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Human capital inequality and economic growth: evidence with sub-national data from Thailand
|
[
"Cointegration",
"Economic growth",
"Cross sectional dependence"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Is inequality the stumbling block in economic growth? The existing literature mostly concentrates on income inequality and growth relationship, and a very few studies focus on human capital inequality and growth nexus. But the issue of human capital inequality and growth relationship received more attention for two issues. First, human capital inequality is more robust compared to income inequality in growth regression (Castello-Climent and Domenech, 2002); and second, there are negligible changes in income inequality (sometimes increasing), while there is a declining trend in human capital inequality over the time horizon (Castello-Climent and Domenech, 2014). The inequality-growth theories are explained with wealth inequality, and many recent research works used income inequality as a proxy for wealth inequality (Aghion et al., 1999). This paper focuses on human capital inequality and its effects on economic growth, a widely discussed issue in the last decade.\n2. Literature review: Most of the previous literature that studied income inequality considered income as a proxy of wealth inequality. Theoretically, income inequality boosts economic growth by increasing aggregate savings, since the marginal propensity of rich/wealthier people to save is higher than that of poor people (Kuznets, 1955; Kaldor, 1955). In contrast, income inequality inversely affects growth in expansionary fiscal policy (Perotti, 1993), in inefficient bureaucracy (Acemoglu et al., 2011) or in political instability (Benabou, 1996). It may also hamper growth by lowering investment in human capital in poor families or by reducing human capital accumulation (Galor and Moav, 2004; Galor and Zeira, 1993). Halter et al. (2014) identified that positive or negative effects of inequality on economic growth may change over time, irrespective of long- or short-term effects; for instance, channels like expansionary fiscal policy or human capital accumulation take longer time to affect growth. However, empirical evidences vary due to the use of different estimation techniques capturing long- or short-term effects of inequality. Cross country regression analysis showed negative effect of income inequality on economic growth (Alesina and Rodrik, 1994; Deininger and Squire, 1996; Perotti, 1996; Persson and Tabellini, 1994). It should be noted that in cross country analysis, there is a mixture of developed and developing countries, which captures only the average relationship. The effect of inequality may vary significantly in different countries (Barro, 2000), which depends on countries' level of development (Galor and Moav, 2004). Thus, inequality-growth relationship with cross country data provides point in time estimators, and thus it is not possible to observe how the effects vary in different countries (Kuznets, 1955).\n3. Data and empirical specification: 3.1 Data\n4. Methodology: Because of the provincial panel data, it is suspected that the panel model might face the problem of CSD. In the presence of CSD in the model, the estimated parameter using ordinary least square (OLS) or dynamic OLS (DOLS) will be inconsistent due to unobservable common shocks or cross sectional correlation (Zellner, 1962; Pesaran, 2006). Hence, this section first incorporates the CSD test and based on the results of CSD test, appropriate methodologies are discussed for the panel unit root test (PURT), cointegration test, and cointegration estimation in the following subsections.\n5. Results: 5.1 Cross sectional dependency test\n6. Conclusion: This paper investigated the causal effects of human capital inequality and economic growth using sub-national annual data from Thailand. The methodologies used in this paper were unit root test with CSD, cointergration test with CSD and cointegration estimation using CCEMG, CCEMG-GMM and CCEMG-2SLS. The study focused on CCEMG-GMM estimators because of endogeneity problem and CSD in the panel. The estimated parameters of human capital inequality using CCEMG-GMM and CCEMG-2SLS are found similar and significantly negative at 5 percent level, which implies that there are negative effects of distribution of human capital on aggregate economy. However, the effect of average years of schooling is insignificant.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find the effects of human capital inequality on economic growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Thailand Labor Force Survey has been used to generate provincial average years of schooling and Gini coefficient of years of schooling for the years 1995-2012. Econometric techniques have been employed to identify the effects of human capital inequality on economic growth.\nFindings: Economic growth is inversely affected by the distribution of human capital in Thailand. The coefficient of human capital inequality suggests that if Gini coefficient increases by 0.01 points, gross provincial product (GPP) decreases by about 2 percentage points in the long run. However, the effect of average years of schooling in GPP is not significant.\nResearch limitations/implications: There is a lack of strong theoretical background for the relationship between human capital inequality and economic growth to support the empirical study.\nPractical implications: The findings of the study help to design and evaluate education policies in developing countries like Thailand and other low- and middle-income countries.\nOriginality/value: This paper is among the first attempts to analyze the effect of human capital inequality on economic growth with sub-national level annual data. In addition, it considers cross sectional dependence in panel model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Towards lean warehouse: transformation and assessment using RTD and ANP
|
[
"Supply chain",
"Decision support systems",
"Analytic network process",
"Lean warehouse",
"Lean transformation",
"Lean assessment",
"Lean decision support system",
"Real time Delphi"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Lean manufacturing is widely used and an accepted philosophy across all industries (Womack et al., 1990). Almost all lean practices were first introduced by the Toyota Company in manufacturing industry (Tang et al., 2005; Pil and Fujimoto, 2007). Initially an objective of the Toyota philosophy was to eliminate waste and enable cost reduction at the manufacturing level (Hicks, 2007; Anand and Kodali, 2008; Vinodh and Balaji, 2011). From research, the waste identified in the manufacturing function are over production, over processing, waiting time, transportation, defects, inventory, storage (Hines and Rich, 1997; Pattanaik and Sharma, 2009) and under utilization of employees (Vinodh and Balaji, 2011). Sharma and Shah (2015) assessed leanness of warehousing waste and suggested a clustering-based framework to improve overall picking productivity. Over a period of time organizations recognize the importance of lean and adopt it throughout an enterprise to remain competitive. Lean enterprise can be defined as the collective and synchronized effort of people, to continuously improve the efficiency of all the functions. It involves lean methods, culture and partnerships of an enterprise (Cil and Turkan, 2012). To survive in this era of globalization every organization needs to achieve leanness through better performance, business policies, strategies and working environments. Achieving a lean enterprise is related to an improvement in the way of performing operations at different levels and functions using lean principles and practices. Leanness cannot be achieved in a short time span; it is a long-term process requiring changes in every function (Narang, 2008) of an enterprise. For efficient decision making any system should be in alignment with lean goals (Cottyn et al., 2011). This process of performing every operation efficiently in alignment of warehouse goals is referred to as lean transformation. The lean transformation can be started by implementing lean philosophy at a single functional level followed by other cross-functions and later covering the whole enterprise.\n2. Literature review: Lean assessment and transformation in the warehouse is a continuous practice that requires a number of changes and improvements in several functions at the same time. Scales are required to measure qualitative and quantitative criteria like performance, delivered value, wastes and costs in warehouse called leanness. Much research has been conducted for lean transformation and measurement using models like analytic hierarchy process (AHP), analytic network process (ANP) and fuzzy and survey-based methods.\n3. Methodology: The first step is to identify lean and people issues influencing warehouse performance. People issues are concerned with the task performed and value added or attained by direct or indirect parties involved in warehouse functions. Lean issues are lean tools, techniques or practices that can be used to improve performance. Warehouse performance issues include design, operation, control function criteria and decisions made by people at each organization level. People, lean and performance issues are interrelated and interdependent. Therefore, an objective of this study is to maximize warehouse performance, people value delivery and real time decisions level. This section discusses the conceptual model and research procedure in detail, designed for lean warehouse.\n4. Example: The previous section focussed on the RTD and ANP-based combined model and procedural steps for implementation. For practical validation of the proposed model in the real world, we conducted a lean study at a warehouse of a large scale fiber-manufacturing firm. In order to preserve confidentiality upon request from the management, the name of the firm is not disclosed. In this section we discuss the existing scenario and the analysis of the warehouse functions. Then we show the implementation and improved results of RTD and ANP-based model at the warehouse premises. Finally, some suggestions and findings of the study are shown. Further detailed functions are explained below.\n5. Conclusion and future scope: The study offers evidence for enhancing the results of using individual RTD or ANP. With the collaborative approach of experts and employees more accurate results can be achieved. As shown in Appendix 4 after each round of experiment the results are refined and improved using RTD, which are later validated and supported using ANP. Online study improves information transparency, knowledge, consensus and real time decision making at each level of an organization. RTD helps to solve the problems with lesser amount of time through expert conversation. Warehouse resources like equipments, forklifts, manpower, etc., can be also utilized at an optimal level through proper planning. The practical ANP validation of judgments resolves complexity, improves trust and coordination among employees. This study helps to determine areas for improvement, make advance action plans to resolve problems and implement lean philosophy.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to represent a unique combined Real time Delphi (RTD) - analytic network process (ANP) approach considering efficient decision making with practical validation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An ANP model encounters invisible relationship and interdependency among qualitative and quantitative criteria for assessment. RTD supports continuous assessment and improvement in team building, modeling, developing, implementing and validating the procedure. To illustrate practical validation of the model, the authors apply it in a manufacturing firm. A case illustrating the model, finds improved results and judgments followed by conclusion.\nFindings: A case illustrating the model, finds improved results and judgments. This model improves warehouse performance by integrating lean and people issues. The outcome results in an efficient decision making and consensus judgments. It also fosters high trust and coordination level among people in warehouse.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies have assessed leanness either at enterprise or manufacturing level. As lean transformation and assessment both are continuous and long-term procedure, first the concept should apply to single function and should lead toward enterprise level. A web-based approach and multi criteria decision-making techniques like analytic hierarchy process, and ANP had been applied individually to measure leanness at enterprise level. Because of the warehouse contributing significantly to the total wastes and costs for an organization, such operations are considered presently.\n",
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Understanding collaborative innovation from a dynamic capabilities perspective
|
[
"Innovation",
"Collaboration",
"Dynamic capability",
"Microfoundations",
"Destination management organisations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Although innovation is seen as a critical factor for competitive advantage and business success in all sectors, innovation studies in general have devoted their attention to manufacturing firms, with insufficient literature on innovation in tourism (Gomezelj, 2016; Thomas and Wood, 2015). While researchers are increasingly interested in service sector innovation owing to the growing importance of the service sector in developed economies (Gomezelj, 2016), there remains a paucity of studies that focus on collaborative innovation in hospitality and tourism. Interestingly, despite their prominent role in developing and marketing the tourism and hospitality products that comprise a destination, little research has been undertaken into innovation in the destination management organisation (DMO) sector. To address this gap this paper aims to examine, from a dynamic capability perspective, how a UK DMO engaged and succeeded in collaborative innovation. Specifically, this study addresses two key research questions:\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Innovation in tourism and hospitality\n3. Research methodology: This research aims to understand how a UK DMO engages in collaborative innovation from a dynamic capability perspective, and what the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities are that enable successful collaborative innovation.\n4. Findings: dynamic capabilities, microfoundations and collaborative innovation: To address the research questions with the evidence collected from the case study, this section first examines the sensing, seizing and reconfiguration processes, through which VisitWiltshire facilitated innovation. It then identifies the microfoundations that underpin all three dynamic capabilities and the microfoundations that are specifically critical for each of the three dynamic capabilities.\n5. Discussion and conclusion: This research sought to advance our knowledge and understanding of collaborative innovation from a dynamic capability perspective in the context of a UK DMO. The unique opportunity of accessing information and witnessing the changes over a period of five years enabled the authors to gain in-depth insights and a comprehensive understanding of why and how a UK DMO has been successful in enhancing its business performance through collaborative innovation. The first research question, \"How does a UK DMO engage in collaborative innovation from a dynamic capability perspective?\" is examined through the lens of sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities. The outcome of this examination is the proposed dynamic capability process model in Figure 1. The second research question, \"What are the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities that enable successful collaborative innovation?\" is addressed through the identification and analysis of microfoundations developed over five years and their relevance to different dynamic capabilities. In particular, the findings demonstrate that external collaboration has been an essential element for all the microfoundations identified in the case study. The key findings related to the second research question are illustrated in Figure 2.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to understand the key factors affecting collaborative innovation in a destination management organisation from a dynamic capability perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An in-depth case study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with the CEO and Chairman of the destination management organisation (DMO) and internal DMO documents from 2011 to 2016. Thematic analysis was carried out on the data both deductively, with generic themes identified and informed by theory, and inductively, where detailed subthemes were developed from the data.\nFindings: The success of innovation in the context of a DMO depends on having a strong base of microfoundations that underpin the DMO's capabilities to sense and seize opportunities and reconfigure its assets for competitive advantage. Collaboration with the key players in the sector has been the essential elements of these microfoundations.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study has been conducted within a single DMO case study. Future research should test the proposed models in different types of organisations and collaborative contexts.\nPractical implications: The proposed dynamic capability framework helps managers achieve collaborative innovation, leading to competitive advantage through better development of relevant capabilities.\nOriginality/value: The study represents a first attempt to understand the key factors enabling successful collaborative innovation in the context of DMOs, from a dynamic capability perspective. The unique opportunity of accessing information and witnessing the changes in a DMO over a period of five years enabled the authors to gain in-depth insights and comprehensive understanding as to why and how a UK DMO has been successful in enhancing its business performance through a successful collaborative innovation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A preventive maintenance of circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems
|
[
"Preventive maintenance",
"Circular"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomenclature\nIntroduction: A maintenance problem of circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems with two component dependencies: independent and load-sharing dependency, is considered. Circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems consist of n components which are arranged circularly and fails if there are k consecutive failed components (Kontoleon, 1980). Consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems system are commonly considered in the integrated circuits, relay stations in telecommunication system, oil pipeline system, vacuum system in accelerators, and spacecraft relay stations (Kuo and Zuo, 2003). Many studies related to this system focused on how to calculate the exact system reliability or the efficient lower bound of the system reliability. Also, system design problems have been studied. However, there are a very few studies considering the maintenance problem for this system.\nCircular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F system: Circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F system consists of n components which are arranged circularly (see Figure 1). The system fails if there are at least k consecutive failed components.\nCondition-based preventive maintenance policy: The maintenance occurs after a time interval TCr after a certain condition. The condition is that there is at least one minimal cut set consisting of only one working component. If the system fails before reaching the PM time after the condition is satisfied, the system is maintained at system failure. The illustration of the condition-based maintenance (CBM) policy is shown in Figure 2. The time when there is at least one minimal cut set consisting of only one working component is represented by tow and the time of system failure is tSF.\nNumerical studies: Numerical study for system with i.i.d components\nPerformance evaluation: Percentage of cost decrease is developed to evaluate the proposed condition-based PM policy. Also, it can be used to estimate the importance value of the continuous monitoring. The percentage of cost decrease from no-PM policy to condition-based PM policy (PDCM,Cr) and from age-PM policy to condition-based PM policy (PDA,Cr) are expressed as follows, respectively:(17)\nConclusion: We considered a preventive maintenance problem for a circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems with continuous monitoring. A condition-based preventive maintenance policy is proposed and the states of components can be known at any time. The maintenance occurs after a time interval TCr after a certain condition. The condition is that there is at least one minimal cut set consisting of only one working component. If the system fails before reaching the PM time after the condition is satisfied, the system is maintained at system failure. The system failure time probability is derived and the expected cost rate expression is obtained analytically. Expected cost rates from CM and age PM policies are also estimated in order to show the performance of the proposed policy. The numerical examples show that the proposed (CBM) policy outperforms the other policies and that the information about the system state can minimize the expected cost rate. However, when the cost of continuous monitoring is considered, the other policy can be a better policy depending on the value of the continuous monitoring (inspection) cost.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a preventive maintenance policy with continuous monitoring for a circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems. A preventive maintenance policy is developed based on the system critical condition which is related to the number of working components in the minimal cut sets of the system. If there is at least one minimal cut set which consists of only one working component, the system is maintained preventively (PM) after a certain time interval and the failed components are replaced with the new ones to prevent the system failures. If the system fails prior to the preventive maintenance, the system is correctively maintained (CM) immediately by replacing the failed components.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The mathematical function of the expected cost rate for the proposed maintenance policy is derived. The costs of PM, CM, and replacement per component are considered. The optimal maintenance parameter, which is the PM interval, is obtained by enumeration, and the numerical studies are shown with various system and cost parameters. The performance of the proposed policy is evaluated by comparing its expected cost rate to those of the no-PM and age-PM policies. The percentage of cost increase from the no-PM and age-PM policies to the proposed PM policy is calculated and this value can represents how important the continuous monitoring in this policy.\nFindings: The proposed policy outperforms other policies. When the cost of CM is high and the cost of PM is low, the proposed PM policy is more suitable.\nResearch limitations/implications: The system consists of identical components and the component failure times follow an exponential distribution. Continuous monitoring is considered, which means that the component states can be known at any time. Three cost parameters, cost of PM, CM, and replacement per component, are considered.\nOriginality/value: This paper shows a maintenance problem for circular consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems. Many studies on this system type focused on the reliability estimation or system design problem. Previous study with this policy (Endharta and Yun, 2015) has been developed for linear systems, although the study used a simulation approach to estimate the expected cost rate. Also, Endharta et al. (2016) considered a similar method for the different types of system, which is linear consecutive-k-out-of-n: F system.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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How does task-technology fit influence cloud-based e-learning continuance and impact?
|
[
"Expectation–confirmation model",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Cloud-based electronic learning continuance",
"Perceived impact on learning",
"Task-technology fit model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recently, cloud computing has been the focus of the development in the education sector, because it can be used to enable instructors to synchronously communicate with learners and provide the means for learners to collaborate and interact among each other and with the instructor from anywhere, at any time and even without a standard indoor classroom (Attaran et al., 2017; Al-Samarraie and Saeed, 2018). Essentially, cloud computing refers to the delivery of dynamically scalable computing services over the internet to store, manage and process data with high flexibility and scalability benefits, and it can provide anyone with data access from anywhere and at any time (Wang and Jou, 2016; Al-Samarraie and Saeed, 2018). Thus, cloud computing and its applications are critical to the development of education sector, especially in the collaborative learning field. As compared to traditional electronic learning (e-learning), cloud-based e-learning can enable users to access, save, retrieve and share all kinds of teaching materials and learning resources on the cloud anywhere at any time without any limitation (Hew and Kadir, 2016; Wang and Jou, 2016). The main problem of the traditional e-learning is the limited storage space in online learning platforms, whereas cloud-based e-learning can increase the scalability and prevent overloading of terminals (Hew and Kadir, 2016). Hence, introducing cloud-based e-learning systems may become a more flexible and scalable solution for organizations without huge overhead of expensive devices, low network transmission rate and limited storage capacity that are associated with traditional e-learning systems. This is the reason why many educational institutions have implemented cloud-based e-learning to enable their students to learn from anywhere and at any time (Jou and Wang, 2013; Lin et al., 2014; Stantchev et al., 2014; Shiau and Chau, 2016).\nTheoretical background, hypotheses, and research model: Expectation-confirmation model\nMethodology: This study adopted a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey data to examine the effects of antecedents on students' cloud-based e-learning continuance and impact within the educational institution. First, cloud-based e-learning means the traditional e-learning hosted off-site, that is, it resides in the cloud which provides users with ubiquitous access and on-demand e-learning resources in the software as a service model (Chang et al., 2016; Wang and Jou, 2016); cloud-based e-learning is compatible with most mobile devices, and it can run on web browsers and allow users to access, store, retrieve and share all kinds of teaching materials and learning resources on the cloud in an effective manner (Lin and Chen, 2015; Hew and Kadir, 2016; Wang and Jou, 2016). Next, the LMS is a web-based application used to implement an online learning process, it can allow instructors to create and deliver teaching materials, monitor learners' participation and assess learners' performance, and it may provide learners with interactive tools such as threaded discussions, video conferencing and discussion forums to collaborate, share and create within web-based learning environments (Cheng and Yuen, 2018); to date, the LMS has been one of the most commonly used types of e-learning systems in institutions (McGill and Klobas, 2009; Cheng and Yuen, 2018). Hence, the cloud-based e-learning system examined in this study is the cloud-based LMS with a blend of asynchronous and synchronous technologies. The so-called cloud-based LMS is hosted on the vendor's servers and accessed via a web browser, and it is accessible from anywhere, at any time, on any device, by logging in on a dedicated webpage; essentially, the cloud-based LMS can provide users with the ability to access, store, retrieve and share all kinds of files/folders with any internet-capable device, via file/folder synchronization, among different users, from any location and at any time (Selvi and Panneerselvam, 2012; Patel et al., 2013; Yi et al., 2017).\nResults: Descriptive characteristics of the usable respondents\nDiscussions and implications: As shown in Figure 2, this study's results verified that both task characteristics and technology characteristics affected students' perceived TTF, which significantly contributed to their PU, confirmation and satisfaction with the cloud-based e-learning system, and these in turn directly or indirectly led to their continuance intention of the system and perceived impact on learning. Essentially, the results strongly supported the research model integrating ECM and TTF model via positioning key constructs as the drivers with all hypothesized links being significant, and the research model accounted for 65.0 and 69.0 percent of the variance in continuance intention and perceived impact on learning, respectively. Hence, this study's research model has good explanatory power and provides academics and practitioners with an in-depth understanding of users' cloud-based e-learning continuance. Detailed discussions and implications are proposed below.\nConclusions: This study's research model incorporates ECM and TTF model to provide a more comprehensive understanding of students' cloud-based e-learning continuance than either theory considered alone, and the results show that the research model is strongly supported by confirming the validity of the proposed model via SEM, with all significant paths in the hypothesized directions. Three contributions are particularly worth mentioning. First, it is worthy to note that TTF is focused more on users' perception for a good fit between their tasks and the IS/IT (Larsen et al., 2009; Lin, 2012; Lin and Wang, 2012; Huang et al., 2013); thus, this study contributes to an understanding of the TTF model in explaining students' cloud-based e-learning continuance that is difficult to explain with only their utilitarian perception of the cloud-based e-learning system. Next, it should be particularly noticed that evaluating the link between TTF and utilization may put much more detailed emphasis on other mediators such as attitudes and behaviors, while the link between TTF and utilization is shown to have an insignificant direct relationship (Goodhue and Thompson, 1995). Hence, this study's empirical evidence on incorporating TTF into ECM can significantly enhance better understanding of how students' perceived TTF in the cloud-based e-learning system can indirectly affect their continuance intention of the system via their confirmation, PU and satisfaction with the system and shed light on the possible formulation of a richer post-adoption model. Finally, IS/IT usage models have been criticized for regarding usage as an end in itself, rather than as a means of enhancing individual performance (Sun et al., 2009; Shih and Chen, 2013). It is especially worth mentioning that this study places considerably more emphasis upon the outcome of students' cloud-based e-learning continuance in understanding students' perceived impact on learning greatly driven by their TTF in the cloud-based e-learning system and continuance intention of the system. Thus, a positive assessment of users' performance impact should be taken into account in the theoretical development of users' cloud-based e-learning continuance to acquire a more robust analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: According to expectation-confirmation model (ECM) and task-technology fit (TTF) model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the role of TTF in students' cloud-based e-learning continuance and evaluate whether TTF affects students' perceived impact on learning of the cloud-based e-learning system within the educational institution.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Sample data for this study were collected from students enrolled in a comprehensive university in Taiwan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed in the campus, and 391 (78.2 percent) usable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study.\nFindings: This study's results verified that both task characteristics and technology characteristics affected students' perceived TTF, which significantly contributed to their perceived usefulness, confirmation and satisfaction with the cloud-based e-learning system, and these in turn directly or indirectly led to their continuance intention of the system and perceived impact on learning; essentially, the results strongly supported the research model integrating ECM and TTF model via positioning key constructs as the drivers with all hypothesized links being significant.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to an understanding of the TTF in explaining students' cloud-based e-learning continuance that is difficult to explain with only their utilitarian perception of the cloud-based e-learning system, and further places considerably more emphasis upon students' perceived impact on learning greatly driven by their TTF in the system. Thus, this study's empirical evidence on incorporating ECM and TTF model can shed light on the outcome for cloud-based e-learning continuance and enhance better understanding of a richer post-adoption model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Analyzing the impact of consumer innovativeness and perceived risk in internet banking adoption: A study of Indian consumers
|
[
"Technology acceptance model",
"Perceived risk",
"Internet banking",
"Domain-specific innovativeness",
"Innate innovativeness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Information communication technology has changed the delivery of modern-day retail banking services, by using the internet as an effective medium (Littler and Melanthiou, 2006) and has become vital in the future development of retail banking (Bradley and Stewart, 2003). Internet banking is growing at a rapid pace, as its services are beneficial to both consumers and banks (Durkin, 2004; Xue et al., 2011). However, internet banking is more popular, has wider reach and has better penetration in developed nations (Kannabiran and Narayan, 2005) than in developing nations, such as India. Over time, banks in developing nations such as India are also showing significant growth in terms of electronic banking delivery channels (Chauhan and Choudhary, 2016), but consumers' adoption of internet banking appears slow. According to a joint report conducted by the Boston Consulting Group and Facebook in 2017, internet banking is only used by 12 percent of existing banking customers in India (Tripathi et al., 2017). However, a huge opportunity for potential growth exists. The Internet and Mobile Association of India report says that the total number of internet users in India will reach 462m by June 2016, which offers the Indian banking industry a significant opportunity to maximize internet banking users (Chauhan and Choudhary, 2015). Given these numbers, Indian banks have ample motivation to pursue strategies that increase internet banking usage. Therefore, banks need to focus on the factors that will produce an increase in the adoption of internet banking. Consumer innovation is crucial as it reduces the effect of technological innovation complexity (Yi et al., 2006).\n2. Review of literature: 2.1 Technology acceptance model (TAM) and added constructs\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sampling and data collection\n4. Results: 4.1 Measurement model: reliability and validity\n5. Discussion and implications: The study attempts to understand the consumers' intentions to adopt internet banking in the Indian context using the TAM along with additional constructs, such as PR and two consumer innovativeness constructs (i.e. II and DSI). The findings supported the TAM model and the results reported in previous studies, such as Wang et al. (2003), Suh and Han (2002) and Nysveen et al. (2005); PU and PEOU were found to have a significant positive influence on consumers' attitudes, which further influences their IU internet banking services.\n6. Limitations and scope for future research: As with any type of empirical research, this study has a few limitations that need to be addressed in future work. First, the study is limited to educated consumers residing in a specific region, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Second, the study measures internet banking adoption intentions, not actual usage or actual behavior, so further studies can focus on consumers' actual adoption of internet banking in addition to their intention. Third, the present study has not measured the attitude and intentions that non-users have toward internet banking, so researchers can focus on both (users and non-users) in future studies and report on the differences in their attitudes and perceptions about internet banking because the innovation attributes associated with internet banking are perceived differently by users and non-users (Sohail and Al-Jabri, 2014). Finally, future studies can also compare consumers' behaviors based on their experiences (less experienced/highly experienced), which will help marketers develop strategies to effectively target the consumers' level of experience.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand consumers' intention to adopt internet banking. The study adopted the technology acceptance model with additional constructs (i.e. consumer innate innovativeness (II), domain-specific innovativeness (DSI) and perceived security risk (PR)).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey (487 usable responses) from Indian consumers. A two-step SEM approach (i.e. measurement model and structural model) was used to analyze the data.\nFindings: The findings show the significant positive influence of perceived usefulness, ease of use, attitude, II and DSI on consumer's intention to adopt internet banking. The PR was found to have a significant negative influence on consumers' intention to adopt internet banking, and DSI was found to negatively influence PR.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is limited to users of a particular region of India. Furthermore, the study limits itself in determining consumers' intention only, not actual usage.\nOriginality/value: The study is a preliminary attempt to examine consumer's intention to adopt internet banking in India by analyzing innovativeness and perceived risk.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Creating brand equity in the Chinese clothing market: The effect of selected marketing activities on brand equity dimensions
|
[
"Brand equity",
"Marketing",
"Clothing",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The ability of brand equity to create value for customers and firms alike has created a burgeoning interest in the subject among marketing academicians and practitioners since the 1980s. A general definition of brand equity is the incremental utility and value that a brand name adds to a product, such as Coke, Kodak, Levi's, and Nike (Farquhar et al., 1991). A marketing strategy is often considered essential for establishing brand equity. Advertising expenditures, sales force, public relations, slogans or jingles, symbols and packages, warranties, and event marketing have been proposed as factors contributing to brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Simon and Sullivan, 1993; Keller, 2002).Research has shown that consumers in different parts of the world vary in their attitudes and opinions toward marketing activities (Dawar and Parker, 1994). Yoo and Donthu (2002) further noted that cultural and economic differences might mediate the effect of marketing efforts on creating brand equity. Most studies on the creation of brand equity have been conducted in Western countries. Therefore, those findings may not be generalizable to other markets, such as China, without further empirical testing.With a rapidly growing economy and an enormous population, China is now one of the most attractive consumer markets in the world (Brewer, 1997). According to Bow and Ford (1993), imported clothing brands in China are typically associated with high fashion or high social status. There is a tendency for Chinese consumers, especially young consumers, to pursue a \"modern\" lifestyle by spending on big brand name products and keeping up with fashion trends (Bow and Ford, 1993; Li and Gallup, 1995). Thus, foreign apparel brands are enjoying strong sales growth in the Chinese market. However, Chinese cultural and consumer behaviors differ a great deal from those observed in Western markets, with Confucianism playing the biggest part in shaping the unique Chinese culture. Self-realization is now a strong concept among Chinese youths; however, in contrast to their counterparts around the world, these young people can become modern in many ways while still remaining very traditional (St-Maurice and Wu, 2006). Marketing strategies that are effective in building brand equity in Western markets may simply not be effective in China.Few studies have systematically investigated how to employ marketing strategies to build brand equity in China. This study has used a structural model to investigate the relationship between selected marketing activities and the dimensions of brand equity for imported clothing brands in China, as well as the relationships between brand equity dimensions.\nLiterature review: Brand equity theory\nMethodology: Measures\nResults: Demographic characteristics\nDiscussion and implications: This study used the brand equity creation model to investigate the effects of eight selected marketing activities on creating brand equity through four brand equity dimensions in China. The 12 imported clothing and athletic shoe brands that were selected as the product stimuli in this study are all fashion brands. In addition, imported clothing brands in China are typically associated with high fashion (Bow and Ford, 1993). Therefore, findings of the study should be helpful to marketing and brand managers working in a fashion-related industry.The results suggest that there is no claim to support the fact that the four major brand equity dimensions are independent and each marketing activity has a very different effect on brand equity creation. The findings and important management implications for each marketing activity examined are discussed.Relationships between brand equity dimensions\nLimitations and future research: It is important to point out that our study only examined the relationships between selected market activities and the dimensions of brand equity. Future research needs to focus on investigating the causal relationships between the dimensions of brand equity and overall brand equity. Furthermore, we must also recognize the limitations due to non-probability sampling in collecting data only in the two largest cities in China: Beijing and Shanghai. Though the shopping center intercept survey is recognized as an effective method of collecting data, limitations arise from the lack of random sample selection. More scientific sampling will be required for future research if these results are generalized to the Chinese market as a whole.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of eight selected marketing activities in creating brand equity in the Chinese clothing market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A shopping centre intercept survey is conducted to collect data in the two largest Chinese cities, Beijing and Shanghai. The empirical tests, using a structural equation model (SEM), support the research hypotheses.\nFindings: - The results indicate the positive effects of store image, celebrity endorsement, event sponsorship, web advertising, and non-price promotions on brand equity in China as well as the detrimental impact of frequent price promotions.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study is limited to consumers in Beijing and Shanghai.\nPractical implications: - The findings answer the following questions: how do foreign clothing brand suppliers develop effective brand strategies for the China market? Should marketing activities designed to build brand equity be modified to accommodate different attitudes or behaviors in China?\nOriginality/value: - Few studies have investigated how to build brand equity in China. A structural model was used to examine the relationship between eight widely used marketing activities and the dimensions of brand equity for imported clothing brands in China. The study also examines the directional relationships between brand equity dimensions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
What economics education is missing: the real world
|
[
"Cognitive dissonance",
"Global financial crisis",
"Documentary method",
"Economic education",
"Qualitative social research",
"Real-world orientation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. A crisis of economics after the global financial crisis (GFC)?: The GFC led to a growing distrust in economic research and the economics profession. The criticism advanced against the current state of economics was manifold. Modern economics was, first, accused of being unable to understand and explain a wide range of real-world phenomena due to its strong focus on methodological rigor and monist paradigmatic structure (Beker, 2010; Colander et al., 2009). Second, recent studies have also formulated a critique of \"economic imperialism\" (Maki, 2009), i.e. of economics as largely ignoring the theoretical and empirical findings from other social sciences (Fourcade et al., 2015). Third, there is further concern regarding the far-reaching political and societal impact of economics as a discipline and of economists as individual actors (Christensen, 2017; Dellepiane-Avellaneda, 2015), particularly since the GFC economists continue to hold core positions in policy advice and public economic debates (Green and Hay, 2014).\n2. Methodological approach: Our investigation was primarily interested in the basic concepts and orientations students of economics themselves use when they talk about their studies. This entailed three different methodological consequences: first, not seeking to \"test\" an ex ante hypothesis, we structured the terms of the methodological design (e.g. questionnaires) accordingly, and contrarily required a method that, second, allowed students to express themselves as freely as possible and assured, third, that during the examination phase the empirical material would not be biased by our own perceptions. Against this background we needed to combine maximum openness with regard to collecting empirical material with maximum rigor in analysis.\n3. Empirical results: On the empirical basis provided by the group discussions and their assessment as described in chapter 2, the following common orientation - among others - was reconstructed: students feel that there is a significant gap between their study experience of economics and the real world \"out there\" which they must bridge in some way. Hence, the relationship between the study of economics and the real world remains fundamentally opaque: neither does the economics curriculum explain its connection to the outside world, nor can reality bridge the gap to curriculum. Caught between these two poles, the student herself feels the need to resolve the situation by developing bridging strategies. The material shows three different kinds of dissociations and bridging strategies respectively: the epistemic, the practical and the moral/political. The following introduces each case, whereby two groups are referred to for each one.\n4. Discussion: First, it should be pointed out that the above empirical inquiry clearly confirms the claim that students \"enter the classroom with a wide range of backgrounds and with many preconceptions about how the world works\" (Samuelson and Nordhaus, 2010, p. xx). The study shows that they bring with them preconceptions on how a bachelor's degree in economics should support them in knowing, doing and/or being. These preconceptions of what an economics curriculum will look like become severely contested in their first four semesters of study. Hence, the experience and recognition of disassociation between the study of economics and real-world phenomena actually originates in the fundamental difference between an (inexperienced) concept of the study of economics and the (experienced) reality of the study program. For the student of economics, this difference becomes a serious biographical problem on a daily basis. Using the psychological concept of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957), we now propose a theoretical framework which allows and promotes an interdisciplinary reflection of our empirical findings.\n5. Conclusion: In summarization, the main conclusion to be drawn from our research is that, in its current form, the study of economics causes dissonances for many students. The concept of economics which originally motivated the interviewed students to enroll differs substantially from their real experience while studying. In order to avoid such disappointment and frustration, one possible solution would be to simply point out (in study manuals, advertising material, corresponding websites and official study objectives) that seeking an economics bachelor's degree initially involves a course of study that is completely abstract from economic reality.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The global financial crisis led to increasing distrust in economic research and the economics profession, in the process of which the current state of economics and economic education in particular were heavily criticized. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a study with undergraduate students of economics in order to capture their view of economic education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on the documentary method, a qualitative empirical method, which combines maximum openness with regard to the collection of empirical material coupled with maximum rigor in analysis.\nFindings: The empirical findings show that students enter economics curricula with epistemic, practical or moral/political motivations for understanding and dealing with real-world problems but end up remarkably disappointed after going through the mathematical and methods-orientated introductory courses. The findings further indicate that students develop strategies to cope with their disappointment - all of them relating to their original motivation. The theoretical contextualization of the empirical findings is based on the psychological concept of cognitive dissonance.\nSocial implications: A socially and politically responsible economic education, however, should provide students guidance in understanding current and prospective economic challenges, thereby enabling them to become informed and engaged citizens. Therefore, it is essential that the students' criticism of the current state of economic education be taken seriously and BA programs reformed accordingly.\nOriginality/value: The originality of this paper lies in the application of a qualitative methodology and explicit focus on the student perspective on economics education. The study provides empirical evidence for a lack of real-world orientation in economics education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Cross-cultural comparisons of consumer satisfaction ratings: A perspective from Albert Hirschman's theory
|
[
"Customer satisfaction",
"National cultures",
"Higher education",
"Students",
"Colombia",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The impact of consumer satisfaction and quality perceptions on long-term performance of service firms is supported not only by theory but also by empirical studies: investment in improving consumer satisfaction has been demonstrated to provide superior returns to shareholders (Aksoy et al., 2008). It should, therefore, be critical for marketers to find ways to improve consumer satisfaction ratings.Research in services marketing provides a better understanding of consumer satisfaction drivers, which is especially important in a multicultural environment where the global consumer is more a myth than a reality (Ueltschy et al., 2007). Satisfying consumers in a global market is difficult because national culture exerts an influence on consumer perceptions and expectations (Donthu and Yoo, 1998), on tolerance to service failure (Laroche et al., 2004) and on the relative importance of service quality dimensions (Ueltschy et al., 2007).Studies on the role of culture in service quality perceptions and consumer satisfaction have generated an important stream of research (Donthu and Yoo, 1998; Furrer et al., 2000), and these studies are based primarily on Hofstede's (1980) cultural dimensions: Individualism/collectivism (INDCOL) is related to the degree to which individuals are self-centered or integrated into groups. Power distance is the level of acceptance of the hierarchical distribution of power. Masculinity/femininity is the gender-related values held by individuals in a given society (masculine: independence, ambition and results, feminine: quality of life, service and interdependence). Uncertainty avoidance reflects the feelings and behaviors of the individual when faced with unknown situations; more uncertainty avoidance cultures show preference for rules and safety measures in order to minimize such situations. Short- and long-term orientation (Hofstede and Bond, 1988) refers to values such as perseverance, stability and respect for traditions.Although these five dimensions are considered useful in explaining and comparing aggregate national behavior (Singh, 2006), some researchers (Chan and Wan, 2008; Tung, 2008) point out that the influence of culture on quality perceptions and consumer satisfaction is not as systematic as Hofstede's dimensions suggest. Furthermore, these dimensions are not enough in capturing the differences in subgroups within a culture, which makes us look for complementary approaches of cross-cultural comparisons.We propose the \"exit, voice and loyalty\" theory (Hirschman, 1970) as a conceptual framework to understand differences in consumer satisfaction with services across cultures. The theory identifies the different behavioral alternatives that a dissatisfied consumer can employ, depending on the nature of the industry and the consumers' perception of available alternatives. We use the bases of Hirschman's theory in conjunction with Hofstede's (1980) cultural dimensions in the higher education service to hypothesize differences in student satisfaction in two countries: Colombia and Spain. This approach allows us to account for not only the general cultural values of a consumer because of the country but also the context-specific characteristics of the service sector under study and the perceptions of different consumer groups.The paper starts with summarizing Hirschman's theory followed by building a model of student satisfaction based on this theory, Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the educational systems of both countries. The methods used for testing this model, the results, their discussions and implications are presented in the final sections.\n2. Albert Hirschman's theory: Hirschman's (1970) theory of \"exit, voice and loyalty\" proposes three mechanisms that a consumer can choose from when the quality of products or services provided by an organization declines:* exiting or changing supplier;* using the voice (to make a claim, a complaint or comments to third parties); and* loyalty (voluntary or involuntary).These three responses to dissatisfaction with the service depend on the nature of the industry and the consumers' perception of available alternatives. Exiting and changing supplier are the most likely options in a competitive industry, while using the voice, either individually or collectively, is the most likely option in case of a monopoly. Choosing between the mechanisms is not that straightforward in another type of industry that Hirschman calls loose monopoly, which is in a situation where the providers of a service hold a near-monopoly control of supply but where some competition exists.In a loose monopoly, these three mechanisms are conditioned by the availability of alternatives, the level of sophistication of some consumers, the consumers' loyalty, the likelihood of the mechanism's success, the repurchase cycle and the relative cost of actions to be taken. These six conditions of Hirschman's theory have been studied by other authors (Andreasen, 1985; Gronhaug and Arndt, 1980), and we discuss their relationship with consumers' behavior.The service alternatives depend not only on the real supply of the service but also on the consumers' perceptions whether the available alternatives can provide better service. In this case, full information about the alternatives plays an important role in the decision for switching providers. The level of sophistication of consumers is measured by their perceptiveness, knowledge and experience. A more sophisticated consumer tends to seek better alternatives as compared to the average consumer. Loyalty to the provider can be conscious or unconscious, since some consumers have to stay with a provider because of the imposed switching barriers. Before taking any action, consumers will consider the results of choosing either the exiting or voicing options on service improvement. The repurchase cycle will be a relevant factor when choosing mechanisms since the result cannot be seen in the immediate near future given that the supplier may react slowly or not even notice the consumer action. Finally, there may be associated costs of taking actions, like psychological or social factors that inhibit consumers from taking any action.Various authors have applied this theory in different settings for evaluating consumers' behavior but none have done so in an international setting. Gronhaug and Arndt (1980) show differences in consumer complaints between public and private sector, Andreasen (1985) applies it in the health care sector, while Singh (1991) compares three different industries at varying levels of loose monopoly.\n3. Student satisfaction: model and international comparison of results: 3.1. Higher education in the light of Hirschman's theory\n4. Methodology: 4.1. Sample\n5. Results: The validity and reliability of the measures as well as the global model were evaluated by confirming the psychometric properties of measures and constructs. It was concluded that the proposed model reasonably fits the data for this service in both universities and also explained a high level of student satisfaction: 69 per cent in the Spanish university and 73 per cent in the Colombian university. Table V shows the estimation of the standardized coefficients.The H1 is partially supported. All of the determinants of satisfaction were found to be significant except for coproduction for the Colombian sample. We found support for the H2 as both perceived quality and coproduction were found to significantly affect service outcomes. The H3 is also supported since satisfaction is significantly related to attitude towards the institution.We calculated indices for each variable (using the formula for the customer satisfaction indices (Fornell et al., 1996) on a scale ranging from 1 to 100) from the weights that the PLS algorithm assigns to each of the measures used. These are reported in Table VI.Colombian students are more satisfied than Spanish ones, thus supporting the H4. They have a better perception of the service as all of the indices are significantly higher. We tested the H5 by contrasting structural changes with the Chow test (Hulland, 1999). The test indicated that all of the effects in the model are statistically equal in both contexts, except that for coproduction on service outcomes. This effect is greater by 6.5 per cent for the ColU student, which suggests that the Colombian student is more closely linked with the outcomes they obtain from their learning process. No significant differences were found between samples in the other proposed effect of coproduction on satisfaction. Thus, H5 is partially supported.Bearing in mind the need to evaluate intra-national diversity (Tung, 2008) and emphasizing the different perceptions from the consumer's point of view proposed by Hirschman, the model estimations (not shown here) were evaluated for differences between subgroups within each cultural context. We summarize the results of the model estimation analyzing additive and multiplicative effects with dummy variables for the following characteristics: gender (women or men), marks obtained (low-to-average or high marks), job (current/previous work or no job experience), age (below 23 or above 24) and the study time (day or evening). When we refer to one group, it is compared to the opposite one.Various significant differences are observed between the subgroups of students in the Colombian university along the socio-demographic characteristics. First, we found differences in students over 24 years of age and students who attend classes in the evening. Both groups have better perceptions of the outcomes obtained from the service. Women are more satisfied than men and those who do not have work experience show a more favorable attitude towards the university. The effect of quality on satisfaction (b1) is greater for men and for those who do not have work experience. The effect of perceived quality on service outcomes (b2) is greater for students with low-to-average marks and for those who have work experience related to the degree program. The effect of student coproduction on service outcomes (b3) is greater for those students with high marks, for those who do not have work experience, for those under 23 years of age and for those who attend day-time classes. The effect of coproduction on satisfaction (b4) is significant only for students under 23 years of age and the effect of outcomes on satisfaction (b5) is greater for those who work currently.In the Spanish university, no difference is found in the level of service outcomes, satisfaction or attitude towards the university. However, the following differences are observed: the effect of quality on satisfaction (b1) is greater for students with low-to-average marks, the effect that perceived quality has on service outcomes (b2) is greater for students over 24 years of age and the effect of coproduction on satisfaction (b4) is greater and significant only for some of the subgroups: students with low marks, those with work experience, those over 24 years of age and students who attend classes in the evening.\n6. Discussion: We applied Hirschman's (1970) theory as a complementary approach to Hofstede's cultural dimensions to make international comparisons of service satisfaction ratings. A model of satisfaction was proposed, contrasted and compared with data obtained from two universities in two different countries, Spain and Colombia. We found that student satisfaction is greater in the Colombian context, where there are greater constraints on university access, fewer alternative choices and the relative costs of changing or leaving the university are higher.The conditions of Hirschman's theory in combination with two of Hofstede's cultural dimensions (INDCOL and power distance) helped identify the variables that determine student satisfaction and the ensuing consequences of this satisfaction. Perceived service quality, service outcomes and student coproduction were modeled as determinants of student satisfaction. Both the perceived quality and the outcomes directly influence student satisfaction but the effects of the student coproduction on service outcomes and the student coproduction on satisfaction vary between universities and within each cultural context. On the one hand, we find that the effect of coproduction on service outcomes is statistically significant in both universities and is significantly greater in the Colombian context indicating that the Colombian students' coproduction is more related to the outcomes they obtain from the higher education experience than the Spanish student. On the other hand, the effect of coproduction on satisfaction, although significant for the entire Spanish university sample, is only significant for some subgroups of students in both universities. In the Spanish university, this effect is significant for students who get low marks, those with work experience, those above 24 years of age and those who attend evening classes. An explanation is that educational involvement for these students is more costly and difficult, which is logical given that they divide their time between studies and work or their studies are a greater challenge when compared with other groups of students. Yet, in the Colombian university, the effect of coproduction on service outcomes was significant for the exact opposite group: students who get high marks, those who do not have work experience, students under 23 years of age and day-time students. These results suggest that the service perceptions are different from Spanish students, at least where they involve students' input in their educational process. In the Colombian system, students are expected to dedicate a great deal of time to their studies, spend more time at the university, interact more with faculty and fellow students, all of which requires a greater commitment from students attending day-time classes. The consequence of student satisfaction was the attitude towards the university, which turned out to be significant in both contexts. This is in line with Johnson et al. (2001), who suggest that the attitude towards the institution should be a consequence of cumulative satisfaction instead of being a determinant of it. We observe that the culture of a country is important for understanding the general or \"aggregate\" perception that consumers have of a service, but within each culture, a service may have different connotations for individuals.It is important to highlight that the approach suggested in this paper is intended to illustrate the potential of the theory of Hirschman in understanding the differences in satisfaction ratings in different contexts, extending the aggregate view of results conditioned only to cultural values rather than posting this theory as a mechanism to overcome the limitations of current approaches for comparison. This approach is useful to make a step forward in the international marketing literature since it offers the bases for understanding intra-national diversity (Tung, 2008) from the consumers' point of view.Managerial implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to propose Albert Hirschman's theory of \"exit, voice and loyalty\" as a complementary conceptual framework to Hofstede's cultural dimensions and use them in conjunction to compare consumer satisfaction with services across cultures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A model of satisfaction with complex services (higher education) is developed and then tested in two different cultures, Colombia and Spain, with a sample of 879 students. Structural equation modeling based on the partial least squares algorithm is used to test the proposed model.\nFindings: - Colombian students are more satisfied with the educational system than Spanish ones. This is explained by cultural and contextual differences that pose greater restrictions on accessibility to higher education, provide fewer choice alternatives and present more switching costs for the Colombian student.\nOriginality/value: - This study applies the conditions of Hirschman's theory in an international setting, offering a rich basis for understanding differences in consumer satisfaction that accounts for intra-national diversity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Bottleneck detection for improvement of Emergency Department efficiency
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Emergency Department",
"Bottleneck detection",
"Design of experiments",
"Healthcare improvement",
"Simulation modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Healthcare units in many hospitals face challenges of the increased operation cost, shortage of qualified medical staff, and limited hospital facilities (Barrick, 2009; Niu et al., 2013). The unbalance between limited resources and increasing demands is the main reason leading to overcrowding in many units of hospitals (Abo-Hamad and Arisha, 2013). Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding has become an increasingly significant public healthcare problem (Fatovich, 2005; Ferrin et al., 2007). Besides the fact of limited resources for the increasing demand, one of the main reasons of overcrowding is the poor patient flow because of inefficient operations. A direct impact of overcrowding is a long patient waiting time and the patient dissatisfaction. A lot of research has been conducted to examine the patient flow to find bottlenecks for improvement in the healthcare process (Duguay and Chetouane, 2007; Xie and Peng, 2012). Different methods are proposed for the evaluation and improvement of the ED operation (Wang et al., 2012a,b; Rais and Vianaa, 2011).\n2. Related research: Based on areas identified for this research, the bibliographic databases of Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and EI are searched for publications between 2000 and 2014 using keywords of healthcare improvement, ED, simulation modeling, bottleneck detection, benchmarking, and DOE. The search results are listed in Table I. In total, 401 papers in the second, third. and fourth rows are scanned for the relevant to this research. There are some overlaps of papers from different databases. The relevant papers are reviewed for details in this section and included in the paper references. The review starts at strategies and methods for ED improvement. Research on simulation modeling is then reviewed based on needs of the proposed method to identify ED problems. Research on benchmarking and DOE is also investigated for the ways to improve efficiency of the ED problem identification.\n3. ED analysis and theoretical framework: 3.1. Patient flows\n4. Benchmarking: 4.1. Patient comparison\n5. Problem formulation for the bottleneck detection: Based on patients' status of TIP, ERH, TBADM, and PD in the treatment, the research is to identify the procedure with a higher impact on the ED operation for the improvement. The objective is to minimize the waiting time, which can be achieved if the processing time in these four treatment procedures is reduced in a feasible range. To represent the scope of these treatment procedures, four status coefficients of TIP, ERH, TBADM, and PD procedures are implanted into the search model to decide the process time as follows:\n6. Design of experiences: 6.1. Factors and levels of DOE\n7. Conclusions and further work: The bottleneck detection of ED operations provides a direction for the improvement of healthcare systems, which will have the impact on patients, healthcare providers, administration systems, police making, and communities. Successful improvement of the identified areas will reduce the patient waiting time in the ED. Patients will experience the shorter LOS and a higher quality of care. Healthcare providers can better understand the patient experience, process performances, and staffing inter-relationships. Using the proposed simulation model, quality improvement teams can test scenarios of changes of healthcare equipment, resources, and schedules without a major investment or disruption of ED operations. It will achieve reduced non-value added activities and services, improved patient and public engagement in decision-making for understanding risks, benefits, alternatives, and improved quality of care, care accessibility and patient safety.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a method of the bottleneck detection for Emergency Department (ED) improvement using benchmarking and design of experiments (DOE) in simulation model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Four procedures of treatments are used to represent ED activities of the patient flow. Simulation modeling is applied as a cost-effective tool to analyze the ED operation. Benchmarking provides the achievable goal for the improvement. DOE speeds up the process of bottleneck search.\nFindings: It is identified that the long waiting time is accumulated by previous arrival patients waiting for treatment in the ED. Comparing the processing time of each treatment procedure with the benchmark reveals that increasing the treatment time mainly happens in treatment in progress and emergency room holding (ERH) procedures. It also indicates that the to be admitted time caused by the transfer delay is a common case.\nResearch limitations/implications: The current research is conducted in the ED only. Activities in the ERH require a close cooperation of several medical teams to complete patients' condition evaluations. The current model may be extended to the related medical units to improve the model detail.\nPractical implications: ED overcrowding is an increasingly significant public healthcare problem. Bottlenecks that affect ED overcrowding have to be detected to improve the patient flow.\nOriginality/value: Integration of benchmarking and DOE in simulation modeling proposed in this research shows the promise in time-saving for bottleneck detection of ED operations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The impact of the global financial crisis on employee participation - two German case studies
|
[
"Corporate crisis",
"Employees participation",
"Case studies",
"Sensemaking",
"Social system theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The recent global financial crisis (GFC) provides us with the opportunity to more deeply examine and to enrich our understanding of the nature of management decisions about employee participation during times of corporate crisis. Traditionally, management was perceived to opportunistically grant or cut back employee participation with every crisis cycle of managerial authority in order to ensure some kind of enterprise consciousness among the workforce and, by this, to endow their decisions with greater legitimacy (Ramsay, 1977). Against the background of the pressures of globalization, several authors have argued that employee participation has something more to offer management than just greater legitimacy for their decisions (Boxall and Purcell, 2008; Budd et al., 2010). With respect to the management of corporate crises, employee participation was particularly considered a means to positively impact the discovery, the process, and the overcoming of corporate crises as well as the learning processes that lead to better crisis resilience (Weick and Sutcliffe, 2001). During the GFC, the introduction or enlargement of employee participation rights in the middle of the crisis was even identified to help companies to emerge from the crisis stronger than before, because greater participation was assumed to lead to better conditions for creativity, and thus to marketable innovations (Kluge and Vitols, 2010).Introducing (or enlarging) employee participation as an organizational reform to overcome crisis implies that the relationship between crisis and participation is conceptualized as a circle: the introduction of participatory elements is motivated by the very crisis that these elements should help to overcome. However, this circle contains at least three problematic aspects. First, any organizational reforms, such as the introduction of employee participation, must be perceived as an innovation with uncertain prospects and outcomes. Second, decisions about employee participation may depend on the meaning of the term \"crisis\" used by the corporate actors. And third, decisions about reforms of employee participation may not be taken and realized in the course of an enacted corporate crisis. Overall, there is a lack of knowledge about how the communication and enactment of a corporate crisis impact on sensemaking and decision making regarding employee participation.The novel constellation of corporate crisis and employee participation brought about by the GFC gives us the opportunity to reduce this knowledge gap through empirical investigation. More concretely, we can observe companies in which some reforms regarding employee participation have been planned in order to meet the challenges of globalization but had not been implemented when the GFC broke out. Thus, we can examine how the enactment of a corporate crisis in the context of the GFC changes the conditions for decisions about the very reforms of employee participation which is recommended by management literature (e.g. Thornhill and Saunders, 1998; Ordiz-Fuertes and Fernandez-Sanchez, 2003) as a suitable means to cope and overcome the crisis. The study examines the following research questions:(1) What exactly is the meaning of \"crisis\" and of \"participation\" used in practice by the corporate actors?(2) How does the awareness of corporate actors of their being in a corporate crisis impact on decisions about employee participation, namely on:\n2. Literature review: In management literature, corporate crises, and coping with them are long-established research topics (e.g. Hamblin, 1958; Hermann, 1963). A corporate crisis can be perceived as a low probability/high consequence event that is unexpected, unfamiliar, and threatens the most fundamental goals of an organization (Weick, 1988). There is consensus that crisis management usually comprises all measures the company management intentionally takes to positively impact on the prevention, discovery, outbreak, containment, recovery, end of a crisis as well as learning from it (Runyan, 2006; Mitroff, 2005). This body of literature is dominated by financial or organizational perspectives (e.g. change management - Muller, 1985; Elliott et al., 2005) often comprising a rather normative orientation (e.g. Dunn, 1991; Robinson, 2005). The descriptive studies with a human resource management (HRM) perspective mainly focus on layoffs (Greenhalgh et al., 1986), HR development (Kamoche, 2003; Wang et al., 2009), and motivation (Lane and McGurk, 2009). Meanwhile, little attention has been paid to the topics of employee participation and sensemaking.2.1 Corporate crises and employee participation\n3. Methods: Our two exploratory case studies have been conducted on an ongoing basis since 2008 in the context of a larger research project dealing with the interrelationship of corporate innovativeness and employee participation. This long time period as well as a strong commitment of the two companies involved allowed the reform processes to be studied continuously and in-depth. Commitments to confidentiality require that the two companies be referred to as A and B. The data collection was guided by a qualitative approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) which is mirrored by a flexible use of various instruments:* We conducted a total of 37 semi-structured interviews (A: 15, B: 22) on different topics (e.g. employee ownership, work processes) with employees and executives of different hierarchical levels and departments as well as with selected stakeholder representatives (e.g. from unions, banks). Individuals who are central to the research topic (e.g. CEO, HR manager, head of works council) were interviewed several times. All interviews, lasting between 30 and 90 minutes each, have been tape-recorded and transcribed.* We undertook some participatory observation. This was related to participation at several internal workshops and employee meetings in both companies. Some of them were guided by us (e.g. feedback workshops), in others we attended as active participants (e.g. works council meetings), in some as mere observers (e.g. general meeting of the company staff). Moreover, we conducted some concrete workplace analyses, i.e. mapping work processes in which we conducted interviews with employees about the content and conditions of work.* Furthermore, in the spirit of ethnographic fieldwork, we considered each contact with company representatives as a data collection situation which was recorded in diaries. This included a multitude of one-on-one talks and group discussions as well as some regular project meetings or telephone calls.* Last but not least, we had access to internal documents (e.g. company agreements, planning documentation).The interpretation process of the heterogeneous data was also characterized by a mix of methods guided by the idea of triangulation (Denzin, 1989): minutes of workshops and meetings, interview transcripts as well as company artifacts (e.g. language, rituals, decoration) were analyzed by the authors, alone or jointly, following standards of sequential content analysis (Psathas, 1995; Have, 1999). Afterwards the findings were continuously validated through numerous group discussions and feedback-loops with different persons involved in the project (e.g. company representatives, research colleagues). This enables us to profit from the very strength of the case study methodology (Eisenhardt, 1989): although exploratory in nature, it provides a distinctive path with a theoretical fundament and with some sincere analyses both within cases and across cases in order to end up with some in-depth knowledge that may be applied beyond our limited empirical framework.In presenting our case studies as a kind of \"thick description\" we follow Gartner's plea (2010, p. 14): \"Other researchers must have the opportunity to undertake their own analyses of this data and make their own judgments regarding a researcher's findings and insights.\"\n4. Two case studies: We now describe and elaborate two case studies. They demonstrate how in the context of a communicated corporate crisis decisions regarding corporate participation were taken (or not). We are particularly interested in reforms of corporate participation previously established as a potential answer to the challenge of structural crisis as well as in decisions taken in the existing framework of industrial relations.4.1 Company A\n5. Discussion: 5.1 The meaning of \"crisis\" and \"participation\" as a cognitive routine in practice\n6. Conclusions: Our paper has explored the link between corporate crises in two German companies in the context of the GFC and decisions about employee participation. We treated this relation as a particular case of the more general relationship between sensemaking and decision making and complemented this perspective with the concept of cognitive routines taken from Luhmann's social system theory. This resulted in some in-depth-knowledge concerning the particular empirical relationship in question as well as in some more general theoretical implications.We show that the enactment of an economic and cash flow related crisis massively changes the conditions under which decisions in corporations are made, even when the enactment is due to a merely rhetoric reference to a globally synchronized economic crisis, like the GFC, that may affect the company in the future but does not currently impact on the company cash flow. Our findings suggest that the exceptional cognitive routine \"crisis\" seduces companies to invoke the classic organizational script of instrumental rationality guaranteed by hierarchy and authoritarian leadership style. The resulting preferences towards centralization, hierarchization, and persons at the top are accompanied by an explicit rejection of decentralization and consensus-oriented decision making, thus directly influencing decisions concerning employee participation. Furthermore, while refraining from any formal reform of organizational structures during an enacted crisis, on the one hand, personnel changes in top positions are likely and, on the other hand, one can observe a non-scheduled crisis-induced structural change, both of which influence the way in which employees participate in the decision-making process. Moreover, on the basis of a shared understanding of some aspects of the meaning of \"participation\" institutions of representative participation are likely to co-operate and to demonstrate some kind of passive co-management.In more general terms, it is important to note that the functions of the term \"crisis\" are twofold. It can be considered a cognitive routine itself that has the power to re-describe the company itself and to re-define its situation instantaneously. So, a crisis is not an event with an unquestionable ontological status by the occurrence of which the conditions of decision making automatically change. It is rather a description for a company's system-environment-relationship that has to be enacted but maybe without much sensemaking going on. Moreover, when enacted, the description \"crisis\" acts in goal-oriented companies as an initial condition which actualizes a set of alternative and closely related cognitive routines, but without giving an adequately defined orientation or instructions about which performance programs should be initiated once the crisis condition has occurred. While the cognitive routine \"crisis\" in fact alerts the company it may deteriorate the conditions for awareness and sensemaking that underlie decision making as it tends to replace deference to expertise by deference to authority (Tjosvold, 1984; Weick, 2010).We would also like to stress that our studies can demonstrate that in the case of participation, where traditionally approaches of power prevail, both conflicts of interest and co-operation between management and labor presuppose sensemaking. In other words: any power game or any sequence of co-operation in organizations is based on processes of sensemaking in which organizationally employed cognitive routines play a crucial role.Our findings go beyond a narrow understanding of employee participation and point to a conception of organizations in which one important question is how alternatives for decisions are cognitively constructed within the established network of decisions and decision premises. It is in this context that the questions about how and how far different membership groups can participate in the process of constructing alternatives as well as in the process of decision making become important. This perspective particularly highlights changes regarding the decision-making style during crisis and puts particular emphasis on the increasing relevance of persons in top positions. Moreover, it puts in the foreground the reactions of organizational members to those changes. This leads us to the more general question whether there has been a non-scheduled and unintended crisis-induced structural change of the companies (Luhmann, 2000, p. 330ff) which points to some limitations of our paper. To determine the scope of our findings in terms of its generalizability and representativeness it would be necessary to develop a typology of crisis-induced structural change of decision making in companies. This is not feasible on the basis of two case studies and would require a larger sample including examples of maximal contrast (eventually also from different national contexts). Another limitation concerns the question whether the period of time observed is long enough to capture an episode of such a structural change. Follow-up studies in both companies could focus on the long-term consequences of the hierarchization of the decision-making style or the change of CEO on organizational structures. As our findings indicate, the middle management plays a crucial role in these processes. Hence, another focus should be on the question which strategies or tactics middle management takes in reacting to the imposition of a sudden change in leadership style (Caspi, 1988).Last but not least, our paper also includes some practical implications. Indeed, we cannot answer the question whether reforms of employee participation introduced in times of corporate crisis will definitively enhance the company's crisis resilience, as many authors have argued (e.g. Kluge and Vitols, 2010). Our results rather suggest that reforms in this regard are unlikely during an acute corporate crisis. Nevertheless, on the basis of the results of crisis management and high-reliability-organization research (e.g., Weick and Sutcliffe, 2001) as well as on our own findings, companies in crisis are well advised to look for an intelligent balance of centralization and decentralization in the decision-making process. Moreover, a formal crisis management system would provide them with the chance to safeguard the very same flexibility that can help in resolving the crisis but that is endangered by the crisis-induced tendency to retreat to an inflexible way of organizing. Thus, understanding the functionality of employee participation in this context would require a change in perspective: instead of viewing reforms of participation as intended to adapt the company to certain ideas or principles one should stress their potential to develop and cultivate a resource for organizing that can contribute to problem-solution and crisis management.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The article aims to explore the link between corporate crises and decisions about employee participation in the context of the global financial crisis (GFC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors complement Weick's sensemaking perspective with some distinctions taken from social systems theory. The paper examines the influence of a communicated corporate crisis on decisions regarding employee participation in two German companies over a two-year period immediately following the outbreak of the GFC.\nFindings: - The meaning of a communicated and enacted corporate crisis sets a company in a state of alert and provokes some distinctive reactions. These include an accentuation of a traditional hierarchical style of decision making and an authoritarian leadership style, some distinctive key personnel changes, and a strong orientation towards senior management. Any reforms of immaterial employee participation are rejected and the institutions that represent employees engage in a passive co-management.\nPractical implications: - The authors' findings highlight the importance for companies of introducing a formal crisis management system before a crisis occurs, which provides the chance to safeguard a balance of centralization and decentralization in the decision-making process during crises.\nOriginality/value: - The study offers some novel insights about the meaning of crisis and of employee participation as well as about how these meanings affect decision-making processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
How can employee engagement be improved at the RRG Group? Part 1
|
[
"Communication",
"Performance management",
"Employee behaviour",
"Perception",
"Organizational performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There are some interesting examples which illustrate what may be achieved by management. For example at B&Q in June 2005, after costs started rising, a recovery plan was introduced which changed the six-monthly employee survey from focusing on employee perceptions to a more business-critical measure. B&Q developed the idea of an \"employee customer profit chain\", which works on the principle that if one recruits talented people and engages them effectively, that translates into a better customer experience and, in turn, into better business performance:Linkage analysis quickly proved beyond any doubt that if you have a store with high engagement, it always leads to better sales performance, lower absence and lower stock loss ... these are just a few outcomes that ultimately lead to improved bottom line figures and then shareholder value. (Martin Philips - HR Director at B&Q, cited in Reed, 2009, p. 1).According to Reed (2009) B&Q have found that the shift in the ratio between engaged and disengaged employees has been particularly radical. In addition, results from the Gallup (2005) engagement study revealed that B&Q had three times the level of improvement it has ever seen in a global organization within an 18-month period. B&Q is now the highest-rated large retailer that Gallup measures and the company's like-for-like sales performance against key competitors has improved sharply (Personnel Today, 2009). A further example was at PlasticCo which is a leading plastics manufacturer for the UK food and drink industry, employing approximately 650 employees. A new managing director was appointed in 2007, bringing a more participative vision, in comparison to a traditional \"top down\" autocratic approach, which focused on improving employee engagement levels:Change is not about driving employees to work harder, but about providing the conditions under which they will work smarter and to offer their opinions, ideas and solutions to problems that they encounter (Leadership and Development Manager at PlasticCo. CIPD, 2008, p. 7).Key initiatives included an \"Employee Engagement Steering Group\" and an employee engagement questionnaire. The results of the survey suggested that at the start of the change process the company had a generally \"high\" level of engagement, but only 7 percent of employees were \"very\" engaged and 3 percent had a \"low\" level of engagement, which gave a measure of the work that was needed to create a highly engaged workforce. Analysis of the data from PlasticCo uncovered three main areas for improvement: decision making, people management and organizational advocacy. The Employee Engagement Steering Group introduced a number of measures including management groups to identify areas of skills shortage, staff development needs and changes to improve overall communication and advocacy. These were just a few of the key initiatives that were introduced in order to encourage higher levels of employee engagement at PlasticCo, which were considered by the CIPD (2008) Employee Engagement in Context Report to contribute positively. Also, when comparing the employee engagement levels against the performance there was a generally positive correlation (CIPD, 2008).\nThe link with performance: Increasingly, studies such as those previously discussed, reveal that organizations with high levels of engagement out perform their competitors, so the search is for evidence about whether engagement really does predict outstanding performance. Following a three-year longitudinal study, evidence showed that engaging leadership does, in fact, predict productivity (Alimo-Metcalfe and Bradley, 2008). Similarly, extensive research both in the academic and business communities indicates clear links between highly engaged individuals and overall organizational performance, specifically with bottom line results, job and customer satisfaction, absence, staff turnover and resilience to change (Stakeholder Magazine, 2009).Moreover, an important emerging theme from the research by McBain (2007) was that many organizations see engagement and its link to performance as similar to the \"service-profit chain\" model, in which improved links between employees, customers and profits lead to better overall performance. However, McBain (2007) argues that few organizations identify which areas have the greatest impact on these outcomes, nor do many identify whether different groups of employees require alternative approaches in order to develop higher levels of engagement, or the optimum level of engagement for different groups. In addition, it was highlighted during McBain's (2007) study that few organizations were able to link actual levels of engagement with specific levels of performance.Furthermore, it has been argued by the CIPD (2009) that employers want engaged employees because they deliver improved business performance. CIPD (2009) has repeatedly demonstrated the links between the way people are managed, employee attitudes and business performance. For instance, the high performance or \"black box\" model produced by Bath University builds on the psychological contract but emphasizes the role of the line managers in creating conditions under which employees will offer \"discretionary behaviour\". The model recognizes that employees have choices and can decide what level of engagement to offer the employer (Purcell et al., 2003).\nThe role of the line manager: It appears that supportive workplace relationships have been found to be important predictors of engagement by various studies (Maslach et al., 2001; May et al., 2004). Positive interactions with colleagues, supervisors and even customers fulfill employees' \"relatedness needs\" and provide them with a comfortable and respectful environment (De Mello et al., 2008). Luthans and Peterson (2002) found that the managers' self-efficacy is a partial mediator of the relationship between his or her employees' engagement and the manager's rated effectiveness. Overall, their findings suggested that both employee engagement and manager self-efficacy are important antecedents that together may positively influence managerial effectiveness.In addition, it has been argued by Armstrong (2009) that the level of engagement is primarily affected by the organizational structure, the system of work and most importantly the quality of leadership. Managers and team leaders often have considerable discretion about the allocation of work and the extent to which they delegate. They can provide feedback that recognizes the contribution of people and they can acknowledge the significance of the work that they carry out - therefore they are an important factor to consider throughout the research. However, Armstrong (2009) has also argued that engagement levels can be influenced by employees' personal characteristics as a minority of employees are likely to resist becoming engaged in their work, people are also influenced by their jobs and experiences. The way in which both senior management and line managers behave towards and communicate with employees and how work is organized contribute significantly towards making work meaningful.Furthermore, it has been argued by McBain (2007) that the level of engagement of line managers seems to be an important, if not critical, factor in the engagement of their people. High levels of management engagement can help to create \"electricity around engagement\" (p. 18). McBain (2007) also argued that if line managers did not believe in the strategic objectives of the business then engagement was likely to decline. Likewise, line manager behaviours' that are inconsistent with what the organization is trying to achieve will almost certainly have an adverse impact on engagement. McBain (2007) suggests that the key skills that managers require to develop employee engagement are communication skills and performance management.In addition, recent research suggests that there are two \"engagement friendly\" leadership styles: \"transformational leadership\" (Bass, 1999) and \"authentic leadership\" (Jenson and Luthans, 2006). In particular, the transformational leader's \"visioning\" and \"inspiring\" competencies are of considerable importance to engagement (Densten, 2005). On the other hand, \"authentic leadership\" combines ethical and transformational leadership qualities. Authentic leader's interests are in the well-being of the employees which leads them to recognize individual differences, identify complementary talents and help employees build upon their strengths. Unsurprisingly, Avolio et al. (2004) found significant relationships between authentic leadership and employee engagement.\nTools used to develop engagement: Evidently, there is no easy way to achieve employee engagement but according to the CIPD there are methods that can increase engagement levels. The most frequently mentioned in reference to McBain's (2007) study were action planning at team level, around the results of the engagement surveys. A well-crafted employee engagement survey enables an understanding of current levels of engagement (Pritchard, 2008). In addition, organizations are realizing the importance of encouraging two-way communication that is seen as a key driver of employee engagement.Furthermore, although measurement is a prerequisite to identifying issues, managing an engaged workforce also requires \"soft skills\" and the creation of a culture based on mutual respect between managers and employees (CIPD, 2009). The Co-operative Group is an example of an organization that has integrated employee engagement levels into the senior management bonus scheme as part of the engagement policy program in order to highlight its importance (Churchard, 2009). It is also vital that organizations recognize and celebrate success at individual, team and organizational levels. Organizations use leadership development programs and other support for line managers to enhance engagement (McBain, 2007).In addition, the Involvement and Participation Association (2007) has found that there are five key steps to engagement:1. Bring employees closer to strategic decisions made by senior management.2. Creating buy in to the strategic decision.3. The what, the why and the what else? (Dealing with suspicion.)4. Continued improvement in employee satisfaction and building trust.5. Create a positive and credible employee voice in a culture where employees want to contribute and get involved.Moreover, the government commissioned MacLeod and Clarke (2009) to carry out a review of employee engagement. Although the CIPD (2009) has described the report as \"the best thing that's happened to HR for years\", the review has been met with a lukewarm reception from Senior HR figures who are critical of its lack of practical measures:Although the case for \"what\" and \"why\" has been well-made in this document; it's time to look at the \"how\" (Paul Sweetman, director of the employee engagement practice at business services firm Fishburn Hedges, cited in Sweetman, 2009, p. 1).HR directors have argued that detailed frameworks of engagement programs, advice on ways of measuring engagement and checklists to help employers know when they were on track would have been useful and inspired HR professionals to develop new ideas (Baker, 2009). In the next edition part two will explore the case study that was undertaken at a motor vehicle retailer in the context of the literature discussed above.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This is the first of two papers that concern employee engagement, this one aims to review the literature and the second, to be in the next edition, aims to look at a detailed study at a large UK motor vehicle retailer the RRG Group.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The aim was to assess the main factors encouraging or preventing employee engagement, with specific reference to those employed within certain branches. The methods used were: assessing the qualitative data through attitudinal surveys, analyzing complete customer satisfaction (CCS) scores and telephone interviews with former employees.\nFindings: - Research suggests that employees are fairly constant in how involved they are in their jobs and organizations, or how alienated they have become. However, it is more realistic to assume that reactions to work fluctuate over a period of time. The link between employee engagement and work performance is explored.\nPractical implications: - The second part will, in the next edition, discuss with reference to research in the motor retail sector the key role of management in creating and maintaining an engaged workforce.\nOriginality/value: - The fluctuating nature of engagement is explored in the context of the management role in enhancing work performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Human mortality: written in the stars?
