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The significance of knowledge sharing platforms for open innovation success: A tale of two companies in the dairy industry	[ "Open innovation", "Inbound innovation", "External/Internal knowledge", "Customer knowledge sharing", "Knowledge sharing platform", "New product development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, researchers have suggested that the technological aspect of open innovation (OI) has had an important impact on the customers' involvement (Ciesielska and Westenholz, 2016; Cui and Wu, 2016; West and Bogers, 2014; Van de Vrande et al., 2009). The theoretical background has focused on the involvement of customers in the innovation process to design new products for better market acceptance (Ma et al., 2015; Mahr et al., 2014; Hoyer et al., 2010; Fang, 2008). Accordingly, some authors have introduced the notion of \"customer knowledge management\" (CKM) (Fidel et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2013; Gibbert et al., 2002). Actually, a firm's competitive advantages depend not only on knowledge creation but, more importantly, also on knowledge sharing (KS) and its application (Ritala et al., 2015; Donate and de Pablo, 2015; Nonaka and Teece, 2001; Grant, 1996). From a theoretical perspective, KS is moderating the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and innovation success (Alegre et al., 2013; Darroch, 2005; Goh, 2002). Thus, companies adopting market orientation strategies have implemented cross-functional platforms to enhance KS, develop innovation and achieve performance. These multi-actor practices and activities have been captured through the use of different concepts and terminologies. Knowledge sharing platforms (KSP) are one of these new concepts (Vuori and Okkonen, 2012; Adekunle and Fatunbi, 2012). Indeed, multi-actor platforms have been noted as significant interventions for creating spaces to orient interaction in order to enable OI, as they stimulate changes among actors (Kilelu et al., 2013; Hafkesbrink and Schroll, 2011). Generally, as innovation platforms do not emerge autonomously, connections between platform members must be created and their interaction needs to be coordinated (Chang and Chuang, 2011; Carlile, 2004).\nTheoretical background: Knowledge sharing and open innovation\nResearch method and data collection: Tunisia, a MENA country with close ties to Europe, has undergone a significant transformation during the past two decades, resulting in rapid urbanization, increased household spending power, and more outward-looking and media-infused consumer attitudes. Partly, this transformation has been caused by a deliberate political will to make the country move toward a market-oriented economy. In support of this move, to promote product innovation in the market place, the government has enhanced the legal framework. In this research, we intimately follow the set-up, coordination and output of a new KSP and OI alliance between a Tunisian company and a French leader in dairy products, and their common endeavor to accommodate the changing consumer tastes in Tunisia by providing an industrially produced cheese as a subsidiary product to the artisan quality cheeses. Subsequently, it provides an exploratory longitudinal case study of product innovation involving the former product's shortcomings and successful adoption of a new product by Tunisian consumers. To support our reasoning, we used a longitudinal single case study and collected qualitative data through participant observation, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews conducted with all senior decision makers involved in the KSP throughout the NPD process. These open-ended responses were subsequently exposed to thematic discourse analysis. This triangulation, as a qualitative research strategy, aims to test validity through the convergence of information from different sources (Carter et al., 2014).\nAnalysis and findings: Market orientation strategy and OI alliance context\nDiscussion: We have examined a new OI alliance and KSP between a Tunisian company and a French leader in dairy products and their common goal of providing industrially produced cheese with artisan qualities to Tunisian consumers. The OI project that was intended to industrialize this product was a strategic priority for the company. It enabled the consumers' knowledge to be apprehended for innovation. For this purpose, guidelines for action were shaped in the form of objectives and delivered to the members involved in the innovation platform. The different members were continuously prompted throughout the project to achieve these objectives. In this sense, the adaptation concerned members who were integrated into the first phase of the project's development. These members had set up a theoretical approach involving the design of the formula by the partner's R&D manager and its application by the local members of the region. This approach did not include specific and in-depth training in the cheese sector and the input of selected consumers. Nevertheless, the members were able to succeed in the industrial process. However, the results were unsatisfactory, and the product had a sustainability problem in terms of quality. This impelled some members of the industrial team, especially the former industrial manager, to intervene to correct the errors committed in the process.\nImplications: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theoretical background on how organizational change (OC) enhances open innovation (OI) processes and enables a company to reach performance results through implementing knowledge sharing platforms (KSPs). The authors aim to better understand and investigate how the changes introduced by the implementation of KSPs impact the OC and facilitate the OI process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, an exploratory longitudinal single case study based on a variety of data sources is used: participant observations, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with the KSP members and top managers of a Tunisian SME operating in the dairy products sector. The open-ended responses were subsequently exposed to thematic discourse analysis.\nFindings: The case study findings deeply explore and investigate a company's experience in implementing OCs when using a joint-venture alliance with a French leader to develop OI. Central to this exhibit is the nature and magnitude of the knowledge sharing between the parties in the OI process, and the significant impact it had on the consumers' reception of the new products. The outcomes show that due to the sharing of external research and development skills, the creation of the KSP has been an incentive for significant changes and customer targeting and for promoting internal absorptive capacity, minimizing complexity, uncertainty and risks and reaching performance results.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a deep understanding of the new product development process and offers a holistic approach with respect to KSP practices. The significant impact on the consumers' first response and the subsequent adaption of an industrially produced cheese as a subsidiary product to an existing artisan quality product are examined in this study. Examining the implementation of an OI process, this research is one of the few studies revealing the shortcomings of a former process and a subsequent adaption of a newly successful one that targets the consumers in a MENA country.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Time-constrained interactions in public-private collaboration projects. The case of ENABLE	[ "Interaction", "Projects", "Collaboration", "Temporality", "Inter-organizational", "Public–private" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Economic action is increasingly taking place in temporary systems (Bakker, 2010), for example, in inter-organizational projects (Jones and Lichtenstein, 2008). From an industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) perspective (Hakansson, 1982; Ford et al., 2003), which for a long time has focused on the importance of long-term interaction between firms, time-constrained inter-organizational interaction poses interesting theoretical and methodological challenges. Time is a central concept in the IMP perspective (Hakansson et al., 2009), although with a focus on the long-term nature of business relationships emerging from continuous interaction (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995). Business relationships develop in due course because it takes time to achieve mutual orientation, trust and commitment, which are necessary for business relationships (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995). Peters and Pressey (2016, p. 308) argue that there is a need to rethink some of the concepts in IMP research because:\n2. Theoretical framing: Focusing on the interaction between private and public actors, namely, companies and universities, we start by describing the commonalities and differences of these actors. Next, we discuss inter-organizational interaction in more general terms. Then, we consider temporary organizing and temporality, as our focus is on how such issues affect public-private interactions. Finally, we reunite all these elements into our theoretical framework.\n3. Method: Empirical investigations of temporary organizing face some unique research challenges (Bakker et al., 2016). In particular, the availability of respondents is limited due to time constraints and the high tempo of projects, and the dynamic emergent nature of temporary organizing requires more longitudinal and flexible research methods (Bakker et al., 2016). Case study research is a useful method for studying interaction processes and gives enough flexibility to follow up on emergent themes during the research process. This paper applies a systematic combining approach (Dubois and Gadde, 2002) as it is flexible with respect to identifying and formulating emergent themes found in the continuous confrontation of theory and empirics.\n4. The case of ENABLE: ENABLE is a six-year project with a total budget of EUR82m, funded by the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. The goal is to create a collaborative drug development platform that will optimize a variety of antibacterial programs. The key objectives are to identify three antibacterial leads[1], two antibacterial candidates and progress at least one development program into preclinical and Phase 1 clinical studies. Optimization of hits and leads is a highly collaborative and iterative process, but historically academics, SMEs and industry partners have competed with each other instead of collaborating. ENABLE was initiated to \"break down these barriers\" (Innovative Medicines Initiative, 2012, p. 29) by establishing a vibrant drug discovery hub across Europe with the resources, skills and expertise to progress a pipeline of drug development programs originating from private or public partners.\n5. Analysis and discussion: The analysis of the ENABLE case is done by considering the two levels of analysis proposed in our methodology, namely, the whole ENABLE project, with its central structure with committees and groups and the specific drug development program. This analysis addresses our three research questions presented in Section 1:\n6. Conclusions: Our study investigates how temporality and time constraints in inter-organizational projects relate to the interactions between the public and private organizations. The most salient consequences of such constraints and the use of project coordination tools include a high turnover of involved actors and uncertainty about future interactions, limitations that make it more difficult to develop trust in inter-organizational interactions. This is a clear difference between these time-constrained inter-organizational relationships and the long-term interactions typically investigated within the IMP perspective (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995; Ford et al., 2003; Medlin, 2004). Another salient difference is that temporality requires that the resources combined by the actors in time-constrained interactions be used as efficiently as possible, but the short times available for deploying them as well as the actors' fluid participation and lack of continuity make it difficult to achieve such efficiency. Broader time frames and stability are needed to achieve efficiency in long-term relationships (Araujo et al., 1999; Medlin, 2004).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to focus on time-constrained interactions involving industry and public actors, mainly universities, conducting research. This kind of interaction has become increasingly important to develop new pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics. The proposed theoretical frame relies on industrial marketing and purchasing's interactive perspective on inter-organizational relationships and especially the activities, resource, actors model, combined with key concepts on temporary organizing and project management. This study identifies the temporality and time constraints imposed by this project on public-private interactions, specific coordination tools used to create such temporality and time constraints and their consequences, including positive and negative effects for the interacting parties.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study builds on a single in-depth qualitative case study of a major antibiotics R&D collaboration project called ENABLE.\nFindings: For negative consequences, this model includes the need for constantly rebuilding trust due to fast turnover of actors, difficulties in combining resources as efficiently as possible, resource constraints, bottlenecks and neglect of some activities, such as publishing, which are normally pivotal for universities. Despite these problematic consequences of temporality, resources are rapidly made available and new competencies learned quickly. Another positive effect is the possibility to achieve complex adaptations of resources and activities even in short time frames. Importantly, projects can act as a springboard for the parties to continue collaboration and in the long term develop a continuous business relationship.\nOriginality/value: Based on the findings the authors develop a model of time-constrained inter-organizational interaction between public and private organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Role-specific psychological requirements in preparing public transportation staff for disaster response	[ "Germany", "Public transportation", "Staff training", "Disaster management", "Crisis management", "Preparedness", "Response", "Psychological requirements", "Decision making", "Human factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. An observation: Imagine, for a moment, a dark and dusty tunnel. You are in an underground railway system, facing the sight of a derailed train. You hear the muffled cries of passengers in agony. On-site you are responsible for coordinating the rapid reaction teams, trying to rescue the wounded. Vision is impaired by smoke of an unknown source. Due to technical problems with the radio communication you are the interface for communicating with staff on the surface. Down in the tunnel, you collect and coordinate all the information available.You repeat your call to a team leader for a status report via walkie-talkie - no response. Worried if he and his team might be injured, you decide to look after him yourself. This brings you away from your position and the passengers. Upon arrival, you find the squad leader heavily involved in giving orders to his team, all of them being in good health. His uncomprehending reaction to your question \"why in the world did you not answer my call\" is: \"I had more important things to do.\"The authors witnessed a situation like this; however, it was only an exercise. There was no real threat, so the rescue staff (who knew it was an exercise) experienced a stress level far below the one expected in a real crisis. Despite all of them being trained rescue staff, several members of the team behaved in a way that would threaten the life and health of passengers and staff in a real disaster. Most importantly, they violated communication rules, which led to a delay in the rescue process.All of them agree with the safety rules they learned during their training. One important safety rule would be the adherence to communication standards ensuring coordination during operations. Professional staff involved in an exercise who are unable to manage the crisis is something often seen in major exercises (and, of course, in real disasters). We take this to indicate that professional training alone does not prepare staff sufficiently to adequately respond to a crisis. From a system perspective, psychological requirements of the situations have to be taken into account as well.In this paper we outline some psychological requirements of crisis situations for response staff. We use the example of a major disaster in an underground transportation system, like a major accident or a terrorist attack.In a first step, we ask for the general demands put on emergency staff using the theoretical perspective of human factors combined with the psychology of complex problem solving and natural decision making. We then describe a research project aiming at the identification of role-specific requirements. The empirical material suggests a differentiation of three roles in public transportation having different prerequisites and facing different challenges. We then discuss our findings and elaborate on the consequences for training of crisis management staff.\n2. Psychological demands in disaster management: Crisis management in different types of disasters follows different rules. The command staff in an accident in underground transportation systems has to focus on other operations than teams who normally respond to airplane accidents, floods, or disaster sites discovered after a terrorist attack. Yet, looked at from a psychological perspective these events share some features: They start suddenly and often due to some external event, they are highly dynamical, and are a severe threat to life or the health of many people - emergency responders on-site and adjacent personnel alike.In recent years, the challenges of such situations have been framed within the context of \"human factors\" in many high-risk domains. Also in the railway domain, the importance of human factors has been acknowledged in the last few years. Literature on human factors in rail systems (overview in Wilson et al., 2005, 2007; Wilson and Norris, 2006) usually focuses on ergonomic questions (e.g. signaling, control room layout), human error (Baysari et al., 2009), or organizational issues such as safety culture (e.g. Clarke, 1999) and violations of safety rules (Lawton, 1998). Emergencies planning or crisis management in rail systems are hardly addressed from a human factors perspective in scientific literature.In this paper, we want to complement the classical human factors approach that focuses an human error and ergonomics with theoretical notions taken from research on complex problem solving under time pressure (Dorner, 1996; Frensch and Funke, 1995; Dorner and Schaub, 1994; Strohschneider, 2003) and \"naturalistic decision making\" (Todd and Gigerenzer, 2001; Zsambok and Klein, 1997; Klein et al., 1993). Most importantly, in addition to being a complex problem, this kind of event also puts emotional and sometimes ethical burdens on those dealing with it.2.1 Psychological characteristics of disaster\n3. Study design: 3.1 Background\n4. Findings concerning role-specific demands: Apart from the general psychological demands that can be identified for efficient crisis management (see Section 2), the skills needed depend on the type of event and on the role of the individual. Therefore the aim was to identify psychological requirements and specific skills needed for different roles found in emergencies and crisis management.In our analysis, roles and procedures reported for \"normal operations\" and minor incidents were contrasted to those in emergencies or crises. As the project focuses on fire and gas accidents or attacks, these were used as scenarios in the interviews.In everyday internal processes we found a varying number of persons responsible for safe operations (stakeholders) in the different public-transportation agencies. To name but a few: passengers, driver, control center staff, rail manager, controller/scheduler, section managers, or several (external) members of the supervisory board.In an emergency, crisis, or disaster additional staff, e.g. special action committee staff, becomes involved. Not all of them are trained emergency staff: some persons have to take on new roles, i.e. additional tasks and responsibilities. For example, the train driver in company A temporally becomes a local emergency manager responsible for evacuating the train; asking for communication and leadership skills not necessary for his/her regular task. Such changes to the routines, on top of the unfamiliar menacing situation, may be a potential source of staff not showing expected behavior.Based on our field investigation in four public-transportation agencies, a first finding is that certain prototypical roles in emergency and crisis can be identified. In all the companies existed standard processes and expected behavior for emergencies for all those roles. For means of special limitation, only three of them are further specified here: the underground train driver, the control-center staff, and finally the emergency manager. Table I lists responsibilities, required skills, and the expected behavior based on the various rules and regulations by the transportation agencies. Additionally, the behavior actually observed, potential sources of employee behavioral deviance and the psychological constraints are contrasted.The drivers are rather isolated in the cabin in regular job routine. In a crisis they are expected to do several things synchronously, above all to lead passengers to a safe exit. For that action, drivers are not trained regularly and thus lack routine. Their emotional state may challenge judgment and decision making. During exercises, some drivers gave insufficient information to the control center or did not contact the special division responsible for non-routine events. Others forgot to inform the control center before leading the passengers away through tunnels from the source of danger.The emergency manager on site has to take over from the driver, quickly assess the given situation and adapt further action. Once the fire department arrives, emergency managers have to hand over responsibility while still being in charge of the evacuation process. Keeping track with events and maintain situation awareness at all times while communicating with the fire brigades, may be difficult.\n5. Discussion: The roles identified here existed in all included companies. Although further roles differed to varying degrees, the tasks described were similar. For example, in the face of a large-scale event, there is always a need to contact organizations like police, fire departments, or local governments. Thus, the topic of inter-organizational communication and cooperation should receive equal attention in training-specific personnel. Equally, special action committee members of any company will have to cope with a great variety of similar topics in addition to their routine tasks.Our observation showed usually acceptable performance in the technical skills. Nevertheless, Table I focuses on inadequate behavior also observed. We filtered for negative examples here (e.g. Heath and O'Hair, 2008; Bojn, 2008), because we wanted to find out about psychological demands of crisis situations.Our findings suggest shortcomings on different levels. On an individual level we find individuals unprepared for \"out of focus\" events. Such an event could be anything that does not occur in the individual daily job routines. More generally, on the lower hierarchical levels only technical and operational skills are practiced, while strategic competences are restricted to leaders. A different perspective is taken by German military: officers are trained to be able to operate on the level of their immediate superior and to understand action taken two levels above their current position. An analogy for the public transportation would imply the training of operational staff, e.g. drivers, to be able to see the bigger picture relevant for the emergency manager of the company.On the organizational level regulations are often very narrowly defined, scenario based without room for flexible action adapted o the respective situation. If trainings are done at all, they often do not reach all levels of the company; they are not recurring and focus on easily manageable incidents. In company A, lots of emergency exercises are done. But procedures for crisis or catastrophes are not practiced. None of the companies in our study has so far practiced management of a terrorist attack scenario. Some managers fear negative impacts of large-scale exercises as customers might become afraid of using underground trains. Together with a reluctance to discuss topics like terrorist attacks or major disaster in politics and the society, this results in staff not being adequately prepared for underground disaster.In our analysis we found that the classification of a situation is important for staff as required skills (both non-technical and technical), roles, and responsibilities of one person often depend on the type of situation. In an incident (usually a technical malfunction), staff use routines and well-trained procedures. Emergencies - events with an inherent threat to human lives, but restricted to a location and managed on an operational level - are usually trained for in exercises, and role-specific task are known to most of the staff. Crisis and catastrophes, on the other hand, threaten a large number of human lives and are most demanding for staff, while procedures are only vague and flexibility is needed.Limitations of data\n6. Consequences and conclusions: The analysis of role-specific requirements could be used for the setup of training programs in order to prepare staff for the requirements of crisis response. Trainings need to include role-specific technical and non-technical skills, and the training of generic competencies, e.g. building a shared mental model and requirements of inter-professional communication.While the companies included in our study have focussed on technical skills and standard operating procedures for role-specific training, examples from other domains show a broader approach. Training of generic competencies for crisis management has been in the focus for the last 15 years, especially the training of crew resource management skills in aviation (Salas et al., 2006).While individual and team skills are decisive for disaster management, we want to point out the role of the organization for the development of those skills: Is the organization prepared for emergencies and crisis? Are there emergency procedures that reduce stress for the individuals by giving them a frame for their actions? Are teams allowed to decide according to their insight on site (local allocation of competence, e.g. Weick and Sutcliffe, 2007)? Does the organization allow flexible restructuring if planned structures are not sufficient (McMaster and Baber, 2009)? Are there periodic trainings for emergency staff?Besides the individual and the organization also the political or societal level is important: Do organizations get help in preparing for disaster? For example, are there political restrictions to disaster exercises?Although major crisis exercises in public-transport systems are lacking, the companies in our study show increasing awareness of the need for role-specific exercise and training of disaster beyond emergency training (which is very advanced). An increasing awareness of the importance of non-technical skills for disaster - preparedness would be equally desirable.Summarizing our findings with respect to emergency responders in the domain of public transportation, the general abilities for problem solving, effective decision making, and taking command were identified as most critical for successful crisis management. As highlighted above, on the individual level these non-technical competencies are influenced by emotional and physical conditions and by basic psychological mechanisms of self-regulation.Situational requirements meeting psychological and human characteristics are a main source of inadequate behavior in crisis situations. Training programs, therefore, should focus not only on technical skills, but also on generic competencies in order to meet psychological requirements of crisis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Human behavior significantly determines the scale of impact of hazardous situations. If crisis situations are highly dynamic, they can only be managed successfully if both personnel and organization are well prepared. The purpose of this paper is to capture the specific demands disaster management staff are facing, from a psychological perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - General psychological statements based on action theory and organizational theory serve as the starting point for analyzing aspects of cooperation, especially in inter-professional communication and coordination. The analysis is based on data which were collected in structured expert interviews and observations within the domain of German emergency organizations and public-transportation companies.\nFindings: - The findings suggest shortcomings on different levels: individual (restricted routines, unprepared for \"out of focus\" events); organizational (regulations, training) and political (lack of public preparedness for disaster in underground traffic systems; and restrictions on large-scale training).\nResearch limitations/implications: - Interviewees have not experienced \"real\" major disasters, so their answers are not derived from hands-on experience. Also, generalization to other traffic systems or companies may show different patterns.\nPractical implications: - Training emergency response staff in public transport systems should include psychological aspects of crisis management in addition to emergency management, e.g. building a shared mental model, and requirements of inter-professional communication.\nOriginality/value: - Psychological demands of crisis situations in public transport have not yet been a focus of research or training.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The boundaryless career at 20: where do we stand, and where can we go?	[ "Interdisciplinary research", "Boundaryless careers", "Career studies", "Organizational careers", "Research directions", "Theory building" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Let us begin with the first time the term \"boundaryless career\" was used in a public meeting. The occasion was the Academy of Management Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in August 1993. The conference theme was \"Managing the Boundaryless Organization,\" fashioned after the term popularized by Jack Welch, then-CEO of General Electric (GE). The broad idea was to break down boundaries, so that GE employees were encouraged to go where they needed to go, and talk to whomever they needed to talk to, in order to get things done. Robert DeFillippi and I felt that the same kind of sentiments might be applied to people managing their own careers, and convened a group to join a symposium proposal on \"The Boundaryless Career.\" The proposal was accepted, and in turn led to a special issue of the Journal of Organizational Behavior (Arthur, 1994a) and a wider collection of articles in a book edited with Denise Rousseau (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996a). The term proved evocative, first in attracting a range of established US scholars to contribute to the book, and later as a reference point for more global conversations.\nThe meaning of boundaryless careers: In our original symposium initiative Robert DeFillippi and I sketched out the overall idea for potential contributors, as well as providing our own definition in the symposium contribution that we made. The DeFillippi and Arthur (1994, p. 307; 1996, p. 116) definition of boundaryless careers was \"sequences of job opportunities that go beyond the boundaries of single employment settings.\" It is the definition Karl Weick picked up in his essay on the enactment of careers (Weick, 1996), and that a number of published authors - for example Currie et al. (2006), Mezias and Scandura (2005) and Shaffer et al. (2012) - have used since. Notice that this definition focuses on job opportunities, not on direct physical mobility.\nThe influence of the MIT group: To more fully investigate the origination of the boundaryless career concept, let us first go back to the middle 1970s. At that time, the study of careers was given a major boost by a small group of scholars from MIT. The three core members of that group were (and are) Lotte Bailyn, Edgar Schein and John Van Maanen. In their early work, the MIT group defined career, in a manner similar to the previously cited handbooks, as \"a series of separate but related experiences and adventures through which a person passes during a lifetime\" (Van Maanen and Schein, 1977, p. 31). In the same article the authors carefully defined career development as \"a lifelong process of working out a synthesis between individual interests and the opportunities (or limitations) present in the external work-related environment, so that both individual and environmental objectives are fulfilled\" (Van Maanen and Schein, 1977, p. 36). Notice the lack of any reference to the employing organization in either of the above definitions.\nInterdisciplinarity: Let us turn next to the interdisciplinary nature of the career concept. Here, we can also build on the MIT group's leadership. They argued that excessive commitment to either people's \"capacity for growth, vision and originality\" (a psychological view) or \"an ordered world of constraint, manipulation and conformity,\" (a sociological view) would be a mistake (Van Maanen and Schein, 1977, p. 44). The call for an interdisciplinary view of careers has subsequently been taken up by others (e.g. Arthur, 2008; Arthur et al., 1989; Colin and Patton, 2009; Collin and Young, 1986; Gunz and Peiperl, 2007; Khapova and Arthur, 2011). Today, most journals relevant to careers scholars either accept or actively encourage interdisciplinary submissions. However, the review process for those submissions is still hazardous. One hears stories and experiences situations where associate editors and individual reviewers care more about their own perspective than the one the writer is trying to share. Those stories do not seem confined to career studies (Lyall and Meagher, 2012), but that is little consolation for the affected scholars.\nRe-energizing career studies: What has happened in the broad arena of career studies since the boundaryless career concept was introduced? There is no space to offer anything like a full account here, but three categories of work seem particularly relevant. One is concerned with internal debates among careers scholars, another is concerned with fresh contributions from careers scholars, and a third involves connections to be found in the work of scholars from other disciplines. In each of these categories, the boundaryless career has been widely cited. Let us briefly sample each category in turn.\nWhere do we go from here?: Given the discussion so far, where do we go next? How can we make sense of the journeys we have each traveled and the debates we have shared? How can we draw on the fundamentals about careers carefully articulated by the MIT group, the introduction of the boundaryless career concept, and the responses - both encouraging and critical - that have occurred since? Let us close with a series of ideas on how career scholars can come together, while at the same time preserving the opportunities in the diversity of perspectives we bring to the table. The ideas involve championing our interdisciplinary concept, seizing an opportunity for professional schools, building collegial support, looking around our changing world, and seeking a new synthesis in our debates.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on a broad body of work that responds to the boundaryless career concept, first introduced in 1993, and to anticipate new theory-building and research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Covers the origination of the concept, its meaning and definition, the underlying influence of an earlier group of careers scholars from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the importance of an interdisciplinary perspective.\nFindings: Identifies three categories of activity - involving internal debates, fresh theoretical contributions, and new collaborative opportunities - that have occurred citing boundaryless career scholarship.\nResearch limitations/implications: Suggests how scholars can build on the legacy of both organizational and boundaryless careers research in their future work.\nOriginality/value: Links between foundational MIT work on careers, boundaryless careers and current debates to suggests future research directions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do leaders learn from near death experiences? Ten years after ...	[ "Leadership", "Learning", "Non‐profit organizations", "Succession planning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Some ten years ago we published an article about some of the organizational and personal changes that the founder of a 20+ year-old nonprofit community-based organization implemented once he learned that he had to undergo immediate life-threatening surgery. Such behaviors are consistent with the actions of leaders who face similar situations as they want to put their \"final\" stamp on their organization. Fortunately for the leader of this organization his surgery was successful and he resumed his leadership role. For the purpose of our paper, we define learning as any activity that creates sustainable change over time. For leaders it is an opportunity to attain and apply newly acquired learning successfully in a variety of organizational settings for the best interest of employees and constituents.\nDo leaders learn after a major life event?: Table I lists the four leadership and organizational factors:1. leadership style;2. organization size (number of employees);3. organizational initiatives (programs); and4. succession planning.Pre-event phase\nLessons learned and not learned: * The leader's near death experience caused him to think more profoundly about the way he acted in and led his organization. Initially, he seemed to turn over a \"new leaf\" and apply some new strategies to his organization. He adopted policies of inclusion and developed a much broader more universal view of his world.* Over time the leader seemed to shift his new found leadership approach and newly adapted strategies back to his previous position. His near death experience had a way of creating change and learning, but the degree of change and learning was short-lived. The leader's changed behavior had not followed Lewin's three-stage model: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.* This leader, as the founder of the organization, was reluctant to surrender his power and authority at any cost, even if he got stale in the saddle; he remained steadfast in his desire to run the show his way.\nLessons that need to be learned: Our case study has some important implications for leaders who experience a major life event. First, a major event does have a significant impact on a leader. It may be that autocratic leaders are able to change their leadership style, but only for a limited time; thus, there is little or no sustained long-term change. In short, based on the results of our case we believe that change and learning after a major life event are ephemeral. Perhaps the old adage \"you cannot teach an old dog new tricks\" applies to such leaders.So what can we recommend for leaders who may face similar challenges? First, take this challenge as an opportunity to make lasting changes in the organization. In other words, strike while the iron is hot by empowering staff to take on extra or senior responsibilities, reward them accordingly, and develop succession plans with realistic outcomes. That is, the people you identify as potential successors should be given work tasks and responsibilities that build their expertise and skills and establish a solid framework for their budding careers.Second, ensure the organization has structures in place that help compensate for your inability to dispatch your responsibilities as in the past. Establish work groups and devolve some of the decision-making responsibilities to these groups so they can contribute to the new direction of the organization.Third, accept the reality that no-one is indispensable, and learn that organizations are only as good as their people, and that leaders need to change and develop according to circumstances, both internal and external. Take this opportunity to hone strategic planning skills in the organization, and do some scenario planning that pre-empts challenges rather than reacts to them. Make it a positive experience.Finally, the approaches in dealing with personal crises that impact on the organization may differ depending on whether the leader was or was not the founder of the organization. In the case of this study, as the leader was the founder, he had a more intimate attachment to the organization and its future than could be the case of a leader appointed to the position of chief executive. What those differences are needs further investigation, as they could make a major difference in the capacity of the organization to cope during times of crisis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to determine the degree to which a leader of a nonprofit organization changed over time after a near death experience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This follow-up case study uses interviews with a leader and other key actors in a nonprofit organization as well as participant and non-participant observation over a ten-year period.\nFindings: - The paper finds that while a leader may change behavior after a near death experience that change is not fully sustained over time.\nPractical implications: - This paper offers leaders who face similar challenges as a result of a near death experience with recommendations for making personal and organizational changes.\nOriginality/value: - This paper will be of value to leaders who have had near death experiences and return to the workplace.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brands, community and style - exploring linking value in fashion blogging	[ "Social media", "Fashion", "Blogs", "Brand community", "Linking value", "Style" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: To explain contemporary consumption phenomena, consumer researchers have evoked a renaissance for the concept of community (Arnould and Thompson, 2005). One of the main challenges has been to explain the implications of emergent communities for consumption activities, brands and branding practices. As a way to capture the increased number of ways in which consumers can engage in brand-centred communications, the concept of brand community (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001) has been proposed. Brand community represents \"a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brand\" (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001, p. 412). Since its introduction, works developing this concept have covered different aspects, such as explaining how practices of value creation can manifest within its borders (Schau et al., 2009) and also expand to reach a global audience (Cova et al., 2007).\n2. Community: linking value and style: As a way to target the absence of addressing community in the field of consumer behaviour, Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) presented the concept of brand community. Compared with the more general concept of community, the specialised aspect of brand community was argued to be its focus on a branded good or service. From the perspective of brands, brand communities were conceptualised as participants in the brand's social construction, playing a vital role in the brand's ultimate legacy. A brand community was suggested to be characterised by three attributes commonly associated with the conceptualisation of community: a shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of moral responsibility among its members. Inspired by Gusfield (1978), Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) argued that a shared consciousness was to be understood as consciousness of \"the intrinsic connection that members feel towards one another\" (p. 413). Meanwhile, rituals and traditions were argued to represent social processes with the main aim of reproducing and transmitting the meaning of the community, both within and beyond the borders of the community. In the same sense, moral responsibility was argued to consist of a sense of duty to the community from the perspective of its members, and more specifically the underlying driving force that produces collective action and that contributes to the cohesion of the group.\n3. Method: To study style as a linking value in communities centred on brands, an empirical setting has been chosen in which discussions about fashion products and brands are prominent. A good example of such a setting can be found within the Swedish blogosphere, where bloggers writing about fashion have gained large readerships among internet users. In August 2009, more than 60 Swedish fashion blogs generated more than 10,000 visits per week (Bloggportalen, 2009). Meanwhile, ten of these bloggers each generated more than 100,000 visits per week, or more visits than the readerships of 87 of a total of 146 Swedish newspapers that year (Swedish Media Publishers' Association, 2010). From an international perspective, the Swedish blogosphere has distinguished itself, as its purview has become increasingly global. One example is the elite blog network \"Now Manifest\" founded by the Swedish fashion blogger Elin Kling, where internationally recognised fashion bloggers such as Bryan Boy and Anna Dello Russo, editor-at-large at Japanese Vogue, post their blogs.\n4. Blogs, community and brands: This section presents the studied community of fashion blogs and illustrations of how aspects of community are manifested among the bloggers and their readers. Table I provides an overview of findings from the empirical data. This section also demonstrates how fashion bloggers have adopted different style sets by using different fashion brands, and how these style sets are presented and discussed together with blog readers.\n5. Style as a linking value: The fashion bloggers and their readers represent several manifestations of how they, together, are part of a community. More specifically, consciousness of a kind is illustrated through the practices of \"today's outfit\" and Q&A sessions, but also in terms of the annual ritual Blog Awards and the presented discussions regarding the moral reasonability of community members. The border surrounding the community is, however, an aspect that is characterised by blurriness. Among the bloggers themselves, aspects such as connectivity and the examples of collective actions demonstrates how community is present. From the perspective of blog readers, however, this issue becomes more complex. Readers who participate actively in the blogs' production by posting comments, and thereby interact both with the bloggers but also other readers, can be considered to be community members. However, readers who do not interact but still read the blogs might consider themselves to be either part of the community or regard themselves as outside observers. Even though it is hard to make a clear distinction, the large readership provides an indication of the potential size of the community. Taken together, these findings suggest that the borders of communities focused on brands emerging in the context of fashion potentially may be less fixed in their nature.\n6. Conclusion and managerial implications: By using the concept of style, this paper elaborates on the notion of brand community and has illustrated how, and why, style can function as a linking value for consumer communities centred on brands. Relating to the conceptual discussion about what brings community members together, the netnographic study of Swedish fashion blogs tentatively depicts how the notion of a community of style can be used to explain consumer communities emerging in the setting of fashion and social media. In communities of style, consumption objects - most notably fashion brands and products - are assembled and combined into different style sets that are articulated and expressed through practices that support communal social action among community members.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: By using the concept of style, the purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the notion of brand community. More specifically, it seeks to explore how style can function as a linking value in forms of communities centred on brands that emerge within the empirical context of fashion and social media.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A netnography of the content produced by 18 fashion bloggers in Sweden was conducted. Content analysis of this material was used to map how consumption objects, in terms of fashion brands, were integrated in activities taking place on blogs, and through these processes, acted as a linking value for community members.\nFindings: - This paper demonstrates how fashion bloggers, together with their readers, constitute a form of community centred on style. It also shows how fashion bloggers, by combining and assembling fashion brands and products, articulate and express different style sets, and how they, together with their followers, engage in activities connected to these style ideals.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As this study has been empirically limited to a Swedish setting, future research would benefit from findings of international expressions of communities of style.\nPractical implications: Based on this study, strategies for managing communities of style is suggested to represent a potential source of competitive advantage for fashion firms.\nOriginality/value: In the context of the conceptual discussion about what brings members of communities together, this study provides evidence of how style can function as a linking value in the setting of consumer communities that emerge within the boundaries of fashion and social media.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What drives the impact of women directors on firm performance? Evidence from intellectual capital efficiency of US listed firms	[ "Firm performance", "Intangible assets", "Board gender diversity", "Intellectual capital efficiency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the last three decades, the increasing debate on the economic consequences of board gender diversity (BGD, hereafter) has been far from resolved. The role of a firm's board is to monitor management in an effective way, align the interest of managers and stakeholders and strategically guide the decision-making process of the firm to enhance the corporate performance (Conyon and He, 2017; Pellegrini and Sironi, 2017; Chen et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2014; Adams et al., 2010; Finkelstein et al., 2009). A strong and well-articulated corporate board is considered as a powerful strategic resource, with the help of which firms can get competitive advantage over their rivals, benefit from directors' knowledge and experience, build connections in the business world, get access to financial resources, as well as explore new geographical and industrial markets (Palmberg et al., 2009). Prior studies generally lent support to the instrumental role of BGD in enhancing the (FP) (e.g. Conyon and He, 2017) and improving the risk management and governance of the firm.\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Gender diversity and FP\n3. Methods and empirical strategy: 3.1 Data\n4. Results and discussion: In order to test the hypothesis and to inspect the role of mediating variable using regression analysis, we take advantage of Baron and Kenny (1986) approach. This approach suggests that in order to satisfy the mediation requirement, three conditions must be met. First, the connection between BGD and mediating variable (IC) must be significant. The second condition is that the BGD must be significantly connected with the financial performance without considering the mediating variable (IC). The third and final condition of this method is that when both the BGD and mediating variable (IC) are integrated then the direct relationship between the BGD and FP becomes significant (partial mediation) or non-significant (full mediation).\n5. Conclusion: The present study seeks to ascertain the role of BGD in improving FP and further assess the mediating role of IC using data of US public listed companies. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between BGD and FP. This shows the contributing role of diverse board in improving the performance of firm through the increasingly responsible role of females. The study found a significant contributing role of BGD in explaining the IC. Similarly the study also found positive relationship between IC and FP. This is true in light of the RBV and highlights the resourcefulness of the high IC in improving the FP. Finally, the study substantiated the hypothesis that intellectual capital mediates the relationship between BGD and FP. Based on RBV of the firm, our result posits that in order to achieveimproved FP, BGD helps corporate organization to attain valuable resources like IC that could lead to improved performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study whether the presence of women directors on the corporate board influences financial performance (FP). To examine the underlying causal mechanism, the authors modeled firm-level intellectual capital efficiency (ICE) in the relationshipbetween board gender diversity (BGD) and FP.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 5,879 US firms, a structural model of BGD, IC and FP is conceptualized by accounting for the endogeneity issues and alternative measures of the key variables in the empirical framework. In the model, the percentage of women directors is taken as BGD measures and value-added intellectual coefficient as an IC performance measure, considering governance and corporate performance measures.\nFindings: The authors find a significant impact of BGD on FP. In particular, the results suggest: BGD is linked to IC; the influence of board gender diversity on the FP is indirect; and ICE fully mediates the relationship between BGD and FP.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, no study has empirically investigated whether the firm-level IC performance explains the influence of BGD on FP. Drawing on the resource-based view and organizational learning theory of the firm, the authors empirically modeled the relationship between BGD and FP through a mediation mechanism of firm-level ICE to fill the void in the literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Education for sustainable development at Universities in Japan	[ "Education", "Sustainable development", "Universities", "Teaching", "Learning", "Japan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of \"education for sustainable development (ESD)\" was discussed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa in August-September 2002 and in December 2002, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming the period of 2005-2014 to be the UN Decade of ESD (UNDESD; United Nations, 2002). ESD aims at changing the approach to education by integrating the principles, values and practices of sustainable development, and needs to be incorporated into all forms of learning and education. ESD can assist individuals to change their behavior so that environmental, economical, social and cultural sustainability can be realized in their respective societies (Matsuura, 2004).ESD consists of the following five elements (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO, 2005, p. 9):1. education that allows learners to acquire the skills, capacities, values and knowledge required to ensure sustainable development;2. education dispensed at all levels and in all social contexts (family, school, workplace, community);3. education that fosters responsible citizens and promotes democracy by allowing individuals and communities to enjoy their rights and fulfill their responsibilities;4. education based on the principle of lifelong learning; and5. education that fosters the individual's balanced development.ESD integrates various components of sustainable development into curricula at all levels of education and in all sectors of the society.Through ESD, we try to nurture the abilities of young people to:* think in a holistic and systematic manner so they are able to grasp the diverse nature of social issues and phenomena;* understand the values relating to sustainable development, which include human dignity, diversity, inclusiveness, equity, etc.;* think critically and explore alternatives;* collect information and analyze it; and* communicate well with others (UN University - UNU, 2009, p. 6).Among various stakeholders promoting ESD at different levels of education, higher education institutions can contribute to disseminating the concept of ESD among teachers and train facilitators in ESD-related fields. Through university education, it is also possible to raise awareness of students about sustainability. For instance, Sterling and Thomas (2006) discuss how the idea of ESD can be reflected in university curricula, embedding sustainability concepts, values and skills into the student learning experience.Moreover, it is important to recognize that higher education institutions often play significant roles in establishing networks with different stakeholders, such as the Regional Centers of Expertise (RCE) on ESD which have been established by local stakeholders and supported by the UNU. Articles in the special issue of the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (2008, Vol. 9, No. 4) show how universities collaborate with local stakeholders through RCE in Europe, North America and Asia.In Japan's case, Japan's Action Plan for the UNDESD was issued in March 2006 as a blueprint for the implementation of measures to promote ESD in Japan. Emphasizing the roles of higher education institutions at the start of the decade, the action plan outlined how Japan intended to assist the establishment of programs to support the introduction of ESD in order to foster the development of professionals in each field and support the major roles played by higher education institutions, such as conducting research to create a sustainable society and promoting ESD at the local level. With regard to human resources development, it also stated that teacher training programs provided by higher education institutions should include ESD so that students could acquire practical teaching skills (Interministerial Meeting on the UNDESD, 2005).In line with the action plan, various initiatives to promote ESD in higher education have been introduced, mainly by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). The Institute of Advanced Studies of the UNU (UNU-IAS) has also introduced the ESD Program which includes strengthening ESD at higher education institutions and the promotion of RCE. Under these initiatives, many higher education institutions have attempted to improve their educational programs, research and outreach activities involving ESD. These activities can be categorized into several areas, as follows:* Undergraduate education to develop human resources that can contribute to the realization of a more sustainable society in each professional field.* Teacher training and the development of teaching materials for ESD in school education.* Postgraduate education and research in environmental science to foster the development of leaders in the environmental field.* Postgraduate education and research in sustainability science to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society.* Outreach activities to promote ESD at the local level, and international cooperation on ESD.Focusing on these categories, this paper reviews the way in which ESD has developed at higher education institutions in Japan under the various initiatives. It also examines major patterns of education and research related to ESD at Japanese universities, based on the results of a questionnaire survey which was conducted in 2008-2009.\nOverview of development of ESD at higher education institutions in Japan: Undergraduate education\nMajor patterns of ESD implementation at higher education institutions in Japan: results of a questionnaire survey: Under the various initiatives mentioned in the previous sections, higher education institutions in Japan have developed a variety of ESD-related curricula and programs. In this section, focusing on undergraduate education and postgraduate education carried out using the five types of ESD-related activity described in the previous section, the current status of ESD implementation at higher education institutions, its effectiveness, and the problems encountered are examined, based on the results of a questionnaire survey.In December 2008, questionnaires were sent out to 50 divisions of 43 universities (including 23 divisions for undergraduate education, 19 divisions for postgraduate education, and eight divisions for both) which have ESD-related curricula and programs underway as part of the various initiatives described earlier. The ESD-related programs include those in ESD, environmental education, sustainability science, environmental science, and fostering the development of environmental leaders[1]. Answers on 18 undergraduate programs and 14 postgraduate programs, including those planned to start in FY 2009, had been returned as of February 28, 2009.ESD-related curricula in undergraduate education\nConclusions: This paper presented an overview of how ESD-related programs have been developed at higher education institutions in Japan under the Japan's Action Plan for the UNDESD and various initiatives introduced by the ministries and organizations involved. Through these initiatives, many higher education institutions have begun to participate in ESD-related activities.This paper also analyzed major patterns of ESD-related programs at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, based on the results of the questionnaire survey. The system supporting ESD implementation at the undergraduate level is mainly based on collaboration at the local level, and students have been attracted by participative learning with a particular focus on local issues. However, activities based on inter-university collaboration are relatively limited. On the other hand, ESD-related programs at the postgraduate level involve a wider variety of inter-university collaboration supporting ESD-related activities and research. Moreover, collaboration with local stakeholders and industry-academia-government collaboration are also utilized for education and research at the postgraduate level.This paper has revealed that higher education institutions in Japan, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, are facing difficulties in mobilizing financial and human resources to improve support systems for instruction and research in ESD-related fields and to expand domestic and international inter-university networks.Based on these findings, this paper concludes that ESD at higher education institutions and the building of inter-university networks for ESD need to be developed further as summarized in following three points. First, promoting ESD requires ESD in higher education to be connected with other education policies and systems. Such coherence between ESD in higher education and other education policies and systems has contributed to the promotion of ESD at all levels in Japan. However, the certification as ESD coordinators, facilitators, and instructors, offered by universities have not yet been widely recognized by society in Japan and an official qualification system for ESD coordinators and the like has not yet been established. Although there are some environment-related qualification systems including private ones, the establishment of authorized systems connecting ESD with employment, industries, and community development should also be considered. Moreover, it would be more attractive to younger people if such authorized systems can be extended internationally and the certificates gained are recognized and accepted outside Japan. Some international body, such as UNESCO or UNU, may like to consider authorizing this sort of certificate system.Second, Japan's action plan for UNDESD took into account the fact that there were wide-ranging issues to be dealt with under the ESD programs, such as intergenerational equity, regional equity, gender equity, social tolerance, poverty reduction, environmental conservation, preserving natural resources, and the question of how best to achieve a fair and peaceful society. While it also emphasized the integrated development of the environment, economy and society, Japan's focus was centered on environmental conservation, thereby providing an opening for ESD. Consequently, the initial stages of ESD in Japan have prioritized environmental sustainability and have not yet expanded to include other ESD issues and the correlations among these various issues.Since higher education institutions are expected to contribute to ESD promotion at the local level, relevance to local issues is an important part of ESD implementation. However, since the various issues threatening sustainability around the world are all interrelated, it is crucial to focus on the correlations between them and address problems comprehensively from a global ESD perspective. Therefore, when building international inter-university networks for ESD, issues at the local level and the correlations between issues at the global level all need to be addressed in order to develop effective programs.Third, in many ESD-related programs in Japan, curricula have been developed by reorganizing existing subjects and introducing a limited number of new subjects. Although it would be an effective approach, more drastic curriculum reform for ESD cannot be expected. Consequently, despite the fact that ESD-related programs have provided various subjects ranging from social sciences to natural sciences and have been designed to cultivate both special knowledge and general knowledge, there is still a lack of effective linkage between subjects, as highlighted in this paper. One of the reasons for this might be the lack of internal consensus to promote ESD and shared recognition, combined with a lack of effective guidance designed to enable students to acquire cross-disciplinary perspectives and integrate their learning by themselves.In addition, methods for practical learning should also be discussed as part of course, design. Many questionnaire respondents recognized the necessity of providing students with opportunities for experimental learning and internship programs. On the other hand, as some respondents pointed out, the question of how best to position fieldwork in the curriculum is one of the challenges still facing ESD.Considering the problems mentioned above, we recognize that such issues as coherence between education policies and ESD in higher education, relevance to ESD in designing university curricula and effectiveness of teaching methods for ESD should be explored more thoroughly. However, since ESD in Japan has only been officially put into practice relatively recently, a detailed study of ESD practices at Japanese universities and their outcomes could not be included in this research. The year 2009 marks the mid-point of the UNDESD. It is expected that more of the information needed to analyze ESD practices at higher education institutions will become available in the second half of the UNDESD.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Education for sustainable development (ESD) aims at changing the approach to education that integrates principles, values and practices of sustainable development, and needs to be incorporated into all forms of learning and education. The purpose of this paper is to review the way in which ESD has been developed at universities in Japan. The paper also seeks to examine major patterns of education and research related to ESD at Japanese universities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors adopted two research approaches: a review of literature and electronic resources, mainly the web sites of universities, to present the overview of ESD at Japanese universities; and a questionnaire survey which analyzed responses from 18 undergraduate programs and 14 postgraduate programs at Japanese universities.\nFindings: - The paper points out that the ESD implementation in higher education in Japan lacks coherence with other education reforms and is not linked with ESD at school and local levels. The paper also stresses that initial stages of ESD in Japan have prioritized environmental sustainability and have not yet adequately expanded to include wider issues concerning ESD. Moreover, the paper discusses that there is a lack of internal consensus to promote ESD and shared recognition inside universities, combined with a lack of effective guidance designed to enable students to acquire cross-disciplinary perspectives.\nOriginality/value: - There are many universities implementing ESD-related programs and activities in various countries. Yet, there has not been enough study done to reveal the constraints/problems universities are facing to promote ESD. This paper's originality and value addresses this research gap.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mitigation of road traffic crash hazard in Pakistan	[ "Mitigation", "Injury", "Collision", "Hazard", "Human-made disaster", "Road traffic crashes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An efficient transportation network is considered essential for the economic growth of a country. It plays a vital role in commuting people and goods from one place to another. Road networks are an important part of the transportation network as they provide a fast means of goods transportation inland and result in social and economic developments of a society. Contrary to other transportation networks, larger numbers of crashes are generally associated with road networks. Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are one of the leading causes of severe injuries, disabilities all over the world (Jayasuria, 1991; Angermann et al., 2007) and they have caused nearly 23 per cent of all injury-related deaths worldwide (Jacobs et al., 2000). Owing to these characteristics, RTCs are also termed as a global epidemic (Lunevicius et al., 2010; Bener et al., 1988; Jadaan, 1989; Lateef, 2010).\nBackground and scope: Karachi is one of the largest cities of Pakistan with a population of over 15 million people. This population is expected to reach 32 million by 2025 (JICA, 2008). This city is a fast growing metropolis and one of the major urban centres of Pakistan. It is an industrial city which, with time, has become a hub of Pakistan's commerce and industry. The growth rate is around 6 per cent (JICA, 2008), which is twice the national growth (Shamsi and Ahmed, 1996). Such an intense growth rate has boosted the development process of the city. One consequence of this development is the exponential increase of number of vehicles in the city which was also supplemented by the liberalised bank credit facilities in Pakistan, in the first decade of this century. The registered vehicles and motorcycles in Karachi come out to be around, respectively, 1 and 0.9 million in comparison with 0.4 million registered vehicles and motorcycles each in 1995 (CDGK, 2011). However, actual count of vehicles travelling on the roads could be higher owing to the presence of unregistered vehicles which is the result of poor governance and ineffective governmental control over these vehicles.\nMethods: There are five major trauma centres in the city which deal with the patients of RTCs. These include Civil Hospital, Aga Khan University Hospital, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Liaquat National Hospital and Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC). These centres record the crashes data using standard forms developed by Road Traffic Injury Research & Prevention Centre (RTIRPC). RTIRPC was established in 2006 in collaboration with NED University and it carries out surveillance of RTCs in Karachi. The forms are then collected by RTIRPC form the hospitals at a predefined frequency. The data for the presented studies were obtained from RTIRPC and the requisite information of RTCs on Shara-e-Faisal was extracted from these data.\nCluster analysis: Cluster analysis is used to classify the data of different variables into clusters in such a way so as to provide strong and weak degrees of association, respectively, between variables of the same cluster and variables of different clusters. Hierarchical agglomerative method was used for carrying out cluster analysis in the studies presented. The entire length of Shara-e-Faisal was divided into ten sections each of 2 km length and each section was analysed on the basis of its collision history. Since the crash data were found to follow a normal distribution curve the area under the curve was determined for each of the road section (2 km long) with the help of the rate quality control method. The observed collision rate at a section can be related with the level of statistical significance as given by Equation (1) (Hummer, 1994):\nLDFA: A mitigation model is an essential part of a comprehensive safety programme. As mentioned earlier, this model was developed using LDFA which involves determination of a linear equation of the form as given by Equation (3):\nResults and discussion: As mentioned earlier, the data of RTCs for 2007-2009 were acquired from RTIRCP. These data were collected at five different trauma centres in Karachi. The results of both the general and specific analyses are presented in the forthcoming sections.\nDaily distribution of crashes: The daily distribution of crash data is illustrated in Figure 3. It is seen in Figure 3 that, in general, the crashes have reduced on a typical day with the passage of time. Therefore, the numbers of crashes are the highest in 2007 and the following years show reduction in these crashes. Although no particular pattern of number of crashes emerges in Figure 3 the crashes are nearly constant at 325 crashes for most of the weekdays in 2009. Further, the numbers of crashes are higher (nearly 400) over weekends and on Monday in 2009 as compared to other weekdays. This can be attributed to the increased traffic volume on weekends and on Monday which is the first working day.\nInfluence of age group: The data of crash affectees in different age groups are plotted in Figure 4. It is seen in Figure 4 that young people (between 20 and 30 years) are the largest affectees of RTCs. The average percentage of crash frequency for the above age group comes out to be 45 per cent. These results are consistent with the findings of other researchers elsewhere (Wong et al., 1990; Bener et al., 1988; Jadaan, 1989; Al Marzooqi et al., 2010; Ezenwa, 1986; Jones et al., 2008; Katko, 2006).\nGender-based crash distribution: Figure 5 illustrates a comparison of male and female affectees of RTCs. It is noted in Figure 5 that males are mostly the affectees of road crashes. This may be due to large number of males travelling on the roads compared to females. The average percentage of crash frequency for males and females comes out to be 89 and 11 per cent, respectively. The data of both male and female affectees indicate a reduction in crashes with time. This correlates closely with the earlier observation of reduced yearly RTCs (Table II).\nEffect of time interval: In order to understand the variation in the crash frequency at different time of the day, a typical 24-hour day is divided into periods of four-hour duration. The distribution of crashes for these time intervals is represented in Figure 6 and Table IV. The data in Table IV have been further divided based on the affectees who were released from the hospitals after treatment and those who lost their lives as a result of injuries in fatal crashes. It is seen in Figure 6 that least number of crashes were recorded between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. This may be attributed to lesser number of vehicles during this time interval. The RTCs frequency starts increasing after 8:00 a.m. and reaches to a peak at midnight. The crashes then start decreasing and reach to a minimum after 4:00 a.m. A comparison of DTCs and NTCs is illustrated in Figure 7. The crashes between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. are considered as DTCs. Rest of the crashes are taken as NTCs. It is noted in Figure 7 that except in 2007, DTCs are higher than NTCs.\nEffect of location point: The data of crashes are analysed in relation to the location point of the road. Six location points can be considered where conflicts and crashes are anticipated on a road. These include: U-turn; flyover; bridges; underpasses; intersection; and mid block. Since the first four of these points were not available on Shara-e-Faisal all the crashes took place either at intersections or at mid block. The data of crashes on these locations are presented in Figure 8. It is seen in Figure 8 that crashes at mid block, in general, are more than at intersection. This can be attributed to malfunctioning street lights on the road. It was noticed during the location survey that at some places the mid block was not visible to the drivers or riders owing to poor illumination at night. Further, the crash frequency at intersections has increased after 2007. These crashes are generally owing to poor signalisation and human errors, such as traffic laws violation.\nEffect of user category: Different categories of road users have been identified in Figure 9 along with their crash record. It is noted in Figure 9 that motorcycle riders are the largest affectees of crashes which can be attributed to their careless behaviour. At the same time, they also cause injuries to their companions (pillion). The data analysis also indicated that a vast majority of motorcyclists injured were without a helmet. For example, of 1,029 injured motorcyclist in 2009, 991 were those who did not wear helmet. Similarly, pedestrians are the second largest affectee group. These data indicate that more facilities are needed for pedestrians. At the same time, education of drivers and pedestrians is also vital.\nType of collision: Figure 10 illustrates the division of crashes based on collision type. Five categories of collision have been identified in Figure 10 based on the collision direction. It is noted in Figure 10 that rear-end collisions contribute the highest proportion of crashes in all the three years considered for the studies presented. Crashes resulting from side-swipe are the second highest collision type. Both these types of collisions reflect careless and inattentive driving by the drivers. Further, while the crashes resulting from head-on, rear-end and side-swipe have decreased with time the crashes taking place from right-angle direction have increased. These crashes usually take place at intersection between arterials and Shara-e-Faisal. This further confirms the results in Figure 8 which indicate that the crashes on the intersections are on a rise.\nConclusions: This paper presented the studies related to analysing and reducing the hazard the RTCs in Karachi which is the largest metropolis of Pakistan. These crashes cause considerable social and economic problems for individuals and society. Shara-e-Faisal, which is the busiest road in Karachi, was selected for studying the patterns of RTCs. Following conclusions can be drawn from the studies presented:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Road traffic crashes (RTCs) result in creating significant social and economic hazard for affectees, their families and society. The purpose of this paper is to present studies which were conducted to study the patterns of RTCs in Karachi which is a metropolitan city of Pakistan. The studies were conducted on one of the busiest roads in the city named as Shara-e-Faisal. The influence and contribution of different factors in RTCs has been studied and hazardous road sections of Shara-e-Faisal have been identified. Based on the data analysis, an evaluation model has been suggested to reduce the hazard of RTCs on Shara-e-Faisal. The objective of the presented studies is to increase the present level of safety of road travel by reducing crashes on Shara-e-Faisal.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Existing data of RTCs in Karachi have been analysed for the presented studies. For this purpose, Shara-e-Faisal was divided in sections of 1 km length to study the vehicle crash pattern. Location surveys were conducted to record physical conditions of this road. A cluster analysis was carried out to identify hazardous sections of the road. An evaluation model has been suggested in the end to reduce the hazard of RTCs by identifying hazardous road sections of Shara-e-Faisal.\nFindings: The analysis of the data revealed that the crashes were higher over weekend and on Monday. Male population, particularly young people, and motorcycle riders were the largest affectees of RTCs. In general, more daytime crashes were recorded as compared to nighttime crashes. The crashes in the mid block of the road and those involving rear-end collisions were higher. The hazardous road locations were related to poor road conditions. Statistical analysis indicated that alternate routes were required to reduce the RTC hazard on Shara-e-Faisal.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper is a small, but an original, contribution to identify a potential hazard which is faced by the community in the city. This is the first attempt (to the best of authors' knowledge) to address the issue of RTCs in Karachi from an engineering view point.\nPractical implications: The suggested model can be employed by the authorities as a guideline to mitigate the hazard of road crashes in the country.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides valuable information on the road traffic incidents, their pattern and contributing factors in one of the largest metropolis of Pakistan. The suggested model can become helpful in reducing RTCs in Pakistan.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A SWOT analysis on Six Sigma: some perspectives from leading academics and practitioners	[ "Six Sigma", "Quality programmes", "SWOT analysis", "Process excellence", "Strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Six Sigma as a business strategy is gaining ever increasing popularity within many organisations world-wide including manufacturing, financial service companies, health care providers and governmental agencies. Six Sigma, a trademark of Motorola, was introduced nearly 25 years ago as a method to reduce manufacturing defects. The concept behind Six Sigma was developed by Bill Smith, an engineer, within Motorola as a powerful methodology to improve the reliability of products by reducing excessive variation which results in defects in manufacturing processes. Six Sigma is a systematic, project-oriented, statistically based approach for removing defects from products, processes and transactions. Bill Smith was quite successful with his idea of integrating hard-nosed applied statistical methods into the powerful engineering processes which essentially laid out the foundation of Six Sigma. It has been estimated that Motorola reduced defects on semiconductor devices by up to 94 per cent between 1987 and 1993. Today Six Sigma has been a powerful business strategy for improving business performance in many world-class corporations by improving quality, reducing costs and creating value for the enterprise and customers.SWOT analysis is a strategic-level analysis and stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is a method of analysing a business, its resources and its environment. Strengths and weaknesses are positive and negative internal factors whereas opportunities and threats are external factors. Strengths typically represent the internal strong points of an organisation and these are the things companies do well over their competitors so that they would find it difficult to emulate. Weaknesses are the weak points of an organisation. Weaknesses are the factors which do not meet the standards we feel they should meet. Opportunities are presented by the environment within which our organisation operates. Opportunities may arise from market, competition, industry/government and technology. Threats are those factors which can put in danger the survival of the organisation, if they are recognised on time they can become opportunities. A panel of academic experts and practitioners were chosen to discuss the topic \"a SWOT analysis on Six Sigma\". The people who have participated in this panel discussion include the leading practitioners and academics in the field.\nProfessor T.N. Goh, National University of Singapore, Singapore: Strengths of Six Sigma\nProfessor S.K. Neogy, Indian Statistical Institute, India: Strengths of Six Sigma\nDr Phil Rowe, Master Black Belt, Burton Group, UK: Strengths of Six Sigma\nDr Johannes Freiesleben, Credit Suisse, Switzerland: Strengths of Six Sigma\nAlessandro Laureani, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Google, Ireland: Strengths of Six Sigma\nProfessor Sung Park, Seoul National University, Korea: Strengths of Six Sigma\nProfessor Jiju Antony, University of Strathclyde, UK: Strengths of Six Sigma\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Six Sigma based on the perspectives of leading academics and practitioners.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach taken was to collate opinions from a number of leading academics and practitioners from different countries. It was also important to ensure that all participants in the study had a good knowledge and expertise in the field of Six Sigma.\nFindings: - The key findings are presented in the paper.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The viewpoints expressed in the paper are based on leading experts from both academic and industrial communities. Due to limited time constraints, the number of people who participated in the study was relatively small.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides an excellent resource for many researchers and practitioners equally who are engaged in research and applications of the most powerful business process improvement methodology we have witnessed for several years.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A systematic literature review of alcohol education programmes in middle and high school settings (2000-2014)	[ "Social marketing", "Segmentation", "Theory", "Education", "Schools", "Systematic review", "Alcohol", "Audience research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Reducing alcohol consumption among adolescents is one of the foremost challenges facing developed nations (Roche et al., 2010; National Preventative Health Taskforce, 2008). In many countries excessive alcohol consumption is culturally accepted and encouraged. In Australia, for example, excessive drinking is regarded as a badge of honour and often celebrated (Shanahan et al., 2002). Evidence suggests that high-level alcohol consumption damages adolescents' developing brain and affects behavioural and cognitive functioning (Squeglia et al., 2009). Further, the age of alcohol consumption onset is a strong predictor of subsequent problematic alcohol use (Ellickson et al., 2003; Lloyd et al., 2000), with many national drinking guidelines now recommending delaying initiation of drinking as long as possible (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2009). The significant social and economic impacts of alcohol drinking in adolescence highlight the importance of education programmes, which have been shown to be more cost effective than treatment (Goetzel, 2009). Schools are the most cost effective face-to-face environments to reach adolescents through education programmes (Babor et al., 2010). Consequently, school-based alcohol education programmes play an important role in attempting to shift drinking attitudes and behaviours (e.g. Botvin and Griffin, 2007; McBride et al., 2004).\nMethod: Several PRISMA reporting guidelines were followed during the systematic review process, including the use of cross-raters, repeated database searches and researcher consensus processes during categorisation (Moher et al., 2009). The aims of this systematic literature review were to identify English language studies of single-substance alcohol education programmes in middle and high school settings published in journals since 2000, and to understand the extent that selected social marketing benchmark criteria (behaviour change orientation, theory application, audience research and segmentation) were used in existing alcohol education programmes. A search of the literature was conducted across 13 databases (Proquest Education Journals, Sociological Abstracts, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed, A+Education, CINAHL, Medline, Business Source Complete, Drug Database, Science Direct, Emerald Fulltext, Web of Science), with the last search conducted at the end of November 2013. For six of these databases, alerts were set-up so that newer articles could also be retrieved post the initial search date. However, none of the alerts resulted in the addition of studies prior to completion of this review. The search terms included: alcohol, intervention, randomised controlled trial, curriculum, evaluation, program, school, teenager, youth, adolescent and numbers 14, 15 and 16. For this study, the authors focused only on school-based alcohol education programmes. The year 2000 was selected as a starting point for the review in order to limit the results to contemporary programme design.\nResults and discussion: The findings of the systematic literature review are presented in Table I. This table delineates the extent to which each of the 16 school-based alcohol education programmes included in the review: first, reported behavioural and other change outcomes; second, employed theory; third, conducted audience research; and fourth, applied segmentation (including targeting). The sections following Table I provide a summary of the findings with regards to programmes' application of the four social marketing benchmark criteria, starting with the extent to which they reported behavioural effects and concluding with the application of segmentation. Each criterion and their characteristics will be discussed. These sections highlight selected programmes to serve as illustrative examples of the findings, rather than discuss each programme individually. It is not intended to attribute greater importance to some studies relative to others.\nResearch limitations/implications: This systematic literature review focused on alcohol education programmes targeting middle and high school student populations, retrieving studies back to the year 2000. It marks the first study of its kind to focus investigative attention on the application of relevant social marketing criteria (behaviour change, theory, audience research and segmentation) to existing school-based alcohol education programmes. The review demonstrates alcohol education programmes targeting middle and high school students have changed alcohol-related behaviour with varying degrees of success. The findings also show widespread application of theory in the design of school-based alcohol education programmes, with social learning theory being the most commonly utilised as per previous reviews (Foxcroft and Tsertsvadze, 2012; Stead et al., 2007). The findings of this review further highlight the majority of school-based programmes followed a one size fits all approach. Future research should therefore design, implement and evaluate programmes that involve the systematic application of the full segmentation process (segment, target, position) to test whether programme efficacy can be improved. Assessment of the audience research criterion suggested that of all stakeholders, students were rarely involved in actual programme design. A more student-oriented focus may offer the opportunity to enhance alcohol education programme effectiveness for middle and high school settings. That is, a more detailed understanding of different characteristics of homogenous subgroups (a result of segmentation) prior to programme development may then allow for the creation of more engaging alcohol programmes (endorsed and co-created with students of the identified segments). It is then for future research to test whether this approach leads to more effective alcohol education programme outcomes.\nConclusion: This systematic review examined contemporary (since 2000) single-substance alcohol education programmes targeting middle and high school students through a social marketing lens and found that segmentation and audience research were rarely employed by the identified programmes. Evaluation of the audience research criterion revealed, more specifically, limited evidence of student involvement in programme design. Drawing on the social marketing literature, we propose that further application of the social marketing benchmark criteria of segmentation and audience research may extend on the successes of existing school-based alcohol education programmes. The results of this review may be of interest to health educators, alcohol education programme designers and decision makers seeking to explore insights and integrate novel approaches from social marketing.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Social marketing benchmark criteria were used to understand the extent to which single-substance alcohol education programmes targeting adolescents in middle and high school settings sought to change behaviour, utilised theory, included audience research and applied the market segmentation process. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review retrieved a total of 1,495 identified articles; 565 duplicates were removed. The remaining 930 articles were then screened. Articles detailing formative research or programmes targeting multiple substances, parents, families and/or communities, as well as elementary schools and universities were excluded. A total of 31 articles, encompassing 16 qualifying programmes, were selected for detailed evaluation.\nFindings: The majority of alcohol education programmes were developed on the basis of theory and achieved short- and medium-term behavioural effects. Importantly, most programmes were universal and did not apply the full market segmentation process. Limited audience research in the form of student involvement in programme design was identified.\nResearch limitations/implications: This systematic literature review focused on single-substance alcohol education programmes targeted at middle and high school student populations, retrieving studies back to the year 2000.\nOriginality/value: The results of this systematic literature review indicate that application of the social marketing benchmark criteria of market segmentation and audience research may represent an avenue for further extending alcohol education programme effectiveness in middle and high school settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cooperation as a vehicle for innovation: a study of the effects of firm size and industry type	[ "Cooperation", "Innovation", "SMEs", "Networks", "Emerging market", "Large firms" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Seeking responses means and new ways to take advantage of opportunities has occupied a great deal of time for those leading both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms (LFs). As mentioned by Kuratko and Audretsch (2009), ensuring a firm's growth in the current competitive scenario requires both strategic management to face the various external threats and use of the firm's internal strengths, to be able to advance through innovation.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Cooperation for innovation\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Database\n4. Analysis and discussion of the results: 4.1 Descriptive results\n5. Conclusion and contributions: This study aimed to compare the actors involved in cooperation for innovation between SMEs and LFs in Brazil. After analysing the data on PINTEC for the period 1998 to 2014 (IBGE, 2018), it was found that among the seven types of cooperation for innovation, LFs, more than SMEs, tend to cooperate with other firms in the group and with professional training and/or technical assistance centres. In turn, SMEs, more than LFs, potentially cooperate with their clients/consumers. The other types of cooperation seem to occur equally in SMEs and LFs. This leads to the conclusion that the firm's characteristics (SME or LF) favour the use of one type of cooperation for innovation or another, highlighting SMEs' proximity to their clients and LFs' structures, tending to belong to business groups and having links to training centres and technical assistance networks.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on firms' need to remain competitive and dynamic in a scenario of constant change, the purpose of this paper is to compare the actors involved in cooperation for innovation between Brazilian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms (LFs), and also in two industries/sectors, manufacturing and services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To achieve this objective, the database chosen was PINTEC, with data available from 1998 to 2014. The statistical analyses performed were binary logistic regression, descriptive statistics of the variables, correlation matrix and the difference of means.\nFindings: The empirical evidence show that the firm's characteristics (SME or LF) favour the use of one type of cooperation for innovation or another, highlighting SMEs' proximity to their clients and LFs' structures, tending to belong to business groups and having links to training centres and technical assistance networks.\nResearch limitations/implications: The theoretical contribution of this study lies in the evidence that types of cooperation for innovation can vary according to firm size and the type of industry/sector, and the practical contribution lies in pointing out the importance of clients for SMEs, and for LFs the importance of business groups, technical assistance and professional training centres. The importance of suppliers in cooperation for innovation stands out in the service sector, and that of clients in the manufacturing sector.\nOriginality/value: This study shows that the types of cooperation to innovation can vary according to firm size and type of sector, in an emerging market and with low rates of innovation. It is emphasized that most research on the subject has been carried out in developed countries or emerging Asian ones. Therefore, this study is innovative because it shows particularities of the Brazilian market that can subsequently be observed in other emerging markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Customer orientation as a psychological construct: evidence from Indian B-B salespeople	[ "Frontline employees", "Job satisfaction", "Customer orientation", "Customer-oriented attitude", "External customer mindset", "Indian salespeople" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A seemingly universal customer desire for a firm's frontline employees is to prioritize the customer's interests. This condition can often be met by the employee simply treating customers how they themselves would wish to be treated by helping customers choose and use the right product for their immediate and future needs regardless of any potential rewards for doing otherwise. Referring to it as \"a way of doing business on the part of the salesperson,\" Saxe and Weitz (1982, p. 344) called this concept \"customer orientation\" (CO) and formally defined it as \"the degree to which salespeople practice the marketing concept by trying to help their customers make purchase decisions that will satisfy customer needs\". Goad and Jaramillo (2014, p. 285) observe that CO has been researched sufficiently so to be considered a \"central concept in the sales and marketing literature.\" However, Zablah et al. (2012) note that this body of research exhibits two troubling issues: studies of the relations among CO and both job stress and engagement have produced contradictory results depending upon whether CO was modeled as their antecedent (i.e. as an attitudinal, psychological construct) or as their outcome (i.e., as a behavior), and studies of CO's relationship with employee job performance have produced inconsistent results. In regards to the first issue, Zablah et al. (2012) proposed that these contradictory results are due to the fact that the dominant view is that CO is an overtly behavioral construct when it should instead be considered as an employee attitude. In regards to the second issue, Zablah et al. (2012) hold that these inconsistent results can be attributed to testing models that have not sufficiently considered the role of moderators, intervening variables, and antecedents.