Split (2)

train · 145k rows

title stringlengths 6 301	keywords listlengths 0 23	messages listlengths 2 2
A comprehensive analysis of knowledge management in Indian manufacturing companies	[ "Innovation", "Knowledge management", "Business performance", "Manufacturing", "Corporate culture", "Knowledge processes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge management (KM) is crucial for the success of business organizations. The purpose of KM is to create intelligent organizations rich with knowledge assets. KM has been recently gaining attention in manufacturing organizations as a tool for improving innovation and shop floor production (Muniz et al., 2010). Bennett (2014) predicted the future of the manufacturing sector to be more strategic and dynamic. For achieving manufacturing excellence (Yusuf et al., 1999) and to combat heavy competition, manufacturing firms should strive for the highest customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, productivity and quality (Azhashemi, 2001). Knowledge is the resource for achieving manufacturing competitiveness (Liu et al., 2004) and effective KM enhances the profitability of the firms (Tsai et al., 2012), enables the organizations to be proactive (Yusuf et al., 1999), improves quality (Mukherjee et al., 1998), improves performance (O'Dell and Grayson, 1998), enables innovation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) and optimizes production processes (Maria et al., 2008).\n2. Review of literature: The 1991 industrial policy of India eliminated trade barriers and industrial licensing for all but a few industries. As a result, the Indian manufacturing sector is now in the phase of global competition where the competitive priorities are quality and innovation (Ravi and Trivedi, 2003). Lakshmanan et al. (2007) reported that the sector enjoys inexpensive, adequate and skilled labour force, competitive prices for goods produced and a closer proximity to fast-growing Asian markets. But, it is beleaguered by several challenges:\n3. Hypotheses formulation: 3.1 KM enablers - internal factors\n4. Research methodology: This study adopts a descriptive research design with a structured questionnaire as this facilitates the collection of data from large population in an accurate way. The questionnaire was designed and developed based on the research model. Underlying variables for each of the constructs in the research model were selected carefully and the items were pooled. Wherever, such selections were not possible, those variables were developed for the study.\n5. Data analysis and results: Before the data analysis is done, the suitability of the data for multivariate analysis is checked by analysing common method bias, reliability and validity.\n6. Validation of the research model/hypotheses tests: Since KM has not yet gained momentum in manufacturing companies in India, the survey started with a question probing the awareness level of KM among the respondents.\n7. Results and discussion: 7.1 KM enablers and KM processes relationships\n8. Implications: The literature on KM in India revealed a gap with respect to comprehensive studies on KM with specific reference to manufacturing companies. This study contributes to the literature by developing a comprehensive research model to analyse the current contours of KM in Indian manufacturing organizations. Most importantly the research ascertains the understanding of the KM concept and their perception on the roles of and responsibilities by the practicing managers.\n9. Limitations of the study: Though this study provides interesting insights on KM processes and tested the adequacy of the enabling conditions for KM and the impact on the performance of the organizations, it focussed only on Indian manufacturing companies. Hence generalizing the findings should be done with care. Second, the study is not devoid of single response bias. From 38 firms only single responses are obtained which may be significant in its effect and there could be bias in the responses as all the responses are based on the perceptions of the respondents. Third, the study assumes that all the respondent firms are similar in adopting the KM practices. But the reality may not be so. The limitations cited above may or may not be significant. But the quality of work is not affected by these limitations and the findings and insights presented are unique to the manufacturing firms in the field of study.\n10. Conclusion: The scarcity of empirical studies on KM and a dearth of understanding of the KM concept led to this maiden attempt to provide a comprehensive understanding of KM framework in the Indian manufacturing sector. Structured questionnaire for exploring KM practices in the Indian context is developed and validated. It is found that the majority of the respondents were aware of KM as a concept and some were relatively knowledgeable about the concept and its benefits. But KM at the strategic level is unknown in the Indian manufacturing companies at large barring few large companies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the current status of knowledge management (KM) adoption in the Indian manufacturing organizations and to develop a comprehensive research model to investigate the impact of enabling conditions for KM and the impact of KM on organizational performance through structural equation modelling.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A descriptive research design is adopted and primary data are collected through structured questionnaire. In total, 251 responses were obtained from the top- and middle-level managers and the structural relationships in the research model were tested using the partial least squares method.\nFindings: The results revealed a moderate adoption of KM by the manufacturing companies. Also, a significant impact of the enablers on KM processes is observed. It is found that Indian manufacturing is operating in labour-intensive traditional methods and KM is still in its infancy. The impact of KM on the performance is moderate and contradicting the extant literature, the impact of KM on innovation is found to be weak.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is carried out in companies located in India and hence generalizing the findings should be done with caution. The sample is dominated by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which may have implications for the findings.\nPractical implications: As manufacturing companies in the developing countries such as India experience a greater competition in the globalized economy, adoption of KM will perk up the performance of the organizations. Practicing managers need to create a culture that facilitates KM adoption. Policy makers shall support SMEs in technology adoption, R&D, skill development and so on.\nOriginality/value: Previous KM studies in India are fragmented and analysed KM processes and KM enablers in isolation. Also, the holistic studies on KM literature focussed only on one or two facets of KM. A study which investigates the interactions between KM enablers, KM processes and organizational performance and innovation is scarce. The scarcity of empirical studies on KM and a dearth of understanding of the KM concept led to this maiden attempt to provide a comprehensive understanding of KM framework in the Indian manufacturing sector. A validated structured questionnaire for exploring KM practices in the Indian context is developed. Though the importance of the influence of external factors is theoretically emphasized, an empirical investigation is first of its kind.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Governance implications of the effects of stakeholder management on financial reporting	[ "Corporate governance", "Stakeholder analysis", "Corporate responsibility", "Business performance", "Earnings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Studies of organization governance examine forces that shape collective decision-making processes and the outcomes of those processes. Prior organization study indicated that a key factor shaping function and dysfunction in organization policy-making stems from the configuration of stakeholder representation in organization decisions (Mitroff, 1983). Organization sub-units tend to represent the interests of different constituencies, thus shaping the process and outcomes of deliberations. Therefore, the nature of stakeholder representation in organization policy-making should shape governance processes and outcomes.Substantial bodies of research on organization governance have discovered effects of governance structures on stakeholder management practices and on financial reporting. However, no systematic program of study has yet examined the relationship between stakeholder management and financial reporting. Following a rich tradition of organization study, we propose that stakeholder management and financial reporting are both artifacts of more deeply rooted cultural patterns in organization structures and are, thereby, related.The article proceeds by examining literature that forms the theoretical foundation for our argument. Then we present the linear model implied in our argument, the measurement model we adopted, and the results of our analyses. Finally, we interpret the implications of the findings for both students and practitioners of organization governance. We proceed, first, with a review of literature examining relationships among governance practices, stakeholder management, and financial reporting.\nStakeholder management as a governance process: Stakeholder theory, from its inception, has been primarily a theory of organization governance. Stakeholder management is theorized as a process of effective organization governance whereby all parties who can affect an organization's goals or are affected by them have a voice in organization decisions (Freeman and Reed, 1983). Early proponents of the stakeholder approach to organization governance argued that managing an organization in the interests of all the stakeholders is more likely to sustain the organization over time than is a practice of maximizing the wealth of just the stockholders (Freeman, 1984). Likewise, a more recent contribution to the field concluded that building and maintaining an organization capacity for wealth creation is largely a result of fostering effective relationships with all key stakeholders in the organization field (Post et al., 2002). Stakeholder management, according to stakeholder theory, is an effective process for governing organizations to the extent that it fosters responsive representation of all affected organization participants.Stakeholder management has been linked to other governance mechanisms known to improve organization performance. Research results have indicated, for example, a positive effect of ownership structure on stakeholder management. Specifically, institutional ownership results in more effective stakeholder management (Johnson and Greening, 1999; Neubaum and Zhara, 2006). Institutional owners, as these authors explain, are more likely to make themselves heard than are individual investors and are, therefore, more likely to influence organization decisions. Moreover, the effect of ownership structure on financial performance is mediated by effective stakeholder management. Implied is that institutional ownership can positively affect an organization's financial performance largely because it improves organization decision-making. Reinforcing the premises of stakeholder theory, these results suggest that effective stakeholder management is a governance process that can have profound impact on the organization's ability to sustain itself.As a governance process, stakeholder management's effectiveness is largely due to its ability to foster constructive relationships among key stakeholders in organization decisions. Managements foster constructive relationships by engendering active stakeholder participation and representation in organization decisions. Furthermore, they preserve stakeholder representation by ensuring that organization decision-making processes are transparent and that organization action is accountable to all stakeholders. Referring again to the studies previously cited, stakeholder management's effect on financial performance was due largely to stakeholders' active participation in organization governance. For example, the effect that Johnson and Greening (1999) observed of institutional ownership on stakeholder management was stronger for pension funds than it was for mutual funds. These authors explained that pension funds often exercise more active voice in organization decisions than do mutual funds because pension funds hold such large blocks of shares in an organization that they cannot simply sell their investments when they disagree with organization decisions. Moreover, Neubaum and Zhara (2006) found that institutional ownership is more likely to result in effective stakeholder management to the extent that institutional owners actively voice their preferences in organization decisions. These findings support stakeholder theory's premise that stakeholder management can be an effective means of organization governance by ensuring that the interests of all participants are represented in the organization's decision processes.\nEarnings quality as an outcome of effective organization governance: The quality of a company's earnings, distinguished from the quantity of earnings, reflects the extent of transparency, or accountability to stakeholders, embodied in an organization's accounting practices. Organizations having low earnings quality, for example, are more likely to commit accounting fraud than organizations having high earnings quality (Crutchley et al., 2007). Accounting conservatism, the extent to which an organization is modest in its financial reporting, is often used as an indicator of earnings quality. Conservatism is exemplified, for example, when an organization is quick to report bad news and skeptical about good news. Numerous organization governance mechanisms are associated with higher levels of conservatism. Niu (2006) found that independent boards, management shareholdings, and strong shareholder rights were associated with higher levels of conservatism. Beekes and Brown (2006) observed corroborating evidence that independent boards foster conservatism. Other studies suggest that ownership structure can affect accounting conservatism, specifically that more diffuse ownership fosters conservatism whereas more concentrated ownership decreases it (Dargenidou et al., 2007; Velury and Jenkins, 2006). Taken together, these studies clearly indicate that earnings quality can be improved through effective organization governance.As indicated earlier, our aim is to discover the effects of stakeholder management on earnings quality. Stakeholder management, as we explained earlier, is a particular kind of governance process that emphasizes inclusive participation of all affected parties in organization decisions. Effective stakeholder governance processes are, by definition, transparent to all organization stakeholders and managements are accountable to stakeholders for decisions they make on stakeholders' behalf. If, as we have argued, organizations that engage in effective stakeholder management tend toward practices that reflect accountability and transparency and if earnings quality is more likely when governance processes are transparent, then effective stakeholder management should result in higher earnings quality. The statistical analyses described in the following section were designed to test that relationship explicitly.\nAnalytical methods and results: To test our proposition, we specified a linear regression model in which earnings quality was the dependent variable and stakeholder management was the independent variable, as implied in the preceding arguments. Following are explanations of the measures we used as indicators of these constructs and a presentation of the results of our analysis. Finally, we present the findings of an ad hoc analysis of the relationship between stakeholder management and earnings management, the converse of earnings quality, specified to test our interpretation of the regression results.Stakeholder management\nDiscussion: Our project was to determine whether effective stakeholder management is associated with responsive organization governance resulting in more transparent financial reporting. To answer this question, we used operational definitions of stakeholder management practices as distinct aspects of corporate social action (Mattingly and Berman, 2006) and of conservatism and discretionary accruals as indicators of earnings quality and earnings management (positive and negative, respectively) and, thereby, of well-functioning organization governance structures. Prompted by earlier literature linking governance structures to stakeholder management (Johnson and Greening, 1999; Neubaum and Zhara, 2006) and also linking governance structures to earnings quality (Beekes and Brown, 2006; Crutchley et al., 2007; Dargenidou et al., 2007; Niu, 2006; Velury and Jenkins, 2006) we expected to find a positive relationship between effective stakeholder management and earnings quality. Our findings clearly demonstrate the strong and positive effect of stakeholder-responsive governance on transparent financial reporting. Moreover, our results support consistent interpretations when using measures indicating both earnings quality and earnings management, the converse of earnings quality (Figure 1).Our research results clearly indicated that organizations exhibiting stronger commitments to both institutional and technical stakeholders were more conservative in their accounting practices. That conservative financial reporting is a function of responsive corporate governance helps to explain the relationship we observed between technical strength and accounting conservatism. Technical strength in an organization signals a strong commitment to practices that benefit stockholders, product markets, and employees - stakeholders with, which the organization is engaged in tangible resource exchanges. Traditional corporate governance practices cited in the studies we reviewed are typically aimed at overcoming potential agency problems by aligning managers' interests with those of stockholders (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). Therefore, the same organization tendency toward technical strength that drives an organization to adopt strong governance practices should also result in modest financial reporting. Moreover, stakeholder management practices have been explained in organization literature as stemming from deep, underlying assumptions regarding the organization's most important stakeholders and their desired ends (Mitroff, 1983). These assumptions are thought to drive organization policies and practices in systematic ways. Therefore, if an organization's practices tend toward technical strength, we would expect the organization's underlying commitment to accountability toward technical stakeholders to be expressed in conservative, transparent financial reporting.That a tendency toward institutional strength also resulted in more conservative accounting is further evidence that systematic organization tendencies shape accounting practices. Again, conservative accounting is an artifact of a commitment to accountability and transparency to stakeholders beyond the organization's borders. Institutional strength in an organization signals a commitment to local communities, the natural environment, and legally-protected minorities. Previous study has found that management groups who exhibit an institutionally-oriented management philosophy tend to view the organization as having a responsibility to society broader than the organization's economic purpose (Miles, 1987). Therefore, our results indicate that the organization commitment to accountability and good governance associated with conservative accounting practices is partially a function of this generalized sense of duty and obligation to society-at-large.If the effects we observed are, indeed, a result of deep-seated organization tendencies associated with generalized commitments to responsive governance, then similar effects should be observed in the opposite direction when comparing stakeholder management with earnings management (discretionary accruals) instead of earnings quality (conservatism). Indeed, inverse effects were observed for both technical and institutional strength. More specifically, organizations higher in both technical and institutional strength were less likely to engage in earnings management than were organizations lower in technical and institutional strength. Simply stated, organization dispositions toward responsive governance demonstrated in strong social practices also resulted in greater earnings quality and lower earnings management.The results of our study clarify the importance of recognizing qualitative distinctions among the various dimensions of stakeholder management. When we think of corporate social action as a single dimension of activity it is easy to define it wholly as a discretionary \"investment\" in a differentiation strategy (McWilliams and Siegel, 2000) or as a device for managerial entrenchment (Prior et al., 2006). Because an organization's stakeholder management practices are often stable orientations, they can be an artifact of underlying cultural patterns that shape the manner in which organizations interpret their environments and their roles in them (Daft and Weick, 1984). These qualitatively distinct orientations may also shape an organization's definition of success as well as its preferred means (Quinn, 1988). Highly likely is that - as implied in our results - these orientations are associated with the quality of an organization's governance structures. Understanding the categorical nature of stakeholder management practices assists us to better understand their contribution to responsive organization governance processes and, thereby, to well-functioning, sustainable organization forms.\nConclusions: Our analysis has clearly demonstrated that an organization's stakeholder management practices are clearly and positively related to good corporate governance. More specifically, organizations that exhibit strong technical and institutional orientations demonstrate a generalized tendency toward accountability that manifests itself in, perhaps among other things, a propensity toward transparent financial reporting. Consistent with earlier findings that both stakeholder management and earnings quality are both associated with strong corporate governance practices, we argue that the observed positive relationship between stakeholder management and earnings quality (concurrently with the negative relationship between stakeholder management and earnings management) signals an underlying organization commitment to responsive governance, including restraint in the use of managerial discretion.We noted several troubling and interesting trends during our research. First, earnings quality has been operationalized using a broad variety of measures. There are positive and negative measures of earnings quality as well as market-based measures and accounting measures. Some evidence suggests that research conclusions may be highly sensitive to the specific measure of earnings quality used in the study (Boonlert-U-Thai et al., 2006), yet scholars too-often use single-item indicators and refer to them as indicating a consensual construct called \"earnings quality\" (see Velury and Jenkins, 2006 for an exception). Future research must specifically examine the various indicators of earnings quality to distinguish among its multiple dimensions to better understand the relationship between governance processes, like stakeholder management, and financial reporting.Also, research results across studies examining the relationship between governance structures and earnings quality are generalized without reference to the limitations resulting from the country-specific institutional structure in which the study was situated. Studies clearly indicate, however, that several national-level institutional variables substantially affect this relationship (Bushman and Piotroski, 2006; Dargenidou et al., 2007). These institutional effects should also be examined to determine their effects on the relationship between stakeholder management and earnings quality. Moreover, scholars must be wary when comparing studies across cultures that we cannot make inferences that premise cross-cultural similarities unless those premises are explicitly tested.Recognizing the qualitative differences among dimensions of stakeholder management has led us to a more nuanced understanding of the effects of responsive governance on financial reporting. However, if both stakeholder management practices and financial reporting are artifacts of more generalized underlying governance orientations, as we suggest, then our understanding of earnings quality and its relationship to governance practices requires substantial elaboration as well. If governance practices are shaped by organization-level cultural tendencies, then we might also expect systematic differences among governance practices along multiple relevant dimensions. Future research must take this possibility into account, theorizing specific regimes of governance practice associated with categorically distinct organization orientations and outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to test whether effective stakeholder management results in transparent financial reporting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper uses a linear model informed by stakeholder theorizing and established measures of stakeholder management, earnings quality, and earnings management.\nFindings: - Organizations exhibiting effective stakeholder management have higher earnings quality and are less likely to engage in discretionary earnings management.\nResearch implications: - Future research should carefully sort out the meaning of different measures of earnings quality, should clarify cross-national institutional differences to reconcile contradictions in extant research, and should discover the underlying governance orientations that shape decision-making processes and outcomes.\nPractical implications: - Governing bodies must take into account how underlying organization cultures shape governance regimes, which may determine the transparency with which organization actors interact with various stakeholder groups.\nOriginality/value: - This study establishes a positive link between effective stakeholder management and transparent financial reporting, suggesting that both may be artifacts of deeper underlying orientations toward accountability, transparency, and managerial discretion.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Using media to promote artisan food and beverages: insights from the television industry	[ "Artisan food and beverages", "Food and beverage marketing", "Food media", "Food television", "Gourmet Farmer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Marketing and advertising strategies for food and drink products have been considered in depth in the literature, and include analyses of both artisan and \"industrial\" food and beverage sectors (e.g. Nestle, 2002; Nosi and Zanni, 2004; Dunn and Wickham, 2015; Todd, 2009; Jackson et al., 2007). However, with the exception of studies of food and beverage marketing to children and adolescents (e.g. Montgomery and Chester, 2009; Brady et al., 2008), strategies for integrating food and drink promotion with entertainment media have not tended to be a focus of this work. Better understanding of the use entertainment media as a promotional tool is still needed. This is not only because food and drink producers are featuring in mainstream entertainment media more frequently (Versteegen, 2010), but also because this media is becoming increasingly pervasive is our everyday lives - so much so that media no longer consists merely of \"representations,\" but is now a cultural product that operates in concrete ways within the social world (Lash and Lury, 2007, p. 8).\nDirect marketing and the \"foodie boom\": Over the past ten years or so in the Anglophone West, food and beverage producers have become increasingly prominent in mainstream media. This includes primetime television programs, such as the UK's Hairy Bikers series (2004-present) and Australia's Paddock to Plate (2014-present), which see the shows' hosts travel to various locations to meet food and beverage producers and collect ingredients for the day's recipes. It also includes cookbooks, such as Mario Batali's (2014) and Kylie Kwong's (2013) which feature profiles, and recipes using the produce, of local farmers and food producers. This proliferation of media texts can be seen as a reflection of a growing interest in how food and beverages are produced and by whom, and can be understood in the context of two broader phenomena.\nMethodology: This study explores some of these opportunities and challenges via semi-structured interviews conducted with 14 of the food and beverage producers that appeared in seasons 1-3 of Gourmet Farmer\nFood television: opportunities and pitfalls: The results of the interview data indicate that the food and beverage producers each shared similar reasons for agreeing to be part of the Gourmet Farmer TV show, as well as similar experiences of customer responses to episodes following their broadcast. All said they wanted to be part of the show because of its positive representations of Tasmania and because they felt Evans' food philosophies to be compatible with their own values and business practices. They also saw involvement in a national, primetime television show as a valuable promotional opportunity, particularly for those businesses with little or no advertising budgets (e.g. interview, food producer, December 3, 2014; interview, beverage producer, February 5, 2015; interview, beverage producer, February 20, 2015; interview, food producer, March 12, 2015; interview, food producer, February 19, 2015; interview, food producer, March 15, 2015).\nConclusion: While this was only a study of a small number of food and beverage producers who appeared on one television program, the divergent experiences evident even within such a small sample indicate that there is no \"one size fits all\" approach for successfully using media in general, and television in particular, as a direct marketing or promotional tool for products or businesses. While involvement in television shows like Gourmet Farmer can offer some excellent opportunities for artisan food and beverage producers, understanding the genre conventions and production practices of the television industry is vital for individual producers to assess the likely outcomes and benefits of their involvement in a television program, and hence determine the value (or not) of the opportunity to their business.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The increasing frequency with which food and beverage producers feature in mainstream media, including television cooking shows, provide opportunities and pitfalls for using media to promote artisan food and beverage businesses. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these, as experienced by a group of food and beverage producers who appeared on the popular Australian television show, Gourmet Farmer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 14 of the producers featured on the show, plus textual analysis of relevant segments of the show.\nFindings: While all of the producers felt that food television offered a good promotional tool, those who were most familiar with the practices of media production and whose businesses offered experiences through which viewers could access (or imagine) a \"taste\" of the Gourmet Farmer life tended to be more satisfied than those who were less familiar with the practices of media production and who expected a greater focus on their products and production practices.\nPractical implications: The development of media skills is essential for artisan producers to get the best outcomes when using media to promote their businesses.\nOriginality/value: The experiences of food and beverage producers using food television to promote their businesses have not previously been the subject of thoroughgoing research. This paper offers new insights into how artisan producers can best capitalize on the opportunities offered by food media.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Maintenance of a reducer by vibration and wear particles analysis	[ "Oil industry", "Vibration measurement", "Preventive maintenance", "Wear", "Tribology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Maintenance is a strategic function inside an organization and its performance affects, directly, the performance of the company (Xavier, 1998).Some attempts of establishment of a pattern terminology have been made:* Maintenance is a combination of actions driven to substitute, repair, revise or modify components or identified groups of components of a factory, in a way that this factory operates inside a specified readiness, in a time interval also specified (Kelly and Harris, 1980).* Maintenance is a group of actions that allow to maintain or re-establish a well to a specific state or, still, to assure a certain service (Mirshawka, 1991).* Maintenance is all the necessary actions so that an item is conserved or recuperated in way it could stay in agreement with a specified condition (ABNT-P-TB116, 1975).The normalization technique's organization, the coordinating group of the several industrial branches, the organization of the United Nations and the International Committees have been proposing alternatives of characterization of subdivisions of maintenance, seeking information exchange, without getting this goal (Tavares, 1987).According to ABNT, the maintenance can be subdivided into corrective and preventive. The corrective maintenance is made after a failure or damage. The not foreseen brake is presented by a abrupt stop, generally taking to a great damages and loss of time production.On the other hand, the preventive maintenance subdivides into systematic (productive maintenance), and conditional (predictive maintenance).In the systematic maintenance the responsible for the maintenance makes the job in a fixed interval, basing on expectation of minimum life of the components that he obtained by his own experience or by manufacturer.The predictive maintenance is a preventive maintenance subordinate to a type of predetermined event like the information given by a captor or the wear measurement that reveal the degradation states of the part (Xavier, 1998).Among all the existent techniques, the most important in the maintenance of reducers are vibration analysis and wear particle analysis. So a test rig was made in order to study the vibration and wear particle analysis. It is composed by a motor linked to a reducer through a flexible coupling.\n2. Oil analysis: Lubricants are generally liquids, but they can be solids, pasty and gaseous, according to its physical state (CPM, 1997).Liquid lubricants are generally characterized by viscosity, but other properties are important too. Lubricants oils have names that designate these properties. This lubricant type can be subdivided into mineral oil, fatty oil, additiveted oil and synthetic oil.Additiveted oils are pure mineral oils, which were added some chemical with the proposals of reinforce or add certain properties.Synthetic oils come from petrol-chemistry industry. They are the best lubricant, but they are higher cost. The more employed are the polymeric ones, the diesters ones etc. Due to its costs, it is limited to place where conventional oils cannot be used.2.1. Viscosity\n3. Vibration analysis: Vibration analysis is based on the idea that machine structures, excited by dynamics efforts, give vibratory signs whose frequency is identical to those of the efforts that provoked them; and the global measure in some point is the sum of vibratory answers of the structure to the different excitator efforts (Wang and Williams, 1995).It is possible, with captors placed in private points, to register the transmitted vibration to the machine by the structures, and with its analysis, to identify the origin of the efforts which it is submitted (Mirshawake, 2001), (Diana and Chelif, 2005). Vibration monitoring provides information about the macroscopic behavior inside the machine (Price et al., 2001).In that way, as soon as it is obtained, the \"vibration signature\" of the machine when it is new or reputed as in good state, it will be possible for comparison, to appreciate the evolution of its state and to identify the appearance of new dynamic efforts, serial to a degradation in development process (Azoutsev and Barker, 1998).The measure of a vibration transmitted by a structure under the effect of dynamic efforts will be function of multiple parameters:* mass, rigidity and damper coefficient of the structure that transmits the vibrations;* characteristics of machine fixation on the ground that opposes reactions to vibrations and modifies the intensity;* position of measure point;* position and fixation of the sensor (captor) on the machine;* characteristic of sensor;* pre amplification and transmission of the sign;* performance of analyzed apparels;* rotation and absorbed potency;* state of the connection of the cinematic chain (alignment, balancement, engagements, rolling, etc).In a spectrum all the components of a vibratory level are represented under the form of \"picks\" and it can follow individually a variation of amplitude, without the masking effect that occurs in a global measure. Figure 2 shows an example of a spectrum.The measure of the global value is an approximate analysis method of the sign that makes abstractions of the frequential parameters, expressing the evaluated amplitude in different ways. That takes into account:* The pick to pick value. It is measured the maximum amplitude of the fundamental wave that is useful, for example, when the vibratory displacement of a machine is critical in relation to restrictions of maximum load or clearance.* Crest value (or pick value). It is an important measure to indicate, for example, the level of a shock of short duration.* Effective value. Measurement that takes into account the evaluation of the value of harmonic components directly related to the vibration energy content.The problem of analyzing and establishing comparisons among several vibrations signs cannot be solved based only on knowledge of its amplitude and frequency values.A way to solve this problem has been the establishment of some measurement, whose definition allows the calculation of global quantitative values for a vibratory movement x (t), described in the time domain. These values are effective value, medium value, form factor, and crest factor, whose definitions and calculation formulas, for a period of sign (T), are presented, according to the schematized on Figure 3, as the following: Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3 Equation 4 The sign on the frequency domain or frequency spectrum is a graph of vibration amplitude answer by frequency and can be derived using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the waveform in the time. The frequency spectrum provides worthy information about the machine condition.\n4. Materials and methods: For this work it was constructed a test rig composed by a motor linked to a reducer through a flexible coupling. A picture of the test rig is presented on Figure 4. The motor is WEG brand with 0,5 CV and 1720 rpm. The reducer is a Macopema brand with reduction of 1:30. The reducer is a worm drive whose worm gear was made of alloy steel and the pinion gear was made of bronze. The preferential vibration frequencies of the reducer are presented on Figure 5.For the experiment it was initially used oil recommended by the manufacturer - ISO 320. The test rig was put to work for 168 hours, when vibration measure and sample of oil were taken and then the whole oil was removed. After change of the oil the mechanical components were observed visually and set up again. Fresh recommended oil was put into the reducer and the system was put to work for more 504 hours. The measures of vibrations and the samples of oil were collected weekly.After these hours the ISO 320 oil was removed, the pieces were washed and the oil was replaced by an ISO 150 of inferior viscosity. The test rig was put to work for 672 more hours and vibrations measures and oil samples were collected weekly. After those experiments it was added the recommended oil (ISO 320) with iron powder inside the reducer and it was put to work for 672 more hours.In the collected oil analysis it was used a rotary particle depositor, an automatic ferrous debris monitor, a particle counter, two microscopic, a viscosimeter, an Karl Fischer apparatus and an atomic absorption equipment.The vibration signs were taken in the points 2, 3,5 and 7 of the Figure 4, but only spectrum of point 3 is shown.The temporary signs of vibration were acquired by measuring the reducer vibration speed. For these measurements it was used piezoelectric accelerometers, a four channel conditioner/amplifier, a DaqBook acquisition system and a Notebook.The sample frequency were 500 Hz, 1 KHz, 5 KHz and 10 KHz, and the corresponding analogical filters were 141 Hz, 281 Hz, 2250 Hz and 4500 Hz, respectively. For each frequency ten samples of 2,048 points were taken.The acquired temporary vibration signs were processed using FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) algorithm and they were analyzed in laboratory through the software DasyLab.\n5. Results and discussion: On Figure 6 it is presented some debris prepared on rotary particle depositor during the experiment with ISO 320 oil. On Figure 7 it is presented some debris from experiment with ISO 150 oil. On Figure 8 it is presented some debris from experiment with ISO 320 with iron powder with the characteristics showed on Table II. On Table III it is presented another tests made in the ISO 320 oil after 672 hours and on Table IV it is presented another tests made in the ISO 150 oil after 672 hours of work.On Figure 9. it is presented the spectrum of vibration signs in point 3 for different frequencies sample and analogical filters after the first week with ISO 320 oil and on Figure 10 its is presented the evolution of vibration severity for test with ISO 320 in a frequency sample of 10 KHz. Figure 11 represents the wear on crown gear with the ISO 150 oil.By Figure 6 we can see the \"run in\" stage. The reducer was new and presented more and bigger particle in the first week in relation to the second one (first week after ISO 320 oil exchange).By Figure 7 we can see small amount of cutting particle even though the most predominant were laminar and rubbing particles. That happened due to lack of lubricant presented when oil of inappropriate viscosity was used.The bronze particle can be confirmed too by observing the PQ index of Tables III and IV. In the last table the PQ index was smaller indicating less steel particle. Still observing those tables we can see that Cu content, present in Bronze, is higher in the last table.From Figure 8 it is possible to notice that the iron particles added did not cause severe wear. That happened because the iron powder is smooth. By Figure 11 we can see part that presented friction.According to Figure 9 it is not possible to observe the friction by observing the spectrum. The frequency of 29, 79 Hz represents the input rotation of the reducer.\n6. Conclusion: The use of coupled vibration and oil analysis, as predictive maintenance technique is a tendency nowadays because one completes the other. Each technique has its own advantage and disadvantage. A rolling bearing defect, for instance, is more difficult to be observed by wear particle analysis then by vibration analysis. By the experiment we observed that friction is easier to be observed using wear particle then using vibration analysis. The use of oil with inappropriate viscosity will cause problem in parts where vibration analysis need more preparation of technical people to interpret the results. When there is a doubt the sign needs to be demodulated and that dispends a lot of time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to provide information on wear debris on oil and vibration analysis as predictive maintenance techniques in reducer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The estate of a reducer is verified by analyzing the vibration and oil conditions of a test rig under well-designed conditions utilizing some predictive variables.\nFindings: - According to the vibration and oil analysis it is found out what it was happening into the reducer without disassembling it.\nPractical implications: - This paper demonstrates the use of oil debris analysis and vibration analysis as a technique that enhances preventive maintenance practices. The paper helps practitioners to utilize these techniques more effectively.\nOriginality/value: - This paper gives information about two predictive maintenance techniques with a test rig.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Identifying the resource integration processes of green service	[ "Sustainability", "Resource integration", "Green service", "Transformative Service Research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: What constitutes green service? More and more organizations are trying to reduce the impact of service provision realized at the expense of the Earth's ecosystem. Despite greener services, the Earth overshoot day (the date on which more resources are consumed than what our natural ecosystem can renew each year) comes earlier each year[1]. Service provision has a large environmental impact as service sectors dominate the world's economies, but it also has great potential for improving the resource efficiency of the utilization of goods (e.g. Van der Zwan and Bhamra, 2003). Gummesson (1993) introduced the notion of \"green service quality\" and further emphasized \"[...] that services have just as much impact on the environment as goods\" (Gummesson, 2000, p. 122). Besides, \"greening\" service firms and their value propositions should be pursued while providing excellent customer experiences (Graedel, 2003; Grove et al., 1996).\nTheoretical background: To better understand green service in light of TSR - i.e. not only \"doing the same with less,\" but also \"doing more with less\" - it is necessary to pay close attention to how resources are consumed, acted on, transformed, depleted and integrated. The next section concerns how green service can be managed by applying a resource integration perspective. Homopathic and heteropathic resource integration are then discussed, while a final section on resource integration for green service wraps up the theoretical background.\nMethod: Case study data collection\nResults: This section presents the green resource integration processes identified in the multiple case study, namely, reducing, recirculating, recycling, redistributing, reframing, and renewing. Table III provides an overview of the analysis of the ten cases.\nDiscussion: In this section, the identification of green resource integration processes is discussed, emphasizing the difference between homopathic and heteropathic resource integration. The present study identifies green service via six instances of resource integration processes. This is wider in scope than existing green service research that has focused solely on reducing the impact of green service on the environment. The processes of reducing, reusing and recycling have been extensively studied in previous research (e.g. Grove et al., 1996; Van der Zwan and Bhamra, 2003; Wolfson et al., 2011), while the resource integration processes based on recirculating (i.e. instead of reusing), reframing, redistributing and renewing provide a fresh perspective on green service and a novel contribution to service research. Hence, the paper extends the existing understanding of green service by introducing new types of green service processes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of green service. In particular, the focus is on identifying homopathic and heteropathic resource integration processes that preserve or increase the resourceness of the natural ecosystem.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through an extensive multiple case study involving ten service providers from diverse sectors based on a substantial number of interviews, detailed accounts of green service are provided.\nFindings: Six resource integration processes were identified: reducing, recirculating, recycling, redistributing, reframing and renewing. While four of these processes are based on homopathic resource integration, both reframing and renewing are based on heteropathic resource integration. While homopathic processes historically constitute a green service by mitigating the impact of consumption on the environment, heteropathic resource integration increases the resourceness of the natural ecosystem through emergent processes and the (re)creation of natural resources.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study breaks away from the paradigm that \"green service\" is about reducing the negative environmental impact of existing services, toward providing a green service that expands biological diversity and other natural resources.\nOriginality/value: Transformative service research on environmental sustainability is still in its infancy. The present study contributes through conceptualizing green service, redefining existing resource integration processes (reducing, recirculating, recycling) and identifying new resource integration processes (redistributing, reframing, renewing).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Let's talk about innovation: Is there a hidden potential of knowledge exchange between open innovation and IMP?	[ "Innovation", "Network", "Open innovation", "Citation analysis", "IMP" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research on innovation continues to increase. Innovation refers to the development, refinement, and modification of ideas and their commercialisation (O'Sullivan and Dooley, 2009). Innovation processes have more and more been described as collective, that is, involving more than one party. In IMP research, the idea is that innovations are formed and further developed between parties in their business relationships (Hakansson, 1987). Open innovation (OI) researchers have concerned themselves with similar issues: innovation processes involving multiple parties (Chesbrough, 2003b; Gassmann and Enkel, 2004).\nTheoretical background: Open innovation\nMethod: Citation analysis\nFindings and analysis: Citation analysis\nConclusions: This paper describes and discusses whether and how IMP and OI researchers acknowledge and build on each other's work, and whether and how ideas provided by IMP and OI, respectively, create a fit to expand the exchange of knowledge between IMP and OI. The introduction raised two questions:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: IMP researchers have shown interest in how innovations result from interaction among companies, while, and in parallel, there has been an increased focus on open innovation (OI) during the past decade. OI depicts how companies source, spin-out, and collaborate on innovation. This paper describes and discusses whether and how IMP and OI researchers acknowledge and build on each other's work; and whether and how ideas provided by IMP and OI, respectively, create a fit to expand the exchange of knowledge between IMP and OI.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a citation analysis focussing on whether the OI literature refers to IMP research, and whether or not the IMP literature refers to OI research. The paper also compares OI and IMP to discover potentials for knowledge exchange between them through discussing similarities, complementarities, and contradictions.\nFindings: The paper points out that while IMP researchers have started to show interest in OI, OI research does not refer to IMP. As such, OI research remains more company-centric in its discussions. IMP provides tools and models to capture the OI phenomenon specifically related to collaborative OI, while OI offers interesting thought for the capture of transaction-based innovation processes and their management.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to previous research through linking together OI and IMP research. This is important for several reasons, including the ability to enhance knowledge in each domain, critically discuss and relate various research domains and their underpinnings, and expand ideas developed in one research domain to another.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving an acute oncology service (AOS) through collaborative leadership	[ "Quality improvement", "Medical leadership", "Collaborative leadership", "Acute oncology service" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe increasing prevalence of cancers: There is an increasing prevalence of cancers, with a lifetime risk for over half of adults who are under the age of 65 years, who will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives (Ahmad et al., 2015). The national priority (NHS England, 2019) is for 93% of patients who are suspected to have cancer to be seen and diagnosed in two weeks; however, the current UK performance is 92% (NHS England, 2019). This increased demand for cancer services and a need to improve performance against the NHS two-week target has resulted in a surge in demand for the Acute Oncology Service (AOS), which provides a fast and responsive multi-disciplinary service in Accident and Emergency Departments to support inappropriate admission to hospital. Cancer waiting times are the worst on record on all eight quality indicators and 2019/2020 performance is lower than previous years. Waits for diagnostic tests are at their highest level since 2008, with 4% of patients waiting over 6 weeks to be tested compared to the tested target of 1% (Baker, 2019).\nAcute oncology services: AOS have emerged over the past decade as a service that provides an alternative to attending a busy Emergency Department for cancer patients. The AOS usually consists of a telephone triage system and evaluations of this system suggest that this service provides a more satisfying service for patients and is less costly (Warrington et al., 2016). However, these services depend on staff receiving the correct training and having effective communication systems in place between the AOS and the Emergency Department (Woodcock, 2013).\nLeadership in health services: Leadership theories have emerged overtime and have been described by Ola and Lok (2019, p. 11) (Figure 1) as emergent within three separate phases: traditional Leadership approaches; modern theories and new theories. The emergence of new leadership theories and leadership approaches in the NHS began to be dramatically reviewed in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire Hospital scandal where the hospital:\nCollaborative leadership: New theories of leadership from 2013 explored the development of collaborative leadership approaches. West et al. (2014) proposed a collaborative leadership style for the NHS, an approach that leads to new knowledge and skills to enhance practice and not just to enhance an individual's status in the organisation (McKimm and Swanwick, 2011). This new approach to leadership has been described as a dynamic, interactive process of influence and learning that will transform organisational structures, norms and work practices (Ola and Lok, 2019; Pearce and Conger, 2003). Such an approach requires a new way of understanding leadership, with a call for developing a new mindset and a strategic plan to achieve a successful, sustainable outcome (Ola and Lok, 2019; West et al., 2014). However, there are different types of collaborative leadership strategies (Okpala, 2018) with patient-based collaborative strategies having the greatest impact on improving the quality of care and both patient-based collaborative strategy and inter-organisational collaborative strategies offering significantly higher cost reduction effectiveness (Okpala, 2018).\nAims and objectives: The aim of this paper is to report on the outcome of a collaborative leadership approach to review and improve the AOS in an NHS Trust using the Model for Improvement (Langley et al., 2009; IHI, 2003) and to reflect on how a collaborative leadership strategy can support the future development of a \"patient based collaborative strategy\" that supports improved clinical and non-clinical integration, in the continuous improvement of the AOS.\nAn NHS AOS case study: The NHS Trust which was the focus for this collaborative leadership quality improvement project has two hospitals: Hospital A, a Teaching hospital with a population of 308,940 in an urban location and Hospital B a district general hospital in a more rural location with a population of 116,900. There are similar demographics in both Hospital A and Hospital B's population with 60% working age adults and 20% aged over 65. This gives a projected number of patients likely to have cancer at some point in their lives as approximately 187,500 across hospitals A and B. Both Hospital A and Hospital B send patients to the Regional Cancer Centre Hospital C to treat Oncology related cancer treatment side effects. The Regional Cancer Centre provides an AOS to patients who attend Hospital A and B out of hours.\nA collaborative leadership strategy: As part of the first author's (RCB) year-long study on a Fellowship in Quality Improvement programme (FQim), an extensive analysis of the AOS was undertaken and performance reviewed against the service specification (2012), operational review and number of complaints. In addition, a stakeholder mapping exercise was undertaken to identify which departments relate to the AOS from within the hospitals and external to it. This was undertaken to identify the extent of inter-disciplinary working of the AOS. The team were engaged in discussions about their views on what was working well and what was challenging the AOS service. In addition, a collaborative working relationship was developed between the first author, a Medical Oncologist, the second author a non-clinical informatics manager and the third author a QI academic facilitator to collaborate together on reviewing the data. Analysis was undertaken of the secondary data supported by DC. Staffs were provided with this analysis through a power point presentation and a summary of the model for health-care improvement, PDSA was provided. The staffs were invited to explore ways in which patient access and patient satisfaction can be improved by undertaking small-scale changes. The focus was on developing a process of collaboration to understand current levels of \"clinical integration\" (Rubin et al., 2015) through:\nResults: Meetings were set up to occur monthly between the authors to discuss and agree the method of collaboration with this work. There were two direct mechanisms of collaboration undertaken for this work, with a commitment to develop a third future model of \"patient-based collaboration\". The authors agreed to meet monthly:\nDiscussion: The development of clinicians and informatic managers working collaboratively together has been identified as a critical role in the advancement of health system improvement in the NHS. Fox (2019) argues that clinicians are not taught data for the measurement of improvement in their medical curriculum and cites Bardsley (2016) who states:\nConclusion: This case study uses and applies a strategy for Quality Improvement (Model for Healthcare Improvement, 2003) combined with a collaborative leadership strategy to affect change and transformation in an AOS. This Case Study demonstrates that Quality Improvement methods on their own will not be sufficient to create the changes the NHS requires. In addition, a quality improvement strategy must be operationalised with a clear leadership strategy of collaboration, to bring all stakeholders together.\nRecommendations: The recommendation of this case study is to embed and continue the process of learning from collaboration as this could help to build a culture of continuous quality improvement for the NHS Trust. This learning needs to be extended to create learning from collaboration with cancer patients to formulate a patient collaboration strategy for the future and to demonstrate measures of improvement and cost savings from this work.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Over half of adults under the age of 65 years will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives (Ahmad et al., 2015). Demand for services is outstripping the capacity in the NHS, as 77% of NHS Trusts are unable to start treatment within 62 days (Baker, 2019; NHS England, 2019). Side effects of treatment can be life threatening (Tsai et al., 2010) with many patients attending ED; however, these can be managed through a hospital's Acute Oncology Service (AOS). This paper aims to explore a collaborative leadership approach to improve services for patients [Rubin et al., 2015; Department of Health (DOH), 2012].\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study of an AOS in an NHS Trust was the focus for the development of a strategy of 'Collaborative' leadership, with the aim to increase the engagement of a wide network of clinical and non-clinical stakeholders in a review of the AOS. The case study identified the level of effectiveness of the service since its inception in 2012. Using a quality improvement methodology (Deming 2000; Health Foundation, 2011; Aylott, 2019) resulted in learning and increased collaboration between clinical and non-clinical staff.\nFindings: Action learning processes revealed that AOS staff had been frustrated for some time about the dysfunction of the current process to manage the increased demand for the service. They reported their perceptions and frustrations with the current process of referral and patient discharge. Data revealed alerts from the Emergency Department (ED) to AOS resulted in 72% of patients inappropriately referred, with an over representation of patients who had a previous existing cancer condition. Clinical engagement with the data informatics manager (DC) revealed a need to improve data quality through improvements made to the database.\nResearch limitations/implications: Increasing demand for cancer services requires a continuous need for improvement to meet patient needs. Cancer waits for diagnostic tests are at their highest level since 2008, with 4% of patients waiting over 6 weeks to be tested compared to the tested target of 1% (Baker, 2019). This paper draws on data collected from 2017 to 2018, but a continuous review of data is required to measure the performance of the AOS against its service specification. Every AOS team across the NHS could benefit from a collaborative learning approach.\nPractical implications: Clinical services need collaborative support from informatics to implement a Quality Improvement methodology such as the IHI Model for Improvement (IHI, 2003). Without collaboration the implementation of a quality improvement strategy for all NHS Trusts will not come to fruition (Kings Fund, 2016). Quality Improvement Strategies must be developed with a collaborative leadership implementation plan that includes patient collaboration strategies (Okpala, 2018), as this is the only way that services will be improved while also becoming cost effective (Okpala, 2018).\nSocial implications: In the UK, 20-25% of new cancer diagnoses are made following an initial presentation to the ED (Young et al., 2016). Cancer-related attendances at ED had a higher level of acuity, requiring longer management time and length of stay in ED. With cancer care contributing to 12% of all hospital admissions, an increase of 25% over the past two decades (Kuo et al., 2017) the AOS will need continued collaboration between clinical staff, informatic managers, patients and all stakeholder organisations to continuously improve its services to be \"fit for purpose\".\nOriginality/value: This case study reports the innovative collaborative work between a Medical Oncologist, an NHS Trust Informatics manager and a QI academic facilitator. The Health Foundation and Kings Fund have identified the continued challenges presented to the NHS in the transformation of its services, with the Health Foundation (2011) reporting the need for more collaborative working between clinicians and non-clinicians to drive improvement. This model of collaboration creates a new way of working to drive improvement initiatives and sets out a rationale to develop this model further to involve patients. However, this will call for a new way of working for all.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The history of healthcare facilities management services: a UK perspective on infection control	[ "Reforms", "History", "NHS", "HAIs", "Healthcare facilities management", "Infection control" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The period from 1948 saw a new era in the way non-clinical services are provided in health-care establishments. These services have now been reorganised under what is known as facilities management (FM) (also called \"facilities\"). Shohet and Lavy (2004, p. 211) define FM as \"the application of integrated techniques to improve the performance and cost effectiveness of facilities to support organisational development\".\n2. Within-study literature analysis: Strict criteria were used to select the research materials underpinning this study. These included criteria for the validation of the research materials for authenticity (they had to be genuine, reliable and from dependable sources), for their credibility (free from errors and distortions) and their meaningfulness (clear and comprehensive). It was also required that they should contain relevant information about the history of HFM in IC. Our search of databases such as that of the Institute for Historical Research, Google Scholar and the University of Central Lancashire library catalogue, applying key phrases such as \"healthcare facilities in the medieval era\" and \"history of hospitals services\", produced very few results. This initial search however did result in the identification of 12 journal articles that focused on a number of clinical issues which were relevant to this research. To identify further material, literature searches were also conducted on the databases of organisations such as English Heritage, Historic Scotland and the Hampshire Record Office. By the end of the literature search, 60 research items had been identified and catalogued in a folder. However, a preliminary analysis of the materials suggested that not all of them were relevant to the research topic under investigation. In total, 30 research items were selected because they contained sufficient information for making inferences about the research topic. The selected research materials focused on a wide range of clinical issues, which suggested that traditionally the history of IC in hospitals has been addressed mainly by clinicians. Therefore, the history of HFM and its role in IC was one of extrapolating from the clinical domain.\n3. Conclusion: Apart from historical evidence, there is also plenty of recent epidemiological evidence which links the poor performance of HFM services to the incidence of HAIs in hospitals. The way hospitals are designed strongly affects rates of HAIs. The expertise of HFM is invaluable in relation to a number of issues concerning the control of HAIs. To design IC into hospital buildings, issues such as the ratio of bays to single rooms, the number of beds and the provision of clinical as well as FM services are important (Figure 2). Without thorough and effective cleaning, maintenance, laundry and waste management, the health-care built environment might become unsuitable for patient care.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The history of the development of non-clinical services in infection control (IC) dates back to the pre-modern era. There is evidence of health-care facility management (HFM) services in Roman military hospitals. With the fall of the Roman Empire, Christian beliefs and teaching shaped the development of HFM in monastic hospitals. It was not until the late Victorian era that the link between HFM services and diseases caused by \"miasma\", or bad air, became established. The discovery of bacteria in the modern scientific era reduced the level of importance previously attached to non-clinical causes of infections. Today, in the NHS, HFM services continue to be treated as though they had no real role to play in IC. This paper aims to collate historical and epidemiological evidence to show the link between HFM and IC.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The evidence gathered in this research paper is primarily based on an in-depth review of research from a wide range of sources. A \"within-study literature analysis\" was conducted to synthesise the research materials. This involved the application of \"between-source triangulation\" to verify the quality of the information contained in the studies, and \"between-source complementarity\" to provide an in-depth elaboration of the historical facts.\nFindings: Historical and epidemiological evidence shows that HFM services such as cleaning, waste management, catering, laundry and maintenance continue to play a crucial role in IC. This is corroborated by evidence gathered from the work of renowned pioneers in the field of IC. However, reforms in the NHS have failed to consider this, as HFM services have been largely fragmented through different partnership arrangements.\nPractical implications: Among many other things, this research raises the profile of HFM staff in relation to the issue of IC in hospitals. It presents convincing evidence to show that the relationship between the clinical and non-clinical domains in controlling infections in hospitals has a long history. The findings of this research give HFM staff invaluable information about the significant role of their profession in the control of infections in hospitals.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the few studies examining the historical development of HFM services, as well as their contribution to IC. Other work in this area has mainly been framed from a clinical health-care perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Australian small business participation in training activities	[ "Small enterprises", "Training", "Skills training", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The importance of small business\nResearch questions: This paper addresses the following research questions:* What business related factors such as strategy and growth intentions influence whether a business owner will participate in training and skills development?* Does the use of on-line training offer an attractive option for small business training?\nMethodology: The study involved the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire to a representative sample of businesses who had received a training voucher. A systematic method of sampling was used to provide a sample stratified by both year of access to training voucher and locality of business (metropolitan and regional). A total of 5 per cent of the target population was required to provide a confidence interval of 90 per cent (a=0.10). A total of 2,500 surveys were distributed of which 490 came back as return to sender and 716 completed surveys were returned, representing a response rate of 36 per cent.The self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the following data:* background information about the business and the business owner;* participation by the business in training and skills development;* attitudes of the business owner towards training;* the perceived value of training to small business owners;* willingness for small businesses to participate in training; and* the business owners' aspirations of growth for the business.Three scales were developed: intentions to grow, value of training and attitude toward training. The intentions to grow scale included four items about the owners' intention to expand the business and how this would be achieved. For example, by increasing staff, increasing profits, increasing productivity or developing new markets (1=yes, 0=no). The scale was developed as a summation of the scores for each respondent. As a result those owners who had no intention to grow their business, scored zero, while those with high growth aspirations could score a maximum of four.The value of training scale was developed from five items asking respondents to rate their agreement to the changes in their business based on the amount of training that they or their staff had participated in over the past two years. This was measured using a four-point Likert scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4). The items included:* productivity has improved;* profit has increased;* management skills are better;* understanding of training options is clearer; and* staff satisfaction has improved.The reliability for this scale was high (a=0.8167).Attitude toward training was a measure of the importance of training to the business owners and their staff. The items making up the scale were also measured on a Likert scale of strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4) and included:* training is not important at all;* training is important but I cannot afford it; and* training is important and I make the resources available (a=0.7205).Items were also included on issues relating to internet use for training including whether the business had internet access, whether they had previously participated in any on-line training, whether they were actually interested in participating in on-line training and if so what time and venue they would prefer, i.e. at home or at work.It needs to be acknowledged that the sample represented a group of small business owners who had participated in some form of business training, even though it may have been limited, by virtue of being the recipient of a government sponsored training voucher scheme.\nResults and discussion: Research question 1\nConclusion: Acknowledging the well-documented increase in the importance of small businesses within most developed economies including Australia, it is clearly important to consider the activities of these small businesses in relation to training and skills development. If policy makers are to succeed in ensuring that the skills that the economy requires are met, then strategies are needed to promote and encourage small business owners to invest in training and skills development for themselves and their staff.This study has shown that there is a direct relationship between desire to grow and the use of training to actually achieve this aim. Owners of small businesses are reluctant to participate in skill development and training if they perceive no immediate value or have no need for training. This may demonstrate a lack of aspiration to grow their business.With the rapid expansion of information technology the opportunities for more flexible delivery of training such as on-line training are becoming more attractive to small business owners. However, small businesses are both resource and time poor, so any form of training has to be seen as being of real benefit to the business. Increasing participation in training should not simply be a way for governments to fulfil election promises.If on-line training is be used effectively and efficiently then these determining factors need to be taken into consideration. In addition, the needs of small business owners that prefer the more traditional methods of training should not be ignored and simply replaced by the methods that are more convenient for delivery providers. Participating in training on-line requires at the very least some hardware, which evidence shows small businesses often lack. Failure to acknowledge that not all businesses are e-enabled could further isolate small businesses from ever participating in any form of training, thus inhibiting growth in this vital business sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of on-line training by small businesses in Australia. It explores the relationship between the owner's acceptance and use of the internet, and their current participation in training opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A sample of small businesses which had participated in an Australian government scheme aimed at improving the participation of this business sector in training, were surveyed using a mailed questionnaire. The scheme provided training vouchers to businesses to fund training activities for the owner managers.\nFindings: - Findings suggest that business characteristics can affect the participation in training, with those having plans more likely to engage in training. The use of the internet for training has improved accessibility for small businesses and offers some potential as a delivery medium, however, the findings also highlight the lack of e-literacy of many small business owners.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Given the increasing importance of small business in Australia, it is necessary to continuously promote and encourage the role of training and skills development for owners and their employees. This study highlights a relationship between growth and the need for training, however, acknowledges that many small business owners are reluctant to participate in skill development and training.\nOriginality/value: - This paper highlights the need for small business owners and their staff to recognise their training needs, and to have a broader understanding of the importance of their training and development needs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mind the gap: Understanding utilisation of evidence and policy in health care management practice	[ "Knowledge sharing", "Evidence‐based practice", "Evidence", "Health care", "Primary care", "National Health Service", "Public policy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this paper, we take a reflective stance on the gap between policy and practice in the reform of health care. We attempt to rethink and understand the fundamentals of how knowledge (in the broadest sense), which is produced within a particular discourse (policy or research), becomes relevant for all those who do the actual work that goes into health care delivery. We focus on understanding the relationship between knowledge and practice, and more specifically, management practice, in the English National Health Service (NHS). Despite growing research attention, this relationship, we will show, is conceptually under-developed and needs to be understood better if we are to draw implications regarding the potential of policy reforms in health care.In brief, current perspectives appear to focus on the ways policy or evidence is produced, captured and packaged as \"knowledge products\" (such as national policies or service frameworks) and/or how these knowledge products are then transferred to the realm of practice. Such approaches tend to promulgate the existence of a so-called \"gap\", which is usually manifested in the low uptake of research evidence, in the patchy implementation of policies or in variations in organisational and clinical behaviour. Yet, by raising the question of whether knowledge and practice are close enough (as denoted by the idea of the \"gap\"), it seems, we gain limited understanding of how they actually relate. We argue that we need to rethink knowledge and policy utilisation and frame knowledge and policy as part of practice, not apart from it. That is, we need to refrain from separating knowledge (policy or research-based) from practice and start exploring how knowledge may (or may not) become a useful instrument in practice (Cook and Brown, 1999). We propose a fundamental shift towards explaining \"the gap\" primarily through, not independently of, the actual organisational practices that essentially determine policy/research relevance.In this paper, we begin to unravel the complex process of utilising knowledge (policy and research-based) in practice in the English NHS. The empirical setting of our research is Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), which control 80 per cent of the NHS budget. PCTs are local organisations that are responsible for commissioning all of the health services across a particular geographical area. \"Commissioning\" may be described as the process through which a PCT's budget is used for and invested in purchasing health and health care services. The term is used mostly in the UK context and also tends to denote a proactive strategic role in planning, designing and implementing a range of services required, rather than a more passive purchasing role (Woodin, 2006). Commissioning is realised primarily through the placing of service contracts with a broad range of providers, including primary care (general practitioners, opticians, dentists, pharmacists, etc.), secondary care (hospitals) and community-based health care organisations in order to meet the health care needs of a specific population.In the research described below, we illustrate findings from in-depth case studies across four PCTs in England. We demonstrate how various \"knowledge products\" (e.g. policy instruments and different forms of research evidence) - aimed at supporting commissioning - are actually used in the practice of commissioning. We shed light on the real work that goes into commissioning and which renders the usefulness and relevance of any policy instruments and research evidence possible. In short, through our paper we aim to explore the \"gap\" between policy or research and practice through investigating the actual mode of practising management in health care organisations. We believe that adopting this research stance yields a much richer understanding, which can assist in designing better processes of policy and evidence utilisation.Our paper is structured as follows. First, we review current literature and elucidate important limitations in existing conceptualisations of knowledge utilisation in health care organisations. We then provide an overview of the theoretical foundations of an alternative approach, which, we argue, addresses those limitations. We proceed by outlining our research methods and the policy context of our study and by presenting two rich narratives of policy and evidence utilisation. In the final section, we discuss the implications of our research for policy and practice.\nExisting perspectives on the \"knowledge-practice\" gap: In the management literature, two distinct research streams dominate the debate over knowledge utilisation:1. the \"evidence-based management\" (EBMgmt) perspective; and2. the \"co-production of knowledge\" perspective.We focus primarily on these two because they have attracted most of the attention in the health care management research community (Rousseau and McCarthy, 2007; Chalkidou et al., 2008). Undoubtedly, the impact of the EBMgmt perspective has been the greatest in the context of commissioning in the English NHS (Arndt and Bigelow, 2009). Below, we provide a review of the basic premises of this perspective.Evidence-based management (EBMgmt)\nResearch methods: Our research team has been undertaking in-depth case studies in four PCTs in England in order to explore the role of research evidence and/or evidence-based policy in commissioning decision-making. We are using a mixture of qualitative methods such as observations of meetings, shadowing of key individuals, reviewing documents and conducting semi-structured interviews. The paper is based on approximately 75 observation episodes (attending key commissioning meetings) and 52 semi-structured interviews (with senior manager and director level PCT staff), which were transcribed verbatim. These were conducted from September 2009 to August 2010.Our approach to data analysis has been focused on developing an understanding of the ways PCT managers accomplish commissioning in their natural environment (Waring and Bishop, 2010). Interpretation of data has focused more on the practice of health care managers. Our efforts to make sense of our data have been facilitated by using techniques, such as memoing (Miles and Huberman, 1994) and analytical summaries (Pettigrew, 1990, 1997) and through iterative readings of our observation notes and interview transcripts. In what follows, we present examples, which illustrate emerging \"themes\" from the field. The presentation of our findings aims primarily to raise awareness with respect to the importance of examining the utilisation of knowledge and policy in and through management practice.Furthermore, we considered using practitioners' narratives of their practice as a means to represent the mode of practicing commissioning in PCTs. Undoubtedly, by adopting this strategy, a lot is compromised in terms of revealing the complexity of performing actual commissioning. Yet, and in line with the recommendations of other scholars, we use narratives because they have the capacity to invoke some important aspects of practice (Orr, 1996). Narratives seem to provide the relevant \"thick descriptions\" of contexts and enable a richer understanding of the complex nature of practical situations (Gabriel, 1991). They constitute mixtures of facts, experiences and contextual elements of practical accomplishments (Orr, 1990), and may be also used as a proxy to construct representations of the emergent and complex nature of health care management practice. In the following section, we thus use narratives of our research participants (senior PCT managers) in order to shed light on \"knowledge/policy-as-utilised-in-practice\".\nEmerging findings: We present two kinds of narratives on knowledge utilisation in commissioning. In the first narrative, the drivers of creating \"the gap\" between policy and health care management practice are highlighted. The second narrative elucidates how problems of collaboration among different experts in PCTs might emerge in practice and affect the way knowledge and evidence is utilised in commissioning. It should be noted, that, due to space limitations, we draw upon data gathered in two sites (PCTs); yet, the narratives also reflect the experiences of practitioners observed in other sites. In the next section, we first outline the policy context of our empirical study and then proceed with empirical illustrations of policy and evidence utilisation.Policy context\nDiscussion and conclusions: Our contribution to the debate of utilisation of policy/evidence in health care management pertains to the raising of awareness of an alternative and important perspective. That is, the view that policy/evidence may need to be seen as part of practice and conceived as supporting tools for practising management. Through our participants' narratives of commissioning practices in the English NHS, we have demonstrated the value of adopting this highly relevant yet overlooked perspective. Our exploratory findings suggest that the utilisation of knowledge, be it a policy directive or research evidence, necessarily requires the active involvement, skills and creativity of health care practitioners. No matter how well these objects may be designed, they can only provide the \"recipe\", but not the \"local ingredients\" and \"skills\" - available only to health care practising managers - to make commissioning intentions reality. From adopting this perspective, a number of important policy implications can be delineated.Implications for policy making\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to take a reflective stance on the relationship between policy/evidence and practice, which, the authors argue, is conceptually under-developed. The paper aims to show that current research perspectives fail to frame evidence and policy in relation to practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative study was conducted in the English NHS in four Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). Seventy-five observations of meetings and 52 semi-structured interviews were completed. The approach to data analysis was to explore and reconstruct narratives of PCT managers' real practices.\nFindings: - The exploratory findings are presented through two kinds of narratives. The first narrative vividly illustrates the significance of the active involvement, skills and creativity of health care practitioners for policy implementation. The second narrative elucidates how problems of collaboration among different experts in PCTs might emerge and affect evidence utilisation in practice.\nPractical implications: - The findings exemplify that policies are made workable in practice and, hence, policy makers may also need to be mindful of practical intricacies and conceive policy implementation as an iterative process.\nOriginality/value: - The contribution of this paper lies in offering an alternative and important perspective to the debate of utilisation of policy/evidence in health care management and in advancing existing understanding of health care management practice. The paper's rich empirical examples demonstrate some important dimensions of the complexity of practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership Team Tool for better meaning making: Developing leadership team communication and reflexivity	[ "Leadership development", "Feedback", "Communication", "Reflexivity", "Organization development", "Leadership teams" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Team structures in organizations are often based on the idea that organizations can improve performance through teamwork (Wheelan and Furbur, 2006). Organizational learning is dependent on how its teams learn (Edmondson et al., 2007). In questions of organizational performance and adaptability to a changing environment, scholars often point out the key role that leadership teams play in the future of an organization (Hambrick, 2010). Leadership teams often operate at the very top of the organization, and their decisions have long-lasting strategic and operational implications for the organization.\nOrganizations as meaning-making systems: An increasing number of organization and management studies have adopted the communicative view on organizations, that is, organizations are discursive constructions constituted in communication (Cooren et al., 2011). Taking the communication perspective means that organizations, as well as leadership teams, are seen as existing in the everyday conversations and communicative activities of their members. Scholars who adopt the communication perspective are not treating organizations as already formed entities but rather as social constructions that are created, maintained, and transformed in communication through language (Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2012).\nLeadership team development: A common way to develop and change organizations has been through leadership development, which has been viewed as the key contributor for organizational performance (Hunt and Baruch, 2003; van Dongen, 2014). There has been a rapid growth of using leadership development programs for top teams to boost organizational performance (Borensztejn, 2010). Leadership development often focusses on developing better leaders by improving their skills, behaviors and performance. However, leadership development has rarely been concerned about developing leadership and instead focussed on developing individual leaders (Dalakoura, 2010; Hawkins, 2014). This overemphasis on the traits, skills, behaviors and demographic factors of individual leaders has since been criticized (Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2012).\nCompetent communication and reflexivity: The perspectives framing communication as meaning making emphasize that people are \"relational beings\" whose sense of self as well as their behavior is constructed in communication with others (Gergen, 2009). Yet many descriptions of competent communication are derived from the transmission model of communication (Halone and Pecchioni, 2001). This has led to relatively stable valuations of what is considered \"good\" communication and what can be objectively observed and measured. However, previous research shows that sometimes communication actions that might otherwise be considered harmful can be perceived as competent depending on the contextual and relational factors of the social system (Barge and Pearce, 2004). The difference between seeing communication as meaning making rather than as transformation is that the latter model tends to explain communication behavior as a result of people possessing certain behaviors or skills and the former model shifts our attention toward the co-creation and relational activity of people (Barge and Little, 2008).\nThe Leadership Team Tool: The Leadership Team Tool presented in this paper is based on the author's previous research on leadership team communication as well as her experience as an OD consultant. The tool first took shape during a participatory action research process with a top leadership team, where the practices of process consulting were employed to develop reflexivity.\nUsing the Leadership Team Tool: The Leadership Team Tool is a process of dialogic OD rather than a diagnostic measurement of the current state of the leadership team. It provides a framework and a structure for internal and external practitioners to work with meaning-making patterns and discourses to induce reflexivity. It is imperative that the practitioners using the tool understand and make connections between the theoretical premises and the questions used in the tool.\nDiscussion: The aim of this paper was to introduce a Leadership Team Tool for facilitating reflexivity in the context of leadership teams. Prior research on team reflexivity has not established the best ways to develop reflexivity (Schippers et al., 2014). As reflexivity is associated with effective teamwork, it is important to create both theoretical descriptions and practical solutions for developing reflexivity. The Leadership Team Tool presented in this paper is one example of a structured intervention that can enhance reflexivity in the context of leadership teamwork.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a Leadership Team Tool for developing reflexivity in the context of leadership teams.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The Leadership Team Tool is based on the theoretical premises of seeing communication as meaning making, and therefore placing discourse and conversation in the center of developing leadership teams.\nFindings: The paper illustrates how reflexivity can be facilitated through a structured process of using the Leadership Team Tool. An empirical investigation of using the tool in an authentic leadership team setting is warranted to further develop the Leadership Team Tool.\nOriginality/value: The paper makes a practical contribution to several fields of studies, such as team communication and reflexivity, leadership team research and dialogic organization development. The paper addresses the need to develop solutions to enhance reflexivity, as prior research has not established the best ways to foster reflexivity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Graduate development in European employment: issues and contradictions	[ "Higher education", "Graduates", "Continuing development", "United Kingdom", "Europe" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Expansion of higher education across Europe has been justified largely in terms of improving economic competitiveness within the context of a growing global knowledge economy. Furthermore, current higher education policy drivers are seeking to create greater linkages between higher education and employment. But regardless of trends towards harmonisation of national higher education systems in Europe (driven in part by the Bologna process) there are still rather large differences in the histories and traditions of higher education between European countries, including differences in the role traditionally assigned to higher education in recruitment and preparation for the labour market (see, for example, Arthur et al., 2007).This article draws on findings of a recently completed study of higher education graduates across eleven European countries, the Reflex study[1], to explore to what extent there are variations in the development of graduates once in employment; to what extent these variations can be explained by differences in the higher education systems; and what the current moves towards greater harmonisation between these systems might mean for graduates' continuing professional development in employment.\nContexts: In some European countries, higher education is seen as preparation for employment in a variety of specific professional contexts, whereas in others there is a much looser linkage. Arthur et al. (2007) note that in France, for example, the emphasis on professional education gives its higher education institutions a major role in professional \"formation\". In the UK, an individual's professional formation is more likely to be completed after higher education, and in conjunction with employers and professional bodies (though there are some exceptions to this). It is likely that such differences in traditions and purposes of higher education will impact on the nature and extent of the graduates' further development once they are in employment. Also, first degree programmes in continental European higher education systems have traditionally been much longer than those in the UK, and have tended to include more occupationally-relevant preparation than has been possible within the much shorter first degrees in the UK.Aligned to such overarching differences in higher education programmes, it can be seen that linkages between higher education and employment also vary in different European countries. In many countries, graduates need to have quite specific educational qualifications when applying for certain jobs, which \"inevitably reduces the discretion of employers about whom to recruit and reduces the range of jobs for which workers can apply\" (Arthur et al., 2007, p. 2). Within the UK's more open and flexible job market, having a specific qualification might be less critical, and as a recent study of employers' needs for information in relation to recruitment practices reminds us, \"where\" rather than \"what\" you studied matters considerably to many UK employers (Morley and Aynsley, 2007).