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An evaluation of the impact of risk cost on risk allocation in public private partnership projects
|
[
"PPP",
"Risk management",
"Project management",
"Estimating",
"Risk allocation",
"Construction planning",
"Risk cost",
"Endogenous risks",
"Exogenous risks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Public private partnerships (PPPs) are widely recognised for providing a better value for money (VFM), when compared to the traditional methods (Bing et al., 2005). This improved VFM is due to the fact that PPPs place the risk on the parties, who are willing to undertake them (Boussabaine, 2013; Demirag et al., 2012). Hovy (2015) argued that optimal risk allocation is a primary driver of PPP projects as it returns a better VFM. He further described, \"Risk transfer to the private sector comes at a price, and transferring risks that the public agency is better able to manage is likely to erode VFM\". Hovy (2015) described that it can be challenging though to properly manage PPP projects. Bing et al. (2005) discussed that risk allocation among the public and private sector presents some unique challenges. Some researchers argue that risk in a PPP project should always go to the party, which is the most capable of reducing and managing it (Al-Bahar and Crandall, cited in Wang and Chou, 2003). Bing et al. (2005) also argued that it is necessary to transfer the risk to the right party. As a PPP project is often complex, it can be difficult to ascertain risk costing at the start of the project. Boussabaine (2013) pointed out that the major problems with uncertainties in risk pricing analysis are the ability of the analyst to map out all uncertainties, initiating events into the quantities of direct and indirect costs. Furthermore, highlighted Villalba-Romero and Liyanage (2016):The party who lends or provides the money in the beginning usually requires a return as a compensation for the risk assumed and also expect the funds to eventually be repaid.\nTheoretical background: It is observed from the last decade that a greater risk is transferred to the private sector in most PPP projects. The management of risk is a primary element in PPPs. These projects, in fact, are designed to transfer greater risk to the private sector, in order to reduce the risk endured by public funds. It also follows the ability of both parties to manage the involved risks (Bing et al., 2005). The private party usually receives a premium in order to bear the brunt of the project risk. This means that all the parties need to collaborate with each other and reach a compromise when performing risk management (Demirag et al., 2012). The risk allocation should always be based on a realistic assessment that needs to be performed in order to find the capacities of both parties and should never follow the interest of a single sector (Shaoul et al., 2006).\nMethodology: A literature review was conducted as described previously to categorise and classify risks. The questionnaire format of the risk check list was checked and validated by academics who had expertise in PPP. The experts accepted the classification risk and the matrix for scoring risk allocation based on risk cost. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data. The questionnaire included nine sub-categories of risks. The questionnaire was sent to experts working in PPP projects in KSA. The participants were selected randomly from the list of local authorities, contractors and consultants based on their participation and knowledge of PPP practices in KSA. The target respondents of the survey were client (public sector), consultant and contractor representatives of PPP projects, including directors, estimators, project managers and contract managers. The respondents were selected from both public (55 per cent) and private sectors (45 per cent). This was necessary to have a balanced view on risk allocation based on the cost of risk. In total, 71 per cent of the respondents had more than ten years of experience. Out of the 250 respondents, a total of 68 respondents completed the questionnaire. Hence, the response rate was 27 per cent, which is within the acceptable rage of 20-30 per cent, as identified by Couper (2000).\nResults: The findings from the heat mapping are summarised in Figure 1. PPP projects are complex as they are affected by multi-interactions between risk factors that could create additional risks ultimately leading to cost overrun. This study found that most of risk factors are usually allocated to the private sector. Most of exogenous risk factors are shared between the public sector and the private sector, although the private sector is allocated the larger share of these factors. Regarding the endogenous risk category, the private sector is found to be the best party to manage most risk factors in this category. Overall, 28 risk factors are allocated to the private sector, and 22 risk factors are shared by both parties. Only 14 risk factors out of 65 risk factors are usually allocated to the public sector.\nDiscussion: Numerous surveys have been carried out to investigate risk allocation in PPP projects. The majority, if not all, of these investigations were aimed at finding who is able to manage the risk events effectively. Ke et al. (2010) supported the theory that the risk likelihood is reduced when the risk event is managed and control by the party in a great position to control the event consequences. But there is no total agreement between research studies on how risk events are allocated. This might be attributed to the fact that each study is carried out in different countries that are subject to unique procurement laws and regulations (Wang and Yuan, 2011). But, in general, there is a consensus on the principles of risk allocation. Overall, commercial risks are allocated to the private sector and public sectors assume most of the risks that are related to the bureaucratic aspects of the project. Risks that are too difficult to be managed by only one party are normally best shared between public and private sectors. The risk allocation in this research differs from the previous studies in the sense that the respondents were asked to allocate the risk based on the level of the risk cost.\nConclusions: Risk allocation has a significant impact on VFM creation. If risks are not allocated according to the expected return, the value may not be realised to the public sector. Although there is a significant amount of literature in this area, most of the literature did not focus on the impact of risk cost on risk allocation. In this research, the main focus is on the impact of risk cost on risk allocation. The paper presented the results of a study that investigated the opinion of KSA professionals on risk allocation preferences based on the level of risk cost. The risks were identified from the literature and classified into exogenous and endogenous.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: A unique aspect of PPP is the opportunity for the transfer of risk ownership to the private sector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how risk cost influences risk allocation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was used to collect data. The questionnaire included nine sub-categories of risks. To quantify the influence of risk cost on risk allocation, a dependency risk matrix was employed. Heat maps techniques were used to visualise the results of the survey.\nFindings: The findings show which risks within the endogenous or exogenous groups are to be allocated to the public sector, the private sector, or to be shared. The finding from this research provides a baseline for the PPP stakeholders in developing guidelines for estimating the value of risk costs in the risks register as well as serving as a mechanism for risk allocation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The context of the study may limit the generalisability of the results.\nPractical implications: The study provides practical guidance to PPP stakeholders on risk allocation appetite.\nOriginality/value: This study extends the processes and methods by which PPP project's risk is allocated to create a better value for all the stakeholders.\n",
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] |
When infrastructure transition and work practice redesign collide
|
[
"Transformation",
"Cognitive load",
"Organizational change",
"Work practices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Transformational change represents a huge challenge for organizations (Kuntz and Gomes, 2012; Hosking, 2004; Price and van Dick, 2012). With those which involve organizational and infrastructure transformation found to create psychological strain in employees due to high levels of uncertainty (Bordia et al., 2004; Dobers and Soderholm, 2009), and the redesign of working processes leading to burnout, emotional exhaustion and loss of identity (Dopson et al., 2008; Price and van Dick, 2012; Kira et al., 2012; Rooney et al., 2010). Literature aimed at identifying simple generic solutions may no longer be applicable in situations where complex change initiatives combine many different elements of physical, organizational and social change (Dobers and Soderholm, 2009; Swanson et al., 2012).\nTransformational change: Transformational change is said to have taken place if the change is across the whole system; is multi-layered; power relations are reconfigured; a new culture, ideology, organizational meaning and new organizational form is created (Kuntz and Gomes, 2012; Ashburner et al., 1996: Ferlie et al., 1996). Transformation also requires the complete breakdown of old ideas and replacement with a new organizational archetype (Greenwood and Hinings, 1988). Transformational changes alter the basic character of the organization, how it is structured, how it relates to its external environment and how its members perceive, think and behave in relation to work and to the world (Anderson and Ackerman-Anderson, 2001; Cummings and Worley, 2008; Price and van Dick, 2012; Arya, 2012).\nWhen infrastructure transition and work practice redesign collide: Many initiatives in healthcare involve the introduction of a new service model or way of working, or an innovation which alters the way in which services are carried out. Work practice redesign projects often focus on re-engineering current processes, critically examining them and eliminating duplication, potential delays or error. Work practice redesign presents challenges in changing micro work practices (e.g. routine tasks and procedures) staffing and retraining, culture change and administrative or information technology adjustments (Dopson et al., 2008). Often these changes will impact on employee identity with the work or the organization (Rooney et al., 2010; Kira et al., 2012). For example, all-single bedroom configurations may present a whole new working model to a hospital moving from ward systems (where nursing stations are in full view of an array of patient beds) to decentralized nursing structures (where nurses use satellite nursing stations to be closer to the patients). The adaptation and success of new work practices many be influenced by the perception of values and ideologies which underpin new work practices (Rooney et al., 2010). For example, Kira et al. (2012) found that new practices were more likely to be accepted if they helped employees to realize their own values and beliefs about the work which they do.\nStudy context: We adopted a comparative case study approach as this can offer increased external validity and can create more generalizable forms of knowledge (Yin, 2009). We were assisted in a worldwide search for suitable case studies by the Centre for Health Design's Pebble Project, an evidence-based programme for innovation in new healthcare facilities. We were interested in change projects in countries with highly developed healthcare systems but we wanted to compare case studies in different healthcare contexts to give a more generalizable perspective on the challenges faced across these contexts. In the UK, healthcare operates predominantly in the public sector, with state run health services providing a context where resources are tightly controlled and political influence is high (Dattee and Barlow, 2010). In the USA, a more market-orientated healthcare environment operates, creating a climate of competition between healthcare providers (Ferlie and Shortell, 2001). Finally, in Canada, healthcare is predominantly state-provided but different finance arrangements allowing a closer relationship with private partners in the running of the hospital facilities was developing (in our case study particularly), we therefore selected case studies from these three different contexts with the intention of identifying similarities in challenges which appeared in all three organizational contexts (Ferlie and Shortell, 2001). Despite these differences in the wider contextual environment, we wanted to make the change projects and organizations themselves as similar as possible in order to ensure validity of the comparison.\nData collection: Two researchers visited the three study sites at least three times, immersing themselves in the organizations day-to-day activities. Data comprises 155 interviews, 205 documents (including internal documents, publicly available reports and research, and media coverage) and field notes from 36 hours of observations (including new and old hospitals tours, informal research observations and impressions, formal mock up days and meeting observations) (see Table II). Data were collected by the research team over two phases for each case study. By using a variety of data sources we were able to gain a holistic picture of the case study and its context from a variety of perspectives (Yin, 2009).\nData analysis: Data were stored and managed using NVivo software for qualitative data. The coding and synthesis of the findings was undertaken by hand by the research team. Interviews were transcribed and analysed at different levels allowing for constant comparison between the data and the findings (Corbin and Strauss, 2008). Initially, an historical context of each case study was derived. At the first coding stage we used an open coding approach to identify concepts relating to strategies, attitudes and beliefs about organizational planning and impact. These open codes were then compared for similarities and differences to create conceptually similar groupings. We then created more distinct higher order categories addressing the types of challenges which the organizations faced, which we compared to the original transcripts for verification (Corbin and Strauss, 2008). These categories were summarized in relation to our theoretical framing and are presented in this paper. At each stage of the analysis, members of the research team met to discuss interpretations of the findings, compared analysis and discussed any inconsistencies. There was broad agreement in our interpretations throughout the process and any inconsistencies were addressed by referring back to the original transcripts.\nFindings: We performed a comparative analysis of the change management techniques and approaches used by each of our case studies. All our case studies handled the transformation in different ways (as described above) but all experienced common challenges which were observed across all sites. Our analysis of the data identified different challenges which arise from work practice redesign, infrastructure transition and when both simultaneously occur. These different challenges were encountered in all three cases, below.\nDiscussion: This paper presents three case studies of organizational transformation where work practice redesign and major infrastructure changes occurred simultaneously. Our analysis found that work practice redesign challenges the cognitive load of organizational members, whilst the addition of infrastructure change challenges project management and implementation activities. Simultaneous change incorporating both these aspects of transformation initially resulted in a disconnect between the new physical infrastructure and working practices, leading to implementation failures of one or both of these change management processes. This has implications for change management planning, resource management and the adaptation and routinization of work practices for employees. We therefore discuss below some of the lessons learnt and what organizations can do to prevent this disconnect.\nConclusions: This paper makes a contribution to the study of change management and work redesign by drawing attention to the distinctive challenges of infrastructure transition, work practice redesign and change that incorporates both. We highlight three key issues which practitioners of change management should consider where they face a change which incorporates both infrastructure and work practice redesign simultaneously. First, serious planning needs to be done regarding the use of change specific roles (e.g. change agents, champions, liaison position). What are the boundaries of this role and is it feasible for one individual to take on all aspects of the change? If not, then how will multiple roles integrate to ensure the effective management of both dimensions of the change. Second, there is a need for a clear vision and alignment of goals for all aspects of the change. Consideration needs to be given about how multi-faceted change can be considered more holistically rather than in numerous parts. Finally, we highlight the need for continuity of knowledge about this vision and how different aspects of the change fit together. Decision makers during the change process need to be available throughout the process to answer questions and an effective handover needs to be arranged if they are to move on to other things.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: As management innovations become more complex, infrastructure needs to change in order to accommodate new work practices. Different challenges are associated with work practice redesign and infrastructure change however; combining these presents a dual challenge and additional challenges associated with this interaction. The purpose of this paper is to ask: what are the challenges which arise from work practice redesign, infrastructure change and simultaneously attempting both in a single transformation?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors present a longitudinal study of three hospitals in three different countries (UK, USA and Canada) transforming both their infrastructure and work practices. Data consists of 155 ethnographic interviews complemented by 205 documents and 36 hours of observations collected over two phases for each case study.\nFindings: This paper identifies that work practice redesign challenges the cognitive load of organizational members whilst infrastructure change challenges the project management and structure of the organization. Simultaneous transformation represents a disconnect between the two aspects of change resulting in a failure to understand the relationship between work and design.\nPractical implications: These challenges suggest that organizations need to make a distinction between the two aspects of transformation and understand the unique tensions of simultaneously tackling these dual challenges. They must ensure that they have adequate skills and resources with which to build this distinction into their change planning.\nOriginality/value: This paper unpacks two different aspects of complex change and considers the neglected challenges associated with modern change management objectives.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Peter Drucker's ontology: understanding business relationships and networks
|
[
"Business network",
"Time",
"Evolutionary management",
"Network management",
"Philosophy",
"Organizational structures",
"Organizational processes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005) is considered by many to be the founder of modern managerial thought (Byrne, 2005). He was influential on the basis of his original thinking. But what was the basis of Drucker's thoughts? What allowed him to see the role of business managers so clearly? We know that Drucker approached the study of organisations and management in interesting ways, but what were the underlying elements of Drucker's worldview? What allowed him to see the world anew and make such insightful comments? An examination of Drucker's ontology, the concepts presupposed by a theory (Wilkes and Krebs, 1985), provides an insight into the source from which he drew over so many years of fruitful influence.Drucker began by conceptualising the enterprise as a collective of human beings. This is an important distinction, for it is not roles and functions, which come first in Drucker's view, it is people. However, he was even more specific, as he stipulated that each human being is \"unique\" (Drucker, 1979). This is an even more important starting point, indicating an acceptance of people not only as a resource of management and enterprises, but also as active agents capable of changing the nature of enterprises and the management processes that underpin the organisation of resources.In this paper the ontology of Drucker is examined and analysed on the basis of three analytical perspectives:1. humans and relations;2. evolutionary processes; and3. pragmatism.Each of these themes is apparent as central ways that Drucker thought about managing inside organisations. In Drucker's view organisations are composed of unique individuals, with the collective conceptualised as a living and changing entity. Within this view Drucker saw the processes of change through the lens of people and their relationships, so that change was evolutionary and practical, always building upon the present. In the later part of the paper the focus moves to the future of organisations in an increasingly networked global world. In this section the role of managers and organisations are considered on the basis of the three themes elaborated within Drucker's ontology.\n2. Ontological perspective: The evidence of Drucker's worldview is throughout his writing and seems to have three main themes, i.e. humans and relations, evolutionary processes and pragmatism. Of these, Drucker's view of managers as humans who relate to other individuals was the most profound. However, Drucker also applied the analytical tools of evolution and pragmatism with power.2.1 Humans and relations\n3. The future of organisations: In this section the future of networked organisations is examined by applying the three themes evident in the ontology of Drucker. The firm is now seen as an element of a network of firms (Johanson and Mattsson, 1987; Perrow, 1981; Thorelli, 1986) and competition occurs between networks of firms (Miles and Snow, 1986), or collaboration occurs between competitors (Powell, 1987; Young and Wilkinson, 1997). The change is conceptual, with firms no longer seen to operate alone (Hakansson and Snehota, 1989), but together, with conjoined self and collective interests (Medlin, 2006). How do we understand and manage these new organisations of firms? While Drucker did not extend his thinking to business relationships and networks of firms, or to a network view of the world, the three themes applied above provide a cogent way of interpreting business research in these fields.3.1 Human and relation\n4. Conclusion: The business relationship and network world presents a number of new managerial problems that require further academic research. Drucker would argue that present and future are related; that present action requires network insight (Mouzas et al., 2008), so that opportunities can be realised. Researchers have begun to develop business relationship and network concepts within the IMP framework; for example network sensing, relational embeddedness, partner integration, and network identity. Each of these ideas also provides managerial conceptual tools for thinking about and organising business outcomes in a networked and global environment.The distinction that \"we cannot simply add [people] together, or subtract them from one another\" (Drucker, 1954, p. 81), to arrive at performance has profound implications for managers in our fast changing commercial world. New methods of organising are required to create faster more flexible work places. These new ways of organising will require managers with new conceptual skills, but based on conceptualisations of humans working together. Drucker's thoughts will remain contemporary because he based his work on a sound understanding of people.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to consider the underlying premises of Peter Drucker's managerial writing and focuses on three main aspects: humans and relations, an evolutionary perspective and a pragmatic perspective. These ontological views are taken to a new level and applied to explore the world of networked firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is a conceptual contribution based on a literature study by the author.\nFindings: - An examination of Drucker's ontology shows how his world perspective led him to an understanding of managers and organisations. The three elements of his ontology discussed are applied to research in business networks.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper argues for research on human perspectives of business relationships and networks, particularly of issues such as time, timing, partner integration, relational and network embeddedness, network sensing, network horizons, and network identity.\nPractical implications: - Drucker's ontological view enabled him to make pronouncements that cut through to the truth of reality in our organisationally shaped world. Understanding Drucker's ontology provides managers with ways to deepen their understanding of an individual's role at every level within an organisation.\nOriginality/value: - The linking of Drucker's ontology to research on new ways to organise and manage networked firms opens areas of future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Security capability and logistics service provider selection: an adaptive choice study
|
[
"Supply chain security",
"Segmentation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Growing demands for improved responsiveness capabilities have driven firms to intermediate their supply chains by hiring third-party logistics service providers (LSPs). This strategic decision is key to creating more adaptable, agile, flexible, resilient and robust service offerings to partners. Selected LSPs become an extension of the focal firm, extending the enterprise all the way to the consumer. The structure, which promotes efficiency and effectiveness, also exposes all parties to differing degrees of risk and uncertainty. As transparency is enhanced, supply chain partners recognize an increased level of exposure and are suggested to develop a supply chain security (SCS) capability (Autry and Sanders, 2009). Despite continued efforts by firms to increase security, breaches continue to cause supply chain disruptions. Partner opportunism, natural disasters, military conflict and operational complexity are all traditional examples of these disruptions.\nLiterature review: This study is built upon evidence that a resource-based security capability is possible (Autry and Sanders, 2009) and requires collaborating with the correct firms (Min et al., 2005). The US Department of Commerce defines a security capability as a combination of mutually reinforcing security controls, implemented using technology, physical assets and process monitoring[1]. Both security capabilities and relationships are considered highly valued resources and the source of capabilities in extant literature (Zailani et al., 2015). Penrose (1959) suggested that the growth of firms is the result of the resource-constructed capabilities. Such capabilities rise from what is termed - resources bundles (Wernerfelt, 1984) that allow the firm to earn improved financial performance (Barney, 1991; Combs and Ketchen, 1999). The combination of technology, physical assets and processes mirror the traditional definition of a resource-based capability, here a security capability.\nResearch method: Conjoint analysis has widely been employed primarily in marketing applications (see Green and Srinivasan, 1978), but is also beginning to see additional application in supply chain literature (cf., Gawor and Hoberg, 2019). It excels at determining a willingness to pay for higher-level performance capabilities.\nResults: To analyze the ACM data, monotone regression analysis and counting analysis were utilized. More specifically, monotone regression analysis was implemented to model the three previously mentioned types of ACM data. Counting analysis was employed specifically with the BYO analysis to determine a willingness to pay for higher levels of performance. Segmentation analysis was conducted with latent class cluster analysis using attribute importance and preferences for different levels of performance. The research questions below follow the analytic process:\nDiscussion and implications: The trade press is calling for more attention to security issues and tightening trade law is demanding it. Security is becoming increasingly important in the selection of all LSPs. Nevertheless, many LSPs remain ensconced in a 1980s drive for lowest cost service. This may soon create an industry encompassing misalignment between the LSP supplier and the LSP buyer. Researchers exploring LSP strategy need to examine the expectations of the market beyond cost containment if the security expectations of emerging segments are to be achieved.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The influence of security practices is increasingly common in the supply chain management and logistics literature. However, an under-researched area exists within the logistics service provider (LSP) selection process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a security capability into the LSP selection process. Specifically, this research seeks to understand partner willingness to compensate and collaborate with service providers that possess a security capability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Adaptive choice modeling is adopted to assess the influence of a security capability in the LSP selection process. This study represents the first use of this method in supply chain management and logistics research. Cluster analysis is also performed to uncover specific buyer segments along with traditional regression-based significance testing and counting analysis.\nFindings: The findings indicate that security can have an important influence on the LSP selection process. In particular, the findings note a willingness to pay for a security capability in LSP selection. Applying segmentation techniques to the findings, three LSP buying segments are determined, each placing different importance and value on LSP capabilities.\nPractical implications: This research notes an ongoing provider deficiency in security offerings. Partner firms sometimes maintain a cost focus, but others show a willingness to pay higher prices for access to partners with a security capability. Key practitioner findings include the need to include security with other traditional selection variables. The study walks the researcher and manager through the development of segments based on LSP capabilities.\nOriginality/value: This manuscript investigates logistic service provider selection. The authors detail an advanced form of conjoint analysis, adaptive conjoint modeling, for first time consideration. Additionally, this is the first study to integrate security into the LSP selection process. This is also the first study to identify a willingness to pay for a security capability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Integrating online training systems: A case study of the North Bristol NHS Trust
|
[
"Online operations",
"Databases",
"Workplace learning",
"National Health Service",
"Knowledge transfer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Over the past year the North Bristol NHS Trust has been implementing a managed learning environment (MLE) for their 8,500 hospital staff. Their situation will be familiar to managers from any sector who have faced merging more than one old IT system following a reshuffle. The Trust has two main sites, each of these having had established but different systems in place for recording and organizing information about staff. The recent challenge has been to update, improve and integrate these two incompatible databases to meet a set of objectives.\nComment: This is a review of \"Implementing a managed learning environment in the NHS\" by Sue Gray, Caroline Plaice and Sharon Hadley. The article is a case study that describes the implementation of a managed learning environment on a large NHS Trust with 8,500 staff. It explains the successes and challenges of implementing this organization wide system, which will be of interest to any company about to go through a similar process. The writers found that the quality of legacy data has been the major challenge that still needs to be worked through completely, but administrators as well as trainers and trainees have had positive feedback.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Explains the implementation of a managed learning environment at an NHS Trust, summarizing successes and challenges that will be of interest to anyone planning similar system upgrades.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Reviews an article presented by three members of the NHS Trust on managed learning environments.\nFindings: - It was found that the quality of legacy data has been the major challenge that still needs to be worked through completely, but administrators as well as trainers and trainees have had positive feedback.\nPractical implications: - Offers useful advice for the challenges to expect in implementing training systems such as the one at NHS.\nOriginality/value: - Gives a clear case study with practical advice. The authors claim it is a unique article in the UK.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The Italian food industry in the era of the TTIP negotiate
|
[
"Italy",
"SMEs",
"Food industry",
"Agri-food economics",
"TTIP"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The economic crisis started in 2008 had, and still has, significant repercussions on the domestic economies of several European countries, particularly the Mediterranean ones. Among these, Italy, that is, one of the main contributors to the EU economy, was quite strongly affected by the economic fall down of the last decade.\nThe Italian food industry in the EU economy: The EU food and drink industry: an overview\nTrade balance and Italy-USA commercial relationship: The TTIP negotiate\nConcluding remarks: The Italian food industry represents the third in the EU in terms of turnover and registered in the last decade a slight growth. Data show that it was only little affected by the economic crisis occurred since 2008 and this can be attributable to two main reasons: first, the anticyclical food production and, second, the augmented export trade. Indeed, while the domestic market was overall constant over the last years, the external market offered greater opportunities to increase turnover. The high reputation of \"Made in Italy\" definitely had a key role in supporting export trades. Currently, the Italian food industry exports are mainly directed to the European market and, to a less extent, to the US market, whereas its commercial relationships with emerging countries like China, India, and Russia are still limited. Indeed, as highlighted by the analysis, the high fragmentation of the production structure and the considerable presence of micro firms limit internationalization and represent constraints to the increase of the production capacity. The bipolar structure of the Italian food industry is ultimately reflected in its trade paths, with micro firms mainly oriented to local markets and small/medium and big companies more open to global markets. The latter is the case of some Italian companies holding well-known brands with high reputation at international level. In other words, different production structures correspond to different market orientations. Another weakness of the Italian food industry is the scarce ability of firms to adopt common strategies geared towards increasing their capability to distribute their products in the international market, for instance joining associations or consortia. Moreover, Italy still lacks of large retailers and large enterprises of the food service sector, which can support sales and bring the image of the Italian food products abroad, contrary to other countries (e.g. Carrefour in France, and Ikea in Sweden). However, an interesting case is represented by Eataly, which in these last years contributed to disseminate the reputation of \"Made in Italy\" food products abroad, through the opening of several top-quality retailers in which consumers can also eat different types of Italian cooking.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus, first, on the analysis of recent trends of the European and Italian food industries, and, second, on the possible implications that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiate can exert on the Italian agri-food system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on an in-depth analysis of current economic trends, characteristics of production structure, and the trade balance of Italy-USA commercial relationship in the context of EU market. The main advantages and disadvantages that can be derived from the TTIP negotiation are pointed out.\nFindings: The analysis of the Italian food industry highlights a very fragmented production structure characterized by the coexistence on the market of a small number of big companies and a large number of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Such bipolar structure constitutes a constraint to internationalization and limits the quantities of exportable products. The TTIP can represent an opportunity for the Italian food small businesses. On the other hand, the main disadvantages are related to the agricultural raw materials market.\nOriginality/value: The study offers an in-depth analysis of the main features of the Italian food industry and of its role in international agri-food trades, describing the scenario that could be opened by the TTIP negotiation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Information needs and accessibility by fish farmers in the southern highlands of Tanzania
|
[
"Information needs",
"Information",
"Fisheries",
"Fish farming",
"Information accessibility",
"Agricultural information"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Aquaculture sector has increasingly become an important source of income, food security and livelihoods for many people around the world. In Tanzania, aquaculture are among the priority sectors in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) (URT, 2015). More than four million people are directly or indirectly involved in fisheries and aquaculture related activities in the country (URT, 2015). In 2014 the fishery and aquaculture sector contributed 2.4 per cent to gross domestic product, and has been growing at the rate of 5.5 per cent (Economic Survey Report, 2014). This percentage contribution to gross domestic product is low considering the significant fisheries resources and large water bodies present in the country.\nMethodology: This study was conducted in 2016 in three regions in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, namely, Iringa, Mbeya and Ruvuma. These regions were selected because they have relatively large number of fish farms, long history of fish farming compared to other regions in the country and relatively well developed information and communication technologies (ICTs) infrastructure (FAO 2012). According to URT (2012), Ruvuma, Iringa and Mbeya regions have more numbers of fish ponds than other regions in the country such as Arusha, Mwanza, Kigoma and other regions that practice fish farming. For instance, the number of fish ponds in Ruvuma is 4,942; in Iringa, 3,137; in Mbeya, 1,176; and in Kilimanjaro, 1,660 (FAO, 2017).\nData analysis: Data collected were statistically analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Data analysis was done as shown below.\nResults: This section presents the research findings and its discussion based on objectives of the study.\nDiscussion: This part presents a detailed discussion of the research findings of this study.\nConclusion and recommendations: Access to current and relevant information is important for improved and increased fish farming productivity. Enhancing information accessibility is necessary for fish farmers to use it for improved and increased fish farming productivity. To enhance access to relevant information among fish farmers, information needs assessment must be conducted from time to time. Through these findings, fishery extension officers and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Tanzania can now enhance access to relevant information to fish farmers in the country. Moreover, is now possible to develop a well-focused and relevant fish farming training guide and design a fish farming information system that can meet fish farmer's information needs. Therefore, public and private providers of fish farming information services can use the information needs assessment results to meet the needs of farmers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the information needs and accessibility for fish farmers in the Southern high lands of Tanzania.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data from 240 fish farmers in six selected districts from three regions in Southern high lands of Tanzania. Focus groups and key informants' interviews were also used to collect qualitative data from 54 fish farmers in the selected districts.\nFindings: Findings indicated that fish farmers highly needed information related to water treatment (management), spawning operations and fish preservation and processing. However, it was found that access to these categories of information was very low. In addition, findings indicated that age, education and income have a statistical significant and positive relationship with farmer's information accessibility at p < 0.05. On the other hand, age, amount of fish harvested, education and farming experience had statistical significant and negative relationship with farmer's information at p < 0.05.\nOriginality/value: The study provides a deep understanding of information needs and accessibility for fish farmers in the in Southern high lands of Tanzania, which will be assisting in in designing focused, need-based and user-oriented information infrastructure in fish farming.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Conceptual frameworks in historical analysis: using reputation as interpretive prism
|
[
"Strategy",
"Reputation",
"Leadership",
"Politics",
"History"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper calls for historians to apply the concept of reputation as interpretive lens in the analysis of historical processes and outcomes. Widely used in management and marketing writing, but also relied upon in political science, the concept of reputation helps predict behaviour of individuals and entities that are bound by political constraints to align their actions to the goal of generating a popular standing. The lens also serves to cast light on the actions engaged in by external stakeholders that are informed by reputational cues. This theoretical contention is illustrated in four case studies resulting from investigations into political decisions and military conflicts both in the republican and imperial period that ascertain how success and expansion as well as failure and decline of ancient Rome can be viewed and better understood by applying reputation as an instrument to direct and focus historical analysis. However, the purpose of this paper is not primarily to suggest complementary angles and alternative answers to issues in ancient Roman history. The cases considered are intended to demonstrate how failure to recognise reputation as a significant concept in historical analysis does not only impair a comprehensive and balanced reflection of personal and organisational stakeholder behaviour but also thwarts a full appreciation of the motivation that drives individual protagonists and institutional agents, whose decisions are central to historical processes and outcomes.\nReputation as a multidisciplinary concept: A discussion of seminal literature and a review of the diverse purposes reputation is known to serve will subsequently assist the researcher in deploying the theoretical concept as a prism that refracts scenarios and helps guide analysis of historical processes and outcomes. Its established origins in management and business literature prevent us from applying the notion of reputation in a broader societal and political context without careful consideration and prior clarification of its definition which is somewhat ambiguous as a result of a variety of academic disciplines that have been instrumental in shaping the concept (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990; Fombrun, 1996; Rindova and Fombrun, 1999; Barnett et al., 2006).\nApplying reputation as an interpretive prism in historical analysis: On the following pages, it shall now be attempted to expand the disciplinary remit of reputation by proposing the concept as an interpretive instrument of history writing and historical analysis. To this end, prominent turning points in history will be zoomed in on in case studies that assist in exploring how activities engaged in by political leaders may have been pursued as a result of concerns about organisational image and public persona. The paper also scrutinises how external stakeholders' behavioural patterns are informed by their judgement of reputational information about an individual or political entity. Based on historical precedence, the author proffers a hypothesis by suggesting that political reforms or the lack of them, declaration of wars and the strenuous efforts to forge a peace accord, pacifist demeanour as well as aggressive grandstanding may not be so much linked to an individual leader's personality, political circumstance or structural constraints, but may rather be understood through the lens of a theoretical concept that envisages strategic manoeuvres in the context of winning and losing reputation which is instrumental in shoring up the position of an individual or political body at the helm of a hierarchy.\nReputation's role in making long-term predictions: who is credible and trusted to deliver?: The Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage was characterised in the first phase by major battles across the Italian peninsula that culminated on August 2nd 216 BC in the Carthaginians' spectacular victory in Cannae. What followed during the second phase of the conflict was a war of attrition until 211 BC when the tide turned against the Carthaginian under the command of Hannibal.\nReputation in the Augustean era: discerning the rationale for imperial communication and politics: It will be argued that the behaviour of Augustus seems to be consistent and aligned with a goal: the establishment of an unassailable position of personal political command and the engineering of the public recognition that he is the benefactor of the republic - not its enemy, which Caesar had been discredited as by his detractors. Applying a reputational lens in historical analysis may therefore allow the observer to discern how this goal fed both into imperial communication and politics in the Augustean era.\nClaudius or how action shapes perception: For long, the debate about the motivation of Emperor Claudius' decision for the Roman Empire to invade and occupy Britannia centred on natural resources, military strategy and a culturally innate drive to expand. By adopting reputation and reputation management as a concept and interpretive perspective, the narrative is shifted and a plausible alternative account of causality presents itself: Claudius as a result of diverse ailments and physical shortcomings was by many seen as unfit to govern from the outset of his tenure. His reputation teetering on the brink of collapse was an open invitation for challenges to this authority. A decision to invade Britannia - a province not even conquered by the great Julius Caesar - would have strengthened Claudius' relationship with critical stakeholders who may have taken this bold decision as a cue to allay fears the Emperor may not be up to the job. In other words, a thus strengthened reputation may be strategically the most desirable windfall from the campaign in Britannia.\nThe end of Rome - when the reputation declined, the city fell: The concept of reputation entails an inbuilt dichotomy as it serves to anticipate behaviour, while it is also deployed as interpretative tool in an analysis of the past. In other words, our understanding of reputation management's function in guiding behaviour of protagonists and conditioning responses among stakeholders mirrors both its predictive as well as its interpretative dimension. Both the former and latter are of use not just in an executive context and invaluable for activities related to organisational auditing with a view to discern problems and best practice. Both dimensions assist historians in drilling to the core of what really happened by ascertaining causes, triggers and consequences. To this end, the following paragraphs aim to discuss an alternative interpretive lens for the fall of the western Roman Empire, which ever since 476 has stirred intense and controversial debate among historians.\nConclusion: The cases presented in this paper expand on the concept of reputation, define the instrumental value of reputational information in explaining behaviour and decision-making processes and proffer reputation as interpretive prism for historical analysis. In light of the cases discussed, a number of inferences can be made in relation to approaches to historical analysis, practice of organisational management, societal implications, the significance of this study as well as the need for further research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to advocate a revised perspective in historical analysis. The author calls for historians to apply the concept of reputation as interpretive lens in the analysis of historical processes and outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Widely used in management and marketing writing, but also relied upon in political science, the concept of reputation helps predict behaviour of individuals and entities that are bound by political constraints to align their actions to the goal of generating a popular standing. The lens also serves to cast light on the actions engaged in by external stakeholders that are informed by reputational cues. This theoretical contention is illustrated in four case studies resulting from investigations into political decisions and military conflicts, both in the republican and imperial period that ascertain how success and expansion as well as failure and decline of ancient Rome can be viewed and better understood by applying reputation as an instrument to direct and focus historical analysis.\nFindings: This paper does not only advance complementary angles and alternative answers to issues in ancient Roman history. The cases considered also demonstrate how failure to recognise reputation as a significant concept in historical analysis does not only impair a comprehensive and balanced reflection of personal and organisational stakeholder behaviour but also thwarts a full appreciation of the motivation that drives individual protagonists and institutional agents, whose decisions are central to historical processes and outcomes.\nOriginality/value: The findings advanced in this paper - informed by four case studies - evidence the need of a new analytical prism in historical enquiry that will define the questions raised and direct the researcher's attention. It has been shown how the concept of reputation can play a tangible role in sketching out a distinct new angle in historical investigation that leads to reviewing current narrative of past events and phenomena.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Entrepreneurial intentions: The role of individualism and collectivism in perspective of theory of planned behaviour
|
[
"Collectivism",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Theory of planned behaviour",
"Individualism",
"Entrepreneurial intentions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This study has been conducted in the context of Pakistan, a developing country that shares 2.64 per cent of the world's population. It is pertinent to mention that 64 per cent of Pakistan's population is under the age of 30 (Ahmad, 2018). Unfortunately, a substantial part of the population is beneath the murky hazes of unemployment and poverty. Pakistan is currently facing seasonal, cyclic, technical and structural unemployment. The horrifying part is that this phenomenon is intensifying every year which in the long run will prove to be menacing for the economy of Pakistan (Gul et al., 2012). To cope up this issue, the core focus should be to stabilize the economic settings. Promotion of entrepreneurship could be one of the factors to stabilize economic setting. Literature suggest that entrepreneurship is a vital source of job creation and economic development (Arshad et al., 2016; Bell, 2019; Gonzalez-Serrano et al., 2018; Mwiya et al., 2018; Nyadu-Addo and Mensah, 2018) and intentions play a significant role in starting a new venture (Devonish et al., 2010; Drnovsek et al., 2010; Shahid et al., 2018). However, less is known about the attitude and motivational antecedents of the entrepreneurial intentions (EI), and this is the case in non-Western developing countries like Pakistan. The research on EI is, most of the time, inclined to Western economies, all of which are more individualistic countries. As a result, there is less empirical evidence currently on EI and its antecedents from countries and cultures which are somewhat more collectivistic than individualistic. One of the collectivistic countries is Pakistan, where there is a possibility that the various cultural principles and values may help to advance EI. Pakistan has an ancient and rich cultural heritage. It also has economic and strategic importance within the Asian sub-continent. Thus, there is a need to investigate the antecedents of EI in Pakistan. For this reason, theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is espoused to examine if the EI antecedents acknowledged in a TPB-based model affect students' EI when it comes to a developing, non-Western collectivist country.\nTheoretical framework and hypothesis development: The theory of planned behaviour\nResearch methods: Sample and data collection\nMediation analysis: Next, the bootstrapping technique, as suggested by Hair et al. (2017), was used to test the significance of the indirect effect. Bootstrapping does not make any assumption about the sampling distribution of the statistics or the distribution shape of variables; moreover, it can also be used for a small sample size with confidence. Thus, a bootstrapping approach for testing indirect effect is perfectly suitable for the PLS-SEM method (Hair et al., 2017).\nDiscussion: The main goal of the study was to incorporate two cultural values, namely individualism and collectivism, in TPB to investigate the EI of students in Pakistan. The findings of H1 showed that motivational factors of TPB, such as ATE, PBC and SN, have a significant and positive impact on EI. Out of the three factors of TPB, SN were the strongest predictor of EI. The reason for this could be the effect of collectivist values of the Pakistani culture. Pakistan, with a very low score of 14, is considered a collectivistic society (Insights, 2018). The decision to start a new venture is an important decision, which is most likely to be influenced by parents and peers. H2 and H3 were also supported as the SN showed a significant and positive impact on EI through ATE and PBC. The reason for this association lies in the values of Pakistani culture. When some individuals feel that those closest to them are in favour of starting a new venture, their attitude and self-confidence (PBC) increase. Results of SmartPLS bootstrapping showed that ATE, PBC and SN mediated the association between cultural values and EI. Individualist values influenced EI via PBC and ATE while collectivist influenced via SN. From these findings, it can be concluded that individualist values enhance students' self-confidence and attitude while collectivists are more prone to social context.\nStudy contributions: Theoretical contributions\nLimitations and directions for future research: Like many other studies, this research is also subject to a few limitations. The first limitation is related to the sample selection. The sample for this study consisted of students who were already taking entrepreneurial programs at public universities. Therefore, it is suggested that future studies should incorporate students from private universities as well as from different educational backgrounds.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: Culture plays a vital role in shaping individuals' intentions and behaviour. Influence of cultural values on entrepreneurship has been acknowledged widely by academics and practitioners. However, little in terms of empirical results is known. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of cultural values on entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of Pakistani students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Cultural values of individualism and collectivism were incorporated into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Smart-PLS software was used to run a structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to analyse the data.\nFindings: SEM results showed that attitudes towards entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural controls (PBC) mediated the relationship between individualism and EI while subjective norms (SN) mediated the relationship between collectivism and EI.\nOriginality/value: The study confirms the applicability of the TPB for understanding the EI in a collectivist culture. Additionally, findings of this study displayed that external factors, such as cultural values, can impact EI through SN, attitude and PBC. Incorporation of cultural values in TPB contributed to the understating of antecedents of EI.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Russian way to the knowledge-based society
|
[
"Innovation",
"Economic growth",
"Knowledge economy",
"Democracy",
"Globalization",
"Capitalist systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In Russia, society demonstrates the transition of industrial society into the postindustrial or knowledge-based society, which allows constructing an innovative economy. The very special part of this process concerns the relations between Lordship and Bondage. The relations between Lordship and Bondage in a context of so-called Master-Slave dialectic can elucidate a way to the knowledge-based society as a kind of modern capitalistic society. On the one hand, it is the causation of social progress by types of social order, namely, the causation by principles of democracy. An author presupposes that democracy is the best form of innovative development. Democracy allows building the relations on the base of the business attitudes. However, the author doubts that the future of European democracy can be only the same as in Outhwaite (2014). On the other hand, the author follows Fuchs (2013) and discusses a theoretical contradiction between capitalism and information society. He cannot fully agree that present-day structure of society excludes the possibility of own description as by theory of capitalism so by theory of information society.\nMethod: The author applies a complex of methods, widely known in modern philosophical treatises. The approach allows finding different levels of implementation of knowledge into society. A rootedness of innovations into the social relations provides the differentiation of these levels. It applies to an assessment comparison of qualities for the ones who can be the leaders and for the ones who are the outsiders. The leaders are the persons around whom the system of links based on knowledge is created. The outsiders are the persons who fails out in such links. Moreover, the outsiders are the led people in modern society. Procedures for the analysis of the levels of social relations include at least four components. The first procedure is allocation of different levels of a problematization of social relations. The second procedure allows fixing the key moments of each level, reducing the unnecessary attitudes. The course of describing the sensible forms of situation carried out in the third procedure. The fourth procedure opens prospects on reconstruction of an integrative view for research objects.\nKnowledge-based society as a challenge for Russian scientists: The section demonstrates the arguments for this thesis:\nConclusion: The article tests one of the sociological paradigms, namely, a paradigm of technological determinism, as it is the primary task of Russian social thought. For instance, Kulikov (2014) shows that discretization of the social space as the situations concerning isolated development of small groups, which move as the elements of non-equilibrium processes, causes polyparadigmatic character of the modern sociology. In sociology, however, there are theoretical foundations for understanding of social phenomena, which reveal the base of new variant of determinism that is technocratic by nature. In addition, the article reveals the general conditions of knowledge-based society and the features of its forming in Russia. The author debates social forms, which causes the social progress, for instance future of European democracy by William Outhwaite. Outhwaite (2014) believes that the EU demonstrates a deficit of the democracy by the reason of unelected governance institutions. Because of that \"the elected parliament surely has to be the main focus for questions about European democracy\" (Outhwaite 2014, p. 327). In Russia, a future of democracy coincides with the development of civilian society. The author supports the critique of theoretical contradiction between the theory of capitalism and the theory of information society, presented by Fuchs (2013) who mentions as follows:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the modeling of industrial-postindustrial transition in Russian society. The very special part of this process concerns the relations between lordship and bondage. The relations between Lordship and Bondage in a context of so-called Master-Slave dialectic can elucidate a way to the knowledge-based society as a kind of modern capitalistic society.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An author uses a complex of methods. He applies a phenomenological approach, mixed with the dialectics and analytical approach. Phenomenological approach presupposes the neediness of attention on a work of the conscious actions within formation of the social experiences. The modification of dialectics helps to make the comprehension of the history of social relations as a game of forces in self-consciousness, which nowadays bases on the attitudes between leaders and led people. A variant of analytic methodology helps to understand each problem as a puzzle.\nFindings: As a result, author finds a spirit of the processes within development of knowledge-based society and innovative economy depends on so-called Master-Slave dialectic. In Europe, Master-Slave dialectic caused the leading role of scientists. In Russia, scientists depended on the Government and played secondary role in economy.\nResearch limitations/implications: Research is the philosophical treatise, which demonstrates the speculative evaluation of industrial-postindustrial transition in Russian society.\nPractical implications: Practical implications is the constructing the prognosis of the development of the Russian society.\nSocial implications: Research can help to improve the understanding of the mechanisms of leadership in society.\nOriginality/value: Originality of the paper is the reconstruction of social forms, which caused the social progress in Russia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Service quality and satisfaction in the banking sector
|
[
"Satisfaction",
"Structural equation modeling",
"Core service quality",
"Rapport",
"Relational service quality",
"Tangible service quality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service literature tends to view service quality as a major construct in explaining customer satisfaction (Omachonu et al., 2008; Ueltschy et al., 2007; Voss et al., 2004), customer loyalty (Lam and Burton, 2005; Aydin and Ozer, 2005), customer retention (Kassim and Souiden, 2007; Venetis and Ghauri, 2004) and various other relationship constructs. In this vein, the role of service quality in developing a customer-employee bond or \"rapport\" is still unexplored in service relationship research. Although some attempts have been made to explore the relationship between location convenience and interpersonal relationships (Wu, 2011), employees smiling and customer rapport (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2006) and service quality and relationship strength (Storbacka et al., 1994), the detailed impact of the individual dimensions of service quality on customer rapport is yet to be examined. Clearly, this is required to reveal the individual influence of each service quality dimension as different service quality dimensions have a diverse range of relational outcomes depending on the independent variables and contextual differences (Jamal and Naser, 2002). To this end, this study splits service quality into three dimensions - core, relational and tangible. Furthermore, rapport can also be mediated by each of these service quality dimensions as customers are more inclined to have good relationships with the employees of a service firm which provides good service quality designed to make them more satisfied. Therefore, it is also necessary to examine the mediation effect of service quality on the rapport and satisfaction relationships.\nConceptual background and hypothesis development: Service quality\nMethodology: Sampling and data collection\nData analysis and hypotheses testing: Result of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) reported 66.09 percent of total variance explained and appropriate loadings of all the items except a few cross loadings which were eliminated (>0.50; Higie and Feick, 1989). EFA has been done using principle component analysis and the Varimax rotation technique.\nDiscussion and conclusion: The study explored the antecedent and mediation role of core, relational and tangible service quality on customer rapport and satisfaction. It extended current knowledge by identifying new roles for service quality in building customer-service employee rapport. Relational quality is found to be the most significant construct both as antecedent and mediator compared to the other two types of service qualities. In fact, customers put more emphasis on their relations with employees than even a service provider's core quality. On the other hand, tangible service quality is found non-significant for rapport development procedure. The study's findings seem to cohere with the operational meaning of rapport which states that it is a kind of \"bond\" or \"close relationship\" (Gremler and Gwinner, 2000) between customers and service employees and conclude that tangible dimensions are not much influential and related with rapport.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The aims of this paper are to examine the antecedent and mediation effects of core, relational and tangible service quality on rapport and customers' overall satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey has been conducted on 212 bank customers to validate the conceptual model. Structural equation modeling is used by AMOS for data analysis.\nFindings: Results show that relational service qualities have significant antecedent and mediation impact on the rapport-satisfaction relationship. Core quality has only antecedent influence on rapport, whereas none of the relationships is found significant in the case of tangible service quality.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study has been conducted on one single country and focused on one type of services - banking services. Therefore, future research endeavors may consider different countries as well as a variety of services.\nPractical implications: Providing individual attention to each customer and understanding their specific need are the most important steps required from service employees for building successful rapport with customers. Keeping promises and offering flawless services are also more significant for customers than the tangible features of a bank. Management should consider these issues to develop effective rapport because it has a direct and strong effect on customers' overall satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: The paper reveals the importance of relational service quality for developing customer rapport and satisfaction. It also identifies the antecedent role of core service quality for rapport.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Circulation statistics in the evaluation of collection development
|
[
"Collections management",
"Monographs",
"Academic libraries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Collection development is among the most important factors for library quality and among the most expensive aspects of library operation. Evaluation of recent acquisitions can provide quantitative feedback for improving future collection development. An analysis of the entire collection is necessary to determine holes in the collection, but an analysis of recent acquisitions is necessary to find areas of over-selection (Carrigan, 1996) and improve the process of collection development.\nMethodology: The project at Indiana University's Swain Hall Library used average number of checkouts and percent of items that circulated as its key statistics. MARC records created in 2003 were sorted into categories for subject area, publisher, and publication date. Dissertations and books currently in non-circulating Reference were excluded. Checkouts and in-house uses had been recorded using the library's automation system. Swain Hall Library staff routinely had record in-house data since 2003. The methodology of study easily could be adapted to libraries that record only checkouts.Spencer Anspach (Systems Analyst and Programmer) exported circulation and cataloging data into a spreadsheet. We sorted the data by accession date, and the records created in 2003 were copied to a new spreadsheet. Sorting by item type and location separated the reference books and dissertations. The remaining records were sorted first by call number. Mean and count statistics were performed on each call number range (see Table I). A new data column for the sum of checkouts and in-house uses was created. Each call number group was sorted by that sum, which quickly revealed how many items had received no use. The procedure was repeated for publisher and publication year (see Tables II and III).The circulation data for each copy were totaled from the book's accession until May 24, 2007. Books acquired earlier have had more opportunity to be used than later arrivals. For that reason, only books acquired in a single year are included. The year 2003 was chosen, because it was recent enough to reflect current publishing trends and collection development practices and was far enough in the past for significant circulation to have taken place. The circulation data used in the statistics are for each copy, not each title (although duplicate copies are rare).The standard problems with circulation data apply to this study. Checkouts and in-house uses do not perfectly measure a book's usefulness to a patron. Faculty and graduate students can checkout most books for 120 days, in which time great research may be done. Other titles are placed on two-hour or 24-hour reserves. Some books that are predicted to be high demand (e.g. required textbooks) are under a seven-day loan policy. Of course, some books are borrowed and returned without being read. The quality of in-house use varies as well. An in-house use may represent hours of studying or just a decision not to checkout the item. The circulation data used treat an original checkout and a renewal identically. Thus, patrons in the practice of frequently renewing all their books may have substantial influence on the average number of checkouts of entire classes of books. Many of the problems that afflict circulation data also plague alternative value measures like sales data or informal perceptions of use.Another limitation of this study is that it examines only circulation per item and ignores the shelf space or price of the item. To a library with space and budget constraints, checkouts per meter of shelf space or usage per dollar of acquisitions budgets might be more relevant than checkout per item. Fewer checkouts from a thin, inexpensive book might be completely acceptable. Ignoring item cost and size creates a bias in the result against publishers producing small, low-cost books and against subjects in which such books are more common.This study only measures usage in the first four years. In many libraries, this may not be accurate indicator of a value of an acquisition to the library over the generations. In an academic science library, however, current use may be one of the indicators of use over any planning horizons.\nSwain Hall Library specifics: The Swain Hall Library is a branch library at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) that specializes in mathematics, computer science, astronomy, and physics. IUB has doctoral programs in all four subjects with facility and students active in research. To support these departments the library also holds some engineering and biology books. While the books studied here were being acquired, the University was establishing a School of Informatics and a biophysics group. IUB has separate branch libraries for Geology, Chemistry, and Life Sciences. IUB does not have any engineering programs, so the patrons to the Swain Hall Library differ from those to many other science libraries.The Swain Hall Library has over 70,000 items in its catalog. About 45,000 books are housed in the library. Math books compose almost half of the monograph collection. The library averages 1,000 acquisitions per year. The Swain Hall Library maintains stability in overall collection size by sending low-use items to an auxiliary storage facility.During 2003, the Swain Hall Library used approval purchase plans administered by Academic Book Center and Blackwell. Firm order purchase supplemented the approval plans. Librarians selected books for firm order by an informal mix of faculty and student recommendations, book reviews, and interlibrary loan requests. The Academic approval plan was terminated in 2003. Fewer acquisitions are now acquired through approval plans, but current collection development practices are similar enough that the evaluation of 2003 acquisitions may improve the usefulness of future acquisitions.An intercampus delivery system allows patrons in the IU system to request and checkout books from any library in the system. The checkout statistics used here reflect checkouts by anyone, including interlibrary loans to users outside of the university. Patrons also checkout books delivered from other IU libraries at the Swain Hall Library circulation desk. Those books are not counted in this study.\nResults: Circulation statistics among the 2003 acquisitions indicate that math books are receiving the most use. The astronomy collection lagged behind all other subjects in the percentage of items used and the average number of checkouts. This could result from more patron interest in math and less in astronomy or from better collection development in math than in astronomy. Respective solutions would be a review of collection development techniques in lagging subjects and reallocations of acquisition budgets from less used subjects to more used subjects. The degree of uniformity in circulation signals success in the balancing the new books budget among the different subjects at the Swain Hall Library.Usage among acquisitions from different publishers varied much more. All of the 23 Chapman & Hall/CRC titles that were purchased circulated. Only nine of the 38 American Institute of Physics books acquired ever circulated, and none of them were checked out more than seven times. Books published by Cambridge University Press, Prentice-Hall, Wiley, and the Oxford University Press were also well received by library patrons.These results are not designed to measure the overall quality of a publisher, rather the usefulness of recent acquisitions to Swain Hall Library patrons. These results do not isolate the publisher effect from the subject effect or any other consideration. Publishers specializing in areas of lower patron interest may have lower numbers. Also, the Swain Hall Library is more selective in its purchasing from some publishers than others. The Swain Hall Library collects almost every relevant Cambridge University Press title, but buys only those Prentice-Hall books judged most useful. These results indicate from what publishers the Swain Hall Library should be more selective and from what publishers it should be eager to purchase. Results for other libraries would depend on their patronage and collection development habits, and they may vary considerably.New research can make older books obsolete, especially in the sciences. Despite this, books purchased more than three years after their publication circulated more than the average recently published acquisition. The Swain Hall Library was more selective in purchasing older books, so the books purchased met a higher quality standard. For older books, collection developers may make better use of faculty recommendations, citations, reviews, and other libraries' holdings. In the Swain Hall Library, older books were more likely to be acquired through firm order than approval plans.\nImplications and conclusions: For the Swain Hall Library, this study indicates success and failures in collection development. In almost every subject, most of the books purchased in 2003 have been used. The circulation data suggest the balance of subjects in the books acquired was good. The Swain Hall Library, however, purchased far too many unused books from certain publishers.Print copies of American Institute of Physics conference proceedings rarely circulated and were deselected from the approval plan even before this study. Publisher reputation had always been a factor in firm order selection; now quantitative data indicates which publishers respond to patron demand. Informed modification of approval plans also can be made.Although the results of this analysis are specific to the Swain Hall Library, the techniques of the analysis are not. Libraries may use similar procedures to evaluate and to improve their collection development.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This article aims to describe how circulation statistics may be used to evaluate collection development policies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The circulation statistics of books acquired by a science library in a specific year are analyzed by publisher, publication date, and subject.\nFindings: - The paper finds that older books circulated more than recently published titles purchased at the same time. Circulation averages varied considerably between publishers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Checkouts are an imprecise measure of value. Number of items not purchase costs is the denominator of all averages used; there is a data bias against inexpensive books.\nOriginality/value: - The procedure outlined can be used generally to evaluate collection development policies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Consumers' expectations of food and alcohol pairing
|
[
"Food products",
"Alcoholic drinks",
"Wines",
"Beer",
"Australia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The symbolic connection between food and alcohol is readily acknowledged in numerous disciplines including psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Both products are deeply imbued with cultural meaning and as a result are heavily involved in ceremonial and mundane rituals alike (Douglas, 1987; Wallendorf, 1993). They are key elements in much social interaction and have an important social function as a mechanism for determining and communicating group membership and exclusion (Heath, 1987; Barr, 1995). In the marketing literature, consumption patterns relating to both food and alcohol are reported to demonstrate distinct relationships with demographic variables such as gender, age, and social class (Levy, 1981, 1986), indicating the extent to which consumption is socially and culturally influenced.While there is a growing trend towards examining the nature of the relationship between wine and food (e.g. Bode, 1992), beer consumption is much less commonly considered in terms of its association with food. It is interesting and telling that two widely consumed alcoholic beverages should hold such varying perceived relationships with food. There is the potential to obtain insights of sociological and practical relevance through the examination of how these disparate roles are perceived and enacted by consumers. Sociological relevance stems from understanding the symbolic determinants of food and beverage combining while practical relevance relates to the implications for those attempting to align food and alcoholic beverages in the marketplace.This article explores the perceived relationships between food and two of the more popular forms of alcohol - wine and beer. The findings of two qualitative studies that explicitly examined consumers' expectations of food and alcohol pairing are reported to enhance our understanding of the social constructions behind such expectations.\nThe Australian context: Australians have long been renowned for their particular interest in alcohol (Freeland, 1966; Fiske et al., 1987; Pettigrew, 2001). Historically there has been an emphasis on beer which is reflected in a per capita consumption ranking of ninth in the world for beer compared to 17th for wine (Commission for Distilled Spirits (CDS), 2004). The relative standing of the two beverages, however, is in a state of flux. Annual beer consumption is declining, falling from a peak of 136.5 litres per capita in 1974/1975 to 92.4 litres in 2001/2002 (CDS, 2004). This decrease has been attributed to changing demographics, changing lifestyles, and government intervention in the form of taxes and drink-driving restrictions (Fisher, 1996). By comparison wine consumption in Australia has increased almost fourfold in recent decades, rising from 5.3 litres per capita in 1962/1963 to 20.6 litres in 2001/2002 (CDS, 2004). Despite these changing trends, beer remains the dominant alcoholic beverage in Australia by a significant margin.While Australians are understood to be passionate about their alcohol (Fiske et al., 1987), their attitudes towards food appear to be less intense and more ambivalent. Although academic literature on the topic is absent, this ambivalence is apparent in the lesser focus on food and eating in accounts of Australian life provided by respected social commentators (e.g. Horne, 1971; Mackay, 1993, 1997). An emphasis on alcohol is also apparent in the country's significant production and export of alcoholic beverages (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2002; Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2005).Some have suggested that until recently Australia has been a country without a national cuisine (e.g. Sutton, 1999). There is now, however, a growing appreciation of an emerging Australian approach to the preparation and serving of food, if not a defined cuisine (Rotella, 1999; Grimes, 2000). This approach includes an emphasis on seafood and the ability to creatively adapt Asian and Mediterranean fare (Martin, 1996; Grimes, 2000). At the same time, the American influence in the form of fast-food chains is also very strong (Martin, 1996). Such discussions of Australian food have yet to arrive in the academic literature, to date appearing only in the popular media. There is thus a need for a more analytical examination of the role of food in Australian culture. This article begins to address this need in the context of consumers' expectations of appropriate pairing of food with certain forms of alcohol. The following section provides a brief summary of the physical and symbolic relationships between food and wine and food and beer.Food and wine\nMethod: The findings reported in this article are generated from two parallel alcohol studies. One was a large-scale study of Australian wine drinkers and the other of beer drinkers. In addition to alcohol consumers, key industry members were interviewed as they were considered to be ideally placed to provide insight into consumers' wine/food and beer/food expectations. These industry representatives included producers (wine producers representing a range of wineries across Australia and representatives from the major breweries operating in Australia) and mediators (those involved in marketing, promoting, and selling wine and beer).The two studies explored the role of each beverage in Australian culture and how consumption interacts with a range of cultural activities, including food consumption. The studies were conducted independently by researchers specialising in different forms of alcohol consumption, the findings then combined for analysis post completion. Different sample members were recruited for each study. Sample compositions are provided in Table I.Individual interviews and focus groups were selected for data collection as they have been found to be particularly useful in other studies investigating food and alcohol consumption (Gregory, 1995; Treise et al., 1999). To encourage diversity in the data, some drinkers were interviewed in drinking contexts (such as pubs and clubs) and others in more standard interview environments (e.g. at people's homes and in university meeting rooms). In both studies the samples were managed to ensure representation across a wide range of age and income categories. Some interviewees were recruited via a snowball technique while others were recruited in situ in drinking locations. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interview transcripts were then imported into NUD*IST for coding and analysis.Males dominated the sample in the beer study due to the much higher incidence of beer consumption among Australian men compared to women (ABS, 1995). The small number of beer producers reflects the high concentration of manufacturers in this market relative to the wine market. Substantially more professionals were interviewed in the wine study as they were very experienced wine consumers who acted as elite informants and also because of the highly fragmented nature of the wine market.To attain a level of trustworthiness in the data generated, two forms of triangulation were employed in both studies (Wallendorf and Belk, 1989). The first was data triangulation. Data were collected from different locations, including different geographic regions and specific areas within these regions that featured varying socioeconomic characteristics. Data triangulation was also achieved by interviewing individuals with varying consumption levels, ranging from occasional to heavy drinkers of each beverage. Second was methodological triangulation. Two methods (focus groups and interviews) were adopted within both studies to obtain a wider range of data.Interviews in both studies were semi-structured. Interview guides were used to ensure topics of major interest were covered (e.g. alcohol consumption patterns of interviewees, perceptions of the role of each beverage in Australian culture, and the perceived relationship between the beverages and food). All individual and group interviews were recorded on audiotape and some of the groups were also video recorded. In addition, short field notes were kept of each interaction. The recordings and the field notes were transcribed and imported into NUD*IST for subsequent analysis. This assisted in categorising the responses of each reference group and establishing correspondences or dissonances between interviewees' responses.\nFindings: Wine and food\nDiscussion: The findings of this study indicate that at least some wine drinkers recognise that wine has multiple primary functions as a complement to food. First there is the situational role. Socially and aesthetically (in terms of flavour partnership), wine and food were perceived by interviewees to be a natural pair. In this sense wine consumption has strong experiential and symbolic functions (Groves et al., 2000). The experiential function relates to the sensory pleasure and aesthetic evaluation of products that taste good. The social dimension has both an experiential element, in the stimulation of conviviality and friendship, and a symbolic dimension, in the messages drinkers convey to others and themselves. Some drinkers are also aware that wine has the significant utilitarian function of easing the consumption of food by stimulating the gastric juices and offering physical refreshment, a functional aspect of lubrication that is recognised occasionally by academics (e.g. Jackson, 2002), and at times by those in the trade (Schuster, 1992).Beer, by comparison, has a much weaker association with food, hence explaining the void of literature describing the relationship between these two products. Although Australians inherited their passion for beer from their British ancestors (Mackay, 1989), the English pub culture that increasingly links beer with meals is lacking in Australia (Williams, 1996). Where an association between food and beer does exist, it appears to be in the reverse direction to that noted for wine. For most of the interviewees in the beer study, food presents a physical accompaniment to beer that facilitates the drinking process. This facilitation does not relate so much to enjoyment as to \"staying power\" and maintaining basic comfort levels. For this reason interviewees gave little if any attention to the nature or quality of the food consumed in conjunction with beer. In fact, the \"worse\" the food the better it seems to balance the process of beer consumption. This is not to say that interviewees did not report enjoying the food they consumed while drinking beer, but appreciation of the experience appeared to stem more from the drinking and socialising aspects than the eating component.Martin's (1996) account of the polarising of Australian cuisine into a creative merging of international styles and ubiquitous fast-food restaurant meals is relevant to the findings of this study. Martin specifically aligns the growth in the Australian wine market with the evolution of a more sophisticated dining culture - a viewpoint supported by interviewees' perceptions of the ability of wine to enhance a dining experience. As a counter to this, beer consumption was more often aligned with \"junk\" food. The two different alcoholic beverages have thus attained strong associations with specific and opposing food styles. This firm alignment can be viewed as both an advantage and limitation for producers and marketers of food products.The findings also have similarities to research carried out by Thornton (1987) in Austria where two distinct hierarchies of drinks were noted. The first was called the informal hierarchy and related to those beverages consumed with family and intimate friends, often in food consumption contexts. This hierarchy was headed by schnapps, but also included wine. The second hierarchy contained those beverages such as sekt (sparkling wine) and beer that were considered more appropriate for public occasions such as sporting events. This division is probably not so demarcated in Australia, but there was a strong sense in the data of the intimacy and private nature of food/wine events (family or small-scale meals with close friends), whereas there was a tendency for beer consumption to take place in neutral territory (pubs) or at larger social gatherings such as barbecues.\nConclusion: While wine was perceived by interviewees to enhance a meal, the reverse was apparent for beer. In a culture where sales of both wine and beer are relatively high by world standards, the finding that these two alcoholic beverages hold almost dialectically opposed relationships with food consumption is intriguing. It may be that much of the symbolic meaning of wine is dependent on its co-consumption with food. In this case it is the two combined which are significant, not one on its own. This outcome may be partially accounted for by the chemical compositions of the two beverages and the resulting interactions with other ingested substances, but this is too simplistic an explanation. An increasing number of food industry analysts are recommending specific beers for consumption with specific foods on the basis of their physical complementarity (Regan, 2003; Cornell, 2004), thus indicating that wine is not the only alcoholic beverage that can fulfil this function. Also, the certainty with which interviewees discussed the foods that would most appropriately match specific beverages indicated that cultural codes (Rochberg-Halton, 1984) are in full force. As is the case with other forms of consumption, numerous socialising agents including families, peers, gatekeepers, and advertising undoubtedly educate consumers in the \"proper\" pairing of foods and beverages.The relatively rigid categorisation of wine and beer in terms of perceived associations with food has implications for Australian manufacturers and marketers of both food and alcohol products. As occurs elsewhere, members of each industry may need to become more active in endorsing the pairing of their products with a wider range of other products. Greater flexibility in food and beverage alignment would ensure that consumption across a wider range of situations is considered culturally appropriate. This is particularly the case for beer and food. As beer is still the dominant beverage in terms of total quantity consumed and the range of contexts in which consumption is considered culturally appropriate, it would benefit those producing or serving food to align the consumption of their food products with the consumption of beer. There is considerable scope to increase the number of foods consumers cognitively pair with beer because of the limited number that currently enjoy this association.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - Food and alcohol are symbolically and physically linked in many cultures. This article seeks to explore Australians' perceptions of the relationships between food and two of the more popular forms of alcohol - wine and beer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The findings from two parallel alcohol studies are reported. One study examined the role of wine consumption in Australian culture (n=105), while the other study performed the same function in terms of beer consumption (n=115). Interviews and focus groups were used in both studies to collect data from consumers and industry representatives to identify expectations of appropriate food and alcohol pairing.\nFindings: - Wine was found to be strongly associated with food along three dimensions: complementarity, social meaning, and lubrication. This association occurs in the context that it is generally deemed inappropriate to consume wine without food. By comparison, a much weaker association appears to exist between food and beer. Interviewees reported regularly consuming beer in both eating and non-eating contexts, with the nature of the occasion influencing beer consumption rather than any food that may or may not be present.\nOriginality/value: - Consumers' expectations of the appropriate pairing of food with beer and wine are discussed in terms of their implications for those wishing to align particular food and alcohol products in the marketplace. A theoretical contribution is provided through a discussion of the ways in which different alcoholic beverages are assigned different symbolic meanings to allow them to facilitate divergent food consumption experiences.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Baby boom consumers and technology: shooting down stereotypes
|
[
"Communication technologies",
"Experience",
"Baby boomer generation"
] |
[
{
"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: Taking in to consideration the number of older adults and their purchasing power, the attention given to them by marketers is insufficient. Traditionally marketers have focused on younger buyers (Silvers, 1997), especially in the case of technological products and services. The mature market is a market that is associated with strong stereotypes (Leventhal, 1997) and the existing stereotypes do not present 50-plus consumers in a way that would make them particularly interesting in the eyes of marketers. These stereotypes, among other things, condemn aging consumers as seekers of stability and routine, non-innovative (Schiffman and Sherman, 1991) and reluctant to adopt new technologies (Czaja and Sharit, 1998; Vuori and Holmlund-Rytkonen, 2005). These images, however, no longer fit the reality (Silvers, 1997), one reason being the entrance of the baby boom generation to the mature market.Though the status and image of the 50-plus market seems to have improved to some extent in the media, there is still a need for significant improvements (Carrigan and Szmigin, 1999). In the academic world older consumers are indeed starting to receive more attention. In recent years a number of articles concentrating on aging consumers and emphasizing the true nature of aging people have been published (e.g. Wolfe, 1997; Silvers, 1997; Dychtwald, 1997; Long, 1998; Carrigan and Szmigin, 1999; Szmigin and Carrigan, 2001; Ahmad, 2002). The most recent research has also explored older consumers as users of the Internet (e.g. Trocchia and Janda, 2000; Tatnall and Lepa, 2003; Eastman and Iyer, 2004; Vuori and Holmlund-Rytkonen, 2005) but articles taking a more general view on aging consumers and technology usage are more rare. This article focuses on technology anxiety among the baby boom generation in an attempt to point out the distortedness of the still existing stereotypes. To get a more profound picture of its existence, technology anxiety is also investigated in relation to previous experience with technology. Examining the experience level of baby boomers is hoped to further fade out the old stereotypes.\nBackground: The population of the world is aging. We are shifting from a youth-oriented to a middle-aged and mature society (Dychtwald, 1997). The number of people aged 60 years or older was 629 million in 2002 and is projected to rise to almost 2 billion by 2050 (United Nations, 2002). Already in 2003, for instance, 28 percent of the Americans, 34 percent of the British, 36 percent of the Germans and 36 percent of the Finnish were aged 50 years or older (United Nations, 2003). The mature market is not only sizable but also willing to spend. The current over-50s generation, the baby boomers, consists of people born during the years of high birth rate following the end of the second world war and is often described as being different from the previous generations (e.g. Carrigan and Szmigin, 1999; Schewe and Noble, 2000). In industrialized countries baby boomers were the first television and advertising generation (Senioragency, 2002). In both the US and Europe the coming-of-age years of baby boomers were times of economic prosperity and security (Senioragency, 2002; Braus, 1995). People now over 50 were brought up by television, continued innovation and development (Szmigin and Carrigan, 2001). They have collectively experienced these conditions that have permanently affected their values, attitudes and preferences (Schewe and Noble, 2000). These affirmative attitudes toward innovations and consumption are sure to affect their behavior as consumers.Thus far the baby boomers, as a cohort, have had the largest impact ever witnessed on marketing strategies due to the size of this cohort, its spending power and unique attitudes (Hopkins et al., 2006). Now the baby boomers are once again about to enforce change by redefining the meaning of old age. Marketers who see young consumers as the most important market to satisfy are ignoring the potential which exists among the growing number of mature, well-off consumers (Carrigan and Szmigin, 2000).\nTechnology-related anxiety: The term anxiety refers to two different concepts, namely state and trait anxiety (Spielberger, 1966). Earlier research on anxiety in the domain of technology has concentrated on anxiety that is connected to personal computers (Meuter et al., 2003). This \"computer anxiety\" is usually considered as a specific example of state anxiety (Cambre and Cook, 1985). State anxiety is \"a transitory state or condition ... that varies in intensity and fluctuates over time\", whereas trait anxiety (a personality trait) refers to a behavioral disposition to perceive a variety of objectively non-dangerous circumstances as threatening (Spielberger, 1966).Raub (1981) defines computer anxiety as \"the complex emotional reactions that are evoked in individuals who interpret computers as personally threatening\" (cited in Cambre and Cook, 1985). Thatcher and Perrewe (2002) define computer anxiety as \"anxiety about the implications of computer use such as the loss of important data or fear of other possible mistakes\". Based on a review of definitions, Brosnan (1998) defines computer anxiety as \"an irrational anticipation or fear evoked by the thought of using (or actually using) computers, the effects of which result in avoiding, or minimizing, computer usage\". He notes that this definition highlights the irrational nature of the affective state and the possibility of it existing in people that actually use computers.A less researched construct called \"technology anxiety\" differs from computer anxiety in that it focuses on anxiety evoked by technological tools in general, whereas computer anxiety focuses on anxiety related to personal computers (Meuter et al., 2003). This more general concept appears to be relevant at a time when also other than computer-based technologies (such as mobile technologies) are available to marketers in interacting with their customers. By showing the connection between technology anxiety and current self-service technology usage, Meuter et al. (2003) have proved technology anxiety to be a pertinent construct in marketing research. In addition to establishing this connection, they also found that technology anxiety lowers the positive outcomes of self-service technology encounters (namely overall satisfaction, the likelihood of repeat usage and participating in positive word of mouth) for those with satisfying experiences.Technology-related anxiety and age\nPropositions: If it is indeed true that baby boomers do not fit the stereotypes that describe aging consumers as reluctant to adopt new technologies and technology anxious, these consumers form a potential and lucrative target group for marketers of technological products and services. This study aims at disconfirming these traditional stereotypes. The propositions of this study are based on the growing amount of literature emphasizing the changes taking place in the aging market:P1. Baby boomers do not experience high levels of technology anxiety.P2. Baby boomers have relatively high levels of experience in using such technological applications as the Internet and text messaging (SMS).P3. There is an inverse relationship between technology anxiety and experience level among baby boomers.\nMethodology: Target population and data collection\nResults: Descriptive information\nDiscussion: It is evident that aging brings about changes in one's behavior as a consumer, those changes being caused by, for instance, general deterioration in health and fitness (see, e.g. Pettigrew et al., 2005) but the reason why older people are perceived as less likely to accept innovations is not at all clear (Szmigin and Carrigan, 2000). Szmigin and Carrigan (2000) suspect that this notion is more a reflection of our cultural attitudes toward older generations than a fact based on clear evidence. For their part, the results of this study show that the baby boom generation is different from the traditional stereotypes used to describe older consumers: baby boom consumers have usage experience of different technologies (SMS, internet) and as a group can by no means be characterized as being technology anxious. This should encourage both academicians and practitioners to let go of the old stereotypes of aging consumers and their relationship with technology. In addition, the results show that technology anxiety and technology experience are inversely related in this age group.Another interesting fact was discovered by including two experience variables in the study. Experience in using the internet was more consistently (i.e. across parametric and non-parametric methods) and more strongly related to technology anxiety than experience in sending text messages. This could be due to the simple fact that mobile phones and the rather simple functions they are currently used for (i.e. phone calls and text messaging) are not considered as \"real technology\" by consumers. In other words, it could be that in the minds of consumers the word \"technology\" relates mostly to computers. The fact that this study was conducted in Finland may have emphasized the non-technological nature of text messaging as Finland is one of the leading edge countries when it comes to mobile technology. Mobile phones have for a long time been \"everyman's equipment\". In fact, 95.2 percent of the respondents reported owning a mobile phone of their own and only 11.7 percent reported having no experience of SMS usage. It is possible that this commonplaceness disentangles mobile phones from technology. All in all, it is unrealistic to assume that all consumers have a clear, shared meaning of the concept \"technology\". Even academicians working in this particular field have very different views on its meaning (Willoughby, 2004). This lack of a shared meaning of technology is clearly a limitation of the study at hand.The experience measures used pose another limitation. The respondents assessed their level of experience with text messaging and the Internet on non-specific scales with endpoints \"no experience\" and \"high level of experience\". To reach a more objective and profound measure of experience, multiple questions assessing such aspects as usage experience in years, usage in hours per week, breadth of services used and so forth should be included. The non-specific measurement style used in this study enables the analyses needed for the purposes of this paper (i.e. challenging the current stereotypes) but prevents further analysis of the possible impact of the length or breadth of experience on technology anxiety. In addition, the fact that data was gathered only in one country can be seen as a limitation. There are clear indications that the change in aging people is a global phenomenon. However, replications of this study in different countries would allow for broader conclusions. Lastly, the technology anxiety measure adapted from Meuter et al. (2003) still requires further investigating in terms of its internal consistency.To conclude, we are at a turning point where we have to genuinely realize that 50-plus consumers can no longer be left without attention and that giving them this attention is not enough but rather we have to lose the stereotypes that constrain our minds and marketing operations. In the future, if marketers do not include 50-plus consumers in their marketing plans, they will end up with a loss of sales and revenue due to the decrease in younger buyers (Silvers, 1997). This article has been an attempt to draw attention to this critical need for change within the marketing discipline.\nManagerial implications: The findings support the notion that people currently aged between 50 and 60 years, the baby boomers, do not fit the traditional stereotypes that exist of aging consumers. More specifically, the baby boom consumers have experience of using different technologies (SMS, the internet) and as a group can by no means be characterized as being technology anxious. The implications of this research for practitioners are threefold. Firstly, it is time to realize that today's \"50-somethings\" are not similar to yesterday's \"50-somethings\". It is, therefore, time to lose the stereotypes. Secondly, there is a need to study this market that is lucrative not only in terms of the sheer number of people comprising it but also in terms of spending power. More answers should be found to such questions as \"what are the needs of today's aging consumers?\" and \"how can we best satisfy those needs?\". Thirdly, in light of the fact that the number of younger buyers will decrease in the future, serious effort should be invested in serving the mature market.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Current stereotypes of aging consumers paint a picture of them as technology anxious and reluctant to adopt new technologies. This paper aims to show that the present 50-to-60 age group does not fit these stereotypes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 620 Finnish baby boomers (aged between 50 and 60) responded to a mail survey.\nFindings: - Baby boom consumers are shown, in contrast to the stereotypes, to have low levels of technology anxiety and high levels of experience of internet and SMS usage. It is also shown that technology anxiety and experience have an inverse relationship in the age group.\nResearch limitations/implications: - To some extent, the results provide evidence of the distortedness of current stereotypes that are used to describe 50-plus consumers. However, data was gathered only in one country. Replications of this study in different countries would allow drawing broader conclusions.\nPractical implications: - Marketers of technological products and services are advised to let go of the outdated stereotypes, familiarize themselves with today's 50-plus consumers and when applicable, invest effort in serving this market.\nOriginality/value: - While there exists some research on aging consumers as Internet users, this study offers a more general view on aging consumers and their use of technological services by examining technology anxiety within this specific market. The results should be of value to both academicians and practitioners in realizing the potential of the mature market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Consumer style inventory and intent to social shop online for apparel using social networking sites