\n2. CO as an attitude: customer mindset (CMS): Since Zablah et al. (2012) show that CO is best treated as a frontline employee's work-related attitude, it stands to reason that CO should also be conceptualized and measured as an attitude. Unfortunately, this has not been the case as the majority of researchers have measured CO using the CO component of the SOCO scale (Saxe and Weitz, 1982) or its shorter version developed by Thomas et al. (2001) that explicitly conceptualize and measure CO as a behavior. Other recent attempts to measure CO (e.g. Homburg et al., 2011; Singh and Koshy, 2011b) have also conceptualized CO in a behavioral manner. Much of the research on the role of CO among non-western employees (e.g. Singh and Koshy, 2010; Singh and Das, 2013) have also modeled and measured CO in a strictly behavioral manner. However, in order to optimize the study of CO, researchers should not only model CO as a psychological construct that is antecedent to stress and engagement but also measure it in a way that is consistent with its attitudinal role.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection and sample\n4. Results: The hypothesized psychological model was tested using LISREL 8.5 and also found to fit the data well: kh2 (96)=338.73, p<0.01; RMSEA=0.08; GFI=0.90, standardized RMR = 0.025, IFI =0.99; CFI = 0.99; NNFI =0.99. Seven of the eight individual hypotheses were supported (87.5 percent; see Table IV). The hypothesized model explains 87 percent of the variance in Indian salesperson's job performance, 81 percent of customer ambiguity, 81 percent of job satisfaction, and 94 percent of organizational commitment. The competing behavioral model, representing the dominant view of CO, also fit the data well: kh2 (95) = 352.47, p<0.001; RMSEA =0.083, GFI=0.90, standardized RMR = 0.027, IFI =0.99, CFI =0.99, and NNFI =0.99, but only five of nine paths were significant (55.56 percent). This model explained 89 percent of variance in job performance, 85 percent in ECMS, 83 percent in job satisfaction, and 97 percent in organizational commitment.\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Theoretical contributions\n6. Limitations and future research: While the results of this study strongly supports the psychological structure of CO that frontline employee CO is an important universal attitude, and provides preliminary evidence that ECMS is a superior measure of CO as compared to the SOCO scale, its limitations must also be kept in mind. First, as this study did not directly compare a model that measured CO using the CO component of the SOCO scale with one using ECMS, the evidence that the latter should be used to measure CO is only indirect. What is needed is a study comparing models using different CO scales, including those that were developed specifically for the sales environment such as Stock and Hoyer's (2005) measure of salesperson customer-oriented attitudes and Singh and Koshy's (2012) SALCUSTOR. Should ECMS or one of the other scales clearly be shown to offer a superior measure of frontline employee CO then future researchers would have a much stronger basis for properly measuring this most important marketing and sales condition.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend Zablah et al.'s (2012) findings regarding the proper way to treat customer orientation (CO) to the study of CO among B-B salespeople in one of the most important emerging economies, India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors of this study hired a professional market research firm based in Chennai, a large metropolitan city in Southern India, to manage data collection. The authors used a competing models approach to test the relationship between constructs.\nFindings: CO among frontline employees operating in one of the largest emerging economies is best treated as a psychological construct that is both directly and indirectly related to performance via its ability to reduce stress and improve engagement. This finding strengthens the view of CO as a universal human work value and, more broadly, that such values operating across different cultural setting do exist. In addition, external customer mindset appears to offer a superior means to measure CO than does the widely used CO component of the SOCO scale. This conclusion is based not only upon the fact that it conceptually corresponds with the psychological nature of CO, but also that in this initial examination it exhibits a greater ability to explain employee job performance.\nOriginality/value: Managers who are able to screen and hire employees with greater CO work values should experience improved performance outcomes and also less customer ambiguity and greater satisfaction among their frontline employees. Since CO proscribes the proper way to deal with customers, greater levels of CO beliefs would counteract customer ambiguity among frontline employees operating in any environment. Accordingly, when filling frontline positions, managers should actively seek out employees who earnestly embrace the role of taking care of customers. Managers are advised to not only emphasize on salespeople whose foremost role is to take care of their customers but also to find ways to familiarize them with their products and to provide them with information regarding customer characteristics such as their background, the relationship history (especially past service and product failures), and unique preferences.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Challenging the planned behavior approach in social marketing: emotion and experience matter	[ "Emotions", "Experience", "Social marketing", "Model of goal-directed behavior", "Breastfeeding", "Complex social behavior" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The study of the adoption of complex social behaviors has largely been studied using cognitive behavior theories (Rosenstock, 1974; Ajzen, 1991). The assumption underpinning such models is social marketers can \"think consumers\" into action by controlling cognitive factors. Recent evidence suggests being better informed does not necessarily mean consumers will \"do the right thing\" (Claudy et al., 2013). There are factors outside of those that are \"controllable\", such as emotions (positive and negative) and cultural and social forces, that influence human desire and aspirations and also combine to influence consumers' social behaviors (Parkinson et al., 2016). This wider perspective of social behavior change is the one we undertake to study complex social behavior. We extend behavior change research by exploring the role of other factors, such as emotion and personal experience, to consider how experience with a complex behavior may vary between consumers. Specifically, we use an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) which incorporates emotions and past behaviors: the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) (Perugini and Bagozzi, 2001).\nThe planned behavior approach: Numerous theoretical frameworks have been offered to explain health behavior, many of which are based on the rational approach originally described in the form of the Subjective Expected Utility model (SEU) (Savage, 1954). The Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) and its extension, the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), are among the most highly cited SEU extensions. These models attempt to predict behavior by integrating the influence of informational and normative variables on behavior or on the antecedent behavioral intention of the participants. TPB posits behavioral attitude and subjective norm effect behavioral intention, which in turn effect actual behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Intention is also influenced by perceived behavioral control (PBC). TPB has been used to explain social behaviors such as blood donor loyalty (Masser et al., 2009), recycling (Terry et al., 1999), physical activity (Armitage, 2005) and breastfeeding (Guo et al., 2015). A limitation of TPB is its cognitive focus through variables such as belief, attitude and intentions. For emotional social issues, such as breastfeeding, cognition alone may not explain why women sustain breastfeeding or why they cease breastfeeding. Previous research indicates women's reasons for weaning their infants included affective, schematic reasons relating to the ways in which the behavior may reflect or affect the woman's emotions, values and self-concept (Dietrich Leurer and Misskey, 2015; Rempel, 2004). Thus, the TPB with its rational explanation of behavior is insufficient for a complex social behavior such as breastfeeding.\nRole of emotions in complex social behaviors: Effective complex social behavior change programs and interventions must be realistic and acknowledge the uniqueness of the social behavior journey, including the very personal and emotional nature of the experience for many consumers (Parkinson et al., 2016). Traditionally, research in the complex behavior of breastfeeding tend to be more cognitively focused (Guo et al., 2015) and have identified factors such as self-efficacy (Dennis, 1999; Otsuka et al., 2014), attitudes (Maycock et al., 2015), beliefs (McMillan et al., 2009) and subjective norms (Swanson and Power, 2005). However, breastfeeding is a powerfully intimate experience with emotional consequences for both mother and child (Burns et al., 2010; Gallegos et al., 2014). In deciding to breastfeed, mothers weigh the benefits and consequences that may result from the experience. These are likely to be based on the anticipation of particular physical and/or emotional states. Despite the practical and theoretical evidence for the emotionality of breastfeeding (Pentecost and Grassley, 2014), there has been little, if any, research investigating the impact of emotions on the mother's breastfeeding behaviors.\nAn alternative approach: the model of goal-directed behavior: Social science researchers interested in complex social behaviors, such as health and well-being, have extended planned behavior models to be inclusive of emotional factors (Perugini and Bagozzi, 2001). One such model is the MGB, which is an extension of the TPB, which modifies and deepens exploration of behavioral influences. The contribution of the model lies in its ability to identify both cognitive and affective factors that motivate desires, intentions and subsequent behavior. This model has been applied to relatively few health-related consumption issues, including body weight (Perugini and Bagozzi, 2001), exercise (Abraham and Sheeran, 2003), smoking behavior (Perugini, 2005) and, more recently, alcohol consumption (Fry et al., 2014) and mental health (Schuster et al., 2013). For the purpose of this study, we adopt the MGB as the underpinning theoretical framework to test the research question.\nRole of experience in complex social behavior: In services, production and consumption often unfold over a series of consumption episodes across a customer journey (Dagger and Sweeney, 2007). Services such as hairdressing, personal training and education, among others, require consumers to engage in multiple service encounters over an extended period of time. Dagger and Sweeney (2007) argue in these instances the service experience is dynamic and managers need to understand how consumer needs change as the consumption progresses. Understanding the nature of this change is important, given the emphasis placed on customer retention and loyalty (Zeithaml, 2000) and building long-term customer relationships (Verhoef, 2003). This services-thinking could also be applied to social behaviors, where there is a bias in social marketing research of social product adoption, rather than the maintenance of behavior (Andreasen, 2003), and indicates it is appropriate, if not necessary, to apply this services-thinking to the sustained use of social behaviors such as breastfeeding.\nHypotheses development: The central hypothesis in our study is the relationship between the modifiable breastfeeding variables of attitudes, self-efficacy, emotions and breastfeeding behaviors will vary depending on the level of the mother's breastfeeding experience (Figure 1).\nMethod: Data collection and measures\nResults: Women consented to participate by submitting the survey, and a total of 1,275 completed surveys were included in the analysis (USA, n = 796; Australia, n = 479). In total, 342 women from the USA and 246 from Australia were novice mothers, and all were currently supplying breastmilk to their child, with 55.1 per cent of novice mothers currently exclusively breastfeeding and 58.4 per cent of experienced mothers currently exclusively breastfeeding. There were significant differences between countries for education, with more women in the US sample (72 per cent) reporting they had a university education, while only 57.2 per cent of Australians reported having a university education. However, there were no significant differences in university education for novice mothers (50.3 per cent) or experienced mothers (49.7 per cent). There were also no significant differences between countries for age (USA m = 30.54, SD = 4.43, Australia m = 31.06, SD = 4.87). As to be expected, there were significant differences in age for novice mothers (m = 29.96, SD = 4.54) and experienced mothers (m = 31.39, SD = 4.57). There were significant differences in the mean age for the child, with 10.44 (SD = 4.62) months for novice mothers and 9.53 (4.96) for experienced mothers (df = 1,273, t, 3.36; p = 0.001).\nComparing TPB and MGB models: First, the basic TPB model was compared with the MGB model to confirm the conclusion the MGB model improved upon the basic TPB model for each sample. The comparison was achieved by specifying the TPB model and MGB model separately for each sample. TPB model-Novice mothers: kh2 = 332.15, df = 93, kh2/df = 3.57, p = 0.000, RMSEA = 0.07, TLI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94 and standardized RMR = 0.050; Experienced mothers: kh2 = 540.64, df = 93, kh2/df = 5.81, p = 0.000, RMSEA = 0.08, TLI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94 and standardized RMR = 0.050; MGB model-Novice mothers: kh2 = 867.94, df = 313, kh2/df = 2.77, p = 0.000, RMSEA = 0.05, TLI = 0.94, CFI = 0.95 and standardized RMR = 0.050; Experienced mothers: kh2 = 1,428.36, df = 313, kh2/df = 4.56, p = 0.000, RMSEA = 0.07, TLI = 0.94, CFI = 0.95 and standardized RMR = 0.050. Goodness-of-fit test results for both of the tested models indicated the MGB model provided an improved fit to the data, compared to the basic TPB model in both groups.\nDiscussion: This research reframes marketers' perspectives on how to study complex social phenomenon. The results challenge the notion that a complex social behavior, such as breastfeeding, can be explained by an exclusively planned approach. When the TPB is used to analyze breastfeeding, attitudes have a significant relationship with other variables in the model. However, when emotional variables are added to the model in the form of the MGB, there is no relationship. This finding is a small, simple step toward explaining complex social behaviors. As the empirical account suggests, the findings support Bagozzi's (1992) premise that there are boundary conditions on when attitudes matter, and thus, our study demonstrates attitudes do not always influence intentions and behaviors.\nConclusion, limitations and future research directions: This model should not be regarded as a solution to complex behavior intervention and policy problems, but as a tool to be applied in the process of developing interventions with the segments in question. Tools should be developed to understand consumers' experience with a social behavior and assist them to achieve their behavior change goals through confidence building and accurately anticipating their emotions. Applying the marketing concept of exchange to complex behaviors provides insights that allow marketers and policy makers to develop cost-effective interventions and institutional policies to achieve behavioral outcome objectives. For example, creating an exchange, consumers will value based on their anticipated emotions by providing them with emotional tools aimed at increasing their behavioral confidence. This may be generalizable to other social behaviors and family products and services, particularly those including other people or children as end users of the decision-making process. For example, other social behaviors include household food consumption, physical activity, domestic violence-respectful relationships and alcohol consumption. More general family products and services include education, mother and baby products, feeding products, services for mothers, services for babies, childcare and medical services. In all of these domains, marketing processes and service interfaces with customers are becoming increasingly important to ensuring consumers' experiences are positive and supportive to maintaining desired behavioral outcomes. Future research is required to understand other important variables for changing complex social behaviors and how these interact over time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: There is a dominance of cognitive models used by marketers when studying social phenomena, which denies the complexity of the behavior under investigation. Complex social behaviors are typically emotionally charged and require a different perspective. The purpose of this research is to challenge the planned behavior approach and reframe marketers' perspectives on how to study complex social phenomenon such as breastfeeding.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online survey of 1,275 American and Australian women was undertaken to test the Model of Goal Behavior in a breastfeeding context. Structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis of novice (first-time mothers) and experienced mothers is used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The findings demonstrate emotion and experience matter when understanding a complex social behavior such as breastfeeding. The emotional variables in the model had significant relationships, while the cognitive variables of instrumental and affective attitude did not. As women progress through their customer journey (from novice to experienced), the behavioral drivers change.\nPractical implications: This research demonstrates an emotion, and experience-focused approach should guide the design of social marketing interventions aimed at changing complex social behaviors.\nOriginality/value: This research presents empirical evidence to challenge the pervasive use of planned behavior models and theories in marketing. Importantly, in social behavior models, emotion rather than attitudes have a larger role in determining intentions and behaviors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Smoking prevalence among Jews and Arabs in Israel	[ "Cigarettes", "Ethnic groups", "Israel" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Smoking behavior is closely related to individual socioeconomic factors such as family size, level of education, and marital status. People with lower socioeconomic status are more likely to initiate smoking and less likely to quit smoking (Reijneveld, 1998; Tseng et al., 2001; Watson et al., 2003; Laaksonen et al., 2003; Barbeau et al., 2004; Hughes, 1996; Wetter et al., 2005; Winkleby et al., 1992; Emler, 2001).Our aim in this paper is to investigate the differences in the prevalence of smoking among Arabs and Jews in Israel. Jewish and Arab societies in Israel operate according to different family and social codes. There is a large economic gap between these two ethnic groups which might be another factor that affects smoking tendency.Some studies have shown that tobacco consumption is more prevalent in the least-favored social milieu, notably among those with a low level of education, low-social status, or ethnic minority membership (Keller et al., 2003; Oddoux and Peretti-Watel, 2000; Pierce et al., 1989; US Department of Health and Human Services, 1989). Other research indicates that low self-esteem is related to a reduced concern for health and higher drug consumption, even though the links are not very strong.Smoking is often learned at home or in the community from friends, parents, or other family members. Social acceptance from peers is extremely important among youth, which makes adolescents particularly susceptible to peer pressure. Friends and parents are key role models for children and may influence cigarette smoking through modeling the behavior and conveying positive attitudes and social norms toward tobacco use (Cowdery et al., 1997; Elder et al., 2000; Epstein et al., 2000; Flay et al., 1998). In addition, both friends and family also provide a venue for easy access to cigarettes.Smoking behavior varies widely among ethnic and racial groups. In aggregated population surveys conducted in the USA, the age-adjusted prevalence of cigarette smoking was 30.1 percent among black adults and 27.3 percent among white adults. Only 8.0 percent of black smokers, however, were reported to be heavy smokers (smoking at least 25 cigarettes per day), as compared with 28.3 percent of white smokers (Department of Health and Human Services, 1998). The smoking habits of native Hawaiians, Whites, and Asians were almost similar (Kolonel, 1979; Menck and Henderson, 1982).Our aim is to analyze the differences between Jewish and Arab smoking prevalence according to marital status, gender, education and family size.The paper is organized in the following manner: in the second part, we present the data, the third part, presents a statistical analysis of smoking prevalence according to demographic characteristics, in the fourth part, we utilize a relative risk (RR) indicator that enables us to rank smoking risk factors, and the last part concludes the paper.\n2 Data: We used health survey data collected by the Israeli Bureau of Statistics in 2003-2004. Each of the 4,859 agents participating in the survey answered questions regarding personal and health characteristics. Agents reported whether they currently smoked, the number of cigarettes smoked each day, and personal and labor market characteristics.\n3 Smoking prevalence according to demographic characteristics: 3.1 Smoking prevalence according to ethnicity\n4 Ranking relative risk: We can see that smoking prevalence among Arab males is higher then among Jewish males and lower among Arab females in comparison to Jewish females at all ages, marital status, education and family size groups.In this section, we will rank the factors that are associated with smoking according to their relative effect on the tendency to smoke.4.1 Relative risk\n5 Estimation: We estimated two kinds of equations. In the first, we estimated the probability that an agent would be a smoker given possible relevant characteristics. The dependent variable is a binary variable that gets a value of 1 if the agent smokes and a value of zero otherwise. In the second, we estimated the number of cigarettes smoked per day as a function of the same explanatory variables.The two kinds of equations were used for Jewish and Arab, males, and separately, for Jewish and Arab females.5.1 Factors that effects the probability of smoking\n6 Summary: In this paper, we used survey data collected by the Israeli Bureau of Statistics in 2003-2004.The survey includes the personal, economic and medical state data of 4,859 agents.Analyzing the data, we find very large differences in smoking prevalence between Jews and Arabs. We examined smoking differences according to ethnicity, age, marital status, education, family size, and gender.Our findings show that being married drastically reduces smoking prevalence among Jews of both genders while having only a slight effect on smoking prevalence for Arabs.The negative effect of marriage on smoking tendency is not new. A growing body of work (summarized in Waite, 1995) links marriage to better health and decreases in health-risky behavior, particularly for men (Bachman et al., 1997; Bachman et al., 2002). A stream of thinking in sociology, dating back to Durkheim, sees marriage as a form of social integration; strong bonds between individuals promote social control (Laub et al., 1998; Umberson, 1987). Umberson (1987, 1992) found that divorced and widowed individuals engaged in riskier behaviors than married people. Marrying might change agents' behavior. Nock (1998), who used longitudinal data from the National Study of Families and Households, found that compared with those who stayed single, those who married had greater increases in church attendance and decreases in time spent with friends outside the neighborhood and going to bars. Bachman et al. (2002) showed that much of the marriage effect is mediated by a reduction in the frequency of going out in the evening, which reduces substance abuse. Other smaller portions of the effect came through marriage affecting disapproval of substance abuse and increasing church attendance, which in turn led to less-substance abuse (Bachman et al., 2002, Ch. 8). Therefore, our findings showing marriage not effecting smoking prevalence in the Arab sector must be further investigated in future research.Our findings indicate that ethnicity has a very large affect on smoking tendency and is probably connected to different cultural and social behavior among Jews and Arabs in Israel (smoking prevalence among male Israeli Arabs (59 percent) is much higher than Jewish male prevalence (32 percent) and is also higher in comparison to American-Arabs (only 18.8 percent) (Hatahet et al., 2002).We built an index for measuring the RR of smoking associated with various characteristics that effect smoking prevalence. Our findings indicate that certain characteristics are associated with much larger RR. Mainly, we found that the RR of smoking is highest for Arab males who work 1-20 weekly hours, have 11-12 years of schooling, with more than five children or are unmarried, while it is lowest for married Arab females with two to four children, with less than eight years of schooling, who work 21-30 hours a week.We estimated a probit procedure and analyzed factors that affect the probability of being a smoker. Using OLS methods, we also estimated factors that effect smoking intensity, as measured by the number of cigarettes smoked per day.The estimation results point that Jews of both genders drastically reduce smoking probability as well as number of cigarettes smoked following marriage, while in the Arab sector, smoking prevalence is not effected by marriage. Having a larger number of children has a positive effect on smoking probability as well as on the number of cigarettes smoked among Arab males.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to rank the factors associated with smoking according to their relative effect on the tendency to smoke.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A probit procedure and ordinary least squares methods are used to analyze factors that affect the probability of being a smoker and factors that affect smoking intensity, as measured by the number of cigarettes smoked per day.\nFindings: - The paper finds that a relative risk (RR) of smoking is highest for Arab males, especially those with only 11-12 years of schooling, married with more than five children or unmarried, while it is lowest for Arab females, especially those married with two to four children, or less than eight years of schooling.\nOriginality/value: - The findings indicate that certain characteristics are associated with much larger RR. Mainly, it is found that the RR of smoking is highest for Arab males who work 1-20 weekly hours, have 11-12 years of schooling, with more than five children or are unmarried, while it is lowest for married Arab females with two to four children, with less than eight years of schooling, who work 21-30 hours a week.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding broadband television users' continuance intention to use	[ "Customization", "Continuance intention to use", "Internet protocol television (IPTV)", "Perceived content quality", "Perceived system quality", "Tricomponent attitude model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Broadband television is service system that uses broadband networks as transmission links to send video messages. Internet protocol television (IPTV) is the most common type of broadband television. According to the forecasts results of Pyramid Research (2013), the number of IPTV subscribers worldwide in 2013 was over 100 million users, the largest increase in the Asia Pacific region. According to the estimation of MRG analysis, the global number of users of IPTV service will jump to 101 million in 2014 and the overall global IPTV service revenue will reach $46 billion in 2014 (North America Intellectual Property Co., 2014). The interactive multimedia services (multimedia on demand (MOD)) are the future mainstream services of IPTV. MOD integrates different media with personalized and interactive features. Digital media industry will be the potential star industry in the near future. MOD service is likely to become an important industry of telecom companies in the development of competitive advantage.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: IPTV\nMethodology: Research model\nData analysis and result: This study used AMOS software of 17 versions to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of measurement model and structural model.\nDiscussion: Conclusion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on the tricomponent attitude model, a research model is developed to investigate the factors that influence users' use intentions regarding broadband television. These factors are divided into vendor's service and personal psychology perspectives. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research sample consisted of 631 respondents with experience in using broadband television. This study adopted structural equation modeling to test the proposed model.\nFindings: The results show that the structural model has a good fit and indicates that perceived system quality, perceived content quality, customization, perceived ease of use, and perceived risk directly influence users' opinions toward broadband television and indirectly affect their continuance intention to use through attitude to use.\nPractical implications: From a managerial standpoint, this study can assist internet protocol television (IPTV) service providers in understanding the critical determinants that influence consumers' continuance intention to use IPTV.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the understanding of consumers' continuance intention to use IPTV by introducing customers' perspectives for vendor's service factors (perceived system quality, perceived content quality, customization, and perceived ease of use) to current theoretical models. From a personal psychology perspective, this study provides sound evidence that the determinants of perceived price level and perceived risk are critical factors that affect consumers' attitude to use and continuance intention to use of broadband televisions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of globalization on income inequality in Asian emerging economies	[ "Asia", "Income inequality", "Emerging economies", "Financial globalization", "Technological globalization", "Trade globalization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Globalization has made the globe more equal as the communication around the world become cheaper and transportation gets faster, developing countries have a chance to reduce the gap with the rich countries. But the story is opposite in many developing countries and experiencing an extremely high level of income inequality (United Nations, 2013). The relationship between globalization and income inequality is a subject of considerable controversy in literature. On one hand, globalization is considered to promote economic growth and social welfare of the society, while on the other globalization is blamed for increasing income inequality and environmental degradation. Globalization is considered to be a multidimensional phenomenon, which include different aspects of political, social, cultural and economic sphere, but the major concern of economists and policy makers is economic globalization and its impact on the income of the people (Ogunyomi et al., 2013). Economic globalization is a process of rapid increase in the liberalization of international trade, investment, finance and technological changes among countries (Torres, 2001). The impact of globalization is not evenly distributed among all segments of the society, especially on employment and income. A combined income of 500 richest individuals in the world is greater than 2.5bn poor people (UNDP, 2005).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 The positive impact of trade globalization on income inequality\n3. Model, methodology and data: 3.1 Model\n4. Results: The empirical analysis of the study starts with exploring the impact of trade globalization on income inequality in the Asian emerging economies. The results of POLS in which the dependent variable is income inequality while explanatory variables are log of GDP per capita and its square term, trade, education and foreign direct investment is presented in Table I. The results show that the coefficient of GDP per capita is positive and significant, while its square term shows a negative and significant relationship with income inequality which indicates the presence of Kuznets inverted-U hypothesis. The estimated coefficient of trade and foreign direct investment indicates the existence of significant and positive impact on income inequality. Education has negative and insignificant impact on income inequality. Ramsey's regression specification error test (RESET) for omitted variables is applied to check the reliability of POLS results. The results of Ramsey test reject the null hypothesis that there is no omitted variable in the model suggesting that model is not correctly specified. Therefore, POLS would yield biased and inconsistent results that are not reliable. Due to the problem of omitted variable biasedness and endogeneity, IVLS estimation technique is applied. The study applied the Wu-Hausman test for endogeneity. The result of the Wu-Hausman test accepts the null hypothesis that the variables are exogenous. This suggests that IVLS remove the problem of endogeneity and omitted variable biased. The estimation results of IVLS, Ramsey's RESET and Wu-Hasman test are also presented in Table I.\n5. Conclusion: The goal of this study is to examine the impact of three modes of globalization, i.e. trade globalization, financial globalization and technological globalization separately, on income inequality on the Asian developing economies. Due to the unavailability of data for all the Asian emerging economies the study uses the following eleven countries, i.e. Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, from 1980 to 2014 for trade and technological globalization model and from 1990 to 2014 for financial globalization model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of three modes of globalization, i.e. trade globalization, financial globalization and technological globalization, separately on income inequality on the Asian emerging economies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses Hecksher-Ohlin and the Stolper-Samuelson theorem as a theoretical model for the relationship between globalization and income inequality. The study uses pooled least square (POLS) and instrumental variable least square (IVLS) estimation technique but prefers the IVLS over POLS due to the problems of omitted variable biased and endogeneity. Due to unavailability of data for all the Asian emerging economies, the study uses the following 11 countries, i.e. Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, from 1980 to 2014 for the trade and technological globalization model and from 1990 to 2014 for the financial globalization model.\nFindings: Trade globalization significantly contributes to reduce income inequality in the Asian emerging economies. The impact of financial globalization on income inequality suggests that financial integration causes an increase in income inequality. Therefore, the benefits of financial globalization are not evenly distributed among the rich and the poor. The impact of technological globalization significantly contributes in the reduction of income inequality.\nPractical implications: Government has to invest in research and development activities, establish efficient financial system, reduce trade restrictions and provide subsidies that help to increase the volume of trade.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes in the existing literature by analyzing the impact of trade globalization, financial globalization and technological globalization on income inequality in Asian emerging economies. The study provides useful guidelines to policy makers and governments to make effective policies in relation to globalization and income inequality that lead toward economic growth and reducing income inequality.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determining the value of information for different partners in the supply chain	[ "Supply chain management", "Information exchange", "Information transfer", "Partners", "Value chain" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: 1.1 Background\n2 Functionality of information: A special form of information may be a very significant decision-making factor for one partner in the supply chain but a meaningless piece of data for another player. King and Griffiths (1986) suggested two approaches to estimate the value of information. The first approach is to consider the organization's willingness to pay for the information. This is measured by the budget for books, periodicals and other source of information, plus the individual's investment in time and effort to discover, retrieve and read the information. The second approach is to estimate the cost saving or other advantages that result from having the information. For generating useful knowledge, we should give meaning to the row data and meaningless information stored in databases. If the data is structured it becomes information in the sense that it can be communicated, analyzed, interpreted or modeled. Knowledge is thus the information that has been given meaning by its user through analysis, interpretation or modeling (Stair and Reynolds, 2007). Figure 1 shows this value chain, which leads to generation of knowledge from row data.Hence for measuring the value of this information in the supply chain, first different kinds of gains and their importance for a special partner should be considered. This means that investment in information systems in supply chains should be correlated with the willingness of different parties to pay for that special sort of knowledge (King and Griffiths, 1986).The relation between the component value chain and the information value chain in a supply chain can be identified (Figure 2). As seen, the value of a special piece of raw data or unprocessed information can be increased through structuring and transformation in different steps (Lumsden et al., 1997). This means that the value level of different types of information for different partners of the supply chain may be dissimilar. Consequently, the level of processing on raw data for each of the partners is associated with the level of their benefits in time, cost and other types of gains generated from this knowledge.There are four reasons showing that timely and accurate information is critical for logistics systems design and operations. First, customers perceive real-time information about order status, product availability, delivery tracking, and invoices as a necessary dimension of customer accommodation. Second, information can be used to reduce inventory and human resource requirements. Third, information increases flexibility with regard to how, when and where resources may be utilized to gain strategic advantages. Fourth, enhanced information transfer and exchange utilizing the internet is facilitating collaboration and redefining supply chain relationships (Bowersox et al., 2007).Functionality level of information is a tool for determining the value of a special sort of information in the supply chain. There are in general two approaches suggested for measuring the value of information: first, to consider the willingness of partners to pay for it and second, to analyze the benefits resulted from that information (King and Griffiths, 1986).Supply chain information systems link logistics activities into an integrated process and this integration is built on four levels (Stair and Reynolds, 2007). The transaction system (IV) records and initiates individual logistics activities and functions. Decision analysis (III) focuses on software tools to assist management in identifying, evaluating, and comparing strategic and tactical alternatives to improve effectiveness. Management control (II) focuses on performance measurements and reporting. On the lowest level, strategic planning (I) organizes and synthesizes transaction data into a relational database (Bowersox et al., 2007).\n3 Analyzed kinds of information: This study conducts a review of the literature that addresses the concepts of value of information and information sharing in supply chains. The results concluded from this research identify the most important types of information in a supply chain.One of the most significant types of information is the location of product in supply chains. This information can create values of different levels depending on the partner, the type of product and the supply chain structure. Condition of the product during shipment is another important kind of information in supply chains. Physical condition of a product such as level of temperature, vibration, pressure, humidity, etc. can create value for different partners. The significance of this information depends on the configuration of the supply chain and the type of market.Point-of-sale and inventory levels of retailers for each stock-keeping unit (SKU) are some of the most important types of information in the supply chain for decreasing the bullwhip effect (Simchi-Levi et al., 2002). Information about different available suppliers in the market for each product can create benefits for suppliers and manufacturers in different markets. E-markets are created based on the centralization of this sort of data in supply chains. Statistical information about the history of sales for different products in different seasons and occasions is another value-adding type of knowledge that helps retailers and manufacturers to have more accurate forecasting about order quantity and batch sizing.Furthermore, information on warehouse operations, putting available offers from retailers on websites, shipment quantity information in the supply chain and knowledge about placement and sequencing of product in the shipment or the inventory are other types of information whose use and sharing have benefits for different partners.The selected sorts of value-adding information are identified as the most significant sorts from papers and books on value of information in the supply chain. The structure is built on the defined nine different types of information. These are value adders to the different partners of the supply chain. We name them additive information in supply chains.3.1 Location of the products in supply chain (I)\n4 Analysis: 4.1 Evaluation out of literature study\n5 Conclusion: The perspective from the literature can be compared with the perspective of the practitioners concerning the level of benefit that is generated for different partners from the used information sorts in the supply chain. It comes out clearly that the retailer and manufacturer are the partners who have the least benefits from the information sorts available in a supply chain. The supplier and customer are, on the other hand, the partners who have the most benefit from the information sorts. When comparing the value generated for the partners upstream and downstream of a supply chain, by considering the literature it can be concluded that the benefits from these information types are almost the same for both groups. As discussed, from the practitioners' point of view, the benefit to the downstream partners from using the information aspects of the supply chain is higher than the upstream partners' benefit.A significant conclusion from this study is that different information sorts in a supply chain have different levels of value and their total benefit for all the partners of the supply chain is dissimilar. Categorizing the information kinds into three main groups was done to emphasize the stage of value. By considering these categories we can have a deeper understanding about prioritizing them in our supply chain, in particular the warehouse information and the condition of the product.Another important outcome of the study is generated by considering the homogeneous value of the information. The value level of the same information group as it applies to different partners in the supply chain is the same. This means that if companies reduce or highlight the value of information impact, it goes all the way from supplier to customer.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to define the most beneficial types of information within a supply chain and their level of value for different partners in the supply chain. A secondary objective of this study is to compare the literature focus with the practitioners' perception concerning the value adding information types and their value level in the supply chains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this study, by reviewing published papers and textbooks on functionality and the value of information in supply chains, the most important types of information beneficial for the different partners of the supply chain depending on their position are identified. The value levels are quantified for the different partners through the supply chain by interviews with practitioners in different segments of the chains. A comparison between values of significant information types in the supply chains, concluded from the literature and the practitioners' interviews, is presented in this paper.\nFindings: - The study indicates the warehouse operations information as the most valuable information type from the practitioner's perspective. Also the result of this paper indicates increasing value of information further down the supply chain.\nPractical implications: - The result of this study could be applied for prioritizing the need for different information types in designing a supply chain.\nOriginality/value: - This paper adds to the literature on the value of information and supply chain information by identifying and categorizing different types of information which are made available to create value for different partners in the supply chain. Also, this study identifies the benefit share of different supply chain partners from information. A comparison of the ideas of the literature and practitioner's on value of information is shown in this study.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bringing teaching to life: Exploring innovative approaches to operations management education	[ "Operations management", "Teaching", "Higher education", "Learning", "Operations and production management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Operations management (OM) poses distinctive challenges, but also exceptional potential to educate, provoke and inspire students. Whilst its convenience in delivering information to large groups of students has ensured the continued dominance of the traditional lecture format in many universities, its efficacy is increasingly questioned. This is a particular concern for such an applied subject as OM, where the focus moves beyond simply teaching an established body of knowledge, towards the application of this knowledge to real-life situations. Furthermore, the immediacy of operations-related decision-making and the dominance of empirically derived concepts make OM seemingly well-suited to more applied methods of teaching. Moreover, there is sufficient variety of teaching methods used by academics within the discipline to investigate which approaches have delivered significant benefits for the understanding and practice of OM. These include: conventional lectures, group exercises, experiential teaching methods, business simulations, role-plays, live cases, and virtual learning environments, used independently or in various combinations on a range of undergraduate, taught MSc, MBA, and executive programmes. This is what prompted our original call for papers for this special edition. Our purpose was to champion innovative approaches to teaching OM (and extending to supply management, service management, and project management) so that we might bring insights and new ideas to a wider audience. In doing so, we aimed to stimulate educators around the world to re-evaluate their own approach to teaching and to encourage their colleagues to do likewise.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this review and of the papers in this special issue is to critically examine different approaches to teaching operations management (OM) in order to provoke and stimulate educators within the discipline.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The papers within this special issue include empirical assessments of a problem-based learning enterprise resource planning (ERP) simulation; a computer-based learning tool for material requirements planning (MRP); a simulation of assembly operations; an operations strategy innovation game; an extension of the production dice game; an experiential teaching method in different class settings; and problem-based assessment methods in OM. A variety of data are used to support these empirical studies, including survey, interview, and observational data.\nFindings: - The papers within the special issue support the argument that OM is well-suited to more applied methods of teaching focusing on the application of subject knowledge to real-life situations through a variety of techniques.\nPractical implications: - It is hoped that this review and the papers within this special issue act to stimulate educators to re-evaluate their approaches to teaching OM and encourage them to consider adopting experiential teaching methods, business simulations, role-plays, group exercises, live cases, and virtual learning environments, instead of, or in addition to, the more conventional lectures that typically dominate many OM modules around the world.\nOriginality/value: - A special issue on teaching OM appears timely given the significant changes to both the university landscape and to the nature of the discipline that we have witnessed over the last quarter of a century.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Resilient organizations turning challenges into opportunities: HR occupies a central place in preparing companies for change	[ "Competitiveness", "Growth", "Organizational change", "Organizational development", "Employee development", "Communications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Even the best companies, with excellent management and an outstanding record of achievement, have to deal with setbacks, disruptions and unwanted surprises. What divides winning and losing firms is their capacity for resilience. This is especially important when facing economic challenges.\nThe positive potential of change: Resilience is often defined as the capacity to bounce back from unexpected and adverse situations and to restore the previous course of action. However, unexpected events often change the environment in which the organization operates. Resilience in an increasingly competitive environment, therefore, requires businesses to go beyond restoring the past. They must instead use the positive potential of change and disruptive surprise to create new opportunities and build new capacities and capabilities.\nThe capacity for resilience: An organization's capacity for resilience is underpinned by the collective resilience of its members. Resilient organizations are nevertheless able to manipulate this collective capacity for resilience to make the whole worth more than the sum of the parts.\nThe importance of communication: Words, images and stories create meaning and generate narratives that enable people to make sense of a situation and to decide on alternative courses of action. Resilient organizations use organizational communication to generate and sustain a culture of resilience. They go beyond describing events and situations to convey meaning, emotions and understanding. Resilient organizations focus their language not on the threats but on constructive narratives. They use a vocabulary that builds confidence and reflects strong and consistent core values and a clear sense of purpose and identity (Freeman et al., 2004).\nEnhancing organizational resilience: Behavioral preparedness means taking actions and investing in skills, knowledge and behavior that get the organization ready for low-probability but high-impact disruptive events (Pearson and Clair, 1998) or emerging developments. Behavioral preparedness is an invaluable source of resilience. It is used in settings ranging from the military to universities to the corporate world.\nInvesting in resilience in a challenging economic environment: Resources are scarce for most organizations. Immediate challenges can give rise to a short-term focus. This can make it difficult to obtain the management support and investment needed to make an organization more resilient. The problem is greater still when economic conditions are tough. It is therefore important to prioritize investment that not only makes the organization more resilient but also contributes to overall effectiveness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that what divides winning and losing firms is their capacity for resilience - especially when facing economic challenges and reveals how to build organizational resilience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper explains that successful organizations use the need for substantial change to drive reforms that position them well to meet existing and future challenges.\nFindings: The positive potential of change and the importance of good communications in bringing it about have been explored. The need to invest in measures to increase the organization's resilience even when the economic climate is unfavorable has been underlined.\nPractical implications: This paper advances the view that organizations should seek to invest in areas that reposition them in their new business and market environment while creating a separate disruptive business to develop the innovations that can become the source of future growth.\nSocial implications: Some of the major economic and social changes to which successful organizations must react have been examined.\nOriginality/value: This paper reveals how, by changing challenges to opportunities, organizations can prepare themselves for a successful future.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do different marketing practices require different leadership styles? An exploratory study	[ "Leadership", "Marketing strategy", "Transactional leadership", "Transformational leadership", "Relationship marketing" ]	[ { "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: Leaders create and change companies' cultures, and employees perform in these cultures (Schein, 1992). In circumstances of market change and complexity certain styles of leadership are more effective than other types (Goleman, 2000). For example, the use of recruitment and training to establish the appropriate leadership style is important in creating a customer-oriented culture that is at the foundation of relational marketing practices (Harris and Ogbonna, 2001). To our knowledge, however, very few studies have examined the relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles. One example is that by Hult et al. (2000) but their study considers only the effects of leadership behaviors on relationship commitment. Our objective, in contrast, is to explore a more general relationship between leadership styles and marketing practices (in which relationship commitment is one of several constituent parts). First, however, we present a short case study on a company implementing more relational marketing practices. The case highlights the difficulties encountered in the context of an inappropriate managerial attitude:Implementing relational marketing practices: the case of inappropriate managerial attitudesThe company is UK based and supplies food ingredients and meal components to a range of commercial and institutional outlets (Palmer and Brookes, 2002). Also, the company is well established in its industry and has a high reputation, but its commercial performance was modest. Sales teams are organized into four trading regions. A direct sales force regularly and routinely calls on customers (\"milk rounding\") with the associated inefficiencies that a pejorative term such as this implies. Recognizing this, the company reorganized and appointed a new marketing team. They implemented an account gain strategy, utilizing a database marketing approach. Lacking key skills and resources, the company networked with external agencies, buying in capabilities and resources as required. The complexity of the database program was significant, involving the coordination of a number of external suppliers, the four regional sales teams, and the regional administrative support. An underpinning process was developed with the head office team supported by regional coordination managers to ensure that the waves of mail shots, follow-up telephone calls, and sales appointments and fulfilment were properly coordinated. The campaign resulted in 106 new accounts. Sales staff was tasked to personally visit each of the new contacts. In addition to generating a gross margin of PS269,714 after nine months, a substantial bank of new sales contacts was developed, and the company gained valuable experience in managing a direct mail campaign. The new marketing team realized that the very different approach that they instigated in a rather conservative organization would not necessarily be universally accepted. To overcome internal resistance the team identified the database marketing campaign as the \"product\" that had to be sold internally. Consequently, team members made numerous presentations to gain acceptance. Subsequently, close contact was maintained with regional staff to overcome resistance, gain commitment, and achieve a positive outcome. Also, interactive follow-up discussions were held to complement the quantitative data and to check acceptance of and commitment to the campaign's aims. Finally, a summary report and presentation was made to the board of directors together with a proposal for further innovative marketing activity. Further support and commitment was given to the marketing team as a result.The case above demonstrates that the vision generated by the internal marketing campaign and the commitment to communication led to a positive atmosphere, overcoming initial change resistance. The detailed development of processes and quantification led to high levels of accountability and the basis for further managerial action. A considerable challenge was overcoming the entrenched attitudes of some members of the sales team to following up the sales leads generated. However, the overall perceived success of the campaign gained commitment not only at board level, but also throughout the organization with managers keen and eager to hear of new initiatives.Also, the case demonstrates that the concept of leadership has emerged in a number of ways, initially by the creation of the vision by the new marketing team to rejuvenate a complacent organization. This was made tangible by the internal marketing campaign created by the team, which defined processes and targets to be delivered within tight timescales. High levels of communication and involvement were important at the implementation stage to maintain drive and commitment as the inevitable problems and challenges arose.The post implementation audit also provided the opportunity for reflection in a more detached and objective manner. The formalization of the outcomes in terms of a board report and presentation gave the initiative credibility and gained top management support. This was a clear signal to the organization that change was not only acceptable, but welcomed. In addition, managers felt empowered by the success achieved and confident to drive forward with further new ideas. As a result, this process gave the organization renewed confidence to move forward.Drawing on empirical findings, our study investigates the relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles. The remaining parts of our article are organized as follows. Previous research on leadership styles and marketing practices is reviewed. We develop a general model that hypothesizes a relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles. This model is tested among a sample of 79 executive MBA students. We discuss the results of a PLS approach that tests relationships in the proposed model. A number of propositions are generated. In addition, future research avenues are suggested, and the limitations of the study are addressed.\nLiterature review: The following first two sections review previous research on leadership styles and marketing practices. In particular, we justify our use of the transactional/transformation leadership role framework and the transactional/relational marketing framework.Research on leadership styles\nMethodology: To gather data we followed the protocol that the Contemporary Marketing Practice group has established according to which convenience samples of managers participating in executive MBA programs are being used and, although not random in nature, it is an approach that is both practical and controllable (Coviello et al. 2002). Because of the limited respondent base the study is positioned as an exploratory study. However, it is believed that the study is important as it is revelatory in that an exploration of the relationship between leadership styles and marketing practices has not previously been conducted. The study was conducted in a UK context.With regard to the establishment of the respondents' organizations, 21.5 percent of the organizations were established five years ago (or less); 19 percent were established between six and ten years ago; 11.4 percent were established between 11 and 30 years ago; and 48.1 percent were established more than 30 years ago. With regards to sales revenue generated by sales to export markets, 25.3 percent of the organizations answered that their sales revenue was not generated by sales to export markets; 29.2 percent of the organizations generated up to 25 percent of their sales revenue through export markets; and 15.2 percent and 13.9 percent generated between 26 and 79 percent respectively 80 percent (or more) of their sales revenue through export markets.Of the organizations, 54.4 percent are totally domestically owned; 21.5 percent of the organizations are domestic/foreign jointly owned; while the remaining organizations are totally foreign owned. Half of the organizations were a division/subsidiary of a larger organization. In terms of the market served, 19.0 percent of the organizations were in consumer markets and 63.3 percent of the organizations were in business markets; the remaining organizations dealt in both types of markets. Almost the same distribution was identified for the organizations' market offer (goods: 24.1 percent, services: 57.0 percent, and both goods and services: 16.5 percent).The respondents had an average age of 31 years, with seven years work experience generally gained at middle and senior managerial level. Job titles included associate, business development manager, general manager, marketing manager, project manager, and senior manager, among others. It was possible for the respondents to evaluate their companies' marketing practices because they were involved either directly in marketing activities or, more generally, in marketing planning. 43 percent of the respondents have worked for four years or more in their organizations. Of the respondents 73 percent had a technical qualification, while only 1 percent had an undergraduate degree and one percent had a postgraduate degree.The type of sample described above is consistent with other international studies (e.g. Coviello et al. 2002; Neelankavil et al., 2000). After an introduction to marketing practices and leadership styles each respondent received a copy of the questionnaire (developed by the Contemporary Marketing Practice group) with an added section relating to leadership styles. The questionnaire was in English and all respondents were either native speakers or near fluent. In case the respondents could not answer a question they were asked to seek the required information from their colleagues. However, a proportion of students were unable to respond meaningfully as their experience lay with not-for-profit organizations such as local government and the armed services. Respondents were told of the nature of the study, but data collection took place before the start of the formal teaching program in order to minimize exposure to marketing theory and potential bias. The questionnaire was distributed to all 232 students on the course of which 79 questionnaires were returned (34.1 percent) and provided usable data.The questionnaire\nDiscussion: We estimated the parameters in the structural model using PLS analysis as implemented in PLS-Graph Version 3.0 (Chin, 2001) to assess the construct validity of the measures used in the study and to test for the substantive relationships in the conceptual model.Construct validation\nConclusions: The study has contributed in a number of important areas. For example, it has built on the now well-established contemporary marketing practice framework by adding an important theoretical and managerial dimension, which extends our understanding of how marketing is practiced, as well as how it is theorized. By indicating linkages between these areas there is the opportunity to build a more comprehensive understanding and explanation of managerial and marketing practice. In particular the results have demonstrated the hypothesized link between the more relationally oriented marketing practices and leadership styles. This adds weight to the suggestion that different marketing practices are about more than technique; they encompass an underlying attitudinal approach to staff, the internal market, and the external market of customers and the wider stakeholder network.Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The literature discusses the relationship between marketing practice and leadership style and suggests that these are dynamic and linked. Providing empirical data, this paper seeks to investigate this relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A model was developed and tested using a survey methodology based on two well-validated research instruments, one from the Contemporary Marketing Practices research group and the other the MLQ leadership questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach.\nFindings: - The results showed that a transformational style of leadership is positively associated with interaction and network marketing. Transactional leadership is positively associated with database and network marketing. Passive/avoidant leadership has no effect on any of the marketing practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research is unique and exploratory, and was conducted in a UK context. The use of moderators within the model would have been preferable. For these reasons, generalizability is somewhat constrained.\nPractical implications: - The research adds weight to the argument that leadership styles need to be consciously adapted with respect to marketing practices. There are also implications for managerial training and development needs.\nOriginality/value: - To one's knowledge very few studies have considered the relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles. The paper, therefore, reports work in an area not previously researched empirically.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Surviving multiple obligations through stimulation, autonomy, and variation	[ "Motivation", "Autonomy", "Job satisfaction", "Conflict", "Health care", "Human resource management", "Academic staff", "Research", "Clinical medicine", "Teaching", "Sweden" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Medical professionals within health care are often faced with many different demands from many different sources. These multiple obligations can be due to changes in work conditions, new technologies, patient expectations, political imperatives, and economic constraints (Landstingsforbundet, 2003; Tomes, 2007). The focus on increasing effectiveness and reducing costs led to the introduction of market-oriented reforms into health care, commonly referred to as New Public Management (Hood, 1995; Aberbach, 2003). Management has, according to Stoeckle and Reiser (1992), taken over the power to allocate resources and make decisions about what work should be done and how it should be performed. Reorganizations have thus become common, and through it all, employees are expected to be as productive, as effective, and as efficient - or even more so. These frequent reforms require health care professionals to continually adapt to changing contexts and new directives.Academic medical centers (AMCs) have not been exempted from the influences of market controls (Middlehurst and Elton, 1992). The medical professionals who work in these centers face not only these challenges, but also challenges in the form of obligations that stem from three distinct tasks: clinical care, research, and teaching. That these tasks can collide with each other has been recognized as a problem for both universities and academic health centers. Watson (2003) points out that the original mission of the medical school, education, has changed to a focus on research. This shift can also be found among clinicians, who, under pressure to generate revenue and/or cut costs, have difficulties making time for teaching. What is frequently proposed as a solution is to separate the three tasks (Elton, 1986; Regan-Smith, 1998; Levinson and Rubenstein, 2000; Wright and Wedge, 2004). However, given the constraints under which AMCs operate, it is important to continually develop strategies that facilitate the combination of the three tasks (Joiner et al., 2008; Pizzo, 2008). As Ludmerer (1999) has emphasized, this is a crucial question for academic leadership. That these conflicts between research and teaching and between research and clinical work exist has been well described (Lancet, 1987; Hattie and Marsh, 1996; Magill et al., 1998; Astrom, 2008). However, conflicts between all three tasks have not been explored as often.These different tasks and their associated obligations are further complicated by the presence of multiple employers (Heyssel, 1984) and managed care (Ludmerer, 1999). The source of the conflict appears to be the employers - the institutions and organizations with their different objectives and frames of reference. In Sweden, for example, the county council is responsible for health care while the universities fall under the domain of the national government. According to Watson (2003), such a work situation in academic medical centers invariably gives rise to difficulties. Given the complexity of this working situation for professionals in academic medical centers, we were interested in understanding how this group is influenced by their multiple obligations.Background to the present study\nMethod: Participants\nFindings: The findings are presented as identified concepts and how these concepts relate to each other. The section ends with a new understanding generated from these relationships.Identified drivers\nDiscussion: The conflicting work situations that the interviewees in this study describe are not unusual for academic medical centers. We found a group of professionals who accept and try to balance multiple obligations because they find stimulation, autonomy, and variation in their tasks. This was in contrast to the professionals that were studied in the two background studies. The difference seems to lie in the ability to find stimulation, autonomy, and variation.There is support for this conclusion in the literature. Self-expression, the need for challenges, freedom from supervision, and permission to be creative, have all been identified as vital motivational factors for clinical educators and clinical investigators (Wright and Beasley, 2004). The joys and challenges of teaching, which the participants described, have also been found to be motivational (MacDougall and Drummond, 2005). The combination of task variation, autonomy, and feedback has been found to contribute to a job's motivating potential (Hackman et al., 1975). The ability for a person to use all of their talents and skills appears to grant them the chance to recover in one task when fatigued in another. This was not an option for the professionals in the two background studies.Variation in professional tasks has also been found to facilitate career development (Orlinsky and Ronnestad, 2005). High demands can contribute to professional development if they are combined with high levels of control (Karasek and Theorell, 1990). Autonomy has been shown to be an important factor for medical researchers and is a predictor for remaining in the profession and career commitment (Kidd and Green, 2006). According to Reiss (2004), autonomy is a driver. For the professionals in this study and those in the first two background studies, it represented a primary driver, regardless of position or work task. In creative and autonomous work, one needs space to develop and to challenge oneself professionally. This enhances autonomy and professional authority. This space is of even greater importance in the face of shifting demands, as was the case in the two background studies (Forrester, 2000).Freedom in making decisions about one's work is referred to as task authority (Karasek and Theorell, 1990). Task authority can hinder burnout, something that could be expected given the workload of the interviewees (Maslach et al., 2001). However, the high demands were balanced by a high degree of autonomy. This interpretation is further supported by Bakker et al. (2005) who found that an interaction between high demands and autonomy hinders the development of burnout symptoms such as exhaustion and cynicism.Multiple demands can be stimulating when they enrich each other. The research produced by the participants contributed to their professional recognition and their teaching and clinical work. Feedback from students, patients, and research made the interviewees feel acknowledged and their tasks stimulating, fun, and valued. The feedback initiated an iterative process of learning and teaching, which can be likened to feedback loops in both research projects and patient care. The research and the feedback loops all appear to contribute to a continual professional development and probably prevent professional stagnation. Institutionally, it is important that this group is acknowledged and works in an environment where they can remain committed and enthusiastic, not only as they develop their careers, but also in balancing career with family.Lowenstein et al. (2007) found that faculty members who believed that high quality teaching and exemplary clinical service were not adequately rewarded entertained a serious intent to leave academic medicine. The respondents in this study did not entertain these intents. Respect can be garnered through evaluations by others in an organization (Tyler, 1999) and the respondents had been selected by their university to partake in an educational development program.The professionals in the two background studies entertained thoughts about leaving their jobs in order to preserve their self-respect. Regardless of their professional positions, many of them felt that they were neither trusted nor valued within the organization they had elected to work in and to which they felt committed. They had chosen occupations that they believed would involve both challenges and opportunities for professional development. They did not expect to be in situations that forced them to adapt to altered work demands they could not steadfastly support. If such changes did arise, they considered leaving their jobs. This is not surprising, since low organizational commitment has been described as the most obvious association with turnover intention (Hallberg and Schaufeli, 2006). Moreover, it has been found that professionals forced to choose between loyalties to their employer or to their professional identity choose to leave their jobs (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2006).All participants in the three studies were licensed practitioners. This engenders an authority in performing tasks and can be seen as a hallmark of professionalism. Professionalism involves guidance by values and an ideology about how work should be performed (Freidson, 2001). In the two background studies, conflicts due to multiple obligations impinged on autonomy. The autonomy that licensed professionals have traditionally held has been and will continue to diminish as resources and power are shifted from individual professionals to the health care system (O'Connor and Lanning, 1992). The market organization model defines professional practice in terms of mechanisms of external accountability, professional standards, performance indicators, and productivity. This paradigm undermines the significance of expert knowledge and stresses a new kind of professionalism, which is more commercialized, entrepreneurial and managerial (Evetts, 2006). Freidson (1986) considers it paradoxical that health care professionals do not have control over the resources of their organization but are autonomous with respect to decisions about how to perform their work. Policy makers have in recent years recognized this contradiction and how it impacts health care initiatives (Kirkpatrick et al., 2005). The challenge, given our findings, is for health care is to find ways to develop and support committed professionals without impinging on the autonomy and authority legitimized by their license.One interesting finding that stands in contrast to many popular incentive strategies is the absence of comments about pecuniary rewards and bonuses. Professional norms appear to supersede pecuniary incentives in the guidance of performance and behavior (Andersen, 2009). This seems to be the case in this study. The respondents have jobs which they perceive are valued by others, they and their work is recognized by colleagues and their organization(s), and their work continually develops their professional competencies. These points emphasize the importance of continual feedback and stimulation. Feedback that is clear, expressive, and explicit on an emotional level is of great importance in the establishment and confirmation of a professional identity (Ibarra, 1999). Finally, the individual rewards (stimulation) that come from creative and autonomous work can become \"a way of life\" and may be reward enough (Super, 1953).Methodological considerations\nConclusion: Health care has at its center the care of patients. Research provides new techniques and understanding and education develops the work force of tomorrow. All three tasks are united under the auspices of academic medical centers, but seldom do we find all three in the same individual professional. While many employees may have one or two of these tasks, there is one group that tries to take on all three, combining scientific curiosity, knowledge development, and patient care. It is this combination that allows for a work environment filled with three main \"drivers\": stimulation, autonomy, and variation. Despite a heavy workload and the presence of conflicts, the work environment is accepted and multiple obligations willingly juggled for the purpose of sustaining the presence of these three drivers. The implications of this study are that multiple obligations can be a source of energy and enrichment. Reaching this condition is primarily dependent on three things:1. that the demands enrich each other and are varied;2. feedback develops, challenges, and leads to the desire to stay with the organization; and3. the space to develop and challenge oneself professionally - autonomy.This begs the question, what would happen if other groups within health care were able to find the same stimulation, autonomy, and variation in their work?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Professionals in academic health centers (AMCs) face multiple obligations, such as those from research, teaching and clinical care. The purpose of this study is to explore and develop an understanding about how well findings generated from two previous studies about the influence of multiple obligations on health care personnel fit those within health care associated with academic institutions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 11 professionals engaged in teaching, research, and clinical work were interviewed. Data from the open-ended interactive interviews were transcribed and compared with findings from the two previous studies, using modified analytic induction.\nFindings: - Work at an AMC can entail balancing three tasks: research, education, and clinical care. These tasks as well as the different employers associated with them can be a source of conflict. For a group of committed professionals, these conflicts were accepted and balanced as long as they experienced stimulus, autonomy, and variation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Modified analytic induction, an uncommon analysis method, is useful for comparing findings from previous studies in another context and with different subjects.\nPractical implications: - Stimulation, autonomy, and variation could play a vital role as driving factors in coping and dealing with the unavoidable presence of multiple obligations in today's health care systems.\nOriginality/value: - Although AMCs combine clinical care, research, and teaching, the intersection of all three has in contrast not been investigated so thoroughly at the individual level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Adjusting to the unexpected: A review of the Journal of Management History from 2000 to 2004	[ "Gender", "History", "Science", "Historical periods", "Government and public administration", "Fayol" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive. Jamais Cascio, Futurist.\nThematic analysis: To discover common themes among the 56 articles published from 2000 to 2004, we used a similar method as Hardy et al. (2015). We sorted each article into one of the three categories: person, topic or event. The category of person includes articles which emphasize the contribution made by an individual (e.g. Taylor, Fayol) or group of individuals (e.g. Roethlisberger, Lewin and Herzberg). The category of topic includes articles which examine the history, development or influence of a particular subject matter topic, such as human resource management or transformational leadership. The category of event includes articles which explore the influence of a particular event in a relatively contained point, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire or organizational renewal in Australia from 1966 to 1996.\nCitation analysis: Citation rates are considered to be a measure of the author's influence and contribution to the process of knowledge creation and dissemination (Podsakoff et al., 2008). We used Google Scholar to determine citation rates for the articles published from 2000 to 2004 (Table II).\nConclusion: There was a sharp decline in the number of articles published in JMH during the period from 2000 to 2004 (Table II). In 2000, JMH published 19 articles, but by 2004, only 6 articles were published, i.e. a 68 per cent decrease. It is likely the merger of JMH and MD caused a decrease in the publication space available for JMH articles.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to provide a literature review of the 56 articles published in the Journal of Management History (JMH) from 2000 to 2004.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a thematic analysis using the categories of person, topic or event to classify articles as well as a citation analysis using Google Scholar.\nFindings: The number of articles published from 2000 to 2004 was almost 50 per cent fewer than published in the previous five years, and citation rates were lower.\nOriginality/value: Results suggest that high-quality articles focused on persons or topics are more likely to be published in the JMH.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Empirical comparison of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies: Critical success factors for outsourced software development projects from vendors' perspective	[ "Critical success factors", "Agile methodology", "Outsourced software development projects", "Traditional plan-based methodology", "Vendors’ perspective" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Projects are a frequent activity in various organizations which invest substantial resources to drive innovation and change (Sauser et al., 2009; Shenhar and Dvir, 2007). However, evidence indicates that many software projects fail to deliver on time or budget and do not give value (PMI, 2013a; KPMG, 2013). According to Shenhar (2008, p. 15) nearly two-thirds of software projects do not meet their time and budget goals, and often do not meet their business objectives. While there are many reasons proposed for why projects are not successful, numerous studies indicate that software projects continue to fail due to inappropriate choice of a project management methodology (PMM) (Sauser et al., 2009). According to Sheffield and Lemetayer (2013), there are currently several alternative PMMs that often make it difficult to determine the best option. Boehm and Turner (2004) maintain that users and software developers tend to stick to what they are good at and favour the project management methods with which they have had most experience. Consequently, although available methodology choices have increased substantially, project managers appear to rarely consider their alternatives available, simply adopting categorization criteria that are not rationally linked with project objectives (Howell et al., 2010).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: 2.1 PMMs - two major approaches\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection\n4. SEM results: All survey responses were anchored between strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7), so a response of 4.0 would indicate neutrality and responses of or greater than 4.5 would indicate agreement. Mean responses for the survey items were in the range of 3.00-6.15 (please refer to the supplementary file Table AI - mean differences for group comparisons). Mean differences for all of the constructs revealed no significant differences between the agile methodology projects data set and traditional plan-based methodology data set (two-tailed t-tests, p<0.05). However, some few measurement items of, e.g., UE, P&C and TC were slightly different across the two groups (p<0.05). This was somehow expected since the literature review suggests that traditional plan-based and agile methodologies are argued to differ across these dimensions.\n5. Discussion: This paper empirically examines the differences between CSFs in the current context of PMM from vendors' perspective. The results largely support the proposed hypotheses. This evidence of associations supports and extends previous research. A detailed discussion of the results for each hypothesis is provided in the online supplementary file, and summarized: discussion is provided here.\n6. Conclusions, limitations and future research: This section summarizes the overall contributions of this research to project management theory and practice, the major limitations and some future directions associated with this research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Aligning the project management methodology (PMM) to a particular project is considered to be essential for project success. Many outsourced software projects fail to deliver on time, budget or do not give value to the client due to inappropriate choice of a PMM. Despite the increasing range of available choices, project managers frequently fail to seriously consider their alternatives. They tend to narrowly tailor project categorization systems and categorization criterion is often not logically linked with project objectives. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a contingency fit model comparing the differences between critical success factors (CSFs) for outsourced software development projects in the current context of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A theoretical model and 54 hypotheses were developed from a literature review. An online Qualtrics survey was used to collect data to test the proposed model. The survey was administered to a large sample of senior software project managers and practitioners who were involved in international outsourced software development projects across the globe with 984 valid responses.\nFindings: Results indicate that various CSFs differ significantly across agile and traditional plan-based methodologies, and in different ways for various project success measures.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is cross-sectional in nature and data for all variables were obtained from the same sources, meaning that common method bias remains a potential threat. Further refinement of the instrument using different sources of data for variables and future replication using longitudinal approach is highly recommended.\nPractical implications: Practical implications of these results suggest project managers should tailor PMMs according to various organizational, team, customer and project factors to reduce project failure rates.\nOriginality/value: Unlike previous studies this paper develops and empirically validates a contingency fit model comparing the differences between CSFs for outsourced software development projects in the context of PMMs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Women's health: a benefit of education in Australia	[ "Australia", "Education", "Physical activity", "Smoking", "Women’s health", "Drinks", "I21", "I12" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper adopts a conceptual framework of health production initiated by Grossman (1972), in which he considers health stock as a crucial contribution to human capital development and emphasises the linkages between education and health. Explanations for how education influences health are implicit in such a framework. First, more highly educated individuals can encounter a larger wellspring of health inputs and likely use them more efficiently (e.g. Smith-Greenaway, 2013), potentially leading to better health. For instance, possessing a high level of education will help equip people with greater awareness of health, engendering a better health status as a result. Second, more educated individuals can avoid negative health behaviours, such as smoking (e.g. Li and Powdthavee, 2015). As such, based on extant literature on the relationship between education and health, this paper aims to fortify past evidence and illuminate uncharted areas.\n2. Methodology: 2.1 Data\n3. Results: 3.1 Results from the ordinary least squares (OLS) model\n4. Discussion and conclusion: This study provides an overview of the relationship between education and health amongst Australian women, using the HILDA data set from 2002 to 2015. In this study, the spouse's education is used as an instrument to solve for potential endogeneity of the schooling variable. The results reveal that increasing years of schooling can lead to an increase in self-reported health, physical and mental health and reduced likelihood of having long-term health conditions. Also, the findings show that this effect is heterogeneous and varies across employment status. More importantly, the relationship between education and health can be explained by the extent of positive health behaviours, such as increasing frequent physical activities and drinking, smoking reduction, and more social capital, including social interactions and playing with one's own children.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between education and health amongst Australian women.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data set. Spouse's education is employed as an instrument to solve the potential endogeneity of educational attainment.\nFindings: The results indicate that an additional year of schooling can lead to an increase in self-reported health, physical health, mental health and a reduced likelihood of having long-term health conditions. Women who are not in the labour force are likely to enjoy higher benefits of education compared to their employed counterparts. The findings also suggest that the relationship between education and health can be explained by the extent of positive health behaviours and social capital as mediators.\nResearch limitations/implications: The conclusion from the results might be different in the case of men, reducing the generalisability of the results. Several objective health variables should be used to provide further aspects of health on which education has an impact.\nPractical implications: As the positive effect of education on women's health is empirically found, investment in women's education should be seriously considered and reevaluated.\nOriginality/value: This paper focuses on Australian women which not only reduces the heterogeneity between genders but also adds to the rare number of studies on this topic in Australia. This paper also employs a formal mediation analysis to examine what are the mechanisms explaining the relationship between education and health.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Why a feedback culture will transform your business	[ "Team development", "Performance", "Goals", "Business transformation", "Feedback culture" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: First, let's all get onto the same page about the real meaning of \"feedback\" in an organizational sense. I say this because, unfortunately, the term \"feedback\" has come to serve as a euphemism for criticizing others, as in \"the boss gave me feedback on my presentation\". Following this same logic, \"positive feedback\" does not mean \"praise\" and \"negative feedback\" does not mean \"criticism\".\nBe clear on your company big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) and cascade it throughout: BHAG (Collins, 2001) is defined as:\nEducate and communicate the meaning and value of feedback: I strongly recommend that a good place to start is to achieve consensus in understanding about what, how and why feedback can help. Because if this common understanding is not achieved, it simply makes the function of feedback completely redundant before you're even out of the starting blocks! A good place to start is team meetings and do ensure you reinforce this in one to one sessions with each team member to ensure communication has taken place.\nInitiate regular \"honesty purges\": How often have you attended an effective one-off company away-day or team brainstorm and felt truly invigorated by it? It's amazing how cleansing and productive it can be to harness the \"real\" views, opinions and feelings of teams and individuals. Contrast this to the way most of us operate - myopically and blindly focused on the day-to-day activities, nursing latent, demotivating frustrations about numerous things. So by providing a regular, safe environment to have constructive dialogue, potentially including questions like \"What should we stop/start/continue around here?\" or \"What barriers can you see to our current operation and what solutions can we generate?\" will make teams feel like feedback is two-way. Especially when followed by a rigorous agreement of action ownership, you can really ease the pressure cooker and increase staff engagement. I find it surprising that this type of debate doesn't exist in a typical periodic meeting review, thereby denying a team the opportunity of feedback. If you were astronauts, you'd be heading for Mars right now when you were aiming at the moon!\nDevelop your line managers to maintain a feedback culture: One of the biggest blockers to motivation and performance is the absence of periodic, positive praise and well-executed constructive/developmental criticism. Training and developing your middle management tier to be consistently excellent in these skills is vital, as research has shown that a line manager will account for at least 70 per cent of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units (Gallup, 2015). Gallup's study also found that just 30 per cent of US workers are engaged, demonstrating a clear link between poor managing and a nation of \"checked out\" employees.\nWatch your \"feedback ratio\": Zenger et al. (2012) reported that the factor that made the greatest difference between the most and least successful teams was the ratio of positive comments (\"I agree with that\", for instance, or \"That's a terrific idea\") to negative comments (\"I don't agree with you\" or \"We shouldn't even consider doing that\") that the participants made to one another. The average ratio for the highest-performing teams was 5.6 (that is, nearly six positive comments for every negative one). The medium-performance teams averaged 1.9 (almost twice as many positive comments than negative ones.) But the average for the low-performing teams, at 0.36 to 1, was almost three negative comments for every positive one. Line managers take note!!\nBe very, very specific with praise: Forty-three per cent of employees leave their jobs because of \"lack of recognition\" (Hall, 2013). Saying \"well done\" or an email is simply inadequate and can feel like a real slap in the face to people who genuinely deserve recognition. I find it fascinating how poorly or infrequently even the most-experienced managers and leaders execute this skill. What an own goal!! The real key here is twofold:\nReplace annual appraisals with quarterly appraisals: Am I alone in viewing the Annual Performance Review process as a turgid, irrelevant and uninspiring waste of time? To be clear, the function and purpose of the appraisal is potentially the lifeblood of any business - it's the low frequency I have a problem with. I would argue that quarterly performance reviews, underpinned by scheduling weekly or bi-monthly 121s for all employees will help drive performance and employee engagement. Goals only get realized in bite-sized chunks; it's really that simple.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Establishing a feedback culture can transform a business but only if feedback is defined in the right way and given and received constructively in pursuit of individual, team and company goals. This paper provides practical advice on how to establish an effective feedback culture.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This was written from professional experience.\nFindings: The very essence of the term \"feedback\" is a key function to meeting (and possibly exceeding) the goal(s) of your business. In an organizational context, this must mean that all individuals and teams should seek and receive feedback about their progress toward the organizational goal(s), in additional to their team goal(s). Furthermore, when this is cascaded down and managed superbly and consistently at an individual level, the power of a feedback culture will drive and maintain outstanding business performance.