\nThe Reflex survey findings: Data from the recent Reflex survey of European graduates highlights some of these differences rather starkly. By design, the survey sampled graduates who had completed their studies in 2000 with either a bachelor's or master's degree (depending on whichever was seen as the main \"first cycle\" qualification with which graduates entered the labour market within the specific country and specific higher education sector). Two-thirds of European graduates in the sample had in fact completed a masters degree in 2000, and for some countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) the whole sample had done so. However, the UK sample comprised almost solely those who had completed a Bachelor's degree in 2000 (93 per cent had done so). The only other graduate samples comprising a majority of bachelor degree holders were in the Netherlands and Norway (with 67 per cent and 64 per cent respectively).Work placements\nGraduates' development in the workplace - changes afoot?: The European higher education systems that were the focus of the study have been changing, as part of the harmonisation process (following the 1999 Bologna Declaration). In particular, a standard pattern of bachelors'/masters' degree provision is currently being introduced in the majority of European countries. A key question is how will graduate development, and specifically the patterns shown by this survey, be affected? Will these changes also mean changes in the linkages between employment and higher education and their impact on the pattern of graduates' professional formation and career paths and initial training once in employment?A comparative study of the implementation of tiered bachelors' and masters' programmes in a number of European countries (commissioned by the German Ministry for Education and Research in 2004, and reported in Kehm, 2006) found some uncertainties in relation to graduates' transitions in to the labour market. With the exception of the UK, the uncertainties were particularly significant in respect of bachelors' programmes offered by universities, and masters' programmes offered by polytechnics (or equivalent institutions). The study suggested such uncertainties may reflect the \"newness\" of such provision since few problems were anticipated in respect of masters' programmes in universities (deemed to be equivalent to the traditional long-cycle university programmes), and bachelors' programmes from polytechnics (again deemed to be equivalent to the traditional short-cycle study programmes offered by these institutions).More recently, as part of the Reflex project, a study was undertaken of employers' and university leaders' views of the kinds of knowledge, skills and competences required of graduates in the knowledge society (Arthur et al., 2007). Though not focusing on the impact of the Bologna process itself, issues relating to that process figured large in the study. In general, employers seemed to welcome the intentions underlying the process, namely greater comparability of national systems of higher education, and an internationally transparent degree structure. That said, many interviewees also expressed reservations about the value of the bachelor's degree as an entry qualification to the labour market. University leaders in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway expressed similar views about the value of the bachelor's degree (and anticipated that the majority of students would continue to progress to masters programmes before moving in to the labour market). The situation in France was rather different since, by law, the bachelor's degree was recognised as having a dual function: as a labour market qualification (professional licence) and as a step towards a master's programme (general licence). Other studies cited by Arthur et al. have reported German employers' concerns that those with \"only a bachelor degree\" will need more in-house training, and hence a shift in responsibility for such work-related training from higher education to employers' themselves. And in this more recent study, Dutch and German employers' views (particularly those from larger companies) tended to confirm this perception of a shift in responsibility from higher education to employers, particularly in terms of additional subject-specific training for those entering employment with a bachelor's degree.Interestingly, from a UK perspective, greater harmonisation of national higher education systems and continuing international pressures towards the masters degree (as noted above) could in fact lead to a devaluing of the bachelor's degree (traditionally seen as the \"stopping-off\" point and initial entry to the labour market).But how long will it be before we see any such devaluing reflected in UK employers' general recruitment practices for highly skilled workers? And will UK graduates react accordingly? As noted above, those UK graduates who had chosen to enrol on other studies (in addition to their first degrees) were more likely to study for professional qualifications rather than for masters' degrees. If UK employers' recruitment practices do start to shift towards seeing a master's degree (rather than a bachelors) as the initial point of entry to the labour market, then we may see increasing student numbers progressing to masters' programmes (although the financial implications for students of such a move could be considerable). However, in certain employment sectors within the UK, the traditional routes to professional formation (involving first degree level study followed by relevant employment and continuing development aligned to professional bodies' own criteria, including the acquisition of professional qualifications) are rather well established, and arguably somewhat resistant to change. In such sectors, employers' own recruitment practices are likely to reflect, to an extent, relevant UK professional bodies' own criteria for achieving professional status.It is too early to assess the full impact of higher education restructuring (post Bologna) in different countries across Europe (with their differing traditions in the functions of higher education) or on the relationships between higher education and employment in those countries and the knock-on effects of any such shifts on the UK graduate labour market. Though some shifts in responsibility between higher education and employers in terms of graduates' initial training are anticipated we will need more evidence about employers' actual recruitment and training practices in relation to the \"new\" graduate outputs (and, within the UK, a sense of professional bodies' attitudes towards such restructuring) to know if this may become a reality. Certainly within the UK, the government continues to press for greater employer engagement in the development of a highly skilled workforce - though in some respects this \"push\" relates more to those already employed, rather than graduates' initial education and training and their assimilation into the workplace.But, regardless of graduates' initial \"formation\" (be it solely the responsibility of higher education, or more a joint effort between higher education and employers), what is clear is that once in employment, graduates' skills and knowledge will need to develop on a continuing basis to reflect the changing nature of work tasks in our increasingly knowledge-based economies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to explore to what extent there are variations in the development of graduates once in employment; to what extent these variations can be explained by differences in the higher education systems; and what the current moves towards greater harmonisation between these systems might mean for graduates' continuing professional development in employment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected from the graduating cohort of 1999/2000 across 11 European countries, five years after graduation. The views of higher education providers and employers on graduates in the knowledge society were investigated in a smaller sub-set of countries.\nFindings: - There are differences in the incidence and length of UK graduates' initial training in employment compared to all graduates which can be explained, in part, by the traditionally looser \"fit\" between higher education and employment in the UK (compared to many continental European countries). Five years after graduation, UK graduates enjoy similar levels of work-related training as their European counterparts, although there are quite large differences between employment sectors.\nOriginality/value: - This article looks into what extent harmonisation of higher education programmes (arising from the Bologna process) will affect the relationship between higher education and employment, and in particular the role played by higher education and by employers in graduates' initial professional formation and continuing development; it will be of interest to those in that field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding a shifting methodology: A content analysis of the use of netnography in hospitality and tourism research	[ "Online community", "Ethnography", "Netnography", "Data analysis", "Research ethics", "Participant observation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Ethnography which translates to \"culture writing\" is the foundation of the field of anthropology. This technique has been incorporated into other fields such as hospitality and tourism to enhance the methodological toolkit of researchers. Anthropologists often consider ethnography to be more than a technique of qualitative research. Instead, ethnography is viewed as a comprehensive methodology with guidelines, moral and ethical codes, and a strong heritage for providing the theory of description in conjunction with other theoretical understandings (Nader, 2011). To study online consumption communities, researchers adapted ethnographic methodologies to fit the virtual realm (Kozinets, 1997).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Characteristics of ethnography\n3. Methodology: The original development of netnography as an adaptation of ethnography used cultural anthropology as the foundation of the methodological techniques. With the changes in methodological practices over time, it is crucial to examine netnography separately from ethnography based on current practices to determine differentiating points between the two above and beyond currently held netnography principles. A content analysis was conducted to identify, to critically evaluate and to synthesize the published literature on netnography in the hospitality and tourism industry (Fink, 2013; Myers, 2013). This was done by identifying the similar themes within the research then extrapolating common areas of discrepancy. The content analysis follows the prescription from Mohammed et al.'s (2015) review of economic research in hospitality and tourism journals. Analyzing data through content analysis allows the information to be examined in meaningful ways to draw valid deductions or inferences in an objective manner (Mohammed et al., 2015).\n4. Results and analysis: Table I provides a summary of the profile of papers used in this study. One of the more relevant findings indicate that there has not been significant growth in the use of netnography in hospitality and tourism literature. Hopefully, this paper will generate the use of netnography in future studies. In addition, the results found in Table I produced four major themes for areas of incongruity between netnography and ethnography: sampletype, data collection technique, level of disclosure and data analysis approach. These incongruities relate to Kozinets' (2002) methodological guidelines.\n5. Discussion and implications: While netnography is growing in popularity and every top-tier consumer behavior journal in marketing has published articles based on netnographic data (Kozinets, 2006), it is still relatively underutilized as a mainstream qualitative methodology in hospitality and tourism (La Rocca et al., 2014; Mkono and Markwell, 2014; Rageh et al., 2013). Before netnography can be used to its full potential, there needs to be a well-defined set of rules and parameters to ensure credibility (internal validity), transferability (external validity, generalizability), dependability (reliability) and confirmability (objectivity) (Shenton, 2004). To ensure the rigors of methodological practices, researchers should not only look to text book definitions and descriptions but also evaluate the practitioners who use the methods in the field. Based on this kind of research, there are four main departing points between the use of netnography versus ethnography in hospitality and tourism research: data source, data collection techniques, ethics in research design and data analysis.\n6. Conclusions: 6.1 Implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: While netnography was established to study virtual communities from the traditional ethnography methodology, over time it has evolved and moved away from standard ethnographic practices. The modifications are especially prevalent in hospitality and tourism research because of the nature of experiential and service-based goods. This gap has created exciting new opportunities for researchers. As netnography has matured into its own methodology, it has provided the opportunity for researchers to use netnography techniques or more traditional techniques by following ethnography methodologies. This paper aims to analyze the differences between these two methodologies within hospitality and tourism literature enabling researchers to choose the methodology that is most suited for their project.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study reviews netnographic research in hospitality and tourism and compares current uses of netnography against traditional ethnographic methodologies.\nFindings: There are four major differentiating points between netnography and ethnography: online community definitions, data collection methodologies, ethics in research and data analysis techniques.\nPractical implications: In comparing ethnography and netnography in hospitality and tourism research, this analysis provides a foundation to evaluate the best use and best practices for these two distinct qualitative methodologies in the field. The study also provides references to how other hospitality and tourism researchers have used netnography.\nOriginality/value: Ethnographic principles grounded in the foundation of anthropological doctrines are important and distinct from netnography. The ability to use the diverse tools in the qualitative methods toolbox will help hospitality and tourism researchers understand the transforming marketplace.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Establishing productive principal/principal supervisor partnerships for instructional leadership	[ "Principals", "Educational administration", "Supervisors", "Leadership", "Partners" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: As the role and responsibilities of the principal have changed considerably since the enactment of No Child Left Behind, school district central offices have assumed responsibility for providing critical support to principals and to schools in improving instruction. In this context, numerous central offices in mid-sized and large urban districts around the nation are reshaping the role of principal supervisors to focus less on business and compliance, and to instead provide intensive, job-embedded coaching to principals to strengthen principals' instructional leadership (Corcoran et al., 2013; Honig, 2012; Jerald, 2012). As instructional leaders, principals work closely with classroom teachers to improve classroom instruction and produce improvements in student learning (Elmore, 2004; Knapp et al., 2014). To facilitate principals' growth as instructional leaders, central office supervisors visit schools more often than in the past and now have instructionally focused meetings with principals (Honig, 2012). The central office's direct support of principals' professional development has evolved from a focus on supervision to one centered on coaching, mentoring and partnering with the specific goal of improving student achievement (Browne-Ferrigno and Allen, 2006; Clarke and Wildy, 2011; Johnson and Chrispeels, 2010; Leithwood, 2010).\nBackground: Leadership coaching for principals is now a widely discussed topic of interest in the field of education. As leadership coaching in education has recently focused on the role of the principal supervisor as a coach, across fields, there has also been increased interest in the role of managers as coaches and as developers of others within their organizations (Frankovelgia and Riddle, 2010). In education, Wise and Cavazos (2017) recently found that approximately half of all public school principals have received, or currently receive, leadership coaching. As the principal supervisor's role has shifted to focus on coaching and the instructional leadership growth of principals, some emerging research has examined the role of the principal supervisor as a coach as well.\nConceptual framework: The new role for principal supervisors is quite unique - the principal supervisor is expected to serve as both an evaluator of principals and a facilitator of principals' instructional leadership learning. In light of the nature of the learning-focused partnership between the principal supervisor and the principal, we reviewed the coaching literature to identify specific factors that might contribute to the establishment of a productive partnership that would, in turn, facilitate principals' changes in instructional leadership practice. Although we began the process of reviewing literature on coaching prior to engaging in the research, we returned to the literature and expanded our search as we sought to make sense of themes that emerged during our analysis. In this renewed search, we found some evidence that pointed to the presence of potential antecedent characteristics of coaches and coachees in the development of a partnership, as well as to contributions by both the coach and the coachee in the establishment of a productive partnership during collaborative work.\nMethodology: The findings reported in the current paper arose during the analysis of data in a study focused on understanding how principal supervisors support principals in changing their instructional leadership practices and in facilitating instructional improvement. The theme of the principal/principal supervisor partnership first emerged in observations in which principal supervisors displayed different types of relationships with each principal they supported. In interviews, principal supervisors readily discussed how they easily established productive partnerships with some principals, but needed to dedicate much more time and effort to build working relationships with others. Further, principals described a wide range of qualities of relationships with their supervisors during interviews. In analyzing the data, it became clear that the degrees to which principals changed their instructional leadership practice were influenced by the qualities of the principal supervisor/principal partnership.\nFindings: In productive principal supervisor/principal partnerships, our findings demonstrated that the principal supervisor and the principal each brought specific antecedent characteristics to their partnership and each made contributions to the development of a productive partnership during their collaborative work. When these partnership qualities were present, in line with our conceptual framework, then principal supervisors and principals engaged in joint work, leading to robust changes in principals' instructional leadership practice.\nDiscussion and implications: The principal supervisor occupies a unique and difficult role; while this role has traditionally focused on solving administrative problems and ensuring compliance, today the role has shifted to one in which the supervisor is expected to serve as a coach who facilitates principals' learning and growth as instructional leaders, while also maintaining the responsibilities of an evaluator (Browne-Ferrigno and Allen, 2006; Clarke and Wildy, 2011; Honig, 2012; Johnson and Chrispeels, 2010; Leithwood, 2010). Due to the dual focus on both principals' instructional leadership learning and improved student outcomes, a learning-focused partnership in which the principal supervisor and the principal engage in collaborative joint work is needed (Robertson, 2009). We found that among productive partnerships in which robust changes in instructional leadership practice occur, the partnership develops through three stages: recognition of antecedent characteristics; contributions of support and collegiality, coupled with principals' motivation to learn, lead to the presence of trust in the relationship; and engagement in joint work leading to changes in principals' instructional leadership practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand what the principal and principal supervisor each bring and contribute to their collaborative work that is consequential for the principal's learning and development as an instructional leader.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Multiple case study methodology is used to gather data from 12 principal supervisor/principal partnerships over a 16 month period in one Mid-Atlantic school district. Data sources included interviews, observational data and documents provided by participants in the study.\nFindings: In productive principal supervisor/principal partnerships, findings demonstrated that the principal supervisor and the principal each brought specific antecedent characteristics to their partnership and each made contributions to the development of a productive partnership during their collaborative work. When these partnership qualities were present, principal supervisors and principals engaged in joint work, leading to robust changes in principals' instructional leadership practice.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study examined the work of principals and principal supervisors in one large Mid-Atlantic school district.\nPractical implications: Findings from this study have implications for districts' assignments of principal supervisors, principal supervisor/principal selection and professional development of principal supervisors. Further, districts should create the conditions for principal supervisors and principals to establish learning-focused professional partnerships in three stages, culminating in the engagement of joint work for improvement to facilitate principals' changes in instructional leadership practice.\nOriginality/value: Findings from this study illustrate the value of establishing a learning-focused partnership between principal supervisors and principals in three stages to facilitate robust stages in principals' instructional leadership practice. A new conceptual framework displays the stages of partnership development that occur in productive principal/principal supervisor partnerships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How do Latin American migrants in the USA stand on schooling premium? What does it reveal about education quality in their home countries?	[ "Returns to education", "Immigrant workers", "Schooling premium", "Wage differentials", "I26", "J31", "J61" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Education is critical for economic growth, poverty reduction, well-being and a plethora of desirable social outcomes. The individual contribution of schooling has often been measured by labor market earnings. For almost five decades, researchers have examined the patterns of estimated schooling premia across economies (Psacharopoulos, 1972, 1973, 1985, 1989, 1994; Harmon et al., 2003; Heckman et al., 2003; Psacharopoulos and Patrinos, 2004; Banerjee and Duflo, 2005; Colclough et al., 2010; Psacharopoulos and Layard, 2012; Montenegro and Patrinos, 2014). The premia are typically shown as the estimated proportional increase in an individual's labor market earnings for each additional year of schooling completed.\n2. Methodology: Mincer (1958) has provided a great service in estimating the schooling premium by means of the semi-log earnings function. The now standard method of estimating private benefits per year of schooling is by determining the log earnings equations with the form:(1)\n3. Data and descriptive statistics: We use a pooled data set from the Public Use Microdata for the 1980-2000 US Censuses 5 percent sample and the American Community Survey 2008-2012 five-year sample[3]. The analysis is restricted to men aged 25-64 currently working and not in school, with incomes more than $1,000 a year, who have worked 50 weeks or more during the last year[4], and have worked more than 30 h during the last week. Hourly earnings are calculated from the annual wage and salary income divided by weeks worked per year, which is then divided by hours worked per week. All earnings are in 1999 value of dollars. We complement this with additional data from the World Bank national accounts data and OECD National Accounts data files for information on GDP growth.\n4. Results: Table II shows results for the regressions that estimate Equation (2). In this table, we combine results for four world regions (EAP, India, Northern Europe and Southern Europe) and 17 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. In each pair of columns, we report the results for a pooled set of immigrants by graduation cohorts (1940-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1989 or 1990-2010). We report only the coefficient of interest, b1, the difference in schooling premia between each country/region and the base category. This schooling premia is for every year of education. As outlined in Equation (2), we allow such schooling premia to vary between levels (secondary and tertiary). In addition to tables with the estimated coefficients and with a visual purpose, we also compute the parameter estimates over a rolling window of a fixed size[7] through the sample, so we can get smooth time-varying parameters and plot them against the year of graduation[8] of immigrants as time variable.\n5. Controlling for non-random selection into migration: Migrant workers in the USA are not a random sample of the populations of their corresponding countries of origin. Self-selection into emigration as well as into a subsequent non-return to their home countries occurs both in observable and unobservable characteristics (Borjas, 1987; Borjas and Bratsbert, 1996). Figure A1 in the Appendix shows that this is the case for years of schooling when comparing the data for migrants (from the USA Census) and that of populations in the home countries (from the Barro & Lee data sets). Immigrant workers are selected on various characteristics in addition to education, such as occupations, skills, age, gender, ambitions, and other hard-to-observe traits. The selection process occurs on several complex and interrelated ways and such selectivity could bias our estimators of schooling premia[9].\n6. Conclusions: In this paper, we show proxy evidence that the schooling premia in Latin America have been steadily low for the last 50 years. Besides, these results stand after controlling for selective migration in different ways. This contradicts the popular belief in policy circles that the education quality of the region has deteriorated in recent years. Latin America and the Caribbean is a very heterogeneous region and there are certainly some differences among countries. However, limitations in the data do not allow to control for selection and analyze in detail schooling premia by countries. Nevertheless, the overall picture for the region shows little room for optimism and should be caused of concern.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Indicators for quality of schooling are not only relatively new in the world but also unavailable for a sizable share of the world's population. In their absence, some proxy measures have been devised. One simple but powerful idea has been to use the schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to extend this idea and compute measures for the schooling premium of immigrant workers in the USA over a span of five decades.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors focus on the schooling premia for the Latin American and the Caribbean region and compare them to those of migrants from other regions, particularly from East Asia and Pacific, India, Northern Europe and Southern Europe, all relative to immigrants from former Soviet Republics. The available data allow us to measure such premia for workers who graduated from school, either at the secondary or tertiary levels, in their home countries between 1940 and 2010.\nFindings: The results show that the schooling premia in Latin America have been steadily low throughout the whole period of analysis. The results stand after controlling for selective migration in different ways. This contradicts the popular belief in policy circles that the education quality of the region has deteriorated in recent years. In contrast, schooling premium in India shows an impressive improvement in recent decades, especially at the tertiary level.\nOriginality/value: In this paper, the authors extend the idea of computing schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002) and present comparative estimates of the evolution of schooling premia in 17 Latin American countries for both secondary and tertiary schooling levels.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
UnityUK celebrates its second birthday: a paradigm shift for UK public libraries	[ "Document delivery", "Interlending", "Resource sharing", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: UnityUK is the web-based resource sharing and interlibrary loan service provided by OCLC in partnership with The Combined Regions (TCR; see www.combinedregions.com).For more than ten years, TCR has provided interlending services to its 140 member library organisations across the South West, North East, East Midlands, North East and Scotland. Under the Unity name, TCR's resource sharing services began with a CD union catalogue, and in 2001 moved to become web-based. In February 2006 TCR announced the launch of a new and upgraded Unity service to be provided by OCLC.UnityUK is the UK's first and only national network for resource sharing bringing together the Union catalogues of TCR, LinkUK (the interlending system that services 68 libraries throughout London and the SouthEast, COPAC (academic and national library catalogue) and the catalogue of the National Library for the Blind, to offer a single unified search service.The UnityUK service was launched in April 2006, and working in partnership with The Combined Regions, OCLC has focused on three specific areas in developing the service:1. functionality;2. data; and3. community.The UnityUK service is a subscription service and is used by more than 120 of the 210 library authorities in the UK. Its sister service, LinkUK (see www.combinedregions.com/about_unityuk/linkuk.html), will be merged with UnityUK at the end of March 2008.1.1 Background\n2. Functionality: The service went live in April 2006, just six weeks after the framework agreement was announced. Since then a range of enhancements has been added to the service. These have been identified and defined by working closely with subscribing libraries.In year one, a number of features were added:* comprehensive support for e-mail request management;* ability to add local request numbers; and* automatic chasing and cancelling of requests.In April 2007, the service underwent its first major upgrade since launch. This release provided subscribers with a streamlined workflow. The requirements were defined following an extensive usability programme, which was put in place by OCLC. This enabled OCLC to fully understand the working practices of the UK public library sector, and included observation of library practitioners using the service.A key feature was added to enable UnityUK borrowing libraries to handle e-mail requests more efficiently. Around 40 per cent of requests placed in UnityUK are sent out via e-mail, so it was important that UnityUK subscribers could handle this process efficiently and within UnityUK itself.Prior to the April upgrade, the borrowing library updated requests manually as lending libraries responded to e-mails. This was time-consuming, so in order to streamline this process, three URLs were added to the e-mail, as described below:1. Borrowing libraries were not accustomed to updating requests as responses were received, as it was the lending libraries that manually forwarded the e-mail to the next library in the rota. UnityUK handles every aspect of the rota and therefore the system needs to know when a lending library cannot supply the item.2. The lending library is now able to click on a URL to indicate that: they will supply the item, that the item has been shipped, or that they are unable to supply the item. As a result, requests now move through the rota much faster and a \"not supplied\" message immediately updates a request and sends it to the next location on the rota. A total of 56 per cent of e-mail requests are now updated via the URL click-through. \"Not supplied\" is the most used URL.3. This release also included some significant interface and workflow changes, including:* changes to the way requests were numbered;* an updated request layout was added;* the rota and history of requests was streamlined; and* visibility of key information such as BL account numbers was enhanced.\n3. Data: The data from the UnityWeb union catalogue were received by OCLC in March 2006. The data were migrated to the new platform and went live to subscribers in June 2006. At the time, there were more than nine million bibliographic records, and nearly 41 million holdings.Since the initial migration, the data have been improved. A number of tasks have been undertaken. More than three million records were updated when the data were \"reshuffled\" - this involved ensuring the data elements were in the correct field. For example, ISBNs and the year of publication were moved. The database has been de-duplicated. During this process, a single ISBN was found 42 times in the catalogue (see Table I).In order to ensure that holdings were maintained and kept up to date, libraries were asked to provide OCLC with a full database dump. This could be provided in a number of formats to enable libraries to easily update their holdings. By June 2007, 67 libraries had been updated, and automatic updating of their holdings was in place.The British Library files - Serials, Monographs and Conferences - have been added to the union catalogue, and updated weekly. They are searchable as separate, individual files in UnityUK but are also available to be searched alongside other catalogues.Both physical and virtual contribution is possible, as libraries can also contribute their holdings through a Z39.50 search, and 25 libraries are now operating in this way. It is important to offer flexibility to libraries in the way in which they contribute data.WorldCat.org enables library holdings to be visible for free on the open web, and many UnityUK subscribers are interested in making their holdings available through the Worldcat.org program (see www.oclc.org/worldcat/open/) and investigations are under way. This will also facilitate international lending of library materials where the library wants to offer this service.The LinkUK union catalogue will be migrated to the UnityUK platform in 2008. This means a single union catalogue will be available which will offer the holdings of more than 90 per cent of UK public libraries. The LinkUK migration will follow the same path as the UnityUK data load; in other words it will be an opportunity for libraries to update their data.\n4. Community: One of the key improvements for the UnityUK subscribers has been the evolution of a sense of community, and contribution to the service as it develops.The Combined Regions is a partnership organisation of national libraries (the National Library of Scotland, and the British Library are key TCR partners) and regional library domain bodies, which works to develop and facilitate resource sharing and co-operation. Its Council and Management Board provide a vital forum in liaising with OCLC to ensure that strategic, technical and business considerations are aligned. TCR also plays a key role in ensuring that resource sharing issues remain central to the national agenda for library and information services.Regional user groups have taken place regularly since the service launch. Subscribers are given the opportunity to meet with colleagues, discuss best practice and liaise with OCLC. Meetings take place locally, and involve updates from OCLC staff, and provide an opportunity for practitioners to discuss new features and requirements.National user forums have also taken place on a bi-annual basis since the service was launched. Requirements for future releases are discussed in detail, and a representative from each region attends and contributes to the discussions. These meetings are chaired by the vice-chair of The Combined Regions, and provide OCLC with detailed information for service enhancements.In July 2007, the inaugural UnityUK User Conference took place in Sheffield. This was an open invitation to subscribers to attend a free event, and more than 50 organisations were represented. Seminar sessions were organised, and included refresher training sessions, customer presentations and focus groups. This also provided practitioners with the opportunity to meet face-to-face and discuss UnityUK and wider resource-sharing issues.Subscribers have access to a telephone help desk service and customer satisfaction calls take place every other month. OCLC also communicates with libraries through a mailing list.With more than 130 subscribers across Great Britain, it can be challenging to keep subscribers informed and well trained in using the service. With that in mind, the Members Area website was launched in January 2007, and has recently been refreshed. The website offers online training videos, which members can download. Quick guides and supporting documentation are also available. FAQs have recently been added and will be updated regularly.The Members Area was invaluable when the service was upgraded in April 2007. Training materials were added to the site so practitioners could download the resources prior to the upgrade. In addition, OCLC also gave access to a training database which had already been upgraded, so users could familiarise themselves with workflow prior to going live and using the new interface for real.\n5. Moving forward: Further functionality will be added in March 2008. Key features in the next version include an enhanced British Library workflow. The British Library Document Supply Centre supplies more materials to UnityUK libraries than any other lending library in the UK. Many subscribers send ARTEmail requests to the BL via UnityUK, and many have their status reports automatically updated in UnityUK. BLDSC requests will be made more prominent within the work queue and reapplications and chasers may be automated. Subscribers will be able to view an ARTEmail in the format in which it was sent to BLDSC. This will be done on the fly within the UnityUK application itself, rather than sending the e-mail itself to the practitioner's mailbox.Calendars will be implemented so that lending libraries can add their closed dates in advance and the rota will take notice of this. For example, if the item has not been satisfied, a retry application will be sent if the rota is exhausted and the lending library has re-opened. Again, this will result in more efficient and streamlined workflow and improved turnaround time as a request will not be sent to any library that is closed and will be automatically re-routed to possible lending libraries.5.1 Fee management\n6. Conclusion: The UnityUK community has embraced a new technology and therefore a new way of working. Following a somewhat challenging start, the service has now settled down to being the de facto resource for ILL requesting across the UK.The subscribers have worked alongside OCLC and The Combined Regions to provide both pragmatic enhancements, and strategic direction to the service. The service will continue to develop in line with subscriber requirements and the wider needs of UK libraries.The continued improved turnaround time ultimately result in a more efficient service for the library user. The service will continue to be developed to improve the user experience. In 2008, the UnityUK community will consider the possible impact of making their data available via the open web through Worldcat (see www.worldcat.org). Offering this innovation will make the holdings of UK public libraries available to the UK population for free at the point of need. The impact of this has the potential to lead to further innovations including home delivery.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explain the UnityUK service and its benefits to the user community.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper takes the form of a factual review of the UnityUK service.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the UnityUK service is changing the way inter-library loans work in the UK.\nOriginality/value: - The paper shares experiences of the UK market with the wider community.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Problematic customers and turnover intentions of customer service employees	[ "Problematic customers", "Emotional exhaustion", "Job satisfaction", "Organizational turnover intentions", "Occupational turnover intentions", "Employee behaviour", "Human resource management" ]	[ { "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: Employee turnover has been one of the most widely investigated phenomena among academic researchers and practitioners. In the call center industry, which is the context of this study, turnover rates are estimated to be in the range of 35 percent to 50 percent every year (Sawyerr et al., 2009). When competent and well trained employees leave, it is difficult for organizations to immediately fill those positions and maintain high organizational performance (Babakus et al., 1996). Organizations invest significant resources in replenishing the workforce for effective service delivery and high turnover rates can directly hurt the bottom lines of organizations. Also, organizations cannot maintain good service quality without managing service employees' turnover.In recent years, many firms have created global service delivery models in an attempt to improve service quality and reduce service costs. Generally firms outsource the service component of the product to dedicated call centers in developing countries where high quality manpower is available at cheaper costs (Budhwar et al., 2009). If call center organizations are unable to curb such high turnover rates, the delivery of high quality service and subsequently the cost advantage of such organizations could be in jeopardy (e.g. Hurley and Estelami, 2007).The high turnover rates among customer service employees (CSE) in call centers are often attributed to the stressful nature of the work (Sawyerr et al. 2009). As part of the customer service job, CSEs engage with different types of customers every day. Some of these customers can be characterized as \"problematic\" (Grandey et al. 2004), who might be rude and difficult to handle. Anecdotal evidence from interviewing CSEs suggests that these consumers sometimes abuse and make unreasonable demands from the CSEs. Research in marketing emphasizes customer rage as an issue that is becoming increasingly prevalent in marketing environments and especially in service settings (Grove et al. 2004; McColl-Kennedy et al. 2009; Patterson et al. 2009). According to Patterson et al. (2009) around 25 percent of American workers reported psychological or physical aggression from customers. It is estimated that about 20 percent of all call center interactions are hostile (Grandey et al. 2004). Also, many times customers are not only wrong in their behaviors but are indeed unjust, taking advantage of the \"customer is always right\" notion by making unreasonable demands in their interactions with service employees (Berry and Seiders, 2008). Such customers make the CSE's work more stressful. In view of this, it is surprising to note that not many researchers have considered problematic customer behaviors as an important source of CSE's emotional exhaustion. This is the primary objective of the present research. This research extends the literature by considering problematic customer behaviors, namely abusive and unreasonably demanding behaviors, as determinants of CSE's emotional exhaustion and subsequently higher intentions to switch organizations/jobs.The second objective of this study is to extend our current understanding about employee turnover. Although the higher turnover rates among call center CSEs are well documented in the literature, the answer to the following question is not answered. Do these CSEs switch from organization to organization or do they leave the entire occupation? Occupational turnover is relatively less researched by marketing authors. Most research focusing on turnover looks from the organizational perspective, but the occupational turnover is rather scarcely studied. When employees are so disgruntled by the job, it is possible that they might even think of leaving the entire occupation. Our interviews suggest that not only are CSRs switching the organizations, but also are constantly thinking about leaving the occupation too. This kind of turnover is obviously bad for firms as they have to constantly find and train new employees who may not be up to par with existing experienced employees. This constant churn can harm the service levels offered by firms and thereby lower overall customer satisfaction. It could even prevent new employees from being attracted to the industry in the first place, thereby increasing the cost of hiring. Hence as a second objective, this study investigates the determinants of occupational turnover of CSE, mainly the role of problematic customer behaviors on occupational turnover intentions.This paper is an attempt to understand this aspect of turnover in a service environment context. We try and understand what is driving CSE turnover intentions and the role that problematic customer behaviors are playing in this. To our knowledge it is the first paper to look at problematic customer behaviors and CSEs turnover intentions. Figure 1 presents the proposed theoretical model. The next section presents the theoretical foundation of the constructs and the hypotheses. Later methods used to test the model and results are detailed. Finally the results are discussed in detail with implications to researchers and practitioners.\nTheoretical background: Problematic customer behaviors\nMethodology and findings: The data for this study comes from surveying 215 CSEs working in different call centers in India mainly serving American customers. The data set was collected as part of a larger study to understand the issue of service imports and its impact on CSE's. The services of a survey panel company were utilized to collect the data. The company's reputation and panel formation standards were checked before finalizing the panel company. The panel company was provided with a defined sample frame, call center based CSEs, by the researchers. The panel company then randomly selected the 1,000 call center professionals to receive the survey. These 1,000 recipients of the survey are part of a large pool of discontinuous panel members. Three follow up e-mails were sent at one week intervals. After one month a total of 265 completed surveys were obtained. Care was taken to delete all surveys which were completed in less than 6 minutes or more than 20 minutes. Also the IP addresses were checked to eliminate any responses coming from the same home IP address. The final acceptance rate is 21.5 percent.Survey items for four of the six constructs present in the model were adapted from well-established and psychometrically valid scales. The scale for emotional exhaustion (five items) was adapted from Singh et al. (1994). The scale for job satisfaction (four items) was an adapted version from Churchill et al. (1974). The scales for measuring both organizational and occupational turnover intentions were adapted from an established scale on turnover intentions by Ganesan and Weitz (1996). Formative indicators were used to measure the other two constructs namely customer abuse and unreasonable customer demands. We interviewed five CSEs (each of whom had a minimum of five years' work experience at in the customer service industry) to understand the issues faced by CSEs. Their responses were used to generate formative scales for abusive and unreasonably demanding customer behaviors. All the constructs, both reflective and formative are measured using seven-point likert scales ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7).The scales were considered valid as they met the criteria suggested by Nunnally (1978). All the reflective scales were adaptations from established and psychometrically valid scales and therefore met the content validity criteria. The remaining two formative scales were considered valid as they were generated by interviewing customer service employees who had multiple years of experience between them and sharing the scale items back with them.Once the data was collected we checked further for reliability and discriminant validity of the constructs before final usage in the structural model as suggested by Nunnally (1978) and Fornell and Larcker (1981). The reliability of the constructs that used reflective measures was checked using both Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability (CR). All the constructs passed the reliability test (Cronbach's alpha greater than 0.70 and CR values greater than 0.80). The complete scale constructs along with the reliability statistics and loadings are provided in Table I.After the data was collected, discriminant analysis was conducted on the data to ensure that all the constructs were distinct from each other and items of each construct loaded exclusively on the underlying construct (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). We did not find any items which were cross loading, therefore all items were included while conducting the test suggested for discriminant validity. According to Fornell and Larcker (1981) discriminant validity exists if the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) of a particular construct is greater than the correlation between that construct and all other constructs. All the constructs passed the test (Table II). We were able to use all the original items in the structural model.Model tests and results\nDiscussion and implications: The research was aimed at understanding turnover intentions of CSEs who deal with customers all the time. Specifically we wanted to understand the antecedents of such intentions. In our model we had hypothesized that when CSEs experience abusive and unreasonably demanding behaviors from customers, they get emotionally drained and thus leading to reduced levels of job satisfaction and can cause CSEs to contemplate leaving the organization or even leaving the occupation forever. We found that all our hypothesized relationships found strong support. The results from this study provide significant managerial and theoretical contributions to existing body of knowledge.Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of problematic customer behaviors on customer service employee attitudes and subsequent turnover intentions from the organization and also the occupation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data from five semi-structured depth interviews and 215 quantitative surveys using structured questionnaires were used to develop and test the theoretical model. Customer service employees working in different call center companies serving American customers were approached using an established survey panel.\nFindings: - Results using the partial least squares (PLS) methodology showed that problematic customer behaviors drain customer service employees emotionally. Emotional exhaustion is negatively related to job satisfaction, and subsequently, employees' turnover intentions. The results also show that turnover intentions with organization and occupation are positively related to each other.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As regards implications, this study provides an understanding of the relationship between problematic customer behaviors and employees' turnover intentions. Future researchers can utilize the findings from this study for investigating other consequences and antecedents of problematic customer behaviors. A limitation of the study is its use of cross-sectional data.\nPractical implications: - This paper provides call center managers with an understanding of the effects of problematic customer behaviors on employee attitudes. It discusses the need for understanding problematic customers and ways to manage the effects of such experiences.\nOriginality/value: - The study investigates an under-researched phenomenon, i.e. problematic customer behaviors. The study provides evidence of the relationship between problematic customer behaviors and turnover intentions in service employees. This study is also one of very few in marketing to investigate the relationship between organizational and occupational turnover intentions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact evaluation of Literacy Boost Project Model on reading skills of early grade students in Ethiopia	[ "Propensity score matching", "Literacy boost project model", "Impact evaluation", "Difference in difference" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Following the endorsement of United Nations Education for All (EFA) goals, many countries prioritized ensuring universal access to primary education in their policies and strategies. Since then, countries around the world have drastically boosted primary school enrollment rates, to show their commitments to the EFA campaign and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Studies indicated that countries around the world have boosted primary school enrollment to historically higher rates, where low-income countries had enrolled children in primary school at nearly the rates of high-income countries by 2008 through support from bilateral and multilateral donors (Gove and Wetterberg, 2011). In some countries, enrollment grew by as much as 20-30 percent in less than a decade (RTI, 2009a; Gove and Cvelich, 2011). Likewise, Ethiopia has also made impressive progress in creating access to schooling (Solomon, 2014).\nMethodology: Research design\nResults and discussion: Descriptive analysis\nConclusion: The primary objective of this paper was to rigorously assess the impact of World Vision Ethiopia's Literacy Boost Project Model using the DID with PSM on the data collected for earlier project evaluation. From the results of the assessment, it can be concluded that the project intervention brought a significant improvement in the core reading skills of treated students. The results of the assessment indicated that the project had created a positive and significant effect on variables related to home literacy environment (promoting gender equity, enhancing parental support at home, allowing students to study often and minimizing household chores) and community activities (establishment of reading camps and availing reading materials), which contributed in improving the students reading achievement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of Literacy Boost Project Model implemented by World Vision on reading skills of early grade students in Ethiopia. It intended to examine whether the intervention contributed to improving students' achievement in reading comprehension.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Difference in difference with propensity score matching impact estimation model was used in the study. Baseline and end line data collected by World Vision Ethiopia in four districts in Oromia region, where the project had been operational, were used for the research. A total of 1,418 students (685 control and 733 intervention) were selected using random sampling technique and assessed based on the core reading skill components.\nFindings: The result of the analysis indicated significant improvement in the core reading skills of treated students. The ultimate outcome of reading comprehension skill from the previous evaluation was found inflated. Variables related to the home literacy environment and community activities were found significantly impacting the students reading achievement.\nResearch limitations/implications: Policies and strategies intended to improve the quality of education, particularly the reading skills of early grade students, in the study area and scaling up the literacy boost project to areas with similar context, thus should give due attention to the variables related to the home literacy environment and community activities.\nOriginality/value: This study is important in providing valuable information on early grade education quality improvement interventions, especially to development practitioners and policymakers to make informed decisions regarding education sector reform and development in the study area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing hygiene practices during fish selling in retail stores	[ "Food safety", "Food hygiene", "Inspection", "Fish retail sale" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Frequent consumption of fish is recommended and is recognized as a part of a healthy diet (Engeset et al., 2015; FAO/WHO, 2015; Hu et al., 2002; Oomen et al., 2000). Fish is a good source of high-quality protein and lipids containing high level of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-3 (EPA and DHA), which reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and improve the development and function of the brain (Kris-Etherton et al., 2002; Zheng et al., 2012). At least two servings of fish per week should be consumed (EFSA, 2014).\nMaterial and methods: Stores\nResults and discussion: Percentages of compliance with inspection criteria are presented in Figures 1-3. There were some differences between evaluated hygiene sectors. In 16 percent of the stores noncompliance was found in hygiene of the fish selling process. In 29 percent of the stores noncompliance was found in the sectors of: seafood department's hygiene conditions of and personal hygiene. The organization, planning and control of the selling process by managers of stores, that is usually independent of employees, can explain higher level of compliance in the hygiene of fish selling process.\nConclusions: Hygiene levels in seafood departments of the inspected stores was inadequate, i.e. the requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) (2004a, b) were not fully fulfilled. It should be pointed that only if inspection requirements are met in full than compliance with the hygiene requirements of Commission Regulations, i.e. conformity, can be stated. According to ISO 9000 if requirements are met only in part than compliance cannot be stated, i.e. nonconformity. In none of the inspected stores conformity, i.e. 100 percent compliance with all inspection criteria, in three evaluated hygiene sectors, was found. Moreover, it was not found even in one of the sectors. Full compliance in all inspected stores was found only for three questions (among 43) regarding visible purity of ice, visible eating and drinking during selling process and visible symptom of diseases among employees. The highest compliance rate was found in the sector of hygiene of fish selling processes, and the lowest one in the personal hygiene and the seafood department's hygiene conditions. Neither the size of the store or its location and type affected the level of hygiene compliance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess hygiene practices during fish selling in retail stores.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data were collected by observations during inspections carried out in 100 randomly selected food retail stores, both independent and chain, selling fresh fish, fish products and other seafood. Stores were located in and around the area of Warsaw, Poland. The inspection check list consisted of 43 questions based on rigorist requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) 852, 853 and Codex Alimentarius. The question form was divided into three hygiene sectors: hygiene conditions of seafood departments; hygiene of fish selling process; personal hygiene of employees. Inspections were unannounced, and were conducted by discreet visual observations of employees work routine and selling procedures.\nFindings: The level of hygiene compliances with inspection criteria was unexpectedly low. The highest percentage of compliance appeared in the hygiene of fish selling processes (in 44 percent of the stores compliance with evaluated criteria was found), less one compliance levels appeared in personal hygiene (18 percent) and hygiene of seafood department's hygiene conditions (23 percent). Neither the size of the store, nor its location and type (independent and local or global chain) affected the compliance rate.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main research limitation is that assessment was done only by observation method. This is one of audit/inspection methods according to ISO 19011/2011, guidelines for auditing management systems. However, this kind of inspection cannot assess microbiological cleanliness or other like ATP or symptoms of diseases expect of only visible signs. The used inspection check list needs more testing and more analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.\nPractical implications: Adequate hygiene practices are critical in preventing cross-contamination. However, none of the inspected stores ensured full implementation of all hygiene requirements during the sale of fish. The results indicated that a greater effort should be made to increase hygiene level both in small and large size retail stores. The designed inspection questionnaire proved to be a successful format for detailed evaluation of hygiene practices during the sale of fish. However, more work and analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.\nSocial implications: The findings bring some information for the consumers that in many retail stores the hygiene level during the fish sales might be insufficient.\nOriginality/value: The paper presents additional and detailed data on hygiene practices during fish selling, which are rarely pointed out by other authors. The applied evaluation method showed a low level of compliance with the rigorous hygienic criteria, adopted in this study, that may raise some food safety concerns.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Case sensitive? A review of the literature on the use of case method in entrepreneurship research	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Qualitative research", "Systematic literature review", "Case method" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper focuses on the use of case study in entrepreneurship research. Case study has been deemed a suitable research strategy when the proposed research is exploratory, involves a novel and contemporary phenomenon, and addresses the \"how\" and \"why\" questions (Yin, 1994, 2012). An especially valuable dimension of the case approach in the context of entrepreneurship research is that the particular phenomenon under investigation is not isolated from its context; rather, it is of specific interest precisely because it is directly related to its context (Hartley, 1994). Thus, it is often possible to gain a much deeper and richer understanding of phenomena by applying case study rather than other approaches.\nResearch context: Case method scholarship\nMethodology: Approach\nFindings: Key research topics\nDiscussion: While making the case for the use of qualitative approaches, including case studies, in entrepreneurship research, Brush (2007, p. 461) acknowledges the difficulties associated with getting such work published. Her view is supported by the findings of this study, which evidence the limited number of case-based research papers published in top tier journals. Our SLR revealed that less than 5 per cent of articles published in the \"big five\" journals over our five-year review period used case method. Further, it is clear from our study that not all entrepreneurship journals accept case-based research, with journals such as SBE and JBV publishing the least number of case papers (one and three, respectively). While ERD (n=30) and ETP (n=14) published the greatest number of case method papers between 2008 and 2012, there was a noticeable variance in both frequency of publication[4] and the depth of explanation provided[5] within the articles regarding how case method was applied.\nConclusions: This paper aimed to critically review entrepreneurship literatures and offer insights into the use of case method in particular settings. In so doing, we aimed to lay the foundation for a future research agenda, enabling future scholars to see the value in the case study approach as well as its potential application. Our core research question focused on how case method has been applied in extant entrepreneurship literatures. To address this, we used a SLR to explore published research in the \"big five\" entrepreneurship journals over a five-year period.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the use of case method in entrepreneurship research, and to identify trends in its current application. A key objective of the paper is to lay the foundation for a future research agenda by critically reviewing relevant literatures and offering insights into the use of case method in particular settings. The paper also helps identify areas where case method could add value to research findings in future scholarship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a Boolean search, a systematic literature review (SLR) was undertaken across the \"big five\" entrepreneurship journals in the five-year period between 2008 and 2012. The search initially yielded a total of 269 \"hits\". Following exclusion criteria, the list was refined to a total of 52 empirical papers, and these were reviewed using a comprehensive reading guide developed by the authors.\nFindings: The paper finds that relatively few articles published in the \"big five\" entrepreneurship journals use case method, despite repeated calls in the literature for more in-depth, qualitative approaches. This potentially suggests that case method is not fully accepted as a legitimate or sufficiently rigorous approach in the upper echelons of contemporary published entrepreneurship scholarship. Overall the paper argues for greater acceptance of the use of case method amongst the academic community, alongside greater confidence in its application. This can be achieved by learning from other disciplines where the case approach is more established.\nResearch limitations/implications: While a comprehensive SLR was undertaken, the search was restricted to a limited time period and across a limited number of top tier journals.\nPractical implications: The paper highlights incidents where case method has been used successfully, identifies gaps in the literature and contributes towards setting a future research agenda that should be of particular value to qualitative researchers.\nOriginality/value: The paper builds on extant literatures by furthering our understanding of the use of case method in entrepreneurship research. It should be of value to qualitative scholars applying case method in their empirical work, as well as those seeking to extend their methodological reach beyond a purely quantitative orientation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transforming debris management: considering new essentials	[ "Emergency measures", "Disasters", "Animals", "Crimes", "Evidence", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The US Environmental Protection Agency (2008) indicates that natural disasters, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes cause major losses in terms of lives and property damage in American communities. Unfortunately, it appears that the future will present even more complications than today's disasters. Quarantelli (1992) argues that communities will likely face disasters related to computers, new chemical agents, epidemics and others associated with the search for energy resources (e.g. nuclear power). As a result of these hazards, it is very likely that emergency management (EM) issues like debris management will become more complex as well. Thus, emergency managers need to know what kind of factors they will have to consider as a part of their debris management operations. Although much has been written about debris management recently (Swan, 2000; McEntire, 2006; FEMA, 2007), there are still some elements that need further discussion. This study aims to fill such voids.In order to accomplish this goal, the following paper will highlight the importance of debris management and the amounts and types of debris produced in disasters. The paper will mention the importance of having a debris management plan and then point out four additional considerations for emergency managers. These include excessive donations, human remains, animal carcasses and evidence collection.\nImportance of debris management: Debris management is a major part of the emergency management process. Debris management, according to McEntire (2006, p. 23), is \"the clearing and disposal of waste generated by disasters. It includes the collection, sorting, storage, and recycling of rubble and other materials disasters produce\". These activities are undertaken after a disaster, but debris management concerns should be considered before such events occur (McEntire, 2006). This is because good preparation ensures an effective, timely and well coordinated response and recovery process. Debris management, as a process, can also be illustrated as a cycle that consists of four operations:1. developing a comprehensive debris management plan;2. arranging pre-event debris contracts which are used to have some debris removal related provided;3. arranging temporary debris management sites; and4. developing control mechanisms to monitor debris contracts (Swan, 2000).Debris produced after a disaster has negative impact on victims as well as on workers who carry out search and recovery (SAR) tasks (i.e. police, fire fighters, medical personnel). Victims of a disaster and non-victims alike are impacted because debris could threaten their health and well-being. Diseases may spread after disasters due to noxious and abundant debris (McEntire, 2006; Webb, 2007). The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports that body fluids could spread infections after death. Also, hazardous liquids or material might contaminate the environment and drinking water. From the perspective of SAR teams, the job of emergency service personnel is impeded by debris on access roads as well as damaged power lines (Parker, 2000; Webb, 2007). Such challenges hinder search and rescue efforts. In this regard, it is vital to remove debris quickly and clean the environment to foster recovery efforts (McEntire, 2006; Parker, 2000).The literature also illustrates that there are other issues that must be considered as well. McEntire (2006, p. 23) asserts that \"the emergency manager should be aware that debris management is a time-consuming post disaster function\". Debris management operations after 9/11 lasted about nine months. Debris management might be a costly operation as well, depending on the scale of the disaster (Swan, 2000; FEMA, 2007). For instance, debris removal accounted for around 27 percent of the recovery costs in Hurricane Katrina (FEMA, 2007).\nAmount of debris produced by disasters: Disasters produce massive amounts of debris. As an example, Hurricane Hugo produced around 2 million cubic yards of green waste in Mecklenburg County, NC in 1989 (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). Green waste is the kind of debris generated from vegetative debris such as garden waste, tree leafs, branches, etc. (Greenwaste, 2008). In 1992, Hurricane Andrew left behind 43 million cubic yards of disaster debris in Metro-Dade County. Hurricane Iniki, created around 5 million cubic yards of disaster debris in Kauai, HI in September 1992 (US Environmental Protection Agency, 1995). Hurricane Katrina destroyed 70,000 homes in Mississippi and 150,000 homes and businesses in New Orleans, leaving behind massive amounts of debris (Kelly, 2005). In fact, Hurricane Katrina is believed to have produced around 115 million cubic yards of debris (GAO, 2003).There are other notable examples. The Northridge earthquake in Los Angles in 1994 produced around 7 million cubic yards of disaster debris (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). The 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak produced 500,000 cubic yards of debris. Hurricane Floyd left behind 18,000 destroyed mobile homes, 43 thousand destroyed homes and thousands of dead animals (McEntire, 2006). An equally impressive amount of debris (70,000 cubic yards) was left behind after Hurricane Irene in October 1999 (Parker, 2000). Further, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center created around 1.6 million tons of debris (GAO, 2003).\nTypes of debris produced by disasters: The sorts of debris produced in disasters vary widely (Webb, 2007; McEntire, 2006; FEMA, 2007). Debris ranges from sediment and broken plywood to electrical wire and broken bricks, and different types of hazards create different types of debris. Hurricanes damage buildings, trees, and roads; tornadoes are associated with flooding debris like sediment; ice storms damage homes and energy and water utilities; earthquakes cause damages to buildings, roads, industrial areas; fires produce ash and charred wood; and industrial explosion hazards may contaminate water and soil (McEntire, 2006).The US Environmental Protection Agency (2008) categorizes debris based on the disaster that produces it. For instance, hurricanes produce debris made up of construction materials, damaged buildings, sediments, green waste, personal property and road obstructs. Earthquakes damage and result in the collapse of buildings, bridges and other structures. Therefore, the debris produced by earthquakes often consists of building materials, personal property, and sediment from landslides. Tornado debris includes damaged and destroyed structures, green waste, and personal property. The amount of debris obviously depends on the severity of the tornado. Debris produced by floods often consist of flood-damaged household items, soil, sand, mud, sediment, and sandbags, as do materials from demolished houses. Fire also leaves less debris compared to other types of disasters, although it produces burned out cars and other metal objects. In addition, to these debris, fire creates ash and charred wood waste which requires removal (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).Webb (2007) categorizes the debris produced in disasters as:* vegetative debris;* non-vegetative, non hazardous debris;* hazardous waste (solid and liquid); and* general garbage waste.This last category refers to all organic waste resulting from the storing, handling and preparation of food.McEntire also lumps debris into four categories. These are:1. vegetative debris which includes tree stumps, brush, leaves, and yard waste;2. aggregates which include damaged roads and bridges and contains items as asphalt and concrete;3. construction or demolition debris which includes wood, metal, insulation, shingles and other building materials; and4. debris from personal property which includes lawnmowers, computers, cars, microwaves, furniture, clothing, and other items that are needed for living (McEntire, 2006).\nThe need for a debris management plan: As can be seen, disasters produce large amounts of debris and debris of different types. Debris is to be found both on private and public areas (Pinellas County Disaster Management Plan, 2006) and it therefore requires extensive and comprehensive planning for removal. However, many communities do not seem to be adequately prepared. For instance, natural disaster like hurricanes occur annually along coastal USA, yet the reliance on debris management strategies is far behind in implementation. In 2000, only 53 percent of the coastal areas had some kind of debris management strategy (Parker, 2000).Each community that is likely to experience disaster and debris removal challenges should therefore create a long-term debris management plan. The debris plan should cover at least two phases:1. the initial debris clearance operations to clear threats against the life and the safety of responders and survivors; and2. the actual debris removal operations that serve as a part of the recovery process (FEMA, 2007).However, it is advisable that plans detail the strategy for debris collection, temporary storage/staging areas, recycling, disposal, hazardous waste identification and handling, administration, and dissemination of information to the public is clarified (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).The debris management plan should also provide organizational structure, guidance to responders and administrators, and a standardized procedure for clearing, removing and disposing of debris caused by hazards and/or terrorist events. A debris management plan (as a part of the overall emergency management plan) also serves to develop the most efficient and cost effective means to perform debris removal (Webb, 2007). For instance, the collection areas should not generally require long traveling times to and from processing and disposal locations (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). Debris is first moved to temporary debris storage areas (Pinellas County Disaster Management Plan, 2006). At this point it is either considered for reuse, recycle, or for landfill disposal as a final option (Webb, 2007).A debris management plan should likewise define all the material, tools, and specific equipment that will be required during debris removal. Communities should also think about contracting out services during debris management operations and seek for federal reimbursements to ease community recovery (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).Once the plan has been created, it is imperative that it is distributed to all related people and be exercised every year to ensure effective application. The plan should consider mutual aid arrangements to enable communities quickly access specialized personnel or equipment. Furthermore, the communication aspect of the plan should not be overlooked since communication is an essential component of effective implementation and healthy coordination between implementers (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). Communication regarding debris management operations can be achieved by the regular means such as radio, telephone, fax, newspaper, etc. However, it is necessary to recognize that these communication tools may fail after disasters. Thus, alternative ways of communication must be developed in advance to make the debris management plan operational.Debris management is understandably difficult. Nonetheless, Webb (2007) asserts that having a debris management plan ready prior to a disaster will promote recovery due to the effective application of debris removal operations. In this regard, any community which experiences disasters should review their vulnerability and prepare a debris management plan (FEMA, 2007; US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).A debris management plan provides several advantages including the quicker removal of debris, a streamlined recovery process, and minimal social disturbance and economical impacts. In addition, a debris management plan facilitates local control over recovery and a greater chance to receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because the process is recorded and carefully controlled (Parker, 2000, pp. 19-20). Debris management plans will accordingly pay off after a disaster, by helping communities identify debris collection, recycling, and disposal alternatives. Furthermore, planning will avoid significant implementation mistakes that can occur during debris management activities (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).\nNew essentials to be considered as a part of debris management: Although studies by McEntire (2006), Webb (2007), FEMA (2007), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (2008) mention many aspects of debris management in disasters, there are other essentials that should be considered by today's emergency managers. These new essentials include:* excessive donations;* human remains;* animal carcasses; and* crime scene investigation.Excessive donations\nConclusion and suggestions for future studies: As can be seen, debris management is an important part of emergency management. As McEntire (2006) and FEMA (2007) indicate, debris management is actually one of the most important tasks that must be overseen by emergency managers and many others. Debris management is based on the quantity and quality of debris produced in any given disaster. Studies also show that debris management is both a complex and a costly process that requires extensive planning and preparation.Although more is known about debris management now than in the past, there are at least four other elements that should be considered in the future research. Unwanted donations, human remains and animal carcasses often pose debris management challenges, as does crime investigation at the scene of a mass fatality incident. Taking into account these issues is imperative if debris operations are to be more efficient and effective.Though we believe that we have discussed many new essentials in debris management, these and many other issues will require further attention. For instance, methods for dealing with historical artifacts in debris could also be the focus of future studies. It is hoped that this paper will generate additional discussion about this important function in emergency management.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review what is known about debris management and acknowledge that the effective removal of debris has positive impacts on communities affected by disaster. Four new concerns are introduced that should be considered during the debris management process. These include the recognition of additional debris types as well as the importance of evidence in crime scene investigations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A literature review on debris management is presented in this paper. It illustrates the relevance, amount, and types of debris in disasters as well as the need for advanced planning. Four new essentials are then discussed.\nFindings: - Those involved in debris management should consider how they will deal with excessive donations, human remains, animal carcasses and evidence collection.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although this research could be enhanced with practitioner interviews, the literature review is fairly thorough.\nPractical implications: - Lessons in this paper will help to bring about more effective and efficient debris management operations.\nOriginality/value: - This research reviews the current state of knowledge and adds to it.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does electronic medication reconciliation at hospital discharge decrease prescription medication errors?	[ "Patient safety", "Drug errors", "Information management and technology", "Medical records", "Quality improvement", "Outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the USA, an estimated 1.5 million hospital patients experience medication errors each year, the majority of which occur during transitions of care (Institute of Medicine, 2007). In all, 44,000-98,000 people die each year at least in part due to medication errors (Institute of Medicine, 2000). Classen et al. (1997) and Bates et al. (1997) have estimated the cost of an adverse drug event (ADE) at more than $2,000 per event, and the cost of all ADEs occurring nationally in hospitals to be at $2 billion per year. The morbidity and mortality associated with medication errors have prompted medication management reform. Many healthcare systems have converted from paper-based processes to computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems (Redley and Botti, 2013; Wang et al., 2007; Koppel et al., 2005; Menendez et al., 2012; Bates et al., 1999). While effective at reducing transcription errors, a CPOE system cannot detect an error if a physician omits medications the patient was taking at home (Agrawal, 2009). Medication reconciliation - the process of intentionally reviewing and reconciling outpatient and inpatient medications at transitions in healthcare - is one technique to decrease medication errors. In 2005, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations established medication reconciliation as a key patient safety goal (Institute of Medicine, 2007). Since then, a myriad of information technology systems have been implemented across the healthcare continuum to facilitate medication reconciliation (Agrawal, 2009). However, the effect of electronic medication reconciliation on reducing error rates is relatively unexplored (Agrawal and Wu, 2009). Our study seeks to address this knowledge gap by measuring the prevalence and types of discharge intravenous antibiotic medication errors before and after the addition of an electronic discharge medication reconciliation tool (EDMRT) to the inpatient discharge process.\nMethods: Setting\nResults: Of the 257 subjects from the pre-EDMRT era and 127 subjects in the post-EDMRT era discharged with intravenous antibiotics and thus identified as potentially eligible for the study, 109 from each group were randomly selected and assessed for eligibility (Figure 1).\nDiscussion: Our findings indicate that EDMRT implementation was associated with a significant decrease in overall intravenous antibiotic errors at the time of hospital discharge. We also found that antibiotic errors were positively associated with total number of discharge medications. Interestingly, we did not find a correlation of errors with years of prescriber experience or day of week of prescription.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Medication errors are an important patient safety issue. Electronic medication reconciliation is a system designed to correct medication discrepancies at transitions in healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to measure types and prevalence of intravenous antibiotic errors at hospital discharge before and after the addition of an electronic discharge medication reconciliation tool (EDMRT).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary hospital where house officers order discharge medications. In total, 100 pre-EDMRT and 100 post-EDMRT subjects were randomly recruited from the study center's clinical Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) program. Using infectious disease consultant recommendations as gold standard, each antibiotic listed in these consultant notes was compared to the hospital discharge orders to ascertain the primary outcome: presence of an intravenous antibiotic error in the discharge orders. The primary covariate of interest was pre- vs post-EDMRT group. After generating the crude prevalence of antibiotic errors, logistic regression accounted for potential confounding: discharge day (weekend vs weekday), average years of practice by prescribing physician, inpatient service (medicine vs surgery) and number of discharge mediations per patient.\nFindings: Prevalence of medication errors decreased from 30 percent (30/100) among pre-EDMRT subjects to 15 percent (15/100) errors among post-EDMRT subjects. Dosage errors were the most common type of medication error. The adjusted odds ratio of discharge with intravenous antibiotic error in the post-EDMRT era was 0.39 (0.18, 0.87) compared to the pre-EDMRT era. In the adjusted model, the total number of discharge medications was associated with increased OR of discharge error.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge, no other study has examined the impact of reconciliation on types and prevalence of medication errors at hospital discharge. The focus on intravenous antibiotics as a class of high-stakes medications with serious risks to patient safety during error events highlights the clinical importance of the findings. Electronic medication reconciliation may be an important tool in efforts to improve patient safety.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Collaborative fashion consumption and its environmental effects	[ "Collaborative consumption", "Sharing economy", "Fashion consumption", "Second hand garments", "Sustainable fashion" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Fashion consumption has been increasing constantly all over the world. In the USA alone, 15.1 million tons of textiles were disposed of in 2013 (US EPA, 2015) compared to 7.4 million tons in 1995 and 2.5 in 1980 (US EPA, 2003). In the UK, it is estimated that between 0.8 and 1 million tons of apparel are sent to landfills yearly; among them, a minimum of 151,300 tons of clothing and footwear could be directly reused (Bartlett et al., 2013). In Germany alone, there are about 5.2 billion pieces of clothes in adults' (between 19 and 69 years old) wardrobes; on average each person has 95 pieces of clothing, excluding socks and underwear (Greenpeace, 2015). The fast fashion trend generates environmental and social hazards (Claudio, 2007), increases clothing turnover and consequently results in greater end-of-life clothing waste (DEFRA, 2008). Textiles have been recognized as the fastest growing fraction of private household waste in the UK (DEFRA, 2008). There are similar statistics all around the world. These astonishing numbers reveal the need for urgent material reduction strategies in the fashion industry. It has been emphasized that the reduction of disposed textiles is the single greatest unused economic and environmental opportunity within fashion industry (Bartlett et al., 2013).\n2. Methodological considerations: This conceptual paper is based especially on the review of recent literature on collaborative consumption and related concepts (see Section 4). It also takes into account the older body of literature on concepts like product service systems (e.g. Mont, 2002; Tukker, 2015; Tukker and Tischner, 2006), sustainable services (e.g. Halme, 2005), and eco-efficient services (e.g. Schrader, 1999). These approaches have many common features and deal with forms of consumption like sharing, renting or using other service schemes. By applying existing ideas from these more general concepts to the specific field of CFC, and by adapting and further developing them, a better understanding of CFC and its effects should be possible - beyond the very few existing papers on CFC in specific (Pedersen and Netter, 2015, being the first journal article using this term explicitly, though only one time).\n3. CFC as an element of sustainable fashion: In light of the manifold environmental problems that have arisen in the last decades, the concept of sustainable fashion consumption has been surveyed by different researchers (e.g. Black and Anderson, 2010; Fletcher, 2008; Schultz, 2010). Eco fashion is defined as garments which are designed and produced to increase benefits for people and society while decreasing a garment's negative environmental effects (eco-friendly fashion cited in Ochoa, 2010). Joergens (2006) describes ethical fashion as fashion clothing that is manufactured with high regard for fairtrade principles and environmental standards in the production process. While eco fashion and ethical fashion are mainly focusing on the design and production phase of a product, sustainable fashion refers to clothing, which is designed, produced (re-)used, and disposed in a way that is aligned with the concept of sustainable development (Stanszus and Iran, 2015). Thus, sustainability does not only refer to the production of the garments but also to their usage and post-usage phase (see Figure 1).\n4. Definition of CFC: In recent years, numerous researchers have dealt with new collective consumption concepts such as collaborative consumption (e.g. Belk, 2014; Botsman and Rogers, 2011; Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015), prosumption (e.g. Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010), sharing (e.g. Belk, 2010; Lamberton and Rose, 2012), access-based consumption (e.g. Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012), or connected consumption (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015). These concepts have a lot in common with older ideas on use-oriented service offers (see Section 2). The principal idea behind all of these practices is to promote the notion of using, as opposed to owning, products. While these concepts share many common characteristics, each has its own unique approach. This paper concentrates primarily on collaborative consumption without neglecting the related concepts.\n5. Typology of CFC: The typology proposed below (see Figure 2) is based on the concept detailed by Schor and Fitzmaurice (2015) for sharing economy platforms. They classified four types according to the organization's orientation toward profit or non-profit and whether the platform is P2P or B2C oriented. CFC can be similarly categorized into a P2P and a B2C type. However, a CFC typology could go beyond this differentiation since P2P CFC is not necessarily organized by peers themselves, but can be facilitated by companies. The CFC types have different subtypes, which can be categorized according to organizer and compensation and include those forms mentioned in the definition in the previous section. The decision to use either monetary or non-monetary compensation in the CFC subtypes is studied by examining the existing CFC practices in Germany, UK, and the USA. The most prevalent forms of compensation for each type are highlighted.\n6. Environmental effects of CFC: Like other forms of collaborative consumption and related concepts, CFC could contribute to ecologization through efficiency and sufficiency effects. However, it also carries rebound risks of additional use of environmental resources. Both kinds of possible effects will be discussed in this section following the structure developed in Schrader (2001), which distinguishes efficiency and sufficiency effects.\n7. Conclusions and outlook: This paper has introduced CFC as an innovative way of consumption, which may contribute to sustainability - since sustainable fashion implies much more than buying \"green clothes.\" Although the different subtypes of CFC (gifting, sharing, lending, swapping, renting, leasing, and second hand buying/selling of clothes) have existed already for centuries, its current development and expansion would be unthinkable without new forms of internet-based organization. The basic types of CFC are P2P and B2C, while it is notable that the P2P-type is not restricted to direct peer exchange but might include companies as organizers. Thus, the provided typology has shown that the field of CFC is very diverse. According to this, an evaluation of its ecological impact is complex. The expected positive environmental effects of CFC mainly refer to the potential for increasing use-intensity and garments' product life and thus partially replacing the consumption of new products. In addition, CFC might create incentives for eco-design and reusability and opportunities for a more professional and efficient product care. Sufficiency effects are also possible, due to a partially use-related compensation system and the involvement of a potentially sustainability oriented consumer group. However, rebound effects like additional transportation and the incentive to use more clothes when they are easier to access and dispose of must also be taken into account.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide the conceptual basis of collaborative fashion consumption (CFC) as a possible path toward more sustainable clothing. A definition and a typology of CFC are introduced and possible environmental effects of CFC are structured and discussed. This provides a solid conceptual basis for future empirical studies on CFC as an element of more sustainable consumption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper is written mainly based on a review of the more recent literature on collaborative consumption, as well as of older papers about related concepts like sustainable service systems and eco-efficient services. The proposed CFC typology and the structure of environmental effects are developed using both a deductive and an inductive process, and then by transferring existing structures to this specific field and challenging them by assigning practical examples.\nFindings: The main contributions of this paper are the definition and typology of CFC and the structure for assessing its environmental effects.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings provide a conceptual basis for future empirical research on CFC.\nPractical implications: For practitioners, the CFC typology and the structure of environmental effects could be used as checklists for future development of more sustainable collaborative consumption offers.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes a unique contribution to the concept of CFC. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first paper that has been explicitly dedicated to examining different types and environmental effects of CFC.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Beyond supervisors' support: influencing (international) technical training transfer	[ "HRD practices", "Training transfer", "Motivation", "Volition", "Internationality", "Technical training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizations face challenges, which have not been seen before due to changes in economics and globalization bringing up unseen circumstances. These changes and increasing internationalization lead to a blurring of the countries' borders as more companies expand their businesses into different cultures. These changes point to the importance of having well-trained employees who can keep up with the competition.\nTheoretical background and research questions: Training transfer and the influence of trainee's motivation and volition\nStudy: The following content describes our sample, procedure and measurements.\nResults: In the next section, we will provide an overview of the descriptive results and our testing of the hypotheses.\nDiscussion: This study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the training transfer process after technical trainings for HRD departments from global acting companies. We wanted to complement these findings with research on the possible mediation of peer support, supervisor support and content validity through motivation and volition after technical trainings. Secondly, we aimed to show that peer support has a greater influence on motivation to transfer than supervisor support (Massenberg and Kauffeld, 2015). We also wanted to show that content validity, a newly introduced factor, must be accounted for when influencing motivation to transfer after technical trainings (Baldwin and Ford, 1988). In the next section, we will discuss the results of our hypotheses and nationality as the control variable.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide an understanding of influencing motivation and volition in the transfer of learning within the context of technical training in different countries by controlling predictors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In six countries, employees from one automotive company's service centres were asked to complete two online questionnaires after a blended learning training program with technical content (t1: 7 to 12 days after the training, t2: 5 to 7 weeks after). In total, 441 technical staff members participated.\nFindings: Results suggest that motivation and volition mediate the effects of peer support, content validity and supervisor support on training transfer after a technical training. The outcomes show that peer support has an important influence on motivation and that national culture is less important than company culture.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results should be tested further in different trainings, companies and countries.