Split (2)

train · 145k rows

title stringlengths 6 301	keywords listlengths 0 23	messages listlengths 2 2
A search for new paths in Chinese industrial relations: Collective bargaining explores different approaches	[ "China", "Industrial relations", "Collective bargaining", "Trade unions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nA world apart: A commonly held view of modern China has it that it combines some of the worst aspects of authoritarian government with an unbridled form of capitalism.\nRule from the top: CB in China is state-centered. Neither companies nor trade unions can independently represent the interests of the employers or workers; they have to obey instructions from the state. Wage and other employment conditions are determined by the rules of the municipal governments at the local level. One can see at work here the will of the top-down administrative power which dominates the CB process.\nPragmatic approach: CB within the sweater industry in Wenling Municipality (Zheijang Province in the south-east) is another approach. This could pave the way for a new form of CB in China. Certainly, the \"Wenling model\" was identified by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, during his ten-year term in office (2003-2013) as a potential pragmatic approach to CB.\nWage disparities: Big disparities in wages from region to region, promises of high wages unfulfilled and failure by employers to deliver promised wages were all factors making an outbreak of labor-capital conflict inevitable.\nComment: This review is based on \"Employer-initiated collective bargaining: a case study of the Chinese sweater industry\", by Wen (2016). To western eyes, the convoluted details of how CB works in China are an eye-opener. The finer details to be found in the original are a fascinating snapshot of current industrial relations in the world's second biggest economy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Collective bargaining (CB) in China is perceived as inadequate, thanks to the lack of trade union independence and representation. However, there are interesting developments in some parts of the country, including Wenling, a massive manufacturing center examined here.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative case study covers all stakeholders, including the government, trade unions, sweater association, workers and employers.\nFindings: This paper examines initially the way that trade unions are constrained by corporatism in China. Increased industrial conflicts could push employers to become the engine of change. It finds that employers endeavor to use CB as a tool to stabilize employment relations and neutralize workers resistance. A gradual transition in labor relations system is on the way. The \"Wenling Way\" described here could become more widely used and is seen in some quarters as a possible model.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers new insights into the under-reported area of Chinese industrial relations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Project execution game (PEG): training towards managing unexpected events	[ "Project management", "Risk management", "Training", "Education", "Management games" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Projects usually fail in achieving their targets (e.g. Johnson et al., 2001; Zwikael and Globerson, 2006). Common reasons include lack of customer involvement, lack of management support and inadequate requirement specifications (Johnson et al., 2001). None of the reasons that have been identified in literature relate to project management education. We believe that it is possible to improve project success rate through better project management education.In many project management courses the traditional content includes project selection, project initiation, defining the project scope, scheduling, resource planning, budget planning and control, procurement management and risk management. However, investigating several project management workshops and courses in different countries, we realized that most of them focus on the planning phase of a project. This ignores the majority of the problems project managers usually face during the execution phase, which include reacting to unexpected events and coping with \"uncertainty\" scenarios. Believing that project management training should include more emphasis on project execution, we found a trigger for this study.Another problem the current project management training system has is with the balance between theory and practice. It is not enough for project managers to have conceptual knowledge of project management methods and tools. They also need to be trained with real world situations (McCreery, 2003). Yet, project management education often fails when it comes to practice-based training. Most courses do not teach nor simulate coping with new events that have never been analyzed before. Hence, the objective of this paper is to introduce a new project management game, which gives students some real-life experience with events they may deal with during project execution, in order to improve project management training.The paper's structure includes the review of relevant literature, game description, its validity, and analysis of its contribution in project management training.\n2. Literature review: This section introduces related literature from the areas of games, project management games and risk management.2.1. Games\n3. The Project Execution Game (PEG): Following the literature review, we introduce a unique project management game for training risk management during project execution, called Project Execution Game (PEG). While a project contains five phases, the game focuses on its execution phase, as is described in Figure 1.3.1. The research hypothesis\n4. The game's implementation: This section introduces the actual implementation of PEG in the research group, gives some examples to risk events the \"players\" had to deal with and investigates the game's validity.4.1. The research group\n5. PEG's contribution to project management knowledge: This section presents the contribution of PEG to project management education and tests the research hypothesis claims that PEG contributes to the student's project management knowledge.The game's validation was first evaluated using questionnaires. Before the game started, participants were asked to assess their project management knowledge levels by responding to a five-point Likert scales, where the anchors for the scales are 1 (extremely low) to 5 (extremely high). The knowledge was assessed according to the nine PMBoK's knowledge areas (PMI Standards Committee, 2004), including \"scope\", \"time\", \"cost\", \"quality\", \"human resources\", \"risk\", \"communication\", \"purchasing\" and \"integration\" management, as well as for project control and overall project management knowledge. Each student was asked to fill in the same questionnaire at the end of the game once again.A total of 87 students filled in the questionnaires in 2005, while 98 more did the same in 2006. Table III shows the averages of the students' knowledge before and after the game. The \"significant level\" column presents the one tailed t-test result of the differences between the answers, for each knowledge area, for each year.Table III shows a significant improvement in the subjective knowledge before and after the game in both years. All significance values are less than 5 per cent and therefore all the differences are statistically significant. Examining the difference in some project management areas, it can be seen that \"integration\" was the area in which they felt the highest improvement. This may have resulted by their limited knowledge in this area prior to PEG. It is also interesting to note that the average improvement increased from 0.40 in 2005 to 0.62 in 2006. This may be derived from the gained experience of the instructors.A correlation analysis shows that the grades students judged themselves before and after the PEG were highly correlated (Pearson 0.789 with 0.000 significant values). This means that according to their judgment the game improved their knowledge. These results support the research hypothesis; hence we may claim that PEG contributes to the student's project management knowledge.Results show that according to the students' judgment, PEG is an effective way to learn project execution. However, it should be mentioned here that these students have not learnt project execution management in any course prior or after PEG. Therefore, we cannot compare the PEG's effectiveness to other methods of training.A second type of questionnaire was filled out at the end of the game to collect qualitative feedback from the students about the game. The second questionnaire aimed at finding ways in which the game can be improved. The results of this questionnaire are shown in the Figure 5.Figure 5 shows that the game is interesting and challenging experience in most aspects, especially in teamwork and learning. Qualitative feedback from students included \"the game contributed to our practical knowledge\", \"the game contributed to our business confidence\", and \"the game gave us a unique team work experience\". Yet, some comments mentioned lack of competition in the game and unfriendly reports. All of the students' remarks were taken into account for improving the game in the consecutive year.\n6. Conclusions: Games may contribute to project management training in organizations and academy, as they give some practical experience to the participants. This paper presented the development of a project management game called PEG - Project Execution Game, which focuses on the execution phase of a project. The PEG concentrates on simulating the risk events that occur during project execution, the challenges project managers face and the evaluation of their decisions. It is based on realistic events presented to the project management teams, which must then decide what to do and how to react in order to cope with these events.The game was tested on 185 undergraduate students in their second project management course. Results show that according to their own judgment, the PEG significantly contributed to the students' knowledge in all project management knowledge areas. The knowledge area where they felt they experienced the most improvement was that of integration. The reason may be the difficulty of theoretically teaching integration among managerial processes in a classroom, versus its easiness of experiencing the overall project picture while playing a game.The PEG was developed especially to challenge project managers with uncertainty and unexpected events. Originally, this game was designed to train project managers in applying their risk management plan. However, while running the PEG, we realized that most of the events that were randomly generated were unexpected on the part of the participants. Hence, the \"players\" had no responses ready in their risk management plan document. As a result, the PEG utilized as a risk management training tool for project managers.The PEG provides the \"players\" the opportunity to practice the following skills and challenges:* managing the project during its execution phase;* experiencing different project scenarios; and* cope with risks in \"real time\".It gives students practical experience, which is lacking in most project management training sessions. The game develops some skills, which other project management training techniques do not, e.g. it develops team working skills, encourages participants to try out new behaviors, and allows experiential learning, to allow people understanding the consequences of their decisions.As a result, this game can be included in project management training sessions and courses, supplying the following benefits:* the game exposes the participants to the \"real world\" of project management and enables them to gain some experience in managing and controlling of projects;* the game teaches and trains participants to work within a team; and* the game trains participants to improve their responses to unexpected risk events.Furthermore, although the game was validated only with students, the game can also be used in organizations, in order to train project managers during internal workshops. For example, it may enable project managers to practice a real project before its actual execution. Having a project execution rehearsal, the project manager can not only improve the current project plan, but also improve his project planning capabilities for future projects. Yet, this implication of the game is not directly driven from the study's results, hence will have to be further examined. Another possible future implementation of this game is with other business professions, e.g. managing financial risks in a bank or managing technological risks in an engineering company.A drawback of this study includes the fact that there was no real experiment design, which includes two randomly chosen groups, one to become an experiment group and the other to become a control group. Moreover, the measurement of level of knowledge was subjective and was not based on objectives measures, but on the students' opinion. Another research limitation is data collected only in one country, which does not allow generalization of conclusions. Hence, this research can only be defined as a preliminary study. In order to increase the validity of the game more implementations of the game should be performed, including some in other majors, course levels and countries. In any case, this study highlights the importance of enlarging teaching techniques variety for the execution phase of projects, and suggests a proper example.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Games are an effective teaching and classroom training tool, since they allow students to practise real-life events. In the area of project management, most games focus on the planning phase of a project. The current paper aims to describe a new game, called PEG - Project Execution Game. The uniqueness of this game is its focus on real world problems during the project's execution.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The Project Execution Game provides the \"players\" with a set of realistic, but unexpected events that occur during a project, in order to enhance their problem-coping capabilities and decision-making skills as well as hone their general reactions. The game is designed for either one or several teams competing among themselves. The game's validity was tested on 185 undergraduate students in their advanced project management course. Statistical results about the simulation's contributions are presented in relation to several aspects of project management.\nFindings: - The conclusion from the study is that a game is an effective tool for teaching the unstructured area of project execution, and gives the student a taste of real-life experience.\nPractical implications: - The Project Execution Game can be implemented with students in project management training sessions. With this game, the students gain more practical relevant experience, as compared to alternative teaching techniques. Furthermore, the game can be used in organizational training to improve project managers' techniques and experience in reacting to unexpected events. Finally, it can also be used with project managers practising before the actual execution of a big project.\nOriginality/value: - This paper suggests effective and interesting ways of teaching project management in order to better train project managers. By simulating realistic competitive conditions, the concepts learned and solutions generated in the classroom can be transferred to the outside business environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How are we tempted into debt? Emotional appeals in loan advertisements in UK newspapers	[ "Interviews", "Content analysis", "UK", "Emotional advertising", "Loan advertisements" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When compared to levels of debt in similar European economies, UK personal debt remains one of the highest in Europe (OECD, 2017). Household debt has been steadily rising in the UK (The Money Charity, 2017, 2018; BBC, 2019), and the issue of household debt is an important challenge for government policy (Adams and Smart, 2017; BBC, 2018). Debt was the second largest advice category (behind benefits), with 126,429 queries made in April 2017, a 21 per cent increase in the same month the previous year (Money Statistics, 2018; The Money Charity, 2018). The abovementioned factors make the UK market an important context to study factors that may contribute to these high levels of debt. In addition to serious potential financial consequences, a growing body of research has shown that being in debt may lead to serious health-related problems, including depression, stress and anxiety (Lazarov and Hinterschweiger, 2018).\nLiterature review and theoretical framework: The use and perceptions of emotional appeals in advertising\nResearch procedure: Study 1\nDiscussion, future research and conclusion: The marketing of loans is intended to offer a financial solution for consumers who do not have the necessary funds in cash. Available research does not offer any systematic findings on how such services are advertised in the UK, or how loan advertisements are perceived by consumers. This study fills this important and surprising gap in knowledge. It extends our understanding of the use of emotional appeals by UK banks in loan advertisements, as well as consumers' perceptions of advertisements featuring emotional appeals. The findings provide an image of how advertisers in the UK use emotions to encourage consumers to borrow money. The findings are discussed by looking at two aspects of the cultural meaning transfer theory: the meanings presented in the cultural artefacts of consumer culture, that is advertisements for an important product, and how these meanings are perceived by consumers.\nConclusion: This research contributes to the public debate on debt and advertising by examining the use of emotional appeals in loan advertisements and consumers' perceptions of such advertisements. The findings reveal that emotional appeals in loan advertisements are used most frequently for loans that carry more risk, such as mortgages, than those that carry less risk such as personal loans or credit cards. Advertisers, when employing emotional appeals, usually position loans as products that provide relief, security, adventure and excitement. Consumers perceive such adverts as sources of motivation on the one hand, and images of financial illusion on the other. They report that adverts employing emotional appeals lack product-appeal congruence and are not sufficient to build their trust towards the bank or the advertised service, but may be effective in arousing their interest if the advertised product is relevant to their needs at the time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of emotional appeals in advertisements for loans and explored consumers' perceptions of advertisements featuring such appeals in order to explore how emotional meanings are transferred to consumers via advertising.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Study 1 employed content analysis to examine the use of emotional appeals in loan advertisements. Over 2,900 editions of eight British newspapers were monitored for advertisements for loans containing emotional appeals. Study 2 employed 33 semi-structured interviews to explore consumers' perceptions of emotional appeals in loan advertisements.\nFindings: Loans were positioned as services providing relief, security and excitement. The use of negative emotional appeals such as guilt, fear and sorrow was sporadic. Loans that carried the most risk were advertised with positive emotional appeals the most frequently. Five dimensions of perceptions of emotional loan advertisements were conceptualised from the reported data in Study 2.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study in the UK to examine the use of emotional appeals in loan advertising and to explore consumers' perceptions of loan advertisements featuring emotional appeals. The study identified five dimensions of perceptions of emotional appeals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Racial diversity in professional selling: an empirical investigation of the differences in the perceptions and performance of African-American and Caucasian salespeople	[ "Equal opportunties", "Cross‐cultural management", "Personal selling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: \"Is there a difference in the performance and work-related behaviors between salespeople of different races?\" It is a question that is often in the minds of organizational leaders but, due to the sensitive nature of this question, is rarely asked or considered in a public forum. This may be one of the reasons that the topic of racial differences in sales performance is rarely, if ever, examined in the sales management literature. A number of research studies have examined characteristic differences in salespeople, and how these differences influence both performance-related successes and deficiencies (Brown et al., 1997, 1998; Dwyer et al., 1998). However, examining sales success or failure based on the race of the salesperson has never been empirically approached.The workforces of many businesses in the USA are being augmented with an increasing number of racially diverse employees (Robinson et al., 1998). However, although a significant number of employment fields have followed the trend of increasing the number of minority employees in their profession, the field of professional selling remains to be a profession dominated by the presence of Caucasian males. While a considerable amount of research has focused on understanding the performance and perceptions of the separate minority category of women in professional selling (Comer and Jolson, 1991; Schul and Wren, 1992; Comer et al., 1995), racial minorities and their performance in professional selling have yet to be examined in-depth. In a recent examination of the demographic characteristics of professional salespeople, Lucas (1996) found that less than 5 percent of all sales force positions, excluding retail sales, were held by African-Americans.Recently, research in sales management has begun to examine the difficulties facing minorities in obtaining both entry-level sales positions and promotions within a sales force to middle and upper-level management positions. These investigations have covered a wide array of topics, including pre-interview biases against minority sales job applicants (Marshall et al., 1998), the stereotypical views of certain minorities applying for sales jobs held by organizations (Comer et al., 1998; DelVecchio and Honeycutt, 2000), the negative perceptions of selling careers held by minority students (Comer et al., 1998), and expected performance perception differences between buyers and sellers of different races, genders, or other characteristics (Jones et al., 1998).Although the aforementioned studies recognize and attempt to deal with a very critical problem facing both the racial minority applicant for a sales job and the potentially discriminating organizations that have established the aforementioned barriers to employment, the research presented in these studies focuses the greatest amount of attention on combating the problem at the front end of the employment process. This emphasis has succeeded in showing many organizations why racial minorities, specifically African-Americans, account for a very small portion of professional salespeople. However, research has failed to examine both how racial minorities perform, and what their performance related attitudes and behaviors are, once the professional sales job is obtained (Marshall et al., 1998).The objectives of the present investigation are very straightforward. Initially, the manuscript hopes to review the literature pertaining to the challenges facing African-Americans in both obtaining professional selling positions and advancing in their organization. Second, the present study will attempt to uncover specific work-related perceptions and performance-related attributes that have yet to be examined in the sales force diversity literature, with specific research questions formulated around these perceptions and attributes. The empirical results obtained through the statistical analysis of the formulated research questions will ideally benefit organizations in two separate areas. First, any observations of racial differences in performance perceptions can be emphasized as areas of improvement for sales departments and organizations. Second, the present study can benefit organizations by identifying areas where racial differences have no impact on job performance or work related attitudes, providing organizations with the strongest evidence to date that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on diversifying sales forces.\nConceptual background: Two very general categories of difficulties facing minority salespeople, obtaining a professional selling position and advancing in a professional selling position, have received a considerable amount of research attention (Comer et al., 1998). It is important to review each of these categories in order to understand what many minority candidates experience when attempting to obtain, and advance in, professional selling positions.Challenge #1 - obtaining a professional selling position\nResearch questions: A greater focus on, and analysis of, vital job performance variables or job perception variables directly related to performance appears to be needed to determine how African-American salespeople perform in comparison to their peers. Stated more succinctly, research needs to determine if African-American salespeople exhibit similar performance levels and performance-related perceptions and behaviors as compared to their salesperson peers. Therefore, as the underlying premise of the present study is to explore possible differences in the behaviors and performances of separate groups of salespeople, research questions will be developed and presented in the following section. Four separate research questions, based on the previous research of Comer et al. (1998), and focusing on psychological climate perceptions (including support), customer relationships, salesperson performance, and manager-representative similarity, will be developed in order to provide a foundation for better understanding if and how racial differences influence salesperson performance.Psychological climate\nMethodology: Data collection and sampling frame\nResults: RQ1. Is there a significant difference between the psychological climate perceptions of African-American salespeople as compared with Caucasian salespeople?The overall MANOVA statistics in Table III indicate that there are no significant differences in the perceptions of psychological climate as perceived by African-American salespeople versus Caucasian salespeople (p>0.05). The only individual significant difference exhibited by the univariate ANOVA statistics occurs for the pressure component of the psychological climate scale, indicating that Caucasian salespeople perceive greater pressure from their superiors than do African-American salespeople (African-American [AA] mean=3.32, Caucasian [Cau.] mean=3.96). Mean results from each of the components of the psychological climate scale also indicated that African-American salespeople perceive greater support (5.76 vs 5.33), greater autonomy (5.28 vs 5.07), higher levels of recognition (5.49 vs 5.10), greater work group cohesion (5.32 vs 4.99), and slightly higher work innovation (5.06 vs 5.03), than their Caucasian counterparts. Overall, these differences are not statistically significant.RQ2. Is there a significant difference between the focus and effort put forth to establish customer relationships by African-American salespeople as compared to Caucasian salespeople?\nManagerial implications: The overall results from the present study indicate that many salesperson job perceptions and performance outcomes are similar for the two different races of salespeople analyzed. A more in depth examination of the results, however, do reveal a number of interesting insights and potential challenges facing sales executives today.Initially, the results appear to suggest that African-American salespeople have a far more positive attitude toward their employment situation and possess a more positive perception of psychological climate in their organization than previously believed or documented. Although the mean value differences were not statistically significant, African-American salespeople exhibited higher positive perceptions for all of the psychological climate variables examined, indicating that they do not perceive negative discrepancies in their treatment from the organization as compared with their Caucasian counterparts.The explanation for this result might be derived from an examination of the leadership styles utilized by sales managers. Based on the theory of leader-reinforcing behavior (Podsakoff et al., 1984), previous research has found that the supervisory feedback given by sales managers significantly impacts the attitudes and perceptions of salespeople. Recently, research has shown that differing leadership styles exhibited by sales managers can significantly influence both the sales performance and the extra-role contributions made by subordinate salespeople (MacKenzie et al., 2001). It is also true that sales managers often will attempt to determine what types of leadership or behaviors will work best based on the personalities or characteristics of their subordinate salespeople (Bass, 1997).The implication for the present study and its results is that sales managers may be utilizing differing forms of leadership based on the race of the subordinate salesperson. This would, at least partially, explain the differences seen in the perceptions of psychological climate between African-American and Caucasian salespeople in the present study. For example, MacKenzie et al. (2001) have found that transformational leadership has greater positive influences on a salesperson's performance and extra-role behaviors as compared to transactional leadership. Although it is not empirically tested in the present study, it is possible that sales managers might be taking a more transactional approach in managing Caucasian salespeople and a more transformational approach in managing African-American salespeople.The second noteworthy result from the present study deals with the critical performance differences observed within the sales representatives when comparisons are made based on racial similarity or dissimilarity between the sales manager and the sales representative. Each of the individual performance indicators indicates that sales representatives with sales managers of similar race perform at a higher level than sales representatives with sales managers of a different race. Both of the results are statistically significant.A possible explanation for this improved performance based on being led by a sales manager of a similar race can be attributed to the tenets of similarity attraction theory (Byrne, 1971). Research in a variety of areas, including but not limited to business, has indicated that individuals are often more comfortable when they are surrounded by individuals who are similar to them. The possibility exists that salespeople find comfort in managers who are racially similar to them. This comfort can possibly translate to better understanding, a greater willingness to ask questions, or the confidence to probe for important expectations by the salesperson. Each of the aforementioned improvements, based potentially on the strong relationship between racially similar sales managers and salespeople, would likely make a salesperson a higher performer.The implications from this result have far-reaching potential. The initial reaction for many organizations would likely fall into the category that racial matching between sales managers and sales representatives should be followed to improve bottom-line performance in organizations. However, a quick review of this type of policy would suggest that it is both unrealistic and extremely divisive. Hiring separate sales managers for different races of salespeople would not only be expensive and potentially wasteful, it would also segregate sales forces into racial populations, likely creating competitive or even illegal divisions of an organization's work force. A better solution would be to focus on training programs designed to make sales managers more sensitive to the needs or preferences of non-similar race subordinates.As stated earlier, a large majority of the sales managers in the USA today are Caucasian males (Lucas, 1996). Educating and training these individuals to improve their ability to deal with all non-similar race sales subordinates should be of utmost importance. However, as more African-Americans move into selling positions and ultimately receive promotions to administrative positions, the same type of training and education will be critical as well. A recent study has shown that communication competence plays a critical role in developing interpersonal relationships and productive communication styles between marketing executives from diverse cultures (Bush et al., 2001). The same premise is likely to hold true for sales managers and sales representatives of diverse races. The ability to establish open communication and to understand expectations between managers and representatives of different races will be critical in closing the performance differences seen in the present study.Lastly, the lack of differences between the two races of salespeople does merit attention. The results of the present study signify that organizations now have clear support for hiring and promoting African-American salespeople. Specifically, the present study has shown that when salespeople of different races are compared, no significant differences exist between their perceptions of psychological climate, their effort to establish customer relationships, or their objective and subjective performance. These outcomes should likely suggest to organizations that African-American salespeople are capable and competent profit producers, especially when compared with their Caucasian counterparts. Comer et al. (1998) have found that African-Americans are seeing an increase in the number of sales-related employment positions they maintain. By uncovering conclusive evidence that African-American salespeople are capable and desirable sales employees, the present study creates a stronger argument for a much greater increase in the number of African-Americans being hired at entry-level and upper-level sales positions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Although a significant number of employment fields and categories have followed the trend of increasing the number of minority employees in their profession, professional selling remains a profession dominated by the presence of Caucasian males. Racial minorities and their performance in a professional selling environment have yet to be examined in depth. Understanding why there are so few African-Americans in professional selling is important. However, analyzing and comprehending what these salespeople accomplish once they obtain professional sales positions should also be of considerable interest, which this paper seeks to examine.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Utilizing a sample of 294 African-American and Caucasian salespeople, the present manuscript empirically examines a variety of important work-related perceptions and behaviors, and the performance levels of separate races of salespeople, to determine whether differences exist based on the race of the salesperson.\nFindings: - Results indicate that African-American and Caucasian salespeople do not exhibit significant differences in terms of their psychological climate perceptions, customer relationship effort, and overall performance. Additionally, the results indicate that racial similarity between the sales manager and the sales representative significantly influences the aforementioned perceptions and performance of salespeople.\nOriginality/value: - Managerial implications suggest that managerial-level training should be utilized to create sales atmospheres that create equal opportunities for all salespeople. Sales executives will also be able to utilize the results from the present study as evidence that separate races of salespeople appear to be equally qualified to perform the job.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring relational asymmetry in supply chains: the retailer's perspective	[ "Supply chain management", "Retailers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: At the most fundamental level, a supply chain is composed of a series of relationships among multiple firms (Cooper et al., 1997; Phillips and Liu, 1998). Competitive pressures, environmental uncertainties, and increasing consumer demands have led firms to increasingly seek highly developed cooperative supply chain relationships in order to remain competitive (Carr and Pearson, 2002; Mentzer et al., 2000; Prahinski and Fan, 2007; Rogers and Leuschner, 2004). Developing such successful cooperative relationships is one of the most durable competitive advantages because high performing relationships are difficult for competitors to duplicate or displace (Day, 2000) and numerous performance benefits are often associated with cooperative relationships (Morash and Clinton, 1998; Rinehart et al., 2004; Turner et al., 2000). Supply chain initiatives such as collaborative planning forecasting and replenishment (CPFR), collaborative transportation management (CTM), and vendor managed inventory (VMI) have illustrated the potential power of cooperative supply chain relationships (Esper and Williams, 2003; Sherman, 1998; Waller et al., 1999).\nMethodology: Data collection\nFindings: Model overview\nDiscussion: According to the extant literature that has investigated issues associated with relationship asymmetry, researchers agree that asymmetry is an important structural element that can significantly impact relationship success. The manner in which asymmetry impacts relationships, however, has traditionally not been the object of complete agreement in the literature. Likewise, there is not consistent empirical support in current asymmetric supply chain relationship management research. For example, some asymmetric vendor retailer relationships endure and flourish while others eventually dissolve. Such conceptual and empirical disagreement could very well be the result of a lack of in-depth investigation to explore the potential multi-dimensional and complex nature of asymmetry. This research, in the quest of addressing this gap in an exploratory fashion, has uncovered some interesting findings relative to the nature and management of relationship asymmetry.Perhaps the most significant of these findings is the notion that there is more than one type of relationship asymmetry. According to this qualitative investigation there are three distinguishable types of asymmetry: satisfactory asymmetry, unsatisfactory tolerable asymmetry and unsatisfactory intolerable asymmetry. Each of these types of asymmetry potentially has distinctly different impacts on supply chain relationships and is therefore managed differently. As such, the opposing results and strong negative connotation associated with existing asymmetry literature may well be because either different types of asymmetry, or the type that primarily triggers negative relationship impacts, were being investigated. For example, satisfactory asymmetry is not inherently negative. The fact that some organizations may be more or less trusting, committed or dependent is okay if both parties agree that such a structure is satisfactory. A classic case of this would be large retail chain vendors, who are often faced with asymmetry issues. Many small vendors accept the differences in the levels of commitment between themselves and a large retail chain. As such, managing these relationships is not necessarily focused on changing the asymmetry structure, but accepting it as it is and maintaining the status quo.Unsatisfactory asymmetry may yield either positive or negative impacts on supply chain relationships depending on the tolerance associated with it. In the services marketing literature, the concept of a \"Zone of Tolerance\" (ZOT) has been used to explain satisfaction and service quality (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991; Johnston, 1995). The ZOT is defined as a range of service performance that a customer considers satisfactory. Service performance below the ZOT leads to customer frustration and service performance above the ZOT leads to customer loyalty. The ZOT can vary from customer to customer and from situation to situation, and is unique to an individual. According to the asymmetry management model presented above, the tolerance or intolerance of unsatisfactory asymmetric relationships influences the behavioral strategies employed to seek more satisfactory symmetry conditions.Participants in the study displayed a range of unique tolerances for unsatisfactory asymmetric conditions, but their responses were consistent with the original ZOT concept. For example, when supply chain relationships were inside a manager's zone of asymmetric relationship tolerance, the manager remained committed to the partner and engaged in the more positive behaviors of \"demonstrating\" and \"clarifying.\" Such a response suggests a reliance on the Norm of Reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960). The Norm of Reciprocity proposes that people usually help those that help them; that is, they mirror the actions of others in exchange relationships. Reciprocity evokes obligations to others based on past behavioral interactions. In essence, to transform an unsatisfactory but tolerable asymmetric relationship into a more satisfactory form, managers rely on communicating and demonstrating actions that are more indicative of the satisfactory structure intending to invoke a reciprocal response. Thus, behaviors are used as a form of tacit negotiation (Schelling, 1956).However, when a supply chain relationship was outside of a manager's zone of unsatisfactory asymmetric relationship tolerance, the manager expressed frustration by engaging in \"threatening\" and \"acting.\" Such a response is consistent with the Exit-Voice Theory of consumer reaction to dissatisfaction (Hirschman, 1970). This theory states that consumers react to dissatisfying experiences in one of two ways. They can \"exit\" a market by terminating usage, substituting alternatives, or finding other sources. They can also \"voice\" dissatisfaction by complaining to management or a third party. Likewise, when managers are outside their zone of unsatisfactory asymmetric relationship tolerance, they pursue deconstructive \"exit\" and \"voice\" strategies through \"acting\" and \"threatening\" processes. Such a case may ultimately involve either transforming an intolerable unsatisfactory asymmetry condition to a more satisfactory state via voice or replacing the intolerable relationship with a more satisfactory one by exiting.Overall, the notion that asymmetry is a unidimensional construct is now called into question. According to the findings of the current research, asymmetry is a complex issue and managers employ different strategies to address the potential supply chain relationship performance implications of each. Additionally, the findings suggest that asymmetry may not be a static issue, but one that has a temporal element. Although structural asymmetry may be constant, the degree of satisfaction and/or tolerance associated with it may evolve over time. It is possible that what today is satisfactory asymmetry may be unsatisfactory tolerable asymmetry later, which in turn could develop into unsatisfactory intolerable asymmetry even later on. Hence, as the process model presented in Figure 1 suggests, managers often engage in iterative cycles of assessing and evaluating to deal with the issues of whether the current state of asymmetry is satisfactory, and if not, determining whether the unsatisfactory state is tolerable.This temporal element hinges on the theoretical underpinnings of TCE (Williamson, 1979, 1981, 1985; Williamson et al., 1975). As aforementioned, the outcome of TCE, appropriate alignment of governance structures that drive performance, is very similar to the goal of the process of seeking satisfactory alignment. In fact, the core phenomenon in this study can be viewed as a specific application of TCE in a retail-vendor relationship context. In essence, managers often reconsider the transaction costs associated with asymmetric relationships in order to determine if any changes to their satisfaction and/or tolerance of the relationship have developed over time and to determine the appropriate management strategies to employ in pursuit of more satisfactory structures and minimal transaction costs.The findings also suggest that perceived asymmetry is what primarily matters in supply chain relationships. In this research, actual asymmetry was not measured or evaluated as has been done in previous studies (Buchanan, 1992; Gundlach and Cadotte, 1994; Ross et al., 1997). However, perceived asymmetry proved to be robust enough to impact managerial behaviors that impact relationship structures. Hence, the mere perception that asymmetry exists, regardless of the degree of actual asymmetry, could potentially impact supply chain relationship exchange.\nFuture research and implications: The primary research implication associated with this investigation is that it provides greater understanding of a neglected area of relationship research. Although some level of asymmetry is common in most supply chain relationships, a theoretical framework that addresses how managers approach these unbalanced relationships has been lacking. Therefore, the process of seeking satisfactory alignment begins to fill this gap in the literature. The rich qualitative data also provides thick descriptions of contextual situations that add to the depth of understanding, extends the scope of several theories, and offers additional support to existing theories.This study also prompts additional questions that can lead to new research. For example, further exploration of the zone of tolerance concept in asymmetric relationships is warranted. Although this study proposes the concept of a zone of tolerance as an element of the process of seeking satisfactory alignment, more detailed examination is needed to assess how and why the zone of tolerance varies among individual managers. Future research that determines the drivers of tolerance for asymmetry can potentially contribute to understanding of why asymmetric supply chain relationships succeed or fail.Supply chain relationships have been typically categorized simply by the presence or absence of key attributes and behaviors with limited reference to symmetry. However, due to the common occurrence of asymmetric relationships, a new form of relationship categorization may be explored to include aspects of perceived asymmetry and a manager's satisfaction and tolerance of asymmetry. For example, relationships could be classified as symmetric or asymmetric, then asymmetric relationships could be grouped into satisfactory or unsatisfactory categories, and unsatisfactory asymmetric relationships could be further divided into tolerant or intolerant groups. By incorporating issues of symmetry into relationship classification schemes, greater insight into the drivers of successful relationships may be achieved.As previously highlighted, most prior research proposes asymmetry in a relationship is generally thought to have negative consequences. The theoretical framework presented in the process of seeking satisfactory alignment offers qualitative data that both supports and rejects this traditional claim. Over extended periods of time, asymmetric relationships do appear to be unstable and prone to failure, as shown in the deconstructive processes of threatening and acting. However, initial short-term asymmetry seems to provide some opportunities to enhance a supply chain relationship in the constructive processes of clarifying and demonstrating. This contradictory finding indicates a temporal aspect to asymmetric relationship management. Perhaps the consequences of relationship asymmetry need to be evaluated in conjunction with an element of time progression. This critical insight may help increase understanding of why asymmetric supply chain relationships succeed or fail.All research methods are flawed and scholars make choices regarding the unavoidable trade-offs between generalizability, precision, and realism (McGrath, 1982). Qualitative methods rely on the direct experiences of informants who provide thick, rich, context-dependent, descriptions of phenomenon. By interviewing managers who were willing and able to share their experiences, this grounded theory study achieved the goal of realism in research. However, like other qualitative methods, grounded theory is inherently weak in the research goals of generalizability and precision. In order to achieve these goals, future quantitative studies should also be pursued. This qualitative study should serve as an initial step in a program of research that seeks to achieve generalizability, precision, and realism in the study of asymmetric supply chain relationships. For example, in order to fully test the asymmetry concept, future quantitative research could utilize matched-pair survey instruments to tap into the asymmetry perceptions of both sides of an exchange relationship in order to more fully explore the impacts of perceptions of asymmetry on supply chains.The asymmetric relationship literature is still incomplete. In prior research, the structural importance of asymmetry was established. For example, Gundlach and Cadotte (1994) found that the actual level of dependence asymmetry had statistically significant impacts on a relationship. In this current research, the management of asymmetric relationships was explored with qualitative methods and a management process was revealed. However, a gap still remains in the asymmetry literature. Future research may consider the evolution of asymmetric relationships. Although the body of knowledge now has some understanding of the impacts and management of asymmetry, opportunities still exist for exploring where asymmetric relationships come from and how they develop. Such understanding may provide valuable insight into the effective development and management of supply chain relationships.The process of seeking satisfactory alignment has several implications for managers as well. The model presented in Figure 1 provides additional insight into the processes and behaviors associated with managing a common type of supply chain relationship. Managers can use this enhanced process knowledge to more effectively approach their asymmetric supply chain relationships. Although there is no intent to make this study prescriptive and describe what managers should do, participants did describe a management process that enabled them to successfully manage asymmetric supply chain relationships. Therefore, managers may glean additional insights into how others have successfully managed asymmetry.Managers can apply the concepts of asymmetry, satisfaction, and tolerance to segment their various interfirm relationships. A relationship segmentation process based on asymmetry, satisfaction, and tolerance can help managers more effectively focus and customize their resources. For example, organizations could classify unsatisfactory asymmetric partner relationships as either \"fix\" or \"fire\" and allocate resources appropriately. Managers who possess strong teaching and coaching skills could be assigned to \"fix\" type partner relationships. Whereas, managers with strong justification and termination skills could be assigned to \"fire\" type partner relationships. This customized type of relationship management could be more efficient and ultimately lower transaction costs.The concepts of satisfaction and tolerance in asymmetric relationships highlight the importance of how a firm is perceived by its relationship partners. The model illustrates the potential negative consequences of prolonged perceived asymmetric relationships. Managers may consider proactively addressing perceived asymmetries before they reach unsatisfactory or intolerable levels and potential relationship degradation. If vendors sense their retail partner moving from tolerant to intolerant strategies, they can develop tactics to save the relationship or prepare for its potential termination. Such actions could enhance customer service or reduce transition costs.Finally, managers can use initial perceived asymmetry as an opportunity to grow together and exploit the initial clarifying and demonstrating behaviors in the process of seeking satisfactory alignment. This could be a strategy for developing a real mutual partnership. For example, a vendor could create or identify unsatisfactory relationship asymmetries in order to initiate the clarifying and demonstrating processes in the overall process of seeking satisfactory alignment. The increased communication opportunities within these initial processes could be used to develop the foundation of a high performing strategic partnership and maximize customer service to a retail partner.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of asymmetric supply chain relationships and investigate how firms manage these relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using grounded theory methodology, qualitative data was accumulated from experienced supply chain managers. Depth interviews were utilized in order to gain a deeper understanding of asymmetric supply chain relationships.\nFindings: - Prior research has conceptualized asymmetry as a lack of dyadic balance in a core relationship attribute and has focused on causal effects of asymmetry in relationships. However, this study finds asymmetry is a more complex issue and that there are three distinguishable types of relationship asymmetry.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The types of asymmetry that emerged in this exploratory research potentially have different impacts on supply chain relationships. Therefore, the strong negative connotation associated with existing asymmetry literature may well be because the type of asymmetry that primarily triggers negative relationship impacts were being investigated. However, this paper suggests that some types of asymmetry have positive relational outcomes.\nPractical implications: - This exploratory paper provides managers with additional insight into a common type of supply chain relationship and suggests that asymmetric relationships should be segmented in order to more effectively manage transaction costs.\nOriginality/value: - The notion that asymmetry is a simple, unidimensional construct is now called into question. According to the findings of this paper, asymmetry is a complex issue and managers employ different strategies to address the potential supply chain relationship performance implications with each type of asymmetry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Public and patient involvement in research on ageing and dementia	[ "Ageing", "Dementia", "Involvement", "Patient", "Public" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Three years ago, I wrote a brief review of public and patient involvement (PPI) in health research (Ashton, 2017). Here, I take a closer look at research on ageing and dementia, through three interviews with people with extensive relevant experience: from the viewpoint of a researcher, a public contributor and a PPI lead in the Research Design Service.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to assess the current state, and various methods, of public and patient involvement, particularly but not exclusively in research on ageing and dementia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Interviews were carried out with a researcher, who has had a leading role in research on dementia; a public contributor with extensive relevant experience; and a member of the research design service with responsibility for patient and public involvement.\nFindings: All those involved in the research can benefit considerably from public and patient involvement and it can make a significant difference to the course of a project. The importance of choosing an appropriate method of involvement is discussed and planning for it in both financial terms and time allowed. Examples are given of successful studies.\nResearch limitations/implications: Those who took part in the interviews were chosen for their record in furthering public and patient involvement in research. There is no attempt to compare their views with those of the wider research community.\nPractical implications: The various ways in which patients and the public are involved in relevant research is a guide to those designing projects and those who may want to explore opportunities for involvement.\nSocial implications: Social implications include being able to influence research projects, contributors of all ages find they are valued.\nOriginality/value: The format of the paper is original, eliciting material from three viewpoints on research and involvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Appreciative leadership: delivering sustainable difference through conversation and inquiry	[ "Evaluation", "Development", "Learning", "Values", "Appreciative inquiry", "Appreciative leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust (LCFT) was established in 2002 and employs 7,000 people across more than 400 sites, providing a wide range of healthcare and well-being services for around 1.5 million people.\nIntroduction: Programme delegates were clinical, technical and managerial, and ranged from executive level to team leaders. The organisation functions in a competitive public sector environment under significant financial pressures, corporate and clinical governance structures, complex delivery targets set by the government, and external monitoring around corporate accountability.\nEmbedding values in the design: The programme was designed around LCFT's six organisational values: integrity, respect, excellence, accountability, compassion and teamwork.\nEmbedding values in delivery: Founded on the principles of conversational-based change, the delivery methodology uses conversation to gather the stories and experiences of individuals (Senge et al., 2005). This creates new futures together rather than reshuffling the present into a different format. Learner-centred and with a minimum amount of trainer input, this methodology creates thinking space and an environment that allows leaders to explore their ideas and insights.\nThe hypothesis for the evaluation: H1. The design of leadership programmes around organisation values and the delivery using conversation and inquiry makes a difference. This difference is the sustainability of change in behaviour and learning transfer.\nEvaluation strategy: Development initiatives such as this Appreciative Leadership Programme have historically been difficult to evaluate in terms of return on investment (ROI), which is due to a number of factors:\nEvaluation areas of inquiry: All evaluation inquiry was built on the learning outcomes from the programme, the transfer of those outcomes into practice, the sustainability of that practice and the impact on teams and service provision. The eight areas of inquiry were:\nEvaluation design - for all 497 delegates and 423 line managers: End of workshop questionnaire based on links to values, impact on thinking and value in relation to operational delivery.\nThe study group: sub-set of 91 of the 497 delegates: additional areas for evaluation: Pre-programme questionnaire to delegates based on leadership concepts and programme outcomes.\nThe tracker group: sub-set of 23 of the 91: additional areas for evaluation: The tracker group is a random stratified sample of the study group of 91.\nThe evaluation process: Delegates were informed about the evaluation process in the pre-programme reading. At the first workshop there was a briefing about the \"attributed\" nature of the evaluation process. In terms of the pre, end and post-programme questionnaires, FMA can identify both the delegates and line managers but only by a number assigned to them.\nThe results: The overall results are positive and confirm the hypothesis. There was a high level of compliance between the positive responses of delegates and their associated line managers, and the data were representative of both groups surveyed. Therefore, the conclusions are well founded.\nSustainability, engagement and leadership performance: Evaluation needs to be an organisation-wide conversation about improvement on both a personal and organisational level. This needs to be about sustainability in terms of leadership behaviour and impact on the leader, their team, and the organisation. The findings indicate that learning sustainability is statistically significant. It is notable that on several measures line managers rated their delegates' learning more highly than the delegates themselves, particularly with regards to communication and leadership during a time of change.\nThe findings: workshop evaluation - all 497 delegates: Written and verbal feedback confirmed that only 72 responses (from a possible 4,970) were in the three or four categories equivalent to disagree or strongly disagree, which equates to only 1.4 per cent of the overall delegate population.\nThe findings: leadership learning sets: Leadership learning sets (LLS) were created to: provide a space for leadership learners to explore learning in a small group; create an opportunity to discuss the challenges and successes of implementing learning in operational environments; enable the development of conversation as a means of learning and improvement; allow a group of people from within the organisation to develop their skills as facilitators; develop learning relationships between leadership learners and facilitators; and to ensure that learning transfer is supported by FMA and the organisation.\nThe findings: 360 degree evaluation feedback framework: The fact that the framework was designed and agreed by peers and service users made it more acceptable to delegates, and the fact that it was part of the personal development and review process strongly connected it with the organisation's vision and purpose.\nThe findings: evaluation of the action research project: Action research involves interaction between the researcher (the delegate), his or her subject and their data, and it is more qualitative and outcome-based in nature. The intention of the ARP was to create a format for the transfer of learning from the workshops, LLS, personal study, and reflection into action with colleagues, teams and service users.\nThe findings: study group - the impact of design and delivery on sustainability: Delegates reported an improvement in the use of values-based language at the post-programme follow-up, a result corroborated by line managers. The sustainability between the end of and post-programme evaluations, in terms of delegates using powerful questions and positive inquiry as ways of engaging people, was statistically significant. This sustainability includes: using positive inquiry, considering purpose as important as task, having meaningful conversations, and using powerful/challenging questions.\nThe findings: study group - the impact of learning on others: Practical application of the learning and its associated impact on others includes: sharing concepts with people who have not attended the programme; supporting those who currently or formerly attended; trying out ideas and practical activities; learning from the process, and passing the learning forward.\nThe findings: line managers' reflections: Line managers were positive about delegates' improvements and reported higher post-programme ratings for all items at follow-up, including: positive change/improvement in communication and impact; understanding their impact and how that can improve; sharing personal insights and reflections; asking people about their reflections and insights; and asking for feedback on their impact.\nEvaluation - learning and next steps: Design\nConclusion: Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts (Albert Einstein).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper reflects a two-year evaluation research study by Fiona MacNeill Associates (FMA), focused on an Appreciative Leadership Programme. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of designing a bespoke Appreciative Leadership Programme (commissioned by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust), around a specific set of organisational values and the associated sustainability linked to the delivery using conversation and inquiry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is a review of 497 delegates and their associated 423 line managers. The main evaluation methods were questionnaires, conversations, content analysis and thematic analysis. The research collects data pre, during, end and post-programme.\nFindings: The analysis of data collected indicates a statistically significant link between the programme design and delivery and the subsequent sustainability of the learning and levels of engagement within the organisation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research provided information on all key areas of inquiry and allowed improvements to be made for future programmes. In future study, a focused follow up with a larger sample of at least 30 per cent of the total population will provide greater validity and reliability of the impact of on-going positive attention. The evaluation of leadership learning sets also needs to be more focused.\nPractical implications: The findings can be used to inform the next iteration of the programme, by building on areas of strength and those identified for development. The data allows the organisation (LCFT) and the provider to co-create the next programme. The findings have also been presented to other NHS organisations and to an international training and development conference in Dallas.\nOriginality/value: Appreciative Leadership is built on the foundation of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), whole systems thinking, and action research. The organisation is seen as a relationship to be explored and developed, teams as communities of purpose and practice, and individuals as thinkers and innovators. This approach favours interdependencies, conversation, novel and creative ideas, and engagement that fosters a true desire to co-create the future. The paper provides connections between concepts and theories used in the education of clinicians and cutting-edge leadership development thinking. The paper has value to leaders, and those who commission leadership development, healthcare professionals and training and development professionals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The direct and indirect effect of NFC on marketers' work norms, vocational socialization, individual ethical position, and ethical perceptions	[ "Marketing", "Ethics", "Marketing management", "Individual ethical position", "Need for cognition (NFC)", "Vocational socialization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Theories of decision-making under ethical conditions in organizations allow for the influence of both individual characteristics and environmental factors (Hunt and Vitell, 1993). There is a dearth of empirical research into ethics in business marketing (Reid and Plank, 2000) and a paucity of research in business ethics examining the interaction between individual characteristics, such as need for cognition (NFC), and organizational factors. Research into many individual characteristics may be helpful in selecting employees but provides limited ways for managers to effect change in employees' ethical behavior.\nConceptualization and structural relationships among the constructs: A conceptual model is presented in Figure 1. The theoretical relationships underpinning the model and the testable hypotheses it contains are discussed in the following sections.\nMethod: Sample and procedures\nDiscussion, limitations and future research: Conceptual implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The research sought to expand the conceptual understanding of the antecedents of decision-making under ethical conditions. This study aims to better understand the relationships among need for cognition (NFC), the individual ethical positions of ethical idealism and ethical relativism, organizational and professional socialization, work-related norms and ethical perceptions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study compared the impact of environmental influences (i.e. socialization and work-related norm) and individual temporally stable characteristics (i.e. NFC and ethical position) on ethical perceptions. The research surveyed marketers and tested a hypothesized model using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: NFC influences marketers' individual ethical position, their professional socialization and their work norms. The work norms of marketers are influenced by individual ethical position and organizational socialization, but not by professional socialization. Professional socialization is influenced by ethical idealism and not ethical relativism.\nResearch limitations/implications: A judgmental sampling technique was used and the findings cannot be generalized to other populations.\nPractical implications: This research provides managers with alternative tools to encourage compliance with professional and corporate guidelines. If managers are seeking an enduring positive influence on work norms, they should be as concerned about the thinking of their employees and their employees' ethical positions as they are with the vocational rules their subordinates adopt.\nSocial implications: Society will benefit from better understanding the different ways in which the ethical perceptions of individual employees are influenced and the various ways in which managers can contribute to ethically responsible corporations.\nOriginality/value: Although NFC has been examined in other vocational and decision-making contexts, its influence on individual ethical position, vocational socialization and work-related norms has not been empirically examined in ethical contexts for business decision-making.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What were the lessons learned from implementing clinical audit in Latin America?	[ "Clinical audit", "Communicable diseases", "South America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: In many low-income countries, disease-specific programmes help in targeting attention and resources towards key priorities. Recently, there has been a 26 per cent increase in the financial support given to such programmes (Maeseneer et al., 2008). This has led to improved life expectancy in many instances (WHO, 2006). On the other hand, despite this extra investment, achievement remains below expectations in the majority of cases, e.g. TB control is struggling to achieve its targets of case-detection and treatment success rates in Europe and Africa (WHO, 2008). Pilot schemes generally do well whilst routine implementation is often more challenging and therefore less successful. With the AIDS pandemic still raging in many low-income countries, there are other problems too, e.g. drug-resistant communicable diseases, rise in non-communicable diseases and weakening health systems. Under such pressures, many policy makers in low-income countries consider quality improvement as a \"luxury item\"; they may see delivering medicines, equipment and training only health professionals as more appropriate uses of limited resources (Heiby, 2002). Nevertheless, quality improvement has the potential to achieve best value for money (Smits et al., 2002). Investment without quality improvement risks producing \"more of the same\" i.e. equally ineffective services provided at larger scale. Ineffective and inefficient use of resources puts further strain on already cash-strapped health systems. However, where investment has occurred alongside quality assurance, improvement has occurred despite limited resources (Berwick, 2004). In fact, resource constraints can give rise to resourcefulness, opportunity for improvement, and innovation.Getting health care providers to develop and perform according to certain standards remains a corner stone of quality improvement (Marquez, 2001). One such intervention is clinical audit, defined as an ongoing process to improve the quality of health care through critical examination of current performance against agreed standards, leading to the identification and utilisation of opportunities for bringing practice closer to those standards (Mancey-Jones and Brugha, 1997).The evidence of the effectiveness of clinical audit in bringing improvement is based largely on studies conducted in high-income countries. However, it also has the potential to achieve significant gains in health systems where resources are scanty and where compliance with standards and other quality improvement initiatives is poor (Siddiqi et al., 2005). There is a clear need for evidence of the effectiveness of locally appropriate adaptations of clinical audit under diverse conditions found in resource-poor health systems (Marquez, 2001).To develop the knowledge base of clinical audit in low-income countries, we studied the effectiveness of clinical audit in improving diagnostic care provided to patients suspected of tuberculosis in Cuba, Peru and Bolivia. We chose TB diagnosis because poor case detection rates remain a major impediment to global TB control. We recently published the quantitative results of this study along with some of the key contextual themes that partly explain variations in these outcomes (Siddiqi et al., 2008). The purpose of this paper is to present the lessons learned in TB diagnosis in the three specific study sites and highlight what may be relevant to clinical audit in low-income settings more generally. We start by summarising the research in Cuba, Peru and Bolivia on which these lessons were based.\nA summary of the research and its findings: We used a standardised approach to implementing and evaluating clinical audit, which differed only in operational details in the three countries. We approached primary care health centres to seek their willingness to participate in the selected study sites in each country: urban areas in Peru, Bolivia and Cuba (with eight, four, and five participating health centres respectively), semi-urban areas in Cuba (five health centres) and rural areas in Bolivia (four health centres).Health professionals working in the participating health centres were invited to form a multidisciplinary audit committee, one in each district. One audit facilitator was assigned to each committee. These committees, chaired by one of the senior professionals, highlighted key issues and difficulties in diagnosing or excluding pulmonary TB. They also identified key points in the pathways, adherence to which was critical in providing high quality care and an accurate diagnosis. Subsequently, committees generated a list of criteria to measure performance, and agreed on standards to compare it with. Committees used the nominal group technique (Murphy et al., 1998) to prioritise criteria used in clinical audit based on their clinical significance, measurability, feasibility for change and likely health impact (Fraser et al., 1997; Hearnshaw et al., 2002). A system of routinely collected data was used to measure performance in most instances. In its absence, other inquiry tools were also used. Data were regularly presented to the committees in the feedback sessions comparing health centres' performance over the previous six months. During these meetings, committees analysed reasons for poor performance and proposed strategies to address them (Baker et al. 1999). Committee members took responsibility for implementing recommended changes in their respective health centres. The whole cycle was repeated several times during the length of the project between 2002 and 2005. A before-and-after comparative analysis was used to assess the effectiveness of audit in improving diagnostic care at each study site.In Peru, eight health centres took part in completing three audit cycles. However, only two out of five criteria showed an improvement of statistical significance. None of the criteria reached the agreed standards. In Bolivia, there was an improvement in two out of six criteria after two audit cycles. By the end of the project, only one criterion reached the agreed standard. In Cuba, however, 11 out of 13 criteria showed improvement and all reached previously agreed standards after the completion of two audit cycles. There were also fewer variations compared to elsewhere in the changes observed between different health centres in Cuba. More details on the functioning of the audit committees, the statistical methods used in assessing the effectiveness of clinical audit and results of this study can be found elsewhere (Siddiqi et al. 2008).\nQualitative methods: We used case study techniques to understand the contextual factors associated with the variations in study outcomes, perceived local constraints and lessons learned during implementation. We used three qualitative techniques: semi-structured interviews; document analysis; and participant-observation. Using purposive sampling and after taking informed consent, we carried out 12 to 16 semi-structured interviews at each study site. Key informants included all audit committee members, and at least one other health professional (non-member of the audit committee) from each health centre that participated in the study. These were conducted by an independent researcher at the informant's workplace after completion of at least one audit cycle. A \"topic guide\" was used which was based on a framework consisting of: political influences; influence of colleagues and other team members; leadership at different levels; and specific issues around each audit criterion. The topic guide consisted of several statements that guided the exploration of contextual factors. Prompts and probing questions were also built in to encourage an open discussion of issues. The hand-written textual record was translated, analysed and validated.We conducted document analysis of the written communications between members of the audit committee and the research team, minutes of the audit committee meetings, reports prepared by research teams in each country, learning log maintained by audit facilitators, routine data collection registers and \"clinical history\" files from health centres. The information collected from these sources was used to validate factual information, corroborate and augment evidence collected through interviews and other sources and to identify areas for further investigation. Researchers in each country also attended all audit committee meetings that gave them insight into the dynamics of the committee. Research assistants were given a template to record their observations. This prompted them to make contemporaneous records of, for example, who attended the meeting, how the issues were presented, what were the dynamics of the meeting, how the decisions were made and with what level of agreement. Their accounts were recorded and analysed along with other information.An annotated bibliography was created of all documentary evidence collected during the case study. Data collected during interviews were analysed using an open coding method. All similar incidents were labelled and subsequently grouped together in categories according to their properties and dimensions. Each category was given a conceptual name, using phrases either from the interviewers themselves (in vivo coding) or from existing literature. Explanation building was used to develop theoretical propositions that were then subsequently compared with the findings of the rest of the study. The theoretical explanations generated from the above analysis were compared with the chronology of events that helped to strengthen internal validity of the study.\nLessons for clinical audit in TB diagnosis in the research sites: This section provides a summary of the lessons learned during the implementation of clinical audit in TB diagnosis in the three different settings.Lesson 1: selecting appropriate audit criteria is essential but difficult\nMore general lessons for clinical audit in low-income countries: This study has identified several lessons for policy makers, programme managers and future researchers in the arena of clinical audit to improve health care in low-income countries:* Integration of clinical audit within the national and local disease control programme can be one of the most important facilitating factors in bringing change. Lack of shared goals and objectives between the programme and clinicians leads to failure of audit activity to result in improvements.* A visible relationship between audit activity and patient care can be a key motivational factor for clinicians to change their practice.* Opportunities for training, and provision of user-friendly tools (pathways, algorithms, charts, etc.), as part of the audit activity can be vehicles for promoting and motivating clinicians to change.* Lack of baseline data can make it difficult for audit committees to determine which criteria are likely to have the greatest opportunity for improvement. A baseline assessment of potential criteria is useful before making the final selection of audit criteria.* Some preparation is required before introducing quality improvement tools in health systems where both evidence and quality assurance are relatively new concepts. This can be done by developing and disseminating clinical guidelines in a systematic way.* Where feasible, a foolproof system of coordination at the interface between laboratories and clinicians greatly enhances opportunities for performance improvement.* Clinicians' perceptions of patients' beliefs and attitudes play key roles in influencing professional practice. Social marketing may offer potential opportunities to modify such attitudes.* Lack of resources, ranging from a clinical information management system to laboratory dispensable items, is often a major limiting factor. This should receive due consideration before setting up audit.* Rapid staff changes (which may be caused by political interference and favouritism) can be a key restraining factor to improvements, and should be minimised.* Clinicians struggle in developing evidence-based audit criteria. Potential criteria that are measurable, realistic and useful should be developed at a national level and accompany any guidance on the local development of clinical audit. Local audit committees can then select criteria according to their own priorities.* Our study reinforces the notion that quality improvement interventions are interdependent on other such interventions, working at different levels. Despite their efficacy in improving care, they are likely to be ineffective if introduced in isolation. If the audit intervention is introduced in a vacuum of quality improvement initiatives, this may lead to only partial success. Other quality improvement initiatives such as total quality management (TQM) working at different levels should be introduced simultaneously.\nDiscussion: The lessons learned presented here are derived from interviews, document analysis and participant observation posing several methodological limitations. Qualitative data is mainly based on the perceptions of the informants and is therefore subject to informants' perceptions. Participant observation introduces some observer's bias. Similarly, the conclusions relied on inferences about the phenomena of change. All such inferences are liable to a threat to internal validity. However, evidence was collected from more than one source to triangulate inferences. Moreover, a chain of evidence was established by using chronological analysis along with explanation building. This can help in overcoming this issue.Reliability of the findings often depends on clear documentation of the procedures in the study. Use of audiotaped interviews helps to improve reliability. However, this was not possible because of resource limitations. Every attempt was made to keep an accurate written record of the interviews.Clinical audit is highly context dependent and relies upon personalities, relationships, and professional and organisational structures and processes for its effectiveness (Kerrison et al. 1993). In addition, it requires local ownership, which introduces further changes to how it is implemented. It can be difficult, therefore, to generalise lessons learned during its application in specific circumstances (Lord and Littlejohns, 1997). However, we standardised the function and aim of the audit whilst allowing local flexibility, thereby retaining the integrity and external validity of our results. Our multiple case design is based on replication logic. Each \"case\" offers a different set of circumstances, and develops explanations from the combined analysis of all three case studies. This may not be sufficient to carry out a comparative analysis but has the potential to generate theories that are relevant to many similar settings.Presenting results from different countries together is always problematic especially where intervention is often influenced by the local political, social and health care environment. Variations in the emerging themes reflect this influence in the three settings. We, therefore, deliberately do not compare and contrast results between the three countries. Our study was carried out in poorly-resourced health systems in the context of TB care in three different settings only to enhance its external validity. Broader lessons can be drawn from our work by policy makers and programme managers for comparison with their own experience of quality improvement in their countries. There are also significant similarities with themes derived from other audit research. One systematic review identified a variety of barriers and facilitators in the audit process (Johnston et al., 2000). The barriers included lack of expertise and resources, poor team dynamics, poor planning, and organisational issues. Key enabling factors included good medical records, appropriate training, dedicated team members, and structured programmes allowing protected staff time.More research is needed to assess the cost-effectiveness of clinical audit. One of the key questions for future research is whether clinical audit can generate sufficient health and efficiency gains to offset the cost of implementing it in the programme setting over and above existing supervision and monitoring arrangements.\nConclusion: It is desirable and feasible to implement clinical audit in health programmes in low- and middle-income countries. Our results highlight a number of enabling and inhibiting factors related to the audit process. We have identified that audit works well when managers and clinicians work together to strive for common improvement goals. By comparing their contexts to the contexts presented here, policy makers, clinicians and programme managers should be able to assess the relevance and usefulness of our \"lessons learned\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to study the process of clinical audit to improve tubercolosis (TB) diagnosis in Cuba, Peru and Bolivia. It aims to present the lessons learned in implementing clinical audit in the three specific study sites and highlight what may be relevant to low-income settings in general.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The lessons are based on observations and qualitative data collected from 22 health centres that completed a minimum of two audit cycles in the three study countries. Local audit committees selected audit criteria, collected relevant data, compared their performance against the agreed standards and proposed ways for improvement.\nFindings: - Lessons for the development of clinical audit for TB diagnosis in the study countries include the difficulties in setting achievable standards based on appropriate criteria; the need to establish clinical guidelines and routine data; and the need to address patients' beliefs and attitude. Lessons for the development of clinical audit in low-income countries include the need for preparation (e.g. through clinical guidelines) before introducing quality improvement tools and the importance of a visible relationship between audit activity and patient care. Crucially, local clinicians struggle in developing evidence-based audit criteria that should be developed at national level.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The lessons learned presented here are derived from interviews, document analysis and participant observation. Such techniques are liable to observers' and informants' bias. Similarly, conclusions drawn from an inquiry into contextual factors also threaten their external validity. The paper used chronological analysis and explanation building to overcome these limitations.\nPractical implications: - In low-income countries, audit needs to be fully integrated in the national and local disease control programmes. The lessons presented here provide practical guidance for those considering developing or improving clinical audit in low-income countries.\nOriginality/value: - Clinical audit has major potential for improving health care delivery in low-income countries within existing resource constraints. The lessons presented here have relevance to audit across the entirety of health systems in low-income countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An integrated model for online transactions: illuminating the black box	[ "Online transactions", "Information privacy", "Government intrusion and surveillance", "Causal model", "Greece", "Internet" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Personal information privacy has been identified as one of the major problems that make individuals hesitant to engage in online transactions (Phillips, 2004). Personal information privacy is defined as \"the ability of the individual to personally control information about one's self\" (Stone et al., 1983, cited in Smith et al., 1996, p. 168). However, due to the rapid growth of information technology, personal information can be easily stored, copied and transmitted, enabling online organizations to shape comprehensive descriptions of individuals. Therefore, misuse of such information could be a serious threat to privacy (Malhotra et al., 2004; Phillips, 2004). Consequently, privacy and the necessity to submit personal data are the major factors that discourage individuals from transacting online (Dinev and Hart, 2004).Considering that privacy refers to the pros and cons of revealing and assessing personal information, it is argued that privacy is about trade-offs and as such is an economic problem (Acquisti, 2009). Consequently, the economics of privacy concentrate on the rationality of decision-making with respect to the costs of privacy intrusion and privacy protection, and on what explains the privacy attitudes and behaviours. Additionally, a major question that the economics of privacy investigate is who should protect privacy:* the individual, through technology and choice;* the government, through regulation; and* the market, through self-regulation (Acquisty, 2004; Acquisti and Grossklags, 2005).On the other hand individuals agree in principle that online transactions over the internet may improve their job performance, productivity and effectiveness. Specifically, in countries where electronic commerce and digital government started being part of the everyday life, individuals started recognizing that the use of the internet in their usual transactions will make their life much easier. Furthermore, in cases where the interaction of the individual with internet services would not require a noticeable amount of mental effort for the completion of a transaction, individuals may show a preference for the use of this new technology. These two constructs, i.e. the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use, have been identified by Davis (1989) and Venkatesh and Davis (2000) as the two basic determinants for the intension of the individuals to use a new IT system, in the so-called technology acceptance model (TAM).Therefore, online transactions can be seen by the individual as a two-sided coin. One side indicates that internet is a good means for performing a transaction, and the other side indicates that privacy, in the form of releasing personal information for the completion of the online transaction, may be injured. Hence, individuals in order to perform an online transaction have to risk their privacy (Atkinson et al., 2007). But are there factors that may reduce this unavoidable risk? One such factor related to information privacy is government interference through surveillance and intrusion (Dinev et al., 2008; Kruck et al., 2002). Individuals tend to believe that governments must develop rules and laws in order to protect information privacy (Singh and Hill, 2003). Another factor is individuals' trust beliefs referring to their experience with online vendors in the past (Gefen et al., 2003). Individuals tend to believe that if online vendors were trustworthy, honest, and not opportunistic in the past they will continue to have these characteristics in the future.Summarizing, if IT systems (i.e. the internet) are useful and easy to use, information privacy is protected by public rules and laws, and risk beliefs are minimized, then individuals will develop positive attitudes toward using technology, and consequently will complete the actual transaction, which requires the submission of accurate personal identifiable information. However, analyzing the literature on the information privacy - actual transaction relationship, it may be argued that more research is needed with respect to the mediating variables that exist between information privacy and actual transactions. In other words, more research is needed that will illuminate the mechanism, or the so-called \"black-box\", through which information privacy influences actual online transactions.Considering the discussion thus far and taking into account that \"research on privacy with respect to internet has emerged in recent years\" (Dinev et al., 2008, p. 218), \"few systematic attempts have been made to provide a theoretical framework on the specific nature of information privacy concerns among internet users\" (Malhotra et al., 2004, p. 337), \"future research should focus on identifying constructs that can add to the prediction of intention and behavior over and above what is already known and understood\" (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 471), and finally, studies try to \"determine whether the availability and accessibility of privacy information affects individuals' purchasing decisions\" (Tsai et al., 2011, p. 33), the primary research questions of this paper are:RQ1. What impact, if any, does information privacy have upon actual online transactions?RQ2. What is the causal path of this relationship?RQ3. What is the contingency framework of this relationship?Furthermore, considering that the literature highlights that most of the studies examining the online transactions relationship have been conducted in the USA and to a lesser extent in the UK, the question that arises is whether the USA/UK-oriented models, however appropriate they might be for the USA/UK, hold in other contexts. To fill this gap and further examine the process through which information privacy impact actual online transactions, it is important to conduct analysis in the non-USA/UK context. This paper investigates how information privacy influences actual online transactions in Greece where unlike the USA, which has industry-specific regulatory rules European countries have general and strict privacy laws (Culnan, 2000). In addition, Greece is the country with the highest degree of protection of individual's privacy in terms of regulatory controls (Privacy International, 2007). As such, analysis of the Greek context could indicate the boundaries of the underlying model. Therefore, it would be interesting to push forward the debate on the information privacy role in influencing actual online transactions to countries such as Greece.\n2 Operational model and hypotheses: 2.1 TAM and internet privacy concerns for information finding\n3 Method: 3.1 Sampling\n4 Results: Table II displays the means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlation coefficients between all variables used in the study. Although the correlation coefficients have signs that support the corresponding hypotheses, these correlations - albeit being interesting - may be misleading due to the interactions between several variables. Therefore, in order to isolate the possible links between the variables involved in the operational model shown in Figure 1, the estimated path diagram for this proposed framework is shown in Figure 2. The boxes represent exogenous or endogenous observed variables and the circles represent the related latent variables. The light arrows indicate the observed variables that constitute the related latent variable and the bold arrows indicate the structural relationships between the corresponding variables. The numbers that are assigned to each arrow show the estimated significant standardised coefficients. The goodness-of-fit indexes confirmed the validity of the operational model (kh2=2,570.38, df =1,104, p-value =0.000, normed-kh2=2.328, RMSEA =0.060, CFI =0.94, NFI =0.94, GFI =0.78), although at a flexible level for GFI.Considering the standardised coefficients shown in Figure 2, the first three columns in Table III summarise the results with respect to the support or not of the hypotheses developed previously. Furthermore, Table III presents the indirect and total standardised effects of most variables involved in the study. Indirect effects are contributing towards tracing the mediating relationships between the various constructs. Total effects are helpful in tracing the predictive importance of all constructs included in the operational model. Finally, it must be emphasised here that with respect to contingencies (gender, age, education, income, internet experience) all possibilities connecting contingencies with all the other constructs have been tried, and the only significant results obtained are those reported in the final model shown in Figure 2.\n5 Discussion: The objective of this study was to develop and test a model centering at the black-box that exists between the two end-points in online transactions, i.e. \"government interference and technology acceptance\", and \"actual transactions\" in the internet.5.1 Summary of results\n6 Conclusions: Although models explaining the mechanisms through which privacy concerns influence actual online transactions have been advanced, still more research is needed to investigate the mediating variables in the information privacy - actual transactions relationship. The present research advances the understanding of the online transactions relationships by integrating theoretical perspectives that although may be appropriate for USA/UK-oriented models, are now applied in another context, that of Greece. Specifically, risk perception of individuals about information providing in an online company constitutes the core of the black-box mechanism that exists in the online transaction relationship. Risk perception is positively influenced by information concerns, whilst it is negatively influenced by trust beliefs and subjective norms. Furthermore, risk perception negatively influences the actual online transactions through attitudinal factors and intension to use IT.Particularly, the last column in Table III summarizes the results of the total standardized effects of all constructs of the study on actual transactions. These effects indicate the predictive importance of each construct. For example, perceived ease of use positively affects actual transactions (standardized total effect =0.04), although government intrusion concerns negatively influence actual transactions (-0.03). This means that government interference reduce actual transactions, whilst perceived ease of use of IT systems increase them.Additionally, although actual online transactions from websites that require the submission of accurate and identifiable personal information are negatively influenced by information concerns (-0.13) and risk perceptions (-0.17), actual transactions are positively influenced by trust beliefs (0.04), subjective norm (0.04), attitudinal factors (0.22), and intension to use IT (0.56). These results are interesting because they indicate how individuals judge the relationship between government interference and the use of internet, where privacy concerns reduce online transactions (Culnan and Armstrong, 1999; Dinev et al., 2008).In summary, considering that information privacy has been regularly recognized as a key problem holding back individuals' confidence in online transactions, this study developed a model integrating the social influence approach, by including the subjective norms construct, the trust-risk framework, and the theory of reasoned action, by including as well the attitudinal factors construct. Furthermore, from the results of the model, where trust-risk-subjective norms framework mediated the impact of information privacy on actual transactions, it has been found that the individuals' attitude toward using technology, through the intention to submit individual information, resulted in positive actual transaction outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for online transactions, integrating the social influence approach, the trust-risk framework, and the theory of reasoned action, and to test it in a non US/UK context such as Greece.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Structural equation modeling was used to survey data from 376 household respondents from two residential departments of the city of Thessaloniki in Greece in order to examine causal inferences.