|
[
"Life expectancy",
"Death",
"Statistical analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Is curve-fitting a science? An art? Or just wishful thinking? A thoughtful consideration of the human mortality table provides some interesting insights.\nThe mortality table: The first comprehensive human mortality table was published in 1693 by British mathematician and astronomer Edmond Halley. Using historical age-at-death records from the Polish-German city of Breslau, Halley's table permitted the British government to sell the world's first actuarially based life annuity products. Given the age-old connection of mortality with concepts of fate and destiny, it is rather felicitous that the man who made the first scientific prediction of a comet's appearance - long considered a portent of good or bad fortune - should also provide the first scientific analysis of the human lifespan.There are numerous ways to portray the risk of human mortality graphically. One is to look at a theoretical histogram of the time of death for a newborn baby selected at random from a human population (as in Figure 1). Since death can occur at any time of the year, and at any time of the day, it is most realistic to treat the time of death as a continuous variable, so that the histogram is a continuous curve rather than a succession of vertical bars. In practice, however, insurance and annuity companies often make the simplifying (albeit disquieting) assumption that an individual's death will occur on his or her birthday.Essentially, what Figure 1 shows is that the great majority of people born today will tend to die in the age-band from 50 to 100, with the most likely single time of death (mode) at about 83 for men, and 88 for women. In addition, there is a much smaller, but noticeable, group of individuals that will die within the first couple years of life, primarily because of life-threatening congenital defects and disease vulnerabilities associated with infancy (e.g. cholera).While a histogram answers the question, What is the relative likelihood that a newborn will die at age x? it fails to address another fundamental question of interest, What is the relative likelihood that an individual at age x will die in the next year? Using Figure 1 to compare the relative probably of death of a man at age 45 with that at age 100, one might be tempted to conclude that they are approximately the same - after all, the height of the histogram is about the same at both ages. However, such an analysis fails to account for the fact that as x increases, there are progressively fewer people subject to the risk of death. In other words, although the histogram readings at 45 and 100 are approximately the same, we must adjust for the fact that there are many fewer individuals still alive at age 100 than at age 45.Since the 100-year-olds who die are members of a smaller and more elite club (i.e. those who were lucky enough to survive to age 100), one naturally can conclude that the relative likelihood that a 100-year-old will die is clearly greater than that of a 45-year-old. To show this result graphically, it is necessary to transform the histogram to adjust for the number of individuals alive at each age x. This is accomplished by dividing the value of the histogram at each point x by the proportion of individuals that survive to at least x, to obtain the one-year probability of death, or one-year \"mortality hazard rate,\"[1] shown in Figure 2.From this figure, we can see quite clearly that the probability of death for a 100-year-old is vastly (approximately 135 times) greater than it is for a 45-year-old. The mortality hazard rate makes such comparisons quite easy. Overall, the mortality hazard rate decreases from age 0 to age 5, and then appears to increase (at least monotonically) after that, assuming an exponential-like growth beginning at about age 6. This general form tends to agree with intuition - the higher risk of infant mortality decreases as the child grows out of infancy, and then increases thereafter as a result of the human aging process (i.e. senescence). However, there is no guarantee that that such a simple hazard curve will apply to every human population. For example, in the USA, the male population's mortality hazard rate actually decreases over the short range from 28 to 31 as the dramatic difference between male and female mortality risk - which begins in the early teenage years, and is presumably attributable to higher crime and accident rates among males - begins to subside (see Figure 3).\nNatural laws?: The smoothly increasing nature of the hazard function from a certain age (32 for males, 6 for females) onward has led many demographers and actuaries to posit that human mortality follows a simple mathematical formula. Perhaps the most successful of these rules is Makeham's \"Law\", proposed by British actuary William M. Makeham in 1867, which states that the mortality hazard rate can be written as the sum of a constant term and an exponentially increasing term; i.e. m(x)=a+becx, where e[?]2.71828 denotes the base of the natural logarithm, and the constants a, b, and c are to be estimated statistically from empirical data.Although such a simplification of a complex process like human mortality is esthetically attractive, we must be careful not to imagine the presence of an underlying \"scientific\" principle where none exists. In this regard, one is reminded of the Titius-Bode \"Law\" from astronomy (again, the stars!), which asserts that the average distance[2] from the Sun to the xth planetary orbit in our solar system is given by d(x)=0.4+0.3x2x-2. While once considered scientifically useful for having \"predicted\" the discoveries of the Asteroid Belt and the planet Uranus[3], this empirically-based rule is now viewed as little more than a curiosity founded on coincidence (see Table I).Two parallels between the Titius-Bode Law and Makeham's Law are worth mentioning. First, they take identical mathematical forms. Letting a=0.4, b=0.15, and c=ln (2)[?]0.69315, the Titius-Bode formula can be rewritten as d(x)=a+becx, the same constant plus exponential expression as in Makeham's formula. Second, they both exhibit approximately the same degree of inaccuracy in terms of the number of values of x that are poorly estimated. Using the error ratio: Equation 1 one can see from the italicized boxes that three of the planetary orbits, and three of the mortality hazard rates, deviate from their estimates by more than 10 percent.The lesson in all this, of course, is that one does not have to be dealing with matters as funereal as death, or as ethereal as the solar system, to \"discover\" formal mathematical relationships where none in fact exist. Such excessively hopeful applications of analytic formulas abound in the study of insurance and other financial markets; and somewhat regretfully, I must confess to being as optimistic as anyone else (see Powers and Shubik, 2006).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to consider certain characteristics of the human mortality table, and the possibility that mortality rates are governed by an underlying natural law.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - After providing a brief overview of the mathematics of the mortality table, explores the reasonableness of using a simple analytic function to model the mortality hazard rate.\nFindings: - By comparing the perceived accuracy of Makeham's Law in actuarial science with that of the Titius-Bode Law in astronomy, it is seen that simple mathematical rules are not always as useful as they may appear initially.\nOriginality/value: - The editorial identifies a problem common to all branches of the natural and social sciences: the possibility of \"discovering\" formal mathematical relationships where none in fact exists.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Country of origin effects in international marketing channels: How overseas distributors account for the origins of products and brands
|
[
"Country-of-origin",
"Behavioural factors",
"Country-induced bias",
"International marketing channel",
"Overseas distributors"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It is widely accepted to believe that a brand's or a product's country-of-origin (hereinafter referred to as COO) plays important roles in consumers' purchase decisions. This notion of the COO effects suggests that products and brands can secure a significant proportion of their equity from their COO (Baldauf et al., 2009; Pappu et al., 2005, 2007; Zeugner-Roth et al., 2008). In practice, consumers often use a country's image as a summary cue to consider and evaluate products and brands originating in the target country (Swaminathan et al., 2007). According to this logic, an extensive body of research on the effects of the COO on consumer behaviour has emerged in international marketing and business literature streams (Demirbag et al., 2010; Phau and Chao, 2008; Sharma, 2011; Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999).\n2. Conceptual framework and hypotheses: Using the TPB as an underlying framework, we develop a model that can explain the effects of the COO on overseas distributors' intention to place foreign brands. In the model, attitude towards foreign brands, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control are identified as the factors affecting overseas distributors' intention to place foreign brands. The model also incorporates the factors of country-induced biases - buyer animosity and country-related affect to the origin of manufacture as the antecedents of attitude towards foreign brands. Figure 1 depicts the proposed model that is empirically testable.\n3. Research method: The hypotheses were tested using primary data stemmed from a survey of channel relationships between exporters and their overseas distributors. We collected data by collaborating with a direct marketing firm headquartered in Evanston, Illinois in the USA. The survey method may enhance the external validity, reliability, and applicability of the results from empirical studies (Cook and Campbell, 1979; Lyon et al., 2000).\n4. Analysis and results: The partial least square (PLS) technique (Wold, 1980) was employed to analyse the data, along with the two-step approach (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). The first step was to develop an adequate measurement model. The second step was to estimate the hypothesized relationships.\n5. Discussion: An extensive body of research on COO effects on the purchase of foreign brands has emerged in the international marketing field. Even though prior studies have enhanced the understanding of COO effects on the purchase of foreign brands, the studies provide limited insight into organizational buyers' behaviour on foreign brands. The present study addressed the calls for research on COO effects on overseas distributors' decision in an international marketing channel.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the country-of-origin (COO) effect on overseas distributors' behaviour in international marketing channels. Integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the concepts of country-induced biases, the current study develops an empirically testable model that explains and predicts overseas distributors' behaviour in international marketing channels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hypotheses were tested using primary data stemmed from a survey of channel relationships between exporters and their overseas distributors. Data were collected from 103 distributors in the USA.\nFindings: Empirical evidence shows that attitude towards foreign brands, social valuation of the origin of brands, and perceived behavioural control affect overseas distributors' intention to place foreign brands. In addition, country-induced bias factors - buyer animosity and country-related affect to the origin of manufacture - are considered to be the antecedents of attitude towards foreign brands.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because this study adopted a cross-sectional design, the limitations of this method can be applied to the study. In addition, because of the research context, the results of the present research may lack generalizability. This manuscript, however, integrated the TPB and the concepts of country-induced biases and addressed the calls for research on the COO effects on overseas distributors' decision in international marketing channels.\nPractical implications: The manuscript suggests that to build positive attitudes towards foreign brands, a firm should focus on promotions through various media in international markets to lower animosity and the perceived risk to the origin of manufacture. In addition, firms with foreign brands need to identify and target a segment that feels comfortable about spending their resources on those brands. Finally, international marketers should focus on creating positive attitudes towards foreign brand goods and proper pricing strategies.\nOriginality/value: This manuscript fills the knowledge gap of the COO effect on organizational buyer behaviour in international marketing channels.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Globalization, technology and the transnational capitalist class
|
[
"Democracy",
"International economics",
"Globalization",
"Information technology",
"Financialization",
"Transnational capitalist class",
"Social contract",
"Global accumulation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: When we ask the question \"who rules the world\", people immediately think, which nation rules the world. Most would answer the USA, while others might point to China as the emerging hegemon. But if we step away from a nation-centric analysis and put class structure front and center, the question becomes less clear. When we speak of modern nations, we mean more than their ruling class. Nations include all classes, from top to bottom. Do the unemployed in the USA or sweatshop workers in China rule the world? Obviously the answer is no. So if we refine our question to ask, does the capitalist class of the USA or China rule the world, we approach the answer from a different perspective, and one that reveals more clearly the relations of power.\nThe historic development of global capitalism: In counterpoising the transnational economy to nation-centric capitalism, we need to clarify the differences between these two eras. Nation-centric capitalism was built creating and solidifying national markets under the control of national corporations and a capitalist class rooted to its own borders. These markets were protected by the state, and territorial expansion occurred over a contiguous land mass conquered by the military and occupied by national settlers. Indigenous people and ethnic minorities became incorporated into the nation, its markets and workforce. Capitalism expanded to include colonies with armies, settlers and capital sent abroad. But foreign markets mainly supplied raw materials, while value-added production occurred in the home country. The majority of employment, assets and sales were contained within the national market, while national champions competed through exports for foreign sales (Beaud, 1983).\nA world of transnational corporations and global investments: Transnational capitalism functions thorough both production and financialization. But financial institutions and assets are the dominant element in the world economy. The top 25 global corporations by assets are all financial institutions, and they control the shares of 40 per cent of world's transnational corporations (Vitali et al., 2011). Between 1980 and 2007, financial assets grew from $2 trillion to $196 trillion. Foreign ownership of these assets are 48.8 per cent or $92.6 trillion (McKinsey Global Institute, 2008). These figures indicate the enormous amount of cross-border capital investments and the profound merger of capitalist class interests beyond the confines of national borders.\nTransnational capitalism in the global south: Transnational integration is true even for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under strongly centralized governments. China is perhaps the primary example of a country guided by a national economic plan. Yet when we examine their most important state-held banks and industries, we see important minority investments from the world's most influential financial institutions. The ruling class in China defines national development through strategic insertion into global accumulation, just as other fractions of the TCC do worldwide. Below are the holdings of major financial institutions in key Chinese SOEs:\nFinancial institutions, information technology and capitalist power: Financialization has expanded through the use of information technologies allowing capitalists to become immensely rich with a minimum use of labor. This has a significant impact on society with important implications for democracy. Bain Capital, the hedge fund of Mitt Romney, issued a report on the tremendous over accumulation of capital that uncovers the intensity of this problem. As Bain stated:\nConclusion: the future of democracy: The implications of globalization and technology for democracy are profound. The research data show how global capitalism dominates national economies, and how information technology has been used to not only enrich the TCC but also further detach them from their historic and necessary reliance on the laboring classes. Some cheerleaders, like Thomas Friedman, expound the miracles of a flat world (Friedman, 2007). But there is a darker side that propelled the Occupy movement and motivated Edward Snowden to expose a panopticon future. It is here where we must return to our exploration of history to understand the contradictory movement of contemporary society and its future possibilities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how capitalism has developed into a deeply integrative economic system of financial investments and manufacturing. This process of globalization has brought about the emergence of a transnational capitalist class that rules the world's economy. Financialization, created by the speed and interconnectivity of information technologies, is a key element that has produced immense wealth for a few while reducing their dependence on the labor of workers. This system of global accumulation has lead to a crisis of democracy with several different possible outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper begins with an historical examination of capitalism and capitalist class formation by tracing developments from nation-centric capitalism to globalization. A conceptual explanation of the development of the transnational capitalist class (TCC) is offered. Research on current economic data to support the thesis on the emergence of the TCC in both its private and statist forms is included, as well as an examination of the latest technology developments that affect financialization and how this impacts class relations. The conclusion analyzes the development of democracy as a class dialectic, and the impact of globalization that is altering the historic relationships between capital and labor. The paper ends with a discussion of possible political/economic futures.\nFindings: Globalization is a new era in which capitalism has deepened its inherent tendency toward creating world markets and production. This process has been greatly enhanced by the new technological tools of financial production. Organizing and overseeing this system of global accumulation is the transnational capitalist class. The emergence of this class has transformed class relations based within the historic perimeters of nation-states, and it threatens the content and character of democracy that arose out of the bourgeois democratic revolutions in America and France.\nOriginality/value: Transnational Capitalist Class Theory is a recently developed field of research. It is a new critic of mainstream international relations analysis which centers on nation to nation relationships. It also differs with world system theory which divides countries into a center/peripheral analysis. Within the field of TCC research, this paper offers an original historic perspective between global economics and the development of democracy. It also makes new theoretical connections between information technology, financialization and the destruction of the social contract.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
NILDE reloaded: a new system open to international interlibrary loan
|
[
"Italy",
"Interlibrary loan",
"Interlending",
"Library automation",
"Library cooperation",
"Libraries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nNILDE background: Network inter-library document exchange (NILDE) is a web-based interlibrary loan (ILL) and document delivery request system designed and developed by the Library of the CNR (National Research Council) Research Area of Bologna. It is currently used by more than 700 libraries and 15,000 end users at universities and institutions of public research and health all across Italy. In its first ten years of activity, NILDE has processed about 1 million document requests.\nInnovation in NILDE software: In order to add new features and guarantee future scalability and high performance operations, the overall architecture of the NILDE system has been completely rethought. As an example, the NILDE Reference Manager module for end users, which had been available since 2008 (Mangiaracina et al., 2008), was not fully integrated with the NILDE Inter-library module until now.\nNILDE for end users: Authentication using Shibboleth\nNILDE for libraries: The NILDE module for libraries has a very simple, coherent and user-friendly interface. It presents six tabs, which a library can use to manage its own account information, borrowing and lending requests, users, history, and statistics.\nDiscussion and further developments in Italy: Helping users find journals and journals articles in a library\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present new concepts and features introduced in NILDE 4.0, an online ILL and document supply request system designed for and used by more than 700 Italian libraries and research institutions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a case study approach based on their professional experience at the NILDE Administrator library, the CNR Research Area Library of Bologna.\nFindings: New concepts and features include, among others, a multilingual user interface, a Z39.50 link to national catalogues and union catalogues, a ranking algorithm to assist libraries in balancing their ILL borrowing and lending volumes with partner libraries, a single sign-on user authentication and authorisation system, and a bibliographic citation management system. Future development plans include the ability to create library groups; although this functionality is already built into the new system architecture, it has not yet been implemented by the community.\nOriginality/value: The authors have published previously on earlier versions of the NILDE software; this paper presents an overview of the recently released version 4.0.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Spiritual performance from an organizational perspective: the Starbucks way
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Performance",
"Suppliers",
"Customers",
"Employees"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In our continuous efforts to illustrate how spirituality in the workplace works, we need to keep track of one important question: how do we implement all the theories in real life? More directly, what do we do on Monday morning, when we need to keep our nose to the grindstone again? For, that is when we get confronted with real life issues and real human characters, and once again start struggling with questions such as, \"Is spirituality at work really possible?\" \"What should my next steps be to get this going?\" and \"How does it really work?\"This article attempts to provide positive impulses toward the implementation of spirituality in the workplace by reviewing the performance of the Starbucks Corporation from three angles:1. suppliers and societies;2. employees; and3. customers.The corporation's performance is evaluated through examples, after which the definition of workplace spirituality used in this paper will be analyzed in light of Starbucks' performance. The company's current performance will be presented in hard numbers, and a point will be made that spiritual performance does lead to organizational excellence and elevation of the bottom line.\nSpiritual behavior and the business environment: Although the phenomenon of spirituality in the workplace will be reviewed more closely in the next section of this paper, it may be appropriate to first briefly review the business environment from a macro perspective, and how spiritual behavior of business entities will be interpreted here.Contemporary shifts in the global business environment\nSpirituality in the workplace: There are various definitions of workplace spirituality in existence. Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003, p. 13) define workplace spirituality as \"a framework of organizational values evidenced in the culture that promotes employees' experience of transcendence through the work process, facilitating their sense of being connected to others in a way that provides feelings of completeness and joy\". Ashmos Plowman and Duchon (2005, p. 137) refer to spirituality at work as \"the recognition that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community\". Marques et al. (2007, p. 12, italics added) present the following definition:Spirituality in the workplace is an experience of interconnectedness among those involved in a work process, initiated by authenticity, reciprocity, and personal goodwill; engendered by a deep sense of meaning that is inherent in the organization's work; and resulting in greater motivation and organizational excellence.All of the above definitions share the common factors that they recognize:* an internal drive toward spiritual behavior as the instigator, explained by Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003) as \"feelings of completeness and joy,\" by Ashmos Plowman and Duchon (2005) as nourishment of \"inner life,\" and by Marques et al. (2007) as \"personal goodwill\"; and* a connection with the work community, explained by Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003) as \"sense of being connected to others,\" by Ashmos Plowman and Duchon (2005) as \"the context of community,\" and by Marques et al. (2007) as \"an experience of interconnectedness among those involved in a work process.\"Although all above definitions share important common factors, the last mentioned one seems to be the most comprehensive, and will therefore be used in this article as the guiding perspective for spirit at work.Not easy\nStarbucks as a spiritual performer: The choice of Starbucks was not just a shot in the dark. If you review the Fortune 2007 corporate rankings, you will find Starbucks at no. 16 on the list of 100 Best Companies to Work for in 2007 (Fortune.com, 2007a). Fortune presents a good reason for Starbucks' place this high on the list by affirming, \"Though 85% of 'partners' (Starbucks-speak for employees) are part-timers, they're still eligible for full benefits if they work 240 hours a quarter\" (Fortune.com, 2007b). Butler (2006) lists other prestigious sources, such as Business Ethics, Working Mother, and the Great Places to Work Institute, which all praise Starbucks' attunement into corporate social responsibility. When I found that the October/November 2006 edition of Jungle, the magazine for MBAs, also listed Starbucks as the no. 1 company that contemporary MBAs want to work for, because they consider it a company with \"conscience\" (Jungle, 2006, p. 40), I decided to look deeper into this company's performance. The MBAs used the following criteria to compile their list of 100 companies with conscience:1. leadership position in the industry;2. financial health of the company;3. progressive working environment;4. commitment to innovation; and5. corporate social responsibility.Point 5 should not be confused with the type of behavior that some companies tend to call \"socially responsible,\" entailing a minimal donation here or a single scholarship there. Nothing wrong with that, but contemporary MBAs are looking for more involvement, internally and externally. They focus on companies that understand the new millennium perspective of behaving socially responsible at all levels, which includes an awareness of the organization's role toward making the world a better place for all stakeholders. Jungle (2006, p. 40) therefore states:Corporate social responsibility is one of those decision-making factors. If [MBAs] get comparable offers from comparable companies, this is the factor that will make the difference.As an even more startling factor, the MBA's ranked Starbucks no. 11 on their list of best companies for women to work as well!So, while the majority of us complain that every corner in the USA is starting to look like the other with a Starbucks on it, and while some of us grumble about the price of a cup of Starbucks coffee (even though we keep buying it), the Starbucks picture looks very different when we take a closer look at this corporation.Let's concentrate on three areas that make sense when we review corporate performance:1. suppliers and societies;2. employees; and3. customers.Suppliers and societies\nConclusion: The Starbucks Corporation keeps surprising friend and foe with its performance. And whether it is called \"workplace spirituality,\" \"business renaissance,\" \"corporate social responsibility,\" or \"enlightened self interest,\" Starbucks is living it.The definition of workplace spirituality used as the guiding principle in this article is:Spirituality in the workplace is an experience of interconnectedness among those involved in a work process, initiated by authenticity, reciprocity, and personal goodwill; engendered by a deep sense of meaning that is inherent in the organization's work; and resulting in greater motivation and organizational excellence (Marques et al., 2007, p. 12, italics added)If we analyze Starbucks' performance on basis of the content above, we can conclude that this company exerts:1. Interconnectedness, not only within the corporation through embracing workers of various backgrounds and capacities, but also between the organization and its customers and suppliers. Striving toward a healthier product to serve its customers, and supporting fair-trade pricing for independent coffee growers are effective ways to establish a connection with stakeholders at all levels.2. Authenticity, which was definitely illustrated through Schultz' performance in the robbery and murder case at a Washington, DC, Starbucks, described earlier.3. Reciprocity and personal goodwill, which are ingrained in the corporation's strategies toward providing employees who work more than 20 hours per week stock options and health-care benefits, and all employees, tuition reimbursement, partner benefits and the like.4. A deep sense of meaning, which can be identified as the driving motive behind Starbucks' actions, even though the company's president prefers to call it \"enlightened self-interest.\" The most important fact about this enlightened self-interest is, that all stakeholders win in the end.5. Greater motivation and organizational excellence, which can easily be detected when we look at Starbucks' growth over the past decades. Forbes.com reports the following highlights for the company's fiscal first quarter for 2007:* record quarterly retail store openings of 728 stores;* net revenues of $2.4 billion, an increase of 22 percent;* comparable store sales growth of 6 percent;* net earnings of $205 million, an increase of 18 percent;* earnings per share of $0.26, compared to $0.22 per share, an increase of 18 percent; and* record quarterly Starbucks Card activations of $287 million, an increase of 30 percent (Forbes.com, 2007, para. 3-8).The Forbes web site also cites Starbucks' president and CEO, Jim Donald, who affirms, \"Starbucks' strong revenue and comparable store sales growth this quarter clearly demonstrate the fundamental strength of our business\" (Forbes.com, 2007, para. 9).The image provided above of Starbucks' performance toward suppliers and their communities, employees and customers, supplemented with some hard facts about the company's most recent performance gives rise to the awareness that Starbucks is one of those corporations that does not explicitly use the term spirituality at work for their actions, nonetheless live it to the fullest. Starbucks does not only implement all the elements of the spirituality at work definition above, but also does so in a way that the company financially, creatively, and size-wise outshines all competitors in its industry. The company even manages to redefine its industry by regularly emerging with yet another conscious action.Perhaps the most interesting analogy with the corporation's spiritual intent is Howard Schultz' comment about Starbucks' real purpose. Along the lines of a famous spirituality quote that says, \"We're not human beings with a spiritual experience. We're spiritual beings with a human experience,\" Schultz declares, \"We aren't in the coffee business, serving people. We are in the people business, serving coffee\" (Serwer and Bonamici, 2004, p. 60).\nPostscript: To answer the Monday morning questions that were presented in the introduction of this article, and that many of us still struggle with:* What could we take from the Starbucks story that can help us when we need to keep our nose to the grindstone? Possible answer: We can now critically review our own workplace on the presence of the elements that the MBAs from Jungle posted as important to work for a company. They ranked Starbucks as number one, which implies that this corporation definitely has an outstanding leadership position in its industry, represents financial health, guarantees a progressive working environment, demonstrates commitment to innovation, and epitomizes corporate social responsibility.* \"Is spirituality at work really possible?\" - through the illustration of Starbucks' performance we can conclude that spirituality at work is not just a fad but is really possible. While the companies that seem to mostly perform spiritually do not call themselves such - most likely because they do not want to be confused with religiously-driven corporations - this phenomenon nevertheless manifests itself very clearly.* \"What should my next steps be to get this going?\" - the answer to this question depends on one's position, although the lack of management influence does not have to be a hurdle toward enhancing the quality of life for oneself and one's colleagues. Simple actions that demonstrate authenticity, goodwill and reciprocity, such as willing to cover for each other in times of need, showing some genuine interest in each other's personal whereabouts, bringing in a small token of appreciation now and then, and refraining from engaging in backstabbing behavior, can do wonders.* \"How does it really work?\" - it works like Starbucks and all the other corporations that have a happy workforce. The incentives that Starbucks' workers get, along with the embracement of diversity, and therefore the ultimate acceptance this workforce demonstrates, are some of the typical ways in which workplace spirituality works.As a final note to this paper two crucial points need to be made:1. As may have become clear to some readers in the course of reading this paper, workplace spirituality is not precisely a product of capitalist thinking. One of the reasons why this trend has not made as much progress as it could have in the past two decades may very well be because the spiritual approach at work requires a paradigm shift from the strict capitalistic and individualistic mindset that workers in the USA have adhered to and employers have benefited from thus far, to a more socially-oriented perspective in which the common good and a mutual sense of purpose prevail. As briefly remarked under the sub header \"Contemporary shifts in the global business environment\" earlier in this paper, businesses from all countries of the world are now exposed to multiple cultural and political climates. The very nature of Starbucks' business is a non-American one: Howard Schultz adopted the coffee shop idea, which he applied to Starbucks, from an Italian experience.2. Spiritual workplaces should also ensure that the nature of their product is not harmful to human existence. One might raise the argument that coffee, as a product, has a colonial past. However, in modern societies, coffee is increasingly profiled as a product of agrarian entrepreneurship in countries where agriculture is still a profitable option. While some may further contend that coffee can be a hazard to one's health, this product has become a globally accepted beverage that does not fall under \"human toxins\" anymore. Coffee growers, like the one mentioned in this paper, make a deliberate choice - sometimes after thorough education and exposure to multiple options - to engage in the coffee bean growing business.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to illustrate spiritual performance from the perspective of a globally operating corporation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses spirituality at work as its subject-matter and takes the form of a literature review. The paper approaches the topic by: giving a general overview of the shift in global corporate behavior; a short historical review of American business culture; defining workplace spirituality; examining Starbucks Corporation's performance from three angles: suppliers and societies, employees, and customers; and a conclusion and postscript.\nFindings: - The paper finds that: spiritual behavior at the organizational level does lead to enhanced corporate performance; workplace spirituality, when encouraged by top management, is oftentimes instigated by personal life experiences; and spiritual behavior, at the organizational level, leads to advantages for multiple stakeholders.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations to the research are that the research findings were of a secondary nature. The information was gathered through massive readings, but not through primary research-gathering processes. This study only reviews the performance of one major corporate entity, which reduces the justification of generalizability. Suggestions for future research would be: applying primary studies on a broader sample of globally operating entities to measure their spiritual performance; and formulating particular standards for this type of measurement.\nPractical implications: - The practical implications are that globally operating but also smaller entities may start scrutinizing their performance toward stakeholders in a more spiritual light.\nOriginality/value: - New in this paper is the: viewpoint of the Starbucks corporation as a spiritually performing entity; reflection of this major corporation's behavior in three dimensions: toward employees, customers, and suppliers and societies; and reflection of the elements of the definition used here for spirit at work on Starbucks' performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Predictors of inconsistent responding in web surveys
|
[
"Online surveys",
"Measurement",
"Social networks",
"Inconsistent responding",
"Perceived social support",
"Satisficing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Most of the society is becoming to have internet access and competence throughout the world, which seem to contribute to the volume of large scale survey research. The convenience of online administration sustains a global reach with lower costs (Evans and Mathur, 2005). In addition, the internet facilitates accessing relevant but hard-to-reach samples (Baltar and Brunet, 2012). On the other hand, samples of internet surveys are usually not constructed through probability sampling. Rather, they usually rely on the self-selection of respondents. The lack of probability sampling creates the problem of under-coverage unless all members of the target population access and use internet (Bethlehem, 2008; Loosveldt and Sonck, 2008). Thus, generalizing the results from online surveys to real populations who do not use internet may not be plausible (Couper and Miller, 2008).\nLiterature review: Major advantages and limitations of online surveys\nResearch objective: The current study aimed to investigate the predictors of providing inconsistent responses in online surveys through addressing respondents' perceived social support, social appearance anxiety, and academic self-efficacy levels. In addition, the relationship between inconsistent responding and Facebook use characteristics was investigated. To serve the research objective, the number of consistent and inconsistent respondents were determined through exploring the responses by the same usernames in a social network. Then, the degree of consistency in personal information questions and attitude scales was discussed. Moreover, differences between the providers of consistent and inconsistent responses were investigated with regard to perceived social support, social appearance anxiety, academic self-efficacy and Facebook use. Finally, significant predictors of inconsistency were investigated.\nMethods: Research context\nResults: Findings suggested that respondents demonstrated inconsistency while reporting their age (f: 330; 41 percent), educational status (f: 90; 11 percent) and gender (f: 43; 5 percent). Inconsistency in more than one question was possible such as age and education together (f: 64; 8 percent), age and gender together (f: 30; 4 percent), or gender and education together (f: 2; <1 percent). Swapping gender from male to female (f: 19) and from female to male (f: 24) was almost equal across administrations. In terms of educational status, swapping from student to non-student (f: 18), from non-student to student (f: 23), from higher degree to lower degree (f: 21) and from lower degree to higher degree (f: 28) were distributed evenly where there were no significant differences. In terms of age, the majority reported a significantly higher age (i.e. 5 years or more) at the second administration (f: 216) whereas some participants (f: 29) reported ages that were not probable in the target group (e.g. 5 or 109).\nDiscussion and conclusion: This study has provided valuable insights into inconsistent responding patterns in web surveys. Along with the response variety with regard to personal information questions, findings underlined the importance of individual variables which led to response inconsistency. More specifically, results indicated that a considerable percentage of respondents misreported their personal information in successive online administrations. In contrast to the contemporary literature (Toma et al., 2008), age was the most frequently misreported attribute followed by education and gender. Misreporting age and education level may not be explained through the social desirability response bias because the participants did not use the current online platform for dating or to further their social interaction with peers. Thus, current findings served as an instance of misreporting personal information questions in quite an innocuous setting where misreporting personal information in a desirable direction was not facilitated through social factors. There was not any explicit motive to lie, which may lead us to revisit Bandura's (1999) social cognitive theory on moral disengagement, the theoretical frameworks on satisficing (Krosnick, 1991) and the discussion on insufficient effort responding (Huang et al., 2012). According to such frameworks, respondents may have ignored the ethical implications of their misreporting behaviors, concentrated on the benefits of the responding (i.e. bonus points for filling in the surveys), and provided an arbitrary answer to survey questions rather than the accurate one. In this regard, bonus points for responding may have led to a high volume of responses rather than the accurate responses (Meade and Craig, 2012).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of inconsistent responding in web surveys. Consistency of responses to personal information questions and scale items were compared, and the influence of perceived social support, social appearance anxiety, academic self-efficacy and social networking habits on inconsistent responding was examined.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A gaming application on Facebook was used to collect data. A repeated-measures design was conducted with 806 respondents in two online survey administrations. After inconsistent responses provided by the same nicknames were identified, consistent and inconsistent respondents were compared with regard to their responding patterns and research variables.\nFindings: Findings revealed that 45.7 percent of participants misreported their personal information such as age, educational status and gender. Participants were relatively consistent in their responses to attitude scales. Perceived social support led to inconsistent responding whereas social appearance anxiety and academic self-efficacy was not influential in response patterns. A binary logistic regression revealed that perceived family support, number of Facebook friends and Facebook use duration successfully distinguished inconsistent respondents from consistent respondents.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample frame has several limitations insofar as the study only addressed a unique gaming application on Facebook. Thus, unique interactive characteristics of the current context may have altered the nature of responding.\nPractical implications: Practitioners should not rely on the personal information provided by online survey respondents to conduct parametric tests, whereas responses to online attitude scales seemed relatively consistent.\nOriginality/value: The principal contribution of the paper is that findings have provided insights into the current status of response patterns in online survey administrations. In addition, the paper highlights the importance of individual variables which influence the consistency of responses.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Assessing the organizational impact of patient involvement: a first STEPP
|
[
"User involvement",
"Quality improvement",
"Involvement",
"Patient perception",
"Quality measures"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is growing awareness that healthcare cannot be truly patient-centred without engaging patients as partners in designing and monitoring the services they are to receive (Reid Ponte et al., 2003; Kreindler, 2009). Yet there is a lack of evidence on the extent to which involvement really leads to change. The patient involvement field is characterized by a dearth of outcome research (particularly quantitative and mixed-methods), with few attempts to assess outcomes in a systematic, objective way, and a much stronger focus on implementation and process than on organizational impacts (Crawford et al., 2002; Davies and Cleary, 2005; Haigh, 2008; Nilsen et al., 2006; Shippee et al., 2013; Staniszewska et al., 2008). According to a recent systematic review, while the development of new (or) improved services was the most frequently reported impact of involvement, there was usually little description about how much influence service users had (Mockford et al., 2012, p. 34).\nMethod: Our approach to tool development was protocol-driven but intentionally iterative and flexible. First, we developed a prototype by separating out the definitional elements of instrumental use and creating a rating scale for each (see Pearson et al., 2005). Then, we tested the tool with five diverse patient involvement initiatives (PIIs), having researchers and PII-team members score the items independently and then discuss discrepancies. During each round of scoring, comparison and discussion, we logged the challenges we encountered and invited feedback from PII-team participants, using this information to revise the tool and scoring guide.\nResults and discussion: Feasibility\nConclusion: The STEPP is a promising tool in a domain where no tool currently exists. This pilot study has shown its feasibility, face validity and potential usefulness to both researchers and practitioners. Its reliability and validity must be better established; however, several of the threats to reliability are avoidable, and we uncovered preliminary indications of construct validity. As appropriate for a measure of \"tangible effects\", the tool seemed most suitable for initiatives in which patients generated novel, concrete recommendations, and less so for broad public consultations where pathways of influence were subtle and complex, and instrumental use was not the goal.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Patient involvement in the design and improvement of health services is increasingly recognized as an essential part of patient-centred care. Yet little research, and no measurement tool, has addressed the organizational impacts of such involvement. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors developed and piloted the scoresheet for tangible effects of patient participation (STEPP) to measure the instrumental use of patient input. Its items assess the magnitude of each recommendation or issue brought forward by patients, the extent of the organization's response, and the apparent degree of patient influence on this response. In collaboration with teams (staff) from five involvement initiatives, the authors collected interview and documentary data and scored the STEPP, first independently then jointly. Feedback meetings and a \"challenges log\" supported ongoing improvement.\nFindings: Although researchers' and teams' initial scores often diverged, the authors quickly reached consensus as new information was shared. Composite scores appeared to credibly reflect the degree of organizational impact, and were associated with salient features of the involvement initiatives. Teams described the STEPP as easy to use and useful for monitoring and accountability purposes. The tool seemed most suitable for initiatives in which patients generated novel, concrete recommendations; less so for broad public consultations of which instrumental use was not a primary goal.\nOriginality/value: The STEPP is a promising, first-in-class tool with potential usefulness to both researchers and practitioners. With further research to better establish its reliability and validity, it could make a valuable contribution to full mixed-methods evaluation of patient involvement.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Why learning doesn't mean leaving: Loyalty and ambition needn't be contradictory
|
[
"Transformational leadership",
"Learning organizations",
"Performance management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nTransformational leaders can foster commitment among workers: Many progressive organizations who do not need any convincing of the value of learning and who commendably strive to enhance the individual performance of their people within a framework of organizational learning, can face an undeserved difficulty: The greater the increase in a worker's employability, the greater the risk that they may sooner rather than later say: \"Thanks for all you've done for me but it's time to move on.\"But it does not need to be like that. In fact academic studies that have analyzed the relationship between employability and performance show contradictory results. On the one hand, firms that invest in workers' employability generate organizational mobility expectations in these employees. Employees who view their positions with their current employer as transitory (high organizational mobility expectations) should act differently from those who expect to spend a significant period of time in their organizations. They are expected to invest comparatively less time in building and developing competences that imply personal commitment and effort, and consequently it is reasonable to expect lower performance from them.On the other hand, there is an approach to the relationship between employability and performance which considers that employees may believe that they need to remain organizationally mobile to maintain a job due to current economic dynamics, but stay committed to employers who help them to achieve competences in this turbulent context. As a result of this commitment and these competences, they are more capable of doing their tasks and are more motivated to make greater efforts so they will get a better task performance appraisal.\nCommitment to the employer that has trusted and invested in them: A study by Joaquin Camps of the University of Valencia and Hannia Rodriguez of the Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica, within the Costa Rican education sector supports this second line of thinking, concluding that in firms where employees work in an atmosphere of learning and under the orders of transformational leaders, they do not interpret their increased employability as an opportunity to improve professionally in another company. On the contrary, they see this as a commitment to the employer that has trusted and invested in them. The social exchange view of commitment seems a reasonable theoretical framework for explaining this behavior: perceptions of organizational support contribute to employees' subsequent affective commitment to the organization, creating feelings of obligation which foster behaviors that support organizational goals.Employees who feel that they have been well supported by their organization can be expected to reciprocate by performing better than those reporting lower levels of support. Consequently, investing in employability through learning practices and transformational leadership would not decrease but rather increase employees' organizational commitment and, thus, improve individual performance.A learning atmosphere increases workers' self-perceived employability. Organizational learning practices, together with transformational leadership behaviors, increase workers' self-perceived employability. In fact, a worker's employability mediates both the relationship between transformational leadership and performance and the relationship between OLC (organizational learning capability) and performance.The authors note that the fact that there is a large body of research on the relationship between transformational leadership and worker performance is the best proof of just how complex and important this relationship actually is. Consequently, their study tried to go one step further by highlighting the fact that there has been no attempt to connect transformational leadership and performance through workers' employability. They also empirically analyzed and tested the relationship between organizational learning capability and employability for the first time.\nA need to be concerned about learning climate: Results show the importance of organizational learning capability as a mediating variable between transformational leadership and performance, at both individual and group levels, affirming that OLC is one of the variables which makes inroads into the processes by which leadership influences company results.Good individual performance is not directly available to all organizations at all times. It is available only to firms with the appropriate internal characteristics and these must include transformational leadership. However, the concern about the kind of leadership that is required should be accompanied by equally important concerns about the learning climate in which this leadership is implemented. The development of organizational practices for learning is essential in order to create an atmosphere to improve performance. What is meant here are extremely practical practices that every manager in a firm should take into account in order to increase productivity at both individual and collective level (e.g. experimentation, tolerance of errors, interaction with the external environment, dialogue, decentralization).All these organizational features for learning should be actively encouraged in a firm if transformational leadership behaviors are to have the maximum effect on performance at both individual and collective level.Furthermore, transformational leadership and facilitating factors for learning create a good working atmosphere in a company which increases workers' self-perception of their employability. This increased employability will generate higher employee performance, supposedly through employees' organizational commitment. This is extremely interesting bearing in mind firms' fears of investing in the development of workers' competences when these acquired skills will put workers in a better position to find another job thanks to these newly developed competences. Employees may believe that they need to remain organizationally mobile to maintain a job due to current economic dynamics, but this study's results show that these employees stay committed to employers who help them to develop competences in this turbulent context.\nComment: This review is based on \"Transformational leadership, learning, and employability: effects on performance among faculty members\" by Joaquin Camps and Hannia Rodriguez. The paper, based on a study of 795 workers from 75 university departments, analyzes the mediating role of a contextual variable (organizational learning capability) and a subordinate characteristic (employability) in the relationship between transformational leadership and individual performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Many progressive organizations who do not need any convincing of the value of learning and who commendably strive to enhance the individual performance of their people within a framework of organizational learning, can face an undeserved difficulty: the greater the increase in a worker's employability, the greater the risk that they may sooner rather than later say: \"Thanks for all you've done for me but it's time to move on.\"\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Methodology for sustainability strategic planning and management
|
[
"Strategic planning",
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Balanced scorecard",
"Information systems",
"Sustainable development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In the new markets located within a making - decisions context that changes fast, enterprise strategy management is fundamentally more challenging than it used to be just a few years ago (Wagner, 2004). As a result, information is not enough, and new measures are needed for evaluating the impact of the strategies and actions that companies perform at the present concerning sustainability interests (Bose, 2004). In this way, the environmental and social scarcities are only partially reflected in the economic transactions and they are managed by means of specific environmental or social management systems not linked to the economic success of the firm. Thus, the contribution of the environmental and social management remains unclear. As a solution to this lack of integration, many research works have been carried out in the field of sustainability management by means of a balanced scorecard (BSC), and although it was initially developed for the purpose of linking strategic goals in its four dimensions to the financial bottom line and increasing business profitability, most of them consider the BSC as suitable for the management of sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Bieker and Waxenberger, 2002).For the most part, these works have been developed in the conceptual framework of the so-called \"Bussines case\" (Figure 1) (Bieker et al., 2001), since they propose to integrate social and environmental issues in a manner that allows firms to pursue shareholder strategies through environmental or social sustainability. Notwithstanding, the motivation to make the sustainability strategy acceptable for all stakeholders but not only by shareholders is well justified, and therefore we consider that a sustainable balanced scorecard (SBSC) has also to take into account the \"Human\" (Figure 2) and \"Green\" (Figure 3) cases, in order to allow companies to act according to \"The three sustainable cases\" (Figure 4).It has to be noted that the BSC is not a tool for the formulation of strategies; a BSC serves to describe an existing strategy consistently in order to enhance its successful execution (Kaplan and Norton, 1997), without taking its nature into account. The formulation of a BSC is not an independent process but part of a wider framework of competitive positioning and strategy formulation (Kaplan and Norton, 2001), and in the case of a SBSC, this framework has also to include the necessary steps to grant the integration of sustainability in the whole organisation, so that the latter would act according to the CSR guidelines. Therefore, the implementation of a SBSC is a complex process that has to be executed with the commitment of the top management team, a well established planning and after arriving at a common agreement on the necessity to integrate sustainability into the whole company's behaviour, thinking and every day activities.In this paper, a methodology for sustainability strategic planning and management (SSPM) is proposed, trying to join different fields of research such as strategic planning, BSCs and information systems (ISs), by means of putting together existing techniques and models that have proved their validity and usefulness with new research and improve proposals in order to get an integrated methodology that will help companies to afford a change towards a sustainable development in a step-by-step process.Paper is structured as follows: Section 2 introduces the related work on strategic planning, performance management systems (PMS) and CSR. In Section 3, the proposed methodology and the different stages it encloses are explained. The methodology is validated in Section 4 by means of a case study. Section 5 discusses lessons learned from the research. Finally, the main conclusions of the research are drawn in Section 6.\n2 Theoretical background: 2.1 Strategic planning\n3 Sustainability strategic planning and management methodology: Many works can be found regarding sustainable strategic planning, or sustainable scorecards, but no one of them offers a process to set up both techniques in an integrated step-by-step procedure. The latter will be expected to allow companies to save costs and obtain better results, since common steps on both strategic planning and BSC implementation are performed just once and a major integration is obtained.The main aim of the SSPM methodology is to describe the process of designing and implementing a sustainability BSC for corporations by means of a set of activities and techniques. This methodology does not include solely the necessary phases to set up a BSC system in a company, but instead it provides a whole framework to help companies in SSPM by integrating different existing techniques. Figure 5 shows the different phases of the SSPM methodology.It must be observed that this methodology is not only a tool for performance indicators definition, but also for business sustainability management and for evaluating its fulfilment, so that improved decision making would be possible. This methodology allows companies to align their strategy according to their short-, medium- and long-term objectives and the daily activities performed in the business processes. Therefore, it does not include solely a strategic map definition as other methodologies do (Figge et al., 2002), but considers tactical and operational maps as well.3.1 Phase 1: planning the project\n4 SSPM methodology validation: After an initial design of the methodology, the authors tested it through a case study. The reason to the use of this methodology was because its applicability to lineal process analysis (Eisendhart, 1989) and to the acquisition of a holistic perspective of complex phenomena.The validation of the methodology was carried out through a real application in a medium manufacturer enterprise which was in latest stages of the implementation of a new IS and in which the authors were acting as external advisers for the process. During the application procedure, the steps of the methodology were revised and improved according to obtained results and company's feedback, bringing the theoretical design of the methodology closer to companies' reality.In order to provide the case study research with higher scientific validity, the authors followed the methodological stages based on inductive analysis of qualitative data (Yin, 1994) for the improvement of existent methodologies. As recommended in literature (Yin, 1998), throughout the case study process the four tests that are commonly used to judge the quality of a case study were applied. These tests and the scrupulous application of the proposed stages for the improvement of existent methodologies allowed authors to assess that the study had construct validity, internal validity, external validity and reliability.4.1 Validation limitations\n5 Discussion: As well as improving the methodology as a result of applying it to the company, the potential for developing research in this area has been proved, since there is still a lot of research to overcome until sustainability is adopted by organisations in its wider range. In addition, series of lessons concerning the main factors involved in the successful inclusion of sustainable concerns in business strategic planning and management have been learnt:* Step-by-step planning. Dividing the complexity of the project into stages produces more manageable sub-stages, with specific objectives that enable significant results to be obtained in a reasonable amount of time. At the same time, this arouses greater interest in the new system among users: \"Divide and Conquer\".* Use trained and experienced consultants in sustainability, strategy and computers. Who are capable of transferring the needs of the business to the strategy map, the action plan and the configuration of the software that is going to be installed or developed, as well as the later management of change.* Get end-users involved in designing the SBSC. Development of a SBSC requires working directly with the end-users of the processes and the software, since, we may run the risk of developing a system that is not useful or usable by those who are going to utilize it.* Permanent control and evaluation of the sustainable strategy. The sustainable strategy implementation does not end when the computer system begins to operate. It is something that is under continuous development and evaluation due to the continuous changes of the organisation context. It is therefore important to systematically measure, control and analyse its effectiveness in order to improve results.\n6 Conclusions: To successfully carry out a project aimed at developing and implementing a SBSC, it is essential to have a step-by-step methodology that directs the development and implementation processes. However, existing methodologies for implementing BSCs or developing ISs are not oriented towards the specific problems arising in triple bottom line based projects.Along this research work, the SSPM methodology for SSPM has been presented, which is intended to help the made-aware-of-sustainability companies to act in a socially responsible manner by integrating sustainable approaches from their mission statement into their day-to-day activities. Managers could therefore use the step-by-step methodology as a supporting procedure to define and manage strategies at their companies.The application of the SSPM methodology will produce changes in the companies, providing them with the expected benefits from strategic planning and sustainable behaviour. Companies would increase the shareholder's value and at the same time fulfil all their responsibilities and compromises with society and other stakeholders.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that intends to help organisations achieve the sustainability goal by means of a methodology that integrates sustainability in both the planning and management tasks of the organisation and that serves as a base for the implementation of an information system aligned with the business strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - After an exhaustive review of literature about corporate social responsibility, strategic planning of organisations and balanced scorecards (BSCs), a methodology has been developed that describes the process of designing and implementing a sustainability BSC for sustainability strategic planning and management.\nFindings: - The methodology can be easily implemented at companies with a minimum of computer resources, but managers play a key role in its success, since they are the responsible for providing the necessary environment for overcoming such an important change.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The methodology has only been applied once and their results will only be able to be analysed after a long time. Meanwhile, more implementations have to be performed to test and improve the different steps und tools until the methodology can be considered definitive.\nPractical implications: - The methodology could be used by many organisations, improving their social and environmental performance and contributing to their sustainability and the sustainability of all of their stakeholders, specially for society as a whole. Readers of this paper could see a practical application of methodology and its viability by means of the case.\nOriginality/value: - An innovative structure for BSCs which has been developed having in mind the sustainability since the beginning, but not justly adding environmental and social variables to a model designed with economical purposes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An evaluation of just-in-time initiatives in the Indian industries
|
[
"Manufacturing performance",
"Inventory",
"Indian manufacturing industry",
"Just in time"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Tremendous changes have been witnessed in the manufacturing industries all over the world in last three decades (Singh and Ahuja, 2012). In the highly dynamic and continuously changing environment of today, global competition among organizations has lead to higher demands in most of the manufacturing organizations (Miyake and Enkawa, 1999). The manufacturing organizations have witnessed exotic challenges in last three decades, involving drastic changes in management approach, methods of product and process, customer satisfaction and relationship with suppliers as well as competitive behavior (Ahuja et al., 2006). These challenges are forcing the manufacturing organizations globally to adopt innovative methods of manufacturing, high levels quality with low cost, availability and maintainability of equipment in the manufacturing systems (Ahuja and Khamba, 2008b). Thus, for realizing the overall organizational objectives of enhancing profits and becoming global market leaders, the manufacturing organizations need to change the strategies of manufacturing, improve product quality and reduce cost of production at a faster rate than their competitors (Singh and Ahuja, 2012).\n2. Literature review: Holding of inventories have been considered as poor management of organization, as inventories lead to higher cost of manufacturing (Boute et al., 2004). JIT has been considered as best manufacturing method to address problems associated with all kinds of inventories and wastes. The Japanese auto industry has considered JIT as the developer of inventory management philosophy (Aghazadeh, 2003). JIT is defined as an initiative to meet demands of customer with respect to price, quality and lead times. JIT has been depicted as systematic approach which reduces inventory (raw materials, work-in-process (WIP) and finished goods) by supplying materials at production centers and distribution points only when needed (Lee and Wellan, 1993). JIT is to produce goods just-in-time and to be delivered or used just-in-time (Adeyemi, 2010). Moreover, JIT is a method of production that has been developed out of the need to evolve a defect free process (Cheng and Podolsky, 1996).\n3. Methodology and hypothesis: The present study has been conducted in the large- and medium-scale manufacturing industries of India that have successfully implemented or are in the various stages of implementing JIT. Study also includes the JIT implementation issues and achievements made as a result of strategic JIT implementation. Reasonably, large number of manufacturing organizations (60 organizations) have been surveyed extensively, to assure contributions made by JIT implementation initiatives in the Indian industries toward realization of core competencies. The approach of study has been directed toward assessment of JIT initiatives in Indian manufacturing industries. The methodology employed in the study is shown in Figure 1.\n4. General summary of organizations responses: 4.1. Query\n5. JIT issues: The perfromance of the organizations regarding various just-in-time issues are discussed below:\n6. Gain in performance measures due to JIT implementation: Table XII depicts the PPS by performance measures due to successful implementation of strategic JIT initiatives. The results show that manufacturing organizations have shown significant improvement in strengthening the organizational culture and values with PPS scores range 78.17-82.92. Inventory levels and production also gained significantly with PPS more than 70. Figure 21 depicts the issue wise improvement in manufacturing performance by implementing JIT in various manufacturing organizations. Further, it is evident from Figure 22 that most of the manufacturing organizations have witnessed significant manufacturing performance enhancement through strategic JIT implementation, with improvement exceeding 60 percent in their performance. Whereas Figure 22 clearly shows that 20 organizations out of 60 have reported more than 80 percent improvement in the manufacturing performance, while 24 organization have reported more than 60 percent improvement in the manufacturing performance, which comes out to be significant.\n7. Conclusions: The present study reveals that the Indian manufacturing industry has lacked in quality, reducing cost of products, effectively managing and controlling inventories in the past. Traditionally, most of the Indian manufacturing industries have suffered deficiencies that are inherent, plagued with many problems and struggled to achieve the level of benefits as reaped by developed countries. However, now-a-days bowing to global pressure, the majority of Indian manufacturing organizations have taken proactive initiatives in the manufacturing sector by introducing various lean manufacturing philosophies like JIT, TQM, TPM, 5S, Six Sigma, etc., for the realization of enhanced manufacturing system performance. From the present study it is apparent that Indian organizations have been reasonably successful in improving the business performance by implementing holistic JIT initiatives and have successfully reaped the benefits of JIT implementation. However it is also revealed in present study that Indian manufacturing industries need to work more aggressively on managing raw material inventories, quality circles, kanban, automation in loading and unloading of parts and use of warehouses. Thus, it can be concluded that Indian manufacturing organizations must continue to make whole-hearted efforts in their endeavor to realize enhanced competitiveness through the implementation of JIT initiatives.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an insight into the prevalent just-in-time (JIT) practices adopted in Indian manufacturing industry for realizing the development and growth of the industrial sector. The endeavor of Indian manufacturing organizations to achieve manufacturing performance enhancement through JIT implementation has been highlighted in the present study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present study has been conducted in the large- and medium-scale manufacturing industries of India that have successfully implemented or are in the various stages of implementing JIT. The approach of study has been directed toward assessment of JIT initiatives in Indian manufacturing industries.\nFindings: From the present study it is apparent that Indian organizations have been reasonably successful in improving the business performance by implementing holistic JIT initiatives and have successfully reaped the benefits of JIT implementation. However, it is also revealed in present study that Indian manufacturing industries need to work more aggressively on managing few issues of JIT.\nOriginality/value: The value of paper is in calculation of percent point score for each issue of JIT in context to Indian manufacturing industry and to find out significant as well as issues that need to worked aggressively by Indian manufacturing industry to reap the benefits of JIT.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Research agenda for SMEs in electronic platforms for the European food industry
|
[
"Food industry",
"Agriculture",
"Distribution",
"Retailing",
"Communication technologies",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Overview of the European agri-food supply chain\nMethodology: To encircle and define the most important aspects concerning e-platforms, transnational discussion forums involving academic experts and non-government and private food chain players, aimed at identifying and evaluating technologies for supply chain management, were set up. Dialogue regarding the potential for implementation of e-platforms in the food industry was facilitated with specific remit to encourage the participation of small and micro businesses.Expert consultation was coordinated in three food chain sectors (production, processing, and distribution-retail), by ten organizations within the e-MENSA partnership representing stakeholder interests in food industry development. The Delphi qualitative research principle was followed, \"allowing a group of experts to participate jointly in defining and analyzing complex issues where information is fragmentary\" (Kretzschmar, 2005). The survey (n>50) was conducted in two phases; first, between June 2005 and March 2006, through sector-specific expert discussion forums and second, between March-May 2006, through an integrated food chain expert discussion forum, culminating in a policy summary delivered by the e-MENSA partnership to the European Parliament in June 2006. Both phases of the survey consisted of both a physical one-day workshop and a web-based open forum using successive rounds of information gathering and feedback (Figure 1).\nBackground: E-platforms in operation in the food industry\nAnalysis: The following sections highlight the consensus views of the first, the sector-specific, discussions, and following this, the discussion presents further insights provided through the integrated food chain discussion.Primary production\nDiscussion: Supply chain\nResearch agenda emerging from the e-MENSA consultation: In the final analysis, a preliminary consensus on the priorities for future research is presented as follows:1. New agri-food chain management for quality and safety including:* new technological systems for control of commodities during continuous processes, especially liquid foods;* novel devices for shelf-life prediction in fresh produce and near-fresh processing; and* standardization issues.1. Provisional systems for reducing and recycling wastes.2. New models for agri-food supply chain governance accessible to SMEs, e.g. the small and micro enterprise chain process management model.3. Detailed cost-benefit assessments of e-collaboration in the food chain including analytical organizational studies of existing agri-food collaborative e-platforms and pilot development schemes.Research and development at regional policy level should pay particular attention to the first link in the chain, primary producers, especially in relation to support for the implementation and ongoing management of IT resources required to build e-platforms. There is also a role for local government in the promotion of EU level agreements on quality standards and protocols.Further information about the specific support action and continuing network activities can be obtained from r.prugger@tecnoalimenti.com\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper sets out to provide a consensus position on the potential for the inclusion of small businesses in electronic platforms in the food industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The consensus was derived through a Delphi-type series of questions in an open forum of academics and industrialists across Europe.\nFindings: - The consensus reached was of the proven benefits of electronic platforms for small businesses and the need for further research to assess how small businesses can incorporate electronic traceability and supply chain management systems into their existing operations.\nPractical implications: - Electronic platforms are spreading rapidly in the food industry. However, there is some concern that small businesses are not aware of the potential for electronic supply chains such as the potential that electronic traceability offers smaller networks to supply highly demanded food quality attributes such as organic production and regional foods.\nOriginality/value: - The paper addresses the highly topical issue of food origin with a new approach to the supply technologies behind the product.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Associating social constructionism and extended cognition in information studies
|
[
"Information studies",
"Cognition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper seeks to draw together two contemporary developments in the distinct disciplines of information studies and cognitive science. The first development is social constructionist[1] research and theory in information studies, which is growing into an influential paradigm within the discipline. The second development is the extended theory of cognition, often called the extended mind, which has gained momentum within cognitive science since the late 1990s. These two movements have existed independently, yet shared motivation and influences, and I will propose potential links in methodologies and research programmes in the following pages. I begin with an overview of each development, seeking to represent the central issues and arguments of each. Then an argument is made for a synchronized research framework with specific benefits for information studies. While the association of these two research perspectives does not propose a solution to a specific problem within information studies, the integrative methodology implemented attempts to encourage collaboration within information studies. Implications from such collaboration can impact and influence a number of aspects within the discipline, limited only by the avenues pursued by researchers. Finally, the general value and possible implications of such a synchronized framework are evaluated for information studies, with particular relevance given to the work of Birger Hjorland.\n2. Central elements of social constructionism and extended cognition: It is both naive and simplistic to refer to \"the\" movement of either social constructionism or extended cognitive theory because of the non-linear and decentralized growth of both theories. A comprehensive account of either is a full paper in itself, so a strict overview is attempted here. The core and central elements of both research perspectives are presented and discussed in the context of the arguments that are made for them in each disciplines' literature, beginning with social constructionism in information studies.2.1. Social constructionism\n3. Links between social constructionism and EM: I want to briefly explore the most prominent link between social constructionism and EM. The clearest link is the incorporation of context, or environment, into theory. The EM argument proposes environmental objects as crucial to understanding human cognition, while social constructionism promotes context and environment as critical to understanding the construction of meaning and experience. For both cognitive science and information studies this offers emphasis of context. Human cognition does not occur within a vacuum, and neither does information practice. The context in both instances is integral to the processes, according to EM and social constructionism. This is the broadest of similarities between the two, forging a clear alliance of contextual focus.3.1. The linguistic aspect\n4. Conclusion: I have maintained the integration of social constructionism and extended cognition is useful for a number of reasons. The strongest contribution is made through examining two theories which prioritize language and context in diverse manners. EM adds a fundamentally distinct argument for incorporating context and environment, such as technology and physical spaces, into an understanding of the individual, and thus adds a dimension for information studies to investigate.This added dimension is useful, I have argued, because it opens up possibilities for understanding social constructionism in new ways. Specifically the role of language in human cognition allows for a clear link between extended cognition and social constructionism. The topic of enabling and encouraging information access through the designing of spaces is a topic of growing interest. The addition of extended cognition to this discussion could prove intriguing by breaking down hard demarcations between the user and the space. Likewise, potential links with Hjorland's work justify further investigation. Ultimately, in terms of contribution to the discipline of information studies, the association of extended cognition and social constructionism provides the most exciting and potentially fruitful arguments and implications through a response to cognitivist criticisms of social constructionism. There are many ways social constructionism can address the criticism of neglecting the individual, but EM mediates in a way that retains the central tenants of social constructionism while also gesturing towards the strengths of cognitivism. It is this specific area, with possible links to Hjorland's theories, which I would flag as the most deserving of future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To develop a unified research framework that synthesizes similarities between cognitive science and information studies, particularly language. This framework is proposed and explored as useful for future information study research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Analysis is conducted of two contemporary developments in the distinct disciplines of information studies and cognitive science. The theories of extended cognition and social constructionism are explored, focusing on the issue of context in each of the arguments. The complementarity argument is presented as the strongest argument for extended cognition, while Sanna Talja's work is offered as representative of social constructionism in information studies. The philosophical similarities between extended cognition and social constructionism are then integrated at points of similarity.\nFindings: - Cognitive science and information studies have a number of unexpected similarities both in broad and specific terms. The opportunity to develop a synchronized research framework is presented as both feasible and mutually beneficial. Additionally, cognitive science is suggested as useful tool in bridging the gap between the frameworks of cognitivism and social constructionism in information studies.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The philosophic discussion borders on technical at times possibly limiting it to those familiar with or interested in the philosophy or meta-theory within cognitive science and information studies.\nPractical implications: - The conclusion points to future research between cognitive science and information studies that can be conducted in further research projects. The arguments also move toward continuing discussions of interdisciplinarity in information studies.\nOriginality/value: - Cognitive science is being frequently employed in information studies research and practice. This paper presents an alternative take on how the two can relate and possible benefits, while also exploring very particular movements within each discipline.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Benchmarking the performance indicators of Indian Railway container business using data envelopment analysis
|
[
"Logistics",
"Benchmarking",
"Data envelopment analysis",
"Indian Railways",
"Container Corporation of India"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: With the globalization of economies, the intensification of business competition and the overall maturation of business operations, logistics activities become more and more important for a firm. It is necessary to establish logistics performance as a critical element in a company's success. As logistics gains strategic interest, the call to measure and evaluate logistics performance escalates. The right evaluation of logistics performance will help the enterprise to mould the behaviors of not only the managers charged with the responsibility of developing competitive and operating strategies but also the workers who must implement the strategies (Li, 2005).\n2 Literature survey: Freight Container Business continued to be monopoly in the hands of government owned Container Corporation of India and in this section history of rail cargo policies and performance evaluation over the different years has been discussed within and outside country in competitive scenario.\n3 Methodology: In this section we have discussed basic tool in the shape of DEA approach along with CCR and BCC models to focus the analysis.\n4 Application to benchmarking of Indian Railway container business: The above described DEA models are used for the performance benchmarking of the IR container business. Basically, the implementation of DEA involves identifying the inputs and outputs of the units being assessed, identifying measures for the inputs and outputs, collecting data on the inputs and outputs, solving the appropriate models and interpreting the results (Thanassoulis et al., 1987).\n5 Results and discussion: In this section two types of analysis have been carried out within CONCOR and in comparison with private players to highlight various constraints in order to improve their efficiency.\n6 Conclusions: The exercise identified efficiency trends with overall fluctuation between 87.5 and 100 percent through CCR and BCC models within CONCOR owing to haphazard infrastructure namely, number of handling terminals, number of yard equipments and containers without caring for actual requirements and managing properly.\n7 Future research avenues: The study can be extended to other private operators, e.g. Hind Terminals and MSC Agency, Boxtrans (India) Logistics Services, Pipavav Rail Corporation, etc. operating in other parts of India.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Indian Railways being sole government organization for infrastructure, operations and regulatory functions entered for competition in the container segment in January 2006 through private-public participation for customer-centric competitiveness to break monopolistic control of Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) introducing limited licensing policy. The purpose of this research work is to carry out benchmarking the performance indicators in Indian Railway container business and select private players.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study has been conducted employing data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology on secondary data of container terminals of CONCOR, Adani and Gateway logistics. Data from the year 1995-1996 till 2010-2011 have been used for performance evaluation within CONCOR itself and comparative analysis for all three organizations from 2005-2006 till 2010-2011.\nFindings: The exercise identified efficiency trends fluctuating between 87.5 and 100 percent within CONCOR owing to haphazard infrastructure developed while comparison with private players showed 38.31-77.59 percent efficiency fluctuation concurrent to licensing policy norms.\nResearch limitations/implications: The reliability of data provided by the selected operators for needful research is merely on the information and available sources.\nOriginality/value: The study enables the reader to gain some valuable insights from a managerial perspective by the use of DEA methodologies so as to formulate strategies to foster better performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Pendennis sails away with apprenticeship award: Yacht-builder develops a world-class paint team
|
[
"Apprenticeships",
"Boats",
"Furniture industry",
"Service industries",
"Organizational performance",
"Quality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Apprenticeships are helping a UK yacht-builder to inject skills, youth, longevity and flexibility into its niche business. Yacht-builder Pendennis, based at Falmouth, Cornwall, was among four organizations to receive prizes at the annual UK Apprenticeship Awards, organized by the Learning and Skills Council.\nWorld-class paint team: Pendennis was so pleased by the results of its initial apprenticeships that it went on to extend the program in 2005 by creating the apprenticeship in yacht-surface finishing.\"The finish on super-yachts is the first thing that people see and therefore quality is of the utmost importance,\" said Jill Carr, training manger. \"This is the first apprenticeship of its kind in the UK and is helping us to create a world-class paint team, which also reduces our dependence on sub-contractors. This means we are on the way to being the first yacht builder able to guarantee the paint job on our yachts.\"The apprenticeship was devised in partnership with Cornwall College (which helped to structure the company's initial apprenticeship program) and Marine South West, part of the South West of England Regional Development Agency.Jill Carr continued: \"Apprenticeships help us to mold employees through training and on-the-job experience, thus providing us with the right level of skills and discipline. We are always keen to help the apprentices to develop as a whole person. All are encouraged to take part in activities that will provide them with transferable skills, outside their everyday activities with the firm. These include participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, pursuing Royal Yachting Association qualifications, and taking part in charity work in the community. They also have the chance to sail and maintain the company's Tosher - an 18 ft traditional local boat.\"Founded in 1988, Pendennis builds and refits luxury motor and sailing yachts. It takes pride in its local roots. This extends to its training and recruitment programs, as the firm sources expertise from the Cornish community wherever possible.\nExtraordinary growth in turnover: Mark Wilkinson Furniture (MFW), of Chippenham, won the Medium Employer of the Year prize for apprenticeships that have helped the company to increase its turnover from PS10 million to PS24 million over the past nine years.\"The extraordinary growth in our turnover has been greatly helped by our involvement in apprenticeships,\" said Cynthia Wilkinson, managing director. \"This type of training has given us the skilled craftsmen we need to deliver the products that our customers want. Developing staff who understand all the aspects of our design, build and installation processes ensures that, as a company, we are able to be flexible and adapt quickly to market demands.\"MFW started its apprenticeship scheme ten years ago, having found it difficult to recruit the skilled labor it needed. Apprentices gain experience in all MFW departments, learning about every aspect of furniture making. By the end of the apprenticeship, each trainee is capable of producing a piece of furniture to a professional standard.\"We are passionate about training young people, watching them grow in confidence and developing core skills,\" Cynthia Wilkinson continued. \"We are also keen to put something back into the industry in which we work.\"\"Apprentices form an integral part of our business and become real ambassadors for MFW. Some 60 percent of the apprentices we have trained are still employed in the company, and the majority of the rest remain in the industry.\"Andy Stiles, project manager, commented: \"On completing my apprenticeship I was encouraged to further my development and managerial skills. This helped me to lead various departments in the company and gain a thorough understanding of how the business works.\"\"A decade on, I am still using this knowledge and experience to project-manage various jobs; liaising with clients and architects on the design and installation of bespoke furniture.\"MFW apprentices have gone on to work as furniture makers, project and production managers, on information-technology projects and in design.Jo Winslow, training co-ordinator at Wiltshire College, said: \"MWF is an exemplary employer because of the time and commitment it gives to its apprentices. It also supports talented youngsters who have other challenges or disabilities.\"\"It is rewarding to see these young people grow and develop into confident, skilled employees who play a significant role in the business. It is not surprising that MFW's apprentices achieve a 100 percent success rate.\"\nProgress within the organization: Arcana hair and beauty, of Milton Keynes, won the Small Employer of the Year prize. Debbie Elderton, founder, explained: \"I was always aware that the success of my business would depend upon employing a highly skilled workforce, and apprenticeships have played a crucial role in this.\"The business has grown from one salon with five employees to two salons with a total of 35 staff.\"The apprenticeship program presented me with the ideal way of investing in staff for my salon,\" Debbie Elderton continued. \"I did not just want employees who were going to train for their qualifications and then move on to another job; I wanted to create a culture where staff felt that they had plenty of opportunities to progress within the organization.\"All Arcana staff are given a training pyramid, which offers mainstream and diverse qualification options. Employees are able not only to become specialists in their craft, but also to branch out into other areas. The firm's beauty-team leader recently retrained to become front-of-house manager.The opportunities to train in different areas of the business have developed apprentices who can work in a various roles. This has helped to create a skilled, flexible and motivated workforce.\"Training with the salon has definitely given my apprentices a lot more confidence in their abilities and a greater degree of job satisfaction,\" said Debbie Elderton.\nAccess to further development and training: Kingscliffe Day Nursery, of Loughborough, won the Micro Employer of the Year category. Opened in 1999, it has 32 places and nine employees, of whom four are apprentices.\"Working with apprenticeships has helped us in securing high-quality individuals with a passion for child care,\" said manager and proprietor Alexis McConnachie. \"Recruiting apprentices straight from our local schools has secured their future employment, training and development, and our future business growth and success.\"Kingscliffe ensures that apprentices have access to further development and training on completing their apprenticeships. All employees are given appraisals to help the nursery to assess individual needs and ensure staff can develop the skills they need.Businesses were judged on criteria that include their commitment to training, the range and diversity of apprenticeships on offer, the future training of their apprentices and demonstration of the way apprenticeships have benefited their business.The Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, said: \"Over the past decade we have more than doubled the number of young people and adults starting apprenticeships, spanning the breadth of our economy from accountancy to engineering, construction to veterinary nursing - but we plan to do more. In the next decade all qualified school-leavers will have the right to an apprenticeship. It will become a typical choice for young people and adults - at the same time ensuring that businesses get the vital skills they need.\"Apprenticeships are at the heart of the country's economy. They unlock England's talent and are the key to our future prosperity.\"\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - Describes how apprenticeships have contributed to organizational success at the four winners of the latest UK Apprenticeship Awards - yacht-builder Pendennis, furniture-maker MFW, Arcana hair and beauty and Kingscliffe Day Nursery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Details, for each organization, the reasons apprenticeships were introduced, the way they operate and the advantages they have brought.\nFindings: - Reveals that higher quality workmanship, greater depth and diversity of skills, and a more flexible and satisfied workforce are among the advantages of apprenticeships.\nPractical implications: - Highlights the fact that, in the next decade, all qualified school-leavers in the UK will have the right to an apprenticeship.\nOriginality/value: - Claims that apprenticeships unlock talent and are an important key to prosperity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Investment in training and development bears fruit for Fenmarc: Company achieves Asda's coveted Gold Supplier status
|
[
"Organizational change",
"Organizational development",
"Organizational culture",
"Training",