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first international studies to confirm peer support and content validity as predictors for motivation to transfer after technical training. It is also the first instance of exploring possible mediation by motivation and volition on peer support and content validity after technical training in an intercultural context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Computer acceptance in Greek SMEs	[ "Computers", "Communication technologies", "SERVQUAL", "Customer satisfaction", "Mathematical modelling", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The effective operation and success of contemporary organisations have been found to be influenced by information and telecommunications technology (ICT) (Morgan et al., 2006). From the standpoint of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), however, information technology (IT) acceptance has not yet received much attention (Premkumar, 2003; Riemenschneider et al., 2003), despite the important role of SMEs in many economies worldwide. In the European Union, 99.8 per cent of firms are SMEs, contributing to two-thirds of all employment (Carayannis et al., 2006). In Greece, 95 per cent of all companies are SMEs (with fewer than 250 employees[1]) and employ 74 per cent of the private-sector labour force (Pontikakis et al., 2006).Various studies indicate that theories and practices developed for larger organisations may not be suitable for SMEs (Premkumar, 2003; Bruque and Moyano, 2007). Such findings cannot be fully generalised, as studies have designated a relationship between firm size and computer success characteristics (Igbaria et al., 1997), as well as between firm size and ICT adoption (Spanos et al., 2001). SMEs are generally slower in adopting new technology (Carayannis et al., 2006), despite government schemes, especially in Greece, that are trying to promote IT adoption through financial support and raising awareness (Pontikakis et al., 2006). The European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) reported that, in 2004, IT expenditure in Greece was still among the lowest in EU countries.SMEs' inability to incorporate new technology changes as fast as larger organisations can be partially attributed to the barriers they face in the adoption of IT. Smaller firms have, by definition, fewer resources to allocate to IT, while they lack the ability to recognise the advantages stemming from advanced information technologies (Spanos et al., 2001). In Greece particularly, the majority of SMEs can be found in isolated areas and narrow sectoral niches, where the benefits of technology adoption may not be apparent at individual company level (Pontikakis et al., 2006). Moreover, SMEs seem to be facing higher risks from IT adoption (Bruque and Moyano, 2007), a factor contributing to slower IT adoption, especially for Greek SMEs that are regarded as highly risk-averse (Salavou and Lioukas, 2003; Pontikakis et al., 2006).Many SMEs have still basic problems with the utilisation of computer technologies, including poor software quality, lack of sufficient training, and failure to relate technology investments to business value (Riemenschneider et al., 2003), that can result in low management support. On the basis that SMEs have unique computing needs and different IT adoption patterns, compared with larger organisations (Igbaria et al., 1997), there is a need to investigate further the applicability of acceptance models in the small and medium-sized firm environment. In the current study, personal computer acceptance in Greek SMEs is examined by means of an aggregate structural model, which is based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), incorporating the factors of social influence, management support, perceived service quality and computer satisfaction.\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: The technology acceptance model (TAM)\nResearch methodology: Sampling and data collection\nData analysis and results: Measurement model\nSummary and conclusions: Information and telecommunication technologies play a central role in the contemporary business environment, SMEs being no exception. The majority of the studies, however, have focused their attention on larger organisations, despite the significant role SMEs play in the global economy. Furthermore, the results of such research cannot be fully generalised in smaller businesses, since the unique characteristics of SMEs can largely moderate the effect among the variables associated with computer acceptance and use. The current study investigated personal computer acceptance in Greek SMEs, using an aggregate model based on TAM. It is one of the few in the literature to examine intention, actual usage and computer satisfaction together in a single model. Overall, the final model can explain 60 per cent and 54 per cent of the variance in actual computer usage and computer satisfaction, respectively.Some of the results produced from the statistical analysis seem to deviate from the majority of the findings in IS research. For example, ease of use appears to be more important than usefulness in explaining computer usage (total effect 0.62) and has a stronger total effect (0.43) on satisfaction. Although the relative effect of PEOU and PU has been reported to vary across different studies, there is some evidence supporting the significance of ease of use, when small firms are examined (Igbaria et al., 1997). The importance of the finding and its practical implications are quite clear. Since individuals seem to be more concerned with the ease of use of a system, management should emphasise that computer utilisation can not only lead to an enhanced performance, but also enable employees to complete their everyday tasks with less effort, compared with methods previously employed. Management should focus its efforts on providing adequate training and support to improve perceptions of ease of use, so as to achieve higher acceptance rates.Moreover, the findings of the study strongly indicate the importance of internal (management) and external support for the successful utilisation of computers in SMEs. Although no relationship between support and usefulness is indicated by the findings, both forms of support have a strong impact on ease of use, which, in turn, has a strong impact on actual usage, as well as on computer satisfaction. The importance of support (internal and external) in determining personal computer acceptance in small firms has been indicated by past studies, although the relative importance of the two has varied across different researches. For example, Thong et al. (1996) found that external support is more critical, while Igbaria et al. (1997), confirming the importance of both forms of support, found management (internal) support to be more influential. The latter explain that the variance in the results could be attributed to the different dependent variables used in the studies.Regardless of these differences, management should focus its efforts on providing adequate internal and external support to end-users, if it aims at a successful utilisation of computers in the workplace. Internal support can take many forms, such as encouragement to use and experiment with computers, provision of user-friendly software and educational programmes (Igbaria et al., 1997). Furthermore, management support has been found to affect subjective norms, with the flow of influence indicating that it strongly affects supervisor influence directly and peer influence indirectly. These results could very well indicate that management should advertise the benefits of computer usage not only in relation to enhanced performance, but also as a vital component of effective cooperation within the organisation. When everyone else uses the system, the resistance of one individual could impede team cooperation, starting from minor practical matters, such as data exchange.The current study employed the SERVPERF instrument in order to examine the role of external support in computer usage in SMEs. Data analysis indicated good applicability of the measure, although rarely examined before with TAM models. The relative advantage of using the SERVQUAL metrics to account for the quality of external support is that they also incorporate such facets as empathy, which are usually neglected by other measures. Further research is needed, however, to determine which of the five dimensions of service quality are more influential on computer satisfaction, usage intentions and actual usage. This could enable management to further focus its efforts on the dimensions that employees perceive as more important. Nonetheless, external computing support, coming from either vendors or consultants, since small businesses rarely have their own IS department, reflects the level of quality and adequacy of technical support and training, as well as the relationship between the former and the organisational members (Thong et al., 1996). Since external computing support has been found to play a rather significant role, management should pay special attention to the overall quality of services offered by external resources, not only before and during the implementation stage, but more importantly on a daily basis. End-users should be assured that, whatever problem they encounter, assistance will be prompt and adequate. Furthermore, since perceptions of service quality have been found to be strongly affected by management support, any problems stemming from poor external support could be associated, in the minds of employees, with management indifference or failure to find competent associates.Despite the fact that the current model can explain a large amount of the variance in actual usage and computer satisfaction, some other issues should be taken into consideration, since the results cannot be fully generalised. First, there is still 40 per cent of the variance in computer usage and 46 per cent of the variance in computer satisfaction that remains unexplained, meaning that there are more factors that should be incorporated into the model for a more complete understanding of the factors that influence computer acceptance in SMEs. Such factors may include end-user training, as a separate variable from organisational support, facilitating conditions, self-efficacy and computer anxiety, all of which have been found to play a significant role in shaping attitudes toward computer usage and influencing the successful utilisation of IS. Second, the sample should be expanded to test further the applicability of the model, and well-known moderating factors, such as gender and computer experience and other demographic variables, should be investigated so as to examine their effect on the relationships among model constructs. Third, objective measures should be employed, especially for assessing actual computer usage, to verify research results. Finally, in-depth case study research may be necessary to examine further the direction of causality for the newly suggested relationships in the model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Owing to the unique computing needs and different IT adoption patterns of SMEs, research findings concerning larger organisations may not be fully generalisable to offer practical assistance for the successful utilisation of computers. This paper aims to focus on factors affecting personal computer acceptance, using data from 278 employees from Greek SMEs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An aggregate structural model is developed, based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and incorporating social influence, management support, perceived service quality and computer satisfaction factors, that was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM).\nFindings: - The results indicate that perceived ease of use is more powerful in explaining computer usage and satisfaction, whereas usefulness has a strong impact on intention. Moreover, the findings underline the importance of internal (management) and external support in achieving wider computer acceptance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Factors such as end-user training, facilitating conditions, self-efficacy and computer anxiety should be incorporated into the model for a more complete understanding of the factors that influence computer acceptance in SMEs.\nPractical implications: - The results indicate the importance of ease of use and usefulness perceptions, as well as computer satisfaction. Therefore management should pay special attention to the enhancement of such positive perceptions through adequate support and encouragement.\nOriginality/value: - This is one of the few studies in the literature to incorporate intention, actual usage and satisfaction in a single model, which is tested using data from SMEs. Overall, the final model can explain 60 per cent and 54 per cent of the variance in actual computer usage and computer satisfaction, respectively.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How does the public and private university environment affect students' entrepreneurial intention?	[ "Students", "Brazil", "Entrepreneurial intention", "Private university", "Public university" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Entrepreneurship has become a significant social phenomenon over time in many countries and is considered a solution to the unemployment (Birch, 1981), it impacts the regional development and economic growth (Reynolds et al., 1994; Morris, 1998; Porter, 2000; Acs and Storey, 2004) and promotes innovation (Acs and Armington, 2004; Sutaria and Hicks, 2004; Audretsch, 2007). Influenced by these outcomes governments are designing more and more programs to encourage the creation of new businesses and promote entrepreneurship.\n2. The Theoretical and empirical model: 2.1 EI model\n3. Methods and data: 3.1 Sample\n4. Results: Descriptive statistics for all model variables are presented in Table IV. Significant differences by periods within university types were determined using the t-test. There were significant differences between-period in NB, PF and in the EI for students enrolled in public universities. In the private environment, there were no differences regarding group means for any dimensions, except for NB. In general, it seemed that students from public universities are more impacted than those from private universities. Furthermore, the results show that all dimension means decreased from the beginning to the end of the university period, except for SE. Then, students near to the end of their Bachelors are less trustful in their own entrepreneurial abilities than at the beginning.\n5. Discussion and final remarks: From the results of this study, we conclude that the two main types of Brazilian university environments (public and private) do not present significant differences in the way they influence the EI of students. Both the mean tests and the tests of the structural relations between constructs confirm this finding. However, there are exceptions especially showing that EI and PF tend to decline more abruptly from the beginning to the end of the university period in public than in private universities. In terms of structural relations, the exception refers to the effect of SE on PD, which differs between periods for the two types of universities. Thus, in general, we can say that the results of this study are opposed to the conclusions of other studies carried out in Brazil (Perim, 2012), which affirm that the public university environment is inhospitable for the promotion of entrepreneurship compared to the private environment. In fact, students enter differently and remain different throughout the university period. That is, universities influence individuals in a similar way. In this sense, this study innovated, because methodologically it presented a way to distinguish the net effect of university environments on students' EI and also on their antecedents.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the causal links between public and private university environments and the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The impact of different university environments on the students' EI was checked using a model adapted from Krueger et al. (2000). The study comprised a sample of students enrolled in business administration from three public and three private universities at first semester (freshmen) and at the last two semesters (senior) in Brazil. The model was measured through various questions and later assessed by principal component analysis to build constructs. Via t-test and path analysis the EI and the antecedents were subjected to a comparative analysis to test the equality of the models across the four categories emerged.\nFindings: The two main types of Brazilian university environments (public and private) do not present significant differences in the way they influence EI and its antecedents. Both the tests of means and the tests of measurement of the structural relations between constructs confirm this finding with only a few exceptions. The result of this study is opposed to other studies carried out in Brazil, by showing that the public university environment is not worse for the entrepreneurship than the private. The environmental effects are mostly equal and they as a whole are not conducive to the development of EI.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study comprises business students only, and enrolled on regular universities. It is worth highlighting that evidence was brought to the debate for a group of universities in Brazil. Replicating the study with students from other areas and other universities, as well as students in Master's and Doctorate programs could enrich the analyses.\nPractical implications: This study provides insight into entrepreneurship education, as to which the university environment is conducive to the entrepreneurship. It brings insights for the development of entrepreneurial universities.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to understanding the differences between the public and private universities environment regarding students' EI.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The performance of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment compliant listed property firms in South Africa	[ "South Africa", "African real estate markets", "Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment", "Emerging real estate markets", "International real estate markets", "Real estate listed stocks" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: After the 1994 elections in South Africa that resulted in the end of the apartheid regime, the majority citizens possessed only the ruling and not the economic power (Strydom et al., 2009). To bring about equality and development among the previously disadvantaged, the government established the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy (Strydom et al., 2009) which was later changed to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE)[1]. The process began with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act in 2003, the Codes of Good Practice in 2007 and more recently an amendment Bill and Amended Codes of Practice in 2013 (The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, 2013)). Charters for the different sectors were introduced, as it came into effect at different times over a period of three years from 2009 to 2012 (DTI, 2013). These meant that each sector would abide by the generic codes of conduct as well as the rules specific to that sector. As a result of this, firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), including those in the property sector have had to \"undertake major corporate restructuring in order to facilitate the transfer of sizable ownership proportions from existing shareholders to new black shareholders\" (DTI, 2013). The firms were able to score a certain rating depending on how well the different aspects have been adapted to the BEE policies, which are black ownership, management control, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic development, were implemented in their organizations (DTI, 2013).\nLiterature review: Previous literatures have examined the effect of government policies on stock returns; for instance in developed economies such as the USA, researchers find that government policies affect stock returns. Sialm (2009) find that there is an economic and statistically significant relation before tax abnormal returns and effective tax rates from 1913 to 2006. Other researchers examined the effect of monetary policies on stock returns, Rigobon and Sack (2004) find a negative relationship between short-term interest rates and stock returns, Chen (2007) find that monetary policies have larger effect on stock returns in bear markets. Thorbecke (1997) investigate Federal Reserve policy changes in the USA and show evidence that expansionary policy increases ex-post stock returns.\nData and methodology: The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of the BEE listed property firms. The research aims at investigating the role of the implementation of the BEE policy to a firm's risks and returns.\nDescriptive statistics: The narrow-based BEE report by the BEE commission in 2000 led to the development of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Act in 2003 by the South African government (Ferreira and De Villiers, 2011). According to the Economic Empowerment Rating Agency, hereafter Empowerdex, the first firms which became BEE compliant were Decillion, which was later renamed Ardor SA followed by iFour Property and lastly Spearhead Property and ApexHi Property. Thus, this resulted in only four property firms being BEE compliant in 2004. In 2005 the number of BEE-compliant firms increased by two and in 2006 there were 17 BEE-compliant firms. Therefore, for the purpose of this study the sample included only data from 2006 to 2012 as in both 2004 and 2005; the number of compliant firms was too small to make an inference. The limited number of listed property firms in South Africa which currently stands at 37 resulted in this study including in its sample data from both firms which are listed and those which are delisted in order to obtain a larger sample.\nConclusions: The main research question of this study sought to answer - what is the performance of BEE compliant firms in relation to non-BEE property firms listed on the JSE? The effects of the BEE policies enacted by the South African government in 2003 on listed firms in South Africa have been researched; however, the effects on BEE policies on property firms have so far been under-researched.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) on the risk and returns of listed and delisted property firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The study was investigated to understand the impact of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) property sector charter and effect of government intervention on property listed markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study examines the performance trends of the listed and delisted property firms on the JSE from January 2006 to January 2012. The data were obtained from McGregor BFA database to compute the risk and return measures of the listed and delisted property firms. The study employs a capital asset pricing model (CAPM) to derive the alpha (outperformance) and beta (risk) to examine the trend amongst the BEE and non-BEE firms, Sharpe ratio was also employed as a measurement of performance. A comparative study is employed to analyse the risks and returns between listed property firms that are BEE compliant and BEE non-compliant.\nFindings: Results show that there exists differences in returns and risk between BEE-compliant firms and non-BEE-compliant firms. The study shows that BEE-compliant firms have higher returns than non-BEE firms and are less risky than non-BEE firms. By establishing this relationship, this possibly affects the investor's decision to invest in BEE firms rather than non-BBBEE firms. This study can also assist the government in strategically adjusting the policy.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study employs a CAPM which is a single-factor model. Further study could employ a multi-factor model.\nPractical implications: The results of this investigation, with the effects of BEE on returns, using annualized returns, the Sharpe ratio and alpha (outperformance), results show that BEE firms perform better than non-BEE firms. These results pose several implications for investors particularly when structuring their portfolios, further study would need to examine the role of BEE on stock returns in line with other factors that affect stock returns. The results in this study have several implications for government agencies, there may be the need to monitor the effect of the BEE policies on firm returns and re-calibrate policies accordingly.\nOriginality/value: This study investigates the performance of listed property firms on the JSE which are BEE compliant. This is the first study to investigate listed property firms which are BEE compliant.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What is personalization? A conceptual framework	[ "Direct marketing", "Customization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Marketers are increasingly looking to personalization for help improving the performance of their marketing. Although direct marketers have applied personalization for decades, now brands that have been marketed with mass marketing means are also doing more personalized marketing. For example, an Adidas campaign features a TV ad personalized with the viewer's name at key points (Howell, 2005). Not only commercial marketers, but also for example politicians are looking at personalization to improve their campaigns (Schultz and Quiring, 2005)The urge to personalize is largely driven by the expected benefits of one to one marketing and customer relationship management. Marketers try to meet customers' expectations and avoid spam reactions (Roman and Hernstein, 2004). Together with this, developments in information and communication technologies have opened up new opportunities to collect and analyze customer data and implement personalized marketing.Furthermore, the impact of mass customization on manufacturing is well known. However, it is becoming evident that the customizability of marketing (i.e. personalization) is a limiting factor for realizing further benefits from mass customization (Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001). Personalization seems to be hard to apply and execute. One reason for this is that personalization means something different to each business, as Kemp (2001) points out. It seems that the concept of personalization is currently used to cover a very fragmented set of ideas, and a clear theoretical framework is lacking.The object of this paper is to introduce the many faces of personalization. This is achieved by presenting a conceptual framework of personalization based on literature.\n2. The many faces of personalization: Personalization as a phenomenon is probably as old as any trade relationship. Ross (1992) has traced the first personalized direct marketing letters to the 1870s. Modern personalization seems to have different kinds of meanings, from location diagnosis, fitting the visual layout of the message to data terminal equipment, to tailoring the content of the message, and tailoring the product, to mention a few examples. Marketers are easily confused by the different meanings of personalization (Merisavo et al., 2002).If there is no common framework of personalization, there are problems because parties involved do not understand each other. This is especially irritating if one produces services for the other. The company that bought a service, sold as personalization, may get something other than what it thought it was buying. The lack of a common language also hinders development of common knowledge concerning personalized marketing. In Table I the different types of personalization and their characteristics has summarized.The literature review reveals several terms describing personalization. One viewpoint on personalization is technology-based, as the Personalization Consortium (2005) defines it:Personalization is the use of technology and customer information to tailor electronic commerce interactions between a business and each individual customer. Using information either previously obtained or provided in real-time about the customer, the exchange between the parties is altered to fit that customer's stated needs as well as needs perceived by the business based on the available customer information.However this kind of viewpoint is only one among many others. The wide range of definitions is listed in Table II.\n3. Execution of personalized marketing: The process nature of executing personalization has been acknowledged by many authors (Peppers and Rogers, 1997; Murthi and Sarkar, 2003; Pierrakos et al., 2003; Peltier et al., 2003; Vesanen and Raulas, 2006). Peppers and Rogers (1997) define personalization as the process of using a customers' information to deliver a targeted solution to that customer. Kotler et al. (2001) depicts how targeted marketing is a process where segmentation, targeting and positioning have to be linked.Vesanen and Raulas (2006) synthesize the personalization process and identify two types of variables in the personalization process - objects and operations, as shown in Table III. Operations describe what is done at the different stages of the process. Objects define the elements that are needed to perform the operations. An object can also be an end result of an operation.Figure 1 shows how these objects and operations relate with each other to form the process of personalization, which is a continuous loop. For the execution of process, the ability to consolidate inputs from different sources is significant (Raab, 2005). Customer data for the process can be gathered passively without direct customer interactions or actively through interacting with customers (O'Leary et al., 2004).\n4. Framework of personalization: When scholars write about personalization, they talk about a great number of different but often related topics. These topics can be classified as execution of personalized marketing, personalized marketing output, value for customer and value for marketer. Both value for customer and value for marketer accrue from the margin between benefits and costs. Each of these consists of several sub-topics. The author proposes that these topics and their relations form the framework of personalization (see Figure 2).Execution of personalization is a process that interlinks customer and marketer (Coner, 2003; Godin, 1999; Imhoff et al., 2001; Murthi and Sarkar, 2003; Peppers and Rogers, 1997; Petrison et al., 1997; Pine and Gilmore, 1999; Pitta et al., 2004; Raab, 2005; Vesanen and Raulas, 2006; Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001). Interaction between marketer and customer are an expression of this connection (Godin, 1999; O'Leary et al., 2004; Peltier et al., 2003; Pine and Gilmore, 1999; Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Simonson, 2005; Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001). Personalized marketing output is tool for these interactions (Ansari and Mela, 2003; Imhoff et al., 2001; Howard and Kerin, 2004; Preston, 2001; Reed, 1949; Vankalo, 2004; Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001). Interaction builds up the relationship between marketer and customer (Peltier et al., 2003; Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001; Simonson, 2005). Personalized marketing output can be whatever from 4Ps: promotion/communication, product/service, price or delivery, or all of them together (Vankalo, 2004).Personalization can create benefits for the customer. These are a better preference match, better products, better service, better communication and better experience (Allen et al., 2001; Coner, 2003; Fiore et al., 2004; Godin, 1999; Hanson, 2000; Kramer, 2001; Murthi and Sarkar, 2003; Peppers et al., 1999; Pitta et al., 2004; Polito and Watson, 2004; Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Roberts, 2003; Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001; Winsor et al., 2002). As we see, these are related to marketing output. Personalization also brings costs or investments to the customer. These are privacy risks, spam risks, spent time, extra fees and waiting time (Bardaki and Whitelock, 2003, 2004; Evans, 2003; Gurau et al., 2003; Kerin, 1974; Roman and Hernstein, 2004). When benefits exceed costs, personalization creates value for customer (Simonson, 2005). If the costs for the customer exceed the benefits, the market is not ready to adopt personalization.A ready market is the prerequisite for profitable execution of personalization. Value for marketer comes from the margin between benefits and cost. Benefits for the marketer are a higher price from the product/service, better response rates, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and differentiation from competitors (Ansari and Mela, 2003; Bardaki and Whitelock, 2003, 2004; Hanson, 2000; Hanau, 1971; Howard and Kerin, 2004; Kramer, 2001; Peppers et al., 1999; Postma and Brokke, 2002; Reed, 1949; Srinivasan et al., 2002; Wind and Rangaswamy, 2001). The costs for the marketer are investments in technology and education, the risk of irritating customers, and brand conflict (Jiang, 2004; Murthi and Sarkar, 2003; Peltier et al., 2003; Roman and Hernstein, 2004).The framework in Figure 2 does not make any normative predictions regarding what kind of personalization marketers should apply. The value of this kind of framework is that it presents an overall picture of personalization. This helps different actors in the value chain to see the aspects of other players. This is how a common language concerning personalization will be created. A common language is necessary before the value chain can further develop the idea and value of personalization.\n5. Conclusions: It is widely expected that personalized marketing can bring benefits. However, personalization does not seem to have become as successful as the promises and expectations loaded on it would predict. Personalization is not yet widely applied. In those companies that are doing it, it is executed in many projects and small individual operations. One part of problem may be that personalization and how it can help the company to improve its performance is not clearly understood.Personalization is clearly a wide concept including several sub-topics. Marketers and service providers do not always have a common language when they discuss personalization. This paper has collected different issues concerning personalization from the literature. Personalization covers execution of personalized marketing, personalized marketing output, value for the customer and value for the marketer. Both value for customer and value for marketer accrues from the margin between benefits and costs. Each of these consists of several sub-topics. A conceptual framework illustrating the relations between them is presented.The author hopes that the framework will be helpful to value chain actors in understanding each other and the different aspects of personalization. This is significant in applying personalization and in developing it further.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The object of this paper is to help to understand what it is all about in question when talking about personalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A conceptual framework of personalization is presented, based on the literature.\nFindings: - Marketers are looking increasingly at personalization to help them improve the performance of their efforts. However, personalization seems to be hard to apply. Some of these problems are caused by the fact that personalization means something different to each business and to the different actors in the value chain. This lack of agreement regarding the meaning of personalization limits successful communication between the different actors who produce or buy services and products that are connection with personalized marketing. This hinders co-operation between service providers and marketers who are willing to apply personalization.\nOriginality/value: - It is hoped that the framework is useful when discussing and developing the idea of personalization further.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Teacher-principal race and teacher satisfaction over time, region	[ "Teachers", "Job satisfaction", "Race", "Working conditions", "Region", "Race congruence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Teacher job satisfaction can influence a variety of organizational processes and outcomes. Previous work suggests greater job dissatisfaction is associated with decreased organizational commitment (Bogler, 2001; Feather and Rauter, 2004) which, in turn, may weaken bonds between school and home as well as school and the broader community (Renzulli et al., 2010). Prior studies also show that job dissatisfaction is a key predictor of teacher turnover (Balu et al., 2009; Griffith, 2004; Lee and Mitchell, 1994; Price, 2001; Renzulli et al., 2010; Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2011). Teacher job dissatisfaction can undermine student outcomes given its relationship to teacher collaboration and teacher turnover since the former has been shown to increase student achievement (Ronfeldt et al., 2015) while the latter negatively affects student outcomes (Ronfeldt et al., 2012). Job satisfaction among the 3.1 million teachers in elementary and secondary schools is of economic, educational, and social relevance (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016).\nTeacher job satisfaction in the literature: For the purpose of our analysis, teacher job satisfaction refers to a teacher's assessment of their job experience and its effect on their emotional state (Hulpia et al., 2009). Van Maele and Van Houtte (2012) put forth several definitions of satisfaction at work including overall job experience, feelings toward their job, the extent to which the teacher perceives their needs are being met, and the perception that their teaching job has interesting, creative, and challenging aspects.\nConceptual framework: similarity-attraction theory: There are many reasons why principal-teacher interactions might influence teacher job satisfaction directly or through one of the potential mediators mentioned above. Similarity-attraction theorists posit individuals from similar origins are attracted to one another by shared values and common experiences (Byrne, 1971). We use \"origins\" in reference to some aspect of social identity such as race, age, residence, religious preferences, etc. Individuals who identify themselves as sharing similar social origins are hypothesized to experience the world in relatively similar ways (Byrne, 1971). Members of the same social groups thus perceive themselves to share common experiences, and experiences are assumed to shape an individual's value system. Similarity-attraction predicts that individuals with similar value systems will prefer to associate with one another in order to reinforce self-esteem and worldviews (Tsui et al., 2002; Vecchio and Bullis, 2001). Thus, it is not the similarity of origins (e.g. race) by which an individual prejudges another, but the similarity in value systems signaled by these origins. Demographic similarities among individuals do not guarantee a desire to associate since an individual's value system is influenced by a multitude of social forces. However, prior studies consistently find that racial congruence among individuals is associated with some form of attraction, suggesting that racially related values are deeply tied to social behaviors (Byrne, 1971; Dee, 2005; Devendorf and Highhouse, 2008; Grissom and Keiser, 2011; Tsui and O'Reilly III, 1989). Similarity-attraction thus predicts that teachers who share the same race as their principal would report greater job satisfaction relative to teachers who do not share the same race as their principal, ceteris paribus. This theoretical framework undergirds our first hypothesis:\nAnalytic strategy: Data and sample\nEmpirical findings: Teacher job satisfaction and race congruence\nConclusion: While previous studies have examined the influence of race-related factors on teacher job satisfaction, few examine the influence of working for administrators of the same race. Fewer, if any, have examined how this relationship has changed over time using nationally representative data sets or how this relationship is moderated by the race shared by teachers and administrators or geographic region. Our study fills these gaps by identifying the influence of teacher-principal race congruence on teacher job satisfaction between the 1999-2000 and 2011-2012 school years and examining the moderating effects of principal race and geographic location. Additionally, our analyses suggest some of the workplace practices and processes through which teacher-principal race congruence might influence job satisfaction.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to replicate prior findings on teacher-principal race congruence and teacher job satisfaction and extend the literature by investigating trends over time and if the relationship between race congruence and teacher job satisfaction differs by principal race and region.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study sample comes from four waves of cross-sectional data, the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey, administered between 2000 and 2012. The analysis is conducted using ordinary least squares and school-year fixed effects with a comprehensive set of covariates.\nFindings: The relationship between race congruence and teacher job satisfaction is attenuating over time and is likely explained by the lower job satisfaction of white teachers who work for black principals. Some evidence indicates teacher-principal race congruence has greater salience in the Southern region of the country. Find evidence that teachers with race-congruent principals report more workplace support than their non-race congruent colleagues.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future studies should investigate why racial congruence has more salience in the Southern region of the country and for white teachers who work with black principals. At the same time, results indicate that teacher-principal race congruence might no longer be a determinant of teacher job satisfaction, although further studies should continue investigating this relationship.\nOriginality/value: Findings on the changing nature of the relationship between principal-teacher race congruence and teacher job satisfaction over time as well as the differing nature of race congruence in the Southern region of the country are both novel findings in the literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Adopting Agile software development: the project manager experience	[ "Project manager", "Ethnography", "Project management", "Agile", "Control", "Agile teams" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Project working is prevalent in many industries seeking the benefits of on-time, on-budget, to-specification delivery of projects. Traditionally, economic success is sought through careful planning and tight control of resources, cost, risk and quality (Hodgson, 2004). In traditional projects, organizations appoint a project manager (PM) with \"command and control\" responsibilities to plan and deliver successful outcomes. This reiterates Winter et al. (2006) view of the PM role where, in all forms of projects, their focus should be on successful product delivery. There is increasing recognition among researchers of the need for PMs to move beyond routine issues and place greater emphasis on wider aspects in order to deliver better business value (Conboy and Morgan, 2010).\nA workplace story: The host organization is a multinational retail sales company with over 1,000 employees based in North West England (anonymized as Sellwell). It has an annual turnover in excess of PS200 million and is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Public Limited Company (PLC) with turnover in excess of PS600 million and over 3,000 employees. Sellwell's computing centre consists of some 80 employees (including the two Agile teams studied here) and is responsible for the IT infrastructure processing five million customer accounts.\nDiscussion: Classic theory on control and resistance posits that management's purchase of labour provides only potential to work and must be organized to its own advantage; whilst workers may pursue individual interests through informal controls and restriction of output (Thompson and McHugh, 2009). In contrast, the Agile approach to software development recommends self-organizing teams, light-touch management and extensive user involvement. This requires a different type of work structure that balances the need for management control with the autonomy required by teams to deal with changing project needs. The findings from this study are discussed below through the lens of control to show the challenges and tensions faced by classically trained PMs as they support their teams' attempts to introduce agility into a traditional software development environment.\nConclusion: As with software development generally, work in Agile teams is emergent, ongoing and subject to continuous negotiation (Truex et al., 1999). Therefore, how people make changes to their working practices and the impact on the wider organization is important to understand. The researcher's experience in software development together with extended time spent with the study teams enables a detailed appreciation of how PMs work and interact with Agile teams and wider management. Whilst the study is limited to two PMs in two teams within one organization the findings give insights into the tensions encountered by PMs as they adopt new ways of working.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Early research into Agile approaches explored particular practices or quantified improvements in code production. Less well researched is how Agile teams are managed. The project manager (PM) role is traditionally one of \"command and control\" but Agile methods require a more facilitative approach. How this changing role plays out in practice is not yet clearly understood. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how adopting Agile techniques shape the working practices of PMs and critically reflect on some of the tensions that arise.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An ethnographic approach was used to surface a richer understanding of the issues and tensions faced by PMs as Agile methods are introduced. Ethnographic fiction conveys the story to a wider audience.\nFindings: Agile approaches shift responsibility and spread expert knowledge seeming to undermine the traditional PM function. However, the findings here show various scenarios that allow PMs to wrest control and become more of a \"gate-keeper\". Ethnographic fiction communicates a sense of the PMs frustration with the conflict between the need to control and the desire for teams to take more responsibility.\nOriginality/value: Stories provide insight and communicate the experiential feel behind issues faced by PMs adopting Agile to surface useful knowledge. The objective is not how to measure knowledge, but how to recognize it. These reflections are valuable to fellow researchers as well as practitioners and contribute to the growing literature on Agile project management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Iranian hospital efficiency: a systematic review and meta-analysis	[ "Iran", "Efficiency", "Assessment", "Measurement", "Meta-analysis", "Hospital", "Organizational performance", "Pabon Lasso Model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasing hospital costs are considered an important challenge for health policymakers in all countries, especially in developing countries, where they are facing resource constraints. Constructing new and modern hospitals without a complete healthcare needs assessment has contributed to hospital inefficiencies in developing countries (Moradi et al., 2017; Miraki et al., 2014). Efficiency is defined as using available resources to produce maximum outputs that produce a good/service at minimal cost. A hospital is efficient if it uses available resources to maximize patient outcomes (Farrell, 1957; Moradi et al., 2017).\nDatabases and search terms: A systematic review was conducted using both international (the Institute for Scientific Information, Scopus and PubMed) and Iranian scientific (Magiran, IranMedex and Scientific Information Database) databases in October 2017 to identify original studies (published in Persian or English) that used the PLM to examine Iranian hospital performance. The following English and Persian keywords were used in the literature search: \"hospital(s),\" \"performance,\" \"efficiency,\" \"Pabon Lasso\" and \"Iran.\" Additionally, references listed in the publications were manually checked to find further studies.\nPabon Lasso Model: This PLM technique, introduced by Pabon Lasso (1986), is a graphical model (Figure 1), which uses BOR, BTR and ALoS indicators to measure relative hospital performance. The PLM is based on a chart that presents BOR on the y-axis and BTR on the x-axis. Given a mathematical correlation between the three indicators, namely, BOR, BTR and ALoS, a line that starts from zero and passes through each point in the graph displays ALoS. The line increases consistently from left to right and top to bottom. In this model, the BOR, BTR and ALoS indicators are measured as follows:\nData extraction and quality assessment: A checklist was used to collect the following data from each study: first author; publication year; data collection year; language; province; sample size; hospital ownership; total hospitals; quality score; mean ALoS; mean BOR; mean BTR; total active beds; and hospital proportion in each zone. Based on previous studies (Moosazadeh et al., 2014; Haghdoost and Moosazadeh, 2013; Rezaei et al., 2017), the quality score for each study was calculated using a quality checklist (Table I). In total, 12 questions (related to aim, method, data collection tools, sample size, etc.) were used for quality assessment. If the study met each question's quality requirement, then one score was assigned to the question. A 0 score was assigned if the quality requirement was not met. We calculated overall quality score for each study by summing all scores. Studies with an overall quality score between 8 and 12 were included in our analysis.\nData analysis: Overall hospital performance in each zone was defined as the percentage of hospitals located in each zone. Overall hospital performance in the three indicators was estimated using a forest plot. We checked heterogeneity among the selected studies using the kh2 Q-test, I2 and Tau2. Based on heterogeneity tests results, we decided whether to use a random-effects or fixed-effects estimator. If there was heterogeneity among the studies, then the random-effects model was used (Ades et al., 2005). A forest plot with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate hospital performance in each zone. Univariate meta-regression analyses were used to identify the potential factors explaining heterogeneity across the studies. Sensitivity analyses were performed to examine each study's effect on the pooled hospital performance in each zone by sequentially omitting each study from the meta-analysis; p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. All statistical analyses were performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software.\nResults: Figure 2 illustrates the systematic review flowchart. In total, 169 articles were found in the primary search. Out of which, 34 were excluded from the study owing to duplication. Additionally, 70 and 25 articles were excluded after reviewing their title and abstract. After studying the remaining 38 articles, 3 were excluded from the analysis because one study was conducted only in hospital wards, one in only one hospital. One study was excluded from the review because its quality score was less than 8. One eligible article was included after reviewing its reference lists. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 36 articles were finally included in the analysis. Study characteristics are reported in Table II. Of the total articles included in the review, one article was published in 1997, 59 percent (n=20) published between 2006 and 2014 and the remaining 31.2 percent (n=13) were published between 2015 and 2017. Most articles (n=21, 68.8 percent) were published in Persian. Total hospitals included in all the studies were 545. In total, 10 studies were conducted in teaching hospitals, 70 in public and 1 in a social security hospital (i.e. owned by Iran's Social Security Organization). Six studies were conducted in public, private and social security hospitals.\nDiscussion: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize and analyze studies that used PLM to measure Iranian hospital efficiency. The analysis helped us to understand Iranian hospital efficiency. The PLM technique simultaneously considered three performance indicators: ALoS, BOR and BTR to evaluate hospital performance, which enables health policymakers to identify the priority areas needing improvement. Results indicate that overall ALoS, BOR and BTR means across the selected studies were 3.75 days (95% CI: 3.12-4.37 percent), 72.7 percent (95% CI: 67.6-76.8 percent) and 64.9 times/year (95% CI: 52.4-77.3 percent), respectively.\nConclusion: We aimed to systematically review current studies that used PLM to evaluate Iranian hospital performance. Results suggest that 67 percent are inefficient and have sub-optimal performance. Approximately, 50 percent were in Zones 2 and 4 and can move to the efficient Zone 3 by appropriate interventions and management to improve their hospital performance indicators. Thus, further studies are required to identify factors explaining lower efficiency in Iranian hospitals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper (systematic review and meta-analysis) is to synthesize and analyze studies that assessed Iranian hospital efficiency.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A systematic literature search was conducted using both international (the Institute for Scientific Information, Scopus and PubMed) and Iranian scientific (Magiran, IranMedex and Scientific Information Database) databases. The review included original studies that used the Pabon Lasso Model to examine Iranian hospital performance, published in Persian or English. A self-administered checklist was used to collect data. In total, 12 questions were used for quality assessment.\nFindings: In total, 34 studies met our inclusion criteria. The fixed-effects meta-analysis indicated that 19.2 percent (95% confidence interval (CI): 15.6-23.2 percent) of hospitals were in Zone 1 (poor performance: low bed turnover rate (BTR) and bed occupancy rate (BOR) and high average hospital stay (ALoS)), 23.7 percent (95% CI: 20.1-27.8 percent) were in Zone 2, 31.7 percent (95% CI: 27.7-36 percent) in Zone 3 (good performance: high BTR and BOR and low ALoS) and 25.4 percent (95% CI: 21.7-29.5 percent) in Zone 4.\nPractical implications: Results help Iranian health policymakers to understand hospital performance, which, in turn, may lead to promoting greater awareness and policy attention to improve Iranian hospital efficiency.\nOriginality/value: This study indicated that most Iranian hospitals had sub-optimal performance. Further studies are required to understand factors that explain the country's hospital inefficiency.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors influencing implementation of a dry port	[ "Docks", "Rail transport", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Population growth and increased economic activity result in growth of maritime container transport consequently creating growth of land surface freight transport. Intermodal transport through dry ports as advanced intermodal terminals would play a key role in enabling the most appropriate mode of transport to be used for different legs of container transport chain (Woxenius et al., 2004). Intermodal (road and rail) transport combines the line haul efficiency of rail and flexibility of road, for inland access to/from the seaports. Viability of intermodal transport on long distances is argued by many academics, for example van Klink and van den Berg (1998) and McCalla (1999). The authors elaborate that seaports can generate scale economies to operate cost effective intermodal transport with high frequency to different destinations on long distance beyond their traditional hinterland. However, research on viability of intermodal transport on short distance is rather scarce, despite some successful examples in practice.With increase in the volumes of maritime container traffic to/from Australia, majority of containers originate from Asia (Sydney Ports Corporation - SPC, 2007a), seaports and their inland access are becoming critically strained. Although inland access is important for the competitiveness of seaports (Notteboom, 1998; Slack, 1999; de Langen and Chouly, 2004), this is not a critical issue for Port Botany, Australia's second largest container port. The most urgent issue to deal with for the port and the city, Sydney, is congestion due to inappropriate seaport inland access which is mainly done by road on road arteries already reaching their capacity. Beavis et al. (2007) indicate that poor harmonization of the system resources (including storages, train path access and positioning of empty containers) under conditions of an increasing flow avalanche from the port is adding to Sydney's hinterland congestion. And, with average annual growth of 10 per cent (in last five years) for containerized transport through the port (SPC, 2007a), the urgency is obvious. Although a concept of a close dry port should bring numerous benefits to the actors of the transport system still there are many impediments to the implementation of the same. Consequently, plans for development of an intermodal terminal on the Enfield site, located 18 km from Port Botany and adjacent to existing rail lines that would eliminate the movement of up to 300 trucks per day between the two sites (SPC, 2007a), were still on hold at the initiation of this study. Finally, in September 2007, the plans for Enfield intermodal terminal received approval from Department of Planning, ten years after the first proposal.The purpose of this paper is to investigate and define impediments to a close intermodal terminal - dry port implementation through case studies. Therefore, the following research question is formulated: \"Which impediments may be identified during the process of implementation of advanced intermodal terminals-dry ports in the seaports immediate hinterland?\" Case studies have been carried out primarily through face-to-face interviews and literature review, combined with site visits. Some additional phone interviews as well as e-mail correspondence were done in order to fill the gaps. Empirical data for the case studies are collected at Port Botany and its existing and proposed close intermodal terminals, or metropolitan intermodal terminals as they are referred to in Australia.The paper starts by brief literature review on intermodal transport and intermodal terminals; and explanation of dry port concept. Chapter on methodology used for the study is followed by two case studies on close intermodal terminals that are first described and then discussed with focus on what were the impediments to their implementation. Finally, from the analysis the conclusion is made as well as suggestions for the further research.\n2 Frame of reference: Intermodal transportation refers to freight transport chain using at least two different modes of transportation for the transport of intermodal units (containers, semi trailers or swap bodies) between origin and destination with one bill of lading, i.e. without handling freight itself during transhipment (Rutten, 1998; van Klink and van den Berg, 1998; Nierat, 1996). Reduced energy consumption, optimization of the usage of the main strength of different modes (European Commission - EC, 2000; Rutten, 1998), reduction of congestion on road networks, and low-environmental impacts (Woxenius et al., 2004; Kreutzerberger et al., 2003) are considered as the advantages of intermodal (road-rail) transport.2.1 Seaports inland access with intermodal solutions\n3 Methodology: The quantitative and qualitative data for this paper come from two case studies on close intermodal terminals for Port Botany in Sydney. One case study is on an existing intermodal terminal, MIST; and the other is on a planned intermodal terminal, Enfield. Nevertheless, the port is connected by rail to six close intermodal terminals that run shuttles daily to and from the port. However, due to the scope of this paper only one existing intermodal terminal has been chosen for the case. Port Botany and its close intermodal terminals have been chosen due to its distinctiveness which is in the fact that there are very few ports that quite many functioning close intermodal terminals, or metropolitan intermodal terminals as they are referred to in Australia. The other reason for choosing these sites is due to ten years delay for the implementation of Enfield intermodal terminal despite obvious benefits that this terminal would bring to different actors of the system. Consequently, my question was \"Why?\". Why is this project on hold for ten years? And case studies are particularly appropriate for the circumstances, according to Yin (1994). Furthermore, apart from aiming to answer why and to identify impediments to an implementation, which could have been done only by a case study on Enfield, the intention is to compare those two case studies and by that to map factors that develop as well those that impede the implementation. In order to accomplish that purpose it is more appropriate to have an existing terminal as a case.In accordance with recommendations by Stuart et al. (2002) a case study protocol consisting of a semi structured interview, based on a research question, has been developed in order to insure reliability. Semi-structured interview was chosen as the appropriate method to explore the issues as the same allowed the interviewees to introduce new issues and the interviewer to follow up topics more fully. A check list of issues was used to ensure that every pre-decided topic was covered and to give a sequence of questions, starting with factual queries on site and leading into more research question related issues. During the interview, the interviewer recapped on what the interviewees had said, inviting them to develop their original statements. Data for the case studies is collected primarily through face-to-face interviews with interviewees representing different actors of the transport system such as terminal manager, seaport managers, rail and road operator as well as ministry of transport personnel familiar with the intermodal situation in the region as well as with the port activities and future plans. In addition, the interviews were supported by a site visit. In order to insure validity, the triangulation (Voss et al., 2002; Stuart et al., 2002) with multiple means of data collection has been done. Therefore, apart from having interviewees from different sectors of the transport system, secondary data sources have been used, such as internal company reports, internet-based documents and archival records. Some additional phone interviews as well as e-mail correspondence were done in order to fill the gaps.The case study approach was chosen with the purpose of gaining an understanding of factors in the transport system that influence the implementation of a close dry port.\n4 Empirical findings: The cases were carried out at Sydney's Port Botany and its two inland intermodal terminals with dry port characteristics. The first subchapter gives an insight into Port Botany and situation of it inland access; it is followed by two case descriptions and short summary of the key finding that were the basis for the discussion.4.1 Port Botany and its inland access\n5 Discussion: To ease pressure on Sydney's roads, moving a larger portion of containers by rail is proposed for the Port Botany's basin. A network of intermodal terminals is therefore crucial to achieve this. The existing network of intermodal terminals servicing Sydney's catchment area will not be able to cope with the capacity required to reach the target of 40 per cent containers on rail compared to present 20 per cent. Development of network of intermodal terminals would enable achievement of the target of 40 per cent containers on rail and by that cut number of truck movements on arterial roads by approximately one million per year. This would only last until 2012 after which new intermodal terminals would be needed to capture further 5 per cent increase in container transport through Sydney. There is an apparent need for new intermodal terminals that, apart from having direct access to both road and rail, should be located in proximity of the served market and within industrial area. The terminals should also be environmentally and socially sustainable. Both terminals in this study meet these requirements however one hade many impediments on the way to realization, while another had a smooth path.5.1 Regulations\n6 Conclusions: In Sydney the truck industry is obliged to take greater volumes of freight in and out of the Port. These movements lead to other secondary movements which must interact on increasing congested roads. Furthermore, transport operators have no many options but to go by road because of the poor rail infrastructure from one side and lack of awareness of the problem from the other. Sydney's Port Botany handles more than 1.6 million TEUs a year (2006/2007) and the figure is just growing, however the state does not have a dedicated freight strategy. One potential solution is with the concept of dry ports for the Port Botany.Although a concept of a close dry port should bring numerous benefits to the actors of the transport system still there are many impediments to the implementation of the same. Land use, infrastructure, environmental and institutional impediments are identified as the most common ones for the cases. A dry port must fit into a complex system where the necessary supporting infrastructure (roads, railways) is in place, maintenance is assured, and the legislative, regulatory, and institutional systems are properly designed to optimize the involvement of both the public and the private sector.The case permits us to assume that transport issues might be closely related to psychological and behavioural issues and if actors involved are not well-informed on the matter problems might arise. That was the case with Enfield project; the public wants the transport services but does not want the traffic.If nothing is done to increase rail's deteriorating market share, truck volumes will triple resulting in congestion, delays, rise of air and noise pollution, as well as rise in financial and emotional costs with higher accident rates.This small study raises important questions about viability of intermodal transport on shorter distances which is heavily argued between academics but shows its feasibility in cases on Sydney's Port Botany and its close intermodal terminals, i.e. dry ports. A more comprehensive view of the problem could be obtained through additional case studies on other countries seaports' intermodal terminals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - A close dry port with direct rail connection to a seaport is a potential solution for seaport terminal congestion as well as for better seaport inland access. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and define impediments to a close advanced intermodal terminal - dry port implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Comparative case studies through face-to-face interviews and a literature review have been carried out in order to accomplish the purpose. In addition, secondary sources such as reports, internal documents and web pages were used.\nFindings: - The most common factors that impede dry port implementation are infrastructure, land use, environment and regulations. Hence, the same reduce the efficiency of freight movements on land access routes to and from seaports. An advanced intermodal terminal must fit into a complex system where the necessary infrastructure is in place and the regulatory systems are properly designed to optimize the involvement of both the public and the private sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Empirical data for the case studies are collected at Port Botany, Sydney, and its close intermodal terminals. A more comprehensive view of the problem could be obtained through additional case studies on other countries' seaports' intermodal terminals.\nOriginality/value: - The idea behind the study is to contribute to a better understanding of the concept of close dry port through the factors that influence the implementation of the same and thereby to improve knowledge of the implementation of the concept.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Housing and superannuation: social security in Singapore	[ "Housing", "Social economics", "Political economy", "Demography", "Singapore" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Singapore's economic development has been so rapid that the island nation leapt from the Third World to the first in only a quarter of a century. No less important than the movement up the value chain has, however, been the investment made in homes and pensions. Singapore did not wait for economic affluence to generate the resources that would pay for the social infrastructure. Instead, from the very time of its precipitate independence on 9 August 1965, it has consistently sought to make healthy accommodation and retirement savings core inputs in its national production function.\n1 Housing: Tourists today who visit picturesque inner-city areas like Chinatown and Kampong Glam cannot imagine the Dickensian squalor of the 1950s. In the central district (where 72 per cent of the population resided in 1947) population-density reached 50,200 people per square kilometre (2,500 people per square hectare). Packed into a rabbit-warren of deep shophouses without adequate ventilation through windows or airwells, crowded even as a family of seven into a small cubicle partitioned from the next family of seven by a frayed piece of sacking, forced to sleep on the floor and to play and eat on the five-foot way, the slum-dwellers were trapped in over-priced tenements that were a breeding ground for disease, crime and political extremism. Some Singaporeans could not afford even that. Squatter colonies of attap, wood and zinc had sprung up at Bendemeer Village, Toa Payoh and elsewhere as the only alternative to high rents. Over 300,000 people lived in such settlements in 1950. Goh Keng Swee, reporting as a young civil servant on the study he conducted in 1953-1954, found that 73 per cent of households in Singapore were living in sub-standard accommodation (Goh, 1956, p. 73). The population (then approximately 1,100,000, many of them undocumented) had doubled since the 1920s. It was still growing at the dangerously Malthusian rate of 4.4 per cent per annum. The fertility rate per woman, now only 1.24, was 5.76 in 1960. There was migration into the city from rural Singapore and from Malaya. Unemployment was 13 per cent. Even if there had not been a shortage of good housing, people would have found it difficult to pay.Tuberculosis, the main cause of mortality in the 1950s, accounted for one death in six on the island. Dysentery was rife where kitchens were shared, drinking water unsafe, sewerage unreliable. The roads were subject to flooding in the monsoon. Open drains were unhygienic. Stagnant water was a cause of malaria and dengue. Philanthropists had made a token contribution. Tan Kim Seng (Malacca-born businessman and the first Asian member of the Municipal Council) had donated money for a piped-water system in the 1850s. Cheang Hong Lim (who had made a fortune in opium and property) had created Hong Lim Green. Tan Tock Seng (a Malacca vegetable seller who became a rich merchant and landowner in Singapore) had founded a pauper's hospital on Pearl's Hill. Much more was needed. As early as 1927 the Government of the city-state became involved.1.1 The HDB\n2 The provident fund: Pensions are houses. Houses are pensions. It is impossible to gain a purchase on the HDB without a good understanding of the CPF as well.The superannuation scheme, built around the Central Provident Fund, dates from 1955 when Singapore was still a colony. The CPF Board is a statutory board under the aegis of the Ministry of Manpower. In 2003 a total of 2,978,493 Singaporeans and permanent residents held a total of S$103,539.6 million with the Fund (Central Provident Fund Board, 2005a, p. 17). Membership is compulsory for all resident employees. Foreign workers unless they are permanent residents are not included.The self-employed must subscribe to the Medisave account. They may join the rest of the CPF scheme on a voluntary basis. Generally they do not do so. Interest paid tax-free is not much of an incentive now that all approved bank interest is sheltered from tax. Only the top third of Singaporeans pay personal income tax in any case. The highest marginal rate (on the tranches in excess of S$320,000) is a modest 20 per cent. Low interest is a further concern. Even if bank interest were still subject to tax, the tax-exemption foregone when the self-employed do not opt into CPF can be more than made up by selecting higher-return investments outside. At present, there is no capital gains tax in Singapore.2.1 Contributions and accounts\n3 Breaking the link: Economists at the National University of Singapore were among the first to say that a feast can be as problematic as a famine. They found in 1986 that Singaporeans on average spent 37 per cent of their income on buying their home, maintaining it, paying their property tax, covering their insurance, billing their utilities (Department of Economics and Statistics, National University of Singapore, 1986, p. 54). This was well over twice the proportion that went into housing in the USA or Japan. It represented two-thirds of CPF balances. It was too much.In 1985 Singaporeans withdraw S$3 billion from their CPF balances for housing. In 2000 it was S$12.5 billion. The 2000 figure was equal to 7.8 per cent of the GDP and about twice as large as the Government's education budget (Lim, 2002, p. 27). Money needed for pensions was going into houses. Money needed for small and medium enterprises was being siphoned off into \"housing and infrastructure, which do not directly or significantly increase growth rates\" (Peebles, 2002, p. 393).Housing is good. Superannuation is good. The opportunity to plunge superannuation into housing is more controversial. The answer is not an either/or but a by how much. Singaporeans hold 75-80 per cent of their net retirement wealth in property: the comparable figure for the USA is 20 per cent. Cardarelli says that the replacement ratio in Singapore could be increased if the special treatment were to be contained: \"With no withdrawal for housing, the replacement ratio would more than double\" (Cardarelli et al., 2000, p. 62). The lesson that can be learned by less developed countries seeking to mimic the Singaporeans' social success might therefore be to follow the lead but to cap the leakage.Affordable social housing through HDB and safety-net social security through CPF are the first steps. They must not be the last. Also needed will be competitive interest rates on Provident balances, social and fiscal incentives for voluntary retirement savings, a capital gains tax on speculative property sales, a commitment to a rental market because in a dynamic economy some people will want to keep to keep all their options open - these and other policy instruments mark out the middle way that lies between stifling control and unregulated license. They prevent too little from turning into too much. No one wants the Dickensian squalor of the slums and the squatter-colonies that were such a blight when Singapore was poor. An upper limit must nonetheless be placed on the destitution in old age that can be purchased by the myopic and the venal. They should be encouraged to see their home as a place to live. They should not regard it as an easy way to make money without having to work.The CPF is a provident fund. It defines its mission, narrowly and explicitly, as \"providing the best national savings scheme for Singaporeans to enjoy a secure retirement\" (Central Provident Fund Board, 2005a, p. 9). If the aim is a secure retirement, it might make sense for CPF to retire to its core territory. Some bundling with HDB empowers people to invest in a home. Too much bundling with HDB leaves people too exposed and too illiquid. Too many objectives mean too many contradictions. The middle way means that HDB and CPF have to know when it is time to call a halt.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Singapore does not have a welfare State. Instead it has full employment, rapid growth, affordable education and equality of opportunity. It also has the Housing Development Board and the Central Provident Fund. Public housing and compulsory savings are the subject of this paper. The purpose of the study is to investigate the nature of the symbiosis and the strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper collects evidence on housing and superannuation to establish the precise link between them.\nFindings: - It is established that a great deal of Singaporeans' savings and wealth is locked up in their flats and houses. It shows that the relationship is risky in view of a rapidly ageing population and an increasing life-expectancy in the post-earning years.\nPractical implications: - Singapore is used as a case study to derive lessons for other countries wishing to combine good housing with adequate retirement provisions.\nOriginality/value: - The paper seeks to show that housing and superannuation are both valuable elements in responsible public policy, but that, when combined, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An extended DEA windows analysis: Middle East and East African seaports	[ "Middle East", "Central and East Africa", "Docks", "Data analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the years, seaport operations are becoming more and more complex as new technologies impose new requirements in infrastructure and materials handling. Therefore, efficiency is the main issue in seaport management (Tongzon, 2005). The classic data envelopment analysis (DEA) models such as CCR and BBC, using cross-section data, provide information for a particular year of study. The measurement of seaport performance in many time periods, as well as performance comparison with other seaports in the same period, needs different types of analysis. DEA window analysis is a mathematical model used to analyse the relative efficiency over the time as described by Charnes et al. (1985). Thus, the identification of inputs and outputs is significantly important in order to do a meaningful efficiency analysis (Rios and Macada, 2006).Maritime transport is an efficient facilitator of the world trade (Haralmbides et al., 2001). The importance and competitiveness of the maritime transport service benefits the economy of the entire region as a whole and for this reason, the procedure for ranking efficient units is very important. This role has become more apparent and crucial in today's ship clients and this helps to expand world trade system. Maritime transport was, and currently is, a backbone of development for many countries (Cullinane et al., 2002).The super efficiency model of DEA, based on comparison of efficient decision making units (DMUs) relative to a reference technology spanned by all other units is developed (Andersen and Petersen, 1993). The meaning of super efficiency measure is to overcome the maximum efficiency convexity frontier.The contribution of the current research is reflected in the efficiency and super efficiency window analysis of the seaport. The window analysis model is based on the analysis of outputs and inputs of 22 seaports of the Middle East and East African seaports. The window analysis provides information of the seaport efficiency, and compares the seaport with other seaports over several time periods. In particular, the analysis using panel data are more likely to reflect the real efficiency of DMU (Cullinane et al., 2004). Finally, this paper focuses on the Arabian and African seaports, which have been the attention of the researches so far.The rest of the paper is organised as follows: section 2 presents the seaport study. A literature survey is presented in section 3. The DEA methodology is described in section 4. Section 5 presents the results. Finally, the conclusion and discussion are presented in section 6.\n2. Seaports study: The study is focused particularly on the East Africa (such as Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania) and the Middle East region (especially Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Iran) where the analysed seaports are displayed in Table I. These countries own the seaports at critical geographic locations in the international maritime trade route between the East and the West. These seaports are considered as the centre seaports, at which goods carried from Europe and far East/Australia and vice versa are exchanged and transhipped to the countries in the Middle East, Red Sea and East Africa.The strategic location of some of these seaports has encouraged the modern vessels to make short calls among them for the interchange of goods (for example, shipping lines operating along Asia/Europe route, Asia/Mediterranean route and Asia/America East Coast route). Many studies dealing with the seaports efficiency have been carried out but are limited to the seaports of the European countries (Trujillo and Tovar, 2007) and Asian seaports (Cullinane, Ji and Wang, 2005; Cullinane, Song and Wang, 2005). In this paper, window analysis models with normal efficiency and super efficiency are applied to the above simple size.This region is considered as the middle of the cord, linking the East side and the West side of the world through the maritime routes and is currently witnessing economic growth in various domains.\n3. Literature survey: There is extensive literature on efficiency applied to a wide diversity of economic fields in general such as Barros (2004), Bhandari (2007), Goncharuk (2007), and Mostafa (2007). The overall efficiency has been divided into several stages by transforming the inputs and outputs of each stage. Cullinane et al. (2004) applied window analysis in order to evaluate the efficiency score of the world's major container seaports over time by using panel data.Barros and Manolis (2004) compared the efficiency of seaports of two European countries, Greece and Portugal, during the 1998-2000 periods. Wang and Cullinane (2006) focused on measuring the efficiency of the container terminals in Europe within the context of global supply chain management. Tongzon (2001) used cross-section data from 1996, covering four Australian ports and 12 other ports from around the world; Martinez et al. (1999) estimate the efficiency of Spanish ports; Barros (2003a) analyses technical and allocative efficiency of Portuguese seaports; and Barros (2003b) analyses the total productivity change in the Portuguese seaports with a Malmquist index. Song and Cullinane (2001) applied ratio analysis to Asian container seaports. Among the papers using DEA is that by Roll and Hayuth (1993), who presented a theoretical exposition and suggested the use of cross-sectional data from financial reports to operationalise their approach. Cullinane et al. (2006) focused on a sample comprising 69 European container terminals with annual throughput of over 10,000 TEUs, based on data of the year 2002. Charnes et al. (1985) study the military capability provided with available resources using window analysis to measure the efficiency of maintenance units of air forces, with eight inputs and four outputs; Each DMU efficiency is represented in the window several times, instead of being represented by a single summary score (Charnes, Cooper and Seiford, 1994; Charnes, Cooper, Lewin and Seiford, 1994; Yue, 1992). Each DMU in a different period is treated as a different DMU. In addition, the performance of a DMU in a period can be contrasted with his own performance at other times, as well as performing other DMUs (Asmild et al., 2004).\n4. DEA: 4.1. Standard DEA models\n5. Results: We first applied DEA-BCC window analysis model to analyse the normal efficiency and super efficiency scores of the 22 seaports. The study focused on the comparison of the mean values and standard deviation values of the estimated efficiency evaluated under the normal efficiency and the super efficiency of the seaports respectively. The identification of efficiency is assigned by the mean value, while the stability is assigned by the standard value. The estimated mean efficiency value is less than 1 for all the seaports under window analysis normal efficiency as shown in column 2 Table III, while the estimated mean efficiency value under window analysis super efficiency shows that five seaports exhibit mean value of greater than 1, respectively.The comparison between the big seaports and small seaports leads to deterioration in efficiency level of the big seaports over time. Some small seaports exhibit efficient with higher mean despite their limited production potential compared to big seaports.Tables III and IV show that the indicators of production scale are not the main factors of efficiency and inefficiency, as some seaports with lower scale of production have better mean values while the other seaports with higher scale have small mean values.The examination of stability and performance of efficiency is across the row and column respectively. Table V shows that some seaports such as Bander Abbas, Khor Fakkan, Khalid, Jubail, Sudan, Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara have fluctuated in their performance between increase and decrease, while, Salalah, Mascut, Dubai, Kuwait, Mukalla, Dammam, Jeddah, Assab, Asmara and Djibouti have an increase in their performance. Aden, Hodeidah, Yanbu and Mombasa have a decrease in their performance. Therefore most of the seaports are found stable in terms of production (throughput cargo - Table IV) where the standard deviation indicates lower values for all most seaports.The summary of the mean in Table III shows that improvements are appeared for the first 11 seaports with the super efficiency. Relationships between the mean normal efficiency/super efficiency scores with their standard deviations are assessed to examine the trend of efficiency level. Figures 1 and 2 show a trend of accumulation for super efficiency and scattered for normal efficiency respectively.The correlation between mean efficiency/super efficiency scores with their mean/standard deviation are -0.1670, 0.4244, -0.17737 and 0.30808 respectively. The t-test shows the statistically insignificant at level 5 per cent, where (t=-0.776, p=0.447) for normal efficiency and (t=1.044, p=0.309) for super efficiency.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: In this paper, the DEA windows analysis normal and super efficiency are applied to determine the relative efficiency of the 22 cargo seaports in the Middle East and Africans countries. The analysis shows that five seaports exhibit mean value of greater than 1 under super efficiency, while the analysis with normal efficiency showed that all seaports have mean value of less than 1, respectively. The inefficient seaports in the region are of two types; first, the medium seaports are inefficient as they have an increase in return to scale which need to boost more and more their scale size of production to be more efficient; second, the big seaports are inefficient as they have a decrease in return to scale which need to boost their scale size of production to be more efficient. In both cases, these are fewer ship calls to these seaports. In general the small seaports are efficient and all the seaports are stable.The correlation coefficients are statistically insignificant for normal efficiency, while they are significant for super efficiency. The comparison of the seaports performance over the time window set and across different reference sets, shows fluctuation in the efficiency score. This fluctuation is the result of the comparison between the big seaports, which have high production, and small seaports, which have low production. It may also have resulted for reasons such as the third Gulf War and other reasons related to the security of ship companies particularly in this region during 2003-2005.The comparison between the big seaports and small seaports is to ensure that the indicator of production scale is not the main factors of efficiency and inefficiency, as some seaports with lower scale of production are efficient and others with higher scale are inefficient.The seaports with a decrease in performance are due to the security issues of the shipping companies or as a result of internal politics of some countries in the region, such as Bander Abbas, Aden, Hodeidah and Sudan. The normal window analysis approach may produce insufficient results and misleading prediction of the future. The relationship between the mean efficiency scores with their standard deviations shows more correlated under super efficiency.Consequently, the determination of the estimated efficient seaports in the region will be better evaluated by selecting the important seaports of the region in terms of the number of equipment, storage capacity and berth length.This study shows that small seaports are efficient while big seaports are inefficient. It is noted that the throughputs of seaports in this region are not stable, due to the instability in the region. The construction of hubs in the region will increase the ships entrance in/to the seaports and this will contribute effectively in the development of economy and at the same time to enrich poor countries in the region. The seaports authorities should adapt policies to encourage ship lines to load/unload in their seaports, such as to ensure seaport security, decreasing the seaport fees and to improve service performance. The DEA super efficiency applied with the window analysis have higher values on average, while, DEA normal efficiency with window analysis have lower values on average. With super efficiency, firms can be ranked without ambiguity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of 22 cargo seaports situated in the regions of East Africa and Middle East.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data envelopment analysis (DEA) with window analysis model evaluates the efficiency score in terms of normal efficiency and super efficiency. The analysis is based on the panel data for the period of 2000-2005.\nFindings: - The number of efficient decision making units (DMUs) under super efficiency is more than the number under normal efficiency.\nOriginality/value: - Using panel data, this paper is the first study to use super efficiency with window analysis that compares the efficiency estimated with the normal efficiency and with super efficiency.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brand transaction announcements and stock price volatility	[ "Brands", "GARCH model", "Volatility", "Value relevance", "Event study", "Stock prices" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For many years now, intangible assets, specifically brands, have been the object of growing concern that they represent one of the main variables for enterprise value creation. Potentially, the availability of a brand means owning a \"symbol\" that distinguishes the products/services of a company from those of competitors, in order to ensure that it has a competitive advantage sustainable over time (Aaker, 1991).From an accounting perspective, the role of intangibles as critical success factors for value creation and their relation with market value have been widely investigated (Canibano et al., 2000; Choi et al., 2000; Lev, 2001; Chalmers et al., 2008; Dahmash et al., 2009; Oliveira et al., 2010). Brands can influence the capital's market value, and their revaluation can be significantly and positively correlated with stock price (Barth and Clinch, 1998).Applying the model suggested by Ohlson (1995), Seethamraju (2002) showed the existence of a correlation between the market value of a company and the value assigned to an internally generated brand, which is determined as the total of advertising expenses. The same research, analysing the performance of the stock price, also pointed out that, during the three days following the announcement of a brand's purchase, the market has a positive and significant reaction, which is even stronger when companies decide to reveal not only the occurrence of the operation (qualitative disclosure), but also its order of magnitude (quantitative disclosure).Therefore, considering the importance attached to brands by the market, and more generally by all stakeholders (Salamudin et al., 2010; Mizik and Jacobson, 2005; Verbeteen and Vijn, 2006), this study aims to analyse how the market responds to the official announcement of transfers and acquisitions of brands by looking at the price volatility of stocks for listed companies.The present research investigates the possible effects of the occurrence of a specific event on a company's performance and uses the value relevance paradigm put forward by Holthausen and Watts (2001). It also aims to analyse how the market responds to the official announcement of transfers and acquisitions of brands by looking at the stock price volatility for a sample of listed Italian companies. The paper is organised as follows: section 2 provides an overview of the research question through a literature review; section 3 presents the empirical analysis on the basis of the research question and the discussion of its results; and section 4 concludes the study.\n2. Literature review: A growing body of evidence supports the relevance of intangibles as the base of strategic value creation and how financial statements lack information on that (Salamudin et al., 2010). In 1990, a research study carried out on the top 100 advertisers showed that the highest advertisement expenses were paid by firms having the most renowned brands and that higher advertisement expenses aiming at the promotion of a certain brand portfolio led to a positive performance of the corresponding stocks. A regression analysis was carried out to study the relationship between advertisement expenditure and rate of return on investments: first, the advertisement expenses for each of the top 100 companies were estimated as a percentage of turnover, and then the expense level was compared with the rate of return obtained from a ten-year investment in the companies' stocks.Kallapur and Kwan (2004) showed a positive relationship between brand capitalisation and stock prices, demonstrating that the presence of this asset in the companies' balance sheet is perceived as value relevant by investors. In particular, the authors examined the relevance and reliability of brands recognised on the balance sheets for 33 UK firms for the period 1984-1998. Regressing the market value on brand assets, they found a positive and significant coefficient, implying that managers' brand valuations are relevant and reliable.Saraf and Mohanty (2006) carried out a case study and identified a substantial relationship between brands' buy and sell agreements and the value of the stock prices of companies listed on the Indian stock exchanges. In particular, they explored the way a brand's sale on the part of a multinational in the pharmaceutical sector affected the stock prices of the companies involved in the operation.Several academic studies analysed the relationship between brand strategy and financial performance. Aaker and Jacobson (1994) carried out an investigation on 34 major US brands for 1989-1992, showing a positive relationship between brand equity transactions and a company's return on investment.Yeung and Ramasamy (2008) proved a relationship between brand equity and a variety of profitability ratios (ROI, ROA, gross profit margin, net margin). Specifically, using a panel data framework comprising the leading 50 US companies between 2000 and 2005, they regressed their performance measures on brand value and examined the latter's effect on profitability. Then, using the price and return model, they examined the value relevance of brand equity to the stock market. Their findings suggest that brand values have a significant impact on share prices, but they appear to have no impact on market returns.Pahud De Mortanges and Riel (2003) analyse if there exists a relationship between brand value and shareholder value (measured as market-to-book ratio, total shareholder return, and earning per share) of companies listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange from 1993 to 1997, and examine the intensity of the relationship. This study is unique in that the authors do not use the book value of the brand, but determine the value using a technique called \"brand asset valuator\". The findings, although highlighting the critical evaluation of a brand, confirmed that the brand value is related to the performance of the shareholders, proving once again that this asset is an important value driver.Starting from these international contributions, this work intends to verify whether there is a significant relationship between a brand's buy and sell agreement made by a company and stock prices. The authors analysed if the release of information pertaining to a brand transaction is relevant in terms of volatility and stock price for companies that undertook the purchase/sale of a brand.\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 Data\n4. Conclusions: Some studies at the international level have brought out the impact of specific corporate operations on the stock price of the companies that undertook them. In the present study, investors' behaviour was investigated with regard to the accomplishment of a purchase/sale operation for an asset that is traditionally regarded as a major value driver. In contrast with Seethamraju's (2002) study, which showed a positive correlation between the brand's sale and the buyer firm's stock price - leading to believe that this operation had always been deemed \"value relevant\" by investors - the present results indicate that only a few companies in the sample have a statistically significant relationship between purchase/sale of the brand and the stock price volatility of the companies that have implemented the operation.There are two reasons to attach importance to the results obtained.First, several previous studies have attempted to show the value relevance of intangible assets by choosing to investigate the relationship between the announcement of the data contained in the financial statement to the market, and the subsequent performance of the stock price. In this way, the risk lies in not being able to separate the import of the asset under examination from the other data contained in the document; for instance, the release of the annual financial statement, which also provides a volume of information to the market, makes it difficult to associate the behaviour of investors with a single piece of information. To solve this problem, the present study takes into account the market's reaction to a well-defined corporate event, declared separately, and not along with other occurrences - that is, the official announcement of a buy and sell agreement of a company's brand having taken place. In order to consider the possible combination of other major corporate events to the event under investigation, the authors verified, by consulting the press releases published on the websites of those companies, if in the days when the event occurred for the purchase or sale of the brand, the company informed the market of other significant events that may have affected the volatility of the stock price. This check showed that, in those days, the companies concerned did not inform the market of other relevant information. Through this survey, the authors also verified that, within the 16 transactions examined, nine[6] related to the purchase or sale of a single brand; in the remaining cases, the purchase or sale of the brand was connected to an acquisition or transfer of a company or a business. In the latter cases, therefore, even if the sale or purchase of the brand is mentioned specifically in the press releases of the company, the event was not completely insulated from the operation of purchase/sale of a company or a business, of which the brand was still an integral part.Second, given the reasons illustrated in sections 3.2 and 3.3, the authors determined to carry out statistical analysis using, not a linear regression model, but the GARCH model, which proves to be more suitable for financial series.At this stage, it is therefore possible to offer some conclusive remarks. The analysis showed that the returns of some firms (five out of the 16 companies in the sample) were significantly associated with the purchase/sale of the brand, meaning that the operation under examination had a certain import for the market, as revealed by the performance of the stock's return. However, this is not always the case.Moreover, the results proved that in two cases (Brembo and Greenvision) the stock's return is influenced by the corporate event alone. In the other three cases, instead, the return is influenced not only by the occurrence of the brand's sale but by other variables as well. Specifically, Tenaris stock volatility is affected by Mibtel's trend and the information entered into the market at time t-1; the return of Parmalat stock is affected by Mibtel's trend as well as by the volatility that stock had at t-1; the volatility of BasicNet is also conditioned by the return that stock had at t-1.Consequently, it is possible to affirm that, although the brand is believed to be an important value driver, the mere occurrence of a purchase/sale operation for this asset only occasionally determines a reaction in the market; at any rate, stock volatility rarely depends solely on this occurrence.4.1 Limitation of the paper and future research directions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to investigate the potential relationship between the stock market announcement of a brand's buy and sell agreement, and the stock price trend.