\nFindings: - The results of the model, where the trust-risk-subjective norms framework mediated the impact of information privacy on actual transactions, indicated that the individual's attitude toward using technology, through the intention to submit individual information, resulted in positive actual transaction outcomes.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Cross-section data were used for testing the model. However, for properly investigating causality time-series or longitudinal data should be employed.\nPractical implications: - For increasing online transactions, organizations should make their websites as simple and attractive as possible, develop their image that they do care about customers and are trustworthy, and develop privacy-friendly policies for gaining competitive advantage.\nOriginality/value: - This study proposes and empirically validates an integrative framework for online transactions at the individual level by adapting information privacy concerns and trust-risk-subjective norm beliefs and relates them to attitudes of individuals. Thus, the proposed integrative framework is critically engaging and well established but with limited information models.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How does human capital affect the performance of small and mid-cap mutual funds?	[ "Fund management", "Human capital", "Personality" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The extensive media coverage afforded to mutual fund managers, particularly to the designated \"stars\" and \"superstars\", would suggest that managerial human capital does affect performance in a meaningful way. Mincer (1973) and Topel (1991) highlight the importance of education in performance. MBA or CFA designations, as well as tenure with the firm and investment experience, have typically been postulated to be associated with better performance. However, only a few empirical studies have appeared that examine the link between managerial characteristics and mutual fund performance (see Golec, 1996; Chevalier and Ellison, 1997, 1999a, b; Li et al., 2005; Costa et al., 2006). None that we are aware of address small and mid-cap funds. To fill this gap, we focus our attention in this paper on how managerial characteristics affect performance for small and mid-cap funds. Such funds have garnered considerable attention since the seminal works of Banz (1981) and Reinganum (1981a, b), which first identified what was deemed to be an anomaly in the finance literature that is inconsistent with market efficiency, i.e. that smaller firms, on average, can consistently earn higher rates of return than large firms. The abnormal performance of small cap funds and investment funds specializing in small caps has been analyzed in several subsequent major studies, including Hawawini and Keim (2000), and Christopherson et al. (2002), and has been popularized as an investment strategy (e.g. Siegel, 1998). However, to date, little work has been done identifying the characteristics of management in affecting the performance of actual small cap (or mid cap) mutual funds. Christopherson et al. (2002) suggest that a key factor in the USA affecting performance is assets under management. In particular, an inverse relationship is observed between assets under management and performance.Our sample consists of the 1,004 small and mid-cap equity funds identified on the Morningstar database as of 31 December 2005. Our results show that the human capital characteristics of managers do in part affect performance. There is some evidence of gender-specific effects in the bivariate analyses; however, these tend to disappear in the multivariate and simultaneous equation models. MBAs do not perform better than their counterparts, while chartered financial analysis (CFA) training effects are sensitive to model specification. In particular, superior performance for CFAs disappears when performance is estimated jointly with fund risk, expense, and turnover. Longer tenure with the firm and longer investment experience tend to be associated with higher expense ratios, but not better performance. CFAs and women tend to be more active traders with a higher turnover. The latter also tend to incur higher systematic risk in their portfolios. In addition, there is evidence that risk-adjusted performance is inversely related to asset size, suggesting that managerial coordination problems of larger industrial firms are also found for small and mid-cap fund managers. Depending on the benchmark for performance, we determine an optimal size of managed mutual funds that ranges between $US1.43 billion and $US3.89 billion.\nData sources and definitions: Our primary source of investment performance data is provided by Morningstar, Inc. (see www.morningstar.com). The sample comprises funds that are categorized as small-capitalization growth, small-capitalization value, small-capitalization blend, mid-capitalization growth, mid-capitalization value, and mid-capitalization blend mutual funds as of 31 December 2005. A total of 1,004 equity funds are represented in these categories. For each fund, Morningstar lists the name(s) and start date of the fund's manager(s) along with a brief biography that includes information about the manager's working experience, undergraduate or graduate degrees received, and whether or not the manager holds the CFA designation. Using the data from the biographical sketches, we create four manager characteristic variables, including an MBA indicator variable, a CFA indicator variable, a manager tenure variable and a variable that measures the total years of experience of the manager in the investment industry. Using the data field for the fund manager's name, we labeled each fund that was managed by a female mutual fund manager. When the name of the manager was ambiguous, we resorted to the fund's prospectus and verified the gender by the description in the manager's biography session.The data on the management/human capital profiles of the funds on Morningstar are incomplete. To overcome the problem of fragmental, inconsistent, or ambiguous information, we searched related information of fund manager profiles from the website of each mutual fund company. Over 15 percent of funds do not provide detailed biographical sketches of their managers on their websites. To obtain the data for these funds, we contacted their representatives (investment managers or customer service staff) directly, with a questionnaire sent via e-mail. Most of the responses were checked against public information such as annual financial reports and news reports.For each of the funds examined we obtained data on returns, on human capital characteristics of their managers, and on fund characteristics. The variables are defined as follows:1. Fund return measures:* RETURNS - the annual return for the fund in 2005;* EROB - the fund's excess return calculated as its annual return minus the return for the specific investment style index benchmark for the firm;* ALPHA1 - the firm's Jensen alpha from the single factor market model; and* ALPHA2 - the firm's annual return in excess of the one month T-bill rate.1. Management/human capital characteristics:* MBA - a dummy variable equal to 1 if the manager has an MBA degree and 0 otherwise;* CFA - a dummy variable equal to 1 if the manager has a CFA designation and 0 otherwise;* EXPERIENCE - management investment experience, measured in years, as of the end of 2004: when a management team manages the fund, the lead or most senior manager's characteristics are used;* TENURE - management tenure (in years) with the fund, at the end of 2004; and* GENDER - a dummy variable equal to 1 for a male lead manager, and 0 for a female lead manager.1. Fund characteristics:* LOGSIZE - the logarithm of the firm's asset size (in $ million);* CAPSIZE - market capitalization dummy variable, equal to 1 for mid-size capitalization funds and 0 for small-cap funds;* GROWTH - a growth dummy variable, equal to 1 if the fund is a growth fund and 0 if the fund is either a value fund or a blend fund;* VALUE - a value dummy variable, equal to 1 if the fund is a value fund and zero if the fund either growth fund or blend fund;* EXPENSE - the fund's. expense ratio, i.e. the percentage of fund assets spent on operating expenses;* TURNOVER - the fund's turnover ratio, i.e. the lesser of purchases or sales divided by the fund's average monthly net assets; and* BETA - the fund beta measures the relationship between a fund's excess return over T-bills and the excess return of the best-fit index as determined by Morningstar: the fund's monthly excess returns are regressed against monthly excess returns of several well-known market indexes.\nSummary statistics: Tables I and II show the sample statistics for these variables and their corresponding correlation matrix, respectively. Noteworthy is the fact that the average beta is more than one (1.41), suggesting that these funds are aggressive. These funds tend to show superior performance, based on their average Jensen alpha (excess return over the one month T-bill rate) of 1.68 (4.83) percent in 2005. However, they under-perform their specific investment style benchmark returns, with an average EROB of -2.21 percent. The average turnover for these firms is 100.05 percent, with marked volatility. Managers have an average investment experience of 19.9 years; they have 5.4 years tenure with their fund companies. About 54 percent of fund managers have an MBA degree, while 44 percent hold the CFA designation. The average fund has $801.17 million of assets under management, an expense ratio of 1.39, and has a growth objective of nearly 50 percent.\nBivariate analyses of human capital characteristics on performance: Do CFA, MBA, and gender distinctions matter for performance? The Pearson correlations shown in Table II would suggest that only the CFA designation has a significant relationship with the firm's excess return over its benchmark, although not necessarily with respect to the firm's ALPHA. Male gender also is positively and significantly correlated with the firm's ALPHA. Panel 1 of Table III provides the breakdown of funds by manager's gender. Approximately 10 percent of the fund managers are women. Male managers are associated with larger funds than female managers: the average size of assets managed by men is $US824.95 million, as opposed to $US581.31 million by women.There is some empirical evidence suggesting that women are more risk-averse than men. Jianakoplos and Bernasek (1998) report, based on US Federal Reserve Board data, that woman are inclined to hold more risk-free assets than men. Barber and Odean (2002), using household data, find that men are more risk-seeking than women in terms of portfolio volatility, beta, asset size and individual stock standard deviation. However, using beta as the measure of risk for our sample data, we find from panel 2 of Table III that small and mid-cap women managers are more aggressive than their male counterparts. Indeed, the difference is found to be statistically significant. While this result contrasts with studies that use household survey data (such as Jianakoplos and Bernasek, 1998, and Barber and Odean, 2002), it is consistent with Bliss and Potter (2002).Another question concerning the gender differences in mutual fund management is portfolio turnover and returns. Carhart (1997) provides some empirical support for a theoretical model in which over-confidence leads to excessive trading and poor performance. He finds that trading reduces performance by approximately 0.95 percent of the trade's market value. With regard to gender differences in investment behavior of over-trading, most of the literature suggests that men trade more often than women. Barber and Odean (2002) find that excessive trading by men reduced annual net returns by 2.65 percentage points, versus 1.72 percentage points for women. Hence, evidence of differences in over-confidence on gender and its resulting low returns prompts a further hypothesis: that female small and mid-cap mutual fund managers will trade less than male fund managers, thereby generating better performance than male managers. As shown later, the turnover ratio for male managers is much lower than that of female mangers, which does not support the view that female managers engage in less trading. In our sample, small and mid-cap female fund managers appear more over-confident than male managers as far as trading is concerned. As the men trade less and incur fewer transaction costs, they out-perform women by risk-adjusted excess return, both on based on the excess return over the benchmark (EROB) as well as based on the Jensen alpha of the fund, although only the latter is found to be statistically significant, as shown in panel 4 of Table III.Panel 5 of Table III shows that that approximately 56 percent of the small and mid-cap fund managers in the sample are CFA charter holders or hold MBAs. Both CFAs and MBAs show higher returns relative to their benchmarks and lower expense ratios than non-CFAs and non-MBAs. Turnover is lower for CFAs, while MBAs tend to show higher risk. Whether these relationships are maintained in multivariate models is addressed in the next section.\nMultivariate modeling of performance, human capital characteristics and firm characteristics: Measurement of performance\nEmpirical results: Do managerial human capital characteristics explain returns?\nConclusions: This study has examined the relationship between managerial human capital characteristics, such as gender, tenure, investment experience, education and professional training and performance of small and mid-cap funds. The results suggest that there are some systematic cross-sectional differences in fund performance that can be attributed to differences in managerial human capital characteristics.Gender-specific variables, while significant in bivariate comparisons, do not explain performance in multivariate settings. Female managers demonstrate less risk aversion, and engage in more frequent trading than their male counterparts. MBA fund managers tend to under-perform; the CFA designation shows a salutary effect on performance that is significant only in the single equation estimation. Risk-adjusted performance is inversely related to asset size. This may be a consequence of greater bureaucratic strains or managerial coordination problems facing investment firms that grow substantially in size, similar to those found for industrial firms. Investment experience is significantly negatively related to the turnover ratio, which is consistent with human capital theory. Finally, depending on our benchmark, we determine an optimal size of managed mutual funds that ranges between $US1.43 billion and $US3.89 billion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study sets out to examine whether small and mid-cap fund performance is related to fund manager human capital characteristics including tenure, investment experience, education (MBA designation), professional training (CFA), and gender.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on a sample of 1,004 small and mid-cap equity funds identified on the Morningstar database as of 31 December 2005, several statistical tests were applied which consider fund performance, risk, expenses, and turnover simultaneously.\nFindings: - Depending on the benchmark, an optimal size of managed mutual funds is determined that ranges between $US1.43 billion and $US3.89 billion.\nOriginality/value: - The results suggest that there are some systematic cross-sectional differences in fund performance that can be attributed to differences in managerial human capital characteristics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A semiotic analysis of the extendibility of luxury brands	[ "Luxury", "Semiotics", "Brand extendibility", "Brand extension potential", "Brand narratives and contracts" ]	[ { "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.\nIntroduction: Maintaining sustainable growth is a challenge for any brand. Faced with increased competition in mature markets, brands have more difficulties to continue their development. Brands can no longer rely solely on their core activities to generate new profits and thus are trying to expand their business into new product categories, which is particularly the case of luxury brands (Keller, 2009; Kapferer and Bastien, 2009).\nTheoretical background: Semiotic approach to brand narratives and contracts\nSemiotic methodology for the analysis of luxury brands' extension potential: The objective of the research methodology is to study the extension potential of luxury brands.\nResults: classification of brands according to the semiotic analysis of their extension potential: A typology of brands developed according to the semiotic methodology is presented. The analysis refers to the openness analysis of each brand contract (delimitation, determination and mastery), separately and simultaneously, following the three-step approach. Below, the example of Cartier is presented to better illustrate the analysis process.\nComparison between the semiotic analysis of extension potential and the actual brand extensions: To discuss the results of the semiotic analysis of the extension potential, a comparison with the actual extensions is performed for each brand (see Table III).\nDiscussion and conclusion: The analysis of the brand extension potential is essential. This analysis facilitates the brand management in the long-term perspective. To increase the chances of success of new product launches, managers need to know beforehand in which new territories they may extend their brands in a consistent and legitimate manner. The semiotic analysis of the brand extension potential can anticipate such possibilities. The three-step methodology developed in this article is based on an in-depth study of brand narratives and contracts and their openness. The twelve luxury brands that have been studied help to highlight a number of important results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Considering a long-term perspective and the discourse directly emitted by brands, the aim is to study how can brand extension potential be predicted through the analysis of brand contracts?\nDesign/methodology/approach: Considering a long-term perspective and the discourse directly emitted by brands, the aim is to study how can brand extension potential be predicted through the analysis of brand contracts?\nFindings: Three groups of brands are identified: brands anchored in both determination and mastery contracts defined as open (high extendibility); brands anchored in a determination contract defined as open, as well as in a mastery contract defined as closed (low extendibility); brands anchored in a mastery contract defined as open as well as in a determination contract defined as not closed (high extendibility, but risks of diluting the brand value).\nResearch limitations/implications: Compared with extensions actually developed by these brands, the results are discussed and strategies are proposed to maximize the long-term brand development when the brand extension potential is low. Only studied on products, it would be interesting to complete this analysis in services.\nOriginality/value: The main contribution is the focus on brand narratives and contracts to predict the brand extensibility of luxury brands. Structural semiotics provides another original insight.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Framework for productivity and safety enhancement system using BIM in Singapore	[ "Productivity", "BIM", "Safety", "System" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Singapore Government is well known for its formulation of a long-term vision and planning for the individual industries and the economy as a whole (Henderson, 2012; Ofori, 2002; Yuen, 2011). In the construction industry in particular, following the recognition of its role in long-term economic and social development, the government plays an active role through strategy and policy formulation, regulation, direct administration and provision of incentives to ensure its improvement and well-being. The construction industry in Singapore has benefited from the government's understanding of its strategic importance, and its commitment to nurture a strong and competitive local industry (Low, 1992; Kumaraswamy et al., 2010; Ofori and Lim, 2012). This leadership and active involvement has led to the transformation of the industry to one which builds highly complex items in challenging physical environments, using advanced technologies and systems. However, the industry's performance in productivity and safety remains poor. Annual records show that construction almost consistently reports the lowest level of productivity growth per annum. Moreover, the construction industry has the highest level of workplace mortality among all the industries (Ofori, 2012).\nBackground of the proposed system: construction safety and productivity performance in Singapore: Productivity, at both sectoral and national levels, has always been a concern for the government of Singapore. One of the key recommendations from the Economic Strategies Committee (2010) of Singapore was that higher productivity growth of 2-3 per cent per year would be required to enable the nation' gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by the projected average of 3-5 per cent per year over the next decade. The challenge is even greater in the construction industry because it has long been perceived to be less productive than other sectors of the economy (see, e.g., Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), 1992; Economic Strategies Committee, 2010). The construction industry in Singapore, as in many other countries, is unable to keep pace with the rate of technological advancements realised in other sectors, and is considered by some researchers to be facing a convergence of gross inefficiency (Smith and Tardif, 2009).\nPotential of BIM for safety, productivity and associated risk management: Zou et al. (2017) observed that there is a new trend towards the use of BIM and BIM-related digital tools for improving safety and risk management, as the traditional risk management method has been found to have many limitations in practice. Numerous studies (Shim et al., 2012; Hartmann et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2014; Zhang, Boulcamp and Teizer, 2015; Zhang, Teizer, Pradhananga and Eastman, 2015) have revealed that some unresolved challenges exist in the current risk management approach that is dependent on experience and multi-disciplinary knowledge. These challenges decrease its effectiveness and make it reliant on the individual skills on projects. However, as noted by Zou et al. (2017), whereas any project comprises many different phases, many of the participants may leave the project after completing their work. Thus, much risk information may be lost if it is not properly recorded and communicated to other project participants.\nImprovement of productivity and safety performance in Singapore: Productivity improvement\nDeveloping conceptual framework of intelligent productivity and safety system (IPASS): The study followed the conceptual framework depicted in Figure 1. It considered key aspects of safety and productivity at the project level in order to develop IPASS in order to manage risk by controlling hazards. In occupational health and safety management, risk is caused by the presence of hazards that may trigger the occurrence of incidents with harmful consequences such as personal injury or property/environmental damage. The probability of this negative occurrence is the risk associated with it. Hamidi, Omidvari and Meftahi (2012) also noted that there is an effect of the risk management system on safety and productivity indices.\nSummary of main findings: The details of the results of the interviews and questionnaire-based survey are reported elsewhere. The key points are presented in Table III. They indicate that benefits and challenges of BIM. This formed the basis for the development of IPASS.\nConclusion: The unbundling and analysis of the factors which influence project performance is important in order to address some of the endemic problems of the construction industry which hinder its progress towards excellence. The paper demonstrates that BIM can help stakeholders to consider productivity and safety at the earliest stages of the construction process, with the main aim of improving productivity and safety. It outlines a framework for integrating productivity and safety indices with BIM as the platform, resulting in IPASS.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Despite recognition of its importance to Singapore's economy, the construction industry is plagued by poor safety and productivity performance. Improvement efforts by the government and industry have yielded little results. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for developing a productivity and safety monitoring system using Building Information Modelling (BIM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The framework, Intelligent Productivity and Safety System (IPASS), takes advantage of mandatory requirements for building plans to be submitted for approval in Singapore in BIM format. IPASS is based on a study comprising interviews and a questionnaire-based survey. It uses BIM to integrate buildable design, prevention and control of hazards, and safety assessment.\nFindings: The authors illustrate a development of IPASS capable of generating productivity and safety scores for construction projects by analysing BIM model information.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper demonstrates that BIM can be used to monitor productivity and safety as a project progresses, and help to enhance performance under the two parameters.\nPractical implications: IPASS enables collaboration among project stakeholders as they can base their work on analysis of productivity and safety performance before projects start, and as they progress. It is suggested that the BIM model submitted to the authorities should be used for the IPASS application.\nOriginality/value: IPASS has rule-checking, hazards identification and quality checking capabilities. It is able to identify hazards and risks with the rule-checking capabilities. IPASS enables practitioners to check mistakes and the rationality of a design. It helps to mitigate risks as there are built-in safety measures/controls rules to overcome the problems caused by design deficiency, wrong-material-choice, and more.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The consideration of building maintenance at design stage in public buildings: The current scenario in Malaysia	[ "Building maintenance", "Sustainable design", "Building life cycle", "Maintenance management", "Design for maintenance", "Maintenance programmes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of building maintenance is to keep, restore or improve every facility to an agreed standard, and the benefit of having effective maintenance is to obtain a maximum value for money that is invested in the property. To prolong the lifespan of a building, a proper and systematic maintenance planning is required. Thus the effective and efficient maintenance of the building is mandatory. Effective maintenance can be achieved with a proper maintenance objective, strategy and policy at the early stage. Meanwhile, efficiency in maintenance can be obtained by proactive maintenance execution.\nBuilding maintenance management perspective: According to British Standards Institution, BS 3811, a glossary of the term used in general maintenance organisation 1964, building maintenance is defined as \"work undertaken in order to keep or restore every facility, i.e. every part of a site, building and contents to an acceptable standard\" (Allen, 1993). From the definition, it is clear that building maintenance is the work required to improve any facilities that include every part of a building, its services and the surrounding area, to a currently acceptable standard and value of the facility.\nImportance of maintenance policy at the initial stage: According to BS 3811, maintenance policy refers to a \"strategy within which the decision on maintenance is taken\". This refers to the effectiveness of using limited resources in an efficient manner within the alternative types of maintenance action available to the management at the time. Reginald Lee (1993) explained maintenance policy as \"the ground rules for the allocation of resources between the alternative types of maintenance actions\" (Wordsworth and Lee, 2001). Maintenance policy should cover what to achieve in the short term, midterm and long term. The maintenance policy must be started at an early stage of the building development process, where the influence of design on the building maintenance is greater than ever (Arditi and Nawakorawit, 1999b; Hamzah and Kobayashi, 2013). The policy needs to balance between the preventive maintenance work and corrective maintenance work within the appropriate maintenance strategy (Tsang and Brown, 1998). Besides that, the maintenance priority, strategies and tactics should be aligned with the organisation's objectives. For instance, in the government sector, the priority is to maximise the good service for the public, and then maintenance priorities should be focussed on maximising building utilisation, building condition and customer satisfaction.\nEffect of building design towards building maintenance: Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between building design and building maintenance, where building maintenance consistently stresses on the maintainability of the building, while the design of the building needs to fulfil the standard of product quality. The Oxford English Dictionary defines quality as \"a particular property inherent in body or substance.\" The quality in maintenance is inherent in the property with a faultless execution of the maintenance task. Furthermore, the quality of maintenance is also defined as \"a probability that maintenance tasks will be completed without any faults, resulting from maintenance process\" (Knezevic and Knezevic, 2012).\nBuilding maintenance at design stage: There are many claims that problems pertaining to maintenance in a building should start with a chapter on the building design. The question that probably can be asked in this chapter is to what extent the key players in a public construction project are willing to incorporate building maintenance into their design. Currently, the Government of Malaysia has a great interest in considering building maintenance in a building's design. However, the designers, as per tradition, rarely consult the client on matters at the design stage. The main problem in defining maintenance at the design stage is to define the standard that is acceptable to a specific building (Hashim, 1996). The owners has to establish the standard they want for the maintenance of the their buildings. The standard requirement for building maintenance is dependenton the owner's objective, building categories and a building's characteristic. Therefore, it is difficult to define the maintenance standard. However, the maintenance standard should have at least the following priorities: work necessary to remove any danger, work necessary to keep the building waterproof, work necessary for the operational efficiency of the occupant and hygiene condition of the premises and work necessary for the appearance of the building.\nFundamental issues pertaining to building maintenance practice in Malaysia: In the context of maintenance management of public buildings in Malaysia, two fundamental problems are recognised; first, for the existing building, the maintenance procedure is not proactively engaged where the maintenance is carried out based on an ad hoc basis or unplanned maintenance approach. This situation has led to improper maintenance work procedure and difficulties in determining budget allocation (Shah Ali, 2009). Second, for the new construction project, there is no clear policy on the aspect of considering building maintenance at the design stage. This has caused the public building to confront to have a high number of defects, and it becomes very expensive to maintain (Arditi and Nawakorawit, 1999b). Because of that, the cost of maintaining the public building is going to increase rapidly (Abdullah et al., 2011).\nResearch method and methodology for the study: This study involves testing variables found in the literature and uses quantitative data collection methodology. Adaptation of this method will allow the researcher to answer and understand the current conditions of the building maintenance management practice at the design stage. This research adopted a quantitative methodology or descriptive research in conducting the research procedures.\nSample recruitment: This study provided printed survey instruments to be distributed among 820 selected participants to surpass the minimum response rate at 23 per cent, as suggested by Bonner, and to fulfil the requirement of a minimum sample of 300 persons from the population (Bonner et al., 2002; Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). The respondents selected are form both the government and private sector, where they are the key players in many construction projects by the government of Malaysia. The projects are often conducted through open tenders. For the purpose of this study, the researcher explored each Public Work Department's and state government's website in every state in Malaysia Peninsular for contact details such as email address and telephone number. As a result, based on the availability of their contact details, a phone call was made to each department for invitation and confirmation of participating in answering the questionnaire survey. For other participants such as architects, engineers and building maintenance practitioners, who are categorised as non-government staff, a similar process was conducted to invite them to participate voluntarily in the questionnaire survey process. After they agreed to the invitation, an official letter (attached to the questionnaire survey form) was sent by post. With the official letter, the researcher attached an introduction letter that explained the purpose of the research and the scope of the study. For some respondents, the researcher had to travel to the respondents' locations to drop off the questionnaire and collect them after the respondents had finished answering.\nResearch analysis: For data analysis, all tests, including Cronbach's alpha test and a descriptive test, were conducted by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS) version 22. As suggested by Kerlinger, every variable in the research needs to be tested to ensure that variables are the right measuring tools and represent the concept being measured in the study (Pedhazur, 1997). The statistical methods that are used in the study applying this software are as follows.\nCronbach's alpha test: This analysis is to test the clarification, strength, validity, reliability and internal consistency of the designed questionnaires. After completing the data collection, the screening and cleaning process of data was performed by doing the reliability test (Collis and Hussey, 2013). This test was conducted for the purpose of clarifying the strength and consistency of the questionnaire. This test was also carried out to minimise the errors (Amaratunga et al., 2002). Normally, the range of Cronbach's alpha is between \"0\" and \"1\". The closer the Cronbach's alpha coefficient is to 1, the greater the internal consistency of the item in the scale (Gliem and Gliem, 2003; Nebot et al., 1994). According to Pallant, the most ideal Cronbach alpha coefficient of scale should be above 0.7 (Pallant, 2007). Further to this, Nunnally stated that the score value of Cronbach's coefficient below 0.7 cannot be used to measure the variable (Nunnally et al., 1967). In contrast, according to Hair (2010), Cronbach's alpha coefficient of a scale is sufficed above 0.5 (Hair, 2010). In supporting the statement, George and Mallery (2003) suggested that the score value of Cronbach's coefficient 0.5 is acceptable for the purpose of further analysis. The rules of thumb for the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, as provided by George and Mallery (2003), is shown in Table V below.\nDescriptive analysis: The purpose of this analysis is to process raw data into a summarised form of data that can be understood easily by a researcher and used to organise and describe the data's characteristics. This method also demonstrates the measure of the tendency among the respondents in the survey (Tan, 1995; White, 2002). This includes the frequency analysis, analysis of central tendency, dispersion analysis and standard deviation analysis. In other words, the method provides the analysis of the mean score, standard deviation, frequencies, cross tabulation and the central tendency of the data (Sekaran, 2006). In this analysis, the mean value ranking is used to examine the level of importance of each variable in the research. The mean of each variable will be computed into low, moderate and high levels. The five-point Likert scale is used to measure the tendency of the respondents. The five scales are as follows (Table VI):\nDescriptive analysis: frequency analysis for the scenario of the public buildings maintenance: Data from Table VIII show the frequency analysis of the current scenario of building maintenance, which indicate that on average, the respondents agreed that the public building maintenance scenario in Malaysia was owing to the 16 situations stated in the survey questionnaire.\nDescriptive analysis: mode, mean and standard deviation analysis of the scenario of the public building's maintenance: Table IX describes the level of importance of each variable in the study. To determine the level of importance of every variable, its mean value was indicated. The mean value was divided into three categories of importance: low (mean value = 1.00-2.33), moderate (mean value = 2.34-3.66) and high (mean value = 3.67-5) (Hwang and Ng, 2013). The range of mean value for the variables is 3.03-4.35. The overall mean value for the items ranged between \"moderate\" and \"high\" levels of importance.\nFindings: Because the purpose of this study is to find the building maintenance current scenario in the public sector, only the top 10 variables will be picked up as a major contributor to the current scenario of building maintenance management in public buildings in Malaysia. The scenarios are primarily caused by the absence of an instituted proactive building maintenance policy. The survey showed that generally, most of the respondents agreed that the prevalent practice of building maintenance for at both the planning and implementation stages is of reactive maintenance in approach. The findings are as follows.\nConclusion: The fundamental problem of building maintenance management in Malaysia is having a reactive maintenance approach in managing either a new building construction project or an existing building stock. All the 16 variables revealed that a lack of proactive maintenance management approach has been the fundamental problem in public building maintenance management in Malaysia. A combination of design faults and ineffective building maintenance procedures have brought hazardous and catastrophic consequences to several government building projects. Yet, to date, this fundamental issue is prevalent and unresolved. As a conclusion, the incorporation of proactive maintenance policy should be the highest priority for the maintenance of present and new building development projects. The results also confirmed that the current scenario of public building maintenance is predominantly reactive in approach, and building maintenance and building design are treated as two different aspects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Effective building maintenance management is vital for reducing the impact of building defects and costly building maintenance work. Such practice significantly contributes to the public sector in terms of cost reduction, improved effectiveness and efficiency in maintenance works, increasing safety and well-being of the occupants, expanding the life of building stocks and expanding the value of investment for the government building assets. The maintenance practice in Malaysia is still emerging in comparison to many developed nations. The purpose of this study is to determine the current scenario of the building maintenance approach at the design stage in public buildings in Malaysia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extensive questionnaire survey was held, involving 312 key players (38 per cent out of 820 predetermined participants) in Malaysia.\nFindings: The analysis showed that building maintenance in public building in Malaysia still uses the reactive approach. Despite the Malaysian Government's adoption of a proactive maintenance approach, unfortunately, there are some misunderstandings among the key players regarding the approach. The research results demonstrate that the key players had a lack of understanding on the concept of the proactive maintenance management approach and that they were either ignorant or had insufficient awareness of proactive maintenance approach.\nOriginality/value: The contribution of this study is useful for the government to adopt a more proactive building maintenance policy at the design stage, to give awareness on proactive building maintenance to the key players in their construction project and as a guide to the key players to adopt a maintenance plan at the design stage of work.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Green care governance: between market, policy and intersecting social worlds	[ "Governance", "Norway", "Health services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Green care may be defined as \"The utilization of agricultural farms as a basis for promoting human mental and physical health in cooperation with health authorities\". This definition covers horticultural therapy, animal-assisted therapy and activity-based therapies in a farm context (see, e.g. Hassink and van Dijk, 2006a).As in most western countries the Norwegian health sector is under substantial pressure. Increasing numbers of children and young people need treatment for psychiatric diseases; the number of elderly people with dementia is predicted to double within the next 50 years; and an increasing number of people of employable age are receiving different kinds of supplementary benefits instead of being in work. Many of these people could potentially receive help in a well-functioning green care market.Agriculture, which provides green care services, is also under substantial pressure - in Norway as in most of the developed world. Structural changes within the agricultural sector have led to increased diversification and more pluriactivity1. Many farm families have found the need to either start additional businesses or to commence to work outside of the farm. Concurrently, rural and agricultural policy programs are expanding into other sectors along with a shrinking agricultural sector. In these new \"outskirts\" of Norwegian agricultural policy, green care has become an important issue. In the \"Strategy for developing new businesses in agriculture\" (Ministry of Food and Agriculture, 2007), the agricultural authorities ranked green care as one of the key priorities. However, it seems to be difficult to develop green care into a significant type of 'side-activity' for Norwegian farmers. In this article we ask: What are the most important hindrances for the development of green care in Norway? We believe that in spite of the peculiarities of the Norwegian case, there are possible lessons and implications also for other countries. The principal challenges are, we believe, general. In searching for the hindrances we arrange our discussions around three alternative types of organisational structures that have become rather standard in the social sciences: politics, market, and the social (see, e.g. Parsons, 1967; Stillwell, 2006). First, we investigate whether there are problems relating to the market for green care services. Consequently, we address issues of supply, demand, and the function of the market. Second, we discuss whether there are problems of political engagement. This involves questions on whether the extent and form of political efforts are sufficient. Third, we assess whether the problem is basically one of facilitating social interaction. This means that we analyse the social interaction and the organisation of green care services. Clearly, issues of market, politics and social interaction are deeply interrelated, but an analytical separation may be useful in the search for barriers to green care development.In the Norwegian context, green care services are often treated as \"Into the courtyard\" services. This is a wider concept that implies both green care as defined above and several types of pedagogic services localised on a farm. \"Into the courtyard\" was established in Norway in 2001, both as a concept and as a generic brand. In this article though, we only address farm based health services, based on the above definition, and do not include pedagogic services, on-farm kindergartens, or health-oriented tourism services.Green care implies important income opportunities for farmers, it is an effective remedy for a series of widespread health problems, and it provides a beneficial supplement to the existing health sector. In addition, since this kind of activity started to gain attention in the 1990s, we have seen intensive public efforts to expand and develop green care further. Still though (at the beginning of 2008) less than one percent of Norwegian farms provide green care services. The figures are lower still in other European countries (Hassink and van Dijk, 2006b). The apparent potential compared to the relative small number of green care services presents a puzzle, which is timely to address. Studies of green care governance and the organisational aspects of green care have a significant political as well as theoretical relevance. As substantial political efforts and resources are channelled into green care, it is imperative to assess the problems facing the sector in order to increase the plausibility of cost-effective initiatives. This is especially the case seeing as the public sector is now in need of new supplementary health services - particularly for young people with behavioural difficulties, for the increased number of \"burned out\" labourers of the new economy, and for a steadily aging population. For green care to be a useful supplement to the existing health services, there is a clear need to develop a proper understanding of the barriers to the development of green care. For the agricultural sector, which is in constant need of appropriate fields for farm diversification, improved knowledge on the limits and possibilities of green care services are vital. The research on green care has so far been limited, particular in terms of social science studies, which address organisational issues and the governance of this new and emerging business. The work that does address issues of organisation and governance (e.g. some contributions in Hassink and van Dijk, 2006a) tends to be fairly descriptive. Theoretically oriented and analytical contributions on organisational aspects of green care services are therefore, as we see it, timely.In this article we will first present an overview of the literature on green care. Thereafter a short remark on the data is presented. The analysis and discussion are organised into four parts:1. The current state of Norwegian green care governance and the ongoing political efforts in green care.2. The possible explanations of the current stagnation of green care development, drawing on market, political and socially based explanations.3. A presentation and interpretation of the findings.4. A commentary on further efforts in terms of governance and organisation.\nThe green care literature: It has become conventional to hold that green care services (and nature) have positive effects on people's health. However, the nature of the relationship is still not properly understood. Many explanations build on the idea that there is an inbuilt interconnectedness between the natural environment and the human condition that potentially provides health benefits (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989). Still, research on green care and their associated health benefits can be described separately under the following headings:* health benefits from nature and landscapes;* health effects from interaction with animals;* health effects from horticultural activity or other on-farm activities; and* miscellaneous studies on green care. In the following we will briefly present some studies addressing these fields.First then, several studies suggest that there are positive links between being in a green environment and therefore \"close to nature\" and health gains (Takano et al., 2002). Clearly there are methodological problems in defining and isolating the most important variables in the causal chains between nature and health. The principal cause may be a genetic memory of a landscape, the view (Ulrich, 1984), the activity, the fresh air, or the sun. Although the nature of the relationship is still poorly understood, the overall picture is relatively clear: it is good for people to be out among nature. Children develop better (Grahn, 1996), older people live longer (Takano et al., 2002), sick people rehabilitate better (Ottosson and Grahn, 2005a, b), and newly operated patients recover quicker (Ulrich, 1984).Second, it also seems healthy to have a pet and to work with animals. Garrity and Stallones (1998) reviewed 25 scientific studies on human-pet relations and found documented evidence that there are health advantages of human-pet relations, under certain conditions. Even though this is an indication of an effect, the differences between pets and farm animals are substantial and findings cannot be transferred uncritically. However, recent studies on animal assisted therapy do reveal that occupational therapy with farm animals may be beneficial to persons with diverse mental disorders (Berget et al., 2007), elderly people, and young people with behaviour disorders (Mallon, 1994).Third, even though solid empirical evidence on the effect of horticultural therapy is still lacking, horticultural activity is also shown to have a substantial health potential (Stigsdotter and Grahn, 2002, 2003).The works referred to above are typical for the research on green care. They focus on the issue of health effects and argue for the usefulness of the green-care approach. Most research takes place in the intersection between health disciplines and agricultural disciplines. In Norway, there are just a few studies and evaluations that also address organisational issues. Meistad and Nyland (2005) describe some experiences with the cooperation between green care providers and the service purchasers. They hold that green care is a promising kind of activity, for farmers as well as for people with mental health problems. The challenges ahead are described mainly from the farmer's perspective, and the authors see the cooperation processes as relatively time and resource consuming. From a farmer's perspective though, simplification is seen as important. In their work on green care, Stokke and Rye (2007) devoted a chapter to descriptions of the Norwegian county administration's organisation of work with green care. They showed that the work towards green care varies a great deal from county to county, but all over, the employees in the agricultural and rural development departments of the counties seem to agree that the municipalities are the \"problem\" in green care interactions (Stokke and Rye, 2007, p. 35). Another described that a key organisational challenge was the development of good long-term contracts. Bjorgen and Johansen (2007) carried out a \"user ask user\" evaluation of green care services, revealing two significant findings. First, it was pointed out that even though service-users and farmers had convergent interests in the care service, there were service-users that saw themselves as working on the farm without being properly awarded or paid. Second, this study also highlighted that the contracts between the farmers and the buyers was a weak spot that could affect the users of green care services negatively.In the following we will address the organisational elements of green care, and we will do so in three sections. First, we address the green care market, next we consider green care policy, and finally we assess the intersection of the social worlds in the field of green care. However, before moving on, some brief comments on the empirical inputs are appropriate.\nEmpirical inputs: In this article we take a critical look at the current state of green care services in Norway. We argue that Norwegian green care is a poorly developed sector - or at least a sector with the potential to become much more than it is. Still, in an international perspective Norway seems to have come the furthest in green care development (Hassink and van Dijk, 2006b), and is therefore an interesting case in this respect. There is reason to believe that if the current analysis illuminates factors that hinder green care development in Norway, these factors may also be of interest to other European and western countries, which are also engaged in the development of green care programs.The empirical background is a joint research and development project2, where the authors worked alongside the County Governor of Sor-Trondelag in Norway, in order to look into and start the development of new organisational models for green care. Empirically, we have drawn on three types of information, which serve as data for our analysis. First, we did a review of the international and Norwegian literature on green care and farming for health. This served not only to provide important inputs to the current state of knowledge, but also highlighted which fields of green care research had been neglected. Second, we conducted a document analysis to examine the discourses evident in statements and documents relating to both the private and public sector actors in the green care field. Last but not least, we conducted observations and interviews with activists, public servants, politicians and researchers throughout the project period. Together, these inputs provide the basis for our reflections on the challenges of the emerging green care sector.\nThe stagnation of green care and some possible causes: The problem and its context\nConcluding remarks: We have argued that the field of green care services has a potential to develop into a substantial business. This is particularly so in Norway: There is a need among farmers to develop additional activities, and green care services, is clearly a well-suited, supplementary health activity. There is also a large, and growing, demand for the kind of health services that are included in the green care concept. The basis for a green care market should therefore be present. However, it has not developed.We have also seen that the amounts of political efforts are impressive. Political support from agricultural authorities and interest organisations are substantial both rhetorically and financially. Even so, the efforts on facilitating effective and practical co-action have been inadequate. There are several facets of this problem. First, as in health services within welfare-based economies, users and payers tend to be different actors. Therefore, the problem of making actors meet to exchange is a bit more complicated than in some other markets that farmers diversify into. However, it should be possible to develop organisational models that make transactions possible. Second, there is a problem that the actors may be seen to live in very diverse social worlds. They think, act, and orient themselves in such different ways that transactions are neither smooth nor easy without significant effort from each party. Third, the institutional framework for a well-functioning green care market is absent and as such, the discussion shows that the foundation for a meeting of divergent social worlds are lacking.The solution, as we see it, is not more motivation, mobilisation and networking among farmers and their organisations, and not more political anchoring among agricultural authorities. The focus should be on developing boundary objects or market devices capable of obliging farmers to conceptualise and develop their green care services in terms that practising street level health bureaucrats (Lipsky, 1980) find adaptable to their needs and the requirements of their work. That involves quality assurances as well as service specifications. Another necessary aspect of the market is the organisational elements. Institutional frameworks for the actual transactions must be constructed. It must be possible for buyers as well as users to find their way among service providers without having personal relations or knowledge of them.The description of the situation of green care in Norway, and our analysis of its underlying causes is a starting point. Further research and practical development initiatives are required in order to build and implement practical market devices. This requires the joint efforts of the established green care network, but with a strengthened emphasis on the social world and the professional requirements of the local health bureaucrats. Norway is but a case. The above description and analysis should therefore be followed by international comparative studies that go deeper into the organizational and managerial aspects of green care\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Green care - the utilisation of farms as the basis for health services - is seen as a promising addition to other health services, and it is seen as a viable diversification strategy for many farm families. However, the number of such services is low both in Norway and in Europe in general. The development of green care seems to have stagnated. This paper seeks to analyze and discuss the case of Norwegian green care in order to reflect on the hindrances to the further development of a viable green care sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper analyzes the green care market, green care policies and the interaction of social worlds that are necessary to make the green care sector function smoothly.\nFindings: - The conclusion is that there is a sound basis for a green care market and that there are sufficient political support and political engagement for the development of green care in Norway. The problem with the green care sector is the interaction between the \"social worlds\" involved in the sector - the suppliers/farmers, the users, and the (public sector) buyers. It is argued that the development of a green care market is hampered by the lack of an institutional framework and a set of market devices capable of bringing key actors together.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper presents an analysis of the Norwegian green care sector. It shows that there are substantial cross-national differences between health service systems, and therefore comparisons between nations are difficult. However, the principal challenges - diverse social groups, the lack of institutional frames, and immature markets - are shared. Therefore, the need for further research is evident and there are lessons to be learned from cross-national comparison and case studies.\nOriginality/value: - Within the green care research field, there have been few social science studies that address organisational issues and the governance of this new and emerging business. Theoretically oriented and analytical contributions on organisational aspects of green care services are therefore timely. This paper is such a contribution.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The ethical gap of firms' marketing practices: A comparison between the Brazilian and French markets	[ "Emerging markets", "Business ethics", "Brazilian and French markets", "Business ethical behaviour", "Ethical gap of marketing", "Marketing practices" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The marketing activities of companies seek to meet the market demands by offering value to consumers. The companies' demands may ultimately focus on their shareholders or, more broadly, on its stakeholders, which includes their customers and other agents who have specific demands. The harmonization between the customers' demands and the company's demands over time may be part of the success achieved by the companies and allows the business longevity (Murphy et al., 2005; Brenkert, 2002).\n2. Literature review: The literature review is focused on the following topics: marketing areas with activities focused on consumers, ethical behavior in marketing and business conduct. These conceptual elements guided the development of the research instrument and the analysis of the research results.\n3. Methodology: Based on the research objectives, we developed a research divided into four sections: literature review, interview with experts, research with business managers and validation of results with experts.\n4. Results: The analysis of the results develops a descriptive analysis regarding the characteristics of the companies surveyed and the characteristics of the interviewed managers. After that, we present the main marketing behaviors in the perception of business ethics, considering the Brazilian and French markets. Finally, we outline the proposal of a model of analysis of the ethical gaps in marketing.\n5. Final considerations: The image and reputation of the company consist of some key organizational assets. As per today's media, the business ethical conduct is a constant source of attention of managers in a more dynamic and more integrated business environment. Specifically, marketing activities concentrate a potential ethical conflict between the company's conduct and the expectations of society. The tangible aspects of the products offered can be sources of ethical conflicts that impact the intangible aspects that are important in the perception of the consumers regarding the value of the company. In this sense, communication with society plays an important role in clarifying the truth of the facts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The corporate ethical behavior is a subject that instigates the reflection and practice of researchers and managers in general. Companies dedicate efforts to offer something valuable to society, making profits and usually doing it in compliance with the current legal system. Specifically in marketing activities, there is a higher potential for conflict between the business conduct and the expectations of society. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ethical gap of the marketing activities of companies in the Brazilian and French markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As a conceptual framework, the authors adopted the main theories on marketing activities, ethical behavior in marketing and business conduct. The field research was divided into three stages: qualitative research with experts, quantitative research with business managers and validation of results with experts. The analysis of results of the quantitative research with business managers was supported by multivariate analysis techniques, namely, descriptive analysis, cluster analysis and regression analysis.\nFindings: In the analysis of results of this study, the authors present the main marketing behaviors in the perception of business ethics in the Brazilian and French markets. In addition, as the main result of the research studies, the authors propose a model for the analysis of ethical gaps in marketing.\nPractical implications: The paper proposes a model of analysis of ethical gaps in marketing that relates the omissive and comissive behaviors according to the pressure that society imposes on markets.\nSocial implications: The paper presents the main marketing behaviors in the perception of business ethics in the Brazilian and French markets. Thus, understanding what are the main marketing behaviors associated with the perception of business ethics allows the organization to leverage its marketing behaviors that are more positive and further develop less positive marketing behaviors.\nOriginality/value: As the main contribution, this paper proposes a model of analysis of ethical gaps in marketing that relates the omissive and comissive behaviors according to the pressure that society imposes on markets. The model allows the identification of the negative marketing behaviors in the four quadrants designated as opportunism, negligence, recklessness and incompetence. By mapping the problems, it is possible to minimize or eliminate the differences between the marketing behaviors of the company and the expectations of society.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Management development through self managed learning: the case of West Sussex County Council	[ "Self managed learning", "Strategic management", "Learning contracts", "Reflection" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The Advanced Management Development Programme (AMDP) was introduced by West Sussex County Council, UK, in 1999. The programme runs in partnership with the University of Chichester, which offer a Post Graduate Diploma in Strategic Management on completion of the programme.\nPhase one: 1. Covers a period of six months.2. Students are put in to learning sets; normally this will be approximately five students and a coach.3. Learning sets meet once a month.4. Is an intensive introduction to stimulate the students, establish learning sets and aid early production of a full personal development plan (PDP).5. The PDP is a learning contract agreed by the student, coach and learning set.6. The contract emphasises the responsibility of each student to deliver his or her learning goals. The contract ratifies the content of the programme and ensures that common standards are being maintained.7. The PDP is based around five key questions:* Where have I been?* Where am I now?* Where do I want to be?* How will I get there?* How will I know when I am there?These may appear deceptively simple questions, but the responses are geared to the senior positions the students will have reached in the County Council. Thorough explanations are required, complete with appropriate evidence and a robust plan of action for work to be carried out in phase two of the programme.Each PDP is reviewed and critiqued at meetings of the learning set at the end of the six month period, a panel, including representation from Chichester University and an external examiner formally assess the PDPs.On completion of phase one students then progress in to phase two.\nPhase two: * Covers approximately 12 months.* Students work on and achieve their PDP.* Students are required to undertake a corporate project that matches the students individual learning aims.* lLarning sets continue to meet on a monthly basis.* Final completion of Level two involves a presentation to the learning set and an overview of their project work.All work is assessed at a final panel bringing together all the coaches, representation from Chichester University and the external examiner.The design and delivery of the programme is proven to bring about significant learning. Evaluation and feedback from students having completed the programme has been very positive, as evidenced by the following:I think the course is extremely valuable and should be offered to all senior managers (student).I feel I have learnt a lot about myself - it has been a bit of a journey of self-discovery so far - perhaps more so than I anticipated. It's been tough at times but the benefits are definitely outweighing the negatives (student).I have gained an appreciation of how other parts of the authority work (student).A superb way of learning (student).I have really enjoyed working with my coach. He challenges me - and whilst the questions asked can be difficult to answer, I feel that thinking about both the questions and the answers has been extremely useful and I really do feel that I have made a lot of progress in my career/personal development that is directly related to my experience on the programme (student).The feedback from the programme has been very positive, and we are keen to continue the high standards and develop individuals through a programme of self-managed learning that will benefit not only themselves but also West Sussex County Council (Chief Executive).\nLearning and teaching philosophy: The philosophy of the programme is that management is an uncertain and complex business, that change is a permanent feature of organisational life, and that managers can learn effectively from experience in the workplace. Key features of the programme include:* The route is undertaken entirely \"in house\", with input from external experts.* The use of powerful self-managed learning tools, notably learning sets.* It recognises that students are well-qualified, experienced, successful managers with a history of achievement and carrying significant responsibilities.* The learning set approach provides a powerful stimulus, aids confidence building and improves willingness and the ability to conduct critical and realistic self-appraisal.* Coaches are highly skilled who act as guides and a resource for students.The content demands high-level intellectual capability and comes from the real world of new demands and constant change. It fosters transferable skills most notably initiative, personal responsibility, decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations and a high level of independent learning.The distinctiveness of the programme is that it encourages each student to determine and therefore own his or her own personal development plan. The five questions and the group meetings are a powerful core of the programme. These provide the discipline for individual setting and meeting of goals with an emphasis on learning through reflection and self-appraisal.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To identify how other authorities in England applied Self managed learning to management development and learning opportunities. The success of the programme within WSCC offered an opportunity to identify good practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article discusses the application of self-managed learning within West Sussex County Councils Advanced Management Development Programme.\nFindings: - It has been identified that the use of self-managed learning has proved an invaluable technique for getting individuals to think and learn about their own personal development as well as committing to the development of the county council. It has heightened managers' ability to think more strategically and use their learning in practical applications within the workplace.\nOriginality/value: - This article is a useful case study in applying self managed learning to management development, it is not only a clear and coherent programme but also shows the degree of partnership working that is being undertaken with the local university to ensure that delegates not only get a huge amount of learning and development from it but also succeed in achieving a recognised qualification which can lead to a Masters in strategic management\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The corporate communication process between listed companies and financial analysts: A focus on trends and challenges	[ "Corporate communications", "Trend setters", "Information sources", "Information frequency", "Stock markets", "Financial analysis", "Managers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The communication process on the stock market between management teams and financial analysts is interesting to study. Besides being both time and capital consuming for the company, this process requires the management team to develop a clear strategy on what is to be communicated and what is not, and not the least when and how information is provided. Enriching our understanding of how the actual corporate communication process functions is paramount to ascertain its capacity to reduce information asymmetry and, thus, enable an efficient allocation of resources on the stock market. A quarter of a decade has passed since Arnold and Moizer (1984a, b) in two well-cited studies comprehensively analysed this process from a user perspective.Since then, a lot have changed that considerably have altered the conditions for corporate communication. The globalisation has increased and with it has an enormous focus been placed on the corporate world. The last decades have also witnessed an increased distribution of share ownership among the population as both pension savings and general savings to a greater extent than before are either directly or indirectly invested on the stock market. This has resulted in a broader audience and, thus, a greater demand for the disclosure of corporate information (Ihator, 2004). As a result to this trend, companies have acknowledged the importance of establishing good relationships with their present and potential owners by investing heavily on their investor-relation functions (ICCO, 2009; Adrem, 1999). Furthermore, with the internet era, new electronic ways to communicate, e.g. e-mail, webcasts and webpages, have been made accessible, which could imply that new sources of information might be regarded as more efficient and preferred to traditional ones, e.g. annual reports, capital market days and direct contacts. Goodman (2006, p. 202) goes so far as to emphasise that \"The opportunity for success lies in how soon a corporation can embrace new communication tools and technologies\". These new electronic means of communication has also resulted in increased accessibility, which might have altered the frequency of communication between management and financial analysts. Determining whether this gives a more time-consuming or time-efficient corporate communication is vital.During the last 25 years, there have, of course, been studies, although few recent ones, which have explored the corporate communication process and, thereby, have captured some effects of the above discussed changed conditions for corporate communication. However, they have primarily focused on the views sophisticated users, i.e. buy- and sell-side analysts (e.g. Johansson, 2004; Williams et al., 1996; Bence et al., 1995; Olbert, 1993; Pike et al., 1993), have on different aspects related to the corporate communication process. Those studies that have included the views of their counterpart, i.e. the management teams who provide or, better yet, communicate corporate information, have often only focused on one type of corporate communication, i.e. private voluntary disclosure or direct contacts (e.g. Holland, 1997, 1998a; Johansson, 1998). Thus, a literature review, accentuates a need for a comprehensive analysis where different aspects related to the corporate communication process are included and with the focus on the management perspective.In the present study the views of management regarding different aspects related to the communication process with financial analysts are analysed, because they have an important role as information intermediaries in the information flow between the organisation and its investors (see, e.g. Holland, 1997). The focus of the study is on the following aspects: incentive for communication, sources of information, and frequency and initiator of communication. The data is based on a comprehensive questionnaire survey addressed to investor-relation managers (IRMs) at the largest listed companies included in the OMXS30-index at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. This methodology was chosen since the objective of the study was to obtain an overall picture of management teams' views on the above listed aspects.\n2. Theoretical and empirical foundations: 2.1 The parties in the information flow\n3. Research design and empirical methodology: 3.1 Construction of the test instrument\n4. Results: 4.1 Demographic information\n5. Discussion: Motivated by changed conditions for corporate communication, paired with a lack of recent studies, the present study set out to comprehensively analyse different aspects of the corporate communication process from a management-team perspective (a perspective often neglected for the sophisticated-user perspective). After conducting the study, one can conclude that there is a lot of communication taking place between management teams and financial analysts. The present study confirms that the frequency of communication has been increasing considerably over the last 15 years and still continues to increase. If and how this is a potential problem under way is important for future research to explore further.The IRMs emphasise that the prime incentive for engaging in communication is to teach financial analysts/market about the company. Considering the importance of reducing information asymmetry and, thereby, contributing to an efficient allocation of resources on the stock market, we can conclude that this top-ranked incentive is exactly such an important undertaking, which is needed to contribute to improved market efficiency. A difference to earlier studies is that information exchange is an incentive for communication ranked very low. It is relevant to expect that this could be due to precaution to avoid being accused of using the corporate communication process to exchange inside information. Thus, admitting information exchange appears as less commeil faut today in a society where inside trading is something that national and international authorities actively fight against.It is obvious that direct contacts between management teams and financial analysts are a source of information preferred by both parties. Overall, we see a preference to sources of information that involves personal contact. What we have not seen in earlier studies, is that the IRMs express a concern of increasing opportunity costs due to lost management opportunities due to the time consuming aspect of the management team devoting (too?) much time to communicate with financial analyst. This, they argue risks directing away the management team's focus and attention from other important management tasks. The severity of this problem requires focus in future studies. There also appears to be a need for further research focused on how the use of new electronic means of communication de facto functions. Although, the present study confirms that these new communication tools (e.g. e-mail and webcasts) are being embraced by both parties, concerns about potential risks like increased accessibility (which also risks steeling away time from more important tasks), information leakage and misinterpretations are being raised.Thus, the findings from the present study reveal that quite a few challenges lie ahead in shaping an efficient corporate communication process of tomorrow. The most critically relate to the risk of opportunity costs due to an increase in direct contacts resulting in lost management opportunities and to the introduction of new electronic communication tools. Policy makers, financial market regulators and corporate policy makers in the field of corporate communication need to address these challenges.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to analyse the views of management teams regarding different aspects related to the corporate communication process with financial analysts. The focus is the following aspects: incentive for communication; sources of information; and frequency and initiator of communication.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data is based on a comprehensive questionnaire survey addressed to investor-relation managers (IRMs) at the largest companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.\nFindings: - The study confirms an increasing frequency of corporate communication, a short-term orientation, more demand for direct contacts, and embracing of new communication tools. The findings reveal that quite a few challenges lie ahead in shaping the efficient corporate communication process of tomorrow. The most critical relate to the risk of opportunity costs due to lost management opportunities caused by increased demand from stock-market actors for communication time with management teams and to perceived risks with, for example, increased accessibility, information leakage and misinterpretations due to the introduction of new electronic communication tools.\nPractical implications: - Given the delicate nature of the above challenges, they need to be taken on promptly by management teams, policy makers and financial market regulators if the corporate communication process is to function efficiently and facilitate decreased information asymmetry and uphold an efficient allocation of resources on the stock market.\nOriginality/value: - The study is motivated by the changed conditions for corporate communication (e.g. increased globalisation, new electronic ways to communicate, importance of non-financial drivers), paired with a lack of recent studies. Furthermore, herein not only one aspect is being analysed but several, and from a management-team perspective, which is a perspective often neglected for the sophisticated-user perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Derivations of design concepts for video search interfaces	[ "Think-aloud protocol", "Design concepts", "Exploratory video search behaviour", "Learning support", "Quality search", "Video system interfaces" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Finding information to fill knowledge gaps is an human behavior. The easy accessibility and pervasiveness of the internet have made it one of the most important online sources for finding information. Information-seeking behavior models are used to understand the information seeking process and to depict the dynamics of interaction between human and systems (Marchionini, 1995). Different information seeking models are used in various situations to show alternative information seeking perspectives.\n2. Related studies: Four areas of literature are pertinent to online information seeking behavior: online information seeking; task complexity and exploratory search; use of videos in learning; and video retrieval interfaces.\n3. Research methodology: Novice searchers who do not have extensive searching experience, such as adolescent learners, encounter challenges when seeking information on the internet. The vast amount of resources available can result in satisficing as the novice searchers tend to limit their time spent in searching. When performing an exploratory search for learning, the increased task complexity requires more time and resources. This study aims is to gather insights into how adolescent learners search for and select videos to support self-learning. Participants were assigned two search tasks. Throughout the search process, participants used the TAP to verbalize their actions, thoughts and feelings.\n4. Understanding exploratory video search behavior: The analysis yielded five themes relevant to interface design: selection of internet resources; query formulation/reformulation; selecting the video(s) for preview; acquainting with the video content; and making a decision for the search task. Using a qualitative approach, these themes that emerged from the video seeking behavior of young learners offered confirmation of previous findings.\n5. Video system interface features: Current search interface offers limited support in the exploratory search for videos. The themes that emerged from the analysis of the video-seeking behavior provided a number of useful observations to a number of interface features.\n6. Conclusions and future work: The exponential growth of information found on the internet, the design of search engines, and the context of search have influenced the searcher behavior. The emergence of Web 2.0 and social networking sites is changing the information landscape as anyone can take the roles of information consumer and information producer. This has made exploratory search challenging, especially for novice searchers who are not conversant with the domain or the topic of interest.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Keywords search is intuitive, simple to use and convenient. It is also the de facto input interface for textual and multimedia retrieval. However, individuals often perform poorly when faced with exploratory search tasks that are common during learning, resulting in poor quality searches. The purpose of this paper is to examine how adolescent learners search and select videos to support self-learning. The findings allow for the identification of design concepts of video retrieval interface and features that can facilitate better exploratory searches.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Participants were assigned two customized video search tasks. The think-aloud protocol is used to allow participants to verbalize their actions, thoughts and feeling. This approach offered rich insights to the participants' cognitive processes and considerations when performing the search tasks.\nFindings: This study identified five themes for exploratory video search behavior: selection of internet resources, query formulation/reformulation, selection of the video(s) for preview, getting acquainted with the video content, and making a decision for the search task. The analysis of these themes led to a number of design concepts, ranging from supporting exploration of topics to better interaction with metadata.\nPractical implications: The findings can inform future development of dedicated video retrieval systems interfaces that seeks to facilitate effective exploratory searches by learners.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes by suggesting design concepts for video retrieval system developers to support exploratory video searches.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Selecting the reliable supplier by using the advisor agents	[ "Reliability", "Suppliers", "Buyers", "Agents" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: One of the main challenges faced by the industries is rapid reconfiguration of purchasing systems to handle rapid change in business environment without human intervention (Alsafi and Vyatkin, 2010). One important criterion of the factory is the flexibility of supporting different sequences of production and allowing changes in the production system for new products to offer and find the best supplier (Alsafi and Vyatkin, 2010; Leitao, 2004).\nAdvisor agents and reliability: Agents are \"sophisticated computer programs that act autonomously on behalf of their users, across open distributed environments to solve a growing number of complex problems\" (Aref, 2003; Czibula et al., 2008; Quteishat et al., 2009; Ramchurn et al., 2004; Suriyakala and Sankaranarayanan, 2007). Nature has shown that complex collective behaviors become possible by very simple interactions among large number of agents (Camazine, 2003; Yeom, 2013). In agent environments, consumer agents that elicit reputation ratings of provider agents from other agents are known as advisor agents (Zhang and Cohen, 2006).\nRelated works: In this section, we describe four related works which proposed different approaches for computing trust and reliability of agents.\nThe proposed model: In the following sections, the proposed model is described in two parts: the first part explains the method of calculating the reliability of each supplier, and the second part presents the method of selecting the most reliable supplier.\nExamples: To explain how the proposed model selects the most reliable supplier agent, two simple examples are presented in this section. These examples were collected from simple online searching of the user. If the buyer is a company which is looking for a supplier, it can search on B2B advisor portals such as Alibaba or EC21-Global B2B Marketplace. Then, according to their suggested suppliers, the buyer can check the feedback of each suggested supplier and also can submit a request for more information about the suggested supplier.\nExperimentations: Two methods were used to evaluate the proposed model: one method used MATLAB (R2012a) for simulating the multi-agent environment in which each agent plays the role of buyer, advisor or supplier, and the next method was based on trade network game (TNG), which was presented by Tesfatsion (1997) to simulate a trade network among buyer, advisor and supplier agents.\nDiscussion: Result of performance the proposed model in a simulated auction environment revealed that the proposed model selected the reliable agent in each transaction. In particular, the result indicated that the proposed model can predict and select the most reliable supplier in different types of trade games even when the partner agents change their behavior a lot.\nConclusion: This paper determined a new approach for selecting the most reliable supplier with computing the reliability of each supplier through a device of the advisor agent. In this case study, first, the most representative trust and reliability models were analyzed for calculating the reliability of agents. Based on the analysis of these models, a computational model was proposed for computing the reliability of supplier agent according to the advisor agent's opinion. Then, the model applied a multi-criterion decision-making process (TOPSIS) to select the most reliable supplier. The proposed model was evaluated in two methods. First, the accuracy of model was examined by simulating a multi-agent environment and also the performance of the proposed model in selecting the reliable supplier agent compared with the random selection method. Second, the performance of the proposed model in selecting the most reliable supplier was evaluated by simulating an auction environment by using the TNG simulator. The results showed that the proposed reliability model was able to detect the most reliable supplier. Thereby, using the proposed model supported the buyers to experience a successful transaction with the suppliers which were able to provide the demanded services satisfactorily. It should be noted that the proposed model considered the knowledge of buyer agent about supplier agent in selection of the most reliable one. In addition to evaluating the reliability of each supplier agent based on closeness and stability factors in which the recent interactions have higher weight than the past interactions. However, the proposed model can be enhanced with regard to the measuring of other factors such as reputation of supplier agents and also benevolent advisor agents, which recommend the reliable supplier and rate the suggested supplier.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to enhance the successful interaction between buyers and suppliers who use intelligent agents by presenting a computational model to detect the most reliable supplier agent according to advice of an advisor agent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this case, the authors study the most representative models in agent environments. According to these analysis criteria, a computational model was presented to compute the reliability of supplier agents and then select the most reliable one. To evaluate the proposed method, the experimentation was carried out in two stages. First, the average accuracy of model in computing the reliability was evaluated by comparing a random selection method. Second, the performance of the model in detecting the most reliable supplier was evaluated in an agent environment by applying trust network game as a simulator.\nFindings: The experimental results revealed that the proposed method can detect the most reliable supplier accurately in both consistent and oscillating agent environments.\nOriginality/value: The authors believe that the proposed model will be beneficial to enhance the fulfillment of purchasing between buyers and suppliers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Steps toward promoting consistency in educational decisions	[ "Intuition", "Decision making", "Problem solving", "Decision support systems", "Israel" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The decisions made in the field of education are assisted by intuition, common sense and systematic thinking. The literature addresses both the advantages and faults of intuition in making judgments. This article examines the efficacy of a decision making process assisted by intuition and common sense that reduces the shortcomings ascribed to them.\nMethod: Participants\nFindings: In order to examine the allocation of teaching hours for mathematics in the three orders given in the SDP, means and standard deviations were compared for three data cross sections:1. the total number of hours allocated to teachers in each of the three orders;2. the total number of hours allotted to promotion of cognitive development in each of the orders; and3. the allocation of hours for the higher grades in each of the orders.The data were processed by means of a repeated measurements MANOVA with the addition of three mediating variables: gender, age and education level.Means and standard deviation with respect to the allocation of the added hours as suggested in each of the trials are presented in Table I.1. Comparison of decision means in the three trees. Results of the analysis of variation indicate no significant differences in the means in the three orders in the context of allocating hours for teacher instruction, F(1.242)=0.075, p > 0.05, for cognitive development, F(1.242)=1. 37, p > 0.05, or for adding hours to the higher grades, F(1.242) = 0.03, p > 0.05. This means that the order of alternatives did not influence the decisions. The effect of seniority, gender and education level of participants was not found to be significant for any of the series.2. Comparison of standard deviations. Results of the analysis of variation indicate no significant differences in the standard deviations for allotting hours in the three orders, with respect to hours assigned for teacher instruction, F(1.242)=0.055, p > 0.05, time added for cognitive development, F(1.242)=0.424, p > 0.05, and the allocation for the higher grades, F(1.242)=1.257, p > 0.05. The influence of background variables on the various series was not found to be significant. The clear meaning of the findings is that altering the order of alternatives in the SDP procedure does not affect decisions significantly.3. The opinion of participants with regard to the connection between order of alternatives and decision patterns. A total 106 participants (42.57 percent) responded that the decision tree in the first set presented allowed them to reach a decision that best reflected their opinion. Sixty-six teachers (26.50 percent) preferred the second, and the third model was thought best by 33 participants (13.25 percent). A total 44 (17.67 percent) said they had no preference. The opinion expressed by most of the participants who linked the order of alternatives to the nature of their decisions does not correspond to the actual findings, which indicate no differences in the decisions, regardless of the order of data presentation.\nDiscussion: Decisions for solving educational dilemmas employ systematic thinking, intuition and common sense, each of which has been found in the research literature to have specific merits. The present paper, following up on the work of Khatri and Ng (2000) and Gore et al. (2006), indicates the potential inherent in a combination of intuition and systematic thinking for making educational decisions. Intuition, which ordinarily functions in a flexible and open cognitive domain, is channeled into hierarchical activity, while systematic thinking is harnessed to deal with issues that are not disposed to precise quantitative measurement.The validity of the SDP is observable in the correspondence between the decision maker's principles and the decisions actually made (Klein and Weiss, 2007). In addition, it passes the test of invariance, which is one of the basic conditions required of all rational decisions (Kahneman and Tversky, 1982). Although extensive information is included in the tree, decision makers are able to direct most of their attention to solving one simple concrete dilemma at each decision point. Thus the judgment procedure is not complicated. The entire tree can be perused by participants at any time but peripheral information does not require constant processing. If a decision were required at all junctions simultaneously, the complexity of the activity would be heightened considerably, engendering imprecision in logic and bias in judgment. The optimal division of attention between information required at the decision junctions and awareness of background information requires further clarification as does the distinction between those few who are highly capable of dividing their attention and the majority whose abilities in this domain are more limited (Sharon, 1997).Most of the participants who used the SDP to reach their decisions imagined that one of the three tree models better reflected their opinion about the dilemma than the others. The findings of this study refute this assessment and indicate that changing the order of the decision stages using the SDP does not affect its quality; all of the tree models equally reflect the attitude of the decision maker. The mistaken assumption by the participants apparently arises from previous experiences with complex daily decisions, in which anchoring effects are evident (Hasee et al., 2003, Yassour, 2005). They project their past personal experience onto the situation being examined. It is possible that further practice in formulating decisions by means of the SDP procedure would gradually lead to an awareness of the invariance of judgments and as a result, to their support for the use of this procedure.It is possible to employ the SDP for a broad range of strategic educational decisions by arranging them in a hierarchical format. This requires making a distinction between basic questions that are decided by policy makers and operative questions that are decided upon at the field level by individuals well versed in issues of implementation. In the present case, educational policy makers determine the orientation of the curricula. Decisions as to how best to carry out policy are made at the lower organizational levels. Formulation of decisions by means of this procedure is relevant in frameworks whose organizational culture encourages balanced and systematic decisions. When immediate decisions with no time for a fundamental examination of the data are regularly required, the use of the procedure under discussion is precluded. A clear indication that a given organization could not use the SDP would be the tendency to allocate only one meeting to discuss a problem, without leaving time to examine the entire gamut of relevant aspects.Everyone is subject to biases when making intuitive decisions, irrespective of educational level. Individuals who have acquired certain professional skills may avoid basic errors in simple decisions but their intuitive judgments on complex problems will nevertheless be subject to biases (Kahneman and Tversky, 1984). The SDP contributes to invariance of decisions regardless of the educational background of the decision maker. This, however, should not be understood to mean that all will be led to identical conclusions, but that whatever is decided will be consistent. Consistency represents a sine qua non when analyzing rational choice, but it is not the sole criterion. It assures the use of identical rules and principles in similar circumstances, but the result may be decisions that are consistently wrong. Additional criteria are required to ensure the quality of the procedure for formulating decisions and their outcomes, which together with invariance will serve as combined yardsticks for assessing the accuracy of decisions.The potential inherent in the SDP requires its corroboration in additional educational situations in which the complexity of the decision tree is controlled. Too many decision points in the tree may cause mental fatigue, a decline in attention and poor utilization of thought processes. It is also necessary to control for the level of emotional arousal created by the dilemmas. High arousal, whether positive or negative, creates a conflict between a judgmental system based on rules, and associative thinking which tends to dominate (Gray, 1999; Shkedy, 2005). The matter selected for the present study did not evoke strong sentiment. Nevertheless, for those working in the educational field certain problems do engender intense feelings.Planning educational decisions employing the procedure under discussion requires appropriate training. It is necessary to inculcate skills that encourage a systemic perception of complex issues, the ability to distinguish between central and subordinate components, and the facility for arranging them hierarchically. It is also essential that those involved in joint decision making consent to suspend their final judgment until the process has been allowed to run its course to the full.SDP is applicable only when these conditions are met. It is not appropriate, for instance, when a situation demands immediate response. The SDP represents one among many options that might assist in making the process of taking decisions more efficacious under certain circumstances. Decision makers should be expected to be familiar with the various systems available, including their advantages and their limitations in diverse decision making situations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The literature indicates the advantages of decisions formulated through intuition, as well as the limitations, such as lack of consistency in similar situations. The principle of consistency (invariance), requiring that two equivalent versions of choice-problems will produce the same preference, is violated in intuitive judgment. This paper aims to examine the contribution of the simple decision process (SDP) to invariance in intuitive educational decisions. The SDP integrates intuitive and systematic techniques by breaking down a dilemma into simple problems that can be processed intuitively with little or no perturbation by bias.