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Consistent resource base of a foreign subsidiary's greenfield expansion: A conceptual framework and propositions
|
[
"Knowledge transfer",
"Competition barrier",
"Market expansion",
"Resource-based theory",
"Value adding"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In accordance with the resource-based theory of strategy (Penrose, 1959; Wan et al., 2011) an industrial firm that wishes to grow on a foreign country market and expand a wholly owned subsidiary needs to consider subsidiary resources that limit the potential growth. The theory stipulates that availability of excess resources encourages a financially feasible expansion.\nConceptual framework: The appropriate local value-adding activity for greenfield market expansion would be contingent on what product/market knowledge the foreign subsidiary possesses. Product/market knowledge that enables expansion may be transferred from other organizational units of the industrial firm, or created by the subsidiary itself. Hence, the foreign subsidiary should be viewed as a semiautonomous organizational unit (Birkinshaw et al., 2005) as the knowledge built by the subsidiary itself complements knowledge transferred to the subsidiary.\nCases on greenfield expansion in the USA: A case study approach was used to generate propositions regarding consistent relationships among the foreign subsidiary's value-adding activity and the contingencies (product/market knowledge transferred from the parent firm to the foreign subsidiary and the subsidiary's knowledge of competition barriers). The case study approach is suitable as the area of study is complex and there is just little prior knowledge of the issue (Eisenhardt, 1989).\nFormulation of propositions: Based on the cases of greenfield expansion this section identifies relationships across value-adding activity of the subsidiaries, product/market knowledge transferred to the subsidiaries, and their knowledge of competition barriers. The identified pattern results in propositions regarding consistent relationships (Figure 1).\nDiscussion: Conclusions and contributions to theory\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose is to extend the understanding of the resource base of the industrial firm's greenfield expansion on a foreign country market once a wholly owned subsidiary has been established.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A conceptual framework is developed relying on the resource-based theory of strategy. Resource bases in terms of value-adding activities of four Swedish industrial firms' subsidiaries in the USA are analysed. Four theoretical propositions are formulated regarding consistent associations among the activities and contingencies that are relevant to expansion on a foreign country market.\nFindings: The propositions show how foreign subsidiaries' value-adding activities are aligned with two contingencies: the corporate strategy manifested by the product/market knowledge transferred from the parent firm that enable local expansion and the subsidiary's knowledge of competition barriers that obstruct local expansion. The value-adding activity may be basic or advanced and may repeat the parent firm's activity.\nResearch limitations/implications: US subsidiaries of four Swedish industrial firms were analysed. The propositions may be turned into hypotheses suitable for tests in statistical studies. A test may include firms from different home countries and subsidiaries on different host country markets.\nPractical implications: The conceptual framework and the propositions provide a ground for an industrial firm's decision to conduct a strategy of greenfield expansion on a foreign country market once a wholly owned subsidiary has been established.\nOriginality/value: The framework is unique and emphasizes that both knowledge stemming from corporate strategy and knowledge of local competition need to be acknowledged in order to understand firm's greenfield expansion on a foreign country market.\n",
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Testing the impact of emotional labor on work exhaustion for three distinct emergency medical service (EMS) samples
|
[
"Work exhaustion",
"Emotional labour",
"Emergency medical service",
"Stress",
"Working conditions",
"Individual psychology",
"Medical personnel"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nEMS importance: People's lives can depend on the competent and quick reaction of emergency medical service (EMS) professionals. All over the world due to a number of factors, including increased urbanization and people generally living longer, there is a greater need for efficient pre-hospital care (VanRooten et al., 1999). EMS individuals deal with a broad array of client/patient incidents, including heart attacks, falls, driving accidents, and firearm wounds (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012). EMS can generally be defined as health care for patients with real or perceived emergencies from the time of initial request (often \"911\" or emergency notification) until transfer of patient care to a hospital or other facility (Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the US Health System, 2007). Since emergency services must function 24 hours/day, seven days/week, EMS professionals often have irregular work hours and can be required to work more than 40 hours/week. Cydulka et al. (1994) found that 88.7 percent of paramedics reported their job stressful and were psychologically worn out, or exhausted. In their qualitative study on the recruitment and retention of EMS professionals, Patterson et al. (2005, p. 158) give the following quotes from EMS interviewees:You store away the stress [...] you don't have a wind down period.You always have to be ready [...] you can't really relax.No matter what the call is, you're stressed.Some people just cannot keep us with the stress.The job is really stressful [...] it's so high with trauma and many can't deal with the stress too much.Work exhaustion is a real threat faced by EMS professionals. The main purpose of this study is to look at the impact of emotional labor variables, specifically surface acting versus deep acting, on work exhaustion for three distinct EMS samples. To our knowledge there has been no prior empirical research on the impact of emotional labor on work exhaustion for EMS professionals. Thus there is a need for this study. We will review relevant literature leading to our study hypotheses.\nReview of exhaustion, emotional labor and relationships to other variables: Focus on work exhaustion\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Descriptive results and non-hypothesized correlations\nDiscussion: To our knowledge this is the first empirical test for the impact of emotional labor on the work exhaustion of EMS samples. Across all three samples, EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and Paramedic, the correlation and regression results show that surface acting has a significantly stronger positive impact on work exhaustion than deep acting. We found these results despite the low overall self-reported levels of surface acting and work exhaustion. We also found that surface acting had a significantly stronger negative relationship to job satisfaction than deep acting, and surface acting had a significant negative relationship to self-reported health, across all three EMS samples. Collectively these results indicate that surface acting is very harmful to EMS professionals, leading to lower job satisfaction and health and higher work exhaustion. Deep acting, however, is not as harmful. Although the large sample sizes involved created several statistically significant relationships of deep acting to these variables, the strength or magnitude of these relationships was much less.We also found some other interesting study results, for example that both health and job satisfaction exhibited consistent significant negative relationships to work exhaustion across all three samples. Longer years of service had a consistent impact on work exhaustion, as did EMT volunteer work, while females indicated higher work exhaustion for two of the three EMS samples. As noted in the Introduction, many researchers consider exhaustion to be the key dimension in the burnout process (e.g. Burke et al., 1996; Cropanzano et al., 2003; Melamed et al., 2006), so trying to reduce work exhaustion is important.Study limitations\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper's aim is to study a neglected relationship: testing the impact of emotional labor on the work exhaustion for samples of emergency medical service (EMS) professionals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Three distinct samples of EMS professionals, i.e. emergency medical technician (EMT) - basic, EMT - intermediate, and paramedic, were surveyed to test the impact of three variable sets, personal (e.g. gender, age, health), work-related (e.g. years of service, job satisfaction), and emotional labor (i.e. surface acting, deep acting) on work exhaustion.\nFindings: - Results across the three samples consistently showed that surface acting had a significantly stronger positive impact than deep acting on work exhaustion. In addition it was found that surface acting had a significantly stronger negative relationship to job satisfaction than deep acting. Surface acting also had a significant negative relationship to perceived health. Years of service were positively related to work exhaustion across all samples, while job satisfaction was negatively related.\nPractical implications: - Work exhaustion is an occupational risk for EMS professionals. Individuals considering EMS as a career must have realistic expectations and information about the rewards as well as challenges facing them. To help buffer the impact of emotional labor on work exhaustion and related outcomes, EMS stakeholders should consider facilitating mentor and/or peer support group programs to enhance the development of stronger camaraderie in different EMS-based organizations (e.g. hospitals, fire services).\nOriginality/value: - Prior research has not tested for the impact of emotional labor on work exhaustion for EMS professionals. Even after controlling for personal and work-related variables, surface acting maintained a stronger positive impact than deep acting on work exhaustion. Key demographics for each of the three samples (type of work, community size, gender) indicate representativeness to previous cohort samples of nationally certified EMS professionals.\n",
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Cost performance of building refurbishment works: the case of Malaysia
|
[
"Malaysia",
"Factors",
"Building refurbishment",
"Cost performance",
"Elemental cost variation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the life cycle of a building, refurbishment is more often than not factored in as at some point, it will become necessary to carryout major rehabilitation work in order to preserve and enhance the useful life of the building. As highlighted by Konstantinou and Knaack (2013), there is a need for refurbishment works to combat fabric deterioration as building often shows signs of obsolescence after only 20-30 years. The decision to refurbish, especially major refurbishment, has to be carefully thought out because of the complexity, uncertainty, and risks of refurbishment projects (Ali and Au-Yong, 2013; Byrde and Schulmeister, 2012; Rahmat, 1997; Egbu et al., 1998). When major refurbishments are required, the decision is mainly to decide the best option for the building, i.e., between whether to refurbish or demolish and build new. Building refurbishment involves upgrades, major repairs work, renovations, alterations, conversions, and extensions and modernization of existing building, but excludes routine maintenance and cleaning work (Ali et al., 2009). There are three basic categories of refurbishment works (European Commission, 1998): minor, medium, and major refurbishment. Minor refurbishment works involve maintenance or repair activities with the objective of extending economic life for about five years. Medium refurbishment works usually involve the upgrading of existing finishes and building services, but do not involve any major structural alterations. The objective of medium refurbishment is to enhance economic life by about 15 years. Major refurbishment involves overall major structural alterations with the aim of making a building perform at a level similar to a new build, with an investment timeframe of more than 15 years (European Commission, 1998).\n2. Elemental cost performance for building refurbishment: Cost performance is one of the key criteria that reflects the overall construction project performance (Enshassi et al., 2009; Eriksson and Westerberg, 2011; Gido and Clements, 2012; Iyer and Jha, 2005). Ideal cost performance is achieved when there is zero difference between the actual and budgeted cost estimate of a project or in some cases when the expenditure is in line with the estimated cost of a project. Poor cost performance can lead to a significant amount of cost overrun which is universal phenomenon nowadays (Baloi and Price, 2003; Memon et al., 2014). As supported by Nawaz et al. (2013), cost overruns are in high frequency in both developing and developed countries with advanced economies. Kaliba et al. (2009), however, stated that the effect would be detrimental especially in the case of developing countries whose wealth measure is greatly dependent on construction industry performance. For example, construction projects in developing countries such as Botswana, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Zambia are almost synonymous with cost overruns problem (Adeyemi and Masalila, 2016; Aje et al., 2009; Memon et al., 2014; Nawaz et al., 2013).\n3. Cost variations between new build and refurbishment works: The uncertain and complex nature of refurbishment works has been identified in many studies as constituting the main difference between refurbishment projects and new build projects (Egbu et al., 1998; Rahmat and Ali, 2009; Egbu, 1997). According to Egbu et al. (1998), the management of refurbishment works is highly specialized and complex. Planning costs for refurbishment projects and new construction involves several elements such as nature, size, location, and social concerns to be taken into consideration. While the general consensus is that refurbishment works on a small scale are less expensive to carryout in terms of costs, major refurbishment projects are more complex and incur higher costs than new build of the same magnitude and nature (Ali et al., 2009). According to Egbu (1997), refurbishment works are site driven, while new build projects are client driven. The implication is that while new build construction could have clear scope of work, complete design information and definite cost estimates, attempts to define the exact scope of work and estimate definite cost implication of refurbishment projects is hampered by uncertain site situations. The following section discusses factors responsible for differences in cost variations between refurbishment works and new build construction.\n4. Methodology: A quantitative approach similar to Au-Yong et al. (2014a) was adopted for this study. The study warranted a field survey and based on factors identified through literature review, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to construction industry professionals. Construction industry professionals involved in the designing, planning and execution of refurbishment projects in Malaysia were targeted for the study. A list of registered quantity surveyors, contractors, and architects was obtained from the Board of Quantity Surveyors Malaysia, Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia, and the Board of Architects Malaysia. In total, 82,317 potential participants were identified. Further screening was made and the potential participants were sorted according to company affiliation. Following simple random sampling, a total of 370 questionnaires were administered to the participants over repeated periods and various mediums. The first round of questionnaire administration was through e-mail, while the second round of administration was through an online survey software and the third round by post. This was intended to achieve a sufficient response rate. The questionnaire was designed so as to obtain case-specific data from the respondents as they were asked to respond to the questions based on their experience with a particular refurbishment project. The targeted refurbishment projects were those completed from the year 2010 onwards and must have had a contract sum of RM500,000 Ringgit Malaysia and above. This was to ensure that there is reliable information regarding the projects and the magnitude of the project large enough to reflect the nature and characteristics of refurbishment works described earlier in the literature. It was the belief of the researchers that projects executed before 2010 would provide problems regarding the availability of useful and authentic information. Also, the project must have been procured through either a design and build contract or traditional contract as these have been identified as the strategies most utilized for procuring refurbishment projects in projects (Ali et al., 2011; Love, 2002). To obtain case by case data and ensure project-specific information, the unit of observation was the refurbishment project. The questionnaire was divided into five main sections, namely, respondents' particulars; project characteristics; factors affecting elemental cost for planned and actual refurbishment cost; refurbishment performance; and factors responsible for differences in cost of new build and refurbishment works. Generally, the measurements used in the questionnaire (except mentioned otherwise) were based on a five-point Likert scale with either interval or ordinal categories as suggested by Sekaran, (2000). Examples of the questions from the questionnaire are shown below:\n5. Findings and discussion: 5.1 Respondents' demographics profile\n6. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that while factors affecting cost performance vary across projects, general factors such as DC, PPM, and IC have been the three major factors affecting elemental costs of building refurbishment projects. The majority of the cost variations resulted in cost overruns. Among building elements, electrical installations, firefighting equipment, and painting were the building elements most affected by cost variations, showing that elements which fall in the category of services and finishes are most likely to incur the most cost variations. The study also found that inadequate design information, nature of the project/site characteristics, location, and project size were the major factors responsible for differences in elemental cost of new build and refurbishment projects. Further correlation tests revealed a statistically significant relationship between IC, PPM, ASL, IRPC (IRPC), and FM, and the dependent variable RCV (RCV). A multiple regression analysis to establish a prediction model for refurbishment cost performance was subsequently produced. Thus, PS; IC; PPM; availability of funding, materials, and equipment; and FM were major predictors of cost performance of refurbishment projects. With a majority of the observed refurbishment projects resulting in cost overruns, consideration of these factors plays a significant role in improving the cost performance of refurbishment projects. Certain limitations of the study must also be acknowledged. Since this study considered project-specific information, generalization of the findings could be problematic. The magnitude of the refurbishment projects considered in this study did not include small scale refurbishment projects, meaning that the findings may not reflect what could be obtainable in small refurbishment projects. Further research should, thus, investigate the applicability of these factors across all categories of refurbishment projects as well as strategies for controlling and managing factors responsible for cost variations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Refurbishment is inherently more sustainable than building new. However, planned and actual costs of refurbishment projects are bound to vary due to the complex nature of most such projects. This can affect the performance of refurbishment work. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors responsible for elemental cost variations between the actual and planned costs of refurbishment projects. The study also examines factors that contribute to differences in actual and planned cost between refurbishment and new build projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was adopted for this study. A literature review identified factors responsible for elemental cost variations in refurbishment projects, as well as factors responsible for differences in actual and planned cost of new build and refurbishment projects. This was followed by a questionnaire survey of refurbishment projects across Malaysia. A total of 55 respondents provided input through a questionnaire survey to identify these factors.\nFindings: This study demonstrates that procurement strategy (PS), inappropriate contractors (IC), poor project management (PPM), availability of funding, materials and equipment, and force majeure (FM) significantly affect refurbishment cost performance. Electrical installations, firefighting equipment, and painting were the building elements most affected by cost variations. A regression model for refurbishment cost prediction indicates that PS, IC, PPM, availability of funding, materials and equipment, and FM were significant predictors of building refurbishment cost performance.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides insight into the major factors affecting elemental cost variation of refurbishment works, as well as building elements most affected by cost variations and provides a model for predicting refurbishment cost performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Public perceptions of food-related hazards: an application to Portuguese consumers
|
[
"Hazards",
"Portugal",
"Perception",
"Food products"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food products are inherently associated with multiple hazards, which may be classified as lifestyle, technological, microbiological and production (McCarthy et al., 2006). In fact, since the mid 1980s, most Western European countries have faced various food safety incidents (e.g. BSE, dioxin contamination) that had led to increasing public unease about health and safety of modern methods of food production (Knowles et al., 2007). Some of these food safety incidents have had international impact (e.g. BSE, dioxin contamination and avian influenza), while others have been contained within national boundaries, as it was with the Portuguese case of nitrofuran residues in poultry during 2002-2003 (Moura and Cunha, 2009). As a result, scares about a given food create adversely short-effects on preferences and consumption of that particular food, which can more widely affect the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the food supply chain (Latouche et al., 1998; Verbeke and Viaene, 1999; Verbeke, 2001; Verbeke and Van Kenhove, 2002; Roosen et al., 2003; Lloyd et al., 2006; Angulo and Gil, 2007).It is many times assumed that experts and lay people tend to perceive risks differently (Slovic, 1987; Hansen et al., 2003; De Boer et al., 2005; Jensen et al., 2005; Van Kleef et al., 2006; Moura et al., 2007). Moreover, according to Slovic and co-workers (Fischhoff et al., 1978; Slovic et al., 1979, 1980, 1985), experts define risk in narrow quantitative terms: they would consider the nature of the harm that would occur (the hazard), the probability for that to occur and the number of people who might be affected (the exposure). On contrary, consumers are considered to operate with a much broader concept of risk, incorporating sensitivity to a wide range of hazard characteristics, which form the basis of consumer concerns. More recently, this duality on risk perception has been discussed critically by enhancing that there is little empirical evidence that experts are more veridical in their risk assessments than lay people (Rowe and Wright, 2001; Wright et al., 2002). Experts are many times considered as a homogenous category. However, they cannot be experts with regard to all the hazards under research. In addition, social and demographic factors have been found to be associated with the experts' judgments of risk, thus confounding the results (Sjoberg and Drottz-Sjoberg, 2008). Moreover, Sjoberg (2002) found that the structure of experts' risk perception was similar to the public one.According to the psychometric paradigm, an approach developed in the 1970s to investigate the public perception on technological risks (such as nuclear power, natural hazards and chemicals), the risk is subjectively defined by individuals who may be influenced by a wide array of psychological, social, institutional and cultural factors (Slovic, 1993). This approach indicated that every hazard had a specific unique pattern of social and psychologically determined characteristics (denominated \"risk characteristics\") that were related to the perceptions of risk (Fischhoff et al., 1978; Slovic et al., 1980; Slovic, 1987, 1993). These characteristics include the degree to which an activity's risk is voluntary, controllable, known to science, known to those exposed, familiar, dread, certain to be fatal, catastrophic and immediately manifested (Slovic et al., 1980). They tended to be highly correlated and can be represented by three main factors: \"dread\", \"unknown\" and \"the number of people exposed\" to the risk or \"extent\" (Fischhoff et al., 1978; Slovic et al., 1980, 1981; Slovic, 1987). The different hazards are displayed on a \"cognitive map\", which depicts the hazards in a space of two or more dimensions, comparing them with each other.Research of psychometric paradigm has been successfully repeated in the food domain to examine lay people's perceptions of food hazards (Sparks and Shepherd, 1994; Fife-Schaw and Rowe, 1996, 2000; Kirk et al., 2002; McCarthy and Henson, 2004; Siegrist et al., 2006; Ohtsubo and Yamada, 2007; Siegrist et al., 2008). In the majority of these studies, variance in risk perception could be explained by two factors. Fife-Schaw and Rowe (1996, 2000) expanded on the earlier work of Sparks and Shepherd (1994) with a number of new characteristics elicited from the focus group interviews they had conducted earlier. Moreover, Fife-Schaw and Rowe in their 2000 study (Fife-Schaw and Rowe, 2000) used a larger sample with a shorter questionnaire to facilitate faster completion: the Perceived Food Risk Index - PFRI used ten risk characteristics.A common problem when dealing with the psychometric approach relates to definition and categorisation of food hazards (Fife-Schaw and Rowe, 1996; McCarthy et al., 2006). Actually, hazards are not at the same categorical levels, causing three kinds of difficulties: choice of food hazards to be evaluated; communication of the causal agent of the food hazard (in the formal or the popular way or both, Fife-Schaw and Rowe, 1996), and precise categorisation of different food hazards. Generally, in food related psychometric studies, the causal agents of food hazards are identified simply, as they are known by lay people, in order to compare them with others and to facilitate interpretation of the results.Considering that consumers are heterogeneous in their responsiveness of perceived risk, one may follow to different approaches:* to assume that response variables are randomly distributed across the population; or* to assume that there are latent segments (Bhatnagar and Ghose, 2004).By following the latter, one divides consumers into different segments and seeks to characterise each segment. One clear advantage of segmentation is to allow further development of targeted information, which has been suggested to be a valuable route for reducing uncertainty at the consumer level, and effectively changing consumer behaviour (McCarthy et al., 2007; Verbeke, 2005; Kornelis et al., 2007).The aim of the present research was to assess public perceptions of food-related hazards at the two major Portuguese urban centres (Lisbon and Oporto), adopting the psychometric paradigm by considering a Portuguese version of the Perceived Food Risk Index (PFRI) as developed by Fife-Schaw and Rowe (1996, 2000). This work adds to knowledge on the Portuguese consumer and its risk perceptions, a fairly unreported topic, thus helping for the success of food safety communication by different stakeholders.\nMaterial and methods: Subjects\nResults: A total of 666 questionnaires were validated (see Table I) with a final sample that mimics the overall population census (INE, 2002), regarding sex and age groups. One should notice that there is a slight oversampling of individuals with a higher degree and from the upper classes. Nevertheless, overall population representativeness is considered as achieved.General worries\nDiscussion: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the food-related hazards risk perceptions for Portuguese consumers living at the two major urban regions.A preliminary framing of public risk perception (see Figure 1) yields that the major worries (unemployment, misery and exclusion, and lack of security) are related to the social-economical environment of the country itself. It is noticeable that the food related issues, namely the ones related to food safety are on the bottom of the Portuguese consumer worries. In general, exception made for AIDS, the results closely resemble those obtained by Carle et al. (2004) among French and Belgium consumers.The Perceived Food Risk Index (PFRI), developed by Fife-Schaw and Rowe (1996, 2000) was applied over five food hazards. Through principal component analysis, two main components were retained and identified as \"Knowledge\" and \"Dread\" (following Kirk et al., 2002), explaining 61 per cent of total variance. This value is slightly lower than the one obtained by Fife-Schaw and Rowe (2000), but higher than the one obtained by Kirk et al. (2002). Nevertheless, data were not aggregated, as described previously, and a comparison between individuals was performed through cluster analysis.\"Knowledge\" is associated with assessments of whether the hazard is easily identifiable, commonly appears in food, the consumer controls the intake of food and is responsible for protecting himself from its negative effects. \"Dread\" relates to whether the hazard is likely to harm the consumers' health and its degree of seriousness, as well as to the generated level of worry. A general perceptual map of the five food hazards (BSE, GMOs, bacteria, fats and salt) clearly highlights the different groups of hazards and the different perceptions associated with them. Food containing bacteria was the hazard that was dreaded most and salt and fats, the controllable hazards, were the hazards that were more knowledgeable. Nevertheless, while perceived dread was high for fats it was low for salt. Both hazards relate to health risks that tend to have negative outcomes only at the long term. However, excessive fat intake may lead to visible effects, with over 50 per cent of the Portuguese adults showing excess weight or obesity (Carmo et al., 2008), and making individuals distrust their own capacity to control it. Excessive salt intake leads to chronic high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (Carvalho et al., 1989). Cardiovascular diseases tend to be silent in the sense that they are not noticeable by others and many times by the individual himself (Rosamond et al., 2007), thus promoting the onset of \"optimist bias\".Regarding uncontrollable hazards, food containing bacteria and BSE grouped together, at the fourth quadrant of the perceptual map, with a higher perceived dread and a lower level of perceived knowledge. Furthermore, GMOs were isolated from the other food hazards considering that it was both not feared and unknown. These results, while differing from previous works (see Figure 3), are in close agreement with the preliminary work by Moura and Cunha (2009) regarding social amplification of food risk over the Portuguese population: biological and lifestyle hazards were reported as having more extensive media coverage, while technological hazards, such as GMOs have little or no coverage. Additionally, hazards directly related with food crisis, such as BSE in cows, nitrofurans in poultry or the avian flu, show media coverage peaks, supporting the individual's lost of trust in society due to the unnatural origin of those hazards (Sjoberg, 2000; Viklund, 2003; Kjaernes, 2007; Mazzocchi et al., 2008). Contrarily, lifestyle hazards, such as eating disorders and excessive alcohol consumption, show lower frequencies but with periodic coverage, in an almost \"chronic\" fashion (Moura and Cunha, 2009).Evaluation of the risk perception at the individual level yielded four clusters. Additional analysis allowed for characterisation of the different consumers' segments in socio-economic terms, more precisely in terms of age, marital status, level of education and social classification.When focusing on controllable hazards, there is a majority (30.5 per cent): the optimists, that present some evidence that individuals exhibit more optimistic bias about problems they believe they can control (Miles and Scaife, 2003), with this being a barrier for effective risk communication regarding food hazards and nutrition-related health problems. In other words the individual believes that he/she is less likely to be affected by a hazard if there is less motivation to protect himself/herself (McKenna, 1993; Weinstein and Klein, 1995; Miles and Frewer, 2003). Moreover, this effect may be emphasized as this segment is younger, tend to live alone and present higher educational levels. At an approximate level, one may also consider the fearless segment as their generalized perceived lack of \"Dread\", may also be due to a general optimistic approach. Nevertheless, this may result in positive attitudes, positive mood, and elevated sense of control, increased attention to risk information and engagement in more health-promoting behaviour (Armor and Taylor, 1998).On the other extreme, one may find the fearful, which exhibit generalized higher levels of perceived \"Dread\", despite the fact that they present higher levels of perceived \"Knowledge\", namely regarding the non controllable hazards. Taking into consideration that this is the oldest segment with the lowest educational levels, additional variables may be further researched in order to better understand this segment. One may hypothesize that being older, they tend to perceive in a closer way the effects of lifestyle hazards, as themselves or their alike, start showing off the long term effects of a diet rich in fats and with a high salt level. Nevertheless, the difficulty to loose \"old habits\" will make it more difficult for them to recognize the need to change their own diets (Alves, 2007).Finally, regarding the unconfident, their high perceived \"Dread\" towards controllable and knowledgeable risks is in accordance with findings throughout Europe of disagreements between what people know about healthy eating and their daily intake, that is, people know what they should and should not eat, but they keep on preferring what is more palatable, accessible and convenient, even if it leads them to disease at the long term (Lappalainen et al., 1998; EC, 2006).Out of the identified consumer segments it is clear that some are more liable to worry about hazards then others, suggesting that in order to be effective, communication on food risks may need to be customized to meet specific needs of the target segments. As expressed by Frewer et al. (1994): \"Optimistic bias and greater perceived knowledge about potential hazards may explain the failure of public information campaigns; individuals will assume that they are invulnerable to hazards, and that information is directed at individuals less knowledgeable than themselves\" (p. 19).Particularly for controllable hazards, further work could be developed over a single sample by crossing data on food risk perception with attitudes towards food, nutrition and health.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to assess public perception of food-related hazards by Portuguese consumers at major metropolitan areas. A contrast was searched between controllable and non-controllable hazards.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The Perceived Food Risk Index developed by Fife-Schaw and Rowe, was administered to a sample of 666 subjects through a door to door interview using a random route walk procedure and following a quota sampling controlled for sex, age and location. Risk perception was evaluated over ten risk characteristics, for each of the hazards.\nFindings: - Through principal component analysis, two main components were identified: \"Knowledge\" and \"Dread\". A perceptual map of the hazards was built over these two dimensions. A high level of worry and concern associated with fatty foods was found, clearly contradicting the expected attenuation of risk perception associated to greater perceived personal control. Contrarily to previous findings for other populations, GMOs yielded lower levels of both \"Knowledge\" and \"Dread\". Based on risk perceptions, consumers were grouped in four segments: optimists, unconfident, fearless, and fearful.\nOriginality/value: - This work adds to knowledge on the Portuguese consumer and its risk perceptions, a fairly unreported topic, thus helping to the success of food safety communication by different stakeholders.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Foundations of life-long sexual health literacy
|
[
"Adolescents",
"Safer sex",
"Risk",
"Knowledge",
"Sex education",
"Adult education",
"Adults",
"Health literacy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the USA, most adolescents receive formal sexuality education from teachers or school nurses prior to graduating from high school (National Center for Health Statistics, 2010). This experience may set the foundation for lifelong sexual health literacy and behaviour (Irvine, 2004). Health literacy broadly represents a skill set that bridges health knowledge and behaviour (Jones and Norton, 2007). Sexual health literacy refers to the ability to not only access and understand sexual knowledge, but also to incorporate information into the sexual decision-making processes that govern behaviour.\nSexual behaviour risks among middle-aged and older adults: A long-standing concern among medical professionals, educators, and researchers alike has been the high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among members of racial and ethnic minority groups (CDC, 2011; Lindau and Gavrilova, 2010). Recently, however, older age has also emerged as a risk factor for contracting STIs. Although the highest rates of STI-diagnoses remain among adolescents and young adults, rates among middle-aged and older adults have increased dramatically (Fang et al., 2010; PHE, 2013; von Simson and Kulasegaram, 2012). In 2010, adults over the age of 45 years represented 20 per cent of all new HIV diagnoses in the USA (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 2012). Similarly, in the UK, HIV rates among those age 50+ years doubled between 2003 and 2012. Therefore, although STIs have traditionally been associated with younger people (Orel et al., 2005), recent trends indicate these risks are present across the life span.\nSexuality education as a life span issue: From a sociological perspective of the development of sexual practices and norms (see Delamater, 1987) and consistent with a life span approach (Baltes, 1987), personal sexual knowledge and behaviours may be best understood when situated within the greater cultural and historical contexts in which they emerge. Although there is debate over many specific aspects of sexual education in the formal school system, most agree that it is a necessity during adolescence (Bleakley et al., 2006). However, this has not always been the case. Those who are now in late middle-age and early older adulthood may have received limited or even no formal sexual education. Thus, generational cohort may be an especially important correlate of sexual health literacy.\nThe current study: This study examined the associations between early sexual education and current sexual risk knowledge and behaviours among a sample of middle-aged and older adults living in the USA. Our first research goal concerned describing the sources and timing of sexual education for these adults. Exploring such descriptive data provides the context in which other behaviours may be evaluated. We hypothesized that those with formal sexual education would demonstrate better knowledge of safe sex practices as adults compared to those without formal sexual education. In addition, we anticipated that formal sexual education would relate to sexual behaviours, such that those with formal sexual education in adolescence and those with greater knowledge of safe sex would engage in fewer risky sexual behaviours across the life span. The underlying assumption is that those with this foundational sexual education experience develop sexual health literacy skills that foster a lifelong ability to integrate sexual risk knowledge into reduced sexual risk behaviour. Understanding the link between early sexual education and later knowledge and behaviour extends the current literature on the long-term effects of school-based sexual education beyond adolescence.\nMethods: Procedure\nResults: Timing and source of sex education across the life span\nDiscussion: As the current generations continue to age, new demands are being placed on the public health system. One under-studied area is that of sexual health literacy (Marshall, 2011). Although adolescents and young adults are most frequently diagnosed with STIs, diagnoses among middle-aged and older adults are increasing (Fang et al., 2010). There are a host of reasons for this increase in STI-diagnoses at mid-life, but a major factor may be insufficient knowledge of safe sex practices (Henderson et al., 2004; Lindau et al., 2007). In this study, we describe the timing and sources of sexuality education present in a large group of middle-aged and older adults. We then examined the associations among past formal sexual education, current safe sex knowledge, and lifelong sexual risk behaviours.\nConclusions: Formal sexual education during adolescence aids in establishing a solid base of sexual knowledge with benefits that extend across the life span. More work is necessary to determine how variability in content and quality of these experiences affects future sexual knowledge as well as participation in sexually risky behaviours. Both direct and indirect influences (via informal sources) should be examined collectively. Expanding on the sexual health literacy skills needed to bridge knowledge and behaviour would be a worthy inclusion that could help better structure sexual health policy targeting aging adults. The finding that formal sexual education as an adult may inadvertently lead to decreased sexual risk knowledge is counterintuitive. In addition to replicating these findings, researchers should also identify what characteristics of the individuals or the adult formal sexual education experiences contribute to this effect. There is much that can be learned from the natural variability in sexual education experiences found among the current cohort of middle-aged and older adults, especially in relation to the long-term advantages of different amounts and sources of sexual information. The interdisciplinary intersection of health education and adult development should continue to be used to improve sexual health outcomes and literacy across the life span.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Sexual education in adolescence may represent the only formal sexual information individuals ever receive. It is unclear whether this early educational experience is sufficient to promote lifelong sexual health literacy. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the timing and source of sexual knowledge on current safe sex knowledge and risky sexual behaviours among middle-aged and older adults in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Participants (n=410, mean age=53.9, 50.7 per cent female) reported whether and when they received sexual knowledge from various sources. They were asked about their current safe sex knowledge and their lifetime sexual risk behaviours.\nFindings: Most of the participants (61.5 per cent) received formal sexual education in adolescence and 20.2 per cent reported formal sexual education post-adolescence. Across the life span, friends were the most common source of sexual information. The sample scored in the upper mid-range on the scale indexing safe sex knowledge (M=6.69, SD=1.64, range=0-8). Participants reported engaging in an average of approximately four (out of 16) risky sexual behaviours across their lifetime. Those with formal sex education in adolescence scored significantly higher on safe sex knowledge. However, they also engaged in more risky sex behaviours.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to situate the normative, formal sexual education experience of adolescence within a life span context that not only accounts for time, but also multiple sources of influence. It would appear that there are more things to learn about the long-term influence of sexual education programmes during the formative years by studying adult sexual health and knowledge.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Practical strategy development: a wise investment for middle market businesses
|
[
"Management strategy",
"Business development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Times are tough for middle market businesses (MMBs) - defined here as firms with revenues of $50 million to $1 billion. A perennial economic powerhouse, they inject as much as $3 trillion in revenues annually into the US economy, and employ 20 million workers[1]. But a host of forces are increasingly arrayed against them, hindering performance and their potential for strategic adaptation. Some are obvious macroeconomic and industry-specific environmental threats, but others are unique to middle-market firms, who find themselves struck in the middle: too big to be nimble and impulsive; too small to deploy sophisticated strategic management tools, or have the luxury of defying industry and market pressures.\nStuck in the middle: The average middle market firm today struggles for survival within a turbulent environment, characterized by a series of antagonistic, macro and MMB-specific dynamics.Mature industry malaise\nWhat strategy is not: In larger firms, the strategy process often works to thwart many of these antagonistic forces, providing the management team with the blueprint, building materials, and toolkit needed to build a ship capable of navigating the currents, weather and the waves. MMBs, however, do not often invest in a formal strategy program. While managers use the term \"strategy\" liberally, the process itself typically takes a wide range of distorted and ultimately unproductive forms, including:* The edict. In this manifestation, \"strategy\" is handed down unilaterally from the CEO, who tells the management team exactly what they ought to be doing for the next 12-24 months. While this approach seemed to have worked fairly well in the Middle Ages, it suffers from limited market, competitive, and functional perspective, especially as the business (or multi-business corporation) grows more complex. Without operating manager and other stakeholder input, the edict risks impracticality: it may fail to address systemic obstacles (a mid-level management revolt or attrition, a new technology, a disruptive new competitor). It is also unlikely to be implemented well, as edicts rarely map out the incremental steps required to meet the goals set forth (think of the Ten Commandments). And, if implementation stumbles, managers have the luxury of shrugging off the mandate (after all, it was not their plan).* The budget. In many MMBs, the budget actually is the plan. After the budget parameters are set for the year, the CEO tasks the managers with force-fitting \"strategies\" - more likely tactics or short-term actions - into what the company can \"afford.\" Next year's budget is often based purely on incremental adjustments to last year's budget, so it in effect compels the firm to repeat last year's strategy, irrespective of company, market or competitive dynamics. Figure 4 summarizes the \"usual way.\"* The data mine. Yet another painful misinterpretation of \"strategy\" can be called the annual data-mining exercise. In this scenario, the senior management team is charged with an exhaustive review of their numbers - performance to plan, to forecast, to budget - and then compelled to present their wish list of new programs for funding. Managers prepare their sections of the program separately, typically organized along functional lines, rather than by strategy, with little or no input from their functional or divisional peers (or other stakeholders). The focus is inward, with little opportunity for external analysis, benchmarking, etc. - and critical operational or managerial systems issues are left unaddressed.* The goals and mission fest. In this final common scenario, the CEO convenes his/her closest senior VPs and the team muscles its way through a two- or three-day process wherein they articulate the firm's new mission or vision, and a set (sometimes a really long set) of \"goals\" for the team to strive towards over the course of the year. This approach suffers from many of the same shortcomings cited above: the focus is internally, not externally, directed; the input is skewed to the senior management team, and leans towards prior year precedent; the outcome is usually a list of broad aspirations that are difficult to implement. Without delineating specific roles, responsibilities, schedules, and metrics, most of these aspirations (e.g. improve customer service, be the best in the industry, demonstrate world-class performance, expand into attractive new regions, achieve 20 percent EBITDA) are destined to sputter and lose steam after a few months.\nWhat strategy can be (practical!): There is, fortunately, an alternative approach that enlightened MMBs can use to both frame the questions and get the answers they need to perform better. Strategy is ultimately a description of how the firm opts to allocate resources in order to achieve competitive advantage. Figure 5 summarizes a carefully structured and managed process that we argue is a better way to do it.What characterizes this process? Successful programs feature five straightforward, but critical attributes.Focused\nPractical guidelines for MMB strategy development: Our work with MMBs from more than 50 industries suggests that while there are no cookie-cutter approaches to managing the process flawlessly, several additional guidelines can help you get the job done:1. Select the right team. We have found that a team of 12-16 high-performing and high-potential cross-functional managers works best, for a number of reasons. The size of the group is surprisingly important: when there are too few participants, perspective is limited, and old habits and politics predominate; too many and the group discussions become fractious and unwieldy. At optimal size, the group benefits from a diversity of perspectives, and can be easily segmented into productive small groups. Some organizations need to dip down below the officer ranks to get the right group size, but this is almost always an excellent idea, for it expands the talent pool, elevates the perspective of the high-performing new participants, and plants the seeds for future development.2. Assemble a strategic data bank. Good strategies reflect the input of a diverse set of stakeholders and encompass activities that address stakeholder needs. The strategic databank needs to capture and present candid information to the team on both hard (empirical) issues and soft (perceptual, or managerial systems-oriented) issues; it must incorporate perspective on what is happening outside the firm and within the firm. Structured, objective presentations do wonders to focus the group and reduce static; failure to do so significantly impedes the group's progress. It may sound trivial, but well-structured presentations catalyze group discussion, while sloppy ones quash critical thinking.3. Convene (and sequester) the leadership team. To formulate strategy effectively, management teams need time and space to remove themselves from the day to day. The added cost and hassle of relocating off-site for an uninterrupted workshop is more than compensated for by the additional clarity and sense of purpose managers feel when they (finally) get to the conference. It also helps underscore the importance of the exercise: mapping out the company's future is an extraordinarily crucial investment. A final, practical point is that work sessions often lead deep into the night and start again early in the morning, as managers work elbow to elbow charting future direction.4. Assign clear responsibilities and schedule. Most conventional strategy programs fail to delineate responsibilities and schedules, as we have discussed. When everyone's responsible, no one's responsible, and things often fall through the cracks. The workshop session must conclude with specific decisions regarding who does what, when.5. Ratify results with team and leadership. During the two to three weeks following the workshop, strategy managers need to track down missing data, refine their projections, calculate the resources required to implement strategy, and resolve other critical issues. We recommend reconvening the entire team for a formal ratification meeting, where the final strategies, programs, performance expectations, and resource requirements can be presented, debated, and validated. Formal punctuation by the firm's decision-makers triggers the official start of implementation.6. Communicate to stakeholders. One of the bigger misperceptions about strategy development is that it should be cloaked in secrecy. In fact, gathering input from a diverse set of stakeholders - inside and outside the firm - is not only important for the management team: it can also send a powerful, positive signal to \"outsiders\" that you are investing in a sincere and balanced process[7]. Senior management should take pains to carefully communicate the process to their staff during the workshop period, to manage expectations and preclude panic (e.g. \"they're selling the company!\" or, \"we're going under!\"). After the strategies have been ratified, the CEO needs to recap the results formally, the rationale for the firm's (new) priorities, and the process moving forward, underscoring the importance of implementation. Consistently communicating progress or setbacks in implementation further galvanizes the process, and helps keep people motivated and pointed in the right direction.7. Implement, and make implementation count. Shakespeare wrote that \"If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches and poor men's cottages princes' palaces\"[8]. Implementation is hard. Some tried and true techniques for facilitating the process[9]:* broadcast the high-level strategic metrics and milestones, so everyone understands where the strategies are meant to propel the firm;* link incentive compensation/bonuses to success in achieving these targets; and* celebrate successes, giving explicit recognition to managers or groups that excel.\nWhat's the return on investment?: Is the investment in a formal strategy development process worth it for MMBs? Done right, the process helps MMB leaders capture and evaluate critical data, set priorities, and establish rational guidelines for allocating human and financial resources. A formal process also delivers additional dividends, in terms of both content and process:1. Content dividends:* Accurate, timely perspective of the firm's strategic condition, competitive position, and the context within which it operates.* Tangible choices for resource allocation: specific roadmap, budgets, targets, metrics.* Formal, explicit guidelines for decision-making and priority-setting: a useful management tool that can be invoked over the course of implementation.Process dividends:* Establishment of a common framework, databank, and language for assessing competitive position and developing competitive advantage.* Enhanced management and stakeholder buy-in, the fruits of a participative and transparent strategy development process.* A regular forum for airing and resolving critical issues that will impact performance and implementation.* A streamlined and repeatable methodology that can be cascaded throughout the firm, and tailored to fit specific needs and systems.Strategy development is never easy, particularly when the winds and tides are rapidly shifting. However, MMBs can borrow a page from successful, larger corporations, and create a practical process that helps them anticipate and strategically meet the challenges they face; and while MMB CEOs cannot turn the tides, they can collaborate with their management teams to chart a course through the shoals, fill their sails, and surge ahead of the fleet.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - Middle market businesses - entities from $50 million-$1 billion in revenue - are a significant force in the economy, generating $3 trillion in annual revenues and employing 20 million here in the USA alone. They are particularly besieged, and vulnerable, and yet they are unlikely to use strategic planning systematically to help set priorities and improve performance. The article aims to explore the internal and external forces arrayed against these firms, then prescribe a practical process for developing strategy -what it is, who does it, when - to improve competitive advantage, management perspective, and overall performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The practical strategy development process described in the article focuses on developing a strategic databank, convening and managing the strategy team, and setting the stage for practical implementation , when broad objectives need to be translated into specific actions, schedules, budgets, and metrics. The approach described balances internal and external analysis and stakeholder input, captures the key decisions in an accessible, common format, and creates a practical roadmap for managers to help guide decision-making throughout the course of the year. Dozens of middle-market firms across a wide array of industries have used the methodology, which derives from two decades of strategy consulting and senior operating experience.\nFindings: - Formal strategy development is underdeveloped or ignored in many middle-market businesses, even as market and industry forces grow more antagonistic. This practical, streamlined methodology delivers substantial process and content dividends - giving managers strategic perspective, a forum for debating resource allocation, and an accessible platform for setting priorities and making key decisions. Equally important, is it is a straightforward approach to securing stakeholder input, enhancing the firm's ability to carve out competitive advantage and enhance stakeholder satisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The guidelines and logic are universal for middle market businesses, but some of the parameters described may need to be adapted to fit the planning cycle and technology of each firm, and refined over time to dovetail with the firm's budgetary process.\nPractical implications: - Middle-market businesses need to institute a streamlined, rational, balanced, and participative strategy development process to navigate the forces that confront them. The process can be compressed to eight weeks, and will deliver a small set of focused, practical strategies and performance metrics that can be communicated to key stakeholder groups. Careful process management will induce managers to commit to implementation, and clarify the rationale for allocating the firm's precious resources. By breaking down lofty, abstract statements into practical, actionable, measurable activities, the firm's leaders can better chart the future, respond to threats and opportunities, and enhance performance.\nOriginality/value: - The rational, practical approach described offers middle market business managers a toolkit for formulating strategies that can be implemented - for bridging the gap between aspirations and real performance. The article outlines a straightforward process, providing hands-on guidelines for optimizing performance, and galvanizing the management team.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Identifying opportunities for artificial intelligence in the evolution of training and development practices
|
[
"Artificial intelligence",
"Training design",
"Training needs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The evolution of business processes and practices across organizations over the last two centuries has developed the need for dynamic changes in \"skills required to be possessed\" by employees. The change in nature of work has redefined training objectives from improving efficiency in simple manual tasks to providing employees with relevant knowledge and skills, and enhancing their abilities to perform complex and dynamic jobs (Ford et al., 2017). Skill development in employees was once conducted entirely by supervisors on the job (Kraiger and Ford, 2007) and is now required more frequently, with learning to occur on demand. Technological advances have made it possible for training and development to happen on mobile platforms like smartphones and laptops.\n1. Evolution of training and development practices: 1.1 Pre-Second World War\n2. Introduction of e-learning and artificial intelligence in training: Thacker and Blanchard (2006) define e-learning as \"The delivery of training or education through electronic media.\" During and after the Second World War, e-learning through CBT opened up avenues of simulation, wherein analog and digital units became capable of predicting the outcomes of several government projects, including the Manhattan Project. Simulations are now used by several organizations to help employees understand the possible real-life outcomes of decisions taken and the way they are implemented. For instance, simulation is used in pilot training, along with virtual reality (VR), wherein the trainee interacts with a virtual environment to obtain results which would be real in nature if the actions simulated were to be implemented in practice.\n3. Trending training and development needs: 3.1 Methodology\n4. Opportunities for artificial intelligence in training and development: In the field of human resources, AI has been making rapid advances. Today, cognitive-supporting decision making systems, example being IBM's Watson, are assisting employees in taking HR decisions. From identifying an employee's mood to aiding in recruitment processes, AI is able to weed out a major part of human biases involved in these processes. Algorithms enable HR professionals to identify correct profiles for vacant roles, eliminating biases of race, gender or sexual orientation. AI recruiters automatically schedule appointments and interviews, provide real time feedback and answer relevant questions to applicants.\n5. Impact and challenges: Having identified the potential of AI, the advent of AI in training and development shall take away repetitive and tedious tasks, like interpreting needs assessment surveys, scheduling training programs, human intervention in mapping trainers to trainees, measuring organizational learning climate and work environment, and scheduling training programs, from training designers. AI intervention would make the decisions to be taken on training needs, delivery and trainer selection, prescriptive or suggestive in nature. The role of training designers shall, therefore, turn out to be more strategic and about decision making in the near future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The fast pace of innovation and disruption in business processes and technology today requires employees of organizations to be continuously up-skilled and be able to adapt to changing practices. Training needs are becoming more personalized. Micro-learning and byte-sized training modules, easily accessible to employees, as and when required, are some of the major organizational needs. Training and development programs should be designed keeping in mind factors of employee engagement, involvement and extent of training transfer. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether artificial intelligence (AI) can lead training and development processes in organizations in the years to come.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author has interviewed 27 HR and training professionals, in person, from across eight organizations in the FMCG, oil and natural gas and clothing and apparel industries. All these organizations have an annual turnover of greater than US$14.5m. A formal questionnaire was not followed since this research explores a new field in academia. Open-ended questions were used in the interviews, of which eight were common across all interviews. The mean interview duration was 25 min 33 s. The objective being to capture ideas and identify future trends, the analysis was done on a percentage basis and served as the foundation for a new training and development needs model for organizations.\nFindings: Among the 27 HR/training professionals interviewed, 92.6 percent respondents believed that their organization/department requires knowledge management practices while 40.7 percent require the training content delivered to a fixed category of employees, to be updated continuously. Personalized learning was mentioned as a requirement by 63 percent of the respondents. In total, 92.6 percent HR/training professionals believed training programs should involve high employee engagement. In total, 51.9 percent would prefer on-the-go learning tools for their employees, while 33.33 percent respondents believed an intuitive e-learning interface would be useful for their organization/department. The findings also led to the foundation of an SIP model, which shall be useful in providing direction to AI systems in training and development practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper opens up avenues for further research to be conducted in identifying the areas of impact of AI in training and development. It paves the way for researchers to quantify training effectiveness and measure it with the help of AI.\nPractical implications: The objective of the paper is to explore the opportunities for AI in training and development practices. Having identified the opportunities, it shall drive the practice of using AI across industries.\nOriginality/value: The thoughts in the paper have been ideated by the authors organically. Relevant data points from referred sources have been cited to back up those thoughts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Fostering organizational performance: The role of learning and intrapreneurship
|
[
"Workplace training",
"Individual development",
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Organizational performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Although there is lack of agreement about its conceptualization (Bell et al., 2002; Crossan et al., 1999), organizational learning has attained huge popularity during the past decade (Bapuji and Crossan, 2004) because factors such as technology, aging and diversity of the workforce, information, change, environmental dynamics, globalization and more have increased the complexity of leadership in contemporary organizations. This new scenario demands committed employees who are not only able to learn quickly in a changing environment, but who are also able to use innovation in new and challenging situations (McKee, 1992). More than ever before, organizational leaders must either find or develop strategies to implement innovation at all levels of the organization. This innovation can be seen in intrapreneurship - a practice that stimulates the creation of new business opportunities within the company (Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001; Davis, 1999). We suggest that there is a dynamic interplay between intrapreneurship and learning at the individual and organizational levels.People can make a difference in any organization through successfully coping with challenges that confront them at the workplace. Due to the more complex scenarios that companies are facing in this century, it is vital that leaders employ individuals who can make a difference between their organizations and competitors (Hostager et al., 1998). Knowledge may be seen as a vehicle for making that difference because knowledge can facilitate problem-solving. In turn, problem-solving has been interpreted as an important methodology to foster innovation and, in turn, entrepreneurial behavior (Lobler, 2006). However, there are few works that explicitly explore how intrapreneurs promote learning within organizations to help improve organizational performance over time (Lumpkin and Lichtenstein, 2005). Thus, the purpose of this article is to conceptualize the connection between individual learning, organizational learning, and intrapreneurship and their collective impact on an organization's performance.\nThe roots of intrapreneurship: The concept of intrapreneurship is relatively new. First appearing in 1976, intrapreneurship has been credited with helping improve organizational performance by increasing opportunities for success when facing more complex and competitive scenarios (Amo and Kolvereid, 2005). While intrapreneurship is rooted in entrepreneurship (Amo and Kolvereid, 2005; Antoncic, 2001; Davis, 1999; Honig, 2001), there are several differences between intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship.First, intrapreneurs make risky decisions using the company's resources while entrepreneurs make risky decisions using their own resources (Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001; Luchsinger and Bagby, 1987; Morris et al., 2008). Second, intrapreneurship takes place among employees from within their organizations, whereas entrepreneurship tends to mainly be externally focused (Amo and Kolvereid, 2005; Antoncic, 2001; Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001; Davis, 1999; Luchsinger and Bagby, 1987). Third, entrepreneurs prefer to develop tacit knowledge in new organizations instead of using procedures or mechanisms from other companies. On the other hand, intrapreneurs work within organizations which already have their own politics, languages, procedures, and bureaucracy (Antoncic, 2001; Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001; Davis, 1999; Honig, 2001). Although entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship have several important differences, they also have some connections because intrapreneurship is consistently positioned as entrepreneurship within organizations (Antoncic, 2001; Davis, 1999).Intrapreneurship has similarities with other constructs, such as creativity and innovation. In particular, the willingness to confront risk is the essence of creativity (Amabile, 1995); something is creative \"if it is a novel and appropriate solution to an open-ended problem\" (Amabile, 1995, p. 78). But being creative does not necessarily mean that an individual will be intrapreneurial because someone can be creative without necessarily influencing organizational performance, a hallmark of intrapreneurship (Amo and Kolvereid, 2005). Thus, creativity (like innovation) is a necessary, but not sufficient, element of intrapreneurship. Intrapreneurship has also been equated with similar constructs such as intrapreneuring, corporate entrepreneurship, corporate venturing and internal corporate entrepreneurship (Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001). In many cases, though, there are subtle distinctions between the constructs (Amo and Kolvereid, 2005). Thus, for the purpose of this article, we will use the term \"intrapreneurship\".\nToward a model of intrapreneurial learning: Intrapreneurs, like entrepreneurs, are concerned about creating new business - a potentially difficult process for those who are hesitant to make risky decisions (Koen, 2000). Both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs consistently look for new business opportunities, just from different positions (Honig, 2001). Through their risky, yet often successful, decisions, intrapreneurs help companies increase performance and renew organizational structures and strategies for the purpose of better adapting to environmental demands (Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001; Davis, 1999). Thus, Antoncic and Hisrich (2001) suggested a model in which the environment and the organization fostered intrapreneurship which, in turn, increased organizational performance (see Figure 1).It is still unknown why some individuals can recognize opportunities and successfully establish new ventures, while others cannot. However, Politis (2005) argued that intrapreneurs need to have cognitive skills to value these opportunities and successfully deal with them. Thus, we contend that learning may play a crucial role in the process. Individual learning and intrapreneurship combine to create the culture and processes of organizational learning. Through this path, intrapreneurs help companies increase performance and renew organizational structures and strategies for the purpose of better adapting to environmental demands (Antoncic and Hisrich, 2001; Davis, 1999). Thus, we propose an alternative conceptualization of intrapreneurship (see Figure 2) in which the external environment creates the context for both intrapreneurship and individual learning, which collectively foster the organizational learning that leads to organizational performance. In the following sections, we describe each of these constructs and present a model of intrapreneurial learning and performance.Environment\nEffects on organizational performance: Learning, at the individual and organizational levels, clearly affects a firm's performance over time (Bapuji and Crossan, 2004). Learning also has to be flexible to adapt and cope with an organization's needs day by day. In other words, organizational learning can create a learning culture which fosters new ways of doing things or introduces new learning requirements in order to successfully impact customer needs (Levinthal and Rerup, 2006). In addition, when organizations foster learning as part of their culture several organizational values may be positively affected such as the promotion of creativity which is closely connected with intrapreneurship (Honig, 2001); the incorporation of learning as part of a philosophy of life; and, the capacity to accept that everything done so far can be improved in future.Changes in the environment should affect how organizations learn especially when they affect company performance (Lyles and Schwenk, 1992). This is a permanent problem because organizations' environments are constantly changing and it is difficult to successfully predict ahead. Therefore, organizations can implement learning opportunities at the individual level that will foster employee intrapreneurial skills for the purpose of preparing those employees to find environmental opportunities and reduce environmental threats that may negatively impact organizational performance.It is possible to reduce organizational performance negative gaps by focusing on individual and organizational learning issues and applying an intrapreneurial philosophy. In other words, organizations with a low level of organizational performance may focus on improving their individual and/or organizational learning processes by, for instance, developing strategic training activities or generating better systems to store critical knowledge through the organization (Huber, 1991). Additionally, organizations may foster their intrapreneurial capacity through identifying potential intrapreneurs within organizations and promoting a culture where risk and learning from mistakes are highly valued (Pinchot, 1985).\nDiscussion: Organizations have always been connected with learning over time. Learning how to learn is considered a basic need for any organization that wants to survive in the business world. The learning process starts through individual learning and is then transferred to the organization through a certain process which was unknown until now. The proposed model reveals a first look at the learning process through three important factors which are individual learning, organizational learning, and intrapreneurship. The framework of the model is synergistic where all the parts are connected to each other and reciprocally reinforce each other. Therefore, each factor could positively or negatively affect the others.One factor that helps spread organizational learning is intrapreneurship because intrapreneurs are employees who challenge the traditional paradigms through an intelligent use of their resources such as experiences, innovativeness, willingness to face change and risk plus the firm's resources in order to improve organizational performance (Honig, 2001). Intrapreneurs will be able to challenge stable systems by discovering new ways of doing things where unlearning old methods and learning new ones play an active role. In the future, intrapreneurs who have leadership positions within their organizations will play a strategic role in promoting new knowledge and also demanding new knowledge that will be critical for the organizations' survival through breaking their alarming levels of bureaucracy and structural inertia which affect their capacity to cope with more complex internal and external requirements. Additionally, the generation of new learning related to organizations and intrapreneurship may change the way leaders and employees make decisions. For instance, intrapreneurs may work as mentors of a group of employees in order to guide the way these groups make decisions by stimulating the value of risk associated with business opportunities or process improvements.One area worthy of future study in connection to how intrapreneurship influences the learning and performance of the organization is transfer of learning and training. Holton (1996) suggested that focusing on learning and individual performance are two areas that could facilitate the transfer of training in such a way that organizational performance could be influenced. The model presented in the present article suggests that individual learning and intrapreneurship ultimately influence organizational performance. Thus, we see opportunities for future research exploring how the individual performance addressed in the transfer literature can be informed by better understanding intrapreneurship.Further, this transfer literature also holds implications for exploring the systems approach of linking individual and organizational learning, as advocated by Steiner (1998) and others. Hatala and Fleming (2007) argued that social networks become the means through which training transfer could be seen and facilitated. This is similar to conceptions of team learning, but more organic. The transfer literature provides a rich resource for explaining some of the micro-connections within the intrapreneurial learning and performance model presented in this article.Individual learning is another important component of this model because people's attitudes are like an energy that can move them to accept and also to look for new learning processes. In addition, learning constructs and theories such as self-directed learning, andragogy, self-managed learning and more may help employees discover their learning styles under different circumstances. Leaders can stimulate, often through training and development, learning processes that promote intrapreneurship amongst individual employees. Organizations can also foster an environment that encourages incidental learning by incorporating \"learning to learn\" into formal learning experiences and by broadening the way employees consider their role within the organization (Silva and Callahan, 2009).In addition, intrapreneurship and organizational learning play a key role in fostering critical learning as a way to develop an organization's competitive advantage. However, this article represents a first theoretical approach to understand how individual learning, organizational learning, intrapreneurship and the external environment may affect organizational performance. Therefore, more research is needed to better understand how organizations can be more productive, based on their particular scenarios, through implementing individual and organizational learning strategies and fostering an intrapreneurial philosophy to cope with continuously changing environments. In other words, it is critical for organizations to understand how this complex relationship works.A follow-on study could be a practical application of the proposed model in a particular industry in order to see if empirical data supports the theoretical conclusions of this study. In addition, this study may help to increase employers and employees' awareness about their responsibility for fostering individual and organizational learning and intrapreneurship within organizations as a way to increase organizational performance.\nConclusion: A significant contribution of this paper is to propose an original relationship between intrapreneurship, individual learning and organizational learning. The proposed model represents a novel conceptualization about how these constructs may be linked together to influence organizational performance. The external environment creates the catalyst for intrapreneurship and individual learning, which foster the creation of the culture and processes of organizational learning, which subsequently influences organizational performance.This is a dynamic process without end so scholars have to work hard in order to find new theories and models that help us understand the different ways organizations and their employees learn and also identify strategies to positively impact the organization's level of innovativeness, capacity of applying this knowledge within their organizational processes, identify potential intrapreneurs, and so on. It is important to rethink how organizations will be able to deal with more complex environments, which are changing the way people learn. Although the future is challenging, the development of novel organizational learning theories is a critical way to face those challenges successfully.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between individual learning, intrapreneurship, and organizational learning to create an alternative model of how learning facilitates performance in organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a conceptual paper selecting targeted scholarly works that provide support for the proposed model.\nFindings: - The paper presents a model of intrapreneurial learning and performance in which the constructs of environment, individual learning, intrapreneurship, and organizational learning influence organizational performance. Intrapreneurship is a relatively recent area of exploration in which scholarly efforts have primarily focused on identifying the construct and distinguishing it from entrepreneurship. The proposed model of intrapreneurial learning and performance joins a growing number of works that explore how intrapreneurship contributes to organizational performance. It is suggested that the framework may help scholars identify potential strategies of learning that could help organizations position intrapreneurship as a vehicle for improving organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: - The paper postulates an original relationship among individual learning, intrapreneurship, organizational learning, environment, and organizational performance. In this framework, individual and organizational learning combine to offer a unique perspective on the link between intrapreneurship and organizational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Enterprise skills and training needs of postgraduate research students