"Food industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A UK vegetable processor and packer that was struggling to make consistent profits and suffering low employee morale has been transformed into one of supermarket-giant Asda's top suppliers, thanks to major investment in training and development.\nPoor and inconsistent communication and no clear focus on quality: \"Six years ago, Fenmarc was characterised by poor and inconsistent communication and no clear focus on quality,\" explained managing director and shareholder Mark Harrod. \"The company was not consistently profitable, there was little innovation and money for investment was entirely dependent on the market value of the produce we sold. Leadership was of the 'command and control' type. There was no real focus on business improvement, as the main objective was to get the product on to the lorries. The focus was on day-to-day operations and there was no proper co-ordination between our three sites.\"Moreover, the marketplace was changing. Retailers were becoming more focused on driving cost out of the supply chain. They wanted to work with fewer, better suppliers, and be sure that they understood suppliers' costs.\"Our products were commodities, so we couldn't increase the price as there was no 'brand' to market. The only way to survive financially was to deliver better quality at lower cost than our competitors,\" Mark Harrod explained. \"I knew instinctively that we needed a common way of working, higher-caliber colleagues, more training and external influence.\"\nAligning culture to business values and beliefs: The new owners formed a master plan that included meeting Asda's needs for better quality and \"every-day low cost\", and operational efficiency. This would involve aligning the culture to business values and beliefs, continuous improvement and a behavioral health and safety culture. In particular, the company aimed to deliver improved performance by:* developing confident employees who could adapt and learn to implement change;* having a self-supporting culture where all employees used common tools and language to live the values and beliefs;* reducing dependency on agency workers;* introducing new systems to monitor and control business performance; and* developing more new products.\"We had a strategic framework - a master plan,\" said Chris Swift, systems director. \"We needed a strategy enabler so the business could deliver increased financial performance. Investing in and developing our employees to create a unique business culture was the key enabler to implementing our master plan.\"Fairstead Development worked with the owners to understand the key business issues. Together they developed a learning program with specific emphasis on implementing the learning at work, to ensure that changes in behavior stuck.\"The learning solution had to focus on the individual, as we needed to create confident colleagues who could adapt and learn to implement change,\" Mark Harrod explained. \"We decided to call the program the '101' - an Americanism for 'beginning' - as it was the starting point for personal development in Fenmarc.\"With Fairstead Development as partners, the company chose models based on the philosophy that \"everyone has the ability to grow and change\" and \"I'm OK, you're OK\" to foster mutual respect and growth, with four training modules covering clear communication, personal influence, leading yourself and \"what makes Fenmarc different\".\nVaried learning activities: Employees who attend the 101 are given equal opportunity to learn by various means to suit them - case studies, self-reflection, group activities, presentations, group projects and coaching. \"We chose such varied learning activities as the 101 is designed for delegates who work in different environments - for example, factory, office and engineering workshop - and we needed to ensure that all delegates had an equal opportunity to learn\", said Mark Harrod.Progress was assessed through knowledge-based questionnaires, directors' observations, and delegate and leader assessments. In particular, directors who observed employees' presentations on how they implemented their learning then went on to provide the delegates with personal feedback. Moreover, leaders briefed their delegates before and after each module.Development began with the directors and senior leaders and then included other staff. Around 200 Fenmarc employees have so far completed the 101, gaining in confidence. As they graduate, they receive an Academy 101 rugby shirt at a celebration dinner.Among the benefits, profit per employee has grown more than fivefold and innovation has become common. In 2004, Fenmarc launched 13 new products with a further increase in 2005. In 2004-2005, employees made 2,200 continuous-improvement suggestions, half of which are being implemented. Profit and turnover rose, and accidents fell by 20 percent. The company is now in the top 20 of Asda's 3,000 own-brand suppliers, and has Gold Supplier status.A recent survey of Fenmarc's human-resource practices and performance singled out the 101 as \"particularly effective\" in highlighting the company's strategic focus on people performance. Overall, the survey concluded: \"Fenmarc's approach to people management and processes shows some excellent results and clearly the investment made in its recent history is bearing fruit.\" The survey also highlighted that the Fenmarc values and beliefs were implemented strongly across the business. Employees felt valued, and this had resulted in lower employee turnover.\nNew-found confidence: Gail Paul, Fenmarc financial controller, commented: \"Members of my team are now more aware of their attitude and the impact it has on others. The business benefit of this is that we work together to resolve issues and problems. We actually listen to each other now and are more productive and happy.\"Maggie Bishop, sales-ledger leader, said: \"One way I have used my new-found confidence from the 101 has been to challenge our hauliers regrading mistakes and get these rectified more quickly. This has resulted in Asda paying Fenmarc more quickly.\"\"Learning to work with a positive attitude and having a 'can do' attitude have opened up more options for my team to achieve success and solutions to problems,\" explained Linda Davey, technical leader. \"They are no longer willing to settle for the situation as it is and readily implement continuous improvement.\"Business accountant Mike Robertson explained: \"Colleagues are more proactive than six years ago. From a financial-forecasting perspective, this means that we are fronting issues quicker, which is allowing us to make better financial decisions.\"Commercial leader Rufus Harper said: \"The 101 has helped me, as a leader, to deal with difficult and awkward conversations more effectively. As a result, I have a much stronger team. The efficiency and effectiveness of my team just gets better and this has enabled us to deliver PS300,000 savings to the business.\"\"The 101 has given me a norm to work to - a common language which manages my personal influence over others,\" said unit leader Pete Coupland. \"Contracting with old sparring partners and then working together on issues to a positive conclusion have been rewarding beyond words.\"\"The program has achieved what it set out to do. Team bonding, and the reinforcement of the company's values and beliefs, have been a significant part of the success story,\" Mark Harrod concluded. \"The Fenmarc culture, supported by the 101, helps us to recruit great people as they can see and feel our culture is lived when they come for their interviews.\"\"Our approach to organizational development is unique in the fresh-produce sector, which is dominated by entrepreneurial command-and-control type organizations. Investing PS300,000 in our employees has not only increased our business performance but has also increased the value of the human capital in the business. Overall it has been excellent value for money. I am proud of the program - its quality and its impact on Fenmarc.\"\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
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{
"content": "Purpose: - Describes how an award-winning training and development programme has helped to transform the culture and performance at Fenmarc, a UK vegetable processor and packer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Describes the problems the company faced before the training initiative, the implementation of the training and development programme, and the main benefits that have accrued.\nFindings: - Reveals that, among the benefits, profit per employee has grown more than fivefold and innovation and continuous improvement have become common. The company is now in the top 20 of Asda's 3,000 own-brand suppliers, and has Gold Supplier status.\nPractical implications: - Reveals that the company's approach to organizational development is unique in the fresh-produce sector, which is dominated by entrepreneurial command-and-control type organizations\nOriginality/value: - Shows that, partly as a result of the programme, the Fenmarc values and beliefs have become strongly implemented across the business.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Consumers' perception of vitamin D and fortified foods
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Consumer attitudes",
"Vitamin D",
"Fortification"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Vitamin D is well-known for its role in musculoskeletal health and is thought to play a role in the prevention and treatment of a multitude of diseases (Borradale and Kimlin, 2009; Chowdhury et al., 2014). Despite its growing role in human health, high rates of inadequate vitamin D intakes exist within Europe, with intakes less than the estimated average requirement ranging between 50 and 100 per cent dependent on the country (Vinas et al., 2011), with the UK and other countries of northerly latitude at higher risk (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, N. & Allergies, 2016). This is due to a lack of adequate UVB-sunlight for around half the year, and lifestyle factors that can also increase the deficiency risk (Ashwell et al., 2010; Holick and Chen, 2008). Hence, dietary sources of vitamin D have the potential to provide an effective way to increase and maintain population vitamin D intakes (O'Donnell et al., 2008).\n2. Material and methods: 2.1 Focus groups\n3. Results: 3.1 Focus groups\n4. Discussion: Vitamin D deficiency in the UK is due to several factors including latitude, lifestyle factors and low consumption of vitamin D-rich foods (Borradale and Kimlin, 2009; Calvo et al., 2004). The higher RNI's set recently mean the percentage with vitamin D intakes less than the recommendation has increased. These factors increase the importance of dietary vitamin D, particularly fortified foods.\n5. Conclusion: To have successful fortification practices, it is important to identify appropriate foods to reach the target population. This study aimed to explore consumer's awareness and perceptions of vitamin D and vitamin D fortified foods in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, an area of the UK, at increased risk of deficiency. Results suggest more natural products to complement existing market offerings would be most preferred. Moreover, the results indicate the importance of awareness and knowledge of the health benefits associated with vitamin D to have favourable attitude towards fortified products, and potentially increase consumption. Findings indicate that although most participants were aware of vitamin D in general, they were less aware of the risks and benefits of suboptimal and optimal vitamin D levels, and of dietary sources. These findings are important as they highlight gaps in current public knowledge and indicate that members of the public would accept fortified foods as a means to improving their vitamin D intake.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: As natural dietary sources of vitamin D are not consumed in sufficient quantities, fortified foods could play a role in maintaining vitamin D sufficiency. With public consultation, an integral part of designing acceptable fortification strategies, the purpose of this paper is to understand public awareness and perception of vitamin D fortified foods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mixed-methods approach was taken with two focus groups and 109 surveys conducted using a non-probability sample from North-East England. Thematic analysis of focus group data identified six themes, with factor and cluster analysis identifying seven factors and four clusters, respectively, which highlighted differences in vitamin D knowledge and fortified food perceptions.\nFindings: Despite identifying sunlight as the main vitamin D source (91 per cent), participants were less aware of the main dietary source (33 per cent), and few could state fortified products (51 per cent). Although attitudes towards fortification were generally favourable (63 per cent agreeing that selected products should be fortified), nearly half (43 per cent) were unsure if more products should be made available. Results suggest that more natural products to complement existing market offerings would be most preferred. Factor and cluster analysis results identified awareness of health benefits and/or dietary sources as essential to have favourable attitudes towards fortified products.\nOriginality/value: This research adds to the limited literature regarding consumer attitudes towards fortified foods. It highlights a need to improve public awareness and labelling of fortified products to potentially increase fortified food consumption.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Vedic learning and management education
|
[
"Learning methods",
"Management development",
"Management education",
"Vedic Learning",
"Transformational learning",
"Indian practical wisdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Spirituality is indeed the master key of the Indian mind; the sense of the infinite is native to it (Sri Aurobindo in Mohanty, 2008, p. 171)\nTransformational learning: Transforming the mindset through management carries with it the potential for a tremendous amount of influence on businesses and society. Within psychology there are many theories on learning which are useful in educational settings. The most suitable approach for transforming the mindset is transformational learning. Let us look at the key elements of this learning method and discuss how it can to improve an application of Indian practical wisdom in management education. In the following paragraphs we address the following questions: What is transformational learning? What are its components? What is its aim? How is it taught? Where and to whom does it apply? Jack Mezirow (1978) first developed the theory of transformational learning used in modern adult education transformational learning involves becoming critically aware of one's tacit assumptions and expectations and those of others and assessing their relevance for making an interpretation (Awal, 2010). Mezirow holds that to make meaning and thus to learn, the individual learner is influenced by the way he interprets and reinterprets his sense experience. Transformational learning involves changing our frame of reference. A frame of reference is a structure of assumptions and expectations that frames an individual's implicit point of view and influences his thinking, beliefs and actions (Taylor, 2008). Frames of reference are made up of the whole body of assumptions through which we interpret and understand the world we live in. They include our mental habits, cultural tradition, upbringing, educational system and the political atmosphere. Transformational learning involves critical reflection on these assumptions and beliefs. It is said that when a person begins to critically reflect and examine his predetermined assumptions and beliefs, he becomes more open, inclusive, reflective and willing to change (Choy, 2010). We are not talking about the many positive or negative experiences we have in our lifetimes that have an impact on us or even cause a transformation. Here we are simply looking at the transformation that occurs through critical reflection. Therefore critical reflection is one of the key aspects of transformational learning.\nEvaluation of Indian society's receptivity to transformational learning: Behavior change becomes sustainable if it is deeply rooted in the individual mindset through transformational learning. Is Indian Society ready for this type of learning? In order to answer this we need to discuss the evolution of the Indian mindset. We will start with a brief historical analysis followed by an analysis of the Ancient Vedic learning method.\nConclusions and implications for management education: Vedic wisdom paid a great deal of attention to the transformation of the inner self. These days western societies are seeking didactic methods for bringing this transformation into education. An article in Harvard Business Review (George et al., 2008) revealed how successful business leaders develop their inner self through transformational learning, a concept that shows similarities with Ancient Indian Vedic wisdom. The analysis of Vedic education and transformational learning has led to the conclusion that transformational learning is a concept inherent to India and therefore it needs revitalization so it can bring practical wisdom to Indian management education. Combining both would be an ideal method for imparting such things as ethical behavior in management students.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how management education in India can benefit from applying a Vedic Learning style. It argues that transformational learning, a key to transforming mindset, also increases the importance of ethical behavior in management education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a literature review of Vedic education principles and transformational learning. It focusses on how to apply it in the management education.\nFindings: It presents an analysis of Vedic Learning, the Indian mindset and the role of transformational learning in Indian management education. While there is a decline in practicing Vedic Learning in India, in fact, it carries a huge potential for all-round development which would transform management education. The paper proposes ingredients for management education following Vedic Learning in terms of philosophy, designing programs, teacher's role, teaching environment and by integrating different types of skills for management.\nPractical implications: It implies that management education can be designed in a Vedic Learning style for revitalizing practical wisdom for facing the challenges of modern society, both in India and other parts of the world.\nOriginality/value: It strengthens the relevance of the concept of Vedic Learning and shows its similarities with transformational learning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
And a comedian shall show journalists the way
|
[
"Elections",
"Television news"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: While using the style and format commonly seen on half-hour news programs, The Daily Show appears on the appropriately named US cable television network Comedy Central. The host of the show, Jon Stewart, lists his vocation as comedian, he calls his program \"fake news\" and the advertising for the program at one time stated, \"when news breaks, we fix it!\" Yet in the weeks and months leading up to the 2004 Presidential election, numerous major political leaders and candidates, including John Kerry and ex-president Clinton, were interviewed on the show.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To discuss the time when an overuse of a marketing perspective for a product is detrimental to the best interests of society. In this case, using marketing to drive journalistic decision results in a poorly informed electorate in which a comedy program of admitted fake news provides more insight into the truth of politicians' statements than do actual television news shows.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The starting-point is the fake news program on a comedy network, whose show host himself generated news during the election season with confrontations and criticisms of journalists who failed to do their reporting job.\nFindings: - The journalists, according to Stewart, have come to serve theater and the illusion of objectivity instead of the truth. When marketing drives journalism decisions, the public loses.\nPractical implications: - This abuse and misuse of marketing for news programming decisions lower the credibility of all news and information, and the dedicated journalists in the professions should take Jon Stewart's criticisms as a call to action. People from the USA need to be better informed about the world instead of having their own continued biases and misperceptions fed by pundits. At worst, this is a misleading selling of news as a commodity instead of informing the public.\nOriginality/value: - Jon Stewart was right when he said to the NCC pundits, \"You're killing us.\" Fake news should not be more information-driven than the news networks.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
South African corporate ethics codes: establishment and communication
|
[
"Codes of ethics",
"Corporate South Africa"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the early 1990s, after two decades in isolation, South Africa re-emerged onto the world stage. The challenges that faced South Africa at this time were daunting and it was obvious that they would have a major impact on all aspects of society, namely, political, social, legal and economic. South Africans understood that to meet the challenges to develop their economy and ensure that business was conducted better than before, they would have to seek out and use the world's best practises, especially in the area of corporate governance and business ethics (Price and Van der Walt, 2013). This required a better understanding of the ethical decision-making practises of South Africans working for the South African government or the local business sector and of how such practises impact on the management of ethical problems by these sectors of South African society (Boshoff et al., 2014).\nEthical practice: underlying theory: Central to ethics is the question of what constitutes moral conduct (Kindsiko, 2013). The theory informing this study is the deontological ethical theory, which has its origins in the work of the eighteenth-century German philosopher Emmanuel Kant (Christie et al., 2008). Kant argues that morality is a matter of duty in that humans have the moral duty to do what is right and not to do what is wrong (Darwall, 2018). Deontological ethics is accordingly referred to as duty-based ethics. It advocates that actions be guided by rules for what is morally right and wrong irrespective of the consequences. In defining what is morally right, deontological ethics requires that humans always be treated as an end and not as a means to an end (Paquette et al., 2015). When applied in business, the deontological ethical theory requires the defining and communicating of actions that are acceptable and those that are not acceptable (Nantel and Weeks, 1996). The aim is to bring a degree of certainty to ethical decision-making by clearly distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable actions. Companies do this by developing and communicating rules of conduct (Adams et al., 2001), which are often reflected in a code of ethics document (Kaptein, 2017a).\nRole of codes of ethics in business: Research conducted by Berenbeim (2000) emphasises three developments that support the increased relevance of corporate codes of ethics. The first development is an understanding that the markets all over the world are increasingly becoming integrated and this requires key values that are globally relevant. The second development is the embracing of codes of ethics as a part of evolving company governance processes, as demonstrated by the greater involvement of company management in developing better corporate governance practises. The third development is an increase in education on codes of ethics and understanding of them among senior managers of companies, as demonstrated by ongoing improvement of the codes. However, it should be noted that a corporate code of ethics does not consist of definitive facts and rules that can be homogeneously applied to all stakeholders. The primary purpose of a code of ethics is to provide guidelines for sound ethical business practises, functioning as a platform for evaluation. Therefore, a code of ethics should be perceived as a critical adjunct in developing ethical standards in companies (Hasnas, 2013).\nMethodology: Research method and target population\nEmpirical findings: Demographic characteristics\nDiscussion: This study is groundbreaking in South Africa, as a study of this magnitude has not been conducted in the field of business ethics in the South African corporate sector before. The results of the study confirm that codes of ethics are well-developed in many of South Africa's largest companies (44.4 per cent). The desire of business people and lawmakers in South Africa to make the country a more ethical place in which to do business than it was prior to South Africa's re-emergence onto the world stage in the 1990s appears to have had major effects on the mindset of many of its top 500 companies.\nManagerial implications: All the respondents surveyed (222) indicated that they have a corporate code of ethics. While this is encouraging, bearing in mind the importance of ethics and the impact that big business has on society, it is proposed that the South African Chamber of Business (SACOB) should conduct an audit, at regular intervals, to establish the existence and implementation of ethical codes in all big businesses. SACOB could develop a time frame indicating a date by which all large companies in South Africa should have established and implemented a code of ethics, guided by the principles of the King IV report. SACOB should monitor the development and implementation and should penalise companies that fail to adhere to the stated timeline. Should the non-compliance continue, SACOB should be legally empowered to blacklist such companies and disqualify them from membership.\nConclusion and propositions for further research: Companies in the study that have a code of ethics evidently support an organisational regulatory framework to guide their conduct in the marketplace. For these South African companies, the code of ethics should clarify their objectives and the norms and values they wish to uphold and be accountable for.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is on the top 500 companies in South Africa (as per the TopCo, 2014 list) that have a code of ethics, to see the current state of development in this area after 20 years of focus by the government and business on making corporate South Africa a more ethical environment, in which to conduct business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A structured questionnaire survey method was used to gather the data and it was directed to the company secretaries of these top 500 companies.\nFindings: Many companies in South Africa have a well-established set of protocols to enact the ethos of their code of ethics, indicating that they are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits to them of having a code. South African companies are, therefore, implementing both a code of ethics and strategies that contribute to creating an ethical corporate culture.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study provides an opportunity to further research assessing and comparing other companies in non-Western and emerging economies.\nPractical implications: After 20 years of endeavours by business people and lawmakers to improve the ethical framework of South African business, there is still plenty of work to be done, as so many top companies do not appear to have a code of ethics.\nOriginality/value: There have been limited studies in the area of business ethics in South African companies. This study is the first of its kind in the South African context and establishes the current practice 20 years after the King I report.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Human resource development programs for knowledge transfer and creation: the case of the Toyota Technical Development Corporation
|
[
"Knowledge creation",
"Human resource development",
"Knowledge transfer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Fixed graphic\n1. Introduction: Knowledge plays a central role in knowledge-based economics and, more particularly, in the economics of innovation because it fuels productivity, growth and the survival of organizations (Guechtouli et al., 2012; Kane, 2010). The knowledge-based theory of organizations views them as social communities specializing in speedy and efficient knowledge creation and transfer (Kogut and Zander, 1996; Reagans and McEvily, 2003). Therefore, knowledge management is recognized as a key generator of an organization's competitive advantage (Argote and Ingram, 2000; Kumar and Ganesh, 2009)[1].\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Knowledge and expertise\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research design\n4. The case of the TTDC: 4.1 Company overview\n5. Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine how HRD programs promote the integration of knowledge transfer and knowledge creation in engineering departments through the case of the testing and material engineering fields of the TTDC. These fields have introduced three HRD programs including \"technology and skills transfer programs\", \"on-site practical programs\" and \"technological creation programs\" for transferring and creating knowledge. Based on the five-step model proposed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1987), the first two programs may help younger employees develop from \"novice\" to \"competent\" level, while the third program is for developing employees at the \"proficient\" or \"expert\" level. As shown in Table V, the case suggests that TTDC transfers explicit and tacit knowledge through off-the-job (technology and skills transfer programs) and OJT (on-site practical programs), and encourages engineers to use the transferred knowledge to create more advanced knowledge for vehicle development through kaizen (continuous improvement) programs (technological creation programs).\n6. Conclusions: 6.1 Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how human resource development (HRD) programs promote the linkage between knowledge transfer and knowledge creation in engineering departments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopted a case study approach to the Toyota Technical Development Corporation (TTDC), an affiliated company of Toyota Motor Corporation. Data were collected from interviews with managers of the TTDC as well as its internal documents.\nFindings: Three major findings can be extracted from the paper. First, The TTDC effectively links knowledge transfer to knowledge creation so that new knowledge on vehicle development is created by transferred competencies. Second, the TTDC promotes the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge by complementarily combining off-the-job and on-the-job training (OJT). Third, HRD programs are developed and operated in communities of practice.\nResearch limitations/implications: The practices described in this paper are limited to two departments of the TTDC. Hence, the findings should be interpreted in light of this constraint.\nPractical implications: Knowledge officers should integrate multiple HRD programs so that knowledge transfer is organically linked to knowledge creation by combining off-the-job training, OJT and kaizen (continuous improvement) programs.\nOriginality/value: This paper constitutes one of the earliest works that analyzes the effect of HRD programs on integrating knowledge transfer and knowledge creation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Performance and standardization of Australian, Japanese and US firms
|
[
"Australia",
"Japan",
"United States of America",
"Globalization",
"Standardization",
"Marketing strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Are there benefits associated with marketing standardization and will this strategy improve a firm's profit performance? This idea presumes greater financial performance based on program and process marketing (marketing mix components) sameness in multinational corporations (MNCs) approach to a global market strategy. The question of standardization and market performance has been researched and unsupported by some (Samiee and Roth, 1992) and positively correlated and supported by others (Townsend et al., 2004; Ozsomer and Simonin, 2004; Cavusgil and Zou, 1994). While the issue of standardization advantages of program and process has been supported empirically (Chung, 2003; Kustin, 2004; Griffith et al., 2000), a controversy still remains connecting marketing mix standardization with profit performance. The marketing mix or as Jain (1989) indicated consists of program and process marketing. Program refers to the many aspects of the marketing mix best known as the 4Ps including the creation, type, promotion, positioning, location, development and price. Process marketing \"implies tools that aid in program development\" (Jain, 1989, p. 71) including direction, purpose, management and implementation of the 4Ps and subsequently how both are applied to the target audience (Griffith et al., 2000). Performance as a consequence of standardizing the marketing mix continues to be researched by academics and practitioners alike and remains a controversial area of research. Recent studies suggest that program standardization is feasibly benefiting a firm's marketing performance (Ozsomer and Simonin, 2004; Townsend et al., 2004; Chung, 2007a, b; Solberg and Durrieu, 2008), while process standardization positively contributing to performance (Cavusgil et al., 1993) remains controversial.Inasmuch as the concept of marketing standardization issues can be separated from profit performance, the former has become a less controversial, with the focus now on correlating standardization to performance (Zou and Cavusgil, 2002; Townsend et al., 2004). The early 1990s was the first phase of the post-Levitt (1983) research explosion, attempts to refute or support his globalization theory based on intermarket (countries demonstrating economic similarities) commonalities were a common occurrence in academic journals. This early period has led to further empirical studies investigating marketing mix standardization and performance. While the controversies over globalization and some level of standardization have diminished substantially, there still remains significant debate as to the ability of multinational firms to standardize the marketing mix and in turn contribute to the firm's market performance in a global environment (Chung, 2003).Given this incentive, the aim and purpose of the study is to make a contribution to the literature by pushing the research further along and providing new information on how marketing standardization correlates positively or not to a firm's profit performance. The balance of the study therefore examines marketing standardization and profit performance of multinational firms in Australia, Japan and the USA within a global environment.Background and previous research\nMethodology: The study surveyed 131 Japanese, 118 Australian and 142 US multinational firms operating between their home and multiple foreign countries directly to their corporate CEOs or executive VPs. Respondents indicated the marketing of products from four major areas; consumer durables and consumer non-durables, industrial goods and wholesale and other service-related products (SVs). The study examines and compares MNCs regarding their GMS, standardization reflected through program and process components and the affect on profit performance (Sorenson and Wiechmann, 1975; Boddewyn and Grosse, 1995; Shoham, 1996; Laroche et al., 2001; Chung, 2003). All firms in the study indicated they were responsible for the marketing decisions of their products as direct exporters and not through intermediaries in their home environments or through subsidiary firms in host countries.The sample firms are divided as follows: 4.1 percent had more than 1,500 employees; over 8.4 were in no-service-related industries, with a majority of the firms exporting their products. Of these firms (18.4 percent) had sales in excess of a billion US dollars. Collectively these firms averaged foreign trade in 25 countries, with a range of as few as 12 countries to a high of 73 countries. All firms represented service providers and manufactures in industrial, consumer and agriculture areas. Based on this outline of the sample body the study's purpose is to analyze marketing standardization and market performance of these firms in a borderless global environment. The present study provides a large sample of 391 firms operating in a worldwide marketplace.Program and process standardization affects on performance\nResults: The research objectives were accomplished by using analysis of the variance by applying the Scheffe statistical measures to the mean responses for a series of questions regarding program and process marketing components. For Australian firms the tendency is to have greater similarity and a greater level of standardization regarding program components than Japanese firms (see Table IV). By contrast to US firms, Australian firms perceive their host markets as less similar to their target markets, needs and preferences, with the PLC stage at a lower value of product standardization. For price, place, promotion and competitive market conditions Australian firms have a higher level of standardization than US firms. While Japanese firms, with one marginally lone exception, market their products in less similar host markets and are organized around a less standardized marketing program than US firms. Australian firms seem to have a greater preference for program marketing standardization than Japanese firms and in general the same could be said that US firms are engaged in greater standardization than Japanese firms.For each of the six marketing process components an Scheffe statistical measure was applied to the data and indicated statistical significance in four of the eight questions. Comparing process standardization for Australian and Japanese firms, the results indicate Australian firms are less standardized regarding \"Sales force management,\" but are more highly standardized in the other process areas (see Table V). By contrast Australian firms are less standardized in all process areas with the exception of \"Leadership\" than US firms. For Japanese firms compared to US firms all of the process components are less standardized than for US firms. Of the six-process marketing components only \"Marketing budget controls,\" \"Advertising allocation policy,\" \"Leadership of HQ management,\" and \"Strategic planning\" are at a statistically significant level, p > 0.000.Lastly, profit performance was tested using multiple regression analysis (see Table VI). In order to provide assurance that combining the survey data (Baumgartner and Jan-Benedict (2000) was free from common method bias or common method variance several tests were performed as suggested by Podsakoff et al. (2003). First, Harman's single-factor test was used to load all the variables into an exploratory factor analysis to determine the variance in the variables. No single factor emerged and no bias was detected. Because this test is often considered marginal a multitrait-multimethod test was also performed. Here the predictor and criterion constructs were determined to be independent of each other indicating there was no interaction or bias with the survey data (Bagozzi and Yi, 1991; Podsakoff and Mackenzie, 1994). This method allows the researcher to control the method variance and random error when observing the predictor and criterion variables (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Again there appears to be no reason not to use the data provided in the study.Program standardization correlated positively to profit with a relatively high R-value at 0.627 (p < 0.000) indicating a high correlation and therefore, H1 is supported. Process is positively correlated as well and therefore these firms utilized a standardized strategy, at least with respect to these variables, to achieve a profitable level. However, process standardization has a definite low R-value at 0.339 (p < 0.005) indicating a relatively low correlation with profit performance but at a significant level (Townsend et al., 2004) and therefore, H2 is also supported.These results suggest that marketing program and process standardization can be consistent with profit performance and differs from other research studies that have correlated marketing adaptation as a strategy consistent with profit performance (Shoham, 1996; Chung, 2003).\nManagerial implications: This study attempts to further the understanding of program and process marketing standardization and profit performance correlation. Some of the previous research findings have supported both standardization as a strategic measure and its positive contribution to profit performance and some have not. For managers perhaps in domestic as well as global markets the effort to standardize the marketing mix provides an opportunity to more easily control operations particularly in the global marketplace. Given the results found in the present study supporting the proposal that firms can pursue a strategy focusing on marketing standardization because it positively affects profit, gives these managers more flexibility in the marketplace. Developing this strategy appears to be effective simply because the alternative of receding to a past strategy of country-by-country marketing adaptation (the old version of the multi-domestic strategy of the 1960s) is a less effective option. Perhaps as is should be expected marketers are dealing with customers who are not so easily predictable, tolerant or free from their predispositions of behavior and attitudes. While Levitt (1983) and others have declared the earth is flat, it would seem we are not quite there yet.The results indicate that firms from all three countries are engaged in some degree of standardization. Australian firms had a 75 percent standardization rate of the program components, for Japanese firms program standardization was true for only 50 percent of the components and US firms were at 100 percent. Process standardization components for Australian firms were 100 percent, for Japanese firms they were at 67 percent and US firms were also at 100 percent. Process standardization and profit performance is weakly supported with a low R-value, while program standardization and profit is well supported with a vigorous R-value. Further, the implications of this study for managers are to evaluate market conditions to determine what effects a standardization policy will have before projecting a profitable result. While the study is consistent with other research it is hardly a surprise that implementing across-the-board marketing standardization is still not a totally accepted strategy given today's global environment (Chung, 2003; Jain, 1989; Townsend et al., 2004).Foremost for managers the study provides real evidence that marketing standardization of many program constructs is realistic and applicable in global markets (O'Donnell and Jeong, 2000) with the results implicating a positive return. Although all three-country firms have some differences it is apparent they all are engaged in a level of marketing standardization in the foreign countries they are operating in. For these managers then the issue would be to approach intermarkets with the idea there are advantages particularly in promotion (Okazaki et al., 2006) and products (Chung, 2007b) that favor a correlation between standardization and profits.Nevertheless, on the process side because of the inconsistency in several studies more caution should be applied when considering standardizing process methods. With limited correlation to profit performance, managers should consider process standardization separately from performance given its limited positive affect on a firm's profit. As expressed by Townsend et al. (2004, p. 18) with regard to process in the study \"the effect of global product process on global marketing outcomes is not [statistically] significant.\"\nLimitations and future research: There are a number of limitations in the study. First, the study is limited to multinational firms from the highly industrialized economies of Australia, Japan and the USA, doing global business in an average of 25 foreign countries worldwide. From this perspective a greater number of host countries and regions would be desirable. Executives could be surveyed from firms in emerging or non-Triad and heterogeneous economies providing additional insights on this important topic. Second, other component selections particularly organizational structure, decision-making process influenced by cultural differences (Hofstede, 1980) on management and industry structure influencing marketing dimensions (Theodosiou and Leonidou, 2003) could offer further insights and contribute to the literature. Greater depth and understanding of process constructs could lead to methods marginalizing differences in order to develop consistency of results.In affect the conditions in which a firm will be able to optimize its position in the global marketplace is subject to its ability to manage the organization relative to structure, strategy and processes as requirements ensuring performance success. Regardless of what unfolds in the next research phase it seems the convergence of consumer preferences into a predictable reference point of commonality for marketers as predicted by Levitt (1983) and numerous other researchers has not yet arrived but appears to be inevitable. At this point in time it would be equally unreasonable to postulate that the only viable strategy is one based on strategic marketing that is solely standardized and in every case profitable. Further research should be able to clarify the tools and the clues firms need in developing an effective GMS.Opens in a new window.Table I\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Globalization has fostered greater interest in all aspects of standardization theory including the 4Ps of the marketing mix or program and process marketing. The purpose of this paper is to probe the question: \"Is there a benefit to the firm's strategy of marketing standardization that correlates positively to the firm's profit?\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Multinational firms from Australia, Japan and the USA operating in a global environment were studied in order to correlate marketing standardization to profit performance. Several methods of analysis were used including regression and analysis of variance measures.\nFindings: - The results indicate there is increasing support for a strategy of standardizing marketing mix components and contributing to a firm's profit performance.\nOriginality/value: - The paper adds to the current literature by providing further empirical research correlating marketing mix standardization to profit.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Science and technology foresight baker's dozen: a pocket primer of comparative and combined foresight methods
|
[
"Forward planning",
"Delphi method",
"Perceptual mapping"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nI. Introduction: This paper aims to fill a perceived gap in the tool bag of a recent or novice foresight practitioner - namely the need for a quickly accessible and concise overview of the main methods being employed in contemporary foresight, and some guidance on when and how one can select or combine several methods within a single project or focus area to achieve the best results. The intention is that such a primer can be easily reproduced into a format suitable and portable for foresight project managers to consult when in project meetings to design foresight processes and select methods. The key here is to balance brevity and scope, so the primer is neither oriented to describing new research on methods, nor does it seek to open the door to deeper analysis - it provides a concise - in your pocket style - introduction and overview. What the authors have tried to emphasize additionally is how rarely these methods are used alone, so considerations of combined effectiveness are also included where applicable. Using a matrix table plus some text analysis and diagrams, a concise review of the dominant and most innovative tools for framing technology foresight processes will be developed and summarized. The intention is that the main table and diagrams can be easily copied to a standard poster or made into a pocket pamphlet for those who wish to carry the primer with them.The insights will be derived from the authors' foresight design and management experience, from inputs and discussions and from relevant literature sources. It is envisioned that this will only be pocket primer no. 1, with further editions expected in the future, as more diverse experience is gained with these methods and new approaches are tried and tested.\nII. What is science and technology foresight?: The paper refers to both science and technology (S&T) foresight and foresight, which the authors distinguish only in terms of whether the focus is explicitly on insights and trends or implications derived from science and technology or not, recognizing that in most instances both are heavily influenced by socio-economic factors, and therefore the distinction usually is not particularly significant. Because foresight is still an emergent phenomenon, there is no single widely recognized definition that fits all circumstances. Here are four descriptions that Canadian foresight practice[1] has used and which have served its needs well. The differences are minimal - more to do with audience orientation than any substantive alternatives in approach or substance (see Figures 1-4)The nuances associated with these four renditions of foresight are worth mentioning since they target important elements of foresight practice:* foresight offers both variety and scope in being able to dedicate a range of tools and approaches - and we have chosen to focus on 13 as detailed below;* there is an explicit focus on multiple futures and time frames that can in most instances range from five to 25 years, and sometimes beyond in both directions - e.g. 3-40 years;* a commitment to some sort of application of the results to decision regarding strategy, research and development (R&D) planning and policy usually fairly explicit; and* the process is understood to require participants to engage in understanding and learning about risk, uncertainty and preparedness, and to delve deeper into the drivers and impacts of prospective change\nIII. Systemic foresight methodology and foresight integration: As foresight practice has evolved, become diversified and involved many more participants and approaches during the 1980s till the present, it has emerged that the most dynamic and insightful activities are those that have required the use of multiple tools and approaches - usually starting with some sort of scanning, including a research or mapping phase and then either moving into scenarios, expert panels or one of the more analytical and modeling tools discussed below. Since the real objective is increased understanding, learning, readiness and wisdom, our expectation is that over time a much more robust body of experience will be available to guide new entrants to the field. Figures 1 and 2 present a methodological framework, namely systemic foresight methodology (SFM) (Saritas, 2006) for understanding how diverse perspectives - and tools - really should be regarded as part of an overall learning and action- change management system.The SFM sets out to create systemic concepts that are useable for future-oriented idea creation in complex human and social systems. The SFM considers the foresight activity as a \"systemic inquiry\" which structures a systems-based debate to formulate the basic \"mental acts\" of:* systemic understanding;* systems synthesis and modeling;* systemic analysis and selection;* systemic transformation; and* systemic action.The mental acts aim at guiding foresight practitioners to set their agendas for the different phases of the foresight activity and to give direction to their thinking processes. The benefits of this approach lies in its systemic guiding to the design of a foresight methodology, which fits well with the context and content of the exercise, and thus to decision making involved in thinking about the future and connecting the future with the present.The mental acts explain how systems such as human and social systems, industrial and sectoral systems, and innovation systems are understood, approached and intervened for a successful change process. They follow each other, as the steps of the Foresight process, but they are iterative and can be repeated as many times until the practitioners believe that their complete function has been fulfilled (Figure 5). The following sections describe each phase briefly.Systemic understanding\nIV. SFM and the use of methods: Methods are the tools to be used as part of the means to explore ideas, acquire information and data, clarify situations and negotiate solutions. Strengthened by the ideas of systems thinking, Foresight will not be a methodologically \"systematic\" activity. Rather, it will create its own methodological approaches by considering the nature of the issue at hand and its context. Consequently, situations and models will drive the methodology in systems thinking. It is due to, first, the peculiarities of each situation and, second, the subjective interpretation of those peculiarities, the SFM does not attempt to impose any methods from the earlier phases of the systemic inquiry.Instead of putting the methods at the forefront of investigation, the SFM suggests a more conceptual and flexible \"thought process\", which starts with the \"understanding\" of situations. Systemic foresight process benefits from a pool of available foresight and forecasting methods and other planning and policy tools. In the scope of this paper it is considered to be useful to specify various methods, which might be of use for each phase of the foresight process (Figure 6).Each column in Figure 6 indicates one phase of the systemic foresight process. What these figures demonstrate is that although we tend to work with and focus on individual tools, our vantage points and mental acts and methods are inherently systemic and that it is the totality of the learning that provides the insight, not reliance upon a single tool. The tools listed above involve a certain degree of information input, creativity, expertise and participation. The list can be extended with other methods given that they fulfill the functions of different phases described above. It is important to note that the use of tools will also be determined by available resources, including expertise, skills, time and budget along with the level and type of participation required. In total 13 of these tools have been selected for more in depth commentary in Table I.Figures 7 and 8, developed by Geoff Woodling and the Business Future Network[2], illustrate how the foresight learning process needs to be focused on the Outside-In and that learning from contact with diverse sources well beyond one's own organization produces insights as well as new connections and discoveries that represent creative energy for the process of foresight. Table I captures our current assessment of the tools that are either most familiar or that we believe represent the most promising future directions for institutional investments in foresight. An average of five sources is referenced under each tool for those who would want to pursue more in depth advice and experience.Figure 7 raises the importance of obtaining or including foresight perspective from beyond or outside the normal frames of reference - moving to ask each other about what the limits of their knowledge are and what might be not yet perceived - the region of the \"unknown unknowns\".\nV. Managing foresight: practical advice and experience: See Table I.\nVI. Summary and conclusions: The above review of tools and systemic factors and perspectives has been designed to highlight the directions that we believe S&T foresight is moving and has to move further in its ongoing evolution as a thriving, emergent and convergent field of learning and strategy, policy and action. Clearly our assessment is that integrative, systemic foresight, combining multiple perspectives and tools will be the dominant pathway toward the future. As that future grows ever more complex and challenging, the tools will need to become more powerful and consistent, with protocols likely to emerge with respect to how combinations of: computational power, new insights into how humans cope with change, and impact understanding through dynamic simulation sequencing can begin to deliver real adaptive and futures guidance to society with respect to both major actions and contingent investments that we as a society need to make to realize emerging opportunities.To conclude the Bakers\" Dozen, we offer 13 insights, (all bound by the letter C[3])- consisting of some key aspects of S&T foresight management and tools deployment that every practitioner should be reminded of when planning future foresight projects:1. Foresight is first and foremost about learning to understand change - and thereby to better anticipate the disruptions and opportunities it may deliver.2. Foresight requires commitment, clarity of purpose and appreciation by the players and the sponsors so that its capabilities can be realized.3. Champions are necessary - they signal relevance and forward readiness to embrace the results - otherwise a sense of futility abounds.4. Good foresight is fundamentally collaborative - i.e. the real synergies lie with those who are collectively sharing their insights and stimulating each other - and the presence of these collaborators is also essential for its credibility.5. Foresight is a participant activity - not a spectator sport and people want it to be a consultative process and have their ideas considered. - i.e. we are all stakeholders in the future.6. Foresight is more about conversations and rich stories about varied dimensions of life experience than just analytics or data - after all there is no real data on the future, just projections, assumptions and implications from present data.7. Computation and simulation are, however, becoming indispensable for managing the complexities of future variables and the enormous range of drivers, factors and implications we are finding applicable to the scale of foresight challenges,8. And, yes, challenging convention and being or at least including some iconoclastic perspectives is useful to ensure reasonable variety.9. To extend this aspect, of the importance of variety, good foresight needs diversity and multiple, plausible alternatives that explore the dynamic edges where change is most active -because quite often our experience has been that the most astute insights arise from explicitly critical thinking.10. This in turn contributes to the process being designed to encourage creativity - which becomes a key asset to the project, especially in attracting creative individuals.11. This being said, foresight also needs to record, capture and evaluate the information it generates - otherwise much of the value will be lost.12. And to best enable good capture, the use of the tools described above should be both concurrent and connected - whereby multiple tools enable participants to share different aspects of their knowledge and experience.13. Finally - it is ultimately about communications - at every level and covering strategy, delivery, and follow-up actions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to fill a perceived gap in the tool bag of a foresight practitioner - namely the need for a quickly accessible and concise overview of the main methods being employed in contemporary foresight, and some guidance on when and how one can select or combine several methods within a single project or focus area to achieve the best results. The intention is that such a primer can be easily reproduced into a format suitable and portable for managers to consult when in project meetings to design foresight processes and select methods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using a matrix table plus some text analysis and diagrams, a concise review of the dominant and most innovative tools for framing technology foresight processes is developed and summarized.\nFindings: - The paper produces 13 foresight methods classified, summarized and referenced with a limited selection of literature references.\nPractical implications: - The intention is that the main table and diagrams can be easily copied to a standard poster or made into a pocket pamphlet for those who wish to carry the primer with them.\nOriginality/value: - The insights in the paper are derived from the authors' foresight design and management experience, from inputs and discussions and from relevant literature sources. It is envisioned that this will be only the first pocket primer, with further editions expected in the future, as more diverse experience is gained with these methods and new approaches are tried and tested.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Customer loyalty in Sabah full service restaurant
|
[
"Satisfaction",
"Loyalty",
"Customer innovativeness",
"Transaction specific characteristics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The foodservice industry is a significant part of Malaysia's economy and consumers' spending. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2015, 2017), the composition of monthly household consumption expenditure for restaurants and hotels in 2009 and 2014 were 10.9 and 12.7 percent, respectively. As of 2012, there were an estimated 30,721 consumer foodservice outlets operating in Malaysia, of which 10,231 were full-service restaurants (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2014). In 2015, the full-service restaurant industry only experienced a 1.1 percent growth from the year before and 4.3 percent from year 2012 (Euromonitor International, 2016). Impressively, the full-service restaurant sector restaurant recorded a 4 percent in sales transactions growth and total sales value of MYR 14,594.4m in year 2018 (Euromonitor International, 2019). Due to the abundance of affordable cuisine, dining out has become a common phenomenon in Malaysia. More than 64 percent of Malaysians eat at least one meal per day outside their homes, and 12.5 percent have at least one meal that is bought from outside (Euromonitor International, 2015).\nInfluences of transaction specific characteristics on satisfaction and loyalty: Value-percept theory and transaction specific model\nMethodology: Utilizing the value-percept theory and the transaction specific model, this study examined a specific set of the transaction attributes such as food quality, service quality, price, convenience and atmosphere on customer satisfaction and loyalty dimensions. The data collection was performed in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Despite being the poorest states in Malaysia, Sabah's economy has experiencing an encouraging growth of 4.5 percent in year 2016. This is partly contributed by the growth rate of 5.7 percent in the food and beverages sector per se, with a notable economic value of RM15bn for both products and beverages combined (The Borneo Post, 2017). The encouraging numbers of tourist arrivals also encourage the booming of the food and beverages industry, including the full-service restaurants. Unfortunately, published data on full-service restaurant context are critically lacking, which implies a need for future examination.\nFindings and discussion: The majority of the respondents were Malay and Bumiputera (50 percent), female (64 percent), aged between 18-30 years old (51.6 percent), had a bachelor's degree (37.8 percent), earned less than RM3,000 per month (53.4 percent), frequented chain restaurants (77.3 percent) and dine out more than siven times a month (52 percent).\nImplications and limitations: Food is argued to be the \"fundamental model of consumption\" to Asian consumers and the dynamic trends in the Asian market cause the Asian food consumption market an interesting site to examine (Seo et al., 2015, p. 502). The strong growth experienced by the Malaysian full-service restaurant sector (Euromonitor International, 2019) implies the need of more full-service restaurant related studies. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of the examination of transaction specific characteristics in the Malaysian full-service restaurant industry context which has yet to gain much attention from researchers. In Malaysia scenario for instance, Ling et al. (2011) studied the fast food industry; Nikbin et al. (2013) and Basri et al. (2016) studied fine dining restaurants. Whilst Camillo and Karim (2014) conducted a study on Italian restaurant industry in Malaysia, Bihamta et al. (2017) examine food quality in Malaysian hotel restaurants. However, all of these studies examined different variables in different restaurant formats.\nFuture research and conclusion: It is fruitful for future research to continue the practice of conceptualizing customer loyalty in terms of behavioral and attitudinal while at the same time exploring new dimensions of customer loyalty. Future researchers should examine the effect of differing degrees of satisfaction on customer loyalty. As Jones and Sasser (1995) suggested, merely satisfying customer expectations may not be enough to keep them loyal. Only customers who are totally satisfied are truly loyal customers. The level of loyalty intensity represented by the behavioral and attitudinal sub-dimension of loyalty could be an interesting research area. Are all three loyalty dimensions possess equal weightage? Comparing to intention to spread positive WoM is intention to repatronage harder to be influenced by satisfaction? Is commitment the hardest form of loyalty to be formed? In addition, as important as it is to examine customer satisfaction, it is also important to examine customer dissatisfaction and its effect on customer loyalty.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Loyal customers are committed to repeat patronage, make business referrals and provide publicity for the business. However, rising customer expectations and price consciousness, advancement of technology, lack of product differentiation and consumer choices have posted more challenges for customer retention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between transaction specific characteristics (i.e. food quality, service quality, atmosphere, convenience and price perception), customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (behavioral and attitudinal loyalties) in the context of Sabah full-service restaurant. The mediating effect of customer satisfaction and moderating effect of customer innovativeness were also tested.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 225 valid questionnaires was collected via purposive sampling method and analyzed using Smart-PLS software 3.0.\nFindings: All transaction specific characteristics have positive influences on customer satisfaction with price perception as the strongest predictor. Satisfaction had stronger effect on behavioral loyalty as compared to attitudinal loyalty. The mediating effects of customer satisfaction were only found in some of the relationships. None of the moderating effects of customer innovativeness was significant.\nOriginality/value: Utilizing the value-percept theory and transaction specific model which combine the evaluations of service and product elements of the full-service restaurant, this study contributed to the better understanding of the relationships between transaction specific characteristics, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The examination of both attitudinal and behavioral loyalties provided valuable insights to practitioners and researchers in understanding full-service restaurant consumers' repatronage intention, intention to spread positive words-of-mouth (WoM) and commitment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Leadership development strategy: the missing links
|
[
"India",
"Leadership development",
"Leadership development strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Leadership development is a strategic imperative (Day and Dragoni, 2015). In addition, it is argued that leadership contributes to business performance and competitive advantage (Avolio, 2010). This has led to the acceleration of leadership development in organizations (Day and Dragoni, 2015). Van Velsor et al. (2010) describe leadership development as expanding the collective capacity of organizational members to produce direction, alignment, and commitment. Varied approaches exist, including competency assessments, classroom sessions, 360-degree feedback, coaching, mentoring, and action learning, but most fall short of developing the desired leadership capability (Conger, 2010; Van Velsor et al., 2010). Based on the literature review, and participant experiences, this paper attempts to identify the gaps and recommends a framework for effective leadership development strategy.\nMethodology: The study uses a qualitative approach to examine leadership development strategies in India. In total, 127 leadership development participants and stakeholders from 17 organizations participated in the study. The first author was the program anchor in two organizations. The programs were rolled out for junior and middle-management high-potential employees. Participant selection was based on past performance, manager nomination, and assessment centers. Program duration ranged from 3 to 12 months, based on the organization need, leadership strategy, training budgets, and HR priorities. A 9 to 12-month program was typical across the organizations, comprising classroom modules (on managing self, others, business, and strategy), 360-degree feedback, coaching, and action learning project. The shorter-duration programs had only 360-degree feedback and coaching.\nFindings: The respondents' initial reaction to the program design and learning outcomes was positive:\nDiscussion: It is evident that despite the prevalence of leadership development, a gap exists in terms of a clearly articulated leadership development strategy. The lack of business alignment, leadership support, learning opportunities, and individual aspiration fulfillment is visible, and their importance is understated. Likewise, inadequate attention to the HR processes seems to be a weak link. There is, thus, a need to focus on a more contextual view to leadership development. Based on the findings, our experiences and the literature, a six-step integrated approach is proposed for effective leadership development strategy.\nConclusion: Leadership development is crucial for building leadership capability (Day et al., 2014). Approaches to development are varied but posit inadequate attention to context. This, in turn, impedes their effectiveness. Effective leadership development calls for a more contextual and integrated approach. Day and Dragoni (2015) suggest that the best leadership development strategy aligns to business demands, engages stakeholders, defines leadership in context, supports participant aspirations, and integrates HR processes. In answer to this call, this study proposes a six-step integrated approach to leadership development based on key constructs. From the practitioner's perspective, this study contributes to the field of leadership development by challenging the relevance of current approaches. It also adds to the scholarly literature on leadership development in the context of the organization and the individual. This will hopefully enable insights to further the practice and thought on leadership development and improve the return on such investments.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Current volatile environments, business complexity, and leadership gaps are compelling organizations to deploy effective leadership development strategies. Fueled by competitive growth and people challenges, efforts continue to scale up but fail to create the desired leaders. This paper aims to address the missing links and calls for new ways of deploying leadership development strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Qualitative data on experiential feedback have been collected from participants and stakeholders of leadership development programs in Indian organizations.\nFindings: An integrated six-step approach to leadership development has been proposed for scholars and practitioners.\nPractical implications: From the practitioner's perspective, this study contributes to the field of leadership development by challenging the relevance of current approaches. It also adds to the scholarly literature on leadership development in the context of the organization and the individual.\nOriginality/value: Current studies in the area of leadership development in the Indian context are scarce.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
How leaders influence followers through the use of nonverbal communication
|
[
"Nonverbal behavior",
"Leadership development",
"Leader nonverbal immediacy",
"Hand gestures"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Pundits, bloggers, and the news media have commented on the meaning of nonverbal communication for political figures, and business leaders around the world use nonverbal communication in their speeches to various audiences. Little research exists on whether leaders are aware of their gestures or how their nonverbal communication is perceived by their viewers, as either positive or negative. Research has focussed on the verbal message of a leader as a single channel of communication (Shriberg, 2005), but there is less research on whether verbal channels of communication convey the real meaning and acceptance of the speech or whether the nonverbal channel has more influence. Two lines of research note that some nonverbal channels of communication are spontaneous while others are intentional messages used in a strategic manner (Buck and VanLear, 2002). Research by Choi et al. (2009) noted that observers are capable of perceiving and interpreting nonverbal communication as a way to interpret the perception as either attractive or distancing. This research showed that the attraction between a leader and his or her follower is determined by the nonverbal communication which is displayed by the leader, and the follower's perception and interpretation of the meaning of these nonverbal messages (Choi et al., 2009).\nThe experiment: In this experiment, we showed participants (n=210) one of three videos depicting a leader presenting a positive message to followers. The independent variable, hand gestures, consists of three levels: positive hand gestures, defensive hand gestures, and no (neutral) hand gestures. Each one minute video contained either positive hand gestures, defensive hand gestures, or no hand gestures.\nMethod: Participants (male=89; female=121) were drawn from a proprietary database currently used to provide a free e-zine to subscribers on a monthly basis. Subscribers to this database are business professionals either employed or self-employed. Participants made themselves available to take the survey, thereby achieving a convenience sample.\nProcedure: The survey and three videos were uploaded to SurveyMonkey. The random assignment function (also known as A/B splits) allowed random assignment of participants into different groups to view one of the three videos. An e-mail invitation was sent out to subscribers to the e-zine. A link to SurveyMonkey was included. Participants who chose to participate signed a consent form, answered demographic questions, viewed a one minute video (randomly assigned), and answered the survey questions.\nResults: A two-way analysis of variance yielded a main effect for the video groups F(2, 204)=33.97, p<0.001. Post hoc analysis using Tukey's HSD revealed that positive hand gestures group reported significantly higher NIS-O scores than the no hand gesture and defensive hand gesture groups, which did not differ significantly from each other (positive gestures M=2.4, no gestures M=-21.6, defensive gestures=-19.2). Neither the main effect for gender was significant F(1, 204)=0.04, p=0.852, nor was the interaction between video group and gender F(2, 204)=1.37, p=0.26, as noted in Table I. This establishes that positive hand gestures do create attraction by viewers.\nDiscussion: The purpose of the study was to provide empirical evidence to support new theory: certain specific hand gestures are more effective than others at creating immediacy between the leader and the followers. Based on nothing more than clinical experience, it was possible to derive at least one group of hand gestures (positive) that outperformed the defensive hand gestures and no hand gestures groups. To date, no one has experimentally investigated the role of specific hand gestures and the perception of leader attraction. Leader nonverbal communication, particularly hand gestures, can be easily observed from the beginning to the end of an interaction by a follower. If a leader is to be more effective in creating the emotional connection with followers in order to create change, then understanding what meaning his or her hand gestures create on the part of the follower is critical to success.\nRecommendations for future study: This study is the beginning of expanding past research to create a new dimension to nonverbal behavior, its meaning, and the impact on followers. This study is limited as a pilot study establishing differences between specific hand gestures for the first time. Furthermore the limited information on the sample's demographics only allows gender to be considered as a covariate while other demographic variables of possible importance, such as age cannot be adequately assessed in this study. Future research can further refine differences between specific hand gestures, generalize these differences to the population, and assess the effects on additional outcomes beyond immediacy.\nConclusion: The purpose of this study was to investigate subsets of iconic hand gestures of a leader to determine what meaning they create for followers. Extant research has noted that emotions, or nonverbal communication, are leaked through facial expressions or body gestures; this study suggests that the use of some specific hand gestures may be more effective than others. Our current research can act as a motivator for leaders to fast forward relationships with followers through the use of specific hand gestures. The empirical evidence from this research study provides leaders with the external motivation to change in order to connect and communicate more effectively with followers. The data informs leaders of opportunities for personal and professional growth by developing and understanding the nuances of nonverbal behavior, particularly specific hand gestures, in order to create nonverbal immediacy with followers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the relationship between a leader's use of nonverbal immediacy (specific hand gestures) and followers' attraction to the leader. This study provides initial evidence that certain hand gestures are more effective than others at creating immediacy between leaders and followers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In an experimental study, participants (male=89; female=121) were shown one of three videos of an actor, as leader, using three positive hand gestures, three defensive hand gestures, and no hand gestures, which have not been previously operationalized (and were grouped arbitrarily by the experimenter). Three hypotheses were tested using a 3x2 ANOVA (by group and gender) for main and interactional effects.\nFindings: The independent variable, positive hand gestures (M=2.4), was perceived by participants as more immediate than the other two independent variables, defensive hand gestures (M=-19.2) or no hand gestures (M=-21.6). Analysis of data indicate that participants perceived leaders with no hand gestures and defensive hand gestures to be distant or non-immediate and the leader with positive hand gestures to be more immediate or attractive.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is limited as a pilot study establishing differences between specific hand gestures for the first time.\nPractical implications: The research provides initial evidence that the hand gestures arbitrarily defined as \"positive\" create more immediacy between the followers and the leader than usage of \"negative\" gestures and no gestures.\nSocial implications: The current research can act as a motivator for leaders to fast forward relationships with followers through the use of specific hand gestures.\nOriginality/value: The results suggest the possibility that some hand gestures are more effective than others.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Exploring the generalizability of discriminant word items and latent topics in online tourist reviews
|
[
"Social media",
"Online reviews",
"Quality management",
"SVM",
"LDA",
"Text mining"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Online reviews have become highly important information sources during a consumer's decision-making process (Ye et al., 2011). Consumers increasingly seek peers' experiences when preparing to buy products or services (Xie et al., 2014). Hence, research has heavily increased over the past decade investigating how and why online reviews influence consumers' booking and buying behaviors. Research further investigates relevant issues dealing with overall rating scales, review environments and evaluation processes influencing the creation of online reviews and subsequently influencing their readers. Research results illustrate how negatively rated properties are significantly related to online reviews containing severe complaints and negative emotions, whereas evidently, positive online reviews carry more positive emotions toward the product or service provider (Hong and Lee, 2005; Vermeulen and Seegers, 2009; Maurer and Schaich, 2011; Dickinger and Lalicic, 2013). These findings hint at specific underlying keywords and latent topic structures in review reports. According to Bronner and de Hoog (2011) the various review environments and rating scales depict different ways of how tourists review their tourist experience. Tourists tend to express detailed information when posting a complaint and express themselves more negatively when writing reviews compared to blogs (Bronner and de Hoog, 2011; Munar and Jacobsen, 2014).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Reviews and tourism\n3. Methodology: The master sample of the present study comprises 3,094 customer reviews with subsamples of hotels (1,050), restaurants (1,000) and touristic sights or attractions (1,044). The review reports originate from the third-party review website TripAdvisor and were collected in July 2015. To achieve contrasting groups of positive and negative reviews, reports giving overall ratings of five stars (1,758 \"good\" reviews) and one star (1,336 \"bad\" reviews) were selected. The three subsamples contain about the same 6:4 ratio of positive and negative reports. By removing extra white spaces, punctuation and the stop words of the English language the text corpus was purified. Upper cases were changed into lower cases. Word stemming would have caused too much loss of information and therefore was not applied. Particularly, the potential difference in word use of nouns (\"comfort\", \"satisfaction\") versus adjectives (\"comfortable\", \"satisfying\" or \"satisfactory\") should be preserved. Random split-half processing of all four corpora (total sample, hotels, restaurants and attractions) provided the training and validation subsamples. Text mining, tourism application and computing differ in jargon. Thus, for ease of understanding, the following synonyms should be kept in mind: document = review report; corpus = collection of documents = sample of review reports; term = word item = variable. The synonyms will be used according to the context.\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive text properties\n5. Conclusion, limitations and directions for future research: Plenty of research about online tourist reviews has investigated the various factors influencing the writer, the reader and the objects of customer reports. However, research remains inconclusive about what one may learn from online reviews as a knowledge asset of customer semantics. To provide hospitality and tourism managers with useful tools to extract underlying knowledge from online reviews, this study illustrates two methods serving this purpose. It analyzed both single word items and latent topics in reviews of three service sectors which are constituents of the tourist experience.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Online reviews have been gaining relevance in hospitality and tourism management and represent an important research avenue for academia. This study aims to illustrate the discrimination between positive and negative reviews based on single word items and the sector-specific relevance of hidden topics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By probing two parallel approaches of entirely unrelated analytical methods (penalized support vector machines and Latent Dirichlet Allocation), the analysts explore differences in language between favorable and unfavorable reviews in three service settings (hotels, restaurants and attractions).\nFindings: The percentage of correctly predicted positive and negative review reports by means of individual word items does not decrease if reports from the three tourism businesses are analyzed together.\nOriginality/value: However, there is limited generalizability of the discriminant words across the three businesses. Also, the latent topics relevant for generating customers' review reports differ significantly between the three sectors of tourism businesses.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Interruptions in online training and their effects on learning
|
[
"Employee learning",
"E-learning",
"Training and development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The studies of interruptions and their effect on performance have become a very popular topic among various scientific communities, as well as the popular press, because of the vast amount of multi-tasking and work fragmentation that is occurring in the workplace. Interruptions are typically defined as uncontrollable, unpredictable events that produce information overload (Cohen, 1980), \"require immediate attention\" and \"insist on action\" (Covey, 1989, pp. 150-152). In 2005, the information technology research firm Basex estimated that interruptions create an economic cost of $588bn a year (Spira and Feintuch, 2005). Research conducted by Mark et al. (2005) found workers taking an average of 25 min to return to their primary task after experiencing an interruption, and in a study conducted by O'Conaill and Frohlich (1995), workers who were interrupted did not resume to their primary task 41 per cent of the time. Past research has generally concluded that interruptions can be very disruptive to work.\nOverview: As noted earlier, interruptions are typically defined as uncontrollable, unpredictable events that produce information overload (Cohen, 1980), \"require immediate attention\" and \"insist on action\" (Covey, 1989, pp. 150-152). Most research studying the impact of interruptions stems from the domains of aviation, medicine, marketing, military and driving, in which interruptions have been posited to have important consequences. For example, interruptions experienced by pilots during preflight checklists have been blamed for multiple aviation crashes (National Transportation Safety Board, 1969, 1988), and interruptions have been related to emergency room events (Chisholm et al., 2000, 2001) and nursing errors (Tucker and Spear, 2006).\nA typology of interruptions during online training: Prior research suggests that interruptions generally vary across three main dimensions: temporal factors, content and urgency (Gillie and Broadbent, 1989; Speier et al., 2003; Zijlstra et al., 1999). In the sections that follow, it is discussed how specific interruption characteristics within each of these dimensions may manifest in the types of interruptions observed during e-learning (Table I). In addition, these characteristics are used to distinguish among the different types of interruptions that may occur during e-learning and begin to explore the potential implications of these interruption characteristics for learning. In particular, the different interruption characteristics are linked to the cognitive, motivational and affective processes that are critical for successful learning (Table II).\nMethod: Procedure\nResults: In total, 62 per cent of the sample reported participating in their e-learning at their work desk. The remaining 38 per cent of the sample reported participating in a combination of places, including their home, work environment and outside both their home and work environment; 48 per cent of the sample reported participating in their e-learning during regular work hours, 23 per cent reported participating during personal time, and the remaining participants reported using a combination of these methods; 82 per cent of the sample reported that their training was internet/intranet-based, and the remaining sample reported using a combination of e-learning formats, including internet/intranet, CD-ROM, video and podcasts.\nDiscussion: The goal of this study was to gain a better sense of the prevalence and types of interruptions e-learners experience. The findings of this study indicated that the most frequent interruption participants encountered during their training was from coworkers, which is consistent with prior work in this area (Cellier and Eyrolle, 1992). However, participants also cited computer malfunctions, supervisors, and family/friends as common sources of interruptions. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that interruptions were occasionally self-generated, which is an interruption source that was not originally included in the typology. Respondents reported that they needed to \"take a break to rest\" or \"purposefully decided to complete part of the online training and come back after other activities.\" Self-generated interruptions counter the traditional definition of an interruption, which states that interruptions are \"an externally generated, randomly occurring, discrete event that breaks continuity of cognitive focus on a primary task\" (Corragio, 1990, p. 19); however, it is seemingly the case that self-generated interruptions exist more through internal and self-controllable processes. Thus, with this type of interruption, it is relevant to explore what prompts individuals to take a break from training.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the types of interruptions learners experience during online training and their effects on learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An internet-based survey was distributed to individuals who experienced interruptions during e-learning to uncover common characteristics. A conceptual framework relating interruption characteristics to self-regulatory facets of learning is discussed.\nFindings: The study reveals that e-learners experience computer malfunctions, supervisors and family/friends as common sources of interruptions. The survey also reveals that interruptions are occasionally self-generated.\nOriginality/value: This paper synthesizes the interruption and self-regulated learning literatures and provides a framework for understanding how interruptions affect online learning. This framework can be used by practitioners and scholars for future research and testing interrupted e-learning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Brand as credible commitment in embedded licensing: a transaction cost perspective
|
[
"Licensing",
"Brands",
"Transaction costs",
"Complementary assets",
"Brand embedded licensing",
"Standard licensing",
"Credible commitment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Licensing technology to international markets, as it deals with a highly specialized product, has been considered an important and efficient way of marketing technology (Di Benedetto et al., 2003; Kotabe et al., 1996). There is a growing research interest in the area of international collaboration through technology licensing (Jiang et al., 2009; Somaya et al., 2010). For example, technology licensing has been exploited as a vehicle for harnessing the complementary capabilities of partners for cooperative technology commercialization (Rothaermel and Boeker, 2008; Teece, 1986, 1992). Licensing is a way of enhancing partner relationships (Hagedoorn et al., 2009; Jiang et al., 2007; Jiang et al., 2009), and exclusive licensing is used to enforce partner investment in supporting technology commercialization (Somaya et al., 2010). However, while research in technology licensing has emphasized technology as a critical resource in establishing relationships between partners, it has neglected brand names, which serve as another important resource for licensing.For technology licensing, a licensor firm has two options: first, standard licensing (technology only) and second, embedded licensing (technology and brand name combined). The distinction between standard licensing and embedded licensing is that the commercialized products belong strictly to the licensees in standard licensing, while those in embedded licensing are shared between the licensor and licensee. Specifically, the brand name embedded in commercialized products creates a merger of tangible assets (the products manufactured) from the licensee and intangible assets (the trademark or the brand name) from the licensor in an embedded licensing relationship (Anon, 1963), while no such merger occurs in standard licensing. The agreement between Nokia and Digital Fountain, a supplier of Forward Error Correction technology for reliable communications, is an example of standard licensing (BusinessWire, 2005). Dupont's licensing of its Taslan air-texturing technology, together with its trademark, to Heberlein Mashinefabrik AG of Switzerland is an example of embedded licensing (Maycumber, 1997).Ignoring the difference between standard licensing and embedded licensing is much like missing the demarcation between a non-equity-based relationship and an equity-based one. As such, it is necessary to differentiate the two types of licensing precisely in theory and examine why licensor firms choose one type of licensing over the other when marketing their technologies in new markets. We believe that standard licensing leans towards a market-based organizational structure, while embedded licensing more closely resembles a hierarchy-based one due to the \"merger of assets\" between licensing partners. For embedded licensing, the marketing of commercialized products in the licensee's market is no longer the unilateral effort of the licensee but the joint concern of both sides. Though brand exposure in the licensee's market will bring long-term benefits for the licensor firm's future direct entry to the market, one big concern of the licensor firm is the erosion of its brand's value if the licensee firm fails to maintain the quality standard. As a result, the selection of standard licensing or embedded licensing is a strategic concern for a licensor firm, particularly given the increased market uncertainties associated with entering a foreign market (Kedia and Bhagat, 1988).In this paper, we draw attention to the under-researched but frequently used brand-embedded licensing by examining the theoretical distinction between embedded licensing and standard licensing. Drawing on the transaction cost perspective and previous licensing literature, we identify three categories of determining factors for licensing types, namely asset specificity, endogenous uncertainty, and exogenous uncertainty from both sides of the partnership. As the basic conditions for technology licensing are intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and technology change (Contractor, 1980), these relationships are further examined by two conditional variables, the strength of the IPR regime and the pace of technology change, in terms of their moderation effects. We contribute to the literature by challenging the classical view of technology licensing as an arm's-length relationship and arguing that embedded licensing is a quasi-hierarchical relationship; this carries a clear theoretical implication that technology licensing should not be treated merely as a rent-collecting tool but should, more importantly, be considered as a strategic market entry tool.\nStandard licensing vs embedded licensing: Traditionally, licensing has been assumed to be a market-based transaction. In the marketing literature, technology licensing has been thought of as a tool to penetrate markets (Kotabe et al., 1996). Licensing is the extension of marketing activities into new markets, and licensees serve as agents for the marketing department (Bergen et al., 1992). The licensor grants the licensee the rights of commercializing the licensed technology in the licensee's market in exchange for economic gains (i.e. a licensing fee or royalty). The international business literature, in explaining multinational corporations' market entry strategies, usually considers licensing to be a market-based activity in contrast to other equity-related collaborations (e.g. Adam et al., 1988; Arora and Fosfuri, 2000). Yet, Hagedoorn et al. (2009) point out that a licensing agreement can be implanted in a broader relationship, going beyond a single act of transferring technology from a licensor to a licensee, particularly when the resources are shared between the two partners in activities such as in R&D collaboration, manufacturing, or marketing.In this study, we draw attention to one particular but commonly occurring type of technology licensing - brand-embedded technology licensing - as it is a frequently used means for market entry. For example, Hewlett-Packard encourages a combined way of licensing its technology together with its brand because \"the HP brand is a magnet for consumers - for printers, PCs, monitors, servers, networking equipment, and a host of other products\" and licensees can enjoy a more effective commercialization of its technology[1]. Somaya et al. (2010) also report observing many cases of embedded licensing from the Securities Data Corporation database between 1990 and 1999.The nature of the licensing relationship can be quite different between standard licensing and embedded licensing. Generally, licensees can serve as a proxy or extension of a licensor's physical existence in a new market. This relationship reflects a division of labour between the two partners. A licensor focuses on the development of technologies, while a licensee concentrates on the commercialization of the technology with its complementary assets, namely the manufacturing and marketing capabilities of the licensee (Teece, 1986). In standard licensing, the final products (before they are on the market) belong to the licensee. The licensee generally controls the quantity as well as the quality of the final products that serve that licensee's market. In embedded licensing, the manufactured products (before they are on the market) are marketed under the licensor's brand name and, therefore, belong to both the licensor and the licensee because these products' intangible component comes from the licensor while the tangible part is made by the licensee. The joint ownership of the manufactured products makes embedded licensing different from standard licensing. We consider the joint ownership of the final products to be a de facto merger of assets between the licensing partners.The licensor thus has a much higher stake in the licensee's market in embedded licensing than in standard licensing because the licensor expects not only an economic return, but also strategic gain from the licensing agreement. Embedded licensing ties the two partners more closely because of the higher degree of common benefits - the competitiveness of the product in question and the upkeep of the brand value (Khanna, 1998). Due to the recognition of the brand name in the world market and the help of technological and managerial support from the licensor, the licensee competes more effectively against its competitors in its market; likewise, the licensor gains from a visible entry in the licensee's market without a foreign direct investment, which paves the way for future actions. The nature of the collaboration between the licensor and the licensee in embedded licensing resembles that of an equity-involved collaboration such as a joint venture, whereas in standard licensing, partners' relationships can be simply economic-based transactions. In this sense, in terms of Williamson's (1975) continuum of governance structure from market to hierarchy, embedded licensing leans more towards the hierarchy mode, while standard licensing leans to the market mode.\nDeterminants and boundary conditions of licensing types: Conceptual framework\nDiscussions and conclusions: This paper draws a meaningful distinction between embedded licensing and standard licensing and suggests that embedded licensing is a relationship-based transaction mode while standard licensing is an arm's-length one. One important contribution of this paper is that it extends the quasi-hierarchical organizational structure to incorporate brand embedded licensing, for the final products of embedded licensing represent a merger of intangible assets from a licensor and tangible assets from a licensee. The merger of assets serves as a bond that upgrades the otherwise arm's-length relationship to a quasi-hierarchical relationship, whereas in standard licensing, such a bond does not exist. As the licensee becomes linked to the licensor's brand name, an identity effect shortens the psychological distance between the two licensing partners and helps build trust between them. The licensor tends to be more cooperative and supportive because brand equity needs to be maintained and the quality of the product needs to be monitored. As a consequence, the licensor is more likely to be involved in the licensee's decision making, not only regarding production, but also marketing activities (Aulakh et al., 1996). Thus, embedded licensing as a mode of entry carries strategic importance for multinational corporations, an issue previously neglected in the literature.One important implication of embedded licensing is that the consideration of embedded licensing as a quasi-hierarchy organizational structure actually suggests that it can be used as an alternative to a joint venture when entering foreign markets. A joint venture is usually considered a real option for multinational corporations entering foreign markets (Kogut, 1991). The problem with the joint-venture-based real option is that the joint venture may end up as a real option for the corporation's partner instead of itself because each partner has the opportunity to acquire the joint venture in the end. Compared to a joint venture, brand embedded licensing is more effective because first, embedded licensing requires lower resource commitment while generating a similar outcome (e.g. a successful brand expansion in the market) to the joint venture, and second, it does not create any controversy regarding who owns the real option. As such, embedded licensing deserves more research in the area of real options theory.Future research can start with an empirical test of the eight propositions developed above. The current difficulties are that archival data pertaining to international technology licensing activities is scarce, particularly for information that should be paired from both sides of the licensing relationship. Second, as embedded licensing has not been examined extensively, there are opportunities to further the literature in this area regarding the \"merger of assets\" phenomenon. For example, such a merger may lead to higher levels of strategic alliance between the licensing partners in the future as the merger creates a long-lasting 'bond.' The licensee becomes more dependent on the licensor because the brand name becomes well known due to the licensee's marketing efforts in the market, while the licensor also becomes more dependent on the licensee in order to keep up the value of the trademark (or brand name) in that same market. Thus, the two partners become more interdependent, which creates the conditions for developing a closer relationship (Williamson, 1984). Such a situation can provide rich opportunities for research using resource dependence theory because there would be a dynamic change in mutual dependence and power imbalance (Casciaro and Piskorski, 2005). Third, there are also opportunities for an examination of the \"market for technologies\" (Arora and Fosfuri, 2003). Currently, marketing theories are established for the \"market for physical goods\", but existing marketing theories may not be able to explain sufficiently the phenomenon in the \"market for technologies\", particularly when there are brand names involved in the exchange of technologies. Finally, we propose that embedded licensing provides rich opportunities for using agency theory because it involves a double separation between control and ownership. The licensee takes control of both the technology and the brand during commercialization, while the licensor holds the ownership of the technology and the brand. An examination of the interaction between the licensor and the licensee will help extend agency theory. We also hope that further research continues to explore and document comparisons between the subsequent performance of both licensors and licensees using embedded licensing and standard licensing.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to study brand embedded licensing (technology licensing and brand licensing combined) and its theoretical difference from standard licensing (technology licensing only). The following research questions are asked: What makes embedded licensing theoretically different from standard licensing, and what determines a licensor's decision to select brand embedded licensing over standard licensing?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper compares brand embedded licensing to standard licensing and argues that brand embedded licensing is a quasi-hierarchical organizational structure, while standard licensing is a market-based structure. Brand embeddedness in licensing serves as a credible commitment from the licensor and induces the licensee to invest sufficiently in complementary assets. Drawing on the transaction cost perspective, the determinants of embedded licensing are examined.\nFindings: - Embedded licensing is determined by both the licensee's characteristics and the licensor's brand characteristics. The licensor is more likely to utilize embedded licensing or the licensee is more willing to demand embedded licensing when: the licensee's specific complementary investment is high; the licensee's complementary capacity is high; the market entry is at a late stage; the licensor uses separate branding; the extent of product differentiation is high; and the stage of brand globalization is advanced. A strong intellectual property rights regime and a fast pace of technology change enhance the effects of these six determining factors on the licensor's selection of embedded licensing.\nOriginality/value: - This paper challenges the classical view that licensing is a market-based relationship by revealing that embedded licensing is a quasi-hierarchical organizational structure.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Combining modelling and simulation approaches: How to measure performance of business processes