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In total, 40 teachers resolved a complex educational dilemma three times intuitively, with the same data presented in a different order in each iteration. Content analysis revealed inconsistency in the conclusions reached with the three formats. This is explained in the literature by the anchoring effect. Thereafter, the three-step procedure was repeated, with the participation of 246 teachers using SDP. A statistical analysis showed significant invariance with respect to decisions made during the three trials.\nFindings: - An SDP formulated decision is not affected by the order of data presentation. The principle of invariance, a sine qua non in analyzing rational choices, is maintained\nOriginality/value: - The article sheds light on the potential inherent in integration of intuition and common sense with analytical thought-patterns in educational decisions and in other fields that involve probabilistic determinations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceptions of care quality and the effect on patient satisfaction	[ "Patient satisfaction", "Healthcare quality", "Multi-year case study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Service quality and patient satisfaction are key metrics used by healthcare providers in their continuous process improvement efforts. More recently in the USA, healthcare insurers use the results of patient satisfaction surveys as part of the basis for provider reimbursements. Patients typically evaluate service quality experientially, that is, based on their perceptions of care, while physicians and regulators tend to evaluate care based on technical quality that measures specific aspects of medical procedures and clinical outcomes (Koenig and Kleinsorge, 1994; O'Connor et al., 2000; Chandrasekaran et al., 2012). Care providers and medical staff have been reluctant to value the results of patient satisfaction surveys since patients do not have the expertise to evaluate the technical attributes of their care (Cleary, 1999; Sonnenberg, 2013). However, studies have shown that patients who are satisfied with their care are more likely to follow prescribed treatments and as a result, better clinical results are observed (Jha et al., 2008; Manary et al., 2013; Zandbelt et al., 2007). Further, patient-assessed factors such as cleanliness and likelihood of recommending a facility are highly correlated with clinical measures of low infection rates (Ford et al., 1997) and low readmission rates (Greaves et al., 2012).\n2. Methodology: A case study approach was utilized to conduct a rigorous investigation of patient survey data over a three-year time period (July 2012 through June 2014) at Portage. Multiple regression models were developed, and significant differences between results were tested.\n3. Model results: For the three-year period, we computed means and standard deviations, developed multiple regression models, and performed statistical analyses to identify whether patient demographics (gender and age) and care demographics (clinic type, provider type, and medical specialty) significantly affect overall patient satisfaction. Multiple regression for all three years of data yielded models with a number of similar variables between the two independent variables.\n4. Implications and limitations: Contemporary patient care surveys focus on attitudinal attributes of the patient experience as opposed to the quality outcomes associated with the specific medical treatment or procedures (technical quality). Patients may not be skilled to assess the quality of their treatment unless there is a failure in the outcome and a cause to repeat the service transaction. Perceptions and attitudes of patients are heavily influenced by interpersonal interactions primarily with care providers and nurse/assistants. Multiple regression results also revealed the importance of safety and health issues to patients. It is not surprising to find that patients pay limited or no attention to the movement through their visit as measured by patient flow constructs since this study took place in a clinic environment. Only in one year of this research did aspects of administrative processes have an impact on overall patient satisfaction. This means that the patient does not pay close attention to the entire service cycle from making the appointment to contact with the support staff, moving through the visit and ending the service transaction. Patients place primary emphasis on interpersonal relationships associated with the nurse/assistant and care provider, and their safety and health.\n5. Conclusions: UP Health Systems Portage discusses patient survey results with physicians, managers, administrators, and the board of directors (MacInnes, 2015). The organization approaches process improvement through committees and process improvement initiatives, using survey results as the driver (MacInnes, 2015). The results from our study supplement what is already received by stakeholders and allows for further analysis to understand relationships and predictors of overall patient satisfaction.\n6. Future research: Analytics from this study can serve as a basis for further predictive modeling and the opportunity to uncover other relationships. The interactions of factors and individual variables can be explored, as well as constructs such as SEM to gain an overall perspective of the factors that influence patient satisfaction. Waiting times, both in the waiting area and exam rooms, were beyond the scope of this current study and were not statistically significant in the regression modeling efforts. Linkages between patient satisfaction and wait time are also areas to be explored. A comparison of patient satisfaction through official surveys and patient satisfaction as expressed in online forums or rating sites would also be interesting. Finally, a comparison of patient satisfaction, physician/nurse satisfaction and clinical measures of quality would provide further insight into the dimensions of overall care quality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research models the impact of patient perceptions of care quality on overall patient satisfaction in a rural healthcare organization over a three-year time period. The purpose of this paper is to determine if the factors that influence perceptions of service quality change over time and if the change affects overall patient satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected for three fiscal years (2012-2014) using a 36-question, Likert-scaled attitudinal survey. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify which constructs of five different service quality dimensions were statistically significant in predicting overall patient satisfaction. Paired comparison of means and ANOVA F-tests highlighted significant differences across years and demographics.\nFindings: Multiple regression models of overall patient satisfaction over a three-year time period had significant repeat variables, indicating salience of the dimensions and constructs of service quality that predict patient satisfaction. However, some dimensions of service quality did not remain significant from one year to another, indicating there may be a gap in the patient service cycle over an extended time frame.\nOriginality/value: This paper explored the sequential relationship between patient satisfaction survey data and perceptions of service quality over a multi-year time frame. The research focussed on outpatient medical clinics, while the majority of previous studies have focussed on acute care or inpatient stays. A longitudinal study is especially relevant for outpatient clinics where continuity of care is important.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Digital athletics in analogue stadiums: Comparing gratifications for engagement between live attendance and online esports spectating	[ "Sports consumption", "Digital culture", "Online games", "Uses and gratifications", "Esports", "Spectating" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The term \"esports\" was coined in the late 1990s (Gestalt, 1999) and first entered academic discussion approximately a decade ago (Wagner, 2006). Esports is defined as a form of sports \"facilitated by electronic systems\", where the input and output, are mediated by human-computer interfaces (Hamari and Sjoblom, 2017). Popularly and practically, esports manifests as competitive professional video gaming. Esports has been a rapidly growing part of the entertainment industry, and the global esports audience in 2018 was estimated at 395m people, with 173m being active spectators (Newzoo, 2019). Contemporary live esports events have become increasingly popular and often attract tens of thousands of attendees at tournament locations (Kresse, 2015; Taylor, 2016), simultaneously attracting online spectators by the hundreds of thousands for individual events. In 2018, an estimated 737 major esports events were organised (Newzoo, 2019).\nBackground: The successful conceptualisation of competitive video gaming as a sport has been attributed to the shift away from player-vs-machine towards the player-vs-player dynamic facilitated by technologies such as LAN connections (Griffiths et al., 2003). Contemporary esports spectator events draw many influences from the long-standing tradition of LAN events, it has been suggested that their popularity is due to the social characteristics of such events; throughout the history of esports and competitive gaming, LAN events of all sizes have been a way for enthusiasts to gather and meet like-minded individuals and to participate in various forms of competition (Jansz and Martens, 2005; Taylor, 2016; Taylor and Witkowski, 2010; Witkowski, 2012). Indeed, events with a live audience may be preferable for event organisers and players alike, as previous research has found an audience increases game performance of players (Bowman et al., 2013).\nMethodology: Participants and procedure\nResults: Motivations in live and online spectating\nDiscussion: In this paper we investigated the gratifications spectators derive from spectating esports both in the form of attendance at live events and in form of online spectatorship, as well as how they may differ. Additionally, we investigated how these gratifications lead into continued esports spectatorship, both off- and online, and the likelihood of recommending esports to others (H1a-H1c). We employed two data sets, one collected from online spectators (n=888), the other from offline spectators (n=221).\nConclusions and limitations: This study applied the approach of sports and media consumption research to the newly emergent field of contemporary esports in order to further understand motivations for the consumption of esports both in the context of live tournament spectatorship and online spectatorship. A comparison of gratifications was conducted for online consumers of esports and those that attended a live event, Assembly Summer 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. This analysis revealed that spectators in both contexts derive roughly similar levels of gratifications from esports spectating. Differences were found among drama, acquisition of knowledge, appreciation of skill, novelty, aesthetics and enjoyment of aggression, which online spectators rated higher. Social interaction and physical attractiveness were rated higher among live spectators.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Esports (electronic sports) are watched by hundreds of millions of people every year and many esports have overtaken large traditional sports in spectator numbers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate spectating differences between online spectating of esports and live attendance of esports events. This is done in order to further understand attendance behaviour for a cultural phenomenon that is primarily mediated through internet technologies, and to be able to predict behavioural patterns.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs the Motivation Scale for Sports Consumption to investigate the gratifications spectators derive from esports, both from attending tournaments physically and spectating online, in order to explore which factors may explain the esports spectating behaviour. The authors investigate how these gratifications lead into continued spectatorship online and offline, as well as the likelihood of recommending esports to others. The authors employ two data sets, one collected from online spectators (n=888), the other from live attendees (n=221).\nFindings: The results indicate that online spectators rate drama, acquisition of knowledge, appreciation of skill, novelty, aesthetics and enjoyment of aggression higher than live attendees. Correspondingly, social interaction and physical attractiveness were rated higher by live attendees. Vicarious achievement and physical attractiveness positively predicted intention to attend live sports events while vicarious achievement and novelty positively predicted future online consumption of esports. Finally, vicarious achievement and novelty positively predicted recommending esports to others.\nOriginality/value: During the past years, esports has emerged as a new form of culture and entertainment, that is unique in comparison to other forms of entertainment, as it is almost fully reliant on computer-human interaction and the internet. This study offers one of the first attempts to compare online spectating and live attendance, in order to better understand the phenomenon and the consumers involved. As the growth of esports is predicted to continue in the coming years, further understanding of this phenomenon is pivotal for multiple stakeholder groups.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Inevitable knowledge strategy: A paradigm shift in strategic HRM practices to augment firm's performance	[ "Knowledge strategy", "Firm performance", "Organization learning", "Strategic HRM" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: India experienced the historical growth of human resource management (HRM) in different phases, namely, labor welfare (1930s and 1940s); the Factories Act, 1948; the concepts of personnel function in the 1950s, personnel management in the 1960s, human resource development in the 1980s and since the 1990s, it finally emerged as HRM (Arora and Athreye, 2002; Thite, 2014; Arunprasad, 2016). During this time, with the objective of becoming the fastest growing economy on the globe and rejuvenating economic reforms, liberalization, privatization and globalization policies were introduced. In particular, there was a consequential boost across sectors, especially as it opened a new avenue for the services industry. Since then, human resources have been looked at as a vital resource for the growth of the Indian information and technology services industry. As per the 2014-2015 report published by NASSCOM[1], the Indian IT-BPM services achieved revenues of USD146 billion, with the domestic concentration of around 50 billion, and signifying growth between 12 and 13 percent. The industry employs 3.5 million people directly and 9.5 million indirectly.\nLiterature review and hypothesis: Resource-based view (RBV) of the firm - strategic HRM\nResearch design and methodology: The software companies were chosen based on their listing in NASSCOM annual reports. In accordance with the NASSCOM annual report (2013-2014), Indian software companies are classified based on the annual turnover (in INR) as small scale (<500 million), medium scale (500-2,000 million) and large scale (>2,000 million); the same categorization has been used to select the firms from the NASSCOM listing. Through stratified random sampling, 89 software firms across major cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Trivandrum) in India were contacted, out of which 32 software companies participated in the first phase of the survey, with a response rate of 36 percent. The head of HR or vice president, HR or senior HR manager was requested to participate and respond to a questionnaire specific to knowledge strategy and the firm's performance. In the second phase of the survey, employees of the companies which participated in the first phase were contacted and responded to a questionnaire measuring strategic HRM practices. The criterion for selecting the employees from the software companies was that they should have at least two years of work experience in the software industry and one year in the current company. Software employees across different designations/levels (software engineers, senior software engineers, team leaders, project leaders and project managers) in each of the 32 software companies were requested to participate and respond to the questionnaire measuring strategic HR practices. Out of 575 responses from the employees, 416 responses were usable for further analysis. Out of the 416 useful responses, 74 percent are male and 26 percent are female. Of all the respondents, 70 percent possess a total experience of 2-5 years, 20 percent possess an experience of 6-10 years, 8 percent possess an experience of 11-15 years and 2 percent possess an experience of 16-20 years in the software industry. Furthermore, the respondents' job titles are as follows: software engineers (30 percent), senior software engineers (37.5 percent), team leaders (7.5 percent), project leaders (13 percent) and project managers (12 percent).\nData analysis and results: Psychometric properties of the scale: unidimensionality, reliability and validity\nDiscussion: This empirical study contributes to the literature by reinforcing and showing several pieces of evidence of the interaction effect between knowledge strategy and strategic HRM practices on firms' performance. The findings of this study corroborate past research work, such as Choi and Lee (2013), and Jiang et al. (2012), who observed the impact of HRM practices on operational and financial performance. The moderation effect of the knowledge strategy in the relationship between strategic HRM practices and organizational performance has had a positive and significant impact. These results are in line with the contingency study of strategic HRM literature, with specific reference to organization strategy as a moderator variable (Azmi, 2011). The empirical findings of this study add to the growing body of strategic HRM and firm performance literature, which is in accordance with some of the previous studies on the relationship between HRM practices and objective and perceived financial performance: high-commitment HR practices and perceived financial performance (Allen et al., 2013); knowledge-based HRM practices, collaborative HRM practices and financial performance (Lopez-Cabrales et al., 2011); high-involvement HR systems and financial performance (Martinez-del-Rio et al., 2012); high-performance work systems and financial performance (Wei and Lau, 2010); high-commitment HR systems and financial performance (Zhou et al., 2013); strategic integration of HRM and a firm's performance (Sheehan et al., 2007; Wei and Lau, 2008).\nImplication and conclusion: In the Indian context, this study adds to the body of literature of strategic HRM practices and the characteristics of organizational learning, i.e. knowledge strategy and its effect on financial and non-economic performance. The proposed model can help knowledge-intensive firms to analyze the extent of the alignment of their strategic HRM practices with a defined knowledge strategy and its corresponding impact on the firm's performance. The measures of strategic HRM practices may be individual specific, hierarchy/level specific, organization specific or industry specific. It depends on the level at which the scores of the scale are analyzed and evaluated.\nLimitations and future directions: Though the current study has explored the links and found some evidence in the Indian software industry, it should be considered largely as exploratory in nature; these findings may require additional confirmation in future studies. This study was restricted to 32 software companies, which were identified through stratified, random sampling based on their NASSCOM listing, hence the external validity needs to be examined, only then can the results of this study be generalized to software firms in other countries. This study was only a cross-sectional study; a longitudinal study may give some more interesting results. Future studies should attempt a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal, quantitative and multi-source or qualitative data when examining the results. Software professionals across all levels were asked about their perception of their experience of existing HR practices and HR professionals were asked about the existing knowledge strategy; however, it may be important to differentiate the quality and frequency of HRM practices and knowledge strategies to the fullest extent. The percentage of male participants significantly dominates when compared to the female participants and hence gender could have been a factor that affected the findings, which opens up a new avenue for research. Also, a firm's knowledge management system in terms of knowledge absorption, assimilation and integration can be linked to the model to further strengthen it and test for empirical validation. From the dynamic capability theory perspective, this model can be revisited with specific talent management variables, like talent acquisition, talent retention, talent engagement and talent development, to reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environment. Future research could dwell more on the unexplored strategic HRM practices and techniques to clarify the determinants of firm performance that have not been addressed in this research. Future studies can also compare the perceptions of software professionals and HR managers on their organization's knowledge strategies and strategic HRM practices. The conceptual model can be replicated and tested in other industry sectors to find out the nature of alignment between strategic HRM practices and knowledge strategy and its impact on firms' performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of strategic human resource management (HRM) practices and knowledge strategies on the performance of a sample of software companies in India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample chosen for this study was software professionals in India; the software companies were chosen based on their listing in the NASSCOM annual report, with financial turnover as the basis for classification. In order to measure the tangible and intangible outcomes, instruments used in this study include financial and non-economic performance.\nFindings: As per the contingency approach, the fit between strategic HRM practices (staffing, general training, specific training, performance appraisal, performance feedback, reward and compensation and employee development) and knowledge strategy dimensions (consolidator, transformer and co-inventor) was observed and the results revealed that the moderation effect has had a positive impact on the firms' performance.\nPractical implications: Investment in specific developmental programs for high-potential employees and quick learners will make knowledge-intensive firms financially sound in the long run. Through an appropriate reward strategy, employees who are capable of lateral and innovative thinking at work can be engaged in consistently delivering quality projects, which will have a significant positive impact on overall project costs and the financial performance of the firm.\nOriginality/value: The proposed model in this study can enhance a firm's performance, provided the firm adopts a specific knowledge strategy and coherently aligns it with strategic HRM practices to achieve a sustained competitive advantage.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Surfacing ERP exploitation risks through a risk ontology	[ "Manufacturing resource planning", "Information systems", "Risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: As defined by Kumar and Hillegersberg (2000), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are \"configurable information system packages that integrate information and information-based processes within and across functional areas in an organization\". As one of the most crucial tools to sustain business competitiveness, ERP has probably been \"the most rapidly growing system area in operations today [...] [and] thousands of companies [of any size] have implemented or are in the process of implementing an ERP system\" (Zhang et al., 2005). However, the implementation of ERP is never a straightforward task. According to Martin (1998), about 90 per cent of ERP projects are late or over budget, and almost half fail to achieve the desirable results. ERP implementation success rate is only about 33 per cent in general (Zhang et al., 2002). Previous research studies on ERPs thus mainly focus on risks, difficulties and factors that can affect successful implementation of the system (Zhang et al., 2002, 2005; Gargeya and Brady, 2005; Loh and Koh, 2004; Umble et al., 2003; Sumner, 2000).However, as more and more companies progress from implementation to exploitation of ERPs, practitioners and information systems (ISs) researchers increasingly recognise that, the \"go-live\" point of the system is actually not the end of the ERP journey. Very often, the system exploitation stage is where the real challenges will begin and more critical risks may occur. That in this paper, we will use the term exploitation as a synonym to post-implementation/adoption.A risk can be defined as \"the occurrence of an event that has consequences for, or impacts on a particular project\" (Kleim and Ludin, 2000, p. 3). This definition implies a fundamental characteristic of a risk, namely uncertainty. Specifically, there is a probability that the risk event may occur and can result in an impact on the business processes that may imply substantial losses. For the purpose of this paper, the researchers slightly modified the above definition given by Kleim and Ludin (2000), and defined a risk to ERP exploitation as:The occurrence of any event that has consequences or impacts on the use, maintenance and enhancement of the implemented ERP systems.In fact, risks are inherent to every human endeavour (Wider and Davis, 1998). For ERP post-adoption in particular, user companies may inevitably be confronted with a wide range of risks when exploiting and optimising their implemented systems. This is particularly true, considering three apparent facts. First, some failures (e.g. insufficient user training) are prevalent in ERP implementation, even if the implementation project itself is considered a successful one. Such initial failures can inevitably cause severe problems in ERP post-adoption. Second, undesirable internal and external changes (e.g. loss of in-house information technology (IT) experts, bankruptcy of system vendor) may arise over time, and can directly impact the use of ERP systems. Third, internal and external barriers (e.g. poor communication between functional divisions, unstable business environment) existed in the business context may prevent companies from achieving long-term ERP success. The occurrence of undesirable risks in the post-implementation stage will not just turn the initial ERP success into a failure, but may also lead to significant system and business disasters. Although many IS researchers recognise the importance of ERP post-adoption and even state it is the direction of the second wave ERP research, current research which focuses on this topic is extremely limited. No study in ERP post-implementation risk was identified in the literature reviewed.This paper thus aims at contributing to this significant research gap by identifying and investigating potential ERP exploitation risks through the process of a critical literature review. As a result of this extensive review, the researchers identified and proposed a comprehensive set of 40 risk events that may occur during ERP post-implementation. These ERP risks were found across operational, analytical, organisation-wide and technical aspects. This paper is organised as follows: it firstly presents the process of the critical review. Subsequently, an intensive discussion of 23 selected risk events is given, together with discussion of their causes and consequences. Finally, the paper presents a risk ontology that highlights all identified ERP risks, as well as discusses how this ontology can be applied in risk management practice. It is important to note that, the established risk ontology represents a first attempt in producing a comprehensive risk checklist to support risk management in this area. The process of literature search could not return any other such checklists.\n2 Methodology: The study presented in this paper was driven by the general aim of helping companies to identify and explore potential risks associated with ERP exploitation. It attempted to develop and propose a risk identification checklist to support decision making for strategic risk planning and management.In order to achieve these objectives, a desktop study, based on the process of a critical literature review, was conducted by the researchers. This critical review followed the funnelled approach proposed by Saunders et al. (2003, pp. 44-50), and relied on surveying and using secondary and tertiary sources. Literature search for this critical review consisted of two phases.At the first phase of literature search, the researchers attempted to locate and retrieve articles that are directly related to ERP post-implementation risks. This literature seeking process involved an exhaustive search of a variety of prominent MIS journals and databases (Table I), by using a set of pre-defined search keywords and terms (Table II). Nevertheless, this endeavour did not return any relevant articles on ERP exploitation risks.Despite this current scarcity of studies on ERP post-implementation, it was identified from the critical review that the literature in general IS and ERP issues is very rich. Therefore, a broader and more extensive literature review was conducted at the second stage. Instead of looking for specific ERP post-adoption studies, this second attempt focused on general IS and ERP research papers, case studies, technical papers and theoretical articles. The aim here was to identify broadly any possible factors and issues that might lead to potential ERP exploitation failures. The same set of MIS journals and databases shown in Table I were searched, but an alternative set of search keywords were used. These keywords included, but not limited to, those shown in Table III. Moreover, in order to identify and explore as many issues as possible, the survey of literature at this stage relied not only on academic papers, but also on books, industrial white papers, articles on IT professional web sites and even grey literature.With such efforts, the researchers successfully identified and reviewed a large amount of valuable literature, which addressed various IS, ERP, and business issues and aspects. Subsequently, the retrieved articles and materials were systematically and critically analysed, compared and synthesised, and then used as raw materials to construct arguments and standpoints for risk identification. Consequently, through this critical literature review, the researchers established and proposed a comprehensive set of 40 ERP exploitation risks, as well as explored and analysed their potential causes and impacts.\n3 Potential risks for ERP post-implementation: 3.1 ERP areas of coverage in risk identification\n4 Applying REPO in risk management practice: Risk management is a vital and essential process in achieving successful delivery of any IS projects (van Scoy, 1992). Effective and continuous risk management is certainly also critical for ensuring long-term success in IS and ERP post-adoption. Various frameworks of software risk management have been suggested by professional bodies (e.g. the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)), as well as by individual IS scholars (Boehm, 1991, p. 7). Regardless the actual framework being adopted, three fundamental activities form the core of any risk management cycle, namely risk identification, risk analysis/assessment and risk control.Furthermore, as highlighted by Keil et al. (1998), \"before we can develop meaningful risk management strategies, however, we must identify these risks\". Therefore, effectively identifying potential risks is always an important first step towards achieving successful risk management in IS/ERP innovation. A number of checklists for IS risk identification have been suggested in the literature. For instance, the SEI has developed a risk taxonomy, which provides a framework for studying and organising a rich set of software development risks (Carr et al., 1993). Other researchers (Keil et al., 1998; Zhou et al., 2007) have identified an additional set of IS risks, which may be used in conjunction with the SEI risk taxonomy (Esteves et al., 2005). However, a further investigation on these risk checklists identified that, these existing lists focus mainly on software development and project management factors, but do not cover issues related to system post-adoption aspects.Therefore, the REPO risk ontology established and presented in this paper is a useful and meaningful tool to fill this knowledge gap. This risk ontology is developed with the objective of facilitating the systematic identification of risks in the context of ERP post-adoption. A thorough search and review of the literature cannot identify any other such models. Furthermore, it should be stressed that not all risks contained in the ontology are equally important. In particular, it is expected that different risk events can lead to different consequences and have different impact levels. Their probability and frequency of occurrence will also vary in different organisational contexts. Therefore, when applying REPO in risk management practice, it is essential for managers to assess and prioritise the identified risks. Risk mitigation plans should be established to address the risks that are most concern with one's working environment. Additionally, as pointed out by Zhou et al. (2007), the usefulness and value of a checklist as the one proposed \"may be questioned if the list is used monolithically and never improved\". In truth, Vidalis (2003, p. 20) reinforces that \"nothing is staying stable in our world [...] [hence] having a generic list is a drawback, unless it is being updated constantly\". Therefore, the REPO ontology does not aim at being a definite and hierarchical set of identified risks. Instead, it is hoped that this ontology can undergo a process of continuous examination and evolution through practice.\n5 Conclusions: This paper reported on a desktop study, which aimed to fill the current research gap of ERP post-implementation by developing and proposing the REPO risk ontology. The study has led to several important conclusions. Specifically, the results confirmed that successful implementation of the system is not the end of the ERP journey. In truth, a wide range of risks may occur in diverse business and system-related areas during ERP post-adoption. More importantly, the findings also show that an ERP risk may often be the cause or consequence of other risks. Because these identified risk events seem to be interwoven and related with each other, they may be very difficult to manage, mitigate and contain. As a consequence, in order to ensure long-term ERP success, IS managers must become aware of these risks and take proper risk mitigation actions as early as possible.The results of this study have implications for both practitioners and researchers. For practitioners, the established risk ontology can be used as a systematic tool and checklist for risk identification, assessment and management, as well as for strategic planning and decision-making. The risk relationships highlighted in the ontology can also help managers to identify and explore possible triggers of risks. Furthermore, the applicability of this risk ontology may not be limited in the ERP context. In truth, because many risk items contained in the checklist were initially grounded from general IS literature, it is deemed that the ontology will also be useful in supporting risk identification in IS post-adoption in general. For researchers, on the other hand, this paper contributed to the theory of IS risk management in general, and provided valuable insights into ERP post-adoption risks in particular. The literature-based risk ontology also provides a starting point and foundation for IS researchers to carry out further research in these increasingly important research areas.The major limitation of the study is related to the fact that the REPO risk ontology is developed from a critical literature review process but has not been further tested. Further research should therefore be conducted to address this limitation. In particular, a questionnaire survey may be a well-suited method to validate the proposed risk ontology, as well as to test the proposed relationships between risks. Moreover, a well performed qualitative study may also bring extra flavour to the results by seeking anecdotal evidence to explore further the causes and consequences of risks.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a risk identification checklist for facilitating user companies to surface, organise and manage potential risks associated with the post-adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A desktop study, based on the process of a critical literature review, is conducted by the researchers. The critical review focuses on information systems and business research papers, books, case studies and theoretical articles, etc.\nFindings: - By systematically and critically analysing and synthesising the literature review, the researchers identify and propose a total of 40 ERP post-implementation risks related to diverse operational, analytical, organisation-wide and technical aspects. A risk ontology is subsequently established to highlight these ERP risks, as well as to present their potential causal relationships.\nResearch limitations/implications: - For researchers, the established ERP risk ontology represents a starting point for further research, and provides early insights into a research field that will become increasingly important as more and more companies progress from implementation to exploitation of ERPs.\nPractical implications: - For practitioners, the risk ontology is an important tool and checklist to support risk identification, prevention, management and control, as well as to facilitate strategic planning and decision making.\nOriginality/value: - There is a scarcity of studies focusing on ERP post-implementation in contrast with an over abundance of studies focusing on system implementation and project management aspects. This paper aims to fill this significant research gap by presenting a risk ontology of ERP post-adoption. It represents a first attempt in producing a comprehensive model in its area. No other such models can be found from the literature review.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Clinical governance: an assessment of New Zealand's approach and performance	[ "Assessment", "New Zealand", "Clinical governance", "Survey", "Case studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As a small country with a unitary political system, policy change often moves quickly in New Zealand with health care policy no exception to this. A simple announcement by the government or health minister can be enough to spell a major change in how health services are funded, organised and delivered. Indeed, there have been several fundamental shifts in policy in recent years (Gauld, 2009b; Cumming and Mays, 2002). Often these shifts have occurred due to the political preferences of the elected government. But they have also taken place in response to perceived need from within the health sector for a different approach.\nNew Zealand's health system: New Zealand's health system has origins in the 1938 Social Security Act which was the world's first attempt to create a \"national health service\". Resistance at the time by the medical profession meant the aims of the legislation for health care were only partially delivered upon (Gauld, 2013). New Zealand's health system today has a number of similarities to the UK NHS, but some key differences as well. The government is the main funder of health care. In 2013, it was responsible for 83 per cent of total health expenditure (OECD, 2013). Public hospitals are free of patient charges and employ all staff on salary, including health professionals. In theory, services are universally accessible. In practice, various barriers exist including geography and funding meaning that patients often wait a long time for non-urgent procedures or are denied care after referral from a GP as their condition may not be a high enough priority for specialists to treat within available resources (Derrett et al., 2013). Such patients then have an option of paying privately for care so long as they can afford it or have private health insurance. The private sector operates separately from public, but most private specialists also have a public hospital post. General practice is privately provided but heavily subsidised by government. However, there is always a patient charge to see a GP, meaning around 20 per cent of New Zealanders avoid seeking medical care due to the cost barrier (Jatrana and Crampton, 2009; Schoen et al., 2013). GPs perform a gatekeeping role within the system.\nClinical governance: origins and definition: Clinical governance has been widely described elsewhere, including that it has been subject to various definitions which intersect with concepts of \"clinical leadership\" and \"clinical engagement\" (Brennan and Flynn, 2013). In brief, clinical governance has become a core policy plank in many countries and health systems since its emergence in the late-1990s in England as described in the now classic Scally and Donaldson article. Here they described clinical governance as \"[...] a system through which health organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish\" (Scally and Donaldson, 1998). Following this, clinical governance is the system for governing, organisation and leadership; clinical leadership is a component of and crucial function within this system; and clinical engagement the extent to which health professionals are active participants in the work of their hospital or health service and proud to be associated with it. Following from this, clinical governance involves health care professionals leading the way in quality and safety improvement efforts, ensuring practices are evidence-informed, and working to build team-based service delivery processes. Central to clinical governance is the idea that clinicians are best placed to encourage performance and safety improvement amongst peers (Dorgan et al., 2010). Clinical governance may, therefore, be expressed in terms of health professionals having two roles: improving the care delivery system with a focus on quality and safety, as well as providing care. Clinical governance might, therefore, be seen in both organisational structures and processes, with an expectation of improved patient outcomes.\nNew Zealand's clinical governance policy: New Zealand's clinical governance policy was announced in 2009 with the Minister of Health at the time saying:\nAssessing clinical governance development: Given the government expectation for Boards to implement the list of changes described above, we sought to assess progress in a 2010 project. We considered the approach of other clinical governance studies which largely used qualitative methods (Hogan et al., 2007; Som, 2009; Staniland, 2009). Some aimed to quantify progress on various measures or had a specific focus such as levels of \"medical engagement\", using proprietary tools (Spurgeon et al., 2008, 2011) or checklists for organisations to assess their progress against (Clark and Nath, 2014; Department of Health Western Australia, 2005). We opted to develop a measurement process that would allow us to gauge progress in New Zealand but would also be applicable in other health systems. Therefore, in 2010, we initially sought to assess implementation of New Zealand's clinical governance policy by surveying public hospital medical specialists as they would be most likely to be aware of directly involved in of changes at the hospital level in response to the 2009 policy announcement and In Good Hands recommendations. This study led to creation of the Clinical Governance Development Index (CGDI) which provides a method for rating a health organisation's level of development from a health professional perspective (Gauld et al., 2011). The 2010 study was undertaken in partnership with the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, which is the public hospital doctors union. The Association undertook all mail outs of surveys to their 3,400 hospital specialist members - initially in paper form and then as an electronic survey via e-mail to non-respondents. There were two follow ups in paper to non-respondents who were identifiable, as surveys were uniquely coded. Remaining non-respondents were then invited by e-mail to complete a web version of the survey. Completed surveys were returned directly to us for processing and data analysis and we also hosted the web version. The CGDI, which gave a score out of 100 for each of New Zealand's 20 Boards, had quite an impact with the Minister of Health instructing the Boards to take notice of their scores, further discussed in the next section, and work to improve upon these.\nWhat we found: The surveys\nConclusion: This paper reviewed the case for clinical governance and leadership as being pivotal to health care improvement and, therefore, health care policy. We then described New Zealand's approach to this and our assessment of performance. There are various lessons from our research approach and for policy makers from the New Zealand experience.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Clinical governance policy initiatives have been introduced in many countries and health systems. How to assess development is an important question. The purpose of this paper is to describe and reflect upon the approach taken in New Zealand.\nDesign/methodology/approach: New Zealand's clinical governance policy of 2009 and its implementation through its public health care system are outlined. The authors' assessments, in 2010 and 2012, of this policy are described and key findings summarised.\nFindings: The implementation of the policy was swift, with considerable commitment across the public health care system to this. The quantitative assessments found reasonable developmental progress between 2010 and 2012. Case studies undertaken in 2012 indicated various areas that policy makers should attend to or build upon in order to better support clinical governance development.\nResearch limitations/implications: Key lessons from New Zealand's clinical governance experience, based on the assessments, include the need for: a well-defined definition of clinical governance; resource materials that can be used by those involved in clinical governance development; recognition that clinical governance development is complicated and takes time; and commitment to new leadership and organisational arrangements.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides useful lessons for policy makers pursuing clinical governance development, derived from two rounds of assessment in New Zealand.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
In their own words: employee attitudes towards information security	[ "Attitudes", "Information security", "Personal construct psychology", "Social acceptability bias" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Organisations experience security breaches through a wide range of employee actions. Sometimes such actions are malicious, but often, they are inadvertent or occur because security gets in the way of business processes. Even though many organisations have now implemented security awareness programmes (SANS, 2017), employees still cause a large number of security breaches. One of the key problems highlighted in the SANS report is that of communication between security practitioners and employees. This is attributed in part to the \"curse of knowledge\", a cognitive bias that means it is difficult for security practitioners to understand what it is like to be an employee who does not have the benefit of the level of knowledge and understanding that they have. While security awareness programmes implicitly assume that both the security practitioner and the employee see information security in the same way, what the security practitioner believes is a rational view of information security awareness and behaviour, which is not necessarily the same as that of the employee (Herley, 2010).\n2. Study organisation: The study was carried out in a UK organisation that had a regulatory function to protect consumer interests. The organisation handled significant amounts of confidential information and had to comply with UK Government standards for information security. The organisation sat at the boundary between the public sector and the private sector. A large number of employees had a traditional civil service background, but new entrants and younger employees frequently came from the private sector. There were approximately 600 employees and a board of directors, including a chairman and executive director. Information security as an organisational function sat within the business services unit, which in turn was part of corporate services. Other business units were markets and projects, and policy and strategy. One of the organisation's requirements was to develop an information security culture and to ensure that all employees were aware of the need for information security. To help the organisation meet its aims the network security manager agreed to support the research presented in this paper. A series of interviews was set up with a view to developing a questionnaire from the results of the interviews that could then be rolled-out across the whole organisation.\n3. Methodology and design: One of the difficulties in understanding how employees think about information security is that it is not usually their main task and is often seen as an impediment to work processes (Ashenden and Sasse, 2013). They do know, however, that they can face disciplinary action if they do not protect information. The combination of information security not being an employee's main task and possible sanctions for failure to comply means that direct questions about attitudes to information security are likely to yield what employees believe is a socially acceptable answer. This is a general problem and not specific to information security (Jankowicz, 2004).\n4. Results: 4.1 Interviews\n5. Discussion: The study demonstrates that PCP and repertory grids offer a useful way of understanding how employees in an organisation construct their understanding of information security as they experience it. It also demonstrates the benefits of using repertory grids both qualitatively and quantitatively in a mixed-methods study. While repertory grid interviews encourage interviewees to reveal their understanding of information security as they think out loud, the survey allows the repertory grid technique to be used across a greater number of participants. Both the interviews and the survey have their downsides however. The repertory grid interview offers a structured approach to gathering information, but the success of such an interview is dependent on the interviewee, and one interviewee had significant problems with the process. The repertory grid survey was published on the intranet, but there were difficulties in getting to this stage and of convincing organisational stakeholders of the value of the survey. This, however, is the kind of problem that often occurs in organisational research and is not specific to repertory grids.\n6. Conclusion: Using PCP and repertory grids offers an effective way of attempting to overcome social acceptability bias by allowing employees to explain their understanding of information security in their organisation in their own words. Taking a mixed-methods approach to repertory grids meant that any problems with repertory grid interviews were addressed by the survey, while using the interview data to design a repertory grid meant that a greater number of employees could participate in the study. The use of PCP and repertory grids demonstrated the culture of information security within the organisation and very effectively foregrounded the tensions that needed to be addressed by an information security awareness programme.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to uncover employee attitudes towards information security and to address the issue of social acceptability bias in information security research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used personal construct psychology and repertory grids as the foundation for the study in a mixed-methods design. Data collection consisted of 11 in-depth interviews followed by a survey with 115 employee responses. The data from the interviews informed the design of the survey.\nFindings: The results of the interviews identified a number of themes around individual responsibility for information security and the ability of individuals to contribute to information security. The survey demonstrated that those employees who thought the that organisation was driven by the need to protect information also thought that the risks were overstated and that their colleagues were overly cautious. Conversely, employees who thought that the organisation was driven by the need to optimise its use of information felt that the security risks were justified and that colleagues took too many risks.\nResearch limitations/implications: The survey findings were not statistically significant, but by breaking the survey results down further across business areas, it was possible to see differences within groups of individuals within the organisation.\nOriginality/value: The literature review highlights the issue of social acceptability bias and the problem of uncovering weakly held attitudes. In this study, the use of repertory grids offers a way of addressing these issues.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Fifty years of entrepreneurship and SME: a personal view	[ "France", "Entrepreneurialism", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Business development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nFifty years of entrepreneurship research in France - a personal view: Introduction: is France allergic to entrepreneurship?\n1 1955-1965: the \"dark decade\": 1.1 The decline of the pre-modern small business (1955-1960)[...]\n2 1965-1975: \"Big is beautiful\" - the \"managerial doxa\": 2.1 French industrial policy promoted bigness[...]\n3 1975-1985: the rebirth of SME: 3.1 Rediscovering the specificities of SME\n4 1985-1995: SME diversity and entrepreneurship promotion: 4.1 SMEs: from unicity to diversity\n5 1995-2005: French entrepreneurship: a new discipline?: During the 1990s, entrepreneurship became an attractive research field. Following the foundation of the French-speaking International Association of Research on Entrepreneurship and SMEs (AIREPME), at Carthage (1992), a French \"Academy of Entrepreneurship\" was set up a few years later, at Lille (1997). Each association publishes its own journal (respectively, Revue Internationale PME and Revue de l'Entrepreneuriat), and the two of them took turns to organise their annual congress in French-speaking countries (Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland, Morocco, Tunisia, etc.). Within other academic associations, particularly AIMS (mentioned above), and in the major French journals on management (for instance, the French Review of Management - Revue Francaise de Gestion) papers and contributions dealing with entrepreneurship topics increased. Concerning training and teaching on entrepreneurship, degrees flourished as an \"attractive \"product! Above all, many young researchers wrote their theses on entrepreneurship and/or SMEs, aiming to be recruited by universities and business schools.The various meanings of the French word - a loose translation of the Anglo-saxon word \"entrepreneurship\" - have contributed, during the past decade, to an uncontrollable expansion of research into entrepreneuriat, both in depth and width. Consequently, its entropic expansion has deterrred researchers from designing an exhaustive panorama of their own community and publications. Thus, the following observations are mainly focused on the case of ERFI, as been representative of the national trend towards continuously renewed subjects and enlarged fields. ERFI is today evaluated in various reports on entrepreneurship and SMEs research as among the most fruitful of French teams, in terms of number of theses, articles, books, communications, working papers, reports, etc.The first topic of entrepreneurial research dealt with the increasing distinction according the SMEs, viewed as small, friendly and proximate organisations, and entrepreneurship, including the entrepreneur, business venturing, innovation, and the environment. Olivier Torres questioned the general model of SMEs, designed as both unique and specific. First, he studied specialised smaller business firms, world leaders in their niche, and, second, distorted SMEs, working as bigger businesses. He highlighted the unifying role of proximity, as a joint feature of SMEs.Other members dealt with more specific problems. For instance, Debray studied SME growth through subsidiaries, called \"hypogroups\". Naro described HRM linked to the size of SMEs. During this decade, various other teams (Bordeaux, Caen, Lyon, etc.) focused on increasingly specific SME issues, such as financial or family problems.Another research group stressed the role of the entrepreneur primarily as a business venturer. Pendeliau (mentioned above) critized the concept of the ideal profile, and Sammut studied the startup process. Others focused on entrepreneurial traits, such as ethics, or marketing behaviours, on entrepreneurial or \"neo-rural\" lifestyles and on craftmanship.Up to the early 1990s, ERFI dealt with the environment in four successive stages: first, innovation and technology transfer centers, second, networking and stakeholders, third, embeddedness. In this example, we designed a typology of the small entrepreneurs, by correlating their levels of legitimacy (level of social embeddedness) and competitiveness (level of economic efficiency). It led to four types of entrepreneurs: the \"well established\", the \"isolated\", the \"nomad\", and the \"enterprising\". The most recent stage dealt with the collective strategies within a geographic and/or professional area: for instance, in skiing resorts (Gundolf and Jaouen, 2008), or the strategic alliances between very small firms (Jaouen and Torres, 2008). These issues may be seen as an enlargement of research into entrepreneurship, moving towards industrial economics and strategic management.\nTo conclude: entrepreneurship, \"a brave new world\"?: The propensity to broaden entrepreneurship frontiers - including, for instance, \"corporate\", or even \"managerial\" entrepreneurship - entails issues for researchers. If during the next decade, the goals of research on entrepreneurship are to acquire both social legitimacy and academic recognition, and gain the full status of a \"discipline\", it must find a unifying paradigm. If this debate is controversial at a worldwide level, there are still topics which are specific to the French-speaking community, for two major reasons:1. French culture, being less pragmatic, takes more account of societal problems such as social legitimacy in hierarchical societies, non-economic goals, the role of public administration and political decisions, etc. In other words, the contempt for \"dirty money\", as it was called by President Mitterand, is alive and kicking, and maybe more than ever since the recession. On the other hand, the decline of the economy of wage earners has led to an acceleration of business venturing. A growing number of French people (including immigrants) have set up on their own. A recent law (January, 2009) legalizes the status of sole traders (autoentrepreneur), aimed at encouraging the creation of small self-employed occupations.French society stands at a crossroads. Increasingly, French research will include other than purely managerial topics, such as ethics and social values, psychology and sociology, including ethnology, history, and so on. It will increasingly be based on qualitative (constructivist) approaches.2. The French language is also thriving in other countries, mainly Belgium, Quebec, Switzerland, each with its own culture, including the spirit of enterprise. In African countries, research and teaching on entrepreneurship are expanding rapidly, and need an adaptation of the \"entrepreneurial doxa\" to the local contexts. For instance, since the early 1980s at ERFI, many researchers from Northern Africa (Marocco, Algeria, Tunisia) as well as Sub-Saharian Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mali) have published their theses on SMEs and entrepreneurship. Consequently, the internationalisation process of French research on entrepreneurship will necessarily entail an adaptation of the discipline in France.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present personal testimony of one of the early researchers on small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship in France.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The story of a half-century evolution is divided into five decades, of SME and entrepreneurship development in France. The development of the French academic system of research on SME and entrepreneurship is described through some teams.\nFindings: - During the two early decades (1955-1975), both the social legitimacy and economic competitiveness sharply and deeply lowered, while that after the world crisis (1975) until nowadays (2005), the social, political, and economic interest for SME and entrepreneurship has continuously increased.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The academic research pioneered SME during the 1960s, and entrepreneurship during the 1980s. The historical development of the national network of teams and associations is described, increasingly including the international context.\nPractical implications: - Beyond the personal testimony, this contribution enlightens the problems entailed by the lack of legitimacy of the spirit of enterprise anchored in French society, and, more generally, in all the societies averse to individual risk taking.\nOriginality/value: - The testimony is based on the personal experience of one scholar who early promoted in the French academic system Master and Doctoral courses on SME and entrepreneurship. It outlines some original concepts relative to small firms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The moderating role of 360-degree appraisal between engagement and innovative behaviors	[ "Innovation", "Behaviour", "Engagement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Gallup organization estimates the cost of disengaged employees to be in the order of billions worldwide. For example, the estimated yearly cost of disengagement in Germany is between EUR75.6bn and EUR99.2bn (Nink, 2016), and in the USA, it is between $450bn and $550bn (Sorenson and Garman, 2013). In contrast, employee engagement is an important element that positively contributes to organizational outcomes (Andrew and Sofian, 2012; Menguc et al., 2013; Bhatnagar, 2012; Christian et al., 2011; Hameduddin and Fernandez, 2019). Various studies attest that engagement at the employee level is central to the performance of institutions, client satisfaction, institutional reputation and the attainment of optimal value for key stakeholders (Saks, 2006, 2019; Lewicka, 2011; Hallberg et al., 2007; Harter et al., 2002).\n2. Theoretical perspectives on engagement, innovation and evaluation: 2.1 Engagement\n3. Hypotheses development: For engaged employees, working is fun, which drives their performance (Gorgievski et al., 2010). Engaged employees \"go the extra mile\" at work, thus becoming more productive and creative. A study by Sonnentag (2003) found that engaged employees display more proactive behavior. Also, Park et al. (2014) advocated that engaged employees work at full capacity and approach problem solving positively. This, in turn, leads to better employee initiatives and innovations. However, personal initiative was reported by Binnewies et al. (2007) to be positively associated with creativity. The positive feeling experienced by engaged employees influences flexibility, problem solving and innovation, allowing them a broader view of their problems resulting in a wider range of conceivable solutions. Engaged employees display vigor, dedication and absorption in their work. This involvement leads to increased employee enthusiasm, which allows them to experiment with more innovative behaviors and solutions (Agarwal et al., 2012). Engaged employees also display positive emotions and are happier at work (Schaufeli et al., 2006). Consistent with the theory of positive emotions, positive emotions trigger novel thoughts and activities (Fredrickson, 2013), leading to a more positive relationship with innovative behaviors (Slatten and Mehmetoglu, 2011).\n4. Methods: The researchers sent out a questionnaire to collect information on engagement, IWB, perceptions of 360-degree feedback, the presence of 360-degree evaluation within the company and demographics.\n5. Results: Table III presents the results of the construct correlations, supporting H1a-H1c. Thus, as hypothesized, engagement is in a positive relationship with the three dimensions of IWB: idea generation, idea implementation and innovative use of company assets. The relationship between engagement and idea generation is the most positive of the three types of innovative behaviors. This makes sense, as engaged employees are likely to seek and solve problems through idea generation.\n6. Discussion: Building on the work of Gruman and Saks (2011) and Micheli and Mura (2017), who noted the importance of performance management systems in promoting engagement and firm performance, respectively, we tested the moderating role of 360-degree evaluation in the relationship between individual engagement and innovative workplace behaviors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Engaged employees are a critical asset in any business. This is largely because engaged employees tend to proffer innovative solutions to complex problems in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between engagement and innovation as moderated by the use of 360-degree evaluation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey targeting employees in Lebanon solicited their perceptions of 360-degree evaluation, engagement and innovative behaviors along with a statement as to whether their firm used 360-degree evaluations or not. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the moderating effect of 360-degree evaluations on the latent variables of engagement and three facets of innovation.\nFindings: SEM results show that 360-degree evaluations serve to enhance engaged employees' innovative work behavior. However, ideation (creation and implementation) behaviors are more strongly influenced by the presence of 360-degree evaluation as compared to their \"tangible\" counterpart (technology and financial resource use).\nResearch limitations/implications: Respondents selected for this research were randomly sampled employees in Lebanon. A stronger study strategy would be to study paired departments within organizations - one implementing 360-degree evaluation and another not implementing it.\nPractical implications: Managers, seeking to engender and strengthen innovative behaviors in engaged employees, should utilize 360-degree evaluation processes. Furthermore, the 360-degree evaluations should be designed to probe both tangible (technology and financial resource use) and intangible (idea generation and implementation) facets of innovation.\nOriginality/value: This study yields a deeper understanding of the relationship between engagement and innovative behaviors in the workplace along with managerial insights into the design and use of 360-degree evaluation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The association between health-related individual traits and dairy avoidance	[ "Health behavior", "Health locus of control", "Hypochondriasis", "Dairy avoidance", "Resistance to dairy consumption" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The current era is one of polarization, fake news and the wide spread of misinformation (Zmigrod et al., 2019). In recent years, many websites have been propagating messages related to health issues as the Web 2.0 has given rise to an arena where surfers create content, share it and interact with one another. Concurrently with this widespread phenomenon, a new postmodern paradigm of health care services emerged, one where power shifted from medical doctors and other healthcare professionals to patients, and \"expertise\" is challenged (O'reilly, 2007). These phenomena provide fertile ground for people who object to certain health issues to disseminate their messages easily and effectively. Those who oppose milk consumption frequently claim that the studies that espouse dairy consumption are industry-funded; as such, their validity and reliability are debatable and their conclusions should not be trusted. This study is an attempt to gauge the perceptions, stances and individual traits that lie at the bottom of resistance to dairy consumption. Understanding the association between dairy resistance vis-a-vis the personal attitudes and traits of these dairy resisters can broaden our knowledge of those populations that tend to follow social and marketing trends by and large.\nTheoretical background: Postmodern medicine and nutrition in the age of responsibilization and the Web 2.0\nMethod: Participants\nMeasures/independent variables: Hypochondriasis - whitely index\nAnalysis: All the data from the questionnaire were typed into the computer by a single person. Statistics was done with SAS version 9.4, and the significance assigned was p < 0.05. Descriptive statistics was used to delineate the distribution of the variables characterizing the participants. Continuous variables are presented with their average and standard deviation; categorical variables are presented in percentages. For the purpose of our study, the cutting point we chose for \"hypochondriasis\" and \"health locus of control\" was an average score above 3 (namely higher than 3), whereas for \"health behaviors\" the cutting point was 4 (a score of 4 or higher). A single variable analysis was used to compare the distribution of variables between the two groups. The two groups underwent a t-test for independent samples in order to compare them in terms of the continuous variables. A chi-square test was used to see whether the distributions of categorical variables between the two groups differ. The multivariate logistic regression revealed which variables had the greater influence on resistance to dairy, predicting it significantly.Confounding variables\nResults: Multivariate analysis\nDiscussion: This study ventured to understand the connection between certain perceptions and stances and resistance to milk and dairy. The postmodern medicine is characterized by suspicion toward science and experts, at times to the extent of mistrusting the entire scientific community (Giddens, 2013) at the same time when the Internet has rendered information (including medical) more accessible than ever before (Gerstenfeld et al., 2003). These two parallel processes enable the individual to fend for oneself in terms of medical decisions. The present study investigated the association between (1) hypochondriasis as measured by whitely index, (2) health behavior and (3) health locus of control and the decision to eschew milk and dairy.Hypochondriasis and dairy avoidance\nConclusion, limitations, future directions and practical implications: The underlying question of interest in the current research was if some specific personality traits of those individuals who wholeheartedly embraced dietary fads and trends rendered them more attentive and receptive, not to say susceptible, to spurious information and emerging nutrition crazes. Centering on hypochondriasis, health behavior and health locus of control, individual characteristics that have been found to affect health-related behaviors and lifestyle decisions, proved beneficial when two statistically significant associations emerged, one of which was outstandingly strong.This study adds to the growing body of literature that scrutinizes food avoidance as a social and psychological phenomenon with potentially harmful health ramifications, probing into casual explanations such as personality, environment, social protest in rejection of mainstream medical advice, power of fads, etc. It seems that dairy avoidance is particularly convoluted in terms of its underlying mechanisms. Dairy avoidance is not tantamount to gluten (wheat) avoidance, neither in terms of the psychological traits of avoiders nor when it comes to their demographic characteristics (Hester, 2018; Golley et al., 2015; Yantcheva et al., 2016; Yantcheva, 2017). As a deep-seated consumer counter mythology (Kristensen et al., 2011), dairy avoidance seems to convey so much more than a mere (self-imposed) dietary restriction of some sort following some self-diagnosis (ibid). The mythological, gnostic facet of dairy avoidance renders the parlance surrounding the phenomenon more acrimonious and the discourse and debate more intense than is the case for other types of dietary restrictions or avoidance.Paradoxically, people who decide to avoid dairy absent medical indication and against professional advice thinking it is conducive to their overall health run the risk of suffering health-threatening micronutrients deficiencies and osteoporosis (Hester, 2018; Yantcheva et al., 2016).The strength of our research lies mainly in its foray into almost uncharted waters.One of the main limitations of the study consists in the small sample size, which makes it difficult to discover statistically significant connections. Regardless of that limitation, two out of the three associations examined in this study came out statistically significant, but it may well be that the third link would have turned out significant as well had the sample been larger, in line with what was found in regard to the association between dairy avoidance and worry about illness - one aspect of hypochondriasis (Yantcheva et al., 2016).The participants in the current study were younger and slightly more educated than the general population. By choosing to sample students, we consciously opted for younger, educated participants, because research thus far shows a higher prevalence of dairy avoiders among them (Yantcheva et al., 2016). The finding in respect of health behavior is nonetheless so compelling, that it is likely to be found in the general population as well, at least to some extent. A future direction to follow in order to hone the findings would be to conduct prospective studies with a large, preferably randomized sample (if not a whole cohort) taken from the general population or representative of it for the sake of sound causal inferences.There is also room for further studies where milk and dairy are not taken en masse but rather divided into premeditated categories such as milk, high versus low fat cheeses, fermented versus nonfermented dairy products etc. (e.g. Allen et al., 2018). Another avenue worth pursuing is to canvass other \"dietary groups\" such as raw food dieters, every-other-day intermittent fasters, those adhering to the ketogenic diet etc.In any event, the numerous nutritional advantages of dairy products warrant extra efforts to increase their consumption (Silanikove et al., 2015).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine whether health-related personal traits such as hypochondriasis, health behavior and health locus of control can predict dairy avoidance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical study took place in Israel. The researchers administered questionnaires to gather self-reported data concerning the consumption dairy products in general without making a distinction among different types of dairy (fermented/nonfermented, low fat/high fat etc.). A random sample of 77 participants was recruited from among students at the University of Haifa, after culling out those who declared to have been medically diagnosed with lactose intolerance or dairy allergy.\nFindings: High health behavior scores were associated with increased likelihood of avoiding milk and dairy products by a factor of 3.92 (OR = 3.92, 95% CI: 1.54-10.02, p = 0.004), whereas external health locus of control was associated with decreased likelihood of shunning milk and dairy (OR = 0.136, 95% CI: 0.032-0.580, p = 0.007). The connection between hypochondriasis and milk avoidance turned out insignificant.\nPractical implications: The medical establishment should devise ways, means and measures to purvey well-established dietary guidelines for those who are willing to make an effort and invest in their health.\nOriginality/value: This study adds to the burgeoning body of literature seeking to relate personal traits or individual characteristics to a host of lifestyle choices. The most salient finding is that many individuals who perform an array of behaviors they deem beneficial to their health and well-being in an attempt to exercise control over their health, paradoxically run the risk of making uninformed lifestyle decisions including dietary choices - ones that might prove detrimental to their health over the long haul.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Procedural justice and voice: a group engagement model	[ "Organizational behaviour", "Organizational justice", "Organization-based self-esteem" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Voice, the expression of improvement-oriented ideas, solutions or concerns about work-related issues, has drawn research attention in both Western and non-Western societies in recent years (e.g. Chamberlin et al., 2017; Liang et al., 2012). As a proactive behavior beyond employees' formal job descriptions, voice is crucial for group effectiveness across different types of organizations and cultures (see Bashshur and Oc, 2015 for a review). However, research suggests that engaging in voice is often risky and not always rewarding in different cultures (e.g. Burris, 2012; Detert and Edmondson, 2011; Huang et al., 2018). Given the risks involved, extant research has used uncertainty management (Lind and Van den Bos, 2002) as the framework to examine the motivational impact of justice on voice (Morrison, 2014). This line of research suggests that perceived justice can promote voice by reducing employees' feelings of uncertainty toward authority figures (cf. Takeuchi et al., 2012). However, the limited justice-voice research has yet to consider the cultural context in which justice exerts its influence (Takeuchi et al., 2012). The purpose of this study is therefore to examine how justice influences voice, in a non-Western context, namely China.\nTheory and hypotheses: The mediating role of OBSE in the group engagement model\nMethods: Sample\nResults: A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the distinctiveness of the conceptual variables in the model. The six-factor CFA model (group responsiveness, interactional justice, OBSE, psychological safety, traditionality and voice) indicated a good fit to the data (kh2=1,770.06; df=725; CFI=0.94; NNFI=0.94; RMSEA=0.08). All indicators loaded significantly (p<0.05) onto the intended latent variables. Four alternative models were examined against the baseline six-factor model (Model 1). As shown in Table I, Model 1 fit the data well and provided substantial improvement in fit indices over alternative models (Model 2-5).\nDiscussion: Using the group engagement model as the theoretical foundation, this study brings a number of important theoretical contributions to the understanding of how procedural justice impacts voice and sheds light on how practitioners can foster voice.\nLimitations and future directions: The current study has several limitations that call for further research. First, due to the cross-sectional nature of our data, the possibility of reverse causality cannot be excluded. For instance, based on theory and prior empirical studies, the study argued that group responsiveness and interactional justice act as antecedents of voice. However, it is intuitively plausible that employees who propose more suggestions might receive high-quality responses from their teams and supervisors. It is therefore important to use a longitudinal design to examine the effect of both group responsiveness and interactional justice on employee voice in the future. Second, although the results generally support the hypotheses, the generalizability of our findings, especially the moderating role of traditionality, remains unclear. Future research in a Chinese context should include individual cultural value orientations in order to empirically demonstrate the moderating role of the associations between managerial practice (e.g. organizational support, justice perception) and self-concept. In addition, future research can also add to our knowledge by using samples from different cultural contexts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact on employee voice from formal vs informal sources of procedural justice: group responsiveness and interactional justice, and to test how this impact may vary according to employees' traditionality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Dyadic data were collected from 261 employees and their supervisors. Results of the analyses offered support for the hypothesized moderated mediation model where group responsiveness and interactional justice would influence employee voice through enhanced organization-based self-esteem, and where such influence would be moderated by traditionality.\nFindings: The findings showed that when there was a high level of group responsiveness, low traditionalists spoke up more, but when there was a high level of interactional justice, high traditionalists spoke up more.\nOriginality/value: By adopting the group engagement model, this study presented an alternative to the conventional perspective from uncertainty management theory about justice and voice, and tended to the neglect of fairness as an antecedent of voice by investigating how employees' engagement in voice can be affected by their experience with different sources of procedural fairness information.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does marital status affect how firms interpret job applicants' un/employment histories?	[ "Discrimination in employment", "Unemployment", "Hiring", "Field experiments", "Internet job boards", "Marital status", "Résumé correspondence audit study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In this project, a large-scale field experiment is conducted to investigate how firms that advertise their position openings on internet job boards respond to female applicants' un/employment histories and marital status. This project was conceived in response to evidence, both anecdotal and academic, that surfaced after the global financial crisis, of the existence of hiring discrimination against the unemployed based on their unemployment status. Although recent research has found stigma/scarring effects of long-term unemployment in Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the USA, this project is the first both to explore how firms interpret the employment histories of single and married women and the scarring effect of unemployment spells in China.\n2. Review of the literature: Both cultural and institutional factors are likely to shape human resource managers' views of job applicants' marital status. In areas displaying strong institutional support for lengthy or costly maternity leaves, employers may prefer to hire women who have already married and completed their intended child bearing[2]. In other areas where affordable childcare is hard to obtain, employers may prefer to hire single women rather than women whose childcare responsibilities might interfere with their availability, flexibility and overall productivity. Zhang et al. (2008) report that in urban China, relative to men, only married women and mothers face significant disadvantages in terms of employment and earnings. Hughes and Maurer-Fazio (2002) find that marriage greatly reduces the economic standing of women relative to men.\n3. Experimental design: The methodology employed here, that of correspondence (resume) audit studies, has been frequently used in recent years to establish the presence and extent of discrimination in hiring (based on a wide variety of factors such as race, ethnicity, caste, attractiveness, age, gender, immigration status, unemployment duration and mental health)[4]. Correspondence studies combine the benefits of controlled experiments and realistic field settings. In them, sets of resumes are created for fictitious applicants. They are carefully designed with the goal of ensuring that candidates appear, on paper, to be equally productive and to have similar work histories and educational trajectories. The particular attribute under study, such as unemployment status, is controlled as are moderating factors. Discrimination is measured by differences in the rates of callbacks/invitations for interviews received by individuals whose applications typically vary only in terms of the attribute(s) under study.\n4. Application process: Filters are applied in the job-seeking search process to limit the job postings to which the candidates submit applications to the postings seeking applicants with university education (with relevant majors) and between five and eight years of relevant experience, an appropriate level for our fictitious, age 30, female, university graduates. Applications for which the candidates would be either over or under qualified are thus avoided. Sets of six applications (one each for the currently employed and the unemployed, single, married and marital status not revealed women) are submitted to each suitable job posting in each of our occupations in each of our locations through the summer of 2010. By \"suitable,\" it is meant that the candidates' characteristics match those of the advertised position. For each posting, one of the four resume variations created for each fictitious candidate is randomly selected and submitted. The resumes are sent to each job posting, at least one hour apart from each other. The order of submission of the six applications is also randomly determined for each posting. The vast majority of firms that pursued/contacted the candidates did so by calling the mobile phones associated with each of the resumes. A smaller number responded via e-mail or text message. Any action by a firm that indicated it was interested in the candidate and wanted to follow up with an interview was registered and recorded as a callback. The research assistants answering the calls were trained to immediately inform the callers that they (posing as the candidate) had just accepted another position and were no longer interested in that firm's job opening and to thank the firm for its interest in their application. They responded in like manner to e-mails and followed up appropriately, usually with a phone call, to text messages.\n5. Results: Ratios of the numbers of interview callbacks to the numbers of applications submitted are reported as callback rates in Table I. Reading down through the columns of this table allows comparison of the interview callback rates of candidates grouped by un/employment histories, location and occupation. Reading across the rows allows observation of how marital status affects the callback rates of each group[13]. The first numerical entry of Table I reveals that on average candidates are contacted to set up interviews by seven firms for each 100 applications they submit. Reading across the first row, it becomes apparent that the callback rates differ by marital status by one percentage point (i.e. approximately 14 percent of the overall callback rate) from a low of 6.7 percent for single individuals to a high of 7.7 percent for married individuals. (The callback rate for those who keep their marital status private, at 7.4 percent is closer to that of married women than single women, suggesting that firms reasonably presume, given extremely the high rates of marriage of women in China, that these women are married.) The differences between the callback rates of single and married women (and between single women and a larger group which combines both married and those who do not reveal their status) are statistically significant at only the 10 percent level. This weak preference of firms for married and presumed married candidates over single candidates may seem somewhat odd or unexpected, given the extra burdens of housework and care provision borne by married women (Zhang et al., 2008; Dong and An, 2015; Maurer-Fazio and Connelly, 2017). Firms may view their typically lower wages and earnings (Hughes and Maurer-Fazio, 2002; Zhang et al., 2008) as advantageous opportunities to save on wage bills.\n6. Conclusion: This paper analyzes whether recruiters in China differently perceive the implications of various types of unemployment spells (short, long, current, past) of job candidates who vary by the marital status declared on their applications. Previous research by Oberholzer-Gee (2008), Kroft et al. (2013), Ghayad (2013), Eriksson and Rooth (2014), Baert and Verhaest (2014), Baert et al. (2016), and Birkelund et al. (2017) reports significant scarring effect from long-term spells of unemployment in American and European labor markets. One surprising result of the field experiment reported here is that there is no equivalent scarring effect of long-term unemployment found in the tested sectors of Chinese labor markets. Chinese recruiters do not seem to differentiate between short- and long-term spells of unemployment for single or for married women.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether single and married female job candidates' un/employment histories differentially affect their chances of obtaining interviews through China's internet job boards, and to consider whether firms' discrimination against, and/or preference for, candidates who are un/employed vary with the duration of unemployment spells.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Resumes of fictitious applicants are carefully crafted in terms of realistic work histories and educational backgrounds. Candidates' experiences of unemployment and the revelation of their marital status are controlled. Over 7,000 applications are submitted to real job postings. Callbacks are carefully tracked and recorded. Linear probability models are employed to assess the roles of particular characteristics.\nFindings: The marital status of female candidates affects how recruiters screen their applications. While current spells of unemployment, whether short or long term, significantly reduce married women's chances of obtaining job interviews in the Chinese context, they strongly increase the likelihood that single women will be invited for interviews. Chinese firms appear to \"forgive\" long-term gaps in women's employment histories as long as those gaps are followed by subsequent employment.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first to explore how marital status affects the ways that firms, when hiring, interpret spells of unemployment in candidates' work histories. It is also the first to explore the effects of both marital status and unemployment spells in hiring in the context of China's dynamic internet job board labor market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Health and fitness online communities and product behaviour	[ "Social media", "Community participation", "Product management", "Online community", "Health and fitness products" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Health and fitness products have experienced a \"second boom\" in the past few years, which sheds a new light on the relation of individuals to their health (Millington, 2016) and health-related consumption. This boom, supported by the proliferation of digital devices and technologies, results in redefined communication codes that contribute to a growing industry of fitness apparel, equipment, services, apps, connected wearables and other products. A part of this second boom can be attributed to modern media and communication tools. While the first fitness boom in the 1970s and 1980s was supported by mass media communication (Powers and Greenwell, 2016), these have been replaced by social media and mobile apps. As a result, Hollywood celebrities who used to endorse brands now share the spotlight with social media influencers such as bloggers, vloggers and social media celebrities (Millington, 2016). One of the key roles of social media is that they enable individuals to take part in \"wider online communities\" (Millington, 2016, p. 1185). Indeed, if TV advertisement and video tapes contributed to the success of early fitness movements (Powers and Greenwell, 2016), new media are now sustaining the fitness trend with more and more consumers using social applications for health and fitness information (Kim et al., 2013) and monitoring purposes (Millington, 2014; Lowe et al., 2015).\nHealth and fitness communities on social media: Online communities are aggregations of individuals in the cyberspace, where social relationships are mediated by highly personalised technology. Sproull (2003, p. 733) defined an online community as a:\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Participation in the online health and fitness community\nMethodology: Focus on the health and fitness community on Instagram\nData analysis: The hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and SEM were run using the AMOS program (Byrne 2010), testing their goodness-of-fit with a range of adequate statistics (Bagozzi and Yi, 2012), and reporting parameter estimates and standard errors.\nDiscussion: The results of this study show that participating in a social media community of interest in health and fitness has significant impacts on individuals' health and fitness attitudes and product-related behaviours. The study evidences that participating in a health and fitness online community increases member's health environment sensitivity and one's general concern and interest for personal health and health-related matters, because of the impact of online community identification mediated through online community engagement. The results further demonstrate that once this health interest has been triggered, members are more likely to engage in health- and fitness-related behaviours, such as effort to control one's food type intake (healthy food choices) and active physical fitness activity. These findings constitute an important contribution to the field of social media and consumer behaviour as they demonstrate the role of online social identity and engagement factors on pro-health attitudes and behaviour, evidencing the power of informal online groupings of interest on young adults' health habits formation.\nManagerial recommendations: From a managerial standpoint, marketers and policymakers need to understand how they can benefit from consumer health community participation to better inform them. A first approach to do so is to understand the dynamics of these groups and observe users and the content they share, as well as their concerns and struggles. Fluid communities created through usage of hashtags are public, thus giving policymakers and health product managers first-hand information on what matters to consumers (Liang and Scammon, 2011) and it is crucial for product managers to stay engaged in these groups (Pitta and Fowler, 2005). A first way to influence health and fitness product and brand usage on social media is to identify and observe the relevant hashtag-based communities, and the influencers with high number of followers in these communities. After gathering this insight, they can move on to create their own groups and share their content. The efforts of marketers and policymakers should be concentrated on making better use of social media technologies and the influencing power of online communities to promote healthy diets and behaviours, as well as health consciousness, particularly among the younger members of the platforms (Holmberg et al., 2016).\nConclusion: Health and fitness online communities on social media are large and influential networks that bear important implications on personal, social and product-related behaviours. Understanding the factors that lead to more active and healthy lifestyles is not only important from a managerial and consumption perspective but also from the standpoint of individuals' well-being and societal efficiency. Past research on the influence of media on health-related behaviour has tended to emphasise traditional media and marketing techniques such as advertisement or food packaging (Chandon, 2013; Cavaliere et al., 2017). Similarly, research on social media communities does not place much attention on health-related topics, and studies bridging social media communities and health-related behaviours are still limited (Vaterlaus et al., 2015). The findings thus contribute to the online social media community literature by extending the field of application of community participation outcomes. Traditional studies have tended to focus on how online communities could foster brand-related intentions and outcomes (Stokburger-Sauer, 2010; Marzocchi et al., 2013) and issues of individual well-being and health have received little attention. This study gives insights that start bridging the gap between consumer behaviour regarding and health and health products, and social media consumer behaviours, yet more research is necessary to advance their complex interplay.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to determine the impact of online community participation on attitudes and product-related behaviour in the health and fitness sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data are collected from 221 users of the social medium Instagram, members of the self-proclaimed health and fitness community (#fitfam). Data are analysed with structural equation modelling.\nFindings: The study shows that online community identification and engagement significantly increase health environment sensitivity, resulting in heightened engagement in physical fitness and healthy product choices.\nSocial implications: Given the difficulty to remain engaged in pro-health behaviour and the growing impact of social media on young adults' lives, these findings are encouraging. They show that online health and fitness communities provide a supportive environment in which consumers can identify and freely engage and a fertile ground to the development of health sensitivity and product-related behaviour.\nOriginality/value: The study advances knowledge on the role of social media and online communities in promoting health and fitness product behaviours and attitudes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The mobile future of university libraries and an analysis of the Turkish case	[ "Academic libraries", "Turkey", "Mobile devices", "Information and communication technologies (ICTs)", "Library items", "Mobile library services", "Mobile research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to Helft and Vance, the most important current technologies are those that are wearable and easily portable, rather than those that are desktop-based (Hu and Meier, 2010; Tonta, 1999). The most common current examples of these are smartphones, tablets, e-book readers and personal digital assistants (PDAs). According to the 2009 Fact global survey, \"Mobiles give us safety, security and instant access to information. They are the number one tool of communication for us ... They are our connections to our lives\" (Lippincott, 2010, p. 209). According to Morgan Stanley, smartphones will very soon become the standard means by which the internet is accessed, and the rates of connection from mobile devices will supercede those which are computer-based (Becker et al., 2013; Hu and Meier, 2010; Wong, 2012). The paper generally focuses on common types of mobile devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets and e-book readers), and will discuss what impact they may have on the future of academic library services.\n2. Methodology: Prior to the study, a comprehensive literature review was carried out to determine the services that have been prepared for mobile devices in university libraries.\n3. Mobile library services for university libraries: 3.1 Why mobile devices are important for libraries\n4. Mobile library services in Turkish university libraries: The rate of mobile internet data traffic is constantly increasing. This situation is also true for Turkey; in 2010-2013, annual fixed broadband subscriber numbers increased by 10 per cent, whereas mobile broadband subscriber numbers increased by 40 per cent (TR Ministry of Development, Strategy of Information Society for the years 2014-2018 and Course of Action, 2014 draft). This trend is also supported by other statistical evidence. According to the 2015 data from Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), 96.8 per cent of houses have mobile phones or smartphones, while landline usage was only 29.6 per cent. Within the same period, 25.2 per cent of households had desktop computers, 43.2 per cent had portable computers and 20.9 per cent had televisions capable of connecting to the internet. In addition, 74.4 per cent of people using the internet in the first three months of 2015 employed mobile phones or smartphones to connect wirelessly outside the home and workplace, and 28.9 per cent of them employed portable computers (laptop, netbook, tablet, etc.) (www.tuik.