistic sample (n=800) was designed and customer survey was conducted in December 2013 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis were performed to identify common lifestyle pattern shaping consumption of both products' groups.\nFindings: TFP and OF consumption patterns are driven by common lifestyle pattern defined by concern for welfare of all people, social equality and nature; and by consumers' belief that food is a basis of their health, while food and cooking make an important part of family life.\nPractical implications: This study shows that public and private promotion/marketing policies for OF and TFP need to be designed in a way that strongly emphasizes their symbolic meaning that elicits in consumers feeling of belonging to both local community and their family, and at the same time highlights the level of social responsibility of their producers. In addition, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in this area.\nOriginality/value: No similar study has been done to date that was focussed on identifying common combination of lifestyle factors that frame and drive customers' tendency to purchase either TFP or OF products. This study offers a unique and valuable insight into topics and values around which a generic public or private promotional strategy for the two product groups would evolve, and which will decide effectiveness of any such strategy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Impacts of poor quality of information in the facility management field
|
[
"Facility management",
"Value creation",
"Lean management",
"Information flow",
"Waste elimination",
"Impacts of poor quality of information"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Waste in production and information-intensive environments can be generated by many sources. In healthcare, 46 per cent of administrative work hours are spent in information-related activities, creating no value for clients or service processes as a whole (Grove et al., 2010). Love et al. (2008) found that 70 per cent of the rework done in the construction industry was due to defects in design documentation. In line with the other findings, Jylha (2013) has concluded that in the field of facility management (FM), poor information management aggravates the overload of work.\nQuality of information: Information is data that are processed, manipulated or organised into or within a context so that they get a meaning. It can be an insight on a new matter or a result of receiving data and the cognitive processing of it (Lawrence, 1999; Williamson, 1982). Data themselves are just symbols, images, text or sound that do not have a meaning until they are processed (Tuomi, 1999).\nResearch design: Case study as a strategy enables to analyse contemporary events in the real world and does not require control over the events (Yin, 1994). Therefore, a case study was selected as a suitable strategy to analyse the quality of information in real-world FM service processes. The cases were sampled to represent a wider scale of different FM services with different case organisations and customers in Finland. According to Eisenhardt (1989), this kind of theoretical sampling can improve the generalisability of the results.\nResults: Next, the results are presented. First, some general information is outlined and after this, the analysis of the quality of information and its impact on the FM service processes from a lean management perspective are presented.\nImplications: The findings of the impacts of poor quality of information raise the question on how to remove waste and how the value creation process could thereby be improved. One solution to this problem in the field of FM could be the use of BIM. BIM in itself is only a data and information system, but it has already proven to remove many of the identified waste sources when the related processes and work methods have also changed (see, e.g., Ashcraft, 2008 for using BIM in integrated project delivery). This, however, requires changes in the way the work is done. For example, maintenance information could be made available to everyone, anywhere and anytime by re-engineering our processes to maximise the comprehensive usage of BIM.\nConclusions: Waste management that is at the heart of lean management is currently absent in FM. In lean management, waste removal from material and information flows is expected to increase productivity. The aim of this paper was to analyse the quality of information and its impact on FM service processes from a lean management perspective. Four Finnish case studies were conducted to reach the aim.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the quality of information and its impact on the facility management (FM) service processes from a lean management perspective. Waste has a key role in lean management when improving productivity. Unfortunately, the potential of waste elimination has not been utilised in FM. Poorly managed information has already been recognised as a source of waste.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The quality of information and related waste activities were studied in a value creation context through four in-depth case studies. The research included 130 interviews and workshops with the case organisations and their customers.\nFindings: The results confirm that poor quality of information produces a lot of waste activities. In the cross-case analysis, three impacts were found as a result of the poor quality of information in FM service processes: a lot of time is wasted for searching, a great deal of extra work is conducted and potential is lost.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the case study approach has its limitations, this study with its extensive data provides findings that are grounded in solid evidence.\nPractical implications: By utilising waste elimination and re-engineering value creation processes, FM organisations could improve the quality of information and increase their overall efficiency.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a deeper insight into the impacts that poor quality of information generates.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Female labor force participation, paid maternity, caste system and under-5 mortality in Nepal