|
[
"Social networking sites",
"Consumer style inventory",
"Social shopping"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The swift evolution of the internet has provided novel resources for social contacts through networks and communities, considerably expanding modern communication possibilities for consumers (Leitner and Grechenig, 2007). Social networking sites (SNSs) are defined as web-based services that enable individuals to create a public profile and a list of contacts with whom they share a social network (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). SNSs including Facebook, Qzone, MySpace, and LinkedIn facilitate the sharing and distributing of product-related information and are prominent vehicles for electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (Chu, 2009).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses development: The conceptual foundation for our research was based on Engel, Kollat, and Blackwell's (EKB) model (Darley et al., 2010; Engel et al., 1978). The EKB model is considered a thorough consumer model and features the decision-making process as its center (Sung, 2009; Yang, 2001). Specifically, the EKB model identifies five core stages to the decision-making process (i.e. problem recognition, search, alternative evaluation, purchase, outcomes). This decision-making process is influenced by external elements including individual characteristics (i.e. motives, value, life style, personality), social influences, and situational/economic factors (Darley et al., 2010; Engel et al., 1978).\nMethod: Data collection\nResults: Participant characteristics\nDiscussion: Our results verify theoretical conceptions regarding opinion seeking using eWOM in SNSs and attitudes toward online social shopping using SNSs as mediators between the CSI consumer decision-making styles and intent to social shop online for apparel using SNSs. Our findings suggest that consumer decision-making styles may be used to identify consumers who intend to social shop online and buy apparel using SNSs. Intending to social shop online for apparel using SNSs was predicted by both eWOM opinion seeking (H3b) and attitudes toward online social shopping using SNSs (H4). These two variables were predicted by specific consumer decision-making styles including price-consciousness (H1b, H2b), novelty/fashion consciousness (H1c, H2c), and brand consciousness (H1d, H2d).\nManagerial implications: As specific consumer decision-making styles, such as price consciousness, novelty/fashion consciousness, brand consciousness, predicted eWOM opinion seeking and attitudes, retailers and marketers interested in further developing social shopping sites using SNSs can consider focussing on appealing to and meeting the needs of consumers with three decision-making styles. To appeal to novelty/fashion-conscious consumers, retailers may need to consider facilitating the introduction of innovative apparel products and experiences, new fashion trends, and celebrity fashions using videos and e-mail/mobile notifications. To appeal to price conscious consumers, retailers may need to consider providing enhanced price comparison features along with other price-related incentives. They may need to implement social media campaigns consisting of promotional offers and in-store/online special events. A well-received blog could communicate and announce special events and create word-of-mouth advertising (Van Hoye and Lievens, 2007). For the brand conscious decision-making style, retailers interested in developing social shopping sites using SNSs may need to develop their sites to engage consumers in the brand experience. Creation and utilization of fan pages and user-generated content (e.g. creating product reviews/recommendations, posting product images, and videos) can reinforce consumers' brand consciousness and enhance consumers' online social shopping experience using SNSs.\nLimitations and recommendations for future study: Our participants reflect a convenience sample drawn from SNS users in a limited geographical location. Diverse consumers, such as those with different decision-making styles, may react in another way to SNSs with dissimilar emphases. For example, LinkedIn emphasizes professional connections while Facebook is designed for general socialization functions. Future research could compare consumers' reactions to different types of SNSs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper are to examine: first, whether the consumer style inventory (CSI) consumer decision-making styles were related to opinion seeking using electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites (SNSs) and attitudes toward online social shopping using SNSs; and second, whether opinion seeking in SNSs and attitudes mediated the links between decision-making styles and intent to social shop online for apparel using SNSs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The conceptual foundation was based on Engel, Kollat, and Blackwell's model. In total, 304 college students who are SNS users provided usable responses. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed model and research hypotheses.\nFindings: Among the CSI consumer decision-making styles, novelty/fashion consciousness decision-making style was the most important antecedent of opinion seeking using eWOM. The brand consciousness decision-making style was the most important antecedent of favorable attitudes. Novelty/fashion consciousness, brand consciousness, and price consciousness decision-making styles had indirect effects on intent to social shop online for apparel using SNS, mediated by both opinion seeking and favorable attitudes.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to further theoretical understanding of the types of consumers that are drawn to eWOM and their online social shopping behaviors for apparel using SNSs. By identifying individual consumer characteristics, this study can provide retailers with an initial profile of consumers who shop apparel using SNSs. Retailers can use this information to further develop the design of their social shopping sites using SNSs to meet the needs of their customers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Gender differences in Taiwan's hypermarkets: Investigating shopping times and product categories
|
[
"Gender",
"Marketing planning",
"Shopping behaviour",
"Retail",
"Hypermarket",
"Shopping time"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The purchase behaviors and patterns of male and female consumers show significant differences. In an online shopping context, van Slyke et al. (2002) and Hasan (2010) found that females spend more time evaluating goods, whereas males spend more time considering relative cost-performances. Coley and Burgess (2003) concluded that females tend to impulsively purchase clothing, outfit accessories, and cosmetics, whereas males tend to make impulse purchases of electronics. Hansen and Jensen's (2009) survey of men and women buying clothing online for themselves and for their partner found a different result. Males buying for their partners have more difficulty in selecting. In contrast, females face no difficulty in buying for themselves or their partners. Chambers et al. (2008) further stated that when differentiating market segments, gender and age are two important factors to be considered. Similarly, Tifferet and Herstein (2012) argued that marketers should be able to identify the different ways in which men and women think with regard to their purchases, in order to plan more effective marketing strategies. However, Otnes and McGrath (2001) pointed out that people may have \"gender role transcendence\"; that is, they will probably only shop to fulfill utilitarian goals or not shop at all. This means that males and females exhibit the same retail shopping behaviors. McNeill and Douglas (2011) noted that males undertake various forms of grooming, some of which appear to have feminine connotations. In fact, males clearly want their grooming choices to be seen as utilitarian rather than self-indulgent. Therefore, it is of interest to examine gender differences in purchase behaviors and attitudes.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: In Taiwan, the hypermarket is a convenient and shopping area. Hypermarkets are not only places to go shopping, but also a way to spend one's leisure time and, thus, several hypermarkets hold a variety of activities to encourage families to visit them, such as celebrity appearances as \"one-day duty managers\" and offering product trials and promotions based on horizontal alliances. Such activities can attract more customer visits and make people stay longer, and, thus, buy more. Many people go to hypermarkets in the weekend. It is mainly to buy necessary items or enjoy themselves. There are various other services, including restaurants, hairdressers, children's playground, and wash car service. That is, hypermarkets improve the quality of life for urban residents.\nMethodology: Data collection\nResults: Demographic data\nDiscussion and implications: This study aimed to investigate the shopping times and purchases made by men and women in hypermarkets. The results show a significant distinction with regard to the time spent shopping. Moreover, although there was no significant evidence of gender differences in the goods purchased, the results still offer hypermarket managers some practical suggestions for different marketing strategies that could be used with male and female segments.\nConclusions, limitations and future work: The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences of shopping time and product purchases in Taiwan hypermarkets. The results show that shopping time is shorter in males than in females. This might be because of the purchasing behavior of males, who take less time to compare product prices and styles. Another explanation could be that females have more much time to compare the quality and prices of goods, which induces hedonism. Therefore, they gain more enjoyment from shopping activities. In addition, this study found that the numbers of items purchased are directly related to the total shopping time. Most of the people who stay longer in hypermarkets buy more goods.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Hypermarkets face a very competitive environment, as their rivals also include traditional markets, convenient stores and supermarkets. In addition to offering innovative services, hypermarket managers must also pay attention to customer shopping patterns and behaviors in order to gain market share. The purpose of this paper is to posit that there will be significant differences between male and female hypermarket customers in terms of both shopping time and categories of goods purchased.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To investigate actual shopping behaviors, this study observed customers in hypermarkets and recorded how long they spent shopping and what they purchased.\nFindings: The results of this study implied that gender is a key factor that affects both shopping time and the goods purchased in Taiwanese hypermarkets. The empirical findings also indicated that customers favor certain goods categories.\nPractical implications: The results of this study provide details of the differences between male and female hypermarket customers, with which managers can use to develop better marketing strategies.\nOriginality/value: The purpose of this study is to show hypermarket retailers how gender differences affect customer behavior in this context. It also presents a consumer product categories list for hypermarkets, and this can be used as a reference for follow-up studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Value co-creation: theoretical approaches and practical implications
|
[
"Value analysis",
"Service control",
"Value co‐creation",
"Service dominant logic",
"Service science",
"Service logic",
"Analytical framework"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The roles of customers and firms are in continuous flux as technological advances and changing managerial mind-sets facilitate unorthodox and innovative ways of integrating resources for the purpose of value creation. The conventional view on exchange is being superseded by new forms and shapes of interaction. Understanding the logic of business environments and ecosystems featuring value co-creation is a near prerequisite to becoming and remaining competitive. To capture this phenomenon, value co-creation has become a key concept within service marketing and business management.Current research provides a multitude of approaches to value co-creation. Those approaches embrace a variety of characteristics, and imply others, in attempting to determine with some certainty what is the essence of the concept. The wide variety of contributions - both in terms of scale and level of abstraction - has resulted in a complex milieu of definitions, perspectives, and interpretations of how customers create value jointly with firms and other actors. Widely cited practical examples such as Threadless, Lego, or Dell have further fuelled and diversified the discussion around value co-creation (Birkner, 2011; Di Gangi and Wasko, 2009; Hienerth et al., 2011; Malone et al., 2010; Miller and Lammas, 2010).The conceptual complexity and the increasing number of case examples modified by industry-specific characteristics have made the concept complex and nuanced. Its ability to serve both scholars and practitioners is questionable. Business practitioners are often left wondering how value co-creation could enhance their firm's business performance. The question of what value co-creation is fundamentally about and how it can serve business purposes remains largely unanswered. The relevance of the concept in theory is poles apart from its practical relevance. The multifaceted nature of the concept endangers its theoretical development and can result in empirically empty structures (Arndt, 1985). Without a systematic and analytical clarification of the approaches and a shared understanding of their differences, both marketing scholars and practitioners may diminish the applicability of the concept to business.The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to identify the sources of the differing approaches through a brief review of the theoretical approaches to value co-creation, at the same time clarifying the concept. Second, a business-oriented analytical framework is developed to assess the opportunities for value co-creation. The paper builds on the idea that the nuanced and multifaceted nature of value co-creation can be viewed as a strength rather than a weakness. Different approaches to the concept are viewed as complementary and enriching instead of contradictory and exclusionary. A synthesizing effort to reconcile these approaches is however necessary to actualize their collective potential in marketing scholarship and practice.The paper is structured as follows. The extant literature on value co-creation is briefly discussed next in order to identify where the differences between the approaches to value co-creation originate. Three central issues are introduced to reduce the conceptual complexity and reconcile the discussion surrounding value co-creation. Then, a business-oriented analytical framework is developed and illuminated with case examples. A discussion and conclusions are provided at the end of the paper.\nThe complex nature of value co-creation: A common feature of most current approaches to value co-creation is the shift toward a broader perspective on value creation. Traditionally, what is referred to as a goods-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008a; Lusch and Vargo, 2006a, b) or variously the manufacturing logic, the old enterprise logic, or (particularly in the marketing context) product orientation or marketing myopia (Vargo and Lusch, 2008b, p. 25) has prevailed. The inadequacy of then-current marketing theory to illuminate value creation was reported many years ago by Normann and Ramirez (1993). They argued that \"[...] traditional thinking about value is grounded in the assumptions and the models of an industrial economy\" (Normann and Ramirez, 1993, p. 65) and driven by the notion of marketing as a value-adding activity (Porter, 1985). The focus should be on reinventing value in terms of the value-creating system itself where different actors - suppliers, business partners, allies, and customers - work together to co-produce value.Value creation should certainly no longer be viewed as taking place during the manufacturing process, but as something that customers govern in their own consumption context (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008a; Gronroos, 2008a, b; Strandvik et al., 2012). Customers are not passive targets of marketing actions, but are perceived more as active operant resources that eventually determine and create value in their various value-creating processes; customers can reconfigure their roles from consumer to contributor and creator (Tapscott and Williams, 2006). Despite the shared understanding of the more active role of the customer and the subjective and processual nature of customer value, the theoretical discussion adopts more controversial characteristics, as the focus is shifted from value creation toward value co-creation.The S-D logic approach to value co-creation\nIdentifying and clarifying conceptual complexity: Exploring the different approaches to value co-creation in detail contributes to a better understanding of the concept's nuances and multifaceted nature. The diversity of the concept is due to differing interpretations of what constitutes the \"value\", the \"co-\", and the \"creation\" within it (Figure 1). This is in line with Gronroos and Ravald (2011), who argue that clarification in terms of the roles of different actors involved in value creation is key when considering the concept's implications for marketing research and practice. Dismantling value co-creation into its constituent parts provides us with three fundamental issues that help to comprehend the friction between the different approaches, clarify the conceptual complexity and provide a sound basis for the development of the business-oriented analytical framework for value co-creation.Clarifying what kind of value for whom\nA business-oriented analytical framework for value co-creation: The different approaches to value co-creation are not so very contradictory per se, but instead operate at complementary levels of analysis. The three issues discussed above offer a reconciled synthesis of value co-creation and provide a basis for the development of the business-oriented analytical framework.The framework integrates customer and firm perspectives with the concept's constituent elements (\"value\", \"co-\", and \"creation\") (Table I). It is driven by a desire to provide guidance for firms on approaching the central aspects and characteristics of the value co-creation phenomenon; it enables firms to establish their own interpretation of value co-creation and helps in assessing its opportunities. Instead of merely stating that value is co-created, the framework challenges firms to consider and reflect upon a more business-oriented question: what kind of value is co-created for whom, by what resources, and through what mechanism?First, as Gupta and Lehman (2005) note, value creation has always two sides, which is why both the customer and firm perspectives on value co-creation must be addressed concurrently. This does not, however, mean that value is necessarily always co-created. To serve managerial purposes, value co-creation is not considered only as a lens through which a phenomenon is viewed. On the contrary, it is a concept that seeks to capture a current marketing phenomenon characterized by the evolving roles of customers and firms. For value co-creation to occur, there have to be mutual incentives for establishing a change in the traditional resource integration process. These incentives can include either monetary rewards or more subjective and intrinsic benefits. For example, engaging customer resources with the firm's new product development process should not be done without considering customer incentives in terms of what realistic benefit the customer derives from providing the firm with additional resources. This brings pressure to understand customers' intrinsic, extrinsic and social motivations for co-creation with the firm (Antikainen, 2011).Second, it is imperative to understand the change that takes place in both the customer's role as a resource provider (usually money) and the firm's role as a resource provider (usually goods/services). As a result of the adjusted roles additional resources are engaged in either the firm's or the customer's value creation. Hence, it is imperative to identify and understand what kinds of resources are eventually engaged in one another's value creation as a result of this change. So, for example, is it customer creativity that is engaged in the firm's value-creating processes or does the firm provide customers with resources that go beyond the traditional exchange?Third, it would be wise to identify the mechanism through which these resources are integrated with the customers' or the firm's value creation. We should ask what the mechanism is that eventually evokes the change in the customer and/or firm roles and releases new resources for the value creation process. That mechanism might be, for example, co-design, co-development, or co-distribution. Table II illustrates the basic idea of the framework with the help of three value co-creation examples.The famous example of Dell's Ideastorm illustrates how customer resources may be engaged in the new product development process. Ideastorm exemplifies a change in the traditional roles of the firm (as a provider of computers for customers) and the customers (as a provider of money for the firm): additional customer resources are engaged in the firm's value-creating processes as customers share their ideas about the firm's products. This change is enabled by the internet as the customers are provided with an easy and convenient channel to share and develop their ideas about how to make Dell's computers better. As a result, customers are provided with sense of belonging and empowerment and the firm gains access to customer resources; customers' thoughts and ideas about Dell's products. Here, co-development is the mechanism through which customer resources are integrated into the firm's value creation. Customer insight is used as an additional input resource to the firm's internal value-creating processes - and thereby it supports the firm's value creation.Threadless.com uses the creativity of its customers by encouraging them to design T-shirts and submit their sketches to its web site where people can vote for their favourites. In this way, in addition to using co-designing as the mechanism through which resources are integrated, the firm is also able to utilize customer resources to know in advance which designs are likely to be most in demand by its customers, so aiding demand forecasting. The customer provides additional resources for the support of the firm's demand management. Hence, customer resources are engaged through voting - another mechanism for integrating customer resources into the firm's internal value-creating processes.The examples discussed above represent cases where customer resources are engaged in support of the firm's various value-creating processes. They capture different mechanisms through which customer resources are engaged in the firm's value creation. However, customers too can benefit from value co-creation as a result of engaging additional firm resources in their value-creating processes. Nutrition code is an internet-based service application through which customers are provided with information about the nutritional value of their groceries. The service is based on the idea of combining point-of-sale data with the nutritional values of the groceries. Customer data is refined and then returned to the customers. As a result, customers are able to monitor how nutritious their groceries are and get advice on how to eat more healthily. From the value co-creation perspective, in accordance with the other value co-creation examples, there is a change in the traditional role of the retailer (as a provider of goods) and the customer (as a provider of money). Instead of merely selling groceries, the firm provides customers with information about the nutritional value of those groceries.\nDiscussion and conclusions: The purpose of this paper was first, to identify the sources of the differing approaches to value co-creation and reduce the complexity surrounding the concept. Second, a business-oriented analytical framework was developed to assess the opportunities of value co-creation. To achieve this, the extensive theoretical discussion around value co-creation was briefly reviewed to explore and illuminate the nuances and multifaceted nature of the concept. Existing research provided a basis for the introduction of three elements to address the conceptual complexity and to develop the analytical framework. This paper hopes to advance shared understanding of the conceptual differences between the different approaches to value co-creation. Only through an in-depth understanding of the different approaches employed in the discussion, can researchers engage in a collective effort to develop the concept further. In this joint effort, the differences should be regarded as complementary rather than contradictory.Technological advances and managers adopting a service orientation are leading to fundamental changes in the roles of both customers and firms. The proposed framework helps to address these changes by capturing the central issues and aspects related to value co-creation. Instead of uncritically accepting the all-encompassing characteristics of value co-creation, firms should carefully assess its opportunities. In this assessment, the proposed framework and the guiding questions will help firms understand the central characteristics of the phenomenon and consider whether their customers possess resources that could be engaged - through a mechanism - in the firm's diverse range of value-creating processes. These include, for example, design and development of new products, production, logistics, and demand forecasting. Similarly, in their quest to better support customer's value creation, firms could introduce such value co-creation mechanisms through which additional firm resources can be engaged in a customer's value-creating processes. It follows that considering the opportunities of value co-creation is fundamentally about identifying new ways to support either the customer's or the firm's value-creating processes. These can take place through customer value co-creation mechanisms (such as refining and then returning customer data to customers) or firm value co-creation mechanisms (such as co-production, co-development, and co-design). The perspective on value creation is extended as both firms and customers are inventing new and innovative ways to support each other's value-creating processes. These mechanisms shift the focus beyond the traditional exchange. Value co-creation as a business concept strives to capture this critically important and topical evolution where the boundaries between firms and customers become more blurred owing to the continuous redefinition of their roles.To that end, technology provides marketers with tools to offer customers additional resources to deploy for value creation. Customers, on the other hand accept a firm's invitation to support that firm's value creation, through, for example, engaging in joint activities such as crowdsourcing. These fundamental changes in resource integration processes challenge the traditional roles of customers and firms (Humphreys and Grayson, 2008; Tapscott and Williams, 2006) and pressurize management to revitalize existing business logics and managerial mind-sets. Customers are increasingly seen as a critically important operant resource for firms - not only as the ultimate determinant of customer value - but as a source of creative, knowledgeable, and motivated resources that can be harnessed to work with the firm in co-creation. However, customer input cannot be taken for granted or go unrewarded - engaging them in the firm's activities must be done in a way that is enticing and beneficial for both parties.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: - Existing research suggests a multitude of approaches to value co-creation that bring with them a range of different ideas on what constitutes the concept. The purpose of this paper is to identify the sources of the differing approaches, and so reduce the complexity of the concept and develop a business-oriented analytical framework for assessing the opportunities presented by value co-creation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Through exploration of the different theoretical approaches to value co-creation the sources of friction are identified. Addressing the conceptual complexity provides a sound basis for the development of a business-oriented analytical framework.\nFindings: - The multifaceted nature of value co-creation arises owing to the differing approaches to what determines the value, the co-, and the creation elements of the concept. The study concludes that both scholars and practitioners should focus more on identifying and understanding what kind of value is co-created for whom, using what resources, and through what mechanism.\nPractical implications: - A business-oriented analytical framework is developed that helps practitioners to assess and approach the opportunities presented by value co-creation.\nOriginality/value: - The paper introduces an analytical and fresh perspective on value co-creation. It helps to clarify the nuances in the nature of the concept and contributes to an enhanced understanding of it.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Leave policies and social inequality in Brazil
|
[
"Brazil",
"Rights",
"Legislation",
"Social inequalities",
"Maternity leave",
"Paternity leave"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Comparison among dozens of countries around the world regarding maternity, paternity and parental leave policies (Blum et al., 2018) reveals a wide variety of types, perspectives and practices. This multiplicity of possible paths can be explained by observing particular social, historical, cultural and political contexts, as well as the welfare state model adopted, the societal arrangement between the productive and reproductive spheres, and gender norms. All these dimensions have major impacts on the specific trajectory of leave legislation, design and implementation of leave policies in any given country, as well as their resulting inequalities.\nThe State, modernity and the emergence of maternity leave: The trajectory, implementation, and expansion of maternity and paternity leave in Brazil has had at least three important political and legal milestones: the 1943 Consolidation of the Labor Laws, the 1988 Constitution, and the 2008 Programa Empresa Cidada (Citizen Company Program). This evolutionary path was initially impacted by a significant external event: Convention No. 3 of the International Labor Organization. Since its foundation in 1919, this organization has advocated for the protection of the health of working mothers and children. To this end, in 1919, Convention No. 3 established that pregnant women should not work for six weeks after childbirth, and should receive sufficient money to support themselves and the child(ren).\nDemocratization and extension of rights: The declaration of the 1988 Constitution marked the beginning of a redemocratization process after a long period of military rule (1964-1985). Under the impetus of this change, the traditional construction of social protection through occupational categories was weakened, as was the case with access to the health system and social assistance, which have gained universality since 1988. However, maternity and paternity protection continued to be governed by labor legislation and depended on formalized worker status or the social security contributions of self-employed or unemployed workers. The new Constitution extended the scope of protection as well as the duration of leave in the formal work sector. It guaranteed employment security for pregnant employees (from the confirmation of pregnancy up to five months after giving birth), and extended the period of maternity leave from 84 to 120 days, paid in full by the National Social Security Institute (INSS).\nExtension of leave as a discretionary corporate act: A new political milestone for maternity and paternity leave occurred in the Workers Party government in 2008, through a new law, No. 11.770/2008, that established the Programa Empresa Cidada (Citizen Company Program), aimed to extend maternity leave from 120 to 180 days, and paternity from 5 to 20 days on full remuneration. The 50 percent increase in maternity leave led to debates among feminists that had already been taking place since the time of the 1988 Constituent Assembly. On the one hand, it was considered that the extension of maternity leave, on full salary, would be a fair recognition by the State of the social function of motherhood. Counter to this, other feminists argued that the systematic expansion of maternity leave, compared to the shorter duration of paternity leave, would contribute to the notion that childcare is solely a maternal responsibility, thus fueling gender inequality (Pinheiro et al., 2009).\nStratification of social security contributions and unequal access to leave: Despite the legislation changes in the last 70 years, the link to status as a formalized worker or social security contributor remains an important feature for obtaining access to maternity and paternity leave. The differentiations established in these laws guide the leave policies and impact the distribution of the population into those who are protected and those who are not, generating and reproducing deep social inequalities. In this sense, the specific objective of this section is to show, through analysis of quantitative data, the existence of social stratification of the social security contribution, and the consequent access to maternity and paternity leave, as much in relation to the type of occupation and employment link as to gender, race, income, educational level and age. For this purpose, the database used is the 2017 National Continuous Household Sampling Survey[1].\nConclusion: According to the idea of \"regulated citizenship\" (Santos, 1979), this status in Brazil, since the 1930s, has been embedded in employment, its formality and its recognition by the State, and those who exercise it could have access to a larger or smaller set of rights. The promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, among many of its measures, created the Unified Health System (SUS), whereby the State having, for example, an obligation to guarantee health to all citizens, represented a greater universalization of rights. The outcome was a weakening of the relationship between employment and citizenship (Fraga, 2009). However, the analysis of the contribution to social security indicates that access to leave is linked to the status of the worker, and influenced by the type of occupation in which he/she is engaged in, revealing, in a certain sense, continuity of \"regulated citizenship.\"\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leave policies and social inequalities. It seeks to analyze the historical course of maternity and paternity leave legislation in Brazil, and also provides quantitative evidence that access to leave is impacted by social stratification, revealing different inequalities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To investigate access to leave policies, this study uses data from the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios Continua Anual de 2017 (Annual National Continuous Household Sampling Survey of 2017), conducted by IBGE/Brazil.\nFindings: The results point out the existence of inequalities in the conceptions of leave policies in Brazil, and lead to quantitative confirmation that access to leave is stratified and permeated by inequalities of gender, class, race and age.\nSocial implications: By pointing out the social inequalities resulting from the contributory scheme of maternity and paternity leave, the results of this paper may generate debate on the transformation of leave into a universal right of citizens and impact public policy agenda in the future.\nOriginality/value: This is the first Brazilian study to analyze the relationship between leave policy and social inequality through quantitative data, showing the existence of social stratification of gender, class, race and age concerning the employed population's access to maternity and paternity leave.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The risk management for indoor air pollution caused by formaldehyde in housing: The historical perspectives on early warnings and actions
|
[
"Air pollution",
"Buildings"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Risk assessment should be conducted based on all available scientific knowledge when addressing a broad range of hazards to public health or environment resulting from environmental pollutants. The European Environment Agency (EEA, 2001) reported some cases in which regulatory action was delayed due to the scientific uncertainty, ambiguity or complexity of causes inherent in the risk assessment, despite early warnings of the attendant hazards. As a result, greater hazard resulted in these cases. The precautionary principle and the precautionary approach were advocated in Germany and Sweden in the 1970s as fundamentals of environmental policy (O'Riordan and Cameron, 1994). When there are reasonable grounds for concern that pollutants have the potential for serious or irreversible damage to public health or the environment, and when at the same time the available scientific knowledge precludes a detailed risk assessment, a precautionary approach is now politically accepted as essential to risk management in these countries.The objective of this study is to analyze the approaches adopted in policies for the regulation of indoor air pollution. Many investigations into indoor air pollution caused by formaldehyde in housing have been conducted, and regulatory actions taken, in Europe and North America. We reviewed the vast quantity of literature and documents relating to governmental and/or industrial actions and of research on indoor air quality produced in the past 40 years, and devised case studies to provide historical perspectives on early warnings and actions taken regarding health hazards due to formaldehyde in housing in Germany, the USA, Canada and Japan.\n2 Historical perspectives on early warnings and actions: 2.1 Early studies on toxicities of formaldehyde\n3 Discussion: Figure 1 shows the range of actions that may be taken in response to health risks from indoor air pollutants. The figure is based on \"severity of health hazards\" and \"uncertainty of scientific data. There may be low scientific uncertainty of a moderate health risk, as when the guideline was established in Germany based on the toxicity endpoint of irritation caused by formaldehyde and field surveys in school buildings. Or precautions could be adopted in a situation of high scientific uncertainty of serious and irreversible health risk, as with the ban on the use of UFFI in the USA and Canada in relation to a carcinogenic endpoint. This association was judged of high scientific uncertainty by the NAS (1980) report. The ban in the USA was lifted by court decision on the grounds of the absence of adequate evidence of causation. However, the use of UFFI in housing had actually decreased as a result of the ban, and a significant reduction in formaldehyde emissions from pressed wood products had been produced. In Canada, the Quebec Superior Court also considered that the adverse health effects of UFFI were not confirmed, but the ban on usage was not lifted.Thus, even where the suspected health effects due to indoor air pollutants are highly serious, sound scientific evidence appears to be needed if they are to be banned entirely. But despite these court decisions, Health Canada and CEPA maintained their target guidelines on indoor formaldehyde concentrations, as precautionary measures appropriate for potential human carcinogens, even though these target guidelines were not geared to sound scientific evidence. When serious health effects are suspected but scientific uncertainty is high, precautionary approaches, e.g. setting target guidelines on the \"as low as reasonably achievable\" (ALARA) principle appears to be acceptable to stakeholders.Health Canada and CEPA revised their guidelines in 2005 and 2004, respectively, in response to further scientific evidence of noncarcinogenic health effects, but nevertheless the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, 2004) classified formaldehyde in Group 1 as carcinogenic for humans, in response to further scientific evidence of carcinogenic health effects. The scientific uncertainty surrounding formaldehyde as a human carcinogen reduces in Figure 1, we should give greater consideration to regulatory control.\n4 Conclusion: We have reviewed the range of actions that have be taken in response to health risks from indoor formaldehyde air pollution as seen in four case studies. Even in cases of high scientific uncertainty, if serious and irreversible health effects are suspected, precautionary approaches based on the ALARA principle may be enacted. Many steps to control indoor air pollutants have been taken in Japan, for instance, restrictions on the use of formaldehyde emitting materials for interior finishing by amended the National Building Codes, but some issues remain unresolved (Azuma et al., 2004). In particular, there is still insufficient scientific evidence of the specific health effects on vulnerable groups to chemicals, e.g. infants, elderly people, people with allergies or respiratory illnesses, and so forth. Action in the context of high scientific uncertainty has not been considered adequately in Japan, and precautionary approaches could well be employed in relation to these groups. We should take actions because there is a possibility that the severity towards the vulnerable group could be high in spite of the high uncertainty. This could result in an improved risk management model for indoor air pollutants.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - In order to clarify the determining features of approaches adopted in policies for regulating indoor air pollution, this paper analyzes case studies of the approaches taken, in four countries, to risk management of indoor air pollution caused by formaldehyde in housing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - We pursued case studies to provide historical perspectives on early warnings and actions taken in relation to suspected health hazards from exposure to formaldehyde, in Germany, the USA, Canada and Japan. Many investigations of indoor air pollution caused by formaldehyde in housing have been conducted, and regulations established, in these countries. We reviewed the vast quantity of literature and documents relating to governmental and/or industrial actions and of research on indoor air quality produced in the past 40 years, and compared the approaches adopted.\nFindings: - The study identified the differing character of the approaches adopted in policies for the regulation of indoor air pollution, in order to clarify the range of actions that may be taken in response to reported risk from indoor air pollutants and describe possible risk management models for indoor air pollution.\nPractical implications: - Understanding of the nature of approaches already adopted will help to preserve good indoor air quality and minimize health hazards due to indoor air pollution.\nOriginality/value: - This paper identifies a range of actions that have been taken in response to suspected risk from indoor air pollutants, through the analysis of its case studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Dynamic clustering to evaluate satisfaction with teaching at university
|
[
"University management",
"Latent class models",
"Quality of the didactics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Customer satisfaction in the service market is strictly connected to quality, for this reason, a thorough comprehension of clients' opinion is extremely important in giving suggestions to improve any kind of offer. In the same way, in higher education, the service provider, the university, needs to know students' evaluation of teaching in order to measure and increase the quality of the didactics (Marzo Navarro et al., 2005; Nixon et al., 2016).\n2. Measuring quality of the didactics at the University of Padua: The main aim of all actions devoted to the measurement of students' satisfaction at the University of Padua is to evaluate the level of perceived quality on all didactic activities organized in one academic year in order to give to the teachers information useful to eventually improve their teaching and related services. Two main instruments are used: a questionnaire with a limited number of open questions on good and bad aspects of the course and eventual suggestions to the teacher for improvements, and a structured questionnaire that collects students' judgments on all aspects regarding an academic course on a scale ranging from 1 to 10, where 10 describes the optimal situation. This instrument has been slightly changed from its first adoption in the academic year 1999-2000 in order to improve the quality of the collected information and to follow suggestions given by the Italian Agency for University Evaluation (ANVUR). Since the academic year 2010-2011, it is proposed to the students through the web as a computer-assisted web interviewing survey at the end of each course, when the students enroll for the exams.\n3. LCC models: Latent class models belong to finite-mixture modeling and were introduced by Lazarsfeld (1950) as a method to identify heterogeneity in a group of respondents to a survey. Latent class models constitute a model-based approach to clustering (Magidson and Vermunt, 2002); its advantages over cluster analysis are due to the fact that belonging of each unit to a group is given by a probability estimated via maximum likelihood and not by a simple indicator of distance among units and groups. Moreover, latent class modeling is at the same time more flexible in treating variables measured on different scales and more rigorous in providing measures of fit to identify the optimal number of groups. Cluster analysis suffers instead of lack of robustness: different measures of distance, algorithms, criteria to determine the optimal number of groups may lead to different solutions.\n4. Results: In order to identify how many clusters can appropriately classify the courses at the University of Padua according to the judgments expressed by students, a LCC model was estimated on the data collected in the academic year 2012-2013, obtaining the best fit with four categories of the latent variable according to various criteria: AIC3, BIC, CAIC and percentage of classification error (van Kollenburg et al., 2015). Models were estimated with Latent GOLD (Magidson and Vermunt, 2005). Observed variables of the model are the seven indicators introduced in Section 3.\n5. Concluding remarks: Scope of this paper is to analyze students' satisfaction at the large university, that of Padua, considering also its evolution over a period of time.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure students' satisfaction with the didactics in a large Italian university, that of Padua, giving special attention to its evolution over time in consecutive academic years. The overall level of the quality of the didactics is examined and its change over time is modeled. Moreover, the effect of courses' and teachers' variables on it is estimated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Latent cluster class models and mixture latent class Markov models are estimated in order to identify groups of courses that are homogeneous for the level of the quality of the didactics. Evolution over the three academic years of satisfaction is monitored. The effect on the clustering and its dynamics of potential covariates is also examined.\nFindings: Results of model estimation reveal some interesting evidences that are important indications for the university management to define targeted strategies to elevate teaching quality.\nOriginality/value: The paper gives its original contribution both on the side of methods applied to analyze data collected with students evaluation of teaching and on the evidences obtained for a large university.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
U-District Job Co-op: constructing a future vision for homeless young people and employment
|
[
"Digital divide",
"User participation",
"Design research",
"Community",
"Human computer interaction (HCI)",
"Design science"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: How have Monster.com, craigslist gigs, LinkedIn, and the many related information systems for job search impacted the labor markets? Economists generally believe that such systems improve the matching efficiency of job seekers to employers and, in any case, they have been widely adopted by both employers and job seekers in American society (Autor, 2001; Beard et al., 2010; Nakamura et al., 2009). In fact, within US labor markets, information systems related to employment are likely unavoidable, across all social economic classes and for skilled and non-skilled workers alike. At present, peer-to-peer sharing platforms are poised to radically change the nature of employment (Sundararajan, 2016).\nBackground: Given our research question - namely, how might socio-technical systems help homeless young people to succeed broadly in employment - a key research construct is the neighborhood. This is so because homeless young people literally live on neighborhood streets and because community-based organizations support homeless young people in many different ways (Ryan, 2015). In this Background section, we thus focus on three main topics. First, we review research on how information systems can be designed to support human activity within neighborhoods. Second, we review research on how homeless young people use information and communication technologies. Third, we also review prior work that we have conducted in our research context, that is, the U-District, a neighborhood in Seattle, WA, USA.\nStudy and methods overview: Research questions\nStudy 1: barriers and solutions to employment: Method\nStudy 2: competitive analysis of systems similar to the U-District Job Co-op: Method\nStudy 3: Co-design from youth perspective: Method\nDiscussion: Peer-to-peer sharing platforms, such as Airbnb and Uber, are impacting regulatory, social, and economic conditions in neighborhoods across the globe (Cohen and Sundararajan, 2015; Sundararajan, 2016). The impacts appear likely to be widespread and enduring, especially related to employment:[The] so-called \"gig economy\" is creating exciting opportunities and unleashing innovation, but it's also raising hard questions about workplace protections and what a good job will be like in the future(Hilary Clinton, Quoted in Sundararajan, 2016, p. 161).\nConclusion: S4HB challenges the field to address human values such as work-life balance, well-being, poverty reduction, and social equity (Venable et al., 2011). For a longstanding social problem, we have demonstrated one approach where we have drawn upon Information Systems theory and method. In doing so, we have developed an image for the future while also more fully understanding our social world.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Addressing the question, how might socio-technical systems help homeless young people to succeed broadly in employment, the purpose of this paper is to present a future vision, the U-District Job Co-op, where youth take on \"mini-jobs\" offered by neighborhood stakeholders.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on value sensitive design, design-based, and qualitative research methods, the Job Co-op is explicated by reporting on three linked studies.\nFindings: First, based on empirical research with varied neighborhood stakeholders, barriers and possible solutions to employment for homeless young people are presented. Second, three design insights for shaping a solution space of socio-technical systems for job search are presented and used analytically to examine six existing systems. Third, findings from a co-design study in which homeless young people expressed their understandings for web-based job services explicate the vision of the Job Co-op.\nSocial implications: This study offers a socio-technical approach, grounded in the neighborhood context, for supporting homeless young people in job search and related activities.\nOriginality/value: The studies reported in this paper demonstrate how methods for information system design can be used to generate and clarify opportunities for human benefit and for the development of socio-technical systems that account for human values.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Ethical leadership and positive work behaviors: a conditional process model
|
[
"Autonomy",
"Prosocial motivation",
"Ethical leadership",
"Positive work behaviors"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: After a recent spate in leadership scandals and moral failure, there has been an increase in the research on ethical leadership and its effects on followers' attitudes and behaviors (Ng and Feldman, 2015). At the same time, environmental uncertainties and fierce competition levels have led firms to rely on their frontline employees to exhibit positive behaviors and help the organization grow (Morrison, 2011; Crant, 2000; Lehman and Simpson, 1992). Researchers have attempted to identify the antecedents to positive behaviors and have found that ethical leadership can encourage positive behaviors such as voice (Lee et al., 2017), initiative (Kalshoven, 2013), and internal whistleblowing (Cheng et al., 2017). However, there are two important limitations regarding the underlying mechanisms.First, the literature on ethical leadership's effects on positive behaviors holds a rather \"hedonistic assumption\" of followers (Shamir, 1991, p. 406). This cognitive process approach recognizes the possible tensions, discomforts and risks inherent in positive behaviors, and it treats followers as calculative individuals who consider the safety or futility associated with positive behaviors (Yang and Liu, 2014). This approach assumes that individuals adopt positive behaviors as a response to being treated well by ethical leaders in order to reciprocate such treatments. In this regard, previous research has established that certain variables such as psychological safety (Tu et al., 2018), felt obligation (Garba et al., 2018), and demonstrated responsibility (Kalshoven, 2013) mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and positive behaviors. Despite its importance and contribution, this cognitive process approach may have a limited explanation in regard to why positive behaviors are adopted because it only views ethical leadership as a risk-reducing or reciprocity-inducing factor. In doing so, this approach may overlook certain influences that ethical leadership can also have on followers' motivation; in particular, ethical leaders can instill the desire to act positively and to strive to contribute even if the behavior involves sacrifice and is not rewarding.Social learning theory suggests that followers treat their leaders as significant role models and learn their attitudes, values and behaviors through observation and emulation (Bandura, 1977). Drawing on this theory, we test a responsive process approach, whereby ethical leaders enhance their followers' prosocial motivation to encourage positive work behaviors. Prosocially motivated individuals are less focused on self-interest and more focused on benefiting others (Grant, 2007). If ethical leaders can elevate followers' prosocial motivations to act positively, then ethical leaders can also be treated as role models for positive behavior. This role model factor would parallel the risk-reducing or reciprocity-inducing factor that currently prevails in explanations of why ethical leadership induces positive behaviors. Examining the mediating role of prosocial motivation not only broadens our theoretical understanding of why ethical leadership leads to positive behaviors but also reaffirms an ethical leader's role in modeling such behaviors from a social learning perspective (Brown et al., 2005).Second, the boundary conditions for the underlying mechanism that links ethical leadership to positive behaviors is under-investigated in the literature (den Hartog, 2015). This study, therefore, proposes and tests job autonomy's (hereafter: autonomy) possible moderating role. Autonomy is \"the degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out\" (Hackman and Oldham, 1976, p. 258). Brown et al. (2005) stated that ethical leaders' effects on follower behavior is more pronounced for employees in ill-defined jobs, and Kalshoven (2013) explained that this is because followers tend to look to their leaders for behavioral guidance when autonomy is high. By introducing autonomy as a moderator, this study heeds the call of exploring more on the boundary conditions of ethical leadership's effect on positive behaviors (den Hartog, 2015; Lam et al., 2016).In summary, this study examines how and when ethical leadership influences followers' positive work behaviors by focusing on the mediating role of prosocial motivation and the moderating role of autonomy.\nTheoretical background and hypothesis development: Ethical leadership and positive work behaviors\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: This study makes a number of theoretical contributions. First, ethical leadership was previously found as an active enabler of various positive behaviors (Lee et al., 2017; Cheng et al., 2017; Kalshoven, 2013). Our finding reaffirms that it can cause followers to \"generate new instances of behavior that go beyond what they have seen or heard\" (Bandura, 1997, p. 93). Followers regard positive behaviors as an appropriate way to emulate. \"Trickle-down\" not only happens among management levels but also to frontline workers. The exemplary function of ethical leadership is at least as important as the reciprocity one, which is often not emphasized enough when examining its effects on positive behaviors.Second, by treating prosocial motivation as a responsive process, whereby followers are instilled with normatively appropriate motivations to serve, this study established another important mechanism that does not rely on followers being hedonistic (Yang and Liu, 2014). There is limited evidence on the motivational effects of ethical leadership (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012). Dhar (2016, p. 141) claimed that \"not much attention has been given to its motivational aspect\". Following the proposition that \"motivation may be another important mechanism for ethical leaders to foster desirable behaviors\" (Lam et al., 2016, p. 278). This study provides evidence on its influence on prosocial motivation of followers. In addition, our finding offers important insight on the nature of prosocial motivation (Grant, 2008). According to our result, prosocial motivation is at least a partially \"state-like\" variable that can be influenced by ethical leadership, rather than a \"trait-like\" stable disposition. While the effect of leadership on prosocial motivation is inconclusive (Bao et al., 2018), more work is needed to examine the effect of leadership as a socialization practice to induce prosocial motivation.Third, previous studies have mainly examined individual characteristics when discussing the boundary conditions of ethical leadership's effect (Kacmar et al., 2013). Responding to the call of examining moderators in the ethical leadership and positive behavior relationship (Brown and Trevino, 2006), particularly from the job characteristic perspective (Dhar, 2016), our result reaffirms that \"modelling is especially relevant in high autonomy situations\" (Kalshoven, 2013, p. 176). It is worth noting that in our result, ethical leadership's effect is not pronounced when autonomy is low. Caution is thus warranted when claiming the ubiquitous positive effect of ethical leadership, job characteristics such as autonomy should be taken into consideration.Theoretical implications\nConclusion: Recognizing the cognitive process's restrictive hedonistic assumption, this study proposed and tested a response process, whereby ethical leadership uplifts followers' prosocial motivation to act positively. Furthermore, this study found job autonomy to be an important boundary condition in this effect. This research provides a delineated picture of the underlying mechanism relating ethical leadership to positive behaviors and offers a number of promising new research directions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study's purpose is to examine ethical leadership's effect on followers' positive work behaviors, as mediated by prosocial motivation and moderated by job autonomy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two-wave survey data were collected from 200 Chinese employees working in various industries. A hierarchical regression and a bootstrapping test were used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Ethical leadership is positively related to followers' positive work behaviors, and prosocial motivation partially mediates this relationship. Job autonomy moderates the relationship between ethical leadership and prosocial motivation, as well as the indirect effect of ethical leadership on positive work behaviors via prosocial motivation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings' generalizability is limited because only Chinese employees were investigated and a snowball sampling method was used. Future research should utilize other sampling methods and explore other contexts to determine whether the results can be replicated.\nPractical implications: Organizations should provide employees with greater behavioral discretion to benefit from the positive effects of ethical leadership. They should use selection and job design tools to boost their employees' prosocial motivation.\nOriginality/value: The extant literature has largely applied the cognitive process approach to link ethical leadership and positive behaviors, treating ethical leadership as a risk-reducing or reciprocity-inducing factor. This study introduces a responsive process approach whereby prosocial motivation is established as a mediator between ethical leadership and positive work behaviors. Also, job autonomy is identified as a boundary condition of ethical leadership's effect.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
"It does not help to look young and dumb...": Ageism and intergenerational contact in the Norwegian technical industry
|
[
"Norway",
"Generations",
"Ageism",
"Intergenerational contact",
"Technical work"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Age and generational diversity are receiving increasing interest as a dimension of workplace diversity (Pritchard and Whiting, 2014), leading to some understanding of managers' attitudes toward workers' age (primarily older workers). Intergenerational differences in the workforce provide challenges for managers and have become an increasingly important topic amongst the human resource management practitioners (Benson and Brown, 2011). Workers' age has been found to be important to workplace experiences within technological industries; however, generation and its interconnectedness to age remains underexamined. Older workers are more likely to report increased satisfaction with work-life balance (Maruyama et al., 2009), a greater association between professional identities and their employing organization (Marks and Scholarios, 2007) and potentially a greater need for technology training (Warhurst et al., 2006). Less is known about how \"generations\" interact in the workplace. Although there is some suggestion that younger workers may be skeptical of the technological capacities of older workers (Weeks et al., 2017). The current research adds to this body of research, by examining intergenerational attitudes within the workplace, specifically the technical industry in Norway which is numerically dominated by younger workers. The paper begins by defining \"generation\" and intergenerational contact, with the latter examined through the lens of ageism. The qualitative case study methods are then outlined, which address the main research question:\nDefining \"generation\": The term \"generation\" has been much debated and subsequently defined in several different ways (Urick and Hollensbe, 2014). A common definition of a generation is \"individuals who were born and raised in the same time span\" (Chi et al., 2013, p. 43). Several researchers have, however, challenged this definition stating that an age-based generation is more than a biological necessity (Sessa et al., 2007). Rather than being a biological issue, Mannheim (1952) argues that a generation is a sociological matter whereby younger and older generations collectively encounter a set of events during adulthood that distinguish them from each other. Benson and Brown (2011) suggest that a generation does not exist without the presence of social interactions between human beings; in other words, a generation represents a unique social location based on the socio-political events that occur when the generation comes of age. Generational values, perspectives and beliefs are thus argued to be shaped by both social and historical events during the time they were born and raised (Costanza et al., 2012).\nGenerational identities as social construct: Joshi et al. (2010, p. 393) proposes the concept of \"generational identity\" defined as \"a multifaceted construct that is broadly defined as an individual's knowledge that he or she belongs to a generational group/role, together with some emotional and value significance to him or her of this group/role membership.\" The authors draw on three approaches to generational identity, namely, cohort-based identity, age-based identity and incumbency-based identity. The former refers to particular events, such as entry to an organization, whereby an individual identify with the preceding or succeeding generations that result in similar attitudes among that particular generation (Urick and Hollensbe, 2014). Secondly, a person might identify with age, which draws on Mannheim's work whereby two elements, the common location and distinct consciousness, are important for identity formation. This is reflected in popular conceptualizations of generations based on age, including Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers. Joshi et al.'s (2010) approach to age-based identity relies on chronological ordering, collective memory and identity theory to stipulate intergenerational contact. Finally, an individual can identify with an organizational role associated with particular attitudes, experiences, skills and knowledge that is formed through occupying a job or role for a particular time period (Joshi et al., 2010). However, a person can draw on multiple aspects in generational identity formation; hence, generations can be theorised as social identities in order to examine in-group and out-group creation both within and outside of the workplace (Urick and Hollensbe, 2014).\nAgeism: Within the rapid changing and aging modernized world, it is particularly a risk for generational tensions to arise, for example, through employee benefits that are intended to both attract and retain (certain) workers (North and Fiske, 2015). Additionally, the tensions associated with perceived intergenerational differences may, however, be exacerbated by increased competition for jobs and within the workplace (Pritchard and Whiting, 2014) which might result in ageism. Older workers tend to report higher satisfaction with their work-life balance (Maruyama et al., 2009). However, Marks and Scholarios (2007) suggest that older workers, more so than younger workers, in the UK software industry find their employing organization to be a source of professional identity. Older workers may also be viewed negatively by managers who are skeptical of older workers' ability to learn new technologies and skills (Furunes and Mykletun, 2007). North and Fiske (2015) thus argue that modernization-ageism is particularly likely to occur in technologically cutting-edge industries that tend to place emphasis on new ideas and skills that undermine industry experience that might benefit certain workers, or age groups, over others.\nMethods: Research context\nFindings: The findings section begins by briefly outlining how participants articulated generation and age, before moving toward a consideration of intergenerational contact and articulation of ageism.\nUncovering generations at work: The data suggest the concept of generation may be more relevant to older workers, and those with a longer organizational tenure. Members of the Baby Boomer generation reported a sense of belongingness to the \"after war generation,\" reflected in the increased number of births during this period. Generational identity was further reflected with reported dedication and availability to the organization, customers and colleagues, which they believed distinguished their generation from those of a younger age. This was supported by Bob:[...]. I can tell by the way we are working. I belong to the generation that are at work until the job and tasks are done and I feel that I am more available [...] I have noticed that the younger generation have a greater focus on family and leisure [...] I feel that there has been a shift in generational attitudes and the attitudes towards work [...].\nIntergenerational contact: Millennial respondents indicated working with older employees provided them with an opportunity to learn about the various generations of technology. For example, Luke indicated the older generation was less likely to take risks while also being better at the practical assignments such as reports and notes than the younger generation are. Oscar did not think age was an important factor as long as an appropriate work ethic was prevalent. However, Nils suggested the older workers had a more traditional working day, while younger workers found it easier to take up flexible working practices, including taking a day off, while catching up on the lost hours by working later other days. Mike suggested the older workers had developed a systematic and methodical way of working, which made them a bit slower whilst spending time on relatively simple and less important tasks.\nAgeism: The previous sections have demonstrated that the participants had clear ideas about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the generations, with the respondents demonstrating age-elated stereotypes that they relied on in intergenerational interactions, and if acted on, tend to be a more implicit form of ageism. The following section draws out participants' reflection on more the explicit forms of age-related discrimination. Respondents indicated that age discrimination against older workers could be evident within the recruitment processes. Dina (Baby Boomer) then indicated that she would probably hire someone that was younger:I think that I would have thought about the new technology, experiences, ideas and those that are young and vigorous are more likely to provide more effort to the job, and then I would probably forget that they most likely have four kids at home that are sick every other day [...] So I would probably do the same mistake.\nDiscussion and conclusions: This research examined the impact of ageism on intergenerational contact within the Norwegian technical industry. Interviewees recalled generation specific historical and social events, distinguishing Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials from one another. The events included material and technical developments and the changing society in terms of work-life initiatives, which shape the beliefs, perceptions and the values of the generations (Costanza et al., 2012). The generational stereotypes reported in the current study are similar to those found in previous research, including the perceived loyalty of Baby Boomers (D'Amato and Hertzfeldt, 2008) and Millenials' desire for flexible working (Helyer and Lee, 2012). However, few of the Millennial and Generation X respondents felt belongingness to a generation, which may be due to the unconsciousness of their generational inclusion (Aboim and Vasconcelos, 2014).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: While age is receiving increased attention in the literature on workplace diversity, it remains under researched. Intergenerational contact and its relationship to ageism require further research to understand their mechanisms and impacts. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using semi-structured interviews in the Norwegian technical industry, this paper explores how generations are formed and how this influences intergenerational contact.\nFindings: Through the lens of ageism, the findings reveal that generational stereotypes are strongly held by respondents, and may affect how members of the generations interact in the workplace. Further, the data demonstrate that both age and generation are socially constructed, and age discrimination is perceived by both older and younger workers.\nOriginality/value: The study has relevance for managers who are overseeing organizations with considerable age differences.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The scale of school organizational culture in Indonesia
|
[
"Measurement",
"Organizational culture",
"Scale",
"School organization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Researchers require valid instruments used to collect data in a field study (Creswell, 2005). Studies in the field are able to have valid instruments when the measurement development has been proceeded employing a construct validity analysis (Burhanuddin, 2013). Measurement modelling in investigating school organizational culture (OC) is a complex project work because it relates with various factors or variables (Ali, 2017; Burhanuddin and Sunarni, 2016; Hofstede et al., 2010). Not many research studies developed the scales to investigate this construct. Gibson et al. (2006) said that researchers had difficulties in measuring how cultural issues embedded in organizations influence management effectiveness. Practitioners could not easily compare culture types that made organizations successful (Yukl, 2010). Examining their constructs often involves multivariate factors. This work then becomes complex (Keeves and Masters, 1999). In responding to such a phenomenon, this study developed scales to measure what sorts of cultures that characterize an organization especially within a school context. The purposes of study are to develop the OC scale based on theories and previous studies, and to validate items and the scale using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). These are carried out to examine and validate the complex variables employing structural equation modelling (SEM).\nUnderstanding organizational culture construct: OC as a part of situational factors has attracted many authors and researchers for it determines organizational performance (Burhanuddin, 2016; Burhanuddin and Sunarni, 2016; Cameron and Quinn, 2011; Schein, 2004). Evidences from several studies showed how this factor emerges in a workplace. It is built following human interactions and engagements with an environment where people experience effective collaboration, stability and feel secured over their works (Daniel, 2018; Lincoln, 2010; Lok and Crawford, 2004; Peterson and Deal, 2002; Schein, 2004). This is retained by most leaders and managers particularly schools (Burhanuddin and Sunarni, 2016; Schein, 2004) in order to create a sense of organizational identity through building and developing the cultural values and attributes that may differ with other entities (Kwantes and Boglarsky, 2007). Thus, various cultures could be identified in differing organizations (Ali, 2017).\nConfirmatory factor analysis: CFA is defined as a technique to test how variables represent their particular constructs (Hair et al., 2010). In line with Cramer (2003), Hair et al. (2010) and Albright and Park (2009), CFA is used to determine whether hypothesized models or factor structure models proposed by the researchers fit data. This is applied by developing measure items based on theories (Albright and Park, 2009; Hair et al., 2010). The model, thus, is tested by examining factor loadings between factors and observed variables (Albright and Park, 2009).\nMethod: Participants\nResults: SEM was used to validate the scales of this study since the procedure is relevant with previous studies (Wang et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2011). For the limited purpose, this model of work was only applied in a construction of a hierarchical factor model. The hierarchical six factors model was used to represent the second-order factor as the overall OC construct. Results of a CFA were retrieved within individual responses confirming the hypothesized structure.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Results of CFA provide strong evidence that the measurement model of the scale for school OC was supported by the data. It indicates these six types of OC are significantly identified by sample as characterizing the school organizations including bureaucratic, supportive, market, clan, adhocracy and innovative (Lincoln, 2010; Wallach, 1983). This study, thus, contributed to the literature by incorporating six types of school OC. The treatment of items in each scale is relevant with the principles of IRT model which assumed each latent variable in the measurement model as unidimensional (Burhanuddin and Sunarni, 2016; Wu and Adams, 2007). The reason is that the concepts measured through these research latent variables are really linked with their respective single dimensions (Hair et al., 2010). The common factor of OC was statistically specified as the cause of the six first-order factors in the hierarchical factor model, and all the factors obtained higher a coefficients. Hence, such achievements strengthen a conclusion that the school OC can be used as a reliable index to identify and assess OCs within the school system.\nImplication: To capture the forms of OC, principals of primary schools have to examine their current working atmosphere regularly. Various and unique OCs are then improved in responding to the demands of environment and individuals. This is necessary to ensure that the developed cultures appropriately provide a well-being environment where teachers and other members are motivated to do the best for accomplishing their jobs. The developed OC scale could be used to measure how school organization culture perceived by people in organizational contexts. Further research is expected to examine the research variables in the differing subjects and environment. This is to ensure the future study is able to get more comprehensive propositions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a measurement model in order to investigate sorts of organizational cultures (OCs) existing in school organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study involved 300 teachers of Primary Schools in the Malang City, East Java Indonesia. It used a quantitative approach with structural equation modelling to develop a measurement model of school OC. To enable the measure of this variable to work, OC scale was constructed and validated employing a confirmatory factor analysis.\nFindings: Results suggest items of the scale are conceptualized as unidimensional measure. The scale, thus, could be used to examine and properly identified types of OCs within a school setting.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study developed e-scale to measure OC within a school context. The measure was tested in referring to the data derived from a limited sample of primary school teachers in Malang City, Indonesia.\nPractical implications: This study recommends that school principals are expected to create an OC to ensure the improvement of individual capacities is carried out effectively.\nOriginality/value: The investigation focused on a school OC as a complex project. Since not many research studies developed the scales to measure this specific cultural construct, the findings add to the theory in this area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Procedural justice as a moderator of the relationship between organizational change intensity and commitment to organizational change
|
[
"Procedural justice",
"Commitment to organizational change",
"Organizational change frequency",
"Organizational change intensity",
"Organizational change severity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizations have undergone unprecedented changes. Although organizational change may lead to benefits to firms (Lewin and Minton, 1986), there is significant evidence that organizational change leads to employee stress (Simpson, 1998). Organizational change occurs in various forms such as new technology implementation, relocation, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Although these forms are typically aggregated under the umbrella term \"organizational change,\" they may have divergent properties with respect to change intensity. For example, a layoff program would likely have a higher impact on employees' well-being than new technology adoption. More frequent organizational changes can increase the level of uncertainty due to the needs for work process adjustments than less frequent ones (Carter et al., 2013). That is, change intensity includes both quantitative (i.e. the number of organizational changes experienced by employees) and qualitative (i.e. the extent to which the change impacts employees' jobs) aspects, which may increase job demands during organizational change in different degrees (Glick et al., 1995; Carter et al., 2013).\nLiterature review and theoretical framework: In the field of psychology and management, JDR researchers have agreed that job characteristics affect employee well-being (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007). They have focused on the combination of job resources and job demands, analyzing their influence on work-related well-being and its derivative attitudes and behaviors (Demerouti et al., 2001). Thus, we believe that the JDR model is a useful theoretical framework in that employees' evaluations of change also depend on how the change is influenced by work characteristics (van Emmerik et al., 2009).\nHypotheses: The current study builds upon the JDR model (Bakker et al., 2003; Demerouti et al., 2001). The JDR model distinguishes between two main types of job characteristics, job demands, and job resources, which can deteriorate employees' psychological well-being and thus influence their attitudes about the job and the organization. Based on the model, this study views organizational change environments, conceived as job demands and resources, as a determinant of attitudes toward changes. That is, if employees experience increased job demands and a lack of resources to adapt to the organizational change, they are more likely to negatively respond to the change and disengage themselves from organizational change commitment. This argument is also supported by Fox et al. (2001) argument that if they understand certain events as threats to psychological well-being, employees appraise the events that occur in their organizations and consider the events as stressors that trigger negative emotional reactions to them.\nMethod: Procedures\nResults: Analysis\nDiscussion: This study aims to conceptualize organizational change intensity and to explain its impacts on the three types of COC based on the JDR model. This study isolated the impact of two forms of organizational change intensity (frequency and severity) as job demands on COC components (ACOC, NCOC, and CCOC). It also examined the pivotal role of procedural justice as job resources indirectly affecting COC and mitigating the effects of change intensity with respect to COC. Overall, our results showed interesting patterns in the influence of organizational change intensity on the three types of COC. Moreover, our findings show that the relationships between organizational change frequency and NCOC components are contingent on procedural justice. As such, this paper helps to advance our understanding of the consequences of job demands and job resources as well as COC.\nLimitations and directions for future research: Despite the above contributions, this study has several limitations that should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. First, we had responses from two data sources to reduce the threat of common method bias. However, the relationships among the constructs except organizational change intensity may not be free from common method bias. Thus, we examined the bias with Harman's one-factor test and a single unmeasured latent method (Podsakoff et al., 2003). The results of the unrotated EFA revealed that the first factor explained 27.33 percent of the variance, and indicated that no general factor emerged from method bias. In addition, we tested a five-factor measurement model, which included four predefined research constructs (ACOC, CCOC, NCOC, and procedural justice) with a method construct linking all the items from the aforementioned research constructs (Menon et al., 1996). The results of this CFA showed that this model did not fit the data at all. In addition, Conway and Lance (2010) and Spector (2006) stated that the impact of method bias may be a misperception. The authors emphasized construct validity supported by factor structure, nomological networks, and reliability, to rule out method effects. As discussed earlier, all of the constructs were measured using scales that have been used in prior studies. All of our measures demonstrated acceptable reliability, and the data fit the four-factor structure in a CFA suggesting discriminant validity. In addition, our pattern of correlations suggests nomological validity. Thus, while common method bias is always a threat, we took steps to alleviate concerns regarding how this might influence the interpretations of our findings.\nImplications for practice: The results of this study provide important insights for HR managers that plan and implement organizational change. Organizations now implement change programs frequently due to technological changes, new product development, spin-offs, and global expansion as examples. When they implement change programs, they endeavor to obtain employees' COC. However, they may not always achieve all types of COC. Even if employees do not agree with the change program, organizations still need to implement the change due to strategic needs. And, they may not always focus on increasing ACOC. That said, managers and HR professionals might be able to achieve NCOC or reduce CCOC even if firms do not address employees' ACOC. Based on the results of this study, change agents could begin to focus their efforts on issues related to procedural justice during organizational change, since it can positively influence ACOC and NCOC and negatively affect CCOC as well as mitigate organizational change intensity-severity and- frequency and NCOC. In other words, procedural justice, through fair processes such as allowing employee voice and providing enough information, may reduce the stress from organizational change. Thus, HR managers need to increase opportunities for employees involved in organizational change to voice their opinions and participate in the change. In addition, change agents should accept the ideas expressed by employees regarding change and take their opinions into consideration when designing and implementing the change.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why different forms of organizational change have different levels of organizational intensity, which in turn differentiate its impact on commitment to organizational change (COC). Its purpose is to also identify how procedural justice can reduce change-related stress and buffer the strain inducing effects of job demands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors tested the hypotheses using data collected from two sources in Korea. First, the authors conducted a survey in several organizations to identify employees' attitudes and stress during organizational change. Second, the author surveyed MBA students to evaluate the degree of organizational change intensity (severity) across the types of change.\nFindings: There is a hierarchy of the severity of organizational change and the most severe forms of change are the ones that impact employees' job security and organizational identity. The influence of job demands (represented as organizational change intensity-severity) on COC can depend on the nature of COC. Procedural justice not only facilitates employees to accept values and goals pertaining to organizational change but also adapt themselves to pressures of external change. Buffering effects of job resources (represented as job resources) had significant impacts only on normative commitment to organizational change (NCOC).\nResearch limitations/implications: This study contributes to the job demands-resources model by considering organizational change intensity as job demands and procedural justice as job resources and showing the relationships among them. Future studies can further extend the model by identifying other variables related to job demands and resources during organizational change and extending the nomological networks of NCOC and continuance commitment to organizational change.\nPractical implications: The results of this study provide important insights for human resource managers who plan and implement organizational changes. Procedural justice and organizational change intensity-severity should be considered to increase commitment to change.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the few studies to identify the different types of organizational change and quantify them to measure organizational change intensity-severity. A new finding is that the buffering role of job resources (procedural justice in this study) can be marginal when the influence of job demands on employees' attitudes is strong.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Benchmarking self-declared social sustainability initiatives in cocoa sourcing
|
[
"Social sustainability",
"Agricultural products",
"Supply chain ethics",
"Cocoa supply chain",
"Sustainable supply chains",
"Sustainable sourcing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In global terms, agricultural and food supply chains are complex to manage and are under constant scrutiny. They have been described as the primary source of modern slavery (Gold et al., 2015) and child labour (ILO, 2013). In addition, ever-present food scares require companies to promptly and efficiently deal with and respond to public concerns. However, executives at Mars noted, when setting up the Mars Global Food Safety Centre, that the only way to tackle food safety scares such as Listeria, E. coli and fungal toxins is to raise the performance of all participants in the supply chain (The Guardian, 2015). Poor process control and ineffective communication in the supply chain can cause significant losses for an organisation. For example, it was estimated that the Salmonella scare at Cadbury's in 2006 cost PS30m (BBC, 2006). More importantly, food contamination kills many people every year. One of many tragic examples is the Chinese melamine scandal in 2008, in which over 6,000 children were taken ill and three children died as a result of being fed contaminated milk (The Guardian, 2008).\n2. Background of SSCM: This section presents the relevant literature from which the theoretical parameters for self-declared sustainable initiatives have emerged. The theoretical underpinnings of this research are derived from the fields of SSCM and ethical procurement.\n3. Research methodology: The research question that we address in this paper is as follows:\n4. Presentation of cases: This section will focus on the measures that the four multinational corporations - Mondelez, Ferrero, Nestle and Mars - have taken to tackle these issues and establish sustainable sourcing of cocoa in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The cases vary in their length because there were deviations in the communication strategies of companies. The quality and quantity of data made available by the chocolatiers differed drastically, as noted in the case section.\n5. Conceptual framework and findings: To consolidate the assessment of the self-declared social sustainable initiatives against the theoretical parameters we had identified, we developed a conceptual framework for self-declared socially-sustainable sourcing initiatives (see Table II). The purpose of this framework is to act as a generic guideline to compare and contrast the comprehensiveness of the sustainability efforts of the above chocolatiers. By comprehensiveness, we mean having a range of initiatives at all levels of procurement management as illustrated in Figure 1: policy, strategic, tactic and operational levels. Overall, we note that the chocolatiers are not comprehensive in how they perform against the parameters of sustainable sourcing practices, i.e. they do not cover all levels of management identified in the framework. This eventually impacts on their consistency (i.e. their ability to adopt initiatives in different areas that support each other) and transparency (i.e. clarity in their goals, willingness to communicate efforts to stakeholders, etc.).\n6. Discussion: The current paper has investigated the self-declared social sustainability initiatives of the chocolate industry and the measures taken by the world's four largest chocolatiers. Increasing scrutiny of their supply chain practices by consumers, media and other influential stakeholders has heightened the need for these chocolatiers to define, implement and effectively communicate SSCM strategies.\n7. Conclusions: The current paper provides a review of the self-declared efforts by the four major chocolatiers to ensure a sustainable supply of cocoa and improve the conditions of the cocoa farmers, particularly through the lens of cocoa supply chains in Africa, where research is limited. The analysis was based on 2013 sustainability reports, and information available from the companies' website. The conceptual framework developed in this paper can be used as a tool to analyse the social sustainability initiatives and efforts of other agricultural products. This can be done with the help of the generic parameters identified in Table II. These are the main contributions of the paper. Theoretically, it proposes a comprehensive set of parameters. The generic parameters allow further transformation into specific parameters to a given industry. The set combined allows for a better understanding of the commitment and efforts of a firm at all management levels in the procurement process, i.e. from policy to operational levels. In practical terms, the framework can be considered as a guiding tool for the analysis of a particular company or agricultural industry's social sustainability initiatives.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the self-declared sustainability initiatives of the world's four largest chocolate manufacturers (Ferrero, Mars, Mondelez and Nestle) and the measures they take to tackle social problems within the context of establishing sustainable sourcing of cocoa in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Global cocoa supply chains are under continuous media and public scrutiny. Recent incidents of malpractice in supply chain management have left global chocolatiers vulnerable in terms of how they deal with social issues across their global supply chain networks. Critics have argued that there is a lack of consistency and transparency between what companies say and do in upholding sustainable practices across their supply chains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors draw from the sustainable supply chain literature to develop our theoretical parameters and undertake a case-based analysis of the existing sustainability practices of these chocolatiers. Using the insights from this analysis, the authors propose a conceptual framework for a rigorous comparative assessment of self-declared sustainable sourcing initiatives of global agricultural supply chains. The methodology is qualitative and the research method is a secondary-data case study.\nFindings: Four main parameters were identified and used to compare self-declared initiatives, namely: social sustainability certification from respectable bodies; code of conduct for suppliers; partnerships with the primary supply chain stakeholders; and supplier collaboration programme and improvement initiatives. The case companies chosen have implemented several initiatives, but the most prominent seem to indicate the reliance on third-party certification. Not all companies adopted a supplier code of conduct. The partnerships and collaboration programmes with different associations are presented as efficient for companies as well as farmers. Improvements in the conditions of farmers are advocated as a key result.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper is based on self-declared secondary data. Subsequently, it is possible that the case companies did not document some practices; or that companies do not do what they claim.\nPractical implications: This paper provides a comprehensive framework for agricultural businesses to compare their sustainability efforts and improve the performance of their supply chains, particularly those who belong to the cocoa supply chains. The proposed framework allows an assessment of initiatives at policy, strategic, tactical and operational levels to improve social sustainability of supply chains.\nSocial implications: This paper may help companies to think more clearly about greater transparency and provide the impetus for dealing more effectively with serious social issues in agricultural supply chains such as: child labour, child trafficking, modern slavery, etc. It may also instruct consumers to better understand what companies do as part of their sustainability agenda, alongside the communication of other features of their products, such as quality.\nOriginality/value: The framework adds value by providing a novel way to systematically compile and analyse data around self-declared sustainable initiatives. Actors within agricultural supply chains can use the framework to assess and drive their sustainability efforts and practices, leading to ways to improve the social performance of their global supply chains.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The concept of organizational change capacity
|
[
"Change capacity",
"Organizational change",
"Organizational learning",