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=18660 access date 29 March 2016). In Turkey, as in other countries, tablet computers are popular with higher education students and another survey revealed that tablet users are also likely to be smartphone users; represents by 87 per cent. In addition, reading books on tablet computers has reached a rate of 55 per cent (Ozkan, 2012). Taken together, these figures show a large and increasing trend away from traditional media towards the electronic and mobile realms.\n5. Conclusions: The participating institutions for this study were evaluated in terms of the services already offered to mobile device users around the world. There are mobile sites (separate sites or mobile sites as applications), mobile library catalogues, SMS services, chat rooms, consultations via IM tools, mobile device-lending services and AR and QR code applications. In this study, the past of mobile services, future plans, and the presence and quality of the teams responsible for the design and maintenance of mobile technology compliant library services were examined.\n6. Recommendations: The services provided for mobile devices in university libraries are developing on a large-scale research axis. For this reason, information literacy for mobile users is becoming more important. Information literacy studies (teaching-learning methods and materials) aimed at mobile users are another subject that needs to be investigated first.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to search for any evidence for university libraries that are accessible by mobile technology in Turkey as relevant models of the future; having regard to the fact that smartphones will very soon become the standard means by which the internet is accessed, and the rates of connection from mobile devices will supersede those which are computer-based.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the study, both domestic and foreign literature surveys were undertaken to determine which mobile library services are offered in university libraries. Thirty random central libraries of both private and state universities were selected from across the seven regions of Turkey. To gather data, a 26-question electronic survey was generated and e-mailed to the library managers. The questions were based on findings regarding the mobile library services provided by university libraries around the world.\nFindings: By examining the survey results, it was determined that Turkish university libraries utilise a comparable level of mobile technology and demonstrate a similar level of care with regard to the services they offer. There are mobile sites (separate sites or mobile sites as applications), mobile library catalogues, short messaging services, chat rooms, consultations via instant messaging tools, mobile device-lending services, and augmented reality and QR code applications.\nResearch limitations/implications: In Turkey, the structures of university libraries operate under variable conditions because of the lack of established standards. This causes negative results for the delivery of library services. For this reason, university library standards should be set practicable as soonas reasonable, considering the social/economic and cultural structure of the country.\nPractical implications: Owing to the transformative effect technology and the internet have had on services information and communication technologies, infrastructure has been added as a sixth element to the five traditional library items, namely, building budget personnel collection and users. Globalisation through the web has resulted in the individualisation of services and the slogan content is king has been changed to the customer experience is king. Fundamental library services are being adapted to allow mobile technology access, and this approach best reflects the new slogan. Therefore, the university library of the future may well be the one entirely based on mobile technology.\nSocial implications: Mobile devices lead to new forms of engagement with student learning; so academic libraries are expected to be strong partners in the teaching and learning processes of their institution.\nOriginality/value: The hypothesis of this study is that a university library accessible by mobile technology will be the model of the future, and its purpose is to search for any evidence for which the university libraries in Turkey are prepared to meet this challenge. This study is also meaningful because there have not been any study of Turkish university libraries in terms of mobile library services to users. This paper is the first time that a comprehensive study has been made of current mobile technology-based services, and is also the first comparison of the applications in Turkish university libraries. Additionally, paper synthesises developments and provides suggestions for the future.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding relational virtual community members' satisfaction from a social learning perspective	[ "Social media", "Learning", "Satisfaction", "Beliefs", "Relational virtual community" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Learning through the virtual community (VC) is receiving an increasing amount of attention for both researchers and practitioners (Guo et al., 2016; Salehan et al., 2017). Learning refers to the process of knowledge management activities, including knowledge sharing, knowledge acquisition and knowledge exploration, with the aim to improve task performance and learning satisfaction (Wan et al., 2012). For example, VC enables individuals to leverage social media application (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) without physical and time constraints for undertaking knowledge management activities. VC has been classified as relational VC (RVC) and transactional VC. Examples of transactional VC include crowdsourcing from Taskcn.com that focuses on economic value of knowledge exchange (Sun et al., 2014). In contrast, RVC emphasizes the social aspect of value creation and views knowledge as a public good that allows members to access knowledge without payment (Wasko and Faraj, 2005). Examples of social aspect incorporate VC members' willingness to accept social influence (SI) (e.g. norms) for guiding their knowledge management activities. A call for enhancing social value from learning within RVC has recently motivated managers to embrace opportunities that enable one to improve skills and outcomes through social and learning activities (Tsai and Bagozzi, 2014).\n2. Conceptual background: 2.1 Social cognitive theory and value creation of social self-regulated learning\n3. Research model and hypotheses development: This study develops a research model by integrating SSRL into SCT. We consider how SSRL affects two aspects of satisfaction, including processes and outcomes. Satisfaction with processes (SPs) represents RVC members' affective state based on their overall evaluation of RVC engagement experience in learning. Satisfaction with outcomes (SOs) focuses on members' learning performance, in terms of outcome from knowledge management activities such as skill and knowledge acquisition.\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Survey administration and sample characteristics\n5. Data analysis and results: Structural equation model (SEM) can simultaneously evaluate all paths with latent variables in one analysis. Partial least squares (PLS) was used over co-variance based SEM because PLS is a suitable mechanism to test a multi-stage model (Chin et al., 2003). Thus, we used SmartPLS 2.0 to examine our model.\n6. Discussion: Our empirical results provide broad support for the proposed model. The results show that the value creation of SSRL is positive related to both aspects of satisfaction. Few prior studies have considered the impact of SSRL on two aspects of satisfaction in RVC learning. The expansion of the nomological network of self-management learning and conceptualization of SSRL in RVC allow us to contribute to SCT development. Besides, we empirically examine RVC members' social learning processes by proposing a belief-value-satisfaction model, in which value creation from these processes affects satisfaction and is influenced by members' motivation in terms of leveraging social resources.\n7. Conclusions: This study seeks to deepen our understanding on social form of learning in the context of RVC. We integrate SCT into the learning literature by explaining how SSRL strategies contribute to learning satisfaction. Besides, we also consider how these strategies are motivated by individual factors such as LU and LGO and contextual factor such as SI. The results of this study help RVC learners gain learning satisfaction through intentionally implementing a learning strategy, which facilitates self-management and social value creation in learning. The results also help RVC managers increase benefits by:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study develops a belief-value-satisfaction model based on social cognitive theory. This paper aims to explain how relational virtual community (RVC) members' beliefs on individual features and environments can be transformed into satisfaction through social learning strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors followed a longitudinal, quasi-experimental field approach to collect data from two phases, which entailed the key informant approach to get the responses from those who participated in knowledge exchange in VC. The authors used partial least squares to examine the proposed hypotheses.\nFindings: Satisfaction is measured as two dimensions - outcome and process. Value creation is conceptualized as social self-regulated learning (SRL), and its antecedents include lead userness, learning goal orientation and social influence. The results show that both dimensions of satisfaction are affected by social SRL, which in turn is influenced by learning goal orientation and social influence.\nOriginality/value: A systematic research for understanding satisfaction from a social learning perspective in relational virtual community settings remains absent. This study explains why and how relational virtual community members' social SRL serves the role in leveraging resources and reducing uncertainty, from which they gain satisfaction.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender, knowledge and motivation for wine purchasing	[ "Gender", "Portugal", "Surveys", "Wines", "Structural equation models", "Consumer behaviour", "Subjective knowledge" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The buyer's gender is one factor that significantly influences the decision process when shopping for experience goods (Park et al., 2009). It is considered that, compared to females, males try to accomplish the purchase using minimum effort in the search for information (Laroche et al., 2003). The so-called selectivity model is presented as the main basis for that behaviour. Subsequently, in retail context, females tend to obtain rewards from the decision process itself, whereas males tend to view shopping as a problem and look for a more direct solution (Campbell, 2000).\nLiterature review: Subjective knowledge and information\nMethodology: To empirically assess the model integrating the hypotheses exposed above, it was necessary to collect data from a sample of 600 purchasers of wine. They were interviewed by interviewers from a market research company at six facilities of a hypermarket chain in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal (300 interviews in each area), during seven consecutive days from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At each predefined period (morning, afternoon, evening), a cash register was randomly selected to approach customers after checkout. During the selected period and register, all customers who bought at least one bottle of wine were interviewed (subject to the interviewers' availability). The sample size was determined by the available budget. The questionnaire was structured into three sections. The first section collected information on the wine(s) purchased, on the intended consumption occasion(s), on factors influencing the wine choice, and on information sources used. In this study, only the sources of information were considered. The second section included measures of motivations, subjective knowledge, and emotions associated with consumption. Finally, a third section registered buyers' demographics, including gender.\nResults: The sample profile is presented in Table I. Only 523 buyers that replied to all the items covered in this study are considered. The typical buyer is a 48-year-old male, with higher education and employed. He mainly buys red wine to consume daily on meals, for a price close to 3EUR a bottle. The same table allows us to suggest some differences between genders regarding buying behaviour: males spend more money on wine because they buy more and consume more regularly - 4/5 of males, compared to 2/3 of females, consume more than once a week. Although both prefer to buy red wine, there is a higher proportion of females (29 per cent) than males (20 per cent) buying mostly white or pink wines.\nConclusions, implications, limitations and future research: This paper's main objective was to analyse the role of subjective knowledge as a mediator of the gender effects on the motivations for purchasing wine, as well as on the use of information for wine choice. The results could mark a theoretical advance by suggesting that much of the gender differences described in the literature are due to other factors, which are proximal antecedents of motivations and information search. This seems to be the case for subjective knowledge. Male buyers prove to see themselves as more knowledgeable in wines and this explains why, compared to women, they use less personal information sources and are more motivated to purchase. The descriptive analysis also showed that males buy larger quantities and consume more regularly, but the possible mediation of knowledge in behaviour was not evaluated as it was not the purpose of this research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to verify if the gender effects described in the wine consumer behaviour literature, namely, concerning information search and the motivations to buy, may be explained by the mediating effect of subjective knowledge, taking into consideration that the importance of knowledge in the decision process is gender specific.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A path analysis was modelled with an exogenous variable (gender), a mediating variable (subjective knowledge) and four dependent variables (need for information and three motivational dimensions). The model was assessed with empirical data obtained from a sample of 523 shoppers in large supermarkets in the areas of Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal. Structured interviews were conducted at checkout, collecting information on the relevant variables. Scales measuring the latent variables (knowledge, information and motivation) were previously validated through confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of 217 wine consumers.\nFindings: Subjective knowledge fully mediates the effects of gender on motivation and information needs. Men think of themselves as more knowledgeable in wines and the mediation effect explains why, compared to women, they use less personal information sources and are more motivated to purchase wine.\nPractical implications: The authors suggest promotion programmes in large supermarkets focussing on opportunities for wine knowledge development.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature by introducing and validating an alternative formulation of gender effects on wine shopping, emphasising the role of the purchaser's perceived or subjective knowledge.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding social media governance: seizing opportunities, staying out of trouble	[ "Employee communication", "Reputation management", "Social media governance", "Strategic communication management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rise of social media has drastically changed the media landscape in organizations (Booth and Matic, 2011; Dekay, 2012; Haigh and Wigley, 2015). For instance, through \"approved\" or \"official\" corporate accounts, social media provide organizations an opportunity to engage in direct unmediated dialogue with stakeholders (Romenti et al., 2014). At the same time, social media allow employees to express their affiliation and engagement with their employer using their personal social media channels (Dreher, 2014). Social media enable them to construct and express their personal as well as professional identity (van Zoonen et al., 2014a). On social media, the divide between private and professional use is increasingly blurring, as users publish private as well as work-related content for private and work-related audiences simultaneously (Johnston, 2014).\nLiterature review: Work-related social media use\nMethod: Design and sample\nResults: The interviews revealed that the participants' approaches to social media governance depend not only on the regulatory focus of managers (i.e. their prevention or promotion focus) with regard to the online behavior of employees, but also on the models the managers used to understand the communication of the organization with stakeholders. In particular, participants differed in the extent to which they used one-way monologic (Weaver and Shannon, 1949) and two-way dialogic models (Kent and Taylor, 1998) to make sense of the organization's communication with stakeholders.\nDiscussion: As social media are increasingly used not only in private but also in professional domains, communication professionals recognize the need for corporate policies to govern employee social media behaviors (Macnamara and Zerfass, 2012). It is therefore surprising that social media governance has barely been studied empirically and virtually nothing is known about the rationale behind corporate attempts at influencing the work-related online behaviors of employees. To fill this void, this study focused on the question how organizations approach work-related social media use of employees, and how this approach affects the way they govern these online behaviors. The study revealed that whether managers perceived work-related social media use as a risk or opportunity (i.e. whether they employed a prevention or promotion focus, respectively; Higgins, 1997) was related to the models they used to describe the communication between the organization and stakeholders.\nConclusion: Recognizing its limitations, this research does provide valuable new insights into a domain which has not yet been studied extensively. Most notably, the interviews suggest that whether managers adopt a prevention- or promotion-focus toward work-related social media use of employees is rooted in the communication models that are used in an organization. Regulatory focus in turn influences the way in which social media governance is approached. Strict regulations are not necessarily only implemented by managers with a prevention-focus (who often ban employees from sharing anything about their work online), but also within a promotion scheme some professionals explain that they have more regulations in place to provide clarity to employees and make them feel more secure about the work-related information they are allowed and expected to share online. In governing employee work-related social media use managers are thus challenged to find a balance between granting trust and freedom to employees in order to seize the many opportunities that social media grant them, while clearly setting boundaries and norms in order to stay out of trouble.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The rise of social media such as Facebook and Twitter has provided employees with means to share work-related information. Increasingly, social media governance policies are implemented to negotiate the risks and opportunities of such behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to unveil the motivations behind managers' attempts to govern these behaviors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten communication managers of various organizations. Higgins' regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) was used to examine whether managers adopted a prevention or promotion focus to social media, and whether regulatory focus affected the measures taken toward social media governance.\nFindings: Prevention and promotion foci were both observed among managers, and differed per communication model. Managers who employed dialogic models of communication were primarily promotion-focused and emphasized opportunities to improve stakeholder relations, while managers who employed one-way models were primarily prevention-focused and highlighted the risks of social media (e.g. the risk of employees publishing messages that contradict corporate communication and confuse stakeholders). Social media governance differed depending on regulatory focus. In the prevention scheme managers usually attempted to regain control by restricting social media to private use only, while in the promotion focus managers trained and facilitated employees for work-related social media use, to various extends.\nOriginality/value: By examining the interplay of regulatory focus, communication models and governance, this paper sheds light on the rationale behind social media governance policies that are implemented in organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Analytical cognitive style moderation on promotion and turnover intention	[ "Analysis", "Promotion", "Turnover intention", "Cognitive style", "Analytical cognitive Style" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For all employees worldwide, promotion is considered a very important element of the job. In South Africa in private sector universities the procedure for promotion is not adopted as it is adopted properly in public sector universities so lecturers were not happy (Baffour and Achemfuor, 2013). Promotion in the job is very important and it serves to increase the reputation of organizations. The success of the organizations depends on the satisfaction of its employees from promotion policies. This is why promotion and opportunities to the employees represent a very important strategy for the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the workers (Noor et al., 2015). In addition to this, Noor et al. (2015) also reported that lecturers of the universities believe that the policies of promotion by the higher education commission and universities are all only for the PhD staff and not for the non-PhD staff. There are several other factors that are responsible for job satisfaction and turnover intention of workers (Noor et al., 2015); among these factors, the ability to participate in decision making by the employees is the factor that gives them freedom in decision making. The literature indicates that allowing the workers to participate in decision making enables them to satisfy and fulfill their higher order needs as suggested by Maslow (1943), and self-expression and independence (Miller and Monge, 1986; French et al., 1960). This helps increase the job satisfaction (Vroom, 1964). These claims have been proved by many researchers with the empirical results such as Black and Gregersen (1997). It has been claimed that decision making is a managerial strategy that has influence over the organizational commitment, performance, turnover intention, motivation and job satisfaction of the employees or workers (Muindi, 2011; Agwu and Olele, 2014; Wagner, 1994; Kuye and Abdul-Hameed, 2011). Decision making helps increasing the satisfaction and motivation of workers, and reduces the turnover intention. This is why if workers take part or are given a chance to make the decisions, it will increase satisfaction and decrease turnover intention (West, 1990; Isaksen and Akkermans, 2011). A positive and significant relationship between job satisfaction and decision-making has been reported by researchers (Woodman et al., 1993). Since the decision making has a positive and significant relationship with job satisfaction and motivation, workers should be allowed the chance to make a decision (Muindi, 2011); thus, it has been hypothesized that cognitive decision-making style is used as a moderator in this study introduced by Allinson and Hayes (1996). There are two facets of cognitive style analysis and intuition. Intuition is used in the previous paper of Mughal and Busari (2015) with the aspects of job satisfaction, i.e. promotion and outcome variable turnover intention. In this paper, the analytical style is used as a moderator of the relationship with promotion and turnover intention.\nProblem statement: Most previous studies in Pakistan were focused on job satisfaction and turnover intention, but these previous studies did not report on the cognitive style and method or approach used; mostly, researchers used a single method of data collection (Sattar and Shadiullah, 2011; Saif, 2012; Hyder and Batool, 2013; Ghafoor, 2014; Rahman et al., 2015; Farzeen et al., 2015). In order to cover and fill these gaps, the next section discusses the gaps as mentioned in the above discussion.\nTheoretical gap problem: It is believed that decision making is linked to job satisfaction and turnover intention. Turnover intention is the final step in the cognitive process of decision making of whether to stay in the job or leave (Mobley, 1977; Hom and Griffeth, 2000; Lofstrom, 2005). Thus, this gap is lacking in the theory of job satisfaction and turnover intention. The above discussion in the problem statement shows that a number of researchers have carried out various studies on the topic of job satisfaction and turnover intention, but no one has used decision making in the study, especially cognitive style decision-making. The second important point is that almost all researchers have used the demographic variables and determined their impact on the predictor and criterion variables; thus, there is a need to include continuous variables in the theory and conceptual framework in order to fill this gap. Therefore, for the purpose of the filling the gap, the cognitive style as a moderator is included in this study.\nBackground and hypothesis development: Malik et al. (2012) conducted a survey and reported that salary has a positive effect on or relation with job satisfaction; on the other hand, promotion has a poor relationship with job satisfaction. In higher education institutions promotion and salary are the two important factors of lecturer's job satisfaction. Saif et al. (2012), in their study, reported a list of those variables that have a strong influence on job satisfaction of the workers; these variables are environment, promotion, salary, work and supervisor. In their study, the positive outcome variables were involvement and commitment and the negative outcomes of the study were absenteeism and turnover intention. They also reported in the findings that promotion, growth and training of the lecturers have a significant and positive influence on job satisfaction, while salary and environment were not found to be significant in their study. Similarly, another researcher, Khan, Ghauri and Kashif (2012), also found and reported a list of factors that can affect job satisfaction; these factors are security of the job, promotion, safe working conditions, relations with coworkers and peer group and supervisors, and nature of the work/job.\nMethod: Research design\nDemographic characteristics of informants: Five demographic questions were asked in the questionnaire: gender, age, length of service, sector and qualification. The sample consisted 376 men (74.90 percent) and 126 women (25.09 percent); the average age of the respondents was between 24 and 35 years and the majority of respondents had been in the service for 1-5 years. The majority of the people were working in public sector 376 (74.90 percent) universities and most of the people had a master's degree (82.86 percent) in universities. The details are presented in the Table I.\nInterpretation: From Table II, it was found that there was a negative significant relationship between promotion and turnover intention. The Pearson correlation moment r=-0.337, p<0.001, was recorded between promotion and turnover intention. The Pearson correlation moment between promotion and analysis was r=0.075, p=0.094; a weak correlation was found. The correlation between promotion and intuition was r=-0.077, p=0.084. The Pearson correlation between analysis and turnover was r=-0.094, p<0.05.\nInterpretation: Table III focuses on lecturers; for turnover intention, the promotion showed an R2 =0.113, b=-0.337, p<0.001, in model 1. The F-value was F=63.919 and the p-value was p=0.000. The F2=0.1274 shows that it has a small effect.\nOpen-ended questions: Since the nature of the study is exploratory, open-ended questions are used in order to obtain more in-depth information on the job satisfaction and turnover intention. Therefore, open-ended questions were posed to highlight the problems in the research. Themes were created and analyzed qualitatively and similar responses were considered as themes (Creswell. 2002). Two open-ended questions posed in the questionnaire. These questions are as follows:\nDiscussion and conclusion: In this twenty-first century, management and advance learning institutions are facing several problems; the findings from this study will highlight the management practices in a more technical way. This study will shed light on management's intangible assets: satisfaction from promotion policies, turnover intention and analytical cognitive style buffer the relationship between promotion and turnover intention of lecturers of advance learning institutions.\nImplications: The overall results of this study contribute toward a better understanding of satisfaction from promotion, turnover intention and cognitive style. These findings are of considerable importance to academicians, scholars and managers.\nLimitations and recommendations for future works: This study has a few methodological limitations. These limitations can affect the potential contributions. This study should be interpreted keeping in mind the following limitation. First, the sample size used in this study is from one province; thus, the current results must be considered limited to this population. This can limit the generalization of the results. Second, this study was quantitative in nature; thus, future research can focus on a longitudinal and experimental methodology. Another suggestion is to extend this study to other provinces of Pakistan and other underdeveloped countries as well as other industries. Third, mediators of these effects could also be tested. Finally, the dimension of cognitive style used in this study was one dimension and future research can focus on other dimensions of cognitive style such as planning, creating and knowledge suggested by (Cools, 2007). Finally, it would be interesting to identify the other variables that could moderate or mediate the relationship between promotion and turnover intention.\nConcluding remarks: This paper aims to contribute toward the topic of job satisfaction turnover intention and cognitive style. The investigations showed a moderating role of analytical cognitive style on the relationship between promotion satisfaction and turnover intention. This paper aims to contribute toward the understanding of the decision making of the lecturers of advance learning institutions. In terms of the relationship, analytical style shows a relationship with turnover intention, but not a significant one with promotion. Cognitive style seems to have an impact on the relationship between promotion satisfaction and turnover intention. Also, the study shows how a moderator can enhance the relationship between independent and dependent variables.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper argues that teachers' promotion should also have an impact on turnover intention. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between promotion and turnover intention of advance learning institutions of the Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa Province of Pakistan and the moderating effect of the analytical cognitive style.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach is used predominantly. A questionnaire survey research design is used to collect the data from the entire province and 502 completed questionnaires were collected from the respondents. The questionnaire included the Job Descriptive Index consisting of seven items on job satisfaction, the turnover intention questionnaire consisting of three items and a five-point Likert scale used to determine cognitive style index (CSI); the CSI was used. The fourth section included an open-ended questionnaire and the fifth section included demographic variables. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to check how much variance promotion occurs upon turnover intention and it also determined how much variance analysis cognitive style occurs upon promotion and turnover intention of advance learning institutions of the KPK province of Pakistan. The correlation results from a bivariate Pearson correlation showed significant results, which were later strengthened by the regression results.\nFindings: The findings suggested that a negative relationship was found between promotion and turnover intention, whereas a weak correlation was found between promotion and analytical. Moderating results show that analytical cognitive style does act as a moderator between the promotion and turnover intention.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research was only carried out on advance learning institutions; thus, the findings can only be generalized to higher education institutions in the Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa state.\nPractical implications: This extended model of job satisfaction will be useful to lead to changes in job satisfaction and turnover intention of academicians of the Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa province of Pakistan. The findings of this study could be used to guide the management of advance learning institutions and professional academicians to build targeted learning activities around key components of the academician's promotion, determine where individuals are in their journey, set personalized goals and provide feedback to the management in the process of the development of policies for academicians of advance learning institutions.\nSocial implications: The findings of this study will help the higher education commission of Pakistan to make policies that will enable higher education institutions to formulate flexible promotion policies for teachers in order to retain them.\nOriginality/value: The findings of this study are a valuable extension of the relevant research as this is the first empirical study to examine the effects of cognitive style on promotion policies and turnover intention in advance learning institutions of Pakistan. In the context of an efficient and effective educational policy, a greater understanding of an academician's promotion could facilitate the development of a more effective policy practice that would increase not only the job satisfaction of the academicians but decrease the turnover intention of the academicians.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership style desired by youth in Asia	[ "Culture", "South Korea", "Leadership", "Youth", "Brunei", "Asian studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The relationship between leaders and youth has become crucial. As youth perceives leaders as someone who \"bring people together to get things done\" and someone who \"stands up for their beliefs and values\" (O'Connor, 2010), it is evident that leaders should engage the youth constructively to enhance future economic and social development of a country. For leaders to be desired by the youth, they must adjust their behaviors and strategies based on the current environment (Nahavandi, 2006). One of the environmental aspects for leadership is culture as Jogulu and Wood (2008) described it to have influence over followers' action. Kamisah and Syed (2015) added that such influences are based on a variety of backgrounds, attitudes and mindset from different countries. While leadership has been studied extensively in the western world, empirical studies of Asian leadership are few, especially from the youth's perspective. This demonstrates the importance of studying leadership style desired in Asian regions due to the increasing demand of leadership in democratic governance, public participation, individual privacy and social equality as a result of rapid development of technology, economy and education (Berman and Haque, 2015). This research aims to investigate leadership style preferences among youth in Asia, specifically Brunei Darussalam and South Korea by applying the Path Goal Theory as the foundation. By using this approach, it can identify the leadership style preferences among the youth as leadership style are important for leaving either a positive or negative impression among the youth in a working environment for motivation.\nLiterature review: Leadership and Path Goal Theory\nMethodology: The data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data provided strong internal validity because of the clear data collection system, while the secondary data supported the primary data by strengthening the external validity (Ibert et al., 2001). This research used a quantitative approach as the foundation of clear verification of the Path Goal Theory to test on leadership preferences. With the lack of studies regarding the leadership style desired by youth, a descriptive content-based research was used in this study. It hopes to improve the understanding of the leadership phenomena by describing them, especially in a relatively unexplored area (Grenier and Josserand, 2001).\nFindings: Reliability of measure\nDiscussion and implications: The Path Goal Theory emphasized on the fluidity of leadership style that can be employed by leaders to best fit the followers within a given situation. As a result, the research approach has identified the leadership style that is desired by youth. The research findings provide important theoretical implications as they support the Path Goal Theory approach, in which the leaders can develop their style to influence their followers. It also supports the theory that culture plays a major role in influencing leadership preferences within a country, as different Asian regions have different cultures (Schwartz et al., 2001). Based on the result, the future leadership style desired by youth in Asia differs as the Bruneian youth prefers a directive leadership over supportive leadership, while South Korean youth prefers supportive leadership over achievement-oriented leadership. Although Brunei and South Korea are Asian countries, the result showed that both countries have different preferences. This means that our study supports the earlier research works conducted by Brodbeck et al. (2000), Gerstner and Day (1994), House et al. (2004) and Schwartz et al. (2001) which illustrate leadership style differences in Asian regions due to the various cultural values. Hence, it shows that one culture can be counterproductive in another (Irawanto, 2009). This implies that culture has a large impact which determines the leadership styles suitable for the current environment.\nLimitation, future recommendation and conclusion: This study is not without any limitation as the main focus of the leadership preference is based heavily on cultural aspects. Although this study has shown that cultural aspects have significant impacts toward leadership preference in Brunei Darussalam and South Korea, there are other factors to consider for understanding leadership preference. Kamisah and Syed (2015) observed that power distance between the leaders and followers, level of job uncertainty, collectivism/individualism society and masculinity/femininity society have influence on the leadership preferences. As a recommendation for future studies, these factors can be considered to investigate leadership preferences in Asian countries. Moreover, this can lead to potential future research on leadership preferences within other regions and/or countries to pinpoint the exact role of culture in leadership.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the styles that are desirable in a leader in the perspective of youth in Asia, particularly Brunei Darussalam and South Korea. Thus, by investigating it using the Path Goal Theory as its approach, this study provides leaders with the desirable leadership style to motivate and influence the youth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research used a quantitative method with a proportionate stratified sampling method using the criteria of age of youth defined by UNESCO. The data then collected using a face-to-face method of a questionnaire from February 2016 till June 2016.\nFindings: The evidence depicts that Bruneian youth prefers directive leadership while South Korean youth prefers supportive leadership. This finding is based on the selected styles that are desirable by the youth and their choice is also influenced by culture. This may imply that culture has a large impact which can determine the leadership styles best suited to the environment.\nResearch limitations/implications: Since the research has limited sample sizes and geographical location, this can lead to future research by considering more regions of different continents to determine whether different leadership preference still persists. This study can also be used as a basis to consider other factors in investigating leadership preference in Asian countries.\nOriginality/value: This paper identifies and encourages the need to study leadership style that is desirable among youth.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Synergy within the West African Triple Helix innovation systems as measured with game theory	[ "Africa", "Innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Africa's share to the world science is negligible, less than 1 per cent (cf. Adams et al., 2010). Indeed, science in Africa is still at its early stage (UNESCO, 2010, 2015); the entire continent annual scientific output is lower to that of the Netherlands (UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 2005). The review of the West African research landscape reveals that African countries scientific publishing is extraverted: more than one half of the West African science are co-authored with a foreign country (Megnigbeto, 2013a); research on the continent is lead in the shade or the wake of development projects and programmes financed by donors (Bierschenk and Mongbo, 1995) meaning that most of the research carried out in these countries is contributed to or initiated by foreign countries; and, as a result, science in Africa is dominated by foreign countries, mainly former colonial power. Innovation in this part of the world, therefore, is dominated by foreign countries.\nLiterature review: Much has been written on STI in Africa, from various disciplines perspective. However, studies dealing with the relations between university, industry and government are even scare. Some studies have dealt with university-industry-government relationships in African countries specifically (e.g. Etzkowitz and Dzisah, 2007 for the whole Africa; Nwagwu, 2008 for Nigeria; Patra and Muchie, 2018; Taylor, 2004 for South Africa). In 2012, the Association of African Universities conducted a survey in university-industry linkages in Africa (Ssebuwufu et al., 2012); Zavale and Langa (2018) reviewed papers dealing with university-industry linkages in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aforementioned studies did not use any indicator; they neither studied the whole West Africa region nor used any bibliographic database. A range of studies where devoted to the Triple Helix relationships in West Africa, both at regional and national levels. They use bibliographic data of the West Africa retrieved from Web of Science and use mutual information and transmission power as indicators of the Triple Helix relationships (Megnigbeto, 2013b, 2014b, c, 2015, 2016). Recently, game theory indicators, namely, the core, the Shapley value and the nucleolus, were used to measure the synergy within West African innovation system at the regional level (Megnigbeto, 2018a).\nMethods and data: In a Triple Helix innovation system, actors interact mainly by means of collaboration. By doing so, they pursue the goal of maximising the number of papers they publish individually and collectively; they form coalitions which make the Triple Helix of university-industry-government relationships a cooperative game. A cooperative game is characterised by a set of players, coalitions they may form and payoffs or utility. The relations between coalitions and payoffs or utility are called characteristic function.\nResults: Countries' total output and Triple Helix spheres' shares\nDiscussion: Biggest Triple Helix producer creates and lead to synergy; government and industry maintain synergy\nConclusion: This paper sets as target the measurement of synergy within the Triple Helix innovation systems of the 15 West African countries using game theory. For this purpose, we used bibliographic data collected from Web of Science over a decade (2001-2010) and distinguished Triple Helix actors (university, industry and government) outputs and their bi- or trilateral collaborations. The core, the Shapley value and the nucleolus were used to characterise the synergy within the Triple Helix innovation systems. The innovation actor with the largest share to the whole production of a country has the highest Shapley value, and hence, has more power to create and lead to synergy. Government maintains synergy in all innovation systems and is joined in its efforts by industry in Ghana and Niger. There is synergy in all the selected innovations systems; however, its level varies from one country to another. The core is positioned differently according to the country due to the influence of foreign partners on the considered innovation system. The industrial sector's contribution is very limited due to hindrances to its development. The ranking of selected countries according to the level of synergy as measured by the core has no correlation with the one with the transmission power or mutual information.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: University, industry and government relationships, known under the Triple Helix, have been studied under various aspects. The West African region and countries have been analysed with mutual information and transmission power, two information theory-based indicators. The purpose of this paper is to portray the landscape of West African Triple Helix innovation systems using three main game theory indicators (core, Shapley value and nucleolus) with the objective to measure the synergy within the selected innovation systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The collaboration between university, industry and government is modelled as a three-person coalitional game. Bibliographical data of selected countries were collected from Web of Science and organised according to collaboration patterns between the three actors. The characteristic functions of the games were computed, the cores plotted, the Shapley values and the nucleoli computed.\nFindings: Either university or government has more power to create and lead to synergy; government shows solidarity towards university and industry in most of countries; and they are joined in their efforts by industry in two countries. The core exists in all the countries meaning that all the selected innovation systems present synergy; however, the extent is limited and varies over countries.\nResearch limitations/implications: Innovation includes all research products; however, this study focuses on publications only.\nOriginality/value: Synergy within a Triple Helix innovation system is studied up to now with information theory indicators. The paper portrays the landscape of West African Triple Helix innovation systems using three main game theory indicators: the core, the Shapley value and the nucleolus and gives a new way to study university, industry and government relationships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A holistic approach of quality: a case of UK chocolate manufacturing	[ "Quality control", "Process variation", "Defect reduction", "Chocolate manufacturing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background of this research: The increasing competitive pressure and customer demands have led companies to focus on new strategies for improving production processes, range of products and product quality in order to satisfy the needs of their customers. As product lines increase, variation in processes also increases. Variation exist in every process and impacts on manufacturers in many different ways ranging from product quality, processing times and product consistency which ultimately affect customer satisfaction (Deming, 1982; Tsikriktsis and Heineke, 2004). Product liability and recall are the main drivers for business losses in the UK and the defective products account for 43 per cent of the value of all claims according to a report from insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. Therefore, it is imperative to reduce variation in the process and produce \"right first time\" to avoid losses. There are many approaches for dealing with process variation that have been in existence for years which have found application in various industries. These approaches evolved from Shewhart, Deming and Juran to TQM, define-measure-analyse-improve-control (DMAIC) approach and Six Sigma. However, these are not very specific to any particular company as every company has its own process approach specialised for their product lines. Hence, a specially structured and customised approach is essential for every single product line. Our study focusses mainly on chocolate production, as it is one of the highly consumed food product in every country around the globe and in chocolate confectionery, the quality of the product is paramount for ensuring an enjoyable experience for the consumer (Sundara et al., 2013). As asserted by Sundara et al. (2013), the control of the physical processing is crucial for achieving the satisfying snap of a good chocolate and the smoothness in the palate. Therefore, a controlled and tailored process is desirable for the chocolate manufacturers if they are to deliver a quality product that delights their customers.\n2. Literature review: All processes in quality management exhibit some degree of variation (Deming, 1982). This observed variation in the process output is an accumulation of many different sources that would have occurred throughout the manufacturing process (Hutchinson, 2014). Analysing and acting upon the sources of variation is key for any initiative to improve the process (Rodriguez, 2010). Quality improvement is central to the systems approach thinking on variation reduction (Conti, 2010). Reducing variation requires the identification of key factors affecting the outputs and then establishing controls on these variables to ensure that the outputs conform to established specifications. The traditional approach has always been to buffer the variation through creating excess inventory and excess capacity (Standard and Davis, 1999). However, lean thinking is to reduce the special and common causes of variation and avoid excess inventory and capacity. We will understand process variation and analyse the various through different quality approaches available in the literature.\n3. Problem description - an experimental case study approach: A detailed literature review helped us to identify the existing approaches for addressing process variation. We plan to test the applicability of process variation reduction in the case of a chocolate company. This particular research is based on experimental case study research with primary data obtained in real time from the researcher's workplace based on a true experiment. Case study was chosen as a research strategy due to its strength in detailed and intensive analysis of a single case - a single process (Bryman and Bell, 2015). Voss et al. (2002) opined that the case study strategy is useful if the aim of the study is to gain a rich understanding of the research perspective and the process being investigated.\n4. Proposed DMAIC approaches in chocolate processing: 4.1 Defining the process - SIPOC model (Define)\n5. Practical implications and conclusion: This paper presents a structured step-by-step application of the tailored DMAIC methodology for reducing the defects of P2 manufacturing process. We used experimental case study approach to show actual use of customised quality frameworks. We also used other statistical tools and techniques, such as SPC and Pareto chart to analyse and improve the quality during the study. Process variation, which is the objective of the study, has been reduced thus improving the quality of finished products without investing in new equipment or extra personnel resource.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research is elucidating quality control theories to reduce variation in chocolate manufacturing process in the UK food company that will help maintain the processes stable and predictable. The purpose of this paper is to reduce defects of the output; to identify the root causes of variation; to establish and implement solutions to this variation problem; and to establish a control system to monitor and report any variation in the process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use experimental case study of a chocolate company to achieve the objective. In this paper, the authors predominantly use established theory define-measure-analyse-improve-control, customised to the case of the chocolate factory to reduce variations in production processes.\nFindings: The results confirm that customised-traditional theoretical quality models will support manufacturing companies to maintain customer satisfaction while enhancing quality and reliability.\nPractical implications: Implementation of customised approach reduced the rate of defect from 8 to 3.7 per cent. The implications of reduced variation are improved product quality; reprocessing elimination; and a more stable process that support sustainability and reliability in producing chocolates to meet customer needs.\nSocial implications: The authors used an experimental-based case study approach to test with one company. Testing in multiple case companies may help to generalise results.\nOriginality/value: The research study experimentally tested quality approach with a real case company and hence the findings of this study can be applied to other cases working in similar settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Attaining improved resilience to floods: a proactive multi-stakeholder approach	[ "Decision making", "Floods", "United Kingdom", "Risk analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The floods during June and July 2007 were a wake-up call. The three months from May to July were the wettest since records began and the events that followed have been linked to the deaths of 13 people. They also resulted in damage to approximately 48,000 homes and 7,000 businesses. Power and water supplies were lost, railway lines, eight motorways and many other roads were closed and large parts of five counties and four cities were brought to a standstill (Cabinet Office, 2007, p. 3).Threats to society and the built environment, are diverse and include extreme natural hazards (such as windstorms and floods) and human induced hazards (such as terrorist attacks). The \"Stern Review\" (Cabinet Office/HM Treasury, 2006) warns of a bleak future for the planet if societies and the built environment do not adapt to address the implications of a changing climate and the report goes as far as stating that the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting.Typically, natural and human induced hazards cause minor disruption to the economy, infrastructure and residents of the United Kingdom (UK) but it has been argued that the magnitude and frequency of these extreme events are increasing due to the implications of climate change (Cabinet Office/HM Treasury, 2006) with the result that the nation's built environment is likely to become increasingly vulnerable. Ofori (2008) states that the immutable nature of built assets, the inability to accurately test them for resilience, the legislative and socio-economic requirements of development, requirements for ongoing maintenance, adaptation and redevelopment, and potential appropriation by the end user all render built assets vulnerable to a wide range of hazards which will change over time. It would also appear that with socio-economic progress, society becomes more vulnerable as urban areas become reliant on their increasingly extended supply lines (Menoni, 2001), and ever-expanding and vital distribution networks of water, power, gas and telecommunication systems. Moreover, with globalisation, major urban settlements are also inter-connected; an extreme event in one of them can precipitate widespread disruption in many others.Given this backdrop, this paper will discuss why it is important to embed flood hazard mitigation into pre-construction decision making. However, for this to occur, a wide range of stakeholders (such as engineers, designers, and urban planners) need to be consulted and actively involved in more informed decision making.Towards a more proactive approach to resilience\nThe research: There is a need to pro-actively address strategic weaknesses in protecting the built environment from a range of hazards. This component of the research is focused on the mitigation for flood hazards in the UK; particularly understanding the extent of the problem, collating key guidance and legislation related to flood hazard mitigation, identifying who the key construction decision makers are and the most opportune stages of the Design-Construction-Operation Process when they need to make their key decisions. Through this, the paper will also highlight some of the socio-institutional constraints to the proactive attainment of built-in resilience and provide some suggestions as to the approaches that may be required to address these constraints.Methods\nPreliminary research findings: The findings raise some important issues about the construction sector's role in hazard mitigation, with a specific focus on the mitigation of riverine flood hazards. The datasets have been combined below in relation to the type of threats apparent, the efficacy of current guidelines and the role and input of various stakeholders.Evaluation and prioritisation of identified threats\nDiscussion: This research has so far revealed that while there is an ever increasing range of guidance, information and legislation for stakeholders in the construction sector, there is a lack of suitable guidance that is specifically focused on proactive mitigation measures that are targeted for use by key stakeholders in the construction sector. When suitable guidance is available, awareness of such guidance by key construction related decision makers is poor. It is also important to not only know about the guidance but it is also essential that the key decision-makers are aware that the pre-construction phase is the critical stage of the Design-Construction-Operation process when flood hazard mitigation should be undertaken by architects/designers, structural and civil engineers, urban planners, specialist contractors and emergency/risk managers.Reaching out to this wide array of stakeholders and integrating their inputs suggests that a complementary range of strategies will be required to address the issue of building-in flood resilience (as well as resilience to other hazards) into the decision-making of construction stakeholders. It is likely that these strategies will include, \"innovation and knowledge\", \"operations\", 'planning' and \"legislative and regulatory\" initiatives that will need to be driven by developers, construction firms, planners and governmental agencies (amongst others).Innovation and knowledge\nConclusions: The pre-construction phase of a building's life cycle is the most critical for incorporating flood hazard mitigation strategies that should be undertaken by stakeholders such as architects/designers, structural and civil engineers, urban planners, specialist contractors and emergency/risk managers. However, despite the publication of a range of guidance on flood hazard mitigation in the UK there is little evidence to suggest that key construction stakeholders are playing an active role in mitigating flood risk. It is argued that the construction sector is currently ill-prepared to build-in resilience to flooding in the UK. Resilience is a multi-facetted concept which includes physical, social, economic and institutional components; the socio-institutional aspects are arguably as important to the attainment of resilience as the physical aspects because \"resilient engineering\" also demands a more resilient infrastructural context with regards to the professions, the structures and processes which govern construction activity. This paper has argued that fundamental institutional change and the provision of better guidance and training are required if the \"innovation and knowledge\", \"operations\", \"planning\" and \"legislative and regulatory\" initiatives towards built-in resilience are to be successful. These underlying institutional conditions will be difficult to obtain in a short period of time so other, possibly more discrete, approaches may be required in the meantime.One of the approaches could include the development of decision-support tools that could be applied during the pre-construction, construction and post-disaster reconstruction phases. The development of a decision support tool could enable construction stakeholders, such as civil and structural engineers and architects, to make informed decisions regarding the proactive integration of flood hazard mitigation (and the mitigation of other hazards) during the design, planning, construction, operation and maintenance of existing and future construction projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - There is a need to proactively address strategic weaknesses in protecting the built environment from a range of hazards. This paper seeks to focus on the mitigation for flood hazards in the UK; particularly in understanding the extent of the problem, collating key guidance and legislation related to flood hazard mitigation, identifying who the key construction decision makers are and the most opportune stages of the Design-Construction-Operation Process when they need to make their key decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A pluralistic research design was adopted for the study, which included a UK-wide questionnaire survey and a set of semi-structured interviews involving a range of professionals from construction, planning, insurance, emergency management and local/national government agencies was undertaken.\nFindings: - Despite the publication of a range of guidance on flood hazard mitigation in the UK there is still insufficient evidence that key construction stakeholders are playing an active role in mitigating flood risk. The pre-construction phase of a building's life cycle is identified as is the most critical stage when key stakeholders need to adopt flood hazard mitigation strategies. The socio-institutional constraints to the proactive attainment of built-in resilience are highlighted as are recommendations as to how these constraints can be addressed.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper reports on the provisional findings of an ongoing project but these findings nonetheless provide essential foundations for the latter development of the PRE-EMPT toolkit and also raise some important considerations about flood resilience in the UK.\nOriginality/value: - The findings presented reveal how stakeholders should be better involved, and what issues they need to address, regarding the integration of built-in resilience into construction decision making.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of alcohol in a sexually motivated situation	[ "Sexual behaviour", "Girls", "Alcoholic drinks", "Finland" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Alcohol use and sexual behaviour\nMethod: Participants\nResults: The role of alcohol\nSummary: As a summary of the results, in the \"Everything under control\" narratives, internal self-control appeared to be a quite stable characteristic and alcohol did not seem to have any affect. Alcohol was not a remarkable element in the situations, nor did the amount of alcohol make any difference in the amount of self-control. Despite being very drunk, the girls knew their limits and kept to them and thus stayed in control of the situation. Self-directed girls seemed to stay in control of the sexually motivated situation despite being drunk.In the \"Let it go\" narratives, outward directedness seemed to be quite stable: the girls' self-control was weak irrespective of alcohol use. Their ability to influence the sexually charged situation was poor in any case. Alcohol did not appear to play a remarkable role in these narratives, nor did the amount of alcohol affect the amount of self-control. The outwardly directed girls \"let it go\" in every situation. The girls could not influence the way the sexually motivated situation proceeded: the situation just happened, got out of hand and things happened spontaneously, without the girls stopping to think or discuss it. The girls went along with their partner whether or not they were drunk. Responsibility for the situation was mainly with the partner.The effect of alcohol was substantial in the \"I wanted and didn't want\" narratives by girls who had unstable or shaky and situation-dependent self-control. They were outward directed. Alcohol use had the affect of reducing self-control and made them more outwardly directed when they were drunk. When sober, the girls gained control of the situation and refused things they did not want and were able to behave according to their own interests. The situations were often followed by regret.\nDiscussion: This paper provides a renewed approach to assessing some conflicting survey results of earlier studies. It shows that the combination of alcohol and sexual behaviour is complex and affected by many causes, such as the type of self-control the girl has. The LOC approach provided a useful tool for analysing and understanding the different roles alcohol consumption had in the sexually motivated situations of teenage girls. Self-directed girls in \"Everything under control\" narratives controlled the sexually motivated situation also under the influence of alcohol. They had strong self-control guided by an internal locus of control. Girls in \"Let it go\" and \"I wanted and didn't want\" narratives were directed outwards. Their locus of control was external and their self-control was weak.Previous quantitative studies (Fortenburry, 1995; Weinhardt and Carey, 2000) have shown that some people, both youths and adults, take sexual and health risks when they have used alcohol, while for others alcohol consumption does not make any difference in sexual risk-taking. This qualitative research confirms these results and also indicates that one explanation for this is locus of control.This study was focused on a special, selected group of Finnish teenage girls who had both had sexual experiences and used alcohol. This study group represents only a small portion of Finnish girls. Anyhow, the girls were not a homogeneous group in terms of sexual behaviour and alcohol use. The importance of alcohol appears to be different in the three different types of narratives. In some narratives alcohol determined their behaviour more than in others, depending on the type of self-control that the girls had. Girls in the \"Everything under control\" narratives were able to handle the sexually motivated situations despite their alcohol use.The main result of the study was that the combination of a girl, sex and alcohol was not necessarily a negative one, nor can alcohol always be linked to risky sexual behaviour or uncontrolled actions. In contrast to public opinion, this combination did not generally produce uncontrolled alcohol use and irresponsible sexual behaviour. Alcohol use alone cannot explain risk-taking. Previous research has established a link between personality and lifestyle connected with sex, alcohol use and risky behaviour (Kraft, 1991; Billy et al., 1994; Pesa et al., 1999; Rosenthal et al., 1999; Halpern et al., 2000; Lammers et al., 2000). Locus of control is also one such factor. It is necessary to find additional tools to improve the self-control of young girls in sexual health promotion. This is a precondition for the realisation of good sexual health for girls.The results of this paper showed that for the girls in the \"I wanted and didn't want\" narratives, alcohol played a very important role in the sexually motivated situation. It is possible that in the case of negative experiences in which they did not have a full control, the girls easily transferred the blame to alcohol. They could claim that alcohol made them lose their control and also their responsibility in the situation. It can be a \"socially acceptable\" explanation for a lack of control in the situation. If the event felt unpleasant afterwards, the responsibility for this failure was addressed to alcohol. The girl may have done something she would not have done if she were sober. Alcohol had weakened the girl's self-control based on her own judgement.If the situation was pleasant in the \"I wanted and didn't want\" narratives, the effect of alcohol was easily seen as quite positive. When the sexually motivated situation was experienced as stressful, alcohol relieved the tension, inhibitions decreased as a result of being drunk, and the girls felt the use of alcohol was a good thing. In such a case alcohol can be said to strengthen the girls' self-control or to allow them to carry out what they actually desired to experience. The overall personal and social context determined the importance and role given to alcohol in both a positive and negative sense.\nImplications: The objective of sex education in Finland is to teach teenagers responsible sexual behaviour. Responsibility and safe sexual behaviour cannot be taught by forbidding sex or requiring total abstinence. Teaching responsibility in sexual behaviour is more difficult than forbidding sex; it is much more than providing relevant knowledge. Growing up and becoming a responsible adult is a long process. Responsibility is related to a safe childhood, age, a person's personality and maturity as well as the locus of control. The whole \"package\" may be difficult to teach it in a school setting as just one subject in the curriculum. Anyhow, some practical tools may provide help.The objective of health promotion and health education is to deal with both sexual behaviour and alcohol use. For some young girls, alcohol use and a sexually motivated situation occur at the same time and belong together. For some, alcohol use leads to spontaneous and uncontrolled sexual experiences. When teaching about both alcohol use and sex, it should be noted that in practice both can occur together and should not be treated separately. Sexual behaviour should be emphasised when discussing alcohol use and, correspondingly, the negative effect of alcohol use on sexual behaviour should be highlighted in sex education.In this study some of the girls did not know what they wanted in a sexually motivated situation. That led them more easily to risky situations. The need for intimacy and sex seemed to be mixed, especially in the case of the \"I wanted and didn't want\" narratives. This can lead to a girl having sex even though her primary need is to experience intimacy and tenderness. Sex education must emphasise that the need for intimacy and tenderness is not the same as the need for sex, and one may not satisfy the other. It is necessary to teach children and youths to recognise what they actually desire so they will not try to satisfy a need for intimacy by having sex. It is important to help them to find different modes of being together that will best suit them and their needs. In fact, it should be noted that alcohol played a crucial role in their sexually motivated situation for only 14.1 per cent (n=33) of all the girls participating in this study (n=234). These were the girls in the \"I wanted and didn't want\" narratives. Thus, most of the girls in this study controlled their sexually motivated situations despite the use of alcohol.If a young girl herself does not know what she wants in a sexually motivated situation, the effect of alcohol most likely makes handling the situation much more difficult than if she were sober. Thus, young girls must be taught to consider beforehand what they expect from their dating and sexual relationships and how far they are prepared to go. One possibility is to train for forthcoming events by using role playing. Another option is a sexual health quiz in the classroom that can be analysed later with the group. This could help young girls learn to find ways and get practical tools with which to handle a sexually motivated situation better. When a sexually interesting situation occurs, it is easier to cope with it when they know their own limits.Regret, a consequence of an unpleasant sexual experience, should be utilised constructively in sex education. The experience of a young person must be treated with respect. Reflecting on the experience with a trustworthy school nurse can be a way to strengthen a girl's self-control. Working through the experience, recognising her own needs and interests, finding an alternative way of acting and considering how things went can lead to an empowering realisation of how she could act to cope better with a similar situation and thus strengthen her self-control.More qualitative studies are needed in health research. A qualitative approach enables us to reveal new and relevant information about the reasons and motives behind health behaviour. People themselves, e.g. the girls in this study, are the best informants in this matter. It is possible to find new methods for improving health by finding out about people's ideas, the choices they make and the reasons affecting their choices. If the facts and nuances do not disappear among large amounts of data and generalisations, it is possible to find meaningful information about health behaviour, which can be used as a basis for interventions, e.g. to promote sexual health and health behaviour concerning substance use.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to study in detail what kind of role alcohol has among a selected group of sexually active teenage girls, with special emphasis on their locus of control and risky sexual behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data comprise the narratives of 87 girls regarding their experience with sexually motivating situations that involved alcohol. The narratives were analysed with a categorical-content mode of reading.\nFindings: - Narratives belonging to the category \"Everything under control\" involved self-directed girls with strong self-control who remained in control of the sexually motivated situation despite their drunkenness. \"Let it go\" narratives were characterised by outwardly directed girls with weak self-control, irrespective of alcohol use. The effect of alcohol was most noticeable in \"I both wanted and didn't want\" narratives by girls who had shaky and situation-dependent self-control. Their ability to control a sexually motivated situation was unstable and considerably affected by alcohol use.\nPractical implications: - Alcohol use should be taken into account in sex education and vice versa. Sexual issues should be brought up in education concerning substance use. Young girls should be taught to recognise their own feelings and to consider beforehand what they want from their dating relationships. Role playing can be a useful tool in learning how to better handle sexually motivated situations. A feeling of regret can be utilised in health education both in providing knowledge and as a motivation for behavioural reform.\nOriginality/value: - This study provides sophisticated information for comprehension of the conflicting results of earlier surveys, and it suggests that the association between alcohol use and sexual behaviour is affected by the type of self-control tendency that girls possess.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Developing entrepreneurship in Africa: investigating critical resource challenges	[ "Governance", "Credit", "Entrepreneurship", "Electricity", "Quantitative approach", "Contract enforcement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past three decades, most African countries have experienced positive economic growth, which is encouraging. Despite these positive trends, however, the livelihoods and unemployment conditions of most Africans need much to be desired (Frederick and Machuma, 2010). Because entrepreneurship can create jobs, provide decent livelihoods, and contribute to GDP, developing and promoting entrepreneurship in Africa must be given the attention and support it deserves (Ozgen and Minsky, 2007; Balkiene and Jagminas, 2010).\nBackground: Entrepreneurship ecosystem and its impact on entrepreneurial development in Africa\nTheory and hypotheses development: Institutional theory and entrepreneurial development\nResearch methodology: Sample and data sources\nStatistical analyses and results: Table II presents the descriptive statistics (i.e. means and standard deviations of the dependent and independent variables). The results of the regression analysis for the GEI and the explanatory and control variables appear in Table III. The model was used to examine the impact of credit supply, access to electricity, contract enforcement and political governance on the quality and depth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa, so linear regression was employed. A restricted model (Model 1) that comprised only the control variables (i.e. population, GDP, FDI and education) was built. The independent variables were then added to Model 1 to assess the overall fitness of the model. In the full regression model (Model 2), access to electricity (p=0.004, b=0.077) was statistically significant at the 5 per cent level. Accordingly, a unit increase in access to electricity increases the quality and depth of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa by 7.7 per cent. Thus, our hypothesis regarding the impact of access to electricity on entrepreneurial development is accepted. The quality of political governance (p=0.006, b=0.033) was also statistically significant at the 5 per cent level. Accordingly, a unit increase in the quality of governance increases the quality and depth of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa by 3.3 per cent. Thus, our hypothesis regarding the impact of political governance on entrepreneurship is also accepted. Similarly, contract enforcement (p=0.059, b=0.062) was partially significant at the 10 per cent level. Accordingly, a unit increase in contract enforcement increases the quality and depth of the entrepreneurship ecosystem by 6.2 per cent. However, access to credit (p=0.992, b=0.004) was non-significant. Access to credit, therefore, does not explain any relationship with the quality and depth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa. Thus, our hypothesis regarding the impact of access to credit on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa is rejected.\nResearch limitations, implications and future research direction: A lack of GEI data for all 54 African countries limited this study to 35 African countries (31 in sub-Saharan Africa and 4 in North Africa). Therefore, generalisations of our findings to the whole of Africa might be limited. In addition, the study used secondary data. An index was used to analyse the way access to credit, access to electricity, contract enforcement and quality of political governance related to the development of entrepreneurship in Africa. The model used in this study is also parsimonious in the sense that much more predictors could have been explored.\nConclusion: This paper investigates the effect of credit, electricity, governance and contract enforcement on the quality and depth of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa. The findings indicate that access to credit currently fails to support entrepreneurship development in Africa. Financial inclusiveness and credit control would yield positive outcomes. Contract enforcement, electricity provision and governance would contribute to the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature, particularly the literature that focuses on Africa, where institutions that supposedly support entrepreneurship development are either weak or non-existent. This study also contributes to the entrepreneurial capital literature by showing that focusing on access to critical resources such as credit, electricity, contract enforcement and good governance is critical for the development of entrepreneurship in Africa.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: By drawing upon institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of four critical resources (credit, electricity, contract enforcement and political governance) in explaining the quality of entrepreneurship and the depth of the supporting entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach based on ordinary least squares regression analysis was used. Three data sources were employed. First, the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) of 35 African countries was used to measure the quality of entrepreneurship and the depth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa which represents the dependent variable. Second, the World Bank's data on access to credit, electricity and contract enforcement in Africa were also employed as explanatory variables. Third, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance was used as an explanatory variable. Finally, country-specific data on four control variables (GDP, foreign direct investment, population and education) were gathered and analysed.\nFindings: To support entrepreneurship development, Africa needs broad financial inclusion and state institutions that are more effective at enforcing contracts. Access to credit was non-significant and therefore did not contribute to the dependent variable (entrepreneurship quality and depth of entrepreneurial support in Africa). Access to electricity and political governance were statistically significant and correlated positively with the dependent variables. Finally, contract enforcement was partially significant and contributed to the dependent variable.\nResearch limitations/implications: A lack of GEI data for all 54 African countries limited this study to only 35 African countries: 31 in sub-Saharan Africa and 4 in North Africa. Therefore, the generalisability of this study's findings to the whole of Africa might be limited. Second, this study depended on indexes for this study. Therefore, any inconsistencies in the index aggregation if any could not be authenticated. This study has practical implications for the development of entrepreneurship in Africa. Public and private institutions for credit delivery, contract enforcement and the provision of utility services such as electricity are crucial for entrepreneurship development.\nOriginality/value: The institutional void is a challenge for Africa. This study highlights the weak, corrupt nature of African institutions that supposedly support MSME growth. Effective entrepreneurship development in Africa depends on the presence of a supportive institutional infrastructure. This study engages institutional theory to explain the role of institutional factors such as state institutions, financial institutions, utility providers and markets in entrepreneurship development in Africa.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Building and marketing an image in child welfare	[ "Corporate identity", "Corporate image", "Organizational change", "Child welfare" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The privatization of human services has led to many challenges that have impacted social service agencies (Bell-Lowther, 1998). Researchers note various deleterious effects of privatization (Petr and Johnson, 1999). Furman (2001) posits clients in privatized systems of social service provision may experience an increase in alienation from the agency. Geller (1996) observed that agency helpers in privatized environments experience a decrease in control over their work, thus leading to difficult ethical dilemmas in the provision of care. Others have noted that privatization has had positive effects upon agencies, such as the improvement of technology (Lohman, 1987; Stoesz, 2000). Regardless of one's assessment as to the nature of these changes, what is clear is that social service workers and social service agencies alike are forced to contend with a range of choices due to the impact of privatization, in addition to the daily tasks of providing services to vulnerable populations. All too often, agencies have not been proactive in facing the myriad of change that privatization has brought with it. Agencies that once saw themselves as purely public institutions are now receiving funds from for-profit entities that expect providers to behave in ways that differ from their traditional roles.The field of child welfare services has historically high rates of worker burnout. Various means of addressing this burnout for both managers and workers have been addressed in the literature (Hartman, 1991; Jones, 1993). In addition to the historically high burnout rate and the need to cope with the changes of privatization, welfare reform creates a state of flux and can lead to increased stress among providers and consumers alike. Regher et al. (2002) investigated the extent of this stress on child welfare supervisors and managers. They found 48.7 percent of managers and supervisors fell into the high or severe range of post-traumatic symptoms on the impact of event scale. High staff turnover, increased accountability, and the pressure to support each other were associated with this increased stress. Such findings are disturbing in that they may predict burnout of highly experienced and skilled leaders in the child welfare system. Increased need for fiscal accountability, forced alteration of services, changes in constituency and consumer base, structural reorganization, increased stress upon workers, and the push for shorter services impact not only the delivery of services, but the actual identity of an agency, that is, the way it conceptualizes and structures its image.What can agencies do to contend with these changes? Best practices result from the purposeful actions that agencies take in developing their intervention strategies, improving organizational performance, refining service delivery, management, and administrative systems. This identification of best practices can become a source of empowerment for agencies as they share their information with others (Manela and Moxley, 2002; Peterson and Speer, 2000). In light of this, it is important to identify exactly how human service leaders respond to the new challenges in child welfare.The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study of one agency's attempt to implement a program of such best practices in order to cope with the changes brought about by privatization. It documents a collaborative effort between the agency and the first author of this study. In addition to the presentation of the case example, a literature review is presented that describes the context of systems change and an exploration of what agencies have done to respond to it.\nThe dynamics of reform: One of the key dynamics of organizational change is the need for innovation. Hopkins and Hyde (2002) found that managers of human service organizations typically relied upon traditional solutions and had difficulty engaging in creative problem solving when mired in the day-to-day realities of agency administration. They explored the responses of 115 human service managers to the challenges of privatization. Their interview data showed that the primary concerns among managers seemed to be related to resource development and organizational climate. The solutions that managers developed included staff development, resource development through creative fund raising and grant writing, staff recruitment, and some strategic planning. A significant finding of this study was that the solutions did not match the need for innovation and visionary responses needed to contend with the demands of privatization. They conclude that managers need to move beyond solutions characterized by what they currently know, or what managers have come to find in the literature, to the creation of new models of service provision. Given the conflicting demands of agency administration and the transformations brought about by privatization, this is a huge challenge, indeed.Part of this challenge may include organizational restructuring. Such restructuring may result in temporary increased staff turnover but ultimately may result in long-term reduction of organization problems in communication, decision making, leadership and agency mission (Ezell et al., 2002). The importance of the CEO in this process cannot be overemphasized (Boin, 2001; Gibelman and Gelman, 2002; Kayser et al., 2000; Packard, 2000). The CEO has the power to impact the entire process in either a positive or negative manner. Additionally, there is a choice to make regarding the structure of the systems involved in service delivery. It is a fundamental choice that affects whether the agency emphasizes and pays attention to the total experience of each client as he/she moves through the system or to the standardization of individual services (Cohen, 2002). This decision affects the nature of the organization - its \"personality,\" if you will. In turn, this image becomes important to families, particularly parents, of children as service recipients.The collaboration of parents in any system focused on meeting their needs has been identified as important to that system's effectiveness (Peart and Bryant, 2000). Efforts to maximize their participation are critical. Perhaps equally important is the collaboration of the community (Mulroy and Shay, 1998). Important in community collaboration is diversity management, particularly as it might translate to a competitive edge, let alone the obvious need for quality, culturally/racially/ethnically sensitive services (Gil de Gibaja, 2001; Mor Barak, 2000). It follows that the capacity to gather and disseminate information relative to agency mission and to relate that mission to community needs is one of the primary areas for agencies in the era of privatization to address (Goldberg et al., 2001). Symbolic management has shown that emotion evoked in others can then be directed toward group or organizational goals (Gummer, 2001). Positive relationship building with potential consumers and the community at large can generate positive affective climates that affect agency image and service workers alike. The results of this can be far-reaching and have been called \"organizational citizenship\" and a \"trickle-down effect\" (Crook, 2002; Hopkins, 2002; Yoo, 2002). In fact, the growth in the service sector of the economy in the USA and the challenge it presents to human services agencies make it imperative to select, retain, and develop organizational employees who manifest and personalize the agency's mission, a so-called \"game between persons\" (Gummer, 2002a, b). Overall, the result can be seamless service provision (Libby and Austin, 2002).\nOrganizational image: This section will explore the literature associated with the building of an organizational image. It will provide the contextual base through which the development of the case study can be assessed. Organizational image cannot be discussed without some reference to organizational identity. Organizational identity is defined as that which is central, enduring, and distinctive about an organization's character (Albert and Whetten, 1985; Gioia, 2000). However, recent literature has revised the conceptualization of identity as less static and enduring, and more fluid and unstable, reflecting the organization's ability to adapt to internal and external changes (Gioia, 2000; Brown, 2001). For human service organizations this latter conceptualization fits better with their purpose and mission, as generally they provide a variety of services and programs to a diverse clientele under multiple contractual agreements with local, state, and federal governments.Organizational image, although related to identity, is somewhat different. Most scholars define image as the perception organizational members have about how others view the organization (Dutton and Dukerich, 1991, 1994). In other words, image refers to what I think you think about me. Others argue that image is less about an internal perception and more about outsiders' viewpoints. Following this line of thought, image is defined as the public's perception of an organization, usually associated with a specific action or event (Gioia, 2000; Berg, 1985; Fombrun and Shanley, 1990). For example, when a child in foster care dies, agencies that provide foster care services tend to be viewed negatively by the public - even if the agency was not involved in the particular case.In addition to combining internal and external views, image also refers to projected and received perception. Projection is evident when an agency employs marketing techniques, promulgates vision, mission, and goals, and adopts specific service delivery models as a way to modify or change employee, stakeholder, and client perceptions about the agency. A child welfare agency, for example, might market its need for foster homes by distributing brochures depicting families with smiling faces in an attempt to project an image that fostering is a happy and positive experience.Received perceptions are evident when \"receivers construct meaning - images - from their personal observations of reality or from the symbols given to them by other people ... \" (Grunig, 1993, p. 126). Following up on the foster care example, some people may believe that foster care is difficult, messy work because they have had experience with neighbors or friends who have fostered. As a result, marketing efforts likely will not dissuade them from their views.Because organizational image is constructed internally and externally, and through projections and introjections, the ability for an agency to construct, promote, and maintain one image is difficult. Multiple and conflicting images are inherent in all organizations, but arguably more so in those organizations delivering a variety of services under multiple contracts. As a result, it is important for an agency to engage in reflective processes in order to \"revisit and reconstruct their organizational sense of self\" (Gioia, 2000, p. 67). If there is a discrepancy between identity and image, Gioia (2000) suggests three tactics.First, upper management might project an image to stakeholders that more clearly or strongly conveys their conception of the organization's identity. For example, projecting foster care as a noble and important calling is one way to develop positive support for the organization's image and identity. Second, they can highlight socially desirable aspects of the organization's identity in an attempt to manage stakeholder's impressions. Promoting their services as a continuum of care, from in-home services to residential care, and emphasizing that a client would have the same caseworker from beginning to end is more socially desirable to prospective clients than having to change caseworkers throughout treatment. Finally, the organization can project \"patently false images in an attempt to misrepresent the organization to its publics\" (Gioia, 2000, p. 68). For example, a child welfare agency might promote itself as a caring, trustworthy organization, despite reports to the contrary.\nCase study: CEDARS of Lincoln, NE, has experienced tremendous growth, both in the number of programs and in the scope of service provision. The leadership provided by CEDARS can be utilized as a valuable example for other agencies involved in similar change strategies. Of course, agencies will need to adapt strategies to meet their particular contexts.Relationships between researcher and agency\nConclusion: This study exemplifies the process by which an agency with a strong and long-term identity develops an image. The literature addresses projection as the process by which agencies modify perceptions about their identity through marketing techniques, creating a shared vision through mission statement and goals and through adopting specific service delivery models. In this case study, the agency has employed all of these techniques, exemplified by the logo change, the revised mission statement, and the bold steps that are goals. The agency in the case study expanded from its \"service to children\" base of 57 years to \"services for children and their families.\" Also as the literature suggests, received perceptions are evident when children talk about their experiences at CEDARS in highly positive terms. CEDARS continually engages in a reflective process to reaffirm the congruence between organizational identity and their image. Utilizing gauges of both internal and external consistency, this organization strives to maintain high standards of childcare and services to families. The maintenance of high standards works to perpetuate the image and identity of an agency integral to comprehensive private not-for-profit child welfare service delivery in the state of Nebraska.Weber's (1947) theoretical viewpoint that professionals within a system might actually humanize the bureaucracy is demonstrated in the organization and service delivery of CEDARS. The restructuring model, which CEDARS has implemented has facilitated the service delivery from caring and competent providers to children and families as consumers.In addition, while CEDARS does utilize volunteers and volunteers have historically been critical to the delivery of human services, the role of volunteers within the era of privatization of service delivery deserves further study and greater consideration than this paper can allow.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To discuss one child welfare agency's efforts to construct an image and identity in the era of privatization that reflects its mission to holistically serve its constituents. The study documents the nature of organizational image and organizational identity, elements of change, and the particular nature of the structural and image changes that the agency has integrated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a case study of CEDARS of Lincoln, NE, a child welfare agency and key participant in the changes in child welfare due to privatization of service delivery systems.\nFindings: - Privatization imposes certain challenges for child welfare providers that can be creatively addressed. Management can be encouraged to think outside the box when managing these challenges.\nOriginality/value: - As a key participant, CEDARS is a model for other similar child welfare agencies that might be facing similar issues with privatization.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Characterization of extended-spectrum and CMY-2 ss-lactamases, and associated virulence genes in Escherichia coli from food of animal origin in Mexico	[ "Escherichia coli", "Chicken meat", "CMY-2", "ESBL", "Pork meat", "Virotype" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Escherichia coli is a common inhabitant of the intestinal tract of most animals and humans (Torres, 2016), and can easily contaminate food products of animal origin destined to human consumption (Apata, 2009). These strains are reservoir of extended-spectrum b-lactamases and integrons that could be transmitted to humans through the food chain (Liebana et al., 2013). Extended-spectrum-ss-lactamase (ESBL) of the CTX-M type represent a major problem and a therapeutic challenge in human health (Livermore et al., 2007; Rocha-Gracia et al., 2015).\n2. Material and methods: 2.1 Samples and E. coli isolates\n3. Results: 3.1 Recovery of CTXR E. coli isolates\n4. Discussion: ESBL-producing bacteria could spread through different sources; there are studies that report that ESBL-carrying E. coli of animal origin can disseminate via the food chain or water worldwide (Kluytmans et al., 2013; Leverstein-van Hall et al., 2011; Meunier et al., 2006); nevertheless, few data do exist so far about the prevalence of ESBL or acAmpC producing E. coli isolates in food samples of animal origin for human consumption in Latin America (Bevan et al., 2017), and these data are almost lacking in Mexico. Our study shows that more than half of the food samples analyzed, carried E. coli isolates producers of ESBL (35 percent) or acAmpC, concretely CMY-2 (17 percent). Moreover, the prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli isolates was higher among chicken samples (39 percent) than among pork samples (20 percent).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Broad-spectrum cephalosporin resistance is rapidly increasing in Escherichia coli, representing a food safety problem. The purpose of this paper is to characterize eight extended-spectrum-ss-lactamase (ESBL) and acquired AmpC ss-lactamase-producing E. coli isolates and virotypes associated, obtained from chicken and pork food samples in Puebla, Mexico.