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research question was approached using a GARCH-based statistical analysis on a sample of companies listed on the Mibtel (Italian stock exchange) that have a brand among their assets and have undertaken a purchase/sale from 2006 to 2008.\nFindings: - Although the brand is believed to be an important value driver, the mere occurrence of a purchase/sale operation for this asset only occasionally leads to a reaction in the market; at any rate, the stock's volatility quite rarely depends solely on such an occurrence.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The statistical relevance of the analysis is limited by the observational data that it was possible to analyse. In particular, to give a positive conclusion about the influence of the brand's buy and sell agreements on a stock's return, it is necessary to have a time series of a greater number of firms. A larger availability of data might, in the future, allow a more detailed analysis and the opportunity to investigate the possible impacts of the event with relation to the business's characteristics - something that could not be carried out in this study because of the aforementioned problems.\nPractical implications: - Researchers and practitioners are now aware that the market does not always look upon the operations of a brand's buy and sell agreement as value-relevant.\nOriginality/value: - The originality of the present work lies in the fact that, to the best of one's knowledge, no other surveys were carried out on the chosen sample (i.e. the companies listed on the Italian stock market); that only a few international contributions posed the same research question; and most importantly, that the statistical methodology used can very well provide more reliable results than regression analysis, which is normally applied to such data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing service quality in secondary schools: the case of Jordan	[ "Jordan", "Service quality", "SERVQUAL", "International qualification programs", "Private secondary schools" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Stemming from the \"customer is king\" school of thinking, it is true that customers are key focus to any thriving business, not least in the service sector. Simplistically put, if customers are kept satisfied and their expectations are met, then the organization will have a relatively better chance to be in a sound business.\n2. Literature review: This section provides a view on to the concept of service quality, its meaning and development. It then goes on to an in-depth discussion regarding popular frameworks such as the SERVQUAL. Finally, the last section offers a brief about studies conducted to measure service quality in education.\n3. Theoretical framework: As observed in the literature review, the majority of research studies aiming at assessing service quality in education have mainly focussed their efforts on higher education institutions. The disregard of measuring service quality in primary and secondary education has resulted in a scarce pool of studies addressing service quality in school education settings. However, among the recent studies that have attempted to fill this research void are Ramseook-Munhurrun et al. (2010). In their work, they utilized SERVQUAL as the foundation to develop their very own EDUSERV model customized for the secondary school setting. The five-factor model examined the relationship between service quality and overall satisfaction based on perceptions of - what was believed to be - the main stakeholder group; the educators.\n4. Conclusion and implications: Answering to the many calls for developing industry-specific service quality frameworks and following the footsteps of the SERVQUAL model, a multi-dimensional model resulted. The model includes six dimensions that resulted from an in-depth focus group session with field experts. Under each dimension, a number of elements emerged and were translated into simpler layman terminology to further stimulate cooperation from respondents (i.e. students).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Since conducting the literature review revealed that assessing quality in secondary schools has been an unexplored territory, and where most educational service quality research studies have mainly focussed on assessing quality from a student's perspective in higher education, comes into play with a two-fold objective: first, to identify the quality dimensions most vital to students in a developing country such as Jordan, and then to develop a framework consisting of these dimensions; and second, to investigate the extent of satisfaction of students enrolled into international qualifications in Jordan by measuring the gap between expectations and perceptions. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A focus group meeting consisting of experts in the field of secondary school education, specifically in internationally recognized qualifications, was conducted. These expert's objective input helped develop the framework for assessing quality in secondary schools.\nFindings: A framework was developed specifically to suit private secondary schools in Jordan with reference to the SERVQUAL model. The resulting questionnaire is intended to be distributed to over 200 students enrolled in an international qualification program among private schools in Jordan.\nResearch limitations/implications: The framework could be considered as a form of reality check for schools supplying school administrations in Jordan with a suitable tool to measure whether they are exceeding their students' expectations. This framework might not be applicable to public schools in Jordan, since it was customized to be applied in schools who have adopted international qualification(s).\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to quality service research that addresses the context of high schools in a developing Middle-Eastern country.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The brand is my workplace	[ "Employee attitudes", "Employer branding", "Turnover", "Organizational commitment", "Turnover intentions", "Brand equity", "Strategic human resource management", "Organizational brand equity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The term \"employer branding\" was first introduced in the early 1990s and has been widely adopted in the field. It refers to an organization's reputation as an employer and its value proposition to employees (Barrow and Mosley, 2011). Since then, there has been a growing discourse on employees' perceptions and changing expectations of their workplaces (Shaw, 2013). Employees today are concerned with issues such as the \"goodness\" of their workplace, for example, its ecological footprint and social responsibility (Glavas and Godwin, 2013). Organizations address these topics when facing employees. For example, in 2016 Google was recognized by Fortune (2016) magazine as the number one company to work for in the USA of the 100 best companies. One of Google's (2016) core values is \"you can make money without being evil.\" Today, more than ever, the practice of utilizing HR strategically (Ulrich and Dulebohn, 2015) and the emergence of the social age at work (Giddens, 2013) have led to the emergence of new considerations in the employee-organization relationship, including the organization's reputation as an employer, and, as a part of it, employer branding.\nMethod: The empirical part of the research stems from a survey of 602 Israeli employees. The data were collected from an internet panel database that consists of more than 50,000 employees over age 18. Participants in the study were employed in different local industry sectors (see Table I for distribution of sectors). Participants' ages ranged from 17 to 81, with a mean age of 37.5 (SD=14.4). In total, 57 percent were male and 57 percent had an academic degree.\nData analysis: Analysis was conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, the measurement model of the manifest indicators was established by employing CFA. Table II presents the latent variables and respective manifest indicators included in the CFA. The analyses were conducted on the two latent constructs - OBE and turnover intentions.\nResults: Phase 1: measurement model\nDiscussion: In the current study, OBE was proposed as a general form of employer branding composed of the following elements: salience, functional performance, psychological imagery, judgments and opinions and emotions/feelings. This concept was based on the well-established consumer marketing literature on brand equity (Aaker, 2009, Keller, 1993). Therefore, a model according to which OBE is negatively associated with intentions to leave an organization was proposed and verified. A mediator was then identified. The association between OBE and turnover intentions was partially mediated through organizational commitment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to adapt the well-established concept of \"brand equity\" in order to define and measure employer branding and its organizational consequences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper utilized structural equation modeling with a large sample of 600 employees to test the proposition that organizational brand equity (OBE) is translated into attitudes toward the workplace (organizational commitment) and has possible behavioral consequences (turnover intentions).\nFindings: The study findings provide support for a partial mediation model. In addition to a direct association between OBE and turnover intentions, organizational commitment mediates the relationships between OBE and turnover intentions within a 12-month period.\nOriginality/value: Employer branding research is heterogeneous in terms of measurement tools and scope. This paper is part of an emerging perspective that suggests the adoption of the brand equity concept from marketing into the field of OB. This paper investigates the relationships between brand equity, employees' commitment and turnover intentions. Well-established measures and a large-scale sample of 602 participants are used.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lean-excellence business management for manufacturing SMEs focusing on KRI	[ "SMEs", "Business management", "KRI", "Lean-excellence", "LEBM framework" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The current global hyper-competition and swift technological changes are forcing many companies to optimise their production processes that enable them to produce high-quality and low-cost products. This quest has increased the necessities for extensive improvements in manufacturing leadership, customer relationship, process management, strategic thinking and employees satisfaction (Mason et al., 2015; Netland, 2016; Alhuraish et al., 2014; Alaskari et al., 2012). LM thinking is a philosophy that addresses advantages obtained from the mentioned sources. The core idea of LM is to build mutual trust, and unique way of working that ensures highly responsive to customers' demands while constantly cutting cost and eliminating wastes throughout the organisation (Bhamu and Sangwan, 2014; Shah and Ward, 2003).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Lean manufacturing application\n3. Methodology: Literature review presented in the previous sections confirmed the applicability and advantages that can be achieved from the integration of Lean tools and MBNQA model, but the framework has to be tailored to the specification and limitations of SMEs. For this reason, the conceptual framework is derived from the literature reviewed and validated through the case studies that have been conducted in three manufacturing SMEs in the KRI. Figure 2 shows the methodology undertaken in this research.\n4. Findings of the case studies: In this section, a summary of the participant's responses is presented in order to meet the cognitive objectives of the present study. Note that a () indicates that the element was applied by the company while (x) means that it was not.\n5. Development of LEBM framework: Responses and general practices obtained from the case companies were generalised and were combined with a literature review to build a framework. The framework consists of core values as foundation and pre-preparation for Lean implementation, seven key drivers for Lean performance improvement, five Lean tools under each factor to adopt Lean activities within that area and five indicators to evaluate the business performance and guide the organisation to the excellent-Lean levels. For validation of the framework, the participated companies made inputs and necessary modifications.\n6. Characteristics of LEBM: LEBM framework is easy to understand, well-structured and consists of strongly interlinked components. It can give visible results in a short time. This model is characterised by the following advantages that make it unique and suitable for manufacturing SMEs in developing countries:\n7. Applications of LEBM framework: The framework of this study would prove highly relevant and useful to establish a successful implementation of the Lean approach to increasing organisational effectiveness and efficiency of the small businesses. It can provide advantages in many cases:\n8. Conclusion: Since reaching excellent performance in developing economies is a far end and strategic objective for SMEs, the quest needs a deep understanding of advanced management approaches and full commitment to the comprehensive methodologies. It is believed that with a combination of Lean techniques into the criteria of MBNQA model outstanding levels of performance can be attained in both manufacturing and excellence extends. It is noticeable that the effective implementation of the two methodologies in an integrated manner will generate improvements in all seven areas of the organisation which results in actual changes in the attitudes of doing business to the long extent. It is worth to mention that, in general, the expected improvements by LEBM framework will take time; reaching excellent performance cannot happen overnight. However, deep understanding, full commitment and direct involvement of the top managers, supported with across training, education and empowerment of the workforce will facilitate the change procedures and maximise the LEBM framework outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective framework for implementing Lean strategies in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on the integration of LM tools and techniques with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria a systematic Lean implementation framework for manufacturing SMEs has been proposed. The core values, drivers and tools of the proposed framework were further developed based on case studies in three SMEs in the KRI.\nFindings: Proposed framework is able to provide a simple pathway for SMEs to systematically implement Lean techniques in seven functional areas in order to create Lean culture in the organisation. Business performance measurement in terms of profitability, customer satisfaction, employee's satisfaction, competitiveness growth and ergonomic improvement is presented in favour of evaluating Lean outcomes appropriately. It also presents the experience of small firms in implementing Lean programmes to show that Lean is valid in SMEs.\nResearch limitations/implications: The framework concentrates only on the internal issues of the organisation, while external variables such as national culture and external support are excluded.\nPractical implications: The framework assists improvements in SMEs that either initially attempt to start Lean journey or those that are at more advanced levels towards excellent-Lean manufacturing. The framework can also be used as a self-assessment model to determine the degree of Lean readiness.\nOriginality/value: To the best knowledge of the author, it is the first framework that integrates Lean techniques with MBNQA criteria to support Lean implementation in SMEs. It is also the first study regarding Lean-excellence in the KRI.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Narrative online advertising: identification and its effects on attitude toward a product	[ "Narratives", "Advertising", "Internet shopping", "Transportation", "Involvement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The increasing popularity in the internet, its growing ubiquity through the latest smart devices and social networks, and continuous breakthroughs in web and mobile technologies have produced a generation of sophisticated and knowledgeable shoppers. The population of internet users has grown consistently at remarkable rates worldwide (Internet World Stats, 2011). By 2015, internet users are forecasted to reach 288 million in the USA alone and nearly 2.9 billion worldwide (eTForecasts, 2012). Such a large group of users presents tremendous opportunities for online marketing and challenges marketers to create on-demand and interactive marketing experiences that can effectively connect with and engage their target consumers (Mooradian et al., 2008).Advertising plays a major role in communicating the virtues of a business' products and services to consumers and typically involves two components: lecture and drama (Wells, 1989). As such, advertising can assume the form of either arguments or narratives (Boller and Olson, 1991). Argumentative advertising tends to present fact-based information that persuades through logical arguments and lectures (Deighton et al., 1989; Lien and Chen, 2013), whereas narrative advertising tells a story about product consumption or related experiences or presents the consequences of the product's usage and achieves persuasion by appealing to the consumer's affective and emotional responses (Phillips and McQuarrie, 2010). Narrative advertising often uses drama and storytelling (e.g. Deighton et al., 1989), humor (e.g. Gulas et al., 2010), and/or editorial narrative (e.g. Chang, 2009) to evoke a person's emotions and empathy with the characters in the story (Mooradian et al., 2008). Research has found that given sufficient consumer cognitive capacity, narrative advertising has superior persuasive effects, particularly in facilitating favorable changes in beliefs toward advertising and brand attitudes than argumentative advertising (Chang, 2009).Traditional persuasion models, such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model, have limited power to understand narrative advertising (Green and Brock, 2000). Narrative transportation theory has been proposed as the underlying mechanism that drives narrative-based persuasion (Escalas, 2004). Transportation is conceptualized as a viewer's experience of being lost in context or immersed in a story's plot. The literature suggests that by using drama or storytelling, narrative advertising captivates and mesmerizes its audience through the dramatic unfolding of causally related events in the form of storytelling or drama, which \"transports\" the viewer to the narrative world (Escalas, 2004). That is, when a consumer becomes immersed in a drama or narrative story and begins to experience the characters' world vicariously, he/she is \"transported\" and \"hooked\" to the narrative world (Escalas et al., 2004). Research further suggests that highly transported viewers perform less critical evaluations of facts and arguments, produce fewer counter-arguments, and report more positive overall responses, including favorable attitudes toward the advertisement and brand and favorable affective emotions, such as warm feelings (e.g. Chang, 2009).Despite the growing interest in narrative persuasion, empirical research on narrative-based advertising via transportation remains limited. Moreover, most studies have examined narrative advertisements in traditional media, such as magazines (e.g. Norris and Colman, 1992) and television (e.g. Gulas et al., 2010), and the focus has been on the advantages of narrative-based advertising over argumentative advertising. Online narrative advertising, as an important and rapidly growing venue to engage consumers and connect with target markets (Mooradian et al., 2008), has not been adequately researched in connection with its influencing factors (Brajnika and Gabriellia, 2010; Ha, 2008). Because of the opportunities presented by online advertising in comparison with traditional media advertising, greater attention should be directed toward the design of online narrative advertisements to maximize their persuasive power. Although internet-based narrative advertising shares some features with traditional media advertising, it has unique capabilities and noteworthy characteristics that must be carefully researched and studied to help advertisers fine tune their design to achieve heightened effectiveness. As such, research on the effectiveness of internet-based narrative online advertising and its influencing factors is warranted.To address this research gap, the current study draws upon narrative advertising, transportation, and internet marketing literature to identify salient elements of internet-based narrative online advertising and investigates their effects on consumers' attitudes toward an advertised product. This study further examines the boundaries and conditions of these effects by testing the moderating role of advertisement involvement on the aforementioned relationships.\n2. Conceptual background: Online experiential marketing\n3. Research model and hypotheses: Drawing on extant literature, this study identified vividness and self-relevance, and two internet-based elements, interactivity and entertainment, as four salient elements that comprise online advertising. A model that incorporates the effects of these elements on consumer attitude toward a product, and the moderating effect of advertisement involvement is proposed (Figure 1).Narrative online advertising elements and attitude toward a product\n4. Research methods: Measure development\n5. Data analysis and results: Measure purification and validation\n5. Discussion and conclusion: The current study examined the effects of four narrative online advertising elements (i.e. interactivity, vividness, entertainment, and self-referencing) on consumer attitudes toward the featured product and the moderating effects of advertisement involvement on these relationships. Transportation theory, particularly mental simulation, was employed to explain the impact of narrative online advertising elements on consumer information processing and the effectiveness of narrative persuasion in the context of online narrative advertising. The findings suggest that a highly interactive, vivid, entertaining advertisement to which a consumer can relate facilitates the development of favorable product attitude, although these positive effects are contingent upon the degree to which a consumer is cognitively involved in the content of an advertisement.Specifically, greater self-referencing in the narrative advertisement induces transportation in the consumer and leads to favorable attitudes. Similarly, entertaining narrative advertising promotes consumer immersion by providing entertaining contextual details and elaboration that evoke emotional responses and facilitate mental simulation. In general, this study's empirical findings are consistent with the extant literature and provide insights for advertising practitioners to effectively manage and design such advertisements. The positive effect of self-referencing is further enhanced by the consumer's cognitive involvement in processing the message of the narrative online advertisement. Highly involved consumers are exposed to a rich set of visual, auditory, and cognitive cues that arouse and stimulate their senses and help them to relate their experiences to the advertisement's story, especially when the narrative is structured similarly to the ways consumers receive information in their daily life experiences.The results suggest that advertisement involvement did not show positive and significant effects on the relationship between vividness and entertainment with the attitude toward a product. An uninterrupted pleasant experience with a narrative advertisement is highly associated with a successful convergent process of transportation and frequently leads to a favorable product evaluation and the development of favorable attitudes toward the product. However, the positive effects of vividness and entertainment on consumers' attitudes seem to remain the same regardless of their cognitive involvement in the advertisement's content. Vividness and entertainment stimulate affective involvement, which facilitates immersion and transportation in the consumer's processing of the advertisement. However, advertisement involvement reflects the consumer's cognitive involvement in the advertisement's content. Previous studies have rarely distinguished affective involvement from cognitive involvement. However, the findings of this study suggest that although the two may be closely associated, affective involvement and cognitive involvement work independently of each other in the consumer's processing of the advertisement. Thus, a highly vivid and entertaining advertisement is likely to induce a favorable attitude toward a product, and a consumer's cognitive engagement in the advertisement's content has little impact on his/her immersion and enjoyment of the experience.A particularly interesting finding is that cognitive involvement in the content of an advertisement weakens the positive relationship between interactivity and the consumer's attitude toward the product. Although greater cognitive attention to an advertisement's content strengthens (enhances) the positive effect of a vivid and self-referencing advertisement on attitude, greater involvement in an advertisement's content appears to mitigate the effect of interactivity on attitude. The extant literature on narrative advertising and transportation suggests that the transportation effect of narrative advertising is contingent upon the viewer's cognitive capability (Chang, 2009). Specifically, highly involving tasks, such as reading narrative editorials, are cognitively demanding and may deplete an individual's cognitive resources, deter the transportation process, and, consequently, attenuate persuasion effectiveness. Interactivity, as a unique feature of online advertising, offers a high level of control over the consumer's interactions, but at the same time, it creates potential decisions about what should be done next. Because decision making requires information processing that can be cognitively demanding, a consumer who is also highly involved in processing the advertisement's content will likely experience limited leftover cognitive resources to successfully complete the transportation convergent process. Thus, when highly involved consumers are required by a highly interactive online advertisement to perform two cognitively demanding tasks, the depletion of their cognitive resources deteriorates the transportation process and mitigates the positive effect of interactivity on consumer attitude.The current study's findings also suggest that a highly interactive narrative online advertisement has a positive effect on favorable attitude. High interactivity allows consumers to enjoy elevated control of their viewing process (Bezjian-Avery et al., 1998). As such, consumers who are drawn into these advertisements are prompted to actively participate in the story as it unfolds and are encouraged to engage in and vicariously live the experience of the story's characters. The participatory experience drives the consumer to further immerse and lose him/herself in the self-constructed alternative world (Wang and Calder, 2006). This facilitates the transportation effect and contributes to producing a favorable attitude toward a product.This study revealed intriguing findings that contribute to the body of knowledge about online narrative advertising research. This study expanded the boundaries of transportation theory and its explanatory power from narrative advertising in traditional media to internet-based online advertising, a new and rapidly growing field of research. This study empirically tested the unique characteristics of online narrative advertising and their effects on consumer attitude. As such, the study advanced narrative advertising research and provided empirical evidence of the effects of pertinent characteristics of internet-based advertising, interactivity, and entertainment in the conversion process of transportation and consumer attitudes. Moreover, this study identified and shed light on important contingencies (i.e. advertisement involvement) of the focal relationships. These moderating contingencies certainly warrant further discussion and research because they offer possible explanations for how the effects of narrative online advertising may vary as consumers pay attention to the content of narrative advertisements.Furthermore, this study provides important research and practical implications. Narrative advertising induces consumers to vicariously experience the purchase and consumption of a product or service through storytelling or drama. Advertisers must understand the potential effects of IT-enabled features that take consumers beyond static displays and images and immerse consumers in a virtual dynamic and interactive world. The four elements represent important factors that enhance and enrich the storytelling experience, allowing the consumer to become an active participant through interactivity, entertaining the consumer through episodes encapsulating goals, actions, and outcomes, relating the consumer's narrative experiences to his/her stored experiences, and persuading the consumer through the vividness of the presentation. If properly designed, a narrative online advertisement can fully utilize important internet-enabled features and can maximize its potential to produce a favorable consumer attitude toward a featured product. Furthermore, interactive advertising is unique to internet-based marketing communications, and advertisers are often inclined to take advantage of interactive interface features in an attempt to engage online consumers. However, our findings suggest that although a highly interactive narrative advertisement can promote transportation and induce favorable consumer attitudes, high involvement in the content of an advertisement may, in fact, have a detrimental effect on this relationship. This finding is particularly relevant and intriguing because the primary goal of advertising is to deliver brand and product information to a targeted market, and advertisers expect their target audience to find products relevant and beneficial. As such, it is natural that the target audience should be at least somewhat interested in seeking information about this content and should be cognitively involved in processing this information. Although advertisers often find high advertisement involvement advantageous because it can enhance the positive effect of self-relevant narrative advertisements on favorable attitudes, it is imperative to maintain a balance between content involvement and interactivity when designing an effective online narrative advertisement. Excessive advertisement content in combination with highly interactive advertising may overload the consumer's cognitive capabilities, hinder his/her immersion in the narrative story, and negate favorable attitudes toward the advertised product. Advertisers must adequately address the balance between an online advertisement's interactivity and content in its design.\n6. Limitations and future research: The results of this research do not come without limitations. Because this study was conducted with consumers in Taiwan, a number of confounding factors, such as culture and social trends and norms, may have been introduced. The respondents were mostly younger consumers between 21 and 30 years old. Although this sample may be the appropriate for the products used in the survey, it may lead to a narrow variance in the responses. Therefore, until this research is replicated in other contexts (e.g. products and age groups) and markets, generalization of the results should be performed with caution. However, although these limitations are acknowledged, the four narrative online advertising antecedents to product attitude, the moderating effect of advertisement involvement, and the overall model should perform equally well. Additionally, this study was conducted using a self-administered online questionnaire. Although this approach may subject the study to potential threats of subjectivity and common biases of the respondents, the rigorous data collection procedures, including the pilot test, produced valid and high quality data. Some measures in this study may be further validated and improved.The rapid increase in internet advertising and new technology-enabled features offers enormous opportunities for advertisers and advertising researchers. The current study examined the relationships between four salient elements of internet-based narrative online advertising (interactivity, vividness, entertainment, and self-referencing), their effects on consumers' attitudes toward a product, and the contingency effect of involvement. Future research could expand this study to other contexts and markets with different advertising stimuli, including additional unique characteristics of online advertising, and could investigate their effects on other outcome variables. Alternatively, researchers could explore and clarify the underlying mechanism of the transportation process in online advertising, especially with highly interactive narrative advertisements.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Drawing on extant literature on narrative persuasion, online advertising, and transportation theory, this research aims to study Internet-based online narrative advertising and investigate the effects of four pertinent advertising design elements, interactivity, entertainment, vividness, and self-referencing, on consumer products and the moderating effects of advertisement involvement on these relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected using an online questionnaire that contained measures adapted from prior studies. Participants first selected a product that they would seriously consider purchasing and answered a set of questions prior to viewing a narrative online advertisement, which was followed by a different set of questions. Structural equation modeling was used to empirically test the authors' proposed model.\nFindings: - Greater levels of interactivity, vividness, entertainment, and self-referencing in narrative online advertisements led to more favorable attitudes toward a product. In particular, self-referencing had a substantial effect on transportation in forming product attitudes. Advertisement Involvement moderates (i.e. enhances) the effect of self-referencing on attitudes toward a product.\nPractical implications: - If properly designed, a narrative online advertisement can fully utilize Internet-enabled features and can maximize their potential to produce a favorable consumer attitude toward a featured product.\nOriginality/value: - This study advances narrative advertising research and provides empirical evidence to highlight the effects of the pertinent characteristics of Internet-based advertising, interactivity and entertainment in the conversion process of transportation and consumer attitudes. Moreover, this study identifies and sheds light on important contingencies (i.e. advertisement involvement) of the focal relationships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A cross-sectional study of the relationships between organizational justices and OCB: Roles of organizational identification and psychological contracts	[ "Organizational justice", "Psychological contract", "Organizational identification", "Organizational citizenship behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Organizational justice has drawn a great deal of attention from researchers in the field of organizational behavior in the last 40 years. Organizational justice is defined as the employees' perception of fairness in the organization such as whether they are fairly rewarded in exchange for their contributions and whether they are fairly treated procedurally as well as interpersonally (Greenberg, 1990). Employees' perception of fairness with respect to outcome, procedure and interaction can strongly influence their favorable attitudes and behaviors toward the organization. Indeed, recent meta-analysis on the effects of organizational justice has revealed that organizational justice, such as distributive, procedural, and interactional justice, are positively related to employees' job satisfaction, organizational commitment, trust in organization, and job performance (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001; Colquitt et al., 2001).\n2. Theoretical backgrounds and hypotheses development: The relationship between organizational justice and OI\n3. Method: Sample and procedure\n4. Results: Discriminant and convergent validity\n5. Discussion: Using social exchange and social identity theory (e.g. Tajfel and Turner, 1979), we verified OI as a mediating variable explaining why organizational justice positively affects OCB, and found psychological contracts as a moderating variable affecting the relationship between OI and OCB. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. First of all, OI mediated the effects of distributive and interactional justice on OCB. We also found that the positive influence of OI on OCB was stronger for low transactional and high relational contracts. Lastly, the indirect effect of distributive and interactional justice on OCB through OI was only valid for high relational contracts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the mediating effect of organizational identification (OI) in the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and also to examine the moderating effects of transactional and relational contracts in the relationship between OI and OCB.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from employees working for ten companies in South Korea. The participants were asked with a self-reported survey, and 284 questionnaires were used in the analyses.\nFindings: Among the three types of organizational justice, the effects of distributive and interactional justice on OCB were mediated by OI. The authors also found that the positive relationship between OI and OCB was stronger for both a low level of transactional and a high level of relational contract. In addition, the moderated mediation analyses confirmed that the indirect relationships between distributive, interactional justice and OCB through OI were valid for both high and low level of transactional contract, and only for low level of relational contract.\nPractical implications: To facilitate employees' OCB, organizations have to pay adequate attention to distributive justice which is rather neglected, and also must understand what types of psychological contract employees have.\nOriginality/value: This study intensively explored the internal mechanism as to how the different types of organizational justice lead to OCB by identifying the mediating effect of OI and moderating roles of psychological contracts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Appraisal of farm tractor accidents occurrence and prevention in Nigeria	[ "Accidents", "Accident prevention", "Farms", "Nigeria" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to the American Society of Safety Engineers, a hazard is \"a condition of changing a set of circumstances that presents a potential for injury illness or property damage\". Accidents have become daily occurrences that have found their way into virtually every activity. They occur in homes, commerce, transport, entertainment centers and manufacturing organizations to mention just a few. They come in different forms: fall from height, hit by moving object, cut by sharp edges, collapsed structure, car crash, snake bite, etc. These undesirable events may result in human injury, disease or death; damage to property, loss of production hours and cause disorganization (Forastieri, 1999; Patrick, 2002; Duignan, 2002).Injuries resulting from the use of agricultural equipment are significant causes of morbidity and mortality both in high-income and low-income countries. Amongst these injuries, tractors are most often associated with severe injuries and fatalities (Kumar et al., 1998). Most of the reported farm tractor injuries have originated from high-income countries (HICs) (Baker et al., 1984; Cogbill and Busch, 1985; Cogbill, 1991; Lehtola et al., 1994; Zhou and Roseman, 1994). However, there are very few reports from the low-income countries (LICs) (Field and Gong, 1982; Mufti et al., 1989; Mohan and Patel, 1992).Agricultural machinery has been identified as a major hazard (Browning et al., 1998; Gerberich et al., 1998; ILO, 2000; McGwin et al., 2000; Rasmussen, 2000; Gerberich et al., 2001). The tractor has been identified as the primary machinery hazard (Lee et al., 1996; Thelin, 1998; Franklin et al., 2001). From literature, the number of different types of machines used in farm production was found to be the most important determinant of injuries, regardless of factors such as farmer's age, work experience, size of farm, or vocational education (Gerberich et al., 1998; ILO, 2000; McGwin et al., 2000; Rasmussen, 2000). Agriculture has consistently ranked as one of the most hazardous industries in the USA. In 1994, agriculture and mining had higher fatality rates than other industries. The fatality rate for agriculture was 26 per 100,000 workers, compared with a rate of four per 100,000 for all industries combined.In Nigeria, the situation may be worse, as inferred in the following report by Nigerian Institute of Safety Professionals (NISP) (NISP, 2000): \"over 11,000 people die from on-the-job accidents each year and a worker is injured every 18 seconds in chemical industries in Nigeria\". Buttressing this, Fayad (2003) reported that there is higher incidence of fatal work-related injuries in developing countries than in established economies which produce a major economic and social burden in developed and developing countries (Fayad, 2003). According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) report, work-related injuries (OIs) and work-related illness kill 1.1 million people per year world wide; a number surpassing the average annual number of deaths from road crashes (999,000) and war (502,000).Considering the economic impact of accidents, Department of Labour Force, UK survey estimates that annual costs of accidents to employers is between PS4.5 and PS9.5 billion; to individual PS5 billion and to the society between PS11 and PS18 billion (Roberts-Phelps, 1999); death and disabling injuries cost is upward of $130 million annually in the USA (Harold and Moriarty, 1990) while National Safety Council (NSC) (2004) reported the cost of job-related injuries to be more than $27 billion annually. In India, the total monetary loss due to workplace injuries is estimated as $27 million per year (Mohan et al., 2004) while in Lebanon it is $10-13 million per annum. The Nigerian experience has not been formally reported. Judging from our accident records relative to other nations, the Nigerian economic impact of accidents may not be better. This calls for a well designed, implemented and effectively managed safety programme in our manufacturing industry. The development and evaluation of a manufacturing safety programme is the subject of this research.In many nations, regulatory agencies are saddled with the task of ensuring that industry conforms to Government safety programme standards. The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) pursues active programmes of research surveillance, prevention interventions, information dissemination, and health professional education in order to prevent work related illness, injury, disability, and death. Other agencies with similar responsibility include: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASHW); European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP); Health and Safety Executive (HSE); Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); American National Standard Institute (ANSI); Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON); and Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). In addition, the intermediaries such as Small Business Service, Chambers of Commerce, Learning and Skills Councils, Trade and Professional Associations, Health and Safety Consultants and Good Neighbours contribute a lot in the provision of information, advice and training courses.\nMaterials and methods: The use of questionnaire was employed to collect data from various areas of agricultural settlements, specifically from users of tractors and equipment. The questionnaires were completed by maintenance managers or by persons who were directly involved in carrying out accident prevention activities in each of the establishments. The information so gathered was evaluated in order to estimate various accident prevention and control with their effectiveness and frequency of use in tractor and equipment.The questionnaire contains various accident prevention methods with the following notations used in the data analysis:X1. Avoiding carriage of passenger with tractor.X2. Use of orientation training and seminar for farmers and tractor operators.X3. Avoiding tractor operation on highways.X4. Avoiding the use of malfunctioning equipment.X5. Adoption of routine and preventive maintenance.X6. The use of safety protective wear, like safety boots.The following procedure used by Schouten and Gellings (1987) was applied for calculating the relative accident prevention factor (APF) where APF is a rating given on a scale from 0 to 100 per cent, such that 0 per cent indicated that accident protection was non-existence, and 100 per cent indicated that accident protection was optimal. Thus: Equation 1 where:J: 1 <= j <= m for each method xi;n: the number of applied accident protection method; andxi: effectiveness factor derived from published data. Each method is linked with an effectiveness factoreach method is linked with an effectiveness factor:fi: frequency of use with the extent of application;cij: quantitative value attached to qualitative description of the extent of use of the respective accident protection method xi; andXi: all accident prevention and control methods (see Table I).Using the above rating calculation, the following conditions could be qualified:* All accident prevention and control methods that could possibly be applied in a certain situation were summarized. The methods were covered by the general term \"accident protection methods\". Possible methods are: avoiding carriage of passenger with tractor; use of orientation training and seminar; avoiding tractor operation on highways; avoiding the use of malfunctioning equipment; adoption of routine and preventive maintenance; and the use of safety protective wear.* An effectiveness ranking order of the protection measures can be defined, using published data. Every method was linked with an effectiveness factor, xi, which denotes the relative effectiveness of the specific method compared with the other methods.* For each method, the extent of application can be defined by the frequency of use. This frequency of use, fi, was obtained on the basis of the published data, by attaching quantitative value (cij) to a qualitative description of the extent of use of the respective accident protection methods Xi.* The value of the frequency of use of methods Xi, is fi=cij. In cij, j corresponds to exactly one possible qualitative description of the extent of use of the method Xi. The total numbers of descriptions, m, is equal for all methods Xi, so 1 <= j <= m.Scoring of methods effectiveness (xi): Very effective, 3; Effective, 2; Less effective 1.Injury severity and scale\nResult and discussion: Relation between APF and separate protection methods\nConclusions: The main findings of the investigation can be summarized as follows:* Agricultural practices quite frequently involve in machinery accident. Users of farm tractors are widely involved in the causes of accidents. Among there are: disobeying safety rule, inadequate experience, use of faulty equipment, risk operation and use of malfunctioning equipment.* Method X6 (use of safety protection wear) averagely gave the greatest contributions to the overall accident protection on farm. The contribution to APF to the users was 24.05 per cent.* Method X2 (use of orientation training and seminar) gave the smallest contribution to APF The contribution to APF to users was 8.30 per cent.* Method X1 (avoiding carriage of passenger with tractor) gave higher contribution of 21.51 per cent to APF but not as frequently used as method X6.* Other methods (X3: avoiding tractor operation on high ways; X4, avoiding the use of malfunctioning equipment; and X5, adoption of routine and preventive maintenance gave the same range of contributions of 15.30 per cent, 15.31 per cent and 15.08 per cent respectively.* It can be concluded from APF analysis that if adequate orientation training and seminar are being carried out on a regular interval, farm tractor-related accident would be reduced.* The majority of people that usually expose to tractor operations injuries were between the age bracket of 15-34 years while those between 35-44 and above were less involved due to skill grained as a result of years of working experience.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Agriculture remains the largest sector of Nigerian economy, generating employment for about 70 per cent of the population. With the ever-increasing market demand for agricultural products, mechanisation of most farm operations is gradually on the increase. This new development has brought about an increase in the cases of accidents through the use of farm tractors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study was carried out in the south-western part of Nigeria to investigate the safety measurement, effectiveness, and its contributions to farm tractor usage in the State. The study identified various causes of farm tractor accidents, consequences and different classes of farm tractor-related accidents. The effectiveness of each accident prevention method and frequency of use were investigated and put into consideration in the data analysis.\nFindings: - It was revealed through the analysis that the use of safety protective wear gave the highest contribution (24.05 per cent) to total accident prevention on farms while the use of orientation training and seminars gave the least contribution (8.30 per cent) with the lowest frequency of use than the other methods.\nPractical implications: - The results of this study serve as baseline information for tractor manufacturers regarding the inclusion of certain parts in new or proposed tractor designs with particular peculiarity to Nigerian farmers.\nOriginality/value: - This paper gives an estimation of the magnitude of farm tractor accidents in relation to the Nigerian farming situation and proposes remedial actions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of market orientation and corporate social responsibility on firm performance: Evidence from China	[ "Market orientation", "Corporate social responsibility", "China", "Business performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As a central tenet of the modern marketing sciences, market orientation (MO) has been heralded by academics and practitioners for decades (see e.g. Felton, 1959; Kotler, 1984; Levitt, 1960; Webster, 1988). Although there is a growing body of empirical evidence to support the proposition that MO has positive impact on business performance (Narver and Slater, 1990), several researchers have reported non-significant or even negative effects for this association (see Kirca et al., 2005).Previous attempts to reconcile the disparity in the current research findings were made by either examining the moderating effects of environmental factors such as market turbulence and competition intensity (Slater and Narver, 1994; Greenley, 1995; Diamantopoulos and Hart, 1993), or identifying the mediators (Han et al., 1998; Sandvik and Sandvik, 2003). Research findings using the former approach are so far non-conclusive (Gotteland and Boule, 2006). For instance, while Greenley (1995) and Harris (2001) found that a positive MO and business performance relationship exists only at low level of market turbulence, Diamantopoulos and Hart (1993) showed that the relationship exists at high level of market turbulence instead. In contrast, research on the mediators has generated more consistent results. For example, innovation has been consistently identified as a key mediator by several studies (Han et al., 1998; Agarwal et al., 2003; Kirca et al., 2005). As only a handful research on the mediators has been conducted, however, our understanding on how MO can be transformed into superior organizational performance remains very limited (Sandvik and Sandvik, 2003).In light of the above knowledge void, in this paper, we propose a new mediator, namely, corporate social responsibility (CSR) (see Figure 1). The choice of CSR as a mediator for further investigation was based on two interrelated facts. Firstly, like studies on MO-performance relationships, there is a growing body of management literature testifying the positive impacts of CSR on performance (see e.g. Maignan et al., 1999; Luo and Homburg, 2007). Despite the fact that MO and CSR are both now generally recognized as important determinants of business performance, few studies have accounted for their joint effects on performance. Consequently, issues such as to what extent CSR may help market-oriented companies to achieve better business performance remains unclear. Secondly, tentative evidence in regards to the mediating role of CSR in MO-performance is given by a prior study (Maignan et al., 1999) which shows that a firm's MO has positive effects on the level of CSR it displays. As the focus of Maignant and colleague's study (1999) is on the antecedents of CSR, they did not fully investigate how the presence of CSR affects the MO's impact on business performance and whether CSR is a link between MO and performance, which will be the subject of the current study.\nBackground and hypotheses: In one of the seminal papers on MO, Kohli and Jaworski (1990) used the term \"market orientation\" to mean the implementation of the marketing concept. More formally, they took an information-processing perspective and defined MO as \"the organization-wide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future customer needs, dissemination of the intelligence across the departments, and organization-wide responsiveness to market intelligence\". In contrast, Narver and Slater (1990) took a cultural perspective and defined MO as \"the organizational culture that most effectively and efficiently creates the necessary behavior for the creation of superior value for buyers and, thus, continuous superior performance for the business.\" They posited that the content of an MO included three behavioral components - customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination - and two decision criteria - long-term focus and profitability. Notwithstanding these differences in philosophical stance, Cadogan and Diamantopoulos (1995) demonstrated that the two definitions overlap considerably and can be integrated into a broader aggregate definition.Building on the initial research by, inter alia, Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Narver and Slater (1990), significant progress has been made in the conceptualization and measurement of MO and also in evaluating its impact upon organizational performance (Deshpande et al., 1993; Kohli et al., 1993; Subramanian and Gopalakrishna, 2001; Kirca et al., 2005). In the main, studies on the impacts of MO have demonstrated a significant and positive relationship between MO and organizational performance (see Narver and Slater, 1990; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Deshpande et al., 1993; Kirca et al., 2005) although a number of studies, mainly in non-US contexts, have suggested that the relationship could be context specific (see for example, Diamantopoulos and Hart, 1993; Greenley, 1995; Harris, 2001). As our study is conducted in China and most of the previous studies conducted in this setting have found a positive relationship between MO and organizational performance (Liu et al., 2003; Sin et al., 2003), we hypothesize that:H1. MO has a direct impact on organizational performance.As a broad concept, CSR has been given a variety of meanings. Along with the term of CSR, other terms such as corporate social responsiveness, corporate social performance, corporate citizenship and stakeholder management have also been extensively used (see Maignan et al., 1999; Standwick and Standwick, 1998; Turban and Greening, 1996; Waddock and Graves, 1997; Shropshire and Hillman, 2007). Despite the existence of a variety of definitions, a review of literature suggests that the classification framework made by Carroll (1979) has received a wide acceptance. According to Carroll (1979), CSR is a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of four types of responsibilities: economic, legal, ethical and discretionary.Economic responsibilities include the obligations for businesses to maintain economic wealth and to meet consumption needs. Legal responsibilities imply that businesses must fulfill their economic mission within the framework of legal requirements. Ethical responsibilities require that businesses abide by the moral rules defining appropriate behaviors in society. Discretionary responsibilities are tantamount to philanthropic responsibilities and reflect society's desire to see businesses contributing to its development.Although earlier research on the CSR and business performance link have reported a negative relationship (e.g. Vance, 1975) or no relationship (e.g. Aupperle et al., 1985), more recent studies on the linkage have provided more consistent empirical evidence showing a positive relationship between those two constructs (Russo and Fouts, 1997; Waddock and Graves, 1997; Maignan et al., 1999; Luo and Bhattacharya, 2006). The discrepancy between the earlier and more recent studies might result from the fact that business environments are in a state of flux and the current business environments are becoming more favorable towards businesses that place an emphasis on CSR. For instance, a recent survey (Smith, 1996) found that 88 per cent of consumers in the study are more likely to buy from a company that is socially responsible. It is also reported that CSR has positive effects in helping companies to attract more talented and committed employees (Maignan et al., 1999). To be consistent with recent empirical evidence demonstrating a positive impact of CSR on organizational performance (Maignan et al., 1999), we hypothesize that:H2. CSR has a positive impact on organizational performance.In one of the seminal works on MO, Narver and Slater (1990) argued that being external oriented, as is the general implication of MO, a business would not only be sensitive to its external publics but also be anticipatory of their concerns. By taking a preemptive approach to address issues that are of customers concerns would help to make a company stand out from its competitor and to become more favorable choices as suppliers of products to customers (Narver and Slater, 1990). Therefore, in a business environment where external publics such as consumers have high expectations of companies' CSR, arguably, market-oriented companies will be among the first to realize the importance of CSR and accordingly, implement CSR activities on route to achieve better business performance.Before the economic reforms in the late 1970s, most Chinese enterprises were state-owned and provided extensive social programs to its employees such as free housing and medical cares. Although nowadays, many Chinese companies, especially those non-state-owned ones have shed off their welfare programs, the society at large still has high expectations of firms' social obligations. Operating under such environment, arguably, market-oriented companies in China will place great emphasis to CSR activities on route to achieve above average business performance. On the basis of the above arguments, we posit that:H3. CSR is a key mediator in the MO-performance relationship.\nResearch method: Research context\nAnalysis and results: The hypotheses were tested by employing the structural equation modelling with a maximum likelihood estimation option. In the first two hypotheses, we predict a direct effect of MO (H1) and CSR (H2) on performance. To test the hypotheses, we estimate two models with performance as the only endogenous variable for both models and MO as the exogenous variable in Model 1 and CSR as the exogenous variable in Model 2. The results show that the effects of MO (b = 0.40, p = 0.000) and CSR (b = 0.57, p = 0.000) on performance are both highly significant, hence the support for H1and H1.H3 predicts that CSR is a mediator between MO-performance. We followed the procedure recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) in testing the existence of mediating effects:* the independent variable must affect the dependent variable;* the independent variable must affect the mediators;* the mediators must affect the dependent variable; and* when mediators enter the model, the contribution of a previously significant independent variable must drop substantially for partial mediation and become insignificant for full mediation.To this end, we built on Model 1 by adding CSR as a new endogenous variable. The results of this new model (Model 3) were summarized in Table IV. Overall the model achieved a very good fit as all the fit indices are considered satisfactory. More specifically, the chi-square is 39.1 with 41 degrees of freedom and significant with p = 0.56. The RMSEA-value is 0.000, and the NFI and CFI values are 0.96 and 1.000, respectively, both exceeding the 0.95 threshold suggested by Hu and Bentler (1999).Supports for H3 were found when we compare the three research models as discussed above. In specific, Model 1 provides the evidence that MO affects business performance, satisfying the first condition set out by Baron and Kenny (1986). In Model 3, the direct path from MO to CSR is found to be highly significant (b = 0.69, p = 0.000), thus, the second condition is met. The third condition that the mediators must affect the dependent variable is also met since CSR is found to have positive effects on performance in Model 2. Finally, although MO is a significant independent variable in Model 1, when CSR (mediator) is added to the model, the effects of MO on performance (dependent variable) ceases to be significant (see Table IV), providing strong support for the full mediation of CSR on the effects of MO on performance.\nDiscussion: In this study we assess the joint effects of MO and CSR on performance. We found that although both MO and CSR could enhance performance, once the effects of CSR are accounted for, the direct effects of MO on performance diminish considerable to almost non-existent. Although this result may be due to the fact that our research is conducted in China, a country where CSR might crucially be important to performance given the country's socialist legacy, it nonetheless provides a strong evidence that MO's impact on organizational performance is mediated by CSR. The identification of this chain of events adds to the growing body of literature on the mediators of the MO and organizational performance relationship (Han et al., 1998; Sandvik and Sandvik, 2003) and provides an additional important insight into the processes by which a market-oriented culture is transformed into superior organizational performance.Consistent with Maignan et al. (1999), we found that MO is a key antecedent to CSR. The finding seems to be of particular significance due to the fact that our study was conducted in China, a setting significantly different from the US where Maignan and colleagues' study was conducted. Taken together, these two studies suggest market-oriented companies are actively engaging in CSR activities. This has important managerial implications, which will be discussed in the next section.Last but not the least, our study provides yet another evidence to a growing body of literature demonstrating the benefits of CSR to businesses (Maignan et al., 1999; Luo and Bhattacharya, 2006). Most of previous research studies supporting the benefits of CSR were carried out in developed countries and ours is probably the first studies to model the impact of CSR on organizational performance in the Chinese context. As such, we believe that our study has made a useful contribution to the debate about the merits of CSR to companies in emerging markets (Quazi and O'Brien, 2000).Managerial implications\nLimitations and future research directions: The findings, conclusions and implications of this study are bounded by a series of limitations. These limitations suggest that caution is needed in interpreting parts of the study.The first limitation is that cross-sectional data were used in this study. Consequently, the time sequence of the relationships between MO, CSR and organizational performance cannot be determined unambiguously. The results, therefore, might not be interpreted as proof of a causal relationship, but rather as lending support for a prior causal scheme. The development of a time-series database and testing of the MO relationships with those variables in a longitudinal framework would provide more insight into probable causation. Secondly, like many previous studies including those conducted in the Chinese settings, a subjective approach was used in this study to measure organizational performance. Although a strong correlation between subjective and objective measures has been identified by previous studies (Dess and Robinson, 1984; Pearce et al., 1987), to what extent this can be generalized to China has not been formally assessed. Therefore, future research might consider using objective performance measures such as stock returns (Luo and Bhattacharya, 2006) to examine the framework we developed here. Finally, as this study is conducted China, a country with an environment that might be significantly different from those found in developed countries and in other developing countries, the generalizability of our research findings needs to be treated with caution. Further research in other countries is therefore warranted.Opens in a new window.Figure 1\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the joint effects of market orientation (MO) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of star-rated hotels in China and a total of 143 valid responses were received. The hypotheses were tested by employing structural equation modelling with a maximum likelihood estimation option.\nFindings: - It was found that although both MO and CSR could enhance performance, once the effects of CSR are accounted for, the direct effects of MO on performance diminish considerably to almost non-existent. Although this result may be due to the fact that the research is conducted in China, a country where CSR might be crucially important to performance given the country's socialist legacy, it nonetheless provides strong evidence that MO's impact on organizational performance is mediated by CSR.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The main limitations include the use of cross-sectional data, the subjective measurement of performance and the uniqueness of the research setting (China). The findings provide an additional important insight into the processes by which a market oriented culture is transformed into superior organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is one of the first to examine the joint effects of MO and CSR on business performance. The empirical evidence from China adds to the existing literature on the respective importance of MO and CSR.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Can Lean Six Sigma make UK public sector organisations more efficient and effective?	[ "Public sector", "Benefits", "Lean Six Sigma", "Challenges", "Lean", "Six Sigma" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As a starting point, we acknowledge that this is a bit of a big subject and we are sure it is already a matter of discussion in some form or other across a range of public sector organisations. This said, we hope to further prompt and widen any existing debate on the application of Lean Six Sigma in the public sector.\nLean Six Sigma is for manufacturing!: The external drivers for change: finance, inequalities and efficiencies have been established for a number of years, but identifying the need is not necessarily knowing the solution. The risk in times of financial hardship is that organisations feel trapped into making short-term gains to meet annualised budget reductions, but this can be at the cost of long-term service delivery. This is particularly true if an organisation has a reactive management system where efforts are directed to \"firefighting\" rather than taking control and delivering a determined long-term vision and basing spending choices informed by that vision.\nTools vs attitudes: A decision to introduce Lean Six Sigma into a public sector organisation can be a very broad one as a huge range of tools and techniques can be applied. For example, the Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook (George et al., 2005) lists almost 100 tools. This has the potential to allow any organisation to create a toolbox which is targeted towards their specific products or services and which can be most effectively accessed by their staff. This in itself presents a challenge however in making the right tools accessible to the right staff and can lead to a very small group of people in an organisation being the \"experts\" which might lead people to feel that change is being done to them rather than their being an integral part of that change.\nEfficiency: So, what does Lean Six Sigma bring to public services? Clearly with reducing budgets and the potential need to cut services it is important that waste is removed as far as possible in order that value can be identified and protected as much as possible. The tools and techniques of Lean Six Sigma provide a framework within which processes can be reviewed and both cashable and non-cashable efficiencies can be delivered. These of course may range from cash reductions in building costs or expenditure on overtime or utilities or efficiencies in being able to redirect staff effort to emerging threats and challenges.\nEffectiveness: In the public sector, it is not just about efficient services (although there is no denying the importance of maximising the delivery of service within allocated budget) it is also important that the service is the right one and delivers what is needed by the customer.\nPublic responsibilities: When we reference efficiency and effectiveness, one of the major aspects we consider what is of value from the customer perspective. Lean principles would suggest that the voice of the customer is at the centre of service delivery and redesign but what if that consideration was more than simply best practice and was actually a legal requirement?\nChallenges: Despite all of the individual examples of success, there is little evidence of the successful embedding of Lean Six Sigma across an entire public sector agency and it would be wrong to suggest there are not challenges and barriers to achieving this. We have spoken about austerity measures around budgets and as well as requiring initial investment, the delivery of Lean Six Sigma is dependent on the ability of the right people to deliver the relevant outcomes. This of course means that there needs to be a clear vision for what the organisation is trying to achieve as well as support at all levels from leaders and managers in providing time, mentoring and encouragement so that results can be delivered.\nConclusion: There is clear evidence that there are pockets of Lean Six Sigma being applied across the public sector in the UK, with a view to improving efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of services. These are often delivered as part of a wider initiative and tools and techniques are applied on a project by project basis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the widespread but fragmented application of Lean Six Sigma within the UK public sector, providing the context of some of the challenges faced within the sector as well as some of the successful applications of Lean Six Sigma. The paper fundamentally seeks to challenge the concept that Lean Six Sigma is not suitable for use in the public sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A summary of the challenges facing the public sector is shown from current literature and this is presented as drivers for change. A number of successful applications of Lean Six Sigma are then evidenced demonstrating examples across areas of the public sector.\nFindings: This paper concludes that while Lean Six Sigma is applicable to the UK public sector additional work is required to better evidence the benefits and return on investment that can be delivered as well as considering more holistic approaches on an agency wide basis.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper seeks to contribute to and broaden the limited body of evidence of the applicability of Lean Six Sigma to the UK public sector and identifies areas for further research and review.\nPractical implications: Understanding the applicability of Lean Six Sigma affords opportunities to public sector agencies in the current budget climate but additionally affords ways in which quality of service can be enhanced. In some cases, it provides opportunities to meet new statutory requirements around community empowerment.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to the body of evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of Lean Six Sigma within the public sector and suggests opportunity for those agencies to meet funding challenges faced across the UK.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investigation of Goodreads' reviews: Kakutanied, deceived or simply honest?	[ "Goodreads", "Goodreads’ book reviews", "Linguistic analysis of user-generated reviews", "Linguistic characteristics of Goodreads’ reviews", "Theory of cultural production", "User-generated book reviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In her tribute to the New York Times' chief daily book Critic, whose name had long ago entered the lexicon as a transitive verb, Schwartz (2017) writes that Michiko Kakutani's critical assessments of literary works have not only guided generations of readers, but \"been the hope and fear of more writers than could possibly be counted - a seriously big deal, or ordeal, as the case might be\" (para. 1), though to be Kakutanied always bestowed cultural prestige. However, with the development of a networked information society, the reign of a few powerful voices has given way to participatory cultures that set relatively low barriers for expression and engagement and empowered ordinary users to connect with other members of their networked community and create and share their own critical contents (Jenkins et al., 2009). In particular, the user-generated reviews, as \"words of mouth,\" presumably affect the purchasing behavior of millions of consumers (Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006), whereas businesses believe that a corporate website must provide community content to maintain customer loyalty in a competitive environment (McWilliam, 2000; Wu et al., 2015).\nUser-generated reviews: As part of the scholarly communication process that generates and distributes new knowledge, critical reviews have long been a primary source of information about new publications (Spink et al., 1998). Steiner (2008) argues that, as private criticism in the public sphere, user-generated reviews are in many ways connected to the scholarly criticism of a work. However, the anonymity presumably granted by internet platforms is associated with a sense of liberation on the part of reviewers that encourages free and frequent expression of their feeling (Katz and Rice, 2002). Besides providing either positive or negative opinions about a book, user-generated reviews also provide insights into the book's content (Kousha et al., 2017). Thus, in Bourdieu' (1985) terms, reviewers can be viewed as cultural intermediaries who, as literary critics, bridge cultural production and consumption.\nCultural production and cultural intermediaries: Bourdieu (1985) views the restricted and large-scale cultural productions, as complementary:One should beware of seeing anything more than limiting parameter construction in the opposition between the two modes of production of symbolic goods, which can only be defined in terms of their relations with each other.(p. 29)\nMethodology: Sample\nResults and discussions: The analysis of 474,803 reviews revealed an average of 45 words per review (M=45, SD=162.89). In keeping with overall trends, users preferred using the social button to convey \"like\" sentiments (SD=1,144) to posting comments (SD= 355).\nConclusions: The Goodreads' architecture provides the socio-technical framing that supports the enterprise of making meaning of users' reading and reviewing culture. Both leisure and labor are framed in Goodreads' architecture, and their meanings and value are shaped by users' subjective positions, the kinds of communications afforded, the communities supported, the algorithms in place to account for social or monetary capital and the social practices engaged (Postigo, 2016).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of Goodreads' user-generated book reviews from a linguistic perspective for insights into the psychological aspects of reviewers' perceptions and behaviors. This examination of users' language and perspectives may shed light on the role and value of user-generated reviews in complementing the traditional representation of resources and facilitating the discoverability of cultural objects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study involved a textual analysis of 474,803 unique reviews of Goodreads' 2015 top-rated books generated by 9,335 Goodreads' reviewers. In order to better understand the nuances of user-generated reviews, a content analysis was applied to 2,500 reviews of each of the five top-ranked titles in Goodreads' Fiction Literature genre category.\nFindings: The analysis of user-generated reviews demonstrates that language is a quite stable and reliable dimension across Goodreads' users. The high rate of function words utilized, in particular I-words, coupled with positive emotion words, suggests that reviewers tended to convey their opinions in order to influence other individuals' reading choices, or in Bourdieu's (1985) terms, influence cultural production. In line with previous studies of user-generated reviews, the prevalence of positive reviews may also imply their unreliable nature. This study supports the importance of transparency regarding inclusion of user-generated reviews in traditional systems of knowledge representation, organization and discovery, such as WorldCat.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to better understanding of linguistic characteristics of Goodreads' reviews, including the role and value of user-generated reviews in complementing traditional representation of resources and facilitating discoverability of cultural objects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The right to be included: Ensuring the inclusive learning and work environment for people with disabilities in academia	[ "Management", "Discrimination", "Bullying", "Information avoidance", "Faculty with disabilities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe urgency of the problem: The year 2017 marked a memorable shift in the public debate of the workplace ethics and labour relationships in North America, with women from several industries, including farm workers and Hollywood, taking the lead in the public campaign to draw attention to the issues of harassment, discrimination, inequality and various forms of abuse. Although the focus has frequently been on sexual harassment, the campaign has unfolded as a much broader venture, culminating in the Time's Up action (Time's Up, 2017) and the creation of the legal aid fund for the victims of workplace abuses who cannot afford legal assistance (National Women's Law Center, 2018). The 2018 Golden Globes ceremony turned into the public protest against abuse and inequality at the workplace and an action of support for women and men and for \"equality, respect and meaningful change within all industries\" (Milano, 2018). Speaking at Golden Globes, Kerry Washington (2018) empathically stressed that this campaign is intended:\nSurveying the existing models of workplace oppression, discrimination and bullying: In both academic and professional literature of multiple fields (including nursing, business, sociology, psychology, higher education in general, media and entertainment, etc.), there is no shortage of various models of bullying and discrimination faced by employees at workplaces and perpetrated by both managers and peers[1]. Presented here is a sample of several frequently cited models and/or models that are comprehensive and serve as a basis for more nuanced models.\nDemystifying oppression and sorting out terminology: When many people hear the word \"oppression\", they tend to think of large-scale, massive and lingering injustices perpetrated by governments, social classes or groups of people with regard to other groups, social classes or whole populations. This is not wrong, but this is not the whole of oppression. In this section, there will be an attempt to bring this term down to earth and give it a more mundane and relatable meaning, showing how this phenomenon can be much more pervasive, albeit less noticed, than macro-level observable injustice.\nFaculty members with disabilities: the (doubly) neglected group: Despite the many positive changes in the treatment of people with disabilities in the past 20 years, \"the way [in which] academic culture regards people with disabilities\" has not experienced dramatic transformations (Davis, 2011, para. 1), and although there \"has been a lot of focus recently on equity issues around gender and race, [...] disabled academics have largely escaped attention\" (Sang, 2017, para. 1). The invisibility of disability is pervasive, as Davis (2011) claims; it is not \"simply excluded from visual and narrative representations of diversity in college materials; it is rarely even integrated into courses devoted to diversity\" (para. 2). Characterized by \"physical, cognitive, and affective impairments\", disability serves as \"a collective memento mori of human frailty\", inflicting \"narcissistic wounds to the neoliberal belief in the free and autonomous subject\" and appearing \"a lot less like choice and a whole lot more like fate and powerlessness\" (para. 5). The exclusion of disability from the diversity discourse may be a result of neglect or, in fact, of the failure \"to recognize disability as a valid human identity\" (para. 14).\nThe danger of openness: To understand why it is dangerous we need to examine the place of disability in academic research and academic life. For one, disability research and disability scholars occupy an ambiguous space, deliberately or accidentally finding home at the departments as diverse as English literature, cultural studies, education, sociology and, more recently, IS.\nThe model of an oppressive workplace environment experienced by people with disabilities: The model in the centre of this article is designed to prove that \"the unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power\" (Zastrow, 2010, p. 382), and structural barriers, including policies and hierarchies, inhibit the ability of faculty with disabilities \"to develop and exercise their capacities and express their needs, thoughts, and feelings\" (Young, 2011, p. 40). In other words, they create a truly oppressive environment, often marked by discrimination and bullying. The model is focussed specifically on workplace exclusion and injustice, and this focus accounts for very few positive examples of inclusion in the article. The article structure and content are aligned with the model description, as it does not attempt to present a comprehensive discussion of inclusion and exclusion of disabled employees at the workplace.\nDiscussion: Drawing connections among the model elements\nConclusion: Published research and discussions about disabilities in academia often focus on the student population and the community of practitioners. This article looks at the \"neglected demographic\" (Grigely, 2017) of faculty members with disabilities and, using their example, tackles the issue of continuous ODB against people with disabilities at the workplace. It proposes the model outlining the dynamics of an oppressive workplace environment experienced by people with disabilities, in which information phenomena and behaviours play a central role. None of the earlier models of ODB at the workplace reviewed in this article places information centre-stage. Although, as emphasized above, information phenomena permeate every element of the model, the introduction of information avoidance as a crucial element has particular relevance to ODB faced by employees with disabilities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the spirit of the growing Time is Up movement in North America, this paper aims to focus on the human dimension of academic learning environments and delves into the reasons for the continuous oppression, discrimination and bullying (ODB) of faculty members with disabilities in academia, showing the particularly detrimental effect of ODB in the small professionally oriented field of information science.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The conceptualizing of continuous ODB of people with disabilities in academia is done by carefully scrutinizing the state of affairs; presenting a nuanced survey of utilized terminology; providing a new and inclusive definition of everyday oppression; introducing a new model of an oppressive workplace environment experienced by people with disabilities; showing the centrality of information behaviours and phenomena in ODB; highlighting the high relevance of this discussion to learning science; and outlining potential detrimental effects of ODB on the psychological climate in and the process of professional higher education.\nFindings: The model of an oppressive workplace environment experienced by people with disabilities is presented.\nOriginality/value: Unlike previous models of ODB at the workplace, the current model puts information phenomena as decisive factors in continuous ODB against people with disabilities; particular attention is paid to information avoidance behaviours; distorted or delayed information messages transmitted by managers to employees; gossip as an informal information-based tactic of ODB; the insufficient protection of privacy and confidentiality of information about disabilities and personal health; and vague information messages that diminish the usefulness of university policies on disabilities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The importance of the evaluation of expectations and perceptions to improve the dental service quality	[ "Satisfaction", "Quality of health care", "Dental care" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research on the assessment of dental care has increasingly drawn the attention of the scientific community, mainly due to the rise in dental treatment cost and the increasing number of patients' complaints about the services (Maskus and Lahouel, 2000).\nMethodology: Ethical issues\nData analysis: The data were tabulated in Excel 2003(r) (Microsoft Corporation, Seattle, USA) spreadsheet, and analyses were performed using the SPSS(r) (statistical package for social sciences) version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). A t-test was performed to find differences between expectations (questionnaires completed before dental treatment) and perceptions afterwards (GAP). The outcomes for this paper were the gaps in the SERVQUAL dimensions, dichotomized by the median value. Independent variables were the sociodemographic ones grouped or dichotomized as: gender (male and female), age (dichotomized by the median, under 33 years old and 33 and over) family income (up to U$1,250 or more per month), subject's schooling (high school, further than high school), and parental schooling (high school, further than high school). All associations with p<0.20 were included in the multivariate logistic regression analyses.\nResults: In the first part of the research, we had 379 questionnaires (expectations), and in the second, after the treatment was completed (perceptions), we had 155 (40.9 percent). Table I presents the demographic characteristics of the research participants, 37 percent were between 18 and 30 years of age and 57 percent of participants were between 31 and 50 years of age; 74 percent were male. The same proportions were found in the second phase. In total, 92 percent of participants claiming their oral health to be very good or good, while the self-evaluation for general health was regarded as very good or good for 78 percent of the respondents. In total, 21 percent of the same population considered their own oral health as reasonable, while only 8 percent considered their general health to be so.\nDiscussion: SERVQUAL can determine the relative importance of various dimensions. Some studies showed SERVQUAL as a model for measuring service quality in dental health care (Palihawadana and Barnes, 2004; White et al., 2001; Karydis et al., 2001). The present study is pioneer in Brazil and highlights the need to evaluate the patients' subjective perceptions regarding the private oral health service.\nConclusion: The patients assessed presented higher expectations than perception in a dental insurance company, observed in all dimensions of SERVQUAL instrument. In association with sociodemographic characteristics, only Responsiveness dimension was not significantly associated and more prevalence of dissatisfactions was found on women (Tangible and Reliability dimensions), lower parental literacy (Assurance and Empathy dimensions) and oldest participants (Empathy dimension). This research suggests that the patients evaluated the physical characteristics of the premises and the interaction with the staff as being priority issues that require special attention in order to provide a better dental care service.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of SERVQUAL to assess service quality in Dentistry, by evaluating patients' expectations and perceptions of dental care and their association to patients' sociodemographic data.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample constituted of 379 subjects in the first assessment and 155 in the second phase. All employees of the companies that were clients of the dental insurance participated, a total of four companies in two states (Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais) of Brazil. SERVQUAL questionnaires about expectations and sociodemographic data were dispatched in the first phase, and in a second phase SERVQUAL questionnaires about perceptions. Those who had not yet received dental treatment and had agreed to participate filled out their survey in the first phase. In the second phase, the respondents had to have completed their treatment.\nFindings: When the value gap is considered, Reliability (as a dimension) had the smallest score (-3.71). This means that it was the worst result, i.e. there is a higher difference between expectations and perceptions, and problems can be identified here. t-test confirmed that all the dimensions had some statistically significant difference with p<0.05 in relation to expectations and perceptions. Women presented higher prevalence of dissatisfaction (Tangible and Reliability dimensions), as well as the oldest participants (Empathy dimension) and those with lower parental literacy (Assurance and Empathy dimensions). The only dimension that was not significantly associated was Responsiveness.\nOriginality/value: This research suggests that the patients evaluated the physical characteristics of the premises and the interaction with the staff as the priority issues that need special attention in this service. Moreover, the use of SERVQUAL was extremely relevant for the oral health service, because it assessed the users' subjective perceptions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Staying quiet or rocking the boat? An autoethnography of organisational visual white supremacy	[ "Autoethnography", "Critical race theory", "Organization visuals", "Visual white supremacy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the last decade, organisational visual research has risen in response to the growing prevalence of visual symbols and artefacts in contemporary life (Bell and Davison, 2013; Meyer et al., 2013; Warren, 2008). While much of this field has stated a critical orientation towards how power is implicated in organisational visuals and aesthetics, we suggest that the field can go further in interrogating the ways in which visual dimensions of the workplace contribute to systems of racial domination (Meyer et al., 2013).\nVisualising organisations: The \"omnipresence of the visual world\" in contemporary societies (Baudrillard, 1994; Debord, 1995; Gaggiotti, 2012, p. 270) has stimulated wide-reaching social scientific interest in the visual symbols and artefacts that permeate our everyday lives (Bell and Davison, 2013). Although the field of organisation studies has been slower to respond to this \"visual turn\", significant inroads have been made in the last decade to establish visuals as both subject and method of understanding organisational life (Bell and Davison, 2013; Newton and Meyer, 2013; Warren, 2008). This interest builds on the growing awareness of the importance of organisational aesthetics and the need to understand the emotional and sensorial dimensions of organisations traditionally neglected by our field's rationalistic and instrumental focus (Bell and Davison, 2013; Gagliardi, 1990; Hancock, 2005; Hopfl and Linstead, 2000; Strati, 1992; Taylor and Hansen, 2005).\nVisualising racism: CRT was developed in the USA in the 1970s among legal activists and scholars of colour who sought to refocus society on race relations at a time when Civil Rights progress appeared to have stalled (Bell, 1980; Crenshaw, 1991; Delgado and Stefancic, 2012). Now working across a broad band of disciplines including sociology, education, communication and media studies, and film and literature studies, critical race theorists continue to advance research that highlights the racial oppression faced by people of colour, while providing them and their white allies with the tools to dismantle white supremacy (Bell, 1989; Chou and Choi, 2013). Within the CRT field, white supremacy refers to the centuries-old racialised social system comprising the \"totality of the social relations and practices that reinforce white privilege\" (Bonilla-Silva, 2006, p. 9). White supremacy is systemic and operates in and through everyday racism to maintain a strong positive orientation to \"white superiority, virtue, moral goodness, and action\" (Deitch et al., 2003; Essed, 1991; Feagin, 2013, p. 10; Hill, 2009; Nkomo and Al Ariss, 2014).\nUsing autoethnography: Coming from different disciplinary backgrounds - the first author from organisation studies and the second author from cultural anthropology - we located CRT as our common ground due to its cross-disciplinary possibilities and the specific position it empowered us to take. The interdisciplinary nature of autoethnographic inquiry allowed us to draw on our personal experiences with racialised visuals in the academic workplace. By analysing those representations, we arrived at informed conclusions from our own positions as Others.\nVignettes: The Photographer\nDiscussion: In conceptualising \"organisational visual white supremacy\" through this paper, we have brought together the previously disconnected organisational visuals and CRT literatures. To extend the critical agenda of organisational visual research, we identified how visuals suffusing the everyday embodied materiality of organisations normalised the marginalisation of people of colour and reinforced the dominance of whiteness. Positioned as Others, when interacting with white visual supremacy at work, we at times felt like imposters in the dominant white spaces.\nConclusion: Looking into the future of organisational visuals and CRT scholarship, our conceptualisation of organisational visual white supremacy offers an important lens to investigate the complexities of racialised visuals in the workplaces and the surrounding discourses. The empirical applications of organisational visual white supremacy can be found across a range of organisation initiatives, from diversity training to corporate marketing and branding exercises. We suggest that future research could extend on our findings by comprehensively delineating the most prevalent ways through which visual white supremacy manifest in organisations. The production of visual white supremacy among organisational leaders (as in \"The Photographer\" and \"The Portrait\" vignettes) also points to the powerful ways by which leadership is implicated in whiteness. The potential for leaders to reinforce and subvert organisational visual white supremacy may be usefully explored through future research. This paper highlighted our own visceral responses to organisational visual white supremacy. We suggest it would be important for future research to investigate how people of colour in organisations experience, or perhaps even resist, their own encounters with images of white supremacy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on critical race theory's application in organisational visuals research with a focus on forms of visual white supremacy in the workplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the authors' personal experiences as racialised \"Others\" with organisational white supremacy, this paper employs reflective autoethnography to elucidate how whiteness is positioned in the academic workplace through the use of visual imagery. The university, departments and colleagues appearing in this study have been de-identified to ensure their anonymity and protect their privacy.\nFindings: The authors' autoethnographic accounts discuss how people of colour are appropriated, commodified and subordinated in the ongoing practice of whiteness.\nResearch limitations/implications: Illuminating the subtle ways through which white supremacy is embedded in the visual and aesthetic dimensions of the organisation provides a more critical awareness of workplace racism.