|
[
"Higher education",
"Enterprise skills",
"Entrepreneurial attributes",
"Postgraduate researchers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Policy drives over more than a decade stress the need for researchers to be prepared for employment in both industry and academia; to be more aware of the needs of business as a research partner and end user; to be able to recognise and act on opportunities to commercialise research output; and to be aware of business start-up as a potential career option (e.g. Wilson, 2012; Roberts, 2002). Postgraduate skills have been described as one of the most powerful levers for improving productivity, critical to a high skills, high-performance economy (Leitch, 2006), major drivers of innovation and growth (Smith et al., 2010), and a vital part of our innovation infrastructure (Higher Education Commission, 2012).\nMethods: An online survey was distributed to all registered PGRs students at the University of Huddersfield at both Masters and Doctoral level. The survey was presented and data collected using the Bristol Online Survey platform in July/August 2012. A PS50 voucher draw prize was offered as an incentive to respond. Exactly 100 responses were returned giving a response ratio of 11.1 per cent.\nResults and analysis: Demographics\nConclusions: The results of the survey presented here provides evidence that PGRs students at the University of Huddersfield are far more entrepreneurial and willing to consider self-employment/business start-up and/or commercialisation of research output than might be expected - from literature that suggests that entrepreneurial intent increases with education level until it reaches HE when it drops, and from assumptions in some areas that academics (with PGRs being academics in training) are risk adverse, slow to embrace change, and resistant to recognise the impact potential of their research work. Although this is useful from a local university perspective, it raises a wider issue: is the HE sector underestimating the entrepreneurial potential of our PGR population, their appetite for engaging in enterprise whilst at University, and their enterprise and commercialisation training needs?\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a survey of postgraduate research (PGRs) students studying at the University of Huddersfield, concentrating on entrepreneurial attributes and the importance of enterprise-related skills future career intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Electronic survey questions asked respondents to rate their confidence in a series of enterprise-related skills, and each skill's importance in their career development. Identification with attributes relating to independence, risk taking, self-efficacy, tolerance of ambiguity, and innovativeness were explored. Further questions probed the importance of enterprise skills development, research impact, and career aspirations including business start-up potential.\nFindings: Respondents identified with entrepreneurial attributes and were positive towards enterprise skills development. The majority felt that their research could have commercial impact, and over a third reported that starting a business appealed to them. Comparisons of importance and confidence ratings identified skills areas where confidence was relatively low and needed to be improved, where there is a large gap between confidence and importance, and where a skill was rated as having lower importance than is optimal from an institutional perspective. Interestingly, different groups of students considered \"self-employment\" compared with \"business start-up\" as a career option.\nResearch limitations/implications: These single-institution results suggest that PGRs are more entrepreneurial than might be expected. Is the higher education (HE) sector underestimating the entrepreneurial potential of the PGR population, their appetite for engaging in enterprise, and their enterprise and commercialisation training needs?\nOriginality/value: The results have relevance for the HE community in terms of understanding PGR entrepreneurial attributes, and training needs for enterprise and commercialisation of research output.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Worker representation and temporary employment in Germany: The deployment and extent of fixed-term contracts and temporary agency work
|
[
"Germany",
"Worker representation",
"Complementarity",
"Demand volatility",
"Temporary employment",
"Zero-inflated negative binomial model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In Germany, as in other countries, controversy attaches to the use of temporary employment. On the one hand, it has been linked to heightened labor market duality, and on the other, to increased labor market flexibility offering improved labor market access and fostering job creation. But the tenor of the German debate has differed somewhat from that in other countries given that nation's unique performance during the Great Recession in 2008/2009, when it was able to successfully negotiate economic adversity without an increase in unemployment or a decline in the number of jobs. That experience may at once have both reflected and further influenced the thinking of key players - unions, works councils, and employers - on temporary employment; with the worker side being more accepting of it and employers for a variety of reasons (including it must be said the prospect of reregulation) being less motivated to use temporary employment as a low-road strategy. The two types of temporary employment considered in the present treatment are temporary agency work/workers (TAW/TAWs) and fixed-term contracts (FTCs). Even if they may be less atypical or contingent than other non-standard types of employment in Germany, such as marginal part-time work, both can be compared - provisionally at least - with their counterpart entities in other nations.\n2. Literature review: The literature on temporary employment has focused on FTCs and TAW without necessarily considering both or distinguishing between them. Where, the two have received separate consideration, attention has tended to focus on either their contribution to flexibility in markets often characterized by tightly regulated open-ended employment or, more commonly perhaps, on their impact as stepping stones to regular employment as opposed to a being a dead end outcome associated with heightened labor market duality. Our review of the German literature will necessarily touch upon issues that have preoccupied the wider literature not least because our sample period follows intervals of liberalization of the rules governing the two types of contract, especially temporary agency work. That said, an important part of our discussion we will pay close attention to two other-country studies that offer guidance as to the likely impact of worker representation and collective bargaining on the occurrence and extent of FTCs and TAW. Very few German studies have directly investigated the impact of works councils and collective bargaining on temporary employment. This is in sharp contrast with the literature on workplace representation and firm performance where German studies have been in the vanguard (see Addison, 2009).\n3. The data: In this study, we employ the IAB Establishment Panel, which is a large-scale representative survey data set of establishments in Germany sponsored by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). The IAB Establishment Panel has been available since 1993 and comprises some 15,000-16,000 establishment interviews per year. It provides detailed information on the demand side of the labor market as of the reference date (i.e. June 30 in each year); in particular, concerning the structure of the establishment's workforce, labor turnover, business policies (including investment and training) and performance. Apart from its strong panel dimension, with a yearly continuation response rate of over 80 percent, new establishments enter the survey in every wave to both compensate for non-responses/panel mortality and to mirror firm dynamics (i.e. births and deaths). For a more detailed description of the IAB Establishment Panel, the reader is referred to Ellguth et al. (2014).\n4. Modeling: We employ a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model to analyze the determinants of the selected discrete response variables Yji, j=1, 2, ...,5. In this framework, subscript j denotes, respectively, the number of TAWs (Y1), workers with a FTC (Y2), new hires with a FTC (Y3), FTC conversions into permanent work (Y4), and workers whose FTC has been renewed (Y5) per establishment i. Again, the time subscript is omitted to simplify the notation.\n5. Findings: We begin by describing the pattern of our selected outcome variables over time. Observe first from panel (a) of Figure 1 that between 85 and 90 percent of all establishments do not employ any TAWs at all. This share is comparatively stable over time, although the trough in 2009 suggests that temps may have been deployed as a buffer stock in the face of demand volatility. For users, the share of temporary work is also rather flat over the period at around 8 to 9 percent[6].\n6. Further testing: Finally, we exploit some additional data to further clarify the determinants of the employment of FTCs and TAW. Ideally, the analysis using this enhanced information should be performed for the entire 2006-2015 sample period. Unfortunately, the supplementary data in question are available for just one year, with the result that our tests are perforce based on a single cross section for 2010.\n7. Concluding remarks: This study has provided a comprehensive analysis of the use of temporary employment, both at the extensive and intensive margins. It distinguishes between FTC workers and TAWs in Germany over a period of one decade, starting in 2006. It should be recalled that even though these groups constitute a modest share of the total workforce, they have often been important sources of all new job creation in the post-Hartz years.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of key labor institutions on the occurrence and extent of temporary employment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In a new departure, this study uses a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model given that most establishments are non-users of either fixed-term contracts (FTCs) or temporary agency workers.\nFindings: This study examines the potential impact of works councils and unions on the use and intensity of use of FTCs and temporary agency work. There is a little indication that these variables are correlated with the use/non-use of either type of temporary work, especially in the case of FTCs. Collective bargaining displays different relationships with their intensity of use: a negative association for sectoral bargaining and FTCs and the converse for firm-level bargaining and agency temps. Of more interest, however, is the covariation between the number of temporary employees and the interaction between works councils and product market volatility. The intensity of use of agency temps (FTCs) is predicted to rise (fall) as volatility increases whenever a works council is present. These disparities require further investigation but most likely reflect differences in function, with agency work being more directed toward the protection of an arguably shrinking core and fixed-term contacts encountering resistance to their increased use as a buffer stock. The two types of temporary employment are seemingly non-complementary, an interpretation that receives support from the study's further analysis of FTC flow data.\nResearch limitations/implications: The non-complementarity of the two types of contract is the hallmark of this paper.\nOriginality/value: The first study to deploy a ZINB model to examine both the occurrence and incidence of temporary work.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Extended scenario role-playing: cumulative learning for supply chain participants
|
[
"Role play",
"Learning",
"Supply chain management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nChallenges for inter-organizational learning: Learning from a supply chain perspective requires understanding from both a functional and inter-organizational context. This poses a number of different challenges for learning from both a personal and organizational level. The complexity involved in interactions at various levels within, and between organizations necessitates that individuals have the ability to learn in an ever-changing, dynamic environment.In response to this, different mechanisms must be explored by the organization to facilitate, and develop this learning capability in a dynamic environment. In order for this learning environment to be as realistic as possible (from a supply chain context), it must go beyond the traditional case study approach which is often limited to a two dimensional representation, only requiring the student to assume the role of an organization. One approach currently being trialed in supply chain education is that of extended scenario role-playing.Role playing \"requires participants to embrace a role in context\" (Russell and Amernic, 1994), providing a useful technique for \"different supply chain participants to gain an understanding of each other's roles so as to accept and appreciate the perspective of the individual or department that is their immediate interface\" (Clements, 2007).\nCumulative learning through staged scenarios: This learning activity has been developed to extend the role playing approach, and address the needs of supply chain participants. The authors have conducted this activity across six separate undergraduate supply chain management subjects, with a total of 360 participants from a cross section of skills, experience and background. The activity (simulation exercise) provides the \"learner\" with a structured approach, enabling individual learning outcomes to be achieved through a cumulative program of scenario based activities. To facilitate this learning journey, four realistic role playing scenarios within a supply chain context have been developed.The scenarios are known as: Production under Pressure; Quality Counts; Mixing Things Up; and Why Compromise? They are designed to build upon the learning outcomes of each other, bringing together theory, and demonstrating how different sections of that supply chain interact throughout decision making processes. The activity itself is played over four 45 minute sessions, each presenting the participants with a different set of challenges and learning outcomes. The scenarios provide an environment for experiential learning and problem solving at a rate determined by the learner.\nCumulative Learning Activity Series (Supply) - CLASS: Listed below are the scenarios that have been developed as part of the cumulative learning activity series for supply chain management. Each scenario builds upon the last scenario, therefore creating connected learning outcomes for the individual and their peers. All scenarios involve interactive participation by group members and a variety of activities such as coloring shapes (products) and calculating inventory and cost levels based on pre-determined criteria (such as unit cost, sales value etc.). As the scenarios progress, so does the complexity of interaction required from participants.Scenario 1: Production under pressure\nParticipant feedback: In all learning activities, the feedback enables continuous improvement in both the activity and its delivery. Initial qualitative analysis has been centered on clustering opinion groups in relation to both the delivery and intended learning outcomes of the role play series. This preliminary feedback can be categorized into two main areas. Firstly, the worth of the activity series from a supply chain understanding perspective, and secondly the value of the series as a cumulative and experiential learning activity.In regard to understanding the complexity of supply chains, feedback suggests that participants are more engaged with the assumed roles they adopt in the role play environment in each scenario. Participants also appeared to gain an appreciation of the complexity present when applying theoretical models to a practical scenario. The value of the role playing environment as a learning activity received substantial support as an enjoyable and thought provoking exercise, resulting in interactive discussions used to explore key concepts of learning identified throughout the course.\nFuture development: The positive response from conducting this learning activity has prompted the authors to further pursue the development of this activity as a mechanism for learning. The fact that students found the activity enjoyable motivates self learning through engagement, and develops a conducive atmosphere for learning. We have found that barriers to participation and communication have been largely removed, having a positive impact on the participants and their willingness to learn. The authors intend to further develop and quantitatively evaluate this role playing activity for use across other organizational disciplines. The value of this paper is to invite the reader to consider the use of extended role-playing as a mechanism to facilitate the development of cumulative learning outcomes which provide employees with a toolbox of understanding to better approach interaction activities within and between supply chain partners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of a staged cumulative learning mechanism as part of a role-play model for the teaching of supply chain concepts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper presents the preliminary testing of an alternative model for the facilitation of supply chain learning within organizations. Following on from this, initial feedback is discussed before future stages of development are considered.\nFindings: - Through the structured implementation of complex supply chain interactions, practitioners can provide effective training that leads to deeper understanding of the interactions and communication skills necessary to balance an organizations successful operation in a modern supply chain.\nOriginality/value: - The value of this paper is to invite the reader to consider the use of extended role-playing as a mechanism to facilitate the development of cumulative learning outcomes which provide employees with a toolbox of understanding to better approach interaction activities within and between supply chain partners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Olfactory cues and purchase behavior: consumer characteristics as moderators
|
[
"Decision-making",
"Retailing",
"Purchase behavior"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Olfaction, a delicate sense that we cannot turn off, has recently inspired marketing academics and practitioners alike. Olfactory cues have the potential to affect consumers in several ways. For example, scents can improve consumers' quality perceptions (Bone and Jantrania, 1992) and enhance brand recall and recognition (Morrin and Ratneshwar, 2000, 2003). The presence of a scent even makes us remember a product better (Krishna et al., 2010).\nTheoretical background: Processing olfactory cues\nMethod: Experimental design\nResults: Scent pre-test results\nDiscussion and conclusions: The purpose of this study was to investigate how consumer characteristics moderate the effectiveness of olfactory cues on consumers' purchase behavior at the point of sale. Specifically, we chose three relevant factors to investigate: gender and age, representing demographic factors and CDMSs, reflecting psychological characteristics relevant for purchase behavior.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between consumer characteristics and the effectiveness of olfactory cues on purchase behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The theories of the effects of consumer decision-making, olfaction and sensory marketing on purchase behavior are applied using loyalty card data collected through an experiment. These data are analyzed using quantitative methods.\nFindings: The presence of an olfactory cue has a positive impact on purchase behavior, as measured by product-category sales. Results indicate that in sales promotion, olfactory cues are most efficient in men who have hedonistic or quality-oriented decision-making styles.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper is the first to study the effectiveness of olfactory cues on purchase behavior when the interactions between the individual characteristics of consumers are considered. The study broadens extant frameworks of sensory marketing by placing the consumer in the central position as the processor of sensory cues. The work pioneers the integration of consumer's decision-making style (CDMS) as one of the moderating factors in the process.\nPractical implications: The results encourage retailers and practitioners to consider CDMS - and not only gender or age - when using olfactory cues in sales promotions. Hopefully, this paper will inspire retailers to think of the more psychological aspects of consumer behavior and decision-making when planning their loyalty card systems.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first to study the effectiveness of olfactory cues on purchase behavior when the interactions between the individual characteristics of consumers are considered. Addressing the decision-making style in addition to demographics is a novel approach, contrasting with earlier studies that merely focused on olfactory acuity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Leadership development in crisis: leadership development hasn't made much difference to organizations
|
[
"Leadership development",
"Organizations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century have we cracked the problem of leadership development? Not on the evidence so far. Some features of the current landscape include:*The continuing scandals in the financial services sector where leaders have failed on a massive scale and have created a global mess.*Environmental concerns grow yet political leadership to address the problems has shown weakness and vacillation.*Business schools have not fundamentally changed despite continuing pleas (from them) that they have.*And so on. We could go on adding to the list.The fundamental point is that organizations and countries are not noticeably better led than they were 50 years ago. There is absolutely no good evidence to support the hypothesis that investment in leadership development has had a generally beneficial effect on the generality of organizations.\nIndividualistic approaches are too limited: Leadership exists within a social context. For instance there is no leadership without followership. The two processes have an element of symmetry. A leader plays a role in an organization that is located within a culture, a system, a structure, a technology. You cannot address leadership in the abstract - it is always context specific. Leading a US business is different from leading a Japanese one. And both are very different from leading an African tribe or an Indian village.Individualistic approaches promoted by the USA do not have universal validity. Indeed they don't even work in their own context. Before the scandals of the incompetent - and sometimes corrupt - leadership of financial organizations on Wall Street we had Enron and other scandals. All the evidence is that the egocentric leadership models promoted by many US consultants and academics are damaging to organizations and to people.However, these modes are still explicitly or implicitly encouraged in business schools. The notion that an individual can attend a course away from organizational reality and be molded into a leader able to work in any context is fundamentally faulty.One hopeful sign is interest in distributed leadership and leadership capacity. However many of these approaches still assume an individualistic approach, even though they promote a greater spread of leadership in organizations. What is needed is to develop leadership as a collective entity. I find that the most effective mode is working with groups of leaders on what they need to learn to work together to take their business forward. Each person may need to learn different things - because of their history and experiences - but they need to locate their learning within the reality of their organizational life.\nEducation has a major impact: Schools, colleges and universities promote a notion that learning occurs best in classrooms. The UK Government has even said that someone not attending a formal course is a non-learner and it has spent vast sums to (as they say) \"attract people back into learning\". What they really mean is getting more people signed up to taught courses.In the context of leadership development, the insidious message is that you need credentials and qualifications to be a leader. Hence the growth of MBAs at the end of the last century. Yet the business world is replete with effective leaders who are totally unqualified (in terms of the educational establishment).Hypocritically the educational establishment promotes the values of rationality and evidence based practice yet daily ignores such espoused values. The reality is that all the available evidence is that the classroom contributes very little to professional practice in a wider range of contexts (at most 10-20 percent of the valuable learning for a person). For leaders it's clear that taught courses can encourage a dependency on others for useful learning and this dependency actually undermines effective leadership behavior.Leaders need to lead themselves as well as leading others. That means, in part, self led learning. A person who cannot take initiatives in learning what they need is likely to be a poor leader. If leaders are supposed to help others develop how can they do this if they can't develop themselves? However this is not to buy into an individualistic model. Such self development is best located in a social context such as being able to learn with and from others.\nMorality and the social role of leadership: The expansion of ethics courses in business schools has corresponded with the role of business school graduates in promoting unethical behavior in places such as Wall Street and the City of London. One example is the bonus culture that is being condemned by many but which remains in place. The work of researchers such as Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) and Marmot (2004) has shown conclusively that gross inequalities in income and status in a society produce worse health outcomes, more criminal activity, greater psycho-social distress (including mental health problems) and so on.For leaders to tolerate (or even exacerbate) inequalities in wealth is to condemn many to increased misery. This is a moral issue that such leaders wish to ignore. We will never solve the range of social problems that many countries such as the UK and USA face unless gross inequalities are reduced. Yet many other countries seem unwisely to be prepared to buy into Anglo-American approaches to leadership - and leadership development.One argument I hear often in the British context is that organizational leaders in companies with shareholders always have a legal and social responsibility to increase shareholder value. This is absolutely untrue. Organizational leaders have a role in making certain that the company meets the objectives that are laid down for the company. The company that I chair has specific objectives, which do not include increasing shareholder value. I have no interest in increasing the value of my shares nor does our Board.Companies are designed to carry out the reasons for which they were established. If the company is a bank it has a responsibility to continue to exist so that customers, shareholders and other stakeholders are not put at risk. Leaders have to act in such a way as to meet such obligations. Clearly many such leaders have failed miserably in the recent past.\nDirections for leadership development: The bizarre thing is that there is much evidence of good practice around yet it is ignored by many learning and development practitioners. For instance the research evidence collected by the Center for Self Managed Learning has shown that development approaches that demand leaders to manage their own learning work. Such approaches refuse to prescribe a curriculum or competences or leadership models. Leaders have to work to develop their own models of leadership and their own agendas for development. If a person can't do this they can't be expected to play a leadership role in an organization.The difficulty for learning and development practitioners is that many are suffering from the problems indicated earlier. If a trainer believes (erroneously) that they can have the main impact on leadership development through taught courses and other individualistic approaches, and if they ignore the moral and social dimensions of leadership, they are part of the problem and not part of the solution.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Leaders have to work to develop their own models of leadership and their own agendas for development. If a person can't do this they can't be expected to play a leadership role in an organization.\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nSocial implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that can have a broader social impact.\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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] |
Bank mergers and acquisitions in Greece: the financial crisis and its effect on shareholder wealth
|
[
"Banks",
"Crisis",
"Mergers and acquisitions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past decades, the Greek banking sector has been going through an unprecedented level of consolidation through mergers and acquisitions (M&As) similar to that of the European banking sector. The main forces that fundamentally transformed the European banking industry since the 1990s were the economic integration within the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the creation of a single market for financial services and the introduction of the euro (for more, see Schoenmaker, 2015; Rughoo and Sarantis, 2014; Goddard et al., 2007; Dermine, 2000). Technological innovations, financial globalization and further deregulation in the European Union (EU) underpinned this process of consolidation until the outbreak of the 2008 financial crisis (Altunbas and Marques, 2008). Since then, the European banking sector has undergone a rationalization process in light of the euro area crisis. According to the European Central Bank (ECB) the cumulative decline of banks between 2008 and 2016 reached 25 percent, while Greece, along with the Netherlands, Cyprus and Spain, recorded the largest relative decreases (ECB, 2017). In the wake of the global financial crisis, Greece faced a banking crisis from 2008 to 2012 and sovereign debt crises with its 2012 debt restructuring and the 2015 default to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (Baron et al., 2018; Laeven and Valencia, 2018). Reinhart and Rogoff (2014) assert that in Greece prevailed the twin crisis scenario, which had previously occurred in a number of advanced economy crises during the 1930s. The effects of the sovereign and banking crises spilled over to the real economy, resulting in a long recession whose only precedent is the great depression of 1929 (Muet, 2017). This situation caused a deep banking sector restructuring that resulted in a reduction in the number of banks to 18 in 2016 from 36 in 2008. At the end of 2016, market concentration (measured by the share of assets held by the five largest banks) reached 97 percent in Greece which was the highest ratio in the euro area (ECB, 2017).\n2. Literature review: The following paragraphs review the literature with regard to the economic impact of M&As on acquiring banks in Europe. As far as Greek banks are concerned, they have been either included in samples covering the European financial sector or analyzed separately.\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 Legal framework: definition of M&As\n4. Empirical results: The first part of this section presents the results of the event study, while the second part discusses the results of the cross-section regression analysis for the excess returns of acquirers upon the announcement of bank M&As.\n5. Summary and conclusion: We examine the wealth effects of bank M&As in Greece focusing on the period after the global financial crisis. The motivation for this study is to investigate the economic implications of the consolidation and restructuring activity in the unique Greek setting given the triple crisis phenomenon, namely banking, sovereign debt and economic crises. The study extends current knowledge by demonstrating that the valuation of M&As in the banking sector during a crisis period is indeed different from that during normal periods. Due to substantial uncertainty in the economy and on the financial system, the market is more cautious in reacting to a merger transaction upon the announcement period, postponing its reaction to the completion of the deal. The announcement of a potential deal represents the initiation of a due diligence process for the financial and business risks associated with the acquisition of the selected target. This process is expected to provide valuable information to acquirers with regard to the financial situation of the target and the prospects of the deal. Bank assets are considered to be particularly opaque during the crisis, considering the substantial increase of NPLs and the losses from the PSI. Uncertainty over the value of the target's assets raises doubts about the effectiveness of the merger, which in turn causes a negative market reaction at the completion date. Consistent with that conjecture, we find statistically insignificant abnormal returns upon the announcement of M&As and significant negative returns upon the announcement of deal completion.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the wealth implications of bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the unique Greek setting given the triple crisis phenomenon - banking, sovereign debt and economic crises - that prevailed after the global financial crisis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study examines bank M&As and bank transactions over the period from 1997 to 2018, as well as government-assisted M&As during the crisis. The wealth effects of bank M&As are assessed using both univariate and multivariate frameworks.\nFindings: Findings show a neutral crisis effect on the valuation of M&As upon their announcement. However, the authors provide conclusive evidence that M&A completions are value-destroying events for acquiring banks during the crisis, far worse than in the pre-crisis period. Greek banks also fail to create value from government-assisted mergers. The results suggest that the financial stability and the prevention of further deepening of the Greek crisis with possible contagion effects were achieved at the expense of shareholders and taxpayers.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of the Greek triple crisis on the wealth effects of bank M&As and bank transactions. Also, the study provides first evidence with regard to the economic impact of government-assisted M&As in the European context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Linking firm and managers' characteristics to perceived critical success factors for innovative entrepreneurial support
|
[
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Critical success factors",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Botswana"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Although SMEs have long been recognised as an engine of economic growth in all economies (Bhutta et al., 2008; Wijewardena et al., 2008), they face numerous and complex problems affecting their performance and eventual survival. Pansiri and Temtime (2008) and Temtime and Pansiri (2004b, 2005) observe that although the discovery of mineral wealth has propelled Botswana into the middle-income category, \"the country still faces the problem of economic diversification, employment creation, income distribution and poverty alleviation\" (Temtime and Pansiri, 2004b, p. 18). Botswana's economy is highly dependent on the mining and beef sectors for its income and on foreign markets for the import of basic goods and services.Although the government has formulated and implemented different SME promotional policies and programmes in order to diversify the economy and create employment opportunities, the pace of development of SMEs and their contribution to national economic development is minimal.Most SMEs in Botswana are in their early stages, with more emphasis being placed on short-term survival issues than growth and long-term competitiveness (Temtime, 2002; Temtime and Pansiri, 2003, 2005). The Government of Botswana (1999) estimates the general failure rate for SMEs in Botswana to be over 80 per cent, with over 70 per cent of start-up firms failing in their first 18 months and less than 2 per cent of them expanding their businesses. This has been attributed to several financial, managerial, organisational, environmental and entrepreneurial problems (Temtime and Pansiri, 2004a, b, 2005, 2006a, b). Thus, the current situation of SMEs calls for the need to identify and analyse the most critical factors affecting the performance and development of SMEs.This paper presents the results of research carried out in Botswana aimed at determining the relationship between firm' and managers' characteristics and selected critical success factors. The study seeks to give an understanding of why Botswana's SMEs are not growing, despite the various policies and financial support provided.\nLiterature review: This literature review is divided into two broad theoretical perspectives. The first section evaluates problems that are believed to have an impact on SMEs' performance. In doing so, SMEs problems are conveniently divided into:* external environmental issues;* internal organisational and managerial issues;* market and marketing issues; and* finance and financing issues.The second part of this review of the literature uses past research findings to link firms' and managers' characteristics to firm performance, and subsequently, to perceived critical success factors (PCSFs).External environmental factors\nManagers' characteristics and firm performance: Owner/managers' characteristics\nThe survey design: This paper investigates the statistical relationship between selected critical factors and firm, and owner/managers specific demographic variables, as well as the association among the critical factors themselves. To test these relationships, primary data were collected using a questionnaire from 250 randomly selected SMEs from three cities in the Republic of Botswana. Three kinds of data were collected. First, respondents were asked to give specific demographic data regarding their firm, such as firm size, form of ownership, firm's age, etc.The second part of the questionnaire contained 94 items, largely derived from the existing literature, and respondents were asked to rate the impact of these items on the performance of their firms using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). The last section of the questionnaire contained open-ended questions on the major problems affecting the performance of SMEs and suggestions on how to alleviate these problems. Of the 250 questionnaires distributed, 221 were returned in time. Since 18 questionnaires were discarded due to incompleteness and a large number of missing values, this report is based on data collected from 203 (92 per cent) SMEs. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present and analyse the data.\nFindings: Perceived critical success factors were identified through data reduction (principal component analysis), data purification (Varimax rotation), and factor reliability (Cronbach's a) validation processes (Viviers et al., 2001). Firm-specific demographic variables included firm size, form of business, industry type, managerial experience, respondent status in the firm, etc.The respondents rated the perceived impact of 94 items on the performance of their business. The 94 items were pre-tested and reduced to 76 items. Using the principal component analysis, a factor analysis with 25 iterations and Varimax rotation was run on the 76 items using the SPSS software, Version 15.0. Items with a factor loading of 0.50 and above were taken as acceptable correlation (Nunnally, 1978). The factor analysis showed that out of 76 items, 70 were loaded onto 12 factors with acceptable factor loading coefficients, and six items were discarded from the study because either they have low factor loading or did not load onto any of the 12 factors. The next step was to test for the reliability of the 12 factors as true representative of the 70 items. As shown by the Cronbach's a reliability coefficients, ten factors satisfied the cut-off point of an a value of 0.50 and were considered perceived critical factors affecting the performance of SMEs. Therefore, the last two factors, as shown in Table I, are excluded from the group of critical success factors as their reliability coefficients are very low (below 0.50; (Cronbach, 1951).These factors together with the specific items comprising them are perceived by the respondents to be critical for the survival and growth of their firms. For example, the customer relationship factor, which is made up of six related items, must be evaluated and analysed in terms of its components.The sample firms were largely small in size, concentrated around the capital Gaborone, and largely owned and operated by men. The majority operate in the merchandising (retail and wholesale) sector of the economy, with very few firms operating in the manufacturing sector. Most of them are established as corporations and sole proprietorships, with the partnership form of organisation being less common in Botswana. Regarding their experience in Botswana, most of have been operating for six to ten years, and the majority are owned and managed by expatriates. The respondents are mature adults, married with an average of two children and over five years of managerial experience. Most of the respondents are employed professional managers or part-owner managers, with owner managers having over ten years of previous experience in the public sector before starting their business. The selected firm characteristics include firm size, firm age, industry type, form of ownership, status, management experience and citizenship.Hypothesis testing\nConclusions and implications: This study presents a mixture of results and therefore cannot be said to be complete. More studies of this nature are needed to confirm the results of this study. However, a number of conclusions and implications can still be drawn from this study.Although the problems faced by SMEs are numerous and complex, this paper found ten sets of PCSFs that affect the performance and development of firms. Since these PCSFs have varying degrees of impact on the performance of SMEs, customised intervention mechanisms should be developed to overcome their impact and facilitate the growth of SMEs. The study also found important differences between firm characteristics and perceptions of the impacts of the selected PCSFs, indicating that a \"one size fits all' approach will not work in designing support programmes and policies for SMEs. As the performance impacts of different sets of problems vary from firm to firm, there is a strong need to study carefully the real problems of different groups of enterprises. The impact of certain PCSFs may not be the same for firms in the retail sector and firms in the manufacturing or agricultural sectors. Previous studies have confirmed that financial performance is a function of firm characteristics. Performance varies from small to medium-sized and large firms, from industry to industry, and with managerial profile. Similarly, the perceptions of SMEs about the impacts of various external and internal factors on their performance vary from firm to firms. Large firms put a greater emphasis on external environmental factors (techno-regulatory) than their smaller counterparts.The existence of an important relationship between firm size and a critical success factor - i.e. techno-regulatory changes - shows that firms of different sizes perceive the impact of some factors differently. Thus, any small business assistance, be it financial or educational, should take the size of the firm into consideration in designing assistance policies and programmes. However, the type of industry and the legal form of a business do not have an important relationship with the critical factors. SMEs' perception of PCSFs is somehow similar across industry and form of organization implying that an integrated SME assistance support can be designed for all sectors and forms of ownership. An interesting relationship was found between owner status and PCSFs. Owner managers, part-owner managers and professional/employed managers perceive the impact of marketing, investment analysis, socio-economic issues, techno-regulatory changes, managerial background, managerial actions and customer relationships differently. This calls for another investigation of why owners, part owner-managers and salaried managers perceive problems differently. This investigation may lead to the preparation of special training packages for managers of different status in the company. Managerial experience is also related to the perception of techno-regulatory changes and HR development. Highly experienced managers evaluate and understand business problems differently from those who are inexperienced. Firm age is also significantly related to many PCSFs. The citizenship of owners is also somehow related to socio-economic and customer related critical issues. This shows that small business assistance programmes should be designed effectively address to the problems of firms of different sizes, managerial status, experience, and age and owner citizenship.Finally, the study found important relationships among the PCSFs themselves. For example, problems related ro working capital management have a strong association with problems under the investment analysis category. Although this does not show any causal relationship, the direction of their relationship is clear. Problems in working capital management may increase the likelihood for the firm to experience investment analysis related problems or vice versa. From these relationships one can understand the need to address problems of SMEs in a holistic manner, rather than employing a fragmented approach of addressing only a few problem areas and neglecting the others. The traditional approach to designing assistance programmes and policies for SMEs in Botswana is fragmented and not sufficiently comprehensive to address the basic problems and were not based on an empirical investigation of actual problems affecting their performance. Even today, the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), the much admired business support agency in Botswana, focuses largely on financial assistance. Only little attention has so far been given to other areas of assistance like the provision of customised entrepreneurial training and education and new business incubation programmes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine perceived critical success factors (CSFs) affecting the performance of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their relationship with firm characteristics. The paper also seeks to investigate the interdependence relationship among the perceived CSFs themselves using correlation coefficients.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper is part of a wider study that was designed to investigate the perceived critical success/failure factors (PCSFs) affecting the development of SMEs. The study is based on a review of the literature, which provided a theoretical understanding of both CSFs and firm characteristics. This theoretical linkage was then tested using primary data that were collected through a two-page questionnaire survey of 203 SMEs randomly selected from three cities in the Republic of Botswana. Principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was used to reduce the data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test the relationship between firm characteristics and perceived impacts of selected CSFs, and correlations were used to assess the relationships between the CSFs.\nFindings: - The study identifies ten sets of perceived CSFs affecting the performance of SMEs; statistically significant relationships between the perceived impact of selected CSFs and firm-specific variables, indicating that the perceived impact of CSFs vary from firm to firm depending on their size, age, industry, and management profile; and statistically significant relationships among the selected CSFs themselves.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study relies exclusively on a questionnaire as the data collection instrument, and many respondents were unwilling to participate in the survey. Therefore, it took the authors eight months to collect 203 questionnaires. This forced the authors to make some important changes from the original research proposal.\nPractical implications: - SME managers and advisors should not deal with CSFs individually, but should adopt an integrated and innovative approach to deal with them collectively. This approach should consider SMEs' uniqueness, given that these CSFs are perceived differently depending on firm characteristics. The paper forwards some research and policy implications for designing SME support and promotional interventions.\nOriginality/value: - The paper uses well-established and researched CSFs in the SME literature. To this end, the paper's originality and value lie in the investigation of these factors in Botswana. However, the findings are applicable to most SMEs, since they continue to suffer from the same problems worldwide.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Framework for characterizing the design of VMI systems
|
[
"Vendor relations",
"Inventory management",
"Supply chain management",
"Inventory control",
"Integration",
"Sweden"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of vendor managed inventory (VMI) has gained prominence with the increasing collaboration and integration that is taking place in supply chains. In this collaborative practice, the responsibility for the management of a customer's inventory is reallocated from the customer to the supplier. Among the many benefits that have been suggested to accrue from the adoption of this practice are: improved service levels, reduced lead times and increased inventory turns, reduced stock-outs, improved control of the bullwhip effect, and reductions in costs (Angulo et al., 2004). VMI systems, as well as other related initiatives such as continuous replenishment, quick response (QR), and efficient customer response (ECR), have been implemented particularly in the retailing and apparel industries. These initiatives all share the common goal of striving to improve the efficiency of inventory and demand management in the supply chain (Schary and Skjott-Larsen, 1998; Waller et al., 1999).In different industries and settings, a wide variety of VMI systems have been implemented, encompassing an ample range of products, accessories, and raw materials. There are differences among VMI systems implemented at different stages of the supply chains. In the retail industry, for example, promotions and campaigns are often used to increase sales with the adverse effect of increasing the demand distortion, i.e. the bullwhip effect, in the supply chain (Lee et al., 1997a, b). However, these distortions are not as common in industrial settings, since the demand level is often set by a dependent demand based on the customer's production capacity (Pohlen and Goldsby, 2003). Hence, the challenges of VMI systems implemented in different industries and at different stages of the supply chain can be expected to differ. For example, the findings of a study by Kaalsas (2004) of VMI systems implemented in the automotive industry revealed that some of the VMI systems suffered from serious disadvantages due to their design. Accordingly, the benefits as well as the risks and challenges in different types of VMI systems in different contexts for both the customer and the supplier may differ significantly. Consequently, in order for us to be able to study different types of VMI systems we need measures that enable evaluation, categorization, and comparison. Hence, the purpose of this study is to identify the main design dimensions of VMI systems and to propose a framework for the characterization of VMI-system configurations.For the purposes of this study we adopt the definition of \"VMI\" proposed by Hines et al. (2000, pp. 335-55), according to which VMI is a:Collaborative strategy between a customer and supplier to optimize the availability of products at minimal cost to the two companies. The supplier takes responsibility for the operational management of the inventory within a mutually agreed framework of performance targets which are constantly monitored and updated to create an environment of continuous improvement.This definition agrees well with the view adopted in this study, as it emphasizes VMI as a mutual commitment by both the customer and the supplier to collaborate.The paper is structured as follows. First, the research design, data collection and analysis, as well as the characteristics of the research sample, are presented. After this, the different dimensions proposed for VMI systems in previous research are discussed. Here, the most important dimensions for classifying VMI systems are identified. Next, empirical data are used for corroborating the dimensions identified, and a framework for characterizing the different designs of VMI systems is constructed. Finally, the main findings of the study are summarized and suggestions provided for further research in the area.\nMethodology: Research design\nDimensions of VMI systems: In this chapter we will present dimensions that have been discussed in previous research and the dimensions that we found through our empirical analysis.Dimensions discussed in previous research\nProposed dimensions to build a framework: The dimensions were clustered into four different groups in order to find a structure, and the clustering was performed by the authors through logical analysis. The designations of the clusters are: inventory-related dimensions, information-related dimensions, decision-making related dimensions and system integration level dimensions. The dimensions are not arranged within each cluster in a specific order. When analyzing and discussing the dimensions in the workshop, it was concluded that no single dimension could be considered more important than any other and that they should all be taken into account in discussing a VMI system design or when the basis for a VMI agreement is discussed. The empirical data were used to identify different alternatives within each dimension. The alternatives for each dimension are considered to be discrete.Inventory-related dimensions\nConclusions: Previous research has mostly discussed different dimensions implicitly and without proposing any real structure for analyzing different VMI configurations. The purpose of this paper was to contribute a proposed structure for the many setups that could be arranged when establishing a VMI system. We have proposed a framework that was elaborated on the basis of a literature review, combined with empirical analysis of six different VMI systems. We also used a focus-group technique by initiating a workshop with ten different companies to gain industrial insights and to further elaborate the proposed framework. The framework shows that there are a number of different ways to configure VMI systems, and that there are probably system configurations that will limit a supplier's possibility to utilize the information made available through VMI.Interdependencies between the various dimensions are suggested as an area for future research. Some alternatives might, for instance, not be valid when combined with other configuration alternatives, and therefore analyzing these interdependencies is suggested for future research. Also, different VMI system configurations could be analyzed in order to find VMI system configurations that are more optimal than others. Issues such as what affects a supplier's possibility to achieve a higher level of integration and how a supplier is able to utilize the VMI information for his own processes also constitute an interesting area for future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to provide for the research community as well as for the practitioners measures that enable the evaluation, categorization and comparison of vendor managed inventory (VMI) systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this paper, a framework is developed for characterizing the design of VMI systems based on a review of prior research and an empirical investigation of industry-to-industry VMI relationships in Sweden.\nFindings: - The proposed framework incorporates the main characteristics of VMI systems and serves as a tool for profiling VMI system designs and for facilitating the comparison and analysis of different VMI system configurations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The Swedish industrial context in which the framework was tested should be taken into consideration when generalizing upon the findings.\nPractical implications: - VMI systems come in various shapes and setups, as a result of which the challenges related to their operation and management may differ significantly. This study addresses the issue by providing practitioners with a tool that helps them in the design and management of VMI systems.\nOriginality/value: - While categorizations and measures for the VMI systems exist in prior research, this study contributes by synthesizing the existing measures and testing them in empirical setting. The study contributes particularly to the research on VMI systems but also more broadly to the supply chain management research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Factors influencing the choice of financial advisor by women stock investors in Punjab: An empirical study
|
[
"Women",
"Demographics",
"Factors",
"Financial advisor",
"Stock investors"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The participation of women in financial activities is increasing day by day. It is mainly because of the fact that women these days are better educated. With an increase in the education level of women, they have become one of the world's most powerful economic forces, not only in terms of their spending power but also in terms of their share of wealth ownership. Their involvement in business and finance has increased rapidly in the past few decades.\n2. Review of literature: Academic researchers are of the view that financial advisors can help women investors improve their investing behavior through the application of the Transtheoretical model of change. They are of the view that instead of trying to get women to change their behavior instantaneously, the financial advisors can help women move about through the five successive stages of behavior change namely precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance stage. In the precontemplation stage, the women clients either avoid reassessing their past investment decisions or have given up because of the complexity and difficulty involved in making these decisions. In the contemplation stage, the clients intend to take action in the next couple of months after weighing the pros and cons of their investment decisions. In the preparation stage, women consider the imminent action and need a plan of action. In the action stage, they make specific investment decisions, whereas in the maintenance stage, they become confident about their investing abilities and commit to regular investments. The financial advisor helps the women clients to successfully move from one stage to the next and ensure their active participation in investment activities (Loibl and Hira, 2007)\n3. Objectives: Following are the specific objectives of the study:\n4. Rationale of the study: The growing participation of women in investment activities calls for increased attention, advice, terms and deals by women from their financial advisors. The understanding of the attributes that women look for in their financial advisor will help the financial advisors to be mindful of the opportunities and the challenges they have to face while working with women investors. Along with this, studying the impact of demographics on the choice of the investment advisor would enable the service providers to provide women with services relevant to their unique and individual situations.\n5. Methodology: The factors governing the choice of a financial advisor by women investors were examined with the help of a pre-tested, well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first part of the questionnaire was designed to find out the attributes on the basis of which women choose their financial advisor. The respondents were asked to rank the attributes, namely friendliness, financial soundness, quality of advice provided, complaint redressal mechanism, physical proximity and the fees/commission charged in the order of their preference ranging from 1 (most preferred attribute) to 6 (least preferred attribute). The second part of the questionnaire was related to the demographic profile of women investors.\n6. Analysis: The sum of ranks assigned to the various attributes and the Kruskal Wallis test were used to analyze the collected data. Table III shows the ranks assigned to various attributes determining the choice of a financial advisor. The ranks given by the respondents to various attributes were added, and, because the ranks were assigned in ascending order of preference, the attribute with the lowest sum was found to influence women the most (shown in Table III). Therefore, friendliness of the financial advisor and the quality of services provided by him are the most preferred attributes determining the choice of a financial advisor. The finding is in tune with the findings of Fusilier and Mueller (2004).\n7. Results and discussion: The results of the study brought out that the friendliness of the financial advisor and the quality of advice provided by them are preferred attributes determining the choice of a financial advisor. Along with this, the results also state that the preference for the attributes friendliness and quality of advice also varies according to the age as well as the marital status of the respondents. Although, the number of respondents in the group of divorced women and widows is too small, the results of the Kruskal Wallis test revealed that it is mainly the divorced women and widows who consider the quality of advice as a crucial element determining the choice of a financial advisor.\n8. Conclusion: The growing participation of women in investment activities calls for increased attention and advice from their financial advisors. The understanding of the factors influencing the choice of a financial advisor among women will help the financial advisors to target women investors in a better way. Therefore, the current study attempted to identify the most preferred attributes governing the choice of a financial advisor by women investors in Punjab and to explore if there is a significant difference in the choice of a financial advisor based on the demographics of the respondents.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The paper aims to attempt to identify the attributes that women look for in their financial advisor and to examine if the choice of attributes of a financial advisor among women investors in Punjab is the same across demographics. The understanding of the attributes that women want in their financial advisor will help the financial advisors to be mindful of the opportunities and the challenges they have to face while working with women investors. Studying the impact of demographics on the choice of the investment advisor would enable the service providers to provide women with services relevant to their unique and individual situations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A pre-tested, well-structured questionnaire was constructed and administered personally, and the responses of 200 women investors were analyzed. The sum of the ranks assigned by women to various attributes determining the choice of a financial advisor was used to find out the most preferred attribute on the basis of which women choose their financial advisor. The Kruskal Wallis test was used to analyze the impact of demographics on the choice of the respondents.\nFindings: The results of the study brought out that the friendliness of the financial advisor, and the quality of advice provided by them are preferred attributes determining the choice of a financial advisor. Along with this, the results also state that the preference for the attribute friendliness and quality of advice is not the same across age groups. The choice of attributes also varies according to the marital status of the respondents.\nPractical implications: The current study will contribute toward a greater understanding of the attributes which are considered important by women while choosing their financial advisor. The study will help the financial advisors to cater to the needs of their women clients. Moreover, the study will also benefit women by bringing about a positive change in the attitude of the financial advisors in favor of them. The greater sensitization of the financial advisors toward their women clients would lead to greater stock market participation among women, thereby benefitting the society.\nOriginality/value: The paper is an attempt to identify the attributes that women look for in their financial advisor and to examine if the choice of attributes of a financial advisor among women investors in Punjab is the same across demographics or not. Therefore, the study contributes to the understanding of the investment behavior of women.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Dynamics of internationalisation of the hotel industry: the case of Spain
|
[
"Cluster analysis",
"Spain",
"Hotel industry",
"Internationalisation",
"Hierarchical tree",
"Minimal spanning tree"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, the Spanish hotel industry has experienced an explosive growth in its degree of internationalisation. The stages of the development of the industry have involved companies of different size and serving different market segments (Driha, 2011; ECLAC, 2009; Ramon-Rodriguez, 2010). Besides the \"sun, sea and sand\" segment, international expansion of hotel chains has also involved the urban one, as well as the integrated supply of hotels and real estate complexes. Such explosive growth is a consequence of the increasingly solid partnerships of hotel companies with tour operators (Ramon-Rodriguez, 2002) and residential real estate and construction industries (ECLAC, 2009). Nowadays, Spanish hotel companies manage more than 850 hotels and over 200,000 accommodation rooms in 65 foreign countries across the world.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Time and internationalisation process\n3. Hotels and the degree of internationalisation: The degree of internationalisation (DOI) is the way of measuring the extent of a firm's international expansion. A change in DOI can fundamentally alter the knowledge, skills and internationalisation process of a company, and these changes can also significantly influence both domestic and international strategy of a firm (Lin and Liu, 2012). Differences in the degree of internationalisation could affect many aspects of the strategic decision-making process. Thus, analysing the changes in the degree of internationalisation and international strategies could give valuable insights of this process for both insiders and outsiders of the international expansion.\n4. The hotel industry in Spain and its internationalisation: Internationalisation is not a recent phenomenon. In the 1950s, North American hotel firms were already developing \"elite tourism\" activities in Europe. A decade later, mass tourism and low-cost packages entered the market. Spain experienced significant increase in leisure tourism, also because of local companies' know-how in sun, sea and sand tourism that was the basis for tour operators and local investors' ability to compete successfully and develop the lodging industry. Overdevelopment and loss of attractiveness of some of the traditional Spanish destinations, together with the need to increase the bargaining power with tour operators, and the rise of new and alternative tourism destinations particularly in emerging economies (UNWTO, 2003), boosted the global expansion of the Spanish know-how (ECLAC, 2009). The search of increasing benefits, market share, sales and brand image, as well as exploring their competitive advantages abroad and diversifying risks were the main drivers (Ramon-Rodriguez, 2010). The development of this internationalisation process by adapting Vernon's model of product life cycle is pictured in Figure 1 and as follows:\n5. Data and methodology: We will approach the analysis of DOI through cluster analysis techniques. They allow obtaining distinct groups in such a way that hotel chains within the same group have experienced closer DOI than the ones of other groups. The analysis provides insights also about the structure and hierarchy of clusters. To this end, minimal spanning tree (MST) and hierarchical tree (HT) are estimated, based on two different distances between time series, namely, correlation and mean distance. This methodology has yielded useful insights in studying dynamics of stock and exchange markets (Bonanno et al., 2001, 2004; Brida and Risso, 2010a, 2010b; Kaski et al., 2003; Mantegna, 1999; Mizuno et al., 2006), economic growth and convergence (Brida et al., 2011, 2010b) and financial structure of the Spanish hotel industry (Brida et al., 2010a).\n6 Empirical evidence: 6.1 Clustering and dynamics\n7 Conclusions: 7.1 Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims provides an empirical analysis of the development of the internationalisation process in the Spanish hotel industry, which has experienced major changes during the past decade. The degree of internationalisation between 2000 and 2010 is used as a proxy variable with the aim of mapping the development of international strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A longitudinal dataset measuring the internationalisation of Spanish hotel chains is used. Cluster analysis identifies the different behaviour of groups of firms during the analysed period.\nFindings: Two different clusters are detected, which can be attributed to different internationalisation strategies over time. Small and medium (SME) hotel companies seem to follow a different path of development than more established multinational companies. Over time, the entire group tends to be more compact, whereas the distance between the clusters is shown to diverge in final years. The groups' composition suggests that business-networking relationships can be a strategy of particular importance for SMEs pursuing international expansion.\nPractical implications: This paper develops a better understanding of the changes of the internationalisation patterns of Spanish hotel chains. Findings could address managers in strategic decisions about how to improve competitive position. In particular, they recommend accounting for size, international experience and business network relationships when expanded abroad.\nOriginality/value: This paper introduces a new approach based on studying clusters of Spanish hotels according to their internationalisation strategies over the time. Further analysis revealed the role of business network on internationalisation patterns.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effect of atmospheric harmony on re-patronage intention among mall consumers: the mediating role of hedonic value and the moderating role of past experience
|
[
"Sensation seeking",
"Hedonic value",
"Crowding",
"Re-patronage intention",
"Atmospheric harmony"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Modern consumer preferences have taken a shift from traditional retail consumption to mall consumption (Cakmak and Yilmaz, 2018). The western world has witnessed this shift about two decades ago, while this trend is gaining momentum in Asia only recently. Mall consumption has been rising because of the consumers' demands in search of the luxury of shopping and entertainment all under the same roof (Roy, Sethuraman and Saran, 2016), including food courts, gaming zones and cinemas (Bloch et al., 1994). Hence, many people have begun spending their leisure time with their family and friends at malls (Al-Medabesh and Ali, 2016). The literature pertaining to shopping malls exists in multiple domains, including environment (Chebat and Morrin, 2007), value (Stoel, Wickliffe and Lee, 2004), consumer satisfaction (Kim et al., 2015) and consumer retention (Wakefield and Baker, 1998). The interior of shopping malls had been assessed in prior studies (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Donovan et al., 1994; Michon et al., 2008) to highlight the importance of ambient cues in developing a sound and appealing retail atmosphere. Past studies have attempted to determine the effect of ambient cues in isolation. Nevertheless, Garaus (2017) prescribed that instead of perceiving individual cues, consumers tend to form a holistic perception of the environment. This notion is highlighted within the context of the mall in this present study, mainly because a shopping mall is a complex habitat whereby individual environment processing is not possible, as well as the fact that consumers tend to develop a holistic perspective of their surroundings. Due to the massive influx of consumers at shopping malls, human density inhibits their consumption goals (Darley and Gilbert, 1985). Therefore, harmonising the environment is critical for the mall management.\nLiterature review: Theoretical background\nMethodology: Measures\nData analysis: Structural equation modelling was used to test the model fit and to perform hypotheses testing using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). As the main mediator, which is hedonic value, is a second-order formative construct, the estimation of the measurement model was performed using the two-step process via SmartPLS 3 (Ringle et al., 2015).\nDiscussion and conclusion: This present study explored the roles of atmospheric harmony and human crowding, taken together with the sensation seeking attribute of mall consumers, to shape the re-patronage intention in them. The research analysis revealed a positive effect of atmospheric harmony on the hedonic value of the consumers. The findings are in line with the literature (Babin et al., 1994; Chebat et al., 2009; Winkielman and Cacioppo, 2001). Meanwhile, human crowding turned into an obstacle to shopping goals of the mall consumers. This is especially in Pakistan during end sales season, special occasions (religious festivals) and weekend fun; where many people, along with their families and friends, head towards shopping malls and cause dense human crowding, in which the feeling of suffocation limits their consumption and further exploration. Michon et al. (2005) proved that human crowding minimised shopping time and exploration due to stress (Machleit et al., 2000).\nTheoretical and practical implications: This present study evaluated the role of atmospheric harmony in shopping malls, which offer a complex environmental stimulus to its consumers. This study incorporated sensation seeking and past experience of the mall consumers keeping in view that mall consumption is not merely affected by its environment. The inclusion of sensation seeking was to determine if, in the mall context, consumers' intrinsic tendencies and their past experience with the consumption can enable the development of re-patronage intention. This study weighed in individual consumers. Furthermore, this study considered the multidimensionality of hedonic value, hence, the application of the two-stage method for both reflective and formative constructs in SmartPLS, to ensure both the reliability and validity of the constructs (Hair et al., 2012; Wilson and Henseler, 2007).\nLimitations and future research directions: Atmospheric harmony has been manipulated in the retail context. As a shopping mall reflects a huge space, atmospheric manipulation may not be possible. Future research studies may incorporate manipulation of this construct in various sections found in a shopping mall. Future studies may be carried out by keeping an optimum stimulation level as a moderator to identify the inverted-U relationship between atmospheric harmony and hedonic value. Multi-group analysis and individual dimensions of both hedonic and utilitarian values can be empirically evaluated in experimental studies to ascertain the robustness of the research. Additionally, future studies may use the same model across other service industries such as banking, salons and tourism. A multilevel analysis may be carried out to empirically test the effects of atmospheric harmony and crowding across the abovementioned industries. Upon incorporating technology and artificial intelligence into future research studies, the effect of virtual reality and business intelligence on the mall environment could be explored in light of its ambience, consumer engagement and re-patronage intent. Future studies may consider assessing the Wi-Fi security mechanism to enrich a consumer's hedonism and loyalty towards the shopping mall.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study assessed the roles of atmospheric harmony, human crowding and sensation seeking towards hedonic value to determine re-patronage intention amongst mall consumers. Additionally, this study aims to investigate the moderating roles of past experience amidst mall consumers within the context of Pakistan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study data were collected from 334 mall consumers of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi by using the judgemental sampling technique. Data analysis was performed using SmartPLS 3 via partial least squares structural equation modelling.\nFindings: This study revealed that atmospheric harmony and human crowding displayed positive and adverse impacts, respectively, on hedonic value. The sensation seeking tendencies exerted by the consumers displayed no significant impact on hedonic value in light of mall habitat. The hedonic value exhibited a mediating role for the relationships of re-patronage intention with atmospheric harmony and human crowding. Besides, a significant interaction was noted between hedonic value and past experience in light of re-patronage intention.\nOriginality/value: The proposed model embeds hedonic value as a second higher-order construct, apart from amalgamating environmental and psychological factors of the mall shoppers to determine their re-patronage intentions. The study outcomes posit that mall re-patronage intention is built on several factors that offer mall managers an opportunity to enrich the hedonic consumption experience among mall consumers, aside from ensuring their re-patronage intention.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What am I tipping you for? Customer response to tipping requests at limited-service restaurants