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Samples (36 from chicken and 10 from pork) were cultured on Levine agar plates supplemented with cefotaxime (2 mg/L) for isolation of cefotaxime-resistant (CTXR) E. coli. CTXR-E. coli isolates were detected in 33 of 46 samples (72 percent), and one isolate/sample was characterized (28 from chicken and 5 from pork), for ESBL production, phylogenetic group, sequence typing, resistance and virulence genes by PCR and sequencing.\nFindings: Results showed 16 ESBL-E. coli (35 percent) (12/16 belonging to phylogroup B1) and 8 CMY-2-E. coli (17 percent). ESBL detected were as follows (number of isolates): CTX-M-2 (8); CTX-M-1 (2); CTX-M-15 (1); SHV-2a (4) and TEM-52c (1). In total, 20 different sequence types (STs) were identified among the ESBL- or CMY-2-producing E. coli strains, which included four new ones. The CTX-M-15 b-lactamase was detected in one E. coli ST617-ST10 Cplx-B1 strain that also carried ibeA gene. One CMY-2-positive strain of lineage ST224-B2 was detected and it carried the qnrA1 gene.\nOriginality/value: In this study, a ST131-based virotyping scheme for strains from food of animal origin was established since this kind of strains constitutes an important vehicle of virulent ESBL- and CMY-2-producing E. coli isolates, which could be transmitted to humans by direct contact or through the food chain.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Return to general education and vocational education & training in Indian context: Policy implications	[ "India", "Vocational education", "Return", "Selection bias" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Until lately, India, when compared with developed and other developing countries, was in a very poor condition in terms of investment and development of vocational and technical education (Debroy, 2009; Tilak, 2002; ILO, 2003; World Bank, 2008). Since 11th Planning Commission, a lot of emphasis now is being paid anew to vocational and technical education (vocational education and training (VET)) in India (Debroy, 2009). At present, policy focus is to increase enrollment from 3 to 15 million per year. Recently, National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) in India made certain estimation regarding demand of skill in various sectors in next three decades. The target to skill/upskill 150 million people by 2022 has been set by NSDA. With this background, this work is an attempt to study the outcome of VET vis-a-vis general education in Indian context. Also, there is an inconclusive debate going around the measurement of outcome of VET. This makes this work quite pertinent and timely. A brief detail of it is provided below.\n2. Measurement: Measurement of returns to vocational education has always remained a matter of controversy (Psacharopoulos, 1994; Bennell and Segerstrom, 1998; Ziderman, 1997) and based upon the evidence of such returns, many World Bank projects were scrapped (Middleton and Ziderman, 1997; Bennell and Segerstrom, 1998). However, there is a growing interest for vocational education in different countries again as well as in international institutions such as UNESCO (Debroy, 2009; King, 2009; McGrath, 2012). India is one of the countries where fervent discussions on VET are quite discernible at present. Unfortunately there is little justification for this growth from the existing literature on returns from vocational education.\n3. Methodological evolution: There is some extant research on whether investment in VET should be continued or not by calculating returns to vocational education. Broadly two types of methodology are applied to analyze this. They are, namely, the rate of return (RoR) calculation and regression analysis (Psacharopoulos, 1994). RoR is calculated by equating streams of benefit accrued from education with the streams of costs. Various refinements were done in the theory of RoR (Psacharopoulos, 1995; Tilak, 1987), however the basis of the measurement remains the same. On the cost side, this method calculates the cost as the direct cost of education -namely, the sum of the costs of infrastructure, books, tuition fees and income foregone by the individual while in school. This method was extended to incorporate social return (Psacharopoulos, 1995; Tilak, 1987). In this calculation, two additional components - i.e. subsidy given by Government for an individual's schooling on the side of costs incurred and tax paid by the same individual while in work on the side of benefits accrued are included.\n4. Application of methods: While the standard Mincerian method is used for estimating wage regression, allowing controls for human capital, the extended method is also used by incorporating additional controls for family background. However, in the extended method, the selection bias problem is not controlled. This is another way to take care of the social background effect as suggested by Heckman and Li (2004) and used by Dutta (2006) in the Indian context. The third method used is Heckman's two stage in order to control for the selection bias toward wage employment. Like other countries, there is an inherent preference toward wage employment in India vis-a-vis other kinds of employment (Chaudhuri, 1996; Dutta, 2006). With this context, it is preferable to try to control for the underlying process by which the set of observations are generated. This preference is supported by other Indian studies as well (Duraisamy, 2002; Kingdon and Unni, 2001). However, Heckman's method is applicable only if the selection bias term comes out to be significant. Bhaumik and Chakrabarty (2009) observed that for Indian data this selection bias term may not always be significant. Again other studies (Duraisamy, 2002; Kingdon and Unni, 2001) have found this bias to be significant.\n5. Result and observation: Results are presented in the tables. Table I presents the average wage for a given level of general education and a given VET course (or no VET course). The number of samples for each category is reported in brackets along with the average wage in each cell. It is generally observed that the formal VET category earns higher than the no VET category across all levels of education. However, this trend reverses at the highest level of general education. At all the levels of general education, the average wage from hereditary training is lower than the no VET category (Table I). Table II presents the results of regression analysis without considering the different levels of general education. The result is presented using all three methods. Tables III, IV and V, present results considering the different levels of education and using OLS, extended OLS and Heckman's two-stage methods, respectively.\n6. Conclusion: In general, formal VET and OJT are profitable for the individual in wage-employment. However, this profitability declines when the effect of the training is measured at a higher level of general education. Formal vocational training/OJT for primary and secondary school dropouts are clearly profitable. However, OTJ seems to be providing a return as well as that which is provided by formal training in a formal setup. The government can focus on improving OJT provisions instead of merely focussing on establishing a formal VET setup. A hierarchy of VET education makes sense in the context of this finding. People who join VET after higher levels of general education do not make better private gains. In India there is an institutional lack of higher levels of VET. Also, there is a demand from different industry houses like the Confederation of Indian Industries and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for better skilled people in the present context. Also, the government should keep it in consideration that the present global trend is for opening up of more VETs at par with higher education. The concept of \"Vocational University,\" which is often heard at the policy level, can actually improve the overall outcome of VET[2]. There is a requirement for infusing excellence at the higher levels of VET in order to make higher level VET more profitable to an individual. In fact, it can also address the concern of \"employability\" raised nowadays by the industry. Dropouts at the lower levels of education should be motivated to undergo formal VET or OJT courses.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Measurement of returns to vocational education has always remained a matter of controversy (Psacharopoulos, 1994; Bennell and Segerstrom, 1998; Ziderman, 1997). Based upon the return evidence many World Bank projects were scrapped (Middleton and Ziderman, 1997, Bennell and Segerstrom, 1998). However, there is again a growing interest for Vocational Education in different countries as well as in international body like UNESCO (Debroy, 2009; King, 2009; McGrath, 2012). Unfortunately there is little justification for this growth from the returns to Vocational Education literature. India is one among the countries where fervent around vocational education and training (henceforth VET) is quite discernible at present. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Standard Minerian, extended Mincerian and Heckman two-stage methods are used to measure returns to VET vis-a-vis returns to general education in Indian context while taking care of selection bias problem. It is measured at different levels of education since the characteristics of VET changes significantly at different levels of education. This work also considers different classifications of VET (Formal, Hereditary, On the Job). National Sample Survey (NSS) data which recently has included data on VET is used for this measurement.\nFindings: It shows that the returns to formal VET and On the Job training (OJT) are quite high in the primary level. There is a gradual decline in these returns when compared with general education at higher levels, namely, secondary and tertiary level. At tertiary level effect of formal VET or OJT on income becomes almost insignificant. On the other hand, hereditary training and other category of VET have significantly negative impact and insignificant impact on income, respectively.\nResearch limitations/implications: This work suggests that the investment in VET in present context is justified however there is a requirement to focus on specific area within the VET for this investment. Investment in higher level of formal VET as well as in the OJT set up can provide better return to the individuals. However, NSS data does not provide income data for the self-employed persons. Hence, self-employed category remains outside the purview of this study.\nPractical implications: In general, formal VET and OJT are profitable for individual in wage employment. However, this profitability declines when the effect of the training is measured at a higher level of general education. Formal vocational training/OJT for the primary and secondary school dropouts are clearly profitable. However, OTJ seems to be providing a return similar to what is provided by formal training. A poor performance of formal VET indicates an institutional gap and reflects present cry from industry for \"quality\" manpower.\nOriginality/value: To author's knowledge there is no study on return evidence from various types of VET in Indian context. This study is a deviance from the existing literature on VET in following ways. First, this study suggests that investment in VET can be profitable. Second, many earlier works missed out to consider different types of VET and compare them with general education at different levels. Putting all types of VET into one basket and then analyzing returns has the risk to misleading the policies. Different VETs have completely different dynamics and hence it is required to treat them separately.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Extending the efficient and responsive supply chains framework to the green context	[ "Comparative study", "Efficient supply chain", "Eco‐efficient supply chain", "Responsive supply chain", "Eco‐responsive supply chain", "POSCO", "SEC", "Supply chain management", "Recycling", "Korea" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past decade, firms' ability to meet \"green\" demands has become an essential dimension of competition in the global business world (Krugman, 2010). In supply chain contexts, the management of \"green\" issues can take place in several ways. In terms of production, the basis of going \"green\" is to optimize the production of goods and services while minimizing waste and scrap (Hong et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2011). Firms can make their supply chain \"greener\" by embedding modularity into the product design, using more environmentally friendly materials, and increasing the recyclability of products (Sroufe, 2003; Montabon et al., 2007). Changing customer management into a symbiotic relationship is also key in meeting customers' evolving preferences for just-in-time. Evidently, firms can design their supply chains to be greener and thus to fit in with the diverse needs derived from managing internal operations, suppliers, and customers.One useful framework for understanding supply chains is Fisher's (1997) seminal work, which argues the perspective of efficient versus responsive supply chains (RSC). Fisher's study indicates that the nature of products' demand patterns determines the type of supply chain. The efficient supply chain (ESC) becomes important where products run with low-profit margins, low-product variety, and a stable demand forecast. On the contrary, the RSC becomes relevant where products show high-profit margins, high-product variety, and volatile demand, requiring quick adaptation to constantly changing customer preferences.Since the release of Fisher's framework, scholars have examined the differences between the two supply chains (Christopher and Towill, 2000; Aitken et al., 2002; Randall et al., 2003) and extended this framework to different contexts (Lee, 2002; Quak and de Koster, 2007). Yet, it still needs to be expanded to the context of the green supply chain. Filling the void in this line of research, this study is intended to examine the following research questions:RQ1. How can the ESC be extended into the eco-efficient supply chain (EESC)?RQ2. How can the RSC be extended into the eco-responsive supply chain (ERSC)?RQ3. Are there any differences between these two supply chains?The next section provides a research model and sampling method. Following this are two cases, Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) and Samsung Electronics Corp., Ltd (SEC), that explore the evolutionary paths among ESC, EESC, RSC, and ERSC. Finally, the findings and implications drawn from the cases are discussed.\nResearch design: Research model\nPOSCO - efficient supply chain: General background\nPOSCO - eco-efficient supply chain: With the accelerating level of world greenhouse gas (GHS) regulations, the demand for carbon reduction, and the international campaign for green growth, green issues have made it more necessary for companies in Korea to consider environmental concerns than ever before. Due to its high rate of carbon emission, the steel industry needs tighter international collaboration in dealing with GHG emissions. This has forced POSCO to accept the greater need for adopting green management in the supply chains.Mounting public expectations also caused POSCO to take actions toward green management. For example, the Chinese steel companies Baosteel Group, Jiangsu Shagang, and Ansteel emerged as mega-steel producers through strategic merger and acquisition. Customers' preferences for eco-friendly products and the high costs of raw materials and energy pose considerable challenges to POSCO in the securing of raw materials (Kleindorfer et al., 2005). Finally, competition in the domestic market will intensify as new domestic steel producers appear in the years to come.POSCO's effort to green its supply chain involves a continuation of the use of its knowledge and skills developed from ESC practices: thus we term it the development of an \"eco-efficient supply chain.\" To pursue EESC, POSCO implements green purchasing practices, internal environmental operations management, and green logistics/customer-related practices (Figure 2).Green purchasing\nSamsung mobile - responsive supply chain: General background\nSamsung Green Mobile - an eco-responsive supply chain: SEC's mobile products (hereafter \"Samsung Mobile\") have placed an emphasis on supply chain responsibility in environmental management. Mobile phones have become smaller than ever before, thanks to innovations in technology. These innovations, however, have had environmental consequences: it takes more fossil fuels and larger amounts of water to make the chips smaller. It is reported that one two-gram chip consumes 32 liters of water, 72 grams of chemicals, and 1.6 kilos of fossil fuels, and that one mobile handset usually requires 12 chips (Wilde-Ramsing and Haan, 2006). One handset uses materials up to 800 times its own weight. In contrast to the car manufacturing industry, which consumes fossil fuels about twice the size of the car, the mobile phone industry adds a substantial amount of toxic substances and pollutant materials to the environment. This is an issue that the supply chain in the mobile phone industry faces as a whole. SEC strives to develop an environmentally friendly product that minimizes its impact on the environment through the whole process from the procurement of raw materials, production, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal. SEC pursues this initiative by adding \"environment\" to function, price, quality, and design as an essential element in product development.Samsung Green Mobile (overview)\nDiscussions and implications: One of the important research questions that this research investigates is the differences in the type of green supply chain practices depending on the characteristics of the products involved. Based on the findings provided in the previous section, we propose the following similarities and differences between EESC and ERSC.The two supply chains share common features in green management. Both POSCO and SEC pursue the reduction of pollutants and toxic emissions in production from raw materials to manufacturing to logistics. Consequently, they not only abide by the environmental regulations but also exceed the expectations and introduce innovative ways to make the product and process greener. When it comes to specifics, however, we find that the companies place different emphases on green management.First, POSCO tends to stress technological innovation in the green process to address green pressures, whereas SEC accentuates the green product strategy. POSCO implemented FINEX, an innovative steel process technology that drastically lowered both GHS emissions and production cost. Functional product usually aims at economy of scale and there is less need for customization and innovative product design. Thus, the primary concern is to reduce the level of the environmentally detrimental effects coming out of the production process. In contrast, Samsung Mobile faces high uncertainty in demand due to competition and customers' preference changes. The technology convergence frequently taking place in the mobile phone industry widens the horizon of competition to other fields, posing threats to the company. Consequently, the firm has focused on product innovation in order to outcompete other firms. With respect to the environmentally friendly product, the firm has endeavored to embed innovative environmental features into cell phones as manifested in green memory, the solar-powered panel, and plastics recycled from corn. Although SEC strives to lessen the amount of GHG emissions and pollutants, offering environmentally friendly and innovative products carries more weight in earning a market share in the industry.Second, while EESC stresses keeping to the environmental standard across the supply chains, ERSC centers on the collaboration of suppliers and distributors in greening the supply chain (Blackburn et al., 2004; Gyongyi, 2005). POSCO, for example, works with its raw material suppliers to meet the international environment protocols and apply the regulations consistently. POSCO strives to meet the industry standards and the environmental regulations. Samsung Mobile, however, attempts not only to place the components under the control of environmental regulations but also to encourage its suppliers to suggest innovations in the ways of improving environmental performance. Because there are limited numbers of EMSs and ODMs that proficiently tackle today's customers' needs, SEC has only a handful of suppliers with which to build long-term collaborative relationships. Suppliers perceive earning environmental certification from SEC as a useful accomplishment and they make efforts to attain such certification. It is an important priority for Samsung Mobile to continually screen qualified and potential suppliers and develop their capability to meet the need for groundbreaking design and steady improvement in handset functions.Third, the extent of reverse logistics differs between the companies. It seems that Samsung Mobile takes more initiatives to educate consumers and encourage them to recycle handsets than POSCO does. SEC's efforts are due, in part, to the low awareness of mobile phone recyclability. Another reason for SEC's efforts is that in the mobile phone industry customer and community drive green management. SEC perceives more pressure from its customers than POSCO does. SEC's strategy is to improve its image as a socially responsible company in order to attract high-end customers. In the case of POSCO, however, its environmental goals are governed by its interest in improving the process technology and by the regulatory pressure to conform to environmental regulations. The drive for customer awareness is a less conspicuous issue in POSCO. Generalizing at the EESC and ERSC level, the findings of this study make it clear that cultivating customers' knowledge of and aptitude in green management is more important to ERSC companies. The rationale behind the disparity is twofold. First, innovative products face a shorter product life cycle on account of frequent leaps in technology development. Second, the customer plays a hefty role in recycling the products. Table II provides a summary of the comparisons between ESC, EESC, RSC, and ERSC.\nConclusion: Green supply chains will play a pivotal role in business in the future. In this globalized business landscape, it is inevitable that firms will work with dispersed suppliers around the world. As the scope of supply chains broadens and becomes more complicated, firms face challenges in managing supplier relationships and in achieving sustainability compliance across the supply chains. For example, the recent sticky pedal recall by Toyota was largely attributed to mismanagement of supplier quality. Thus, it is important for the focal firms to maintain and increase supplier quality and reduce pollutant material in the production and distribution process.This study has endeavored to examine two types of supply chains based on Fisher's (1997) seminal work. The study shows that two types of green supply chains are in the process of development contingent on the prior supply chain types. The basic research purpose was to look for the evolution of supply chains from ESC to EESC and from RSC to ERSC. The case studies of POSCO and SEC proffer preliminary evidence of such evolution in progress. While both companies pursue the minimizing of environmental pollutants in their manufacturing and delivery processes and the adoption of socially responsible practices, they place different emphases on specific practices. POSCO invests a great deal of its resources in improving the production process, and environmental regulations primarily drive the company to pursue environmental excellence. Samsung Mobile, however, emphasizes innovation in product design and features to make them more environmentally friendly, and the main goal behind the emphasis is the consumer and social quest for greener business. A significant portion of Samsung Mobile's efforts pertains to enhancing customer awareness of mobile handset recycling.As the emphasis of EESC and ERSC differs in green practices, performance measures will carry different weights depending on the type of supply chains. EESC should pursue PI, and ERSC should seek product innovation, supplier collaboration, and consumer education. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first attempt to distinguish between EESC and ERSC. Future research should look at the similarities and dissimilarities between these two types of supply chains in more depth and in different contexts. In addition, it will be interesting to see what kind of changes the difference in the supply chains causes in management and performance outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop research frameworks for two types of green supply chains based on Fisher's seminal work. In spite of Fisher's contribution to the literature, his study has rarely been extended into green supply chain contexts, except in a few conceptual arguments. The current study explores how Fisher's perspective of efficient versus responsive supply chains can be a stepping stone to the development of two green supply chains: eco-efficient and eco-responsive supply chains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Toward the above end, a case methodology is employed (Yin). Two Korean global companies, Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) and Samsung Electronics (SEC), are selected to explore eco-efficient and eco-responsive supply chains. POSCO (steel products) is selected to enable the understanding of how efficient and eco-efficient supply chains work. SEC (mobile phone products) is chosen to understand responsive and eco-responsive supply chains.\nFindings: - The findings suggest that POSCO tends to stress process technology innovation as a means to address green pressures, while SEC accentuates the green product strategy; while an eco-efficient supply chain focuses on keeping to an environmental standard across the supply chains, an eco-responsive supply chain centers on the collaboration of suppliers and distributors in greening the supply chain; and SEC takes more initiatives to educate and encourage consumers to engage in recycling activities than POSCO does.\nOriginality/value: - Few studies have examined the green supply chain using the perspective of Fisher's framework (efficient vs responsive supply chains). By addressing the timely topic, this study fills a research gap in green supply chain literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge management in franchising: a research agenda	[ "Franchising", "Knowledge transfer", "Knowledge management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge plays a central role in firms' ability to identify opportunities and respond to changes in the business environment. As a result, knowledge transfer and management have emerged as two main areas of interest to practitioners and academics. For instance, academics (Tang, 2011; Tsai, 2001; Weigelt and Miller, 2013) have focused on the role of knowledge management (KM) in achieving competitive advantage at the intra-organizational level. Others (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008; Gravier et al., 2008; Khamseh and Jolly, 2008; Kostova, 1999; Van Wijk et al., 2008) have examined the role of KM in the multinational and inter-organizational level. Given the heterogenous nature of the international business environment, knowledge-based research have largely focused on the dynamic role of local knowledge in the performance of MNCs (Casillas et al., 2009; Nooteboom, 2000; Reus et al., 2009).\n2. Knowledge management in franchising: Franchising firms hold patent rights for the unique business format they possess (Antia et al., 2017; Ferrary, 2015), making knowledge a key part of the equation (Perrigot et al., 2017). Franchising is a legal agreement that involve the granting of a business format by the franchisor to the franchisee for monetary compensation and ongoing payment (Combs and David, 1999; Lafontaine, 1992). The franchising contract contains the transfer of both tacit and explicit knowledge (Ghantous and Das, 2018; Windsperger and Dant, 2006). As knowledge accounts for a major part of franchising, it must be inimitable to provide competitive advantage (Argote and Ingram, 2000), but it must also be understandable for franchisees to decode (Brookes, 2014; Perrigot et al., 2017).\n3. Research methodology: The present research is a systematic literature review of KM in franchising using bibliometric methodology, a quantitative analysis of literature that uses citation and co-citation to examine the interconnections of literature in a research domain (Ma and Yu, 2010). In this approach, the focus of the analysis is on articles and their corresponding citations (Alon et al., 2018). It involves the use of software such as HistCite, VOSviewer, CiteSpace, BibExcel and Sitkis which alleviates bias during the selection, analysis and evaluation of articles.\n4. Findings: 4.1 Dimensions of knowledge management\n5. Discussion and future research: This bibliometric analysis research uses articles to analyze KM in franchising, with different results concerning the theories applied, the evolution of the field, measurement of constructs and research streams from the sample of the 30 most-cited articles.\n6. Conclusions: This study is a bibliometric analysis of KM in franchising using Histcite and VOSviewer. The concept of KM has been studied in strategic management from the early 1990s but only widely examined in the franchising literature since early 2000, as indicated in our study (Figure 4). Our findings reveal three major research streams, based on the most influential articles in the field. These streams are:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to offer a comprehensive systematic review of knowledge management (KM) in franchising literature over the past 29 years.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By means of bibliometric citation analysis, ISI Web of Science (WoS) database is used to analyze articles from 1990-2018. A total of 169 articles by 369 authors across 40 countries published in 113 journals from 200 institutions were clustered and examined through HistCites and VOSviewer.\nFindings: The exploration of KM in franchising is associated with 3 factors: governance structure; performance outcome; and franchise network growth. The findings also reveal that KM in franchising is still an emerging discipline encompassing conflicting results which offer potential for future research.\nResearch limitations/implications: Identified research gaps and contradicting views in the literature offer opportunities for researchers to contribute to this research domain by empirically testing the role of absorptive capacity, replication vs adaptation strategies and new franchising formats, such as micro/social franchising.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique in its examination of KM in franchising. It also highlights the value of knowledge in franchise chain performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors affecting mobile shopping: a Vietnamese perspective	[ "Self-efficacy", "Trust", "Mobile shopping", "TRA", "Perceived risk", "Perceived cost", "M31", "O33" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mobile devices and technologies have developed significantly in recent years (Hanafizadeh et al., 2014; Malaquias and Hwang, 2016). Based on this platform, mobile applications and business services have proliferated rapidly around the world (Celik, 2016; Lu, 2014). In line with this trend, mobile shopping has become a popular behavior among e-shopping alternatives (Chong et al., 2012; Hsieh, 2014), with this type of shopping allowing customers to connect to service providers through wireless connections (e.g. 3G, 4G, 5G) and enabling transactions to be performed anytime and anywhere (Dai and Palvi, 2009; Lu, 2014). Mobile shopping is also considered to be faster, more powerful and more effective than computer-based e-commerce (Hsieh, 2014; Nassuora, 2013).\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: Mobile shopping and its advantages\nMethodology: Research sample\nResults: Validation of measures: reliability and validity\nConclusion: This research is conducted in response to the need to extend TRA with additional promotion and barrier constructs to answer the frequently asked question as to what factors affect consumers' intention to shop online in a new context (i.e. mobile shopping) (Ovcjak et al., 2015; Sanakulov and Karjaluoto, 2015; Zhang et al., 2012) for an emerging country like Vietnam. Hence, a theoretical model is proposed based on the TRA framework with trust/self-efficacy as a promotional factor, and perceived risk/perceived cost as a barrier, to explain the intention to adopt mobile shopping. The analytical results show the reliability and validity of the constructs and the good fit of the extended model. In addition to the improvement upon the predictive power of the original TRA model, promotion and barrier variables are found to have significant direct effects on the intention to adopt mobile shopping. Therefore, this study has some important contributions from both academic and practical perspectives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Mobile shopping is the current trend for firms to conduct business, having great advantages over electronic shopping as well as traditional shopping. The purpose of this paper is to discuss not only the driving forces of mobile shopping behaviors from the theory of reasoned action (TRA) perspective, but also the additional promotion and barrier sides of the mobile business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A structural equation modeling approach with latent constructs is applied on a self-administered survey data of 208 Vietnamese consumers to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results of this study have proved the predictive power of TRA in exploring consumer behavior in the context of mobile shopping. Also, both promotion and barrier variables have significantly strong impacts on the intention to adopt mobile shopping.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future studies would benefit from investigating other variables (e.g. specific aspects of trust and risk) and using actual behavior (e.g. online purchases).\nPractical implications: Business managers should pay attention to both promotion and barrier factors to understand how and why Vietnamese consumers adopt mobile shopping.\nOriginality/value: This pioneering study adapts the TRA model with extended promotion and barrier variables to explain mobile shopping in the context of Vietnam.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Researcher proposes five-step framework for integrating displaced populations into the labor markets	[ "Entrepreneurs", "Migrant workers", "Labor market", "Ethnic groups", "Labor mobility" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A research paper has used the example of Syrian refugees in Turkey to explore the best ways to overcome the many barriers to integrating displaced populations into labor markets. He proposed an original framework for integrating displaced populations into labor markets using the acronym CLEAR - certainty of status, language training, education opportunities, aid as an investment and the right to work.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose was to answer the following question: what are the barriers to integrating displaced populations into labor markets and what are possible steps to overcome them?\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper drew on government statistics, published reports and independent research that the author conducted in Turkey regarding the crisis in Syria from 2016 to 2018.\nFindings: The author proposed an original framework for integrating displaced populations into labor markets using the acronym CLEAR - certainty of status, language training, education opportunities, aid as an investment and the right to work.\nOriginality/value: The Syrian crisis prompted one of the biggest exoduses of modern history. But effective solutions to integrating the displaced refugees into the workforce have been thin on the ground. Many of the themes and conclusions are applicable to other countries facing similar issues.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Building maintenance management activities in a public institution	[ "Management", "Case study", "International practice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Naturally, constructions undergo degradation processes, since various building systems have capacities reduced over life cycle (Castro, 2007; Ferreira, 2010; Silva, 2014). The maintenance is a tool to maintain the building functionality and it can be characterized as any and all interventions made on the property and its parts, with the purpose of preserving or recovering its functional capacity (ABNT, 2012).\n2. Context: 2.1 Building maintenance\n3. Methodology: This paper consisted of a descriptive research that included literature review, on site research, and quantitative approach. In the descriptive research, the facts are observed, registered, analyzed, classified and interpreted, without researcher's interference (Lakatos and Marconi, 2007).\n4. Results: presentation and analysis: This topic presents the evaluation of the data obtained through compilation and analysis of maintenance requests registered in the maintenance call tracking system, in order to generate performance indicators to assist in the management of the building conservation services in the studied institution. The analysis was based on monthly electronic spreadsheets generated by the system, containing the information of service requests registered during a period of two years, from March 2014, when the system was installed in the institution, to March 2016.\n5. Conclusions: The present research contributed to the improvement of the maintenance management in the studied institution, making possible the characterization of the activities, the identification of the main bottlenecks and respective improvement suggestions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study about the diagnosis perform of the building maintenance process in a Brazilian Government public institution.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research methodology involved interviews, maintenance process diagnosis and request database analysis.\nFindings: The results showed that the average attendance rate of the received requests is 86 percent and the greatest demands are related to the refrigeration, electrical and hydrosanitary installations, which represent 55 percent of the total requests. According to maintenance management, it was verified the need for a better structuring of the requests receiving system and greater rigor to the services quality.\nOriginality/value: The paper extends the knowledge relating to the building maintenance process in government public institutions. The government building maintenance management characterization can serve as reference and benchmark for similar institutions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge management activities in social enterprises: lessons for small and non-profit firms	[ "Social enterprises", "Knowledge management", "Hybrid organisations", "Knowledge activities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social enterprises (SEs) are \"businesses that trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people's life chances, or the environment\" (Social Enterprise UK, 2016). The impact of these organisations has significantly increased in recent years, with 70,000 SEs in the UK, contributing at least PS24 billion to the UK economy and employing almost a million people, with 31 per cent of SEs working in the top 20 per cent most deprived communities in the UK (Villeneuve-Smith and Temple, 2015). Consequently, these organisations are attracting the attention of governments and private organisations alike, as a response to mitigate current failures in the public, private and non-profit sectors. However, there is still a lack of evidence about how these organisations operate, perform, innovate and scale up (Haugh, 2005; Peattie and Morley, 2008; Robinson et al., 2009; Shah, 2009; Munoz, 2010; Castresana, 2013). This results in an increasing need for more research and empirical evidence that describe and explain the idiosyncratic characteristics of SEs, and explore different strategies to maximise their social and environmental impact.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Social enterprises\n3. Method: To explore the KPCs in SEs, this study followed a qualitative approach. This approach was selected, as it seeks to understand or explain behaviour and beliefs, to identify processes and to understand the context of people's experiences (Hennink et al., 2011). Thus, a qualitative methodology helped to illuminate complex concepts related to knowledge activities in SEs and to understand the deeper perspectives of members of SEs concerning these activities. Nevertheless, Gioia et al. (2013) states that qualitative research has been critiqued as too often lacking in scholarly rigor and suggest that it is important to have a systematic approach to new concept development. Hence, the authors in this paper explain fully how the analytical process has been developed.\n4. Findings and discussion: Knowledge is situation-specific and a significant amount of knowledge is not shared but held by individuals (Leonard-Barton, 1995). Thus, organisations need processes to promote knowledge sharing, creation and utilisation. The processes studied in this research followed the KBV theory perspective and included acquisition, conversion, application and protection (Gold et al., 2001). There is a paucity of studies in the SE literature that explores how SEs are managing their knowledge; thus, the following sections discuss the findings from the interviews in relation to the literature from SMEs, NPOs and enterprises in other sectors. Before these discussions on the deductive codes associated with each process, it is necessary to describe the type of knowledge managed by SEs, which emerged as an inductive code during the analysis. This helps to understand its particularities, discussing how the knowledge processes within SEs are defined and whether they are informally or formally implemented in the SE.\n5. Conclusions, implications and limitations: Although the empirical findings from this study detailed how SEs were mainly acquiring knowledge, and not necessarily converting, applying and protecting it, there were certain types of knowledge that were acquired or created by the SE and then applied directly into their operations and services. Some of this knowledge was related to their members' expertise, experiences, lessons learned and community understanding. Among others, these types of mechanisms will help SEs to conserve acquired knowledge and to retrieve it when needed (Alavi et al., 2005). Nevertheless, participants agreed that SEs did not follow the formal and recognised practices of KM. Instead, they developed more informal activities that support the management of knowledge but are not visualised as such. This can imply that, as was found in SMEs and NPOs (Uit Beijerse, 2000; Desouza and Awazu, 2006; Hume and Hume, 2008; Hutchinson and Quintas, 2008; Kong, 2008), SEs are using KM more at an operational level, rather than at strategic and tactical levels of the organisation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore what social enterprises (SEs) in the UK know and how they acquire, convert, apply and protect this knowledge. This will enable them to manage their knowledge effectively and, hence, improve their practices and maximise the creation of social, environmental and economic value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study follows a qualitative approach, comprising 21 interviews with founders and senior members of SEs in the UK.\nFindings: The results show that the investigated SEs have knowledge management (KM) practices similar to the already identified in SMEs, associated with informality, reliance on external sources and focus on socialisation activities, but they have unique challenges on managing their knowledge related to their hybrid mission, to include social and economic objectives and their closed relationship with stakeholders.\nResearch limitations/implications: As there is limited research on KM practices in SEs; they were defined based on previous studies in large, private and public companies. Therefore, not all practices may be included. This research is a starting point in the study of KM in SEs.\nPractical implications: This study identifies knowledge activities that enable the creation of social, environmental and economic value in SEs. This allows SEs, small firms and non-profit organisations to review their current practices and develop plans for their further improvement.\nOriginality/value: This paper is one of the first empirical studies exploring KM practices in SEs, highlighting their informal nature as well as their impact in and on the enterprise.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of supply chain security practices on security operational performance among logistics service providers in an emerging economy: Security culture as moderator	[ "Emerging economy", "Security operational performance", "Supply chain security practices" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Supply chain security management is vital to support the organization in safely achieving its business goals and objectives (Sarathy, 2006). Closs and McGarrell (2004, p. 8) defined supply chain security management as \"the application of policies, procedures, and technologies to protect supply chain assets (products, facilities, equipment, information, and personnel) from theft, damage, or terrorism, and to prevent the introduction of unauthorized contraband, people, or weapons of mass destruction into the supply chain\". According to Christopher et al. (2011), supply chain security management is currently perceived to be an important area in managing business risk. Organizations are giving greater attention to security by spending more money, time, and resources to ensure that security exists in their supply chain as unexpected incidents may cause tangible and intangible damage in terms of property, products, infrastructure, people, reputation, market position, goodwill, and brand (Securitex, 2008; Eggers 2004). Although many companies are devoting increased resources and attention to security efforts, little guidance is available to firms seeking to minimize their exposure to unexpected and potentially damaging or disruptive occurrences affecting their supply chains.\nLiterature review: Supply chain security practices\nTheoretical background: Although SCM scholars have dedicated considerable effort to understand the relationship between supply chain security and security performance (Voss et al., 2009; Yang, 2011; Yang and Wei, 2013) the existing literature offers conflicting empirical findings about the performance implications of supply chain security. Overall, the mixed results pertaining to this link suggest the need for a contingency perspective to explain the relationship. Two important questions must be addressed to resolve this inconclusiveness. First, practitioners need to know whether the supply chain security practice, as a firm-specific resource, is itself a source to enhance security performance. Second, existing research examining the supply chain security practices-performance linkage has overlooked potential moderating variables. To answer the first question, we test the supply chain security practices-security performance relationship in our model by considering supply chain security practices as an antecedent mechanism that aids in the translation of security resources into performance. More specifically, we posit that a supply chain wide emphasis on security has a positive impact on firm security performance. In response to the second query, this study investigates security culture as a moderator in supply chain security practices-security performance research to help derive guidelines for firms seeking to improve their performance through supply chain security.\nConceptual framework and hypotheses development: Sarathy (2006) posited that security measures impose high cost on firms during implementation, but that they give long-term benefit for firms by improving the overall performance of the supply chain. Bearing Point (2003), a consultation firm, undertook a study of the financial impact between shippers and customers from Thailand and the USA by implementing a secure supply chain management system. The report studied the benefits to the service providers, for which the results show that there is a relationship between security initiatives and financial performance. The security efforts led to certain financial benefits: better visibility on cargo arrival timeline and cargo monitoring; avoidance of cost on US customs' trade security measures; reduction in size of inventory; increase in sales; and reduction in theft and pilferage. Peleg-Gillai et al. (2006) also studied the security measures that lead to organizational performance if security implementation is undertaken in a proactive rather than reactive manner.\nResearch methodology: Sample and data collection\nResults: Common methods variance\nDiscussion and implications: The purpose of the present study is to identify the relationship between supply chain security practices and the security operational performance of service provider firms in the logistics industry in Malaysia and the effect of security culture on the relationships between security practices and the security operational performance. Our findings suggest that cargo management, facility management, human resource management, and information management have a positive and significant effect on supply chain security operational performance. Moreover, the moderating impact of security culture was only confirmed by the relationship between facility management practices and supply chain security performance.\nConclusions, limitations, and further research: As supply chains become increasingly global, firms will be forced to adopt strategies for the secure flow of goods from raw material to end consumer. Furthermore, security-related issues are frequently uppermost in the minds of many end consumers, and will require all supply chain members to take a fresh look at the security measures. In response to the importance of security issues in supply chain and the far limited discussion regarding its operational performance in developing countries, the study developed a research model and evaluated its empirical validity and explanatory usefulness by using a survey study that involved Malaysia's service providers in the logistic industry. The study's overall data analysis results support the research model, which showed reasonable statistical significance and classification accuracy. Moreover, findings of the study suggest that cargo management, facility management, human resource management, and information management have a significant impact on supply chain security operational performance. The results also confirmed the moderating role of security culture on the relationship between facility management practices and supply chain security performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The security issue in supply chains is among the most pressing concerns that firms are currently facing. As a preliminary attempt to address this lack of empirical research, the primary purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between security practices and the security operational performance with respect to security culture as a moderator.\nDesign/methodology/approach: With the resource-based view of the firm as the theoretical underpinning, the study utilizes survey data to test the propositions derived from the security literature and partial least squares for the analysis.\nFindings: The research reveals four crucial practices of supply chain security that collectively affect a firm's security operational performance among Malaysian service providers. It is also interesting to observe that security culture positively moderates the relationship between facility management and the security operational performance of the firm.\nResearch limitations/implications: Firms in emerging countries need to realize that supply chain security practices can result in significant benefits to their firms that can give them additional incentives to adopt these initiatives. This study may also help policymakers in emerging countries, in general, in setting appropriate policies and strategies, and Malaysia, in particular, for ensuring that it is a secure location for exporting cargo and giving assurance to the local and international investors to continue their investment.\nPractical implications: This study will assist supply chain managers and logisticians to re-examine their existing supply chain security model by considering the selected supply chain security practices, which have a significant impact on supply chain security operational performance. Individual firms need to strategize their business model with the inclusion of security aspects, which will surely create a competitive advantage over other players in the logistics industry. Firms can develop the best appropriate supply chain security model that will benefit the firm, customers, and business partners, such as suppliers and local authorities.\nOriginality/value: The study highlights is the important role of the supply chain security practices to deliver high quality of service in terms of supply chain security operational performance in emerging countries. In addition, it offers an empirical analysis of the moderating role of security culture on the relationship between supply chain security practices and security operational performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The need for more multidisciplinary research	[ "Services marketing", "Service control", "Serials", "Research", "Customer satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the past five years serving as an editor was a great experience. Knowing that the field of service marketing and management was emerging it was a pleasure to take part in that development by facilitating the communication of research results and insights. The journal is doing well, and ranks among the top tier of Emerald journals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Looks back at five years of the author's editorship of IJSIM and seeks to answer the question whether or not one of the journal's objectives - i.e. more multidisciplinary research - was achieved.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Analyses articles published in IJSIM over the last five years in terms of authors and content.\nFindings: - Based on the characteristics of authors and content of the paper it is concluded that the number of studies devoted to customer satisfaction and quality decreased substantially. Furthermore, as an indication of collaboration between authors from different departments the number of bilateral co-operations between different departments in the authors' team was counted. From all known pairs of authors, only 40 (25 percent) were cross-disciplinary.\nOriginality/value: - There is room for improvement in this respect. Contributions from 277 authors from 27 countries all over the world over a period of five years make the journal a leading academic outlet in the field of services marketing and management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
International differences in job satisfaction: The effects of public service motivation, rewards and work relations	[ "Job satisfaction", "Employee relations", "Employee attitudes", "Performance management", "National cultures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past four decades or so, job satisfaction has generated considerable interest among the research community across the globe. Although this research has sometimes produced conflicting findings, and the overall explanatory power of job satisfaction has been widely debated over that time, the drive to understand and explain job satisfaction remains. This has been primarily motivated by utilitarian reasons, such as reduced absenteeism and turnover, and increased productivity in the workplace (Judge et al., 2001; Sousa-Pouza and Sousa-Pouza, 2000; Vroom, 1964), and humanitarian reasons, such as improved health and wellbeing of the workers (Karasek, 1979; Totterdell et al., 2006; Tsutsumi, 2005).Despite the widespread interest in job satisfaction among researchers and practitioners, there are several areas that warrant further attention. One such area is the link between job satisfaction and public service motivation (PSM). PSM is the motivational force that induces individuals to perform meaningful public, community, and social service (Brewer and Selden, 1998). PSM is important because it focuses on motives and actions in the public domain that are intended for the good of society; its outcomes have been proposed to benefit both the employing organization and society at large (Perry and Wise, 1990; Perry and Hondeghem, 2008). When compared to the overall research on job satisfaction, the proportion of studies that had been devoted to analyzing the association between PSM and job satisfaction is small. In addition, like many work attitudes, job satisfaction is a dynamic construct that changes in response to personal and environmental conditions. Monitoring job satisfaction over time and in different contexts will allow one to better examine and understand the salient factors that affect job satisfaction.It is thus the purpose of this article to examine the relative effects of a selection of antecedents on job satisfaction at three different time periods (1989, 1997, and 2005)[1] in six countries (United States of America, Great Britain, West Germany[2], Hungary, Norway, and Israel)[3]. The countries chosen in this study differ in many respects, from their national culture and customs (e.g. Great Britain compared to Israel), and mode of governance, to their stage of economic development (e.g. the first three nations are members of the G-8 group). The differences in countries and time periods can impact differently on the study variables, including job satisfaction. This paper investigates the comparative influences of the following factors - employee characteristics, including PSM and PSM-fit; job-related factors (extrinsic and intrinsic rewards); and organizational-related factors (work relations with co-workers and management) - on job satisfaction.A few decades ago, Rosseau (1978) had indicated that the context in which work attitudes are formed is multidimensional. They include personal characteristics, job characteristics, and organizational characteristics. Using the sociotechnical model of organization, she argued that these three characteristics must be taken into account because the organization is a work system of interrelated components, which includes a technology to transform raw materials to outputs, and a social structure to link workers to the technology and to each other. This study tests the significance of these three sets of antecedents - personal characteristics of the workers, factors that describe the characteristics of the job tasks performed by the workers, and those that describe the characteristics of the organizations in which the tasks are performed - under different country settings and time periods.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: PSM and PSM-fit\nMethod: Sample\nResults: The results are presented in the following manner. First, the ANOVA results of each study variable are shown, by country and wave. This allows us to compare the mean values of the study variables, and find out whether a significant difference exists between country and wave. Next, the inter-correlation results of the study variables are presented in order to show the general trends of the study variables, notably the relationships at an aggregate level. Finally, the regression results of the study variables are reported by country and wave in order to test the hypotheses.Mean values of study variables\nDiscussion: The findings of this study are subject to a few caveats. One of the primary limitations relates to the use of pre-existing dataset. The measurement of the study variables, particularly job satisfaction and PSM, is constrained by the limited items used in the surveys. Single-item measurement scales, such as job satisfaction and work relations, are problematic. And the measurement scale of PSM could be more rigorous. Data collected from self-completed survey such as this can also suffer from common method variance; the respondents may have a distorted perception of their organizational conditions. Another problem is the non-panel longitudinal nature of the data. Three waves of cross-sectional data are used. This implies that the direction of causality among the variables cannot be examined as easily as might be possible with panel longitudinal data. Caution should therefore be exercised in applying this study's findings outside the context in which the data were collected. Further research should be conducted with stronger and established measures before the findings can be discussed with confidence. Despite these limitations, this research supports the descriptive literature and empirical studies that look at job satisfaction, PSM, workplace rewards, and interpersonal dynamics.In particular, this study affirms the efforts of prior workplace research on the importance of PSM for job satisfaction (Crewson, 1997; Taylor, 2008). PSM-fit is found to have a positive and significant impact on job satisfaction. However, the lack of a significant association between PSM and job satisfaction would suggest that the respondents with a strong interest to pursue the common good cannot be presumed to be automatically more satisfied with their jobs than those with a weaker interest. Rather, this study found that the respondents who perceived a closer fit between their public service motives and the ability of their jobs to realize these motives were more satisfied with their jobs than those who saw otherwise. When the analysis was carried out by country and wave, a similar finding was reported. PSM-fit is a significant factor for job satisfaction. The only country that deviated from the general trend was the USA. One possibility is the disproportionately large number of respondents from the private sector compared to that from the public sector. The respondents in the public sector were found to have significantly higher levels on the PSM-fit variable than their counterparts in the private sector. This finding confirms past US studies that PSM can be more prevalent in the public sector than private sector (Perry and Wise, 1990; Stackman et al., 2006). The subsequent regression analysis found a significant influence by PSM-fit on job satisfaction amongst public sector respondents but not private sector respondents. It appears that the sector that one works in will determine whether PSM-fit plays a significant role in job satisfaction amongst the American respondents.This research confirms earlier findings on the significant roles of rewards and work relations in influencing job satisfaction. Both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are found to be important for job satisfaction. Similarly, the respondents' work relations with their co-workers and management matter for job satisfaction. Importantly, this study supports prior job satisfaction research on the powerful influence of job and organizational characteristics, and the small role of personal characteristics (Mikkelsen et al., 2000). The authors further found that organizational factors account for more variance in job satisfaction than do personal characteristics. Glisson and Durick (1988), on the other hand, argued that the characteristics of job tasks are the best predictors of job satisfaction. This study supports their findings. Both job and organizational factors are found to be good predictors of job satisfaction. Rewards, particularly intrinsic rewards, such as interesting job and job autonomy, are found to be the major drivers of job satisfaction for most countries and across the three waves.The cross-country analysis also uncovered three prominent features when the findings on the importance of rewards and work relations with management in driving job satisfaction are compared with the respondents' perceptions about the availability of these factors in the workplace. First, West Germany's situation appears relatively more positive than that in several countries. Compared to their international counterparts, the West German respondents perceived that the intrinsic rewards that they have received in their workplace and their work relations with management, the major antecedents of job satisfaction, were higher than the average levels across the six countries. The higher than average values also coincided with the higher than average job satisfaction amongst the West German respondents. Thus, at an international level, the West German organizations seem to be doing better than those in other countries in satisfying their employees. Second, and in contrast, Great Britain and Hungary showed a bleaker picture. The two major drivers of job satisfaction (intrinsic rewards and work relations with management for Great Britain, and intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for Hungary) were perceived by the local respondents to be lower than the average levels for the six countries. The respondents' job satisfaction in these two countries was also reported to be lower than the average for the six countries. Third, and in between these two extremes, are three countries:1. USA;2. Israel; and3. Norway.The respondents from these countries showed levels of job satisfaction that were higher than the mean value of the six countries. One of their top drivers of job satisfaction however showed a lower than average level. This was work relations with management for the USA and Norway, and intrinsic rewards for Israel. This comparison clearly suggests that the organizations in some countries clearly need to catch up with those from other countries, and make a greater effort to offer their workers what they want in order to obtain a satisfied workforce.\nImplications/conclusions: Regression results clearly show that rewards, particularly intrinsic rewards, such as interesting job and job autonomy, are found to be the major drivers of job satisfaction for most countries and across the three waves. Additionally, PSM-fit is found to have a positive and significant impact on job satisfaction. Furthermore, country-by-country regression results demonstrate that there are important country differences in PSM, rewards, and work relations. Therefore, it is important for any work organization (such as multinational corporations, global NGO's, local and national governments, and labor unions) to understand that individual workers in different countries face unique economic and social conditions that impact their experience in the workplace.For worker organizations, such as labor unions, findings suggest that a worker's satisfaction with their employment experience will differ greatly depending on the type of work with which they are involved. This means that unions need to be aware of these fundamental differences in worker preferences and develop long-term union goals/strategies to help enhance the workers' experience on the job.In regards to various state policies governing employment and work, findings suggest that local and national governments need to be aware of the impact that all government policy - even in seemingly unrelated areas such as economic inequality, population growth (i.e. fertility, mortality, and immigration), and economic growth and a nations/community's sectoral composition - can have in influencing the workplace. Additionally, policy directly impacting employment laws and regulations, making a nation/community more appealing to potential employers, will both directly impact the types of businesses that will be attracted (whether industrial or service sector firms) and the flexibility that management will have in creating a work environment that will be both economically competitive and meet the needs of the employees. More research should be conducted to rigorously explore the impact of state policies and country-level conditions that impact working conditions and overall worker satisfaction.Owing to the fact the worker job satisfaction impacts firm performance and various measures of worker well-being, firms (regardless of economic sector or private/public status) need to be cognizant of these differences and unique challenges and work to tailor management philosophy and policy to create a unique work atmosphere that will benefit the interests of both the employer and the employee.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The main purpose of this paper is to explore cross-national differences in job satisfactions and its determinants over time (1989-2005), which, in turn, impact long-term worker productivity and performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Utilizing non-panel longitudinal data from the International Social Survey Program on Work Orientations I, II, and III for 1989, 1997 and 2005, various bivariate and multivariate descriptive statistics and ordinary least squared regression analysis are used to explore the relationship between job satisfaction and its key determinants cross-nationally in six countries (West Germany, Great Britain, the USA, Hungary, Norway and Israel).\nFindings: - For all countries, findings clearly show that intrinsic rewards explain the most variance in the respondents' job satisfaction, followed by work relations with management. In contrast, public service motivation-fit (PSM-fit) and work relations with co-workers are found to play a less prominent role in shaping job satisfaction. Additionally, findings show that the above-mentioned determinants of job satisfaction vary by country. Additionally, apart from age, which is found to be a significant antecedent of job satisfaction for 1989, 1997 and 2005 waves, the significance of the personal antecedents tends to vary with each wave.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The primary limitations to this research relate to the use of a pre-existing dataset. The measurement of the study variables, particularly job satisfaction and public service motivation (PSM), is constrained by the limited single-item measurement scales used in the surveys. Additionally, the measurement scale of PSM could be more rigorous. Data collected from self-completed survey such as this can also suffer from common method variance; the respondents may have a distorted perception of their organizational conditions. Despite these limitations, this research supports the descriptive literature and empirical studies that look at job satisfaction, PSM, workplace rewards, and interpersonal dynamics.\nPractical implications: - In an increasingly competitive global market, more and more organizations have to ask the difficult question, \"How can we get more out of our employees?\" However, though there are diverse \"quick-fix\" methods to achieving rather short-term gains in worker productivity and performance, long-term and enduring improvement requires a strengthening and spreading of core organizational values and beliefs that increase overall worker satisfaction to help create a high engagement and achievement organizational culture.\nOriginality/value: - The main contribution of this paper is in looking at cross-national differences in worker satisfaction and its determinants cross-nationally over a 16-year period. Additionally, the paper develops and justifies the use of a new construct, PSM-fit, as an important component to understanding job satisfaction.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effect of job insecurity on employees' job outcomes: the mediating role of job embeddedness	[ "Quitting intentions", "Job embeddedness", "Job insecurity", "Hotel employees", "Service recovery performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Job embeddedness (JE) is a retention (antiwithdrawal) strategy, which enables managers to retain (talented) employees and helps them understand why employees stay (Lee et al., 2004). There are three dimensions of JE, i.e. fit, links and sacrifice. Fit highlights \"[...] an employee's perceived compatibility or comfort with an organization and with his or her environment\" (Mitchell et al., 2001, p. 1105). Links are related to \"[...] formal or informal connections between a person and institutions or other people,\" while sacrifice highlights \"[...] the perceived cost of material or psychological benefits that may be forfeited by leaving a job\" (Mitchell et al., 2001, p. 1105). JE also includes off-the-job (i.e. community) factors that make employees stay (Lee et al., 2004).\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Theoretical framework\nMethod: Participants and procedures\nResults: Assessment of the measurement model\nDiscussion: Evaluation of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing on job embeddedness (JE) and reformulation of attitude theories, the purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model in which JE mediates the influence of job insecurity (JIS) on quitting intentions and service recovery performance (SRP).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data came from 313 hotel service workers based on three waves through a two-week period in Iran. Service workers' SRP was rated by their direct supervisors. The abovementioned linkages were gauged using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: All hypotheses are supported. Specifically, JIS diminishes JE. Consistent with the study's hypotheses, JE fosters SRP, while it reduces quitting intentions. As predicted, JE completely mediates the influence of JIS on propensity to quit and SRP.\nOriginality/value: What is known about how JIS can be mitigated is still scarce in the current literature. There is a paucity of evidence regarding the mechanism that links JIS to employee's outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cruise shipping review: operations planning and research opportunities	[ "Itinerary planning", "Cruise ship repositioning", "Cruise shipping", "Ship deployment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Cruise shipping uses a cruise ship or a cruise liner to provide cruise passengers with pleasure voyages. The voyages and the onboard activities bring rich experience and benefits for cruise passengers, as well as the shore excursion in ports of call along the way. For cruise shipping, different from liner shipping, transportation is not the purpose, as cruise ships normally pick and return the cruise passengers at the same port and traverses a service route with some pre-determined ports of call.\n2. Industry trends: The cruise industry is among the most exciting and fast-growing industry in tourism industries, and it is still young in the current stage. It has had an average passenger growth rate of 7.2 per cent per year since 1990. However, this industry is still young at the current stage and has strong potential to boom. According to Repositioning Cruises (2016), over the 29 years from 1980 to 2009, 176 million cruise passengers took cruising for their vacation. Of this number, nearly 70 per cent (40 per cent) was generated only by the past 10 years (past 5 years). Moreover, it is shown by investigation that over 50 million North Americans intend to take a cruise in the next three years.\n3. State-of-the-art research works: There are extensive research papers on cruise industry before 2010, and 145 cruise-related academic publications between 1983 and 2009 are collected by Papathanassis and Beckmann (2011). According to Sun et al. (2011), the majority of past research papers focused on marketing research and revenue optimization from the perspective of the tourism management, and only two reviewed paper in Sun et al. (2011) were related to the cruise shipping for the cruise ships. Therefore, in this section, we review the state-of-the-art research works since 2010 and investigate the research aspects on the cruise industry among the works. Here, based on our investigation, we summarize four aspects for the state-of-the-art research works, i.e. regional analysis, risk management, environmental concerns and cruise shipping.\n4. Research opportunities in the operations planning of cruise shipping: For the operations planning of the cruise shipping, a few strategic or tactical decisions have long-lasting effect on the profitability of their cruise ships (Veronneau and Roy, 2009). In cruise shipping, there are some important operation planning problems in the strategic or tactical levels that have not been touched by previous researchers. In this section, we summarize four operations planning, i.e. cruise fleet management, cruise ship deployment, cruise itinerary design and cruise service planning, and propose some research opportunities based on the characteristics of the cruises and the research problems in liner shipping. The future quantitative research can be conducted in such decision problems to further increase the profit earned by the cruise lines, reduce the cost for the cruise ships and improve the service experience of the cruise passengers from the perspective of cruise shipping.\n5. A specific research problem on the itinerary schedule design: In this section, we construct a specific quantitative optimization problem, which is an itinerary schedule design (ISD) problem and a potential research problem. The ISD problem focuses on schedule design for a cruise itinerary with a given home port and a set of given ports of call. The optimal sequence of the ports of call to visit and the arrival and departure time at the ports of call are to be determined. For the problem, by determining the sequence of the ports of call to visit and the arrival and departure time at the ports of call, there is a trade-off between the voyage time on sea and the dwelling time at ports. The sequence determines the travel distance of the itinerary and thereafter has effects on the voyage time. The arrival and departure time at the ports of call determine the dwelling time at ports. Normally, the rotation time for a cruise is pre-determined (for the example in Figure 2, it is seven days), which is divided into the voyage time and dwelling time. Thus, the longer the voyage time is, the shorter the dwelling time is. The voyage time is strongly related to the bunker consumption of the ship (Wang et al., 2013). The dwelling time gives the cruise passengers opportunities to tour in port cities by which the benefits or experience (i.e. utility) can be brought for cruise passengers. Then, the aim of the problem is to minimize the bunker consumption and maximize the utility for the cruise passengers from the ports by designing the optimal sequence of the ports of call to visit and the arrival and departure time at the ports of call.\n6. Conclusions: This paper conducts a review on cruise shipping and the cruise industry. The relevant reports show that the cruise shipping industry is a booming industry, which has kept steady increase over the past several decades and still has plenty of room to grow. Among cruise market areas in the world, the Caribbean area and the Mediterranean area are the two dominant cruising destinations. The Asian area has the fastest growth rate in cruise market. Thus, an increasing number of cruise ships are repositioned to the area by the major cruise lines. In fact, these trends suggest that there are great research values and research opportunities on cruise shipping in terms of operations planning. The literature review on the state-of-the-art research works since 2010 for the cruise industry is conducted from four research aspects, i.e. regional analysis, risk management, environment concerns and cruise shipping. Based on the research works and our discussion on cruise shipping, cruise shipping is akin to container liner shipping. By analogizing liner shipping and by considering the characteristics of cruise shipping, research opportunities are proposed and a specific research problem is constructed, which forms an example to demonstrate the research opportunities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to conduct a review on cruise shipping and the cruise shipping industry. The current trends are analyzed for the industry, showing that this industry is still young and has great potential to boom. Meanwhile, the Asia market is the fastest growth region among the global, to which increasing cruise ships are repositioned by major cruise lines. However, for such a promising industry, the literature review on some state-of-the-art research works suggests that the research works that have been conducted for the cruise shipping are quite limited, and the majority of the works belongs to empirical and descriptive studies, which does not provide optimization-based quantitative analysis on some operation planning problems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper conducts a review on cruise shipping and the cruise shipping industry.\nFindings: In reality, there are some important operation planning problems faced by cruise lines or cruise ships, and four of them are addressed in this paper in response to the fast growing trend. The addressed operation planning problems are cruise fleet management, cruise ship deployment, cruise itinerary design and cruise service planning.\nOriginality/value: The importance and the attention for the research on the problems are also elaborated in the paper.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A learning model of intelligent home	[ "Buildings", "Automation", "Learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The pace of development in intelligent building has become the ever fastest since its birth in the early 1980s. Intelligent buildings in the 1990s were characterized not only with their system controls and integration, but also the communication and automation services. The number of buildings being described as \"intelligent\" is ever increasing (Cho and Fellows, 2000). However, the development of intelligent building at that time leaned towards commercial buildings. The development outputs started being spilt over to residential premises in the new millennium. Intelligent home began to gain its popularity in the past five years. In the US, over 40,000 families got the intelligent home systems installed in their homes and the adoption of such systems was also undertaken by 30 residential zones with nearly 5,000 families in Singapore (Jiancai, 2002).The rapid development of building and home intelligence systems gives rise to a spring of specifications for the intelligent system. These specifications can be classified into prescriptive- and performance-based. The former approach prescribes how a solution can be achieved. For instance, it specifies the materials to be used and dimensions of the building parts. On the other hand, the latter approach focuses on the ends rather than the means of the processes. It specifies the performance requirements that a building should achieve. Unfortunately, all the specifications we reviewed in this study for intelligent buildings or intelligent homes adopt a hard-wired algorithm, irrespective of whether they are prescriptive- or performance-based. Examples of this hard-wired approach can easily be found in almost all home intelligence systems. For example, Kearney et al. (1996, p. 47) regarded the following hard-wired algorithms as new control algorithms for intelligent homes:Lights in the rooms can be dimmed based on measurement of ambient light. Roller security shutter could be automatically closed when the house was vacated and then raised when the occupants come home. The occupant could ring up to turn the air conditioning on just before leaving the office for home.Penrose (2005) concluded that such hard-wired algorithm cannot achieve intelligence. He described it as a top-down algorithm which is constructed according to some well-defined and clearly understood fixed computational procedure. This procedure specifically provides a clear-cut solution to the problem at hand. It would even create negative impacts on the future development of home intelligence because the capability to learn is the necessary condition for the emergence of intelligence. Worse still, the hard-wired approach sets unnecessary limits to the flexibility and technology allowed in the design of an intelligent home. Even if a hard-wired system works perfectly well, it is not the system itself that is intelligent, but it is the intelligence of the programmers who construct the top-down program (Penrose, 2005). Such a system by itself does not make a home intelligent. In this regard, this paper proposes a bottom-up (learning) approach for an intelligent home.Contrary to the top-down approach, a bottom-up algorithm (i.e. a learning algorithm) does not specify the rules of operation in advance:... but instead there is a procedure laid down for the way that the system is to \"learn\" and to improve its performance according to its \"experience\" (Penrose, 2005, p. 18).In other words, it stresses the importance of the learning capability of an intelligent system.\n2 What is intelligence?: The term \"intelligence\" was rooted in two Latin words: inter and legere, which mean \"between\" and \"to see, to gather and to choose\" (Powell, 1988). It refers to the processes of sensing, information gathering and decision making. Similarly, Pinker (1997, p. 62) defined intelligence as \"the ability to attain goals in the face of obstacles by means of decisions based on rational rules.\" These definitions imply a learning or an adaptive mechanism (a bottom-up algorithm) in any intelligent entity since the purpose of learning is to \"make rational prediction so as to overcome obstacles\" (Johnson, 2004, p. 150). The following definitions of intelligence explicitly spell out the importance of learning and adaptation capability:Intelligence is an ability to adapt effectively to the environment, either by making a change in oneself or by changing the environment or finding a new one (Encyclopedia Britannica, emphasis ours).Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn (Wikipedia, 2005, emphasis ours).Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience (Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1994, p. A18, emphases ours).The importance of learning capability has also been evidenced in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). In its early stage, AI had evolved itself by a hard-wired approach, but the learning approach, such as the artificial neural network, has become particularly popular in AI nowadays (Penrose, 2005). The prosperity of the learning approach can be attributed to the inherent difficulty in programming with a huge number of instructions for an intelligent system, particularly when the operation is very complex. It is widely accepted that the system should \"be equipped with a smaller list of core truths and a set of rules [for the system] to deduce their relevant implications\" (Pinker, 1997, p. 14). This learning approach, which relies on the learning capability of the system, provides an alternative but a real intelligent way to solve problems.With a learning algorithm, the system is allowed to be run (to experience) many times to learn. On each run, an assessment is made and the rules of decisions are modified, with a view to improving the chance of attaining the goals. This learning process improves its performance or predictive power by \"experience.\" Accordingly:... intelligence can only be developed gradually by building up a wealth of experience, rather than having specific top-down algorithmic rules built into it. ... Top-down rules cannot provide any real intelligence (Penrose, 2005, p. 47).\n3 Current specifications of intelligent home: Unfortunately, the idea of real intelligence has been largely ignored in the research on building or home intelligence. For example, Harrison et al. (1998) reviewed the three generations of building intelligence model developed from 1981 to 2002. They are the automated building, responsive building and effective building models, which emphasize how to use technologies to achieve building automation, responsiveness to change, and business objectives, respectively. Commands and instructions are programmed to achieve these objectives. Provisions of facilities and building automation are regarded as equivalent to building intelligence (Skrzypczak, 1987; Douligeris, 1993; Arkin and Paciuk, 1997; Wong et al., 2000).So et al. (1999) provided a comprehensive review on the definitions of intelligent buildings in the US, Europe, Singapore, China and Japan. They found that all the definitions under review addressed building automation, integration of facilities, and communication, etc. They further argued that intelligent buildings were not intelligent by themselves but they furnished the occupants with more intelligence and enabled them to work more efficiently. However, their argument is not tenable as their assessment criteria for intelligent buildings rest on the performance of the buildings themselves, rather than the performance of the occupants. The following reviews on the extant specifications of intelligent home (IHS) in various countries or cities further highlight the hard-wired approach in home intelligence.3.1 IHS in the USA\n4 A learning model of intelligent home: The first but also the most crucial step in the development of a learning model of IHS is goals setting. This view was shared by Pinker (1997, p. 61) who stated that \"without a specification of a creature's goals, the very idea of intelligence is meaningless.\" Basically an intelligent home is built with the objectives of the comfort, health, safety and security of the users, and the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of achieving the performance requirements of the home as shown in the left column of Figure 1. Given these goals, what makes an intelligent home differentiable from those un-intelligent is its ability to adapt to dynamic environmental changes by a learning algorithm so as to attain the goals in a reasonable manner. We put forward a novel learning model for home intelligence, which includes the following six sub-systems, namely:1. control;2. memory;3. learning;4. feedback and monitoring;5. automatic response; and6. choice of alternative responses.It is analogous to human intelligence with our genes act as the control system which is equipped with a small list of core rules, such as the growth and death cycle. The memory and the learning capabilities of human beings are the two indispensable elements of intelligence, which will be discussed later. Our nerves system and senses are well developed to provide a monitoring and feedback system. The activities of humans can be divided into conscious and sub-conscious ones. The automatic response system is analogous to our sub-conscious system, such as heart beat; while the system of choice is in resemblance of our conscious activities, such as locomotion.Most of the current IHSs are basically an automatic response system with a huge number of facilities and an integration of control by programmed commands (hard-wired algorithm). The importance of adaptability has often been overlooked in the IHS. Nonetheless, an intelligent built environment must be responsive or adaptive (Kroner, 1997; Mozer, 1999). It is essential for an intelligent living environment to continuously recognize, learn and adapt to the changing activities and user requirements of the inhabitants. Clements-Croome (1997) considered this as the fundamental meaning of the term \"intelligent home.\"Some of the advanced intelligent home systems are able to sense or monitor dynamically relevant changes and feedback to the control system. However, their hard-wired algorithm will trigger the automatic response system to adjust the facilities, such as the building management system. Very often, this algorithm is mistakenly regarded as intelligence. In fact, there is no learning mechanism in the system. The automatic response is built-in by programmed commands. It can be highly sophisticated by programming billions of instructions, yet it is still not intelligent by itself.For a real intelligent system, it must be equipped with a learning capability, i.e. it can program itself by gaining experience (a learning algorithm). Then, a gigantic memory system has to be provided for experience storage and comparison. Yet, an analytical or a trial and error algorithm has to be provided for learning. It allows the system to learn from previous information and mistakes for understanding the causes and effects and making predictions, so as to increase the chance of achieving the goals. The learned knowledge will be categorized and updated the memory for future decision making. Figure 2 summarizes this learning model of home intelligence.This learning algorithm has been developing in some control systems for lift and escalators:These systems can learn the traffic patterns of the general population by possessing some artificial intelligence-based control algorithms. They can switch themselves to modes that optimally fit the requirements on a real-time basis to shorten the waiting time and journey time (AIIB, 2001, p. 109).One of the available lift control systems utilizes neural networks and car allocation tuning method to improve lift carrying efficiency (IEE, 2006).This learning model of home intelligence is not without shortcomings. First, it takes time to learn and adapt. Just like a human infant, it makes a lot of mistakes before it can stand on its own feet. However, the study of neoteny, i.e. the study on why human beings are born in a relatively undeveloped state, sheds crucial light on the importance of our learning model. Indeed, since Edward Tyson's studies on infant chimpanzees, we has nowadays understood that slowing down the process of development during infancy is to pave the road to \"learn more different kinds of things - instead of arriving in the world pre-programmed for a specific role\" (Gribbin, 2003, p. 148).\n5 Conclusion: In this study, the current specifications for intelligent homes around the world have been reviewed. It is found that they are more or less characterized by their emphases on communication and information technology, integration of facilities, and automation and control. All the specifications are hard-wired (top-down) algorithm, which have to be programmed externally to make \"intelligent\" decisions. However, such hard-wired algorithm does not indeed make a home intelligent because it precludes the continuous adaptation to the changing needs of the home users. We put forward a novel-learning (bottom-up) model of intelligent home which emphasizes learning and adaptive mechanism. We contend that a learning algorithm is the necessary condition for evolving intelligence, though it takes time to learn. It falls in line with the aspiration of Himanen's (2004, p. 39) idea of building intelligence:...a holistic combination of building solutions which satisfies the needs of the occupant and which adapts and grows in wisdom (emphasis ours).This learning model provides a generic definition of home intelligence which is conducive to the development of a real intelligent home. These performance requirements also form the assessment criteria of intelligent home specifications.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the extant intelligent home specifications and put forward a new dimension for the specifications of intelligent home (IHS).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study adopts a learning (bottom-up) algorithm which emphasizes the importance of learning and adaptability to the dynamic environmental changes in the IHS.\nFindings: - The study finds that the intelligent home has been characterized by automation, integration of facilities and communication. However, it is contended here that an intelligent home specification in such a hard-wired (top-down) approach cannot be sustained in the light of the continuous changes of user requirements. Hence, adaptation to users' needs must be encompassed in a system of home intelligence.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study provides a framework for all stakeholders to work for a common goal and a platform for benchmarking the performance of intelligent home in the long run.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first to adopt the learning (bottom-up) algorithm in defining home intelligence.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Culture and dental health among African immigrant school-aged children in the United States	[ "Immigrants", "Africa", "Culture", "Dentistry", "Dental system", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a dearth of scholarly research on the oral health of African immigrants living in the USA. Researchers working on the oral health of these African immigrants have concentrated their efforts on African refugees, especially on Somali refugees, possibly because they were easier to identify since they lived in some urban enclaves in Philadelphia and Maine (Beveridge, 2006).In their study of oral health status and the utilization of oral health services among African immigrant women living in West Philadelphia, Lopez et al. (2005) examined the oral health status and practices of 98 women. The authors also examined the relationship between acculturation and use of dental services among the immigrants. In particular, they explored beliefs, practices, and problems related to the immigrants' oral health and discovered that although 73 percent of their respondents claimed to brush their teeth daily, 68 percent needed urgent care. For example, 70 percent suffered from pain in the mouth, and 62 percent had gum problems. Over half of the respondents (59 percent) had untreated dental decay. The authors discovered further that 86 percent of the immigrant women had no dental insurance and most (61 percent) of those who sought dental care did so in private offices or hospitals.Lopez et al. (2005) showed further that the African immigrants who had lived in the USA for four years or less and who could communicate in English appeared to have better oral health and were most likely to get a dental check-up.The authors' findings point out the need for health care providers and policy makers to be aware of the diversity in characteristics and needs among African immigrants and to integrate these considerations in health promotion and delivery of care.In their work on oral health beliefs, traditions, and practices among African immigrants, Graham et al. (2000) discovered dangerous medical practices undertaken by traditional healers in Africa that could endanger the lives of children. In one particular instance, the authors discovered a case in which a traditional Somali healer was alleged to have made incisions in the area of a child's lower cuspids and removed gum tissue to prevent diarrhea.The study by Beveridge (2006) revealed that many Somalis had never had a cavity until they came to the USA. However, the Somali immigrants noticed that they developed cavities soon after they immigrated to the USA and began eating an American diet of softer (sugar-processed) foods and more sugar. The traditional Somali diet, the authors noted, tends to be low in sugar but rich in calcium and meat. The authors therefore discovered that both adults' and children's teeth are healthier among Somalis living in Africa than Somali immigrants living in the USA.Beveridge (2006) also discovered several important cultural aspects of Somali dental health care. In particular, he saw that the African respondents had little or no concern for the dental care of their babies' teeth. The reason given by the parents, the author noted, was that they believed that, as with all children, teeth with cavities would eventually fall out at some point before the child reached adulthood and that the new adult teeth would be healthy because the child was growing.Beveridge (2006) also discovered that, compared with Eastern European refugee children, African refugee children were less likely to have ever been to a dentist, yet had significantly lower experience with dental caries as well as fewer untreated caries. Refugee children from Africa had minimal dental needs, whereas children from Eastern Europe had a greater need. Specifically, whereas 65.2 percent of African refugee children had no evidence of dental caries, only 22.0 percent of children from Eastern Europe had no evidence of dental caries. Beveridge (2006) attributed the above situation to differences in exposure to natural fluoride in the drinking water, dietary differences, access to professional care, and cultural beliefs and practices (see also Holm, 1990).Compared with children in the USA, African refugee children had only half the caries of either white or African American children. Holm (1990), however, discovered that despite the fact that very few African children had previous access to professional dental care, they had no greater likelihood than African American children of having untreated caries.\nAims: Given the dearth of knowledge about African immigrants' oral health issues, this paper sets out to examine African immigrant parents' views on dental decay and whether such views affect their decision to obtain dental insurance for their children.The paper also examines the cultural underpinnings of immigrants' oral health care practices.