\nOriginality/value: Practical advice on how to establish and maintain a highly effective feedback culture in organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of core self-evaluations and transformational leadership on organizational commitment	[ "Organizational commitment", "Core self‐evaluations", "Transformational leadership", "Job commitment", "Republic of Korea" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For an organization to have a sustained competitive advantage in the product and labor market, highly committed employees are required. Organizational commitment refers to an individual's feelings about an organization as a whole (Allen and Meyer, 1996). Given that employees who are highly committed to the organization have a tendency to remain in the organization (Allen and Meyer, 1996; Whitener and Walz, 1993) and show positive work-related behaviors (Hausknecht et al., 2009; Meyer et al., 1989; Vandenberghe et al., 2004), more companies become aware of the value of enhancing employees' organizational commitment and the importance of understanding its antecedents. Thus, fostering employees' organizational commitment becomes the foremost concern for contemporary organizations to retain talented employees in a knowledge-driven economy (Neininger et al., 2010; Reiche, 2008). However, employees' commitment to the organization is being challenged by the tendency of today's workers to be more involved to their profession than to their organization (Burud and Tumolo, 2004).What predicts organizational commitment has been an important research concern in the field of human resource (HR) and organization development (OD). The antecedents of organizational commitment are varied in their nature and origins as noted by Steers (1977). Previous studies have found that commitment is influenced by personal characteristics, work experiences, job characteristics, role states, group/leader relations, and organizational characteristics (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990; Steers, 1977). Although the significant implications of various personal characteristics as the antecedents of organizational commitment have been identified, relatively little attention has been given to the dispositional source of commitment (Erdheim et al., 2006). Moreover, most of the studies which have investigated relationships between personal disposition and organizational commitment have primarily employed the five-factor model (Big Five) or positive affectivity/negative affectivity (PA/NA) trait taxonomy (Cropanzano et al., 2006; Erdheim et al., 2006; Naquin and Holton, 2002).Heller et al. (2002) noted that three trait taxonomies (i.e. Big Five, PA/NA, and core self-evaluations) have been generally employed in predicting job attitudes for the last decade. Core self-evaluations refer to a higher-order concept of an individual's self-evaluation of his or her personal characteristics (Judge et al., 2002) and capture a fundamental aspect of the self-incorporating four core individual traits: self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability (Judge et al., 1997). By using the recent construct of core self-evaluations, a better understanding of the dispositional source of affective commitment can be provided.Accumulating evidence has indicated the contributions of various situational characteristics as key antecedents of organizational commitment (Kuvaas, 2006; Meyer et al., 2002; Park and Rainey, 2007). Joo and Shim (2010) also asserted that future research would benefit from a more integrative approach that includes personal and contextual factors in a study. However, there has been less research conducted to explore the interaction effect of dispositional traits and situational factors on organizational commitment. Many studies provided that leadership has been considered as one of the most important factors influencing employee attitudes and behaviors. In particular, transformational leaders build a strategic vision, communicate that vision through framing and use of metaphor, and create commitment toward the vision (Bass and Avolio, 1994). Transformational leadership, thereby, can have a positive effect on individuals' attitudes and behaviors (Avolio, 1999; Howell and Hall-Merenda, 1999; Mester et al., 2003; Podsakoff et al., 1996). In this vein, it would be meaningful to examine employees' core self-evaluations and transformational leadership as the antecedents of employees' commitment to the organization.The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effects of employees' core self-evaluations and perceived transformational leadership of their supervisors on organizational commitment. We also investigated the interaction effect of core self-evaluations and perceived transformational leadership on organizational commitment. Research question of this study is: to what extent do core self-evaluations and transformational leadership influence organizational commitment? Findings from this study would be expected to provide better understanding of individuals' core self-concepts and their supervisors' transformational leader behaviors which help increase employees' commitment to their organizations.\nTheoretical background and research hypotheses: In this section, we review the constructs of core self-evaluations and transformational leadership as well as their relationships with organizational commitment. The hypotheses were derived, based on the comprehensive literature review.Research on organizational commitment\nMethods: The sample and data collection procedure will be described. Then, information about the four measures will be elaborated below. Finally, the analytical strategy will be briefly discussed.Data collection and sample demographics\nResults: The results of the study were reported in three parts. First, the descriptive statistics, correlations, and reliabilities were reported. Second, several factor analyses assessed the potential common method variance problem as well as overall construct validity of the measurement model. Lastly, the hierarchical multiple regression model was tested and the results of the hypothesis testing were addressed.Descriptive statistics, correlations, and reliabilities\nDiscussion and conclusion: The findings of this study are discussed in detail on the basis of the hypothesized model compared with previous research. Then, we discuss the implications of this study for research and practice in the field of HR and OD. The limitations of this study and recommendations for future research are also discussed. Finally, some concluding thoughts are followed.Key findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to examine the joint effects of employees' core self-evaluations and perceived transformational leadership of their supervisors on employees' affective commitment to the organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Subjects were drawn from a Fortune Global 500 company in Korea. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to explain the variance in organizational commitment.\nFindings: - Core self-evaluations and transformational leadership positively influenced employees' organizational commitment. In terms of effect size, organizational commitment was more related to transformational leadership than core self-evaluations. As for transformational leadership, employees exhibited the highest organizational commitment when their leaders articulated the vision, promoted group goals, and provided intellectual stimulation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample of this study is likely restricted to a certain group with similar demographic characteristics (e.g. male junior managers with relatively high education levels). This study, like most organizational commitment studies, relied on self-reported and cross-sectional survey method.\nPractical implications: - Since core self-evaluations tend to be stable over time, HR professionals need to recruit and select those with higher core self-evaluations. HR/OD professionals can help managers change their leadership in a transformative fashion (vision articulation, group goal promotion, and intellectual stimulation) by providing relevant training programs and developmental relationships such as coaching and mentoring.\nOriginality/value: - This study took an integrative approach that encompasses personal and contextual factors in a study. It found not only a significant relationship between core self-evaluations and organizational commitment, but also the interaction effects of core self-evaluations and one of the dimensions of transformational leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bridge and redundant ties in networks: the impact on innovation in food SMEs	[ "Process innovation", "Product innovation", "Innovation networks", "Bridge ties", "Redundant ties" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades the role of networks in firms' innovation activities became increasingly important. Increasing number of networks can change the nature of competition and shift it from direct competition between firms to competition between networks (Gimeno, 2004). Innovation activity is always recognised as a high-risk activity. Firms, particularly small ones, cannot ensure different resources of this activity. Engaging in a partnership can be considered as a win-win solution for this problem. Researchers suggest different outcomes for networking activity. Risk sharing, facilitating market access, information sharing, knowledge creating and exchanging, and finding complementary skills and resources are among these outcomes (Powell et al., 1996; Pyka and Saviotti, 2002; Pittaway et al., 2004).\n2. Related literature: Non-redundant and bridge ties\n3. Data and variables: In this research we use a data set of 348 European agri-food firms. This data set is the result of a survey that is realised through collaboration between five universities and research centres in five European countries. A questionnaire (see Appendix) is created, based on innovation network literature and sent to 7,695 firms from these five countries in their national languages. Similar models of questionnaire are used to design the questionnaire of this research[1]. The validity of questionnaire has been verified and confirmed by three experts from each country. The reliability of questionnaire has been tested by Cronbach's a-test. The Cronbach's a coefficient for our questionnaire is 0.75. Based on standardized items, this coefficient reach to 0.8 that means our questionnaire is statistically reliable. The survey took place in six months from October 2012 to March 2013. During this survey, we sent the questionnaire to selected firms (in agri-food sector) and reminded it three times by e-mail and telephone. The average rate of response was 4.5 per cent and the number of returned (finished) questionnaires by each country is as following: Belgium 81, France 126, Ireland 43, Italy 48 and Sweden 50.\n4. Empirical results: Table III shows the correlations between variables. Diversity of network memberships is significantly correlated to both types of product and process innovation while diversity of partners is correlated only to process innovation. There is a significant relationship between networks competence and process innovation. Results show stronger relationship between network types and product innovation rather than between network types and process innovation. Generally French firms are more active and Italian firms are less active in networking than other firms. French and Irish firms participate in business clubs more than other firms. Industry associations are more attractive for French and Italian firms. French firms are less interested in scientific and technological parks. Irish firms have lower level of heterogeneity of ties comparing their partners. Italian firms are less innovative comparing with other firms. French firms propose more product innovations than others.\n5. Discussion and conclusion: Empirical researches always give ambiguous results regarding to the impact of networks structure on innovation activity of firms. These confusing results are the consequences of methodological issues. Researchers use different measures for innovation and network structure (Brass et al., 2004; Hemphala and Magnusson, 2012) and these differences may explain one part of results ambiguity. Researchers usually, study the network structure in different levels such as inter-personal and inter-organisational levels (Brass et al., 2004; Bergenholtz and Waldstrom, 2011). Furthermore, there are several factors that moderate the relationship between network structure and innovation. Network structure is determined by different factors such cultural factors and appropriability of innovation (Kogut, 2000). Complexity of innovation activity and number of problems related to this activity determinate the importance of networks and the composition of internal-external resources in innovation process (Oerlemans et al., 2001). Structure of networks and the population of actors in networks depend on innovation ability and absorptive capacity of potential members (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Cowan, 2005; Zheng, 2010; Noordhoff et al., 2011).\nAcknowledgements: This research is part of the NetGrow project \"Enhancing the innovativeness of food SME's through the management of strategic network behaviour and network learning performance\" coordinated by Ghent university and has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 245301 (NetGrow project web site: www.netgrow.eu). The authors are solely responsible for remaining errors and misunderstandings. The information in this paper reflects the authors' views and the European Commission is not liable for any use that be made of the information contained therein.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of networks diversity on innovation activity of firms. It aims to review the structural issue in innovation networks and to distinguish different structures of networks for product and process innovation through an empirical research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a data set of 348 European agri-food firms, the authors study the impact of bridge and redundant ties on product and process innovation of firms. This is an empirical research based on an online survey in five European countries.\nFindings: The finding shows that bridge ties (measured by the number of heterogeneous networks in which firm participate) always facilitate product innovation in firms. The authors found also that a high number of heterogeneous ties in term of partners (simultaneous presence of redundant and non-redundant ties) motivate both product and process innovation in firms. Furthermore, the authors found a positive impact of network competence on process innovation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The measures of bridge ties and redundant ties are indirect measures. This choice is a willing choice. Direct measurement of bridge and redundant ties always requires in-depth interviews with firms managers and thereby are limited by the number of observations.\nOriginality/value: Research on innovations networks are dominated by case studies and researches with limited number of observations. Studying the networking behaviour, particularly the tie selection, of a wide range of firms brings additional knowledge in this field of research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The overlapping of national IC and innovation systems	[ "Intellectual capital", "National cultures", "Innovation", "European Union" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The innovative and competitive capacity of nations has been analyzed from distinct economic perspectives of which intellectual capital (IC) and National Systems of Innovation (NSI) stand out. In the literature on IC there are diverse works which tackle the differences in innovator and competitive output of territories from said intangible perspectives in distinct ambits: national (e.g. Edvinsson and Stenfelt, 1999; Edna Pasher and Associates, 1999; Bontis, 2004; Stahle and Bounfour, 2008, among others), regional (Viedma, 1999, 2002; Robert Huggins Associates, 2002), city-wise (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Viedma, 2003) and regional clusters (Hervas-Oliver and Dalmau, 2006; Smedlund and Poyhonen, 2005).This literature of the NSI has also realized a meritorious contribution in the measurement of the innovator effort and the performance of countries (e.g. Lundvall, 1992; Nelson, 1993; Edquist, 1997). Following this line of thought, it must be pointed out that more than four decades ago the differences in the level of development of countries, due principally to their technological differences was already understood (Gerschenkron, 1962). Since then, the Evolutionist authors (e.g. Freeman et al., 1982; Fagerberg, 1987) and other academics pertaining to the New Theory of Growth (e.g. Romer, 1990) have developed a considerable quantity of works directed toward the analysis of the differences between levels of development and growth of countries.Nevertheless, and independent from the literature that we have examined of the models of measurement of IC as well as that of the NSI, there is not enough empiric evidence regarding the principal drivers or determining factors of the economic prosperity of countries (Edquist, 2005), nor under which logical structures they are configured (Pomeda et al., 2002; Fagerberg and Srholec, 2008). Likewise, there is a potential convergence between these two theoretic frameworks (Stahle and Poyhonen, 2005; Hervas-Oliver and Dalmau, 2007) curiously due to the fact that all of the indicators included in prestigious reports on innovation (as for example, the European Innovation Scoreboard) are of an intangible nature.Thus, in this report, we have developed a comparative analysis directed toward the countries (15) that are members of the European Community with the objective of clarifying the following questions:1. Is there a convergence or divergence between the theory of IC and that of the NSI?2. What are the principal drivers of economic development and growth in these countries?Put differently, this article presents a focus for identifying the convergence between the theory of the IC of nations and that of the NSI from the literature of innovation systems, with the aim to provide a more robust theoretical framework to explore the drivers of intangibles and the policies which foster competitiveness through the development of the national IC platforms. In order to fulfill these objectives, this article is structured in the following manner. In the second section we briefly tackle the theoretical foundations of IC and of the NSI. Afterwards, in the third section, we describe the empiric analysis and interpret the results. Finally, in the last section, we present the conclusions and the implications.\n2. Theoretical framework: There are prestigious organisms of an international nature that periodically carry out diverse studies not directly addressed towards measuring IC nor towards the NSI. Two of these are the World Economic Forum (WEF), which publishes the Global Competitiveness Index (Sala-i-Martin and Artadi, 2004) among other indexes, and the Institute for Management Development (IMD) which publishes an annual on competitiveness called World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY).The Global Competitiveness Index[1] (Sala-i-Martin and Artadi, 2004) is an integral index that uses the microeconomic and macroeconomic characteristics of economies to determine their level of productivity. The pillars of competitiveness are formed by: institutions[2], physical infrastructures, macroeconomic stability, personal security, human capital, efficiency of labor and goods markets, technological availability, market size, sophistication of the firm and innovation. Prior to the Global Competitiveness Index, the World Economic Forum published the Current Competitive Index, designed by Porter (2001), which focused principally on microeconomic aspects for the competitive measuring of economies. In fact, said model had a significant empiric correlation between the score of the indexes of competitiveness of the countries and their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, results that corroborate the robustness of the index and its reliability in measuring competitiveness. Analogically, the World Competitiveness Yearbook (Institute for Management Development, 2004) contains similar criteria based on micro and macroeconomic foundations of competitiveness, represented in the following four blocks: economic performance, governmental efficiency, efficiency of the firm, and infrastructure.Although competitiveness is not totally identical to the measurement of IC, nor to the innovative capacity of economies, the indexes cited above use a holistic focus for competitiveness measuring. Consequently, these can be employed as a useful base for designing composite indexes ideal for measuring these two theoretic fields. In the same line, Stahle and Poyhonen (2005) suggest that the differences between the measurement of competitiveness and of IC lie in the fact that the competitiveness of an economy (expressed generally by the GDP per capita) is created from the national knowledge base (IC of a country).2.1 IC\n3. Empiric design: sample and results: The sample of the available data of all the variables is taken from the IMD database put together for the member countries of the European Community (15). The time period considered is from 2000 to 2006. An average is constructed with data from the seven years covered, and afterwards, the variables are standardized.The variables selected from the IMD[4] and shown in the following list and were chosen for their fit with the theory of the models for the measurement of the IC of countries (Andriessen and Stam, 2005; Hervas-Oliver and Dalmau, 2007), and the models for the measurement of the NSI (Sala-i-Martin and Artadi, 2004; Porter, 2001; Fagerberg and Srholec, 2008; European Commission, 2004, 2008):* Pupil-teacher ration (primary education).* Pupil-teacher ration (secondary education).* Secondary school enrollment.* Educational system.* University education.* Qualified engineers.* Entrepreneurship.* Employee training.* Competent senior managers.* Brain drain.* Flexibility and adaptability.* Inage abroad.* Justice.* Sustainable development.* Basic research.* Youth interest in science.* Total R&D personnel in nationwide per capita.* Total R&D personnel in business per capita.* Venture capital.* Competition legislation.* Development and application of technology.* Bureaucracy.* Intellectual property rights.* International transactions.* Knowledge transfer.* Technological cooperation.* Total public expenditure on education.* Total expenditure on R&D.See explanation of variables in the Appendix (Table AI).How are we going to carry out the analysis? First of all, this paper is not creating or developing a new model, due to the fact that the literature does not lack models. The main gap in the literature is the weak linkage with other economic perspectives that have been exploring the explanation of growth, such as the innovation systems literature. In this vain, the paper uses intangible indicators obtained from the competitiveness and the innovation systems perspectives (see Nelson, 1993; Metcalfe, 1995; Edquist, 2005; Fagerberg and Srholec, 2008 and the IMD and WEF reports) to create a simple and generic IC system. Thus, simple statistics are made in order to find averages during the time period covered and then the indicators are standardized (see Hervas-Oliver and Dalmau (2006) or Andriessen (2004)) and aggregated, with no weight, to each country. Therefore, the paper shows a national IC system ranking made of NSI-Competitiveness intangible indicators, with no distinction or any block or other non-empirical classification.The recorded statistical results from these 28 indicators for the time frame of seven years prove a ranking of IC measured by variables based on the NSI for the member countries (15) of the European Union. Our results, the same as in the rankings of the models for the measurement of the IC of countries (see Andriessen and Stam, 2005; Hervas-Oliver and Dalmau, 2007; Yen-Yun and Edvinsson, 2008) and those of the National Systems of Innovation (see European Commission, 2004, 2008), show that:* The Nordic countries (Finland, Denmark, and Sweden) occupy the lead positions of the EU rankings (15).* The southern countries (Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal) occupy the last positions of the EU rankings (15).Consequently, the homogeneity in the empiric results based on the models of the ICs of nations and that of the NSI prove the considerable convergence between these two theoretic fields, confirming the stated proposition (see Table V).\n4. Conclusions: This article presents a focus for identifying the convergence or divergence between the theory of the IC of nations and that of the NSI, rooted in the innovation perspective and the growth theory. Therefore, the work tackled the two theoretic fields, emphasizing mainly the diverse methods of measurement, with the purpose of realizing a conceptual integration. After selecting the 28 indicators which best fit the analyzed theoretic principles and taking into account the member countries of the European Union as a sample (15) with the data taken from the IMD, covering a six-year (2000-2006) window, the convergence exercise was carried out. It is important to remark the fact that this paper did not offer a new IC model due to the fact that there are abundant in the literature and most of them lack of theoretical fundamentals.The results, expressed through the ranking of IC based on the NSI, determine that the Nordic countries (Finland, Denmark, and Sweden) occupy the lead positions of the EU rankings (15). Likewise, the southern countries (Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal) occupy the last positions of the EU rankings (15).The homogeneity of our results, in which intangibles from competitiveness-NSI were used, with those of other models of measurement of IC of countries (Andriessen and Stam, 2005; Hervas-Oliver and Dalmau, 2007; Yen-Yun and Edvinsson, 2008), as well as with those obtained through the models of the National Systems of Innovation (European Commission, 2004, 2008) prove the considerable convergence between these two theoretic fields, confirming the propositions posed in our study.The paper offers interesting implications for the Academia. The paper points out the fact that the IC of nations can be nurtured and reinforced from other economic perspectives which have been conducting important efforts in order to explore the determinants of competitiveness, growth and knowledge creation in national economies. In this vain, fruitful results and richer assumptions can be obtained from a cross-field integration, providing a more comprehensive theoretical framework to understand intangibles and growth. Second, the traditional break up of national IC based on relational, structural and human, although useful and practical, can be questioned due to the fact that similar results are obtained in IC national models without any classification or weight give to any block. Put differently, it seems that further reclassification of the blocks of national IC systems can be developed in order to provide a more comprehensive and economic-friendly tool for policymakers. In our opinion, an approach towards the above-mentioned economic perspectives' fundamentals (or blocks, in IC terminology) could enrich the IC of nation's classification.The study opens new lines of research in the sense that it advocates a theoretical approximation and the integration of the abundant literature on the NSI as basic drivers to explain the intangibles at a macro level, their management and politics related to the maintaining and renewal of said assets of IC. Nevertheless, more fine-grained information and data are necessary to try to reflect the new economic shifts. For instance, in the new EIS version, there is a special focus on SMEs, finance sources and collective activities such as design. All these new requirements should also be included in the national IC versions. For future research, it seems necessary to develop a joint agenda integrating the NSI with the IC of nations. In addition, the same exercise can be made to try to integrate the IC of firms and their innovation capability.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to present a focus for identifying the convergence between the theory of the intellectual capital of nations and that of the National Systems of Innovation from the literature of innovation systems, with the aim of providing a more robust theoretical framework to explore the drivers of intangibles and the policies which foster competitiveness through the development of the national intellectual capital platforms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Selecting 28 indicators which best fit the analyzed theoretic principles and taking into account the member countries of the European Union as a sample (15) with the data taken from the IMD, a simple analysis of the seven-year (2000-2006) window was carried out to compare the intangibles pointed out in the two aforementioned perspectives.\nFindings: - The homogeneity of the results using models of measurement of intellectual capital of countries with those obtained through the models of the National Systems of Innovation prove the considerable convergence between these two theoretic fields, validating the hypotheses proposed in the study.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The system provided is not an exhaustive use of all the available measures and countries. A more comprehensive practical application on more countries and indicators would be necessary to validate the model.\nPractical implications: - The study has implications for the business, politicians and academia. The study opens new lines of research in the sense that it advocates a theoretical approximation and the integration of the abundant literature on the National Systems of Innovation as basic drivers to explain the intangibles at a macro level, their management and politics related to the maintaining and renewal of said assets of intellectual capital.\nOriginality/value: - To the best of the authors' knowledge, so far no study analyzing this convergence has been designed or published. This paper extends and adds robustness to the national IC measurement model to help policymakers and scholars.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investigating the current state and impact of the intellectual capital academic discipline	[ "Intellectual capital", "Sciences", "Classification" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Intellectual capital (IC) is a relatively young management discipline, albeit with a short yet glorious history (Sullivan, 2000; Pike et al., 2006; Polo, 2007). It is based on the works of many visionaries who identified basic IC principles, ideas, and concepts, which facilitated the introduction and practical application of IC tools in the 1990s. Initially, IC was mostly driven by practitioners who not only launched various IC projects around the world, but also contributed to the establishment of the IC knowledge base by publishing books, writing academic articles, and speaking at academic events. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, IC was officially recognized as a scientific discipline within the management domain.\n2. IC as a field of science: 2.1 IC origin\n3. Methodology: In this study, a scientometric analysis of the most influential articles published the Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC) was done. JIC was chosen for the following reasons. First, it is first IC-centric peer-reviewed journal that focusses on the various aspects of intellectual capital issues[6]. Second, JIC is a leading (i.e. A+) journal in the field of intellectual capital (Bontis and Serenko, 2009; Serenko and Bontis, 2009; Serenko and Bontis, 2013a). Third, it has a large subscription base. For example, in 2012 its articles were downloaded over 127,000 times[7]. Fourth, JIC is well cited. At the year of the study, the h-index of JIC was 3.5 and seven times as high as those of the Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting and Intangible Capital, respectively. As the journal name implies, it is the IC-centric journal which focusses on creating, identifying, and measuring intellectual capital in organizations. Therefore, the most influential articles published in JIC should reflect the state-of-the-art research within the discipline.\n4. Results: In all, 80 percent of all citing works appeared in English language, followed by Chinese (7 percent), Portuguese (4 percent), and Spanish (3 percent). At the same time, 99 percent of all cited works were published in English (see Table I).\n5. Conclusions: The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the current state and practical impact of the IC academic discipline. For this, the most influential articles included in the h-index of JIC were subjected to several citation analysis techniques. A number of interesting findings were discovered that warrant further elaboration. The results are also compared with those reported by Serenko and Bontis (2013b) who investigated the current state and impact of the KM discipline. In their study, Serenko and Bontis (2013b) followed the same methodology as employed in the present investigation by analyzing a set of the most influential articles published in the Journal of Knowledge Management (JKM).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to: investigate the current state of intellectual capital (IC) as an academic discipline, and explore the impact of IC on the state of practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The most influential articles published in the Journal of Intellectual Capital were identified. Analysis of their cited and citing works was done.\nFindings: The IC discipline: first, successfully disseminates its knowledge beyond the English-language world but ignores research published in languages other than English; second, has higher self-citation rates; third, uses books for the development of its theoretical foundation; fourth, successfully converts experiential knowledge into academic knowledge; fifth, exerts a limited yet potentially increasing practical impact; and sixth, is at the theoretical consolidation stage of pre-science and is progressing toward becoming a reference discipline. No anomalies in the development of the IC discipline were observed.\nPractical implications: IC researchers should pay more attention to works published in non-English journals. Given the status of IC as a professional discipline, they should continue using non-peer reviewed sources to convert experiential knowledge into academic knowledge. They also need to promote their research far beyond the traditional IC domain.\nOriginality/value: To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first empirical analysis of the IC discipline from the reference discipline perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Green supply chain management and business performance: The mediating roles of environmental and operational performances	[ "Environmental performance", "Green supply chain management", "Operational performance", "Business performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Organizations have increasingly reexamined their supply chains to face many environmental challenges like worldwide environmental regulations, greenhouse emissions, green consumerism, and climate change (Lee, 2015). Green supply chain management (GSCM) is defined as \"a proactive approach for improving the EP of processes and products in accordance with the requirements of environmental regulations\" (Hsu and Hu, 2008, p. 205). Several firms have shifted their management behavior in the direction of greener supply chains through instituting environmental audits and certification plans as well as presenting environmental support to their suppliers and promoting environmental cooperation (Wu et al., 2011).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Green supply chain management\n3. Theoretical framework and hypotheses development: 3.1 Research framework\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample\n5. Results: Structural equation modeling with Amos 20 was run to test study hypotheses. The total effect of GSCM on BP was first tested without including the mediating variables (EP and OP). The estimate of the standardized regression weight (b value) from GSCM to BP was positive and significant (b=0.250, p<0.01). To test the direct and indirect effects of GSCM on BP, bootstrapping re-sampling procedure was applied (Shrout and Bolger, 2002). This method is more accurate with small and large samples, as it does not assume normal distribution for the indirect effects (Hayes, 2009). Therefore, this procedure is more appropriate in testing the mediating effects than the method proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986). As described by Hayes (2013), 5,000 bootstrap samples were selected with 95 percent bias-corrected confidence intervals. According to the procedures of this approach, the alternative hypothesis regarding the mediating effect is supported or rejected on the basis of the confidence intervals. If the lower and upper confidence intervals contain the number zero, this implies that the indirect effect is zero with 95% confidence level, and the alternative hypothesis is then rejected. If the two intervals do not contain zero, then the alternative hypothesis is supported.\n6. Discussion, conclusion, and implications: 6.1 Discussion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of green supply chain management on environmental performance (EP), operational performance (OP), and business performance in the context of a developing country, Jordan. In addition, the mediating effects of environmental and OP on the relationship between green supply chain management and business performance are investigated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on survey data collected from 215 manufacturing firms from different industries in Jordan. Validity and reliability analyses were carried out using SPSS and Amos. Direct and indirect effects were tested using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results revealed that green supply chain management positively and significantly affects both EP and OP. The results also demonstrated that the total effect of green supply chain management on business performance is positive and significant. The direct effect of green supply chain management on business performance proved to be negative, but insignificant. Thus, the total positive effect of green supply chain management on business performance is indirect and fully goes through EP and OP.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the first to examine the direct and indirect effects of green supply chain management on business performance, especially in a developing country and the Middle East in particular. Furthermore, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by investigating the mediating effects of EP and OP on the green supply chain management and business performance relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Revisiting classification for retrieval	[ "Information retrieval, Classification" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: I was interested to read the argument that Hjorland and Pedersen (2005) develop from the starting point of my 1970 paper (Sparck Jones, 1970), exploiting two orthogonal polarities - positivist vs pragmatic, and theoretical vs practical. I would like to comment briefly from two points of view: first, in relation to the larger context within which the original paper was written, and second, in relation to developments in natural language information processing (NLIP) in the last decade.\nThe original context: Hjorland and Pedersen (2005) maintain that I oscillate between positivism and pragmatism in Sparck Jones (1970). I would argue that my emphasis was more pragmatic than positivist. The purpose for which a classification is required is what really counts. But I wanted to draw attention to the other side of things, the need to have soundly-based abstract forms of classification, and the need to understand these so as to be able to make appropriate choices for application purposes.Being able to do anything in a fully formal and totally geared way, working from retrieval purpose to classification choice, is an ideal that is only attainable in constrained circumstances. But thinking about how it might be done is a valuable discipline. My paper was written at a time when automatic classification techniques had been proliferating and with them the danger, for those with application needs, of what might be called the flower stall temptation: I will take a bunch of those today. It was essential to look behind plausible algorithms, to examine the generic forms of classification they involved and their methodological grounding.My concern was essentially for more analytic care about both elements of classification for retrieval: the retrieval task and the classification strategy. I approached it by inviting more thought about the classification component because that appeared to be the more pressing point at the time. I took much about the nature of the retrieval task for granted, when indeed much of this was also shared between those working on manual or on automatic classification forms. However, my experience not long after compelled me to pay more attention, myself, to the task assumption on which my work on automatic classification for retrieval was based. I was driven, by disappointing performance results, to re-examine the notion that classification was to promote recall, and to look more carefully at how the properties of the data affected the classes obtained (Sparck Jones and Barber, 1971), even the potential for classification (van Rijsbergen and Sparck Jones, 1973). Thus referring in Sparck Jones (1970) to the abstract requirement that classification should minimise distortion has to be taken together with a proper assessment of the basic data description to which it is applied, though I did not consider this issue there.Overall, though I emphasised formal theory as a desideratum in Sparck Jones (1970), the discussion was primarily about theory in a broader sense, as required to motivate formal theory. Moreover, though the focus was on the classification side, there was a theoretical underpinning on the retrieval side. This theoretical underpinning had emerged during the sixties under the stimulus of automation, but with its own independent justification (and indeed Wittgensteinian imprimatur), and some moves had been made to formalise it as needed to build the bridge with classification methods. In broad terms, this theory was that meanings and concepts are emergent from the way words are used in discourse. It is thus relevant to Hjorland and Pedersen's own views about concept analysis and understanding (and eventually classification) for IR, and also relates to developments in NLIP in the last decade.\nThe current context: The world is now awash with machine-readable text. This provides far more evidence about how words are used, over time, than was ever available before and is being increasingly exploited, applying the same generic principles (what you say is what you mean) for a range of NLIP tasks that have much more connection, in execution as well as perception, than before. Thus text retrieval, fact extraction, question answering and summarising share notions and processes. IR is not in a box of its own.Hjorland and Pedersen (2005) argue for a substantive theory of classification for IR, i.e. a broad theory with its own criteria for what classification for retrieval is about, drawing on the example of medicine. In the early work on automatic classification this issue also arose, bearing particularly on the choice of basic descriptive features - even in the biological case it was accepted that recovering phylogeny need not be the primary goal. All of the early work on automatic classification recognised that the initial choices of objects, and more especially properties, to use were crucial and pragmatically loaded. Recognising the role of the contexts in which classifications are built, and the purposes for which they are built, does not, however, imply that it is necessary to invoke human experts for an initial, deep \"pre\"- or \"proto\"- classification analysis of literatures themselves to ensure correct automatic classification. My original paper only argued for choices of model informed by classificatory purpose and, naturally, some understanding of the generic character of the material being classified. This is rather different from the idea that automatic classifications should be built to conform to some idea of what the classifications should descriptively capture.In particular, the argument against letting humans instruct actual classifications is strengthened by recent NLIP experience. It is impossible for humans to avoid hidden biases, i.e. not all attitudes grounded in more knowledge than a program has, but those that are unrecognised and, when inspected, quite possibly ill-grounded. These are especially dangerous when they apply to classifications that are to be used predictively, as retrieval classifications, and the indexing that they support, are used. As researchers in NLIP have found, exploring the ways words are actually used in large text corpora shows that they reflect different, and changing, paradigms or cultural worlds. Classifications based on massive text data can in principle be better mirrors of what is going on, in some one or several worlds, than even a well-trained individual may be able to establish when dealing with really large data, and may therefore be more reliable for predictive application. This text-based approach can of course extend in principle to exploiting more purpose-oriented discourse characteristics (e.g. as embodied in genre), even if these have not typically been extensively investigated in automatic classifications for retrieval. Thus one can make a good case for a pragmatic view that starting with rather minimal assumptions about objects and properties, along with an approach to classification form motivated by some generally-stated classificatory purpose, and seeing how users respond to what a retrieval system using some classification delivers, is a better strategy than trying to figure out in advance, on an unavoidably more intuitive basis, what such a classification ought to be like.This is not to deny that there are many particular information management situations where the implicit has to be made explicit, or where a richer descriptive apparatus is required, as in the special technical contexts for which ontologies are currently being advocated, for which a human contribution is essential. I also accept that many of the functional features to which Hjorland and Pedersen (2005) refer as bearing on useful classification, while accessible in principle to derivation from massive raw data, may be less so in practice from the actual available data, and thus need to be supplemented. But recent research in machine learning applied to web data shows it can recover surprisingly refined information. Even here, however, Hjorland and Pedersen and I agree on the fact that the choice of specific classification method has to be grounded not merely in an understanding of its generic properties, but on establishing a proper link with the motivating purpose and with some broad theory about what that purpose involves. The latter has also to justify, in the finer grain and in a way that is at least gestures towards the formal, how the actual classification method used is operationalised.All of this is hard. The classical line of IR experiment has not dealt with many of the issues that operational practice has to tackle. But the interaction between theory and experiment that major NLIP evaluation programmes, notably the Text REtrieval Conferences (Voorhees and Harman, 2005) have encouraged, have significantly advanced our understanding of IR. The text-based approach to IR is of course also rampant in the new practical reality of the web engines.At the same time, one of the most important techniques developed in retrieval research and very prominent in recent work, namely relevance feedback, raises a more fundamental question. This is whether classification in the conventional, explicit sense, is really needed for retrieval in many, or most, cases, or whether classification in the general (i.e. default) retrieval context has a quite other interpretation. Relevance feedback simply exploits term distribution information along with relevance judgements on viewed documents in order to modify queries. In doing this it is forming and using an implicit term classification for a particular user situation. As classification the process is indirect and minimal. It indeed depends on what properties are chosen as the basic data features, e.g. simple terms and, through weighting, on the values they can take; but beyond that it assumes very little from the point of view of classification. It is possible to argue that for at least the core retrieval requirement, giving a user more of what they like, it is fine. Yet it is certainly not a big deal as classification per se: in fact most of the mileage comes from weighting. And how large that mileage can be is what retrieval research in the many experiments done in the last decade have demonstrated, and web engines have taken on board.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This short note seeks to respond to Hjorland and Pederson's paper \"A substantive theory of classification for information retrieval\" which starts from Sparck Jones's, \"Some thoughts on classification for retrieval\", originally published in 1970.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The note comments on the context in which the 1970 paper was written, and on Hjorland and Pedersen's views, emphasising the need for well-grounded classification theory and application.\nFindings: - The note maintains that text-based, a posteriori, classification, as increasingly found in applications, is likely to be more useful, in general, than a priori classification.\nOriginality/value: - The note elaborates on points made in a well-received earlier paper.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Processing fluency versus novelty effects in deal perceptions	[ "Coupons", "Discounts", "Perception", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: To improve the effectiveness of coupon promotions, retailers often change elements of the design or presentation of the coupon. One modifiable element is its frame; that is, the particular manner in which the coupon is communicated to consumers. A considerable amount of research has investigated the effect of framing on consumers' evaluations of coupon promotions, including percent versus dollar amount off (e.g., Chen et al., 1998) and presence versus absence of time or quantity restrictions (e.g., Inman et al., 1997). However, little research has examined the effect of framing coupons as getting a percentage amount discounted (gain frame) versus avoiding paying the equivalent percentage amount (loss frame). Furthermore, there is a surprising dearth of research focusing on the underlying mechanisms driving potential framing effects in coupon evaluations. Growing interest in psychology and consumer behavior in the effect of gain versus loss message framing on consumers' fluency of information processing (e.g., Higgins et al., 2003; Lee and Aaker, 2004) makes this gap in the literature even more significant.\nTheoretical background: Coupon frames\nPre-test: A pre-test was conducted to ascertain that the coupon frames did not differ in their readability. In particular, coupons framed as gains or losses may result in more favorable deal perceptions not because of processing fluency or novelty, but because one of them is simply easier to read.Design and procedure\nStudy: The objectives of the study were two-fold. First, we tested the opposing H1a and H1b; that is, we examined if perceived novelty generates more favorable deal perceptions of loss-framed (vs gain-framed) coupons, or if processing fluency generates more favorable deal perceptions of gain-framed (vs loss-framed) coupons. Next, we sought to investigate the moderating role of deal proneness in the relationship between coupon frames and deal perceptions, as suggested by H2.Design and procedure\nGeneral discussion: The present research investigates the underlying process in the relationship between coupon frames and deal perceptions. Focusing on gain-framed versus equivalent loss-framed coupons to ascertain that the information communicated to subjects is identical (as compared other research that does not strictly utilize framing as equivalent but different communication of information (e.g. Inman et al., 1997)) we demonstrate that deal perceptions are more favorable, and usage intentions greater, when coupons highlight gains to be obtained versus normatively equivalent losses to be avoided by use of the coupon (i.e. a non-loss) because of processing fluency. Specifically, we show that gain-framed coupons are more easily processed, resulting in processing fluency that improves consumers' deal evaluations. This suggests that consumer perceptions of deals are not just based on the information about the promotion they receive, but also on how fluently the information can be processed. Further, this research provides evidence that consumers view a coupon as a potential gain and thus extends previous research on coupons (e.g., Inman et al., 1997).However, consumers have to pay attention to the framing of the coupon in order for fluency effects to emerge. Therefore, we investigated deal proneness as a potential moderator of framing effects, showing that framing effects are obtained only for subjects high in deal proneness. As expected, deal perceptions did not differ for subjects who were not motivated to process the coupon information.Research implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, to explore differences in consumers' deal perceptions for coupons framed as potential gains to be obtained versus equivalent losses to be avoided. Second, it seeks to demonstrate the underlying process of the effects of coupon framing on deal perceptions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study used controlled experiments to test hypotheses.\nFindings: - The study found that participants had more favorable deal perceptions and greater usage intentions of coupons that highlight their value as a discount to be obtained versus a loss to be avoided. Importantly, while the two frames differed in perceived novelty, framing effects on deal perceptions were shown to be due to processing fluency enhancing evaluations of gain-framed coupons. Finally, the results demonstrated that consumers' deal proneness moderated the effect of processing fluency, eliminating the advantage of gain over loss frames for low deal-prone consumers.\nPractical implications: - This research shows that consumer perceptions of deals are not just based on the information about the promotion they receive, but also on how fluently the information can be processed. It also provides evidence that consumers view coupons as potential gains, and that systematic processing is necessary for framing manipulations to be effective, which is true for high deal-prone consumers. Lastly, it is shown that, in order for framing manipulations to increase deal perceptions, retailers need to motivate consumers to process coupons systematically.\nOriginality/value: - This research provides useful information on consumer perceptions of deals with respect to coupons and information they receive.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Engaged employees shimmer for Oasis HR: Fast-growing agency wins prize for three-prong approach	[ "Employee engagement", "Recruitment", "Internal communications", "Awards", "Retention" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An human resource (HR) recruitment agency that has almost doubled in size over the past 12 months is providing a fun, collaborative and rewarding environment that is helping it to retain existing staff and appeal to employees joining the business.\nQuarterly vision updates and an incentive prize scheme: The first component of the employee-engagement strategy is to provide quarterly vision updates and an incentive prize scheme.\nGold card gives right to time off: The gold card is the second component of the employee-engagement strategy. Each member of the business - recruitment-delivery staff and support staff such as those in marketing and finance - is set a series of individual monthly targets relative to the job. When targets are hit, a gold card is awarded that entitles the employee to a degree of flexible working, allowing him or her to either start 30 minutes late, take 30 minutes extra for lunch or leave 30 minutes early every day for the next month. If targets are hit for three months in a row, the employee also wins an extra day's annual leave. More than 70 per cent of team members have won gold cards.\nPeer-to-peer recognition through living the values: The \"living the values\" aspect of the employee-engagement strategy seeks to introduce a sense of peer-to-peer recognition and celebrate the softer sides of business achievement.\nResults of the program: The managing director of the business spearheads the engagement program. The marketing and events team supports it from a communications, planning and logistical perspective.\nEnjoyment from being at work: \"The clear return on investment from the engagement program comes from the uplift in sales performance and the improvement in staff retention,\" commented Mark Barnicoat. \"Taking into account the business's average cost per hire (including acquisition and on-boarding), a 49.3 per cent reduction in staff turnover is a welcome cost saving. The more intangible elements such as role satisfaction, pride and a sense of value are of course much more difficult to tangibly evidence the benefits of. However, there is absolutely no doubt that the positive responses that have been evidenced within the engagement survey hugely contribute to the business's level of customer service, individual contribution and effort, brand and reputation in the market and in general the enjoyment that Oasis HR employees take from coming to work each day.\"\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Describes a three-prong approach to employee engagement which helped Oasis HR to win first prize in the inaugural Employee Engagement awards.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Examines the reasons for the approach, the form it takes and the results it is helping to obtain.\nFindings: Considers the quarterly vision updates and an incentive prize scheme, the gold-card program and peer-to-peer recognition through living the values.\nPractical implications: Shows that, since the program was introduced, staff turnover has fallen, sales have risen and motivation and employee satisfaction have improved.\nSocial implications: Highlights how employee satisfaction has been generated in a sales environment.\nOriginality/value: Provides the inside story of an award-winning employee-engagement scheme.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employee empowerment in the Greek context	[ "Jobs", "National cultures", "Empowerment", "Greece" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Empowerment of employees is essential to the constant change and learning that characterize today's global business environment. Indeed, employee empowerment has been hailed as a management technique which can be applied universally across all organizations as a means of dealing with the needs of modern global business (Lashley, 1999, p. 169). However, the systematic and rigorous study of employee empowerment is still in its infancy. The dearth of systematic research may result from the lack of sound measures of empowerment. Recent attempts to operationalize the concept include those of Hayes (1994), Chiles and Zorn (1995), Spreitzer (1995), and Menon (1999). However, all of these measures have been developed in North America and establishing universal applicability requires their validation in other cultural settings; furthermore, \"the discriminant validity of the (Spreitzer) scales needs work\" (Siegall and Gardner, 2000, p. 712).The purpose of this study is to support and extend existing empowerment research via: examining the validity and reliability of Spreitzer's (1995) and Menon's (1999) instruments in a culturally diverse environment at the crossroads of East and West; and testing whether individualized measures of Hofstede's cultural dimensions are related to employee empowerment in the Greek context. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, there is no empirical evidence on the link between culture and empowerment in Greece at the time of writing.\nEmployee empowerment: conceptualization and operationalization issues: Workplace empowerment has been hailed as \"the major new industrial weapon against domestic and international threats\" (Menon, 2001, p. 154), resulting in enhanced organizational effectiveness \"through the wise utilization of an organization's human resources\" (Siegall and Gardner, 2000, p. 703). However, despite the numerous books and articles on empowerment (for a comprehensive review see Menon, 2001), empirical research on the topic has been rather limited.Major approaches to conceptualizing employee empowerment can, according to Menon, be classified into three major categories: \"Empowerment has been considered an act: the act of granting power to the person(s) being empowered. It has been considered a process: the process that leads to the experience of power. It has also been considered a psychological state that manifests itself as cognitions that can be measured\" (Menon, 2001, p. 157).Psychological empowerment has been defined by Spreitzer as \"a motivational construct manifested in four cognitions: meaning, competence, self-determination and impact\" (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 1444). Meaning is \"the value of a work goal or purpose, judged in relation to an individual's own ideals or standards\" (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 1443). Meaning involves \"a fit between the requirements of a work role and beliefs, values and behaviors\" (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 1443). Competence, or self-efficacy, is \"an individual's belief in her capability to perform work role activities with skill\" (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 1443). Self-determination is \"an individual's sense of having choice in initiating and regulating actions\" (p. 1443), while impact is \"the degree to which an individual can influence strategic, administrative or operating outcomes at work\" (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 1443). Thus according to Spreitzer empowerment, as a psychological state, is an \"active work orientation where an individual wishes and feels able to shape his/her work role and context\" (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 1444).In a similar mode, Menon (1999) sees psychological empowerment as a \"cognitive state characterized by a sense of perceived control, competence and goal internalization\" (Menon, 2001, p. 161). Here perceived control refers to \"beliefs about autonomy in the scheduling and performance of work, availability of resources, authority and decision-making latitude\". Perceived competence denotes \"self-efficacy and confidence with regard to role demands: the individual believes that s/he can successfully meet routine task demands as well as any nonroutine challenges that might arise in the course of work\". Goal internalization represents \"the enabling power of ideas such as a valued cause, mission or a vision for the future. The individual believes in and cherishes the goals of the organization and is ready to act on its behalf\" (Menon, 2001, p. 161).Spreitzer's (1995) and Menon's (1999) conceptual definitions provided a useful basis for operationalizing psychological empowerment. Spreitzer developed a 12-item measure tapping four types of feelings \"that are related yet somewhat independent of one another\" (Siegall and Gardner, 2000, p. 705), namely: meaning, competence, self-determination and impact (Spreitzer, 1995). Menon's 15-item, three component instrument attempts to capture feelings of perceived control, perceived competence and goal internalization (Menon, 2001, p. 161).Similarly, the six-item measure suggested by Chiles and Zorn (1995) focuses on two of the aforementioned dimensions of empowerment, perceived competence and perceived control, while the scale proposed by Hayes (1994, p. 43) addresses empowerment in a TQM environment by tapping employee perceptions \"of authority to act to increase quality\".The role of culture in the workplace\nMethod: Procedure and sample\nAnalysis and results: Phase I\nDiscussion and study contribution: Using two of the most popular instruments in the empowerment literature, Spreitzer's (1995) and Menon's (1999) scales, this article has examined the reliability and validity of these measures in a non-American setting and investigated the relationship between psychological empowerment and work-related cultural values in the Greek context. Overall, the results of the present study are congruent with the literature in the area, confirming the usefulness of a view of empowerment characterized by the dimensions of perceived control (or impact), perceived competence, and goal internalization (or meaning). This last dimension can be either job-focused, aiming at a job-person fit (as in Spreitzer's meaning), or organization-oriented, targeting at an organization-person fit (i.e. Menon's goal internalization). Spreitzer's self-determination sub-scale was subsumed by impact in the present investigation, indicating perhaps a conceptual overlap, and therefore needs further development, as suggested by Siegall and Gardner (2000).In addition, the study compared the level of psychological empowerment among Greek employees to that reported by American, Canadian and Australian researchers. Contrary to expectations, the participants reported favorable feelings of empowerment, closely in line with American, Canadian and Australian studies. Finally, an attempt was made to investigate potential links between work-related cultural values and perceived empowerment. A rather surprising finding was the absence of an adverse relationship between power distance value orientations and feelings of empowerment. It is difficult to know at this time whether this lack of significance is due to methodological flaws or if it is in fact a reality. One possible reason might be the relatively low score of power distance in the present sample. Alternatively, it is also possible that there simply is no relationship between these variables in the Greek context. Furthermore, the weak positive correlation between uncertainty avoidance and employee perceptions of empowerment may be explained as a particularity of the Greek culture, denoting that formalization is not viewed as a constraint by the Greek employees participating in this research project. Yet in order to know with any degree of certainty what the relationship between culture and empowerment is, it is perhaps best to repeat the study using a more representative sample. Hence, while all respondents in the present investigation were employed, they were also post-graduate students - representing only a sub-section of the total working population.\nStudy limitations and recommendations for future research: Although the results, in line with existing findings, seem to confirm the cross-national validity and reliability of the Spreitzer and Menon instruments, they also tentatively indicate the potential relativity of the empowerment concept in non-American settings - especially in terms of its important determinants. However, it would be difficult to generalize beyond this sample without further testing both within Greece and in other countries. Moreover, given the relatively weak reliabilities of the culture dimensions and the Spreitzer sub-scales in the present investigation, the respective findings should be interpreted with caution.Future research should aim to refine the discriminant validity of Spreitzer's sub-scale of self-determination and, perhaps, further explore existing inconclusive findings regarding the link between empowerment and personality traits (i.e. locus of control) and the relationship between empowerment and contextual influences (i.e. industry type/environmental properties). Finally, replication of current findings using probability sampling to address issues of potential within-country cultural variability - by focusing on the North/South contrast - also warrants further consideration.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the article is to examine the validity and reliability of Spreitzer's and Menon's instruments in a culturally diverse environment. To test whether individualized measures of Hofstede's cultural dimensions are related to employee empowerment in the Greek context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To investigate the multidimensional nature of the empowerment construct and the discriminant validity and reliability of its basic dimensions principal component analysis with varimax rotation is conducted. Furthermore, correlation analysis is employed to examine the relationship between empowerment, power distance and uncertainty avoidance and to compare current with existing findings. The analysis is based on valid responses from 154 Greek employed students to self-administered surveys.\nFindings: - Overall, the results of the present study are congruent with the literature in the area, confirming the usefulness of a view of empowerment characterized by the dimensions of perceived control (or impact), perceived competence, and goal internalization (or meaning). Furthermore, the level of psychological empowerment in this investigation compares quite favorably with reported findings from Canada, the USA and Australia. Finally, whereas uncertainty avoidance is significantly positively associated with overall empowerment and all of its sub-scales, contrary to expectations, power distance is unrelated to feelings of empowerment.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although the results, in line with existing findings, seem to confirm the cross-national validity and reliability of the Spreitzer and Menon instruments, they also tentatively indicate the potential relativity of the empowerment concept in non-American settings - especially in terms of its important determinants. Future research should aim to refine the discriminant validity of Spreitzer's sub-scale of self-determination. Replication of current findings using probability sampling to address issues of potential within-country cultural variability also warrants further consideration.\nOriginality/value: - The study establishes the validity and reliability of two of the most popular instruments in the empowerment literature in the Greek context. In addition, the paper highlights links between work-related cultural values and perceived empowerment among Greek employees - a pertinent but inadequately researched issue in Greece.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Utilizing virtual teams in a management principles course	[ "Virtual work", "Team working", "Professional education", "Management training", "Computer based training", "Communication technologies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The purpose of this paper is to describe how a portion of a management principles course was re-designed to incorporate a component that would address both the growing importance of technology and team skills. Specifically a virtual teams component was developed and implemented. After first discussing the environmental justification for this course redesign, the paper then describes the structure and unique features of this course component, the inherent challenges and how they were addressed, and the additional benefits provided by the course structure.Global management practice and education have been influenced by both the increased use of information technology and the emphasis on team-based work. In organizational settings throughout the world, there has been an increasing reliance on communicating via electronic means (e.g., email, discussion boards, satellite conferencing) rather than traditional face-to-face communication (Hollingshead et al., 1993). As Jones et al. (1999, p. 3) note, such \"... globally available information technologies (IT) have an extraordinary potential to transform the educational process in the 21st century.\" For example, educational institutions are similarly experiencing an increased use of information technology to communicate within (e.g. powerpoint, remote clickers) and outside (e.g. web-based delivery, e-mail) the classroom. Results from a recent Sloan Consortium survey indicate that 74 percent of public institutions consider online education a critical long-term strategy for their institutions (Allen and Seaman, 2005), an increase from 2003 (67 percent) and 2004 (66 percent). Indeed, according to Allen and Seaman (2005, p. 3), \"the online enrollment growth rate is over ten times that projected by the National Center for Education Statistics for the general postsecondary student population\". The increased use of information technology in higher education outside the USA is also well-documented (cf. Dutton and Loader, 2002).Concurrently, the management practitioner and academic literature is replete with evidence of the increased reliance on work teams to accomplish tasks in organizations. Joinson (1999) estimated the majority of employees for most Fortune 500 companies work in teams. Other researchers (Stewart et al., 1999) predict an increase in self-managed or empowered teams across the board in the next few years. Earley and Gibson (2002) note the shift in focus from individual job performance to group or team performance as well as the increased use of multinational teams, or teams that include members from different countries. Shams and Jackson (2006, p. 268) note the increased \"prevalence of work teams working across geographical boundaries.\" Accordingly, there has been an increased focus on team skill development in management education (e.g. Hill, 2001).In concert, these two forces have created the opportunity for a new form of work team in organizations - the virtual team. Virtual teams conduct significant amounts of interaction among team members via electronic media rather than face-to-face (Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999; Maznevski and Chudoba, 2000). Virtual teams enable individuals in different locations (or parts of the world) with conflicting schedules to function as a group to complete a task. As a result, organizations can create work teams based solely on member qualifications (Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999; Kirkman et al., 2004; Martins et al., 2004). In addition, virtual teams can help organizations reduce costs by eliminating redundancy of employee tasks, increasing the efficiency of employees, and minimizing travel and relocation expenses (Boudreau et al., 1998; Cascio, 2001).These potential benefits have led to an increase in the use virtual teams in organizations (Townsend et al., 1998). A recent estimate by the Department of Transportation suggests that 8.4 million US employees work in some type of dispersed team or group (as cited in Ahuja and Galvin, 2003). In fact, the use of virtual teams and computer-mediated communication systems has become so pervasive that even traditional face-to-face teams are using the technology to become more efficient (Arnison and Miller, 2002). The use of virtual teams is not solely a US phenomenon. A number of researchers have noted the increasing prevalence of virtual teams in transnational organizations that benefit from, if not require, global virtual teams to be effective (e.g. Lipnack and Stamps, 1997; Maznevski and Chudoba, 2000; Prasad and Akhilesh, 2002).A logical concern of educators is whether graduates have the requisite skills to function effectively in a virtual environment. Little attention has been paid to development of the communication skills, interpersonal abilities, and group processes that are central to the effective use of technology. Students must master not only the technology; they must also learn to effectively interact and collaborate with others using the technology. For example, the communication skills necessary to be effective in a virtual environment may be substantially different than those skills that lead to success in face-to-face teams. Virtual team members need to be more adept at reliable, and rich (e.g. detailed, emotive) written communication (e.g. Blackburn et al., 2003).\nBasic course and structure: The management principles course\nChallenges and solutions: As might be expected with any significant curriculum change, the development and implementation of the virtual team component created multiple challenges. In this next section, several of the most significant challenges and how they were addressed will be described.Resistance to the virtual teams component\nOpportunities: Although some initial challenges were encountered with the virtual team component, benefits beyond the initial goals were also experienced. For example, the virtual team environment seemed to be especially conducive to increased participation from students who may not normally participate in a face-to-face classroom setting. This is based on casual observations made by instructors who also interact with the same students in a traditional classroom setting. However, it makes conceptual sense as well. It might be that some students are more comfortable participating when they have the opportunity to carefully express (and edit) their ideas in writing rather than in the sometimes fast-paced face-to-face environment of a classroom. As argued by Dineen (2005), the virtual environment might \"level the playing field\" for students who tend to dominate face-to-face discussions versus those who are not comfortable discussing topics orally or on-the-spot. This is also consistent with empirical research (Straus, 1996) that has found an effect for communication medium on participation.The ability to track communication patterns among team members as well as communication to instructors has proven to be valuable. Occasionally the instructors encountered students who made seemingly negative impressions on their team members and sought guidance for how they might change their interactions to enhance their team member relationships. The tracked communication (on virtual chats, team discussion boards, and even emails) served as an excellent teaching tool for improving online communication skills. Students' ability to go back and re-read their posts (much like watching yourself on videotape) provided a rich source of feedback that they would not typically have access to in a traditional classroom.Another benefit is that the course component requires students to be self-directed and to take the initiative with respect to completing their work. The initial orientation is in class, but after that there are no reminders about the virtual team component in the face-to-face classroom. Tracking of assignments, the peer evaluations, and the other elements of the virtual class is entirely the students' responsibility. Anecdotal evidence and self-reports shared in the final team process analysis papers suggest this aspect of the course has served to change the way some students approach their schoolwork. That is, instead of relying on additional cues from the classroom, students have learned to develop and rely on their own system.This course provided an opportunity for students to be exposed to technology-based communications for completing group projects. Despite the prevalence of the communication mechanisms such as e-mail, chat rooms, and discussion boards, only 35 percent of students entering the management principles course indicated that they had previously used these technologies to complete a project.One of the important learning outcomes of the virtual team context concerns the ability and willingness of students to utilize the technology in the future. Indeed, as online learning becomes more prevalent (e.g. Allen and Seaman, 2005), student (and employee) readiness to learn in this mode will be increasingly important. Positive affective responses to an experience may lead to an increase in engaging in the activity again (e.g. Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Using virtual team technology (e.g. discussion boards, chat rooms) to accomplish team work may be a novel experience for many students. Therefore, it is important to understand the correlates of intentions to continue to use the technology in the future. Students were asked a set of questions regarding beliefs that engaging in the virtual team experience would develop practical skills that they could use in the future. One sample item was \"Students who successfully complete the virtual component of the course develop skills that are applicable to business.\" Fifty-six percent of respondents either Agreed or Strongly Agreed with this statement. Another sample item was \"I believe that the virtual portion of the class helped prepare me to work as a team member in a professional setting.\" A paired-samples t-test showed that student attitudes were significantly more positive after participation in the virtual team component than before experience in the virtual team simulation (mean difference=0.51 on a 5-point scale, t=6.76, p<0.001). Additionally, there is some evidence that increased perceptions of the utility of the virtual team experience are related to students' willingness to use virtual technology in the future. In a conservative test of this relationship, controlling for age, gender, working experience, and team performance and we found that satisfaction with the virtual experience (DR2=0.55, DF=193.60, p<0.01), and perceptions that the virtual team experience built useful skills (DR2=0.43, DF=116.20, p<0.01) were strongly related to willingness to use this technology in the future. Therefore, not only does experience with the virtual team experience increase perceptions of the utility of technology to accomplish team work, these perceptions of utility increase the willingness of students to use the technology in the future. Anecdotally, we have had several students report, well after their experience in the virtual team simulation, that they are now using very similar technology in their workplaces. One student even introduced the technology to facilitate knowledge transfer of a large work unit in a Fortune 500 organization.\nConclusion: As Resnick (2002, p. 32) aptly notes:... in the years ahead, the declining cost of computation will make digital technologies accessible to nearly everyone in all parts of the world, from inner-city neighborhoods in the USA to rural villages in developing nations. These new technologies have the potential to fundamentally transform how and what people learn throughout their lives.In this paper one method for exposing management students to emerging technologies to complete group-based work was presented. The evolution of the virtual team experience reported here was driven by a rich theoretical background (e.g. justice theory), empirical findings, experience as virtual instructors, and feedback from student participants.As these new technologies become more available and affordable (e.g. web-cams, teleconferencing), educators must continue to seek ways to teach students how to use these tools effectively in work environments. Resnick (2002, p. 33) clearly articulates the central challenge:Today, discussions about the \"digital divide\" typically focus on differences in access to computers. That will change. As the costs of computing decline, people everywhere will gain better access to digital technologies. But there is a real risk that only a small handful will be able to use the technologies fluently. In short, the \"access gap\" will shrink, but a serious \"fluency gap\" could remain.The ability of students to use these digital tools effectively contributes to the value they will bring to employers and the community. The trends indicate that more and more workers will rely on technology-mediated communication. Educators need to take the lead in ensuring that students gain the skills necessary to leverage the technology.Importantly, students' perceptions that the virtual experience was satisfying and helped them develop important technological skills were highly related to the likelihood that they would use virtual technology in the future. Again, for both organizations and teaching institutions, these relationships suggest that when introducing this type of technology, it is critical to establish systems that will lead to satisfaction and allow participants to clearly see the rationale behind the use of the technology.While the primary purpose of this paper was to present a framework for development of virtual team experiences, it is imperative that more empirical work on technology adoption be conducted and that the effectiveness of various pedagogical strategies (e.g., peer evaluation, norm development) on student attitudes, course performance, and professional skill development be examined in future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe development of a component in a management principles course to develop university students' virtual team skills. There were several challenges in creating and implementing this new component. The paper aims to describe how these challenges were addressed and discusses outcomes associated with this virtual team component.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper primarily presents a case study of the evolution of a virtual team education module. Descriptive data and regression analysis are presented to support specific outcomes.\nFindings: - After completing the course, participants indicated the virtual team experience helped them gain useful professional skills. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated satisfaction with the virtual experience and perceptions that the virtual team experience built useful skills that were related to willingness to use this technology in the future (controlling for age, gender, working experience, and team performance).\nResearch limitations/implications: - The training method was implemented in only one institution. Additionally, limited empirical data is presented.\nPractical implications: - Results can be used by others interested in implementing a virtual team training/education component in a university setting. Non-educational organizations may find the information helpful in successfully introducing virtual teams to employees.\nOriginality/value: - While computer mediated technology is increasingly utilized to educate and train students and employees, the process of effectively training people to optimally utilize technology, especially in a team setting, is not well documented. Additionally, this paper highlights factors that influence the acceptance of technology and willingness to use technology in the future.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
E-government development and the digital economy: a reciprocal relationship	[ "Technology Acceptance Model", "Digital economy", "E-government development", "Multidimensional approach", "Technology enactment theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past several decades, the world has undergone a transition from a traditional economy (e.g. agriculture or industrial based) to a digital economy that is based on digital technologies (Tapscott and Agnew, 1999; Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), 2010). In those countries where it has advanced furthest, the term \"digital economy\" is not limited to the economy; rather, it also refers to the entire society (EIU, 2010). This is why the term is often used interchangeably with digitalisation. This process of transformation has changed business models (e.g. e-business), people's everyday lives (e.g. communicating through social media), and transformed government policies and practises (e.g. offering e-government services) (Mossberger et al., 2008; Weill and Woerner, 2013). Research shows that the digital economy has been a major contributor to economic growth (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2011). Alongside the advancement of digitalisation, an overwhelming majority of governments have implemented e-government initiatives, although the extent and scale of their implementation varies significantly among nations (United Nations, 2012; Nograsek and Vintar, 2014). The World Bank (2008) defines e-government as the use of information technology to improve business processes and service delivery by government departments and other government entities.\n2. Theoretical basis: After conducting a thorough literature review, Coursey and Norris (2008) find that the literature concerning the relationship between information technology and government has long suffered from a paucity of theoretical development and empirical testing. There are, however, a few exceptions, including the research built on the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory of Rogers (1995), various TAMs (e.g. Davis, 1989; Venkatesh et al., 2003) and socio-technical theories (e.g. Fountain, 2001, 2005). The DOI theory (Rogers, 1995) is often used in information systems research to explain user adoption of new technologies (e.g. Cooper and Zmud, 1990). Following a similar line of inquiry, Venkatesh et al. (2003) incorporated the key elements of eight various TAMs into the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT). In particular, they drew on the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), the TAM (Davis, 1989), the motivational model (Davis et al., 1992), the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), a model combining the TAM and the theory of planned behaviour (Taylor and Todd, 1995), the model of PC utilisation (Thompson et al., 1991), the innovation diffusion theory (Rogers, 1995), and the social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) to study adoption behaviour. However, some critics argue that the UTAUT model cannot capture and specify the complete essence of e-government adoption behaviour by citizens. This is because functional characteristics of organisational, technological, economical, and social perspectives on e-government differ (e.g. Shareef et al., 2011). Moreover, the UTAUT model is relatively new and has limited value because few empirical studies have been conducted to test it (Straub, 2009), particularly in the context of e-government adoption.\n3. The research model and hypothesis development: As shown in the preceding section, the conceptualisation and research of the digital economy and e-government go far beyond technology, revolving largely around economics, sociology, politics, management, and culture. Given the cross-disciplinary and complex nature of the topic areas, we draw on two theoretical frameworks: TAM, which looks into adoption behaviour, and Fountain's technology enactment, which focuses on social, organisational and institutional variables. On this basis, we develop a multidimensional research model. This model will allow us not only to examine the relationship between e-government development and the digital economy but also the various ways in which different contextual factors - economic, social, political, demographic, cultural - and ICT infrastructure may influence the two. Furthermore, the model studies and encompasses the adoption variables: the adoption of ICT in the digital economy and e-participation in e-government development. Figure 1 presents our research model, illustrating the hypothetical relationships among the variables that are discussed as below.\n4. Methodology: 4.1. Data sources and data collection\n5. Results[4]: 5.1. The digital economy\n6. Discussions: 6.1. A reciprocal relationship\n7. Implications for policymaking and strategies: Government spending on e-government projects is reportedly over 1 per cent of GDP per year. They undoubtedly constitute a critical part of public policy and government operations (Dunleavy et al., 2006). One of the most difficult agendas for policymakers is making strategic choices in this area. This study's findings can shed some light on the choices involved.\n8. Theoretical contributions: This study builds largely on two theoretical bases - TAM and Fountain's technology enactment framework while addressing their limitations by studying user adoption in a broader context (e.g. social, economic, political, cultural and demographic), and extending Fountain's theory to include user adoption and citizens' participation. By doing so, this study has made three major contributions to the current literature. First, the current Technology Adoption models such as TAM tend to study the relationship between technology adoption and factors influencing it in a unidirectional causation way (Davis, 1989). Our research, however, investigates the relationship between digitalisation and e-government development in a bidirectional fashion. The result about the reciprocal relationship should provide fertile ground for further development of our understanding of the dynamic nature of the relationship between the two.\n9. Limitations and suggestions for future research: This study aims to explore the complex relationships between the digital economy and e-government and their various contextual factors. Extant research indicates that there is a lack of empirical cross-national study of e-government addressing macro-level issues (Krishnan et al., 2013). We intended to address this limitation and chose to conduct a cross-nation study. However, collecting large-scale primary data at an international level (in our case, spanning 67 countries) is far beyond our limit in terms of time and resources. To achieve our research purpose, we used publicly available archival data in our study. The data allow policymakers to make ready cross-country comparisons and benchmark against their own country.\n10. Conclusions: The advent of digitalisation is currently viewed as \"the most general, pervasive, and structurally distinctive influence on how governance arrangements are changing in advanced industrial states\" (Dunleavy et al., 2006, p. 468). The most recent United Nations' e-government survey results indicate that the influence is not limited to the advanced industrial states but has extended widely and rapidly to the most nations of the world (United Nations, 2012). This study addresses this influence in a timely and multidimensional way through examining how social, economic, political, legal, technological, demographic and cultural factors interact with e-government development and the digital economy. By doing so, the study contributes to a more holistic understanding of the nature of the relationship between the two. The results of the study suggest that digitalisation may drive e-government development on the one hand, and e-government development can advance the development of digitalisation on the other. The reciprocal relationship has profound implications for policymaking and strategies in government organisations as discussed in this paper. Drawing on TAM and Fountain's technology enactment theory, the study is able to demonstrate both theoretically and empirically the important role that government organisations can play as well as the importance of citizens and their culture in the adoption of e-government.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to capture and understand the nature of the relationship between e-government development and the digital economy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model and Fountain's technology enactment theory, a multidimensional research model was developed. The model was tested empirically through an international study of 67 countries using reputable archival data, primarily including the UN's e-government survey and the Economist Intelligence Unit's digital economy rankings.\nFindings: The empirical findings indicate a strong positive reciprocal (two-way) relationship between e-government development and the digital economy. This finding provides empirical evidence to support the general notion of \"co-evolution\" between technology and organisations. The study also finds that along with social, economic, political, technological and demographic factors, certain national cultural characteristics have significant effects on the digital economy and e-government development.\nResearch limitations/implications: Relying on archival global data sets, this study is constrained by the coverage and formulation of the data set indices, the sample size (67 countries), and the impossibility of detecting errors that may occur in the process of data collection. Therefore, caution should be taken when making generalisations about the findings of this study.\nOriginality/value: The paper addresses a deficit of empirical research that is supported by sound and established theories to explain short-term dynamics and the long-term impact of the digital economy on public administration. The study contributes to a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the dynamic relationship between e-government development and the digital economy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Developing moral literacy in the classroom	[ "Professional education", "Teachers", "Schools", "Ethics", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: As the world continues to increase in complexity and a reduction in human to human contact parallels the rise in communication technology, it has become increasingly important to direct attention to developing human ability to act morally and ethically. While some argue that acting in a value-conscious way is hard-wired into humans at birth, others believe that, \"we aren't born moral (or immoral), and that we have to learn how to be good. Learning to be good people involves communication, feedback, socialization, and education\" (DiNorcia, 2003, p. 1). It is the intention of the authors to address the process of such learning within the American public school context. This article will serve to represent a portion of the extensive literature relating to the development of moral literacy and will look at questions raised by the inclusion of moral literacy programs in our classrooms. After addressing those questions we will move on to how moral literacy programs have been implemented in the past, where they have been successful, and where, perhaps, they can be improved upon.\nDefining the key terms: Literacy\nEthical frameworks: Kohlberg\nLegislation and moral education: In March of 2006 the New York Times ran an article reporting that \"thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush's signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some low-proficiency students, eliminating it\" (Dillon, 2006, p. 1). No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) provides a stark example of how some current policy makers are legislating moral and character education out of schools in a de facto nature by implementing stringent laws concerning the performance of students in the general areas of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Though some policymakers advocate the removal of moral and character education from public schools, there are those that raise a dissenting voice arguing that since so much of the public school curriculum is mandated, character education must also be mandated to guarantee that it will not be entirely discarded in favor of more easily tested and objectively evaluated subjects.An important modern piece of American legislation relating to the federal funding of character education is the Partnerships in Character Education Program as authorized under Title V, Part D, Subpart 3, Section 5431 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110). It reads:SEC. 5431. PARTNERSHIPS IN CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM. (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED- (1) IN GENERAL - The Secretary is authorized to award grants to eligible entities for the design and implementation of character education programs that - (A) are able to be integrated into classroom instruction and to be consistent with State academic content standards; and (B) are able to be carried out in conjunction with other educational reform efforts.(US Department of Education, 2006).Program proposals that meet these, among other, requirements are eligible for up to 1 million dollars in federal aid for design, implementation, and evaluation. Though this may not shed new light on what is expected of education professionals in the way that they introduce moral literacy to their students, it does insure that the educational leaders of today understand that there are extrinsic motivational factors (in this case, monetary funding) at play when deciding when and how to develop character education in their schools and school districts.\nThe teacher's role in moral education: Though it is important to understand what it is that teachers can do for students in the realm of moral literacy, it is also important not to lose focus on the idea that some students and their parents may not want to be involved in moral education at all. Because the issues of morals and values are so tightly knit, many parents fear that indoctrination may occur if their children are being morally educated by individuals outside of the family. To address this concern some advocate for the inclusion of a moral component only in select, elective courses. This solution, however, would only affect those in secondary education; those worried about their children creating personal moral foundations outside of their homes and in elementary school would have little to no interest in this matter.Sullivan (1977, p. 119) notes that, \"from an administrative point of view [housing moral literacy in a few known subjects] has the advantage of allowing students to choose courses which are specifically described as involving moral education. Parents who object to their children participating in a moral education program can be sure they do not take these courses\". Alternately, teachers can play a role in developing a trust between the community and the school that can be conducive to a moral focus.Recognizing the importance of the community role in moral development, the US Department of Education's Partnerships in Character Education program requires collaborative inclusion of parents into program design and implementation as a prerequisite for the allocation of Federal funding. Connecting the school's moral education mission with the views of the community at large also serves to ease anxieties over dissonance between what is being forwarded at the school and what is modeled throughout the community. Just as inculcation has been largely dismissed as an effective form of character education, moral relativism is equally rejected throughout the literature. Developing a moral education program through collaboration with community allows for the program to be grounded in the socially constructed morality that was proposed in Selman and Rest's frameworks for moral development. It follows then that the development of healthy character education programs means empowering all stakeholder groups, including such traditionally disempowered groups as students, support staff, and parents. Role modeling from parents is essential in well-functioning character education; the behaviors and practices of adults in the students' life should align with the moral mission of the school. To promote respect in students, adults must treat young people respectfully and to foster responsibility, they must give students genuine voice and responsibility. (Berkowitz and Bier, 2005a, p. 68)An additional role for teachers involved in developing moral literacy is the creation of a classroom environment conducive to moral development. It is of the utmost importance that an atmosphere be created in which students feel comfortable sharing self-reflections and other sensitive information with their teachers and peers alike. Paolitto (1977, p. 73) states that:The developmental perspective requires that teachers become competent not simply in knowledge and skills in their content area, but also in their ability to create conditions for social interactions that are conducive to structural change. That is, the teacher needs to promote interaction which will stimulate children's thinking to the next higher level of moral reasoning.While teachers do not necessarily have to become scholars in the area of moral literacy or moral education, they must be well versed in developing environments in which their students grow in moral ways. Given this, a teacher must do more than simply provide opportunities for moral dissonance to foster moral development in students.Moral literacy should be a pervasive commitment, a paradigm for classroom and school activities.Doris (1978, p. 36) adds that \"the degree of moral development that may occur within a school will be affected by the moral atmosphere of the school as a whole\". In essence, the process of making the classroom a welcoming environment for the expansion of moral horizons on the parts of students must be expanded to encompass the entire school. If a welcoming classroom is present within a school that is unwelcoming to such moral dialogue, then the negative re-enforcement experienced by students outside of the classroom will be enough to counteract all of the positive thinking, learning, and growing that may have taken place on the inside of the classroom.