|
[
"Restaurants",
"Tipping",
"Customer perceptions",
"Customer irritation",
"Limited service",
"Perceived deservingness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Imagine placing an order at the counter of a limited-service restaurant (LSR) and, while completing your transaction, the payment terminal asks whether you would like to leave a tip. Will you leave a tip? More importantly, how do you respond to being asked to leave a tip before you even receive your food? Although tipping is considered a social norm within many service industries, LSRs contrast full-service restaurants (FSRs; e.g. TGI Fridays, Applebee's), in that they have traditionally not been establishments where customers are expected to tip employees (Lynn, 2016a, 2018). Nonetheless, a growing number of LSRs, such as Starbucks, Panera Bread and Jersey Mike's Subs, have implemented tip requests while customers are completing transactions. For instance, when completing a transaction at Jersey Mike's Subs, the point-of-sale system will prompt the customer to tip by asking \"Would you like to add a tip? [No Thank You, 10%, 15%, 20%, Other].\" This tip request occurs after the customer interacts with the LSR employee to place their order, but before the customer receives their order, has an opportunity to confirm it is correct, and consume their food or beverage. While the motivations and antecedents of tipping behavior have received significant attention across service industries (Azar, 2005; Bujisic et al., 2014; Lynn, 2018, 2019; Whaley et al., 2019), the customer response to tip requests at establishments where tipping is outside the social norm remains underexplored. The current work focuses on customer response to tip requests at LSRs where customers order at the counter, pay for their items before consuming the product and receive minimal to no service.\n2. Theoretical foundation and hypotheses development: 2.1 Tipping in the foodservice industry\n3. Study 1 - the mediating effect of customer irritation: 3.1 Research design\n4. Study 2 - replicating the mediating effect of customer irritation: 4.1 Research design\n5. Study 3 - the moderating effect of check amount: 5.1 Research design\n6. Study 4 - the moderating effect of tip deservingness: 6.1 Research design\n7. Discussion and conclusions: 7.1 Conclusion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Tipping within the foodservice industry has traditionally been reserved for full-service restaurants. However, there is a growing trend of tip requests at limited-service restaurants, where tipping occurs prior to consuming the product. This research aims to examine the effect of a point-of-sale tip request at limited-service restaurants on return intentions via customer irritation. It also aims to analyze the moderating effects of check amount and perceived deservingness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Four online scenario-based experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants were recruited from MTurk for all experiments (NStudy 1 = 152; NStudy 2 = 296; NStudy 3 = 206; NStudy 4 = 134).\nFindings: Studies 1 and 2 suggested a negative impact of presenting a tip request on return intentions, with customer irritation as the underlying mechanism. Study 3 found the indirect effect was significant only when the check amount was low. Study 4 found that perceived deservingness of a tip also moderated this effect; the indirect effect was significant only when customers felt the employee did not deserve a tip. The effect was attenuated when customers felt the employee deserved a tip.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the underexplored area of tipping behavior in the limited-service context. The findings contrast extant research on voluntary tipping at full-service restaurants, thus advancing theory by suggesting the consequences of tip requests are contextual and providing practical insights to limited-service establishments contemplating whether to begin requesting tips.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Toyota in crisis: denial and mismanagement
|
[
"Automotive industry",
"Crisis management",
"Crisis resolution",
"Leadership",
"Strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"We are now at the start of what may become the most dramatic change in international order in several centuries ... What we are facing isn't the single shift of corporate leaders ... as much as an avalanche of ceaseless change ... creating unprecedented disruption and dislocation\" (Ramo, 2009).In essence, corporations may be entering a period of unprecedented crises, from the airline industry to the mining industries. When a corporate crisis approaches, it is much easier to seize and act upon it early, but it must be realistically recognized. Once a corporate crisis has passed through the threshold of the initial pre- (preliminary) crisis, it is much more difficult to act effectively and thus the opportunity to more easily deal with it passes.Worldwide crises, from a global environmental crisis to a loss of national identity, are impacting corporations. Additionally, the world is truly becoming a corporate, interrelated marketplace, with walls, both physical and psychological, falling, barriers collapsing, boundaries blurring, and technology flattening the overall landscape, and at the forefront is the consumer-centric age (Friedman, 2008). Friedman, 2006 refers to this phenomenon as a triple convergence of the elimination of all walls, ceilings and floors to create a new flat world platform. Pink (2005) describes this as a seismic - though as yet undetected - shift now under way ... moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic big-picture capabilities of the Conceptual Age. The corporate leader's implications in managing a crisis in this new age are, indeed, complex and surreal in comparison to previously existing conditions.In today's triple-convergence world, virtually every corporation in every nation can expect a crisis to be on the horizon. The constant potential of crises has also taught the corporate world that a crisis can occur with little to no warning, anytime and anywhere. It can happen to any corporation, large or small, at every state of development, in every industry, and operating locally, nationally or internationally. It is, in other words, the safest of assumptions that a crisis looms on the horizon of every corporation. This has been referred to as a \"Black Swan.\" situation. This condition is an improbable and unnerving event with three basic characteristics: it is unpredictable; it causes massive impact; and after the fact, an explanation is concocted or invented that makes it appear less random and more predictable than it was (Taleb, 2007).However, \"Black Swans\" are not necessarily bad news - merely reality. If corporate leaders will accept this, then they will be in the right frame of mind to accept the contention that forms a basic premise of this article: with proper advanced contingency planning and preparation, and appropriate recognition and response, there can often be a positive opportunity side to a crisis.Fink (1986) has identified four distinct phases of a corporate crisis paradigm - focusing on the pre-crisis, acute crisis, chronic crisis and crisis resolution stages. These phases provide the analytical foundation for the present case analysis. Utilizing the Fink paradigm, the objective of this article is to explore the efforts necessary for successful corporate crisis management, particularly when consumer safety threatens the reputation of the corporation. The case analysis focuses on corporate leadership of the infamous Toyota 2009-2010 defective acceleration recall, or lack thereof, shown in an effort to deal effectively with the evolving crisis.\nConceptual framework: Nature of crisis management\nBrief history of Toyota: The Toyota Motor Company was established in 1933 as a Japanese domestic truck manufacturer. In 1945, Toyota entered into automobile manufacturing. By the mid-1950s, Toyota had initiated its international marketing efforts based on a philosophy of localizing research, development, design and production of its vehicles to meet local government standards and local market needs and wants. By localizing production, Toyota was able to build long-term relationships with local suppliers, vendors and labor. By the end of the 1960s, Toyota was developing a worldwide presence with manufacturing facilities in Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, Malaysia, and the USA.In 2001, Toyota adopted a Code of Conduct, known as the \"Toyota Way 2001,\" designed as a guideline for all employees (Liker, 2004). The Toyota Way statement incorporated 14 principles:1. Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals.2. Create continuous process flows to bring problems to the surface.3. Use \"pull\" marketing distribution and promotion systems to avoid overproduction.4. Level out the manufacturing workload.5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems to get quality right the first time.6. Recognize standards as the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.7. Use visual control so problems are not hidden.8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves people and processes.9. Develop corporate leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.10. Have exceptional people and teams who follow the company's philosophy.11. Respect the extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.12. Personally overview issues to thoroughly understand the situations.13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options, and then implement decisions rapidly.14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.Today, Toyota continues to be positioned as a world leader in the manufacturing of automobiles, measured both in unit sales and in net sales.\nThe crisis situation: Toyota's pre-crisis stage began in the fall of 2007 when the firm recalled 55,000 automobiles for floor mats that ran the risk of sliding forward and trapping the gas pedal. This floor mat and gas pedal issue became a public concern when in August 2009 a 2009 Lexus suddenly accelerated out of control, hit another car, fell down an embankment and caught fire. By October 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had initiated nine separate investigations into claims of acceleration by Toyota automobiles during the previous decade. Toyota announced that month that it was recalling the floor mats on 4.2 million vehicles, and company officials instructed dealers to remove the gas pedal and shorten it so it would not interfere with the floor mats.In January 2010, Toyota officials announced a second recall of an additional 2.3 million vehicles because of continued problems with the gas pedal. Toyota claimed the second recall was unrelated to the floor mat recall, but also announced that 1.7 million Toyota vehicles were affected by both recalls. This second recall accounted for over 50 percent of Toyota's US annual sales. That same month, Toyota officials announced that 2 million vehicles in Europe were recalled for the same problem (Brennan, 2010). As of January 2010, Toyota officials had recalled approximately 4.2 million vehicles for the pedal entrapment/floor mat problem, and an additional 2.3 million vehicles for the accelerator pedal problem. By January 2010, 34 deaths were alleged due to the pedal entrapment/floor mat problems over a ten-year period (Schepp, 2010).\nCrisis stages and Toyota mistakes: Pre- (Preliminary) crisis stage\nSummary and conclusions: Ralph Waldo Emerson counseled, \"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.\" Crisis management in an organization can often be a positive 'new trail' for a corporation if responsible leaders will reflect true leadership skills, seize the opportunities available to make a difference in the corporation and the lives of the stakeholders they are called upon to serve, and throughout this exciting journey remember that \"in the arena of crisis management, of successful managerial corporate leadership, corporate leaders can be a very great many.\"Whether or not Toyota corporate leaders have successfully forged a new trail by addressing the crisis will not be known for some time. But what was obvious was that crisis management did not seem to be in the Toyota's leadership thinking. Was Toyota's response atypical or would it be typical for any corporate leadership team? Unfortunately, such corporate responses as those of Toyota may be too familiar. A slow initial pre-crisis response, minimizing the acute crisis through foot-dragging on the product recall, poor communication with the public about the problem in the chronic crisis stage, and too little compassion and concern for consumers adversely affected by the product during the crisis resolution may too often be typical.Today, Toyota is working on processes to engage the voices of stakeholders around the world to inform corporate leaders in a timely manner of potential problems. Sales regions have been given more local authority. Finally, corporate leadership has created an Automotive Center of Quality Excellence and created a new corporate position for product safety. None of these corporate decisions will recover the over $2-billion the recall cost Toyota in direct costs for repairs and upgrades to existing models, as well as, litigation costs. But hopefully, in the long run these decisions may help to restore Toyota's reputation and ensure a healthier financial future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to address the importance of effective crisis management, and the commensurate lessons to be learned from the Toyota Corporation's denial of malfunctions on a number of different Toyota brands of vehicles during the period 2007-2010. The case analysis identifies key opportunities the Toyota Corporation had to minimize the crisis by acknowledging the issues and being transparent in its decision making. The article addresses the difficulty now faced by Toyota, previously recognized as the world's leading manufacturer of automotive vehicles, to re-establish the consumers' trust.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A crisis, typically considered to be a negative issue, can be a positive event in the life of a corporate firm, such as Toyota, if the corporate leadership involved seizes the opportunity to make appropriate changes in its operations. The crisis management paradigm that is the focus for this case identifies four stages of a crisis - the preliminary (pre-) crisis, acute crisis, chronic crisis, and crisis resolution. The present crisis deals with several different malfunctions that were identified, apparently by customers, in various Toyota brands, but publically ignored by Toyota's management. Therefore, the pre-crisis stage was not appropriately dealt with by Toyota, and the firm was thrust into an acute crisis that evolved into a chronic crisis. A brief overview of the historical development of Toyota is presented, and a case analysis of the crisis situation in which the firm is now involved is presented in some detail.\nFindings: - It was concluded that Toyota is now in a very difficult position in the chronic crisis stage due to the failure of its corporate leaders' willingness to acknowledge the malfunctions of its vehicles and take corrective actions early in the crisis.\nOriginality/value: - This is an excellent example of crisis mismanagement by a previously recognized world leader. This treatise includes a pervasive focus on the strategic lessons that should be learned from Toyota's experience.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Strategic dialogues for research policy making in Germany
|
[
"Foresight",
"Strategic dialogue",
"Research policy",
"Stakeholder alignment",
"Scenario planning",
"Germany",
"Innovation",
"Strategic planning",
"Governance",
"Management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The challenge of transferring foresight results: Through research policy, governments provide a foundation and framework for research, set focus areas, and thus ultimately shape the future. The success of research policy is dependent on the alignment of a broad range of relevant stakeholders from academia, industry, politics, and society. It is essential to reach a common understanding about current challenges, potential future paths, and the necessary steps to move forward based on an overall perspective that integrates individual stakeholders' points-of-view. Given the crucial role of research output in the global competitiveness of countries, in securing employment and in reaching and setting benchmarks of innovation capability, effective alignment of stakeholders can be regarded as one of the prerequisites for national wealth and well-being.Research policy cannot limit itself to the continued support of established activities and trend lines. Rather, it needs to anticipate future opportunities as well as future societal needs. It is therefore essential to underpin research policy with robust assumptions and a structured view of possible future developments. Foresight activities provide such a view and are therefore a crucial element in a responsible allocation of public funds to research efforts in academia and industry.However, the mere generation of foresight results is not sufficient in itself, even if the foresight process was designed and conducted with maximum care and methodological stringency. Research policy makers do not just require the structured view of the future that foresight activities provide, but also specific information on how this view affects their strategic planning. The key challenge is that research policy makers are not a homogeneous group, even within a single institution, but are rather embedded in specific topics and focus areas within the organizational structure. The relevance of a set of foresight results therefore needs to be explored individually for each research policy making unit. From this, an overall national perspective can be derived.Furthermore, the existing organizational structure in a research policy making institution (such as a government department) reflects earlier priorities and perspectives that may collide with the conclusions drawn from the most recent foresight results. In other words, an organization might have to adapt its structure again and again to optimize its ability to absorb each round of foresight results and act on them.In addition, the integration and implementation of foresight results may also require the creation of new infrastructure for interdisciplinary research. This is an area that tends to be overlooked when research policy making only focuses on defining new research topics.In this paper we demonstrate how existing approaches for transferring foresight results into strategic planning can be applied to research policy making. We present a seven-step process that is suitable as a generic framework for defining the most appropriate approach to a given situation to support research policy making. Finally, we illustrate the process with three examples from Germany and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research related to transferring results from foresight and similar strategy processes into research policy making and research infrastructure creation.\n2. Lessons from earlier work: The challenge of transferring foresight results into strategic planning is well known in a business context. Using the adaptation of businesses to sustainability considerations as an example, Cagnin and Loveridge (2011) discuss challenges as well as detailed models and processes. They describe how a business can become more and more receptive to foresight results, and how the necessary changes can be captured and measured in a management framework. They also discuss the contributions foresight can make to the management system at different stages of development (cf. Table 3 in their paper).Specifically with respect to research policy development in Germany, Meister and Oldenburg (2008) argues that both foresight and subsequent transfer activities have to be constructed as dialogue processes involving all relevant stakeholders. With his summary of the key results of foresight activities in Germany in the early part of the last decade, he also illustrates once more their wide-ranging and interdisciplinary nature and hence the need for an active and carefully designed transfer to research policy making.If the transfer of foresight results is essentially a dialogue process then the question arises which established models and methods are suitable for such dialogues. Welp et al. (2006) have investigated this area for science-based stakeholder dialogues. Their analysis is relevant because the motivation and the challenges of those dialogues tie in with those of transferring foresight results, including the call for greater impact of results as well as greater accountability for the generation of those results. Welp et al. (2006) contrast science-based stakeholder dialogues with other types of dialogues. In an overview, they cover:* science-based stakeholder dialogues - initiated by scientific institutions with the aim of increasing knowledge and understanding as well as ensuring societal relevance;* policy dialogues - initiated by policy makers to gain public support (not to be confused with the process of developing policies in the first place);* multi-stakeholder dialogues - for governance on an international level, for example in the environmental area; and* corporate dialogues - initiated by businesses to communicate in the context of supplier networks and with society as a whole.Dialogues used for transferring foresight results into research policy development do not fit any of these categories even though individual characteristics show a certain overlap. In our work, we use the term \"strategic dialogues\" to describe such processes. They are wide-ranging dialogues initiated by political sponsors of foresight activities and similar strategy processes and involve stakeholders from politics, academia, industry and society. The overall aim lies in making foresight results as usable and useful as possible in the work of research policy makers and in turning the transfer into an integral part of policy development. Generally, similar types of strategic dialogues can be employed as a method whenever consensus views of complex and controversial issues need to be generated based on constructive debate and mutual trust, but in this paper we restrict ourselves to their discussion in the context of research policy making.To what extent can the theoretical foundations described by Welp et al. (2006) for the four types of dialogues in their discussion be applied to strategic dialogues? Welp et al. (2006) consider three theoretical frameworks to derive effective methods and techniques in a range of dialogue situations. Table I their relevance to strategic dialogues for transferring the results of foresight activities and similar strategy processes into research policy development.\n3. The situation in Germany: To support research policy development the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) conducts Foresight and related strategy processes. In addition, a number of other activities are oriented towards identifying and analyzing areas for future research and technology, including some that use a mission-oriented approach within the framework of societal needs defined by the so-called \"High-Tech Strategy\".To ensure success and impact of these activities on the innovation system strategic dialogues are used, both during the process of creating consensus views of future developments and during their translation into research policy and the creation of research infrastructure.The main objectives of a strategic dialogue are the joint review of previous results, the definition of general conditions to push invention and innovation, the identification of potential constraints that might stem from economical, technological or societal implications, an assessment of the relevance for basic education and advanced training as well as the consideration of ethical and legal aspects. An efficient transfer of foresight results has to be secured proactively to grasp the opportunity to consciously shape future research in a competitive and dynamic environment. The context is dynamic and drivers as well as trends are only partially known. At the same time, diverging interests, opinions and agendas pose challenges to the new and still crystallizing ideas contained in foresight results.Details of the optimum approach depend on the subject matter as well as political considerations. Key results of strategic dialogues are the development of recommendations for the BMBF as input for future research policy. Additional results might be community building between stakeholders from various disciplines in academia as well as strengthening of networks between academia and industry.\n4. Characteristics and use of strategic dialogues: As a highly flexible tool, strategic dialogues have been employed on multiple levels in the process of research policy development: Firstly, strategic dialogues have helped to overcome the necessarily limited perspective of individual units within an organization such as a federal ministry by connecting units with each other in a loose network where ideas can be discussed and explored in a safe environment, supported by neutral facilitation. Secondly, strategic dialogues have been conducted on a larger scale involving outside stakeholders, typically from academia, industry, and society in addition to politics, combining their perspectives at an early stage to explore promising pathways for politic decision making. Stakeholders from academia might, for example, include university departments, scientific networks, non-university research organizations, polytechnics, and academies. Industry stakeholders may be small to medium-sized enterprises as well as global multinational companies, industry associations or research partnerships. Society can be involved, for example in the form of pressure groups, think tanks, trade unions, religious organizations, and charities. Finally, beyond the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, other governmental institutions might need to be involved, for example other federal ministries, state governments and district and city councils.Relevant stakeholders from politics need to be identified at the beginning of the process to ensure their involvement in initializing the strategic dialogue and clarifying relevant issues and expected results. External stakeholders are being identified in the course of the process based on input from political stakeholders complemented by input from our own research as well as established networks into academia and industry.In a heterogeneous field of stakeholders, contrarian interests and different value propositions might be encountered. Therefore, it is essential to create an atmosphere of mutual understanding where different perspectives are being honored amongst the stakeholders involved. This can be achieved by neutral and experienced facilitation. Language problems and lack of trust can also become issues that require the intervention of an \"interpreter\" and the conscious facilitation of cooperation leading to agreement on binding rules for all parties. Transparent information and communication is also crucial and requires managing content and channels while taking into consideration the needs of various stakeholder groups.While strategic dialogues are tailored to the characteristics and requirements of stakeholders and research areas there are recurring patterns in the context of research policy making that can be structured in a seven-step framework shown in Figure 1 and described in the following sections.4.1 Step 1: Clarification of goals and scope\n5. Illustration with recent examples: As outlined above, strategic dialogues consist of recurring standard elements that are combined and tailored depending on the subject as well as the specific requirements of the client. The following three examples outline specific cases of application and demonstrate the power of strategic dialogues as an instrument for a broad range of subject areas in the context of national research policy making.These are not presented as full case studies due to the sensitivity and confidentiality of certain aspects. They are intended as illustrations of the framework outlined above and they show the application of this dialogue approach in a range of different situations.5.1 Strategic dialogue to transfer results from the BMBF Foresight process\n6. Conclusions: Strategic dialogues have proved to be an effective and efficient instrument for achieving the transfer of results from strategic processes such as Foresight into research policy making. They trigger and facilitate opinion-forming processes within political institutions and involve other relevant stakeholders in a wide-ranging dialogue to deal with societal challenges.From the perspective of research policy makers, strategic dialogues provide the missing link to transfer the results of foresight and similar strategy processes into research policy making. They ensure that foresight results are processed into a form that is directly useful as an input for policy development. They also help to create a joint vision for the future and to shape supporting infrastructure measures. Also, they result in the creation of new informal networks within the BMBF, between BMBF units and external stakeholders, and among external stakeholders. These networks persist beyond the end of the actual dialogue and can facilitate the interplay of actors in research as well as research policy.Through our work we have come to the conclusion that a carefully designed transfer of foresight results into research policy making would be beneficial in a wide range of situations, not just in Germany but also within the EU and internationally.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The mere generation of foresight results is not sufficient in itself to influence research policy. Research policy makers need specific information and insight on how the structured view of the future provided by foresight affects their strategic planning. Therefore, deriving the maximum benefit from foresight activities requires a carefully designed and actively driven transfer process of foresight results into research policy making. This paper aims to present such a process (\"strategic dialogue\") and illustrate it with recent examples from Germany.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors compare strategic dialogues with existing dialogue instruments and investigate the relevance of their theoretical foundations to transferring foresight results into research policy making. They capture the lessons learnt from such dialogues in a seven-step process that can be adapted to specific situations. Specific success factors are identified and linked to the process.\nFindings: - Strategic dialogues have proved to be an effective and efficient instrument for achieving the transfer of results from strategic processes such as foresight into research policy making. They ensure that foresight results are processed into a form that is directly useful as an input for policy development. They also help to create a joint vision for the future and to shape supporting infrastructure measures.\nOriginality/value: - The transfer of foresight results into research policy making has not featured prominently so far in discussions of foresight efforts and methods. However, it is a crucial element in ensuring that such activities have maximum impact.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The role of the organization in the entrepreneur-opportunity nexus
|
[
"Entrepreneurship",
"SMEs",
"Opportunity recognition",
"Entrepreneurial orientation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurs have the peculiar ability of recognizing and evaluating external circumstances that can potentially combine in a new product or service, enabling the creation of new economic activity (Davidsson, 2015). When the entrepreneur's ability meets an opportunity, future goods and services are brought into existence (Venkataraman, 1997), and a new venture is born. The three factors of this equation, namely the entrepreneur, the opportunity and the new venture, are also the three main perspectives of academic interest in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur represents the human factor of the equation. Scientific research has focused on several factors, such as distinctive traits, attitudes (Zampetakis et al., 2009) and competencies (Mitchelmore and Rowley, 2010), that can help identify entrepreneurs. However, \"to have entrepreneurship, you must first have entrepreneurial opportunities\" (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). Thus, the market opportunity represents the second perspective of academic interest. Scholars have proposed theoretical and empirical advances on the definition, nature and source of opportunities (Alvarez and Barney, 2007; Davidsson, 2015; Shane, 2000; Shane and Venkataraman, 2000), and their role in the decision-making process that defines entrepreneurial action (McMullen and Shepherd, 2006). The third perspective, the startup, is the outcome of the entrepreneurial activity. The academic interest focuses on the factors that can influence the survival and growth of the venture, such as management decisions (Davila and Foster, 2005), managerial capability (Zinger et al., 2001), strategic alliances (Neyens et al., 2010) and the level of innovativeness (Hyytinen et al., 2015). Some studies explore the role of entrepreneur's characteristics in firm's performance, such as social network connections, industry experience (Gruber et al., 2013; Lechner et al., 2006) or entrepreneur's creativity (Baron and Tang, 2011). In general, after the creation of the new venture, the attention shifts away from the entrepreneur while his role morphs into a managerial one (Busenitz and Barney, 1997; Stewart et al., 1999). It is easy to understand that the vast majority of past research is based on the undisclosed assumption that entrepreneurship is a linear process. First, when an entrepreneur meets a market opportunity, then a new venture is born. Finally, after creation, the entrepreneur fades away or morphs into the founder/manager of his/her own firm. We argue that entrepreneurship can also follow a cyclic process. The entrepreneur can retain his/her peculiar ability after the creation of a venture. Therefore, it is still possible for him/her to meet another opportunity. In other words, is the entrepreneur still entrepreneurial while managing his own firm? The purpose of this paper is to test this research question.\nThe individual-opportunity nexus: The attempt to define the theoretical construct of entrepreneurship as an academic discipline and to distinguish it from other fields of study has sparked debate (Shane and Venkataraman, 2001). The late 1990s marked a turning point in the definition of entrepreneurship, and an important separation from other disciplines began. Venkataraman (1997) proposed entrepreneurship as a field of study with a domain, separate from research in business management and organizational strategy. In total, four major themes of research were proposed: opportunities, individuals and work teams, the business organization and the general context (Busenitz et al., 2003). In particular, the concept of opportunities is closely linked to the definition of entrepreneurship as a process to discover, evaluate and exploit opportunities to create new products and services (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). However, a growing appreciation of the role of opportunity discovery in the entrepreneurial process (Venkataraman, 1997) does not mean that there is consensus on what opportunity is or how to study it (Buenstorf, 2007; Klein, 2008; Sarasvathy et al., 2003). Research surrounding the opportunity concept includes a rich multitude of theories, such as creation theory, discovery theory, social cognitive theory, structuration theory, coherence and affect theories and organizational learning theory (Short et al., 2010). These theories cluster around three main philosophical schools of thought about entrepreneurial opportunity. The allocative school of thought proposes opportunity recognition as part of an economic process that re-allocates resources with the aim of improving market efficiency. In this case, an opportunity recognized by an agent (entrepreneur) is an objective possibility of putting existing resources to a better use and reaching a market equilibrium (Sarasvathy et al., 2003). Viewing the opportunity as part of an allocative process implies that, ex ante, all economic agents are equally equipped to detect such opportunity. The discovery school of thought proposes that opportunities arise from knowledge asymmetries caused by human activity, such as market shocks, scientific and technologic discoveries, and shifts in policies and regulations (Holcombe, 2003; Shane and Eckhardt, 2003). Endogenous sources of information create agent-specific and time-specific opportunities whose discovery depends upon prior knowledge and other assets (Shane, 2000). Finally, the creative process school of thought proposes that opportunities are the endogenous product of non-rational economic actors (Buchanan and Vanberg, 1991). In this view, opportunities do not pre-exist, but they get created by the interaction of economic agents seeking to operationalize their beliefs and values into products (Alvarez and Barney, 2007; Sarasvathy, 2001). In sum, entrepreneurial opportunity introduces an elegant concept to explain entrepreneurial activity, but, at the same time, it triggers a debate about its definition and nature.\nResearch method and analysis: Sampling\nResults: Data analysis is performed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis (Sanchez, 2013), which is appropriate for models that include latent constructs (Hair et al., 2012). As our data include one observation at an individual level matching another observation at an organizational level, hierarchical linear model analysis is not required (Raudenbush and Bryk, 2002). The PLS-SEM approach is especially suitable for this research for two reasons. First, PLS-SEM can capture the normative implications of the total system of variables and clarify the entire model (Schuster and Holtbrugge, 2014). Second, the PLS-SEM algorithm transforms non-normal data in line with the central limit theorem (Hair et al., 2012), making the results robust when skewed data are used (Cassel et al., 1999). These advantages are very important for the study, as it aims at estimating a model of simultaneous relationships. Figures 3 and 4 show the reflective measurement model coefficients resulting from the PLS-SEM analysis on the two groups (entrepreneurs and managers). The significance of the path coefficients was estimated using bootstrapping with a recommended sample size of 500 (Chin, 2003). Tables IV and V report the structural model coefficients and the corresponding 95 percent confidence intervals (95% CI) for the two sub-sets. Sobel tests were conducted to test for the significance of the mediating effects (James et al., 2006; Mackinnon et al., 2002; Preacher and Leonardelli, 2001).\nDiscussion: This research aims to study the entrepreneur-opportunity nexus in the context of an existing organization. In particular, this paper is guided by overriding questions: does the organization play any role in the entrepreneur-opportunity nexus? In other words, are the entrepreneurs still entrepreneurial while managing their firm? If so, what is the role of the firm? Moreover, what are the differences between managers and entrepreneurs? Below we summarize the answers uncovered by this research and explore the implications.\nConclusion: Overall, the results provide support for the proposed theory and for the multilevel approach. The mediating role of a firm's strategic posture explores new aspects of the entrepreneurial process, thus confirming the necessity to approach the study through harmonizing \"polyphonic\" models that can shed light on effects that would be otherwise neglected (Moroz and Hindle, 2012). These results provide input for the improvement of extant theories.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Entrepreneurial and strategic actions are crucial for wealth creation, and the business opportunity is a critical factor in this process. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the firm's strategic posture in the relationship between individual alertness and opportunity identification within an existing firm. This approach contributes to entrepreneurship theory building through a multilevel study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The quantitative research focuses on understanding the mediating role of an organization's strategic posture in the opportunity identification process. Using a sample of 276 firms, this study tests a two-level model to explain opportunity identification.\nFindings: The findings provide empirical evidence that a firm's strategic posture mediates the relationship between individual alertness and opportunity identification. Furthermore, this study finds differences in the mediating role of a firm's strategic posture through which entrepreneurs and managers affect opportunity identification. Years after the creation of startup, the entrepreneurs still exhibit entrepreneurial characteristics that affect opportunity identification. The findings provide evidence that entrepreneurs foster an internal culture and set of values that are more favorable to radical innovation, compared to managers who favor incremental and less risky projects.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest the possibility for new theory building that can improve the fields of entrepreneurship and management research. Moreover, the proposed model constitutes a new approach to analyze the mediating role of an organization's strategic posture in the opportunity identification process.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides an original approach to literature in exploring the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and firm's strategic posture in explaining the opportunity identification process. This work will help expand the theory building that explores differences between managers and entrepreneurs in organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exploring the contribution of formal and informal learning to academic staff member employability: A Dutch perspective
|
[
"Informal learning",
"Employee development",
"Human resource development",
"Academic careers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of life-time employability implies that individual employees become more accountable for investments in their own human capital and, hence, for their own job security, learning and career development (Forrier and Sels, 2003). The current economic environment, characterized by ever-increasing market pressures, leaner organizations and rapid changes has forced working organizations to become more flexible in order to remain competitive (Greenhaus et al., 2008), and this has implications for individuals' present-day career development. A central tenet in current career theories is that in so-called \"new careers\" the promise of employment security is said to be replaced by employability (e.g. Fugate and Kinicki, 2008; Hallier, 2009). Workers' employability (career potential) is obtained through the acquisition of knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics that are valued by current and prospective employers (Fugate and Kinicki, 2008; Van der Heijde and Van der Heijden, 2006), and, hence, can be regarded as an important factor in understanding career success in the contemporary career era (Hall, 2002). However, to date, the research on employability and career success has mostly developed parallel to one another, implying a lack of insight into how employability and career success are related to each other (Van der Heijde and Van der Heijden, 2006). In addition, little research investigated the combined effects of organizational and individual initiatives in the light of employability enhancement (De Vos et al., 2011).\nLearning and employability: Formal and informal learning\nMethod: Research setting\nResults: Participation in formal and informal learning activities\nDiscussion: Reflection upon the outcomes\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Little attention has been paid to the employability of academic staff and the extent to which continuous learning contributes to academic career success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of formal and informal learning to employability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were obtained from 139 academic staff members employed at the Open University in the Netherlands. The questionnaire included employee characteristics, job characteristics, organizational context factors, formal learning and informal learning and employability variables.\nFindings: Informal learning, such as networking and learning value of the job, appeared to be solid contributors to employability, while the impact of formal learning activities was far less significant. Further, the study revealed the impact of employee and organizational context factors upon informal learning and employability. Age, salary and learning climate appeared to be strong predictors for informal learning, while promotions were shown to be highly positive contributors to employability.\nPractical implications: The findings stress the value of informal learning, although human resource policies that encourage both formal and informal learning are recommended.\nOriginality/value: Academic careers comprise an under-researched area and the same applies to the relationship between learning and employability in the context of these types of careers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The moderating influence of product orientation on coordination mechanisms in total quality management
|
[
"Total quality management",
"Contingency perspective",
"Product orientation",
"Structural equation modeling",
"Quality management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The existing total quality management (TQM) literature has examined how quality efforts are coordinated within and across firms (Powell, 1995; Black and Porter, 1996; Flynn et al., 1995b; Kaynak, 2003). This literature base identified two groups - intra-organizational coordination mechanisms and inter-organizational coordination mechanisms to be vital in TQM implementation. Examples of the former category include design management, process management, benchmarking, training, and information management (Forza and Filippini, 1998; Grandzol and Gershon, 1998). Examples of the latter include customer focus and supplier quality management (Deming, 1986; Kaynak, 2003; Spencer, 1994). Past studies have examined coordination mechanisms in TQM (Badri et al., 1995; Wilson and Collier, 2000; Flynn and Saladin, 2001; Prajogo and Sohal, 2003) and yet few studies have addressed how coordination mechanisms interact and the manner in which these interactions could vary under different contextual conditions (for exceptions see, Jayaram et al., 2010; Sitkin et al., 1994; Sousa and Voss, 2008). In particular, product orientation, which has been defined as the process by which a provider makes a product and enhances value for the customer (Melnyk and Denzler, 1996) could moderate the relationship between organizational coordination mechanisms and inter-organizational coordination mechanisms on quality performance.\n2 Theoretical support and hypotheses development - baseline model: The importance of considering inter-organizational links while deploying strategic initiatives is grounded in the organismic view of organizations that has been proposed in the organizational theory literature. Coordination theory has also addressed this issue by arguing that task dependence (for instance on the quality effort) can also explain the alignment of organizational and inter-organizational linkages. The organismic view acknowledges inter-organizational links with customers and suppliers of a manufacturing firm to be integrally associated with effective execution of the firm's intra-organizational processes. Examples of such processes are design of products and processes, production, and distribution of products. Proponents of the organismic view argue that organizations do not operate as isolated entities but constantly interact with their environment (Katz and Kahn, 1966). This dependence necessitates integration of the external entities (such as suppliers and customers) with organizational processes to ensure the success of TQM (Thompson, 1967). An integration of the organismic view and coordination theory could explain effective TQM implementation (Ashmos and Huber, 1987; Crowston, 1997; Deming, 1986; Malone and Crowston, 1994; Thompson, 1967).In this paper, an integration of the organismic view and coordination theory is used to propose a research framework that investigates the determinants of quality performance at the plant level (Figure 1). According to this integrated perspective, customers and suppliers are viewed as extensions of organizational processes. This view has support from past TQM literature. For example, researchers have suggested that organizations must adapt to expectations of customers and choose suppliers whose outputs match their technical specifications (Kordupleski et al., 1993; Leenders and Fearon, 1997). However, managing these \"external links\" pose special challenges. Of the different types of coordinating mechanisms that can be pursued, the problem of identifying specific mechanisms that are likely to positively influence quality performance is challenging. Examples of such coordinating mechanisms could include: gathering customer-related data, transmitting customer-related data to manufacturing, evaluating suppliers' quality capabilities, and developing long-term relationships with suppliers. Specific tactics of managing these links require rigorous empirical verification. Another topic of interest is to investigate whether the choice of coordinating mechanisms is context-specific. In particular, could product orientation moderate the influence of coordinating mechanisms on quality performance/this question is addressed in this paper.2.1 Coordination theory and coordination mechanisms\n3 Contingency model: 3.1 Contingency theory\n4 Research methodology: The hypotheses and propositions presented in this study were tested using data from automotive parts industry. The unit of analysis is the plant as plant managers of manufacturing firms provided information about TQM implementation. A survey of plant managers from a single industry (automotive parts suppliers in the USA (SIC 3714)) was first pre-tested on 100 US plants in this industry. Using the feedback from the pre-test, suitable modifications to the wording of the survey were made. All 1,400 plants (after removing the 100 plants that responded to the pre-test) were sent the revised survey originally followed by a second wave of surveys sent to those plants that did not respond to the initial mailing. Responses from 508 plant managers (corresponding to a 36 percent response rate) were received. However, excessive missing responses reduced the final sample to 446 plants (net response rate of 32 percent).Table II summarizes the profiles of our sample respondents. The responding plants represented a good cross-section of the auto-parts industry in terms of size, product, and process type. Four characteristics are reported in Table II, size, annual sales, extent of unionization, and product orientation. As can be seen from this table, our average sample firm is medium sized (as is typical of most firms in the auto supplier industry); has moderate sales volume; is unionized and tends to have a product orientation of MTO (although there is a fair number of firms who pursue the product orientation of MTS as well).The seven TQM implementation constructs used in this research framework comprised of 36 items from the survey instrument which were developed and validated based on other studies (Flynn et al., 1995a; Forza and Filippini, 1998). These items are presented in Table III. In addition, we measured the TQM outcome performance metrics separately, as \"product quality\" and \"process quality\" constructs. Since this research focuses on quality practices with regard to \"primary products\" manufactured by firms (suppliers) in the automotive components manufacturing industry (SIC 3714) for other manufacturers (customers) in the upper echelon of the supply chain, traits of aesthetics, and serviceability are less pertinent compared to traits such as performance, durability, and reliability. An automotive parts supplier must cater to products that have tight specifications from their OEM customers who prescribe product design features. Thus, the following five relevant dimensions of product quality: functionality, reliability, conformance, durability, and perceived quality of the product were included in this study.Process quality was operationalized using two measures - scrap rate and rework rate as was done in prior TQM research (Ahire et al., 1996). Process scrap includes defective, unusable units and materials remaining after processing raw materials. Scrap increases the cost per unit of good product and has been considered as a critical component of cost of quality (Juran, 1979). Rework rate measures the proportion of total production that has to be re-processed due to non-conformance of specifications. As the same units have to be re-processed to attain acceptable quality level, rework also leads to escalation in cost (Chase et al., 2006). Both scrap and rework have been extensively used in quality management literature to measure process quality (Flynn et al., 1995b; Griffin, 1988).The plant managers of the responding firms rated each item for all constructs (except supplier quality management) with reference to the major product (based on annual sales revenue) manufactured at the plant. The pre-tests of our instrument indicated the comfort levels of respondents in answering the questions with respect to a major product and even when the major product did not contribute very high percentage of the total sales revenue. The respondents suggested that similar quality practices would also apply to a majority of major products (a pattern similar to the 80-20 rule). Items for the supplier quality management construct were evaluated with respect to a critical component of the major product (critical for functional quality of the end product at the downstream customer). Again, the pre-tests indicated that respondents would apply similar supplier quality management tactics to their prominent and critical purchased parts. Each item on the customer focus, supplier quality management benchmarking, internal quality information usage, design management, and process management constructs was assessed on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) Likert scale anchored at 4 (neutral). Product quality was rated on a scale of 1 (worst) to 7 (best) with respect to the competition for each item with an anchor at 4 (average relative performance). The process quality scale asked for the actual scrap and rework rate percentages for the primary product. For the purpose of analysis, these were transformed into a logarithmic scale.Finally, the plant managers were asked to categorize the production orientation of their major product into one of the following three groups: MTO (primary mode of production in response to firm orders), MTS (primary mode of production to stock for future sales), or a combination of both. The final sample consisted of 446 plants (including 249 MTO plants, 131 MTS plants, and 66 plants indicating use of both production modes). The measurement model (Section 5.1) and baseline model (Section 5.2) were tested using all 446 plants. The 66 plants that reported both product orientations were excluded from the contingency analysis (Section 5.3). It may be noted that product orientation was defined with reference to a product level of analysis. Thus, the same firm could potentially follow a MTO orientation for some of its products and MTS orientation for others. The contingency model results test the moderating role of product orientation in the network of TQM relationships for a specific product in a firm (and not for all of its products). Thus, the 249 plants that identified themselves in the MTO category used MTO as the primary mode of production for their major product while the 131 plants that identified themselves in the MTS category used MTS as the primary production mode for their major product. The remaining 66 plants used both strategies to satisfy the demands for their major product.\n5 Analysis and results: 5.1 Measurement model\n6 Discussion: 6.1 Baseline model findings\n7 Conclusions: This study used theoretical arguments from the organismic view of the firm and coordination theory to propose a baseline model linking organizational and inter-organizational coordination mechanisms on quality performance. Also, contingency theory arguments were used to propose that product orientation moderates the relationships laid out in the baseline model. This is one of the first papers to propose and find significant findings for the moderating influence of product orientation on the coordination mechanisms-quality performance relationships. This suggests that the way quality improvement efforts are managed in firms has some common components that do not depend on product orientation, but also have some unique linkages that do depend on product orientation. Thus, the findings from this paper inform both managers and academics on a new way of looking at product orientation-specific effectiveness of coordination mechanisms in TQM implementation.As with any empirical study, this paper has some limitations. First, the findings are based on perceptual measures of quality efforts and outcomes through the use of seven-point Likert scales. However, standard precautions of ensuring content validity, pre-testing and sticking to one industry were taken to ensure that this does not pose any reliability or validity problems in responses. Second, the unit of analysis in this study was manufacturing plants. Most quality management studies have been conducted at the plant level, though it should be used with caution as some business-unit or overall corporate-level strategies could be more drastically affected by the contingency being considered. However, in this study, the \"product orientation\" context clearly differentiates the challenges faced in MTO and MTS firms and the effectiveness with which their strategies influence positive quality performance outcomes. So plant-level analysis should be a good indicator of corporate-level differences between MTO and MTS firms. The findings from this study will enable MTO and MTS firms to implement their respective quality management programs more effectively and efficiently. Third, due to the comprehensive testing of the path model, the fit indices for both the CFA and path analyses were lower than the recommended threshold of greater than 0.9. This is a limitation and this can also be attributed to the conservative approach taken of not deliberately correlating error terms (without theoretical justification) that could have improved the model fit. Rather, the unadjusted fit indices were reported.As extensions to this paper, it is suggested that other contingency variables such as national culture, nature of the quality tasks, lean management variables and size be included as potential moderating variables. On a theoretical level, one examination could be whether the blending of coordination theory and organismic views of the firm could help explain quality improvements in contexts other than North America and Europe. The emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China are making tremendous economic progress that includes a strategic focus on the quality of products and services. It will be interested to note if the baseline model holds true in those economies and also the role of the identified moderating variables in their contexts. This study was largely restricted to manufacturing environments and thus, an extension of the framework could be the examination of the same relationships in service firms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to verify whether product orientation (make-to-order versus make-to-stock) affects how coordination mechanisms combine to influence quality performance in total quality management (TQM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors used survey response data from a large sample of single industry respondents (auto supplier industry) to test the research model.\nFindings: - The study found support for the idea that organizational and inter-organizational coordination mechanisms influence product and process quality performance. Moreover, significance of many of these linkages varied according to whether the product orientation was make-to-order or make-to-stock. The study is one of the first to suggest that the influence of select coordination factors on performance can vary according to product orientation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study suggests that plant managers may pursue different approaches to implement select coordination factors (not all) according to whether their product focus is make-to-stock or make-to-order.\nPractical implications: - The research isolates those select coordination mechanisms which have significantly different performance effects in one product orientation environment (make-to-order) versus another (make-to-stock). Managers interested in TQM implementation can gain insights into those select coordination mechanisms identified in this study that could positively enhance product quality and process quality performance.\nOriginality/value: - To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that has examined the contextual influence of product orientation on the relationships between select coordination mechanisms in TQM implementation and their impact on process and product quality.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Shielding or engaging: the use of online shareholder platforms in investor relations
|
[
"Investor relations",
"Engagement",
"Social media",
"Online communication"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: We currently have a large position in APPLE. We believe the company to be extremely undervalued. Spoke to Tim Cook today. More to come(Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) on Twitter, August 13, 2013).With just 134 characters, the well-known American investor Carl Icahn managed to drive up tech giant Apple's stock by as much as USD17 billion. A mere fluke? Perhaps - and yet, Icahn's foray into social media-based activism may be indicative of a larger trend: innew media research, the uses to which a medium can be put from a user's perspective have been termed its \"affordances\" (Treem and Leonardi, 2012). These affordances are contingent upon both the users' desires and capabilities and characteristics of the medium, such as access or functions. In this instance, the social media platform Twitter afforded Carl Icahn with uses such as influencing investor perceptions and sentiment as well as impacting the attention, intentions and communications of a corporation's management. These affordances were based on the reputation and wealth of the specific user just as much as the public nature, ease of use and publication, speed, and connectedness of the online platform. Accordingly, social media are held to offer a range of participatory affordances to both lay and professional users (Tufekci and Wilson, 2012).\nLiterature review: The strategic role of IR\nMethodology: In late 2014, IR representatives of 410 corporations listed on the Zurich, Frankfurt and Vienna stock exchanges were invited by e-mail to participate in an online survey. Given that leading European providers of online shareholder platforms are situated in Switzerland and since regulatory debates have garnered comparatively high attention for online shareholder platforms in that country, representatives of all 230 companies listed in the Swiss Performance Index were considered in the sample. To broaden the scope, all companies listed in the German Prime Standard (30 blue chips listed in the Deutsche Aktienindex DAX; 50 member of the MDAX index, 50 members of the SDAX index and 30 members of the TecDAX index) as well as all 20 blue chips listed in the Austrian Traded Index we also included in the sample. Contacts for the heads of the respective IR departments were collected from corporate and stock exchange websites. In total, 82 IR officers chose to participate in the survey (overall response rate of 20 percent, with the response rate in Switzerland and Austria at approximately 40 percent, in Germany 22 percent), yet not all filled out the entire questionnaire. As Figure 2 shows, all indices considered are broadly represented representation in the sample, due to the sample population, a majority of participating companies are situated in Switzerland.\nResults: Table I presents the results of the multiple linear regression analysis, Table II summarizes the hypothesis tests. In line with previous findings on ICT adoption (e.g. Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990), we find that larger corporations commanding more resource are more willing to invest in online shareholder platforms as an innovative new communication tool (H1). We partly confirm that a dispersed shareholder base increases corporations' willingness to adopt online shareholder platforms: a large free float (H2a) positively and significantly affects corporations' willingness to pay, yet we do not find a significant effect for geographical dispersion (H2b). This may be due to the fact that there is little cross-border experience for some platform affordances such as e-voting at the annual shareholders' meeting.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Corporate communications are embedded in an ever-evolving socio-technological environment: as information and communication technologies change, social norms and practices adapt - and corporations are faced with the challenge of updating communication processes, tools and structures to stakeholder demands. Interactive online platforms, social media platforms in particular, provide a salient example of such a socio-technological evolution: the participatory affordances of these platforms allow stakeholders to access information and discourses, publish commentary and demands, reach out to like-minded individuals and organize interventions. Most studies on these participatory affordances and its effects on stakeholder engagement focus on the political domain. Here, a range of empirical studies have shown that many users are willing to employ platforms to exert influence over the public and policy agenda (Foot and Schneider, 2002; Pasek et al., 2009; Towner and Dulio, 2011; Wattal et al., 2010). Political agents, in turn, are eager to reach out to critical audiences and to tap into stakeholder resources through online platforms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze antecedents of listed corporations' propensity to adopt online shareholder platforms. It differentiates two strategic investor relations (IR) frames, shielding and engaging, and explores their effect on ICT adoption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Findings are based on a survey of 82 corporations listed on the Swiss, German and Austrian stock exchanges. The authors apply multiple linear regression analysis to test a multi-faceted adoption model.\nFindings: The authors find that resource constraints, familiarity with online media and efficiency considerations drive listed corporations' willingness to adopt online shareholder platforms. Beyond these operational antecedents, strategic considerations significantly affect adoption: IR functions geared toward shareholder engagement are more likely to apply interactive platforms, while IR departments geared toward shielding the corporation from shareholder interventions will be less attracted to the participatory affordances of online media.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is limited in scope to corporations listed on the Swiss, German and Austrian stock exchanges and cannot account for antecedents distinct to other regulatory environments.\nPractical implications: IR functions need to carefully develop and apply communication strategies, which in turn will inform ICT adoption. The authors find that IR departments geared toward a two-way symmetrical communication model are more attracted to the participatory affordances of online platforms. Thereby, they are more likely to innovate by employing current digital applications.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to research on the benefits of digital media to two-way symmetrical and dialogic corporate communications. It is the first study to explore these relationships in the context of IR. It further contributes to research on the strategic role of IR by developing and applying two distinct strategic frames to the subject of ICT adoption in IR.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Analyzing relationship between ERP utilization and lean manufacturing maturity of Turkish SMEs
|
[
"Enterprise resource planning (ERP)",
"SMEs",
"Factor analysis",
"Correlation",
"Lean production"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Nowadays, companies are continuously looking for ways to improve their performance and stay competitive in their markets. The impact of global competition forced all of the contributing partners in the supply chain to optimize its own areas of interest. In this respect, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and lean production applications are important not only for big companies but also for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) to cope with competitors and to add value to supply chain involved. The latest reports released by Turkish Statistical Body (TUIK) reveal that 65 percent of overall production and 85 percent of employment deployed in Turkey are by SMEs (TUIK, 2012).\n2. Literature review: Focus of literature survey is decomposed into three basic research areas. As mentioned before, the first part is looking into details about analyzing performance of ERP systems, and their utilization. In this section, studies, which explore use of ERP by SMEs and measuring effectiveness of use, are presented. In second sub-section, selection of lean tools that reflects adherence to lean philosophy is initially discussed. After this, some empirical studies applied in automotive industry to determine maturity of leanness are presented. Additionally, studies which focus on survey design on lean tests are explained. In this last part, contradiction between ERP and IT is discussed. Then, effects of ERP use on different business functions such as supply chain management (SCM), business performance (BP) are analyzed. Finally, studies about ERP systems, which support lean production that are deployed and convergence of ERP systems to lean philosophy with proving relationships in between, are explained.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Establishment of research model\n4. Survey results: The conceptual framework of the present study suggests that ERP modules have factors that may describe overall system utilization in the best manner. Additionally, it is also noted that lean production requirements have their own levels, and listing them as a whole is not enough to reflect core effects of lean implementation. Finally, interaction between specific ERP modules and lean application parameters are up to analysis, if ERP packages that supports lean are investigated. For these conceptual requirements, survey results are clustered not according to the analysis type, but considering analyzed factors.\n5. Discussion and conclusion: The key aspects of this research are its sole focus on the SME segment, the ERP implementation performances on module integration, the adherence of these SMEs to lean production principles, and determining relationship between ERP module utilization and lean production.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how effective Turkish small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) use enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in module aspect and to assess the adherence to lean manufacturing requirements. Obtaining each efficiency result separately is not adequate to make an inference about relationship between ERP and lean practices. Hence, a relational model is developed to analyze correlation between use of ERP and lean manufacturing implementation in white goods manufacturing SMEs of Istanbul, Turkey.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The examination of the proposed conceptual framework is made by statistical analyses. In parallel, leveling efficiency of each enterprise requires an expert analysis in order to obtain a fair comparison. Hence, authors have visited each facility to evaluate performance of ERP efficiency and lean manufacturing applications. In Istanbul region, 53 of total listed SMEs are visited. The questionnaire survey is designed by considering different scales of performance. Exploratory factor analyses and various correlation analyses are applied to figure out relationship between ERP use and lean manufacturing.\nFindings: Interaction with rapid development of information technology (IT) and progress in modern production management strategies have emerged. Obtained results show that Turkish SMEs have widely initiated lean production practices. However, applications are in initial level in the most cases. In respect to ERP systems, enterprises are more active, some basic modules are extensively used. Another finding of this study implies that effective usage of specific ERP modules can contribute toward applying lean principles, vice versa.\nResearch limitations/implications: The whole sample space of white goods SMEs could not be covered due to the fact that, each facility is visited and field studies are done. However, sample size calculations prove that attained feedback is statistically significant (adequate) to reflect sample space.\nOriginality/value: The literature studies reveal that there is an obvious lack of studies which focus on relationship between ERP use and lean manufacturing. Finding such a correlation helps IT-practitioners to design ERP modules by assessing related requirements of lean philosophy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Inclusive growth through creation of human and social capital
|
[
"Social capital",
"Human development",
"Human capabilities",
"Development",
"Developing countries",
"Malnutrition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper focuses on socio-economic factors that determine economic prosperity of a nation. National prosperity includes all; none can be excluded from benefit of economic growth. This study analyses inclusive growth that refers to the pace and pattern of growth, and investigates the socio-economic determinants of growth. Policy makers of developing economy are now much more interested on inclusive growth approach than the earlier pro-poor growth approach. The prime aim of the inclusive growth approach is to create opportunities for all and the benefit should reach all sections of the society. Inclusive growth approach is a long run perspective focusing on increasing productive employment opportunities for all, not on direct income redistribution as means of increasing income for excluded groups. Inclusive growth is a broad-based emphasizing on policies that remove constraints to growth and create a level playing field for investment such that it allows people to contribute to and benefit from economic growth (Ali, 2007; Ali and Son, 2007; Ali and Yao, 2004; Ali and Zhuang, 2007; Fernando, 2008; Lin, 2004; McKinley, 2010; Zhuang, 2008). Inclusive growth is concerned with the overall welfare of the society. Inclusive growth emphasizes the idea of equality of opportunity in terms of access to markets, resources and regulatory bodies for business and individuals.\n2. Model: The representative household produces output, y, using composite capital, k. The intensive production[6] functional form is: (Equation 1)\n3. Specific case studies: Case 1: consider a situation where people are living at the below subsistence level of consumption (C\n4. Empirical observations: This section provides some empirical support for the above said model based on cross-country study. This paper tries to show that: first, schooling (human capital formation) improves through rising government consumption; second, schooling develops trust; and third, income level increases with rising social capital and improvement of human capital. The government consumption share, trust in people (see Inglehart et al., 2004 for details), and average years of schooling 1990 are mainly considered here as productive consumption, social capital and human capital, respectively.\n5. Policy: Productive consumption should be a good policy for the development of underdeveloped countries if it truly enhances the human capital of that country. In LDCs, productive consumption is a crucial policy for development of human capital that concretizes social capital. The policy makers should focus those forms of social capital, which will noticeably improve the economic prosperity of distressed communities, and the economic inclusion of deprived, disadvantaged and marginalized individuals.\n6. Conclusion: Inclusive growth is concerned with the overall welfare of the society. The paper focuses on the process of expanding social and economic opportunities for all. This paper identifies and prioritizes the factor of inclusive growth and focuses on ways to raise the pace of growth by creating opportunities for all groups through relevant social aspects. This paper explains the formation of social capital through development of human capital which is generated through productive consumption and examines its contribution to economic development. The economic growth rate improves and overcome low-level equilibrium trap through inclusive growth process. As a result, social and human capital rises. Overall economic growth rises with accumulation of social and human capital. The prediction of the model is examined empirically for a cross-section of countries and has substantial support in the chosen sample data. More rigorous empirical investigations are needed in future for region/country-specific policy formulation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse inclusive growth that focuses on the creation of opportunities for all. Inclusive growth allows people to contribute to and benefit from economic growth, while pro-poor growth approaches focusing on welfare of the poor only to reduce inequality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Social capital forms with the development of human capital through schooling. Educated individuals are interested in dialogue and conversation. Interaction enables people to build trust, confidence and cooperation, to commit themselves to each other (i.e. reciprocity), and thereby to knit the social fabric. This study deals with the formation of social capital through development of human capital that is created through improvement of schooling and/or social inclusion. Creation of human and social capital is the basis for inclusive growth.\nFindings: Recently, economics literature incorporates social capital for explaining regional disparities. Economic development of country depends on the impact of social capital which includes social culture, norms and regulations that promote economic reforms and development activities. Social capital forms with the development of human capital through schooling.\nResearch limitations/implications: More detail regional levels data are required for empirical findings.\nPractical implications: This paper definitely suggests a clear policy for inclusive growth model in less developed regions/countries. Briefly and specific few policies are suggested as: first, improve productive consumption providing nutritional intake to all the excluded people of the society; second, dismal the social blocking and create the base for bridging social capital formation; third, improve school enrollment and strengthen the feeling of togetherness; fourth, design school curriculum as per need base; and fifth, develop institutions and improve capacity building.\nSocial implications: The Government expenditure policy should be focused more on productive consumption rather than unproductive consumption. The government should concentrate on the development of education and health sectors.\nOriginality/value: The inclusive economic growth process overcomes low-level equilibrium trap. The predictions of the model are examined empirically for a cross-section of countries and have substantial support in the chosen sample data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The shopping experience of female fashion leaders
|
[
"Shopping centres",
"Fashion",