|
[
"Caste",
"Female labour force participation",
"Paid maternity",
"Under-5 mortality",
"Nepal"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Child mortality rates are given prioritized attention in both developed and developing countries because of their dynamic relations to the social, economic, political and cultural circumstances of the country and relationship with the changing demographics of the world[1, 2]. Changing demography rates are well explained by the declining total fertility rate throughout the world. Most developed countries have already reached below replacement-level fertility of 2.1 and developing countries are on this track with a higher death rate compared to birth rates, if the effects of population momentum are not taken into consideration[3]. Given this scenario, it is important for both developed and developing nations to preserve all lives.\nData and methods: Source of data and sample size\nResults and discussion: The total number of live births and deaths of under-5 children between 2012 and 2016 with corresponding maternal and child characteristics is shown in Table I. There are 5,060 live births of children. Of these, 173 children died before reaching five years of age which is 3.4 percent of the total birth. The table also shows that the FLFP was 62 percent compared to 38 percent of non-working mothers. Death for working mothers was 3.5 percent compared to 3.6 percent for non-working mothers. There were 36 percent of Terai caste mothers and 64 percent were mothers from other castes besides Terai. Percentages of child death for Terai caste mothers was 4.5 percent compared to just 3 percent for other castes mothers. Looking at the paid maternity, very few (only 6.3 percent) of mothers got paid maternity and these mothers had a child death percentage of 1.66 percent compared to 3.5 percent of child deaths for mothers who did not get paid maternity.\nThe FLFP and under-5 child deaths: Looking at the robust hazard ratio value from Table II, it can be said that an FLFP system has a higher chance of risk of death of under-5 children compared to those mothers who do not work. Numerically, the risk of death of under-5 children for working mothers was 13 percent higher compared to that of non-working mothers. In the Nepali context, this result is due to the time conflict and role conflict of mothers. When a mother goes to work outside home for long periods of time, she will have role conflict in terms of managing her time for caring and rearing of her child and focus on her job. Children are very vulnerable to catch infectious diseases, fall and injury but they may not get access to hospitals on time as his/her mother is at work. This situation is worse in Nepal because most of the health services such as sub health posts, health posts and primary health care services in rural areas open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the same time women have to go to work, therefore there will be an overlap in the ideal time for taking the baby to hospitals and for mothers to go to work. This result is similar to results from a case study from India which found that child mortality is higher among mothers who work[10]. Another study conducted in India from census data also found that FLFP has more deaths among children[21]. A study in Malaysia also found that children born from working women had fewer cases of breast feeding that had an adverse effect on child health. Further, adverse effects on child health were more common in mothers who had to participate in work soon after delivery because of financial reasons[22]. Figure 1 explains the risk of death of children divided by age and the months of the child. According to this figure, it can be seen that the risk of under-5 deaths for working mothers was higher compared to not working mothers until the child reached 24 months old. This result is the opposite after the child is above 24 months. Therefore, 24 months is an important time period that we need to concentrate on and some care of mothers is required during this period. This is the period when children have equal chances of survival or death based on the care they receive. This result may be because children are comparatively independent of mothers after reaching two years of age and are more likely to consume food and gain additional nutrients. Additional food and nutrients are more affordable to working mothers because of money generation from work making them more empowered with higher decision-making powers[23]. Care and support from other family members, specially grandparents and older siblings, become more effective for child above two years of age who do not depend entirely on their mother's milk. Thus, the government, support agencies and all stakeholders need to provide incentives or income generating ways to mothers who do not go to work.