\nOriginality/value: This paper advances the critical project of organisational visual studies by interrogating the ways by which white dominance is enacted and reinforced via the everyday visual and aesthetic dimensions of the workplace. An added contribution of this paper is in demonstrating that visual racism extends beyond misrepresentations of people of colour, but can also manifest in what the authors conceptualise as \"visual white supremacy\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evolution and performance of Chinese technology policy: An empirical study based on "market in exchange for technology" strategy	[ "China", "National economy", "Planned economies", "Economic change", "Market economy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the reform and opening-up, China's economy has maintained a sustained rapid growth, incompatible with the overall technological level of China not achieving synchronous growth. What on earth is the reason that leads to the relative backwardness of Chinese technical levels? Institution analysis, especially the systematic analysis of Chinese technology policy is at least one of the keys to open the maze.Although there is no location for institution in the classical model of neo-classical economics, more and more scholars gave special emphasis on the Institution's role in economic growth. Schumpeter's classical interpretation of innovation contains not only technology innovation, but also Institution innovation. Schultz (1968) proposes that an institution plays a fundamental role in society and it is the underlying factor determining the long-term economic performance. If we are to build the dynamic theory on (production) changes, we must incorporate the institution factor into our model. But in fact, the attempts to incorporate institution factor into models are very rare while more researches focus on the logical analysis of environment change, institution change and economic development (Zhou, 2000; Huang, 2000).The researches on the contribution of technology policy to technology and economic performance are pervasive. Some of them also relate to the coordination of relevant policies (Kim, 1997; Steil et al., 2002; Forbes and Wield, 2002; Liu et al., 2007). Huang et al. (2004)) analyzed the organization and framework of Chinese technology and innovation policy. Libecap (1978) summed up the financial, fiscal and tax policies that encourage the independent innovation in China, and emphasize the coherence and organic coordination of different policies. However, they all belong to descriptive comparative study and have many difficulties with more detailed analysis of the policy itself and economic growth or technical progress above them; one of the main reasons is how to quantify the policy and introduce it into an economic model. Thrainn (1990) made the fundamental contribution on policy quantification, establishing a law reformation index and drawing it into a measuring model. Also, he analyzed the impact of legal change on the use of mineral resources. Jin (2001) introduced the policy into production function and puts forward the production function incorporating the capital, labor and policy variables.Many studies set the Institution as a factor explaining economic growth, not taking detailed analysis of the Institution base, but only using the available macro data as the alternative for Institution (Wang et al., 2002; Qiu, 2006). Wu (2006) used the strict argumentation and rigorous model reasoning to incorporate the Institution factor into a growth model and makes useful exploration in empirical study of Institution. He does not analyze the function mechanism of Institution in detail from the content of Institution which constructs Institution. Yin (2004, 2006) sets the FDI policies of central and local governments of China in 1978-2000 as study objects, fractionizes the content of policy, and analyzes the Chinese FDI policies' effectiveness using empirical methods. Though he adopts a quantitative approach, the selective policy measures have some limitations and one-sidedness: the most critical shortage is not taking the power of policies into account.For an analysis of the evolution of critical goals and means of Chinese technology policy, especially how technology polices promoted Chinese technology progress and economic growth, this paper quantifies Chinese technology policies on the basis of Sun et al. (2007) and Peng et al. (2008), study the inherent motivation and mechanisms of the evolution of Chinese technology policy. Finally, we establish econometric models and analyze the impact of Chinese technology policy power, goals and means on technological progress and economic growth.\n2. Methodologies: 2.1 Policy quantification and statistic analysis\n3. Evolution of Chinese technology policy: We collect 12,403 policy documents issued by central department and committee since 1978 and choose the most related 423 after thorough reading, classify them by issued time, departments, policy power, policy background, core idea and policy means. According to the method mentioned above, we score the policy power, goals and means, and calculate all the indicators in each year and accumulated values.3.1 Integrated analysis\n4. Performance of technology policy: The results of regression for models (1)-(12) are listed in Tables V-XVI. On the whole, every regression equation has passed the examination.4.1 Technology performance\n5. Conclusion: After reform and opening-up, especially after 1992, the issue of Chinese technology policies has speeded up gradually and the policy power has increased quickly. However, the critical departments which issue the policies are not the departments in charge of S&T, but those in charge of critical economic and administrative resources. This is the result of each department pursuing its own economic and political resourses maximization against the background of conventional unbalanced allocation of economic and political resources. Fortunately, policy issue and the continuous enhancement of policy power still play important roles in technology and economic performance.The competition and cooperation among agents, including administrative institutions, enterprises etc., resulted in the zealous pursuing of FCI and TI. As a result, in spite of the fact that China has made the \"Market in exchange for Technology\" strategy, the critical linkage between TI and independent innovation - TA - still was deserted. Seemly, Chinese technology policy was issued and implemented by the central bureau and ministries, but the critical inherent impetus was from the benefit demands of enterprises, and the conspiracy of enterprises and ministries pursuing their respective self-interests.Diversification and enhancement of policy means ensure the implementation of some policy goals to a substantial extent, but it seems there are nearly no means conduced to TA.Econometric analysis shows: the strengthening of FCI, which continuously was deemed as the core policy goals and the major officer appraisal index, contributes little to the Chinese technology progress at all, while the TA which was deserted can improve the economic and technology performance to a great extent. It reveals, at least from one aspect, the critical reason why Chinese \"Market in Exchange for Technology\" strategy failed.Anyhow, the administrative and economic means would be the most important policy means in a long time. However, a deep introspection is necessary because of the negative effect of FTA on technology and economic performance. In addition, although PM contributed little to technology progress, we still can benefit greatly from adopting some feasible means to promote rational mobility of technology talents.Seeing that Chinese technology level is still relative backward, but with certain base of technology, the reform of Chinese technology policy should be set on the path of integrating technology introduction and independent innovation. In this process, the mindset of easily acquiring foreign technology by FCI should be abandoned. At the same time, we must enhance TA by economic and administrative means, so as to realize the true absorption of introduced technology and good coordination of technology introduction, absorption and independent innovation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of Chinese technology policy, assess its technological and economic performance from the visual angle of \"market in exchange for technology\" strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A quantified method based on policy contents from policy power, policy goals and policy means was developed to build a policy database, and analyze the evolutionary tendency of Chinese technology policy. In addition, econometric models were built to assess the performance of technology policy.\nFindings: - The critical goals of Chinese technology policy are introducing technology directly or indirectly by introducing foreign investment and innovation, but the critical linkage between introduction and innovation-technology absorption was absent - almost all policy means aim at the introduction of foreign investment and innovation but not technology absorption. More unfortunately, the econometric results show that introduction of foreign investment contributes little, while technology absorption contributes much more. Institutional path-dependence and the competition for benefits among different departments have aggravated an already unbalanced emphasis on technology policies during the reform.\nResearch limitations/implications: - During the quantification of technology policy, one perhaps loses some information about policy, and it can only be used to analyze the technology policy system, not special technology policy.\nPractical implications: - Analyses of the evolution of Chinese technology policy and econometric results show the blunder of \"market in exchange for technology\" strategy from policy formulation and execution. Also, it leads to the optimization of technology policy from policy targets, implements based on national technology and innovation strategy.\nOriginality/value: - The paper develops the method of technology policy quantification and builds econometric models to assess the contribution of technology policy to technology progress and economy development.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How commitment to fellow customers affects the customer-firm relationship and customer citizenship behavior	[ "Commitment", "Other customers", "Customer citizenship behavior", "Customer-to-customer interactions", "Fellow customers", "Foci of consumer commitment" ]	[ { "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: Commitment is an important determinant of a customer's relationship with a service organization. The key notion of commitment research is that long-term customer loyalty is more likely when a customer is highly committed to the service provider (e.g. Bansal et al., 2004; Fullerton, 2003). Commitment is defined as a force that creates a psychological bond between an individual and one or more targets of commitment (Meyer and Herscovitch, 2001). Past research into the effects of customer commitment to service firms has commonly conceptualized firms as a holistic unit (Bansal et al., 2004; Fullerton, 2005). However, service firm-customer relationships are often dynamic and too complex to be reduced to the relationship with the service organization as an undifferentiated object (Guenzi and Pelloni, 2004; Harris and Ogbonna, 2008). Therefore, it has been suggested that the investigation of more specific targets of customer commitment can generate new insights into the relationships between service firms and their customers, and thus contribute to our understanding of long-term customer loyalty (Harris and Ogbonna, 2008). Previous work has provided evidence that very specific aspects of a service organization such as service employees (Hansen et al., 2003), individual brands (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2002) or brand communities (Jang et al., 2008) are often the targets of customer commitment, rather than the company as a whole (Jones et al., 2008, 2009).\nOverview of research framework: The research framework is depicted in Figure 1. Drawing on social network theory (Granovetter, 1973), affective commitment to fellow customers is proposed to be an antecedent of affective commitment to the service organization that provides the platform for interactions with other customers. In addition, we predict that commitment to fellow customers is directly and indirectly (through commitment to the service organization) associated with customer citizenship behavior. Following previous conceptualizations of CCB (Bartikowski and Walsh, 2011; Groth, 2005), our framework distinguishes between organization-directed CCB (CCB-O) and customer-directed CCB (CCB-C). Two studies were conducted to examine the hypotheses empirically. Study 1 tests the relationships using a field study methodology. To add internal validity to the findings, study 2 uses an experimental methodology and additionally takes into account a boundary condition of the effects of commitment to fellow customers. More specifically, study 2 tests the moderating effect of relationship type (high calculative commitment versus low calculative commitment) on the proposed effect of affective commitment to fellow customers on affective commitment to the service organization.\nConceptual background and development of hypotheses: Commitment to fellow customers and the service organization\nStudy 1: Research design and subjects\nHypotheses testing: To test our hypotheses, we estimated a structural equation model using AMOS 4.0. Table I provides an overview of descriptive statistics and the correlations of the model variables.\nDiscussion of study 1: Study 1 provides empirical support for the proposition that a psychological bond to a fellow customer positively affects a customer's relationship to the service organization that provides the platform for interactions with the other customer. Importantly, commitment to a fellow customer also drives a customer's citizenship behavior. While the customer-directed facet of CCB (helping behavior) is positively affected, both directly and indirectly, the positive effects on organization-directed facets of CCB (positive and negative feedback, monitoring behavior) are fully mediated through commitment to the service provider. Thus, this study contributes to our understanding of the determinants of both long-term customer-firm relationships and customer extra-role behaviors.\nStudy 2: Research design and subjects\nDiscussion of study 2: Study 2 provides further empirical evidence of a positive spillover effect of affective commitment to fellow customers on affective commitment to the service provider. The experimental design used in study 2 overcomes the internal validity concerns that are associated with the survey methodology used in study 1. Besides adding internal validity to the findings, study 2 extends study 1 by providing insight into a potential boundary condition of the effects of commitment to fellow customers. The study examined the moderating influence of a customer's calculative commitment to the service firm, and found preliminary evidence that high calculative commitment strengthens the effect of commitment to fellow customers on commitment to the service firm. In addition, study 2 replicates the finding that increased commitment to the service firm is the psychological mechanism that explains the effects of commitment to fellow customers on firm- and customer-directed CCB. However, in study 2 the indirect effect of commitment to fellow customers was only significant for one firm-directed dimension of CCB (positive feedback) and the customer-directed dimension of CCB (helping behavior). Nevertheless, study 2 provides preliminary causal evidence of a positive relationship between commitment and CCB. In this regard, the study is a response to several recent calls in the literature to investigate the causal nature of the relationship between these two constructs (e.g. Bove et al., 2009; Yi and Gong, 2006).\nGeneral discussion: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how affective commitment to fellow customers influences a customer's affective commitment to the service provider and customer citizenship behavior (CCB). In addition, the paper seeks to examine the moderating role of a customer's calculative commitment to the service organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used a large-scale survey among customers of a health club and a scenario-based experiment to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Both empirical studies provide evidence that affective commitment to fellow customers has positive consequences for the customer-firm-relationship. The findings suggest that commitment to fellow customers and commitment to the service organization influence very specific facets of customer citizenship behavior. In addition, the study found preliminary support for the moderating role of calculative commitment. Affective commitment to fellow customers showed the strongest effect on affective commitment to the provider in customer-firm relationships characterized by high (versus low) calculative commitment.\nPractical implications: The results of this research have a number of managerial implications. This study suggests measures to strengthen customer-firm-relationships, e.g. generating intensive exchange among customers or attraction of consumer pairs. Providing customers with platforms of valuable relationships to multiplex ties can be a competitive advantage for service providers.\nOriginality/value: This article is the first that highlights the role of other customers as a target of customer commitment and how this commitment affects both the customer's relationship to the service provider and his or her customer citizenship behavior. The present study therefore broadens our knowledge of how bonding among customers influences consumer behavior in service settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Creating value through acquisitions	[ "Acquisitions and mergers", "Business development", "Strategic management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A caution to readers who like nothing better than a headline-grabbing, out-of-the-blue acquisition: I'm not one of you.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Acquisitions can be a powerful tool to achieve growth, enter new markets and expand the range of a firm's capabilities. But with the highly competitive market for acquisitions and the correspondingly high acquisition prices, all too often transactions fail to create value for shareholders. Does this mean companies should avoid acquisitions and focus solely on organic growth? If acquisitions are to be part of a company's growth strategy, how can management identify which targets have the potential to more than justify the required investment and create value. In this article, the author shows how the discipline of strategic market position (SMP) can be used to test whether a proposed acquisition will really improve a company's overall competitive position and enhance its ability to deliver strong profitability for the future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using the example of Northrop Grumman, the author shows how to apply a four-part \"SMP test\" to assess potential deals.\nFindings: - The example serves to illustrate how a merger to increase scale within a broad industry may contribute little to improved performance, but an acquisition of a company with distinctive, but complementary capabilities targetting a shared set of customer needs can deliver a very successful outcome. In particular, the author discusses the case of Northrop's acquisition of Ryan Aeronautical, a supplier of unmanned aircraft. The deal enabled Northrop to win new contracts worth many times the acquisition cost for Ryan.\nOriginality/value: - The lesson is that if acquirers understand the true strategic value of an asset, measured in terms of stronger SMP and increased revenues, and/or higher profitability for the combined organization, then they can identify situations when the value opportunity will more than offset the premium required to complete the transaction.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sustainable leadership at Siam Cement Group	[ "Rhineland leadership", "Sustainable leadership", "Leadership", "Thailand" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Many people acknowledge that business-as-usual, which promotes a dehumanizing, short-term shareholder-value approach, has failed. Following the global financial crisis, which started in the USA and reverberated around the world, many managers and scholars are searching for an alternative. Business leaders are facing a new world in many ways, with problems ahead that affect the very viability of the planet - food and water shortages and scarcity of vital energy and resources needed in production and distribution. Other challenges affect the viability of organizations: a global talent shortage, customers and communities expecting more ethical behavior and care from business, and increasingly risk-averse lenders and investors. What is a more sustainable approach that enables leaders to address these concerns?\nLong-term perspective: One of the key practices in sustainable enterprises is the time perspective, and Rhineland enterprises emphasize the long term in everything they do - in their strategy, plans, investments, and in staff appointments and retention. Rhineland leadership regards itself as being entrusted with the well-being of the organization for future generations. Clearly all firms need to survive in the short term, but an emphasis solely on short-term financial results is reckless and leads to short-term-ism, lying and scandals (Bennis, 2003), and mortgages the firm's long-term future in favor of higher profits now (Kennedy, 2000).\nInvesting in staff: This category covers criteria related to employees: retaining people, training and developing them, succession planning, maintaining amicable relations with unions and other employee representatives, and valuing workers. Training and development programs for everyone are central to Rhineland-led businesses; they prefer to grow their own managers and develop their own staff rather than bring in outsiders (except when special skills are needed or internal candidates unavailable). These organizations retain their staff. Doing so requires development plans and ways of showing employees that the company values them beyond mere financial compensation. Training and development pay off for shareholders in cost savings, share price increases, and enhanced productivity (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2010). Senior executives are also developed from within the firm, and this pays off for the business. For example, a global study of CEOs leaving office concluded that appointing CEOs from outside the company is risky (Booz Allen Hamilton, 2003). The initially high performance of external CEOs slumps during the second half of their tenure, and their organizations under-perform those led by insiders by 5.5 percent. Insiders value and continue the culture; outsiders can come close to destroying it.\nOrganizational culture: Rhineland enterprises foster a strong organizational culture embodying a shared vision about the purpose of the enterprise. The underlying values and beliefs in the culture provide the justification for how people behave and help employees identify desirable behaviors. The strong cultures in Rhineland organizations make them a \"special place to work\", as Collins and Porras (1994) identified in the \"built-to-last\" companies they studied. Taking a long-term perspective provides Rhineland organizations with time for a vision and values to be communicated, take effect, and be transmitted from one generation of employees to the next. The nature of this \"specialness\" varies considerably in the details of a specific organization's culture, values and philosophy. To develop a strong culture, organizations need to build connection and commitment based on free choice, rather than coercing people (Collins, 1997), which can be difficult where staff turnover is high, and individual and organizational values are not aligned.\nInnovation: Innovation is one of the main sources of technological progress and economic growth. Radical innovation refers to major shifts in product lines and processes or developing entirely new goods (Hall and Soskice, 2001). Incremental innovation entails continuous, small-scale improvements to processes and products to enhance quality. Rhineland enterprises are champions of both radical and incremental innovations (Avery, 2005), and both forms of innovation help them maintain leadership positions in their niches. Innovation is approached in a systematic way, gathering ideas from the entire organization as well as from suppliers, customers and other partners. In general the Anglo/US short-term approach to cutting R&D, staff numbers and change budgets to meet quarterly growth targets makes long-term innovation particularly difficult. Yet innovation is essential to business success. For example, in IBM's 2006 CEO study, innovation in flexible business processes and collaboration clearly related to enhanced financial performance. Innovation also pays off in terms of reputation and brand, staff engagement and customer satisfaction.\nSocial and environmental responsibility: Traditional Anglo/US leadership philosophy focuses on maximizing short-term shareholder returns, even at the cost of society and the environment. In a sense, this is \"cheating\". Sacked employees fall onto social welfare in many countries. The community has to clean up pollution, not the polluter. Not training young people and not employing older people create social crises for groups in the community. Rhineland enterprises are concerned about carrying out their social and environmental responsibilities, seeing themselves as part of the wider community. Considerable evidence suggests that being socially and environmentally responsible pays off by enhancing financial performance, brand and reputation, and employee satisfaction; and managing risks such as those posed by potential accidents or damage to the environment (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2010). Although some Anglo/US organizations focus on corporate social responsibility and protecting the environment, these considerations become easy targets when cost cutting is required. By contrast, Rhineland enterprises often go beyond what the law and society require in their social and environmental responsibilities because it is the \"right thing to do\", a form of ethical behavior.\nEthical behavior: Ethical behavior, which basically involves doing the \"right thing\", is strongly evident in Rhineland enterprises. Given the recent exposure of unethical accounting and other practices in failed public corporations, such as Enron and many others, ethical and transparent behavior and governance are essential for organizational sustainability. Ethics are also a form of risk management and a way of protecting a firm's reputation and retaining investor confidence. At the enterprise level, ethics start by distilling the business strategy into a number of desired values and behaviors that can be readily translated into acceptable and unacceptable actions. Codes of conduct, training and many other mechanisms reinforce the firm's ethical principles. However, it can be very difficult for managers operating on Anglo/US principles to act ethically because of their short-term performance focus. Ethical behaviors are associated not only with enhanced organizational sustainability but also with consistent, substantially higher financial outcomes even among listed companies (Verschoor, 2004).\nThe practices interact: How do the sustainable leadership practices in the above six categories lead to an enterprise's long-term prosperity? Sustainable leadership practices reflect good management, often lower costs, and enhance customer satisfaction, financial returns and reputation and brand. Rhineland principles also lead to better management of business risks and opportunities that in turn benefit investors and may make the enterprise less vulnerable to the effects of adverse events. Designing products and operations to be more sustainable often increases profits and can generate savings through improved processes. Retaining staff minimizes the considerable hidden costs of recruiting new people that many managers adopting an Anglo/US philosophy overlook. These effects also create a virtuous cycle in that better performing companies have more resources to invest in sustainable practices, which in turn should make them more robust to external events and more attractive to long-term investors and customers, and hence their market value rises. Furthermore, long-term employees and their unions are likely to stand by Rhineland employers when times are tough, accepting pay cuts during a crisis, for example.The question for many corporate leaders and scholars, particularly those in less developed countries, is whether Rhineland principles can usefully apply outside developed economies.\nSiam Cement Group: an Asian model for sustainable leadership: Founded in 1913 by King Rama VI as Thailand's first cement producer, SCG has diversified to become one of the largest and most advanced industrial conglomerates in Asia. Revenue of US$7,486.32 million in 2009 came from five strategic business units: cement, building products, distribution, paper, and petrochemicals. The group comprises over 100 companies under the five business units, employing approximately 27,000 people and handling over 64,000 products. The Thai Crown Property Bureau owns about 33 percent of this publicly listed company. Listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, SCG meets three criteria for sustainable enterprises aside from staying in business for a long time (Avery, 2005): the capacity to deliver strong financial performance, endure difficult economic and social situations, and maintain a leadership position in its markets.\nMethodology: A multi-data collection approach was adopted to explore whether SCG business practices are consistent with the Rhineland approach. Teams of researchers interviewed people at different levels in the firm, supplementing this with observations made during visits and training sessions and reference to documentation and information supplied by, or published about, the conglomerate (e.g. ten-year annual reports, news reports, magazine articles). Semi-structured interviews were held with members of the board and top management, and a number of stakeholders including major and minor shareholders, staff and customers. Observed data were also collected from 100 SCG mid-level and lower-level managers who were selected by SCG to attend leadership development sessions run by management researchers at Mahidol University.\nFindings: The results show that SCG's leadership philosophy is largely consistent with the Rhineland approach and uses the six core categories introduced above. Figure 1 summarizes the fit between the data and each practice in the sustainable leadership grid using three categories to represent the degree of conformity: least evident, moderately evident and most evident in the data. The relevant categories from the six presented above are also shown on the right of the figure.Figure 1 reveals a moderate or strong fit on 18 of Avery's 19 elements. On all criteria except for the CEO as speaker of the top team rather than heroic leader, strong or moderate evidence for Rhineland leadership at SCG was found. This figure represents the researchers' summary, however the qualitative data provide much richer and more insightful information about the nature of SCG's practices, as discussed next using the six broad categories of criteria.Long-term perspective\nConclusion: Overall, SCG's management practices mirror 18 of the 19 Rhineland criteria that Avery (2005) identified, 16 of them being strongly evident from the data. The deviant element is that both current and past CEOs appear to be heroic leaders, despite a considerable amount of team-based leadership at the top. It is possible that SCG is moving toward the CEO becoming more of the Rhineland \"top team speaker\" and less of the heroic leader. However, it is conceivable that the Thai culture so respects senior people that it would be difficult for the firm to run on a democratic top team basis and this element in the Rhineland model may be an exception for Thailand. Evidence for two variables, consensual decision making and self-governing teams, was only moderately evident. Again, this may reflect a Thai expectation that senior people make decisions.The close fit between the 16 other Rhineland elements and SCG's practices shows that sustainable leadership principles are relevant to at least one large, listed corporation in Thailand. Publicly listed enterprises worldwide tend to come under pressures to conform to business-as-usual practices from analysts and others associated with the capital markets (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2010), compared with family businesses that try to remain independent from outside investors. However, senior management at SCG has resisted any pressure to follow Anglo/US principles choosing Rhineland practices instead, albeit it to varying extents on each criterion. The extent to which this can be done in other Thai enterprises and in other developing economies needs further research.However, it appears from this study that enterprises in Thailand seeking to sustain their organizational success could usefully adopt the practices included in the sustainable leadership grid elements to guide their practices. This grid provides a framework for managers to examine the leadership practices in their department or firm, and, where indicated, adjust existing behaviors to become more sustainable. This is not a one-size-fits-all proposal; how the various elements are implemented can take a wide range of forms, and some practices may be more or less relevant in a given context. However, the elements in the grid are supported by considerable research showing that following Rhineland practices is likely to enhance many aspects of organizational performance, making sustainable leadership very much central to the interests of every manager.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study examines the question of whether sustainable leadership principles, also known as Rhineland leadership, can apply to a listed business in an emerging economy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Avery's sustainable leadership grid provided the framework for analysis of a major publicly-listed Thai enterprise, the Siam Cement Group (SCG). A multi-method case study used semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders, observations, and internal and external documentation. The Rhineland principles were grouped into six categories for analysis: long-term perspective, investing in people, organizational culture, innovation, social and environmental responsibility, and behaving ethically.\nFindings: - Overall, data showed moderate to strong evidence for 18 of the 19 grid practices at SCG, the exception being the CEO serving as speaker of the top team rather than being a heroic leader. Moderate evidence was found for consensual and devolved decision making and self-governing teams. All 16 other elements were strongly evident.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Case studies cannot lead to generalizations, and therefore further research is required into other businesses to gauge the extent of Rhineland practices in Thailand and other developing economies.\nPractical implications: - Rhineland principles link to enhanced brand and reputation, customer and staff satisfaction, and financial performance compared with business-as-usual practices. Therefore, managers are advised to evaluate their current practices with a view to adopting more sustainable versions. The sustainable leadership grid provides a useful checklist for this purpose.\nSocial implications: - Society and the planet stand to benefit under Rhineland practices. Increasingly, business is expected to help address many of the pressing problems facing humankind, such as climate change, pollution, unethical practices, and shortages of fossil fuels, water, and other resources. Rhineland leadership can contribute here because of its concern for the wider effects of its activities on society and the environment.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is highly original. It contains the first examination of Rhineland leadership in a developing economy. In addition, it shows that even a public company can resist pressures to conform to business-as-usual practices and adopt the long-term, socially responsible principles of Rhineland leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Training lifts redundancy risk at NACCO Materials Handling: Company makes strategic rather than impulsive response to downturn	[ "Training", "Retention", "Materials handling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A Northern Ireland fork-lift truck company, faced with lower demand for its products because of the worldwide recession, opted to improve the skills of its workforce rather than resort to a second round of redundancies.\nImmense impact of recession: \"In the face of worldwide commercial meltdown, it was difficult to find any key business stakeholders who were positive or hopeful about our ambitious plans to initiate a comprehensive training and development program,\" commented William Kerr, HR manager. \"The impact of the recession was unquestionably immense; however, it demanded a strategic rather than an impulsive response.\"Targets were set to train 50 employees by April 2010 and to secure a total of 128 employee qualifications by August 2010. The aim was to make the workforce more flexible and productive and to improve the quality of its work.The company decided on a mixed approach of workshops for practical tasks and team activities; projects to consolidate theoretical knowledge in a practical environment; accreditation of internal trainers and the certification of an external trainer.More than 350 employees took part in the program. Seven managers were trained in leadership and 70 in problem solving. Some 42 employees gained National Vocational Qualifications and 22 employees completed Institute of Leadership and Management qualifications. In all, 130 people gained a recognized qualification - or over 30 percent of the workforce.For those struggling to complete the program, the company was able to change the level of training, reduce the class size to one-on-one, extend the learning timeframe and provide additional trainee resources. Absentees were also offered one-on-one catch-up training.Using the resources of its own plants - materials, rooms, equipment and trainers - enabled NACCO to minimize costs. A two-year business-improvement training program was negotiated with Invest Northern Ireland to support the company through the recession. This provided PS1.2 million in year one and PS1 million in year two.To ensure effectiveness, all training and development programs were measured against key departmental and business objectives. The company saw improvements in cost, quality, process, safety and punctuality.\nAchievements for the trainee and benefits for the business: The training helped to create an environment of trust in the business. One union steward, who had previously been critical of engineers, commented: \"Previously we did not rate engineers, but having worked with them now on the problem-solving team and having seen them putting their new skills into a real-life project, they have earned a lot more respect and trust.\" Moreover a survey of trainees illustrated that 80 percent believed the training helped them to develop new skills and knowledge.The company saw absenteeism fall from 5 percent to 2.5 percent. Employment held steady at 520, despite the recession. Key skills in management and engineering were protected and enhanced.Trainees commented on the \"positive impact of increased awareness of quality and customer requirements\" and the \"excellent cross-functional teamwork with management sponsors\".\"Twelve months later, we are on target with a business-objective-driven, cost-effective training and development program,\" enthused Ian McIlveen. \"As a result, we have established the beginnings of a continuous-improvement culture. Good leadership has raised trust and confidence across the company, and most rewardingly our strategy proved right.\"Emerging from recession, we have a higher-skilled workforce ready to address the upturn, giving us an edge over our competitors. We made the courageous decision to make an investment in our workforce and this will bear fruit for many years to come.\"As a result of the training, the company was able to avoid redundancy costs it estimates at PS160,000.\nFailure to react was not an option: \"Early in 2009, we were faced with a recessionary environment on a scale not seen for more than 50 years,\" explained plant manager Alan Little. \"The market in which we operate plummeted by over 50 percent. We were confronted with levels of production activity which could neither sustain nor justify our manpower levels. Failure to react was not an option.\"A deep cut, via redundancy, would have been the easiest of the alternatives open to us. This would have removed loyal, skilled employees we would later require to help us to respond to the upturn. We designed an ambitious training program which has enabled us not simply to retain skilled employees, but also to enhance their skills and reward their loyalty.\"The return on investment on every tangible and intangible level greatly exceeded our expectations and was a profound victory for leadership over management.\"\nNote: Michael Pollitt, a freelance journalist specializing in human resource management and training, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to describe an award-winning training program at Irish fork-lift truck supplier NACCO Materials Handling Ltd, which enabled the company to halt redundancies and so retain the workforce required to exploit an eventual economic recovery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the reasons for the program, the form it took and the results it achieved.\nFindings: - The paper reveals that the company decided on a mixed approach of workshops for practical tasks and team activities; projects to consolidate theoretical knowledge in a practical environment; accreditation of internal trainers and the verification and certification of an external trainer. More than 350 employees took part in the program. Seven managers were trained in leadership and 70 in problem solving. Some 42 employees gained National Vocational Qualifications and 22 employees completed Institute of Leadership and Management qualifications.\nPractical implications: - The paper details how the company saw improvements in cost, quality, process, safety and punctuality. Absenteeism fell, key skills in management and engineering were protected and enhanced and an environment of trust was created.\nSocial implications: - The paper recounts how the training program helped to preserve jobs at one of County Armagh's largest employers.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides the inside story of a training program that formed a strategic, rather than impulsive, response to economic downturn.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An appraisal on barriers to implement lean in SMEs	[ "Lean manufacturing", "Case studies", "Small- and medium-sized enterprises" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The roots of lean manufacturing lie in the Toyota Production System which was launched and executed by Toyota (Krafcik, 1988). Realising the enormous benefits, lean manufacturing was adopted by other automotive manufacturers across the world. The application of lean, however, is not limited to the automobile sector; instead, other sectors such as manufacturing, service, construction, hospitality and process industries have also been benefited from the implementation of lean (Suarez-Barraza et al., 2012; Bhamu and Sangwan, 2014). These sectors have witnessed the positive impact of lean on the operational, financial, social and environmental performance of the organisation (Shah and Ward, 2007; Fullerton and Wempe, 2009; Demeter and Matyusz, 2011; Hofer et al., 2012; Bhattacharya et al., 2014; Khanchanapong et al., 2014; Chaplin et al., 2016; Yadav et al., 2018a, b). Previous research in this field has focussed upon the large enterprises. However, its application in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been seldom studied so far.\n2. Literature review: After a successful implementation of lean by large enterprises, now SMEs have also started adopting lean to improve operational, financial, social and environmental performance (Chaplin et al., 2016). Extant literature reports various tangible and intangible benefits of lean implementation (Panizzolo et al., 2012; Powell et al., 2013; Vinodh et al., 2014; Dora et al., 2016; Alaskari et al., 2016; Manfredsson, 2016; Thomas et al., 2016). However, in context to SMEs, literature indicates that most of the studies have presented only one or two aspects of lean implementation, for instance, lean constructs and practices (Shah and Ward, 2007; Fullerton and Wempe, 2009). However, only a limited part of literature has focussed on other important concerns such as barriers to lean implementation in SMEs. Similar to other performance improvement initiatives, lean is also supposed to harbour enormous difficulties (Dora et al., 2016). It has been reported in the literature that dealing successfully with the LIBs while transforming to lean is mandatory for the fruitful adoption of lean (Jadhav et al., 2014).\n3. Research methodology: The objective of the study is to identify the LIBs in context of SMEs and to develop a hierarchical model that can explain the relationship among them. The research methodology adopted for this study is presented in Figure 1. As discussed in the previous section, most of the studies for LIBs focus on large enterprises which are not apt for SMEs. Thus, the generalised LIBs for SMEs cannot be extracted from the literature. Case study method has been used to extract the LIBs in SMEs. Three SMEs which had implemented lean thinking were considered for the study. The extracted LIBs are prioritised using the ISM method.\n4. Case studies: Case company A, an ISO 9001 certified company with approximately 100 employees, manufactures surgical disposable needles and syringes. This is a family-owned SME which was established in 1981 and located in western Rajasthan, India. In the 1990s, it enjoyed 15 per cent of market share in India. However, due to the opening of the Indian economy in 1991 the company faced competition from global manufacturers resulting a significant decrease in market share. To retain their market share, the company decided to adopt lean and hired a consultant. Some basic lean practices were implemented in the production process. A lean training programme was organised for the employees at all levels. It was followed by the adoption of 5 S, visual control, SMED, lot size reduction, statistical process control, quality management programme and production levelling. In total, 18 months of lean implementation resulted in decreased cycle time, reduced inventory and improved productivity. Now, the company is not only able to attract domestic but also international customers.\n5. ISM model for LIBs: After the identification of lean implementation barrier in SMEs, the next step was to develop the relationship between them. The team of experts studied the cases and validated the various LIBs. They provided the relationship between barriers which helped in developing the structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM). The SSIM is presented in Table III. Further, the SSIM was converted into a binary form which is called the initial RM. The conversion into a binary form was performed by the following rules:\n6. Theoretical and managerial implications: The results suggested that \"lack of management commitment and leadership\" is of utmost importance as it lies at the lowest level. This finding is consistent with other studies like Netland (2015) and Zhang et al. (2017). Being the most crucial barrier, \"lack of management commitment and leadership\" also impacts on other LIBs. Thus, for successful lean implementation in SMEs, a proper commitment of management and owner is mandatory, and training should be provided to the managers to improve their leadership and other managerial skills. In addition to this, \"lack of resources, communication, and understanding of lean benefits\" also the major barriers in lean adoptions and they have an impact on other barriers. These barriers have more importance in the context of SMEs because of the characteristics of this sector, while these are largely ignored by most of the scholars focussing on large enterprises. Achanga et al. (2006) also stated that resource inadequacy is the major hindrance to implement lean in SMEs. Our model helps academicians in improving understandings regarding LIBs with their comparative importance and the interdependencies among these barriers.\n7. Conclusions: A majority of studies have explored the LIBs for large enterprises, but very few have concentrated on SMEs. Considering the importance of SMEs in the global economy and their distinct characteristics, it is imperative to investigate the barriers of lean in SMEs. In this paper, we have identified the barriers of lean implementation in SMEs in India and prioritised them. The findings provide specific suggestions to the practitioners for successful implementation of lean in SMEs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Global competition has intensified pressure on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement lean. Recently, the debate has converged to the role of lean implementation barriers (LIBs). The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this debate by exploring the LIBs in SMEs through three case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study approach was employed followed by interpretive structural modelling (ISM) to model the interrelationship among the LIBs.\nFindings: This study reveals that lack of management commitment, leadership and resources are the key barriers to lean implementation in SMEs in India. Furthermore, poor communication between different levels of the organisation and inadequate dissemination of the knowledge of lean benefits also creates hindrance in lean implementation. Managerial implications of the identified barriers for lean implementation in SMEs have been discussed.\nOriginality/value: The research regarding lean implementation in SMEs is scarce. This study is the first attempt of its kind to identify the lean barriers in a small industry setup through mathematical analysis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Pixel-based airborne hyperspectral sensing technique for search-and-rescue of the missing RMAF NURI helicopter in Genting-Sempah, Malaysia	[ "Search and rescue", "Sensors", "Helicopters", "Forests" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The RMAF NURI helicopter carrying six people went missing at 09.35 hours on Friday 13 July 2007 after lost contact with the control tower of the Sg. Besi airbase, about ten minutes after taking off from the 10th Squadron Sungai Besi airbase on the way to the Gambang base in Kuantan, Pahang. The Sea King, the original name for the NURI, has had a storied life since the first helicopter entered service in 1961 with the United States Navy. The helicopter was on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan, Pahang with six crew members on-board.The chances of success in locating the NURI helicopter as the search target probably depends in part on the accuracy of the hyperspectral image data capture used to estimate the search target. The lack of near-real-time airborne hyperspectral data is a major impediment for the open mountain forest search-and-rescue (SAR) planning. As a search continues, the impact of inaccurate airborne data becomes more severe. Because of errors in the past estimate, the size of the area being searched has been increased to a 60 km radius to ensure that the missing helicopter is within the search area. From the instant of the last known position on Friday 13 July 2007 at 09.35 hours where the control tower lost the radio communication with the ill-fated helicopter, the search area must be expanded and moved in a highly variable manner dependent on environmental conditions and the accuracy with which these conditions can be estimated. The size and accurate location of the projected search area are directly related to the accuracy of the current data used to predict the missing aircraft target. Presently, the UPM-Aeroscan Precision airborne SAR team obtained the \"parked\" Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the flying NURI S61-A4 helicopter spectral signature library on the 3rd day (16 July 2007) from database of the current SAR. However, accurate archived case-dependent spectral data should always be used when available, because even small differences in the Differential GPS location, estimated magnitude and aircraft spectral signature can greatly affect the predicted location of the search target.Thick low moving clouds, however, severely limit the application of the UPM-APSB's AISA derived data for search planning to times and areas that are relatively cloud free because the sensor is unable to penetrate thick cloud cover and the risk of flying below the clouds in a high mountain forest suspected crashed areas. Determining the location of the missing aircraft in a mountain forest from airborne hyperspectral imagery requires a direct overhead solar energy, optimal band combination and cloud-free images that exhibit the same time-varying surface features. Although the operational feasibility of determining crashed aircrafts from airborne hyperspectral imagery has been discussed in a previous work by Jusoff (2008), the practical limitations due to spatial resolution, GPS accuracy, image processing and aircraft spectral reflectance have been minimized. This paper addresses this issue and discusses possible remedies with a SAR for a missing RMAF S61-A4 NURI helicopter in Genting-Sempah, Pahang, Malaysia.\nMethods and materials: Location of study\nResults and discussion: Despite the bad weather conditions with low moving thick clouds, SAR operation on Saturday 14 July 2007 (1st day of the mission) for the downed NURI helicopter was intensified on what seemed to be promising areas where they were well spotted by the UPM-APSB's AISA near real time imageries during airborne surveillance (Figure 6). Airborne SAR continued on the 2nd day (Sunday 15 July 2007) of the mission by flying over a few more suspected strips based on the author's own information gathering from the Royal Malaysian Police, Army and the RMAF based in three different localities, i.e. Bukit Tinggi Police Station, Genting Highlands-Institut Aminudin Baki and 10th Squadron Sg. Besi Air Force Camp, respectively. Owing to the low clouds, poor pilot vision and flying safety reasons, only three anomalies were able to be analyzed and detected on the 2nd day (15 July 2007) of the mission as illustrated in Figure 7. Following an advance real-time processing of the 15 July 2007 airborne data, two spots in the canopy gaps were observed and mapped. These two gaps seemed to be a bit irregular than a normal gap due to an unusual openings believed to be slashed and burnt by the helicopter rotor blade. These anomalies were reported to the Operation Room the next morning after aircraft landing and data processing. SAR team went to the scene the next morning with the recorded on-board GPS to locate the ill-fated NURI but again bad weather hampered any roping activities from the RMAF or Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department to confirm sightings of the missing NURI helicopter. In addition, the forested and hilly terrain was making the search difficult for rescue teams comprising of more than 2,000 people including a 650-member ground team and crack VAT 69 police commando unit, the special air unit Paskau, the army's special operations force, civil defense personnel and the Senoi Praaq comprising agile Orang Asli who can move swiftly in the jungle. However, the search was hampered by thick fog at the Genting Sempah area.The thick mist in the area of search has restricted the aerial operation although the ground search is being carried out day and night. However, based from a very low flying of only 50 m above the suspected site using a RMN Fennec chopper, it was verified that the spot was actually burnt tree crowns. The \"burnt crown/canopy\" trees may be due to the suspicious time when the Sikorsky 61-A4 RMAF NURI helicopter started to fly low before it probably crashed into the tree tops and went missing or perhaps due to a severe lightning which struck the tree tops.However, on the 3rd. day of the SAR mission i.e Monday 16 July 2007, after having captured a flying NURI helicopter which was also on the similar SAR mission, a unique \"helicopter\" like image was detected from the UPM-APSB's AISA airborne sensor. The unique spectral signature of the flying NURI is shown in Figure 8 after going through a careful and thorough advance digital data processing analysis based in similar building closed to the Operations Room. A pinkish bright spot of 7.1 m in length at Latitude 3deg 13' 29.72'' and Longitude 101deg 52' 53.55'' believed to be the missing NURI was identified and mapped and was found to be similar to the \"flying NURI\" (Figure 9). In order to confirm the image spectra of the flying NURI, another image spectra of a parked NURI was taken and proven to be similar with the flying NURI's spectra (Figure 10). However, due to the bad weather and inaccessibility to the suspected site, air-to- ground surveillance by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), Malaysian Army and RMAF helicopters and ground commandos were not able to verify the object. Figure 11 showed the location (8.52 km south-east of Genting-Sempah) and spectral signature of the two suspected sites based from 1st day (Sunday July 14 2007) of airborne data acquisition within a few hours after landing.With the unpredictable weather of only two to three flyable hours a day, and thereby not following the designated FPL, greater mobilization of manpower was hampered. The zest and commitments of the pilots of more than five flying aircrafts per day was worrying and advised not to take unnecessary risk. Even the most sophisticated US Navy tracing aircraft, Sea Hawk equipped with the Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) was deployed, but still there were no clues of the helicopter sightings. Satellite images such as the 1 m resolution panchromatic IKONOS did not revealed many clues, but proven to be useful in directing ground troops equipped with the information of the terrain in their search areas. The conditions in Genting-Sempah were very tough and accessibility from the air was difficult. However, as mentioned earlier, one of the most intensive SAR operations in Malaysian history was over on Day 4 (17 July 2007) when wreckage confirmed to be that of the NURI was spotted lodged in the canopy of the rugged terrain virgin forest at the foot of Mt. Bunga Buah, which is only about 5 km north-west from Genting-Sempah-Karak-Kuala Lumpur Highway (Figure 12). The wreckage was found by the 17th Royal Malay Regiment based in Terendak Camp on 17 July 2007 at 13.25 hours. Video footage showed that the pilot's windshield was broken, while all the passenger window panels were intact. The tail, boom and the body of the helicopter was disintegrated and found scattered visible in the dense foliage. Again, due to the bad light, an attempt to land a rescue team on the same evening was called off. However, the sightings did not raise any hope since all the six air force crews were found killed.The wreckage of the missing NURI helicopter has been finally sighted on the slope of a ravine 5 km northwest of Genting Sempah on the Pahang-Selangor border, very near the Genting Sempah tunnel in dense forest just off the Karak-Genting Sempah tunnel on the Karak Highway, by soldiers attached to the 17th Royal Malay Regiment from the Terendak Camp in Malacca during their ground search at 13.25 hours on 17 July 2007, after four days of round-the-clock search (Figure 13). The exact GPS location of the reported ill-fated disintegrated wreckage transformed onto a Google 3D image is shown in Figure 14. The location of the NURI wreckage reported at 13.25 hours by 17th Royal Malay Regiment (17 RAMD) 19 hours after airborne and NURI spectral signature (confirmed at 16.30 hours on 16 July 2007) was at Latitude 3deg 20' 33.42'' and Longitude 101deg 45' 40.5'' about 5 km north-west off Genting-Sempah-Karak-Kuala Lumpur Highway. To be sure of the exact position of the ill-fated NURI, a field GPS survey was conducted by the author's SAR team field crews with the assistance of the Selangor State Forestry Department Forest Rangers about three months after the incident. Figure 12 illustrated some selected field photos of the ill-fated NURI helicopter wreckage found scattered in the deep ravine of the densed Mt Bunga Buah in Genting-Sempah at Latitude 0.3deg 21' 0.3'' and Longitude 101deg 45' 42.5'' after the field GPS survey.\nConclusion and recommendations: The operationalization of the UPM-APSB's AISA airborne imaging sensor capability has been demonstrated and can be quickly in place for the next SAR crashed NURI helicopter mission especially with the available spectral signature library archives. The integration of new technological advances such as improvements to the aircraft and field GPS, standard reference of digital maps or imageries, the real-time data transmission's telemetry systems, optimal band combination and night vision can and will be easily incorporated into future SAR program for missing military aircrafts. The participants of this effort are continued to advancing the real-time imaging, mapping and analysis of SAR missions and will remain at the forefront of SAR imaging as new technologies in sensors, telemetry and GIS integration become available.The upcoming unique partnering of the newly established Centre of Excellence in the UPM's Faculty of Forestry known as \"Tropical Forest Airborne Observatory\", and Aeroscan Precision (M) Sdn Bhd will lead to an improved understanding of SAR missions and allow for the rapid intelligence gathering and decision making necessary for such future missions.It is recommended in the near future that a standard set of digital reference maps and real-time communication for data transmission from the aircraft direct to the SAR missions Operation Centre should be studied further and developed. The main drivers for this consideration are the availability of the latest reference maps and commercial of the shelf (COTS) transceivers and antennae with a minimal deployment cost. At present, UPM-APSB's AISA-derived airborne hyperspectral imaging data is the only method in Malaysia and South East Asia that can produce near-real-time information over small regions of the mountain forest land surface. As case-dependent data greatly improve the likelihood of search target detection, UPM-APSB's AISA-derived mountain forest tree crown data are a vast improvement over the other conventional ground survey data currently available to military planners. If the area is cloud free and the DGPS location is precise, UPM-APSB's AISA-derived data can provide the positions of missing military aircraft visibility and enables SAR team planners to deploy ground SAR troops. However, the inability of UPM-APSB's AISA to penetrate the low thick moving cloud cover over mountainous forest areas in Genting-Sempah in addition to the non-standardized reference maps for GPS coordinates for ground search severely restricts its capability to provide precise and fast identification and mapping of the missing RMAF NURI helicopter. Even during cloud-free periods, precise on-board aircraft GPS and the pilot's experience are needed to extract current data. Therefore, UPM-APSB's AISA data must be combined with pilot's experience in flying the aircraft/sensor, precise aircraft GPS positioning, up-to-date land digital maps and other data for future effective operational SAR.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop and describe a pixel-based airborne hyperspectral remote sensing system approach for searching for missing and lost RMAF aircraft, especially the NURI helicopter that crashed in Genting-Sempah, Malaysia on Friday 13 July 2007, ten minutes after leaving the RMAF 10th Squadron based in Sg. Besi Camp, Selangor, Malaysia. It was reported found crashed with all six air force crew onboard killed, four days later on 17 July 2007 at 13.25 hours 5 km North-west of Genting-Sempah-Karak-Highway.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The objective is achieved by exploring the use of a very high 1 m2 spatial resolution (pixel-based) airborne hyperspectral imaging system near real-time data processing within two hours after landing. The UPM-Aeroscan's AISA is a state-of-the-art aircraft mounted commercial hyperspectral sensor operated for SAR development application by Forest Geospatial Information and Survey Lab (FGISL)/Aeroscan Precision (M) Sdn Bhd. in Block C3, UPM-MTDC Tech Centre, Lebuh Silikon, Universiti Putra Malaysia. It is designed to provide a near real time, frequent, repetitive, accurate and reliable pushbroom instrument that acquires images in hundreds of registered, contiguous narrow spectral band passes such that for each element it is possible to derive a complete reflectance spectrum between the tree crowns, a damaged or slashed tree canopy and an anomaly especially metal like foreign object that penetrates into the tree crowns of a dense forest. Using an advanced Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) digital analysis and two archives spectral signatures of flying and \"parked\" NURI helicopters, in addition to ground supporting data from the civilian eye-witnesses, spectral matching of images is applied to identify and map the missing helicopter.\nFindings: - Despite the bad weather hampering the search and air surveillance-to-ground verifications, the NURI helicopter was reported found crashed with all six air force crew onboard killed, four days later based on the GPS suspected locations analysed and mapped from the UPM-APSB's AISA airborne hyperspectral sensor data. The GPS locations given by the image were, however, not accurate for ground verifications since an old military topographical map were used. The GPS locations from the airborne image was transferred on to a Google Earth image in the Operations Room but, for ground verifications, a different set of reference topographical maps were used. However, the suspected search target sites were not that far away from the actual sighted RMAF NURI helicopter wreckage.\nOriginality/value: - The value and contribution of this research are the successful application of operating a pixel-based airborne hyperspectral sensor to locate missing military helicopters in SAR. It is expected that the UPM-APSB's AISA airborne hyperspectral sensor can be of further use in future SAR for missing civilian helicopters or commercial aircraft.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is your sustainability strategy sustainable? Creating a culture of sustainability	[ "Organizational culture", "Sustainability", "Strategy", "HR practices" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Sustainability has become the strategic imperative of the new millennium. The phrases sustainability, corporate social responsibility, corporate social performance, going green and the \"triple bottom line\" (Elkington, 1998) all refer to organizations enhancing their long-term economic, social and environmental performance. There is an ever-expanding volume of literature underscoring the importance of sustainability to organizations and its positive impact on performance. For example, the companies listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4 Good Indexes demonstrated share price performance superior to that of firms listed in broader indexes, and companies belonging to the World Business Counsel for Sustainable Development outperformed their respective stock exchanges by 15-25 per cent over a three-year period (Savitz and Weber, 2006). A recent survey of business leaders by\nThe culture of sustainability organizational model: The framework presented in Figure 1 is based upon a narrative synthesis of both practitioner and empirical literature from various disciplines. Narrative synthesis has become an increasingly accepted technique across different disciplines, including management, of summarizing and combining both qualitative and empirical information addressing various aspects of the same phenomenon to provide a larger picture of that phenomenon (Denyer and Tranfield, 2006). Rumrill and Fitzgerald (2001) suggest that narrative synthesis can be especially helpful when researchers seek to develop new models and perspectives on complicated issues, as well as convey information that can assist practitioners in advancing \"best\" practices.\nSetting the organization's sustainability direction: The process of fostering sustainability decisions and behaviors at all levels of the organization begins by incorporating sustainability into the organization's strategic management process. Along with performance benefits, strategic management enables firms to have a clearer direction, a sharper focus on what is important and an improved understanding of a rapidly changing environment (Andersen, 2000). Below we discuss, and present evidence to support, how the clear articulation of sustainability as part of the firm's mission, values, goals and strategy are key factors in fostering sustainability focused culture (Figure 1).\nCulture of sustainability: employee outcomes: For a firm's sustainability efforts to take hold at all levels of the organization, it is imperative that managers expect and assist employees to formulate and implement sustainability-based decisions into their day-to-day jobs. This requires that sustainability objectives be developed as part of the employee-level performance planning process. Optimally, employers should strive to help their workforce embrace the sustainability initiatives of their firms to such an extent that employees consider sustainability efforts to be within the scope of their normal job performance expectations. In doing so, employees will clearly demonstrate sustainability behaviors such as building water, energy and resource savings into their day-to-day activities.\nCulture of sustainability: organizational outcomes: The benefits of creating a culture of sustainability are not limited to increased levels of employee performance and commitment. A culture of sustainability can improve firm performance. The results of a National Environmental Education Foundation study found that sustainability can increase organizational profits by as much as 38 per cent (NEEF, 2009). Recent research has found that corporations adopting environmental and social policies significantly outperform their counterparts over the long term, both in terms of stock market and accounting performance (Eccles et al., 2012). While firms can take a number of steps to help ensure positive financial outcomes, a growing body of research has been devoted to the importance of a firm's social and environmental responsiveness.\nDiscussion: Sustainability has become the strategic imperative of the twenty-first century. While many organizations have set their strategic course on becoming sustainable, the successful implementation of these strategies requires creating an infrastructure that reflects and reinforces these initiatives. The model presented here provides a framework that can be used as a guide for practicing managers who seek to create and maintain a culture of sustainability. The process begins with the explicit inclusion of sustainability in the firm's mission and value statements. However, authentic commitment to the strategic intent of becoming a sustainable organization requires the creation and nurturing of a culture of sustainability. This requires the creation of a set of HR practices that attract, select, socialize and provide the continuous development of employees who embrace the organization's commitment to sustainability. For this commitment to permeate the organization, these practices must be reinforced through the organization's performance management systems.\nConclusion: While many organizations are acknowledging the importance of sustainability, the implementation of an effective strategy to achieve a sustainable organization remains a challenge. As demonstrated by both the empirical and case evidence provided throughout the discussion, the integrated implementation of the components of the model are essential to embedding sustainability deep into an organization's infrastructure to foster a culture of sustainability. When the organization's commitment to sustainability cascades through the organization, several benefits can accrue. First, at the individual employee level, in-role and extra-role performance can be enhanced. Second, the level of employee engagement and commitment also can increase. Third, the firm's reputation may also be enhanced, which makes the organization attractive to potential employees, as well as customers and investors. Finally, a commitment to sustainability, reinforced by applying the components of the framework presented to create a culture of sustainability, can be rewarded by increases in brand equity, market share and customer loyalty.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present a multidisciplinary model that can be used as both a road map for practicing managers to create a sustainability focused culture within their own organizations, and as a guide for future research into the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A narrative synthesis approach is used to integrate extant empirical and practitioner literature spanning various disciplines to build a comprehensive model, including key propositions, to assist both practitioners and researchers alike. Case examples illustrating each component of the model in practice and implications for future research based on the key tenets of the model are also provided.\nFindings: Building an organizational infrastructure that fosters a culture of sustainability results in positive employee- and organizational-level sustainability performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The model presented is an important advancement in the sustainability literature. It is applicable to various sustainability efforts, and it may be applied regardless of the industry or the size of the companies undertaking sustainability initiatives. The model provides a framework to guide research into the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability. Future research should focus on the relationship between the different organizational factors identified in the model, organizational culture and sustainability performance.\nPractical implications: The multidisciplinary model presented can be used as a road map for practicing managers to create a sustainability focused culture within their own organizations.\nOriginality/value: A gap exists in both the empirical and practitioner literature regarding the development and assessment of the organizational factors that foster a culture of sustainability. Moreover, no clear model exists with the expressed purpose of helping leaders create such a culture, while providing a framework to guide research into the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability. In this paper, a comprehensive model, including key propositions, to assist both practitioners and researchers alike is presented. Case examples illustrating each component of the model in practice and implications for future research based on the key tenets of the model are also provided.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementing the health promoting school in Denmark: a case study	[ "Health education", "Health promoting schools", "Implementation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The notion of the health promoting school can be dated to the early 1980s, and a health promoting school can be characterised as \"a school constantly strengthening its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working\" (World Health Organisation (WHO), 1998, p. 2). According to the WHO (1998, p. 2) a health promoting school needs to:\nThe health promoting schools initiative in Denmark: Denmark was among the first countries to join the European Network of Health Promoting Schools in 1992 (Jensen, 2004). The approach, which has been developed within the Danish Network of Health Promoting Schools, is based on critical education and health promotion theory (Jensen, 1997, 2000; Simovska, 2007, 2012; Green and Tones, 2010). This approach has been influential in the education sector in Denmark, and in 1995 the core principles in critical health education, namely, action competence, interdisciplinary and action-oriented knowledge and student participation, were incorporated in the national curriculum guidelines for health education in primary and lower secondary schools in Denmark (Ministry of Education, 2009).\nMethodology: In 2007, Danish municipal authorities were given the full responsibility for establishing preventive and health promoting initiatives aimed at all citizens within their jurisdiction (Ministry of Health, 2005). Municipal authorities already had the overall responsibility for the public school sector and, following the introduction of this new legislation, a broad array of school-based health promotion projects were introduced at the municipal level targeting children and young people. One such project was \"The School Health Project\", launched by a medium-sized municipality in Western Denmark. The project's goal was to improve health education in schools and generate insights into students' health and learning outcomes resulting from a number of teaching initiatives concerning diet and exercise. The project ran from August 2009 until June 2012 with the voluntary participation of five schools. A total of 233 students, aged 13 when the project commenced, were involved and monitored, as well as 23 teachers (The School Health Project Group, 2009).\nResults and discussion: The schools\nConclusions: The degree of student participation appeared to vary from school to school along a continuum from symbolic to genuine participation. Student participation was particularly evident in relation to group formation and choice of themes regarding health project assignments. These findings are consistent with the rest of literature which has concluded that it is generally teacher who determine the objectives, content and method of lessons. Students, to varying degrees, have a say in relation to such issues as group formation and choice of topic, but only in a minority of cases in terms of the form and content of lessons (Carlsson, 1999; Kremser, 2010; Byskov-Nielsen et al., 2006). In \"Shape Up\" and \"Young Minds\" - two projects based on the teaching material PlaySpot which applies a critical health education approach, students were involved in determining both content and processes (Simovska, 2005, 2007, 2011; Simovska and Jensen, 2009; Jensen and Simovska, 2005; Simovska and Carlsson, 2012). The literature suggests (Byskov-Nielsen et al., 2006; Lund, 2009; Jensen and og Hansen, 1999; Carlsson, 1999; Bagger, 2003) that most of the teachers who participated in the project had no previous training or experience in relation to critical health education, and their reluctance to involve students in the process of developing teaching objectives, content and methods may be related to their lack of knowledge and skills. When the teachers were taught the methods, as was the case in connection with the teaching material \"PlaySpot\", their approach to using participatory methods was strengthened, in line with previous findings (Nordin et al., 2010). It appears that teachers need competences in relation to critical health education, and that training can help to build a new understanding of health education and supply them with new methodological tools.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into teachers' practice in implementing school-based health promotion.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative research was designed as a multiple case study. The study involved five schools, 233 pupils in the age 12-16 and 23 teachers. The primary data generation method were focus groups.\nFindings: According to the national guidelines the health education in primary schools in Denmark should be based on the critical approach to health education developed within the European Network of Health Promoting Schools. However, the study showed that teachers' implementation of the guidelines in practice was closer to traditional health education, which focuses only lifestyle change, than to critical health education which also explores the underlying conditions for health.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study explored teachers' implementation practices, and the individual and institutional factors that influence the practice. This paper restricts itself to examining teachers' practice against the national curriculum guidelines.\nPractical implications: The teachers were not sufficiently familiar with the curriculum guidelines or the critical approach to health education. The inclusion of the national curriculum and the principles of critical health education in the initial and in-service professional development of teachers is an urgent priority if this gap is to be reduced.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the debate related to the potentials and barriers for implementing of health promotion interventions in a school context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cultural impact of human resource practices on job satisfaction: A global study across 48 countries	[ "Job satisfaction", "Culture", "Employee attitudes", "Human resource practices" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the past few decades, there has been an explosion of businesses moving operations overseas, setting up international joint ventures, and establishing multinational enterprises. An important question is whether Western management practices can be used as effectively with employees in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, as in North America, and whether the application of Western management principles affects satisfaction in non-Western countries. There is a current debate concerning the degree to which values in the world are converging due to globalization. In a study of values across regions of the world, Schwartz and Bardi (2001) found that there is a significant degree of similarity regarding value hierarchies, with benevolence consistently ranked as the top value, and power as the least important. Sackmann and Phillips (2004) argue for a multiple cultures perspective, arguing that examining one's national cultural values is not sufficient as people are influenced by varying cultures and their identity with each (e.g. work group culture, organizational culture, national culture and regional culture). In a similar vein, researchers are increasingly acknowledging the discrepancy of cultural values within one nation (Dolan et al., 2004). Mirroring the debate on whether cultural values are converging or continue to be culturally bound, recent research has found that some values are universal and others are not. For example, Andolsek and Stebe (2004) found that age, satisfaction, and high paying jobs predicted continuance commitment regardless of the country, whereas, people in individualistic countries highly valued autonomy and people in collectivistic societies placed high importance on being able to help others. This research is addressing the call by Menon (2004, p. 139) that \"researchers should continue to engage in comparative cross-national research to better understand universal and culture bound influences on organizational behavior\". Our study examines how human resource practices impact job satisfaction differently depending on culture as measured by Hofstede's (1980a, b) dimensions.\nLiterature review: As business increasingly becomes more global, little is understood about the influence of culture on the relationship between human resource management practices and individual worker outcomes. To the authors' knowledge, no studies have comprehensively looked at how the relationship between human resource management practices and job satisfaction differs among workers across different regions of the world. This study attempts to fill that gap in our understanding. Using Hofstede's theory on cultural values, we argue that cultural values will influence the degree to which individual job satisfaction is impacted by various human resource management practices. In the following sections we will discuss the relationship between human resource management practices and work-related outcomes and then hypothesize differences we expect based on culture as quantified by Hofstede's cultural dimensions.\nMethodology: Sample\nResults: The regression analyses for each region showed almost all of the seven human resource practices were significant in each of the four regions. In Asia, North America, and Europe, all seven human resource practices were significant in predicting job satisfaction. In Latin America, equal opportunity, accomplishment, teamwork, recognition, and work-life balance were significant in predicting job satisfaction. However, neither training nor communication from management was significant in the model (Table IV).\nDiscussion: There were significant differences in the degree to which human resource practices impacted job satisfaction, supporting the notion that human resource practices should be tailored to meet the different values of employees in varying cultures. This study is particularly important in light of the fact that today's corporations are largely multinational in nature due to fewer trade barriers, growing international economies, fast communication and outsourcing. Additionally, operating units in these organizations are typically organized by region and involve managing employees in multiple countries without recognizing large variations in cultural values both across regions and within regional business unit.\nContributions: The primary contribution of this study is the breadth of countries and cultures which are included in the study. This is the only study on cross-cultural job satisfaction that the authors know of which includes over 70,000 employees in the study, and represents 48 countries and four geographical regions giving greater weight to the significant findings of this study. Although generalizations to specific countries should be made cautiously, due to the number of physical locations of the multinational corporations across three different industries this study does highlight the difference in employee perceptions of human resource practices rooted in the value placed on these practice based on differences in culture.\nImplications: The implications for this study are significant for theory and practice. From a theoretical perspective, this study furthers our understanding of how human resource practices impact job satisfaction differently across regional cultures. The degree to which the seven human resource practices impact employee job satisfaction is not universal across cultures. There are significant differences across cultures in the relative importance of each of these human resource practices as relates to job satisfaction. Second, the findings of the current study reinforce that a sense of achievement is universal and is a vital component of work across all cultures.\nLimitations: No research is without limitations including the current research. The largest limitation of the current research is making generalizations from the macro-level (regional) to the micro-level (individual). The authors recognize that culture even at a national level is an aggregate measure of individual values and is not generalizable as the measure of each individual's perception of these cultural dimensions (Robinson, 1950; Leung and Bond, 1989). The authors recognize one of the large limitations of our study is that generalizations about individual variations regarding perceptions of cultural dimensions are not possible from our results (Lang et al., 1987; Leung and Bond, 1989). While the preference for a cross-cultural study would have been to evaluate differences across countries, it was not possible due to the fact that in the dataset available to the authors employees were identified by the region in which they worked. On the other hand, one can argue that culture is, from a conceptual perspective, a macro level construct that is ecologically not an individual level construct (Hofstede, 1980a; House et al., 2004). Cultural dimensions as aggregate measures are not without value and can be used as an appropriate measure at a macro level (Epstein, 1986). In addition, regional cultural values have the advantage of being able to make cross-cultural comparisons at a regional level and across cultural dimensions, consistent with how multinational corporations tend to be managed. In this study, there is also the possibility of common-method bias because of the self-report nature of the study. However, because the survey was administered in different locations and at different points in time, the threat is minimized.\nFuture research: One important direction for future research is to replicate these results with country level values for the cultural dimensions. Future research also needs to examine how the social changes in Asian countries, such as China and India, are changing the value systems within the culture and how these changes in values directly relate to work. As the social fabric of the Asian countries change, we as researchers have a unique opportunity to study the relationship between cultural values and work values and how changes in culture possibly lead to a change in work values. Another interesting direction for future research would be to investigate achievement needs as they relate to organizational rewards across different cultures. This study has shown that while achievement and reward are an important determinant in job satisfaction, cultural differences exists in the types of rewards which are important to employees.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of high-performance human resource practices on job satisfaction across four cultural regions - Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America. High-performance human resource practices were used to predict job satisfaction for each region and then compared to determine significant differences. Hofstede's cultural dimensions were employed as a basis for structuring hypothesized differences across cultural regions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a proprietary industry survey on employee work attitudes. The sample consisted of over 70,000 employees from four large multinational organizations with at least four offices in each of the four regions. Data were analyzed using regression analysis and comparison testing across models.\nFindings: There are significant relationships between job characteristics and job satisfaction across all regions of the world, with a sense of achievement universally the most important driver. Although job characteristics impact job satisfaction across all regions, there are significant differences in the relative importance of job characteristics on job satisfaction, consistent with Hofstede's cultural dimensions.\nPractical implications: The findings have implications for tailoring human resource management practices across locations within multinationals.\nOriginality/value: This research is believed to be the first cross-cultural study of human resource practices affecting job satisfaction using multiple organizations and industries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Rethinking artisan entrepreneurship in a small island: A tale of two chocolatiers in Roatan, Honduras	[ "Entrepreneurs", "Qualitative techniques", "Developing countries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Artisans and artisanal businesses are attracting substantial attention in the entrepreneurship and management literature (Dickie and Frank, 1996; Gralton and Vanclay, 2008; Ramadani et al., 2017; Tregear, 2005). Artisanal enterprises offer products made either completely by hand, or with the help of hand tools or even mechanical means, as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most substantial component of the finished product (UNESCO, 1997). Whilst the implicit meanings of artisanship include expectations about the nature of the work, product, culture, place, the role of the artisan as entrepreneur and much else (Crossick, 1997), recent studies highlight that artisan entrepreneurs may face several challenges, particularly in touristic places with limited resources (Tregear, 2005) yet influenced by a growing form of tourism searching for authentic and local products (Ram et al., 2016; Chhabra, 2005; Littrell et al., 1993). This study focuses on artisan chocolate making in a small island as an interesting phenomenon in a resource-constrained context.\nLiterature analysis: Artisanship and entrepreneurship\nContext: Honduras and the Bay Islands: This study focuses on Honduras, a developing Central American country of about 9 million inhabitants (World Bank, 2018). The artisanal sector in Honduras is mainly concentrated on wood, clay and clothing products (Castegnaro de Folletti, 2003) yet in terms of chocolate making, despite being considered one of the oldest cradles of the core chocolate ingredient (cacao) in the world (Joyce and Henderson, 2007), the artisanal chocolate industry in Honduras is still in its infancy (Cortez and Bachmann, 2017). Due to the special conditions needed for cacao production (e.g. temperature, rainfall level, wind, solar radiation and relative humidity) several areas in northern Honduras provide ideal conditions for cacao production (Fromm, 2013). Cacao production in Honduras is expected to surpass 1,600 tons in 2018 (La Tribuna, 2018), yet it is mainly oriented for raw material export (price of Honduran cacao currently ranges between the US$0.77 and $4.30 per kilogram), with Swiss companies paying above average prices to producers based on quality (Fromm, 2013).\nMethodology: Detailed and in-depth insights from local artisans were needed to address our research question:\nFindings: Tourism influences an artisan chocolatier lifestyle in the making\nDiscussion: Taken together, findings suggest that artisan chocolatiers in a small island with limited resources may not necessarily resemble the traditional artisan portrayal (Crossick, 1997) rather the phenomenon showcases proactive behavior of individuals learning quickly about how to put diverse resources together, leveraging place-bound features, developing skills and acting upon an opportunity fueled by increased tourism. Tourism, conceptualized around the search for local distinctiveness and authenticity (Littrell et al., 1993) emerges as a crucial factor for artisanal chocolate entrepreneurs located in rural and resource constrained islands (Nesto, 2010; Leissle, 2017) to develop artisanal businesses. Findings reveal that when chocolate artisans are enclosed in a resource constrained environment boosted by tourists searching for authentic, local and unique products they may need to choose whether to do nothing or act upon an entrepreneurial opportunity.\nConclusion: This study was concerned with understanding how artisan chocolate entrepreneurs in a small island use tourism to develop their business. This study contributes to understanding by bringing forward that production and consumption of artisanal chocolate in a resource-constrained environment (Tregear, 2005) is influenced by tourists searching for and appreciating place-bound features of a product (Korsgaard et al., 2015).\nLimitations and future research: This study has a few caveats and therefore its findings must be interpreted with caution. Obviously, our evidence is limited to a small-scale study and, thus, further research is required. First, relying on a small number of case studies provides the opportunity to obtain rich contextual data for a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena under study, nonetheless, this also limits the generalizability of results to contexts and situations that do not wholly match the specificities of the cases presented (Henry and Foss, 2015). Second, this study highlighted the importance of bricolage behavior in products crafted by chocolate artisans in resource-constrained environments. Yet, diverse motivations may impact entrepreneurial strategies of emerging artisanal businesses. Artisanal chocolate production for a growing tourist market in a small island, as demonstrated in this study, defies easily the way artisanal enterprises are perceived and the theoretical perspectives that can be used to explain their behavior over time (Fisher, 2012). This study suggest that future studies may need to rethink the conceptualizations of artisan entrepreneurs in resource constrained environments as features associated with entrepreneurial artisan bricolage may differ (Vreeland and Pacyniak, 2010).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: There is a growing interest in artisan entrepreneurs around the world. Scholars are increasingly interested in how artisan enterprises use tourism in a resource-constrained resources. Based on the concept of artisan chocolate entrepreneur, the purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of artisanal chocolate making in a small island with limited resources yet influenced by increased tourism.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Artisan enterprises are considered relevant in developing countries and their creation merits further attention. This study examines artisan enterprises using in-depth interviews, case studies, and an interpretative approach. The approach enables examining how artisan chocolate enterprises use tourism to develop their businesses in a context characterized by limited resources.\nFindings: The findings show that artisan entrepreneurs are encouraged to start and develop enterprises due to lifestyle choices. The findings reveal a connection between artisan chocolatiers developing place-bound features to address a growing demand of tourists' expectation for authentic and local products. The approach of artisan entrepreneurs in such conditions can be explained through entrepreneurial bricolage.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the literature on the initial stages of artisan enterprises particularly in resource-constrained environments influenced by tourism. More specifically, the study provides evidence of the relevance of tourism for artisanal enterprise emergence, which is a relatively overlooked area in tourism and artisanal studies in developing countries. The study highlights the key place bound features that artisanal chocolate entrepreneurs associate to their products based on tourists' demand for authentic and local products.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