\nExisting programs for moral education: Faced with a plethora of moral education initiatives that have been developed for implementation in public schools, Ryan and Bohlin (1999) identified three primary perspectives that underlie all approaches; values, views, and virtues. While the popularity of each perspective has waxed and waned with the passage of time, all are still represented by a number of well-developed programs currently implemented in many of the nation's public schools. As such, each will be discussed briefly along with a short analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the perspective. In addition, special attention will be paid to Character Education and the general methods that have been identified in its implementation.Values, views, and virtues\nTeacher preparation for moral education: While the burden of implementing programs of moral education within schools lies with the nation's K-12 teachers, the role of higher education in the preparation of those teachers cannot be overlooked. It is the role of those institutions to develop in prospective teachers both the awareness of moral education techniques and the moral literacy necessary to utilize them. As it stands we possess a \"system of teacher preparation in which social and political controversy was avoided and a particular conception of professionalism as technical competence was adopted\" (Beyer, 1991, p. 206). Both in teacher preparation and federal educational mandates, a scientific paradigm has been adopted in which an emphasis on the moral dimensions of teaching have given way to technical analysis.Despite the focus on the technical aspects of teacher preparation, some authors have asserted that the moral component of education is inseparable from the cognitive component, and to some it is an immanent feature of teaching itself (Beyer, 1991; Campbell, 1997; Nyberg, 1990; Sockett and LePage, 2002). If such is the case, then to ignore the moral component of teaching within training programs is to produce ill-prepared teachers. More pragmatically, in 1995 John Martin, former executive director of the Character Education Partnership, estimated that one in five schools have an existing character education program; a number that may be far exceeded today (Weber, 1998). The realization of this has prompted some to advocate for a greater emphasis on the development of moral literacy within teacher preparation programs, particularly at the undergraduate level (Goodlad, 1999; Noddings, 2006). Despite this call, \"one of the more frequent laments of teacher educators is that they would love to add character education to their educational efforts, but that state requirements and regulations are so demanding that there is simply no room left in the teacher education curriculum to add anything new\" (Berkowitz, 1998, p. 5). This rationalization mirrors practitioners' implications that character education is an addendum to the goals of and strategies for education that currently exist. This attitude, in conjunction with a shortage of teacher educators possessing the training to teach moral literacy techniques effectively, precludes the development of a teacher base capable of addressing the moral needs of students. While some teacher educators lament the inclusion of moral education into their programs, a number of institutions are in full support of inclusion. Weber (1998) cites numerous examples of colleges and universities noting a desire for inclusion of character education training courses and a generally more ethically rich curriculum. Harvard, among a number of other schools, recently revised its course requirements for graduation to include a greater emphasis on developing moral reasoning.With the modern push for the incorporation of character education programs in our nation's schools, some institutions of higher learning are developing programs and faculty to address the moral literacy needs of future teachers. While much of university focus remains on the development of these skill sets in experienced educators through graduate programs, the effects of those programs have begun to slowly filter down into undergraduate programs as well (Berkowitz, 1998). A paradigm shift can be identified within our institutions of higher learning in which a recognition is developing that, just as we would not identify as competent a teacher who has not been properly prepared in his/her respective subject, \"similarly, if we expect teachers to provide character education to children and youth, we should provide them with a background that includes an understanding of moral principles and experiences in ethical reasoning\" (Weber, 1998, p. 90).In addition to traditional teacher preparation courses, many universities, professional organizations, and private organizations are beginning to offer workshops in character education and moral literacy that are filling the voids in pre-service teacher training. Berkowitz (1998), in his analysis of obstacles that exist to implementing character education programs, identifies a number of organizations leading the field in providing teacher training in character education including the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs, the Developmental Studies Center, the Josephson Institute of Ethics Character Counts Coalition, the Character Education Partnership, and the Association for Moral Education. These, among many others, currently provide an avenue for skill development necessary for the success of programs centered on moral literacy.\nImplementation: Objectives\nConclusions: Derived from the literature on both implemented character education programs as well as frameworks of moral development, five primary attributes of effective programs have been identified.1. Administrative role. There is a need for administrative backing and allocation of resources for program implementation. Devoid of this backing, most programs are forced to languish in individual classroom practice, or as ill-received addendums to standard practice receiving only scattered implementation.2. Professional development. There is a need for concerted professional development for those educators charged with implementing the program. In the ideal this would include all adults that interact with students, including support staff.3. Developmentally appropriate. Of equal importance is the need for the implemented programs to be developmentally appropriate for the target audience. Programs must be tailored to the school, the students, and ideally the community.4. Consistency/synergy. An effective program is not contained within the walls of the school. Ideally a program of moral education is consistently applied and reinforced throughout the community and is often linked with other community efforts. The goal is to unify efforts rather than to duplicate them across organizations.5. Community involvement. The incorporation of input from across a community is critical for the success of a moral education program. Teachers, students, parents, administrators, business leaders, religious leaders, and others across a community help to provide not only synergy, but also a form of program buy-in necessary for success. Community provides the context of moral education.Throughout this review, research from numerous fields and perspectives has coalesced to develop a vision of moral education within its varied and sometimes disparate forms. Despite significant schisms present in both the moral development theories underlying programs of moral education and in the defining of key terms related to the practice, some emergent themes can be identified throughout the literature. Most notable is the need for organizations embarking on programs of moral education to develop their own localized meanings, objectives, and procedures implemented by a dedicated staff well trained in the methods of developing moral literacy in their students. Through this contextualized form of moral guidance, schools can advance toward their goals of developing a morally literate student body.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to identify and articulate the practical implications of the teacher's role in implementing a program related to developing moral literacy in students as well as identifying what is necessary for professional development opportunities intended to educate teachers in the realm of moral literacy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A broad range of recent literature on the subject of moral education and moral literacy are utilized to identify best practices and potential pitfalls related to moral literacy program implementation in schools as well as the particular impact of teacher behaviors on program success.\nFindings: - The paper identifies a pervasive need for professional development opportunities for teachers expected by their districts to implement programs related to moral literacy in their classrooms. Additionally, the authors identify the need for teachers to address the need for community involvement, the development of their own moral literacy, synergy between program ideals and teacher behavior, and developmentally appropriate implementation.\nPractical implications: - This paper serves as a condensed research base necessary for the development and implementation of a workshop intended to develop moral literacy in teachers and to showcase effective methods of integrating moral literacy across existing curricula.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers guidance for the development of an often overlooked form of professional development for teachers aimed at equipping them with the tools and knowledge necessary for effectively integrating character development programs in their curricula.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An investigation of modern building equipment technology adoption in the Australian construction industry	[ "Innovation", "Customers", "Technology", "Construction", "Construction equipment", "Vendors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The success of any new technology is measured by its rate of adoption in the market. Many reports show that new technologies fail to be adopted at a high rate of between 40 and 90 per cent, depending on the technology type (Cooper, 1999; Gourville, 2005). Although comparative technology adoption rates are not available for the construction industry, its conservative attitude towards new technologies means that rates of adoption failure are likely to be at the higher end of this range (Slaughter, 2000; Harty, 2008; Milliou and Petrakis, 2011). From a vendor perspective, the successful adoption of new technology relies on understanding the adoption process customers follow when deciding to adopt a new technology (Ganguly et al., 2010; McCoy et al., 2010). While there is some research in this area (Jaafar et al., 2007; Panuwatwanich and Stewart, 2012), these studies have tended to focus on information and digital technologies such as building information modelling (BIM) (Gledson, 2016; Howard et al., 2017). These studies have been valuable and insightful but have generally neglected modern equipment technologies such as tools, plant and equipment. An unquestioned assumption has emerged in the construction innovation adoption literature that the process of adoption is uniform across all technologies. While there is no empirical evidence in existence which shows that there are differences in the innovation adoption process for different types of construction technologies, key differences between modern equipment technologies and information technologies suggest that it may differ and is worthy of exploration. For example, in the case of information technology the number of vendors is typically limited, and customers can purchase the required software online. A strong relationship between top managers of vendors and customers is not required, since they do not need to get involved in the purchasing, installation and implementation process. In contrast, in the case of a construction equipment technology such as a crane, vendors play an important role in the adoption process by offering specific solution, often tailored to the needs of a specific project site and a customer's construction operation requirements. Customers also tend to communicate and develop closer relationships with vendors at different levels including management, operational and maintenance.\nResearch method: To explore the above hypotheses 19 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with customers and vendors involved in the modern technology adoption process. The semi-structured method was used because of the lack of a priori empirical research in this area and it also enabled us to capture the full richness of our respondents' descriptions of the technology adoption process. Criterion and sequential methods (Patton, 1990; Abowitz and Toole, 2009) were used to select experienced interviewees who had worked for at least four years in the construction industry and had been involved in the procurement of new equipment technologies as both customer and vendor. Recruitment of interviewees was undertaken at two major construction technology trade exhibitions held in 2011 and 2013 in Australia. One trade exhibition was held in Sydney and the other in Perth and they were chosen because both were exhibiting modern construction equipment technology and represented an excellent place to meet customers and vendors. The purpose of any technology trade exhibition is to provide an industrial marketplace for new construction technologies by bringing together key decision makers in vendor and customer organisations in one physical space where they can meet and discuss their needs and solutions (Hansen, 2004; Golfetto et al., 2007). In total, the trade exhibitions included 600 technology product stalls and a summary of the sample interviewees' profiles is provided in Table I.\nValidation of the framework: To validate the above findings, using two different data sets from trade exhibition 1 (TE1) and trade exhibition 2 (TE2), each vendor was scored against each of the variables listed in Table III using a five-point Likert scale. PCA was then used to determine the main dimensions of variability between the different vendors using the Euclidian distance based on the Likert scales. PCA is used because it assists in reducing the dimensionality of the available data set which is included many independent variables. The rotated component matrix derived from using PCA identified three main components. PCA calculates new variables called principal components to reduce the size of data set and number of variables. The components are derived as linear combinations of the proposed variables at the beginning. Therefore, PCA can summarise important information and simplify the description of the data set. A fourth, with an eigenvalue of only 0.8, was rejected as it was less than 1 (Abdi and Williams, 2010). Table III gives the relationships found between the three components (C1, C2 and C3) in TE1 and TE2. The set of variables associated with each of these principal components was examined to see if they related to one of the stages in technology adoption to cross-validate the existence of the stages discussed in the previous section.\nDiscussion of results: The results of PCA and content analysis cross-validate to confirm that both vendors and customers differently engage in the adoption process, and that vendor's strategies fall into three stages that correspond to the three stages of the customer's process. Thus, the two sets of results (interviews and quantitative analysis) cross-validate each other as depicted in Figure 5.\nConclusion: The aim of this research was to address the lack of research in modern construction equipment technology adoption and the lack of data on the role of vendors in the process.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Research into the construction industry's adoption of modern equipment technologies, such as remote-controlled trucks, excavators and drones, has been neglected in comparison to the significant body of research into the adoption of information technology in construction. Construction research has also neglected to adequately consider the important role of vendors in the innovation diffusion process, focussing mostly on the role of the customer. Set within the context of Australia's construction industry, the purpose of this paper is to address these gaps in knowledge by exploring the role of customers and vendors in the diffusion of modern equipment technologies into the construction industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using contemporary models of innovation diffusion which move beyond the simple dualistic problem of whether innovation is supply-pushed or demand-pulled, 19 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with customers and vendors involved in two major modern equipment technology trade exhibitions in Australia. This was followed by the collection of documentary data in the form of photos, directory books, marketing material, catalogues, websites and booth and exhibition layouts to validate the proposed model and provide insights into vendor marketing strategies. These data were analysed using both content analysis and principal component analysis (PCA).\nFindings: According to the PCA and content analysis, vendor's engagement in the adoption of modern equipment technologies falls into three stages that correspond to three stages in the customer's adoption process. In the first stage, customers identify possible solutions and recognise new technologies following a previous recognition of a need. Vendors provide facilities for attracting potential customers and letting customers know that their technology exists and can help solve the customer's problem. The second stage involves customers gaining knowledge about the details of the new technology, and vendors focusing on detailed knowledge transfer through written materials and demonstrations of the functionality of the new technology. In the third stage, customers have specific questions that they want answered to assist them in comparing different vendors and solutions. By this stage, vendors have built a close relationship with the customer and in contrast to earlier stages engage in two-way communication to help the customer's decision process by addressing specific technical and support-related questions.\nOriginality/value: The originality and value of this research is in addressing the lack of research in modern equipment technology adoption for building construction and the lack of data on the role of vendors in the process by developing a new empirical framework which describes the stages in the process and the ways that customers and vendors interact at each stage. The results indicate that conceptually, as the construction industry becomes more industrialised, current models of innovation adoption will need to develop to reflect this growing technological complexity and recognise that vendors and customers engage differently in the adoption process, according to the type of technology they wish to adopt.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An exploratory study of strategic leadership in churches	[ "Churches", "Leadership", "Nonprofits", "Religious organizations", "Strategic change", "Strategic leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nonprofit organizations[1] in Canada, USA and UK are facing unprecedented challenges including increased scrutiny from governments and involvement from corporations, as well as declining donations and funding from government (Curry, 2011; Van Brackle, 2011; Waldie, 2011). Undoubtedly, survival and growth of nonprofits will require strong leadership. \"Old methods of leadership that are dated and ill-suited for the ever-changing nature of 21st century nonprofit organizations are being set aside for newer, more innovative, groundbreaking techniques\" (Ronquillo, 2011, p. 352). Ronquillo (2011) contends that leadership theories applied to for profit and public sector organizations are also relevant for understanding leadership in nonprofit organizations. He goes further to add that more empirical research is needed to explore the transferability of leadership theories such as servant, transactional and transformational, to nonprofit organizations. This research takes Ronquillo (2011) call as its starting point and sets out to extend the notion of strategic leadership, that which has been primarily applied to for profit organizations, to nonprofits, specifically the church setting. The research objectives guiding this research include: to explore the possibilities and applicability of strategic leadership to nonprofits generally and more specifically churches and to provide an illustrative case study of the possibilities afforded through strategic leadership in the church setting.\nCase background: This research adopts a case study approach using qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, observation). The Catholic Parish under study, St Joseph's Parish, dates back to 1962 and has a congregation size between 300 and 400. The Parish is located in a growing suburban area where community services (e.g. healthcare facilities, youth programs) have not kept pace with the growing population. Moreover, the Parish experienced a relatively stagnant membership base and financial giving for a number of years through the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2002, Father Bill Elliott came to St Joseph's and under his leadership financial giving has increased substantially and the Parish now offers a variety of innovative programs (e.g. pre-school programs, interactive sermons, faith sharing groups, community outreach).\nWhy study leadership in nonprofits (and churches)?: Leadership in nonprofits is particularly complex. It requires a diverse range of skills and abilities some of which include a high tolerance for ambiguity, advocacy, fundraising and grant writing, financial management and managing and motivating a workforce often comprised primarily of volunteers (Carlson and Schneiter, 2011; Hoefer, 2011). In addition, nonprofits are values-driven organizations that require leaders who are able to sustain tradition (the mission) while balancing the need for innovation (Farruggia, 2011; Hoefer, 2011; Miller, 2002; Murphy, 2011). Power is highly diffused in nonprofits and leaders must strive to manage a multitude of stakeholder interests (Collins, 2005; Moore, 2002; Van Brackle, 2011). These factors contribute to the difficulty in defining and measuring leader and organizational effectiveness (Collins, 2005; Moore, 2000). There is a plethora of research that has studied leadership of for profit organizations in organization studies, but as argued by Ronquillo (2011) there is still much to learn about leadership in nonprofits.\nLeadership in churches: Scholarly work on leadership in churches has, directly or indirectly, drawn upon a variety of perspectives including, charismatic (e.g. Barnes, 1978; Nelson, 1993; Poloma, 1997; Stewart, 2008), transformational (e.g. Druskat, 1994), transactional (e.g. Druskat, 1994; Green, 2001), servant (e.g. Green, 2001; Stewart, 2008), collaborative (e.g. Druskat, 1994; Gilmour, 1997; Stewart, 2008), spiritual (e.g. Whittington et al., 2005) and strategic (e.g. Green, 2001) leadership. Some of the research in this area devotes attention to particular leadership styles, behaviors, competencies, personality, education and gender in describing the nature of effective leadership in the church setting. Other work draws attention to the role of context in determining effective leadership (e.g. organizational culture, size of congregation).\nResearch approach: This research is a part of a larger project exploring value creation and competitive advantage in the church[4] setting through collective case studies (Stake, 1995). As is often the case with exploratory, qualitative research, this study on strategic leadership in churches is the result of an emergent, messy process involving a to-ing and fro-ing between data and existing literature on strategy, leadership and churches (Mason, 2002). It was not surprising to the author that in one of the case sites of the larger project, St Joseph's Parish, leadership played an important role in value creation of the church. The difficultly arose in the interpretation process of conceptualizing the style of leadership and how the experience of leadership at this church related to other aspects of value creation. For example, aspects of visionary leadership could partly but not fully explain what was happening at this site and servant leadership could also partly but not fully explain the style and impact of leadership at this case site. In this research, the concept of strategic leadership, its applicability and the challenges that come with it in the church context are theoretically and empirically tested.\nStrategic change at St Joseph's: Since Father Elliott's arrival at St Joseph's the organization and members have undergone a number of ongoing, incremental and more radical changes. Participants attribute much of the change to Father Elliott's vision and leadership style. In the sections that follow four themes illuminate the processes and content of change at St Joseph's under Father Elliott's leadership, including unsettling the status quo, building a model of shared leadership, creating a shared vision and developing a culture of community and learning.\nDiscussion: As argued by Rowe (2001), strategic leaders possess an ability to balance short-term and long-term obligations of an organization: they are both managers and visionaries. The evidence suggests that Father Elliott has demonstrated an ability to successfully manage the day-to-day operations of St Joseph's, as well as inspire others toward an ambitious vision centered upon community. This research revealed that there are a number of indicators that can be used to evaluate success at St Joseph's, including financial giving, enrollments in pre-school program, meeting community needs, increased communication across generations, level of activity at the parish and capacity to learn. For example, total offertory collections increased 62.3 percent from $91,677 in 2000 to $148,834 in 2009[5]. Further, the pre-school was at its capacity in enrollments in 2009 and booked for the upcoming year (2010/2011). According to financial records there was also a significant growth in revenues and overall net income since 2006 from the school program (e.g. revenues increased from $3,390 in 2006 to $101, 699 in 2009).\nConcluding thoughts: This research set out to explore the transferability of strategic leadership in a nonprofit, specifically church, setting. The data presented here reveal that Father Elliott demonstrates aspects of charismatic, transformational and servant leadership. Overall, however, strategic leadership best describes his approach and the outcomes at St Joseph's Parish. In this way, one of the contributions of this research is that it provides case study evidence of the applicability of strategic leadership in the nonprofit sector. Given Father Elliott's efforts to develop a model of shared leadership and shared vision, it can also be argued that LMX plays a crucial role in strategic leadership. Future research should explore further the relational aspect of strategic leadership. The findings presented here also demonstrate how strategic leadership offers an opportunity to link leadership and organization performance and that organizational performance needs to be interpreted through a multi-dimensional lens so as to ensure alignment with the mission and values of the nonprofit organization. Additional research is needed to explore this further.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the notion of strategic leadership, that which has been primarily applied to for profit organizations, to nonprofits, specifically the church setting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research employs a case study methodology and draws primarily upon qualitative data collected from interviews and observation.\nFindings: The findings reveal that over the past several years, the organization and its members have undergone a number of incremental and more radical changes. Much of this change has been attributed to the vision and leadership style of the current leader. Four key themes illuminate the processes and content of change under this strategic leader, including unsettlingly the status quo, model of shared leadership, shared vision and culture of community and learning.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings are based upon one case study site and this limits the generalizability of the research. In addition, exposure to the organization was limited to short periods of time on-site and the sample size was relatively small.\nPractical implications: Achieving success in nonprofits requires leaders to have an intimate understanding of the complex nature of stakeholder relations and measuring success needs to be multi-dimensional in nature and linked directly to the mission and context of the organization, rather than based solely on generic measures.\nOriginality/value: There is limited research to date that examines the applicability of leadership theories that have been traditionally applied to for profit and public sector organizations to nonprofits. The research extends the notion of strategic leadership from the for profit setting to nonprofit organizations generally, and more specifically to the church setting.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of corporate governance on financial performance and financial distress: evidence from Egypt	[ "Egypt", "Corporate governance index", "Firm performance", "Emerging markets", "Financial distress" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Attention to corporate governance (CG) has quite a long history since the seminal paper on the subject of the \"principal-agent problem\" by Jensen and Meckling (1976). They argued that the existence of the principal-agent problem as a consequence of the separation of ownership and control raises a conflict between the interests of managers and shareholders. As a result, many studies have made significant contributions by investigating the role of CG in minimizing such conflicts of interest between two sides (Ross, 1973; Fama, 1980; Fama and Jensen, 1983; Mallin, 2001).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: 2.1 CG and financial performance\n3. Measuring CG, financial performance and financial distress: 3.1 Corporate governance index\n4. Data collection and the measurement of variables: 4.1 Data collection and sample selection\n5. Results and analyses: 5.1 CG and firm performance\n6. Conclusions and implications: Using a sample of 86 non-financial firms listed on the Egyptian Exchange in 2008, the primary objective of the current study is to investigate the level of CG practices within these firms and how such practices could affect both the firms' financial performance and the corporate financial distress. The following conclusions and policy recommendations may be summarized as follows:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to empirically examine the quality of corporate governance (CG) practices in Egyptian-listed companies and their impact on firm performance and financial distress in the context of an emerging market such as that of Egypt.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To assess the level of CG practices at a given firm, the current study constructs a corporate governance index (CGI) which consists of four dimensions: disclosure and transparency, composition of the board of directors, shareholders' rights and investor relations and ownership and control structure. Based on a sample of 86 non-financial firms listed on the Egyptian Exchange, the effects of CG on performance and financial distress are assessed. Tobin's Q is used to assess corporate performance. At the same time, the Altman Z-score is used as a financial distress indicator, as it measures financial distress inversely. The bigger the Z-score, the smaller the risk of financial distress.\nFindings: The overall score of the CGI, on average, suggests that the quality of CG practices within Egyptian-listed firms is relatively low. The results do not support the positive association between CG practices and financial performance. In addition, there is an insignificant negative relationship between CG practices and the likelihood of financial distress. The current study also provides evidence that firm-specific characteristics could be useful as a first-pass screen in determining firm performance and the likelihood of financial distress.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample size and time frame of our analysis are relatively small; some caution would be needed before generalizing the results to the entire population.\nPractical implications: The findings may be of interest to those academic researchers, practitioners and regulators who are interested in discovering the quality of CG practices in a developing market such as that of Egypt and its impact on financial performance and financial distress.\nOriginality/value: This paper extends the existing literature, in the Egyptian context in particular, by examining firm performance and the risk of financial distress in relation to the level of CG mechanisms adopted.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The power of third sector organizations in public education	[ "Public education", "Third sector", "Social network analysis", "Foundation", "Cross-sectoral networks", "Power analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The outcomes of international student assessments (such as the Programme for International Student Assessment) have raised questions about the global competitiveness of educational systems in many countries. One of the reactions to these rankings has been a surge of interest in the role of social networks between schools and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in processes of educational improvement (Lewis and Patrinos, 2011). Since 2010, a rising number of cross-sectoral networks have emerged in which formal education actors (e.g. schools) and NGOs (non-profit and for-profit organizations) seek to address current challenges in education worldwide (de Boer et al., 2018; Rowan and Meyer, 2006). NGOs are becoming progressively involved in school improvement initiatives and scholars observe that NGOs are increasingly exerting power on schools and educational systems worldwide (e.g. Berkovich and Foldes, 2012; Eyal and Yarm, 2018; Kolleck, 2016; Verger, 2012; Yemini et al., 2018). At the same time, there is a wide consensus that there is still only little research on the power of private influences in education (Souto-Otero, 2015) and that research has so far neglected the power of NGOs in educational settings and schools (e.g. Berkovich and Foldes, 2012; Eyal and Yarm, 2018; Fahrenwald and Feyerer, 2018; Verger, 2012; Yemini et al., 2018). This is especially true for foundations, which can be characterized as a particular type or legal category of NGO - being established as charitable trusts with specific purposes (e.g. education, culture, religion, etc.) and awarding grants (i.e. funding foundations) or supporting and investing in own projects and activities (i.e. operating foundations).\nBackground: The demand for an involvement of NGOs or foundations is not new but rather has a long tradition (Verger et al., 2016a). As in the past, schools aim at gaining private support for equipment, provisions or school improvement and third-sector organizations such as foundations seek power in schools in an effort to gain legitimacy or to take part in the shaping of norms and social values at the earliest possible moment. The retreat of the state (Strange, 1996), the reconfiguration of power relations between state and non-state actors (Kolleck, 2012), the \"rise of policy networks\" (Menashy, 2018) as well as the changing role of non-state actors and public pressures have urged NGOs to increasingly try to become involved in education and to take part in debates on school development (Ball, 2012; Verger et al., 2012).\nTheoretical orientation: Power is one of the most controversial concepts in social sciences in general and in education research more specifically. In the past, studies on educational organizations or institutions have often implemented a Weberian understanding of power (Samier, 2002). Weber (1968) represented a very broad, bureaucratic and leadership-oriented perspective on power by defining it as \"the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his will despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability exists\" (p. 53). This conception of power makes it easy to analyze the way different state actors wield power on the shaping of educational systems. However, against the background of the increasing relevance in recent years of non-state actors, we need a new conceptualization of their power given that NGOs' sources of power and the ways in which they use it are likely to be at least partly dissimilar to states.\nMethod and justification of the illustrative empirical case: To empirically analyze the different dimensions of the power of NGOs in education, this paper analyzes the establishment of an illustrative multi-stakeholder or cross-sectional initiative, which was initiated by one of the largest German foundations in the Ruhr area - one of the poorest regions in Germany.\nResults: Relational power\nDiscussion: Against the multi-facetted nature of NGO or foundation power in education, one might want to understand the relative importance of each type of power. How can the different types of power be compared and which of the types is most important to gain influence in education or schools? The results of the quantitative and qualitative data analysis demonstrated above already give some indication. While many previous studies highlight the structural power expressed through a high amount of financial resources, we have learned that in countries, such as Germany, foundations spend only about as much on education projects each year as is invested by the government in a single morning (Thumler et al., 2014, p. 7). Thus, compared to the state the power of foundations seems to be rather weak.\nConclusion: The paper has looked for answers to the overall question as to how foundations wield power in order to shape the education agenda and exert influence on schools. The paper has shown that the foundation was able to follow its goals through gaining more freedom in macro-level structures, though micro-level processes of bargaining and through taking part in shaping discourses. The three different dimensions of power provide this foundation with alternative means to exert power in education, allowing it to pursue multi-dimensional strategies if necessary. In other words, the foundation can employ discursive, structural or relational power resources at the same time or use them as substitutes, employing different forms of activities according to the specific situation or context or the requirements of the issue in question. For instance, it can attempt to rely on increased lobbying or relational power if the structural power is weak. Conversely, it can follow the strategy to foster the shaping of ideas and constructs if opportunities for lobbying are scarce.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address school-NGO interactions by analyzing the power of foundations - a specific type of third sector organization or NGO in education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data are collected through a quantitative survey, qualitative interviews, official documents, reports and websites. Social network analysis and grounded theory are used to analyze the data with the aim to develop a theoretical approach.\nFindings: The study identifies three dimensions, i.e. relational, structural and discursive dimensions of power. Based on the analysis of an illustrative multi-stakeholder initiative, the paper highlights the role of foundations in framing educational settings, concepts and structures of the education system as such.\nPractical implications: The three-dimensional power perspective offered in this paper is particularly useful for scholars investigating school-NGO interactions or multi-stakeholder partnerships in education. Furthermore, it is of crucial importance for practitioners, school principals and education administrators dealing with school-NGO interactions given that foundations seem to be increasingly able to draw on new sources of power in these interactions.\nOriginality/value: While the number and power of the third sector in education continues to rise worldwide, there is wide consensus that NGO power in education has, to date, hardly been researched. This paper contributes to this dearth of research by uncovering foundations' different sources of power and by developing a theoretical approach for analyzing the power of third-sector organizations in education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
C.S. Lewis: a guide to resources	[ "Resources", "Books", "Education", "English literature" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Even though C.S. Lewis lived during the world wars and thus wrote for the people in that time period, the popularity of his works has not diminished. In fact, with the release of the movie \"Shadowlands\" in 1993 and with the \"Chronicles of Narnia\" series currently coming out in theaters, interest in Lewis, especially in his children's series, is increasing. But where should the student of all things Lewis starts in trying to find information on which C.S. Lewis really was? Lewis wrote on many different subjects and in many different formats. He wrote science fiction, children's stories, Christian apologetics, literary criticism, and poetry. In libraries, he is cataloged under such varying subjects as Christianity, doctrinal theology, practical theology, the theory and practice of education, literary history, English literature, and children's literature. The task of finding research materials about C.S. Lewis and his works can be daunting to even the most experienced scholar.\nBiographies and literary criticism in reference sources: C.S. Lewis is discussed in a variety of reference sources to a varying extent. The following is a list of the most current reference sources that give extensive coverage to Lewis and his works.Bennett, J.A.W. and Rev. Plaskitt, E. (2004), \"Lewis, Clive Staples (1898-1963)\", in Matthew, H.C.G. and Harrison, B. (Eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: In Association with the British Academy; From the Earliest Times to the Year 2000, Oxford University Press, Oxford, NY, pp. 592-596\nBook-length sources on Lewis' life, thought, and writings: Who was the man whose ideas were so appealing that his works still intrigue audiences today? The biographies released in the last ten years or so turn to Lewis' friends, his works, the historical events of the time period he lived in and more to attempt to answer this question in fresh and interesting ways. Since many of the sources listed in other sections of this guide contain biographical information about C.S. Lewis, this section only lists book-length biographies. Also included in this section are books that are more literary criticism than biography, intent on discovering who C.S. Lewis was through analyzing his works rather than through analyzing his life story. Other books are more indexes or bibliographies, designed to give the reader quick reference to popular Lewis-related topics. All of the books included in this section will allow the reader to understand the life, thought, and writings of C.S. Lewis in greater depth.Adey, L. (1998), C.S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer, and Mentor, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI\nThe Chronicles of Narnia: Beetz, K.H. (2001), Exploring C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, Beacham Publishing, Osprey, FL\nPeriodicals: All of the journals listed below are academic in content, and all are peer reviewed. Many chapters of the C.S. Lewis Society publish bulletins and newsletters, but since the aim of this research guide is to aid the research of C.S. Lewis in a scholarly setting, such titles are not included here.Arizona C.S. Lewis Society (2007-present), Sehnsucht\nDatabases: The following databases provide the most comprehensive coverage of journal articles published on C.S. Lewis and his works. All five databases are available in electronic format:1. Academic Search Premier, EBSCO Publishing, Ipswich, MA.2. ATLA Religion Database, American Theological Library Association, Chicago, IL.3. BHI: British Humanities Index, ProQuest-CSA LLC, Bethesda, MD.4. MLA International Bibliography, Modern Language Association, New York, NY.5. Project MUSE, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.\nWeb resources: Many web sites dedicated to C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia exist - some of which are made by adoring fans, others by book publishers and movie producers. The web sites included below contain something more than dedication to C.S. Lewis as an author, and go on to promote studying Lewis' works and theories. Many of the sites listed in the following are created by foundations that host conferences about C.S. Lewis and other members of the Inklings. Others were included because they were extremely well-put together and informative in regards to C.S. Lewis' life. All of the web sites listed below can aid a scholar in his search to learn more about C.S. Lewis and his impact in today's world.(The) C.S. Lewis Foundation, available at: www.cslewis.org\nDissertations and theses: Research interest in C.S. Lewis is alive and well. A sign of this can be found by searching for C.S. Lewis in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database as well as in Index to Theses. Over 200 dissertations and theses dating as far back as 1953 can be found in these two databases, most of which were produced in the last ten years. While one may argue that current dissertations are more likely to be included in such databases than older ones, thus skewing the numbers, the fact remains that Lewis' life, thought, and writings still intrigue both religious readers and scholars alike.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Many bibliographies of books about C.S. Lewis' works and life have been compiled in the past, but a bibliography of recent literary criticism addressing Lewis and his work is hard to come by. The purpose of this paper is to provide a bibliography of the best works recently published about C.S. Lewis and his writings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Many different sources were used to find current popular works about C.S. Lewis and his writings. The author searched several databases, read several book reviews, and looked through the source itself when available in order to compile an annotated list of current works, which are viewed to be important additions to the literature about C.S. Lewis and his works.\nPractical implications: - The resulting bibliography is not a complete list of everything written about C.S. Lewis in the past few years. Instead, the intent is to compile a research guide of the sources considered to be the most useful contributions to the works about C.S. Lewis that already exist.\nFindings: - Included in this research guide is a list of quality biographies and literary criticism found in reference sources; a sample of book-length resources focusing on Lewis' life, thought, and writings; short descriptions of periodicals that frequently discuss Lewis' work; and examples of popular databases and web resources dedicated to C.S. Lewis.\nOriginality/value: - In addition to being intended for students, faculty, and those of the general public who are interested in reading about or doing research on C.S. Lewis and his works, this guide is designed for librarians who are trying to develop, maintain, or evaluate a collection on the topic.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Simulating the effect of risks on equity return for concession-based public-private partnership projects	[ "Partnership", "Equity capital", "Debts", "Rate of return", "Finance", "Simulation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a growing awareness of the benefits of involving private organisations in the provision and operation of public facilities and services. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) constitute an emerging project delivery approach that utilises the financial, technical, managerial and commercial strengths of private enterprises to attain a win-win-win scenario amongst the government, the business sector and end-users (Ng et al., 2007). Not only can rapidly increasing social needs be realised under a restricted fiscal budget, but researchers have also claimed that a significant reduction in cost and improvement in service quality can be achieved through \"innovation\" (Smith, 1999; Chege and Rwelamila, 2001). There are many successful PPP examples both in capital projects (Confoy et al., 1999; Victorian Government, 2001; Jefferies et al., 2002; Pietroforte and Miller, 2002; Vorster et al., 2002) and maintenance works (Delmon, 2000; Fortner, 2001; New South Wales Government, 2001).Amidst various funding, ownership and operational variances, the build-operate-transfer (BOT) approach and its variants are one of the most popular forms of PPP in the construction industry (Zhang and Kumaraswamy, 2001). Under this kind of concession-based PPP arrangement, the private partner (franchisee) is responsible for raising the required funding (usually in the forms of debt and equity) to meet the capital expenditure. While the proportion of debt is determined at the outset, the ultimate amount of equity to be injected to the facility/service may vary according to the risks (Akintoye et al., 2003). Acknowledging that any changes to the amount of equity could affect the franchisee's return, researchers have urged a close scrutiny of the equity amount (EA) (i.e. the actual amount of equity invested \"at the end of the day\", for example at the completion of construction) and the rate of return on equity (RRE) rather than relying purely on the conventional internal rate of return (IRR) method (Ho and Liu, 2002). Nevertheless, the broad risk profiles coupled with long-term uncertainties in PPP projects may affect the reliability of the best guess estimation of the two said indicators (cf. Ng and Xie, 2008). For example, additional equity may need to be pumped in by the franchisee in order to meet unforeseen circumstances, i.e. risks.This paper addresses the shortcomings of deterministic estimations by developing a proposal for a simulation model that aims to unveil the probability distributions of the EA and RRE. The results generated by the simulation techniques allow decision-makers to identify the impacts of various risks in a concessionary project involving private funding. By focusing on the major risk factors and analysing their impacts on the cash flow, one can predict the ultimate amount of equity required and the probability that the desired rate of return can be attained. The paper first explores the risks faced by private partners in concession-based PPP projects. This is followed by a description of the structure of the simulation model. To illustrate the concept and application of the simulation model, cases are established and results are presented to conclude this paper.\nRisk perspective of private partners: Figure 1 depicts the typical composition of a concession-based PPP project and the major participants involved, in which a concession agreement is formulated between the public agency and the franchisee, who may in turn be formed by an amalgamation of developer, construction company, financial institution, etc. While the majority of the capital expenditure will be raised by borrowing money from the bank, \"seed equity capital\" is required to launch the project (Merna and Smith, 1999), and the partners within the franchisee would be required to contribute to the equity required.Since the risks pertinent to the public agency, franchisee and debt provider could vary, it is necessary to analyse which party is bearing each of the risk items associated with a particular project. Kumaraswamy and Morris (2002) provided an overview of risks, roles and relationships in BOT-type mega projects with particular reference to Asia, while Kumaraswamy and Zhang (2002) discussed the risk assessment and management in BOT-type projects in China, with special reference to Hong Kong. Grimsey and Lewis (2002) claimed that public agencies prefer to evaluate the net present value (NPV) and IRR, while franchisees rely upon EA and RRE to establish the financial attractiveness of a scheme. The debt provider, on the other hand, would calculate the debt service cover ratios. It is obvious that the greatest risk to the commercial viability of a project is when the predicted revenues do not materialise. As a result, equity can be regarded as the most risky form of capital to an investor in a PPP project. This is why the evaluation of EA and RRE is of paramount importance to the franchisee.Major risks borne by the franchisee\nMethods for determining the equity amount: The net cash flow pattern of a concessionary project is typified by a relatively long period of cash outflow before a net cash inflow can be realised (Figure 2a). From the beginning of construction to the point when the cash flow reaches \"breakeven\" at the operation stage, equity capital and debt capital are required to settle the design, construction and the initial operation costs. Revenue would, however, be generated once the income exceeds the expenses. According to the final equity to debt ratio, one could argue that part of the net cash inflow is generated through debt with the remainder being drawn from the equity. From Figure 2a, decision-makers can visualise the decomposition structure of the debt and equity and that of the return on debt and equity. Therefore, if the decomposition structure is known in advance, the analyst can discount the equity portion of cash outflow to calculate the NPV of equity, and the RRE could also be calculated by bringing the total net cash inflow generated by the equity to the present value.Despite that, the results generated by the above method are deterministic, which could only lead to the production of \"point\" estimates for the EA and RRE. The deterministic method would only be feasible and reliable should the estimated cost and forecasted revenue be relatively certain. Nonetheless, the cash flow estimations and the breakeven point could be influenced by risks, and the decomposition structure can be changed according to different cash flows scenario (a possible scenario of actual cash flows is show in Figure 2b, where the broken line shows the initial cash flow evaluations). Therefore, simple \"point\" estimation techniques cannot truly reflect the complex implication of risks.The other way to predict the likely amount of equity to be injected in the project is by referring to the value of a company. As pointed out by Ho and Liu (2002), a concession-based PPP project can be conceived as a self-sufficient enterprise with its company value at completion time tc being denoted by Vtc, which is defined as the market value of this project at time tc and measured by discounting all the forecasted net cash flows whatever they are positive or negative during the operation period. As shown in Figure 3, the franchisee could determine Vtc by summarising the discounted cash flows from year tc to the end of the concession period T. According to Copeland et al. (2000), the discount rate used to calculate Vtc could be the risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital (WACC), which is a weighted average cost for a company to raise money through different types of capital, including equity and debt.Based on this concept, one can devise a simplified method to calculate the EA. Assuming that a company could be sold at the price of Vtc, then after repaying the total principal plus interest on debt as denoted by Dtc, the remaining value is the EA represented by Etc. The equity payoff is contingent on the project value V and the debt value D. If the project value V is greater than the debt, the equity that the franchisee can obtain would equal to V-D. Otherwise, the franchisee would have nothing to gain. Consequently, the EA at time tc and the RRE mE can be computed by equations (1) and (2): Equation 1 Equation 2 While this is also a \"point\" estimation method, decision-makers do not have to establish the annual decomposition structure of equity and debt in advance. Therefore, equations (1) and (2) are feasible to be incorporated in the proposed simulation model after adjusting Etc to cater for the difference in the equity investment E0 in various simulation cycles to reflect the influence of risks on construction cost. Once the construction cost has gone beyond the budget, three financing options can be adopted by the franchisee to fill the gap:1. increase the equity capital;2. borrow from some short-term debtor; and3. increase the above two types of capital concurrently to keep their initial ratio.Here, we assume the franchisee would take the first option, whereby the debt principal would be fixed and the remaining cost would be fulfilled by the equity capital in each simulation cycle. In other words, the total equity investment would be larger than E0 in the case of cost overrun. In these circumstances, the EA and RRE could not be used directly because they would not reflect the profitability of total equity investment if we still use E0 in those two equations. Therefore, some adjustments must be made, which include:* calculating the equity's NPV (denoted ENPV hereafter) instead of Etc by discounting E0, Etc and the incremental equity investment to the beginning of concession period; and* computing the RRE based on E0, Etc and the incremental equity investment based on the method used for IRR calculation.Using this approach to calculate the ENPV and RRE in each simulation cycle, one can formulate the simulated frequency distributions for these two indicators. The results of simulation should be more useful than the \"point\" estimates as the franchisee can perform probability analyses and make decisions with due reference to the \"what-if\" scenarios.\nSimulation model: Having determined the method for establishing the EA, a suitable simulation technique should be identified to analyse the uncertainty and risks in capital investments. Being a powerful and commonly used technique for risk analysis (cf. Hertz, 1964), Monte Carlo simulation was considered as appropriate in modelling the risks involved in concession-based PPP projects. In fact, this technique was adopted in analysing the risks associated with completion time in construction projects (Cagno and di Milano, 2001). Furthermore, Malini (1999) developed a Monte Carlo simulation model to analyse the risks inherent in BOT-type projects based on the simulated values of NPV and IRR. Proceeding along Malini's direction, a model to simulate the annual cash flow and to generate a simulated distribution for the EA and RRE was devised. The concept of the proposed simulation model is illustrated in Figure 4.Model input\nCase study: Initial data and analysis\nConclusions: Since concession-based PPP schemes are usually of a sizeable scale and involve a long operation period, conventional financial feasibility studies become inadequate to support the consortium to make such a crucial investment decision. The rates of cash inflow and outflow could be influenced by various risks, and the expenses pertinent to the design, construction, operation, management and maintenance of the facility may vary. It is therefore necessary to keep decision-makers well informed of the possible outcomes should the incomes and expenses be altered by the risk factors that may for example affect the number of users significantly. The simulation model presented in this paper provides an alternative approach for the franchisee to establish the risk distributions of attaining a desired NPV and return rate in a concession-based PPP project under the influence of risks.Through a case study, it has been illustrated that the proposed simulation model could provide the franchisee with two significant consolidated pieces of information:1. the mean and standard deviation of the ENPV and RRE; and2. the risks that exist when ENPV and RRE are evaluated.By referring to the cumulative probability of the simulated distributions for these two indicators, the confidence level with which the equity investors can recover their investment and gain a desired return rate can be established. Based upon the risk attitude of the investor, decision-makers can then decide whether the scheme should be pursued or not. The model can help decision-makers to adjust their investment strategies, for example by increasing or reducing the amount of debt or changing the investment proportion during the construction period, etc. By altering the model inputs, various what-if scenarios can be generated before a proposal is submitted.Overall, this paper provides an approach from the point view of the private investors to analysis the risks on their equity, instead of on the entire investment. This is more important and practical when they consider participating in a large-scale PPP project that involves a lengthy operation period. The model combines the risk simulation methods being employed in the business sector, instead of simply based on conventional sensitivity analysis. This can enhance the private sectors' capabilities in risk prediction and hence provide extra financial safeguards to investors when developing infrastructure facilities using the concession-based PPP approach. The model outputs can, therefore, support private investors in making appropriate decision as to whether to go ahead with the investment and to determine the most suitable arrangement for equity investment.Further improvements to the proposed simulation model can be made to provide other useful information to the franchisee as may be desired. For instance, analyses on how sensitive the ENPV and RRE are to the tariff regime, concession period, risk-adjusted WACC could well provide useful supplementary information to the model users and decision-makers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Unlike other project delivery options, a much larger proportion of risks is borne by the private partner in public-private partnerships, since a large amount of equity is needed to finance the scheme. As a result, it is of paramount importance for the franchisee to analyse the possible project outcomes with due reference to potential risks affecting cash inflow and outflow. The purpose of this paper is to address the shortcomings of deterministic estimations by developing a proposal for a simulation model that aims to unveil the probability distributions of the equity amount and return on equity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this paper, a simulation model is developed to establish the probability distributions of these two indicators under the influence of risks. A simple case study is also presented to illustrate the concept and application of this model.\nFindings: - The simulation model can generate the probability distributions related to the net present value of the equity component as well as the rate of return on equity.\nPractical implications: - The method proposed in this paper should help the private investors analyse the amount of equity to be injected to the project and its corresponding return rate.\nOriginality/value: - By referring to the probability distribution, an equity investor can establish whether they can recover their investment and gain a desired return rate. Based upon the risk attitude of the investor, decision-makers can then decide whether the scheme should be pursued or not.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Antioxidant potential and health relevant functionality of Bauhinia purpurea L. seeds	[ "Food", "Diet", "Diabetes", "Crops", "Bauhinia purpurea seeds", "Total free phenolics", "Antioxidant activity", "α‐amylase inhibition", "α‐glucosidase inhibition", "Indigenous processing methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To exploit the health-promoting functionalities of locally available, culturally acceptable, and economically viable indigenous foods, it is important to focus on their bioactive compounds. Among the various bioactive substances, phenolic compounds are the most abundant antioxidants in commonly consumed foods of plant origin.Research priorities on type II diabetes have become more prevalent, particularly with the increased emphasis on its management through dietary practices. Considering the diet-linked challenges of type II diabetes, consumption of foods rich in a-amylase and a-glucosidase inhibitors, the so-called \"hypoglycemic foods,\" are receiving more attention (Kwon et al., 2006). Acarbose, miglitol and metformin are certain examples of commercially available enzyme inhibitors used for the clinical treatment of type II diabetes. However, these drugs are reported to cause several side effects such as abdominal distention, flatulence and possibly diarrhea (Ranilla et al., 2008). Hence, at present, there is an increasing interest among food scientists to find an alternative natural source of a-amylase and a-glucosidase inhibitors with potential antioxidant activity - without any side effects - for the dietary management of type II diabetic patients.In this context, the seeds of Bauhinia purpurea (L.) (commonly known as purple camel's foot seeds), having admirable nutritional value received more attention. It is a small ever-green and avenue tree, widely distributed in most of the tropical countries, including Africa, Asia and South America. It is widespread throughout India, especially in the forests of the Deccan plateau, Western Himalayas and Khasi hills (Janardhanan et al., 2003). It exhibits many favourable agrobotanical traits such as fast vegetative growth, early flowering, a high fertility index with high pod weight (8.3 g) and number of seeds per pod (8-9) (Rajaram and Janardhanan, 1991). Cooked young pods and seeds are eaten by certain ethnic groups, particularly the Garo, Naga, Khatkharis and Gonds living in northeastern and central India (Vijayakumari et al., 1997, 2007). The seeds of this legume are a rich source of crude protein (256-272 g/kg), crude lipid (123-143 g/kg), fiber (46-58 g/kg), carbohydrates (510 g/kg), minerals and essential amino acids (Rajaram and Janardhanan, 1991; Vijayakumari et al., 1997).Although, the nutritional value of seeds and certain medicinal properties of B. purpurea plant are reported earlier, till date there is no data available regarding the antioxidant activity and potential to inhibit the type II diabetes related enzymes (a-amylase and a-glucosidase). Further, information regarding the effects of traditional processing methods, which are being followed by Indian village people, on the total phenolic content of B. purpurea seed and its health-relevant functionality has not been addressed. It is very much important to investigate the antioxidant as well as type II diabetes related enzyme inhibition properties of B. purpurea seeds initially through in vitro methods to assess its possible health benefits in human body upon consumption and also to promote it as a dietary ingredient in the supplementary food to be formulated with therapeutic value for the dietary management of type II diabetics. Hence, the present study was carried out to analyze the total free phenolics content, antioxidant and type II diabetes related enzyme inhibition properties of methanolic extract of raw and traditionally processed B. purpurea seeds.\nMaterials and methods: Chemicals\nResults and discussion: Total free phenolics\nConclusion: The recorded remarkable antioxidant property in terms of reducing power, inhibition of ss-carotene oxidation, DPPH and superoxide radical scavenging activities indicate that incorporation of B. purpurea seeds in the regular diets could improve the antioxidant status of human beings. Moreover, starch digestive enzymes inhibition characteristics of B. purpurea seed could offer a good strategy for the potential type II diabetes management. A significant correlation was recognized between the phenolic content and antioxidant properties, while it was lacking in the case of enzyme inhibition characteristics. Considering the effect of different indigenous processing methods, soaking+cooking was exhibited an ample loss of total free phenolics, antioxidant and enzyme inhibition properties. Open-pan roasting showed significant level of reduction of total free phenolics and also drastic losses of antioxidant as well as starch digestive enzyme inhibition characteristics, and thus considered as most aggressive practice. Alternatively sprouting+oil-frying was noticed to extensively increase the total free phenolics content as well as antioxidant properties of B. purpurea grain.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the antioxidant and type II diabetes related enzyme inhibition properties of phenolic extract from raw and traditionally processed Indian under-utilized food legume grains, Bauhinia purpurea L. (purple camel's foot seeds).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methanolic extract was prepared from the raw and traditionally processed seed samples and analyzed for total phenolic content. The antioxidant activity and type II diabetes related enzyme inhibition properties of methanolic extract and their relationship with phenolic content was demonstrated.\nFindings: - The methanolic extract of raw seed materials contained total free phenolic content of 14.45+-1.62 g catechin equivalent/100 g extract DM. Encouraging levels of ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP, 1203 mmol Fe[II]/mg extract), inhibition of ss-carotene degradation (45.37 percent) and scavenging activity against DPPH (63.60 percent) and superoxide (42.14 percent) radicals were exhibited by the raw samples. Further, it also recorded 80.69 percent of a-amylase and 63.74 percent of a-glucosidase enzyme inhibition characteristics under in vitro starch digestion bioassay. Sprouting+oil-frying caused an apparent increase on the total free phenolic content, antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacity, while soaking+cooking as well as open-pan roasting treatments show diminishing effects.\nOriginality/value: - Identification of suitable processing technique offered a good strategy to improve the phenolic content and health relevant functionality of B. purpurea seeds, which could be envisaged as a dietary ingredient in the formulation of supplementary foods with therapeutic value to manage type II diabetic patients.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Voluntary disclosure of intellectual capital information by deposit money banks in Nigeria	[ "Intellectual capital", "Voluntary", "Disclosure", "Human capital", "Deposit money banks" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The dynamism of the corporate environment and the need to achieve a sustained competitive advantage have greatly encouraged a shift of emphasis from physical capital to knowledge capital. Currently, in \"knowledge-intensive\" firms such as banks, insurance companies, telecommunication firms and hotels, the quantum of physical assets are no longer overemphasized; instead, the main focus is on knowledge assets. These knowledge assets, as intangible assets, especially those created within a given entity, have been identified as one of the critical sources of competitive advantage of firms. As noted by Wu and Sivalogathasan (2013), the globalization of markets has forced firms to enhance their competitive advantage through internally generated intangible assets, which cannot be easily mimicked by competitors.As intangible assets, intellectual capital (IC), which includes research and development (R&D), information technology (IT), corporate image, customer relations, business collaborations, employee competencies, has supplanted physical and financial capital as the most significant value driver for modern enterprises (An, 2012). It, therefore, presupposes that the physical capital and financial capital together with intellectual capital assets of an organization create value for that organization. However, the measurement of IC has continued to pose considerable problems to the management of organizations. Apart from measurement-related difficulties, the issue of IC reporting requirements has not reached consensus, leading to its under-disclosure in corporate annual reports. This situation has led to varying disclosure practices among different firms and across various industries, both nationally and supranationally.Lack of agreement on how to measure and report IC has been responded to by firms through engaging in deliberate IC disclosure (ICD) practices. This situation has led some of these firms to produce \"stand-alone\" reports on intellectual capital while, in some cases, such reports are lacking. Specifically, there have been renewed interests in voluntary disclosures of intellectual capital by the firms that have prioritized the need for reduction of information asymmetry which, according to Corcoles and Ponce (2013), is capable of heightening the informative situation of stakeholders.No doubt that there have been many empirical investigations of ICD practices in many companies (Bozzolan et al., 2006; Li et al., 2008; Campbell and Rahman, 2009; Hidalgo, Garci'a-Meca; Marti'nez, 2011). The results of such studies revealed that there is an overall increase in IC information reporting among companies. The practice underscores not only the quest for reduction of information asymmetry by these companies but also the need to showcase their knowledge assets to their numerous stakeholders.It has been noted that the primary empirical studies on ICD have, in the past, focussed on many countries such as \"the UK (Campbell and Rahman, 2009) , Ireland (Brennan, 2001), the USA (Abdolmohammadi, 2005), and also in some emerging markets such as Malaysia (Goh and Lim, 2004), Sri Lanka (Abeysekera and Guthrie, 2005), Singapore (Abeysekera, 2008), India (Kamath, 2017) and China (An and Davey, 2010)\" (Abdul Rahman, 2013, p. 2). There have been studies on ICD in Egypt (Ismail, 2011), Saudi Arabia (Razak et al., 2016), Spain (Corcoles and Ponce, 2013) and France (Boujelbene and Affes, 2013). However, the extant literature on prior studies on ICD indicates that such studies are either scarce in Nigeria or under-reported, especially concerning the deposit money banks (DMBs). Consequently, there is a need for a study to bridge this gap. The study explored the extent and quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria. Precisely, the study ascertained: the extent of ICD in the annual reports of DMBs in Nigeria, the quality of ICD in the annual reports of DMBs in Nigeria and the difference amongst the extent of disclosures of human, structural and relational capital to bridge the gap.Our findings indicate that the extent of disclosure of IC information in the annual reports of DMBs in Nigeria is significant and, on average, higher than the quality of IC information disclosure, which is insignificant and low. The findings further show that while the most disclosed of the components of IC by these banks is the relational capital, human capital is the least disclosed.The paper contributes theoretically and empirically. First, whereas signalling theory has been employed to explain the incentive to disclosure of IC information by the banks, proprietary cost theory was employed to explain the disincentive to disclose IC information. These explanations have further validated both theories as robust frameworks for explaining IC reporting behaviours. Second, empirical contribution is made by exploring: the extent of ICD in the annual reports of DMBs in Nigeria, the quality of ICD in the annual reports of DMBs in Nigeria and the difference amongst the components of the extent of ICDs.The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 introduces the literature review and hypotheses development, followed by the methodology in Section 3. Then the discussion of results is presented in Section 4, conclusions and recommendations and implication of the study are in Section 5.\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 Intellectual capital information disclosure\n3. Methodology: The study was conducted in two phases. Consequently, a multi-method approach was adopted. The choice of this method was informed by the need to ensure that, at first, the indicators of IC used to develop ICD index were selected based on the opinions of respondents regarding their relative importance in indicating the respective IC components before a content analysis was conducted using the index in the second phase of the study. 3.1 Phase (A)\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive analysis\n5. Conclusion: This paper explored the extent and quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria and, by so doing, extends existing literature on ICD. It is found that while some of the banks disclose some of the indicators of IC, some do not. This implies differing IC reporting behaviours of the DMBs in Nigeria. It also suggests that ICD practices differ across Nigerian DMBs.The result of the analysis also indicates that whereas the extent of disclosure of IC in the annual reports of the studied banks is significant, the quality of ICD is insignificant. The outcome of this study further shows that whereas the extent of disclosure of IC in the annual reports of the studied banks surpasses the quality of ICD, the most disclosed of all the categories of IC is relational capital during the studied five-year period. This suggests that banks in Nigeria deem satisfaction of such category of their stakeholders as customers, suppliers and shareholders more critical than any other group. The result of this study further suggests that the quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria is low and that the most disclosed of all the categories of IC, similar to previous studies, is relational capital.The research has four practical implications. First, the inclusion of the employee health and mental state, which, as indicated by extant empirical literature, was not done by previous studies on ICD, would serve as strong basis for regulators and policymakers to consider the need for its inclusion by banks in their future consideration of IC reporting guidelines for banks or other non-banking organizations in Nigeria and beyond. This is because it is only a physically and mentally healthy person that can add value to any organization. Thus, any measure of the value of human capital or disclosure of its variables would not make complete sense if the health aspect is ignored. Second, the finding that the quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria is low could serve as a robust empirical basis for policymakers and regulators in Nigeria to develop future ICD regulatory guidelines for banks operating in Nigeria as well as push for improvement in the quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria. Third, insights gained from the results of this study would not only help such stakeholders of the banks as shareholders, lenders, stock market operators and so on to evaluate the extent to which the banks' management seeks to ensure that information asymmetry is reduced, as stated by signalling theory, but to assess the quality of IC reporting practice by Nigerian banks. Fourth, knowledge gained from the outcome of this research would enable management of DMBs in Nigeria to formulate IC reporting policy that would improve their ICD practice.This investigation has four limitations that have made an extension of the study very necessary. First, only five-year period was studied. Future studies on ICD should increase the number of study period from five years to at least 20 years to be able to achieve a result that would serve as strong basis for generalization. Second, the study concentrated on 12 DMBs in Nigeria. Further studies on ICD of DMBs in Nigeria should increase the number of banks to more than 12 by including those other banks excluded on account of unavailability of their annual reports on their official website for the five-year period studied. Third, the study concentrated on banking sector. To permit generalizability of results, future research studies on ICD should extend this study to include such other sectors as manufacturing, insurance, IT and so on, with a view to not only ascertaining the extent and quality of ICD in the annual reports of firms in these sectors but to also comparing them with the outcome of this study. Fourth, in coding the IC indicators, pictures disclosed in the annual reports were excluded. So, further studies on ICD by banks should include disclosed pictures in the annual reports during coding procedures.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and quality of voluntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) by deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a survey of 271 informants and content analysis of the annual reports of 12 DMBs in Nigeria. The data collected were analysed using factor analysis, t-test, Friedman test for related sample and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.\nFindings: The findings of this paper indicate that the extent of ICD is significant and higher than the quality of ICD, which is insignificant, with the extent of disclosure highest in the relational component of intellectual capital. It also shows that a significant difference exists amongst the extent of human capital, structural capital and relational capital disclosures, with the significant difference traced to the difference between the extent of disclosures of relational capital and human capital.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results can be interpreted across the target sample where the study covers a five-year period and 12 DMBs in Nigeria. However, the study provides a robust empirical basis for policymakers and regulators to develop future ICD regulatory guidelines for banks and push for improvement in the quality of ICD by DMBs.\nOriginality/value: No previous studies of voluntary ICD have considered the extent and quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria. Further, this study shed the light on a new human capital item related to \"employee health and mental state\"; therefore, it extends and supports the previous empirical literature on ICD.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Hello Kitty livery is just a glimpse of Hello Kitty experiential package: The effects of celebrity-themed aircraft on purchase intention	[ "TPB", "Air transportation", "Celebrity worship", "Celebrity-themed aircraft", "Intention" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Facing intense competition in an industry that serves over three billion consumers annually for both business and pleasure (IATA, 2013), airlines strive to differentiate themselves to increase their perceived value (Woodruff, 1997). Among all marketing programs, celebrity-themed aircraft campaigns are a remarkable and distinctive one (Budd, 2012). In 2013, two leading airlines in Taiwan, EVA Air and China Airlines, and British Airways, adopted celebrity-themed aircraft campaigns as part of their experiential marketing strategy to retain and expand their customer base. Since 2011, EVA Air has launched six aircrafts featuring six unique Hello Kitty-themed liveries as the major part of its Hello Kitty flying experience campaigns. EVA Air's objective of featuring Hello Kitty liveries on its aircraft was to offer its customers a distinctive flying experience, by making flying fun and memorable. Through this campaign, EVA Air hopes to gain more brand awareness, expand the market share and increase its profit margin. The difference between the celebrity-themed aircrafts and the typical airlines' standardized-themed aircrafts lies within the power of celebrities that can help reform consumers' flying experiences (Ekdahl et al., 1999; Bel and Jordan, 2005). To enhance the flying experience of the consumers who fly with a celebrity-themed aircraft, an airline often offers complementary on-board items that reinforce the theme such as boarding passes, baggage tags, dining utensils, lavatory papers and duty-free collectibles.\n2. Conceptual framework and hypotheses: Experiential marketing\n3. Methodology: The proposed model was built upon the TPB framework. In addition to the TPB's three original antecedents, namely \"attitude\"; \"subjective norms\"; and \"perceived behavioral control,\" we included \"celebrity worship\" as another direct antecedent of the dependent variable \"intention.\" However, besides being a direct antecedent of the dependent variable \"intention,\" \"celebrity worship\" was a moderator in this proposed model, too. \"celebrity worship\" moderated the relationships between attitude and intention; subjective norms and intention; and perceive behavioral control and intention. All variables, including attitude (Ajzen, 1991; five items), subjective norms (Ajzen, 1991; five items), perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991; four items), intention (Ajzen, 1991; three items), and celebrity worship (McCutcheon et al., 2002; 17 items), were adopted from extant literature, and were slightly modified to fit the context of the study. All items adopted in this study were measured using five-point Likert-type scales.\n4. Findings and discussions: The sample size (n=636) was considered sufficiently large for model specification and further analysis. Even with the multigroup analysis of involvement (159/159) subgroups (Chen and Chang, 2008), the sample size remained sufficient (Sichtmann, 2007). The overall fit of the model was reasonable. Simultaneous maximum-likelihood-estimation procedures were used to examine relationships among attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention, and celebrity worship (Table II).\n5. Conclusion: In addition to demonstrating how attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and celebrity worship can exert their influences on purchase intention in the context of celebrity-themed aircrafts, the results also revealed the moderating effects of celebrity worship on the relationships between attitude and intention, subjective norms and intention, and perceived behavioral control and intention. The results of this study have important implications for commercial airlines to follow.\n6. Contribution: Air transportation connects businesses to global markets and enables access to a diverse array of time-sensitive products. While more than half of all global tourists travel by air, understanding the role of the airline industry in bringing together families and friends, bridging cultures and spreading ideas is a complex task. The airline industry enriches lives and spreads prosperity simultaneously. However, although the airline industry has achieved high growth rates, it suffers from intrinsically low-profit margins (Hanlon, 1999; IATA, 2013) and high volatility in returns (Tugores-Garcia, 2012).\n7. Managerial implications: To increase revenue and profit growths by attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, airlines have to update and add attractive marketing programs to customers through their services. Prior research shows that airlines should identify the traveling purpose of consumers and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. For example, while leisure tourists might gravitate toward low fares and ease of connection, business tourists might gravitate toward superior ground and in-flight services, frequent connections and on-time services (Browne and Toh, 1997). In contrast to previous studies, this study classifies the sample population according to their behavioral characteristics, i.e. level of celebrity worship. Since high celebrity worship consumers are relatively more willing to interact more closely with airlines' celebrity related marketing mix (i.e. product, price, promotion and place), their evaluation of the airlines' celebrity-related investment is far more important than their low celebrity worship counterparts. On the other hand, low celebrity worship consumers may be less responsive to celebrity related marketing efforts invested by airlines. This explains why the relationship between perceived behavioral control and intention to purchase is not significant in the low celebrity worship scenario.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Celebrity-themed aircraft campaigns have become a popular tactic that airlines adopt as part of their experiential marketing efforts. The campaign aims at differentiating their airline from competitors through delivering and/or reforming consumers' flying experience. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on data collected from Taiwan, this study investigated the influence of four antecedents - attitude toward celebrity-themed aircrafts, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and celebrity worship - on purchase intention.\nFindings: The results revealed significant positive relationships between all four antecedents and purchase intention. Furthermore, celebrity worship changed the relationships between attitude, subjective norms, as well as perceived behavioral control and intentions.\nOriginality/value: This study investigates the potential role of marketing program of airlines with a fictional celebrity-themed aircraft that offer immersive flying experience to consumers. The experience starts on the outside where consumers can see the aircraft painted with celebrity-themed livery, and on the inside where the consumers get to experience many celebrity-related products, services, and spirit. According to the results, airlines can influence consumer purchase intention of the airlines services by offering consumers more celebrity related services, including celebrity-themed aircraft, customized products, and limited-amount souvenirs for their patronage. The results also demonstrate that celebrity worship has a significantly moderating effect on consumers' perception on purchase intention. The results can vary depending on the intensity of celebrity worship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What national governance codes say about corporate culture	[ "Organizational culture", "Corporate culture", "Organizational climate", "Informal governance", "Corporate governance code" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 2017, the revised Dutch corporate governance code for listed companies in The Netherlands came into force. One of the major changes in this code, compared to the previous version of 2008, was the introduction of the concept of culture. The revised code requires companies to create a culture that promotes desired behaviour within the corporation. It states that the executive board \"should adopt values for the company and is responsible for the incorporation and maintenance of the values within the company\" (p. 26). The code also states that both the executive board and the supervisory board are responsible for \"stimulating openness and accountability within the organ of which they form part and between the different organs within the company\" (p. 24). The introduction of the concept of culture in the Dutch corporate governance code raises the questions of why corporate culture is a relevant corporate governance concept and to what extent other national corporate governance codes currently incorporate this concept.\nTowards a model of the incorporation of corporate culture in codes: Based on the literature on corporate culture, we can distinguish among three dimensions of corporate culture that are relevant in assessing national corporate governance codes (from here on: \"codes\"). These dimensions, which we will successively discuss, are layers of corporate culture, alignment of corporate culture in the organization and the board's roles regarding corporate culture. We will then present these three dimensions and their operationalization as the dimensions of our model for studying how corporate culture is addressed in national codes.\nMethod: To assess the extent to which national codes have incorporated corporate culture, we used a sample of the most recent 88 national codes. We retrieved the codes from the website of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) (http://ecgi.org) on 31 July 2017 and used only the codes for which an English translation was available at that time. The 88 codes that we analysed are shown in the Appendix. Our sample consisted of national codes for both listed or unlisted for-profit companies. The sample represented 32 OECD and 56 non-OECD countries, 27 members and 61 non-members European union states and 21 members and 67 non-members of the Commonwealth.\nResults: The assessment of all codes in each dimension and at each level of incorporation is presented in Table 2, whereas the Appendix shows, in alphabetical order, the level of incorporation per dimension per national code. Below, we illustrate all levels per dimension with an example, identify the national codes with advanced incorporation in all dimensions (\"best practice\" codes) and conclude by analysing the overall level of incorporation for each code and cluster of codes.\nDiscussion and conclusion: We began this article by suggesting that research on the content of national corporate governance codes could benefit from addressing corporate culture. The extant research on the content of these codes mainly focusses on formal mechanisms. Although several authors in the field of corporate governance acknowledge the role of the board in managing corporate culture (Haspeslagh, 2010; Soltani, 2014; Webley and Werner, 2008), no research on the various dimensions of corporate culture in national codes has been conducted to date.\nAvenues for future research: This study opens avenues for future research. The first avenue concerns the extension of our sample. Some codes such as the national code of Israel were neither available in an English translation nor published on the website of the ECGI. This lack of data availability restricted our sample, which means that our results do not present a complete overview of all national codes. It may, therefore, be of great value to include more national codes to obtain a better understanding of the extent to which national codes incorporate corporate culture.\nPractical implications: Our study has at least four implications for practice. First, our study relates to the generic development of national codes. Our results highlight that national codes that incorporate corporate culture at a high level differ in three ways from national codes with lower levels of incorporation. Higher-level codes describe norms as a layer of corporate culture, include employees' alignment with corporate culture and describe more roles of the board regarding corporate culture. The implication for practice is that these three differences show the general direction that lower-level codes can take to increase the level at which they incorporate corporate culture.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to provide insight into the current incorporation of corporate culture in national corporate governance codes. The authors identify three levels of incorporation for each of the following three dimensions: layers of corporate culture (the \"what\"), the alignment of corporate culture in the organization (the \"for whom\") and the board's roles regarding corporate culture (the \"how\").\nDesign/methodology/approach: To assess the extent to which national codes have incorporated corporate culture, the authors used a sample of 88 national corporate governance codes. The authors performed a content analysis of these codes using a computer-aided text analysis program. The first step involved the identification of dimensions of corporate culture per national code. These dimensions were then assessed based on three levels of incorporation. Finally, the authors ranked national codes with similar levels of incorporation per dimension and aggregated the dimensions.\nFindings: The data show that five of the 88 national corporate governance codes that the authors analysed scored the highest level in all three dimensions of corporate culture.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to provide an overview of what national corporate governance codes say about corporate culture. The authors address two gaps in the existing literature. First, the authors develop and use a richer conceptualization of how corporate culture can be addressed in national corporate governance codes. Second, the authors analyse these corporate governance codes worldwide.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Good Medical Practice should improve patient safety	[ "Medical practice", "Patient care", "Primary care", "Regulation", "Safety measures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nSafe practice is part of regulation: Patient safety throughout the world is the subject of much debate, research and concern. In the UK, greater awareness by the general public means that healthcare providers need to reassure all users of the service that they are taking risks and patient safety seriously. Several public inquiries over the years (including The Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry (Kennedy, 2001), The Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry (Redfern et al., 2001) and the Shipman Inquiry (Smith, 2004) have led to the publication of recommendations aimed at improving healthcare and thereby safety. These recommendations are inextricably linked with the performance and functioning (or dysfunction) of healthcare workers and the structure and function of the professions' regulators.In particular, the General Medical Council (GMC), tasked with the registration of all doctors who practise in the UK, has come under scrutiny. The GMC has been making great strides to modernise and develop its position with respect to the regulation of the medical profession. Many of its publications have been re-vamped and the standards of practice that underpin the medical profession undoubtedly enhanced. Widespread consultation over the development of new standards is now commonplace, and the GMC's (2006) most significant document for the modern doctor, Good Medical Practice (GMP) has been updated. The new version came into effect on 13 November 2006.\nThe rudiments of safe practice: Good doctors are defined by the GMC (2006, para. 1) as follows:Good doctors make the care of their patients their first concern: they are competent, keep their knowledge and skills up to date, establish and maintain good relationships with patients and colleagues, are honest and trustworthy, and act with integrity.The guidance sets out in reasonable detail what is expected from every good doctor and reaffirms that failure to follow the guidance will place registration at risk.It is also apparent from the new GMP that the language of the professional codes of practice is gradually and necessarily shifting towards a greater emphasis on the patient-safety agenda. Making the care of the patient the prime concern has been a mantra virtually unchanged in principle since the Hippocratic Oath. The nuances that have gradually been built in with respect to GMC standards reflect modern healthcare and the roles and responsibilities of doctors in a changing healthcare environment.\nRaising concerns about patient safety: Those involved in managing risk and with managerial responsibilities for patient safety will be heartened to see the explicit guidance given in GMP about the doctor's duty when patient safety is at stake. Whereas these principles have perhaps been implicit in previous editions of GMP, there is now no room for doubt:If you have good reason to think that patient safety is or may be seriously compromised by inadequate premises, equipment, or other resource, policies or systems, you should put the matter right if that is possible. In all other cases you should draw the matter to the attention of your employing or contracting body. If they do not take adequate action, you should take independent advice on how to take the matter further. You must record your concern and the steps you have taken to try to resolve them (GMC, 2006, para. 6, emphasis added).The use of the terms \"must\" and \"should\" are explained by GMP as follows (GMC, 2006):\"You must\" is an overriding duty or principle.\"You should\" is used when we are providing an explanation of how you will meet the overriding duty.\"You should\" is also used where the duty or principle will not apply in all situations or circumstances, or where there are factors outside your control that affect whether or how you can comply with the guidance.