"Organizational development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational change is at the forefront of the academic and managerial environment (Pettigrew et al., 2001). The study of Tarondeau et al. (1994) attempted ten years ago to identify the management variants at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The authors of the study looked at the organization's ability to change and how quickly this could be carried out. The current management scenario regularly shows us how relevant the results of the study are: the link between organizational dynamics and frequency of environmental changes is increasingly strong, resulting in changes that are endemic and both rapid and frequent (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997; Nadler and Tuschman, 1994). Consequently, change processes and implementation present a major challenge to managers. It even seems that change is considered to be a solution in itself. Indeed, Thevenet (1988) stresses that companies fall in with the common trend of believing that change is always beneficial. It is important however, to remember that change can destabilize organizations, is costly and often risky. Moreover, Hannan and Freeman (1989) showed that internal and external partners favor stable and predictable organizations: change can open the door to inexperience.Even if the process of carrying out the change is a management invariant (Thevenet, 1988), the process itself remains highly problematic. The varying elements of this process only occasionally correspond to the intended action (Van de Ven and Poole, 1995). Surrounding literature confirms this: works waiver between the change management action and the management of the change conditions (Van de Ven and Poole, 1995; Pettigrew et al., 2001). On the one hand, there are theories, which suggest that change drives itself; on the other hand, there are theories, which suggest careful preparation is required. Demers (1999) stresses that:[...] behind the apparent division of opinion in literature on organizational change, two very different perspectives can be found. The first places the emphasis on the management of organizational change, whereas the second deals with managing the change capacity of an organization.In the end, these opposing views reflect the theoretical instability, which characterizes work on organizational change (Pettigrew et al., 2001). Faced with this theoretical mosaic, the question of knowing what the change capacity is, is fundamental. Why do some organizations have more success with their change than others? What is the company's change capacity? To begin with, we will present the theoretical framework, highlighting the two models of change capacity; then we will explain the choices of methodology, which guided our research. Finally, we will present the results of this research.\n1 Change capacity: There are numerous theories, which refer to change capacity. Before outlining the constituent elements, we shall try to clarify the theoretical contours.1.1 Definition\n2 Methodology research choices: Methodology research aims to break down the change capacity in order to identify its components. The capacity for transformation constitutes the hidden order, which it is possible to reveal placing such research in the domain of discovering uniformity. The research instrument is therefore determined by this epistemological position. It should facilitate the most neutral observation possible of the facts. From this perspective, the case study should be considered as a genuine research strategy (Yin, 1989; Eisenhardt, 1989). To understand the change capacity means flushing out any empirical data immersed in the history of the individuals and of the organization; in the relationship which links the change phenomenon to its context (Pettigrew, 1985).An essential question concerns the number of cases studied. Taking into account the subject matter, it was decided to undertake the study of a single case, following the recommendations of Pettigrew (1985) and Pettigrew et al. (2001). The question was then one of defining the criteria, which should guide the choice of case study: we were to observe an organization that had acquired the status of a company with change capacity. This would be evaluated on the number of years of existence and the extent of changes undergone. But which organization(s) and what change(s) should form the basis of our observation?The Renault SA group makes for an interesting case. Renault, a 100-year-old company, is considered to be capable of undergoing change, of following its environment and even of shaping its own environment. One of the company specialists described its ability to adapt:It is rare to find a company that has been in existence for one hundred years. This period of time represents one of the best signs of success, that of durability [...]. Renault is one of the largest automobile companies, a company which has been able to adapt to the large variety of contexts that have arisen from 1898 to the present day (Loubet, 2000).Similarly, Thietart links what he feels to be the company's status as strategic innovator to its capacity for pro-action. According to this author, the company has operated \"an impressive strategic turnaround and has altered the rules of competition, much to everybody's surprise\" (Thietart, 2001).However, studying Renault's case in its entirety would have required many years of observation and direct access to general management. Moreover, the Renault SA group is made up of several sites spread out over the world. We could not undertake the challenges of such a study because of restraints on time and geographical access. However, it was necessary to access data that pertained to our research study. Consequently, we based our case study on one department of the Renault SA group, thereby fixing a boundary for our research.In order to carry out our observations, we were given the opportunity of working with the test systems engineering (TSE) department. The function of this department is to design, develop and maintain systems for testing engine and mechanical parts and instruments and for vehicle testing. With a staff of 160 people, the department underwent an organizational overhaul in 1999, an operation that according to one of the departmental managers \"went pretty well and produced the results which we had expected\". The area offered interesting characteristics for our research: it enabled us to observe the development of change capacity. However, it quickly became apparent that we could not focus on this one subject. Indeed, the initial analyses showed that the success of the creation of the TSE department did not depend exclusively on the change in itself (its content) or on the way in which the change was conducted (process); the context was a determining factor. The boundaries of the case (that is, the subject of the study) were pushed further and further out. We proceeded with discussions with the participants on the major company changes (which they had experienced more or less directly) (Table II). By concentrating on the last three decades, we were able to establish a time frame for the study. This choice was made as a result of two findings; the participants had been with the company for a maximum of 33 years and major changes in the sector had taken place over this 30-year period (Loubet, 2000). Table II shows the main stages of the evolutions of the company.Qualitative methodology was favored. Discussions revealed data that had been buried in the professional archives of the participants. It was felt that the complexity of the area being researched and the extent of the context make such steps necessary (Pettigrew, 1985; Pettigrew et al., 2001). For this purpose, data were retrieved from the following sources: interviews, documents and first-hand observation (Table III).These investigations took place between May 2002 and September 2003 (the TSE change was ending). In order to limit elitist bias (Miles and Huberman, 1991), we conducted interviews at all management levels of the TSE department. We spoke with various TSE department managers, middle management (elementary work unit (EWU) managers) and \"ground\" staff, i.e. consultants, specialists and project leaders.Two series of interviews took place with the participants. The first series (24 interviews) was aimed at researching the organizational context, familiarizing ourselves with the highly technical environment, acquiring the specialist vocabulary and building a trust-based relationship. At this stage of the procedure, we did not describe the interviewee's profile, as the nature of the data did not require it. At the end of this first series of interviews, we were able to detect participants who had hands-on experience of change situations. The second series of interviews (32) enabled us to collect data centered around the research issue. Basing ourselves on the approach of Pettigrew (1985), the table was built up around three main axes: content, process and context. A first series of questions dealt with changes relating to the automotive sector, to the testing systems sector and to the way in which Renault had followed or instigated these changes. It involved inviting the interviewee to describe what he felt lay behind Renault's capacity to evolve. The second series of questions concentrated on a particular moment of change amongst the main evolutions previously identified. We attempted to lead the interviewee gradually back in time, to \"re-experience\" the context, by asking him to reconstruct the \"history\" of the change; then, after questioning him on the results, he was then in a position to report on the way the change had been managed. Finally, the last series of questions was directed at Renault's capacity for renewal. This series was intentionally left open so as to allow the interviewee greater freedom in his replies. This final phase was meant to enable discussion to flow freely and to prompt data to be revealed.Afterwards, the data produced by these interviews was collated, added to and compared with data retrieved from documents and direct observations. Passive observations were conducted during EWU and departmental meetings and were written up in a research journal. The documentation was used as much for gaining credibility in the eyes of the participants (through a sound knowledge of the sector and of the company) as for detailing and comparing data resulting from the interviews.The data were processed according to the recommendations of Miles and Huberman (1991). In particular, data were compressed using thematic coding. Rough transcripts enabled themes to be highlighted. These were grouped by analogy, forming categories. Since the research was aimed at identification/detection of the change capacities (and not at how they were made), we attached importance to the themes (and their recurrence) rather than to their connection. Table IV shows the results of the thematic content analysis.We will now analyze the attributes of all different dimensions of the organizational change capacity.\n3 Components of organizational change capacity: Our study leads us to identifying three dimensions of the change capacity. These are the context, process and learning dimensions.3.1 The context dimension of change capacity\n4 Discussion: Our study has shown that change capacity consists of three types of transformational assets. These results are interesting in two respects.First, it responds to the double paradigm of change theories. It steers us towards the notion that the two paradigms complement each other and underlines the exchange of ideas between the two models. Indeed, change capacity is as much linked to its management (the process dimension relates to the management paradigm) as it is dependent on the initial conditions (the context dimension relates to the complex paradigm). Learning acts on these two dimensions as a mechanism, which can regenerate its assets (learning dimension). The three-dimensional nature of change capacity supplies a framework for the analysis of the capacity of the company to carry out successful organizational changes. Change capacity is not therefore just a matter of the method of managing the change or of organizational learning capacity, but a combination of the two.According to our findings, these theoretical contributions induce new ideas regarding the management of organizational change. It could not be restricted to an over-regulated approach, just as we could not lapse into suggestions of radical relativity. Our results direct us towards a strategic management of change capacity. First of all, the managers identify what transformational assets the organization has at its disposal. This mapping stage enables an assessment to be made of how well the capacity can be used. After that, they try to shape it before committing to major reform by attempting to acquire or construct assets, which they do not yet have. They add to and cultivate the resources required to feed the change capacity. In this way, they limit the risks of becoming bogged down and failing in the transformation stages. Looked at in this way, the management of the change becomes an \"atemporal\" exercise. Stable periods become phases of preparation of the change, during which the organization sets up learning programmes, which will help it to structure the context in which the future change will be introduced. In this way, a favorable environment is constructed which will offer a time span for carrying out the changes. The organization starts off the change process by reducing any negative elements. This time management stage therefore implies managerial vision in which the past and the future are closely linked. Indeed, change management becomes a timeless exercise since the past creates the present; the context creates the action. They define each other and carry each other along. One step influences the other. The \"time element\" of the change is modified, opening the way to a strategic approach to the change.The findings of this research do not however claim to be exhaustive and there is room for complementary research focused on the identification of the components of the capacity and its process of construction.The single case, if it can be justified by the subject studied (Pettigrew, 1985), asks the delicate question about the statistical generalization of results. Therefore, in order to test our approach to change capacity, a replication strategy seems to be a promising avenue. It consists in carrying out empirical tests on the model proposed in this article, using case studies. Then, in order to gain a better understanding of the construction process of the capacity, the replication consists in the selection of a case with a related context. Indeed, some elements of context structure our results and define the outline of a related context. The company studied belongs to a sector whose evolutions appear to influence the construction of the capacity to change. The project management strategy, Japanese management methods such as Kaizen and quality circles, alliance building, increased use of outsourcing, etc. are all elements of context which structure our results.These lines of research will help to improve the overall quality of the proposed model and to put it into context in order to assess the influence of the characteristics and the sector changes on the construction of the change capacity, within a perspective of co-evolution.\nConclusion: Change capacity can therefore be defined as a capacity of adaptation and pro-action. However, it focuses more on the outcome of the capability than on the capability itself. In this respect, the study of theories on change has enabled us to propose an analysis framework for change capacity. The Renault case study has added to our initial results by showing that change capacity centers around three interlinked dimensions. These are made up of transformational assets which, if well managed by the organization, help with the implementation of the changes of adaptation and/or pro-action. The findings of this study are as much theoretical as managerial in nature. Transformational assets create the architecture of the change capacity and add to the conceptual framework in place at the time. They refresh the methods of managing the change and point to the adoption of a strategic approach to organizational change.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Change implementation presents a major challenge to managers. However, theoretical and empirical works waiver between the change management action and the management of the change/initial conditions. These opposing views reflect the theoretical instability, which characterizes work on organizational change. Faced with this theoretical mosaic, the question of knowing what the change capacity is, is fundamental. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for change capacity and to identify its dimensions and components.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To deal with this stake, the author conducted a single case study and observed an organization that had acquired the status of a company with change capacity. The Renault SA group makes for an interesting case. Renault, a 100-year-old company, is considered to be capable of undergoing change, of following its environment and even of shaping its own environment.\nFindings: - The study leads to the identification of three dimensions of the change capacity. These are the context, process and learning dimensions. The context dimension consists of resources that facilitate the change process. The process dimension incorporates principles of implementing change. Finally, the learning dimension tackles the introspective capacity of the organization.\nOriginality/value: - If the literature on change capacity focuses more on the outcome of the capability than on the capability itself, the study has enabled the proposing of a framework for change capacity and to identify its dimensions and components. This framework is interesting in two respects. First, it shows that change capacity is as much linked to its management as it is dependent on the initial conditions. Second, it provides direction towards a strategic management of change.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Cross-cultural evaluation of consumer's dynamic multisensory and emotional experience: A case of tea products
|
[
"Cross-cultural marketing",
"Emotion",
"Multisensory",
"Consumer dynamic experience",
"Tea market"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In daily life, experience with a consumer product is not static, but changes over time. It is only through the actual interaction with a product that a consumer really gets to know a product. In addition, people interact with everyday objects mainly through five sensory modalities including vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste. To mention a specific example, in general, consumers first buy products in a store or from a website, then open the packaging, and later on use the goods. If these products are semi-manufactured goods, such as some dehydrated food or tea bags, it is necessary to first prepare the products in order to taste them. Over these different stages, the consumer product experience may fluctuate, since the role of our senses may vary and different emotions may be elicited. These experiences play a significant role in consumer decision making. By evaluating the dynamic experience between customers and products, companies can elicit useful information that helps them to improve their products and marketing strategies.\n2. Related Works: 2.1 Multisensory feedback and experience\n3. Experiments: 3.1 Participants\n4. Results: 4.1 Analysis of cross-cultural sensory modalities\n5. Discussion: The results demonstrated above answered the four research questions and showed that cross-cultural sensory modalities and emotions for tea experience varied over the stages of tea product usage.\n6. Implications: Results showed that tea experience tends to be dynamic between the two different countries over different usage periods, including sensory modalities and the emotional responses. The dynamics of cross-cultural emotional experience for products is influenced by both the actual perception of sensory modalities and by pre-existing experience and beliefs. Acquiring and transferring customers' emotional requirements into a product will help to differentiate one company from its competitors. In Table IV, we have summed up our findings as possible D&M implications in further research and projects.\n7. Conclusion: This study aims at exploring the cross-cultural sensory modalities and emotional responses to tea products during the different stages of the user-product interaction. Although there are limitations on the tea product and on the number of cultures, this study has shown that tea experience including sensory modalities and emotional responses tends to be dynamic over different usage stages between the two countries. These interesting findings and D&M implications can be applied to optimize the design or market of international tea products or consumer products in other categories. They will be helpful for the international marketing of tea, especially for those who are interested in breaking into the Chinese tea market and those who are interested in promoting Chinese tea in new markets. In addition, our methods to evaluate the dynamics of the importance of sensory modalities and emotions could be used to test the user experience in the product lifecycle to help develop a successful international product. In conclusion, the findings of this research are important not only for a theoretical understanding of cross-cultural sensory and emotional feedback on a product experience, but also for the optimization of product design for the international market.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The acceleration of globalization is causing global trade transactions to become increasingly frequent, which leads to the internationalized design of consumer products. However, due to cultural differences, the user experience in different parts of the world with the same product may be different. In addition, the user experience is not static, but changes over the different usage stages for a product since the role of our senses may vary and different emotions may be elicited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the interaction between the user and the product influences cross-cultural sensory modalities and emotional responses to products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Due to the fact that drinking tea can provide dynamic feedback of users' sensory experiences including all five senses, two kinds of tea products from two considerably different cultures (China and the Netherlands) were chosen for the study. The experiment was conducted in five stages corresponding to different levels of interaction with two tea products. Measurements for both Chinese and Dutch participants were conducted by means of collecting subjective data for sensory modalities and emotions related to product experiences throughout the five stages.\nFindings: Results showed that tea experience tends to be dynamic between the two different countries over different usage periods, including sensory modalities and the emotional responses.\nPractical implications: The findings and design & market implications can be applied to optimize the design or market of international tea products or consumer products in other categories. They will be helpful for the international marketing of tea, especially for those who are interested in breaking into the Chinese tea market and those who are interested in promoting Chinese tea in new markets. In addition, the authors' methods to evaluate the dynamics of the importance of sensory modalities and emotions could be used to test the user experience in the product lifecycle to help develop a successful international product.\nOriginality/value: The findings and the linked design implications could be important not only for a theoretical understanding of cross-cultural sensory and emotional feedback from a product experience, but also for the optimization of product design for the international market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Strategic options-based framework for management of dynamic capabilities in manufacturing firms
|
[
"Manufacturing industries",
"Strategic manufacturing",
"Transaction costs",
"Competitive advantage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Manufacturing companies have gone through three distinctive phases as for their earnings logic and business models during the last century. The first one started in the 1920s and was based on the effective utilization of electricity. This period has later been labelled as the Fordist mode of mass production. The basic features of this manufacturing model were (Chandler, 1990; Teece, 1993; Zysman, 2003):* the rise of large hierarchical conglomerates in order to exploit the economies of scale and scope by means of professional managers;* the separation of production design, research and development activities and operative functions into separate divisions controlled by the general management;* large investments in tangible production assets that made it very costly to transform existing production lines because of high sunk costs (hence the model was suitable for mass but not for customized production);* the \"push\" of manufacturing products through the production systems into the market by effective marketing of standardized goods and services; and* the earnings logic was based on the exploitation of the monopoly profits created by means of oligopolistic market structures dominated by large vertically integrated corporations.From the business model perspective the most important feature was that large sunk investments in tangible assets implied profound rigidity both in R&D activities and manufacturing. These problems were overcome, however, through oligopolistic earnings logic. It made it possible to control the sources of market and technology-related uncertainties by internalizing all the main manufacturing related activities or transactions within the companies. Also the research and development (or more generally innovation-related) activities were organized within the large corporations and there were no need for high-powered incentives to generate disruptive technologies or to utilize the knowledge pools of other firms through networking or outsourcing. Here, we had an archetype of what Williamson (1975) called the rise of multi divisional (M-form) corporation due to high transaction costs (on the role of the so-called visible hand strategies as a response to high transaction costs, see also Teece, 1993).The American mass production model was not challenged until the 1980s when the more flexible Japanese lean production model with demand-based just-in-time logic challenged the rigid received view of a manufacturing firm. The core companies of this production mode were vertically less integrated than their American counterparts. Instead they utilized the vertically organized Keiretsu that tightly linked the individual supplier companies (with their own high-powered incentives and R&D activities) to the core companies (the hub and spoke model) and to their clients as well (Zysman, 2003). Because of the disintegrated but tight structure the Japanese lean manufacturing system provided flexibility of output within existing production lines as well as rapid, demand-induced launching of new products and services. Because of mutual trust of the Keiretsu partners the lean production system decreased both market and technology-based uncertainties and the danger of opportunism as well, thus resulting in lower transaction costs and, consequently, a less hierarchical mode of manufacturing. This in turn made it possible to utilize both the high-powered innovation incentives of suppliers and core manufacturers and to react much more rapidly to the changes of demand. Not so surprisingly, in the late 1980s and early 1990s most leading manufacturing firms all over the world took steps toward the more networked and demand-led manufacturing system, thus following the lead of Japanese manufacturers, such as Toyota and Sony. The earnings logic was primarily based on the efficient exploitation of specialization and innovative efforts of each partner of the network.However, this was just a start toward a much more disintegrated and demand-induced or \"customized\" manufacturing system. At the moment we are witnessing the third \"revolution\" both in the business models and in the earnings logic of the manufacturing industry. The two main drivers are globalization, which primarily means keen global competition and focusing on core capabilities, and the digitalized mode of production, i.e. a transition from an electro-mechanical era into the much more flexible digital age. During the 1990s, it suddenly seemed that the American and Europeans producers (Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Nokia, Motorola, French automobile manufacturers, etc.) were back in the game again. New kinds of software-based digitalized manufacturing products and services emerged first in the ICT sector (from the PC's to mobile cell phones) and then gradually in other industries.As for the earnings logic we conclude that the very nature of manufacturing was dramatically changing because of the rapidly decreasing transaction costs (due to the effective use of computers, internet, and telecommunications and better tools for hedging financial risks related to innovation activities) and even more rapidly increasing transaction benefits. Our concept transaction benefit mainly refers to the benefits of using the open global knowledge-based asset markets instead of firm internal hierarchies. Transaction benefits are based on the opportunities:* to utilize complementary resources and capabilities available in open markets by means of global networks of suppliers and sub-suppliers;* to utilize the global knowledge pools by means of knowledge-based networks; and* to sense weak signals by means of large customer interface generated by the partners of large global networks (Blomqvist et al., 2002).The role of transaction benefits as catalysts of the rise of loose global networks is the higher, the more important is the role of (scientific) knowledge gathered and utilized through inter-organizational global networks. Good examples are the PC's or mobile cell phones. Their value added is embedded into their intellectual property, i.e. knowledge intensive chip-based software components, and in standards which they have to be built to. Here, is the key of the modern earnings logic, it is based on intangible knowledge-based assets and the ability to profit from them by means of tight appropriability regimes (i.e. by means of legal means such as patents, copy rights, trade marks, and trade secrets or by means of effective isolating mechanisms, such as the use tacit knowledge or standards, see Teece, 1986; Hurmelinna et al., 2007).New digitalized and globally networked manufacturing logic results in the very disintegrated mode of production. There are primarily three reasons for that:1. No single firm is any more able to generate all the necessary pieces of knowledge all alone, they have to network in order to form useful knowledge pools, i.e. to exploit transaction benefits.2. Networks are effective when sharing either the risks of orchestrating the value chains in the multi-cultural global markets or sharing the high fixed sunk first copy cost so typical for a modern manufacturing product.3. The effective use of transaction cost logic implies that outsourcing or loose networking are good governance options when transactions do not belong to the domain of the firm internal core capabilities.As a result of these tendencies one can conclude that the main strategic issue faced by modern manufacturing firms is how to effectively orchestrate global supply chains that consists of complex value nets of different suppliers and buyers.In this mode the business logic is based on thinking in terms of globally produced components, subsystems, and modules out of which the final services and goods will be flexibly built in a customized way. Almost necessarily this logic results in much more disintegrated value chains, since almost each of the subsystems can be organized either within the firms themselves or by means of networking partners operating in open markets all over the world. Dell in the PC and Nokia in the mobile phone industries are perhaps the two best known examples of how to strategically exploit the opportunities opened up by global value chain orchestration. The main challenge is, of course, how at the same time to profit from the knowledge assets generated within the firm. This issue will be replied in our next chapters. Our claim is that in the near future the global supply chain management or orchestrating the global value net will become the most important single strategic management issue even in the most traditional, vertically organized manufacturing firms. Table I summarizes the main message of Introduction.\n2 Obtaining and sustaining competitive advantage in knowledge intensive global industry: 2.1 Dynamic capabilities and strategic options as tools of thinking\n3 Responding to manufacturing uncertainty of digital era with flexibility in terms of strategic options: 3.1 From operational to strategic options-based flexibility\n4 Conclusions and managerial implications: This paper introduced a theoretical framework based on the dynamic capability view and strategic options approach. The aim of the framework is to illuminate the determinants of the strategy implementation in the digital manufacturing era and this way help managers to make decisions creating CA. Table III collects the managerial implications from our ideas.The management implements strategy via asset selection which aims at creating value in the chosen strategic focus areas. The main problems faced by the management are that there typically exist no well developed markets for strategically most important assets and that there are uncertainties that can seriously affect the strategic choices. When comparing tangible assets (e.g. machinery, plants) to intangible assets (e.g. patents, collaboration, tacit knowledge, and valuable, rare, inimitable, and non substitutable core capabilities) it can be argued that the carefully selected and developed intangible knowledge-related assets give greater flexibility than physical assets. When utilizing tangible assets there is a danger of sunk costs and a rigid structure. If this risk will be realized the company usually responds to it by cutting costs. In the longer run, this strategy most probably results in organizational anorexia where the capabilities relevant for sustainable CA are thrown away in the name of cost savings. In the digital era even the traditional manufacturing firm has to be ready for investing in new knowledge-related capabilities in order to maintain its competitive position amongst the rivals.Despite the difficulties of building flexibility with tangible assets, companies often choose them instead of (perhaps more valuable) intangible knowledge assets. If only the tangible assets are developed, even with options logic involved, it represents the second phase of the earnings logic of manufacturing firms. This second-phase is the Japanese lean production model that can be seen as a start towards a much more disintegrated and demand-induced system. This is what we are witnessing now, i.e. the third \"revolution\" in the earnings logic of the manufacturing industry. Its two main drivers are globalization and the digitalized mode of production. The nature of manufacturing probably changes dramatically and the companies should be ready for responding to it. Our theoretical framework presented in this paper made a modest attempt to open up the challenges created by increasing knowledge intensity, globalization and high market and technological uncertainty.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to launch a dynamic strategic framework for a manufacturing firm for the digital age. The paper's dynamic capabilities- and strategic options-based framework is comprised of the following key issues: how to sense the weak signals at the customer interface and how to formulate them as strategic options; how to exercise these options in the (often) intangible assets markets that are imperfect or even non-existent; how to appropriate and/or share strategically relevant productive knowledge in order to obtain competitive advantage (CA) over the rivals, (iv) how to recognize the opportunities and threats of the underlying industrial structure, especially the economies of scale and scope and network externalities; and how to proactively reconfigure and reshape the existing knowledge base and capabilities in order to sustain the CA obtained.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paradigm of creating CA is opened up in the context of knowledge-based engineering and digital manufacturing. The Porterian five forces model, the resource-based view and especially its dynamized extension, the dynamic capability view, are used as theoretical starting points. The modern strategic technology management literature will be complemented by means of the concepts of strategic options and related flexibility issues. Some illustrative examples will be offered as well.\nFindings: - In the author's view, the primary sources of sustainable CA in the digital manufacturing can be captured from active asset selection (strategic investments in both tangible and intangible assets), and efficient orchestrating of the global value net in \"thin\" intangible assets markets. The main determinants of CA are: the competitive nature of external environments, supply and demand conditions of the industry (economies of scale and scope and network externalities), renewal capacity of the organization, the dependence on complementary co-specialized resources and capabilities, and the strategic role of the appropriability regime.\nOriginality/value: - This paper tries to capture the critical elements of creating sustainable CA in the context of digital manufacturing and it is considered to be useful for strategic decision-makers. The modern technology strategy management literature is synthesized in our framework and it tries to make the issues more applicable to the strategic management of the companies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Uncertainty cubed
|
[
"Uncertainty management",
"Recession",
"Economics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The April 6, 2009 issue of Newsweek featured economist Paul Krugman (or, at least, the lower-right quadrant of his face).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the vast variety of economists' opinions out there about the recession, the bailout, the bank rescue plan, and prospects for the future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Opinion column.\nFindings: - This column lays out a wide variety of predictive statements about the economy by economists, in order to show that no matter what sort of strategy you pursue in this economy, you will have a lot of award-winning economists throwing rocks at you (and some supporting you). So you need to use a framework for decision making that takes all plausible possibilities into account.\nOriginality/value: - A cross-section of mutually exclusive economic opinion, showing how profound uncertainty truly is, and how people can actually learn to use it to their advantage.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Eco-innovation practices
|
[
"Practices",
"Systemic approach",
"Eco-innovation",
"Green ICT"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Google has revealed that its global electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are approximately 2.26 bn kWh of electricity, which is approximately equivalent to 200,000 homes in the USA (M&C, 2011). Recently, increasing numbers of corporations have begun to address the problem of their carbon footprints. In all, 73 percent of the Global 500 now voluntarily provide figures pertaining to their greenhouse emissions (Carbon Disclosure Project, 2010).\nThe PBA: In the social sciences, recent studies stress a practice-based view, referencing scholars such as Bourdieu (1990), Giddens (1984), and Dreyfus (1991). There is no unified theory of practice; instead, there is only an array of theoretical perspectives. However, the practice-based lens is an epistemological choice to understand phenomena in organizations and society.\nCase research: The IM literature identifies case research as a suitable investigation method (Jarvensivu and Tornroos, 2010; Piekkari et al., 2010). However, a nuanced debate has recently emerged concerning the strengths and weaknesses of this method. This work follows the advice of scholars who address the need to adopt innovative patterns in case research (Piekkari et al., 2010) employing a practice-based methodology. Using case research, the authors conducted an intensive study of innovation practices within project networks, using multiple sources of evidence to provide information to scholars and practitioners (Halinen and Tornroos, 2005). An analysis of practices facilitated an empirical investigation of how contextual elements shaped the social construction of eco-innovation. This research method is similar to that of Jarvensivu and Tornroos (2010), who define moderate constructionism as a way to \"better [take] into account the multiple constructed community-bounded realities\" (p. 100) of a case. The authors recorded conversations and analyzed documentary materials. They aimed to develop a \"multi-voiced rather than convergent understanding of the case under study\" (Piekkari et al., 2010, p. 111). The conversations were social encounters in which the active parties (i.e. the researchers and practitioners) collaboratively constructed knowledge. The authors also viewed documents as a communal representation of the actors' experience, which is a written form of storytelling.\nThe practices of eco-innovation: The ICT company examined in this case study (the focal firm) engages in eco-innovation by developing and implementing Green ICT solutions that help to preserve natural resources and reduce carbon emissions. \"Green ICT\" is the term used by analysts, manufacturers, and providers to identify ICT solutions that improve sustainability, including solutions related to hardware, software, and services (source: firm's documents). Although ICT is responsible for approximately 2 percent of global CO2 emissions, the intelligent use of ICT solutions can help to \"green\" business processes (Lee et al., 2013).\nDiscussion: This paper focusses on eco-innovation practices that allow project networks to pursue innovation and fulfill their environmental responsibilities. Our research extends beyond the more traditional issues of ecologically sound company's operations. We broaden the analysis by addressing sustainable ways of doing business that are embedded in a context of interlinked elements.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine eco-innovation practices within project networks. Eco-innovation practices involve systematic series of actions that integrate resources to create value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using case research, the authors conducted an intensive study of innovation practices within project networks, using multiple sources of evidence to provide information to scholars and practitioners (Halinen and Tornroos, 2005). Analyzing practices facilitated an empirical investigation of how contextual elements shaped the social construction of eco-innovation.\nFindings: An empirical analysis of eight project networks identifies three eco-innovation practices: cleaning up the landscape, connecting life and work, and boosting the efficiency of inbound and outbound processes. A methodological framework based on this practice approach is used to discuss the main elements of the practices in question, including actors, actions, resources, and value.\nPractical implications: The practice-based approach (PBA) may help companies to make information and communication technology (ICT) more sustainable. By developing forms of eco-innovation that support project networks, companies can focus on holistic corporate performance, efficiency, and business value. Eco-innovation thus becomes a collective achievement that allows practitioners to appraise and critique the performance of their environmental practices, and that thereby allows them to constantly refine those practices.\nSocial implications: The development and use of Green ICT solutions enable actors' sense-making and sense-giving within ongoing social practices wherein macro-level phenomena, such as sustainability and environmental issues, are created and recreated through the micro-level actions of project network actors.\nOriginality/value: This research extends beyond the more traditional issues of ecologically sound company operations and sustainable ICT use to address sustainable ways of doing business.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Achieving high levels of performance as a training instructor by modelling motor sport driving instructors
|
[
"Performance",
"Mindsets",
"Thinking patterns",
"Emotional response",
"Behaviour",
"Personality",
"Neuro linguistic programming",
"Instructor",
"Training"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"Being a good instructor or trainer\" is no doubt something that many training professionals strive to achieve, Whilst there are courses available to help individuals develop training and presentation skills, there is less information in the public domain about the mindset, thinking and behaviours required, particularly when the area of training is one of high risk i.e. if the instructor is not effective at responding, communicating, or providing the right input at the appropriate time, the outcome might be disastrous for the trainer, participant and others.\nActivity being studied: The research that was undertaken for this article involved Motor Sport Driving Instructors who instruct members of the general public, who have paid to drive a Super Car or high performance vehicle, e.g. Ferrari, on one of the Experience days held at Silverstone Race Circuit in England.\nMethodology: In order to carry out this research, the process was to observe the environment where the instruction takes place, and then interview the instructors. All of them are highly competent in instruction and coaching, as well as observation and communication and work as Driving Instructors at Silverstone. Between the three individuals there is over fifty years of experience as Driving Instructors. One of them is the Chief Instructor and therefore his answers were likely to be slightly different, as this additional responsibility means he has to focus both on providing instruction as well as overseeing the management of an Experience Day.\nFindings: The results highlighted the skills the Instructors have:\nStage one pre-drive: For the Instructor, the process of building rapport and collecting input about the driver starts before they, and the driver, have even got into the car, and is regarded as necessary in setting the appropriate \"tone\" to ensure the experience is both enjoyable and safe for the novice driver.\nSummary of the pre-drive stage: Whilst some may view the pre-session part of a training course as time to have get themselves organised and have a cup of coffee, this research shows that the Instructor's focus at this time needs to be on building trust with the learners in an informal manner. This pre-session relationship building process plays a significant part in the likelihood of subsequently delivering a successful training session.\nStage two in-car: Once the Instructor gets into the car with the driver, his aim is for the driver to enjoy the experience safely. As there is a huge amount of information that someone driving at high speed needs to process, the Instructor makes an assumption that the driver is unlikely to be aware of everything, so he needs to only encourage the driver to focus on reading the road ahead, and concentrating on steering and using the gears, accelerator and brake. The Instructor takes the responsibility for knowing what other cars are around them (side and behind as well as in front) plus taking the decision if, and when others may overtake them.\nPractical application: Having reviewed the results above, the practical way that this research can be used is to highlight to training professionals the key elements required to achieve a high level of performance when instructing or training someone in a skill where there is a high level of risk. The measure of success being used by the learner is having a good experience, learning something new, and enjoyment. Figure 4 is a model developed by the researcher based on drawing out the common themes from those interviewed. It shows the underpinning beliefs, along with the strategies and emotions that a training professional should pay attention to in order to deliver an effective learning session.\nKey learning points: The nine key points that should be paid attention to are summarised below:\nConclusion: This paper highlighted that in order to help trainers improve how they instruct others, modelling is an effective process that can be used. The ability to uncover what's going on in the mind of another person, when added to their observable behaviour, provides other trainers the opportunity to accelerate their learning in that particular subject.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what training professionals can learn from motor sport driving instructors by modelling how they provide instruction to novices in high-performance vehicles during experience days at Silverstone Race Circuit, England.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) modelling techniques, three instructors were interviewed about how they provide effective instruction. The results highlight their cognitive and behavioural patterns that enable them to achieve high levels of performance in a high-risk environment.\nFindings: The results highlighted how instructors are highly effective in being able to put a novice driver at ease prior to driving; and in communicating effectively with the novice driver in-car whilst on the circuit, so that they achieve more than they imagined was possible.\nResearch limitations/implications: Whilst the researcher had the opportunity to experience being driven around a race circuit with one of the instructors to get a sense of the environment being described, there was not the chance to observe the instructor \"in action\" with novice drivers at the wheel.\nPractical implications: The key implication is the importance of the pre-event stage of a training course that provides the opportunity for an instructor to gauge the learners and build trust.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides originality in how it explores the cognitive and behavioural aspects of delivering instruction in an environment that can be translated into the workplace.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Foundations of subjective well-being in turbulent times: A comparison of four European countries
|
[
"Subjective well-being",
"Comparative research",
"Micro-macro characteristics",
"Welfare regimes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of subjective well-being (SWB) has been used in sociological and economic research when identifying such issues as differences in the experienced standard of living, enjoyment of life, life satisfaction, and happiness. These terms are used to capture the qualitative evaluation of an individual's current life condition. Therefore, a \"high\" level of life satisfaction or happiness, for instance, offers positively valuated descriptions of an individual's situation. However, there has never been a consensus among social scientists on what kind of phenomena the concept will eventually be associated with (e.g. Etzioni, 1968; Feist et al., 1995; Easterlin, 1995; Sen, 1985; Veenhoven, 2010).\nSWB at individual and aggregate level: Well-being refers to the qualitative evaluation of an individual's life situation. In this sense, this is the type of term of which the general meaning is easily understandable and almost instinctive. A good quality of life or a high level of well-being offer positively valuated descriptions of an individual's life situation. A good quality of life and a high level of well-being are often examined in relation to worse and lower levels of well-being. At the same time, it is the question of the comprehensive outlining of an individual's living conditions.\nWelfare state and SWB: Most cross-country comparisons share the same idea that the overall patterns in the national well-being generally result from the key macro-social preconditions enabling a stable way of life and a feeling of long-term economic expansion. In particular, the gross domestic product (GDP) per income, coupled with strong support for a democratic regime, have been found to have considerable impact in this respect (Inglehart, 1999; Gundelach and Kreiner, 2004; Helliwell, 2005). This is also why the prevailing levels of an individual's well-being experiences can be seen to have important institutional prerequisites. Clear cross-country differences can be found, for example, when East- and West-European countries are compared with each other (Inglehart, 1997; Glatzer, 2006; Diener and Oishi, 2000).\nResources and perceptions behind well-being experiences: Both \"objective\" and \"subjective\" emphases on well-being can be clearly detected. Some of the traditional studies have been interested in, for example, the effects of available income, place of residence or socio-economic position regarding well-being (Ringen, 1988; Kangas, 2000). In this instance, the assumption is that material circumstance factors create different well-being possibilities. It is not so much a question of an individual's own evaluation, but of different structural circumstances that are possible to identify on the basis of the indicators employed. Alternatively, some traditional studies represent the other extreme. These studies have started with the fact that individuals' own evaluations are relevant indicators of the quality of life and well-being (Diener, 1984; Feist et al., 1995). That being said, this line of research has primarily focused on the mapping of people's attitudes towards life.\nResearch questions, data and methods: The principal task of the analysis is to evaluate how different types of explanatory factors can predict the SWB of individuals. Beyond these determinants also lies the possible impact of institutional and cultural factors. The examination of these macro-level differences is carried out through a comparison of four European societies: Finland, UK, Germany, and Greece.\nHow is SWB built across four European countries?: Our interest is in examining individual level differences in SWB, as well as contextual differences between countries. This is why we must first perform multilevel analysis on country-level and individual-level measures. Otherwise, it would be impossible to say that there actually are differences between countries in SWB measures. In a multilevel model, separate measures are needed for each country (respondents nested within countries) and for individuals (respondents). In order to conduct multilevel analysis, one needs to have at least 20 higher-level units (Raudenbush and Bryk, 2002). Regarding this, all countries in the data were included in the model in this preliminary analysis. Results indicating the variability of SWB at the country and individual level are given in Table I.\nDiscussion: This paper examined how SWB associations with different predictors vary in four European societies: Germany, Finland, the UK and Greece. Our starting point was in the investigation of the alleged explanatory relations of the concepts in different research traditions and their application in empirical research. We assumed that neither different research traditions, nor their research findings are in as sharp of conflict with each other as scholars often think. In these respects, many of the earlier studies on SWB have tended to question the explanatory interpretations for the detected associations.\nConclusion: This study addressed the direct effects of the background factors and certain cross-country differences in contemporary Europe. The paths or mechanisms of multilevel parts of well-being are left to be addressed in future research. Therefore, particularly studies that interpret SWB through sufficient explanatory mechanisms between different variables should be encouraged in the future. The primary task could be in the consistent comparisons of individual and community level variables. The need for this is important from the perspective of academic researchers and practitioners of social policy.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the individual and aggregate level foundations of subjective well-being (SWB). In particular, the authors focus on the institutional differences between the welfare states as possible explanatory sources of SWB.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data come from the Finnish, British, German and Greek sections of the European Social Survey Round 5, 2010 (n=10,046). The methods consist of multilevel and linear regression models.\nFindings: The results indicate that the effects of many background variables are somewhat constant in the selected countries, even though the countries are different from each other in terms of their institutional characteristics. SWB can be explained relatively well by individuals' social networks, health and socio-demographic factors. However, the detected cross-country differences also point to the fact that the institutional differences among the countries have significance in this instance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research approach was built on cross-sectional data on Finland, Germany, the UK, and Greece only. While these countries represent different types of European societies it is not possible to make broader conclusions on the variation caused by societal or cultural factors in the global sense.\nSocial implications: The findings are significant regarding the current economic situation in many European countries.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies have addressed the direct effects of the background factors in contemporary Europe. Beyond these determinants also lies the possible impact of institutional and cultural factors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Internship-related learning outcomes and their influential factors: The case of Vietnamese tourism and hospitality students
|
[
"Higher education",
"Vietnam",
"Student engagement",
"Internship benefits",
"Internship outcomes",
"Tourism and hospitality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Internships, also referred to as work placement (Gault et al., 2010), are \"a term-length placement of an enrolled student in an organization - sometimes with pay, sometimes without pay - with a faculty supervisor, a company supervisor and some academic credit earned toward the degree\" (Narayanan et al., 2010, p. 61). Higher education (HE) institutions have lately used this mode of training as a compulsory component of the curriculum to prepare students for the future career, and as a response to increasing competition for jobs among graduates (e.g. Li et al., 2014; Omar and Rajoo, 2016). They also encouraged students to voluntarily look for independent internships to build a competitive profile for any possible employment. The questions are in what way internship is beneficial to students and to what extent these internships - often with different characteristics: long or short, voluntary or compulsory, mainly observation or authentic work experiences - are beneficial for students. Factors influencing the extent to which internships benefit students should also be explored to improve the quality of learning outcomes of this form of work-integrated learning.\nLiterature review: Internship-related learning outcomes\nResearch methods: In 2016, a study was conducted to investigate the experience of Vietnamese interns in tourism and hospitality during their internships. Drawing from the project, this paper will answer the following research questions:\nFindings: Qualitative results\nDiscussion and conclusion: This study aimed to identify and measure internship-related learning outcome dimensions as well as explore the factors that may influence the learning outcomes. This section will discuss the findings through the lens of the community of practice theory (Wenger, 2010) and with a focus on the context of Vietnamese HE.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of Tourism and Hospitality interns in Vietnam to identify dimensions of internship-related learning outcomes and factors influencing these learning outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 interns to identify the dimensions of internship-related learning outcomes. Following the interview, an online survey, which was designed based on the results of content analysis of the interviews, was used to collect data from 319 interns from ten Vietnamese universities. Exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA tests were used to find answers to the research issues.\nFindings: Qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that from the students' perspective, internships helped them consolidate the existing knowledge and skills, further develop relevant professional skills, shape their career paths, and change their learning attitudes and behaviors. The analysis also indicated that student engagement and the extent to which they are involved in tasks during the internships could influence the learning outcomes they gained from the internships.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study completely relied on students' perceptions and ratings.\nPractical implications: The study findings indicate that universities need to pay greater attention to student engagement. By encouraging collaboration between interns and their mentors and organizing activities for interns to utilize their knowledge, universities will improve students' learning experience during the internship.\nOriginality/value: This mixed-method study expands our understanding about internship-related learning outcomes and influential factors using the perspectives of interns in a developing country. It has important implications for higher education institutions and students to improve the effectiveness of internships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Product innovation among ICT technopreneurs in Malaysia
|
[
"Management strategy",
"Innovation",
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Computer software",
"Product development",
"Malaysia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The benefits of being able to offer innovative products have become more prominent across industries where firms compete on the grounds of new products with new features, new design, and new functions. Competitive firms no longer keep offering similar products or just compete on traditional grounds such as price and quality. For technical firms especially, the inevitable trend is to differentiate product offerings by innovation in order to gain a competitive advantage over competitors.In high-tech industries such as the ICT (information and communication technology) industry, there is a clear difference in terms of organizational performance between firms that innovate and those that do not. The advantages of product innovation are numerous and have been well acknowledged empirically by numerous studies. For example, innovation is regarded as a means to achieve sustainable competitive advantages (Drazin and Schoonhoven, 1996; Kanter, 1985), growth (Maurseth and Frank, 2009; Troy, 2009), business success (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) and better performance (Hult et al., 2004; Miller and Friesen, 1978). According to Porter (1990), innovation and technical advantage lead to the creation of new markets, new and improved products and competitive positions of firms in an industry. Furthermore, product innovation is important not only to commercial firms and industries but also to product users, i.e. the public and the economy, especially the knowledge-based economy.This study focuses on ICT firms in the software sector in Malaysia, which is in a transition period towards a knowledge-based economy. A knowledge-based economy is defined as an economy in which knowledge, creativity, and innovation play an ever-increasing and important role in generating and sustaining growth (Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia, 2002). The growth plan envisaged in the knowledge-based economy is dependent on knowledge, human capital, innovation and investment in ICT.\n2. Product innovation: The growing importance of innovation to entrepreneurship is reflected in the numerous studies addressing the role and nature of innovation (Drucker, 1985). Studies on innovation are still necessary, especially for newly established industries and new markets, given that there will be different indicators of the innovativeness of the different products involved. The ICT industry in many countries is one of the examples of a new industry with newly emerging product clusters, and it demands product innovation, which in turn creates new markets and stimulates industry growth.Porter (1990), on the other hand, defines innovation as an attempt to create competitive advantage by perceiving or discovering new and better ways of competing in an industry and bringing them to market. According to Bloch (2007), product innovation is the introduction of a good or service that is new or significantly improved with respect to its characteristics or intended uses. This includes significant improvements in technical specifications, components and materials, incorporated software, user friendliness or other functional characteristics. The Oslo Manual of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Eurostat (1005) also acknowledges that innovations are not restricted to single discrete changes, but may also consist of a series of incremental changes, provided these changes together amount to a substantial improvement (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Eurostat, 2005; Bloch, 2007).Researchers have distinguished several types of innovation, such as:* product and process (Knight, 1967);* technical and administrative (Daft, 1978); and* radical and incremental (Ettlie et al., 1984).The distinction between radical and incremental innovation is also often highlighted in studies of innovation. The term \"radical\" has been associated with revolutionary innovations, whereas \"incremental\" innovation is associated with innovations within a paradigm (Dosi, 1982). Software leader Microsoft in its early days focused on incremental technology innovation and product optimization. The combination of this one-two punch of innovation in business model and technology enhancement has enabled Microsoft to become one of the most successful and profitable software companies in the world (Bernard, 2009).Most of the studies on innovation in organizations have examined the determinants (Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981; Germain, 1996; Nystrom et al., 2002; Romijn and Albaladejo, 2002; Wan et al., 2005) and consequences (Rogers, 1995; Subramanian and Nilakanta, 1996) of innovation. Numerous studies have proposed a variety of factors as determinants of innovation and their empirical results are found to be inconclusive. Generally, the determinants or antecedents of innovation are found to be in three major groups:1. environmental factors;2. organizational factors; and3. individual factors (entrepreneurial or managers).Since it is not possible to include all the factors in one study, this study focuses on organizational factors based on the conceptual theories which will be discussed next.According to (Tidd, 2001), despite 40 years of studying innovation in organizations, academic research has not produced compatible theories that can guide management practice. Many of the studies on innovation have used resource-based theory. The resource-based view posits that resources are the primary determinants of competitive advantage, which includes the innovativeness of firms. Besides resource-based theory, Sundbo (1998) proposed the strategic theory of innovation, where a company's market orientation and collective strategic planning are determinants of innovation. These two theories prompt us to look into the strategic and resource factors that could be associated with the product innovation practices of software firms.\n2. Strategy and innovation: Formulating a sound innovation strategy is an integral part of strategic management in any firm, especially for software firms, since software products always need to be advanced and innovative as no one wants to buy an obsolete product. According to Porter (1980), the essence of strategy is choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do. This is where innovation strategy comes about as a way of differentiating from others and to achieve better market performance. Gilbert (1994) suggested that innovation strategy determines to what degree and in what way a firm attempts to use innovation to execute its business strategy and improve its performance.In support of strategic theory of innovation, a number of studies have linked the strategy factor with product innovation as well as the success of new products. Clearly, the gap in the literature is that there is no consensus on what exactly innovation strategy is and no conclusion regarding what strategy works best to achieve product innovativeness.Many studies (e.g. Saleh and Wang, 1993; Wright et al., 1990; Gilbert, 1994) linked innovation with the strategies originating from the study of Miles and Snow (1978), known as prospector, defender, analyzer, and reactor. Other studies (e.g. Akman and Yilmaz, 2008) used innovation strategies in similar dimensions, such as aggressiveness, analysis, defensiveness, futurity, proactiveness and riskiness. However, we find that the original strategies by Miles and Snow (1978) are meant to solve organizational problems in general in order to increase performance, but are not specifically meant for new product development or product innovation per se.In the new product development literature, Cooper (1984) came up with four sets of strategies termed \"innovation strategies\". The study suggested that balanced strategy, which is one of the four sets of strategies, yielded exceptional performance related to innovation. Dwyer and Mellor (1993) also conducted a study that represented a replication of the work of Cooper (1984). Lynn and Akgun (1998), Lynn et al. (1998) and Manley et al. (2008) suggested different sets of innovation strategies as depicted in Table I.\n4. Resources and innovation: A significant body of work has examined product innovation from the resource-based perspective, and it has been proven empirically that resources and capabilities have impact on product innovation. According to Barney (1986), firm resources include all assets, capabilities, organizational processes, firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc., controlled by a firm that enable the firm to conceive of and implement strategies that improve the firm's efficiency and effectiveness. Besides tangible resources, intangible resources such as skill, competency and expertise have also been linked to innovation from the resource-based view in the previous literature.Leonard-Barton (1992) contended that core capabilities both enable and impede product innovation. Usually, technopreneurial firms are small and lack of resources and competency, which constrains them from R&D activities for product innovation. For example, lack of strategic expertise prevents small firms from transforming their superior customer knowledge into new products and services (Gruner and Homburg, 2000). In the case of Malaysia, financial capability and skilled human resources are the main constraints that technopreneurs have. Hewitt-Dundas (2006) finds that lack of finance, limited market opportunities and legislative or regulatory pressures are significant resource constraints for small firms. The findings of Capaldo et al. (2003) indicate that technical expertise and network of relationships contributes to a good level of technological innovation of small software firms. Table II gives a view of some of the studies on innovation from the resource-based view.\n5. Software industry in Malaysia: The context in which we chose to conduct this study is the software sector of the ICT industry in Malaysia, with the focus on product innovation among technopreneurs, who are the founders or business owners of ICT SMEs in software sector. According to Hoch et al. (1999), the importance of the software industry is magnified because:* software is increasingly becoming a key enabler of other industries;* software is more and more commonly embedded in the products and services of other industries;* other industries are becoming increasingly knowledge-driven, and thus more similar in their management problems to the software industry; and* the operations and competitiveness of e-businesses rely on effective use of softwareBesides the aforementioned factors being the reasons as to why we chose software sector, another important reason is that there is limited knowledge on product innovativeness among software firms in Malaysia.The ICT industry in Malaysia consists of three major sub-sectors, namely:1. computer and computer peripherals and data storage devices;2. telecommunications equipment/devices; and3. the software development sector (Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, 2004).The main products of software sector are engineering, specific applications and business applications software, digital dictionaries, content development, internet-based business, system integration and billing software. Innovation in software development includes new information systems, new software modules, basic software, add-ons, project management, system specifications, systems integration, modifications, implementation, consulting, training and support (Koch, 2004).The ICT industry in Malaysia is very competitive, as there are major international players besides local players. Despite the Malaysian government's efforts to develop technopreneurs and encourage innovation for the growth of the ICT industry, which is vital for the knowledge based economy, technopreneurs are found to be facing constraints and challenges as barriers to innovation.Mohan (2006), in his study on ICT SMEs, reported that the major challenges confronting technopreneurs are:* market access;* advancement of technology;* innovation and creativity;* access to financing;* access to information; and* human resource development.A recent study by Sarif and Ismail (2006) reveals that the ICT industry lacks core ICT product offerings as they appear to be engaged in trading rather than ICT product development. ICT firms did not develop the technology themselves but purchased it from overseas and then did some customization or localization before reselling it to their customers. The findings of Igel and Islam (2001) indicate that vulnerability, market uncertainty, rapid technological change and development, and lack of resources, especially human resources, are the factors that constrain the growth and development of these software firms.\n6. Preliminary study: In order to obtain a fresh and practical view from technopreneurs with regard to the industry, the market, product nature, problems, resource constraints, strategies, and product innovation, a preliminary study was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews with five ICT technopreneurs/IT managers in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, which are the major cities with the highest population of ICT firms. The basic demographic factors are presented in Table III.\n7. Findings: The interview findings generated insights into the kind of business environment that these technopreneurs are in, the problems they are facing, their practices and opinions towards product innovation, and their strategies, as well as the resources required. Quotations related to the main interest of the study including, as innovation, strategy, and resources are shown below.7.1 Topic 1: Innovation\n8. Implications: Unlike the multimedia firm, the four software firms do not prioritize product innovation, although they have new products that are not really new to the industry and are mostly of the incremental type of innovation in terms of feature improvement, modification, and customization. This could be due to some of the reasons that they mentioned.First, the findings imply that resource constraint is an impeding factor for their move towards product innovation. It is interesting to observe that the multimedia firm (Firm E) is very much orientated towards innovation and that its management is always looking around for what to do next. This could be due to the nature of the product and market opportunities in certain market segments. Therefore, the second implication is that market factors such as market needs could have pushed them to innovate. It was noted that all technopreneurs had different ideas about product innovation. Firm C claimed to have innovative products that offer simple solutions and also to pay attention to market trends, deciding what to do based on customers' requirements. The third implication is that a strategic orientation towards customer and market needs could play a part in product innovation practices.\n9. Conclusion: This purpose of this paper is to shed light on the outlook of ICT technopreneurs in terms of product innovation and the factors associated with it. The implications provide an impetus for further empirical research in the area. Bearing in mind the small sample size as a limitation of this study, the findings of the study indicate that the market situation as well as internal practices are related to product innovation among five software firms owned and managed by technopreneurs, either by sole ownership in partnership. Since it is not possible to pinpoint a single factor or all possible factors that might contribute to innovation, this paper addresses two factors - i.e. strategic and resource-based - that could be associated with product innovation.In Malaysia, the ICT industry is expected to grow further as the result of higher demand for software products due to the growing digitization among SMEs in various industries. However, without taking product innovation into account seriously, ICT firms will not survive in the long run. It is imperative that technopreneurs overcome the constraints and strategize themselves for new product development in order to become world-class software developers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The first purpose of this study is to discuss a brief review of the literature in product innovation, innovation strategies and resources. The second purpose is to present qualitative findings related to product innovation as well as their strategies and resources among ICT (information and communication technology) technopreneurs in the software sector of Malaysia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This qualitative study is a preliminary study to a larger empirical study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five ICT technopreneurs in Malaysia.\nFindings: - The findings generate insights into the kind of market that ICT technopreneurs are in, the problems they are facing, their practices and opinions towards product innovation, and their strategies as well as the resources required.\nResearch limitations/implications: - One limitation of the work could be related to the small sample size.\nPractical implications: - The findings imply that resource constraints, market factors such as market need, and strategic orientation towards customer and market needs may play a part in product innovation practices among ICT technopreneurs. Practitioners should pay attention to these factors to achieve innovative advantage.\nOriginality/value: - This study adds knowledge regarding product innovation among software firms by shedding light on ICT technopreneurs in terms of product innovation and the factors associated with it. The implications provide an impetus for further research in related areas.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A model of customer-centric banking practices for corporate clients in Bangladesh
|
[
"Bangladesh",
"Bank selection criteria",
"Corporate customers",
"Customer-centric banking",
"Relationship banking",
"M31",
"G21"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the last 30 years, a handful of academic research studies have investigated banking behavior, bank selection criteria, and loyalty of retail bank customers (Zineldin, 1995). The increasing pace of globalization and heightened competition in the financial services industry have made the innovation of services for corporate banking vitally important (CPD, 2008; Huda et al., 2007). Corporations look to banks to provide a multitude of financial services (Browaldh et al., 1989). Given their profit-oriented and related goals, what makes corporate customers satisfied is likely to be different from what makes retail customers satisfied.\n2. Customer-centric banking: Banks are dynamic and customer-centric financial service providers. Satisfied customers are central to their optimal performance and subsequent financial returns. Thus, it is important to assess customer satisfaction with banking services. However, customer satisfaction is a complex construct and understanding the nuances of customer satisfaction is a challenging task (Ting, 2006). Sheth et al. (2000) argue that companies can attract core customers if they practice \"supply-driven marketing,\" which entails offering new services to customers by understanding the existing market and its future trends. The International Standardization Organization (ISO) also recognizes corporate efforts to deliver customer satisfaction through the ISO 9000:2000 guidelines. Clauses 4.1.6 and 8.2.1 suggest that companies need to integrate customer satisfaction into their core strategies.\n3. Hypotheses: The dictionary definition of convenience is the quality of one's comfort. Banks offer convenience to customers through various services, making banking less onerous. Corporate managers remain busy with day-to-day activities within and outside the office. Therefore, it becomes difficult for them to allocate office hours for banking activities. They prefer the bank to be well-located, with flexible, beyond normal, banking hours, like evening banking. Having ATM machines in convenient locations is an added advantage. Now a day, internet and telephone banking have become instruments for convenient banking. Corporate managers can use a password to complete a transaction sitting in their offices. The global presence of banks has made it easy for companies engaged in international trade to transact conveniently using Letters of Credit, exercising import-export bills discounting, and providing financial counseling regarding foreign marketing opportunities. Since, corporate managers need to produce daily transaction reports for the company, convenient access to updated information either in printed or in electronic form would be a great source of satisfaction. Considering the importance of banking convenience for the corporate clients, we hypothesize:\n4. Data and methodology: 4.1. Data\n5. Findings and discussion: Table VII reports the results of multiple regression analysis. All the intangible factors are significant at the 1 percent level while the tangible factors are not significant. Only convenience is close to a 10 percent level of significance. The significance of the intangible factors demonstrate a shift from the conventional wisdom in developing countries that tangible factors are more important. Compassion has the greatest impact on satisfaction (b=0.525). Corporate image comes in at second, followed by consistency and commitment. If we look at Table V for the items under the construct \"compassion,\" most of these items are about understanding the financial problem of the corporate clients and providing them with the best services with priority care. The factor, corporate image, aims at projecting impressions of quality by managing exterior and interior facilities and embellishing it with goodwill and efficient services.\n6. Concluding remarks: Customer-centric banking emphasizes using a combination of tangible and intangible factors to develop banking strategies. Rashid and Nishat (2009) summarized a list of bank selection criteria for retail, corporate and student customers. Their study indicated that customers in developed countries place more emphasis on intangible factors, assuming that these banks have already established basic banking facilities. The desire for intangible factors also suggests that customers are asking for personal fulfillment that carries some element of emotional attachment to their bank. For developing country customers, too, who choose their banks based on intangible factors, there appears to be an emerging shift: i.e. the need for more intangible service factors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Customer-centric banking envisions that banks should meet both tangible and intangible satisfaction criteria of their customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the customer-centric banking practices that drive satisfaction of corporate customers in Bangladesh.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Financial managers from a sample of 112 non-financial listed companies were interviewed. The study employed a structured questionnaire using Likert scales. Exploratory factor analysis followed by multiple regression analysis were used to test the effects of both tangible and intangible factors.\nFindings: The findings of the study indicate that customer-centric banking is primarily influenced by intangible factors. Among six bank selection criteria analyzed in this study, corporate image, commitment, compassion and consistency are the four significant intangible factors that drive corporate customer satisfaction. The two tangible factors: cost-benefit and convenience were not significant determinants of satisfaction for corporate clients.\nResearch limitations/implications: For lack of sample frames and relative unavailability of corporate respondents, a non-probability sampling technique was used. The study contributes to the existing literature on customer-centric marketing, relationship marketing and bank selection by suggesting that there is a shift in banking needs among corporate clients in developing countries such as Bangladesh.\nPractical implications: The study contributes to a richer understanding of the customer-centric banking framework, suggesting the service strategies that banks ought to adopt. The results are especially important for developing countries that are experiencing a change in theoretical understanding of customer satisfaction in financial services.\nOriginality/value: Now banks and policy makers can better strategize on building loyal corporate customers for banks, thereby ensuring healthy corporate banking relationship. Banks can also prioritize on the important intangible elements to focus on to satisfy corporate customers. Among other factors, technology adoption, training of corporate customer managers, and emphasizing customer-centric banking policies may help provide better services and obtain higher levels of customer satisfaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Principals' conceptions of their current power basis revealed through phenomenography
|
[
"Phenomenography",
"Bases of power",
"French and Raven",
"School administration"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Principals develop varied conceptions of power basis in their own ways, shaped by the formative influence of their dispositions, previous experience as educationalists, and formal education and training. These conceptions, especially when investigated in regards to their variations, hold great potential to provide valuable clues about the atmosphere of schools. Power, due to its obvious importance, is one of the most well-researched topics in administrative science, but even so, it is still possible for a researcher curious about power relations to find interesting questions in this field of study. Accordingly, the present study was aimed at describing variations in the ways that principals conceptualize their power basis in their schools. The taxonomy introduced in 1959 by Bertram H. Raven and his former Thesis Advisor John R.P. French (French and Raven, 1959/1968) and further developed by Raven (1993) was adopted as the theoretical framework for the present study. Although French and Raven are not the only Theorists to have focused on the conceptualization of power (Wood, 2014), a brief review of the relevant literature suggests that their taxonomy is one of the most well known in the field of social power. The current form of the taxonomy is considerably detailed, so it is necessary to briefly review its content before proceeding to the investigation of principals' conceptions of their power basis.\nMethod: Phenomenography was adopted as the research method because the present study was aimed at understanding how principals conceive their power basis (the second-order perspective), not of what really constitutes their power (the first-order perspective). This distinction between first- and second-order perspectives is one of the main characteristics of phenomenography (Marton, 1981), which views subjective knowledge of reality as useful and informative in nature (Barnard et al., 1999). Marton (1988) defined phenomenography as \"a research method for mapping the qualitatively different ways in which people experience, conceptualize, perceive, and understand various aspects of, and phenomena in, the world around them\" (p. 143). Phenomenography, therefore, was the best fit for the present study, which was aimed at describing the variations in how principals conceptualize their power basis, because different conceptions can shed light on various administrative practices.\nFindings: The phenomenographic analysis of the interviews with 16 principals revealed eight ways of understanding a principal's power basis: teachers' sense of reciprocity; teachers' sense of responsibility; organizational rules and regulations; principals' deep knowledge and experience; in-service training; principals' reputation for being fair and impartial; teachers' sense of identification with their principal; and principals' control over teachers' employment.\nDiscussion: As stated, the aim of this phenomenographic study was to describe the variations in the ways that principals conceptualize their power bases in their schools. These conceptions have been presented in descriptive categories, and starting with \"teachers' sense of reciprocity,\" this section follows the order of presentation in the findings section.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the variations in the ways that principals conceptualize their basis of power in schools.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Phenomenography was used as the research method of this study. The interviewees consisted of 16 principals, eight from public schools and eight from private schools.\nFindings: The analysis of the interviews revealed eight ways of understanding a principal's power basis. These potential power bases were: teachers' sense of reciprocity; teachers' sense of responsibility; organizational rules and regulations; principals' deep knowledge and experience; in-service training; principals' reputation for being fair and impartial; teachers' sense of identification with their principal; and principals' control over teachers' employment. Participants from public and private schools held generally similar conceptions. The conception of in-service training remained limited to private school principals. The power basis of principals' control over teachers' employment was not emphasized but could still be perceived as a conception in certain statements by participants.\nResearch limitations/implications: Coercive power and legitimate power of reciprocity need to be investigated more thoroughly in the field of educational administration.\nPractical implications: There is an urgent need for training for principals to raise their awareness of the adverse effect that coercive power has on teachers.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first known to explore variations in the ways that principals conceptualize their power basis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Minority group favoritism in service encounters
|
[
"Prejudice",
"Ethnicity",
"Political ideology",
"Retail employees",
"Minority groups",
"Homosexuality",
"Favoritism",
"Racial relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Do consumers perceive retail employees differently depending on the employee's ethnicity? What about the employee's sexual orientation? While prejudice against minority groups continues to be an issue, it is undeniable that society has become much more accepting over the past few decades (Pearson et al., 2009). For example, support for same-sex marriage in the USA rose from 35% in 2001 to 62% in 2017 (Pew Research Center, October, 2017) . Similarly, the percentage of White people who said they could vote for a Black presidential candidate rose from 37% in 1958 to 95% in 1997 (Schuman et al., 1997). Although subtle forms of discrimination persist (Jones et al., 2016; Pettigrew and Meertens, 1995), the vast majority of people do not want to be perceived as homophobic or racist.\nTheoretical background: In-group favoritism\nPolitical ideology and research hypotheses: The current research examines consumer reactions to retail employees who are a part of a minority group. In particular, we contrast evaluations of retail employees who differ in their ethnicity (White vs Black) or sexual orientation. We propose that because attitudes toward discriminatory behaviors are so negative, consumers will end up overcompensating and thus rather than exhibiting discrimination against Blacks or homosexual retail employees, they will actually discriminate in favor of these groups:\nStudy 1a: a gay bank manager (American sample): The goal of Study 1a is to provide an initial test of the effect of a minority status, in particular sexual orientation, on consumers' attitudes and behavioral intentions. We hypothesized that consumers would have more favorable reactions to a homosexual rather than heterosexual bank manager.\nStudy 1b: a gay bank manager (German sample): Method\nStudy 1c: a gay bank manager (Italian sample): Method\nStudy 1d: a gay bank manager (Korean sample): Method\nStudy 1e: a Black bank manager (British sample): Method\nStudy 1f: a Black bank manager (Canadian sample): In this study, we tested our hypothesis using a Canadian sample. The stimuli in the previous studies had a reference to the sexual orientation or ethnicity of employees. Hence, social desirability (Fisher, 1993) could have an effect on respondents' reactions - that is, they want to project a positive image of themselves. Hence, in this study, we also examined the effect of social desirability on behavioral intentions and attitudes.\nStudy 1g: a single-paper meta-analysis: To further test the robustness of the hypothesized effect, we ran a single-paper meta-analysis [see McShane and Bockenholt (2017) for details]. The results indicated more favorable reactions when a bank manager belonged to a minority group rather than a majority group (behavioral intentions: Mminority = 4.02 vs Mmajority = 3.16, b = -0.86, t = -8.08, p < 0.001; attitudes: Mminority = 4.10 vs Mmajority = 3.08, b = -1.01, t = -5.96, p < 0.001).\nStudy 2: minority group favoritism and political ideology: Having shown the main effect across different populations and minority groups, we turn our attention to the influence of political ideology as a potential moderator of the effect. Relative to conservatives, liberals have been shown to care more about equality and fairness, and less about tradition. Therefore, we expect that minority group favoritism will be particularly prevalent among liberals.\nStudy 3: political ideology and values: We designed Study 3 with three goals in mind. First, Study 3 examines the impact of sexual orientation and political ideology in a different setting (i.e. computer retail). Second, the current study investigates which value related to political ideology is better able to explain this bias among liberal consumers. We use Wetherell's et al. (2013a, 2013b) conceptualization and measure participants concern for four fundamental values, namely, egalitarianism, universalism, traditionalism and individualism. We should note that in our conceptualization, we predicted an effect of traditionalism and egalitarianism on behavioral intentions and attitudes (following Wetherell et al., 2013b; Wetherell et al., 2013a). Nonetheless, for the sake of conceptual completeness, we also measure and report on the effects of universalism and individualism. Finally, Study 3 also takes into consideration the role of implicit attitudes.\nStudy 4: choice between financial advisors: In our final study, we test the effect of an employee's sexual orientation on consumers' decisions using a consequential design. We predict that a financial advisor will be chosen more often when he is gay, but this preference will be mostly favored by liberal participants.\nGeneral discussion: We examined consumer reactions toward minority retail employees. In a series of ten studies, across multiple contexts (retail banking, financial advice and retail electronics), measures (behavioral intentions, attitudes and actual choice) and populations (Americans, Germans, Italians, Koreans, Britons and Canadians), we found consistent evidence that consumers react more favorably to an employee from a minority group (gay or Black) than to one from a majority group (straight or White). In addition, we examined the moderating role of political ideology in the USA and found that only independent and liberals display such bias. We also found evidence that views about traditionalism best capture the influence of political ideology.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate consumer reactions to minority retail employees. The paper argues that despite the persistence of racism and homophobia in society, the vast majority of the population is strongly against these forms of discrimination. Because of the profound negativity of such behavior, the study hypothesizes that consumers will be motivated to see themselves unequivocally as individuals free of prejudice. As a result, rather than treating all people equally, the study proposes that consumers will overcompensate and exhibit favoritism toward a retail employee when the latter is a member of a minority group.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study presents ten studies in which participants evaluated employees who were a member of a minority or majority group. Studies 1a-1d use sexual orientation to contrast reactions to majority or minority bank managers in four countries (USA, Germany, Italy and South Korea), whereas Studies 1e and 1f use ethnicity (White vs Black) to examine the same question (UK and Canada). Study 1g offers a single-paper meta-analysis, testing the robustness of the observed effect. Studies 2 and 3 examine the roles of political ideology and its associated values, and Study 4 examines choice of an advisor in an online, but consequential setting.\nFindings: Across several contexts and countries, the study finds a consistent pro-minority bias in evaluations of service employees. The study show that, in the USA, this bias is prevalent among liberals, but not among conservatives. This difference in the impact of political ideology is explained by adherence to traditionalism.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper investigates consumer reactions to gays and Blacks and do not test for consumer reactions to other minority groups. Regarding employees' sexual orientation, the findings of this study are limited to gay men only.\nPractical implications: To elicit favorable evaluations from customers, managers may consider the match between employees' sexual orientation or ethnicity and consumers' liberal beliefs. In particular, managers may want to hire people from those minority groups in areas known for their liberal values. On the other hand, the findings suggest that managers should not worry about their new recruits' sexual orientation and ethnicity in conservative areas, because the results suggest that conservatives show no favoritism toward employees in response to their group status.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first paper in marketing investigating consumer reactions to employees who belong to minority groups. The study reports a pro-minority bias that holds across samples and countries, thereby attesting to the population validity of the hypotheses. Further, the study identifies boundary conditions of the effect of employees' group status by identifying managerially relevant moderators (i.e. political ideology and traditionalism).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Rapid knowledge work visualization for organizations
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge management systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nMotivation: Today, work in organizations becomes increasingly complex and knowledge intensive (Eppler et al., 1999). The notion of knowledge work aims to frame and conceptualize this phenomenon. In order to understand knowledge work in greater detail, models of the world need to be developed that aid in structuring the problem domain. A series of diverse approaches emerged to address this challenge including for example B-KIDE (Strohmaier, 2004; Strohmaier and Tochtermann, 2005), KMDL (Gronau et al., 2003; Gronau and Weber, 2004), extensions to ARIS (Allweyer, 1998), the concept of knowledge stance (Maier, 2005), knowledge audits (Choy et al., 2004) or CommonKADS (Schreiber et al., 2002). However, existing approaches pose some serious problems: applying them is often very resource intensive, involving the execution of workshops, structured and unstructured interviews and explicit modeling activities using modeling tools and software. Because of that, these approaches hardly scale. This means that instead of investigating the whole problem domain, modelers need to select a more or less representative sample for their modeling activities, thereby potentially threatening the significance of their results (in terms of, e.g. completeness and quality (Dean et al., 1994)). Subsequently, after the models have been developed, analysis options of existing approaches often are limited and their expressiveness is vague and unclear. This can be attributed to the high influence modelers have on the modeling process, which is also resulting in a reduced degree of objectivity, a lack of traceability and thus, a lack of empirical foundation of the resulting models.This contribution aims to address these challenges and introduces a novel approach that tackles some of the identified drawbacks of existing work. After introducing the concept of Rapid Knowledge Work Visualization and the research background, it presents two software tools, the KnowFlow Interview Tool and the KnowFlow Report Tool, that provide support in making knowledge work in organizations visible in a traceable and efficient way. A set of application scenarios is presented that illustrates how KnowFlow can be applied in a range of situations and subsequently the main benefits that come with following a rapid knowledge work visualization approach are presented. The contribution concludes with a critical discussion of its achievements and an outlook.\nPrincipal approach and research background: Rapid knowledge work visualization\nResearch background: KnowFlow represents a further development of B-KIDE[1] (Strohmaier, 2003, 2004; Strohmaier and Tochtermann, 2005), a theoretical framework and a software tool for the identification and support of knowledge processes in organizations. Both approaches can be related to the current research domain of business process oriented knowledge management (Maier and Remus, 2002; Remus, 2002; Maier and Remus, 2003; Maier, 2005). The goal of KnowFlow is to improve B-KIDE with respect to identified drawbacks and make the concepts \"fitter for use\" (Remus, 2002, p. 298) or, in other words, fitter for application in organizational knowledge management projects.B-KIDE proved itself successful in developing knowledge infrastructures that support the execution of knowledge processes within and across a set of business processes in a visible and traceable way (Strohmaier, 2004). However, drawbacks identified in three conducted case studies include:1. the time and resources needed for interviewing knowledge workers as a basis for modeling;2. the necessary geographic co-location of interviewers and interviewees;3. the influence of varying skill levels of modelers on the modeling results; and4. the limited analysis options available in the B-KIDE Tool.From a meta-modeling perspective (Karagiannis and Kuhn, 2002), both KnowFlow and B-KIDE consist of two conceptual parts:1. The way of modeling, which is a formal modeling structure that introduces syntax and semantics of modeling elements.2. The way of working (Hommes and van Reijswoud, 2000), which is a process that defines how the act of modeling is conducted.On the one hand, KnowFlow is based on an advanced version of the B-KIDE modeling structure, which integrates multiple conceptual dimensions (such as business processes, knowledge domains, organizational roles and others) of organizations as a basis for modeling knowledge work. On the other hand, KnowFlow introduces a radical new way of working by eliminating the need for interviewers (human modelers) and aiming to enable interviews that are conducted in a self-service manner[2]. The web-based KnowFlow interview tool introduced in the following section represents the outcome of these intentions. In order to extent existing possibilities of analyzing data about knowledge work, the KnowFlow report tool that is introduced subsequently was developed. By supporting the analysis of data gathered in interviews, KnowFlow aims to increase the ability of organizations to reflect upon and improve their knowledge work.Thus, the objectives of KnowFlow can be defined in the following way:The overall goal of KnowFlow is to enable broad and rapid visualizations of knowledge work in organizations. In order to accomplish that, KnowFlow aims to:* follow an empirical approach;* scale;* provide graphical representations that visualize knowledge work in a formal yet accessible way;* provide comprehensive, multi-dimensional analysis possibilities; and* provide an overview of knowledge work in organizations.While acknowledging the diversity of existing definitions of knowledge, this contribution utilizes a rather pragmatic approach to this question: (organizational) knowledge is regarded to be information that is relevant for undertaking certain (business) actions (Strohmaier, 2004). This allows for taking an approach to knowledge management that strengthens the application and action orientation of knowledge work management. At the same time, certain aspects of knowledge work, such as necessary competencies or skills, are excluded.However, this limitation is accepted here because the problems identified in the introduction still exist and, more than that, are highly relevant for this action-oriented approach.\nAn automated interview tool: The KnowFlow interview tool is a web-based software tool that can be utilized to efficiently gather data about knowledge work in organizations. In the following paragraphs, the way of working and the way of modeling (Hommes and van Reijswoud, 2000) with the KnowFlow interview tool is introduced.The way of working\nTool-supported visualization of knowledge work: The KnowFlow report tool is a graph-based software instrument[6] for visualizing knowledge work by providing a multitude of perspectives on the B-KIDE modeling architecture. In total, seven of these perspectives (called reports in KnowFlow terminology) are available to make knowledge work in organizations visible, including the following types:* role-based knowledge flow diagram;* role-based knowledge profile diagram;* process-based knowledge flow diagram;* location-based knowledge flow diagram;* knowledge storage;* knowledge transfer; and* knowledge community diagram.These reports focus on visualizing the elicited relationships between the reference elements introduced earlier. On a per-sample-basis, data can be analyzed and compared. In the following sections, some of the available reports will be introduced and their specific contribution to making knowledge work rapidly visible in organizations will be discussed.Role-based knowledge flow diagram\nApplication scenarios: This section will now sketch out two application scenarios, that demonstrate the relevance of KnowFlow for real-world knowledge management challenges.Knowledge process redesign\nAchievements: This contribution introduced the novel notion of rapid knowledge work visualization and demonstrated the viability of the envisioned concept by introducing the KnowFlow toolset. The following list summarizes distinctive characteristics of KnowFlow and discusses their contribution to the domain of business process oriented knowledge management:* Empirical foundation. KnowFlow has a stronger empirical foundation than traditional approaches in the domain of business process oriented knowledge management because of its novel approach to modeling that relies on automated interview techniques. Human modelers are only necessary at the beginning of the process, for setting up the reference models that provide answer categories for the interviews. The resulting visualizations of knowledge work rely exclusively on the answers given by interviewees and thereby give an idea how organizational work is understood by employees in an unbiased way. Not only are the models traceably constructed by the automated interview system (vs models developed by a modeler), but they also equally integrate the answers given by interviewees (vs a subjective synthesis performed by a modeler).* Scalability. Because KnowFlow relies on modelers at the beginning of investigations only (a one-time effort, for modeling reference models), it scales better than existing approaches. Involving a greater amount of people basically means inviting more people to conduct self-service interviews. This is in stark contrast to existing approaches where modeling a broader area typically means co-locating and coordinating a larger set of employees, possibly involving multiple modelers or integrating different modeling approaches and styles. Often, such conditions are economically not feasible for obtaining an empirically founded overview of knowledge work in organizations. To break down certain areas of investigation, KnowFlow supports the organization of interviews in interview rounds, so called samples. Samples can be conducted in a timely dispersed space, thereby introducing even more flexibility to interview process. The scalability of KnowFlow is continued in its visualization abilities that allow for analysis of large interview sets by means of sophisticated filter functionality.* Visualization. Effective visualization of interview results is necessary to deal with the amount and complexity of data gathered. The goal of KnowFlow was the introduction of a formal yet comprehensible way of visualizing knowledge work. By basing the reports on directed and undirected graph representations, both people and machines can easily relate to and operate on the structure. In addition, the introduced syntax and semantics further enrich the meaning of these visualizations. Within the KnowFlow report tool, the user interface employs a set of different graph auto-layouting algorithms to provide users with a preliminary layout of the graph, while it provides the possibility of rearranging and manipulating the graph layout manually also.* Analysis. By providing graph visualizations of knowledge work based on the B-KIDE modeling structure, comprehensive, multi-dimensional analysis of knowledge work are supported. Not only is it possible to analyze knowledge work of specific roles or business processes, the role that storage objects and transfer instruments play in organizations can be investigated too. Through the combination of unstructured text and predefined answers, it is possible to gain an understanding about the way employees see certain areas of business. By analyzing knowledge flows, communication among roles and among processes can be identified and discussed. The KnowFlow report tool currently provides seven different analysis reports in total, of which two have been introduced in this contribution in greater detail.* Overview. A common principle to deal with complexity is: \"get overview first, add detail later\". KnowFlow was designed to suit that purpose. By allowing for rapid visualization of knowledge work, it aids in getting a quick overview of the problem domain. It delays more detailed modeling efforts to later phases of analysis, using the insights of early KnowFlow investigations to focus subsequent efforts and thereby aid in optimizing the utilization of constrained organizational resources.\nDiscussion and outlook: While KnowFlow aims at radically decreasing the time necessary for modeling activities, one can expect a certain loss of modeling detail and accuracy because of the lack of human modelers. However, our main hypothesis is that reducing the amount of time necessary for modeling in knowledge management projects is crucial for achieving economically feasible results for organizations. By taking the most radical approach, through elimination of human modelers, this contribution aims to test and stress the limits of modeling approaches along the time dimension. In future case studies, it is planned to investigate the \"fitness-for-use\" of these models in the context of the two introduced application scenarios, comparing it to previous, more detailed results. In addition, these tests may include future investigations of a number of model quality criteria such as syntactic, semantic, social, pragmatic, and other qualities (Krogstie and Jorgensen, 2003).With KnowFlow it is not necessary to develop narrow assumptions and biased hypothesis about improvements (by, e.g. selecting certain business areas for in-depth modeling) because knowledge analysts are enabled to empirically investigate much broader areas of knowledge work in organizations. By following such an approach, improvement potentials can be identified bottom-up (based on large samples of interviews and interviewees) instead of top-down (based on assumptions). This is a serious problem of available methods (such as B-KIDE (Strohmaier, 2004), ARIS (Allweyer, 1998) or KDML (Gronau et al., 2003)) because they hardly scale. In other words, the efforts necessary for detailed investigations of broad business areas are prohibitive with available instruments. Therefore, the application of KnowFlow takes place at the very beginning of knowledge management projects, before traditional methods, and thus helps in the empirically founded focus setting of subsequent, more detailed investigations. This in turn supports both, obtaining an overview and engage in in-depth modeling. Because KnowFlow enables the interview process to be conducted in a self-service manner, it objectifies modeling results and reduces the chance of errors evoked by modelers.A certain concern that comes with automated interview tools is that questions raised by such a tool might be interpreted differently from different interviewees. Human modelers can negotiate such differences by means of personal interactions and thus can reduce the chance for misunderstandings. It is planned to work on different strategies to address this issue, including for example the provision of more context information or the provision of answers given by reference interviewees.KnowFlow adds detail to existing approaches such as KODA (Abecker et al., 2002, p. 123) by modeling and visualizing not only aspects of communication, but also specific information about knowledge generation, storage, transfer or application (based on (Heisig, 2001)). In addition, support for obtaining statistical data from interviews (such as number of nominations, type of confirmation) is directly integrated into KnowFlow reports. Also the time needed for conducting interviews with KODA sometimes prohibits its application in larger settings (as for example mentioned in (Remus, 2002, p. 265)). By supporting self-service interviews through a web application, KnowFlow is designed to deal with larger samples of interviewees. To the best of the authors' knowledge, KnowFlow represents the first concept that utilizes a graph-based approach to knowledge work visualization. Applying algorithms from graph theory to the developed graphs is something that is intended to be investigated in future work.\nConclusion: In this contribution, the need for more rapid and empirical approaches to understanding knowledge work in organizations was motivated. The novel notion of rapid knowledge work visualization was introduced, which raises the need for approaches that:* follow an empirical approach;* scale;* provide graphical representations that visualize knowledge work in a formal yet accessible way;* provide comprehensive, multi-dimensional analysis possibilities; and* provide an overview of knowledge work in organizations.This contribution introduced the KnowFlow toolset that addresses these challenges to a certain extent. The KnowFlow interview tool aids in the rapid gathering of interview data while the KnowFlow report tool provides a diverse set of perspectives on organizational knowledge work. By being applied in early project stages, rapid knowledge work visualization does not replace but complement traditional approaches in the domain of business process oriented knowledge management. It does that by providing overview first, and thereby aids the subsequent focusing of more detailed modeling activities. However, the effects of rapid approaches to modeling quality and accuracy are not understood satisfyingly yet and need to be in the focus of future research work.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this contribution is to motivate a new, rapid approach to modeling knowledge work in organizational settings and to introduce a software tool that demonstrates the viability of the envisioned concept.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on existing modeling structures, the KnowFlow toolset that aids knowledge analysts in rapidly conducting interviews and in conducting multi-perspective analysis of organizational knowledge work is introduced.\nFindings: - This article demonstrates how rapid knowledge work visualization can be conducted largely without human modelers by developing an interview structure that allows for self-service interviews. Two application scenarios illustrate the pressing need for and the potentials of rapid knowledge work visualizations in organizational settings.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The efforts necessary for traditional modeling approaches in the area of knowledge management are often prohibitive. This contribution argues that future research needs to take economical constraints of organizational settings into account in order to be able to realize the full potential of knowledge work management.\nPractical implications: - This work picks up a problem identified in practice and proposes the novel concept of rapid knowledge work visualization for making knowledge work modeling in organizations more feasible.\nOriginality/value: - This work develops a vision of rapid knowledge work visualization and introduces a tool-supported approach that addresses some of the identified challenges.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Effect of utilitarian and hedonic values on consumer willingness to buy and to pay for organic olive oil in Tunisia