\nCaste system and under-5 child death: Looking at the robust hazard ratio value from Table II, it can be said that statistically, the risk of death of under-5 children from Terai castes mothers is 48 percent higher compared to that of other caste mothers. This is due to high caste-based discrimination in Terai regions bordering India. Most of the lower castes (Dalits) lived in Terai areas: among the 26 Dalit in Nepal, 19 of them live in Terai regions of Nepal[14]. Terai regions of Nepal include more than 50 percent of agricultural land. There are many landlords in Terai regions with many hectares of land possessed by them. Therefore, Terai caste mothers who are from lower castes and are poor, work for the landlords in their land forcefully both for their livelihood and to satisfy their landlords. This forceful work leads to role conflict and time conflict regarding the care of their children which may lead to risk of child death. This logic is well supported by Figure 3 which shows that the survival of the child significantly increases if all Terai castes mothers were provided with paid maternity. Figure 2 explains the risk of death of the child divided by age in months of the child by caste. Figure 2 shows that the risk of death of under-5 children is higher for Terai castes mothers after the child reached more than one year. The risk of death for children of Terai caste mothers increases, as seen in the cross-over line of the graph when the child reaches about 14-15 months or so. At this stage, a baby who has just passed the first year of life has a 50 percent chance of survival. It is at this crucial stage when Terai caste mothers should be given all support by all stakeholders and all available strategies and policies in order to ensure the survival of her child. Terai Mothers should be made aware of the importance of child nutrition and health facility visits when their child is sick. Furthermore, the government should make sure that equipped health services and health workers are available in health facilities. There are no studies that make a direct link between the caste of the mother and child mortality rates, however, a study from the 2011 NDHS indicates that mothers from Terai castes and lower caste mothers are less likely to visit health care facilities and spend less time utilizing these facilities compared to mothers from higher castes. It appears that lower caste mothers do not take time to visit a health facility when their child is sick. Studies in the Terai regions of Nepal also found that more than 50 percent of children suffered from being underweight and one-third of the children suffer from stunting[24, 25].\nConclusion: This study provides the evidence to prove the importance of paid maternity and longer work leave in order to ensure the survival of the child. The study also provides evidence that children born of Terai caste mothers are at a higher risk of death compared to mothers from other castes. Furthermore, mothers who work are at a higher risk of experiencing child death compared to mothers who do not work until the child is two years of old in which case the child mortality rate was reduced. This shows that mothers should be given paid work leave or flexible working time until their child is two years old. The child survival rate of Terai caste mothers is minimal compared to mothers from other castes. However, if Terai caste mothers were given paid maternity leave, then there would be no significant difference in child death based on castes. However, very few mothers who work get paid maternity leave in Nepal, and those that do have this advantage are given leave for a very short period of time. Paid maternity leave in Nepal is 52 days which is much less than the recommended time period of 18 weeks according to the International Labor Organization[29]. This leave is significantly less than some of the best parental policies from European countries such as France, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, UK, Austria and Norway, among others, who provide more between 18 weeks to 1 year of paid maternity leave at full pay, with the flexibility to take a few weeks off before the estimated due date, along with some form of paternal leave[30]. Institutional delivery, exclusive breast feeding and average size at birth all have positive relations to child survival; therefore, policies should be directed toward achieving these parameters. In a similar way, the under-5 death rate for multiple births is strongly associated with child death rates and therefore, special attention through screening and referral services should be implemented for mothers who are giving birth to more than one child.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The under-5 mortality rate in Nepal remains high in comparison to neighboring countries and developed nations. The result of this problem on Nepal's social, economic, political and cultural development makes it an urgent priority requiring the Nepalese Government to address this issue. The purpose of this paper is to find out if Nepal's high female labor force participation (FLFP), the caste system and no paid maternity leave are contributing factors to under-5 deaths in Nepal.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data for this study were taken from Nepal's cross-sectional demographic health survey 2016-2017. The study sample included 5,060 children born to 3,074 mothers in the five years preceding the survey. Data were collected by interviewing respondents via a structured questionnaire selected through stratified random sampling methods.\nFindings: The study found that the hazard ratio for FLFP, the caste of the mother and paid maternity were 1.145, 1.485 and 0.556, respectively, with a p-value <0.001. Therefore, the risk of death in children under-5 years for a working mother, a Terai caste mother and a mother who did not get paid maternity was 14, 45 and 48 percent, respectively, higher than for non-working mothers, mothers from other castes and mothers who got paid maternity.\nOriginality/value: This research demonstrated that FLFP, the caste of the mother and paid maternity leave are important factors for determining the risk of death in children under the age of 5.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Individual goals and social preferences in operational decisions: Behavioural insights from transport planning