\nGood Doctors, Safer Patients: The publication of the Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) consultation document, Good Doctors, Safer Patients (Donaldson, 2006) widened the debate about medical regulation in a health service where patient safety is seen as a problem. It is beyond the scope of this article to delve into the potential problems that could result if all the proposed changes are implemented. The public and many professional organisations have commented on the document as there are differing views surrounding the practicality of several of the recommendations. The Medical Protection Society has commented in full (MPS, 2006); one of the concerns identified is how each organisation will be able to provide a doctor with sufficient time, expertise and objectivity to act as a GMC affiliate to monitor performance, appraisal, adverse events and become involved in effective complaint management without further detriment to an overstretched service.\nConduct and performance of colleagues: What is particularly helpful, however, in the report is the strong acknowledgement by the CMO (who, incidentally, is a great advocate of patient-safety initiatives) that it is not just the poorly performing doctor who is responsible for lapses in safe care. Clinicians can take heart that \"Unsafe care can arise in two main ways: from human error in a weak system\" and from \"poorly performing doctors; both are important, but the risks posed by the former are many times greater than those posed by the latter\"(Donaldson, 2006, p. ix). In saying this, the CMO referred to one of his earlier reports, An Organisation with a Memory (Donaldson, 2000), which essentially put the framework in place for the establishment of the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) for adverse incidents.The extent of the problem in relation to adverse events can be appreciated from the data released in the quarterly reports from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), which tabulates in summarised format the number of incidents reported to the NRLS. In the most recent report, 788,188 incidents had been reported to the system by the end of June 2006 (NPSA, 2006). Limited scrutiny of the data as presented is interesting. It is impossible to imagine what tiny percentage of the 788,000 events reported represent the actions or omissions of individual poorly performing doctors as they varied from verbal and physical abuse, patient accidents and consent problems, to serious clinical incidents that led to patient death. Close analysis of these cases (if it were possible) is likely to reveal many systems problems and errors. Of those clinicians who are unfortunate enough to be involved in those cases reported, the majority are working to a standard that would, in most cases, not be censured by their registration body. The same would probably apply to most of the incidents involving nurses and other health professionals. There will, of course, be cases of grave concern contained within the series reported and it is to be hoped and expected that if competency and performance issues were found to lie at the root of the problem, these would be adequately addressed at local level.It is explicit in GMP that concerns about colleagues have to be dealt with in an effective and timely fashion. Thus, those who are involved in the investigation of adverse events or are otherwise party to events or information that may herald or demonstrate problems should act accordingly. The GMC (2006, para. 43) states:You must protect patients from risk of harm posed by another colleague's conduct, performance or health. The safety of patients must come first at all times.This is written as an overriding principle - doctor have no choice if they are to comply with their terms of registration.\nDuty to report: The NPSA freely admits that the data provided as part of the NRLS have to be considered with many provisos. Reporting rates are extremely variable, so the state of the nations' healthcare safety has to be assessed with caution. A high-reporting Trust, for example, may be safer than a trust reporting few incidents; thresholds for reporting vary with the same type of incident across different organisations and deaths may be notified but later found to be due to natural causes.At face value, primary care could be misconstrued as being extraordinarily safe, with just under 3,500 incidents reported by the end of June 2006. Those working in the field of primary care clinical risk know this historically to be an area of pathological under-reporting. The limited number of incidents reported - of which nearly 25 per cent appeared to be associated with medication problems - is a concern. Significant event audit is part of the GP contract; if each GP in practice (RCGP, 2006) during 2005/2006 had reported one significant event in that period, this would have generated at least 32,000 reports in primary care - ten times the number actually received.Good Medical Practice covers the duty to report incidents in paragraph 14:In particular, you must ... contribute to confidential inquiries and adverse event recognition and reporting, to help reduce risk to patients (GMC, 2006, para 14g, emphasis added).Many doctors will be found wanting in their apparent failure to report incidents that other health workers would have reported in their place.There have been several papers over the past decade exploring the apparent predisposition of doctors to under-report compared with other health professionals. The oft-quoted organisational cultural problems should now be diminishing as more Trusts strive to promote a fair blame approach. Anecdotal evidence unfortunately would suggest otherwise. While the NPSA (2007) details in its Annual Report several ways in which they have been involved in promoting patient safety, it remains to be seen whether their work with junior doctors to improve their awareness of patient safety has \"helped stimulate reporting of incidents by this group of healthcare professionals\". It is the author's experience, based on teaching sessions, workshops, risk assessments and general discussions with many junior doctors over a similar period, that there is a significant lack of awareness of the NHS patient-safety agenda, other than the much-publicised hand-washing campaign.\nConcerns about systems and processes: As mentioned earlier, the onus is on the doctor to raise awareness of situations where patient safety is, or may be, seriously compromised. Doctors are advised to do what they can to put the matter right and then draw it to the attention of relevant individuals or bodies. Whilst all members of the medical profession should know this, in practice it can be more difficult to effect, especially for a doctor who does not occupy a senior position. Risk-assessment exercises undertaken by clinicians unearth a multitude of concerns relating to patient safety, but they are not necessarily articulated as such. A risk assessment can be a powerful tool if used properly and the findings disseminated in a manner that is considered, well presented and objective. Sharing risks with others is essential - containing them can, on occasion, be more dangerous to both the professional and the patients. If a doctor can demonstrate flaws in the system (virtually all can) that, if allowed to continue, will pose a direct threat to the patient and, ultimately, professional wellbeing, it is not in his/her interests to withhold that information. The GMC overriding principles help the doctor in this way and should be used constructively to promote changes of practice, ways of working and, ultimately, complex healthcare processes for the patients' benefit.\nBeing open and honest with patients if things go wrong: Despite the best intentions of the significant majority who work in healthcare systems, things go wrong. The health professional - and particularly the doctor - often in difficult circumstances, must confront the issues. Considerable work is being undertaken to promote this approach. The NPSA (2005) published a safer practice notice in 2005 to assist organisations in being open when patients are harmed. The guidance provides simple steps for health-service managers and clinicians to work through to ensure that patients and those close to them are given appropriate, full and honest information together with an apology when an adverse outcome has resulted. The work draws on the experience in Australia, which in some areas has now introduced a mandatory requirement to approach open disclosure in an agreed way (NSW Health, 2006).No doubt with these approaches in mind, and building on the previous edition of GMP, the GMC has set out what is expected under these circumstances. Note again the way in which the principles are worded so it is clear what a good doctor must or should do (GMC, 2006, paras 30-31, emphasis added):If a patient under your care has suffered harm or distress, you must act immediately to put matters right, if that is possible. You should offer an apology and explain fully and promptly to the patient what has happened, and the likely short-term and long-term effects. Patients who complain about the care or treatment they have received have a right to expect a prompt, open, constructive and honest response including an explanation and, if appropriate, an apology. You must not allow a patient's complaint to affect adversely the care or treatment you provide or arrange.\nConclusion: In addition to the publication of GMP in November 2006, the GMC issued a press release in January 2007 in line with the publication of their key aims and objectives for 2007. Notably, within the five core aims of the Business Plan (GMC, 2007) there is a strong commitment to patient safety. If the GMC sets out its store in this way, the registered practitioner in the UK cannot act in a manner that contravenes the overriding principles to do no harm. Providing safe and effective healthcare is not easy, but it is essential.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - With the new emphasis on patient safety in the General Medical Council's revised guidelines on good medical practice, this article seeks to draw doctors' awareness to their duties in this regard.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This article looks at recent important publications relating to medical professionalism, paying particular attention to the patient-safety agenda. The main focus is on two key documents published in 2006 - the GMC's Good Medical Practice and the CMO's consultation document, Good Doctors, Safer Patients.\nFindings: - The article finds that attention to patient safety is considered an important aspect of good medical practice, yet there is evidence that the medical profession is lagging behind in embracing the concept of reporting adverse incidents. This is particularly apparent in the primary-care sector.\nPractical implications: - If doctors do not demonstrate a commitment to patient-safety initiatives, their registration may be at risk.\nOriginality/value: - This article highlights an aspect of the duties of a doctor that many in the medical profession may be unaware of.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Making inconsistent worlds: a conceptual framework for co-competition	[ "Segmentation", "Service dominant logic", "Co-creation", "Co-destruction", "Co-competition", "Online gaming" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.\" - Oliver Wendell Holmes\nA theoretical framework for co-competition: Although some co-creation behavior between consumers and the firm may be advantageous (Lusch and Vargo, 2014; Ramaswamy and Ozcan, 2014), our research is situated within the paradigm that views consumers with varying individual abilities and tendencies to co-create. Consistent with this paradigm, we suggest competition among consumers in an effort to create shared value for the firm may yield unfavorable outcomes. These outcomes are driven, in part, by such innate consumer characteristics as ability and proclivity (Griffith et al., 2006). We apply the concepts of proclivity and ability, which we define as predisposition toward co-creation and overall skill (respectively), as a way to describe the delineation among non-homogeneous groups and their relationships with the company. For instance, our data suggest that consumers' motive dispositions toward proclivity (dedication of time and resources) and ability (superior skills) interact in value creation to describe a process we call co-competition. This perspective, which dovetails with the tenets of SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2004), was recently used by Worthington and Durkin (2012) in a study of co-destruction of value in the retail-banking industry. We extend this perspective by exploring the underlying reasons that goals and perceptions differ across consumers. This question is pivotal in our comprehension of the role of subcultures in consumers' co-creation behavior. The gaming industry, via an MMORPG, provides an appropriate context for answering these questions, given our principal hypothesis, namely, varying levels of ability and proclivity lead to opposing goals in the development of a new product. This destruction of shared value leads to co-competition traits, which, in turn, lead to unfavorable outcomes for the firm (e.g. reduced subscriptions) (Figure 1).\nMethod: Naturalistic inquiry and the three objectives of qualitative research (understanding the constructs, the antecedents and consequences and consumer processes) offered by Belk et al. (2012), serve as the guiding philosophy in this study (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). In total, 13 in-depth video interviews (three female) were conducted with current subscribers of the MMORPG, World of Warcraft (WoW). Recruitment occurred on active public message boards, as well as within WoW itself. One researcher's connections within the community proved invaluable to accessing well-entrenched informants who have a significant relationship with the product. Recruitment of entrenched participants ensured they had adequate experience with the MMORPG genre. Purposive sampling was appropriate because participants were needed who shared broad similarities on criteria set forth in the research questions enhancing the credibility of our findings. Participants were broadly informed about the purpose of this study before the interviews to facilitate useful articulation of their own personal experiences. Priming participants allowed them to form a general story before the actual interview began, increasing the depth of the interview.\nResults: Informant interviews are interpreted below, first in terms of the personal and sociocultural contexts defining each informant's life, and then in terms of two identified critical factors: ability and proclivity within the product's virtual world. By categorizing these individuals across a high-low ability and high-low proclivity matrix, we are able to uncover the general rationale for the conflict between these subcultures. In WoW, these two subcultures refer to themselves as casuals and hardcores. The forces that created these two groups were the result of both internal causes, such as differences in their motives and goals for the co-competition process, along with external forces, such as a player's skill level and the time they have to dedicate to the game. The ability-proclivity matrix additionally allows us to assess these consumer groups on two critical dimensions where they delineate and helps explain that the dichotomous categorization of other players as either casual or hardcore does not hold when informants were asked where they categorized themselves. Moreover, it supports our proposition that the phenomenon of competition among subcultures of consumption occurs between non-homogeneous groups.\nCo-competition: Based upon the extant literature, as well as the interpretations of the phenomenon by our informants, co-competition can be defined as a phenomenon that occurs, during co-creation, between two or more groups with mutually exclusive goals generating collaborative friction (Tsing, 2011). Co-competition between consumers stems from the act of trying to co-create disparate products on the same development project. In our context, most communicative efforts from the players toward the firm exist on official forums, game community sites and unofficial forums, as well as fan-driven podcasts. As one informant suggests:\nAntecedents to co-competition: It is important to uncover potential antecedents, both internal and external, to co-competition that created the two distinct subcultures (casuals and hardcores). Uncovering how and why the formation of this dichotomy happened leads to key insights relevant to the context of this study and the phenomenon of co-competition.\nIdiographic analysis: We conducted an idiographic analysis to express the power and impact that the identified internal and external antecedents have on driving, and on potentially creating, a co-competitive environment. Next, four respondents were categorized based on their dichotomous observed level (either high or low) of ability and proclivity.\nOutcomes of co-competition: The outcomes of co-competition are similar to unfocused branding efforts, in that it offers a similarly disjointed product offering/brand promise, often resulting in serious negative consequences on the firm's financial standing. Study informants, coupled with data insights from Blizzard, indicate that when a company tries to appease both parties engaged in co-competition, two potential outcomes may occur: lopsided value or diluted value.\nImpact: Among our informants, attributions of negative experiences are more heavily weighted than attributions of positive experiences, further exacerbating problems resulting from co-competition. Interestingly, Clark explains that certain design decisions and game mechanics impact the way he plays and, when things do not go well, he assigns some of the blame to Blizzard. \"Sometimes you blame the company for letting something like that happen if, in fact, what you perceive is happening is actually happening.\" Admitting that these negative perceptions may be illusory, the impact is quite real to him. Furthermore, Clark concedes that positive feelings and associations developed during play are not attributed to the firm, while negative feelings and associations are. When asked whether he thanks the firm when something positive happens, Clark responded, \"If I make a new friend, I don't go, 'Thanks, Blizzard, for making me this great new friend'\".\nDiscussion and implications: While recent research shows a positive relationship between co-created value and consumer outcomes (Flores and Vasquez-Parraga, 2015), our study illustrates conditions in which outcomes vary when disparate groups of end users are involved in the co-creation process. Co-competition in a firm's product (goods and services) offering has led to sharply reduced consumption levels. Additionally, the firm's lopsided or diluted brand promises have left one or more target markets alienated at a given point in time. While SDL is an appropriate strategy for firms that offer goods (or services) consumed as a value-creating process (Vargo and Lusch, 2016), the current research shows how, in some industries, value creation between disparate groups may become a zero-sum game. We do not undermine SDL tenets but highlight boundary conditions that can occur when discordant consumer groups are involved in co-creation.\nSuggestions for future research: The authors suggest that in addition to examining post-production contextual issues, core dimensions within co-creation have been neglected. These dimensions have strategic implications for helping firms positively influence consumers' perceptions of co-creation processes and outcomes. For example, Haumann et al. (2015) suggested that co-production intensity (i.e. time and effort perceptions) negatively affects the level of satisfaction consumers feel toward the co-production process. However, their results are limited to standardized product kits and service devices. For specialized or customizable products and services, such as the MMORPGs described here, greater investments of time and effort by the consumer may have a different influence (Franke and Schreier, 2010). Regardless, value-enhancing and intensity-reducing communication strategies may still be useful marketing tools in reaching relational customer goals. Additionally, research in other contexts is encouraged to explore other dimensions of the co-competition phenomenon and co-destruction outcome. In other contexts, this phenomenon may be subject to various moderating forces which could impact the co-competition phenomenon and the co-destruction outcome.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of co-competition, within service-dominant logic, whereby multiple parties with mutually exclusive goals compete for the rights to co-create with a firm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Within the context of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, the paper uses a naturalistic inquiry approach guided by the core objectives of qualitative research provided by Belk et al. (2012). These objectives include understanding the construct of study, the antecedents and consequences of what is being studied and, finally, the process used by the consumer during the phenomena. Additionally, the results are presented within an idiographic framework.\nFindings: This study finds that co-competition arises when heterogeneous segments of consumers attempt different co-creation strategies with the firm, an overlooked dark side of co-creation and co-production of value. Additionally, the study finds evidence that co-competition may have led to co-destruction of value for both consumer parties and the firm.\nOriginality/value: The outcomes of this process could have significant financial and reputational impacts for the firm resultant from alienating both types of consumers competing for the rights to co-create. The conceptual framework established here provides a guide through which further investigation of co-creative forces can occur.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Trends of cost efficiency in response to financial deregulation: The case of Indian banks	[ "Allocative efficiency", "Data envelopment analysis", "Cost efficiency", "Indian banks", "Panel data Tobit analysis", "Quasi-fixed input" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Prior to the launching of financial deregulation programme in the year 1992, all the signs of financial repression such as excessively high-reserve requirements, credit controls, interest rate controls, strict entry barriers, operational restrictions, pre-dominance of state-owned banks, etc., were present in the Indian banking system. The policy makers introduced an impressive array of reforms in the post-1992 period with the objectives to get rid of the regime of financial repression and to promote a diversified, efficient, and competitive banking system. Deregulatory measures like lowering of statutory pre-emption, easing of directed credit rules, interest rates deregulation, and lifting of entry barriers for de novo private and foreign banks (FBs), etc., were undertaken to induce efficiency and competition into the banking system. Prudential norms related to capital adequacy, asset classification, and income recognition in line with international norms were also brought in place. For infusing sufficient financial strength to public sector banks (PSBs), the government not only recapitalized these banks, but also brought diversification in the ownership of these banks by allowing equity participation by private investors up to a limit of 49 per cent. Further, to impart a greater operational flexibility, the government backed off to a significant extent from behest lending and lending decisions were largely left to banks.\n2. Deregulation and CE: relevant literature review: There has been a vast empirical literature concerning with the effect of deregulatory measures upon the CE of the banking industry in developed economies (see Grabowski et al., 1994; Zaim, 1995 for US banks; Sathye, 2001; Neal, 2004 for Australian banks; Tortosa-Ausina, 2002; Maudos and Pastor, 2003 for Spanish banks; Hasan and Marton, 2003 for Hungarian banks; Girardone et al., 2004 for Italian banks; Gjirja, 2004 for Swedish banks; Christopoulos and Tsionas, 2001; Chortareas et al., 2009 for Greek banks; for a selection of examples). Though this literature is growing for developing economies, but is still relatively miniscule in volume. Note here that the empirical results are not always affirmative with the theoretical proposition that deregulation boosts competition in the banking industry which in turn improves efficiency.\n3. Banking sector in India: 3.1. Structure of Indian banking sector\n4. Methodological framework: As mentioned in the introductory section, this study uses DEA models to empirically estimate the cost, allocative, and TEs for individual banks. Using actual data for the banks under consideration, DEA employs linear programming technique to construct efficient or best-practice frontiers. In fact, a large number of linear programming DEA models (like CCR, BCC, slack-based measure models, etc.) have been proposed in the literature to compute efficiency of individual banks corresponding to different technical or behavioural goals (see e.g. Charnes et al., 1994; Cooper et al., 2007; Cook and Seiford, 2009). This study employs the input-oriented DEA models, which explicitly incorporate equity as quasi-fixed input, to compute cost, technical, and AE scores.\n5. Data and measurement of input and output variables: In computing the efficiency scores, the most challenging task that an analyst always encounters is to select the relevant inputs and outputs for modelling banks' behaviour. In the literature on bank efficiency, there is no consensus on what constitute the inputs and outputs of a bank and how to measure them (Casu and Girardone, 2002; Sathye, 2003). There are mainly two approaches for selecting the inputs and outputs for a bank: first, the production approach as pioneered by Benston (1965); and second, the intermediation approach as proposed by Sealey and Lindley (1977). Both these approaches apply the traditional microeconomic theory of the firm to banking and differ only in the specification of banking activities. The production approach treats banks as the providers of services to customers. The output under this approach represents the services provided to the customers and is best measured by the number and type of transactions, documents processed or specialized services provided over a given time period.\n6. Empirical results: 6.1. Trends in CE of Indian banking industry\n7. Conclusions: The Indian banking industry has been substantially deregulated over the last two decades, with entry restrictions for de novo private and FBs greatly relaxed, and the industry has followed interest rates deregulation, lowering of statutory pre-emption, easing of directed credit rules, diversification in the ownership of PSBs. By employing input-oriented DEA models that incorporate the quasi-fixed inputs, this study examines how the CE performance of the banking industry has been affected by these deregulatory changes. In particular, we empirically tested the basic underlined hypothesis that the CE of Indian banks will rise in the more liberal and competitive environment. The main finding of the study is that typical bank in the Indian banking industry wastes about 17.8 per cent of its costs relative to the best-practice bank. Interestingly, our estimate of 17.8 per cent average cost inefficiency is considerably lower than that of world's average of 27 per cent cited in the extensive survey of Berger and Humphrey (1997).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the trends of cost efficiency (CE) of Indian banks in response to financial deregulation programme launched in early 1990s. More specifically, the findings of this paper offer empirical testing of the basic underlined hypothesis that the CE of banks will rise in the more liberal and competitive environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study employs input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) models that incorporate the quasi-fixed inputs to compute the cost, technical, and allocative efficiency scores for individual banks. The unbalanced panel data spanning from the financial year 1992-1993 to 2007-2008 are used for obtaining efficiency measures. In addition, the panel data Tobit model has been applied to investigate the bank-specific factors explaining variations in the CE.\nFindings: The empirical findings pertaining to the trends of efficiency measures suggest that: first, deregulation programme has had a positive impact on the CE of Indian banks, and the observed increase in CE is entirely due to improvements in technical efficiency (TE); second, the ranking of ownership groups provides that public sector banks are more cost efficient along with the foreign than private banks; and third, there is a strong presence of global advantage hypothesis in the Indian banking industry. The results of post-DEA analysis reveal that size and exposure to off-balance sheet activities are the key determinants of CE. The results also support the existence of bad luck or bad management hypothesis in Indian banking industry.\nPractical implications: The practical implication of the research findings is that the financial deregulation programme seems to be successful in achieving the CE gains in the Indian banking industry. This explicitly signals that the cautious approach of banking reforms adopted by Indian policy makers has started bearing fruit in terms of the creation of an efficient banking system, which is immune to any sort of financial crisis, and resilient to both internal and external shocks.\nOriginality/value: The present study offers new evidence on the time-series properties of cost, allocative, and TEs of Indian banks. The DEA models used in this study explicitly incorporate the equity as a quasi-fixed input, which accounts for \"risk\" in the bank efficiency measurement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transforming the ROI of your graduate scheme	[ "Graduates", "Recruitment", "Employee turnover" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: There is currently much debate about whether or not a graduate recruitment and development programme can add value to an organisation. The Association of Graduate Recruiters optimistically argues that graduates have never been so valued, highlighting a 15.5 per cent rise in graduate level vacancies last year and a climb in starting salaries to an median average of PS21,000. But the growing dissatisfaction of many organisations that run graduate schemes as a resourcing and talent development tool tells a different story. Poor return on investment, high expenditure and major retention issues are just a handful of the problems that are becoming insurmountable for some organisations.\nThe \"return-on-investment\" (ROI) challenge for graduate schemes: Few organisations would regard their graduate schemes as a short-term investment or a cure-all to an urgent commercial problem such as improving customer satisfaction. Instead the perceived benefits tend to be long term - the primary goal being to cost effectively recruit and develop talented individuals for the future.Imagine a scheme with the profile as displayed in Table I.Most organisations can expect to break even on their investment after the individual has spent a year in a senior or strategic role - at the end of year five in this example. The return on investment for graduate recruits who remain beyond year six and year seven increases exponentially, as their organisational contribution and influence rockets and the cost of a lateral hire to replace them rises to around PS5,000 in direct costs alone.However, the Institute for Employment Studies reminds us that 86 per cent of graduate recruits will leave their organisation by the end of year three, long before the investment in their development has been repaid. This high churn rate stings every kind of organisation. Those with an outstanding reputation for graduate development, such as Proctor & Gamble or Microsoft, find that their graduates have an extremely high value in the marketplace and are at risk of predation. Those with graduate schemes which are less well managed or less prestigious find that their best graduates will quickly lose interest, using them as a stepping stone to access more attractive organisations in the same industry.Many graduates subscribe to a culture of phased employment. This may mean moving systematically from one organisation to the next to gain vital career and industry experience. Or it may be more contrasting, for example periods of \"binge\" working for one or two years at a time, followed by periods of world travel and alternative experience, possibly slotted alongside stints as a freelancer. The evolution of a new kind of work pattern is now being pioneered by those at the beginning of their career. Graduate development schemes must respond or put their long-term investment at risk.\nWhat's the case for continuing to invest?: In the light of the challenges highlighted, it is no surprise that a growing number of organisations are terminating or freezing their graduate schemes. However, the workplace trends which make graduate schemes a challenging investment, also make this kind of recruitment infrastructure more important than ever. Here are some of the reasons why graduate schemes can be pivotal to achieving commercial objectives.Growing talent for the future\nA new kind of graduate scheme: Manage and match expectations\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To encourage employers to challenge their current views on graduate recruitment and look at innovative ways of securing a return on investment in recruitment and training.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper critically reviews current models of graduate recruitment and development. It uses external research and the personal experience of the author to identify problems with current models and to suggest future improvements.\nFindings: - The paper finds that there are strong grounds for challenging employers' investment in graduate-training schemes, but that the schemes do have an important role to play for many organisations.\nPractical implications: - A series of suggestions is made which the author believes would lead to significant improvements in corporate return on investment in graduate schemes.\nOriginality/value: - The concept of looking at graduate recruitment in the context of the business and talent needs of the employing organisation. This paper will be of value to HR professionals and other senior managers who currently have a graduate recruitment and development scheme or who are thinking of introducing one.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge management: securing the future	[ "Knowledge management", "Data security", "Knowledge mining" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nPurpose: The concept of \"secure knowledge management\" is still in the embryonic stage as many organizations wrestle with information overload. While data and information management has been the focus of significant research in the information systems field, the focus on knowledge is relatively new. Knowledge management is increasingly becoming an integral business function for many organizations as they realize that competitiveness hinges on effective management of intellectual resources (Grover and Davenport, 2001).Information systems researchers are currently looking at knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing, but have yet to focus their attention on protecting and securing knowledge. Protection of knowledge has received little attention in the literature (Liebeskind, 1996; Bloodgood and Salisbury, 2001). Asllani and Luthans (2003) surveyed 307 knowledge managers about their job roles and found little or no evidence of security issues in their jobs; their primary role was focused on communication within the organization. King et al. (2002) surveyed 2,073 knowledge management practitioners using a three-stage Delphi study approach and found that security issues relating to knowledge ranked tenth among the respondents.If knowledge is determined to be the most important resource of the firm, then clearly the need to secure that resource must be a primary responsibility. Much of the delay in addressing secure knowledge management is the misconception that securing knowledge is similar to securing data and information. If knowledge is power and a source of competitive advantage (Salisbury, 2003), then there needs to be special attention given to securing knowledge and knowledge repositories within the firm to protect the core assets of the organization.Managing the data, information and knowledge within the organization as well as using it to gain a competitive advantage in an organization has developed into the field of knowledge management. Knowledge management essentially consists of processes and tools to effectively capture and share data as well as use the knowledge of individuals within an organization. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of information generated within companies due to the increase use of technology. Harnessing the information and knowledge contained within data warehouses is one method to achieve industry-leading performance (Matusik and Hill, 1998). Firms that develop and leverage knowledge resources achieve greater success than firms who are more dependent on tangible resources (Autio et al., 2000).The following sections will begin with an overview of the development of knowledge and then proceed to explain the emergence of the knowledge-based view. The essence of the knowledge-based view must be understood to appreciate the value of knowledge to the firm. The paper will then review security for data and information and look at why knowledge is different. In trying to protect knowledge, the dimensions of knowledge must be understood. The different types of knowledge require different secure solutions. Finally, the focus will turn to critical issues for research in the area of secure knowledge management. The emphasis will be on knowledge security and the development of knowledge management systems.\nApproach: Knowledge characteristics and the knowledge-based view\nIssues: Issues surrounding secure knowledge management\nImplications: Model for future research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Increased focus on knowledge within firms has not addressed the security implication. This paper aims to examine the implications of knowledge management for security.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This approach highlights the competitive advantage of knowledge with an emphasis on security. This paper reviews security for data and information and explores the dimensions of secure knowledge systems. The emphasis is on knowledge security and the development of future knowledge management systems.\nFindings: - This paper finds that there exists a general lack of focus on security in the knowledge management framework - both in a research setting and in practical applications. Knowledge is different from information and data and needs special consideration in firms.\nResearch implications/limitations: - Designers of knowledge management systems can implement levels of security for different types of knowledge that reside within the organization. The concept of \"secure knowledge management\" has provided nascent models to address the management and protection of knowledge resources. Information systems researchers that are investigating knowledge have to include the protection and security of knowledge.\nOriginality/value: - Knowledge management has moved to the forefront of both the research and corporate agendas. Harnessing the information and knowledge contained within firm data warehouses is one method to achieve competitive advantage. Various types of knowledge require different solutions. Designers of knowledge management systems can implement levels of security for different types of knowledge that reside within the organization. Future developments need to address securing the knowledge of a corporation, its most valuable asset.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Online retailing, product classifications, and consumer preferences	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Internet", "Electronic commerce" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent statistics and data indicate that the online retailing industry has just started to generate robust sales. Consumer online spending on retail goods in the fourth quarter of 2004 is estimated by Jupiter Research to be $21.6 billion, up 18.7 percent from 2003. The prediction is supported by the August 2005 report of e-commerce retail sales released by the US Department of Commerce. The report indicated that e-commerce retail sales were $21.1 billion in the second quarter of 2005. However, this figure comprises a little over 2 percent of the total retail sales in the USA. These statistics indicate that the online retail sales continue to increase at a slower pace than expected. With this concern, marketing professionals and academics alike are still searching for the factors that influence consumer preference for shopping on the Internet (Jayawardhena, 2004).With this concern, prior published research studies on online consumer behavior have mostly focused on the characteristics and orientations of the Internet shoppers (Geissler and Zinkhan, 1998; Donthu and Garcia, 1999; Li et al., 1999; Korgaonkar and Wolin, 1999; Lynch et al., 2001; Bellman et al., 1999), their online purchase intentions (Vellido et al., 2000; Vijayasarathy and Jones, 2000; Rowley, 1996), loyalty to certain web sites (Lynch et al., 2001; Reichheld and Schefter, 2000), consumer value of online shopping (Keeney, 1999), speculations of product classes and attributes that are preferred the most on the Internet (Klein, 1998; Phau and Poon, 2000; Asch, 2001; Kwak et al., 2002), and consumer perceptions of various risks concerning online retailing (Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997; Tan, 1999; Bhatnagar et al., 2000). However, little is known about selling products on web sites of different types of store-based and pure plays and how important various e-tailer attributes are to consumers in the context of different types of Internet retailers (pure plays, discount store and prestigious department store e-tailers).This research study first tests whether consumer online shopping preference differ based on the product type irrespective of online retail store type. Second, the interaction effects of online retail store type and product category on preference for shopping online are also tested. Third, hypotheses testing leads to a discussion to identify what attributes consumers think are important to them when purchasing goods from the prestigious department store e-tailers, discount store e-tailers, and pure plays. The study is a part of ongoing and programmatic efforts to study how different types of products, different types of e-tailers, in different settings and study samples affect patronage. The next section reviews the pertinent literature to develop specific hypotheses tested in the study.\nHypotheses: Product influence\nMethodology: The first stage survey and sample\nData analysis: A first step in the analysis was to assess whether the survey instrument captured the 11 attributes of Internet retailer as expected. A principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was performed on the 50 Internet retailer attribute statements to examine their discriminant and convergent validity as well as their reliability Chronbach's alphas. The analysis initially produced ten components. After eliminating a total of nine items that have low reliability and convergent validity, eight components (Table VI) were obtained with eigen values greater than 1, and 71 percent cumulative variance explained.The items expected to load separately on information services and customer service converged on the same component, which was named information services since the items were closely related to information services, as could be considered a part of customer service. Similarly, the items expected to load on social class appeal and Internet retailer reputation loaded on one dimension, named IR reputation.The items of the economic utility component were eliminated because the two items, \"Using the e-tailer, I find competitive prices\" and \"The e-tailer allows me to comparison shop,\" loaded on convenience and information services components, respectively. Because of the semantic ambiguity of these items, they did not have face validity, or discriminant and convergent validity. The third item of economic utility component, \"Using the e-tailer, I find real bargains\" had a very low loading (0.434). Therefore, the three items of the economic utility component were deleted. The two remaining items, \"I use the IR because it is free of sales tax\" and \"I use the IR because of free shipping\" were loaded high on economic utility, but were deleted because of the lack of reliability with only two remaining items loaded on the component. Overall, economic utility items did not display convergent validity.Some of the items such as \"Using the IR, I feel like a careful shopper,\" \"E-tailer salespersons respond to e-mails quickly\" did not have a high loading, (0.348) and (0.431), respectively, or face validity. The former loaded on merchandise assortment and the latter had a low loading. Therefore, both items were eliminated. The item, \"The IR is in business for a long time\" loaded on information services rather than IR reputation. In addition to their low loadings, because there were many items loaded on information services component, \"The IR is in business for a long time\" and \"E-tailer salespersons respond to e-mails quickly\" items were eliminated. Similarly, the item, \"The e-tailer web site downloads fast\" was expected to load on the convenience component, but loaded (0.510) on security/privacy. This item was also eliminated due to lack of face validity.Thus, the analysis confirmed the presence of eight Internet retailer attribute dimensions labeled as follows:1. perceived value (6 items);2. information services (8 items);3. convenience (5 items);4. order services (5 items);5. Internet retailer reputation (5 items);6. security/privacy (5 items),7. merchandise assortment (4 items); and8. home shopping (3 items).\nHypotheses testing and results: Product type\nDiscussion and conclusion: This study finds that consumer preference to shop online significantly differ based on the product type. Consumer preference to shop online for search products was the highest among the four product categories. Preference to shop online for experience-1 products was significantly higher than experience-2 products and credence products. However, there was not a significant difference in preference between experience-2 and credence products. Consumer preference to shop online is the highest for search products because consumers can easily obtain the product attribute information. The implication from this finding is that e-tailers should increase the amount of relevant product attribute information for experience-2 and credence products. In addition, by providing third party reviews about products and satisfaction ratings with e-tailers, online retailers can reduce consumer risk perceptions toward e-tailers (Bhatnagar et al., 2000; Girard et al., 2002).An additional finding of this study is that consumer preference to shop online does not significantly differ across e-tailer types when controlled for product categories. This finding implies that the three types of e-tailers do not have a significant advantage over each other unless they compete based on the product category. This inference is supported by the statistically significant interaction effects of the product types and the two online retail store types (prestigious department store e-tailers and pure plays as well as discount store e-tailers and pure plays) on consumer preference to shop online.Because the findings of this study reveal that online retail store type per se does not matter to consumers, but it does with the effect of the product category, e-tailers need to focus on competing based on the factors such as product category, relevant product attribute information, and important retailer attributes. The effect of product category on consumer retail store choice is also supported in the consumer patronage behavior literature (Korgaonkar, 1982; Korgaonkar and Moschis, 1989).The findings from testing hypotheses 5 through 8 indicate that certain Internet retailer attributes are more important to online shoppers than others. Information Services being ranked the highest implies that online retailers should emphasize providing comparison guides for shoppers, third party reviews and evaluations about product attributes, access to a knowledgeable salesperson, information about product availability and search functions. The second highest ranked Internet retailer attribute, Perceived Value, implies that ease of exchange and return of the products, selling dependable and quality products with good value for the money as well as taking responsibility by e-tailers for the merchandise they sell are important attributes to online shoppers. Furthermore, for Perceived Value attribute variable, online shoppers perceived some significant differences among the online retail store types. For instance, for prestigious department store e-tailers, this attribute was more important than both discount store e-tailers and pure plays. Therefore, prestigious department store e-tailers can gain a competitive advantage by emphasizing the services and attributes mentioned above.One important finding is that online shoppers perceived statistically significant differences in Security and Privacy attribute among the online retail store types. This is consistent with the relationship between privacy and online shopping hypothesized by George (2004). For prestigious department store e-tailers, security and privacy attribute was significantly more important to online shoppers than for pure plays and discount store e-tailers. This finding implies that prestigious department store e-tailers are expected to keep shoppers' information confidential, provide a secure web site for credit card purchases, keep their promises for their offerings, and provide a close-up image of the products with detailed product information. These attributes may especially be important to affluent customers who shop online from prestigious department store e-tailers. Similarly, the Convenience attribute became more important for prestigious department store e-tailers than for discount store e-tailers and pure plays. In this case, those web sites that are easy for shoppers to surf and find the items shoppers are looking for provide the convenience, time and effort savings shoppers are seeking.Furthermore, the Order Services attribute was more important for prestigious and discount e-tailers than pure play e-tailers. Therefore, more brand and price conscious online shoppers who prefer to shop from prestigious and discount store e-tailers may expect to be able to call an 800 number to place orders easily with their credit cards, or cancel an order, and trace the shipping progress of their orders.The Internet Retailer Reputation attribute was more important to online shoppers for pure plays and discount store than prestigious department store e-tailers. Therefore, discount store and pure plays may benefit from increasing their reputation by offering discounts for customer referrals, encouraging word-of-mouth recommendations, and having links to well-known search engines.Merchandise Assortment was ranked more important for prestigious department store e-tailers than pure play and discount store e-tailers. This finding suggests that online shoppers expect prestigious department store e-tailers to carry many brands, rare products, latest styles, and wide selection.In conclusion, the present study finds that product type has a significant effect on consumer preference to shop online. Although online shoppers generally do not perceive significant differences among the three online retail store types, when product categories are taken into consideration they exhibit a preference to shop from a particular online retail store type. They also perceive different levels of importance of Internet retailer attributes for Security and Privacy as well as Perceived Value attributes. Furthermore, the importance rank of each Internet retailer attribute varies across the three online retail store types. The findings are consistent with those of the traditional in-store and non-store-based retailer types studied empirically in the past.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To investigate if consumer online patronage is influenced by product category and online store type.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Building on the prior work in this area by the authors and other researchers the study collected data in two phases to investigate the study hypotheses.\nFindings: - The study results suggest that consumers' online patronage is differed based on product type. Interaction effects of the online stores and product type were significant too. Additionally, the rank order of importance of the Internet attribute varied among the three types of online retailers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study results should be replicated in other markets. Future studies may also include a variety of different types of online outlets to improve the conclusiveness of the findings reported in this study.\nPractical implications: - The results should be of interest to the online retailers in choosing the types of merchandise and services to emphasis in the retailers marketing program.\nOriginality/value: - The paper should be of interest to academicians as well as practitioners as it contributes to the small but growing literature in the area of online retailing. It adds to the literature on the product classification paradigm as well as offers practical guidelines for managers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Inter-industry job mobility in the knowledge economy in Finland	[ "Knowledge", "Finland", "Inter-industry mobility", "High technology", "KIBS" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In knowledge-driven economies, economic development and technological progress are highly dependent on the accumulation and diffusion of knowledge. The high-tech (HT) sectors and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBSs) are essential aspects of what is known as the knowledge economy. The emergence of the knowledge economy, which demands that people spend more time maintaining and renewing their human capital over the course of their working career, has had a significant effect on job mobility in both the internal labor market (through in-work transitions, multi-skilling, multi-tasking, etc.) and the external labor market. Moreover, the globalization of the economy, and the resulting pressure on employers to more rapidly adapt the workforce to changes in aggregate demand, has increased turnover in the labor market (Korpi and Mertens, 2004). Due to the increasingly rapid spread of knowledge, the demand for low-skill labor is decreasing in favor of more educated and highly skilled workers (Muffels and Luijkx, 2008; Lee et al., 2010). It is assumed that the mobility of highly educated and innovation-intensive workers between firms and industries acts to ensure the diffusion and circulation of knowledge, in turn increasing overall knowledge and innovation (see e.g. Almeida and Kogut, 1999; Breschi and Lissoni, 2003; Cooper, 2001; Feldman and Audretsch, 1999). Moreover, it has been suggested that for firms whose operations are strongly knowledge intensive, a steady inflow of skilled workers is crucial (e.g. Power and Lundmark, 2004; Saxenian, 1994).\nGrowth of HT and KIBS sectors in Finland: Structural changes toward knowledge economy have highlighted the role of knowledge intensive sectors - the HT and KIBS. HT sectors are characterized by innovative activity, strong R&D intensity, a high proportion of \"technology-oriented\" personnel, high-technology content (patents, licenses and know-how) and leading-edge products or services (Glasson et al., 2006). In this study, HT sectors include both high-technology and medium-high-technology fields, based on the OECD classification system (see Appendix 1).\nPrevious studies on labor mobility: Although the topic of labor mobility has been examined in several studies, the topics of inter-industry mobility and worker flow toward knowledge-intensive sectors in particular have been less frequently studied. Studies by Virtaharju (2001), Ilmakunnas and Maliranta (2005) and Virjo et al. (2007) focussed on the characteristics of labor mobility in Finland. Virtaharju (2001) analyzed the mobility rates of workers over time (in 1987-1998) and between various sub-groups (based on labor market status, the sector and size of the workplace, age and educational level). He concluded that the mobility of highly educated workers was higher in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector than in other sectors. Mobility tended to be equal for men and women or slightly greater for men than for women, was highest among younger workers, increased with education level and decreased with the size of the workplace. Ilmakunnas and Maliranta (2005) examined worker turnover and its determinants using plant-level data that combined information on plants and workers. Their results showed, for example, that high-wage plants had low turnover, whereas high turnover was connected to firms with large within-plant variation in wages. Moreover, turnover was negatively correlated with a worker's age, and education had a U-shaped relationship with the inflow of workers but did not have a significant effect on outflow. According to the estimation results by Virjo et al. (2007), young, highly educated and newly graduated workers changed industries most frequently. The study also revealed that industry-specific inflow and outflow of workers were closely tied to each other.\nModeling and variables: In this study, the Finnish census data were used in the estimations. The data comprised a 7 percent sample of individuals residing in Finland in 2001 (approximately 360,000 individuals). The data maintained and updated by Statistics Finland provide information on individuals' personal and household characteristics, as well as the regional characteristics of the districts where they live and work.\nResults and discussion: Tables III and IV present the coefficients and their significances as well as the marginal effects of the bivariate probit model[6]. The correlation coefficient, r, is positive and significant, which indicates a positive selection. This implies that mobile workers have unobservable characteristics that make those individuals more inclined to transfer to the HT/KIBS sectors.\nConclusions: Our study seeks to contribute to the understanding of the inter-industry mobility of workers, paying special attention to the mobility of skilled workers and the potential for knowledge spillovers. In addition to ascertaining whether mobile workers differ statistically from those who are not mobile, this study provides a new perspective by investigating whether workers who move into the HT and KIBS sectors differ from those who move into other industries. It has been stated that labor mobility is particularly beneficial for knowledge-intensive firms (see, e.g. Aslesen et al., 2008; Power and Lundmark, 2004; Saxenian, 1994).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate inter-industry labor mobility, paying special attention to workers who move into high-tech (HT) sectors or knowledge-intensive business services (KIBSs). This study inquires whether skilled workers are mobile and whether the characteristics of mobile workers support the effective transfer of knowledge across industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Census data representing 7 percent of Finnish residents were used. The micro-econometric estimation method with correction of sample selection bias was applied.\nFindings: The results show that young workers are the most mobile, whereas mobility decreased for those with previous work experience, higher education and higher income level. These findings indicate that the highly skilled workers are not necessarily the most mobile, a trend that may weaken the effectiveness of knowledge spillover. However, on average, highly educated workers move into KIBS sectors more often than to other sectors, and HT sectors attract workers who have higher incomes, which may indicate that their skills are highly valued. As a result, knowledge spillovers may emerge. The knowledge spillovers resulting from job mobility are concentrated in large growth centers that have universities.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a new and topical viewpoint to the mobility literature by focussing on skilled workers and their movement toward the HT and KIBS sectors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Angry young men and women: How to understand reactions to strong supervisory behavior	[ "Abusive supervision", "Entitlement", "Personality", "Anger", "Managerial psychology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: Portrayals of superiors in film or on television are rarely positive. Think about it for a second. The cliche of the boss or supervisor is of an aggressive male, barking orders at employees, showing barely any humanity and never satisfied by anything his charges do for him. Alternatively, there is the stereotypically \"hard-assed\" woman boss who is similarly unyielding or sometimes the other end of the spectrum is used, and a boss is shown to be slightly deranged or so ineffectual as to be rendered irrelevant by their subordinates.\nBlind leading the blind: So what does the copious literature on leadership tell us about this? Well, for supervisors there is a good deal of research on \"abusive supervision\", which can be defined as the subjective perceptions of employees as to the degree of hostile behavior exhibited by their supervisor. While this does not include physical contact, it is perhaps telling that there is both a lot of research and stereotypical portrayal of this negative type of supervisor in the media.\nThe power of four: In analyzing subordinates' behaviors, Brees et al. (2016) decided to look at four characteristics that they believed could mitigate in favor of reporting of abusive supervision. These personality traits were very specific, and were identified and defined as follows:\nPositive results, negative feelings: What the researchers wanted to test was whether these four traits did affect the way employees reported abusive supervision - and perhaps unsurprisingly they found that they did on all four counts. On the academic side, what this means is that the authors have successfully challenged an assumption in many other studies that abusive supervision was solely down to the supervisor, and did not take into account the dispositions of their subordinates. Whether it is academic or in practice, it is perhaps self-evident that it takes two to tango; nevertheless, this is an important finding for the researchers in this study.\nComment: The deep understanding given to any manager after reading the article \"Abusive supervision: subordinate personality or supervisor behavior\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Portrayals of superiors in film or on television are rarely positive. Think about it for a second. The cliche of the boss or supervisor is of an aggressive male, barking orders at employees, showing barely any humanity and never satisfied by anything his charges do for him. Alternatively, there is the stereotypically \"hard-assed\" woman boss who is similarly unyielding or sometimes the other end of the spectrum is used, and a boss is shown to be slightly deranged or so ineffectual as to be rendered irrelevant by their subordinates.\nPractical Implications: Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Changing principals' leadership through feedback and coaching	[ "Coaching", "School leadership", "Instrumental variables", "Learning-centered leadership", "Randomized design", "Teacher feedback" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As the focus of educational reform increasingly centers on school-level performance, research and policy attention have turned to the quality of principals as a potential pivot point for school improvement (Robinson, 2007). Belief in the primacy of effective school leadership has been expressed by, among others, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who states \"there's no such thing as a high-performing school without a great principal [...] You simply can't overstate their importance in driving student achievement, in attracting and retaining great talent to the school\" (Connelly, 2010, p. 35). Yet there is a perceived lack of well-qualified leaders who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to improve student performance (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009). There are two mechanisms by which we might improve the quality of school leaders: first, selection, consisting of a combination of dismissing low-performers and improving the quality of individuals applying for and hired to administrative positions and second, development, of the capacity of existing principals. This paper focusses on the latter option: improving schools by building the leadership skills of current school leaders.\nThe role of feedback in leadership development: Over several decades, the term feedback has been articulated in many different ways. Hattie and Timperley (2007, p. 102) define feedback as \"information provided by an agent (e.g. teacher, peer, book, parent, self, or experience) regarding aspects of one's performance or understanding [...] feedback is thus a consequence of performance.\" In order to inform goal setting and to direct behavioral change, feedback must contain meaningful information that leaders perceive to be both valid and reliable (Portin et al., 2009). Multisource feedback, a feedback approach popularized in the private sector, is composed of a leader's self-assessment as well as assessments from subordinates, peers, and/or superiors (Moore, 2009). The integration of subordinate feedback in the multi-source process facilitates communication (Tornow and London, 1998) and serves as a validity check (Smither et al., 2005). Furthermore, by using subordinate feedback, leaders can acknowledge their practices (e.g. Hesketh et al., 2005) and improve overall performance (Walker and Smither, 1999; Kluger and DeNisi, 1996).\nCoaching: Even though feedback is essential in improving leadership, it alone may be insufficient to change one's behavior (Cannon and Witherspoon, 2005). Leaders need adequate support in order to interpret feedback correctly and change their behavior (Alicke and Sedikides, 2009). Coaching can help leaders reflect adequately on their particular experience, which few leaders find easy (Bloom, 2004). Peterson and Hicks (1996) define coaching as a \"process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and become more effective\" (as cited by Feldman and Lankau, 2005, p. 841). Also, researchers noted that \"[c]oaching is now emerging as one of the most significant approaches to the professional development of senior management and executives\" (Gray, 2006, p. 475). That is in part why at least 59 percent of major companies currently offer coaching (London, 2001) and 70 percent of organizations prefer coaching as a major leadership development (Zenger and Stinnett, 2006). These promising findings not withstanding, the empirical literature provides little evidence as to the duration and dose of coaching required to be effective. Since leadership coaching in the private sector tends to be focussed on those individuals with substantial motivation and promise, it is unclear how the returns to coaching may differ when coaching is available to all leaders or assigned to struggling or novice leaders.\nIntervention: This section describes the study design, participants of the study, feedback collection and reporting, and the leadership-coaching model. This study uses a randomized experiment to investigate the impact of feedback and coaching intervention on urban principals' leadership behavior. The research presented here is part of a larger study that was constructed using a delayed treatment design, where principals receive feedback only for one year and the next year principals receive both feedback and coaching. This design allowed all participants to engage with one year of feedback and one year of feedback coupled with leadership coaching.\nMeasures: It was during year 2 that \"action items\" were added to the LCL feedback surveys to collect data regarding the dependent variable in this study. In contrast with the global LCL items, these action items were designed to represent specific, concrete behaviors that leaders may engage as a result of receiving feedback and/or coaching that are aligned with instructional leadership tasks. For example, for the ratings of effectiveness of LCL concepts of the VALED, such as data-based decision making, the action items asked about more pointed specific leadership actions or behaviors in response to a particular area of instructional leadership (see Table I). Some of the action items referred to overall use of the feedback, such as setting goals. The psychometric properties associated with their scaling were developed using factor analyses.\nCoaching sessions: Principals' freedom in scheduling coaching sessions resulted in notable variation in the number of coaching sessions each principal received[3] (see Figure 3). In the second year of the project, from which our data are drawn, treatment principals averaged eight coaching sessions, though this number ranges from a minimum of five to a maximum of 14. To account for this variation in dose, we define treatment in our analysis as the number of coaching sessions each principal received rather than as a binary variable representing assignment to the treatment group.\nAnalytical strategy: In this paper we have set out to identify the impact of a feedback and coaching intervention on principal action. We rely on multilevel factor analysis of teacher survey responses to both identify and measure latent domains of principal action: one we descriptively label PLD, and the other TID. Barring any outside threats, a simple regression correcting for multiple observations on each principal would be an adequate analytic approach. However, two validity threats preclude using this approach. First, treatment consisted of coaching sessions that were arranged, in part, by principals. Therefore, while assignment to treatment was randomly determined, the actual treatment dose may be partially endogenous. When principals have influence regarding the treatment dose, an endogenous relationship is introduced between treatment and outcomes. It is easy to imagine a scenario where ineffective principals may also be less likely to meet with coaches; such a scenario would induce an upwards bias on the treatment effect. To mitigate this threat we use an instrumental variables (IV) approach where assignment to treatment (which was randomly assigned two years prior, at the start of the project) is the excluded instrument. The logic of this approach is that variation in assignment is uncorrelated with the number of coaching sessions undertaken by treatment principals (Angrist and Pischke, 2008; Murnane and Willett, 2010). The two-stage least squares models are shown below:\nResults: The analytical results pertaining to the effect of treatment on actions related to PLD are presented in Table V. Model 1 presents naive OLS results, model 2 presents the two-stage least squares IV approach, model 3 is a naive OLS model that includes school climate, leadership measures, and dummy variables for the wave of data collection, and model 4 replicates model 3 with the addition of the IV.\nDiscussion: This study has been motivated by a need to provide school leaders with an iterative, sustainable, and efficient mechanism to integrate formative feedback with changes in leadership practices. Feedback reports serve as a discrepant event that in turn stimulates cognitive dissonance in the principal (Sapyta et al., 2005). Under this framework the actions taken by the principal are initiated in order to resolve the dissonance. Coaching serves two functions in this process: to facilitate dissonance and to direct/motivate subsequent actions.\nConclusion: As there are very few random experiments studying interventions with school principals, this paper provides initial insights into the study of feedback and coaching. Providing meaningful feedback through principal assessment, and helping principals to adequately interpret feedback through coaching, are viable tools to improve leadership practice. This study addresses the gap in the literature by both measuring the quantitative impact of feedback and coaching and providing preliminary evidence to support their combined efficacy. Where the coaching literature provides little evidence regarding the dose of coaching, this analysis shows that eight to ten coaching sessions (roughly once per month) may be adequate to induce behavioral change. We have also provided evidence that principals who voluntarily engage in more coaching sessions are more likely to change their behaviors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In this study the authors use longitudinal data from a randomized experiment to investigate the impact of a feedback and coaching intervention on principals' leadership behaviors. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 52 elementary and middle school principals (26 receiving teacher feedback, 26 receiving feedback and coaching) were randomized into a year-long feedback and coaching study. Measures of leadership actions were collected from principals and teachers during the fall, winter, and spring. The authors use instrumental variables approach to examine the impact of treatment.\nFindings: Behavioral change may take longer than is presented in this study, which implies that these findings represent a lower-bound. As an intervention leadership coaching is costly and this research does not explore alternatives to help principals make feedback data actionable.\nPractical implications: It is unlikely that providing school leaders with feedback alone will induce behavioral change. Other systems and supports - such as leadership coaching - are needed to help principals make sense of feedback data and translate data into actionable behaviors.\nOriginality/value: Few leadership studies use exogenous variation in treatment conditions to examine leadership outcomes. This study builds upon our causal knowledge of leadership behaviors and presents a viable intervention to improve school leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Addressing the effect of workers' remittance on economic growth: evidence from MENA countries	[ "Institutions and institutional analysis", "Economic growth", "Financial development", "Remittances" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: An important but underestimated source of foreign currency and largely ignored in the past, worker's private transfers or worker's remittances by international migrants to their family in the country of origin. They attract more attention because of their increasing volume and their impact in recipient countries. In 2005, they reached US$188 billion, which is equivalent to the double of public aid amounts received by emerging countries (Gupta et al., 2007). In 2009, worker's remittances were nearly three times the amount of official aids almost as large as foreign direct investment flows to developing countries World Bank (2011). According to the same reference, remittance flows are expect to reach more than US$440 billion (of which US$325 billion were allowed to developing countries).\n2. Country features and remittances trend in MENA countries: As a focus, we shed light on MENA region that refers to Middle East and North Africa. In our case study, our sample includes North Africa countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt) and West Asia countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey). MENA countries are a heterogeneous sample including different economics and resources level. However, in spite of apparent diversities among countries, numerous features like history, culture, religious and language relate MENA region. We exclude Cooperation Countries Gulf (CCG) from our analysis due to particular economic attribute of this sub-region, as worker's remittances represent an important source of outflows rather than inflows in CCG countries.\n3. Literature surveys and empirical debate on remittances and growth: Economic growth has been always a prior topic in macroeconomic debate. While empirical researchers shed light on different sources of growth such as the key role of human and capital investment (Solow, 1956) the capital account openness (Honig, 2008) as well as the role of financial development (Klein and Olivei, 2008) among others. There is a little attention to workers' remittances flows as an important source of external financing and therefore a catalyst of economic growth in emerging countries. However, the data issue contribute to the lack of knowledge among empirical analysis on workers' remittances.\n4. The econometric model and methodology: This section introduces the econometric techniques used in our empirical analysis in Section 5. First, the pooled mean group (PMG), the mean group (MG) and the dynamic fixed effect (DFE) estimators are considered to investigate the remittances - growth relationship. Second, the IV estimation technique with GMM option developed by Baum et al. (2003) is used to examine the conditional remittances-growth relationship.\n5. Empirical results: In this section, we initially present the PMG, MG and DFE estimations results of the effect of remittances on economic growth. We then discuss factors driving the conditional remittances-growth relationship using the IV technique with GMM option.\n6. Conclusion: Using a sample of 12 MENA countries over the period 1984-2011, this study aims first to explore the short-run and the long-run relationship between remittances and economic growth. Second, we address how the local financial development and institutional environment influences a country's capacity to take advantage from remittances. While we use the PMG, MG and DFF techniques of estimation to examine the long- and short-run relationship between remittances and economic growth, the IV technique with GMM option developed by Baum et al. (2003) is used to study the conditional remittances-growth relationship (in order to solve the endogenity problem of remittances).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of remittances on economic growth in MENA region. More precisely this study tries first to explore the short-run and the long-run relationship between remittances and economic growth. Second, the authors address how the local financial development and institutional environment influence a country's capacity to take advantage from remittances.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The panel data unit-root test as well as the panel data co-integration is used for the purpose of the long-run remittances growth relationship and the IV technique with GMM option is adopted to study the short-run link.\nFindings: This paper provides empirical evidence that remittances have a positive effect on economic growth in the long run and a negative effect in short run. The short-run effect of remittances on economic growth is conditional. In fact, it depends in the levels of financial development and institutional quality, respectively.\nPractical implications: As practical implications, policy interventions, to improve the functioning of governance institutions, enforcing regulation and political stability, enhancing financial system and socio-economic environment are also crucial for increasing the benefit effects of remittances.\nOriginality/value: The research is an extension of previous evidence in two ways; the authors have examined the long-run and short-run remittances-growth relationship in the first time. In the second time, the authors have explored the conditional remittances-growth relationship in MENA countries. Specifically, the authors have examined whether the remittances-growth nexus is affected by financial development and institutional quality levels in MENA countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Power relations and the accounting system in the Archbishop's Seminary of Siena (1666-1690): When local power resists central power	[ "Governmentality", "Seminary accounting system", "Accounting as a factor of deception", "Deputies of Balìa", "Power relations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The history of the Church is a relevant and fertile research area that can contribute to understanding a fundamental cultural dimension of many societies and countries (Southern, 1970). There are a number of different ways of tracing the complex history of the Church and the clergy, one of which is to examine the accounting systems that characterized ecclesiastic institutions in the seventeenth century. Another much more interesting approach is to address the question of whether said accounting systems can tell us something about the \"power relations\" within Church hierarchies, and particularly between central and local powers. Although the history of the administration of various Dioceses, parishes, monasteries, abbeys and seminaries is interesting in itself, recent studies have emphasized how the Church and its institutions could represent a relevant opportunity to investigate and analyze power relations within a specific ecclesiastic institution, or between the Church and other political powers (Bracci et al., 2010; Madonna et al., 2014; Gatti and Poli, 2014; Bigoni and Funnell, 2015). This literature highlights how accounting systems were designed and managed to give central authority significant control over local authorities.\n2. Logics of governmentality and accounting: Among the various studies published on recent trends in the accounting history literature, Banos-Sanchez Matamoros and Gutierrez Hidalgo (2010, p. 141) highlighted twenty-first century patterns and movements. As to the patterns, the authors make an interesting conclusion regarding the distribution of publications, underscoring the even distribution across the public, private and religious sectors, especially in scientific journals published in Latin countries. The latter topic is a relevant area within the sphere of studies on accounting practices. In particular, Cinquini et al. (2008) have a special focus on the study of Cathedrals and Seminaries and their accounting systems in Italy.\n3. Background to the origins of the seminary: In order to understand the historical relevance of the ASS, some brief considerations of the general history of the clergy of the Catholic Church (Guasco, 2001; Sangalli, 2003) should be noted. In the thousand-year history of the Catholic Church, the issue of clergy education had always constituted a delicate issue and was, in the first centuries of Christianity, regarded as a means of building the \"apostolic community.\" Some manuscripts, dating back to 813 AC, in addition to mentioning Emperor Charlemagne's orders, stated that the role of schools or seminaries was to educate students through the holy scripture. Hence, the role of the Archdeacon in charge of these Schools was strengthened. Later on, specifically in the second half of the eleventh century, there was a significant growth of Schools established to educate members of the clergy, due mainly to the spread of monasticism and scholastic institutes connected to monasteries. The great religious Orders were being established, and began to flourish during that period, and the papacy reacted by seeking to centralise its power. This development coincided with the Gregorian Reforms, which caused a split between \"lay religious organizations\" and \"clergy orders.\"\n4. Case study: the Archbishop's Seminary of Siena: 4.1 Sources examined\n5. Indicators of governmentality in the ASS accounting system: Having described the ASS organizational structure and its accountability model, we can now focus on the relationship between accounting and power. In keeping with our research aim of enhancing knowledge about the accounting system within this ecclesiastic institution during the seventeenth century, our analysis embraces a time span of 25 years, corresponding to the first eight mandates of the Deputies of Balia (1666-1690). The ASS accounting registers and logs were first examined from a technical point of view, in order to understand how the accounting system was designed to be consistent with the \"Rules.\" Then, the system's use in handling power relations within and outside the Seminary was investigated in light of Foucault's ideas. More specifically, we explored how the ASS accounting system was crafted as a tool of governmentality. Hence, the analysis takes into consideration the following elements, which frame the Foucaldian concept of power relations (Foucault, 1982, p. 792):\n6. Discussion: An understanding of the background of the ASS contributes to demonstrating how the Seminary's \"mode of government\" reflected the interests of local authorities, namely the Rector (an expression of lay ecclesiastical power) and the Deputies of the Balia (an expression of lay power). This was first and foremost due to the substantial assets from the pre-existing Seminary of the \"Congregazione dei Sacri Chiodi,\" which had been strongly influenced by the upper class of the community of Siena before the merger with the \"Seminary of San Desiderio.\" After the institution of the ASS, the main interest of local powers, according to the Rules of the Seminary, was to guarantee a high-quality education to pupils through a \"proper administration of the assets.\" What is important to note is that a significant number of pupils came from the most powerful families of the Sienese aristocracy. Thus, there was a major shift in power interests away from the sovereign power of the Church and toward the power of the local upper class. Stemming from these observations derived from secondary sources, our analysis of primary sources (the \"Rules\" and the accounting books) allows us to answer some of the questions we had posed concerning power relations within the ASS organizational structure and between the Seminary and the Roman Church, as well as to identify the ASS' system of accountability.\n7. Conclusions: This case study reinforces the Foucaldian idea of governmentality in the context of Church history (Foucault, 2009; Antonelli and D'Alessio, 2011), focusing on the role played by accounting as a technology to govern power relations (Miller and Rose, 1990; Carmona and Ezzamel, 2006; Sargiacomo, 2008). Previous research has investigated the connection between accounting and power from the perspective of the apical body of a religious institution. From this perspective, accounting becomes a powerful tool for acquiring information on performance achieved by people in distant locations, reinforcing the link between governmentality and disciplinary power (Latour, 1987; Miller and Rose, 1990; Rose and Miller, 1992; Sargiacomo, 2009; Stacchezzini, 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Accounting can affect and determine power relations. Previous studies have emphasized how accounting has been used by \"central\" powers; less is known from the perspective of \"local\" power and its capacity to resist and protect its interests. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the Archbishop's Seminary of Siena (ASS) (local) and Roman ecclesiastic institutions (central). This study contributes to filling the existing gap in the literature regarding how accounting could be used as a tool for deception in local/central power relations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research methodology is based on a case study and archival research. The ASS case study was analyzed through its archive, made up for the most part of accounting books. As to the approach adopted, the authors used the Foucault framework to observe power relations in order to identify possible ways in which accounting can be employed as a factor of deception.\nFindings: Power relations between the ASS and Roman ecclesiastic institutions were maintained through a system of reporting that limited the influence of the ecclesiastical power of Rome over the Seminary's administration and control. The relationship thus runs contrary to the findings in previous studies. The accounting system was managed as a factor of deception in favor of local interests and the limitation of central ecclesiastic power.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study contributes to enhancing the existing literature on governmentality, proposing a different perspective in which power relations are based on the use of accounting. The Foucaldian approach demonstrates its validity, even though the power relations under consideration have the unusual feature of occurring within the context of religious institutions.\nOriginality/value: This study on the ASS has allowed the identification of two relevant points: the local/central dichotomy is consistent with the logic of power relations as theorized by Foucault, even in cases where it highlights the role of a local power in limiting the flow of information to a central one; and the ASS accounting system was used as a factor of deception.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employee adaptive and proactive service recovery: a configurational perspective	[ "Employee adaptive service recovery", "Employee proactive service recovery", "Qualitative comparative analysis", "FsQCA" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service recovery comprises all the organizational actions aimed at resolving a failure in the delivery of a service (Van Vaerenbergh and Orsingher, 2016). Service recovery is increasingly important in highly competitive environments (Migacz et al., 2018) because the changing technological landscape allows customers to easily share their service failure and recovery experiences online. This online sharing means that a service failure might change not only one customer's experience but also the experience of other customers.\nConceptual framework of service recovery: Adaptive service recovery\nResearch propositions: Drawing on configuration theory (Meyer et al., 1993) as well as on the literature on proactive behaviors, this study postulates that adaptive and proactive behaviors in service recovery result from configurations of managerial practices. Organizational configurations refer to commonly occurring sets of organizational attributes (e.g. strategies, processes and practices, among others) that have an internal logic (Ketchen et al., 1993; Meyer et al., 1993; Miller, 1987). The holistic and ordered nature of such configurations appears key to ensuring organizational performance given the complexity of organizations (Miller, 1987). Treating each organizational attribute or causal condition as independent neglects the \"combinatorial complexities\" among them (Ragin and Sonnett, 2004, p. 10) and fosters the potential for internal inconsistencies (Venkatraman, 1989). Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) enables the identification of the complex interdependencies among causal effects (Greckhamer et al., 2008). In an QCA context, a configuration concerns \"a specific set of causal variables on which the synergetic nature among them may lead to an outcome of interest\" (Pappas, 2018, p. 1682).\nMethod: Data collection and sample\nData analysis: We use a fsQCA to probe the propositions. A QCA is essentially a qualitative approach (Vis, 2012). The literature on this technique frequently uses \"causality\" terminology (such as \"causal factors\" or \"causal asymmetry\"; Ragin, 2008; Woodside, 2014). Hence, causality language is frequently used in the analysis of results but without really indicating causation, as is the case in experimental settings. FsQCA is a set-theoretic method that empirically examines the relation between all possible combinations of binary states (i.e. absence and presence) of its predictors and the outcome variables (i.e. adaptive and proactive service recovery behaviors in our study; Fiss, 2011). fsQCA starts by defining the property space where all possible combinations of antecedents of an outcome are identified. In this study, the property space for the outcomes consists of all combinations of binary states (presence or absence) of the five managerial practices that we analyze: customer service orientation, rewards, teamwork, empowerment and customer service training (i.e. 25 = 32 combinations).\nDiscussion: In recent years, several empirical studies have analyzed the antecedents of the performance in service recovery from different theoretical perspectives. However, these provide inconsistent results (Van Vaerenbergh and Orsingher, 2016). Furthermore, most of these studies focus on the individual net effects of the antecedents. Additionally, only de Jong and de Ruyter (2004) distinguish between adaptive and proactive service recovery behaviors. The present research addresses these gaps and thus is original in its use of fsQCA to investigate the combinations of five managerial practices that result in adaptive and proactive service recovery behaviors, and both types of behavior simultaneously. Accordingly, this study provides a refreshing look into how firms can engineer their managerial efforts to put together an integrative recovery system, which is a matter that has scarcely been researched (Smith et al., 2009) but is key to achieving greater performance (Smith and Karwan, 2010).\nManagerial implications: Our results offer some suggestions for future managerial practices with the aim of improving either frontline adaptive or proactive service recovery, or both simultaneously. First, our results suggest that companies can develop an adaptive service recovery behavior in three different ways. Nevertheless, all three require the existence of teamwork. Hence, it appears that managers should primarily promote teamwork and complement it with the provision of customer service training and an orientation toward customer service. Alternatively, teamwork can be combined with rewards and a customer service orientation. Finally, a company might be able to develop an adaptive service recovery behavior by combining high levels of empowerment and teamwork with the absence of customer service training and service rewards. This combination requires less managerial involvement and is particularly relevant for service companies that have scarce financial resources or that are small, as it enables them to adopt effective recovery behaviors without having to invest in training and rewards for employees.\nLimitations and directions for future research: Although our study provides several contributions to the service recovery literature, it contains some limitations. The first limitation refers to the limited generalizability of our study's results. A fsQCA concentrates on configurations in the data, and the dataset used in this study is from one service industry company. Future research should test the configurations found in this study on employees from other service companies. In particular, services differ in terms of the degree of interpersonal interaction. It is possible that in services with a higher interactional nature that thus involve tasks with greater ambiguity, the role of the explanatory variables used in this study might change. For example, we would predict that in such settings customer service orientation might be a more relevant managerial domain of action. Customer service orientation can be considered a cultural value (Parasuraman, 1987), and cultural values constitute broad guides for employee behavior. The internalization of such values enables employees to respond to situations \"in a manner consistent with long-term organizational goals and objectives\" (Aulakh and Gencturk, 2000, p. 526). This is important for dealing with ambiguous situations (Mills, 1985), such as those involving service recovery (Babakus et al., 2003), especially in services with a higher interpersonal nature. In these services, specifying in advance the actions that employees should undertake to recover customer satisfaction is more difficult. Despite this limitation, we note that the respondents in this study belong to different departments and different branches of the company, each having their own autonomous functioning.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the configurations that drive employee service recovery. Rather than analyzing the net effects of individual antecedents of service recovery, which is the common approach in the literature, this study uses a configurational approach to investigate how five antecedents (customer service orientation, rewards, teamwork, empowerment and customer service training) combine to yield employee adaptive and proactive service recovery behaviors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study collects responses from 90 frontline employees through an online survey. Building on configurational theory, the authors developed and empirically validated four research propositions by using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.\nFindings: Three equifinal configurations of managerial practices result in either employee proactive or adaptive service recovery behaviors. Two of these three configurations result in both adaptive and proactive behaviors. In addition, the findings show that two out of the three configurations that lead to proactive behavior in service recovery also lead to the simultaneous existence of proactive and adaptive behaviors in service recovery. None of the sufficient configurations require the presence of all managerial practices. These results underscore that managers do not have to act on every single managerial intervention area to promote service recovery.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study advances the knowledge on the antecedents of employee behavior in service recovery by investigating how these antecedents combine to yield different recipes for developing either employee adaptive or proactive behavior in service recovery.\nPractical implications: The findings provide insights for managers into the different combinations of practices that can be used to develop employee proactive or adaptive behavior in service recovery.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that relies on a configurational approach to understand the combinations of managerial practices that result in employee proactive and adaptive behaviors in service recovery.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An analysis of a structured benchmarking project: The case of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's benchmarking project	[ "Benchmarking", "Dubai", "DEWA", "DGEP", "TRADE benchmarking methodology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Benchmarking has been recognised as one of the most widely known and adopted improvement techniques worldwide. A study by Adebanjo et al. (2010) and more recently Rigby and Bilodeau (2015) found that more than a quarter century after the publication of the first book on benchmarking by Dr Robert Camp (1989), it continues to be one of the most popular improvement tools in the world.\nLiterature review: There has been much academic debate and literature on the nature of benchmarking. While it was described by Moffett et al. (2008) as a structured process that enables organisational improvement by adopting superior practice from other organisations, Adewunmi et al. (2016) noted that benchmarking involves information collection, organisational assessment and self-improvement to achieve specified goals. The academic literature is also lively with much debate about types of benchmarking with different articles contrasting between internal, competitive and generic benchmarking (Camp, 1989; Adewunmi et al., 2016). There has also been distinction place between process (or best practice benchmarking) and performance benchmarking. According to Adebanjo and Mann (2008) performance benchmarking involves a comparison of metrics while best practice benchmarking involves \"studying the practices of those organisations that are higher performers and adapting their 'better practices' to another organisation\". A full discussion of the history, nature and types of benchmarking is out of the scope of this paper and especially as these have been severally discussed in other publications (e.g. Meybodi, 2015; Madsen et al., 2017).\nDWL initiative and DEWA: The \"Dubai - We Learn\" initiative was launched in October 2015 as part of the DGEP. The DGEP is a programme of the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of Dubai. The DWL one-year benchmarking programme consisted of benchmarking training (TRADE Methodology), research and facilitation support for 13 benchmarking project teams. Each project team was based in a different government entity and the foci of the benchmarking project were chosen to reflect the priorities of the different entities.\nCase study methodology: The methodology adopted for this study was the case study methodology. Meredith (1998) stressed that case study methodology allows for a rigorous and holistic investigation while Yin (2009) stated that case studies \"illuminate a decision or set of decisions: why they were taken, how they were implemented, and with what result\". This research adopts a single case methodology that is applicable for representative and revelatory cases (Yin, 2009). The DEWA case study is not only revelatory but it also supports the study of process-related issues associated with a specific phenomenon over time (Lorenzo and Kawaleck, 2004).\nFindings - stages of DEWA's benchmarking journey: \"Preparation\" stage\nDiscussion: This study has reported on the experience of an organisation that has implemented best practice benchmarking using a structured methodology. While some studies such as Bhutta and Huq (1999) and Anderson and McAdam (2004) have identified a number of difficulties regarding the successful implementation of benchmarking, the experience of DEWA has shown how a benchmarking project can be successfully delivered. The study's research contribution and industry insight are presented as follows.\nConclusion: This case study has investigated, in detail, how a benchmarking project was undertaken in the public sector of the UAE. The case study has shown that success of the organisation was enabled by a number of important enablers such as external support, executive-level support, prescriptive benchmarking methodology and detailed supporting documentation for each stage of the methodology. The study has also shown the importance of team commitment and the willingness of team members to give more than expected. The overall suggestion is that organisations need not worry about adopting benchmarking if they take advantage of the multitude of resources and support that is available.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate a benchmarking project carried out by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) as part of a structured benchmarking initiative. The project was based on the TRADE benchmarking methodology and this paper examines the tools, activities and outcomes that relate to each stage of the adopted methodology.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on case study methodology. Data were collected from various sources including analysis of project reports written by DEWA's benchmarking team reporting on their activities during the project. Data were also collected from four project presentations given at different stages of the project. In addition, the research team held three meetings with the DEWA benchmarking team at different stages of the benchmarking project.\nFindings: The results show the key challenges and successes faced during each stage of the benchmarking project. It indicates the actions taken to overcome the challenges and the role played by internal and external stakeholders in facilitating the success of the benchmarking project.\nPractical implications: The study presents information that would guide organisations that wish to carry out a benchmarking project - and particularly those implementing benchmarking for the first time. The study provides a summary of the key lessons learnt by DEWA's benchmarking team as a guide for other organisations.\nOriginality/value: Academic research has not adequately examined and analysed the stage-by-stage elements of a benchmarking project from the perspective of the implementing organisation. This study addresses this gap by detailing and analysing the experiences of a benchmarking project by tracking the stage-by-stage activities of the benchmarking team.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