|
[
"Performance",
"BPMN",
"Healthcare",
"Business process modelling",
"Business process simulation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Business process management (BPM) is a discipline dealing with the management of business processes (BPs) for the achievement of continuous improvement in organisations (vom Brocke et al., 2014; Recker, 2014; Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015). Organisations wishing to implement BPM must analyse the operational performance of the BPs in place, as well as design and model potential improvements (Aguilar-Saven, 2004; Dey et al., 2006; McCormack et al., 2009; Trkman, 2010). Operational performance analysis should be carried out using a holistic systems-based approach, applying both qualitative and quantitative performance criteria (Vernadat et al., 2013; Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015). The criteria chosen must be consistent with organisational objectives and provide cyclical support for organisational decision-making and strategy setting (Nudurupati et al., 2011; Vallejo et al., 2012).\n2. Literature review: Simulation is a third way of carrying out scientific research, alongside theoretical and empirical analyses, which are in turn based on deductive and inductive reasoning (Axelrod, 1997). Similar to deduction, simulation begins with explicit assumptions (input data) from which we derive results (output data). However, simulation also involves induction, in that the relationships among the observed data (variables) can be analysed by means of experiments (simulations) (Harrison et al., 2007; Robinson, 2014). Simulation offers potential advantages in dealing with situations that are analytically intractable under deductive methods, and where inductive methods encounter problems of unavailable data. Simulation also enables researchers to design and run empirical experiments that would be difficult or costly to perform with real people or systems, thus gaining understanding of the real world and ultimately permitting improvement (Jahangirian et al., 2010). Simulation is particularly useful when the system under examination is complex, and characterised by numerous interactions. Simulation permits flexible, modular forms of experimental design and thus systematic approaches to organisational and management research in complex contexts. In summary, simulation offers advantages of cost effectiveness, time savings, control over experimental conditions, simplicity, openness to intuitive approaches and the potential of variability in modelling (Pidd, 2009; Robinson, 2014).\n3. The method: This section presents the method for measuring and improving operational performance of BPs, based on application of the BPMN 2.0 modelling standard and the BPSim 1.0 simulation standard. The step-by-step modelling and simulation method can also be employed as a virtual laboratory, for what-if analysis and testing of potential improvements, verifying their impact on performance without the risk of error in ex-novo simulation programming. We refer to the proposed method as \"simulation-based process performance analysis\", or \"SimPPA\".\n4. Case study: The SimPPA method is designed for measuring operational performance of highly complex or random processes and for supporting their managerial improvement. This section presents an \"exploratory case study\" (Yin, 2014), meaning one that tests the reliability and practicality of the proposed method in the real world and draws on data describing the real situation of a 500-bed public hospital in northern Italy. The process examined is a standard hospital-established protocol for \"yellow code\" patient arrivals and urgent care treatment in the orthopaedic emergency room (OER). This particular case is a \"mass-customised process\" (type B), because it is a highly complex process involving multiple interactions among different care operators, but with low variability in the process environment, which tends to reduce the variability of outputs. One of the main problems in the emergency room studied is overcrowding, which impacts on patient-waiting times and increases dissatisfaction. Such problems are quite common in emergency rooms, and they are thus under constant pressure to reduce process variability and increase performance, and so also reduce expenditure and meet growing demands (Zhao et al., 2015). Previous researchers (e.g. Abo-Hamad and Arisha, 2013) have indicated that the causes of overcrowding and patient-waiting times can include limits on the resources in the emergency room (doctors, nurses) and inefficiencies in operations, such as delays after admissions and in lab and radiology tests. Healthcare also typically represents one of the fastest growing areas of public expenditure. Thus there are needs for improved efficiency and effectiveness, increased productivity and at the same time enhanced patient care (Rutberg et al., 2015).\n5. Conclusions: The current study responds to the identified need for holistic and sustainable approaches in BPM (vom Brocke et al., 2014; Recker, 2014; Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015), through a method involving step-by-step application of process modelling and simulation. The method (called SimPPA) features an application of the BPMN 2.0 modelling standard and the BPSim 1.0 simulation standard, for measurement of specific performance indicators (KPIs). It also provides a \"virtual laboratory\" for testing of potential process improvements, verifying their impact on operational performance without the risk of error involved in ex-novo simulation programming. The SimPPA method offers useful techniques and tools for decision makers who wish to better understand and improve process performance, and is especially useful in cases of highly complex or random processes. In particular, the method begins with a matrix for classifying the different organisational processes in terms of \"process environment variability\" and \"output-variation value to customers\". The subsequent methodological steps can then be satisfactorily designed to respond to a wide range of different processes types (Suzuki et al., 2012).\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a method for analysing and improving the operational performance of business processes (BPs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The method employs two standards, Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN 2.0) and Business Processes Simulation (BPSim 1.0), to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) of BPs and test for potential improvements. The BP is first modelled in BPMN 2.0. Operational performance can then be measured using BPSim 1.0. The process simulation also enables execution of reliable \"what-if\" analysis, allowing improvements of the actual processes under study. To confirm the validity of the method the authors provide an application to the healthcare domain, in which the authors conduct several simulation experiments. The case study examines a standardised patient arrival and treatment process in an orthopaedic-emergency room of a public hospital.\nFindings: The method permits detection of process criticalities, as well as identifying the best corrective actions by means of the \"what-if\" analysis. The paper discusses both management and research implications of the method.\nOriginality/value: The study responds to current calls for holistic and sustainable approaches to business process management (BPM). It provides step-by-step process modelling and simulation that serve as a \"virtual laboratory\" to test potential improvements and verify their impact on operational performance, without the risk of error that would be involved in ex-novo simulation programming.\n",
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Development of virtual reality and stereo-panoramic environments for construction safety training
|
[
"Construction safety",
"Safety training",
"Hazard recognition",
"Personalized training",
"VR"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017) reported over 900 fatal and 200,000 nonfatal injuries in construction in 2016. Worldwide, 60,000 fatal injuries are reported in construction every year, which translates to one in every nine minutes (Lingard, 2013). Despite a 37% decrease since 2006, the fatality rate in construction is still the highest among US industries and accounts for more than 20% of all occupational fatalities in the country (BLS, 2018). Unlike other industries, construction operations are generally carried out in temporary, dynamic and rapidly changing settings. Since the elimination of all workplace hazards is not always possible, safety management becomes particularly important. Accordingly, (1) hazards need to be first detected and recognized and (2) efficient hazard management strategies need to be put in place to avoid outcomes that may result in accidents or injuries. Unfortunately, research has indicated that several hazards remain unrecognized or poorly managed in construction workplaces, which can cause undesirable accidents (Namian et al., 2016a). In fact, studies from around the world (Carter and Smith, 2006; Bahn, 2013; Albert and Hallowell, 2012; Jeelani et al., 2017a) have reported that about 50% of hazards remain unrecognized in construction work environments. Since no countermeasures are taken against such unrecognized hazards, workers are often exposed to unanticipated safety risks. 1.1 Limitations of the current state of practice\n2. Background: 2.1 Hazard recognition and management\n3. Environment development: The stereo-panoramic environment presents more realistic construction scenarios and as such environments provide an excellent opportunity for evaluating the performance of workers more accurately. On the other hand, a virtual environment (built using 3D models) has the advantage of being fully customized based on our training needs. It offers more control by allowing us to add or modify elements, program different simulations, allow interactions with virtual elements, etc. Therefore, such an environment is excellent for providing instructional training.Hence, two types of virtual environments were developed in this study as discussed below. Stereo-panoramic environments were constructed using 3D 360deg videos captured from real construction sites as detailed in Section 3.1. These were used to evaluate the performance of trainees accurately and for proving personalized feedback during training.Apart from this, a virtual construction site was also constructed using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) models of construction buildings, which were enhanced by adding various virtual elements and dynamic audio-visual effects, as explained in Section 3.2. This was used to deliver various elements of instructional training explained in more detail in Section 4.2.Figure 2 presents two types of training environments that were developed in this study. 3.1 Stereo-panoramic environments for assessing performance\n4. Development and evaluation of training protocol: This section describes the development of a personalized training protocol that was delivered using the environments described in the preceding section and the measurement of its effectiveness by comparing the performance of participants using a before-after experimental design. The experiment consisted of three phases that are illustrated in Figure 4. These includeA) Evaluating baseline performance: 53 civil engineering students with no prior safety training experience participated in the study. The participants were of the age group of 18-29 years and the total construction experience of 0-2 years. The participants were tasked with examining three stereo-panoramic construction scenes and identifying hazards in the scenes. The participants were undergraduate civil engineering students. Participants did not have any prior safety training experience. Their hazard recognition and hazard management performance were quantitatively measured which represented their baseline performance.B-E) Providing the training experience: Each participant was then individually provided with a personalized training program developed in this study. Some training elements were provided in a VR environment using the virtual construction site developed in Section 3.2 and some were delivered outside of VR using audio-visual presentations or live instructions.F) Reevaluating the performance to estimate training effects. After training, each participant was again tasked with examining three new stereo-panoramic construction scenes and identifying hazards in the scenes. Their hazard recognition and hazard management performance were quantitatively measured which represented their after-training performance which was compared with their baseline performance to estimate the effectiveness of training in improving their hazard recognition and management performance. 4.1 Baseline performance evaluation (Figure 4a)\n5. Data analysis: 5.1 Pre-evaluation of environment\n6. Results: Table 2 summarizes the experimental results that indicate an average improvement of 39% in hazard recognition and 44% improvement in hazard management, both results being statistically significant at a=0.01. The improvement in HRS and HMS was seen in all 53 participants and ranged from 5% to 64 and 12%-68%, respectively.Figure 8a shows the Hazard Recognition Scores (HRS) of 53 participants before and after the training indicating a significant improvement in every participant and Figure 8b shows the Hazard Management Scores (HMS) for participants before and after receiving the training.\n7. Discussion: 7.1 User experience and observations\n8. Conclusion: Despite substantial efforts, fatal and nonfatal injury rates in construction remain significantly high. Research has suggested the need to improve the content and delivery of safety training provided to workers and professionals. This study proposed an approach to address both.To improve the training content, the proposed method integrated various innovative training elements to develop a robust and personalized training protocol aimed at improving hazard recognition and management skills of construction professionals and workers. These include visual cues for systematic hazard search, accident simulations for near-miss experience, personalized and focused feedback, virtual site walkthrough and hazard management training. These training elements were delivered in highly immersive environments that provide a realistic experience to the trainees. This is essential so that trainees can learn and practice efficient hazard recognition and management skills.The effectiveness of the developed training strategy was empirically tested using a before-after experimental design with 53 participants. The results indicate that the immersive training experience was a sufficiently realistic simulation of a real construction site, which facilitated learning. The findings of the study showed that the participants on average were able to identify only 31% of hazards before training. However, they were able to recognize 70% of hazards after training. Moreover, the results also showed that the hazard management performance of participants improved by 44%. Both results were statistically significant. Further, the post-experiment interviews with the participants revealed that the training in virtual and stereo-panoramic environments was highly engaging and provided them with a realistic experience of being in a real construction site.Although the current study has its strengths, there are a few limitations that should be addressed in future research. One of the significant limitations is that the long-term impacts of the training remain unknown. Specifically, even though there was an instantaneous improvement in hazard recognition and hazard management performance of the workers, it is challenging to determine whether that improvement will be sustained in the long term. While the authors believe that the training effects will persist as long as learned concepts are reinforced through continuous training, future studies focusing on the long-term effects of the training will be useful. Moreover, while the current study offers evidence that the administered intervention which includes all the training elements yielded improvements, the study was not designed to distinguish the effect of the independent training elements. Accordingly, we have suggested that future research focus on examining the effectiveness of the individual training elements to gain a better understanding of what elements contributed to the observed improvements. In addition to this, the protocol required capturing stereo-panoramic videos with 3D-360 camera rigs. High-resolution camera rigs that capture stereo-360 views are quite expensive and can add to the project cost. Future research efforts should focus on developing robust stitching and stereo matching algorithms that will enable the use of off-the-shelf cameras for capturing stereo-panoramic videos and lower the cost of providing such training. Finally, this study was conducted with civil engineering and construction management students and the results might vary when the training protocol is evaluated using construction workers. Future efforts may focus on implementing the training strategy with real construction workers and validate the effectiveness with this different population.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Workers and construction professionals are generally not proficient in recognizing and managing safety hazards. Although valuable, traditional training experiences have not sufficiently addressed the issue of poor hazard recognition and management in construction. Since hazard recognition and management are cognitive skills that depend on attention, visual examination and decision-making, performance assessment and feedback in an environment that is realistic and representative of actual working conditions are important. The purpose of this paper is to propose a personalized safety training protocol that is delivered using robust, realistic and immersive environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two types of virtual environments were developed: (1) Stereo-panoramic environments using real construction scenes that were used to evaluate the performance of trainees accurately and (2) A virtual construction site, which was used to deliver various elements of instructional training. A training protocol was then designed that was aimed at improving the hazard recognition and management performance of trainees. It was delivered using the developed virtual environments. The effectiveness of the training protocol was experimentally tested with 53 participants using a before-after study.\nFindings: The results present a 39% improvement in hazard recognition and a 44% improvement in hazard management performance.\nOriginality/value: This study combines the benefits of using a virtual environment for providing instructional training along with realistic environments (stereo-panoramic scenes) for performance assessment and feedback. The training protocol includes several new and innovative training elements that are designed to improve the hazard recognition and hazard management abilities of the trainees. Moreover, the effectiveness of training in improving hazard recognition and hazard management is measured using specific outcome variables.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Developing engineering students' willingness and ability to perform creative tasks
|
[
"Entrepreneurship education",
"Bisociation",
"Creativity",
"Practice-based learning",
"Engineering students",
"Creativity tools"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's globalised world, organisations and industries face rapid technological and societal changes leading to novel competence needs (Bourgeois-Bougrine et al., 2017). In this emergence, creativity contributes to provide new competitive technological solutions (Bourgeois-Bougrine et al., 2017; Runco, 2004). Entrepreneurs and employees in the twenty-first century need novel ideas to respond to rapid technological changes, solve complex problems and create new solutions for the future (Bakhshi et al., 2017).\nTheoretical perspectives: Creativity, creative thinking and the bisociation concept\nMethodology and study context: In this research, we use a quantitative approach and a survey design to collect data from students. The study is longitudinal and includes a pre-test at the beginning of the course and a post-test afterwards. Our population consists of 99 undergraduate engineering students at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen Campus, enrolled in the ING101 course during August 2016. The students came from a variety of engineering departments, including chemical engineering, computing, electronics and communication systems. We applied normal ethical procedures to recruit students to participate in the survey. Their participation was not mandatory.\nData analysis and results: A web-based survey containing the five BTM items and the remaining eight BS items was administered to 99 students at the beginning of the entrepreneurship course. A total of 76 pre-test responses were received. At the end of the course, the same group of students was asked to respond to the survey. Some 35 post-test responses were received.\nConclusion and discussion: The analyses showed that students' willingness to be creative decreased, whereas their creative ability increased, during the one-semester course. These changes were partly consistent with our assumptions; however, we did not expect students' willingness to be creative to decrease during the course. It was assumed that the course would affect students' willingness to be creative and their creative ability positively, but that the effect would be stronger for students' ability than for their willingness to be creative. Therefore, the results support our assumption that education can modify and enhance students' creativity, but the effect of education is stronger on the development of creative ability than on willingness to be creative.\nImplications for entrepreneurship education: Our research findings may inform educators in the field of entrepreneurship education. In particular, they inform practice-based learning courses aiming to develop students' abilities and skills as important learning outcomes. Some of these abilities and skills may be related to students' dispositions and learning preferences that are more basic and hence need a long time to grow (Simonton, 2000). It is therefore important to consider that even young bachelor's students developing their personalities already possess a basic personality and exhibit inclinations in their thoughts and actions (Kubberod and Pettersen, 2018).\nLimitations and future research: This study reports results from one course, examining changes in creative abilities and willingness to be creative among only 26 students. The low n invites further studies involving new cohorts and contexts, as well as other creative elements in teaching. Another limitation of this study relates to the specific course and its pedagogy, which includes creative elements and students' learning context, which may limit the external validity of our findings. Our findings are obviously connected to the chosen course, specific creativity tools and the learning context, as well as to the specific cohort of engineering students. Consistent with other creativity research, the social context surrounding the creative act is influential (Amabile, 1983; Runco, 2004; Simonton, 2000). In education, the specific pedagogy, curriculum and assessments affect creative acts and outcomes (Sternberg, 2006), so future studies should include various pedagogies and learning arrangements, possibly with control groups, to explore how creativity may be developed and enhanced in educational settings. Furthermore, new research should adopt a qualitative longitudinal approach, using interviews (with individuals and teams) combined with observations of the creative process. New qualitative studies will add in-depth and multi-faceted knowledge to expand and enrich the research field.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore creativity and how it changes over time among engineering students in practice-based entrepreneurship in higher education. This change was examined in students over a one-semester course in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship courses that use creativity tools for practice-based learning are expected to develop creativity as a learning outcome. This study discusses the extent to which some learning outcomes are more easily developed than others.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research uses a longitudinal design by applying a pre- and post-test survey. The student population consists of engineering students enrolled in an entrepreneurship course with practice-based learning involving creativity tools. The course includes team-based idea generation and business model development. To measure actual changes in students' creativity, two measures were used to reflect different aspects.\nFindings: The results show that students' ability to perform creative tasks increased, while students' willingness to engage in and their enjoyment of creative tasks decreased as a result of the course. Non-significant differences in changes were found between the two measures, but a difference was found in how the two measures changed during the course. In line with the research question, the results suggest that education may influence ability to a greater extent than willingness.\nOriginality/value: The research used two different creativity measures to explore the extent to which engineering students experienced a change in creativity over a one-semester entrepreneurship course. In this way, the research contributes to the discussion on what could be learnt and by what means.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Perspectives on the role of business in social innovation
|
[
"Social innovation",
"Literature review",
"Business sustainability",
"Social progress",
"Shared value creation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: the challenge of social innovation in business: This paper is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of corporate social innovation. The concept of social innovation challenges business and management thinkers and practitioners to pursue solutions involving a better alignment of business performance goals with social progress. Within this view, business organisations can be engaged problem solvers, proactive advocates of inclusiveness and proactive social entities, embedded in the communities in relation to which they operate. Studies of corporate social innovation arguably belong to a tradition of business and management scholarship that seeks to understand the forms by which the business community may engage more substantively to address social and environmental problems. The late Professor Nigel Roome (2013) was a fervent contributor to this field, writing about social innovation as innovation that \"has the potential to effect change in conventional [public and private] sectors of the economy and society\" (p. 299). Roome's conception of change was seen through the lens of sustainable development, an important tenet of which is the idea of mobilising all actors in society that participate in economic and social development. That led Roome (2013) to call for the bolder participation of the business community in a \"grand form of social innovation\" (p. 306). The present study seeks to contribute to the research agenda that responds to this call by addressing the challenge of \"social innovation in business\" separately to that of social innovation implemented by civil society and the state.\nResearch method: We draw upon the principles of an integrative literature review (Martinez, 2015; Torraco, 2005), and from there we seek to build a precise and logically coherent definition of what social innovation in business means. The first step in the process of developing a comprehensive search of the representative literature to date was to type the keywords \"social innovation\" in \"Google Scholar\" using citations to identify papers with the highest impact. Although Google Scholar is challenged by some with respect to the accuracy of the information it collects (e.g. Bauer and Bakkalbasi, 2005; Beall, 2014; Serenko, 2015), these data have the advantage of offering recent and relatively complete citation numbers because it does not limit references to a list of accepted journals, but also includes conference papers and other references. The popularity of Google Scholar as an academic literature search engine also means these data are indicative of the publications that are more likely to be read and cited. Therefore, they represent a reliable indicator of a publication's true impact. We selected documents that include the term \"social innovation\" in the title and that have generated at least 200 citations in other scholarly literature. As a result, our sample consists of articles having 240 citations or more as of 21 September 2016. Table I summarises and ranks the selected articles according to their number of citations found.\nFindings: Our starting point for any conceptual clarification must be the existing literature on the subject of social innovation. The literature review reveals that, while there are some key elements in common, there are also significant variations in the usage of what remains an emerging and vaguely defined term. One recurring element, however, is the attempt at capturing the catalysts for, and the impediments to, the participation of business actors in social innovation. We specifically analyse how the literature explains what drives or impedes the involvement of business in the development of new ideas that simultaneously meet unmet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. These \"new ideas\" are iteratively discussed in the literature as products, services and/or models. Table II synthesises the core arguments made in the literature and specifies the type of ideas that are pursued (i.e. focus of innovation). We use the ranks assigned in Table I to identify the articles and indicate their relative weight.\nConnecting with the extant literature: towards a comprehensive definition of social innovation: Concepts like social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, creating shared value, sustainability and social innovation are firmly entrenched in modern business lexicon but these terms are often used loosely and interchangeably (Pol and Ville, 2009). We believe that it is useful and important to focus on the precise meaning of such terms as a basis for asserting the distinctive features of the social innovation concept.\nConclusion: This paper explored the involvement of business in processes of social innovation - a phenomenon characterised as lacking conceptual clarity. By interweaving the key arguments in the literature we reveal the dominant constructs that characterise the role played by business in social innovation. The analysis leads us to advocate for a human-centric conceptualisation of this phenomenon. Within this view, individual business agents are proactive and morally engaged social actors. They have the creative capacity to generate new ideas, leverage a firm's relational capital and mobilise business resources to foster social progress. Economic gain, in this approach, is at best an outcome of social innovation, not its engine. Social innovation is thus portrayed as a unique way of understanding how business actors may be self-directed and self-organised around the mission of fostering social progress.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the conceptual construct of social innovation in business as distinct from social innovation implemented by civil society and the state. The general absence of sustained research and analysis of this phenomenon, and the dominance of grey and policy-oriented literature, mean that a broadly accepted definition of how social innovation theorises the changing role of business in society is missing\nDesign/methodology/approach: An integrative review of the representative literature on social innovation was conducted. The analysis focused on the key arguments made about the involvement of business actors in processes of social innovation and interweaved in this study to build a logically coherent definition of what social innovation in business means for the bulk of those who write and speak about it today. The scope of the literature review was expanded by integrating insights from the extant \"business in society\" and social innovation literatures, thereby adding clarity to the authors' conceptualisation.\nFindings: The findings indicate that social innovation is best understood as a process driven by human relations, morality and creative capacity breaking routines and path dependencies. It fundamentally relies on the socially constructed dynamics between business and social actors who carry ideas, focus their energies, mobilise competences and create new complementarities to tackle social problems. Economic gain, in this approach, is at best an outcome of social innovation, not its engine.\nOriginality/value: What this literature review unveils that is unique about social innovation, and contributes to an enrichment of the \"business in society\" debate beyond the business case and win-win scenarios depicted by most scholars in this field, is that it best manifests itself as an informal social process that comes into existence at the margins of conventional ways of thinking and organising business activities. Business actors involved in social innovation are framed as self-directed and self-organised around the moral purpose of fostering social progress.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Technology roadmapping in security and defence foresight
|
[
"National foresight exercise"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Foresight is considered a set of strategic tools that support government and industry decisions with adequate lead time for societal preparation and strategic response (Calof and Smith, 2010). However, there are very few systematic analyses available in the defence and security environment (James and Teichler, 2014).\n2. Foresight in security and defence: 2.1 A general vision\n3. Spanish defence national foresight exercise: The literature examines the theoretical foundations of foresight, which generally recognises that there is a gap between practice and theory in the field (Hideg, 2007). Analysing the impact of public information about technological foresight provided by MoDs in Europe requires a review not only of the academic literature but also reports from the European Commission (EC), European Defence Agency (EDA) and National North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Thus, the extensive review evidences that the Spanish exercise complies with the principles of future-oriented technology Analysis (FTA), which considers many forms of analysing future technology and its consequences: future orientation, participation, evidence, multidisciplinarity, coordination, action orientation and open foresight (Havas, 2005; Cagnin et al., 2008). The FTA is linked to innovation policy in two main ways: it is an advisory and strategic function and can focus on both the demand and supply side of innovation. Consequently, the analysis of the Spanish exercise has been conducted according to these principles.\n4. Discussion: Government funding of defence-related R&D influences innovation in civilian technologies, although this is still a controversial issue (Mowery, 2012). However, studies support that the collaboration between civilians and researchers incorporated in the MoD can influence the rate and direction of scientific activity (Colatat, 2015). Research in selected technological areas will increase the efficiency of military operations and will reduce human and environmental loses (Saritas and Burmaoglu, 2016).\n5. Conclusions: Our conclusions and the propositions for future empirical research are directed towards the impact analysis of Spanish technology foresight exercises in S&D issues regarding governments, firms and citizens. The qualitative and quantitative impacts of technology foresight exercises should pay attention to both the contribution of national S&D of their citizens, and to the science and technology system. Their contributions should be directed to improve efficiency, and the effect on their upcoming decisions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide an analysis of Spanish Defence National Foresight Exercise.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on a content analysis of public domain Spanish Defence National Foresight Exercise, and a study directed to analyse the impact on defence technological and industrial base.\nFindings: Foresight studies on the defence and security environment uses hybrid methodologies, but rarely involve all the stakeholders, and specially the citizens. The authors place a particular emphasis on the impact of these defence and security foresight studies, and following policies to increase the competitiveness and advanced technologies in the future. The analysis of the Spanish contractors allows an evaluation of the roadmaps as a policy instrument for the industrial defence industry. The main challenges for the next exercises in the European countries are to increase the interest in the firms' intelligence systems, and the participation and representation of citizens as a way to guarantee their rights. Therefore, a technology roadmap must be complemented with other more participative foresight methods.\nOriginality/value: Foresight studies on the defence and security environment have been the subject of very few systematic analyses of impact. This paper makes a contribution to such analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Library and information science research in BRICS countries
|
[
"China",
"Research",
"Information science",
"Russia",
"Bibliometrics",
"Library research",
"BRICS",
"Library science"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: BRICS is an association of five major emerging economies, which are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The association was earlier known as \"BRIC\" before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are all developing countries (DCs), but they are characterised by their large, fast-growing economies and they exert a significant influence on regional and global affairs and are taking renewed interest in research and development activities. BRICS brings together five major emerging economies, comprising 43 per cent of the world population, having 30 per cent of the world GDP and 17 per cent share in the world trade (BRICS, 2016).\nLibrary and information science in BRICS countries: Volodin (2000) depicted the development of library and information science as a social science from \"history of Librarianship\" when it was also known as library history or information history. It had significant influence of \"Marxist dialectical\" and \"historical materialism\". The subject was not connected to the world science community in the initial phase of its existence.\nObjectives of the study: The objectives of the study are:\nMethod of study: The authors thought about using Scopus as a target database but avoided later due to their interest in identifying the best research in the field as the first study, as Web of Science is more selective in covering journals in comparison to the former. Web of Science is a citation database, which provides authoritative, multidisciplinary coverage from more than 12,000 high impact research journals from across the world. It also includes content from open access journals. The data from Web of Science is being used by 7,000+ institutions for scientific policymaking across the world. The study has been initiated past year and to give leverage to time involved in getting citations, data for a 10-year period backwards from 2014 were considered. As explained in the later part of the paper regarding language, the English bias of Web of Science (WoS) is not a major constraint for this study, as English is the preferred language of LIS research in at least three countries of BRICS, China, India and South Africa, as evidenced by more number of publications in English than in local languages.\nReview of research in library science: The subject of library science interalia focuses on providing numerous innovative services to the researchers of the other areas. Besides it in itself involves low-cost research with no or minimal demands for physical and computing infrastructure. The library scientists or professionals play an imperative role in the process of scholarly communication and in any country's vision of transforming it into a knowledge society. Library science also plays a pivotal role in supporting Millennium Development Goals. The research in LIS, if the findings are implemented, may yield better dividends by promoting and improving research activities in other fields through innovative services. It has also been observed that LIS also receives considerable contributions and citations from other fields such as management, business and psychology.\nData collection and analysis: WoS reflects that there were 84,533 publications in the field of library and information science from all over the globe. Out of this, BRICS countries contributed 3,667 (4.34 per cent) papers. Though the world output remains more or less the same, there is a consistent increase in the BRICS output from less than 2 per cent to over 6 per cent. This is presented in the Table I given below.\nConclusion: WoS covers a highly restricted spectrum of quality journals. Most publications from BRICS countries appear also in journals not covered by WoS. Similar studies covering such journals need to be undertaken to get a balanced and inclusive understanding of research publications from these countries. More studies need to be undertaken by retrieving the data from the indigenous databases and non-English journals of the BRICS nations to get a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the contributions of the LIS researchers. Further research may be undertaken to find out the major collaborating institutions, authors and research groups. There is a need to do trend and level analysis. The methods used in the publications, geographic distributions of the collaborating institutions can be further investigated and spotlighted. The impact of interdisciplinary research also may be unveiled. There is also a need to repeat the study for back years to analyse the changed preferences in subject areas and impact of new technologies in library and information research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to highlight the research output of library and information science of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations during the ten year period, i.e. 2005-2014, as reflected through the Web of Science database.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used Social Science Index (SSCI) of Web of Science (WoS) citation database to collect data for the ten year period. All records indexed in SSCI were refined by subject area of \"Information Science and Library Science\" and selected countries. The downloaded results were analyzed by using specific parameters.\nFindings: WoS indexes different kinds of documents, such as articles, conference proceedings, biographical items, book reviews, corrections, editorial material, letters, reprints and reviews. Out of the BRICS output, almost 90 per cent of papers were articles. Other types of documents included conference papers, review papers and book reviews. China contributed nearly half of the documents followed by Brazil, South Africa, India and Russia. On an average, a document had cited 34 references. More than one-third of records did not receive any citations. It has been observed that the titles that had 11-16 words attracted the most number of citations. The top ten publishers in whose journals the researchers published included Emerald, Elsevier and Springer. The primary subject areas were information science and library science, information systems, interdisciplinary applications and management. About 85 per cent of the documents were published in English. Around 93 per cent of the non-English research publications were in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.\nOriginality/value: There are not many studies on BRICS countries and that too about Library and Information Science (LIS) research output. This study may reveal insights into how LIS researchers interact with local and global issues in a specific spectrum of the world community.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Positive outcomes of negative feedback: Succeeding with performance appraisals
|
[
"Performance appraisal",
"Managers",
"Employee characteristics",
"Feedback tactics",
"Negative feedback",
"Tactic choice"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Businesses which endeavor to constantly improve are best positioned to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. A willingness to learn from mistakes represents a key part of such an ethos.\nNegative feedback: a necessary evil: Performance appraisals are critically important in this respect. The process offers firms a valuable opportunity to measure how each employee has performed in relation to previously established standards and expectations.\nWhich approach?: Chances of success can be boosted if appropriate tactics are used when delivering negative feedback during a performance appraisal interview (PAI). The prevailing tendency is for choice of tactics to be influenced by manager belief in the following:\nDifferent feedback tactics: Negative feedback can be delivered in a variety of ways. An effective technique is to ensure the tactic is aligned with performance goals. Use of a relevant tactic can evoke goals which relate to the employee's self-concept or those connected to the performance task in question.\nEmployee characteristics determines tactic choice: Learning also equips managers with the insight needed to know which tactics are likelier to be appropriate for each individual. Shrewd individuals sometimes avoid the emotive tactic with more sensitive employees. Sticking to the facts and using the evidence tactic often proves the best method. Adopting this alongside the communication tactic can be most suitable for workers low on self-esteem. Employees identified as being ambitious could challenge negative feedback. In these scenarios, confronting them with evidence represents a smart initial move. Back this up with communication and you have the guidance that can facilitate performance enhancement.\nComment: The review is based on \"Managerial tactics for communicating negative performance feedback\" by Brown et al. (2016).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Businesses which endeavor to constantly improve are best positioned to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. A willingness to learn from mistakes represents a key part of such an ethos. Performance appraisals are critically important in this respect. The process offers firms a valuable opportunity to measure how each employee has performed in relation to previously established standards and expectations. In a perfect world, everyone would hit their targets all of the time. Appraisal interviews would then become back-slapping bonanzas. And high-fives all round would be the norm. But until such pipedreams become reality, some employees will underperform. That much is inevitable. Companies must address the issue though to avoid alienating those workers who are pulling their weight. Negative feedback thus remains a vital part of the appraisal mix.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Chinese writing development of Kindergarten students over 12 months: A longitudinal study based in Hong Kong
|
[
"Hong Kong",
"Longitudinal study",
"Kindergarten students",
"Writing literacy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Emergent writing is regarded as a critical component of emergent literacy, and is \"broadly defined as any printing, pretend writing, scribbling, or captioning of text\" (McGill-Franzen et al., 2002). These writing skills are believed to \"precede and provide the foundation for later literacy development\" (Drouin and Harmon, 2009) and improve early literacy outcomes (Hall et al., 2015). Compared to other components of early literacy, children's emergent writing development has received much less attention and much less documented though it represents \"the productive mode in literacy development\" (Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998; Christie, 2003, p. 287). It is especially true when considering logographic languages, for example, Chinese, which consists of a separate sound system and character system. Based on the large body of emergent literacy, an overwhelming number of studies have \"focused on syllabic languages such as English and was undertaken in the Western/American culture\", (Mok et al., 2004; Wu, 2009). This large-scale investigation took a closer look at Hong Kong children's emergent writing development in the Chinese language.\nTheoretical perspective: Early writing development\nThis study: This present study attempted to answer the following questions:\nDiscussion and implications: Writing is a critical literacy construct that lays the foundation for children's comprehensive literacy skills (Gerde et al., 2012). With regard to factors that affected the children's early writing development, multilevel analysis identified that factors such as school, class level and student gender and age all influenced the children's writing development though to different extents. The results of our study suggest that the development of these young children's writing ability in the Chinese language presented a non-linear trend. This reflects findings from some emergent literacy studies that have reported children develop and regress at time (Diamond et al., 2008). Indeed, there were children in our study who made distinct improvement at one time, but retreated to different extents at some other times or vice-versa. The children largely made statistically significant progress in each period of time, with girls persistently but not always significantly outperforming boys at each period. This, however, does not contradict the prevalent notion that \"girls are developmentally more advanced in key literacy-related areas\" and their literacy learning is more likely to be regarded as \"natural and unproblematic\", boys in opposition (Millard, 2003, p. 24). On the whole, around two-third of the sampled children improved over the 12 months.\nConclusion: To sum up, this study examined, through a large-scale survey, young children's writing development at the emergent stage. Based on multilevel analysis, the effects of factors like student age, gender, class level and schools were explored. The present study also featured the establishment of a common frame for reference under the principle of Rasch modelling, making it possible to capture the real changes of the children's writing development. It should be noted that most item parameter estimates were found variant across occasions so that the precision of the measurement of changes may have been undermined to some degree. The recommendation is that the rating scale be further modified to improve the construct validity and the stability of the common frame for reference. It is hoped that this study will present indicative findings on Hong Kong children's emergent writing development and provide a good example of substantive studies integrated with Rasch and multilevel methodologies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the writing development of Hong Kong kindergarten students over 12 months. They attended 18 kindergartens territory-wide and were followed from June 2002 to June 2003 for the collection of three waves of teacher-rated data at six-month intervals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, the construct validity of the translated and culturally adapted version of Morrow's (2012) checklist which assesses writing development was confirmed, considering that the students attended Hong Kong kindergartens who wrote in the Chinese language. The multilevel analysis, which employed corrected measures captured through Wolfe and Chiu's (1999a, 1999b) five-step Rasch scaling method for a common frame of reference, estimated the effects of the factors, namely, student age, gender, class level and schools.\nFindings: The children's progress over the second six months was also apparently much smaller than the first SIX months for this cohort. The dramatic slow-down in the second six-month period for both cohorts might be partly attributed to the peculiar arrangement of schooling at that time.\nResearch limitations/implications: The recommendation from this study is that random sampling and student test scores on writing need to be taken for the identification of the general trend of young children's writing development in Hong Kong, as well as other Chinese communities alike.\nOriginality/value: The profile of the student's emergent writing development at each six-month follow-up and over the 12 months was explored. Differences between the groups based on age, gender, class level and school in terms of student writing development on average were statistically significant.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Risk management: comparative analysis of systematic risk and effect of the financial crisis on US tourism industry: Panel data research
|
[
"Tourism",
"Risk",
"Corporate finance",
"Financial accounting",
"Assets pricing",
"Macroeconomic information"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The cost of capital is a fundamental variable used to manage companies' finances efficiently. Many decisions and processes depend on this variable, such as analyzing investment feasibility, calculating shares and company market value and determining optimal level of debt. The value of the cost of capital influences these decisions, and therefore, this value needs to be determined objectively and rationally. The cost of capital is a fundamental variable used to determine the discount rate in any valuation process. This variable's value clearly influences this process's outcome, and variations in the variable's value naturally make companies' market value fluctuate substantially. Arbitrariness in determining the cost of capital makes the process of making financial decisions irrational and unscientific, so having a methodology to determine the cost of capital at any stage - free of subjectivity - is extremely important.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Our review of the relevant literature revealed that researchers are currently focusing on the relationship between equity risk and available information. This interest is evident in recent studies by, among others, Arfaoui and Abaoub (2010); Babenko et al. (2016), Boz et al. (2015), Driessen et al. (2012), Morelli (2012) and Park et al. (2017). Park et al. (2017) studied the relationship between systematic risk and corporate social responsibility and show that there is no relationship between the two variables. Babenko et al. (2016) analyzed the relationship between systematic equity risk and idiosyncratic cash flows and showed that under general assumptions, firms' conditional betas depend directly on their history of idiosyncratic shocks. Boz et al. (2015) found that a combination of accounting and macroeconomic information explains systematic equity risk. Morelli (2012) explored the relationship between cross-sectional security returns and companies' beta, size and book-to-market equity. Driessen et al. (2012) developed a new cash flow methodology for econometric estimation the risk and return of assets. Arfaoui and Abaoub (2010), in turn, studied the influence of risk factors on local equity systematic risk, including inflation, trade openness, local investment, budget surplus and financial development.\nData and method: The sample analyzed consisted of 79 US tourism industry firms: 22 in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector and 57 in the accommodation and food services sector. We wanted to work with the maximum possible panel data, but only these 79 firms showed all the necessary daily stock prices and accounting and financial information for all of the 2004-2013 study period (Arellano and Bover,1990, do not specify any limitations for the value of n). The data consisted of the companies' accounting information obtained from the Orbis database (i.e. the Bureau Van Dijk database) and macroeconomic data from various websites - www.bea.gov (US Bureau of Economic Analysis), www.bls.gov (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) and www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat (Eurostat). Further data on stock indices and rates were retrieved from www.stoxx.com and www.yahoo.finance\nResults and discussion: The results show that the determinants of the systematic risk of the analyzed tourism industry come from the business management and the general economic situation, and that they do not vary before and after the financial crisis.\nConclusions: The purpose of the study is to understand the determinants of the systematic risk to be able to estimate a capital cost of it, thus improving the efficiency of business management. Large and publicly listed companies use the CAPM model to calculate their cost of capital on equity. However, SMEs need a way to determine their cost of share capital if they are not listed. Analyses of information that determines systematic risk provide useful information to develop more efficient business management because these identify the indicators that must be observed and used to estimate a rise or fall in risk. As a result, companies can also monitor any rise or fall in their cost of capital and the market value of their shares.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to study the connection between the systematic equity risk of US tourism industry companies and a set of information from inside these firms and the market. The authors sought to identify which information explains equity risk to estimate patterns of behavior - especially for those companies that cannot have a beta - in terms of the cost of share capital.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To carry out the research, the authors used a panel data technique and combined accounting information from the selected companies with macroeconomic information to develop independent variables. The sample consisted of 79 firms of the arts, entertainment and recreation and accommodation and food services sectors in the USA for 2004-2013. The authors incorporated two dummy variables into the analyses. The first one was used to find out if a difference exists between the two sectors, and the other was used to examine differences before and after 2008, when the current economic and financial crisis began.\nFindings: The results reveal that equity risk is explained by businesses' size and growth, along with three indicators of business efficiency, consumer price and Stoxx Europe 50 indices. The 2008 financial crisis did not alter the behavior of the estimated model, and no difference was found between the two sectors in question.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study's most important limitation is the number of companies and years that make up the sample, although a broader set of data was analyzed in this work compared to previous studies.\nPractical implications: The research results are quite useful to tourism enterprise management in the US market as they provide information that explains companies' equity risk. Knowing this information could facilitate more efficient management, and an understanding of which information determines company risk can help to quantify risk objectively without access to betas.\nOriginality/value: The authors studied the US market as an important financial market and the tourist industry, in particular, for its economic significance, as shown by the direct contribution of travel and tourism to the US gross domestic product. Although this type of research in the tourism sector is not new, the present study answers the need identified by Park and Jang (2014) to continue this line of research by using a more interdisciplinary approach that combines hospitality research with finance and/or accounting studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Consumers' attitudes and willingness to pay for organic eggs: A discrete choice experiment study in Turkey
|
[
"Turkey",
"Willingness to pay",
"Consumer preference",
"Discrete choice experiment",
"Consumer attitude",
"Organic egg"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rapid industrialization of the agricultural sector over the last 40-50 years has increased the concerns among consumers regarding food safety, public health and environmental sustainability (Gracia and De Magistris, 2007; Von Borell and Sorensen, 2004). On the other hand, increase in income levels and living standards have affected the expectations of consumers in terms of gaining access to safe, quality food (Xie et al., 2015; Kenanoglu and Karahan, 2002).\nMaterial and methods: Data gathering\nResults: The results of the analysis are presented in this section. First, factor analysis was applied to the data in order to reduce the number of variables into fewer factors and to identify the core dimensions of consumer involvement in organic egg consumption (Heise and Theuvsen, 2017; Franz et al., 2012; Verbeke and Vackier, 2004). Within this context, the principal component analysis method with varimax rotation was applied to the variables related to knowledge level and perceptions regarding organic eggs, and three factors with ten variables were obtained, which explains the 67.762 percent total variance of data (Table III). These factors represent three consumer groups: collectivist, individualist and reluctant consumers. \"Collectivist\" consumers purchase organic eggs with the motivation of collective benefits such as food safety, animal welfare or environmental sensitivities, while \"individualistic\" consumers purchase organic eggs with the motivation of individual benefits such as health, taste or nutrition. Meanwhile, the third group, \"reluctant\" consumers, experience certain barriers to purchasing organic eggs such as price, ignorance or availability. The results of the reliability test demonstrate strong internal consistency (Cronbach's a=0.80), while the variables related to organic egg consumption are well suited for the factor analysis as the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy is relatively high, at 0.812. In addition, Bartlett's test of sphericity was statistically significant (p=0.000), yielding correlation coefficients for the population with values different from zero (Heise and Theuvsen, 2017).\nDiscussion: This study presents consumer attitudes toward organic eggs and utility values and WTP estimates for different egg attributes. The evaluation of consumer attitudes toward organic eggs reveals that consumers perceive organic eggs to be healthier, more nutritious and more delicious than conventional eggs. In addition, organic egg production is seen as being more sensitive to animal welfare and ethical issues.\nConclusions: This study will contribute to better understanding consumer behavior and preferences, which is the focus of present agro-food marketing activities, where consumers are widely deemed to have more awareness about the product attributes and easier access to information (Bertechini and Mazzuco, 2013; Popa et al., 2011). Better understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes toward new trends in food consumption such as organic food consumption will help producers and marketers in developing effective marketing and production strategies. A further contribution relates to the identification of different consumer profiles. Given that organic egg production is an important component of organic livestock farming, the findings of this study may be useful to the implementation of a strategy to overcome the challenges faced by the agricultural sector (e.g. sustainability, food security, food safety) while matching consumers' current preferences and tendencies (e.g. animal welfare, product quality, health, environmental protection) (Escribano, 2016; Von Borell and Sorensen, 2004).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand consumer attitudes toward organic eggs by identifying their profiles and estimating the degree of their willingness to pay (WTP) for eggs with different attributes in order to evaluate the position of organic eggs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Empirical data were collected from a face-to-face cross-sectional market survey, which involved a choice experiment design and a series of questions related to respondents' attitudes and preferences in terms of organic egg consumption. A total of 552 consumers who are responsible for their household purchases were sampled, while the survey was performed in the major cities of seven regions of Turkey. The gathered data from the questions on consumer attitudes and preferences were analyzed using ordered probit, while the choice experiment data were analyzed through the use of conditional logit and mixed logit models.\nFindings: Consumers perceive organic eggs to be healthy, nutritious and delicious food. In the study, we obtained three consumer groups (collectivist consumers, individualist consumers and reluctant consumers) with different characteristics in relation to organic egg consumption. When the motivations for organic egg consumption were analyzed, it was found that individual benefits have a greater impact than collectivist benefits on consumers' choice to purchase organic eggs. According to the results of the regression analysis, consumers are willing to pay L0.76 more per egg for organic eggs compared to conventional eggs. Overall, consumers are reluctant to pay a premium in view of the functionality aspect of eggs.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results will help the actors within the egg industry to develop production and market-planning processes for differentiated egg markets according to consumer preferences and in terms of having the opportunity to select their ideal customer segments.\nOriginality/value: The research is the first study that analyses the motivations and the willingness of Turkish consumers to purchase organic eggs through using a choice experiment design and regression models. Original findings include the segmentation of consumers according to personal beliefs and norms. The research is also important in terms of comparing two regression model results in methodical terms. The similarity among the obtained results from the regression analysis increased the reliability of the study.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Revealed preference analysis of red wine attributes using polarisation
|
[
"Customer loyalty",
"Red wines"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There are two main methods for measuring consumers' preferences for products and their attributes. Stated preference is when a survey is undertaken and respondents specify the selection they would make in hypothetical choices (Ben-Akiva and Lerman, 1985; Louviere et al., 2000). Revealed preference is when a shopper's or consumer's actual selections made in their day-to-day lives are recorded, such as in consumer data bases and panel surveys (Rungie and Laurent, 2003). In revealed preference data, therefore, consumers' actual loyalty can be measured as repeat purchasing. Typically these types of datasets are analysed for loyalty to brands (Goodhardt et al., 1984), but if other information about the products is available it is possible to measure repeat purchasing of product attributes (Singh et al., 2004), however this is quite rare. Wine is a product made of many attributes, and stated preference studies have shown wine buyers to use a range of attributes besides the brand in their simulated purchasing (Lockshin et al., 2006). We are interested in extending this work in choice experiments to the realm of actual consumer purchasing for wine to better understand what drives consumer wine selection in retail stores.\nLiterature review: One form of studying such behaviours for alternative choices is to utilise a zero-order model as a benchmark, with the Dirichlet multinomial distribution (DMD) model being one of the more popular (Fader and Schmittlein, 1993; Bhattacharya, 1997). Zero-order models assume each purchase is unrelated to the previous one (\"as if random\") and have been shown to fit actual purchasing patterns very closely. The reasons for using the DMD as the distribution driving brand choice is its appealing ability to accommodate the double jeopardy phenomenon (Bhattacharya, 1997). Double jeopardy is a phenomenon describing what seems to be higher than expected repeat purchasing of large market share brands and less than expected repeat purchasing of small market share brands (McPhee, 1963; Ehrenberg and Goodhardt, 1970). Small market share brands are known to suffer from two specific disadvantages when compared with high share brands: they tend to have fewer buyers than high share brands, and they also tend to be bought less often, hence \"double jeopardy\" (Goodhardt et al., 1984). Basically double jeopardy and the models describing it show that loyalty, as repeat purchasing, is a predicable outcome of brand size (market share) and is not related to any of the specific brand features, like its positioning or brand proposition as suggested by some authors (e.g. Aaker, 1991).Individual brand deviations from the DMD benchmark, which is a category-wide value, can be measured by reducing the multinomial calculations of the DMD down to a binomial model such as the beta binomial distribution (BBD) model, where each brand is modelled one at a time versus all other brands. The BBD results for each brand, when compared to the category-wide value, can infer possible variety seeking or reinforcing behaviours for alternatives. Variety seeking is also referred to as being \"change-of-pace\", where small brands are bought even less within consumers' portfolios than would be expected by their small market share (Kahn et al., 1988). Niche brands are the opposite, where a small brand's customer base has higher loyalty relative to the expected level for its size. Fader and Schmittlein (1993) have also proposed a \"reinforcing\" effect for large market share brands, where these large brands are purchased within consumers' portfolios more than even their large size would predict.The notion of a niche brand is discussed regularly in industry and academic marketing journals and marketing textbooks (e.g. Day et al., 1979; Kotler and Keller, 2006) as a potential position for a small brand. A niche brand is considered to be small, but profitable with a group of loyal customers. However, empirical research has shown that very few brands achieve a niche positioning (Fader and Schmittlein, 1993). To test this empirically, researchers have assessed deviations from predicted repurchase based on double jeopardy using either actual results such as penetration and purchase frequency, or by utilising the BBD model for each brand and comparing it to the DMD baseline category level. Fader and Schmittlein (1993) analysed over 50 product categories in the USA and Japan and found very little empirical evidence of niche positioning, where a small brand had higher than the category level for penetration or purchase frequency. In fact they found that \"excess loyalty\" defined as a higher than expected purchase rate for a given penetration (market share) occurred mainly in the largest brands in the category, and that the small brands behaved as Kahn et al. (1988) found: lower than predicted purchase rates for their given small market shares.We propose to use these terms and their mathematical representations to analyzse and compare wine attributes, including brand name, for their level of loyalty or repurchase behaviour using a large revealed preference (panel) date set. In this paper, we will use the Dirichlet as a baseline and assess deviations from it to determine whether niche or change-of-pace type loyalty exists. While the usual unit of analysis in Dirichlet type studies is the brand, we are concerned with assessing attributes in order to extend research such as Lockshin et al. (2006) from the experimental into the empirical. Wine is a product category with many attributes, such as grape variety, region or country of origin, brand name, and has a very wide range of prices when compared with many regular supermarket categories. Each of these attributes has a wide range of possible levels. Rungie and Laurent (2005) have recently argued that utilising the BBD to analyse variables other than brand has the potential for understanding what is driving consumer purchases in the analysis of revealed preference data (Rungie and Laurent 2003, 2005; Rungie and Goodhardt 2004). We will use methodology similar to Fader and Schmittlein (1993) and Kahn et al. (1988), but focus on loyalty to attributes as well as brands. Our analysis will result in a loyalty level for each attribute, as well as indications of whether reinforcing, niche or change-of-pace type behaviour exists for the different attribute levels.A method to model loyalty or repeat purchase, termed \"polarisation\", was first presented by Sabavala and Morrison (1977) and has been utilised by others (Fader and Schmittlein, 1993) in the analysis of patterns of loyalty. It is similar to other measures of loyalty such as Kalwani's (1980) coefficient of polarisation, Hendry's k (Kalwani and Morrison, 1977), and Bass et al.'s (1976) th construct. So far, these types of analyses have been limited to the brand as the unit of analysis, except for Jarvis et al. (2006), where repeat purchasing to price tiers was investigated.Polarisation is a transformed function of the BBD (Sabavala and Morrison, 1977; Rungie and Laurent, 2005), represented by the symbol, ph (Phi). Phi is linked to both the conditional probability (market share; P) and the repeat purchase probability (loyalty; r) (see equation 1). Both of these have become fundamental measures in the marketing literature. For a linear representation between P and r, ph is utilised and is standardised as a function of the DMD with the same value across all levels or alternatives. This is the average loyalty. The linear r and standardised ph then effectively become the benchmark, to be evaluated against those specified from the BBD results for each separate alternative. These alternatives can be brands or any other set of product attribute levels. Polarisation is easy to interpret, because it has values: between 0 and 1. If the DMD result for a group of alternatives was 0, this would indicate complete randomness across the alternatives being investigated, and the conditional probability (market share) would be the same as the repeat purchase probability. The repeat purchase probability is driven by the market share penetration of the alternative rather than loyalty by a specific group of respondents (consumers). Higher levels indicate higher probabilities of repeat purchasing (loyalty) for each alternative. The BBD results adjust for the average effect, to give a true indication of loyalty for an individual level.The other positive aspect of this measure is that it is standardised for market share (see equation 1). High market share brands or attributes by their very nature have a higher probability of being bought than lower market share ones. The BBD polarisation measure standardises the result to measure repurchase probability without the influence of market share. In this way, it is a better measure of loyalty especially for small brands and attributes.To summarise, polarisation captures the loyalty towards an alternative, consistent for market share. Polarisation reveals the excess or lower loyalty left after the expected level of loyalty is taken out. The expected level of loyalty is based on the number of alternatives in the market, and the switching between these alternatives, given their market share. If a small market share alternative has excess loyalty, it is defined in the literature as a niche alternative or niche brand if we are measuring brands. Niche alternatives are said to compete within their own \"niche\" group of customers - a small customer base that shows higher repeat purchase and therefore higher loyalty, relative to the rest of the market. They effectively are not competing with other alternatives in the market. If a small market share alternative has lower loyalty than what is expected, it is regarded as a \"change-of-pace\" or \"variety-seeking\" alternative. Using polarisation allows us to see which, if any, attributes have higher (lower) than expected loyalty, and therefore, help us understand what attributes consumers are using when making wine purchasing decisions.\nMethodology: Repeat purchase probabilities (r) and market shares (m) are linked by the following equation 1 (Rungie and Laurent, 2003):(Equation 1)where 0 <= r >= 1.Repeat purchase probability or as it is sometime known, the repeat rate (r), is therefore defined as the probability of choosing brand i conditional on a previous purchase of the same brand i. This is a measure of loyalty and is the repeat purchase probability for the brand. ph is a function of either the DMD or the BBD. The ph from the DMD is an overall level of loyalty and refers to the double jeopardy effect that loyalty is constant, no matter what the market share of the alternative. This constant is therefore the loyalty baseline, with the BBD ph's calculated for each alternative, which allows for comparisons to be made with the baseline DMD result. Typically and intuitively, larger brands have a higher repeat purchase probability and therefore higher loyalty. If variety seeking or niche behaviour are not present, the ph for each brand would be the same as the ph from the DMD for the category. The aim of this paper is to therefore investigate if wine consumers deviate in their loyalty to different attribute levels and what type of deviations are present.The data\nResults: Any analysis of this type is influenced by the makeup of the attribute levels. The initial loyalty results show that there is higher loyalty to price vs all the other attributes. Price is driving loyalty more than the other attributes. This is followed by variety, region, and brand. These are interesting findings and show that consumers are more loyal to price and variety than they are to region and brand. These results are shown in Table III. ph is bounded between 0 and 1 with high values of ph, indicating consumers always choosing the same alternative and low values indicating considerable switching amongst levels within each attribute. Just for some context a recent analysis (Rungie, unpublished data) showed that the ph for grocery stores is about 0.6 and for shampoos about 0.4.The next results are specific to the ph from the BBD model. These are the individual attribute level ph's. These are shown in Table IV, along with the market shares for each level as stated in Table II.Price\nConclusion: Summary\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The usual method of analysis of product attributes in marketing is to fit a multinomial logit model within a stated choice experiment, to determine the impact of attributes on the choice probability, which is equivalent to market share. The market share is intuitive and is based on each single choice in the study. However, revealed preference allows for a study into repeat purchase and loyalty, which can also be rich constructs for determining consumer preference.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors introduce a loyalty measure, polarisation, and show results based on a wine data set of revealed preference. Polarisation is a function of the beta binomial distribution (BBD) and can also be a function of the Dirichlet multinomial distribution (DMD). The DMD provides a standardised or average loyalty effect for each attribute (such as wine variety), and the BBD an individual effect for each attribute level (such as cabernet) within the attribute. While the DMD results provide a rich \"first-pass\" of the data, it is the individual results which can classify levels as reinforcing, niche, or change-of-pace in nature, with subsequent different marketing implications. These implications are drawn out in this study.\nFindings: - Specifically, the DMD results show higher loyalty towards price and variety rather than to region and brand. The BBD results show that segmented preferences in the wine market are influenced more by the price attribute levels and that the two key single varietals in the red wine category tend to behave as reinforcing attribute levels with important marketing implications for small and large wine brands.\nOriginality/value: - The authors extend the work of stated choice experiments into the realm of actual consumer purchase behaviour for wine. They also find that consumers' repeat purchasing is based on attributes other than brand. This provides a useful platform for both researchers to further investigate loyalty/repurchasing using attributes as well as for marketing practitioners to better position their products to consumers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Traveler loyalty and its antecedents in the hotel industry: Impact of continuance commitment
|
[
"Loyalty",
"Satisfaction",
"Atmospherics",
"Continuance commitment",
"Upscale hotel"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The importance of customer loyalty cannot be overstated in today's competitive business world (Reinartz and Kumar, 2000). It is therefore not surprising that for nearly every hotelier, the top priority is to retain their customers by enhancing loyalty. The vital antecedents of customer loyalty can be the performance of physical environment, affective experiences, image and satisfaction (Hwang et al., 2015; Ryu et al., 2012). Bitner (1992) indicated that physical environments containing ambient atmospherics induce customers' satisfactory evaluation of service/product experiences and have a significant impact on loyalty. Such atmospherics have a particularly important relationship with service firms in obtaining customer satisfaction and loyalty in that service firms such as hotels have limited tangible cues for customers to rely on (Jani and Han, 2014). Customer emotional experience is another important driver of loyalty. Researchers repeatedly emphasize that increasing positive affective experiences and decreasing negative affective experiences are essential in triggering satisfaction and loyalty in the lodging industry (Han and Back, 2008; Jani and Han, 2014). In addition, a positive influence of a firm's image is reported on many types of post-purchase behaviors such as satisfaction, loyalty, repurchase behavior, retention and word-of-mouth behavior (Brunner et al., 2008; Oliver, 1997). These studies discussed above stress the criticality of the concepts of the ambient atmospherics, emotions, image and satisfaction to build customer loyalty.\nLiterature review and research framework: Performances of ambient atmospherics\nMethodology: Measurement items and survey questionnaire\nResults: Measurement model evaluation\nDiscussion: Conclusions\nLimitations and future research: Despite crucial meanings for theory and practice, this research includes some limitations, which offer good an opportunity for future research. First, in this study, the impact of nationality and cultural background were not reflected as the sample population was mostly Korean lodging guests. Hotel customers' post-purchase behaviors can differ based on their nationality and cultural background. This cross-cultural/national aspect must be considered to meaningfully extend the hypothesized theoretical framework in future studies. Second, in the present research, the impact of guest groups (first-timers, repeaters and loyalty program members) was not reflected. Guest behaviors can differ across such groups. For future study, testing the behavioral difference between the groups can be a meaningful extension of this research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the intricate associations among the performance of ambient atmospherics, emotional experiences, overall image and guest satisfaction and test the influence of these relationships on loyalty intentions by considering the moderating impact of continuance commitment in the upscale hotel context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A field survey was conducted to collect the data. A quantitative approach was used for data analysis. Structural equation modeling and a test for metric invariance were used to identify the impact of study variables.\nFindings: The results of this paper indicated that the hypothesized relationships were in general significant, that the proposed theoretical framework satisfactorily predicted guests' intentions to be loyal and that the role of satisfaction among study constructs was prominent. Findings from the test for metric invariance also showed that continuance commitment significantly affected the associations among emotional experiences, satisfaction and loyalty intentions. Moreover, emotional experiences, overall hotel image and guest satisfaction were found to play a significant mediating role in generating loyalty intentions.\nPractical implications: The findings of this paper inform hotel practitioners of the clear role of atmospherics, emotional experiences, image, satisfaction and continuous commitment in building loyalty. In addition, these findings can help hotel practitioners and researchers invent thorough and strategic methods for loyalty enhancement.\nOriginality/value: The existing hotel literature has provided a limited view regarding the impact of these research variables. The present paper filled this research gap through the successfully development of a robust framework for hotel guest loyalty.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Buyback trading of open market share repurchase firms and the return volatility decline
|
[
"Shares",
"Stock returns",
"Volatility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Open market share repurchase is a major corporate payout method of publicly traded corporations in the USA. Open market share buybacks in the USA increased substantially in the 1990s, and continue to increase in the 2000s. According to the Mergers and Acquisition Database of the Securities Data Corporation (SDC), approximately 2,000 open market share repurchase announcements were made for the period 2000-2002. Grullon and Ikenberry (2000) found that in 1998, the estimated dollar amount distributed through share repurchases exceeded the dollar amount distributed through cash dividends for the first time in history. In 1998 and in 1999, open market share repurchases accounted for more than 95 percent of the total dollar value of share repurchases. Fama and French (2001) showed that in 1998, only 20.7 percent of all publicly traded corporations paid dividends in the USA, whereas in 1978, 20 years earlier, 66.5 percent of all US public corporations paid dividends.Open market share repurchase regulation in the USA is unique in the sense that disclosure was not mandatory until the 2003 SEC amendment[1]. Before this amendment in December 2003, SEC Rule 10b-18, the rule that regulates open market share repurchases in the USA, made no reference to disclosure. This is in stark contrast to relatively stringent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting and disclosure requirements that accompany other corporate events such as tender offer repurchases, insider trading activities, and equity offerings. A typical open market share repurchase announcement contains only a rough estimate of the number of shares to be repurchased and an approximate period covering the planned buyback program[2]. In addition, management is not bound by the buyback announcement, because it is not a firm commitment. Specific implementation of the buyback program is left to the discretion of the firm's managers. Thus, whether or not an announcing firm will actually buy back shares in the open market is not known ex ante.Many of the previous event studies of open market repurchases focused primarily on announcements, not the actual buyback transactions. However, the actual transactions to which the announcements relate may not take place. This study takes a first look at this issue, focusing on whether and how open market buyback trading affects total risk or return volatility of a firm's stock. The motivation for this focus relates to the evidence that individual firms' stock volatility is an important factor in portfolio choices and trading strategies. Campbell et al. (2001) found that individual stock return volatility more than doubled between 1962 and 1997. They stressed the importance of studying individual stock return volatility (and also industry-level volatility) in addition to market volatility for the following reasons. First, there are many investors who hold undiversified portfolios, and to these investors, individual stock return volatility is important. Second, to the extent that changes in individual return volatility affect risk that is priced (systematic risk), examination of changes in individual stock return volatility is of significant importance. Third, individual stock return volatility as well as market volatility is an important factor to arbitrageurs as they attempt to capture gains from mispricing of individual stocks. Finally, the value of an option on a stock is directly affected by changes in individual stock volatility.This study finds that return volatility, as measured by daily return standard deviations from -60 to +60 trading days relative to announcement dates, decreases significantly for the firms that actively buy back shares, whereas for the firms that do not buy back shares actively, return volatility does not decrease. Both univariate and multiple regression analyses show that it is the subsequent actual buyback trading activity, not the announcement, that is significantly related to the decrease in daily return standard deviation (the \"buyback trading hypothesis\"). The volatility-matched control sample analysis shows that this volatility decline is not a result of either a market-wide volatility decline or volatility mean reversion. Buyback trading activity can affect the skewness of return distributions if the firms engage in repurchase trades when stock price falls. This study also finds that the skewness of daily returns decreases significantly for repurchase firms. However, the changes in skewness do not appear directly related to firms' actual buyback trading activity.Return volatility can decline as a firm moves from a growth phase to a more mature phase, experiencing reduced growth options (the \"reduced growth option hypothesis\"). This explanation offers a reason for a volatility decline that is different from buyback trading. However, this study finds no convincing evidence that share repurchase signals a firm moving into a more mature phase. In other words, the evidence does not indicate that repurchase firms face reduced investment opportunity sets or growth options.Finally, to explore the economic significance of the statistically significant return volatility decline, this study examines changes in systematic risk as measured by CAPM beta. Just like the results for return volatility changes, CAPM beta declines significantly only when firms actively buy back shares, and CAPM beta does not decline when the firms do not buy back shares. This provides additional support for the relation between actual buyback trading and the return volatility decline, which eventually leads to the systematic risk decline. In addition, simple numerical examples based on the Black-Scholes option formula are presented to illustrate economically significant changes in option prices resulting from the return volatility decline documented in this paper.There are several explanations as to why firms implement open market share repurchase programs. The share repurchase can be used to signal share undervaluation (Vermaelen, 1981; Ikenberry et al., 2000). The share repurchase can be used to distribute excess cash flow and thereby reduce agency costs (Jensen, 1986; Lie, 2000). Also, Cook et al. (2004) presented evidence for price support motives for open market share repurchases. As suggested by Dittmar (2000), it is likely that these different motives co-exist to differing degrees depending upon firm-specific situations[3].The results of this study are consistent with the price support motive explanation in the sense that an open market share repurchase firm supports its price and reduces its return volatility. The mechanism is the active buyback of its own shares when the share price falls in the lower tail of the price distribution.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 contains hypothesis development. Section 3 describes the sample and the data. In section 4, the results of empirical analyses are presented, while in section 5, the economic significance of the return volatility decline is examined. Section 6 presents the conclusion and suggestions for future research.\n2. Hypothesis development: Return volatility can increase with share repurchases. As a firm repurchases its own shares, other things being equal, a debt-to-equity ratio rises as the equity base shrinks, while the amount of debt remains unchanged. Increased leverage makes equity riskier, resulting in an increase in return volatility.The \"volatility increase hypothesis\" states that cash outlay and higher leverage following a share repurchase increase equity risk, leading to an increase in daily return standard deviation.The first of the two volatility decrease hypotheses is the \"buyback trading hypothesis\". The buyback trading hypothesis is based on repurchase managers' tendencies to engage in buyback trading more actively when the managers believe the share price is \"too low\". Assume a hypothetical price distribution like the one in Figure 1. Then, one can think of \"price being low\" as the share price falling in the lower tail of this price distribution, or in the left side of the vertical line. The first graph in Figure 1 represents a price distribution that will be realized if the firm does not buy back. The second graph is a price distribution that will be realized if the firm buys back shares when the share price falls in the lower tail of the distribution. The second graph is a \"leaner\" price distribution than the first one. Under the assumption of a locally downward sloping demand curve for a share, the firm's repurchases can increase price or prevent a price fall. As the price falls in the lower tail of the distribution, the firm repurchases its shares. As illustrated by the arrows on the second graph, added buying demand resulting from this repurchase activity increases the price, thus shrinking price dispersion. In other words, price dispersion or price volatility diminishes when the managers engage in buyback trading as the share price falls in the lower portion of the price distribution[4]. A repurchase firm has a tendency to engage in buyback trading more actively when the price falls in the lower tail of the price distribution. This tendency will result in reduced price volatility and therefore reduced return volatility as measured by daily return standard deviation.The second version of the volatility decrease hypotheses is the \"reduced growth option hypothesis\". This hypothesis offers an alternative explanation to the buyback trading hypothesis as to why return volatility might decline with share repurchases. Volatility can decline as growth options of a firm decrease, or as the investment opportunity set of a firm diminishes. Reduced growth options or diminishing investment opportunities are the characteristics of a firm in transition from a growth phase to a more mature phase. As a firm becomes more mature, the number of growth options will decrease, cash flows will tend to become less volatile, and therefore equity risk will go down. Grullon et al. (2002) find a significant decline in systematic risk for dividend increasing firms, and suggest that dividend changes can be signs of a more mature firm. Their intuition is that more mature firms with reduced growth options tend to possess relatively abundant cash and thus tend to increase dividend payouts. Similarly, open market share repurchases, a corporate payout method alternative to dividends, can be another signal of a mature firm with reduced growth opportunities and reduced risk.In the reduced growth option hypothesis, return volatility decreases because a firm moves into a phase in which the investment opportunity set is smaller, a reason that is different from that of the buyback trading hypothesis.\n3. Sample and data: Open market share repurchase announcement data were obtained from the Thomson Financial SDC Platinum Mergers and Acquisition database for the period from January 1990 to December 1992. To measure daily return standard deviations, bid-ask spread data from the tapes of the Institute for the Study of Security Markets (ISSM) were used[5]. The reason for the use of intraday data is to facilitate a measure of return volatility by taking bid-ask midpoints. This avoids artificial volatility created by bid-ask bounce. This study uses mostly +60 and -60 trading day windows relative to day 0, or the announcement day; that is, 60 trading days prior to each announcement and 60 trading days after each announcement are examined. In this 121 trading day window, 52 stock splits and 12 stock dividends took place. Among many studies on stock splits and their market microstructure effects, Koski (1998) documents an increase in variance of daily returns following ex-dates of stock splits and stock dividends. To avoid potentially confounding effects of stock splits, I exclude those 64 announcements from my original sample, and this results in the sample size of 905 with 549 from NYSE/Amex listed firms and 356 NASDAQ listed firms.\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Univariate analyses\n5. Economic significance of the return volatility decline: In the preceding sections, evidence has been provided for the relation between actual buyback trading activity and the return volatility decline. As mentioned in the Introduction, examining changes in return volatility or total risk is important because return volatility matters to undiversified investors, arbitragers, and options holders, and also because return volatility affects risk that is priced, or systematic risk. This section offers an examination of the economic significance of the statistically significant return volatility decline. First, simple numerical examples are presented based on the Black-Scholes option formula to illustrate how much option price changes as a result of a decrease in daily return standard deviation. Second, systematic risk as measured by CAPM beta is investigated.5.1 Changes in Black-Scholes option prices\n6. Conclusion and future research: To the present author's knowledge, this paper is the first to find a significant decline in total risk or return volatility (daily return standard deviation) with respect to open market share repurchases. Most importantly, this study connects return volatility changes, as well as CAPM beta changes, to actual buyback trading activity. Throughout this paper, evidence indicates that it is the actual buyback trading activity of a repurchase firm that is significantly negatively associated with the volatility change and the CAPM beta change. This finding deserves attention because changes in return volatility are important to underlying option holders, arbitrageurs, and investors who hold undiversified portfolios. Most of all, it can affect systematic risk. In addition, this study finds no evidence that the volatility declines are explained by a repurchase-announcing firm moving into a more mature phase. That is, there is no evidence that an increase in firm maturity leads to a volatility decline.Existing research offers several explanations as to why firms undertake open market share repurchases. This study presents results that are consistent with the price support explanation. Evidence suggests that an open market share repurchase firm, by actively buying back its own shares when the share price falls, supports its price and reduces its return volatility.An interesting observation can be made regarding buy back trading activity of a repurchase firm: buyback trading activity of a repurchase firm is similar to market-making activity or market stabilization activity of a lead underwriter in the equity-issuance aftermarket. According to Aggarwal (2000) and Ellis et al. (2000), the most dominant form of IPO market support activity is the aftermarket short covering activity or the share buyback activity by a lead underwriter. A lead underwriter almost always oversells the shares, usually by 15 percent of the original offering amount. If the IPO becomes successful, or if the newly traded stock price increases, then the overallotment option or the Green Shoe option is exercised to cover the initial short position.If the IPO becomes unsuccessful, or if the price deteriorates, then the lead underwriter covers its initial short position by buying back the newly traded shares (aftermarket short-covering). The poorer is the performance of the IPO, the more shares the lead manager tends to repurchase. From this, I observe that price support activity through share repurchases by a lead underwriter in the IPO aftermarket resembles buyback trading activity by an open market share repurchase firm. When the price falls in the lower tail of the price distribution, a repurchase firm, like a lead-manager in the IPO aftermarket, engages in repurchasing its shares, thereby supporting its price and reducing its price volatility. However, like the IPO market, we still do not know all of the details of how open market share repurchase firms implement buyback programs, mainly because of insufficient disclosure. Deeper understanding of buyback trading activity of open market share repurchase firms can provide further insights on market-making activity in the equity issuance aftermarket. Conversely, future research on IPO aftermarket support activity can increase understanding of buyback trading activity by an open market share repurchase firm.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to examine changes in daily return volatility associated with open market share repurchases.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Univariate analyses, control sample analyses, and multiple regression analyses are employed to explore relations between daily return volatility and a number of variables.\nFindings: - This study finds evidence that an open market share repurchase firm, by actively buying back its shares when the share price falls, reduces daily return volatility. The results suggest that it is the subsequent actual buyback trading activity, not the announcement, that is significantly negatively associated with changes in daily return volatility. CAPM beta, a measure of systematic risk, decreases only when the firm is in the market actively repurchasing its shares.\nOriginality/value: - To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is probably the first to connect changes in daily return volatility to actual buyback trading activities of share repurchase announcing firms. Changes in daily return volatility, or total risk, not only affect systematic risk, but also are important to underlying option holders, arbitrageurs, and investors who hold undiversified portfolios.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Accountability processes in boardrooms: A conceptual model of manager-non-executive director information asymmetry