|
[
"Decision making",
"Case study",
"Transport planning",
"Behavioural operations management",
"Social preferences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Humans play an important role in operational planning tasks such as production planning or transport planning (McKay and Wiers, 2006; Stefansson and Hagen, 2013). Although some aspects of planning tasks may be automated (e.g. through the use of planning software), the complexity of planning activities and related uncertainty requires human input to respond to events (Sanderson, 1989). Human judgment and decision making is required when, for instance, there is missing information, particular information is available to planners only (e.g. knowledge about certain future events), or there are sudden changes in actual conditions (McKay and Wiers, 2006; Morikawa and Takahashi, 2007). As such, human decision making plays an essential role in operational planning activities.\n2. Literature review: This study focusses on the role of human behaviour in planning decision making. Studies on decision making in OM often conceptualise decision makers as rational agents (Gino and Pisano, 2008). They build on neoclassical economic theory (Loch and Wu, 2007) assuming decision makers are motivated by self-interest, behave consciously and deliberately and optimise a specified objective function (Donohue and Siemsen, 2011). As such, human behaviour is modelled in a way that optimises the individual goals which humans pursue (Croson et al., 2013).\n3. Research method: 3.1 Case research\n4. Findings: In this section, the study findings are presented by discussing reasons why planners would (not) forward internally. As considered good practice in qualitative research (Yin, 2009), an explanation for planner decision making is supported by illustrative, representative quotes from interviewees. In Section 5, these results are related to theory in order to identify the individual goals and social preferences that may serve as motivational mechanisms underlying the reasons discussed here. Related propositions are formulated.\n5. Discussion: In this section, it is explained how decision making in transport planning may be driven by underlying goals and preferences by linking the reasons (not) to forward internally presented in Section 4 to theory. Based on the resulting insights, propositions for further research are developed.\n6. Conclusions: Humans play an important role in operational planning tasks. The importance of the human factor in planning is widely acknowledged. In particular, research has focussed extensively on how cognitive aspects affect operational planning decisions. This study has taken a different perspective by exploring the role of individual goals and social preferences in operational planning decisions. More specifically, the study focussed on one transport planning decision (internal forwarding), identified the reasoning used in making this decision, and identified and analysed underlying goals that may motivate planner choices. Based on this study's findings, propositions were developed in Section 5.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop propositions explaining the influence of individual goals and social preferences on human decision making in transport planning. The aim is to understand which individual goals and social preferences planners pursue and how these influence planners' decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Propositions are developed based on investigation of decision making of transport planners in a Dutch logistics service provider using multiple data collection methods.\nFindings: The study shows how decision making of transport planners is motivated by individual goals as well as social preferences for reciprocity and group identity.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research including transaction data analysis is needed to triangulate findings and to strengthen conclusions. Propositions are developed to be tested in future research.\nPractical implications: Results suggest that efforts to guide planners in their decision making should go beyond traditional (monetary) incentives and consider their individual goals and social preferences. Moreover, this study provides insight into why transport planners deviate from desired behaviour.\nOriginality/value: While individual decision making plays an essential role in operational planning, the factors influencing how individuals make operational planning decisions are not fully understood.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Understanding corporate governance in the Australian public sector: A social capital approach
|
[
"Australia",
"Public sector organizations",
"Accountability",
"Corporate governance",
"Public administration",
"Public sector governance",
"New public management",