\nMethod: Research sites\nResults and discussion: In this section, a synthesis and analysis of the respondents' views on dental decay (caries), the importance parents attach to their children's dental care, and parents' views on dental insurance and on the overall dental care system in the USA are made.Views on dental decay\nConclusion: In this study, it has been shown that a majority of the African immigrant school aged children surveyed did not have dental care. When asked why their children did not have professional dental care, most parents cited culture and finance. It is important to emphasize the fact that despite the fact that the respondents were from a wide socio-economic spectrum, there were no differences in responses between such socio-economic groupings. Rather, they (respondents who could afford dental care cost as well as those who could not) used their culture as a justification for ignoring their children's dental health care. From the data we learned that by citing so-called \"culture\", the African immigrants isolate themselves from the services that might be available to them.It has been demonstrated further that the denial of dental care to the African immigrant children stems from various African traditions that require families to take responsibility for their own dental needs instead of relying on oral health professionals for such dental health needs as teeth-cleaning and treatment of halitosis.For respondents who viewed caries as a sickness that necessitated going to see a dentist, it could be argued that their perception was motivated by mainstream American culture rather than by their own (African) culture.The results of this survey are important to consider for dental care providers, public health specialists, social workers, and school systems that have African immigrant children, as they will need to provide information and guidance regarding these issues. School counselors (social work specialists and psychologists) could help to facilitate collaboration between health care providers, parents, and educators by advocating for not only the educational and social needs of the immigrant children, but also the children's dental health needs. Such collaboration, if well implemented, will limit or totally eliminate the immigrant children's dental problems. It will also help to decrease misconceptions among African immigrant parents about caries and halitosis and provide the children with realistic dental care.In conclusion, this study has demonstrated the need to strengthen the cultural base of health and dentistry taking into account the fact that culture, if ignored, can stand in the way of prudent and appropriate health and dental care resulting in tragedies that may often be preventable. This study has shown how culture and health care (including dental care) can and do illuminate each other.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper examines African immigrant parents' views on dental decay and whether such views affect their decision to obtain dental insurance for their children. The paper also examines the cultural underpinnings of the immigrants' oral health care practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data for the study were collected in the states of Indiana and Virginia. The data were collected in 2005 by the author and a research assistant. A total of 420 parents (220 males and 200 females) took part in the research, answering questions about 601 children.\nFindings: - The results indicate that a sizeable number of African immigrant school-aged children are denied dental health due to a combination of cultural perceptions on dental health (such as families taking responsibility for cleaning their teeth themselves), parental ignorance on dental health, parents' perception of dental health practice in the USA, and the parents' weak financial standing.\nOriginality/value: - The study is of considerable importance to dental care providers, public health specialists, social workers, and more especially the school systems that have African immigrant children, because as people who provide information and guidance to such immigrants, knowing about how the immigrants' cultural backgrounds influence their decisions about dental care will help to serve the immigrants more effectively.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Fit for global customers: how ALTANA mastered the journey to a customer-centric organization	[ "Key account management", "Customer-centricity", "Global business", "Global customers", "One company", "Sales transformation", "Global account management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 2005, ALTANA started to focus on global customers in response to two developments that were threatening the position of this manufacturer of specialty chemicals for paint and automotive manufacturers, plastic producers and other industries. Slowly but surely, its client structure was changing due to consolidation processes taking place simultaneously in many industries, resulting in fewer smaller clients and larger clients with stronger positions in the market. Parallel to this development, global customers actively sought to reduce the number of suppliers from which they purchased. Thus, market analyses forecast that only a handful of suppliers would survive the cutthroat competition. Procurement organizations, in turn, increased their focus on suppliers whose points of contact represented the entire company. These global buyers further demanded efficient processes and smooth cooperation, as well as the joint development of new products. If ALTANA wanted to continue playing a role in this premier league, the company had to adjust to the new requirements of the playing field or risk losing its top ranking to other competitors.\n1. Be able to act globally: ALTANA resulted from the merger of several individual companies that had existed for decades. Its business units - BYK (additives), ECKART (pigments), ELANTAS (electrical insulation material) and ACTEGA (packaging solutions) - are organized as divisions and grouped within the ALTANA holding company. To outsiders, they appear as the additive manufacturer BYK or the pigments specialist EKCART; as an umbrella brand, ALTANA sits in the background. In turn, the four units have corresponding, independent departments for functions such as R\n2. Speak the same language: The top management of ALTANA took charge of communication and remained continually available as a sort of sparring partner for the divisions, especially when members of the individual areas fought over which solution was best. For example, to match up the customer portfolios, they had to decide which groups should be addressed as global clients in the future. The CEO, Matthias Wolfgruber, in collaboration with the divisional presidents, identified and selected the most important global customers. Wolfgruber also assured that group account managers consistently bundled the products and services available from all the individual divisions to create an overall ALTANA offering.\n3. Introduce unified standards: The historic development of a consciously selected, decentralized structure left behind no unified systems to assess customers, agree on sales targets or define key performance indicators. Nor was there any unified process that would enable the entire company to quantify success with every global customer. Further, no cross-divisional performance indicators existed. Yet, these aspects are exactly the prerequisites for using resources efficiently on a global scale. Finally, the firm depended heavily on individual managers' judgments to determine whether poor sales performance with global customers had personnel consequences. Because ALTANA wanted to act as a strategic supplier that could realize development projects for specific solutions together with its customers, we could not persist with this disjointed approach or present the firm with different growth targets or discount systems for the different business units.\n4. Create synergies for new business: The last component on the path to global success is joint development, with and for the customer. As a prerequisite, this path demands knowledge exchange across the individual business units and market organizations. Sales at a global level mean much more than establishing customer needs and holding corresponding negotiations. Ideally, the strategic business relationship that emerges will allow the customer to discuss specific development tasks with its supplier - a form of cooperation that can ensure years of growth for both parties. To achieve this outcome, the top management teams of the four ALTANA units had to coordinate themselves, and simultaneously, the R\n5. Conclusion: After six years, the business results achieved by ALTANA demonstrated that the effort to focus on global customers was worthwhile. As the number of customers important to all parts of the group has continuously increased, its share of revenue has grown proportionately. In 2013, ALTANA's sales volume was 1.8 billion, and the company has become one of the most profitable chemical groups worldwide. The costs of designing and introducing the global customer program have already been amortized several times, such that they offered a valuable investment in the development and securitization of future business opportunities.\nNote: This article also appeared under the title \"Fit fur Globale Kunden\" in the German Version of the Harvard Business Manager, No. 9, 2012, pp. 69-77.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation journey of global account management (GAM) programs. ALTANA's case offers a good example of the challenges a supplier faces when attempting to ascend into the highest supplier league - as well as lessons on how they can be resolved.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The conceptual approach for the GAM implementation is based on the results of benchmarking studies with more than 300 companies. Over the period of six years, the authors then conducted planned interventions and captured results via multiple sources on a yearly basis.\nFindings: Findings include: implementing GAM pays off (i.e. driving business in good times, protecting business in economic downturns), and implementing GAM catalyzes a company-wide transformation and creates client-focused organizational structures without expensive, often useless \"integration\" projects.\nResearch limitations/implications: A limitation of the research is that it consists of a single company research study in one industry. Cross-industry validation studies would generate further insights.\nPractical implications: The described approach can serve as a blueprint for other firms and can help them to save time and costs in their own efforts.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the few multi-year studies on GAM implementation. The results confirm that implementing GAM pays off, but also show that only a cautious and evolutionary approach generates sustainable success. In this respect, the findings contradict the widespread assumption that GAM programs can be implemented within 12-18 months and offer those who are charged with such a task useful lessons for their own practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effectuation, an emerging theory of entrepreneurship - towards a mature stage of the development	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Theory development", "Effectuation", "Causation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As interest in entrepreneurship has intensified, so new theoretical perspectives have emerged to explain the entrepreneurial behavior (Leitch et al., 2010; Fisher, 2012). Alternative theoretical perspectives on entrepreneurial action, such as effectuation (Sarasvathy, 2001), entrepreneurial bricolage (Baker and Nelson, 2005), and improvisation (Weick, 1979) suggest that entrepreneurs take various routes to identifying and exploiting opportunities. Effectuation is one of the most-cited emerging theories of entrepreneurship (Fisher, 2012; Perry et al., 2012). However, it has been criticized on the grounds of its slow development progress and the unsatisfactory level of testability associated with it (Arend et al., 2015; Fischer and Reuber, 2011). Scholars evaluating effectuation theory output from 1998 to 2011 would probably find that criticism at least partly justifiable. Perry et al. (2012) however contend that the development of effectuation theory was not noticeably slower than other comparable emerging theories in the field of management. Certainly, over the last five years, 2012-2016, it seems to have developed remarkably quickly.\nThe roots of effectuation theory (1998-2011): Sarasvathy (2001) wanted to understand the process of decision making in an uncertain operating environment or in a situation in which the market does not yet exist. Effectuation provides an explanation of why individuals end up building new business activities even when that was not their initial goal when they started their operations. They take risks merely to the extent to which they are prepared to take losses and retain the ability to adapt to changes brought on by the environment. They pursue new business opportunities arising from the pertinent changes and learn by doing (Sarasvathy, 2001, 2008).\nResearch methodology (follow-up review): The first step in the current study was to conduct an extensive literature review on effectuation from the year 1998 (the publication date of the first paper introducing effectuation theory) to the end of the year 2016. We used the Scopus Elsevier, ABI inform, and EBSCO databases to search for social sciences and humanities articles from peer-reviewed academic journals included in the Social Science Citation Index. That search produced 217 articles. In total, 93 articles were found by using the same selection criteria as Perry et al. (2012), where the word effectuation was part of the title, abstract, or keywords, and the article cited Sarasvathy (2001). After discarding articles that were not focused on effectuation, the list was cut to 81 articles featuring effectuation as a main subject. Identifying the substantial change in the development of the effectuation research from the year 2012 to 2016 encompassed the investigation of papers published during and just before the year 2012 to identify papers that influenced the change.\nDiscussion: To summarize the development of effectuation theory, a growing number of scholars are currently engaging in field research, studying real people, and real phenomena in their real surroundings (Edmondson and McManus, 2007, p. 1155). Empirical field studies have become the primary form of effectuation research. Chandler et al. (2011) boosted the quantitative study of effectuation by developing survey instruments to distinguish between effectuation and causation decision-making paradigms and research has evolved markedly since. Brettel et al. (2012) differentiate between dependent and independent variables in the effectuation process. They created a survey instrument and developed a two-way measurement scale for effectuation and causation. Their contribution is to acknowledge and examine effectuation performance in the R&D context. Alsos et al. (2016) develop and validate a ten-item measuring instrument, including five items for causation and five items measuring both effectual and causational sub-dimensions. Arend et al. (2016) propose a 3E theory-assessment framework to evaluate effectuation by offering critical guidelines for future studies. Each of these frameworks must be evaluated to understand whether these paradigms are appropriate for measuring dimensions of effectuation and causation. As is widely acknowledged, there are many ways to theorize various proceedings, so it is questionable if it is even possible to have one unanimous framework (Garud and Gehman, 2016).\nImplications: This study has four theoretical implications. First, the study introduces the four main streams strongly linked to effectuation theory in scientific dialogue on current effectuation research: innovation and product development, internationalization, effectuation and causation simultaneously, and entrepreneurial expertise. The first two main streams in particular are evolutionary directions for effectuation researchers. These fresh new directions focus on identifying aspects of effectuation theory that have not yet stabilized. The third stream differs by recognizing that causation and effectuation are dualities rather than dichotomies, thus acknowledging their dynamic nature. The fourth stream claims that experienced entrepreneurs seem to follow certain patterns. Scholars are encouraged to further examine how practitioners adapt these patterns and under what conditions. Second, the results show that effectuation research has moved on from the nascent to an intermediate stage of development, and has already taken the first steps toward the mature stage. Although effectuation may still be a relatively new line in the entrepreneurship research field, criticism based on the slow progression of the theory no longer seems merited. The evidence shows that the theory has developed rapidly in the last five years. Effectuation theory acquires scientific appreciation in the eyes of scholars as a result of the improved testability of the dimensions of the theory. That will mark a step forward for effectuation theory as an alternative explanation to a rational business planning model in the form of the causation logic. This development solidifies the foundation of effectuation theory, which forthcoming effectuation research can build upon. Third, effectuation theory can no longer be reasonably linked to only new ventures and startups, since the majority of the later effectuation studies have presented the results of effectuation logic in the context of established companies. The first reviews focusing on year 1998-2011 find three studies of established companies and six concentrating on new ventures. In the last five years spanning 2012 and 2016, 24 studies were published that focus on established companies, while only 11 focus on new ventures. Hopefully this finding will open new avenues for scholars to implement various proceedings in business studies, concerning effectuation logics in established companies. Fourth, a bonus finding is the discovery of the ongoing battle between the convergent and divergent groups contributing to the scientific dialogue around effectuation theory. This debate should stimulate other researchers to form their own perspective and contribute to the effectuation literature. The lively debate around the phenomenon certainly makes the theory more attractive.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the stages of development of effectuation theory and highlight the progression from the early years' conceptual articles to the recent empirical papers, characterized by specific, measurable research questions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 81 peer-reviewed academic journal articles featuring effectuation as a main subject were analyzed using Scandura and Williams' (2000) modified version of McGrath's typology of research strategies. The framework of Edmonson and McManus (2007) is employed to evaluate the maturity of the research program.\nFindings: The main outcome is to introduce four main streams linked to effectuation theory in the current scientific dialogue: innovation and product development, internationalization, effectuation and causation simultaneously, and entrepreneurial expertise.\nResearch limitations/implications: The current study is reliant on retrospective data, which might influence the accuracy and completeness of this study, which typically leads to rationalized versions of history-associated causal decision making.\nPractical implications: This study illustrates why effectuation theory should no longer be associated only with new ventures and startups. The majority of recent studies have presented the results of effectuation logic in the context of established companies.\nSocial implications: This follow-up review presents evidence that effectuation research has moved on from the nascent to the intermediate stage of development. Furthermore, the results indicate that it has already begun its transition toward the mature stage of development.\nOriginality/value: This study reveals the ongoing spirited battle between the convergent and divergent groups involved in the scientific debate around effectuation theory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The moderating effect of personal features on the consequences of an enjoyable co-creation experience	[ "New product development", "Crowdsourcing", "Brand co-creation", "Customer relationship management", "Co-creation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the era of digital transformation and social media, consumers who actively engage in previously firm-dominated domains of value creation have become a reality (Hutter et al., 2013; Schreier et al., 2012; Atakan et al., 2014). Nowadays, companies use crowdsourcing systems (Kohler, 2015; Boudreau and Lakhani, 2013; Afuah and Tucci, 2012; Terwiesch and Xu, 2008) and build online brand communities (Schau et al., 2009; Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001) to develop new products in collaboration with the crowd (i.e. a large number of individuals in the periphery of a company that can be harnessed for organizational purposes). For instance, the global beauty brand Nivea has co-created a new deodorant with consumers and lead users which resulted in the most successful product launch in the 130-year history of the company (Lakhani et al., 2014). Similarly, Japanese consumer goods company Muji even provided proof that the commercial success of co-created products is systematically higher than of solely internally developed products (Nishikawa et al., 2013).\nTheoretical framework: Drawing on the rich body of literature on theory of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 2002; Novak et al., 2000; Hoffman and Novak, 2009), experience management (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Meyer and Schwager, 2007; Payne et al., 2008; Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Schouten et al., 2007) and relationship management (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003; Fournier, 1998; Reinartz et al., 2004), the framework shown in Figure 1 has been conceptualized to investigate the role of personal features as moderators of the impact of a virtual co-creation experience on aspects of consumer-company and consumer-product relationships.\nEmpirical study: To examine the impact of consumers' virtual co-creation experience on the consumer-company relationship and consumer-product relationship, consumers that previously participated in a virtual co-creation project were surveyed. The projects included the development of a multifunctional snowboard backpack, running shoes, a baby carriage, a mobile phone and modular furniture.\nMeasures: Three items adopted from Ghani and Desphande (1994) were used to measure enjoyable experience, attention and control, respectively. Three slightly modified items from (Novak et al., 2000) served to measure challenge. Provided tool support consisted of two sub dimensions: product understanding and creative articulation. The two items of product understanding resemble Kempf and Smith's (1998) website diagnosticity scale. The two items to measure creative articulation were derived from interviews. Two items suggested by Srinivasan et al. (2002) were used to measure participants' WOM. Two items from Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) served to measure trust. Perceived customer orientation as well as innovativeness as the two sub-dimensions of image were measured by using three items derived from Deshpande et al. (1993) in each case. Evoked product interest was conceptualized similarly to Anderson and Weitz's (1992) commitment in further activities using two items. Kapferer and Laurent\"s (1985) involvement items served to measure product involvement. Three items modified from Manning et al. (1995) were used to measure consumers\" desire for product-specific novelty seeking on the internet. To measure consumers internet specific exploratory behavior, three items of Novak et al. (2000) were applied. Further, Novak et al.'s (2000) single-item web usage scale was used to measure how many hours per week users spent on the internet. Another single item measure was used to determine consumers' dissatisfaction with existing products. Items were mixed to avoid potential bias in the self-report survey. To avoid potential common method bias because of acquiescence, we used different item formats, different scale types as well as counterbalancing of items (Podsakoff et al., 2003). The measurement items which remained after purification and were applied in our study are shown in Appendices 1 and 2.\nResults: Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (Amos 7.0). First, reliability and validity of the measures in the measurement model were tested to calculate the factor reliability of the constructs, the average variance extracted (AVE) and the Fornell-Larcker ratio (Fornell and Larcker, 1981) for discriminant validity. The results are displayed in Figure 2, showing good psychometric properties of the measures. As the study consists of ten different new product development projects, leave-one-project-out analysis, for projects with n > = 40, was applied to investigate the potential bias of one particular project on the overall results (cf. Chakraborty et al., 2002). All models delivered basically the same pattern of results, i.e. reliabilities, model fit, overall explained variance, direction as well as importance of main effects. During multi-group analysis, reliabilities of scales between groups have been checked. No significant differences were identified either.\nDiscussion and implications: Overview of main contributions\nLimitations and future research directions: Our research bears several limitations and promising areas for future research. First, we do not differentiate between the forms of co-creation, i.e. whether consumers evaluate ideas, provide feedback or create their own ideas. Further research should investigate moderating effects taking the type of co-creation into consideration. For example, scholars could build on Fuchs and Schreier's (2011) framework for co-creation strategies differentiating between activities of creation and selection. Based on the stage of the innovation process in which companies co-create with consumers, the object of co-creation (i.e. ideas, concepts, prototypes or actual products) varies. It would be valuable to understand how the \"object of co-creation\" affects consumers' evoked product interest. Second, it would be worthwhile to explore the moderating effect of personal features on attitudes and behavior of consumers in the periphery, i.e. consumers not directly co-creating but merely perceiving the co-creation initiative (Fuchs and Schreier, 2011). Third, the setting of the co-creation initiatives investigated in our study has been rather homogeneous with regard to the technological platform and tool support. Nevertheless, platforms can vary widely in terms of functionalities, mode of collaboration and communication. Thus, scholars may be encouraged to research differences arising from various co-creation environments in future studies. Fourth, in our study, we concentrate on a selection of personal features which have been found to be of interest to the context of virtual co-creation and innovation (Hirschman, 1980; Novak et al., 2000; von Hippel, 2005; Fuller, 2010): gender (socio-demographic characteristic), novelty seeking and dissatisfaction with current products (relevant for problem solving and product adoption among individuals in innovation research), web-related exploratory behavior and web usage (relevant to consider the digital environment of co-creation initiatives). A more comprehensive analysis of the moderating role of consumers' personal features may significantly add to the understanding of how to harness the diversity of the crowd in virtual co-creation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to draw a more nuanced picture of the impact of co-creation experience shedding light on the moderating role of consumers' personal features. Virtual co-creation is considered a viable strategy to develop consumer-centered products in the digital era. As an additional effect, this research highlighted that co-creation experiences may establish beneficial consumer-brand relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using survey data stemming from 727 consumers who virtually engaged in new product development projects, the authors test the hypotheses, applying structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results of this study show that consumers' personal features such as novelty seeking and dissatisfaction with existing products moderate the impact of an enjoyable experience on aspects of the consumer-company relationship. Consumers' dissatisfaction with current product solutions is also found to moderate the relationship between an enjoyable co-creation experience and evoked product interest as well as between product involvement and evoked product interest. The study further substantiates previous findings on the relationship-effects of co-creation and particularly highlight the potential of co-creation experiences for nurturing \"imaginary\" relationships with the product being co-created significantly prior to market launch.\nOriginality/value: Participants in virtual co-creation approaches are widely heterogeneous individuals ranging from customers and Facebook fans to brand community members and innovative users. The study contributes to a better understanding of how the diversity of the crowd can be handled in virtual co-creation and advances the theory of value co-creation as a new marketing paradigm.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership and professional development: the quiet revolution	[ "Professional education", "Academic staff", "Management development", "New Zealand" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Professional development should be a critical concern of leaders and, in the field of educational administration, management and leadership, it has been impacted on by both evolutionary and revolutionary forces. In the last 60 years or so, a steady strand of growth and incremental change can be traced in the research base on the practice and theory building of educational leadership itself (Gunter and Ribbins, 2002). The coming of age of educational administration, management and leadership as an academic subject in its own right is a consequence of this evolution. Claims that it now has the status of a discipline with its own body of knowledge (Bush, 1999) or at least recognition as a field of study that draws on a range of disciplines (Bolam, 1999) are indicative of the wishes of academics to stand alone - but of course, not apart - from the field of generic management which has, in its own evolution, contributed so much to the hybrid that is educational management. Furthermore, the knowledge base of the theory and practice of leadership in educational settings is a much contested arena in which recent attempts to map the field (Gunter and Ribbins, 2002) are widening the debate about what is known and yet needs to be known. As knowledge and its impact on practice continue to advance, so too should our understanding of the ways in which professional development should be conceptualised and valued. The heightened focus on management and leadership development is part of this evolution. The most notable features are first, the inclusion of development for educational leaders themselves in national efforts worldwide to improve schools and student achievement; and second, the focus on developing leaders at all levels of the school.There can be little doubt that education change of the magnitude that has swept through the systems of a number of nations in the last 15 years can be construed as anything less than revolutionary. The final decade of the twentieth century was marked for educational leadership by singularly tumultuous events in terms of government intervention. Common to several countries is the experience of sweeping change brought about by reform that has devolved leadership power to the local level. In England and Wales, the 1988 Education Reform Act located significant management responsibilities with principals, senior staff and governing bodies of self-managing schools and colleges (Bush, 1999, p. 1). Several states in Australia adopted school-based management models considerably enhancing the accountability of the principal in the last decade (Cranston, 2002). The critical revolutionary event for New Zealand, unique both in terms of the scope and speed of change, was the creation of a self-managed school system called Tomorrow's Schools (Government of New Zealand, 1988). It acted for over a decade as a catalyst for implementing regulation and legislation to alter the way schools are managed and has also considerably expanded the role and responsibilities of school leaders (Whitaker, 2003).Inevitably, these revolutionary changes have influenced policy and practice related to the professional development of staff (Fitzgerald, 2001). In the case of New Zealand, regulatory change is invariably followed by invitation or mandated requirement to participate in nation-wide professional development contracts such as those offered to support the implementation of performance management (Cardno, 1999a). Reform agendas have impacted in some significant ways. First, considerable attention has now been paid (albeit a decade after the reform) to the preparation of principals themselves. Second, performance management - which incorporates both staff appraisal and development systems - has become mandatory for schools. Third, and most recently as a consequence of further legislation (Government of New Zealand, 2002), schools are required to include strategic and annual plans in their Charters (Education Standards Act, p. 13 of 74) and principals are offered support and guidance from Ministry of Education consultants to achieve this effectively.Against this background, and enabled by both radical and incremental change imperatives, there is scope for school leaders to lead quiet revolutions within their own institutions. In such circumstances, leaders would alter the way they think about and create opportunities for the professional development of staff. When leadership and management are defined as working with and through other people to achieve organizational goals (Owens, 1998, p. 2) then the significance of influencing people to learn and grow is highlighted. One aspect of leadership in its broadest sense is the capacity of key individuals to exert influence that results in positive change for the school, for teams, for individual staff and ultimately for the benefit of students.The teaching profession is operating in turbulent times and under growing pressures. Professional development has never been of greater importance than it is right now in order to sustain and advance the profession. In fact, the hallmark of a profession is that it is always concerned about its development and is, in fact, prepared to take charge of this in order to secure and advance its status and credibility. When professional development is a constant and paramount concern that is actualised for all members then an occupation is becoming professionalized (Hoyle, 1990).It is in the arena of taking charge of effective decision-making related to the professional development of staff in general and the management development of leaders in particular that a quiet revolution can make a difference. Such change will be driven internally, resourced internally by schools and will ideally permeate many schools and the system through the transfer of people and ideas by practitioners to practitioners.\nA quiet revolution: The role of the principal in professional development\nThe infrastructure for a holistic approach: Educational leadership\nBalancing dimensions of professional development: I have suggested this can be achieved by paying attention to all four dimensions in the model (see Figure 1). The two dimensions in the top half of the circle - Curriculum Development and School Development - are possibly the ones that always have and still feature most significantly as professional development foci. The two dimensions in the bottom half of the circle - personal development and management development - are, I believe, the least acknowledged and featured and yet, are perhaps the most significant contributors to change and improvement of staff and schools in the context of how education is managed today.Dimension one - curriculum development\nFeatures of management development: Management development is a special form of professional development. It is related to the specialised body of knowledge and skills that emerges from the discipline of generic management (Woodall and Winstanley, 1998) and the associated field of educational administration, management and leadership. This, in turn, draws on concepts from education, philosophy, sociology, psychology and business management. The purpose of management development is to assist the personal and professional growth of managers so that they develop competencies and cognitive capabilities to perform their role effectively. In most cases there are three major demands placed on school managers:1. the management of people for whom they are responsible;2. the management of systems (which invariably also involve people in their operation); and3. the management of self (because so much of the work is about interactions with others that reflect one's own behaviour).Management development is a broad concept that embraces a number of elements and is impacted on by a number of agencies in school systems. It incorporates management training, management education and management support (McMahon and Bolam, 1990).Management training\nActively managing professional development: The devolution of funding and policy making authority to school level should ostensibly enable principals to play a much larger and more effective role in decision-making about what constitutes professional development and how it should be supported. Although New Zealand's national budget for this area (in excess of $110 million in 2003) is centrally controlled to fund nation-wide initiatives offered free of charge (such as the School Advisory Services, and strategic initiatives such as literacy and induction training for newly appointed principals), schools are expected to use annual operating grants to fund additional professional development initiatives and associated teacher release time beyond that provided in Ministry of Education supported contracts. A recent Ministry of Education analysis of schools' financial reports (n=2,718) in the year 2002 revealed that schools designated approximately $20 million as expenditure related to professional development. This would indicate that although schools are in a position to decide how much to spend on professional development they are certainly not spending wildly or perhaps even adequately on school-identified and school-specific professional development. In fact, priorities for professional are evidently still largely centre-driven and centrally funded.If schools are to capitalise on the possibilities for self-determination and deciding their own future offered by a system of self-managed schools then they will have to develop the capability to manage that future strategically. It is not merely a matter of increasing the budget for staff professional development. What is needed is an orientation to professional development that is enlarged to encompass:* An expanded and holistic view of what constitutes professional development;* Clear links between the appraisal of performance and its development;* Decision making about professional development that is connected to the school's strategic vision and plan;* Allocation of resources for professional development that is planned and pertinent rather than merely a reaction to external direction and the availability of state-funded in-service opportunities.I believe that the active management of a holistic approach to professional development can, from within schools, create change and new understandings that are quietly, yet most certainly revolutionary.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for holistic professional development as an alternative to practices that have been piecemeal and curriculum focused ignoring, in particular, the critical dimension of management development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A conceptual framework for considering professional development needs is provided in the form of an holistic model. The model, with its meshed infrastructure of appropriate educational leadership, performance management and strategic management suggests that four essential dimensions - curriculum, management, school and personal development - can be adapted as a basis for planning and evaluating a school's professional development programme.\nFindings: - Leaders at both system and school level should be interested in the insights provided and challenged to think differently about current practice and the implications for strategic management when the active management of professional development is made a priority.\nOriginality/value: - The paper fulfils a need to provide educational managers with conceptual tools for planning and evaluating professional development programmes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The library assemblage: creative institutions in an information society	[ "Libraries", "Philosophy", "Information society", "Social justice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"There is a whole order of movement in 'institutions' that's independent of both laws and contracts\" (Deleuze, 1995, p. 169).\nEscaping institution: We can use Deleuze's conception of the institution as an intervention into an existing debate about the social roles of government institutions, including the library. More specifically, Deleuze's theory of institutions is derived from Hume's work and responds to social contract theories popular in liberal political philosophies. Deleuze (1991) writes:\nCreative institutions: In light of Hume's critique of social contract theory, Deleuze offers an alternative model for understanding the institution, including the State, social institutions (i.e. marriage and property), and governmental institutions (i.e. prisons, schools, hospitals, and libraries). The following passage indicates the potential of institutions; they are not repressive forces that limit action but are productive:\nLibrary as assemblage: If the institution is a creative rather than repressive force, it is possible to think of it in its potentiality to produce new social networks. Instead of employing liberal theory to understand the library, we could choose assemblage theory. Deleuze's conception of the institution and the assemblage helps resolve issues of determinism and agency. If the library, as an institution, is understood as an assemblage then its component parts are defined by their relations of exteriority.\nOld concepts in new ways: The library can achieve new potential not by dissolving but by inventing new projects and concepts or using old concepts in new ways. Montreal's Mobilivre-Bookmobile project is an example of such a project. The organisers of the Mobilivre employed a very typical library initiative to distribute books: the travelling library. Starting in 2002, with a grant from the Federal Government, organisers loaded a van with books and travelled across the USA and Canada. The traditional use of bookmobiles and reliance upon government funding make this project sound like a very traditional library initiative. But the purpose of the project was to resist a very typical library tendency: the over reliance upon established publishers and canonical literature. The mobilivre collection gives access to a \"traveling collection of approximately 300 book works ranging from handmade and one-of-a-kind to photocopied and small press publications\"(Mobilivre, 2006). The Mobilivre's frequent stops at libraries attests to it employing the bookmobile concept in a new way.\nNew connections: If we understand the library as an assemblage, we no longer seek to establish the autonomy of the library from political and economic spheres. Freedom is not a matter of autonomy from external forces but rather about creating new connections. It is not necessary to reproduce the current political and economic environment. Nor does the library need to continue to strive for independence. The point is to make new connections.\nConclusion: By introducing the concept of the library as an assemblage, we have a new theoretical framework from which we can understand the place of the library in society. The impact of the development of ICTs and the arrival of the information society has many library scholars wondering about the shifting role and purpose of the library. Deleuze's theory of the institution provides libraries with a theoretical perspective from which we can understand that librarians and library patrons are not determined by the economic and social milieu in which their library exists. Rather libraries are assemblages and books, information, library workers that can all be assembled in a multiplicity of different ways to achieve social justice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical analysis of the concept of an \"institution\" in order to understand the potential of the library as an institution.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari is used to build a theoretical foundation from which to construct a vision of institutions, particularly libraries, as a tools for social justice rather than market forces.\nFindings: It is possible to analyse institutions and libraries in particular, in terms of codes and rules that constrain behaviour. The concept of institutions as assemblages can be used as an alternative in order to emphasise the creative and transformative potential of institutions.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to a small body of critical literature that examines the theoretical principles that can ground library services as tools for advocacy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A cross-nationally validated decision-making model of environmental coaction	[ "Decision making", "Environment", "Coaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Human-induced climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity. Predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014) suggest that unless drastic cuts are made to CO2 emissions, the incidence of heat waves, drought, heavy precipitation events, and cyclones will increase throughout this century. These changes will in turn reduce the availability of potable water, devastate agricultural and ecosystem functioning, adversely impinge upon human health, and disrupt social and industrial systems (IPCC, 2014).\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nResults: Psychometric properties of the study scales\nDiscussion: Motivating environmental coaction will be critical in efforts to reduce the likelihood of experiencing catastrophic climate change, for encouraging the adoption of one-off or isolated changes to CO2 emitting behaviors will have only modest impacts on CO2 emissions. The current study is therefore of particular import in that it advances and finds support for a decision-making model of environmental coaction. Specifically, individuals who had coacted environmental behaviors perceived greater personal benefits from reducing CO2 emissions than those who had engaged in some action or no action. Moreover, perceived consumer effectiveness was generally greater among those who had engaged in coaction as opposed to those who had performed no action.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Multiple environmental behaviors will need to be adopted if climate change is to be addressed, yet current environmental decision-making models explain the adoption of single behaviors only. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by developing and evaluating a decision-making model that explains the co-adoption, or coaction, of multiple environmental behaviors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To test its cross-national utility, the model was assessed separately among online survey panel respondents from three countries: Australia (n=502), the UK (n=500), and the USA (n=501). In total, three environmental behaviors were examined: sourcing electricity from a green energy provider, purchasing green products, and public transport use. For each behavioral pair, participants were grouped according to whether they had enacted coaction (performed both behaviors), some action (performed either behavior), or no action (performed neither behavior).\nFindings: Irrespective of national sample and behavioral pair, those who engaged in coaction perceived greater personal benefits from reducing their CO2 emissions than those who enacted some action or no action. Moreover, perceived consumer effectiveness was typically greater among coaction participants than those in the no action group. Finally, perceived consumer effectiveness did not differ among those who had enacted coaction or some action.\nOriginality/value: The current findings suggest that personal benefits and perceived consumer effectiveness are important motivational antecedents for the decision to engage in environmental coaction. International commercial or social marketing campaigns aimed at encouraging the adoption of multiple environmental behaviors should therefore seek to leverage these motivational factors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Applications of latent growth curve modeling: a research agenda for hospitality management	[ "Hospitality management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: We can measure \"change,\" and we should!\nIntroduction: Most existing research in hospitality management exclusively uses cross-sectional designs to infer complex social phenomena at multiple time waves. However, when people acquire new skills or when attitudes or interests develop over time, people change. Measuring change requires a longitudinal perspective, with multiwave data collected on representative participants at sensibly spaced time intervals. Although other techniques have been developed to capitalize on the desirable features of longitudinal data (e.g. time series analysis), the focus of this paper is on latent growth curve modeling (LGCM; Preacher et al., 2008). The distinguishing feature of time-series analysis is the measurement of time as a guide to organize the predictive regressions (McArdle, 2009). Time-series analysis is based on time-to-time dependencies and is used to predict future values according to previously observed values. On the contrary, LGCM uses the data to define growth curves around a changing trajectory, so predicting future values is not essential. In addition, LGCM is carried out using structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology and thus shares many of the same strengths (e.g. improved estimates of latent constructs) with regard to statistical methodology. Although LGCM was introduced decades ago (Rogosa et al., 1982; Meredith and Tisak, 1990), LGCM is still relatively underutilized in hospitality research. Few of the studies that have used LGCM (Assaker et al., 2011; Coenders et al., 2003; Hsu, 2014) highlighted the advantages and opportunities associated with this technique for hospitality research or provided readers with an introduction of how this technique may be useful to others. As such, there is a great need to provide an explanation of the basics of LGCM with appropriate examples for hospitality researchers.\nA brief overview of latent growth curve modeling: Over the past few decades, the methods of LGCM have capitalized on the richness of multiple waves of data to provide better statistical methods for addressing issues about change (Willet and Sayer, 1994). Meredith and Tisak (1990) applied confirmatory factor analysis to specify loadings reflecting specific hypothesized trends in repeated-measures data. This approach is a special case of SEM, which is flexible in modeling and allows researchers to investigate a variety of research questions.\nBasics of latent growth curve models: LGC models are a particular case of SEMs with latent variables. In the LGCM framework, latent variables represent aspects of change. For instance, in linear LGCM, the intercept (i.e. initial status) and slope (i.e. change rate) \"factors\" of the growth line represent the latent variables. Figure 1 presents a typical model of a linear growth curve. Understanding Figure 1 is the first and foremost step to understand LGCM. Hotel employee stress is used to illustrate this figure. The variables in rectangular boxes are observed variables - individual items designed to measure stress. The y1-y4 are the levels of stress measured at 9 a.m, 12 p.m, 3 p.m and 6 p.m (i.e. Time 1-Time 4, respectively). At the bottom of Figure 1, the e1-e4 represent the measurement errors of the observed variables.\nLatent growth curve modeling with time-invariant and time-varying covariates: One extension of LGC models involves incorporating covariates. For example, gender could be important to explain stress as women tend to suffer higher stress than men (Matud, 2004). Thus, men could have both a lower intercept and a flatter slope of stress than women. This means that men could be systematically less stressed at 9 a.m and the increase in stress between 9 a.m and 6 p.m should be gradual, whereas women could be systematically more stressed at 9 a.m and their level of stress could increase more rapidly between 9 a.m and 6 p.m. Emotional stability, one of personality traits in the Big Five personality theory, could also influence employee stress at work (Judge et al., 2004), such that employees with higher emotional stability could have both a lower intercept and a flatter slope of stress than employees with lower emotional stability. Figure 3 illustrates how this model would look. Gender and emotional stability are time-invariant covariates, because they are Level 2 variables; they vary across individuals rather than within individuals over time (Level 1). To assess the association between time-invariant covariates and development in the construct, the slope and intercept are regressed on to the time-invariant covariates.\nMultiple indicator latent growth curve modeling: Multiple indicators (e.g. individual survey items) of an underlying construct are often available at each time period (Figure 5). SEM is able to model multiple indicators using a common factor measurement model. The approach to model multiple indicator LGCM includes a two-step procedure (Chan, 1998). The first step involves examining issues of measurement invariance across time. The assumption of measurement invariance requires equal factor loadings and equal indicator intercepts across time for all repeatedly measured indicators. Violating this assumption hinders the evaluation of change as it will be confounded with the change of the meaning of the construct over time. Thus, the issue of measurement invariance has logical priority as establishing invariance provides evidence that the results of the multiple indicator LGCM analyses constituting Step 2 are meaningful. In Step 2, growth curve modeling involving multiple indicators will be used to directly assess intraindividual changes over time.\nPrevious hospitality research that could use latent growth curve modeling: Having discussed the basics and extensions of LGCM, this paper now identifies some of the existing empirical research in hospitality management that could have benefitted from LGCM but did not use this methodology. In addition, this paper will discuss how using LGCM may have improved or clarified the conclusions these previous studies reported.\nTwo illustrative examples of hospitality research that use latent growth curve modeling: This paper now provides an overview of two specific illustrative examples of how the current authors have already used LGCM for hospitality research. The first monitored the change trajectories of job satisfaction of student interns working in hotel contexts and the second examined the change trajectories of stress and strain before, during and after a stressful event (the opening night of a new restaurant). The authors used experience sampling methodology - which typically asks participants to record ongoing events, current affect and thoughts over time - to collect data in both projects. This paper will describe resources for hospitality researchers to learn how to use MPlus, a popular SEM application, to fit the models to data[1].\nDiscussion: The LGCM approach to the analysis of repeated measures of longitudinal data is introduced in this paper. Many prestigious journals in the management, psychology, marketing and finance field, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Service Research and Journal of Finance, are increasingly publishing more research that incorporates multi-wave time points to address important research-related issues. Applying LGCM to longitudinal data has demonstrated merits in interpreting the development of key research variables over time (Preacher et al., 2008). This paper shows how LGCM makes a leap forward in the promotion of rigorous and fruitful research and in the facilitation of theoretical development in hospitality.\nConclusion: Researchers can benefit from using LGCM when their phenomenon of interest is estimating change over time. This paper is the first in hospitality to call for research based on LGCM and to provide hands-on demonstrations and an agenda for such study. A number of other types of extensions in hospitality research have been proposed in this paper, and LGCM has been continuing to be developed (Ledermann and Kenny, 2017; Marcoulides, 2018). We believe that with this background, researchers should be able to embrace the challenges in LGCM and begin to understand and use LGCM to answer pressing and complex questions in the hospitality industry.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to introduce latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) as a statistical technique to analyze repeated measures of longitudinal data to researchers in hospitality management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, the basics and extensions of LGCM are explained. Second, this paper reviews three existing empirical hospitality research studies that could have benefitted from LGCM but did not use this methodology. Third, this paper provides an overview of two specific illustrative examples of how the current authors have already used LGCM for hospitality research.\nFindings: Based on explaining the basics of LGCM, delineating two examples using LGCM method and presenting new research avenues that would use LGCM to advance theoretical knowledge, this paper shows how LGCM represents a leap forward in the promotion of more rigorous research in hospitality management.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first in hospitality to call for research based on LGCM and provide hands-on demonstrations and an agenda for this methodology.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Policing pornography in the workplace: the case of Australia Post	[ "Organizational culture", "Discipline", "Legal matters", "Unfair dismissal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: For some the workplace is so much fun, where fantasies come alive with worldwide porn via the internet.\n1 The case: Three employees were dismissed for sending a number of e-mails with pornographic content including one with a video depicting an extreme pornographic act. The employer, Australia Post, only became aware of the e-mails after installing a new software filter on the e-mail system. A broader investigation followed and about 40 employees were also disciplined about inappropriate e-mail content.\n2 Key management issues: Employers need to enforce an organizational culture that clearly sends the message that inappropriate behavior is unacceptable. Employees need to be warned of the consequences of inappropriate behavior. While this may sound like common sense, there may need to be initiatives such as workshops or other training sessions in defining, avoiding and understanding the consequences of bad behavior.\n3 What is seen as porn is evolving: It is worth noting the evolving nature of what is seen as porn. The commissioners' views that soft-core pornography is ubiquitous on free-to-air television is a sign of the times. Are social standards changing? In 1953, US president Eisenhower prohibited lesbian and gay federal workers. Only as recently as 1975 did the Civil Service Commission reverse this discriminatory policy. Employers need to be aware of these evolving social standards when judging inappropriate behavior.\n4 Note: Dr John Chelliah, senior lecturer in management, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Tel: +61 2 95143608; E-mail: john.chelliah@uts.edu.au. James Field, managing director, CompliSpace, Sydney, Australia. Tel: +61 2 9299 6105; E-mail: James.Field@complispace.com.au\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Highlights the risks employers face in disciplining employees for inappropriate behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Considers the types of approach that are necessary for a fair disciplinary process.\nFindings: Reveals that an employer's policies governing inappropriate behavior are worthless unless employees are educated on these policies and the consequences of breaching these policies are clearly communicated.\nPractical implications: Guides managers in successfully defending claims of unfair dismissal for inappropriate behavior.\nSocial implications: Draws attention to the risks associated with the access and storage of pornography at the workplace.\nOriginality/value: Raises the issue of organizational awareness and preparedness to undertake challenges posed by inappropriate behavior.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing information security attitudes: a comparison of two studies	[ "Theory of planned behaviour", "Information security (InfoSec)", "InfoSec behaviour", "Repertory grid technique (RGT)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Background\n2. Justification for this research: This current research is motivated by the need to understand the attitudes of employees toward InfoSec behaviours (Ajzen, 1991; McGuire, 1969). This will enable the implementation of appropriate intervention strategies to improve knowledge and attitudes to minimise risk-inclined behaviour. Figure 1 below shows the logic hierarchy of how this will lead to a higher level of security of the information system assets within an organisation.\n3. Theoretical issues and literature: 3.1 Overview\n4. Research: 4.1 Overview\n5. Results: 5.1 Study 1: online survey questionnaire\n6. Limitations: The sample size of 23 participants probably contributed to low levels of statistical significance that did not reach the traditional p < 0.05 levels. However, the strength of the relationships (rho) between the two sets of results was encouraging given a sample size of less than 30.\n7. Conclusions and future directions: The aim of this research was to compare two studies that assessed the attitudes of typical computer users toward naive and accidental InfoSec behaviour. The first study used a quantitative self-reporting online survey instrument and the second study used a set of RGT interviews.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the use of two studies that assessed the attitudes of typical computer users. The aim of the research was to compare a self-reporting online survey with a set of one-on-one repertory grid technique interviews. More specifically, this research focussed on participant attitudes toward naive and accidental information security behaviours.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the first study, 23 university students responded to an online survey within a university laboratory setting that captured their attitudes toward behaviours in each of seven focus areas. In the second study, the same students participated in a one-on-one repertory grid technique interview that elicited their attitudes toward the same seven behaviours. Results were analysed using Spearman correlations.\nFindings: There were significant correlations for three of the seven behaviours, although attitudes relating to password management, use of social networking sites, information handling and reporting of security incidents were not significantly correlated.\nResearch limitations/implications: The small sample size (n = 23) and the fact that participants were not necessarily representative of typical employees, may have impacted on the results.\nPractical implications: This study contributes to the challenge of developing a reliable instrument that will assess individual InfoSec awareness. Senior management will be better placed to design intervention strategies, such as training and education of employees, if individual attitudes are known. This, in turn, will reduce risk-inclined behaviour and a more secure organisation.\nOriginality/value: The literature review indicates that this study addresses a genuine gap in the research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge intensive business services: ambiguities and continuities	[ "Knowledge economy", "Knowledge-intensive business services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This journal featured an essay on \"knowledge-intensive business services\" (KIBS) a little over a decade ago (Miles, 2005; we shall refer to this as f2005 in the following discussion). The terminology of KIBS was then little more than one decade old. The present essay is the first of the three that re-examine the role of KIBS and the possible future evolution of these activities. While these essays draw on extensive literature reviews, we find that much of the voluminous body of work on the nature and functioning of KIBS has little explicit discussion of several major issues that arise in this context. (The second essay will focus on the role of KIBS in innovation systems, and the consequent important role they may play in fostering large-scale sociotechnical transitions. The third will attend more to the future of KIBS work and social relations.) We shall briefly introduce the field, preceding this with a first account of just what the term KIBS actually means.\nRevisiting the definition of knowledge-intensive business services: In f2005, KIBSs were defined as \"Services that provide knowledge-intensive inputs to the business processes of other organisations [...] such as Computer services, R&D services, Legal, Accountancy and Management services, Architecture, Engineering and Technical Services, Advertising and Market Research\" (Miles, 2005, p. 39). This is fairly often quoted and rarely contested.\nIndustrial classifications: One point on which practically everyone is agreed is that KIBS are, by definition, \"business services\". Interest in business services was evidently related to the high importance of private business in innovation, with the innovation systems approach stressing that innovation involves many activities and stakeholders than just R&D and R&D performers. (One problem for policy was that its main lever was funding of public R&D, with little influence on downstream innovation activities.) But from the outset, it was clear that KIBS firms' clients are not always private firms themselves. So how could the KIBS firms be called business services? f2005 addressed this by explaining that the services provided constitute support for business processes, rather than only business organisations[10]. Business processes are usually defined as constituting structured activities that are undertaken as part of the design, production and/or delivery of goods or services. Thus the clients could be charities (some of whom are large-scale and even international organisations with many employees), non-profit and social enterprises and public sector organisations. (The latter have outsourced many activities regarded as public services[11], as well as purchasing, for example, telecommunications, computer and management consultancy services). Charitable and other organisations may also purchase support for their business processes from KIBS firms. The point is that the service (products) they supply are very largely not purchased by consumers for their own use (note that the outputs of some service industries, such as advertising - and in a different way, architecture and design - may be used extensively by consumers; but they do not, by and large, purchase the service outputs themselves).\nThe evolving knowledge-intensive business services landscape: Trends in knowledge-intensive business services sectoral activity levels\nConclusions: This review has established the continuing significance of KIBS, and the relevance of the analysis in f2005. It has presented key data and pointed to sources of further information. One of the subsequent essays will examine what KIBS mean for innovation systems, and particularly the functioning of innovation systems necessary for our societies to effectively confront grand challenges. The third essay will examine innovation in KIBS, and implications for the future of KIBS firms and the professions and expertise that they mobilise.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The substantial growth in literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBSs) has thrown light on their contributions to innovation and innovation systems. This paper is the first of a set that examines major debates and conclusions to have emerged from this growing body of evidence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a review essay, which also presents relevant statistics. It addresses definitional issues and controversies, and sets out basic trends and characteristics of the KIBS industries. The focus is mainly on KIBS firms, though the production of similar services in other types of organisation is also considered.\nFindings: Many of the conclusions of an earlier (2005) review in this journal remain valid, though difficulties in capturing these activities in official statistics mean that there are many issues that demand closer inspection. Understanding the role and future prospects of KIBS will also require looking beyond the literature that focuses just on KIBS industries.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study involves literature review and statistical analysis. Future work would benefit from involvement of practitioners and users of KIBS.\nPractical implications: More explicit consideration of KIBS in statistical frameworks is still required, and novel approaches to data conceptualisation and production should be explored.\nOriginality/value: The growing literature on KIBS, and its implications for understanding the roles and future development of the firms and their relationships to innovation systems, requires systematic analysis. Available statistics have been brought together, and this paper also reflects critically on the trajectories of research on these topics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge-sharing determinants, behaviors, and innovative work behaviors: An integrated theoretical view and empirical examination	[ "Iran", "Theory of planned behaviour", "Knowledge sharing", "Social exchange theory", "Innovative work behaviours", "Social capital theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge, in the era labeled as knowledge economy, is recognized as a critical asset for organizations to gain competitive advantage and to maintain long-term success.This recognition has encouraged many organizations to adopt knowledge management (KM) initiatives (King and Marks, 2008; He and Wei, 2009). KM is the process of identifying, sharing, and utilizing knowledge and good practice to enable organizations to compete (O'Dell and Grayson, 1998). Researchers tend to describe the knowledge sharing (KS) by the employees as the heart of KM (Riege, 2005). Basically, knowledge is created and applied by individuals (Nonaka, 1994). KS is the pivotal process to transform individual knowledge into organizational knowledge (Nonaka, 1994; Foss et al., 2010). If individuals are found to be reluctant to share what they know, then implementation of KM would be beyond question. KS is crucial to individual level outcomes in organizations. Fostering employees' innovative work behaviors constitutes one of the most important benefits of the KS through providing opportunities for mutual learning and facilitating the knowledge creation and reuse at both individual and organizational levels (Yu et al., 2013; Radaelli et al., 2014). Consequently, the organizations that wish to elevate their employees' innovative work behaviors are likely to motivate their employees to enhance their willingness to share their knowledge (Marshall and Sapsed, 2000; Carmeli et al., 2013).\n2. Theoretical background and research hypotheses: In this section, TPB, SET, and SCT as three important theories concerning formation of the KS behaviors are expressed. The roles of organizational climate and ICT on KS behavior as well as the effect of KS behaviors on innovative work behaviors are also discussed in this section. Lastly, according to the hypotheses developed about significant determinants and one of outcomes of KS, our research model is illustrated.\n3. Research methods: 3.1. Sample and data collection\n4. Research results: 4.1. Analysis method\n5. Discussion and implications: 5.1. Discussion of results\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of socio-psychological factors from different theoretical perspectives, as well as the roles of technological and cultural facilitators on knowledge sharing (KS) behaviors and whether it leads to superior employees' innovative work behaviors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Partial least squares analysis was used to investigate the research model based on a survey of 257 employees from 22 high-tech companies (including companies in pharmaceutical, nano technological, biotechnological, aviation, and aerospace industries) in Iran.\nFindings: The results supported the effects of three motivational factors, i.e. perceived loss of knowledge power, perceived reputation enhancement, and perceived enjoyment in helping others, and two social capital factors, i.e. social interaction ties and trust, on employees' attitude toward KS. Findings also indicated that employees' KS behaviors enhance their innovative work behaviors.\nResearch limitations/implications: Since the survey used cross-sectional data and samples here were limited to some Iranian companies, the results of this study may prove not to be generalizable and should be confirmed using larger samples and/or longitudinal studies.\nPractical implications: The findings provide useful insights into how managers should encourage employees' KS attitudes, intentions, and behaviors to foster innovative work behaviors of employees.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the first attempts to fill the void in integrative research for examining relationships among KS determinants, behaviors, and outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cross-sectional comparison of public-private partnerships in transport infrastructure development in Nigeria	[ "Nigeria", "Critical success factors", "Developing countries", "Partnership", "Procurement", "Private finance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Infrastructure has long been identified as a catalyst for economic growth. The demand for infrastructure development and the maintenance of existing infrastructure caused by economic growth and population increase has in many instances, overtaken the capacity of national governments to provide the necessary finance (Howes and Robinson, 2005). The estimates of investment needs for global infrastructure development ranges as high as US$3 trillion per year, of which approximately US$1 trillion per annum needs to be spent in developing countries (World Economic Forum, 2010). Howes and Robinson (2005) asserted that the estimate for developing the Asian region ranges from US$1 to US$2 trillion, US$600 billion for Latin America while Eastern Europe and Africa also need heavy capital infusions for infrastructure development. The inadequacy of infrastructure in Africa is widely recognised, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The finance required to raise infrastructure to a reasonable level within the next decade is estimated at US$93 billion per year in SSA (World Bank, 2011).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Procurement methods in use\n3. Research methodology: The study adopted literature review and three PPP infrastructure project case studies including structured interviews, personal observations, and review of documentary reports in each case study (see Figure 1). The study area is Lagos metropolis, Nigeria because of the following reasons: accessibility to conduct the case study to obtain required data; availability of substantive PPP experts; appropriateness of the PPP infrastructure projects in transport sector for the analysis; and Lagos state is the first state in Nigeria to promulgate roads, bridges, and highway infrastructure development board law in 2004, and the law provides an enabling PPP legislation to date in Lagos, Nigeria (Global Legal Group, 2007). Figure 1 shows the research methodology chart used in this study. The study employed a multiple case study approach comprised three PPP transport project case studies with a view to providing a richer approach to data collection, analysis, and interpretation (see Figure 1). This is supported by a number of earlier researchers. For instance, Barkley (2004) stated that using a multiple case design allows generalisation of findings or replication within the cases. This is affirmed by Yin (2009) that the results generated through multiple case studies are considered more compelling and robust.\n4. Case studies findings: The structure of the presentation of the three case studies results involve three main steps: a brief write-up on the description of the case studies, based on the review of documentary evidence; a write-up of the findings, based on FMEA result from the individual case analysis; results and discussions. These are briefly discussed as follows.\n5. Conclusion: It is evident that many public transport infrastructure projects are delivered through PPPs in the last two decades. The identification of the specific CSFs for these PPP transport projects implementation is crucial. Considering the vast majority of previous-related studies focused on the CSFs for general implementation of successful PPP projects. It is against this backdrop that this study assessed, identified, and compared specific CSFs in the three PPP transport infrastructure project case studies comprised road, airport, and seaport in Nigeria. In achieving this, a set of 26 success factors were identified from the significant literature, which was used to design a case study protocol using FMEA method. Based on the foregoing, FMEA technique was used to assess the criticality of identified 26 success factors in the three PPP case studies. Thus, using similar CSFs provided a uniform basis and allowed like-for-like comparison between the three PPP case studies. In addition, personal observations and review of documentary reports were conducted in each case study to unfold the characteristics of events, and to describe the process of project conception and delivery, which led to drawn the lessons learnt in the three PPP project case studies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although scientific research community has shown considerable interest in identifying critical success factors (CSFs) for public-private partnership (PPP) projects, yet effort at assessing and compare CSFs within similar PPP infrastructure projects received scant attention. The purpose of this paper is to identify, assess, and compare the CSFs in PPP transport infrastructure projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopted literature review and three PPP case studies including structured interviews and review of documentary reports in each case study. The outcome of literature review provided a total list of 26 identified success factors, which was used to design a case study protocol using failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) technique. FMEA was conducted on each 26 identified success factor to assess their criticality in the three PPP case studies.\nFindings: The results of FMEA revealed a total of ten CSFs in the concession of the road; four CSFs in the concession of the airport; and eight CSFs in the concession of the seaport. Also, the cross-case analysis showed the three prevalent CSFs, this includes government involvement by providing guarantees, political support, and project economic viability.\nPractical implications: The study findings including lessons learnt in each case study would positively influence policy development towards PPP transport infrastructure projects and the manner in which partners (i.e. public and private sector) go about the development of PPP transport projects.\nOriginality/value: This research would help PPP stakeholders to focus their attention and priorities in managing the identified CSFs in achieving long-term success in PPP transport infrastructure projects implementation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Excessive change and coping in the working population	[ "Change management", "Structural equation modelling", "Managerial psychology", "Organizational change", "Counterproductive work behaviour", "Negative workplace behaviours" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Excessive organizational change is an important challenge for managers and academics alike. Many authors have emphasized that organizations must change frequently and efficiently to deal with the increasing turbulence and complexity of today's business environments (Bercovitz and Feldman, 2008). However, many change initiatives are reported as being increasingly fraught and intense, and bringing about potential stress and even harm for participants (Abrahamson, 2004; Stensaker et al., 2002).\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1. Defining change excessiveness\n3. Method: 3.1. Sampling procedures and participants\n4. Results: 4.1. Preliminary analyses\n5. Discussion: In this research, we tested the SRTC on a sample representing a national working population. Our dual objective was to assess the prevalence of excessive change in a nationwide generalizable sample while integrating the SRTC and assessing the reported assumption that excessive change may be an antecedent to the adaptive coping process.\n6. Conclusion: \"Change excess\" and \"change overload\" are terms that are frequently heard in change-management consulting, organizational settings, and academic literature (Abrahamson, 2004; Stensaker et al., 2002). Our primary contribution is to show that change excessiveness, while certainly not negligible, is not necessarily as overwhelming as previously reported. Nonetheless, we also present observations on the importance of appraisals and coping reactions, where we also find that people can potentially cope in such contexts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Two complementary objectives are addressed in this paper. First, several studies are introduced based on the assumption that organizational change is now excessive. The purpose of this paper is to propose an operational definition to change excessiveness, and the authors assess whether it is a generalized phenomenon at a societal level. Second, these studies are habitually mobilizing coping theories to address their purpose. However, an integrated model of coping, including appraisals and coping reactions towards change is still to be tested. Thus, the assessment is anchored in an application of the Stimulus-Response Theory of Coping (SRTC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative study is conducted by administering questionnaires to a nationwide representative sample (n=1,002). Anderson and Gerbing (1991) two-step approach is used to validate the study and tests its hypothesized model. Change excessiveness is measured in order to observe if it is a generalized phenomenon in the working population. Its effects on coping are modelled through the fully mediated SRTC. Therefore, the hypothetical model predicted that the relationships between the perception of excessive change contexts and negative coping reactions is fully mediated by negative appraisals towards change contexts.\nFindings: Perceptions of excessive change is a normally distributed and a statistically centralized phenomenon. As hypothesized, an structural equation modelling test of the SRTC shows a full mediation effect of negative appraisal between change intensity and negative coping to change.\nOriginality/value: This paper empirically tests a nationwide sample where organizational change may be too excessive for individuals' positive coping. It is the first to generalize the observation of change excessiveness as perceived by employees to a nationwide level. Moreover, it addresses the gap between change excessiveness and coping theories in modelling the SRTC through its three components: event, appraisals, and coping reactions. Finally, it presents managerial discussions towards the strategic necessity for organizational change and its potential \"too-much-of-a-good-thing\" effects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Total quality management and innovation: Relationships and effects on performance of agricultural R&D organisations	[ "Total quality management", "Innovation", "Gap scores", "Policy for agricultural R&D organisations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Performance assessment and improvement of agricultural research and development (R&D) organisations is a priority in many countries. As part of the assessment, the organisations are regularly requested for accountability, relevance and effective interaction with stakeholders. In this context, agricultural R&D organisations are often criticised for having modest outputs. Inefficiencies have been related to inadequate response to producers' requirements and to challenges within the sector (Peterson et al., 2003). Furthermore, the absence of realistic theoretical or applied models for sustainable outcomes, continuous improvement and innovation is commonly cited (Clark et al., 2009). In order to overcome deficiencies, attempts have been made by agricultural R&D organisations to use innovation and total quality management (TQM) practices as strategic initiatives for organisational sustainability (Rana et al., 2011; Martinez-Costa and Martinez-Lorente, 2008). Prajogo and Sohal (2004) argue that the proper implementation of TQM and innovative practices can lead to a gain in competitive advantages. However, such claims have not been demonstrated within the context of R&D. It is also uncommon to come across empirical studies associating TQM and innovative practices to performance of agricultural R&D organisations. This paper addresses this gap in existing literature with a view to enable agricultural R&D organisations adopt appropriate policies and strategies for enhanced performance.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Performance of agricultural R&D organisations\n3. Methodology: Development of the TQM-innovation-performance framework involved use of the survey method to collect empirical data for various indicators of TQM, innovation and organisation performance. The scope of the survey methodology focussed on Mauritian agricultural R&D organisations having adequate financial resources for investment in, or commitment to R&D. In order to maintain their activities, these organisations have an obligation to innovate and produce quality research outcomes. To capture reliable and valid data for the constructs under investigation, indicators from available literature on organisational performance, TQM and innovation were thoroughly examined for their relevance as measures for the study.\n4. Investigation model and hypotheses: After selecting the indicators and assessment criteria for TQM and innovation, the model shown in Figure 1 was developed to investigate the impact of the indicators on the performance of agricultural R&D organisations in Mauritius.\n5. Results: 5.1 Descriptive analysis\n6. Discussions: 6.1 Survey instrument and methodological approach\n7. Conclusions: This study illustrates how TQM and innovation practices relate to each other and their empirical impact on performance of agricultural R&D organisations. Mechanistic TQM practices were found to have the highest total effect on performance. The presence of quality systems has among the highest gap scores and total effects. Quality systems include activities that allow employees' skills and actions to contribute towards overall organisational strategic direction. Attempts to introduce quality systems should, however, consider how to integrate quality actions into the organisation's R&D activities. Quality system guides employees on how things are meant to be done through capacity building, procedures, output metrics and standards. However, a too rigorous quality system may reduce creative engagement among employees, which might be inadequate in an R&D environment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and innovation and the way each impacts on the performance of agricultural research and development (R&D) organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A gap score survey instrument based on the balanced scorecard approach, 25 most commonly reported TQM practices and two types of innovation were considered for data collection. Structural equation modelling was used for the analysis of the relationships between the surveyed constructs.\nFindings: A positive relationship between TQM, innovation and performance was observed. A hypothesised model depicting the complex relationships between the investigated constructs was developed.\nPractical implications: The model, which also predicts total effects of various organisational practices on performance, provides an opening for developing a TQM-innovation-performance framework for agricultural R&D organisations.\nOriginality/value: The survey instrument presents a novel approach for assessment of R&D policies and practices through determination of gap scores.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Financial leverage phenomenon in hospitality industry sub-sector portfolios	[ "Firm-specific factors", "Hospitality industry", "Financial leverage proxies", "Macroeconomic indicators", "Sub-sector portfolios", "Degree of financial leverage" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A basic explanation regarding the financial leverage phenomenon is related to a blend of debt and equity and how firms utilize borrowed money to furnish potential total return in favor of shareholders. This borrowing leads to the optimal point in the firms' capital structure furnishing the maximization of the firms' value in the market, and hence, wealth maximization of the shareholders.\n2. Review of related literature: Substantial discrepancies in understanding the financial leverage determined by multifarious causes have been observed since the initiation of early corporate structure theories. Elemental inferences and consequences were centered upon several aspects of the determinants of financial leverage.\n3. Leverage model characteristics of the sub-sector portfolios: 3.1 Hypotheses development\n4. Results and discussions: 4.1 Selected descriptive statistics:\n5. Concluding remarks and implications: The financial leverage phenomenon points to the notion that by borrowing, a firm re-allocates some portion of future cash flow in exchange for pre-financing of cash, which is kind of a cash down-payment and/or cash up front. This basically leads firms to their optimal corporate structure. However, which factors affect the financial leverage decision and, hence, optimal capital structure, for hospitality firms with different firm size and market cap in different sub-industries still remain inconclusive. Empirical papers revealed outputs which differ substantially from one another. These discrepancies might be due to many reasons, such as the data, sample and/or statistical approach utilized. As a result of this, one way to approach and clarify this issue is to examine broad scale of both conventional and explanatory factors at both firm and macro level with different financial leverage measures at different timeframes (short, long and composite-term) for different firm sizes sorted by market-to-book ratio (Mktbk\n6. Sources: SIC codes are from French, R. Kenneth data library website at http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu.pitt.idm.oclc.org/pages/faculty/ken.french/data_library.html\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to seek answers to a primary question: \"How much do divergent leverage factors account for fluctuations in time-varying financial leverage in leading hospitality sub-sectors decomposed by four exclusive sub-portfolios?\" In the path of seeking answers, this paper investigated the effects of both firm-specific and macroeconomic indicators to firms' varying financial leverage in those primary sub-sectors overtime.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In each sub-sector portfolios, firms were sorted based on market-to-book values (Mktbk\nFindings: Results exhibited assorted evidences. The bottom line was: firms with different market capitalization rates in each portfolio acted differently in regard to the magnitude of financial leverage across time.\nResearch limitations/implications: The final sample of 415 firms in four sub-sector portfolios sufficiently embraced financial leverage composition in the hospitality industry across time. However, by reason of lack of data in the other intra-hospitality industries, such as gaming and/or cruise lines, findings did not represent the firms operated in those sub-industries.\nOriginality/value: This paper departed from the established context of the previous literature in the manner that it expects to add to the literature by demonstrating the core drivers causing the deviations in financial structure in four exclusive, hospitality industry sub-sector portfolios with varying leverage proxies overtime.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dealing with the knowledge economy: intellectual capital versus balanced scorecard	[ "Balanced scorecard", "Intellectual capital", "Knowledge management", "Performance measurement (quality)", "Performance management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The meagre relationship between accounting cues (earnings and/or book values) and market values provides a dramatic justification not only for the current interest in intellectual capital (Stewart, 1997; Sveiby 1997, Sullivan, 1998), but also for the recent version of balanced scorecard (Kaplan and Norton 2001). Sveiby (1997, p. 8) suggests as follows:When the market price is higher than the book value ... there must be something among the company's assets that will yield higher than bank interest in the future. These assets are invisible because they are not accounted for. They are intangible because they are neither brick nor mortar nor money.\nIdeas of strategy: For both balanced scorecard and intellectual capital, strategy is a centrepiece. Both justify the inclusion of indicators in terms of their relevance for reflecting strategy. In contrast to the financial system of double entry bookkeeping, indicators are here relevant if they help understand strategy rather than obey principles of recording financial transactions. Balanced scorecard and intellectual differ with respect to theory of strategy, however. The balanced scorecard builds on competitive strategy (Porter, 1980, 1985, 1996), as it is \"consistent with the industry and competitive analysis articulated in several of Michael Porter's widely followed corporate strategy books\" (Kaplan and Norton 1996a, p. 37) while intellectual capital orients itself towards competency-based strategy (see Grant, 1998, Hamel and Prahalad, 1994), which \"generates value through the knowledge, skills, talents and know-how of employees. This is exactly what all the literature on core competencies has been concentrating on\" (Roos et al. 1997, p. s.35).Balanced scorecard\nIdeas of organisation: The ideas of organisation of balanced scorecard and intellectual capital differ in terms of the preferred direction of authority. While both centre top management they do so with very different emphases.Balanced scorecard\nThe idea of management: The particular job to be executed by top managers also differs between balanced scorecard and intellectual capital. This is not surprising given the status of organisational arrangement in the two situations. Yet, the directive role of top managers in the balanced scorecard, and the missionary role of top managers in the intellectual capital context are important.Balanced scorecard\nThe idea of indicators: Balanced scorecard and intellectual use \"non-financial\" indicators as supplements to the conventional set of financial indicators. Both suggest that in addition to financial capital/financial perspective, there is customer capital/customer perspective, organisational capital/internal process perspective, and human capital/learning and growth. The categories are not similar but have parallel readings. However, they are not accorded similar roles in the wholes complex of balanced scorecard or intellectual capital. To balanced scorecard they are causally related while in intellectual capital they are bundled and complementary.Balanced scorecard\nComparing balanced scorecard and intellectual capital: The presentation of balanced scorecard and intellectual capital performed above dramatises their differences, and pays only limited attention to similarities. This is partly due to the principles of our analysis, which is to read the texts literally. The similarities are also clear, however. Both ideas suggest that non-financial indicators be interesting and relevant; that strategy has to be an explicit part of a performance management system; that there has to be a \"comprehensive' view of the firm's situation; and that there must be attention to intangibles and knowledge. These similarities probably make writers such as Bontis et al. (1999), Petty and Guthrie (2000) and others suggest that balanced scorecard be an integral element of intellectual capital. Our analysis, however, suggests that the differences between balanced scorecard and intellectual capital are also interesting. They differ, e.g. in terms of their involvement with organisational strategy, organisation and management that create radically different version of how it is possible to prescribe management decision-making. These differences can be compared against assumptions about the firm, strategy, organisation and management and indicators.Assumptions about the firm\nConclusion: Balanced scorecard and intellectual capital are performance management systems which integrate financial and non-financial indicators and are tightly coupled to the firm's strategy. Often, they are presented as largely similar or even identical. However, analysing texts about balanced scorecard and intellectual capital a more varied impression is formed. If the texts are followed, it seems that the indicators and the four perspectives mobilised by balanced scorecard and intellectual capital are but a fragment of their arguments. The indicators are shaped according to the purpose they are to serve, and this purpose is found in two different strategies: competitive advantage strategy and competency strategy. They differ in their perspectives on value construction, where the competitive advantage approach heralds markets, customer and rivals as primary elements of value production, while the competency perspective focuses on the internally-generated, historically-forged competencies and capabilities that have a long time horizon. According to the competitive advantage approach value comes from manoeuvring the marketplace, while for competence strategy, value derives form techno-organisational capabilities. This has consequences, one being that the balanced scorecard indicators are said to cohere in a sequential structure of cause-and-effect, while for intellectual capital, the indicators are bundles and form a network around capabilities and their development.So, there are differences. Do they matter? First, it is clear that strategy is not a simple and innocent matter. Strategy does not have a referent by itself, but this referent has to be explained and justified. Strategy therefore is a problem rather than a solution, and as a theme, strategy has important variations. Second, the indicators are constructive. This means that \"the world\" is only accessible if it somehow has been made communicable - indicators are indispensable for this end. Indicators are not innocent, but are the only means that we have to talk about the world and make it real to us. Therefore, even if the indicators present loosely coupled numbers, they are the language that brings forth \"balance\" and \"intellectual resources\". Therefore, indicators are the avenue to the \"world\", but they are also already spoken for through the theory of strategy that has been imposed on them. Numbers do not speak freely - they are spoken for, and their object is fabricated outside the measurement system itself. The indicators therefore underscore a framework, language or perspective established elsewhere - they do not expose them or reveal their \"true nature\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper compares balanced scorecard and intellectual capital and finds important differences between their theoretical underpinnings, which suggest that the breath of indicators will work differently in organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Analysing texts about balanced scorecard and intellectual capital, the paper discusses not the obvious similarities - that they are both integrated performance management systems - but four more aspects: strategy, organisation, management, and indicators. Comparing these four dimensions the paper discusses the differences arising from the very different theories of strategy that they presuppose: competitive advantage versus competency strategy.