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Information asymmetry",
"Non-executive directors",
"Board accountability",
"Board processes",
"Boards of directors"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: I know nothing - nobody tells me anything (James Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy, 1906).\n1. Introduction: There have been calls for broader research on accountability in corporate governance including consideration of a wider range of accountability mechanisms (Brennan and Solomon, 2008). Roberts et al. (2005) distinguish between remote accountability to investors and face-to-face accountability within boards between executive and non-executive directors. They observe that to be accountable for one's activities is to explain and justify the reasons for them. Roberts et al. (2005) observe that open dialogue between executive and non-executive directors can promote reciprocal understanding and creative thought. Forbes and Milliken (1999) state that board effectiveness, and ultimately firm financial performance, depends on the exchange and critical evaluation of information. However, they also observe that to perform their control and advisory tasks effectively, \"board members must elicit and respect each others' expertise, build upon each others' contributions, and seek to combine their insights in creative, synergistic ways\" (Forbes and Milliken, 1999, p. 496). This dialogue, in the form of reciprocal information/knowledge exchange, sharing and creation, is the starting point for our paper[1].\n2. Theory: Board information can be explained through agency theory and from a resource dependence perspective. Agency theory and resource dependence theory are not mutually exclusive. Hillman and Dalziel (2003) consider agency theory and resource dependence theory to be complementary. They advocate combining the two perspectives which they contend leads to a more fully specified and richer model of board effectiveness. The context in which boards operate influences the perspective taken - from the large and dispersed shareholdings of listed companies, where an agency theory perspective might be more relevant (Jensen and Meckling, 1976); to the largely non-executive boards of state or not-for-profit bodies; to family firm boards where, taking a resource dependence theory perspective, non-executive directors may be recruited for the general business expertise and information/knowledge resources they bring to the board (Bammens et al., 2011). We commence our theoretical discussion by reviewing perspectives on the role of boards and directors.\n3. Prior empirical research: Measuring information asymmetry between managers and boards of directors is difficult due to challenges in researching the \"black box\" that is the boardroom. Much prior empirical research does not factor information asymmetry into the research design. Empirical research on board characteristics and board information/knowledge is summarised in Table I. Most of the research is quantitative, using questionnaires and surveys. Much of the research relates to board information/knowledge and the monitoring role of boards. An alternative perspective is board information/knowledge and the resource role of boards. Table I highlights the dominance of agency theory in prior research on management-board information/knowledge, with only one resource-based paper and three papers including a resource dependence as well as agency theory perspective. The five papers based solely on an agency theory perspective find support for the theory in various ways.\n4. Managers' and non-executive directors' information/knowledge: Two dominant theoretical perspectives influence current thinking on board information/knowledge. Agency theory assumes that information asymmetry exists such that managers have more company-specific information/knowledge than non-executive directors. Resource dependence theory assumes that non-executive directors bring additional external information/knowledge to the boardroom, to supplement the internal information/knowledge of management. Common to both perspectives is the assumption that the nature of managerial information/knowledge is different from the nature of non-executive directors' information/knowledge and vice versa. While this assumption is widely accepted, understanding the nature and consequences of the inherent differences between managers' and non-executive directors' information/knowledge warrants further consideration. Specifically, this paper considers two research questions:\n5. Implications derived from the conceptual model: This paper commenced by articulating and challenging agency theory's view of boardroom information/knowledge as a depersonalised commodity. Drawing on prior research on how human beings cognitively share information/knowledge, we have theorised information/knowledge as being a personalised item - a cognitive problem. In practice, boardroom information/knowledge is likely to fall somewhere in a continuum between these two extremes. Our conceptual model presented in Figure 2 is an idealised representation, implying equal exchange and sharing of information/knowledge between managers and non-executive directors. Characterising the boardroom as a place of open dialogue with both sides exchanging and sharing information/knowledge freely is a somewhat utopian view. This perspective does not take into account the capacities of human agencies or the influence of contextual contingencies. If boardrooms are assumed to be places of open dialogue with the perfect opportunity for frank exchange of views, why does this not happen in practice in many cases?\n6. Conclusions: The paper contributes to the literature by examining information/knowledge exchange, sharing and creation between managers and non-executive directors, by challenging the conventional wisdom on information asymmetry and by reconceptualising information asymmetry away from what is/is not known by managers/non-executive directors to the nature of the information sets of the two groups. Taking an alternative perspective on information asymmetry leads to an appreciation that it is by the nature of their different information sets that non-executive directors can make a contribution.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of information and knowledge exchange and sharing between managers and non-executive directors is important in assessing the dynamic processes of accountability in boardrooms. By analysing information/knowledge at multiple levels, invoking the literature on implicit/tacit and explicit information/knowledge, the authors show that information asymmetry is a necessary condition for effective boards. The authors introduce a conceptual model of manager-non-executive director information asymmetry as an outcome of the interpretation of information/knowledge-sharing processes amongst board members. The model provides a more nuanced agenda of the management-board information asymmetry problem to enable a better understanding of the role of different types of information in practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis of information/knowledge exchange, sharing and creation and the resultant conceptual model are based on the following elements: manager-non-executive director information/knowledge, management-board information/knowledge and board dynamics and reciprocal processes converting implicit/tacit into explicit information/knowledge.\nFindings: The paper provides new insights into the dynamics of information/knowledge exchange, sharing and creation between managers and non-executive directors (individual level)/between management and boards (group level). The authors characterise this as a two-way process, back-and-forth between managers/executive directors and non-executive directors. The importance of relative/experienced \"ignorance\" of non-executive directors is revealed, which the authors term the \"information asymmetry paradox\".\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors set out key opportunities for developing a research agenda from the model based on prior research of knowledge conversion processes and how these may be applied in a boardroom setting.\nPractical implications: The model may assist directors in better understanding their roles and the division of labour between managers and non-executive directors from an information/knowledge perspective.\nOriginality/value: The authors apply Ikujiro Nonaka's knowledge conversion framework to consider the transitioning from individual implicit personal to explicit shared information/knowledge, to understand the subtle processes at play in boardrooms influencing information/knowledge exchange, sharing and creation between managers and non-executive directors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The role of performance measurement in developing industrial services
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Value creation",
"Maintenance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Today, small- and medium-sized enterprises are competing in globalised and turbulent markets. To survive in such a competitive environment, companies have to collaborate with each other with the objective of meeting customers' needs more effectively and efficiently (Bititci et al., 2004, 2012; Benedettini et al., 2015). Companies operating in networks require information regarding the functionality and value of the network (Kaplan et al., 2010; Bititci et al., 2012). Traditionally, operations management literature has addressed the subject of value when considering manufacturers' strategies for adding value for their customers (Lightfoot et al., 2013). When operating in networks, each organisation's role and value input have to be taken into account. In their investigation of how value is created in networks, Ulaga and Chacour (2001) concluded that it is created not only by delivering products and services but also through relationships. Understanding this requires extensive shared information throughout the network.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1. Value perspective in services networks\n3. Research approach: The results of this study are based on two case studies. Because of the exploratory nature of the research, the case study was deemed appropriate as an approach because of the importance of the phenomenon in practice as well as the lack of existing theory. Two networks made up of seven organisations which operate in the mining and energy industries were used as case studies. Both of the networks included companies with the following three different roles: a customer company, a maintenance service provider company and an equipment provider company. These networks were chosen as cases because they were interested in developing performance measures for monitoring the value created in the network.\n4. Findings: 4.1. Cooperation in maintenance service networks and the current role of performance measurement\n5. Conclusions: This study increases our understanding of the measurement of value in maintenance services. The competition in international markets has led to a situation where industrial maintenance services are outsourced; thus, there is a need for a theory that elucidates how the actual value of such cooperation can be demonstrated to the partners and end customers. Despite the increasing amount of literature on performance measurement in networks, there remains very little theory that reflects the complexity and dynamism of when value is delivered to customers through maintenance cooperation. This study extends the literature on performance measurement of value from individual organisations to a network level.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine inter-organisational cooperation in delivering maintenance services, focusing on the level of maturity of this cooperation and the current role of performance measurement in evaluating its effectiveness. It also determines how performance measurement should be developed to support the needs of networked maintenance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical evidence is based on two cases of networks operating in the field of industrial maintenance. The first network operates in the energy industry, while the second operates in the mining industry. Both networks consist of machine supplier companies, performance partner companies and system supplier companies. A total of seven companies participated in workshops and interviews in 2013-2014.\nFindings: As a result of the study, suggestions for improving the performance measurement of service value in maintenance are presented and a framework is offered that meets the needs of the customer, service provider and equipment provider. The significant innovation of the research is its combination of network, service and value perspectives in performance measurement by presenting a framework for measuring created value of cooperation.\nOriginality/value: The literature calls for new measurement models and frameworks that support the new management challenges. This research creates a framework for practical applications. The framework helps to identify possible development needs and increases the understanding of what is required when cooperation in a maintenance network deepens, moving from machine partner towards value partner.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Retrospective: the importance of servicescapes in leisure service settings
|
[
"Emotion",
"Retail",
"Atmospherics",
"Servicescape"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: When we began our careers together in 1991, few services and retailing researchers devoted much effort to understanding the effects of the physical environment on consumers. In the emerging days of service quality research, Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) recognized \"tangibles\" as playing a role in customer response, and Baker (1986) pointed out that consumption settings are comprised of both physical and social elements. Given our own inherent interests in sporting events, as well as generally having a good time, we were struck by the importance of the facilities and ancillary services in the satisfaction with services provided in leisure settings. Visiting Wrigley Field in Chicago, for example, is as much about the physical environment as it is about the core service provided. Going on a cruise, visiting a ski resort or most other things we and others enjoy seemed more about the place than anything else.\nSports and entertainment: Perhaps more noticeable, if not more prevalent, than other settings, sports and entertainment service providers heavily invest in maintaining high-quality physical surroundings. We used Cincinnati's Riverfront as an example of a high-quality stadium in 1994, but, like many others, this stadium was since replaced with an even more fan-engaging stadium, the Great American Ball Park. Roy (2008) reports that more than 100 new minor league baseball stadiums were built in the 1990s and early 2000s. Similarly, 18 new major league baseball stadiums were built since 1994, including major renovations at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. Although we would like to take credit for this corresponding emphasis to improve the sportscape, the reality is market demands forced organizations to meet the needs and expectations of customers.\nHospitality and tourism: Ritchie and Crouch's (2003) text on sustainable tourism recognizes the psychological benefits attributed to the servicescape often outweigh physical or utilitarian needs to find lodging. Otto and Ritchie's (1996) work is particularly interesting because they examined dimensions (hedonic, interactive, novelty, comfort, safety and stimulation) of the service experience among customers of airlines, hotels and tourist attractions. Related highlights in this stream of work include:\nRetailing and services marketing: Over the years, because the retailing and services industries have become more intensely competitive, the servicescape has taken on greater significance. Studies have investigated topics such as emotions and satisfaction, perceived quality, loyalty, repatronage intentions, time spent in the facility, crowding and cleanliness and customer-to-customer interactions. The servicescape literature also extends to e-commerce.\nFuture directions: Given increasing numbers of middle-class families in growing countries across the world (e.g. China), demand for both utilitarian and hedonic services will continue to grow over the next several decades. With more affluent households, an increasingly diverse set of consumers and aging populations, marketers who implement well-designed servicescapes will prosper. Research opportunities, naturally, will abound.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to review the contribution of the paper, \"The Importance of Servicescapes in Leisure Service Settings\" to the discipline and to offer directions for further research and developments in the research area.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Key findings from research streams in sports and entertainment, leisure and hospitality, and services and retail marketing, which emanated from the publication of the paper, are highlighted. Opportunities for future research are discussed.\nFindings: The importance of the servicescape in leisure settings has become even greater on a national and global basis as individuals spend more time, money and effort pursuing hedonic consumption in service settings. More research is needed within specific service contexts among and between individuals, groups and cultures to determine the holistic and particular influences of the physical environment on consumer response.\nResearch limitations/implications: With increased co-production of service experiences, including the integration of technology and mobile/wearable devices, marketers and researchers must better understand the role of the physical surroundings on individual, group and organizational behavior in the evolving servicescape.\nOriginality/value: The original paper motivated significant, highly cited studies in multiple disciplines integrated and overlapping with services and retail marketing. Taking a historical perspective encourages other researchers to conduct research of personal interest to address theoretical, methodological and practical issues. The retrospective analysis by the authors gives insight into the thought processes associated with understanding key aspects of the servicescape that contribute to the historical development of services marketing and offers food for thought (if not ambience and layout) for future research directions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Exaptation in management: beyond technological innovations
|
[
"Creation",
"Context",
"Agent",
"Exaptation",
"Latent function"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Exaptation: (biology) the process by which features acquire functions for which they were not originally adapted or selected. (Oxford Dictionary, 2017)\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Entity and entity type\n3. Method: To identify, analyze and discuss cases published in the literature that characterize new attributions to entities of interest to managers, also including those that were not given the label of exaptation recently imported from paleontology, we began with a review of the literature. An initial search identified the presence of the word exaptation in the title, abstract or keywords of articles. This step was taken in May 2017, in four digital libraries of scientific articles specializing in the field of Management: EBSCO, JStor, ProQuest and Academy of Management Publications. The authors used skimming to read the articles that resulted from the initial search (Duggan and Payne, 2009), reading the abstract, introduction, section headings, subsection headings, tables and figures. At this time, the articles related to management and related fields (accountancy, economics and engineering) were separated from the other fields, such as biology, linguistics and psychology. Following these two selection processes, the articles were distributed among the authors for intensive reading. The dimensions for the content analysis of the texts were defined as six codes to be observed:\n4. Findings: 4.1 Identified cases of exaptation of administrative entities\n5. Discussion of exaptation mechanism with entities of interest to managers: In this section, we analyze the cases described in the previous section to achieve the second specific research goal:\n6. Conclusions: The discussions in the previous section contrast with the extant literature on exaptation, which mostly focuses on entities directly associated with technological products of big organizations, with high investments in R&D. We discussed exaptation citing companies of different sizes from different sectors, involving other types of organizational entities, more specifically those that are the direct responsibility of or highly dependent on the actions of managers. In terms of implications for future research, our contribution is to present and provide examples of entities of interest to and direct usage by managers which may favor the use of exaptation. The means related activities carried out by different areas of the organization may also benefit from the use of exaptation mechanisms. That is to say, exaptation may be used beyond the company's core activity and beyond the area of product engineering or R&D.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Although exaptation is recognized as a means of creation capable of generating significant economic implications for organizations, this mechanism has not been explored in depth in the field of management, where it remains restricted to innovation and product research and development. With this limitation in mind, this study aims to explore and discuss exaptation along with other entities that are more greatly concerned with the interests of and direct contact with practitioners and academics in the field of management, such as processes, data, tacit knowledge and skills.\nDesign/methodology/approach: For the purposes of this study, a comprehensive review of the literature on exaptation was conducted, and 46 entrepreneurs from companies of different sizes and segments were interviewed.\nFindings: The results of the review of the literature and interviews with entrepreneurs helped to identify and describe 13 cases of exaptation associated with nine different kinds of organizational entities. For four of these entities, which are closely associated with management, the restrictions of the business environment regarding the exaptation of these entities are discussed, together with the more favorable organizational structures for their occurrence.\nPractical implications: This paper discusses the exaptation to the four types of entity closely linked with management: tacit knowledge, data, process and skill. For each one of these entities the following is discussed: the organizational characteristics that hinder the exaptation of the entity in question and the managerial actions that could alter these characteristics and facilitate the occurrence of the exaptation mechanism with the entity in question.\nOriginality/value: This process led to the development of an algorithm for analyzing the exaptation mechanism and the adaptation of the attributes associated with the agent-artifact[entity]-context tripartite to describe and analyze exaptation event, including another attribute: the type of entity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Exchange rate bands of inaction and hysteresis in EU exports to the global economy: The role of uncertainty
|
[
"BRICS",
"Hysteresis",
"Exports",
"Real exchange rate",
"Global economy",
"Policy uncertainty",
"F14",
"C51"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper investigates and estimates the effect of economic policy and exchange rate uncertainty shocks on some important EU member countries' exports to the world economy. It does so in a micro-founded macroeconomic hysteresis context. Hysteresis becomes valid if relations between economic variables are characterized by a situation, where initial conditions and the past realizations of economic variables matter. Expressed differently, past (transient) exogenous disturbances and past states of the economic system do have an influence on the current economic relations (Belke, Goecke and Werner, 2014). A typical example is the dynamics of the nexus of exchange rate and exports which is assessed here for four EU member countries later on. In this context, the economic policy uncertainty index is applied to the estimation of export equations for the first time.\n2. EU exports, hysteresis and uncertainty: stylized facts: In this section, we present stylized facts about EU member countries' exports, hysteresis and uncertainty to better justify the specifications of our export equations and interpret the country-specific estimation results later on.\n3. Empirical analysis: The implementation of the hysteresis algorithm[6] in this paper follows the theoretical considerations of a band of inaction on the micro-level, which is then aggregated to represent the macroeconomic application. The theory is depicted in detail in Belke and Goecke (2005) and the chapters 2 and 3 of Belke and Kronen (2016). We therefore refer to these papers and do not include these theoretical considerations in this contribution.\n4. Robustness checks: 4.1 Impact of policy and economic uncertainty on EU countries' export activity\n5. Conclusions: The paper deals with the impact of policy and exchange rate uncertainty on the relationship between EU member countries' exports and its main determinants. Our intention was to identify a band of inaction for EU member countries' exports (which is widened by economic policy and exchange rate uncertainty). We capture these non-linear dynamics in a simplified linearized way and implement an algorithm describing play hysteresis into a regression framework. For several country destinations of EU member countries' total exports, our non-linear model including play hysteresis shows a significant effect of the non-linear play dynamics. Analyzing some of the largest EU member countries' export partners, we find hysteretic play effects in a significant part of EU member countries' export destinations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effect of policy and exchange rate uncertainty shocks on EU countries' exports to the world economy. The authors examine the performance of the four biggest economies, namely Germany, France, Italy and the UK, under policy and exchange rate uncertainty in exports to some of the most important global export destinations (the USA, Japan, Brazil, Russia and China).\nDesign/methodology/approach: For this purpose, the authors apply a non-linear model, where suddenly strong spurts of exports occur when changes of the exchange rate go beyond a zone of inaction, which the authors call \"play\" area - analogous to mechanical play. The authors implement an algorithm describing path-dependent play hysteresis into a regression framework. The hysteretic impact of real exchange rates on exports is estimated based on the period from 1995M1 to 2015M12.\nFindings: Looking at some of the main export destinations of the selected EU member countries, the USA, Japan and some of the members of BRICS (Brazil, Russia and China), the authors identify significant hysteretic effects for a large part of the EU member countries' exports. The authors find that their export activity is characterized by \"bands of inaction\" with respect to changes in the real exchange. To check for robustness, the authors estimate export equations for limited samples: excluding the recent financial crisis and excluding the period up to the burst of the dotcom bubble and September 11. In addition, the authors employ an economic policy uncertainty variable and an exchange rate uncertainty variable as determinants of the width of the area of weak reaction of exports.\nResearch limitations/implications: Overall, the authors find that those specifications which take uncertainty into account display the highest goodness of fit, with economic policy uncertainty dominating exchange rate uncertainty. In other words, the option value of waiting dominates the real exchange rate effect on the EU member countries' exports.\nPractical implications: The existence of \"bands of inaction\" (called \"play\") in EU member countries' exports should lead to a more objective discussion of peaks and troughs in those countries' real exchange rates and, more specifically, of the relevance of internal and external devaluation and other indicators to gain international competitiveness on exports in political debates. If policy and/or exchange rate uncertainty are diminished, one may expect an earlier boost in exports, if the home currency is devaluing in real terms.\nSocial implications: The results are useful as arguments in the debate about exchange rate pain threshold vs export triggers.\nOriginality/value: The authors focus on the export performance of the four biggest economies in the European Union, namely Germany, France, Italy and the UK. The authors examine their respective export performance, as an innovation, under policy and exchange rate uncertainty and, for this purpose, look at some of the most important global export destinations (the USA, Japan and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia and China)). The authors do so, also as an innovation, by differentiating between intervals of weak and strong reaction of their exports to real exchange rate changes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
As time goes by ... maintaining longitudinal satisfaction: a perspective of hedonic adaptation
|
[
"China",
"Social interaction",
"Enduring involvement",
"Hedonic adaptation",
"Longitudinal satisfaction",
"Product attribute"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A new sports car attracts much attention and brings the owner great pleasure. At first, a light scratch might cause the owner to become distraught. However, with time, once a few months or years pass, the thrill of possessing a new car and the heartache of the scratch decrease. This phenomenon is known as hedonic adaptation (HA). HA is defined as \"the psychological process by which people become accustomed to a positive or negative stimulus, such that the emotional effects of that stimulus are attenuated over time\" (Lyubomirsky, 2011, p. 4). Scholars demonstrate that emotions aroused by a new change eventually return to a settled level (Quoidbach and Dunn, 2013; Schoefer, 2008), suggesting that HA is a natural course of adaption to emotions, in a similar way to humans adapting to room temperature, smell and light (Falk et al., 2010; Loewenstein and Ubel, 2008; Martin et al., 2008). In the present study, we reason that if the HA theory could be applied to the customer satisfaction (CS) context, the drivers of CS could be interpreted as adapting to a settled level and reducing positive emotions as time goes by. That is, a higher rate of HA induces a faster decrease of positive emotions, thus settling the level of emotions aroused by a stimulus.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 Attribute performance and longitudinal CS\n3. Methodology: To determine the product attributes and context for the study, we decided to utilize the attributes of smartphones. The smartphone and its services provide a good context for testing our predictions for several reasons. First, acquiring a new smartphone has the potential to boost positive emotions and maintain them during the follow-up consumption process. Second, a smartphone has both variable and invariable attributes. Third, the actual utility of a smartphone depends heavily on the consumption behavior of the owners. For example, some consumers use them for phone calls, whereas others use them to play games and/or surf the web in addition to phone calls. Fourth, smartphones have become an important way for owners to interact with others.\n4. Conclusion and implications: Previous studies have suggested that the product attribute weight on CS shifts over time; however, few studies explain why the weight shifts in different directions. This research introduces a dynamic emotion theory - HA theory - to explain the underlying mechanism, and suggests a universal way to categorize attributes when studying dynamic relationships with CS. In addition to providing empirical evidence related to the existence of HA in the process of consumption and its connection to declining CS, we conclude that, as consumption experience unfolds, variable attributes that keep customers feeling fresh and interested influence longitudinal CS intensively. As predicted, emotion is an intervening mechanism between attribute performance and CS for both new and long-term customers. However, as HA happens so rapidly, the mediation effect weakens over time. This result might be attributed to the descending effect of emotions on CS as time passes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of how firms can maintain longitudinal satisfaction. Previous research on longitudinal satisfaction demonstrates that the product attributes weight on satisfaction shifts over time. However, the existing literature lacks an understanding of the intervening mechanism. Inspired by the hedonic adaptation theory, this research first argues that the shift depends on the attribute's variability. Then, it posits that hedonic adaptation might play a mediation role in connecting the attribute's weight and longitudinal satisfaction. Finally, the research incorporates consumer intentional activities into the antecedents of longitudinal satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors test a series of hypotheses across two studies. Using the Slope-shift Parameter Theory and Structural Equation Modeling, data collected from smartphone owners in four MBA classes (Study 1) and eight business venues in China (Study 2) are analyzed to confirm the research model.\nFindings: The findings suggest that hedonic adaptation occurs during the ownership process. It is revealed that both the attribute's variability and consumption behavior play important roles in sustaining long-term satisfaction, confirming the mediating effects of hedonic adaptation on the relationship above.\nOriginality/value: The hedonic adaptation theory is applied to study the mediating role of product attribute variability and consumption behavior in sustaining customer satisfaction over time. Three contributions are offered: First, hedonic adaptation occurs during the ownership process; second, the attribute's variability and consumption behavior both play important roles in sustaining longitudinal satisfaction; third, the mediating effects of hedonic adaptation are confirmed for the relationship between attribute's variability and sustaining satisfaction and consumption behavior and sustaining satisfaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Guilt no longer a sin: the effect of guilt in the service recovery paradox
|
[
"Service failure",
"Service recovery",
"Guilt",
"Service recovery paradox"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: During the past few decades, researchers have examined the relationship between service failure and service recovery. In particular, a phenomenon called \"service recovery paradox\" (SRP) has caught the attention of many researchers. SRP is defined as a situation whereby customers are more satisfied after the recovery from a service failure than prior to that service failure (Maxham III, 2001; McCollough and Bharadwaj, 1992; Smith et al., 1999). As more analysts emphasize the quality of service, the topic of SRP is increasingly important in laying the groundwork for managers and researchers to understand how their responses to service failure affect customer behaviors.\nLiterature review: SRP\nService failure types: When customers encounter service failures and then get service recoveries, SRP may occur. The relationship between service failure and service recovery may play a very important role with respect to the phenomenon of SRP. According to prior studies, researchers emphasize the importance of fit between service failure types and service recovery attributes (e.g. Chuang et al., 2012; Kozub et al., 2014; Smith et al., 1999). Thus, an understanding of how fit between service failure and service recovery influences the relationship between guilt and SRP may support the generalization of this paper.\nService recovery attributes and mental accounting theory: Smith and Karwan (2010) define service recovery as the actions taken by service providers to resolve customer problems. This refers to an organization's activities and efforts to rectify, remedy, compensate and recover losses incurred after a service failure. N'Goala (2007) believes that a suitable service recovery might be the determinant of customer switching resistance. This means that it is very important for service providers to make the right service recovery strategies to decrease the negative outcome of service failure.\nResearch hypotheses: Prior studies have provided some reasons for SRP as a possible phenomenon in the service industries. In other words, if customers receive better than expected recoveries, they will commonly experience increased satisfaction. Thus, first hypothesis is hypothesized:\nMethodology: This paper designed a two-phase investigation to explore customer satisfaction through the effect of guilt. Study 1 measured guilt to examine the possible mediating effect on SRP. In Study 2, with regard to the manipulation of guilt, a critical incident methodology and scenario-based experimental approach (using role-playing experiments) were adopted to generalize the findings. First, critical incident methodology has already seen widespread use in emotion and service industries research; people using this method are prone to report on the most extreme events they have been through (e.g. Smith et al., 1999). Hence, this paper chose to use this approach to uncover the participants' previous experiences with loss, compensation and guilt. Second, this paper instructed the participants to imagine that they were playing a role in a scenario, and to project how they would react under the stipulated circumstances. This scenario approach aimed to alleviate some difficulties in the research method, such as ethical issues associated with actual service failures and recovery cases (Smith et al., 1999). Moreover, the scenario approach also eliminated the managerial undesirability of intentionally imposing service failure experiences on participants. Keaveney (1995) suggests that the scenario approach may provide better understanding of causal relationship than critical incident methodology would (Huang et al., 2012). Given these considerations, this paper chose two manipulation methods for Study 2.\nStudy 1: Participants, design, and procedure\nDiscussion: As predicted, Study 1 has demonstrated that SRP is a possible phenomenon in the service industries. That is, when customers receive better than expected recoveries, they may commonly experience increased satisfaction. In addition, Study 1 also found that the participants not only rated their guilt feelings higher in the over-rewarded service conditions than in the normal conditions, but also reported higher satisfaction after a service failure (recovered by the firm) than those who encountered a normal service situation. In other words, guilt feelings are probably an important factor that can make customers feel sorry no matter what service they receive. Therefore they are prone to evaluate their satisfaction as much higher, in order to compensate for their sense of obligation. Thus, guilt influenced the occurrence of SRP.\nStudy 2: As discussed in the methodology section, Study 2 adopts two approaches the critical incident methodology and the scenario-based approach.\nDiscussion: Whether participants were manipulated by critical incident methodology or a scenario-based experimental approach, SRP resulted from the occurrence of guilt feelings. Combined with the findings of Study 1, guilt feelings were an important factor that could make customers feel sorry no matter what service they received. Therefore they were prone to evaluate their satisfaction as much higher, to compensate for their sense of obligation. Thus, our findings all support H1 and H2.\nStudy 3: Prior studies have demonstrated that recoveries involving tangible compensation are more effective in dealing with outcome type failures, and psychological recovery is more effective in relation to process type failures. However, this paper further investigated whether the guilt feelings could alter the results of previous research. In other words, to clarify the influence of guilt feelings on SRP to strengthen the research framework, the types of service failures (outcome vs process failure) and the types of service recovery attributes (tangible vs psychological) were designed to test the H3 in Study 3.\nDiscussion: Based on the fit theory between service failure and service recovery, the results of this study show that the feelings of guilt might be one kind of psychological factor that improves the SRP, whereas those with no guilt had little or no influence on the SRP. That is, customers with guilt are much more satisfied by getting a fit recovery than unfit recovery, whereas guilt-free customers showed less difference whether getting a fit of psychological/tangible failure and recovery. Hence, our findings could be taken as supporting H3, as predicted.\nGeneral discussion: It is impossible for service providers to offer zero-defect service. Therefore the issue of service failure recovery is inescapable, and there is an abundant amount of literature discussing this issue. Until now, SRP theory has proposed that recovery efforts after service failure may enhance customer satisfaction. However, the related studies appear to contradict each other. Some studies find support for SRP theory (e.g. Hocutt et al., 2006; Magnini et al., 2007; De Matos et al., 2007; Michel and Meuter, 2008), and some do not (e.g. Andreassen, 2001; Halstead et al., 1996; McCollough et al., 2000; Ok et al., 2006). Among research theories that have supported the SRP effect, only script theory has offered an explanation of how SRP actually works (e.g. Bateson, 2002). This theory proposes that in a service context, all individuals have their own roles to play, and they are the best judges of their own satisfaction. When customers perceive a discrepancy between their initial service expectations and their empirical experience, they may consider that the service they received did not follow the script. They will thus be more sensitive and aware of the following events, which will have a strong influence on their levels of satisfaction. Still, there has been a general lack of evidence to confirm or deny the SRP effect.\nManagerial implication: Increasingly more consumers rely on their personal emotions and perceptions to evaluate company service. It can be said that today's society is gradually on the way to becoming a more emotional society. De Kesel (2010) explains: \"Emotional society [...] refers to the discourse people reproduce when talking about themselves and about what they consider to be their culture, society, and world (p. 124).\" If perception reigns supreme in an emotional society, people not only have the right to express their emotions privately or in the public, but also to use emotions to override some objective truths. Therefore, current enterprises, especially in the service industry, must take emotion into account. It must integrate emotion into the service process to improve the quality of service.\nLimitations and directions for future research: Although this study has yielded findings that could help to enhance customer satisfaction, the design was not without limitations. First, the critical incident methodology used to elicit participants' guilt feelings has certain weaknesses. It is a method that easily leads people to recall their most impressive experiences, and to report on those possibly non-typical incidents. If other methods were used in our study, such as videotapes, the empirical consumer scenarios may have yielded different results. Second, this paper focusses mainly on scenarios involving restaurant service. A different industry may have different customer service characteristics; thus, the recovery methods used in the restaurant scenario might not be suitable for analyzing service failure recoveries in other industries. In addition, shopping mall participants might be recruited by a systematic sampling method in the future, instead of by a convenience approach with a systematic selection element.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Research on the service recovery paradox (SRP) effect has indicated that after recovery from failures in customer service, customers will commonly rate their satisfaction higher than prior to the service failure. However, thus far there has been little research on the cause of this phenomenon. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of \"guilt\" emotions in the context of consumer service.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. Data were collected from 532 undergraduate, graduate students and the general people.\nFindings: The results of the experiments demonstrate that if customers are compensated for service failures by receiving better than anticipated service, they will commonly experience feelings of \"guilt.\" In an attempt to alleviate this guilt, customers will project their feelings in evaluating a company, and will rate their customer satisfaction more highly. In doing so, the customer feels relief in reciprocating the kindness of the firm; in this way, the firm wins over the customer's heart.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first studies to discuss the effect of guilt in the SRP effect. This research shows that relying on the emotion of \"guilt\" for receiving exceptional service helps companies to overcome service failures and successfully rebuild their relationships with customers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Harnessing the power of paradigms
|
[
"Change management",
"Beliefs",
"Organizational culture"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A strategy is shaping and reshaping a \"central idea\" or \"prevailing paradigm\" in detail and implementing it persistently and consistently (Ram Gharan).\nWhat is the purpose of this paper?: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that those organisations, which develop a complete explicit organisational paradigm and the strategy to implement it, will guarantee themselves a competitive edge in both short and long-term profitability.To achieve this objective I consider:*What is a paradigm?*What are our cognitive thinking styles?*What are the change management paradigms?*Why is culture important?*Why culture change initiatives fail?*What should be the culture paradigm?*What is a helpful process to harness the power of paradigms?\nWhat is a paradigm?: A paradigm is an intellectual structure within which cognitive functioning occurs e.g. the dominant intellectual structure for science is theories; for administration - policies; for law - rules; ethics - mores; in debate - consensus; in biology - frames of reference.The organisational paradigm is the set of beliefs, shared by the core decision-making unit, that both define the business domain (the areas on which the decision takers focus) and what is outside the domain (where there is no focus), as well as acting as the drivers of strategic action. (This is based on Kuhn's (1970) definition of paradigms.)For example, one successful international company developed an organisational paradigm, which generated significant profitability until the dynamics of the changing market-place required a change to the paradigm.The set of beliefs that described this paradigm were as follows. We should:*dominate market share in home markets;*expand overseas through niche markets;*become and stay cash rich and financially sound;*be leading edge technologically;*control costs and improve quality; and*focus on greater efficiency.I conclude this section with four points:1. The business domain of this \"prevailing paradigm\" or \"recipe for success\" comprises market strategy, financial management, technology management, cost control and product management.2. It is helpful to think of each business area as a separate domain governed by its own paradigm. Clearly the sum of all the paradigms produces the recipe for success.3. Those areas not included in the current recipe, e.g. change management, client service and culture in the example above should be included.4. The paradigms outside the existing recipe, particularly the culture paradigm, tend to operate with implicit rather than explicit beliefs, i.e. are \"blind spots\", using the terminology of Johari's Window (see Luft, 1970). These beliefs, which cannot, by their very nature, act as drivers of conscious action, can be very limiting indeed and severely damage the ability of any organisation to succeed in its drive to increase profitability. This reality is developed in the sections on culture.\nWhat are our cognitive thinking styles?: According to Kirton (2003):\nWhat are the change management paradigms?: The two most commonly deployed are the innovative and the adaptive - with the innovative in the ascendancy, as those who are recruited or promoted to executive positions in organisations these days tend to have innovative rather than adaptive thinking preferences.A typical innovative change management paradigm, which is widely held but often operates in the \"blind spot\", consists of the following beliefs:*change is the only constant;*the pace of change is accelerating;*innovative changes are required rapidly; and*need \"can do\" innovative thinkers.The consequences of this innovative paradigm are:*too many change projects initiated;*many fall by the wayside;*the rush to implementation creates high levels of inefficiency;*change weariness affects staff; and*adaptive thinkers are branded \"resistors\" and are undervalued and their creative thinking skills are under-utilised.As regards the adaptive change management paradigm, this is relatively rare and only occurs in slowly changing industries, where the dominant thinking preference of key decision-takers is adaptive. One can see that the change management paradigm (to the extent it is explicit) operated by the company referred to under \"what is a paradigm?\" is adaptive. The clue is the language used - \"control\" costs, \"improve\" quality and focus on greater \"efficiency\".The actual change management paradigm would be along the lines of:*change in our industry is gradual;*change should build on the status quo; and*change should be directed at improving efficiency.The consequences of applying that paradigm into today's business environment are that new business ventures or new ways of doing business are not easily discovered which will reduce profitability in the long term.As regards a helpful change management paradigm for all organisations, I would re-define change to mean, \"making and becoming different\" and follow these two beliefs:1. Change should only be introduced if it helps the achievement of a key strategic goal.2. Change projects should be developed and the implementation managed by team(s) containing a mix of adaptive and innovative thinkers.With regard to the second belief, clearly, at ground level, organisations would want the appropriate bias of adaptive or innovative thinking. I would imagine that all organisations would want their health and safety staff to have an adaptive bias and their marketers an innovative one!\nWhy is culture important?: Culture is an elusive concept and the key to gaining a competitive edge in terms of profitability. I favour a very practical definition of culture, namely \"the nature of the working environment in which an employee operates\". Accepting this definition, if there is an overall organisational culture, then there will be, for large organisations, a whole range of sub-cultures.If an organisation can create a better working environment(s) than its competitors, then profitability will increase for two reasons:1. Better relationships with existing customers, leading to more work and more referrals to gain new customers, the most cost-effective forms of marketing.2. Staff, who are more motivated and learn at an increasing rate (the right culture creates more of a learning environment throughout the organisation), hence work harder and more effectively.I provide three examples:1. Those organisations, which can create a team-based structure and culture, become significantly more profitable as a result, e.g. Johnsonville Foods (see Peters, 1992). Revenues rose in a decade from around PS3 million to around PS60 million and to quote the CEO; \"Whilst the numbers are dandy, watching people grow is my number one joy\". As Tom Peters pointed out, Johnsonville workers (most of whom left school with hardly any of the US equivalent of GCSEs, never mind \"A\" levels) are among the 1 per cent or less in the USA, who are encouraged, with company financial support, to study anything - job-related or not. As one employee said to Tom Peters: \"Look, anything you learn means you're using your head more. You're engaged. And if you're engaged, then the chances are you'll make a better sausage.\"!2. Many years ago, I was appointed the first strategic planning manager for a large UK clearer. As well as producing the first LTSP (long-term strategic plan), I developed the strategy for competitor monitoring and then chaired the steering committee to oversee the implementation of that strategy. Early on, I commissioned detailed competitor profiles for the Board on all the major competitors. This was in 1989, and I have forgotten every single piece of information in all those profiles except one. At the time, J.P. Morgan was highly profitable. The piece of information was that their star performers were regularly approached by the competition with remuneration packages that were, on average, one third better than what they obtained with J.P. Morgan. There were no departures as the stars found their working environment more stimulating, challenging and friendly.3. Some years ago I carried out research for a city law firm, which was highly profitable at the time. As part of the research, I had confidential, one-to-one conversations with associates at all levels. They were full of the gripes that any associate working for any law firm has! Significantly, to a man and a woman, they found their working environment better, mainly as the partners were more supportive and more friendly than all those in the competitors. The associates knew this as they all had strong peer group networks into the competition. As a result, they were more loyal and worked harder and more effectively, especially as they were given greater responsibility and did more stimulating and stretching work than their competitor peers.They made a better sausage!\nWhy culture change initiatives fail?: Culture change was attempted by almost all major players in major industries in the UK (and the USA) from late 1980s onwards. Almost all have been a failure. I remember talking to the CEO of a big UK charity about the culture change programme he had sponsored two years earlier.He bitterly regretted starting the exercise.The five reasons for the failure of these culture change initiatives are:1. A separate right-brain \"vision and values exercise\", thus denying integration into the fabric of the daily work experience.2. Sponsored by personnel departments and so no real ownership and drive from the top.3. Too many values, some inconsistent, too much detail and values that cross too broad a strategic range.4. Lack of persistence. Harrison (1991) points out that, for any culture change initiative to be successful, you need to keep committed to, promote, monitor and modify the initiative on a continuous basis for at least six years from inception.5. Finally, and the greatest cause for failure, the demotivation and loss of morale throughout an organisation, created by the implementation of the initiative. Expectations are raised to the roof at the beginning and then staff see most of their role models neither preaching nor practising or preaching and not practicing the values they, the staff, are supposed to follow.However, the fundamental cause of failure is the implicit cultural paradigm most organisations follow.In our working environments, we have to communicate with and relate to each other, and so we are exposed to all the vices and virtues of being human.Take first an extreme example. I was working closely with the HR department of a client company and they uncovered a worrying statistic in one of the other departments - a significant increase in sickness amongst departmental staff. Fortunately, they did not seek to deal with the symptom but carried out detailed research into the cause(s). They found that the departmental manager was a bully. So the paradigm at that time of that sub-culture consisted of the following set of implicit and highly limiting beliefs:*you are here to be bullied;*you will work in fear; and*you will be totally de-motivated.That was unlikely to be promoted as the explicit paradigm driving action in that sub-culture! And, of course, that implicit culture paradigm was allowed to develop because culture was not a domain in that firm's recipe for success - so there was no focus and no explicit beliefs.Moving away from this extreme case, many organisations' cultures or sub-cultures are governed by the implicit (and highly limiting) beliefs:*you are here to make money for the company or support the making of money;*individualism is preferred;*competition between individuals is desired; and*focussing on office politics is desirable and necessary.\nHow to change culture effectively: As regards the desired future culture paradigm (recognising that it is sufficient for success only to gain clear blue water relative to the competition), I would recommend the following explicit beliefs:*base on the attitudes and actions of individuals working in effective teams;*operate at ground-level;*spread throughout the organisation;*drive top-down;*lead by example; and*focus training in support on the two core development competences.This paradigm is self-explanatory apart from the last point. \"Focus training in support on the two core development competences.\"For full details, I would refer you to my articles: \"Delegation and co-ordination: the core development competencies to create a competitive edge\" (parts 1 and 2; Eales-White, 2005a, b).The relevant extract is:I quote David Maister (1997), a Harvard Business professor: It is entirely possible that a firm's success can be built on a superior ability to get the best out of its people.\nThe way forward: My recommendation would be to:1. take all key decision-takers off-site for a couple of days;2. split them into groups of five or six;3. use an external facilitator to manage the event and to build effective working groups rapidly at the start of the event;4. allocate the different domains e.g. market strategy, client service, change management, culture and so on to different groups to create the explicit paradigms;5. present and discuss to achieve consensus;6. allocate the explicit paradigms to different groups to flesh out the strategic intent(s), time-frame to success, how to measure success and the strategic actions required in the first year; and7. present and discuss to achieve consensus.Finally, I would conclude with the point that harnessing the power of explicit paradigms is necessary for all organisations and vital for those going through a merger or acquisition.Typically, what happens now is:1. first, clear business synergies are identified to justify the merger;2. then, once the merger has been agreed, focus switches to positioning and politics amongst the key executives to maximise personal power and remuneration in the newly merged entity; and3. finally, once the merger has taken place, there is a drive to produce the desired synergies, focussing on a left-brain business model, resulting in an excessive and very damaging emphasis on cost reduction and hence head-count reduction.The result is that the desired business synergies take much longer to materialise (if they do at all) than originally planned. The reason for this is that rivers of blood flow as the dominant culture before the merger consumes the sub-dominant culture and ensures staff losses are mainly from the sub-dominant culture.OK, this is a worst-case scenario - but one to which many of those readers who have \"enjoyed\" the experience will, I believe, relate.By involving all key decision-makers from both \"camps\" in creating the new recipe for success and the strategy to implement it, the pain from the past is avoided and the gain from the future delivered.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate to the reader that those organisations, which develop a complete explicit organisational paradigm and the strategy to implement it, will guarantee themselves a competitive edge in both short and long-term profitability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper defines a paradigm and provides an example of a \"prevailing paradigm\" or \"recipe of success\". It provides the reader with understanding of cognitive thinking styles - adaptive and innovative. The paper considers the adaptive and innovate change management paradigms, the advantages and disadvantages, and suggests an effective explicit change management paradigm. It looks at the importance of culture, why culture change initiatives fail and suggests an effective explicit culture paradigmThe paper sets out a process that will enable any organisation to harness the power of paradigms and hence deliver a competitive edge in profitability.\nFindings: - If an organisation ensures that its core decision makers collectively develop explicit paradigms in all key business areas, it achieves strategic focus and increases its profitability at a faster rate than its competitors.\nOriginality/value: - Develops an understanding of the nature and power of paradigms and how to harness that power to achieve a competitive edge in profitability.\n",
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Quality initiatives in public health and other health-related fields
|
[
"Health policy",
"Quality",
"Nursing",
"Emerging healthcare delivery structures",
"Health service quality assurance",
"Adverse events or outcomes",
"Population health",
"Psychiatry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: While there is no clear single focus in this issue of International Journal of Health Governance (IJHG), there are two important articles on public health issues: smoking cessation (Khanijahni, 2020) and the prevention of hearing loss attributed to nonoccupational loud noise (Shroff and Jung, 2020). The review section will lead with these and then relate the remaining five articles to quality improvements (QIs) in health and how these affect the public.\nSmoking cessation: Smoking cessation is a classic public health issue that continues to contribute to a significant number of deaths annually in the United States and around the world. It is estimated that 0.5m American deaths are directly caused by smoking each year and that 16m Americans suffer from health problems closely related to smoking such as asthma, cardio-vascular disease and cancer. Overall nonsmokers enjoy, on average, a decade more of life than smokers.Khanjahni (2020) suggests that there are three main interventions that contribute to the public health goal of smoking reduction or cessation. One solution is raising taxes on tobacco. Price elasticity is demonstrated by the phenomenon that when the price of cigarettes rises by 100%, the rate of smoking drops by 25-50%. Although it is sometimes argued that there is a net taxation benefit to governments in the fact that people continue to smoke, costs of smoking-related illness and death remain higher than the amount raised in taxes. Thus, monetary incentives are not enough on their own to reduce smoking to desirably very low levels.The second incentive discussed by the author is the use of social regulation. This uses both hard and soft methods to prohibit or discourage smoking. Age regulations and prohibitions against smoking in public places such as offices, bars, restaurants and public transport are examples of hard or regulatory incentives. Social acceptance is a soft incentive and it would seem that social disapproval of smoking rises as the habit becomes less visible in daily society.Social acceptance is influenced as well by the third tool: public health campaigns. There are many antismoking campaigns in existence, some nationwide such as the BeTobaccoFree campaign run by the Department of Health and Human Services and others run by individual states such as TobaccoFreeFlorida. This campaign aims to collaborate with employers and housing associations to promote smoking cessation programs at work and smoke-free environments in managed properties.Another tactic that has been particularly successful in the UK is the promotion of e-cigarettes or vaping as a method to help people stop smoking. Public Health England (2017) reports the highest success rate on record in the first six months of 2017 largely due to encouraging a switch to nontobacco forms of nicotine consumption such as vaping. However, in the US this seems to be a less accepted method of smoking cessation due to the, as yet, not fully known hazards of alternate methods of nicotine self-administration.Despite the fact that the US Surgeon General first publicized the negative health associations with tobacco in 1964, smoking remains a serious health hazard both in the USA and around the world. Smoking is, in fact, the leading cause of death other than communicable disease. Further evaluation of smoking cessation programs both in the USA and in other nations may provide valuable insights about culturally acceptable methods of helping people break the smoking habit.\nNoise pollution and hearing health: The second paper focusing on public health exposes the dangers of noisy environments, not related to occupational hazards (Shroff and Jung, 2020). Occupational noise hazards are regulated with the onus on the employer to protect employees' hearing. Therefore, the real culprits of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) today are those associated with nonregulated noise. This may be traffic, or noisy environments such as trains, subways or social gatherings. Hearing loss can also occur through a single incident of very loud noise such as exposure to an explosion, gunfire or fireworks (NIH, 2019). However one of the most insidious causes of NIHL comes from personal music devices played at high volume. As high decibel sound is transmitted directly into the inner ear via headphones or earbuds, the effects can be much greater than the listener recognizes. As hearing deteriorates, the typical listener response is to increase the volume, thereby exacerbating a problem, which may not even be acknowledged. However NIHL is an easily prevented problem that has serious psychological and occupational repercussions, and which needs more research to determine extent of problem. The authors recommend more coordinated campaigns to raise awareness and alter social and cultural association of loud noise with pleasurable activities.The association of noise with pleasure apparently has a physiological basis as sounds over 90 decibels stimulate pleasure sensations in the inner ear, while at the same time destroying hair cells in the cochlea which are essential for the transmission of sound. Therefore, while social and cultural associations are important, humans seem predisposed to enjoy noise. More research into this phenomenon would be interesting, especially as campaigns to reduce hearing loss often focus on promoting appreciation of quiet sounds.While deafness may seem trivial compared to the kind of pandemic that leads to high mortality rates, for the person experiencing NIHL, it is a life-changing disability. Deafness may reduce life opportunities and occupational choices in the young. It also contributes to social isolation and a reduction in self-confidence. Clearly NIHL is a problem which needs to be taken seriously both in this country and globally, to prevent large-scale hearing loss in segments of the population who would not naturally experience this.\nMedical error and the \"duty of candour\": While not exactly a facet of \"Public Health\" one situation in which the public has a high level of interaction with healthcare providers is when an error or series of medical errors have been made. The inquiries into these incidents, or indeed series of incidents that may create a malevolent healthcare culture, are often assisted, and sometimes initiated, by the public. The problems and their resolution have long-term implications, not only for the individuals concerned but also for the health of a particular population. This can be as diverse as infants in an obstetric unit, elderly patients in a care home, or patients operated on by a particular surgeon or surgical team.Powell (2020) explores the \"Duty of Candour\" in the (UK) National Health Service (NHS). The term refers to the necessity for health practitioners and managers to be open and honest with members of the public who have experienced harm due to a medical or surgical intervention. This might be an error, an omission, a patient mix-up or the application of a nonresearch-based treatment or intervention.While it can be argued that doctors have always had a professional \"Duty of Candour\" in the past, this has at times been overlooked due to the supposed need to \"protect\" the patient or his/her relatives. The need for full disclosure of adverse events or negligence moved into the legal milieu following recommendations of the Francis (2013) on the inquiry into failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.Powell employed a multiple stream analysis of policy, problem and politics to examine the wider factors contributing to this change of culture in the NHS.Using interpretive content analysis, the author traces the history of changes in legislature and includes arguments about whether professional duty of candour might be sufficient to ensure the necessary level of transparency in 21st century healthcare or whether there needs to be a legal duty. The article goes on to examine how a window of opportunity for policy change opened when a problem, politics and policy all interacted to shape the change in health professionals' and the public's understanding of the duty of candour.\nProfessional training and work satisfaction: The next two articles reviewed focus on the impact training initiatives and work patterns have on health professionals job satisfaction. In the first of these, Majumder and Holland (2020) explore the efficacy of review meetings between educational supervisors and psychiatric trainees. Supervision is an essential element in preparing trainees for their professional roles, thus the purpose of this study was to discover trainees' feelings about the supervision process and to gather any suggestions to improve the process that they might have.Data collection was through feedback forms completed by the psychiatric trainees. Twenty-five forms were completed and four major themes were identified. These were as follows: supportiveness of the process; organization of the sessions; importance of preparation for the meetings on the part of the supervisors and changes in the supervision paperwork. Trainees stated that the process was supportive and that they felt listened to. Trainees also agreed that the supervision process was well organized and personalized, however they suggested meetings could be improved if supervisors read their forms before the sessions. The trainees also wanted alterations in the paperwork such as using shorter forms with greater focus on clinical skills to prevent the forms from being used as a \"tick-box\" exercise. Finally, trainees requested email reminders and clearer guidance about how to move forward following the sessions.In the second of these two articles, Gadolin et al. (2020) explore the issue of professional fulfillment for doctors and nurses and how this can be affected by changes in working patterns from the traditional linear pattern of predefined pathways to a more patient-centered approach embodied in the use of \"value shops\".The authors suggest that the traditional linear process of diagnosis and treatment does not serve all patients equally well, particularly those with symptoms not easily attributable to a single condition or disease. Instead they introduce the concept of the \"value shop\" that offers a conceptual construct focusing on the patient's perspective. Resources are mobilized to conform to the needs of the patient rather than to a predefined protocol or patient journey pathway. While the supposed advantages of working in this way include decreased cost, better patient experience and more rapid diagnosis and treatment, data about healthcare providers' experience of providing care in this way are lacking. The authors address this gap in knowledge through their study at two Swedish hospitals that have combined their resources to act as a single diagnostic center.Both hospitals had moved away from a linear method of patient care with patients who had symptoms that could be indicative of or related to a cancer diagnosis. Documents, observations and interviews were used as the data collection tools in this study. Findings illustrated the importance of professional fulfillment to the participants in this research.Professional fulfillment is important to health professionals and it can be difficult to engage practitioners in different ways of working unless they perceive these to be beneficial in helping them achieve career goals. Professional fulfillment equates to expanded job satisfaction with autonomy in practice often a key element in how doctors and nurses evaluate job satisfaction. However, there are differences in how members of these two professional groups perceived professional fulfillment.Doctors associated professional fulfillment with rapid diagnosis and treatment, while nurses' professional fulfillment was related to caring for patients through relationship-building and meeting patients' needs effectively.The doctor-patient interface was very intense and focused on multiple consultations over a short period of time. Many doctors said that this way of working represented the core of good medicine and that they were able to practice medicine \"as it should be practiced\". They also felt that they had been able to develop broader and more in-depth medical knowledge through revisiting existing knowledge and acquiring new information or novel ways of knowledge application.Nurses changed their normal pattern of working by making the initial patient contact by phone (the norm was to make the initial contact by letter) and then by maintaining their own caseloads of patients for whom they had individual responsibility for nursing decisions and care. Nurses acknowledged that this was a more fulfilling method of caring for patients and reported feeling that the care they gave really made a difference to the patients. This is congruent with findings from Westbrook et al. (2011) that increased time spent with patients results in increased satisfaction for both nurses and patients.This study showed that changing to a \"Value Shop\" method of working can have beneficial effects on both patient care and on the professional fulfillment of those caring for them. However, there are issues around staffing levels, staff burn-out and long-term efficiency of new patterns of care that need to be addressed before any recommendations are made about widespread adoption of the \"Value Shop\" model.\nResearch-based health policy in Malawi: While research into new ways of delivering healthcare is essential, it is also very important to evaluate the way in which research can inform policy development. This is the topic of the next paper by Maulanga et al. (2020) who explored the use of research evidence to formulate health policy in Malawi. Data were collected through interviews with policymakers and questionnaires given to health researchers.The research findings indicated that there was a lack of communication between health researchers and health policymakers. Disagreements existed about who should set research goals and decide on areas for investigation. The authors suggest that knowledge translation platforms are required to transfer research into policy. These include policy briefs, policy documents and syntheses of research findings. Policymakers do not see interpretation of the literature as their responsibility; they want focused bullet-point type documentation that provides solutions for specific problems. Both groups of participants agreed that technical working groups were an effective medium for interaction between researchers and policymakers and that researchers should be more proactive about getting their findings to the attention of policymakers. The authors concluded that researchers should do more briefing papers, make more use of social media and promote their research widely. By doing this and presenting their research in a form that is accessible and understandable to policymakers, barriers between researchers and policymakers should start to fall. At the same time, policymakers must take on the responsibility of being open to research evidence in policy development and implementation.\nDrug development in Indonesia: The final article in this issue examined the problems associated with developing the pharmaceutical industry in Indonesia (Siagian et al., 2020). This is a very timely article at the time of writing in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic. Around the world pharmaceutical manufacturers are racing to develop both a vaccine and an effective research-based antidote for this new human virus. Developing countries such as Indonesia find it difficult to complete in the global pharmaceutical marketplace because of lack of resources for research and development. Therefore the local pharmaceutical industry focuses mainly on production of generic medications.Nevertheless, Indonesia is committed to growing its pharmaceutical industry. In the past, barriers to such growth have been a lack of technology, lack of government support and a dearth of time and finances needed to stimulate growth in this industry. Despite the fact that the government has earmarked funding for drug development, the output of the pharmaceutical industry remains generic drugs with most new medications imported from abroad. While the political will for change is present, policy reform is required to bring all stakeholders together to assess needs, identify blockages and formulate planning. All stakeholders need to work together to facilitate the switch from total reliance on the production of generic drugs to the longer, more complex process of new drug development. The authors conclude that this will require a new model of close collaboration between government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry.\nConclusion: While the articles in this issue of IJHG might seem to be something of a \"mixed bag\", closer examination demonstrates that they all have to do with QI in one form or another. Health professionals, including researchers and educators, must work together to ensure continuous improvement in care given to patients and in the methods of administering that care. This requires attention to models of practice, to improvements in training and in encouraging researchers and policymakers to collaborate on the implementation of research into policy. QI also requires taking a fresh look at public health initiatives to find new ways of engaging whole populations in the quest for healthier lifestyle choices, and in supporting research and development worldwide to ensure the world has the drugs required to prevent or to battle the next pandemic.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the International Journal of Health Governance (IJHG) review is to present a synopsis of the accepted articles in each issue, thus allowing readers to identify articles of particular interest to themselves.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The review editor reads all the submissions for each issue and then prepares an overview presenting the major themes with reference to supporting literature\nFindings: The findings from all articles are presented in a succinct format.\nOriginality/value: The value of the IJHG review lies in the fact that no other Emerald publication includes a review section of this type. This unique contribution to this particular journal enhances usability and reader satisfaction.\n",
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Towards a qualitative understanding of human capital in entrepreneurship research
|
[
"Human capital",
"Nascent entrepreneurs",
"Formative and reflective measures",
"Fuzzy-set analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The construct of human capital is widely used in entrepreneurship research, as recent meta-analytical reviews show (Martin et al., 2013; Unger et al., 2011). It represents the knowledge and skills - whether general or specific to the task context - that individuals bring to a task they set out to perform and, as a basic tenet, is expected to improve task performance (Becker, 1975). Based on this premise, a human capital perspective has been used to predict a variety of entrepreneurial outcomes such as becoming a nascent entrepreneur or self-employed, new venture formation, and new venture performance and survival. As such, human capital represents an intuitive and appealing construct for predicting entrepreneurial outcomes. The challenge for empirical research, however, lies in translating the theoretical notion of human capital into valid operationalization in specific studies. The purpose of this paper is to critique the current practice of using disjointed proxies of education and experience, and discuss how human capital can be represented in a more holistic manner.\nReflective and formative conceptions of human capital: The relationship between theoretical constructs and their measure represents an important yet overlooked aspect of theoretical reasoning (Edwards and Bagozzi, 2000). Edwards and Bagozzi distinguish two types of relationship between a construct and its measures, reflective and formative. In the first, a construct is viewed as a cause of its measures. Such measures are termed reflective as they represent manifestations of the same underlying construct. This conception underlies considerations related to reliability and factor analysis. It presupposes high correlation among the measures (indicators) and models these measures as a function of the underlying construct and (measurement) error (Kline, 2005). As such, reflective constructs require a minimal but not necessarily exhaustive set of consistent indicators.\nConfigurations of human capital indicators: How can the human capital of two individuals with different experiences, both in terms of extent and nature, be compared? Can a higher educational degree be compared with a few extra years of entrepreneurial, industry, or managerial experience? These are clearly difficult questions that go to the heart of our understanding of human capital as formed by its indicators. They suggest that, in terms of their human capital, individuals can be more meaningfully compared in a holistic rather than piecemeal manner.\nHuman capital and venture emergence: As a final illustration of the utility of the QCA, I examine the relationship between human capital and venture emergence in the context of the solo nascent entrepreneurs in the PSED II. The reason for the choice of solo entrepreneurs was that for cases where more than one person was involved in starting a particular business, it would have been more difficult and complex to make attributions about the success or failure of the emerging venture to the human capital characteristics of the particular respondent.\nDiscussion: This paper revisits the conceptualization and measurement of human capital in entrepreneurship research. Human capital has been widely and consistently used to predict outcomes such as engaging in venturing efforts, venturing progress, and venture emergence, performance, and survival. Despite some clear inconsistencies in extant empirical findings, there has been no discussion of the logic or appropriateness of current approaches to measuring human capital. Explicit consideration of the relationship between the construct and its measures represents a central part to such discussion.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to revisit the conceptualization and measurement of human capital in entrepreneurship research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By contrasting reflective and formative conceptions, it shows that human capital is more appropriately seen as defined and formed by its indicators (education, work experience, entrepreneurial experience, industry experience, and managerial experience). It, then, explores the configurations of these indicators in a qualitative comparative analysis framework based on Boolean algebra and fuzzy-set methodology. It derives an empirical typology of the human capital of nascent entrepreneurs, based on two primary combinations of indicators.\nFindings: The paper shows that the relationship between human capital and venture emergence is best represented as multiple, conjectural causation, i.e. human capital matters through certain combinations of its indicators.\nOriginality/value: The discussion and results offer novel and valuable insights into entrepreneurship researchers for the conceptualization and use of human capital constructs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Structural empowerment and nurses' patient identification behaviors: a cross-sectional study
|
[
"Patient safety",
"Nurses",
"Patient identification",
"Structural empowerment",
"Behaviours"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Many nurses change occupations because they are dissatisfied with their working conditions. This dissatisfaction could be due to factors such as work overload, limited participation in decision making and lack of personal development (Purdy et al., 2010). According to Kanter (1977, 1993), the perception of conditions in the work environment is associated with structural empowerment. The concept of structural empowerment, as suggested by Kanter (1977, 1993), can be applied to the understanding and analysis of the nursing work environment. The better nursing work environments of Magnet hospitals are associated with lower levels of job dissatisfaction and burnout in nurses (Kelly et al., 2012). In the Magnet Recognition Program, structural empowerment is evaluated as one of the five areas that provide evidence of the achievement of goals in the hospital (McHugh et al., 2013). Structural empowerment refers to the resources, support and information necessary to perform work, and the opportunity to grow through employment. In addition, the behaviors and attitudes of employees are influenced to a greater extent by structural empowerment than by their own personal characteristics (Kanter, 1993). Laschinger et al. (2000) developed an instrument to measure structural empowerment that comprised six subareas: opportunity, support, information, resources, formal power and informal power. Informal power refers to the cooperation network within an organization; whereas formal power refers to the degree to which the work contributes to the goals of the organization. The previous studies of nurses have revealed that structural empowerment is closely linked to job satisfaction (Cicolini et al., 2014; Jeong, 2013; Spence Laschinger et al., 2009), organizational commitment (Yang et al., 2014), job stress (Lautizi et al., 2009), burnout (Zhang et al., 2018), job performance and turnover intentions (Oh and Chung, 2011; Park and Park, 2008). This has resulted in the application of structural empowerment to human resources management and business process reengineering to improve productivity and efficiency within an organization (Hechanova-Alampay and Beehr, 2001).\n2. Methods: 2.1 Study design and participants\n3. Results: 3.1 Relationships between structural empowerment and patient identification behaviors\n4. Discussion: Organizational effectiveness and autonomy are effectively increased in work environments that provide greater access to structural empowerment (Laschinger et al., 2014). In nursing researches, empowering work conditions are reportedly related to positive job attitudes and behaviors, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and autonomy (Spence Laschinger et al., 2009). At the unit level, the effects of structural empowerment on the quality of nursing, as perceived by the nurses (Laschinger et al., 2014), reveal that empowered work environments are predictive of perceptions of more meaningful work and increased job satisfaction (Purdy et al., 2010). At the individual level, structural empowerment has a direct impact on the nurses' perception of effectiveness, and empowered nurses are more likely to be fully engaged with their work (Spence Laschinger et al., 2009). In this context, it is evident that structural empowerment directly or indirectly influences the work environment of nurses.\n5. Practical applications: According to Kanter (1977, 1993), managers should create work environments that provide what employees need to do their jobs effectively (Laschinger et al., 2014). The present study confirmed that structural empowerment influences the patient identification behaviors of nurses. Thus, nursing managers should be interested in nurses' perceptions of structural empowerment to ensure nurses comply with patient identification procedures for patient safety. In addition, nursing managers can promote the patient identification behaviors of nurses by improving the factors that influence structural empowerment, rather than emphasizing the importance of patient safety alone. Some of these factors include: creating a work environment that facilitates access to the support, information and resources needed for nurses to perform their duties effectively; providing opportunities for nurses to learn and develop professionally; acknowledging the achievements of nurses; and expanding duties, so that nurses can demonstrate greater work flexibility (Kanter, 1993).\n6. Conclusions: Nurses are particularly important healthcare providers who ensure the safety of patients, as they provide care services around the clock (Newhouse and Poe, 2005). Nursing managers should provide nurses with the resources and support required, to succeed in such an important role. The present study found a positive relationship between structural empowerment and the patient identification behaviors of nurses working in a tertiary-care hospital. The nurses' perception of the support, information and informal power of structural empowerment was found to influence their patient identification behaviors. These results indicate that structural empowerment in the work environment is an important factor for improving patient identification behaviors, which is an essential step in ensuring patient safety. Future studies should investigate structural empowerment in multiple nursing organizations, and particularly the organizational characteristics that affect structural empowerment.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships between structural empowerment and patient identification behaviors of nurses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present study was a descriptive survey using a self-reported questionnaire, following a quality improvement project at a hospital in South Korea. The participants included 984 registered nurses, who administer medication and transfusions to patients in the hospital. Data were analyzed using the t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe's test, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis.\nFindings: The patient identification behaviors of nurses were significantly correlated with opportunity, support, information, resources, formal power and informal power of structural empowerment. The support, information and informal power of structural empowerment, as well as the age and gender of the participants explained 10.7 percent of the variance in the patient identification behaviors of nurses.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study has some limitations. Although the data collected by the cross-sectional survey were analyzed, causal analysis could not have been conducted. Nursing managers can promote safety by creating a work environment that facilitates access to the support, information and resources needed for nurses to perform their duties effectively; providing opportunities for nurses to learn and develop professionally; acknowledging the achievements of nurses; and expanding their duties, so that nurses can demonstrate greater work flexibility. Future studies should investigate structural empowerment in multiple nursing organizations, and particularly the organizational characteristics that affect structural empowerment.\nOriginality/value: The present study confirms that structural empowerment influences the patient identification behaviors of nurses.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effect of online social networks and competency-based management on innovation capability
|
[
"Information systems",