"Social capital theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Corporate governance in the public sector has been divided into two complementary components: a formal or hard component and an informal or soft component (Tucker, 2010; Edwards and Clough, 2005; Halligan and Horrigan, 2005). The formal component comprises frameworks, structures and processes while the informal component is concerned with organisational culture and employee behaviour. Both components are recognised as critical to the success of an organisation in terms of achieving its goals but the informal component \"is frequently neglected\" (Tucker, 2010, p. 105). This paper makes an important contribution to public sector governance research by examining both components in the context of Australian state government departments. We report the results of interviews with 65 senior executives and managers from 25 state agencies across the five mainland states of Australia.1 unique aspect of our study is the adoption of the social capital perspective put forward by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) to analyse how factors relating to people, structures and processes across different functional areas work together to assist or impede effective corporate governance.\n2. The significance of Australian public sector governance: Public sector governance remains a longstanding responsibility of governments and public servants who play a unique role in serving the public interest. The scope of public sector activities is generally wide and complex, often bringing together elements of convention, legislative and policy requirements, and public expectations. In Australia, which operates under a federal system of government, public sector activities are divided between the Australian Government, the state governments and territories and local government3. The six state governments are structured in a similar manner to the federal government although Tucker (2010, p. 91) argues that the states have \"a more clearly defined role in service delivery and utilities provision.\" While there are differences in structure across the states, all have budget-funded departments under the authority of a minister and it is these that are the focus of the present study.\n3. Theoretical approach of the study: Our study contributes to the literature on public sector governance by undertaking a systematic examination of managers\n4. Social capital theory and its application to corporate governance: We adopt Nahapiet and Ghoshal\n5. Research method: Sample\n6. Interview findings: Structural dimension\n7. Discussion of findings: The results of our study provide insights into corporate governance in the public sector where it is generally assumed that formal structures and processes work together in an orderly and logical manner. In contrast, our interviews reveal a complex set of factors which affect the behaviour and perceptions of senior managers and which impede communication and knowledge sharing. These factors include frequent structural changes in the agencies as a result of government and/or departmental leadership change, the large size and complexity of some agencies, and a risk avoidance mind-set characteristic of a more traditional, administration-driven public sector mentality. Our findings thus lead to a number of practical implications.\n8. Concluding comments: While our study is exploratory, we believe that it adds relevant and timely insights into the softer side of corporate governance, that is, the behavioural factors that encourage or impede effective governance. It is the first study to examine how stakeholders or managers from distinct governance-related functional areas perceive and share a common understanding of what enables and what does not enable effective corporate governance. Prior studies in corporate governance have focused more narrowly on board level issues and structural matters pertaining to the existence of governance frameworks and guidelines, and have largely ignored the outcomes related to functional level relationships (Judge, 2010; Hambrick et al., 2008; Ees et al., 2009). Furthermore, this study is novel in its use of Nahapiet and Ghoshal\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that affect corporate governance in Australian state government departments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 65 executives and middle managers from 25 departments across Australia is used. The interviews identified managers\nFindings: Aligned with the structural dimension, frequent departmental and leadership changes and the size and complexity of departments are reported as major barriers to good governance, while well-structured committees are perceived to strengthen governance. Aligned with the relational dimension, a culture of good working relationships between staff and strong leadership are recognised as critical for strong governance while, aligned with the cognitive dimension, a lack of shared understanding of risk, a short-term focus, and unclear individual roles and organisational goals are seen as barriers to effective governance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The evidence is based on perceptions of participants and may not reflect actual practices nor the perceptions of others.\nOriginality/value: A contribution of this study is the application of social capital theory to advance understanding of public sector governance. The study adds insights into the behavioural and organisational factors that encourage or impede effective governance based on the experiences of managers from key governance functions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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