"Women",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Canada"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The decline of the regional shopping centre is regularly discussed (Gulli, 2004). The emergence of power and lifestyle centres was not without collateral damage to the traditional shopping mall. Shopping centre operators are fighting back with innovations such as concierges to improve customer service, designing living-room-like spaces for relaxation, and upgrading food courts in an effort to extend both the length and frequency of shopping trips.Mall managers and retailers increasingly acknowledge the positive impact of retail atmospherics on shopping behaviour (Chebat and Michon, 2003; Stoel et al., 2004; Laroche et al., 2005). While malls originally enjoyed an enviable position in the suburbs and faced little opposition (Stockil, 1972), they have now reached maturity and are competing with newer power centres (Simmons and Hernandez, 2004), urban entertainment centres (Kooijman, 2002), lifestyle centres (Hazel, 2005b), and hybrids (Monroe, 2003). Real estate developers have devised creative strategies to breathe new life into the aging mall format (Bodzin, 2003; Feldman, 2004).Fashion is becoming the mainstay of enclosed malls. Facing aggressive competition, regional and super regional malls rely more than ever on branded fashion merchandise. A store count in major shopping malls in the Montreal and Toronto areas shows that more than 60 percent of non-anchor stores specialize in apparel, accessories and footwear. At least three out of four target female shoppers. Some mall operators are courting luxury retailers such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo or even Hermes (Moin, 2006). The pursuit of upscale fashion implies an understanding of the fashion-oriented consumer. Apart from selecting and matching tenants, mall developers can also offer fashion shoppers a retail environment that will have a positive impact on shopping behaviour (Stoel et al., 2004; Laroche et al., 2005). This study investigates how the mall environment influences the behaviour of female fashion leaders and followers.\nConceptual framework and research hypotheses: Mall perception\nMethodology: Mall intercept\nResearch findings: Model building\nDiscussion: Fashion cluster membership moderates shoppers' emotional and cognitive processes. The path relationship model shows that fashion leaders respond very differently to the mall environment. The latter exerts a stronger influence on fashion leaders' hedonic shopping experience and approach behaviour, than it does on fashion followers and laggards. Furthermore, mall influence on fashion leaders' hedonic value is direct and is not mediated by any mood shift. Fashion leaders, contrary to followers and laggards, experience a great deal of personal involvement when shopping and are more likely to engage in cognitive processes. Other shoppers are not as much involved with fashion and will not process the retail environment with the same cognitive intensity. Followers' and laggards' mood may be likened to Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) peripheral route for processing environmental cues in low involvement situations. Traditional retail atmospheric research supports this point of view (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982).Fashion leaders patronize stores on a more frequent basis and spend more on clothing (Goldsmith and Flynn, 1992) which in turn, makes them more familiar with retail and mall environments. Cue familiarity has been shown to carry meanings, evoke memories and past experiences, and stimulate cognitive processing (Chebat et al., 2001; Spangenberg et al., 2005). The mall environment also plays a non-negligible role helping fashion followers to achieve shopping objectives and strengthen loyalty. Fashion followers' hedonic shopping experience may be mood driven while that of fashion leaders is triggered by higher involvement cognitive processing. Depending on shoppers' fashion motivation, the shopping mall might be a fun place to be or serious matter for one's self-concept.\nImplications and future research: Fashion leaders thrive on shopping as a way of acquiring fashion knowledge (Gutman and Mills, 1982). For the fashion leader, mood is not an antecedent to hedonic value; the mall visit is purposeful, and meaningful cues must be present in the environment. As fashion leaders move through the mall, giant, flat panel LCD displays can be used for marketing and information purposes (Dennis and Newman, 2006; Summerfield, 2005). Similarly, interactive kiosks that offer the latest fashion trends and information (Chandiramani, 2002) might be effective. While Goldsmith and Flynn's (1992) study showed that fashion innovators who attend fashion shows often purchase the featured merchandise, a more recent study by Parsons' (2003) suggested that fashion shows are not an effective promotional method because they do not increase spending or mall visits. Further research in this area is required.This study shows that female fashion followers' and laggards' shopping experience may be mood driven. Compared to fashion leaders, laggards' and followers' mall shopping experience is more emotional and a peripheral route for processing environmental cues would likely be appropriate (Petty et al., 1983). In order to appeal to this group, regional mall owners and developers should focus on arousing a pleasurable shopping experience. Pine and Gilmore (1998) emphasize the importance of engaging and entertaining the consumer in creative and compelling ways. Barbieri (2005) states that in order to remain competitive, shopping centres have been incorporating family entertainment attractions and themed interactive experiences into their retail mix. These elaborate and high cost ventures are in addition to existing services such as concierges, elaborate lounge areas, baby sitting services and play areas; these services are designed to make the shopping experience more pleasurable, increasing time spent in the mall. In addition, some mall operators are encouraging their retail tenants to ensure that window displays and visual merchandising are compelling and use drama (Hazel, 2005a).Female fashion leaders visit the mall with a shopping mission in mind and fashion followers and laggards just need to have fun as part of their fashion shopping experience. Regional mall owners and developers can successfully devise strategies that target both markets.The research was conducted in only one fashion-oriented shopping mall. Further research replication would be needed in order to generalize findings. Other mall format (lifestyle, entertainment, power centres) are likely to draw different shoppers and trigger other responses. Considering the sample size for each fashion clusters, the model is stretched to the limit. A larger sample would have no effect on the model identification, but would certainly reduce sampling errors (Kline, 2005, p. 110).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore how the shopping mall environment impacts on hedonic and utilitarian shopping experiences, and approach behaviour of fashion leaders and followers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Fashion shoppers' response and behaviour has been modelled in an invariant multigroup latent structural path analysis. Paths were initially constrained and then released as required. More than 300 usable questionnaires were acquired from a mall intercept in a regional urban middleclass shopping centre. Participants were probed on their attitude about fashion, perception of the shopping mall, present mood, shopping value and approach behaviour toward the mall.\nFindings: - The mall environment directly influences fashion leaders' hedonic shopping experience and approach behaviour. Fashion followers' hedonic shopping experience may be mood driven, while that of fashion leaders' is triggered by higher involvement cognitive processing.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study was carried out in one fashion-oriented urban mall in Montreal, and should be replicated to other locations and markets. A larger sample would allow the inclusion of additional constructs.\nPractical implications: - Mall owners and developers might appeal to fashion leaders through offering services that will speed up their shopping trip, using high-tech methods to convey fashion information and by branding the mall. Fashion followers and laggards are likely to respond to experience-oriented strategies that make their shopping trip more pleasurable.\nOriginality/value: - Although fashion consumer groups have been studied from various perspectives, no research was found that investigates the integrated shopping experience of fashion shoppers in a shopping mall setting. This study fills the void.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Longitudinal analysis of corporate real estate practice: Changes in CRE strategy policies, functions and activities
|
[
"Real estate",
"Working practices",
"Activity based management",
"Estimation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate real estate management (CREM) first appeared on the research agenda in 1980's. At that time, the focus of the research was to gain a broad understanding of how the corporate real estate (CRE) resource was managed within large organizations (Zeckerhauser and Silverman, 1983; Bon et al., 1987; Veale, 1989)[1]. These studies tended to take a positivist stance looking for evidence of \"good\" management practice and were principally based on the analysis of questionnaire surveys, supplemented with qualitative interview data. The conclusions reached from these studies highlighted concerns that CRE was under managed and organizations were not able to exploit its full value or potential.The early 1990s saw a shift in emphasis where researchers started to examine particular elements of the management process. Research themes included examining the link between the organization's strategy and its CRE strategy (Norse and Roulac, 1993; Gibson, 1995) and the development of performance measurement systems (Duckworth, 1993; Bon, 1995). In some instances these papers attempted to develop CRE theory with reference to management literature (Duckworth, 1993; Norse and Roulac, 1993) and others grounded CRE knowledge on case study material (Bon, 1995).During the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was recognized that as organizations experience change, so do their CRE requirements (Gibson, 1999, 2001; O'Mara, 1999; Gibson and Lizieri, 2001). There was a need for CRE strategy to be responsive to organizational and environmental change, which in turn had an impact on the way in which CRE was managed. In particular the technological revolution that changed the processes of work also influenced the design and management of the workplace environment. The flexibility inherent with the introduction of new technologies made possible the separation of work, the activity, from the location of work and this would impact on the demand for space within the portfolio.The need at a strategic level for organizations to understand the possible impacts on the property portfolio of workplace change remains a current research concern. Whilst change of the workplace is being implemented and the management rationale supporting this change is well documented (Duffy, 1990; Apgar, 1998; Vos and Voordt, 2001; Joroff, 2002) the implications for the management of the portfolio remain theoretical rather than evidence-based (Gibson, 2001; Gibson and Lizieri, 2001). This paper investigates the changes that have been observed in the CRE policies, functions and activities in practice over the last decade, during the 1990s and 2000s.The research undertaken in the CRE field has tended to draw on limited amounts of data. In general, survey-based research reports observations at particular moments in time, on the issues that are of current concern to the industry. Any comparison of the findings from one survey with another, meta data analysis, is flawed because of inconsistent questions and survey populations. Case study data inherently has properties that inhibit generalising the findings to a wider population (Manning and Roulac, 1999; Lizieri, 2003). For these reasons, the data from The University of Reading's annual survey of CRE practice is unique in gathering consistent data from organizations over a longer timescale. Although research over the last 20 years has contributed to the development of the field, we are now at a stage when longitudinal analysis of CRE practice from a consistent dataset can usefully give insight into the relationship between past, present and indicative directions for future CRE practice.\nAnnual survey of CRE practice: The annual survey of CREM has been undertaken at The University of Reading since 1993 and in conjunction with Johnson Controls Incorporated (JCI) since 1997. With CoreNet's support the survey has been distributed widely amongst its membership by post and since 2002 on the internet, to gather CRE practice data from an international audience. The survey has been administered by questionnaire with new questions added intermittently to reflect changes in CRE practice, leaving the core questions unchanged. This has ensured continuity in the dataset. Some results from this data have been reported annually (Bon, 1995; Bon and Luck, 1998, 1999a, b, 2000, 2001; Bon et al., 2002, 2003).Rationalising the dataset\nCREM policies, functions and activities: The survey gathered data on the CREM policies, functions and activities undertaken by organizations. The questionnaire included a list of 32 variables and the respondent was asked whether these were \"business as usual\", a \"new initiative\" or \"not done at all\" within their organization. To prepare the data for analysis these responses were reduced to a binary response. The \"business as usual\" and \"new initiative\" responses were both positive, yes they were undertaken. Adding the responses from these groups together organised the data into a format that could be analysed. The \"not done at all\" was the negative response, when this function was not undertaken by an organization. To reflect the changes in CRE practice and more recent CREM policies, functions and activities undertaken within organizations new variables were added to the questionnaire: nine new variables were added in 1997; three in 1998; and two in 1999. To retain the integrity of the data between years new variables were added and none of the existing variables were removed from the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaire, the complete listing of variables and the response for each year is given in Appendix 1.Observed change in CREM policy, function and activity\nLongitudinal analysis of CREM policies, functions and activities: The longitudinal analysis of the data was undertaken to establish whether the annual changes in adoption of CREM variables were significant. Using the variables hypothesised to impact on space use and the management of CRE, this data was analysed using a generalised estimated equations (GEE analysis) method.Generalized estimating equations have become a standard method for analysing longitudinal and other correlated response data that includes missing data in a time series (Twisk and de Vente, 2002). The GEE method is particularly suited to the properties of this dataset. Advice was sought on the rationalisation of the dataset from a survey that was known to have a variable population into a structure that could reliably be analysed. GEE dependent data analysis incorporates a within organization correlation option, which matches the method to the characteristics of the dataset, where organizations have responded to the survey twice or more and where there are multiple responses from the same individual within an organization at different points in time.The hypotheses tested by this method were for statistically significant difference in response between years, between market (manufacturing and service sector) and between year and market, for any interactional effect. The analysis was initially on the variables associated with space use and of component 1 (new working practices). The full results are shown in Appendix 2.The results show no significant differences in response due to market sector for any of the variables considered. Even though there were different levels of response from the two sectors, in the data there were no differences in the adoption of these practices by manufacturing and service industry organizations. The absence of any interactional effects between year and market also supports this observation. Although much of the CRE literature and new working practices guidance in particular has focused on the service sector this observation implies that this literature may be relevant to other market sectors. This could be investigated through future research.In the seven variables within component 1, there were three variables which showed a significant difference in response between years: teleworking, e-business and e-procurement. This indicates that although Figure 1 visually showed variation in response between years for all variables, the only variables with statistically significant longitudinal trends were teleworking, e-business and e-procurement. Figure 2 shows this change showing that the adoption of teleworking rose from below 20 per cent in 1993 to a plateau of 70 per cent during 1999-2002. The rate of adoption of both e-business and e-procurement was more rapid. E-procurement has risen from below 20 per cent in 1999 to 83 per cent in 2002 with no evidence of reaching a saturation point.These three variables have implications for the focus of future research. Teleworking has increasingly gained acceptance with 70 per cent of organizations now having a teleworking or homeworking policy. The rate of adoption has been steady from an initial low level. This is not surprising given the management and social factors that have impeded its application (Daniels et al., 2000). However, it now appears to be firmly embedded within organizations and the desire for a more mobile workforce may yet come to fruition. The way space, both within and outside the organization, is used in the future to support work may alter considerably in the next few years as the inertial forces are overcome.The swift adoption of both e-business and e-procurement again is not surprising given the continual drive for cost reduction and speed of response. Both of these have far fewer implications for the workforce as a whole and the employee as an individual when compared to teleworking. However, there are considerable implications for the way space is managed which will be challenged by these relatively new technological based opportunities.Examining other variables within component 1 (new working practices) and variables associated with the technological infrastructure (component 3) there was no statistical evidence of significant change. However, Figure 3 shows what might be considered a \"step change\" within the data. It is unclear whether this was a real change, possibly due to investment or improvement in technology during 1998-1999 period, or whether this is an anomaly of the data. Gibson (1999) found that under investment in information technology was a factor holding organizations back from adopting new working practices with many claiming to be mid upgrading their technology platforms. In any case, additional year's data would help to clarify any real trend.Finally, selecting two variables related to the ongoing management of CRE, Figure 4 shows some variability but the longitudinal analysis cannot discern any particular trend. This may indicate that these management practices have been adopted by the majority of firms (80-95 per cent) and that they have reached a level at which they will not be further imbedded. Again, considering that many of these issues such as property information and performance measures have been discussed in the literature for at least the last ten years, the debate needs to move on from the requirement for such measures to identifying the most appropriate measures within different types of organizations.\nConclusions: It is clear that CREM has changed considerably over the last two decades. The literature has moved from broadly survey-based work on how organizations manage their CRE to closer examination of the impact of business change on the demand for workspace. The research team questioned whether two of the dominant themes from the literature: space use and the way CRE was being managed would reflect the changes in CRE practice over a ten year timespan.The annual CRE practice survey data was rationalised to arrive at a dataset that could be statistically analysed using principal components analysis to investigate whether space use and CREM were components in CRE policies, functions and activities. Both themes were represented in the four highest ranked components. Although space use was separated into two smaller components: new working practices and the technologies that facilitate these practices. E-procurement and e-business, variables not usually associated with these themes were also significant and future research should consider these variables as part of the workplace change agenda.Using GEE analysis the longitudinal trends and changes in CRE policies, functions and activities over the timescale of the dataset were investigated. The three significant changes were increases in the adoption of teleworking, e-procurement and e-business, variables, which previous analysis had identified to be part of the new working practices agenda. This demonstrated that the changes in CRE practice predicted from the literature and through the argument of the paper had occurred in practice and were significant.Property management information systems and computer based inventory systems were variables that throughout the timescale of the survey had a constantly high level of adoption, demonstrating they were stable, core CREM practices. As GEE analysis is a measure of change and because these were constant practices the result of the analysis that these were not statistically significant validated observations of CRE practice.It was also interesting to observe other variables where the longitudinal trends are less certain. In particular the implementation of hotelling activities has changed. This variable was introduced later to the survey and its implementation was initially at a lower level and in more recent years the level of adoption has increased. It is anticipated that in future years its impact on the new working practice agenda will increase. The annual survey of CRE practice has continued support from the industrial sponsor and CoreNet and in the future will continue to gather CREM policies, activities and functions data to monitor these emergent trends and the associations between variables.The dataset was composed of manufacturing and service sector organizations. This research, due to the characteristics of the data, has demonstrated that although much of the new working practice literature and research has focused on the business sector it may also be relevant to the manufacturing sector. The changes in working practices that were observed and demonstrated to be significant have occurred in both the manufacturing and service sectors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To report on longitudinal change in corporate real estate (CRE) practice in the last two decades, in particular, monitoring significant changes in CRE policy, function and activities through the statistical analysis of annual survey data.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A literature review revealed the major themes that have influenced CRE practice in the last 20 years. Applying principal components analysis the annual survey of CRE practice dataset was analysed to identify significant tends in the CRE practices reported by organizations.\nFindings: - A significant overlap was observed between the activities used in practice and the CRE literature, and new working practices were identified as a significant theme. Based on these analyses comment is made on the impact of changes in CRE practice over the timescale of the survey and it was predicted that new working practices will continue to influence CRE practices in the future.\nOriginality/value: - This paper fulfils a need for evidence-based monitoring of CRE practices to give insight into the relationship between past, present and indicative directions for future CRE practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Re-discovering Charles Clinton Spaulding's "The Administration of Big Business": Insight into early 20th century African-American management thought
|
[
"Administration of Big Business",
"African-American management thought",
"Charles Clinton Spaulding"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is quite common for management scholars to make reference to Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, Chester Barnard and other pioneers of the field. However, Management thought leadership from people of African descent is noticeably absent from the management texts and other sources. We can hypothesize about the numerous reasons why the contributions of people of color are not well-known to the masses, but that is not the focus of this article. Instead, it is more beneficial to highlight the significant contributions made by these individuals. One such person that deserves to be featured is Charles Clinton Spaulding (also known as C. C. Spaulding), the son of a farmer and a remarkable thought leader, who is arguably one of the greatest executives in American history and one of the most influential businessmen in Black America. Some of the sobriquets held by Spaulding include \"Mr Negro Business\" and \"Mr Co-operation\" as evidenced in a 1943 article that was published in the Saturday Evening Post.\nCharles Clinton Spaulding: From 1900 until his death in 1952, Charles Clinton Spaulding managed US's largest black business, the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company (Weare, 1981). He brought fame for himself, the company and his city, Durham, North Carolina, which was unofficially known as the \"Black Wall Street\" (Weare, 1981). During his lifetime, he served as the president of a very successful life insurance company, a trustee at various universities, chairman of the board of a large hospital and was invited to conferences in the White House (Spaulding, 1951). Spaulding often stated that his father taught him the most important lesson he learned about succeeding in the USA, \"he believed in the promise of America, which could only be realized by sweat, thrift and enterprise. He never expected something for nothing\" (Spaulding, 1951). This laid the stage for Spaulding as he rose from very humble beginnings to become a successful businessman and significant management thought leader in the USA, and especially in the black community.\nThe Administration of Big Business: In 1927, Spaulding wrote his classic article in the Pittsburgh Courier, which was one of the most widely read newspaper in the African-American community. This article predates Chester Barnard's Functions of the Executive, and gave valuable advice to black executives and entrepreneurs throughout the USA and the African Diaspora. In the article, Spaulding provided eight \"fundamental necessities\" in business administration (management). These necessities are listed below.\nSpaulding's management in practice: Spaulding's style of management stemmed from his Christian faith and spirituality. He once stated that:\nImplications and future inquiry: Today's executives can appreciate Spaulding's advice on the fundamental necessities of management, and emulate the way he actually led his business. His first fundamental requisite dealt with cooperation, as he recognized the importance of working together to achieve organizational goals. Jones and George (1998) described interpersonal cooperation and teamwork as a construct that is increasingly being used to explain differences in competitive advantage and performance between organizations. West and Hirst (2003) noted teamwork and cooperation as essential for innovation. While exploring teams as a building block for organizational learning, Zoltan et al. (2013) acknowledged that the cooperation, exchange of information and knowledge and constant collaboration favored by teams have major consequences on overall organizational performance.\nConclusion: Spaulding's contributions were significant and the title of the Father of African-American Management is a fitting tribute to this business pioneer who overcame the odds to become the most successful black business executive in the early twentieth century. The ideas espoused by Spaulding were well ahead of his time, and the company he managed, the North Carolina Mutual, was a model organization that proved to the world that people of color were capable of achieving greatness. During the Great Depression he once stated:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal the contributions made by Charles Clinton Spaulding, a prominent black business leader in the USA in the early 1900s. This paper highlights the management philosophies and practical work of Spaulding, an individual who considerably influenced African-American management thought and practice, and played an important role in Corporate America from the turn of the twentieth century onward.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research was conducted by reviewing and synthesizing a number of writings including published works by Spaulding himself, as well as articles about Spaulding from sources such as history journals, newspapers and other resources.\nFindings: Spaulding's contributions were significant, from his insight regarding the fundamental necessities for the effective management of a business, to his management style and implementation of practices which reflected his recognition of the importance of transformational leadership, employee development, diversity, corporate social responsibility and a strong positive culture for the successful management of an enterprise. Thus, this paper concludes that the title of \"Father of African-American Management\" is a fitting tribute to this business pioneer who overcame the odds to become the most successful black business executive in the early twentieth century.\nOriginality/value: The contributions made by minorities, including African-Americans, to management thought and practice have not been adequately covered in the literature. This paper begins to fill a noticeable void by drawing from infrequently acquired sources such as Spaulding's article \"The Administration of Big Business\" and highlighting his contributions to the African-American community and the business community at large.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The CCO: appointed or organic leader? The rise of conversational leadership
|
[
"Leadership",
"Communication management",
"Corporate communications",
"Conversational leadership",
"Corporate Communications Officer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past decades, corporate communications literature has clearly marked the growing importance of the Corporate Communications Officer (CCO) in the firm, by emphasizing different \"predominant role types\" connected to the tasks performed by the CCO (Broom, 1982; Dozier, 1992; Van Ruler et al., 2002; Gambetti et al., 2012b). Less attention has been recently devoted in the literature to investigating whether the CCO has been progressively taking on a leadership role (Werder and Holtzhausen, 2009; Jin, 2010; Meng et al., 2012).\nLiterature review: Predominant role types: the CCO torn between technician and manager\nResearch objective and methods: Our paper aims at unravelling the leadership nature, if any, of the CCO beyond that of manager.\nFindings: Our results present the plot emerged from the interpretive reading undertaken on CCOs' narratives. This plot has been built upon the identification and contextualization of the recurrent themes that hold across the multiple CCOs' interpretive stories. Key concepts in the findings are supported in the text by quotes that bring in the voice of the participants in the study to make it more vivid and reliable (Creswell, 2007).\nDiscussion and implications: Based on our interpretive analysis, the capability of the CCO to overcome the trap of the formal appointment seems to rely on the organic emergence of a genuine leadership. The turning point between his/her resting on the appointment or becoming a genuine leader is marked by acting upon his/her humanistic nature. This means that the CCO steps out of the self-referential attitude that, based on our findings, seems to characterize the appointed leader, in order to take on a societal approach towards stakeholders by co-constructing, negotiating, and nurturing a communal process of sense making.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Studies that inquire in-depth into whether the Corporate Communications Officer (CCO) is an entrusted corporate executive and enacts a genuine leadership of his/her own style are generally neglected. The purpose of this paper is to unravel the leadership nature of the CCO beyond the managerial role. More specifically, the authors collected accounts of the span of the professional life and job experiences of CCOs, with the aim of understanding how their leadership, if any, can be depicted.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors developed a qualitative research design to grasp the complexity of the CCO job experience. The authors chose a narrative approach involving a purposive sample of CCOs operating in global companies based in Italy to elicit and nurture their spontaneous reconstruction of the significant moments of their working lives.\nFindings: Based on the interpretive analysis, the capability of the CCO to overcome the trap of the formal appointment seems to rely on the organic emergence of a genuine leadership. The turning point between his/her resting on the appointment or becoming a genuine leader is marked by the display of his/her humanistic nature that can be ascribed to the enactment of a conversational leadership.\nOriginality/value: While this is an exploratory qualitative study, it holds heuristic value in deepening the specific nature of genuine CCO leadership beyond an essentially task-based analysis of its managerial profile.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Entrepreneurship: an organisational learning approach
|
[
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Learning organizations",
"Research",
"Knowledge management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the contemporary economy, it has become essential to consider the intellectual capacity of management and staff. Knowledge has, indeed, emerged as a key concept in social and economic advancement. However, the concept of knowledge needs to be completed by a dynamic process ensuring its creation and permanent adoption, i.e. learning. Learning clearly involves the generation for an organization of a high potential of flexibility, but the concept demands of the company's staff the ability to react rapidly to the learning requirement. Numerous managers of successful companies have already identified that the major threat they face does not arise from \"low-wage economies\", but rather from \"highly-educated economies\". If companies are to acquire new knowledge, they must establish efficient processes of learning to underpin their prosperous survival.The term used to refer to concepts which capture and describe the process of gaining information and transforming it into knowledge at a firm's operational level is \"organizational learning\". This concept has been resuscitated by several researchers and espoused both by academics and business managers. Levinthal and March (1993) stress the increasing acceptance of the concept of organisational learning and its importance for a firm's performance. However, Ventriss and Luke (1988) complain that the different frameworks normally lack a precise specification of the processes and mechanisms of learning.In spite of the importance of learning at micro and macro economic levels, the majority of existing studies analyse learning processes in large enterprises. As reported by Rae and Carswell (2001), entrepreneurship is one of the gaps in studies of organizational learning. The existing approaches to entrepreneurial learning indicate, at most, that learning has occurred prior to the start-up; one example is that of van Gelderen et al. (2005). A number of static indicators in respect to learning before starting a business have been assembled (Reuber and Fischer, 1999). On the other hand, little has been done to examine learning as a direct function of entrepreneurship, except by Cope (2005), Leitch and Harrison (2005), and Corbett (2007). Authors who have written in particular about the ongoing learning processes in start-ups are Minniti and Bygrave (2001), Ravasi and Turati (2005), and Politis (2005).Against this background, the object of our paper is to broaden the perspective, looking at entrepreneurship as a never-ending, dynamic learning cycle. Therefore, we have attempted to design a conceptual approach for entrepreneurial learning. This paper also contributes to above described research area by proposing a conceptual model of entrepreneurial learning. Herein, we elucidate how the entrepreneur's learning process is fundamental in his quest of new business opportunities and define learning as a crucial component of entrepreneurial activity. We expose chief components that may influence the entrepreneur's learning, suitable for empirical evaluation in future research. Moreover, it provides an innovative analysis through the use of individual determinants of learning entrepreneurship.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Organisational learning\n3. A new entrepreneurial learning approach: a conceptual model: We accept the argument of Shane and Venkataraman (2000) that scrutinizing and explaining the entrepreneur's ability to recognize and exploit business opportunities is one of the main issues in entrepreneurship research and offer our approach of entrepreneurial learning on the basis that learning is what informs the entrepreneur's quest for new opportunities. Learning has been all-time a central element of the entrepreneurial process for Kirzner (1973), and Smilor (1997) accepting this view, describes effective entrepreneurs as \"exceptional learners\", since they learn from everything and everyone, especially from their failures. As Reuber and Fischer (1993) point out, the entrepreneurial learning process is not limited to the start-up phase; it is rather dynamic and appears to be continuous throughout the firm's lifetime. This is our premise, too: our approach describes a continuous cycle of entrepreneurial learning. Thus, we comprehend entrepreneurship as a never-ending learning process aimed at the identification of new or continued business opportunities. Indeed, we would define the entrepreneur as, above all, a permanent learner.The insight we have gained from our analysis is that there is a strong interaction between the different learning levels. The chief entrepreneurial learning components to which we apply organisation-learning theory are intuiting and interpreting. The entrepreneurial learning process is most strongly affected by external motivation and is contingent upon the internal predisposition to alertness and creativeness.Intuiting occurs exclusively at the individual level; it is the beginning of new learning (Crossan et al., 1999). Intuiting is the entrepreneur's conviction that something is true even if there is no evidence that proves its veracity. It results from experience and retained images in the individual/entrepreneur's memory. Intuiting is often preconscious and its conclusions are expressed through metaphors; the individual does not yet have a developed vocabulary for this new knowledge, which makes it difficult to share with other individuals (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). A highly intuitive person is capable of identifying, subconsciously, standards that in the past allowed understanding and reacting in determinate situations. More concrete development of the intuition relies on three effects:1. a previous learning in a subconscious and tacit manner, difficult to share and transmit;2. interpreting of the situation, implying recall, recognition, and comparison of models based on experience, brought back to mind in a dynamic and simple form, which help narrow down the infinity of inherent possibilities in any situation; and3. generation of a feeling about what is correct and what is not (Crossan et al., 1999; Moreno-Luzon et al., 2000), and when to base action on the intuition.If the highly intuitive person is an entrepreneur, his or her intuition is what offers the firm new possibilities in the future because it implies innovation and change (Crossan et al., 1999). It is this orientation towards the future, and thus company development, which leads us to stress that one of the most important tools in entrepreneurial learning is intuiting.Interpreting acts as a bridge between the individual and the other levels; it is the explanation of an idea through an interactive conversation and/or actions (Crossan et al. 1999). As such, interpreting is \"a social activity that creates and refines common language, clarifies images, and creates shared meaning and understanding\" (Crossan et al., 1999, p. 528). During this process, individuals develop cognitive maps (Huff, 1990) of their business and social environment, which implies that interpreting directly relates to the entrepreneur's setting. Interpreting is, thus, a process that may take place at the individual level, but is more likely to increase prosperity if it involves other individuals, in which it develops into a process at the group level.In psychology, motivation is the term for initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behaviour (Geen, 1995). Motivation can also be defined as a variety of reasons that incite individuals to activate and control their behaviour constantly. It is influenced by internal and external factors to a degree that will depend on desire and willingness. Intrinsic motivation is the term used when the predominant factors are internal; extrinsic motivation arises under external influences. The latter seems to be more relevant to the entrepreneurial setting since it offers rewards, tangible and intangible, such as the entrepreneur seeks. Some entrepreneurs may, certainly, be purely intrinsically motivated, i.e. careless of any reward, but most of them respond to external incentives. Often, intangible rewards such as recognition, independence, social status etc. outweigh pecuniary remuneration. Successful performance depends on learning, and, clearly, external motivation will be crucial in the entrepreneur's learning process.Internal resources, which we relate to successful performance, are alertness and creativeness as fundamental to the recognizing of new business opportunities. Alertness, a term coined by Kirzner (1973), enables the entrepreneur to identify opportunities using information advantages for his own profit. It is \"the knowledge of where to find market data\" (Kirzner, 1973, p. 67). Thus, for our approach we conclude that alertness is grounded in knowledge, which, again, can be improved by learning. Alertness is a responsive faculty; creativeness, our second internal resource, an active faculty: a mental process that leads to the generation of new ideas and methods, or new associations between those already to hand. Creativeness needs an environment that supports the capability of improvisation, adaptability and innovation. Within the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process, creativeness is primarily an individual activity (Hills et al., 1999). Although it may be favoured by a certain predisposition, creativeness can be taught or at least stimulated by teachers or circumstances, which is to say, it can be learnt.Drawing together the elements we have listed as most relevant to the entrepreneur as a learner, in Figure 1 we propose a model of analysis for studying entrepreneurship as a learning process, which is influenced and conditioned by the different learning levels.According to our model, intuiting as preconscious recognition of opportunities occurs exclusively at the individual level. The interaction between the different levels is attributable to a combination of the two basic processes, namely interpreting and motivation, whereas interpreting is a double loop process (controlled by feedbacks and feed forwards regarding the entrepreneur's intuitive process), and motivation is single-looped since it acts unidirectionally upon the individual level. The better developed the link between the different learning levels, the higher are the chances of effective learning and, thereby, new business opportunity identification. These processes flow incessantly, triggering learning-related cognitive and behavioural changes. Each level may respond to or further stimulate the entrepreneur's learning. However, the influence of the different learning levels on entrepreneurial learning varies significantly depending on the type of process: whilst the influence of levels closed to the entrepreneur (e.g. group level) is higher for interpreting, entrepreneurial motivation is primarily dominated by organisational level.\n4. Concluding remarks: The present conceptual paper is a contribution to the scientific debate about the interface of entrepreneurship and learning. Like much recent argument, it, too, shifts the focus away from static towards dynamic approaches in entrepreneurship science (Minniti and Bygrave, 2001; Ravasi and Turati, 2005; Politis, 2005, Corbett, 2007). We have applied organisational learning typology to entrepreneurial learning theory, and feel firstly that this justifies a wider definition of the entrepreneur as a permanent learner. For example, taking the perspective of Shane and Venkataraman (2000) are entrepreneurs regarded as individuals who are involved in recognising and/or exploiting opportunities and at the same time are able to learn permanently. However, this definition of the entrepreneur does not have anything exceptional for entrepreneurs compared to other people, i.e. not all permanent learners are entrepreneurs.Second, we provide a theoretical approach to the entrepreneurial learning process and conceptualise its main components, such as intuiting and interpreting, strongly affected by external motivation and contingent upon the internal predisposition to alertness and creativeness.Of course, these are all assumptions of purely qualitative character. Moreover, this prescriptive value of our conceptual model can support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship educators to learn.To date, the influences on entrepreneurial learning have scarcely been susceptible to scientific scrutiny; empirical verification is almost absent from the literature. Hence, what remains is the empirical testing of the approach and the investigation of the quantitative impact of defined variables thought to affect entrepreneurial learning. In terms of guidelines for future research, this topic should be addressed by collecting information for expanding the conceptual model presented here.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the interface between learning and entrepreneurship, i.e. to show how entrepreneurship can be studied as a never-ending, dynamic learning process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - By applying the typology of learning concepts at different organisational levels, the paper will elucidate how the entrepreneur's learning process is fundamental in his quest for new business opportunities and describe learning as a crucial factor for entrepreneurial activity.\nFindings: - From observations, a new definition of the entrepreneur is derived (entrepreneur as a learner) and a conceptual model of entrepreneurial learning theory is synthesized.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The newly developed conceptual model has not been empirically validated. In terms of the guidelines for future research, this topic should be addressed by collecting information to expand the conceptual model presented here.\nOriginality/value: - Key entrepreneurial learning components are identified and included in the model: intuiting and interpreting, external motivation, alertness and creativeness. The paper concludes with some theoretical ideas on what may influence the entrepreneur's learning and which entrepreneurship educators are suitable for empirical evaluation in future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Driving down sickness absence at First Group: Nurse-led system promotes employee health
|
[
"Absenteeism",
"Health and safety",
"Buses",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Sickness absence is an expensive problem. The Confederation of British Industry estimates that its average direct financial cost to a UK company is at least PS475 per employee, per year. Indirect costs - such as management time or loss of revenue - can add between 50 and 100 percent to this figure.\nHealth issues on the bus routes: First London and Berkshire, a member of First Group, is a key provider of bus transport in the capital. It employs more than 4,500 people. First's large workforce means that the impact and disruption of daily sickness absence are high. It causes the business not to have key employees in the right place, at the right time, resulting in delays, costly overtime and, in some cases, missed routes, which leads to the associated loss of revenue.It is therefore important not only that employee absence is reported, but also that it is managed and limited. The company traditionally used a paper and IT-based reporting system at a local, individual-garage level. But First London and Berkshire soon realized that this resulted in under-recording, as the system was heavily reliant on busy managers. There was also no consistency in information captured on the reports. The data were generally imputed days or weeks after the absence, which led to inaccuracies. Subsequent line-management actions were poorly recorded.\nKeeping the wheels turning: First London and Berkshire recognized that it had to reform the system and began to look into what the market had to offer. The company selected AHP because it offers 100 percent nurse-led advice (which is perceived as a good employee benefit) and uses sophisticated IT and processes. The nurses encourage wellness and aim to ensure that employees take the correct steps to get better swiftly.A pilot covering all staff began in June 2006. Instead of calling a line manager or rostering/allocations desk, employees were asked to call AHP's nursing team who operate round the clock from a call center in Hammersmith, London. The nurses provide immediate medical advice and log details of the employee's absence spell.David Fielding, First's project manager for the scheme, said: \"While many of the callers receive practical straightforward advice, there are also instances where medical intervention is more extreme. Recently we had a driver with severe depression and a limited social network. With AHP's help, he made a full recovery and is now back at work.\"In addition to the medical benefits, AHP provides an online database, which details absence trends. The system also contains online return-to-work interview forms, which managers must complete after each absence. Every time a manager is late, or does not complete an interview, this is considered a breach of First's HR policy and is shown on a central compliance report, which is available to the senior-management team. AHP assesses individuals' absence patterns and similar processes are in place for the return-to-work interviews, management activity and follow-up actions. All are recorded centrally and available to the senior-management team.\nAll the buses come at once: Absence rates have fallen by 20 percent since the system was introduced. The company is making significant use of AHP's data. Adrian Jones, First London and Berkshire managing director, said: \"We have empowered our managers by introducing 'Day 1' medical processes and a robust data-reporting tool - leading to First achieving considerable financial savings. The detailed reporting and benchmarked data have also enabled us to focus our energy for maximum impact.\"First London and Berkshire conducted a survey in order to establish employee feedback. The results were positive, with 76 percent stating that the service was \"very helpful\" and a further 23 percent classifying it as \"helpful\". The return-to-work interviews are also recognized as important, with 67 per cent stating the relevance is \"spot on\".Simon Dickinson, who heads AHP's transport practice, commented: \"The nature of the transport industry - with shift work, the high importance of health and safety, employees operating off-site and intensive use of assets - creates an excellent platform for our approach. The 20 percent reduction in absence was in line with initial expectations and common to our work in this sector.\"Adrian Jones added: \"While not facing excessive sickness absence rates, we are still focused on reducing absence to the absolute minimum. Equally, we want to boost morale by providing genuine health support to our employees.\"The system proved such a success that First London and Berkshire entered a long-term commitment with AHP, and First Group is now considering ways of introducing the scheme to other operating companies in the group.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to describe a nurse-led absence-management program from Active Health Partners that has been used to monitor and reduce absence at First London and Berkshire, part of First Group, the international transport company.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents First London and Berkshire's reasons for implementing the system, how it works in the company and the results.\nFindings: - The paper reveals that First London and Berkshire experienced significant cost savings through a 20 percent drop in employee absence. Morale increased as the company invested in employee well being.\nPractical implications: - The paper presents a program that could benefit many organizations and their employees.\nOriginality/value: - The paper describes how absence-management schemes can help to manage and reduce absence in a company, by boosting employee health and productivity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
How to achieve a high efficiency level of the hotel industry?
|
[
"China",
"Data envelopment analysis",
"Hotel industry",
"Malmquist index",
"Hotel efficiency",
"Panel Tobit model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Along with the economic boom in China that resulted from the \"opening-up\" policy of 1978, the hotel industry has been developing at a stable speed. In other words, the industry has continued to satisfy the accommodation needs of an increasing number of inbound/domestic tourists and business travelers. As documented by the China Tourism Statistical Yearbook of 2010, the number of star-rated hotels totalled 14,237 in 2009, with a total of 1,673,475 hotel rooms and 3,064,684 available beds. Moreover, the hotel industry has become the backbone of the local tourism industry, and it has facilitated regional tourism growth by providing necessary accommodation, entertainment, dining and convention facilities (Yang and Wong, 2012). After 30-years of development, China's hotel infrastructure and services have been greatly improved to catch up with international standards.\n2. Model and data: According to a literature review conducted by Sainaghi (2010), the DEA models have been extensively applied to evaluate the efficiency of the hotel business. Compared to other efficiency-evaluating methods, the DEA model possesses several inherent advantages. First, the efficiency score from DEA incorporates multiple inputs and outputs simultaneously to reflect the multi-dimensional nature of DMUs, and therefore, it is more reliable to reflect a hotel's performance (Neves and Lourenco, 2009). Second, the DEA model does not require any prior knowledge on the production function of input and output factors and avoids possible specification errors in model construction (Hwang and Chang, 2003). Third, the DEA model constructs an efficiency frontier by optimizing each DMU's score. Based on this frontier, slack analysis provides a promising tool to identify potential pitfalls contributing to the inefficiency of the hotel industry (Barros, 2005b).\n3. Results and discussion: 3.1 DEA model\n4. Conclusions and implications: This paper introduced the CCR and BCC DEA models and the Malmquist productivity index to investigate the efficiency and efficiency changes of the hotel industry in major Chinese cities. We found that the inefficiency of the hotel industry generally comes from pure technical inefficiency, and the efficiency of the hotel industry has been considerably improved over the research period, mainly contributed by the change in technical efficiency. In addition, based on the results from regression models, we found that political hierarchy, degree of openness, and level of tourism dependence help explain the cross-city difference in efficiency scores, whereas ownership structure dominantly contributes to the improvement of efficiency over the years.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to employ data envelopment analysis (DEA) models to evaluate the efficiency level and the change of efficiency of the hotel industry in major Chinese cities from 2001 to 2011. The study also aims to investigate the determinants of this efficiency.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The DEA models were used to calibrate the scores of technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency in each city, and the Malmquist productivity index was introduced to trace the efficiency change. Furthermore, the panel Tobit and linear regression models were applied to look into various factors contributing to efficiency scores.\nFindings: The inefficiency of the hotel industry generally comes from the pure technical inefficiency. Moreover, the efficiency of the hotel industry has been considerably improved over the research period due to the change in technical efficiency. In addition, it was found that political hierarchy, degree of openness and level of tourism dependence help explain the cross-city differences in efficiency scores, whereas ownership structure dominantly contributes to the improvement of efficiency over time.\nPractical implications: The benchmark analysis of efficiency is of great importance to cities with an unproductive hotel industry, as it helps them make critical adjustments towards the efficiency frontier.\nOriginality/value: This study represents one of the first studies to rigorously and systematically investigate the efficiency and efficiency change of the hotel industry in major Chinese cities and identify the possible factors explaining the efficiency score.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What vs how: Using a scale of straightforward to complex tasks to overcome challenges in setting objectives
|
[
"Management",
"Performance",
"Goals",
"Objectives"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Performance management is commonplace in organizations today, improving the performance of employees, which in turn leads to improving team results and thus achieving the goals of the company. Many organizations follow and set SMART objectives to reach their goals - Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, and Time-Bound. However, it is often difficult to set effective objectives.\nManagement focuses: results vs process: Two management focuses on objective settings are management by objectives (MbO) and total quality management (TQM).\nGoal setting: An organizational goal can be seen as being a target that can be observed or measured, bringing the desired results or effects for the company, and within a certain period.\nThe contingency model: A contingency model was proposed by Manning (2017) as a solution to break the dichotomy between the two approaches. The model is a graph, which plots a scale from straightforward jobs to complex jobs. Straightforward jobs have a \"what\" focus - they are specific goals. Complex jobs have a \"how\" focus - they are nonspecific goals, looking at behavior or learning.\nComment: The review is based on \"The development and use of a contingency model of objective setting\" by Manning, T., published in Industrial and Commercial Training.\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 papers in context.\nFindings: Performance management often uses SMART objectives; however, the setting of such goals is often difficult. Managerial perspectives focus on either results or processes, and in parallel, tasks can also be seen as being straightforward or complex. A contingency model is suggested, which ranks tasks on a scale from straightforward/results-based to complex/process-oriented. Such a scale makes objective setting more flexible, requires detailed discussions between managers and employees within the broader scope of the organization's values, and makes for more effective objective setting and achievement.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Estimating buildings' energy consumption and energy costs in early project phases
|
[
"Energy consumption",
"Building specifications"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Background\n2. Literature survey: Boussabaine (2001) analyzed the energy costs of 19 sports facilities and proposed models that incorporate two cost drivers: the floor area and the number of users. Using this approach Boussabaine achieved a prediction accuracy of about 20 per cent mean absolute percentage error. Although further studies are available in the literature they do not provide any quantitative models. Rather these studies specify solely the relevant energy consumption and/or energy cost drivers. They are used in this study to develop the regression models (see Table I).One of the most comprehensive studies on energy consumption in office buildings is \"Energy use in offices\" (DETR, 2000). This study provides the required indicators (PS/m2 floor area and year) for basic office types. The definition of office types shall also be used here as the relevant \"drivers\" both of energy consumption and energy costs as follows:* Special uses (DETR, 2000). This study provides energy consumption and energy cost data for the use of office buildings including buildings of special uses. \"Special uses\" include data processing centres which are associated with elevated energy consumption typically caused by high-level technical equipment (for example EDP), installation, and narrow-band air-conditioning.In addition to data processing centres, office buildings often accommodate apartments which show much lower energy consumption per unit area than office permisses. Reasons for this include a low degree of technical installation, reduced requirements regarding room temperatu-re control, and limited occupancy times.* Interior layout (Siegel and Wonneberg, 1977; see also DETR, 2000). The interior layout distinguishes between open-plan offices, group offices, office cubicles, and \"combi\" offices. The relevance of this driver arises from the increased use of energy in open-plan offices due to artificial lighting.* Extent of technical installations (Anderlyn Consultancy, 1990). In office buildings, the extent and standard of technical installations is represented primarily by the share of areas served by air treatment systems and lifts. The portion of mechanically vented and ventilated areas and air-conditioned areas as a percentage of the usable floor area are the relevant drivers. From this perspective also the extent of lift installations is relevant as the increase in lift uses causes a higher energy consumption and energy costs per unit area. It is assumed that up to a certain point, the frequency of lift uses rises with increasing number of lift stops.* Level and hours of utilization (BMI, 2003). The level of utilization in the form of usable floor area per existing workplace is relevant. High occupancy places higher demands regarding the design of lighting installations which increases the energy consumption and costs. Areas not used generally do not require lighting and may also have lower room temperature requirements. An elevated fraction of unused spaces has thus an opposite effect, i.e. it is associated with lower energy consumption and energy costs per unit area.During building occupancy, it is desirable that users are offered pleasant, comfortable indoor climate conditions (incl. lighting, acoustics, room temperatures and air quality). When no users are present in the building, conditions for occupant comfort are often not maintained for example heating and air treatment systems operate at lower settings during the night and on weekends. The period of utilization (hours per week) has thus to be considered a relevant driver.Summarizing, a total of 12 drivers could be identified through analysis of the above studies. These drivers are listed in Table I and are used as a basis for the empirical study outlined in the following section.\n3. Field survey: To investigate the relevant causal relationships, field survey data from 85 owner-operated office buildings in Switzerland was collected from four project partners:1. Credit Suisse (58 properties).2. City of Zurich (five properties).3. Swiss Re (eight properties).4. UBS (14 properties).All partners are large corporations that are (with the exception of the city of Zurich) part of the banking and insurance industries. The surveyed properties are located throughout Switzerland, though with some concentration in the Zurich metropolitan area. The age distribution of the building stock in the sample is highly heterogeneous and ranges from 2 to 140 years. The mean property age is 49 years. Also the size of the properties is heterogeneous, ranging from 365 to 22,170 m2 of usable floor area with a mean value of 3,514 m2. The characteristics of the relevant drivers (see Table I) for the surveyed properties are provided in Table II. In addition to the metrically scaled factors, also the presence of data processing centers is indicated - 2 of the 85 properties surveyed include data processing centers.In Figure 1 the annual energy consumptions (per m2 of usable floor area and year) of the surveyed properties are plotted together with the corresponding median value (129 kWh/m2) of the sample and the lower and the upper quartiles (98 and 170 kWh/m2). Both the median and the data distribution conform with other Swiss surveys. Weber et al. (1999), for example, obtained an average energy consumption of Swiss office buildings of 142 kWh/m2 usable floor area per year.The results of the survey regarding energy costs are shown graphically in Figure 2. In addition to the median value of 20.16 CHF/m2 usable floor area and year, the lower and the upper quartiles of 17.87 and 26.06 CHF/m2, respectively, are presented.\n4. Model development: The empirical study on energy consumption and energy costs makes it possible to investigate the quantitative relationships between real-world observations and individual drivers/indicators and to develop the corresponding regression models. It should be noted that the indictors are characterized by the four basic office types as described in the Energy Consumption Guide 19 \"Energy use in offices\" (DETR, 2000).Statistical regression analysis (using SPSS 16 software for Windows) is used to develop the models (see Skitmore and Patchell, 1990; Boussabaine, 2001). In order to define the causal relationships, the stepwise-method of analysis (significance level 5 per cent) is employed.4.1 Energy consumption\n5. Discussion: Based on the above comparisons it can be concluded that the new energy cost model is capable of reproducing field study observations with a good accuracy. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) resulted in 12 per cent compared to Boussabaine, 2001 who obtained a MAPE of 20 per cent.In addition to the above tests, validation tests were carried out using the five properties not used to develop the models. These test properties showed errors between observed and predicted energy consumption between -22 per cent and 15 per cent (see Table VII). The proposed model indicated an R2 of 0.730 (R2 adjusted of 0.712) with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 14 per cent compared to a MAPE of 20 per cent obtained by Boussabaine, 2001. Therefore the quality of the developed semi-log regression model can be classified as comparably good.Regarding the predicted energy costs, the validation tests revealed errors between observed and predicted quantities between -17 per cent and 7 per cent (see Table VIII). Thereby, the proposed model showed an R2 of 0.756 (R2 adjusted of 0.740) and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 12 per cent (Boussabaine, 2001 reaches a MAPE of 20 per cent). With this result, the quality of the developed cost model is even better than the quality of the energy consumption model and can too be classified as good.Figure 3 shows the causal relationship between the normalized air-conditioned area of a building and the energy costs. The normalized air-conditioned area is defined for each property as a quotient between the air-conditioned floor area and the usable floor area. This driver contributes the largest explanatory content in the developed cost model. If x1 (m2 air-conditioned area/m2 usable floor area) increases by 0.35 units, then the energy cost indicator [CHF/m2 usable floor area and year] rises by about 15 per cent as calculated by y' = e^(0.387 *0.35)*y= 1.145y.This partial contribution is under proportional (an increase of 0.35 units leads to higher costs of only 15 per cent) and underlines the importance of the other drivers in determining the costs.In addition to ventilation and air-conditioning systems, lifts are among the relevant energy consumers in office buildings. The installation standard of lifts is thus relevant in the model. Figure 4 shows graphically the effect of lifts. This effect also becomes apparent from the regression equation: if x2 (number of lift stops/1,000 m2 usable floor area) increases by 4 units, then the energy costs per m2 usable floor area per year will rise approximately by 15 per cent (y' = e^(0.034 *4)*y= 1.150y).The installation standard of lifts is taken into account as the ratio of lift stops per 1,000 m2 of usable floor area. Therefore, the larger this factor becomes, the higher is the installation standard. It can furthermore be assumed that the frequency of using lifts increases as the number of lift stops rises. In that event, users increasingly prefer lifts over stairs which is associated with increased energy consumption and costs.The impact of vented and ventilated floor areas also shows a positive contribution to the energy costs as the costs rise with an increasing vented/ventilated floor area (see Figure 5). Thereby, the back-transformed regression equation reveals that an increase of 0.5 units in the proportion of mechanically vented and ventilated area will elevate the energy costs per m2 usable floor area per year by as much as 14 per cent (y' = e^(0.253 *0.5)*y= 1.135y).The contribution of vented and ventilated area and of the air-conditioned area of similar importance, though the influence of the former is less pronounced. This can be expected from a theoretical point of view, as the energy consumption and thus the energy costs per m2 usable floor area per year are in general higher for air-conditioning systems than for ventilation systems.In contrast with the above drivers, a negative contribution, i.e. negative regression coefficient, resulted for residential and recreational area. This means that the energy costs will fall with an increasing portion of such areas (see Figure 6). Quantifying this effect, the back-transformed regression equation reveals that a fraction of 0.07 additional units of residential and recreational area per usable floor area would decrease the energy cost by about 8 per cent (y' = e^(-1.200 *0.07)*y= 0.919y). The reason for this is the relatively low installation standard and the comparably short occupancy times in residential and recreational areas. While office spaces consume energy via artificial lighting and EDP systems, such consumers are not typically found in that extent in residential and recreational areas. Furthermore, it can be assumed that offices are more intensively used (usually up to 12 hours per working day) than the residential and recreational counterparts.Data processing centres represent the last driver in the developed cost model. Higher energy costs will result for buildings incorporating a data processing centre, since such a plant involves high-energy consumption due to the required air-conditioning system and the substantial energy needed to operate the data processing equipment itself.The model integrates the following cost drivers/independent variables and their coefficients, which are also proved by the analysis of the energy consumption indicators:* m2 air-conditioned area/m2 usable floor area;* number of lift stops/1,000 m2 usable floor area;* m2 vented and ventilated area/m2 usable floor area;* m2 residential and recreational area/m2 usable floor area; and* data processing centre in the building [0, 1].It should be noted that from the theoretical point of view also other factors would influence the energy consumption and thus the energy costs in offices. These include for example the quality of the facade regarding the thermal insulation properties of windows and external walls. Other factors are for example the prevailing climate and the technical standard of installations and air-conditioning systems, i.e. whether or not these systems include heat-recovery systems, etc. These, however, were not subject to investigation in this study.\n6. Conclusion: The objective of this study was to develop and validate a predictive model to facilitate the estimation of occupancy costs in early project phases. A procedure was presented on how quantitative energy consumption and cost models can be developed. Provided sufficient empirical data is available, this procedure can be used in further studies as a suitable and practicable concept to advance occupancy cost models. Thereby, the following points can be considered as suggestions for further studies:* The energy consumption and energy cost model can be improved as the database for developing them is further extended (including properties from different owners with different strategies, for example energy contracting, outsourcing, and maintenance strategies).* The proposed concept and an extended database can be used to develop other, separate cost models (for example cleaning and maintenance cost models).* The causal relationships identified with separate cost models can be used to develop systematically a generic occupancy cost model for the use of an office building as a whole.* Other types of building use (for example residential, education) can be analyzed using the proposed concept.In particular, the first point is recommended to further improve the accuracy of the predictions of the cost models. Nevertheless, focusing solely on these \"soft\" factors does not seem to be sufficient, since the included cost drivers are, so far, of high relevance. The proposed concept and the presented consumption and cost model should therefore form a starting point for future studies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to show that building stock is currently one of the largest energy consumers. It is thus imperative that buildings are optimally planned, constructed, and used from both the environmental and the economic point of view. Cost models are relevant tools for achieving this objective as they can be used to estimate the occupancy costs in early project phases including energy costs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In the paper a regression model for predicting the energy consumption and energy costs of office buildings is developed based on the results of a survey conducted in 80 Swiss office properties.\nFindings: - The proposed energy cost model shows good agreement with the observed field data. The mean absolute percentage error resulted in 12 per cent. Validation tests using five properties not used for the model development revealed percentage errors ranging between -17 per cent and 7 per cent. The proposed concept and the presented cost model can be used as a basis for future studies.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The energy consumption and energy cost model can be improved as the database for developing them is further extended (including properties from different owners with different strategies, for example energy contracting, outsourcing, and maintenance strategies).\nOriginality/value: - The objective of the study was to develop and validate a predictive model to facilitate the estimation of occupancy costs in early project phases. A procedure is presented on how quantitative energy consumption and cost models can be developed. Provided that sufficient empirical data are available, this proecdure can be used in further studies as a suitable and practicable concept to advance occupancy cost models.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Searching for niche market for engineering consultants: Case of regional supervision systems in China
|
[
"China",
"Benchmark",
"Principal component analysis",
"Focus group",
"Niche market",
"Supervision system"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is growing concern from both public and government on the construction quality and safety in China. In 1980s, construction supervision system was introduced to China to assure these issues are properly dealt with and this system develops at a high speed ever since (Wang et al., 2009a). As a reform in the Chinese construction sector, the construction supervision system aims to shift the paradigm of construction management and to enable professional supervision companies assisting investors to manage construction projects in terms of construction quality, safety and cost (MOHURD, 2007).\nConstruction supervision system: There is generally lack of empirical research on construction supervision in China (Yung and Lai, 2008). Pioneering research on the Chinese supervision industry focused on the qualitative introduction of the supervision system. For instance, Wang et al. (2007, 2009a, b) explored the risk and insurance issues in the national supervision system. Furthermore, Deng and Shi (2009) compared the differences between Chinese and the international engineering supervision so as to propose a risk-oriented innovation mechanism for the supervision industry. However, these studies predominantly focused on the supervision system at the national level. By contrast, regional supervision systems (meso-level) were largely overlooked.\nResearch method: Data collection\nConclusions: Research on the performance of regional supervision systems in China is still in its infancy. However, this issue is increasingly important for the worldwide construction industry in a globalization context. The system complexity warrants a sophisticated and objective approach to rank its performance. Due to the scarcity of data, little research, quantitative in particular, has been undertaken to evaluate their performance in China. However, the identification of performance gap between different regional supervision systems is not only vital for them to benchmark with each other and clarify future endeavor but also critical for foreign consulting firms to make strategic decisions. Findings of this study are beneficial to both policy makers and industry practitioners considering the scale of the industry. Similarly, the gradually opening Chinese construction industry presents significant opportunities for foreign AEC firms. This is evidenced in the participation of foreign AEC firms in a number of high-profile projects such as 2008 Beijing Olympic Games venues. Indeed, the foreign AEC firms have a role to play during the rapid urbanization of China.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: A growing number of foreign consulting firms have been engaged in the Chinese construction market where the supervision system, as a kind of engineering consultant service has been widely implemented. However, the performance of supervision system varies significantly across regions. Therefore, foreign consulting firms are in desperate need of related performance benchmarking statistics to determine the niche market. A major issue is lack of a quantitative method to objectively evaluate regional supervision systems' performance. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A new regional construction supervision system benchmarking model was developed via the principal component analysis method. This model is based on key performance indicators drawn from annual official statistics. This list of key indicators was refined by means of a focus group with selected experts. Consequently the performances of all 31 regional supervision systems were calculated and ranked.\nFindings: Results indicate a general gap between coastal and inland regions. The various development trends of top 10 regions are analyzed and the underlying reasons are explored. Furthermore, the regions deserving more attention or currently lacking in development are identified. The supervision industry in China is shifting from a labor-intensive industry to a knowledge-intensive industry.\nOriginality/value: The proposed model provides a single quantitative parameter to conveniently benchmark the performance of various regions. The findings are vital for the benchmarking and clarification of future endeavor of the regional supervision systems and for foreign enterprises that are planning to enter the real-estate market in China.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Study on data use in Indonesian primary schools