"Knowledge transfer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The popularity and growth of online social networks means the Internet has become a unique environment within which innovations emerge and spread. Members of online social networks present their perceptions and ideas about firms' products or services. The possibility of establishing contacts without limitations on space increases the dynamism and complexity of relationships between online social networks' members (Chua and Banerjee, 2013; Flanagin and Bator, 2011). Because online social networks create a high volume of opinions and comments, these networks need mechanisms that filter information and create knowledge so that firms can develop new products and improve existing products. Managers have realized that adopting and integrating online social networks is necessary for firms to compete, but managers have also realized that they have much to learn about how they can most positively affect firm performance.\n2. Literature review: For many firms, online social networks are still an experiment where small groups of employees from the marketing or communications department launch isolated projects. Online social networking websites provide public forums that give individual customers a platform to voice opinions and access product information to help their purchase decisions (Palacios-Marques et al., 2015a, 2015b; Flanagin and Bator, 2011; Kozinets et al., 2010).\n3. Method: 3.1 Variable definition\n4. Results: 4.1 Validation of the scales\n5. Conclusions and managerial implications: Many firms are adopting online social networks to benefit their businesses. These tools have developed rapidly because they are user-friendly and cheap. Furthermore, they are built around scalable internet- and mobile-based technologies that allow firms to engage in timely, direct end-customer contact, yielding efficiency that lies outside the scope of traditional communication tools. In this article, we explain how firms can use online social networks to innovate, launch new products and improve processes. To satisfy customers, firms must design products that meet customer requirements.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of online social networks and competency-based management on innovation capability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is theory-confirming. Theoretical relationships were tested using an empirical study of 289 firms from the Spanish biotechnology and telecommunications industries.\nFindings: Results confirm that online social network use for internal cognitive processes (e.g. reading, searching and storing information) and external cognitive processes (e.g. sharing and co-creating knowledge) positively affects knowledge transfer. This knowledge helps firms to achieve superior competency in R&D to succeed in innovation programs.\nResearch Limitations/implications: All survey respondents were from Spain, which may limit the generalizability of findings. A longitudinal approach was not used. However, doing so would make it possible to explore time lags between online social network use, competency-based management and innovation.\nPractical Implications: This paper highlights the potential as well as the limitations of online social networks and competency-based management in promoting innovation capability. Businesses must consciously manage the assimilation and use of online social networks to benefit from them.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature by identifying effects on innovation capability at the meso-level (i.e. online social networks). Findings highlight the need for a shift in focus away from collaborating and interacting in online social networks (micro-level) and organizational contexts (macro-level) so as to improve innovation capability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Toward the development of a model of student usage of MOOCs
|
[
"MOOC",
"XMOOC",
"UTAUT",
"Mixed method research",
"Ghana",
"Lc-learning",
"Concurrent embedded strategy",
"Structural equation modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 2018, the number of students enrolled in massive open online courses (MOOCs) passed 100m learners (Shah, 2018). This massive growth has been fuelled by large MOOC providers, such as Coursera (founded by Stanford) and EdX (founded by MIT and Harvard). Increasingly MOOCs are being used by tertiary institutes to support formal teaching and learning, especially in Africa (Fianu et al., 2018). However, while there has been a huge uptake of MOOC-based learning, MOOCs typically have low participation and completion rates (Jordan, 2014). While reasons for enrolment may include curiosity, the satisfaction of present needs, planning for the future and interacting with people (Zheng et al., 2015), this is not the case when MOOCs are used to support formal teaching.Using MOOCs to support traditional teaching requires that the factors influencing MOOC usage be more clearly identified. This need is particularly the case in Ghana where several universities are using MOOCs to support teaching but often with low participation rates (Fianu et al., 2018).The majority of studies conducted on e-learning system usage factors have employed either qualitative (Eriksson et al., 2017; Gamage et al., 2015; De Waard, 2013) or quantitative (Dos Santos and Okazaki, 2016; Dulle, 2015; Ain et al., 2015) research approaches. However, this study seeks to not simply validate existing adoption and usage models but potentially develop \"better, more context specific instruments\" (Foodrisc Resource Center, 2016) for explaining MOOC usage. As such this research makes use of a mixed method approach in order to test the variables incorporated in UTAUT (unified theory of acceptance and use of technology), the de facto technology adoption model and also potentially identify other determinants of MOOC usage.\nLiterature review: E-learning can be described as the delivery of educational content via digitally enabled devices such as personal computers, laptops and smartphones to facilitate learning (Clark and Mayer, 2016). MOOCs are regarded as a specific instantiation of e-learning aimed at large student numbers.Types of MOOCs\nThe conceptual framework: In order to determine the factors impacting MOOC usage, this study integrated the three additional variables identified by other studies (system quality, instructional quality and computer self-efficacy) into the UTAUT model. This extended UTAUT model formed the quantitative framework of the study.The exploratory (or qualitative) framework of the study sought to identify additional factors that influence MOOC usage intention and actual MOOC usage. Additionally, the exploratory framework sought to find out how students use MOOCs to support their learning and why MOOCs are useful (or not) as a tool to enhance learning. Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework that guided this study.\nHypothesis development: The following hypotheses were generated based on established relationships between UTAUT variables and usage:H1. Performance expectancy (PE) has a significant effect on students' intentions (UI) to use MOOCs.H2. Effort expectancy (EE) has a significant effect on UI.H3. Social influence (SI) has a significant effect on UI.H4. Facilitating conditions (FC) has a significant effect on students' usage of MOOCs (SU).H5. UI has a significant effect on students' usage of MOOCs (SU).The following additional hypotheses were generated based on previous research on e-learning adoption and usage:H6. Computer self-efficacy has a significant effect on UI.H7. System quality has a significant effect on SU.H8. Instructional quality has a significant effect on SU.\nMethodology: The research adopted a concurrent embedded mixed method approach. The concurrent embedded approach involves one data collection phase where both quantitative and qualitative data are collected simultaneously (Creswell, 2007). This approach consists of a primary method and a secondary method. The primary method provides the basic skeletal structure of the study, while the secondary method serves as a confirmatory framework (Creswell, 2007). The primary method is given more priority; the secondary method is embedded into the primary method.Research design\nData analysis and results: Quantitative data analysis\nDiscussion of results: There were consistencies in the results between the quantitative and qualitative data analyses regarding performance expectancy, computer self-efficacy, system quality, instructional quality, facilitating conditions, effort expectancy and social influence constructs. However, contrary to UTAUT, the results of both the quantitative and qualitative data analyses showed insignificant relationships between effort expectancy and social influence and MOOC usage.Non-significance of effort expectancy\nDeveloping the model of MOOC usage (MMU): The model of MOOC usage (MMU) is constructed by integrating results of the quantitative and qualitative data analyses. The significant relationships in the hypothesized model and the prominent emergent factors from the qualitative analysis are integrated to construct the MMU. The MMU is shown in Figure 5.The paths that contain the emergent factors from the qualitative analysis are shown as \"Qual\". Functional Internet access and information-seeking behaviour are postulated to influence actual MOOC usage because they are \"post-intention\" factors, while teacher motivation is postulated to influence actual MOOC usage intention because it is a \"pre-intention\" factor. Equally important in the MMU is the non-inclusion of effort expectancy and social influence as these factors are shown to be non-significant determinants of MOOC usage intention. The MMU shifts usage factors away from traditional information system factors towards factors more aligned with learning systems.\nTheoretical and practical implications: The study found social influence and effort expectancy to be non-significant predictors of usage intention as these play a different role in education systems as compared to information systems. Functional Internet access, information-seeking behaviour and teacher motivation were found to have a significant influence on MOOC usage intention and have been incorporated into the proposed MMU.This implies that lecturers should not rely on social factors, such as MOOC usage by others, to impact student usage. Additionally, and importantly, lecturers should not see the effort required to engage with the MOOC course as a deterrent to student engagement. As such designing low-friction courses should not be the goal but rather designing MOOCs that are engaging and cognitively challenging. Ally (2008) points out that it is critical for course designers to ensure the use of appropriate techniques that will promote the optimal use of students' cognitive abilities. These techniques should facilitate the proper use of sensations in stimulating the senses for learning, promote discernment and concentration, create links between new information and already existing information in long-term memory and the use of metacognitive capabilities (Ally, 2008; Bonk and Reynolds, 1997; Cassidy, 2004).Regarding learning theory, the results of this study reinforce a greater orientation towards the cognitivist and behaviourist modes of learning in xMOOCs compared to the social constructivist mode of learning. This orientation is validated because of the students' preference for watching videos and reading instructional materials as opposed to engaging in discussion forums or following course discussions on social media. A holistic approach to MOOC design would require a designed integration of social constructivist approaches into MOOC design. xMOOC designers need to find creative ways of encouraging social constructivist learning in xMOOCs, as social constructivism involves the integration of students into a knowledge community and tends to be based around more active pedagogies. For instance, Anders (2016) developed a conceptual model that suggests a continuum of MOOC learning design that combines previous theories into a three-way scheme corresponding to principal types of MOOCs including content-based, community/tasked-based and network-based applications.The significance of functional Internet access in MOOC usage implies that good Internet connectivity is critical for online learning in developing countries. Regulators of Internet service providers must enforce strict adherence to quality of service standards regarding the provision of Internet service. The Internet service pricing regime must favour the use of the Internet for learning purposes (see Decman (2015), Seliaman and Al-Turki, (2012) and Alzaza and Yaakub, (2011)).Regarding the significance of teacher motivation, it is important that lecturers and university management find ways of motivating students to participate in MOOCs. Lecturers can influence students to use MOOCs if they regularly and persistently spur the students on to use MOOCs (see Fryer and Bovee (2016), Cao et al. (2013) and Muilenberg and Berge (2005). Lecturers can also adopt other innovative strategies such as posting MOOC information on student notice boards, the formation of MOOC clubs and the commissioning of MOOC champions on campuses.\nDirections for future research: The MMU should be validated by the operationalization of the functional Internet access, information-seeking behaviour and teacher motivation constructs. MMU should be tested in other socio-cultural settings.\nLimitations of the study: The study employed a non-probability sampling technique which imposes limitations on the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the study was conducted in two out of the ten geographical and administration regions of Ghana; this also imposes limitations on the generalizability of the findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The study seeks to investigate the factors that influence MOOC usage by students in tertiary institutes in Ghana.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As this study sought both to test existing UTAUT variables and potentially identify additional variables impacting MOOC usage, a mixed method approach was used. The quantitative study was used to test the significance of UTAUT variables on MOOC usage while the qualitative study was conducted to validate the quantitative results and potentially determine additional factors impacting MOOC usage.\nFindings: The results of the quantitative data analysis showed that computer self-efficacy, performance expectancy and system quality had a significant influence on MOOC usage intention. Facilitating conditions, instructional quality and MOOC usage intention were found to have a significant influence on actual MOOC usage. The results of the qualitative data analysis showed that information-seeking behaviour and functional Internet access were dominant non-UTAUT factors that influence actual MOOC usage, while teacher motivation was a dominant non-UTAUT factor that influenced MOOC usage intention.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study employed a non-probability sampling technique which imposes limitations on the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the study was conducted in two out of the ten geographical and administration regions of Ghana; this also imposes limitations on the generalizability of the findings.\nPractical implications: It is important that lecturers and university management find ways of motivating students to participate in MOOCs. Lecturers can influence students to use MOOCs if they regularly and persistently spur the students on to use MOOCs. Lecturers can also adopt other innovative strategies such as posting MOOC information on student noticeboards, the formation of MOOC clubs and the commissioning of MOOC champions on campuses.\nSocial implications: The significance of functional Internet access in MOOC usage implies that good Internet connectivity is critical for online learning in developing countries. Regulators of Internet service providers must enforce strict adherence to quality of service standards regarding the provision of Internet service. The Internet service pricing regime must favour the use of the Internet for learning purposes.\nOriginality/value: The study adopted a mixed method approach to explore MOOC usage in a West African university context. The non-significance of two key UTAUT variables (effort expectancy and social influence) points to a key difference between the application of adoption and usage models to information systems compared to e-learning systems. Additionally, three other variables, namely information-seeking behaviour, functional Internet access and teacher motivation, were found to impact MOOC usage. The study presents a model of MOOC usage (MMU).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Customer co-creation in hotel service innovation: An interpretive structural modeling and MICMAC analysis approach
|
[
"India",
"Service innovation",
"ISM",
"Hotel industry",
"Customer participation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service innovation plays a pivotal role in survival and growth of service companies in turbulent business environment (Geroski and Machin, 1992) and especially, the companies need it most to face ever changing customers' needs. Companies look for innovative ways to satisfy customers. However, with numerous companies offering similar services to customers, customer loyalty (CL) is a dream for the service companies. To satisfy and create loyal customers, Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) proposed customer-firm co-creation in order to develop new services as per customers' wants and preferences (Massa and Testa, 2004) and improve service quality (Bitner et al., 2002). Following Bitner et al. (2002), Zhang et al. (2015) suggested that higher level of customer participation is co-creation in which customers spend their valuable time, energy, intelligence and effort to develop their preferred services, thereby, acknowledging the role of customer participation in service innovation (CPSI) as an area of concern for the service companies to bring preferred changes to customers' behavior toward developing and consuming new services.\nCo-creation in service innovation research: a theoretical background: Co-creation is viewed as the processes by which two or more parties collaborate, or participate, in creating value for themselves or others. The theoretical understanding of co-creative service innovation is based on the works of S-D logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). In S-D logic, innovation is related to service systems as the actors integrate and act on available resources to create value for themselves or others in new and better ways (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). It also proposes service as a co-creative process that involves the application of competences, which is relevant for innovations. Vargo and Lusch (2004) argue that value occurs as a result of the interaction between a firm and a customer (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Thus, customers are considered as co-creators of value and their involvement in the creation of new services may help both customer and firm. Customers also act as resource integrators as they can invest to co-creation process in terms of skills, time, money and psychological efforts (foundational proposition 6 of S-D logic; Payne et al., 2008; Hoyer et al., 2010).\nISM methodology: In research, researchers need to solve critical problems to achieve optimal solution. A few problems become more complex due to presence and interactions among large number of related variables (Jayant et al., 2012) that affect the problem area directly or indirectly. Although, statistical technique, such as structural equation modeling is available to test developed theory/model (Hair et al., 2006), they cannot help in preparing an initial model and in such context, ISM method can provide an initial model (Warfield, 1974). ISM was first proposed and developed by Warfield (1974) for \"structuring complex issues\" (Malhotra, 2014). This method was defined by Raj et al. (2008) as \"a process aimed at assisting the human beings for better understanding of what they believe, and to recognize clearly what they do not know.\" ISM is also considered as \"a group learning process that assists to transform unclear, poorly articulated models of systems into visible and well defined models\" (Talib et al., 2011; Attri et al., 2013). Finally, Patil and Warkhedkar (2016) found that in ISM helps to find out the relationships exists within variables and to develop an overall structure on the basis of available set of factors.\nMethodology of finding the enablers: Management researchers suggest that there should be a proper balance in using both qualitative and quantitative methods (Khan and Rahman, 2017) in research. Qualitative studies can be used initially to understand a subject area which may further be validated through quantitative methods (Agarwal and Selen, 2009). Several studies have employed qualitative research at initial stage for understanding co-creative service innovation construct and validated further by using quantitative methods (Gustafsson et al., 2012; Dong et al., 2008; Morosan and DeFranco, 2016). In the same way, the concept of co-creative service innovation is relatively new (Kandampully et al., 2016; Alves et al., 2016) and existing literature is not rich enough for identification of variables and relationship development, thus, a qualitative ISM-based approach is considered relevant for the present study.\nModeling of customer participation variables by using ISM: The stages of developing an ISM-based model are discussed below.\nDeveloping the reachability matrix: From SSIM, we can obtain the reachability matrix. Reachability matrix indicates the relationship between variables in the binary form and by replacing symbols such as V, A, X, O by binary digits of 0 and 1. The below mentioned rules are also followed to derive a reachability matrix:\nPartitioning the reachability matrix: The reachability set comprises of the variable itself and other variables to which it may facilitate to achieve. Reachability matrix further assist to derive both the reachability and antecedent set for each variable (Warfield, 1974). The antecedent set includes the variable itself and other variables that may help in achieving it (Khan and Rahman, 2017). Next, an intersection set is developed including the variables of both the reachability set and antecedent set. The variable that acquires the same intersection and reachability set is given the top-level position and consequently removed from the group of variables under consideration. The horizontal variables are included in the reachability set and the vertical variables are included in the antecedent set. The intersection set include all the variables. The variables observed in both the reachability and the intersection sets are placed at the top level in the ISM hierarchy and gradually are separated from the other variables. This process is repeated until the level of each variable is determined. All these determined levels further assist in developing a diagraph.\nMICMAC analysis: MICMAC analysis is a structural analysis tool to describe a system using a matrix and categorizing variables into four clusters (Mandal and Deshmukh, 1994) on the basis of their relationships and influence on one another and to find out the key variables (Hu et al., 2009). The four clusters are: autonomous variables cluster; dependent variables cluster; linkage variables cluster; and driving variables cluster. \"Autonomous variables cluster\" possess both weak drive power and dependence power. These variables have only few links with the system, and are relatively disconnected. In this cluster (see Figure 3), we do not have any variable. \"Dependence variables cluster\" possess weak drive power but show strong dependence on other variables. In this cluster (see Figure 3), we have five variables - satisfaction, CL, FCCI and CPSI showing high dependence power with low driving power (factors 7, 8, 9 and 10), respectively. \"Linkage variables cluster\" possess both strong drive power and dependence power. Linkage variables influence others and also get influenced by them which bring instability to their nature. In this cluster (see Figure 3), we have no variable. \"Driving variables cluster\" possess strong drive power but also possess weak dependence power. In this cluster (see Figure 3), we have six factors, i.e. consumer innovativeness, CPB, customer socialization, WCC, RC and CA (factors 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6), respectively.\nResults and discussion: Although, it is argued that customer participation plays a crucial role in service innovation success because customers contribute to \"the process of marketing, consumption, and delivery of services\" (Dong et al., 2008), there has been little research on influence of psychological factors on customer participation (Hoyer et al., 2010; Ennew and Binks, 1999) and only a few studies shed light on the psychological consequences of this phenomenon in a limited fashion (e.g. Dong et al., 2008; Lengnick-Hall et al., 2000) or with experimental approaches (e.g. Bendapudi and Leone, 2003; Chathoth et al., 2013). In this study, the interrelationship among a few psychological factors related to customer participation have been identified and analyzed. This result reveals that there are a number of high driving power variables, which influence CPSI practices. These variables are: consumer innovativeness, CPB, customer socialization, WCC, RC and CA. The top-level variables (i.e. CS, FCCI and loyalty) possess weak driving power and mostly influenced by customer. The occurrence of the two variables: RC and CA further depends on extent of CPSI activities and other strong driving power variables (see Figure 2). Customer participation in hotel service innovation is further driven by customers' willingness to participate/co-creation and participative behavior. Customers' willingness to participate and participative behavior are influenced by consumer innovativeness, i.e. the degree adopting an innovation relatively earlier than others and customer socialization variables.\nImplications: Theoretical implication\nLimitations and future research directions: Similar to other research, this study also has few limitations.\nConclusion: Recent research in marketing management has increasingly been drawn to the concepts and ideas encompassed by S-D logic, with its emphasis on customer co-creation. In this study, we have extended the application of this concept to co-creative hotel service innovation in developing country context. This study achieves the research objectives by exploring the variables influencing CPSI and highlighting their inter-relationship as well as their driving and dependency power through ISM and MICMAC analysis. The model shows the inter-relationship among various factors and establishes the hierarchy among them, which will help to identify the main causes that need faster implementation in the context of customer participation in hotel service innovation. This study also adds to the understanding of the customer participation variables that lead to higher CS, loyalty and FCCI. Thus, this study will help to stimulate tourism and hospitality research on customer participation in co-creation and will provide a fresh perspective on co-creatively developed new hotel services. With the insights provided in this study, both academicians and service managers can develop action plans by selecting and managing the combination of the driving and dependence variables. Moreover, this is the foundational study that could guide future researchers in applying ISM methodology in exploring the inter-relationships among the psychological factors affecting customer participation in co-creative service innovation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: With increased competition in service sector due to dynamic nature of customers' taste and preferences, service providers have realized the importance of co-creating with customers across various stages of new service development. Co-creating with customers require a focused attention on the psychological variables that influence customers to participate in developing a new service. However, availability of scant literature creates difficulty in comprehending co-creative hotel service innovation practices, especially in developing country like India. The purpose of this paper is to explore the inter-relationships among the customer participation in hotel service innovation variables with the help of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: ISM approach is used to determine the direction of customer participation and categorization of psychological variables with their driving and dependence power. Identification of related variables was done through a review of literature initially and arrived at a common consensus through brainstorming sessions with academicians and hotel industry experts.\nFindings: The results indicate that a few variables possess higher driving power that include: consumer innovativeness, customer participative behavior, customer socialization, willingness to co-create, role clarity, customer ability and their interlinking. Thus, the research contributes in the development of relationship among various identified variables of customer participation in service innovation (CPSI) using ISM.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study suggests that hoteliers should co-create with customers to develop new services by understanding their psychological variables that play a crucial role determining their active participation in new hotel service offerings.\nPractical implications: This study suggests that hoteliers should co-create with customers to develop new services by understanding the enablers of customer participation in co-creative hotel service innovation. Hoteliers can have hierarchical map of their customers for co-creating at different stages of service innovation or can segregate the variables as per their driving and dependence power for enhanced applicability of the variables. Further, the observed inter-relationships among the CPSI variables can guide the managers in planning and implementing identified relationships for successful implementation of co-creative service innovation.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge this study is the first to provide an integrated model using ISM and Matrix Impact Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) analysis with a goal to identify and classify various key enablers of customer participation in co-creative hotel service innovation in India. The authors believe that this study will enhance the understanding of the psychological factors influencing customer-firm co-creative service innovation activities and help the academicians and industry practitioners to select right enablers for customer participation in co-creative hotel service innovation. Thus, this study will be the foundation for studying co-creative service innovation using the ISM and MICMAC approaches.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Bringing project and change management roles into sync
|
[
"Change",
"Project management",
"Sponsor",
"Agent",
"Change project",
"Project roles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: What is the difference between change agents and project managers? Is there any at all? What about all the other roles in change management (CM) and project management (PM), which appear to be two closely related fields? This study aims to answer these questions as well as a number of important related ones.\n2. Literature review - theoretical background: One of the first challenges the authors met when setting out to examine the relationship of CM and PM's relations and role theories was that there turned out to be a difference in the interpretations of even the most basic concepts between the two fields. PM professional, for instance, does not mean the same as CM professional when using the word \"change.\" Unsurprisingly, this can become quite confusing when CM and PM practitioners talk about changes with one another. Such situations also underscore the necessity of reviewing even such basic concepts since clear-cut operationalizations of the concepts being used are necessary for any further work that builds on them. Therefore, the definitions and brief explanations of the most relevant terms (basic concepts, definitions of roles) of PM and CM are as follows.\n3. Problem statement - RQ(s): Based on the above, the following question arises: how can the knowledge of these two distinct but related fields be better used and exploited? In other words: how can some interdisciplinary knowledge transfer become possible between PM and CM? First and foremost, the common domains of PM and CM must be determined in order to answer the aforementioned questions. This logic directly leads to RQ1, which has two fundamental parts:\n4. Results: 4.1 The common domain of PM and CM (RQ1)\n5. Discussion and implications - for theory and practice: 5.1 The main implications for theory\n6. Limitations and further research avenues: 6.1 Limitations\n7. Summary: Our study aimed to discover how the interdisciplinary knowledge sharing between PM and CM is possible along the role theories of the two fields as it had been shown by other researchers that the relation of these two areas is undeniable yet also understudied. First, the most relevant terms (basic concepts and roles) of both PM and CM were defined and explained in detail based on the works of the most relevant authors' and organizations' works from both fields. A further section highlighted how these two fields differ but also the fact that they are adjacent ones.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Change management (CM) and project management (PM) literatures examine the key roles (change agent, project manager, project or change sponsor) played during projects or changes only from their respective points of view. They do so even in cases where projects and changes occur at the same time - or are so-called change projects. In such cases, effective management should utilize both scientific fields' bodies of knowledge (BoK). The purpose of this paper is to unfold how and in which domain(s) typical roles of the two disciplines correspond to each other.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper is a systematic, bi-disciplinary meta-review that simultaneously studies relevant literature on roles performed during projects and changes. The common domain of CM and PM was identified; the systematic review and comparison of role definitions followed.\nFindings: This paper examines and illustrates the correspondence of 7 CM and 14 PM roles; e.g., \"sponsor\" refers to the same role and \"change agent\" and \"project manager\" are corresponding ones, referring to the same role up to a certain degree.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper does not provide an exhaustive overview of various instances of different role (and stakeholder) interpretations.\nPractical implications: Findings should facilitate the better management of changes that require CM-type and PM-type capabilities and actions.\nOriginality/value: As a result of the meta-review, two CM roles were re(de)fined. Linking PM and CM roles provides common ground on which practitioners of both fields can rely. A step-by-step tool for the identification of such cases in practice, when both types of roles should be played and both BoK can be utilized complementarily, was developed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Benchmarking academics through sustainable assessment criteria: an Indian case study
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"DMAIC",
"Business excellence",
"Inferential statistics",
"Internal assessment",
"Unaided universities"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Man is built by education, and man goes on to build the nation. In general, education plays a key role in the realization of a nation's potential and its aspirations for economic and technological development. Because of this, there is always an extraordinary demand for higher education among young people (Holmberg et al., 2012). Particularly in India, millions of graduates are produced by the education system each year, and Engineering is one of the subcontinent's preferred choices of academic course during the previous two decades. Engineering education in India has seen tremendous growth since 1977, both in the number of students and the number of colleges (Mahapatra, 2002). The recent growth in Indian engineering education is overwhelmingly due to the inception of privately funded educational institutions, and it has increased by such an extent that around 75 percent of engineering graduates are taught at some 3,000 private engineering universities or colleges. But it is also true that more than 90 percent of these have little academic autonomy and constitute only a small percentage of those ranked among the country's top engineering institutions (Kumar, 2008). The Indian industry has been known to complain about receiving unfit or raw graduates from the unaided engineering universities which have mushroomed all over the country, and this trend is bound to intensify the \"scarcity of skilled manpower\" in coming years. This may be an interesting and useful aspect for academic researchers attempting to pinpoint \"Critical to Education\" factors to cope with this unfavorable growing scenario, which may lead to a future serious explosion in unemployment.\n2. Literature survey: Researchers worldwide have analyzed various factors that affect a student's performance, and some of them have performed descriptive statistics analysis. In 2001, a study conducted by Chansarkar and Michaeloudis (2001) explained the impact of age, qualification and distance learning on a student's respective academic grades. Sadler (1989) elaborated on student performance as a function of socio-economic background and next linked gender, grade level, university location and type with academic achievements. According to a case study in a private engineering college by Brinkhurst et al. (2011), student performance in intermediate examinations is associated with the student's attitude toward attendance in class, time allocation for studies, parents' level of income, and mother's age and education level.\n3. Problem formulation: From the literature survey it is obvious that a number of authors have written about higher education, engineering, its scope in India, and the present status of engineering in the country. Some have even highlighted different reasons behind the poor quality of students, various root causes for students' poor results, and further consequences of the students' and the management's points of view. Various qualitative techniques and methodologies are available for improving the student's or university's performance (Reunamo and Pipere, 2011). But the application of the proven quality approach known as \"Six Sigma\" in the Indian higher education system is still quite rare. It seems as if Six Sigma's structured approach has only recently begun to be seen in the Indian education system. Many people talk about \"Internal Assessment Criteria\" and their vital influence on students' academic performance, but it's rare see suggestions regarding the possibilities of optimizing such criteria, especially through Six Sigma's statistical approach. Today's growing engineering education sector falls under the shadow of the following challenges:\n4. Case findings: A case study has been conducted in an unaided private engineering university of north India. By not ignoring the impact of bad result of students, the result of first year has been decided to be analyzed through Six Sigma's DMAIC approach, during which only first three phases; define, measure and analyze have been executed to formulate actual problem and its various aspects. The case is here by unfolded in terms of its phases as below;\n6. Conclusions: After independence, Indian economy has developed in leaps and bounds and so the requirement of engineering education among society. This phenomenon gives birth to commercialization of higher education and also inculcates its aftereffects like, mass generation of poor quality engineers, because of non-conforming levels of education. This work introduces the real picture of higher education particularly status-quo of self-financed engineering universities. Literature review reveals responsible critical factors for poor performances of Indian students and discussed various efforts made time to time by academicians. In Indian context, Internal Assessment Criteria has been erupted as most important but ignored factor for re-fabricating whole learning process, sophisticatedly. It is a unique effort that constitutes comparison of internal marks data of students with their respective secured external marks and draw inferences statistically to mould assessment criteria which interns motivate students toward their internal and external academic benefits. Uprising bottlenecks and hurdles in the path of academic excellence has been quoted comprehensively and emphasis has been given more on application of innovative quality tools like \"Six Sigma\" in academics. The efficacy of Partial DMAIC methodology of Six Sigma has been proved by successfully defining, measuring and analyzing the assessment criteria and further suggesting valuable recommendations for its needed sustainability. In India, system feedback is felt as missing useful link in higher education system. The voice has been raised in favor of it after getting breakthrough improvements through Six Sigma approach, during a case study executed in vicinity of an Indian university, itself. It provides a rare framework to academicians and researchers. They can next explore other courses of higher education also to achieve desired benchmarking in academics through redesigning sustainable assessment criteria's.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to primarily emphasize on improvement of student's academic excellence through devising and implementing a competent Internal Assessment Criteria that indirectly improves their results and passing rates in exams.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In present system, Internal Assessment Criteria has evolved as critical factor having lot of margin for bringing improvement in student's academics by redesigning or editing the existing one, appropriately. Assessment criteria are re-optimized by strategic implementation of well proved Six Sigma's DMAIC approach.\nFindings: It is a one of rarely seen effort to transform Assessment Criteria by identifying the statistical relations between internal marks and external marks secured by students in an end semester university exams. The proposed framework and its validation through an Indian case study, ignites the application of this structured Six Sigma approach in higher education for necessary excellence.\nResearch limitations/implications: The whole work revolves around the Indian engineering environments, moreover the case has been restricted and elaborate facts for only unaided (private) engineering universities.\nPractical implications: The paper can be utilized to stimulate thinking about the fine tuning of Assessment Criteria through proven Six Sigma methodology in current Indian academic settings and further safeguarding the interests of managements, students and society, simultaneously.\nOriginality/value: The formulation of upcoming challenges before Indian engineering system are outcome of intense literature survey. Focussing on always neglected \"Assessment Criteria\" and its re-optimization by statistical approach of Six Sigma is hard to found and has immense scope in future for reaching at desired academic hikes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Estimating technical efficiency and bootstrapping Malmquist indices: Analysis of Spanish retail sector
|
[
"Process efficiency",
"Productivity rate",
"Business development",
"Computer bootstrapping",
"Retailing",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In recent years, there has been a growing boom in the publication of articles investigating efficiency and productivity in the retail trade sector. The methodologies adopted have been both parametric Stochastic frontier analysis and non-parametric (data envelopment analysis, DEA) (for a revision in the retail sector, see Barros, 2005). Lusch et al. (1995) and Parsons (1997) mention that productivity and efficiency analysis have become important activities in retailing as these types of analyses are useful when evaluating a firm's performance. With regard to works published on the retail sector using non-parametric approaches, it may be appreciated how in most cases databases with a reduced sample size are used (i.e. Donthu and Yoo, 1998 (24 outlets of to fast food); Barros and Alves, 2003 (47 retail outlets); De Jorge Moreno, 2008 (14, 16, 19 retails stores; among others). In this regard, any analysis carried out with this method should consider the influence of the sample size and the presence of atypical observations among other aspects.The objective of this work is twofold: on the one hand, recent methodologies will be used to estimate efficiency and productivity in Spain's retail sector for the period of 1997-2007. In particular, the order-m approach proposed by Cazals et al. (2002). Also, we use the technical bootstrapping methodology of Simar and Wilson (1998, 1999, 2000) for estimating productivity. These authors define a statistical model which allows the statistical properties to be determined of the non-parametric estimators in the multi-input and -output case.On the other hand, the results obtained applying the methods mentioned in the Spanish retail sector can contribute to opening up a new field of analysis since the results may be compared by means of the methodologies proposed as well as those which already exist in the literature. In this respect, with the information belonging to the firms of the not specialized sector 5211, we analyze the relation between the size and the efficiency. The firm's size is considered in the literature as one of the dimensions with the greatest influence on the results (Dobrev and Carroll, 2003). The economies achievable by the company due to a larger size can be classified into economies of scale and scope. The first is related to the cost savings involved in mass production and the second is due to the existence of shared costs in the production of goods and services. However, despite the undoubted benefits, that in principle, offers the largest firm's size, its impact on efficiency is unclear. Authors such as Berger et al. (1997), Aly et al. (1990) and De Jorge Moreno (2006) found a positive relationship. However, Hermaln and Wallace (1993) and Kaparakis et al. (1994) find a negative relationship. Finally, Pi and Timme (1993) and Mester (1993) find no relationship.This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 shows the database, Section 3 presents expected order-m frontier and bootstrap methods, Sections 4 and 5 provide non-parametric efficiency and productivity measures consisting of order-m and the Malmquist index by bootstrapping approach and finally Section 6 offers some remarks and draws some conclusions from the experience of methodologies using in the Spanish non-specialized retail sector.\n2 Data: To estimate the production frontier, panel data were used for the years 1997-2007, obtained from the SABI database. This database collects data on more than 180,000 firms inscribed in the Mercantile Register (BORME), covering all sectors of business activity in Spain. Its 2006/2007 version is highly representative of firms from the 17 Spanish autonomous \"communities\" (i.e. regions).The sample of firms analysed was extracted starting from the year 1997 and ending in 2007. Firms are included in the SABI database under the condition that their turnovers exceed EUR6 million or their workforces are over 20 employees. Our objective when building the sample was to have the companies analysed be present every year, so that a complete panel would be obtained. The sectors of commercial distribution are distinguished according to their four-digit NACE codes (Table I).For the efficiency analysis that we will briefly outline, it would have been desirable for both consumption of materials and flow of services to be expressed in physical units. However, the limitations of the available information have obliged us to use accounting variables, expressed in constant monetary units (using the GDP deflator from INE, the Spanish National Institute of Statistics). The choice of output and input type follows Donthu and Yoo (1998) recommendations. We measured inputs by three variables. We followed the DEA convention that the minimum number of decision making units should be greater than three times the number of inputs plus output as, for example, in the case of retail sale of textiles NACE 5241 [14>3(1+3)] (Walters and Laffy, 1996). We measured labour in terms of personnel costs. The employee variable is more problematic, because this value is missing in many companies. We measured capital in terms of fixes assets, and the other input is intermediate consumption. Finally, we measured output by sales.\n3 Methodology: measuring the efficiency and productivity of retail firms: In this section, the methodology used to estimate the efficiency and productivity is presented. Section 3.1 describes the methodology for the estimate of the productivity through the Malmquist index. Section 3.2 shows the methodology for the estimate of the efficiency using order-m.3.1 Methodology for productivity\n4 Efficiency results: We will present efficiency estimates based on order-m results[2]. Initially, we work with the 12 sectors that were presented in the previous section. Next, we will deepen and simplify the analysis by concentrating on food-predominant sectors in non-specialised shops (5211). In this case, we introduce the stacked and highest conditional density approach in order to illustrate the transition between efficiency initial and final level with order-m in more detail.Table II shows the descriptive statistic for efficiency scores grouped by sectors. To save space[3], we only show in Table II the mean efficiency estimated for the period from 1997 to 2007. The interpretation of the efficiency estimated in the case of order-m column no. 3 is as follows.A distance estimated larger than 1.0 indicates that the retail store uses more than the expected minimum, whereas a distance estimate less than 1.0 indicates that the firm uses less than the expected minimum. Therefore, sectors 5241, 5274, 5247 and 5248 present higher inefficiency levels with distances of 1.511, 1.223, 1.356 and 1.280, respectively.4.1 Application of the methodology of estimating the efficiency by order-m in the sector in non-specialized shops (5211)\n5 Evolution of bootstrapping Malmquist productivity indices: In this section, we analyze changes in efficiency, technical progress and productivity growth for the whole period from 1997 to 2007. Then the following different phases are outlined:* We compute the Malmquist productivity index (MALM henceforth) for each firm.* We compute bootstrap technology using the method proposed by Simar and Wilson (1999).Resampling was carried out for b=2,000 (so we have 2,000 pseudo samples). According to Tortosa-Ausina et al. (2008) by working this way, we can evaluate the null hypothesis of no efficiency change (EFFCH henceforth), no technical change (TECH henceforth) and no productivity change growth/decline, which indicates that the corresponding measures are not statistically different from unity. We provide results for 90, 95 and 99 percent confidence intervals. When the interval excludes unity, one can conclude with 90, 95 and 99 percent confidence that the corresponding measure is significantly different from unity and vice versa.Table III shows changes in MALM, EFFCH and TECH, respectively. Note that if the value of the Malmquist index or any of its components is less than 1, this denotes regress or deterioration in performance between any period or sub-period, whereas values greater than 1 denote improvements in the relevant performance[5].When analysing the productivity growth, Table III shows some important stylised facts. On MALM it decreased at an average rate of -4.1 percent (last row) over the entire period of 1997-2007. On average, this deterioration was due to EFFCH -6.1 percent. On TECH it increased at an average rate of 2.1 percent. All rates at global level are statistically significant at 95 percent.And individual scrutiny shows that there are disparities between firms and time. Only there appear firms that experienced productivity growth and confirmed statistical significance in its components EFFCH, TECH or both of them in order to saves space. One the one hand, 48 cases is statistical significance of 134, in both components or one of them. On the other hand, only three firms (ID No. 190, 331, 354) are statically significant at 95 percent levels in both EFFCH and TECH. Finally, 34 cases are statically significant at 95 percent levels in EFFCH and 11 cases in TECH.We conclude this section with Table IV which summarizes the significance levels in terms of growth, decline and stagnation of MALM, EFFCH and TECH for the entire period from 1997 to 2007.\n6 Conclusions: We have examined the efficiency and productivity of retail store in Spain for the period 1997-2007. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an efficiency analysis using a non-parametric approach with a robust estimator that has been suggested recently by Cazals et al. (2002). This methodology is that the first time that is applied in the analysis of retail sector. In order to illustrate the methodology proposed in this paper we followed the different phases; first, we have estimated the efficiency in 12 sectors of the retail sector four digits NACE, we found high levels of inefficiency in most of the sectors analyzed over the period of analysis. In particular, sectors 5241, 5274, 5247 and 5248 show significant levels of inefficiency. Next, we will deepen and simplify the analysis by concentrating on food-predominant sectors in non-specialised shops (5211). The evolution on efficiency decreases over time for the firms belonging to this sector.Analyzing the firms by size, and hence approximating them to the different types of competition (i.e. firms in first percentile of fixed assets: traditional stores; firms in second percentile: small supermarkets; firms in third percentile: medium sized or large supermarkets and firms in fourth percentile: very large supermarkets and hypermarkets) the results obtained in this work is that firm's size a positive influence on efficiency that suggest that the management may have incentives to grow in order to improve their efficiency levels. The competitive advantage of a larger size of the companies involved in the retail sector could spread among other factors to the achievement of larger purchases and the establishment of contracts with suppliers, the increase of financial power to invest, which could relate to improvements in technology or resources management optimization.Our second contribution has to do with the use of bootstrapping Malmquist productivity indices. In this sense, we analyze the changes in productivity over time using the Malmquist index. With this index, productivity change can be decomposed into technological progress - the shift of the frontier - and catching up-changes in individual efficiency over time. With regard to productivity indices, productivity decreased at an average rate of -4.1 percent over the entire period of 1997-2007. On average, this deterioration was due to EFFCH -6.1 percent. On TECH it increased at an average rate of 2.1 percent. All rates at global level are statistically significant at 95 percent.The most popular non-parametric estimators (free disposal hulk, DEA) of Farrell technical efficiency are not robust to the perturbations in data. As Daraio and Simar (2007) mention, it is necessary to offer some comments in relation to order-m:* First, due to their ability to not envelope all data points, these robust measures of frontiers and the related efficiency scores are less influenced by and hence more robust to extreme value and outliers. As a consequence, of their statistical properties, robust measures of efficiency do not suffer from the curse of dimensionality shared by most non-parametric estimators and by the DEA efficiency estimators.* Most important of all is the managerial interpretation of order-m measures of efficiency. In particular, the parameter m has a dual nature. It is defined as a trimming parameter for the robust non-parametric estimation. It also defines the level of benchmark wanted to carry out over the populations firms.As the cited authors indicate, the use of the parameter m could be understood in a dual sense as providing both robust estimations and a potential competitor's analysis. The first task can be accomplished by plotting the percentage of points outside the order-m frontier as a function of m. By consulting this graph, we can choose the value of m which corresponds to the target degree of robustness, i.e. the percentage of high performers of the population we want to exclude in our more realistic benchmarking comparison (comparative analysis or performance evaluation).Future extensions to this work could be in the direction of using the methodologies treated here carrying out analysis benchmarking that may contribute to helping policymakers' decisions. In this sense, it would be interesting to consider the second-stage analysis with variables that could be determinants of efficiency.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this work is twofold: on the one hand, recent methodologies will be used to estimate efficiency and productivity in Spain's non-specialized retail sector for the period of 1997-2007. In particular, the order-m approach proposed by Cazals et al., which is based on the concept of expected minimum input function. On the other hand, the results obtained applying the methods mentioned in the Spanish retail sector can contribute to opening up a new field of analysis since the results may be compared by means of the methodologies proposed as well as those which already exist in the literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper used data envelopment analysis stochastic (order-m) and bootstrapping Malmquist index to measure productivity and efficiency in 12 sectors in Spanish retail trade 1997-2007.\nFindings: - In order to illustrate the methodology proposed in this paper different phases involved; first, we have estimated the efficiency in 12 sectors of the retail sector four digits NACE, we found high levels of inefficiency in most of the sectors analyzed over the period of analysis. Next, we will deepen and simplify the analysis by concentrating on food-predominant sectors in non-specialised shops (5211). The evolution of the efficiency of firms belonging to this sector decreases over the period of analysis. Analyzing the relationship between firms and size, the results obtained in this work shows that the firm's size have a positive influence on efficiency that suggest that the management may have incentives to grow in order to improve their efficiency levels. Our second contribution has to do with the use of bootstrapping Malmquist productivity indices. Productivity decreased at an average rate of -4.1 percent over the entire period of 1997-2007. On average, this deterioration was due to efficiency change -6.1 percent. Technical progress is increased at an average rate of 2.1 percent. All rates at global level are statistically significant at 95 percent.\nOriginality/value: - The main contribution of this paper is to provide an efficiency analysis using a non-parametric approach with a robust estimator that has been suggested recently by Cazals et al. This methodology is that the first time that is applied in the analysis of retail sector. In addition, we analyze productivity growth using bootstrapping Malmquist indices. This methodology allows for a more careful analysis of what happens at firm level. Differences in conclusions between the original estimates and the bootstrap results are more evident when we scrutinize the sample firms and individual levels.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Two-echelon supply chain operational strategy under portfolio financing and tax shield
|
[
"Trade credit",
"Supply chain finance",
"Tax shield",
"Asset-backed securitization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Highlight\n1. Introduction: In the supply chain, when the downstream enterprises lack funds, the upstream enterprises are more willing to provide trade credit to facilitate the completion of the transaction. However, upstream companies are sometimes subject to financial constraints, and their financing instruments together with trade credit can form a portfolio financing.\n2. Literature review: Interface of finance, operations and risk management (IFORM) is a relatively new research field, in which supply chain finance (such as trade credit financing, buyer intermediary financing, etc.) is the focus of many scholars and one of the directions of IFORM research in the future (Babich and Kouvelis, 2018).The research works of supply chain finance can be traced back to 1970. Budin and Eapen (1970) explored the net cash flow generated during the cash planning period and how this net inflow was affected by trade credit. At present, there is still a lack of a general framework to describe the concept of SCF and the solution of SCF, which considers two main perspectives (finance and supply chain) (Gelsomino et al., 2016). However, more and more operational scholars have realized the importance of supply chain finance and studied the operation strategies of enterprises with different financing modes (Buzacott and Zhang, 2004; Chen and Wan, 2011; Liu and Cruz, 2012; Houston et al., 2016). Xu et al. (2018) used bibliometric methods to sort out the literature in supply chain finance, and classified the research topics of existing literature. Our research in this paper focuses on how the financing mode of enterprises affects the operational decision, and we introduce game theory into supply chain finance for research. According to the cluster contents in the study of Xu et al. (2018), our paper is a supplement to the paper in Cluster 4. We summarize literatures from three aspects. First, we introduce the most common financing methods of retailers, especially the detailed research on trade credit. Then, we sort out literatures about suppliers' financing modes. As this paper describes the tax shield effect, we introduce existing literatures considering the impact of tax burden on enterprise's operation in the third part.\n3. The portfolio financing model: 3.1 Model description\n4. Financing corporates' orders and pricing strategies: 4.1 The benchmark model\n5. Numerical analysis: Let us take the example of the power supply chain where Xinjiang Goldwind Sci & Tech Co. Ltd is located. We set the relevant parameters as follows. The demand is uniformly distributed as [0,100]. The electricity price is standardized to p=1, the wholesale price w is equivalent to benchmark price. And the production cost of wind power plant is c=0.3. The wind power plant is the supplier, while his/her downstream company is the electricity retailer.\n6. Conclusion: This paper proposes a financing strategy combining ABS and trade credit financing, that is, the portfolio financing, for the financing dilemma of the supplier and the retailer in the two-echelon supply chain. Most importantly, we consider the tax factors of enterprises, studying the impact of tax and portfolio financing on pricing and ordering strategies, and further analyze the value of the portfolio financing for different enterprises.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is vital to the economy, as such the financing of SMEs has become the focus of government and enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to find the operational and financial strategies of the supplier and retailer in supply chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In a Stackelberg game, supplier moves first setting wholesale price, while the retailer follows, setting the ordering quantity. Enterprises maximize their profits by optimization. When measuring profit targets, the capital constraints and income taxes of two companies are considered. In the portfolio financing model, the retailer can obtain products from suppliers through trade credit, and the supplier can use asset-backed securitization (ABS) to solve his/her financing problems.\nFindings: The wholesale price is a decreasing function of retailer's initial cash balance, and the supplier's financing interest rate is a decreasing function of his/her own capital, the incentive effect of the supplier's price discount strategy on retailer is more intense in the supply chain with high-priced product or high-capital retailer. And in a capital-constrained supply chain, an increase in tax rate or financing rate does not necessarily motivate the supplier to increase wholesale price. Most importantly, if the supplier's markup is moderate, portfolio financing has value for both retailer and supplier, while solving the financing problems of both parties.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research can consider the explicit and implicit interest when supplier provides trade credit to retailer. It is also possible to consider the portfolio financing when multiple retailers are facing financial constraints.\nPractical implications: It provides guidance for supply chain enterprises with financing needs, helping them find optimal decisions. With financial interest, enterprise income tax on the enterprises' financing factors will produce a tax shield effect; thus, a cost-benefit analysis with the tax shield effect can provide more accurate picture when making corresponding decisions.\nSocial implications: Government takes feasible adjustments of tax rate for the sake of motivation on financial SMEs tax shield. Furthermore, ABS calls for service from financial institutions, which will, in turn, expedite financial institutions revenue.\nOriginality/value: The authors provide insights on enterprise financing models, combining ABS with trade credit, expanding enterprise financing channels and enriching the theory of financial supply chain and supply chain management. The authors analyze in detail the influence of tax factors on enterprises by introducing tax factors into traditional process of enterprise operation and financing strategy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A wavelet network model for analysing exchange rate effects on interest rates
|
[
"International finance",
"Exchange rates",
"Interest rates"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Innovations in the software technology have created great opportunities to use computer based financial models. In recent years some \"artificial\" alternatives have been used to model financial variables. Since neural networks do not make any restrict assumptions on the financial models, they can produce unbiased models. Hidden layers in the network architecture employ data to create an internal representation of the relationship among the inputs (Ozun, 2006). For example, Hu et al. (1999), Gilbert et al. (2000), Gencay (1999) show the superiority of the neural networks against parametric models in prediction of exchange rates. Wavelets, on the other hand, are used to measure risk at different scales and flow of volatility in financial time series from one scale to the other. Shin and Han (2000), Muller et al. (1995), for instance, use wavelets to estimate the relationships among the financial variables. In the literature, time-scale effects between financial variables are displayed by using wavelet methodology for emerging economies (Ozun and Cifter, 2007, 2008). Therefore, a combined algorithm of neural networks and wavelets might have a proper methodology to analyse the behaviour of the financial time series.\nTheoretical framework: In finance, the effects of exchange rates on interest rates are modelled in alternative theories. In general, the fundamental equilibrium models construct the main theoretical perspective to explain that relationship.The purchasing power parity, the international fisher relation, the interest rate parity theorem, the real rate of return relation, the forward parity theorem are the well-known approaches to model the interrelation between exchange rates and interest rates (Sjolander, 2007; Staudinger, 2002; Arize et al., 2003).The common argument in those financial theories is simple. The exchange rates have impact on the interest rates whether in short or long run with in varying levels. The reason for that effect is the arbitrage opportunity and equilibrium theory in that if there is any arbitrage opportunity among the financial markets, the investors use that opportunity until the prices come into equilibrium. In this research paper, we examine impacts of changes in USD/TRY exchange rates on interest rates in TRY by employing both a non-financial and non-parametric model called wavelet networks. The originality of the paper is in its presentation of the methodology in a comparative way as explained in the next part. It discuss the success of the wavelet networks model over certain alternative models like Hodrick-Prescott filter, feed-forward neural network, wavelet causality, and wavelet correlation analysis.\nWavelet networks methodology: Wavelet networks can be applied with wavelet (Zhang and Benveniste, 1992) or two-stage approach as neural networks application on wavelet transformation. In this paper, we use the second approach as feed-forward neural network on scaled time series, or wavelet transformation. This combination is called as wavelet networks. Figure 1 shows the structure of wavelet networks. Wavelet networks consist of two parts as wavelet and neural networks. In the first stage, wavelet is estimated for inputs and outputs. On the second stage, every inputs and outputs are estimated with feed-forward neural networks. The model is explained below in detail.\nWavelets analysis: Wavelets theory is based on Fourier analysis, which states that any function can be represented with the sum of sine and cosine functions. A wavelet ps(t) is simply a function of time t that obeys a basic rule, known as the wavelet admissibility condition (Gencay et al., 2002): Equation 1 where ps(f) is the Fourier transform, a function of frequency f, of ps(t).Depending on normalization rules, there are two types of wavelets within a given function/family where (2a) represents father wavelet and (2b) represents mother wavelet with j=1,...,J and J-level wavelet decomposition (Ramsey and Lampart, 1998): Equation 2 Equation 3 Based on the length of data there are two types of wavelet transforms namely continues wavelet transform (CWT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Since most of the time series have finite number of values, discrete version of wavelet transform is used in finance and economics applications and most of the natural sciences. Discrete wavelets are defined as (Kwon et al., 2006): Equation 4 Equation 5 where ph and ps satisfy as follows: Equation 6 Equation 7 In practice the DWT is implemented via pyramid algorithm. For each iteration of pyramid algorithm three objects are required as the data vector x, the wavelet filter hl and the scaling filter gl. At the first level, j=1, DWT wavelet coefficients psl,t and scaling coefficients vl,t as follows: Equation 8 Equation 9 In high frequency finance, the maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT) is used instead of DWT as MODWT can handle any sample size N and wavelet variance estimator of MODWT is asymptotically more efficient than the estimator based on the DWT. In MODWT, Wavelet coefficients, w~j,t, and scaling coefficients, v~j,t, at levels j, j=1,...,J, are obtained as follows: Equation 10 Equation 11 The wavelet and scaling filters, g~j, h~j, are scaled as g~j=gj/2j/2, h~j=hj/2j/2. Non-demical wavelet coefficients represent differences between generalized averages of the data on a scale tj=2j-1 (Kwon et al., 2006).Wavelet covariance between two series Xt and Yt is defined as in equation 9 (In and Kim, 2006): Equation 12 In the equation, lj represents the scale. MODWT estimator of the wavelet correlation can be expressed as in equation 10 (Percival and Walden, 2000; In and Kim, 2006): Equation 13 where w~(lj)x and v~(lj)y are wavelet variances estimated by the MODWT coefficients for scale lj as described in equation 11 and equation 12: Equation 14 Equation 15\nFeed-forward neural networks: Feed-forward neural networks connect inputs with one or more neurons, or nodes, and those nodes are connected forward to further layers until they reach the output layer (Tsay, 2002). The hidden units in feed-forward neural networks are not dynamic, as they do not depend on past values generated from the networks. For that reason, the network is called a feed-forward network (Gencay and Liu, 1997).In our model, we use a single hidden layer as the empirical researches in the literature show that it is appropriate for most economic applications (Kuan and White, 1994; Tkacz, 2001). Given input x and output of a single layer, feed-forward neural network with q hidden units is written as in equation 13 or in equation 14 (Gencay and Liu, 1997): Equation 16 Equation 17 or Equation 18 In the equations, ot is the estimator for the target variable yt, xt is the vector of inputs, and ht represents the vector for the hidden units.\nWavelet networks: Given input of a wavelet filter,dk, where k is the scale level, and output of a wavelet filter, xk with a single layer wavelet networks being a combination of wavelet transform and feed forward neural network is expressed as follows: Equation 19 where k = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.In our empirical test, exchange rate effects on interest rates are examined with wavelet networks combining feed-forward neural network and wavelets transformation. All of the input and output scaled time series up to six scales are trained until they reached minimum mean squared error (MSE). Filter LA (8) is selected as we use high frequency, namely daily, financial time series.\nData: Daily time series of USD/TRY exchange rates and reference interest rates in TRY from 2 January 2002 to 12 April 2007 are used for the empirical analysis. Number of total observation is 1330. The sample starts from the beginning of 2002. In 2001, Turkish economy faced with a great turbulence starting from financial markets. As demonstrated in Gencay and Selcuk (2006) Turkish overnight rates in February 2001 reached 4,000 percent in simple annual terms during the financial crises. For that reason, in this empirical paper, we exclude the crisis period. However, in our future research, we carry out a robustness analysis to see whether our framework can handle these highly volatile times by using intraday data for the crisis period. Logarithmic returns of the variables are employed. Figure 2 shows logarithmic returns of the time series.The stationary properties of the variables are examined with augmented Dickey-Fuller test (Dickey and Fuller, 1981)1. The results of the unit root tests show that all the levels and log variables are not stationary whereas they are all stationary at their log differenced level.According to Johansen cointegration test (Johansen, 1991 and 1995) and Engle-Granger ADF test (Engle and Granger, 1987), the two variables are cointegrated2. Granger causality test (Granger, 1969) applied prior to wavelet networks in order to investigate causality directions.\nEmpirical evidence: Eight different time-scales are constructed to test the scale effects of the exchange rates on the interest rates. Wavelet transformation of interest rates and exchange rates are shown in Figures 3-4. Results of Granger causality test are presented in Table I. W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7 and W8 represents 1-2 days, 5-8 days, 9-16 days, 17-32 days, 33-64 days, 65-128 days, 129-256 days and 256-512 days scale respectively.According to Granger causality test, exchange rates affect interest rates for all the scaled time series where interest rates affect exchange rates from one day to eight days and from 256 days to 512 days. In other words, interest rates affect exchange rates only in the short and long period but not in the middle period in accordance to the wavelet causality analysis. Because of time-scale effect, we can argue that causality is nonlinear or structurally nonparametric.That result can be empirically tested and compared with correlation coefficient of WNN. If correlation coefficient of WNN has a linear trend or nearly linear trend, it can be argued that WNN captures causality better than wavelet causality does. The main drawback of WNN is that it does not show the causality direction. Figure 5 shows t-values of wavelet causality and WNN correlation coefficients. WNN coefficients are more stable compare to wavelet causality t-values as correlation coefficients have nearly linear trend. Therefore WNN is more powerful for causality analysis as compared to wavelet causality except direction of causality.Wavelet networks tests result are shown in Table II. In contrast to Granger causality test, wavelet networks analysis shows that the level of the effects of the exchange rates on the interest rates varies on the time-scale used. The causality relationship is strong in the short run, while the effect decreases in the mid-run. However, in the long runs, the relationship is getting strong again and is the maximum at 8th scale, or 256-512 days. The empirical evidence shows that the effects of exchange rates on the interest rates are strongest in the long-run (Figure 6). As shown in Figure 7, wavelet correlation also confirms that cointegration between interest rates and exchange rates is maximum at 8th scale, or 256-512 days. Figure 8 shows that wavelet network is the most appropriate model in 8th scale, or 256-512 days for forecasted interest rates based on input as exchange rates.In order to compare the predictive performance of wavelet networks (WNN) with those of an econometric model, the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter as one of the general econometric smoothing method is used.Hodrick-Prescott filter (Hodrick and Prescott, 1980) is a two-sided linear filter that computes the smoothed series s of y by minimizing the variance of y around s, subject to a penalty that constrains the second difference of s. That is, the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter chooses s to minimize the function in equation 16 (Eviews 6 User Guide, 2007): Equation 20 where the penalty parameter l controls the smoothness of the series s.Figure 9 shows Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter of 8th scale wavelet and Table III shows numerical comparison. WNN Mean Squared Error (MSE) is lower than HP Filter, indicating that WNN performs better than that HP filter does.In addition, the performance of feed-forward neural network (ANN) is compared with that of WNN for 8th scale forecasting. Table IV shows the MSE performance of WNN and ANN. Empirical results shows that WNN predicts better than ANN does for selected time-scale forecasting.Wavelet correlation between interest rates and exchange rates is compared with WNN correlation, as well. As reported in Figure 7, maximum correlation is at 8th scale for interest rates and exchange rates. Therefore, 8th scale is selected to compare wavelet and WNN correlation performances. Table V shows that WNN correlation coefficient is higher than wavelet correlation coefficient, stating that its performance is better than that of wavelet correlation.Table VI summarizes the performance comparisons based on selected criteria as MSE, stabilility analysis, and correlation analysis. The predictive performance of WNN is better than those of HP filter, ANN, wavelet causality, and wavelet correlation.\nConclusion: In this empirical paper, we create a neural networks model to examine the effects of exchange rates on interest rates in Turkish financial markets. The paper has originality in proposing a combined nonparametric algorithm of wavelets and neural networks and comparing the model with its parametric and semi-parametric alternatives for an emerging economy.The empirical evidence shows that wavelet networks model captures non-linear dynamics within the exchange rate effects on interest rates successfully. Comparison of our model with Hodrick-Prescott filter, feed-forward neural network, wavelet causality, and wavelet correlation analysis empirically display the fact that as a nonparametric model, wavelet networks algorithm is proper for analysing relationships between financial time series in emerging economies in which nonlinearities might be observed due to their chaotic natures.Performance of wavelet networks model can be tested with intraday data. Crisis periods with dramatic jumps in financial time series, such as Turkish interest rate market in 2001 or the US equity markets in 2008 are useful for that performance test.On the methodological side, the future research might concentrate on alternative combinations of computer-based models to analyse the behaviour of financial time series. In that sense, combination of genetic algorithms and wavelets, or wavelet networks is seen as among the possible alternatives.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This research paper aims to discuss the effects of exchange rates on interest rates by using wavelet network methodology, which is a combination of wavelets and neural networks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper employs wavelet networks to analyse the relationships between the financial time series. Empirically, the research examines the effects of foreign exchanges on the interest rates in Turkish financial markets by using daily USD/TRY rates and interest rates in Turkish Lira (TRY).\nFindings: - The results indicate that the wavelet network model is the most successful methodology among the alternatives such as Hodrick-Prescott filter, feed-forward neural network, wavelet causality, and wavelet correlation analysis in capturing the non-linear dynamics between the selected time series.\nOriginality/value: - The research results have both methodological and practical originality. On the theoretical side, the wavelet network is superior in modelling the causal linkages of the financial time series. For practical aims, on the other hand, the results show that the level of the effects of the exchange rates on the interest rates varies on the time-scale used. Wavelet networks shows that the causality relationship is strong in the short run, while the effect decreases in the mid-run.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Hospitality, tourism, human rights and the impact of COVID-19
|
[
"Tourism",
"Human Rights",
"Hospitality",
"COVID-19",
"Pandemic"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: COVID-19 engulfed the world in a matter of weeks, threatening the health and lives of millions of people worldwide and with particular early concentrations among mobile, relatively affluent communities in East Asia, Europe and North America although the poor and disadvantaged in these countries have been disproportionately affected. Subsequently, the spread of the virus has seen major threats to excluded communities in the Global South (UNWTO, 2020). As a consequence, the hospitality and tourism operations of many countries have been virtually shut down and international travel (and, in some countries, domestic travel as well) has all but ceased. Indeed, air and sea travel (especially in the form of mega-ship cruises) has been highlighted as one of the main causes behind the rapid and global spread of the pandemic (Chinazzi et al., 2020). The right to travel and to enjoy the services of hospitality and tourism operators has been curtailed in a way unprecedented except in times of the world wars of the twentieth century. In this discussion, we consider the multiple ways in which the COVID-19 impacted our rights to participate in hospitality and tourism and raise questions about what this means for the future of hospitality and tourism. We recognise that this paper has been written at a time when the pandemic remains a major global threat, confirmed deaths worldwide reach into the hundreds of thousands and its potential for further spread in the Global South remains considerable. At the same time, some countries are taking tentative steps towards re-opening their economies for social and business activity. Tellingly, hospitality businesses are frequently in the category which can expect to re-open last. How the hospitality industry will survive and revive in a post-COVID-19 world remains an unknown and it will be important to revisit this theme in the future.\nHospitality and tourism as a right?: As global hospitality, travel and tourism have expanded over the past 70 years, so we have moved increasingly to viewing such experiences as an entitlement, arguably a right. McCabe and Diekmann (2015) address the evolution of the notion of tourism as a right or entitlement and recognise that, in a global context, the practical right to travel for tourism is privileged and by no means universal, for a combination of political, economic and socio-cultural reasons. Their starting point is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) within which Article 13 stipulates the rights of all to freedom of movement within their own country and the right to leave and re-enter that country and Article 24 which specifies the right to leisure, limitations to working hours and holidays with pay. Moncada Jimenez et al. (2015) argue the case that these two Articles in the UDHR provide the basis for designating tourism as a human right. Of course, Article 24 does not imply a right to tourism-induced travel as this would include mobility which does not necessarily follow from the right to leisure time. In their discussion, McCabe and Diekmann highlight Breakley and Breakley's (2013) argument that there are three moral and ethical justifications for considering tourism in terms of rights. These are the right to pursue happiness as reward for labour undertaken, the right to free choice and individuality and, thirdly, such rights as core to the notion of a market economy within which relationship building is crucial. Focusing specifically on hospitality-related services, it is arguable that they contribute to meeting the human right to food and the absence of hunger (as articulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and adopted by the UN in 1976) through food support services (\"soup kitchens\" and similar outlets) in many countries (Beuchelt and Virchow, 2012). The current pandemic has hugely increased demand for such services (Grey Ellis, 2020).\nHow have our rights to participate in hospitality and tourism been affected by responses to COVID-19?: COVID-19 has created conditions that impact on the lives of all countries and people across the globe, forcing political, economic and socio-behavioural changes on societies on, arguably, an unprecedented scale in the modern era. In terms of tourism, the consumer impact is most obvious in relation to citizens of the Global North whose rights to be tourists have been seriously curtailed. The impact on those working in tourism is felt by both those in the Global South and the Global North. Indeed, arguably the impact on the workforce in the former is far greater because of the absence of social safety nets that are widely available in more wealthy countries (Baum and Nguyen, 2019).\nOther consequences of COVID-19: The International Labour Organisation's (ILO) (2020) aspiration of the right to decent work for all (Baum and Nguyen, 2019) has been challenged by the consequences of CORVID-19 induced economic upheaval which has led to widespread retrenchment of tourism workers, often with little or no compensation. ILO (2020) highlight the global impact of COVID-19 on work and employment opportunities, particularly for those in the informal sectors of the Global South. Many of these workers are currently denied their right to work as a result of the collapse of the international tourism industry. Globally, a substantial number of employees work in notional self-employment in the gig economy where social protection and employment rights for workers is limited or non-existent. Similar concerns relate to the vulnerability of migrant workers, both in terms of catching the virus (in Singapore, for example) and their employment rights (UNHCR, 2020). News reports include anecdotal examples of high-profile companies in tourism who have acted without apparent concern for the rights of individuals to work. Tourism work is precarious at the best of times (Robinson et al., 2019) and the current crisis has demonstrated this with far greater rapidity than in other sectors. Whether the lost workers will return to serve tourists after the crisis remains to be seen.\nSilver linings?: Notwithstanding the challenge to the rights of individuals to travel as tourists presented through the COVID-19 crisis, it is arguable that there are some positive outcomes which may benefit new forms of tourism that emerge post-crisis.\nConclusions: There is no doubt that consumers of hospitality and tourism experiences across the globe have been denied their rights to access these services as a result of both political and commercial decisions. As we have seen, such rights manifest in a wide diversity of ways across the hospitality and tourism environment. In the context of saving lives, such sacrifices pale into relative insignificance but, none-the-less whether such diminution of rights becomes part, even a small portion, of the new, post-pandemic reality for hospitality and tourism. Only time will tell.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to undertake a \"real-time\" assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the right to participate in hospitality and tourism and to illustrate where such rights are under threat.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This discussion is based on a review of current events, assessed through interpretation of a human rights lens.\nFindings: Rights to participate in hospitality and tourism, particularly in parts of Asia, Europe and North America, were affected on a scale unprecedented in peacetime.\nResearch limitations/implications: The rights to participate in hospitality and tourism have been challenged as never before. The big questions that will need to be answered going forward are the extent to which such rights will be restored, post-COVID-19.\nOriginality/value: This is a \"real-time\" assessment and will require re-visiting as events unfold over the coming months and years.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social responsibility and its differential effects on the retailers' portfolio of private label brands
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility (CSR)",
"Costly signalling theory",
"Private label brand (PLB)",
"Resource synergy beliefs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent decades, companies are more sensitive about \"doing good\" and consumers' expectation of them to act socially responsible. Based on Brown and Dacin (1997), we define social responsibility initiatives as associations that reflect the retailer's or its private label brands' (PLB) status and activities with respect to its perceived societal obligations. Social responsibility initiatives are reported as a critical component of the core business of the UK's top ten retailers, such as Tesco, J. Sainsbury, and Marks & Spencer (Jones et al., 2005). According to Edelman's Good Purpose Survey (Edelman, 2012), US consumers are expecting more socially responsible behaviors from companies, documented by a 47 percent increase in monthly purchases of brands that support a social responsibility cause (from 2010 to 2012). The current research focusses on Canadian retailers and consumers. Canadian retailers represent characteristics of the North American market, however, Canadian consumers have increasing concerns about companies' social and environmental responsibilities, similar to European consumers. For example, according to BDC-Ipsos Study (2013), two-thirds of Canadians stated that they have made an effort to buy local or Canadian-made products in the past. Half of the Canadian consumers claim that they would buy environmentally friendly products.\nConceptual background: Social responsibility initiatives and retailer brands\nMethod: Experiments 1 and 2 examine whether the presence of social responsibility initiatives (vs absence) differently affects two tiers of PLBs (either consistent with resource synergy beliefs or costly signaling theory). To test H1, H2a, and H2b, we experimentally manipulated the presence of social responsibility initiative and PLB type in a 2 (social responsibility initiative: present vs absent) x 2 (PLB tier: top vs low) between-participants design. To increase the generalizability of the results, experiments 1 and 2 use two different product categories (laundry detergent in experiment 1 and ketchup in experiment 2).\nExperiment 1: Participants, materials, and procedure\nExperiment 2: Experiment 2 tested whether the positive (negative) outcome arising from the use of social responsibility initiative for top-tier (low-tier) PLB extends to a different product category. Experiment 2 followed the same design, sampling method, procedure, and measures as in experiment 1 but used ketchup as the new stimulus. In total, 70 participants (47 percent female, between the ages of 19 and 65, M\nDiscussion: In this research, we investigate the impact of social responsibility initiatives on the evaluations of retailers' multi-tier PLBs against a backdrop of the growing use of multi-tier PLB positioning strategy and social responsibility endorsement by retailers. In particular, this research contributes to the literature by investigating opposing predictions, based on distinct theoretical approaches, of how offering social responsibility initiatives will affect PLBs. We test these predictions in two experiments with Canadian consumers and existing brands. Overall, these findings support an explanation based on resource synergy beliefs: consumers responded more positively to social responsibility initiatives when they were communicated through retailers' top-tier (premium quality/high priced) PLBs (H1), but responded negatively when these initiatives were communicated through low-tier (good quality/low priced) PLBs (H2a).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how social responsibility initiatives can be integrated into different tiers of retailers' private label brands (PLB) and introduces a conceptual model and opposing predictions building on research in social responsibility and evolutionary psychology. The empirical evidence from two studies suggests that retailers should consider the type of PLB (i.e. quality tier) in the introduction of social responsibility initiatives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To investigate opposing predictions, the authors conducted two experiments with presence of social responsibility initiative and PLB quality tier as the factors. The authors present the results from 168 Canadian consumers focussing on two product categories.\nFindings: The findings of two experiments are more consistent with an explanation based on resource synergy beliefs rather than costly signaling theory. Social responsibility initiatives enhanced consumer evaluations of high-quality PLBs, but hurt consumer evaluations of low-tier PLBs.\nPractical implications: Retailers should differentiate the way they accommodate social responsibility initiatives based on the type of their PLBs. Specifically, the beneficial effect of social responsibility initiative only exist for high-tier PLBs. Introducing social responsibility initiatives may hurt preference for low-tier PLBs.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first to propose two theoretical models that address how social responsibility initiatives can affect consumer evaluations of PLBs. The initial empirical evidence is more coherent with resource synergy beliefs explanation rather than costly signaling explanation. These results suggest that social responsibility initiatives have asymmetric effects for different tiers of retailers' PLBs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The use and determinants of credit derivatives in Italian banks
|
[
"Credit derivatives",
"Italian banks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Recent interest in credit derivatives (CDs) can be attributed to several factors. First, there is evidence of extraordinary growth in CD activities over the past decade (BIS, 2007). Second, there is an ongoing debate regarding the effects of the originate-to-distribute model on the risk-taking behaviour and risk management practices of banks (Instefjord, 2005). Derivative products are believed to have contributed to the resilience of the financial system during financial crises (IMF, 2003). However, in recent years, CDs are believed to have significantly contributed to the credit crisis (Lerner and Tufano, 2012; Stout, 2011) because CDs may alter the risk-taking behaviour of banks and affect the stability of bank systems. Finally, there is great concern that CDs are traded in the largely unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) market. Research is needed to better understand the effects of CDs on the banking system (Stulz, 2010) to contribute to feasible proposals for OTC market reform.\n2. Literature review: The relevant literature for this paper includes studies on:\n3. Variables: 3.1 Variables supporting hedging, credit risk management and portfolio composition arguments\n4. Sample and data: The empirical analysis focuses on a sample of Italian banks that were active in the period between 2005 and 2011. We considered all active commercial and savings banks that were available on the Bankscope database in 2012. The initial count of 139 banks was subsequently reduced due to the impossibility to download the financial statements or to the unavailable data from Bankscope. Thus, 112 banks remained in our sample. For each bank in each year of the period analysed, we manually extracted data on CDs and financial derivatives from the financial statements. We ultimately obtained an unbalanced panel, and overall the study analyses 610 bank-year observations.\n5. The use of CDs by Italian banks: Table III reports the use of CDs and financial derivatives and the origination of securitisation deals.\n6. CDs users versus non-users: Table IV refers to the univariate analysis. The results show significant differences between non-user (Panel A) and user banks (Panel B) with respect to several characteristics.\n7. Determinants of CD use: To test the determinants of CDs, we use a probit regression on a binary dependent variable (Heinecke and Shen, 1995; Sinkey and Carter, 2000; Minton et al., 2009). We estimate the following probit model: Equation 1 where CD is a dummy variable equal to 1 if the bank is a CD user and 0 if it is a non-user; ph denotes the cumulative distribution function; and i and t index the bank and year, respectively. Each regression contains fixed year effects (gt\n8. Investigating the size effect and the listed effect: Thus far, significant differences emerge between small and large banks and between listed and non-listed banks. This section tests whether the probability of using CDs depends on different determinants when small/large and listed/unlisted banks are considered separately.\n9. Investigating the crisis effect: Considering the uniqueness of the analysed period and following previous literature[6] (Bedendo and Bruno, 2012; Chiaramonte and Casu, 2013; Stulz, 2010), we investigate the crisis effect to test whether recent financial turmoil exerts an influence on CDs use. This analysis becomes more interesting for the Italian banking system because \" [...] Italian banks have weathered the global financial crisis, a double-dip recession, and the sovereign debt tensions\" (Visco, 2013).\n10. Conclusions: Analysis results are mixed. The importance of specific determinants of CD activity by Italian banks does not clearly emerge. The results do not appear to support the hedging hypothesis, and signals emerge for speculative reasons. Banks that are more likely to use CDs are less capitalised; thus, it appears that these instruments can contribute to saving capital. The main implication of this result is that in the near future - given the more restrictive prescriptions of regulatory capital in Basel 3 - CDs could mitigate regulatory pressures and represent an effective alternative to manage portfolio risk and to avoid deleveraging activity, which has relevant effects on the real economy by reducing the severity of the credit crunch (particularly in countries such as Italy). The probability of using CDs increases in the case of large and listed banks, probably because these banks have more human capital and financial resources with which to transact CDs and they are more able to achieve economies of scale in implementing and maintaining a (credit) derivative strategy (Geczy et al., 1997). Additionally, as these banks are subject to a tighter market discipline, they are more likely to encounter fewer lemons problems and to mitigate the typical risks of CDs activity, such as counterparty and legal risk. Furthermore, results show that for smaller banks, the probability of using CDs is negatively related to the incidence of loans in their portfolio. Similarly, for listed banks, the probability of using CDs is negatively related to the risk-weighted asset variable. This result could signal that banks tend to use CDs for purposes other than hedging. A possible implication is related to the speculative use of CDs that is not necessarily negative, as speculation actually makes markets more liquid and efficient (ISDA, 2010). Future research could focus on the implications for the stability of the financial system by evaluating the banks' net position in CDs. If the net seller protection position prevails, then the banking system's credit risk may increase. If the net buyer protection position prevails, then the banking system would benefit from CD use.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to answer the following research questions: To what extent do banks use credit derivatives (CDs)? What are the differences between users and non-users? What are the main underlying motivations?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The annual reports of 112 Italian banks are analysed during the 2005-2011 period. By estimating a probit regression model, two incentives for using CD are tested: managing credit risk, and increasing a bank's income composition/diversification. Different sub-samples are considered. The motivations are further investigated to understand whether they vary before and after the crisis.\nFindings: A limited number of banks use CD and larger and listed banks are more likely to do so. The results do not support the hedging hypothesis. Signals pointing towards the financial distress hypothesis emerge. Less capitalised banks are more likely to use CD. For listed banks, the findings support the hypothesis that economies of scale exist. After the financial crisis, a number of determinants tend to gain significance, and a speculative driver emerges.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies focus primarily on the USA, and single-country studies do not exist in the literature. Given the importance of risk management that the crisis has reinforced, investigating whether CD use has changed before and after the crisis is of interest. Given the incompleteness of the information on CDs, the paper contributes to increasing the available information on CDs by hand-collecting data from banks' financial statements.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Identity matters: How the relevance of a crisis to organizational and stakeholder identities influences reputation damage