In for a penny, in for a pound? Exploring mutual endorsement effects between celebrity CEOs and corporate brands	[ "Corporate brand", "Experiment", "Meaning transfer", "Personal branding", "Celebrity endorsement", "Celebrity CEO" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The branding of individuals is increasingly attracting attention from professional practitioners (Peters, 1999; Montoya, 2004; Rampersad, 2009). In particular, celebrities have become a staple feature of mainstream media, as evidenced by recent reports that the former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, \"battles to turn brand Boris from \"comedy act\" to leading man\" (Rigby and Parker, 2015, p. 3). They have also become an object of interdisciplinary interest, covering various academic disciplines, such as sociology (Furedi, 2010; Kurzman et al., 2007), psychology (Li, 2007; Moulard et al., 2015), information technology (Alghawi et al., 2014; Elwell, 2014) and educational science (Edmiston, 2014).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Celebritization of CEOs\nEmpirical studies: Research design and pre-test\nGeneral discussion: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: While the branding of individuals has attracted increasing attention from practitioners in recent decades, understanding of personal branding still remains limited, especially with regard to the branding of celebrity CEOs. To contribute to this debate, this paper aims to explore the co-branding of celebrity CEOs and corporate brands, integrating endorsement theory and the concept of meaning transfer at a level of brand attributes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A between-subjects true experimental design was chosen for each of the two empirical studies with a total of 268 participants, using mock newspaper articles about a succession scenario at the CEO level of different companies. The study is designed to analyse the meaning transfer from celebrity CEO to corporate brand and vice versa using 16 personality attributes.\nFindings: This study gives empirical support for meaning transfer effects at the brand attribute level in both the celebrity-CEO-to-corporate-brand and corporate-brand-to-celebrity-CEO direction, which confirms the applicability of the concept of brand endorsement to celebrity CEOs and the mutuality in co-branding models. Furthermore, a more detailed and expansive perspective on the definition of endorsement is provided as well as managerial guidance for building celebrity CEOs and corporate brands in consideration of meaning transfer effects.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of only few analysing the phenomenon of meaning transfer between brands that focus on non-evaluative associations (i.e. personality attributes). It is unique in its scope, insofar as the partnering relationship between celebrity CEOs and corporate brands have not been analysed empirically from this perspective yet. It bridges the gap between application in practice and the academic foundations, and it contributes to a broader understanding and definition of celebrity endorsement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Information needs and information sources of family caregivers of cancer patients	[ "Information-seeking behaviour", "Information needs", "Family caregivers", "Cancer journey", "Cancer patients", "Information sources" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The World Health Organization (2013) reported that cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. The number of cancer deaths was 7.6 million (13 per cent of total deaths) in 2008, and it is predicted that the number will reach 13 million in 2030. In Taiwan, statistics indicate that cancer has been the leading cause of death since 1982, and the number of deaths from cancer is double the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases, which ranked second on the list (Health Promotion Administration, 2013). The increase in deaths caused by cancer has drawn the attention of researchers in various fields, including information science.\nLiterature review: A literature review was conducted using MEDLINE, PubMed, and EBSCOhost. The search terms were related to one of three categories: cancer, patients and caregivers, and information-seeking behaviour.\nMethods: Cancer is a disease that affects patients' family members both physically and psychologically. The financial wellbeing of the family can also be affected. It is inevitable that private and sensitive topics are discussed when investigating the information-seeking behaviour of family caregivers. A semi-structured, in-depth interview method was adopted in this study. Mack et al. (2005) argued that in-depth interviews allow interviewees to talk about their personal feelings, experiences, and opinions. This type of interview is also effective when dealing with sensitive topics.\nResults and discussion: Information needs and information sources\nConclusion and suggestions for future studies: Cancer has been the primary cause of death worldwide for decades, and it is therefore critical to understand the information-seeking behaviour of both cancer patients and their caregivers. We investigated the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of family caregivers of cancer patients. The challenges that family caregivers encountered were more complex than the challenges patients faced, which included caring for the patient, managing financial obstacles, and communicating with other family members. In comparison with the findings of previous studies that focused on cancer patients, we determined that family caregivers might have more information needs than patients do. Their information needs and information use varied along the cancer journey. The findings of this study can help researchers to gain a greater understanding of the information-seeking behaviour of family caregivers of cancer patients. Similarly to previous studies (Chalmers et al., 2003; Tunin et al., 2010), we determined that hospital and health care professionals are two crucial information sources for family caregivers. We recommend that hospitals produce booklets to provide helpful information regarding patient care during the various phases of the cancer journey. Family caregivers relied on healthcare professionals, but typically sought a second opinion. We suggest that healthcare professionals provide more comprehensive information to reduce the sense of uncertainty exhibited by caregivers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the information needs of family caregivers of cancer patients. Information sources used by the caregivers were also examined.\nDesign/methodology/approach: We interviewed 15 family caregivers (nine females, six males) in Taiwan for this study. The participants were aged from 23 to 67 years, and all except two had attained college or higher degrees. Their relationships with patients included spousal, parental, and that of son or daughter.\nFindings: Family caregivers' information needs varied along the cancer journey, and they used various information sources to satisfy these needs. Demographic variables affected the information-seeking behaviour of the family caregivers.\nOriginality/value: The majority of studies on this topic have been based in western countries. This paper reveals the importance of considering cultural factors. The findings can assist researchers in gaining a greater understanding of the information-seeking behaviour of family caregivers of cancer patients worldwide.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
LARG index: A benchmarking tool for improving the leanness, agility, resilience and greenness of the automotive supply chain	[ "Decision support systems", "Supply chain management", "Agility", "Lean production", "Industrial performance", "Lean", "Green", "Agile", "Index", "Automotive industry", "Resilient" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The increased pressure from community and environmentally conscious consumers has lead to rigorous environmental regulations, forcing companies to integrate environmental and social concerns into their management practices (Rao and Holt, 2005; Paulraj, 2009). As Pagell and Wu (2009) assert, beyond the immediate economic concerns, business needs to deal with environmental and social issues in order to be more sustainable. Vachon and Klassen (2008) stressed that environmental management has evolved from the internal organization focus to a supply chain (SC) perspective. Supply chain management (SCM), besides increasing organizational effectiveness, enhancing competitiveness, customer service and profitability, is also a crucial influence on the sustainable development of a business (Azevedo et al., 2012a, b, c).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1. LARG SCM paradigms and sustainability\n3. Development of a LARG index: The main objective of this section is to propose an LARG index to assess the companies and the SCs level of leanness, agility, resilience and greenness. The rationale behind this model is that since the SC is composed by a set of n companies, each one with different implementation degrees of LARG practices, the SC overall behaviour will be computed by the aggregation of individual companies' behaviours. In this research the methodology suggested by Azevedo et al. (2012b, c) has been followed in the construction of the LARG index. The deployment of LARG practices within the companies and respective SC intents to achieve compatibility between the application of lean production principles (based on the zero stock, without waste and activities that do not add value), with agility (which assume the adjustment of the markets in constant change), at the same time considering the necessary production system resiliency to possible disturbances and risks (some can be predictable, but others occur in a completely unexpected way) and also green principles to reduce the environmental impacts.\n4. LARG index application: a case study in automotive supply chain: 4.1. Methodology\n5. Conclusions: This paper follows an innovative approach suggesting an integrated composite index, entitled LARG index, to assess the automotive SC behaviour in terms of leanness, agility, resilience and greenness. The proposed integrated assessment model supports the development of two LARG indexes: one to assess the individual company behaviour in terms of the four SCM paradigms, and the other one to determine the same behaviour, but for the entire SC.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to suggest a lean, agile, resilient, and green (LARG) index as a benchmarking tool to assess the leanness, agility, resilience and the greenness of the automotive companies and corresponding supply chain (SC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed index incorporates LARG supply chain management paradigms and corresponding practices being both weighted according to their importance for the automotive SC sustainability. The Delphi technique is used to obtain the weights for each SC paradigm and a linear aggregated method is proposed. A case study approach related to the automotive SC is chosen to illustrate the LARG index application.\nFindings: The case study results confirmed the usefulness and ease of application of LARG index in a real world SC. The application of the suggested index to a set of companies, and consequently to their SC, makes possible to identify: the better and worst performer company in each paradigm, the LARG practices with higher levels of application among the companies, the LARG index for each company and also for the corresponding SC. This becomes an important benchmarking tool since comparative analysis regarding the LARG behaviours are possible to perform with the suggested index.\nResearch limitations/implications: More LARG practices could be considered to improve the robustness of the index. Future studies should be conducted across more companies for improving the effectiveness of the approach, and more members should be included in the panel of Delphi technique for enhancing the validity of the suggested approach.\nPractical implications: SC companies will be able to assess their performance in terms of leanness, agility, resilience and greenness. A study like this could encourage all automotive companies to benchmark their organizations as regards their competitors, the best in class, and also the industry average.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the literature by introducing a new index for measuring the leanness, agility, resilience and greenness of companies and SCs. This index can be used by managers as a benchmarking tool to identify their LARG behaviour and compare it with their SC partners and seek for improvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of implementation process on the perception of enterprise resource planning success	[ "ERP", "IT", "Implementation process", "Multiple case study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) are management information systems (IS) that optimize the distribution of enterprise resources and help a business to integrate all its resources for fast and effective application to improve its operational performance and enhance its competitiveness (Hsiao et al., 2007).\nTheoretical background: Evaluating the user's disposition and perception of IS quality is important for assessing IS success (Brown et al., 2002). In this direction, the TTF model studies the relationship between the use of the IS and its performances, through a consistent analysis of the software functions and the users' perceived needs (Dishaw and Strong, 1998). Another model, the TAM (Davis, 1989) evaluates ERP success through the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the final users (e.g. Hwang, 2005).\nMethods: To address our question we adopted the multiple case study research design, as suggested by Yin (1994) and McCutcheon and Meredith (1993). This methodology is widely accepted in management ISs studies for the formulation and building of theory (Lee, 1989).\nData analysis and results: The data collected, provided by IT managers during the interviews and gathered through the 120 key-user questionnaires, has been analyzed to evaluate the impact of the ERP implementation phases on the single selected constructs of the TAM and TTF. The dependent and independent variables of the models have been analyzed using a correlation analysis and a multiple regression analysis.\nDiscussion, managerial implications and further research: The literature recognizes the implementation project as important for achieving the efficient and efficacy functioning of ERP systems, but little is known about its impact in the subsequent ERP success in the post-adoption stage. We have therefore conducted this study in order to obtain a better understanding of this relation by measuring the ERP success in terms of users' acceptance and reliability and utility perceived.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the implementation process on the ERP's success in the post-adoption stage, measured as system's acceptance, reliability and utility perceived by users, inside the organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a multiple case study research design. The data collected, provided by IT managers and 120 key-users from four companies, has been used to investigate the impact of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation phases on selected constructs of the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The empirical evidences highlight a direct relation between the effectiveness of the implementation phases and the ERP's success.\nFindings: The research results emphasize the importance of the quality of the software, but especially the importance of the implementation phases' management, which require technical and managerial ability of the team made up of people from the system integrator and the company's key-users. Evidences suggest that the higher will be the organizational diffusion of an ERP implemented during a successful implementation project, the higher will be the perception of ERP success in the post-adoption stage. Moreover, the users' perception of ERP quality will be maintained over time.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research has some limits due to its exploratory nature and to the chosen research approach, so the results may lack generalizability; consequently future research will concern with enlargement of the sample that will allow a better generalization of the results.\nPractical implications: This exploratory study suggest that companies' managers should be aware that a correct methodology of implementation, strongly influenced by the team, impacts on the technology consistency and therefore, on the ERP system success. So an appropriate choice is to invest more in the creation and development of internal and external project team than in the ERP's brand.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfils an identified need to clarify the explicit relationship between the quality of implementation phases and the subsequent ERP success in the post-adoption stage measured in terms of users' perception of information system quality.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How the evolution of science will transform business schools	[ "MBA", "Management education", "Business schools", "Causal-based research", "Management oath", "Scientific discovery", "Responsible management education", "Actionable research", "Executive education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The types of scientific discoveries of a generation are contingent on the stage of evolution of each particular line of research. The discipline of management science is neither as influential as other social sciences such as economics nor as the more distant group of hard sciences (Pfeffer, 2007). Despite these differences business schools have made a remarkable effort in grounding their curricula to the current state of scientific discovery. This has been a considerable effort considering that, again comparing with hard sciences, the field of organizational studies has a low level of paradigm development (Pfeffer, 1993). This paper provides an overview of a methodology that helps visualize the different stages of the evolution of theories. This methodology emphasizes the distinction between the explanatory and the prescriptive stages of theory development. This paper shows how the explanatory portion of theory building is the source of the heterogeneity of the business schools response in front of an external challenge, in particular to the challenge of responsible management education (RME). It then segues to how theories eventually transition to predictive stages of development, where their influence and employability becomes more widespread. The field of organizational studies is now in the midst of the transition between explanatory and prescriptive. The emergence of new casual-based theories will not only help us improve scientific discovery but will also have a profound impact on what we teach and even on how we teach it. In this new stage of theory development the inherent power of these theories make RME particularly relevant. Business schools that do not successfully implement effective RME practices will be at a much higher risk of ending up appearing in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.\nHow science evolves by transitioning to causal-based research: Yin (2003) defines as an anomaly the divergence between an empirical observation and its corresponding theory or statement of association. The early stages of theory development are usually populated with anomalies. At these stages we usually observe how the research is fundamentally focussed on finding both inductive and deductive variables that, through statements of correlation, help improve theories in order to explain the anomalies. The continuous repetition of these research practices has the cumulative effect that we observe today, where the number of variables, frameworks and models that have been identified are so numerous that they are becoming confusing for both researchers and practitioners. The field of organizational studies in general and the RME research field in particular are today in this situation. Scholars call this phenomena Scientific Rigidity (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992). When Scientific Rigidity is high and the number of empirical papers is much higher than that of theoretical papers (Hillman, 2011), scholars are able to recite long lists of articles from the literature but struggle to define new research questions or deploy research designs that are more likely to yield new research insights (Davis, 1971; Kuhn, 1962).\nThe role of RME in causal-based research: Business schools can be broadly classified into two groups. The first group is private institutions, these are usually managed like a business and, although there are notable exceptions, most of them are focussed on being great teaching institutions with less emphasis in research. The second group is comprised of those that are publicly owned. A significant portion of the business schools in this group - even though they are publicly owned - still maintain a high motivation for profits. Therefore their programs are usually priced at about the same level as the private ones. For instance, there are a large number of publicly owned business schools whose MBA and Executive Education programs are as expensive as those from privately owned schools. In a way these business schools are still managed like a private corporation, even though their profits revert to a foundation instead of going to the shareholders.\nThe link between the evolution of science and the transformation of business schools: The best way to understand the impact of science on business schools is by going back in history. Before 1950s most business school professors used to be experienced executives. They used to be fine individuals that had developed a unique talent for business and that were trying to pass their insights along to young generations. Because of the very nature of business, the hundreds of industries, the variety of positions, the various roles of the regulators, etc. business school education at the time was quite heterogeneous. In the early 1960s there was a crisis in the business school industry and the real value of these institutions was profoundly questioned. This crisis forced business schools to homogenize their programs. This homogenization started by finding commonalities in business challenges, a step that has been identified as the transition from Problem Solving to Problem Framing. This transition signaled the introduction of PhDs as teachers, which developed closer links with academic disciplines (Augier and March, 2011). It was also at this time that the aim of shifting from experienced executives as teachers to the scholar-teacher model finally emerged (Pearce and Huang, 2012).\nHow causal-based research will make the business model of most business schools evolve: \"Give me the one answer, what is the factor I have to look for that solves that problem?\" That is the most frequent question that both students and practitioners are continuously asking to scholars. The pressure to find answers in a more turbulent and uncertain world (Sull, 2009) is forcing scholars to push to the limits a cadre of research methods that were developed on the grounds of the scholar-teacher model. These are well-honed methods that scholars have learned to master with proficiency (Pfeffer, 1993). There are a myriad issues that scholars debate about these methods, but a significant portion of the debate revolves around three issues; First, when to use a deductive or inductive research design (Edmondson and McManus, 2007). Second, choosing between quantitative or qualitative data (Ireland and Downey, 1979; Jick, 1979; Trend, 1978). Third, the three relationships between variables: Correlation, Contingency and Causality (Miles and Huberman, 1994). The latter is particularly relevant for scientific evolution. Figure 1 depicts these relationships in detail. The Correlation portion of the chart (same as any other kind of method that describes relationships between variables) shows that in those cases where variables are not completely independent then and only then a correlation coefficient measures their relationship, for that particular case Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between x and y. The second case introduces a situation of Contingency, which shows how the presence or absence of one (or more than one) of the endogenous variables that are accounted for affects the others. This is depicted in Figure 1 as to how the presence of z affects both x and y. Note that x and y might or might not be correlated and that this does not mean that they cannot be contingent. Causality on the other hand is described as how the presence of an exogenous variable affects every single one of the endogenous variables (Godfrey and Hill, 1995). However, not all types of exogenous variables are considered. The ones that are more often considered are the resulting ones that originate from a quantitative count-based process, which is the reason that journal editors have been emphasizing the use of both multi-methods and mixed methods (Suddaby, 2006; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003). Considering only the exogenous variables that originate from a quantitative count-based process is a crucial consideration that helps the researcher add a specific type of context that specifically controls for the plausibility of alternative narratives (Morck and Yeung, 2011). Figure 1 depicts how w (an exogenous context-related variable) affects z, x and y. Irrespective of the relationships that the other exogenous and endogenous variables might have between them.\nSummary and conclusions: Same as any other science-based business, the evolution business schools as an industry is a function of how evolved is the science where it is grounded. For instance, the transition from having executives to having scholars in class that in addition to teaching were also active in research practices was instrumental for identifying and agreeing on the first constructs. These constructs would end up becoming the main building blocks of management as it is known today (Cummings and Bridgman, 2011). Over time these constructs not only became instrumental for developing frameworks and models but also comprise the core curriculum of most business school programs. We are at the beginning of a new phase where the transition from explanatory to predictive research and teaching is going to be the norm. There are precedents of this transition in other social sciences. Moreover, this is the norm in most hard sciences. In this new era the role of the faculty is even more critical than what it has been in the past. Once causal-based research is consolidated in business schools both ethical and unethical students will be equipped with the most powerful cadre of management tools ever developed. At this point this will represent a risk that business schools need to account for (O'Brien et al., 2010). This is a new threat that can seriously damage the reputation of any business school. In this situation RME, which is a branch of research of management that is still at its very early stages, has the fundamental challenge of rising up to the task to counter-balance this upcoming transformational force. The heterogeneous, timid and fundamentally exploratory treatment that RME has received from business schools, such as the adherence to an international accreditation standard, the MBA oath or the introduction of a new compulsory subject is about to transition to a more homogeneous, solid and decisive answer. This answer will come in the form of a newly fully fledged department where predictive RME theory can be developed and used for both teaching and policy making (Robins, 2012). Journal editors have already recognized this pattern and are sending continuous invitations where they encourage scholars to conduct both case-based and qualitative research that employs more effective research methodologies (Bansal and Corley, 2011, 2012; Edmondson and McManus, 2007). It is expected that RME will fulfill its promise sooner rather than later, just because at this point no business school can afford the risk of training a generation of unethical or irresponsible professionals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The ambiguous response of business schools to responsible management education (RME) is part of a larger problem which is rooted in how science evolves. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the consolidation of causal-based research in management will produce much more effective theories and teaching materials. Therefore business schools will then have to seriously engage in strong RME practices to prevent scandals from happening and to consolidate management as a profession.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, two models are introduced and explained. First, a comprehensive methodology for theory building that controls for causality and delivers clear and actionable results. Second, a model that depicts the three stages of interactions between variables (relationship, contingency and causality).\nFindings: New causal-based research methods are starting to emerge that explain when a particular event will occur and how to \"cause\" for it to happen.\nSocial implications: Business schools are not responsible of the current economic crisis. But if they do not find a way to introduce RME practices before the advent of causal-based research their reputation might be severely damaged during the next one.\nOriginality/value: As many other business school innovations, the first group of business schools that pioneer causal-based research will not only deliver on the promise of RME but also introduce the new generation of successful, relevant and actionable new managerial practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investigating open innovation strategies and firm performance: the moderating role of technological capability and market information management capability	[ "Firm performance", "Technological capability", "Market information management capability", "Inbound open innovation", "Outbound open innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Open innovation is a process that allows innovation knowledge and resources flowing freely either inwardly or outwardly, and it has become a dominant approach for revitalizing a company's innovation processes (Garriga et al., 2013; Chesbrough, 2003). While academics have recognized the importance of open innovation strategies, as evidenced by a large amount of studies devoted to this subject (Wu et al., 2016; Manzini et al., 2017; Camerani et al., 2016; West et al., 2014), there are still gaps in the literature that work endeavor to fill. Most studies find that open innovation improves firm performance but highlight the importance of considering various contingencies, such as strategic orientation (Cheng and Huizingh, 2014), social capital (social network) (Sisodiya et al., 2013), as well as environment turbulence (Hung and Chou, 2013). The resource-based view (RBV) maintains that a firm's existing capabilities are the bases for which it further develops and strengthens its competitive advantage (Barney, 1991; Amit and Schoemaker, 1993). Considering the wide array of the research of potential contingencies, it is surprising that few studies paid attention to the role of firm's functional capability and such studies have mainly focused on the impact of individual capabilities (e.g. R&D, absorptive). In addition, although open innovation comprises two forms, namely, inbound (focus on external technology acquisition) and outbound (external technology exploitation) (Chesbrough and Crowther, 2006), previous research has mainly focused on one dimension or summed across these two forms of open innovation to create a single construct (Lee et al., 2015; Scuotto et al., 2017). There is limited literature simultaneously offers quantitative empirical analyses of the subtle influence of the two open innovation dimensions on firm performance.\n2. Conceptual background and hypotheses: 2.1 Resource-based view for understanding the effects of open innovation\n3. Method: 3.1 Sampling and data collection\n4. Analysis and results: 4.1 Descriptive analyses\n5. Discussion and contribution: Previous studies have striven to understand the contingencies that enable firm's capabilities to deploy open innovation strategies, thereby leading to enhanced firm performance. Guided by the RBV, a theoretical model regarding the distinct impact of firm's functional capability is developed. This study aims to advance previous studies by examining the impact of technological and market information management capability and providing evidence with respect to the moderating role of technological capability. Particularly, the results indicate that the effect of technological capability on the open innovation-performance relationship is contingent upon market information management capability. This study, thereby, advances the understanding of how the two forms of open innovation facilitate the firm performance of Chinese high-tech firms. It also addresses the call for research on the value of the interact moderating roles of various firm capabilities. These findings have implications for both theory and practice.\n6. Limitation and future research: Our approach has few limitations to be addressed in future studies. First, the data used in this research were collected from Chinese high-tech firms. Considering that the cognitive differences exist among diverse national cultures, whether the findings in this research can be generalized to other countries is not yet clear. A study that covers other countries or features a cross-cultural comparison can enable researchers to test the generalizability of our findings. In particular, the cultural contextual variables are specific to the Chinese context. For instance, the Guanxi-based network has been found to be crucial in business cooperation (Qian et al., 2016), which can play an important role in the establishment of open innovation practices and the development of technological and market information management capability. Future research can also add value by expanding the theoretical model with the consideration of cultural factors. Second, the current study relies on individual subjective judgments. Although the measurements of the variables have been widely used in previous research, they may lead to psychological bias. Further research can obtain the objective data to reanalyze our proposition and enhance the robustness of our findings. Third, because of the specialty of open innovation in creating new ideas and knowledge, this study focus on the high-tech industry. This industry-specific attributed may also constrain the generalizability of our finding. Whether the conclusion of this study can be applied to other industry requires further investigation. Future research is also encouraged to compare the industry effects on the link between open innovation and firm performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to assess how firm functional capability moderates the relationship between two types of open innovation and performance, with a special focus on the role of technological capability and the join effect market information management capability. This paper develops and tests a research model, which assesses how the performance implications of two open innovation forms are shaped by the technological capability and how such an effect is contingent on market information management capability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 238 Chinese high-tech enterprises. Structural equation modeling and linear regression were used to test the data. Then, the main research questions were answered.\nFindings: Empirically results show that technological capability strengthens the influence of inbound open innovation on firm performance. However, the moderate effect of technological capability on the relationship between outbound open innovation and firm performance remains unsupported. A higher technological capability with a high level of market information management capability increases the efficacy of outbound open innovation in gaining superior performance. Additional analysis shows that when firms implement inbound activities and possess a strong technological capability, they will achieve higher performance if they possess a moderate level of market information management capability, compared with a high or low level.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides new evidence on the benefits of different open innovation strategies on firm's performance and, more importantly, the specific firm-level contingencies (technological capability and market information management capability) under which these benefits are more likely to be enhanced. It clarifies what the capabilities are and how they interact to foster the robust open innovation strategies, which sheds new light on the boundary conditions that affect the open innovations-firm performance relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An access control framework for web services	[ "Worldwide web", "Programming languages", "Trust" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Advances in the internet have transformed distributed systems into a marketplace of services that can be shared across organisational boundaries. A recent trend in information technology is business-to-business collaboration, where business functionality is supported through virtual applications. Business functionality of organizations is becoming more digitised, and software characteristics such as virtuality and real-time operation is exhibited. Virtual applications are enabled by web services technology (Gottschalk et al., 2002) that allows organizations to exploit software as a service, through service virtualization. Web services is also recognized as the logical architecture for the organization of grid services (Myer, 2003). Security would be an important consideration in the design of such networked services.Web services are based on a set of XML standards such as simple object access protocol (SOAP) (Box et al., 2000), web service definition language (WSDL) (Christensen et al., 2001), and universal description, discover and integration (UDDI) (Atkinson et al., 2003). A web service is the name of an object with methods that can be invoked through an internet connection. Web services providers define XML-based interfaces with WSDL. This enables RPC mechanisms, based on network endpoints, to exchange SOAP messages with web services requestors. The dynamic assembly of software and resources, written in different programming languages and tools, residing on different operating systems can then occur. Assembly is between applications on a machine-to-machine basis and appears virtual to the human utilising such functionality. Loose coupling is enabled as web services providers publish well-defined, extensible interfaces, and web services requestors locate them and submit requests as platform independent, self-describing, self-contained messages, shown in Figure 1.The use of web services technology presents new security problems to IT departments of organizations. A unique characteristic of web services is that they allow business partners to communicate through human-legible SOAP messages. A partner's secrets may be exposed in a SOAP response and must be protected from threats such as disclosure to unauthorized parties. Owing to the fact that XML is text-based, web services invocations can pass over normal HTTP channels and therefore through firewalls. The applications that are to process the request contained by these XML messages may then be endangered by false claims or malicious information.The distributed, loosely coupled architecture of virtual applications present challenges in terms of verifying credentials and exercising access control over diversified resources. Even though access control for web services has been researched (Damiani et al., 2001), there is not yet a defined architecture for access control when web services are composed into a virtual application. The focus of this paper is to define a framework for access control integration for networked web services. Such a framework would need to support the loosely coupled manner in which these services are shared between business partners. This paper is structured as follows. Section 2 provides a background to the problem with an example. Section 3 addresses the access control of a virtual application. Section 4 concludes the paper.\nBackground: XML has become a standard for communication between applications. With XML, an application defines markup tags to represent the different elements of data in a text file so that the data can be read and processed by any application that uses XML.SOAP allows the structuring of data in XML so that different applications can read and send messages, generally over HTTP, to each other. SOAP messages contain three different sections, as shown in Figure 2. Their semantics are defined with associated XML schemas, which the receiving SOAP processor should be able to interpret. The SOAP Envelope element defines the start and end of the message. The SOAP Header element, which is optional, allows data not directly associated with a method request or response to be passed to a web service. The SOAP Body element contains the web services method name and associated parameters in either the SOAP request or response. To secure exchanges, message security can be added to the SOAP message by extending the SOAP header with security information.Conceptually, information security is enforced by means of information security services such as authentication, authorization, confidentiality and integrity. A number of new specifications have been developed to embed these security services within the SOAP header, to ensure the security of a message between intermediate and destination security domains. Security assertion markup language (SAML) (Hallam-Baker et al., 2002) is a token-passing system to securely exchange authentication and authorization information. XML Signature (Bartel et al., 2002) and XML Encryption (Imamura et al., 2002) describe how integrity and confidentiality are enforced for XML documents, while WS-Security (Atkinson et al., 2002) applies such XML security technologies to SOAP messages with XML elements describing credential exchange, message integrity and message confidentiality. XML access control markup language (XACML) (Anderson et al., 2003) allows fine-grained access control policies to be expressed in XML. To secure SOAP messages, a combination of XML Signature, XML Encryption, SAML, and XACML can be used to ensure authentication, authorization, integrity and confidentiality.A web service belongs to a specific organization, with its own distinctive access control policies and models. To allow interoperation between independent security domains, WS-Policy (Box et al., 2003) provides a grammar for requestors and providers of web services to communicate their requirements and capabilities. In addition, WS-Trust (Anderson et al., 2004) describes a framework for managing, assessing and establishing trust relationships to enable web services to interoperate securely.Specifications that address authentication and access control are not established to the extent as those for the integrity and confidentiality of SOAP messages. As application interfaces are exposed, web services access control is important to implement. Access control should not only be required for information, but the operations performed by remote users or applications should be carefully controlled. Because remote users or applications will have access to an increasing number of services without human checkpoints, access control should be actively managed.eCompany sales - an example\nAccess control for eCompany sales: A virtual application is an environment where both the requestor and provider of the service may require the ability to influence the access control decisions that are made when the provider processes a request. Composing access control policies between the requestor and provider is challenging, as there is no support available to administrators to address this problem.To describe the problem of access control composition, consider the following: eRetailer hosts a very generic retail service to accommodate any number of service requestors. eRetailer can provide more flexibility to service requestors, by giving them limited control over the type of interaction that would occur. For instance, special offers may be made available to customers on to-be-released products. This is a benefit that a service requestor may pass on to their customers when orders for selected products are processed, but which will negatively impact the percentage of profit made by the service requestor. Even though this is a choice made by the management of a service requestor, it has to be applied by the service at eRetailer. eCompany may decide to provide this benefit to their employees, but not to their customers. If Jill, an employee of eCompany is given this benefit, she should have permission to execute the remote list_specials method of the service at eRetailer. John, a customer of eCompany will not be given this benefit. John would only be able to execute the product_search method. John and Jill are not known to eRetailer. eRetailer would only be able to differentiate between their requests, if additional information is provided by eCompany. As eCompany and eRetailer each have their own authentication mechanisms, costly investments could be avoided by allowing eCompany to do its own authentication, but to provide loose coupling of authentication with assertions, defined in XML. eRetailer may also not be interested in the real identity of John or Jill, but rather in their ability or role requested on their behalf by eCompany, as the request is processed. Such an assertion is a claim, statement or declaration of fact made by eCompany, and is not necessarily signed (Bonatti and Samarati, 2002).Access control information such as credentials (Samarati, 2002) and assertions that are passed to the eRetailer service provider, must be composed with its access control decision-making process. This can be achieved if policies are defined in a declarative manner that is machine-readable. Logical languages are attractive as policy specification languages, as a good compromise between expressiveness and simplicity can be achieved (Bonatti and Samarati, 2003). Access control permissions need to be defined, with access control logic that would be able to infer consistent decisions over objects, to which more than one policy applies. It could be argued that all such decisions should rather be left to the requestor, to be decided before a request is sent, and that interactions should be made as simple as possible, as to ensure a very generic service that could be used by various types of client applications. In simple cases this may be true. But, when the components of a virtual application are coupled, it may become necessary to enable flexible decisions through the composition of access control information and policies from different sources.When considering the composition of access control policies across organisational boundaries, role-based access control (RBAC) can be useful as it reduces the administration burden (Sandu, 1996). RBAC requires access permissions to be assigned to roles, rather than individual users, and users obtain permissions by virtue of being assigned appropriate roles. Recently, the composition of independent role-based access control policies between organisations has been addressed (Lischka and Wedde, 2003). Such composition leads to tight intersystem coupling, as there should be agreements between web services requestors and providers, to define which role can use which web service and to what extent. Loose coupling and late binding are concepts central to web services. If access control is implemented by implementing access control policies at both the provider and requestor, and these policies require substantial development effort for each new change made to the policies, it would become the antithesis of loose coupling. Access control information should also not be made part of the interface of a particular web service, but should be defined in a standard manner, that would ensure re-use of access control semantics across participants of a virtual application. Here, loosely coupled access control is enabled, by publishing the web services provider roles that can be activated by a requestor. In addition, role membership or privileges can dynamically be adapted by the requestor, as is made possible by the provider. The next two paragraphs will discuss how this can be implemented.Loosely coupled access control through publicly defined roles\nConclusion: Here, an access control framework was defined, to address the loosely coupled manner in which virtual applications are created. As such applications may exist for very limited time periods, or have a limited number of transactions, they should be composed quickly, with embedded flexibility. The framework makes use of the standard manner in which messages are communicated in XML between disparate applications, but composes such assertions with the access control policy of the provider in a consistent manner. Access to web service methods is only granted if permission can be derived for it, where the derivation step forms a formal proof. A very simple example of composition was illustrated. Future research would include the composition of the provider access control policy, with authorization assertions from other domains, and default rules that may apply to the virtual application.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To define a framework for access control for virtual applications, enabled through web services technologies. The framework supports the loosely coupled manner in which web services are shared between partners.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A background discussion on relevant literature, with an example is used to illustrate the problem that exists. To enable access control composition, an extension is proposed to authorisation specification language, together with publication of access control requirements of a web service provider.\nFindings: - The framework shows that loosely coupled access control can be made possible by making use of the standard manner in which messages are communicated in XML, and by composing assertions with the access control policy of the provider in a consistent manner. Access to web service methods is only granted if permission can be derived for it, where the derivation step forms a formal proof.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A basic framework has been defined. An architecture to support it must be defined. Only a very basic level of access control composition has been illustrated.\nPractical implications: - The publication of access control requirements in standards such as WS-Policy can be considered.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers a practical approach to address access control for web services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Just do it - a case study in Gestalt experimental coaching	[ "Gestalt psychology", "Coaching", "Experiment", "Experiential learning", "Physical", "Insight" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nHypothesis: The paper hypothesises that Gestalt-oriented coaching characterised by physically doing, as distinct from coaching characterised by conventional talking, can release and create powerful insight, energy and transformational potential.\nIntroduction: Gestalt is distinct because it moves towards action, away from mere talk [...] through experiments, the (coach) supports the client's experience of something new, instead of merely talking about the possibility of something new (Wiki, 2011)Doing something is qualitatively different to thinking about it or even talking about it. Doing has an impact on what I am thinking and feeling. I'm working on a difficult mental problem, I feel stuck, I go for a walk and physical movement seems to create psychological movement, allowing fresh insight and ideas to emerge. I feel energised and motivated to tackle the problem in a new way.In this vein, I feel inspired and intrigued by Gestalt's approach to experimentation and improvisation, its emphasis on creating vibrant, risky, here-and-now opportunities, \"safe emergencies\" for exploration and awareness-raising (Zinker, 1977; Clarkson, 1999).For this case study, I invited Sally to be my client, a leader in a large public sector organisation who had worked with executive coaches from psychodynamic and cognitive behavioural schools. We were both interested to see how she might experience and benefit from a more experiential approach.\nTheory: I drew on psychological research from a range of sources, including Gestalt psychology, therapy and coaching (e.g. Zinker, 1977; Clarkson, 1999), intuition (e.g. Sadler-Smith, 2004, 2008), body work (Ernst and Goodison, 1981), learning styles (e.g. Honey and Mumford, 2000) and experiential learning (e.g. Beard and Wilson, 2002).A limitation of traditional conversation-based coaching is that a client's mind may unconsciously filter or suppresses knowledge that he or she considers unacceptable or unbearable. If the coach tries to surface this knowledge, he or she can evoke defensive routines, expressed as some form of resistance (Clarkson, 1999).Alternatively, a client's mind may become blinkered or fixated, focusing only on that which captures his or her immediate attention or imagination (figure) and unaware of what lies behind (ground and field), the \"what else\" of a client's experience (Yontef, 1993).Physically acting out can raise hidden, repressed, tacit or subconscious knowledge into conscious awareness. The body bypasses psychological filters and defences and \"speaks\" in the here-and-now that which the mind may have rendered unspeakable, or reveals underlying issues and aspirations that otherwise lie outside of the client's awareness (Ernst and Goodison, 1981).Research into intuition sheds light on the profound relationship between physical experience and knowledge[1]. It is as if the body can retain and release tacit knowledge acquired by implicit learning, that is, learning by experience. Intuition is often described using physiological language, e.g. \"hunch\" or \"gut feel\". Sadler-Smith (2004, p. 84) comments that \"gut feelings are inevitable, but effective learning from them is not.\". A coach needs to learn how to recognise and use intuition effectively and to enable the client to do the same.Reichian bodywork similarly recognises how people commonly use somatic language to express psycho-somatic phenomena, e.g. stiff upper lip, carrying the world on one's shoulders, behaving spinelessly, putting on a brave face. A bodywork coach will enable a client to explore his or her experience by experimenting with physical posture or movement, noticing what emerges, then seek to enable to the client to make sense of that observation (Ernst and Goodison, 1981).A challenge in coaching is therefore to create a suitable catalytic opportunity that enables both physically acting out and sense-making, \"decoding messages from the body\" (Corey, 1996; Joyce and Sills, 2010, p. 148). Some coaches encourage clients to give parts of the body a \"voice\". A Gestalt coach may create experiments that involve the client acting out an experience or a scenario to see what emerges into awareness by physically doing it (Zinker, 1977, Clarkson, 1999).The Gestalt coach may draw the client's attention to his or her physicality; physical movements, gestures, postures, emotional expression etc, encouraging the client to exaggerate or \"stay with\" in order to amplify or intensify them. In doing so, such interventions enable the client to establish contact with his or her own immediate experience, the underlying psychological and emotional state, and thereby surface it into conscious awareness (Corey, 1996; Clarkson, 1999).Similarly, the coach may encourage the client to practise new scenarios or to experiment with new experiences in order to develop the confidence and capability needed to embrace fresh opportunities and challenges in the future (Corey, 1996; Clarkson, 1999). The approach is immediate and active, characterised by \"try X\" rather than \"how would it be if you were to try X\". It enables embedment of learning by integrating it holistically into the client's psycho-somatic experience.Gestalt's emphasis on experimentation is an activist and experiential approach; it involves learning by doing (Honey and Mumford, 2000). Beard and Wilson (2002, p. 1) describe experiential learning as, \"creating a meaningful learning experience\". The value of experiential learning lies in sense-making through experiencing. I believe Gestalt-oriented coaching offers opportunities for experiencing, sense-making and profound re-experiencing as a route to transformational development.\nPractice: Based on this research, I developed a simple reflective practice framework to guide my coaching sessions with Sally (Figure 1). We had 3x1hr sessions within a two-week timeframe, with 15 minutes at the end of each session to review and capture learning.Session 1 - polarities\nAnalysis: I will focus this analysis on various Gestalt-oriented dimensions of this coaching experience: e.g. experimentation, engagement, use of self, contact, physicality, focus, impact. I will comment on each session in turn.Session 1\nEvaluation: The most striking learning for me through this coaching experience was how doing with Sally made the whole coaching dynamic profoundly experiential for both of us. Moving, acting and interacting with the client throughout opened up access to new insights and ideas for me, as well as the client, in ways I had not expected. This is a form of \"use of self\", a physical mutual engagement, quite different to traditional observing and reflecting.The experimental approach had powerful physical, psychological and emotional impacts on Sally. She commented afterwards that my physically acting out with her, using the physical space together, gave her the confidence to engage fully without feeling embarrassed or inhibited.The fact that Sally and I already had a relationship of trust accelerated the pace at which she felt able to engage in the experiments. If I was working with a client where there was no prior relationship, I would have to pay closer attention to building relationship and trust first[7].I suggested each of the experiments we used. It provided a guiding framework for experimentation. If I were to work with a client over a longer period or for a greater number of sessions, however, I would want to engage the client in co-creating experiments as a way of ensuring on-going resonance for the client and strengthening the co-active dimension.Sally found the coaching experience powerful and energising. The Gestalt approach surfaced and created fresh insight for her, allowed deeper emotional contact and catharsis and provided new behavioural experiences and alternatives. I plan to revisit this experience with Sally in three months to evaluate how this coaching intervention has impacted both Sally and her relational system.\nConclusion: Clarkson's (1999) opening words in her book, Gestalt Counselling in Action articulate well how I struggled to capture and express the vibrant power and essence of this coaching experience in written case study form: \"I painfully experience the chasm between the vividly alive encounter with another human being and the pale static representation of the written word [...].\"Nevertheless, this research and experience has confirmed my initial hypothesis, and added to it. It has demonstrated how physically doing rather than just talking - enhanced now by doing with rather than just observing - can evoke powerful dynamics within and between coach and client, a synergy that releases fresh insight and energy and transformational potential.I look forward to developing my practice further in the Gestalt-oriented coaching field.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to demonstrate the value of physical experimentation in coaching to raise client awareness and enhance transformational potential.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This action research case study involved working with an individual coaching client using an experimental Gestalt-oriented approach.\nFindings: - This study finds that physical experimentation during coaching can raise awareness for both client and coach and create powerful dynamics in and between them to catalyse change.\nOriginality/value: - This case study will help other coaching professionals to understand and apply a Gestalt-oriented approach to their own thinking and practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ready, set, go: examining student readiness to use ERP technology	[ "Organizational change", "Students", "Manufacturing resource planning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Florida A&M University (FAMU) began implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in the summer of 2003. The ERP system is set to be executed in three phases. Phase I, the financial management component, is set to go live July 1, 2004. Phase II, the human resources and payroll components, is set to go live July 1, 2005. Phase III, the student administration component, is set to go-live January 1, 2006. Benefits of the student administration component are as follows:* students can expect to have the ability to apply for and check admission status online;* students can apply for financial aid, check their financial obligations and make payments online;* faculty can view their class rosters from anywhere; submit grades, and post assignments and comments online* students and staff will have around the clock access to their information, improving customer service; and* administration will have the ability to target students and communicate specific messages that will help improve retention and enrollment efforts at the University.The implementation of ERP will result in significant operational, structural, cultural and paradigmatic changes across the campus.The purpose of this study is to integrate the literatures on change implementation and technology acceptance by examining individual factors that affect student acceptance of the student administration component of an ERP system. This paper specifically addresses student readiness toward change, usage attitudes, and behavioral intentions to use the ERP system. It is believed that when students perceive that using the ERP system will have implications for their matriculation and performance in the classroom, he or she will show greater readiness for change.According to Fullan and Stiegelbauer (1991), there are several reasons that cause individuals in an organization to have a low readiness for change; the purpose is not made clear, participants are not involved in planning, the habit patterns of the individuals are ignored, excessive work pressure is involved, and/or the current condition seems satisfactory. Because many of these reasons could potentially relate to the University's organizational members, it was important to assess the level of readiness that the individuals possessed.Neufeld (1998) reflects on the thought that getting stakeholders involved early in the implementation process leads to higher levels of readiness for change. He also states that individuals that are fully informed about the reasons and benefits of the change are more likely to be supportive of the change.The technology acceptance model (TAM) influenced the development of our model (Davis et al., 1989). This model was used because it is well accepted, theoretically grounded and has been used in prior management education research. The TAM model illustrates that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are predictors of attitudes towards usage and behavioral intentions to use (Mathieson et al., 2001). Our model contributes a set of individual difference factors to the TAM model that include gender, computer self-efficacy, perceived ERP benefits, and readiness for change; and investigates their effects on the TAM model. The research model is shown in Figure 1.Agarwal and Prasad (1999) and Dabholkar and Bagozzi (2002) have suggested that the TAM model fails to consider individual differences. It is for this reason that this study includes gender, self-efficacy, perceived ERP benefits, and readiness for change. Paton and Dempster (2002) identified gender as influencing one's interpretation and implementation of organizational change. Vinnicombe (1987) found that visionaries and catalysts consisted of a significantly large number of women managers when compared to male managers. These findings suggest that women may be more accepting of and willing participants in organizational change efforts. Therefore, it is hypothesized:H1. Females are more likely to have a higher readiness toward change score than men.\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 and AMOS 4.0 (Arbuckle and Wothke, 1999). An independent samples T-test was conducted to evaluate the difference between men and women and their readiness toward change scores. Spearman rank order correlations and structural equation modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood estimation were used to test hypotheses.T-test analysis\nDiscussion: Limitations and conclusion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To examine student readiness for change and behavioral intentions regarding the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system (ERP). The study also integrates literature on technology acceptance, readiness for change, and change implementation to test an adapted version of the technology acceptance model (TAM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 and AMOS 4.0.\nFindings: - Gender and perceived ERP benefits are related to students' readiness for change, and readiness for change is a significant predictor of students' attitude toward usage of the ERP system. Additionally, computer self-efficacy is related to attitude toward usage and one's intent to use the ERP system.\nResearch limitations/implications: - First, is the use of self-report data, external validation would have been preferred. Second, the potential for common method bias is a concern. Finally, it was not possible to sample a majority of the more than 12,000 students enrolled. Of the students in the sample 92 percent were business majors.\nPractical implications: - Organizational investments in technology must take into account more than the financial cost; they must be sensitive to user characteristics. Subsequently, the leadership of an organization should address and strategically plan for individual differences like an individual's readiness for change when implementing a new technology.\nOriginality/value: - The TAM model remains stable using college students and with the addition of individual difference factors, such as the readiness for change.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bank failure intensity modeling: an ACD model approach	[ "Structural breaks", "Financial contagion", "Autoregressive conditional duration", "Bank failures", "Economic environment", "C22", "C41", "G01", "G12", "G14" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A bank failure is an event which disturbs the economic environment of a society to a great extent. The depositors are starting to concern themselves about the safety of their savings, the economic policy of a government is set under serious doubt by the public, business lines are cut off and in certain cases (failure due to high levels of non-performing loans), the default event might signal a general slowdown of the business activity.\n2. Autoregressive conditional duration model: To approach the bank default intensity quantification issue, we resort to ACD models. As examined by Siakoulis and Venetis (2015), this family of models has the benefit of empirically approaching irregularly spaced in time events exhibiting clustering behavior and autoregressive dynamics, such as bank distress events or extreme events in bond markets.\n3. Evaluating the autoregressive conditional duration model: Model evaluation is based on conditional mean specification and on the distribution assumption regarding standardized durations. To compare for in-sample overparameterization, we compute the akaike information criterion (AIC) and bayesian information criterion (BIC) criteria (BIC penalizes more heavily parameter addition). In addition, Ljung-Box statistics are calculated for the standardized\n4. Empirical application: Our data set comprises of the dates in which US banks failed or were found in need of government assistance, provided from the Federal Deposit Insurance Coorporation (FDIC)[4], spanning the period from April 2, 1934, to February 25, 2014. The FDIC is an independent federal agency created in 1933 to promote public confidence and stability in the US banking system. In the event of a bank failure, the FDIC, as the insurer of the bank's deposits, pays insurance to the depositors up to the insurance limit. Also, the FDIC assumes the task of selling the assets of the failed bank and settling its debts, including claims for deposits in excess of the insured limit. Because of its role, the FDIC keeps detailed records on bank failures and assistance transactions. The long time span of the historical data used (1934-2014) provides us with significant insight on the historical evolution of the US banking system, including the aftermath of the Great Depression, two major financial crises in 80s and deregulation of the industry and the recent 2008-2009. From observing the data, we notice that in the decade 1934-2014 (aftermath of the Great Depression), 397 banks failed. This period was followed by 35-year peaceful period, where only 187 banks failed in the time span of 1945-1980. The financial crises in 80s led to the Savings and Loans Crisis, with 2,913 failed banks during 1981-1994. We notice few bank fails before 2008-2009 crisis (58 in the period 1995-2007), followed by 502 fails during and after the crisis (2008-2013). This irregularity in bank failure frequency poses serious challenges in modeling given the structural breaks historically occurred.\n5. Enhancing the past information set: The preceding time series analysis is self-contained. One may wish to include additional predictive variables to enhance the forecasting power of the model or to test theory related hypotheses by including predetermined variables related to bank defaults. See, Engle and Russell (1998), Bauwens and Giot (2000), Bauwens et al. (2004) and Zhang et al. (2001), among others, for the inclusion of predetermined variables in market microstructure related ACD models.\n6. Structural breaks in mean duration levels: A remarkably consistent feature of all estimated models is the high degree of persistence as captured by the estimated autoregressive coefficient b^1 or by the sum a^1+b^1. Even when explanatory variables are introduced, the sum remains above 0.9. In the conditional heteroskedasticity literature, large part of the observed persistence in high frequency volatility estimates is attributed to structural breaks, see for example Perron and Qu (2010). In this framework Zhang et al. (2001) question how plausible the stationarity assumption is with transactions duration data and they find strong evidence of parameter breaks closely aligned with real economic events.\n7. Concluding remarks and topics for further research: We propose a new time series approach for the prediction of bank probability of default incorporating a default-risk contagion mechanism in line with proposals of Focardi and Fabozzi (2005), who used a similar model for explaining contagion in credit portfolios. As such, we have applied ACD models to a series that measure the inter-arrival times of bank failures in the USA controlling also for the effect of economic, systemic and financial factors. We focus on US data due to their availability from the FDIC, but it would be an interesting topic, for further research, a similar exercise for the European banking sector and examine whether the same results hold. As contagious bank failures are a key topic in macro-prudential supervision, this methodology could provide valuable insight to supervisors and regulatory authorities in taking pro-active prudential actions and enforcing the regulatory controls in the banking system. Also, the increase in default frequency observed after deregulation of the industry (1980) provides significant regulatory insight in the discussion relatively to maintaining or even enforcing regulatory standards. Finally, the methodologies used in the current work, for bank default intensity modeling, could be extended and incorporated in corporate default models assessing corporate probability of default.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to employ a duration-based approach to model the inter-arrival times of bank failures in the US banking system for the period of 1934-2014, in line with the suggestions of Focardi and Fabozzi (2005), who used a similar model for explaining contagion in credit portfolios.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Conditional duration models that allow duration between bank failures to depend linearly or nonlinearly on its past history are estimated and evaluated.\nFindings: The authors find evidence of strong persistence along with nonmonotonic hazard rates, which imply a financial contagion pattern, according to which a high frequency of bank failures generates turbulence, which shortly after leads to additional fails, whereas prolonged periods without abnormal events signify the absence of contagious dependence, which increases the relative periods between bank failure appearance. Further, the authors obtain statistically significant results when they allow duration to depend linearly on past information variables that capture systemic bank crisis factors along with stock and bond market effects.\nOriginality/value: The originality of this study consists in proposing a new time series approach for the prediction of bank probability of default by incorporating a default-risk contagion mechanism. As contagious bank failures are a key topic in macroprudential supervision, this study could be of value for supervisory authorities in setting pro-active actions and tightening regulatory measures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Enhanced multi-objective solution approach for multiple quality characteristics optimisation problems considering predictive uncertainties	[ "Quality improvement", "Multiobjective optimization", "Multiple response optimization", "Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II", "Prediction interval", "Response surface" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomenclature\n1. Introduction: One of the primary goals of any manufacturing process is to produce desired quality products for its end customers (internal or external). The desired quality of a product is assessed by various \"critical-to-quality (CTQ) characteristics\" or \"responses\". In this context, the optimisation of these responses plays a pivotal role in achieving the desired product quality and improving the process performance. A class of problems dealing with the simultaneous optimisation of CTQ characteristics (or responses) is so-called multiple response optimisation (MRO). In an MRO problem, responses are often interrelated or correlated. This implies that a change in the process setting conditions may improve the desired quality of a given response (with respect to the specification) and deteriorate the quality of another response or other responses. Thus, a quality property trade-off is inevitable for a product (Derringer, 1994). As an example, in the manufacturing of hot-rolled steel strips (Kim and Lin, 2000), the tensile strength, yield strength and elongation are critical mechanical properties (or responses) desired by customers. A particular process setting condition (such as the steel composition, and rolling and cooling conditions) may provide tensile strength very close to the desired target specification. However, the same setting conditions may provide a lower value than the minimum desired yield strength or elongation. Thus, a compromised or trade-off best solution (under specific process setting conditions) that balances the desired quality properties (or characteristics) is generally recommended for MRO problems. Efficient trade-off solutions are known as non-dominated or Pareto solutions in the multiobjective optimisation (MOO) approach (Deb, 2005). Park and Kim (2005) stated that MRO problems fall under the broad category of MOO problems.\n2. Literature review: Bera and Mukherjee (2018a) presented details on various solution approaches proposed to resolve MRO problems based on empirical response functions. These approaches can be broadly classified into two major categories: single or composite objective optimisation and MOO. The proposed single or composite objective function-based solution approaches include desirability functions (Bera and Mukherjee, 2012a, 2016; Kim and Lin, 2000, 2006), generalised distance (Khuri and Conlon, 1981), the loss function (Ko et al., 2005; Vining, 1998), dual response (Kim and Rhee, 2003) and goal programming (Xu et al., 2004). Other single or composite objective approaches include process performance indices (Bera and Mukherjee, 2013; Jayaram and Ibrahim, 1999), variance prioritised robust optimisation (Kovach et al., 2009), the Taguchi method (Liao and Chen, 2002; Periyanan and Natarajan, 2014), the proportion of conformance (Chiao and Hamada, 2001), the principle component-based desirability function (Salmasnia et al., 2012) and probabilistic covariates (Hejazi et al., 2011).\n3. Enhanced MOO framework for MRO problems considering RS predictive uncertainties: Figure 1 illustrates the seven-step enhanced MOO solution approach for MRO problems, considering RS predictive uncertainties. The intrinsic details of the seven-step solution approach are discussed below.\n4. MRO case studies: To illustrate the suitability and assess the performance of the enhanced MOO solution approach, six different MRO problems (provided in the literature) are selected in this study. A summary of the cases is presented in Table VI.\n5. Theoretical and practical implications of research: The theoretical implications of this work are as follows:\n6. Conclusions: In this study, a new RS-based MOO solution approach was proposed for both mean and mean-variance MRO problems. The concept of simultaneous PIs was used to address RS uncertainties and guide the MOO search strategy to efficient fronts. The solution quality, derived from the proposed approach, was compared to reported solutions of varied mean and mean-variance MRO cases.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address three key objectives. The first is the proposal of an enhanced multiobjective optimisation (MOO) solution approach for the mean and mean-variance optimisation of multiple \"quality characteristics\" (or \"responses\"), considering predictive uncertainties. The second objective is comparing the solution qualities of the proposed approach with those of existing approaches. The third objective is the proposal of a modified non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II), which improves the solution quality for multiple response optimisation (MRO) problems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed solution approach integrates empirical response surface (RS) models, a simultaneous prediction interval-based MOO iterative search, and the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique to select the best implementable efficient solutions.\nFindings: Implementation of the proposed approach in varied MRO problems demonstrates a significant improvement in the solution quality in worst-case scenarios. Moreover, the results indicate that the solution quality of the modified NSGA-II largely outperforms those of two existing MOO solution strategies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The enhanced MOO solution approach is limited to parametric RS prediction models and continuous search spaces.\nPractical implications: The best-ranked solutions according to the proposed approach are derived considering the model predictive uncertainties and MCDM technique. These solutions (or process setting conditions) are expected to be more reliable for satisfying customer specification compared to point estimate-based MOO solutions in real-life implementation.\nOriginality/value: No evidence exists of earlier research that has demonstrated the suitability and superiority of an MOO solution approach for both mean and mean-variance MRO problems, considering RS uncertainties. Furthermore, this work illustrates the step-by-step implementation results of the proposed approach for the six selected MRO problems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effects of outsourced service providers' experiences on perceived service quality: A signaling theory framework	[ "Service quality", "Signalling theory", "Information asymmetry", "Signal credibility", "Suppliers’ experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the past few years, with the development of technology and changing corporate needs, companies have been investing increasing manpower, money, and other resources in information system (IS) development and in the application of information technology (IT). According to Gartner Forecast (2015), global enterprise IT spending across all industry market segments would grow 2.0 percent in 2015 to $2.786 trillion. In addition, the worldwide IT services market would grow 3.7 percent to nearly $942 billion in 2015. With outsourcing contributing more than half of this market growth, the market will reach $1.1 trillion in 2019. The Deloitte Consulting LLP Report (2014) also noted that IT outsourcing (ITO) drove more than 60 percent of the total sourcing market. Therefore, ITO is a crucial trend in business, especially through the help of external expertise to reduce costs and focus on core business, and thus cope with the fierce competition in the market today (Lacity et al., 2010).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis: 2.1 Signaling theory\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Research measures and questionnaire design\n4. Data analysis results: The partial least-squares (PLS) approach (SmartPLS 3) (Ringle et al., 2015) was employed to test the proposed research model. PLS is more suitable for small samples compared to covariance-based structural equation modeling techniques (Chin et al., 2003). PLS is also more advisable when analyzing continuous scale moderators (Jain et al., 2014; Chin et al., 2003) because two moderators using continuous scales were measured (i.e. information asymmetries and signal credibility). In addition, PLS, unlike LISREL, for example, does not require assumptions concerning indicator distribution in the data (Fornell and Bookstein, 1982). Bootstrapping was employed to assess the statistical significance of the parameter estimates using 5,000 resamples (Hair et al., 2012).\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Results interpretation\n6. Conclusion: In this study, signaling theory has been applied to past experiences of an IS outsourcing supplier as a potential signal of perceived service quality. The findings from this research indicated that, indeed, a provider's past experiences do affect client companies' perceptions of service quality. Additionally, a provider's past experiences had a greater effect on perceived service quality with higher signal credibility than that with lower signal credibility. Future studies can help appraise the key factors that influence how client companies perceive and interpret a provider's past experiences as a means for making service quality evaluations. Signaling theory offers a useful theoretical foundation for understanding the inherent value of past experiences and how they can help service providers better communicate with their clients. Meanwhile, the results provide a solid foundation for future investigations and pragmatic understanding to promote the recognition of past experiences for service providers to facilitate services selling.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to examine experiences of an information technology/information systems (IS) outsourcing service supplier as a signal of perceived service quality and to consider the moderating effects of information asymmetries and signal credibility.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on signaling theory, the paper integrates past experiences of an outsourcing service supplier, information asymmetries, signal credibility, perceived service quality, and purchase intention into a model. Questionnaires were collected in Taiwan, and partial least-squares technique was employed to test the model.\nFindings: The results indicate that past experiences of an IS outsourcing supplier affect perceived service quality, which subsequently influences positively the intention to purchase IS outsourcing services. In addition, signal credibility moderates the relationship between the provider's past experiences and perceived service quality, though information asymmetries do not have significant effect on the hypothesized moderating relationship.\nOriginality/value: This research enriches the extant literatures in signaling theory by demonstrating the few-mentioned IS outsourced suppliers' experiences as a quality signal as well as in outsourcing contexts with signaling perspectives. The empirical findings validate the importance of dissemination and investment of past experiences for IS provider companies and give a cue of utilizing providers' experiences to alleviate uncertainty when assessing IS service quality and purchasing outsourcing services for client companies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lonely thoughts on the meaning of education	[ "Education", "Students", "Teachers", "Romania" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Hi, there! I'm Adriana, a Romanian Professor, teaching in the higher education system, the College (we call it \"Faculty\") of Economy and Business Administration of the oldest modern Romanian university - the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi. Why on earth would you care to listen to what I say? Maybe because I'm one of those whose hearts should lead this country forward.\nProfessors: have so many teaching hours;work with too many students;write a lot, books from books and articles from articles and do too much research;do not really know what their final product is, what kind of education or training they are suppose to offer to students; and*do not care what students think of their course, communication or teaching abilities.Students\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to offer some personal thoughts into the meaning of education in Romania.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper explores a model of four stages of student teacher interactions and the rigidity of teacher behavior in past times. The model is presented: students as dependent, interested, involved and/or self-directed related to teachers as experts, motivators, facilitators and/or delegators. The paper then expresses the frustrations of modern teaching and the appropriate interactions according to the model.\nFindings: - Although there are some good professors and good students, who understand what education is, what they can offer and can get, as partners in the educational process, their number is too small, and the pace of adapting to the system of the others (new students or young assistants) is too fast.\nOriginality/value: - The paper stresses the necessary movement away from excessive and oppressive upper level decision-making behavior in education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does it get better over time? A longitudinal assessment of enterprise system user performance	[ "Survey", "DeLone and McLean model", "Enterprise systems", "Longitudinal data", "User performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There has been substantial discussions in the information systems (IS) research that sought to develop a better understanding of the user performance in relation to systems (Davis and Heidorn, 1971; DeLone and McLean, 1992, 2002). Over the past two decades, the question of user performance in relation to systems received further attention due to the advent of large corporate systems like enterprise systems (ES) (Hou, 2012; Sedera et al., 2006). ES provided a common corporate system that integrated all core-business processes of the organization (Klaus et al., 2000; Lokuge and Sedera, 2014c), brought all salient user groups like operational staff and management to a single system (Eden et al., 2014; Lokuge and Sedera, 2014b). In doing so, ES has also replaced many disparate IS. While the purported benefits of ES ranged from standardization of business processes (Seddon et al., 2010), integration of systems and information (Lokuge and Sedera, 2018), organizational transparency (Schenk, 2015) and overall productivity improvements (Davenport, 2013), such value propositions soon became questionable due to difficulties in learning and using the system (Sedera and Dey, 2013), complexity in managing corporate systems (Kharabe and Lyytinen, 2012; Sedera, 2011) and configurational difficulties in serving all user cohorts using a single system (Chua and Khoo, 2011; Kharabe et al., 2013).\nA theoretical view of the ES lifecycle: Prior studies identify the chaotic experiences that users undergo in the shakedown phase (Eden et al., 2014; Scott and Vessey, 2002). During this phase, users experience substantial disruptions to the existing business processes (Lokuge et al., 2019; Van den Bergh and Viaene, 2013), face system and infrastructure glitches, changes in organizational structures and face steep learning curves (Sedera and Dey, 2013). Overall, the shakedown phase can witness user unrest, dissatisfaction and low levels of productivity (Tong et al., 2015). Sedera and Dey (2013) note that, in the shakedown phase, users are less proficient with the system and lack product knowledge, process knowledge, organizational knowledge and competence. The limited knowledge and experience of the system's features and functions further hamper the users' learning abilities that ultimately influence the overall performance (Polites and Karahanna, 2012; Sykes et al., 2014).\nResearch design: The study design, depicted in Figure 2, includes three main phases: conceptualization, operationalization and replication. The conceptualization phase began by determining the ES lifecycle phase of the organization. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted, each lasted for 20-30 min, with the senior management of each organization. The interviews were used to gather information on a sample of ten characteristics of the shakedown and onward and upward phases of the ES lifecycle, in order to determine the ES lifecycle phase at which the organization was operating at that point in time[1]. The first survey was the main activity in the operationalization phase, followed by the second survey in the replication phase.\nResearch model: The objective of the study, assisted with PET, is to derive a research model that tests the salient influences of the ES user performance of the key user groups (e.g. operational, managerial and executive users) across the two ES lifecycle phases. Completing such objectives through a quantitative assessment required that the research model and the related constructs should: measure a phenomenon that is sensitive to the volatilities of the revolutionary and equilibrium periods; that the phenomenon is equally common and applicable to both phases of the ES lifecycle, that the phenomenon impacts on user performance and that the model constructs be applicable to all user groups (operational, managerial and executive users).\nThe sample and the empirical investigation: The 19 perceptual measures discussed above (9 measures of system quality, 6 measures of information quality and 4 measures of individual performance) were included in the survey instrument. In addition, three criterion items were employed as global measures of the constructs as per the guidelines for formative research validation (Diamantopoulos and Winklhofer, 2001). The examples of the survey item given in Tables II-IV are specific to the data collection involving the operational staff in the purchasing department of the three companies, where \"procurement\" was the process. When the data collection involved staff in other areas, the task in the instrument was replaced to correspond to the relevant task of the respondent (e.g. sales, warehousing and inventory management). Following the suggestion by Burton-Jones and Straub (2006), to measure the phenomenon using \"rich\" measures, all the survey items were modified to include: the system, the task and the user[2].\nData analysis: This section reports the results of the analysis of both the Survey 1 and Survey 2 data samples. The Survey 1 results are given in sentence format, followed by the Survey 2 results in square brackets. The study first presents the validity of each of the three formative constructs - system quality, information quality and individual performance - using SmartPLS (Ringle et al., 2005), following the partial least squares (PLS) procedure. Once the validity of the measures and the constructs is established, the descriptive and comparative statistics of the three constructs in relation to the three user groups across the lifecycle phases are reported. The study next reports the results of the PLS model testing using both data sets, drawing three competing models for each of the user groups.\nSo...does the user performance get better over time?: The question of whether ES user performance increases overtime is widely speculated and debated in both academia and practice. The foundations of several theories (e.g. learning theory) have suggested that one's performance with a system can improve over time (Zhang, 2017). Yet, empirical evidence for this suggestion has been scant. Figure 7 illustrates how the perceptions of the three user cohorts changed across the two ES lifecycle phases in relation to the three dimensions considered in this study. Overall, the results - for all user cohorts (i.e. executive, managerial and operational) - draw parallels with Ross and Vitale (2000) observations of organizational performance going through a dip immediately after go-live. Further, the results in Figure 7 highlight that user performance increased over time for each user cohort. Yet, the rate of change was different in each user cohort. The operational staff underwent the highest positive rate of change (i.e. an improvement), followed by the managerial and executive staff. The rate of change for the three cohorts is a double-digit change (except for the executive cohort in individual performance), which is a substantial change to consider even in the most aggressive benchmarks.\nDiscussion: Gable et al. (2008, p. 381) argue that, \"organizations evaluate their IS for various reasons. Positive impacts are the ultimate outcome sought of the IS, their measure being the 'acid-test' of the IS. A frequently asked question is, 'Has the IS benefited the organization?' or 'Has the IS had a positive impact?' (e.g. Melville et al., 2004).\" Therein, they employ the IS success model of DeLone and McLean and propose the value of a longitudinal study. Such questions can only be answered through a longitudinal study where the ES is expected (ceteris paribus) to yield a continuing flow of benefits for a long time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Anecdotal discussions suggest that enterprise system (ES) user performance is low when such complex systems are introduced, and then improves over time. However, there is a dearth of scientific rigor and empirical evidence about the user performance over the lengthy lifecycles. Moreover, our scientific understanding of user performance phenomenon is further convoluted by the various user groups (i.e. operational, management and executive), who purport to have often conflicting objectives and priorities. Using a longitudinal study design of two surveys, gathering data twice from 465 respondents representing three organization, the purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in user performance of operational, management and executive staffs, across the key phases of the ES lifecycle.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A longitudinal study approach was followed, gathering data using two surveys. The two surveys were conducted six years apart, yielding data from 465 ES users. The respondents belong to operational, managerial and executive staffs of three organizations that were using the same market-leading ES, SAP.\nFindings: The paper provides empirical insights on how user performance changes over time, across the ES lifecycle phases. Importantly, it was observed that the three user cohorts demonstrate substantial differences on their performance with the system.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research results may lack generalizability due to homogeneity of the sample in terms of the types of the system, implementation partners and the industry sector the respondents belonged to.\nPractical implications: Based on the study findings, organizations can introduce tailor-made management interventions for each user cohort for each ES lifecycle phase.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides empirical evidence for a phenomenon that still lacks scientific rigor and empirical evidence. By conducting a longitudinal survey of all ES user cohorts, the study provides insights into ES user performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Resilience and entrepreneurship: a systematic literature review	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Resilience", "Entrepreneurial resilience", "Resiliency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of resilience has been used in a variety of fields, including engineering (Hollnagel et al., 2006), ecology (Holling, 1973; Walker et al., 2004), psychology (Bonanno, 2004), sociology (Adger, 2000), disaster management (Manyena, 2006), and business administration (Sutcliffe and Vogus, 2003). Although some authors attempt to clarify linkages among related concepts such as resiliency, adaptability, transformability, and vulnerability (e.g. Luthar et al., 2000; Walker et al., 2004), the definitions of and boundaries between these concepts remain fuzzy (Callo-Concha and Ewert, 2014). Nevertheless, resilience is evoked increasingly in studies of entrepreneurial individuals and organizations (e.g. Ayala and Manzano, 2014; Reinmoeller and Van Baardwijk, 2005). Conversely, entrepreneurialism is frequently argued to contribute to the resilience of communities, regions, or economies (e.g. Boettke et al., 2007; Westley et al., 2011). However, literature at the intersection of resilience and entrepreneurship is fragmented into several conversations that often draw on distinct notions of these two constructs.\nMethodology: A systematic review is characterized by an \"explicit, rigorous, and transparent methodology\" (Greenhalgh et al., 2004, p. 582). To achieve this goal, we first outline how we collected the publications that are the foundation of this review. Second, we illustrate how we derived six distinct conversations that scholars engage in by systematically analyzing the literature and report the characteristics that define each conversation.\nDescriptive results: Figure 1 illustrates the 144 articles by year of publication (the dotted line indicates that only the first half of 2017 is included in our review). A list of all papers in each conversation can be found in the Appendix. Since 2008, interest in topics around resilience and entrepreneurship has increased significantly. Although only half of 2017 is included in the data set, 18 items were already published during this period. This surge of publications in 2017 can be attributed partially to a special issue on resilience and entrepreneurship published in the Journal of Enterprising Communities (see McNaughton and Gray, 2017).\nResearch orientations: Based on the three core dimensions that we utilized to categorize the existing literature (see Table I), we arrived at six conversations at the intersection of entrepreneurship and resilience. Each is described in turn.\nDiscussion and avenues for future research: Our review shows that resilience is often used as an umbrella construct for a wide range of related terms. Because it lacks specificity, this construct adds relatively little to the entrepreneurship literature. Conversely, research on (organizational) resilience seldom uses insights from the entrepreneurship literature. Indeed, omitting the term entrepreneurial would make little difference to the propositions summarized in Table III. Thus, they are generally consistent with contributions from the broader literature on resilience in business and management (see Linnenluecke, 2017). In this section, we suggest how the insights from resilience and entrepreneurship research can be combined to help a new hybrid disciplinary community emerge (see Siedlok and Hibbert, 2014). To do this, we draw on the broader resilience and entrepreneurship literatures to better ground our six conversations in existing scholarship.\nConclusion: This review systematically analyzed the literature at the intersection of resilience and entrepreneurship. We identified six distinct conversations that portray the relationship between the two constructs quite differently: these differences often depend on the discipline from which that conversation emanates. Most researchers focus on the individual and organizational aspects of entrepreneurial resilience, while some explore the social and environmental consequences of entrepreneurship. However, in the majority of the publications reviewed, entrepreneurship provided only a context for studying organizational or individual resilience to vaguely defined challenges. Thus, labeling the subjects \"entrepreneurial\" added little to the understanding of resilience. In contrast, a smaller set of publications utilized entrepreneurialism as an amalgam of behavioral or cognitive traits that distinguish entrepreneurs form non-entrepreneurs. However, most papers did so in a rudimentary way, by arguing that all entrepreneurs are somehow innovative and creative.