|
[
"Data use",
"Data use purposes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Background and statement of the problem\n2. Method: This study involved exploratory research. Therefore, the research questions in this study, which aim to investigate kinds of data available, the purposes of data use and factors promoting or hindering data use, were answered in two phases of explanatory research design. In the first, quantitative, phase, cross-sectional survey research was carried out. This was an exploratory cross-sectional survey that sought to quantify responses on the items, the variables from the conceptual framework, at one time (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2006). The second phase was a qualitative multiple-case study approach. Data from the case study design do not generalize to the population, but they can be generalized to the conceptual framework and provide in-depth evidence about the phenomenon (Yin, 2013).\n3. Results: 3.1 Kinds of data available in Indonesian primary schools\n4. Conclusions and discussion: 4.1 Kinds of data available in Indonesian primary schools\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Many studies have underlined data use for school improvement. However, these are mainly based on developed countries; studies on data use are still lacking on developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate data use in Indonesian primary schools. This study is based on a conceptual framework focusing on kinds of data, purposes of data use and factors promoting or hindering data use in schools.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors employed a mixed-method research design, with a total of 194 teachers and 28 heads of schools from 60 schools participating in the survey. Based on the survey analysis, six schools were purposively sampled for a multiple-case study approach.\nFindings: The results show that Indonesian primary schools have similar kinds of data available and most data are used for accountability purposes only. These findings might be explained by the government trying to counter-balance the schools' autonomy, so that the focus of data use seems to be more on accountability than on school development and instructional purposes. The results also reveal that the factors had a different influence for each data use purpose: high data use schools provided insight into promoting factors, while the low data user schools provided an understanding of hindering factors.\nOriginality/value: This study makes a scientific contribution by offering understanding of data use in a different context. Indonesia has become decentralized in most state functions, including education. Therefore, this study can be used as a guideline for future studies of data use in other developing countries context in supporting the decentralization of educational systems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Fake news and brand management: a Delphi study of impact, vulnerability and mitigation
|
[
"Brand communication",
"Social media",
"Brand image",
"Social marketing",
"Brand management",
"Integrated marketing communications",
"Delphi study",
"Fake news",
"Corporate image"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: \"How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!\" wrote Mark Twain (2013, p. 57) in his 1906 autobiography. This statement goes to the core of how fake news not only works but also presents a significant challenge to those trying to protect themselves or their assets, from its harmful impacts. The speed of mass communication in Twain's era was limited by technology to the combination of the printing press, and the physical circulation of newspapers along with word-of-mouth. By noting his observation with such eloquence in 1906, one can take away that this resiliency property of lies is neither not new today, and nor was it then. The factor that makes the spread of false information in the present era noteworthy is the medium of the internet where mass data storage and transmission share the volume, velocity variability and veracity properties of \"big data\" (Vargo et al., 2018).\n2. Method: Data were collected data by means of a Delphi study using the www.qualtrics.com web-based survey services. In their seminal presentation of the technique, Linstone and Turoff (1975) describe Delphi as a method for structuring a group communication process, allowing a group of individuals to address a complex problem collectively. Delphi is a tool that addresses questions of sophisticated judgment rather than objective measurement, when a researcher has access to a community of subject matter experts (Dalkey and Helmer, 1963; Flostrand, 2017).\n3. Findings: 3.1 Consensus maximized\n4. Implications: In Section 3 above, this paper discussed consensus or the degree to which academics agree with each other. In this section, focus turns to the central tendency values for each question and suggest interpretations for them. Where applicable, actionable implications for practitioners are presented.\n5. Limitations and future research: The population of academics with peer-reviewed publications related to brand management is vast and diverse. As a reference point, Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org) reports that more than 200,000 articles have been published to date with titles that specifically include the term \"brand management\" alone. The full body of work relating to the strategic management of brands is sure to be much larger. That this study's panel reflects this vast population of brand management academics, this research deliberately captured diversity of gender, age, publication history, geography, and subfield specialization through our choice of panelists to invite. Where a typical Delphi study recruits a panel of 18 to 20 experts, this study used more than double this number in our efforts to capture the prevailing judgments of the population. Despite these steps, it is easy to imagine how our panel may still diverge from the aggregated judgment of the entire brand academic population. To explore the question of whether method bias may exist in some findings of this study, a potential follow-on study could probabilistically sample a much larger group to survey and compare results. A second research approach to capturing qualified judgment on fake news and brand management would be either a Delphi study or probability sample survey of brand managers with direct experience with the addressed dimensions of fake news.\n6. Summary: The combined technological factors of unregulated internet website content, rapidly evolving social media applications, ubiquity of smartphones and the consequent high internet participation are providing an unprecedented space for fake news that people find interesting and which seems true (at least to some) to propagate, often to millions of people, in time spans as short as minutes. Incentives to capitalize on this opportunity range greatly for fake news propagators and no effective strategy to reduce it seems forthcoming. The results can be highly detrimental to the reputations and pubic images of those individuals, groups, businesses and their brands who are either directly targeted or suffer collateral damage from highly propagated fake news stories. This paper invites the initiation of discussions connecting the reality of technologically hyper-accelerated fake news to professional brand management by conducting a broad if shallow Delphi study of 42 member panel of peer-recognized brand management experts. The results of this study and their interpretation fell into three themes.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Fake news is presently one of the most discussed phenomena in politics, social life and the world of business. This paper aims to report the aggregated opinions of 42 brand management academics on the level of threat to, the involvement of, and the available actions of brand managers resulting from fake news.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A Delphi study of 42 academics with peer-reviewed publications in the brand management domain.\nFindings: The study found that on some dimensions (e.g. the culpability of brand managers for incentivizing fake news by sponsoring its sources), expert opinion varied greatly. Other dimensions (e.g. whether the impact of fake news on brand management is increasing) reached a high level of consensus. The general findings indicate that fake news is an increasing phenomenon. Service brands are most at risk, but brand management generally is need of improving or implementing, fake news mitigation strategies.\nResearch limitations/implications: Widely diverse opinions revealed the need for conclusive research on the questions of: whether brands suffer damage from sponsoring fake news, whether fake news production is supported by advertising and whether more extensive use of internet facilitated direct interactions with the public through crowdsourcing increased vulnerability.\nPractical implications: Experts agreed that practitioners must become more adept with contemporary tools such as fake news site blacklists, and much more aware of identifying and mitigating the brand vulnerabilities to fake news.\nSocial implications: A noteworthy breadth of expert opinion was revealed as to whether embellished or fabricated brand narratives can be read as fake news, inviting the question as to whether brands now be held to higher standards of communication integrity.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a broad-shallow exploratory overview of the professional opinions of a large international panel of brand management academics on how the recent arrival of industrial fake news does, and will, impact this field.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The impact of service provider emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction
|
[
"Individual psychology",
"Servicing",
"Service delivery",
"Buyer‐seller relationships",
"Customer satisfaction"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.Emotional intelligence is the ability to use emotions adaptively (Salovey and Mayer, 1990; Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Mayer et al., 2000; Salovey et al., 2002). Theoretical perspectives on what abilities comprise emotional intelligence differ somewhat (e.g. Mayer et al., 2000), but the most widely accepted model with empirical support is a four-branch model proposed by Salovey et al. (2002). This model posits that emotional intelligence consists of the abilities to: perceive one's own and others' emotions and to accurately express one's own emotions; facilitate thought and problem solving through use of emotion; understand the causes of emotion and relationships between emotional experiences; and manage one's own and others' emotions.\nMethod: Participants\nResults: The average customer satisfaction score across all six scenarios was 3.32 (SD=0.95), indicating moderate overall satisfaction on the 1 (greatest satisfaction) to 6 (least satisfaction) scale. The customer satisfaction outcome variable was normally distributed. Table I shows participants' mean satisfaction scores for each of the six transactions depicted in the video scenarios.Men had a mean score of 3.23 (SD=0.98) on the customer satisfaction variable and women a mean score of 3.43 (SD=0.91). A factorial ANOVA found no significant interaction between gender and the independent variables in influencing customer satisfaction ratings, thus the remaining analyses report information for men and women combined.A two (transaction difficulty) by three (level of service-provider emotional intelligence) independent groups factorial ANOVA investigated the effects of service-provider emotional intelligence, transaction difficulty, and self-assessed customer emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction. Table II provides a summary of the results.Service-provider emotional intelligence had a significant main effect on customer satisfaction. The effect size of service-provider emotional intelligence, .44, was large. Levels of service-provider emotional intelligence were compared with each other to determine where the significant differences occurred. Tukey's HDS post hoc tests showed that the three levels of service provider emotional intelligence all significantly differed from each other. Participants who viewed the lowest level of service-provider emotional intelligence reported lower satisfaction (M=4.16, SD=0.68) than those who viewed the medium level of service-provider emotional intelligence (M=3.12, SD=0.80), p < 0.0001, and participants who viewed the highest level of service-provider emotional intelligence reported higher satisfaction (M=2.68, SD=0.80) than those who viewed the medium level, p < 0.005.As can be seen in Table II, transaction difficulty also had a significant main effect on customer satisfaction. Participants who viewed the low difficulty transactions reported overall lower mean satisfaction (3.55, SD=0.88) than those who viewed the high difficulty transactions (3.12, SD=0.99).There was a significant interaction between service provider emotional intelligence and transaction difficulty. Further analyses explored at which level of service provider emotional intelligence transaction difficulty had the most impact on satisfaction ratings. A one-way ANOVA examining service provider emotional intelligence in just low transaction difficulty conditions showed a significant main effect, F(2, 72)=30.30, p <0.0001. Tukey's HDS post hoc tests showed that in the low transaction difficulty conditions, the mean satisfaction scores (see Table I) for the three levels of service provider emotional intelligence significantly differed from each other. The mean satisfaction scores for the medium versus high conditions and medium versus low conditions were significantly different at p < 0.001, and the means for low versus high conditions were significant at p < 0.0001. Another one-way ANOVA examining service provider emotional intelligence in just high transaction difficulty conditions showed a significant main effect, F(2, 72)=33.90, p <0.0001. Tukey's HDS post hoc tests showed that in the high transaction difficulty conditions, there was a significant difference in satisfaction between the low service provider emotional intelligence condition and both the medium (p < 0.0001) and high (p < 0.0001) service provider emotional intelligence conditions; however there was no significant difference between the medium and high service provider emotional intelligence conditions.Further, at the high level of service provider emotional intelligence, there was no significant difference between the low and high transaction difficulty conditions. Similarly, at the low level of service provider emotional intelligence, there was no significant difference between the low and high transaction difficulty conditions. However, at the medium level of service provider emotional intelligence, those in the high transaction difficulty condition indicated greater satisfaction than those in the low transaction difficulty condition, p < 0.0001.Participants mean score on the Emotional Intelligence Scale was 122.04, (SD=13.61); women had a mean score of 126.16 (SD=12.42) and men a mean score of 119.15 (SD=13.77). A bivariate correlation showed no significant association between participants' level of emotional intelligence assessed as a continuous variable and customer satisfaction scores.A triadic split divided participants into three levels (high, medium or low) of emotional intelligence based on their scores. A factorial ANOVA investigated the interaction between participants' emotional intelligence, service provider emotional intelligence, and transaction difficulty. There was no significant main effect of participant emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction, nor a significant interaction between participant emotional intelligence and any other variable.\nDiscussion: The results of the present study supported the hypothesis that higher emotional intelligence of service providers leads to greater customer satisfaction. At 0.44, the effect size of the impact of service provider emotional intelligence was considerable. This finding is in accordance with the theoretical prediction made by Barlow and Maul (2000) that the ability of a service provider to accurately and effectively perceive, express, understand and regulate emotions in him or herself and others is a determinant of customer satisfaction. It also complements the findings of previous studies (Lemmink and Mattsson, 2002; Price et al., 1995; Winsted, 2000) indicating that service provider qualities related to aspects of emotional intelligence are associated with customer satisfaction.The present study found that emotional intelligence of service providers significantly interacted with level of difficulty of the transaction. However, this interaction did not clearly support the prediction that emotional intelligence of service providers would have most impact under conditions of high service difficulty. In the low transaction difficulty condition there was progressively more satisfaction at each higher level of emotional intelligence of the service provider. In the high transaction difficulty condition, there was low satisfaction in the low service provider emotional intelligence condition, but no significant difference in satisfaction between the high and medium levels of service provider emotional intelligence. Further, at a medium level of emotional intelligence of the service provider there was more satisfaction for a difficult transaction than in a straightforward transaction.It is difficult to be sure of the meaning of these findings regarding the interaction between service provider emotional intelligence and transaction difficulty. A speculative interpretation is that in high transaction difficulty situations, customers may be appreciative of both moderate and high levels of service provider emotional intelligence. At the high and low levels of service provider emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence of the service provider may overshadow other aspects of the interaction, while at a medium level of service-provider emotional intelligence, other factors such as transaction difficulty can emerge to impact customer satisfaction and the difficult transactions allow participants to perceive the displayed emotional intelligence of the service provider.There was also an overall main effect for difficulty of transaction, such that there was greater customer satisfaction in difficult transactions. Perhaps difficult transactions create a greater feeling of connectedness between the service provider and customer, and thus lead to more satisfaction.There was no significant interaction between participants' emotional intelligence and service provider emotional intelligence. It may be that in brief retail encounters, such as the ones depicted in the scenarios, a match between characteristics of the customer and service providers is not very important.Some caution should be employed in interpreting the results of this study. The study's experimental design sacrificed some external generalizability in order to maintain internal validity and obtain more definite information regarding the causal effects of service provider emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction. Participants viewed video clips and were not truly engaged in a service transaction. This procedure gave up some of the realism of actual service transactions in order to maintain experimental control over the manipulated variables. Similarly, only one actor was used for all scenarios and the actor portrayed actions associated with high or low emotional intelligence rather than being a service provider with actual high or low emotional intelligence. Again, this led to fewer extraneous variables being introduced in the different conditions and thus more internal validity, but may have limited the external generalizability of the results.Another limitation of the study is that the high versus low difficulty of transaction scenarios varied both type of transaction and length of time of the transaction. Even though these two aspects of transactions tend to co-vary in actual service interactions, it makes it difficult to judge whether the type of encounter or the length of the encounter influenced participants.Future research in the area of emotional intelligence of service providers and customer satisfaction might examine the replicability of the present results in a field study of real service encounters. If an experimental field study shows a similar patterns of results for the impact of service providers' emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction, the next step might be to investigate what impact systematic emotional intelligence training of employees has on the satisfaction of customers served by the employees. Future research might also tease out the specific impact of each specific aspect of emotional intelligence, for example the impact of ability to recognize a customer's emotions as separate from the ability to regulate the customer's emotions. Finally, future research might examine the effect of level of emotional intelligence of service providers on different customer population groups.Overall, the results of this study examining the role of service-provider emotional intelligence in determining customer satisfaction provided some evidence that, as proposed by Caruso and Wolfe (2001), Goleman (1995; 1998), Cherniss (2000), Muchinsky (2000), and Weisinger (1998), emotional intelligence of employees may be a factor in organizational success. The findings of the present study lend support to theoretically-based claims of the importance of service provider emotional intelligence in determining customer satisfaction.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study seeks to examine whether higher emotional intelligence displayed by service providers leads to greater customer satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A community sample of 150 participants viewed video clips depicting a service provider displaying three different levels of emotional intelligence in high or low service difficulty transactions.\nFindings: - Higher emotional intelligence displayed by the service provider led to greater reported satisfaction with the service transaction. Further, there was an interaction between emotional intelligence of the service provider and transaction difficulty. In the low transaction difficulty condition there was progressively more satisfaction at each higher level of emotional intelligence of the service provider. In the high transaction difficulty condition, there was low satisfaction in the low service provider emotional intelligence condition, but no significant difference in satisfaction between the high and medium levels of service provider emotional intelligence.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A limitation of the research is that the study's experimental design sacrificed some external generalizability in order to maintain internal validity and obtain more definite information regarding the causal effects of service provider emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction. Future research might examine the replicability of the present results in a field study of actual service encounters.\nOriginality/value: - The findings of the present study lend support to theoretically-based claims of the importance of service provider emotional intelligence in determining customer satisfaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Grammar-based transformations: attack and defence
|
[
"Security",
"Context-free grammar",
"Obfuscation",
"Polymorphic engine",
"Subset language"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The objective of obfuscation is to render a computer programme, or rather the algorithm therein, more obscure, i.e. more difficult to understand. Over the past years, obfuscation has proven itself to be a practical countermeasure against reverse engineering and signature-based detection. Modern applications of obfuscation range from the protection of intellectual property (Drape, 2010) to the thwarting of an exploit code targeting a widespread vulnerability (Roeder et al., 2010). The measure of security provided by obfuscation has been the subject of several works, including that of Collberg et al. (1997). Despite positive claims such as those of Hohenberger et al. (2007), it is widely accepted that obfuscation does not provide cryptographic security per se. Rather, the challenge of obfuscating is analogous to that of white-box cryptography (Chow et al., 2002) - the problem of securing an embedded key with an adversary having full access to the encryption algorithm.\n2. Background: The execution of a programme P that is composed of n instructions, such that P = {f\n3. Related research: Code mutation has previously been modelled using formal grammars and automata theory in various works, including that by Zbitskiy (2009). It has been used to simulate and prove certain properties of a mutating code, such as signature-based detectability, that are relevant to the defence against polymorphic and metamorphic malware (Filiol, 2007). It was pointed out by Repel et al. (2013) that the means by which polymorphic engines and obfuscators achieve permutation and unintelligibility, respectively, are closely related and can often be interchanged. Previous work has demonstrated that context-free grammars have properties that make them particularly useful in a development environment for obfuscating transformations (Repel et al., 2013). Due to their ability to form recursively nested structures, they lend themselves well to modelling context-free and semantics-preserving transformations of arbitrary depth. Nevertheless, it was shown that inherent computational limitations of context-free grammars render them insufficiently expressive for a number of common obfuscating transformations (Repel et al., 2013). Furthermore, a number of usability downsides of the development environment were identified, including the requirement to explicitly define each fundamental transformation, as all applied transformations are merely composites thereof. Thus, automatically generated transformations were suggested as a means of improving user productivity.\n4. Research methodology: In Section 5, we present an additional argument for the usage of automatically generated transformations on the basis of a weakness believed to be common to all context-free grammar-based obfuscators using pre-defined or hard-coded transformations. A development environment for obfuscating transformations has been developed as part of our empirical investigation (Repel et al., 2013). The tool will be used to simulate a context-free obfuscator and to devise a method for the systematic de-obfuscation of such transformations. A context-free obfuscator is one whose transformations are directed solely by a context-free grammar or any of its computational equivalents. A context-free transformation can be applied at arbitrary points in the input programme, provided that it satisfies the criteria of restoring any changes made to the execution context by its side effects (Repel et al., 2013). Furthermore, in Section 6, we consider some questions relating to the construction of grammars for subset languages.\n5. De-obfuscation of context-free transformations: An obfuscating transformation that achieves unintelligibility has implicitly achieved two objectives:\n6. On the grammar of subset languages: The aforementioned weakness can be partially overcome by generating obfuscating transformations on-the-fly. However, depending on the time complexity of this task, it may conflict with an obfuscator being an efficient probabilistic compiler as defined by Barak et al. (2001). It is feasible to partially reduce the overhead of such a process by reusing previously found transformations at the expense of increasing the probability of successful de-obfuscation (as described in the previous section). It is put forth in the companion paper (Repel et al., 2013) that the language of such generated transformations would be a subset of the language containing all programmes that can be expressed using the generated transformation's instruction set. Therefore, the task of producing a context-free grammar for the generated transformations can be reduced to the problem of producing a context-free grammar for a subset of an arbitrary language.\n7. Conclusion: This paper has continued the study of formal grammars in obfuscators and polymorphic engines. Previous work has shown that it is feasible to use context-free generative grammars in a development environment for custom obfuscations. A justification has been presented for the usage of automatically generated transformations on the basis of a weakness inherent to grammar-based obfuscators. A theoretical attack against context-free obfuscated code that exploits the properties of context-free grammars has been elaborated upon. In addition, we considered aspects of subset languages that are relevant to the practicality of automatically generated transformations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This research aims to propose an attack that de-obfuscates codes by exploiting the properties of context-free grammars since it is important to understand the strength of obfuscation provided by context-free grammar-based obfuscators. In addition, the possibility of automatically generated transformations is explored.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As part of our empirical investigation, a development environment for obfuscating transformations is built. The tool is used to simulate a context-free obfuscator and to devise ways of reversing such transformations. Furthermore, a theoretical investigation of subset grammars and subset languages is carried out.\nFindings: It is concluded that context-free grammar-based obfuscators provide limited levels of protection. Nevertheless, their application is appropriate when combined with other obfuscating techniques.\nResearch limitations/implications: The algorithms behave as expected on a limited number of test samples. Further work is required to increase their practicality and to establish their average reliability.\nOriginality/value: This research shows how a frequency analysis attack can threaten the security of code scrambled by context-free grammar-based obfuscators.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Job crafting and motivation to continue working beyond retirement age
|
[
"Burnout",
"Retirement",
"Job crafting",
"Motivation to continue working after retirement age",
"Work sense of coherence"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In developed countries the population is aging, for life expectancies are increasing, while birth rates are declining (OECD, 2006). Similarly, the workforce is aging, i.e., the number of older employees is growing rapidly (Carone and Costello, 2006; OECD, 2006; Toossi, 2009; United Nations, 2007). Consequently, retirement rates are going up, for a growing number of employees will reach the formal retirement age. For example, in Germany the absolute number of new retirements due to reaching the formal retirement age increased from 287,036 in 2000 to 371,333 in 2014 (Deutsche Rentenversicherung, 2015). Thus, organizations face two challenges. First, due to the aging workforce, a growing number of older employees will leave their organizations over the next two decades. Second, due to decreasing birth rates, organizations face the challenge recruiting new employees from a shrinking workforce. These developments can result in a loss of knowledge and skills shortages that pose a considerable threat to organizations' functional capability. Thus, older employees working beyond their official retirement age become a crucial resource for organizations to cope with these challenges and to ensure organizations' functional capability. Consequently, practitioners and researchers are interested in what motivates older employees to continue working after reaching the formal retirement age (Armstrong-Stassen and Ursel, 2009; Bal et al., 2012; Greller and Stroh, 2004; Kooij et al., 2008; Schalk et al., 2010; Weckerle and Shultz, 1999). The goal of this study is to investigate how employees' job crafting behaviors (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001) influence their motivation to continue working after retirement age through two health-related processes, i.e., first through work sense of coherence and then through burnout.\nJob crafting and motivation to continue working after retirement age: The JD-R model is a general model of occupational health and states that job characteristics have an impact on employee health (i.e. burnout) (Bakker et al., 2014; Bakker and Demerouti, 2007; Demerouti et al., 2001). First, the JD-R model proposes that all job characteristics are either job resources or job demands: job resources are \"those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that either/or (1) reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs; (2) are functional in achieving work goals; (3) stimulate personal growth, learning and development.\" (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004, p. 296), and job demands are \"those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical and/or psychological (i.e. cognitive or emotional) effort and are therefore associated with certain physiological and or psychological costs\" (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004, p. 296). Current research further distinguishes between challenging and hindering job demands (Crawford et al., 2010; LePine et al., 2005; Podsakoff et al., 2007). Second, the JD-R model proposes that job characteristics have an impact on employee health through two underlying processes, i.e., an energy-depletion and a motivational process. Jobs characterized by low job resources and chronic high challenging or hindering job demands are exhausting employees' mental and physical resources. Thus, such poorly designed jobs deplete employees' energy and are detrimental for employee health. Whereas, jobs characterized by high job resources and challenging job demands, and low hindering job demands are motivating and engaging employees. Thus, such well-designed jobs are beneficial for employee health. Third, the JD-R model proposes that job resources and challenging and hindering job demands interact with each other. Job resources can buffer the negative health effects of challenging and hindering job demands. Tims and colleagues conceptualized job crafting based on the JD-R model (Tims et al., 2012; Tims and Bakker, 2010). This JD-R job crafting model proposes four ways for employees to craft their job resources and challenging and hindering job demands: first, increasing structural job resources (e.g. increasing job autonomy); second, increasing social job resources (e.g. asking colleagues for help); third, increasing challenging job demands (e.g. volunteering for challenging projects); and fourth, decreasing hindering job demands (e.g. reducing contact to demanding customers). Current research further distinguishes between promotion- and prevention-focussed job crafting (Brenninkmeijer and Hekkert-Koning, 2015; Lichtenthaler and Fischbach, 2016a; Petrou and Demerouti, 2015). This extended JD-R job crafting model (Lichtenthaler and Fischbach, 2016a) defines increasing structural and social job resources and challenging job demands as promotion-focussed job crafting types, whereas decreasing hindering job demands is a prevention-focussed job crafting type. Promotion-focussed job crafting is fostering employee health, i.e., it is negatively related with burnout (Lichtenthaler and Fischbach, 2016a; Nielsen and Abildgaard, 2012; Tims et al., 2013, 2015). Whereas prevention-focussed job crafting is detrimental for employee health, i.e., it is positively related with burnout (Demerouti et al., 2015; Lichtenthaler and Fischbach, 2016a; Tims et al., 2012, 2015). Moreover, promotion-focussed job crafting is motivating and engaging employees, whereas prevention-focussed job crafting is demotivating and disengaging employees (Demerouti et al., 2015; Lichtenthaler and Fischbach, 2016a; Tims et al., 2012, 2015).\nProcesses linking job crafting to motivation to continue working after retirement age: In this study we want to investigate two processes linking job crafting to motivation to continue working after retirement age. We propose that promotion- and prevention-focussed job crafting behaviors are related with motivation to continue working after retirement age first through employees' work sense of coherence and then through burnout.\nJob crafting and work sense of coherence: Work sense of coherence is a health-related construct based on the salutogenic health paradigm, which deals with the questions \"What makes us healthy?\" and \"How can we deal with stressors and stay well?\" (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987). Antonovsky (1979, 1987) proposed sense of coherence as global and nonspecific personal characteristic \"that expresses the extent to which one has pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) the stimuli deriving from one's internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable, and explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posed by these stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges worthy of investment and engagement\" (Antonovsky, 1987, p. 19). Thus, sense of coherence consists of three components, i.e., comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness, and research on sense of coherence shows that these three components form one sense of coherence factor (Antonovsky, 1987; Eriksson and Lindstrom, 2005; Frenz et al., 1993; Schumacher et al., 2000). Moreover, there is a wide body of research showing that sense of coherence is crucial in prevention of stress and maintenance of health (Eriksson and Lindstrom, 2006). For example, research shows that sense of coherence can predict employee burnout and work engagement (Kalimo et al., 2003; Van der Colff and Rothmann, 2009; Vogt et al., 2016).\nWork sense of coherence and burnout: Research shows that work sense of coherence is promoting employee health (Eriksson and Lindstrom, 2006), i.e., there is a negative relationship between work sense of coherence and burnout (Feldt et al., 2000; Van der Colff and Rothmann, 2009; Van der Westhuizen et al., 2015; Vogt et al., 2013). Work sense of coherence is a personal resource for employees helping them to deal with job demands. Employees who perceive their work as comprehensible and manageable are less emotional exhausted, and employees who perceive their work as meaningful are less cynical about their work. Moreover the extended JD-R job crafting model proposes that intangible changes in work perceptions are related with employee health (Lichtenthaler and Fischbach, 2016b). Hence, we expect that employees' work sense of coherence is negatively related with burnout:\nBurnout and motivation to continue working after retirement age: Research shows that retirement decisions are influenced by employee health (Topa et al., 2009; Wang and Shultz, 2010; Weckerle and Shultz, 1999). Employees who are burned out, i.e., who are emotional exhausted by and cynical about their work, are less motivated to continue working after retirement age (Henkens and Leenders, 2010) and are relieved when they can retire (Van den Bogaard et al., 2016). Hence, we expect that employees' burnout is negatively related with motivation to continue working after retirement age:\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nResults: Because all study variables were measured with self-reports, common-method bias could be a limitation of this study (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Such bias can inflate or deflate observed relationships between the constructs, i.e., may increase measurement error. Thus, prior to hypotheses testing we conducted two tests for the possible existences of common-method bias. First, to demonstrate construct validity, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the five measures under study, using the above-mentioned item parcels as indicators. The results of the CFA are displayed in Table I.\nDiscussion: In this paper, we argued that older employees are active agents of their work environment and their bottom-up, employee-driven job crafting behaviors have an influence on motivation to continue working after retirement age. We hypothesized that older employees' promotion-focussed job crafting (i.e. increasing structural and social job resources and challenging job demands) is positively related, whereas prevention-focussed job crafting (i.e. decreasing hindering job demands) is negatively related with motivation to continue working after retirement age. Moreover, we hypothesized that relationships between promotion-and prevention-focussed job crafting are sequential mediated by two processes, i.e., work sense of coherence and burnout. The results of our study support our hypotheses. Promotion-focussed job crafting was negatively and prevention-focussed job crafting was positively related with burnout through intangible changes in older employees' work perceptions, i.e., work sense of coherence. Burnout in turn was predictive of motivation to continue working after retirement age.\nConclusions: Employees use job crafting to bottom-up redesign their work and this has influences on their intangible work perceptions, their health, and their motivation to continue working after retirement age. Our research indicates that promotion-focussed job crafting facilitates and prevention-focussed job crafting attenuates older employees' motivation to continue working after retirement age, and that these relationships are mediated by employees' work sense of coherence and burnout. Older employees continuing to work after retirement age are needed to counteract loss of knowledge and skill shortages. Consequently, organizations should facilitate promotion-focussed job crafting and limit prevention-focussed job crafting, in order to increase the retention of older employees.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how promotion- and prevention-focussed job crafting impacts the motivation of older employees to continue working beyond retirement age. The authors hypothesized that promotion-focussed job crafting (i.e. increasing social and structural job resources, and challenging job demands) relates positively and prevention-focussed job crafting (i.e. decreasing hindering job demands) relates negatively with motivation to continue working after reaching the official retirement age, and that these relationships are sequential mediated by work sense of coherence and burnout.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from 229 older employees (mean age=55.77) were analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Promotion-focussed job crafting was positively and prevention-focussed job crafting was negatively related with employees' work sense of coherence, which was predictive of employees' burnout, which in turn was predictive of motivation to continue working beyond retirement age.\nResearch limitations/implications: Despite the cross-sectional study design, the results unfold how promotion- and prevention-focussed job crafting are related with motivation to continue working beyond retirement age through work sense of coherence and burnout.\nPractical implications: Given today's aging and shrinking workforce, older employees working beyond their official retirement age are a necessity for organizations' functional capability. The results suggest that organizations should encourage employees' promotion-focussed job crafting and limit prevention-focussed job crafting. Promotion-focussed job crafting facilitates employees' work sense of coherence, which keeps them healthy and motivates older employees to continue working beyond retirement age.\nOriginality/value: This study adds to the literatures on job crafting and motivation to continue working beyond retirement age and explicates intervening processes in this relationship.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Audits and their impact on clinical practice
|
[
"Clinical governance",
"National Health Service",
"Auditing",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Clinical audit was introduced to improve the quality of patient care. It is an important part of clinical governance. All hospital doctors are expected to be involved in the process of clinical audit (Department of Health, 1991). It has also become an integral part of training for junior doctors. There have been very few studies looking at the outcomes of a number of reaudits within a hospital or health care trust.A survey in Newcastle Mental Health NHS Trust showed that the time spent by each doctor (senior house officers, registrars, senior registrars and consultants) on attending audit meetings was one-and-half hours per month (Davidson and Smith, 1993). This survey also showed that the time they had spent involved in audit projects varied widely between 15 minutes and 50 days. Another study in Leeds showed that the mean duration of time spent by junior doctors per audit project was 27.8 hours with a range of two to 212 hours (Greenwood et al., 1997). This study also revealed that only 48 per cent of the doctors were aware of any subsequent change in clinical practice. These studies demonstrate that junior doctors are spending a large proportion of their working hours on clinical audits. Significant improvements in clinical practice therefore need to result from these audits in order to ensure this is an effective use of junior doctors' time.The difficulties in translating clinical audit into quality improvement are well recognised. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) examined the effectiveness of different methods of implementing change within the context of audit in the NHS. This is set out in its publication \"Principles for Best Practice in Clinical Audit\" (National Institute for Clinical Evidence, 2002) and used systematic reviews that had been conducted by the NHS Centre for Review and Dissemination (CRD) \"Getting evidence into practice\" (NHS Centre for Review and Dissemination, 1999). NICE concluded that audit with feedback can lead to clinically useful improvements in care, but the effect is variable. Sometimes the effect is nil. The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group defines feedback as \"a summary of clinical performance which may involve making recommendations for improvements in practice\". This may be in written, electronic, or verbal formats.Although junior doctors are substantially involved in auditing within trusts, they frequently do not have the opportunity to reaudit the same areas of practice in the same place following completion of and recommendations from the original audit. This is usually due to their frequent changes of jobs. This means that the effects of such recommendations rely on the practice of later groups of doctors. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine the impact of clinical audit activity, undertaken by junior doctors within a large mental health trust, on the clinical practice of subsequent cohorts.\nMethod: We examined all available clinical audits undertaken by psychiatry trainees that had been reaudited within Mersey Care NHS Trust. The Trust provides specialist mental health services to the population of Liverpool, Sefton and Kirkby in the North West of England. We aimed to look at whether there were any statistically significant differences between results of the original audits and the reaudits in terms of adherence to the audited standards.An initial list of audits and reaudits was compiled from the Trust's Service Governance Department and from local audit administrators. The actual audits were then obtained from both these sources as well as from trainees who were involved in doing the audits and reaudits. We screened the audits and reaudits to ensure that we only included those whose methods and results were comparable in terms of the standards measured and the clinical location in which they were conducted. We were only able to identify ten audits that fulfilled these criteria.The results were analysed using SPSS version 16.0 for Windows. Differences between the results before and after reaudit were tested for using Pearson chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests, both two-tailed.\nResults: Combination antipsychotic prescribing in the Liverpool Assertive Outreach Team (Audit 1)\nDiscussion: The results of our study show that statistically significant improvements were noted in five of the 35 standards examined. This highlights the fact that there was only a small change in clinical practice despite the audits being presented in local educational meetings. The following reasons may have contributed to some of the reaudits being more successful. First, the doctors carrying out Audit 1 carried out the reaudit as well. This audit was also within a specific team and therefore, as the auditors noted, they were able to work in collaboration with patients' care coordinators. Second, the reauditor of Audit 5 commented on an improvement in awareness of the seclusion policy through junior doctor induction. Third, the recommendations from the original Audit 8 may have been followed more closely since there was reference to these issues in the Trust's ECC (Effective Care Coordination) policy. The principles of ECC are outlined in the Department of Health's document \"Effective Care Coordination in Mental Health Services, Modernising the CPA\" (Department of Health, 1999) and are very prominent in mental health trusts. Integration of salient audit recommendations into ECC policy is therefore likely to be an effective way of implementing changes.Regarding the unsuccessful reaudits, the reauditor of Audit 7, in which there was a deterioration in seven out of nine standards, noted that two practitioners had left, which was probably a major contributory factor to the negative results. However, he also made reference to the need for system changes, for example the use of forms and the incorporation of annual physicals into the existing ECC framework. The reauditor of Audit 4 similarly found that junior doctors were not aware of the monitoring sheet previously devised to help improve standards.The biggest limitation of our study was the lack of replicated audits for us to use. In many cases we found that the audits or reaudits were not held by the audit department and the doctors who conducted them had left the Trust. In other cases the reaudits had not been conducted in the same way as the original audits, meaning that comparisons could not be made.We suspect that the traditional way that junior doctors have been engaged in clinical audit within hospital trusts has contributed to the limited degree of improvement we found. That is, it has generally been left up to junior doctors to pick an audit topic, to devise the data collection tool, to carry out the audit independently with only minimal input from their supervising consultant, as well as to ensure the results are shared with colleagues. Dissemination of findings usually involves the junior doctors presenting the audits at educational meetings, which are attended predominantly by other doctors of various grades. Such a scenario is likely to result in several problems including less relevant topics being picked, unstandardised data collection tools preventing comparisons between audits and reaudits, lack of coordination of audits and insufficient dissemination.The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership outlines some of these difficulties that junior doctors face in doing clinical audits in their document \"Guide to involving junior doctors in clinical audit\" (Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, HQIP, 2010). They note that junior doctors are not always told about an NHS trust's system for registering and reporting on clinical audits, so their work is not captured in the trust's records of clinical audits undertaken. Another problem outlined is that junior doctors are seldom authorised by senior staff to take any action on the findings of their audits. Therefore, it is difficult to \"complete\" the audit by repeating data collection to measure the effectiveness of the action taken. Additionally, they recognize that clinical audits carried out by junior doctors may have little direct relevance to the clinical audit programme in a clinical service and may not represent a high priority for improvement in that service.In order to help address some of these problems, there is currently a drive within Mersey Care NHS Trust to improve the coordination of junior doctors' audits. This includes trying to ensure that summaries of their findings are sent to the Service Governance Support Team of the Trust where the results are held on a central database. The results can then be accessed by members of the Clinical Audit Groups within each Clinical Business Unit of the Trust for use within their service. There are also plans for the Trust to hold an annual open event where the results of audits will be presented either in electronic or poster form. Finally, there is a session as part of the junior doctors' induction about audit where they are given a booklet which includes a list of recent audits with contact details of the original authors.We believe that an even more structured approach may be necessary to ensure effective integration of junior doctors' audit activity within the Trust's audit programme. There are a variety of strategies, some of which we have observed in other trusts, which may help to achieve this. For example, doctors could choose audit topics from a predetermined list relevant to the Trust's priorities. It could also be a requirement that audits completed are held in their entirety by the Trust's Audit Department to allow future comparable reauditing. A rolling audit programme would help ensure areas of practice that have been audited are reaudited in a timely manner. Dedicated audit leads for the different professions, particularly medical, nursing and pharmacy, could take responsibility for trying to ensure recommendations are acted upon. As part of this they could meet with staff responsible for ECC implementation and junior doctor induction. They could also screen recommendations prior to presentation in order to limit them to those of greater importance and practicality. Finally, we would suggest that regular, Trust-wide, multidisciplinary audit meetings would allow much wider and more collaborative dissemination of findings. In particular, this would make any recommendations more accessible to team leaders/managers as well as very senior staff more heavily involved in service development.\nConclusion: In summary, clinical audit takes up a significant proportion of doctors' time and it is essential that this is time well spent. The advantages of junior doctors doing audit include developing their competencies and meeting their training requirements. Many NHS trusts have limited numbers of specialist clinical audit staff who tend to concentrate on clinical audits that are required at national level or audits required by primary care trusts (PCTs) who commission clinical services from the trust(Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, HQIP, 2010). Doctors therefore increase trusts' audit capacity. In addition, the General Medical Council refers to doctors' participation in audit stating they must work with colleagues and patients to maintain and improve the quality of their work and promote patient safety(General Medical Council, 2006).However, for junior doctors' audits to be meaningful and an effective use of their time, they need to be properly coordinated with replicable methods and trust wide dissemination of results and recommendations. In addition, trusts need to have other measures in place to ensure recommendations are being actioned. NICE concluded that multifaceted interventions tend to be more effective than feedback alone. Such interventions might include interactive education, outreach visits, reminder systems, decision aids, and system changes and there is evidence to show that these can be effective(National Institute for Clinical Evidence, 2002). Finally, there should also be mechanisms for patients to be involved in the process of quality improvement through audit and we would welcome their representation at multidisciplinary audit meetings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine the impact of a number of audits on clinical practice within a large mental health NHS trust. It aims to consider all audits that had been reaudited by psychiatry trainees and to compare the adherence to various standards before and after reaudit.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors examined all available clinical audits undertaken by psychiatry trainees that had been reaudited within Mersey Care NHS Trust. The results were analysed using SPSS version 16.0 for Windows. Differences between the results before and after reaudit were tested for using Pearson chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests, both two-tailed.\nFindings: - Significant improvements were noted in five of the 35 standards compared before and after reaudit. Only one reaudit, that of the assessment of physical health and of metabolic and cardiovascular risk in inpatients in Ashworth Hospital, showed significant deteriorations in adherence to the standards which was seen in seven of the nine parameters.\nOriginality/value: - The reaudits demonstrated only a limited improvement in practice. This highlights the need for a more structured approach to involvement of junior doctors in clinical audit and more robust methods of dissemination and implementation of recommendations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Participation in decision making: a case study of job satisfaction and commitment (part one)
|
[
"Job satisfaction",
"Employee commitment",
"Employee engagement",
"Participative decision making",
"Trust",
"Internal communication",
"Attitudes",
"Decision making",
"Canada"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When employees believe in and trust their management it motivates and encourages employees' participation in decision making which improves employees' efforts, benefits their job satisfaction and commitment to work. All of these factors, in turn, contribute to a trustworthy manager-employee relationship. While the literature supports this premise, there is little empirical evidence that patterns of causal inference in the relationship are clearly understood. This three part case focused on studying the relations between employee trust in management in a Quebec manufacturing company and their job satisfaction, intention to quit, level of employee participation in decision making and their commitment. The article found that employee trust in management is an important determinant of their willingness to participate in decision making. Insufficient employee participation in decision making in turn leads to low level of employee job satisfaction and employee commitment. Lack of employee commitment and engagement affects the employee's intention to quit. Part one of this article series gives a background to the case and problem, introduces the methodology and presents the hypotheses from the review of the relevant literature. Part two of this article series analyzed and discussed the findings of the research. Part three of this series will give a summary, key recommendations and alternatives for the solution.\nBackground of the company: SV Systems International: SV Systems International is a dynamic, innovative and fast-growing organization that was founded in 2000. SV Systems International (SVSI) employs 90 workers and is a division of SVSI Plastique Inc. that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of ventilation systems for farm buildings. By constantly developing new products, SVSI offers a complete line of ventilation products designed for all types of breeding. Over the years, SVSI has become a leader in natural ventilation systems intended for modern animal buildings.First, addressing the North American market, SVSI began to offer their products on the East European market beginning of 2005. In order to develop the European market, a first Western Europe sales manager position was introduced in 2010. In 2011 the company created a new fans division named \"Maxum Tech\". Today, SVSI ventilation systems are sold throughout North America, Europe and Eastern Europe through specialized distributors. SVSI workforce is composed of a team of expert advisors, engineers and construction specialists who ensure a healthy and continual business development. The main divisions of the organization we approached are: manufacturing (36 people), management and financial administration (20 people), and marketing, customer service, shipping, and sales.SVSI currently provides high quality systems such as natural ventilation systems, mechanical ventilation systems, chimneys and roof vents, electronic controllers and is involved in a number of high added value projects that drive the company forward. SVSI acts as a leader in the natural ventilation systems market. Part one of this article series will give a background to the case and problem, introduce the methodology and present the hypotheses from the review of the relevant literature.\nDescription of the problem: In their very competitive industry and environment, SVSI is facing competition from larger companies thus bringing innovation, efficiency and high customer satisfaction at the heart of their strategy. The market pressure drives SVSI in a way to build and apply better efficient production and delivery processes, while better responding to customer specific needs. This will reinforce SVSI position as a leader in the natural ventilation systems market.The company seeks to gain more North America and International market share. This can be achieved by producing and delivering better, faster and cheaper solutions while staying compliant with strong local and global market regulations. As a growing company, SVSI has expressed complicated ways to attain and over-achieve their goals, and their general manager detailed their executive strategy they try to reach that is based on:* leveraging innovation as a competitive advantage;* deliver new quality products constantly exceeding customer needs;* improving customer experience;* increasing effective relationships with customers and vendors based on trust and respect; and* honor their commitments.By further debating the current company's performance and by analyzing the alignment of the performances with their global business strategy, we realized that despite the current efforts from management to attain these goals, the company faces organizational issues that prevent SVSI from attaining and exceeding some of their executive strategy.Indeed, when discussing their internal decision-making processes, we observed that employees do not usually participate to this step. In fact, SVSI decision process is more achieved at an individual level. We discussed the idea that moving from individual decision making to group decision making can significantly bring them advantages and increase their effectiveness performance.Moreover, an interesting fact to observe is that the turnover rate in SVSI displays an average rate of 38 percent for the years of 2009-2010. In addition to knowledge that leaves, along with a period of training for new employees, a significant part of effort and time is being spent to ensure standard mandatory business continuity. It became apparent that this situation consumes energy that could be spent elsewhere; instead in improving their way of doing business, including improved production processes, the company could use this time in order to address new markets and expand effective long-term relationships with their customers, vendors and internally.Lastly, one major point we noted is the low level of employee engagement and commitment that currently limits the company to attain higher levels of achievements. Employees do not seem to express a strong feeling of belonging to their company, thus directly influencing the company's capability to build a strong internal cooperative environment to rely on.A meta-analysis conducted by Harter et al. (2002) reinforced the concept that there is a connection between employee engagement and business results. This suggests that low employee engagement noticed at SVSI directly influences the performance of the company and counts as a strong contributor to meet their executive strategy. Harter et al. (2002) concluded that, \"[...] employee satisfaction and engagement are related to meaningful business outcomes at a magnitude that is important to many organizations\".Moreover, the International Survey Research (International Survey Research, 2005) team has similarly found encouraging evidence that organizations can only reach their full potential through engaging employees and customers (International Survey Research, 2005). Three main issues have been identified that contribute to the challenge the company is experiencing to support and achieve their business strategy. They can be expressed as follows:* There is not sufficient level of employee participation in their decision making processes.* There is a low level of employee commitment and engagement.* There is a high level of employee turnover.Although the company provides certain forms of work recognition such as rewards and team recognition to try to address these issues, our study is based on analyzing these three problems by gathering more data from SVSI employees through the form of a questionnaire. The results of this case study will provide findings, alternatives and recommendations based on data analysis supported by accurate research concepts and articles.The following section describes the methodology that has been used and will then present and describe the considered hypothesis for study.\nMethodology: The issues gathered from SVSI general manager were developed into five hypotheses, which will be validated by our study. To validate the hypotheses we used the following approach:* The literature review was done to develop the hypotheses and to prove empirical links between dependent and independent variables.* The field research was conducted to collect the data and find the correlations between the variables in five proposed hypotheses.Data were collected through a survey of the production staff and administrative staff. A total of 20 copies of the survey questionnaire in both English and French were distributed within the survey pool of which 17 were returned giving an acceptable response rate of approximately 85 percent. The survey did not ask respondents to provide any information that would identify them directly. Respondents were simply asked to indicate their agreement with the above items on a scale ranging from \"strongly disagree\" to \"strongly agree\". See the Appendix, Figure A1 for data on the sample.\nDevelopment of hypotheses: Based on the literature review and the information obtained through a qualitative analysis of the company five hypotheses were defined.H1 investigates the relationship between the dependent variable employee participation in decision making (PDM) and the independent variable trust:H1. Insufficient level of trust in management leads to unwillingness of employees to participate in decision making.H2. Ineffective internal communication leads to low level of employee engagement and commitment.H3. Insufficient employee participation in decision making leads to low level of employee job satisfaction.H4. Low level of employee satisfaction leads to low level of employee commitment.H5. Lack of employee commitment and engagement affects their intention to quit (turnover).\nThe linkage between the variables within the hypotheses based on literature: In this part of the article we will review the literature to investigate the links between the independent and dependent variables within the hypotheses.H1\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - When employees believe in and trust their management it motivates and encourages employees' participation in decision making which improves employees' efforts, benefits their job satisfaction and commitment to work. All of these factors, in turn, contribute to a trustworthy manager-employee relationship. While the literature supports this premise, there is little empirical evidence that patterns of causal inference in the relationship are clearly understood. This three part empirical case aims to focus on studying the relations between employee trust in management in a Quebec manufacturing company and their job satisfaction, intention to quit, level of employee participation in decision making and their commitment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This empirical case will test five hypothesis regarding seven variables influencing the level of employee engagement and commitment, employee turnover, employee participation in decision making processes and job satisfaction.\nFindings: - The article finds that employee trust in management is an important determinant of their willingness to participate in decision making. Insufficient employee participation in decision making in turn leads to low level of employee job satisfaction and employee commitment. Lack of employee commitment and engagement affects the employee's intention to quit.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample size of the office workers was not sufficient in order to have statistically significant results of the correlations between the variables for the production department employees, and for the office/administrative staff. This could have helped to determine the level of internal communication specifically, but also the level of all of the other variables for the two different groups of employees.\nPractical implications: - This article offers useful insights for management in relation to strengthening interpersonal trust within an organization and introducing employee empowerment practices.\nSocial implications: - Owing to lack of trust in management, there will be high employee turnover. This in its turn will have a negative effect on both the performance of management and employees' welfare, job satisfaction and commitment.\nOriginality/value: - The findings provide empirical evidence to support theoretical models that link employee trust in management, participation in decision making, job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions and highlight the impact of these factors on organizational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The relationships of fashion leadership, fashion magazine content and loyalty tendency
|
[
"Fashion design",
"Fashion industry",
"Magazines",
"Customer loyalty"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A great deal of research has been conducted on consumers' use of the media in order to better understand the importance and influence of information sources in marketing. As consumers' use of information sources continues to increase, it is important for marketers to identify and utilize the information sources that targeted consumer groups prefer in order to better reach their intended consumer groups and in an effort to increase profits. In the late 1990s, Wilson and MacGillivray (1998) found that young consumers, those currently classified as Generation Y, place a great importance on the use of magazines as an information source. In their study, the researchers identified that female consumers value magazines as an information source more than do male consumers (Wilson and MacGillivray, 1998). Generation Y consumers value the same characteristics of information sources that are often identified with fashion magazines (celebrity endorsements and brand specific products) (Morton, 2002), and this young consumer group, therefore, may be more likely than older consumer groups to gather information for purchases from fashion magazines. Based on this conclusion, fashion magazine marketers may find it beneficial to conduct further research to determine if the current characteristics of fashion magazines are continuing to fulfill young female consumers' preferences and encouraging them to continue using fashion magazines as an information source. If marketers can identify the aspects of fashion magazines that appeal to Generation Y as they continue to age, they may be able to maintain the group's loyalty and encourage lifetime patronage.Loyalty is identified as a powerful influence of customer retention and repeat purchases, which influence a company's financial standing and potentially lower costs (Griffin, 1996). It is important, therefore, for fashion magazine marketers to understand the value of consumer loyalty and to adopt strategies that positively influence the loyalty tendencies of their customers. Although many studies investigated models and/or methods for testing the significance of specific factors in influencing a consumer's loyalty to a certain store, the current body of literature on loyalty tendency lacks thorough information on consumers' loyalty toward fashion magazines. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of fashion magazine content on consumer loyalty behavior.Because many women spend a large portion of their discretionary income on apparel items, the media is often used to target women and influence them in their purchasing decisions. Researchers asserted that women can be classified into differing fashion consumer groups according to their fashion leadership orientation and level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership (Hirschman and Adcock, 1987; Summers, 1972). According to Summers (1972), consumers are either classified as fashion leaders or fashion followers and have differing preferences toward fashion magazine content. He determined that fashion leaders are most likely to be exposed to fashion magazines. Fashion leaders may enjoy fashion magazines that feature new designers and designer clothing lines, or trade magazines like Women's Wear Daily that provide up-to-date information on the textile and apparel industry. On the other hand, fashion followers may prefer fashion magazines that feature \"how-to\" sections on clothing and accessories. It is important for marketers of fashion magazines, therefore, to understand the aspects of a fashion magazine that attract different consumer groups. By understanding their consumers' fashion innovativeness and leadership orientations, fashion magazines can better understand how to market toward their ideal consumer group. In order to identify the ways in which marketers for fashion magazines can better target specific fashion consumer groups, this study analyzed the differences in fashion magazine content preference and loyalty tendency toward fashion magazines among the identified fashion consumer groups according to the level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership.\nLiterature review: Fashion magazines\nHypotheses: Previous research has determined that consumers prefer media outlets that contain editorial content that is reflective of their own interests (Summers, 1972). The researchers of the present study anticipated that editorial content may directly encourage loyalty tendency. The researchers also anticipated that fashion consumer groups may vary in their preference of fashion magazine content and loyalty tendency according to the degree of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership. Therefore, the following hypotheses were developed:H1. Fashion magazine content will influence loyalty tendency.H2. The identified fashion consumer groups will place different emphases on fashion magazine content.H3. The identified fashion consumer groups will have different loyalty tendencies toward fashion magazines.\nMethod: Sampling and data collection\nData analysis and results: Data gathered from the survey was entered into a computer database and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The data analysis consisted of exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and descriptive statistics including means, frequencies, and percentiles. In preparation for hypothesis testing, exploratory factor analysis was used to transform the fashion magazine content scale into fewer dimensions. In addition, the respondents were classified into three fashion consumer groups based on the level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership, and loyalty tendency was determined using the summated scores of the four items measuring loyalty tendency.Preliminary analysis\nDiscussion and implications: In this study, seven dimensions have been identified to represent female college students' preferences of fashion magazine content. The seven fashion magazine content factors are as follows:1. general fashion trends/products;2. non-clothing information;3. price;4. celebrity news;5. familiarity/presentation;6. layout/advertising; and7. diversity.However, diversity was dropped in the hypotheses testing due to the low reliability of the dimension. A significant relationship was found between fashion magazine content and loyalty tendency toward fashion magazines. The results indicated that general fashion trends/products and celebrity news were the most significant fashion magazine content factors in influencing consumers' loyalty toward fashion magazines. As previously discussed, consumers may place a greater emphasis on general fashion trends/products because this type of content reflects and encourages their interest in fashion-related topics. The inclusion of celebrity news in fashion magazines may be a critical aspect for fashion magazine marketers to consider because it may encourage consumers to become more loyal to a fashion magazine that specifically features celebrity news, and, therefore, an increase in loyalty among consumers may encourage consumers to read and purchase fashion magazines more often. In addition, the findings of the study pertaining to preference of celebrity news support a previous study conducted by Morton (2002) that indicated that Generation Y students, including female college students ages 18 to 22 that were surveyed in this study, prefer brands that are endorsed by celebrities that they readily recognize; they look to celebrities for fashion information and leadership. By including photographs and articles on celebrity fashions, lifestyles and events in fashion magazines, marketers may be able to obtain and encourage the loyalty of this young consumer group. Therefore, the more information that a fashion magazine contains pertaining to general fashion trends/products and celebrity news, the greater the tendency for consumers to become loyal to that particular magazine.The fashion consumer groups were identified and analyzed in a manner based on Hirshman and Adcock's (1987) Fashion Innovativeness and Opinion Leadership study. The fashion consumer groups are as follows: fashion consumer group 1 (the group with the lowest level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership), fashion consumer group 2 (the group with a medium level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership), and fashion consumer group 3 (the group with the highest level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership). Significant differences in preference of fashion magazine content were identified among the three fashion consumer groups. The results of the study showed that fashion consumer group 3 placed a significantly greater emphasis on general fashion trends/products and layout/advertising than the other two fashion consumer groups. Based on this result, one may predict that consumers with the highest level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership may prefer to read fashion magazines that contain a large amount of general fashion trends/products information because these fashion magazines reflect and encourage their interest in fashion. This finding supports previous research indicating that consumers are most likely to prefer editorial content that reflects their personal interests (Summers, 1972). The consumers that exhibit a high level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership may place a greater emphasis on the layout/advertising aspects of fashion magazines because they feel that high-quality photographs and glossy pages demonstrate the same level of quality that they place on fashion. In addition, advertisements may be particularly important to these consumers because through these advertisements they are able to identify new fashion trends and products that they wish to purchase. According to the results of the study, fashion magazine readership for this consumer group with high fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership is likely to be related to novelty-seeking behavior. Because a magazine subscription represents a commitment by the consumer to acquire new information (Hirschman, 1980), one feature that could make fashion magazines valuable to the consumer is the inclusion, in every issue, of new and unusual or innovative information pertaining to fashion trends and products.A significant difference was found among the fashion consumer groups regarding loyalty tendency toward a fashion magazine. According to the results, consumers with the highest level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership showed significantly greater loyalty tendencies toward their favorite fashion magazine(s) than did other consumer groups. Consumers classified in fashion consumer group 3, therefore, should be fashion magazine marketers' primary target group. In order for marketers for fashion magazines to encourage consumers with a high level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership to remain loyal to a specific fashion magazine, marketers should encourage fashion magazine editors to include a large amount of information pertaining to general fashion trends and product information, such as current fashion trends and how to wear them, fashion forecasts for the upcoming season, and the latest clothing lines offered by designers. Marketers should also pay extra attention to the layout and advertising aspects of the magazine, such as the inclusion of high quality, glossy pages for advertisements for apparel, cosmetics, and all other clothing related items. In addition, the Internet has become a major source of information acquisition for consumers and an important tool for companies to utilize when building customer loyalty (Griffin, 1996). Offering fashion magazines online may be an effective way to attract consumers and to promote loyalty. Moreover, Hagel and Armstrong (1997) asserted that companies can expand their market through virtual communities. They noted that virtual communities provide a powerful vehicle for companies to deepen and broaden their relationships with the consumers who purchase their goods and services by encouraging consumers to correspond with the companies and other consumers. Therefore, offering fashion magazines online, in addition to printed copies, and creating a virtual fashion community through a website may provide a means by which companies can obtain a competitive advantage in the market. By creating a virtual community among fashion magazine consumers, the act of purchasing and reading a fashion magazine may develop into a social activity that encourages further discussion and sharing of fashion information through the use of the internet. In addition, if fashion magazine marketers can encourage fashion magazine owners to invest in making their fashion magazines available online, as well as retaining printed copies, they may be able to reach a greater market of consumers and thereby increase sales.Interestingly, although non-clothing information showed a non-significant but negative relationship with loyalty tendency, this fashion magazine content feature revealed the second highest mean score for fashion consumer group 3 and the highest mean score for both fashion consumer groups 1 and 2 in their fashion magazine content preference. This result provides insight for fashion magazine editors as they should not overlook the inclusion of non-clothing information such as current hairstyle and cosmetic trends, health, exercise and beauty tips, and \"how-to\" articles. With the inclusion of such information, fashion magazine marketers may be able to maintain the readership for fashion consumer group 3 and to encourage readership among the other two consumer groups. In addition, given that price was the second most important feature of fashion magazines among fashion consumer groups 1 and 2, these consumers may be more price conscious than fashion consumer group 3 and may choose one fashion magazine over another based on price. Therefore, fashion magazine marketers need to implement a well-balanced pricing strategy. Consumers with low and medium levels of innovativeness and opinion leadership also indicated a preference toward celebrity news. This preference for celebrity related content may be explained by these consumer groups' perception of celebrities as fashion leaders. Because consumers classified as fashion consumer groups 1 and 2 have a low level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership, they may find it easiest to copy another person's clothing choices, like those of a celebrity, rather than create their own. In this case, the inclusion of celebrity information in fashion magazines, such as lifestyle information, fashions, photographs, and news, may be a successful way of targeting fashion consumer groups with a low to medium level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership and in assisting fashion magazine marketers in encouraging fashion consumer groups 1 and 2's readership and loyalty. Based on the results of the study, by including a greater amount of fashion magazine content, like celebrity information, that appeals to consumer groups less concerned with the aspects of fashion magazines important to fashion-oriented consumer groups, fashion magazines can expand their consumer group to encompass a diverse and larger portion of the magazine market.There are several limitations associated with this study. As the study was conducted only at one university, the results may not be reflective of other universities throughout the United States. In addition, this study did not investigate multiple demographic groups with respect to preference of fashion magazine content and loyalty tendency. Some of the demographic characteristics that might yield differing results include age, gender, income, and education. A further study needs to be conducted at various universities throughout the United States in order to determine if the results of this study are consistent when sampling a different population of respondents. In addition, other studies should also be conducted with respondents of varying demographic characteristics from those respondents used in this study. Because a portion of the scale for preference of fashion magazine content was developed by the researchers for use in this study, the scale should be retested using respondents with the same and differing demographic characteristics from those respondents used in this study in order to determine the validity of the scale.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of fashion magazine content on consumer loyalty behavior and to analyze the differences in fashion magazine content preference and loyalty tendency toward fashion magazines among the identified fashion consumer groups according to their level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data on the variables in the study. The data analysis consisted of exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and descriptive statistics including means, frequencies, and percentiles.\nFindings: - Six fashion magazine content dimensions were identified. The results revealed that fashion magazine content was significantly related to loyalty tendency toward a fashion magazine. In addition, respondents' preference for fashion magazine content and their loyalty tendency varied according to fashion consumer group and their level of fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study has practical implications for fashion magazine editors and marketers regarding how to incorporate fashion magazine readers' wants and needs in relation to the magazine's content, how to position their magazines for targeting different groups of shoppers, and how to allocate the features of fashion magazines in order to promote readership and loyalty toward the fashion magazine.\nOriginality/value: - Despite the importance of fashion magazines as an information source, little research has been conducted to analyze fashion magazine content and its influence on loyalty tendency.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The role of partnership in supply chain performance