\nFindings: - The paper suggests that the very different notions of strategy that underpin the balanced scorecard and the intellectual capital approach make such comprehensive performance management systems behave in very different ways - the difference between a tightly coupled and a loosely coupled system accounts for this.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The main limitation is that the paper is primarily a literature study and therefore it is not certain that in practical situations companies will necessarily adopt the theoretical perspectives mobilised behind balance scorecard and intellectual capital.\nPractical implications: - The usefulness of that paper is that practitioners may understand the breath of implications of a shift in strategic focus and realise the various organisational conditions that can help mobilise the use of indicators in different ways.\nOriginality/value: - The paper's analysis shows how the two models assume how indicators work in an organisational systems and concludes that the differences are significant and that therefore there are considerable differences in how a system of indicators may work in the context of balanced scorecard compared with the context of intellectual capital.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of product lean launch in customer relationships and performance in the high-tech manufacturing industry	[ "Lean", "Product launch", "Customer relationship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Outsourcing strategy plays a critical role in the high-tech industry. Gottfredson et al. (2005) suggested that firms focus on their core competencies and outsource other value added activities to suppliers. Consequently, firms used outsourcing to integrate activities based on the value chain for product development and relied on suppliers for outsourcing services to obtain competitive advantage (Nicholls-Nixon and Woo, 2003) and save on costs (Chalos and Sung, 1988). Brand customers[1] such as HP, Dell, Sony, and Acer, outsource research and development (R\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Using a literature review, we hypothesized that a contract manufacturer could efficiently employ a lean launch strategy for a new product through cooperativeness, behavior monitoring, and senior management involvement. However, scant literature has considered the customer relationship a substantial factor in product launch execution. We explain the relationships hypotheses in detail in the following section.\nMethodology: We chose the managers of contract manufacturing firms in Taiwan to participate in this study and chose Taiwanese firms because they have become a crucial aspect of the global supply chain in the high-tech manufacturing industry. According to the production share ranking of the Market Intelligence Centre (MIC) for Taiwanese IT firms, the notebooks, PCs, motherboards, and liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors produced by Taiwanese IT firms are ranked first worldwide. Taiwanese firms have become famous original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or original design manufacturer (ODM) suppliers through the value added chain in the worldwide high-tech manufacturing industry. Most brand customers (HP, Dell, Sony, and Apple) use outsource product design and production to Taiwanese contract manufacturers. In several instances, FOXCONN Technology Group is number one worldwide as a servicing contract manufacturer for different types of electronic products. Recently, Quanta Computer directly supplied cloud server equipment to Google, Amazon, and Facebook. The 2011 MIC reported that International Procurement Offices purchased US$90 billion of electronic products in Taiwan.\nHypothesis test: The SEM was employed to examine the relationship among all the variables and test hypotheses in the model. We simultaneously examined the measurement model and structural model. We used AMOS 18 to estimate the model parameters for the proposed conceptual model. The results are presented in Figure 2. The overall model fitness indices show that the field data fit the conceptual model well (GFI=0.934, AGFI=0.910, p-value=0.152, kh2=188.986 (df=170)). Most of the hypothesized main effects were determined to be significant at the a=0.01 level. We determined a positive effect of senior management involvement on cooperativeness. The path coefficient of senior management involvement to cooperativeness was 0.408 (t=4.989, p\nDiscussion: Most of the hypotheses related to lean launch (H1-H4, H6a, and H7) are significant, according to SEM analysis, but H5 and H6b are not supported. Compared with other industries, high-tech manufacturing industries have become more complex and uncertain because of short product life cycles, and customers' demands for high-quality products at low prices. Contract manufacturers aim to launch highly customized products at competitive costs, with shorter lead times, to maintain customer relationships and their own competitive advantages. We observed that senior management involvement with contract manufacturers exerts a positive effect on cooperativeness with brand customers. The result is consistent with senior management providing appropriate leadership to acquire resources and enhance cooperativeness (Carlsson and Carlsson, 1996). As senior managers become involved in brand-customer projects, brand customers will realize that contract manufacturers focus on them and will likely share additional information and discuss business plans with contract manufacturers, reflecting high levels of cooperativeness. Therefore, senior management involvement improves cooperativeness between brand customers and contract manufacturers. We also determined behavior monitoring by the brand customer to exert a direct effect on senior management involvement. This reveals that brand customers prefer to monitor the behavior of contract manufacturers, including changes in the production schedule and SOP in manufacturing. Brand customers prefer to choose key component suppliers for new product design, such as chipset and panel suppliers. That is why senior managers must be highly involved in integrating cross-functions and in negotiating with external suppliers, particularly because of customer changes or requirements.\nManagerial implication: This study has certain managerial implications for contract manufacturers. First, customer relationships involve cooperation with brand customers, and monitoring of a contract manufacturer's behavior by brand customers. Senior managers must be involved in brand customers' projects. Moreover, brand customers prefer to share information on marketing, technology trends, and business plans with contract manufacturers with high levels of cooperation. Brand customers prefer to monitor contract manufacturers' behavior. Senior managers at contract manufacturers must be highly involved in integrating cross-functions and in negotiating with external suppliers, specifically regarding customers' changes or requirements. Second, in the high-tech industry, the management of the customer relationship by contract manufacturers results in more satisfactory lean launch execution. Managers that execute a lean launch strategy can maintain minimal inventories and lower costs, and can more quickly respond to customers and make new products available, improving customer satisfaction. This facilitates increases in new product orders from brand customers, thereby achieving profit and sales targets. However, senior management involvement is an indirect tactic to improve lean launch execution and particularly crucial to leverage senior managers' power to improve cooperativeness with brand customers toward product launch performance.\nLimitations and suggestions for future research: Our study includes certain limitations. First, lean launch does not affect marketing performance directly. Future research can focus on the other effects on marketing performance, such as NPD capability, innovative products, market orientation, and technological capability. Second, other dimensions may affect the lean launch strategy. Future studies might examine cross-functional teams, inventory strategies, and product complexity. Third, we focussed on the contract manufacturer's perspective for collecting data. Future research could focus on the brand customers' perspective or gather research data from both sides. Our sample comprises only Taiwanese contract manufacturers, suggesting that future studies extend our sample to compare results among countries. Finally, although we analyzed projects based on the NPD project at the analysis level, the respondents differed in the departments in which they were employed, the projects for which they were responsible for, their job functions, and the customers they served. However, a potential correlation was still expected between managers responding from the same firm. This concern was a limitation of this study. We suggest that future researchers consider hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) as an analysis method, and compare the results of using the SEM and HLM methods.\nConclusion: This study contributes to the literature on customer relationships and product lean launches in several ways. First, previous lean launch studies (Bowersox et al., 1999; Calantone et al., 2005) have mainly investigated lean launches from the supply chain perspective; few studies have investigated lean launch strategies from the customer relationship perspective. This study's critical contribution is its theoretical and empirical demonstration of the link between customer relationships and lean launch strategies. Second, this study determined characteristics specific to customer relationships in the high-tech manufacturing industry. Contract manufacturers manage the brand-customer relationship through cooperativeness and behavior monitoring, leading to higher levels of lean launch execution toward new product performance. Finally, in this study, a comprehensive research framework was developed, that can be used by managers as an instrument to manage customer relationships when launching new products.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Most new product research for the past two decades has focussed on new product development and product innovation. Only a few product launches have been discussed in specific fields. The purpose of this paper is to fill the literature gap regarding enhanced product launch performance by using the customer relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: From the contract manufacturer's perspective, the authors propose that the customer relationship and senior management involvement affects lean launch execution. The customer relationship includes both cooperativeness and behavior monitoring. Studies have suggested that a lean launch exerts a direct influence on new product performance and marketing performance. We used a questionnaire to collect data to test the postulated research model and hypotheses from project, account, and purchasing managers in the high-tech manufacturing industry.\nFindings: The results provided compelling evidence that the customer relationship exerts a positive effect on lean launch, which in turn exerts a positive effect on new product performance. Although lean launch execution affected marketing performance through new product performance, the direct effect on marketing performance was non-significant. Senior management involvement exerted an indirect influence on lean launch performance through cooperativeness.\nOriginality/value: This paper suggests and empirically tests a model to explain how contract manufacturers manage brand-customer relationship through cooperativeness and behavior monitoring, leading to higher levels of lean launch execution toward new product performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceptions are relative: An examination of the relationship between relative satisfaction metrics and share of wallet	[ "Customer behaviour", "Consumer satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Managers widely believe that customer satisfaction is a fundamental determinant of long-term consumer behavior (Oliver, 1980; Yi, 1990). This widespread acceptance has made customer satisfaction the most widely used metric in the measurement and management of consumer loyalty (Aksoy, 2013a; Zeithaml et al., 2006). Companies spend substantial amounts of money to measure and manage customer satisfaction. For example, Inside Research (2012) found that for the 13 marketing research firms that responded to their survey, revenue from US-only customer satisfaction research would exceed $750 million - this figure likely underestimates the total spent with marketing research firms given the small number of responding firms.\nStructure of manuscript: This investigation relies upon a rigorous investigation of different power laws and hierarchical regression models. As a result, a thorough description of the investigation requires a detailed presentation of several models and analytic procedures. This has the potential to make the paper quite technical and fragmented, resulting in a paper that is difficult for most managers to read. As a result, we believe that the core message of the paper can be lost in the technical descriptions of the models and analytics.\nTheoretical background: Customer satisfaction\nResearch objectives: The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between relative satisfaction and share of wallet. As noted earlier, the research to date tends to support the superiority of relative perceptual and attitudinal metrics to monadic metrics in correlating to consumer buying behaviors such as share of wallet (e.g. Bowman and Narayandas, 2004; Hofmeyr et al., 2008; Keiningham et al., 2011). Therefore, we hypothesize:\nData and measures: Data collection\nAnalysis: Description of the relationship between SOW and rank\nDiscussion and conclusion: The analysis reported here advances the empirical research regarding the relationship between customer satisfaction and share of wallet in two overarching ways. First, our findings clearly demonstrate that relative ranked satisfaction is superior to absolute satisfaction in linking to the share of category spending that customers allocate to the brands that they use.\nConclusion: There is general agreement among researchers and practitioners that satisfaction is relative to competitive alternatives (e.g. Birtchnell, 1994; Holt and Huber, 1969; Varki and Rust, 1997; Semon, 1994). Nonetheless, researchers and managers have not treated satisfaction as a relative construct. The result has been weak relationships between satisfaction and SOW in the literature, and challenges by managers as to whether satisfaction is a useful predictor of customer behavior and business growth (Chemi, 2013; Gupta and Zeithaml, 2006; Reichheld, 2003).\nLimitations: Although this investigation used a large data set comprised of multiple brands, industries, and countries, there are limitations that should be noted. Inclusion of additional brands, industries and countries would more clearly establish the generalizability of our findings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: There is general agreement among researchers and practitioners that satisfaction is relative to competitive alternatives. Nonetheless, researchers and managers have not treated satisfaction as a relative construct. The result has been weak relationships between satisfaction and share of wallet in the literature, and challenges by managers as to whether satisfaction is a useful predictor of customer behavior and business outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the best approach for linking satisfaction to share of wallet.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using data from 79,543 consumers who provided 258,743 observations regarding the brands that they use (over 650 brands) covering 20 industries from 15 countries, various models such as the Wallet Allocation Rule (WAR), Zipf-AE, and Zipf-PM, truncated geometric model, generalization of the WAR and hierarchical regression models are compared to each other.\nFindings: The results indicate that the relationship between satisfaction and share of wallet is primarily driven by the relative fulfillment customers perceive from the various brands that they use (as gauged by their relative ranked satisfaction level), and not the absolute level of satisfaction.\nPractical implications: The findings provide practical insight into several easy-to-use approaches that researchers and managers can apply to improve the strength of the relationship between satisfaction and share of wallet.\nOriginality/value: This research provides support to the small number of studies that point to the superiority of using relative metrics, and encourages the adoption of relative satisfaction metrics by the academic community.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Influence of personal attributes on perception of residential facilities management services	[ "Hong Kong", "Perception", "Performance evaluation", "Facilities management services", "Personal attributes", "Residential buildings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In densely populated places, most residential buildings are multi-storey buildings occupied by multiple owners or tenants. The communal areas of these buildings, such as corridors, foyers, staircases, roofs and open spaces (gardens, pavements, podiums, etc. and the installations there (e.g. lifts, lighting, drainage, fire services) are shared for use by the end users. To ensure that such facilities perform to the satisfaction of the users, quality management services are needed.\nMethod and data: Among the numerous residential estates in Hong Kong, the one selected for this study satisfied the following criteria. First, the scale of the estate was within the typical range which covers a large number of similar estates. Second, the estate had been occupied for a considerable period and its facilities had been provided with recurrent management services so that the users would be able to confidently indicate their perception about the services. Third, the open spaces of the estate were not restricted from access, allowing interviews to be made with the users.\nAnalysis and discussion: Characteristics of the estate and the users\nConclusions: The performance of FM services, which is crucial to the living quality in numerous residential buildings, can be measured by the end users' perception about the services. Among the users surveyed, the proportion of usable samples, i.e. those who provided consistent judgments when rating the relative importance between pairs of the five FM aspects, was around 30 per cent. With the users grouped according to their gender, age, education and income levels, it was found that the male adults, users with tertiary education and those with earning capacity tended to give more consistent responses. These findings can serve as a reference when it is necessary to determine the target amount of samples to be collected in similar surveys in future.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore the influence of personal attributes, namely, gender, age, education and income, on the perception of facilities management (FM) services for residential buildings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Collected through an interview survey, the personal particulars of the users of a typical residential estate in Hong Kong and their perceived importance and performance levels of five main aspects of FM services were analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process and statistical analyses.\nFindings: The weighted performance ratings of the services, which are products of interaction between perceived importance and perceived performance, showed perfect rank correlations across user groups with different personal attributes. As for the shares contributed to the services' overall weighted performance, the largest differences were associated with the security and leisure and landscape aspects rated between the users with tertiary education and those without.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings that male adults, users with tertiary education and those with earning capacity tended to give more consistent responses can serve as a reference for determining the target amount of samples in similar surveys in future. Further work is needed to research into how the method of this study may be adapted for use in investigating FM services for other types of buildings or the same type of buildings in other places.\nPractical implications: The approach taken in scrutinizing the performance contributions of the services, which helps to identify any improvements needed, can be used to evaluate FM services for similar residential buildings.\nOriginality/value: The study results provide an understanding of the influence of personal attributes on perception of FM services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Time and cost constrained optimal designs of multiple step stress tests under progressive censoring	[ "Optimal design", "Tampered failure rate model", "Accelerated life testing", "Cost constraint", "Progressive Type-I censoring", "Step stress" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In reliability analysis, it is not easy to collect lifetimes on highly reliable products with very long lifetimes as very few or even no failures may occur within a limited testing time under normal operating conditions. To induce early failures, an accelerated life test (ALT) is often used. The ALT can quickly yield information about the lifetime distributions of products by inducing early failure with stronger stress than normal. The results obtained at the accelerated conditions are analyzed in terms of a model to relate lifetime to stress.\n2. Test procedure and model description: This section discusses assumptions and test procedure of k level SSALT under progressive type-I censoring plan for Rayleigh distribution.\n3. TFR model: Bhattacharyya and Soejoeti (1989) proposed the TFR model for SSALT. This model assumes that the effect of changing the stress from Sj-1 to Sj is to multiply the initial failure rate function by aj-1. Let l(t) denote the failure rate function of the step-stress lifetime t. The proposed TFR model is defined as:\n4. Model formulation: 4.1 Parameters estimation\n5. Constrained optimization and cost function: In order to conduct an SSALT experiment efficiently with constrained resources in practice, stress durations should be determined carefully at the design stage. It is because this decision variable affects the experimental cost as well as the precision of the parameter estimates of interest. Under the constraint that the total experimental cost does not exceed a pre-specified budget, a typical decision problem of interest can be formulated as to optimize (minimize or maximize) an objective function of choice subject to CT CB, where CB is the total pre-specified budget and CT is the total cost for running an k level SSALT.\n6. Optimality criteria: This section defines different optimality criteria for determining the optimal design under the cost constraint. Here, the focus is to determine the optimal stress change times\n7. Numerical results: A numerical study was then conducted in order to determine the optimal design points under the cost and time constraints. The cost constraint here is that the maximum total experimental cost does not exceed the pre-specified budget. In this study, it is assumed that the step durations are all equal for simplicity of discussion, tj=j*D, for j=1, 2, ..., k, where D is the duration of each step. This assumption is also convenient for practitioners. In this case, the total cost of test, that was stated in (6), can be expressed as follows:\n8. Conclusion: In this paper, the constrained optimal k level SSALT plan was investigated subject to the total experimental cost not exceeding a given budget. The Rayleigh life distribution under the progressive Type-I censoring was considered. Based on the log-linear relationship between the scale parameter and stress level, along with the TFR model for the effect of stress change in SSALT, the associated Fisher information was derived. After obtaining the cost function, the optimal design points were determined according to the R/P/D/T-optimality criteria based on the information matrix under a pre-specified budget constraint. Finally, a numerical study was conducted to illustrate the optimum test design according to the different criteria under unconstrained and constrained conditions. Based on the results of the simulation study, the cost constraint reduces cost and time of the test and also, in the most cases, it increases the efficiency of the test. Also, the T-optimal design was lowest cost and time for testing and it was found more optimal in both conditions, constrained or unconstrained.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider the general k level step-stress accelerated life test with the Rayleigh lifetime distribution for units subjected to stress under progressive Type-I censoring.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The parameter of this distribution is assumed to be a log-linear function of the stress, and a tampered failure rate model holds. The progressive Type-I censoring reduces the cost of testing. Due to constrained resources in practice, the test design must be optimized carefully. A numerical study is conducted to illustrate the optimum test design based on several four optimality criteria under the constraint that the total experimental cost does not exceed a pre-specified budget.\nFindings: This paper compares unconstrained and constrained optimal k level step-stress test. Based on the results of the simulation study, the cost constraint reduces cost and time of the test and it also, in the most cases, increases the efficiency of the test. Also, the T-optimal design is lowest cost and time for testing and it is found more optimal in both conditions.\nOriginality/value: In this paper, various optimization criteria for selecting the stress durations have been used, and these criteria are compared together. Also, because of affecting the stress durations on the experimental cost, the author optimize under the constraint that the total experimental cost does not exceed a pre-specified budget. The efficiency of the unconstrained test in comparison with constrained test is discussed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Being awkward: creating conscious culture change	[ "Leadership", "M&A", "Due diligence", "Communications", "Corporate culture", "Mergers & acquisitions", "Post-merger integration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the first half of 2014, cross-border deals represented 46.1 per cent of all mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions, the highest percentage ever, and with a total value of $724 billion, international M&A is back to pre-recession levels (Ungerman, 2014). While there are numerous factors driving this growth, the continued, if slower, growth of emerging markets, particularly China, India and Brazil, has played a significant role in this pronounced increase in cross-border M&A.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine why culture is the cause of such widespread failure in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and explore ways to improve their success rate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Review of some prominent \"failed\" mergers for evidence of the influence of cultural factors.\nFindings: It was found that M&A tended to be more successful where cultural factors were made a priority early in the process and where transparent and two-sided dialogue about culture took place up and down both organizations.\nOriginality/value: Although the impact of culture in M&A is a topic that has been covered before, this review identifies some new approaches to improving M&A success rates.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The classification of supplier selection criteria with respect to lean or agile manufacturing strategies	[ "Lean manufacturing", "Agile manufacturing", "Suppliers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Today, businesses are under tremendous pressure to be competitive in their chosen markets. The existing market condition challenges manufacturing firms to strengthen and maintain their capabilities to compete in the marketplace. The current globalizing trends, the rapid technological changes, the advances in manufacturing technology as well as well-informed and ever-demanding customers are forcing manufacturing organizations to optimize their manufacturing processes, operations, and their supply chains to be able to deliver customers value (Karim and Arif-Uz-Zaman, 2013). Consequently, improving organizational capabilities in the form of operational capabilities plays a major role in building and maintaining business competitiveness.\nLiterature review: Through reviewing previous studies, it appears that there are two main streams of literature with respect to lean and agile. The first stream advocates that lean and agile are mutually exclusive strategies that cannot co-exist (Krishnamurthy and Yauch, 2007). In that sense, Narasimhan et al. (2006) provided a theoretical distinction between the performance dimensions of lean manufacturing and the performance dimensions of agile manufacturing. In general, leanness asserts the elimination of all forms of waste and highlights the importance of leveling production schedule (Narasimhan et al., 2006; Naylor et al., 1999) and is associated with great emphasis on efficiency (Hallgren and Olhager, 2009). While agility requires the use of market knowledge (Narasimhan et al., 2006) and is associated with the need to accommodate the differences in customer requirements (Krishnamurthy and Yauch, 2007; Hallgren and Olhager, 2009).\nResearch argument and hypothesis development: In general, the effective management of purchasing and supply function (the procurement) requires the identification of a set of selection criteria that help manufacturing organizations to scan the market and select the right supplier (Ndubisi et al., 2005). Drake et al. (2013) identified that manufacturing organizations have to utilize their supplier's strengths to support their competitiveness in the marketplace. The supplier selection criteria set by a manufacturer, being as part of the procurement process, should be based on their strategic contribution to the overall performance of that manufacturer (Carr and Pearson, 2002; Ndubisi et al., 2005; Kotula et al., 2015). Thus, the procurement strategy, being as a functional area responsible for dealing with suppliers, should be cascaded from the company's business strategy (Drake et al., 2013). In that sense, the selection criteria that are used by a manufacturer will depend on the requirements of the manufacturers' customers (Naylor et al., 1999) and should help that manufacturer to overcome the \"upstream\" uncertainties (Ndubisi et al., 2005).\nResearch methodology: This research commenced with reviewing the extant literature of lean and agile manufacturing strategies and suppliers' selection criteria literature guided by the concept of systematic literature review proposed by Tranfield et al. (2003). The aim is to understand how manufacturers determine their supplier's selection criteria with reference to the manufacturing strategy they follow. Specific management databases, such as Emerald Insight and Science Direct, were investigated to identify articles discussing manufacturing strategies (lean and agile manufacturing) and supplier selection criteria. Abstract and citation search was carried out according to some inclusion and exclusion criteria. Accordingly, articles written in other languages rather than English were excluded. Besides, this research develops particular interest in manufacturing context and thus articles focusing on service organizations were also excluded.\nAnalysis and results: Factor analysis and reliability measure\nDiscussion: The purpose of this research paper is to understand the role that manufacturing strategies play in classifying supplier selection criteria into three groups. The researcher assumed that a manufacturing strategy that asserts lean manufacturing uses particular criteria that strengthen their leanness while selecting their suppliers. Furthermore, the researcher proposed that manufacturing strategies that are inclined toward agility will use the criteria that affect their responsiveness while selecting their suppliers. Finally, the researcher proposed that there are other supplier selection criteria that lean and agile implementers place comparable emphasis to them while selecting their suppliers.\nConclusion and limitations: This research aims to empirically explicate how manufacturing firms classify their supplier selection criteria with respect to their manufacturing strategies (lean vs agile). Originally, it was proposed by previous literature that there are 14 selection criteria that manufacturing firms usually use to select their suppliers. However, there is little empirical evidence on how manufacturing strategies affect the classification of those selection criteria. Thus, the research reported in this paper argued that although there are some selection criteria that might be commonly used by manufacturing firms, other selection criteria will be determined by manufacturing organizations depending on their degree of leanness vs their degree of agility. Through the empirical analysis, the research results indicated that lean implementers are more concerned with selecting suppliers that are capable of minimizing the variability in supply. While agile implementers will provide higher priority to criteria that affect their ability to be highly responsive to market variability while selecting their suppliers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how manufacturing strategies could affect the supplier selection criteria used by business firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey strategy was used to empirically understand the research argument. First, principal component factor analysis was employed to validate the underlying structure of the supplier selection criteria. Then, simple regression analysis was employed to test the research hypotheses.\nFindings: Organizations pursuing lean strategies will emphasize factors that improve their efficiency when selecting their suppliers, while organizations pursuing agile strategies will assert factors that improve their ability to respond to customer unique requirements when selecting their suppliers.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study provides new insight for researchers to understand the effect of manufacturing strategies on the classification of supplier selection criteria. However, the small sample size might limit the ability to generalize research findings. Further research is required to confirm the findings using a wider sample.\nPractical implications: This research provides practitioners with useful insights into how to select their suppliers based on their manufacturing strategies.\nOriginality/value: This paper classifies supplier selection criteria into three distinct groups: lean, agile, and common capabilities. Lean capability refers to the list of criteria that are highly relevant in selecting suppliers for lean implementers. Agile capability refers to the list of criteria that are highly relevant in selecting suppliers for agile implementers. Finally, common capability refers to the list of criteria that have comparable relevance in selecting suppliers for both lean and agile implementers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Working with the divides: Two critical axes in development for transformative professional practices	[ "Higher education", "Professional development", "Academisation", "ESD competence(s)", "Sustainability transitions", "Whole institution development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As the 2015 climate talks in Paris have reminded us, we are currently witnessing a disturbing deterioration of the global situation, affecting our future prospects at a planetary scale (Rockstrom, 2015). While certain progress has been made at the level of rhetoric, the structural drivers for unsustainable modes of production and inequitable societies appear instead to have gained in strength and momentum. In the face of such developments, it is time to accelerate our reflection on education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education (HE), and sharpen our strategies.\nSustainability and learning for action: The question of how to educate for sustainability in HE has been addressed by reflection on quality (Ryan and Tilbury, 2013) in whole university approaches, as well as through reflection on relevant ESD competences (Mader and Mader, 2012). As curriculum and verbalised common goals, competences have significance for individual teaching and in brokering ideas across the university (Barth and Michelsen, 2013; Ferreira et al., 2014). Nevertheless, despite promotion throughout Europe (Adomssent et al., 2014), drivers for developing ESD competences of university educators are generally lacking (UE4SD, 2014; Tilbury et al., 2014). Transfer potentials of ESD for other programmes are not exploited (Ryan and Tilbury, 2013). Importantly, although substantial efforts have been made to work for ESD perspectives in HE, many graduates still find it difficult to implement aims and visions for sustainability in their professional practice. It is therefore urgent to know which aspects of learning are critical for university graduates to engage in practices that will result in real societal changes (Patterson et al., 2013).\nConnections between sustainability research and vocational programmes: In the following, it will be argued that more opportunities for dialogue and mutual interaction with a focus on action for sustainability are needed between the more theoretical and discipline-oriented academic environments, and vocational programmes oriented towards activity in other parts of society. In the absence of such dialogue, there is a risk that the knowledge and expertise concerning changes for sustainability will be perceived by practitioners as lacking in relevance and ill-adapted to the constraints of working life. The connections between strong research environments in sustainability sciences and the professional and vocational programmes (Tight, 2012) are likely to have implications not only for initial training, but also for lifelong learning. If there are no connections between vocational programmes and strong sustainability research centres, expertise concerning change for sustainability will also not be involved in continuous professional development or development projects at the workplace. From this point of view, it is also important to look at how vocational and professional programmes are placed in relation to university education in different countries.\nSustainability and drivers for institutional development: If we consider the massive body of knowledge and experience concerning sustainability that already exists, why is it that this knowledge has not until now had a stronger impact? What are the pathways and mediating mechanisms through which it becomes accessible and actionable? When we study ESD in higher education, it is not sufficient to make inventories of what is done for sustainability. It is equally important, if not more so, to look at what is driving developments that impede sustainability: what is preventing us from shifting the balance and reversing current dynamics at a planetary scale? Attention must consequently be devoted to the forces that shape conditions for education as a whole (Ryan and Tilbury, 2013). There is no doubt that one of the main barriers is the lack of strategic boundary-crossing thinking. In this respect, Barth and Michelsen (2013, p. 114) conclude that inter- and transdisciplinary research is largely \"disincentivized by the existing fragmentation of disciplines and the discipline-oriented modes of quality assessment and tenure granting\".\nIncentives and fragmentation: The lack of effective steering for sustainability would seem to be motivated by academic freedom, critical thinking and a desire to support unbiased investigations and unfettered creative potentials. In practice however, academic freedom has been severely limited. The ambition to support sustainability thus simply becomes a softer and less binding requirement, at the tail end of a long list of conditions for balancing department budgets, and producing end-of-year statements with the required statistics. To the extent that university structures are primarily driven by research rather than pedagogical considerations, the forms of contact between strong research centres for sustainability science and vocational education are limited. Some contacts do exist, in a range of mostly technical professions and specialisations which are from the outset, defined as \"environmental\". Even here, however, emphasis is on the specific requirements of the profession, rather than on systemic changes and the role that could be played in more far-reaching transitional shifts. Thus, sustainability work for practitioners is reduced to details in the 'niche', rather than aiming towards changing the \"landscape\" (Geels and Schot, 2010).\nThe deep rift: theory/practice divides: In this article, it is argued that a contributing factor to the reduction in the flow of ideas through academic institutions is the view of academic activity as operating in a pure and abstract realm of ideas. In other words, science is produced in a way so as to be distinct and different from practice, thus creating incompatibilities at the outset. There are assumptions that culture, values and differences in interests or consequences for different groups are a secondary issue in producing \"hard\" facts (Stromquist and Monkman, 2014), so that academics tend to disregard the wider agendas and dynamics that shape HE. Certain epistemologies contribute to this perception that science can be produced in the form of free-floating bits and pieces detached from wider frames of relevance.\nWhole institution development for sustainability: The overall organisation of institutional structures at universities was not originally intended for ESD and holistic visions, but for quite other purposes. Every academic subject has its historical reason for existing. The default mode of not taking active measures to enable ESD in HE will therefore support an organisation that works to defend and maintain distinct disciplines (Wals, 2014), and where sustainability is seen as a content (competing with many others), rather than as an urgent priority, and an overarching approach informing the fundamental aims and work forms of education. Although strong sustainability research environments may include interdisciplinary project-based learning, the environments have not been created to support vocational programmes. These environments are instead driven by criteria of \"excellence\" and academic evaluations to produce research and international publications, besides teaching students on their own programmes, on their own premises.\nTop-down steering and participatory development: When whole institution development for sustainability of HEIs primarily takes place via top-down policy recommendations or government sponsored inquiries, recommendations will tend to lag behind the situations that initially motivated them (Patterson et al., 2013). There is further a risk of reduction to political convenience and the smallest common denominator emanating from arduous international negotiations. Instead of aiming at the maximum of what HEIs can achieve, political consensus limits progress to the bare minimum accepted even by forces overtly hostile to sustainable transitions.\nMediating sustainability concerns in higher education: The formulation of competences as learning objectives can be used as a way to ensure that sustainability concerns inform teaching and learning practices across the university. Constituent elements in such a competence model for use in teacher education (Rauch and Steiner, 2013, p. 15) are anticipated to be used in instruction, participation in the design of one's own educational institution as well as for \"reaching out to society, to the institution's closer and wider environment.\"\nLeadership and engagement: While lack of effective leadership for sustainability in HE results in \"business as usual\", promoting the default mode of disciplinary-oriented fragmented forms of teaching and knowledge production, tight and intentional steering can also create dysfunctionalities. One important problem is that if transdisciplinarity is institutionalised (Wals, 2014), it becomes locked into a specific configuration. There is also a risk that when collaboration across disciplines is imposed in a top-down fashion, transdisciplinarity becomes meaningless for the involved departments. But if it is not institutionalised, there is a real risk that it will not take place, because structures do not allow for it. There is in this case a risk that transdisciplinarity in general, and education for sustainability in particular, will \"float above\" every specific point of the curriculum as a pious wish, but nobody's concrete responsibility. Within the existing system, driving sustainability thus becomes a \"wicked problem\" (Waddock et al., 2015). One approach to solving this apparent paradox is to try to develop mediating structures that are diverse, dynamic and intelligent. Such qualities may be supported when cross-faculty connections are carried by engaged people, as well as mediated by more static formalised instruments.\nFlexibility and continuity: To be dynamic, mediating structures to promote sustainability in HE require a measure of fluidity. At the same time, there are strong arguments for stability and continuity. Stability makes it possible for people to invest in the future. It allows interpersonal relationships to develop, thus shaping a base for collaborative work. Also, although the balance of science urgently needs to shift towards more future-oriented forms, continuity in institutional structure helps academics to build on existing work and not have to start from scratch each time a new project is commenced. Importantly, opportunities for change have to be anchored in priorities at the department levels, because top-down driven change perceived as meaningless instead creates inertia, chaos and defensive reactions. Because change comes at a cost, the point is therefore to enable change, but not to force it, so as to combine benefits of flexibility and continuity (Denison and Mishra, 1995).\nWorking the divides: Learning to work and reflect in transdisciplinary manners is highly strategic (Barth and Michelsen, 2013), because it lies at the core of collective action for sustainability. Any real challenge faced by society is extremely complex, and collective problem-solving therefore has to draw on the full range of our knowledge and experience. A wide consensus can be found in the literature concerning the importance of border-crossing reflection in the field of sustainability. At the same time, putting these insights into teaching and learning practices is far from straightforward. Interdisciplinary approaches can thus \"lead to structural, methodological, and communicative problems in collaboration\" (Barth and Michelsen, 2013, p. 112). It should also be remembered that if border-crossing collaborative projects are reduced to the smallest common denominator to ensure agreement among all parties, increased collaboration may lead to shallow and uncontroversial learning rather than being mutually enriching.\nBorder-crossing learning, global-local contexts and diversity: Norden (2016) speaks of the need for a broader, integrative conception of knowledge and learning. This not only involves bridging disciplines, but also looking at concrete implications in both local and global contexts, and drawing on the learning opportunities offered by diverse and heterogeneous groups of learners and teachers (Barth and Michelsen, 2013, p. 114). When students are given the opportunity to work collaboratively on actual projects for social change, they can practice the competences needed for such work, as well as developing the capacity to reflect on wider implications of specific actions or situations (Brundiers and Wiek, 2011). Young people currently have to:\nConclusions: Processes of \"academisation\" in Swedish vocational programmes (Ek et al., 2013) have been supposed to strengthen the research base in teaching and improve educational quality. With respect to concerns relevant for ESD in HE however, benefits are unclear. Placing increased focus on working with theoretical texts, taken from other contexts, and disconnected from vocational concerns has reduced the base for action-oriented learning (Avery and Norden, 2015). Highly formalised learning objectives tend to leave little space for negotiation, development or creativity that could support paradigmatic shifts. Reducing professional-oriented activities offers fewer opportunities for students to discuss concrete strategies or dilemmas they encounter in changing mindsets and practices at the workplace. The intended quality improvement through using more discipline-oriented university teachers can also lead to hermetically sealed learning \"silos\" centring on the disciplines, rather than fostering issue-driven cross-disciplinary reflection linked to complexities of real-life situations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The paper aims to provide a conceptual map of how to mediate between sustainability theory and practice in higher education and how disciplinary divides can be bridged. It further looks at issues linked to knowledge views and drivers for institutional change that affect opportunities for whole institution development promoting action preparedness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Taking its point of departure in the University Educators for Sustainable Development report UE4SD (2014, 2015), the paper discusses ways that ideas and interaction can be mediated in higher education settings, to connect sustainability research with vocational programmes. Different options are considered and compared.\nFindings: Although the literature stresses both action orientation and the need for holistic transdisciplinary approaches, many institutional drivers limit opportunities for more integrating approaches.\nResearch limitations/implications: However, while conclusions may hold for universities at an overarching level, it is likely that certain research and teaching environments have been able to transcend such barriers.\nPractical implications: Conceptually mapping the different forms that dialogue, interaction and flows of ideas take within higher education institutions has relevance for whole institution development for sustainability.\nSocial implications: Importantly, producing sustainability science with relevance to practice in various professions is a fundamental condition to support accelerated transitions to sustainability at societal levels.\nOriginality/value: The paper makes a significant contribution by focusing on concrete institutional pathways for knowledge exchange and negotiation that can support education for sustainability in higher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lean Six Sigma for the healthcare sector: a multiple case study analysis from the Indian context	[ "Six Sigma", "Lean", "India", "Lean Six Sigma", "Healthcare", "Medical records" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Even though the contribution of the service sector to the Indian and world economy is significant, it faces many challenges (Soni, 2013). The healthcare sector is the world's largest and fastest-growing industry, and India is expected to enjoy the advantages of medical tourism (MT) (Enderwick and Nagar, 2011). However, healthcare services in India have long wait times, low productivity, inefficiency, demoralized staff and low patient satisfaction (Raja et al., 2007). The nation is confronted with increased pressure to improve the quality of patient care, patient safety and service quality while reducing operational and financial costs (Narang, 2011). To achieve these goals, cross-industry practices such as Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a business process improvement strategy can be utilized (Ramani and Mavalankar, 2006; Fine, 2006) to reduce healthcare costs, improve quality of patient care, improve patient safety and provide better healthcare solutions to patients and stakeholders (de Koning et al., 2006). However, the applications of this strategy in the healthcare sector are in its infancy stages in many developing countries, including India (Antony and Kumar, 2012; Gijo et al., 2013; Gijo and Antony, 2014).\n2. Literature review: Lean thinking originated within the Japanese automobile industry following the Second World War and is primarily focussed on the elimination of muda or waste (Ohno, 1988). Waste is any non-value-added activity that does not create value for the end customer (Cudney et al., 2013). A Lean system consumes fewer resources and delivers superior results (Peter et al., 2004; Womack et al., 2007). The basic tenets of the Lean strategy or philosophy are to minimize wastes, accelerate the speed of all processes across the enterprise and improve the organization's performance (Cudney and Elrod, 2011; Womack et al., 2007).\n3. Research methodology: Most of the LSS research works are empirical in nature, which reinforces the use of real-world data. Since quality problems in manufacturing and service context are usually treated as a case in terms of documentation and analysis, case study analysis is the dominant approach for LSS (Aboelmaged, 2010). The AR methodology is a variation of the case study methodology, wherein the researcher is not an independent observer, but a participant in the process (Prybutok and Ramasesh, 2005; Schein, 2008). Unlike other research methodologies, AR is concerned with creating organizational change, and simultaneously studying the process involved (Avison et al., 2001). This also ensures the active participation of the members from the organization under study. It is a robust methodology for the exploratory nature of the study (Voss et al., 2002; Nonthaleerak and Hendry, 2008; Psychogios et al., 2012). The strength of AR lies in treating research and action as inextricably interwoven aspects. Further, it brings together theory and practical solutions to develop practical knowing in pursuit of knowledge (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002; Reason and Bradbury, 2008). These characteristics ensure a methodology for developing the knowledge base through research culminations in operations management in general, and LSS in specific (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002; Nair et al., 2011).\n4. Multiple case study design and analysis: 4.1 Case Study (A) - application of the LSS strategy to reduce the cycle time of the OP-MRD service in a rural hospital\n5. Discussion and limitations of the study: This section compares the culmination of findings across the case studies with respect to CSFs, commonly used tools and techniques, and impact of LSS on the system. The findings of the study categorically confirm that LSS can be effectively adopted in the healthcare sector of India with specific attention to cultural diversity. From the research, it was evident that if the LSS principles are customized for the local culture of the people, it can lead to behavioural transformation in the organization. Further, it could ensure sustainable improvement in quality initiatives. The study also ascertained that LSS can be adopted in relatively novice organizations in a short period by imparting structured training to all the people associated with the process. The projects have shown substantial improvement in the bottom line, which, in turn, boosted financial and intangible gains such as cultural change, increased productivity and morale, among other organizational aspects.\n6. Conclusions, implications and directions for further research: New challenges in the healthcare sector are forcing service providers to adopt innovative business process improvement paradigms, tools and techniques to improve productivity. LSS is one such strategy and is a fusion of the application of Lean thinking to increase speed and reduce waste, while employing Six Sigma practices to improve quality and consistency in service delivery. The study showed that LSS strategy can be effectively applied even in rural hospitals with minimum resource utilization for breakthrough improvements. The case study at a corporate hospital illustrated that top management leadership, commitment, involvement and effective communication were important factors for LSS deployment. Since the processes are complex in the MRD of a super-speciality medical college attached hospital, extensive data collection, simulation and comprehensive knowledge of statistical tools were essential to arrive at a solution within the timeframe. In the case of the manufacturing company attached hospital case study, it was ascertained that timely intervention by the LSS champion, extensive data collection and analysis, and cross-functional collaboration was crucial for the successful deployment of the project. Further, it was determined that in the healthcare sector, a customer demands quick and quality service, which, in turn, demonstrates that waiting time and queue length are performance indicators to take advantage of MT in India. During the case study, it was observed that the cycle time of a process hampers productivity. Moreover, it was determined that the LSS methodology is well suited in the DMAIC umbrella even for the healthcare sector. Effective leadership, availability of data, involvement of cross-functional team and effective communication are critical to the success of the project. Control charts, cause and effect diagram, 5S, gemba, two-sample t-test, standardization, waste analysis and VSM are some of the common tools used to encounter the errors in the system.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer, key performance indicators, critical to quality characteristics, critical success factors, and commonly used tools and techniques for deploying the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy in Indian private hospitals, with special attention to the medical records.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study utilizes the action research methodology to obtain a greater understanding of the use of LSS in the Indian healthcare sector. Multiple case studies were designed and successfully deployed to understand and ascertain challenges in LSS implementation. Five case studies were carried out in the Medical Records Departments (MRD) of four private hospitals in India.\nFindings: Patients perceive that waiting in queue harms their health, which can be rectified by addressing the cycle time of the system. The research also found that effective leadership, availability of data, involvement of cross-functional team and effective communication are critical to the success of LSS projects. In addition, control charts, cause and effect diagram, 5S, gemba, two-sample t-test, standardization, waste analysis and value stream mapping are some of the common tools used to improve healthcare systems.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was restricted to studying the impact of LSS on the workflow and resource consumption of the MRD in Indian allopathic hospitals only. The validity of the results can be improved by including more hospitals and more case studies from the healthcare sector in different countries.\nOriginality/value: The findings will enable researchers, academicians and practitioners to incorporate the results of the study in LSS implementation within the healthcare system to increase the likelihood of successful deployment. This will provide greater stimulus across other departments in the hospital sector for wider and broader application of LSS for creating and sustaining process improvements.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Building theory on the negotiation capability of the firm: evidence from Ryanair	[ "Negotiation", "Knowledge management", "Strategy", "Capabilities", "Theory building", "Ryanair" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Research background and gaps\n2. Literature review: the gap at the interplay of strategy and negotiation: We reviewed the two relevant streams of literature - one in strategy and one in negotiation - to try to outline the contributions and limitations of the current academic knowledge on negotiation as an organizational capability and its interplay with strategy. In doing so, we stumbled upon a bulk of references relating to questions that did not entirely correlate with our investigations but were interesting nonetheless; for example, the industrial economics perspective on bargaining power (Kim, 1988; Michael, 2000; Moatti et al., 2014). Other contributions focused on specific types of negotiations that can have strategic importance for an organization, such as exchanges between headquarters and subsidiaries (Dorrenbacher and Gammelgaard, 2006) or negotiations with governments (Weiss, 1990). The majority of the investigated literature concerned collaborative forms of strategy, such as mergers and acquisitions (Jemison and Sitkin, 1986; Walsh and Fahey, 1986; Dierickx and Koza, 1991), joint ventures (Brouthers and Bamossy, 1997; Lee et al., 1998; Luo, 1999; Yan and Gray, 2001; Luo and Shenkar, 2002) or strategic alliances and outsourcing (Lippman and Rumelt, 2003). Taken together, these papers acknowledge the fact that specific strategic moves take place through high-level negotiations (Ring and van de Ven, 1994). For example, research on acquisitions remains controversial in terms of the reasons why well-designed acquisition processes fail (Kummer and Steger, 2008); on this subject, strategic fit cannot be considered to be the only variable (Porter, 1996). The process of negotiating the acquisition and integrating the target into the parent firm, another setting for multiple negotiations, should also be considered as one of the drivers of success (Jemison and Sitkin, 1986; Dierickx and Koza, 1991). Similarly, research on joint ventures shows different patterns in organizations' behaviors, particularly with regard to contract negotiations (Lee et al., 1998; Luo, 1999; Luo and Shenkar, 2002).\n3. Research design: 3.1 Justification for the theory-building approach\n4. Case study: Ryanair: 4.1 Introduction\n5. Theory building: conceptual contributions from negotiation to strategy literature: Looking at the Ryanair case specifically in terms of its negotiation practices enables us to identify unique and idiosyncratic processes of negotiation and link those directly to:\n6. Conclusions: The Ryanair case study enabled us to show the clear link between performance in negotiation and the creation and sustainment of competitive advantage. At the same time, it clearly shows that what Ryanair achieves in negotiation would not be possible without the position the airline enjoys as a market leader. With this paper, we advance theory by providing an explanation as to why, under unfavorable market conditions and a business model that should not favor its bargaining power (e.g. suppliers in the case of the airline industry), some firms (e.g. Ryanair) can thrive and be successful by taking advantage of the structural weaknesses of their industry. The Ryanair case shows how a firm mastering negotiation as an organizational capability can turn the power relationship with its stakeholders into their own advantage. Our study proposes a model that shows the possibly reciprocal relationship between strategy and negotiation, as negotiation practices are influenced by the organization's strategy and, in turn, play a large role in strategy making, leading to competitive advantage. We have demonstrated that this circular relationship is fueled by some strategic variables and that the resulting capability may be nurtured by multiple management tools. However, our study, being novel and inductive, leaves room for refinement and opens up many questions for future research. One of them lies in the fact that success in negotiation is more than a quantitative result - \"Did I negotiate well or not?\" - but requires a subtle fit with the organization's positioning and strategic objectives. This requires a comprehensive categorization of the strategic factors that will have an impact on negotiations throughout the organization.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In an attempt to build upon existing theory, this paper aims to investigate the potentially reciprocal relationship between negotiation and strategy, and strive to contribute toward a better understanding of the ways in which organizations negotiate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Built upon the integration of two different bodies of literature, negotiation and strategy, and on the analysis of the case of Ryanair, this paper argues for an integrated approach to negotiation and organizational capabilities.\nFindings: The case study allows for a clearer understanding of how negotiation capability can play a significant role in supporting the creation and sustainment of competitive advantage, even under unfavorable industry settings.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to theoretical development by offering new and insightful explanations of firms' behavior, moving beyond the classic interpretation of industry dynamics, such as bargaining power. This study has implications for both practice and research, as it offers a better and more holistic understanding of the strategy-making process and the foundations of its success.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An updated comprehensive review of website evaluation studies in hospitality and tourism	[ "Internet", "Technology led strategy", "Website performance", "E-strategic management strategies", "Hospitality and tourism", "Website evaluation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the 1980s, the rapid development of information and communications technology (ICT) has largely changed hospitality and tourism (Ho and Lee, 2007; Ip et al., 2011; Murphy et al., 2016). Operations in hospitality and tourism have been significantly influenced by the growth of the internet. As an effective marketing tool, the internet is used to facilitate information communication between customers and suppliers (Buhalis and Law, 2008). Connolly et al. (1998), as well as Xiang et al. (2014), stated that the Internet has enabled suppliers to reach customer easily and directly in hospitality and tourism. Many hotels and tourism businesses have established their own websites to complement their business activities to meet the increasing demand. Thus, websites have become platforms for suppliers to promote their products and services to generating revenue ultimately (Chiou et al., 2010; Leung et al., 2016). For consumers, websites facilitate their access to travel-related information and assist them in making purchase decisions online (Ladhari and Michaud, 2015). For tourism and hospitality practitioners, they utilize their websites to promote products or services to their potential customers. Thus, effectively measuring the performance of their sites and making the necessary improvements are crucial for suppliers.\n2. Literature review: Numerous studies have investigated website evaluation and have proposed different measurement frameworks since the mid-1990s. Murphy et al. (1996) was first research that investigated the use of websites in hospitality; 32 identified categories of hotel website features were used to evaluate the websites of 36 hotels. Website content and design are generally considered as the two main factors in website evaluation models. Website content refers to the information about products and services. Using the features of \"site planning\", \"design\", \"content\" and \"management characteristics\". Benckendroff and Black (2000) assessed the websites of Australia's 16 regional tourism authorities. A conceptual model was developed by Perdue (2001) for website evaluation in North American resorts and regarded \"site accessibility\", \"navigation\", \"visual attractiveness\" and \"information content\" as dimensions of website performance. In another study, from three general user criteria, including \"user interface\", \"varied information\" and \"online reservation\", Wan (2002) analyzed the website content of tour wholesalers and international tourist hotels in Taiwan.\n3. Methodology: Different approaches have been adopted to measure website evaluation, with content analysis as the most common one. This approach has been used by many researchers, including Murphy et al. (1996), Gilbert and Powell-Perry (2001), Jeong and Lambert (2001), Wober et al. (2002), Chung and Law (2003), Baloglu and Pekcan (2006), as well as Schmidt et al. (2008). The present study also used content analysis for data analysis.\n4. Findings and discussions: 4.1 Categorization of reviewed articles\n5. Conclusions: 5.1 Concluding remarks\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to review published articles on website evaluation in hospitality and tourism for the period of 2000-2015 to provide a comprehensive updated review, as well as to offer implications for academic researchers and industry practitioners.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Content analysis was adopted by this study to review retrieved articles on website evaluation in hospitality and tourism. Articles were then analyzed from consumers' perspective, suppliers' perspective, and both consumers and suppliers' perspectives using a systematic approach.\nFindings: Major findings of this study showed that a majority of articles focused on either hospitality or tourism. Moreover, most of the articles generally discussed user interface, marketing effectiveness and website quality. However, these articles did not discuss in detail the implications of website evaluation and ignore the connections between suppliers and consumers to some extent.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study can be used as a reference for academic researchers to extend previous frameworks and for industry practitioners to reconstruct the traditional organizational chart and implementing e-strategic management strategies, including m-marketing.\nOriginality/value: This study updates website evaluation development in hospitality and tourism in the new millennium. The findings of this study provide significant implications for hospitality and tourism researchers and practitioners to encourage supplier-consumer engagement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementing competitive strategies: the role of responsive and proactive market orientations	[ "Competitive strategy", "Product differentiation", "Costs", "Market orientation", "Resources" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organising marketing activities in ways that successfully enable business strategy implementation is recognised as one of the most difficult challenges facing managers [...] and researchers know little about how marketing activities should be organised to enable business strategy implementation or how this affects performance (Vorhies and Morgan, 2003, p. 100).A fundamental objective of marketing strategy research is to examine and better understand how firms develop and sustain competitive advantage, and how this leads to better firm performance outcomes (McNaughton et al., 2002). However, as the above extract from Vorhies and Morgan (2003) indicates, implementation is a critical issue requiring much more attention. With regard to competitive advantage and firm performance, market orientation has been identified as a key issue. As such, market orientation as a firm capability has been studied extensively in the context of how firms develop and sustain competitive advantages. However, there still exists a research gap in understanding how market orientation fits in the implementation of competitive strategies (e.g. Homburg et al., 2004). In particular, because the relationship between marketing and strategic management is axiomatic (Morgan and Strong, 1998) and the contribution of marketing to corporate strategy is under-researched (Olson et al., 2005), understanding the relationships between market orientation and competitive strategies is crucial to understanding how market orientation contributes to firm performance (Vijande et al., 2005). Furthermore, Homburg et al. (2004) argue that although examining the role of market orientation in the relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance is important, understanding the role of market orientation when a firm simultaneously attempts to achieve differentiation and cost-leadership is vital.Although previous studies have examined the relationships among differentiation strategy, cost-leadership strategy, market orientation and new product activity (Frambach et al., 2003) and differentiation, market orientation and firm performance (Homburg et al., 2004), existing research has not simultaneously examined the relationships between differentiation, cost-leadership competitive strategies, responsive market orientation (RMO), proactive market orientation (PMO) and firm performance. The issue of simultaneity is particularly important because in most circumstances, the constructs derive their essence from the conceptual (nomological) network in which they are rooted. Furthermore, in reality, a firm may choose one or adopt both differentiation and cost-leadership competitive strategies (Hall, 1980). Although adopting both these strategies may seem contradictory, because it may lead to conflicts in an organisation's requirements, some research indicates that a mixed strategy is not only feasible (White, 1986) but essential for organisational success (Chan and Mauborgne, 2005). This argument is analogous to Gibson and Birkinshaw's (2004) notion of organisational ambidexterity, or simultaneously achieving alignment and adaptability, and Atuahene-Gima's (2005) assertion that firms must simultaneously implement exploitation and exploration strategies.For the most part, the existing literature examining market orientation and competitive strategies has not conceptualised market orientation within the notion of RMO and PMO. This is important, as Narver et al. (2004) argue that dominant conceptualisations of market orientation (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990) emphasise responding to the expressed needs of the customers and consequently do not include the proactive nature of market orientation or understanding the latent needs of the customers. This results in market-oriented firms ignoring or paying insufficient attention to new markets and/or potential competitors (Argyris, 1994; Slater and Narver, 1995).Furthermore, Grinstein (2008) highlights that few studies have made the distinction between RMO and PMO, and that research in the future should study these constructs, their antecedents and consequences. Moreover, adding to Grinstein's (2008) view, Coltman et al. (2008) indicate a disparity between the focus on RMO versus PMO and contend that given the growing evidence, industry and customer foresight (PMO) are potentially the most important components of market orientation. Importantly, as suggested earlier, the primary criticism of the conventional treatment of market orientation is that it has been conceptualised as responsive. Critics of RMO argue that it hinders a firm's innovativeness (Berthon et al., 1999), confuses a firm's processes (MacDonald, 1995), and results in narrow-minded research and development activities (Frosch, 1996). We respond to these issues and the call for research by proposing that competitive strategies are antecedents to RMO and PMO and firm performance is a key consequence of RMO and PMO; we test this contention using an empirical study. As such, we seek to contribute to both the strategy implementation literature and the market orientation literature by focusing on the strategy-capability-performance connections.This study is structured as follows. First, we present a background discussion in relation to the strategy formulation and strategy implementation perspectives. Within this discourse, we adopt the RB theory to shed light on the strategy formulation-strategy implementation perspectives. Second, in line with the strategy implementation approach and the RB theory, specifically focusing on market orientation as a key variable in RB theory, we develop six hypotheses. Third, we discuss the quantitative method and the findings. Last, we highlight implications for research and practice and discuss limitations and opportunities for extending this research.Strategy formulation and strategy implementation\nHypotheses development: Competitive strategies, responsive and proactive market orientation\nMethod: Research design\nDiscussion and implications: This study is couched in the research addressing strategy implementation, and it adds to this research domain by conceptualising and testing the antecedents and consequences of RMO and PMO. Particularly, by integrating the strategy implementation approach and the RB theory, this study examined the role of two key marketing capabilities, i.e. RMO and PMO, in the competitive strategies-firm performance relationship. Therefore, the current study extends the works of Frambach et al. (2003) and Homburg et al. (2004), and contributes to the strategy implementation literature by examining the effects of competitive strategies on both PMO and RMO. This model essentially shows:* a direct link between differentiation (H1) and cost-leadership strategies (H2) on RMO;* a direct link between differentiation (H3) and cost-leadership (H4) on PMO; and* a direct link between RMO (H5) and PMO (H6) on performance.This study applied PLS to analyse complex relationships by simultaneously examining both the direct and indirect effects. The findings support the conceptual model. Differentiation and low-cost strategies drive RMO and PMO, and RMO and PMO in turn affect firm performance. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the treatment of market orientation as RMO and PMO is important, as they can fully capture the benefits of the competitive strategies and, more importantly, act as critical mechanisms for transmitting the benefits of competitive strategies to performance.The findings contribute in several ways to the market orientation literature, specifically the emerging literature related to RMO and PMO (i.e. Atuahene-Gima et al., 2005; Coltman et al., 2008; Narver et al., 2004; Saini and Johnson, 2005). The study confirms the argument that RMO and PMO are statistically related but theoretically distinct constructs. Furthermore, it provides evidence that RMO and PMO are capabilities that are important sources of competitive advantage and uniquely contribute to performance (Atuahene-Gima et al., 2005). Therefore, it is possible to pursue RMO or PMO individually, with some success. Last, it validates the claim that PMO should have higher impact on performance than RMO, as Narver et al. (2004) and Coltman et al. (2008) argue. For example, the relative importance of PMO is evidenced by the higher coefficient between PMO and performance (0.40) than the coefficient between RMO and performance (0.20). This further validates the argument that industry and customer foresight (PMO) may be the most important component of market orientation (Coltman et al., 2008) with empirical evidence. It is important, however, that as the findings suggest that these capabilities together fully intervene between competitive strategies and performance, for optimal performance outcomes, firms must simultaneously invest in and nurture both RMO and PMO when implementing competitive strategies.Extant literature that has related PMO to performance (i.e. Atuahene-Gima et al., 2005; Narver et al., 2004) has only related this capability to one specific performance outcome: new product success. However, this study conceptualises performance as comprising five items relating to market share and financial performance and empirically finds a positive relationship between PMO and performance. Although this finding has been extensively confirmed in the context of RMO, this study is amongst the first to empirically illustrate the essential nature of PMO as it affects various important broader performance outcomes.The findings also show that differentiation strategy had a stronger effect on RMO and PMO (as evidenced by the coefficient on both RMO, 0.36, and PMO, 0.41), than did cost-leadership strategy (on RMO, 0.22, and PMO, 0.20). This is consistent with the argument that market-oriented firms are inherently externally focused, emphasising understanding customer needs (both expressed and latent) and attempting to satisfy them better than their competitors (Narver and Slater, 1990; Slater and Narver, 1996; Vazquez et al., 2001). This does not discount the pursuit of cost-leadership strategy, but it does show that differentiation is more likely to be more successfully implemented with RMO and/or PMO.Marketing scholars have called for adopting the strategy implementation approach (Bonoma, 1984; Chebat, 1999). In the context of competitive strategies and RMO and PMO, we contribute to the discussion by showing that the extent of market orientation in a firm must be congruent with the competitive strategy pursued (see also Conant et al., 1990) to ensure successful implementation. This study contributes to the strategy implementation literature by finding empirical support for this approach. In fact, the findings strongly support the strategy implementation approach, as the competitive strategies only affect performance through RMO or PMO. Essentially, the findings suggest that competitive strategies create and shape RMO and PMO, which then result in increased performance outcomes. Furthermore, the strategy implementation literature is increasingly emphasising organisational capabilities, as opposed to traditional organisational dimensions such as organisational structure, as key intervening dimensions between strategy and performance. This study conceptualises RMO and PMO as capabilities, and because the findings illustrate the fully intervening nature of these capabilities, they give credence to the RB theory's claim that capabilities are critical for strategy implementation.Practical implications\nLimitations and future research directions: Applying the strategy implementation approach, this study examines two important capabilities as intervening variables. However, other capabilities may play an important intervening role. A firm's ability to create, disseminate and utilise knowledge, or organisational learning, has been argued to be important. For example, Sinkula et al. (1997, p. 316) suggest that \"cultivating a learning culture may indeed become one of the primary means to attain and maintain a competitive advantage\". Furthermore, because the business environment is characterised by technological uncertainty, competitive advantage depends on the firm's capability to adopt new technologies in a strategic manner (e.g. Porter, 2001). Therefore, a firm's ability to understand and respond to new technologies, or technological opportunism, is critical (Srinivasan et al., 2002). Lastly, leadership is important in implementing strategy. Future research could examine the role of strategic leadership capability (Voola et al., 2004) in the competitive strategies-performance relationships.This study emphasised two competitive strategies: differentiation and cost-leadership. There is scope for future research to include focused competitive strategy and simultaneously examine the concurrent effects of all three competitive strategies on firm capabilities and performance. Furthermore, another dominant conceptualisation of competitive strategies is that of Miles and Snow (1978) typology, which has been extensively applied in marketing (e.g. Morgan et al., 2003). Therefore, understanding the relationships among Miles and Snow's (1978) typology, RMO, PMO and performance would provide an alternative perspective and would be a fruitful extension to the strategy implementation approach.\nConclusion: We argue that businesses strategies influence two key marketing capabilities: RMO and PMO, which in turn influence performance. The findings support this contention. These arguments and findings contribute to the strategy implementation and the RB theories, especially the market orientation literature, by empirically showing that RMO and PMO fully capture the benefits of the competitive strategies and act as fundamental mechanisms for transmitting the benefits of competitive strategies to performance. Therefore, this research contributes to the identified need for work in the area by Vorhies and Morgan (2003) who contend that organising marketing activities in ways that successfully enable business strategy implementation is a difficult challenge facing managers, and yet researchers know little about how marketing activities should be organised to enable business strategy implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study seeks to draw on the strategy implementation approach and the resource-based view of the firm (RB theory) to investigate the relationships among competitive strategies (i.e. differentiation and cost-leadership), responsive market orientation (RMO), proactive market orientation (PMO) and firm performance. The purpose is to show that competitive strategies have a significant effect on market orientation and market orientation has a significant effect on firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper designed a mail-survey that was sent to senior executives, which resulted in 189 usable surveys. Data were analysed using partial least squares (PLS) to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: - The findings show that both competitive strategies influence RMO and PMO, which then influence firm performance. However, the results show that differentiation strategy has a stronger influence on RMO and PMO than cost-leadership strategy, and that PMO has a stronger influence on performance than RMO.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study examined one set of capabilities (RMO and PMO); research opportunities exist for identifying other firm capabilities (e.g. organisational learning) and their relationships with competitive strategies.\nPractical implications: - Strategy implementation is a valid route to firm performance. Therefore, marketing managers must simultaneously develop competitive strategies and RMO and PMO to obtain increased firm performance outcomes.\nOriginality/value: - The study conceptualises market orientation as RMO and PMO, and suggests that this treatment of market orientation is important in understanding its role in the competitive strategies of firms and consequent firm performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A normative decision-making model for cyber security	[ "Uncertainty", "Decision-making", "Risk analysis", "Perception", "Security", "Awareness", "Rationalisation", "Normative" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Security analysts regularly face the challenge of justifying decisions made under risk and uncertain conditions. Whilst uncertainty stems from various sources such as dynamic conditions and information limitations, complications in decision-making also arise because risk stems from multiple factors, rather than a single root cause (Hoffman et al., 2017). Analysts aim at identifying the best possible option, given the limited information as few decisions are actually made with absolute certainty (Huber, 2014).\n2. Related work: Decision-making research typically follows the normative or descriptive approach. Normative approaches model how decisions should be made; descriptive approaches understand how decisions are actually made. The normative approach's usefulness may be seen in its ability in providing theoretical adequacy for rational choice, whereas the descriptive approach's usefulness may be seen through empirical validity by uncovering insight in decision-making (Bell et al., 1988). An alternative approach is to categorise the decision-making research based on the study environment. This may be the lab-based approach where studies are conducted in controlled environments and data collection is determined by predefined tests (MacKenzie, 2013) or the naturalistic approach where studies are conducted in real settings and data collection is based on the observation of actual events (Klein, 2008). The differences in approaches do not imply that one is better than the other, but that each is suitable based on the research objectives.\n3. Model design: The model builds on our findings in M'manga et al. (2017), where we identified factors influencing risk interpretation and conflicts to security decisions and lessons learnt from the literature on awareness and analysts' decision-making activities (Werlinger et al., 2010; D'Amico et al., 2005). The model was formalised systematically using observe-orient-decide-act (OODA) (Boyd, 1996).\n4. Model flow validation: The model was validated using cognitive walkthroughs (Rieman et al., 1995) with three security analysts from the UK (P1-P3). The three validated the model's logic flow and not the tracing of risk rationalisation. P1 and P2 worked as part of a cyber security team monitoring events within their organisation and possessed 1-3 years' professional experience in security. P3 worked for a counter-terrorism and intelligence unit and possessed over 24 years of relevant experience.\n5. Model application: To demonstrate the application of the RRP, a study was conducted with information systems (IS) personnel from a variety of organisations in Japan, with the aim of eliciting their views on automating aspects of risk rationalisation during security analysis. Under real settings, the understanding gleaned would form the basis for nuanced security automation requirements that are grounded in user understanding as opposed to default automation for all.\n6. Conclusion: This work presented a normative model for rationalising security analysts' decision-making. The purpose of the model is not to propose a new approach to decision-making, but rather to propose a systematic approach capable of communicating and providing traceability to the rationale behind security decision-making during risk and uncertainty. To address this, we considered the shortfalls presented in descriptive approaches which usually provide no explanation for expert judgement and the shortfalls in normative approaches which are usually too high level to derive contextual meaning.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate security decision-making during risk and uncertain conditions and to propose a normative model capable of tracing the decision rationale.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed risk rationalisation model is grounded in literature and studies on security analysts' activities. The model design was inspired by established awareness models including the situation awareness and observe-orient-decide-act (OODA). Model validation was conducted using cognitive walkthroughs with security analysts.\nFindings: The results indicate that the model may adequately be used to elicit the rationale or provide traceability for security decision-making. The results also illustrate how the model may be applied to facilitate design for security decision makers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proof of concept is based on a hypothetical risk scenario. Further studies could investigate the model's application in actual scenarios.\nOriginality/value: The paper proposes a novel approach to tracing the rationale behind security decision-making during risk and uncertain conditions. The research also illustrates techniques for adapting decision-making models to inform system design.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Confucianism, growth and democracy	[ "Confucianism", "Growth", "Democracy", "Two-regime panel threshold model", "O43" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Confucianism is alleged to both promote and inhibit economic development in the economics literature. All possible results - ranging from a significantly positive effect to a significantly negative influence - have been reported in the literature. Chronologically, Weber (1915) first proposed that Confucianism is inimical to modern capitalistic development. Until the 1960s, most researchers in both the East and West still shared Weber's view that the Confucian ethic is clearly an obstacle to democratization and modernization, since its emphasis on collectivism and deference might have a negative impact on growth [1]. For Asian societies to take off economically, traditional Confucianism has to be modified or even entirely abolished. However, in the early 1970s, this argument was considerably weakened by the economic success of East Asian countries which grew rapidly under Confucian culture and one-party dictatorships. To explain such changes, many researchers thus began to argue that Confucian collectivism could create an external environment conducive to cooperation between government and business that could hence foster growth.In our opinion, the earlier literature suffers from four limitations that need to be addressed. First, as indicated by Kim (1997), these studies have mostly focused only on the relationship between Confucianism and democracy or between Confucianism and growth and studies that have explicitly considered the interrelationships among Confucianism, democracy and growth are very few in number.Second, these studies overemphasize the existence of a linear or nonlinear relationship between culture and growth. The researchers have invariably used a one-step synthetic procedure to test whether or not Confucianism can influence economic activities. With competing views on both sides of the dispute, if the coefficient of Confucianism is positive and significant, then they would claim that it spurs growth by creating a culture suitable for growth. Nevertheless, they have failed to consider other possible asymmetrical scenario possibilities, such as an asymmetrical correlation pattern among culture, democracy and growth. For instance, that Confucianism can enhance growth under a democratic regime does not necessarily mean that it can also accelerate growth under an autocratic regime. The impact of Confucianism on growth may be different depending on whether the political regime is autocratic or democratic.Third, previous studies on Confucianism mostly focus their attention on the economic performance of China or Taiwan. However, the real truth is that Confucianism is embodied in the people whose culture is Confucian but not in a specific geographical location. As a result, these studies may disregard information from other East Asian countries that is relevant to explore the influence of Confucian values. For instance, Kahn (1979) and Chen (2008) unanimously indicate that Korea is the most Confucian society in the world today, and Koreans protect and respect Confucian culture to a greater extent than even Chinese or Taiwanese. Some Koreans even claim that Confucius was a Korean. Besides, it is also well known that Confucian beliefs have influenced all aspects of Japanese society [2]. To reflect this cultural homogeneity, based on the global cultural map project conducted by the World Values Survey (WVS) [3], we categorize China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Singapore as the Confucian societies in our cross-country analysis.Finally, and more importantly, we emphasize that focusing only on political geography may overlook the information from the spread of cultural traits that accompanied the migration of people. For instance, Confucianism had for long spread throughout Southeast Asia (since the 3rd century bc) over a period of many generations with the migration of Chinese. After many generations of cultural transmission, Confucian traits affecting growth naturally influenced the norms in today's society. Putterman and Weil (2010) thus argue that it is the culture of the inhabiting populations, rather than a local place or geographic location that matters most for economic and political performance. More importantly, such a finding inspires a series of research efforts in recent years to explore the deep roots of economic development, such as Spolaore and Wacziarg (2013); Easterly and Levine (2016); Murphy and Nowrasteh (2018). This \"Deep Roots\" literature extensively investigates and provides reliable information and data of the effects of ancient cultural variables on economic outcomes. To further this line of study and to accommodate the cultural spread through migration, we use the immigration matrix of Putterman and Weil (2010), which provides the share of the contemporary population of each country that was descended from East Asian people in the year 1500, to measure the impact of Confucianism across various countries in the world.Based on these considerations, this paper places its focus on the relationship between Confucianism and growth from the perspective of political development. Besides, to accommodate different effects of Confucianism on growth in different phases of political development, our empirical specification adopts an asymmetrical pattern to investigate the impact of Confucianism on economic performance. In particular, we use a two-regime panel threshold model proposed by Hansen (1999) to endogenously divide our country sample into two-regime-types - autocracy and democracy - according to a country's democratic stock or experiences. Therefore, the direction and magnitude of the impact of Confucianism on growth depends on the political regime observed in a given country in a given year. That a Confucian heritage can promote growth in democratic countries does not necessarily mean that it should also have a positive effect for autocracies. We hope that this specification can avoid situations in which too much attention is paid to the direct effect of Confucianism on growth, but too little emphasis is placed on the indirect effects of Confucianism on growth through the channel of political regimes.Our results show that the effect of Confucianism on growth exhibits an asymmetrical pattern that depends on the status of a country's political democracy. Only when a moderate level of freedom has already been attained can Confucianism have a positive effect on growth. Conversely, for autocracies whose democratic institutions cannot pass a certain threshold, Confucianism has a very limited effect in terms of changing economic activity.The remainder of this paper is organized in the following manner. Section 2 discusses the relationships among Confucianism, democracy and growth. Section 3 describes the empirical strategy. Section 4 presents the empirical results. Section 5 investigates the robustness of the empirical results. Finally, Section 6 concludes the paper.\n2. Confucianism, political institutions and economic growth: 2.1 Confucianism, democracy and growth\n3. Empirical specification: 3.1 Two-stage phases\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Main results\n5. Robustness: This section assesses the robustness of our results. For the convenience of readers, Columns (1) and (2) of Table 7 duplicate the results of Columns (2) and (3) of Table 5 as a benchmark specification. 5.1 Interaction between Confucianism and education\n6. Conclusion: This study applies a set of panel data to Hansen's two-regime panel threshold model to examine how Confucian culture affects economic growth. The empirical findings are robust to alternative specifications. The effect of Confucian culture on economic growth exhibits an asymmetrical pattern depending on a country's accumulated democracy stock. For countries whose democratic experience cannot exceed a threshold level, Confucian collectivism has a negative effect in terms of improving economic performance. Only in democratic countries with prolonged experiences of democratic rule can Confucian collectivism promote economic growth. Therefore, it is necessary to segregate Confucianism as a thought system from the historical regime changes in the course of political development. Our conclusion is that the core theme of the story is not that of a country's Confucian heritage per se, but that of its political culture.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of Confucianism on growth under different political regimes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical specification adopts a two-regime panel threshold model proposed by Hansen (1999) to endogenously divide our country sample into two-regime-types - autocracy and democracy - according to a country's democratic stock or experiences.\nFindings: The results show that the effect of Confucianism on growth exhibits an asymmetrical pattern depending on the status of a country's political democracy. Only when a moderate level of freedom has already been attained can Confucianism have a positive effect on growth. Conversely, for autocracies whose democratic institutions cannot pass a certain threshold, Confucianism has a very limited effect in terms of changing economic activity.\nResearch limitations/implications: If the data with different sample years and/or different sample countries are used, the research results may lack generalizability. Further tests of the two-regime model with different data sizes are encouraged.