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature at the intersection of resilience and entrepreneurship. It identifies six scholarly conversations, each of which draws on distinct notions of resilience and entrepreneurship. Based on those conversations, shortcomings in the existing literature are discussed and avenues for future research are outlined.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A systematic multi-disciplinary review of 144 papers that are categorized into six scholarly conversations to build the foundation for a critical discussion of each line of inquiry.\nFindings: This paper identifies six conversations or research streams at the intersection of entrepreneurship and resilience: resilience as traits or characteristics of entrepreneurial firms or individuals, resilience as a trigger for entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial behavior as enhancing organizational resilience, entrepreneurial firms fostering macro-level (regions, communities, economies) resilience, resilience in the context of entrepreneurial failure, and resilience as a process of recovery and transformation. The review revealed these publications imprecisely define constructs and use a limited amount of the extant scholarship on both entrepreneurship and resilience. Future research should take a more holistic approach to explore entrepreneurship and resilience from a multi-level and longitudinal perspective, especially in the context of socio-ecological sustainability.\nOriginality/value: This paper incorporates insights on resilience and entrepreneurship across academic disciplines to show how future contributions could benefit by incorporating research from other fields. In doing so, it provides a starting point for more nuanced discussions around the interrelationships between the different conversations and the role entrepreneurs can play in promoting a positive, long-term trajectory for a socio-ecological system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do brands compete or coexist? How persistence of brand loyalty segments the market	[ "Brand management", "Brands", "Brand loyalty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A central tenet of the free enterprise economic system is that firms compete for consumers. The business press often highlights examples such as McDonald's versus Burger King, Chevrolet versus Ford and Microsoft versus Apple. This belief of direct competition is especially held for mature products and industries such as soft drinks in which growth is stagnant (or possibly declining); staying alive often means stealing market share from competitors or acquiring competitors through mergers and acquisitions. Companies use marketing tools such as creative advertising, loyalty programmes and packaging innovations to appeal to consumers to avoid price wars.\nTheoretical background: A key development for marketing, as both a field of practice and academic inquiry, is its splintering from the normative concepts of classical economics on how firms should compete. Rather than competing as winner-take-all profits (monopoly) or winners-take-none profits (perfect competition), a middle ground developed for competing on characteristics other than price. Imperfect competition (Robinson, 1933) and monopolistic competition (Chamberlin, 1933) of markets took into account that consumer tastes vary, enabling firms to differentiate and segment the market on dimensions other than price such as quality and convenience.\nMethodology: To investigate the hypotheses that customers are loyal in a mature industry, and that heavy use consumers are even more loyal, the analysis is conducted at the three brand levels (family brand, product brand and modified brand). The context, data and method used are described below.\nResults: The following sub-sections describe the loyalty rates between Coke and Pepsi households at each level of the brand architecture. The tables report the Markov chain results as per cent of households that are loyal or switch brands in subsequent quarters. The family brand loyalty for all and heavy half households is presented first, followed by the product brand and finally, the modified brand loyalty.\nDiscussion: This research contributes to our understanding of brand loyalty by re-examining whether loyalty erodes when brands compete with each other for market-share. This is attributed to the observation that in mature product categories brands approach commoditization and resemble one another. The temptation of competing on price, unfortunately, adversely impacts margins and profitability of all brands as price usually does not generate incremental demand. Prior research has indicated that distribution and product development are more effective than advertising or promotional actions, including price cuts. For consumer-packaged goods in a mature product space, distribution is likely saturated, leaving product innovation as the primary course of action.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to question the conventional wisdom that brands compete for customers, especially in mature industries such as soft drinks. Rather than engaging in price wars or promotion wars, brands coexist in the markets by focusing on their own brand loyal customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Consumer panel data of carbonated beverages are examined using Markov chains to measure switching between two brands: Coke and Pepsi. Switching rates are conducted for all Coke households (n = 10,474) and Pepsi households (n = 7,227). This is further examined with respect to heavy half (upper median) consumers of each brand who make up approximately 86 per cent of volume purchases.\nFindings: Households that made a majority of their purchase volume in either Coke or Pepsi products stayed with their preferred brands in subsequent quarters: 85 to 97 per cent of households. These findings are validated at all levels of the brand architecture (family brands, product brands and modified brands), even though both brands engage in similar marketing mix tactics (advertising, price cuts, distribution, product offerings). Loyalty was even higher among the heavy user households.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was conducted using two well-known brands in a mature industry. Services or non-mature markets may exhibit different loyalty patterns.\nOriginality/value: The study extends prior research on competition, loyalty and branded offerings to show that brand loyalty remains high despite marketing efforts to switch the brand buying behavior.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cooking with offenders to improve health and well-being	[ "Cooking", "Culture (sociology)", "Health", "Qualitative methods", "Taste", "Social responsibility" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper demonstrates the benefits of cooking for offenders'/ex-offenders' health and well-being at an independently run rural resettlement scheme (RS) that works with men released on temporary licence (ROTL) from the local prison every day and others in the community referred through the local probation team, collectively referred to as trainees. The RS is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation , currently the only one of its type in the country, now in its fourth year. It works with men from the resettlement wing of the local prison who are coming to the end of their prison sentences and offers through the gate support, alongside training in a range of occupations (e.g. construction, landscaping, market gardening and woodworking). Trainees also engage in what might be considered more craft based activities such as art, pottery and woodturning.\nBackground: As a social group, \"prisoners remain the most vilified, marginalised and excluded in society\" (McNeill and Weaver, 2010, p. 28). Moreover, the negative impact of marginalisation, exclusion and stigma on health and well-being is well documented, particularly amongst those that focus on explaining persistent inequalities in health (Blaxter, 2010; Nettleton, 2006; Scambler, 2003). This \"lethal combination of stigma, social exclusion, social learning, temptation, addiction, lack of social bonds, and dangerously low levels of human and social capital\" can make successful resettlement and desistance from crime difficult (Barlow and Maruna, 2012, p. 136). In terms of measuring health and well-being, the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2006) defines health as \"[...] a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity\". The inference is that to experience health, a person must simultaneously be in a state of well-being. This raises questions regarding the value of \"complete\", which potentially renders most people as not healthy for most of their lives. Moreover, it negates that capacity of individuals living with chronic disease and disability to be able to live fulfilling lives and to experience a feeling of well-being (Huber et al., 2011). However, the emphasis on \"social\" well-being is pertinent when exploring the benefits of everyday cooking for others, as well as the role of social capital when examining theories of resettlement. Further offenders are constantly under scrutiny and on guard in prison (Crewe and Bennett, 2012) due to the intense regulation of everyday life, typical of a \"total institution\" (Goffman, 1961). Prisoners rarely have \"normal\" conversations and can close down emotional responses in order to cope inside, as:[...] doing time stifles self-awareness and the awareness of others, freedom of self expression is rigorously controlled and meaningful social interaction curtailed [...] prisoners are objects whose individuality is held to be subservient to the larger needs of the prison [...] autonomy, reflection are significantly reduced [...](Flynn, 2010, p. 105).\nMethods: The lunchtime meal at the RS is shared with everyone on site that day, with numbers from a minimum of 9 up to a maximum of 14 people (an average of about 12). A wide variety of people visit for lunch and this is encouraged to enhance social integration (Hedderman, 2007). Lunch is an act of \"table fellowship\" (Coveney, 2006, p. 33), developed specifically to encourage social inclusion, to build links between trainees and the wider community and for trainees to develop social skills and tastes in food they might not otherwise have experienced. It is widely accepted amongst food scholars that early food experiences are significant in shaping identity (Parsons, 2014a, 2015a) whilst commensality fosters a sense of social inclusion and solidarity (Fischler, 2011; Grignon, 2001). Sharing these everyday foodways (ways of doing food) and cooking for others has the capacity to create and re-create social bonds and values (Sutton, 2001). Arguably we eat nothing in isolation, but as part of a culture, so that we feed not only our appetites but also our social values and desires to belong (Fiddes, 1991). This connection works both ways in terms of fostering inclusion and acceptability amongst trainees and the wider community.\nResults/discussion: Responsibility and recognition\nConcluding comments: Overall cooking together, then serving and sharing this lunchtime meal with others, is highly beneficial for the health and well-being of trainees at the RS. It affords them an opportunity to give something back to others working at the RS, but also to the wider community who may also be visiting for lunch. It is a form of reparation that can help in terms of reintegration and destigmatisation (Hucklesby and Wincup, 2007, p. 56). To develop a pro-social identity, offenders need to feel they are a part of something and that they belong. Evidence therefore suggests that cooking for others not only improves human capital (skills and training), but also social (networks) and cultural (tastes) capital. It is valuable in fostering self-confidence and self-esteem, as trainees feel proud of what they have produced for others. Indeed, it is the sociability of cooking the lunchtime meal from the one-on-one time working with a volunteer, to the praise received as they serve the food, to the commensal occasion of sitting and eating together in the company of a meal/table, which is beneficial. Hence, everyday cooking to share with others is an invaluable tool for improving self-worth. It has the potential to build pro-social self-concepts and improve social and cultural capital. Indeed, findings reveal that commensality and cooking are useful tools for enabling trainees to demonstrate both individual and social responsibility. Cooking one-to-one is also particularly beneficial in terms of the health and well-being of trainees, through improvements in self-esteem, self-confidence and sociability. Moreover, although the RS is a unique case study, these findings are transferrable in terms of the benefits of cooking for other marginalised and excluded groups, as a route to improved self-esteem and therefore health and well-being.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the benefits of cooking one-to-one, alongside commensality (eating together) for improving offenders'/ex-offenders' health and well-being, measured in terms of improved social skills, cultural competencies and successful resettlement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Fieldwork conducted over nine months included; participant observation of lunch times (n=56) and cooking one-to-one with trainees (n=27), semi-structured interviews (n=23) and a \"photo-dialogue\" focus group with trainees (n=5) and staff (n=2).\nFindings: Commensality is beneficial for offenders' health and well-being. Further, preparing, cooking, serving and sharing food is a powerful means of improving self-esteem and developing a pro-social identity.\nResearch limitations/implications: The original focus of the research was commensality; it was during the study that the potential for cooking as an additional tool for health and well-being emerged. A future longitudinal intervention would be beneficial to examine whether the men continued to cook for others once released from prison and/or finished at the resettlement scheme.\nPractical implications: Everyday cooking to share with others is an invaluable tool for improving self-worth. It has the potential to build pro-social self-concepts and improve human, social and cultural capital.\nSocial implications: Cooking lunch for others is a part of strengths-based approach to resettlement that values community involvement.\nOriginality/value: Cooking and eating with offenders/ex-offenders is highly unusual. Further hands-on cooking/eating activities are beneficial in terms of aiding self-confidence and self-respect, which are vital for improving offenders'/ex-offenders' health and well-being.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The labour market consequences of globalisation and regionalisation	[ "Globalization", "Labour markets", "Employment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The present special issue brings together five contributions on the labour market consequences of globalisation and regionalisation\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to introduce the subject of the impact of globalization and regionalization on the labour markets. The papers of the special issue are placed within this subject.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Although the subject is not treated exhaustively, the papers presented are new contributions dealing with labour market institutions, efficiency wages, employment effects of outward foreign direct investment, immigration patterns, and regional social and labour policies. These diverse issues are dealt with in their relation with increasing globalization in developed economies.\nFindings: - The major conclusions of the papers in the special issue are put into the perspective of the state of the art of the research on the social impact of globalization, particularly the labour market consequences.\nOriginality/value: - A more comprehensive analysis of globalisation, which takes into account the complementarity of the different channels through which its effects on labour markets are transmitted, becomes more and more necessary. The papers of the special issue attempt to look into a number of these channels and to some extent into their complementarity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Buying committees in the Chinese retail industry	[ "China", "Retailing", "Buyers", "Committees", "Decision making", "Buyer‐seller relationships" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Retail buying is an important part of the value chain; retail buyers serve as gatekeepers determining what products will be available for consumers. The buying system is one of the greatest value-added dimensions of a modern distribution system. Until the mid-1990s China, like other planned economies, used a system of allocation; there were no buyers. With the opening of the retail system to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the 1990s Chinese firms began using professional buyers. Until the mid-1990s product selection was done by store managers or in department stores by counter managers. Centralization (the extent to which decisions are shared within the organization) and formalization (the extent to which activities and relationships are governed by rules and procedures) are issues within the industrial purchasing literature.The personal relationship between an individual buyer and a supplier's salesperson can dramatically influence supplier selection. Buyers may purchase products from the suppliers they prefer rather than selecting products that will best satisfy organizational needs (Millington et al., 2005). When retailers are more dependent than suppliers the suppliers adopt more hard coercive strategies; however, the relationship between interdependency and influence strategies is moderated by shared norms and values. Liu et al. (2008) found that guanxi helps to weaken the positive relationship between a buyer's trust in suppliers competence and its perceived relational risk. When companies use a buying committee to make these types of decisions, they formalize the process and are more likely to make decisions that are technical and functional in purpose. This is especially the case for important new task buying situations, which are often characterized by a lengthy and complex buying process and the participation of people from various parts of the organization (Dawes et al., 1998).A buying committee is a group of individuals from different positions who possess the authority to make final judgments and decisions regarding such matters as adding or eliminating new products. Hutt (1979) argued that while the buying committee plays a strategic role in providing market exposure for a new product, a supplier's path to this decision-making body is indirect and is clouded with intense uncertainty. Salespersons are seldom given the opportunity to make a presentation to the full committee; rather, they must rely on buyers to relay critical information to the decision-making unit. The purpose of this article is to make the dynamics of the retail buying process more transparent.Buying committees are used largely to promote the following objectives:* to offer a wider range of experience in the decision-making process;* to conduct decision-making processes that are more technical in nature; and* to reduce the level of personal pressure in the buyer-supplier relationship (Leed and German, 1973).The primary question addressed in this research is \"what is the structure of the buying system in China?\" This has important practical as well as theoretical implications. On the practical side, it is important for suppliers to understand the system into which they are attempting to sell their products. On the theoretical side, a firm's strategy dictates its organizational structure, and to the extent that the strategy and structure combination is optimum, firm performance would be positively affected. The theoretical contribution of this paper is tied to organizational theory, which is hierarchical in nature (Chandler, 1962). According to this theory, a firm's strategy would dictate the organizational structure. China's market as it moves from a planned economy to a market-driven one can be described as highly dynamic and complex (Luo and Park, 2001). Juha and Pentti (2008) found that there are industry-specific differences in how firms handle risk, and that organizations will change their structure as buying situations change.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Group decision-making and multiple buying influences are core factors in organizational buying behavior. Most of the research on organizational buying behavior focuses on manufacturers rather than on retailers. There are several important differences. Manufacturers, because they are purchasing components, are concerned with cost containment and quality. Retail buyers, in contrast, purchase final goods and are often considered profit-centers for the organization (Sternquist, 2007). Retailers use buying committees to create greater formalization in the buying process. An important element of the organizational buying process in many retail firms is group decision-making in the form of a buying committee. Group investigations have rarely centered on organizational buyers of consumer goods. The primary objective of this study is to examine Chinese retail firms organizational characteristics such as formalization and centralization, as well as their relationships with buying committees. Furthermore, an organizational level of responsiveness is also explored. Finally, the personal relationship (guanxi) is investigated, in addition to an analysis of the buying committee's composition.Individual vs group decision-making\nMethods: The qualitative study\nHypotheses testing and results: There are 88 valid respondents answering questions of both ownership types (\"how would you classify your company?\") and usage of buying committee (\"do you use a buying committee?\"). Although membership varies by firm, a buying committee generally consisted of buying manager (91.3 percent), vice general manager (80.4 percent) and buyers (78.3 percent). General manager, department manager and vice president of merchandising were also quite often included in the buying committee with 60.9, 54.3 and 37.0 percent, respectively (see Table II). Table II presents a complete picture of the composition of buying committees. There are several differences between the SOE and non-state-owned enterprise (NSOE), but one of the most interesting points is the heavy participation of store managers in the buying committees for all the stores.Our qualitative phase of the study identified a war going on between the store managers and the newly instituted central buying system. Managers did not want to give up their right to select merchandise for their stores. They did not feel that the young and inexperienced central buyers had much to offer. It is true that at that time very few central buyers had computer systems that would allow them to track sales at the shop keeping unit (SKU) level for stores, so they had few analytical tools. But making the change from a store-managed selection system to a true central buying system is an important move to consolidate sales throughout the organization. A buying committee with store manager involvement will solve the problem because central buyers and store managers meet on a regular basis and exchange opinions in a more formalized way. Table III demonstrates that there is a difference on the involvement of general managers between SOE and NSOEs (63 vs 50 percent).A t-test was conducted to evaluate the relationship between guanxi and use of a buying committee (H1). The means with and without a buying committee were 15.89 and 19.61, respectively. Results of the t-test (p < 0.05) support the hypothesis that guanxi influence will be greater in the retail firms without a buying committee (see Table IV).A two-way contingency table analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between buying committee and retail ownership (H2). The result of Pearson chi-square test (p < 0.001) indicated that there is significant difference between SOEs and NSOEs (see Table V). H2 is supported; SOEs are more likely to use a buying committee than NSOEs.An independent sample's t-test was conducted for the relationship between merchandise bought by central buyers and use of a buying committee (H3). The results show that retailers with a buying committee purchase 87.8 percent of their merchandise centrally compared with 76.1 percent for those without a buying committee. The significance level is 0.07, close to the acceptable 0.05 level, but not significant; however, the direction of the difference supports that the higher the proportion of merchandise purchased by central buyers, the more likely retail firms will use a buying committee ( Table VI).H4 concerns social network ties and the use of buying committees. Although it was hypothesized that those firms with greater social network ties would be more likely to use buying committees, this was not supported; the t-test was not significant (see Table VII).Finally, a t-test was conducted to evaluate the relationship between responsiveness and usage of a buying committee (H5). The means with and without a buying committee were 21.3 and 19.9, respectively. This is not a significant difference (see Table VIII).\nDiscussion and managerial implications: This study provides an addition to marketing literature regarding buying committees and the role these structures can play in the transition from a planned to a free market economy. We first look at the Chinese phenomenon of guanxi. Chinese culture is often noted for its idiosyncrasy and its insistence on cultivating guanxi (Child and Mollering, 2003). International business people have been advised to carefully develop guanxi with key Chinese business representatives if they wish to successfully conduct business in China. However more recently guanxi connections are viewed as potentially negative and firms are attempting to eliminate personal relationships that can lead to suppliers being chosen because they provide personal favors rather than achieving corporate objectives (Millington et al., 2005).We learned from the qualitative portion of the study that companies were having a difficult time introducing central buying. Some firms indicated that implementing a buying committee with store managers seemed to eliminate this problem. The results demonstrate that retail firms are implementing buying committees to eliminate guanxi in buyer-supplier relationships. This is also consistent with personal interviews conducted with retailers, manufacturers and government representatives in Beijing and Shanghai. Retailers interviewed in China demonstrated little allowance for personal relationships, as retailers were concerned that close personal relationships between buyers and salespeople might foster corruption (such as accepting inappropriate personal gifts). And, in return, buyers might be reluctant to require the maximum financial benefit from the sellers or might even go as far as to focus on personal gain at the expense of company profit. Therefore, retailers tend to prohibit their buyers from developing any kind of personal relationship with suppliers. By using a buying committee, retail firms are able to decrease guanxi influence because of fewer single decisions; meanwhile group decision-making allows the process to be more open and efficient. This result supports Gu et al. (2008) who underscored the dark side of guanxi which included excessive reciprocal obligations and collective blindness.As expected, the results demonstrate that retail SOEs are more likely to implement a buying committee, as do firms having a central buying system. Furthermore, researchers such as Stampfl (1978) argued that greater formalization and centralization make organizations less adaptive to marketplace and environmental changes, but the results demonstrated that greater responsiveness is positively associated with firms possessing a buying committee. This can be explained by the stage at which formalization and centralization are being introduced to the system. Until the mid-1990s there were no central buyers in China; store managers and counter managers selected merchandise. While formalization and centralization are often perceived as barriers to innovation within a corporation, they may also be necessary evils when the issue is organizational response to market intelligence, including new product or supplier selection (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990).In addition, western firms may be required to conduct both organizational and strategic changes in order to survive in a dynamic market. However, a buying committee associated with the characteristics of formalization is favored by Chinese SOEs because formalization has been only recently introduced to these firms as part of the market-oriented transformation process. A greater positive effect from formalization to MO in China may result from the very nature of an SOE's transitional status, while formalization in western firms has become a routine practice; it is being emphasized as a managerial innovation to achieve successful market performance in China (CEMA, 2000).We did not find a significant difference in those companies with and without a buying committee and social networks. Social networks are cross-functional or distant relationships within the organization, or loose ties. While extensive networks may enhance the efficiency of the buying process, its effectiveness also depends on the extent to which individuals within the buying committee possess similar characteristics. When individuals within the network are similar (i.e. buyers), information gaps may emerge because these sources possess redundant (vs complementary) information. Moreover, tapping only strong ties increases the likelihood of finding similar as opposed to novel information and new product selection.In practice, new product selection often reflects and reinforces national differences. China has diverse customer preferences and tastes. As a result, local stores must mirror local conditions. The types of channels and retail structures may also differ based on both geographic and cultural factors. A buying committee is designed to involve different functional departments such as purchasing, marketing, finance and store level management, as they must work more closely in teams. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that firms would be better able to respond to any subsequent problems while utilizing buying committees.The primary question addressed in this research is \"what is the structure of the buying system in China?\" We hope that the description of the buying committee structure, and the characteristics of firms that are most likely to have central buying, buying committees and ultimately the role of guanxi practices for these firms will answer that question. The theoretical contribution is tied to organizational theory, which posits that a firm's strategy will dictate organizational structure. Buying committees in China were introduced to:* offer a wider range of experience in the decision-making process;* conduct decision-making processes that are more technical in nature; and* reduce the level of personal pressure in the buyer-supplier relationship (Leed and German, 1973).The firm's strategy was to eliminate the personal benefits which had come as a part of the traditional product procurement system in China. Formalization and centralization are being used to accomplish this strategy. However it is important to note that organizational structure is and should be dynamic (Juha and Pentti, 2008). As China's central buying system matures and formalization and centralization become widely accepted, less formalization and centralization may provide greater responsiveness to market changes.Opens in a new window.Table I\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Retailers act as assemblers of merchandise, selecting goods from among a wide range of available products in order to enhance customer value and loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Chinese retail buying system, focusing on the buying committee, which is defined as a group of individuals from different positions that have the authority to make final judgments and decisions regarding such matters as adding or eliminating new products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study uses a survey administered to retail buyers.\nFindings: - Results of independent t-tests support the hypothesis that the influence of guanxi will be greater in the retail firms without a buying committee. State-owned enterprises are more likely to use a buying committee than non-state-owned enterprises.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although the sample represents buyers from many regions in China it is not a random sample; this limits the generalizing of results.\nPractical implications: - Suppliers wishing to sell to Chinese retailers need to know how selling to a retailer using a buying committee will affect their access to buyers.\nOriginality/value: - This is the only paper describing research that focuses on the internal structure of a buying committee within a Chinese retail store. Data of this nature are extremely difficult to obtain.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Strategic framework towards measuring a circular supply chain management	[ "Performance management", "Environment management", "Supply chain management", "Circular economy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past decades, there is a growing interest in investigating supply chains that are circular or closed in nature (Agrawal et al., 2015; Ghisellini et al., 2016; Govindan et al., 2015). Traditionally, a supply chain is defined as an integrated process that includes sourcing of raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembling of products, and delivering the final products to customers (via distribution, retail or both) (Beamon, 1999; Hervani et al., 2005). Sarkis (1999) argued that a traditional supply chain is based on the linear flow of materials and fails to include both environmental aspects and management of the end-of-life phase of products. The concept of green supply chain management (GSCM) integrates environmental dimensions in addition to the conventional dimensions in traditional supply chains (Dubey et al., 2017; Ageron et al., 2012; Carter and Rogers, 2008). Recent developments in the areas of sustainability have led organizations to incorporate economic, environmental and social factors in the supply chain (Morali and Searcy, 2013). Sustainable supply chain management intends to minimize material flows, both in production and consumption process, reduce pollution and waste generation throughout the supply chain (Dong et al., 2016; Sarkis et al., 2011; Genovese et al., 2017). Both these approaches are based on the cradle-to-grave approach and have products going to the landfill, though at a delayed pace (Genovese et al., 2017).\n2. Literature review: The current study focuses on evaluating performance management of a circular supply chain. The systematic review of literature is categorized in two parts, namely, performance management of a traditional supply chain and performance management of a circular supply chain.\n3. Methodology: For exploratory research, grounded theory is one of the research designs that can help a researcher to unfold information about a phenomenon (Glaser and Strauss, 1999; Jupp, 2006; Saunders et al., 2007; Strauss and Corbin, 1998). In this paper, the phenomenon is the circular supply chain and the aim of the study is to identify the performance indicators of such a supply chain. The grounded theory is a systematic research methodology that adopts a reverse approach to traditional approach (Saunders et al., 2007). Unlike a positivist approach, the grounded theory refers to building up theory from data (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The grounded theory is useful for identifying causal relationships between phenomena to develop theory and to generalize the same to specific contexts (Bryman, 2004; Yin, 1984).\n4. Circular supply chain indicator framework: Every supply chain is associated with consumption of resources (materials, energy, water) and waste generation (air, liquid and solid waste) to serve the final customer and managing end-of-life product waste. There are several indicators to measure the performance of every phase of a product supply chain. These indicators show overall material consumption and waste production in absolute terms.\n5. Discussion: Circular supply chain is a growing field of research and there is huge potential for further research (Ghisellini et al., 2016). Previous studies have compared a traditional supply chain model and a circular supply chain model (Guide et al., 2000). In the context of several environmental problems and threats to climate stability, the concept of circular economy has received widespread attention in international economic and business platforms and in policy domains. In fact, European Commission has released a directive on circular economy within the European economy. Therefore, it is very likely that the direct or indirect pressure on the companies to transition to a circular economy model will only grow and companies need to be ready to adapt to a circular supply chain from the existing linear supply chain framework. Furthermore, there is huge potential for saving resources and money in circular economy. Several analyses done by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2012, 2015b) have estimated that the savings potential of trillions of dollars can be achieved by transitioning to a circular economy. There are hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of materials that can be saved in a circular economy (The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2012). The proposed circular supply chain framework has strong social implications as well. A paradigm shift will result in more employment opportunities to implement circular supply chain and it will further result in social inclusiveness.\n6. Conclusion: The research on circular supply chains will result is reducing material consumption, reducing waste and reducing carbon footprint. Thus, it addresses the adverse effects of climate change, unpredicted natural calamities and risks. Circular supply chains incorporate sustainability, waste management and supply chain management. This study proposed a three-dimensional strategic framework for circular supply chains as a new paradigm in supply chains that exist at the intersection of strategic (business models) level, tactical (eco-design) and operational (sustainable supply chain management) level. Practitioners may find this study useful in creating value in their organizations by adopting the concept of circular supply chains. Future research may explore empirical and analytical approaches to further validate the proposed framework.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Sustainability issues on economic, environmental and social perspectives have drawn attention of environmentalists, ecologists and governments. In this context, circular economy provides an opportunity to transform waste into resources, reduction of production and consumption activities; and reduction of carbon footprints, all at the same time. The purpose of this paper is to develop a strategic framework for measuring circular supply chain management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A grounded theory approach has been used to develop the strategic framework for circular supply chain management.\nFindings: This study provides an integrative framework for studying, designing and evaluating circular supply chain management performance matrix.\nResearch limitations/implications: A conceptual strategic framework has been proposed to measure the performance of circular supply chain management. Further empirical studies may be carried out to validate the framework.\nPractical implications: The conceptual strategic framework provides key indicators for reducing material consumption, reducing waste, reducing carbon footprint and recycling opportunities throughout the supply chain. These may be utilized by practitioners for gaining competitive advantage.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides insights into development of circular supply chains that provides opportunities for cost reduction and securing competitive advantage for a business in the long run.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Design variables and constraints in fashion store design processes	[ "Concept design", "Design constraints", "Fashion store", "Retail design", "Store design process" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Due to growing competition in the consumer market, companies are increasingly devoting resources to product marketing. An important aspect of such marketing efforts is ensuring that consumer goods are presented appropriately in retail stores. From the perspective of retail stores, the overall goal is to create an environment that both attracts and retains consumers (Babin and Attaway, 2000).\nLiterature review: To identify existing knowledge about \"retail store design processes\", searches in academic journal databases were carried out. These searches pointed to significant gaps in this literature. For example, searches for journal papers including in title, abstract, or keyword the terms \"store/shop/retail design process\" or \"shop/retail/store designer\", in the Social Sciences Citation Index and the Arts\nA framework of fashion store design variables and constraints: To define the relevant store design variables, the four environmental categories defined by Berman and Evans (1995) are used as a basis. As mentioned previously, Turley and Milliman (2000) proposed a fifth category of \"human variables\" that included employee and consumer aspects. However, from the designer's perspective, it makes more sense to perceive employees and consumers as stakeholders who generate constraints rather than as something to be designed. The variables included in the \"external variables category\" (see Table I) clearly show the consumer perspective of the work by Berman and Evans (1995) and Turley and Milliman (2000), in the sense that many of these variables are typically outside the control of the store designer; primarily those variables related to the location and the building. Location-related variables typically not controlled by the retail store designer include consumer flow/traffic, parking availability, surrounding stores, lawns and gardens, location, and other surrounding area variables. With regard to building-related variables, typical non-controllable variables include architectural style, building dimensions, and exterior walls. The consumer focus is also evident regarding the variables mentioned under the internal environmental categories (Columns 2-4 in Table I). More specifically, a variable such as \"cleanliness\" is rarely in the hands of the designer, although the store can be designed in a cleaning-friendly manner, (e.g. placing inventory on legs to make the floor accessible and using maintenance-free or easy-to-clean surfaces). Also, the variables \"music\", \"scents\", and \"temperature\" are seldom controlled by the designer, although a \"retail store manual\" can help address such issues.\nResearch method: Six case studies of fashion store design projects were carried out. The purpose of the case studies was to investigate the outlined framework in terms of the defined store design stakeholders, variables, and constraints. This included: studying how well distinctions drawn in the framework corresponded with the worldview of retail store designers and gaining insight into the defined constraint types. The reason for choosing a case study approach centred around interviews was the need to obtain a detailed understanding of how store designers understood the defined store design variable types of Figure 1 and the framework illustrated in Figure 2. More specifically, the study implied a need for retrieving, understanding, and discussing large sets of examples of constraints between the different store design subsystems. Additionally, there was a need for multiple rounds of interviews to develop the store design variables into a form that all the designers found to be relevant and understandable.\nResults: In the first part of the interviews, the designers were asked to provide examples of constraints from the project in focus. Tables IV and V show some of the examples given by each designer.\nDiscussion: As mentioned earlier, the proposed framework (as illustrated in Figure 2) conveyed three major propositions:\nConclusions: Searches in academic databases revealed several studies on retail store characteristics and consumer behaviour, but also showed a gap in relation to understanding fashion store design processes. To address this gap, this paper proposed a framework of fashion store design variables, the constraints between them, and constraint-generating stakeholders. The proposed framework was investigated by six case studies of fashion store projects, which supported its usefulness for understanding the design processes involved.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Several frameworks of retail store environment variables exist, but as shown by this paper, they are not particularly well-suited for supporting fashion store design processes. Thus, in order to provide an improved understanding of fashion store design, the purpose of this paper is to identify the most important store design variables, organise these variables into categories, understand the design constraints between categories, and determine the most influential stakeholders.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a discussion of existing literature, the paper defines a framework of store design variables and constraints between these. The framework is investigated through six case studies of fashion store design projects.\nFindings: Through a discussion of literature and empirical studies, the paper: identifies the most important store design variables, organises these variables into categories, provides an understanding of constraints between categories of variables, and identifies the most influential stakeholders. The paper demonstrates that the fashion store design task can be understood through a system perspective, implying that the store design task becomes a matter of defining a set of subsystems, while considering their mutual interdependencies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proposed framework may be used as a point of departure and a frame of reference for future research into fashion store design.\nPractical implications: The paper may support retail designers and retail managers in fashion store design processes by clarifying which store design variables to consider and providing an understanding of the constraints between them.\nOriginality/value: The perspective on the fashion store design task offered by the proposed framework adds a layer of understanding to the way in which existing literature describes the challenges related to store design. The empirical studies of fashion store projects demonstrate that the described system perspective offers a useful way of organising fashion store designers' experiences from design processes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Thinking orientation and preference for research methodology	[ "Marketing research", "Analytic versus holistic thinking orientation", "East Asian versus Western cultural orientation", "Quantitative versus qualitative research methodology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The science and artistry of marketing research has made significant strides over the years. In concert, a steady stream of advances in technology and information management has made newer methods and toolkits available to both academic and commercial market researchers (Green et al., 2003; Kim and Li, 2013; Wilkie and Moore, 2003). The variety of research methodologies commonly in use to draw inferences from various sources of business information can be broadly categorized as either quantitative or qualitative (Calder and Tybout, 1989; McGrath, 1982; Viswanathan, 2005)[1].\nTheoretical background: Marketing research methodology: quantitative versus qualitative\nStudy 1A: measuring thinking orientation: Methodology\nStudy 1B: manipulating thinking orientation: Methodology\nStudy 2: primed and measures thinking orientation: Pretest\nStudy 3: cross-cultural study: Methodology\nStudy 4: moderating role of analyzing reasons: Methodology\nGeneral discussion: Summary\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research aims to investigate how preference for marketing research methodology (quantitative vs qualitative) is contingent on the thinking orientation (analytic vs holistic) of the researchers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Thinking orientation was measured and then manipulated in laboratory experiments. Cross-cultural evidence was sought by comparing Western and East Asian participants.\nFindings: Results demonstrate that researchers with an analytic (holistic) thinking orientation tend to perceive quantitative (qualitative) methodology more favorably. Further, the need to offer reasons in support of the choice strengthened the effect of thinking orientation.\nPractical implications: Understanding researchers' preferences for one research methodology over the other has broad relevance for external constituents, as it involves a great deal of managerial commitment in terms of time and money and can affect the results of the research.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to investigate factors that underlie researchers' choice regarding research methodology, and it also extends the literature on analytic versus holistic thinking orientation in the marketing field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Where are we now? A review of management development issues in the hospitality and tourism sector: Implications for talent management	[ "Management development", "Hospitality services", "Tourism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing sectors globally. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WWTTC, 2006) estimates that the travel and tourism industry generated jobs represent 8.7 per cent of total employment, growing to 9 per cent of total employment globally by 2016. Managers represent 29 per cent of those employed in the industry, playing a vital role in the development and productivity of the sector (Wilson et al., 2006). However, there are concerns regarding hospitality organisations' ability to attract, develop and retain managers, with 61 per cent of UK hospitality employers reporting difficulties in recruiting experienced managers (Kent, 2006). Whilst research into issues affecting how managers are developed is apparent, there appears to be less attention given to the more recent concept of talent management in the hospitality industry. Therefore, this article primarily evaluates literature that addresses management development in the hospitality industry, as this is a major component of talent management.\nTalent management and management development: Doyle's (2000) presents management development as being influenced by organisational and external contexts, including political activities and institutional frameworks. In support of this view, Wexley and Baldwin (1986) argue that management development is multi-faceted, that there is no one-best-way of doing it. Rather it is contingent on managerial roles, individual needs and abilities, and the organisational context. Indeed, many academic studies focusing on management development in practice at an organisational level, highlight the contextual nature of management development (Garavan et al., 1999; Mabey, 2002). Doyle (2004) argues that this perspective allows the influence of management development on an organisation to be realised with objective measures of its performance. Although this makes it easier to analyse, it may not reflect the fluid and relational nature of management development in practice. Indeed, recent works on management development portray it as a dynamic, changing concept (Cullen and Turnbull, 2005).In addition the term management development can be interpreted differently, depending on the perspective taken in using it in academic work and practice. For the purpose of this article, the term management development encompasses training, education and learning practices that are intended to assist managers realise their potential, either for personal or organisational benefit.In a similar vein the concept of talent management has various meanings both theoretically and in practice (Story, 2007). \"In its broadest sense it is concerned with ... identification, development, engagement/retention, and deployment of \"talent\" within a specific organisational context\" (CIPD, 2006, p. 1). Talent management is also presented as a new way of managing succession planning, focusing on fast track career opportunities, implying that it is primarily concerned with high potential employees (CIPD, 2006). However, there are similar capability building concerns expressed in both management development and talent management concepts, centred on both organisation and individual needs. Therefore, talent management can be presented as an integrated business strategy that enables the development of individuals to fulfil their potential.This article reviews literature on external and internal factors that influence approaches to developing managers in the hospitality industry. This includes works that address external political, economic and social factors influencing management development, educational approaches and hospitality industry structure and characteristics. Organisational characteristics including the value given to development, culture and human resource (HR) support and approaches. It then draws attention to literature that explores the skills and competencies required by hospitality managers. A third stream of literature explores factors concerning hospitality management careers. The final theme to emerge addresses literature on development practices in the hospitality industry. While this literature does not explicitly address talent management, the approach taken to developing managers is an integral component of talent management and the findings from this research impacts on and influences talent management practices in hospitality.Theme 1: factors influencing management development in hospitality and tourism\nDiscussion and conclusion: In relation to talent management, understanding the influences and approaches to the development of managers is important. What emerges from this analysis of recent research into this aspect of talent management is that the development of managers is a complex issue. Firstly it cannot be seen as an isolated process as it is influenced by external and internal factors. Therefore, examining hospitality industry characteristics and structures provides some insights into factors influencing the selection of the industry as a career choice and the obstacles that organisations need to address to attract, retain and develop talented managers. Secondly, approaches to developing managers are linked to other HR systems and are influenced by the organisational values and priority given to development. Thirdly, there is some discussion that focuses on career management within hospitality. Some authors draw attention to the role that individuals play in taking responsibility for their development while others focus attention on the organisation's role in developing managers. Finally, there is current research which focuses on managerial learning and the role of education and technology in enhancing work based learning. In this article the four key themes of influences, managerial skills, career advancement and development practices are presented as distinct sub themes, however what is apparent is that research in these fields have identified a number of common key influences on and characteristics of how hospitality managers are developed. These can be seen in Figure 1 which presents these within a framework to help understand how these impact on management development and talent management.\nConclusion: In conclusion, this article presents an overview of research examining issues on how managers are developed in the hospitality industry. It presents these literatures as being integral to understanding this important aspect of talent management. The following points highlight the key concerns for industry and organisations to consider in addressing talent management:1. Management development is an integral, but complex component of talent management that requires to be linked to other HR practices.2. Management development is influenced by external internal and individual factors and should not be addressed in isolation.3. Examining how managers are developed can provide an understanding of key issues to address in attempting to attract, retain and develop managers.4. Key industry issues to be considered to enhance talent management are:* Image and working conditions of the industry.* Changing nature of hospitality education and its impact on development practices.* Student expectations.* Career limitations in the SME sector.5. Internal organisational issues that support managers' development include:* Other HR systems.* Value and priority given to management development.* Accessibility and relevance of learning opportunities.* Skills and competence development for career advancement.6. Individual characteristics:* Mobility and motivation of managers.* Interpersonal and networking abilities.* Qualification profile.* Experience portfolio.On a final note there are two issues, which have been expressed by a number of authors, which are presented as challenges that require to be overcome in efforts to attract, retain and develop talented managers. The first is the need to align student and industry's expectations with respect to the recognition of skills and career opportunities. In essence this may involve strategic partnerships between education and industry to research and deliver development opportunities to match both student and organisational needs. At a holistic level, tourism development and training organisations like Scottish Tourism Forum and the Sector Skills Council could commission research into expectations and publish good practice of linking expectations to career opportunities. In addition SMEs can form either geographical or sector collaborative networks to enable greater career opportunities for individuals.The second challenge is the call for industry and education to work in more collaborative ways to enhance the industry's ability to manage talent. Whilst this requires senior management support, there are opportunities to ensure that development is relevant and valued by both organisation and individuals, through greater use of experiential learning. However, these development opportunities also need to be linked to other HR systems and take cognizance of external factors influencing the attraction retention and development of individuals. Examples of good practice that enable development of existing talent should be published, in order that organisations can learn from each other.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to explore the range of research that has been published in the field of hospitality management development and discuss the implications of findings for the field of talent management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper provides a literature review into factors influencing and components of management development. It encompasses literature that addresses management learning, management development and career progression as these are seen to impact on talent management. Secondary research into articles published under the broad heading of \"management development in the hospitality industry\" in management, hospitality and tourism journals from 2000-2007 was conducted. After this initial trawl the author themed these into categories to aid presentation and discussion of findings.\nFindings: - There are four key areas which emerge from this review. First, there is research which focuses on factors which influence management development; second, there is a focus on hospitality management skills and competencies; third, there is work on hospitality careers; and finally, there is work on hospitality management development practices.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights the relationship between characteristics and approaches traditionally associated with management development to those that can now be seen to fall within the rubric of talent management. The paper concludes with the presentation of a framework to articulate key characteristics and influences on management development and talent management in the hospitality industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Six Sigma enablers in Mexican manufacturing companies: a proposed model	[ "Six Sigma", "Structural equation model", "Critical success factors", "Factor analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The real global market has experienced a significant increase in the use and development of the Six Sigma (SS) methodology in a wide variety of organizations that are constantly seeking best practices to increase or at least maintain competitiveness. This has been manifested by a continued proliferation of literature to the extent that it is becoming difficult to follow all of the developments in the field. Hoerl (2004) argued that organizations foregoing SS will likely find it hard to compete in either cost or quality unless they have found a methodology that is just as good. In this context, SS is a business process that allows companies to drastically improve their bottom line by designing and monitoring everyday business activities in ways that minimize waste and resources while increasing customer satisfaction (Harry and Schroeder, 1999). A large number of companies have achieved many economic benefits and improved customer relationships through SS. For example, a successful application of SS reduced material waste by nearly PS50,000.00 per year. This SS implementation was characterized by critical success factors (CSFs) such as management involvement and commitment, project selection and its links to business goals, among others (Banuelas et al. (2005). In another SS project, the defect rate per unit (DPU) was reduced from 0.194 to 0.029 DPU, leading to estimated savings of US$110,000; moreover, the project took into account CSFs such as top-level management involvement, open communication, selection and prioritization of projects, aligning project with strategic goals, and organizational infrastructure, among others (Kumar et al., 2007). Other cases included Caterpillar, where successful SS projects helped to achieve $30 billion in revenue in 2004 (Gillett et al., 2010). Another SS project in an automobile parts company in India reported annualized savings of about US$2.4 million (Gijo et al., 2011).\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development: The SS methodology has become one of the most significant strategies for improving processes and products. It is an organized, parallel-meso structure that reduces variations in organizational processes by using improvement specialists, a structured method, and performance metrics with the aim of achieving strategic objectives (Schroeder et al., 2008). Montgomery and Woodall (2008, p. 329) defined SS as a disciplined, project-oriented, statistically based approach for reducing variability, removing defects, and eliminating waste from products, processes, and transactions. According to this definition, the main goal of SS is to increase profits by eliminating the variability, defects, and waste that undermine customer loyalty. Motorola and General Electric (GE) are SS pioneers who achieved financial growth and recognition of the quality of their products as far back as the 1980s and early 1990s, respectively. Recently, many companies have taken advantage of SS, even nonmanufacturing companies. For example, the Commonwealth Health Corporation has invested about US$900,000 in SS, leading to savings in excess of US$2.5 million (Lazarus and Stamps, 2002). Kwak and Anbari (2006) presented some successful SS projects that included Bank of America, which reported a 10.4 percent increase in customer satisfaction and a 24 percent decrease in customer problems after implementing SS. American Express applied SS principles to improve external vendor processes and eliminate non-received renewal credit cards; the results showed an improved sigma level of 0.3 in each case. Bechtel Corporation, one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world, reported savings of US$200 million with an investment of US$30 million in its SS program to identify and prevent reworking and defects in everything from design to construction to the on-time delivery of the employee payroll.\n3. Methodology: In order to conduct this research, a methodology was followed involving the development of an instrument to collect data and a model generation that explains the relationships among constructs. In deriving causal inferences from existing theory and research, Kaynak (2003) utilized cross-sectional survey data. This research also followed Kaynak approach to collect data. Moreover, the paper follows previous works (Swink and Jacobs, 2012; Langabeer et al., 2009; Anand et al., 2010; Farris et al., 2009; Kleine and Weissenberger, 2013; Antoncic, 2007). This is, admittedly, a controversial approach; nevertheless, Cook and Campbell (1979) stated that it is acceptable to clarify theory and assess specific causal effects from correlational research data with structural and path analyses. Thus, the methodology is composed of four stages, which are described below.\n4. Results: This section presents the results of the investigation, which is divided into subsections as follows.\n5. Discussion: The main goal of this study was to observe whether the TMS, IS, and CT had a positive influence on an SS project in order to obtain benefits for PP in export manufacturing companies located in the Mexican border with the USA. The Mexican border actually concentrates most of these companies. In fact, 3001 establishments are located in this region, 909 of which are situated in the border state of Baja California, in northwestern Mexico, according to the Mexican INEGI (2015).\n6. Conclusions, limitations, and future research: This study analyzed the CSFs of SS implementation in manufacturing firms in Mexico, and found that CSFs seem to group in three components. Moreover, it provides support for the hypothesis that TMS tends to have a positive effect on perceived PP through a positive effect on IS and CT. This effect on PP appears in the form of reduction in variation and cost and improvement in quality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of Six Sigma (SS) and the underlying dimensions of its critical success factors (CSF) via an analysis of the effects of top management support (TMS), implementation strategy (IS), and collaborative team (CT) on project performance (PP) in Mexican manufacturing companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a SS literature review, a survey was conducted to capture practitioners' viewpoints about CSFs for SS implementation and their impact on performance in manufacturing companies. A factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted in order to identify and analyze causal relationships.\nFindings: The results suggest that CSFs grouped in the constructs TMS, IS, and CT have a positive impact on PP as measured by cost reduction, variation reduction, and quality improvement.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the empirical data collected supported the proposed model, results might differ among organizations in different countries. In addition, the study did not analyze a unique performance metric; instead, general PP dimensions were used.\nPractical implications: Boosting the TMS, IS, and CT enhances positive PP of SS in manufacturing companies.\nOriginality/value: IS as a construct has not been studied exhaustively; this work contributes to a better understanding of it and its impact on PP. Additionally, studies of SS in Latin America are limited, so this study gives a complementary vision to practitioners and researchers about it.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A theory of enterprise risk management	[ "Board of directors", "Enterprise risk management", "Risk governance", "Economic capital" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Enterprise risk management (ERM) is, at a fast clip, establishing itself as the dominant paradigm of corporate risk management. The past two decades have witnessed a large increase in the demand for ERM and improved governance of firms' risks more generally. Pressure from outside stakeholders has been an important influence on this development reflecting corporate scandals involving excessive risk-taking (Gates, 2006).\n2. Existing enterprise risk management frameworks - overview and criticism: The principles of holistic risk management that underpin ERM were first developed in the mid-1990s by the people behind the Australian risk management standard (RM 4360) with later additions by their Canadian counterparts. Against the backdrop of corporate scandals involving unethical conduct, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)[4] decided to extend its internal audit-framework to cover ERM, and the first COSO ERM framework was published in 2004. This document has subsequently become a standard reference in discussions on ERM implementation alongside ISO 31000 (2009), which is an internationally agreed standard for the implementation of risk management principles. The purpose of frameworks such as ISO 31000 is to ensure compliance, assurance and to improve decision-making.\n3. A theory of enterprise risk management: A synopsis of the theory is as follows. Silos (operating units as well as corporate functions) exist and are desirable to gain from the benefits of specialization. The silos are run by agents that have incentives and/or behavioral biases that lead to suboptimal risk management decisions in the form of over-management of a certain category of risks and under-management of another category (\"the agency problem of corporate risk management\"). The Board of Directors is risk-neutral; represents the interests of shareholders; and pursues the goal of maximizing the long-term value of the firm. The Board is \"enlightened\" in the sense that it understands the nature of the agency problem of risk management. It is also empowered in that it can mobilize corporate resources. But because of the structure of decentralized decision-making, the Board lacks access to full information about the risks that the silos are exposed to and their risk mitigation actions, and consequently cannot assess the firm's overall risk profile (\"the information problem of corporate risk management\"). The directors therefore undertake measures to aggregate information about net risk exposures centrally in the organization. The Board adopts monitoring mechanisms and incentive systems to address the agency problems of risk management. To carry out risk governance and risk aggregation, the Board invests in new risk management capabilities in the organization. The amount of resources invested in these capabilities is proportional to the perceived costs related to agency and information problems of risk management in the firm. Thanks to the aggregation of risk information, the Board is able to deploy the appropriate amount of economic capital to support the level of risk-taking inherent in the firm's portfolio of business risks, taking into consideration interdependencies among risk exposures across the various operating units. Economic capital is costly and the Board trades off these costs against various costs related to the risk of financial distress. The theory is summed up in Figure 1.\n4. The information problem of corporate risk management - a closer look: 4.1 Motivation\n5. The agency problem of corporate risk management - a closer look: 5.1 Motivation\n6. Enterprise risk management as a solution: 6.1 Risk governance\n7. Conclusions: This paper provides a theoretical analysis of ERM. Rather than describing ERM in terms of a process aimed at meeting corporate objectives, it proposes to view ERM as a solution, i.e. a set of mechanisms, to address two general risk management problems faced by the firm. These are the agency and information problems of risk management, respectively. The theory is predicated on the observation that there are internal agency problems and information asymmetries in firms with decentralized decision-making authority. It therefore complements existing corporate risk management theory, which tends to focus on frictions between the firm and external actors. It challenges both the presumption of a harmonious relationship between various actors in the ERM-process, as well as the suggestion that ERM should be viewed primarily as an evolving set of practices that will eventually become codified.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a theory of enterprise risk management (ERM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The method is to develop a theory for ERM based on identifying the general risk management problems that it is supposed to solve and to apply the principle of deduction based on these premises.\nFindings: ERM consists of risk governance, which is a set of mechanisms that deals with the agency problem of risk management and risk aggregation, which is a set of mechanisms that deals with the information problem of risk management.\nResearch limitations/implications: The theory, by identifying the central role of the Board of Directors, encourages further research into the capabilities and incentives of directors as determinants of ERM adoption. It also encourages research into how ERM adoption depends on proxies for agency problems of risk management, such as a decentralized company structure.\nPractical implications: The theory encourages Boards of Directors to focus on understanding where the under and over management of risk are likely to be greatest, as opposed to the current practice of mapping a large number of risk factors.\nOriginality/value: The theory complements existing theory on corporate risk management, which revolves around the role of external frictions, by focusing on internal frictions in the firm that prevent effective risk management. It is the first work to delineate ERM vis-a-vis existing risk theory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Towards a model of trust	[ "Trust", "Meaning", "Competence", "Reputation", "Affinity", "Higher purpose" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Business strategists need a model of trust in both senses of the word - a model, as in someone to emulate, and a model as in a structural framework that describes its components.\nCompetence: At root, trust starts as a judgment of someone's competence to accomplish a specific task. Trust is context specific. I would trust my cardiologist to administer my electrocardiogram and to recommend changes to my lifestyle as a result. But I am not sure I would trust him to fix my car.\nEnter affinity: Trust includes a strong emotional component. I call it \"affinity\" and by that I mean a warm, comfortable feeling that a person, or even a product or company, engenders in us. It is more than familiarity; it is likability. In some cases, it is a feeling of security; in others, a strong sense of identification. It is essentially sharing something with the person, product or company at a deep psychological level.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This article aims to hypothesize a model of trust in both senses of the word - a model, as in something to emulate, and a model as in a structural framework that describes its components. Almost all business people agree that winning and keeping the trust of customers, investors, employees and other stakeholders is critical to business success. There is also broad agreement that trust in business and government has been in serious decline over the past few decades, as documented in a number of studies. Ironically, however, there is little agreement on the nature of trust. Researchers and strategists use the word loosely, without a common definition of its components and with no clear understanding of the process by which it is built, nurtured - and lost.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on syndicated research and the more than three-decades experience in public relations, the author suggests that trust has both rational and emotional components that arise from stakeholders' perception of their own affinity with a brand, company or individual, as well as their judgments of its competencies and purpose. Stakeholder perceptions along these dimensions can be displayed within a three-dimensional matrix, which can explain a range of rational/emotional reactions ranging from simple disappointment and begrudging respect to complete distrust and unquestioned trust.\nFindings: The model of trust is useful for analyzing a brand, company or individual's present trust position. It will also enable strategists to design a thoughtful, balanced approach to maintaining or improving stakeholder trust. The model allows strategists to articulate a set of actions and behaviors that will build on strengths, fill voids and correct past errors.\nResearch limitations/implications: This is a theoretical hypothesis that still needs to be tested, but it appears to present a useful approach to considering issues of trust.\nOriginality/value: The new model builds on existing research to address an issue that has become even more critical to organizations and individuals in a world of instant communication and everyman publishing. Applying the model to business decision-making will protect firms from inadvertently losing stakeholder trust and enhance their ability to build even stronger stakeholder relationships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Health and safety gateways for construction project planning	[ "Gateway", "Health and safety", "Integration", "Pre‐construction planning", "Construction industry", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) implemented the Construction Design and Management Regulations 1994 (CDM), they intended them to \"encourage the integration of health and safety into project management\". The regulations were reviewed 13 years later as many in the industry still struggled to properly integrate the management of health and safety throughout the planning lifecycle of construction projects (HSE, 2007a; Cameron and Hare, 2008). In construction, planning can cover a vast number of activities from pre-project planning, through design, to planning specific site activities (CIOB, 1991). It is estimated that up to 90 per cent of accidents could be prevented through better planning before work starts (HSE, 1988). More recent studies have found that planning and control failures were related to 45.4 per cent of accidents (Duff and Suraji, 2000), and designers could have contributed to the prevention of up to 47 per cent of accidents investigated as part of an HSE research project (HSE, 2003c). Conversely, proactive application of the CDM Regulations at design and planning stages has been shown to have beneficial effects for the management of health and safety as well as other commercial risks (HSE, 2006).Effective planning for Health and Safety (H&S) is therefore essential if projects are to be delivered on time, without cost overrun, and without experiencing accidents or damaging the environment or the health of site personnel (CIOB, 2002; Teo et al., 2005). For projects in the UK, the initial planning has to also consider the needs of those maintaining and cleaning the structure (HSE, 2007b). These are not easy objectives as construction projects can be complex where \"time pressures are always present and the work environment ever changing\" (HSE, 2002).Today's construction project planning seriously challenges the old triangular model of time/cost/quality trade-off, which suggested that an improvement in one must lead to deterioration in at least one of the others (Atkinson, 1999; Westerveld, 2003). It now extends the total quality management philosophy that quality is free (Crosby, 1979) and embraces the premise that delivery in one area, safety, can actually lead to benefits in other areas, such as time and cost (Hinze and Parker, 1978; HSE, 2003e; HSE, 2006). The importance of effective construction planning and control in the communication and avoidance of health and safety risks cannot be overstated but the fundamental premise postulated by the authors is that this need not, and should not, be a separate exercise aimed solely at health and safety. Effective management will embrace all production objectives, as an integrated process, and deliver construction that satisfies all these objectives and not one at the expense of the others.\nResearch method: The research problem posed was \"how best to promote the effective integration of health and safety management into construction project planning, communication and control\". This problem was industry based which invariably dictates an applied research approach attempting to resolve practical problems or improve on accepted, traditional thinking (Holt, 1998). To solve this particular problem the authors developed a method to deal with the perceptions and views of industry experts. Therefore, a qualitative method of action research suited the needs of the research problem (Fellows and Liu, 1997; Naoum, 2001). It was decided that the type of action research applied should facilitate feedback to allow improvements of the solution. Field interviews provide a useful method for data collection and satisfies this requirement (Naoum, 2001). Semi structured group interviews are suitable for exploratory data and structured one-to-one interviews are more useful for objective data collection, such as that of validation exercises (Naoum, 2001). These methods were adopted in line with the research objectives:1. Consult experienced practitioners to ascertain current practice and improved methods of integrating health and safety within construction project management.2. Produce a model of construction project management, integrating health and safety.3. Validate the model in order to improve it.In order to achieve these objectives a programme of work was devised and carried out which incorporated both group and individual interviews. Interviewees were purposefully chosen based on their experience. Sample numbers were governed by \"saturation\" (when the effort to gain qualitative information outweighs the level of new information i.e. diminishing returns) as recommended by Strauss and Corbin (1998). A grounded theory approach to analysis and coding of notes and minutes was carried out after each of the following group and individual interviews:* Industry steering groups; to advise on strategic direction, review progress and outcomes and obtaining access to current \"best-practice' construction organisations (average of 12 members over four meetings).* Expert group interviews; covering maintenance (eight members); construction (eight members); and planning and design (seven members); to investigate critical \"Events\" or \"Tools\" that would both ensure compliance with CDM and add value to the management of the project.* One to one interviews; with 11 industry practitioners, to assist in the development and validation of the model.An earlier paper, written by the authors, discussed the initial findings of the literature review and exploratory group interviews (Hare et al., 2006). A key finding of the earlier phase was the need to split the data between that pertaining to the model and separate, detailed, data relating to \"management tools\" which tended to clutter the macro-level model. The underlying need for integrated teams and effective information flow was also identified. The remainder of this paper discusses the development and findings in relation to the integrated model for construction project management developed.\nProcess model of construction project management: Process models for construction projects have been in use for some time. For example, there is the traditional RIBA Plan of Work (RIBA, 2000), the Association for Project Management guidance (APM, 2002) and, the lesser known, Salford University's Process Protocol (Kagioglou et al., 1998). Although these make useful guides, any attempt to be this prescriptive reduces flexibility and creates problems when trying to apply them to different procurement methods (Winch and Carr, 2001).The UK Office for Government Commerce (OGC) \"Gateway\" model for construction procurement (OGC, 2002) has flexibility which allows various procurement routes to be adopted; and it is primarily for general project management purposes, rather than being health and safety specific. The gateways are decision points that allow H&S to be dealt with at the same time as other production decisions. The OGC describes a gateway review as \"a review of a procurement project carried out at a key decision point by a team of experienced people, independent of the project team\" (OGC, 2001). Although it is debateable whether it should require an independent team to carry out gateway reviews, the process facilitates consideration of the critical aspects of a project at key points through its life, providing assurance that everything is in place prior to progressing to the next stage. The gateways can also be moved or repeated to align with the procurement method. These features of the OGC model justified its use over others available to build the H&S elements into.The model (Figure 1) shows a total of eight gateways. Tables I to V show in more detail the processes required for each gateway phase aligned to their project management processes. These descriptions are based on the Grounded Theory textual analysis.Concept phase\nConclusions: In total, eight gateways have been developed, each fulfilling a specific purpose. These are:1. strategic assessment;2. project risk assessment;3. procurement strategy;4. partner/contractor selection;5. outline design;6. detailed design;7. project handover; and8. monitor and review.Validating the model uncovered three main factors peculiar to construction that had to be considered:1. The procurement of all the construction services for a project is not usually all done at the same time.2. The design process is often described as an iterative one.3. The construction phase invariably starts before the completion of the design.Therefore, to satisfy these three demands on the model, the procurement and design Gateways can be repeated and the detailed design Gateway can be integrated with construction. The main benefits shown by the model are:* early integration of health and safety;* collaborative risk assessment instead of individual designer risk assessment;* Flexible Gateways align with different procurement routes; and* integrated handover documents adds value to the procurement process.These features of the model show how H&S can be integrated with good practice in general planning and management. But it must be remembered that the model is reduced from reality, and as such, can never be perfect. Supporting tools, mentioned in the above text, have also been developed (Cameron and Hare, 2008).Subsequent to the completion of this work HSE have incorporated gateway elements from this research into their industry guidance for the CDM Regulations and OGC have drafted new guidance for health and safety with their gateway model, which also incorporates elements of this research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to report on the findings from a research project, commissioned by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), investigating the integration of health and safety (H&S) with construction planning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A combination of group and individual interviews were undertaken with qualitative methods of analysis to develop an integrated process model.\nFindings: - The model developed uses \"Gateway\" decision points, which allows flexibility and the early integration of H&S at a strategic level, although detailed planning is still required through the use of integrated management tools.\nPractical implications: - This study will help practitioners who wish to integrate CDM principles using a process model. It has also informed the HSE with policy decisions for their review of the Construction Design and Management Regulations 1994.\nOriginality/value: - Previous research on construction H&S has tended to concentrate on site management. This study extends knowledge and understanding of how H&S can be integrated at the planning stage of projects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Disempowerment and empowerment of accounting: an Indigenous accounting context	[ "Australia", "Accounting", "Indigenous", "Empowering", "Disempowering" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The emphasis of the accounting literature has been \"accounting 'for' Indigenous peoples rather than accounting 'by' Indigenous peoples\" Buhr (2011, p. 139). Buhr (2011) analyzed the existing accounting literature and found that \"[...] for the most part [...] accounting has largely been cast as the villain\" (pp. 139-140) and made a plea for \"[...] a more positive and emancipatory discourse about the role of accounting and Indigenous peoples\" (p. 140). Heeding Buhr's (2011) call for investigating accounting \"by\" Indigenous peoples and, acknowledging the devastating impact that accounting has had on Indigenous peoples, this study contributes to the existing accounting literature by theorizing that accounting can potentially be a tool of empowerment when accounting is \"by\" Indigenous peoples.\nIndigenous accountability: the differing demands: Accountability processes within Indigenous communities were in place long before Australia was colonized. There were over 500 Aboriginal tribes at the time of the colonization of Australia and each group had a system of authority based on kinship and age in which male elders exercised the authority and made decisions \"bearing on the group's economic, social and ceremonial activities\" (Elkin, 1974, p. 114). The local laws of the groups were specific to each group and far from homogenous or generic for all Aboriginal peoples. However, while differences exist, there were commonalities among Aboriginal peoples. Meggitt (1965) explains that the cultural laws originated in the dreamtime and \"[...] the law not only embrace[d] ritual, economic, residential and kinship rules and conventions but also what we would call natural laws and technological rules\" (p. 252). These laws clashed with the laws of the invading colonizers who set to eradicate Aboriginal peoples by a \"[...] complete undermining of the Aborigines' way of life\" (Elkin, 1974, p. 363). Official policies and processes were introduced to decrease numbers of Aboriginal peoples by dispossession and death or at the very least to assimilate them to the \"settlers\" way of life (Elkin, 1974).\nAccounting: can it be both empowering and disempowering?: There is a body of accounting literature devoted to the exclusionary processes of accounting and the accounting profession. Buhr (2011) analyzed the existing accounting literature and found that \"[...] for the most part [...] accounting has largely been cast as the villain\" (pp. 139-140). Buhr (2011) came to the conclusion that the reason for this is because accounting studies have emphasized accounting \"for\" Indigenous peoples rather than accounting \"by\" Indigenous peoples (p. 139).\nWhat are the possibilities for Indigenous empowerment in Australia?: The main focus of this study is to investigate the empowering or disempowering role that accounting can play in the context of Australia's Indigenous peoples. Noting Buhr's (2011) contention that in the existing accounting literature \"accounting has largely been cast as the villain\" (p. 140) mainly because accounting studies have paid attention \"[...] to accounting 'for' Indigenous peoples rather than accounting 'by' Indigenous peoples\" (p. 139), the emphasis of this study is accounting \"by\" Indigenous peoples.\nAccounting and its empowering potential: Accounting is vital to support the functioning of business. Accounting adopts practices and language that symbolizes the exclusiveness and autonomy of those within the accounting field and, in particular, the accounting profession. The accounting profession, and its exclusive access to the accounting field, have achieved a symbolic dominance by differentiating themselves as the holders of unique knowledge (symbolic capital) and dispositions (habitus). In so doing, the accounting profession has occupied and legitimized a dominant position. It has engaged in dominant discourse that has fundamentally positioned the accounting field and the accounting profession in a powerful place in a colonized and capitalist country such as Australia.\nAccountability expectations: The findings discussed to date have supported the contention of this study, namely, that accounting can potentially be a tool of empowerment. The research findings also reveal a strong theme with respect to the accountability expectations. In particular, comments were made about the unreasonable and onerous accountability expectations that have been forced upon Indigenous communities by government and other authorities, but for which they have not been given the necessary financial skills for discharging their accountability. Consider, for example, the following insightful comments by Aboriginal accountants Keith and Frank:\nConcluding comments: The Australian Human Rights Commission (2005) have identified \"[...] the building of Indigenous wealth, employment and entrepreneurial culture, as [...] integral to boosting economic development and reducing poverty and dependence on passive welfare\" (p. 2). Reconciliation Australia (2002) claims that \"[...] one of the greatest needs of Indigenous organisations, like all other community organisations, is a robust capacity for financial planning and accountability\" (p. 18). Furthermore, as observed by Morley (2014), one of the obstacles in improving the successes \"[...] for Indigenous entrepreneurs and community-based enterprises for Indigenous Australians\" is \"[...] poor organisational governance and lack of business planning and financial literacy\" (p. 2).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the disempowering and/or empowering role of accounting in the context of Indigenous Australians.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 31 interviewees participated in this study, which included 18 self-identified Indigenous Australians and 13 non-Indigenous Australians. A qualitative research methodology, and in particular an oral history method, was chosen because of its ability to support a deeper and richer form of inquiry. Bourdieu's concepts provide the framework for mobilizing and analyzing the findings of this study.\nFindings: The damaging role of accounting in the context of Indigenous peoples has largely stemmed from non-Indigenous peoples providing accounting services for Indigenous peoples. The evidence and analysis provided by this study postulates a constructive way forward of accounting's role in contributing to the empowerment of Indigenous Australians.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations include being a non-Indigenous researcher conducting research in an Indigenous context, which may have prevented some interviewees from feeling comfortable to openly share their experiences and insights.\nPractical implications: As this study's findings have supported the theory that accounting skills can be used in an empowering way when used \"by\" Indigenous peoples, Indigenous Australians should be actively supported by the accounting bodies to gain the qualifications needed for membership of the accounting profession.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the expanding accounting literature that locates the role of accounting in the context of Indigenous peoples by proposing accounting as a tool of empowerment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The pattern of exchange rate co-movement in selected African countries	[ "Dynamic panel", "Africa bilateral trade", "Co-movement", "Financial integration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Changes in a country's exchange rate have significant impact on its financial market operation and development as well as other financial markets. Exchange rates changes affect international competitiveness and thus influence real income and output. Efforts aimed at assessing the co-movement patterns of currencies are imperative, because a strong co-movement between currencies has important implications for economic policies and international capital budgeting decisions since negative shocks affecting one market may be transmitted quickly to another through contagious effects. This issue has become more serious with the occurrence of recent black swan events that engulfed the US economy with a series of negative shocks consisting of disappointing economic growth, financial scandals, uncertainty about a potential war with Iraq and terrorist threats. Financial markets, in particular, the stock market, fell by almost 17 per cent; other important markets around the world experienced similar downturns, and some examples are the markets of Ireland (14 per cent), Mexico (11 per cent) and Hong Kong (6 per cent) (Lin, 2012). Over the same period, Iceland's stock market experienced positive returns of 26 per cent, South Africa 21 per cent, Ghana 32 per cent, South Korea 12 per cent and Colombia 11 per cent (Joyce and Nabar, 2009; Allen and Wood, 2006; Bawumia, 2014).\n2. Literature: The review is done under two perspectives: studies related to channels of contagion and research on foreign exchange markets were analysed.\n3. Model and estimation framework: 3.1 Correlations\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Descriptive statistics\n5. Sensitivity analysis: This section provides sensitivity tests of the results by examining whether the key conclusions are robust to changes in model specification, sample selection and control variables. It focusses on Equation (3), and only the top three economies are considered.\n6. Conclusions and policy implication: This paper focusses on the potential variables underlying foreign exchange co-movements in Africa over the period 1990 to 2013 using dynamic panel data analysis. Synchronization was measured by a correlation coefficient, in particular, using quarterly dynamic panel data sets from 1990 to 2013. This paper provides the following key results: first, the results demonstrate that, on the average, exchange rates co-movements were externally determined through trade. Second, capital account openness has positive effect on co-movement. Third, the result also shows that the low level of financial development and other regional macroeconomic variables negatively affect exchange rate co-movement. The results thus provide support to the existing findings that exchange rate co-movement for economies that depend predominantly on trade is high, and such economies are more risky and less resilient to crisis (Guo and Shih, 2008; Walti, 2011).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The concept of co-movement has witnessed a resurgence in the international finance literature in recent years after the black swan events. This might be due to a renewed focus on globalization and financial market integration in the world over. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic linkages in the foreign exchange market resulting from recent globalization and financial market integration in Africa.