|
[
"Supply chain management",
"Partnership",
"Buyers",
"Suppliers",
"South Korea"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Trends of supply chain management (SCM) in the 1990s have been extensively studied in a variety of areas: information technology (IT), product variety, supply-chain costs, real-time information sharing, coordination, coordinated production planning, replenishment scheduling, and decision-making among trading partners (Kopczak and Johnson, 2003; Kulp et al., 2004). At this time, SCM has extended from the focal firm's benefit to the entire supply chain members' benefits, with assistance and support from major manufacturers or retailers to reduce operational costs, improve customer service, and result in a comparative advantage for supply chain members (Subramani, 2004; Wang et al., 2006).Although a few types of relationships such as those between the manufacturer and supplier (Su et al., 2008), buyer-vendor relationship (Noordewier et al., 1990), or buyer-seller relationship (Narayandas and Rangan, 2004) has been assessed in previous literature, the majority of these studies were focused on the dimensions of relationship quality, as well as the antecedents of relationship quality and consequences. Unless seamless information sharing based on IT between supply chain members exists, their relationships would not be able to adequately provide for overall long-term competitiveness. IT-based supply chain relationships are critically important on the basis of long-range plans with a strategic approach (Bernardes and Zsidisin, 2008; Moore and Manring, 2009), as well as the operational fit between partner firms (Douma et al., 2000; Koh et al., 2007).Owing to the ever-increasing pace of technological developments and alignment to new technologies, both strategic viewpoints with operational coordination should be fitted sufficiently. Therefore, we have placed our emphasis not only on the determinants and the reinforcement of the collaborative partnership relationship, but also identify the manner in which strategic factors and operational factors impact the partnership at the same time in terms of overall supply chain management effects. As a matter of fact, when firms elect to utilize outside contractors or partners in a long-term relationship, their hope is that not only strategic benefits, but also operational benefits, will be achieved by those relationships (Mukhopadhyay and Kekre, 2002; Subramani, 2004). This is why strategic alliances (Lambert et al., 1999; Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Niederkofler, 1991) and appropriateness of interreliance (Mohr and Spekman, 1994) must be considered and can be compelling reasons for cooperation.On the basis of the above considerations, we have attempted to assess the following three research questions:RQ1. What are the essential components of the partnership between buyers and suppliers within a supply chain?RQ2. What are the potential antecedents in the buyer-supplier partnership process?RQ3. What are the effects of the buyer-supplier partnership on supply chain performance?In order to answer these questions, we have developed an integrated model consisting of variables selected from previous study (So, 2004) and tested it empirically in the context of buyer-supplier relationships. In the next section, we provide some background on partnership as treated in the literature. We then describe our research model and hypotheses and the empirical analysis and results section. In the conclusion section, we elaborate our findings.\nTheoretical background: When both parties in the supply chain interact, the supply chain relationship can be a partnership. The process of interaction includes short-term as well as long-term relationship transactions. In the context of the supply chain, firms tend to maintain long-term relationship behaviors, in which partners generally believe that they may strengthen mutual benefits among the supply chain members (Su et al., 2008). Partnership is a similar long-term orientation concept (Smith and Barclay, 1997). Consequently, to foster partnership benefits from the context of supply, Fynes et al. (2004) stressed that uncertainty from the manufacturer-supplier should be reduced significantly. In \"genuine\" partnerships, each party not only commits to the other, each tends to change its behavior in order to fulfill the other partner's needs.Research into partnership alliances has addressed, as a function of continuation, relationship longevity (vs dissolution), and the satisfaction of each partner, and also has addressed the reasons that firms enter into and remain in close business relationships (Mohr and Spekman, 1994). Partnership alliances are a crucial relationship in the supply chain context, which encompasses all players from both the market side, including retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, and the supply side, including suppliers, vendors, and logistics. Partnerships can also engage in strategic alliances with suppliers, which should then result in higher levels of trust and commitment (Su et al., 2008); on the other hand, Harrison (2004) has previously stated that business relationships constitute a particular governance structure by which transactions can be controlled under conditions of uncertainty with asset dependencies. These players require information sharing and coordination in supply chains (Kulp et al., 2004; Rai et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2006). The buyer-supplier partnership includes the sharing of more information and better coordination of interdependent tasks, and investment in dedicated or specific assets which can improve quality or lower production costs; this process requires trust and a highly efficient governance mechanism (Dyer et al., 1998). From this notion of partnership, we can locate crucial behavioral characteristics that engender more intimate relationships. The trust, commitment, and collaboration behavioral process is related closely to the success of partnerships (Mohr and Spekman, 1994).As literature, a retailer's investment rests on a supplier's commitment to the relationship, and building both trust and commitment between firms is extremely important for firm performance within the contract terms of the two organizations (Narayandas and Rangan, 2004). Although commitment is not generally altered, trust frequently raises the level and intensity of committed behavior in a relationship (Moorman et al., 1992). Trusting behavior can be defined as the expectations of one organization that another organization will fulfill its duties, behave in a predictable way, and treat their partners fairly even when an opportunistic chance presents itself (Zaheer et al., 1998). Interorganizational trust can cause a firm to gain greater confidence in and more commitment to what they agree to do (Zand, 1972). High levels of interorganizational trust create an environment that prohibits opportunistic behavior, and makes partners more focused on engaging in committed relationships. Trust in buyer-supplier relationships provides a stable relationship with lower transactional costs, induces desirable behavior, decreases the extent of legal contracts, and helps to solve conflict problems (Sahay, 2003). Several studies have confirmed that partnerships rely on a high level of relational trust. Morgan and Hunt (1994) theorized that a successful relationship in marketing requires a relationship characterized by commitment and trust, both of which are key mediating variables in the preservation of the relationship. With increased trust, partners become more committed to the relationship. A recent study has shown that supply chain performance (SCP) is enhanced by trust in the exchange of relationships (Gulati and Sytch, 2007). In the end, interorganizational trust may demand partners' general information as well as sensitive and selective information promulgated via explicit or implicit methods. Further benefits include that their trusting relationship may demand legitimately contingent internal and external situational information without hesitation or even the relinquishing of valuable knowledge assets to the partner.We clarify the definition of commitment to some degree, holding it as \"the belief of an exchange partner in an ongoing relationship\" and that committed behavior ensures \"maximum efforts at maintaining\" the relationship (Morgan and Hunt, 1994, p. 23). Mohr and Spekman (1994) cited Porter et al.'s (1974) conception of commitment, which refers to the exertion of \"effort on behalf of the relationship (p. 137)\". Additionally, we conjecture herein that commitment performs a vital function in the partner's exchange relationship. The nature of commitments in all relationships, including interorganizational, intraorganizational, and interpersonal relationships stands for stability and sacrifice, In sum, commitment is a way to represent their efforts and reflects the belief that a partner is ready to take any potential high-risk action for the furtherance of the relationship, and will not elect to engage in any opportunistic options in alternative situation. In this regard, commitment can be explained as affection, which refers to a sense of belonging and a closeness of attachment to the organization. Commitment between supply chain partners integrates the supply chain business process. For this reason, commitment can be positioned as a key mediating variable between critical antecedents and outcomes (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Commitment is a principal construct in interorganizational relationships, particularly because commitment is a precursor of a partner's behavior, specifically with regard to whether suppliers or other partners maintain sufficient loyalty with certain affirmative attitudes.In terms of collaboration, collaboration from the supply context includes the exchange of information associated with materials, products, activities, production processes, problem solving as a team, production planning and the replenishing of scheduling, goals, and responsibilities (Kulp et al., 2004; Vachon and Klassen, 2008). Effective information, including not only the scope of information exchange (Zand, 1972) but also a greater accuracy and more detailed information, influences supply-chain actors' performance and successful relationships (Dyer, 1997). Thus, the supply chain partners keep trying to maintain trust as well as commitment to enthusiastic efforts to establish a good relationship and lead performance (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Moreover, a high degree of information sharing in the interfirm collaboration results from a high level of relational trust (Dyer, 1997), whereas a lack of trust will negatively influence information sharing (Zand, 1972).\nResearch model and hypotheses: We synthesize the trust, commitment, and collaboration process as a mediating component of the partnership process from the literature review in order to formulate the proposed research model. The research model consists of three dimensional components (antecedents, mediation, consequences). Antecedents consist of four variables (strategic fit, interdependence, operational compatibility, communication), mediation is composed of three variables (trust, commitment, collaboration), and the consequence is the SCP, as is shown in Figure 1.Strategic fit\nEmpirical analysis and results: Data collection\nDiscussion: In our results, we detected no direct effects from strategic fit and interdependent resources on trust; rather, we identified a direct impact on commitment. Trust is developed via consistent and foreseeable acts of the partner over time; additionally, partnership is an essentially long-term relationship, which is reflective of the strength of the relationship (Sahay, 2003). According to the study of Anderson and Narus (1990), the trust variable is occasionally changeable by a contingency situation based on time experience in the past, current, and future; by way of contrast, respondents' reports on commitment implicitly tap past commitment. Second, the strategic necessities between firms can be obtained only on the basis of the top management's strong commitment on a short-term, rather than a long-term basis. Conversely, trust can be established and built only through experience between firms via long-term business cooperation, rather than through goal-directed strategic approach. Interestingly, the operational approach, such as is observed in the framework of organizational compatibility and communication, significantly influences trust, but does not influence commitment. It may imply that the partners' trust works well with the nature of behavioral actions, which means that operational compatibility (benefits) would directly impact belief and trust in the relationship (Sahay, 2003). The current model demonstrates that strategic level variables exist in a positive causal relationship to commitment, whereas they do not exist in a causal relationship of trust. Furthermore, operational level variables are considered to be strong determinants of trust, but conversely, do not support commitment.The link between trust and commitment has received a great deal of attention, and has been identified as a meaningful relationship. Trust is an essential prerequisite for commitment among supply chain partners (Sahay, 2003). Commitment is built on a foundation of mutual trust. This research provides theoretical support for the relationship. This finding is consistent with the notion that cooperation arises directly from the influences of trust and commitment (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). In the end, the development of trust and commitment via the interaction between two firms both fosters collaboration between firms and helps to sustain collaborative maintenance. Finally, our empirical evidence demonstrates the essentiality of the supply chain collaboration and improves the supply chain partner's operational performance, as well as the firm performance - this is consistent with the findings of Rai et al. (2006). In summary, although our data partially supports the research model, we have confirmed the significant impact of strategic variables and operational variables in terms of trust and commitment.\nConclusions: We applied the antecedent of trust-commitment-collaboration and its consequences to the context of the supply chain. In order to enhance SCP, a buyer-supplier partnership must feature reciprocal trusting behavior and committed effort. Satisfying collaboration appears to be critically contingent on the development of mutual perceptions of trust and committed behavior. We identified the antecedents from two contexts: the strategic level and the operational level. First, our test of the research model shows that the trust-commitment-collaboration model in the supply chain context is as important as the mediation variables between the antecedents and SCP. Second, the strategic level and the operational level influence the trust-commitment mediation differently. Therefore, this study partially supports the notion that not only a cooperation strategy and complementary resources, but also organizational compatibility, encourages the creation of trust and goodwill (Niederkofler, 1991) between supply chain partners.Our findings bear implications in the areas of both academia and business. In this study, we have demonstrated the importance of antecedents, particularly the different effects of strategic and operational views, in determining the manner in which trust and commitment share in collaboration and impact SCP. Therefore, practitioners should consider how to build trust and commitment in a useful and workable manner, in order to shape supply chain strategy and further benefit their partners.This study, though, has certain limitations. First, the data in this study was collected via a subjective measurement method. Future studies will be required to assess the quantitative data or real transaction data. These studies will provide more solid results. Also, we geographically collected data from Korea, therefore we should carefully interpret the findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Supply chain management emphasizes collaborative relationships between buyers and suppliers within a supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of buyer-supplier partnership and to explore its impact on the supply chain performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The proposed research model was tested via structural equation modeling analysis with survey data collected in October 2007 from 141 buyer-supplier practitioners in South Korea.\nFindings: - The results of this study imply that both strategic and operational variables are perceived as crucial factors affecting the buyer-supplier partnership; thus, this partnership relationship exerts an impact on supply chain performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study provides researchers and practitioners with a more comprehensive understanding about the buyer-supplier partnership in a supply chain context. Future research should focus on developing additional constructs that may capture other aspect of buyer-supplier partnership.\nOriginality/value: - The present study makes an empirical contribution by investigating an integrated framework focusing on the antecedents of buyer-supplier partnership and its impact on supply chain performance.\n",
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Contesting the austerity and "welfare reform" narrative of the UK Government: Forging a social democratic imaginary in Scotland
|
[
"UK",
"Discourse",
"Austerity",
"Social democracy",
"Social investment",
"Welfare reform"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Following the 2010 UK General Election, the Conservative-Liberal Coalition UK Government introduced a package of policy reforms encompassing public spending reductions (austerity), liberalisation of public services and intensification of \"work first\" reforms to social security and employment services. As the UK Government implemented austerity and welfare reforms and set about constructing support for its approach, the negative portrayal of working age social security benefit claimants became commonplace in official and popular discourse (Garthwaite, 2011; Clarke and Newman, 2012; Wiggan, 2012; Slater, 2014; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 2015; Spours, 2015). With the return of a Conservative majority in the UK Parliament following the 2015 General Election, this programme of austerity continued as did the UK Government's welfare reform narrative as it constructed an increasingly hostile environment for social security recipients (Gamble, 2015; Edmiston et al., 2017). The Labour Party's vacillation between opposition to - and grudging endorsement (albeit with qualifications) of - these policies did little to disrupt the UK Government's conservative-liberal-market narrative or actual package of austerity and welfare reform (Gamble, 2015; Page, 2014; Wiggan, 2015a).\nRescaling social security and employment service governance in the context of austerity: The Scotland Bill stipulated \"core\" social security benefits, including their payment rates, conditions of entitlement and associated grounds for disallowance or sanction, were to remain reserved to Westminster. However, a package of social security benefits amounting to around 15 per cent of total benefits spend in Scotland would be devolved, along with authority over the administrative arrangements for some core benefits and working age employment programmes for disabled people and some long-term unemployed people. Scotland consequently would gain authority over payments to compensate for illness and injury associated with employment (Industrial Injuries Disablement Allowance); to benefits to assist with mobility or care costs (e.g. Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment) and the various benefits of the Regulated Social Fund. It was also to gain the authority to vary administrative arrangements in housing support payments, payment frequency and whether payment would be made to one adult or split between two adults for each claimant household receiving the new single working age benefit - Universal Credit, which, having been introduced by the Coalition Government, is gradually being rolled out (Spicker, 2015; Scottish Government, 2015e) (Table I).\nA CPDAF: The decentred theoretical approach and critical discourse analytical method provide a complementary framework for understanding the governance of social security and employment services. Decentred theory positions the state as an ensemble of diverse, divergent, competing practices and possibilities whose form at a given point in time emerges out of the political struggle between actors who (re)make and (re)construct activity, by a continual (re)weaving of their ideas in light of new (or the return of) distinct challenges (Bevir, 2013, p. 70). How particular ideas are communicated and given meaning and taken into action in the political and policy arena (Diamond, 2013) is through discourse, understood to mean language, texts, images and social practices. Discourse is intrinsic to the (re)configuration of societal and policy realities, with the purveyors of a given discourse actively involved in manufacturing the very \"reality\" they identify as preferable and/or claim is already in existence (Fairclough, 2001, p. 4).\nData selection: The data consist of official Scottish Government documents published during the period 2011 and 2016 (Table II). The 2011-2012 and 2015-2016 Programmes for Government (PfG) are authoritative statements of overall priorities and preferences of the first year of a majority SNP administration and the period following the independence referendum with the prospect of further devolved power over social security under development. The analysis also includes the 2013 Independence White Paper, 2015 Economic Strategy and 2015 Employability Support consultation documents as these are discursively and/or textually interlinked with the 2015 PfG. Together these texts provide an insight into the social democratic ideational tradition drawn upon by the Scottish Government and the linguistic and visual repertoires it has used to contest the UK Government's representation of \"the problem\" that necessitates their \"welfare reform\" policy practice. Moreover, through examination of these Scottish Government texts we can discern the construction of an insurgent discourse around welfare governance in keeping with social democratic interpretations of fairness, justice and respect (Table III).\nThe \"social wage\", social protection and national renewal: The \"social wage\" has featured periodically in policy and political discussion as a means to refer to and/or assess the value of assorted welfare provision to the individual citizen, though it is perhaps most closely associated with the 1974-1979 Labour Government and its Social Contract (see Healey, 1975). This was intended to help manage the work-welfare-economy nexus by committing the then government to improvements in welfare services and benefits (social wage) in exchange for unions agreeing to voluntary pay restraint (Timmins, 1996, p. 316). Given the ignominious collapse of the Social Contract during the 1970s (see Timmins, 1996) the use of the social wage concept by the SNP Scottish Government in their 2011-2012 Programme for Government to frame its initial response to the Coalition's austerity and welfare reform package may seem somewhat peculiar. Yet the social wage links the Scottish Government to a more corporatist, universalist past and strand of British social democracy, long repudiated by successive UK Governments, including those of New Labour. In Scotland, this has aided the SNP's differentiation from the Scottish Labour Party, which in 2012 indicated a preference for a targeted approach to welfare provision by calling into question the aspects of the social wage, such as free bus travel and no university tuition fees (BBC, 2012; Scottish Parliament, 2012a, b).\nSI and constructing future welfare state imaginaries: The 2014 referendum on independence for Scotland provided an opportunity for the Scottish Government to articulate a vision of a future SI welfare state whose orientation and underlying assumptions offered a distinct counter to the UK Coalition Governments market-liberal safety net approach (Mooney and Scott, 2015, p. 9). The Scottish Government's elevation of a SI narrative indicates its embrace of, and positioning within, the European social policy mainstream which, since the 1990s, has coalesced around \"SI\". As an ideal type, the SI approach has emerged as a rejection of the supposedly excessive decommodifying effect of \"compensation\" benefits in post-war welfare states. The initial reaction to this manifests in market-liberal reforms that interpreted social protection spending primarily as a cost; an impediment to effective supply side policy and a drag on economic growth, that should be minimised and restricted to a \"safety net\" (Hemerijck, 2015; Jenson, 2010, p. 62; Van Kersbergen and Hemerijck, 2012, p. 475). The premise of the SI stance is that state intervention and comparably high levels of social protection spending can complement effective supply side policy, economic growth and welfare state sustainability, provided they are embedded in a life course perspective that concentrates spending on human capital as a form of \"preventative\" investment. The assumption is that prioritisation and expansion of labour activation policy, lifelong education and training to upskill the adult labour force, and enhanced early years education and childcare interventions improves the capacity of individuals and families to manage emergent opportunities and risks associated with ageing societies, changing family forms, knowledge intensive, globally interconnected economies, and flexible, unpredictable labour markets. In turn this raises the long-term growth potential of the economy, promotes social cohesion and undermines the conditions that give rise to social problems and high levels of \"compensatory\" social welfare expenditure in the first instance (Jenson, 2010, p. 61; Cantillon and Van Lancker, 2013).\nInscribing fairness in the new welfare governance: The Scottish Government has also outlined the distinct principles and values it claims will underpin the new welfare governance in Scotland. The text of the 2015-2016 PfG invites the reader to draw the conclusion (evoked evaluation) that (Conservative-led) governments have instituted unjust, inequitable reforms that hamper benefit take-up, strip people of self-worth and fail to resolve social need:Our new powers over social security despite being limited in scope, will provide opportunities to develop different policies for Scotland which are fairer and help tackle inequality and poverty, in line with the core purpose of the Scottish Government. We will use these powers to develop a system which is; suited to the needs of our people and our country; underpinned by respect for the dignity of individuals; accessible, fair, and commands the full confidence of claimants and the organisations and services that support them(Scottish Government, 2015a, p. 20).\nConclusion: governance and competing discourses of welfare state futures: Bevir (2005) suggests that actors approach new dilemmas arising from changing contexts by returning to their ideational heritage to draw together different strands of thought to reinterpret the new challenge and rework their response. The SNP has self-identified itself as social democratic since the mid-1970s and has long advanced the defence of territorial interests with an anti-Conservative Party, pro-welfare state message (Lynch, 2002, p. 134; 2009; Maxwell, 2009, p. 121). It is not surprising that as a minority administration in 2007, the SNP Scottish Government expressed the complementarity of social justice, economic prosperity and self-determination (Scott and Mooney, 2009, p. 387; Cuthbert and Cuthbert, 2009; Scott and Wright, 2012). Nor that when faced with the commitment to austerity and social security residualisation of the Conservative-Liberal Coalition Government and subsequent Conservative UK Governments' (Chancellor of the Exchequer, 2015; Edmiston et al., 2017), the Scottish Government sought to develop a new welfare imaginary for Scotland (Keating, 2014). Informed by interpretations of concepts such as the social wage and SI, drawn from social democratic traditions, within and without the UK, from the past and the present the result has been a discourse that represents the defence of less punitive and more comprehensive social security as necessary, affordable, productive and pro-business.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The \"welfare reform\" narrative of successive Conservative-led UK Government emphasises public spending reductions, individual responsibility and strengthening of benefit conditionality. The purpose of this paper is to cast light on how this narrative is challenged and disrupted by the Scottish Government through their articulation of a social democratic welfare state imaginary.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study draws together a decentred governance perspective that emphasises ideational tradition for understanding (re)construction of governance (Bevir, 2013, p. 27) with critical discourse analysis to examine how welfare interpretations/representations are carried into the policy and public arena. The Scottish Government documents are deconstructed to interrogate the ideas and form of their emergent discourse and its relation to the independence referendum and welfare governance reform.\nFindings: Responding to changing socio-economic contexts and welfare governance, the Scottish Government has developed a discourse of modernisation rooted in British and Scandinavian social democratic traditions. Fusing (civic) nationalism with social wage and social investment concepts, they conjure up imaginaries of a prosperous, solidaristic, egalitarian welfare state as a feasible future reality, recuperating \"welfare\" as a collective endeavour and positioning a maldistribution of power/resources between groups and constituent countries of the UK as the \"problem\".\nOriginality/value: The paper is of value to those interested in how changes to centralised-hierarchical welfare governance can open new spaces for actors at different levels of government to articulate counter-hegemonic discourses and practices. Its originality lies in the analysis of how the Scottish Government has reworked social democratic traditions to weave together a welfare imaginary that directly contests the problem-solution narrative of successive Conservative-led UK Governments.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Semantic process benchmarking to improve process performance
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Process analysis",
"Process modeling",
"Business process management",
"Ontologies",
"Metamodeling",
"Semantic model analysis",
"Semantic benchmarking"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Organizations use benchmarking widely to identify areas in which they can improve their efficiency (Watson, 1993). An important prerequisite for improved efficiency is capturing the data of key performance indicators (KPIs) (Alshawi et al., 2003). In their quest for such data, benchmarkers have mainly focused on products and services, and have rarely included processes (Ahmed and Rafiq, 1998; Carpinetti and Melo, 2002).In general, two different types of benchmarking can be distinguished: \"quantitative approaches\" are based on performance indicators, while \"qualitative approaches\" make use of in-depth analyses of the organizations to be benchmarked. The latter approaches involve interviewing, document analysis, and observation. Qualitative data gathering can uncover performance gaps, and can be used to investigate the causes of higher or lower performance. Best practices can also be identified and made available to the benchmarking participants. However, qualitative approaches require a significant number of analyses, and depend on experienced and skilled benchmarking experts. As Drew pointed out in 1997, new ways of making benchmarking less time-consuming and costly need to be identified (Drew, 1997, p. 439). Although this call for new approaches was made several years ago, no answer has yet been provided.To date, process benchmarking has primarily been a manual process, requiring individuals to collect data and analyze them. Experts are needed to collect and interpret the benchmarking information as it is mostly unstructured. However, even if semi-formal or formal process models are used, diverging terminologies and domain knowledge prohibit a direct analysis. Moreover, processes are often described in different process models that present dissimilar process views at diverse levels of abstraction (Markovic et al., 2009). A model's objectives and focus, as well as the choice of modeling language (Recker et al., 2009) depend on the particular view of the process that the model illustrates. With extra-organizational benchmarking, a comparison can only be made if several process models, each using a different language, are employed. A careful translation into a common language, in order to gain a universal understanding, is crucial for a meaningful comparison. Owing to this complication, software-based approaches to benchmarking mainly focus on performance indicators; they do not generally involve a qualitative analysis of the data gathered.Information systems (IS) research provides a solution to solve the problem of low benchmarking efficiency by suggesting the use of conceptual process models. As long as the process models are stored in a digital semi-formal or formal format, a partially automated analysis and comparisons can be made by using IS. However, there are two fundamental problems with this solution: First, conceptual process models are often syntactically incompatible, since they make use of different process modeling languages (e.g. event-driven process chains (EPCs), Petri nets, unified modeling language (UML) activity diagrams). Second, the terminology or semantics of common models differs (Teuteberg et al., 2009). Therefore, a comparison is not possible (Thomas and Fellmann, 2009).The objective of our research is to propose an approach that partly allows automating the time-consuming and costly analysis and comparison of process models, which will not only allow diverging performance indicators to become obvious, but also the qualitative differences between processes. This approach is based on using metamodels and ontologies for the analysis. We furthermore evaluate the proposed approach in terms of its technical, conceptual and economic perspectives. We have developed a software system prototype to specifically address the first two evaluation perspectives.To achieve our research goal, we proceed as follows: Section 2 outlines the theoretical foundations of our work, and summarizes the approaches and results of related work. The research methodology will be described in Section 3. In Section 4, the developed method for the analysis and comparison of individual process models is presented. We deal with the threefold evaluation of our research results in Section 5. We then provide an overview of our evaluation methodology before describing the technical, conceptual, and economic evaluation perspectives with their respective outcomes. In Section 6, we summarize the results of our work, discuss its implications and limitations (e.g. regarding ease of use and applicability), and point to the need for further research.\n2 Semantic process benchmarking: the state of research: 2.1 Foundations\n3 Cyclic research process: The research described in this article can be characterized as design-oriented research that focuses on the creation of a \"new\" method (i.e. \"semantic process benchmarking using metamodels and ontologies\"). Valid design science research requires an iterative search for an adequate solution to a relevant problem, and a rigorous evaluation of the solution (Walls et al., 1992; March and Smith, 1995; Hevner et al., 2004). Following the framework proposed by March and Smith, we follow a process in which we design and evaluate our proposed method (Figure 1). For this purpose, we create an instantiation of a software prototype (Section 5.1). However, the prototype does not constitute a major research result, but serves as a tool for evaluating our method. We expect this instantiation to:* convey our method's ease of use and applicability; and to* prove the general viability of the method, which cannot be executed efficiently without appropriate software support (March and Smith, 1995, p. 260).We start our research with an in-depth analysis of related work (Section 2.2) and a deductive elaboration of the method (Section 4) outlined in this article. Subsequent to this construction phase, we translate the method into a software system's requirements and develop the prototype accordingly. The prototype is then used to perform the evaluation (Section 5). We apply three evaluation perspectives: The first perspective is conceptual, and investigates whether the proposed method works and yields useful results. The second perspective is technical, and considers the method's technological feasibility. The third perspective investigates its economic potential. In order to evaluate economic potential, we perform a descriptive and argumentative evaluation (Frank, 2006, pp. 33-35). This evaluation illustrates that certain institutional preconditions have to be met for our approach to be profitable in a real-world scenario. Sections 5 and 6 provide more information on the evaluation perspectives. At the end of each cycle, we use the evaluation results to further improve our approach. Hevner et al. (2004) differentiate between different evaluation strategies, i.e. observation, analysis, experimentation, testing, and describing: our approach is evaluated by developing a software prototype that we apply in simulation experiments with existing process models. We use prominent reference process models for procurement processes (Scheer, 1994; Schuh, 2006). This analysis allows us to see whether our approach is generally suitable to generate novel and useful information about different process models that describe the same problem domain.\n4 Ontology-based process model benchmarking: 4.1 Ontology-based benchmarking process\n5 Evaluation: The evaluation of IT artifacts (i.e. methods and software prototypes) on the basis of design-oriented research approaches is problematic from a methodological point of view (Frank, 2006, pp. 5-6; Vanderhaeghen et al., 2010, p. 25). The outcome of design-oriented research should be evaluated in as many \"real\" contexts (real-world scenarios) as possible, although this is hardly fully possible in the research project context (Vanderhaeghen et al., 2010, p. 25). Owing to these problems, we follow a twofold evaluation approach, as outlined in Section 3: first, based on our prototype, we simulate process benchmarking in experiments. Second, we follow the proposal by Frank (2006, pp. 33-35) to evaluate design-oriented research argumentatively and descriptively. We do so specifically for the economic evaluation perspective. In the following sections, we will outline the results of our different evaluations.5.1 Technical evaluation\n6 Conclusion: 6.1 Contributions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and evaluate the semantic process benchmarking concept.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors' approach includes the use of metamodels and ontologies, which make the process models syntactically and semantically comparable. Furthermore, a software prototype is presented to analyze and compare individual process models and their performance information. Thereafter, the technical, conceptual, and economic perspectives of the approach's evaluation are aligned with their respective outcomes.\nFindings: - The evaluation proves that this approach is generally suitable to generate novel and useful information on different process models and their performance within the same problem domain. However, the initial set-up costs are high and will only pay off once process models are used regularly.\nPractical implications: - The proposed approach depends strongly on the availability of appropriate metrics and ontologies, as well as on the annotation of these ontologies to process models, which is a time-consuming task. If large benchmarking clearing centers are established, the approach will be more cost-effective. The developed SEMAT prototype, that demonstrates and proves the proposed approach's general viability, supports cost-effective ontology engineering and annotation in the context of semantic process benchmarking initiatives.\nOriginality/value: - To date, process benchmarking has primarily been a manual process. In this article, the authors suggest an approach that allows time-consuming and costly process analysis to be partially automated, which makes the performance indicators, as well as qualitative differences between processes, apparent.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
It's the employees, stupid! How focusing on staff first will improve company performance
|
[
"Human resource management",
"Human resource strategy",
"Training",
"Professional development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: What makes a good college sports program? Well, in essence, the proof of the pudding has to be in pennants won, surely? Well, yes and no. That is one factor, but if a college is to fulfill its purpose of preparing elite individuals for their life ahead - whether athletically or intellectually - then surely a better measure would be their success in later life. After all, this is how university rankings seek to balance the different charms of a Harvard or a Yale.If this is so, then what is it about those universities that are particularly successful using this measure? To date, the University of North Carolina (UNC) and the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) have had the most NBA players graduate from their academies. UCLA nudges ahead in numbers with almost 100 players in its history, but UNC has no fewer than five Hall of Famers, including the best basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. Did these schools just happen to receive the best players onto their roster, or were they the best at recruiting, or perhaps are their program's the very best at developing elite players year after year?\nWhat is high performance?: It has become little trite in employee training to ask \"what does good look like?\", but imagine for a moment that you are an amazing high school basketball player - a pure phenomenon. You have every top school clamoring for your signature, with no end of potential endorsements to tempt you. By you are a bit old school, have every intention of staying at college for all four years, so which school do you choose? The one with the best weather, the one with the best chance of winning, or the one that has the highest percentage chance of delivering you to the promised land of the NBA? Sadly, not all high school players are highly rational, but those who are would head to UCLA or UNC.In the same way, high performing organizations will be judged by high potential employees on how well they support people and push them to executive level and beyond, not necessarily by buoyant stock prices. In his article \"Agile, aligned and adept\", Jean Gomes (2012) looks to redefine what a high performing firm looks like from the perspective of its people. Here, it is evident in study after study that the most important metric related to performance is happiness, yet how many CEOs or human resource (HR) directors have happiness as their major priority?Gomes points to several statistics that show they should pay more attention to their employees' state of mind: happier employees are 31 percent more productive and sell a third more; 69 percent of employees think the average of 5.5 hours a week they spend in meetings is unproductive; they also think they waste a quarter of their week on worthless e-mail, meetings and bureaucracy.\nStrategic fusion: With this in mind, the author suggests thinking about employees not as agents who serve the need of the organization, but in a nod to John F. Kennedy, as people in need of a purpose which should be provided by the organization. He illustrates this in a simple matrix which maps strategic capability against strategic capacity. If both areas are weak then you see lost potential and under-performance. With stronger capability, you get what Gomes terms \"expedient performance\", which probably fits the bill for a number of frustrated CEOs and their transitional companies. If, on the other hand, there is strong capacity instead, then this marks where the potential performance of the firm may lie, but is not fully developed.However, if both strategic capacity and strategic capability are strong, then the firm operates under a strategic fusion which is called \"adaptive performance\", which blends processes and systems with beliefs and values to enable a dynamic workforce to drive the company forward. This sort of approach is recognized in much of the development work carried out by corporations such as Google and Apple, and has lead to a rethink of value creation and hierarchies, as people from all parts of an organization should be enabled to contribute and be recognized anew in terms of human capital, thus stimulating new value propositions such as co-creation.\nTraining the trainers: So in the brave new world on elite employee development with them at the center of a firm's HR capability, rather than a function of it, where does training sit? Training is the rather staid, unfashionable older uncle of HR management, and by many employees is seen as a necessary evil, or at best a rung on a ladder to bigger and better things. By if employees are to be given a purpose by their organization, training has to fit in with this new dynamic scene somewhere.In their article \"Training as a generator of employee capabilities\", Vidal-Salazar et al. (2012) look at the role of training in the modern firm, and in particular personnel training in terms of their knowledge, collectivity and commitment. Crucially, this is done within the framework of how the development of these three characteristics can enhance and contribute to the competitive advantage of the firm. It is often taken for granted that training will develop core competences of an individual, and in turn the firm. Buthow can these competences be pushed further? It is surely a key question in an area such as commitment as to how much training can be utilized in developing it for the shared purpose of competitive advantage.What the authors found in their study is that, and this was not a given, the more hours of training does increase the knowledge or know-how of employees, but these need to be distinguished in terms of breadth and depth. Second, commitment can be enhanced both by the number of courses taken and by the hours of training and individual undergoes, and therefore if the purpose of the training has the right focus it will strengthen commitment to the cause, and improve competitive advantage. Finally however, there was no correlation found between training and collectivity, and this is put down to supposition that this is engendered outside formal training environments in mentoring programs or through key relationships.\nLooking forward: So far we have seen positive effects of placing employees at the center of training and HR policies, but these are very much based in the past and present. By what about the future? In her article \"How to develop high-potential employees\", Jill Jusko (2012) peers into the future to understand what corporations should do today to develop the high-performance executives of the future. What is beyond doubt given the research, she says, is that companies must include leadership planning to develop high-potential employees to provide that push from capability or capacity to the fusion of both discussed by Gomes (2012).Jusko sets out a comprehensive seven point plan for forms to help them develop such a program for their high achievers:1. Involvement by senior executives is crucial, and not just lip service - time and resources from senior teams will engage high flyers at both a formal and informal level.2. Open and transparent programs are a necessity - having a secret list will no be a secret for long, and only demoralize those not on the top team.3. Jobs for life do exist, but not in the same role - top talent may reside in sales, and firms need to identify that talent but be willing to see what role they will have in the future, even if it does not even exist yet.4. Getting serious about development - executives do not need to be moved around for the sake of it, but need to be challenged and to a point share the risk of the organization in their ability by going out of their comfort zone on some projects or assignments.5. \"Recruit your people every day\" - this strange saying implies that if you do not constantly look to keep talent in the job, somebody else will, so motivation, salary and happiness all need to be regularly checked.6. Responsiveness and responsibility - the senior management team do not just need to be engaged with top talent, they need to be held accountable by the firm for their development, so that they each have a little bit of themselves invested in the future stars of the firm.7. \"What can't be measured can't be managed\" - these wise words of management must be heeded, or else no development or success will be effectively discerned, or failures brought to an end.Returning to our top basketball colleges, one of the defining characteristics of the UNC program has always been a \"win at all costs\" mentality, and this requires absolute commitment from players, staff and coaches to the success of the Tar Heels. This is pure organizational culture, and it is writ large in US TV screens during the NCAA basketball season, usually all the way to the \"Mad March\" playoffs. Creating and promoting this kind of culture through the generations has helped UNC to be one of the top basketball colleges; there is no reason that by looking after top talent like this firms could not progress in a similar fashion.\nComment: HR nurturing top talent is not a new topic, but the articles reviewed here have a refreshing honesty and directness to them that should force firms to look at themselves more closely. Jusko (2012) offers some strong advice on how to take the development of top people more seriously, while Vidal-Salazar et al. (2012) offers compelling evidence that training should not be the poor relation in HR management. What Gomes (2012) does particularly well is integrate the development of future high flyers with strategic advantage for firms, and so the overall picture is a strong one for the pushing forward of elite employee programs.\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: - What makes a good college sports program? Well, in essence, the proof of the pudding has to be in pennants won, surely? Well, yes and no. That is one factor, but if a college is to fulfil its purpose of preparing elite individuals for their life ahead - whether athletically or intellectually - then surely a better measure would be their success in later life. After all, this is how university rankings seek to balance the different charms of a Harvard or a Yale.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Knowledge hoarding: antecedent or consequent of negative acts? The mediating role of trust and justice
|
[
"Justice",
"Trust",
"Structural equation modeling",
"Bullying",
"Knowledge hoarding",
"Negative acts"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge sharing, as a way to create, sustain, and transfer knowledge, has been found to affect individual (Quigley et al., 2007) and organizational performance (Hsu, 2008). In contrast to knowledge sharing, organizational behaviours of not sharing information have been defined by two constructs: knowledge hiding and knowledge hoarding. While knowledge hiding refers to a dyadic relationship between one individual requesting knowledge from another, who in response withholds that knowledge (Connelly et al., 2012), knowledge hoarding is defined as the simple withholding of knowledge, which has not been requested by any specific individual (Webster et al., 2008). As these two concepts target behaviours of knowledge withholding, it is reasonable to expect that they may demonstrate some degree of overlap. However, according to Connelly et al. (2012), the concepts are both theoretically and empirically distinguished. Theoretically, they differ on three main aspects: intentionality, request, and scope. Empirically, they are found to be weakly correlated and to demonstrate discriminant validity among their indicators. With regard to these discriminatory aspects, knowledge hoarding is thus defined by being a less intentional form of concealment, referring to knowledge not requested by specific others, and by having a smaller behavioural scope, than knowledge hiding (Connelly et al., 2012). Knowledge hoarding is particularly important, as it also captures elements of knowledge that are not necessarily explicit and understood by others (Evans et al., 2014). This type of knowledge may be impossible to request, yet essential for an organization to succeed.\n2. Knowledge hoarding and negative acts: The concept of negative acts at work targets a range of unwanted behaviours, which, when combined and experienced over time, may define workplace bullying (Nielsen et al., 2011). The present study applies a conceptualization of bullying corresponding to the following definition:\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Study design and data collection\n4. Results: Means, standard deviations, and correlations appear in Table I. Except for the relations between NA1 and JU2 and between NA2 and KH1, all measures were statistically significantly correlated (p < 0.05). Note that these preliminary descriptive statistics were not adjusted for the multi-level data structure.Data-model fit statistics are presented in Table II. Both models show acceptable fit. The resulting standardized parameter estimates for H1 and H2 are listed in Table III and illustrated in Figure 1. Revealing a non-significant direct effect (DE) between knowledge hoarding and negative acts (DE = 0.047, p = 0.135), Model 1 did not support H1. The standardized path coefficient was negative and statistically significant between knowledge hoarding and trust (DE = -0.322) and between knowledge hoarding and justice (DE = -0.253), as was the standardized path coefficient between justice and negative acts (DE = -0.310). The relation between trust and negative acts was negative and non-significant (DE = -0.051, p = 0.289). The standardized indirect effect (IE) mediated by trust was a non-significant IE = (-0.322)(-0.051) = 0.016, whereas the standardized IE mediated by justice was a statistically significant IE = (-0.253)(-0.310) = 0.078. H2 was thus supported for justice, but not for trust.\n5. Discussion: The main motivation for the development of knowledge management research has been the critical importance of the creation and transfer of knowledge for organizational success (Zhang, 2009). To date, little is known about the behaviours of not sharing information, which is currently receiving increased research interest. Research on knowledge hiding has however shown that such behaviours occur regularly (Connelly et al., 2012) and have potential negative outcomes (Cerne et al., 2014; Connelly and Zweig, 2015). Even less is known about antecedents and consequences of the specific behaviours of knowledge hoarding.\n6. Conclusion: The findings of the present study demonstrate that knowledge hoarding among employees is causally related to the experience of less trust and justice over time, suggesting that knowledge hoarding is a factor of concern when it comes to understanding the deterioration of the quality of social exchange at work. Knowledge hoarding does not appear to cause a direct change in the degree to which work-related negative acts are experienced. Instead, the effect of knowledge hoarding on negative acts is indirect, denoting that the reduced justice experience, caused by knowledge hoarding, is associated with increased reports of work-related negative acts. In other words, when employees withhold information from each other, it has a long-term, negative impact on the degree to which they trust each other and feel that the workplace treats them fairly. The experience of fair treatment is per se associated with the degree to which employees report to experience negative acts. The study thus gives evidence of a variety of negative consequences of knowledge hoarding.\nAcknowledgement: This research was supported by The Danish Working Environment Research Fund under grant number 20050072524/4 and The Danish Council for Independent Research under grant number DFF-1319-00092. The authors wish to acknowledge Dr Bart de Jong for valuable feedback on the paper.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how knowledge hoarding, functions as antecedent and consequent of work related negative acts, as a measure of bullying. The authors investigate the relation as mediated by trust and justice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data stem from a longitudinal study in which questionnaire responses were collected twice from 1,650 employees in 52 workplaces. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the two models. Design-based corrections were made to accommodate the multi-level structure of data.\nFindings: The analyses showed that knowledge hoarding was both an antecedent and a consequent of negative acts. First, over time, knowledge hoarding was indirectly related to negative acts mediated by trust and justice. Second, negative acts were both directly and indirectly related to knowledge hoarding over time. The study thus points to the existence of a vicious circle of negative acts, psychological states of trust and justice, and knowledge hoarding behaviours, which presumably will affect both individual and organizational outcomes negatively.\nResearch limitations/implications: The use of already collected, self-report data, single-item measures, and the two-year time lag could pose potential limitations to the study.\nPractical implications: Preventive and repair actions could potentially impact both negative acts and knowledge hoarding by focusing on increasing the social exchange quality at work unit level.\nOriginality/value: This paper combines two strands of research, that of bullying at work and that of knowledge management, within which research on knowledge hoarding has been an under-researched area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Budgetary bias in the Finnish public hospital system
|
[
"Typology of biases",
"Budgetary bias",
"Public hospital system",
"Budget actors and budget community"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Budgeting is the central administrative and management process for the allocation of resources at all levels of government. It has multiple meanings: to predict, plan and control the future, to be the baseline for performance evaluations and external accountability, and to serve as a tool to motivate budget-holders. The aim of budgeting is to ensure the best use of the available resources through negotiations using the power of the decision makers (Anessi-Pessina et al., 2016; Huang and Chen, 2010; Schick, 2009; Wildavsky, 1975, 1988). However, although budgeting is an important managerial tool, the budgeting process itself is not completely rational because budget makers have inconsistent and conflicting aims, and they are boundedly rational human beings who are inclined to gaming and bias in their actions and predictions (Thaler, 2015; Huang and Chen, 2010; Van der Stede, 2000; Simon, 1991; Collins et al., 1987; Wildavsky, 1975, 1988). Budgeting involves \"ritualistic practices and actual behaviours\" (Anessi-Pessina et al., 2016), and the link between budget decisions and actions may be \"a very loose one\" (Brunsson, 1989).\nConceptualizing budgetary bias in health care: Budgeting has no single dominant paradigm. The history of public budgeting theories, however, can be explored as a contest between rationalism and incrementalism (Swain and Hartley, 2001). The theory of economic rationalism assumes that budget makers are \"Econs\" (Thaler, 2015) that can balance different preferences and time spans and produce and utilize the perfect information needed, even in situations that change rapidly and unexpectedly (Schick, 1988). The rationality of incrementalism is adaptive and based on the idea of budgeting as a historical continuum, where the institutionalized norms, rules, and routines restrict rapid and significant changes in resource allocation (Wildavsky, 1975, 1988; Schick, 2009). Budget participants have conflicting interests, and budgetary decision making is always a time-bound compromise between budget makers. Gaming and biases are inevitable aspects of this interplay.\nEmpirical context, data and methods: Finnish health care system and public hospital organizations\nEmpirical analysis: A realistic, target-oriented, but feasible budget: a balancing act on the edge of the precipice\nDiscussion: Budgeting includes year-round iterative activities, from target-setting to final decision making. Budgeting participants have typical attitudes and experience pressures that depend on the structure of the health care system and their role and position in the budgeting process. The budgeting participants have conflicting aims and are themselves bounded rational individuals with cognitive constraints. For these reasons, budgets always include some bias, which is understood in this paper as a situation where the budget estimates deviate from the best possible budget estimate in some direction (Wildavsky, 1975, 1988; Lukka, 1988; Kahneman, 2002; White, 2013).\nConclusions: The purpose of the study was to introduce the concepts and forms of budgetary bias to the study of the budgeting processes in public hospitals, where this kind of behavioral analysis is still undeveloped.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of budgetary biasing in the context of public hospitals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study applies theories of accounting and budgeting behaviors in the specific institutional context of health care systems. Based on the theoretical framework, data from interviews with hospital budget officers were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.\nFindings: A typology of biases is provided. It proved to be useful and highlighted the central empirical assumptions and preliminary results of biasing dynamics.\nPractical implications: Understanding the logic of budgeting actors and the drivers of bias may help explain why bias so often appears in health care budgeting. It further contributes to understanding whether the bias is functional or dysfunctional.\nOriginality/value: The concepts of budgetary bias are rarely used in the context of health care budgeting, so the study fills a gap in research knowledge.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The rules are no game: From instrumental rationality to administrative evil
|
[
"Business ethics",
"Work organization",
"Accounting",
"Management accountability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Cruelty and compassion come with the chromosomes; All men are merciful and all are murderers. ... Only in the knowledge of his own Essence Has any man ceased to be many monkeys. (Aldous Huxley)\nIntroduction: Evil is not a word used frequently among accounting academics. As with most social scientists[1], we shy away from such metaphysical and emotionally charged terminology. The rules of the game are rational discourse, reasoned exploration, and instrumentally legitimized actions. These rules aim to divorce sentiment and emotion from intellect and to substitute impartial evidence for nuanced moral codes and spiritual values. However, if we conceive of evil as that which deprives innocent people of their humanity and if we believe such behavior to be inherent in the human condition, then evil constitutes an elemental force of social systems (Hilberg, 1980; Katz, 1993; Adams and Balfour, 1998; Billstein et al., 2000) that can be ignored only at our peril. Yet, it is the instrumentally rational and legitimized roles and behaviors shrouded in hierarchical structures, technology, and expertise that enable us to distance ourselves from our emotions and mask the presence and potential of evil.In the subsequent discussion, we explore how evil materializes within work organizations. Following Adams and Balfour (1998), we characterize such manifestations as administrative evil. Administrative evil emerges from the \"rational\" practices of modernity, practices that comprise the focus of much contemporary accounting/accounting information systems research and practice. Administrative evil occurs when ordinary people, properly carrying out their organizational responsibilities, engage in acts that deprive innocent human beings of their humanity[2]. Organizational structures and roles prescribe, legitimize, and motivate the actions taken by organizational actors. Control hierarchies predicated on, and legitimized by, appeals to instrumental rationality provide the context for action that sustains the deployment of administrative evil. The \"rational\" practices of modernity predominately follow the logic of instrumental rationality (e.g. Weber, 1958, 1979; Habermas, 1984, 1987) as conventionally conceptualized. Instrumental rationality refers to the legitimation of action by appealing to the efficacy of the means employed in achieving the specified end without the need to appraise the legitimacy of the end (Jary and Jary, 1991)[3]. The conventional interpretation of rationality implies a neutral orientation possessing both constructive and destructive potential. The realization of this potential depends on parameters (i.e. individual morality or ideological zeal) distinct from, and independent of, the application of rational processes. Further, the realization of this potential cannot be separated from the social roles and institutional structures: roles and structures constituted, and legitimated, by the logic of modernity. These institutional roles and structures obviate individual responsibility (Kelman and Hamilton, 1989), and equate the efficient achievement of organizationally specified goals with the public interest (Bauman, 1989).Machines, professionals, and administrative hierarchies represent the physical, intellectual, and organizational manifestations of instrumental rationality. These manifestations define and construct the organizational context and over time overwhelm individual morality:One is rarely confronted with a clear, \"up or down\" decision on an ethical issue; rather a series of small, usually ambiguous choices are made, and the weight of commitment and of habit drives out morality. The skids are further greased if the situation is defined or presented as technical, or calling for expert judgment, or is legitimized by organizational authority. It becomes an even easier choice if the immoral choice has itself been redefined, through a moral inversion, as the \"good\" or \"right\" thing to do (Adams and Balfour, 1998, p. 25).Organizational violence[4] refers to physical or emotional harm done to individuals as a result of actions carried out on behalf of the organization and is the expression of administrative evil. We argue that the large scale forms of organizational violence - such as the \"normalization\" of nuclear war through budgetary practices or the facilitation of the Holocaust through the use of \"counting machines\" - differ only in magnitude from the daily acts of organizational violence, legitimized by rational economic analysis. These acts of violence inflict significant damage upon members of society. The manufacture and distribution of munitions and tobacco, the destruction of eco-systems, and the loss of jobs and retirement security, represent practices we see as contrary to acting in the public interest.Our purpose is to initiate a dialogue, currently absent in accounting, that recognizes the potential of instrumental rationality in initiating and perpetuating administrative evil within accountability hierarchies and that considers how this potential affects and is affected by accounting, accountants, and accounting information systems. Further, we propose that such insights provide a basis for evaluating if, and how, accounting contributes to, or detracts from, the public interest and for understanding and developing strategies for change. We address our objective by bringing together ideas from several diverse literatures (public administration, social theory, accounting) to better articulate and understand what motivates work organizations to act in ways that are contrary to the public interest. Specifically, we recognize instrumental rationality as the dominant legitimating logic, indicate how the application of this logic results in administrative evil[5], and propose a critical theory framework as a possible strategy for change.The specification of the public interest is not unproblematic. Here, we propose that acting in the public interest entails acting in a way consistent with the general well being of the ongoing community and its members. With respect to a work organization, the public interest includes stakeholder groups affected such as stockholders, managers, workers, customers, regulators, the community, and the natural environment. We consider the detriments of not grounding the public interest conversation in accounting in a richer social context than the instrumental rationality of neoclassical economic theory. The community interests and those of its members are not homogenous. Whose interests are privileged and which interests are most important cannot be prespecified but must be determined and continually reevaluated as part of the ongoing dialogue. We present the following discussion as a stimulant to initiate and engage in this dialogue as well as a facilitating framework[6].The discussion is organized as follows. First, we discuss how administrative evil is masked by hierarchical (bureaucratic) accountability structures and develop the linkage between instrumental rationality, abdication of responsibility, and organizational violence. Next, we propose critical theory as a framework for unmasking administrative evil. Here, we take the three primary tenets of critical theory as articulated by Laughlin (1987) - enquiry, enlightenment, and strategies for change - and discuss how each provides an integral part of specifying and possibly responding to administrative evil. The discussion concludes with a brief summary of the arguments presented, an articulation of the potential and limitations of our ideas as well as proposed applications for future development and applications.\nInstrumental rationality and organizational action: Modernity has deified instrumental rationality as an enabling logic. The application of this logic narrows the conception of ethics, professionalism, and politics and is operationalized through machines, experts/professionals, and administrative hierarchies: Machines are the physical manifestations; professions are the intellectual manifestations; and administrative hierarchies are the organizational manifestations[7]. \"When linked to bureaucracy and organization, the result is an unintentional tendency toward dehumanization and the elevation of technical progress and processes over human values and dignity\" (Adams and Balfour, 1998, p. xxv). Within the context of authoritative hierarchies, one can be a consummate worker, professional, or administrator and at the same time perpetuate organizational violence. The actor acts responsibly toward the administrative hierarchy by fulfilling task requirements while abdicating any personal or social responsibility, or accountability, for the effects of the resulting actions. The socialized actor internalizes organizational values and respects the requirements of legitimate authority. Within these hierarchies, the personal conscience, which is seen as subjective and private, is always subordinated to the structures of authority, which are seen as objective and public (Adams and Balfour, 1998, p. 166).Following Adams and Balfour, we take a fairly pronounced structuralist perspective; however, we entertain possibilities for change through human agency as organizational roles and social structures are constructed and reconstructed in action. Given that the socialization process associated with organizational roles is extensive and complex, an adequate treatment is beyond the scope of our discussion. Suffice it to say that organizational roles and individual socialization are complementary, requisite processes within organizational hierarchies for specifying desired processes and imposing discipline[8].Hierarchical accountability and control structures predicated on, and supportive of, instrumental rationality dehumanize the objects of action, allowing them to be expressed in purely technical, ostensibly ethically neutral terms. Actions affecting human beings are preconditioned to be viewed with moral indifference. The capacity for ethical evaluation is lost as quantitative and financial terms come to dominate the representational space, significantly reducing the link between the actor, the act, and the outcome. Anita Roddick, founder and CEO of The Body Shop, observes that \"the language of business is not the language of the soul or the language of humanity. It's a language of indifference; it's a language of separation, of secrecy, of hierarchy.\" (quoted in Bakan, 2004, p. 55).Organizational violence is perpetrated as the human beings within the administrative structures lose the capacity for ethical evaluation. Accounting and accounting systems are central in formulating quantitative and financial representations as well as rational decision models and, therefore, in fostering administrative evil. The instrumentally rational hierarchical accounting and control systems are no less prevalent and controlling in the public and the not-for-profit sectors (Adams and Balfour, 1998; Broadbent et al., 1991; Dillard, 2002; Dillard and Tinker, 1996; also see Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004 issue 15 (4-5) (May-July).)Conditions associated with the abdication of moral responsibility\nCritical theory as a framework for unmasking administrative evil: Drawing from critical theory[15], Laughlin (1987) proposes three stages for understanding and changing accounting and accounting systems in an organizational context: enquiry[16], enlightenment, and strategies for change[17]. These stages are useful in identifying the roots of administrative evil, in addressing the abdication of individual responsibility, and in developing a framework for analyzing the implications for accounting, accounting systems, and organizational structures, especially as they enhance accountability[18]. Thus, facilitating our primary objective of making accounting systems and their context transparent and comprehensible.Stage one exposes the ideology underlying the logic of accounting, revealing the \"taken for granted\" precepts hidden within the technology, professional expertise, and organizational structures. Stage two makes visible the processes that follow from the instrumentally rational logic, and that effectively mask administrative evil. The primary concern here is to make the subject(s) aware of the need for change as well as providing knowledge necessary for responding constructively. In addition, part of the activity at this stage involves continually reassessing the validity of the perceived understanding in light of new information and new insights concerning the logical and social underpinnings of the technical systems. Stage three involves identifying new mechanisms and methods for implementing technology, professional standards, and organizational structures that will mitigate the processes facilitating administrative evil.With respect to accounting and accountability systems, change is predicated on developing and sensitizing participants to new ways of describing and developing administrative systems that are not solely grounded in instrumental rationality. Laughlin (1987) characterizes this process as one of iterative discovery that lends insights not only into the technical dimensions of accounting and accountability systems but also into the social, political, and cultural contexts wherein meaning is derived and actions are motivated. We propose the methodology as a means for unmasking administrative evil by recognizing the instrumental nature of the hierarchical structures, of which accounting is part, that provide for social integration within work organizations.Enquiry: understanding administrative evil\nClosing remarks: The rules of instrumental rationality are no game, but represent instead a deadly earnest and very powerful facet of modernity. In the preceding discussion, we inquire into the accounting expertise, technologies, and systems that enable and foster problems of moral inversion and administrative evil. We suggest that the roots of administrative evil can be found in the roles played by ideology in shaping accounting systems, expertise, and technological processes as they facilitate \"good rationales\" for masking organizational violence. We use the three stage framework suggested by critical theory methodology for exploring and unmasking the cultural roots of organizational violence and developing strategies for redefining facilitating structures in ways that bring the social lifeworld back into balance with technological systems. We must, however, be realistic in our expectations and not underestimate the difficulty in bringing about meaningful change. For example, following from Dillard's (2003) discussion of the role played by IBM and its information professionals in facilitating the Holocaust, it is highly unlikely that changing, say, the objective of the firm from maximizing shareholder wealth to that of sustaining the \"human community best governed democratically\" would have had much impact on preventing the Holocaust. Arguably, however, such a shift in perspective would likely empower employees, other stakeholders and the public at large to question their actions and the actions of organizations in ways that are currently not done, possibly leading to actions more compatible with acting in the public interest.Limitations and opportunities\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Sees to argues that administrative evil is inherent in the administrative hierarchies currently governing work organizations, and to explore the means by which instrumentally rational processes morph into administrative evil.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A critical theory methodology for identifying and describing administrative evil is outlined.\nFindings: - Administrative evil refers to the use of technology, professionals, and hierarchical organizational structures in ways that divorce collective actions from their moral context. The role of technical accounting expertise, manifested as various devices, facilitates \"ordinary\" human beings' \"rational\" participation in \"administrative evil\" through a series of technically competent and instrumentally rational decisions, facilitated by information technology.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Divorcing actions from their moral context removes a sense of personal responsibility and accountability on the part of the organizational participants and renders public interest considerations captive to prevailing ideology and social structures.\nPractical implications: - By better understanding the facilitating processes of administrative evil, possibly one can begin to develop alternative criteria that empower individuals to circumvent the negative consequences of instrumental rationality and enable them to act more responsibly in the public interest.\nOriginality/value: - Critical theory is used in better understanding administrative evil and in developing strategies for change.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Accounting and the banality of evil: Expropriation of Jewish property in Fascist Italy (1939-1945)