|
[
"Stakeholders",
"Crisis management",
"Corporate reputation",
"Organizational identity",
"Stakeholder identity",
"Reputation damage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Reputation damage (or reputation loss) refers to any decrease in the favorability of stakeholders' evaluation of a firm, following a given crisis (e.g. Claeys and Cauberghe, 2010). A crisis may lead stakeholders to stop engaging with the organization involved in the crisis (Coombs, 2007), thereby affecting the benefits derived from a positive reputation such as competitiveness (e.g. Barnett and Pollock, 2012; Barney, 1991) and survival (Rao, 1994). In this context, scholars studying crisis management and communication have dedicated an increasing amount of effort to understanding the variables influencing the effects of crises on reputation damage (Bundy et al., 2017) and advocated for more \"research that considers the multiple conditions that influence stakeholders' perceptions\" (Bundy et al., 2017, p. 15). In this regards, existing research on reputation damage has remained relatively silent on how the specificities and characteristics of the actors involved in a crisis (i.e. organizations and their stakeholders), as well as their mutual relationship, affect the way in which people's perceptions are influenced by the crisis. This is somewhat surprising considering that the literature in the field of organizational reputation has extensively discussed the relationship between reputation and organizational and stakeholder identities (e.g. Cian and Servai, 2014; Foreman et al., 2012; Huang-Horowitz and Freberg, 2016; King and Whetten, 2008; Whetten and Mackey, 2002). With few recent exceptions (e.g. Wang and Wanjek, 2018; Zavyalova et al., 2016), little is known regarding how the connections between the specific crisis and the identities of the organizations and stakeholders involved are influencing reputation damage.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: The present research looks at the effect of organizational crises on reputation damage by focusing on the variables that influence the extent of such damage. Following previous research with a similar approach (e.g. Claeys and Cauberghe, 2010), the focus of this paper is on reputation damage immediately after a crisis, i.e., before the organizational response takes place (e.g. Coombs, 2007, 2014).\nMethods: Design, stimuli and variable measurement\nResults: Data were analyzed using ANOVA in order to examine how reputation damage would be influenced by the relevance of crisis to organizational identity (low vs high) and the relevance of crisis to stakeholders' identity (low vs high). Tables I and II summarize the results.\nDiscussion: With this paper, the authors mainly contribute to enriching the research looking at how crises influence organizational reputation by adding a new set of factors to the ones already investigated in previous studies. As previously discussed, scholarship has mainly focused on three sets of factors likely to influence the effects of crises on reputation damage: the role of firms' reputation before the negative event (e.g. Claeys and Cauberghe, 2010; Coombs and Holladay, 2006), stakeholders' perceptions of firms' responsibility for the negative event (Coombs, 2007; Reuber and Fischer, 2010), and the role of the source reporting the negative event (Breitinger and Bonardi, 2017). In this sense, the paper provides a more situational and contextually rich understanding of the way in which people make sense of and react to a crisis, taking into account the connections between a specific crisis and the identities of the actors involved (organizations and stakeholders). Although the literature on organizational reputation has extensively discussed the relationship between reputation and organizational and stakeholder identities (e.g. Cian and Servai, 2014; Foreman et al., 2012; Huang-Horowitz and Freberg, 2016; King and Whetten, 2008; Whetten and Mackey, 2002), the literature in the field of crisis management and communication has remained relatively silent on how such identity-related variables may influence stakeholders' reactions to a crisis, with some exceptions (e.g. Wang and Wanjek, 2018; Zavyalova et al., 2016). The model tested in this paper has started bringing these two bodies of literature closer together, providing two key insights. First, a crisis has a bigger negative effect on stakeholders' reputation judgments when it is highly relevant to the identity of the organization involved. Stakeholders judge organizations according to the criteria organizations highlight as central for them. In this sense, stakeholders evaluate organizations' ability to maintain the promises they make. Second, a crisis has a bigger negative effect on stakeholders' reputation judgments if it is highly relevant to their personal identity, thereby highlighting the complexities involved in managing a firm's reputation vis-a-vis the identities of the multiple stakeholders that may be involved in a crisis. Taken together, these two aspects further highlight how it is difficult to evaluate the severity of a crisis \"objectively\" without considering more specific contextual factors related to the organization and its stakeholders.\nConclusion: In this paper, the authors conceptually developed and empirically tested a model according to which a crisis leads to greater reputation damage when it is highly relevant to the firm's organizational identity or highly relevant to stakeholders' identity. The paper contributes to the literature by providing a more relational and situational understanding of how the same exact crisis can damage the reputation of organizations differently, considering the connections between a specific crisis and the identities of the organization and the stakeholders involved. The paper opens several new avenues for future research. In particular, future research could focus on further elaborating on how the two identity-related variables tested in this paper interact with each other and with other variables that have previously been studied for influencing the effects of crises on reputation damage.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptually develop and empirically test a model according to which a crisis leads to a greater reputational damage when it is highly relevant to the firm's organizational identity or highly relevant to stakeholders' identity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 299 participants based in the USA were recruited online using the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform. The study uses a 2 (relevance of crisis to organizational identity: low vs high) x 2 (relevance of crisis to stakeholders' identity: low vs high) between-subjects experimental design.\nFindings: The results confirm the hypotheses that an organizational crisis leads to greater reputational damage when it is highly relevant to the firm's organizational identity or when it is highly relevant to stakeholders' identity. No significant interaction between the two variables was found.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research could focus on further elaborating on how the two identity-related variables tested in this paper interact with other variables that have already been studied for moderating the effects of crises on reputation damage.\nPractical implications: The paper reaffirms the deep interconnection between identity, stakeholders and reputation. Concretely, the results of the study suggest an informative way of mapping the degree to which risks or issues could potentially damage organizational reputation.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to the literature by providing a more situational understanding of how the same exact crisis can damage the reputation of organizations differently. By doing so, the paper opens several new avenues for future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The game changes: "Disaster Prevention and Management" after a quarter of a century
|
[
"Disaster risk reduction",
"Migration",
"Theory",
"Labour",
"Capital",
"Climate change",
"Disaster Prevention and Management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The founding in 1992 of Disaster Prevention and Management (DPM) gave scholars and practitioners an important new source of research, information and wisdom about the many issues associated with extreme events. From the start, the journal succeeded in combining theoretical insight with practical studies in a way that is both distinctive and helpful to those who must respond to risks and impacts. As a result, many of the early articles, published well before the millennium, are still valid, stimulating and useful. Evidence that the journal \"got it right\" at the outset is provided by a comparison of early content with that of the latest issues: the same mix is still there, the same broad coverage prevails, and interest in the journal has never flagged. Civil protection, business continuity, policy studies, theoretical discourses, technical issues and humanitarian response vie for space in this ecumenical but remarkably focused publication. Despite the breadth of its coverage, the journal has succeeded magnificently in establishing and maintaining its identity. It is set to remain an essential point of reference for those who study disasters for practical or academic reasons.\nCapital and labour: Economists have sometimes viewed disaster as the accelerated consumption of resources (Jones, 2003). Although it is clear that when resources are destroyed someone has to lose (Hallegatte and Przyluski, 2010), not all interested parties are in deficit. Capital is not necessarily harmed by disaster, which can augment profits and redistribute wealth to a select group of beneficiaries. They can thus consolidate their power structures (Klein, 2007). Although globalised production is put at risk by disaster (witness the world-wide shortage of computer chips that followed the 2011 Thailand floods or the international impact on automotive production caused by the Japan tsunami of the same year), such effects are not necessarily very common. Multi-national companies can switch production to unaffected sites, and companies can profit from the accelerated demand for relief and reconstruction goods engender by disasters.\nCorruption and human rights: Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between corruption and the magnitude of earthquake disasters - as disasters, not as physical phenomena (Escaleras et al., 2007; Ambraseys and Bilham, 2011). While correlation does not prove causality, it does strongly indicate the existence of a causal relationship. The problem here is that it is very difficult or impossible to measure corruption, and it may be dangerous to try. Yet failure to implement building codes, resulting in structures that easily collapse in earthquakes, is a typical result of a corrupt construction and enforcement system. Corruption is the antithesis of good DRR. It drains away funds, perverts agendas, distracts from worthwhile goals, unduly influences policy formulation and encourages patronage and inequality (Lewis, 2008). Although the phenomenon is often associated with developing countries (Lewis, 2011), an alternative argument suggests that it is equally prevalent in rich nations, especially through the operation of the global financial system (Whyte, 2015). The consequence of this situation is that deepening vulnerability to disasters and failure to mitigate impacts cannot be explained solely by examining policies and plans for DRR. It is necessary to understand the \"dark side\" through which such agendas are perverted. For example, countries such as Turkey and Mexico have building codes that provide a significant measure of protection against seismic risk, but the prevalence of damage after major earthquakes is an indication of how they have been flouted (Akarca and Tansel, 2012; Gawronski and Olson, 2007).\nMigration: Already frenetic, the pace of change in the modern world is accelerating. This is leading to dramatic shifts in preoccupations and priorities. During my lifetime (i.e. since the early 1950s), global population has almost tripled. The post-1945 settlements have not brought peace and stability, and neither has the end of the Cold War. Regional conflicts and wars fought or supported in proxy by the great powers have proliferated and persisted. There are failed states, such as Somalia, and highly repressive ones, such as North Korea and Eritrea. Desertification may have dropped down the agenda since its apogee in the 1970s, but it has resurfaced in the form of climate change impacts. Although almost a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty over the last quarter of a century, at the same time, economic inequality has tended to increase under the influence of free-market capitalism (Piketty, 2014).\nWelfare: There is, of course, a very substantial component of welfare in all forms of assistance to respond to or mitigate the risk of disasters. However, it is remarkable how seldom this concept has been defined, and how little its meaning has been debated. A simple definition of welfare (my own) is as follows: \"the provision of care to a minimum acceptable standard to people who are unable adequately to look after themselves\". This involves a multitude of considerations and value judgements about the real meaning of helplessness and care. Politicians do not define welfare because doing so would be thoroughly inconvenient: the concept is simultaneously a vote-getter (possibly a source of largesse) and a millstone (waste that must be eliminated). The relationship between the two interpretations is one of the most contentious in modern politics.\nConclusions: In the future, three fields will tend to converge. They are DRR, climate change adaptation (CCA) and human mobility. The relationship, and factors that may influence it, are summarised in Figure 3. I propose three axioms about what that convergence will involve:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Disaster Prevention and Management. It reviews the modern-day challenges facing researchers, scholars and practitioners who work in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reviews key issues in DRR, including the relationship between capital and labour and its influence on vulnerability, the role of human mobility and migration in disaster vulnerability and the definition of welfare.\nFindings: There is a need for a major revision in the body of disaster theory so that it can take account dynamic changes in the modern world. In the future, climate change and migration may radically alter the bases of vulnerability, risk and impact. The ways in which this will occur are not yet clear, but indications can be gained from current trends and the state of foment in which the world presently exists.\nResearch limitations/implications: Prediction of future developments is always subject to the caveat that unexpected influences may change the expected course of events. However, the authors need to anticipate developments in order to produce theory, policies and practical solutions that are well-thought-out and viable.\nPractical implications: Disaster theory must adapt to new conditions if it is to remain the \"road-map\" that clarifies complex realities and enables disasters to be managed and abated.\nSocial implications: Huge changes in the stability, expectations and vulnerabilities of populations are underway. These need to be understood much more fully in terms of their ability to influence disaster risks and impacts.\nOriginality/value: Presently, few analyses of the dynamism of global society are able to present a clear picture of the future needs of theory generation, scholarship and research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Opportunities and challenges of value co-creation: The role of customer involvement in hotel service development
|
[
"Value co-creation",
"Customer involvement",
"Relationship quality",
"Coordination cost"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Involving customers in new service development (NSD) has become integral to most service industries in the past decade (Lusch and Nambisan, 2015; Ordanini and Parasuraman, 2011), especially in experiential services such as hospitality and tourism (Sigala, 2012). Hotels in particular have increasingly been encouraged to design new and customized services with their customers rather than for their customers (Jeon et al., 2016). This reflects the growing ferocity of competition in the hotel sector (Chathoth et al., 2013), and continuously changing customer needs and expectations related to growing demographic complexity and rapid technological innovation.\n2. Theory and framework: 2.1 Opportunities of value co-creation\n3. Hypotheses: 3.1 Effects of customer involvement on perceived relationship quality and coordination cost\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample and data collection procedures\n5. Regression results: We used ordinary least squares regression models to test the hypotheses and show the results in Table III. First, to test the direct effects of customer involvement on coordination cost and perceived relationship quality, in Models 2 and 5, customer involvement positively influenced coordination cost (Model 5: b = 0.40, p < 0.01) but had no significant effect on perceived relationship quality. Thus, H1a was not supported and H1b was supported.\n6. Conclusion and discussion: 6.1 Discussion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the double-edged sword of customer involvement (perceived relationship quality and coordination cost) in new service development in the hotel industry, and to explore when customers should be involved from the service provider's view.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 252 valid questionnaires were collected from hotel managers, and ordinary least squares regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Results not only show that customer involvement causes higher coordination cost but also show no direct positive effect on perceived relationship quality. Furthermore, this study finds that service climate reduces the negative effect of customer involvement and enhances its positive effect. By contrast, customer complexity intensifies the negative effect of customer involvement.\nOriginality/value: This study empirically examines the double-edged sword of customer involvement and tests the boundary conditions associated with hotel back and front office factors (service climate versus customer complexity).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Share or send and receive? The impact of team knowledge outflow/inflow with IT support on performance
|
[
"Team management",
"Empirical study",
"IT support",
"Knowledge inflow",
"Knowledge outflow",
"Team diversity in knowledge flow",
"Ambidexterity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Companies have turned to team-based organization for its high information processing capability (Shin et al., 2012). Organizational knowledge resides in teams and is sent and received between teams in various magnitudes and directions (Gupta and Govindarajan, 1994). However, becoming a knowledge sender does not necessarily mean becoming a knowledge recipient. Differences in the value of the knowledge and the motivations and channels of its transmission can make teams active in either or both sending and receiving (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Stenius et al., 2016; Wang and Hou, 2015), resulting in different roles for teams within an organization (Gupta and Govindarajan, 1991). Consequently, a team that is highly engaged in both sending and receiving can enhance both the circulation and recombination of existing knowledge (Eisenhardt and Galunic, 2000). A team that shows high level of activity in either of them can become a pure knowledge provider or an exploiter (Villasalero, 2017). By contrast, a team that is neither sending nor receiving knowledge can suffer from isolation (Villasalero, 2013). Therefore, it is essential to view knowledge flows (KF) in a knowledge network not as a combined form of sending and receiving but as separate forms that distinguish between knowledge inflow (KIF) and knowledge outflow (KOF).\n2. Theoretical framework and literature review: 2.1 Theoretical framework: organizational ambidexterity\n3. Hypothesis development: 3.1 Contexts of knowledge inflow and knowledge outflow: information technology support\n4. Research method: 4.1 Measurement\n5. Results: 5.1 Test of the measurement model\n6. Discussion: This study examined how the work context characteristics represented by IT support, task interdependency, and KF diversity within a team affect ambivalent knowledge activities, specifically a team's KIF and KOF, and how these flows subsequently affect team performance. Here, we discuss more about the specific relationships that are suggested in the model but turned out to be statistically nonsignificant.\n7. Implications and future studies: 7.1 Implications for research and theory development\n8. Conclusion: This study attempted to examine the distinct roles of KIF and KOF for team performance, how they are influenced by context characteristics and the way flows are established within a team by addressing four specific research questions: How does the IT support influence a team's level of KIF and KOF? How does each knowledge flow affect team performance? How does the diversity of KF within a team influence the way IT support affects a team's KF? How do teams differ based on their ambidexterity of KF? We found that IT support is essential because it influences both KF. However, only KOF has a significant effect on team performance. We also found that, when the levels of KIF activities vary, IT support is less effective in promoting the team's KIF. The findings also show that a team that is good at one type of flow can achieve similar performance results to teams that are good at both flows, which suggests that ambidexterity is not always necessary. This study, therefore, expands understanding of KF under the framework of ambidexterity theory by showing that KIF and KOF of a team are distinct processes that operate differently and that KF ambidexterity is to be pursued considering the challenge and cost of being ambidextrous, thus emphasizing the need to study and execute these flows separately and investigate various circumstances that each knowledge flow can be facilitated and enriched.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: An organization can be understood as a knowledge network in which teams send and receive knowledge. Many studies have explored knowledge sharing across teams but did not consider the direction of knowledge flows (KF), specifically how the knowledge inflow (KIF) and knowledge outflow (KOF) can be induced and influence team activities differently. To fill this gap, this paper distinguishes between KIF and KOF, examines their antecedents and consequences and considers how KIF and KOF within a team moderate the relationship between antecedents and KF of a team.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used structural equation model analysis of a sample of 341 individuals within 73 teams from four companies.\nFindings: The results suggest that IT support is essential because it influences both KIF and KOF. However, only KOF has a significant effect on team performance suggesting that ambidexterity is not always necessary. In promoting KOF, increasing task interdependency is also effective. The effect of IT support varies with the level of KIF diversity.\nOriginality/value: The findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing KOF from KIF in a team's knowledge network under the theoretical lens of ambidexterity. Identifying how IT support influences KF and how these flows separately affect team performance can provide useful insights into managing and facilitating KF in an organization.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Transition communities and the glass ceiling of environmental sustainability policies at three universities
|
[
"Environmental education",
"Climate change",
"Glass ceiling",
"Comparative analysis",
"Transition communities",
"University sustainability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Universities are frequently described as \"communities\"; the concept even appears in documents that regulate their administrative, educational, research, dissemination and extension activities. The word conveys the idea that this type of institution typically encompasses groups of people with similar interests in areas of knowledge, management or professional development. This \"set\" or \"collection of elements\" shares similarities and differences, but all pertain to a single institution: the university.\nMethodological strategy and research phases: The framework of hypotheses resulting from a review of the relevant literature rests on two lines of argumentation:\nResults and discussion: The three universities\nConclusions: This comparative analysis examined three university scenarios with very distinct profiles in terms of resources, institutional support for the initiative and structural or socio-cultural adaptation of the Transition model to each context. Paradoxically, the common element emerged in the educational sphere: specifically, the absence of explicit theoretical-methodological references in the design, execution and evaluation of the educational actions that were developed.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper deals with the experiences of three European universities that have implemented transition initiatives, using the Transition Network's methodology to promote their sustainability plans. The Transition Communities' model for change is presented from a socio-educational perspective as an effective methodology for encouraging university environmental sustainability processes. In this context, the purpose of this paper was to analyze Transition Communities at universities using an environmental-educational approach in three different scenarios: the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), the University of Edinburgh (UEd) and the Universidade do Minho (UMinho).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors engaged in a comparative analysis of multiple case studies in the Transition \"phenomenon\", looking for convergences and divergences among them.\nFindings: The comparative analysis revealed three very different scenarios, which ironically shared an absence of explicit theoretical-methodological references in the design, execution and evaluation of the educational actions that were implemented. Examination of the impact and continuity of these initiatives uncovered the existence of a \"glass ceiling\" in university environmental sustainability strategies. Even the innovative Transition methodology was unable to subvert the established academic, corporate, organizational and cultural structures and dynamics that perpetuate unsustainability.\nOriginality/value: This study was carried out from an innovative perspective with few precedents in the Transition context. The authors' educational-environmental approach provides insight for articulating educational strategies for environmental sustainability at universities and for constructing a Transition model for education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reputation on the line: the Starbucks cases
|
[
"Corporate strategy",
"Hysteresis",
"Corporate communication",
"Core business",
"Reputation management",
"Reputation risk"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate visibility is at an all-time high in this era of global connectedness and social media. Companies in the public spotlight face risks that can tarnish their reputations. Responding to those potentially damaging events is not a trivial task, especially when the response itself has the ability to raise the initial incident's visibility, sometimes to a degree well beyond what was anticipated. While corporations may plan ahead for a variety of reputation-damaging scenarios, executives can find themselves facing incidents for which contingency plans are inadequate or nonexistent. To better understand corporate responses to reputation-damaging incidents, and the context in which they occur, five incidents from an untold number faced by Starbucks in 2013 were selected as the basis for this case study.\nReputation risk: Corporate reputation is a complex concept describing how positively, or negatively, a company is perceived by its key stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, the media, suppliers and financial analysts. Reputation is central to the company's competitiveness and profitability as an intangible asset along with customer relationships, human capital, innovation and patents. It is fragile and sometimes easily damaged. Reputation risk is \"[...] the potential that negative publicity regarding an institution's business practices, whether true or not, will cause a decline in the customer base, costly litigation, or revenue reductions\" (USA Federal Reserve Board, 1997). What takes decades to build can unravel quickly and be lost in a matter of days. As former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said:\nReputation-damaging incidents: Nearly all decisions made in a business have the potential to become reputation-damaging incidents in some way if they do not work out as planned. Missteps can spill over as reputation-damage spreads from one product to the entire product line and even to the company's brand and image if the controversy simmers in the press and social media. The nature of the CEO's response as well as the speed with which it is delivered is paramount to effective reputation management:\nConclusion: This case study examines the interplay of critical variables in potentially reputation-damaging incidents at Starbucks. The coffee giant's size and presence in the global economy subject it to damaging incidents every day, making it a fertile ground for studying reputation risk and corporate response to it. Faced with potential reputation-damaging incidents, Starbucks reacted quickly with responses from one or more company officials. The company official responding to each incident was identified in some instances and unidentified in others. The company responses emanated from different levels in the organization depending on the situation. Higher-level management responded, especially when a resolution was critical to the intent and integrity of the corporate mission. The company addressed each incident with what appeared to be a response unique in message content. With the exception of coffee and guns, incidents faded quickly and were out of the public eye rather quickly. Possibilities for finding questions for further research were inherent in the incidents as well as the content and methods of the responses.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The paper aims to increase the understanding of reputational-risk management by examining company responses to potentially reputation-damaging incidents.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Incidents with potential for damaging Starbucks Corporation's reputation were described and summarized as were the company's responses to those incidents.\nFindings: It was observed that the complexity of resolving a reputation-damaging incident was inversely related to its closeness to the company's core business. Also, the longevity of incidents suggests the persistent influence of past events.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations are that findings are not generalizable beyond this case study and that the bulk of the information collected pertained to one of the five incidents examined. Potential hypotheses for future research are suggested.\nPractical implications: Findings provide reference points and a context for managers responding to reputation-damaging incidents.\nOriginality/value: The paper illustrates how reputation-damaging incidents can be complex and difficult to resolve the more removed they are from the company's core business.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A content analysis of influential wine blogs
|
[
"Marketing",
"Wines",
"Not applicable",
"Psychometric/qualitative"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The wine industry: For a product that is produced in most countries on all continents and for one in which there is so much heterogeneity in character, taste and price, wine is surprising and almost unique in that the demand for it, certainly in the developed world, is influenced very strongly by just a handful of \"tastemakers\". These writers and critics include Jancis Robinson, wine writer for the Financial Times, James Suckling, of the magazine Wine Spectator and the \"Emperor of Wine\" (McCoy, 2005), Robert Parker of Wine Advocate. Of these tastemakers, Corinne Mentzelopoulos, proprietor of Bordeaux First Growth Chateau Margaux says \"If two or three of these people say it is a bad wine, it becomes a bad wine\" (Deighton et al., 2006, p. 8). It has been said of Parker's ratings that the effect of his independent views are felt throughout the price setting and distribution system. Wines can see their price tumble because of a bad rating or soar when it is especially good (Langewiesche, 2000). A Bordeaux negociant also notes that the three aforementioned critics address different markets:\n2. Of blogs and wine blogs: Blogs and the blogging phenomenon have been of particular interest to practitioners and researchers alike. Firms have recently found that, in many cases, one of the best ways to get their messages across to target audiences credibly is through blogs and the bloggers who write them (Pitt et al., 2011). Formally defined, a blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of Web site, usually maintained by an individual for regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events or other material, such as graphics or video (Blog, 2011). The great majority of blogs are really just online diaries, maintained by people as a way of recording their lives to keep friends and family members informed and amused. Some blogs have more purpose, however. Organizations use blogs to inform and communicate with stakeholders. Some journalists have resorted to blogs both as a way of attaining a more immediate rapport and interaction with their readers, as well as vehicles for generating income. Many consumers value blogs because they are more current than most mass media. They also view them as more credible than most mass media - not only with regard to advertising, but with regard to content as well (Ghazisaeedi et al., 2010; Van Heerden et al., 2009).\n3. Choosing five influential wine blogs: The goal of this study is to understand the construction of the content and tactics of wine blogs. Furthering our understanding of the content structure of wine blogs is a worthwhile avenue of study, given its growing importance in the wine industry. To achieve this, this study conducts an analysis of five leading wine blogs through an analysis of their content. After a search and analysis of the multitude of wine blogs available on the Internet, five blogs were selected for the purpose of this study. The criteria used to select them included the following: blogs are written in English; the target market of the blog is wine consumers; blogs are updated at least once a month on average and were founded at least five years ago; the bloggers write individually (single-authored blogs) from their own knowledge, and they do not receive payments from subscriptions to their blogs; the bloggers do not work for or own a winery or related organization, and their wine blogs must not be attached to any larger organization, media or otherwise; and the bloggers have to have, or have had until recently, sources of income aside from their wine blogs. Though not quite professional, mainstream critics, some of the world's more influential English-language wine bloggers have contributed to other, traditional forms of wine reviews, such as in newspapers and magazines, as well as other online sites. As such, though some of the wine bloggers may argue that they are actually more than amateurs, given their long history as bloggers and their influence, those blogs who meet the aforementioned criteria are defined as amateur wine blogs for the purpose of this study.\n4. Method of content analysis: The five wine blogs in their entirety were downloaded from the Internet, and their content was analyzed. Conducting an analysis of such an immense body of data (one of the blog files alone exceeded 10 gigabytes) poses significant challenges, especially given that more influential blogs could have been adding content on a weekly basis for a decade or more. The volume of posts poses a challenge to analysis, and, as a result, an automated content analysis approach was identified as the best solution. Specifically, a content analysis package called Leximancer was used to analyze the text content, in HTML file form, of these five wine blogs. Following the technique of Trammell and Keshelashvili (2005), this method was chosen over other methods, such as a survey, as it is a chance to study what the blog readers actually see, rather than conducting a study about the perceptions of its readers or authors. Leximancer was chosen as a tool, given that its flexibility and comprehensiveness as well as its approach that encompasses both natural language processing and data mining (Robson et al., 2013). This software conducts both thematic and relational analysis of the text based on the Bayesian theory and learns as it analyzes the text (Campbell et al., 2011), resulting in a concept map of the analyzed text, which shows the key themes present in the analyzed content linked by clusters of related concepts. Given that Leximancer is able to disregard pronouns and conjunctions (Campbell et al., 2011), the data from the blog did not require cleaning prior to analysis. This process was found in trials to agree with the judgment of expert humans (Rooney, 2005), with the added benefit of being quick in providing concept maps necessary for analysis.\n5. Results: The five blogs analyzed did differ somewhat in terms of their content, orientation and themes. However, we found the extent to which these themes overlapped to be quite strong. This is not unexpected, given that all of the blogs deal with wine. All five writers were quite concerned with legalities, which stands to reason considering the topic they are dealing with is restricted to those of drinking age and the concern that they would not want to be promoting illegal consumption of alcoholic beverages. What is more surprising is the extent to which the bloggers engaged in blatant self-promotion. It was not enough to talk about wine, the bloggers had to repeatedly state their expertise, their topicality and the overall superiority of blogs in general, including especially theirs, as sources of authority. These results are discussed in more detail by the respective blog below.\n6. Discussion: Blogs have the dual advantage of conferring both legitimacy and structure to their authors. Their medium, the Internet, is paradoxically highly structured and unfettered. By this we mean that the rules for publishing and the conventions around Web pages (e.g. programming languages, frame building and the like) are rigid, while the content is completely uncensored, un-reviewed and in the realm of the author's opinion. As a result, they offer voice and agency to those whose opinions might otherwise remain, for better or worse, obscure. As the ultimate democracy, the Internet also reveals power through sheer numbers. It is enough to conclude that if your blog or Web site receives a lot of traffic, it must be \"true\". Our study of the five \"truest\" non-commercial wine blogs supports this assertion and is consistent with previous research on blogs in general. To wit, wine reviewers are not immune to the leveraging effect that the Internet has afforded other categories of consumer goods or services.\n7. Managerial implications and directions for future research: Given the rising importance of both the Internet and of wine blogs on the wine industry, this study contributes to our understanding about the content and tactics they use. As the influence of wine blogs and of amateur critics continue to grow online, their impact on mainstream wine critics, wineries and other organizations in the wine industries will likewise continue to grow. It is through sustained study that scholars will understand this trend and the impact it has on the marketing of wine. This study offers some insights into how such a program of study might evolve.\n8. Conclusion: This research has provided a content analysis of five influential wine blogs. The findings demonstrate that the world of wine reviewing goes beyond just commenting on the product attributes and well beyond the paid wine review sites. Rather, it is apparent that sharing the story around the process of experiencing the wines, from finding wines to reflecting on them, is just as important. Further, the self-promotion of the bloggers on their sites indicates a level of marketing-savvy that has heretofore not been codified and understood. As the number of wine blogs continues to grow, so will the noise, making consumer choices more difficult. The five blogs we studied have succeeded in creating a resonant voice and in attracting a loyal audience. As a result, they have generated an inordinate amount of influence for themselves, competing with more traditional media outlets and critics. As this phenomenon continues to grow, understanding how these blogs are created, maintained and leveraged will become increasingly important for both wine business scholars and practitioners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze the content of influential wine blogs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used content analysis software, Leximancer, to analyze the entire contents of five influential amateur wine blogs.\nFindings: A key finding is that these blogs all balance self-promotion with the content of their blogs, namely, wine and wine-related topics. The wine blogs, though evaluating wines in different ways, review not only the product attributes but also the experience surrounding wine.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations of this study include that the analysis only included five wine blogs and the content analysis was conducted by a sole researcher using a computerized approach.\nPractical implications: Wine blogs have increasing influence in the wine industry, especially those written by amateur wine bloggers. As such, understanding the tactics used by wine bloggers is of interest to practitioners who aim to market their wines using such channels as well as providing insight into this contemporary platform for current and aspiring wine critics.\nOriginality/value: This is the first content analysis study that analyzes the content of wine blogs as the readers themselves see it. It provides insights of value not only to those involved in marketing in the wine industry but also to those interested in the developments of amateur blogs in marketing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Trends in the global poultry meat supply chain
|
[
"Globalization",
"Poultry",
"Birds",
"Animal diseases",
"Financial performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Globalisation, is defined by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO, 2006) as the \"ongoing process of rapid global economic integration facilitated by lower transaction costs and lower barriers to movement in capital and goods\". While Cable (1999) defined globalisation as, \"a mixture of international, multinational, offshore and global activities and involves a general progression from the domestic to the global.\" The agricultural economy is increasingly characterised by the greater concentration, or intensification, of farms with the rising influence of contract farming and the evolution of integrated supply chains linking producers and consumers (Opara, 2003). The poultry supply chain includes both inter and intra organisational trade in live poultry, poultry meat, eggs, feed and waste/byproduct disposal. Organisations that are involved in poultry production include:* Producers and processors, e.g. farms, hatcheries and processing factories;* suppliers of goods and services, e.g. feed, feed supplements, medication, veterinary advice, transportation and distribution, waste disposal, technical support, import/export agency and insurance; and* purchasers of poultry products, e.g. retailers, food service, poultry fertiliser, pet food (Adapted from BCI, 2006).Hagelaar and van der Vorst (2002) suggested that the supply chain is a network of multiple businesses and relationships. Increasing globalisation of the poultry meat supply chain has led to consolidation and the evolution of TNC whether by vertical or horizontal integration (Manning and Baines, 2004a). The development of organisational structures, trade policy and the development of contract farming was discussed by Manning and Baines (2004a) who concluded that there were significant advantages in these economies of scale especially improved purchasing power and greater intellectual, technological and production resources for organisations to draw upon to provide products, which meet differentiated customer needs. The consumer has experienced the benefits in lower commodity food prices and wider product choice.Increased supply chain centralisation and globalisation has led to an increased risk of the spread of pathogenic bacteria and zoonoses present in meat (Sanders, 1999) and also the potential for the global spread of foodborne and animal disease including livestock viral disease such as AI. The \"just-in-time\" approach of the global economy means that there is limited stock holding of necessities such as food, and energy in times of crisis (Langton, 2006). The economic impact on international, national and individual organisations in the event of an outbreak of a notifiable disease is potentially devastating (Manning et al., 2005). From late 2005 to early May 2006, AI outbreaks have been reported in approximately 40 previously unaffected countries (FAO, 2006). A number of these countries are either major poultry consuming or importing countries. Globalisation of food trade means that an inability to respond to a food emergency could have significant consequences on health and trade in many countries (WHO, 2002). The potential effects of an AI outbreak such as H5N1 have been described (BCI, 2006) and include lower poultry meat consumption either temporarily or in the long term because of health concerns amongst the general public; lower demand because the general public do not believe government and food industry assurance that the food is safe; reduced availability because of large losses of poultry so that demand can not be met; and loss of organisations and/or organisational structures due to the closing down of trade between geographic regions or individual supply chains. Economics losses caused by animal diseases such as AI have been categorised (Van Asseldonk et al., 2006) as either direct or consequential (indirect) losses. Direct losses would be those incurred as a result of implementing the disease eradication programme, for example, the financial value of the livestock involved and the costs incurred in disease control and monitoring the farms in the controlled geographic areas around the initial outbreak(s). Consequential losses can be described as those costs incurred as a result of movement restrictions and/or trade or market disruption. Van Asseldonk et al. (2006) sub-divided these into five further categories price effects, business interruption, losses related to established movement zones, repopulation of the farm; and losses from emergency vaccination. Furthermore, they argued that the consequential losses of the Dutch 2003 AI epidemic exceeded three to four times the direct costs largely because 50 per cent of the poultry population was pre-emptively slaughtered. These losses were borne by the Dutch poultry supply chain rather than being covered by government funding. Verbiest and Castillo (2004) differentiated the impact of a disease outbreak as being either macroeconomic or microeconomic. They argued that the macroeconomic impact of a disease outbreak such as AI might be limited where the poultry industry remains small in terms of a countries gross domestic profit (GDP). For example, they determined that animal husbandry represented 8 per cent of GDP in China and 0.4 per cent of GDP in Thailand, therefore GDP underestimated the overall economic impact of the livestock industry and that the contributions of industries such as packaging, animal feed production and animal breeding should also be considered. However, whilst the direct impact on GDP may be small, they suggested as have Van Asseldonk et al. (2006) that there is an indirect longer-term effect namely the microeconomic impact.Poultry production regions can be classified on the basis of the degree of risk of an AI epidemic (Van Asseldonk et al., 2006). The authors suggested that the following criteria should be used:* the natural borders of the region, e.g. rivers, mountains, seas;* the number of live animal imports/exports (including breeder egg sales);* the density of poultry flocks; and* the level of biosecurity/sanitary controls and hygiene measures.Disease related interruptions of trade flow affect not only the exporting country but also the importing country especially when the meat affected by the trade ban cannot be fully replaced either by domestic producers or by other exporting countries or, as previously described, where consumer demand is reduced (Blayney et al., 2006). The economic impact will depend upon the time duration of the outbreak and whether the outbreak remains solely an animal disease (Verbiest and Castillo, 2004). Blayney et al. (2006) suggested that the degree of financial impact depends upon three key criteria:1. The relative importance of meat exports to producers in the affected country (this would also include as previously described eggs, and poultry production by-products). If meat which has historically been exported must then be sold on the domestic market it will reduce prices.2. The proportion of imports that originate from one country or geographic area. If supply is abruptly halted by an exporter and the volume of supply constituents a high proportion of total imports in another country this will impact on trade flow if it cannot be timely replaced by a third party.3. If the animal disease poses either a perceived or a potential threat to humans (Blayney, 2005).Another major factor which will determine the impact on meat exports in the event of an AI outbreak is the proportion of exported meat products, which are further processed and cooked as opposed to raw meat. In countries such as Thailand there has been a major restructuring of the industry from chilled/frozen products to prepared cooked meats since the advent of AI. Brazil overtook the US to become the world's largest exporter of poultry meat in 2004 but this trade is largely uncooked product and is therefore vulnerable to an AI outbreak. The trade is bone-in brown meat has also been disrupted. Countries such as the USA have historically exported brown meat to Asia, but if the export demand is low, for the reasons previously described, then this meat has a limited home market with the resultant downward pressure on price.The need, in the European Union, for regulatory compliance with environmental legislation including Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, Animal By-products, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ), Waste Management, and the Water Framework Directive has the potential to increase the costs of production and make EU poultry meat uncompetitive in a global marketplace. Environmental concerns have affected global food production (Howells and Wood, 1993). This has driven organisations, including those in the poultry meat supply chain to transfer their production to the least cost environmental locations. Goldsmith et al. (2002) compared the US and EU supply chains and argued that the US chain focused on price, labour and distribution efficiency and product performance in areas such as shelf life, trim and retail readiness, leading to a supply chain that was commodity driven and based on scale. In contrast, they observed that the European supply chain was undergoing significant structural change and was seeking to primarily provide a traceable product, which was source verified. The authors questioned whether European packers were at a competitive disadvantage because of investment in control systems with higher capital and transaction related costs, or if US producers would be at a global competitive disadvantage because they had focused on the intrinsic and extrinsic quality requirements of the domestic, rather than export, market (Manning and Baines, 2004b).Within this regulatory and market context, individual Governments and TNC are required to undertake formal risk analysis and have resultant policies in place to ensure the health and safety of the human population, protect animal health and welfare and also minimise the potential for trade disruption and/or economic loss (Manning and Baines, 2004b). Scientific or accountancy based risk assessment is a distinctly different activity from ethical or moral risk assessment. Slovic (2000) stated that \"the perception of and acceptance of risk have their roots in social and cultural factors\". These factors will vary from country to country and organisation to organisation. In assessing the various types of risk whilst traditional risk factors are important, investor risk is also a major market driver. Maintaining shareholder confidence is key for a TNC to ensure continued investment that will to sustain business planning and operational activities and past investment risk does not guarantee future investment risk (Jaegar, 2006). He proposed that the factors that need to be considered to determine investment risk include organisational, market and non-market related factors. Credit risk is an important aspect and in capital markets credit ratings will influence investment decisions. Moody's Investors Service, foe example, provides credit ratings, research and risk analysis for the international capital markets with a globally consistent framework for comparing the credit quality of rated debt securities (Moody's, 2006). A rating is Moody's opinion of the credit quality of individual organisations or of an issuer's general creditworthiness. Investors use the ratings in the development of an investment portfolio and they provide issuers of debt with stable, flexible access to sources of capital. Therefore, Moody's credit ratings represent a rank-ordering of creditworthiness, or expected loss. Whilst such rating summarises the credit risk it does not define who will actually default in the future, rather the credit risk categories that statistically will default at a particular frequency. These ratings are divided into two sections, investment grade and speculative grade. The rating scale runs from a low credit risk of Aaa to a high risk of C, with 21 categories in the rating scale (Figure 1).Given these market and legislative externalities, the research has sought to ascertain if their impact can be demonstrated in recent financial performance within the global poultry meat supply chain.\n2. Global trade in poultry meat: The market has seen a build up of poultry meat stocks and a general price decline (Table I). From 2005 to 2006 there has been a reduction in poultry production of 1.1 per cent and a reduction in poultry trade of 3 per cent. There has been a lack of growth in the EU poultry meat market over the last five years (Table II). The figures include all poultry meat production and not just chicken meat. Whilst most EU national outputs remain stagnant it is only Germany and Poland that have experienced growth since 2001 with the French industry contracting quite significantly (Poultry World, 2006).Within the UK chicken meat industry there has been a rise in production output from 2001-2005 of 5.2 per cent from 1.21 to 1.28 million tonnes, and producer prices have fluctuated between 47.9 and 50.3 p/kg liveweight with an increase between 2001 and 2005 of only 1.4 per cent (Poultry World, 2006). Sheppard and Edge (2006) undertook a study in the UK in 2005, which built on earlier work in 2002 and determined the financial return for producing a broiler meat chicken in Spring/Summer 2005. The cost that had increased most significantly was energy costs. It was estimated that the financial return was a margin of 1.9 pence/bird in 2005 compared with 3.0 pence/bird in 2002. They determined that for a typical UK broiler unit producing 600,000 birds per year, total net margin would be reduced from PS17,800 to PS11,500 per annum. Analysis of the UK poultry meat supply balance demonstrates that between 1995 and 2004 poultry imports rose by 90 per cent however, in 2005 import levels fell to below those in 2003 (Poultry World, 2006). Producer prices remained largely unchanged due in part to an increase in national output and a reduction in export levels. In the US, cold storage data for chicken meat from June 2005-June 2006 showed a rise in stock holding from 901 million lb in June 2005 to 1,151 million lb in January 2006. The subsequent reduction in stock holding from January 2006 to June 2006 saw a fall to 1,002 million lb (Table III).The financial performance of a group of TNC was discussed by Manning and Baines (2004). Further research has been undertaken to assess financial performance subsequent to the original paper being written. This is now discussed for three organisations: two from the USA, Tyson Foods Inc., and Pilgrim's Pride Inc., and from the UK, Grampian Country Food Group Ltd.2.1 Tyson Foods Inc. (USA)\n3. Summary: Integration within the poultry supply chain has led to the development of power bases at integrator and retailer level with a dependence on technology and administrative resource to drive such strategies as centralised buying and product distribution. This has led to an increase in costs, which to date have been met by expansion and increasing business turnover often being financed by external capital sources. The increasing costs of implementing additional food safety, welfare and environmental legislation and market requirements as well as the direct, or indeed indirect, costs of a disease outbreak also influence supply chain viability. Although the supply chain can carry a reduction in margin for a period of time it will ultimately impact, depending on an individual organisation's capital reserves, on profitability, cash flow, ability to meet any loan repayments and continue capital investment plans and then actual organisational and supply chain viability. Therefore, one of the greatest influences on the future financial stability of the poultry meat supply chain is that of perceived investment risk and the ability of the organisations to service their long-term debt liabilities.The literature has defined two distinct models of poultry production namely the European supply chain model which seeks to supply product with both intrinsic and extrinsic quality and the US model of commodity production and suggested that the ability to remain globally competitive will continue to challenge the global poultry meat supply chain. This could lead to a re-evaluation of the organisational and governmental risk management strategies especially for the uncooked frozen market and the fresh whole bird/portion market where national and international market requirements may differ and also because this trade is most at risk of disruption due to a notifiable disease outbreak. Further research is now being undertaken to investigate the potential impact of the themes outlined in this paper and how they will be influenced by the growing global demand for poultry meat; the need for assurance of continuity of food supply at a national, supply chain or organisational level and the ability of the current global supply chain model to absorb such requirements and remain viable.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current status of the poultry meat supply chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research included a literature review and evaluation of financial performance data to determine the market conditions that have impacted on both individual organisations and supply chains.\nFindings: - The financial data has demonstrated, for the transnational corporations (TNC) studied, a significant reduction in financial performance over the last 12 months. This is due in part to the influence of avian influenza, but also to the over supply of poultry meat and increased production costs. The ongoing management of risk within this context needs to not only address traditional risk factors, but also in publicly traded organisations address the effective management of investment risk to ensure continued shareholder confidence and organisational viability.\nOriginality/value: - This research is of academic value and of value to those working in the food supply chain.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Incentive schemes in the financial services sector: Moderating effects of relationship norms on customer-brand relationship
|
[
"Brands",
"Exchange",
"Incentive schemes",
"Financial services",
"Banks",
"Relationship marketing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Understanding the causes and effects of relationships between consumers and brands is an important issue for both academics and practitioners in the service industries, as the introduction of new customer-facing technologies exerts a profound influence on how services are delivered (Bitner et al., 2000). This has been particularly so in the retail banking sector where developments in technology and communications have paved the way for new approaches in banking and new types of banking services. Convenient, quick and sometimes impersonal banking methods are gaining more and more space in daily life, mainly through the introduction of new 24/7 branchless banking methods available via various direct access channels. In a situation where there is an increasing amount of deregulation and competition as in the retail banking industry, distribution becomes, in effect, the basis for differentiation rather than the core service or product mix itself (Devlin, 1995). Consequently, effective communication and delivery of products to customers through the provision of superior distribution strategies offers the service provider a competitive advantage in the marketplace (Howcroft and Lavis, 1986). An understanding of the ever-growing influence of multi-channel banking on the consumer-brand relationship is now essential given that technology continues to play the role of a service enabler for the customer (Gwinner et al., 1998; Selnes and Hansen, 2001).Inevitably, a technology that would enhance superiority in distribution strategies may not always have a positive impact on the relationship between supplier and customer, and previous research had highlighted that \"few authors have investigated whether the presence of IT-mediated channels have a detrimental effect on firms' relationships with their customers\" (Lang and Colgate, 2003). Whilst improvements in user interface design and usability serve to improve the quality of service for customers using self-service direct banking channels, the effects of such self-service channels on the relationship between customers and the brand remain an important area of concern that requires further research and optimisation. Furthermore, the appropriate use of know-how relating to relationship norms in the overall design of incentive schemes could impact how customers perceive their relationship with the brand. Communally motivated customers may desire to establish a relationship with the brand on a \"friendship\" basis, while exchange motivated customers may prefer to maintain an impersonal relationship that is based on professionalism. The perceived benefits and values derived from experiencing incentive schemes would be different depending on what type of relationship norms the customer has assumed in motivating their relationship with the brand. This study was designed to examine how perceptions of incentive schemes are influenced by the moderating effects of relationship norms in an attempt to understand how introduction of such communal and exchange relationship norms in marketing actions can lead to different customer-brand relationship outcomes.The paper presents a conceptual framework that describes brand relationship along the communal and exchange relationship dimensions. This is then applied to an experiment to explore the moderating effects of relationship norms in incentive schemes, to yield data on the impact on the customer-brand relationship. The paper ends by presenting a discussion of the framework and implications for future research.\nConceptual foundations: The dyadic relationship between customer and brand\nMethodology: Research hypotheses\nResults and discussion: Customer sample and descriptive statistics\nImplications and future research: Through the means of a construct assessing customer-brand relationships in the communal and exchange dimensions, this paper examined the role of communal and exchange relationship norms in the customer-brand relationship to assess the impact on the relationship dimensions produced by customer incentive schemes designed on the basis of exchange norms or communal norms. The construct proved to be able to quantify the communal and exchange dimensions of customer-brand relationships with internal consistency reliability and to detect the subtle differences in customers' perceptions of the brand as a result of experiencing incentive schemes designed on the basis of relationship norms.The experiment results reveal that, compared to the initial values of customer-brand relationship attributes before experiencing either of the incentive schemes, the exchange-oriented Rewards Programme caused a statistically significantly higher increase on the Exchange Scale than did the communal-oriented Loyalty Club. Conversely, the communal-oriented Loyalty Club caused an increase (though no statistical significance was attained) on the Communal Scale than did the Rewards Programme. Comparisons against the initial scores within each scheme showed a highly significant increase on the Exchange Scale after participants experienced the exchange-oriented Rewards Programme compared to the initial, which was not evidenced by participants experiencing the communal-oriented Loyalty Club. Conversely, brand relationship scores on the Communal Scale for the Loyalty Club between the initial and scheme-related questionnaire showed that customers perceived having a stronger communal dimension of brand relationship with the Bank relative to their initial scores, which was not evidenced by participants experiencing the exchange-oriented Rewards Programme. These results thus provide converging evidence of a co-existence and usefulness of applying communal and exchange relationship norms in the design of incentive schemes intended for moderation of customer relationships with their brand.This indicates that marketing actions of a bank, while causing an alteration in the state of the customer-brand relationship, also result in changes to both the communal and exchange dimensions, the strength of the boost depending on what salient relationship attributes are being perceived and derived by the customer during interactions with the brand.It should be highlighted that it is not the objective of this research to determine what tools should be used to invoke a definite communal or exchange-oriented response from customers. Neither is it to determine if a communal or exchange-oriented brand relationship is superior over the other. The underlying principle for this research to use a two-dimensional relationship basis in the study of close brand relationships derives from the notion that the quality of a relationship is not a definitive consequence due to a single set of factors. Whether or not customer-brand relationships are a consequence of the characteristics of the partners or the factors of the interactions involved, or whether close relationships are actually a process or a result remains the paradox in the study of relationships. Nevertheless, this research has shed light into the potential of the interaction effect between marketing actions of a brand and relationship dimensions on brand relationships. Consequently, it provides a framework that offers an insight into how the strategic application of relationship norms on sophisticated marketing tools articulates a moderating impact on the dyadic relationship between the customer and brand.A limitation of the construct was that discriminant validity was less well supported due to the high intercorrelation of the Exchange and Communal Scales. Indeed, no one construct is likely to be a definitive measurement of the customer-brand relationship. Future research concerning the discriminant validity of the construct might be useful, given the validity values. Nevertheless, the evidence produced from this study can be seen as a definite step in the process of quantifying customer-brand relationships in the communal and exchange dimensions.A second limitation of this study was that the experiment did not explore whether the application of communal relationship norms, in comparison to exchange relationship norms, can contribute more towards the building of the customer-brand relationship. As such, future research could attempt to address the underlying nature of the relationship according to the four main properties of frequency, diversity, strength and duration. The current work done here with the Loyalty Club could advance into integrating elements of community building, for example, online communities to examine how relationship strength, and therefore relationship closeness, is affected through a further enhancement of communal relationship norms. A longitudinal study could be conducted to record the outward behaviours of customers as well as their inner thoughts and physiological response. Analysing the interconnections between customers' activities with the brand and with other customers would thus enable a better assessment of relationships in a business context.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to show that new technologies have significantly changed the way that customers interact with their bank. Whilst a trip down to the local branch was mandatory in the past for a customer to do their banking, all that is required now in many situations is simply to send a text message or log on to the internet. However, the idea of exploiting customer competency with new technologies to create new distribution channels has become a double-edged sword. Although the distance between the bank and its customer is shortened in that direct contact can be established within a matter of seconds with these new technologies, the impact on the customer's perceived relationship with the brand remains an issue of strategic importance that needs to be evaluated. In order to exploit the advantages of technology, a full understanding of the factors and processes involved in the customer-brand relationship associated with use of self-service banking channels is necessary.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology is an empirical study using bank customers as participants, which was conducted to examine the impact of salient relationship norms on customers' perceptions of their relationship with their bank.\nFindings: - Based on the experiment data, the paper establishes the relevance of the concepts of communal and exchange relationship norms in the study of customer-brand relationships in a business context.\nOriginality/value: - The implications from the findings provide insights into the importance of relationship theory in explaining customers' perceived relationship with brands, specifically that of their bank.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Preparing for productivity intervention initiatives
|
[
"Change management",
"Organizational change",
"Resistance to change",
"Managing change",
"Leading change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The needs for undertaking interventions and initiatives to improve productivity are numerous: pressure of global competition (Boonstra and Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 1998), new regulations, updating products, technological developments (Kotter, 1995), mergers and acquisitions, exit strategy or to introduce productivity improvements (Edmonds, 2011). These forces for change require enterprises to seek new forms of organisation, new ways to manage people, new ways to conduct business, new processes and a new organisational culture (Boonstra and Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 1998). Indeed, the objective for the firm is to preserve and develop their competitive advantage (Parry et al., 1998). In other words, organisations need transformational efforts to adapt to an increasingly challenging, competitive and fast paced external market environment (Armenakis et al., 1993). However, despite this need for change, it appears that most companies fail to effectively manage and implement change. It is recognised that 30 -60 per cent of change efforts fail (Gilley et al., 2009a, b), and one of the major reasons is that organisational change processes encountered significant workforce resistance. The causes of resistance include: change is threatening and individuals believe they will not cope, that it disturbs the status quo and that it brings uncertainty (Atkinson, 2005; Kotter, 1995).\nResistance assessment: Organisations do not conduct a sufficiently rigorous assessment of the current internal environment in terms of its sensitivity to change. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) argue that four situational factors must be assessed:\nCreating a readiness and an urgency for change: Often underestimated by executives, or even skipped due to impatience for results is, \"creating a readiness and urgency for change\" - this is of paramount importance as it unfreezes the organisation - as depicted in Lewin's (1951) model. Organisations place in jeopardy the change initiative by failing at this initial step (Schein, 1979). It has been advocated that readiness for change is, \"the cognitive precursor to the behaviours of either resistance to, or support for, a change effort\", and it involves proactively acting to influence the, \"beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and ultimately the behaviour of a change target\" (Armenakis et al., 1993, p. 681). We argue, therefore, that creating the appropriate setting consist of convincing people that the status quo is dangerous and unsustainable in the longer term and that the way business is currently done is limited and needs to be changed for everyone's benefit. In other words this step enables people's awareness, motivation and cooperation for the change effort to be developed (Kotter, 1995).\nVision and leadership: Excellent management skills are not enough to successfully manage and implement change initiatives (Geller, 2003). Indeed, change is about creating a new order of things and thus demands leadership, not management (Kotter, 1995); and it has been shown that (perceived) excellent leadership significantly increases the chances of success of an improvement initiative (Battilana et al., 2010; Mabin et al., 2001). Strong leadership is needed to overcome corporate inertia, encourage people to change their behaviour and make the change stick (Kotter, 1996).\nParticipation: The extent of participation affects the organisational resistance to any change initiative (Lines, 2004). The first notable study on participation was carried out by Coch and French (1948), with an experiment in a clothing factory. They found that when people are not involved in the change process, it immediately creates conflict, hostility, lack of cooperation and a reduction in productivity. Conversely, when people are involved in the change initiative, there are reduced signs of hostility and there is a collective-mind that encourages extra effort. Moreover, after a slight initial drop at the start of the intervention, the estimated productivity gains are invariably exceeded. Thus Coch and French (1948) concluded that resistance to change could be overcome by getting people to actively participate in the change intervention. Dunphy and Stace (1988) even suggest not only involving employees but also other stakeholders such as customers and suppliers. However, participation is effective only if it starts at commencement of the intervention (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979).\nCommunication: Empirical research suggests that the quality, frequency and intensity of communication are paramount to the success of the intervention (Mabin et al., 2001; Lundy and Morin, 2013; Kotter, 1995). Sirkin et al. (2005) highlight the fact that both internal and external communication is critical to the success of the change effort. As Fiedler (2010) concedes, communication requires a lot of time and effort but is essential to overcome misinformation.\nResisting resistance: It is very likely that some people will always resist change. In this instance, failing to \"resist the resistance\" will jeopardise the change effort. There has been limited research on this issue and quality information is limited (Parry et al., 1998; Dunphy and Stace, 1988; Boonstra and Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 1998).\nRefreezing the organisation: Once the desired state is reached, the firm needs to refreeze the systems and processes in order to make the changes sustainable (Lewin, 1951). The new behaviours learned though the training process need to be frozen for ongoing activities (McShane et al., 2003). It is essential not to create victory too soon (Kotter, 1995) as there is a serious risk for people reverting to their previous methods (McShane et al., 2003).\nConclusion: Resistance to change is both positive and negative attributes. While resistance can add value to the change process, it is very challenging to manage it. Indeed, if resistance is poorly managed, it will jeopardise the intervention process. This proposed research agenda will provide leaders undertaking improvement interventions with strategies that are underpinned by appropriate theories and frameworks. Clearly, of importance, is undertaking an initial resistance assessment in order to determine the type and extent of possible conflict. The results of this assessment will determine how to apply the tools to overcome and belay any concerns. Also of importance is the creation of a clear vision of what the end looks like. There must also be a sense of urgency. The change process has to be effectively communicated internally and externally - to all stakeholders. Moreover, it is critical for the change leader to communicate, inspire and motivate people through good leadership. Furthermore, encouraging employees' participation helps build commitment and ownership of the change initiative. It is of paramount importance to coach and train people so that they can adapt to the new way of doing business. It is possible to resist resistance through negotiation, manipulation or coercion, but these could have longer-term ramifications. Finally, the refreezing process embeds the new process in the organisation culture.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to cite resistance to change as a significant reason why productivity initiatives fail. Therefore, effectively managing and overcoming resistance to change is a critical factor for the successful outcome of any intervention. This paper explores current knowledge of resistance to change and seeks to review the literature and so understand what methods can be used to manage change initiatives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extensive literature review has identified theories, frameworks and methodologies to successfully manage and overcome resistance to organisational change.\nFindings: Managing and overcoming opposition to change starts by assessing the types of resistance; and this classification will form the basis for the development of an implementation strategy to reduce resistance. This includes creating readiness and urgency for change, creating a vision for change, having employees participate in the change effort, training and coaching employees, effectively communicating the change, creating and planning for quick wins and refreezing the organisation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The tools and techniques presented in this paper need to be adapted to the organisation's specificities as well as to the contextual situation.\nPractical implications: The work has developed materials to-date that could be used by practitioners that are engaged with productivity improvement interventions.\nSocial implications: Resistance and its wider implications to any change intervention has organisational and social impacts. Therefore this work brings insightful information to support change in its wider application.\nOriginality/value: Today's competitive, uncertain and fast-paced economic environment requires organisations to change in order to maintain or develop their competitive advantage. This paper combines numerous theories, frameworks and methodologies to successfully manage and overcome resistance in order gain acceptance and meet the desired needs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance
|
[
"Organizational culture",
"Knowledge management",
"Business performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, the rapid development of information technology has led to an economic system with global, virtual, and dynamic industries (Harris, 2001; Ahn and Chang, 2004). In order to cope with radical changes in the business environment, enterprises have explored various management methods, such as total quality management (TQM), business process re-engineering (BPR), enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), electronic commerce (EC), and knowledge management (KM) (Rahman and Bullock, 2005; Paper, 1998; Gattiker and Goodhue, 2004; Li et al., 2005a, b; Ketchen and Hult, 2007; Basu and Muylle, 2003). Enterprises have come to emphasize learning, professional knowledge, best practices, rational context, communication, and organizational culture (Perez and Pablos, 2003).Drucker (2001) suggested that \"knowledge\" would replace machinery, equipment, capital, raw material and labor to become the most important factor for the productive element in industry. In other words, the traditional bases of economic power are no longer the critical success factors for business; knowledge will become the core competence and intangible asset for achieving sustainable competitive advantage (Sherif et al., 2006). Furthermore, KM increases the availability and accessibility of valuable knowledge at the right time to the right person and provides the knowledge for a business to quickly adapt to new market conditions. Many enterprises have implemented KM to increase organizational agility. Thus, it is important to develop a framework and process for identifying, capturing, and diffusing important knowledge in a structured way within an adaptable organizational culture (Huseby and Chou, 2003). However, there are few studies on the influence of organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance. Thus, this study applies organizational cultures as the antecedents and then investigates the influences of different organizational cultures on four knowledge conversion activities and corporate performance. The influence of knowledge conversion on corporate performance is also investigated.\n2. Conceptual framework: This study develops and empirically tests a conceptual framework to investigate the relationship among organizational culture, knowledge conversion, and corporate performance. The conceptual and theoretical structure is shown in Figure 1.For further explanation about the objective of this study, the conceptual framework is described below.2.1 Organizational cultures\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Measurement\n4. Result verification: The statistics software SPSS 12.0 for Windows was utilized to establish data analysis. One-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used for organizational cultures, knowledge conversion, and corporate performance.4.1 Relationship between organizational culture and corporate performance\n5. Discussion: Based on the questionnaire analysis above, this study found that cultural differences in an organization will significantly affect knowledge conversion and corporate performance. According to the result of Scheffe's multiple comparison procedure (Tables III and IV), the average scores of corporate performance in descending order are as follows: adhocracy culture, hierarchy culture, and clan culture. There is a significant difference between adhocracy and clan cultures. This means that if a company is able to nurture adhocracy culture, it can significantly enhance corporate performance. In contrast, clan culture does not significantly enhance the development of performance. The result of Scheffe's multiple comparison (Tables V and VI) shows that the average scores of knowledge conversion in descending order are as follows: adhocracy culture, clan, and hierarchy cultures. There is a significant difference between adhocracy and hierarchy cultures. This shows that adhocracy culture has better knowledge conversion than that of hierarchy culture.Further investigation shows that adhocracy culture emphasizes entrepreneurship, creativity, adaptability, goal achievement, productivity, and efficiency. It is reflecting its external orientation. For companies with higher external orientation, it will be easier for knowledge to move among the individual, group, and organizational levels. Hence, adhocracy culture will have better acquisition of explicit knowledge, which involves interaction with the external environment. Thus, it has better developed knowledge conversion and corporate performance. Hierarchy culture stresses order, uniformity, efficiency, and control, reflecting internally oriented and formalized values. It tends to force a form of localized information usage on the organization and is less likely to develop person-to person systems. Thus, it is not easy to build harmonious, credible working environments that encourage staff to share their tacit knowledge. In other words, hierarchy culture is not appropriate to develop knowledge conversion because formalization will have negative effects on information utilization. Conversely, clan culture emphasizes participation, teamwork, and cohesiveness, reflecting internally oriented and value for informal governance systems. It has high in trust and low in conflict, thus it has more well-developed tacit knowledge and allows staff to share knowledge. Within such a working environment, individuals collaborate directly, teach each other, and share experiences. Therefore, clan culture is more suitable for facilitating knowledge conversion. Furthermore, more formalized companies usually possess formalized controls and processes, thus, they have better developed corporate performance because of its effective management. Therefore, compared to a hierarchy culture, clan culture does not lead to stronger corporate performance. Even though clan culture has more well-developed knowledge conversion, it has lower corporate performance than that of hierarchy culture.\n6. Conclusion: Wong and Aspinwall (2006) argued that although there are many ways in which KM can be practiced, the suitable method depends on the criteria of the organization, such as its business object, nature of products and services, organizational culture, company size, and availability of resources. These act as moderating factors that affect how KM should be implemented. However, there is not enough knowledge about the relationship among organizational culture, knowledge conversion, and corporate performance. Thus, a statistical analytical model for assessing the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance with three cultural aspects and four knowledge conversion activities was developed in this study.The results indicate that the organizational culture and knowledge conversion have a positive effect on corporate performance. Adhocracy culture has the best development of knowledge conversion and corporate performance. A hierarchy culture, with its emphasis on stability and control, is most likely to result in resistance to change and fewer interactions with external environment (Fiol and Lyles, 1985); thus it did not score well in knowledge conversion (Quinn and Spreitzer, 1991). Clan culture emphasizes the long-term benefit of human resources development with high cohesion and morale, but it is also prudent and conservative; thus, it does not have the best corporate performance. Therefore, to survive, enterprises must have effective and efficient internal and external knowledge conversions to obtain competitive knowledge. Hence, in order to enhance corporate performance, an organization should cultivate a culture that encourages and provides opportunities for communicating ideas, knowledge, and experiences. If organizations can nurture adhocracy culture, it will be easy for them to create an environment where knowledge workers can learn, feel comfortable, and have the opportunity to be creative and innovative, improving corporate performance and increasing the organization's value (Chen and Hsiang, 2007).Although it is clear that the correlation between three cultural aspects and four knowledge conversion activities on corporate performance. There are a number of research limitations in this study that give rise to future research opportunities. This research investigates the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance under a Chinese-centric set of societal, cultural and linguistic attitudes and behaviors. However, different countries have different cultures. Future research could be extended this study to other regions of the world with a different set of attitudes and behaviors and examine how these three cultural aspects and four knowledge conversion activities interact within the firm to enhance corporate performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Organizational culture can significantly promote or hinder the success of knowledge management initiatives. Therefore, this study seeks to develop and test empirically a conceptual framework to investigate the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Questionnaire and statistical analytical techniques were applied to gain best exploration on organizational culture, knowledge conversion and corporate performance.\nFindings: - The results of the questionnaire analyses indicate that an adhocracy culture enables knowledge conversion and enhances corporate performance more than clan and hierarchy cultures.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research investigates the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance under a Chinese-centric set of societal, cultural and linguistic attitudes and behaviors. However, different countries have different cultures. Future research could extend this study to other regions of the world with a different set of attitudes and behaviors.\nPractical implications: - If the organization can nurture an adhocracy culture, it will be easy to create an environment where knowledge workers can learn, feel comfortable, and have the opportunity to be creative and innovative, improve corporate performance and increase the organization's value.\nOriginality/value: - A lot of evidence shows that successful knowledge management initiatives can increase business innovation capacity. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence regarding organizational culture, knowledge conversion, and corporate performance. Thus, a statistical analytical model for assessing the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance with three cultural aspects and four knowledge conversion activities was developed in the study.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
On the potential interaction between labour market institutions and immigration policies
|
[
"Determinants",
"Welfare",
"Immigration",
"Unemployment",
"Legislation",
"Employment protection",
"Collective bargaining",
"J61",
"J50",
"F22"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Do labour market institutions influence mobility decisions of migrants? Is there any interaction between such institutions and the tightness of migration policies set by governments in destination countries? In this paper we try to answer the above questions by focusing on the relation between bilateral migration flows, tightness of entry laws and labour institutions such as employment protection legislation (EPL), unemployment benefits, minimum wages (MW), taxes and union power for a set of 15 OECD countries during the period 1980-2006.\n2. Theoretical framework: In this section, we briefly present the theoretical framework behind our empirical application. We closely follow Ortega and Peri (2013) and illustrate how labour institutions and unemployment can be included in the random utility model of optimal migration decision.\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1. Data\n4. Results: 4.1. Main results\n5. Concluding remarks: In this paper we analyse the relation between migration flows, labour market institutions and the strictness of migration policies. We extend previous work on the determinants of migration flows by considering the potential interaction between demand and supply factors. On the supply side, we explicitly consider the labour market environment in destination countries. We focus our attention on the unemployment rate and the role of labour market institutions, such as EPL, unemployment benefits coverage, MW, union power and the tax wedge. Labour institutions have a direct effect on expected employment and wages in the labour market, thus influencing incentives for migrants to move in a particular country. Moreover, by directly influencing the responses in terms of wages and unemployment to immigration shocks, labour institutions interact with migration policies, i.e., with the demand side of migration.\nAcknowledgments: This research was supported by the project \"Sharing KnowledgE Assets: InteRregionally Cohesive NeigHborhoods\" (SEARCH) within the 7th European Community Framework Programme FP7-SSH -2010.2.2-1 (266834) European Commission. We thank three anonymous referees, the guest editors and participants at the 2nd SEARCH Progress Meeting in Cagliari and 53th WRSA Conference in San Diego for comments and suggestions that substantially improved the paper. The authors also thank Giovanni Peri for providing them with the data on migration flows and FRdB for data on labour institutions. The usual disclaimer applies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of unemployment and labour institutions such as employment protection legislation, coverage of unemployment benefits, minimum wages (MW), union power and tax wedge on migration flows. The authors allow for interactions of these institutions with migration entry laws, as both affect equilibrium wages and employment in destination countries, influencing mobility decisions of immigrants.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use data on migration flows for a sample of 15 OECD countries over the period 1980-2006. The relationship between flows and labour institutions is analysed using OLS techniques and including destination and origin-by-year fixed effects. The coefficients of interest are identified through within country variation. The authors test the robustness of the results to different specifications using, among others, dynamic models for panel data.\nFindings: The authors find strong and negative effects of unemployment, employment protection and migration policy on flows. The negative effect of migration policy on flows is larger in countries with high than in countries with low employment protection. The authors find positive effects for MW, unemployment benefits and union power. The authors show heterogeneous effects depending on the group of countries of origin and destination.\nResearch limitations/implications: While the identification strategy allows us to estimate the effects of interest, the baseline estimates may suffer from endogeneity problems in terms of omitted variable bias and reverse causality. The sensitivity checks provide mixed results and show that baseline estimates are not always robust to different specifications. Further work is needed to better address the problem of endogeneity.\nOriginality/value: The paper adds to the previous literature on the determinants of immigration flows by explicitly considering the labour market environment in destination countries. The results provide insights into potential interaction effects and coordination of reforms in labour markets and immigration policies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Organizing without organizations: on informal social activism in Poland
|
[
"Poland",
"Civil society",
"Post-socialist societies",
"Motivations",