SCAR markers for adulterant detection in ground chilli	[ "Food products", "Food additives", "Food testing", "Chemical analysis and testing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Chilli, the dried ripened fruits of Capsicum annuum (family Solanaceae) is an indispensable culinary spice and is valued principally for its colour and pungency. It is extensively used in all types of curried dishes and forms a major ingredient in curry powders, masalas and pickles (Susheela, 2000). Chillies are exported as dry whole fruits, crushed chilli, ground chilli and value-added products like fermented chilli, chilli paste, oleoresin, etc. In recent years, the global demand for powdered chilli has increased steeply, mainly due to their convenience in use (Prakash and Eipeson, 2003).Unfortunately, unlike the whole commodity, powdered chilli is more amenable to adulteration as foreign matters go into it visually undetected (Chakrabarthi and Roy, 2003). In addition to artificial colours, powdered plant based materials of cheap origin like fruits of Ziziphus nummularia, red beet pulp, almond shell dust, tapioca starch, etc., also form adulterants in chilli powder (Pruthi, 1999; Berke and Shieh, 2001). Although advanced techniques are available to detect the chemical adulteration of chilli powder, plant-based adulterants are often more difficult to detect. Conventional analytical methods like microscopy, spectophotometry, thin layer chromatography, etc., are not helpful in identifying these adulterants in ground chilli.Of late, the cheaper availability of biomolecular assays has made the employment of quick, precise and reliable PCR-based techniques affordable in a large number of food-related applications (Marieschi et al., 2009). Nucleic acid analysis represents a good alternative to conventional methods and is very useful for detecting plant-based adulterants in traded commodities (Sasikumar et al., 2005; Lum and Hirsch, 2006; Sucher and Carles, 2008; Dhanya et al., 2009). However, no reports are available on DNA-based adulterant detection in traded ground chilli, except one using RAPD markers (Dhanya et al., 2008). In the present study we report an easier, fast and sensitive PCR-based method using specific SCAR markers for detecting red beet pulp and Z. nummularia fruit adulterations in traded ground chilli. This work has relevance as the adulteration of spice powder is a major concern of the sanitary and phytosanitary issues of the WTO agreement as it affects public health.\nMaterials and methods: Sample materials and DNA isolation\nResults: Identification of adulterant specific RAPD marker\nDiscussion: In the present study, two adulterant specific RAPD markers were converted into SCAR markers for the detection of adulterants in ground chilli. Conversion of the RAPD marker to the SCAR marker is advantageous, as in the SCAR, longer primers specific to the sequence of the polymorphic bands are used to amplify the characterised regions from genomic DNA under stringent conditions, which makes these markers more specific and dependable as compared to the RAPD markers (Paran and Michelmore, 1993). RAPD-derived SCAR markers have been utilised successfully for adulterant detection in commercial samples of spice powder (Dhanya et al., 2009) and in a variety of plant materials such as Panax quinquefolius, Sinocalycanthus chinensis, Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa tulda, Zingiber officinale, Phyllanthus emblica, Artemisia princeps, Artemisia argyi, Echinacea purpurea, Embelia ribes, Pueraria tuberose, Lycium barbarum (Wang et al., 2001; Das et al., 2005; Ye et al., 2006; Lee et al., 2006; Dnyaneshwar et al., 2006; Adinolfi et al., 2007; Chavan et al., 2008; Jain et al., 2008; Devaiah and Venkatasubramanian, 2008a, b; Sze et al., 2008).The utility of the Z. nummularia and red beet pulp specific SCAR markers for adulteration detection was verified in model blends of chilli powder and adulterants. The use of model blends in adulterant detection studies has been already established (Paradkar et al., 2001; Kapteyn and Simon, 2002; Paramita et al., 2003; Jain et al., 2007; Marieschi et al., 2009). The SCAR markers developed in the present study could detect Z. nummularia and red beet pulp adulterations of ground chilli at levels down to 1 per cent. These results demonstrate the applicability of the designed primers as a qualitative diagnostic tool for detection of powdered dried red beet pulp and Z. nummularia fruit adulteration in ground chilli.Powdered chilli is the most important ground spice exported from India, with an annual export of around 21,021 tonnes (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2004) to many countries such as Malyasia, the USA, the UK, the UAE, Pakistan, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Besides India, the other major suppliers of the commodity in the international market are Mexico, Chile, China, Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Hungary and Spain. Of the six commercial samples tested in the present study, one sample (sample V) revealed a Z. nummularia fruit specific amplicon in the specific PCR reaction, confirming the occurrence of Z. nummularia fruit adulteration in traded ground chilli as a fact. Z. nummularia, also called \"Jhatbur\" or \"Choti bur\" in India, is a small, spiny under-shrub, a wild relative of bur (Z. mouritiana) commonly found in many of the chilli-producing provinces in India. The dried ripened fruits are round, small, dark red or brown in colour, and rich in tannin content. Its cheap availability, proximity and colour resemblance to chilli promote its use as adulterants in ground chilli as it may increase the profit margin of an unscrupulous person or agency.Dried red beet pulp is a reported plant-based adulterant in ground chilli (Berke and Shieh, 2001). Al though its presence is not detected in any of the commercial samples analysed in the present study, the new method perfected can replace the complex conventional method available for the detection of dried red beet pulp in chilli powder with better precision and fastness.The SCAR markers developed in the study provide an accurate, simple and fast means of adulterant detection in ground chilli. The dried red beet pulp and Z. nummularia fruit specific SCAR markers could detect adulterants even at a lower concentration of 10 g kg-1 of the sample. These markers could be used for large-scale screening of powdered chilli samples and commercialised as an analytical method to detect the quality of the exported consignments of chilli powder by any of the exporters or importers of the commodity, as it is space and cost neutral, besides its application for the domestic market.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study aims to treat the development and application of sequence characterised amplified region (SCAR) markers for the detection of plant based adulterants (dried red beet pulp and powdered Ziziphus nummularia fruits) in traded ground chilli.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Adulterant-specific DNA fragments (red beet pulp specific - \"Beet 01\" and Z. nummularia specific - \"Ziz 01\") identified by random amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) analysis were cloned and sequenced for SCAR marker development. Red beet pulp specific SCAR primer pair, B1, and Z. nummularia specific SCAR primer pair, Z1, were designed from the corresponding RAPD marker sequences to amplify SCAR markers of 320 bp and 389 bp, respectively. The utility of the SCAR markers for adulterant detection was verified in model blends of chilli powder with the adulterants. Six commercial samples of ground chilli powder were analysed using the SCAR markers.\nFindings: - SCAR markers could detect the adulterants at a concentration as low as 10 g adulterant kg-1 of blended sample. The Z. nummularia SCAR marker could detect the presence of Z. nummularia fruit adulteration in one of the commercial samples. All the market samples tested were free from red beet pulp adulteration.\nPractical implications: - The PCR-based method developed in the study is simple, rapid, and sensitive and has the potential to be developed into a quantitative analytical method and for commercial PCR kits for the large-scale screening of ground chilli to detect and prevent plant-based adulterants. The work has public health significance too, as ground chilli is one of the major spices consumed worldwide.\nOriginality/value: - The study is the first report on the development of SCAR markers for adulterant detection in ground chilli. This work has relevance, as adulteration is a major concern of the sanitary and phytosanitary issues of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bridging capability gaps in technology transfers within related offsets	[ "Technology transfer", "Aircraft industry", "Capability gap", "Capability growth", "Related offset", "Transfer process" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In September 2015, Brazil signed a contract with Saab in Sweden, worth approximately euro 4 billion. The contract included 36 Gripen aircraft. This order was accompanied by an offset agreement that involve more than ten years of industrial cooperation and a significant technology transfer to the Brazilian industry. Offset business is an agreement wherein the buyer includes within the contract the condition that the seller has to perform certain activities that benefits the buyer (Ahlstrom, 1991). When the offset activities are directly connected to the product or system sold, they are called related offsets (Batchelor and Dunne, 2000) and can take the form of co-production, subcontracting, licensed production, technology transfer, etc. (Brask and Jonsson, 2002; Eriksson, 2007). Technology transfer is the transfer of technology from a sending context, where it is developed and/or in use, to a receiving context, where it is implemented and adapted to use (Robinson, 1991). The offset agreement to Brazil includes development, production, and maintenance. The purpose of the technology transfer is to enable the Brazilian industry to maintain its own fleet of Gripen aircrafts and develop their own future technology within the aircraft. Therefore, the transfer includes activities from capacity transfer of Gripen parts to the development of production capabilities. This technology transfer is the most complex transfer in Saab's history, due to the size of the transfer and the anticipated capability growth of the receiver regarding production and development (Kleja, 2015). For Saab, it is of utmost importance to make the Brazil Gripen deal successful. To accomplish this, the technology transfer needs to be thoroughly planned and carried out. An essential part of an effective technology transfer is to bridge the capability gap between the sender and the receiver (e.g. Lyles and Salk, 1996; Salomon and Martin, 2008; Galbraith, 1990), as with learning, yields, and capacity utilization increase (Terwiesch and Bohn, 2001).\n2. Theoretical framework: First, the capability and capability gap are defined, along with the capability gap in offset research, which will also be described. Thereafter, earlier models used to deal with capability gaps, knowledge transfer, and factors that affect the efficiency of knowledge transfers will be introduced. Finally, the theoretical framework will be summarized and the analytical framework for this paper presented.\n3. Methodology: The area of capability gaps in a related offset business context is a relatively unexplored area. The case-study method is a powerful method when researching a new area, or in a complex setting requiring deep insights into the case subjects (Eisenhardt, 1989; Swanborn, 2010). Several researchers discuss benefits of using the case-study research (McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993; Patton, 1990; Yin, 2003). Consistent with these arguments, we employed the approach based on the following reasons: the study is essentially explorative; the study was most suitable for a qualitative analysis of each single experience and situation; and related offset business are typically shrouded in secrecy, which makes the use of other methods difficult.\n4. The case studies: The case studies were performed at two different business units at the Saab group; the two units act in the area of aerospace and defense. The business portfolio involves the Gripen fighter system, commercial aeronautics, unmanned aerial systems, and training and support systems. The studies presented are mainly connected to the Gripen fighter system and commercial aeronautics.\n5. Cross-case analysis: A summary of the lessons learned from the within case is presented in Table I.\n6. Discussion and conclusions: The purpose of this paper was to explore how capability gaps can be identified and dealt with in aircraft technology transfers in future offset deals. This purpose has been realized based on lessons learned from three cases of how Saab works and has worked with technology transfers in the context of related offset and the aircraft industry.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how capability gaps can be identified and how they can be dealt with in aircraft technology transfers in future offset deals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on lessons learned as identified from three case studies of technology transfers from Saab, a Swedish aircraft manufacturing company to South Africa, the Czech Republic, and India.\nFindings: The capability gap between sender and receiver has to be dealt with on two levels: on an organizational level; and on an individual level. It is proposed that the disseminative capacity constitutes the ability to assess the capability gap between the sender and receiver, and to convert this assessment to adaptations of the product and production process to include in an industrialization process. On the individual level, the capability-raising activities were connected to employees' knowledge, personal development plans for the transfer of explicit knowledge, as well as on-the-job training to facilitate the exchange of tacit knowledge.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is based on case studies from one company. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm the proposed propositions through new case studies in other contexts as well as through survey-based research.\nOriginality/value: The paper focusses on the context of offset and reports on actual experiences from a capability perspective of technology transfers within the aircraft manufacturing area. It proposes a structured way of identifying and bridging the capability gap within such transfers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer animosity, economic hardship, and normative influence: How do they affect consumers' purchase intention?	[ "Recession", "Social interaction", "Consumer behaviour", "Product quality", "Taiwan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Context of the study\n2. Literature review: theoretical background: 2.1 Social identity theory\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research objectives\n4. Results: 4.1 Main model\n5. Discussion and conclusion: Our study has examined the antecedents of consumer animosity and its impact on the attitudes of Taiwanese consumers towards China and Japan, thus answering the call for application of the animosity construct in countries beyond the USA and its ambit (Batra et al., 2000; Balabanis et al., 2001), and specifically those with a controversial military, economic and diplomatic history (Klein et al., 1998).It has found that, among consumers in Taiwan, such animosity takes the form of prejudice and discrimination directed at \"out-groups\", often grounded in the perception that any loss by their \"in-group\" has been the out-group's gain. Moreover, the results indicate that such perceptions are heightened as in-group identity and out-group animosity increase. This suggests that consumer animosity is manifested not only as antipathy and hostility towards an out-group but also as sensitivity to a perceived threat from that direction.The testing of five specific hypotheses confirmed expectations, and provides several insights into the applicability of the animosity model of foreign-product purchasing behaviour. First, economic hardship was found to be a significant antecedent of consumer animosity towards China and Japan. Drawing on Realistic Group Conflict Theory literature, we have developed a theoretical framework showing how and why a perceived out-group threat has increasingly been treated by Taiwanese consumers as a loss for their in-group, enhancing prejudice and animosity.Second, Social Identity Theory and Realistic Group Conflict Theory together predict that the effect of such a perceived threat is to strengthen identification and solidarity within the in-group, and thus enhance normative influences on its members, who seek to take a lead from their \"referents\" in the group. Structural equation modelling of the data gathered by questionnaire from Taiwanese consumers has shown that such normative influence is significantly and positively related to animosity, in this case towards China and Japan. This finding supports the research model and also suggests that consumers with high \"susceptibility to normative influence\" are most likely to believe that their \"referents\" have negative opinions of the out-group in question.Third, the study has found that effect of animosity towards China and Japan on consumers' intentions to purchase products originating there is likely to be mediated by their judgments about the quality of those products. This is consistent with a recent finding in the Middle East, reported in the Literature Review, but contradicts several other, earlier studies. There are many possible interpretations. Animosity, amounting to hostility, may be a more complex phenomenon than the simple descriptions imply. While memories of Taiwan's suffering under the half-century of Japanese occupation (see Appendix) are strong, and feelings can therefore run high, the two countries unarguably enjoy a close economic relationship. Similarly, the ethnic, cultural and geographical ties with mainland China, so obvious to the outside eye, have been severely compromised by political, economic, and military conflict. Both of these histories are long and comparatively recent, and their impact will be particularly strong among Taiwanese alive during either or both periods, which may in turn be the source of the \"normative influence\" tested in the study. Given that several issues contributing to increased animosity are ongoing, the effect of consumer animosity on judgments of product quality and on purchase intentions can still be powerful. Social Identity Theory and Realistic Group Conflict Theory predict that it will be difficult for consumers who feel hostility to China or Japan not to denigrate Chinese and Japanese products and refuse to buy them.Beyond the causal paths proposed in our model, it was found that neither respondents sense of an economic threat emanating from China or Japan, nor their age had much detectable effect on the degree of animosity towards those two countries. Though the comparative irrelevance of age is intuitively unexpected, for reasons explained in the previous paragraph, the fact is that feelings can run high among the young as well as the old. A study of attitudes to the Japanese among residents of Nanjing, conducted ten years ago and reported in the Literature Review, is a case in point. One possible explanation may again be that the issues underlying the animosity are ongoing. Another is that an unstated motive may be the fear of unemployment sparked by the success of foreign imports, which has provoked much anti-Japanese sentiment in the USA and is at the root of attitudes to economic migrants in Europe.In the particular case of Taiwanese animosity towards Japan, the causal path between normative influence on animosity and animosity on purchase intention is insignificant among older consumers and those who feel a relatively low level of economic threat. A potentially important implication is that Japan, as an economically developed country, may enjoy a better country image among a proportion of Taiwanese consumers, which in turn reduces the level of animosity. One explanation of this slightly unexpected finding may be that older consumers simply have less strong feelings about the Japanese colonial period. A less likely explanation is the so-called \"Lee Teng-hui factor\" (Wang, 2000, p. 358; Zha, 2001). Lee, president of Taiwan from 1988 to 2000, was educated in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese, and actively promoted stronger unofficial ties with Japan during his terms in office. His influence continued after he retired, and aroused nostalgia for the Japanese colonial era among older citizens.The results of our study confirm previous findings that consumer animosity towards a country engenders reluctance to purchase its products, and that consumers often harbour animosities towards several countries for different reasons. It has highlighted three key issues.First, real life pressures always present in a consumers' mind can be expected to result in animosity towards countries perceived to be \"the out-group\". The positive relationship between economic hardship and animosity suggests that negative attitudes can be reduced only by an improved standard of living within the in-group. Second, consumers with particular susceptibility to normative influences are more likely to exhibit hostility towards a foreign country, suggesting that interpersonal influence plays a pivotal role in creating \"consumer animosity\", and that it is therefore important to identify the \"referents\" who exert the influence. Third, the effects of consumer animosity on judgment of product quality and intention to purchase appear to be dependent on each other, despite the fact that previous literature has indicated otherwise. This implies that animosity results in denigration of foreign products, probably dues to a high level of perceived threat, and that the eventual outcome will be internal solidarity and coherence against the \"offending\" country.\n6. Managerial implications: Our findings have several implications for international marketing management practice.First, they show that the existence of \"consumer animosity\", as defined in the literature, had a negative influence on respondents' judgments about product quality, contradicting the previous general assumption that it did not. Results in our study suggest that domestic consumers will reject foreign product not only because of historical animosity towards the country of origin, but also because its national image may precipitate negative reactions. Marketing strategists would be well advised, therefore, to identify market segments containing probable high-animosity consumers, and to target them with a communication strategy that separates the image of the product from that of its country of origin, and emphasizes distinctive features that have no national or cultural \"baggage\".Second, our in-depth three-country examination of consumer animosity has found that perceived economic hardship and the normative influence of a consumers \"in-group\" both predict animosity, which in turn affects product quality judgments and purchase intentions. Properly applied and manipulated by marketing planners, this insight into the antecedents of rejection can yield more effective marketing strategies. Consumer choice might be influenced favourably, for example, by communicating the more positive aspects of the target society and economy, as a means of reducing its level of consumer animosity. Moreover, the knowledge that susceptibility to normative influence is a strong predictor of animosity suggests that advertising and promotional campaigns could profitably employ salient spokespersons, role models and opinion leaders to \"defuse\" natural animosity.Third, this study and others in future that manipulate proposed antecedents will provide stronger marketing intelligence about the constructs that actually underpin consumer animosity and, in so doing, contribute to the development of a coherent theory of consumer animosity.Finally, export marketing strategists should quite simply be aware of consumer animosity and alert to it, for it seems to translate automatically into bias and prejudice towards foreign countries of origin, and thereby to erect a substantial barrier to entry into an overseas market. In particular, they should recognize the age of the consumers in the target market would moderate their reactions to imported products, as will their age, in a less than straightforward way. For instance, it seems that older and more affluent Taiwanese exhibit surprisingly relaxed attitudes towards Japanese products. The possibility thus beckons to mitigate the impact of domestic consumer animosity by deliberate and sophisticated market segmentation. The extent to which that can be achieved depends, however, on the shared history of the country of origin and the target market.\n7. Limitations and future directions: The findings reported in our study derive from a non-probability sample, which raises the issue of potential selection bias. The school pupils used as the \"delivery vehicle\" for questionnaires to be eventually completed by adults in their families were selected by an accepted quasi-random procedure from all four main administrative districts of Taiwan, and tests show that the profile of the eventual respondents is not significantly different to the national population statistics. Nevertheless, it is not certain that some sections of Taiwan's consumer society were not accidentally excluded from the sample, since the chance of selection was not absolutely uniform: for instance, families in remote country areas or the smaller islands that are normally included in the slightly nebulous concept of \"Taiwan\" (see Appendix). Our findings and conclusions should therefore be treated with appropriate caution, as is in the case in most social surveys.With that proviso, the findings suggest that animosity effects are more complex than previously believed. The related constructs included in this research, though pointing the way forward in development of a coherent conceptual framework, should be seen only as a snapshot. Our review of the literature made it clear that such other variables as nationalism, patriotism, consumer activism or environmentalism may need to be taken into account. For instance, an author whose work is not specific to this field and therefore does not appear in the Literature Review, asserts that \"nationalists\" of any kind are likely to be more competitive, militaristic, aggressive and prejudiced towards other countries and ethnic groups (Druckman, 1994). These character traits would be expected to influence their consumption decisions, and future research models should therefore build in such variables.Our study has not established unequivocally that economic hardship and normative influence are indeed antecedents of animosity, as distinct from simply correlates. For example, it is possible that owning a product of Japanese or mainland Chinese origin might reduce animosity towards those countries, as some other authors have pointed out. Our model has tacitly assumed antecedent relationships, and demonstrated the links fairly convincingly, but more research is needed to establish that these constructs actually result in animosity, which might use an experimental design to investigate likely causal direction.The consumer animosity literature has so far been limited to a handful of studies conducted mainly in developed countries. Whether the concept is applicable to other settings, such as the very different cultures in the developing world, remains uncertain. In particular, further studies could add to understanding and interpretation of the role of consumer animosity and normative influence in shaping consumer choice across product categories and in countries with difficult economic, military and political relationships with one another.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine the concept of \"consumer animosity\", model its antecedents, and assess its influence on intention to purchase.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Survey questionnaires were distributed by a quasi-random sample of school pupils across Taiwan to an adult member of their household, for completion and return. A return rate of 70 percent yielded 456 usable questionnaires, the data from which were analysed by the LISREL structural equation modelling software.\nFindings: - The results suggest that perceived personal economic hardship and the normative influence of members of a consumers' reference group have a positive impact on the phenomenon of consumer animosity, which in turn negatively affects the intentions of consumers in Taiwan to purchase products originating in mainland China and Japan. Contradicting previous studies, consumer animosity was found to be dependent on judgments of product quality.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research model was built from data collected by non-probability sampling in a single country. There was no evidence of sampling bias, but future studies would benefit from inclusion of more independent variables and a wider geographical scope.\nPractical implications: - The findings contain many practical lessons for planners of export marketing strategy.\nOriginality/value: - Two existing theories of social behaviour are integrated with the concept of consumer animosity to explain consumption choices in an international context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The attitudinal and behavioral impact of brand-centered human resource management: Employee and customer effects	[ "Customer satisfaction", "Customer citizenship behavior", "Brand attitudes", "Brand-centered human resource management", "Person–brand fit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over recent years, brand-centered human resource management (HRM) has received increasing attention in the field of management research (Al-Shuaibi et al., 2016; Buil et al., 2016; Chiang and Cheng, 2015; Du Preez et al., 2017). It has been argued that brand-centered HRM creates a 'personal identity - brand fit' between employees and the organization's brand values (Porricelli et al., 2014, p. 746). Chiang et al. (2013) describe brand-centered HRM as a strategy to build brand value, by creating conditions which encourage employees to become highly involved in brand practices and achieve brand-related goals. Brand-centered HRM focuses on developing linkages between all aspects of HRM and brand-related attitudes and behaviors. For instance, recruitment and selection procedures focusing on person - brand fit allow managers to select people whose values, attitudes and behaviors are congruent with brand values. Brand-related training and development activities can improve employees' knowledge, skills and abilities to deliver brand promises to customers. Performance management and reward systems based on brand values can be used to motivate employees to behave and perform in a way that strengthens the reputation of the brand (Aurand et al., 2005; Burmann et al., 2009). Training activities, educational sessions and social activities can be used to communicate brand values and develop employees' sense of attachment to the organization (Buil et al., 2016, p. 258).\nLiterature review: Homburg et al. (2009, p. 38) describes the service-profit chain (SPC) as \"a causal chain\" that links employee satisfaction, customer orientation and customer satisfaction to loyalty and firm financial performance. Employee satisfaction and loyalty is, as Homburg et al. (2009) argues, the basis for customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, which consequently enhances the profitability and growth of the organization. According to Homburg et al. (2009, p. 38), \"this conventional SPC logic stands as a widely accepted element of current management wisdom, especially in contexts in which employee-customer interaction occurs\". Building on the principles of SPC theory, this study proposes that brand-centered HRM activities will create a causal chain, connecting hotel employee and customer attitudes and behaviors. In hotels, where employee-customer interaction is likely to be high, it is expected that internal brand-centered HRM activities will lead to higher levels of person-brand fit, BC and BCB. BCB is proposed to have a positive effect on customer attitudes and behaviors. Because of the lack of empirical research examining brand-centered HRM and its effects, these propositions remain unexplored. The following section presents a review of existing research literature, hypotheses and the research framework.\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Null model\nDiscussion: The results indicate that a brand-centered approach to HRM has a positive effect on employee and customer attitudes and behaviors. Employees were found to be more likely to perceive higher levels of person-brand fit, feel committed to the brand and engage in BCB. The results show that person-brand fit and BC both mediate the multilevel relationship between brand-centered HRM and BCB, highlighting the important role these attitudes play in explaining how brand-centered HRM practices influence work-place behavior. When employees' personal values are consistent with brand values, employees will feel a closer connection to the brand and be more willing to dedicate themselves to brand-related activity. The results reaffirm suggestions made in the research literature that desirable employee behavior can be shaped by implementing a set of brand-centered HRM practices (Burmann and Zeplin, 2005).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of brand-centered human resource management (HRM) on employees' person-brand fit, brand commitment (BC) and brand citizenship behavior (BCB). In addition, the paper tests effects of BCB on customer satisfaction and citizenship behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from managers, front-line employees and customers of 22 international tourist hotels in Taiwan. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate relationships between variables.\nFindings: Multilevel results reveal positive connections between brand-centered HRM and BCB, mediated by person-brand fit and BC. Positive relationships were also found between BC and BCB, person-brand fit and BCB; BCB and customer satisfaction; and between customer satisfaction and customer citizenship behavior.\nResearch limitations/implications: When employees' personal values are consistent with brand values, employees will feel a closer connection to the brand and be more willing to dedicate themselves to brand-related activity. The model developed here can be tested in different cultures to ascertain the generalizability of the findings to Western contexts.\nPractical implications: Support is provided for the positive effects of brand-centered HRM when employees internalize brand values as their own personal values. Hotel managers should ensure that employees are highly committed to the brand values and willing to deliver services to customers accordingly.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides measurement developments for person-brand fit and BC and deeper understanding of how brand-centered HRM can lead to positive changes in customer behavior.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Importance of intrinsic and extrinsic quality food characteristics by different consumer segments	[ "Segmentation", "Consumer motives", "Extrinsic", "Food quality characteristic", "Intrinsic" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and background: Consumers' personal food choices are changing due to a greater variety of food products, higher incomes, and better choices of food retailers (Zakowska Biemans, 2011). The term food choice refers to \"a set of conscious and unconscious decisions made by a person at the point of purchase, at the point of consumption, or any point in between\" (Herne, 1995). Food choice is a complex function of sensory characteristics (taste, odour, texture) combined with the influence of non-sensory factors, including food-related expectations and attitudes (Shepherd, 1999), health claims (Vickers, 1993; Prescott et al., 2002), price (Vickers, 1993; Markovina et al., 2015), ethical concerns (Markovina et al., 2015), and mood (Pula et al., 2014). It has long been recognized that at individual level, taste or sensory appeal, likes and dislikes, and sheer habit are all relevant for making a food choice (Markovina et al., 2015).\nMethods: Questionnaire and measurement scale\nData analyses: The data obtained from the survey were initially analysed using univariate methods to examine frequencies and distributions and to detect possible errors that might have occurred during data entry.\nResults: Importance of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes for consumers\nConsumer segments based on the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic food cues: In the interpretation of consumer segments, statements included in the factor analyses were used, as well as socio-demographic characteristics of consumers (Table III).\nDiscussion and conclusion: Importance of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes for evaluation of quality\nImplication for the food industry: Information on consumers' attitudes towards food, the importance of different food quality characteristics, and their relationships with the consumption patterns of different types of food is pertinent to health psychology, food manufacturers, and distributors to support developing communication strategies. Appropriate strategies for health promotion may be developed for segments with different attitudes and motives. The recognition of health status in comparison with other motives in the selection of food can help in the implementation and effectiveness of health promotion strategies.\nResearch limitations: There are certain limitations of this study. Only intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics from the FCQ were examined, while some other extrinsic cues, such as country of origin, brand name, etc. which can have significant importance in food consumers' choice, have not been considered. This research is only limited to three differentiated food products. Also, there was strong tendency among respondents to agree with the items in FCQ, which can indicate acquiescence bias. Furthermore, a single item self-reported measure was used as an indicator of consumption frequency. The subjective nature of this approach makes it sensitive to social desirability and self-serving biases, which can lessen the discriminative power of data. The questionnaire is concerned with the factors that are theoretically perceived as relevant to food choice, and these factors do not necessarily reflect actual dietary selection behaviour. Finally, the generalizability of results could be limited as all respondents were based in the Croatia where consumption behaviour and cultural factors may differ as compared to other parts of the world.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine intrinsic and extrinsic food quality characteristics and the relative importance placed on these characteristics by different consumer segments. Moreover, relationship between segments of consumers and consumption frequency of differentiated food products (traditional, functional and organic) was analysed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A three-stage stratified random sampling approach was employed and data were collected via 500 face-to-face interviews conducted in respondents' homes. A version of the Food Choice Questionnaire was used to examine the motives of consumers' underlying food choices. The collected data were analysed by factor analysis followed by cluster analysis.\nFindings: Four factors were identified: health and sensory characteristics, price and availability, body weight and digestion, and convenience. Resulting clusters were named as: healthy and tasty food lovers, convenient, concerned, and indifferent consumers. Differences were identified between the segments according to consumers' frequency of consumption of the different types of food products.\nPractical implications: The findings have impact implications for food producers and distributors in developing communication strategies for consumer segments with different attitudes and motives. The findings of this study not only contribute to the organic, traditional, and food with health claim literature, but also help industry, government, and consumer associations fully understand consumer perceptions of intrinsic and extrinsic foods characteristics and enhance consumers' responses to the different types of food products.\nOriginality/value: The study represents one of the first assessments of the importance of food quality characteristics, segmentation, and consumption frequency of traditional, organic, and functional food products in Central and Eastern Europe.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Innovation and competitive advantage creation: The role of organisational leadership in service firms from emerging markets	[ "Competitive advantage", "Emerging markets", "Product innovation", "Process innovation", "Market innovation", "Organizational leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Emerging markets differ on many fronts from developed ones, and this has implications for strategy development and implementation. Factors such as culture, institutional conditions and market uncertainties set emerging markets apart and, therefore, require a careful look by scholars to appreciate fully the management challenges faced by firms operating in such markets. Context matters in management (Hoskisson et al., 2000; Boso et al., 2013) and specifically in marketing (Hunt, 1991). As the emerging markets have evolved from the fringes to the core of marketing practice and from a non-profitable market position to a lucrative one, we need to take note of such markets' uniqueness. Such an approach will help us question the existing practices and perspectives of management and marketing that have been developed largely in the context of industrialised markets. Emerging markets have implications for international marketing practice and for research regarding consumption, sales and strategy. They are said to be experiencing fast growth (Cavusgil et al., 2002) and present a lot of opportunities as well as threats for business generally in such environments (Sheth, 2011). These markets present a unique opportunity for management scholars to investigate the dynamics of business operations; environmental idiosyncrasies; and competition and firm performance. In spite of the notable shift in wealth creation from developed economies to emerging economies (Bruton et al., 2013), it appears scholars have not paid the needed attention to these markets. Such neglect creates a knowledge gap as the theoretical insights emerging markets may offer to international marketing and management are critical for future understanding/interpretation. In the current competitive business environment, emerging market firms are looking for sources of advantage that can position them above the competition, improve their productivity and increase bottom lines. One of such sources that can create sustainable competitive advantages for firms is the exploitation of internal strengths and external opportunities through innovation (Barney, 1991; Porter, 1985). However, the key question that begs an answer is how emerging market firms can create competitive advantages through the exploitation of innovation as a strategic option. This study seeks to answer the question:\n2. Institutional context in emerging markets: The growth of the emerging markets has been attributed to factors such as economic reforms, ageing advanced economies, worldwide liberalisation of trade and investments and the emergence of the new middle class (Sheth, 2011). An important attribute of emerging market contexts is the institutional environment. Society's institutional priorities reflect the fundamental issues and problems that it must confront, and social and economic reward contingencies it uses, to regulate human activity and facilitate the smooth and effective functioning of society (Burgess and Steenkamp, 2006, p. 344). Emerging markets' institutional contexts depart sharply from developed contexts and offer socioeconomic, demographic, cultural and regulative departures (Burgess and Steenkamp, 2006; Khanna et al., 2005). Table I shows some differences between developed and emerging markets regarding institutional systems.\n3. Theory development and hypotheses: 3.1 Innovation and competitive advantage\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Data setting and collection\n5. Results: Standard deviations, means and correlations among the research variables are presented in Table II. The results from both regression analyses showed that product, process and market innovations related positively with competitive advantage in both countries indicating that H1a-H1c are supported. However, the level of effect varies by the innovation dimension and context. In both contexts, market innovation was more significantly related to competitive advantage than product and process innovations. On the other hand, process innovation was found to be more significantly related to competitive advantage than product innovation in the Indian context while the opposite was the case for Ghana. The results for the first set of hypotheses were found to be robust as same levels of significance were found across both modelling methods.\n6. Conclusions and implications: This study sought to evaluate how innovation can create a competitive advantage through organisational leadership for service firm operating in emerging economies. Firms in emerging markets are experiencing rapid growth, which has caused intensive competition, requiring firms to create sustainable competitive advantages. Innovation has been identified as the key strategic option with the capacity to deal with the growing demands of the market. Innovation has been studied in relation to the more mundane performance measures, while less attention has been paid to innovations creating competitive advantage (Porter, 1996). Interestingly, the real effect of innovation is to create a unique position in the market. The study examined the role of leadership as an internal boundary condition in facilitating the creation of competitive advantage through the implementation of innovation strategies. Emerging markets firms are required to adapt to the growing market demand and the competitive landscape through the implementation of innovation strategies. Studies on innovation have not adequately addressed such markets despite such markets being the next frontier of wealth creation. This study argued that as both India and Ghana are high power distance cultures, the ability of innovations to achieve competitive advantage will be mediated by organisational leadership. The results of the current study show that in both India and Ghana, innovation largely relates positively with competitive advantage. In specific terms, market innovation was found to be the most significant determinant of competitive advantage in both contexts. Additionally, in emerging markets, as the robustness checks revealed, organisational leadership was largely found to be mediating between innovation and competitive advantage in both contexts independently and collectively. The key contribution of this study is that innovative leadership creates the needed fit between a firm's strategy and its environment to provide competitive advantage in emerging markets where in the institutional context power distance is high.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how emerging market firms create competitive advantage through innovation. The study through the upper echelon theory and the power distance cultural perspective examines the mediating role of organisational leadership in the innovation and competitive advantage relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from the service sectors of two emerging economies, i.e. India and Ghana. Robust standard error regressions were run at two levels. First, at the specific country level and later on the aggregated level for robustness check.\nFindings: The results show that in both India and Ghana, innovation largely relates positively with competitive advantage. In specific terms, market innovation was found to be the most significant determinant of competitive advantage in both contexts. Additionally, organisational leadership was also found to be mediating between innovation and competitive advantage in both contexts independently and collectively to confirm the effect of power distance and leadership role in such cultures.\nResearch limitations/implications: The current study looks at only two emerging markets with high power distance cultures. The implication is that the impact of leadership may differ in emerging economies with low power distance.\nOriginality/value: The current study looks beyond the mundane relationship between financial performance measures and innovation to assess innovation and competitive advantage in emerging markets context, which has not received the needed attention. It further explains how emerging markets firms can ride on the back of power distance to create a competitive advantage with their innovation development and implementation through organisational innovation leadership. The study offers that the maximum exploitation of the beneficial effect of innovation - competitive advantage - in service firms can only be achieved when leaders spearhead the innovation process and see it through implementation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What is architectural management? Towards a pragmatic definition	[ "Architecture", "Impact", "Architectural management", "Architectural practice", "CIB W096", "Definition" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In looking at any discipline an essential issue is a \"definition\" that describes \"what is\" and \"what isn't\" constituted by that discipline. Inadequate definition may lead to confusion and in the worst cases some of the theories constituted by the defined discipline may be ignored (Madge, 1962). Similarly, Merton (1957) argued that in order to carry out successful research, the relevant concepts must be defined with \"sufficient clarity\". Accordingly, as the authors were involved in research in the field of architectural management (AM), a critical starting question was: is there an adequate definition of AM?\nResearch method: Any definition is composed of two parts: intension and extension (Swartz, 2010). The former specifies a set of logically necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for the application of a term (the nature/family of AM); while the latter defines terms by sampling and listing their extensions (components/subcomponents of AM). Thus, if the extension is known and agreed upon, then the intension should fit the extension as closely as possible; otherwise, the definition is considered too broad and wide in its scope and description. In this research, the principal guiding strategy for (re)-defining AM was to present clear and flexible intensions and extensions of AM, which describe its nature and what it entails.\nStage 1: literature review: AM has been explicitly defined in eight sources: Brunton et al. (1964), Boissevain and Prins (1993), Bax and Trum (1993), Banks (1993), Freling (1995), Nicholson (1995b), Akin and Eberhard (1996) and Emmitt (1999b). Some of these definitions were analysed by Nicholson (1995a) and the others were analysed by Emmitt (1999a, b). However, it should be noted that none of these definitions were derived by using a clearly stated pragmatic methodology. Each of the eight definitions, however, shed light on the nature (intension) of AM and highlights some aspects to be included under its umbrella (extensions). Table I summarises the key features extracted from each definition.\nStage 2 - preliminary study: A preliminary study was conducted through an online questionnaire survey comprising a list of eight open-ended questions. An invitation was sent to all members and affiliates of CIB W096 Architectural Management as held on the current database of e-mail addresses. Totally, 50 people were contacted, with 14 people completing the survey, giving a response rate of 28 per cent. In this paper, only the first two questions of the survey are included since they are directly related to this research:\nStage 3 - AM - a new definition: Based on the outcome of the previous stages, it can be argued that all of the previous intensions and extensions of AM, summarised in Table I and lists: extracts from previous AM descriptions and meaning of AM in some architecture educational programmes, are applicable to AM, but it was noticed that each attempt to define AM aimed to include whatever new aspect or innovation appeared in the industry or within managerial science. For example, the issues of sustainability; value design and delivery; competiveness; and utilising BIM, did not appear in the early attempts at definition, but once surfaced or debated, researchers included them in their definitions/descriptions of AM. Accordingly, as mentioned earlier, our principal strategy for updating the AM definition was to present clear and flexible intensions and extensions of the term, which describe its nature, what it entails, and what might be included in the future.\nStage 4 - testing the new definition: This definition of AM was then tested for clarity and usefulness through the professional opinions of two groups: researchers and architects. This was achieved through three sequential testing sessions:\nConclusion: Over 50 years since the first use of the term AM there is now a definition derived from systematic research. The research aim was to determine a solid and pragmatic definition of AM that is capable of illustrating what exactly it entails. This was achieved by reflecting on AM literature as well as considering the contemporary views of architectural researchers and practitioners. Given the paucity of work within the field of AM it was necessary to focus research activity on the CIB W096 Architectural Management network. Research also concentrated on UK practitioners because of the history of the development of the field. While this proved to be a strength in terms of soliciting expert and informed views, the relatively narrow scope and relatively small response to the questionnaire survey are research limitations. Despite this, the new definition does offer a common description of AM that can be used for future constructive debates by practitioners, educators and researchers in trying to apply, further understand and develop the field. The definition is not prescriptive, which allows scope for innovation and the space for architectural practices to develop practical and specific strategies to suit their unique context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a pragmatic definition of architectural management (AM) derived from systematic research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A triangulated approach to data collection was employed, comprising a number of sequential stages. First, a literature review was carried out to analyse the previous attempts to define the term. Then, a preliminary survey was conducted (online questionnaire) to capture the current interpretations of the term. After that, a new definition was formulated based on analysing and synthesising the collected data. The fourth stage was focused on examining the consistency of the new definition through the perspectives of architectural researchers and practitioners. The final stage was refining the definition based on the feedback.\nFindings: After following a pragmatic approach for constructing a new definition of AM; and based on the results of the several testing stages, it was found that AM is associated with the strategic management of the architectural office and its individual projects; and it is responsible for value design and delivery for its adopter and for the different types of stakeholders.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although there was some quantitative testing in addition to the qualitative data the response rate was low in terms of the population of UK architectural practices.\nOriginality/value: The outcome is the first definition of AM grounded in research. The research is unique in terms of reviewing the scope and limitations of the previous definitions of AM. Based on the research findings, the new definition of AM was found to offer an accepted description of AM that can be used by both researchers, educators and practising architects. The definition provides a common understanding (vocabulary) for those working in the area of AM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Targeting relationally integrated teams for sustainable PPPS	[ "Public sector organizations", "Private sector organizations", "Partnership", "Team working", "Teambuilding" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground and introduction: The levels of private sector involvement in infrastructure development and indeed in some elements of national developments have escalated in many countries over the past few centuries. As discussed by Jeffries et al. (2006), the \"public vs. private debate\" has been going on since Adam Smith's the \"Wealth of Nations\" in 1776. Some nations have ventured at various times to entrust their socio-economic development, either entirely to the government through the public sector, or sometimes to totally rely on market forces via the private sector. Drawing on both public and private sector resources together has also been possible i.e. through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), e.g. looking back to the railroads that opened up the West of the USA; or even further back to the ten year concession for commercial exploration of the Guinea Gulf awarded to a sailor by the King of Portugal in the 15th century in exchange for the \"discovery of new lands\" (Branco et al., 2006). The popularity of PPPs has fluctuated with the ideologies and needs of the time and place, e.g. since governments must necessarily play a bigger role during both financial and natural crises, as well as during wars and conflicts.However, the marked interest in PPPs that resurfaced in the last two decades has moved PPPs from their \"first generation\" that essentially chased private funds to finance infrastructure development; to the \"second generation\" that seeks greater efficiencies and value for money (Duffield, 2005). These efficiencies are expected to result in superior performance levels in creating and managing, and not merely \"maintaining\", assets that include not only physical infrastructure such as roads and power stations, but also schools and prisons. Furthermore, those pursuing PPPs must cross dangerous mine fields (Ogunlana, 2005), given the many more variables, risks and lack of experience in dealing with such complex scenarios. Furthermore, the long time frames of most concessions impose extra demands that PPPs should not just be \"successful\" but sustainable as well.Moreover, it is now clear that high performance levels in infrastructure development and management depend not just on drastically improved structures and systems, but also on enhanced project cultures and integrated teamworking (Construction 21, 1999; CIRC, 2001; Constructing Excellence, 2004). Combining these with the needs for sustainable performance levels in PPPs as above, they point to the requirement for superior teams who can work well together in the long term, in managing the constructed infrastructure product. This paper therefore, applies and adapts findings from research into factors facilitating relationally integrated project teams, to formulate a conceptual framework aimed at developing and sustaining good relationships and performance levels throughout the PPP time frame. Feedback from a group of international PPP experts is summarised to indicate the suitability of the framework and its proposed further development. Furthermore, interviews with PPP players and stakeholders involved in recent and forthcoming PPP initiatives in Hong Kong and Singapore, reinforce the value of the proposed approaches to targeting sustainable relationally integrated project teams.This therefore, is essentially a theory-building type paper that develops and presents integrative concepts and frameworks, drawing on both research that is reported in more detail elsewhere, as well as on samples of new evidence being collected, e.g. the samples of factors that can be injected into the proposed knowledge base of relational success factors and sub-factors.The needs for the above-mentioned integration and consolidated developments are further reinforced by recent research elsewhere. For example, in Australia:* Cheung (2006) provides examples of culture change through better relationship management in infrastructure supply chains in general.* Jefferies et al. (2006) target the minimising of transaction costs in the bidding process for PPPs, also aiming at more sustainable procurement.* Chen et al. (2006) proposed a decision support model to evaluate the \"sustainable performance potential of partner candidates\" in terms of environmental consciousness and sustainable performance, as well as the sustainability of such construction partnerships, for construction projects in general.Sustainability is clearly more significant in PPPs, given the much longer time horizon, but little detailed work has been as yet done in this direction itself, while it has not been integrated with the other important dimension of \"relationships\" for sustainable team-building as well.\nTeam-building imperatives: Team working and integration\nSustainable relationally integrated project teams (SRITs): Developing an overall framework for a SRIT prequalification model\nSustainable relationships: building up knowledge bases: The following provide some examples of how useful knowledge can be collected for expanding and finalising the structure and populating the planned knowledge bases of critical factors and sub-factors, by drawing on recent strategies and experiences in the new waves of PPPs in both developed and developing countries.Examples of experiential knowledge from Singapore\nConcluding observations: More informed team selection is clearly more critical for sustainable PPPs and the basic prequalification approach proposed here incorporates relational factors into the shortlisting process. While previous research justifies evaluating relational capabilites, the overview in this paper highlights a need to integrate this relationship dimension with considerations of technical competence and sustainsivity (sensitivity to sustainability issues). This paper also develops an integrated conceptual framework, while drawing on findings from the teambuilding, relational contracting and PPP performance research streams, which include previous contributions from these authors.For example, while KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and related assessment tools for evaluating technical competence have been developed over many decades, sustainability KPIs are being focused upon in many regions in the last few years (e.g. Ugwu et al., 2006). \"Relationally integrating\" factors for construction project teams have been identified from the literature and the reported multi-country survey. Applying and adapting selected relational factors along a PPP timeline, as piloted in the proposed model, was seen to be useful by the surveyed experts. Further examples may be drawn from the tools developed by Cheung et al. (2006) to assess the \"degree of relationalism\" of relational contracts in construction through a \"relational index\". Fresh approaches would of course be needed to adapt and apply such methods to the evaluation of the \"strengths\" of actual relationships, which would have many dimensions.Further development of this prequalification model is envisaged along the relational, as well as sustainability dimensions, whereas knowledge bases abound for \"technical\" evaluation. The proposed model can be next integrated with the overall PPP team selection system that would incorporate the evaluation of proposals from prequalified consortia, that will include assessments of financial and infrastructure operational proposals as well.Examples of PPP teambuilding exercises and the importance ascribed to teamworking criteria in Hong Kong and Singapore, indicate how the proposed knowledge bases may be built up. Also, the overall framework presented in this paper indicates how relational contracting approaches and sustainable relationships can contribute to more sustainable infrastructure, and in turn to suitably integrated long-term development. While PPPs can be valuable in mobilising and synergising such forces, it must be noted that PPPs are certainly not appropriate for all scenarios. Parallel research initiatives (e.g. Anvuur and Kumaraswamy, 2006) are directed at developing decision support for distinguishing scenarios that are suited for PPPs, and indeed for different types of PPPs. Taken together, these initiatives will help in deciding where PPP can yield better value overall, and help in selecting better and more sustainable PPP teams that can help increase such value.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper targets the development of comprehensive approaches to prequalifying teams for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Research outcomes from a study into \"relationally integrated project teams\" (RIPTs) were applied to necessarily longer-term PPP scenarios. A force field model was developed to visualise the importance of stronger relational forces between the many PPP participants for \"sustainable RIPTs\" (SRITs). A framework was conceptualised to show linkages from relational contracting approaches, through sustainable relationships to sustainable infrastructure. This framework and a basic model for evaluating relational performance, were assessed by a panel of international PPP experts.\nFindings: - The results encouraged the collection of factors facilitating successful relationships to build the proposed knowledge base. Literature review and initial interviews provide examples of priorities and lessons learned in relationship building in ongoing PPPs.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Being an integrative theory-building type exercise bringing together relational contracting, teambuilding and PPP performance research streams, this paper summarises and refers to, rather than provides details of, feeder research. Fleshing out the conceptual framework and model will next proceed beyond the initial testing and sample knowledge elements conveyed herein.\nPractical implications: - Selecting good teams is essential for successful projects, and more so for PPP projects, given their complexities and longer timeframes. Increasing reliance on PPPs for infrastructure development and asset management enhances this significance.\nOriginality/value: - Synergies are derived from linking relationship-building and sustainability thrusts in the context of PPP performance. Concepts of \"sustainable relationships\" and \"sustainsivity\" (sensitivity to sustainability issues) are introduced.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Co-operative training in the Sheffield forging industry	[ "Steelmaking", "Recruitment", "Training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Some years ago many Sheffield steel companies with hammer forges producing a wide range of quality products were becoming anxious about recruitment of young people. With an ageing population it was feared that unless some positive steps were taken to encourage boys to enter the forging industry it would suffer from a lack of young people to carry on the skilled work of forging by powered hammers. Already some hammers had had to stand idle because of shortage of men.\nThe scheme: The Forges Training Committee decided that the scheme should last two years, after which the boys would become members of production teams. Each company was responsible for recruiting boys into their forges but in order to publicise the scheme a brochure was printed which was circulated among the youth employment bureaux in the region. A common starting wage for boys entering the scheme was agreed upon and a standard system for training and education adopted.Of the five days in each working week, three would be spent at the recruit's own works, one would be spent at a hammer set aside for the purpose of giving systematic instruction to boys in the scheme and the remaining day would be spent at the Sheffield College of Further Education.At the college each boy takes a general course including English, social studies, calculations, elementary science and metal work. In his first year he also studies the general section of the City and Guilds Iron and Steel Operatives' Course, and in his second year, the Forgings, Pressings and Stampings section of this course. City and Guilds modified this syllabus at the request of the Forges Training Scheme Committee to make it more suitable for people employed on hammer forging.Both members of the college staff and specialists from the industry contribute to the teaching of these courses. Visits are arranged to manufacturers of forging equipment, to other companies in the steel industry and to steel users.Practical training is given at the boy's own works and on one day of each week at a hammer on a separate site. There are three of these hammers, each one loaned by participating companies and a graded training schedule is operated at each. Each boy begins with simple working on simple steels and gradually progresses until he handles special and alloy steels in more difficult operations. An analysis of job skills has begun and instruction manuals and notes for the trainees are being prepared. This has proved a most useful feature of the scheme and has given a firm footing on which to build the training. So that the recruits will see and understand a little of what goes on around them, time is also spent in other departments in the works.The instructors at the communal hammers and in the other companies attended a course based on TWI methods and this is to be repeated each autumn. They are all men who have shown an interest in training the entrants and who are skilled forgemen themselves.\nThe results: Already 24 boys have entered the scheme and at present 11 companies make full use of all facilities. Four more give their recruits a day release for further education classes and continue with all the practical training within their own works. These are larger companies who have adequate facilities for this.The smaller companies and those with small numbers of employees in forge departments have found the scheme to be a most effective method of solving some of their recruitment and training problems. They have attracted boys from secondary modern and from grammar schools some of whom have the potential to make useful careers for themselves, in forges after completing their preliminary training. The scheme has shown recruits that a production job in forges can be an interesting one and one through which they can progress-to production management if the training is tackled conscientiously and opportunities for self-development are taken.It has given to the recruit a status which youths entering production jobs in forges have never had before.From the companies' point of view, whether they are small or large concerns, the scheme helps them to recruit a good type of boy into their forges. It enables the boys to be given a broader and more effective training than without the scheme and this training is quicker too. Forge managers are encouraged to take a greater interest in training and the committee which runs the scheme has enabled them to contribute their ideas to produce a practical scheme suited to the needs of the forges.\nThe future and financial arrangements: Following the successful beginnings of the Forges' scheme several working parties of managers in companies in the area are now investigating training needs in melting shops and in rolling mills. Companies with wire drawing departments recruited boys in 1958 who are embarking on a similar type of training scheme.In its initial stages the scheme cost little. A levy was agreed by the companies which they paid to cover the expenses of the scheme. These were mainly the reimbursement of companies supplying communal hammer facilities at a nominal charge to the scheme and some transport of the youths on works visits.In anticipation of further costs being incurred and because of a need to recruit a full-time instructor the scheme has been fully costed. A meeting is about to be called to put to directors of the companies in the scheme the economic cost of employing an instructor and of paying for hammer hire for training. The cost is likely to be about PS75 a boy a year. This compares favourably with realistic costs of training a craft apprentice. The companies will wish to decide for themselves if it is worth this to train young forge operatives to take their place in production teams. These teams, however, will be those to whom they can look for the steadfast continuance of the best traditions in hammer forging and for an alertness to new ideas which will be of particular importance in the years ahead. The price is surely not too high?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to give details of an operation carried out in Sheffield to increase the recruitment of young men into the steel forging industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The Sheffield Forges Co-operative Training Scheme was designed to encourage boys to enter the forging industry and to provide them with training and education to become skilled and knowledgeable forgemen. The scheme would last two years, and the boys would spend three days per week at their recruiting company, one day per week receiving specialised training at a forging hammer at a separate site, and one day a week at the Sheffield College of Further Education, where he would take a general course including English, social studies, calculations, elementary science and metal work. The boys also studied the general section of the City and Guilds Iron and Steel Operatives' Course and the Forgings, Pressings and Stampings section of the course, in order to receive training specifically for employment on hammer forging.\nFindings: - This scheme shows recruits that a production job in forges can be interesting, and it can be one in which they progress. It gives them a status which had never before been present when entering forge work. Following the successful beginnings of this scheme, similar schemes are being investigated in melting shops and rolling mills.\nOriginality/value: - The Sheffield Forges Co-operative Training Scheme was created to solve recruitment and training problems in the forging industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Study of work-family and family-work conflicts overturns generational stereotypes	[ "Work", "Family", "Conflict", "Baby Boomers", "Millennials", "Generation X" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An American study suggests that popular assumptions about the attitudes to work of Baby Boomers, Generation X-ers and Millennials may be incorrect.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: One of the most unexpected findings was that Baby Boomers showed the most family-work conflict followed by Generation X-ers and then Millennials. Meanwhile, Generation X-ers reported the most work-family conflict followed by Millennials and Baby Boomers. Another unexpected finding was that employees with children aged between 13 and 18 reported the biggest work-family conflict.\nPractical implications: This paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Disentangling supply chain management competencies and their impact on performance: A knowledge-based view	[ "Skills", "Training", "Organizational learning", "Organizational knowledge", "Supply chain management competencies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is widely accepted that a company's supply chain management (SCM) capabilities have a positive impact on its performance by decreasing costs, reducing inventory write-offs and increasing revenues (Ellinger et al., 2011; Wagner et al., 2012). Recent SCM research has used a knowledge-based view (KBV) - that considers knowledge as the strategically most important resource of a firm (Grant, 1996) - to investigate the impact of knowledge on supply chain and company performance (Hult et al., 2004; Craighead et al., 2009). These types of studies have frequently focused on the impact of organizational knowledge rather than on the competencies of individuals. Both components are often aggregated into one concept (Hult et al., 2006). However, classical knowledge management research distinguishes between the two dimensions (Felin and Hesterly, 2007).\nTheoretical basis and hypotheses: The KBV is chosen as the theoretical basis to link SCM and HRM research on competencies. Based on this view, we developed a set of nine hypotheses that together build a model that can be used to better understand the impact of organizational and individual competencies, respectively, on SCM performance.\nResearch design and methodology: Questionnaire development and pre-testing\nResults: The structural model: direct effects\nDiscussion and contextualization: This section aims to relate our empirical findings back to the literature and discuss them in a contextualized manner. Our empirical results statistically support our hypotheses and confirm the idea of disentanglement of SCM competencies. However, the widely varying magnitude of the effects of training and organizational learning is surprising and requires further investigation.\nConclusion: Contributions to the literature\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of supply chain management (SCM) competencies by splitting them into individual and organizational components and measuring their impact on SCM performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hypothesized relationships are tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping mediation analysis based on a multi-national survey with 273 managers while drawing on the theory of knowledge management and literature streams of individual competencies in the fields of SCM and human resource management (HRM), respectively.\nFindings: The analysis reveals that individual SCM competencies and organizational SCM knowledge positively influence SCM performance to a similar magnitude. Moreover, organizational learning enhances individual competencies and organizational knowledge significantly and equally while corporate training programs fall surprisingly short of expectations. The disentanglement of SCM competencies renders HRM's contribution to SCM visible by revealing the impact of HRM and learning practices on competencies, knowledge, and performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: To validate the findings, future research could apply different research methods such as case studies and focus on more countries to reduce potential methodological and regional biases.\nPractical implications: The results suggest that corporate training programs need further development. Organizational learning's strong direct and indirect effects have two main implications: first, it should serve as motivation for organizations to constantly improve their learning capabilities. Second, these only tap its true potential for enhancing SCM performance if they first elevate individual competencies and organizational knowledge.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper to distinguish between individual competencies and organizational knowledge on finely nuanced levels. While the organizational knowledge level effect on performance has been studied before, this paper extends this effect to also hold true for the individual level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Personal development planning under the scope of self-brand orientation	[ "Self development", "Brands", "Brand identity", "Students", "Universities", "Greece" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to what the previous research reveals regarding the way personal development has been perceived and handled by academics and practitioners (Clegg and Bradley, 2006), it seems that the main body of the relevant literature recognises Personal Development Plans (PDP) as the vehicles which either drive to an enhancement of students' self-responsibility while studying, or aim at a higher employability. In general, the literature approaches PDPs under the spectrum of a planned and structured change process and distinguishes them from other tactical initiatives and activities currently undertaken by the universities (or companies). This is done by placing emphasis mostly on a directional skill enhancement, aiming at the best possible outcome for the participants (Monks et al., 2000).Along these lines, little is actually known about either the effectiveness of such programs or the attitudes and beliefs of the participants regarding specific PDP program structures.To explore this ground systematically, the study examines student perceptions regarding personal development programs, putting forward several concrete questions, that have not been answered so far.\nLiterature review: Personal development planning programs - short review and commentary\nResearch objectives: Following the conceptual review and analysis of the PDP issue, the objectives set in this particular research are:* to identify the beliefs of business-students regarding the predominant aims of the universities today;* to evaluate self-brand orientation's topics as parts of a PDP program; and* to search for the \"intention to buy\" a PDP program containing self-brand oriented topics, by the students.Based on the above objectives and the literature review undertaken, three hypotheses were formulated and put forward for testing as follows:H1. \"Self-development knowledge rather than employability should be the predominant aim of the modern university\".H2. \"Topics related to the self-brand orientation are considered appropriate for a PDP program\".H3. \"There is causation between PDP program topics related to the self-brand orientation and the \"intention to buy\" such a program by the students\".\nResearch methodology: Considering that this research is exploratory in nature, we employ hypothesis testing which is generally acceptable as the appropriate tool/procedure. The methodology adopted five pre-test pilot in-depth interviews among randomly selected students, in order to assure effective semantic design and instrument format. In the next stage, a pre-structured questionnaire was used in a survey conducted among students.Research instrument\nResearch results: Predominant aim of the university today\nDiscussion and conclusions: The motives behind this piece of research at this point in time in Greece are linked to a much needed reposition of universities and their academic and research staff in the eyes of all their stakeholders, the students, the organisations and the society at large.Our findings could safely drive to the conclusion, that when a university is not focused on the \"education\" of the whole personality and its focus is not on the personal development of its students, it does not fulfil their needs. Today, as our findings reveal there is a \"gap\" between student needs and what the university offers, thus failing to deliver an overall satisfaction.This should re-orient universities to adopt more pedagogical objectives, which by itself is a major issue not only because its main stakeholders, the students appear to want it, but because the modern society needs it (Barnett, 2004; Derek, 1999). A conclusion one can draw from the recent incidents in the higher education field in France and in Greece, is that the focus on field-specific knowledge and the focus on employability, are both narrow views of the ultimate aim of modern universities. In some cases this seems to be very clear to all but the university authorities who fail to realise that the adoption of a more social role by the universities will enhance their reputation inside and outside their gates. What the study findings suggests is that the personal development planning programs can be the vehicle through which the universities will answer to the needs of both students and the society. Therefore, universities should make the proper decisions under the spectrum of a long-term relationship building with their students as stakeholders and other parties of the society. Students' attitudes and beliefs indicate an interest in a more \"emotional intelligence\" based education when they claim that the aim of the university is to offer knowledge that enhances their whole personality. Therefore, \"self-brand management\" appears ready to support personal development planning initiatives in a very promising way offering an answer to this issue and, in parallel, actualising an ethical contribution of marketing to higher education. Organisations, both public and privately owned, stand also to benefit from such a shift in the role of universities because, as Speak (2003, p. 5) claims \"Your employees' personal brands - who they are and what they stand for - make a significant impact on your organisational brand\".\nResearch limitations: The research finding by no means present a picture of the entire student population as it was confined to business students. Perhaps students in other faculties could be differently inclined toward PDP. Sample size is also a limitation in the sense that certain issues such as causality need a very strong sample base to be established and used.Finally, offering a wider spectrum of topics, could have made a difference in the detailed conclusions.\nFurther steps - proposed model: In order to proceed with some action, a PDP model must be proposed and tested. This model, as presented in Figire 1, can be seen as a \"journey\" leading to a consistent and ever-going building process of a strong \"self\"-brand.The proposed model utilising the brand literature, borrows terms and theory from brand management and strategic marketing planning. More precisely, it introduces topics such as 'brand perceptions, brand knowledge, brand awareness, brand differentiation, brand image, brand proliferation and brand equity, (Aaker, 1996; Keller, 2003; deChernatony, 1992; Arnold, 1992).Furthermore, the proposed model-program develops along the three key components that determine strong brands, as presented by Speak (2003), namely distinctiveness, relevance and consistency.To start with, the proposed program treats the element of differentiation as very important, because it ultimately drives to distinctiveness. Along the same line, it makes use of several marketing and management tools, like SWOT analysis and the unique selling proposition (USP) concept. The second element, relevance, is also at the core of the model-program, because it highlights considerations that are external to the individual on one hand, and accommodates what the individual considers important on the other. Also, consistency is brought in as one of the driving factors to success and is treated as such in the context of the program.Apart from the above, the model-program takes under consideration concepts and specific themes related to personal development as they emerged from unaided spontaneous references by the students during our survey.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the empirical body of knowledge regarding the role of universities today. In addition, it aims to investigate the topic of personal development planning (PDP) programs, under a different perspective borrowed from marketing theory, namely, the \"self-brand orientation\" approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study focused on investigating the core research topics and parameters perceived to be important to students. The theoretical perspectives of PDPs and brand orientation served as conceptual bases, and both have been operationalised through the empirical study conducted.\nFindings: - The study findings reveal a \"gap\" between today's student needs and what the universities offer. \"self-brand oriented\" management, seems to support the development of PDPs in a promising way, since the majority of the students claim that they are willing to participate in such a program.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Because of sample limitations, the findings of the study are not generally applicable. Besides, the topics of PDPs remain unknown to the particular students, since they never had the opportunity to participate in such a program in the past.\nPractical implications: - This paper can be seen as a guiding work to new means of delivery of PDPs. It contributes to the dialogue under progress regarding the role of the Universities today and the ways by which PDPs will increase their future possibilities.\nOriginality/value: - The contribution of the paper is twofold: it meets students' needs as well as society's requests and allows marketing to make an ethical contribution to higher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain product co-development, product modularity and product performance: Empirical evidence from Hong Kong manufacturers	[ "Supply chain management", "Product design", "Product development", "Hong Kong" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: A growing body of literature has suggested that a firm will perform well if it has a high-degree of supply chain integration (SCI) (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Lee, 2000). SCI involves multiple business processes across supplier, customer and internal functional units, e.g. supplier partnership, cross-functional teams, joint inventory management, customer relationship management, demand management, etc. (Vickery et al., 2003; Stock and Lambert, 2001). Among these processes, product co-development with suppliers (Ragatz et al., 1997), customers (Callahan and Lasry, 2004) and internal functional units (Clark and Fujimoto, 1991), i.e. supply chain product co-development (SCPC), is critical for firm, to acquire resources and new ideas to develop new products (Filippini et al., 2004; Ragatz et al., 2002; Clark and Fujimoto, 1991).Modular product design is considered to be an effective approach for mass customization and cycle time reduction (Duray et al., 2000), which would improve strategic flexibility for manufacturers (Worren et al., 2002; Sanchez, 1995). The decision to implement product modularity (PM) is an important aspect in modular product design because different levels of modularity require different product design processes (Duray et al., 2000; Ulrich, 1995). There is a continuum describing a product system's degree of separateness, specificity and transferability of product components, according to whether the product systems are loosely or tightly coupled (Schilling, 2000; Sanchez, 1995).Although both SCI and modular product design are common practices adopted by manufacturers, few empirical studies have explored their relationships (Fine et al., 2005). Parker and Anderson (2002) pointed out that manufacturers need to determine the level of PM within a framework of supply chain design; otherwise they may lose their value-adding activities to their suppliers. Sako (2002) argued that modular product design is critical to product, process and supply chain design and usually requires the integration of designers, producers and consumers. Most of the literature on PM focuses on detailed, technical aspects of PM (Nobelius and Sundgren, 2002; Salvador et al., 2002). Empirical testing of the relationship between PM and SCI is seldom used.There is considerable discussion in relevant literature as to whether modular product design and PM require closer SCI in product development (Lyons et al., 2006; Nobelius and Sundgren, 2002; Sanchez, 1999; Fine, 1998). This debate, which has been conducted at a theoretical level, can only be resolved by empirical studies on the possible relationship between PM and SCI (Brusoni, 2005; Parker and Anderson, 2002; Salvador et al., 2002).The present study contributes to existing knowledge in two ways. First, this study explores the relationships between PM, SCPC and the performance of a firm in a single empirical study. The study is thus a response to the literature on supply chain management and product development, both of which suggest that SCI and PM should be analyzed in a comprehensive way (Mikkola, 2003; Salvador et al., 2002).Second, many research studies found that SCI can directly improve company performance (Lee, 2000; Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001), but there has been very little discussion on the indirect effects of SCI on firm performance (Swink et al., 2006; Vickery et al., 2003). It is interesting to see whether SCI can indirectly improve product performance (PP) (Rosenzweig et al., 2003), mediated by PM. Thus, the present study tests both the direct and indirect impacts of SCPC on PP.\n2 Theoretical framework: SCI is defined as business processes to integrate suppliers, customers and internal functional units in order to optimize the total performance of all partners in the supply chain (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Stevens, 1989). SCI involves three dimensions, i.e. integration with suppliers, integration with customers and integration within the company, it includes many business processes that cut across these three dimensions (Rosenzweig et al., 2003; Vickery et al., 2003). SCI reflects multiple business activities or processes across suppliers, internal functional units and customers. Table I shows the literature on SCI processes in chronological order.Frohlich and Westbrook (2001) identified the positive effects of SCI on performance, but their measurement of SCI only included supplier and customer integration, ignoring internal integration. Rosenzweig et al. (2003) improved the measurement of SCI with a new SCI intensity construct, measuring supplier, customer and internal integration, in a single study. Vickery et al. (2003) conceptualized SCI as three business processes including supplier partnership, close customer relationship and cross-functional teams. SCI also included other business processes across the supply chain (Vickery et al., 2003; Han et al., 2002).In this study, we examine only the SCI processes which would affect product design and development, namely:* supplier co-development (SC);* customer co-development (CC); and* internal co-development (IC).A theoretical framework of SCPC, PM and performance is shown in Figure 1 and each of the research constructs is discussed below.2.1 Supply chain product co-development\n3 Model development: The hypothesized research model is shown in Figure 2. This hypothesized model is largely based on the resource-based theory which is widely used in both product development (Verona, 1999) and supply chain literature. According to the resource-based theory (Barney, 1991), effective product development depends on the leveraging of organizational capabilities and resources, which are usually owned by internal functional units and other organizations, such as suppliers, customers, universities, research institutions and the like. For effective product development, firms should have business processes to integrate the internal and external capabilities and resources (Takeishi, 2001; Moorman and Slotegraaf, 1999). Verona (1999) argued that these capabilities include technological, marketing, internal integrative and external integrative capabilities. Moorman and Slotegraaf (1999) further suggested that capabilities are not valuable as a single asset but are of great value if they are complementary. Recent literature has highlighted SCI as being valuable for a company to improve business performance (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001), but includes very few discussions of the indirect effect of SCI on company performance (Vickery et al., 2003; Narasimhan and Kim, 2002).Based on these general findings, the present study investigates whether SCPC is directly related to PP. This study also looks into whether SCPC helps manufacturers to design modular products and in turn to improve manufacturing capabilities and PP.3.1 SCPC and product modularity (H1)\n4 Methodology: To test the research hypotheses, a survey of Hong Kong manufacturing industries was conducted.4.1 Measures\n5 Data analysis: 5.1 Non-respondent bias and common method variance\n6 Results: 6.1 Descriptive statistics\n7 Discussion: The findings of the present study support that there is a positive relationship between SCI and PM, which is probably the first empirical evidence reported in literature. In addition, PM is found to be able to enhance PP, mediated by flexibility and CS.7.1 SCPC and product modularity\n8 Conclusion: 8.1 Academic implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine how an organization can achieve higher performance through integrating supply chain product co-development (SCPC) and modular product design.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on a comprehensive review of literature on product development, supply chain management and system theory, the four proposed hypotheses concerning the relationships among SCPC, product modularity (PM), manufacturing capabilities and product performance (PP) were tested empirically through a sample of 251 Hong Kong manufacturers.\nFindings: - SCPC is found to have a direct and positive relationship with PM and PP. PM improves flexibility and customer service and in turn PP.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Given the cross-sectional nature of the study and the focus on manufacturing industry, future research should replicate this study in different industries with more longitudinal studies.\nPractical implications: - The study provides solid evidence that managers should involve their suppliers, internal functional units and customers early in their design stages, especially in the decisions relating to PM. The study has also demonstrated that product co-development affects PP in both direct and indirect ways.\nOriginality/value: - The present study empirically verifies the relationships between supply chain integration and modular product design by means of SCPC and PM. Similar empirical research is absent from the literature on relevant disciplines.