|
[
"Hedonic value",
"Utilitarian value",
"Organic food",
"Willingness to pay",
"Willingness to buy",
"Developing market"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past few decades, various environmental issues (pollution, waste overstock, etc.) and food safety incidents (food poisoning, food contamination, etc.) have increased consumers' interest in environment-friendliness and wholesome food worldwide (Thompson and Darwish, 2019). In this context of high consumer consciousness regarding the impact of what they consume on their health and the environment, the consumption of organic products has been expanding rapidly (Aryal et al., 2009; Yadav and Pathak, 2016). This change has deeply influenced consumers' behavior and altered living standards and lifestyles significantly (Lim et al., 2014). However, the literature reveals that the demand for organic food is greater in developed countries (e.g. Canada, USA and Europe) than it is in developing ones (Petljak et al., 2017; Willer and Lernoud, 2019). Furthermore, theoretical studies and empirical data about the consumption of organic food products in developing markets seem limited compared with those in developed markets (Ghali and Toukabri, 2019; Yadav and Pathak, 2016).According to the findings of a recent survey conducted by Willer and Lernoud (2019), a large number of organic food producers are from developing countries like India, Uganda and Mexico, with almost 3 million producers. However, the majority of consumers are from developed countries like Germany, China, France and the United States. Additional developed countries like Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden have been found to have the highest per capita organic consumption (Willer and Lernoud, 2019, p. 24). These statistics also show that the majority of certified organic products in developing countries (particularly in Africa) are destined for export markets (Willer and Lernoud, 2019, p. 28). This strategy of the mass export of organic food products to developed markets has significant consequences on domestic consumption in these countries. Hence, organic-food consumption is still at the nascent stage and not a perceived choice for the entire population (Yadav and Pathak, 2016). It has been found that availability, premium price and affordability were the major barriers to consuming organic foods in these countries (Keramitsoglou et al., 2018; Petljak et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2019).Tunisia is among the African countries that produces organic food products, primarily for export (Willer and Lernoud, 2019). It is the second big producer of olive oil in the world after Spain. It has the largest area of organic olive groves in the world (more than 254,000 hectares). In Tunisia, 15.5 percent of the olive area is organic (Willer and Lernoud, 2019, p. 125). It produces more than 175,000 tones, with 80 percent of this destined for export to developed countries in all continents. This strategy of mass export is used to cover the trade balance deficit. However, this influences the availability and the affordability of organic olive oil in the domestic market. Hence, it considered as \"luxury food,\" because its premium pricing precludes many people from purchasing it (Ghali and Toukabri, 2019).The literature reveals that several research studies have focused on the influences of organic foods values on consumer attitude and purchase intention (Arvola et al., 2008; Jones et al., 2006; Lee and Yun, 2015; Ryu et al., 2010). Additional studies have tested the influence of product attributes like logo (Anastasiou et al., 2017), price (Dodds et al., 1991), certified label (Liu et al., 2019) and quality (Aryal et al., 2009) on WTP or WTB. Most of these studies were conducted in developed markets. However, this research is among the few research works to focus on the influence of perceived values (utilitarian vs hedonic) on WTP and WTP. Moreover, it is the first of its kind to be conducted in an emerging market. More precisely, it is a first attempt to test the impact of utilitarian and hedonic values of organic olive oil on consumer WTP and WTB in the context of one of the biggest producer countries (Tunisia) of this type of food. The findings of this study may provide significant insights for marketers in developing countries to formulate effective communication strategies aiming to develop organic consumption while focusing on perceived values of organic foods.The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 provides a literature review of the variables utilized in the conceptual model. The third section describes the methodology of the research. The fourth section describes the results of the study. The final section provides a discussion of the results, conclusions, implications, limitations and directions for further research.\nLiterature review: The organic food product and its values\nMethodology: Sample characteristics and data collection\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: The research findings support the research hypotheses. This means that both utilitarian and hedonic values of organic food products constitute drivers of consumers' willingness to buy and willingness to pay. These findings are similar to those of Corsi and Novelli (2007), Aryal et al. (2009), and Lu and Chi (2018). However, these values do not have the same influence intensity on WTP and WTB. Utilitarian value has a stronger influence on WTP, while hedonic value has a stronger influence on WTB. This means that the consumer is willing to pay premium prices when he/she is aware of the utilitarian attribute of organic food (olive oil) and has trust in its nutritional value, superior quality and healthfulness. Therefore, paying premium prices for organic food products is considered a sacrifice made by the consumer for the sake of good health and well-being. These findings are in line with Alphone and Alfness (2017), Krystallis and Chryssohoidis (2005) and Wang et al. (2019), who stated that consumers are willing to pay more for organic products because they perceive these products as higher quality, safer foods that they can trust more than their conventional counterparts.On the other hand, WTB was mainly elicited by the hedonic value of organic food in the case of the interviewed sample. This means that the freshness and good taste of organic food, as well as the pleasure and enjoyment felt by the consumer when doing something beneficial for his/her health and environment, elicit an experience of consumption. These findings are in line with Lee and Yun (2015), Anastasiou et al. (2017) and Maehle et al. (2015), who confirmed the hedonic value of organic food had more impact on WTB compared to its utilitarian counterpart. Thus, we can understand that nowadays, even for the organic food industry, consumption is no longer limited to the act of purchasing. Indeed, it also manipulates and exchanges feelings and emotions beyond the functional aspect of the product (Holbrook and Hirshman, 1982). So, more than the superior functional values, the consumer is looking for pleasure and enjoyment through the act of purchasing organic food.Finally, this investigation, led in a developing country, allowed the authors to compare the findings with those of some previous research works conducted in developed countries (Aryal et al., 2009; Babin et al., 1994; Crosi and Novelli, 2007; Fuljahn and Moosmayer, 2011). As any other consumer in a developed country, the Tunisian consumer buys organic food mainly out of emotional, affective and hedonic motives. This means that today's consumer does not seek only functional and cognitive attributes through a purchasing act; he/she equally seeks immersion in an emotional experience of consumption (Ghazali et al., 2017). However, unlike many findings of studies conducted in developed countries (Ginon et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2019), the present study suggests that in a developing country, the consumer is willing to a pay premium price for organic food mainly for the sake of its utilitarian value (quality, purity, safety, etc.). In the authors' opinion, this can be accounted for by the difference in the purchasing power of consumers in developed countries vs developing ones. Indeed, the low income of many consumers in a developing country like Tunisia constitutes a constraint against being more spontaneous, irrational and emotional when choosing a product. In other words, the premium price of organic food compared to the price of its conventional counterpart, as well as the limited purchasing power of consumers in a developing country, require the consumer to be more reasonable and rational when purchasing this category of food (Ghali and Toukabri, 2019).Implications and limitations\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to study the influence of organic food perceived values (utilitarian vs hedonic) on consumer willingness to buy and willingness to pay in a developing country.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper utilized a survey of 467 Tunisian consumers of organic olive oil. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the reliability and validities of constructs, as wells as model fit and the structural model.\nFindings: The findings indicate that both utilitarian and hedonic values have significant influence on consumer willingness to buy and to pay for organic olive oil. The hedonic value has a stronger influence on willingness to buy while the utilitarian value has a stronger influence on willingness to pay.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study contributes to knowledge regarding the relationships between organic food perceived value and consumer willingness to buy and to pay. Findings provide clear ways for practitioners to communicate the perceived values of their organic foods in order to increase their consumption.\nOriginality/value: This paper is one of the rare studies that focuses on willingness to buy and to pay for organic food in a developing country. In addition, it is a first attempt to test the consumer perceived values of organic olive oil in the context of one of the biggest producer countries of this type of food.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Practising innovation in the healthcare ecosystem: the agency of third-party actors
|
[
"Practices",
"Agency",
"Health innovation",
"Third-party actors"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over recent years, few industries have seen such dramatic changes as the healthcare industry (Osei-Frimpong et al., 2018). On one hand, the growth has reached $3.6tn in the USA alone; while on the other hand, the potential connectivity of digital technologies is completely transforming the healthcare ecosystem. This has resulted in companies increasingly investing in digital transformations to exploit data across channels, operations and patient outreach (Cisco, 2017).\n2. Intermediaries and their practices in innovation research: The term intermediary denotes different kinds of agents who are performing a variety of tasks, acting as an agent or a broker in any aspect of the innovation process between two or more parties (Howells, 2006; Hossain, 2012; Katzy et al., 2013). Depending on the role played in the innovation process, intermediaries have been labelled third-parties, intermediary firms, bridges, information intermediaries, knowledge brokers, agencies, etc (Howells, 2006). Scholars have focussed on several aspects, namely, the roles, activities or the specific object of the intermediation to determine who they are and what is their main function.\n3. The agency of mediators in actor-network theory: The ANT depicts actors as open-ended entities, including human beings, machines, animals, nature, ideas, organizations, inequalities, scale and sizes (Law, 1992, 2009). An actor, both human and non-human, can literally be anything provided it is granted as being the source of action. Moreover, by debating the role of associations, ANT escapes from the idea of intermediaries as a singular entity connecting at least two or more others; to intermediaries who are the ones dispersed into multiple territories made up of interconnected actors with different natures and roles. These agents, their dimensions, and what they are and do all depend on the morphology of the relations in which they are involved. According to Callon (1986, 1999), the actor's interactions create associations and affect one another through the intermediaries that cross between them. Human and non-human entities become, \"means to produce the social\" (Latour, 2005, p. 38) only when their role in the system enables them to act as intermediaries or mediators (Latour, 1996; Latour, 1999).\n4. Triadic relationships in service-dominant logic: Service-dominant logic offers an insightful perspective to frame the mediating actors and extend studies on intermediaries with regard to the systemic nature of resource integration and the overcoming of dyadic relationships.\n5. Research design: This research is grounded in an epistemological contextualism (Preyer and Peter, 2005). To gain situated knowledge and address the role of context in knowledge, understanding and meaning we adopted a qualitative methodology to study actors in their different contexts (Ichikawa, 2017a). Qualitative research focuses on understanding why things are socially constructed, and why humans behave the way they do (Gherardi, 2012). Such a method is designed to help researchers understand people and the sociocultural contexts within which they live (Yin, 2015; Gummesson, 2017). It aims at contextualising knowledge (Ichikawa, 2017b) and investigating what is happening in different situations, providing holistic rather than fragmented explanations (Pettigrew, 2012). The events and ideas emerging from qualitative research represent the meanings given to activities by the people who perform them. Furthermore, qualitative research is gaining considerable popularity because of its ability to satisfy the need to increase the value of service research by making it more relevant, thus more appealing to practice (Gummesson, 2017).\n6. Results: The analytical focus of third parties in the e-health ecosystem goes beyond simple interactions and takes into account the role, context and practices as the basis for their mediating activities. Through an expansion of the theoretical view of Siltaloppi and Vargo's (2017) in regard to the categories of brokerage, mediation and coalition, the findings depicted three main third-party actors, with a detailed analysis of their practices and activities, the objects, context and outcomes (Table II).\n7. Discussion: Healthcare is changing dramatically because of smart technologies that are radically transforming the access to, and the provision of health service provision (Osei-Frimpong et al., 2018; McColl-Kennedy et al., 2017). New actors are entering the health market by exploiting the recent development of the internet, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing. By building on a practice approach (Mele and Russo-Spena, 2015; De Silva et al., 2018) and ANT (Callon, 1986, 1999) and being informed by service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2011, 2017), this study has contributed by advancing the agential role of third-party actors to prompt innovation and shape service ecosystems. Specifically, the paper expands upon the conceptualization of triad as proposed by Siltaloppi and Vargo (2017) by progressing from this form of triadic relationships - brokerage, mediation and coalition - to the agency of e-health third-parties; and their practices to innovate in the healthcare ecosystem. This means that there is a need to focus on the actors and the performativity of actions, as well as grounding the conceptual view on an empirical base.\n8. Scholarly implications: This work has focussed on triads in the healthcare ecosystem. Third-parties act as e-health innomediaries, stimulating a new way of practising innovation. The discussion does not simply concern data digitization and information management, it addresses how actors affect the transformation of the health context. The agential role of third-party actors emerges that is based on the adoption and dissemination of smart technologies that allow actors to be engaged in new interactions, activities and practices to be enacted. Thus, they become the building blocks of an evolving healthcare ecosystem.\n9. Practical implications: Third-party actors bring about innovative ways of doing business in the healthcare ecosystem. Their actions challenge the status quo and run counter to long-time practices. Considering how these e-health third-parties performs has implications for health managers, patients and other actors.\n10. Limitations and further research: This study has several limitations. While the research was based on a certain number of third-party actors, a wider range of results could have been achieved by expanding the sample size. Similarly, a longitudinal approach would have helped to promote an understanding of the dynamics of a service ecosystem. In addition, the investigation focuses on the perspective of single actors; whereas an analysis of multiple actors might have been more effective in completely identifying the innovation process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Over recent years, few industries have seen such dramatic changes as the healthcare industry. The potential connectivity of digital technologies is completely transforming the healthcare ecosystem. This has resulted in companies increasingly investing in digital transformations to exploit data across channels, operations and patient outreach, by building on a practice approach and actor-network theory and being informed by service-dominant logic, this study aims to contribute by advancing the agential role of third-party actors to prompt innovation and shape service ecosystems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research is grounded in an epistemological contextualism. To gain situated knowledge and address the role of context in knowledge, understanding and meaning the authors adopted a qualitative methodology to study actors in their different contexts. The empirical research was based on case theory. The authors also took guidance from practice scholars about how to investigate actors' practices. The unit of analysis moves from dyadic relationships to focus on practices across different networks of actors.\nFindings: This study expands on the conceptualization of triad as proposed by Siltaloppi and Vargo (2017) by moving from the form of triadic relationships - brokerage, mediation and coalition - to the agency of e-health third-parties; and their practices to innovate in the healthcare ecosystem. This study focuses on the actors and the performativity of actions and grounding the conceptual view on an empirical base.\nPractical implications: Third-party actors bring about innovative ways of doing business in the healthcare ecosystem. Their actions challenge the status quo and run counter to long-time practices. Third-parties support the complex set of interconnections between different healthcare actors for the provision of new service co-creation opportunities. Considering how these e-health third-parties performs has implications for health managers, patients and other actors.\nOriginality/value: This study focuses on the actors and the performativity of actions and grounding the conceptual view on an empirical base. The agency of third-party actors is their ability to act among others and to connect multiple social and material structures to boost innovation. They prompt innovation and shape service ecosystems by brokering, mediating and coalescing among a great variety of resources, practices and institutions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Willingness of beef finishers to participate in supply chain collaborations
|
[
"Collaboration",
"Choice experiment",
"Beef supply chain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Similar to other agri-food sectors, the beef sector is faced with a diverse set of challenges, including increasingly sophisticated consumer preferences, changing attitudes of society to food safety and integrity, health and nutrition concerns and strong competition from efficient producers elsewhere in the world. Closer vertical coordination is argued by some as a way to address these challenges as it facilitates information about consumers' demand flow upstream and also helps the chain to become more efficient (Brocklebank et al., 2008). The ability of the supply chain to respond to these challenges has been inhibited by the fragmented nature of the industry, with a large number of small producers with diverse business objectives, a commodity culture and adversarial trading relationships throughout the supply chain (Schroeder and Kovanda, 2003). On the other hand, it is argued that sector-wide quality assurance schemes may reduce the need for closer vertical coordination (Schulze et al., 2007).\n2. Literature review: A range of studies have investigated farmers' attitudes towards closer collaboration/contracts. The primary focus has been on the factors driving farmers' participation in collaboration agreements, especially in terms of identifying the perceived benefits or obstacles to participation (see Schlecht and Spiller, 2012 for a more detailed discussion). It is apparent from the literature on transaction cost economics and behavioural theories that a key trade-off in the participation decision is between reduced risks in market access and price and loss of entrepreneurial freedom (Brocklebank et al., 2008; Schulze et al., 2007). Increasing the degree of collaboration and integration requires that the benefits from the former outweigh the disutility from the latter; although these are difficult to measure accurately. The drive for vertical collaboration by farmers is found to be weaker in developed countries than in developing countries, possibly because risks (hence reduction in risks) in market access and price is smaller in the former (Schulze et al., 2007).\n3. Method: survey design and empirical model: In this section, the design of the survey and the econometric modelling approach are presented.\n4. Post survey variable construction and data: Age, education and off-farm job are among the characteristics of the farmers included in the empirical models. Ages of respondents in the survey range from 22 to 91 years old, with a mean of 58. Three education levels are specified based on detailed information on education from the survey: A-level or above, O-level/GCSE and no formal qualification (see definitions in Table II). Distributions of age groups and education level of the survey respondents are similar to those in Northern Ireland in general. The percentage of respondents with an off-farm job is closer to that of medium and large farms for Northern Ireland than to that of all farms, which is consistent with the general negative correlation between percentages of farmers with an off-farm job and farm size (Table II).\n5. Results: 5.1 Willingness to participate in a collaboration agreement\n6. Conclusion and discussion: A survey, including a choice experiment, was undertaken to investigate beef farmers' attitudes towards collaboration in the supply chain in Northern Ireland. Results suggest that larger and more specialised farms are more likely to participate or willing to participate in collaboration with downstream buyers. These results are in line with expectations as these characteristics are indicative of farms that are more commercially oriented. Farmers with higher education attainment are also more likely to participate in collaboration arrangements.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence beef farmers' willingness to participate in supply chain collaboration initiatives and to identify attributes in formal and non-formal agreements that would encourage or discourage participation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A face-to-face survey containing a choice experiment was carried out. Respondents were selected using stratified sampling among beef finishers in Northern Ireland. Logistic regressions were employed to examine the factors associated with willingness and agreement attributes.\nFindings: Larger and more specialised farms, as well as farmers with higher education attainment are shown to be more likely to participate in collaboration arrangements with downstream buyers. The choice experiment results suggest that farmers are in general willing to fulfil some feeding requirements in order to earn a premium, while a minimum price guarantee is not attractive. The positive valuation of data sharing between farms and abattoirs is found specifically among farmers with higher qualifications. Although education is shown to have positive impacts on both participation in collaboration agreements and the valuation of contract attributes, the level of education associated with the positive impacts differ. In addition, farmers who have enroled in agri-environmental schemes view the requirement of a written contract more favourably than those who have not.\nOriginality/value: The study adds to the understanding of how beef farmers view participation within supply chain collaborations and also how the potential features of the collaboration relate to characteristics of farmers and their farms.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Air diffusion performance index of high sidewall line diffuser in a room with perimeter heating load
|
[
"Air diffusion",
"Air",
"Heating"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The meaning of ventilation is not only changing of polluted air but is also concerned with keeping the air velocity, temperature and humidity adequate for thermal comfort. It depends on the distributions of air velocity, temperature and humidity. These are affected by the types or the shapes of diffusers for supply air in the occupied zone. So it is very important to select a proper diffusers on the design procedure of the HVAC systems (ASHRAE, 2001, Miller and Nash, 1971).Many studies have been carried out to better understand thermal environments (Miller and Nash, 1971; Kirkpatrick and Knappmiller, 1998; Hu et al., 1999; Hassani and Miller, 1998). But it is difficult to apply a conventional selection guide for diffusers when the diffuser is installed in a perimeter zone. Because the air diffusion performance index (ADPI) curve listed in the conventional guide does not consider the perimeter heating load through the walls. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of ADPI of high sidewall line diffuser by numerical method and propose a selection guide for proper line diffuser when perimeter heating load exists.\nCharacteristics of diffusers: A diffuser is a terminal device installed at the end of HVAC system to diffuse air in the occupied zone. The throw distance, the separation distance and the drop distance are the major air flow characteristic indexes of diffuser because the air from diffuser has a jet profile.These air flow characteristic indexes are shown in Figure 1. The throw distance of a jet denoted T is a horizontal axial distance from the outlet to a point where the maximum velocity in the stream cross section has been reduced to a selected terminal velocity, 0.25 m/s in the case of sidewall line diffuser. Each manufacturer gives data for the throw distance of a jet from various diffusers for isothermal conditions and without a boundary wall interfering with the jet, defined by ASHRAE Standard 70 (ASHRAE, 1991). The separation distance denoted S is a horizontal distance from the diffuser to a point that the jet is unattached on the ceiling in this case. And the drop distance, D is the distance from the ceiling to a point where the jet drops with the terminal velocity. The characteristic length, L is the distance from the diffuser to the nearest boundary wall in the principle horizontal direction of the air flow.These variables together with the supplied air flow rate are dependent on the supplied air temperature and the heating loads of the occupied zone. But it is inconvenient to determine the characteristics of the diffuser with these parameters. Therefore, throw/length (T/L) ratios are usually noted on the conventional selection guide for diffusers.\nAir diffusion performance index: ADPI is a valuation index for cooling mode conditions how the air flow from diffuser makes the thermal environment of the occupied zone. It is defined the volume that the effective draft temperature (EDT) is between -1.5 and +1 K and the air velocity is lower than 0.35 m/s over the total volume of occupied zone and has the range from 0 to 100 percent. When the value of ADPI is more than 80 percent, we can say that the thermal environment of the occupied zone is comfortable. To define the EDT, the investigators used the following equation: Equation 1 where tp, local airstream dry-burb temperature, degC; tr, average room dry-burb temperature, degC; vp, local airstream centerline velocity, m/s\nSimulated diffuser: One type of sidewall line diffuser was selected to analyze the ADPI characteristics with various perimeter heating loads in this study. A schematic diagram of selected line diffuser is shown in Figure 2. The size of line diffuser has the width of 387 mm and the height of 133 mm. It is installed at the high region of the sidewall and supplies the air.\nRoom configuration and heating load condition: A standard test room following the ISO 5219 was selected to consider the ADPI characteristics when the perimeter heating load exists. As shown in Figure 3, one sidewall was heated and the diffuser was installed at the opposite wall. The size of the room was width 4.8 m x length 7.2 m x height 2.8 m and the desire room temperature was 26degC. The line diffuser was installed below 0.23 m from the ceiling. The outlet was located 0.4 m above from the floor at the opposite wall with dimensions of 356 x 356 mm. The characteristic length of this space was 7.2 m.The total heating load was 2,143 W with the consideration of general office and it was constant in each case. Heat load ratio, R is defined as the heating load on the wall over the total heating load. It is a variable with values of 0, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75. A heating load was applied on the floor and the sidewall according to the heat load ratio. In this study, 12 cases are studied and they are summarized on the Table I. Where Q is the air flow rate and td is the supplied air temperature from the diffuser.\nGoverning equations and boundary conditions with numerical method: Air velocity and temperature distributions are required to calculate the ADPI. The flow under consideration is three dimensional and turbulent, and has a steady state. The governing equations solved include those expressions for conservation of the mass, the momentum, the turbulent kinetic energy, the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy and the energy equation. All properties are assumed to be constant except the density. The density variation is calculated using Boussinesq approximation. A standard k-e model including buoyancy effect is selected to handle turbulent behavior.To obtain the physically meaningful solution for the problem with governing equation, we must specify the thermal and flow conditions of walls, supply diffuser and outlet. When the sidewall heating load exists, it is handled as a uniform heat flux according to the heat load ratio. When the heat load ratio is zero, all of the heating loads exist on the floor and the other walls are handled as adiabatic walls. For the flow conditions, velocity inlet boundary condition is applied at the supply diffuser and outflow boundary condition is applied at the outlet. In the present study, the standard test room is symmetric according to the x=0 plane. So a half region of the room is adopted as a solution region. FLUENT 6.0, a commercial code with 142,000 unstagged-grid is used.\nValidity for the calculation: The ADPI values by numerical results are compared with an existing experimental data (Miller and Nash, 1971) to verify the method for the evaluation of ADPI proposed in the present study. In Figure 4, the solid line presents the experimental data and the black square means the simulated result numerically. From this result, we can confirm the validity of the ADPI estimate method applied in this study.\nParametric study of diffuser performance: ADPI characteristics\nMethod to choose line diffuser with sidewall heating load: We produced ADPI curves with the T/L ratios when the sidewall heating load exists or not in the same air flow rate and supply conditions. From that, it is possible to assume that the T/L ratio guarantees more than 80 percent of ADPI with heating load on the wall.One example is shown in Figure 7, where R=0.5. The ADPI curves of R=0 and R=0.5 are shown in Figure 7 for illustration. This figure means if the diffuser with 1.3 T/L ratio of 85 percent ADPI of R=0 is installed at the case of R=0.5, the T/L ratio and ADPI change about 0.9 and 83 percent. To guarantee the comfortable thermal environment when R=0.5, we have to choose the maximum ADPI value in the curve and the T/L ratio is 0.9 at this time. This point corresponds to the middle point of R=0. Therefore, the recommended T/L ratio is 1.3 based on the two curves when the heat load ratio is 0.5. The same method is applicable to the other cases.\nConclusion: The ADPI characteristics of high sidewall line diffuser have been examined by a numerical method with various heat load ratios when the opposite wall from the diffuser is heated in this study and the following results are achieved:* The ADPI decreases according to the increases of the flow rate on every heat load ratio of the present study except 0.75 with the line diffuser installed at the high sidewall.* The method to select a proper line diffuser with a heating load on the sidewall involves the use of ADPI values along the T/L ratio for four cases of heat load ratios suggested in this study. First, choose maximum ADPI value more than 80 percent according to the heat load ratio. Second, find where the T/L ratio of the selected point changes in the case of R=0. And select a proper line diffuser which has the adequately throw length based on the performance sheet or conventional guide with general selection procedure.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the perimeter heating load about the air diffusion performance index (ADPI) and propose a selection guide for proper line diffuser when perimeter heating load exists.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A high sidewall line diffuser was installed into a test room following the ISO standard 5219. The velocity and temperature distributions and the ADPI values are obtained numerically with 12 cases when the air flow rates are 425, 730 and 950 CMH and the heating loads are 0, 25, 50 and 75 percent of the total heating load, 2,143 W.\nFindings: - The ADPI decreases according to the increases of the flow rate on every heat load ratio of the present study except 0.75 with the line diffuser installed at the high sidewall. And we produced ADPI curves when the sidewall heating load exists or not in the same air flow rate and supply conditions. From that, it is possible to assume that the throw length guarantees more than 80 percent of ADPI with heating load on the wall.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further work by the authors is focusing on making of database of various other diffusers which are generally used in the field.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides a modified selection guide for proper sidewall line diffusers to field engineers when perimeter heating load exists on the walls.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Public aid for ultra-fast broadband development in archipelagos. The Canary Islands case
|
[
"Broadband deployment programmes",
"Digital divides",
"Public aid",
"Supply-side subsidies",
"Ultra-fast broadband",
"Archipelagos",
"Insular and fragmented territories"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Information and communications technologies (ICT), including its infrastructures, constitute a primary factor for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (World Bank, 2016), making possible the social and economic improvement of countries, both developed (Castaldo et al., 2018) and developing ones (Esselaar et al., 2007; Shirazi et al., 2009). This, in turn, contributes to the well-being of its inhabitants (Mbuyisa and Leonard, 2017). On the other hand, broadband internet access development and diffusion have a direct positive effect on economic activity (Van Gaasbeck, 2008), gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP per capita growth (Czernich et al., 2011). In addition, it contributes to labour productivity (Katz, 2012; Tu and Sui, 2011), employment generation (Kolko, 2012) and efficiency in enterprises (Bertschek et al., 2013).\n2. Methodology and data: 2.1 Data sources\n3. Background: 3.1 The Canary Islands archipelago\n4. The Canary Islands broadband development: 4.1 National scope: first spatial digital divide\n5. Development of public aids for broadband deployment in the Canary Islands: The aforementioned PEBA-NGA programme has been, since 2013, the most important Spanish public initiative designed to achieve the broadband objectives established in the DAE. The aid is given, in a combination of subsidy and reimbursable loan, to roll-out projects in white areas that have been previously identified by the State Secretariat in a public consultation [7]. The rest of the funding, up to the total amount of project investment, is provided by the Telco operators themselves. This state aid is compatible with the internal market of the EU and is granted under Article 52 of Commission Regulation (EU) Ndeg 651/2014, cases number SA.48000 [8] and SA.35834 [9], so it only permits investments in passive infrastructure, civil engineering works and network deployment.\n6. Conclusions and lessons learned from the Canary Islands: A large amount of scientific research has been done regarding the positive impact that broadband diffusion has over countries and their societies and economies. Those countries where telecom regulation is based on competition principles must develop mechanisms to allow Public Administrations to intervene when market failure occurs. As outlined in this paper, those broadband market failures tend to appear in rural and sparsely populated territories. As it has also been explained, things can get worse in archipelagos such as the Canary Islands, where a triple spatial digital divide has appeared: first, between the whole archipelago and the mainland territory (74.6% vs 80.90% coverage in 2018, Figure 2); second, between the main and most populated islands and the remaining (89.9% vs 58.5% coverage in 2018, Figure 4); and third, between the urban and the rural areas of each island (79.45% vs 27.57% coverage in 2018, Figure 7).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to study the results of the public aid programmes, through supply-side subsidies, for ultra-fast next generation access (NGA) broadband deployment that have been developed in The Canary Islands since 2013. These findings will, in turn, hopefully help the policymakers of archipelagos define their own ultra-fast broadband development plans.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical approach has been used, based on the observation of the historical results obtained in the archipelago and the way broadband was diffused throughout the territory.\nFindings: Results show that the broadband has developed asymmetrically in the archipelago, which, in turn, has caused the onset of a triple spatial digital divide. It was also observed that some aspects of the current way that such programmes are created and, consequently, the way that public funds are allocated, that could be improved and might help prevent geographical discrimination. Lastly, several insights have been presented for further investigation.\nOriginality/value: A large amount of scientific research has been carried out studying ultra-fast broadband NGA networks deployment. Less literature can be found on this topic when considering the specificities of fragmented territories like archipelagos. This paper tries to contribute with some empirical insights about such specific scenarios.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Barriers to career progression faced by women: Evidence from a Malaysian multinational oil company
|
[
"Career development",
"Glass ceilings",
"Women executives",
"Oil industry",
"Malaysia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is observed that women have been in the labour market in most developed and developing countries for more than 20 years, while the estimate of women in senior management, for example, in the UK, remains at 5 per cent (Burke and Nelson, 2002), and in Malaysia (2006) it is at 5.4 per cent. It has been perceived that the labour market is structurally gendered and women in managerial positions appear to enjoy the leadership role. Although there is no evidence to support the contention that women are less efficient managerial leaders than men, as there are few differences between men and women in cognitive abilities and skills, Carli and Eagly (2001) perceive that women who hold managerial positions might exercise power somewhat differently than men. Ledet and Henley (2000) added that women in high-level position or power are rated as being \"masculine\" as men and more \"masculine\" than women in lower levels of position of power, indicating that women at such levels are viewed as capable as their male counterparts. These gender differences bring diverse perspective to the workforce.It is becoming a strategic theme to employ women as the ongoing challenge of finding and keeping talented employees will become even more crucial in the near future (Antal and Izraeli, 1993; Mattis, 2002; Vinas, 2003). To recruit- and retain-talented women requires changes in work-life balance and other issues that are important to women and the drive must become a strategic initiative. Women are also being viewed as more open to new ideas, better suited for teamwork and in possession of good qualities such as listening and negotiating skills (Vinas, 2003). In academia, women are found to excel on par with men (Maimunah and Roziah, 2006). In addition, women's leadership styles are more democratic than men's, which can enhance organizational effectiveness (Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). A recent study also indicated that the Malaysian managerial workforce is characterized by men managers that practice a commander style of management and women managers that tend to portray a style of shepherd (Roziah and Maimunah, 2007). Both styles seem to have their own advantages in organizations.This study sought to answer the following research questions: what barriers are faced by women in career progression? What are the differences in perceptions among female sub-groups regarding these barriers? What improvements in facilities do companies provide to promote women's career progression? This study is significant as it aims to contribute to the theoretical knowledge about women's career and the barriers they encounter, as well as for HRD professionals to better implement planning initiatives and training programs with gender sensitivity. Many organizations today are trying to retain their female employees in response to regulations that call for equal treatment; henceforth, understanding the barriers that women face would help in creating a friendlier and more gender sensitive work environment. The study was however limited to a multinational oil company in Malaysia and the barriers that they faced were based on the perception of the respondents.\nLiterature review: Gender role theory\nMethod: A survey study was carried out in an attempt to understand the career barriers for women in today's organizational setting. The population for this study concentrated on those workers with executive rank at Sagamax. They were staff that would typically be promoted to managerial positions. At the time the survey was carried out, there was a total of 135 staff in the executive pool that was eligible to participate in the survey. Based on Krejcie and Morgan (1970) the required sample size for the survey was 103.A questionnaire was adapted from the studies of Konek and Kitch (1994), Rosser (2004) and Wise and Bond (2003) to identify barriers to promotion and career progression that women faced in the workplace. Based on responses, comments and suggestions were also sought from the human resource (HR) representatives to ensure that the questionnaires did not encroach into potential conflict with the company's values or cause any legal implications. Cronbach a coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. Table I illustrates the Cronbach coefficients for the instruments at the pre-testing and final stage. This gives an indication of the kinds of changes made between pre-testing and final stages of the questionnaires.From 103 female executives, 78 respondents (75.7 per cent) returned their surveys with 75 (72.8 per cent) usable responses. To analyze the data, SPSS, a statistical software package was used. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, means, median, and standard deviation were determined. Mean comparisons were done among the different groups using independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. kh2 test of independent was used to analyze possible significant correlations among the different groups. All tests were conducted at the 95 per cent confidence level. Levine's equality of variance was used as a guide in selecting the appropriate test values.\nResults: Characteristics of the respondents\nDiscussion: Most women in this survey rated their family commitment very high such that it is hard for them to achieve balance in work life; hence requiring them to reduce their time for their career. Women also found it difficult to manage their time due to family and societal structures that place domestic role responsibilities on women's shoulders. Even single women in this study indicated similar experiences as the married women in terms of the barriers they experience. These single women might respond based on their reflection of what married life would be about and how organization might have treated them. Women had to make the painful choice of leaving the workforce in the case of job restriction, which resulted from their spouses' relocation. Women were also the ones who need to slow down to take care of family matters (Burke and Nelson, 2002; Konek and Kitch, 1994; Noraini, 2002; Schuck and Liddle, 2004).The thinking about the model of today's workforce is still very much male-oriented with the organizational assumption that ideal employees are those who work continuously from the end of education to retirement, work long rigid hours and do not allow family or other concerns to interfere with work (Cooper and Lewis, 1999). It is argued that gender differences in achievement, which reflect management that prefers men's competitive and macho styles, will need to be transformed as organizations will have to adopt a more gender neutral structure to reap the benefits of the changing workforce and to promote gender equality.Although the company targeted in this study has taken steps in promoting women in the workforce by embracing a diversity program, more women in this survey thought that the policy implementation of flexible working hours was effective as they found themselves bounded by work overload and having to meet immovable deadlines. The women reported that they would normally be the ones to take advantage of the organization's flexibility such as the flexitime arrangement while their spouses continued to work as normal. This is highly related to gender role expectations where women have to fulfil the prescriptive norms while men leave their wives to sort out the domestic issues (Carli and Eagly).It is with high hopes that as more women enter managerial posts, leader role rules will construe management terms that are more congenial to the female gender role such as democratic relationships, participatory decision-making, delegation, and team-based leadership skills. In the meantime, organizations will have to take positive measures to track women into direct line positions providing them with the responsibilities that challenge their capacity and make managers responsible for their career development. Organizations must integrate work and family life by promoting flexible workplace policies that are honestly and effectively implemented to address the specific career needs of women, such as giving them flexible job designs and specialized career path programs (Stroh and Reilly, 1999).Sagamax, specifically, would have to do more to promote women to managerial positions and to meet the target it has set, which is to have 20 per cent women senior managers by 2008. With no candidates lined up at the moment, the company would have to take a serious look at the talent pool that it has and start to identify potential candidates and develop them. It should work towards achieving the goal now and be serious about it by understanding and providing the appropriate supports to the women employees. Their careers should be tracked for their professional development to ensure that they would be able to provide the returns that were desirable to both the women and the organization. Appropriate training and development would need to be lined up in support at their career planning. Women in the organization would have to do their part as well but support from the organization would show that they were valued and needed to enhance their participation in support of the organizational goal. Such support could be seen as an initiative that top management gives to middle managers and their directives to make the managers responsible for the women's career development. The tracking of their female employees would thus facilitate women's movement into higher post positions.\nConclusion: This study shows that women's career progression in Sagamax is hampered by the family, societal, and organizational structures that govern them. In all areas surveyed, more respondents agreed that these barriers are still prevalent in the organization. These women yearn for ideals such as equal treatment and organizational support that would promote them into the organization's top posts based on merit. Although they accepted that women have certain roles and responsibilities to play in their life, they believe that these roles and responsibilities should not act as barriers to their involvement in the organization. Furthermore, to promote women's progression, significant transformation is needed in the family and organizational structures, such as spousal support in household activities.The study indicates that although women have participated in the workforce for a while and have progressed significantly from the educational attainment viewpoint, their perceptions over what are seen to be barriers to progression remain the same. Younger women still saw these barriers as their fight just as much as the earlier generation of women and those who have been in the workforce for a longer period of time. Finally, women sought support and understanding from the organization to inculcate a work culture that valued them contributing their utmost to the organization. The organization should look into creating a work environment that supports women's transitional career progression, such as through flexible and part-time working options. Facilities for childcare to assist women in managing their family life would reflect the organization's interests in supporting women in the workplace as well. The workplace would be much more conducive to women in this way and by retaining them in the talent pool and promoting those to the higher levels where their contributions would impact not just the organization but career progression of women in general.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to investigate barriers faced by women in acquiring higher positions in a Malaysian multinational oil company.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were obtained through a survey involving 78 executive women in the Malaysian oil company. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data. The study used gender role theory, which argues that women are viewed and treated unfavourably when they do not act according to their expected gender roles.\nFindings: - Shows family structure and women's commitment to the family are the most significant barriers perceived by the executive women. This research reveals that women in various job positions do not differ in their perceptions with regard to barriers they face for career progression.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study was conducted among executive women in one company only, hence it cannot be generalized to other oil companies in Malaysia.\nPractical implications: - Provides evidence on family-, organizational- and societal-related barriers to career progression. The organization should aware of these barriers as they will affect women's professional development.\nOriginality/value: - This is a first study of this nature conducted in a large oil company which focuses on women's barriers to career progression.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Development of a personality biodata measure to predict ethical decision making
|
[
"Decision making",
"Ethics",
"Personality measurement",
"Selection",
"Tests and testing",
"Biodata"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Today's business organizations are increasingly looking to select employees who will perform better on the job, make good team workers, be more committed to the organization, stay longer on the job, be good organizational citizens, and make good ethical decisions. Human resource managers employ a variety of selection tests to increase the likelihood of obtaining employees with these desirable characteristics and behaviors. Many of these characteristics and behaviors can be predicted with reasonable accuracy with the use of trait-based personality measures. Often, these tests require the respondent to make a self-assessment of global traits that are independent of the organizational setting or situation. But are these tests maximal in predicting variance of a performance criterion? Biographical data (biodata) inventories have been suggested as a viable and superior means of measuring individual differences in personality characteristics that are predictive of work outcomes (Mumford et al., 1996).\nBiodata and the ecology model: Biodata measures can capture information regarding individuals' background and developmental life history (Mumford et al., 1990; Mumford and Stokes, 1992; Mael, 1991; Nickles, 1994). Biodata items primarily attempt to capture behaviors that are predictive of future job performance. The idea is that meaningful life history patterns emerge in individuals and the differences among individuals' biodata is predictive of success on the job. Biodata items can be generated by targeting known constructs that underscore a particular performance outcome. The underlying constructs may be personality or other dispositional traits and items are written that indicate behavioral tendencies of the constructs (Hough and Paullin, 1994; Stokes and Cooper, 2001).Mumford et al. (1990) argued individuality can be described only as it emerges over time, and that it is affected by a multitude of complex moderating effects and should be assessed by describing the situational context in which it emerges. The ecology model theorizes people select situations and potential activities in these situations based on their associated affordances, which are described as those aspects of the situation offering good or evil for the individual. Individuals begin to develop those attributes or resources necessary for affordance maintenance as they engage in specific activities. Certain patterns of situation selection will emerge more prevalently than others for a particular individual. To some extent, the patterns of a given individual's situation selection should be maintained over time (Tenopyr, 1993). As a consequence, future decision making relative to the selection of situations can be predicted from data on past situation selection.Mumford et al. (1990) cautioned against attempting to describe and predict individual behavior solely in terms of traits, as is the case with trait-based personality measures, because of the developmental nature of individuality described above. Tenopyr (1993) suggested that a total theory of personality and its associated measurement methods should include both trait and ecology approaches. This total theory of personality should not only describe an end result, as in trait theory, but also incorporate developmental aspects, as in the ecology model. Thus, while assessing personality traits is important in predicting employee behavior, the method of assessment should take into account preferences in seeking affordances and how perceptions of affordances and their attainability are influenced by the biodata of the individual. Biodata items should assess individual difference constructs more accurately and result in greater predictive power than trait-based assessments alone. Thus, construct-based biodata scales developed under the principles of the ecology model are hypothesized in the following:H1a. Construct-based biodata scales will predict statistically significant variance of a performance criterion.H1b. Construct-based biodata scales will predict additional unique variance of a performance criterion to that of non-biodata measures of the same constructs.Ethical decision making\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Correlation analysis\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\nConclusion: Biodata should be interpreted as a reflection of life patterns resulting from certain developmental periods in one's life. The patterns emerge over time and become somewhat stable. The development of the scales herein was that of \"rational biodata scaling\", which is based on constructs of interest. Thus, these scales are designed to measure an individual's biodata in the context of these constructs, which in turn, are theorized to predict an outcome of interest.The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a construct-based biodata questionnaire for selecting employees who will make good ethical decisions and to demonstrate empirically the predictive power over existing measures involving the same constructs. We feel the current effort accomplishes this purpose. This study could have chosen any predictor construct and any performance outcome to accomplish this. Rational biodata scales can be developed to assess a variety of constructs, such as general mental ability, energy levels, and factor traits of the Big Five. Likewise, rational biodata scales can be predictive of important work outcomes (e.g. supervisor ratings, objective measures, and production data) that are theoretically linked to the predictor constructs. Thus, we feel the current paper makes an important contribution to theory and practice alike. With the procedures outlined herein, organizations can develop custom selection scales that are valid, fair, and explain variance unique to existing trait-based measures of the same construct.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a measure designed to assess constructs that predict ethical decision making (EDM) among employees.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach was to target individual difference variables that are theoretically linked to EDM. This was done by generating biodata items/scales of the constructs of interest.\nFindings: - Two biodata scales were developed to measure locus of control and conscientiousness. Both of these scales had significant criterion-related validities with EDM (rs=0.42 and 0.40, respectively) and predicted significant and unique variance of EDM beyond the variance predicted by trait-based measures of the same constructs. Biodata scales exhibited little or no subgroup differences (less potential adverse impact). Research limitations/implications - Participants were working various jobs and a variety of settings, so results generalize to this eclectic population more so than one particular industry. Further research should attempt to examine effects in a specific applied setting.\nPractical implications: - This study outlines a method of item and scale development that produces homogonous scales that predict EDM and that can be tailored for specific organizational use.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides a theoretical rationale for why biodata methodology is superior to trait-based measures and practical value for the use of biodata in measuring individual difference constructs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The relationship between brand love and actual brand performance: Evidence from an international study
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Brand love",
"Scale development",
"Brand attitude",
"Actual brand performance",
"Cross-national research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Recent contributions in the marketing and branding literature have paid great attention to the strongest, most positive relationships that consumers may develop with a brand. Constructs such as brand attachment (Park et al., 2010; Thomson et al., 2005), consumer devotion (Pimentel and Reynolds, 2004), brand passion (Albert et al., 2013; Swimberghe et al., 2014), brand romance (Patwardhan and Balasubramanian, 2011) and, in particular, brand love (Ahuvia, 2005; Albert et al., 2009; Batra et al., 2012; Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006; Rossiter, 2012) seem to be increasingly important to better understand successful relationships between brands and consumers. Scholars, in fact, have highlighted the various positive consequences that brand love can have from both consumer and company viewpoints. If, on one side, loved brands contribute to developing the consumer's self (Ahuvia, 2005; Fournier, 1998), on the other side, consumers who love a brand are the most loyal, committed advocates of the brand (e.g. Albert and Merunka, 2013).\n2. Conceptual background: 2.1 Brand love\n3. Hypotheses development: Considering the different nature and functioning of brand love and brand attitude, highlighted in the previous section (see also Lastovicka and Sirianni, 2011), the present paper hypothesizes different relationships between brand love and brand attitude with actual brand performance.\n4. Overview of the research: To test the two hypotheses reported above, related to the different relationships of brand love and brand attitude with actual brand performance, the present paper first develops and validates a short but comprehensive measure of brand love in a cross-national (i.e. USA, Russia and Indonesia) and cross-category context. The development of a brand love measure constitutes a necessary step in the present research. The literature, in fact, presents either one-item/one-dimension scales (e.g. Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006; Rossiter, 2012), which offer a partial view of the phenomenon of brand love because of their conciseness, or complex scales with a large set of items (Batra et al., 2012) that may be difficult to apply in research contexts where other constructs are investigated. Although we fully acknowledge the value of these scales, we believe that there is need for a brand love scale that takes into consideration the multi-faceted nature of brand love (Albert et al., 2009; Batra et al., 2012), but that at the same time it represents a flexible and versatile instrument that researchers can effectively apply.\n5. Methodology: 5.1 Brand love scale development\n6. Results and discussion: 6.1 Brand love scale development\n7. Conclusion: The objective of this paper was to explore the relationship between brand love and actual brand performance, as well as to make a comparison with the relationship between brand attitude and actual brand performance. To do so, it combined psychological with behavioural data and adopted a newly developed brand love scale. Although it suffers from some limitations, which are discussed next, this paper has important implications for both marketing and branding theory and practice.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the different relationship that brand love, compared with brand attitude, has with actual brand performance in a cross-national and cross-category context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical study was conducted in the USA, Russia and Indonesia to develop and validate a short but comprehensive measure of brand love. A brand attitude measure derived from the company's tracking studies and behavioural measures derived from panel data were used to examine the different relationship of brand love and brand attitude with brand performance.\nFindings: The findings show that consumers in the USA, Russia and Indonesia share a similar concept of brand love. They also show that brand love, compared with brand attitude, is more strongly related to growth in behavioural loyalty, whereas brand attitude, compared with brand love, is more strongly related to the brand size in the present.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper combines psychological and behavioural data from different sources. Future research may collect both types of data from the same sample of consumers. Besides, the paper uses brand love and brand attitude data related to loyal consumers and users, respectively. Future research may consider both types of consumers simultaneously.\nPractical implications: The paper clarifies why brand love measures should be integrated in a company's brand measurement system, and their specific contribution compared with brand attitude.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first that examines brand love in a cross-national and cross-category context and that shows the relationship of brand love vs brand attitude with actual brand performance using company/industry-derived data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Now it is the moving time
|
[
"Career",
"Academic staff",
"Recruitment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Now it is the moving time\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of recruitment jobs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper takes the form of fictional poem.\nFindings: - The poem observes that the movement from one institution to another is a zero sum game.\nOriginality/value: - The poem critiques the tendency of academics to move institutions to get promotion. It is inspired by friends and colleagues of the author in Sydney.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
From hindsight to foresight in strategic cost management
|
[
"Activity based costs",
"Monte Carlo methods",
"Risk management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Most companies have massive information systems, yet most executives and managers rarely have the information they need. Instead, virtually all of the relevant information they have is historic. For most daily operations this is not a significant problem, because the future is a result of the past when the time span of investigation is short. However, the longer the horizon the more irrelevant that historic information becomes.\n1. The illusions of accuracy: Accuracy can be very deceptive. What matters are not the possible mathematical manipulations that can be made with data but rather the inherent uncertainty in the data and methods. As Bertrand Russell said: \"Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation.\" I have in fact seen bill of materials (BOM) from a well-respected US company where four decimals were used in the cost estimates. Computationally, four decimals is no problem, of course, but the real accuracy of the cost estimates does, under no circumstances, warrant four decimals.Most companies use two decimals in the BOM, but that is also pushing the accuracy beyond its real limits. In such an environment, using cost accounting principles to forecast future costs and risks appear to debase cost accounting and therefore cost management because the future is uncertain and hence cannot be known by such accuracy.1.1 Costs are statistical in nature\n2. ABC, life-cycle costing and Monte Carlo methods: As mentioned earlier, the principles outlined in this article are attuned to ABC principles because ABC has many advantages as widely publicized. However, there are disadvantages as well. The most important ones are the lack of risk management decision-support and the value chain is short - it starts too late and stops too soon. Also, many ABC implementations are too cost accounting oriented. Some additions to the ABC concept are therefore needed (Figure 1):*Increase the scope to cover the entire life cycle and total costs of the cost objects. Total costs should also include potential hidden costs and liability costs that may materialize as a consequence of risks.*Introduce risk analysis and risk management principles.*Turn uncertainty into an asset and power the framework by using Monte Carlo methods, see the introduction to Monte Carlo methods in Section 2.3.To distinguish this approach from standard ABC the approach described here is referred to as activity-based life-cycle costing (LCC), which is presented fully in Emblemsvag (2003). The theoretical foundations are omitted here, but some cornerstones of activity-based LCC must be discussed briefly before we embark on the case. From Figure 1 we can see how the three main concepts contribute to the overall activity-based LCC framework, and in the subsequent sections the three main concepts are discussed briefly - except Monte Carlo methods that require more explanations.2.1 ABC\n3. Restructuring a manufacturer: As many other industries these days, the industry of one manufacturing company (hereafter referred to as manufacturer) is under heavy pressure in terms of both volume and margins. Sales have fallen from about MUSD150 to MUSD110. For the past years the results have been far from satisfactory and industry pressures make the future uncertain. Top management, therefore, decided to restructure the company, but how?Studies on restructuring, downsizing, outsourcing and similar initiatives indicate that such activities are more likely to fail than to succeed - some quote an 80/20 rule. Furthermore, unions are relatively active and strong in Norway. Thus, proper support for decision-making is needed, but since the owners wanted a decision within two-three months we had to focus on just what was necessary. To provide proper decision-support we used an overall approach that can be summarized into five steps, which were performed mostly sequentially:1. 1 Develop restructuring scenarios. Restructuring can be done in numerous ways, but to keep our work more focused we developed four scenarios based on operating various manufacturing plants; three of the scenarios involved closing down a plant while one scenario concerned overall improvements in all plants. Also, for each scenario we studied various product outsourcing, process outsourcing and downsizing alternatives, but we kept the same market growth assumptions in all scenarios.2. 2 Identify decision criteria and decision constraints. Initially, it is crucial to decide how we will judge the scenarios because once the results are known they will corrupt the clarity of our mind. In this case we had three main groups of criteria; economic performance; strategic fit; and risk profile. Within each of these groups we had between three-four specific decision criteria such as present value of operating profit, EVA per year, alignment with Center of Excellence (CoE) thinking and robustness with further loss of volume.3. 3 Design activity-based LCC model covering the 2002-2010 period.4. 4 Evaluate each scenario with respect to (present values and per year) operating profitability, EVA, initial investments, cash flow, risks and uncertainties.5. 5 Use analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to decide. AHP is an approach developed by Thomas Lorie Saaty for decision-making under multi-objective situations. It has been applied in numerous arenas, but its strength lies in its logic consistency check. Hence, \"it [AHP] is able to prevent respondents from responding arbitrarily, incorrectly, or non-professionally\" according to Cheng and Li (2001). After filling out the AHP matrices we conducted a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the robustness of the decision as shown by Emblemsvag and Tonning (2003), and we concluded that the preferred scenario was with 95 percent probability preferable to the second-best scenario.For brevity, steps 3 and 4 are the focal points of the remainder of this paper.3.1 Designing activity-based LCC models\nEvaluate each scenario: First of all, the analysis revealed that there were several major risks that must be attended to immediately regardless of what scenario was chosen. The single most critical one was that the projected volume increase did not materialize. One might think that if the volume remains what it is today, the economic situation simply remains as before, but as the analysis shows, see the upper part of Figure 2, this is not the case.Being in business simply requires investments of various sorts and some costs escalate no matter what. Thus, the baseline is moving, and a scenario cannot be compared to a simple extrapolation of today's situation. What we referred to as scenario 2B was the best while scenario 3A was the second best. Note that what is 'best' was determined in relation to the decision criteria identified earlier. Without any volume increase, however, we see that none of them will be profitable to say the least.The model also revealed a highly critical risk that was less intuitive to top management. It turned out that the marketing departments had consistently reduce the price by a percent or two every year for the products due to their assumption that they had to lower prices slightly to meet industry price pressure. Some of this pressure is undoubtedly outside the reach of top management, but some of it was also self-inflicted.Manufacturer had the same practice that General Motors, for example, has had for decades - they believed that the lower margin can be compensated by increasing volume (more economies-of-scale) and that lacking volume can be increased by sales promotion \"from time to time\". True, the only problem is that what was \"from time to time\" became more and more frequent and manufacturer could, if it continued on this course, enter a so called \"death spiral\" - particularly in an industry under heavy pressures.Despite that scenario 2B is the best scenario, the present value (PV) of its EVA is far from positive as shown in Figure 3. The PV of the operating profit, however, is positive. Note that the chosen discounting rate is equal to the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of manufacturer.Thus, even with the best restructuring scenario further profit improvements are needed in the next few years to avoid further erosion of book value and ultimately shareholder value. Nonetheless, the improvements in operating profit are substantial and enough to give manufacturer a better economic situation from which further improvement tactics can be launched.The results for scenario 2B is shown as probability distributions which means that from the probability distribution to the right in Figure 3 we can see, for example, that there is roughly a 15 percent probability that the PV of the EVA is positive. The PV of the operating profit is expected to be positive at all times. Without the projected volume increases, however, the situation is expected to be as shown in Figure 2.Interestingly, scenario 3A has poorer PV of operating profits and EVA, but it is less sensitive to volume variations as shown in Figure 2 and is therefore a more robust scenario, particularly if a better long-term industrial solution is sought. On the other hand, scenario 3A has greater financial risks attached to it because the initial investments are larger and it might be more problematic to implement. In this way, we see that the analysis provided significant insight into a number of trade-off situations that top management faced. The analysis also gave decision support for several major outsourcing alternatives within each scenario.To further identify risks and the critical success factors of each scenario statistical sensitivity analyses where used as discussed earlier and as shown in Figure 4. We see that the potential, and in fact historically detected, volatility of product line A in 2002 (\"A sales volatility 2002\") is the single most important risk factor. We also see that if the volume increases, then the PV of scenario 2B operating profit will also increase. Product line B, however, has an overall more important role because it influences the PV of the operating profit over a number of years. In fact, we see that most risks are revenue related. The only cost-related risks that are important are the \"Inflation (economy wide)\" and potential \"Annual gross pay increase\" to the workers. The union in manufacturer had also over the years managed to device a pay increase mechanism that was very destructive for the company; whenever manufacturer increased its productivity, the pay went up correspondingly. Similar charts as the one shown in Figure 4 can also be obtained for EVA risks.By running the model several times, the list in Figure 4 can be made as long as we want, but it is not any point to make the list longer than what is of any practical managerial capacity. The list in Figure 4 provides after all a direct ranking possibility of all scenario specific risks.Managing risks is undoubtedly important, but of equal important is to manage the critical success factors because they we know are guaranteed to influence the outcome of the restructuring. Risk may or may not impact the outcome depending on whether they occur or not. Running a Monte Carlo simulation where all input variables are modeled as triangular and symmetric distributions identifies the critical success factors, and in Figure 5 we can identify the most important ones.WACC is important because it is used as a discounting factor, but its importance is further compounded by the fact that profits turn positive late in the period and will hence be discounted relatively more than the losses accrued early in the period. The other factors in Figure 5 are, however, critical success factors for the scenario 2B operating profit.We see that the direct costs for product lines B, E and F are very important as well as the maintenance cost of factory 1. We see also that how we propose to change machine centers 1 and 3 for factory 1 is very important as well as the depreciation level of machine center 4 in factory 3. This list continues but is omitted here. The point is, however, that provided we model the input variables on a level that provides managerial relevance, in the sense that the variables are like knobs that can be tweaked, we can use the sensitivity chart in Figure 5 to pinpoint the critical factors for the PV of the 2B operating profit.Then, what is the difference between Figure 4 and 5? In short, Figure 5 tells us how to effectively impact the expected value of the PV of the scenario 2B operating profit in Figure 3 (performance) while Figure 4 provides accurate insight into how to reduce the uncertainty (variance of performance) of the scenario 2B operating profit in Figure 3. This is essential decision-support to successfully manage both the future costs and risks of a company and in this case a restructuring scenario. The same information is available for all scenarios including the \"do nothing\" scenario.\nClosure: \"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide\" has Napoleon Bonaparte been credited for saying. Furthermore, he noted \"Many of the questions, which come before a general for decision, would make problems for a mathematical calculation not unworthy of the powers of Newton or Euler.\" In our context, Bonaparte's statements imply that management requires thorough decision-support. Yet often, major decisions are made on a quite uninformed basis because the uncertainty at hand seems to suggest that adequate decision-support cannot be obtained at reasonable costs. With traditional means, such statements would not be far from the truth. A process-oriented approach, however, transforms uncertainty into an asset and can turn hindsight to foresight to better manage future costs and risks. As The Economist puts it: \"If you think predicting the future is risky, try ignoring it\". *\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To show how we can turn cost management practices around and look forward, concentrate on managing risks and costs before they occur.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper expands my PhD work, which was a synthesis of three major ideas (life-cycle costing, activity-based costing and Monte Carlo methods), design of an approach and testing the approach in many real-life cases. This paper is to show how this method adds utility in strategic cost management.\nFindings: - My research so far shows that the approach adds the intended value in cost management in general and in strategic cost management in particular.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Since the method has been tested in many settings and rests on well-tested theory serious limitations are avoided. However, future research should focus on how the method can be simplified and applied in budgeting, i.e. become more operational/tactical.\nPractical implications: - The main practical implication is that cost management practices need to become less historically oriented and more forward looking so that costs can be eliminated and not just reported. How this can be achieved is shown in practical application.\nOriginality/value: - Both researchers and practitioners can benefit from this paper in that they can see how the merger of Monte Carlo methods, life-cycle costing and activity-based costing reduce the need for accurate numbers and improve the quality of cost management in general.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
CEO gender, firm performance and agency costs: evidence from India
|
[
"Firm performance",
"Gender diversity",
"CEO gender",
"Women CEO",
"G14",
"G30",
"J16",
"L25"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Gender diversity is known to affect the performance of the corporate firms (Dezso and Ross, 2008; Adams and Ferreira, 2009; Khan and Vieito, 2013). However, there is no consensus regarding the direction of this effect. Some studies document a positive effect (e.g. Dezso and Ross, 2008; Francoeur et al., 2008; Khan and Vieito, 2013), while others report a negative impact (e.g. Adams and Ferreira, 2009; Inmyxai and Takahashi, 2010; Singhathep and Pholphirul, 2015). Still other research has found no significant effect (Lam et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2014; Chauhan and Dey, 2017). One important observation regarding the extant literature is that the positive effects have been reported largely in the context of the developed world (Adler, 2001; Dezso and Ross, 2008; Francoeur et al., 2008; Jurkus et al., 2011; Khan and Vieito, 2013)[1], whereas the negative or insignificant effects tend to be reported in studies of developing countries (Inmyxai and Takahashi, 2010; Liu et al., 2014; Singhathep and Pholphirul, 2015; Chauhan and Dey, 2017).\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: Different theories and social contexts predict different relationships between the presence of a female CEO and firm performance. Consequently, the application of these theories in different empirical settings could produce different results. We discuss several relevant theories and their application in the setting of a large developing country - India - as we develop our hypotheses.\n3. Data, variables and methodology: 3.1 Data\n4. Results and discussion: Per the discussion in the theoretical background and hypotheses section, we predict a negative relationship between the presence of a female CEO and firm performance (H1), as well as a positive effect on agency costs when a woman is the CEO (H2). To test these hypotheses, we regress our measures of firm performance and agency costs, respectively, on the FEMALE indicator and the firm-level control variables.\n5. Conclusion and future research: In this study, we examine the effect of female CEOs on firm performance and on agency costs. Our results show that having a female CEO has a negative effect on firm performance in Indian companies. This is consistent with the negative impact documented by other studies of firms in developing countries, and is in contrast to most studies of companies in developed countries, highlighting the importance of considering contextual factors in gender-related business research. Our hypotheses - which our analyses support - arose in part from the application of social capital and tokenism theories in the context of India, as well as the logical implications of the low social status of females in India. This discussion and our results suggest that the status of women in a particular society can significantly influence the effect female leadership will have on firm performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of CEO gender on the performance of Indian firms and to explain the economic channel for any such effect.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a panel of 100 Indian firms, the authors test whether there is a significant difference in the performance - measured as return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) - of firms with male vs female CEOs, in both time and space dimensions, using the difference-in-differences approach.\nFindings: The average ROA of the sample firms decrease by about 10 percent after a female enters the CEO role. This negative result remains robust in both the time series as well as cross-sectional analyses. The decline is also observed when using ROE to measure performance. Further, the authors show that this negative effect is associated with an increase in agency costs that is observed following the appointment of a female CEO.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies have produced mixed results regarding the effect of having a female CEO on firm performance, and the research to date has not explored the economic channel through which this effect occurs. In this study, the authors show that the decline in performance observed among Indian firms flows from an increase in agency costs under female management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exploring principals' instructional leadership practices in Malaysia: insights and implications
|
[
"Instructional leadership",
"Educational change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There is a general consensus among scholars, practitioners and policymakers that school leadership is an important contributor to improved school and system performance (Fullan, 2007; Leithwood et al., 2005; Harris, 2014). Based upon a considerable corpus of international empirical evidence (e.g. Day et al., 2008; Leithwood et al., 2006; Hallinger and Heck, 1996), it is now widely accepted that the leadership of the principal contributes to better school and student performance. Consequently, around the globe, improved leadership and leadership development continues to be prioritized by policy makers in pursuit of better educational outcomes (Harris and Jones, 2015a, b). In addition, increasing attention is being paid to the type of leadership associated with organizational improvement, as well as the particular features or characteristics of successful school leaders (Hallinger and Lee, 2013; Robinson et al., 2008).\n2. Discussion: While the limitations of a small-scale study are fully and readily acknowledged, it is suggested, based on the data, that the 30 Malaysian principals, in the sample are strong instructional leaders in certain areas. For example, the monitoring and evaluation of teaching is regularly undertaken by principals as is the professional development of teachers. The data showed that principals, in the sample, engage teachers in appropriate and relevant professional learning of direct benefits to them and their students. They set the broader goals of the school and readily communicated these to all stakeholders as a core part of their leadership responsibility.\n3. Implications: There are four implications for future research and empirical investigation arising from this small-scale, exploratory study. First, more detailed, fine-grained empirical work is necessary to test the exploratory findings, particularly concerning role tensions and the practical enactment of instructional leadership in a Malaysian context. Second, the aspiration from the Ministry of Education for the leadership base \"to be strengthened with assistant principals, subject heads and department heads being developed as instructional leaders in their own right\" would suggest a view of instructional leadership that is shared or distributed. Therefore, it is perfectly possible, that at other leadership levels within the school, there are not only more examples of authentic instructional leadership in action but also a broader representation of instructional leadership practice. The views of other school leaders, it is suggested, are worth probing and exploring in future empirical studies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from a small-scale, exploratory, study of principals' instructional leadership practice in Malaysian primary schools. The dimensions and functions of instructional leadership, explicitly explored in this study, are those outlined in the Hallinger and Murphy's (1985) model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is part of a larger international, comparative research project that aims to identify the boundaries of the current knowledge base on instructional leadership practice and to develop a preliminary empirically based understanding of how principals conceive and enact their role as instructional leaders in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 primary school principals in Malaysia. The sample comprised principals from 14 Government National schools (SK), nine principals from Chinese schools (SJKC) and seven principals from Tamil schools (SJKT). The qualitative data were initially analysed inductively, and subsequently coded using ATLAS.ti to generate the findings and conclusions.\nFindings: The findings showed that the Malaysian principals, who were interviewed, understood and could describe their responsibilities relating to improving instructional practice. In particular, they talked about the supervision of teachers and outlined various ways in which they actively monitored the quality of teaching and learning in their schools. These data revealed that some of the duties and activities associated with being a principal in Malaysia are particularly congruent with instructional leadership practices. In particular, the supervision of teaching and learning along with leading professional learning were strongly represented in the data.\nResearch limitations/implications: This is a small-scale, exploratory study involving 30 principals.\nPractical implications: There is a clear policy aspiration, outlined in the Malaysian Education Blueprint, that principals should be instructional leaders. The evidence shows that principals are enacting some of the functions associated with being an instructional leader but not others.\nOriginality/value: The findings from this study provide some new insights into the principals' instructional leadership practices in Malaysia. They also provide a basis for further, in-depth exploration that can enhance the knowledge base about principals' instructional leadership practices in Malaysia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
IT ambidexterity for business processes: the importance of balance
|
[
"Case studies",
"Energy industry",
"Ambidextrous IT capability",
"Business process IT ambidexterity",
"Exploitation/Exploration",
"Process-level research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's globalized economy, many industries simultaneously face increasing competitive pressures and unprecedented speed of change in business conditions. In this competitive and dynamic environment, decision makers are constantly faced with the challenge of having to resolve tensions between efficiency-increasing and flexibility-increasing capabilities. One important area of concern is IT capabilities supporting the execution of business processes. Despite increasing overall spending on IT (IDC, 2014), business process performance has continued to decrease, in particular process costs rise and customer satisfaction decreases (Capgemini Consulting, 2011). Thus, it seems that the trade-offs between efficiency and flexibility for business process IT (BPIT) capabilities are currently not well managed. As companies struggle to stay competitive in the dynamic environment, process owners and IT departments need to decide how to divide attention between efficiency-enhancing and flexibility-enhancing IT capabilities to optimally support the execution of business processes.\nTheoretical foundations: BPIT ambidexterity\nResearch methodology: The research question is addressed through a multiple case study (Dube and Pare, 2003). Case studies are suited to address questions dealing with contemporary events over which the researcher has little or no control (Yin, 2009; Eisenhardt, 1989), as in the case of organizational IT decisions regarding business processes. In such settings, neither the IT systems nor the operational business processes employed within a company can be controlled.\nResults: Differences in the interplay between exploitative and explorative BPIT capabilities were found in the empirical data. The patterns that can be identified in the case data are shown in Table IV. For four cases, imbalances within their BPIT capabilities were identified as an initial condition. These cases show feedback effects as outcomes, which will be presented in the following sub-sections. By contrast, balanced exploitative and explorative BPIT capabilities can be observed for two of the six cases (Utility4 and Utility5). In these cases, no changes can be identified in either exploitative or explorative BPIT capabilities.\nBPIT Capability Framework: The BPIT Capability Framework as the resulting process theory is shown in Figure 1. This framework provides a first nascent theory toward an understanding of the interplay between explorative and exploitative BPIT capabilities as two dimensions of IT capabilities to support a particular business process.\nConclusion: This paper presents a multiple case study that results in a process theory capable of explaining the interplay between exploitative and explorative BPIT capabilities. This context currently lacks empirical studies both to understand the concept of IT ambidexterity at the business process level (Benner and Tushman, 2003; Turner et al., 2013) and to analyze its impact on the performance of business processes (Lee et al., 2008; Ling et al., 2009). Addressing this theoretical gap, this research endeavor contributes by identifying interaction effects between exploitative and explorative BPIT capabilities as dimensions of BPIT ambidexterity as shown in Table V. This addresses the emerging research of IT ambidexterity in the IS community (Lee et al., 2015) by raising awareness of this concept and providing contingency factors influencing the relative importance of exploitative and explorative BPIT capabilities. Furthermore, it contributes by transferring the concepts of exploitative and explorative IT capability as dimensions of IT ambidexterity to the business process level.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In highly dynamic industries, business processes require exploitation, i.e. activities that are associated with an increase in productivity through automation, standardization, integrated architectures, and the usage of existing IT resources. As a complementary capability, exploration is needed, i.e. the ability to flexibly implement new and innovative IT resources (Lee et al., 2015). The purpose of this paper is to use the concept of ambidexterity, which is researched intensively outside the domain of business processes (e.g. Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004; Tang and Rai, 2014), to address this paradoxical trade-off within business processes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper follows a qualitative approach. A multiple case study comprising 11 interviews and additional document analysis in six organizations is conducted in the German energy sector to examine the proposed framework.\nFindings: This paper shows the importance of balancing exploitative and explorative business process IT (BPIT) capabilities. The process-theoretical outcome of this study is the BPIT Capability Framework that provides explanation for the interaction between exploitation and exploration.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study contributes to the understanding of how to build ambidextrous BPIT capabilities by explaining the underlying mechanisms for feedback loops that occur in cases of imbalance. The scope of the conducted study presents a limitation and thus future research is encouraged to further validate the findings of this paper.\nOriginality/value: By drilling down to the process level, this paper addresses the gaps that limited empirical studies have in business process management research (Recker and Mendling, 2015) and the focus on business processes that is lacking from the literature on organizational IT management (Gregory et al., 2015).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
International spectrum management regime: is gridlock blocking flexible spectrum property rights?