"Un-institutionalized social activism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The development of civil society in post-socialist[1] contexts has been repeatedly described as passive (Howard, 2003), ambiguous and \"a pale reflection of its counterparts elsewhere in the world\" (Salamon et al., 1999, pp. 33-34), characterized by distrustful and individualist attitudes, obstructed by learned helplessness and scapegoating (Anheier and Seibel, 1998, p. 178), uncivil, rebellious (Ekiert and Kubik, 1999) or even as marked by \"civilizational incompetence\" (Sztompka, 2004). In the first decade of the transformation post-1989, civil society researchers focused on donor dependence and its corollary: the top-down development and professionalization of post-socialist civil societies. These efforts toward professionalization of civil society initiatives have borne fruit. Toward the end of the first decade of the transformation, the sector of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Poland was argued to have undergone \"gradual maturation and professionalization\" (Glinski, 1999). Western financial support and know-how had positive, intended, as well as unforeseen side-effects for the functioning of these civil societies. These side-effects have been negatively assessed by scholars. For example, it has been observed that instead of \"initiatives,\" \"activities\" or \"actions,\" NGO-activists had to learn to think and act in terms of \"projects.\" The appropriation of this new language brought about discernable normative change in terms of social activism. Foreign support for civil society also impacted the methods of assessment and the mode of work of NGOs (Ilowiecka-Tanska, 2011). Nonetheless, the functioning of these civil societies has been changing since. More recent developments have been neglected by scholars, partly due to their above-mentioned normative assessment.\n2. Methodological framework: The analysis is built on qualitative and quantitative data gathered in 2014-2015 in the framework of the project \"The undiscovered dimension of the Third sector: a study of un-institutionalized civic activism\" funded by the then Polish Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and implemented by the Center for Local Activities Association in partnership with Collegium Civitas in Warsaw. The study included conducting in-depth interviews (IDIs) with purposely selected, actively engaged social activists representing informal initiatives (60 IDIs), young NGOs (ten IDIs), NGOs' supporting institutions and experts in the field (15 IDIs). The respondents in this purposive sample had to be engaged in an informal initiative for at least two years. The initiatives represented diversified world views and were taking place in urban and rural areas. In order to meet the selection criteria, mapping of informal initiatives and snowball technique were used. The interviewees came from varied social backgrounds. Here are some examples of the vocations of respondents representing informal initiatives: artist, educator, researcher, sales assistant, NGO-employee, civil servant, entrepreneur, unemployed, librarian, financial analyst, student, pensioner, farmer. The studied cases varied from initiatives oriented toward revitalizing or animating the immediate neighborhood or local community, gathering individuals cultivating particular hobbies (cyclists, movie-goers, fans of walking tours, anthropologists, mothers, motorcycle-riders, football fans), providing social assistance (helping the homeless, organizing workshops for children from unprivileged background), cashless exchange of services, promotion of particular worldviews (de-growth, anarchism, tolerance), running internet sites, practicing and promoting urban gardening, arts collectives, food cooperatives, free-of-charge fixing of bikes for women, tourism promotion, urban activism, running non-profit cafeteria or kitchen, theater promotion, organization of concerts, history reenactment, collecting historical artifacts, fund-raising, co-working, self-help groups, organization of charitable events, festivals, neighborhood picnics, children's activities and others. In addition to the 85 IDIs, five focus group interviews with social activists and 15 case studies of informal initiatives were also carried out.\n3. Overview of previous studies of social activists' motivations: The most copious international research on motivations of individuals engaged in social and/or political activism focuses on volunteering (e.g. Salomon and Sokolowski, 2001). Some scholars compared volunteers and non-volunteers (Barker, 1993; Hettman and Jenkins, 1990). Research on social activists' motivations tends to focus on particular type of activism, i.e. AIDS activism (Paterson et al., 2014), anti-AIDS activism (Brier, 2006), environmental activism (Measham and Barnett, 2008), participation in protest events (Verhulst and Walgrave, 2009), internet activism (Van Laer, 2010) and so on. By contrast, the qualitative research analyzed in this paper deals with civic activism in a number of fields, which common denominator is that the studied entities were grassroots, un-institutionalized initiatives.\n4. Motivations and different aspects of informal and un-institutionalized activism: In previous studies on motivations of activists in NGOs, Chimiak (2006) found that \"intrinsic\" motivation, which has to do with striving after achievement, self-actualization and satisfaction, was the most popular type of motivation among NGO activists. Other important motivations were: the \"axiological\" motivation (including motives based on responsibility and community obligation), and the \"extrinsic\" type of motivation (referring to the socializing side of activism) (see Figure 1 for a complete list). The following analysis is inspired by this typology, but has on the basis of the motivations presented in the interviews with informal activists allowed for a development of four dimensions that include all these motivational types: the social, ideological, political and functional dimension (see Figure 2).\n5. Discussion: One important conclusion refers to the social character of activism in the un-institutionalized social sector. In contrast to findings from studies of NGO activists' motivations, the socializing effect participation in informal initiatives entails is a feature central to activism in the un-institutionalized civic sector. The stories of the dynamics, movement and power of engagement in such groups are closely connected to informal grassroots activism and remain in contrast to the more hierarchical and inertial characteristics of formal organizations. The predominantly non-hierarchical nature of un-institutionalized groups' decision-making processes and the irrelevance of competition for financial resources, further contribute to establishing a less conflictual and competitive activity in this kind of organizing. Even if this particular reason to engage in un-institutionalized activism is not explicitly reported in the interviews as a motivation to opt for informal rather than formal organizing, many of the respondents state their preference for the former. Additionally, the negative features of working for an institutionalized group were described as: limitations and conditions brought by funders, formalization of initial enthusiasm leading to \"soul-less\" organizations, potentially corruptive practices and the time-consuming procedures of formalization, affecting the scope and effect of activities undertaken (cf. Przewlocka, 2013). However, when instrumental reasons to cooperate with NGOs arise (such as a need for a formalized partner to sign an agreement to access funding), the informal initiatives often use their networks to find an NGO to cooperate with and in this way piggyback-ride on its formal structure. At the same time, it should be recognized that NGOs themselves benefit from such cooperation with informal initiatives, as it helps them (re)establish their connection with the constituencies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine motivations of social activists in informal initiatives and to understand why they opt for this more spontaneous and self-organized activism while openly defying the hitherto established way of founding non-governmental organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: On the basis of a case study of Poland, which had one of the most vibrant civil societies in the socialist region, it is argued that the characteristics ascribed to the functioning of civil society after the toppling of socialism are not reflected in its more recent state. A broader definition of civil society and social activism is suggested to include new types of informal activism, which tend to be over-looked and under-studied. The analysis is built on qualitative and quantitative data gathered in 2014-2015.\nFindings: The argument put forward is that un-institutionalized engagement is qualitatively different from its formal and institutionalized counterpart. The recent growth of informal activism is indicative of a rebirth of communitarian engagement in Polish civil society and a reaction to the underside of its institutionalization.\nOriginality/value: In spite of the seminal role played by societal self-organization in the overturning of the socialist system in Eastern European countries, the development of civil society in the region after 1989 has been repeatedly described as passive and characterized by distrustful or individualist attitudes. However, these civil societies have been changing since, and these more recent developments have been neglected by scholars.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Adjusting for risk factors in mutual fund performance and performance persistence: Evidence from the Greek market during the debt crisis
|
[
"Capital flows",
"Portfolio performance",
"Performance persistence",
"Model evaluation",
"Nonparametric",
"Parametric"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Five decades of research on mutual fund performance and still the question whether active fund management can deliver superior returns compared to the markets remains unsolved. Most of the studies in the economic literature (Sharpe, 1966; Jensen, 1968; Elton et al., 1993; Malkiel, 1995, 2013; Gruber, 1996; Jiang, 2003; Fama and French, 2010; He et al., 2015) find that actively managed mutual funds produce, on average, lower returns than the market index or passively managed index funds. In contrast, some studies in the 1980s find the net returns that investors can acquire to be similar to (Henriksson, 1984; Chang and Lewellen, 1984; Grinblatt and Titman, 1989) or even higher (Ippolito, 1989) than the market's portfolio, indicating the existence of capable managers that can \"beat the market.\" Ippolito's (1989) findings, though, are subjected to the benchmark used and have extensively been critiqued by the literature. However, the conclusions of recent studies (Wermers, 2000; Avramov and Wermers, 2006; Berk and van Binsbergen, 2015) tend to highlight the managers' ability to generate positive risk-adjusted returns, showing that superiority in fund performance may in fact exist. The models used to measure mutual funds' abnormal returns vary from single-index to multi-factor, indicating that results may alter depending on the performance measure applied or the time period studied and the specific phase of the economic cycle in which the economy is found. It would be interesting, therefore, to investigate the performance of Greek equity mutual funds, during the ongoing domestic debt crisis, by using various performance models.\n2. Data and methodology: 2.1 Data\n3. Empirical results: 3.1 Results in measuring risk-adjusted returns\n4. Conclusions: In this paper, the performance of Greek equity mutual funds and persistence in annual returns is examined for the period 2008-2017. Using the entire equity mutual funds available and daily observations, a variety of performance models (Jensen, 1968; Fama and French, 1993; Carhart, 1997) are used to evaluate mutual funds' abnormal returns using the general index of Athens Stock Exchange as a benchmark. Results denote that the Greek equity mutual funds fail to deliver positive risk-adjusted returns with respect to the market index, irrespective of the performance measure applied, and the estimated models provide similar results. Few managers that followed large-cap strategies, pursued stocks with high book-to-market value ratio and eliminated their exposure to the momentum effect were able to add value to their portfolios. In addition, we proceed investigating persistence in annual returns by using a battery of parametric (Bollen and Busse, 2005) and nonparametric tests (Malkiel, 1995; Brown and Goetzmann, 1995; Kahn and Rudd, 1995). Results show evidence of strong repetition for negative abnormal returns and weak evidence for the positive ones, when the Jensen (1968) and Fama and French (1993) model is applied in cross-sectional regressions. Furthermore, managers' tendency to pursue past winners results in the absence of persistence among the remaining intervals because of the dilution effect. When we adjust for the momentum factor, persistence in negative returns is attenuated. Moreover, the application of the nonparametric tests confirmed, in general, our inference deriving from the parametric method.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of Greek equity mutual funds and the persistence in annual performance for the period 2008-2017 by using a variety of performance models.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using all the available funds in operation and daily data, the authors apply single-index (Jensen, 1968) and multi-factor models (Fama and French, 1993; Carhart, 1997) to measure risk-adjusted returns. To assess performance persistence, a series of parametric (Bollen and Busse, 2005) and nonparametric tests (Malkiel, 1995; Brown and Goetzmann, 1995; Kahn and Rudd, 1995) is implemented.\nFindings: Results show that the Greek equity mutual funds perform, on average, worse than the market index, irrespective of the performance measure applied, and the estimations obtained by the models are similar. Few managers that followed large-cap strategies, pursued stocks with high book-to-market value ratio and eliminated their exposure to the momentum effect were able to add value to their portfolios. Furthermore, a winner-picking strategy based on sustained superior performers is questioned. However, assigning fund returns to the corresponding risk factors results in the partial disappearance of persistence in performance.\nOriginality/value: The sample period includes the turbulent period, following the introduction of capital controls, which affected capital flows significantly. Moreover, the application of multiple performance measures enables us to investigate performance persistence in a wider spectrum.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Experiments to identify the causes of spam
|
[
"Electronic mail",
"Advertising control",
"Computers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Spam is often defined as \"unsolicited electronic e-mail\" (Sorkin, 2001). Spam attempts to sell the reader a product or service that a user might not want or might strongly object to (Grimes, 2004). It has been suggested it was named after a Monty Python comedy sketch (BBC, 1970). (See also Grimes, 2004; Levine et al., 2004; Sorkin, 2001; Vicomsoft, 2002.) The term is rumoured to have originated, as far as the Internet is concerned, from the MUD/MUSH (multi-user dimension or dungeon/multi-user shared hallucination) community (Net Abuse, 1998).There are, however, difficulties in defining spam (Goldman, 2003). Many consider all advertisements or even all unwanted messages as spam, while others try and define it in terms of existing acceptable use policies (Sorkin, 2001). A useful definition is given by MAPS (Mail Abuse Prevention System, 2004):An e-mail is \"spam\" IF: (1) the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND (2) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent; AND (3) the transmission and reception of the message appears to the recipient to give a disproportionate benefit to the sender.This is in contrast to the simpler definition put forward by Sorkin (2001), that spam is not spam until the recipient decides it is.Spam categorisation\nOur research: Various accounts were set up and used differently to assess spam and filtering services. Spam was assessed from three different angles using seven different accounts.Spam experiment 1: comparing common name versus own name\nResults: The results for each experiment were collected over a two-month period from December 2004 until February 2005.Spam experiment 1 (Common name)\nDiscussion: The analysis showed that in all accounts, spam increased over the eight-week period, with the newsgroup account showing greatest growth over time. The spam took time to grow; in a lot of cases, spam was not received in the first two weeks, but all accounts had received spam within four weeks.Financial spam was the category in which spam was sent most regularly in our study. This, in turn, fell into a number of different areas including pshishing scams. There were a number of mortgage, credit card and other financial offers. These are less worrying than financial scams such as lottery scams and Nigerian letters. Bradley (2003) commented that he did not receive a single \"Nigerian letter\", whereas in Oppenheim's account, a number of these were received each day. They appear to follow certain fashions, for example, ones from people claiming to be dying from an incurable disease and wishing to leave large sums in their will, and lottery winners seem to be popular now.It seems that spam categories are an evolving area, and there is a growing amount of medical and drugs spam. This type of spam primarily consisted of cheap prescription drugs, with an emphasis on erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra. It is possible that a lot of men order Viagra over the internet to avoid both the high costs and the potential embarrassment of getting it from a pharmacy, so this arguably is an area where the spam is genuinely useful - assuming of course that what is delivered is the real thing! There is, unfortunately, evidence that many of the drugs being advertised through spam are counterfeit versions (ipaki.com, n.d.). Women, and men without erectile dysfunction, may well object to Viagra adverts (though it is worth noting that the drug is the subject of full page advertisements in mainstream USA magazines such as The New Yorker), and this could be the reason why people dislike it the most after pornographic spam.Most research shows that pornographic spam is the type of spam most disliked. Brightmail (2001) claimed that pornographic solicitations represented the fastest-growing category of unwanted e-mail ads, doubling as a percentage of spam in the last few years. We received little in our experiments, in contrast to Bradley (2003).Examining the spam in more detail, we noted that some of the spam received is borderline pornographic. These were e-mails offering contact with attractive women from around the world. Because of the nature of the images associated with it (they showed the women in underwear), we classed this as \"pornographic\", but this may have been too harsh. Clearly for some people, mainly men, pornographic spam is not objectionable, as the spam provides access to material that individuals enjoy seeing and would otherwise not be able to view without deliberately searching for it - which may be contrary to, say, employers' acceptable use policies (Wired.com, 2002).Although we started with the premise that all spam is undesirable and unwanted, we do accept that in certain circumstances it may be welcomed by recipients. How can the various technical and legal solutions address this conundrum? Presumably, the only way would be some kind of content rating system for spam, with e-mail users deciding for themselves what they are, or are not, willing to receive.\nConclusions and possible future research directions: Our most important and novel result is that spam takes time to build-up within individual accounts. Charles Oppenheim's account, active for over seven years, and despite an effective filtering system, received a much greater amount of spam than accounts that had only been active for short periods of time. Nonetheless, the experiments showed that spam grows, sometimes rapidly even over a few short weeks.Another important result is that the use of unusual names has little effect on the amounts of spam received, but high levels of filtering can remove a reasonable proportion. It was not clear from these results whether the oft-repeated advice \"never respond to a spam, because it proves your account is active and you will then get more spam\" is valid. Our third important result was the fact that the types of spam change over time and what is a major contributor to spam today may not be in the future.It may be useful to identify not only what types of spam females or males find more offensive, but also what types are considered useful. In particular, it would be interesting to compare male and female attitudes towards (and the amounts received) of spam advertising Viagra, getting a female partner, and pornography, as these are categories where distinct gender differences can be expected.Arguably, our category of \"financial\" was too simplistic, encompassing as it does a variety of frauds as well as possibly genuine offers of mortgages and credit cards. It would be interesting to track changes in these sub-categories over time.Further work to assess how much time people waste on deleting or reading spam, and therefore its real cost, is needed. The techniques used to detect spam by humans could be studied to help improve filtering algorithms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to show how spam is generated and what methods have been proposed to combat it.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An experiment whereby a number of e-mail accounts using different ISPs were set up and then checked for spam over a period of nine weeks. The results were compared to two pre-existing e-mail accounts. The types of spam received were classified into broad headings.\nFindings: - Financial spam was the biggest single type of spam received, with health-related spam second. The growth in spam over time was noted, as was the volumes of spam received by different Internet Service Providers. The effects of using \"obvious\" names versus unusual ones in the e-mail address were measured, as were those of using spam-filtering software. In the former case, no significant differences were found, but filtering software certainly helped to reduce the volume of spam received. Active involvement in a pornographic site did not, surprisingly, greatly influence the amount of spam received. The biggest single factors affecting the volume of spam received are the length of time the e-mail account has been active and the use, or non-use of filtering software. It is by no means certain that responding to spam increases the volume of spam received.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research was conducted over a relatively small time period and small number of accounts were examined.\nPractical implications: - Methods of combating spam and some urban myths about it are examined.\nOriginality/value: - To those tasked with dealing with spam, the paper provides some ideas on the scale of the problem and how to address it.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Disability through an inclusive lens: disaster risk reduction in schools
|
[
"Schools",
"Natural hazards",
"Disaster risk reduction",
"Children with disabilities",
"Disability inclusive DRR"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The literature of disaster highlights the uneven effects of natural hazards on people. It shows that children particularly can have increased vulnerabilities (Wisner, 2006; Peek, 2008; Peek and Stough, 2010; Boon et al., 2012; Ronoh et al., 2015). Children spend a major part of their week in a school environment and hence there is a need to consider inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR) in schools. For example, many schools and children were affected during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China (Peek, 2008; Tierney, 2014). Several school-based studies and reviews provide relevant focus specific to children with disabilities. These studies describe the children's experiences and highlight their potential vulnerability to natural hazards and disaster (Peek and Stough, 2010; Alexander et al., 2012; Boon et al., 2012; Ronoh et al., 2015). A recent example is the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, where schools and children were affected (Ronoh et al., 2015). In another example, the March 2011 earthquake in Japan hit on a school day (Johnson et al., 2014; Mutch, 2014), and triggered a widespread tsunami, resulting in extensive devastation and deaths, which included many schoolchildren (Nakahara and Ichikawa, 2013). Most, if not all, schools have children with disabilities and are therefore positioned to play an effective role in promoting inclusiveness in DRR, especially for the case of children with disabilities who are invisible or often overlooked in DRR planning (Peek and Stough, 2010; Boon et al., 2012; Ronoh et al., 2015).\nDisability, inclusiveness and DRR: The literature of disasters suggests that people differ significantly in their degree of vulnerability to natural hazards (Wisner, 2002; Anderson, 2005; Tierney, 2014; Wisner et al., 2012), and this partly influences their level of involvement in DRR. Research indicates that vulnerability to disaster is associated with a number of socioeconomic factors that include income, poverty, social class, age, ethnicity and gender. Disability intersects with all these factors (Wisner, 2002; Wisner et al., 2012). A society's poor, dependent and isolated, who are also marginalized often directly or indirectly, face increased exposure to disaster risk, due to that marginalization. The main driver of loss and harm in a disaster event is \"differential vulnerability\" that is socially structured (Priestley and Hemingway 2007; Tierney, 2014). Therefore, inclusiveness in DRR should also encompass empowerment (Wisner, 2002): involvement and having a voice and role in decisions that affect one's life. This should involve an acknowledgement that hazards and disaster tend to be a consequence of human action or inaction of decisions about the allocation of access to resources and locations and the power or lack of power to make those decisions (Muller-Mahn, 2011). The approach thus needs to reflect a process rooted in life and livelihood routines and the way in which longstanding systems of social, economic and political power either provide resources and options or constrain lives and livelihoods (Wisner et al., 2012).\nMulti-case study and data collection methods: This paper draws on findings from two schools that work with children with disabilities in the New Zealand regions of Hawke's Bay and Auckland. They form part of a multi-case study (Yin, 2014). Specific to this paper, the case study research aims were twofold:\nAccessing children with disabilities as participants: In each school, two prior school visits were undertaken to seek access to the participants, firm up the research design, build rapport and establish trust with the school staff and students. This is a strategy vital for focus groups, interviews and observation of the students (Nind, 2009; Boggis, 2011). The schools have special class units for children who have diverse disabilities, which can be one or more of: autistic spectrum disorders; learning, hearing, seeing, mobility disability; and other degenerative conditions, producing a heterogeneous group of participants. Workshop participants (comprising a class of eight to ten children), who were aged between ten and 16 years, required some level of adult support as indicated by the high numbers of adult teacher-to-child ratios of between 1:2 and 1:4. The schools also indicated that most children have difficulties in comprehension, memory, communication, relating to others, mobility issues, anxiety at changes in routines and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. For two of these children in Auckland, English is their second language.\nData collection methods: The findings draw on a study conducted over 20 months. Data gathering methods included a four-day workshop in each school with children with diverse disabilities. The research design and activities enabled the engagement of children with the disabilities through participatory tools (Ronoh et al., 2015), allowing participation along children's spectrum of abilities (Nind, 2009). It involved mapping activities of safe and unsafe areas of their class and the school during a disaster, and proportional piling of identified potential natural hazards in the region (Figure 4). This technique involved participants in identifying and listing potential natural hazards around their school. The participants then transferred the list of hazards identified onto coloured A4 paper and placed them on the floor for proportional piling. Each participant was given three red, two orange and one purple fruit-flavoured sweets to distribute to four potential hazards according to an agreed order: first (reds for most dangerous) to fourth (least dangerous), respectively, based on their individual perception of associated disaster risk. The total for each hazard was obtained for ranking (Figure 4). Fruit-flavoured sweets were chosen for this activity with an aim of capturing children's interest in the activity, while the different colours helped in guiding the structure/sequence of distribution among the children. Another activity involved assessing participant's perception of the content of survival kit items, and categorizing them as either very important or important (Plate 1).\nResearch findings: the role of schools in DRR: This section discusses two broad themes from the data that relate to the pathways towards inclusive DRR in schools. The themes are: enabling accessibility, safety and inclusiveness in schools, and is presented separately in each of the two cases; and avenues for children's involvement and leadership in DRR decision-making process, presented as an integration of the two cases (Yin, 2014).\nChildren's involvement and leadership in inclusive DRR: Another significant role of a school is to provide opportunities for spaces where children can take leadership responsibilities and thus promote inclusiveness in the DRR decision-making process. The \"child-centred\" workshop activities of mapping, proportional piling and survival kit items (Plate 1), enabled children the options of working individually with adult support, in pairs, or in groups, applying teamwork and providing leadership opportunities among themselves. The use of participatory tools conducted on the floor helped to limit eye contact, attenuate and lessen the problems associated with uneven power relations among adult and children (Mercer et al., 2008).\nExploring disability inclusive DRR in schools: The research findings from Hawke's Bay and Auckland schools in New Zealand, though showing some contrasting features, demonstrate that schools can play a vital role in inclusive DRR as follows.\nConclusions and recommendations arising: This paper draws on findings from two schools supporting children with disabilities in New Zealand. The paper identifies that the inadequacy of inclusive DRR in schools is a consequence of the absence of children with disabilities' \"voice\" in planning, and that disaster risk is therefore a social product of ignoring children in DRR (Tierney, 2014). Possible communication or exploitation of power relations at various levels compounds the inclusiveness challenge. A further lack is a platform for dialogue among stakeholders, while limited resources or other pressing concerns add to the complexity of achieving an inclusive DRR in schools. The paper calls for a bottom-up and top-down approach that links together, incorporates \"voice\", and gives access and safety to children with disabilities to school facilities. The approach should be in line with the three pillars of comprehensive school safety (UNESCO, 2013). The paper offers four recommendations for consideration:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use an inclusive lens to explore pathways and considers, through the voices of children and adult participants, the complexities in implementing effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) in schools comprising children with disabilities. It identifies obstacles and suggests policy recommendations that consider their needs in DRR.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper draws on a case study of two schools supporting children with disabilities in the New Zealand regions of Hawke's Bay and Auckland, each with differing experiences of past natural hazards and disasters. Data from children's workshop activities, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, workshop photographs, school safety and policy documents were coded in Nvivo software to categorize data and to identify themes for cross-case analysis and discussion.\nFindings: The research reveals three key pathways that schools can take in promoting inclusiveness in DRR. They are the provision of safe and accessible school building designs and facilities, avenues for children's involvement and leadership in DRR initiatives, and in decision-making processes. Schools also offer opportunities for a collaborative effort towards inclusiveness in DRR within the school and with other stakeholders.\nResearch limitations/implications: Based on the findings, the paper suggests four broad policy recommendations for consideration towards strengthening the role of schools in disability-inclusive DRR.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to ongoing DRR efforts and adds new information to the disaster literature on the role of schools in disability-inclusive DRR.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Operational impact of collaboration and resource specificity: the moderating role of technology context
|
[
"Operational performance",
"Product complexity",
"Technological turbulence",
"Downstream collaboration",
"Relational view",
"Resource specificity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\n1. Introduction: In today's dynamic business environment, managerial interest is focused on understanding sources of differential performance outcomes. Recently, research scholars have come around to view strategic inter-firm partnerships as major determinants of superior performance (Dyer and Hatch, 2006). Supply chain management (SCM), which fundamentally involves functional and process integration with partners in the supply chain, has leaped into prominence as a strategy for maximizing customer value and enhancing firm performance (Stank et al., 2001). The strategy engenders integration and coordinated functioning of operations across all facets of business flows to improve efficiencies and flexibilities to meet market needs. Not surprisingly, several empirical studies have found significant association between supply chain integration and performance (Germain and Iyer, 2006; Sanders and Premus, 2005).\n2. Background: 2.1 Theory: supply chain partnerships and the relational view\n3. Hypotheses: 3.1 Downstream supply chain integration and operational performance\n4. Method: 4.1 Sample\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Research implications\n6. Limitations and future research directions: Despite the significant contributions to SCM literature and practice, the research is not without shortcomings. An important limitation associates with the use of stepwise regression technique, which essentially generates a minimum adequate model (Whittingham et al., 2006). Problems associated with the technique imply that the results of the study are not necessarily conclusive in nature and, therefore, should be interpreted ith caution. Particularly, the following inadequacies are attributed to the analysis:\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this research is to enhance understanding of the sources of relational rents in supply chains and the nature of their relationships with performance. Using the relational view framework and contingency perspective, the study develops a model and hypotheses to understand the nature of the relationships of collaboration and resource specificity with operational performance under technology context contingencies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data for testing the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model were collected through a survey of managers in the Hoover's database of manufacturing firms. The survey sample included 115 responses from a wide variety of manufacturing forms.\nFindings: Findings support the conventional wisdom relating collaboration and operational improvements. Notably, technological turbulence has a differential interactive influence on collaboration and resource specificity in predicting operational performance. In the former, the strength of the performance relationship is enhanced, while in the latter, it diminishes. Product complexity enhances the collaboration-operational performance linkage. The results, however, have to be further corroborated by more confirmatory analysis in future research.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research findings are not conclusive but of an exploratory initial evidence, as stepwise regression analysis has its limitations. Additionally, while the study specifically focused on demand-side collaboration aspects, supply chain management envelops upstream and internal collaboration as well. Investigating the performance implications and the interactive dynamics among all three partnerships in the supply chains provides a richer understanding of supply chain partnerships. Besides, more comprehensive insights could be obtained by modeling the interactive effects of other factors in the operating context.\nPractical implications: Firms derive performance benefits from close collaboration with downstream partners because the operational enhancements from such relationships have customer service implications. Besides, the results provide a framework to managers for understanding the technology context conditions that may be best suited for leveraging collaborative initiatives and idiosyncratic investments in pursuit of operational performance improvements.\nOriginality/value: Much of the evidence on the rent generation capabilities in supply chain partnerships is still anecdotal and extant empirical research lacks adequate explanation. Another critical shortcoming in extant literature is research on the disentangled interactive influence of operating context factors on the supply chain sources of rent (i.e. capabilities)-performance relationships. The study contributes by addressing these issues.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Something old, something used: Determinants of women's purchase of vintage fashion vs second-hand fashion
|
[
"Fashion",
"Vintage",
"Second‐hand",
"Luxury",
"Eco‐fashion",
"Nostalgia",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Women",
"Buying behaviour",
"Second‐hand markets",
"Clothing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The trend is fuelled by more than pure economics. Vintage items contain elements of nostalgia. To those people who actually lived during the period in which the goods were manufactured, they often call back positive memories. More significant from a marketing viewpoint, for those who are not old enough to have experienced the actual decade in which their vintage product was created, vintage still recalls what they perceive as more prosperous times in our nation's history (Iverson, 2010).\nIntroduction: Vintage fashion has emerged as a growing trend in the last ten years in Western cultures as well as developing nations. China, a country in which consumers dislike wearing someone else's used clothes, has embraced the trend with the opening of stores specialized in vintage pieces such as Mega Mega Vintage in Beijing's Dongcheng district. Following this consumer craze, several luxury brands such as Ralph Lauren have started hunting for vintage pieces and selling them in their flagship stores, side by side with their new collections. Also, benefitting from this trend, some second-hand retailers and thrift shops have renamed their stores \"vintage\", whatever the age and origin of their stock (Iverson, 2010).Yet, as the market for vintage develops, little is known about the profile of the consumer and the motivations to purchase vintage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unique characteristics of these consumers and offer a better understanding of the specific drivers towards vintage consumption. In particular, this research explores the reality (or lack of) of a number of assumptions related to vintage consumption, equating it to the consumption of used previously owned clothes by nostalgic prone, environmentally-friendly or value conscious consumers. We also compare vintage consumption to the purchasing of second-hand fashion. Although vintage pieces might be second-hand, we suggest that vintage purchases are determined by totally different drivers to those of second hand fashion purchases.In the following sections, a definition of vintage is suggested and some possible antecedents to vintage consumption are tested, motivational drivers such as bargain and treasure hunting and psychological traits such as Fashion Involvement, Nostalgia Proneness, Need for Uniqueness, Need for Status, Eco-consciousness and Frugality. Next, the results of a survey conducted among 103 women are described and a structural model of intentions to purchase vintage vs. second hand fashion pieces is presented. Limitations, contributions to the fashion industry and future research avenues are offered in the final section.\nVintage fashion, second-hand clothes and vintage-style fashion: The word vintage was originally used in the winemakers' vocabulary to denote a year's wine harvest. However, in the meantime the term vintage has been adopted by the fashion world where it is used to define \"a rare and authentic piece that represents the style of a particular couturier or era\" (Gerval, 2008). An alternative definition, which seems to have gained general acceptance, identifies clothing as vintage \"when it is produced in the period between the 1920s and the 1980s\". Clothing originating from before the 1920s are classified as antiques, while clothing produced after the 1980s are not considered to be vintage yet, the most recent being called modern or contemporary fashion (Cornett, 2010). Clothing originating from the period between the 1920s and the 1930s are generally priced higher as they are considered more valuable because of their age and scarcity. The time preserved in the cloth confers value to it. The same holds for Haute Couture houses or designer vintage pieces, especially when they are unworn and are emblematic of a designer style or period (Cornett, 2010). The term vintage does not only pertain to the fashion industry, in fact the term has become so popular that it is now used to define in an elegant way any \"old\" goods, from jewels to cars to fridges (Secundus.dk, 2011). Movies, old advertisements and fashion magazines, photos on record covers are one of the most important sources of information about vintage fashion (Jens, 2005).Over the years, the term vintage has been overused in the media, to describe pieces of past collections, without real time anchorage other than not being of a recent season. Furthermore, capitalizing on consumers' craze for vintage style, some second-hand shops have renamed their stocks, vintage clothing, which creates confusion in the mind of the uninformed consumer. The term second-hand categorizes any piece of clothing which has been used before, notwithstanding the age of the clothes. Whether second-hand clothing is considered vintage is determined by the age of the cloth, and not the fact that it has been used (Mortara and Ironico, 2011). Vintage clothing can be purchased at specialized boutiques, exhibitions or at auctions. Some of the most luxurious pieces have never been worn, or worn only on the catwalk.Awareness and interest for vintage clothing has increased dramatically since the early 1990s due to celebrity endorsement. Media attention on celebrity fashion has revealed that people who are considered as role models such as Kate Moss or Michelle Obama regularly wear vintage clothing. Since the end of 2000s, with popular movies and television series such as Mad Men set in the \"good old times\", the 1960s, and fashion blogs such as Sea of Shoes, street style has been inspired by vintage designs. Fashion houses, such as Louis Vuitton for its 2010-2011 winter collection, have started reproducing and reinterpreting vintage clothing or, such as Yves Saint Laurent in 2009, re-using vintage fabrics. These styles are generally referred to as \"vintage style\", \"vintage inspired\" or \"retro style\". They are usually available in a wider range of sizes and are generally more affordable than the original pieces.As was mentioned previously, vintage pieces are not necessarily pieces which have been used. This consumption mode is often confused with second-hand consumption due to the overlap which exists: vintage pieces might be second-hand and second-hand pieces might be vintage, but [...] not all vintage pieces are used and not all second-hand pieces are old. Roux and Guiot's (2008) definition of second-hand buying is very clear: \"the acquisition of used objects through often specific modes and places of exchange\" (p. 66). But the places of exchange for second hand clothes and authentic vintage are sometimes similar, through the internet marketplace for instance, which only adds to the confusion.\nAntecedents to the purchase of original vintage pieces and second-hand pieces: Nostalgia\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Demographic differences in purchase intentions\nDiscussion: The findings of this paper clearly highlight that the profile and motives of the consumer of vintage fashion are unique and very different from that of second-hand fashion. The most salient characteristic of the vintage fashion consumer is education. The purchase intention of vintage pieces is higher at higher levels of education and income. It is not directly related to age. Yet, in the youngest group of consumers, purchase intention of vintage pieces increases with income. It is no surprise that education plays a role, taking into account that the interest and knowledge in real vintage pieces requires a level of connoisseurship sometimes based on historic and artistic backgrounds. As mentioned by Jens (2005, p. 182), \"the knowledge of the relevant fashion history as well as the knowledge of good sources for obtaining original artifacts is [...] an important component of their (sub) cultural capital\". Also, the influence of income is relevant for vintage: the price of these pieces might sometimes supersede that of luxury modern pieces. In addition, we find no difference based on income for the purchase intention of second-hand clothes. Williams and Paddock's (2003) qualitative research also highlights that the most affluent households also engage in second-hand consumption for recreational or social motives. Yet, for the large majority of participants in their study, the economic motives are the main drivers of such consumption.Vintage fashion and second hand consumers differ strongly on the economic motives which precede the purchase. In this study, frugality is not an antecedent to the purchase intention of vintage fashion. In contrast, the main driver to the purchase of second-hand clothes is frugality, both directly and indirectly through the mediation of bargain hunting. This result is in line with Roux and Guiot's (2008) findings that price sensitivity and frugality are influencing heavily second-hand shopping motives. In contrast, the hunting for vintage pieces or the purchase via auctions, being online or not, pre-supposes an emotional drive which makes the consumer pay the price, not necessarily a bargain price (Belk, 1995). In addition, as expected, need for status is inversely related to bargain hunting and has an indirect impact on the intention to purchase second-hand clothes.The principal driver to the purchase of vintage fashion is nostalgia, which, in line with past research on nostalgia is not linked with the age of the respondents. Nostalgia influences both directly and indirectly through treasure hunting, the intention to purchase vintage pieces. This result indicates a tribute to the material culture of the past. The cult of authentic aged pieces makes sense in relation to the modern culture of the copy; \"the better the copies are, the more the original is valued\" (Jens, 2005, p. 185). The second driver is fashion involvement, which influences directly and positively vintage consumption at the same time as indirectly and negatively through treasure hunting. This result as such might seem contradictory. The more consumers are fashion involved the least they shop for treasure hunting but the more they purchase vintage. Actually, it seems that fashion involved consumers do not enjoy the shopping experience of discovering a unique piece. At the same time, since the vintage trend has become extremely in vogue and adopted by fashionistas all around the world, it is no surprise that highly fashion involved consumers might engage in vintage consumption, probably through different channels than those who treasure hunt. The result tends to indicate that fashion involved consumers purchase vintage pieces for the trendiness and not necessarily for the symbolic meaning of the piece, the latter probably being driven essentially by nostalgia. Need for uniqueness is also influential but only indirectly through the mediation of treasure hunting.Our findings also indicate that the integration of the vintage trend into the eco-fashion one is not necessarily a consumer reality, yet [...] Neither the purchase of vintage clothes nor that of second-hand clothes is driven by ecological consciousness directly. Eco-consciousness is related to the intention to purchase second hand pieces through the mediating effect of bargain hunting. This finding contradicts the bulk of research on eco-fashion which has explored consumers' aspirations towards green fashion behaviours (Cervellon and Carey, 2011). There appears to be a discrepancy between what the consumer wishes and what she plans to do. Consumers acknowledge the importance of having an eco-friendly behaviour regarding the disposal of clothes, not wasting, not throwing away. But they do not necessarily adhere to making an eco-friendly statement by purchasing second-hand clothes. Morgan and Birtwistle's (2009) research on young fashion consumers' disposable habits tend to show that although interest in recycling and sustainable consumption practices exists, young consumers' habits are not eco-friendly. Recycling and re-using behaviours seem more natural for products which are supposed to have durability. Also, it is probable that the positive impact on the environment is clearer when clothes claim that they are made out of recycled materials compared to second-hand clothes which are not immediately related to environmentally friendly behaviours. This research highlights the need for practitioners involved in the eco-fashion sector to educate the consumer on the interest presented by second-hand fashion products in a lifestyle respectful of the environment. It is important to valorize the purchase of second-hand clothes, especially among those eco-conscious consumers who integrate the economy of natural resources into their daily routine.In essence, this research demonstrates that the antecedents and motivational drivers to the purchase of vintage and second-hand clothes are different. In addition, the profile of the client of vintage and second-hand pieces differs also. Based on these findings, it is not necessarily in the interest of second-hand fashion stores to reposition into vintage. They might attract a group of consumers which will not necessarily find their dream piece and at the same time exclude those smart shoppers driven by the potential bargains presented by second-hand clothes. The decision to turn a business into selling vintage should be driven by the potential target clientele. In addition, the geographic location of the stores, surface design and visual merchandising should be adapted to the requirements of these specific clienteles (see Gregson and Crewe, 2003). Yet, we believe that it is interesting for luxury brands such as Ralph Lauren, to sell vintage pieces into their stores. They attract a group of consumers which would not naturally enter in the store but is fashion involved, educated and often with high income.\nLimitations: This research acknowledges several limitations. First, the sample has to be increased and become representative of the target population. It would have been interesting to include males; however, blogs and forums discussing vintage fashion and eco-fashion on the internet tend to show that men are not major players yet. Second, the use of purchase intentions as proxy to actual purchase limits the validity of the results. Yet, we believe that the measure of purchase intention approximates significantly future purchases because the data were collected in neighborhoods were vintage/second-hand markets and stores are readily available thus availability is not an issue.This paper calls for replication in several countries, as there might be cross-cultural differences in the profile of vintage and second-hand clients. In particular, a comparison between Great-Britain and France would be interesting, as the orientation toward second-hand and vintage fashion, and especially the centrality of these consumption patterns in an eco-conscious lifestyle might be different (Cervellon and Carey, 2011). Also, we assume vintage might have a different resonance between Europe and North America, where certain vintage clothing styles are culturally embedded (e.g. Teddy styles).In addition, it would be interesting to include other variables which might have an explanatory power in the intention to purchase such products. For instance, materialism has been found related to second-hand purchases (Roux and Guiot, 2008; Guiot and Roux, 2010). It would also be interesting to test as predictors the dimensions of materialism which do not overlap with need for status such as tangibility and acquisition centrality. Also, self-monitoring might have an impact on consumers' behaviours regarding second-hand and vintage fashion, especially because these fashion choices convey a strong message which might enhance or tarnish self-image (O'Cass, 2001). Lastly, it would be interesting to investigate other industries than fashion (e.g. furniture, cars, watches) and see if this paper's findings replicate. Taking into account the scarcity in research regarding vintage, we call for the development of the topic through both qualitative and quantitative approaches.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - Vintage has been a growing trend in clothing recently, leading to major fashion brands launching collections inspired by vintage pieces or luxury haute-couture houses digging into their archives to revive past designs. Yet, as this market develops, little is known about the profile of the consumer and the motivations to purchase vintage. This paper aims to explore the veracity of a number of assumptions relating to vintage consumption, equating it to the consumption of used, previously owned clothes by nostalgic prone, environmentally-friendly or value-conscious consumers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A quantitative approach including structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in this research using data collected from 103 women (screened on past second-hand purchases). Vintage clothes were defined as pieces dating back from the 1920s to the 1980s. Second hand clothes were defined as modern used clothes.\nFindings: - The results show that the main antecedents to vintage consumption are fashion involvement and nostalgia proneness as well as need for uniqueness through the mediation of treasure hunting. In contrast, second-hand consumption is directly driven by frugality. Eco-consciousness plays an indirect role through bargain hunting. In essence, the thrill of the hunt is present for vintage and for second hand consumption. Yet, while vintage consumers shop for a unique piece with history, second-hand consumers shop for a unique piece at a good price. Additionally, the main characteristics of vintage fashion consumers are a higher level of education and higher income whereas age is not directly related to the purchase of vintage pieces.\nOriginality/value: - The paper discusses the relevance of second-hand stores repositioning as vintage based on vintage and second-hand consumers' profiles. Also, the need to educate consumers on the role of second-hand consumption in a pro-environmental lifestyle is highlighted.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Three stages of entrepreneurial orientation: the founder's role
|
[
"Venture capital",
"Entrepreneurial orientation",
"Family firms",
"Ownership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is an important and widely researched concept in the entrepreneurship literature (e.g. Andersen, 2010; Rauch et al., 2009; Wales et al., 2013). However, not all dimensions of EO are completely understood (Miller, 2011; Randerson, 2016). Several researchers have highlighted the role of founders in EO (Cruz and Nordqvist, 2012; Zahra et al., 2004). Founders establish an organizational culture that can foster and continue the persistence of EO long after the founders exit (Zahra et al., 2004). Wright (2016), Zellweger and Sieger (2012) and Zahra et al. (2014) argued that different ownership types, for instance, affect innovativeness in firms and that further research on this topic is needed, highlighting the importance of understanding EO change and its dimensions over time.\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 The constructs of entrepreneurial orientation\n3. Method: 3.1 Approach and case selection\n4. Empirical findings: 4.1 Company development - central features\n5. Discussion: This paper analyzes the development of EO with regard to its five dimensions and in light of ownership changes over time (Zahra et al., 2014; Wright, 2016), resulting in three major EO configurations: personalized, administrative-based and intangible-focused EO. The results indicate that the EO dimensions change from being personalized and directly solution-oriented (such as new product combinations) to become intangible value-creation-oriented (e.g. new combinations of branding and marketing).\n6. Conclusions: This paper follows up on recent calls to address the development of the five dimensions of EO over time (Zellweger and Sieger, 2012), as well as the need for more in-depth studies of the dimensions that account for specific contexts and stakeholders (Dess et al., 2011; Martens et al., 2016; Nordqvist and Melin, 2010). The present study illustrates a particular context and draws on several organizational stakeholders over time.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the development of the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) over time by taking a founder's perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws on an in-depth single-case study. It combines semi-structured interviews in the company with archival data, such as annual reports, press clips and interviews in business magazines.\nFindings: The results indicate that the EO dimensions change from being personalized and directly solution-oriented to being intangible value-creation-oriented.\nOriginality/value: By suggesting ownership-based EO configurations, this study contributes insights into how different ownership forms propel EO. These configurations - that is, personal, administrative based and intangible focused - show the impact of the EO dimensions and provide a systematic and theoretical understanding of EO change over time.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Entrepreneurship in higher education: Impacts on graduates' entrepreneurial intentions, activity and learning outcome
|
[
"Higher education",
"Graduates",
"Entrepreneurship education",
"Entrepreneurial intentions",
"Learning outcomes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Entrepreneurship education has been high on the European agenda during the last ten years. Many countries, among them Norway, have launched action plans to promote entrepreneurship education. The aim of the plan is to foster innovative and entrepreneurial skills, and to encourage more young persons to establish their own enterprises. This paper is based on a survey among higher education (HE) graduates mapping among other things the extent to which the graduates have participated in different forms of entrepreneurship education during their study time. The survey forms a part of a formative research project following a Norwegian action plan for entrepreneurship in education and training with special emphasis on HE (Ministry of Education and Research, 2010).\n2. Literature review: The last two decades have seen a tremendous growth in entrepreneurship education in HE, especially in the USA. This is illustrated by Kuratko (2005), who also describes the social importance of entrepreneurship as nothing less than that \"entrepreneurship has emerged over the past two decades as arguably the most potent economic force the world has ever experienced\" (p. 577). Likewise, Mayhew et al. (2012) argue (p. 856) that nothing matters more for the economic welfare of any nation than effective utilization of innovations, arguing that innovative entrepreneurs play a vital role in economic growth.\n3. Data and methods: The analyses below are based on a graduate survey among master graduates (at least five years of HE study) from all fields, and bachelors (three years of HE studies) from the fields engineering and business and administration, graduating in the spring semester 2011. Master graduates in all fields were sampled[4]. The data collection took place during the period November 2011-March 2012. A total of 2,827 graduates responded to the survey and the overall response rate was 50 per cent. Stratified sampling was applied for the largest groups and where the distribution of male and female graduates was very uneven (such as in engineering). The data are weighted according to the sampling procedure, and all results presented here are weighted results, except for the number of observations which refers to un-weighted numbers.\n4. How many graduates have had entrepreneurship education during their study time?: In order to examine how common it is to take entrepreneurship education, and the type of such education, the graduates were asked: Would you characterize parts of, or even the entire study programme, you completed in the spring of 2011 as:\n5. The experienced concrete benefit of entrepreneurship education: The characteristics described above concerning types and scope of entrepreneurship education are essential when examining the specific benefits of entrepreneurship education. This is depicted in analyses below. First, descriptive analyses of the types of benefits that are examined will be presented.\n6. Starting up own business?: One relevant question concerning possible effects of entrepreneurship education, not at least with regard to the government's expressed intentions in action plans for entrepreneurship education, is whether graduates with such experience during HE are self-employed more frequently than others or have started up their own business. Another question is whether they plan to do so more often than others. There are severe methodological problems associated with investigating such issues, because persons who have chosen to take an entrepreneurship course can be expected to be more interested in starting up their own business than other students/graduates. Thus, a possible positive \"effect\" of entrepreneurship education in this respect may rather be a selection effect. Many studies are subject to this measurement problem. This was among the methodological issues discussed by Dickson et al. (2008) mentioned in the introduction to this paper.\n7. Discussion and conclusions: About one in five master graduates has taken part in entrepreneurship education during study time; but this proportion differed considerably between fields of study with the highest proportion among master graduates in business and administration (51 per cent). About half of the bachelor graduates in engineering and business and administration had such experience.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The paper examines the proportion of higher education (HE) graduates in Norway who have undertaken different forms of entrepreneurship education and how comprehensive the entrepreneurship education has been. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible benefits and effects of entrepreneurship education in terms of learning outcome and the propensity to start their own business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A representative survey among HE graduates (N=2,827) is used to present reliable estimates on the prevalence of entrepreneurship education within HE. The study provides a comparison of entrepreneurship graduates with other graduates in terms of the propensity to establish their own business or planning to do so. The study also examines the learning outcomes of entrepreneurship education as the entrepreneurship graduates are asked several questions concerning this, e.g. whether it was useful for establishing own enterprise or whether it increased their creative and innovative abilities.\nFindings: The proportion of entrepreneurship graduates who are self-employed is very low and is not higher than for other graduates. The results indicate that entrepreneurship graduates to a certain extent are more interested in setting up their own company in the future, but this tendency is much lower than what is found in other European studies. Further, the reported learning outcome of the entrepreneurship education is not large. But entrepreneurship education, especially if it is of a certain type and scope, contributes to an increase in \"generic\" entrepreneurial skills. Most entrepreneurship students participated in rather short entrepreneurship courses, with lesser benefit.\nResearch limitations/implications: The positive effect of entrepreneurship education on the graduates' future plans with respect to starting their own business may partly be subject to self-selection. Further, the quality of entrepreneurship education in terms of academic content and teaching and learning methods needs further attention.\nPractical implications: The overall results indicate that it would make more sense for some students to take a more comprehensive entrepreneurship education rather than that many more students taking some entrepreneurship education. This should be of interest to academia and policy makers. Further, it is primarily participation in education through (not about) entrepreneurship that increases the outcome in terms of generic entrepreneurial or innovative skills. This can be important information for the future development of entrepreneurship education.\nOriginality/value: The effect of entrepreneurship education on graduates' entrepreneurial intentions is examined by use of a representative sample and when comparing entrepreneurship graduates with other graduates within the same fields and types of study. Thus, generalized conclusions can be drawn. The learning outcomes are measured when taking into account the length and type of entrepreneurship course.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Ethnically diverse workplaces in Irish hospitals: Perspectives of Irish and foreign-born professionals and their managers
|
[
"Workplace",
"Integration",
"Migrant workers",
"Qualitative methods",
"Intergroup relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the context of significant shortages of health professionals in many highly developed countries, health policymakers and hospital managers have adopted a variety of strategies for the international recruitment of foreign health professionals (Bach, 2003; Buchan, 2002; Ribero, 2008a). Foreign-born health professionals are generally perceived to enhance health systems in receiving countries, for example, by improving the intercultural competences of general practitioners and hospital staff in the context of increasing cultural diversity amongst patients (Mladovsky et al., 2012). Diversity is also argued to be of benefit to native- and foreign-born health professionals, as it can result in skills exchange and improve group performance (Christian et al., 2006).\nEthnically diverse workplaces in health structures: background: Most of the studies on the social and workplace integration of foreign-born health professionals in highly developed countries focus on nurses. The global migration of doctors is usually analysed within the brain drain and brain gain framework, with an emphasis on career progression opportunities (or the lack of them) in receiving countries (Humphries et al., 2013; Jinks et al., 2000; Kangasniemi et al., 2007). In addition, several studies examined more specific workplace experiences of foreign-born doctors, including professional \"resocialisation\" and adaptation to new professional settings (Neiterman and Bourgeault, 2015); their well-being in comparison to native-born health professionals (Kuusio, 2014); and the relationship between workforce diversity and the effectiveness of healthcare delivery teams (Dreachslin et al., 2000).\nForeign-born health professionals in Ireland: Like other European economies, Ireland has been experiencing staff shortages in the healthcare sector for a number of years. Indeed, despite efforts to increase the number of graduates in medical and nursing programmes, there are still vacancies that are described as \"difficult to fill\", as they cannot be covered by Irish-trained professionals[1]. This is partly a result of the continuing emigration of doctors and nurses, who move to other countries such as the UK and Australia for financial reasons, career opportunities or better working conditions (Humphries et al., 2015).\nMethodology: This paper is based on a qualitative study, which examined the workplace integration of foreign-born professionals employed in Dublin hospitals. The study was conducted as part of the \"WORK-INT: Assessing and Enhancing Integration in Workplaces\" project, which focused on ethnically diverse workplaces in five European cities: Dublin, Oxford, Hamburg, Madrid and Turin. \"WORK-INT\" aimed to contribute to the broader scientific debate on the labour market integration of foreign-born professionals in the health sector in Europe, adopting a qualitative research method, which produced in-depth insights into the phenomenon. The study took the workplace (hospitals) as the main context of analysis and was multi-stakeholder in focus, as different professional roles and perspectives were taken into consideration, in particular those of foreign- and native-born health doctors and nurses and their managers.\nThe ethnically diverse workplace: managers' perspectives: The managers of both hospitals - one public and one private - agreed that their hospitals heavily relied on foreign-born health professionals. These hospitals recruited from outside of Ireland during the economic boom in the early 2000s, mainly from the Philippines and India. This was no longer the practice in the public hospital due to insufficient resources and the government recruitment moratorium introduced in public sector in 2009 (Sheahan, 2009). The private hospital continued employing new recruits from outside of Ireland; however, they shifted their focus to Eastern Europe after the 2004 EU Enlargement and, more recently, started to also actively recruit in Portugal and Spain. The two hospitals had a relatively high share of foreign-born doctors and nurses amongst their employees[4].\nEthnically diverse workplaces in Irish hospitals: health professionals' perspectives: Most of the participants worked in ethnically diverse units, with a mixture of Irish- and foreign-born health professionals working together. The majority of wards had more than a dozen nurses working on the floor, supervised by between one and three nurse managers. There were also up to three consultants supported by a number of more junior doctors, including SHOs and registrars. In most cases, there were at least a few foreign-born health professionals working in such wards. Sometimes, especially among nurses, the Irish-born were in the minority. Most of the interviewees had a positive experience of the ethnically diverse workplace; however, several challenges were identified. Ethnic grouping and language and cultural differences were identified as the main sources of tensions in the workplace, particularly among nurses. According to our interviewees (including the managers), these did not seem to affect the professional performance of health workers; nevertheless, it sometimes had an influence on the everyday atmosphere and relations between these workers.\nDiscussion: There is a general assumption that skilled migrants are \"unproblematic\" and can be described as \"invisible\" (Salt, 1992) and that it is rather \"lower\" classes that are less tolerant towards migrants due to the resource competition (Keogh, 2000; MacGreil, 1996). As a result, ethnically diverse workplaces involving individuals of professional background should be less prone to discriminatory practices.\nConclusions: Hospitals in many highly developed countries have become ethnically diverse workplaces and due to skill shortages in Ireland over the past two decades, this is also the case of Irish hospitals. While there are advantages to ethnic diversity in the workplace (e.g. Mladovsky et al., 2012), international research has identified several challenges faced by foreign-born health professionals in their workplace relations. These include cultural differences and language barriers (Batnitzky and McDowell, 2011). A number of studies also reported experiences of exclusion, discrimination and bullying, which were especially the case of foreign-born nurses (Alexis et al., 2006; Likupe, 2006; Winkelmann-Gleed, 2006).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals by examining the perspectives of foreign- and Irish-born professionals and their managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 health professionals (foreign- and Irish-born) and with hospital managers (Irish-born). All interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.\nFindings: The managers and professionals interviewed mostly perceived ethnically diverse workplaces as an asset. Health professionals also identified a number of challenges, including internal divisions based on ethnicity, language and communication problems and cultural differences. However, in general, discrimination on the basis of ethnicity was not highlighted by interviewees.\nResearch limitations/implications: While the qualitative design of the study allowed for an in-depth exploration of experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in selected Irish hospitals, the relatively small sample size poses some limitations. The study brings to light the need for larger-scale survey-based research on the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals, which includes Irish- and foreign-born health professionals in the sample.\nOriginality/value: The study includes a variety of perspectives on experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in Irish hospitals, including foreign-born health professionals, their Irish-born colleagues and hospital managers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
How do children make sense of food well-being? Food for thought for responsible retailers
|
[
"Retailing",
"Grocery shopping",
"Children",
"Well-being",
"Food consumption"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Against a background of obesity epidemic, growing concerns about food safety and decline of confidence in food industry, food retailers increasingly need to engage in improving people's life by valuing health, responsible consumption, sustainability and, finally, consumers' well-being as a whole. International organisations and public policymakers have indeed called on them to endorse their social responsibility by improving affordability and availability of high-quality food products, developing sustainable supply chains and deploying retail marketing in favour of their customers' well-being (FAO, 2013). Moreover, even if the prices remain a key-point in most consumers' food decisions, a growing number of them are expecting a food offering more respectful of their well-being (Alim'agri, 2017; Havas Group, 2017). Therefore, well-being related to food appears to be a source of innovation and competitiveness for food retailers.\nTheoretical background: The concept of well-being\nMethodology: As the purpose of our study was to examine children's own perceptions and experiences of FWB, we developed a child-oriented qualitative interpretive methodology to give voice to children and allow them to deal with this issue as easily as possible (Nicol, 2014). We then combined verbal and graphic methods to collect data so that children might express their feelings and thoughts in various ways. We obtained clearance to conduct this study from the parents and the children. Fictitious names were used to ensure anonymity.\nFindings: The children's words to talk about well-being\nDiscussion and implication: Against a background of growing concerns about food impact on health and the environment, food retailers, as key-actors in the food system, increasingly communicate on their commitment to people's well-being. As of yet, they have mostly addressed adult consumers. They have thus overlooked that children are consumers actively engaged with the commercial marketplace, and that their consumption learning during childhood will significantly determine their future consumer behaviour at the adult age (McNeal, 1992; Connell et al., 2014). It is therefore critical for them to better understand what well-being in the food context means to children so that they may take actions in resonance with young consumers' interests in the short and long term. While the recent academic research on FWB has predominantly focused on adults, our child-centred research contributes to the elucidation of the concept of FWB from children's perspective and, based on these findings, considers recommendations towards food retailers.\nLimitations and suggestions for future research: This research has limitations which suggest new research directions. First, the children who participated in our study were French and came from affluent and middle-class families. Therefore, the study was conducted in a cultural specific context (Rozin, 2005), and did not collect the viewpoint of children from low-income families. These children are more affected by the prevalence of obesity though, partly due to higher economic and cultural vulnerabilities (WHO, 2017; DREES, 2017). Second, the five dimensions of FWB highlighted in our research result from an exploratory study and then need to be confirmed in further studies. To finish, the study provides insights into the way children figure out FWB, but future studies are required to demonstrate the impact of these five dimensions on children's food attitude and behaviour.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of what well-being means to children in the food context and to formulate recommendations about the way food retailers may take actions to promote children's food well-being (FWB).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative study based on a child-centric perspective is conducted with 25 French children aged 6-11 years. The data collection and analysis use both verbal and graphic data methods including focus groups and drawings in order to help children express their feelings and thoughts.\nFindings: The findings put forward that according to children, the concept of FWB relies on five dimensions: sensory taste, health, commensality, empowerment and altruistic behaviours. Their discourses suggest that food practices contributes to objective, hedonic, eudaemonic and social well-being on the short and long term.\nPractical implications: Based on children's intrinsic needs for pleasure and empowerment, our recommendations highlight how food retailers might rethink their own-label offering, retail environment and communication to take into account young consumers' FWB.\nOriginality/value: Drawing upon the concept of FWB and positive psychology, the authors do not only examine children's food representations through a nutritional lens, but enlarge the scope to show how physical, emotional, psychological and social factors, involved in food context, contribute to different aspects of well-being.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
E-business and process change: two case studies (towards an assessment framework)
|
[
"Information systems",
"SMEs",
"E-business",
"Assessment framework",
"Legacy systems",
"Process change",
"Process models"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is still considerable debate about the practicality and value of adopting e-business technologies and processes in the SME sector in the UK. Whilst Zhu et al. (2003) note that \"firms are migrating toward the internet-based digital platform that holds the promise of substantial productivity gains\", Basu and Muylle (2011) have recently concluded that \"many entrepreneurial ventures and established firms are still having difficulty in harnessing the power of digital technologies in e-business\". This article examines how two SMEs in different industry sectors have adopted e-business in recent years, and assesses the impact of e-business on core business processes.\nTheoretical framework: The term e-business has a number of definitions ranging from the \"conduct of any type of business via the internet\" (Carter, 2001) to a broader concept embracing \"all electronically mediated information exchanges\" (Chaffey, 2009). Some authors also stress the impact e-business can have on process redesign. For example, Sawhney and Zabin (2001) define e-business as \"the use of electronic networks and associated technologies to enable, improve, enhance, transform or invent a business process or business system to create superior value for current or potential customers\". In similar vein, Zhu et al. (2003) assert that \"e-business facilitates major business processes along the value chain, which leads to the common constituents of e-business - web marketing, online selling, online procurement and service and support\".\nResearch methodology: This research is based on qualitative case studies, which may be used to \"develop theory as a result of data analysis\" (Saunders et al., 2003). They allow a \"detailed investigation of one or more organisations, or groups within organisations, with a view to providing an analysis of the context and processes involved in the phenomenon under study\" (Hartley, 1994). Qualitative, inductive research can be carried out in a number of ways, encompassing case studies, the development of grounded theory, and ethnography. Remenyi et al. (1998) assert that widely accepted theories are unlikely to be available within a business context and that Glaser and Strauss's (1967) grounded theory methodology needs to be used as a basis for theoretical conjecture. Grounded theory is \"an inductive, theory discovering, methodology that allows the researcher to develop a theoretical account of the general features of a topic while simultaneously grounding the account in empirical observations or evidence\" (Martin and Turner, 1986). Remenyi et al. (1998) conclude that case studies can be used as part of a grounded theory approach. Multiple-case design increases the validity of generalisations developed from the research (Benbasat et al., 1987). Yin (2009) also suggests that single case studies are vulnerable, and that there may be substantial analytical benefits of having multiple case studies. Grounded theory can emerge through analysis of the evidence from the case studies.\nFindings: TPG DisableAids\nAnalysis: Delivery of e-business trading capability at TPG DisableAids\nConcluding remarks: towards a framework for case study comparison: As the scope and scale of e-business systems have developed in the past decade, many SMEs have grappled with the technical and business issues of effectively deploying e-business technologies to the clear benefit of their operations. The two case studies show significant progress and benefits delivery following the deployment of new e-business technologies as components of different information systems strategies. Organisational factors have been a key differentiator in determining the degree of benefit derived. As regards Zhu et al.'s (2006) model, TPG DisableAids have successfully \"adopted\" e-business in the sales process, but as yet have not achieved significant \"routinisation\". On the other hand, Optimum has successfully embedded the new web-based systems in all activities across the company, and a clear degree of \"routinisation\" of their usage has been achieved.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore the impacts of e-business technology adoption at process level in SMEs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reviews a range of literature and mainstream models relating to e-business impacts in SMEs and then focuses on two in-depth case studies. The cases draw their empirical material from the involvement of the authors in e-business project management in these two companies.\nFindings: The two case studies show significant impacts of e-business technology at process level. They also illustrate how contrasting information systems strategies can successfully embrace e-business process change, and suggest the importance of organisational issues in determining the degree of benefits delivery.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper suggests a framework for analysing the impact of e-business at process level that can be used with other SME case studies.\nPractical implications: The suggested assessment framework can be used for comparison with e-business implementations in other SMEs.\nOriginality/value: The value of the case studies lies in their originality and the paper highlights the potential impacts and benefits of e-business at process level. The suggested assessment framework builds on existing models and concepts but provides an update and customisation relevant to today's e-business technologies and business environment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Lock-ins and opportunities for sustainability transition: A multi-level analysis of the Flemish higher education system
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Higher education",
"Transition",
"Policy entrepreneurs",
"Multi-level perspective"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly called upon to contribute to tackling socio-ecological challenges (Bankole and Fidelis, 2017; Mickwitz and Melanen, 2009; Stephens and Graham, 2010). This raises several questions, such as how HEIs can integrate sustainability, what barriers and challenges need to be overcome and what opportunities can be addressed. This article presents a study carried out for the Flemish Government (Belgium) which was aimed at studying how Flemish HEIs are heeding this call for more sustainability: in what way and to what extent is sustainability currently integrated into higher education (HE) and what elements of the HE system facilitate or impede this integration?\nA multi-level analysis of sustainability in Flemish higher education: Analytical framework: the multi-level perspective\nThree levels: To use the MLP, it is vital that we gain insight into the three separate levels. Only after understanding the landscape, regime and niches can we delve deeper into how they influence each other in the context of a sociotechnical transition (see multi-level dynamics, as visually represented in Figure 1). We will briefly present the three levels[3] here by describing the identified landscape trends (LT), regime characteristics (RC) and types of niches (N) and by highlighting major results relevant to the multi-level dynamics in the fourth section.\nMulti-level dynamics: In this study, our analysis of the multi-level dynamics was a meta-analysis of outcomes at the landscape, regime and niche level that identified (1) lock-ins impeding the upscaling of sustainable niches, (2) internal contradictions, and (3) opportunities for sustainability transitions. To this end, the results of the first three phases were combined and integrated. For example, to identify lock-ins, we first analysed what difficulties niche actors struggled with in integrating SD and then linked this with dominant RC and relevant LT to see how the different levels were intertwined. To test the results and deepen our insights, our desk research on the multi-level dynamics was presented to and discussed with the focus group.\nDiscussion and conclusion: The present study offers insight into the LT, regime elements and types of niches that characterise the Flemish HE system as well as the lock-ins that impede profound transformation and opportunities for sustainability transition. The results of this study mirror many aspects of previous studies on the integration of sustainability into HE. For example, we found similar obstacles, such as a general resistance to change, a lack of support from management, and a lack of financial resources (Larran et al., 2015). On a more abstract level, our results also confirmed those of Hoover and Harder (2015), in terms of the importance of organisational culture, the tension between conflict and collaboration, the interplay between people and structures, and the importance of individuals. Compared to previous studies, the novelty of the present study lies mainly in its capacity to focus on the systemic aspects of integrating sustainability into HE. The use of the MLP and specifically the focus on the multi-level dynamics allowed us to get an overview of a multitude of aspects of (sustainability in) a HE system and to understand how these aspects interrelate in a concrete system. This overview can be very useful for policy entrepreneurs to navigate through the complexity of HE and to strategically guide their actions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to provide an overview of sustainability in Flemish higher education (HE) by using the multi-level perspective (MLP) on sustainability transitions for a comprehensive empirical analysis of how sustainability is embedded in Flemish HE.\nDesign/methodology/approach: MLP was used as analytical framework to study the case and allow a focus on the interplay between innovative experiments in niche-practices, the characteristics of the prevailing regime (dominant structures, cultures and practices) and macro-trends at the landscape level. The data were collected through document analyses, surveys, in-depth interviews and a focus group. The empirical analysis was complemented with an extensive literature study.\nFindings: In all, 9 landscape trends, 21 regime characteristics and 5 types of niches are identified. Furthermore, the multi-level analysis revealed 5 important lock-ins in the dominant regime that impede the upscaling of sustainable niches, 5 internal contradictions that destabilise the regime and can thus create windows of opportunity for niches to become viable alternatives and 16 opportunities for further embedding sustainability in HE.\nOriginality/value: The paper gives an original insight into the complexities of integrating sustainability in HE, highlights the important role of policy entrepreneurs to grasp emerging opportunities and offers them insight into how to create momentum and identify and fruitfully address windows of opportunity for a sustainability transition. It shows the potential and limits of the MLP for research on HE and outlines prospects for future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Air pressure variations at drainage stacks of high-rise residential buildings
|
[
"Residential property",
"Building services",
"Water supply",
"Hong Kong",
"Pressure"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Transient air pressure control in drainage stacks of high-rise buildings has been identified as an important factor in ensuring the performance of a building drainage system (Cheng et al., 2004; Swaffield, 2006; Jack et al., 2006; Wong and Mui, 2006a). Following the massive outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in early 2003, the design of the drainage system in high-rise residential buildings has become a major concern in Hong Kong nowadays (World Health Organization, 2003; Fernandes and Goncalves, 2006).The transient air pressure generated in a poorly-designed drainage stack would contribute to the probable trap seal depletion of any connected appliances that prevent the ingress of foul gases into a habitable space. In order to design a healthy building drainage system, such pressure with unsteadily filled pipe flow has been investigated intensively through simulations and laboratory tests (Cheng et al., 2004; Swaffield et al., 2004; Swaffield, 2006). Simulations based on a four-stack network illustrated the flow mechanisms within the pipework following both appliance discharges and sewer-generated transients were used to identify the role of the active air pressure control devices in maintaining system pressures below certain target limits (Swaffield, 2006). A study showed that airflows induced warm detergent-based water would be significantly higher than those measured in drainage experiments with clean water systems (Campbell and Macleod, 2001). Recent experiments showed that solids had an effect on the pressure regime in a vertical stack (Gormley, 2006). The influence of design parameters including stack diameter, roughness, height, and applied water flow rate would be examined to determine the air pressure regime within the drainage vent system (Swaffield, 1995). By laser measurement of annular flow velocities under representative unsteady flow conditions, the model predictions were validated (Swaffield et al., 2004; Swaffield, 2006).Apart from the drainage vent system design, the air pressure variations are also closely related to the discharge flow rates and discharge patterns of domestic appliances. Indeed, water discharge patterns are transient and dependent on occupant load variations, occupant usage patterns and the types of appliances installed. The characteristics and variations were reported in some studies (Friedler et al., 1996; Wong and Mui, 2004, 2006b). Studies showed that the diurnal patterns of total WC flushes could be presented in two distinct profiles, i.e. on an average weekday and on an average weekend. Nevertheless, stack air pressure variations in high-rise residential buildings caused by the occupant usages were not investigated in detail. Besides, external factors such as wind pressure across openings and operations of mechanical fans or washroom windows/doors which might affect the transient air pressure in a drainage stack were not studied too. However, it is believed that WC flushing operations dominate the stack pressure variations. Based on experimental tests, mathematical expressions were proposed for air pressure transients in drainage stacks due to WC flushing operations (Cheng et al., 2004; Swaffield, 2006; Jack et al., 2006; Wong and Mui, 2006c).This study investigated the diurnal air pressure variations in a drainage stack of a typical in-use high-rise residential building in Hong Kong and correlated the measured pressure variations with the expected hourly WC flushes. The result would be a useful source of reference to the development of control strategies against probable appliance seal loss in high-rise residential buildings.\nSurvey: A survey study was conducted in 14 high-rise residential buildings of five Hong Kong estates (Wong and Mui, 2004, 2006b). The estates were selected based on their geographical locations, building ages and architectural designs. They provide 26,500 apartments for a population of 113,000. Invitation letters introducing the study objectives, the survey period and details were sent to 1,300 selected households and a total of 597 responses received. A representative from each of the responded households participated in a face-to-face interview at his/her apartment. Most of the interviewees were those occupants who stay at home the longest time. The daily occupant load variations throughout a week were surveyed. During the interview, they were asked to provide information of the appliance usage patterns on the day prior to the interview, and the hourly usage patterns on weekdays, Sundays and holidays. The average time between appliance demands was surveyed. For each installed appliance, its type, physical size, brand name, fill-up level and usage frequency were recorded. Average flow rates of water taps installed at the sink, washbasin, shower and bath were measured with simple operations by the occupants; the discharge and refilling times of each WC cistern were measured as well. The information about the total floor area of each apartment was obtained from the facilities management, direct measurement, or record drawings of piping arrangements.\nOn-site measurement: Transient air pressures in a 150 mm diameter PVC drainage stack of a 38-storey in-use high-rise residential building in Hong Kong were measured in three weekdays (Wong and Mui, 2006a). The stack collected effluents from two washrooms on every floor, where a total of four stacks for a floor of eight washrooms. Each of these washrooms was equipped with a WC, a washbasin, a bath tub and a floor drain. Separate stack for kitchen and washing machine was installed but it was not included in this study. The stack pipe was fully vented by a 100 mm ventilation pipe with cross vents installed on alternate floors. Both the stack and ventilation pipe of a height of 115 m extended throughout the building and terminated at 1 m above the building roof.This field study employed a data acquisition system which included a pressure sensor (measurement range +-837 Pa; probable error <= 2 Pa) and a data logger with a minimum sampling frequency of 1 s. It is noted that the sampling frequency of 1 hertz might be inadequate for detecting high speed transients present in the system and excessive average results would be recorded. The pressure sensor was installed at \"level 6\" of the stack (i.e. 16 m above the bottom bend of the stack) and taking account of the atmospheric pressure in the washroom.\nResult and discussion: Figure 1 shows the diurnal patterns example of \"per capita\" hourly demands d with a standard error from all survey data. For WC cistern, a high demand occurred during the morning period from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., with the rate of average demand of 0.39 hd-1 h-1 (SD=0.19 hd-1 h-1) at around 7:30 a.m., the recorded maximum usage rate was 1 hd-1 h-1. A period of relatively lower flushing rate followed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The other peak occurred in the evening around 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., with an average of 0.59 hd-1 h-1 (SD=0.20 hd-1 h-1), the recorded maximum was 1.25 hd-1 h-1, respectively. The late night minimum also lasted around three hours (2 a.m. to 5 a.m.) with a minimum rate of approximately 0.007 hd-1 h-1. It was reported that the peak would occur at different period, however, no significant difference in the average demand rate (0.587 hd-1 h-1, p>=0.27, t-test) at peak hour was reported for this survey compared with the other surveyed result of 0.524 hd-1 h-1 in another city recorded by Friedler et al. (1996).It was reported that the average maximum occupant load factor of the surveyed apartments was very close to some design criteria, e.g. 4.5-9 m2 per capita as in the local Codes of Practice (Wong and Mui, 2006c, 2007). Figure 2 shows the occupant load variations ph as a percentage of the reported \"full\" occupant load. Nearly full loads were found at midnight and lasted for about five hours, they then dropped to the minimum (i.e. 25 per cent) at 9 a.m. for six hours as shown.Interestingly, by plotting against the occupant load variations ph on weekdays, the demands expressed by the average \"per capita\" hourly flushes d could be grouped into four categories as shown in Figure 3, with the demands shown in equation (1) below. Equation 1 Group (A) demand characteristics were observed in the period of lower occupant load about 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the reported maximum occupant loads, around time t of school hours/working hours from 08:00 to 17:00. The demands were reported relatively steady irrespective to the occupant loads (p>=0.6, t-test for correlation coefficient R=0.176). The survey samples showed that the demands would be described by a normal distribution (p>=0.5, Chi-square test) with a mean of 0.32 ca-1h-1 and a standard deviation of 0.05 ca-1h-1.Group (B) demand characteristics were reported in time t between 16:00 to 19:00, i.e. around after school session to the evening peak, with the occupant load variations ph from 50 per cent to 80 per cent. The hourly per capita demands were proportionally increased to the occupant loads.Group (C) demands showed an inversely proportional correlation to the occupant load variations. These demand characteristics would be explained as from a period of congested WC flushes by occupant to a period of very low flushing activity (e.g. after mid-night).Group (D) demands also showed a negative correlation to the occupant load variations, but the demands were from a very low value increased to those for congressed flushes at the morning peak. Group (C) demands found from the evening peak to the off-peak, i.e. from 19:00 to 03:00, with the occupant load variations from 80 per cent to 95 per cent; and (D) from the off-peak to the morning peak, from 04:00 to 08:00, with the occupant load variations dropped from 95 per cent to 50 per cent.It was reported that the measured diurnal air pressure variations in the drainage stack showed considerably \"large\" fluctuations in both the morning and evening peaks. The pressure fluctuations (relative to the washroom) in certain time periods would be expressed as the probability P of the air pressure x in the stack exceeding certain pressure limits +-x* as expressed below, where ph is the probability density function of x in the stack: Equation 2 In this study, P was also approximated by the proportion of the number of measurements with air pressure fluctuations exceeding the set pressure limits as follows, where N is the number of measurements in the stack with an air pressure x in the period (Wong and Mui, 2006a): Equation 3 Apart from the air pressure variations due to human activities and wind pressure across the stack openings (e.g. operation of mechanical ventilation fans), the probability P is correlated with the expected WC flushes. For the air pressure measured at certain stack level, correlation was found in this study (R=0.6, standard error=0.04), where Nf is the expected hourly flushes: Equation 4 Figure 4 shows this P, with the pressure limits x* of 50 Pa, 75 Pa and 100 Pa arbitrarily selected in the study, against Nf. A significant association was found between P and Nf (p<0.0001). As expected, the probability of the stack air pressure going beyond certain limits was proportional to the expected WC flushes. The measurement results showed that the WC flushes would dominate the air pressure variations in a stack. The expected WC flushes would be used as a dominant parameter in determining the air pressure fluctuation in a drainage stack at certain height of high-rise residential buildings.\nConclusion: Flushing a WC was believed as one of the dominating activities causing the air pressure variations in the connected drainage stack, which are important for a healthy drainage system in high-rise residential buildings. In this study, the air pressure variations in a drainage stack at certain height of a typical in-use high-rise residential building in Hong Kong were correlated to the number of water closet (WC) flushes of the building. With the diurnal WC flushing patterns of the residential buildings surveyed in 597 residential apartments and the diurnal pressure variations measured in a 116 m high, 150 mm diameter fully vented drainage stack were measured at 16 m above the stack base. Mathematical expressions were proposed to correlate the occurrence of the maximum air pressure in the stack at certain height with the expected hourly WC flushes of the high-rise residential buildings. The results showed that WC flushes would dominate air pressure variations in a stack, and the expected WC flushes would be a leading factor in determining air pressure fluctuation in a drainage stack at certain height of high-rise residential buildings. This study would be a useful source of reference for the development of works related to control strategies against air pressure variations in drainage stack of high-rise residential buildings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the air pressure variations in an in-use drainage stack of high-rise residential buildings with the probable influence of occupant loads.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The air pressure variations in a drainage stack of a typical in-use high-rise residential building in Hong Kong were correlated to the number of water closet (WC) flushes of the building. In particular, measured diurnal WC flushing patterns of the residential buildings were used to correlate the diurnal pressure variations measured at 16 m above the stack base in a 115 m high, 150 mm diameter fully vented drainage stack of a typical high-rise residential building of Hong Kong.\nFindings: - The occurrence of the maximum air pressure in the stack could be correlated with the expected hourly WC flushes of the high-rise residential buildings with mathematical demonstrations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - There may be high speed transients in the stack (>1 hertz) which was not measured.\nOriginality/value: - The result would be a useful source of reference for the development of control strategies against probable appliance seal loss in high-rise residential buildings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
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