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring change conversations through the rhetoric of French leaders	[ "Leadership", "Organizational change", "Stakeholders", "Change conversations", "Speech act theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The linguistic turn in social sciences places language, conversation and discourse centrally on the \"organizational change\" research agenda. From this discursive point of view, organizational change represents the process of constructing and sharing new meanings and interpretations of organizational practices (Morgan and Sturdy, 2000). There is a growing body of literature on change management that considers organizations as socially constructed realities in which the reality is understood through and by leaders' conversations and discourses with various stakeholders (Barrett et al., 1995; Ford, 1999; Marshak and Grant, 2011; Tsoukas, 2005).\nLiterature: Communication as a change-generative mechanism\nMethodology: To address our research questions, we opted for a co-occurrence text analysis methodology that leads to elaborated theories of discourse (Bolino et al., 2008). A longitudinal analysis applied to the largest French companies listed on the CAC 40, ranked according to market value, over a period of six years, from 2007 to 2012. The text collection or corpus is composed of 174 CEOs' letters drawn from the annual reports of 29 French companies listed on the CAC 40, which represent a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant values. We used a computer-aided text analysis program: Alceste 2012 (Reinert, 1987). This tool is able to analyze large bodies of text (in our case, the corpus is about 300 pages written in MS Word, Times New Roman, font size 12 and single-spaced) and to produce high-quality results (Kalampalikis, 2003). The sample composition is presented in Table II.\nResults: The semantic universes derived from the statistical analysis of textual data\nDiscussion: RQ1. What forms of change conversations can be identified through French leader's rhetoric as contained in CEOs' letters?\nConclusion: This paper is based on a textual analysis of French CEOs' letters, to explore leaders' communication approaches when managing change. We have retained the perspective of change as presented by Ford and Ford (1995). According to this approach communication is the generative mechanism of change that enables the formulation of cognitive processes and the construction of reality. We have assumed that in post-modern organization, the dynamics of corporate change has been facilitated by advanced information technology and systems. Interconnections among firms and their stakeholders could be managed through language which is considered as a powerful tool to persuade audiences and coordinate social action.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to capitalize on a linguistic perspective to analyze the rhetoric of French leaders about organizational change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To address the research questions, the authors opted for a lexical content analysis. They use Ford and Ford's (1995) change conversational framework and the speech act theory to analyze French CEOs' letters to stakeholders, over the period 2007-2012.\nFindings: The authors find that leaders' rhetoric consists of three types of change conversations, namely, initiative, for understanding and for performance, that were underpinned by a network of assertive, expressive and commissive speech acts.\nPractical implications: The results reveal that the communication of change to external stakeholders can be characterized as supportive change conversations, offering assurance on the necessity, appropriateness and expected benefits of change.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first work, in the French context, which integrates change conversations and speech act perspectives to examine the way leaders communicate with external stakeholders through CEOs letters. Previous research focused specially on communicating change with internal stakeholders.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How does dysfunctional customer behavior affect employee turnover	[ "Employee turnover", "Dysfunctional customer behaviour", "Employee embeddedness", "Employee stress", "Individualism–collectivism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Dysfunctional customer behavior, which can arise in customer-employee interactions, occurs when customers are abrupt, rude and uncooperative toward employees (Fisk et al., 2010), with the result that employees suffer emotional, psychological and physical harm (Daunt and Harris, 2012; Harris and Reynolds, 2003; Reynolds and Harris, 2009). Notably, studies show that dysfunctional customer behavior occurs more often than dysfunctional coworker or supervisor behavior (Dormann and Zapf, 2004; Dudenhoffer and Dormann, 2013; Grandey et al., 2007). Many employees are motivated to remedy the situation by leaving their organizations (Burton et al., 2010), and the resulting employee turnover then negatively influences firm performance through increased costs related to employee recruitment, induction and training (Harris and Reynolds, 2003; Rubenstein et al., 2018). Thus, academics and practitioners are interested in identifying mechanisms that reduce negative employee outcomes triggered by these behaviors (Baranik et al., 2017; Gong et al., 2014; Reynolds and Harris, 2009).\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Dysfunctional customer behavior\nMethod: Sample and data collection procedure\nResults: Evaluation of measurement model\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Dysfunctional customer behavior is believed to engender employee stress and, in turn, fuel employee turnover. However, little research has examined the moderating role of individual-level and contextual-level resource variables. The purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps by examining employee embeddedness and individualism-collectivism as putative moderators of the hypothesized mediation chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a field study involving 264 service employees working in two hotels operated by the same international hotel chain, one in South Korea (n=138) and the other in the UK (n=126).\nFindings: Results show that employee embeddedness weakens the impact of dysfunctional customer behavior on employee turnover via employee stress. In addition, findings suggest that collectivists (individualists) are more (less) likely to be receptive to embeddedness cues.\nOriginality/value: This is the first known study to show that employee embeddedness can mitigate the impact of dysfunctional customer behavior on turnover via employee stress. This moderated-mediation model is further moderated by employees' cultural value orientation (individualism-collectivism). Prior literature is not explicit on these complex models.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investment opportunities for student housing in Europe	[ "Germany", "France", "Spain", "Alternative property investments", "European cities", "Student housing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: My digs look as if they've been dug.David Nicholls[1]\nIntroduction: Real estate investors have historically concentrated upon traditional asset classes. In the UK, up until the late 1990s, this was primarily commercial investment properties in offices, retail and industrial. That said, the REIT market has a way of exploring and finding new investment opportunities and portfolios of leisure properties, nursing homes, logistics and a whole range of residential property types from retirement homes to large scale private rented sector developments. One of these emerging niche markets is student housing.\nEuropean student housing - drivers of demand: Other factors that have been identified as drivers in Europe are:\nEuropean student housing - a new asset class: However, seizing this investment opportunity poses unique challenges. Investing in prime locations in most university cities is now a premium and the lack of space and liquidity has made it less easy to find sites for new developments. Acquiring assets in peripheral areas, away from the target universities, although comparatively easier to acquire, generally they may not attract the higher rents.\nEuropean student housing - investment opportunity: To evaluate, invest opportunity at the country level, the following steps are shown in Table II.\nFrance - summary: Using the metric above, it can be seen that the overall economic conditions over the last few years show stagnation in the economy and a lack of return in traditional property investment options. In contrast, student housing appears to be quite promising, since predictions indicate that student population in France is expected to rise considerably by year 2020. Primarily this is because students want to take advantage of the good quality affordable education, culture and a high standard of living that the country has to offer. Investment student housing is providing average investment yields of between 5.5 and 7 per cent.\nSpain - summary: Spain is the fifth largest economy in the European Union and was hit hard by the economic recession. The Spanish economy remains fragile and whilst the unemployment rate has fallen 27 per cent in 2008, it is still high at 17 per cent in 2018. But, against this background, Spanish universities have introduced many new courses in the last few years attracting many domestic students who are able to access government grants for retraining. For international students, relaxed visa rules, low living costs and its vibrant culture make Spain a popular destination amongst students. Spanish University cities have reported 100 per cent occupancy in student properties during the academic year. Both Madrid and Barcelona are overcrowded and short of space in prime locations. This high student occupancy, coupled with a drop of new developments during the recessionary years to 2016, offers good investment potential in the student accommodation markets (Table IV).\nGermany - summary: Germany is the largest economy in the Eurozone. It benefits from strong and consistent gross domestic product (underpinned by a very strong manufacturing base) and rising employment rates. In Germany, there are 418 universities all of which benefit from a strong government sponsorship of education. The number of domestic students going to university has grown steadily since 2009 and all states are now investing in additional university places.\nConclusion: Based on the number of international students, Berlin, Munich and Paris appear to be the most attractive cities while Lyon and Barcelona appear to be moderately attractive. Madrid appears to be the next attractive city, with high renting population and premium rent. Berlin offers top rent rates while Barcelona offers premium rent.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into how the demographic of international and home students in the major university cities in three European countries (France, Spain and Germany) offers investors an opportunity to provide students housing. This paper looks at how a mobile and demanding student clientele now demands, well priced, good quality and purpose built accommodation during their studies at University. This offers a good property investment opportunity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This practice briefing is an overview of the demand factors that are creating opportunities in France, Spain and Germany.\nFindings: This paper analyses the link between the under provision of purpose built student housing and an opportunity to develop a long-term cash flow producing investment asset.\nPractical implications: The role of the property developers and investors is to successfully identify trends and demands and provide the assets that meet the market requirements. This paper looks at the meeting point in three major European countries for this latent and, currently, poorly served demand.\nOriginality/value: This provides guidance on how investment opportunities develop in non-traditional property markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Identification and measurement of brand identity and image gap: a quantitative approach	[ "Brand image", "Consumer behavior", "Quantitative methods", "Brand identity" ]	[ { "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: In the current era of a competitive business environment, brand marketers are forced to strive hard to remain relevant in the market. Winning brands are instrumental to their success in the market. However, as there are plenty of examples of failed brands, the main question is what makes one brand a winner and others failures. According to Park et al. (1986), in a competitive market, a brand's success depends on the choice of the brand's identity, the usage of an identity developing image and ensuring that its image adequately transfers to its identity. Janonis et al. (2007) reported that developing a brand's image while attempting to present its identity to consumers enhances the position of a company in the midst of stiff competition. Thus, it makes it possible to better position the brand and encourages a strategic approach to managing it (de Chernatony, 2001a, 2001b). Kapferer (1986) propagated that brand identity includes everything that a company wants for the meaningful and unique interpretation of the brand and proposed a comprehensive brand identity model as a six-sided prism with different facets: physique, personality, culture, self-image, reflection and relationship (Kapferer, 2000). Marketers decide on the identity of a brand as appropriate for the target market, and they project it through their communications and expect that the consumer will perceive it as intended (Kapferer, 2000). However, researchers assert that brand managers should go beyond the narrow understanding of the relationship between target consumers and manufacturers and focus on more complex sets of relationship that exist among target consumers, channel members and manufacturers (Herstein and Zvilling, 2011). In reality, brand marketers communicate with their target consumers to make them aware of brand identity and communicate the same way to the channel members directly. Channel members, in turn, convey the same to the end-users. Thus, a proper alignment of these three crucial nodes, namely, manufacturers, channel members and consumers, is inevitable for the efficient transfer of brand identity.\nResearch methodology: To convert these research questions into hypotheses to be tested, we introduce the following notations to represent the views of marketers, channel members and consumers.\nResults and discussion: Survey data were analyzed separately for Turtle menswear and Anmol biscuit brand. The analysis is presented in separate sections. For Turtle, it has been seen that the mean vectors of actual communicated brand identity statements for each facet differ for consumers, company personnel and channel members (Table I).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to offer a quantitative methodology to identify and measure the gap between the communicated brand identity and perceived brand image by channel members and the consumers. Brand marketers communicate with their target consumers to make them aware of brand identity and communicate the same way to the channel members directly. Channel members, in turn, convey the same to the end-users. Thus, a proper alignment of these three crucial nodes, namely, brand marketers, channel members and consumers, is inevitable for the efficient transfer of brand identity. However, in reality, not all are successful to synchronize communicated brand identity and image perception. So, the identification and measurement of identity-image gap is essential.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on the literature review, the authors propose a conceptual model for the study and generate the basic research questions. In this study, Kapferer's brand identity prism has been taken as the focal point of study to measure brand identity. So far as the vector measure is concerned, a p-dimensional setup is present, each dimension representing each facet of Kapferer's brand identity prism. Now, given these sets of observations, the authors introduce for each set, a multivariate distributional setup to represent the underlying population behavior.\nFindings: In this study, a theoretical framework is proposed to identify and measure brand identity and image consistency. To minimize the problem associated with subjective decisions, an objective procedure has been proposed to measure the brand knowledge structure of company personnel, consumers and channel members about the considered brands. The results of this study show that brand knowledge consistency is missing among marketers, consumers and channel members for considered brands. The proposed methodology may help marketers to measure the identity-image gap in a more objective manner with pinpoint accuracy by adopting a quantitative approach.\nPractical implications: The proposed methodology may help marketers to measure the identity-image gap in a more objective manner with pinpoint accuracy by adopting a quantitative approach. Once a gap is identified, it will be easy for marketers to adopt possible measures to bridge the gap. This helps brand marketers to understand the branding process more objectively.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is a lack of concrete quantitative approach, attempting to discuss the methodology to measure the gap between brand identity facets and brand image. In this backdrop, this might be the first paper offering a quantitative methodology to identify and measure the gap between the communicated brand identity and perceived brand image by channel members and the consumers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of service on multichannel retailers ' brand equity	[ "Brand equity", "Service environment", "Retailing", "Moderation", "Service quality", "E-service quality" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\n1. Introduction: As service industries become more dynamic, managers face the challenging task of quickly reacting to evolving consumer demands, while still maintaining a consistent brand image. Traditionally, retailers have focused on improving the core dimensions of service quality (interaction quality, outcome quality, and physical environment quality) in an effort to improve customer perceptions (Brady and Cronin, 2001) and brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). Now as consumer trends demand that retailers expand their storefronts to the Internet, retailers now face the added task of providing high quality service across both mediums, which differ significantly (Carlson and O\n2. Conceptual background: Many studies have examined the effects of service quality, e-service quality, and brand equity, but, few research efforts have simultaneously investigated the interaction between these constructs. More specifically, brand equity is often studied at the physical good level and rarely applied to retailers, so an improved understanding of how service delivered by retailers can affect brand equity perceptions provides new insight into the dynamics of consumer decision making in retailing. The following section highlights the interactions between these constructs.\n3. Research study: To test the hypotheses, we developed a field study that required participants to visit the physical location and website for select retailers. Respondents were recruited by students in a mid-sized metropolitan area in the Southeastern US. Prior to recruitment of the subjects, all student assistants were trained in research methods and were given explicit sampling criteria to ensure that a quota sample of the population was recruited to participate in the research study. This approach resulted in the recruitment of a sample that represented the local population well. Specifically, 48 percent of the sample were men, 70.5 percent were White/Caucasian, 29.5 percent were minorities, and the average age of the sample was 32 years.\n4. Discussion: Due to the competitive nature of the retailing sector, marketers are eager to obtain tools that offer competitive advantages. Retailers spend millions of dollars annually on in-store design in an effort to redefine and improve store image and retail executives recognize that a marketer must spend money on good design in order to be profitable (Chain Store Age, 1996, p. 65). With in-store design being such a high investment area, capitalizing on the creation of favorable brand equity created through these efforts is an important goal, however, the retailing literature still does not provide a comprehensive examination of the effects that both online and offline service experiences have on retailer brand equity. The current research addresses this gap in the literature by demonstrating the interactive effects between offline and online service quality perceptions, their effects on retailer brand equity, and also by establishing the efficacy of Baker\n5. Limitations: This study is not without its limitations. Traditionally, service environment and brand equity research has focused on the examination of a well-known brand versus an unknown or fictitious brand and much of the empirical work has been conducted in controlled settings, where it is easier to manage extraneous intervening variables. In this study, however, we use a field setting and as such it was considerably more difficult to constrain and manipulate levels of the various dimensions of the service environment, brand equity, and other variables. While previous experimental studies provide greater control, we opted for a field study in an effort to increase the generalizability of our results.\n6. Future research: One of the initial objectives of this study is to introduce a new typology of the service environment that related offline environmental dimensions to online encounters. This allows us to advance a study that models the effects of both mediums on service quality and brand equity. Future studies could attempt to extend and refine this typology and more importantly researchers should begin to model the effects of both offline and online encounters simultaneously, as our results indicate that the effects of online strategies can be contingent on consumer evaluations of offline operations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research aims to provide insight on the interactive effects of service quality and e-service quality on perceptions of retailer brand equity and also extend and test the efficacy of Baker\nDesign/methodology/approach: A within-subjects, simulated shopping experience immerses consumers in both offline and online shopping environments and, subsequently, consumers are surveyed regarding both offline and online quality as well as aggregated evaluations of retailer brand equity.\nFindings: Results demonstrate that consumer perceptions of offline and online service quality have a positive effect on retailer brand equity and service quality and e-service quality interact, such that e-service quality has a stronger effect on brand equity offline quality is low. The results also support the application of offline service environment frameworks for online retailing.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results demonstrate the applicability of Baker\nPractical implications: The results suggest that retailers can improve quality perceptions by enhancing both their offline and online service environments and that these quality improvements can result in enhanced consumer perceptions of brand equity.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a first look at the applicability of offline frameworks for the service environment in an online context. Moreover, the results provide an initial assessment of how consumers update global attitudes toward a brand by consolidating perceptions across both offline and online interactions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"Micro" versus "small" family businesses: a multinational analysis	[ "Family business", "Small business", "Micro-business", "MANCOVA" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare, using data from a large international combined sample of 601 family businesses, \"micro\" vs \"small\" family businesses, with regard to certain important managerial characteristics. Throughout the world, family firms constitute a highly important component of most countries' economies. In almost all countries, family businesses are the most common form of business organization (Bjuggren and Palmberg, 2010; Nordqvist and Melin, 2010). In the USA and Canada, an estimated 80 to 90 percent of all businesses are family businesses (American Management Services, 2011; Carsrud, 1994; Kets de Vries, 1993). Family businesses contribute more than 50 percent (McCann et al., 1997) to as high as 60 percent (Bellet et al., 1995) of the total Gross National Product, 50-60 percent of employment (American Management Services, 2011; Morris et al., 1997), and have higher total annual sales than non-family businesses (Chaganti and Schneer, 1994). Estimates classify 35 percent of Fortune 500 firms as family owned (Carsrud, 1994). Data from most other countries provide a similar picture (Eddy, 1996; Morck and Yeung, 2003). However, much of the family business literature, regardless of the country being investigated, is non-quantitative (Dyer and Sanchez, 1998; Litz, 1997) and family business articles have only recently begun to be published in broad-based academic business journals. A variety of definitions of \"family business\" continue to serve as the basis for the research and articles within this body of literature (Littunen and Hyrsky, 2000; Ward, 1986; Ward and Dolan, 1998). For the purposes of this study, a family business is one in which family members dominate the ownership and management of a firm, and perceive their business as a \"family business.\" Furthermore, this research study recognizes all first-generation family firms as included in the definition. This definition is consistent with that of many prior studies (Chua et al., 1999; Dreux and Brown, 1999; Gersick et al., 1997; Litz, 1995). For research purposes, standardized and accepted business size categories would be of significant value. If all researchers utilized the same size definitions, then cross-fertilization and replication of research would be supported and facilitated. Unfortunately, in the USA, no such standard category definitions exist. The US Small Business Administration uses maximum size definitions to determine whether a firm is a \"small business\" and thus eligible for SBA assistance and financing programs, but these definitions are not constant. For many types of businesses, the limit is 500 employees, but for other types of firms the limit is $7 million in sales (SBA, 2011). Thus, most research definitions of \"small business\" would not include companies at the high end of SBA eligibility.\n2. Literature review: Family business research has developed significantly over the past two decades, and a variety of size categorizations have been investigated, so as to better understand this particular type of business (Dyer and Sanchez, 1998; Litz, 1997; Menzies and Lococo, 2011). However, extensive database searches of the family business literature find little prior investigation of issues of firm size, as measured by number of employees or any other measure (Sonfield and Lussier, 2008). Size is more commonly studied as a control variable.\n3. Panel of experts pre-test: Due to the lack of an existing literature basis upon which to formulate research hypotheses for this study, an alternative basis for such formulation was required. Therefore, a panel of small business experts was identified for pre-testing of the survey instrument, for qualitative prediction of the quantitative testing outcomes. Thus, the hypotheses were formulated in light of the panel of experts. These respondents were all university professors who were administrators of programs in which students, under faculty supervision, engaged in consulting projects for local small businesses. The respondents each had considerable experience working with small family businesses and their owner/managers, and thus had clear understandings of the nature of micro and small family firms.\n4. Hypotheses: As explained, this study utilized an international combined sample of \"micro\" and \"small\" family businesses to investigate the similarities and differences between these two groups with regard to a variety of managerial characteristic variables which have been determined by prior family business studies to be important factors with regard to family business practice. For hypothesis formulation, where the pre-test of small business experts generated a score greater than 5.0 it was predicted that \"small\" enterprises will be shown to be significantly higher with regard to the hypothesis variable. Where the pre-test score is less than 4.0 it was predicted that \"micro\" enterprises will be significantly higher with regard to that hypothesis variable. For pre-test scores from 4.0 to 5.0 no significant differences were predicted and the null hypothesis is used. Thus, the formulation and phrasing of the hypotheses were determined by the results of the pre-test of experts:\n5. Methods: 5.1. Sample\n6. Results: See Table IV for the results of the 12 hypotheses tests, including \"micro\" and \"small\" business means and standard deviations for each of the 12 dependent variables. As shown in Table IV, six of the 12 tests of differences were not significantly different, and below are the six that resulted in significant differences between the means of micro and small businesses:\n7. Discussion: 7.1. Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare \"micro\" enterprise (0-9 employees) to \"small\" enterprise (10-49 employees) family businesses with regard to 12 important managerial characteristics in eight countries: Argentina, Croatia, Egypt, France, Kosovo, Kuwait, Serbia, and the USA (n=601).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research methodology was survey research. To statistical test 12 hypotheses, MANCOVA was run to compare differences between micro and small family business, while controlling for years in business.\nFindings: Six significant differences were: \"small\" firms are more likely to employ non-family member managers, are more likely to engage in the formulation of succession plans, are more likely to utilize outside advisory services, make greater use of sophisticated financial management methods, and have a more formal management style than \"micro\" firms; but the influence of the founder is greater in \"micro\" firms.\nPractical implications: For practitioners and consultants the findings of this study should enable family business owner/managers, and their advisors, to better understand the possible impacts of moving from a \"micro\" level to a \"small\" size level, and thus lead to more effective family business management.\nOriginality/value: This research fills a gap in the literature, as there has been minimal prior research with the specific focus of comparing \"micro\" vs \"small.\" Thus, it develops a foundation for further study in this area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing workplace conflict: Formal and informal approaches	[ "Informality", "Workplace conflict", "Line managers", "Procedures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe importance of conflict management: In an ideal world, the workplace would be an environment in which perfect harmony was the norm. Alas, the reality is often quite different. Companies regularly witness accord succumbing to disagreement and dispute. Incidents of this nature often blow over quickly and cause little if any harm. But the threat to performance and organizational well-being over the longer term is a real one that should not be overlooked.\nWhy informality breeds fear: When permitted, most managers would once have opted for an informal means of tackling any workplace unrest. A quiet word or two here and there often nipped problems in the bud and averted any need for formal disciplinary action. Certain organizations still recognize the merits of this approach. Line managers are encouraged to engage individuals using such as discussion and counseling. Early intervention can stop any minor difference escalating into all out war between employee and firm. A positive impact on performance is more likely when consensus replaces conflict. Such efforts can clearly be worthwhile.\nThe pros and cons of being inflexible: As a result, doing things totally by the book has increasingly become the chosen option. A key aspect of formal procedures is consistency of application. Scope for different interpretations is low. Greater impartiality is therefore perceived. Adhering to the rules is regarded as safer and less risky for all parties involved.\nComment: The review is based on \"The challenge of managing informally\" by Richard Saundry, Carol Jones and Gemma Wibberley. The authors discuss workplace conflict and examine the respective merits of adopting formal and informal approaches as means to resolve problems. This highly detailed piece notes the growing responsibility of often inexperienced line managers to handle such issues and the challenges facing them. Saundry et al. illustrate the many significant points made within a case study involving 12 organizations and conclude by emphasizing the critical need for firms to identify and incorporate key competencies into the recruitment and training of line managers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: In an ideal world, the workplace would be an environment in which perfect harmony was the norm. Alas, the reality is often quite different. Companies regularly witness accord succumbing to disagreement and dispute. Incidents of this nature often blow over quickly and cause little if any harm. But the threat to performance and organizational well-being over the longer term is a real one that should not be overlooked. Many firms are not surprisingly now increasing their focus on conflict management. Shifts in policy from successive governments have not harmed their cause. Fears that too great an emphasis on formal procedures can negatively impact on costs and economic growth has led to a loosening of the regulatory shackles. As a result, businesses rightly have greater freedom when it comes to handling employment disputes.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Addressing effective construction logistics through the lens of vehicle movements	[ "New Zealand", "Construction logistics", "Construction supply chain management", "Vehicle movements" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Logistics is defined as \"the process of strategically managing the acquisition, movement and storage of materials, parts and finished inventory (and the related information flows) through the organisation and its marketing channels, in such a way that current and future profitability is maximised through the cost-effective fulfilment of orders\" (Gattorna and Day, 1993). For the construction industry, logistics comprise planning, organisation, coordination, and control of the materials flow from the extraction of raw materials to the incorporation into the finished building (Agapiou et al., 1998). Main aspects of construction logistics include whole project logistics, supply logistics, and on-site logistics (Sobotka et al., 2005). The success of the project heavily depends on the coordination of the on-site and external logistics in all aspects.\nTheoretical perspectives of construction logistics: Several authors have examined construction logistics practices in different countries to establish the drivers and barriers to efficient logistics methods (Omar et al., 2010; Blumenthal and Young, 2007, Wegelius-Lehtonen, 2001). Major barriers are around the awareness of logistics costs, characteristics of the construction industry, and practices in the construction industry. A summary of which is presented in Table I.\nResearch methodology: The guiding purpose of this study was to gain detailed understanding of the practice and obstacles in efficient construction logistics at the operational level. The focus of the work is on identification of main contributors to inefficiency in construction logistics. It also seeks to recognise the \"challenges\" to efficiency, as well as questions of how and such behaviour occurs. The emergence of how and why questions resulted in choosing interviews, documents, and observation as the research method, whey they were seen as superior to other methods with the stated objective. The studies in this work were carried out as case study with a qualitative and quantitative approach. The purpose was to enhance knowledge of how vehicle movements process works, what problems arise, why the problems arise in the studied project and how intrinsic and extrinsic interventions could increase its efficiency. Case studies are appropriate when the research problem requires understanding of complex phenomena that are not controlled by the researcher and when the research questions have a how and why nature (Yin, 2009).\nKey findings: The main aim of this paper was to identify the main contributors to inefficiency and to recognise the questions of how these challenges occur. The key findings section of the paper is focused on presenting the nature of these critical factors, and the issues affecting construction logistics efficiency as found in the studied case.\nDiscussion: As the main aim of the paper was to identify the main contributors to inefficiency and to propose interventions for improvement, considering this increased knowledge about logistics efficiency of the construction industry was essential to improve its performance.\nConclusion: Using the numbers of vehicle movements as guidance for data collection, the evidence provided in the case study demonstrates significant inefficiency in construction industry logistics. The main problems observed on-site were low logistics efficiency for manufacturing driven materials, and suboptimal planning of material delivery and unloading. The truck movement patterns suggest that deliveries occurred mainly through morning peak hours. The patterns also indicate the inadequacy of material delivery and C&D waste integration.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Construction logistics is an essential part of construction supply chain management (CSCM). However, limited attention has been paid to this issue in the New Zealand construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge about what hampers efficiency in transporting construction materials and plants to a construction site. The intention is to gain detailed understanding of the practice and obstacles in efficient construction logistics and thus identify interventions to improve logistics efficiency, especially using the numbers of vehicle movements to the construction site as an indicator.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study approach was adopted with on-site observations and interviews. Observations were performed during constructions on-site from the start of construction to \"hand-over\" to the building owner. A selection of construction suppliers and subcontractors involved in the studied project were interviewed.\nFindings: Data analysis suggested that cost-related factors affecting the construction logistics, both monetary and non-monetary factors were not measured and largely ignored, especially the possible environmental and/or social impact occurred by the truck movement. Factors in the service-related sector were insufficiently managed in the observed site. The main contribution to inefficient construction logistics are related to understanding and implementing CSCM. It is noticed that there is inadequate awareness of CSCM and logistics efficiency largely due to lack of commitment from the management level and skills at the operational level.\nOriginality/value: Significant intrinsic and extrinsic interventions necessary to enhance construction logistics were acknowledged from the data analysis. These include both qualitative and quantitative data. These intrinsic and extrinsic interventions, such as implementing appropriate logistics tools that suits individual site and introducing traffic management costs, offer plausible explanations regarding how to improve the efficiency in construction logistics through optimising transportation movements to the construction site.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The "bigger deal" is OpenURL	[ "Electronic document delivery", "Publishers", "Electronic journals", "Libraries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Over the past decade, libraries have enthusiastically embraced electronic journals as publishers began offering online versions of print titles or introduced new electronic-only journals. In those first years, libraries licensed electronic journals on a title-by-title basis. That process was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive for libraries, publishers, and journal subscription intermediaries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide a regular update on matters of interest to the interlending and document supply (ILDS) community.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Informal.\nFindings: - That there is a varied response to the impact of big deals on document supply.\nOriginality/value: - Insights from senior practitioners in the USA and comment by a prominent player in the area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Governance of procurement relationships in the wine industry: The importance of trust and the legal system	[ "Economics", "New Zealand", "Purchasing", "South Africa", "Ownership", "Regression", "Survey research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The governance of the procurement relationship between grape growers and winemakers is a major focus for managers and researchers in the industry. An enduring challenge in supply chain management is how to achieve close coordination of the various members of the chain who are all sovereign entities in their own right. This is particularly important in the wine industry for which the overall quality of a wine depends so much on the decisions, actions and commitments made by grape growers (Wilson and Goddard, 2004).\nLiterature review and research question: TCE makes two important assumptions about firm behaviour: bounded rationality and opportunism (Williamson, 1979). When transaction-specific investments are not required, TCE predicts that parties will tend to favour simple market mechanisms to govern their relations as this will minimise the costs of transacting. When transaction-specific investments must be made, however, both parties to the transaction are locked into an idiosyncratic relationship that motivates the use of a more enduring form of governance such as contracts or, in the extreme vertical integration, to protect against the risks of opportunistic (self-interested) behaviour. But the existence of bounded rationality, or the inability to anticipate all future contingencies as exchange agreements are designed, means that contracts are necessarily imperfect or incomplete. The greater the incompleteness of contracts, other things being equal, the greater the risk of opportunistic behaviour.\nMethod: According to Hair et al. (2010), multiple regression can be used to ascertain how a number of explanatory variables simultaneously predict an outcome or dependent variable. Multiple regression allows the examination of the effect of one variable, while holding the effects of other explanatory variables constant. To that end, multiple regression analysis will be used in the current study to test the research hypothesis. The ten variables in the study are measured using a questionnaire. Three of the variables are outcome variables being the governance mechanisms of; contracting, vertical integration and spot markets. The remaining variables are explanatory variables: legal system, trust, incentives, monitoring, firm size, firm age and item criticality.\nData analysis and results: Reliability of the measurements was tested by deriving Cronbach's alpha for all the summated scales used in this research. Reported in pairs of South Africa (SA): New Zealand (NZ), the following Cronbach alphas were attained: trust (SA = 0.956: NZ = 0.917); monitoring (SA = 0.951: NZ = 0.913); incentives (SA = 0.868: NZ = 0.966); legal system (SA = 0.870: NZ = 0.754); and item criticality (SA = 0.830: NZ = 0.838). All the reliability scores are above the acceptable levels of 0.70 (George and Mallery, 2009). This shows that the items building all the variables generally follow the same direction and hang together.\nDiscussion: The findings presented in Table IV regarding the motivations for using contracts provide strong support for our hypothesis that trust and an effective legal system are substitutes. In South Africa, where the legal system is relatively inefficient and ineffective, the main impetus for using contracts was indicated as being trust. Conversely, in New Zealand, it is the legal system that is the primary mechanism by which contracting is supported.\nConcluding remarks: In this paper, we investigate the underpinning foundations of contracts in South African and New Zealand wine industry procurement relationships. Using data from 111 South African and 116 New Zealand wineries, we conclude that trust between parties is an effective substitute for an efficient legal system in governing contractual relations. Although our empirical study is somewhat narrow, our findings are important both in providing a better understanding of the linkages between transaction cost economics and relational exchange theories, as well as offering insights into the workings of the wine industry supply chain. This paper provides an overarching analysis of institutional mechanisms used to govern relations within the wine industry supply chain. Future research providing a micro-level empirical investigation into the specific form and content of contracts would be complementary. In terms of policy implications, our study suggests that there is a role for industry bodies such as NZWINE and SAWIS to facilitate interaction, communication and build confidence between growers and wine makers in an effort to enhance the degree of trust between parties. Extending our approach to include other industries would help to solidify our theoretical contribution. Further work in these areas is underway.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine three governance structures (market, contract and vertical integration) that are commonly used to coordinate procurement relationships between grape growers and winemakers in the wine industry. This paper aims to adopt a multi-theoretical approach combining transaction cost and relational exchange theories to explore the influence that trust and a state's legal system have on the choice of governance mechanism. The authors propose arguing that, in the absence of an efficient legal system, trust must exist between parties to facilitate the pervasive use of contracts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical results are derived from mail survey responses of 111 South African and 116 New Zealand wineries. These two countries were selected because of the variances in the efficiencies of their legal systems. Multiple regression models were used to investigate the importance that parties place on trust and the legal system when considering the use of incomplete contracts to govern supply chain relationships that are characterised by high asset specificity and high uncertainty.\nFindings: It was found that contracts are frequently used to govern transactions in both countries, and that trust between parties is an effective substitute for an efficient legal system in governing contractual relations. Specifically, it was found that trust between parties is the major motivating factor for the use of contracts in South Africa, overcoming the weakness of the legal system, while reliance on the legal system to enforce contracts underpins the New Zealand industry.\nOriginality/value: This study offers a direct cross-country comparison drawn from a population study of two major wine-producing countries that has not been attempted before. In the three models, measures were included to capture the effectiveness of a state's legal system to extend the governance literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Flourishing in adaptive community: balancing structures and flexibilities	[ "School improvement", "Innovation and community", "Positive organizational research", "Teacher well-being" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: We have been researching school organizations from a positive perspective to determine and describe what it means for educators to flourish in their work (Cherkowski and Walker, 2014, 2016; Cherkowski et al., 2018), guided by the growing field of positive scholarship in business, psychology, health and education. Research findings reinforce the assertion that there are benefits and payoffs in all areas of our work and life when we pay attention to what works well, as opposed to focusing on how to remedy deficiencies and deficits (cf. Achor, 2011; Fredrickson, 2008; Cameron, 2008; Seligman, 2011). For example, encouraging and promoting compassion, kindness and forgiveness improves and grows relationships, learning, health and other human qualities and experiences (Worline and Dutton, 2017). While positive scholarship does not deny the existence of negative experiences, suffering and trauma that inevitably afflict all humans and human systems, there is a deliberate attention to focus on the positive with the aim of magnifying and amplifying these traits, capacities and experiences (Cameron and Dutton, 2003). Paying attention to positive relationships is an essential aspect of experiencing well-being (Fredrickson, 2008; Seligman, 2011).\nCommunity as relational knowing: Cultivating a culture of community in schools is an important aspect of school improvement research (Fullan, 2017; Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012; Mitchell and Sackney, 2009). Research findings highlight the importance of positive social relationships for well-being at work and in our personal lives (Seligman, 2011; Stephens et al., 2011), and so we frame adaptive community as involving the co-creation of group processes that support and value relational knowing and well-being for the self and others. Block (2014) argued, \"making community the point is a major undertaking. It means we need to make the common good a priority again. It calls for cooperation and collaboration. It asks that we place the well-being of all of us higher than the well-being of any single one of us\" (p. xii). The work of making community happens long before the need for community arises (Born, 2014). Building the necessary relationships for community takes time, energy and ongoing inquiry and investment. These relationships contribute to our well-being, as \"the key interaction that builds a sense of belonging. When we belong and enjoy strong relationships with one another, we can rely on one another in both good and difficult times. This makes us more resilient, and it makes us healthier\" (p. 5). Being known and cared for, caring and knowing others are key to our health and ability to adapt as needed to the constantly changing dynamics of life (Seligman, 2011).\nPresence as an awaking to relationality: The essence of adaptability in an ecological sense is the seamless way that the whole learns together (activated collective intelligence) in the context of constant change. For adapting to occur each person must be present and contributing from their own unique place; each able to see their impact and influence on the system (Scharmer, 2009). In adaptive systems, collective thinking means learning together with ease, not necessarily thinking the same (Scharmer, 2009). There is a commitment to lean into each other's strengths, seeking an understanding of each other and moving forward together in learning. One way to describe this mutual attunement is captured with the word \"presence,\" described by Rodgers and Raider-Roth (2006) as \"a state of alert awareness, receptivity, and connectedness to the mental, emotional and physical workings of both the individual and the group in context of their learning environment\" (p. 265). Teachers who feel a deep presence to themselves, to their colleagues and to their students may be described as being pedagogically present, aware of the purposes and pathways to effective learning, heightened adaptability and an awareness of responsibility (Fels, 2010). When a teacher is present to her responsibility to the other and is wide-awake (Greene, 1978) to her situation including social, political and cultural considerations, she moves with a clearer sense of ethical awareness. Arendt (1958) called this \"natality,\" which is explained as the moments in life when we are in active relation to the world and when we take full responsibility for ourselves in relation to others.\nOur positive research in schools: We have been engaged in a multi-year, qualitative research project to understand what it means for educators to feel a sense of flourishing in schools. From a positive organizational perspective, we deliberately sought out examples of and stories about learning communities where teachers were already thriving to gain insights about what it means for teachers to flourish in their work. Our main objectives were to inform research and practice in school improvement from a positive perspective, provide knowledge and practice about noticing and growing well-being for educators and to encourage an attention on individual and collective well-being as an organizational imperative.\nOur narrative methods: These teacher teams were participants from schools in BC. They had developed collaborative teaching arrangements to offer interdisciplinary teaching and learning, to combine and teach from common interests such as outdoor education and to build a new way of engaging students in meaningful learning. The \"Lynwood\" group (Steve, Robert, Melanie) shared students in intermediate elementary grades in a small elementary school (N=350 students). Both Steve and Robert had been teachers for over 15 years, and created a team approach to teaching five years ago to find new ways to engage students in their learning and to share their passion of outdoor education with their students. Melanie joined them as a teacher in this group for two years, but was moved to another school at the end of the second year at the time of layoffs due to her low seniority within the union. While they each had a designated classroom of up to 30 students, they collaboratively planned all of the educational activities for all of the students that included large and small group learning opportunities.\nStructures for adaptivity: collaboration, purpose and administrator support: These teachers attended to relational knowing through presence, intentional processes and structures for sustaining and growing their positive identity as individual teachers and as a group, and this seemed key to their ongoing health and vitality. As they grew their community, they grew their practice, and as they reflected on and celebrated their improving practice together, they deepened their community. In this section, we describe the themes of community, shared purpose and administrator support.\nFlexibilities: support and care, synergy and creativity: The communities that these teachers crafted emerged from a set of structures that enabled them to carry out their work together, and also from a set of flexibilities that had added a sense of play, joy and love to their work that contributed to their ongoing learning and innovation in their teaching. The themes of support and care for each other, a sense of synergy and creativity emerged as central for how these teachers described how risk taking to improve and provide even better experiences and activities for their students had been a driving force behind their work together.\nGrowing adaptive community: the power of positive relationships: These teachers' ongoing attention to relationships and presence connected to how they experienced a sense of community, trust and a freedom to innovate in their teaching, a dynamic response to their desire to positively harness the constant changes they see as part of the learning in their community. This resonates with findings in positive organizational research where experiencing positive relationships and connections at work has been linked to improving performance and commitment (Stephens et al., 2011). Carmeli and Spreitzer (2009) found that trust and a sense of connectivity were key ingredients that contribute to innovation at work, and that \"thriving at work not only enables employees to get their job done well but also increases their capacity to display innovative work behaviors\" (p. 184). Aligning with, and also extending, these findings, we see that thriving is also a relational capacity, where developing relationships of trust, care, connection and belonging builds a supportive climate for strong teaching and learning, and that these relational conditions seemed to contribute to building a social container that promoted flourishing. This led to innovation, as teachers worked together in ways that promoted their learning and growth as a group and increased their sense of vitality in their work. Spontaneously helping each other, learning to respectfully disagree with each other, valuing each others' ways of teaching, enjoying and appreciating each other were a few of the examples of how these teachers attended to relational conditions to nurture the community, and that this contributed to them feeling a greater sense of well-being.\nConclusions: While small in scale and not generalizable across contexts, our research offers particular examples of what is working well for these teachers. The findings describe the structures and flexibilities contributing to their adaptive learning communities. We hope that insights from these examples are generative, that they resonate with, and even inspire others to examine the possible benefits and potentials that may come from a positive approach to research and practice in school improvement in their own contexts. As such, we have offered our descriptions and examples for readers to draw their own conclusions from their experiences and observations in their schools. We know that our participants expressed appreciation at the opportunity to engage with their colleagues to explore the best of what they do and who they are as they co-constructed positive images of their desired futures together through the appreciative case study experiences. They described how well-being was connected with feeling collegial support, care, shared meaning and engagement and where positive relationships were the anchor, or core, of their community. Their adaptive community was an ongoing process that supported them in taking risks and having fun as they worked together closely, often, and over time, to continually refine their teacher to offer meaningful, engaging and responsive learning opportunities for all their students.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schools using a positive organizational research approach. The purpose of this paper is to uncover and bring to description educators' experiences of the conditions, forces and influencing factors for flourishing in their context. The main objectives were to inform research and practice in school improvement from a positive perspective, provide knowledge and practice about noticing and growing well-being for educators and to encourage an attention on individual and collective well-being as an organizational imperative.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To gain a rich description of what it means for educators to feel a sense of flourishing in their work, the researchers used qualitative, case study methods and appreciative research activities. For the case study reported on in this paper, data were collected through open-ended, appreciative, focus group conversations and researcher observations in the participants' classrooms. Conversations were recorded and transcribed. The researchers analyzed the transcripts using an iterative process of coding, categorizing and abstracting data.\nFindings: Participants grew their adaptive communities through balancing structures (collaboration, purpose, administrator support) with flexibilities (synergy, creativity, tinkering, friendships) for adaptation and co-creation. Well-being was connected with feeling collegial support, care, shared meaning and engagement and where positive relationships were central in their work. These relational conditions seemed to contribute to building a social container that promoted flourishing. This led to innovation as teachers worked together in ways that promoted their learning and growth as a group, and increased their sense of vitality in their work. The researchers found that the principal plays a vital role in fostering, encouraging and sustaining conditions for teachers to cultivate adaptive community.\nResearch limitations/implications: While small in scale and not generalizable across contexts, this research offers particular examples of what is working well for these teachers. Insights from these examples are intended to be generative, potentially resonating with and inspiring others to examine the possible benefits and potentials that may come from a positive approach to research and practice in school improvement in their own contexts. Engaging in positive organizational research in schools led to new insights on the work of teaching, learning and leading in schools. The researchers suggest that this positive, appreciative and generative perspective offers potentials and benefits for new understandings on school improvement.\nPractical implications: The findings from this case study indicate that more attention is needed to supporting educators to cultivate the conditions necessary to experience rich and meaningful relationships within which they will thrive, grow and innovate in their teaching. At a system level, the authors argue for a re-orientation of schools toward well-being and a more holistic and human-development perspective on schooling.\nSocial implications: Currently and internationally, schooling is under re-design as the authors learn more about the need to organize the schools in ways that encourage the kinds of teaching and learning necessary to prepare young people for an increasingly unpredictable future. The findings from this study highlight the importance of attending to teacher well-being as a fundamental aspect of encouraging the kind of teaching needed for the kinds of learning desired in schools across all contexts.\nOriginality/value: This case study provides the findings that illustrate the potential and benefits of research on school organizations from a positive organizational perspective. Additionally, this study is a reminder of the systemic nature of all living systems, such as schools, and the associated need to ensure well-being for all members of the learning community.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does franchising reduce geographically diversified restaurant firms' risk?	[ "Franchising", "Moderating effect", "Firms’ risk", "Geographic diversification" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Expanding the geographical scope of firms has been considered as one of ways to increase competitive advantages (Lu and Beamish, 2004), and a number of firms across a variety of industries have widely implemented diversification strategies (Barney and Hesterly, 2008). In correspondent to the proliferation of diversification strategies across industries, diversification has become a major research topic in the fields of finance, economics, and strategic management.\nLiterature review: Geographic diversification and firms' risk\nMethodology: Sample and data\nEmpirical results: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and conclusion: Conclusion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine how geographic diversification affects firms' risk by introducing the franchising strategy as a moderator.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The panel regression analysis was conducted with a sample of US restaurant firms. Specifically, a two-way random (or fixed) effects model clustered by firm was used to test hypotheses.\nFindings: Findings show that geographic diversification does not significantly affect restaurant firms' risk. However, franchising aggravates the negative effect of geographic diversification on restaurant firms' risk, which contradicts the traditional theories of franchising.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results are expected to contribute to the diversification literature in the hospitality management by providing in-depth evidence for the effects of geographic diversification strategies on firms' risk. Specifically, the study provides relevant theories for explaining the effect of geographic diversification in the restaurant context by examining franchising, a prominent strategy in the restaurant industry.\nPractical implications: The results encourage restaurant firms to improve their managerial capability to react to changes in a geographically wider scope of markets and develop franchising contracts specifically to prevent misbehavior and moral hazard on the part of franchisees.\nOriginality/value: Considering the lack of research on the effect of geographic diversification on restaurant firms' risk, this study examines not only the link between geographic diversification and firms' risk but also a contingent factor, franchising.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mapping the organizational factors that support knowledge management in the Brazilian automotive industry	[ "Knowledge management", "Organizational structure", "Multivariate analysis", "Organizational culture", "Quantitative techniques", "Teamwork", "Automotive sector" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The notion that knowledge is the organizational resource capable of generating competitive advantage (Grant, 1996), and that its intangible characteristic and tacit component is responsible for generating a competitive advantage that is difficult for competitors to imitate (Choo, 1998) is consolidated in the academic world, becoming crucial to manage this asset, i.e. knowledge management (KM).\nKnowledge management process: Authors such as Argote et al. (2003) and Yang (2010) deal KM as a process with specific stages, whose main objective is the dissemination of knowledge for subsequent reuse by other individuals and groups, promoting the transformation of its contents, generating new knowledge. The successful implementation of such process is subjected to the appropriate development of organizational characteristics that support the development of four phases: acquisition, storage, diffusion, and utilization of knowledge (Durst and Edvardsson, 2012; Zheng et al., 2010; Argote et al., 2003; Liao et al., 2011).\nConstructs associated with the organizational context promoting KM: Human resources development\nMethodology: This research has an exploratory character because there are gaps in understanding between the KM and organization contextual factors. Exploratory research may either take a qualitative or a quantitative approach (Bryman, 1989). As the focus of this work is to identify organizational factors that sustain KM within a sector, quantitative research presents the greater robustness by encompassing a large sample of organizations.\nResults: Characterization of the surveyed companies in the automotive sector\nConclusions: This article accomplishes its objective to identify the contextual factors related to the practice of KM within the organization. To achieve its goal, the study started from a broad theoretical-conceptual research about organizational constructs that relate to the process of KM. Five organizational constructs were identified: human resources development, teamwork, organizational culture, organizational structure and development and knowledge absorption. These constructs were essential for the identification of the variables that compose a survey of 78 companies in the Brazilian automotive industry. The results of the survey identified eight factors that relate to the KM process:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The latest models on knowledge management (KM) recognize four phases for its practice: acquisition, storage, distribution, and knowledge utilization. The KM is characterized as a multidisciplinary discipline, involving both technical and social aspects. Therefore, the purpose of this research is both social and of coordination, aiming to identify contextual factors, internally developed in the organizations, which support the KM process in the Brazilian companies in the automotive sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To achieve the research purpose, a quantitative research method was employed, based on a survey research in the automotive sector.\nFindings: The results point to the existence of eight contextual factors that support the KM process in the organizations. These factors are mainly related to the human being, responsible for the retention and transformation of primary knowledge, and the development of an organizational context that encourages the learning process through the culture and structure designed for this purpose.\nResearch limitations/implications: One of the limitations is that the study is based on constructs derived from a theoretical background, however it does not offer an empirical test to validate the selected constructs. Future studies could create a metric to evaluate the constructs' consistency and use regression analysis to validate them. The second limitation relates to empirical research. The survey achieved a return of 78 companies and a larger sample could provide more robust data.\nPractical implications: Practitioners need to take cognizance of the fact that KM process must not be confused nor focused on IT deployment. The development of an organizational context is much more complex and important to the success of KM. By characteristics of mapped factors, it is possible to conclude that KM process is focused on the development of individuals. It is from their employees that the organization promotes the knowledge exploitation in problem solving activities and incremental improvements, and knowledge exploration, rebuilding the competences to innovate the processes.\nOriginality/value: The main contribution of this paper is to identify the factors that companies in the Brazilian automotive industry must develop in order to promote KM. Furthermore, the research shows the relationship between these factors and KM process.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Value of blended learning in university and the workplace: some experiences of university students	[ "Universities", "Students", "Learning", "Teaching methods", "Attitudes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A number of studies now seek to evaluate the benefit effects of incorporating blended learning into a university curriculum. Business students are becoming more used to the idea of combining online learning in the form of video and audio lectures, podcasts, as well as, tutorials. In addition, there is greater emphasis at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in acquiring work related learning skills using on-line media. Most universities now use virtual learning environments (VLE's) and are proactively considering new areas for future blended learning development. Epic (2010) \"white paper\", suggests that blended learning approaches can be developed as part of a range of activities: e-tutoring, e-coaching or e-mentoring; collaborative learning; knowledge management and mobile learning.In this paper, we report on some views offered by students in relation to a combination of online learning through audio-slides, wikis and discussion boards together with student support from tutors and lecturers in an evolving blended learning approach at a leading UK university.\nWhat is blended learning?: This concept combines the use of on-line learning with face-to-face person support for a flexible approach to overall learning and skills development (Jara and Mohamad, 2007). The Higher Education Academy (HEA) view blended learning as a useful complementary resource that uses technology to facilitate interaction and communication which is replacing traditional modes of learning and teaching (Sharpe et al., 2006).Many higher education facilities are systematically trailing various forms of blended learning in order to improve their student centered learning experience (Blended Learning Conference, 2011). Students can typically download lectures of a virtual learning environment such as; podcasts, or audio-slides and replay them on their laptop or computer. There are many advantages over traditional teaching methods. For example, there is greater flexibility over traditional pedagogy and students can download learning materials at their convenience, independent of location, time or physical attendance at the learning event. Many students have to balance work and study commitments, so this is an ideal way of receiving and disseminating key teaching, or lecture material. In addition, tutorials, seminars, assessment sessions and training workshops can also be downloaded \"on demand\" for revision purposes and can be replayed at any time in order to receive additional information, as well as, improve overall revision strategies and achieve learning outcomes.Traditional educationalists argue that physical attendance for lectures and seminars is important for face-to-face interaction. Advocates of blended learning would agree, however, they suggest there must be a combined approach, namely, face-to-face interaction in conjunction with the use of online technology, in contrast to a pure eLearning route with no physical interaction. In addition, there is increasing evidence that students now use technology effectively in conjunction with workshops and seminars because they are more \"primed and active\" and can prepare in greater detail for class when they do attend (Kraithman and Bennett, 2005). There is further evidence of greater study opportunities with blended learning, as opposed to, the use of traditional lectures (Lorimer and Hilliard, 2009; McKinney et al., 2009). In fact, attention spans in traditional lectures are acknowledged to be limited, so blended learning and interactive approaches allow students to prioritize work more effectively and thus prepare for seminars and tutorial classes in a more participatory fashion (BBC, 2010; Halsey, 2008).\nResearch design and methodology: As part of a pilot program at a leading regional teaching university in the South East of England, we devised an exploratory investigation of blended learning based on Garrison and Kanuka's (2004), qualitative research within a blended learning environment. In this way, the views and reflections of students are represented in a useful contextual setting and they are able to make comments on the value of blended learning for their degree and prospective future careers. Fourteen focus groups (approximately 20 people in each seminar/focus group) were taken over a two year period and evidence was recorded on wiki sites and from interviews regarding student experiences and views of blended learning.\nEarly findings: The following represent key themes identified from content analysis within the first year of the study. Some sample comments regarding the usefulness of blended learning have been documented below. Indicative comments are provided in response to the research question: \"How useful do you believe blended learning will be for your degree and future career?\"Flexibility and support\nDiscussion: A central question remains, namely, how far should blended learning develop within a university context, or indeed the workplace? Whilst, eLearning allows the use of technology to replace traditional face-to-face interaction, thus reducing costs for the knowledge provider, the user or student may in fact suffer in terms of a weakened \"voice\", from lesser contact time interaction with lecturers, tutors, facilitators, or trainers.In addressing the above question, we suggest that blended learning should be used as an intregal part of a new teaching and learning strategy that enables graduates to meet key challenges for working in the twenty-first century organizations. Business graduates should be leaving university with a record of collaborative blended learning skills, for example, using wikis, learning rooms, discussion boards and other mechanisms for generating debate and sharing ideas. These competencies would be in addition to the traditional information, communications and technology (ICT) skills, such as, knowledge of Microsoft Office, e-mail, file management and of course the internet.However, we would also argue that introducing blended learning at university will help graduate users with continuing their education and help ensure willingness to accept blended learning when encountered in their future workplace. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) believe in the value of blended learning in the workplace and quote directly, that it:Combines diverse learning media and modes to provide solutions that exploit the efficiencies afforded by the use of new learning technologies, while never compromising on effectiveness (CIPD, 2011).\nConclusions: In summary, this short paper presents some interesting student views on blended learning. However, it is constrained because of the qualitative nature of exploratory findings. Similar to a number of other teaching and learning providers within a university environment, we offer an increasing number of courses that actively incorporate blended learning as a way forward for developing new skillsets for graduates.We envisage increased value added benefits from combining new technology with innovative forms of participation in learning and teaching. This will typically involve promoting the greater use of technology for full-time and part-time students, as well as, encouraging greater collaboration with industry practitioners for an enhanced, joined-up blended learning approach. For example, we are examining the use of blended learning in the development of transferable skills for junior accountants, in terms of creating useful revision aids and teaching cases at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In addition, we are considering the use of videoconferencing, for enabling simultaneous and joint participation of multiple speakers within any given seminar or lecture event. This will involve bringing together remote speakers from industry and academia during a given keynote lecture, or seminar event via teleconferencing. The core idea is to enhance and invigorate the traditional lecture or seminar event and promote more stimulating and engaging discussion, as well as, create useful questions and answers (Q&A) through the use of real time, online collaboration.Finally, we believe that blended learning represents an entirely different and altogether more pragmatic pedagogic view, compared with its narrower, pure eLearning predecessor. In an era of transformational change for third level education within the UK, blended learning approaches for vocational subjects such as business and management will be invaluable resource in enhancing the skills repertoires of future graduates.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to explore student views of blended learning in a university setting based on the use of audio lectures, seminars, discussion boards and wikis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In total, 14 seminar (focus) groups consisting of approximately 20 students each, over a two year period, provided qualitative views of how students believed blended learning would be useful for their degree and future careers.\nFindings: - Students found the blended learning approach very flexible and preferable in many cases to traditional face-to-face learning. Key themes in terms of emerging benefit themes included: flexibility and support; motivation and sharing ideas; class interaction and explanation of ideas; better than pure eLearning; communicating and teamwork; developing project leadership skills.\nResearch implications/limitations: - This exploratory study of university students is important because they are aware of the value of blended learning and transferable skills for the workplace. The research is limited because it is qualitative, yet it still provides a useful insight into the benefits and value of blended learning from the student perspective.\nOriginality/value: - There is a paucity of qualitative research on the benefits of blended learning and this paper examines the value of the overall approach for university students and the workplace.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Business improvement preferences for small/medium hospitality firms in Australia	[ "Knowledge management", "Hospitality management", "Customer service management", "Training", "Business improvement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: People [in small/medium hospitality businesses] are often running so hard they don't improve their skill sets (Milne, 2009).This quote from Dave Milne of the Noodle Box, Australia is both reflective of the status quo and of the challenges currently facing many small/medium hospitality (SMH) firms. Accepting an opportunity to improve one's own knowledge or that of staff may be paramount to the sustainability or expansion of a business, yet such actions that are designed to support this desirable change are often positioned as a luxury while operational day-to-day demands seem to take an unqualified precedence. Such a dilemma raises the critical question: how can knowledge skill sets be enhanced through transfer processes that meet the unique needs of small/medium hospitality businesses? This paper seeks to gain a deeper understanding of knowledge transfer priorities of owner-managers in SMH firms.In general, knowledge transfer is treated as a process that occurs when the firm or part of the firm is influenced by the experience of another (Argote and Ingram, 2000). This process assumes the acquisition and assimilation of knowledge from external sources into and throughout the hospitality firm. More particularly, successful knowledge transfer within the firm requires elaboration, implementation and confirmation (Hjalager, 2002). In this paper, we treat knowledge transfer as a broad term and interchangeable with the notion of a business improvement activity, given that the context is a business organisation. Thus both terms refer to a specified activity that aims to improve the capacity of the organisation to perform its functions. Finally, we also refer to \"customer service training\" as a specific form of business improvement activity that is designed to improve customer relations with the firm.The delivery of high quality customer service plays an important part in the hospitality experience. Indeed, in a recent study of small tourism firms by Dewhurst et al. (2007), it was reported that the top two of fifteen benefits sought by owner/managers through staff training were customer satisfaction and quality improvement. Yet these authors question whether many businesses will engage in business development activities at all. Similarly, Johnson (2002) argues that \"preaching\" to owner-managers about the benefits of training is counter-productive and should be avoided. Given this situation we argue that it is important to find ways of integrating thoughtful customer service enhancement activities into the current set of hospitality firm behaviours. Thus, following the line of Morrisson and Bergin-Seers (2002) and Dewhurst et al. (2007) we believe that determining firm priorities and attitudes toward business improvement in general, and customer service improvement activities in particular, are the first steps toward developing more suitable customer service enhancement initiatives for the sector that better match SMH firm priorities.\n2. The nature of knowledge transfer activities: Hospitality firms have long demonstrated scepticism toward business improvement activities, in general, and staff training in particular. For instance, managers in small tourism firms are less likely to receive training than managers in large firms because of the reluctance of the owner to invest in long-term projects (Westhead and Storey, 1996). Similarly, Kotey and Folker (2007) note that small family firms tend to accommodate family needs and thus may be less inclined to engage in external business improvement activities. In addition, there is a well-established, chronic fear of staff mobility and, as a consequence, efforts to develop staff are seen as largely wasted (Patton and Marlow, 2002). A range of prescriptive advice has been established to induce owner-managers to invest time and effort in undertaking business improvement activities. A brief review of some key areas is provided under the related themes of networks, relevance, formality and tangibility.2.1 Building networks\n3. Method: A single cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect information for this study. Data were collected by a self-completed questionnaire from owner/managers of small/medium hospitality firms. The sample of 255 owners, managers or owner-managers was obtained from a database of subscribers to the major membership publications for the Restaurant and Caterers Queensland Association and the Hotel and Motel Association of Queensland, Australia. In this study, we have largely followed the approach by Breen et al. (2005) to categorise hospitality firms by size. Thus, small and medium tourism enterprises comprise all businesses, which by their own definition, operate in the tourism industry and employ up to 100 employees and include sole operators not employing any staff. Specifically, micro businesses are those that employ between one and four workers, small businesses employ between five and 19 employees and medium businesses employ between 20 and 100 employees. A full description of the sample is provided in the results section.3.1 The survey instrument\n4. Results: 4.1 Respondent profile\n5. Management implications and conclusion: In this study, we investigated those business improvement activities favoured by SMH firms; which forms of media were preferred for such activities and why best practice activities were valued. It was found that respondents tend to favour those activities viewed as friendly in nature or less formal, that is staff meetings, industry association communications, magazines, business advisers and friends and associates. This finding accords with Lewis et al. (2007) except that they found SMEs utilised seminars more frequently. In this study, we have also investigated both internal and external business improvement activities whereas Lewis et al. (2007) investigated the usefulness of external sources in a smaller qualitative study. In addition, the findings in this study indicate that while friends and associates were consulted frequently they were lowly rated in terms of value. However, meetings with staff and accountants and reading business magazines were the most highly rated sources in terms of being very good value. The high rating of staff meetings follows the findings of Beeton and Graetz (2001) where they found that internal activities were preferred to external activities. Furthermore, while formal college courses or conferences were less used they were highly rated as a source of information. This finding contrasts with a number of authors that indicate formal information sources are less preferred (e.g. Kotey and Folker, 2007). The results suggest that formal, external based activities may be less preferred for access reasons (unable to attend) rather than for their lack of intrinsic value.The findings indicate that online media delivery received a mixed rating by this cohort. It should be noted that while over a third of respondents were aged over 45 years over 85 per cent reported that they used the internet on a daily basis. While, the respondent group were internet friendly they expressed a preference for service quality material to be delivered in a CD-Rom format. However, online access was preferred to a paper booklet. Face to face meetings are preferred to passive sources (such as books, magazines). Government and non-government websites were rated very low in terms of value as an information source.We found key support for the importance of relevance in the reasons offered by respondents for liking a best practice activity. Relevance was the highest ranked reason in terms of number of times mentioned. This finding aligns with other studies (e.g. Walker et al., 2007) that recognise the importance of relevance as a predictor of attitude and behaviour toward training. For instance, Walker et al. (2007) reported that relevance affected owner-manager attitudes toward training. In this study, we have shown a further behavioural link into what owner-managers actually do in practice.The reasons for valuing best practice business improvement activities build on previous literature. For instance, authors have suggested that social networks (e.g. Shaw and Williams, 2009) and relevance (e.g. Walker et al., 2007) play a role in attracting owner-managers to business improvement activities. In this study, we have identified six factors that may account for undertaking a business improvement activity. The factors of relevance and social were also identified in this study. The two highest ranked reasons were found to be relevance and novelty. Novelty is described in this study as to the level of newness of the material being presented. Novelty together with the factors of being informative (not trivial), deriving from a credible source, and easy access extend our understanding of why SMH firms undertake specific business improvement activities.Limitations for this study include sample characteristics. While the sample was geographically skewed to one state within Australia there is no evidence to suggest that the findings will vary from one State to another. However, it is more likely that variations to business improvement preferences could occur between firms situated in urban or regional areas and between firms situated in different cultural contexts. In this study, the accommodation and restaurant sectors were sampled. A high percentage of respondents were serviced apartment owners/managers. A wider cross-section of hospitality sectors would be desired for future inquiry. It has previously been noted that the response rate was low. Accordingly, the findings from this sample cannot be directly generalised to the wider hospitality population. Furthermore, the sample was drawn from subscription members of two hospitality organisations rather than the wider hospitality population. It is possible that subscription members of industry associations have different preferences to non-members.Notwithstanding these limitations, insights have been gathered into the preferences of owner-managers of hospitality firms toward customer service improvement activities. This enhanced understanding builds upon a synthesis of the literature that highlights the difficulties facing small/medium firm owners in decision making and setting priorities. Hence, this study advances our thinking along both empirical and theoretical grounds. We believe this improved understanding of small/medium business realities is a key step toward developing more suitable service quality training tools for a sector that is generally reluctant to invest substantial resources to these activities. Future studies could track the attractiveness of web-based knowledge transfer options. The advent of webinar, video embedded material or podcasts means that more tailored information can be delivered to the workplace.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to investigate how small/medium hospitality (SMH) firms set preferences for knowledge transfer relating to customer service improvement activities, through a determination of the most valued activities, preferred forms of media delivery and why best practice choice is valued.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A single cross-sectional survey was used of 255 owners, managers or owner-managers of SMH firms in Australia using attitude rating scales.\nFindings: - In nominating preferred customer service training/business performance improvement activities, the reasons for reporting a highly valued activity were grouped into six themes. Relevance and novelty of the activity were the two highest ranked activities. The remaining four themes of informative, credible, ease of use, and social were ranked equally.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings suggest that hospitality firms are reluctant to embrace knowledge transfer activities in general and customer service training in particular. These findings shed light on specific preferred activities and indicate the reasons why.\nPractical implications: - The results from this study have been integrated with other studies to present a range of communication-based strategies to assist industry policy makers. It is recommended that communication strategies to sell the \"novelty, relevance and newness\" of the customer service activity should be promoted.\nOriginality/value: - The paper synthesises literature from the small business sector, together with hospitality-specific papers and extends thinking beyond prescriptive advice. Given that knowledge transfer, delivered as prescriptive advice, tends to be ignored by the sector at large, this paper focuses on what managers do in practice and how they can be reached more directly.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementation of ISO-22000 in Spain: obstacles and key benefits	[ "Benefits", "Food industry", "Food security", "Obstacles", "HACCP", "ISO 22000" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Two of the key factors that determine the competitiveness of products in the market are price and quality. In the case of food products, the umbrella term of \"quality\" accommodates many aspects, among which food safety (FS) especially stands out.\n2. Literature review: Firms that implement an FSMS do so for quite different reasons or expected benefits: the desire to improve the quality and safety of their products and, in this way, to reinforce their competitive position, to deal with external pressures, image, and access to new markets, among others (Herath and Henson, 2010). However, the implementation of the system and achieving certification is a process that involves their having to overcome numerous obstacles. A review of the literature on FS shows that the successful implementation of FSMS involves a complex combination of management, technical, and organizational obstacles (Karaman et al., 2012) which all firms must overcome regardless of size, although usually they are the most daunting for SMEs (Celaya et al., 2007; Vladimirov, 2011).\n3. Methods: The data used in the present work were taken from a larger study aimed at characterizing current ISO 22000 certification in Spain. The study population consisted of firms operating in Spain with this certification by 31 January 2012. The target population was identified using the data provided by the certifying entities operating in Spain. Each of these firms was contacted by telephone in order to verify their willingness to participate in academic studies, and the accuracy of the data referring to the key informant selected: the manager responsible for FS. This led to 304 surveys being sent out by e-mail.\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 Obstacles to the effective implementation of an ISO 22000 FSMS\n5. Conclusions: In spite of the fact that food has never been safer, global consumers are nowadays more concerned about the safety of food because of the occurrence of FS scandals (Trienekens and Zuurbier, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2009; Feng et al., 2012; Falguera et al., 2012). Third-party certification is emerging as a prominent and influential mechanism to ensure FS in the public and private spheres in a food system profoundly affected by globalization. Theory suggests that ISO 22000 certification can reduce the asymmetry in information between producers and consumers, and in this way create a competitive advantage for certified firms, facilitating their access to new customers and markets. One can conclude from the results that the implementation and certification of an ISO 22000 FSMS contributes to the diffusion and consolidation of an FS culture and to its continuous improvement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the status of the implementation of ISO 22000 in the food industry in Spain. The study identifies the main difficulties faced by firms during the adoption process, the benefits obtained, and the most influential benefits on firms overall satisfaction with ISO 22000.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed to identify the difficulties and benefits for ISO 22000 implementation. Data were collected among 189 Spanish certified firms. Factor analysis and multiple linear regression were used.\nFindings: ISO 22000 is used by firms operating in all links of the food chain (FC). Size of the firm is not a factor that determines its implementation. Exporter firms are more attracted to ISO 22000 certification. All sample firms experienced difficulties throughout the implementation process, being those related with time and money the most relevant. The benefits which most contributed to the firms' satisfaction were internal in nature, in particular, those related to improved efficiency and food safety.\nPractical implications: Despite the many difficulties, both material and organizational, that sample firms experienced in implementing ISO 22000, and the complexity of the standard, the overall satisfaction is high.\nOriginality/value: The sample analyzed comprised certified firms, including representatives of all links in the FC from farm to table. Prior research specifically aimed at analyzing ISO 22000 implementation and its benefits is very scarce.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Structural holes in hospital organisations : Facilities managers as intrapreneurial brokers in the tertiary health sector	[ "Structural holes", "Information brokers", "Communication network", "Healthcare facilities management", "Health care", "Information", "Facilities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Health care is delivered to the community through many types of facilities ranging from healthcare centres, day procedure units, rehabilitation centres, mental health facilities, community health centres and acute and tertiary hospitals. Tertiary hospitals are complex healthcare facilities within which a full suite of clinical and non-clinical services is delivered and it is widely recognised that there is a close relationship between the quality of these facilities and the quality of healthcare provided (Carr, 2008; Chandra and Loosemore, 2010). Facilities managers in hospitals have to ensure that healthcare facilities not only support current healthcare needs but can also adapt to continual changes in the healthcare environment. These include: new technologies; new models of care; new health challenges; new political priorities; and economic imperatives which may require the contraction, relocation or expansion of hospital facilities. Typically, facilities managers do this through managing a range of \"hard\" and \"soft\" services. Hard services may include development, construction management, property management, and maintenance management while soft services include activities such as space planning, security, cleaning, catering, and transportation. The facilities management (FM) organisation required to do this comprises a multidisciplinary group of departments which not only have to interact with each other but with the wider hospital organisation. Managing these interactions and interdepartmental information flows within a hospital environment poses special challenges not found in other contexts. As Mintzberg (1997) and Diamond et al. (2002) point out, hospital organisations are highly fragmented and characterised by clearly defined and hierarchical power structures between a wide variety of disparate stakeholder groups competing for limited resources in a complex and continually changing economic, political, social and technological environment. This is not conducive to effective communication and these stakeholder groups tend to solve problems in isolation, impeding a facility manager's ability to deliver effective health facilities which satisfy their competing needs (Carder, 1995; Then, 1999). The aim of this paper is to investigate the problematic structural holes that exist in these organisations which impeded the flow of FM-related information. It also explores the brokerage potential of facilities managers in a hospital FM communication network structure.\nBrokering structural holes in organisations: Conceptually, the role of an information broker in organisations is strongly tied to Burt's (1992b) structural holes theory. Burt argued that all organisations contain structural holes which he defined as \"non-redundant\" relationships between two or more actors. In simple terms, if a hole is redundant it means that the connections across are not needed for the effective functioning of an organisation or the necessary information can be provided through other equally effective and efficient routes. However, if they are \"non-redundant\", new direct connections are required and are the most efficient way to ensure an organisation operates effectively and achieves its objectives. In short, structural holes are places where people are disconnected in an organisation, disrupting the flow of information needed to make it function effectively (Monge and Contractor, 2003). While structural holes disrupt the flow of valuable information in an organisation they provide opportunities to those who can re-make (broker) those connections. In simple terms, by spanning structural holes brokers can perform an \"intrapreneurial\" role within an organisation, by leveraging social capital from the new non-redundant connections between organisational actors (Burt, 1992b, Kuratko et al., 1990). In this case, social capital is the value that can be derived from an actor's relationships in an organisation (Brass, 2003). For example, if a broker sits between two other actors and controls the flow of information between them, then they are in a powerful position. Baker and Obstfeld (1999) argue that brokers tend to employ two distinct types of strategies in reconnecting organisations: \"disunion\" and \"union\" strategies. In the disunion strategy, the broker pursues the active separation of disconnected actors therefore becoming a bridge between two disconnected actors but not allowing them to interact directly. Conversely, in the union strategy, a broker closes the network holes between two disconnected actors enabling them to communicate directly or through a common third party. In reality, a combination of both approaches tends to be adopted.