|
[
"Allocation",
"Service",
"ITU-R",
"Radiocommunication",
"WRC"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For more than a century, radio spectrum has been a unique resource that is essential for delivering wireless services. Reflecting this uniqueness, national regulators have traditionally managed spectrum by designating appropriate uses, technologies and users in what is called the \"command and control\" approach (hereafter, C&C). The emergence of the C&C approach, in the early days of wireless communications, created a new regime internationally.\n2. Methodology: We adopt a qualitative inductive methodology in this paper that examines the different elements of the international radiocommunication service allocation framework with a focus on the influence on national decisions affecting service allocation. The paper is based mainly on primary data collected from 66 semi-structured interviews with the main stakeholders from the three ITU-R regions, including mobile operators and manufactures, broadcasters, national regulators and regional organisation. The difference between unstructured and semi-structured interviews is that the former is similar to a conversation and could contain one question, while the latter compromises a list of questions on specific topics (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Interviews were selected because they enable the researchers to build on their responses, and as personal contact ensures achieving a higher response rate (Saunders et al., 2009).\n3. Spectrum market: The origin of the market approach could be traced back to Coase's seminal contribution, \"The Federal Communications Commission\", in which he suggested that spectrum assignments should be treated in a way similar to property rights. Coase (1959) argues that the aim of the regulator should be to maximise the output and not to minimise the interference and that interference should not be an issue as long as the gain from it is much more than the harm it produces (Coase, 1959). Coase (1960) subsequently generalised his argument in his Nobel Prize article, \"The Problem of Social Cost\", and suggests an approach towards dealing with harmful effects on others that is based on comparing the total societal product yielded by alternative social arrangements.\n4. Radiocommunication service allocation: The international spectrum management regime was created in line with the formulation process of national spectrum management. The main principles of the regime are the sovereign right of each state to assign its frequencies to any service or station (Lyall, 2011), and that all radio stations must not cause harmful interference to other stations, which operate in accordance with the provisions of the ITU RR (ITU-R, 2008b). The radio sector of the ITU (ITU-R) is the administrative cooperation body responsible for setting the regime's rules through the RR and the ITU-R resolutions, recommendations and reports. The RR have international treaty status, and they are binding on all ITU-R countries (Maitra, 2004).\n5. Interaction of international spectrum management regime and national spectrum management approaches: In general, the interviews revealed two trends regarding the dependence of countries on the RR in terms of their radiocommunication service allocation. The first is that some countries tend to make changes to the RR to introduce changes nationally. This trend is usually favoured by developing countries, which would wait for the ITU-R approval before adopting a particular service allocation. This is not because they are forced to do so, but mainly because it is advantageous for them to follow the ITU-R service allocations. The second trend is to introduce changes in the ITU RR following the success of changes in service allocation nationally. Countries that adopt such a trend are those with large populations (e.g. the USA) or in isolated geographical locations (such as Australia and New Zealand).\n6. Radiocommunication service definitions: One element that is worth examining is the current radiocommunication service definition in the ITU-R RR on national regulators' flexibility. We shall focus on three radiocommunication services: fixed, mobile and broadcasting. This is important considering that convergence could enable an application to operate under more than just one radiocommunication service.\n7. Decision-making procedures: Regarding the influence of service allocation decision-making procedures at the ITU-R on national regulators' flexibility, there were two views. The first is that these procedures do not restrict flexibility, as they have been able to accommodate many different types of technology developments over numerous years. The working methods of the ITU-R are determined by its member countries. Regarding the long cycle between the conferences, it was argued that while some may find it not time-efficient, it has also a protection against the technology gap that exists between developed and developing countries. In addition, the decision system is based on reaching consensus, and it inevitably takes time to agree on a decision. As expressed by one of the interviewees:\n8. Footnotes: There were two distinct views on the influence of footnotes on radiocommunication service allocation flexibility. On the one hand, there was a view that footnotes provide flexibility to deviate from the RR, as they could be used to respond to the particular request of the country to have international protection for them and a legal basis to coordinate. In addition, footnotes could provide flexibility via additional or alternative service allocation or to be exempted from a service (e.g. developing countries want to use the C-Band for IMT, while in island countries, fixed satellite service is more attractive). Moreover, when a new allocation is made at the conference, some countries may need time to re-farm some radio spectrum bands to adopt this new use. In such cases, footnotes could be used to indicate that in this particular country, there will be a specific additional allocation at least until the next WRC.\n9. Three regions system: Regarding the influence of the three regions system on radiocommunication service allocation flexibility, one view was that while the ITU-R is trying to achieve harmonisation between the three regions, the system per se does not restrict flexibility. Moreover, by having three regions, it is easier to decide on a flexible allocation within each region. More specifically, it allows for having different frequency plans in different regions, and the division of the three regions makes it less problematic to reach consensus. In other words, the division makes it possible to get an agreement in one region, as the alternative would be to block the whole agreement globally. It was also expressed that the division is unavoidable due to the different interests and requirements that exist between countries. This may be related to geographical circumstances; for example, in tropical countries, they often need the C-Band because of propagation conditions.\n10. A priori planning: The analysis of the interviews revealed that the GE-06 agreement already accommodates flexibility, because it has not included the very detailed frequency planning and has not set up a specific situation with geographically fixed data. Accordingly, the values of the coordination trigger used in GE-06 provide sufficient flexibility for countries to make use of their international spectrum use with regard to their neighbours. Another interviewee explained that flexibility depends on a country's position, and how diverse use by their neighbours is. Therefore, GE-06 could provide flexibility to introduce mobile service if, for example, that is the common approach adopted by neighbour countries. Furthermore, the plan can accommodate new broadcasting standards, such as DVB-T2, although the plan was originally based on DVB-T.\n11. Master International Frequency Register: In general, it was indicated during the interviews that a country's dependence on MIFR is related to its geographical position and its relationship with neighbouring countries. Therefore, in cases where it is difficult to register assignments due to neighbouring countries, there would be a need to have bilateral agreements with them. Another important issue that was raised by one of the interviewee is that if there is no registered assignment in a particular band, this may provide an indication that the band should be reallocated to another service. An example of this is related to the C-Band, where today many fixed satelitte service (FSS) stations are registered in the MIFR. However, before WRC-07, where IMT identification in the band was discussed, not that many stations were registered, but then the satellite community invited countries and operators to register their stations to provide an indication of the actual use of the band.\n12. Conclusions: In general, our analysis has shown that the RR are perceived more as a framework for harmonisation while not constraining the ITU-R countries' flexibility to enable the mass production of equipment and to raise the economic value of the spectrum. In other words, while countries are sovereign when it comes to radiocommunication service allocation, they simply follow the RR for the sake of gaining harmonisation benefits and protecting against interference. Moreover, countries are only restricted on the borders with their neighbours, and flexibility is already enabled through different measures such as having multiple allocations in the same band.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the influence of the international spectrum management regime on the introduction of flexibility in the national allocation of radiocommunication services. This is achieved through focusing on the main elements of the international regime.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative inductive methodology is adopted that examines the different elements of the international radiocommunication service allocation framework. Data are drawn from 66 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders who are actively involved in International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector discussions.\nFindings: The international radio regulations (RR) are perceived to be more of a framework for harmonisation that does not constrain the flexibility of countries. Countries are only restricted on their borders with their neighbours, and flexibility is already facilitated through a range of different measures. Moreover, several elements of the RR can be used to achieve both, i.e. to promote flexibility and to restrict the decisions of others.\nPractical implications: The international spectrum management regime is not one of the reasons for the unsuccessful practical application of the flexible spectrum property rights concept. This suggests the need for reviewing whether there still is a need for such a concept given the increasing importance of global harmonisation and economies of scales.\nOriginality/value: This paper sheds light on spectrum property rights from the perspective of the international spectrum management regime. Such a perspective is largely overlooked in the on-going current debate.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The company-customer transfer of logistics activities
|
[
"Service",
"Supply chain management",
"Logistics",
"Outsourcing",
"Customer relationship management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The main aim of supply chain management (SCM) is to create value for customers by integrating logistics activities along the supply chain (SC) (Mentzer et al., 2001; Christopher, 2010). This perspective implies that the customer is served by the SC and does not participate in logistics activities (Lusch, 2011). However, in his seminal article, Johnston (1989) argues that the customer should be considered as an active participant in the SC. He notes that customers can be seen as \"employees\" and suggests major implications for the field. Granzin and Bahn (1989) also state that customers participate in several logistics activities while shopping, such as trip planning, travel, in-store selection or disposal.\n2. Literature review: Customer participation has been underexplored in the logistics and SCM literature (Lusch, 2011). This literature mostly considers the customer as an external stakeholder, uninvolved in physical flows, and to whom the SC must deliver value. This focus on \"business logistics\" alone, leads Lusch et al. (2014) to stress that extending the boundaries of SCM to include the customer has become a crucial issue.\n3. Methodology: As the aim of this research is to build a framework for the company-customer transfer of logistics activities, we decided to use a case study approach. Case studies are well suited to theory building (e.g. McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993; Voss et al., 2002; Barratt et al., 2011).\n4. Findings: In this section, we present the findings that emerged from our case analysis. After briefly presenting the AuchanDrive and IKEA cases (Section 4.1), we show that both firms had to tackle three principal challenges linked to the transfer of logistics activities: managing customer participation (Section 4.2), adapting the service (Section 4.3), and redesigning the SC (Section 4.4). We present a summary of our findings from the AuchanDrive and IKEA cases in Table II.\n5. Discussion: The paper contributes to the literature on customer participation in the SC by introducing a theoretical framework for the transfer of logistics activities between the firm and its customers. It also highlights the fact that customer logistics participation is a crucial decision variable in SC design. Finally, it offers practical advice to company managers who decide to transfer logistics activities to/from their customers.\n6. Limitations and avenues for future research: This study has some limitations, which suggest avenues for future research. First, despite our efforts to ensure that our methodology was of the highest quality, the internal validity of our research could be improved. In collecting data on logistics activity transfers between a firm and its customers, we interviewed the actors once the process was complete. This approach has several drawbacks: actors may forget important points or stress others that are in fact unimportant; or the actors may also make ex post rationalisations. Our results might have been richer if we had been able to collect data regularly throughout the transfer process. From this perspective, it would be particularly valuable for a researcher to be embedded in a firm that is currently transferring logistics activities to/from its customers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The starting point of the paper is the fact that customers participate in the logistics activities of the supply chain (SC) (Johnston, 1989; Granzin and Bahn, 1989). Having established that customers can and do participate in logistics, firms can consider transferring some of their logistics activities to/from their customer. The transfer can take two contrasting forms: outsourcing by the company of some logistics activities to its customers or insourcing by the company of some logistics activities from its customers. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a theoretical understanding of these company/customer transfers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To address this emerging issue, the authors build on the service management literature and on the study of two contrasting cases of transfer. The first (IKEA) examines the outsourcing of some logistics activities to the consumer. The second (AuchanDrive) examines the reverse process of insourcing.\nFindings: Based on the service management literature and the two case studies, the authors develop a theoretical model for the transfer of logistics activities between a firm and its customers. The findings confirm several elements, such as the importance of managing customer participation and adapting service production during a transfer. Most importantly, the findings show that a key issue for a firm during a transfer is the need to redesign its SC in terms of transport, warehousing and production. The main contribution of the research therefore is showing that customer participation in logistics is a key variable in SC design.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research is based on the analysis of two cases. To generalise these results, further research needs to be conducted.\nPractical implications: This research proposes recommendations to help managers and organisations to transfer some logistics activities to or from their customers.\nOriginality/value: The originality of the framework is that it considers both the company and its customers. This comprehensive approach establishes a link between supply chain management research and marketing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Communication relational outcomes in the insurance industry
|
[
"Communication",
"Insurance industry",
"Relational outcomes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Few studies of marketing relationships have explicitly included aspects of communication. In marketing relationships, communication plays a central role in providing an understanding of the exchange partners' intentions and capabilities, thus forming the groundwork for relationship development (Andersen, 2001). The role of communication in relationship development has been the focus of several previous studies (Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Griffith and Harvey, 2001). Today, several relationship marketing scholars agree that communication is a fundamental aspect of relationship development. Creating interpersonal connections between customers and firms through communication is essential for the success of loyalty (Berezan et al., 2017).\n2. Literature review and research hypotheses: Communication is a human activity that links people together and facilitates relationships. Information, no matter the content, helps people structure or organize aspects of their environments that are relevant to situations in which they must act - that is, it helps in decision-making by reducing uncertainty (Patterson, 2016). Many authors underscored the significance of communication in developing and retaining a relationship and they argued that it aids in continuing the relationship in time (Rai and Medha, 2013). In the insurance industry, Loots and Grobler (2014) emphasized that effective communication is the element that will influence clients most to stay with the organization. It is a pro-active method of preventing clients from considering canceling policies. Effective communication largely contributes to client retention.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Sample selection and data collection\n4. Structural model: The structural model fits the data well (kh2=329.639, df=123, p<0.01; GFI=0.95, NFI=0.98, IFI=0.99, TLI=0.98, CFI=0.99; RMSE=0.048). This model is depicted in Figure 2.\n5. Findings and discussion: This study has highlighted the importance of developing a timely and adequate communication between car insurance holders and insurance companies. It should not just be insurance intermediaries to communicate with car insurance holders. That is not enough. The insurance companies should ensure that their customers are adequately informed. Closeness to their customers is vital in understanding their needs and effectively addressing their needs with the best possible solutions. It is very important to win the loyalty of the clients through the dissemination of information to the car insurance holders. Thus, in relation to the car insurance holders, the insurance company needs to explain the new types of car insurance and the new types of services and must suggest buying additional coverage car insurance.\n6. Implications and limitations: Since there was a lack of such research in Portuguese insurance context, this research can provide theoretical contribution and managerial basis for future researches as well as implications for the managers. Customer's loyalty is one of the main business challenges, also for the insurance sector. Nevertheless, there are just a few papers dealing with this problem in the insurance field and specifically considering the uniqueness of this business sector.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the role that communication plays in the insurance industry, as well as its relational outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This investigation proposes a theoretical model tested using structural equation modelling. A questionnaire survey was developed to explore the relationships among communication, reputation, trust, commitment, loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM). For this study, 744 valid questionnaires were collected from a sample of Portuguese car insurance holders.\nFindings: The results show that communication directly influences reputation, trust and commitment. Communication also indirectly influences loyalty through reputation, trust, and commitment and communication indirectly influences WOM via trust and commitment. In turn, reputation influences trust and trust impact on relational commitment. Finally, loyalty influences WOM.\nOriginality/value: This investigation examines the mediating role of reputation, trust and relational commitment in the relationship among communication and loyalty and WOM, in a relational perspective. It fills a gap in the literature by exploring the importance of communication in the insurance industry. Thus, this study will be useful to decision makers in the insurance industry seeking to improve their insurance holders-insurance companies relationships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Assessing the effectiveness of business consulting in operations development projects
|
[
"Management consultancy",
"Organizational effectiveness",
"Project management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Critiques of corporate spending on management consultants have been common for at least two decades. The frequency of these critiques reflects long-standing mistrust and doubt about the usefulness of business consultants in general (De Burgundy, 1998). The competence and value of business consultants has long been mistrusted; indeed, it has been suggested by Lindon (1995, p. 23) that business consultants are people \"who would borrow our watch to tell us what time it is\" (Lindon, 1995). In a similar vein, Blunsdon (2002) has contended that business consultants are largely irrelevant because the problems experienced by managers are well known and the solutions offered by business consultants are always the same.But are the criticisms of the role of consultants justified? Should their clients assume some of the responsibility when projects fail? In this regard it is interesting to note that there are few contributions in the literature that attempt to justify a positive role for consultants. In particular, there is a definite lack of empirical studies that have attempted to make an objective analysis of the input costs and output benefits of projects involving business consultants.The present paper addresses this deficiency in the literature by assessing the effectiveness of business consultants in consulting projects for operational development in a large multinational firm. The study does this by analysing the input costs against the output benefits of a series of projects in which business consultants utilised the methodology of the \"theory of constraints\" (TOC) (Goldratt, 1990).The reminder of this paper is organised as follows. Following this introduction, a literature review considers business consulting in general terms, and the assessment of the effectiveness of such consulting in particular. In the following section, the paper provides a brief introduction to the TOC methodology. The empirical study is then presented in which twenty consulting projects and their results are interpreted by applying basic statistical methods. Finally, conclusions are discussed and further research in this area is proposed.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Definitions\n3. Evaluating the effectiveness of consulting: The effectiveness of a business consultancy should be assessed for at least three reasons:1. To validate consulting as a business tool: Because consulting is only one of many actions that an organisation can take to improve its performance and profitability, consulting must be formally compared with alternative business tools.2. To justify the costs incurred in consulting: Thorough quantitative justification of the costs of consulting is required to resist cuts in consulting budgets in times of economic stringency.3. To improve the design of consulting: Objective evaluation of consulting programs is required to ensure that business consultancy is continuously improved to provide better value and increased benefits to clients.Various methods are used to evaluate a business consultancy. Measurement can be in monetary terms and/or non-monetary terms. Table I gives some examples of common evaluation methods.Most firms prefer to make their assessments in monetary terms, and return on investment (ROI) is the most commonly used method for evaluating the overall success of any project. However, it should be noted that ROI is unable to assess all aspects of the consulting process; for example, ROI cannot reflect such non-financial criteria as employees' reactions, the learning that has been achieved, or the extent to which behaviour has changed.To calculate ROI, it is necessary to estimate or measure the costs and benefits associated with a consulting. Table II shows some examples of the costs and benefits that can be considered for calculation of ROI.The ROI of investing in a consulting program is calculated as the quotient of benefits and costs, expressed as a percentage, over a specified period of time. Assuming that the benefits will continue to accrue for some time after the consultation has finished, the period of time that is specified is critical to the interpretation of the ROI figure that is obtained. Some companies choose to specify a period of time (perhaps one or two years) that fits with their planning cycle. Alternatively, some companies choose to calculate the ROI over the lifetime of the benefit.The basic calculation of ROI therefore proceeds as follows: Equation 1 Alternatively, ROI can be calculated in terms of the \"payback period\" - that is, how many months it will take before the benefits of the consultancy match the costs. This is calculated as follows: Equation 2 Calculating the \"payback period\" has two potential advantages:1. if the figure is relatively low (perhaps only a few months), management will be encouraged to make the consulting investment; and2. there is no requirement for an arbitrary benefit period to be specified.\n4. Theory of constraints: The empirical study reported in this paper assessed the effectiveness of a consulting intervention that utilised the methodology of the \"theory of constraints\" (TOC) (Goldratt, 1990). The TOC is a complex management philosophy that aims to achieve business improvement by focusing on the constraints that prevent a system from achieving a higher level of performance. According to the TOC, every firm has at least one such constraint, which Goldratt (1990) defined as any factor that limits the system from doing more of what it was designed to accomplish. The TOC philosophy thus encourages managers to:* identify what is preventing them from moving towards their goals; and* find solutions to overcome this limitation.In brief, the TOC consists of three interrelated areas:1. logical thinking;2. logistics; and3. performance measurement (Cox and Spencer, 1998; Simatupang and Sridharan, 1997).For the purposes of the present study, it is necessary to provide a brief explanation of the first and second of these areas.4.1. Logical thinking\n5. Methodology: 5.1. Data\n6. Results: Table IV shows the average measures for all projects. It is apparent that the average duration of the projects was 16.6 months and the average NPV was US$14.3 million. The average total cost (including the investment amount) was US$570,600. All projects were profitable or near zero profit. The average payback period was relatively short at 2.14 months.Figure 1 illustrates the total cost of the projects. The cost of most of the projects was less than US$500,000. Most of the projects required change in operational procedures, but some needed investments in new systems and equipment to facilitate the required process improvement.The NPV of most of the projects was between US$7 million and US$8 million (Figure 2). There was one project with an NPV of US$160 million, which can be considered a special case because of its impact on procedures at fifty manufacturing sites.The duration of most of the projects was about 24 months, but there were also some projects that were completed in 18 months, 15 months, and six months (Figure 3).Figure 4 shows that the payback period of the majority of projects was two months. There were also some projects that had payback periods of three months, four months, nine months, and 15 months.\n7. Conclusions: This study of the multinational company ABB Ltd has demonstrated how the input of development projects can be compared with output. Having applied the theory of constraints (TOC) methodology in 20 consulting projects of the case company, a positive impact was recorded. As noted above, the average duration of the projects was 16.6 months and the average NPV was US$14.3 million. The average total cost (including the investment amount) US$570,600. The average payback period was less than three months.The overall results were very good from the perspective of financial performance; however, it should be noted that the screening that was conducted before initiating even the first step of the stage-gate model had eliminated several projects that might have been less successful.The results demonstrate the usefulness of the TOC approach in the large dispersed network of a multinational manufacturing company. Other conclusions that can be drawn from the study include the following:* Operations-development projects are a subset of management consulting, and the same type of methodology can be used in both. The key performance metrics should include measures from both the cost and benefit sides and should be compatible with the management-accounting practices of the company.* The study shows that TOC projects can yield significant business results in a relatively short time. The projects do not necessarily require investments in capacity or machinery.* The stage-gate model can be used in managing the progress of operations-development projects in a similar manner to its use in research and development (R&D) projects. Because large investments are not required, the option of cancelling a project can be considered at any stage.Further empirical research is required on how consulting in operations development should be managed. In particular, further research is needed to identify the success factors in consulting projects and whether there are industry-specific success factors in such projects.Finally, it is apparent that operations development is stimulating increasing interest in many manufacturing companies. Decision-makers require reliable metrics to evaluate the potential and real payback of such projects. The present study has provided valuable insights into how this might be done.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to address the question of the effectiveness of business consultants in operations development projects. It does this by analysing the results of collaboration between a multinational firm and business consultants who applied the theory of constraints to a series of development projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Following the presentation of an overview of business consultants and the need to measure the effectiveness of business consulting practices, the paper presents empirical data on the return on investment achieved from 20 development projects in the multinational company under study.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that the involvement of business consultants in development projects has a positive impact on outcomes and can be justified in financial terms.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The generalise ability of the results in service sector companies remains to be tested. The data is limited to a set of internal operations development consulting projects within one multinational company. Management consultants and managers will benefit from the results of study.\nOriginality/value: - The study provides important insights into the assessment of the effectiveness of business consultants in operations development.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Simulation educators in clinical work: the manager's perspective
|
[
"Organisational learning",
"Patient safety",
"Continuing medical education",
"Patient simulation",
"Community of practice",
"Teamwork"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Hospital mortality due to professionals' error (Kohn, 2000; Vincent et al., 2001) can be prevented by regular medical simulation training. For the last two decades, continuing professional education has been introduced as part of continuing professional education to better prepare healthcare professionals for safer patient management.Medical simulation focuses on individual and organisational learning and also affects patient care (Reich et al., 2015). The body of evidence for improving healthcare by using simulation is expanding (Fritz et al., 2017; Mahmoudian-Dehkordi and Sadat, 2017). Healthcare professionals acquire competence and confidence through simulating patient management and receiving training in technical and non-technical skills in established clinical simulation centres and in situ at healthcare units (Mcpherson et al., 2001; Shapiro et al., 2004; Aggarwal et al., 2010). Issenberg, (2006) identified three essential components of effective use of simulation: training resources, trained educators and curricular institutionalisation. A systematic educational intervention by medical simulation was found challenging from both economic and staffing perspectives (Salas et al., 2009; Salas and Rosen, 2013).Professional practice is an arena for learning, but healthcare professionals often tend to consider it to involve only performing their duties rather than learning (Boud and Solomon, 2003). Thus, the pedagogical process in many clinical situations is not something obviously planned or supported (Hult et al., 2009). However, working together can be the shared experience, which is the prerequisite for learning, and any given group of people sharing learning experiences can be defined as a community of practice (Wenger, 1998). Healthcare professionals are usually involved in several communities of practice and share different goals, values and methods through time. Members of a community may have different and complementary work experiences at different levels.Simulation educators (professionals facilitating medical simulation training sessions) usually work both clinically, as healthcare professionals, and at simulation training centres. Thus, they belong to several communities of practice at the same time. Consequently, they interact with and affect their colleagues both in simulated and in real-life environments. In a previous multi-centre study, experienced healthcare simulation educators were found to notice a development of professional competency based on their expanding confidence (Allvin et al., 2017).Although healthcare managers are stake-holders, and simulation educators have a key-role for planning continuing professional educational interventions, there is no available information in the literature on how healthcare managers perceive simulation educators' impact on clinical practice, not just as educators but as co-workers. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore healthcare managers' perceptions of the significance of clinically active simulation educators for the operation of the organisation.\nMethod: Design and participants\nFindings and discussion: Three distinct themes were identified: (1) value for the manager, (2) value for the community and (3) boundaries (Figure 2). Themes and codes are presented in the following text, supported by quotations in italics.Value for the manager\nConclusions: Simulation educators were perceived to contribute with evidence-based knowledge and leadership for educational issues within their clinical environment. The most prominent value for their work was establishing a reflective climate, facilitating open communication and thereby improving the efficacy of teamwork even in the clinical practice, and not just during simulation sessions. Ultimately, according to the managers' perceptions, having an experienced simulation educator active in clinical environment resulted in improved patient safety.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Information is scarce on healthcare managers' understanding of simulation educators' impact on clinical work. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore healthcare managers' perceptions of the significance of clinically active simulation educators for the organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Healthcare managers were invited to be interviewed in a semi-structured manner. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify and analyse patterns of notions describing the managers' perceptions of simulation educators' impact as co-workers on their healthcare organisations.\nFindings: The identified relevant themes for the healthcare unit were: (1) value for the manager, (2) value for the community and (3) boundaries. Simulation educators were perceived to be valuable gatekeepers of evidence-based knowledge and partners in leadership for educational issues. Their most prominent value for the community was establishing a reflective climate, facilitating open communication and thereby improving the efficacy of teamwork. Local tradition, economy, logistics and staffing of the unit during simulation training were suggested to have possible negative impacts on simulation educators' work.\nPractical implications: The findings might have implications for the implementation and support of simulation training programs.\nSocial implications: Healthcare managers appreciated both the personal value of simulation educators and the effect of their work for their own unit. Local values were prioritised versus global. Simulation training was valued as an educational tool for continual professional development, although during the interviews, the managers did not indicate the importance of employment of pedagogically competent and experienced staff.\nOriginality/value: The study provided new insights about how simulation educators as team members affect clinical practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Article delivery using ReadCube Access: a report on use in five US libraries
|
[
"New technology",
"Electronic document delivery",
"University libraries",
"Patron-driven acquisitions",
"ReadCube Access",
"Unmediated document supply"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: ReadCube[1] is a content-delivery platform of software and services that includes desktop[2], Android[3] and iOS[4] applications for personal bibliographic management, the ReadCube Web Reader, ReadCube Access and other products.\nReadCube Access at the University of Utah Marriott Library: The University of Utah is a large research institution with 31,000 students and 2,000 faculty. It offers 72 undergraduate majors and over 90 graduate programs. The Marriott Library is one of three primary libraries on the University of Utah campus. The University's medical school and law school are served by separate libraries. The Marriott Library has a total budget of about $14,000,000, with a journals' budget of nearly $2,500,000. The Marriott Library subscribes to 79 NPG titles but does not provide access to the full run of all 79 journals.\nReadCube Access at the University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Library: The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (EHSL) at the University of Utah serves the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry; the Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy and Health; and the University's hospitals and clinics. The Library has primary responsibility for supporting the research and curriculum needs of 3,000 students and 1,700 faculty members at the University of Utah as well as 3,000 clinicians who staff four University hospitals, ten community clinics and several specialty centers. The Library has an annual collection budget of about $1,700,000.\nReadCube Access at Auburn University: Auburn University is a public institution located in Auburn, Alabama, with major research programs in science and technology. Auburn has 20,000 undergraduates, 5,000 graduate students, 1,200 faculty and professional schools in Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. Auburn University Libraries (AUL) is an ARL library with a serials budget of over $7,000,000.\nReadCube Access at the University of Kentucky: The University of Kentucky is the largest land grant public university in Kentucky with over 29,000 students. The University of Kentucky offers 93 undergraduate programs, 99 masters programs, 66 different doctoral degrees and also has professional programs in medicine, law and pharmacy. Additionally, the University has an active agricultural extension program which covers over 100 Kentucky counties. The Libraries' annual budget totals approximately $10,000,000.\nReadCube Access at Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California: The Claremont Colleges Library is a single library that serves a consortium of seven separate academic institutions: five liberal arts colleges and two graduate institutions. The undergraduate colleges are Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College. The graduate institutions are Claremont Graduate University and the Keck Graduate Institute. The combined student population of the consortium is around 7,700, including undergraduate-, masters- and doctoral-level students. A wide range of subjects are presented to students, including arts and humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering and mathematics. The Claremont Colleges Library's materials budget is approximately $5,100,000.\nConclusion: ReadCube Access was developed in collaboration with libraries and publishers to improve access to scholarly literature. This article has reported on the initial use of the product in several US academic libraries.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to update information on ReadCube Access and briefly reviews its history. The study also reports on the use of ReadCube Access by five US academic libraries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A series of questions was distributed to selected academic libraries using ReadCube Access. Survey recipients were asked to describe the library and the institution served, how long ReadCube Access has been in use, how many journals from Nature Publishing Group (NPG) were licensed and how many journals were being provided using ReadCube Access. Participating libraries were also asked to provide information about the purchase options offered to end-users, were asked to report on ReadCube Access usage and were requested to compare that usage to interlibrary loan (ILL) requests for NPG journals. Finally, the libraries were asked to share any comments about ReadCube Access they wished, including end user feedback and comments from library staff.\nFindings: ReadCube Access is shown to be cost-effective and more heavily used than interlibrary loan. End-users are enthused by the instantaneous delivery of articles, and most libraries are generally pleased with the sustainability of this unmediated service. Some end-users are confused and annoyed by the differences in using ReadCube Access compared with the familiar use of subscriptions. A failing of ReadCube Access is that it only offers content from one publisher.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfils an identified need for an update on ReadCube Access and a study on the experiences of various libraries using it.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Comparing UK food retailers corporate social responsibility strategies
|
[
"Corporate communications",
"Product innovation",
"CSR strategies",
"Food retail"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The food industry, and particularly the retail sector, is increasingly under pressure to contribute to the solution of contemporary social issues such as the persistent growth of obesity, economic inequality and environmental degradation (Cairns et al., 2016). Broadly speaking, food businesses are becoming accountable to a broader range of societal agents besides their shareholders or investors (Maloni and Brown, 2006). Some businesses are adapting their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs to address these concerns. This is particularly evident in the UK, where food retailers have engaged in CSR and subscribed to public-private pledges on health, socio-economic and environmental issues (Knai et al., 2015). These pledges (which span many dimensions of social, economic and environmental topics) often require businesses to adjust product lines, sourcing and procurement practices, community engagement, prices and personnel/training programs to address societal concerns. These efforts are frequently described in integrated marketing communication (IMC) messages. However, socio-economic and institutional factors may influence the dimensions covered by CSR programs and whether these are integrated in marketing strategies.\nCSR in food retailing: In Britain, the concentration of food sales in a small number of national chain retailers and pressure from different stakeholders is leading firms to develop an array of CSR programs (Jones, Comfort, and Hillier, 2005; Jones, Comfort, Hillier, and Eastwood, 2005; Souza-Monteiro and Hooker, 2016). Food retailers are in a particularly critical position as their business practices influence activities upstream in supply chains as well as consumer choices (Carrero and Valor, 2015). Grocers have also been developing a portfolio of private label products competing with established national brands in their stores (Salnikova et al., 2015). Aligning CSR strategies with their own product lines may provide food retailers an opportunity to shape the future of food markets while also influencing social and policy debates. Moreover, using CSR claims (such as organic or fair trade labels) on private label products may also be a key differentiator from national brands (Salnikova et al., 2015; Tofighi and Bodur, 2015). Of further importance, retailers directly interact with many communities and stakeholders. They are likely to be more sensitive and responsive than \"distant\" (especially international) food manufacturers who might instead pursue \"global\" CSR issues over those of \"local\" importance.\nEconomic and institutional determinants of CSR strategies: CSR has been defined as the need for a firm to be socially, environmentally and ethically accountable to a range of stakeholders that may be affected by its action (Maloni and Brown, 2006). In this definition it is not clear which stakeholders firms are economically accountable to. However, the dominant neoclassical economics view as articulated by Friedman (1970), suggests that the social responsibility of businesses is to maximize profits and that firms \"can do good - but only at their own expense\" (p. 4). In other words, the main corporate responsibility is to maximize the profits of shareholders and that this is the ultimate fiduciary duty of managers (Reinhardt et al., 2008). But what if businesses are not paying the full cost of their activities? Take the example of watershed pollution. Business often fails to internalize the costs they impose on other businesses or consumers from polluting watersheds. Consequently, they may be transferring to shareholders undue profits at the expense of society. To the extent that acting in a socially responsibility is a way to internalize costs to society and thus avoid costly regulation or losses of reputational goodwill, CSR also makes (longer-run) economic sense. It is beyond the scope of this paper to fully discuss the different economic and business perspectives and arguments for and against CSR[2]. However, the reality is that firms increasingly do allocate resources to CSR activities. Campbell (2007) proposes an institutional theory explaining why firms act in socially responsible ways. He proposes that CSR behavior of firms depends on economic conditions but is moderated by the institutional environment in which the firm operates. In a sense, this theory draws on the economics of institutions and property rights and reconciles the perspective argued by Friedman (1970) with Freeman's (1984) stakeholder theory (which suggests that firms need to attend to both economic and non-economic demands of various stakeholders, namely, customers, suppliers and employees). Campbell is not proposing a formal economic theory, rather his contribution is grounded in institutional analysis and in comparative political economy. The main gist of this work is that when internal and external economic conditions (namely financial performance) are favorable and business face moderate levels of competition they will more likely act in socially responsible ways. This behavior is reinforced if business faces an institutional environment where: regulations are strong and well enforced, but set through a participatory process; there is \"a well-organized and effective industrial self-regulation in place\" (p. 956); there are active stakeholders that monitor corporate behavior; corporations are affiliated to trade or industry associations; and, finally, they engage in dialogue with their stakeholders.\nIMC and CSR discourse: Firms communicate their CSR activities through reports, corporate communication tools with a main goal to inform stakeholders of the range of activities the business has been involved in. IMC theory holds that once a strategic goal is identified a unified approach to discussing this across all channels of communications should be designed and implemented. Raman and Naik (2010) relate this to retail in the twenty-first century recognizing a broad array of channels and audiences (e.g. social media). Here we focus on the congruency of messaging over two channels - product labels and CSR reports. We accept that these are distinct elements of an IMC portfolio and that the prevalence of discussions of the CSR themes need not be identical across the two channels. Yet the relative use of messages might be used to discern the strategic emphasis of a retailer.\nMethodology: comparing CSR strategies: Having identified the themes we used a mixed method approach to compare discourse in CSR reports and marketing actions revealed on new product launches. In other words, we evaluated the frequency of quotes related to the CSR themes identified by Maloni and Brown (2006) and found in UK grocery retailers CSR reports. We also assessed the number of claims related to Maloni and Brown themes on new private label products launched in the UK and listed in the Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD). For our analysis of CSR reports we started collecting all the available UK food retailers' CSR reports from the seven largest UK food retailers in terms of market share between 2006 and 2012[3]. We found a total of 43[4] reports as shown in Table I.\nResults: Throughout the period of analysis there have been considerable changes in the British grocery industry and market, which inevitably affected each business CSR strategy. Along with a change in economic and political conditions, in this period there was a rapid expansion of hard discount chains, such as Aldi and Lidl, which have gained market share at the expense of Tesco (BBC, 2009). The other Big Four retailers have slightly increased or maintained their market share, while Waitrose increased market share during this period to 5.3 percent in 2013 (Kantar Worldpanels, 2014). As Campbell (2007) suggests, these external changes inevitably will be reflected in CSR programs which may not only be evolving across time but also across firms, in response to these economic and market dynamics. In this section we report what we found in our analysis of CSR reports and new product launches.\nDiscussion: The food industry in general and grocers in particular have not been immune to the movement toward CSR. Food retailers have the additional tool of selling private label products which can extend strategies beyond that seen in national brands (Salnikova et al., 2015). Perhaps due to the fact that they trade in goods so essential to human life, this industry has been increasingly engaged in a range of CSR discussions and actions. Firms are responding with more sophisticated product and service strategies. In a sense, it seems that the food industry is adopting Porter and Kramer's (2006) mantra that firms should carefully plan and deploy strategies which create shared value. However, there are instances in both data series where differences emerge over time, themes and firms.\nConcluding remarks and future research: CSR strategies are increasingly being used by food businesses to not only improve firms' goodwill and reputation but also as competitive tools. Following Porter and Kramer (2006), CSR strategies and tactics can be seen as instruments used by firms to create shared value. Here we argue that the strategic choices depend on various internal and external factors (Campbell, 2007). Thus CSR communications and marketing mixes may be revealed as both cooperation between firms and stakeholders and competition. Rather than canceling out each other the tension between co-operative and competitive dimensions may be virtuous. This is because while cooperation may allow for a distribution of costs (economic or other) between different parties, competition may prevent firms from being complacent and force them to lead or respond to challenges that may result in efficient and effective solutions to social or environmental problems. Regardless of the level of dispersion of CSR strategies among retailers they still both compete and cooperate with the national brands. Firms respond to common and distinct economic and institutional conditions which have been argued to be dynamic. There also appears to be evidence that these conditions are correlated with the use of both quotes and claims.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how socio-economic and institutional factors impact UK food retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies as revealed in corporate communications and product marketing. Building on institutional theory, the authors empirically examine whether discourse in CSR reports aligns with commercial strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Employing a mixed method approach the authors quantify quotes related to key CSR themes in annual reports and claims on new private label products launched in nine key product categories using information from Mintel's Global New Products Database. These measures are grouped into eight distinct CSR themes across seven retailers and seven years (2006-2012).\nFindings: Health and safety and environment are the leading themes in both data sets. Animal welfare, community and biotechnology and novel foods take the middle ground with differing use across reports and products. Fair trade, labor and human resources and procurement and purchasing are the least commonly described themes in reports and on products. Retailers focus on different CSR themes in reports and new products, which may be evidence of competitive rather than pre-competitive strategies.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research shows that UK food retailers CSR strategies between 2006 and 2012 were more competitive than pre-competitive, which is in line with theory that suggests economic pressures decrease incentives to cooperate. However, this research is limited to innovation data and analysis of CSR reports. A more complete analysis would need to consider sales or consumption data, wider sources of corporate communications and independent measures of social, environmental and economic impact. The authors' findings caution policy makers to be wary of retailers commitments to voluntary agreement pledges, particularly when the competitive environment and economic conditions are more challenging.\nPractical implications: Firms are increasingly pressured to contribute to social and environmental domestic and international commitments. Business should enhance coordination between CSR offices and commercial divisions to develop more consistent and effective social responsibility programs.\nOriginality/value: This is the first attempt to compare the evolution of CSR discourse and marketing strategy over time and across businesses in a key retail market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Walgreens Boots Alliance goes multi-lingual through e-learning: Challenging program brings many and significant benefits
|
[
"Computer-based learning",
"Multinationals",
"Language learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The merger of Walgreens and Alliance Boots created not only the first global pharmacy-led, health and well-being enterprise in the world but also a company with a rich cultural and lingual diversity.\nLanguage skills: Language skills not only prepare employees and teams to deal with customers and suppliers but they also broaden our employees' horizons and help them to be more understanding of each others' cultural backgrounds.\nSocial intelligence: When our people move around in our business, taking on new responsibilities in countries where they do not necessarily speak the language, they face a host of challenges as they become assimilated into their new surroundings.\nBridging the digital divide: An e-learning option was the natural choice for an organization like ours. It is easy to access across geographies and does not require people to schedule face-to-face time in their calendars - which we know always ends up with some non-attendance.\nTips: At Walgreens Boots Alliance, we are on a learning curve in rolling out this program as much as the participating staff members are on their learning curve taking up one or more new languages.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: Explains how Walgreens Boots Alliance teamed up with Rosetta Stone on a digital language-learning program that is bringing many and significant benefits to individual employees and the company as a whole.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Reveals that the aims were to develop English fluency for the non-English native speakers in the organization that work across countries and divisions and build language skills in at least one other main language spoken widely within the business. Provides a series of tips for anyone wanting to gain the far-reaching benefits of language learning in their organization.\nFindings: Describes how the e-learning course includes live online sessions with native-speaking tutors, conversation practice and games. Explains that the company also plans to supplement the structured digital-based learning with practice sessions in a work setting. These are planned to be so informal that people do not feel like they are learning or being taught. They will be social, networking occasions, such as \"lunch in French\" or other scheduled get-togethers where people are able to practice the language that they are learning.\nPractical implications: Highlights the importance of being realistic about time, supporting employees facing a digital challenge, getting sponsor support, integrating the continuous-learning concept into the organization, and using ambassadors.\nSocial implications: Advances the view that a mastery of foreign languages is essential for successful business collaboration across countries and cultures, particularly for managers and directors. In providing language training for these serious learners, the company is not only helping its employees to understand each other better and relate to each other's background and culture but also growing the business.\nOriginality/value: Concludes that a digital-learning approach to language learning can help businesses to meet their learning goals and deliver training that is interactive, convenient and fun for learners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A bi-level programming for transportation services procurement based on combinatorial auction with fuzzy random parameters
|
[
"Discrete particle swarm optimization",
"Bi-level programming",
"Combinatorial transportation auctions",
"Fuzzy random",
"Winner determination"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Auctions are used extensively to buy single or bundled services on transport lanes. In a transportation service procurement, by considering aspects such as service prices and quality, shippers choose the proper most efficient combinations from all submitted bids. Service on a single lane can be purchased from more than one service provider or from only one service provider, depending on shippers requirements and the carriers' transport capacities. Therefore, there are two key problems to be solved at transportation service auctions: a bid construction problem (BCP) or bid generation problem (BGP), for which carriers have to generate appropriate bids from all profitable bids, and a winner determination problem (WDP), for which shippers have to decide which lanes should be awarded to which carrier (Triki et al., 2014).\n2. Problem statement: In this study, a transportation service procurement problem is examined. The first-price sealed-bid auction is used to purchase transportation services and no bargaining is permitted between the shipper and the carriers. In contrast to existing studies, the research problem here is unique and complex as it concurrently considers both the shippers and the carriers' benefits as well as the mutual influences.\n3. Mathematical model: Different from other studies, the research problem posed here addresses both the profits of the shipper and the carriers. To formulate the model, the notations and assumptions are defined below.\n4. Solution approach: After the carriers submit their bids, to achieve their low total cost objective, i.e. WDP; the shipper needs to decide which bids are to be accepted. As is known, the WDP is an NP-hard problem, making it difficult to find accurate solutions when the bid quantities are large. Therefore, some intelligent algorithms are proposed. Unlike previous research, we consider the shippers decision after the collection of all bids (PART I, as seen in Figure 1), and also the carriers choices between all the potential and profitable bids (PART II, as seen in Figure 1), which increases the difficulties. A DBMOPSO-WD is therefore designed to solve the proposed programming.\n5. Numerical simulation: 5.1 Algorithm analysis\n6. Conclusions and discussions: This paper examined transportation service procurement using discrete bi-level multi-objective programming. The main contributions were: after analyzing the characteristics of the problem, we proposed a discrete bi-level multi-objective programming solution which concurrently considered both the shippers and the carriers requirements and benefits, an area which has previously gained little research attention; an algorithm (i.e. DMOPSO-WD) was designed to solve the proposed mathematical model. Then some analysis based on numerical simulation were made, and the results show that in PSO, as L and T increase, the number of Pareto solutions also increase; although the GA was able to find slightly more Pareto solutions than the PSO, it took longer and the quality of these solutions was not superior; the proposed model could promote the likelihood of winning bids as it considers the reaction of the shipper; however, adopting traditional approaches could lead the carrier to lose profitable bids. The enhanced competition on some lanes and the abandonment of some others is reduced, increasing decision-making effectiveness across the whole system.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study a transportation service procurement bid construction problem from a less than a full truckload perspective. It seeks to establish stochastic mixed integer programming to allow for the proper bundle of loads to be chosen based on price, which could improve the likelihood that carrier can earn its maximum utility.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors proposes a bi-level programming that integrates the bid selection and winner determination and a discrete particle swarm optimization (PSO) solution algorithm is then developed, and a numerical simulation is used to make model and algorithm analysis.\nFindings: The algorithm comparison shows that although GA could find a little more Pareto solutions than PSO, it takes a longer time and the quality of these solutions is not dominant. The model analysis shows that compared with traditional approach, our model could promote the likelihood of winning bids and the decision effectiveness of the whole system because it considers the reaction of the shipper.\nOriginality/value: The highlights of this paper are considering the likelihood of winning the business and describing the conflicting and cooperative relationship between the carrier and the shipper by using a stochastic mixed integer programming, which has been rarely examined in previous research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Service quality in a higher education context: an integrated model
|
[
"Service quality",
"Past experience",
"Communication",
"Image",
"Satisfaction",
"Trust",
"Higher education",
"Brands",
"Customer services quality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A marketing approach to examine students' perceptions of service quality in the context of higher education may improve service functions, and attract and retain students. Students look for evidence of quality of services when making an uncertain and high risk decision of choosing a university (Angell et al., 2008; Donaldson and McNicholas, 2004). Ignoring the nature and importance of service quality may not be advantageous for universities in the higher education industry.Australian higher education institutions are some of the popular destinations for students. However, the Bradley report published in December 2008 states that there is a clear sign that the quality of the educational experience is declining. One of the significant recommendations of this study emphasises course experience as perceived by the students (Bradley et al., 2008).Higher education is a pure service that requires greater amount of interpersonal contact. As higher education provision is a service and students are expected to fund their educational expenses, it seems appropriate that universities make a shift from being product-led, i.e. relying on the product to sell, towards a more customer-led approach (Angell et al., 2008). The customer-centric approach (or student-centred approach) of service quality in educational literature has gained momentum as the increasing cost of education has created a new generation of students with greater awareness than ever before (Stodnick and Rogers, 2008). This approach could also result in improving quality within a higher education context.A number of studies in service quality of higher education (Brown and Mazzarol, 2009; Chitty and Soutar, 2004; Martensen et al., 2000) have empirically examined the applicability of the European customer satisfaction index (ECSI) model, an integrated model developed to measure customer satisfaction in the commercial service sector. The ECSI model considers \"corporate image\" as a built-in variable, and indicates that corporate image is an antecedent to expectation and service quality. While corporate image is built over the years accumulating customers' (and stakeholders') satisfaction and trust, considering corporate image as an antecedent variable may provide little managerial implications when the goal is to build corporate image in a highly competitive market. Although the ECSI model and its instruments are developed based on the commercial service sectors, its applicability in value-based higher education sector needs careful examination.Improving service quality within a higher education context is often mentioned as an internal goal without any explicit references to what is meant by service quality in higher education. Discussing better quality without defining what it is, how it is perceived by students, what are the antecedents and consequences of quality improvements, how it can be improved and enhanced is of little value. Thus, the aim of this paper is to understand the role of service quality and its antecedents and consequences in an Australian higher education context. More specifically, this study shows the image formation process, in the context of a university, as one of the consequences of service quality evaluation mediated through student satisfaction and student trust. The empirical findings in this study shed light on what affects service quality and how perceived service quality affects institutional image. Policy makers in the higher education industry can make use of the findings to strengthen their universities' image by reinforcing marketing communications, service quality, and student satisfaction and trust.\nLiterature review: Service quality: the critical measures and the integrated models\nDevelopment of research framework and conceptual hypotheses: The relationship between information and service quality\nThe research methodology: The present study adopts methodological triangulation, where both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. Methodological triangulation has been receiving growing interest in marketing research for its contribution to knowledge development (Dahlstrom et al., 2008; Freling and Forbes, 2005; Stavros and Westberg, 2009). The major benefit of incorporating both approaches into the research methodology is that the weakness of one approach is compensated for by the strengths of the other (Deshpande, 1983).Qualitative research method\nResults: Qualitative findings\nDiscussion: The findings of the present study suggest that information received from marketing communication is a more significant factor than past experience in terms of its affect on service quality. The present study also shows that marketing communication information can directly affect perceived service quality in a higher education context. These results confirm the essential role of information in forming perceived service quality in a higher education context.Higher education is a pure service and requires person-to-person interaction (Oldfield and Baron, 2000). The findings of the current study show that students' past experience may have little or no impact in forming perception of quality. One of the reasons for this may be due to the fact that the CQU is a distance university and it has the largest number of off-campus students in Australia. They maintain an online or virtual contact with the university, and have limited opportunity to meet their staff and/or visit their campuses. Second, the CQU is also one of the largest universities in Australia that has ten campuses in Australia with a huge number of international students. They have various nationalities and diverse study experiences and backgrounds. These may have resulted an insignificant effect of past experience on perceived quality in this study.There are several marketing implications of these findings. Higher education marketing managers should pay particular attention to developing a formal information structure for potential students through the promises and content of the message. The university needs to perform well in terms of marketing communication information in order to increase the perceived service quality. Information is a basis of forming quality standards as it often provides evidence of past performance. Together, with past evidence, information may play a vital role to forming quality perception. However, exaggerated information with gimmicks or ambitious promises may adversely affect quality perception during service encounters. This shows the importance of cultivating past experience aspects in terms of augmenting service quality in the higher education industry. The empirical evidence from this study suggests that service quality in a university context can be categorised into three major areas namely: academic services, administrative services, and facility services. These categories are related to specific attributes of the higher educational institution that students encounter during their studies. For example, first, the ACSQ includes the quality of lectures, interactive and entertaining lectures, after-lecture availability of lecturers for consultation, and lastly lecturers' intellectual ability and understandings of the course, the students and relevant research. Second, the ADSQ includes effective responses to students' queries, efficiency and effectiveness during admission procedures, and services relevant to the overall process of administering and delivering education. Third, the FSQ includes: library facilities, IT workshops and seminars of resource staff, careers counselling, transport facilities, catering facilities and entertainment facilities. These categories can help the university to focus on their efforts and resources.Perceived service quality can have statistically significant impact on post-experience (evaluation) aspects. The findings of this study indicate that service quality has a strong direct influence on trust and satisfaction, with standardised coefficients of 0.98 and 0.92, respectively. It indicates that one unit increase of service quality will result in almost one unit increase in trust and satisfaction. Trust and satisfaction, in turn, were found to have impacted on university image.Overall, the study suggests a three-tiered model that comprises pre-experience, current experience, and post-experience aspects; and establishes the important role of service quality in a higher education context. The model provides us with both theoretical and practical insights into the way service quality can be deployed in the higher education industry. The study highlights service quality as the critical element in higher education.\nConclusion, limitations and future research: This study develops a structural model incorporating the links between the antecedents and consequences of perceived service quality in a higher education context. The antecedent factor includes marketing communication information and the consequence factor comprises trust, satisfaction, and image. The model has been tested using structural equation modelling with a sample of 528 university students from various backgrounds. The results state that the theoretical model has overall validity and that all of the key paths in the model are statistically significant, except the affect of past experience on perceptions of service quality. The model provides a good explanation of developing university image. Of special significance, service quality is found to play an important role in the overall model. Universities intending to enhance their image are encouraged to consider focusing their efforts on marketing communication information and service quality.One of the important limitations of this study is that this study finds an insignificant effect of past experience on perceived quality in the model. In particular, two of the three items (i.e. PE_1 and PE_2) of past experience construct do not refer to previous use or actual involvement with the university. Future study should provide careful attention to operationalise the past experience construct. Although selecting a single university does not enable researchers to generalise the findings to other universities (Sawyer and Thompson, 2003), inclusion of all CQU students, programs, schools and campuses in the context of the present study is a popular alternative for generating important insights about antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context. Using a single university to study students' attitudes generates valuable insights, which can be used as an empirical basis for more representative follow-up studies (Dolnicar, 2004). Selecting a single university for the purpose of data collection for the present study also conforms to the current studies (Brown et al., 2009; Douglas et al., 2008; Gatfield et al., 1999; Helgesen and Nesset, 2007; Navarro et al., 2005; Oldfield and Baron, 2000; Smith et al., 2007; Stodnick and Rogers, 2008).Future research should examine the generalisability of the measures and the model in the wider context of Australian higher education sector. Future study should examine and compare this model with the ECSI model in the context of higher education, and other service industries. This could provide further insights in regard to the role of service quality in relevant industries. A cross-country study may also provide interesting findings. The usability of this model in the higher education domain and its subsequent applicability in commercial settings may be of interest to some scholars. The impact of student background especially in terms of their program of study, campus, maturity (full time versus part time/flex students), level of study (undergraduate versus post graduate) may have an impact on the overall model estimation. In particular, various cohorts of students may gather past experience from various sources and cultures. For example, undergraduate students may gather past experience from high schools that they attended in their countries, their recent visits to the current university, open day, career fair and the like. Similarly, distance and/or flexible and mature students may gather past experience from their local centres/campuses, previous study background and learning experience with other institutions and the like. These sources may not have a direct relationship with what they have experienced in the university where they are studying. Thus, further research could shed lights on these issues. Future study should also include a large sample size as this could have an overall impact on the model estimation. Finally, a longitudinal study could also be a valuable contribution to the service quality literature.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this study is to develop and empirically test an integrated model incorporating the antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The data from three focus groups, conducted at the Central Queensland University (CQU), Rockhampton, Australia, generated key themes and their interrelationships. The theoretical model was then tested using structural equation modelling technique on a sample of 528 university students.\nFindings: - The findings show that information (marketing communications) is more statistically significant than past experience as the antecedents of service quality. The consequences of service quality are composed of trust, satisfaction, and image. Overall, the results suggest a good validity of the theoretical model and the key paths in the model are found statistically significant, except past experience affecting service quality.\nOriginality/value: - The model provides a good explanation of a university brand image, and perceived service quality was found playing an important role in this model. Universities intending to enhance their image are encouraged to consider focusing their efforts on marketing communication information, service quality, student satisfaction and trust.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Douglas McGregor's legacy: lessons learned, lessons lost
|
[
"Management history",
"Best practice",
"Management technique",
"Organizational theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: With the publication of The Human Side of Enterprise, McGregor (1960) pioneered a new era in the study of management, one that has now lasted for 50 years, commonly referred to as the organization behavior movement. McGregor was not the first to encourage the management sciences to approach the field in terms of human behavior and leadership as opposed to simply the production/operations realm. Nor was he the first to suggest that management should be viewed as an applied behavioral science - taking research out of the laboratory and onto the factory floor. McGregor was the first to compile these, and other concepts, into a single codified tome that provided guidance and direction to those of us in the management sciences that followed.\nLessons learned: Management is something that can, and must, be systematically studied and research, and this knowledge passed along to the practitioners\nLessons lost: As a profession management requires us to develop theories and models that permit us to anticipate (and therefore manage) events in a cause and effect manner\nConclusion: If [...] we accept assumptions [...] of Theory Y, we will be challenged to innovate, to discover new ways of organizing and directing human effort, even though we recognize that the perfect organization [...] is practically out of reach (McGregor, 1960, p. 51).The management sciences have grown incalculably in every way since McGregor wrote The Human Side of Enterprise. McGregor offered us a starting point, one that he probably didn't understand himself, would lead to where we are today. When one reads The Human Side of Enterprise, particularly, when one places it in historical perspective, it is truly dumbfounding how accurate the man was - 50 years later. Many of his lessons still serve as the basic underpinnings for modern management. Still others have been lost or discarded. However, even in this later set McGregor's (1960, pp. vi-vii) wisdom shines through:[...] the human side of enterprise is \"all of a piece\" - that the theoretical assumptions management holds about controlling its human resources determine the whole character of the enterprise.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - 2010 marked the 50th anniversary of Douglas McGregor's publication of The Human Side of Enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to revisit McGregor's classic book to establish some of his principles that are still being utilized today, as well as some that have been forgotten or discarded.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper utilizes specific quotes to establish McGregor's \"lessons\". They are placed in historical context, and evaluated, through a selected literature review.\nFindings: - Among the lessons learned is the fact that management can be systematically studied, successful management involves creating a particular type of environment, and employee diversity is a major asset for organizations. Included among the lessons lost are: management requires us to develop cause and effect models, management should focus upon the employees reaching self-actualization, authority is a weak management tool, and management is the source of employee problems.\nPractical implications: - It behooves any scientific field to revisit its founding principles, particularly to review what essential lessons might have been misplaced over time.\nOriginality/value: - McGregor's general \"Theory X Theory Y\" are well known, but seldom are the principles he laid out in creating the model explored, nor are they compared to modern management practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Digitalization of companies in international entrepreneurship and marketing
|
[
"International marketing",
"Internationalization",
"Digitalization",
"Web",
"Born-digital",
"Value-chain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The connected world and omnipresent technology have changed the rules for building brands, marketing strategies and internationalization. While the internet has enabled these transformations, the real drivers have been software and hardware technologies. Thanks to these changes, online customers/users expect simplicity (Brouthers et al., 2016), convenience and relevance (Hanninen et al., 2017). This has given rise to digital entrepreneurship, which calls for new research approaches and explanations (Nambisan, 2017).\n2. Literature review: The literature suggests digitalization is more than a stimulant for companies; it is a changing context in which new technologies emerge and new capabilities are required (Nambisan, 2017; Reuber and Fischer, 2011; Wentrup, 2016). Existing research has largely neglected digital technology's role in companies' internationalization pursuits, because this subject is novel and information is lacking. Even with the vast IM and entrepreneurship literature (Abrahamsson, 2016; Knight, 2000; Moen et al., 2003; Quelch and Klein, 1996; Webster, 1992), questions remain regarding the conceptualization of digitalized/-ing international companies, and about internationalization processes and challenges. These questions concern international behavior, business and marketing strategies (Bell and Loane, 2010), the evolution of an online-offline balance (Wentrup, 2016), relationships between processes and resources, internationalization performance (Brouthers et al., 2016), business model particularities and value-chain activities (Hernandez and Pedersen, 2017).\n3. Descriptive overview and conceptual analysis: All the analyzed sources focus on defining and investigating digitalization (see Tables I and II).\n4. Research framework: Based on the literature review, a conceptual research framework was used to classify digitalized/-ing companies based on the relationship between age of the company (young vs mature), DOD (domestic vs international) and DOI (high vs low). Following Lowy and Hood (2004), the framework was built using a 2x2 matrix. In addition, classification was used as a tool to find the main patterns among these companies.\n5. Discussion: This exploratory study focused on testing metrics selected from the literature review, and the proposed research frameworks. Few studies have attempted to analyze companies from these perspectives, and the IE and IM literature on digitalization is still in its nascent stages. This paper reviewed the current concepts describing different types of digitalized/-ing enterprises (Nambisan, 2017; Wentrup, 2016), mostly focusing on BD. Suitable metrics were identified for developing an empirical classification of low- and high-digital companies by analyzing several theoretical research models in the existing literature. Developing standard definitions, conceptualizations and metrics increases research clarity, as well as the comparability of companies across regions, countries and specific industries. This work was carried out to close some of the gaps in the literature.\n6. Limitations and future research: This study has several limitations. First, it focused on new theoretical conceptualizations and empirical findings regarding the internationalization of digitalized companies. Considering the novelty of the research topic, the available information is limited. As is the case in international new venture and born-global studies, studies on digitalization focus too much on high-tech industries (Andersson et al., 2014), and little is known about other industries' digitalization efforts. Another potential limitation could be the digitalization metric based on the company's value-chain. Most activities are internet related, and it can be difficult to track where in their value-chains companies have their activities. Furthermore, the internationalization metrics proposed in this study must be tested and verified, and the lack of variance of DOI may be an important limitation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Little research has been done on the emergence of companies that engage in increasingly digital entrepreneurship with digitalized value-chain activities. The purpose of this paper is provide a consistent picture of how value-chain digitalization affects companies' internationalization and international marketing (IM), and give insights regarding the influence of the degree of value-chain digitalization on the level of internationalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper takes an explorative approach based on a literature review and uses a conceptual analysis and research framework to empirically classify digitalized/-ing companies.\nFindings: This study finds ways to classify the internationalization of companies according to the degree of digitalization of their value-chain. The more these companies use internet hardware infrastructure and web and mobile software technologies, the better they can leverage their foreign assets, achieving a higher share of foreign sales with relatively limited foreign assets.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results enrich the literature on internationalization and IM and entrepreneurship to explain companies that are distinctly digitalized across their value-chain activities.\nPractical implications: This research provides evidence for companies regarding digitalization of the value-chain to facilitate entrepreneurial opportunities and offer rapid, efficient and affordable internationalization.\nOriginality/value: This research tackles a novel phenomenon by analyzing companies' value-chain digitalization in relation to their degree of internationalization and IM.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Are your feet on the ground or is your head in the clouds? Why it is important to focus on both the near and distant future