\nOriginality/value: The authors use the World Values Survey (WVS) map to identify the countries under the influence of Confucianism. The authors emphasize that focusing only on political geography may overlook the information from the spread of cultural traits that accompanied the migration of people. So, based on the Confucian countries suggested by the WVS and the migration matrix of Putterman and Weil (2010), an immigration-based Confucianism variable was constructed. To accommodate different effects of Confucianism on growth in different phases of political development, the empirical specification adopts an asymmetrical pattern to investigate the impact of Confucianism on economic performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sources of efficiency changes at Asian container ports	[ "Productivity", "Data envelopment analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Container ports and terminals form an essential component of the modern economy. Containerization since the middle of the twentieth century has largely reduced the transportation cost of international trade, resulting in dramatically growing demand for container transport. Physical expansion and efficiency improvement have been the two major approaches to enlarge container port capacity to cope with escalating trade volumes (Le-Griffin and Murphy, 2006). Yet in places where port expansion is constrained by a limited supply of land and increasing environmental concerns, improving port efficiency is more feasible and effective. It is then critical to assess the potential sources of port efficiency gains over time for governments and port operators to devise strategies accordingly. In particular, governments are able to optimize the collocation of the coastal resources to enhance the competitiveness of hinterlands while port operators may benchmark their performance with comparable ports to identify areas for improvement.\nLiterature review: Widely used methods to calculate productivity include index number approach, traditional regression methods, corrected original least squares (COLS), stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), and data envelop analysis (DEA). Derived from DEA framework, recent studies have increasingly utilized the Malmquist productivity index (MI) method to measure productivity of container ports and terminals (Choen et al., 2009; Song and Cui, 2014; Ding et al., 2015). The MI method shares many of the advantages of DEA method, and is particularly useful to evaluate the productivity change of decision-making unit (DMUs) between two time periods. Furthermore, it has the advantage of decomposing overall productivity change into various components. In the following, we discuss in detail the intuition of each approach, as well as their advantages and limitations.\nMethodology: Based on information on the inputs and outputs of DMUs in two periods, the MI method can determine whether the variation of performance is due to technical efficiency change (TEC) and/or technological change (TC). Following Estache et al. (2004), the MI calculated for year t and t + 1 can be calculated as the following:\nData and scope: Ideally, all activities and resources involved in container port operations should be taken into account when calculating efficiency. This decision of which input and output variables to be included, however, largely depends on the availability and quality of data.\nFindings: Table III has summarized the efficiency changes and their sources at the investigated ports from 2000 to 2007 using the MI method. Overall, the major Asian container ports have improved their efficiency by 14.3 per cent (with average MI = 1.143). The sources of efficiency gains/losses can be attributed to:\nLimitations of the study: Apart from the sensitivity to the frontier used and the inability to test for significance of the DEA method, this paper also has several other limitations. First, in addition to inputs, other exogenous factors may influence the efficiency of container ports, such as the transport networks of the operators, the regulations of the regional governments and the general economic trends that affect demand for container transportation. The method used in this study, however, is unable to quantify and separate the efficiency changes from these exogenous factors. Following this, it can be unfair to penalize port operators with deteriorating SEC indexes as external demand is usually driven by the economic sizes and strengths of port hinterlands. According to Estache et al. (2004), it will be more appropriate to assess port efficiency changes using MI net SEC (MI* = MI/SEC). We follow this approach and report the bet MI of major Asian container ports in Table VI. Once ruling out the effect of pure scale economies and focusing on technical and technological improvements, Port Kobe seems to have outperformed other ports while Port Muara experienced the least productivity improvement during our sample period.\nConclusions: This study has investigated the overall efficiency changes at 23 major Asian container ports from 2000 to 2007. It also decomposes the sources of such changes into purely technical, scale and technological efficiency gains by using the Malmquist index equation from Estache et al. (2004). Overall, these ports have improved their efficiency by 14.3 per cent with improvement in technical and scale efficiency but with deterioration in technological development. The port of Hong Kong seems to underperform in all aspects investigated. In particular, it may first improve its technological adoption as this aspect lags behind its major competitor the most (Choy et al., 2016).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the efficiency changes of 23 major Asian container ports for the period from 2000 to 2007. In addition to assess the general trend, it also attempts to decompose the overall efficiency change into technological efficiency change, technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change to help port authorities to devise operational strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The Malmquist index method is used, which is derived from data envelopment analysis. In this model, technological improvement comes from using state-of-the-art technologies, technical improvement is from rationalizing of port inputs and scale efficiency is from adjustment of port operational scales.\nFindings: On average, the investigated ports have improved their efficiencies by 14.3 per cent. Such efficiency gains can be attributed to a 41 per cent increase in pure technical efficiency, a 47.5 per cent increase in scale efficiency and a 30.5 per cent decrease in technological efficiency. The scale efficiency contributes the most to the overall efficiency improvement, while technical and technological effects seem to have less impact. The fact that technological efficiency has little variance seems to suggest that this source of efficiency gain may not bring substantial competitive advantage.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample period is 2000-2007, so the impact from the Asian financial crisis or the economic downturn was not covered. Also, the port throughputs data do not separate shipment and transhipment.\nOriginality/value: This study provides valuable suggestions to improve efficiency for container ports along the \"Maritime Silk Road.\"\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Nurturing business ecosystems to deal with industry uncertainties	[ "Business ecosystem", "Emerging industry uncertainty", "Platform strategy", "Mobile computing industry", "Supply chain", "Supply chain management", "Computing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nAbbreviations: 1. OSV (operating system vendor) produces the operating system.2. ISV (independent software vendor) designs the application software running on the specific operating system.3. CP (content provider) provides the service via the different application software.4. Foundry companies help manufacture chips according to design companies' design.5. IC (integrated circuit) design companies design different chips with specific functions.6. EDA (electronic design automation) provides the software for designing electronic systems like integrated circuit chips.7. IP provider (intellectual property) produces IP as the basic part of chip design, which can be repeatedly used and have different functions.8. OEM (original equipment manufacturer) is the brand owner of a product.9. ODM (original design manufacturer) delivers a total solution design for an OEM's new products.10. Standard organization usually sets rules that OEMs and carriers should adopt.11. Carriers are the network operators who make the mobile computing devices connected to the internet.12. MID (mobile internet device) is one of the potential products for the mobile computing industry.\n1 Introduction: How industries are structured in such a globalized information age has become highly dynamic (Kenney and Pon, 2011). Companies need to be proactive in order to relate to uncertainties in a productive way. The convergence between industries is one special phenomenon characterizing recent worldwide industry developments (Helo, 2004). The gradually fading boundaries between different industries are an important mark of such convergence. This paper analyzes the reasons for the drift of industrial boundaries by applying the theory of the business ecosystem.The mobile computing industry has emerged from the convergence between the mobile phone and PC industries. These two groups of companies (mobile phone and PC) engage in developing potential end-user products. They hope to maintain the advantages from both groups, such as easy access to the internet, simple computing, user-friendly interface, and portability with long stand-by time. However, the typical products of the mobile computing industry have not yet been confirmed. The uncertainty about technology and customer preferences has resulted in even more uncertainties in the market (Hu et al., 2011).As a result, in order to cope with the dynamic and uncertain business environment, the two groups of companies employed the idea of a business ecosystem (Moore, 1996) to deal with volatility and collaboration among the whole network of partners. They started to build up their own business ecosystems to nurture end-user products in order to win market advantage. The increasing number of industrial challenges raises the concern as a research question:RQ1. How to nurture business ecosystems for emerging industries?This question demonstrates how firms could trigger the evolution of business ecosystems to help practitioners renew current industries by initiating new ideas, capturing new opportunities, and stimulating innovative collaboration.This paper is structured in several sections: after the introduction, Section 2 reviews the mobile and PC industries as well as the relevant theories. Section 3 gives the research design and is followed by Section 4 of case studies. After that, Sections 5-7 depict the research findings. The last section contains the theoretical and practical contributions.\n2 Background: 2.1 The mobile computing business ecosystem\n3 Research methods: To capture a comprehensive view of the emerging mobile computing industry, seven companies and their ecosystem partners have been selected with different but complementary positions as shown in Figure 2. Each of them owned different platforms at the level of end-user product, processor, operating system and application software. In terms of processor platform, VIA was the key player to provide chips for mobile computing devices and TSMC was to provide the manufacturing service of chips. In terms of operating system platform, two companies were selected such as Symbian and Google' Android. They led different business models with the orientation of commercialization and open sources, respectively, to promote their systems. In terms of the application software, Tecent was selected producing the most popular online messenger, which could run on the operating system platform. The end-user product platform was to integrate the those processor, operating and application software platforms above into the end-user products. Two companies are selected as Apple of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and Wistron of an ODM, who provided products' total solution for OEMs.In terms of data collection, one typical project in each case company was selected to demonstrate how they nurture the mobile computing ecosystem. We took a triangulation strategy (Saunders et al., 2009) to guarantee the comprehensive data collection from three groups of people: the project manager who was familiar with the project, the CEO or director who understood the total strategy of each firm, the ecosystem partners who helped on those projects and could verify the case data. In total, we conducted 44 interviews in 17 companies, taking 103.5 h from 2009 to 2012 as shown in Figure 2. The case studies were conducted by semi-structured interviews following a list of interview questions, which addressed the research question in regard to companies background, industrial challenges and firm strategies. In addition to this, secondhand data was also collected through the exploration of Ecch cases, news, and official web sites.In terms of data analysis, there are four steps: first, all data is presented following a structured format (Saunders et al., 2009) covering the following aspects:* brief introduction to the companies that comprise the mobile computing ecosystem;* industrial challenges;* how to deal with those challenges; and* lessons from each case.Second, the structured data continues to be abstracted as Table II. After that, the third step of cross-case analysis was conducted to categorize those firms' activities with common features. Those data are also further coded (fourth step) in order to identify the key industrial challenges and the relevant corporate strategies that together indicate the evolutionary stages of industry development. The structured analysis addressing the target of the research question ensures the construct validity of this research (Gibbert et al., 2008; Yin, 2008).\n4 Case findings: Case 1: Symbian and Android\n5 Industrial challenges faced by firms: 5.1 General challenges\n6 Firm strategies: 6.1 Core company strategy: platform interoperability\n7 Industry convergence: collective behavior: With firms' efforts to form business ecosystems, various cross-industrial supply chains converge, which results in the birth of a new industry. Specifically, a three-step collective behavior comprising adjustment, adoption, and convergence is identified in Table IV to achieve convergence for new industries.7.1 Adjustment\n8 Conclusion: 8.1 Theoretical contributions and generalizations\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which firms nurture the business ecosystem for the development of emerging industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research uses a qualitative research methodology with multiple case studies, namely two groups of companies in the PC and mobile business ecosystems.\nFindings: - This paper argues that industry renewal or emergence relies on the convergence and evolutionary process of the relevant business ecosystems. It analyzes the challenges faced by emerging industries, especially uncertainty issues concerning technology, application, and market. To deal with these uncertainty issues, firms within business ecosystems have developed two kinds of strategies: the core-firm platform strategy and the niche-firm supplementary strategy with an integrated supply chain. By using such strategies, firms together follow a three-step process, including adjustment, adoption, and convergence, to help nurture the emerging industry.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study only conducts interviews with industrial practitioners in the mobile computing business ecosystem, without covering other stakeholders.\nPractical implications: - First, the study describes the platform and supplementary strategies to deal with industry uncertainties; second, the analysis also identifies a three-step collective behavior to achieve industry convergence.\nOriginality/value: - The paper extends the study of business ecosystem theory into supply chain management by embedding different roles and strategies as well as collective behavior into a dynamic business environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Post-occupancy evaluation: a review of literature	[ "Knowledge management", "Supply chain management", "Strategic management", "Integrated practice", "Lifestyle costing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations (AECO) sector is responsible for creating and managing the built environment (both buildings and infrastructure) to facilitate human activities (i.e. work, leisure and housing) over time. Creating this man-made environment directly impacts upon the people who inhabit or use buildings and infrastructure but also the surrounding environment. For example, buildings: are major consumers of environmentally polluting natural resources (Milutiene et al., 2012); are essential to socio-economic development (Acharya and Sadath, 2019); and can impact upon occupants' health and well-being (Al horr et al., 2016). Within the whole life cycle of a built asset's life, conspicuous academic attention is paid to the design and construction phases (Kessem et al., 2014; Roberts et al., 2018). However, it is the operational phase of building occupancy and use that is the chief contributor to pollution, whole life cycle costs and performance metrics (cf. Bosch et al., 2014; Liu and Issa, 2014; Lindkvist, 2015; Nical and Wodynski, 2016). For this reason, far greater attention is needed to review and evaluate building performance in-use.\nResearch approach: From an overarching epistemological perspective, an inductive and interpretivist methodological approach was adopted utilising a mixed methods systematic review of pertinent literature to generate new theories on POE. This research approach was adopted because an interpretation of academic and professional practice literature enabled the development of new theories using inductive reasoning; where the latter represents the first step towards developing a much clearer ontological perspective of the POE phenomena under investigation (Suddaby et al., 2015). Petticrew and Roberts (2008) and Oraee et al. (2017) assert that a \"mixed methods systematic review\" is the most effective method for identifying gaps in a BOK. In contrast to a \"mono-method manual systematic review\", it is resistant to biases realised through subjective interpretation and judgement (He et al., 2017). Within this overarching methodological framework, a two-stage operational process was adopted. In stage one, a detailed review of building performance measurement using POE was undertaken to contextualise the research and further delineate the specific areas of POE evaluation, process and benchmarking.\nBuilding performance and measurement: Each year, buildings produced and operated by the AECO sector consume 40 per cent of global anthropogenic material and energy flows, 25 per cent of total timber harvested and 16 per cent of freshwater (Milutiene et al., 2012). These unsustainable rates of consumption mean that the sector consequently engenders monumental environmental impact, for example, per annum the sector contributes: 24 per cent of India's CO2 emissions; 33 per cent of Canada's energy production; and 42 per cent of Australia's normalised solid waste (El shenawy and Zmeureanu, 2013). Globally, buildings' life cycles account for 40 per cent of energy requirements and carbon dioxide emissions and 70 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions (Motawa and Carter, 2013; Liu et al., 2015). Against this statistical backdrop, Cooper (2001) and Riley et al. (2010) assert that buildings constructed using contemporary design and construction innovations, without process feedback on performance, effectively remain an unproven prototype. Yet the majority of a building's environmental impact occurs during the operational phase, which may last several decades (Guo and Wei, 2016). To further exacerbate matters, occupants spend more time indoors - within the USA for example, people spend up to 90 per cent of their time within buildings that constitute a 120m real estate stock and account for 40 per cent of the nation's total annual energy requirements (Shoubi et al., 2014). Consequently, the AECO sector's unsustainable record of poor environmental performance during a building's construction and operation phases renders a laissez-faire \"business as usual\" attitude untenable (Ahuja et al., 2016). During these phases buildings require expert management of budgets, schedules and environmental impact to enhance returns on investment, mitigate wastage/environmental impact and augment occupancy satisfaction (Ahuja et al., 2016). Herein resides the inherent importance of a POE and its innate ability to provide invaluable reflection upon a building's performance.\nBibliometric analysis: Bibliometric analysis has been developed and utilised across multiple disciplines due to its ability to visually represent a large body of literature (van Eck and Waltman, 2010). In contrast to manual analysis, bibliometric analytical software such as Gephi (Bastian et al., 2009) or VOSviewer (van Eck and Waltman, 2010) avoids introducing researcher bias and removes time and resource limitations relating to the practical number of studies selected (He et al., 2017). Visual representation of bibliometric data also allows an academic topic to be expediently and comprehensively investigated (Cobo et al., 2011). VOSviewer constructs distance-orientated network maps where each node/cluster represents the occurrence of a term or author, dependent upon the map generated. Nodes/clusters can also be assigned different colours within a visualisation, differentiating them from other nodes/clusters. VOSviewer's clustering function represents an advancement on previous mapping techniques, allowing deeper observations of connectedness than were previously possible using alternative software such as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Pajek (cf. van Eck and Waltman, 2010). The distance between nodes/clusters gives a better indication of the strength of relationship between these items when compared to graph-based maps (Waltman et al., 2010). The analysis of direct citations can also pinpoint the most influential studies within a specific field under investigation.\nFindings: The research findings for the bibliometric analysis are reported upon within the three iterative and thematic groups analysed in the visualisations, namely: POE literature; POE literature with a focus upon process; and qualitative analysis of literature pertaining to POE, POE process and facility benchmarking.\nDiscussion: The analysis presented highlights that a small number of POE researchers are working in relative isolation; this finding generates new theory that suggests that a prevailing lack of a cohesive \"community of practice\" (CoP) in this important area should be resolved by the creation of a cross industry-academic body to promote, regulate and govern POE implementation. Interestingly, \"POE process implementation\" and \"POE building user feedback\" were identified as significant clusters of academic enquiry to underscore their importance in terms of ensuring a consistent POE approach adopted and securing subjective feedback from building users. These conclusions have largely stemmed from studies conducted on higher education institutions vis-a-vis the wider built environment (cf. Garbowski and Mathiassen 2013; Garcia-Penalvo and Conde 2013) - this is most likely because researchers have readily available access to buildings within their own host institution that support POE implementation. However, researchers have hitherto failed to influence built environment practitioners' adoption of POE in practice (cf. Bordass and Leaman, 2005; Alborz and Berardi, 2015). In addition to a CoP body being developed, a plethora of potential financial and non-financial incentives are apparent and gravitate around building benchmarking. For example, environmental based legislative instruments could be used to set a minimum level of building performance to be expected to support existing rating schemes such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) (cf. Ofori-Boadu et al., 2012; Martek et al., 2019). At present, such schemes are supported by the government for government buildings but are not mandatory for non-government buildings (Ofori-Boadu et al., 2012). Alternatively, building performance could be used to set the level of financial revenue streams accrued from building users, i.e. higher performing buildings recover higher rental rates or purchase values. Incentives could also present an opportunity to remove overriding fears of practitioners regarding the value within POE implementation and how competitors could benefit from such (cf. Preiser and Vischer, 2005; Olivia and Christopher, 2014).\nConclusions: Whilst related research published has focused on specific aspects of conducting a POE (i.e. human comfort or energy consumption), this research presented represents the first detailed \"holistic examination\" of extant literature of POE. The findings highlight that a significant dearth of relevant research is apparent and moreover, that a CoP in this field of study is needed to widen practitioner participation and their consistent implementation of POE. This finding is somewhat enigmatic given that POE is fundamental to measuring the technical and functional performance of current buildings and improving the designs of future buildings developed. Moreover, consistency of POE implementation is essential particularly when comparing between buildings. Without reliable data and information, this research posits that important knowledge and wisdom required to enable smart building and smart city developments will be significantly hampered. Specifically, architects, designers and contractors should work with FM teams post building occupation to undertake POEs (that measure building performance across all pertinent benchmarking criteria (energy consumption, lighting and heating control, etc.)) to ensure that future designs perform as they were envisaged at conception. At present, prominent members of the design and construction team rarely contribute to the POE process and so the opportunity to learn from mistakes or develop improvements is largely lost. Such a recommendation may require changes in procurement processes to ensure that all project stakeholders involved throughout the building's whole life cycle are involved in POE.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse extant literature on POE of a building's operations and performance as a means of holistically mapping the existing body of knowledge (BOK); identify impediments preventing its wide-scale adoption throughout practice; and develop new theory that seeks to integrate digital technologies (such as building information modelling (BIM)) within facilities management (FM) via a POE feedback mechanism.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An inductive and interpretivist methodological approach is adopted that utilises a mixed methods systematic review to map bibliometric data on the POE, associated underpinning processes and benchmarking facilities. Publication and citation metrics are produced via the software VOSviewer to determine the extent to which POE interrelates with other fields of study (namely, digital technologies and FM).\nFindings: The BOK accrued illustrates that whilst POE has received comparatively scant academic attention in comparison to other fields of study, interest in the area is growing. The work also identifies that a stronger community of practice (CoP) is needed (that comprises of academics and practitioners) to ensure that a consistent approach to POE implementation is developed and that the barriers to POE implementation are addressed.\nOriginality/value: Findings presented accentuate the need for design practitioners to reverse engineer POE implementation to inform future design vis-a-vis simply reporting upon an existing building's performance post construction. Other new theories are also introduced as a means of engendering wider academic discourse in this field of science.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Depoliticised activism? Ambivalence and pragmatism at the COP16	[ "Climate change", "Pragmatism", "Ambivalence", "Activism", "Post-politics", "UNFCCC COP" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: resisting the \"post-politics\" of climate change: The lesson of this feeble climate deal? Governments have played God and failed. It is up to the activists now\nAttempting scholar-activism: In order to explore activism in Cancun, and drawing on the history of scholars being participants in the activist movements they research, I pursued a \"scholar-activist\", \"militant ethnography\" approach which entailed overtly partisan participation with fellow activists (Anderson, 2002; Autonomous Geographies Collective, 2010; Juris, 2008; Juris and Khasnabish, 2013; Russell, 2015). It is hoped that \"by providing critically engaged and theoretically informed analyses generated through collective practice, militant ethnography can provide tools for activist (self-)reflection and decision making while remaining [rigorous (19) and] pertinent for broader academic audiences\" (Juris, 2008, p. 22).\nOrganisation at the COP16: rejecting the depoliticised and co2lonial COP: The formal spaces of the UNFCCC COP, in which global governmental negotiations were taking place, required participants to have applied for official accreditation for access. In contrast, there were three main \"open\" civil society, or activist, spaces located in and around Cancun: Klimaforum10 (KF10), organised by local Mexican environmental justice activists; the \"Global Forum For Life, Environmental and Social Justice\" (often referred to by the name of its main organisers, the global peasants' union) La Via Campesina (LVC); and finally, the Espacio Mexicano (EsMex) was a space where many of the \"big green\" international NGOs and their Mexican colleagues were based (see Russell et al., 2012 for more detail). These spaces provided opportunities for representatives of various environmental NGOs, indigenous rights activists, and other protesters to come together for workshops, networking meetings, and protest planning activities. As will be noted later, however, the geographical dispersion of these different spaces was a factor seen as limiting the effectiveness of social movement organising in general. In sum, workshops, talks, and protests were a significant feature of the activity organised at the aforementioned informal spaces. Often the expressed aim of these activities was to challenge the depoliticised assertion that \"there-is-no-alternative\" to market based, capitalist responses to climate change, as well as to involve marginalised publics.\n(De)politicisation and prefigurative organising: In an attempt to better comprehend the alternative forms of social and economic organisation imagined in activists' responses to climate change, in interviews people were asked to reflect on their understandings of how the social world is, or should be, organised in order to respond to climate change. Through this line of discussion, I was attempting to better understand people's models of the social, or their \"implicit sociologies\" (cf. Mensy, 1998, 2009).\nChallenges to action: tensions and divisions: People also highlighted some of the substantial challenges in their attempts to pursue a prefigurative political praxis along non-hierarchical lines. These challenges to collective social action included state security services limiting the right to protest, or a contradiction between the participatory rhetoric of the COP and its authoritarian practice. The Mexican authorities had widely deployed both local police, and heavily armed state \"Federales\" in Cancun. These highly militarised police were often clad in riot gear, rode on trucks with mounted machine guns and literally surrounded the site of the COP with checkpoints and reinforced steel fences. It is unsurprising, then, that the fear of a \"heavy police hand\" (Interview 4), as one participant put it, was a concern for activists present in Cancun, while others made reference to the pressure of having to commit their bodies in protest (Interview 9).\nReflexivity, ambivalence, and pragmatism: In practice, while some were very critical of each other's' practices, others adopted conciliatory approaches and were keen to challenge the divides that existed between groups. One interviewee, for example, commented that she was:\nConclusions: managing the messiness of activism: This paper has demonstrated how activists sought to politicise climate change via a series of protests and counter-summits at the COP16 talks in Cancun. Rather than having faith in elites who favour technocratic solutions to climate change, a range of approaches was encountered among activists in response. Some demanded action of governments, while others attempted to bring the kinds of alternatives they aspired towards into being via forms of anarchist-inspired prefiguration. The demonstrations, \"people's forums\", and camps, were often aimed at trying to bring about alternatives not only to the UNFCCC mode of governance of climate change, but also to society in general, via forms of direct action.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the forms of activist organisation at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP16 in Cancun and reveals their attempts to create alternatives to a seemingly \"depoliticised\" response to climate change. The paper argues that existing attempts to challenge depoliticisation face problems in the form of governmental opposition, limitations on forms of organising, and internal conflicts between activists.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper utilises \"scholar-activist\" engagement with actors at alternative \"popular\" spaces established outside the COP16 in Cancun, Mexico. It draws upon extensive participant observation and in-depth interviews with 20 English-speaking activists.\nFindings: Common among activists was a concern to try and model alternative forms of social relations, to the depoliticised and hierarchical forms found in the formal Conference of Parties, via forms of anarchist-influenced \"prefigurative\" practice. In spite, or perhaps because, of perceived challenges to attempts to organise their political praxis along non-hierarchical lines, many people were ambivalent about the scope of their action, revealing highly reflexive accounts of the limitations of these whilst simultaneously remaining pragmatic in trying to make the most of their involvement.\nOriginality/value: The paper helps us to better understand the potential to politicise climate change. Understanding the challenges faced by activists is important for trying to organise more effective political responses to climate injustice. It is suggested that we must understand activists' responses to these challenges and limitations in terms of the pragmatism in response that allows them to continue to invest in activism in the face of unsuccessful actions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge management audit framework and methodology based on processes	[ "Knowledge management", "Management audit", "Knowledge engineering" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Along with era of knowledge economy's arrival, the knowledge had already substituted for the traditional elements of production such as land, machinery equipment and so on and become the first element of production. Because enterprise's knowledge stock and cognitive structure had decided it's the abilities of disposing, developing, using resources and innovation ability, many enterprises or organizations started to implement knowledge management strategy (as well as including technology innovation strategy) in order to acquire knowledge superiority, core competencies and unceasingly promote own competitive advantage and market position. Some scholars such as Liebowitz et al. (2000) and Hylton et al. (2002) discovered that many knowledge management practitioners neglected seriously the important step of knowledge management audit in the entire process of planning and implementing knowledge management and then they suggested that knowledge management audit should be the first step to implement knowledge management and be the most important component of knowledge and technical strategy.\n2. Concept cognition of knowledge management audit: The traditional ideas believed that, as an supervising mechanism the audit is an system process that would objectively collect and evaluate the evidence, transmit the result to the relative users in order to verify the consistent degree between the cognizance of economic activity and the standard (AAA, 1972). From the point of view of concept, such an audit can be carried out at various levels within an organization, e.g. within a particular business process, a department, a function, or across an entire organization. A knowledge management audit (KM-audit) is different from a knowledge audit (K-audit). These terminologies are sometimes used interchangeably by researchers and practitioners. A K-audit is a systematic examination and evaluation of organizational knowledge assets and is usually recommended in industries as an important first step prior to the launching of any knowledge management program (Choy et al., 2004). K-audit refers to the process of identifying and naming the existing, as well as missing, organizational knowledge of an organization. A KM-audit, however, refers to the auditing process of creating, acquiring, retaining, distributing, transferring, sharing, and re-using the institutional knowledge of an organization, i.e. it refers to how the knowledge is managed in the organization. A KM-audit should also include an examination of the organization's strategy; leadership; collaborative, learning culture; staff participation in team work; and technology infrastructure in its various knowledge processes (Chong and Lee, 2005). Knowledge management audit is an organic synthesis of traditional audit theory, methodology and knowledge management practice. Knowledge management audit would implement the audit idea in the enterprise's knowledge management and audit how to carry on knowledge management in its operational process. In order to discuss and analyze, this paper does not differentiate strictly. Regarding knowledge management audit's cognition, different scholars have proposed different views (see Table I).From various scholars' definition above, knowledge management audit is the effective beginning of knowledge management and provides feedback continually for the enterprise to implement knowledge management. Simultaneously it is also a dynamic and circular flow, it carries on the systematic and scientific examination, analysis and evaluation to the enterprise's knowledge resources, knowledge policy, knowledge structure and knowledge category, analyzes thoroughly enterprise's knowledge foundation and knowledge demand, and then makes the enterprise better understanding own knowledge ability, knowledge property and knowledge management thus specify what knowledge already hold and lack, whose need these knowledge and how to use these knowledge for the enterprise to solve certain problems? In addition, it may also disclose an enterprise's knowledge strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats through knowledge management audit, present the diagnosis and forecasting audit report concerning enterprise's special details which is helpful for the leaders and staffs clearly recognized the implementation situation of knowledge management, and then put forward the corresponding solutions according to the result of audit report. Finally, knowledge management audit is a systematic evaluation method according to the series standards.\n3. The recognition and selection of knowledge management audit process: 3.1 The concepts and types of process\n4. The framework and methodology of knowledge management audit based on process: Just as the definition of knowledge management audit does not accept generally, the knowledge management audit method also does not accept generally, due to the unceasing change of organizational structures, technology and environment. Knowledge management audit not only needs to evaluate knowledge demand, knowledge flow, existing knowledge property or resources and future demand of knowledge, it should also evaluate organization strategy, leadership, cooperation, study culture, and technology foundation. Based on knowledge management audit models, methods and concrete process proposed by those scholars and the organizations, and also based on the various synthetic basic thoughts of knowledge management audit methods, this paper proposes the framework and methodology of knowledge management audit based on process (see Figure 1).Knowledge management audit is not only the primary step of knowledge management, but also the important component of knowledge management strategy; moreover it plays a very important role in strategic planning, blueprint design, system implementation and continual improvement. Knowledge management strategy would connect the actuality and objective of knowledge management and the mission would show the rationale of enterprise existence following the mission, objective, policy and plan of enterprise. Under the mission instruction, the objective shows that the enterprise should obtain certain achievements in some period. The policy can be used to guide and communicate thoughts and actions when solving enterprise problems. The plan would point out the goal to be realized at a future certain time through scientific forecast according to the actual situation. Knowledge management strategy puts forward the whole plan about future development of knowledge management, demarche and resource disposition based on the specific mission and objective.Knowledge management audit involves four stages based on process: preparatory stage, analysis stage, implementation stage and summary stage. The preparatory stage of knowledge management audit includes clearing the goal of knowledge management, proposing the audit planning and organizing the audit team. The analysis stage mainly analyzes the actual content of knowledge management audit, including knowledge management environment audit, knowledge asset audit, knowledge management competence audit and knowledge management performance audit. The implementation stage includes knowledge demand analysis, knowledge inventory analysis, knowledge category analysis, and knowledge mapping and so on. The summary stage includes the evaluation of audit result, audit report and the implementation of knowledge re-audit; its content's concrete description is shown in Table III.\n5. Conclusion: Knowledge management is key to gaining core competitive ability. Whether undertaking overall planning or actual implementation of knowledge management, a knowledge management audit is always the first step. The departments or managers of knowledge management take the activities and resources of knowledge management as the main audit objects, check and evaluate systematically the organization's \"knowledge health\", improve management quality, enhance management level and efficiency, and so the knowledge management audit is a synthesized activity of audit and knowledge management to promote knowledge management performance according to certain procedures and method. Knowledge management audit can show knowledge storage, strength and weaknesses of actual management, analyze the environment, barriers and stimulators of knowledge management, design the map of future knowledge management method and provide the scientific report for top managers or staff to effectively execute knowledge strategy.Based on the systematic analysis of previous knowledge management audit models and methods, this paper proposes the framework and methodology of knowledge management audit based on process, divided the processes of knowledge management audit into four sub-processes as preparatory stage, analysis stage, implementation stage and summary stage and analyzed the content of sub-processes, in order to help knowledge management practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the detailed content and research framework of a knowledge management audit, from the view of operation flow based on a cognition summary of knowledge management audit proposed by many scholars and organizations, in order to put forward some references for effective implementation of an organization knowledge management project.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper carries out a multi-perspective analysis of the cognition of knowledge management audit summarizes the similarities and differences between the different viewpoints, also a contrasting analysis on the method proposed by various scholars and organizations from the point of view of flow, and then constructs the conceptive framework of knowledge management audit.\nFindings: - Knowledge management audit is the first important step in a knowledge management project and includes four phases: preparation, analysis, implementation, and summary. Its primary content involves knowledge management environment audit, knowledge property audit, knowledge management ability audit and knowledge management performance audit, and its main modules consist of knowledge demand analysis, knowledge inventory analysis, knowledge map and knowledge flow analysis.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper provides a theoretical construction, but has not conducted a case study. In future research development, the framework of the paper will be improved through the case analysis of organization knowledge management practice.\nPractical implications: - By utilizing the research framework and method of the paper, an organization may understand rapidly the basic content of a knowledge management audit, implement an effective knowledge management audit to help improve organization (including non-profit organization) performance and implement a knowledge management strategy.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides a framework for implementing a knowledge management audit.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementing total quality management (TQM) in the Palestinian construction industry	[ "TQM", "Critical success factors", "Infrastructure", "Construction industry", "Economy", "Project planning", "Palestine", "Gaza strip" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Quality is important in competitive business environments. Like the \"theory of relativity,\" quality is sometimes interpreted as a relative concept that depends on competitive business environments (Dahlgaard et al., 1998). The development of quality management can be defined in four stages: quality inspection, quality control, quality assurance and total quality management (TQM) (Dale, 2003). The TQM stage is the highest level involving the application of quality management principles in all aspects of the business. ISO 8402:1994 defined TQM as \"[...] a management based approach of an organization centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success. This is achieved through customer satisfaction and benefits to all members of the organization and to society\" (Dale and Plunkett, 1999).\n2. Critical success factors of TQM implementation: Quantitative research was selected to determine the critical success factors for TQM implementation because of its advantages; such as, economy and time saving. From extensive reviews of TQM literature from quality gurus, quality award models, a study of the local construction industry and other quality management researches (Abu-Hamatteh et al., 2003; Tari, 2005; Jung and Wang, 2006; Iyer and Jha, 2005; Bryde and Robinson, 2007; Baidoun, 2004; Abdul-Aziz, 2002; Taylor and Wright, 2003), this research determined a total of eight main factors and 81 sub-factors. The main group of success factors for TQM implementation on construction projects includes the following:\n3. Methodology: Three targeted populations were considered in this study. The first population included contractors with valid registration at the Contractor's Union in the Gaza Strip as of November 2007. These selected contractors were classified under first and second classes in the following fields: buildings, roads, water and sewage. This group contained 56 contracting companies. Contractors registered under the third, fourth and fifth classes were neglected due to the limited practical and administrative experience of their companies in the critical success factors of TQM implementation. The second targeted population was consulting engineers registered by the engineering association in Gaza Strip as of 2007. All consulting engineers used in this study (i.e. 17 consulting offices), had valid registrations in the following fields: building, roads, project management, water and sewage. The third targeted population was that of owners, consisting of government agencies, ministries and municipalities (class A and B). This target group holds 25 owners.\n4. Model development: Through this research, a model to measure TQM has been developed for construction projects in the Gaza Strip. It has been developed to estimate the importance of each main factor and sub-factors. To develop the model the following steps were followed:\n5. Results and discussion: The sub-factors were organized in the descending order of priority and the sub-factors' cumulative percentage was calculated using the Pareto principle, which states that 20 percent of the factors achieve 80 percent of the importance percentage to find the critical success factors for TQM implementation. Cumulative percentages of sub-factors were calculated by using Equation (5) after the descending arrangement.\n6. Conclusion: This research determined those success factors necessary for the implementation of TQM during various phases of project planning, design and construction in the Gaza Strip. The success factors including eight main factors and 81 sub-factors were identified from a thorough literature review. A factor analysis was carried out on the collected data, and the Pareto principle was utilized to identify seven critical success factors with 38 sub-critical success factors of TQM. It was shown that continuous improvement is the most critical factor for the successful implementation of TQM in Gaza Strip organizations. The results were validated to determine whether there was a degree of agreement on the levels for each of the factors affecting TQM implementation among the owner, contractor and consultant; it was found that there was a significant degree of agreement among them. In conclusion, the present study achieved the following objectives:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The construction industry has been one of the most important industries for the development of the Palestinian infrastructure and economy. Total quality management (TQM) is considered one of the most important approaches to the success of construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to determine the success factors necessary for the implementation of TQM at various phases of project planning, design and construction in the Gaza Strip.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A computer model was developed to assess the current strengths and weaknesses of each component of the construction industry, such as owner, consultant and contractor, regarding their use of quality management methodologies.\nFindings: The research determined a total of eight major factors and 81 sub-factors. It was identified that seven critical success factors with 38 significant sub-factors were required for the successful implementation of TQM in Gaza Strip construction organizations.\nOriginality/value: An original assessment of the importance of TQM in the construction industry in Palestine. The computer model shows the strengths and weaknesses of stakeholders within the industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The global competitiveness of European wine producers	[ "European Union", "Wine industry", "Duration analysis", "Comparative advantages" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the 1980s, the traditional dominance of European wine-exporting countries in the world market has been in steady decline as New World wine producers have increased their export. Although countries in the European Union (EU) have remained market leaders, their export share has declined while their import share has increased.\n2. Empirical background: Competitiveness can be captured and measured by several aspects at micro, mezzo, and macro levels. On the one hand, the World Economic Forum (2011) defined national competitiveness as \"the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country\" (p. 4). On the other hand, OECD (1992) describes competitiveness \"as the degree to which, under open market conditions, a country can produce goods and services that meet the test of foreign competition while simultaneously maintaining and expanding domestic real income\". According to the definitions mentioned above, competitiveness can be interpreted from trade (foreign competition) and policy (institutions, policies, and factors) perspectives.\n3. Methodology: To date, various methods have been employed to investigate the theory of comparative advantage, and they provide the basis for this analysis. Balassa (1965), in his article \"Trade Liberalisation and Comparative Advantage\", developed a measurement of comparative trade advantage by calculating the relative advantage or disadvantage of a certain country in a certain class of goods, as evidenced by trade flows. Based on the concept of Ricardian trade theory, Balassa's measurement of comparative trade advantage is calculated using different index numbers. The original index of comparative advantage is defined as follows (Balassa, 1965):(1)\n4. Descriptive results: To investigate comparative advantage, we consider trade performance and analyse changes in B indices of the EU wine industry in the global market. Figure 1 illustrates increased export of European wine to the world market from 2000 to 2008. After 2008, moderate decline can be observed in the wine industry, mainly due to the Global Economic Crisis (GEC) and partially due to the EU CMO policy changes for wine. Regarding the new CMO, the particularly attractive vineyard grubbing-up prime inspired many wine producers in the EU member states to reduce their vineyards; this was especially true for Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, and Hungary (OIV, 2013, p. 10). These member states were able to raise their wine export only after 2011.\n5. Stability and duration of comparative advantages: In this section, we analyse the duration and the stability of comparative advantages of the EU-16 by applying lagged indices and Kaplan-Meier survival functions. Equality of the survival functions across countries was analysed using the Wilcoxon and log-rank non-parametric tests. As it excludes the import side, and owing to its symmetric nature, to test the duration and stability of indices, we selected the RSCA index (Equation 2).\n6. Conclusions and direction for future research: In recent decades, market dominance of the traditional European wine exporters has been declining. This is owing to reasons of GEC and changes to EU policy. However, in spite of growing competition in the international wine market, the EU remains a market leader, and accounts for more than two-thirds of global wine export. For this reason, it is important to evaluate how the export competitiveness of top EU wine producers has changed over time, and how could they preserve their global competitiveness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Comparative advantage is an important indicator in the analysis of international trade flow; however, in empirical studies on agriculture it is often neglected. The purpose of this paper is to analyse global comparative advantage in the European Union (EU) wine industry and to test the duration and stability of trade indices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper applies the theory of comparative advantages by using the Balassa indices to European wine trade (based on the 16 biggest producers) data from the period 2000-2013. Moreover, it applies stability and duration analysis on comparative advantages calculated.\nFindings: Results suggest that Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain are the highest ranked European wine producers in the world market and have the largest comparative advantages. However, duration and stability tests indicate that trade advantages have weakened for the majority of these countries. The paper discusses a number of reasons for this downturn, including changes to Common Agricultural Policy wine regulation, economic crisis, and the rise of New World wine producers.\nOriginality/value: The originality of the paper is that it applies the theory of comparative advantage to top wine exporters in the EU. The paper also makes valuable contributions to the wine literature by analysing the duration and stability of comparative advantage in the global wine trade. Moreover, the identification of industry-specific causes for changing patterns in comparative advantage in the EU might be important to the wine industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Why do servitized firms fail? A risk-based explanation	[ "Service", "Organizational change", "Servitization", "Operations strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the manufacturing world, services are in vogue. As markets demand greater customization and faster innovation, academic, and management literatures alike suggest that supplementing products with value added services can be a profitable option (Neely, 2008; Spring and Araujo, 2013; Wise and Baumgartner, 1999). Especially in developed economies, integrating services into products is thought to provide product manufacturers with opportunities for competitive advantage, particularly when they offer otherwise undifferentiated products (Gebauer et al., 2011; Matthyssens and Vandenbempt, 2010; Mathieu, 2001a; Cusumano et al., 2014). Service dominant logic (SDL) suggests that additional services directly enhance the value of the physical product, which is itself viewed as a conduit for delivering service (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). By virtue of being co-produced with the customer, services involve customers as operant resources in the co-creation of value that is often unique and difficult-to-imitate (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Fang et al., 2008; Gebauer et al., 2011). In addition, services are recognised as a steady source of revenues and profit margins that in some industries far exceed the returns of the market for physical goods (Wise and Baumgartner, 1999; Gebauer et al., 2005; Raddats and Easingwood, 2010). Finally, marketing researchers assert that augmenting products with service elements increases customer satisfaction and strengthens customer relationships, thereby enhancing customer loyalty and retention (Brax, 2005; Gebauer et al., 2006; Johnstone et al., 2009).\n2. Theory and hypotheses: Given its underlying concern with advancing the understanding of why manufacturing firms that enter the service market often fail to achieve rewarding financial performance (i.e. the \"servitization paradox\" problem), this study concentrates on servitized firms that have failed in the most extreme sense, those that have declared bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is a clear and objective measure of failure. Moreover, because bankruptcy invites analyses of a firm's weaknesses and risks, a wealth of rich, objective data are often available for bankrupted firms. Accordingly, the present investigation of the risks of service-oriented strategies examines particular risks attributed to servitized firms around the time of their bankruptcies, and contrasts these risks with risk profiles of other similar bankrupted firms that kept pure product-centric orientations.\n3. Methodology: 3.1. Sample and data collection\n4. Results: Table II illustrates the impacts of the risk factors in the coding framework, showing the frequency of each factor's occurrence in contributing to bankruptcies of the SMFs and non-SMFs in the study sample. For both SMFs and non-SMFs, the most common environmental causes of failure were economic downturn and industry recession - followed by competition from foreign countries, increased price of raw materials and energy, failure of core customers (especially for SMFs). Environmental risks were concentrated on these five factors. Internal operating risks were more widely spread. Except for cost of expansion through acquisitions for SMFs, none of the risk factors significantly outweighed others. SMFs were affected on average by 3.65 risk factors, while non-SMFs were affected on average by 2.87 risk factors. A group t-test indicated that this difference in mean numbers of risks is statistically significant at p=0.001.\n5. Discussion: 5.1. Theoretical contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In an effort to further explain why manufacturing firms that move towards service provision often do not achieve the financial benefits they would expect, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of service additions on the risks affecting the firm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using data drawn from a sample 129 bankrupt manufacturers (75 servitized and 54 non-servitized) and a categorization framework of failure risks, the study explores the impact of the presence of a service business on environmental and internal bankruptcy risks that a manufacturing firm must face.\nFindings: The study finds that the presence of a service business leads to a greater number of bankruptcy risks for the supplying firm. This is essentially because of greater internal risks. In addition, two types of service offerings are identified - demand chain and product support services. When firms offer demand chain services, they are also exposed to greater environmental risks.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between servitization and bankruptcy risks, and on how this is influenced by the type of service offering. The research should be extended by a more comprehensive assessment of organizational risks in order to further validate and develop the conclusions.\nPractical implications: The study suggests that, as adding services introduces new risks for firms, managers have to seek means of mitigating these risks to ensure successful introduction of services.\nOriginality/value: The paper addressed the gap in the literature for structured analyses of the risk consequences of service strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The influence of unilateral supplier transaction-specific investments on international buyer opportunism: empirical findings from local suppliers in China	[ "Transaction-specific investments", "Supplier dependence", "International buyer opportunism", "Contract specificity", "Relationship length", "Cross-border outsourcing", "D22", "F23", "M11", "M16" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Suppliers from emerging economies are playing an increasingly important role in global value chains (GVCs) (Xie and Li, 2018). According to the United Nations' statistics, emerging economies accounted for about 40% of worldwide exports in 1995, and this number has increased to over 50% in 2015 (U.N., 2017). Suppliers from emerging markets, however, still lack bargaining power in their relationships with buyers from developed economies who control well-known brand and advanced technologies (Lin et al., 2017; Sinkovics et al., 2018). Buyers from advanced economies often require emerging-market suppliers to make unilateral transaction-specific investments (TSIs) without making a reciprocal commitment (Hoque et al., 2016; Kang et al., 2009). For example, Dell and Apple require emerging market suppliers to make TSIs prior to transactions and use the quantity of specific assets invested as a criterion to choose a supplier (Jean et al., 2010b). Although TSIs can help a local supplier secure transactions from an international buyer (Kang et al., 2009), such investments can also subject the supplier to opportunistic exploitation by the buyer (e.g. Handley and Benton, 2012; Williamson and Ghani, 2012).On the other hand, the buyer-supplier relationship management literature has not reached consensus on whether a supplier should safeguard their unilateral TSIs (e.g. Handley and Benton, 2012; Kang et al., 2009; Lui et al., 2009). A majority of the studies on cross-border relationship management argue that TSIs create exit barriers for suppliers and make them vulnerable to buyer opportunism (e.g. Jean et al., 2010a; Zhang et al., 2014). An alternative viewpoint, however, proposes that dedicated TSIs can produce higher returns to a relationship than general assets (Anderson and Weitz, 1992; Jap, 1999) and thus may encourage buyer cooperative behaviors (Lin et al., 2017; Sambasivan et al., 2013). Kang et al. (2009) argue that transaction cost economics (TCE)'s view on the need for safeguarding unilateral TSIs is limited because TCE examines each transaction separately and fails to account for the interlinks among different transactions, which constitute overall relationship dependence. Moreover, empirical findings have shown that unilateral TSIs made by a powerful partner such as Xerox (Jap, 1999; Rokkan et al., 2003) and Honda (Stevens et al., 2015) do not necessarily make them vulnerable to partner opportunism. The power and dependence of a TSI investing party are thus crucial to understanding the need to safeguard unilateral TSIs (Heide and John, 1988; Provan and Skinner, 1989). Despite acknowledging the inherent power asymmetry in GVCs (e.g. Kano, 2017), few studies on cross-border buyer-supplier relationships have examined how supplier dependence influences the need to safeguard TSIs.Furthermore, although TCE advocates using formal contracts to reduce dependence and safeguard TSIs (Reuer and Arino, 2007; Williamson, 1985), the literature on cross-border outsourcing has primarily focused on contract use by powerful multinational buyers to mitigate foreign supplier opportunism (Wang et al., 2016; Zhou and Xu, 2012). Emerging-market suppliers can also employ formal contracts to specify rights and responsibilities of exchange partners (Subramani and Venkatraman, 2003), even if they are unable to vertically integrate powerful buyers from advanced economies or demand reciprocal commitments from the buyers (Hoque et al., 2016). It is noteworthy that the existing literature generally takes a static perspective on contractual governance while ignoring the fact that suppliers can learn from repeated interactions with the same international buyer (Hoque et al., 2016), which may enable them to close loopholes overlooked in earlier contracts with the buyer (Mayer and Argyres, 2004; Wagner and Bobe, 2014).To address the aforementioned knowledge gaps, the current study examines (1) how supplier dependence mediates the relationship between unilateral supplier TSIs and international buyer opportunism, (2) the extent to which detailed contracts safeguard dependent suppliers against international buyer opportunism, and (3) the extent to which relationship length affects the efficacy of detailed contracts. Our findings show that unilateral supplier TSIs encourage international buyer opportunism only through increased supplier dependence. Furthermore, detailed contracts can weaken the positive effect of supplier dependence on international buyer opportunism, and such contracts are particularly effective in long-term buyer-supplier relationships.These findings contribute to the cross-border relationship management literature by reconciling the mixed findings on whether unilateral TSIs promote foreign partner opportunism and also extend the GVC literature by demonstrating the importance of drafting detailed contracts in buyer-supplier relationships with asymmetric power. Moreover, the current study extends the cross-border outsourcing literature's focus on foreign supplier opportunism by examining international buyer opportunism. With the exception of a few studies on emerging-market supplier strategies (Hoque et al., 2016; Sinkovics et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2019a), the cross-border outsourcing literature has mostly focused on international buyers' attempts to protect themselves against foreign supplier opportunism (Zhou and Xu, 2012). Compared with supplier opportunism, international buyer opportunism is hard to retaliate against because most buyers hold a dominant position over local suppliers (e.g. Gooris and Peeters, 2016; Hoque et al., 2016). The current study contributes to the existing outsourcing literature by examining how emerging-market suppliers can proactively manage their dependence and mitigate risks of international buyer opportunism.\nTheoretical development: TSIs or assets dedicated to a particular transaction are a common feature of cross-border buyer-supplier relationships (e.g. Kang et al., 2009; Kano, 2017). Powerful buyers from advanced economies often have a \"distinct knowledge base and preferential access to resources\" (Kano, 2017, p. 698), which enable them to require suppliers from emerging markets to make unilateral TSIs where reciprocal commitment from the buyers is \"neither expected nor forthcoming\" (Kang et al., 2009, p. 117). TCE maintains that these local suppliers run the risk of opportunistic behaviors by international buyers who have not reciprocated TSIs (Heide and John, 1988). Suppliers thus should use governance mechanisms such as formal contracts to safeguard the TSIs and mitigate risk (Williamson, 1985).The TCE logic on safeguarding unilateral TSIs has been accepted by conventional marketing channel research (e.g. Heide and John, 1988; Jap and Ganesan, 2000) and by studies of cross-border relationship management (e.g. Jean et al., 2010a; Kano, 2017). A few relationship marketing studies, however, have observed the beneficial effects of unilateral TSIs. In conventional literature on marketing channels, Anderson and Weitz (1992) propose that dedicated TSIs can produce higher returns for the relationship than general assets can and thus increase commitment of exchange partners. Jap (1999) shows that Xerox has dedicated customized processes and components for their suppliers that benefited both parties. Sambasivan et al. (2013) further find that TSIs made by manufacturing suppliers reduced partner opportunism in international strategic alliances. Using case studies, Stevens et al. (2015) further demonstrate that relationship-specific investments made by Honda improve overseas supplier trust in the firm. Rokkan et al. (2003) summarize the different perspectives on unilateral TSIs and conclude that \"[specific investments] have the potential to both promote and reduce opportunism on the receiver's part... Reconciling these perspectives requires an accounting for the context in which the investments are deployed\" (p. 211).An important context relevant to TSIs in cross-border buyer-supplier relationships is the power and dependence asymmetry favoring buyers from advanced economies (Sinkovics et al., 2018, 2019). Pfeffer and Salancik (1978, p. 40) define dependence as a phenomenon that \"exists whenever one actor does not entirely control all of the conditions necessary for the achievement of an action or for obtaining the outcome desired from the action.\" Several sources of dependence have been identified, with unilateral TSIs accounting for one source of dependence (Heide and John, 1988). Heide and John (1988) propose that unilateral TSIs mainly affect dependence related to the number of potential exchange partners, but do not necessarily affect other sources of dependence such as the magnitude of the exchange, role performance of the exchange partner, and the concentration of supply or demand markets (Heide and John, 1988; Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). Sources of dependence thus go beyond TSIs (Casciaro and Piskorski, 2005; Heide and John, 1988).Although unilateral supplier TSIs may give rise to supplier dependence that allows international buyers to opportunistically extract rents from local suppliers, long-term sustainability of a cross-border buyer-supplier relationship requires suppliers to deploy mechanisms to mitigate buyer opportunism and ensure that they receive equitable returns (Kano, 2017). With a few exceptions that examine emerging-market supplier strategies (e.g. Hoque et al., 2016; Sinkovics et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2019a), the majority of cross-border outsourcing studies focus on strategies buyers from advanced economies can use to coordinate and govern outsourcing relationships (e.g. Zhang et al., 2003; Zhou and Xu, 2012).Formal contracts are a feasible strategy that suppliers from emerging market can use to safeguard against buyer opportunism (e.g. Williamson, 1985; Wuyts and Geyskens, 2005). In particular, a formal contract can set fundamental rules and expectations for cooperation between cross-border transaction partners (Wang et al., 2017). Several contract properties have been discussed in the extant contract governance literature, such as contract types (Poppo and Zenger, 2002; Zhou and Xu, 2012), duration (Joskow, 1987; Wagner and Bode, 2014), explicitness (Ryall and Sampson, 2009; Wuyts and Geyskens, 2005), complexity (Reuer and Arino, 2007), and specificity (Vasquez, 2007; Zhang et al., 2018). Contract specificity is considered the most relevant contract property to safeguard against exchange partner opportunism (Griffith and Zhao, 2015).Contract specificity refers to the extent to which a supplier uses detailed, formal rules to stipulate expected behaviors and objectives for each party (Williamson, 1985). Contract specificity evolves over time as exchange partners accumulate knowledge and experience regarding how to manage interorganizational cooperation (Mayer and Argyres, 2004). Such knowledge and experience not only sensitize managers to potential disruptions to relationships but also help them better understand the implications of contingencies for the relationship (Mayer and Argyres, 2004). As such, exchange parties may perform better when signing a long-term contract than a short-term one (Fudenberg et al., 1990).In a power-imbalanced relationship between local suppliers and international buyers, suppliers can learn tacit knowledge such as buyers' product- and work-related preferences through repeat transactions with buyers over time (Hoque et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2019b). Such tacit knowledge can help suppliers draft more detailed contractual terms that better safeguard vulnerable assets (Mayer and Argyres, 2004). Thus, we propose that contract specificity plays an essential role in mitigating the effect of supplier dependence on buyer opportunism and that the efficacy of contract specificity differs in buyer-supplier relationships of different lengths (Mayer and Argyres, 2004).\nHypothesis development: The direct effect of local supplier TSIs on international buyer opportunism\nMethod: Sampling and data collection\nAnalyses and results: Hypothesis testing results\nDiscussion and conclusions: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study examines how unilateral supplier transaction-specific investments (TSIs), directly and indirectly, influence international buyer opportunism and the extent to which detailed contracts enable suppliers to safeguard against international buyer opportunism. The study also examines whether relationship length affects the efficacy of detailed contracts in cross-border outsourcing relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The hypotheses are tested by using data collected from multiple informants working for 229 manufacturing suppliers in China. Multiple regression with a three-way interaction is used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Unilateral supplier TSIs encourage international buyer opportunism through increased supplier dependence. Contract specificity negatively moderates the effect of supplier dependence on international buyer opportunism. This moderating effect is stronger in long-term cross-border buyer-supplier relationships than in short-term ones.\nOriginality/value: The current study extends the cross-border outsourcing literature by examining how emerging-market suppliers in a weak power position can proactively safeguard against international buyer opportunism by using detailed contracts. Our findings show that supplier dependence mediates the relationship between unilateral supplier TSIs and international buyer opportunism; detailed contracts, however, can help dependent suppliers safeguard against international buyer opportunism. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of long-term buyer-supplier relationships that enhance the efficacy of detailed contracts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dynamic safety prewarning mechanism of human-machine-environment using computer vision	[ "Prewarning mechanism", "Human-machine-environment integration", "Grey multihierarchical analysis", "Computer vision" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Safety management has always been a crucial issue in the construction industry. Despite a 0.6231% decrease in fatal construction injuries in the United States since 2015, 20.7% of worker deaths were in construction in 2017. The leading causes in the construction industry were falls, followed by struck by objects, electrocution and caught-in/between (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2019). Based on the analysis of the causes, the majority of construction accidents are directly related to workers' unsafe behaviors, heavy machines and poor conditions are also important factors affecting accidents (Chi et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2015; Son et al., 2019).However, the current safety management of construction sites mainly relies on manual supervision and observation, which is time-consuming and laborious (Yu et al., 2017). With the widespread rise of artificial intelligence, the computer vision that can analyse the information in the cameras in real time has been widely introduced into the field of construction safety (Fang et al., 2018; Kolar et al., 2018; Park and Brilakis, 2016; Seo et al., 2015; Teizer, 2015; Yan et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2016; Yu et al., 2017; Zhu et al., 2017). However, existing studies have focused on the single unsafe behaviour or environment monitoring (Fang et al., 2018; Kolar et al., 2018; Pavllo et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019a; Yu et al., 2017).On the construction site, worker behaviour interacts with other safety factors such as site environment and machines, directly resulting in a large number of safety incidents. These factors are also interrelated when assessing construction safety. For example, when the crane is being operated, the surrounding equipment or the number of workers may affect the safety level judgement, because congestion can lead to serious safety hazards in certain situations (Zhang et al., 2015). Therefore, a comprehensive and integrated evaluation of various unsafe factors can better determine the safety level of the construction site. Although the most updated research can monitor and analyze the interaction between workers and equipment by detecting their locations and trajectories and identifying the hazard zones (Wang et al., 2019a), existing studies are still limited to providing an overall mechanism that can potentially evaluate integrated human-machine-environment risks and further provide timely suggestions.To address these limitations, a comprehensive prewarning mechanism of construction safety based on computer vision and grey multihierarchical analysis method is proposed. The aim of this paper is to provide an advanced risk assessment mechanism, which can dynamically access integrated human-machine-environment risks and provide suggestions in real time. The remaining of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 contains a summary of the related studies of computer vision applications and risk assessment in construction. The research methodology is explained in Section 3. The comprehensive risk assessment model is presented in Section 4. Section 5 contains a description of the process of the safety prewarning mechanism. Section 6 exhibits the experiment settings and validation. The discussion and conclusion are presented in Section 7 and Section 8, respectively.\n2. Literature review: Construction health and safety risk management are critical because the industry accounts for 30-40% of workplace fatalities (Sunindijo and Zou, 2012). Thus, safety risks need to be continually assessed at the construction site. With the potential of information technology, traditional risk management methods and information technology should be combined in the future to create proactive safety management (Motamedi et al., 2014). During the construction stages, real-time monitoring and risk identification can help improve construction safety. With the information provided by surveillance cameras on the construction site, computer vision technology is capable of extracting information timely from large-scale congested construction sites. It is effective for creating active safety risk management. Therefore, this paper combines computer vision, expert knowledge and risk assessment to automatically and continuously perform safety inspections, identify and assess risks, provide warnings and solutions to field personnel. The remaining of the section is organized as follows: first, it systematically illustrates the current theory and practice of safety risk management, and then the risk assessment methods of the construction site were sorted out. Next, studies related to the application of computer vision at the construction site and the representative algorithms supporting computer vision technology were discussed. Finally, the research gap was summarised. 2.1 Health and safety risk management\n3. Research methodology: The research method of this paper is explained through the following four stages: (1) data collection, (2) development of a comprehensive risk assessment model, (3) development of the safety prewarning system, and (4) case study. Figure 1 shows the workflow of this paper.In the data collection stage, the required data includes video frames provided by onsite surveillance cameras and expert knowledge. Each video frame is transmitted for preprocessing, and construction workers, equipment and materials in video frames are extracted from various angles for algorithms training and case validation. For expert knowledge, a total of ten responses were received composed of approximately 30% contractors, 20% safety engineers and 20% construction managers. The remaining respondents were from universities and consultants serving the construction industry. The ten experts chosen were those with more than five years of site experience or study in construction safety. They were asked to determine the relative weights of the nine indicators in Figure 2 based on AHP. They also need to evaluate the simulated images based on BIM safety simulation scenarios to obtain a relatively objective scoring range. For example, the built material yard scenario can be used to simulate the situation of different numbers of people in the normal hoisting area. It should be known that not all expert data would be used. The expert had to meet two criteria before being selected. First, the data obtained from the expert should meet the requirements of consistency, which is the basic requirement in the AHP method (Qiao et al., 2016). Second, they should have an in-depth knowledge of the scenarios to be evaluated.It should be noted that the risk indicators selected are the same in different safety scenarios, but the same indicators may have different impacts on construction safety in different scenarios, so the weight may vary with different safety scenarios, and when determining the expert scoring scope, different construction safety simulation scenarios need to be established. In other words, risk indicators are applicable to different scenarios, but expert knowledge needs to be updated while applying different scenarios.The grey multihierarchical analysis method, which combines the AHP and the grey clustering evaluation in the grey theory, is used to establish the comprehensive risk assessment model. Embedded in the safety prewarning system, the risk assessment model combines expert knowledge with the dynamic safety information extracted by computer vision for comprehensive risk assessment. The safety prewarning system adopts a dynamic hierarchical active warning strategy to classify the risk level obtained from the results of the comprehensive assessment model and provides potential suggestions for different risk owners according to the corresponding risk level. Finally, a case study validates the effectiveness of this prewarning mechanism.\n4. Comprehensive risk assessment model: The comprehensive risk assessment model that adopts the grey multihierarchical analysis method, can not only evaluate the integrated human-machine-environment risks but also assess the risk of a single entity (human, for example), which provides a new idea and method for the study of construction safety factors.The grey multihierarchical analysis method combines AHP and grey theory to evaluate the site construction risk. The grey theory in this paper adopts the grey clustering evaluation model (Li et al., 2015; Naiming et al., 2019) based on the endpoints mixed trigonometric whiteness weights, which can divide the observed indicators into several definable categories and investigate whether the observed indicators belong to different categories set in advance. This method applies to cases in which the boundary of each grey class is clear, but the points most likely to belong to each grey class are unknown (Liu et al., 2014).For the development of comprehensive risk assessment model, it is mainly divided into four stages (Naiming et al., 2019): (1) define indicators and determine weights, (2) determine the grey clustering matrix; (3) determine the grey class and clustering whitenization weight function of the indicator system, (4) comprehensive evaluation. The indicators defined are the basis of the comprehensive risk assessment model. According to the indicators, the expert scores different safety scenarios. Then the information extracted from the surveillance cameras is automatically matched to the indicators, and the grey clustering matrix is output. Next, the grey clustering matrix is calculated to obtain the comprehensive risk value. The comprehensive risk assessment model plays a key role in the data processing layer of the safety prewarning system. 4.1 Define indicators and determine weights\n5. Develop the safety prewarning system: The construction safety prewarning system monitors the project/area, evaluates the overall risk, categorizes risk into different levels and provides corresponding suggestions. The system consists of three main layers, a data acquisition layer, a data processing layer and a prewarning layer, as shown in Figure 4. 5.1 Data acquisition layer\n6. Case study: At the construction site, there are a variety of working scenarios, such as hoisting materials and pouring concrete. The comprehensive risk assessment model is suitable for all scenarios. In this case study, a lifting activity experiment is designed, implementing the proposed comprehensive risk model to calculate the risk in the lifting area. 6.1 Experiment design\n7. Discussion: The prewarning mechanism developed in this paper can be used to assess not only the integrated risk of multiple entity types (human, machine and environment) on the construction site but also the risk of a single entity (human, for example) while evaluating the integrated risk.The performance of the prewarning mechanism proposed in this paper is probably affected by expert knowledge and computer vision algorithms. The selected expert score is also likely affected by the safety level of site management. Different project types, site conditions and management styles will result in different risk preferences, so the expert score might be slightly subjective.For computer vision algorithms, the mAP (mean average precision) will vary when different algorithms are applied, and in this experiment, the mAP extracted from indicators was 93.5%. However, with the development of technology and computer vision algorithms, the prewarning mechanism will be less affected than it is now in this regard.What's more, the proposed safety prewarning mechanism can link previous studies (Amiri et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2019; Chi et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2015; Li et al., 2015; Son et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019a). For example, Hongjo Kim uses proximity and congestion to determine individual workers' risk levels (Kim et al., 2015), and Hainan Chen uses proximity and worker posture to determine risk levels (Chen et al., 2019). The proposed mechanism comprehensively considers the indicators that computer vision can identify in these studies.For the applicability evaluation of the developed mechanism, this research presents a prototype of a prewarning system for risk assessment at the construction site. It was implemented in a typical case using the material hoisting site as an example. The experimental test results are given to demonstrate the feasibility and operability of the proposed system. Nevertheless, the system has not yet been commercialised.\n8. Conclusion: Traditional risk management methods rely on expert knowledge to assess construction safety, which is already universally applicable at construction sites. However, an important challenge based on expert knowledge is how to identify potential risks accurately and timely. The emerging computer vision technology can extract real-time dynamic information through surveillance cameras. Combined with grey multihierarchical analysis method, which uses expert knowledge and grey theory to quantify the safety level of the construction site, this paper integrates grey multihierarchical analysis and computer vision technology and proposes a safety prewarning mechanism that can easily monitor and assess safety risk. For the scope of this research, the mechanism mainly considers three entities: workers, machines and the environment. The safety value of each entity category can be assessed, and the risks related to those three entities can also be combined to achieve integrated assessment. In general, the proposed mechanism is capable of analysing integrated human-machine-environment risk, timely categorising risks into different risk levels and providing potential suggestions. It can also provide risk assessment and solutions to some people who do not have expertise in risk assessment and enable them to make decisions faster and more accurately. In addition, risk events that reach a certain threshold can be stored for future inspection.The main contributions of the developed prewarning mechanism include (1) the combination of computer vision and dynamic risk assessment. Traditionally, the on-site risk is difficult to be dynamically and timely assessed. With real-time and dynamic data provided by computer vision technology, dynamic and timely risk assessment becomes feasible; (2) the BIM technology is utilized to provide a variety of safety scenarios. Safety experts now can contribute their expertise, and the valuable expert knowledge is embedded in an automated scoring system for the safety evaluation of the construction processes; (3) the grey multihierarchical analysis method considers the interaction among multiple risk factors and three entity objects; (4) an integrated risk assessment is conducted on the consideration of human, machine and environment; (5) a prewarning mechanism is presented to quantify the safety risk and provide real-time early warning as well as potential suggestions to corresponding risk owners on the construction sites. In addition, the proposed mechanism can be easily modified and extended and can be applied to different construction sites.Due to the dynamic nature of the construction site, the safety officer is not always physically on-site, and safety responsibility may be delegated to people who are not familiar with safety codes and regulations. Therefore, to ensure the health and safety of construction projects, companies need to spend large amounts of money on safety education or safety monitoring. The proposed prewarning mechanisms can use universal cameras on the construction site to monitor safety in real time and provide timely warnings and solutions to the construction personnel.Future research can consider the following: (1) the expert database and expert system can be integrated to provide more objective recommendations that are more in line with the scene environment; (2) professional knowledge, safety experience and solutions should be reasonably organised and summarised.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study provides a safety prewarning mechanism, which includes a comprehensive risk assessment model and a safety prewarning system. The comprehensive risk assessment model is capable of assessing nine safety indicators, which can be categorised into workers' behaviour, environment and machine-related safety indicators, and the model is embedded in the safety prewarning system. The safety prewarning system can automatically extract safety information from surveillance cameras based on computer vision, assess risks based on the embedded comprehensive risk assessment model, categorise risks into five levels and provide timely suggestions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Firstly, the comprehensive risk assessment model is constructed by adopting grey multihierarchical analysis method. The method combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the grey clustering evaluation in the grey theory. Expert knowledge, obtained through the questionnaire approach, contributes to set weights of risk indicators and evaluate risks. Secondly, a safety prewarning system is developed, including data acquisition layer, data processing layer and prewarning layer. Computer vision is applied in the system to automatically extract real-time safety information from the surveillance cameras. The safety information is then processed through the comprehensive risk assessment model and categorized into five risk levels. A case study is presented to verify the proposed mechanism.\nFindings: Through a case study, the result shows that the proposed mechanism is capable of analyzing integrated human-machine-environment risk, timely categorising risks into five risk levels and providing potential suggestions.\nOriginality/value: The comprehensive risk assessment model is capable of assessing nine risk indicators, identifying three types of entities, workers, environment and machine on the construction site, presenting the integrated risk based on nine indicators. The proposed mechanism, which adopts expert knowledge through Building Information Modeling (BIM) safety simulation and extracts safety information based on computer vision, can perform a dynamic real-time risk analysis, categorize risks into five risk levels and provide potential suggestions to corresponding risk owners. The proposed mechanism can allow the project manager to take timely actions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Communication key as Mapa gets a wiki: "Non-techie" staff unfazed by IT innovation	[ "Knowledge management systems", "Business development", "Benchmarking", "Knowledge sharing", "Communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The workforce could be counted on the fingers of one hand and not a technical expert among them. That was the situation at Mapa, a UK-based competitor-analysis agency for online financial services - a company that helps other businesses to identify their strengths and weaknesses, compared with rivals, by simulating the experiences of internet users who are their customers' customers.\nCritical to allow growth and expansion while retaining agility: The critical element was to develop a system that would facilitate growth while maintaining the agility the company currently had. It was important that the new system did not stop the knowledge-sharing that happened verbally between employees, nor hinder day-to-day business tasks.The solution was the developent of a knowledge-management system (KMS) that allowed both the storage of key knowledge and the interactions between employees to be recorded and maintained quickly and easily. The system would also capture recent news articles and reports, central to the company's research, and would concentrate on the key areas of knowledge defined and developed by Mapa.After addressing relevant criteria to evaluate the most appropriate system, a wiki (a collection of linked and interactive web pages that works in a similar way to Wikipedia, the well-known online encyclopedia) was chosen as the most adaptable to the business's needs. It was something of a culture shock, perhaps, to those non-techies, but the birth of MapaWiki turned out to be relatively straightforward.MapaWiki has caused little frustration for the new users and confidence is growing as experience is gained, with users trying to perform new tasks rather than calling for help or consulting manuals. Progress can be seen in how the users are beginning to add and link articles without having to be reminded, and how some of this knowledge is increasingly tacit rather than explicit.Essential to this growing confidence was keeping everyone involved during planning and implementation, discussing issues at team meetings and having a central point of expertise. These considerations also make Mapa well placed to meet future challenges, particularly with new MapaWiki add-ons by external developers.\nSuccess planning and training newcomers: One criterion for choosing the knowledge-management system was succession planning, to ensure the company was protected from losing critical knowledge and experience when key knowledge workers left. Similarly, when new employees start (a very real situation as a result of the planned expansion), the system would be used as a training tool, reducing the time taken for newcomers to become effective.Mapa is a knowledge-rich business. Most of that knowledge is implicit, which can leave the company vulnerable if an employee leaves for another job. Although a wiki cannot prevent the loss of knowledge when someone leaves, it can help to ensure that project history, decisions taken in the past and experience gained can be kept within the company and reused. Training new staff is an example. For a small market-research business like Mapa, which depends on its staff's knowledge, this is possibly the main benefit of using a wiki.Another criterion was the need to avoid implementing a system that was completely alien to the company, since KM itself was also a new concept to Mapa. A wiki had many benefits, one being that it could be run on an already familiar application - the web browser (in this case, Internet Explorer). This reduced the anxiety for the users that is often present when a new IT system is implemented.Technicalities of editing the wiki for non-technical employees can be challenging. That is why many wikis used in business tend to be in technical or IT departments. But when used as it is in Mapa, as an editable knowledge base, it allows users to store business knowledge in a central location and not on local personal computers or in e-mail boxes. This can help to make knowledge sharing and project management easier.\nCentral tool for collaboration: The wiki has become the central tool for collaboration and the starting point for new activities. Users review existing content and, in addition to submitting new material, add comments and suggestions to the current subject matter.The management and maintenance of MapaWiki remains with the organization's lead developer. Over time, as users build confidence and experience with the application and its role in Mapa, these tasks will be handed over to the employees. There are two reasons for this: Mapa does not have a person dedicated to IT systems management (currently there is not a case for employing someone full-time for this); and sharing the management tasks will help users to learn more about the purpose and capabilities of the wiki and continue their development in KM. This will reduce the presence of a \"super-user\" or \"owner\" of MapaWiki and help to create organic, non-hierarchical structures that will promote knowledge sharing.Good leadership is needed for KM to be successful. Mapa has allocated wiki leadership to a member of staff, part-time. As the company expands and staff numbers increase, having a full-time KM leadership position responsible for managing the wiki becomes more and more likely.\nComment: This review is based on \"Interactive business development, capturing business knowledge and practice\", by Gregor McKelvie, Fefie Dotsika and Keith Patrick (2007). The paper follows the planning and introduction of MapaWiki, a knowledge management system for an independent UK research company specializing in competitor benchmarking for online financial services.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Follows the planning and development of MapaWiki, an knowledge-management system for Mapa, a research company specializing in benchmarking.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Reveals that MapaWiki has allowed both the storage of key knowledge and the interactions between employees to be recorded and maintained quickly and easily.\nFindings: - Argues that the wiki has become a central tool for collaboration and the starting point for new activities. Users review existing content and, in addition to submitting new material, add comments and suggestions to the current subject matter.\nPractical implications: - Shows that users are beginning to add and link articles without having to be reminded, and that this knowledge can increasingly be tacit rather than explicit.\nOriginality/value: - Highlights that the new system has not stopped the knowledge-sharing that happened verbally between employees, nor hindered day-to-day business tasks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

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