|
[
"Jews",
"Accounting",
"Expropriation of property",
"Italian Fascism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: After Mussolini entered into an alliance with Hitler in 1936 Fascist Italy embarked upon a program of anti-Semitism. Race laws which were promulgated by the Italian Fascists in 1938-1939 resulted in severe restrictions on the rights of Italian Jews, including their right to own property. Tragically, the expropriation of Jewish property by the Fascist government became the prelude to the ultimate, attempted annihilation of Italian Jews by the Nazis after the surrender of Italy. The persecution of Italian Jews had never been the original aim of the Fascists when they came to power in 1922 and anti-Semitic measures were never intended to be a prelude to the destruction of Italian Jews. In Italy, the expropriation of Jewish property was mainly the responsibility of a new government body established in 1939, the Ente di Gestione e Liquidazione Immobiliare[1] (hereafter referred to as EGELI). EGELI was an independent organization of the Finance Ministry with its own boards and staff who were specially selected from outside the Ministry to ensure that it would be operated by bureaucrats who would be committed to the Fascist racist program (Mann, 2000). EGELI operated throughout the Fascist regime (1939-1943) and into the time of the Italian Social Republic, the Repubblica di Salo (1943-1945). It was still in existence when Italy was proclaimed a republic in 1946, surviving until 1997 to address ongoing litigation arising out of claims on expropriated, but unsold, real estate. This study focuses on the role of EGELI in the expropriation of Jewish property from the time that race laws were promulgated by the Fascist government in Rome in 1938 until 1943 when EGELI was moved from Rome during the invasion of the Anglo-American allied forces.\nBureaucracy and accounting for the banality of evil: The culpability of the Nazi civil and military bureaucracies, which perpetrated and implemented the Holocaust, has been especially highlighted in numerous studies which have emphasized the way in which these individuals managed to disjoin operationally, mentally and morally their administrative actions from the homicidal outcome of their actions (Lippman and Wilson, 2013). The common defense later of those who participated when accused of their complicity in the Nazi's heinous crimes against humanity would be that they had no knowledge of the ultimate consequences of their otherwise apparently innocuous actions when, for example, organizing transport to take the Jews to destinations across Europe at which the mass killings would take place.\nRacial laws and the persecution of Jews in Fascist Italy (1938-1945): According to many historians, when Mussolini took power in 1922 he and his acolytes were indifferent to explicit racist ideologies; there was an absence of racial anti-Semitism (Spinosa, 1994; Pollard, 1998, p. 125). In the first few years of power, the Fascist regime neither demonstrated obvious antipathy toward Jews, nor did Jews appear to be opposed to Fascism. Indeed, many Jews, especially the working and middle classes who lived in the cities, had joined the Fascist March on Rome while nearly 5,000 Jews joined the Fascist movement (De Felice, 1974, 1993; Pollard, 1998, p. 126). In addition, in the first 15 years of the Fascist dictatorship, Jewish citizens held many important public offices within the regime, including the Minister of Finance, Guido Jung and membership of Gran Consiglio del Fascismo (Advisory Council of the Prime Minister) (Rossi, 2003). Many Jewish intellectuals had endorsed the Fascist manifesto drawn up in 1925 by Giovanni Gentile, philosopher and Minister of Education (Turi, 1980). Remarkably, one of the Dux's closest and most educated lovers, Margherita Sarfatti, whom he frequently relied on for advice, was Jewish (Wieland, 2010). In September 1934, when speaking to the crowds in Bari, Mussolini stigmatized the racist and anti-Semitic attitude of Nazi Germany, which he contrasted with Italy's distinctive culture and values that were \"above\" such racist doctrines (Mussolini, 1934)[6]. Indeed, Mussolini saw himself as the protector of Italian Jews. Despite these assurances, the political and social conditions of the Italian Jews declined shortly thereafter.\nEGELI and the seizure of property: Implementation of anti-Semitic policies by the Fascists required the creation of new bureaucratic institutions specifically designed to implement effectively the regime's racial policies. Accordingly, EGELI was created by Royal Decree 126 in 1939 (RdI, 1939a, b, c, d) as a body under the Ministry of Finance dedicated to managing the property seized from Jewish families and businesses until the property was sold. The work of EGELI also played a key role in Fascist propaganda. Thus, as soon as EGELI commenced its operations the press regularly reported its actions and gave particular prominence to the expropriation of any property that exceeded limits, which had been set for the value of property that Jews could own (Anonymous, 1939a, b). As early as the middle of 1939 La Stampa gave a prominence and place to the work of EGELI and frequently gave specific details of the extent of Jewish ownership of property (Anonymous, 1939c, e)[10].\nThe discourse of discrimination in EGELI's accounting records: The Annual Financial Statements which EGELI sent to the Ministry of Finance each year between 1940 and 1943 included a Director's Report, a balance sheet, an income statement, assorted tables and the Board of Statutory Auditors Report. The Director's Report was usually about 20 pages long with a three-section introduction about the management of the three main categories of property, namely Jewish property, assets of Italians who had not paid their taxes and enemy property. The final sections of the Director's Report examined in detail the organization and work of EGELI. The Jewish property balance sheet, as shown in Table IV, listed as its main assets the Jewish property which had been expropriated (EGELI, 1941b, 1942b, 1943b, 1944b). Expropriated property was to be recorded in the balance sheet at the cost, that is, the compensation paid for expropriation (Article 20)[15]. Any costs related to maintenance of the property under EGELI's control were to be added to the value of the assets while the cost of EGELI's day-to-day operations was to be charged to the income statement as an expense (Article 23).\nDiscussion and concluding remarks: Accounting researchers have exposed the deadly contributions of accounting to the cold, inhuman rationality of Nazi bureaucracies that implemented the greatest crime of the twentieth century, the Holocaust. This study of Fascist Italy confirms that the ignominy, if not the scale and ultimate goals, of the brutal persecution of Jews was not exclusive to Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. This provides the means to further expose the culpability of accounting as a means of racial persecution beyond the territory controlled by the Nazis during the Second World War. Accounting made crucial contributions to a ministerial bureaucracy established specifically for the persecution of Italian Jews. However, unlike the very considerable literature on the fatal contributions of Nazi civil and military bureaucracies to the ruthless efficiency of the attempted annihilation of European Jews, which constituted a \"gigantic, murderous operation\" (Muller-Hill, 1994, p. 68; Katz, 1982; Bauman, 1989), the situation in Italy under the Fascist Party has yet to be given a comparable presence in either the accounting or broader historical literature. This study extends our knowledge of accounting as an instrument in the persecution of European Jews beyond that of Nazi Germany to Fascist Italy. This has also provided the opportunity to expose an aspect of totalitarian regimes, the expropriation of property, which has attracted little attention in the accounting literature. This study has shown how in the expropriation of Jewish property accounting used by the Italian Fascists was crucial to managing the seizure of Jewish property, its subsequent sale and the distribution of the funds received. It also provided the means for bureaucrats to separate and, thereby, absolve themselves from their immoral actions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the significant role of accounting in the expropriation of Jewish real estate after the enforcement of race laws under Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hannah Arendt's understanding of government bureaucracy in the twentieth century totalitarian regimes informs the research which draws upon a wide range of primary sources.\nFindings: Implementation of the program of expropriation was the responsibility of a government body, EGELI, which was created specifically for this purpose. The language of accounting provided the means to disguise the nature and brutality of the process and allow bureaucrats to be removed from the consequences of their actions. Accounting reports from EGELI to the Ministry of Finance confirmed each year that those who worked in EGELI were devoted to its mission as an agency of the Fascist State.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings of this study recognize the need for further research on the role played by servicemen, bureaucrats and accounting as a technology of government in the deportation of Italian Jews to Germany. The study also provides impetus to examine how other countries managed the properties confiscated or expropriated from the Jews in the earlier stages of the Final Solution.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first to identify the significant role played by accounting and accountants in the persecution of Italian Jews under the Fascism.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reflecting sustainability in property valuation - a progress report
|
[
"Property",
"Regulation",
"Valuation",
"Professional",
"Market",
"Worth"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to a growing body of empirical research, within some sub-markets and in some countries, commercial property market pricing is increasingly distinguishing between buildings that exhibit different sustainability-related building features and associated physical or operational performance and those that do not (for an overview see e.g. Bio Intelligence Service et al., 2013; WGBC, 2013). There is increasing recognition that buildings which are not resource efficient, low carbon in terms of operation and location and unable easily to be adapted to accommodate changing occupier needs will suffer early obsolescence and may suffer both rental and capital value depreciation moving forward. Those which do will be better \"future proofed\" (Ellison et al., 2007; Sayce and Ellison, 2007). Further, as new building codes place ever more stringent requirements in relation to energy efficiency and other sustainability factors, so existing buildings may fall \"behind the curve\" in terms of specification thus exacerbating value depreciation. Whether the differential in value between buildings which are better \"future proofed\" takes the form or a \"green premium\" or \"brown discount\" is debateable, but in practice, the age of the building and hence the code to which it is compliant, may be critical. Put simply, newer buildings are more likely to carry an environmental rating which has been associated with higher values (see Reichardt et al., 2012; Eichholtz et al., 2013).\nTheoretical background: Valuation purposes and value definitions\nThe survey - empirical results: In 2009, RICS published a global Valuation Information Paper (VIP 13) on sustainability and commercial property valuation (RICS, 2009). This was the first attempt of a valuation standard setting body to advice and inform professionals on how to consider sustainability factors in commercial valuation practice. As the name of the publication implies, the document was informative only and not binding on members. Subsequently, in 2012, a survey designed and analysed by staff from Kingston University[3] and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology[4], was conducted through RICS aimed at establishing if and how VIP 13 had impacted on practice. Details of survey numbers are in Table II. The results, which are discussed below, revealed only limited impact. Therefore, efforts were undertaken by the RICS Valuation and Sustainability Group to \"upgrade\" the information paper into a global Guidance Note, containing recommended good practice and gaining a quasi-mandatory status for RICS members. The revised and strengthened Guidance Note was published in 2013 (RICS, 2013) and subsequently a summary of actions was included within the revised so-called RICS Red Book (RICS, 2014), which is mandatory on members world-wide. Thus, some consideration of sustainability is now mandated within the process, which it was not at the date the survey was undertaken.\nConclusions, recommendations and outlook: The findings from the 2012 survey highlighted that VIP 13, although it has resulted in some impact, was not observed to have become deeply embedded in market change: the collection of data were still limited and in many cases was unavailable. Even where it was collected it was often not used, although this appears to differ depending on the purpose (market value or calculation of worth). Further there was a very clear differential between groups of clients who were asking questions regarding sustainability or their valuers. The most likely groups to be giving such instructions were the Swiss and this corresponds with a stronger view of valuers that sustainability is impacting on values. The findings have been influential in the development by RICS of a stronger Guidance Note on sustainability and commercial property valuation (RICS, 2013) which was published in October 2013. Together with the 2014 edition of the RICS valuation standards (commonly referred to as the Red Book, see RICS, 2014), the Guidance Note will not only challenge valuation professionals but also their clients to further incorporate sustainability in valuations through a process of enhanced due diligence promoted actively by valuers. It can be concluded that RICS, which has perhaps the largest group of qualified valuers in the world is being more than a passive bystander in the debate and is encouraging its valuers to lead, rather than follow.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a survey conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to discuss the extent to which qualified valuers have adapted their valuation practices in the light of guidance published by RICS in respect of sustainability and commercial property. The findings are placed within a wider debate between assessment of market value and investment value (worth).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is a theoretical discussion incorporating the results from an empirical survey of valuation practitioners.\nFindings: The paper reveals that guidance published by RICS in 2011 has achieved limited, but variable, impact in terms of impacting on valuation practice due to a combination of factors including lack of knowledge of the guidance, non-requirement of clients to request sustainability reporting within valuations, paucity of data. It found that where worth (investment value) is required, sustainability factors are more likely to impact the calculation than where an estimate of market value is prepared. The paper identifies theoretical problems and practical barriers hindering an integration of sustainability aspects into valuation practice.\nResearch limitations/implications: The empirical work was conducted prior to the embedding of guidance within the mandatory provisions of the \"Red Book\"; the study therefore reports on a direction of travel rather than the current position. The implications for research are the requirement to enhance data capture and to seek ways to break down the barriers to more comprehensive integration of such data so that worth and market values may begin to converge.\nPractical implications: The paper has practical implications for both the education of valuers which is proposed through the RenoValue project discussed in the paper and for the RICS in monitoring progress towards more specific integration within valuers' calculations. Further, the paper identifies that clients and lenders have a key role to play through the instructions given to valuers.\nSocial implications: There is now widespread recognition that properties which are not resource efficient and which are not equipped to flex to changing occupier needs may not currently be \"future proofed\" in investment value terms and are likely to see value erosion over time. Further, buildings have a key role in terms of climate change policy. Whilst new buildings can be mandated to meet improved efficiency standards, the ways in which buildings owners can be encouraged to upgrade will be important moving forward. One way is through a value chain response.\nOriginality/value: The survey is the most comprehensive investigation of valuer's practice in relation to sustainability and the assessment of market value and worth undertaken. This provides a unique insight into the effectiveness of professional guidance and enables an informed discussion as to appropriate ways to enhance guidance moving forward.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Performance modeling and availability analysis of shoe upper manufacturing unit
|
[
"Availability",
"Runge‐Kutta method",
"Shoe upper manufacturing",
"Mathematical modeling",
"Reliability",
"Shoes",
"Manufacturing systems",
"Manufacturing industries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: With technological advancement the industrial system becomes smoother, efficient, reliable but more complex. Such systems with more complexity needs continuous monitoring, so that they may be available in working condition for maximum possible duration. However, during working, these subsystems/units are liable to fail in random manner due to various reasons. The failure rate of the subsystems/units depends upon the working conditions and the maintenance practices of the industry. Thus, there is need for performance modeling and availability analysis of the system for continuous working.The overall system availability depends upon its various subsystems and their failure and repair rates. The present work is concerned with shoe manufacturing industry namely Liberty Shoes Private Limited, Karnal, Haryana, India. Although there are many units in the shoe manufacturing industry, in the present study shoe upper manufacturing unit has been chosen, which is one of the important unit of a shoe industry. The problems related to availability analysis has been addressed by several researchers, using different mathematical technique under various working conditions. Singh and Dayal (1991) discussed 1 out of N: G system with common cause failure and critical human errors. Singh (1989) studied the reliability analysis of a complex system having four types of components with pre-emptive priority repairs. Dayal and Singh (1992) also discussed the reliability analysis of a repairable system in a fluctuating environment. Goel and Singh (1994) studied the availability analysis of a standby complex system having imperfect switch over device. Chung (1987) presented a mathematical model for reliability analysis of repairable parallel system with standby units involving human errors and common cause failures. Arora and Kumar (1997) discussed the availability analysis of steam and power generating system in a thermal power plant. Singh et al. (1990) designed the reliable operation in the fertilizer industry. Recently Kumar et al. (2009) discussed performance evaluation and availability analysis of ammonia synthesis plant. Most of these authors use Laplace transform/Langrange's technique to analyse the availability of the system. It has been observed that for differential equations of higher degree, the Laplace inverse technique becomes so complex to find out the solutions. Similarly solving higher order integrals are also very difficult in Lagrange's method. Therefore, some alternative method may be used to address the problem. In the present study, an attempt has been made to address the problem using a more receptive and advance numerical technique known as adaptive step-size control Runge-Kutta method to compute the system performance and availability of shoe upper manufacturing unit. The time dependent system availability (TDSA) has been calculated with the help of a computer program made in FORTRAN 95. While, the long-term availability has been calculated using recursive method and normalizing condition with the help of MATLAB 7.0.4. Both the availabilities are the system's performance criterion.\n2 System description: The system consists of four subsystems namely sewing machine (A) three no. off, contour moulding machine (B) two no. off, toe-puff press machine (C) two no. off, and skiving machine (D) one no. off. The process flow diagram of shoe upper manufacturing unit is shown in Figure 1. Initially, the raw material, i.e. leather sheets of various shapes and sizes has been provided by the cutting section of the industry. The leather pieces of various shapes and sizes are sewn together to form the shoe upper of desired shape and size of shoe by highly skilled workers with the help of sewing machines. The polymer sheets (another raw material) are cut into various shapes and sizes on the skiving machine. These polymer sheets are glued manually with leather pieces. Small holes for laces are also made after pasting. Now the glued polymer sheet with leather piece is fed to the contour moulding machines where first the shoe upper is heated and then applied the pressure to make a strong bond between polymer sheet and leather piece. After that the upper is fed to the toe puff press machine which joins the tip of the shoe with the upper. Finally the shoe upper is sent to the quality department:* Subsystem A. Consists of three sewing machines subjected to major as well as minor failures.* Subsystem B. Consists of two contour moulding machines subjected to major as well as minor failures.* Subsystem C. Consists of two toe puff press machines subjected to major as well as minor failures.* Subsystem D. Consists of one skiving machine subjected to major failure only.2.1 Assumptions and notations\n3 Performance modeling: The probability considerations give the following set of first order differential equations associated with the state transition diagram of the system are as under: Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3 Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6 Equation 7 Equation 8 Equation 9 Equation 10 Equation 11 Equation 12 Equation 13 Equation 14 Equation 15 Equation 16 Equation 17 Equation 18 Equation 19 Equation 20 Equation 21 Equation 22 Equation 23 Equation 24 Equation 25 Equation 26 Equation 27 Equation 28 Equation 29 Equations from (1) to (28) have been solved using initial condition (29) by Runge-Kutta method, to compute the TDSA, while, for long-term availability these equations are solved using recursive method and normalizing condition.The availability of the system is given by: Equation 30 The availability of the system is calculated for different values of the failure and repair rates. The value of failure and repair rates are as: (l1=0.001), (l2=0.001), (l3=0.002), (l4=0.003), (l5=0.025), (l6=0.005), (l7=0.004), (m1=0.020), (m2=0.020), (m3=0.020), (m4=0.20), (m5=0.025), (m6=0.020), (m7=0.025). After varying each of these parameters individually and others are taken constant, their effect on system availability has been shown in Tables I-IV, Tables V-IX, Tables X-XIV taking time horizon of 30-360 days. It also has been observed from the result that not only the failure rate but ageing effect also decreases the availability of the system.Table I shows that the availability of the system decreases significantly by 14.43 percent by varying the failure rate of subsystem (A) from 0.001 to 0.004 in a step size of 0.001.Table II depicts that the availability of the system decreases by 7.648 percent by varying the failure rate of subsystem (B) from 0.001 to 0.004 in a step size of 0.001.Table III shows that the system availability decreases by 7.88 percent by varying the failure rate of subsystem (C) from 0.002 to 0.008 in a step size of 0.002.Table IV shows that the system availability decreases by 7.97 percent by varying the failure rate of subsystem (D) from 0.003 to 0.009 in a step size of 0.002.Table V shows that the system availability decreases by 7.51 percent by varying the failure rate of subsystem (A) working in reduced state from 0.025 to 0.040 in a step size of 0.005.Table VI shows that the system availability decreases by 6.03 percent with variation of failure rate of subsystem (B) working in reduced state from 0.005 to 0.008 in a step size of 0.001.Table VII depicts that the system availability decreases by 6.36 percent as failure rate of subsystem (C) working in reduced state varies from 0.004 to 0.007 in a step size of 0.001.Table VIII reveals that the system availability increases by 3.8 percent with variation in repair rate (m1) of subsystem (A) from 0.020 to 0.080 in a step size of 0.02.Table IX shows that by varying the repair rate from (m2) 0.020 to 0.11 in a step size of 0.030. It has been observed, the system availability increases marginally by 0.96 percent.The effect of repair rate (m3) of subsystem (C) on the availability of the system by varying the repair rate from 0.020 to 0.14 in a step size of 0.040 is shown in Table X. The availability of the system increases by 1.056 percent.Table XI shows the effect of repair rate (m4) of subsystem (D) on system availability with variation of repair rate from 0.20 to 0.50 in a step size of 0.10. It has been observed system availability increases slightly by 0.907 percent.The system availability increases significantly by 3.203 percent with variation of repair rate (m5) of subsystem (A) working in reduced state from 0.025 to 0.10 in a step size of 0.025 as shown Table XII.The availability of the system increases slightly by 0.88 percent with variation of repair rate (m6) of subsystem (B) working in reduced state from 0.020 to 0.080 in a step size of 0.02 as seen from Table XIII.Table XIV shows the effect of repair rate (m7) of subsystem (C) working in reduced state on the availability by varying the repair rate from 0.025 to 0.10 in a step size of 0.025.The system availability of the increases by 1.01 percent.From the above TDSA analysis, the maintenance priorities of various subsystems based on the effect of failure and repair rates on the performance of the system, i.e. system availability has been suggested and is shown in Table XV.\n4 Long term availability: The long term availability of the system computed by setting t-[?] and d/dt-0 in equations (1)-(28); the limiting probabilities from equations (1) to (28) are obtained which further are solved using normalizing condition, i.e. sum of all the probabilities is equal to 1, [?]i=128(P1) and recursive method.The long term availability of the system is given by AV=P1+P2+P3+P4+P5+P6+P7+P8.The long term availability represents the steady state availability of the industrial subsystem/system.The effect of failure and repair rates of various subsystems on the system's long-term availability has been calculated and shown in Tables XVI-XXII.The value of failure and repair rates are taken as: (l1=0.001), (l2=0.001), (l3=0.002), (l4=0.003), (l5=0.025), (l6=0.005), (l7=0.004), (m1=0.020), (m2=0.020), (m3=0.020), (m4=0.20), (m5=0.025), (m6=0.020), (m7=0.025). After varying each of these parameters individually, their effect on the long-term availability of the system has been calculated.Table XVI shows that there is an increase in the system availability by 3.28 percent with increase in the repair rate from 0.020 to 0.080 of subsystem (A), on the other side availability decrease by 9.68 percent, with varying failure rate from 0.001 to 0.004.Table XVII reveals that there is marginal increase in the availability of the system by 0.744 percent with the increase in repair rate of subsystem (B) from 0.020 to 0.11. However, increase in failure rate from 0.001 to 0.004 decreases system availability by 2.02 percent.Table XVIII shows that the system availability increases by 1.05 percent by increasing the repair rate of subsystem (C) from 0.020 to 0.14, whereas if failure rate varies from 0.001 to 0.004 the availability decreases by 3.18 percent.Table XIX shows that there is an increase by 0.83 percent in system availability with increase in repair rate of subsystem (D) from 0.20 to 0.50. On the other side if there is increase in failure rate from 0.001 to 0.004 the availability decreases by 2.68 percent.The availability of the system increases by 3.32 percent with increase in repair rate of subsystem (A) working in reduced state from 0.025 to 0.10. Whereas, there is small decrease in the availability of the system by 0.77 percent with increase in failure rate from 0.025 to 0.040 as shown on Table XX.Table XXI reveals that with increase in repair rate of subsystem (B) working in reduced capacity varies from 0.020 to 0.080 the availability increases by 0.77 percent. Whereas increase in failure rate of subsystem (B) from 0.001 to 0.004 the availability decreases slightly by 0.61 percent.Table XXII shows that with increase in repair rate of subsystem (C) from 0.025 to 0.10 increases the availability by 0.97 percent, whereas increase in failure rate of same subsystem from 0.001 to 0.004 decreases the availability slightly by 0.95 percent.On the basis of repair rates, the repair priorities of various subsystems have been suggested and are presented in Table XXIII.\n5 Conclusion: The availability analysis of shoe manufacturing unit of a shoe making industry has been carried out using probabilistic approach. Both types of availabilities, i.e. TDSA and long-term availability has been calculated. The results are shown in Tables I-V, Tables VI-X and Tables XI-XIV and Tables XVI-XIX,Tables XX-XXII are derived and show the effect of failure and repair rates on system's performance. On the basis of performance analysis as shown in Tables XV and XXIII, the subsystem (A) has more impact on system performance as compared to other subsystems. On the basis of effect of subsystem's repair rates on system performance the repair priorities has been decided. With increase in the repair rate of subsystem (A) the TDSA increases by 4.125 percent and long run availability also increases from 3.28 to 7.89 percent. The Figure 3 shows the effect of repair rates of subsystems A, B, C, and D, on system performance in terms of availability.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to make a performance model of a shoe upper manufacturing unit of a shoe manufacturing industry by computing both the availabilities, i.e. time dependent system availability (TDSA) and the long-term availability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The present work is carried out by developing performance model based on Markov birth-death process. The unit consists of four subsystems. The first order governing differential equations are derived using the mnemonic rule and further solved by adaptive step-size control Runge-Kutta method to calculate the TDSA, while the long-term availability is calculated using normalizing condition, initial boundary conditions and recursive method. Both the availabilities are considered for system's performance criterion.\nFindings: - The subsystem A, i.e. sewing machine is the most critical from maintenance point of view, which has more impact on the system's performance as compare to other subsystems. The repair priorities of other subsystems have also been proposed.\nPractical implications: - These methods can also be used to find out the performance of other manufacturing industries.\nOriginality/value: - The results of the present work are very useful for finding the critical subsystem and its effect on the system performance in terms of availability. Further, based on findings the maintenance priorities of various subsystems can be decided.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"It's a bit of freedom away from home and cleaning all the time": Schooling, gender relations and Gypsy communities in England
|
[
"Gender",
"Space"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Contemporary Gypsy culture remains traditionally patriarchal \"with men primarily responsible for supporting their family financially and practically[...]and women taking overall responsibility for the home and children\" (Cemlyn et al., 2009, p. 226). Young people from these communities learn through communal participation whereby family-based learning becomes paramount for the preservation and continuation of their unique cultural identity (Powell, 2010; Hamilton, 2016). There is a priority on the development of vocational skills rather than an emphasis on educational qualifications (Lloyd and McCluskey, 2008). With such a strong emphasis and focus on family and group orientation and learning, \"institutional\" schooling is often not necessarily seen as that important, particularly beyond primary education (Cudworth, 2009, 2015; Derrington, 2007; Bloomer et al., 2014). What makes this situation unique is that both boys and girls from these communities are expected to adopt their gender roles at a young age (Powell, 2010; Bhopal, 2011; Hamilton, 2016), and awarded early adulthood status by the age of 14 (Myers et al., 2010; O'Hanlon, 2010). The majority of boys will be expected to leave school at around 11 years of age to join their older brothers, fathers and grandfathers in employment (Levinson and Sparkes, 2003, 2015; Powell, 2010). Girls, if they do go into a secondary school, will usually leave to join their mothers in looking after younger siblings and the \"homeplace\" on a full time basis until they get married and move out to look after their own home and children (Kendall, 1997; Cemlyn et al., 2009; Ryder et al., 2014; Derrington, 2016). Adherence to such strict gender relations is a contributing factor that often makes it difficult for these children to remain in school, and is becoming increasingly recognised as one of the key \"pull\" factors away from school for these children (Derrington, 2007). It could be perceived that this non-engagement in schooling beyond primary education affects the children and young people's future aspirations. By not attending school, for example, children are unable to relate otherwise and therefore perhaps unable to \"distance themselves from daily entanglements, and think about themselves and the world around them in a different way\" (Tamboukou, 1999, p. 136).\nThe context of the study: The qualitative data on which this paer draws comprised of a range of discussions with individuals from the indigenous English Romany Gypsy community. These discussions, conducted in English, consisted of a focus group with four young women aged 16, two in-depth semi-structured interviews with two other young women of similar age and three mothers from the community. Further interview data were also collected from two head teachers and two Traveller Education Support Service (TESS) staff. As questions were kept to a minimum, all participants were free to openly share their experiences, and as such generated some in-depth data.\nPatriarchy and gender relations: [...] the everyday routines traced by women are never unimportant, because the seemingly banal and trivial events of the everyday are bound into the power structures which limit and confine women.(Rose, 1993, p. 17)\nPlace, space and gender: This girl said to me one time, \"what is the point of me going to school, I'm going to get married and have children and tidy the trailer all day\". It is very patriarchal, girls get married very young.(TESS 1)\nBoys and schooling: The schooling of boys has not seen an equivalent shift in thinking and cultural pressure for boys to work is perhaps often too strong to provide sons with the same educational opportunities as their sisters (Hamilton, 2016; Levinson and Sparkes, 2003). These sentiments were exemplified by one of the head teachers I spoke with who told me that a parent with two daughters and a son told her how it was \"becoming ok for girls to stay on in school but not the case for boys\" and that \"he's only twelve, he's not in school, he's not moving on with his education at all whereas my two girls are continuing\". With these boys being \"pulled\" out of school early and less able to mix with others than Gypsy girls, these Gypsy boys are less likely to get an opportunity to think differently about their lives.\nMaking the break - girls and schooling: Despite pressure from some families, it is clear that many mothers are keen to provide their daughters with the opportunity of staying on longer at school (Hamilton, 2016). On entering a site to interview one of the parents, it became clear to me how young women and mothers were arguably provided with opportunities in which to begin to discuss the gender situation of their daughters. There were no men around, just other mothers, young women and children, which is typical of Gypsy sites during the day (Casey, 2014). As Kendall (1997, p. 83) suggests, \"Women control the inside of the trailer, especially when the men are away during the day, then it becomes primarily \"their' space [a] spatial environment where women can have control\".\nPatriarchal backlash: However, for many girls and young women, to aspire to something other than the expected cultural norms of their communities can often be challenging. More often than not many fathers are reluctant for their daughters to \"reinvent\" themselves. I was told by one young woman, for example, that her father did not want her to work and that \"he totally hates girls working because he prefers me to be at home cleaning and cooking 'but I thought no way I want to do something else\"'. Consequently, the pressure to leave school is still acute, and perhaps highlights how patriarchy is reproduced and concomitant gender roles reproduced at the socio-spatial level of these communities. Thus, for some girls and young women who may wish to carry on with their education post primary school, it may be too \"dangerous\", using Hooks' terminology; there is still an expectation that they will get married and look after the home. However, it should be noted that for some young women, this is what they want and are keen to adopt the gender norms of their communities, \"as is their right\" (Hamilton, 2016, p. 13). This was certainly the case for one of the young women in the focus group who wanted to get married young, despite telling me that \"you have got authority over them when you're courting them [boys]...But when you're married they take over the father role basically and you come under their authority. But that's better than anything really\". Such sentiments relate to Helleiner's work (2003), who found that once young women were married they quickly adopted their gender specific role as housewife, and as Levinson and Sparkes (2006) found, felt proud of their domestic role in the \"homeplace\", which to them represented their maturity and status as a woman over non-gypsy girls. Helleiner (2003, p. 136) drew on ethnographic work with Irish Travellers and further noted: \"[...]while some women reported having worked in casual jobs in laundries, supermarkets, and hotels this was usually before marriage[...]the overall involvement of married women in income-generating activities appeared to be minimal\".\nPolicing the gender boundaries: Parental fear of mixing with others from non-traveller communities was also noted during the interview with one of the head teachers who told me that \"some parents are fearful that their daughters will spread their wings, will meet non-Traveller boys and marry out of the culture\". Consequently, increasingly \"Traveller women are subject to strict moral codes regarding their sexuality\" (Kendall, 1997, p. 80) and, as a result, fathers often police their whereabouts, forbidding them to go anywhere on their own, particularly the older young women (Powell, 2010). I was told during the focus group that:FG2: We can't go anywhere on our own.FG3: He [father] only let me come here to chaperone my sister, he didn't want me to come here [Education Centre].FG1: The first time I came here xxxxxx [older sister] had to come with me because I'm not allowed to come on my own.\nConclusion: This paper provides further empirical insight into of how gender relations are a key factor that often prevents children and young people from Traveller communities attending school or engaging with education. Boys and girls are expected to leave school between the ages of 11 and 14. Girls are required to look after younger siblings and adopt a domestic role, whilst boys gain employment with their fathers and other men from the community. They are thus socialized to associate the \"homeplace\", or private sphere, with their mothers and the outside, or public sphere, with their fathers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Much has been written over the past 50 years about the concerns associated with the educational underachievement of Gypsy children in England. This work has usually focussed on ethnicity and mobility as key factors that affect school attendance. However, it is only relatively recently that a concern with gender relations has entered the debate. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an empirically driven contribution to this fledging area of enquiry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper draws on semi-structured interview material and a focus group discussion about the educational experiences and aspirations of three mothers and six young women from the community. Further, interview materials were collected from two head teachers with Gypsy children in their schools and two Traveller Education Support Staff.\nFindings: This paper finds how educational \"public\" space is providing a place for girls and young women to think differently and even begin to challenge the gender regimes embedded within the \"private\" space of their communities.\nOriginality/value: In line with the idea that space and place are fundamental in formulating gender relations, this paper frames this phenomenon within a socio-spatial context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The impact of uncertain rewards on customers' recommendation intention in social networks
|
[
"Tie strength",
"Recommendation intention",
"Uncertain rewards",
"Reward owner"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Every day, consumers are exposed to various reward referral programs involving uncertainty (e.g. sweepstakes, games of chance, etc.) (Goldsmith and Amir, 2010). For example, when people consume and often pay online through WeChat or Alipay, which are the two largest mobile payment platforms in China, the platform will provide a random reward of less than two yuan to the customer after commenting on and recommending the store. However, compared to certain rewards, it is not clear whether the uncertain reward is effective. On the one hand, both normative theories (e.g. expected utility theory; von Neumann and Morgenstern, 1944) and descriptive theories (e.g. prospect theory; Kahneman and Tversky, 1979) predict that when facing gain options, people are risk averse and prefer a reward of a certain magnitude over a reward of an uncertain magnitude. This preference is robust and universal in evaluations of outcomes, and thus, it is possible that people may express greater motivation toward a reward of a certain magnitude. On the other hand, research on affective experience shows that people sometimes enjoy uncertainty (Vosgerau, et al., 2006; Wilson et al., 2005), and thus, it is also possible that people may express greater motivation toward a reward of an uncertain magnitude. In particular, uncertainty from events with positive prospects can result in positive feelings (Wilson et al., 2005). This form of uncertainty may manifest in the consumer domain in a variety of ways, such as possible prizes from a lucky draw, possible gifts from a friend or the possible annual rewards provided by a brand club (Lee and Qiu, 2009). Lee and Qiu (2009) and Wilson et al. (2005) found that uncertainty following a positive event actually prolonged pleasure and that people were generally unaware of this effect of uncertainty. Therefore, it is possible that customers show a greater incentive effect when promised uncertain rewards. This paper mainly studies the difference of the effect of uncertain rewards and certain rewards on customers' referral intention as well as which type of reward referral programs and when is more effective.\n2. Development of hypotheses: 2.1 Uncertainty and certainty\n3. Experimental design and research methods: 3.1 Scenario control and pre-test\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to research the effect of uncertain rewards on the recommendation intention in referral reward programs (RRPs) and investigate the interaction of tie strength and reward type on the recommendation intention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research adopts a quantitative exploratory approach through the use of experiments. Study 1 adopted a 2x2 between-participants design ((reward type: certain reward vs uncertain reward)x(tie strength: strong tie vs weak tie)). Respectively, by manipulating uncertain probabilities and expected value, Studies 2 and 3 further explore the effect of uncertain rewards and tie strength on customers' referral intention.\nFindings: This paper finds the following: compared to certain rewards, customers' referral intention under uncertain rewards is higher and positive experience has a mediating effect between reward type and recommendation intention; when only the recommender is rewarded, the tie strength between the recommender and the receiver moderates the effect of reward type on the recommendation intention; for strong ties, customers' recommendation intention is higher in uncertain reward condition, but for weak ties, customers' willingness to recommend is almost the same in both reward types; when both the recommender and the receiver are rewarded, although certain rewards have a higher expected value than uncertain and random rewards, for strong ties, the participants have a higher referral intention under random rewards than that under uncertain rewards, which have a higher referral willingness than that under certain rewards. Additionally, for weak ties, the reverse is true.\nOriginality/value: The research has both theoretical implications for research on uncertain rewards and tie strength and practical implications for marketing managers designing and implementing RRPs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Promoting logistics performance in Vietnam-based manufacturing firms: The role of service-oriented high-performance work systems and mediation mechanisms
|
[
"Vietnam",
"Logistics performance",
"Serving culture",
"Collective customer knowledge",
"Collective role breadth self-efficacy",
"Service-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWSs)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Customers nowadays are increasingly demanding not merely for the quality of products or services but also for high-quality logistics services that flexibly address customers' changing needs for quantity, quality and delivery of products or services (Luu, 2013; McFarlane et al., 2016). In the manufacturing industries, firms have been attempting to retain and develop customers by improving internal resources to provide high-quality logistics services (Yang, 2016) for customers (Luu, 2017) so that they can in turn provide high-quality logistics services for their own buyers in their supply chain. Since logistics services are people-oriented (Wong and Karia, 2010), human resources are one of the critical internal resources that can help manufacturing firms decipher and understand customers' variable expectations so as to proactively and creatively customize logistics services to meet their expectations. Human resources, especially members of logistics teams and/or business teams in manufacturing firms, take different roles in the logistics service including order collection, production monitoring and delivery handling. They are more inclined to contribute flexible, creative logistics solutions for customers if they are working in an environment where service-oriented value is emphasized (Bellah et al., 2013) and enacted through human resource management (HRM) practices.\nLiterature review and hypothesis development: Service-oriented HPWSs and logistics performance\nResearch methods: Sampling\nResults: Multilevel structural equation model framework was utilized for data analyses due to the multilevel nature of the data, with teams (i.e. departments) nested within organizations. In addition, the recent analysis by Preacher et al. (2010) suggested the application of multilevel structural equation models to surmount the limitations of traditional multilevel analysis in predicting mediation effects through multiple levels.\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how service-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWSs) contribute to logistics performance and the mediation mechanisms underlying this relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Employees and their managers from logistics departments and/or business departments of manufacturing firms in the Vietnamese business setting were recruited as participants in the data collection. Structural equation modeling was employed for the data analysis.\nFindings: Service-oriented HPWSs demonstrated the positive effects on logistics performance via serving culture. Serving culture was found to have the positive link with logistics performance via the mediating roles of collective role breadth self-efficacy and collective customer knowledge.\nOriginality/value: The current research extends the logistics management research by identifying service-oriented HPWSs as an antecedent of logistics performance as well as the mediation mechanisms underlying this effect.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Political connections, government capital injection, and deposit insurance premium
|
[
"Political connection",
"Bank interest margin",
"Deposit insurance premium",
"Government capital injection",
"G21",
"G28"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The topic of politically preferential treatment for debt financing in connection with troubled banks has recently attracted a great deal of attention. Faccio (2006) indicates that politics significantly influences firm behavior, particularly where countries have a high level of corruption and poor governance. One main channel of political influence on firm behavior is the political connection specifically that politically connected firms have preferential access to debt financing (Khwaja and Mian, 2005). Empirical evidence shows that politically connected firms have higher leverage ratios than their non-connected peers (e.g. Faccio, 2003; Khwaja and Mian, 2005). Parallel to the recent development of political connections, there has been an ongoing discussion of bank bailout plans in response to the subprime financial crisis as a part of the safety net in most countries. As pointed out by Bayazitova and Shivdasani (2012), providing a source of capital in a bailout plan of government capital injections can stabilize banks when public market alternatives are not available. Together the arguments about political connection and financial bailout lead to the following scenario: distressed banks (lenders) receive direct capital injection bailouts from the government to which the inferior firms (borrowers) are connected. In this paper, we undertake a theoretical examination of the scenario.\n2. The model: There are two parts included in the section. In order to get solutions, several simplifying assumptions are made, and a conceptual framework is described in the first part. In the remaining part of the section, we develop a theoretical model of a bank, focusing on a capped barrier option approach to the market valuation of the bank's equity return and equity risk, and the deposit insurer's liability.\n3. Equilibrium and comparative static results: The first-order condition for an optimum of Equation (7) is given by:(10)\n4. Numerical analysis: We start our analysis with four equity component surfaces. Let demand for loans faced by the bank, (RL(%), L), change from (4.5, 350) to (5.1, 329). The capital adequacy requirement is set by the capital-to-deposits ratio where (1 + th)K/D=8.3 percent. Given K=20 with th=0.35, we have the capital-to-loan ratio of 7.71 percent when L=350. In the case, the bank does not meet the minimum requirement of 8.00 percent. When th is increased to 0.40, the capital-to-loan ratio of the bank equals to 8.00 percent when L=350. These two cases imply that the bank's capital level is insufficient and capital injection by the government is expected by the distressed bank. Accordingly, let th increase from 0.40 to 0.65 in our numerical exercise. In addition, the differences between politically connected and non-connected borrowing firms are mainly captured by the following conditions. First, the condition of KP=25<KE=30 demonstrates the benefit of political connection leading to a lower level of capital or a higher level of leverage (Boubakri et al., 2012). Second, the condition of RP=5.5 percent<RE=6.0 percent indicates the inferior return performance due to lower managerial incentives and/or inefficiency from political connection (Claessens et al., 2008). Third, the condition of sP = 0.4>sE=0.3 illustrates that the politically connected borrowing firm has a higher default rate on its loans (Khwaja and Mian, 2005). Fourth, we assume the barrier levels of a1=0.6 and a2=0.8. a1<a2 is realized because the barrier a1 includes the knock-out value of both the politically connected and non-connected borrowing firms while the barrier a2 includes the knock-out value of only the politically connected borrowing firm.\n5. Conclusion: In the present paper, we extend the model of Dermine and Lajeri (2001) and investigate the impacts on the bank's optimal interest margin and further on the actuarially fair deposit insurance premium from changes in political connection. The political connection is specified as the case where the bank in distress is incentivized by government capital injection but is forced to provide funds for a politically connected borrowing firm with inferior performance. In order to take into account the default risk in a contingent claim framework, the risk is modeled explicitly including the capped risk characteristics of bank loan portfolio and the knock-out barrier option feature of bank equity and liability. In the numerical analysis part, we show that an increase in the amount of political-connection loans decreases the optimal bank interest margin and equity risk, but increases the deposit insurance premium. A numerical exercise also shows that the positive effect of political connection on market-based estimates of deposit insurance premium which ignores the cap as well as the barrier leads to over responsiveness. Our study on the politically connected borrowing firm shows that political connection is likely to affect the distressed bank's performance, yielding the political-connection cost of a reduced bank interest margin and the political-connection benefit of a reduced bank equity risk, contributing the literature on political connection and bank bailout.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a capped barrier option framework to consider the politically preferential treatment for bank loans incentivized by government capital injections and calculate loan-risk sensitive insurance premiums.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper takes a capped barrier option approach to the market valuation of the equity of the bank and the liability of the deposit insurer. The cap demonstrates the dynamics of a politically connected borrowing firm's asset and highlights the truncated nature of loan payoffs. The barrier addresses that default can occur at any time before the maturity date. The bank participating in a government capital injection program is required to fund the politically connected firm that has preferential access to financing.\nFindings: Political connection as such makes the bank more prone to risk taking at a reduced interest margin, produces greater safety for the bank owing to government capital injections, and leads to increasing the fair deposit insurance premium. The positive effect of political connection on the deposit insurance premium, which ignores the cap and the barrier yields significant over-estimation.\nOriginality/value: The study on the politically connected borrowing firm shows that political connection is likely to affect the distressed bank's performance, yielding the political-connection cost of a reduced bank interest margin and the political-connection benefit of a reduced bank equity risk, contributing the literature on political connection and bank bailout.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Developing radically new meanings through the collaboration with radical circles: Slow Food as a platform for envisioning innovative meanings
|
[
"Innovation",
"Meaning",
"Circles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The importance of proposing innovative meanings is well-established in academia, and different studies have followed this line of inquiry in the past decade from a strategic perspective, e.g., blue ocean strategy (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005) and innovation perspectives, e.g., searching for new meanings (Verganti, 2009). Madsberg and Rasmussen (2014) explain how traditional problem-solving methods taught in business schools serve us well for some of the everyday challenges of business, but they tend to be ineffective with situations involving a high degree of uncertainty. At the heart of this model, they would argue, \"Is the belief that business problems can be solved through objective and scientific analysis and that evidence and facts should prevail over opinions and preferences. [...] In the midst of human complexity, it is tempting to believe that businesses can obtain a clear picture of what is right and what is wrong, to take opinion, beliefs, feelings, doubt, and confusion out of the equation by focusing on the pure facts.\" Developing innovative meanings, especially when proposing a radically new conception or understanding of a reality, requires a different type of analysis and dynamics than the one proposed by the well-established and well-diffused problem-solving approach to innovation. Problem solving sees innovation as the result of cognitive work that combines individual knowledge, skills, behaviors and processes in the search for an optimal solution to a given problem (Simon, 1982; Clark, 1985), whereas in innovation of meaning, the outcome is not an optimal meaning but a different interpretation of what a product or service could mean (Verganti and Oberg, 2013; Oberg, 2012). Differently than in the problem-solving approach, innovative meanings do not come only from exposing oneself to new, unknown fields. A meaning does not build on sudden ideas or creativity; its origin goes much deeper. Innovative meanings take shape and evolve within people and their reflections with others. It can be described as something that makes humans strive further (Verganti, 2009; Dell'Era and Verganti; 2010; Verganti and Dell'Era, 2014). Several studies have demonstrated that companies willing to do innovation of meaning need to step back from users and their products. These companies need to take a broader perspective and try to understand changes in society, culture and technology to propose innovative meanings - to later transform it into a specific product, retail experience or else like (Verganti, 2009). The so-called \"interpreters\" belong to either the world of cultural production (e.g. cultural organizations, artists, sociologists, anthropologists, etc.) or to the world of technology (e.g. suppliers, designers, companies in other industries, retailers, suppliers, etc.) (Verganti, 2009). Collaboration with interpreters requires going through a detailed process of selection and briefing before the moment of sharing insights with a company. The paper focuses on a specific category of interpreters able to propose radically new meanings and consequently to support companies in embedding them in new products and services (see Figure 1).\n2. Literature background: As was previously mentioned, developing innovative meanings can require ad hoc approaches and practices. For this reason, we review the literature stream about innovation of meanings. Considering that the paper focuses on the inspirational role played by Slow Food, we analyze the main literature contributions about social movements.\n3. Research method: As previously mentioned, the food industry is facing crucial challenges, such as the expected population growth of 30 percent and waste. As a consequence, companies that operate in this industry are looking for new paradigms and researching innovative scenarios of consumption. Several movements have emerged in the last decades such as molecular gastronomy (Svejenova et al., 2007) or nouvelle cuisine (Rao et al., 2003); Slow Food serves as a relevant platform for food companies that aim to reinvent themselves to propose innovative meanings. Slow Food is a global, grassroots movement that was founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the increased pace of life and combat people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us. Slow Food was started by Carlo Petrini and a group of activists in the 1980s with the initial aim of defending regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life. In over two decades, the movement has evolved to embrace a comprehensive approach to food that recognizes the strong connections between plate, planet, people, politics and culture. Slow Food envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, those who grow it and the planet. They believe that everyone should have access to good, clean and fair food (see also Appendix):\n4. Empirical results: In the next paragraphs, we describe the genealogy of Slow Food beginning from the early discussions between a group of friends in the 1970s to the worldwide movement that now involves millions of people in 150 countries (see Figure 3).\n5. Discussion: The analysis of how Slow Food emerged and evolved into an international movement reveals an alternative way to develop innovative meanings in collaboration with groups of radicals. In this section, we describe the concept of radical circles, and we discuss the key findings about the evolution of the innovative meaning.\n6. Conclusions: The importance of proposing innovative meanings is well-established in academia, and different studies have followed this line of inquiry in the past decade from a strategic perspective, e.g., blue ocean strategy (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005) and innovation perspectives, e.g., the search for new meanings (Verganti, 2009). The need for a clear meaning is becoming even more relevant in a radically changing world in which not only are demographics being altered, but the impact of globalization is significant. The food industry is no exception, and it must find its role within these revolutionary challenges. Since its foundation in 1989, Slow Food has aimed at preventing the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteracting the rise of fast-paced life and combating people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us. A number of companies, directly or indirectly, have shared and further developed the innovative meaning proposed by Slow Food. For this reason, we were interested in analyzing the nature and the evolution of this meaning. The emergence of Slow Food does not rest in the work of a single genius but rather in the collective effort of four friends. These four people began to develop a new, shared meaning that guided their work. As such, Slow Food exemplifies the concept of the radical circle. The core attribute of these circles is group validation. When working alone, an individual may be tempted to attempt something new or even forbidden by authorities in his field but alone, the person often does not follow through on the impulse (Farrell, 2001). Instead, when the impulse is shared with and validated by others, it is more likely to be carried through to fruition.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The importance and complexity of proposing radically new meanings are well-established in the literature. However, a limited number of contributions have analyzed how they can be developed. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of radically new meanings at the basis of the Slow Food movement to contribute to the topic.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to better understand how social movements can propose radically new meanings and how companies can take inspiration and build a competitive advantage by leveraging the proposed meanings, the authors deeply analyzed the genealogy of Slow Food, interpreted as an inspiring case study; the authors adopt a narrative approach.\nFindings: The analysis of how Slow Food emerged and evolved into an international movement reveals an alternative way to develop innovative meanings in collaboration with groups of radicals. The authors identify three main phases in the evolution of innovative meanings: generation, institutionalization and development.\nPractical implications: In terms of managerial implications the authors contribute highlighting the importance of a new type of collaborative innovation: the collaboration with radical circles and social movements in their early stage.\nSocial implications: From a societal point of view, if the authors acknowledge the importance of social movements in contesting and actively changing institutions, the authors can see the importance for policy makers to create loci and opportunities for the emergence of radical circles and their experimentations.\nOriginality/value: The authors propose that new meanings are frequently the result of small groups of individuals gathering in radical circles. The core attribute of such circles is group validation. The group supports the Slow Food leader in refining the meaning and confronting the dominant paradigm.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Filter rule performance in an emerging market: evidence from Qatari listed companies
|
[
"Qatar",
"Disclosure",
"Accounting information"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Studies on capital markets and, particularly, those that test market efficiency can be useful for setting accounting standards, types of accounting practices, and corporate financial disclosures that influence the decision making on stock markets (Kothari, 2001). According to the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), current market prices of listed share prices impound all available historical information such that investors should not be able to outperform the market consistently by trading on past information. This research investigates the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) in terms of whether filter strategies and the weak form of the EMH influence investment decisions in QSE-listed companies.\n2. Background about Qatar: Qatar's economy grew significantly from 2003 to 2017. Increased production of oil and gas permitted the country to diversify its economy, which in turn, further contributed to GDP growth. GDP per capital increased from $31,897 in 2003 to $60,810 in 2017, or by fully 90.6 percent, reporting one of the highest growth rates in the world (IMF, 2017). Consequently, this attracted further domestic and foreign investment.\n3. Literature review: Most research studies on market efficiency are conducted on developed markets, such as the USA and the UK (Hudson et al., 1996; Sweeney, 1988; Fama and Blume, 1966; Fama, 1965). The findings of extant studies suggest that these markets are weak-form efficient. This is the case when current market returns have little or no correlation with historical returns, and the stock price patterns over time cannot be used to predict future prices (Fama, 1965). That is, the best way to invest on this type of market is to use present information on market prices and ignore prior information, which is known as weak-form market efficiency.\n4. Data and methodology: The empirical work in this study is based on daily closing share prices of 44 companies over the period January 5, 2004-September 1, 2017. The data were obtained from both the QSE and Datastream. Table I reports details about the 44 firms that were used for this research. A visual inspection of the table reveals that the sample firms were drawn from seven different industries and ranged in size from a high of QR121752.8m (QNBK) to a low of QR155.92m (QGMD)[1]. Thus, a good mix of firms was included in the analysis. Further analysis shows that, on average, banks and financial services are all classified among those large capitalizations. An analysis of the final column of Table I indicates that the vast majority of the firms were profitable in 2016; only three firms made losses in that year; the table shows that, on average, the consumer goods and services and industrials sectors are the best when earning per share (EPS) is considered, whereas the telecoms is the least as the VFQS reported losses.\n5. Analysis of filter rules: This study investigates the profitability of filter rules and compares trading-rule profits relative to a buy-and-hold strategy. Specifically, the utilized tests attempt to determine whether the various filter rules can outperform a buy-and-hold strategy. If any filter strategy based on past information can generate excess returns relative to a naive buy-and-hold strategy, then the weak form the EMH is rejected and the market is considered inefficient. However, weak form of the EMH is accepted if the returns from filter strategies are equal or below those of the buy-and-hold strategy.\n6. Results of filter rules: Table III and Figure 1 present the performances of the nine filter rules and compare these with the profitability of the buy-and-hold strategy[4]. The profit figures for each filter rule and buy-and-hold strategy are reported after transaction costs of 0.40 percent have been deducted. This commission fee was added to include a measure of realism to the analysis and overcome any criticisms on other studies in the substantive literature that have ignored the impacts of transaction costs (Sweeney, 1988; Huang, 1995).\n7. Analysis of variance: A general linear model was fitted to the data in order to explain any variance between those profits earned by filter rules and the returns achieved by the corresponding buy-and-hold strategy (Diffs). The purpose of this testing is to investigate whether any difference in profits (Rule-B&H) varied systematically from one sector to another of across different rule sizes or levels. The GLM also seeks to uncover whether any difference in profits is related to the size of the firms (the market capitalization) analyzed in the sample. In explaining the variance of any difference between those profits earned by filter rules and the returns achieved by the corresponding buy-and-hold strategy, the model took the form:\n8. Conclusion: This study investigates the performance of nine filter strategies and examines the validity of weak form of the EMH for QSE-listed companies over a 14-year period, ending in September 2017. The analysis shows that QSE is not weak-form efficient because the historical prices of shares are predictable. As such, an investor who follows filter rules based on past price information could obtain positive returns. Furthermore, the profitability of technical trading rules shows that the QSE transaction costs of 0.4 percent have no impact on the performance of mid- and large-sized filter strategies. This finding is different from the conclusions reached by studies such as Fama and Blume (1966), who believe transaction costs eliminated a significant proportion of the gains achieved by trading rules. Furthermore, the findings highlight that selecting a filter strategy is extremely important for determining the overall profitability of a trading strategy. The findings of sectoral analysis suggest that shares in the consumer goods and services, insurance and industrial sectors are the most efficiently priced amongst QSE-traded shares. This suggests that the level of transparency and accounting disclosure is limited, which may help policy makers in Qatar better understanding the context of the QSE. Therefore, it might also lead them to introduce regulatory changes that could improve the QSE's efficiency level.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictability of nine filter rules and test the validity of the weak form of the efficient market hypothesis for the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopts the filter rule strategy employed by Fifield et al. (2005), which suggests that a buy signal occurs when a share's price increases by X percent from the previous price. This strategy recommends that the share is held until its price declines by X percent from the subsequent high price. Any price changes below X percent are ignored. Additionally, using the theory of weak-form efficiency, this paper suggests that, if a stock market is efficient, an investor cannot achieve superior results by using these trading rules. However, if market inefficiencies are present, profitable opportunities may arise. To this end, the daily closing share prices of 44 companies listed on QSE are explored for 2004-2017.\nFindings: The findings propose that QSE is not weak-form efficient because security prices are predictable. As such, investors who followed filter strategies based on past price information could have made profit. Sectoral analysis findings further suggest that firms in the consumer goods and services, industrial and insurance sectors are most efficiently priced amongst the QSE-traded companies.\nPractical implications: The evidence may be plausibly helpful as supporting market participants and academics that suggest that selecting filter strategy is extremely important for determining the overall profitability of the trading strategy.\nOriginality/value: To the best of my knowledge, this is the first study on Qatar that examines the performance of filter rules relative to a passive investor in the context of trading rules with individual share prices for a new stock market. Furthermore, this study adds to the literature through the empirical finding that technical analysts using filter strategies could generate excess returns relative to the buy-and-hold strategy on new emerging stock markets. This study also suggests the levels of transparency and accounting disclosure are limited, which may help Qatari policy makers understand the QSE context. Therefore, it might lead them to introduce regulatory changes to improve the QSE's efficiency level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Country-of-origin misclassification awareness and consumers' behavioral intentions: Moderating roles of consumer affinity, animosity, and product knowledge
|
[
"Product knowledge",
"Country-of-origin",
"Brand origin",
"Cognitive dissonance",
"Consumer affinity",