|
[
"Planning",
"Human resource management",
"Leadership styles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nFirst things first, are you going to step forward, or step back?: As a leader or manager, it is likely that you find yourself sometimes stepping forward and being assertive, and sometimes stepping back to allow others to shine. Stepping forward means taking action. Stepping back means being aware, and preparing to step forward again at the right time. This outlook shows a fundamental basic truth: we do not fully know what is going to happen next.\nThe dreamer: The dreamer is the person who sees a wonderful future ahead where things will be better and the possibilities are endless. Dreamers give all their attention to expanding (and expounding) on the immense benefits and innate attraction of the better future (Figure 1).\nThe realist: The realist is the opposite of the dreamer. Realists are keen to make sure that things happen and will go out of their way to chase actions, make plans and get stuff done. They are useful people to have in your organization (Figure 2).\nThe business planner: The business-planner orientation is not as prevalent as it once was, but does still appear in some situations. Business plans are (or used to be) concerned with things on a middle-future timescale (one to three years). What is the cash flow for year one? How much profit may appear in year two? And given all that, how much might the business be worth at the end of year three? (Figure 3)\nThe host: We have all experienced the combination of planning and flexibility that is required of a good host. Hosts are always open to changes and uncertainty. When we organize a party, we know the big picture - the kind of event we want - and the next steps. We cannot, however, predict exactly what we will be doing at 8.37 pm. This is why we focus all the time on stepping forward and back, on manoeuvrability and flexibility. And we do not get bogged down in \"ant country\". So, the host will use the future in this fashion (Figure 4).\nA users' guide to the future: Putting all of this into place requires a bit more detail. Here are some hints about how to use the more useful elements of the future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Highlights the importance of looking at both the near and distant future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Observes that different kinds of people treat and use the future differently and considers how to use the more useful elements of the future.\nFindings: Charts the approaches taken towards the future by the dreamer, the realist, the business planner and the host and outlines the advantages of leading like a host.\nPractical implications: Considers how host views the horizon, the area just before the horizon, the future and the very near future.\nSocial implications: Accepts that we do not fully know what is going to happen in the future, but that does not mean people should focus only on the near (and therefore most \"knowable\") future.\nOriginality/value: Advances the view that having a good idea of the first signs of progress can be particularly useful in cases where the next steps are not obvious or seem tough or uncertain - rapid feedback will be useful in letting us know that what we are doing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Autonomy as the guiding aim of entrepreneurship education
|
[
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Education",
"Freedom",
"Students"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Autonomy represents an inner endorsement of one's actions - the sense that one's actions emanate from oneself and are one's own. Autonomy pertains to the striving to develop and realise personal goals, values and interests (Assor et al., 2002). Autonomy extends beyond having decisional freedoms to being self-aware, knowing what one's dreams and aims are, and acting on those dreams and aims. This essay has as its central argument that autonomy can be a guiding aim in entrepreneurship education. There are three purposes to this essay. First, to present a vision of entrepreneurship education that has the student's capacity for autonomous action as its ultimate aim. Second, to convince the reader of the timeliness and relevance of such an approach. Third, to outline how this could be implemented. It starts out by presenting several arguments to support the view that student autonomy can be an ultimate aim of entrepreneurship education.\n1. The relevance of personal autonomy for entrepreneurship education: Entrepreneurship research as well as entrepreneurship education are oriented towards explaining and furthering the financial performance of firms. Yet research of entrepreneurial motivation shows not financial gain, but autonomy to be the most often mentioned or most importantly rated motive to start a business (Shane et al., 2003; Van Gelderen and Jansen, 2006). Recent research on work satisfaction shows that this finding cannot be taken for granted. These studies report than the self-employed (and entrepreneurs, as a subgroup of the self-employed) have a higher work satisfaction that the employed (Benz and Frey, 2008a, b; Bradley and Roberts, 2004; Fusch-Schundeln, 2009; Hundley, 2001; Lange, 2010; Prottas, 2008; Schjoedt, 2009). This relationship holds irrespective of income earned or hours worked (Benz and Frey, 2008a), level in the organisation of the employee (Schjoedt, 2009), differences in culture (Benz and Frey, 2008b), and type of business owned (both owners of businesses employing others and independent contractors have higher satisfaction scores)1. (Prottas, 2008). Even more interestingly, the difference in satisfaction, can to a large extent be explained by the level of autonomy enjoyed (Benz and Frey, 2008a, b; Hundley, 2001; Lange, 2010; Prottas, 2008; Schjoedt, 2009). Prottas (2008) shows that when employees have comparable levels autonomy, they also have similar satisfaction scores. In sum, the research shows that autonomy is not only a dominant entrepreneurial motivation, but also a dominant source of entrepreneurial satisfaction.There are more reasons to put autonomy centre stage. According to Gibb (2002a, b), we live in a society where we increasingly need a capacity to cope with and enjoy an enterprising way of life. This way of life is characterized by uncertainty, change, and complexity on the one hand, and by freedom, individual responsibility, and the possibility to reap the fruits of one's own labour on the other. Gibb claims that more and more people are taking part in this enterprising way of life as a result of several powerful trends in the ways in which individuals relate to the state, organizations, and to other individuals, trends that strongly favour self-reliance.First, some changes increase the attractiveness of the enterprising way of life, for example because of individualisation processes (Gibb 2002a, b). The capability for autonomous action is crucial in light of the \"preference\" trends. Entrepreneurship students can be expected to have elevated autonomy needs and to cry out for independent action. It is important to stimulate this spirit of autonomy, not to temper it. Second, there are enabling trends, such as the democratisation of production and distribution (Anderson, 2006), and the increased importance of services and knowledge-based business (Gibb, 2002a, b). Autonomy is essential in light of the trends that enable the enterprising way of life: in order to make full use of the possibilities, people must have the capacity for autonomous action. Finally, there are trends that force us into the enterprising way of life, for example, globalization, governmental budget cuts, reduced welfare spending, reduced opportunities for lifelong employment at a single organisation, and the increased use of short term contracts (Gibb, 2002a, b). Autonomy is also crucial for the trends that \"force\" the enterprising way of life: the capacity for autonomous action is essential to respond effectively to the demands of the world of work.Autonomy is so strongly associated with entrepreneurship because of the decisional freedoms it entails: one can decide what, how, and when work will be done (Lange, 2010; Prottas, 2008; Schjoedt, 2009). These freedoms arise irrespective whether entrepreneurship takes the form of independent contractorship or businesses employing others. However, autonomy can also be a prerequisite for the fulfilment of other motives. Van Gelderen and Jansen (2006) asked business starters why they want autonomy. Many indeed like autonomy for the sake of decisional freedoms. However, people also need autonomy because it is instrumental to the fulfilment of other motives. Some are motivated by negative freedom, in the sense that they generally dislike or had recently experienced a difficult boss or stifling organisational rules. Others emphasise the fact that they want to do \"their own thing\": for them entrepreneurship offers the opportunity to work in accordance with their own goals, values, tastes and beliefs. Still others emphasise the opportunities that entrepreneurship offers for being in charge, for directing, and for leading instead of being lead.When these motives are unfulfilled, some may not persist in their entrepreneurial ventures, and conversely, autonomy may spur others to continue on in spite of financial underperformance (Gimeno et al., 1997). The attainment of autonomy cannot be taken for granted or assumed as each underlying motive is paradoxical: instead of working for a boss one has to deal with clients, suppliers, and other stakeholders; one may like to do one's own thing but customers may like the entrepreneur to work according to their own specifications; one may be in control within one's company but uncertainty in regard to stakeholders outside of the company can be severe. If autonomy is lacking, entrepreneurs may give up in spite of financial success. Given the fact that autonomy is a dominant motivation and source of satisfaction, far more attention should be paid in entrepreneurship research and education to whether and how autonomy is realised.Neither can it be assumed that entrepreneurship education furthers autonomy. With an ever-increasing inevitability of the enterprising way of life, business education should not aim to produce graduates that look towards others to take responsibility, that are other-directed, that have an employee attitude. Yet if students do their course work only because they have to, because they feel obliged, or pressured, or merely because they want the degree; if students coursework consists of finding out the teachers' expectation and then jumping over the required hurdles, then students are not strengthened in their autonomy. On the contrary, it conditions people to become docile followers who look at others to find out what and how to do things. Even worse, the risk of alienation looms, and it may be difficult for people to regain their capacity for autonomous action, as autonomy seems to work in a \"use it or lose it\" type of fashion (Baumann and Kuhl, 2005).Entrepreneurship education should aim to get people ready for a leading role in the enterprising way of life, rather than a supporting one. This essay argues that autonomy can be a guiding aim for entrepreneurship education. How can this be achieved? What practices are conducive? Which trade-offs and issues are encountered? These are the questions that this essay will address.The remainder of this paper reads as follows. First, two perspectives in educational psychology that give central emphasis to autonomy are presented: self-determination theory, and self-directed learning. Then empirical studies of autonomy supportive teacher behaviours and their consequences are reported. Finally, a range of potential implementation issues are discussed that can arise when applying this knowledge to entrepreneurship education.\n2. Autonomy in educational psychology: 2.1 Perspectives\n3. Implementation trade-offs and issues: 3.1 Guidance and freedom\n4. Conclusion: What does it mean if an entrepreneurship student graduates with straight As? Obviously, one expects this student to have gained knowledge about various aspects of entrepreneurship in general and of setting up a new venture in particular. But unlike a medical doctor, an engineer or an accountant, the fulfilment of graduation criteria does not result in a qualification for the profession. Perhaps foremost, the top student in entrepreneurship can be expected to have a developed capacity for autonomous action. This paper has presented several arguments for putting autonomy centre stage, has offered theories and practices that aim at autonomy support, and discussed various implementation issues.Key to students experiencing and exercising their sense of autonomy are educational processes that individualise and empower (Gibb, 2007). Autonomy may serve as a generic focus for entrepreneurship education, yet it can only be practiced and developed in circumstances and conditions that are unique to each individual. Rather than decontextualising education in the belief that learning in abstract form will promote generalization, autonomy supportive teachers, attempt to present learning activities in individualised contexts (Cordova and Lepper, 1996).Unfortunately, today's pressures on the educational system put severe strains on the individualisation of education. Budget cuts typically result in standardisation and less attention for individual student circumstances, needs and preferences. Increased use of high stakes testing has been documented to result in teachers and schools feeling pushed into implementing controlling strategies rather than being concerned with individual students' self-determination. Entrepreneurship education without a strong focus on autonomy is doing individual students and society at large a disservice. The entrepreneurs of tomorrow face elevated levels of uncertainty and risk. They need a fully developed capacity for autonomous action to have a fighting chance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper has three purposes: first, to present a vision of entrepreneurship education that has the student's capacity for autonomous action as its ultimate aim; second, to convince the reader of the timeliness and relevance of such an approach; third, to outline how this can be implemented.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper integrates several strands of literature: research on entrepreneurial autonomy, educational psychology, and entrepreneurship education.\nFindings: - The importance of autonomy is suggested by research on entrepreneurial motivation and satisfaction, as well as by a range of societal trends that favour increased self-reliance. Two perspectives, self-determination theory and self-directed learning, provide leads about how to put autonomy centre stage in entrepreneurship education. Several implementation-related issues are discussed. These include trade-offs between guidance and freedom, information and pressure, the self and others, and choice and relevance; the effects of student behaviour on autonomy support by faculty; and the suitability of autonomy supportive entrepreneurship education for different kinds of students and educational settings.\nPractical implications: - Teachers, schools and institutions wishing to adapt this approach need to adopt individualised, empowering approaches.\nOriginality/value: - It is novel to conceive of entrepreneurship education as an exercise in the service of the capacity for autonomous action.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The experiences of work-life balance, stress, and coping lifestyles of female professionals: insights from a developing country
|
[
"Coping strategies",
"Female doctors",
"Work-life stress"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The practice of medicine in Nigeria is a respected occupation, with highly talented workers trained following the introduction of western standards and ethical practices to the Nigerian health sector. However, work in this sector is notoriously intense, with growing concerns of medical doctors experiencing job stress associated with the profession (Aslam et al., 2014). Evidence from developed economies, such as the United Kingdom, Norway, and the USA, underscores factors that undermine the work output and work-life balance (WLB) of medical professionals, such as high job demands and low autonomy (Walsh, 2013). Historically, WLB, as a social concept, is largely concerned with the inherent demands and struggles encountered in managing work and non-work-related activities, and its propositions often prioritise the experiences of working mothers (Lewis and Humbert, 2010). While significant research has been undertaken on WLB in western countries (Wilkinson et al., 2018) and parts of Asia (Rajadhyaksha, 2012), similar studies in African contexts remain in their nascent stages. In particular, little is known from developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Nigeria, which has a unique sociocultural, inegalitarian and collectivistic traditions (Mordi et al., 2013) unlike the individualistic and economically developed cultures of the west (Hofstede, 1980). Therefore, this article is a rudimentary effort to fill this gap in response to calls for context-specific studies focusing on Africa in order to extend knowledge and broaden our understanding of WLB challenges, especially in the medical profession (Adisa et al., 2017).Notable demographic changes since the 1980s have led to the increase of female participation in the labour market, arising from their desire to seek economic independence, prove their self-worth, and most importantly, break age-long glass ceiling ideologies that women are not good enough for professional and managerial positions (Agarwal and Lenka, 2015). However, employment relations in most developing countries, like Nigeria, are organised based on gender role norms, creating an excessive subordination of women because men are socialised to become breadwinners, while women are always expected to be home carers (Abubakar, 2018). This situation perpetuates a high role overload and caregiving strain, rendering female medical doctors particularly sensitive to work-family issues (Mushfiqur et al., 2018). Focusing on contributing to contemporary debates on women, work, family, stress and coping lifestyles and specifically informed by work-life spillover theory, this study seeks to address the following research question in a non-western context: what are the WLB challenges and stress experiences confronting female medical doctors, and how do they cope with negative work-family spillover?In addressing this research question, the article is organised as follows: a brief overview of WLB and spillover theory is given, followed by a review of stress, gender and coping strategies in the relevant literature. Thereafter, the employed study methodology is explained, along with the study's findings and discussions. The article concludes by explaining the study's implications, limitations and areas for future research.WLB and spillover theory\nConclusion: Research and theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Given the limiting conditions of the gender roles confronting professional working women and drawing on spillover theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of work-life balance with an emphasis on the causes of the imbalances, perceived stress, and coping techniques experienced by female medical doctors in an African context - Nigeria, a geographical location that is considered under-researched.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The qualitative data is based on one-to-one in-depth interviews with 52 Nigerian female medical doctors.\nFindings: Based on the findings of the thematic analysis, it is clear that time squeeze, as a well-known factor in the medical profession, exacerbates negative work-home interference. However, other themes, such as patriarchal proclivities and task-pay disparity, that affect female doctors but are rarely considered in studies on work-life balance also emerged as sources of stress and work-family conflicts, leaving these doctors to devise individual coping methods as mitigating strategies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study relies on a limited qualitative sample size, which makes the generalisation of findings difficult. However, the study contributes to the limited literature on the implications of stress and work-family incompatibilities facing women in a society that is not particularly egalitarian, with an extremely pronounced culture of masculine hegemony that is contrary to western cultures. The article unveils the socio-cultural difficulties of the work-life demands facing women specific to the Nigerian society and experienced with a different level of intensity.\nOriginality/value: The majority of the research on work-life balance has been undertaken in western countries and has focused on various professional groups and organisations, including the health sector. Nevertheless, work-life balance is a novel concept within the Nigerian work environment, where female medical doctors, as a professional group, are rarely studied. The article also provides valuable insights into the macro-contextual features influencing the work-life balance of Nigerian professional women.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exchange transactions revisited: on the universal applicability of homo economicus
|
[
"Economic philosophy/theory",
"Ontology",
"Epistemology",
"Exchange transactions",
"Situational logics",
"Transactional processes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Whether and how people engage in quid pro quo exchange transactions depends upon how they interconnect meaning, purpose and action. So, before embarking on any exchange transaction individuals must have two cognitions. The first is a set of exchange expectations or goals - their desired exchange outcomes and their preferred mode of conduct in the transactional process. Their desired exchange outcomes are grounded in their intentional mental states - their preference sets that reflect their interests, represent their welfare, summarizes their idea of what should be done, and describe their actual choices (Sen, 1977, p. 335). Their preferred mode of transactional conduct is shaped by three considerations. The first is their assumptions about what has the causal capacity in the transactional arena to determine the behavior the actors engaged - agential (mental and physiological) factors; structural (socio-cultural and dialogical) factors; and/or relational (interpersonal) factors. The second is their perceptions of the other actors' attributes, that cannot be changed by acts of will (their facticities, Sartre's, 1943/1957) - their physiological characteristics (associated with gender, age, physical completeness and ethnicity) and their inherited psychological states embedded in neurobiological structures and processes that are the product of their genetic make-up (Buss, 1999; see also Wilson, 1976, 1978). The third is their perceptions of the other actors' ideational standpoints (such as their social, cultural, religious, political and economic ideas and beliefs). The second cognition is a firm belief that their exchange goals can be meet by engaging in a transaction process in their particular preferred way. This is grounded in their understanding of the fundamental qualities of the transactional arena in which the transaction process will take place; the motivations of the actors engaged in the transactional process; and the envisaged transactional process or course of the exchange interactions. These considerations become important when a mutually beneficial closure of an exchange transaction involves the achievement of exchange goals that are shaped by - even contingent upon - the actors' physiology and psychological facticities, their ideational standpoints, and their network of interpersonal relationships, all of which can determine whether and how they conduct the exchange transaction.\nA transactional arena: A transactional arena is taken to be the physical place within which exchange transactions occur on the basis of face-to-face contact. This can give rise to what Goffman (1959, p. 15) described as \"the reciprocal influence of individuals upon another's actions when in one another's immediate physical presence,\" which can result in the formation of mutually recognized relationships between the actors engaged because they have a common purpose (Bernard, 1926, pp. 438-439).\nThe transactional actors: The actors entering a transactional arena have a set of assumptions about that arena and the other actors present. This allows them to take the meaning from that arena (as acquire patterns of thought - beliefs and understandings - and as emotions aroused - \"the stuff of life\" (Elster, 1999, p. 403) - their habitus (Bourdieu, 1990). From this comes their set of self-evidently true (unquestionable and taken-for-granted) beliefs about that arena and those present - their doxa (Bourdieu, 1990). By connecting meaning, purpose and action (Audi, 1993), any spatio-physical, temporal, relational, socio-cultural, economic, linguistic and psychological features present in this arena can impact, consciously or unconsciously, on the cognitive dispositions toward particular courses of transactional action of the actors present.\nMaking sense of a transactional arena: The challenge that confronts every actor entering a transactional arena is to make sense of it, thereby \"becoming aware of a possibility [for action in it] against the background of reality\" (Wertheimer, 1961, p. 141). How the actors choose to explain and interpret a transactional arena, and the attitudes expressed and actions taken by others present, depends on their social-reality disposition (Dixon et al., 2009). This is their proclivity to perceive that arena and those present objectively (naturalist epistemology) or subjectively (hermeneutics epistemology), and to attribute the social actions of those present to factors that are internal to, and under the control of, action-takers (agency ontology) or external (structural ontology). This gives rise to four social-reality dispositions - epistemological and ontological configurations - naturalist-agency, naturalist-structuralism, hermeneutic-structuralism and hermeneutic-agency. These constitute the lenses through which cognitively consistent actors - those who strive to have thoughts that fit together without contradiction beyond a tolerable level of cognitive tension (Festinger, 1957; Heider, 1946; Osgood and Tannenbaum, 1955) - can \"observe\" - make sense of - a transactional arena by deciphering its situational logic (directional guidance) (Dixon et al., 2009). This they do on the basis of what elements of reality - everything, whether observable or not, that is accessible or understandable by any system of analysis (Peirce, 1932) - they judge to be irrelevant and, thus, ignorable without detriment (akin to Sen's, 1980 \"choice basis of description\"). Each lens permits the building of a coherent assumptive world - a meaning system or hypothetical worldview - with elements that are representational (genuine knowledge and truth propositions), constructive (socially constructed understandings), directive (needs or obligations) or evocative (emotional states or feelings aroused) (D'Andrade, 1984, pp. 96-101). This enables them to engage in a transactional arena as they imagine it to be (Geertz, 1983). The choice of preferred lens depends not only on the observers' epistemological and ontological proclivities but also on how they wish to engage with others in that arena. The latter is contingent upon on their preferred degree of self-determination of their decisions and actions.\nWhat the actors bring to a transactional arena: All four archetypal actors bring different attributes and qualities to a transactional arena.\nThe actors' conduct in a transactional process: All four archetypal actors bring different preferred modes of conduct in exchange transactions.\nConclusion: The unit of analysis in this paper has been the exchange process that takes place in a transactional arena between actors engaged in quid pro quo exchange transactions. This involved the demarcation and depiction of set of four Weberian archetypal social actors - homo economicus, homo hierarchus, homo sociologicus or homo existentialis - all of whom are hypothetical and scripted role-playing actors. If they become concrete - as if they actually describe the behavior of real people - there is the danger of reification, a phenomenon that Whitehead (1925, pp. 75, 77) referred to as the fallacy of misplaced concreteness. This obscures from any analysis of an exchange process - makes descriptively and analytically irrelevant - any particular human attributes and qualities that do not conform to those marked out in the reified archetype.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive classification of quid pro quo exchange transactions, so as to distinguish the different ways that desired exchange outcomes can be determined and that transactional processes can be conducted. This permits reflection on the generality of the theory of the individual embedded in neoclassical (orthodox) economics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach adopted is to draw upon the contending dichotomies in epistemology (naturalism or hermeneutics) and ontology (agency or structure) to demarcate and depict a set of Weberian archetypal social actors, so as to explore their cognitions and behaviors in a transactional arena. These archetypal social actors are hypothetical role-playing actors - they do not describe real people.\nFindings: These archetypal social actors, collectively, are suggestive of the profuseness of ways people can engage in exchange transactions. Each archetype's credibility is contingent upon the veracity of its ontological and epistemological standpoints. Each, indeed, has blindspots that permit the denied standpoints to be ignored without analytical detriment. None can, therefore, claim the status of a general theory of exchange process.\nOriginality/value: The paper's originality is that it explores exchange transactions from a variety of epistemological and ontological perspectives.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Property investment: gearing and the equity rate of return
|
[
"Leverage",
"Bank debt",
"Equity rate of return",
"Gearing",
"Investment risk",
"Project rate of return"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing(Warren Buffet, 1993[1]).\nIntroduction: All investments attempt to have positive returns. The greater the risk accepted by the investor, the higher the expected return. However, it is only with hindsight and a knowledge of the cash flow received over time, that an investor can say that positive returns were achieved:Investment is the giving up on a capital sum now, in exchange for benefits to be received in the future, such as an income flow and/or capital gain(Enever, 2009).\nGearing and downside risk: Gearing appears to offer the investor automatic higher returns. But that is beguiling. Let us look at the downside. Let us assume that having bought the properties, the market goes into recession and instead of capital appreciation, capital values fall by 1 per cent per annum. Likewise, the lettings fail and tenants are lost and relettings are at significantly below (40 per cent) the PS10 annual income. And interest rates increase to 10 per cent. On that basis, the cash flow is shown in Table VI.\nConclusion: This briefing has looked at the impact of gearing on the Equity Return of a simple property investment. The reality of a geared investment is that it is great when the market is performing well. A geared investment will give higher equity returns as long as the expected cash flow, income and capital, is as predicted or greater. However, the downside risk is that when the market declines or, at worse, crashes then the cash flows will all decline accordingly and, depending upon the exposure to the market and the degree of debt being serviced, then the equity returns will fall and can quickly go into negative returns that can be terminal on the investment/investor.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to comment upon the relatively straightforward but often misunderstood role of gearing (or leverage) on the potential equity return of a property investment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This education briefing is an explanation of the upside and downside risk of borrowing (at different levels) to successful investment.\nFindings: The use of gearing can greatly enhance equity returns but at an increased risk.\nPractical implications: The process of borrowing at a bank rate below the return rate on an investment project can increase the equity return of the project as long as all incomes and discount rate remain at appropriate levels.\nOriginality/value: This is a review of existing models.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Comprehensive management practices and policies performance model
|
[
"Employee performance",
"Human resource outcomes",
"Management practices and policies",
"Partial least squares SEM"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: We contend that the management principles and management process first described by Fayol (1916) combine with organizational behavior modification (Luthans and Stajkovic, 1999) to improve human resource outcomes such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, employee engagement, and workplace optimism which ultimately improve the performance of individual employees. There is concern that these management practices and policies, which once served as the foundation for successful management, are no longer sufficiently emphasized in either management education or management practice. Current research supports the concept that human resource processes and practices are accepted as an important direct factor (Sirca et al., 2013) and as a mediating factor (Lewicka and Krot, 2015) in organizational performance. Bloom and Van Reenen (2010) empirically established a link between the management practices of a firm and the firm's performance. We investigate the role that specific management practices and policies have on human resource outcomes and individual employee performance, rather than firm-level performance.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Theoretical foundation\n3. Methodology: Data were collected from 362 full-time employees working in the Southern USA. In total, 196 responses were collected during the spring of 2011 and the remaining 166 responses were collected during the spring of 2012. The sample is a convenience sample with the data being collected by students in MBA quantitative methods classes at Southern Arkansas University in southwest Arkansas who were asked to identify full-time workers and have those workers complete surveys as part of data collection assignments. It should be noted that, while students collected the data, the data were not supplied by students, rather by individuals holding full-time jobs. Sample demographics are displayed in Table II. In total, 44 percent of the responding full-time employees are compensated on an hourly basis, 52 percent are compensated on a salaried basis, and the remaining four percent are compensated on a commission basis. Respondents indicated that they worked for at least 11 different types of organizations. Respondents have been in their current positions an average of 6.4 years. Data were provided by a relatively experienced group full-time employees working for a relatively diverse array of organization types.\n4. Results: 4.1. Measurement scale validity and reliability\n5. Conclusions: 5.1. Discussion of findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a specific set of management practices and policies and policies (organizational behavior modification, the management principles, and the management process) on human resource outcomes and on individual employee performance. A comprehensive management practices and policies performance model is theorized and empirically assessed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data collected from a sample of full-time employees working in the Southern USA are analyzed using a partial least squares/structural equation modeling methodology.\nFindings: Considering the direct and indirect links among the constructs the authors conclude the following: organizational behavior modification, the management principles, and the management process combine to improve organizational commitment and job satisfaction; organizational commitment and job satisfaction combine to improve employee engagement and workplace optimism; and employee engagement and workplace optimism combine to enhance individual performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The model tested reflects the synergy created though the implementation of the management practices and policies and policies and the impact of that synergy on human resource outcomes and individual employee performance. This is the first assessment of this comprehensive model. Replication and verification of the model are suggested.\nPractical implications: Practitioners are provided with a framework for assessing the synergistic impact of the management practices and policies on human resource outcomes and individual employee performance. The theorized model and results provide practicing managers with a blueprint for the systematic implementation of the management practices and policies.\nOriginality/value: A comprehensive management practices and policies performance model is proposed and empirically assessed. The results support the proposition that implementation of the management practices and policies leads to improved human resource outcomes and individual employee performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Perceptions, preferences of scholarly publishing in Open Access journals: A survey of academic librarians in Africa
|
[
"Africa",
"Institutional repositories",
"Academic librarians",
"Scholarly publishing",
"Open Access routes",
"Self-archiving"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Open Access (OA) journals provide a wide range of information to researchers and users in general. OA refers to accessibility of all kinds of print that are published and can be accessed through the internet free of charge, which includes scholarly publications. Information, no doubt, is an integral part of man's daily activities and existence, and access to available information resources or scholarly publications should be a global concern to all stakeholders.According to the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2012, p. 1), OA is:\nResearch questions: The following research questions will be addressed in the study:\nLiterature review: Librarians and Open Access publishing in general\nMethodology: The study covered all academic librarians either practicing or lecturing in universities in Africa. An online questionnaire was designed to collect data using SurveyMonkey software (www.surveymonkey.com/r/BWQDV2T). The link to the questionnaire on SurveyMonkey was forwarded to e-mail addresses of academic librarians working in various universities in Africa. Their e-mail addresses were collected from the various university websites. Only academic librarians who have published papers were asked to respond. The respondents were reminded thrice in an e-mail to respond to the survey in their e-mail box.One major limitation for the study is the language barrier, as most of the Africa countries are French-speaking countries. The authors found it difficult to collect data from those countries, and they limited the study to English-speaking countries only. Second, many academic librarians do not check their e-mails regularly to enable them respond to a request to participate in an online survey; some of them do not have stable internet facilities, whereas others are reluctant to respond to an online questionnaire. These reasons lead to a low response rate which makes it difficult to generalize findings.In total, 789 e-mails where sent out to academic librarians working in universities in Africa. Out of the number, 402 academic librarians with response rate of 51.0 per cent in 87 universities in Africa responded to the survey. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected using SurveyMonkey, and the same software was used for the analysis of the data. The results are presented using tables and charts.\nResults: For the purpose of this study, the staff position/rank is placed into two broad categories:\nAwareness of Open Access publishing routes: Respondents were asked to indicate the level of awareness with each of the three OA routes (gold, green and diamond routes). Results in Figure 1 shows that out of the 402 respondents, 365 (90.8 per cent) indicated they are aware of the gold route. For clarity purpose, the \"gold\" route was explained in the questionnaire as publishing in an OA journal in which immediate OA is provided to all of their articles, usually on the publisher's website; 324 (80.6 per cent) respondents indicated that they are aware of the green route. The \"green\" route was explained as authors self-archiving articles published in a non-OA journal in their institutional repository for public access. A majority (300: 74.6 per cent) of the respondents indicated that they are not aware of diamond route of OA publishing. The \"diamond\" route was explained as peer-reviewed journals in which the articles are free to read and authors are free to publish in them. The correlation of overall awareness of OA publishing with staff category revealed that more (142: 81.6 per cent) of senior academic staff are aware of the OA publishing than the junior academic staff Table I.\nNumber of papers published in Open Access journals: Respondents were asked how many papers they have published in OA journals. Out of the 402 respondents, the largest number (116: 28.9 per cent) of the respondents indicated they had published only one paper in an OA journal, followed by 81 (20.1 per cent) respondents who indicated that they have not published any paper in an OA journal. The study further revealed that only a few respondents have published up to eight or nine papers in OA journals Tables II and III.\nFactors that inform librarians' choice of Open Access: Respondents were asked to indicate the factors that inform their choice of OA publishing using a Likert scale of very important, important, somewhat important and not important. The majority (271: 67.4 per cent) indicated reputation of journal and impact factor of journal (237: 59.0 per cent) as very important among the factors for their choice of OA. Academic librarians who choose OA journals want a wide readership of their paper and to attract citation of their work. Out of the 402 respondents, almost half (189: 47.1 per cent) indicated information dissemination and copyright retention (199: 49.5 per cent) as somewhat important among factors that inform their choice of OA.\nAwareness and use of self-archiving options: The respondents were asked to indicate their level of awareness and use of self-archiving options. The results in Table IV revealed that almost half (174: 43.3 per cent) of the respondents indicated that they know about the institutional repository in their institution, whereas more than half 205 (50.9 per cent) actually use it to self-archive their publications. More than half (210: 52.2 per cent) indicated that they know about ResearchGate, whereas almost half (169: 42.0 per cent) of the respondents indicated they actually use it to self-archive their publications; 157 (39.1 per cent) of the respondents indicated that they know about academia.edu but only 67 (16.7 per cent) actually use it to self-archive. The majority of the respondents (202: 50.2 per cent) indicated they are not familiar with kudos. Kudos is specially designed to help academics who have registered to share their work more widely.\nThe level of importance when selecting a journal to publish their article: Using a Likert scale of very important, important, somewhat important and not important, respondents were asked to indicate the level of importance when selecting a journal in which to publish. Free/OA (270: 67.2 per cent), refereed peer review (259: 64.4 per cent) and most widely read journal (271: 67.4 per cent) were among the options respondents indicated as very important when selecting journal to publish. More than half of the respondents rated relevance of the journal to my article (269: 66.9 per cent) and ease of submission (231: 57.5 per cent) as important in their decision on where to publish. Prestige of the journal (247: 61.4 per cent) was only considered as somewhat important in their choice of where to publish Table V.\nBarriers to publishing in Open Access journals: Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree (D) with the statements provided on barriers to publishing in OA journals using a Likert scale of strongly disagree (SD), D, agree (A) and strongly agree (SA). As shown in Table VI, the majority of the respondents (80.6 per cent) D and SD that delay of publication process is a barrier to publishing in OA journals. An overwhelming majority of the respondents (87.6 per cent) agreed and SA that author fees (article processing charges) are barriers to publishing in OA journals. With regard to journal impact factor, opinion is divided among the respondents that low impact factor is a barrier to publishing in OA journals. A majority (62.9 per cent) D and SD that lack of journal prestige is a barrier to publishing in OA journals. Concerning loss of author copyright control, opinion is divided among the respondents. Finally, the majority (78.2 per cent) agreed and SA that lack of stable internet connectivity is a barrier to publishing in OA journals.\nDiscussion of findings: Level of aware of Open Access publishing models\nConclusion: The study found that academic librarians are aware of the \"green\" and \"gold\" routes but not familiar with the \"diamond\" route. Training in the form of workshop should be organized to create the awareness for diamond route in which publishing and reading of articles is free. The study revealed that a large number of the academic librarians have published only one paper in an OA journal, followed by those who have not published any papers in OA journals. This study also revealed that the reputation and impact factor of the journal were seen as very important among the factors that informed them for choosing OA. The majority of the respondents agreed that author fees and lack of stable internet connectivity are the major barriers to publishing in OA journals. On the other hand, opinion is divided among the respondents on the low impact factor of a journal and copyright control as barriers to publishing in an OA journal.It is recommended that academic libraries in institutions of higher learning in Africa should organize seminars periodically on the need for their librarians to research and publish in OA journals. In the annual appraisals of staff, more marks should be awarded to authors who published in OA journals. Editors of OA journals need to market the OA titles so that more authors or researchers will become aware of this publishing venue.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selecting Open Access (OA) journal for publication and to identify the challenges librarians face with OA journal publishing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Online questionnaire was designed to collect data from 402 academic librarians in 87 universities in Africa using SurveyMonkey software.\nFindings: The study found that academic librarians are aware of the \"green\" and \"gold\" routes but not familiar with the \"diamond\" route. The study revealed that a large number of the academic librarians have published only one paper in OA journals, followed by those who have not published any paper in OA journals. The study also revealed that reputation of journal and impact factor of journal were seen as very important among the factors that inform them of choosing OA. The majority of the respondents agreed that author fees, and lack of stable internet connectivity are the major barriers to publishing in OA journals.\nPractical implications: The study recommends that academic libraries in institutions of higher learning in Africa should organize seminars periodically on the need for their librarians to research and publish in OA journals.\nSocial implications: Identifying factors involved in author decisions to publish in OA journals will help illuminate issues that may encourage or discourage author support of OA publishing models. Further understanding of these issues can assist the efforts to improve author perceptions of and confidence in OA publications.\nOriginality/value: It is believed that this study of African librarians publishing in OA journals is the first study in the region.\n",
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Campus bottled water bans, not always the solution
|
[
"Campus sustainability",
"Behavior changes",
"Tap water",
"Bottled water",
"Green campus"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The consumption of bottled water throughout the USA increases substantially each year. In 2015, 11.7 billion gallons of bottled water were consumed throughout the USA, a 7.6 per cent rise from the previous year (www.bottledwater.org/economics/bottled-water-market). Hu et al. (2011) report that younger generations are more likely to consume bottled water. A recent survey of over 1,000 college students reports that bottled water is the beverage they purchase most frequently and 43 per cent consume bottled water seven times or more per week (www.beveragemarketing.com/news-detail.asp?id=385). Increasing rates of bottled water consumption are often associated with the perception that tap water is unsafe. Other factors that result in a preference for bottled water include disliking the taste of tap water and the overall convenience of bottled water (Griffin and Dunwoody, 2000; Hu et al., 2011; Lalumandier and Ayers, 2000; Saylor et al., 2011; O'Donnell and Rice, 2012).\nBottled water on college campuses: Various studies indicate that undergraduate students are more likely to consume bottled water than graduate students, staff and faculty (Griffin and Dunwoody, 2000; Saylor et al., 2011), and females consume bottled water more often than males (Saylor et al., 2011). When surveyed, college students state that safety, taste, smell and convenience are the four main reasons why they prefer bottled water (O'Donnell and Rice, 2012; Saylor et al., 2011). Although students are concerned about the environment, they do not associate their daily actions with larger environmental issues (Ratnapradipa et al., 2011; Saylor et al., 2011).\nMethods: We conducted a survey over a four-week period in September and October 2014 on the Allegheny College campus located in downtown Meadville, Pennsylvania. Allegheny is a private, liberal arts college comprised of approximately 1,950 undergraduate students with water supplied by the municipal water authority, Meadville Area Water Authority. The water supply comes from seven wells, each with an approximate depth of 80 feet. The regional water authority conducts routine tests of water quality and distributes the results to consumers. Water quality is excellent (https://meadvillepawater.govoffice3.com/vertical/Sites/%7BEB63EC2C-4A5A-4CE9-8231-28BBB646C55F%7D/uploads/MAWA_2016_CCR.pdf).\nResults: A total of 596 surveys were completed which is approximately 31 per cent of the total student population. A greater number of females (54.7 per cent) responded to the survey than males (42.9 per cent), which reflects the distribution on campus at this time (55 per cent female and 45 per cent male). Response rates were fairly equal among class years: first (24.2 per cent), second (29.4 per cent), third (21.3 per cent) and fourth (25.0 per cent) year students. Responses by race reflected the composition of the college (86 per cent white, 5 per cent black or African American and 9 per cent other). Respondents represented all majors offered at Allegheny College with the greatest number of participants listing environmental science, biology and psychology as their majors, three of the most popular majors on campus.\nDiscussion: The results from this survey confirmed the prediction that the majority of bottled water consumed on Allegheny College's campus comes from off-campus purchases brought back by students. This conclusion alone indicates that a program such as \"Ban the Bottle\" would do little to support the reduction of plastic waste on campus or minimize other environmental implications of bottled water. The University of Vermont found that a bottled water ban actually increased the amount of plastic waste on their campus with students consuming more single-use soft drinks as a result of the ban (Berman and Johnson, 2015; Dobbs, 2015). Reflecting on this phenomenon, researchers suggest that just banning bottled water is not enough; you must provide a well-informed and researched solution to the behavior you want to change (Dobbs, 2015).\nConclusion: Through an extensive survey of college undergraduates at Allegheny College, the Environmental Science department and Sustainability Coordinator were able to determine a method by which to reduce plastic, disposable bottled water use on campus. Surveys indicated that first-year students are significantly more likely to rely on bottled water as their main source of drinking water, when compared to fourth-year students, a result that may demonstrate a culture of sustainability on campus. Concerns over tap water safety, inconvenience of refilling reusable water bottles and the quality of free reusable water bottles that are distributed by groups on campus, were all factors that students identified when selecting disposable bottled water. As a result of this knowledge, the campus added several bottle refill stations throughout campus to filter water and provide a convenient refill source for reusable bottles. In addition, the campus now provides incoming students with a metal water bottle upon arriving on campus, and within the bottle is information about water safety from the local water authority. This study identifies that sustainability efforts are not \"one size fits all\" for campuses and that the reason behind student behaviors must first be understood to address the problem. The results of this survey provide campuses with information to conduct their own research on bottled water use and identify the best methods to reduce participation in plastic waste production.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify how to reduce bottled water use on our campus, given that the majority of students were bringing it onto campus from outside sources. Bottled water bans have been implemented on several college and university campuses in an effort to reduce the consumption of bottled water and the associated waste. Observations on the campus of Allegheny College demonstrated that while bottled water was being consumed, students were not purchasing those bottles on campus.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To identify methods to reduce bottled water prevalence on campus, alter negative perceptions of local tap water and create behavioral changes among student, an environmental science class surveyed the student body. Students were asked about their preferred type of drinking water and why they preferred one type to another, as well as additional questions about reusable bottle ownership and usage.\nFindings: The data identified that disposable bottled water was most commonly consumed by first year students, with rates of use decreasing the longer students are on campus. Many students were concerned about the safety of tap water and did not like the taste.\nOriginality/value: As a result of this survey, Allegheny College has increased the number of filtered, bottle refill stations throughout campus and provides a high-quality, metal water bottle to all students upon beginning their first year. Students are also provided information about the safety of Meadville tap water, as well as the environmental and social benefits of choosing tap water over bottled water.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A building cost estimation model based on cost significant work packages
|
[
"Cost allocation",
"Cost estimates",
"Computer applications",
"Construction industry",
"Turkey"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Owing to the structure and physical characteristics of its products, the construction sector differentiates itself from the other sectors. Its objective is to get the highest productivity and quality within the scheduled time and the budgeted cost limits by utilizing the resources available. As the end product, namely the building, is unique and one of a kind, wide in scope and high in cost, creating a prototype is not only uneconomical but also impractical. Therefore, it is crucially important to produce a forecast of the probable total building cost; in other words \"to estimate the building cost of a future project, before the building has been designed in detail and contract particulars prepared\" (Ferry and Brandon, 1986; Seeley, 1983).In the globalizing construction sector, with the help of international partnerships and joint ventures, the number and size of projects are increasing, and the projects are getting more complicated and extensive. It is becoming more difficult to achieve the set objectives concerning the building costs. During the design phase, the probable building cost can be estimated using cost models based on traditional methods and techniques. However, accuracy of the estimation will depend on the level of the project data sources. Traditional building cost estimation methods have become ineffective in time, since projects have become larger, multinational and sophisticated. These methods have been replaced by computer-based practices, which are easier, time saving and have a more accurate estimate. The computer-based building cost estimation systems mostly rely on databases on which a great amount of project data is stored, processed and reported to users. This has positively affected the development of the building cost estimation practice that takes many parameters into consideration.In order to reflect the reality and to get more accurate estimates, the building cost databases that will be used in the estimation practice should be reliable and up-to-date. Relational database management systems (RDBMS) and online virtual environments (VE) that supports data and information shared among users all over the world may be a solution to the building cost estimation problem.\nDetermination of the problem: Cost estimation can be made at different phases of the building production process, starting with the inception and feasibility of the project, continuing with the preliminary design and detailed design (design development) phases, and finally ending with the completion of the project. Concentrating on the cost estimation at every phase of the building production process provides opportunities for projects that can be built in compliance with cost objectives previously set.The purpose of the cost estimating activities in the inception and feasibility phases is to determine the cost range with indications of quality or advice on owner's cost limits. Unit, cube or floor area methods may be employed. Cost planning in this phase refers to the process in which it is decided whether or not construction of the project is suitable under the prevailing physical and legal conditions. After the owner has decided to carry out the work, the cost limit is confirmed with the user's requirements, outline design and proposals. Approximate quantities based on assumed specs or cost of similar projects built previously may be used due to the lack of data for comprehensive cost estimation. At the preliminary design phase, a draft cost plan is prepared on the basis of a schematic design and statements of quality standards and functional requirements received from architects and engineers. Cost studies and checks are carried out during the detailed design and construction phase systematically to sustain the cost limits determined before. Data amount available that can be used for building cost estimating increases as the construction progresses. The most sensitive cost calculation can be made after the as-builds are drawn up at the completion of the project (Frank, 1994; Seeley, 1983; Killingsworth, 1988).The cost data to be used during cost estimation should be suitable to the phase of the building production process, and it should be reliable and updated so that the cost estimation can reflect the reality. It is of greater importance in terms of the projects to be built within high inflation risk.Construction companies bring together the cost data after the completion of contracts and settlement of final accounts generally. Historical cost data derived from similar projects provide feedbacks to assist future designs. It means larger construction companies has larger cost database. Periodically published cost indices, catalogues and some cost estimation software help professionals during building cost estimation process as well. Conversely, construction sector in developing countries, such as Turkey, suffers not only from lack of reliable and updated cost data but also inflation risk. Due to the competition and confidential nature, in-house cost data cannot be shared among construction companies. In order to make precise cost estimation there should be some tools, such as cost indices, catalogues and software. The only cost data that everyone in the Turkish construction sector can easily access is published annually by \"Ministry of Public Works and Resettlement\" in order to standardize public sector tenders. Computer-based applications in the Turkish market only help professionals prepare bill of quantities (BoQ) for tender documentation and monthly statements of ongoing projects, and calculate final accounts and variations between actual and estimated cost.In order to overcome the above-mentioned limitations on estimating the building cost of public sector projects, a research project was carried out in Istanbul Technical University (ITU) with financial support of the State Planning Organization (SPO).\nThe BMBS research project: \"ITU Construction Management and Building Cost Research Centre\" has worked on studies about building cost since 1996. One of these studies was the BMBS research project. The motivation behind the research project was to develop a \"Building Cost Information System\" for the Turkish construction sector. The short-term objectives of the project were to collect and store all the available cost data produced for the Turkish construction sector in a relational database, process the data and prepare reports in order to present brief information that professionals, academics and students need (Orhon et al., 1996). The research team has developed a software called \"BMBS\", which is the abbreviation for the building cost information system in Turkish. It works on a Progress(tm) relational database management system (RDBMS). The data structure of the BMBS software relies strictly on unit rates and analysis data published by the Ministry of Public Works and Resettlement. BMBS software has a series of modules that simulate a range of building cost estimation models for different phases of the building production process, such as unit method, elemental cost analysis, and cost significant work packages.One of the modules of the BMBS software is the simulation of the building cost estimation model based on cost significant work packages (CSWP) in the detailed design phase. Simply put, BoQ and project data are entered and a query is run among similar projects in the database. Similar projects and quantities of cost significant work packages are listed for the user. As the quantities of the work packages are entered by the user, the estimated total cost of work packages is calculated for the project concerned. Dividing the estimated total cost of work packages by the cost significant value factor (CSVF), the total building cost can be predicted. The BMBS building cost estimation model based on cost significant work packages can be used in the detailed design phase.The motive of development of such a module is to apply cost significance method to building construction. BRIDGET developed by Babtie, Shaw and Morton is the first successful application for predicting and controlling bridge construction costs using cost significance method (Horner et al., 1990).The objective of this paper is to discuss briefly the constraints stemming from the unstructured nature of the cost estimation practice in Turkey and introduce a generic computer aided building cost estimation model based on cost significant technique for the Turkish construction sector public projects in the detailed design phase. Prior to introducing the software, underlying principles of cost estimation based on cost significant work packages will be explained by means of manual calculations.\nEstimating based on cost significant items: BoQ is the traditional method that is commonly used by construction companies to predict the cost of a project in the detailed design phase and throughout the construction. BoQ is one of the most important components of the tender documents along with technical drawings, specifications, conditions of contract, etc. Once a project is defined in detail, every item of work needed to complete the project is listed and priced by estimators.An estimator should look for various factors that may influence the approach to pricing (Akintoye, 2000). For instance, the code of estimating practice by Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) documents estimating functions those have to be followed through estimation and with other departments of the construction companies.On the contrary, there is no guide to be followed in the cost estimation practice apart from in-house practices and experiences of the estimator in public sector tender procedures in Turkey. Pricing the items of work mostly depends on the owner of the project, either in the public or the private sector. In public sector tenders, contractors should calculate the tender price in accordance with the unit rates published by the Ministry. Alternatively, in private sector tenders, contractors could determine the tender price without fixed unit rate constraints. However, both procedures take considerable time to complete the list precisely and the operation is open to errors, if the estimator does not have any experience in pricing tenders. The list includes very large numbers of small items of work even for a small one-story housing project.BoQ for building work is counter productive and leads to ambiguities and differences in interpretation, creating a potential for dispute. An acceptable level of simplification can be achieved through the aggregation of work items, presently required to be measured separately (Edwards and Edwards, 1995).Horner and Asif (1988) identify characteristics of an ideal cost model as simplicity, flexibility, and generic relationships; in other words allowing successive refinement of one basic model and correspondence that is, a comparison of estimated and incurred costs. BoQ is based on standard methods of measurement, emphasizes building materials and components, and contains too much detail to effect rapid feedback that is essential for cost control.Cost significant estimating is suggested to overcome the problem of pricing bulk numbers of small work items (Horner and Zakieh, 1993, 1995; Munns and Al-Haimus, 2000). Cost significant estimating is based on Pareto's principle. The principle established by an Italian Economist, Vilfredo Pareto, holds that 80 per cent of the effect is caused by 20 per cent of the causes. Pareto's principle, now commonly called the 80:20 rule in everyday business, refers to fact that 80 per cent is often achieved by the 20 per cent. As we concern construction business we can say \"20 per cent of the work items contribute to 80 per cent of the total building cost\".\nThe model: It is a well known fact that basic steps in developing a building cost estimation model based on cost significant work packages are:* finding the cost significant work items in BoQ;* grouping similar work items together to select work packages; and* calculating a cost significance value factor (CSVF).In developing the model, 21 bills from reinforced concrete-framed residential building projects were studied. State Statistics Institute (SSI) data were taken into consideration to determine the construction type to be used in the model.Housing units occupy 85.01 per cent of the total number of buildings and 69.15 per cent of the total floor area (m2) according to the results of the building construction statistics of the second quarter of 2003. It is equal to 68.85 per cent of the total buildings' value in monetary terms. On the other hand, 86.35 per cent of the units are built as reinforced concrete-framed buildings of more than four stories (State Statistics Institute, 2003a, b).Finding the cost significant work items\nBuilding cost estimation process: Entering project characteristics and BoQ\nTesting the model: In order to test the model, the cost estimation process was run for 20 different reinforced concrete-framed housing projects, which will be built in Istanbul by means of public sector tendering procedures. The total construction area of the projects was between 1,000 and 1,500 m2 and the number of stories was between 4 and 5. Different contractors priced BoQ using the work items unit rate analysis published by the Ministry. It should be noted that projects that had been used in the development of the model were not used in the testing process.In the testing process, cost estimation steps of the model were followed up. Characteristics of each project were entered as a new housing unit. As the database query was finished, CSWPs and unit prices of them were listed in accordance with the characteristics previously entered by the user. The cost estimation steps were repeated for all 20 projects. The test results of the total bill value of CSWPs, the actual total bill value, and the total estimated bill value of the 20 projects are shown in Table IV.Differences between the total estimated bill value and the total actual bill value of the projects scattered among -16.60 per cent and +8.58 per cent. However, mean value -5.01 per cent indicates that difference between the total estimated bill value and the total bill value of 20 projects are acceptable. Meanwhile, the total bill value of CSWPs represents 77.80 per cent of the total bill value as we concern 20 projects.The more projects in the database means the more accurate CSVF and cost estimate. As the number of the similar projects in database is increased, the accuracy of the cost estimation is also increased. There should be historical data gathered from at least 30 housing projects to get statistically significant results.\nConclusion: It is a well-known fact that updated and reliable databases and information systems that support estimators are needed to make accurate cost estimation for different phases of the building construction process. Recent developments in information and communication technology enable to the development of such kinds of tools. However, the most important matter in cost estimation is the simplicity and applicability of the system to the factual cases. Cost estimation systems must be simple, reliable, flexible and convenient to the nature of the application area.There are also some constraints stemming from the unstructured nature of the cost estimation practice in Turkey, such as a lack of guides and catalogues to be followed in cost estimation practices, insufficient cost data collection mechanisms, high inflation risk, etc. In public sector tenders, contractors should calculate the tender price in accordance with the unit rates published by the Ministry. Estimators mostly use the BoQ method in pricing tenders. It takes considerable time to complete the BoQ precisely, and the operation is open to errors if the estimator does not have any experience.In order to overcome limitations on estimating building costs of public sector projects, a research project was carried out in ITU. Computer-aided cost estimation systems have been developed for different phases of the building construction process. The building cost estimation model based on cost significant work packages is the simplified version of the BoQ method. It is developed for public sector projects in the detailed design phase.The software is currently in the testing phase and is being used for educational purposes. There are some future works that should be made:* making use of both public sector and current market prices in the cost estimation process;* increasing projects stored in the database for more accurate results;* estimating costs of different types of projects, such as commercial and educational buildings; and* calculating the cost significant value factor more precisely by using statistical techniques, those being employed by global cost models.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The objectives of this paper are to discuss the constraints stemming from the unstructured nature of the cost estimation practice in Turkey and introduce a generic computer aided building cost estimation model based on a cost significant technique for Turkish construction sector public projects in its detailed design phase.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research design was based on the simplified version of the bill of quantities method and a cost significant estimating model works on a cost database was suggested to overcome the problems. Underlying principles and basic steps of cost estimation based on cost significant work packages was explained by means of manual calculations.\nFindings: - In order to automate the manual building cost estimation process, the software based on cost significant work packages was developed.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The software is currently in the testing phase and is being used for educational purposes. Making use of both public sector and current market prices in the cost estimation process, increasing number of projects stored in the database for more accurate results, estimating costs of different types of projects and calculating the cost significant value factor more precisely by using statistical techniques, those being employed by global cost models are suggested for future research.\nPractical implications: - As the number of the similar projects in database is increased, the accuracy of the cost estimation is also increased.\nOriginality/value: - Estimators and graduate students can use the software to estimate building cost of public housing projects in its detailed design phase.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Concepts and effects: ordering and practice in foresight
|
[
"Futures",
"Culture",
"Anticipation",
"Concept",
"Pattern",
"Pragmatism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This paper makes the case that concepts have effects and that these effects are expressed, tested and adjusted through our practice. This means there is a dialogical movement between concepts and practice. This is the broader pragmatic concern of this investigation: the interface of concept and action. For me this is a pedagogical question because it involves the communication and practice of futures concepts. The justification for such an inquiry is that clarity around the conceptual framework of foresight practice strengthens the field and offers us tools to guide and validate what we do. I begin the inquiry into concepts and effects by looking at first principles in the practice of foresight.\nFirst principles: the research context: Eminent futurist Richard Slaughter once noted that the future is a principle for present action. This should be regarded as a fundamental principle in foresight practice as it links action with the conceptual space of the future. It holds the ethical force needed to \"awaken\" people to needs and relationships beyond the immediate present. In doing so it does two important things. It brings the future into the present and anchors it in our lives while extending the temporal coordinates needed for truly living in an extended present.\nFirst principles as futures narrative: These first principles structure both reflection and practice and generate an open and dynamic space for cultural evolution and social learning. Historically we live in a period of \"waking up\" (Korten, 2006; Macy, 2007) in which self-consciousness is no longer the privilege of a small elite. The future acts as an attractor in this process and demands attention in a way that it did not in pre-modernity. In this sense the future has been a luxury of the affluent yet it is becoming an increasingly distributed open-access zone for reflecting and acting in ways that empower from the grassroots up (Hawken, 2007; Parkin, 2010). Technically much of this dispersal is due to the open systems that characterise our increasingly globalised environment, but conceptually it is also due to the essential pragmatism of foresight work.\nPragmatic orientation: Futures concepts are relatively simple but nonetheless powerful elements in a foresight practitioner's lexicon as they frame what is intelligible, ground our practice in an ethical orientation to both the future and those in the present while supplying direction and a \"greater purpose\" to our working lives. They also scaffold, as Inayatullah (2008a) ably demonstrated in his Six Pillars article, our approach to foresight work. The following sections are fragments from my \"Futurist's Lexicon\". This is obviously a work in progress. The reflections are organic and produced through the \"doing\" of the work.\nThe future: As just noted concepts have effects in the world of action. The place to begin then is with the concept of the future. The future has effects. We study the future because assumptions about it affect actions in the present. Or to put it another way: our assumptions about the future inform our decisions and actions today. Just as the past no longer exists but has effects in the present so the future, which is in no way tangible, works in the present through our own beliefs, values and expectations (Bussey et al., 2012b). Foresight work is an attempt to become contextually aware of the world around us and of our relationship with the \"reality\" out there. Its focus is on how assumptions about the future shape current actions, policy and strategy, aspirations and fears and the relational and cognitive nets that maintain these.\nCausality: Causality is a concept in its own right with its own set of effects. The temptation is to understand causality as a linear driver rather than as an organising node around which actions and effects cluster. Causality itself does not push things along as on a conveyor belt but effects via relational and nested responses to context. Thus CLA suggests a way of reading and ascribing agency that is nested and contextual rather than privileging any one layer over others (Inayatullah, 2004).\nPatterning: Coming to foresight work with a background in history and the arts has helped me see how human beings are pattern makers (Bussey, 2008). They do not simply look at the stars and see stars. They see patterns in the stars and ascribe meaning to these. The early work of Joseph Campbell (2008) and William Irwin Thompson (2004) understood such patterning as mythic in nature. Roberto Calasso (1993) has revealed how such mythic patterning can be understood via a social and cultural reading, while Deleuze and Guattari (1987) describe it via their metaphor of the rhizome. Similarly, both Steven Pinker (2011) and George Lakoff (2005) have, in their own ways, demonstrated that pattern via meme and metaphor shape human activity.\nClosed and open futures: This simple conceptual dichotomy is a powerful set of variables as each holds the psycho-emotional space for a range of futures. Much of the foresight practitioner's work involves helping people move from closed to open states and in seeding the resilience needed to manage both the turbulence and the ensuing uncertainty that results from this shift. The Shell Scenario (Shell International, BV, 2008) team describe this as moving from elation at starting the scenario journey through to disorientation and then back to elation as scenarios come into focus. They warn that the emotional rollercoaster as individuals and groups gain momentum in the process can generate stress.\nCulture: Approaching the future as a tool for transformation requires futurists to help stakeholders identify aspects of the environment that will prevent, distort or enable transformative action. Culture is a composite of patterns that do all of these things. This is true both of a civilisational culture or the very local cultures of family, communities and institutions. Culture is definitely a mixed bag. As a concept it has very clear effects as it is often used in a way that disempowers those who live in it. Cultural elites do promote ideas of culture that offer us high culture and low culture, in which high culture is aligned with a sense of purity and authority and low culture is populist and crude.\nPractical imagination: Imagination is another concept that has clear effects. It is that which can undo the common place and make the present remarkable. At all moments in the evolution of culture human beings have had to imagine the next step. They have done this collectively because, as Spencer Wells (2010, pp. 112-113) reminds us, we are \"social machines that produce and refine ideas\". This mimetic capacity, first theorised by Richard Dawkins (1989), to generate and disseminate concepts has been key to the social evolution of our species. It has involved a dance between the individual and their collectives. This movement has been essentially practical.\nAnticipation: Anticipation covers both our preferences and our fears. It is a powerful concept with clear effects in the world of action. On the one hand the word evokes a sense of promise, and this is important to any futures practice, as to see the future as only a place of dark foreboding diminishes our ability to respond proactively and with the necessary mixture of courage and imagination. Yet we also need to have the real fear of collapse and decline to goad us into both personal and collective action.\nBrief case study: Recently I have been working with colleagues involved with the Regional Centre of Expertise West Sweden. This is a UN sponsored project that is seeking to revitalise culture and business in the Gothenburg area of Sweden. The project is exploring a distributed organisational structure. We ran workshops with key stakeholders that looked at how to lead without disempowering. We went through pretty standard futures processes over two days moving from emergent issues analysis to futures wheels and then on to a CLA of the issue of power and leadership.\nConclusion: Drawing on this sketch and the reflections it seeks to illustrate the future can be understood as a learning category that is always normatively grounded in a specific foresight context. This grounding is essential to the pragmatic concerns of those in context and determines the foresight practitioner's own response to the foresight encounter. This means that foresight work is inherently partisan as it seeks to gain advantage for those in a context. This partisanship can be toxic in a closed futures environment where comparative advantage is the modus operandi of a tunnel visioned and narrow evolutionary protocol. In an open futures context it takes on an ethical dimension in which advantage is not calculated in a zero sum way but in a context in which participatory and co-creative outcomes nest advantage across and between systems.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: This article seeks to reflect on the role of key concepts in foresight and futures work. The goal is to explore a set of concepts and link them to the effects they have in the world of foresight practice. It is argued that concepts order foresight practice and that though each foresight context and practitioner is unique, concepts bring a sense of order and coherence to foresight work and futures thinking. This reflection is placed in the context of a set of first principles the author acknowledges as his starting place for futures thinking and foresight practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper takes the form of conceptual analysis.\nFindings: Concepts have effects and these can be assessed based on their ability to increase social and personal resilience in contexts characterised by change, complexity and uncertainty.\nResearch limitations/implications: Foresight practitioners clarify their own values and ethics through reflection on the concepts they use and the processes they deploy when working with clients.\nPractical implications: More reflective foresight practice; greater conceptual clarity when reflecting on and communicating/teaching foresight and futures thinking.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers a basis for orienting foresight work towards the broader social goal of resilience through a deepened appreciation of how concepts inform process and structure meaning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Study of collaborative PRM business model for sustainability
|
[
"Sustainable development",
"Product recovery management (PRM)",
"Collaborative PRM",
"Competitive PRM",