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A conceptual framework was adapted from the extant literature and was used as the basis of modeling foreign exchange market in Africa. This paper adopts a quantitative research approach and opted for dynamic panel data analysis to empirically unearth the determinants of foreign exchange market co-movement.\nFindings: It is interesting to note that exchange rate co-movements were externally determined. Robust support was found for trade intensity, competition and world interest rate on foreign exchange rates co-movement, but regional interest rate differential decreased it. These findings clearly demonstrate the level of financial development and challenges that sometimes exist in exchange rate policy implementation by policy makers in Africa.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research might incorporate bilateral investment into the model of exchange rate correlation.\nOriginality/value: Studies focussing on simultaneous consideration of intensity, trade competition and capital account openness to exchange rate correlations in the contexts of Africa are almost non-existent, and this study makes an important contribution in not only addressing this imbalance but also more importantly improving the relatively parsimonious literature on foreign exchange co-movement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Advertisements: interpreting images used to sell to young adults	[ "Advertising", "Adolescents", "Social processes", "Fashion", "Magazines" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nAdvertisements: interpreting images used to sell to young adults: Magazine racks and newsstands offer a variety of fashion magazines. A few new additions to the range of offerings (e.g. Teen Vogue, Teen Elle) specifically target teenagers[1] and young adults. Generation Y has become a market that stores cannot ignore (Earnest, 2002). The estimated spending power of teens was \"expected to top $190 billion by 2006, a figure that surpasses the gross domestic product of many countries in the world. In addition, families with teens spent $100 billion on them\" (Mintel, 2006). Teenage Research Unlimited estimated that young adult spending is increasing by almost 8 percent annually (Earnest, 2002). Since teenagers influence increasing amounts of spending it is not surprising that the number of magazines directly targeting teenagers has also grown.The intended readership of magazines such as Teen Vogue, Seventeen, and Elle Girl are adolescent girls. The magazine's design, the products featured in the advertisements as well as the models are intended to appeal to and influence this market segment. Several researchers support the idea that advertising sends powerful messages to young adults and teenagers (Frisby, 2004; Groesz et al., 2002; Mann, 1994; Martin and Kennedy, 1993, 1994b; Ogle and Thornburg, 2003; Posavac et al., 1998; Richins, 1991; Stephens et al., 1994). However, few researchers have actually documented that fashion advertisements are a point of comparison and have an impact on their young readers. To address this void, our study was designed and conducted in an effort to understand the specific effects that fashion advertisements have on young adult females and how the images in the advertisements are used and interpreted by them. Our overall research goal was to identify the type of female images that are presented through advertisements in fashion magazines targeting young adults and to examine how young adults interpret and use those images. To meet this overall goal we conducted a two-part study. In the first part, our focus was on determining the type of images presented in teenage fashion magazines and assessing what differences if any, existed between images used to sell young adults versus those used to sell adult women. In the second part of our research our focus was on investigating what meanings, if any, young adults attached to the images identified in Part 1, and how these images were used.Images of women in advertisements\nMethods: Part 1 - data collection\nFindings: Participant characteristics\nConclusions: When viewing the majority of the fashion advertisements, participants not only compared themselves to the models but most also indicated they felt inadequate when looking at the advertisements. This finding is consistent with research by Crane (1999), Martin and Kennedy(1993), and Richins (1991). Most participants either aspired to have the physical characteristics depicted by the model in fashion ads or commented on their inability to achieve a perfect physique. For example, a participant (101C) commented, \"I wish I had skinny legs like that,\" and another (101I) explained, \"I would love to be very thin and super model gorgeous\" (101S). When viewing the advertisement of an average female in an active role, where the model was actively and realistically promoting the product, participants' were quick to criticize her flaws and the model's inability to meet their expectations for a female representation in fashion advertising. However, participants actually reported feeling better about their own appearance after they compared themselves to this model.Why might these participants be critical of an average looking model? One explanation is that these participants have become so accustomed to the use of extremely thin models in fashion advertisements, fashion shows (i.e. Victoria Secret), and other mediums in fashion used to gain publicity that when a heavier or representative model is used, the participant reacts negatively because the model no longer represents an ideal. For example, an example of realistic advertising was used in the 2005 Nike and Dove campaigns. In these advertising campaigns women with real curves were used to sell products. These campaigns were launched in an attempt to \"celebrate real beauty\" and to relate to the average female. Interestingly, these advertisements sparked controversy among the American public. The models in the campaign were criticized for not meeting the standards that readers held for models in fashion magazines. For example, one individual criticized the practice saying, \"The model would look better if she lost at least ten pound.\" (Dove, 2006). Another individual explained her feelings concerning the advertisements. \"Ads should be about the beautiful people. They should include the unrealistic, the ideal or the unattainable look for which so many people strive... I see 'real people' all the time. I don't need 'real people' to sell me things\" (Dove, 2006).Only one category of advertisements, animation, did not serve as a consistent basis for social comparison. Participants' comments revealed their inability to compare themselves was a result of the abstracted image of the female body. A participant (AF1) commented, \"You can't relate to [their] body image because they are not real people and you can't identify.\" In addition, most participants did not like this advertisement. They shared that animated models should be used to target pre-adolescents or children. A participant (101I) stated, \"... she would be a good model for young girls.\"Interest in buying the advertised fashion-related product was connected with positive comments made about the model seen in the advertisement. In addition, if the participants made social comparisons between themselves and the model, they also indicated they were interested in purchasing the advertised product. The model used in the advertisement appears to be influencing intention to purchase the advertised product. This finding supports the practice of introducing new or modified products as brand extensions. The positive thoughts and feelings concerning the model and the products apparently endorsed by the ideal model are likely to be transferable to other products connected with the model.Results from our research suggest possible future research directions. For example, researchers may want to investigate whether women of all body types do prefer ideal images versus realistic images of women in apparel advertisements. Also of interest, would be a study wherein researchers are able to investigate what the experience is of consuming an advertised product? If a purchase is motivated by an advertisement, do self-attributions change as a result of purchasing and using the product? Is consumer satisfaction tied to advertising images?\nLimitations: The first limitation was that only four magazines were included. If a wider variety of teenage magazines were used it is possible that additional categories of advertisements may have emerged. Our second limitation was use of only advertisements located in print magazines. Many advertisements are distributed using the Internet and could also serve as a point of social comparison. Marketing using the Internet opens up additional opportunities for research concerning the influence of advertisements on young adults and teenagers. Our third limitation is use of participants during their late adolescent years and young adult years. Other researchers may want to interview females about their use of fashion advertisements during their young and mid-adolescent years.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to identify images used in advertising directed toward young adults, investigate what young adults thought of these images, and explore how young adults used these images.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A content analysis of 674 apparel and cosmetic advertisements located in four fashion magazines (Elle Girl, Seventeen, YM, and TeenVogue) resulted in eight categories. Participants (n=32) viewed advertisements representative of the categories and answered questions related to their thoughts about the model depicted in the advertisement and their use of the images.\nFindings: - Participants' used the models as a point of comparison. Participants primarily commented on their own weight relative to the thin models and expressed a need to lose weight to appear like them. With two categories of advertisements depicting average weight models participants noted that the model appeared realistic. However, they did not draw comparisons between themselves and these models.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Young adults do make comparisons between themselves and models used in fashion advertising. These comparisons were primarily downward. Use of average-sized models may not be a solution to negative impacts on body image, as these participants did not make use of the average-sized models as a point of comparison.\nOriginality/value: - Young women do compare themselves with models used in advertising. They recognize average weight women in advertising but do not make the same types of comparisons with these models, suggesting that the use of average weight models may be a solution to advertising's impact on developing negative body images in young adults.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender wage differential in private and public sector employment: A distributional analysis for Mauritius	[ "Labour market", "Gender discrimination", "Women workers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One important fact about women in the labour market is the significant and persistent gender wage differential (Albanesi and Olivetti, 2007). Existing evidence has shown that the magnitude of the gender wage gap is generally not constant across the entire wage distribution (Carrillo et al., 2013). In particular, the presence of \"glass ceilings\" reveals a larger gender wage gap among workers earning relatively high wages, whilst the existence of \"sticky floors\" suggests the opposite (Booth et al., 2003; Arulampalam et al., 2007; Kee, 2006). Several studies have focused on the gender wage differential, to explain why women get paid less than men in different countries across time (Altonji and Blank, 1999). Most of these studies have attempted to explain whether gender wage disparities arise either in the distribution of personal characteristics or discriminatory remuneration of identical characteristics (Picchio and Mussida, 2010). Another dimension to the gender wage gap is to consider the way in which the relative wages of men and women vary across sectors. The mean gender wage gap is considerably smaller in public-sector jobs (Arulampalam et al., 2007; Gregory and Borland, 1999; Gunderson, 1989), while the distribution of relative wages varies intensely across other sectors (Arulampalam et al., 2007; Kee, 2006).\n2. Literature review: Gender wage differential is analysed through several aspects such as human capital characteristics, demographic factors and work-related characteristics (Mincer, 1974). Furthermore, Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973) analyse gender wage disparity through the human capital model, whereby differences in wages are explained by differences in observed (explained) or unobserved (unexplained) characteristics of human capital variables such as level of experience, tenure, education, effort, discrimination and age, amongst others. Along the same line, Glinskaya and Mroz (2000) categorise gender wage gap into two themes: first through Smith's theory[1] (Smith, 1776) of equalising differences also known as the compensatory difference and second females are discriminated and earn less than males, despite possessing the same abilities and perform similar tasks. Gender wage discrimination is also explained by the fact that the output value of women is less compared to their male counterparts (Richardson, 1984). Further, it is argued that females, in general, earn less than males, as they often possess less experience due to career interruptions arising from family responsibilities. Women tend to be motivated towards family needs which reduce the effort that they exert in their job compared to men who are much more motivated towards economic needs such as higher wages and better career prospects (Beauregard, 2007). Similarly, Bertrand et al. (2009) argue that mothers tend to slowdown within few years following their first child birth, resulting in lower tenure. Hence, women returning to their employer get lower chances of promotion, thus leading to lower wages (Nordman and Roubaud, 2005).\n3. The Mauritian wage structure in public and private sectors: The Mauritian economy is one of the fastest growing in Sub-Saharan Africa and is classified by the World Bank as an upper middle-income economy. Like many developing economies, Mauritius depends highly on its labour force. In particular, female labour force participation has been increasing over the years from 177,800 in 2003 to 195,300 in 2007 and 234,500 in 2012 (Statistic Mauritius, 2012). However, the unemployment rate of women (11.3 per cent for female relative to 5.6 per cent for male) has more than double relative to men with the male-female unemployment gap widening over the years. Women are also less economically active compared to men. They are mostly concentrated in low-wage and unskilled sectors, and in all sectors, wage differential between women and men still persists (Gokulsing and Tandrayen-Ragoobur, 2014).\n4. Data and methodology: 4.1 Data\n5. Findings: 5.1 Descriptive statistics\n6. Conclusion and policy recommendations: The main aim of the paper was to investigate the gender wage differential across the public and private sectors in a small island developing economy. The gender wage differential in the public and private sectors is also examined across the wage distribution, so that the gender disparity is assessed using quantile regression. Further, applying the Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973) decomposition technique, gender wage differential is decomposed into explained and unexplained portions for both sectors. While there is an in-depth literature on the gender wage disparity for developed nations, the literature on the gender wage gap in Africa is small (Appleton et al., 1999). This study contributes to the existing literature by showing that although Mauritius has been considered as an outlier in the African continent in terms of economic performance, Mauritian women do not seem to have benefitted equitably from the development process because of labour market inequalities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the magnitude of the gender wage disparity in the public and private sectors in Mauritius across both mean differentials and overall wage distribution. The paper then decomposed the gender wage differential using the Oaxaca and Blinder (1973) decomposition technique.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses cross-sectional data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Budget Survey (CMPHS), from 2006 to 2013. The sample size on average is around 12,000 households surveyed per year.\nFindings: The results reveal that that gender wage differentials are prevalent in both economic sectors; however, the disparity is more pronounced in the private sector. In addition, the differences in wages are larger at the bottom compared to the top end of the wage distribution, suggesting the presence of sticky floors. Lastly, it was observed that the unexplained wage gap (discrimination) is higher in the private sector than in public sector across the years.\nOriginality/value: The literature on the gender wage gap in Africa is limited. This paper adds to the existing literature on gender wage differential with an analysis of the gender wage disparity across the public and private sectors in Mauritius.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Postponement strategy from a supply chain perspective: cases from China	[ "Supply chain management", "Information exchange", "Supplier relations", "China" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Postponement is defined as a strategy that intentionally delays the execution of a task, instead of starting it with incomplete or unreliable information input (Yang et al., 2004a). It is widely used by many industrial giants, such as Xilinx, HP, Mars, Motorola, Toyota, Gillette, Benetton (Brown et al., 2000; Peter, 1992; Van Hoek, 2001; Yang et al., 2004a). The reasons underlying the use of postponement and how to implement it successfully have been of great interest to many researchers (Appelqvist and Gubi, 2005; Aviv and Federgruen, 2001; Bucklin, 1965; Bowersox and Closs, 1996; Van Hoek, 2001; Su et al., 2005). These studies initially focused on building theories on postponement from a single company's perspective, but have expanded to include the use of postponement on a supply chain level (Huang and Lo, 2003; Nair, 2005; Pagh and Cooper, 1998; Yang and Burns, 2003). In this context, research topics have addressed the relationship between manufacturer and downstream companies (Cvsa and Gilbert, 2002; Wouters et al., 1999), full supply chain integration (Ernst and Kamrad, 2000; Mikkola and Skjott-Larsen, 2004), and coordination of postponement and other supply chain strategies (Van Hoek, 2000; Waller et al., 2000; Yang et al., 2005a).Postponement strategy has been widely applied across the world. In the literature, for instance, there are postponement studies focusing on the fast moving commercial goods in Italy (Battezzati and Magnani, 2000), the supply chain producing mobile phones in Denmark (Catalan and Kotzab, 2003), the information technology industry in Taiwan (Chiou et al., 2002), the manufacturing procedure in Poland (Kisperska-Moron, 2003), and the bicycle industry in the USA (Randall and Ulrich, 2001); but Chinese applications of postponement still need further study.This research will extend the investigation of postponement application into mainland China by empirically examining how Chinese manufacturers adopt postponement as a supply chain strategy, based on eight cases in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), including the cities of Dongguan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhongshan in Gong Dong province. Besides examining the application of postponement strategy, the objective of this paper is also to classify varying typologies of postponement applications, and derive some postulations for future testing.This paper is structured as follows. Firstly various types of postponement and underlying determinants are reviewed in the literature. Secondly, the data collection is described, followed by within - and across-case analyses and comparisons. This results in a classification of five postponement practices according to the supply chain structure and information sharing and relationship practices. Next, a number of research propositions are postulated for further empirical testing, based on the cases studied. Finally, conclusions are listed and areas for future research identified.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Definitions of postponement\n3 Data collection and case analyses: In this research, postponement strategy is extended to its application on a supply chain level, culminating in a classification of postponement strategies and the building on research propositions based on supply chain characteristics. A grounded theory building approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) is used, with case studies as the principles of theory building (Eisenhardt, 1989; McCutcheon and Meridith, 1993; Miles and Huberman, 1994; Wu and Choi, 2005; Yin, 1994). Next, the data collection method is discussed, followed by the case descriptions and cross-case comparisons.3.1 Sampling and data collection\n4 Research propositions: The above case analyses demonstrates that, besides market environment and product and process characteristics, the supply chain structure and supplier-manufacturer-customer relationship do influence the postponement strategy as well.The following two propositions sum up our findings:P1. When a supply chain has a balanced structure, it should use speculation or production postponement.In the balanced supply chain structure, no single actor is significantly more powerful than any other actor. In order not be \"locked\" in by a specific partner and losing business opportunities and/or bargaining power, a company will not tailor their processes for a specific partner. However, the key concept of postponement is to produce based on actual orders instead of forecasts, and this requires a close relationship between partners. As such, the required information exchange to facilitate postponement may be more difficult to emerge in a balanced supply chain structure.Information flow is very important in a balanced structure. Based on customers' POS information, demand forecast, production plan, etc.; manufacturers can schedule their production plans prior to coordinating with customers' orders. If such information is absent, it will be very difficult to implement postponement, resulting in speculative decision making, as is the case in ATM and plastic doll. We note that boot has a similar supply chain structure as ATM and plastic doll, except for the fact that boot and its customers deploy two-way intensive information sharing. This makes postponement possible, but for some reason boot does not share its information with suppliers, so they cannot adjust their supply to requirements of the production process. If boot were to fully postpone its production, and therefore keep its inventory solely in raw material format, it is possible that they may not get the required raw material from suppliers and hence are unable to deliver the customer final products in time. As such, the best solution is to use production postponement and keep inventory in semi-finished goods, which can be finalized very quickly.In the cases described above, one could argue whether it is the information exchange that impacts the feasibility of postponement or balance in the supply chain structure. This is a discussion along the line of the \"chicken and the egg, which comes first?\" which may not be easily resolved. Yet in our study, the focus is on the underlying supply chain structure with the observation that in the cases described under a balanced structure, this required information exchange (with either customers or suppliers) was absent:P2. When the supply chain has an unbalanced structure, it should use purchasing postponement or product development postponement.The unbalanced supply chain is characterized by a leading company who has more power than other companies in the supply chain. In order to improve efficiency and provide a high service level, the leading company often demands other companies to tailor their production process and share information. As such, it is easier to build close relationships in an unbalanced structure than it is in a balanced one. This makes high degree postponement possible and suitable.If a manufacturer produces for a sole customer, it is obvious it will tailor its production process to the specific requirements of that customer. The manufacturer can therefore produce based on the customer's actual demand instead of an imprecise forecast, alleviating the need to keep semi-finished inventories to balance uncertainty. Instead, they will fully postpone the production process and only keep raw material inventory. When the products include many parts and are customized, making the production process complex; the manufacturer needs to invest in information sharing to support postponement (i.e. MP3 case). On the other hand, when products are fairly standard with a relative simple production process, the manufacturer might not need to invest in information sharing (i.e. soft toy case).When the manufacturer is in a more powerful position, customers have two choices: they either share information intensively with manufacturers, which in turn can help them better coordinate their production plan (i.e. hair dryer and shaver-cases); or do not invest in information sharing but accept a long production lead time (i.e. shirt-case). In both situations, manufacturers can reduce cost and risk by only keeping raw material inventory and delaying other required procurement until demand is known. On the upstream part of the supply chain, manufacturers can easily find substitutes in the open market, so there is no need to build close relationships with suppliers. As such, when a manufacturer dominates in the supply chain, it should use purchasing postponement.Shaver, just like Nike, is not your traditional manufacturer. They do not produce themselves, but instead design products and then outsource the production function. Such a virtual supply chain is characterized by many suppliers and customers, organized through projects, and generally not exhibiting long-term relationships. Each partner in the virtual supply chain has an advanced information system which supports intensive information sharing. Such a virtual supply chain is also unbalanced as the organizer is more powerful than the other partners. It delays the whole process of design, sourcing, production, etc. until receipt of a customer order. Virtual supply chains often face high uncertainties, and it is difficult to finalize product specifications beforehand, making the design become quickly obsolete. In product development postponement, all production activities are driven by actual information. This will lead to a vast reduction in costs because of fewer re-designs. As such, virtual supply chains should use product development postponement.\n5 Conclusions and areas for future research: Postponement is a widely used manufacturing strategy, used on a company level based on market environment and product and production characteristics. This research has extended the scope of the use of postponement by addressing how the generic supply chain structure and information sharing/relationship among supply chain actors affects the postponement decision, based on empirical data of Chinese manufacturers in the PRD.First, supply chain characteristics (OCOL, OCOC, OCMC, OLML, FCFC, FLFL, OLOC and FCFC) were determined for eight manufacturers in China. A cross-case analysis including study of the downstream structure, downstream relationship, upstream structure, upstream relationship, production method and inventory position produced a postponement classification into five categories: balanced structure without customer information; customer dominated; manufacturer dominated; balanced structure with loose suppliers, and finally virtual supply chain. Based on this classification, two propositions are postulated for the use of postponement, based on the balanced or unbalanced structure of the supply chain.This study is merely exploratory in its methodology, and requires further work. First of all, more empirical data is needed to further validate the postulated results. This may be done through further more in-depth case field research, and future survey work of supply chains in China and on a global scale. Another limitation of the study is in its measurement of postponement, measured in this instance by the production method and inventory positions used. Other characteristics of postponement may be included in future research. Third, a framework needs to be developed to explain the antecedents and consequences of using postponement in a particular supply chain environment. The postulated propositions and classification derived in this paper could serve as a starting point. Last, but not least, more work is needed to better understand the relationship and interaction among postponement and other management practices such as just-in-time, total quality management, VMI, and risk management.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research widens the scope of the use of postponement by addressing how the generic supply chain structure and information sharing/relationship among supply chain actors affects the postponement decision, based on empirical data of Chinese manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Case analysis, cross-case comparisons, semi-structured interviews.\nFindings: - A cross-case analysis including study of the downstream structure, downstream relationship, upstream structure, upstream relationship, production method and inventory position produced a postponement classification into five categories: balanced structure without customer information; customer dominated; manufacturer dominated; balanced structure with loose suppliers, and finally virtual supply chain. Based on this classification, two propositions are postulated: when a supply chain has a balanced structure, it should use speculation or production postponement. When the supply chain has an unbalanced structure, it should use purchasing postponement or product development postponement.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study is exploratory in nature, and more empirical data is needed to further validate the postulated results. Another limitation of the study is in its measurement of postponement, measured in this instance by the production method and inventory positions used. Other characteristics of postponement may be included in future research.\nPractical implications: - This research has extended the scope of the use of postponement by addressing how the generic supply chain structure and information sharing/relationship among supply chain actors affects the postponement decision.\nOriginality/value: - Addresses postponement on the level of the supply chain, rather than company-level. Addresses how the supply chain structure (balanced/unbalanced) and information sharing/relationship among supply chain actors affect the postponement decision.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding CSR from the perspective of Chinese diners: the case of McDonald's	[ "China", "Corporate social responsibility", "Perception", "Corporate strategy", "Consumer behaviour", "Restaurants" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For most ordinary consumers, it may be hard to clearly define or explain the \"vague and intangible\" (Font et al., 2012, p. 1,544) term corporate social responsibility (CSR). But when it is linked to a specific real-world brand, consumers hold their own perception (which can be considered the brand's CSR image) of whether the brand is socially responsible, with some \"shortcut\" judgments. For example, when a class of Chinese college students was asked, \"what is the first brand you can think of being socially responsible\", the answer was one which donated the largest sum of money to the earthquake-hit victims in Sichuan, China, in 2008; and they did not know much about the operations or corporate governance of the company. Obviously, CSR as a multi-dimensional construct should be much more than a charity donation. But to the students, it was how their perceptions of CSR were formed. They also had a very positive attitude toward this brand.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 The concept of CSR\n3. Methodology: 3.1 McDonald's as the subject brand\n4. Results: 4.1 Profile of the sample and their dine-out behaviors\n5. Discussions and conclusions: This study is about CSR in the fast food industry from the perspective of Chinese consumers. Findings from the study show that the Chinese fast food diners expect socially responsible restaurants to ensure nutrition of products and to protect the well-being of customers. In the case of McDonald's, these should be the first priority in building up a CSR brand image among Chinese customers. Although one may argue that consumers should not expect nutritious food products from fast food outlets, restaurant companies must show their concerns about the well-being of customers. In fact, in McDonald's sustainability report, the company put \"nutrition and well-being\" as the first focus area of CSR. Moreover, food safety is currently the primary interest for most Chinese consumers who have gone through the confidence crisis in food industry since 2008 when a well-known milk powder producer was found to illegally lace it with melamine (Anonymous, 2013). It is natural that consumers pay the most attention to receiving healthy and safe products and so they rate this focus area as the most important in forming a CSR image. Therefore, CSR-conscious restaurant companies are suggested to \"do your own business well\" and focus on developing and providing healthy and safe products.\n6. Limitations and future research: There are several limitations in the study. First the study sample is a convenient one. The data collection time was during winter and during holiday seasons. Respondents dining out during this period may not represent the other diners. Second, as the study was done on the consumers from only one single area of China, the findings should be generalized cautiously. The same research can be done with Chinese consumers from other areas to verify the findings revealed in this study. For future research, more extensive studies on the topic of CSR from perspectives of different stakeholders (e.g. employees, local communities and government, etc.) are in need in China. From the perspective of consumers, a CSR measurement scale can be developed and tested among Chinese consumers, as almost all the existing CSR definitions and measurements were of European and American origins. As stated earlier, the concept of CSR is culture-specific. Expectations and perceptions of Chinese consumers are different from those of foreign consumers. Impacts of CSR perceptions on purchase behaviors may also be different between Chinese consumers and consumers of other cultures. Hence, cross-cultural studies on CSR could be a meaningful research direction in the future. Meanwhile, the author argues that consumers' expectations of CSR in different industries vary. Research on CSR of other hospitality and tourism sectors such as hotels and travel agency should also be conducted in China to explore what CSR activities consumers expect the corporates to conduct and where to focus their efforts on.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The study aims to explore the expectations and perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies among Chinese fast-food diners, and to investigate the relationships among CSR strategies, consumer satisfaction and customer loyalty behaviors. Chinese diners' knowledge about a real world brand's CSR activities was also investigated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Setting the research context on the fast food industry in China and selecting McDonald's as the subject brand, a survey study was conducted in a Southern Chinese mid-scale city. A convenience sample of 320 was withdrawn, and the data were analyzed with SPSS 18.0.\nFindings: Results from the study show that the Chinese fast food diners expect restaurant companies to attach more importance to \"(product) nutrition and well-being (of customers)\" and \"environment sustainability\" to be considered socially responsible. CSR performance was found to be the most influential factor in the consumers' loyalty behaviors compared to customer satisfaction with service, product and the total visit experience. The study also found that many of McDonald's CSR activities were unknown to the Chinese respondents.\nOriginality/value: China is an attractive market to most global companies including fast food chain companies. Understanding Chinese diners' expectations and perceptions toward companies' CSR strategies will contribute to the success rate of companies operating in China. In addition, by using a real-world brands as the research context, the study tries to avoid perception bias of respondents due to the different interpretations of CSR in different organizations and industries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Environmental literacy of business students in Ghana	[ "Sustainability", "Ghana", "Higher education", "Business students", "Environmental literacy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The environment provides the materials and energy required to meet the basic needs and desires of individuals and society. All sustainable human activities depend on a healthy and productive environment (Roth, 1992). Decisions that are made daily by individuals, corporations and society in, at least, one of the several activities they pursue affect the health and productivity of the environment either positively or negatively. Environmental degradation and pollution, which are the negative consequences of human activities on the environment, are prominent and visible in society at present. Their impact on the economy, society and livelihood cannot be underestimated. Currently, organisations are under pressure to protect the environment for sustainable livelihood and increased productivity. The care for the environment will reduce environmental cost incurred by organisations and enhance the image of these organisations.\nLiterature review: The negative impacts of human activities on the environment, such as environmental degradation and climatic change, has been one of the major challenges ever faced by humanity and businesses (Lillah, 2011), and issues concerning this are expected to grow because of growth in population and technology. It is therefore imperative that individuals and businesses make decisions and choices that will ensure a productive and sustainable environment and hence a sustainable human society.\nMethodology: Sample, data collection and research instrument\nDiscussion of results: Descriptive statistics\nConclusions: A key objective of this present study was to ascertain the level of environmental literacy among business students in UGBS. With an overall mean score of 3.01, it can be concluded that the level of environmental literacy among business students is relatively similar to the case of Malaysia in Joseph et al.'s (2013) study. In all, respondents were more familiar with the CSR term, which recorded the highest mean, whereas water use, waste management, global warming and renewable and non-renewable natural resources terms recorded scores above the overall mean score. The scores for these terms are not surprising, as they are commonly used in most discussions compared to other terms such as carbon offset, eco label and carbon footprint.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study examines the multidimensionality of the environmental literacy concept among university business students in Ghana. The study also investigates the relationship between students' interests in environmental issues and knowledge levels of environment and assesses how these two constructs influence students overall environmental behaviour and actions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a total of 591 business students from the University of Ghana Business School, the study uses exploratory factor analysis to examine the multidimensionality of environmental literacy concept. A structural equation modelling-based approach was used to examine the relationship among the study constructs.\nFindings: Based on the factor analysis results, the study documents that environmental literacy concept can be grouped under four distinct factors (general environmental factors; industry-related factors; environmental assessment factors; and accounting-related factors). The regression results indicate a direct and positive relationship between students' interest in environmental issues and their environmental literacy level. Also, students' interest and their knowledge levels of environmental issues were found to be good predictors of actual students' involvement in activities that promote sustainable environment.\nResearch limitations/implications: The conclusions of the study are based on only data from one public university, which limits the generalizability of the findings.\nOriginality/value: The study is unique as it is the first empirical study to investigate environmental literacy levels in higher education in the Ghanaian setting.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is feedback the real difference between men and women? How females can be held back doing what they do best	[ "Leadership", "Managers", "Gender", "Women executives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Are the old barriers finally coming down? With the first black US President, the first female vice-presidential running mate, several countries being run by women, a black Formula 1 world champion and more and more gay people emerging in sport, entertainment and the business world, it is tempting to say the gender battles have been won. But for some, the fight has only just begun.\nUtopia, Inc.: Extrapolating these conclusions uses complex links, assumptions and theories, and is better explained by using a fictional firm, Utopia, Inc. Gender is a multinational conglomerate with several subsidiaries all over the world in the service sector. It has a traditional hierarchy, but in recent years it has hired management consultants and adopted the latest thinking in leadership studies to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of its managers. In its New York office, it has hired two new senior vice-presidents to manage teams of 100 or so employees, Margaret and Tony. Both take office on 1st January 2009.Utopia has read that the most effective style of management for the firm is transformational management, where leaders listen and learn carefully to the needs of their employees, try to stimulate creativity, engender trust and admiration and also motivate their followers. These four areas must be followed through and one of the spin-offs is that employees will feel an enhanced feeling of \"occupational self-efficacy\" (Schyns et al., 2008).Occupational self-efficacy (OCCSEFF) will be enhanced by the transformational style of management, and this is important as transformational management has been shown to suit female characteristics more closely, and OCCSEFF - defined by Schyns et al. as \"the conviction that one is able to successfully execute a certain behaviour\" - is known to be a main constituent of enhanced job performance. It is not surprising, then, that Utopia goes for this style of leadership, and should also expect great things from the female manager Margaret.\nRole reversal: The year starts well at Utopia, with both divisions performing well for the first two quarters. In July the first leadership performance reviews are held, but despite similar performance Tony emerges from the meetings energized and confident, while Margaret is a tad jaded and under whelmed by her feedback. They go back to their teams with different demeanors, and this starts to have positive and negative effects on their divisions' respected performances.What happened? It could be that a complicated chain of events has occurred to effectively create a role reversal that has marginalized the very person it was hoped it would empower: the female leader. The theory goes like this: while women are expected to use feedback to enhance and improve their self-efficacy as they tend to enact it more readily, men have lower expectations under the transformational management model. Consequently, feedback given to them may differ despite equal performance, and they may not be rewarded for exhibiting female traits in their management style, whereas men are seen as breaking the mould of they operate within it. In our example, the male-dominated Board of Utopia could be impressed by Tony's feminine approach and praise him accordingly, while Margaret merely meets expectations, and her leadership role presents the Board with an uncomfortable quandary - is Margaret a successful leader (and so not quite fitting in with their female stereotype) or a stereotypical female (and so not fitting in with their idea of a successful leader).\nThree cases: To explore this phenomena in more detail, we can consider three case studies that have been researched recently to discover what dynamics are operating in this area:* In a study of German students, women preferred the charisma style of management typical of transformational management techniques, while both men and women would feel equally competent in discharging this style of leadership.* In an OCCSEFF field study in The Netherlands, UK and Germany, employees rated females higher than males for charismatic leadership, while the idea that the effect of transformational leadership on OCCSEFF was moderated by gender was not supported. Furthermore, there was no difference in the way men and women rated themselves as effective leaders.* In another German study, the results confirmed most of the above studies' findings, with the implication that female managers have less OCCSEFF through their efficiency than their male counterparts, possibly due to a lack of feedback in circumstances where they should expect more.While more research is necessary in this area, it is evident that the hypothetical Utopia, Inc could run into problems with its female leaders being stifled of feedback and not having the confidence to boost flagging OFFSECC with high self-ratings of competency in the job. The future, then, could look bleak for the Margarets of this world, while the Tonys continue to fill the majority of chairs round the Board table.\n360deg Feedback?: The above examples show that while the battle may be won for equality in the work place, ensuring it is enacted is a much more complex problem, and the needs of female employees need to be taken further into account. This includes giving more feedback, not less, where transformational styles of management are to the fore, and managing expectations so that managers are not put at a disadvantage, whatever system is in place.What is also worrying is that women, if they do not rate themselves more highly in terms of competence, may suffer a low OCCSEFF and deter them from breaking the proverbial glass ceiling. If the gender war is to truly be won, these self-defeating situations need to be broken completely for true equality to break out in the workplace.\nComment: The article \"Is there a male advantage in the effects of feedback and leadership on leaders occupational self-efficacy?\" by Birgit Schyns et al., (Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 27 No. 7, pp. 596-612, 2008) provides a multi-layered, complex view of the way females operate in leadership positions, and helps greatly with understanding of the background issues that could cloud their performance. The authors recognize the need for more study in this area, particularly with a wider sample, however there does seem to be a lack of acknowledgment of the potential effects the race, geography and cultural dynamics could have had in the three case studies which all took place in Western Europe.\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: - Are the old barriers finally coming down? With the first black US President, the first female vice-presidential running mate, several countries being run by women, a black Formula 1 world champion and more and more gay people emerging in sport, entertainment and the business world, it is tempting to say the gender battles have been won. But for some, the fight has only just begun.\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" } ]
Digital preservation of law reviews: Two ways	[ "Digital preservation", "Digital archives", "Digitization", "Digital asset management", "Law reviews", "Legal scholarship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Law libraries are increasingly faced with the challenge of developing preservation strategies for digital content often in conjunction with digital library development efforts. Too often, these activities are done separately, which can increase the time commitment and expense of these projects. To make the process more efficient, digital asset management and preservation work can be integrated, allowing libraries to simultaneously build digital collections and process preservation-quality content for archival purposes.\nThe law review preservation program: In 2010, Legal Information Preservation Alliance (LIPA) launched the Law Review Preservation Program, an initiative which archives law reviews hosted on the Bepress DC platform in Controlled LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) or CLOCKSS. In July 2016, LIPA renewed its contract with Bepress, extending the Law Review Preservation Program for another three years.\nThe Submission Information Metadata Packaging Tool: For law libraries utilizing other DAMS/Preservation systems, The SIMP Tool can be used to integrate a DAMS/preservation workflow. SIMP is a web-based, modular, scalable and platform-agnostic application. It can also be configured to integrate with an organization's user authentication system, streamlining staff workflows between collaborating departments. The modular design is functional on many platforms, allowing law libraries the flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing environment of digital library development and the evolving nature of digital preservation systems.(Neatrour et al., 2014).\nConclusion: Today, Law libraries digitizing their law reviews can easily integrate preservation strategies into existing workflows. LIPA's Law Review Digital Preservation Program offers seamless integration with DC/CLOCKSS. This solution works best for law libraries already subscribed to DC and requires no extra cost or personnel resources. For law libraries using other systems, the SIMP Tool is freely available, open source and adaptable to any systems combination. This solution works best for law libraries without a subscription to DC but who may already have some technological infrastructure and personnel dedicated to digital publishing of law reviews. With the plethora of tools currently available, there can longer be any reasonable justification for delaying preservation efforts for law reviews.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper will aim to explain two strategies for digital preservation of law reviews, informing law librarians of the options which might best suit their needs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: On November 7, 2008, the Durham Statement on Open Access to Legal Scholarship was released to the public. One of its main tenets - that law schools and libraries \"stop publishing journals in print format and rely instead on electronic publication coupled with a commitment to keep the electronic versions available in stable, open, digital formats\" - was an open call to law libraries to start thinking about digital preservation strategies for their law reviews. The Legal Information Preservation Alliance responded to the need by developing the Law Review Preservation Program, an initiative, which archives law reviews hosted on the Bepress Digital Commons (DC) platform in Controlled LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) or CLOCKSS.\nFindings: For those law libraries without subscriptions to DC, there is an open-source, freely available alternative solution for ingesting digital law reviews into any preservation platform. This application, called the Submission Information Metadata Packaging, or SIMP tool was developed at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah, initially as a solution for ingesting content into the Ex Libris Rosetta Digital preservation platform, as part of a CONTENTdm digital asset management workflow. Though the development of the SIMP tool was inspired by Marriott's need to ingest digital files from CONTENTdm to Rosetta, they built it to work with any Digital Asset Management System and Digital preservation platform.\nOriginality/value: Digital Preservation of law reviews is in its infancy. This is one of the first articles of its kind to provide specific solutions and technical advice for law libraries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Use of social network sites by mass media organisations in Malawi	[ "Social networking sites", "Mass media", "Mass media organizations", "Benefits", "Challenges", "Malawi" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social network sites (SNSs) are applications that enable users to connect by creating personal information profiles, inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those profiles and sending e-mails and instant messages between each other (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Similarly, Tredinnick (2006) defines SNSs as those sites driven by user-participation and user-generated content. These definitions highlight the central philosophy behind SNSs which is self-disclosure, described by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) as the conscious or unconscious revelation of personal information, for example feelings, thoughts, likes, and dislikes. Waters et al. (2009) agreed that relationships are the foundation for SNSs and found that non-profit organisations capitalise on this personal approach by using social media to streamline their management functions, interact with volunteers and donors, and educate others about their programmes and services.\nBackground to the study: The focus of this study was on the mass media organisations in Malawi. Media is a collective term for television, radio, cinema and the press (Crystal, 1995). In this particular case, the study included television stations, radio stations, and institutions that publish newspapers and magazines in Malawi.\nLiterature review: SNSs have become the most popular mode of communication among web users. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) quoting a Forester research stated that 75 per cent of surfers used social media in the second quarter of 2008 which represented a significant rise from 56 per cent in 2007. Although it is certainly clear that large numbers of people are using SNSs, it is extremely difficult to determine the exact number of users because the numbers keep rising each and every day. A study by Waters et al. (2009), for instance, has indicated that an average of 250,000 people register to use Facebook daily. This huge surge of numbers has made Facebook the leading SNS. Baird and Parasnis (2011) have indicated that by March 2010 Facebook had more than 500 million active users, with 70 per cent of these residing outside the USA. Other popular SNSs are Myspace, Twitter, Linked In, etc. In comparison with other countries, Malawi has few users of SNSs. By June 2011, the country had 176, 520 Facebook users (Internet World Statistics, 2010). The low usage of SNSs could be attributed to poor ICT infrastructure (Mutula, 2008). However, the advent of WAP enabled mobile phones has greatly improved chances of people accessing internet through them hence greatly improving the prospects of having greater numbers of people using SNSs in future.\nPurpose of this study: The literature review has shown that the number of individuals that are using SNSs particularly Facebook has increased tremendously over the past few years. Although SNSs are beginning to have other uses, the most popular function which they serve is to connect different individuals. SNSs have proved to be a valuable resource but they also have their own challenges for both individuals and organisations. It is, therefore, important that they are used properly if they are to bring the desired results.\nResearch aims and research questions: The study was aimed at investigating the extent of use of SNSs by mass media organisations in Malawi. The research questions were as follows:\nResearch design: The study was a survey that was carried out amongst mass media organisations in Malawi. It mainly employed quantitative methods. The total study population was 31. The study population was determined by using a list of licensed electronic mass media organisations from the MACRA, and the inclusion of the major print mass media organisations in Malawi for both newspapers and magazines. This ensured that both print and electronic media organisations were represented in the study thereby covering all players in the country's media industry.\nResults: Response rate\nDiscussion: This section discusses the findings of the study in relation to the research questions posed in the methodology.\nConclusion and further research: Social media and what it can do in the life of individuals and organisations both commercial and non-commercial, has been a source of excitement among many social scientists. However, a quick look at the literature documenting the studies that have already been done indicates that many of these studies have overlooked use of SNSs amongst mass media organisations both locally and internationally. The present study was, therefore, undertaken with the aim of closing this gap.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social networking sites (SNSs) by mass media organisations in Malawi.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research was a survey that was carried out amongst mass media organisations in Malawi. It mainly employed quantitative methods. Data were collected through a combination of mailed and self-administered questionnaires.\nFindings: The research established that SNSs were popularly used by mass media organisations in Malawi such that 20 (87 per cent) of the mass media organisations had SNS pages. Facebook was the most commonly used SNS although Twitter was also used. Mass media organisations benefited from using SNSs through increased listenership/readership, and soliciting of feedback which helped improve service offering. However, few mass media organisations registered increased business activity through the use of SNSs. Challenges associated with using SNSs were limited ICT penetration in Malawi, distraction of employees' attention at work, and there was also a concern that not many people interact on SNSs.\nResearch limitations/implications: Despite registering an overall high response rate of 74 per cent, the response rate amongst other media categories especially the community radio broadcasters was generally poor. In fact only one out of the four organisations responded to the questionnaires. This entails that the study may have not adequately presented a true picture of organisations within this category. So although the study findings reflect the prevailing situation amongst mass media organisations in Malawi in relation to their use of SNSs, they may not holistically apply to organisations within the community radio category.\nPractical implications: A number of studies have shown that radio listenership and television viewership are dwindling. At the same time, audiences and attention are shifting to online channels. This research, therefore, recommends that mass media organisations should continue using SNSs so as to capture this audience, and also to remain relevant in the modern society.\nOriginality/value: Being a relatively new area of research, the study has provided unique knowledge about the use, benefits and challenges of the application of SNSs among mass media organisations in Malawi. Consequently, this has brought to light the use of SNSs as an opportunity which other private and public institutions could take advantage of, as a means of enhancing their operations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking procurement functions: causes for superior performance	[ "Benchmarking", "Supply chain management", "Procurement", "Regression analysis", "Correlation analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Roughly over 60 percent of a company's spend amounts to procurement/supply chain management (SCM) expenses[1]. Especially, in competitive sectors and during recent crisis the strategic significance of this function cannot be denied, and lots of efforts are continuously put into practice to strengthen procurement units. In particular, benchmarking (BM) of operative and strategic tasks served as a powerful method to identify weak spots as well as procurement best practices, see, e.g. Youssef and Zairi (1996a), Le Sueur and Dale (1997), Homburg et al. (1997), Gilmour (1998), Andersen et al. (1990), Frehner and Bodmer (2000), Sanchez-Rodriguez et al. (2003), A.T. Kearney (2004), Aberdeen Group (2006), Saad and Patel (2006), Schuh et al. (2007), Wong and Wong (2008) or Raymond (2008).Often, time demands require a careful selection of approximately five BM partners with whom actual interviews are conducted - a number to small to really apply powerful statistical tools. The alternatives often are broad surveys of hundreds of companies where just some - more or less - specific questions are issued. Here, some middle way is discussed which allows the application of statistical methods such as regression analysis, to analyze causes and effects of best practice. See also Codling (1997) and Codling (1998) for a multidimensional analysis of benchmark findings and their incorporation into a company.We had been fortunate to execute a rather extensive individual BM project for an international automotive company, where, after a careful selection of possible cross industry BM partners, 14 highly recognized companies agreed to be interviewed (Brandmeier et al., 2008). The assessment type questionnaire guiding these interviews contained over 170 closed and open questions. This allowed us to apply evolved statistical methods and achieve sound cause and effect statements for the set-up of a tangible business plan. Thus, we intend to provide an extensive look into the data processing processes and how correlations and insights can be distilled from the information gathered by BM interviews.\n2 Research background and literature survey: Considering BM as the method of choice to determine procurement best practice is, for instance, confirmed by Sanchez-Rodriguez et al. (2003): this evaluation of over 300 companies shows a significant positive impact of BM on purchasing performance and an indirect positive effect on business performance. Raymond (2008) comes to the same conclusion with respect to public instead of private procurement. Moreover, Wong and Wong (2008) present a detailed literature survey on 16 research articles dealing with aspects of procurement best practice dating from 1995 to 2003. They also highly emphasize the requirement to analyze data from supply chain benchmarks in a rigorous way.The consequent next step is to ask, what the practices are that constitute a superior performing procurement unit and to validate these findings mathematically.Empirical studies show a huge bunch of different sometimes interwoven, sometimes clearly separated \"key\" features/levers that need to be strengthened in order to gain overall procurement success. Table I classifies some approaches to drive procurement to superior performance. Hereby, we classified the indicators given in the selected sources (Frehner and Bodmer, 2000; A.T. Kearney, 2004; Aberdeen Group, 2006; Schuh et al., 2007) according to six fields of excellence with cover all activities of a procurement function.At a first glance it is rather obvious, that every aspect counts. Following the combined guidelines of the research given in Table I and the previously discussed sources the procurement function needs to be perfect in any task operated and simultaneously guided by the most accurate strategy. Thus, it is reasonable to come back to the ground and ask what the really essential aspects of procurement success are. \"We do not need to measure everything that matters; we only need to measure the things that matter\" (Saad et al., 2005, pp. 383-97). Hence, are there a few key features of superior performance that should be known by any manger? Well, let us benchmark companies acknowledged for their procurement performance[2], gather the raw data and analyze them.\n3 Research methodology: The overall BM process conducted does not deviate from that of other studies, see Camp (1989) and, in particular, Brandmeier et al. (2008). That is to say, first the key issues where defined and the questionnaire developed and tested by company internal interviews[3] (Carpinetti and de Melo, 2002). Then, best practice companies were identified, selected and contacted; cf. Razmi et al. (2000) for guidelines for the identification/selection process of best practice BM partners. Third, the interviews were conducted at the locations of the BM partner. Usually, an interview took three to five hours whereby one to two members of the partner were interviewed by two members of the BM team (one asked the questions issued in the questionnaire and the other took notes on the answers[4]). Finally, the interesting work begins: the evaluation of the data received via the interviews.Here, a brief overview is provided on the questions/themes issued during the BM interviews, together with an evaluation methodology to end up with an unbiased numerical classification of the answers. Last, we define the excellence of a procurement function by means of their handling of 12 procurement levers. This setting will provide the ground for the mathematical analysis in Section 4.3.1 The questionnaire's internal structure\n4 Empirical results and analysis: Since the successful application of Gauss in 1801 linear regression/the least square method is a popular tool to fit empirical data to linear laws. In breve, given empirical variables X1, X2, ... one can construct a linear model Y=a+b1 X1+e or a multi-linear model Y=a+b1 X1+b2 X2+c+e with constant coefficients a, b1, b2, ... that governs the empirical realization. The condition under which this method can be applied to gain such correlation insights is that the error e which measures the deviation of the empirical data from the linear model is distributed normally.Figure 2 shows the key results of this section: the correlations between different features of the BM questionnaire. For instance, there is a high correlation between the \"use of procurement levers\" and \"integration\" of the procurement function within the company. In other words, this states, that the higher the integration of the procurement function is, the better is the degree of procurement lever application (Finding 1). The remaining correlations are summarized in the Findings 2-7.Though this would be enough to satisfy the requirements on any executive level, let us go one step back and discuss the evaluation of the raw data. The goal of this paper is to derive these cumulative findings step by step, despite the fact that, traditionally, the data basis to apply advanced statistical methods is rather small.The structure of this section is aligned with this quest for major correlations: first the use of procurement levers is examined, then that of cross-functional teams. The influence of changes of the procurement organization could not be decided, despite the fact that all top performing companies performed major changes of their procurement organizations during the last two years[16]. Finally, the consistency of the questionnaire is checked.As the number of observations is rather small we have to consider the influence of any outlying observations on the results of the linear model fit. In order to check the assumption made by fitting the multiple regression model estimated residuals are used[17]. The simplest and most useful possibility of checking these residuals is a normal probability plot of these ordered residuals. This so-called quantile-quantile (q-q) plot is a graphical technique for determining if two data sets come from populations with a common distribution and the normal probability plot assesses, whether or not a data set is approximately normally distributed (Fahrmeir et al., 2004, p. 490). This is an essential part of the mathematical methodology, as without a normal distribution of the data, the whole regression analysis is worthless.4.1 Effects on the use of procurement levers\n5 Resume: Throughout this paper, we have set-up a metric to measure procurement best practice by means of day-to-day tasks to be accomplished in order to select best suppliers and to implement cost cutting activities: the procurement levers. This metric was applied to reevaluate the performance indicators derived in earlier studies (as shown in Section 2). The results of the regression analysis were further clarified and condensed into six key characteristics of superior performance (Figure 2). Table XVI compares our finding to the studies cited in Section 2 and displays the overlap between the known indicators and our results.Though some intuitively plausible indicators for best practice identified in earlier studies could not been rediscovered. In particular, we mentioned the coherent formalization of a holistic procurement strategy and the structuring of the supplier portfolio. Concerning the still relative small data basis, these items should be clarified in further studies. Moreover, practical guidelines should be establishes to put these and further findings into actual procurement day-to-day practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding between procurement strategy, organization, processes, methods and tools, human resources, supplier management, and overall procurement success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In order to achieve the above-mentioned results, a holistic benchmark with highly recognized companies is conducted. Applying a cohesive questionnaire of open and closed questions, the paper covers all relevant aspects of procurement functions. Regression analysis is used to identify significant correlations.\nFindings: - The benchmarking (BM) proved the following significant success factors for the overall procurement process: use of cross-functional teams, high hierarchical positioning of the procurement function within the company, strong cooperation with other functions, training and development of the procurement personnel as well as supplier integration and continuous evaluation.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides the reader with sound evidence of how to improve the overall performance of procurement.\nOriginality/value: - The analytical results of the research rely on statistical/mathematical methodology to substantiate qualitative BM results.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The measurement of inequality in Fiji's household income distribution: Some empirical results	[ "Fiji", "Poverty", "Social policy", "Economic policy", "Income distribution", "Inequality" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Inequality has been broadly defined as the quality of being unequal or as the disparity in the distribution of opportunity. The economic analysis of inequality covers poverty and welfare that measures disparity between the percentage of population and the percentage of resources, such as income, consumption, other welfare indicator and the attributes of population (Atkinson, 1970, 1983; Sen, 1973). The issues of income distribution and wealth and the related phenomena of inequality and poverty range from inter-factoral distribution of a nation's output to that of income distribution of individuals or households (Chatterjee and Srivastav, 1992). Studies by Gini (1912), Lorenz (1905), Pigou (1912) and Dalton (1920) are some of the earlier work that examined issues of inequality and measurements of inequality.The measures of inequality can be used to determine the effectiveness of social and economic policies aimed at reducing inequality and to design intervention policies. The technical dimension of analysing inequality is concerned with the choice of an appropriate inequality measure in the states' distribution while the policy dimension relates to questions of social justice inherent in the given distributional states. This paper focuses on poverty reduction and welfare improving impacts of reducing income inequality in the case of Fiji. The empirical analysis involves examining inequalities in the distribution of household income per Adult Equivalent (AE) using data from Fiji's Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2002-2003. We utilise various statistical techniques to investigate the degree of inequality in household incomes. These include the Gini coefficient, the Nelson ratio, the concentration, and Atkinson index.A comprehensive analysis using several statistical techniques are applied to measure the level of inequality by:1. household and quintile incomes distribution; and2. decomposition of inequality by:* ethnicity (i.e. Fijians, Indo-Fijian, others) and regional groups (i.e. rural, urban);* household income inequality by source of income, i.e. income-factor components; and* the Atkinson's normative measure of inequality.The paper is a first study that estimates various measures of inequality in the case of Fiji. The paper is organised as follows: the next section provides a discussion on the theoretical aspects of measuring income inequality and the associated model specifications. The penultimate section presents the methodological approaches of income component decomposition, model specifications and the data categorisations used in this study. Empirical results are discussed followed by the conclusion in the final section.\nTheoretical aspects of measurement of income inequality: Many methods of measuring income inequality exists, all of which have some intuitive or mathematical appeal[1]. The literature notes that a satisfactory inequality measure must meet five key principles, which are the Pigou-Dalton transfer principle, population-size independence, decomposability, mean or scale independence, and anonymity (Cowell, 1985). The Pigou-Dalton transfer principle (also referred as the Pigou-Dalton condition, following the work of Pigou (1912), proposed by Dalton (1920) showed that inequality rises (or at least not fall) in response to a mean-preserving spread. Thus, an income transfer from a poorer individual (or group) to a richer individual (or group) should register as a rise (or at least not as a fall) in inequality and an income transfer from a richer to a poorer person (or group) should register as a fall (or at least not as an increase) in inequality.The second axiom, the population-size independence, requires the inequality indices to be invariant to replications of the population, for example, merging two identical distributions should not alter inequality. As such, an equi-proportionate change in the number of people or households in each group should have the index unchanged (Dalton, 1920). The third principle, the mean or scale independence axiom requires this inequality measure to be invariant to uniform proportional changes (Anand, 1983). In other words, if each individual's income changes (i.e. when changing the annual income to monthly or weekly income or currency unit changes) by the same proportion then inequality should not change.The principle of decomposability requires the overall inequality to be related consistently to the constituent parts of distribution, that is \"an inequality measure is said to be additively decomposable if the values of within-group and between-group inequality measures add up to that of the over-all measure\" (Chatterjee and Srivastav, 1992, p. 7). The anonymity principle (also referred as symmetry) requires the measure to be independent of any characteristics of the individuals other than their income or the welfare indicator whose distribution is being measured (Cowell, 1985).Therefore, in a given distribution of income, the degree of inequality can be viewed and estimated using positive and normative measures. The positive measure of income inequality involves measuring inequality without any reference to any notion of social welfare. Rather, a positive measure provides statistical information on what proportion of the population has what proportion of the income. Hence, Gini coefficient is perhaps one of the most used positive measures of inequality (Jenkins, 1991; Chatterjee and Srivastav, 1992; Cowell, 1995). Similarly, the Nelson index is also regarded as a positive measure of inequality. On the other hand, the normative measure starts from a formally derived social welfare function with the implications for welfare gains and losses resulting from changes to the degree of inequality. The Atkinson index is one of the normative measures that capture greater equality in the distribution of income as higher social welfare and vice versa (Atkinson, 1970). These measures of inequality are further discussed in detail.Positive measures: Gini coefficient and Nelson ratio\nTheoretical aspects of decomposition of the inequality measures: As the distributional inequalities in a given population have been noted, it is helpful to examine the inequality measure, which is decomposable into the components representing inequalities within the subgroups as well as between them. We present the theoretical aspects of decomposition within and between population groups followed by the decomposition by source of household income.Decomposition within and between population groups\nEmpirical results: In this section, we report the estimated results for the degree of income inequality in Fiji. The first measure refers to the positive measures within-group inequalities using the quintile income share and Nelson index. The second set of results examines the effects of between the population groups. We further report the results from the decomposition effects by income components and that for the normative measure of inequality, which is the Atkinson index.The within-group inequalities\nConclusion: This paper has examined, in positive and normative terms, the nature of Fiji's household income distribution in 2002-2003. The empirical results clearly establish that Fiji still has a long way to go in reducing the income gaps between the very rich and very poor in both rural and urban households. The implication of the empirical finding also suggests that Fiji is unlikely to achieve its MDG goal of halving poverty by 2015 due to the large income differentiates and inequality in the urban-rural areas.The urban households, in particular, endure greater inequalities, in both positive and normative terms. The distribution of income within urban households is also more unequal than in rural households given its high contribution level to total inequality. When comparing two major ethnic groups of Fiji, Indo-Fijian households experience greater income inequalities (both in positive and normative terms) than Fijian households. The overall Gini coefficient for the statistical population as a whole conceals glaring differences that still exist between the different population groups. The decomposition of the overall index into separate factor income components also indicates the major sources of inequality. In particular, it is seen that wages and salary contribute the most inequality enhancing effect in Fiji.Given the higher level of rural-urban migration due to expiry of land leases and larger squatter settlements in the urban areas in the post-2003 period, the income inequality of this group of people could lead to various socio-economic problems. Hence, as indicated by the findings, any long-term policies aimed at addressing income inequalities should take these factors into account. Based on a normative measure of inequality the findings highlight the importance of how real income is distributed which demonstrate the weakness of the argument often used by politicians and policy analysts that it is the \"size of the cake\", rather than how it is distributed that determines the economic welfare of society. Contributions to agriculture, business and investment from the low-income quintiles groups would remain a major cause of inequality for these categories. Occupational achievement and improving scare skills correlates with high income, as such opportunities should be created for all ethnicities and in all sectors. Policies need to be a sustained effort to make progress and focus on those groups with specific policies, area-based and for mainstream services.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Measures of inequality determine the effectiveness of social and economic policies aimed at reducing inequality and to design effective intervention policies. The purpose of this paper is to focus on poverty reduction and welfare improving impacts of reducing income inequality in the case of Fiji. Using Fiji's Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2002-2003, a comprehensive analysis is used to measure the level of inequality by household income, quintile income distribution, decomposition of inequality by ethnicity and regional groups, and the household income inequality by source of income.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Several statistical techniques have been applied to investigate the degree of inequality in the household income. These include the Gini coefficient, the Nelson ratio, the concentration index and the Atkinson index. An evaluation by ethnicity, regions and household income sources reflects the level of inequality, and concerns for policies and governance.\nFindings: - The results show that urban households, in particular, experience greater inequalities, in both positive and normative terms. The Indo-Fijian households experience greater income inequalities than the Fijian households. Decomposition results for the separate factor income components also indicate major sources of inequality. These findings clearly establish that Fiji still has a long way to go in reducing the income gaps between the rich and the poor in both rural and urban households.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is a first study that estimates various measures of inequality in the case of Fiji. The implication of the empirical findings suggests that Fiji is unlikely to achieve its Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty rate by 2015 due to the large income differentials by ethnicity and in the urban-rural areas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An innovative work behaviour-enhancing employability model moderated by age	[ "Competences", "Learning", "Employability", "Age", "Innovative work behaviour", "Small- and medium-sized enterprises" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Successful innovation is crucial in economic development (Autio et al., 2014) and it is generally acknowledged as a key factor in the competitiveness of nations and firms (James et al., 2013). According to West and Farr (1989), innovative work behaviour is \"the intentional creation, introduction and application of new ideas within a work role, group or organization, in order to promote role performance, the group, or the organization\" (Janssen, 2000, p. 288). In a similar vein, the more recent definition by Bos-Nehles et al. (2017, p. 382) who were inspired by Kleysen and Street (2001) and by Yuan and Woodman (2010) clearly demonstrated the importance of innovation for competiveness:\nMethods: Participants and procedure\nResults: Descriptive statistics and preliminary analyses\nDiscussion: In this study, we investigated the predictive validity of employability on innovative work behaviour by using a multi-source approach. The results demonstrated that self-rated employability correlated positively with supervisor-rated innovative work behaviour, and that supervisor-rated employability correlated positively with self-rated innovative work behaviour as well.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to empirically validate an innovative work behaviour-enhancing model of employability in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to examine possible moderating effects of age.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data have been collected from 487 pairs of employees and their immediate supervisors who worked in 151 SMEs. Structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used to investigate the predictive validity of employability on innovative work behaviour using a multi-source approach. The moderating effect of employee age on the relationship between, on the one hand, self-ratings and supervisor ratings of employability, and, on the other hand, innovative work behaviour has been tested using multi-group SEM.\nFindings: Results suggest that self-rated employability correlates positively with supervisor-rated innovative work behaviour, and that supervisor-rated employability correlates positively with self-rated innovative work behaviour. Age appeared to have a weak influence on the relationship between employability and innovative work behaviour; more specifically, in case of a higher age, the relationship was stronger.\nResearch limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design is a limitation of this study. Another limitation relates to the generalizability of the study findings outside the context in which the research has been undertaken. The relational meaning of employee age might be different in other cultures.\nPractical implications: Supervisors appear to play an essential role in providing an age-friendly working life for employees. Moreover, as SMEs often do not employ professionals to manage human resources, supervisors themselves have to carry the responsibility to encourage aging employees to develop themselves the enhancing innovative work behaviour.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to investigate the predictive validity of employability on innovative work behaviour and the effects of age on this relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How might your staff react to news of an institutional merger? A psychological contract approach	[ "Identity", "Psychological contract", "Further education", "Merger and acquisition" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper employs a survey-based evaluation approach using psychological contract to better understand staff/employees anxieties and reactions to merger and acquisition (M&A)[1] related organizational change (Brockner et al., 1992; Seo and Hill, 2005). M&A in the UK public and education sectors have increased dramatically in recent years (Searle and Ball, 2004; Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), 2007; Davies, 2011) with greater financial and organizational pressures to consolidate and share services (Davies, 2011). However, as we will see, many mergers crucially fail to get employees on board during the early stages of the change process. Reasons for typical early and later stage M&A failure from a human resource (HR) perspective include: a lack of shared trust and people integration within the newly merged organization; inefficient sharing and transfer of organizational knowledge; and problems resulting from the weak cultural fit, of two or more merging organizations (Armenakis and Harris, 2009; Azzone and Palerno, 2011). Employee reactions to M&A (regardless of industry sector) can lead to decreased organizational commitment and loyalty, as well as increased turnover intention and on-going productivity problems (Bellou, 2007; Arshad and Sparrow, 2010). As a type of organizational change event, mergers are often associated with employee feelings of vulnerability and perceptions of job insecurity (Searle and Ball, 2004). We will explore some of these issues in the context of managing employee/staff relationships in the UK further education (FE) sector. This paper contributes to the literature by discussing case study findings and offering implications for managers, principals or heads of department dealing with organizational change in the FE education environments, as well as the wider public sector.\nLiterature review: Drawing upon psychological contract theory\nResearch methodology: Of the recent literature, some studies have adopted quantitative analyses: using t-tests and analysis of variance (Bellou, 2007, 2009); moderated regression analysis (Zagenczyk et al., 2009); uncovering patterns through latent cluster analysis (De Cuyper et al., 2011); understanding direct, indirect and partial mediating effects on psychological contract through structured equation modelling (Arshad and Sparrow, 2010). Other interpretive approaches have presented findings from interviews (Saunders and Thornhill, 2006; Cunningham, 2010; Seeck and Parzefall, 2010), focus groups (Cortvriend, 2004) and daily diaries (Benmore, 2002) to evaluate the impact of psychological contract. Guest and Conway (2002) in their major empirical study used a mixed methods approach, combining 80 interviews with descriptive statistics from over 1,300 senior managers.\nResults: Of the 562 questionnaires distributed to staff/employees at Acme College, 128 were returned giving a usable response rate of 22.7 per cent. A minority of 29 per cent respondents were male, whilst the majority, 71 per cent were female. 62.5 per cent of all employees surveyed self-reported as full-time staff (i.e. 37.5 hours per week). 37.5 per cent of respondents self-reported as part-time staff (0-37.5 hours per week). 47.6 per cent of respondents were learning and teaching staff (i.e. responsible for development, delivery of teaching and classes). 35.2 per cent were curriculum support (i.e. those assisting in learning and delivery, occasionally outside of class). Finally, 17.2 per cent were administration/support staff (i.e. not directly involved with learning and teaching delivery). Average length of service for all staff surveyed was 7.2 years.\nDiscussion: The purpose of this integrated discussion section (which includes results, comments/findings and literature) is to interpret the views and concerns of staff after merger announcement. The analysis of results, findings and integrated discussion is based on the central RQ:\nImplications for M&A: Need for effective managerial communication as part of merger change\nLimitations: Of course, a survey can really only represent a cross-sectional view of any organizational change process and, as such, cannot effectively capture a longitudinal sense of the changing employment relationship at different stages after M&A. Follow-up semi-structured interviews would have helped in this regard. However, it was not possible to carry out interviews at the time. Nevertheless, the use of open commentary sections in the questionnaire enables greater employee voice and contextualization of staff perceptions of obligations fulfilment at the point of \"merger announcement\". The applied theoretical contribution involves demonstrating a useable (psychological contract) survey evaluation approach that can be easily employed by other educational managers and providers.\nConcluding remarks: It has been possible to analyse the effects of the announcement of a new merger within an FE College using a survey method and self-reported scores relating to psychological contract. The evaluation approach extended the instrument of Bellou (2007) to allow the consideration of qualitative comments, in conjunction with t-test analyses of perceptual data. An advantage of considering qualitative comments was the ability to contextualize results and provide useful triangulation of t-test findings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of staff/employee (i.e. learning and teaching, curriculum support and administrative staff) perceptions, anxieties and worries about early merger change in the UK further education (FE) sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 128 out of 562 employees to examine perceptions of psychological contract (post-merger announcement) on an FE college in England. Paired t-tests were used to analyse quantitative data. Additionally, a content analysis of open-ended questions was incorporated as part of a combined methods survey evaluation approach for discussion and triangulation purposes.\nFindings: Quantitative results from t-tests showed there had been a decrease in the perception of fulfilled obligations in nine of the ten areas of the psychological contract. Qualitative results indicated that communications, job security and uncertainty were common negative outcomes post-merger announcement. Implications for education managers from the case study include: a need for improved organizational communication; developing trust and mentorship for greater employee support, as well as; promoting further employee training and new opportunities for teamwork.\nResearch limitations/implications: Psychological contract theories for evaluating organizational change are useful given the recent interest in sharing public services and institutional mergers in the UK. This research demonstrates the benefits of using psychological contract, as well as how to apply such an evaluation for understanding staff concerns.\nOriginality/value: The paper demonstrates a usable (psychological contract) survey evaluation approach for studying the impact of early merger change on staff in the FE, or higher education sectors in the UK (or elsewhere).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supplier collaboration practices: implications for focal firm innovation performance	[ "Environmental management", "Collaboration", "Supply chain management", "Performance analysis", "Innovation management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For contemporary firms, business practices related to supply management are not only an internal issue but also an issue regarding collaborative inter-firm networks - as inter-firm networks eventually determine the boundaries and opportunities of value creation and capture (Dyer and Singh, 1998). Developing long-term relationships and forming collaborative networks with strategically important suppliers has been a significant issue in supply chain management for years (Cousins et al., 2008; Mikkola and Skjott-Larsen, 2006). Lintukangas et al. (2013) stated that firms emphasising the role of supply management as one of the elements of competitive advantage are actively striving to foster better relationships with their suppliers. Collaboration has become particularly important, as knowledge and capabilities have become more dispersed in the network economy, and the business environment has become more volatile and competitive (Nix and Zacharia, 2014). Supply management in general has become an increasingly important success factor in many firms, and performance has improved significantly along with the recognition of the strategic nature of the function. Yeung (2008) found strategic supply management to be highly correlated with a firm's competitive advantage and business performance. Indeed, collaboration, networking and supplier relationship management are strategic issues of supply management and, thus, affect the firm's performance.\n2. Supplier collaboration practices: review of literature and hypotheses development: The supply management literature has placed an increasing emphasis on treating suppliers as strategic collaboration partners (Cousins et al., 2008). This view is grounded on the broader developments in management literature such as the relational view (Dyer and Singh, 1998) and a focus on firms' capabilities to manage their external B2B relationships (Moller and Torronen, 2003; Mitrega et al., 2012). Recently, an increasing emphasis has been put on suppliers as knowledge sources for innovation (Tether, 2002) and on their role as collaborative innovation partners (Chapman and Corso, 2005; Rosell and Lakemond, 2012).\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Discussion: Collaboration with suppliers is an important source of new ideas, which might lead to the development of improved and new products and services (Tether, 2002; Azadegan and Dooley, 2010) as well as more efficient value creation (Kahkonen, 2011; Kahkonen and Lintukangas, 2012). This study started with a review of supplier collaboration practices with potential implications for the focal firm's innovativeness. In particular, based on a survey study of 165 Finnish firms, the study examined the effect of green and ethical supply management, ESI, systemic purchasing and inter-firm learning on innovation performance.\n5. Conclusions: For the supply management literature, the results provide several implications. First, we provide an overarching view of the key supply collaboration practices that have been identified as important for providing insights to focal firm innovation. The empirical results of this study allow us to assess these together and to examine the relative importance of each practice. This provides insights especially into the literature on collaborative innovation with suppliers (Chapman and Corso, 2005; Rosell and Lakemond, 2012), in providing insights on which types of practices focal firm can use to boost its innovation outcomes. Second, our results provide implications for the literature examining capabilities in B2B relationships (Mitrega et al., 2012) by explicating the core dimensions of focal firm's capability portfolio to manage its supplier relationships in a way that potentially leads to innovation outcomes. In particular, we distinguish the company's commitment to the relationship, daily operations to maintain and manage buyer-supplier relationships, deep mutual trust, active communication and ethical behaviour towards its suppliers as essential features. Third, the study contributes to the research on sustainable supply chain management. Sustainability is still a relatively recent research area in the fields of supply chain management and supply management. By showing evidence that green and ethical practices in supplier collaboration lead to higher innovation performance of the focal firm, this study demonstrates an important linkage which deserves further scrutiny in research and practice. If and when sustainable practices can be translated to new ideas and improvements, possibilities for joint creation of economical, social and environmental value become more concrete.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Due to the increasing complexity in supply chains and networks, several key practices have been highlighted as beneficial for supply chain performance. However, it is less known whether adopting such practices affects the innovation performance of the focal firm. This study hypothesises that supplier collaboration practices in four specific areas (green and ethical supply management, early supplier involvement, systemic purchasing and inter-firm learning) may lead to higher focal firm innovation performance, as they require the firm to adopt new business models, processes and product features.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The hypotheses drawn from previous research are tested with a quantitative survey study of 165 Finnish firms and analysed by means of regression analysis.\nFindings: The results show that two examined practices are positively related to focal firm innovation performance: systemic purchasing and green and ethical supply management. Interestingly, early supplier involvement and inter-firm learning did not influence innovation performance.\nOriginality/value: Little is known about whether adopting certain practices in supply management affects the innovation performance of the firm. In fact, among the performance indicators of supply management, innovation is rarely studied, and more studies using innovation as a performance indicator are called for. Thus, this study focuses on supplier collaboration practices and their relation to the focal firm's innovation performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

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