\nIdentifying structural holes in social networks: The identification of structural holes in organisations is primarily based on indicators of structural autonomy (how access to unique information is limited or facilitated through connections to other network members) (Burt, 1992b). For example, a structural hole may appear to exist when one considers direct connections but information may be able to flow to actors around the hole through other less direct connections - albeit less efficiently. There are two main algorithms which can be used to identify the potential for structural holes in an organisation: network density and centrality.\nMeasuring brokerage potential in social networks: Burt (1992b) employed four algorithms to measure brokerage potential across structural holes: effective size, efficiency, constraint and hole signature.\nMethodology and method: Our methodology employed a realism perspective which recognised that structural holes are both objectively present and socially constructed in the minds of actors. As Sobh and Perry (2006) argue, this approach implies the use of case studies; convergent interviewing; interpretation of research issues by triangulating both qualitative and quantitative methods. To this end, we employed an instrumental single case study approach. While using a single case study approach has inherent limitations (particularly around representativeness) the advantage of this approach is that it enabled us to research an individual organisation more intensively than we could multiple case studies (Burt, 1992b, Yin, 1994). This is important for the detection of structural holes which require the intensive use of multiple methods over a large sample of respondents.\nDiscussion of results: The density of the FM network was 33 per cent, indicating significant potential for structural holes to exist in this network. Figure 2 illustrates the relative degree centralities of various actors in the core FM network and the size of each node reflecting its relative centrality as measured in Figure 3.\nConclusion: The aim of this research was to investigate the information gaps that exist in FM organisations in hospitals and the brokerage potential of facilities managers in facilitating integration of FM information within hospital FM communication network structure. Using a critical realism methodology and structural holes theory this paper has shown that FM in hospitals is a highly complex activity which is dependent on connecting numerous multidisciplinary pools of disconnected information. It has also provided evidence that major structural holes exist in these organisations and that a relatively small number of powerful departments play important brokering roles in connecting what would have otherwise been a highly dysfunctional structure. This work has important practical implications for facilities managers. In particular, it provides evidence of the critical role of estates and FM functions in integrating and supporting healthcare service delivery in hospitals. It also shows that there is a significant untapped potential for facilities managers to better broker facility-related connections between disconnected components of hospital organisations. And it indicates that in doing this, facilities managers are best advised to focus their limited resources on communications with a targeted set of contacts rather than attempting to communicate with everyone. By working through these key contacts, our research indicates that they can most efficiently exert maximum influence on the way that hospitals use their facilities in providing health care to the community. However, to do this requires a detailed understanding of the patterns of communication between actors and departments in the FM communication network. This research shows that social network analysis techniques may be a useful tool in achieving this understanding and in better positioning facilities managers to control information flows more effectively. In this research we have simply mapped the existing FM communication network. However, by re-engineering it to position the facilities manager more centrally, a far more efficient structure could be achieved to better leverage the untapped brokerage potential which our research has shown exists in a hospital structure. However, given the single case study nature of this research, further case studies are needed to understand whether similar potential exists in other hospitals. In terms of advancing our growing knowledge of FM, our research also extends the work of Barrett (2000) and Carder (1995) which emphasised the importance of managing relationships and information in effective facility management organisations. It does so by revealing, for the first time, the detailed structure of these relationships and the important role that information brokers play facilitating integration. However, this paper has also shown that brokers, while important, also potentially introduce vulnerability into an organisation by increasing its dependence on the management and administrative abilities of a few departments. It is evident that if the necessary skills to manage these opportunities or if secondary back-up brokerage potential are not present then the necessary information will not flow. Given the life-and-death nature of the relationship between facilities and healthcare services, this is something which needs to be addressed. To this end, future research should focus on examining different brokerage strategies that can be used to facilitate effective information flow between the FM unit and the wider hospital organisation, how vulnerability can be reduced by using a range of brokerage strategies, the motivational factors and attributes that determine brokerage behaviour, the relationship between information brokerage and improved facility management and end user outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The delivery of high quality healthcare services to the community requires the integration of information from a wide range of sources within a complex and highly dynamic environment. Using structural holes theory the challenges and opportunities of integration are explored from a facilities management (FM) perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a critical realism methodology, structured interviews with hospital stakeholders are undertaken in a case study of a large tertiary hospital in Australia. Data are analysed using social network analysis to explore the existence of structural holes.\nFindings: Effective FM in the health sector requires intrapreneurial skills to broker connections between functionally and culturally distinct actors located in a highly disconnected communication network structure.\nOriginality/value: This research reveals, for the first time, the detailed communication structure of relationships among FM services in a hospital. By identifying the existence of structural holes in hospital organisations, it illuminates significant untapped brokerage potential of facilities managers in facilitating greater integration. These insights into communication structure have important implications for the practice of FM in better supporting healthcare service delivery.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sabaf: moving to a learning environment	[ "Corporate responsibility", "Humanistic approach to management", "Change management", "Learning organizations", "Strategic CR" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Already by 2003 Sabaf was recognised as a leading company in Corporate Responsible in Italy by ten of the largest Italian institutional investors. Over the past years, Sabaf has been also listed in a number of responsible investment indexes such as the Kempen SNS SRI index - the first index for socially responsible European small caps or Ethibel.Giuseppe Saleri, owner of Sabaf and Angele Bettinzoli, Sabaf's CEO, are regularly interviewed in the Italian press and even internationally to give evidence of the importance of Corporate Responsibility (CR) and above all to show the business case for CR.Sabaf was regarded as an important company because it had embedded corporate responsibility into its organisation and its approach to business. In that sense Sabaf is different from many companies that have good corporate responsibility programs. Sabaf had been through a transformation process that led to the integration of environmental and social performance with financial success.Recognition of Sabaf's performance by journalists and analysts was well deserved but often did not address an important aspect of Sabaf's success: the process of learning and change through which Sabaf and the many other actors with which it is in relationship had been through. The learning trajectory has not always been clear and straightforward - at times it was experimental. The direction might have been obvious to the company's leaders, but the pathway or process of change was not necessarily clear to them, the company's employees and its stakeholders, and the results were not at all certain. This case highlights the multiple kinds of learning and change processes Sabaf went through to integrate CR at the strategic level and get rewarded for it through operational performance. It also highlights the key factors that have contributed to the success of the change process to embed CR in the strategy, practices, structures and culture of Sabaf.At the time of writing this case, that is in 2011, Sabaf enjoys a leading position on its market and continues to perform at a very high level in terms of integrating social, environmental and governance issues. This case describes the transformation process that took place between 1993 and 2005 within the company that set the ground for today's success.The case investigates the dynamic path Sabaf went through to integrate corporate responsibility at a strategic and operational level. It examines how the company reconciled competitiveness and profitability with performance in corporate responsibility and how corporate responsibility is a necessary response to a changing business context. It highlights the key managerial issues implied in this transformation process that involved management innovation, learning and change.While on the surface the paper seems to chart how Sabaf moved from an implicit to a more explicit approach to corporate responsibility it is also possible to take the view that the company was simply engaged in developing a more \"humanistic\" approach to management that permeated the whole organization. This humanistic approach advanced at Sabaf was modelled on the business principles of the Italian company Olivetti from the 1950s but these and similar principles can just as well be found in many companies across Europe from the outset of industrial capitalism, such as the New Lanark woollen mill (Owen, 1813), Salt's Mill in the 1850s in Saltaire (Balgarnie, 1877), Solvay Chemicals from 1876 in Belgium, or, WMF in Germany during the same period. What became explicit at Sabaf was a term \"corporate responsibility\" that was used to describe much older concepts of business that valued people and the natural environment alongside economics and business performance.\nContext: Sabaf Group\nCulture, values and leadership: A tumultuous start\nFormalisation process: Sabaf had a vision, a humanistic approach to management. It took the company seven years to formalise this vision into practices. Through the formalisation process the term and concept of corporate responsibility became central to describe what was happening. The term was used to frame the value that senior managers at Sabaf placed on people and the natural environment.Although CR principles have always been at the heart of Sabaf's way of doing business, many reasons may explain this need to develop an explicit CR approach. 2000 is a turning point for CR in general. There were an increasing number of companies, mainly large and listed companies, setting out to develop explicit CR strategies. The motivations of those companies are very divers from leadership, reputation, efficiency to values. Most of the time it is a combination of drivers that have pushed companies to become more explicit on their CR approach. In the years after 2000, a number of CR tools were also developed, among which the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which provides a CR reporting guideline. But also significant changes took place within Sabaf around 2000. It was the start of the expansion and internationalisation of the company. In 2000, Sabaf acquired Faringosi-Hinges, one of the main manufacturers of hinges for ovens, washing machines and dishwashers in Italy. In 2001, Sabaf began production activity at Guarulhos (Sao Paulo, Brazil). In 2006, the company opened a manufacturing site in Mexico. As a result the number of employees at Sabaf increased significantly (from 331 in 1998 to 673 in 2009) and Sabaf had to deal with the different norms and cultures that came with this expansion.Another underlying reason for adopting a formal and more systematic approach to CR is Bettinzoli's view that the quality of a manager can only be measured if he is no longer in the company. In order to avoid the risk that all his efforts vaporise when he leaves the company, he wanted to make sure his vision was institutionalised in the organisation. This meant building the company's social fabric, investing in industrial activities, launching new products, training, and caring for new managers. Institutionalising CR and communicating about it externally, makes the pull-back-threshold higher.How to make sure the company's vision and values would remain in the whole organisation even in Brazil and Mexico? How to communicate the vision and values to the new employees but also to external stakeholders, which are becoming increasingly demanding? How to integrate the vision and values in all the activities of the company to make it real and live through? Saleri and Bettinzoli had managed to construct the initial vision for the company connecting responsibility with the business. But in 2000 a next step was necessary for CR to gain ground in the company. It was now time to create organisational space so that time and financial resources could be devoted to the development and implementation of the vision and the innovations that follow.Explicit values\nConclusion: This case portrays a company that has successfully managed to integrate corporate responsibility at strategic and operational levels. Between 1993 and 2005, Sabaf moved from implicit knowledge and awareness of what has come to be termed CR to an integrated approach to CR directly linked to business performance. The path the company followed was partly designed yet other parts emerged through the learning and change process. One of the key success factors has been the ability and capacity of Sabaf's managers to recognise events as moments of opportunities and their skill to turn it into an innovative business opportunity.Sabaf is now widely recognised as a successful business in which its high level of CR maturity cannot be dissociated. It is possible to regard this as a case about what we understand through the term corporate responsibility but it is equally the case that Sabaf developed an approach to business based on a humanistic philosophy that placed value on people and the environment as integral to business success.Teaching orientation/recommendations\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Sabaf, a world-leading manufacturer of components for domestic gas cooking appliances, went through a transformation process between 1993 and 2005 to develop a strategic approach to corporate responsibility that embedded social, environmental and governance issues into its organisation, its approach to business and its overall performance. This case describes the learning and change process within the company that set the ground for today's success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This teaching case builds on data gathered through sites visits, interviews and company materials. The case research protocol explored the notion that the company was learning how to interact, and respond to its changing context, while its responses were creating the ground for internal organisational change that in turn would impact the relationship between the company and its context.\nFindings: - While on the surface the change process which Sabaf experienced can be regarded as a move from an implicit to a more explicit approach to corporate responsibility, it is also possible to take the view that the company was engaged in developing a more \"humanistic\" approach to management that permeated the whole organization. What became explicit at Sabaf was not corporate responsibility but rather the term \"corporate responsibility\" used to describe much older concepts of business that valued people and the natural environment alongside economics. The case also shows the process of organizational leadership for learning, management innovation and change that supported the processes through which this approach was developed and integrated into the company.\nOriginality/value: - This case provides unique insights into the approach Sabaf adopted in its pioneering transformation to become a leading corporate responsibility company and a world leader in its sector. This case can be used as a benchmark for other companies that might embark on the process of integrating corporate responsibility and business performance as a strategic process that has effects that cut across the business as a whole.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of diversification by cocoa smallholders in Sulawesi	[ "Rural cocoa smallholders", "Community welfare determinants", "Livestock and alternative crops", "Income diversification", "Self-employed small business" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Cocoa smallholders in Sulawesi not only account for the bulk of Indonesia's national cocoa production, but are also dependent on this commodity for their income and livelihood. However, farm productivity declined in the 2010s resulting in national cocoa production dropping to half by the end of the decade, severe impacts on smallholder livelihoods and the conversion to other crops by many farmers (ICCO, 2015; Arsyad et al., 2019; Moriarty et al., 2014; Wijaya et al., 2018). Cocoa smallholders in Sulawesi commonly grow the crop on less than 1 ha. Production is seasonal and prices volatile, making investment in the crop (which takes six months from pod setting until harvest) a risky enterprise. Other factors have contributed to the decline in productivity, including ageing trees, increasing pest/disease impacts and lack of capital and/or access to finance for agricultural inputs (Moriarty et al., 2014; Mithofer et al., 2017).Diversifying sources of income, especially off-farm income, is an important poverty-alleviating strategy for smallholder farming families in developing countries (Ellis, 1998; Eshetu and Mekonnen, 2016; Lanjouw et al., 2001; Barrett et al., 2001a, b; Iiyama et al., 2008). Although agriculture remains the primary source of income for rural families in various agrosystems in Indonesia, off-farm/non-farm sources of income are becoming more significant (Susilowati, 2017; Nuryartono, 2005; Dewi et al., 2005; Gibson and Olivia, 2010). Seasonality of income, risk management to avoid crises, low productivity, coping mechanisms, availability of labour and the presence of credit markets are key motivating factors to diversify (Ellis, 1998). All of these factors are typically found in rural cocoa growing areas of Sulawesi. Studies in Central Sulawesi have demonstrated that non-agricultural sources of income have increased in importance among cocoa smallholders (Nuryartono, 2005; Schwarze and Zeller, 2005; Klasen et al., 2013), but less attention has been paid to off-farm income sources for cocoa smallholders in West Sulawesi. In this study, potential determinants of on- and off-farm income sources were examined in a sample of 116 households in Polewali-Mandar District, West Sulawesi. In addition, the impact of diversifying income sources on the economic welfare of farming families was evaluated.\nBackground: Cocoa smallholders in Sulawesi face declines in productivity\nObjectives of the study and characterisation of diversification: The study constituted the second part of an investigation on cocoa smallholder livelihoods in Polewali-Mandar District, West Sulawesi, based on household interviews targeting a sample population for which cocoa was the main source of agricultural income. The first part of the study provided data on human health and nutrition and other livelihood aspects (Arsyad et al., 2019), while the second part focused on household economics, providing information on income sources, household consumption and other data (Amin Rifai et al., 2018; Sari, 2018). The objectives of the current study were to: (1) identify potential determinants of diversified on- and off-farm sources of income among cocoa smallholders, and (2) evaluate the contribution of diversified sources of income and other variables to household welfare.Logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted to identify potential determinants of diversification and household welfare. To address the first objective, diversification activities were allocated binary variables (0, no diversified activity; 1, diversified activity). They included two alternative sources (to cocoa) of income obtained on-farm (growing other crops with cocoa and/or investing in larger livestock viz. goats or cattle) and two off-farm sources, which included work for wages and self-employment (Klasen et al., 2013). In the current study, agricultural and non-agricultural categories of off-farm income were combined. Off-farm diversification was defined in this study as an income-generating activity other than selling produce from the household respondents' own farms. Based on these criteria, off-farm activities included working for wages as itinerant labour on other farms, as well as livestock and cocoa trading.To address the second objective, the impact of a range of independent variables, including diversification activities, on household welfare was examined. Perz (2015) reporting on diversification strategies among smallholders in frontier regions of north-eastern Brazil, who produce a range of cash crops including cocoa, suggested that agricultural and non-agricultural diversification may have different welfare outcomes. In this study, the impact of diversification activities on welfare, using the proxies for wealth of per capita durable assets (Klasen et al., 2013) and expenditure (Akaakohol and Aye, 2014), was assessed by multiple linear regression. Data collected during household interviews provided detailed information on expenditure (Amin Rifai et al., 2018) and, therefore, per capital expenditure provided a reliable proxy for household welfare. However, income was obtained by households from a variety of sources, including off-farm labour, which was seasonal, temporary and inconsistent. Therefore, income was not used as an indicator of household wealth. Although livestock value may be considered to be a household asset, it was not included in the sum of total durable assets in this study, as it was defined as a diversification activity with potential impacts on household welfare.\nMethodology: Location of study and population sample\nResults: Household characteristics\nDiscussion: The study showed that cocoa farming households in the sample (n = 116) had diversified income sources, with two-thirds practising at least two of the four diversification examined: growing other crops, raising livestock (goats or cattle), off-farm wage work and off-farm self-employment. Taken together, the results demonstrated that diversification contributes to the wealth of households in the Polewali-Mandar sample and that this could be attributed largely to uptake of self-employment or livestock.This study, consistent with the results of the livelihood survey undertaken by Arsyad et al. (2019), demonstrated the marginal nature of livelihoods experienced in cocoa-producing communities in West Sulawesi. The data collected from 116 households, provided details on crop production, household goods, access to credit, consumption and income sources. Respondents reported low and unreliable cocoa harvests, consistent with declines in productivity reported in Sulawesi in the last 15 years (Mithofer et al., 2017; Moriarty et al., 2014). The decline, due to various physical and socio-economic factors (Moriarty et al., 2014), has also threatened cocoa smallholder livelihoods. Due to marginal incomes, the majority of households in this study (68%) were eligible to receive \"raskin\", government-subsidised rice distributed to income-challenged households every three months. Other reports from the same data set of 116 households (Amin Rifai et al., 2018; Sari, 2018) showed that expenditure was linked to the number of dependants and that most families (69%) did not have a savings account. Households in the sample depending on loans (72%), used mainly informal sources such as relatives, trader/collectors or neighbours (48%), while 15% of the loans obtained were allocated to food purchases and only 15% for agricultural inputs (Sari, 2018).Determinants of diversification by cocoa smallholders\nConclusion: The results support the conclusion that cocoa-growing households in Polewali-Mandar District with educated household heads, located nearer to town, owning more land, raising livestock and/or practising self-employment are wealthier. In particular, diversification into self-employment improves the wealth status of cocoa-farming families, suggesting it is a promising livelihood strategy. Alternative sources of income could reduce risk, stabilise and supplement earnings for rural smallholder households in Indonesia. Nevertheless, considerable constraints were revealed by the survey: the rate of current formal loans, identified as a positive determinant of self-employment, was much lower than informal credit, exacerbated by unreliable and often insufficient harvests. The recently introduced government credit scheme (Kredit Usaha Rakyat, KUR), backed by two state-owned corporations, could provide small loans for farm inputs and family businesses in rural areas. Providing such opportunities for families to open small businesses by improving access to credit, as well as other livelihood promoters, such as health and education (Arsyad et al., 2019; Barrett et al., 2001b) could contribute to increased security and income in these rural communities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate determinants of four diversification practises by cocoa smallholders in West Sulawesi, Indonesia: (1) growing other crops, (2) keeping livestock, (3) off-farm work for wages (4) off-farm self-employment, and the impact of diversification on welfare of community members.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Household interviews (n = 116) conducted in two subdistricts (Anreapi and Mapilli) of Polewali-Mandar District, West Sulawesi, provided quantitative data on household characteristics, crop and livestock production, income sources, expenditure and credit access. Two villages per subdistrict were included in the study, each producing cocoa as the main crop but differing in their proximity to a market town. Logistic regression was applied to identify determinants of diversification by households. Multiple linear regression (MLR) models evaluated the impact of diversification practices and other explanatory variables on two proxies of welfare (or household wealth): per capita value of durable assets (household assets other than land or livestock) and per capita expenditure for each household.\nFindings: Mean per capita cocoa production in the sample was low (51 kg dry beans/annum). The mean dependency ratio (proportion of household occupants age <18 and >64) was 35%, with an average of five occupants per household. Household heads were predominantly male (95%), averaging 46 yo and 7 years of formal education. Most households (72%) depended on loans, but only 24% accessed formal loans. Significant determinants of diversification practices were access to formal credit for self-employment and subdistrict for livestock, with Mapilli subdistrict households more likely to keep livestock. Household predictors in the MLR accounted for 28% variation of the dependent, per capita value of durable goods. Off-farm self-employment and raising livestock significantly improved welfare, but growing other crops or off-farm work for wages had little effect. Other household variables demonstrated to have significant positive effects on welfare were education of the household head, proximity to a market town and land area per household.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study was restricted to a relatively small sample size (n = 116). Studies including panel data or larger numbers of households could enable the identification of further determinants of diversification.\nPractical implications: The study demonstrates that diversification has the potential to improve rural livelihoods, but that obstacles, especially formal credit access, may deter poorer households from diversifying their income sources.\nSocial implications: Programs and policies that facilitate access to formal finance by smallholders could encourage diversification into small business and improve livelihoods in cocoa-dependent communities.\nOriginality/value: In the light of the decline in cocoa farm productivity in West Sulawesi, the study demonstrates the potential benefits, as well as limitations, of income diversification by smallholders.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Food product development: A consumer-led text analytic approach to generate preference structures	[ "Food products", "Fast foods", "Food industry", "Consumer behaviour", "Sweden" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Innovation in food products\nMethod: The basic conjecture with this research was that consumer-led development work can be organised by stepwise analysis of the preferences of food consumers. A fictitious innovation process was assumed. A generic fast food product: a hamburger was presented (as a stimuli) to a sample of university students. Respondents were asked to consider (and write about) four different design dimensions for the hamburger: taste, ingredients, form/package and mode of eating. From the text authored by respondents preferences were then modelled for each dimension as aggregated preference structures, the sizes of which could be estimated in a quantitative way. Fieldwork was carried out in Southern Sweden at a major university. Because of clarity, we limit our presentation of the procedure to reporting the results from the first two food product dimensions: taste and ingredients. This will be done in the following result section.Data collection and procedures\nResults: Attribute clusters for taste and ingredients\nDiscussion: This paper addresses a strategic problem in the food industry; the low rate of food product innovation and the high failure risks involved. A small fraction of the turnover in the food industry is invested in innovation. This fact makes it a rather low-tech industry. The radical food innovation that has taken place, such as the development of functional food products, has been commonly initiated outside the food industry. In order to help improve innovation work in the food industry, this study develops a new method to link consumer input in a step-wise way with the aim to generate preference structures (or consumer segments).One can put two questions pertaining to the exercise above. How does this approach differ from previous ones? What benefits does it give to a food producer? A new approach is clearly in need of making at least a marginal difference. First, prior efforts in food product innovation have been rather abstract and have been based on cognitive consumer behavior theory. This has led to an engineering-like approach to finding design parameters with little direct link to actual consumer preferences. Also, data collection has been biased towards using an experimental setting at one point in time.Instead, it is now suggested that innovation teams need a step-wise approach to sequentially collect information on consumer preferences as the team proceeds with innovation work. It is deemed of crucial importance to estimate how consumers appreciate the different combinations of design parameters, or what has here been termed product dimensions.A successful food product has the \"right\" combinations of dimensions (or integration of attributes). Hence, the proposed new way of finding consumer preferences is radically different from previous ones:* it allows for a step-wise longitudinal analysis;* it uses actual consumer input directly (text);* it transforms this input with a standard statistical method into segments of different sizes; by* integrating different product dimensions.There are several benefits to the proposed new approach. Data can be easily collected from many respondents over time. A text handling system (Pertex) simplifies the storage and analysis of texts. Cluster analysis is also a simple and practical statistical method to synthesize information. Manually, analysts interpret data input by the \"cleansing\" of verbal expressions. This gives them a good feel for what connotations consumers use in explaining their preferences. Segments of possible consumers are driven by data input, and not by the traditional view of marketing and sales departments for existing products. In essence, the simplicity of the approach is a great benefit. This makes it possible to run the analysis in-house. Often, the production of market information is out-sourced, that is market information is gathered and analyzed by external consultants. This is normally a costly exercise. Also, much of the richness and depth of the information may get lost in communication between parties. Therefore, innovation teams ought to have as much control of key data as possible to be able to adapt innovation work. The highly practical benefits of the new approach, it is suggested, can therefore make a difference for the success of many food product innovations.Albeit, there are many practical benefits of the new approach, it certainly can be improved. For instance, it seems to be of importance how the cue, or stimuli, for a new idea is presented to potential consumers. In this study, a simple picture of a hamburger was presented before data collection. Respondents reacted by expressing preferences very much in line with the attributes of the standard hamburger. This is clearly a limitation when attempting to find new food product ideas. One may speculate that the concept as such; the hamburger, is so well defined that respondents had problems to re-conceptualize such a food product. Their input would then be of marginal use to direct development work. Therefore, a more structured way of collecting attribute data may be preferable. A certain number of selected attributes could be presented in conjunction with visual display of the proposed tangible form. These selected attributes could then be found from written texts, or interviews, generated by sample consumers by means of text analysis such as Pertex.\nConclusions: This study suggested a step-wise procedure to generate consumer preference structures for food product development. A fictitious development process of a fast-food product: a hamburger was assumed. A convenience sample of university students was used to write about their favorite hamburger pertaining to different food product dimensions. The answers from two product dimensions taste and ingredients were analyzed in this study with the aim to illustrate how food development work could be supported by consumer-led input.The approach has been focused on finding preference clusters for a certain product dimension that could serve as a direction for development and innovation work. A step-wise procedure has been suggested. First, a manual reduction of attribute expressions for the product dimensions taste and ingredients was carried out (after being handled by the Pertex text analysis system). Second, the reduced list of attribute expressions was then clustered in a two-sided fashion and clusters were interpreted. Third, text data from the two product dimensions taste and ingredients was integrated. The reduced matrices for taste and ingredients were combined by inserting the ingredient matrix after the taste matrix. This combined matrix was also clustered in a two-sided fashion. Fourth, the maximum cells for rows and columns (on cluster level) were identified. From this exercise a new matrix, with the clearest linkages between preferences and respondents, was constructed. Fifth, and finally, a two-sided clustering attempt was carried out for respondents and preferences.Clear linkages between respondent and preference clusters for the key product dimensions taste and ingredients could be ascertained. The image of the standard hamburger ruled supreme in that few new ideas were suggested. This partly supports prior results that early customer input is of little use in market visioning of new products (Collarelli O'Connor and Veryzer, 2001). Nevertheless, product dimensions could be integrated in a meaningful way into distinct preference clusters.This type of holistic approach could be key to effective food product development because of several reasons. One may take an example from ongoing research (Mattsson and Helmersson, 2005a). The Scandinavian food producer Procordia Food AB has many factories producing traditional, mostly canned or bottled, food products such as soup and tomato sauce. Here food product development is gradual in nature. Small changes are made to food content. Consumer panels are used to evaluate new versions of similar products. Many products contain low-cost ingredients and sugar is used to enhance taste. A recently introduced yellow tomato sauce flopped because of its unusual color and similarity to the red counterpart. Local tastes and tradition here seem to inhibit the introduction of new innovative products. Power in the company resides with the managers of production units. Innovation teams have little room and budget for taking on really new ideas for foodstuffs. This innovation inertia can be dangerous in the long term.Instead, innovation could be more focused, and directed in a step-wise way by consumer inputs as the innovation team develops new food concepts. In the present \"convenience environment\" the eating situation may be the main driver of how a food product should look. Ingredients may have to be integrated in a new way. For instance, to facilitate packaging, handling during transportation, and eating all standard ingredients of the hamburger (here defined as: dressing, salad, meat, bread) may have to be formed into one piece! Hence, even a standard food product may be in need of change. The suggested method in this study could then be of help because of its practical down to earth approach.The basic aims of this study were two-fold; i.e. to develop a step-wise method to tap the preferences of potential consumers in a sequential way, so as to be able to take account of the linkages between different food product dimensions during the innovation process. It was argued that it was insufficient to form abstract design parameters one by one. Instead, an holistic approach was seen as preferential in that it allowed the innovation team to \"build in\" consumer preferences during the innovation process by integrating product dimensions according to the size of consumer preference segments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to illustrate a new method to cluster consumer attribute preferences and to transform spontaneously written texts by consumers about a certain favourite food product (hamburger) into distinct preference clusters of attributes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A new way of finding significant clusters of consumer attribute preferences is developed by means of a new text analytical approach (Pertex) and a multi-step two-sided cluster analysis procedure.\nFindings: - Clear linkages were ascertained between four respondent and four preference clusters for the two key product dimensions taste and ingredients of the hamburger.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Clusters expressed were in close conformity to the conception of the standard hamburger. Only one student sample (N=100) was used.\nPractical implications: - A new and practical method to transform written text into distinct consumer preferences (segments) was tested using a multi-step cluster analysis to support food innovation in the food industry.\nOriginality/value: - Product dimensions were integrated in a meaningful way into distinct preference clusters that could be used to segment consumers when innovating new food products.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Explaining the intentions to share and reuse knowledge in the context of IT service operations	[ "Knowledge sharing", "Knowledge management", "Communication technologies", "Libraries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Managing knowledge resources is one of the key functions in modern organizations. Knowledge is treated as a vital and significant strategic organizational resource that can influence the competitive advantages of the organization (Alavi and Leidner, 2001). A recent study reported that about 80 percent of companies in Europe consider knowledge is a strategic asset (KPMG, 2003). Managing knowledge is an extremely important activity in the IS industry where IS/IT professionals are often involved in knowledge-intensive work.From an individual perspective, knowledge is defined as a justified belief that increases an entity's capacity for effective action (Huber, 1991; Nonaka, 1994). In the organizational context, knowledge management (KM) refers to identifying and leveraging the collective knowledge in an organization to help the organization to compete (von Krogh, 1998). In other words, KM aims at managing individual employee's knowledge for increasing organization's benefits.KM is critical to the organization's success. However, KPMG's (2003) study reported that companies estimate 6 percent, on average, of revenue as a percentage of annual turnover or budget is being missed from failing to exploit available knowledge. In addition, there are 78 percent of the companies believe they are currently missing out on business opportunities by failing to successfully exploiting available knowledge. The potential reasons for this could be:* employees do not share their knowledge voluntarily due to the feeling of losing some of their power, reducing the chances of success (e.g. promotion, compensation), and additional workload required;* employees do not apply and reuse the knowledge even when it is available and accessible, due to reasons such as the source of knowledge is questionable, the feeling of risk aversion, and lack of time or opportunities; and* employees have difficulties in locating the information required, possibly due to information overload.In recent years, different aspects of KM attracted researchers to study it from different perspectives (Nonaka and Konno, 1998; Rus and Lindvall, 2002; Bhatt, 2002; Mason and Pauleen, 2003).Organizations are likely to run into difficulties if the knowledge of individual employee is not well-managed. It is believed that employees' knowledge would not be successfully exploited if either knowledge sharing or knowledge reuse is overlooked. This study attempts to explore the differences in intentions to sharing and reuse of knowledge in the context of IT service operations.\nTheory: In order to focus on key organizational activities that require extensive knowledge sharing and reuse, IT service operations (ITSO) is selected as a suitable context for this study. The theory of planning behavior (TPB), a well-established theory, has been applied for examining IS/IT professionals' intention to share and reuse knowledge.Knowledge management in IS/IT industry\nResearch method: An online survey was used to collect data for testing the proposed model. The introductory notes of the survey included the definition of ITSO and some example of activities in ITSO that requiring share and reuse knowledge. The survey consisted of two sections:1. sharing one's ITSO expertise; and2. reusing others' ITSO expertise.The respondents were asked to complete both the sections.The questionnaire employed in this study is based on prior studies. The scales developed by Taylor and Todd (1995b) and Ajzen (2002) were used for measuring the variables. Using a seven-point Likert scale (1=Strongly disagree, 7=Strongly agree) in the survey, the respondents were asked same type of question with different wordings in both sections. For example, the item \"Sharing my ITSO expertise is a good idea\" in knowledge share section corresponds to \"Reusing others' ITSO expertise is a good idea\" in knowledge reuse section. In addition, the words \"knowledge\" and \"expertise\" are interchangeable in the meanings; and \"expertise\" was used in the questionnaire for enhancing respondents' understanding of various questions. Tables III and IV present the questions used for measuring different constructs in this study.E-mail requests for completing the online survey were sent to 170 working IT professionals who were studying a part-time master degree program at a large university. The reason for choosing the respondents from the total population is that they had relevant working experience in IS/IT industry and familiar with the operations in their professional area. All the respondents were volunteers. The online questionnaire was kept open for 18 days. One reminder e-mail and one final reminder e-mail were sent six days and three days before the deadline respectively. A total of 40 completed questionnaires (response rate about 24 percent) were used in the subsequent analysis.Among the respondents, about 72.5 percent were male and 27.5 percent were female. The average working experience was 9.04 years (SD=4.22). The respondents are mainly working in computer and technology/internet industry (25 percent) followed by banking and finance (20 percent) and government/public utilities (15 percent). A total of 32.5 percent of respondents are system analysts, 20 percent are managers and 17.5 percent are analyst programmers. The main job duties of the respondents included development (32 percent), maintenance (24 percent) and system administration (16 percent).\nAnalysis: The survey data were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) which is a structural equation modeling technique that accesses the measurement model (relationships between questions and constructs) within the context of the structural model (relationships among constructs). PLS first estimates the loadings of indicators of constructs and then estimates causal relationships among the constructs iteratively (Fornell, 1982).Measurement model\nDiscussion and Implications: Overall, the results from this study indicate that the TPB is an adequate model for investigating behavioral intentions of knowledge sharing and reuse in the context of ITSO. It can be observed from the R2 values that the model explains the intention to share knowledge as well as the intention to reuse knowledge. All direct determinants of intention, except subjective norm regarding ITSO knowledge sharing, were significant. More importantly, these results suggest that there is a significant correlation between the intentions to share and reuse knowledge.The results reveal that the H2a, which focused on the positive relationship between subjective norm and intention to share ITSO knowledge, is not supported. This could be due to the characteristics of the sample which included fairly experienced respondents (over nine years of experience) on whom the influence of subjective norm towards intention to knowledge sharing may be minimal.The results have implications for practice in promoting ITSO knowledge sharing within the organization. Since the path from attitude towards intention to share knowledge was most significant, we suggest that top management should focus on building up a positive attitude of their employees, through improving relationships and recognition of their contributions, in order to encourage sharing. It is no doubt a positive knowledge sharing culture in organization could influence employees' attitude. Employees are more willing to offer and share knowledge when they perceive knowledge sharing is encouraged in organization. Lin and Lee (2004) suggest that senior manager is the main antecedent to establish such knowledge sharing culture. To encourage knowledge reuse, attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control are important factors. Top management should put their focus on these important factors. Additionally, Markus (2001) describes some knowledge reuse situations according to diverse purpose of reuse and different type of knowledge reusers. There are some recommendations and suggestions for them on how to promote successful knowledge reuse in organization. For instance, providing appropriate incentives or motivations for reuse; and providing training and consultation to employees.The results also have implications for research in the area of KM. As noted previously, ITSM attracts more and more consideration in the industry because of changing business environment. However, researchers pay little attention on this area. This study attempts to initiate research in this area of KM for ITSM. Moreover, knowledge sharing and reuse were studied separately in prior research and those studies have not considered the relationships between them. The result suggests that the intention to share knowledge and the intention to reuse knowledge are correlated and need for considering both these aspects for a better understanding of KM in organizations.The relatively small sample size has limited statistical power of the implications drawn. The data for this study were collected based on the context of ITSO, attempts to generalize the results to other contexts must be done cautiously. In addition, the use of self-report scales to measure the study variables may involve the possibility of common method bias for some results obtained. This has been a criticism of tests of the TRA and TPB in other contexts (Ajzen, 1991). The relation between intention to share knowledge and reuse knowledge was tested indirectly, and significant correlation was found. A direct test of such relation should be pursued.Further research can extend this study in several ways. Investigating the relations between intention to perform knowledge sharing and reuse behavior and actual performance of such behaviors. This study can also be extended to other IT processes beside ITSO, including service design and management; service development and deployment; and service delivery assurance. Making comparison between knowledge sharing and reuse behavior under these processes is one potential research area for further studies. Additionally, further research studying the effects of cultural factors on knowledge share and reuse behavior would also be interesting.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Aims to provide an understanding on IS/IT professionals' intentions to share and reuse knowledge in the context of information technology service operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is applied for examining IS/IT professionals' intention to share and reuse knowledge. The data were collected from working IS/IT professionals using an online survey, and partial least squares was used for analyzing the data.\nFindings: - The results from this study indicate that the theory of planned behavior is an adequate model for investigating behavioral intentions of knowledge sharing and reuse in the context of information technology service operations. All direct determinants of intention to share knowledge, except subjective norm regarding information technology service operations knowledge sharing, and intention to reuse knowledge were significant.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper is one of the first to attempt to study both knowledge sharing and knowledge reuse under the same context. The relatively small sample size has limited statistical power of the implications drawn.\nPractical implications: - This paper attempts to highlight the importance of information technology service operations in the IS/IT industry, and study knowledge management in that context. To encourage knowledge sharing, top management is advised that they should focus on building up a positive attitude in their employees, through improving relationships and recognition of their contributions.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first attempt to combine both knowledge sharing and knowledge reuse in the same context, and initiates research in the area of information technology service operations. This paper offers help to both practitioners and researchers in understanding in that area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Micron trust is like strawberry pie: Targeting employees' appetite for commitment	[ "Internal communications", "Communication management", "Engagement", "Trust", "Commitment", "Employee communications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nobody tells us anything. We are always the last to know. They like to leave us in the dark. What is the secret? Don't they think they can trust us? Familiar phrases highlight the need for organizations to communicate effectively with their employees.\nPositive relationship between trust and commitment: Italian-based Micron Technology uses the word trust in its message to employees: \"Leading through teamwork, trust and accountability creates an environment for all team members to be successful. Team members at all levels of the organization are leaders in one way or another.\"\nWhen communication strategies become non-cost-effective: Togna (2014) uses the term \"marginal utility\" to describe this phenomenon, but says it is better explained by thinking of someone eating a strawberry pie. He says: \"The first piece of pie would be very pleasing, bringing a significant increase in utility. Utility increase that would generate a second piece of pie, although substantial, would certainly be less than the first one. The increase in the third one would be still less, and so on. In the case of strawberry pie, it is then also likely to imagine that there will be a point where our customer will be \"full.\" Once the point of satiety is reached, any other increase in the consumption of the good (other pieces of pie eating) is useless and does not bring any increase in utility. At the point of satiety, the marginal utility is zero (the consumer is indifferent whether to eat the piece of pie or not) because his level of satisfaction is maximum. When the lever of internal communication generates a level of trust not reciprocated by a proportional commitment level it could mean that the decreasing marginal utility law has started to go into action.\"\nFace-to-face, customized and supported strategies: A consequence for internal-communication management is that it becomes evident that it has to do something more than \"simple\" communication. The challenge is to figure out how to invest in internal communication to ensure that efforts to build trust turn into commitment and actions. What is needed is investment in a more targeted way to developing relationships which permit the passage from the \"stage of trust\" to the \"stage of commitment.\"\nComment: This review is based on \"Does internal communication to generate trust always increase commitment? A study at Micron Technology,\" by Gianluca Togna (2014). As the relationship between employees' trust and commitment seems to have a \"saturation point,\" this study emphasizes the need for customized communication strategies and the importance of understanding internal communication as part of an integrated HR strategy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between employees' trust toward a company and their commitment to it. It questions if certain levels of trust presented in each department at Micron Technology, Italy, are interrelated with the levels of commitment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: It reveals that a survey at Micron Technology Italy was conducted. Of the 1,580 employees who received the questionnaire, 892 responses were collected, resulting in a 56.46 per cent response rate.\nFindings: It shows that for departments where trust values are below 6.8, the commitment level follows the trust value: there is a positive relation between these two factors. However, departments where employee trust reaches values higher than 6.8 are not reciprocated by a proportional commitment level that tends to reach a'satisfaction point'.\nPractical implications: Advances the view that, since commitment does not seem to continuously increase, after a certain point, it is not cost-effective for a company to implement communication strategies aimed at increasing employee trust in a non-targeted way. The need for customized communication strategies emerges as does the importance of understanding internal communication as integrated with other human-resource management levers.\nSocial implications: It argues that managers must communicate with their employees as honestly and directly as possible, particularly during uncertain times, and should encourage the employees' participation in the decision-making process.\nOriginality/value: It offers an original contribution to the ongoing discussion concerning employee engagement. Employees' trust does not always lead to employee commitment behaviors inside the organization.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Blogs and the corporation: managing the risk, reaping the benefits	[ "Corporate communications", "Worldwide web", "Communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Technological advances have led to a proliferation of communication media over the past decades. With very little overhead, individual publishers can reach a nearly global audience. Information is more accessible than ever before, but traditional methods of peer review and quality control can be lacking in electronic communications. People are therefore developing new ways of evaluating and filtering information. Corporations must adapt to this new environment by first recognizing that:* new media is available to communicate with customers, employees and the community;* external stakeholders can readily discuss corporations in outside forums;* companies have reduced control over information flow;* competition for audience attention is increased; and* traditional communication media has become less important.Because these changes happen quickly, it is difficult for companies to rigorously study the impact of new media before they form reliable policies. Companies must adapt their communication strategy dynamically as technology and social preferences change.\nBlog history: Blogs are one of the most important new communication tools to impact businesses. A blog is \"a web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal\" (Blood, 2002) and can convey personal, public, political and commercial messages. Active blogs are frequently updated and can contain most media, including pictures, text, links, audio and video (Carmichael and Helwig, 2006a).Similarities between blogs and other electronic communication tools such as forums, websites, and message boards can make classification of electronic media ambiguous. Although blogs can be collaborative and encourage participation; most are asynchronous, single-voice narratives. In other words, they usually have one author or sometimes a small group of authors who share a common agenda or point of view. Though most blogs allow comments from the audience, these comments are secondary to the blogger's contribution and are displayed much less prominently. This focus on the primary author distinguishes blogs from the decentralized \"free-for-all\" forums like web boards and discussion groups.Blogs originated from the online diaries that became popular in the 1980s. Jorn Barger used the term \"weblog\" first in 1997 and the short form was coined by Peter Merholz, in the phrase \"we blog\" that appeared on Peterme.com in 1999 (Merholz, 1999). This phrase quickly evolved into a noun and verb. The occurrence of blogs has skyrocketed since the appearance of online diaries in the mid-1990s (Harmanci, 2005). Now about 1.3 million posts, and 100,000 new blogs appear on the internet each day (BBC Online, 2006). By the end of 2006, Technorati (a blog search engine) was tracking more than 57 million blogs (BBC Online, 2006). The popularity of blogs can likely be attributed to their personal, informal and convenient nature. Of particular relevance to corporations, many users rely on blogs when making purchase decisions because they consider the blogger to be a product or category expert.The popularity of blogs presents both opportunities and challenges for businesses. Formal study of the business implications of blogging is limited; the first empirical study emerged only last year (Lee et al., 2006). Identifying the purpose and audience of a blog is critical in understanding how corporations can use them. The following table helps organize the types of blogs and how they can impact corporations (see Table I).\nInternally generated blogs: A corporate blog is a weblog published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals (Wikipedia). Usually confidential, corporate blogs can convey information from employees and management to company audiences. Firewalls, password, and other access control techniques usually limit these blogs to their intended audience. Employee blogs are bottom-up blogs produced by a single rank-and-file employee, typically to further customer service or product development goals (Lee et al., 2006). Executive blogs are top-down blogs often written by the CEO or high-ranking executives to provide thought leadership or to explain and involve internal stakeholders in the decision making process. CEO blogs \"generate instant traffic and can be an effective tool to establish a direct connection with stakeholders\" (Lee et al., 2006). Blogging offers employees the opportunity to have a voice and sense of autonomy (Lee et al., 2006). It can also foster cross-functional communication.Internal blogs can be an effective and interesting way of generating dialog and can be made available to a wide audience. Technology companies commonly use blogs to communicate with those who use their software. The personal, informal nature of blogs makes them a more appealing way of communicating than formal call centers or white papers.Promotional blogs, another type of externally-facing corporate blog, are marketing tools that can generate product interest and brand equity (Carmichael and Helwig, 2006a). Consumers are often more prone to believe personal messages from a familiar blogger than polished messages from a marketing campaign. These messages can spread much more rapidly than traditional media (as with viral marketing) (Wilson, 2005). Additionally, external blogs can be used to offer product support, give expert advice, and update the community on company activities. Blogs can be more effective at generating external participation and engage prospects at a deeper level than other electronic media and target other business or individual consumers (Ramos et al., 2006).\nBlogs generated by outside parties: External, independent blogs should be another key management concern. Rapid publishing and wide, high interest audiences can make blogs a powerful form of word-of-mouth (DeFelice, 2006). Consumers often rely on independent opinions when making consumption decisions and will often seek out perceived experts in the blogosphere. Business can likewise use the blogs of their suppliers for product information to build relationships. Finally, blogs offer a new opportunity for corporations to monitor trends and opinions in the marketplace. Blogs can be found on nearly every topic, and comment features often generate a wide range of opinions from multiple sources. This offers a new medium for market research and an opportunity to gage market sentiment.\nThe risks of blogs: While blogs present new opportunities to companies, they also pose substantial threats. Employee blogs limit the control corporations have on information. The lack of rules governing the blogosphere has created the analogy to the \"wild west\" ((Jones, 2005). Misguided or malicious employee blogs have the potential to damage a corporation's carefully crafted brand. Google, for instance, has fired an employee for criticizing his compensation package in an external blog. Google expressly forbids external blogging and has established a platform for blogging within the Google community (Quinlan, 2007). In fact, the problems with employee blogs are so extensive that other blogs are tracking them (Morpheme Tales, n.d.).Blogs from the outside world can also be very damaging to corporations. Customers can voice complaints to the world in an instant. Perceived experts can criticize products and corporations. Competitors can employ bloggers to attack corporations, or hire bloggers to start negative blog campaigns for no apparent reason (Millette, 2005). Actively monitoring the blogosphere and developing communication strategies to deal with potential threats is essential for companies who might be exposed to negative blogs (see Table II).\nEthics of blogging: The relatively uncontrolled nature of the blogosphere raises ethical issues. Blogs often contain unverifiable opinion, and the author can easily be falsified. Corporations can deny accountability for employee blogs. Astroturfing is the fabrication of a grassroots marketing campaign (Carmichael and Helwig, 2006a). Astroturfers create seemingly spontaneous campaigns when in fact they are paid participants of well thought-out corporate marketing messages. If discovered, this practice can greatly damage corporate credibility (Lee et al., 2006). Astroturfing is considered unethical and predicated on deception of the audience. While many corporate communications activities endeavor to \"spin\" the facts, astroturfing intentionally falsifies the source and authenticity of the message. Ethical policies for corporate blogging must therefore address truth, authenticity, verifiability and transparency.\nCase studies: These brief case studies illustrate the opportunities and risks blogging offers corporations.External blogs: Mazda and Astroturfing\nExternal third-party blogs: Many independent bloggers are professionals in their area of interest. Others earn recognition in a subject matter through the quality of their blogging. Either way, independent bloggers are \"opinion leaders\" for large communities of internet users because they are seen as informed and unbiased. Corporations should not overlook these influential communicators and their relatively affluent audiences (Peslak, 2002). Corporations should:1. Be aware. Corporate managers should find and monitor influential blogs related to their companies and industries. They should be aware of audience size and editorial slant. Blog search engines like Google Blogs and Technorati can help find the most relevant and popular blogs for a given subject. Watch in particular for blogs specifically directed against the corporation (e.g. WalMartWatch.com). It may not be possible to placate the authors of such blogs, but monitoring will help with developing quick responses to their criticisms.2. Engage. Establish relationships with independent bloggers when possible. Add them to the company's mailing list for press releases and new product announcements. Consider purchasing advertising on their websites. Have employees post comments or send e-mails thanking bloggers for positive coverage and offering additional information. Very influential bloggers should be treated like \"trade press.\" Consider sending them product samples and invitations to industry shows.3. Respond quickly and appropriately. Most independent bloggers read and respond to reader comments and e-mails. Contact them immediately to correct factual errors in their writing or to respond to unfounded rumors concerning your company. Usually bloggers will post a correction. If bloggers do not respond or are openly hostile, threats of legal action are usually ineffective.\nInternal and external corporate blogs: Any guidelines for a corporate blog, whether intended for internal or external audiences, should take into account the company's specific intentions and audience. Nonetheless, the following guidelines are broadly applicable to most corporate blogging situations:1. Have a consistent and authentic first-person voice. Bloggers earn credibility by establishing personal, long-term relationships with readers. Continuity in editorial position and style, along with an informal tone, helps build this relationship. Impersonal or sanitized \"marketing copy\" will immediately reduce a blog's credibility with employees or customers.2. Allow comments but monitor them. Allowing readers to respond to blog entries contributes to a sense of community. Open debate also increases a blog's credibility in a way analogous to the peer review process in academic publications. Corporations should recognize, however, that people who comment will sometimes say inappropriate things. It is critical to monitor blog comments for offensive, unethical, or illegal content.3. Be honest and transparent. Blog audiences are often critical readers. Readers will often point out false information or \"spin\" in comments or in other electronic venues. Because bloggers must earn credibility through the content they produce, being caught in a lie or exaggeration is counterproductive.4. Add value. Blogs that serve simply as a repository for press releases and advertisements are usually ignored. Readers expect added value in the form of expert analysis, unique opinions, insider perspectives or unusual access to company or executive resources.5. Identify information sources. Proper referencing is critical for establishing credibility and for respecting others' intellectual property rights. Hypertext makes it extremely easy to identify and link to information sources. The more controversial a topic, the more important it is to reference properly. Articles from mainstream press outlets, government reports, and scholarly articles from peer-reviewed journals are the best choices for lending weight to blog entries.6. Welcome feedback and issue corrections. Electronic publishing moves quickly. Bloggers can seldom wait until all information is available and rarely have time to research as much as they would like. Bloggers should acknowledge incorrect or out-of-date information and correct it immediately.7. Respect your audience. Do not lecture your readers. Recognize and respond to their arguments and concerns.8. Protect confidential and/or proprietary information. Be explicit about what kind of information internal bloggers may disclose to the public. Blogs that are intended for internal audiences should be protected from the public by passwords, firewalls, private networks. Recognize that even if access to internal blogs is strictly controlled, it is easy for authorized users to copy and distribute content to unauthorized users. This is an unavoidable risk of electronic communication. Assume that even internal posts will reach general audiences.9. Use appropriate disclaimers and publish a \"terms of use\" policy. Require all registered users to view a policy that describes the purpose of the blog and the conditions for using it. Typically, such policies require users to limit off-topic discussions, refrain from offensive language, respect intellectual property rights, and respect other users. Reserve the right to block users who do not abide by the terms of use. Disclaimers should make it clear to all users that opinions contained in the blog are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent official corporate policy.Because electronic publishing is difficult to control centrally, it is important to have trusted employees communicating with the public. Nonetheless, a corporation should make every effort to monitor its online presence. New technologies are making it easier to keep track of inappropriate or improper blog entries (McArthur et al., 2005). Some monitoring technologies search for particular prohibited words or phrases. Others search for sudden increases in the volume of content on corporate blogs and alert a human who can intervene or respond if necessary. All electronic publishing systems can produce access logs that record the originating electronic address of every machine that accesses it. These logs can be analyzed for patterns or can be used to investigate illegal or unethical activities. Logs should be stored for a minimum of three years.\nBlogs are here to stay: Electronic publishing is often confusing, unpredictable and difficult to monitor. Engaging in electronic communications places a corporation at risk of losing control of its public image. Corporations have therefore been slow to develop policies that allow them to take advantage of these new media. Nonetheless, a very large and affluent portion of the public relies on the internet to inform its purchasing and investment decisions and companies must participate, despite the risks.Though the above guidelines are general, they provide a starting point for any corporation to develop a strategy for communicating with employees or the public through blogs. They encourage corporations to focus on building long-term, personal, value-added relationships with readers. These relationships allow companies to remain involved in all aspects of the dialog with customers, investors, and critics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of blogs in corporate communication and proposes general policies to help corporations effectively and ethically use blogs. Blogs are among the new communication media that are playing an increasingly important role in the corporate world. Most companies, however, are not yet taking advantage of this opportunity, nor do they manage the associated risks. We have developed a series of best practices to help companies address this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - We examine the evolution of the blogging phenomena and create a framework for characterizing the potential impact of blogs on the corporation. Policies are derived from data compiled from the literature, case studies, and existing proactive corporate strategies.\nFindings: - Most companies do not have well developed strategies for corporate blogging. As a communication medium, blogs represent a significant opportunity to further corporate marketing goals, particularly in light of the changing face of information consumption. The prevalence of blogs poses risk to corporations as a relatively uncontrolled medium.\nPractical implications: - This paper illustrates the need to develop proactive strategies for corporate blogging and provides guidelines for corporate blogging policies. Companies should integrate blogging policies into their overall corporate communication strategy as well as develop an approach for addressing the risks they impose.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first paper to consider both the benefits and risks of blogging from a policy point of view.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Development and validation of a unidimensional domain-specific entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Self-efficacy", "Nascent entrepreneurs", "Scale development", "PSED" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of self-efficacy - a person's belief that s/he has the capability to control behavioral performance and achieve what s/he intends to (Bandura, 1977, 1997) - is helpful in explaining the behavior of people faced with a challenging or unfamiliar situation (Dalal et al., 2015; Judge and Zapata, 2015), including entrepreneurs, or people who create new business ventures. Hence, self-efficacy in the context of entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), refers to a person's belief that s/he can successfully create a new business. ESE, therefore, is important in understanding the behavior of entrepreneurs, especially of those who are first-time venture creators or whose businesses are in the nascent stage of creation (Arora et al., 2011; Bandura and Locke, 2003; Cassar and Friedman, 2009; Chen et al., 1998; Fitzsimmons and Douglas, 2011; Laguna, 2013; Monsen et al., 2010; Piperopoulos and Dimov, 2015; Sadri and Robertson, 1993; Stajkovic and Luthans, 1998).\nPrevious literature: Self-efficacy influences almost everything people do - how we think, motivate ourselves, feel, behave, and perform - thus representing a core cognitive component underlying people's intentional actions, effort, perseverance, resilience, and stress (Artino, 2012; Bandura, 1997, 2000; Bond et al., 2001; Hallam et al., 2015; Tay et al., 2006). Self-efficacy has been studied extensively in organizational research (Gist and Mitchell, 1992; Sadri and Robertson, 1993; Stajkovic and Luthans, 1998). In their meta-analysis of 114 studies examining self-efficacy in organizational contexts, Stajkovic and Luthans (1998) found self-efficacy and work-related performance were significantly and positively associated, supporting Bandura's (1997) argument that individuals with high self-efficacy are generally more successful than those with low self-efficacy.\nMethodology: The samples, data, and items considered for our ESE scale are sourced from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED). The PSED began screening from 1998 to 2000 to obtain a sample of people actively involved in creation of new ventures - that is, nascent entrepreneurs (Gartner et al., 2004) - and a control group of people not involved in venture creation, for the purpose of comparison. Because a second data collection began with screening from 2005 to 2006, the first data set is referred to as PSED I and the second as PSED II (see http://psed.isr.umich.edu.pitt.idm.oclc.org/psed/home; Gartner et al., 2004; Reynolds, 2000; Reynolds et al., 2002; Shaver et al., 2001). We used the sample of nascent entrepreneurs in the PSED I for initial identification and development of the scale and the PSED II to verify it.\nResults: For the sample of 532 nascent entrepreneurs from PSED I, results of a parallel analysis (11 variables, 532 subjects, and 1,000 replications) and of an EFA on the 11 items showed that three factors should be retained. Similarly, the K1 approach (eigenvalues greater-than-one) estimated three factors to be retained. As expected, a scree plot indicated that two factors should be retained while the MAP approach - using the syntax provided by O'Connor (2000) - indicated that one factor should be retained. Based on these results, especially because parallel analysis is considered the most accurate approach (Fabrigar et al., 1999; Zwick and Velicer, 1986), we retained three factors.\nDiscussion: Developed based on the concept of new venture creation - the hallmark aspect of entrepreneurship (Gartner, 1988; Shane and Venkataraman, 2000) - and using a sample of individuals in the process of venture creation, the unidimensional ESE scale developed and validated in this research (see items 6, 7, and 8 in the Table AI) represents significant improvement over self-efficacy measures used in the extant entrepreneurship research and literature (e.g. Cassar and Friedman, 2009; Chen et al., 1998, 2001; DeNoble et al., 1999; Forbes, 2005; Markman et al., 2002; McGee et al., 2009).\nConclusion: Self-efficacy - a person's belief that s/he has capability to perform behavior that will bring about specific outcomes - is an important construct in entrepreneurship that has been shown to have both short- and long-term direct effects on intentions to create new ventures, as well as direct and indirect effects on behavior. Because most self-efficacy measures employed in the entrepreneurship literature are based on select a priori items from general self-efficacy scales or a combination of self-efficacy with specific tasks that in and of themselves are not unique to entrepreneurship, our aim with this research was to develop a unidimensional, reliable, and valid scale for assessing people's self-efficacy with respect to creating new ventures.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Given the nature of entrepreneurship, a domain-specific self-efficacy scale should pertain to venture creation, be unidimensional, and be developed and validated using nascent entrepreneurs - persons for whom self-efficacy may be most important. Extant measures employed in entrepreneurship research do not meet all these criteria. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a unidimensional entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) scale based on samples of nascent entrepreneurs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from a sample of nascent entrepreneurs and items from PSED I were used to develop and assess the validity of a new ESE scale. To further establish scale validity, a comparison group from PSED I along with a sample of nascent entrepreneurs from PSED II were employed.\nFindings: A unidimensional three-item self-efficacy scale for assessing a person's belief that s/he can create a new business successfully is developed and validated using samples of nascent entrepreneurs and a control group.\nResearch limitations/implications: The scale offers opportunity to enhance research-based assessment using a parsimonious, reliable, and valid unidimensional measure of ESE. The scale may enhance future research findings, as well as promoting reconsideration of past research findings, on many issues in the entrepreneurship literature.\nOriginality/value: This research uses a sample of nascent entrepreneurs to provide a new three-item scale for assessment of ESE that is parsimonious, valid, and unidimensional.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Institutions and sensemaking of change: Institutional frame switching as sensemaking of microfinance in a Pakistani commercial bank	[ "Sensemaking", "Institutional logics", "Microfinance", "Frame switching", "Societal logics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Microfinance (MF) has been considered as an effective tool for poverty alleviation and socio-economic empowerment for the poor in developing countries. Given the dual potential of MF as a poverty alleviation tool and a profitable financial product, policy makers and practitioners in the MF field have encouraged commercial banks to engage in MF (Consultative Group for Assisting the Poor, 1998). Resultantly, there has been a number of global examples of banks entering MF and providing financial services to the poor; a strategy called \"bank downscaling\". However, such bank downscaling met with mixed results because of the problems with mixing social objectives of MF with the commercial imperatives of a bank (Velenzuela, 2002).\nOrganisational change and sensemaking: Sensemaking is a process whereby the actors respond to unusual organisational events, such as organisational change. Sensemaking involves three iterative and interconnected phases: first, noticing and bracketing an anomalous event marked by a mismatch between expectations and experiences; second, interpretations of the cues in the events by applying cognitive models; third, action or enactment, as the interpretive process takes on a more refined shape till the anomaly is resolved (Weick, 1995). It is often automatic and subconscious in nature as the sensemaker subconsciously picks discrepant cues from their environment and consciously evaluate them retrospectively (Weick et al., 2005). But crucially, sensemaking, unfolding at the individual level, is shaped by the social interactions at the interpersonal or intersubjective level (Steigenberger, 2015). It is at the interpersonal level that organisational leaders, in the role of sensegivers, influence the sensemaking or meaning construction processes of the change recipients (Gioia and Chittipeddi, 1991). Such sensegiving could be highly systematic and guided, fragmented and sporadic, or minimal and contingent (Maitlis, 2005).\nInstitutional context in sensemaking of organisational change: The mainstream models of organisational change management, based on structural contingency theory of change (Drazin and Van de Ven, 1985) or the behavioural theory of the firm (Cyert and March, 1963), portray change and its management as efforts to solve performance problems and as alignment to changing market opportunities or the \"fit\" (Jacobs et al., 2013). The main concern of such change agenda is restricted to the concerns for organisational performance in terms of efficiency and profitability. The dominant framework of the PESTL analysis also focusses on the material aspects, that is, \"assets, capabilities, competencies, and resources\" (Jacobs et al., 2013, p. 780) Therefore, the literature has highlighted change practices such as Six Sigma, TQM and process re-engineering, intended to improve organisational processes so as to positively affect quality, service and speed (e.g. Schroeder et al., 2008). Another set of change management methods conceptualise change implementation at a broader strategic level, beyond organisational processes, and assign a greater agentic role to organisational leadership. Such conceptualisations of change management theorise a set of discrete steps, steered by organisational leadership, leading to a desired state or goal (Kanter et al., 1992; Luecke, 2003; Kotter, 1996). The most renowned of them, Kotter's eight steps of change management include: establish a sense of urgency; create a guiding coalition; develop a vision and strategy; communicate the change vision; empower broad-based action; generate short-term wins; consolidate gains and produce more change; and anchor new approaches in the corporate culture. Kotter (1996), when highlighting the need to establish a sense of urgency of change as the first step in his model, prompts organisations to evaluate \"[...] competitive situation, market position, technological trends and financial performance\" (p. 43). But there are actors in the external environment other than consumers and competitors, and concerns beyond profit maximisation. This brings the concept of the broader institutional context to light.\nMethod: Empirical context: MF in commercial banks\nFindings: CB's MF initiative has three broad phases. First, the rise, including the early days and growth period. This was the time when the bank leadership set the stage to change or modify the organisational objectives and partnered with international donors to get access to resources for expansion into MF. The external environment played a crucial role during that time as MF was becoming fashionable among the main stakeholders of the bank, including the government. Second, the start of the troubles for MF marked the beginning of the end when the top pro-MF management left the bank, again, due to external events - political clash of the top management with the government of the day. Finally, the demise of the MF initiative when MF itself became less fashionable among the external stakeholders and those who defended it were no more in the bank. Table II summarises the key events of CB's story. The processes of sensemaking and the role of external events and the institutional context are further discussed in detail below.\nPhase 1: the rise of CB's MF initiative: Critical events\nPhase II: beginning of the end: Critical events\nPhase III: the demise of MF at CB: Critical events\nDiscussion: This paper shows that at the micro intra-organisational level, there is more to MF in commercial banks than what has been portrayed in the practitioner literature. The writings of pro-commercialisation sections of the global MF field uncritically welcomed the entry of commercial banks in MF (Consultative Group for Assisting the Poor, 1998; Otero and Rhyne, 1994; Harper and Arora, 2005). The issues identified in the professional literature boil down to the absence of adequate returns on capital on MF operations for commercial banks, given higher costs and perceived risks involved in MF. CB also demonstrated all those shortcomings where although it achieved profitability for a short duration, the bankers did not see MF to be a profitable venture in the long run. As a solution to these shortcomings, the professional literature suggests compliance with the field-level institutional logics of banking by prescribing: \"[...] to the extent that the bank is able to take a more enlightened approach and allow an internal [MF] unit the flexibility to at least do microfinance close to [best practice] [...]\" (Westley, 2006, p. 58). Donor agencies that funded MF initiatives all over the developing world also promoted commercial banks as ideal MF players (Velenzuela, 2002; Bayadas et al., 1997). The donors also suggested that the intra-organisational problem of clashing logics of banking and MF within commercial banks could be solved through the introduction of appropriate \"financial technologies\" that could reduce costs and increase profitability (Bayadas et al., 1997). But this study shows that MF was hindered and sustained in CB due to broader societal logics that affected sensemaking processes of the bankers and MF officers. Table II summarises the chronology of events related to the introduction of MF in CB. Top commercial bankers resisted MF because of their negative political perceptions about MF executives bringing MF in the bank. Lower level commercial bankers and MF officers overcame their clashing identities because of their social relationship embedded in broader societal logics.\nConclusion: The uniqueness of this case study is a double-edged sword in the sense that it highlights an interesting phenomenon involving the role of institutional context on sensemaking, but it may limit the generalisability of our findings, as is the case for any single case study. Another limitation of the study involves the longer temporal distance between the change event and the interviews. The longer time span for interviews was necessitated due to problems with accessing key informants, particularly the commercial bankers as they were reluctant to engage with the research. To mitigate this problem, interviewees were provided factual information about the key organisational events to freshen up their memory.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Scholarly research has increasingly emphasised the need for more research that provides fine-grained empirical accounts of how context plays a role in sensemaking. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth look at how broader institutional context shapes the sensemaking of organisational change in a novel empirical context of a Pakistani commercial bank.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative inductive case study of a commercial bank using interviews and archival material.\nFindings: Actors make sense of an organisational change initiative by accessing broader societal institutional logics when the field-level organisational logics are not plausible. The consequences of such frame switching may include the provocation of emotionally charged perceptions of politics and moral valuations of legitimacy.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is based on a single organisational case study in a particular national context.\nPractical implications: This study urges organisational change leaders to consider the role of informal interpersonal relationships and culturally shaped, and emotionally charged, perceptions of change among the change recipients, beyond the technical considerations of the industry concerned. Instead of just focussing on official interaction and top-down communication, along with creating top-level \"guiding coalitions\" to manage change, organisational leaders need to be sensitive to informal channels at the lower rungs of the organisation to pick emotional reactions of change recipients.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature on sensemaking of organisational change by showing how the institutional context, a neglected factor in the literature, impacts sensemaking. The study also contributes to the empirical literature on microfinance (MF) by providing an in-depth account of a commercial bank that introduced MF as a product line.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Research in technical colleges	[ "Educational research", "Technical training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: There are many reasons for the neglect of educational research. In the past it did not have the same prestige as scientific research. Promotion went to men with higher degrees and publications in technology. The Ministry emphasised scientific and technological research, but until recently ignored educational research. Principals and Heads of Departments, with a few well-known notable exceptions, displayed no interest in educational research so that staffs had no encouragement to undertake investigations. Senior staff was willing to initiate, guide and supervise subject research but no such encouragement was available to the teacher ready to be interested in educational research. The situation is now changing. There is a mild interest and, with patience, this can be made to develop.\nSelection for courses: Admission qualifications\nVariety within classes: This is the greatest problem confronting the technical teacher at the lower levels. Everyone knows it exists and yet it is perpetuated from year to year. The young teacher is advised to teach to the mythical \"average\". The teaching factors requiring investigation include those outlined below.Variety in attainment\nCo-ordination with industry: Co-ordination with industry is always advocated; indications are that it is far from adequate for effective technical teaching. Three subjects for study come to mind immediately:1. A teacher must have knowledge of the day-to-day works programme for the apprentices attending his classes. How is this knowledge to be acquired? What timetabling arrangements are necessary? What are the best ways of acquiring the knowledge and keeping it up to date? What are the hindrances to the technical teacher or head of department spending the equivalent of a day a week every week in industry acquiring knowledge about tools, machines, materials, operations, processes, and maintaining liaison with his students? Why do more technical teachers not spend more vacation time in industry acquiring this essential knowledge? Is it possible to co-ordinate college and works training so that theory is immediately relevant to practice? If it is not at present possible, how can it be made possible? Should college treatment in all cases succeed or precede works application of the subject? Who is to make decisions on such matters?2. Are technical college advisory committees effective at the classroom stage of technical education? What are the functions of advisory committees? Why should advisory committees not discuss course content, curricula, teaching techniques, teaching aids, subject co-ordination within colleges, subject co-ordination with industrial training? Why should advisory committees not visit classes regularly and informally in order to be able to advise effectively? How far are such committees corsetted by tradition and prejudice?3. What are the particular values to be attached to industrial experience of different types for the purposes of teaching at different levels on various courses? How far has it become traditional to require industrial expertise without appraising its particular relevance or value? After how many years does industrial experience cease to be relevant and valuable without refreshment?\nTeaching methods: How is the effectiveness of a teaching method to be evaluated?\nLibraries: Libraries will lose much of their value unless considerable research is done by experienced teachers into such subjects as:the relative merits of different reference and text books for various subjects at different levels;the place of foreign text books even with the younger students and with students following the simplest and lowest-level courses;the relevance of various British and foreign periodicals at different stages of teaching;the correlation of reading and library work with class teaching and industrial training; and*the correlation of technical study with British history, literature, the arts, social and economic history, economics, government, employers' and employees' organisations, professional bodies and international affairs.\nTechnical education as a subject: There is a need for a study of the history, traditions and philosophy of technical education. How did any particular college start and what personalities, factors, sequence of events has affected its development from a one-man institution to a College of Advanced Technology in a lifetime, or from a Mechanics' Institute to a Regional College in over a hundred years? There is a mass of material available to be sifted, evaluated, correlated and put into an order from which the pattern of growth can be followed.There is no doubt of the need for educational research. There are enough young technical teachers interested to make a start. The need is for leadership in this field and an organisation to co-ordinate effort. Area Training Organisations might be persuaded to appoint staff to guide the work, provided technical education and industry showed active interest with appropriate encouragement and support. Regional Councils for Further Education could give positive encouragement by organising conferences to outline and explain the policy of governing bodies, principals and industry with regard to educational research. They could advise colleges on their individual participation. They could display importance by the calibre of persons appointed to the educational research committee, when formed, and by the quality of its publications on the subject. Technical Training Colleges should have at least two men on the staff actively engaged in educational research and regularly publishing papers. Such men could be appointed for a period of three years to make use of the training college facilities and liaisons to produce work in their particular field of interest. They could give guidance to student teachers and provide them with practical experience of working in a team. They could participate in courses and conferences to spread knowledge of their work and its techniques. Technical Colleges could have a senior member of staff whose job would be to assist newly appointed teachers and to indicate and conduct educational research within the college. Such an appointment would be justified handsomely, when one considers that an average college may have a full-time staff of 100, a part-time staff of 300 and about 5,000 students. There are many obvious problems which have never been tackled scientifically even in the field of human relations in technical colleges. There are problems of administration, organisation, teaching, management, personnel services and so on, which are approached by rule of thumb methods, solved by divine inspiration or dealt with in an authoritative way which industry would not tolerate, or worse still, they are ignored.The millions of pounds for buildings, equipment and salaries will be largely wasted without the educational research which is absolutely fundamental and necessary to raise the quality of technical education. The problem is of sufficient urgency to demand immediate high-level national action.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to list and demonstrate areas in which research needs to be carried out, or questions answered, in order to raise the quality of technical education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The area of technical education expanded very rapidly in the late 1950s, and there was little comprehensive knowledge regarding the philosophy and practice. Areas of technical education that needed research included: how far does success in a school subject such as English or mathematics correlate with success in a technical subject? For how many and which courses at technical colleges does a student need to have more or less than average intelligence? What techniques can be used to fill any gaps existing in a student's knowledge before he embarks on a technical course? Are all students to receive the same industrial experiences (e.g. operating machines, bench work, drawing office, etc.)?\nFindings: - The paper lists six main areas in which research into technical education needs to be carried out: selection for courses; variety within classes; co-ordination with industry; teaching methods; libraries; and technical education as a subject.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is one of the first to suggest that educational research had been hitherto neglected, and that there is a need for research to be carried out into the relatively new area of technical education. The paper lists areas of technical education which need to be investigated in order to raise the quality of the field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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