"Closed-loop supply chain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Rapid growth of industrialization, particularly in the developing countries like China and India, mostly results in high technological obsolesce, high rates of replacement, and increasing demand for products, which are significantly affecting the global environment. Issues like increase in pollutants level, gaseous emissions, chemical discharges from production plants, discharge of material containing lead, mercury, cadmium are seriously degrading the global ecosystem, including human health. Most of the environmental problems are either related to the production, transportation, or use of energy. For example, to generate one kilowatt of electricity, a power plant discharges about 1 kg of CO2 and 7 kg of SO2 (Dincer and Rosen, 2007). The flourishing consumer electronics industry is producing approximately 42 million tons of electric and electronic waste per year globally. Environmental problems have been a worry in the recent few years and the concept of sustainability is growing its importance to protect the global ecosystem and find its solution. Sustainability is basically defined as the longevity of systems and processes. The concept of sustainable development (SD) was first derived, including the scope for environmental, during 1980s (International Union for Conservation of Nature, Natural Resources, and World Wildlife Fund, 1980) and suggestions were discussed on the three prime dimensions: social factors, ecological factors, and economic factors. Bilgen and Sarikaya (2015) also discussed a sustainable model considering the above three dimensions for present and future business houses. Green chemistry, green engineering, and SD are some related concepts used interchangeably, and all of them focus on environmental protection and societal development. Almost every country has its own legislations, laws, and restrictions for protecting environment from hazardous chemicals, gaseous emissions, and land filling or incineration. For developed and western countries, the laws are much stringent, while in developing countries, government is highly concerned about the sustainable issues, and legislations would be stringent in a few years (Parikh, 2012; Higgins, 2013; Wichelns and Qadir, 2015; Zhang et al., 2015).\n2. Literature review: Several studies on the product recovery management exist in the current literature such as Fleischmann et al. (1997), Thierry et al. (1995), Guide and Van Wassenhove (2009) which evaluate the research on CLSC for developing a sustainable business model. Many researchers identify the key drivers for innovating sustainability, framework for establishing SD, various challenges that sustainability faces, and benefits of SD (Nidumolu et al., 2009; Blizzard and Klotz, 2012; Gimenez et al., 2012; Tseng et al., 2013; Sriram et al., 2013; Genovese et al., 2017). Different drivers and barriers for sustainable business model like environmental values, employee welfare, governmental legislation, incentives, public pressure, cost savings, competiveness, customer demand, CSR practices, shortage of staff and time, no clear environmental benefit are recognized by researchers (Tukker et al., 2000; Yuksel, 2008; Gabzdylova et al., 2009; Diabat and Govindan, 2011; Zhu and Zhang, 2015; Govindan et al., 2015; Ren, 2009; Bhardwaj, 2016; Kucuksayrac, 2015). SD was mainly constructed based on environmental safety concepts (Hertwich et al., 1997; Angell and Klassen, 1999; Kerr and Ryan, 2001; Hauschild et al., 2004; Ammenberg and Sundin, 2005; Karlsson and Luttropp, 2006; Morrow et al., 2007; Parikka-Alhola, 2008; Matsumoto, 2009; Dangelico and Pontrandolfo, 2010; Winkler, 2011; Xiaoyan, 2012; Seuring, 2013; Liu et al., 2014; Das and Posinasetti, 2015). Manufacturing firms also adopt different SD strategies to gain high profit from their businesses. These business models are classified into two types of business strategies: the competitive strategies and the collaborative strategies. Competitive business model generally leads to the company's economic sustainability, whereas collaborative business model helps the company to maintain the three bottom line concept of sustainability.\n3. Methodology: An extensive literature review has been carried out with the use of databases like Elsevier, SCOPUS, Emerald, Taylor and Francis, and Sage to explore the effect of collaborative and competitive business model in product recovery management using keywords such as \"collaborative business model in remanufacturing\" and \"competitive business model in remanufacturing\" within title, abstract, and keywords.\n4. Discussion: From the literature, we could identify business models for collecting cores, establishing relationship with IR, and redistribution of remanufacturing products. We recommended developing \"brick and click\" business model to collect used products from end users. Brick (offline) helps to collect cores from retailers, independent repair shops by giving buy-back offers and also from customers through different servicing packages. Click (online) helps to acquire cores through websites, mobile apps, telephone ordering, etc.; in such case, anyone can sell/return their used products to the OEM anytime. Offline and online business model helps OEM to deal with maximum numbers of users. Online model also follow \"cutting out middle man model\" as customers can directly approach to OEM for returning their used products. Collective business model makes easy to share information about product designs, types of components, technology, and makes flow of raw material and cores simpler. It can also pool resources and provide other benefits for their supply chain members. OEM can understand about the demand and the attitude of customers for green products by franchising model. Franchising model helps OEM to collaborate with distributors and retailers of different places to sell its remanufactured parts. They shared information about demand, customer type, profit and other costs with each other. While comparing between competitive and collaborative PRM, we identified that competitive PRM is more focused on economic benefit rather than environmental benefit. Being competitive each firm tries to push back another firm from the market. To improve economic performance, firms neglect their environmental and social responsibilities which have negative influence on the sustainability. OEM and IR compete with each other for gaining market position for selling their new products and remanufactured products. OEM makes strategies to gain customer's attention through different pricing policies and tries to insist on IR to move its focus on recycle market instead of the sales market (Shi et al., 2015a, b; Wu, 2015). Mobile handsets and automobile parts maker companies remanufacture their EOL products. Independent remanufacturers also capture a large share of remanufacturing market of mobile handsets and automobile parts. OEM keeps selling price of its remanufactured parts low since IR cannot compete in sales market and OEM managed to divert IR from sales market to recycling market (Rathore et al., 2011). Literatures show that collaboration helps industries to maintain three bottom line concepts, such ecology, economy, and social, toward sustainability. Table X shows some company initiatives for economic, environmental, and social sustainability.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, the role of collaborative and competitive PRM toward SD is discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of both collaborative and competitive PRM are also summarized. Further role of collaborative and competitive business models toward sustainability are also shown. Collaboration establishes three basic concepts of sustainability: economic, environment, and social. Competition improves productivity but it increases threats for the companies for long-term business goals of sustainability. We identified issues to build the successful mechanism for collaborative and competitive business models from literature. This paper shows that competition increases economic performance and collaboration develops the business strategies for the firms to sustain in the market, i.e. for long-term business objectives. We represented different collaborative and competitive relationship among actors within CLSC.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: Sustainable development comprises three bottom line concepts, i.e. protect environment, improve economic performance, and social performance. Business organization with only profitability as the primary objective may lead to a highly competitive market which mainly focuses on financial performance and pay less attention to environmental and social performance. Companies that adopt the product recovery activities also select economic performance as the prime priority of their business objectives. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief idea about a different kind of business model other than conventional business models. Here, the authors aim to represent collaboration among firms, companies, and players within a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) to build a leading business model that establishes three basic concepts of sustainability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: From literature the authors identified that the primary objective of establishing a sustainable business model is environmental issues but achieving economic performance and gaining market share increase competition among companies. The authors also identified that increasing financial performance results in the development of a competitive business model. This literature review helps to represent the concept of collaborative business model, its benefit, and its mechanism and also helps to compare it with competitive business model in terms of sustainability.\nFindings: In case of the collaborative business model, the authors found that collaboration is better than competition to sustain in the market. The authors described the collaborative business model and mechanism of both competitive and collaborative business strategies in a CLSC. The authors gave an idea to adopt some well-known business model and pricing policies for the collaborating firms. The authors presented a comparison between the collaborative and competitive business model and also identified different types of collaborative and completive relationship among the players within a CLSC.\nOriginality/value: Government legislations, e-waste rules, and environmental rules involve original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for taking back its end-of-life (EOL)/end-of-use products. A collaborative business model helps OEM to manage those huge amounts of used products by involving third parties within the supply chain. Here, in this paper the authors represent different collaborative parties and their purpose for collaboration, and also represent a strong belief that collaborative business model is the recent trend for establishing sustainability than competitive business model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Public science communication on Twitter: a visual analytic approach
|
[
"High-dimensional visualization",
"Message frames",
"Microblogs",
"Public engagement with science",
"Science communication",
"Visual analytics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The current ethos of science communication, driven by policy (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2003), advocates engaging the public in dialogue (Nisbet and Scheufele, 2009). As a consequence, research funding bodies typically require public engagement and dissemination of findings beyond scholarly communities (see, e.g. the UK Research Councils' strategy for public engagement at www.rcuk.ac.uk/pe, and the European Commission's policy on public engagement at http://ec.europa.eu.pitt.idm.oclc.org/research/swafs/index.cfm?pg=policy&lib=engagement). Social media are the latest in a series of technologies which have shaped scientific communication and enabled scientists to disseminate their research more widely (Hogan and Sweeney, 2013). It has been noted (Meyer and Schroeder, 2009) that online access to scientific discussion gives the public access to scientific information which has not been mediated by the traditional communication professions of science journalism, documentary film-making, etc. Journalists have thus also had to adapt to compete with other communicators exploiting new media (Fahy and Nisbet, 2011; Hermida, 2010). Events related to scholarly content on social media are being explored as potential indicators of research impact (Priem et al., 2012) and research communities have embraced social media for informal communication (Ponte and Simon, 2011; Darling et al., 2013; Bar-Ilan et al., 2012; Weller et al., 2011; Mandavilli, 2011). For science organisations, Web 2.0 has become integral to public relations, and means are being sought to quantify its impact at an organisational level (Roemer and Borchart, 2013). Individual scientists are also aware of the public engagement agenda: Letierce et al. (2010) have shown that although researchers' main motivation for tweeting is to communicate with members of their own community (89 per cent), some also try to reach general audiences (45.9 per cent). As a source of altmetrics about formal publications, Twitter has low coverage compared to other social media such as Mendeley (Zahedi et al., 2014). However, scientists play only one part in the bigger picture - science organisations, journalists, lobbyists, and the general public also have important contributions to make. We find microblogs, specifically Twitter, of interest because of the low barrier to entry compared to other social media such as blogs and discussion forums. They also have the advantage of being an open forum, including people who would not normally, or ever, read scholarly literature.\nLiterature review: We have identified several studies, which address public scientific communication in microblogs. Some are topic focused, considering issues such as climate change (Hubmann-Haidvogel et al., 2012), nanotechnology (Veltri, 2013), and astronomy (Wilkinson and Thelwall, 2012). Others look at the dispersion of messages (Chew and Eysenbach, 2010; de Domenico et al., 2013), while a number focused on Twitter activity around events (Adams et al., 2011; Desai et al., 2012). These publications confirm interest in analysing scientific microblogs and point to a diversity of analytical methods, with the results targeted at audiences with different perspectives.\nMethods: This study observed one trending topic (the Curiosity landing) to represent a large-scale event, and two non-trending topics (phosphorus and permafrost), which were identified as topics in which previous research showed low, but consistent, Twitter activity (Uren and Dadzie, 2011). Non-trending communication about science can be assumed to involve what Miller (1983) characterises as attentive groups: fewer in number, but persistently engaged. The samples provide contrast, allowing us to investigate whether methods for studying trending topics transfer to non-trending, but not less important, topics.\nResults: Figure 1 summarises the pertinent frames identified for each data set and Table III presents the inter-coder agreement results. Note that the frame agreement values are more variable than batch agreement. For example, the Fun frame typically has only moderate agreement, possibly because humour is very personal (the coders had an eight year age difference and different cultural backgrounds), whereas the Other languages code had high agreement (note it is not 100 per cent because some tweets use two languages, e.g., English and Arabic, and it was then down to the judgement of the coder whether they could assign it using the English text alone).\nLimitations: This study has considered only three scientific topics sampled in two consecutive years. Although these illustrate a range of frames, they cannot be representative of all scientific topics, having been selected only to illustrate trending and non-trending topics. It is not possible to conclude with absolute certainty, from the data gathered, what the lower sample size limits are.\nConclusions: The first research question was whether this method supports the analysis of dynamic changes in non-trending topics. That Twitter has potential to monitor engagement with newsworthy science topics or big science events, like Curiosity, is expected. Studies of science communication suggest that space exploration events typically generate significant interest (Baram-Tsabari and Segev, 2011), and that the sector of the public that is interested in science has a positive attitude, overall, toward space exploration (Entradas et al., 2013). We have, further, demonstrated that we can observe dynamic changes to the framing of science communication for less populous topics, such as Phosphorus and Permafrost, which had only tens of tweets on some of the days sampled.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess high-dimensional visualisation, combined with pattern matching, as an approach to observing dynamic changes in the ways people tweet about science topics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The high-dimensional visualisation approach was applied to three science topics to test its effectiveness for longitudinal analysis of message framing on Twitter over two disjoint periods in time. The paper uses coding frames to drive categorisation and visual analytics of tweets discussing the science topics.\nFindings: The findings point to the potential of this mixed methods approach, as it allows sufficiently high sensitivity to recognise and support the analysis of non-trending as well as trending topics on Twitter.\nResearch limitations/implications: Three topics are studied, these illustrate a range of frames, but results may not be representative of all science topics.\nSocial implications: Funding bodies increasingly encourage scientists to participate in public engagement. As social media provides an avenue actively utilised for public communication, understanding the nature of the dialog on this medium is important for the scientific community and the public at large.\nOriginality/value: This study differs from standard approaches to the analysis of micropost data, which tend to focus on large-scale data sets. It provides evidence that this approach enables practical and effective analysis of the content of midsize to large collections of microposts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A memory theory perspective of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity
|
[
"Memory",
"Animosity",
"Ethnocentrism",
"Buyer behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The recurring occurrences of international disputes should worry or at least bother marketers. Take the recent dispute between China and Japan over territorial claims in the East China Sea for example (see The Sankei Shimbun, 7 November 2010). The incident has led to mass protests in both countries and consumer boycotts of each other's products (www.asahi.com/english/TKY201012230276.html). These negative repercussions on businesses similarly accompanied other territorial conflicts such as the Spratly Islands dispute between Philippines and China (see www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36780967).\n2. Conceptual development: 2.1 Consumer ethnocentrism and animosity\n3. Part 1 - free elicitation survey: 3.1 The pretest\n4. Part 2 - two-phase quantitative surveys: 4.1 The surveys and samples\n5. Discussions: Overall, three key findings emerged from this study. First, consumer animosity increases reluctance-to-buy foreign products, but its effects are temporary as consumer animosity disposition is no longer salient after the dispute has passed. Second, consumer ethnocentrism is stable and strong, and this reinforces research that suggests that consumer ethnocentrism is deeply ingrained in people's psychic (Kinder and Kam, 2010; Russell et al., 2011). Combined, the differential temporal characteristics of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity mean that single-shot cross-sectional surveys may lead to misleading findings. Third, consumer ethnocentrism is antecedent to consumer animosity. All these findings are consistent with and explainable by the theory of episodic and semantic memory.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study contends that consumer ethnocentrism and animosity rest on semantic and episodic memory, respectively. It further examines how the influence of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity on consumer boycott behaviour may vary over time and use the memory theory to explain these temporal differences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Part 1 involved an experiment to demonstrate the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism/animosity and semantic/episodic memory. To determine the temporal characteristics of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity, Part 2 involved two quantitative surveys (one each in China and Japan), followed by another two surveys six months later.\nFindings: Part 1 showed that consumer ethnocentrism and animosity were underpinned by semantic and episodic memory, respectively. Consistent with memory theory, Part 2 found that consumer ethnocentrism was temporally more stable than animosity. Consumer animosity influenced boycott behaviour during but not after the dispute, whereas consumer ethnocentrism influenced boycott behaviour during as well as the dispute. Finally, consumer ethnocentrism was antecedent to consumer animosity, siding with the relationship between semantic and episodic memory.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limited to two countries, both with collectivistic culture. A longitudinal approach over multiple phases would further enhance the robustness of the findings.\nPractical implications: Understanding the psychological underpinning of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity would allow firms to develop effective marketing strategies to appeal to consumers' ethnocentric and animosity dispositions.\nOriginality/value: The first study to examine the psychological underpinnings of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity by drawing on the memory theory.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
High-performance benchmarking of manufacturing processes with object-based modeling
|
[
"Manufacturing",
"Industrial processes",
"Integrated enterprise modelling",
"Object class hierarchies",
"Process benchmarking",
"Process modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Companies are continuously striving for higher performance to secure their competitive advantage. This can often be enforced by looking beyond their own perimeters. Complex and strategic questions require tools to support corporate decision processes in their early stages. The objective of this work is to develop a method that can be applied for benchmarking evaluations of value-added processes in the manufacturing industry. As evaluation intuitively starts by comparing the developed tool is based on benchmarking techniques. Consequently, the operationalization of value-added manufacturing processes is required to enable this kind of comparability. Their benchmarking range should not be limited to locations, industry sectors, processes or products. Looking back into the benchmarking technique history, this research refers to Camp's (1989) position that best practice business processes can be either identified among direct product competitors, among functional industry leaders or they can be generic processes themselves. Generic processes enable process benchmarking independently of the industry sectors. Process benchmarking primarily investigates the underlying success factors according to Kohl (2007) and its perspective beyond the own industry allows for a higher benchmarking demanding level (Topfer, 1997). Examples of process benchmarking are customer service improvement in banking through benchmarking with the service of Singapore Airlines (Karlof and Ostblom, 1995), or the benchmarking between the assembly processes of a chocolate manufacturer and the printed circuit board mounting process from the semiconductor industry (Mertins and Kohl, 2009). Also in this period, Hewitt et al. (1996) note that the benchmarking evolution has moved from single function focus toward process benchmarking as well as cross-functional, cross-sectoral and value-oriented benchmarking. The literature has mainly focused on the superiority of process benchmarking referring to business processes, while the focus of this work is on industrial value-added processes. As support services along the life cycle of the product are gaining importance to fulfill customers' requirement (Asjad et al., 2012) they are also considered as supporting processes for the industrial value-added processes. Benchmarking can help to detect suitable or innovative ways to enhance supportability independent of the underlying physical product or the existing branches.\n2. Operationalizing industrial value-added processes: From the modeling perspective, value-added processes are key as production strategies are derived from industrial value-added processes. Value-added processes are referred to any production processes within the manufacturing industry. In order to benchmark production processes across industry sectors and locations a tool has been developed to operationalize them through normalization. The modeling concept for any value-added process requires a defined process modeling tool that will enable benchmarking. The modeling tool is derived from the process model depicted in Figure 1 which comprises four perspectives including the value-added process itself. The remaining three perspectives are product, resources and the industry sector together with corporate strategy. The inherent process is independent from the product. Both processes and products form a functional unit. This functional unit of the value-added process and the product is further independent from industry sector and strategy. The strategy is the base to which the processes are aligned to. This is brought by the overall corporate strategy which includes both competitive and internationalization strategies. Furthermore, value-added processes are independent of their locations. Location characteristics are only related to the perspectives product, resources and strategy/sector. This location-independent value-added process analysis also corresponds to the benchmarking principle that best practice processes can be found worldwide. Finally, this model enables us to autonomously focus on the distinct value-added process irrespective of any influencing factors which are considered in the other perspectives product, resources and sector/strategy. In order to purely focus on the inherent value-added process all these factors have been decoupled from it.\n3. Methodology: five steps of modeling value-added processes: The modeling tool includes five steps. In steps 1-4 the components of the Generic Activity Model are successively built up. The first step is setting the modeling scope. That means that one competitive business area has to be selected and its corresponding database that can be manufacturing, product development or assembly. (Figures 8 and 9).\n4. Benchmarking: The main instrument for benchmarking is the individual combination of characteristics using a so-called filter matrix. Given the top management evaluation task, the filter matrix is used to select the combination of relevant benchmarking characteristics. On the basis of typical strategic questions some common benchmarking filter combinations can be formulated. The chosen benchmarking filter combinations result in respective benchmarking profiles. Each benchmarking profile has its own benchmarking performance level. The benchmarking performance level is defined by its degree of independence in terms of location, product, processes and industry sector. The fact of identifying and transferring best practices across processes, sectors and locations is associated with the higher level of benchmarking performance. For instance, similar best practices are superior if they are generic processes rather than being found among direct product competitors (Camp, 1989). A prominent example is the aforementioned product-independent benchmarking between the chocolate manufacturer and the circuit board manufacturer in the electronics industry. The best practice in mounting process was found with the chocolate manufacturer (Mertins and Kohl, 2009). All benchmarking profiles can be classified to the benchmarking performance level and be located within a portfolio matrix.\n5. Case study: site location analysis through product-independent process benchmarking: Structural parts made of carbon fiber composite materials are used in the automotive industries and are characterized by their solidity and light weight. It has been a mature technology for decades; however, the industrialization and automation of its production process are still technological challenges. The mass production does not seem to be an easy journey for high complex parts. The core competencies lie in the production of raw materials and the manufacturing process, which is characterized by a high degree of manual labor for complex parts. Complexity is often characterized by the number of different layers required and the curving dimensions. The higher degree of manual work compared to other manufacturing industries is due to individual, cut layer of carbon fiber and reinforcing glass fiber which both have to be manually laminated according to the shape requirement of the part. Each part has its own individually designed tool. The more complex and larger the part (e.g. sills, fender and hood), the more extensive is the lamination process. For instance, a side sill in the automotive application field may consist of up to more than 200 individual layers. The lamination process itself is subject to time-critical parameters, because of the resin being liquid at room temperature and easily sticks. The laminated part is then hardened under vacuum condition and heated. After a defined process time the part is being removed manually from the mould. The next steps are machining such as CNC and painting. Therefore, mastering the lamination process is a key success factor. The question is where to invest a factory to produce at optimal conditions. High-performance benchmarking can support the site planning and can significantly contribute to the decision-making process.\n6. Conclusion: Benchmarking is a common management tool that gives orientation and is used for evaluations of the companies' processes. This research contributes to the set of instruments for benchmarking processes. The modular analysis kit of different benchmarking databases for the business areas such as manufacturing, assembly and product development controls complexity and ensures scalability. Modeling value-added processes can be used as a simulation tool for projects in early planning stages. Particularly, this tool can be used for location and factory footprint analysis. The prospect of assessing manufacturing technology requirements that are driven by location factors is of important practical relevance (Khanna, 2014; Meyer, 2006).\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to guide companies in conducting benchmarking studies of their manufacturing processes by viewing across industries, locations and products. In particular, the proposed framework can help corporate decision makers in terms of production footprint and site location studies. The level of benchmarking performance can be measured by evaluating defined benchmarking evaluation profiles.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper develops a tool to operationalize value-added manufacturing processes for benchmarking evaluations. In this context, an object-oriented database structure has been developed for the business areas such as product development, manufacturing and assembly. This paper focuses on manufacturing processes. Furthermore, a framework for applying high-performance benchmarking has been developed and applied in a case study.\nFindings: This paper shows that object class-oriented modeling approach can be applied to manufacturing processes. The higher the degree of independence in terms of locations, industry sectors and products, the more powerful thus a higher performance of benchmarking is achieved. The performance level of benchmarking has been defined by proving and demonstrating higher and lower performance levels. The high-performance benchmarking tool has been successfully applied to a production footprint case study.\nOriginality/value: This paper takes up the superiority of process benchmarking that has been the focus of numerous research papers on benchmarking techniques in the past. The potential of process benchmarking has been enhanced and operationalized as a tool. A classification logic for benchmarking evaluation profiles has been developed and integrated in the overall tool set. The model helps decision makers to configure their benchmarking studies tailored to their strategic entrepreneurial questions and to guide them to achieve a higher benchmarking performance level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Food safety culture assessment scale development and validation for use in school foodservice
|
[
"Foodservice",
"Food handlers",
"Assessment scale",
"Food safety culture",
"School lunch"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Foodborne diseases contribute to morbidity and mortality, especially among children, who are at a higher risk due to their immature immune systems (World Health Organization, 2018). Thus, prevention of foodborne diseases in large-scale foodservice systems, such as those in schools (where children are consumers), should be an area of focus in the field of food safety. In the USA, between 2009 and 2012, more than 90 percent of norovirus outbreaks occurred in foodservice environments, of which schools and childcare centers accounted for 6.1 percent (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). In Japan, after the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in school foodservice facilities in 1996 (Michino et al., 1999), hygiene control systems were modified, resulting in the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point approach (MEXT, 2009). This system considerably reduced the likelihood of future foodborne disease outbreaks (Sakurai, 2016); however, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2019) reported a total of 108 foodborne disease outbreaks in school meal facilities between 2000 and 2018, affecting about 14,000 students who required clinical care; between 2016 and 2018 in particular, outbreaks of foodborne diseases in schools once again increased. Furthermore, because of the industrial-sized kitchens in these foodservice environments, there is always a potential risk that even one outbreak could affect many children (Kawamoto, 2017).Common causes of foodborne disease outbreaks include various human behaviors, such as inappropriate food-storage temperatures, insufficient hand washing, and cross-contamination (Food and Drug Administration, 2009); thus, food handlers' behaviors and standard procedures are critical factors in the prevention of foodborne diseases (Griffith, 2013; Yiannas, 2009). Previous studies have reported that food handlers' practices, decision-making, attitudes, and perceived values are influenced by the food safety culture in an organization on multiple levels (De Boeck et al., 2016; Griffith et al., 2010a; Taylor, 2011; Yiannas, 2009). Food industries need to make an effort to reduce potential failures related to food safety and embrace the concept of a food safety culture for their organization (Griffith et al., 2017; Yiannas, 2009). Furthermore, objectively assessing food safety culture is required to encourage and improve food safety behavior (Jespersen and Wallace, 2017; Nayak and Waterson, 2016; Powell et al., 2011). School foodservice industries are no exception in this effort to cultivate a food safety culture; nevertheless, studies on assessment tools for food safety culture in school foodservice industries are limited (Ungku Fatimah et al., 2014) and none have investigated the issue from an Asian perspective. This study, therefore, develops and validates a scale that can be used to assess food safety culture among school food handlers.\nLiterature review: The assessment of food safety culture\nMethods: Participants and data collection\nResults: Participants\nDiscussion: In this study, an assessment scale of food safety culture among school food handlers was developed and its validity and reliability were confirmed. The scale consisted of 20 items with five factors: underestimation of risk, surrounding support, communication, facilities and equipment, and commitment. This indicates that even 20 items (whittled from a pilot list of 36 items) can measure food safety culture through a practical and easy-to-use scale.Previous studies have summarized some instruments of food safety culture assessment in food industry, and Jespersen, Griffiths and Wallace (2017) and Jespersen, Maclaurin and Vlerick (2017) proposed five general categories: values and mission, people systems, consistency, adaptability, and risk awareness. Other studies have included various factors affecting food safety culture related to the fields of psychology, management and food processing (Griffith et al., 2010b; Nyarugwe et al., 2016; Taylor, 2011). Applying the present study to the categories by Jespersen, Griffiths and Wallace (2017), it is considered that Surrounding support is incorporated in people systems, in terms of education and support for new employees; in risk awareness, which means employees alert each other about food safety risks; and in values and mission, in terms of including the management level's engagement with food safety. Similarly, communication is considered to include elements of values and mission, in terms of leaders motivating employees, as well as people systems, related to communication about food safety between leaders and employees, and consistency, in terms of leading appropriate procedures by support. Facilities and equipment can be classified as consistency, which includes access to the proper tools, and Commitment can be considered as values and mission, related to employee responsibility and commitment. In contrast, Underestimation of risk was difficult to classify into the five categories. This factor would be likely to be included in risk awareness; however, it focuses on risk assessment and control. Thus, it can be considered as a newly extracted factor because it includes optimistic bias or risk-taking decisions, which cause poor food safety practices despite perceived risk. Griffith et al. (2010b) stated that behavioral problems caused by an attitude of ambivalence are likely to occur in food service; for example, quick service might be prioritized over hand washing. This idea supports that this subscale is appropriate.Compared with a food safety culture assessment tool for on-site foodservice (Ungku Fatimah et al., 2014), which was not included in this review, most factors of such an assessment were in line with this study. Ungku Fatimah et al. (2014) developed six factors: management and coworker support, communication, self-commitment, environmental support, work pressure and risk judgment (Ungku Fatimah et al., 2014). This suggests that reasonable factors were identified; however, some disparities with the current study were found. For example, the item regarding staffing was omitted in the item selection. Food safety culture assessment should take into account differences due to national and regional characteristics as well as types of working operations (Nyarugwe et al., 2016). Given that this assessment scale reflects these differences, it was suggested that Japanese school foodservice could have slight differences from American on-site foodservice. This scale was first developed in Asia and can be used effectively to improve school lunch preparation.Criterion-referenced validity results support the hypothesis that the total score of the food safety culture assessment scale was moderately correlated with norms on food safety and food safety behavior, while knowledge was slightly correlated with such norms. Injunctive and descriptive norms are social norms that can be applied to predict safe behaviors and practices in various fields. A previous study on the transportation industry reported that safety culture is positively associated with these norms (Fugas et al., 2012). This present study also shows a positive relationship, consistent with previous reports; in addition, there was a positive relationship between food safety culture and behaviors, which is consistent with a previous report that found that the better the employees' food safety climate, the better they perform safe food handling (De Boeck et al., 2017). Conversely, although the correlation between food safety knowledge and food safety culture was significant, it was found to be very weak in the present study. Knowledge was found to be a partial mediator between food safety climate and behavior (De Boeck et al., 2017), and social norms (injunctive and descriptive norms) have also been reported as mediators of the relationship between safety culture and behavior (Fugas et al., 2012). Further study is needed to expand the understanding of a model type that includes food safety culture, knowledge, social norms and behavior.The present study has several limitations that should be acknowledged. First, all responses to this scale were self-reported; as such, there is a possibility of social desirability bias because participants' positions demand social correctness. A scale of social desirability for use in combination with the food safety culture assessment has been developed in previous research (Jespersen, Maclaurin and Vlerick, 2017); however, proper use of this scale for assessment of food safety culture is not discussed; this issue could, therefore, be addressed in future studies on this topic. Second, we could not compare every work position in the organization because the majority of the participants were employees who worked on-site, although some previous researchers reported that manager-level awareness affected safety culture. It is necessary to further investigate whether manager-level food safety culture affects on-site food safety culture and performance. Finally, participants were recruited only from schools and one company, with no participants recruited from large supply centers (i.e. a central kitchen), which are facilities that deliver school meals to several different schools.Despite these limitations, we developed 20 items and a five-factor scale for assessing food safety culture among school food handlers in an Asian area and confirmed its reliability and validity. When using this scale for school food handlers in other countries and in food services such as hospitals, it may be necessary to consider making changes based on the actual system and organization, especially for the items related to principals and stakeholders. Further research is needed to clarify whether this scale can predict the existence of proper food safety behavior by assessing food safety culture simultaneously with actual safe food handling practices. We expect that this scale will be helpful to manage safe food handling in school lunch preparation, focusing on people (i.e. food handlers) and proposing a hygiene education method, according to the characteristics of each organization.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a measurement scale to assess food safety culture for use in school foodservice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The scale was originally developed by the authors based on the previous study and a paper-based survey was carried out. Based on responses from 1,408 Japanese school food handlers, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to extract a factor structure, and the reliability (Cronbach's a value), construct and criterion-related validity of the scale were assessed.\nFindings: The scale was constructed as a 20-item food safety culture assessment with the following subscales: underestimation of risk, surrounding support, communication, facilities and equipment, and commitment. The total score on this scale moderately correlated with self-reported behaviors (rs=0.427, p<0.01) and descriptive norms (rs=0.472, p<0.01), but only slightly with knowledge (rs=0.105, p<0.01). Its reliability and validity were confirmed.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research should be replicated in large supply centers (i.e. a central kitchen). As this study relied on self-reports, further studies could examine whether the scale could be related to objective indicators for triangulation (e.g. behavioral observation, interviews).\nPractical implications: This study helps practitioners understand food safety culture dimensions in the foodservice industry and improve food safety training and performance in school foodservice.\nOriginality/value: The focus on food safety culture in the Japanese foodservice industry identifies cultural factors that are important for school foodservice. Additionally, the relationship between food safety culture and normative factors was also clarified.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Young adult consumers' involvement in branded smartphone based service apps: Investigating the roles of relevant moderators
|
[
"Behaviour",
"Behavioural theories",
"Empirical study",
"E-service",
"Cognitive theories"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's world, smartphones have become an integral part of many people's lives (Lee et al., 2014). Smartphones significantly facilitate users' adoption of various branded software applications (Verkasalo et al., 2010). Mobile/smartphone-based apps basically offer various types of services (Yang, 2013). Hence, \"apps\" in the current paper would denote \"mobile smartphone-based service apps.\" This study focuses on the mobile app consumption attitude of the young adult consumers. Prior research shows that young consumers significantly use various mobile phone applications. For example, Persaud and Azhar (2012) find that young consumers are more prone to adopt various innovative mobile marketing tools. Prior research maintains that young consumers demonstrate distinct brand preferences compared to older consumers (Nelson and Laurie, 2005). Gardner and Davis (2013) christen the youth community as the \"app generation\" which is expert in navigating various apps. Young consumers' cognitive abilities are known to differ from that of the adults (Wilhelms and Reyna, 2013). The decision-making skill pertaining to branded consumption is largely transformed at the young age (Wackman and Wartella, 1977). Andone et al. (2016) show that young adult consumers use their smartphones for longer time than the older consumers. According to 2017 US Mobile app report, the millennials aged between 18 and 34 years are more engaged in mobile apps compared to their adult counterparts (www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/5-Interesting-Facts-About-Millennials-Mobile-App-Usage-from-The-2017-US-Mobile-App-Report). Grant and Walsh (2009, p. 219) maintain that young consumers aged between 18 and 22 merit special attention from brand researchers because \"theirs is a time of experimentation\" with \"an increased understanding of the role that brands play.\" Indian young adults are characterized as confused by choice overload (Tanksale et al., 2014). Therefore, this research has focused on investigating Indian young adults' app-related attitudes.\nLiterature review: With the growing acceptance of smart mobile phones, marketers are displaying an increased propensity to craft various branded apps which are defined as \"software downloadable to a mobile device which prominently displays a brand identity, often via the name of the app and the appearance of a brand logo or icon, throughout the user experience\" (Bellman et al., 2011, p. 191). Branded apps are expected to engage consumers and elicit positive brand attitudes (Hutton and Rodnick, 2009; Kim et al., 2013). From this perspective, branded apps are expected to behave in the same way as consumer brands in the marketplace, by having distinct brand identities. The theoretical overviews of various concepts related to branded app involvement are discussed below.\nHypotheses formulation and the development of the conceptual framework: Impact of app design type on app category involvement\nMethodology: Sampling and data collection\nTheoretical contributions: With app developers vying for gaining young consumers' (Grant and Walsh, 2009) share of minds, it becomes important to understand the factors that would enhance app involvement among the young consumers as they are highly experimental. The models validated by this research elucidate that perceived app design (hedonic or utilitarian) per se does not have a differential impact on app category involvement, provided that the relevant moderators for the respective app design types are operative. In other words, both utilitarian and hedonic app design can generate app category involvement given the relevant moderators. This finding is supported by the prior research which posits that product involvement construct contains both cognitive and emotional elements (Zaichkowsky, 1985).\nManagerial implications: The study results provide critical insights for app marketers in relation to segmentation, targeting and positioning of mobile apps. The marketers should first understand the dominant design aspects of the focal app in terms of being highly hedonic or utilitarian as perceived by the target consumers. Then the marketers should focus on the relevant strategic moderators to enhance app category involvement and subsequently generate brand loyalty. The moderators would be dependent on the dominant app design aspect (utilitarian vs hedonic). For a high utilitarian app, the marketers should target the customers who deliberately seek particular information that their app can provide. Thus, a market segmentation for a utilitarian app should be done based on high vs low information-seeking orientation of the consumers. Then the marketer of utilitarian app must ensure that the focal app provides relevant information needed by the consumers. A utilitarian app should be designed in such a manner that it contains the information highly relevant for the target consumers. For a hedonic app, on the other hand, the marketer should target the customers who deliberately seek enjoyment through surfing or exploration, and the hedonic app must contain all necessary features that would stimulate the multi-sensory imagination (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982) of the consumers while navigating such app. Thus, properly synchronizing market segmentation with product designing in line with the dominant app perception will help to enhance the app category involvement.\nLimitations and future research directions: This research used a cross-sectional survey-based approach to analyze consumer's attitude toward branded smartphone-based apps. A longitudinal study may be more effective in understanding the evolution of consumer-branded app relationship, as involvement and loyalty are developed over time. This study focuses solely on the desirable and positive consumer-branded app relationship aspects. Future research should be conducted to reveal the negative aspects of app consumption such as app usage addiction (Yanget al., 2016). This study has only investigated young consumers' relationships with branded mobile apps based on the assumption that youngsters are more experimental and confused compared to older adults. However, the study models should be tested among the older consumers also to understand how app attitudes differ across age, by employing a multi-group analysis.\nConclusions: This research contributes to the existing body of consumer research on mobile apps. The value of this research lies in identifying the relevant factors that significantly moderate the relationships between perceived app design and app category involvement, and also between app category involvement and brand loyalty. The empirical findings of this study are expected to help both the academicians and practitioners to understand how app marketing strategies can be formulated to generate app brand loyalty, by keeping in mind the dominant app design aspect, consumer's task orientation and app service category involvement.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate various factors that shape young adult consumers' smartphone-based service app involvement and their subsequent development of brand loyalty for the app.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted to test the hypothesized relationships. The survey data were analyzed using SPSS-based PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013).\nFindings: The study results show that consumer can perceive an app to be largely hedonic or utilitarian, and the perceived app design (hedonic vs utilitarian) impacts consumers' involvement with a particular service app category. Further, the findings elucidate that the impact of app hedonism on app category involvement is moderated by consumer's surfing task orientation and the extent to which app arouses their imagination. On the other hand, the impact of app utilitarianism on app involvement is moderated by consumer's information-seeking task orientation and perceived relevance of the information. Finally, app category involvement predicts loyalty toward a particular brand in the service app category. The effect of app involvement on brand loyalty is moderated by hot and cold brand relationship quality in cases of hedonic and utilitarian apps, respectively.\nOriginality/value: The value of this research lies in identifying relevant managerially actionable moderators that shape the relationships between perceived dominant app design (hedonic vs utilitarian), app category involvement and app brand loyalty.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A holistic cyber security implementation framework
|
[
"Information security management",
"Cyber security implementation",
"Holistic cyber security",
"Security strategic controls",
"Strategy implementation framework"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Most countries strive to protect their cyberspace by first formulating their cyber security strategies (CSSs). These strategies usually include some guidelines on how to implement these strategies for each respective country. Generally, a strategy planning has three consecutive processes (David, 2011). These processes are strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation. In this paper, a holistic implementation framework that fits in the strategy-implementation process is proposed; the other two processes are outside the scope of this paper.\n2. Proposed framework (HCS-IF): The HCS-IF is intended to lay out the ground for an overarching approach to implement CSSs. CSSs are usually developed based on reappraisal of the current information security status. The HCS-IF should help an executing nation to achieve its cyber security objectives outlined in its national CSS. The following subsections will explore the framework development methodology and the framework's major components in more details.\n3. Validating the proposed HCS-IF: Although many security frameworks have been adopted to secure cyberspace, most of them target a specific domain or being developed for specific entities. To our knowledge, there is no complete CSS implementation framework at the national level except for few ones, illustrated in Sections (4.3), that are limited to specific domains. Related Frameworks are grouped into 6 categories listed in Sections 4.1 through 4.6. These categories include a well-known list of international frameworks that have been implemented in various organizations. Despite of the scope and limitations of these frameworks, they intersect with the HCS-IF in common objectives that aim to enhance security level and help in the implementation efforts. The HCS-IF is an overarching holistic approach to implement cyber security and it is not intended to replace any other frameworks that are compared with.\n4. Related works: The gathered related literature is grouped into the following logical categories to facilitate a structured reading and analysis, though these categories are highly interconnected.\n5. Conclusion and future research: This paper proposes a holistic, coherent and systematic cyber security implementation framework (HCS-IF) that essentially lays the ground to implement CSSs in an overarching holistic manner. The HCS-IF major core components are: CSS, requirement elicitation, security strategic moves, strategic controls, security objectives and framework repository. The CSS requirements are transformed into strategic moves that are eventually executed under the defined framework controls to achieve the required security objectives. During the execution, a set of metrics will be exposed into and imported from the implementation framework repository which will help in guiding and managing the implementation. Finally, the set of achieved security objectives will be compared to the targeted objectives to enable setting corrective or proactive actions. The HCS-IF is compared with six suggested framework categories. The HCS-IF outperforms other frameworks in the six suggested comparison criteria mainly because it is designed to implement cyber security in an overarching holistic approach. The HCS-IF is not intended to replace any other frameworks; in fact, it will provide a room to incorporate other related security solutions to help in the implementation of CSSs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a holistic cyber security implementation framework (HCS-IF) that lays out the ground for a conceptual, coherent, systematic, overarching and consolidated approach to implement cyber security strategies (CSSs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The HCS-IF is conceptually proposed to address the actual needs that are extracted from literature review. The HCS-IF uses and integrates a set of high-level conceptual security controls, solutions, processes, entities, tools, techniques or mechanisms that are already known in the domains of information security management, software engineering and project management to address the identified needs.\nFindings: The HCS-IF components and controls collectively interact and cooperate to implement CSSs. The proposed framework is compared with other related frameworks, and the results show that the HCS-IF outperforms other frameworks on most of the suggested comparison criteria.\nOriginality/value: From a practical standpoint, governments and practitioners alike stand to gain from the findings of this research. Governments who want to implement CSSs on a national level will find the proposed framework useful in overseeing cyber security implementation. Practitioners will be prepared to address the anticipated cyber security implementation challenges and the required controls needed to facilitate cyber-security implementation in a holistic overarching manner.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Universities' intermediary role in the "design for sustainability" field: Case studies from the Netherlands and Turkey
|
[
"Ecodesign",
"Higher education",
"Innovation systems",
"Outreach",
"Intermediaries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Design for sustainability (DfS) is a crucial part of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) (Spangenberg et al., 2010) and therefore sustainable development (SD). It has developed its methods and practices since the 1970s (Papanek, 1971). The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) promotes DfS as a way of meeting consumer needs with less environmental and social impacts (Clark, 2007).\n2. Background: This study will start by providing a background on intermediaries, universities' intermediary roles in general and specifically in the DfS field.\n3. Research method: This study investigates how universities contribute to spreading DfS into industry by undertaking intermediary roles, through three case studies.\n4. Case I: Design for Sustainability Program at Delft University of Technology: DUT consists of 16 undergraduate programs under eight faculties with approximately 2,500 academic staff and 18,000 students (DUT, 2013). DUT has been cited among leading examples of universities that adopted SD principles (Lozano, 2006). DUT first affirmed its commitment to SD in 1994, by adopting a new vision called \"Towards a New Commitment\", and started to implement the \"Sustainable Development Education Plan\" in 1998 (Peet et al., 2004; Kamp, 2006; Quist et al., 2006).\n5. Case II: a center on sustainable consumption and production: The university that hosts the center is a prominent university.\n6. Case III: Prof. Goksel Demirer: Prof. Goksel Demirer works at METU-EED. Founded in 1956, METU is a state university consisting of 43 departments under five faculties, with approximately 26,000 students (METU, 2014).\n7. Discussion: The framework that was introduced in Section 2.4 will be used in this study for discussing the intermediary role of the cases. The focus field, type, target group, services and support instruments that the cases supply in their outreach activities are shown in Table II. It should be noted that the framework reflects the qualities of the activities but not their quantities.\n8. Conclusions: This study contributes to the theory on the role of universities in the SD by explaining the outreach activities on DfS and SCP with the innovation systems perspective and the focus on the intermediary role of universities. The empirical study investigates universities' intermediary role through three case studies. DUT-DFS from The Netherlands exemplifies a section within a university department. The Kathalys Center that the DUT-DFS co-established with TNO exemplifies a hybrid structure. From Turkey, the second case study exemplifies an internal center, and Prof. Goksel Demirer exemplifies an individual scientist.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the intermediary role of universities in spreading design for sustainability into industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three case studies were undertaken on Delft University of Technology, Design for Sustainability Program from The Netherlands; a center on sustainable consumption and production; and Prof. Goksel Demirer from Middle East Technical University, Environmental Engineering Department from Turkey.\nFindings: The process and evolution of the intermediary roles of the cases are explained. Three types of structures, through which universities undertake intermediary role, are investigated via the cases studies, a program, a center and an individual scientist.\nOriginality/value: This study is a first attempt to investigate the intermediary role of universities in the design for sustainability field.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Charities: how important is performance to donors?
|
[
"Charities",
"Charitable donations",
"Individual behaviour",
"Performance management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In terms of the amount of money they receive, charities occupy an important place in Western societies (Giving USA Foundation, 2006; Wainwright, 2003; CBF, 2006). Individuals contribute directly some 75 percent of charitable giving (Wright, 2002). Despite the large amount of charitable giving there are signs that donors are not happy with the performance realized by charities. Research in the Netherlands by the Dutch Institute for Public Opinion and Market Research (NIPO, 2003) shows that the large majority of charity supporters would like to know more about what happens with their donations. This is a paradigm shift away from charities asking their donors to trust them (Kendall and Knapp, 2000) and a move towards the demonstration of accountability and achievement in the charity sector (Lipsky and Smith, 1989). Dart (2004) describes a requirement for charities to be \"more business-like in their operation and attitude\" which concurs with donors' requests for more information about what is actually happening with their money.This research reports on the results of an internet survey among Dutch donors to analyze the criteria that individual donors use when selecting which charities to support. Furthermore, the research identifies the information that eight Dutch charities provide to existing and potential individual donors. Therefore, the research questions under examination are:* What criteria do individual donors use when selecting charities to support?* What information do charities provide to individual donors?The structure of the paper is as follows. First, the concerns about transparency of charitable organizations are discussed. Thereafter, measures of internal efficiency and external effectiveness are reviewed. Then, the empirical research, consisting of an internet survey and case studies, is described and conclusions drawn.\nConcerns about transparency: Whilst individual donors continue to give they are beginning to signal that they are not happy with the current level of information provided by charities. Donors are now requesting more information about what is actually happening to their money. In order to sustain public trust and confidence in charities, a system of accreditation can be a useful instrument. Research has shown that donors aware of an accreditation system have more trust in charities, and as a result they give more money (Bekkers, 2003).A report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (2002) summarized the findings of a series of surveys from a variety of US samples as well as an analysis of tax filings (known in the USA as the Internal Revenue Service Form 990) and charity annual reports and web sites. The conclusion was clear: donors surveyed wanted more transparency. In a similar vein, in a speech in April 2005 the CEO of a major US charity, United Way of America, announced that only one-third of Americans trust charities more than they say they trust profit-making organizations (United Way of America, 2005). An internet survey by United Way of America (2005), found that among those lacking trust, the number one reason, indicated by 71 percent of respondents, is that donors \"don't know how charities spend their money\".In the UK the situation is similar. A survey by Media Trust (2001) reported that 73 percent of people said they would be more likely to give to a charity if they had independent information about its performance and 67 percent said there should be a charity performance ranking.It is therefore clear that many people have come to regard the measurement of charity effectiveness and transparency as far more important over the past decade (Harrow et al., 1999; Wainwright, 2003; Dart, 2004; Little, 2005). Four major reasons are cited in these sources for this trend. First, the bursting of the stock market bubble reduced the amount of donor capital. Second, the emergence of venture philanthropy that emphasizes the use of performance measurement. Third, more executives with experience in the profit sector are moving into the non-profit field. Finally, government officials are realizing that this is an important field, which needs their attention. So, performance of charities is becoming more important, however, measuring performance of charities seems be more difficult than measuring performance of profit organizations. We will elaborate on this in the next section.Despite the drive for charity accountability, individuals are currently continuing to give and in some cases (like the 2005 tsunami appeal) very generously. This continued giving is despite the fact that the charities concerned have not yet produced the openness and transparency about their operations most of the donating public say they desire (Lee, 2004). It therefore appears that the donating public is not quite certain about the level of openness that they require from charities. It may be the case that the donating public is not sure how worthwhile the performance measurement of charities might be, for various reasons: donors do not see a need for measurement; donors invest in people they trust; comparison of charities is resource intensive; cost of collecting performance data outweighs benefits; measuring external effectiveness is complex (Cunningham and Ricks, 2004).\nMeasurement of a charity's performance is complex: In addition to the skepticism regarding the value of measuring the performance of charities, there is a clear message that measuring the performance of charities is not easy (Wainwright, 2003). In order to examine the complexity associated with measuring the performance of charities, measures of internal efficiency and external effectiveness are now considered.Measures of internal efficiency\nResearch methodology: In order to answer the research questions mentioned in the introduction, data have been gathered from individual donors from The Netherlands about the factors that influence their giving, and from eight Dutch charitable organizations about the information they provide to their donors. As the literature review identified a paradox in terms of a drive for increased accountability from charity stakeholders yet skepticism on the part of the donors in terms of how feasible or desirable this accountability will be, this research examines the perceptions of both individual donors and charitable organizations.The literature review identified a lack of empirical data available on the charity sector. It is therefore pertinent to undertake a survey of individual charitable donors in order to establish the key criteria for charitable giving, a donor's preferred charitable activities, a donor's preferred location for a charity and the amount of donation given. By measuring the importance of the criteria for charitable giving, we develop empirical evidence for the requirements of donors for performance measures and performance data. The hypothesis to be tested in this part of the research is:H1. Performance of a charity is of major importance to donors when deciding which charity to support.We collected data from 6,696 individual Dutch donors by means of an internet survey. The basic questions posed can be summarized as follows:1. Rank, in order of priority, the factors that influence the charity to which you donate:* the activities of the charity;* the location where the charity is active;* whether the charity is Dutch or international;* the religious background of the charity;* whether it is certified;* the percentage overhead;* its effectiveness;* how it reports to donors;* the possibility to donate to specific projects; and* whether the charity generates its own projects.2. Which types of charities would you prefer to donate to? A list of 15 activities is given spread over four areas:* health;* well-being;* international aid; and* nature and environment.3. More detailed preferences for the region where the charity should be active and the level of overhead that is acceptable.4. Total amount of annual donation to charities.5. Age of respondent.Income and educational attainment were not included in the survey questionnaire. Prior research has shown that these two variables have a major impact on predicting whether or not somebody is a donor at all and how much they give (Schlegelmilch et al., 1997; Dawson, 1988; Jones and Posnett, 1991). However, the aim of the current survey is to identify the criteria that donors use in selecting a charity in relation to their giving.The questionnaire was announced and introduced to the public via national newspapers and radio commercials on most popular stations in The Netherlands. As the questionnaire was available on the internet, and thus available for anyone who had access to the internet, a convenience sample of individual donors was analyzed. Due to the dearth of empirical evidence available in this area, the survey was an exploratory study into the criteria used by donors when selecting charities to support.In order to get a balanced view of both donors and charitable organizations eight case studies were undertaken as a follow up to the questionnaire survey (Yin, 2002). The data from the case studies were analyzed in order to ascertain what information charities provide to individual donors. The goal of the case studies is therefore to gather empirical evidence for the extent to which charities provide performance data. The hypothesis tested here is:H2. Charitable organizations do not have a standardized reporting system on their performance.\nThe internet survey: Descriptive statistics of the sample\nCase studies: The results of the internet questionnaire, as presented above, provide insight into the criteria used by individuals when selecting charities to support. Through interviews in eight charities (in most charities at least two interviews have been organized) the views of charity managers were sought in order to understand what information charities provide to individual donors.Charities have been randomly selected and approached in The Netherlands to take part in the research. Many of the charities approached were not willing to be interviewed. The reason given for this was most often due to time constraints, however, this unwillingness may also have a bearing on recent discussions in the media about the effectiveness of charities and questions about the amount of money that is ultimately used to help and support specific projects for which the funds were raised in the first place. Table VI gives an overview of the charities that were selected as case studies.In order to identify the information that charities provide to individual donors, Table VII has been developed.The findings from these eight cases can be summarized in the following way:* Charities have in the past not been concerned about stakeholder management and performance measurement and management. However, most of them now realize that they have to pay more attention to these areas in order to survive to the future.* Charities are in general becoming more open about their goals and missions, reporting their annual reports, and giving more content information about what they do with charities income. Annual reports are made publicly available, however, the quality of the reports differ.* Charities are more concerned with their stakeholders than in the past. Many charities develop newsletters and/or annual meetings with donors. Also charities are giving more attention to stakeholder satisfaction.* Most charities have been involved in getting a CBF certification; some are also having an ISO 9001 quality management system and certification.* Most charities are still very much concerned with internal efficiency measures. Much attention is given in their financial reporting on the costs of the organization as a percentage of total charity income.* Most charities struggle with the definition of effectiveness of their activities.\nConclusions: This paper started with a focus on two research questions:1. What criteria do individual donors use when selecting charities to support? (H1. Performance of a charity is of major importance to donors when deciding which charity to support.)2. What information do charities provide to individual donors? (H2. Charitable organizations do not have a standardized reporting system on their performance.)Each of the questions and hypotheses will be elaborated on now based on the results of the survey and the case studies that have been undertaken.Criteria for selecting charities\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to develop insights into the charity selection criteria used by individual donors, and the information that charities provide to individual donors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Charities are defined as organizations involved in health, international aid, wellbeing, and nature and environment. In this paper the main focus is on one type of charity stakeholder; the individual donor. The research is undertaken through an internet survey among Dutch donors and through interviews at eight case studies of Dutch charities.\nFindings: - Based on the internet survey it can be concluded that effectiveness is seen as important, but not as the major criterion in the selection of a charity. The case studies show that charities do not have standardized reporting systems in order to inform their donors on their performances\nPractical implications: - Based on this research it can be concluded that there is a need for management of charities to develop both measures of internal efficiency and of external effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: - The literature review identified a lack of empirical data available on the charity sector; this paper tries to fill that gap.\n",
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How an entry-level, interdisciplinary sustainability course revealed the benefits and challenges of a university-wide initiative for sustainability education
|
[
"University",
"Attributes",
"Curriculum development",
"First-year",
"SUST101"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Sustainability is a societal imperative and a critically important topic for ongoing research and teaching (Cortese, 2003; Waas et al., 2011). University institutions, containing a wide spectrum of actors, are uniquely qualified to address various dimensions of sustainability, as they provide forums for thought, knowledge and discussion across the humanities, social sciences and natural and applied sciences, as well as the medical and health fields. Universities also have the capacity to develop problem-driven and solution-oriented curricula (Kates et al., 2001; Robinson, 2008; Sarewitz and Kriebel, 2010), both of which have been demonstrated to be highly effective at developing integrated and use-inspired knowledge along with transformational action (Blackstock and Carter, 2007; Wiek et al., 2011).\n2. Organisational structure of sustainability at UBC: 2.1 Sustainability teaching and learning at UBC\n3. Curriculum design and development: 3.1 Course administration\n4. Discussion: 4.1 Key course successes\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, the authors describe the context and background, development and delivery of a first-year sustainability-focused course in a large research-focused Canadian university. The course was specifically developed to overcome traditional \"siloing\" of curriculum by faculties along disciplinary lines. Two conceptual models for organising the course content, delivery and organisation of the teaching team were utilised, including the \"head, heart and hands\" framework and the UBC student sustainability attributes; holistic systems thinking, sustainability knowledge, awareness and integration and acting for positive change.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Delivery of sustainability-related curriculum to undergraduate students can be problematic due to the traditional \"siloing\" of curriculum by faculties along disciplinary lines. In addition, while there is often a ready availability of courses focused on sustainability issues in the later years of students' programs, few early entry-level courses focused on sustainability, broad enough to apply to all disciplines, are available to students in the first year of their program.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, we describe the development, and preliminary implementation, of an entry-level, interdisciplinary sustainability course. To do so, the authors describe the development of a university-wide initiative designed to bridge units on campus working and teaching in sustainability areas, and to promote and support sustainability curriculum development.\nFindings: The authors describe the conceptual framework for organising course content and delivery. The authors conclude with an informal assessment of the successes and challenges, and offer learning activities, student assessments and course administration recommendations for consideration when developing courses with similar learning goals.\nOriginality/value: The positive and negative experiences gained through developing and offering a course of this nature, in a large research-focused university, offers knew insights into potential barriers for implementing first-year cross-cutting sustainability curriculum.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Healthcare planning and its potential role increasing operational efficiency in the health sector: A viewpoint
|
[
"Simulation",
"Modelling",
"Health care",
"Healthcare planning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A number of industries have benefited from application of simulation modelling including healthcare. Despite the documented benefits, a number of academic papers have suggested that within healthcare, the application of simulation to real problems is not as wide as in other industries. This paper will consider a number of issues around the poor adoption of healthcare simulation models and reflect whether there has been a broad failure of academic healthcare simulation modellers to build models that reflect real healthcare problems as acknowledged by healthcare stakeholders. This paper will also compare the adoption of simulation modelling in healthcare to other industries, including a dialogue as to whether healthcare is fundamentally different to other industries resulting in problems of adoption. Issues related to the size and complexity of the health sector as well as the range of health stakeholders and their requirements will also be discussed in context of the adoption of simulation modelling.In the UK, as demand for health and associated health cost increase against a backdrop of public spending cuts, there is a huge opportunity for simulation modelling to help achieve productivity (financial) savings. It could well be the case that simulation modelling occurs more often in the health sector than suggested by academic papers. For example, in the UK beds and/or patient activity modelled for hospitals constructed under private finance initiative (PFI) schemes are essentially private commercial agreements and as such, generally hidden from public view. In this paper, phrases or terms describing modelled beds or modelled patient activity, will refer to actual modelled beds or non-bedded patient activity (e.g. outpatients or imaging) at a hospital level. This paper will review the impact of PFI and the healthcare planning role within it.This paper will also review the wider role of healthcare planners, who have historically modelled beds and activity, whilst developing their skills and relationships with health stakeholders and designers developing facilities and services in health. Building on their established relationships with healthcare stakeholders, this paper will propose that the role of healthcare planners can be an ideal actor to help further increase the adoption of simulation modelling in the health sector. The healthcare planners' relationships could also be used to foster other initiatives within health such as Lean methodologies. As a practicing healthcare planner in the UK, modelling NHS hospital activity is the primary focus of this paper; although it is likely that ideas discussed in this paper can be transferred to many other areas in and around health, both at home and overseas.\n2. Academic evidence of poor simulation modelling adoption in healthcare: 2.1 Simulation modelling - what do we mean?\n3. Healthcare planning - the current offering: 3.1 Estate strategies\n4. Current and future challenges: Arguably the need of simulation modelling in healthcare has never been greater. For example, within the UK, public spending constraints have resulted in huge demands for cost savings in health spending. These constraints have led to unprecedented levels of efficiency savings for the health sector. The NHS chief executive in his 2008-2009 annual report called for efficiency savings between PS11 billion and PS20 billion between 2011 and 2014. Some reports have suggested that billions of pounds could be saved by productivity savings. McKinsey (2009) suggested that between PS5.6 billion and PS7.9 billion could be saved by improving productivity and optimising spending within care pathways. Similarly, a King's Fund report suggested productivity savings in the order of PS4.6 billion (Appleby et al., 2010).By their nature, the thrust of many of healthcare planning functions described above (e.g. demand and capacity analysis and process mapping) is to challenge and reduce waste and efficiency. Simulation modelling is ideally suited to process mapping and arguably other waste reduction methodologies such as Lean. Arguably, there is an opportunity for healthcare planning to act as a link to bring together simulation and Lean and some common threads are discussed below.4.1 Lean healthcare\n5. Healthcare planning as an agent for change: As the NHS moves to find unprecedented levels of savings, simulation modelling could be deployed to help achieve those savings targets, possibly working in conjunction with methodologies such as Lean. To help achieve some of these demanding targets, moving forward, the NHS will have to learn, adapt and apply useful tools and methodologies to help itself. Over the years, healthcare planners have developed sound working relationships with its health stakeholders and as such are ideally placed to act as change agents within the healthcare sector to help fill any skills gaps. In order to assist this transition, healthcare planners also need to upgrade their tools and techniques. For example, many healthcare planning tools and guidance notes use average data to model. Sometimes, a greater level of modelling sophistication is required. An emergency department is one example where due to variance in arrival patterns, average data can produce misleading outputs. In contrast, modelling emergency department using DES can potentially provide greater insights with regard to arrival variance, area loading and queues. As noted by Eldabi, healthcare planners need to develop their simulation modelling skills to give their health stakeholder partners every opportunity to take advantage of current and developing simulation modelling methodologies, tools and techniques. Healthcare planners also need to develop and enhance a range of other skills as suggested by Virtue et al. (2012). The skills include communications with stakeholders, user friendly inputs and outputs matched to the needs of stakeholders, opening black box models as required by informed stakeholders and models developed in accordance with stakeholders' timeframes and budgets.The academic community can also play a valuable role by developing real-world solutions for the health sector in conjunction with both healthcare planners and health stakeholders. Jahangirian et al. (2012) observed that compared to other industries, the health sector tended to use a smaller variety of simulation methods. Every effort should be made to implement appropriate tools to assist the constant, ever changing demands of the health sector. The health sector already uses rules of thumb widely to model beds and activity (e.g. Bagust et al., 1999) 85 per cent bed occupancy, and a range of guidance notes to define clinical spaces and beds for emergency departments, theatres and outpatient rooms. Arguably, the challenge now and in the future, will be to develop more sophisticated modelling and simulation tools, in shorter timescales, to better address real stakeholder issues and challenges in the health sector.\n6. Conclusions: The health sector already uses methods to model beds and activity. In many respect, the current rules of thumb were pragmatic approaches to support the NHS capital build programme under New Labour. Now the upgraded NHS estate is largely in place, the focus in this current climate is how to make it more operationally efficient.The academic community needs to be more in tune with the real-world requirements of health stakeholders, developing a larger percentage of Class A papers as defined by Eldabi (2009). The academic community also need to be more open to the challenge of condensing wicked problems into pragmatic solutions. Bagust et al.'s (1999) 85 per cent bed occupancy rule of thumb serves as a splendid example; sound academic modelling, shrinking a wicked concept into a rule of thumb widely used by both the health sector and the healthcare planning community. The health sector is unique in some elements, but perhaps, the sector itself needs to be more open to ideas from other sectors, for example simulation modelling and Lean. Finally, health planners need to build their capability to take advantage of its relationships with health stakeholders and develop a stronger role acting as a link between the simulation modelling, the academic world and the health sector.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to consider a number of issues around the poor adoption of healthcare simulation models and reflect whether there has been a broad failure of academic healthcare simulation modellers to build models that reflect real healthcare problems as acknowledged by healthcare stakeholders. This paper will also review the role of healthcare planners within the health sector and propose that they are well suited to act as change agents to improve the adoption of simulation within the sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper reviewed academic evidence around poor adoption of simulation modelling in healthcare, including differences to other sectors, its size and complexity, stakeholder issues and current and future challenges to improve operational efficiency. This paper also reviewed the role of healthcare planning and its valuable links with health stakeholders, suggesting that these links could be exploited to increase simulation modelling within the healthcare sector to improve operational efficiency.\nFindings: - This paper highlights the strong links between healthcare planning and the healthcare stakeholders and proposes that healthcare planning can play a key role in adoption of healthcare simulation modelling to achieve operational efficiency improvements.\nOriginality/value: - This paper illustrates the potential link between healthcare planning and healthcare stakeholders to achieve operational improvements within the health sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Are traditional forecasting models suitable for hotels in Italian cities?
|
[
"Forecasting",
"Italy",
"Revenue management",
"City hotels",
"Hotel management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Accurate forecasting of hotel room demand is crucial for applying any mechanism of revenue management (Cranage, 2003; Talluri and Van Ryzin, 2004; Ivanov and Zhechev, 2012). Indeed, no effective pricing policy can be established without having a quite precise expectation of future demand, as remarked also very recently by the literature (Tse and Poon, 2012). The importance of the forecasting of hotel occupancy is testified by the large number of papers devoted to the topic. This importance has been widely recognized for all revenue management applications in the hospitality market.\n2. Literature survey: Forecasting is a complex and multifaceted discipline, requiring the careful adaptation of techniques to practical applications. Armstrong (2001b) summarizes 139 principles for producing successful forecasting, requiring for example decision makers' agreement on models (Armstrong, 1982), the use of statistical techniques to take into account unsystematic past events (Armstrong, 2001b; Duncan et al., 2001), adjusting for systematic events like seasonality or holidays (Makridakis et al., 1982), tailoring the forecasting model to the situation, e.g. the time horizon (Armstrong, 2001c), or comparing multiple reasonable models (Armstrong et al., 2001). Another principle reported by Armstrong (2001b) concerns the need to keep the forecasting model simple (Allen and Fildes, 2001; Makridakis et al., 1982; Duncan et al., 2001; Wittink and Bergestuen, 2001) unless empirical evidence calls for a more complex approach (Armstrong, 1985). In fact, the most effective forecast is not necessarily obtained by the most complex model, as has been observed not only for tourism data (Makridakis et al., 1982; Makridakis and Hibon, 2000). Indeed, simple forecasting techniques very often outperform complicated econometric models. The results of competitions, in which the performance of quite different forecasting models has been tested on thousands of time series, show, for example, that simple exponential smoothing models perform rather well in general (Makridakis and Hibon, 2000).\n3. The models: As mentioned in section 2, the literature suggests that hotel room occupancy forecasting problems should be faced with a toolbox of models: one should compare performance with different error statistics, and detect the model to be used depending on the data set of interest. In fact, the best model for one data set can easily be outperformed if used on different data. However, some models reveal more often than others a balance between good performance and ease of implementation, so that they can be applied quite successfully in different contexts. In particular, Weatherford and Kimes (2003), comparing forecasting models on hotel occupancy, suggest that five models are robust enough to be applied on most hotel industry data sets. The best ones appear to be exponential smoothing, advanced pick-up and moving average: they achieved the best forecast in about 75 percent of the data sets considered by Weatherford and Kimes (2003). Holt's model and linear regression are grouped in a second-best set of models. The conclusions of Weatherford and Kimes (2003) are not very surprising: their results summarize the overall literature outcomes outlined in the previous section.\n4. Case studies: To test the six models described in section 3, we consider data recorded in five Italian hotels between 2007 and 2010. Of the five hotels, three are located in Milan (with 420, 320 and 283 rooms, respectively), one in Rome (247 rooms) and one in Turin (139 rooms). The choice of the hotels, is motivated by the availability and integrity of data. They all are medium-size hotels, located in large cities with highly diversified customers, overlapping effects of different kinds of seasonality, high number of events along each period of the year. They are all four-star hotels, hosting both business and leisure customers. However, the distinction between the two segments is not available in the recorded data, where both business and leisure customers are identified as individuals, as opposed to groups. Instead, different records are registered, for example, according to the source of the reservations, i.e. reservation portal, hotel website, telephone, email. In this analysis, we consider a single demand segment including all individual customers.\n5. Combination of different models: In the literature (as mentioned, see Schwartz and Cohen, 2004; Gupta and Wilton, 1987; Weatherford and Kimes, 2003; Rajopadhye et at., 2001) the combination of different models is considered as a promising approach for obtaining good quality forecasts. In this section, the results obtained by combining models for forecasting the demand of the five Italian hotels are compared with those reported in section 4. Each combination that we assess includes a pick-up model and a historical model. In particular, the forecast for each day is computed as a weighted average of the values obtained by the two models: a weight equal to 1 is assigned to the pick-up model for the first week, and it is progressively decreased in steps of 1/7 in each following week; in this way, the weight assigned to the historical model is 0 for the first week, and it progressively increases up to 1 for the last week of the forecasting horizon (eight weeks as in the experiments described in section 4). The selection of the pick-up model to be used in the combination is quite straightforward, since the APU model outperforms the MPU model in the great majority of the cases. Instead, since there is no historical model that clearly outperforms the others, we tested all four historical models in combination with APU: APU-SDLP, APU-MA, APU-WMA and APU-SES. Table IV reports the results achieved by these combinations, in terms of mean values along the eight weeks of forecast. Data are reported for the five hotels and the six assessment criteria chosen in section 4.\n6. Final remarks: In this paper, we report the results of the application of traditional forecasting models to the rather noisy data recorder in five Italian hotels. We found that for such data, the models based on actual booking information outperform the so-called historical ones: pick-up models turn out to be the best choice whatever criterion we use for the comparison and whatever data-set. Thus, we can claim that our results are somehow in contrast with those reported in many studies which have been proposed in the literature, since many models that have proven to be suitable in other circumstances are not appropriate in this case. More precisely, this contrast emerges in two ways: on the one hand, as mentioned, the historical models appear here definitely less powerful than the pick-up ones, a result which is not so clear in the literature; on the other hand, the forecasts are quite unsatisfactory, even using the best models (for example, a MAPE of 20 percent, by the APU model, is the best result for the Turin hotel, as shown in Table III). The likely reason for the contrast of our results with those reported in the literature is the intrinsic nature of the hospitality market in Italy, where relatively small hotels face a complex combination of thin customer segments, which are difficult to distinguish since they often overlap. In the considered hotels we identified, for example, leisure travelers booking with tour operators or individually, visiting a city in days in which both cultural and religious events take place, and, business guests, booking as corporate or single, visiting a fair during a weekend, in a world heritage city.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of different widely-adopted models to forecast Italian hotel occupancy. In particular, the paper tests the different models for forecasting the demand in hotels located in urban areas, which typically experience both business and leisure demand, and whose demand is often affected by the presence of special events in the hotels themselves, or in their neighborhood.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Several forecasting models that the literature reports as most suitable for hotel room occupancy data were selected. Historical data on occupancy in five Italian hotels were divided into a training set and a test set. The parameters of the models were trained and fine-tuned on the training data, obtaining one specific set for each of the five Italian hotels considered. For each hotel, each method, with corresponding best parameter choice, is used to forecast room occupancy in the test set.\nFindings: In the particular Italian market, models based on booking information outperform historical ones: pick-up models achieve the best results but forecasts are in any case rather poor.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main conclusions of the analysis are that the pick-up models are the most promising ones. Nonetheless, none of the traditional forecasting models tested appears satisfactory in the Italian framework, although the data collected by the front offices can be rather rich.\nOriginality/value: From a managerial point-of-view, the outcome of the study shows that traditional forecasting models can be considered only as a sort of \"first aid\" for revenue management decisions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Determinants of store brands' success: a cross-store format comparative analysis
|
[
"Brand equity",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Store brand",
"Retailer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Store brands - also labeled as private brands, own brands, retailer brands or distributor's brands - have drawn great academic and managerial attention in parallel with their growing market share. Following the definition given by the American Marketing Association, store brands can be defined as the brand which identify the goods and services of a retailer and differentiates them from the competitors. Their competitiveness is mainly rooted in their lower prices and less promotional expenses, in comparison to manufacturer brands (Baltas, 1997). Store brands benefit consumers by providing them a competitive alternative based on lower prices, due to their lower manufacturing and overhead costs, their less expensive packaging and the lack of advertising (Dick et al., 1995). Originally, store brands had a clear orientation to price, being the main motivation for their purchase (Burt, 2000; Kumar and Steenkamp, 2007). Nevertheless, this initial positioning has evolved to give rise to a varied offer of good value for money (Soberman and Parker, 2006; Kumar and Steenkamp, 2007; Geyskens et al., 2010). Retailers have tried to convert their own brands into just one more brand, improving their quality, repositioning their products and trying to boost their image (Nandan and Dickinson, 1994). Since store brands contribute directly to retailer profitability (Hansen et al., 2006) it is not surprising that store brands have generated tremendous interest in the academic literature. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research regarding store brands from the consumer's perspective. A natural question that arises is whether consumers exhibit similarities in their purchase intention for store brands across different retailing formats; and which are the variables with higher influence in their preference for store brands and buying intention. Previous studies have investigated some relations of the sources and dimensions of store brand equity and its consequences (Jara and Cliquet, 2012; Beristain and Zorrilla, 2011), despite these studies have not analyzed these relationships across diverse retailing formats. However, it seems plausible that the variables of store brand value for customers differ between store retailing formats such as supermarkets, hypermarkets or discounters. The present study aims to assess the role retailing format on the store brands' value from the customer's standpoint, as well as on store brands' purchase intent. This paper is organized as follows: in the next section the literature is reviewed and the corresponding hypotheses are formulated. Then, the methodology adopted is explained. We present and discuss our study findings, with reference to each hypothesis and finally, some conclusions and implications are derived, while some limitations of the research are presented.\n2. Literature review and theoretical background: 2.1 Retailing formats and positioning\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Variables and scale development\n4. Results: 4.1 Analysis of the measurement model\n5. Discussion and implications: The present study analyses store brands focussing on their emphasis on price, perceived quality or store commercial image to succeed in the marketplace, providing empirical evidence about the moderating role of the store or retailing format. This research analyses how store format plays an important moderating role, influencing on store brand equity dimensions. The structural model gives substantial support to the influence of store brand equity dimensions on customer-based store brand equity and the purchase intention; providing evidence of the difference of store brand equity dimensions between store formats such as discounters, supermarkets and hypermarkets.\n6. Limitations and future research guidance: The present study presents some research limitations. First of all, our research approach raises the question of whether results can be generalized to other countries, since it was focussed on a specific market, and thus posing serious limitations when extrapolating these results to other contexts. Second, this research did not comprise other retailing formats, that either have a lower presence in the analyzed market or do not offer store brands. In this context, our study leaves room for future studies, which can build on the results presented here. First, since consistent with previous literature there are significant differences in store brand purchase across categories (Hansen et al., 2006), future research should investigate the different drivers across product categories. Second, future research should consider the impact of other store brand equity dimensions on purchase intent, such as store brand familiarity (Dursun et al., 2011) or perceived risk (Gonzalez-Mieres et al., 2006; Dursun et al., 2011). Third, the product variety, the price level of manufacturer brands and the turnover of store and manufacturer brands, as well as the total turnover of a specific retailer were not in the focus of our investigation, despite these analysis contain considerably interest in this area. Finally, it is important to notice that retailing business and store format competition is rather local and country specific. Thus, a replication of the study in other retail areas might lead to different results, endangering the generalizability of our results. So, further research could focus on markets where retail concentration, store density or even the geographical distribution of store formats are diverse compared to the one under study.\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus in customer-based store brand value by comparing three different retailing formats - supermarkets, hypermarkets and discounters - in order to assess how store brand value stems from and to understand the store format influence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Respondents were randomly selected and data were collected using an on-line structured questionnaire, focussing on Spanish large retailers. Then, hypotheses were tested performing structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results suggest that perceived quality, price image along with store commercial image have significant positive influence on store brand value and purchase intent. Moreover, store brands' performance in the marketplace depends on different variables across the analyzed retailing formats.\nResearch limitations/implications: These variables may be managed by retailers in order to enhance their own brands' value proposition. These research implications should be considered within the context of a geographical limitation, despite providing the basis for further research on the topic.\nOriginality/value: The study adds to the growing literature in retailing a cross-store format comparative analysis, remaining a deeper understanding on how store brands create value from the consumers' standpoint, based on an empirical research in a European developed market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Interaction avoidance in networks
|
[
"Knowledge",
"Innovation",
"Influence",
"Interaction",
"Economise",
"Interaction avoidance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Why do actors seek to avoid or downplay interaction in certain situations with certain counterparts? Contrary to general market theory that assumes the independence of actors, a fundamental and consistent insight throughout the history of industrial network research is that the business world is shaped by relationships (see Hakansson et al., 2009), thus putting interaction at the very centre of analysis. In a network view, everything, both organisations and their environments, are \"made up of the same raw material\", namely \"multiple interactions and relationships\" (Araujo, 1998, p. 328). Interaction processes are often ordered into recursive activity patterns and material interdependencies, shaping what we call relationships. This means, for example, that economic and other resources are shaped in interaction and combination, and that changes in one interface is likely to have - often unintended and unknown - consequences in other interfaces (e.g. Hakansson and Snehota, 1995). While the \"negative\" consequences of interaction have been acknowledged in IMP research as \"the other side\" of the interaction coin (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995; Hakansson et al., 2009), I argue that there is a need for more explicit investigation of non-interaction. If everything is shaped in interaction, then the absence of interaction should be of interest for research; it could help shed light on phenomena such as the inclusion/exclusion dynamics of actors and resources, strategies of (non-)interaction, ignorance, network boundaries, and more.\nFour case studies of interaction avoidance in practice: Methodology and presentation of the case studies\nModes of interaction avoidance: From our in-depth case studies of R\nConcluding discussion: In this attempt at tackling the specific subcategory of non-interaction, or interaction avoidance, I have utilised the descriptions from four, previously published, in-depth case studies from food production (Hoholm, 2011; Hoholm and Olsen, 2012; Hoholm and Hakansson, 2012), food distribution (Olsen et al., 2014; Harrison et al., 2011), healthcare technology (Mork et al., 2006, 2010, 2012), and construction (Brekke et al., 2014). The selection of cases was made to map out a greater variety of interaction avoidance. By re-analysing the cases, I have identified a number of instances where the actors involved deliberately sought to avoid or downplay interaction, and categorised these into five modes of interaction avoidance. When outlining these modes of interaction avoidance, I sought to describe their rationales as well as some of the actions or tactics involved.\nAcknowledgements: The author is grateful to the co-researchers, together with whom the author has done the four case studies in this paper: Per Ingvar Olsen, Hakan Hakansson, Bjorn Erik Mork, Margunn Aanestad, Synnove Rubach, Andreas Brekke, Frans Prenkert and Debbie Harrison. Thank you also to IMP Journal guest editors Alexandra Waluszewski and Annalisa Tunisini, as well as the two reviewers, and Antonella La Rocca, for constructive feedback. The Research Council of Norway funded the empirical research for case study 1 (the VERDIKT-programme), and for case study 4 (the VRI programme). This has not had any impact on the research design, analysis or findings of these studies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop the case for studying non-interaction in networks, particularly instances of intentional avoidance of interaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on the analysis of instances of interaction avoidance across four case studies in medical technology development, food product development, food distribution network change, and regional innovation in construction.\nFindings: Some answers are provided to the questions of why and how actors may seek to avoid interaction. Five modes of interaction avoidance are identified and outlined. Within these modes, interaction avoidance took place in order to protect knowledge, enforce progress, economise in business networks, avoid wasting resources, and maintain opportunities respectively. This list is not seen to be exhaustive of the theme, and further studies are encouraged.\nOriginality/value: Few inter-organisational network studies have dealt explicitly with interaction avoidance or non-interaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Leader-member exchange and the transfer of knowledge from Taiwanese managers to their Chinese subordinates: The mediating effect of social interaction
|
[
"Knowledge transfer",
"Social interaction",
"Leader-member exchange",
"PLS analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since the Chinese Government adopted the \"Law of the People's Republic of China on Joint Ventures Using Chinese and Foreign Investment\" in 1979 (Hou and Zhang, 2002), more and more Taiwanese organizations have invested in Mainland China, with a focus on Guangdong and the Southeastern coast. According to the Investment Commission, Ministry of Economic Affairs (2013a, b), this has led to the investment of USD133 billion since 1991 and the leading industry is electrical and electronic manufacturing therefore, a considerable amount of relevant knowledge has been transferred to the Mainland Chinese subsidiaries of the companies making these investments (Chen, 2003; Huang, 2002; Tsai, 2003).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: The LMX theory was proposed first by Graen and Dansereau in 1972. They asserted that the relationship between leaders and their subordinates is a vertical dyad linkage style rather than traditional assumed average leadership style, which means that the leaders treat their subordinates differently from individual (Dansereau et al., 1975). A role-making model (Graen and Scandura, 1987) was widely accepted as descriptive of the interaction between managers and subordinates that develops early to shape the quality of their relationship. The role-making concept of LMX was also extended to include social exchange and attribution theories (Dienesch and Liden, 1986; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). According to them, a high LMX relationship is characterized by mutual trust, loyalty, and behaviors that extend outside the employment contract whereas a low LMX relationship is one that is within the bounds of the employment contract such that the employee performs his or her job, but contributes nothing extra.\nMethods: Participants and procedure\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: Theoretical contributions\nConclusions: Regardless of these limitations, the present study makes numerous theoretical and practical contributions. In particular, the results indicate that LMX quality and SI between managers and their subordinates are important in transferring knowledge effectively. Moreover, the results indicate that SI plays an essential mediating role in the link between LMX quality and KT, and thus, in addition to managers developing positive SIs with their subordinates, organizations should provide a supportive environment to help produce good supervisor-subordinate relationships, as this can enhance the KT process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among leader-member exchange (LMX) quality, social interaction, and the effectiveness of knowledge transfer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used a paired questionnaire to collect 209 valid sets of paired data, consisting of responses from 37 Taiwanese supervisors and their 209 Chinese subordinates at 35 Taiwanese manufacturing firms located in Mainland China. The proposed hypotheses were tested with the application of a two-step approach of PLS-SEM analysis.\nFindings: The results of this study showed that LMX quality and social interaction are positively associated with effective knowledge transfer, and most importantly, it found that social interaction between Taiwanese managers and their subordinates has a full mediating effect on this relationship.\nResearch limitations/implications: The data were collected from a dyad supervisor-subordinate relationship; thus, future research is encouraged to collect data from peer co-worker relationships. The findings, however, suggested that organizations should provide a supportive environment where a good supervisor-subordinate relationship can be created for the enhancement of knowledge transfer.\nPractical implications: The study suggested that managers should work to develop high-quality LMX relationships with their subordinates, as this can enhance social interaction among employees and facilitate more effective knowledge transfer.\nOriginality/value: The paper applied a four-level training evaluation model to assess the effectiveness of knowledge transfer which has never been done before, and found that both LMX quality and social interaction affect how well individuals can acquire knowledge.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Demystifying continuous participation in game applications at social networking sites: A social playfulness design perspective
|
[
"Elaboration likelihood model",
"Continuous participation",
"Inherent sociability",
"Social playfulness design",
"Symbolic physicality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social networking sites (SNS) are online platforms that facilitate the construction of social relations among people who share similar interests, backgrounds and/or real-life connections (Cheung et al., 2015). When joining SNS, people create public or semi-public profiles, articulate a list of users with whom they share a connection, and view their list of connections and those made by others within a bounded system (Boyd, 2008). Popular SNS, such as Facebook and Twitter, have attracted millions of registered users and maintained strong yearly growth. The business value of SNS mainly derives from active user pool (Cheung et al., 2011). Hence, the top challenge for SNS is to continuously retain and expand the pool of active users (Kim and Min, 2015).\nTheoretical foundations: The ELM and SNS game applications design\nResearch model and hypotheses development: Based on the preceding theoretical justifications, our research model aims to investigate the effects of two key design features (i.e. symbolic physicality and inherent sociability) on the psychological determinants (i.e. perceived curiosity and perceived enjoyment) that lead to users' continuous participation in SNS game applications, and the gender differences. In this context, continuous participation is defined as the degree of users' willingness to return to and prolong their duration of each stay in SNS game applications (Wu et al., 2008; Koo, 2009). The overall research model is summarized in Figure 1.\nResearch method: Construct operationalization\nEmpirical results: Measurement model\nDiscussion and conclusion: Discussion on key findings\nConclusion: In this study, we theoretically propose and empirically verify a research model to investigate the effects of social playfulness design on continuous participation in SNS game applications and the gender differences. We explore the problem from the social playfulness design perspective by identifying two key design features, namely symbolic physicality and inherent sociability, and apply ELM to capture their different influences on users' perceived curiosity and perceive enjoyment that finally lead to user's continuous participation. With regard to the wide usage of social media, we call for more attention on the design of SNS game applications in future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Drawn from the social playfulness literature and the elaboration likelihood model, the purpose of this paper is to propose and test a research model to examine users' continuous participation in SNS game applications.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A field survey with 133 subjects was conducted to test the research model.\nFindings: Two identified design features, symbolic physicality and inherent sociability, are found to influence users' perceived curiosity and perceived enjoyment toward playing SNS game applications. Perceived enjoyment is significantly associated with perceived curiosity and predicts users' continuous participation of SNS game applications. The authors also observed a gender difference of social playfulness design on perceived curiosity.\nResearch limitations/implications: Use intention was used as a proxy for actual use behavior, since objective data on continuance behavior was not available. Additionally, the contributions of this study may be constrained by one single sample.\nPractical implications: The findings of the study suggest practical guidelines for designing game applications in SNS through socialization design and symbolic physicality. Further, based on the findings of gender differences, a personalization game design strategy is provided.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the post-adoption IS literature and sheds light on the interesting area of social media participation. Additionally, this study enriches the online gaming research by demonstrating gender differences.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Portfolio optimisation and bootstrapping
|
[
"Property",
"Financial markets",
"Market value",
"Assets management",
"Computer bootstrapping",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the long-standing issues with the property investment market has been the lack of data due to infrequent property valuations and transparency concerns surrounding the direct property market. As property valuations occur monthly (at the most) in the UK, its relevant returns series will be restricted to a monthly timeline. This is not helped by the fact that direct property transactions do not happen over an exchange but rather by a general agreement between a willing buyer and seller. This is unlike equities or bonds where the price is decided and available for all participants to view on the exchange or other such market places. Such issues make many statistical techniques widely applied in equities and fixed income incompatible with property. One of the main tools in the investment arsenal of a property fund manager is portfolio optimisation, which can be used to conduct their hold/sell analysis on their portfolio, and verify if the model portfolio structure is compatible with the fund's investment objective. However, the key assumptions of Markowitz's Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) (Markowitz, 1952) theory are that asset returns are normally distributed and that investors face a risk-return trade-off. It is widely accepted that most asset returns are non-normally distributed and this can be seen in the extreme tail risks in the current crisis and the long term capital management crisis in 1998. Such events are not covered adequately by a normal distribution function. In the property industry, most portfolio optimisation practices ignore the normality assumption of asset returns. To complicate matters further, the short time series of property returns data further compromises the stability of the estimated returns and covariance matrix. In portfolio literature such issues are referred to as estimation errors. Such deficiencies in the optimisation methodology could provide statistically incorrect outputs, i.e. portfolio weights. The appeal of this paper is that it works around these shortcomings rather than ignoring them altogether.\n2. Literature review: There are a number of methodologies mentioned in the literature to overcome statistical issues with asset returns and MPT. Avouyi-Dovi et al. (2004) use an Omega function to accurately capture asset distribution, instead of the normality assumption, and asset allocation is done using a meta-heuristic optimisation method. Davies et al. (2003) included higher moments such as skewness and kurtosis in the portfolio construction process. By doing so, the analysis went beyond the standard risk return trade-off theory in MPT. They concluded that investors prefer increasing skewness and reducing kurtosis. Under those assumptions, they found asset allocation decision to be greatly influenced by co-skewness and co-kurtosis matrices. However, such research may be well beyond direct property analysis for the foreseeable future as historic returns are quite restrictive and extension to higher moments would require significantly more extensive historic data. There are other streams of research focusing on minimising the estimation error. One such technique is the model developed by Black and Litterman (1991) in an internal Goldman Sachs document. This model provides a quantitative framework to blend the prior view, the capital asset pricing model market portfolio, with the investor's view to arrive at a combined new distribution. The asset allocation from the Black-Litterman model is claimed to be more diversified than a plain mean-variance optimisation (MVO).Initial studies on asset allocation decisions, in the USA, by Webb and Rubens (1987) have indicated a property weighting of at least 43 per cent in a multi-asset portfolio. More conservative estimates of property weight in a US multi-asset portfolio have been around 19-28 per cent by Gilberto (1993). Globally, Hoesli et al. (2004) recommend property allocation between 15-25 per cent in a multi-asset portfolio. However, this has rarely been replicated in reality with average UK pension funds' property allocation at about 4.3 per cent, according to Mercer (2008). This figure would have a downward bias as it includes fund managers with no property mandates. The cause of the unusually high weighting from academic asset allocation research has been attributed by Newell et al. (1996) to appraisal-smoothing and valuation lags in the UK direct property market. They also suggest increasing the appraisal-based risk estimates by a factor of 3.5 to reflect actual property risk. By adjusting returns for property smoothing, property returns can then be made comparable to other asset classes. However, there will still be distributional issues with the adjusted returns data and its implications for parameter estimation.The approach used in this paper to address this issue is that of bootstrapping. This paper focuses on a UK domestic investor with only UK-based assets as the investment universe. It is intended to expand this study to include more markets as previous studies, such as Hoesli et al. (2004), have found that based on the size of the domestic property market international investment will improve diversification of the portfolio. This approach has been used by Gold (1995) in real estate portfolios. However, their implementation of bootstrapping was that of random selection and applied to the Russell/NCREIF index in the USA.The concept of bootstrapping data was initially implemented by Carlstein (1986). This was built upon by Politis and Romano (1995) and Politis and White (2004). Essentially, the idea is to randomise the returns series within itself based on certain rules, which can be customised to the user's choice. The choice of bootstrap selection will have bearing on the re-sampled data's relevance to the market cycle and thus on the output. Upon using the bootstrap with the right rules to match the economic cycle, we intend to iterate the optimisation across the bootstraps to obtain a (possibly) more stable output, i.e. asset weighting. This is done by bootstrapping the existing dataset, say N times, and maintaining the economic cycle within them. The bootstrapped data is then used for N portfolio optimisation scenarios. Thus, the idea would be to use these N resulting outputs (asset weightings) to indicate a range in which the fund manager's portfolio should lie. It is essential to maintain the structure within the time series of the asset classes considered otherwise the correlations generated by the bootstrap would be infeasible and hence results would be irrelevant.The added advantage of the bootstrap is that the resulting output would be that of a range of portfolio weights. This could be more useful to a fund manager as building a property portfolio takes time, and this methodology could possibly take into account portfolio drifts.The following sections will first introduce the dataset used in this analysis and briefly evaluate the issues surrounding them. Next, the standard MVO framework is used to provide asset allocation decision on a UK multi-asset investment universe. The shortcomings of this allocation are discussed and the need for an alternate framework, i.e. bootstrapped simulation is established. The concept of bootstrap is introduced along with its application to portfolio optimisation. Finally, the results are analysed with implications for a fund manager.\n3. Data: One of the best markets, in terms of data availability, to work on a property optimisation is the UK market. The UK IPD annual index has one of the longest available historic series in global property returns. So this would be one of the best breeding grounds for any such researching techniques, with a property perspective. This paper only considers UK equities, gilts and property in the portfolio. The data used in this analysis goes back to 1948, which means it covers enough economic cycles to provide the bootstrap food for thought. The UK IPD data have been historically re-created by Aberdeen Property Investors using a cashflow methodology with results comparable to Scott (1996) (Figure 1).From Table I, it can be seen that none of the three asset classes fits the criteria for normal distribution, i.e. zero skewness and kurtosis of three.It should be noted that the property returns in this analysis are de-smoothed IPD returns with 1 per cent transaction cost on top, as this creates a level playing field between the asset classes (Figure 2). The 1 per cent transaction cost is approximately based on an assumption of 6 per cent purchase cost, 1 per cent selling cost and a 20 per cent portfolio turnover rate. The UK IPD return series are de-smoothed using Geltner's adjusted (Geltner, 1993) filter, which is given below: Equation 1 where:Ru(t)= the unsmoothed property returns at time t.R*(t)= is the observed appraisal-based return at time t, a is the smoothing parameter.\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Standard mean-variance optimisation\n5. Conclusion: This paper contrasts the performance of the standard MVO and a bootstrapped version, in the context of their application to the property market. The instant advantage of using the bootstrap in the property market is the option to ignore the limited historic returns data as a base case scenario, and instead focuses on a range of possible outcomes. Traditional MVO solutions are static in nature and rely extensively on the stability of the input data. Instead, we propose a bootstrapped portfolio optimisation that provides an acceptable region within which the fund manager can allow their portfolio weighting to vary. By doing so, the methodology accepts the inherent flaws in the property returns data and works with it. It should be noted that the investor in this analysis is UK-domiciled with a domestic portfolio alone. It is widely accepted in the industry that property weighting in a multi-asset portfolio should be around 5-15 per cent to be meaningful. The bootstrap simulation with a sanity filter on the correlation matrix, on the other hand, suggests a range of between 0-6 per cent with 95 per cent confidence. The bootstrapped simulation also suggests that property would be the least sensitive in terms of asset re-allocation. Similar results are observed in the simulation without the sanity filter with the bootstrap suggesting range up to over 15 per cent weighting for property.In this paper, the optimisation is done on an unconstrained basis and is not realistic. Upon constraining the asset allocation, one would expect the equity weighting to come down to the benefit of gilts and property. However, the bootstrap provides increased confidence in results as it covers realistic bounds in terms of asset weighting.The final conclusion of this paper is the robustness of the bootstrap methodology. 2008 was a turbulent year in the global financial markets with one year of data completely changing portfolio parameters. The MVO output, for data up to 2007, indicates a property weighting of 3 per cent. This drops all the way to zero when 2008 is included. Such an abrupt reaction to one year of data may be unwelcome. The bootstrap optimisation, on the other hand, does not indicate so. For the data up to 2007, the average property weighting was 6 per cent with the standard deviation of 6 per cent. When 2008 is included in the parameter estimation, the average property weighting was 1.5 per cent. Although the trend of asset allocation to property is similar to the MVO output, that of a property underweight rating, the allocation is not zero. Similar conclusions can be drawn from equity asset allocation in 2007 and 2008. The MVO methodology suggests a 16 per cent decrease in equity weight whereas the bootstrap methodology suggests a 12 per cent decrease. This is of crucial importance as it limits any knee-jerk reactions in asset allocation.This analysis could be of significant use to a fund manager with a direct property target as building a property weighting takes time, unlike equities and bonds. With the recent financial markets volatility, a previously optimal portfolio could soon become sub-optimal and require an asset re-allocation, which can be expensive in property markets. It is here where the bootstrap analysis could help by providing the manager with a range within which to operate the portfolio and to limit any knee-jerk reaction. The more crucial application of this methodology could be in an all-property portfolio where data issues are more prevalent.Future work will focus on combining non-normal distribution functions with the bootstrap simulation. This will combine a statistically correct view on property as an asset class with the bootstrap to provide a range within which the portfolio weighting can be permitted.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a more robust methodology for asset allocation for the property investment market which takes into account inherent valuation and data issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology applied is that of a bootstrap, borrowed from Carlstein, and is applied to an investment universe consisting of UK equities, gilts and property. The bootstrap selectively re-samples the return time series by maintaining the economic cycle. The resulting return series is then used in the standard mean-variance optimisation (MVO) on an unconstrained basis. Finally, a \"sanity\" test is applied on the correlation matrix to ensure that spurious instances do not skew the results.\nFindings: - The bootstrapped optimisation provides a range within which the portfolio weights can be manoeuvred instead of a static point under the standard MVO. It provides a more robust methodology for asset allocation and without giving any undue significance to one year of extreme result.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The current analysis is based on unconstrained portfolio optimisation, with a very limited investment universe. Additionally, by conforming with the MVO methodology, normality of asset returns is implicitly assumed, which is clearly not the case in the data used. Future work will also focus on an all-property portfolio.\nPractical implications: - The proposed methodology will prove to be useful for making asset allocation decisions, particularly in turbulent financial markets.\nOriginality/value: - The paper focuses solely on bootstrapping with the IPD UK annual index and is particularly significant after one year of extremely poor performance of UK property. The results will be of use to fund managers and portfolio analysts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Same, same but different? Women's experiences with gender inequality in Brazil
|
[
"Gender",
"Brazil",
"Women",
"Sexual discrimination",
"Women workers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Despite decades of research and debates, gender inequality remains a worldwide issue and one that \"appears to be at the forefront of the global humanitarian agenda\" (Joshi et al., 2015, p. 1459). There has been progress in female representation and an increase in gender diversity, but a lack of understanding remains as women have achieved little progress in reaching top management and leadership positions (Madsen and Scribner, 2017). On the positive side, women are completing undergraduate degrees at a higher rate (Burke and Vinnicombe, 2013); but more often than not, they earn less than men for comparable jobs and tend to be over-represented in casual or unpaid roles (Beede et al., 2011; Cook and Glass, 2014). Researchers have dedicated more than 3,000 papers since 1970 to try to understand the factors that underpin gender inequality (Eagly and Heilman, 2016). Of those, 38 percent were published after 2010, revealing growing interest in the topic.\nGender in Brazil: With a population of over 200 million, Brazil has undergone substantial turmoil in the last few years. Following a period of extreme prosperity in the early 2000s as one of the world's emerging economies, the country has been facing serious economic and political issues recently. Investment into deepwater oil, although promising, led to excessive debt, which was worsened by the collapse of oil prices (Galbreath, 2017). Moreover, the economy plummeted further with corruption scandals (primarily Operation Carwash) that encapsulate people at the very top of businesses as well as politicians and high-ranking civil servants in most government branches (Bonifacio and Ribeiro, 2016; Galbreath, 2017).\nTheoretical framework: While diversity influences the organizational context, gender studies require a more profound consideration of the society as a whole. This is particularly critical for the Brazilian setting since gender roles do not necessarily reflect the newer economic and political realities of the country. This cultural lag may be due to its tradition as a male-dominated society and the presence and dissemination of machismo and marianismo (Diekman et al., 2005). Since Portuguese colonizers, men have been identified with authority and strength, while women have been associated with weakness and subservience (Margolis et al., 2001). As an example, even though women acquired the right to vote in 1932, it was only in the 1960s that they conquered the right to work without requiring the previous permission from their husbands (Narvaz and Koller, 2006).\nMethod: The present study examined the experiences of professional women currently working in Brazilian organizations. Those are critical locations for the investigation of inequalities because much of the inequality found in society originates in the workplace (Acker, 2006). Organizations may also be where attempts are made to alter patterns of inequality, particularly through a discourse of diversity and inclusion (Oswick and Noon, 2014).\nFindings: The answers provided by participants led to themes that were grouped into four categories. It is important to note that there were no observable differences between individual experiences and perceptions of women who worked in multinational or domestic organizations. Moreover, the various positions held by women at their respective organizations suggest comparable individual experiences and perceptions.\nDiscussion: Despite significant changes in the attitudes toward women in Brazil and abroad, one has to wonder whether any real progress is being made toward gender equality in the lives of professional women in Brazil. Our research indicates that work is still organized along gender lines, and that roles are very traditional despite current global trends and census findings. This is not a discovery that is exclusive to Brazil. Studies conducted in countries with traditional gender roles, such as Turkey (e.g. Turk et al., 2014) and India (e.g. Wang and McLean, 2016), have found similar contradictions in gender dynamics at the workplace.\nConclusion: The goal of the present study was to examine the experiences of professional women in a developing country context with a history of ingrained gender inequality. From the standpoint of women as individuals, the expectation that women will continue to fulfill the roles traditionally destined to them (through marriage and motherhood) is reinforced by Brazilian society and women act as agents who uphold rather than defy these roles - a self-fulfilling prophecy. The interviews show a combination of acceptance of the status quo with some hints of action, such as investments in career development, job changes, and so on. Promoting change would require a new individual, and subsequently collective mindset, since inequality is not an individual issue but part of a broader context.\nLimitations of this study: The study suffers from several limitations. First, this is a qualitative study and, as such, it is not generalizable to the wider population. In addition, this study focused on metropolitan regions of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Future studies should include other regions in Brazil and address a larger section of the population. Finally, we understand that the focus solely on gender discrimination oversimplifies the complexity of inequality studies (Ozbilgin et al., 2011), which should consider other categories, such as race and class (together the \"interlocking systems of oppression\") (Collins, 2002, p. 225).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine gender issues in Brazil from the perceptions, experiences, and discourses of professional women in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on 26 in-depth interviews with female professionals. The methodology consists of an exploratory approach through content analysis.\nFindings: Despite the fact that Brazil demonstrates an idealized national ethos that promotes equality, gender roles are still very traditional. Participants recognized gender issues at work, including covert discrimination, though most did not acknowledge experiencing them personally.\nOriginality/value: There is dissonance between global trends and the actual experience of female professionals in Brazil. Although participants rejected the idea of personally experiencing inequality, they acknowledge its existence in human resources (HR) practices. This leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy where gender inequality is perpetuated and organizations and HR departments do not seem to have a proactive role as change agents.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reifying the private/public divide: examining rhetorical strategies in the debate on maternity leave policy in the USA
|
[
"Maternity leave",
"Women",
"Group discussion",
"United States of America",
"Rhetoric"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research in the USA shows that women, as employees, have historically faced labor policies that fail to recognize or accommodate demands often placed on them for childbearing, childrearing, and family care duties (Norton, 1994). Most recently, the Project on Global Working Families reported that out of 173 nations, 169 of them had some form of paid maternity leave. The four countries without a nationwide policy guaranteeing some form of paid leave for mothers include Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and the USA (Heymann et al., 2007). While 12 weeks of unpaid leave is protected under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), paid maternity leave in the USA is left to the discretion of each individual employer. The media respond each year the Project on Global Working Families report is released. In 2005 USA Today published an article entitled, \"US stands apart from other nations on maternity leave,\" (Geissler, 2005) and in 2007, CBS News reported, \"US lags in family-friendly workplaces\" (CBS News, 2007).Maternity leave is the time away from paid employment for mothers to recuperate from childbirth/adoption and care for their new child. In 2006, 70.6 percent of women with children under 18 years of age were in the US labor force (US Department of Labor, 2007). Moreover, the percentage of women working during the pregnancy of their first child has increased from 44.4 percent in the early 1960s to 67.2 percent in the late 1990s (Overturf Johnson and Downs, 2005). Thus, maternity leave policy impacts a considerable number of organizations and women.In the USA, there is a societal belief that life is distinctly divided into two spheres, public and private. Work and family are assumed to be two separate domains with the public world of work and the private realm of family. This assumption creates the \"ideal worker\" and \"ideal caretaker\" as two separate images that underpin many organizational policies and norms (Kanter, 1977; Acker, 1990). Maternity leave policy is an instance when the two spheres are inextricably linked, revealing that this traditional distinction is a false one (Martin, 1990; Peterson and Albrecht, 1999). As Martin (1990, p. 343) argues, the \"public/private dichotomy is an ideological assumption, not a social fact.\" Our study explores the arguments (i.e. rhetorical strategies) women in an online discussion use as they respond to the above media reports and debate the efficacy of US maternity leave policy. By examining their rhetorical strategies, we are able to illuminate how they ultimately reify the underlying cultural assumption of a public/private divide.Maternity leave and organizational research in the USA\nSocial policy on maternal employment and childcare: a USA-Sweden comparison: To understand the ideological assumptions underpinning the \"radically different approach to maternity leave\" (Geissler, 2005) that the USA has chosen, it might be helpful to make a comparison. While all other industrialized nations with the exception of the USA offer some form of paid leave for mothers of a new child, Sweden, which has the most generous nationwide policies in the world, is often held up as the model for social policy on maternal employment (Crittenden, 2002). Employees in Sweden are granted right of return protections after 16 months of shared parental leave (with 80 percent of normal pay) between the mother and father. In the USA, the FMLA allows workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work to care for a newborn without fear of being terminated or demoted by their employers. The Act, however, only covers individuals working for one year or more for companies with 50 or more employees, leaving half of working mothers in the US ineligible (Heymann et al., 2007).Paid maternity leave in the USA is a human resource benefit offered by individual employers (with a few exceptions in a handful of states that offer partial pay through disability insurance deductions). Thus, there is a lot of variation from company to company. Each year, Working Mother magazine lists the top \"100 Family-friendly companies.\" It reports that 73 percent of the companies on the top 100 list offer parental leave beyond the federal FMLA as compared to 27 percent nationally (Gerstenzang, 2007). Even among those on the list, paid maternity leave policies differ dramatically. For instance, Baptist Health South Florida offers four weeks at partial pay while West Virginia University Hospitals offers four weeks at full pay. Other examples of fully paid maternity leave policies include six weeks at Pearson Education, eight weeks at Turner Broadcasting, and ten weeks at Kraft Foods. Regarding leave for fathers, in a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management, only 17 percent of companies offered paid paternity leave (2007 Benefits, 2007), and those Working Mother magazine lists as the \"Top 10 best companies for paternity leave\" offer an average of four weeks paid leave (Working Mother, 2008).In short, in the US paid maternity (and paternity) leave is often left to the employee to negotiate and ultimately a prerogative of the employer. In contrast, paid parental leave in Sweden is mandated and funded by the government. Though the purpose of our paper is not to compare policies in the USA and Sweden, we believe that a brief discussion of their histories will illustrate the cultural mindsets that can drive the vastly different policies and thus each country's conception of the private/public divide.Obscuring the private/public divide: Sweden's maternity leave policies\nMethodology: To extend the research on how maternity leave policy is constructed in US culture, we examined a localized and focused discussion of the topic in an online discussion board. We chose to focus on written texts exchanged in an asynchronous online environment because we believe it to be a medium that produces particularly rich discourse for rhetorical analysis. Herring (2003, p. 624) argues that computer-mediated discourse is \"a surprisingly effective way to 'do' interactional work, in that it allows users to choose their words with greater care, and reveals less of their doubts and insecurities, than does spontaneous speech.\" Furthermore, contrary to the notion that people can be whomever they wish in the anonymous environment of the internet and fake their identities, Benwell and Stokoe's (2006, p. 244) research indicates that who people present themselves to be online is consistent with who they are in real life as \"virtual worlds strive to recreate conditions of RL (real life) rather than forge radically new ways of conceiving of relations, communities, and identities.\" Thus, an online discussion board without the presence of researchers and prompting of questions, enables us to examine women's discussions as they unfold naturally, allowing for a unique richness of data.Data collection\nResearch method: rhetorical analysis: To examine the strategies through which the participants in the discussion shape the arguments that ultimately reify the assumption of a private/public divide underpinning maternity leave policy in the USA, we take a rhetorical approach. As Suddaby and Greenwood (2005, p. 39) comment, rhetorical analysis is particularly effective in examining \"language in structuring social action ... [and is] distinguished by a very specific focus on persuasion and influence.\" Specifically, we adopt Hart and Daughton's (1997) conception of rhetorical analysis, which holds that nearly all textual elements can be seen as potentially rhetorical - shaping an argument and persuading an audience - and allows for a wide range of application, including the analysis of situations, arguments, generic form, syntax and metaphor, and lexicon. These textual elements in turn may reveal the strategies that their creators employ as they craft their messages. A rhetorical analysis of these strategies, then, as Selzer (2004, p. 106) says \"can be understood as an effort to understand how people within specific social situations attempt to influence others through language... \" Rhetorical analysis, then, helps make explicit the beliefs, values, and assumptions that shape what individuals can and do say. For this study, we examine the rhetorical strategies the posters in the public discussion board use as they engage in the debate regarding the efficacy of maternity leave policies in the USA.Procedure\nAnalysis: Though there were many discussion threads to choose from for our discussion, we chose three discussion threads within the forum that serve as exemplars of the posters using logical appeals as their primary strategy and emotional appeals (in this case personal narratives) as their secondary strategy. As the term \"exemplar\" implies, these are not isolated incidents of the use of these strategies; the exemplars represent the consistent pattern posters use throughout this discussion forum as they debate the efficacy of maternity leave policies in the USA. Further, though we present the thread in linear format for ease of discussion, we do not mean to imply the discussion itself was linear. Indeed, many parallel threads exist and we try to capture the nuances of these discussions in our analysis.In reading the discussion threads, it became clear the women were passionate regardless of their stances on maternity leave policy. They appear divided into two camps: those who support the current maternity leave policy in the USA in which the government (through the FMLA) and employers provide a supporting role and those who believe that the government, primarily, and employers, to a lesser extent, should provide more than a supporting and sometimes voluntary role in maternity leave. Those who favor the current maternity policy frequently cite motherhood as a personal choice and see maternity leave as a benefit a woman chooses to have or not when she agrees to work for a particular company. Those on the other side of the argument see maternity leave as a basic government service every mother has a right to access, much in the same way citizens access education or a solid infrastructure: they cite a good maternity policy as an investment in the employee.In addition, those who advocate for the status quo frequently reference US values of self-sufficiency, independence, and personal choice in defending the employers' and government's right to not bear what they see as an undue financial burden. Those who advocate for change acknowledge a monetary cost but minimize its impact and argue that regardless of the cost government- or employer-funded maternity leave plans are simply the right thing to do; in other words, the moral and ethical cost of not having a quality maternity leave policy is much greater than any monetary cost.Regardless of their stance on US maternity leave policy, a pattern emerges in the discussion threads, whereby the posters initially employ arguments involving facts, statistics, data, or logical appeals. Near the end of the thread, when the debate eventually exhausts itself in a stalemate, posters often relate their personal experiences to support their claims in what appears to be a \"last-ditch\" strategy. Below, we use three threads to illustrate this pattern. (Note: The text in << >> indicates that the poster has copied and pasted text from a previous post into her current post.)Discussion thread 1: change would kill small business or would it?\nConclusion: As we noted above, current research on maternity leave policies and organizational research illuminates the assumption of a public/private divide underpinning discussions on women, work, and family in the USA (Martin, 1990; Peterson and Albrecht, 1999). By examining an online discussion forum where women debate the efficacy of the current US maternity leave, we show how the posters reify the underlying assumption of a public/private divide regarding maternity leave policies in the USA through the types of rhetorical strategies they use.Types of rhetorical strategies\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the rhetorical strategies women use as they debate the efficacy of maternity leave policies in the USA and how these strategies reify the public/private divide.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using rhetorical analysis, the characteristics of women's discussion are examined in an online forum.\nFindings: - Participants rely on two primary strategies: \"public\" strategies (e.g. employing facts, logic, statistics) for most of their discussion; and \"private\" strategies (e.g. relating personal experiences) as a strategy of last resort when the public strategies fail. Further, their personal recountings lack detail and ultimately limit the ability to strengthen the posters' arguments.\nResearch limitations/implications: - While this paper focuses on a US context, the approach lends itself well to examining the cultural assumptions underpinning specific policies and extending the study of the complexities of the assumed public/private divide in additional settings.\nPractical implications: - The paper suggests that in order to advance arguments for or against change in a cultural climate that so clearly divides the public and the private, women will need to invest more of their personal experiences to argue more effectively the impact of a social policy on their lives.\nOriginality/value: - This study uses online texts as the focus of analysis and in doing so examines the rich, authentic interaction of women from a variety of organizational backgrounds.\n",
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Perceived price and service quality as mediators between price fairness and perceived value in business banking relationships: A micro-enterprise perspective
|
[
"Service quality",
"Banking industry",
"Perceived value",
"Micro-enterprises",
"Perceived price",
"Price fairness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Small-, medium- and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) play a central role in any economy, as they are viewed as the key drivers of economic growth, innovation and job creation (Kozubikova et al., 2015). Micro-enterprises, in particular, provide rich entrepreneurial opportunities that contribute to economic growth; however, this growth is largely impacted by the development and spread of bank infrastructure, which in turn is essential to facilitate entrepreneurial activity and business start-ups (Autio and Fu, 2015; Lee and Hung, 2014).\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Micro-enterprise/bank relationships: a framework to guide the study\nMethodology: Research context and sample\nResults: The proposed research model was analyzed using AMOS 23.0 software in the two-step approach recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), which emphasizes the analysis of two conceptually distinct latent variable models: the measurement model and the structural model. This sequence allows researchers to ensure that latent variables have adequate reliability and validity before drawing conclusions on hypothesized relationships (Hair et al., 2013; Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Woo and Ennew (2004) added that the measurement model provides an assessment of convergent and discriminant validity, while the structural model provides an assessment of predictive and nomological validity.\nResearch implications: Drawing on social exchange theory, this study tested a research model that investigated the relationships between price fairness, perceived price, perceived service quality and perceived value. Specifically, it tested the mediating effect of perceived price and service quality between price fairness and perceived value. The study took place in a business banking setting focusing on micro-enterprises.\nManagerial implications: The results of this study have implications for the management of customer relationships with micro-enterprises in the banking industry. Since the pricing structure of banking services is complex, banking executives must offer greater transparency about their service charges and interest rates to enable customers to compare those charges with other sources of finance.\nConclusions and suggestions for future research: This study contributes to confirming the mediating effects of perceived price and service quality between price fairness and value perception in business relationships between micro-enterprises and their banks. It contributes to both theory and practice, providing empirical evidence that perceived price and service quality influence the relationship between price fairness and perceived value.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test perceived price and service quality as mediators between price fairness and perceived value in service encounters between micro-enterprises and their banks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on a self-administered and internet-based questionnaire conducted in the banking industry. The sample consists of 381 micro-enterprises in South Africa that employ one or two staff members.\nFindings: The findings of this paper provide evidence for both theory and practice that perceived price and service quality influence the relationship between business banking customers' perception of price fairness and the value of the service offered.\nResearch limitations/implications: The measurement and structural properties reported are satisfactory. This paper confirms the hypothesized relationships in the tested research model, and rejects a tested rival model. Limitations are reported, and suggestions for further research are provided.\nPractical implications: This paper offers banking executives guidance in managing the pricing structure of their services, and highlights the value of offering greater transparency with regards to service charges and interest rates.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to insights into the mediating effects of perceived price and service quality between price fairness and perceived value in business relationships between micro-enterprises and their banks.\n",
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Desired privacy and the impact of crowding on customer emotions and approach-avoidance responses: Waiting in a virtual reality restaurant
|
[
"Crowding",
"Emotions",
"Approach‐avoidance",
"Wait management",
"Desired privacy",
"Service environment",
"Virtual reality simulation",
"Privacy",
"Virtual reality",
"Queuing time",
"Hospitality services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Would a crowded restaurant waiting area encourage or discourage customers entering a restaurant? A store with many shoppers creates images of an exciting store, feelings of restricted movement, or both. A crowded waiting area suggests an exciting, and popular place. But customers can sense difficulties about entering the restaurant's dining area, because of the presence of customers ahead of them, and may feel they lack control over their circumstances and renege on their booking. So, a restaurant's waiting area gives a key expectation of service that encourages or discourages customer patronage. Understanding how crowding in a waiting area influences customer expectations, opinions of service and willingness to receive service helps managers create a positive first experience of their restaurant. Environmental reasons have important effects on customers' feelings, thinking, and reactions about a service conditions (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000), and social and environmental psychologists have theorized that crowding also influences mood and stress (Desor, 1972; Gormley and Aiello, 1982; Regoeczi, 2008).Using a virtual reality setting, this study looks into how and to what extent crowding in a restaurant waiting area influences emotions and attitudes. Among the emotions influencing people's approaches or avoidance behaviors (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974), pleasure and arousal were explored in crowding studies (Choi et al., 1976; Hui and Bateson, 1991; Wakefield and Blodgett, 1996). Dominance, as an emotional dimension influenced by crowding, however, remains unexplored. We examine crowding effects inclusively along the three emotional dimensions of pleasure, arousal, and dominance, testing if it influences restaurant patrons' attitudes directly or indirectly.Crowding studies in noncommercial and residential settings have been conducted already (Eroglu and Machleit, 1990; Regoeczi, 2008), while service settings have received interest recently (Eroglu, Machleit and Barr, 2005; Machleit et al., 2000). And research at service settings in bookstores, grocery stores and retail shops claim that crowding negatively influences emotions, consumption intentions, and behaviors. Machleit et al. (2000) showed that crowding's negative effect on satisfaction varied by store type. As is true of any marketing variable, the impact of crowding depends on the nature of the consumption setting. Thus, crowding in differing service settings like restaurants is worth examining. Previous research literature reports little interest about crowding in the restaurant industry, however, we focus on this crowding effect and its consistency with other service settings. Except for research (Hui and Bateson, 1991) on waiting for a bank teller no study reported on combining crowding and waiting within a service setting. Hence, this study examines if customers see crowding in a restaurant waiting situation differently from that at a bank or shop. Typical crowding studies have focused on the in-process stage in general retail environments but waiting in a restaurant occurs during the pre-process stage in the service delivery. Consequently, it remains unclear if pre-process crowding affects customer opinions differently than in-process crowding. For example, a crowded waiting area may inhibit the customers' attainment of their goals discouraging them from waiting for a table. Alternatively, if the place appears popular it could encourage customers to stay. Therefore, crowding influences customer stay or leave decisions.Past research suggests that personal characteristics influence how people interpret environmental cues so individuals react differently to the number of people around them (Saegert, 1973). Among the characteristics influencing people's opinions about crowding is their desire for privacy (Belk, 1975) and satisfying this depends on the service environment. Individuals wanting privacy might seek lower levels of social engagement. Hence, crowding may cause negative experiences by allowing unwanted social contact with other customers. Despite several decades of research on crowding, most studies have not involved personality variables. Thus, this study also examines privacy as a moderating variable that influences the association between crowding and customers' attitudes toward a service.Restaurant managers can improve service experiences by understanding the effects of crowding on waiting customers' emotions and behavioral intentions. This would improve customer satisfaction, repatronage intentions, and profitability. The study explores these issues by asking three questions. First, what is the impact of crowding on emotions and approach-avoidance responses in a simulated restaurant waiting area? Second, does emotion play a mediating role between crowding and approach-avoidance responses? Third, does the desire for privacy moderate the crowding and approach-avoidance responses?\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Crowding as part of servicescape dimensions\n3. Method: Despite the recognized importance of crowding, the main restraint on conducting crowding studies in commercial settings is controlling variables such as the number of customers in real service environments. We overcame this challenge by creating a computer-simulated three-dimensional high-fidelity photo-realistic VR restaurant waiting area including waiting customers, which was navigable by joystick input. This featured photo-realistic virtual customers to maximize the natural emotional and attitudinal responses obtained from 61 subjects who acted as customers under two crowding conditions in the simulated setting.3.1 Subjects and data collection\n4. Results: 4.1 Crowding, customer emotions, and approach-avoidance responses\n5. Discussion: The findings show the psychological effects of other people being present in a service setting as influencing the customers' evaluation of that place. This happened in the VR restaurant setting where, according to Hall's definition of personal and social distances, we manipulated two levels of crowding in the waiting area. Here the results showed that in a waiting situation at a service setting, crowding within personal distances was more intimidating than crowding within social distances. Strangers in sufficient numbers causing intrusions into people's personal distance discouraged customers from associating with the service setting. This varied by the desire for privacy levels among customers, as those wanting higher privacy were more sensitive to the crowded setting than those wanting lower privacy. Detecting these divergent preferences and serving them is critical for customer perceptions of quality during their dining experience, particularly as our study indicates that higher arousal induced by crowding did not have a positive influence on interactions among strangers in the wait area. As we found the desire for privacy matters in how customers perceive a crowded environment discerning their preferences and offering modulated waiting options accordingly is important. Understanding these preferences can reduce the variance between desired privacy and crowding levels.Our findings showed that crowding induced both positive and negative emotions. Specifically, crowding had a positive association with arousal, a negative association with dominance, and a negative association with affiliation. Our study showed no mediating role of emotions in the relationship between crowding and approach-avoidance response, which indicates the direct impact of crowding on approach-avoidance response. We found the desire for privacy as a psychological trait moderated the relationship between crowding and approach-avoidance response, especially affiliation. While some of our findings were consistent with evidence in the general crowding literature, some of them are newly implying there are various optimums for the crowding levels associated with differing service settings.Overall, we saw a significant impact of crowding on emotions and approach-avoidance responses. Crowding seems to influence customer decisions to enter the service environment. Crowding influenced emotions in both a positive and negative way. First, the positive effect of crowding has been shown in the result related to its influence on arousal. The high-crowding waiting area made customers feel more aroused than the low-crowding waiting area. It appears that subjects felt crowding to be an opportunity for social stimulation. Subjects viewed arousal in a positive way because, according to our extra analysis of correlation, higher levels of arousal held by respondents associated positively with their responses toward service (see Table V). Arousal correlated positively with willingness to wait (r=0.37), affect (r=0.43), spend (r=0.37), overall attitude (r=0.28), and word of mouth (r=0.28). Second, the negative effect of crowding has been shown in the result related to its influence on dominance. The high-crowding waiting area made customers feel dominated due to a loss of control over their environment. Several theories explain this negative association between density and dominance. According to manning theory (Wicker, 1984), \"every setting requires an optimal number of occupants to function effectively; then the setting is said to be adequately manned.\" A crowded waiting area is different from a crowded bar area where an adequately manned environment is expected. Although a crowded bar might offer higher levels of perceived control, a crowded waiting area may offer lower levels of perceived control. Crowding in a waiting area may limit service speed, which can cause perceptions of difficulty in getting into the dining area to receive service because of customers waiting ahead. A theory of behavior-environment fit (Michelson, 1970) also provides a similar explanation to the manning theory. Customers in crowded waiting areas may feel their environment is incompatible with their goal of entering the restaurant to enjoy dinner. Unlike arousal and dominance, crowding did not influence pleasure significantly. This no significance of pleasure might result from the two levels of crowding used in the study being too low to trigger a significant change in the pleasure from low to high.Also the negative effect of crowding appeared in affiliation, which included any verbally or nonverbally expressed approach behavior toward another person (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). The high-crowding waiting area made customers feel like avoiding the service system as shown in the low value of affiliation measure. In this way, a crowded waiting area may deter people from even entering the system without making customers consider how long they can wait. In other words, a crowded environment influences balking, which is leaving the system without joining the queue, rather than reneging, which is leaving the system after joining the queue. We confirm that crowding in an environment affects the emotional evaluation of the service setting and approach-avoidance response toward the service organization (Bitner, 1990).We state that crowding has a direct influence on approach-avoidance responses as emotion did not mediate the relationship between crowding and approach-avoidance responses. The subjects seeing the crowding situation as not created by them but from high demand by others can explain this. Our subjects wanted to avoid situations where high social density exists and other customers can interrupt the service process. Despite the different service settings, our findings of negative association between crowding and the evaluation service in a restaurant waiting area were consistent with propositions and findings from other service settings including grocery shops, banks, and bookstores (Eroglu and Harrell, 1986; Harrell et al., 1980; Machleit et al., 1994).\n6. Implications: 6.1 Crowding theory and research\n7. Limitations and future studies: Our study contains some limits. It focused on social and personal distance based on Hall's definitions of proximity, however, by using two crowding levels it did not allow for an inflection point. Considering the continuous nature of crowding conditions, more crowding levels could provide useful information about ideal thresholds for adverse effects on moods and recommendations for the ideal environment scale. Due to the difficulty of carrying out crowding studies as pointed out in the previous studies, identification of an inflection point was a challenge despite manipulating the two levels above and below inflection point. Also, due to the difficulties of attracting people from the general population to the VR study room we used a relatively small convenience sample of college students who may not represent the adult population. Thus, future studies should access a larger sample representing mixed customer populations.Another limit is the high-fidelity VR environment itself. Due to the high costs of building real environments, crowding studies have relied on simulated environments using photos or slides and videos. In VR, it is difficult to evoke emotional responses equivalent with a real environment and to simulate real dining behavior. Although studies have demonstrated the validity of VR environments in provoking emotional responses (Ferrer-Garcia et al., 2009; Gutierrez-Maldonado et al., 2006), this limitation derives from the mediated interaction implicit in the technology and the variable quality of spatial representations. So, how VR gives a sense of presence depends on the characteristics of the technology (Ijsselsteijn et al., 2001), individual differences among users (Sacau et al., 2008) and degrees of graphic realism (de Kort and Ijsselsteijn, 2006; Ivory and Kalyanaraman, 2007). Therefore repeating this study in a field experiment would buttress its findings and by comparison test the VR environment reliability as a research instrument. On the other hand, the benefit of a VR restaurant simulation is the ability it provides for controlling the effects of physical and interpersonal environments without interfering with a real business setting. Thus, this study clarifies causal relationships that could have been unclear in a field study and shows the usefulness of a VR setting for exploring environment-behavior relationships.The findings from the imaginary situation created in the VR scenario have limited generalizability because it focused on casual-dining experiences with friends. Thus, when applying these findings to other restaurants and situations caution is required. Future studies can include comparisons between hedonic and utilitarian service settings, the influence of situational factors and personal factors, or a holistic approach for understanding the interplay of multiple elements (e.g. color, layout, lighting, and temperature) on emotions, service evaluations, and time perceptions. If our results are replicable in various settings, the managerial implications for other restaurants can be significant. In varying VR settings future research should examine spatial layout and environmental elements, privacy options, and information provision as impacts on customer satisfaction in the pre-process service environments.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - Recognizing that crowding in a restaurant waiting area forms a first impression of service and sets service expectations, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of crowding in the effective control of the waiting environment. The study seeks to examine the impact of crowding on customers' emotions and approach-avoidance responses and to examine the mediating role of emotion and the moderating role of desired privacy in the relationship between crowding and approach-avoidance responses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using real-scale, interactive virtual reality (VR) technology that allows high-fidelity representations of real environments, the authors created a navigable, photo-realistic three-dimensional model of a restaurant waiting area. Through an experimental study which manipulated crowding levels in the VR restaurant, they surveyed the subjects' responses toward crowding conditions.\nFindings: - The study found significant effects of crowding on emotions including arousal and dominance, but not pleasure, and on approach-avoidance responses. The impact of crowding on approach-avoidance responses was more direct than indirect, without having emotion as a mediator. It was also found that the desire for privacy as a psychological trait moderated the relationship between crowding and affiliation.\nPractical implications: - The findings of this study offer restaurant managers insights toward the effective management of the pre-process service environment during the waiting state that minimizes the negative consequences of waiting/crowding. This study provides three courses of management actions that can make unavoidable crowding in the restaurant waiting situation more enjoyable and comfortable.\nOriginality/value: - By using VR simulation, this study adds a new approach for crowding studies. Theoretically, this study broadened the scope of crowding studies by adding a potential mediating variable, emotions, and a moderating variable, desired privacy, in examining the relationship between crowding and approach-avoidance responses. Also, by focusing on a restaurant waiting area, the authors were able to explore the pre-process service expectations.\n",
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Dimensions of consumer knowledge and its impacts on country of origin effects among Australian consumers: a case of fast-consuming product
|
[
"Country of origin",
"Consumers",
"Brands",
"Australia"
] |
[
{
"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: Country origin effects on consumer behaviour are considered one of the most widely researched issues in international marketing (Peterson and Jolibert, 1995; Tan and Farley, 1987; Al-Sulaiti and Baker, 1998; Bilkey and Nes, 1982). Samli (1995) summarised country-of-origin as a concept that is a critical information cue, which plays a major role in having the product accepted in a different world market. Country of origin effects can also act as an intangible barrier to enter new markets in the form of negative consumer bias toward imported products (Wang and Lamb, 1983). More recently, Laroche et al. (2005) found that country image is a three-dimensional concept comprising of cognitive, affective and conative components. Among other individual factors, consumer knowledge (Samiee, 1994; Maheswaran, 1994) is perceived to impact consumer's use of country of origin. However, the specific detail regarding consumer knowledge and country of origin cues has only received limited attention. This study attempts to close this gap. Through extension of Schaefer's (1997) study, the main objectives of this paper are to investigate how different dimensions of consumer knowledge affect country of origin cues and to test the generalisability with an Australian sample.\nRelevant literature: Dimensions of consumer knowledge\nMethodology: Mail survey\nAnalysis and results: The majority of respondents are male (56.9 per cent). More than half of the respondents are under 30 years old (52.1 per cent). Majority of the respondents are currently in the tertiary education (39.3 per cent). For the income categories, the majority (34.7 per cent) falls into the lowest group, where the earning is on average between AU$5,000 to AU$15,000. Nearly half of the respondents are single (46.1 per cent). Lastly, most of the respondents (93.5 per cent) are Australian citizen, which corresponds to the research objective. The remaining are Australian residents who have been in Australia for the last five years.A summary of respondents' ratings on the product dimensions of \"overall quality\", \"value for money\" and \"social acceptability\" is presented in Table I. The results show that respondent's evaluation of country image of beer was highest for Germany (mean 5.75). This is followed by The Netherlands (5.42), Australia (5.36) and New Zealand (4.68). For the dimension of \"value for money\", Australia (5.54) was ranked first. This is followed by New Zealand (4.40), The Netherlands (4.38) and Germany (4.37). For the dimension of \"social acceptability\", German beer (mean=5.80) was ranked first followed by The Netherlands (5.54), Australia (5.19) and New Zealand (4.60).For familiar brands, Heineken is ranked first for the dimensions of \"product quality\" (5.59) and \"social acceptability\" (5.59). This is followed by Beck's on dimension of \"product quality\" (mean=5.26) and \"social acceptability\" (mean=5.31). Surprisingly, Steinlager received a better rating than Victoria Bitter on two dimensions. These are namely, \"product quality\" means of 4.87 and 4.14 and \"social acceptability\" means of 4.85 and 3.66 respectively. However, Victoria Bitter received the highest ranking for the dimension of \"value for money\" (4.59).For unfamiliar brands, Schneider is the ranked first for both dimensions of \"product quality\" (4.49) and \"social acceptability\" (4.54). This is followed by Van de Veer (4.21) for both dimensions. Massey received the highest mean for the dimension of \"value for money\" (3.85).Country of origin effects evidence\nDiscussion and managerial implications: The empirical findings indicate that while country of origin effects have an influence on Australian consumers, there are only weak associations between product dimensions and country of origin cues particularly for evaluations of unfamiliar brands. The descriptive data showed that, at the country level, Germany is perceived by Australian consumers as the best in \"product quality\" and \"social acceptability\". These positive perceptions are subsequently transferred to the evaluation of the fictitious brand from Germany, which gained highest score for each of the similar product dimensions.The finding suggests that consumers did not rely on country of origin when they evaluate an unknown brand name. According to Blackwell et al. (2001), consumers are unlikely to purchase a product when they lack sufficient information. Hence, it can be implied that consumers hesitate to evaluate unknown brand names simply because they may feel that inadequate information is made available to them. Similarly, many respondents may not be adequately confident to rely solely on country of origin cue when judging a product with an unfamiliar brand name (Schaefer, 1997).Further, the image of a familiar brand may be a strong constituent of product-country images and may thus have an impact on country image ratings. In other words, many international brands have a \"basic credibility\" or reputation based on their country of origin image (Rugimbana and Nwankwo, 2003). Therefore, the consumers may find it difficult to link the unknown brand name to a country image, which resulted in less dependency of country of origin cues.This finding is also contradictory to Han and Qualls (1985), who posits that customers with lower levels of brand familiarity are expected to pay closer attention to country origin image. It was found that consumer perceptions of product quality of Grundig television sets (a brand with which respondents were unfamiliar) were favourably influenced by their country of origin, Germany. Consumers inferred the German superiority image of German technology and transferred this attribute to an unfamiliar brand name of German origin.There are many managerial implications that can be drawn from the findings. Since consumers do not rely on country of origin for unfamiliar brands evaluations, beer producers of international brands or importers may not need to focus on country of origin in promotion strategy when introducing new brand to the market. Rather, they should emphasise other uniqueness of the new brands, such as, product attributes, e.g. distinguish package, or, other elements of marketing strategies. However, the foreign brands available in the market such as Heineken and Beck's can make use of their country of origin images by emphasising their superiority in product quality and social acceptability. The results of country ratings suggest that consumers perceived New Zealand's image better than Australia only for social acceptability. Therefore, if the company wants to address the country of origin related message in the promotion strategy, they should accentuate trendiness of the product rather than its quality.The findings indicated that consumers without personal experience of a brand did not rely on country of origin. In contrast, consumer with brand experience relied more on country of origin cues. The possible reasons may be similar to those suggested earlier. Further, since all the brands chosen in the study (Victoria Bitter, Heineken, Beck's and Steinlager) have been actively marketed in Australia, the consumers without experience may base their judgment on what they have heard or seen all communication campaigns rather than only informational cue provided in the survey.As consumers with personal brand experience depended on country of origin cue, the marketers may address the positive images of country of brand origin. For instance, the country image means showed the most positive perceptions towards quality and social acceptability are for German beer. Beck's can also emphasise these messages through its promotion campaign. Further, the company can also charge premium prices to stress brand's country of origin superior image.On the other hand, other strategies can be used for the segment of inexperienced consumers. Instead of emphasising country of origin messages, sales promotions, such as, price deals, coupons, a free sample, or premiums may be a more efficient way to get these consumers to try the products.The findings indicate some support for consumers with higher levels of objective knowledge rely more frequently on country of origin cues especially when evaluating unfamiliar brands. However, this pattern only applies between \"low\" and \"medium\" levels of objective knowledge groups and not between \"medium\" versus \"high\" levels nor \"low\" versus \"high\" levels of objective knowledge groups. Moreover, in a case of familiar brands, the results suggest that consumers with higher levels of objective knowledge relied more frequently on objective product country knowledge than those with lower levels of knowledge when evaluating different brands of beer.Unlike the previous research, which found consistent patterns along every level of objective knowledge, this study only found a weak evidence of an objective knowledge-country of origin relationship. Hence, the mediating effect of this knowledge dimension on country of origin magnitude is inconclusive. This questions the generalisability of the previous study's results, as well as the validity of the measurement used. The inconsistency of the findings may be due to the lack of external validity of current country of origin studies (d'Astous and Ahmed, 1999). In reality, consumers may not generally seek country of origin information and consequently may not think it is important despite of a consensus of country of origin effects. Further, consumers may want to appear logical, reasonable and rational individuals who base their judgment about products on intrinsic product cues rather than on extrinsic cues such as country of origin (Johansson, 1993; d'Astous and Ahmed, 1999).Despite the inconclusive results, objective product-country knowledge, in some extent, may distort country of origin influences on consumers. Consumers with moderate objective knowledge seem to be the most sensitive about country of origin cues. This finding yields some insight for the efficiency in market segmentation. By segmenting consumers on different levels of knowledge, the marketers will subsequently make a better decision of how brand and country of origin should be managed. For example, when the marketers target moderately knowledgeable consumers, they can make use of a favourable product-country image to position a new product. On the other hand, an unfavourable product-country image may hinder the success of a new brand targeted at this segment. For low or high knowledgeable consumers, marketers do not need to be too concerned about product-country images.\nLimitations and future research directions: The homogeneity of countries chosen for the study may be a caveat. According to Jaffe and Nebenzahl (2001), country image is influenced by exogenous factors such as a country's economic development, national identity and its cultural environment. Since all countries used in the study, as stimuli are highly \"developed\" countries, it leads to the question if results may differ for consumers in \"developing\" or less developed countries. Future research should focus on countries with different economical levels, different political backgrounds and different cultures as stimuli.In this study, respondents were not motivated by real purchase situation. As a consequence, some were reluctant to evaluate unfamiliar brands, which may affect the study outcomes. However, it can be argued that if a real environment setting is used, it will be very difficult to control availability of informational cues. This is because in real-life situations, the respondents may process other extrinsic cues, such as, price, packaging, or even liquor stores.The validity of objective product-country knowledge measurement may also be questionable. By asking respondents to identify country of origin of both real and fictitious brand, highly knowledgeable respondents may recognise that the unfamiliar brands were invented and decide not to provide answers to those questions. On the other hand, the respondents who verified themselves as pertaining low knowledge about beers tended to answer all of the questions without realising which brands were real or fictitious. As a result, the former group received lower scores than the latter. This needs to be addressed in future studies.This study should be extended to other product in the same category and to other product categories. If there are supported by the subsequent research, they will contribute to our understanding of consumer knowledge on country of origin effects by enriching the profile that can be drawn from consumers in other countries.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The main purpose of the study is to extend Schaefer's paper by investigating how different dimensions of consumer knowledge may affect country of origin cues with an Australian sample.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A self-administered mail survey was used in this study. The main sample consisted of Australian residents who are aged 18 and above and may or may not be alcoholic drinkers. The mailing list was purchased from a local council consisting of a suburb of metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. The total usable response rate was 38.7 per cent.\nFindings: - The results indicated that country of origin cues affect Australian consumers in beer evaluations despite its weak influences. It suggested that brand familiarity and objective product knowledge mediate the extent to which consumers relied on country of origin in product evaluation. However, the study found inconsistent results between different levels of objective knowledge and its effects on country of origin of manufacture.\nOriginality/value: - The paper replicates Schaefer's with extensions. Despite the inconclusive results, objective product-country knowledge, to some extent, may distort country of origin influences on consumers. This finding yields some insight for the efficiency in market segmentation. By segmenting consumers on different levels of knowledge, the marketers will subsequently make a better decision of how brand and country of origin should be managed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Canadian immigrant guidelines on how to become productive members of society: A postcolonial analysis
|
[
"Ethnic minorities",
"Qualitative research",
"Racial discrimination",
"Immigrants",
"Labour market",
"Case studies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Canada has one of the highest per capita immigration rates in the world and promotes itself as the multicultural nation (Kelley and Trebilcock, 2010). Economic potential and performance is viewed as the key concept for immigrant success (Government of Canada, 2015a). This is reflected in the immigration policies that chart immigrants' economic potential as one of the main selection criteria for them to be allowed to immigrate to Canada (Government of Canada, 2015a), and by the fact that the overwhelming majority of immigrants belong to the \"economic class\"[1] of immigrants (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2012c).\nThe Canadian context: Immigration\nTheoretical framework: Our theoretical framework draws largely on postcolonial theory (Bhabha, 1994, 2006; Said, 1978), which is a particularly fitting theoretical framework as it speaks to the relationship between the local subject (\"the Canadian\") and the encounter with the non-local other (\"the immigrant\"). In this case \"immigrant\" is a term usually applied to those entering Canada whose background is not rooted in European heritage. We consider the relationship between the subject and the other to be impacted by binary thinking (Said, 1978). These binary oppositions portray the west and the non-west in qualitatively asymmetrical terms stressing the superiority of the former while portraying the latter as inferior. Prasad (2005, p. 277) views postcolonial theory as a methodology that goes behind the \"seeming normality of routine [...] processes to reveal the enduring colonial legacies that undergird them.\" Moreover, the acculturation strategies embedded in society (Berry, 1997, 2006) can be read through the lens of postcolonial theory by adopting the notion of cultural difference instead of culture diversity (Bhabha, 1994, 2006) when discursively constructing the process of acculturating immigrants. For Bhabha (1994) cultural diversity is an \"empirical knowledge\" used to categorize individuals in terms of fixed attributes to their respective cultures. Cultural difference, Bhabha (2006) notes, is a discursive construction of those cultural attributes. Therefore, by focusing our attention on how policymakers frame the strategies of acculturation of immigrants, it is possible to deconstruct the way in which cultural difference is enacted in terms of its authoritative terms. In particular, we assume that colonial assumptions can play an important part in how the concept of acculturation is conveyed to immigrants.\nMethodology: We apply Foucauldian CDA (Jager, 2004; Jager and Maier, 2009) in our study. This approach is inspired by Foucault's (1973, 1979) work on power, knowledge, and discourse. Foucauldian CDA focuses on the concept of \"valid knowledges\" at a certain time and place as expressed in texts, and investigates what this \"valid knowledge\" consists of (Jager and Maier, 2009). Knowledge is understood as all the means that people use to understand and form their environments. These types of valid knowledges are understood as conditioned by socio-political, economic, and historical contexts such as gender, class relations, geographic location, or history (Jager and Maier, 2009). Foucauldian CDA aims at identifying types of knowledges within discourses and showing \"how these knowledges are firmly connected to power relations in power/knowledge complexes\" (Jager and Maier, 2009, pp. 34-35).\nFindings: Through our text analysis, we examine what kind of collective symbolism is prevalent in \"educational\" texts informing immigrants about the Canadian labor market. How are immigrants represented in those texts and what does this reveal about the relationship between the local and immigrant population? Based on our theoretical and methodological framework, we are particularly interested in uncovering discursive messages that deal with the acculturation of immigrants into the dominant culture. We ask, \"in what ways are instructions given to immigrants about how to become productive members of society?\" Finally, under the postcolonial lens, we ask, \"how is the concept of acculturation conveyed to immigrants?\"\nDiscussion and conclusions: By drawing on our theoretical and methodological framework, our analysis demonstrates the discursive processes in educational texts to immigrants. We show compelling evidence that the present acculturation process is problematic. First, we argue that the neoliberal economic context facilitates a conformist acculturation process and ultimately complements the process of turning immigrants into conformed members of a capitalist system. Second, we contend that Canadian work experience is used as a legitimate way to expect a conformist acculturation of immigrants, while appearing non-offensive when demanding so. Finally, we show that the educational texts, together with the neoliberal context, greatly contribute to creating the immigrant as the non-white, non-local, and inferior other, thus racializing them.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically look at how immigrants to Canada are informed and educated about how to become productive members of society. The authors adopted a postcolonial framework to unveil the underlying assumptions embedded in the messages that are conveyed to \"teach\" and \"prepare\" immigrants for the Canadian workplace. In particular, the authors focus on non-white immigrants because they form the majority of immigrants to Canada and at the same time data show that they experience particular socio-economic obstacles in their settlement process that European immigrants did not.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors apply postcolonialism as the theoretical framework. This approach allows the authors to analyze the relationship between the local subject and the encounter with the non-local other, in this case the immigrant who is from a non-European background. The authors conduct a Foucauldian critical discourse analysis on selected texts that serve as information sources for immigrants. These texts include government documents, immigrant information brochures, and workplace information books and booklets.\nFindings: The analysis shows ideological positions that reveal discursive messages representing the non-white immigrant in binary terms. Such immigrants are represented in opposing (and inferior) terms to the local (largely white) Canadian citizen. By adopting a postcolonial lens, the analysis shows that the messages to acculturate immigrants reveal assimilationist features.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors acknowledge that the authors' own personal socio-political, intellectual, and ideological locations influence the approach, logic, research process, and the interpretation of the findings. For future research, other textual sources should be analyzed with regard to the messages they convey to immigrants as a form of education to see what kind of acculturation is conveyed.\nPractical implications: This paper sheds light on the necessity to develop policies that not only aim to acculturate immigrants using integration strategies but also to carefully communicate and educate newcomers through messages that that do not stem from colonial assumptions.\nOriginality/value: This research points out the taken-for granted and oftentimes invisible forms of discriminatory practices in the workplace that appear non-discriminatory on the surface but are rooted in colonial thinking. Consequently, the authors challenge \"mainstream\" management theories concerning diversity in the workplace by questioning the underlying messages portrayed to immigrants.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Effects of CSR on employee retention via identification and quality-of-work-life
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Organizational identification",
"Quality-of-work-life",
"Intention to stay",
"Casino hotel"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are important because they involve the process of how individuals interpret and form judgments of their organization's CSR, which in turn influence their work attitudes and behaviors (De Roeck and Maon, 2018; Gond et al., 2017). Within the CSR literature, social identity theory (SIT) has been cited because one major theory explaining how CSR activities influence employee work attitudes (Gond et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2016; Rupp and Mallory, 2015). SIT proposes that individuals reinforce their self-esteem and augment their self-image by identifying with their organization's activities such as CSR (Mael and Ashforth, 1992). In particular, organizational identification (OI) is a concept developed from SIT, which refers to:\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development: 2.1 Social identity theory and social exchange theory\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Measures and analytical techniques\n4. Results: 4.1 Measurement model\n5. Discussion and conclusions: 5.1 Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore the sequential effects of employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR), organizational identification (OI), higher-order quality-of-work-life (HQWL) and intention to stay (IS).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The survey responses were gathered from employees of a casino hotel company in the USA. All hypotheses were tested via structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results demonstrated that ethical and philanthropic CSR dimensions had significant direct effects on OI and indirect effects on HQWL via OI. OI had positive effects on HQWL (directly) and IS (directly and indirectly via HQWL). Both ethical and philanthropic CSR dimensions indirectly influenced IS via OI and HQWL, while economic CSR had a significant indirect effect on IS via HQWL.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study addressed the lack of theory-driven empirical work on the relationship between CSR and employee retention by presenting new insights into how different dimensions of CSR can contribute for improving employee HQWL and IS via OI based on social identity theory (SIT) and social exchange theory (SET). In this study, the results may not generalize to other countries and cultures because the data arises from a casino hotel in the USA.\nPractical implications: Based on the results, hospitality companies can improve employee OI, HQWL and IS by more effectively implementing different types of CSR programs.\nOriginality/value: This study provided support for the positive influence of CSR initiatives on hospitality employees in a controversial sector (i.e. casino hotels) in which there is a lack of empirical research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The complexity of value in the luxury industry: From consumers' individual value perception to luxury consumption
|
[
"Luxury consumption",
"Customer perceived value",
"Luxury brand management",
"Luxury value chain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Luxury brands are considered as one of the most profitable and fastest-growing brand segments (Berthon et al., 2009); over the past two decades, the market for luxury goods has more than tripled, from 73 billion EUR in 1994 to 218 billion EUR in 2013 (Bain\nConceptualization: antecedents and outcomes of luxury value perception: Luxury brands address various functional and psychological needs (Vigneron and Johnson, 1999; Nia and Zaichkowsky, 2000) and compete based on the ability to evoke exclusivity, brand identity, brand awareness and perceived quality from the consumer's perspective (Phau and Prendergast, 2000). In an attempt to examine a customer's perceived preference for and subjective judgment about luxury brands, the construct of customer perceived value understood as \"a consumer's overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given\" (Zeithaml, 1988, p. 14) based on \"an interactive relativistic consumption preference experience\" (Holbrook, 1994, p. 27) is of particular importance. Against this backdrop, strategies in luxury retailing organize not only the access to luxury goods but also define the ways in which the key characteristics of a luxury brand is materialized in a holistic experience of innovative design, precious materials, excellent workmanship and exceptional service (Kapferer and Bastien, 2009a). Reasoning the importance of co-creating the luxury brand experience in the interaction between the customer and the salesperson (Tynan et al. 2010), the superior qualities of a luxury brand have to emphasize the individual value orientation and needs of luxury shoppers in all consumer touch points (Kim and Kim, 2014; Dion and Arnould, 2011). But what are the key determinants for value creation in luxury consumption and how can they be translated into luxury brand management and luxury retailing strategies?\nMethodology: To measure the antecedents and outcomes of individual luxury value perception, we used existing and tested measures. For the financial, functional and social dimensions of luxury value as well as the key construct of individual luxury value perception, we relied on the well-examined Consumer perceived value scale by Sweeney and Soutar (2001) and adapted the items to a luxury brand context. For the measurement of related outcomes, we used Hung et al. (2011) and Wiedmann et al. (2011) for purchase intention, Wiedmann et al. (2011) and Hieke (2010) for recommendation behavior, and Miller and Mills (2012) for the willingness to pay a price premium. All items were rated on five-point Likert scales (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). The first version of our questionnaire was face-validated using exploratory and expert interviews to check the length and layout of the questionnaire and the quality of the items used. To investigate the research model, an online questionnaire was conducted among consumers in Germany in July 2012. A total of 782 questionnaires were received. The sample characteristics are described in Table I.\nResults and discussion: In our exploratory study context of examining the drivers and outcomes of luxury value perception and luxury consumption, SPSS 19.0 and PLS structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 2.0) were used to analyze the data. To assess common method variance, following Podsakoff et al. (2003), we used Harman's (1976) one-factor test to determine whether a single factor accounted for most of the covariance in the relationships between the independent and dependent variables. A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed a seven-factor structure with no general factor present (the first factor accounted for 30 percent of the variance). Thus, no single factor accounted for a majority of the covariance in the variables, so the common method variance was unlikely to present a significant problem in our study. The results of the measurement of the constructs and the test of our hypotheses are described below.\nConclusion: Main contribution\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In an attempt to satisfy the rising demand for luxury in the era of the \"democratisation of luxury\" or the \"luxurification of society\" without threatening the uniqueness and exclusivity of luxury brands, a profound understanding of the luxury concept and its deeper values is essential. As the complexity of luxury value and the assessment of effects on individual luxury value perception and related behavioral outcomes are still poorly understood and widely unexplored, the purpose of this paper is to fill this research gap.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the exploratory study context of examining the antecedents and outcomes of individual luxury value perception, PLS path modeling was used for the empirical tests of the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results support the assumption that the desire for luxury brands involves several dimensions of luxury value including financial, functional, individual and social consumer perceptions. Besides, the individual luxury value perception is significantly related to the consumption of luxury goods in terms of purchase intention, recommendation behavior and the willingness to pay a premium price.\nOriginality/value: The incremental value of the present study is to present and empirically verify a concept that embraces the complexity of luxury value and its causal effects on different aspects of luxury consumption. The results have important implications for luxury brand management and future research in the domain of luxury goods. By addressing the specific value aspects that are highly relevant for consumer loyalty to the brand, a luxury company can stimulate purchase behavior with appropriate marketing campaigns that create and preserve the most important value aspects throughout the supply chain from production to distribution.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The digitalization of the innovation process: Challenges and opportunities from a management perspective
|
[
"Digital",
"Innovation",
"Digital innovation management",
"Processes",
"Antecedents",
"Outcomes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Within the past decade, digital technologies have dramatically transformed the way of doing business (Gray et al., 2013). Companies are transforming themselves digitally not only as a way to re-think what their customers like (Filieri et al., 2018; Galati and Galati, 2019), but also to create operating models that can take full advantage of what is newly possible, and so differentiate themselves from their competition (Berman, 2012). In this landscape, innovation remains crucial to the development of society, to business growth and for maintaining a competitive advantage within markets (Franklin et al., 2013). On top of this, the innovation process is still an iterative, uncertain, interactive, path-dependent, context-specific and multi-tasking undertaking (Husig and Kohn, 2009; Pinna et al., 2018). It, therefore, remains the case that a key topic in business is to identify the right solutions for implementing a process of innovation, from the initial phase of ideation to market diffusion (Brem et al., 2016; Ganzaroli et al., 2016; Rekonen and Bjorklund, 2016).\nInput - digital-based antecedents of innovation: From the literature (e.g. Lokuge et al., 2019), it is clear that technology-push innovation requires a significant accumulation of resources alongside organizational readiness. This implies that, despite the serious advancements in digital technologies, if an organization is not ready to put them to proper use, this can lead to substantial innovation opportunities being lost, or even to innovation failures.\nProcess - digital-based support to the innovation process: Digital technologies enable the creation or improvement of products, processes and business models (Nambisan et al., 2017). Nambisan (2003) suggests that digital technologies support collaboration, coordination and communication amongst NPD team members, and he emphasizes the role played by computer-mediated communication technologies to facilitate, intensify and expand the interaction and communication among employees executing NPD tasks. Similarly, Durmusoglu (2009) argued that, when senior management have a sophisticated view of information technology infrastructure, this leads to a more efficient NPD process, because the cycle time and cost of NPD projects is reduced and the NPD process quality is improved.\nOutput - outcomes of a digital-enhanced innovation process: Prior studies on innovation have argued that there is the need for a stable or discrete set of boundaries for new product ideas (e.g. Davidsson, 2015). Digital technologies have, however, made these boundaries more porous and fluid. Moreover, the value of product/service offerings continues to evolve (Nambisan, 2017).\nFuture developments: Digital technologies are shaping the world we live in and the landscape in which firms have to compete and innovate. There is no end to this in sight, and this opens directions of future research that could be interesting to deepen. Starting from the IPO model used to position the papers in this special issue, we can discuss the main changes that are likely to define innovation management in the near future. Because of digital technologies:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: As various scholars have pointed out, the exponential growth in digital technologies has resulted in significant improvements to many business processes, and has also played a significant role in the field of innovation. The purpose of this paper is to organise the contributions of this special issue according to a framework that considers three topics currently being debated extensively in literature: innovation inputs, innovation processes and innovation outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Papers in this special issue adopt both qualitative and quantitative approaches based on the purpose of the study, which gives also a methodological variety to the special issue.\nFindings: Papers in this special issue show that because of digital technologies: first, inputs are progressively becoming interrelated, making most of innovation endeavours happening in inter-organizational ecosystems of actors; second, innovation processes are gradually being compressed, anticipating and enhancing the phases in which customer feedback is gathered and employed; and finally, innovation outputs are increasingly taking the form of platforms used to create value by matching the supply of an asset with demand.\nOriginality/value: The value of this and other papers included in the special issue consists of embracing the topic of digital innovation from a managerial standpoint, contributing to the understanding of how the innovation process and other business processes may be affected by the use of digital technologies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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