"Consumer animosity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is well established in literature that consumers' attitudes toward the country-of-origin (COO) of a brand influence brand choice. Perceived COO (the country in which the corporate headquarters of the company marketing the brand is located, regardless of where it is manufactured) significantly influences consumer decision making (Verlegh et al., 2005). Balabanis and Diamantopoulos (2011) argue that COO associations directly affect the inferences consumers make about a brand's attributes and influence their behavioral intentions. Koschate-Fischer et al. (2012) and Josiassen et al. (2013) argue that consumers will spend more money for a branded product from a more favorable COO. Firms also use subtle and direct COO associations through their brand names, store design, and styling of products (Shukla, 2011).\nConceptual background and hypotheses: Cognitive dissonance theory\nStudy 1: In this study, we examine the before and after effects of consumer affinity levels and the underlying cognitive dissonance on the propensity to purchase for the self and others, as well as overall brand judgment. Specifically, we compare how consumers with high vs low affinity with the misclassified COO differ in their behavioral intentions when alerted about their COO misclassification. In doing so, we test H1a-H1c.\nStudy 2: In Study 2, we examine the influence of misclassification awareness on behavioral intentions, with the expectation that the effects will differ depending on the animosity felt toward the now-known real COO, in conjunction with consumer affinity and prior knowledge of the product category. We examine individual differences in a product category by identifying participants as either experts or novices, employing Rao and Monroe's (1988) prior knowledge scale. We propose that the level of prior knowledge will moderate the basic effects postulated in H1, with stronger effects for expert consumers in the low-affinity condition and for novice consumers in the high-affinity condition. In addition to H1, Study 2 also tests H2, H3, and H4a and H4b.\nGeneral discussion and conclusion: Although prior research indicates that perceived COO influences consumer decision making and that consumers regularly misclassify COO, so far no research has examined changes in consumers' behavioral intentions when they become aware that they have misclassified a brand's COO. Drawing from prior work on COO misclassification (Balabanis and Diamantopoulos, 2011; Magnusson et al., 2011), we propose that the misclassification effect operates through the mechanism of cognitive dissonance and can significantly influence behavioral intentions. Across two studies, we demonstrate the effect of misclassification awareness and also examine the moderating role of consumer affinity, animosity, and product knowledge. In doing so, the study offers substantial theoretical and managerial insights.\nLimitations and further research: Our study examines the impact of COO misclassification awareness and demonstrates the behavioral intention change due to cognitive dissonance. Future studies could explore other alternatives of dissonance reduction, including trivialization or remaining dissonant (Harmon-Jones and Harmon-Jones, 2007). As the monetary risk associated with the purchase of luxury brands is greater than that with non-luxury brands, the effect of COO and perceived risk on consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions should be compared between luxury and non-luxury brands in the misclassification context.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Extant research shows that consumers regularly misclassify country-of-origin (COO) associated with brands. The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in behavioral intentions (i.e. purchase intentions for self and others and brand judgments) when consumers are made aware that they have misclassified the COO and then are informed of the brand's correct origin. Drawing on cognitive dissonance theory, the authors also explore the moderating roles of consumer affinity, animosity, and product knowledge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two experiments test the direct and moderating effects of COO misclassification awareness on behavioral intentions.\nFindings: The findings show detrimental effects of misclassification on behavioral intentions when consumers have high affinity with misclassified COO. Moreover, the experiments demonstrate a significantly greater decrease in behavioral intentions among experts than novices in the low-affinity condition and the reverse effect in the high-affinity condition.\nPractical implications: The negative effects of COO misclassification on consumer behavioral intentions highlight the need for managers to proactively avoid misclassification. The findings should also aid managers in developing responsive marketing campaigns that consider consumer affinity, animosity, and level of product knowledge.\nOriginality/value: This research is the first to compare consumer behavioral responses before and after COO misclassification awareness. The study demonstrates that cognitive dissonance underpins the process of misclassification. It also contributes to COO literature by examining the interaction of consumer affinity and animosity with product knowledge and their influence on consumer behavior in the case of COO misclassification.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Can e-learning improve job security? Evidence from 28 European countries
|
[
"Skills",
"Employee behaviour",
"Labour",
"Europe",
"Further education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Employment security is one of the most contemporary issues to study in the field of human resources management because of its relationship, inter alia, with business productivity (Michie and Sheehan, 1999). Thus, its importance in workers' behavior has been studied from various perspectives that consider employment security and its relationship with both unions and civil servants (Ferrie et al., 1998) as well as existing international trends toward outsourcing (Geishecker, 2008). Employment security has links with flexibility in several European countries (Muffels and Luijkx, 2008) and with job satisfaction (Wilczynska et al., 2015).\nContext and background: Employment security and education\nResearch question and methodology: Given all the above, and the goal of this paper, the research question is as follows:\nResults: All p-values, Pr(>|t|) for the independent variables, and their significance codes for all the linear regressions analyzed in 28 countries were calculated (R Core Team, 2017; Revelle, 2015) and Table IV shows a ranking of countries according to the minimum p-values of their regression models (1) and Pr(>|t|) for independent variables. As analyzed, 17 of a total of 28 countries have a p-value for the regression model lower than 0.05 (confidence interval greater that 95%) and with a significance level for at least one of the two independent variables (X)e-Learning or XVariable(i)) lower than 0.05.\nImplications and conclusions: The paper has studied the relationship between the e-learning variable and different variables associated with working conditions, education and skills to use ICT, in their complementarity for calculating and estimating improvements in employment security. Employment security is understood as a transition to the same or higher job security as the previous year. The data analysis has demonstrated that this complementarity exists in most of the European countries analyzed, so employment security can be calculated with high levels of statistical significance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to prove that e-learning, in union with another variable, builds a statistically significant relationship for estimating improvements in employment security, i.e., transition to employment of the same or higher job security as the previous year.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using data from Eurostat 2007-2013 in 28 European countries, and after carrying out analysis of 261 regression models between the e-learning variable, along with another variable related to working conditions, education, or e-skills levels of citizens.\nFindings: This study provides evidence about: there is a statistically significant relationship (p-value<0.05) between employment security (dependent variable), e-learning and another variable (independent variables) in 60.7 percent of 28 European countries analyzed (p-value<0.05 for at least one of these two independent variables); and there is a statistically significant relationship (p-value<0.05) in 75 percent of 28 countries (p-value<0.1 for at least one of these two independent variables). Consequently, a set with the minimum number of useful indicators for calculating the employment security is proposed: e-learning, labor transition, tertiary education, temporary employees, e-job search and e-skills.\nPractical implications: Moreover, several similarities between studied countries are found, helping to formulate various recommendations based on complementarities between being an employee and using lifelong e-learning systems as a way for improving employment security.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first studies to provide evidence of the relationship between e-learning and job security in Europe, in view of this, it should be considered as a key element and essential to any European policy related to work.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Mediating effect of work stress on the influence of time pressure, work-family conflict and role ambiguity on audit quality reduction behavior
|
[
"Work stress",
"Role ambiguity",
"Time pressure",
"Work–family conflict"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Quality of audit is a warranty, as the quality will be used to compare actual condition with expected condition. So that an audit report produced by auditor has high quality, the auditor must perform their work professionally and independently, comply with auditing standard, obtain competent and sufficient evidence and perform complete stages of audit procedure (Francis and Yu, 2009). High-quality audit is audit which can improve the quality of information to be reliable.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Work-family conflict\n3. Methodology: The population in this study was all auditors working in KAP (public accounting firms) in Indonesia. The Public Accounting Firms consisted of The Big-Four, affiliated KAP (outside of Big-Four) and nonaffiliated KAP. The analysis units in this study were auditors at all levels of hierarchy of KAP organizations, i.e. junior auditor/staff, senior auditor, manager audit and audit partner and those involved in implementing audit program on corporate financial statement audit performed by the KAP, who had minimum audit experience of two years. The criteria were used because generally auditors who have at least two years of work experience in KAP are given responsibility to perform audit program.\n4. Result and discussion: 4.1 Measurement model\n5. Discussion: The research found that time pressure had positive and significant effect on work stress, time pressure had positive and significant effect on turnover intention, time pressure had positive and significant effect on audit quality reduction behavior. High time pressure impacted high work stress, turnover intention and audit quality reduction behavior. These findings were in line with the concept of Otley and Pierce (1996) which states that high time pressure in KAP can affect auditor's behavior. Moreover, Kelly et al. (1999) reveal that time pressure is a pressure on audit time target which has been set to finish audit on time, so time pressure reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of audit, increasing auditor's level of work stress (Lau and Buckland, 2001).\n6. Conclusion: Based on the research results, it was determined that time pressure, workplace-family conflict and role ambiguity had significant effects on work stress. When testing the direct effect on audit quality reduction behavior, only time pressure had significant effect while workplace-family conflict and role ambiguity were insignificant. However, when testing indirect effect, mediating effect, there were significant mediating effects in all tests, so time pressure, workplace-family conflict and role ambiguity each had significant effect on audit quality reduction behavior through work stress.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to determine the direct and mediating effects of time pressure, work-family conflict, role ambiguity, work stress and audit quality reduction behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample selection in this research is done by purposive sampling method based on the criteria specified by the researcher. In addition, random sample selection does not necessarily produce a sample that can represent auditors at all levels and types of Kantor Akuntan Publik (KAP). This research uses quantitative analysis with approach of structural equation modeling (SEM) method to analyze direct and indirect effect. The main method for data analysis is SEM.\nFindings: Based on the results of the research note that time pressure, work-family conflict and role ambiguity each have a significant effect on work stress. In testing the direct effect on audit quality reduction behavior, only time pressure influential significant, while work-family conflict and role ambiguity not significant. However, in the test of indirect influence/influence of mediation, there is a significant influence on all tests that time pressure, work-family conflict and role ambiguity each have a significant effect on audit quality reduction behavior through work stress.\nOriginality/value: The originality of this paper is in SEM used by involving new variable which is work-family conflict. The research location is public accounting offices (KAP) in Indonesia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social learning constructs and employee learning performance in informal Web-based learning environments
|
[
"Informal learning",
"Social learning",
"Employee learning performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Given corporate employees as adult learners learn not only by themselves as individuals but also with others through collaborative interaction, both individual and collective learning in organizational learning process are important for organizational goals (Lehesvirta, 2004). Moreover, individual and social learning process in the workplace being related to the work context and organizational situation (Collin, 2009), it is necessary to consider that organizational dimensions such as learning climate can affect individual factors such as willingness to develop oneself and workplace identity (Collin, 2009; Cortini, 2016). In this context, corporate education has shifted from a more traditional lecture-oriented approach to multifaceted, informal learner-centered formats over the past decade. Because most corporate employees gain job-related knowledge informally as they work (Bednall and Sanders, 2016; Cross, 2007; Janssens et al., 2016; Rijn et al., 2013; Watkins and Marsick, 1990), many corporations have begun to meet the needs of learners by promoting interaction with colleagues. As this change has occurred, corporate educators have adopted the principles of social learning, especially as it is referred to as collaborative learning that happens through interactions with others in informal learning environments and applies to Web-based learning environments that make use of Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (Bingham and Conner, 2010; Sharma and Bhatnagar, 2016).\nTheoretical background: Due to development of Web technologies, social learning now occurs most commonly when those technologies are used for collaborative purposes. One of the most influential Web 2.0 platforms is social media because it allows interaction unconstrained by geographical and temporal separation. This flexibility creates more collaborative learning opportunities. According to Bingham and Conner (2010), \"the new social learning\" specifies the use of social media to interact in the workplace, in communities, and online.\nMethods: Participants\nResults: Direct effects of social learning constructs on perceived learning performance\nDiscussion and conclusion: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between social learning constructs and perceived learning performance and to analyze the mediating effects of social media usage for corporate employees in informal Web-based learning environments. A comprehensive review of the literature led to development of a research model that included the relationships among five social learning constructs (i.e. motivation, self-efficacy, interaction, learning community and social media usage) and the learning performance. The results indicate that three social learning constructs (i.e. self-motivation, learning community and social media usage) were crucial to perceived learning performance.\nImplications for practice: A critical issue for any organization is to help their employees learn effectively and efficiently, for employees need to develop and enhance their knowledge and skills to cope with rapidly changing economic conditions. Corporate employees are typically adult learners who learn independently, collaborate with others and pursue job-oriented learning. However, traditional corporate education programs cannot meet all of their learning needs. After acquiring new knowledge and skills, employees want to sustain them. Such efforts require much more comprehensive solutions than traditional education programs can provide. At present, employees expect to work in social learning environments in which they can learn by themselves or through collaboration with peers based on the needs of their job. Social learning environments provide collaborative, immediate and relevant methods for gaining job-related knowledge and skills (Meister and Willyerd, 2010).\nLimitations and future research: The current study has two important limitations. First, the results regarding learning performance should be interpreted cautiously because it was measured using self-reported perceptions. According to the overconfidence effect in psychology, people have a tendency to be optimistic about their own abilities and overestimate their own performance to forecast outcomes after learning, and their predictions, therefore, might have exceeded their actual performance. Another limitation is that social media usage might have been influenced by the characteristics of the participants' respective organizations (e.g. internet security policies and organizational culture). Some companies might have provided employees with more opportunities to use social media at work, while other companies might not have done so. Some companies also might have already implemented social learning using social media in their workplace. That is, organizational characteristics might have influenced the data reported by participants.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between social learning constructs and perceived learning performance in corporate informal Web-based learning environments. The study aims at providing significant implications for corporate educators who have worked on designing social learning environments in the workplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To identify the casual relationship of the proposed research model, data collected from 523 South Koreans who were corporate employees and social media users were analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results indicate that self-motivation, learning community and social media usage were significantly related to perceived learning performance. In addition, social media usage mediated the relationship between the other social learning constructs and the learning performance.\nOriginality/value: Given that corporate personnel typically gain job-related knowledge and skills through social learning, corporate educators need to provide learners with social learning environments that are conducive to self-motivation and learning community. Social media, when used as a learning tool, might not sufficiently improve learning performance without the help of other social learning constructs. Findings shed light on which social learning constructs are essential to effective social learning environment design in the workplace.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The transfer and creation of knowledge within foreign invested R&D in emerging markets
|
[
"China",
"India",
"Scandinavia",
"Multinational companies",
"Knowledge creation",
"Knowledge transfer",
"Foreign invested R&D",
"Innovation performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research and development (R&D) in multinational companies (MNCs) is increasing in emerging markets such as China (von Zedtwitz, 2004) and India (Pillania, 2005). This development emphasizes the importance of understanding how R&D in these countries contributes to the innovation performance of companies establishing new R&D units. Studies in mature markets suggest that subsidiary innovation performance can be largely explained by the absorptive capacity and the network position of the subsidiary (Tsai, 2001). These findings are likely to have some validity in emerging market country contexts. However, differences between school systems in China, India, and many Western countries are likely to create implications for innovation-related activities within foreign invested R&D units in emerging markets. For instance, many characteristics of the school systems in Asia do not nurture creativity (Johnson and Weiss, 2008). Instead school systems emphasize memorization and neglect creative expression and critical thinking in problem solving. New knowledge creation is, therefore, difficult. Confucianism made a strong footprint on Chinese culture. Within Confucianism, knowledge is perceived to be subjective, serving an instrumental function, rather than being valued for the purpose of self-actualization, as it is in the Western world (Yang et al., 2006).In China, experiments and knowledge creation per se have not been considered important (Baark, 2007). This is the case even though these activities are important for innovation-related activities, such as R&D, to occur. In spite of these historical and cultural factors impeding innovation, convincing evidence is emerging which shows that innovations with global impact can be created within foreign invested R&D units in countries such as China and India (Immelt et al., 2009).The contrasting picture presented above calls for further research comparing technical innovations between China, other Asian countries and Europe (Johnson and Weiss, 2008). This paper investigates important barriers to transfer - and creation of - innovation-related knowledge within newly established foreign invested R&D units in emerging markets. A framework, primarily based on knowledge creation theory, is presented to further our understanding of innovation-related knowledge creation in emerging markets, and specifically in China and India.1.1 Theoretical framework - knowledge creation theory\n2. Methodology: The abductive approach (Alvesson and Skoldberg, 1994; Dubois and Gadde, 2002) is the methodological strategy used in this research project. The abductive approach emphasizes theory development as an iterative process of matching theory with reality and vice versa. The researcher moves between empirical data and findings and theory framework. Insights co-evolve in this reciprocal process. The basis for this process is an exploratory holistic, multiple case study (Yin, 2003) that includes extensive qualitative empirical collected information.We collected information from three Scandinavian companies. A case study is a preferable methodological approach for inquiries into complex social phenomena (Yin, 2003; Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007). More than 30 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted in person and by phone with individuals in the three companies. Interviews occurred between January 2007 and October 2010. Several rounds of interviews have been conducted with the companies in order to track the development of the cases over time. Each recorded and transcribed interview lasted around one hour 30 minutes.The Mechanic Tech firm has R&D units in China and India. Med Tech has an R&D unit in China. Wind Tech has an R&D unit in India. Engineers and scientists were interviewed in the R&D units in Asia and also in Scandinavia. Interviews were conducted with managers in charge of the overall R&D transfer process, on different levels, as well as expatriates, and other R&D employees working in the R&D units were interviewed.Secondary data has also been collected in addition to primary empirical data. Internal validity has been addressed for the case studies in terms of the number of interviewees, and their positions in the organizations. The issues of construct validity and reliability have been addressed using key informants to review the case reports. External validity was used by including three relatively different industries, and by developing an industry independent theoretical framework using the abductive approach.\n3. Cases: All companies view the establishments of R&D units as successful. All units have experienced very low employee turnover rates.3.1 Mechanic Tech\n4. Analysis: 4.1 Impediments to innovation\n5. Implications: 5.1 Managerial implications\n6. Conclusions: Social interaction nurtures knowledge creation, and especially the transfer of tacit knowledge (Johnson, 2007; Nonaka and Konno, 1998). Weak socialization skills may impede transfer of tacit knowledge, within newly established foreign invested R&D units in emerging markets. The developed framework, built primarily on knowledge creation theory, was illustrated by three cases of newly established foreign invested R&D units in China and India. The cases show that barriers for innovation exist in China, India, and Scandinavia. The availability of good codification skills are likely to be important in terms of understanding why impressive innovations are made in China and India, in spite of the outlined barriers. Innovative efforts depending on good codification skills (e.g. having a process innovation focus) is a viable way for newly established foreign invested R&D units in emerging markets to contribute to innovation performance within MNCs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate important impediments to knowledge creation within newly-established foreign invested R&D centers in China and India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents a framework based on knowledge creation theory in order to understand the barriers for transfer and the creation of innovation-related knowledge within newly-established foreign invested R&D units in China and India. The paper utilizes extensive empirical data collected from a case study in three Scandinavian multinational companies (MNCs).\nFindings: - Examples of innovations in China and India within Scandinavian MNCs are presented. Impediments to these innovations are identified with regard to socialization and knowledge creation. Particular skills of R&D employees in China and India are relevant for process innovations, e.g. competencies in codification of knowledge.\nOriginality/value: - A synthesis of existing knowledge creation theory is applied to compare R&D knowledge creation skills of Chinese, Indian, and Scandinavian engineers, within MNCs. The new framework explains knowledge creation in China and India, and can be used in other foreign invested R&D units in these countries. Implications for managers working with newly established foreign invested R&D units in emerging markets are offered.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Networks as systems: A case study of the World Health Organisation's Global Health Workforce Alliance
|
[
"Systems thinking",
"Inter-organizational networks",
"Global alliance",
"Human resources for health"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: In 2006, with funding from international donors, the Global Healthcare Workforce Alliance (GHWA) was created with a ten-year mandate. The new organization was governed by a board representing its diverse member base of human resources for health (HRH) experts and practitioners (www.who.int/workforcealliance/about/en/). Operations were managed by a secretariat hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO). Historically, discussions about global HRH issues focused largely on increasing resources to fill staff deficits (Dussault, 2015), taking a relatively simplistic approach to a complex problem. Tackling issue characteristics as varied as recruitment and retention, scope of practice, technological change and mobility requires the coordinated engagement of many sectors. This broader perspective emerged in 2004 when the Joint Learning Initiative asserted that many countries would not meet their Millennium Development Goals due to what the report termed, \"the HRH crisis\"(Joint Learning Initiative, 2004a). International concern was further focused by the WHO report \"Working Together for Health\", which proposed a global alliance of stakeholders to advocate for resources to develop HRH (World Health Organization, 2006).\nPurpose: To inform this analysis, we applied Shiffman et al.'s (2016) theory of network emergence (Figure 1) on the emergence and effectiveness of global health networks. According to this framework, issue characteristics (e.g. HRH shortages and related framing strategies) continually interact with network and actor features (characteristics of, and relationships between individuals and organizations in the network), as well as the policy environment (measurement systems or accountability structures), resulting in network emergence and effectiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Methods included a review of published literature on HRH governance and current practice in the field and an in-depth case study whose main data sources were relevant GHWA background documents and key informant interviews with GHWA leaders, staff, and stakeholders. Sampling was purposive and at a senior level, focusing on board members, executive directors, funders and academics. Data were analyzed thematically with reference to systems theory and Shiffman's theory of network development.\nFindings: Results are presented using the Shiffman et al.'s framework to explain how the mechanisms of network development interacted with other influences in a dynamic context. Arrows between key components or spheres of the framework (Figure 1) represent the constant, multiple, and dynamic interactions that appeared to contribute to the emergence and effectiveness of GHWA. Whilst we have attempted to identify achievements that could be fairly confidently attributed to GHWA efforts, many other organizations also contributed to the changes during this period.\nDiscussion: This review has produced a rich narrative of the activities and impacts of a single international network that operated over a ten-year period. The conceptual framework we used helped to elucidate and tease apart the strengths and weaknesses of GHWA's experience. Our findings affirm the general principles common to complex systems and suggest refinement of Shiffman's theory with several more specific principles for network evolution in such systems. Given that these principles have been drawn from a single case study, further research is needed to examine the extent to which they may be generalized. Our research study included recommendations to GHWA regarding next steps in supporting global HRH initiatives, based on the notion of a new HRH network consisting of a central \"hub\" hosted by WHO, that would link with and synthesize efforts of independent satellite networks (e.g. satellites focused on unique topics such as pre-service training, migration, or benchmarks).\nRecommendations for the next stage of global HRH governance: Effective management and leadership are both critical\nConclusion: In this paper, we applied Shiffman's model to analyze the ten-year legacy of GHWA. As a uniquely complex case in a rapidly evolving global environment, GHWA had a number of successes, some partial successes, and some failures.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the World Health Organization's Global Healthcare Workforce Alliance (GHWA). Based on a commissioned evaluation of GHWA, it applies network theory and key concepts from systems thinking to explore network emergence, effectiveness, and evolution to over a ten-year period. The research was designed to provide high-level strategic guidance for further evolution of global governance in human resources for health (HRH).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Methods included a review of published literature on HRH governance and current practice in the field and an in-depth case study whose main data sources were relevant GHWA background documents and key informant interviews with GHWA leaders, staff, and stakeholders. Sampling was purposive and at a senior level, focusing on board members, executive directors, funders, and academics. Data were analyzed thematically with reference to systems theory and Shiffman's theory of network development.\nFindings: Five key lessons emerged: effective management and leadership are critical; networks need to balance \"tight\" and \"loose\" approaches to their structure and processes; an active communication strategy is key to create and maintain support; the goals, priorities, and membership must be carefully focused; and the network needs to support shared measurement of progress on agreed-upon goals. Shiffman's middle-range network theory is a useful tool when guided by the principles of complex systems that illuminate dynamic situations and shifting interests as global alliances evolve.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study was implemented at the end of the ten-year funding cycle. A more continuous evaluation throughout the term would have provided richer understanding of issues. Experience and perspectives at the country level were not assessed.\nPractical implications: Design and management of large, complex networks requires ongoing attention to key issues like leadership, and flexible structures and processes to accommodate the dynamic reality of these networks.\nOriginality/value: This case study builds on growing interest in the role of networks to foster large-scale change. The particular value rests on the longitudinal perspective on the evolution of a large, complex global network, and the use of theory to guide understanding.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Competence, performance and trainability of older workers of higher educational institutions in Malaysia
|
[
"Education",
"Older workers",
"Performance",
"Competence",
"Retirement",
"Trainability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Background of the study\n2. Review of literature: 2.1 Ageing population\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Instrumentation\n4. Findings of the study: To test the hypothesis on whether or not the older employees are competent, good performers, and trainable, one-sample t-test with a test value of 4 was performed.\n5. Discussion and conclusion: The main objective of this study is to find out whether or not the older workers are competent; perform well at the workplace and are trainable. Based on the assessments made by the older workers themselves and their superiors, it is found that they are competent, perform well, and are trainable; although there are some differences in the rating between the older academicians and the older administrators. Both self-assessment and superior assessment give lower rating to the older administrators. There are two possible reasons for this. First, the administrators are not highly educated thus they are more reserved. This may reduce their level of confidence to project their actual competencies. On the contrary, for the older academicians, because of their education background and they are known for their expertise, they are proud to declare their achievement. Second, most of the superiors are academicians who have a high expectation of administrative staff and due to their rotational administrative positions; the superiors are less familiar with the nature of job of their administrative subordinates. Unlike of older academicians, their superiors are their own colleagues. Due to this relationship and familiarity with the nature of work, the superiors tend to give higher ratings. The findings of this study also revealed that the performance of older workers is contributed by their competence and trainability. However, competence is a better predictor than trainability regardless of the category of the older workers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the competence, performance, and trainability of older workers of higher educational institutions in Malaysia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey methods were used in this study. The survey measures were adopted from Rothwell (2002) and Sarmiento et al. (2007) for performance and competence, respectively, while trainability measurements were adopted from Maurer et al. (2008). The sample of 325 respondents consisted older workers in the higher education sector aged between 55 and 60 years old.\nFindings: Based on the assessments made by the older workers themselves and their superiors, it is found that the older workers are competent, performing well, and are trainable. The administrative older staff, however, were rated lower by the superior as compared to the academic older staff. This may be due to the fact that most of the assessors are academicians. Regardless of the category of the staff, performance of older workers is positively related to their competence and trainability.\nResearch limitations/implications: Competence and trainability are important factors as they are found related to performance. This study focuses on education sector. It would be interesting to include older workers from other sectors because the education sector is perceived to be less physically demanding.\nPractical implications: This study provides valuable insights into considering of revising the retirement age of academician in higher education sector even higher. Age seems to be an advantage to this group of employees.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique and significant because it focuses on important sector, i.e. higher education. It would reduce the knowledge gap in performance management of older workers especially in higher education sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Corporate visual identity: exploring the dogma of consistency
|
[
"Consistency",
"Corporate visual identity",
"Agencies",
"Corporate visual identity management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As a theoretical field, corporate visual identity (CVI) was born out of graphic design practices in the 1950s (Balmer, 1995). Today, numerous scholars consider CVI to be an integrated element of corporate identity, i.e. the presentation of an organization through symbols, communication and behavior (e.g. Melewar, 2001; Sharma and Jain, 2011; Baker and Balmer, 1997; Van Riel and Balmer, 1997). The importance of CVI in regards to corporate identity is exemplified by Olins (1989, p. 7), who stresses that \"design is a significant component in the identity mix\". However, despite the importance ascribed to CVI within the corporate identity literature, it remains underexplored and undertheorized (Mann and Ghuman, 2014; Fetscherin and Usunier, 2012; Jong Woo et al., 2008; Van den Bosch et al., 2006; Rosson and Brooks, 2004).\nTheoretical framework: The literature presented below forms the theoretical foundation for the explorations to come and is divided into three sections. The first section defines CVI by mapping and explicating different terminologies and conceptualizations. The second section presents and elaborates on the dogma of consistency as central to the CVI literature. And the third section, inspired by a process of problematization (Alvesson and Sandberg, 2013), challenges consistency as a dogmatic ideal with reference to scholarship within corporate communication, integrated communication and corporate identity.\nMethodological framework and research design: Given the nascent research area of exploring the arguments for and against CVI consistency, a qualitative research strategy has, in accordance with Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007) and Edmondson and McManus (2007), been chosen. As this paper is focused on the practice of an industry, not any particular segment of that industry, a study including multiple voices and opinions is appropriate. In order to allow for flexibility, interaction and the possibility to refine the study in accordance with increased levels of insights, an open and dialogue-oriented research strategy was chosen. More specifically, strategists from ten different agencies, all recommended for their high-quality work with CVI design and consultancy, were interviewed. This research strategy balances the wide scope, being the multiple agency clients from various industries and of differing sizes, with the focus and depth of ten personal interviews. As highlighted by, e.g., Phillips et al. (2014), Van den Bosch et al. (2006) and Balmer and Soenen (1999), agency strategists offer a unique possibility for researchers interested in CVI. As agency strategists work in the intersection of advising multiple clients on CVI matters and debating CVI design with the agency creative, this group of professionals is arguably in a unique position to offer both a broad perspective on how organizations of various sizes and industries work with CVI and how CVIs are designed. The ten semi-structured face-to-face interviews, which allow for both structure and flexibility (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015), all followed an interview guide consisting mainly of open-ended questions centered around areas relevant for CVI consistency. To insure a certain level of structure in the interviews, a core of theoretically grounded themes was included in all the interview guides. However, the interview guides also included flexible elements. First, prior to the interviews, the corporate websites of the agencies were explored and quotes relevant to CVI consistency were included in the interview guide as initiators for more in-depth explanation of the meanings and rationales behind the quotes. Second, the interview guides were adjusted in accordance with the increased understanding accumulated throughout the interviews. Finally, the nature of the interview guides allowed the flexibility needed to adapt to the progression of the individual interviews. The interviews were held between March and August, 2015 and lasted between 42 and 79 minutes in length. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. To insure anonymity, all interviewees and agencies are anonymized.\nAnalysis: Following the template analysis guidelines (King and Brooks, 2016), it took four iterations before settling on the final thematic structure that is made up of four lateral themes and one horizontal theme that cut across and influence the other four themes. As Figure 1 shows, the iterative analysis led to a continuously more nuanced understanding of CVI consistency manifested in a more nuanced and complex thematic structure. Overall, the themes are divided into CVI consistency: deals with how the CVI strategists support consistency; CVI inconsistency: focus on how the strategists are also critical to consistency; historical development in the balance: explores how the balance between consistency and inconsistency has changed over time; including the consumers: debates various ways in which consumers influence CVI consistency via different forms of inclusion; and digitalization: a horizontal theme that highlights how the strategists perceive digitalization to influence the other four themes and thus consistency.\nDiscussion: The presented theory and analysis allow for a mapping of arguments for and against CVI consistency. Table I provides the reader with an overview of these arguments. The multiple arguments for and against CVI consistency have been divided into the four groups of CVI communication; CVI communication over time; CVI authenticity; and CVI management (see Table I). These four groups have been developed based on the underlying assumptions driving the implicit and explicit argumentation of the strategists in relation to the themes identified in Figure 1 (CVI consistency, CVI inconsistency, historical development in the balance, and including the consumer). Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the weight given to the arguments for or against CVI consistency tie in with the strategists' underlying understandings of the ontology of central phenomena such as communication (transmission vs interpretation), authenticity (essence vs process) and management (control vs involvement). This grouping will serve to structure the discussion below where each of these phenomena will be addressed in greater detail.\nConclusion and future research: This paper set out to explore the dogma of consistency within CVI, defined as how an organization is visualized across all platforms. That is, to address the various arguments for and against developing and using inconsistent CVIs and to discuss what theoretical and managerial implications a more dynamic approach to CVI consistency might have. Theoretically, this was debated by reviewing CVI literature and by drawing on related fields like corporate identity and organizational identity. Empirically, it was explored via interviews with strategists from 10 different CVI agencies. Overall, the study highlights that the CVI consistency vs inconsistency debate is highly complex and filled with nuances as well as contradictions. Moreover, it strengthens the argument for conceptualizing CVI consistency as a continuum, rather than as a simple either/or choice; that is, a CVI can simultaneously have consistent and inconsistent elements - or static and dynamic elements as pointed out in the analysis by Strategist 6.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore and challenge the dogma of Corporate visual identity (CVI) consistency. The goal is to nuance the current polarized debate of consistency or no consistency.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative research strategy is employed in this paper. Specifically, the empirical work rests on an interview study with strategists from ten different CVI agencies. The interview transcripts are analyzed using template analysis.\nFindings: In terms of findings, both empirical and conceptual arguments for and against CVI consistency are presented. Many of these arguments rest on conflicting assumptions of CVI communication, CVI authenticity and CVI management, which all influence the debate of CVI consistency.\nPractical implications: CVI practitioners are presented with a more reflective approach to dealing with consistency and hands on examples for inspiration.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers alternative and more nuanced conceptualizations of CVI consistency. This includes seeing consistency and inconsistency as ends of a spectrum to be balanced rather than mutually exclusive and by differentiating between consistency across platforms and consistency over time - coined CVI continuity. Furthermore, several future research areas that can help to further develop the field of CVI are suggested.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Sale the 7 Cs: teaching/training aid for the (e-)retail mix
|
[
"Retailing",
"Electronic commerce",
"Marketing mix"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The (e-)retail mix can be defined as the total package of goods and services that a retailer or e-retailer offers for sale to the public (Lazer and Kelly, 1961). (E-)retail mix is a shorthand term for the blend of tools and techniques that (e-)retailers use to provide value for customers. It is a development of the well-known marketing mix, more specific to retail and e-retail. As far back as the first half of the twentieth century, the job of the marketer was described as a \"mixer of ingredients\" (Culliton, 1948). Marketers devise strategies and tactics aimed at providing satisfaction and adding value for customers. The various elements are blended into a \"marketing mix\" - a phrase first coined by Neil Borden (1964) of Harvard Business School.The marketing mix is most widely known as E. Jerome McCarthy's (1960) \"4Ps\": place, product, price and promotion. Acronyms such as 4Ps, Booms and Bitner's (1981) 7Ps for services and Lauterborn's (1990) 4Cs (see below) have been criticised as oversimplifications. Whilst not based on any theory, the original 4Ps, for example, was \"firmly based on the needs of the manufactured goods sector\" and the need for practitioners to \"break down their decision making into a number of identifiable and actionable headings\" (Palmer, 2004). As such, the 4Ps have long found favour not only with marketing managers but also with lecturers, students and trainers. (E-)retailers have similar needs to structure decision making of the elements of their offers to customers that are essential to success. This paper is intended to provide them, educators, students and trainers with an equivalent simple, easy to remember mix: \"sale the 7Cs\".The rest of this paper proceeds as follows. Firstly, we review the applicability of the 4Ps/4Cs to (e-)retail. Then we consider other elements of the (e-)retail mix, re-stating those not sufficiently covered by the 4Cs as three additional Cs. Finally, we suggest three activities for use as teaching/training aids or illustrations for the new 7Cs and provide answer guidelines (see Appendix 1).\nThe marketing mix adapted for (e-)retailing: \"Place\" in the 4Ps is not quite self-explanatory, but refers to the routes organisations take to get the benefits of the product or service to the intended customers - channels of distribution. \"Product\" means both tangible product and also \"service\" and all the ways that an organisation adds value. \"Price\" means not just the price charged, but also all aspects of pricing policy including, for example, distributor margins. \"Promotion\" is not just the more-specialised \"sales promotion\", but also every way that a product is promoted to customers - from print advertising to web sites.In recent decades there have been numerous attempts to update and revise the marketing mix. One development is particularly descriptive of the way marketers think about the customer. The \"4Cs\" (Lauterborn, 1990) imply more emphasis on customer wants and concerns than do the 4Ps. The 4Cs (in the same order as the equivalent 4Ps listed above) are: convenience for the customer; customer value and benefits; cost to the customer; and communication. Reflecting the emphasis of \"new\" marketing on long-term relationships with customers, we include customer relationships within the umbrella of the \"communication\" C.C1: convenience for the customer\nThe communications mix for the e-retailer: All elements of the retail mix can actually form part of the communications mix. For example, in the case of an e-retailer, \"convenience\" can include the ease of finding the site, say by paid links from other sites or search engines, communicating the existence of the site to the potential customer. \"Customer value and benefit\" can be reflected in the width and depth of product offered and ease of navigating around this large range, communicating a benefit of buying online rather than instore. \"Cost to the customer\" can communicate price positioning in the case of a cost leadership strategy. Alternatively, high prices with \"round\" figures can communicate quality and prestige. \"Computing and category management\" can communicate added value from the availability of a wide range of products on short delivery times. \"Customer franchise\" is largely a communications and branding issue. For example, improving the information value of an e-retailing site can improve image and branding. Similarly, \"customer care and service\" can communicate a positive image. Although many of the critical aspects of service are not visible until the order is fulfilled, a generous returns policy can act as a proxy in communicating an image of good service. Finally, \"communication and customer relationships\" describes the communications mix proper, which can have a huge variety of elements from marketing research surveys to e-mail, and from advertising to sponsorship.The use of the 7Cs as a framework for the communications mix is illustrated in activity 3 and mini case 3 below: Compass 24 (see Appendix 2).\nSummary and conclusions: The complexities of the retail and e-retail mixes can be represented by a simplified, easy-to-remember aid, \"Sale the 7Cs\":1. C1 - convenience.2. C2 - customer value and benefit.3. C3 - cost to the customer.4. C4 - computing and category management.5. C5 - customer franchise.6. C6 - customer care and service.7. C7 - communication and customer relationships.This 7Cs framework is also useful in drawing attention to the wider scope of the communications mix as much more than just offline media plus web advertising. Popular with students as a learning aid, the 7Cs make up a useful tool for retail lecturers and practitioners alike.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The \"4Ps\" of the marketing mix have long been popular with students, tutors, trainers and practitioners as a learning and teaching aid. The purpose of this paper is to present an equivalent tool for retail and e-retail: \"Sale the 7Cs\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach is by reference to and synthesis of other authors' versions of the marketing, retail and e-retail mixes, distilled into a simplified framework.\nFindings: - The findings or outcome of the study are summarised into a framework that has seven components, linked by the \"C\" mnemonic. Starting with C1 for convenience; the framework also includes C2 for customer value and benefit, C3 for cost to the customer, C4 for computing and category management, C5 for customer franchise, C6 for customer care and service and C7 for communication and customer relationships. This simplified mnemonic is new for (e-)retail.\nOriginality/value: - Mini case examples are used to illustrate the applicability. These have a practical value for trainers and educators as specimen answers to activity exercises. Retailers may find the convenient 7Cs structure useful when planning strategies and tactics.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Activation of the unemployed in Poland: from policy design to policy implementation
|
[
"Poland",
"Unemployment",
"Labour market",
"Empowerment",
"Social policy",
"Social inclusion"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The year 2004, when Poland entered the European Union (EU) is believed to have started a favourable period for the development of active labour market policy (ALMP) (Szylko-Skoczny, 2004; Giermanowska, 2004). Several factors seem to have played a role in this process: improvement in the labour market due to the economic upturn between 2005 and 2008, the European integration process creating opportunities for emigration (Rashid et al., 2005), new financial resources for activation measures from European structural funds (ESF) (Rashid et al., 2005; Giermanowska, 2004), positive incentives for the integration of employment policies and the inclusion of non-state actors in the policy-making process.Similar to other EU countries, activation became a key concept in the framework of social and labour market policy (LMP) in Poland. In Polish official documents, activation is identified with individualisation of services and conditionality of access to social protection upon the \"job readiness\" of its recipients. The new logic of social and LMP is founded on the belief that a process of social integration cannot be successful without the insertion of the beneficiaries into the labour market, and that the achievement of this aim demands further development of the cooperation between different public and non-public organisations, active in the fields of social and LMP.Various cross-country studies inspired by Amartya Sen's capability approach (CA) show tensions accompanying implementation of the new principles of social and LMP and their ambivalent impact on its beneficiaries, by revealing, for instance, so-called \"creaming practices\" (focusing on people who will easily find employment) and a culture of self-blame among people with multiple problems (Dean, 2003; Dean et al., 2005; Bonvin and Farvaque, 2007, for more general discussion of the CA see the Introductory article in this special issue). In this paper I examine how official declarations on a new LMP design in Poland are put into practice, or more precisely, how the activation of unemployed people is operated at the local level. Using Sen's notion of the \"informational basis of judgment in justice\" I analyse how beneficiaries of LMP are evaluated by public agents and the impact of performance indicators on the process of assessment: \"Which 'informational basis of judgment in justice' is chosen (... ), i.e. which kind of information (needs, lack of income, merit, motivation, past behaviour, etc.) is explicitly or implicitly considered as relevant when assessing job seekers and designing active labour market programmes for them\" (Bonvin and Farvaque, 2007, pp. 48-9). The analysis informed by the CA proposes an alternative way of evaluating LMP. Instead of focusing exclusively on the employment rate or LMP expenditure, it examines whether the LMP contributes to the development of \"capabilities\", \"i.e. the real freedom to achieve the life one has reason to value (in terms of both beings and doings)\" (Bonvin and Farvaque, 2005, p. 270). The following issues are analysed in this paper: whether public employment services increase unemployed individuals' \"capability for work\", by which I mean their ability to find and perform a job they value; whether beneficiaries are free to co-define the activation programme to which they are subjected (\"capability for voice\"); whether civil servants take into account beneficiaries' preferences, life-projects and information on issues not necessarily related to their labour market status (a \"life-first approach\"), or on the contrary, whether they tend to reduce people's beings and doings to a single \"work first approach\" (Bonvin and Farvaque, 2005, 2006, 2007; Dean et al., 2005).The argument draws on the results of several research projects conducted between 2006 and 2008[1]. A variety of methods were used, including analysis of official reports; surveys among enterprises, employed, unemployed and inactive people in selected territorial units; over 100 in-depth and semi-structured interviews with key actors in the field of social and LMP at the local and regional level; and seven biographical interviews with unemployed people. All projects share a common interest in the study of policy in action instead of analysis limited to formal institutions, and they attempt to reintroduce the perspective of field actors and beneficiaries that is completely absent from LMP research in Poland.The text is organised as follows. The first section presents the evolution of LMP in Poland, which can be characterised as a shift from the generous passive policies created in the 1990s towards a liberal model of activation (Barbier, 2001). It briefly discusses research findings concerning the territorialisation of LMP and recent attempts to include private and civil society actors and integrate policies at the local level. In the second part, the implementation of activation by local employment services is analysed. Qualitative evidence is provided on the process of assessment of beneficiaries and its effects. This section also considers the impact of normative assumptions and performance indicators on LMP. By advocating the relevance of the CA, the paper explores the consequences of the new LMP design on people's capabilities.\nThe activation shift in Poland: Passive and active spending on LMP\nActivation in action: Improvement in the labour market and the financial position of the Labour Fund translated into better availability of job offers and activation programmes. Official reports are full of quantitative data on the number of participants, levels of expenditure and the so-called \"efficiency indicator\", providing information on the percentage of participants that have a job three months after the activation programme. However, it is impossible to ascertain what the everyday implementation of ALMP looks like and what the practical meaning of the term activation is, without qualitative research and a critical analysis of these official data.In this section, by applying the concept of \"informational basis of judgment in justice\", I will analyse the main characteristics of the process of assessment of the unemployed as performed by employees of the LLOs. The following issues are analysed: which factors turn out to be decisive in the process; what are the normative assumptions underlying the various conceptions of activation that are applied; how the legal framework and centrally defined indicators influence the assessment; and in which cases might the activation process lead to the empowerment of beneficiaries in terms of \"capability for work\", and give them \"voice\" thereby making them subjects rather than objects of the process (\"capability for voice\").Revealing hidden factors\nConclusion: The Polish activation model shares several characteristics with the liberal approach to activation constructed by Barbier (2001). It relates to the same ideological references - also similar to the conception of \"initiative employability\" described by Gazier (1999) - such as the self-reliance of individuals in the labour market. This normative conception legitimised subsequent restrictions on passive policies, limiting assistance to the most \"needy\", as well as justifying development of a punitive approach including the enforcement of active job searches. First of all, the study of the implementation of ALMP reveals that similar to other EU countries, the normative assumptions underlying this dominant informational basis of justice, reinforced by the application of performance indicators, lead to reproduction of social inequalities and further stigmatisation of unemployed people (Dean, 2003). Secondly, the current tendency to perform activation by disciplinary means does not seem to be an efficient way of empowering the unemployed; on the one hand, it discourages employers from cooperating with LLOs, and on the other discourages the unemployed from registering at the LLOs and exercising their rights. Finally, the increase of resources for ALMP will not have significant effects without the empowerment of the LLOs and the setting up of effective local networks. The former demands a major increase in personnel, more autonomy to diagnose locally vulnerable groups and individuals, a right to negotiate the allocation of funds and freedom to invest in good quality programmes instead of focusing on (large) numbers of participants. Local networks should aim at developing coordination between public and non-public actors, especially through the exchange of information and experience and the creation of mechanisms that seek to make services complementary.\nNote: 1. Empirical investigation was carried out as part of the following research projects:* CAPRIGHT: Resources, rights and capabilities: in search of social foundations for Europe.* Public labour administration in a present organisational and legal context.* Rescaling social welfare policies: A comparative study on the path towards multi-level governance in Europe.* Analysis of selected local labour markets and creation of methodology for research of local labour markets in Poland.* Everyday life of Europeanisation: the case of local labour offices (this project is financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education from the resources for science for years 2008-2010).Results from some of these projects can be found in Sztandar-Sztanderska (2008), Grabowski et al. (2008) and Liwi 'nski and Sztanderska (2006).Opens in a new window.Figure 1\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine how recent changes in labour market policy in Poland, such as the activation shift, formal incentives for policies integration and inclusion of private and civil society actors in the policy-making process, are actually put into practice on the local level. By applying Amartya Sen's capability approach, decisive factors in the process of implementation, the role of normative assumptions in the assessment of unemployed people and the impact of performance indicators on local civil officers' actions are analyzed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The text is based on the results of research conducted with a variety of methods: in-depth and semi-structured interviews, analysis of official reports, surveys among enterprises and among the employed, unemployed and inactive.\nFindings: - The paper shows the limitations of the activation model in Poland. The normative assumptions underlying ALMP lead to reproduction of social inequalities and stigmatisation of unemployed people, whereas the disciplinary approach discourages employers from cooperating with employment services. The increase of resources for the active labour market policy is not translated into an improvement in the quality of services.\nOriginality/value: - Previous researches on labour market policies in Poland are mainly based on quantitative data and analysis of legal regulations. Not enough attention is paid to the actual uses of law and the role of normative assumptions in the process of implementation. The paper attempts to reintroduce the perspective of policy practitioners and beneficiaries that is completely absent from research on labour market policy in Poland.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Knowledge creation. The ongoing search for strategic renewal
|
[
"Innovation",
"Knowledge creation",
"Enablers",
"Structural variables"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In this study, we examine a subgroup of structural variables and managerial actions in organizational knowledge creation. These variables belong to formal coordination and grouping structures. The forms of managing these variables, referred to collectively as knowledge management (KM), equate to the specific use of structural variables and the enablers proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), and Von Krogh et al. (2000).\n2. Theoretical framework: As is the case with knowledge itself, KM is hard to define (Earl, 2001). Defining KM is nonetheless simpler than attempting to establish a definition of knowledge. Addressing the idea of KM means that we may consider its constituent activities, explain the process of knowledge creation and transfer, and set forth its main aims and objectives without the need to define what is understood by the term knowledge. KM is thus defined as a set of policies and guidelines that foster the generation, transfer and institutionalization of knowledge, so as to meet the targets of the enterprise. Knowledge creation is thus established as a balanced process that arises within the organization. It must appear as a clearly defined objective within the business strategy, and the management must establish suitable policies to encourage this process. By organizational knowledge creation we therefore refer to \"the capability of a company as a whole to create new knowledge, disseminate it throughout the organization, and embody it in products, services and systems\" (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995, p. 3). Within this framework, we thus consider the role of managerial actions through the enablers for knowledge creation a key premise for this research.\n3. General relational model for hypothesis testing and measurement scales: We first analysed the relations between structural variables and the enablers. Then, assuming the existence of a positive relation between enablers and knowledge creation, we carried out a joint empirical study of the relations structural variables-enablers and enablers-knowledge creation (Figure 2). The aim of this analysis was to test the hypotheses formulated in Section 2. At the end of the paper, there is an annex detailing how the variables were measured.\n4. Research design and methodology: The group of eligible firms was obtained from the Dun and Bradstreet database of large Spanish firms (250 or more employees and a turnover of more than 40 million euros) (source: The Official European Community Report; 30 April 1996). This yielded a sample universe of 1,465 firms. We sent the questionnaire to all firms, 167 of which responded. The sample is free from bias because values for the selection variables are similar for the sample and the general population. The majority of the firms in the sample belong to the secondary sector (105 enterprises), with 56 firms in the tertiary sector and just six in the primary sector. The enterprises were distributed across Spain, although the majority were from Madrid and Catalonia (52.7 per cent in these two regions). The technical datasheet for the sample appears in Table II.\n5. Results of the analysis and hypothesis testing: We examined the relations of structural variables-enablers and enablers-knowledge creation. Table III shows the significance of the results, which clearly demonstrate the importance of the proposed structural variables and the enablers; and Table IV shows the indicators of model's fit with good results. Of the 13 relations analysed between structural variables and enablers, two are not significant. In the relation between enablers and knowledge creation only one is not significant.\n6. Key research findings and conclusions: The generally accepted supposition, upon which this research is based, is that forms of management establish conditions that favour or hinder knowledge creation in the firm.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse how changes in a set of structural design variables (i.e. liaison position, networked design, innovation teams and work teams) affect the creation of new knowledge within organizations. The enablers intention, autonomy, fluctuation and creative chaos, redundancy, variety, and trust and commitment, taken from Nonaka's framework, are used as intermediate variables.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sample of 167 large Spanish companies was used to empirically test a general relational model.\nFindings: The analysis yielded two main conclusions. First, the relationship between structural variables and enablers, and, second, the relationship of enablers with knowledge creation emerged as highly relevant for knowledge creation in organizations.\nResearch limitations/implications: A major limitation of this study was the relatively small number of variables used to define organizational structure. In reality, a large number of variables combine to create organizational structure, yet this study only included four: liaison position, networked design, innovation teams and work teams. A further limitation is the importance of the organizational context itself, which was not addressed in this study.\nPractical implications: This research has yielded findings that can help firms to understand and appreciate the changes that may occur in certain organizational design variables that affect knowledge creation. Equally, this research shows that knowledge creation has the potential to act as a catalyst for innovation, and may consequently drive change within the firm.\nOriginality/value: Despite a long tradition of research into organizations and the ways in which these entities create knowledge, the literature requires enhancing through the publication of articles that provide a deeper knowledge of the context and tools that aid knowledge creation. The novel approach adopted in the current study verified whether certain variables related to organization design (i.e. liaison positions, networked design, innovation teams and work teams) exert a relevant influence on knowledge creation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The history of overseas Lebanese entrepreneurs operating worldwide
|
[
"Economic history",
"Emerging and regional economies",
"Entrepreneurship",
"Lebanon",
"Entrepreneurialism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Lebanese began their present emigration in the middle of the nineteenth century, emigrating to North America, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. Today's Lebanese Diaspora consists primarily of highly educated and prominent entrepreneurs who have left a mark in their adopted homelands and the world. In an effort to understand this dynamic, there has been a considerable effort to determine the traits and characteristics that make a person succeed entrepreneurially.This project is an attempt at identifying and measuring the unique entrepreneurial personality characteristics of expatriate Lebanese entrepreneurs.\nLebanon and emigration: The Arab world\nEntrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is a well-known and well studied phenomenon today. Since the introduction of the term entreprendre in French in the Middle Ages when it was translated as \"between-taker\" or \"go between\", entrepreneurship has received continuous and enormous attention in both scholarly and policy circles (Hisrich, 1990).Entrepreneurship has long been considered a significant influence for socioeconomic growth and development because it provides millions of job opportunities, offers a variety of consumer goods and services, and generally increases national prosperity and competitiveness. Entrepreneurs can be found in all professions including education, medicine, research, law, architecture, engineering, and social work (Zahra, 1999).No consensus on a clear and universally acceptable definition of entrepreneurship or the entrepreneur has been found after reviewing numerous researches on the subject. First, it seems problematic to define the term \"entrepreneur\". As noted by Baumol (1993): \"Any attempt at a rigid definition of the term entrepreneur should be avoided because whatever attributes are selected, they are sure to prove excessively restrictive, ruling out some feature, activity, or accomplishment of this inherently subtle and elusive character\". Moreover, Yeung (2002) believed that the definition of the entrepreneur and entrepreneurship has become such a \"terminological jungle\" that almost anyone can plant his or her own tree. Therefore, this section presents the different definitions that express their author's differing points of view.Shane and Venkataraman (2000) define entrepreneurship as a \"scholarly examination of how, by who, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited\".Gartner (1988) used a descriptive and behavioral definition: Entrepreneurship is the creation of new organizations. He implied that founding, owning, and managing a firm are the important aspects of entrepreneurship. This comes close to Hisrich's (1990) definition of entrepreneurship: \"Entrepreneurship is the process of creating something different with value by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risks, and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction\". Hisrich, adds that the entrepreneur is \"someone who demonstrates initiative and creative thinking, is able to organize social and economic mechanisms to turn resources and situations to practical account, and accepts risk and failure\" (Hisrich, 1990).Many authoritative definitions of entrepreneur include some reference to venture or enterprise creation. For example, Bygrave and Hofer (1991) define an entrepreneur as \"someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it\".Joseph Schumpeter considered entrepreneurship a major factor of production, together with capital, labour and rent. According to him, the entrepreneur is thought to be the innovator, the initiator of new combinations of resources, or the introducer of new products to new markets. Schumpeter also viewed the entrepreneur as a person who, due to exceptional personal traits, carried through innovations important to both industry and the economy (Schumpeter, 1934).Therefore, from a review of the body of literature, it can be concluded that most existing definitions of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneur are based on the outcomes of entrepreneurial activity or the process that support the creation of new enterprises or organizations. A well established connection between entrepreneurs and new venture creation can be identified. Also, there seems to be a general agreement that the entrepreneur, however defined, is a self-motivated individual who takes the initiative to start and build an enterprise relying mainly on himself to create and implement his goals.Cultural factors and entrepreneurial success\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The Lebanese began their present emigration in the middle of the nineteenth century, heading towards North America, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. Today's Lebanese diaspora is made of highly educated and prominent entrepreneurs who have created huge marks in their adopted homelands and the world. In the current study the authors aim to explore this and make suggestions for future research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors use historical literature review and synthesis in order to explore the topic and make suggestions for future research.\nFindings: - The authors find that entrepreneurs from Lebanon have had a significant impact on the economies of many parts of the world.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is original in that it brings together the research on entrepreneurship and Lebanon so that future researchers can have good ideas as to ways to pursue future cross-cultural research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The influence of social undermining on the service employee's customer-oriented boundary-spanning behavior
|
[
"Boundary-spanning behavior",
"Ethical climate",
"Person-job fit",
"Social undermining"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: Interpersonal relationships and interactions among organization members are at least as important in the respects as other factors that have received far more attention from scholars in organizational behavior and industrial-organizational psychology, such as job-related attitudes, rewards and appraisal systems, and other aspects of employee behavior (Baron, 1996).\nConceptual development and hypothesis: Social undermining\nHypothesis development: Figure 1 depicts the process whereby social undermining can lessen service employees' P-J fit, which is a potential driver of service employees' customer-oriented boundary-spanning behavior. Specific types of social undermining, including supervisor-, coworker-, and customer-undermining, can lead to a reduction in service employees' P-J fit and decrease service delivery, external representation, and internal influence. Furthermore, we suggest that the influence of perceived fit with jobs on boundary-spanning behavior can be moderated by ethical climate.\nMethodology: Measures\nSampling procedure and data collection: Data for the study were collected from a cross-sectional sample of retail bank and insurance employees in South Korea. The sample contained responses from service employees. Participation was solicited from various large banks across the country. All the organizations involved in the data collection offered services and sell service products directly to customers.\nResearch findings: Measurement model analysis and results\nDiscussion: The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of negative social interactions relating to service employees' P-J fit and behavioral responses. In line with social exchange theory, this study extended the focus on employee person-environment fit to include not only organizational environment, but customer-related aspects of service employees' work as well.\nManagerial implications: This research also has implications for management practice with respect to the understanding of social undermining, person-job fit, ethical climate, and boundary-spanning behavior. First, three sources of social undermining were compared to determine their relative influence from an employee's perspective. The results showed that a supervisor is the most influential source of social undermining on service workers' P-J fit. Contract research may also helpful in explaining the different effects for supervisor and coworker undermining. That is, although both supervisor and coworker undermining were significantly linked with a range of employee outcomes, supervisor undermining was a significantly stronger predictor of P-J fit. The power asymmetry that exists within the supervisor-subordinate relationship may be an important factor in a supervisor undermining and P-J fit relationship. Relational contract research suggests that employees are more likely to perceive a violation of the psychological contract if there is power asymmetry (Morrison and Robinson, 1997). Thus, managers must understand the effects of negative interaction with subordinates on employees' attitudinal and behavioral responses. According to Rook (1984), negative social interactions have more potent effects on well-being than positive interaction (p. 1106). Thus, managers should focus on reducing the negative effects of social undermining rather than increasing the positive effects of social support.\nConclusion: This study extends the literature by demonstrating that it is important to explicitly consider boundary-spanning contexts when investigating the effects of negative interactions. By doing so, I synthesized and integrated service and organizational literatures on boundary-spanning behavior and social undermining, which allows us to consider the various sources of social undermining that service employees experience. In summary, this research has demonstrated the hindrances of social undermining on an organization on service employees' P-J fit and customer-oriented boundary-spanning behavior. Slightly mixed results were found regarding the moderating role of ethical climate in the links between P-J fit and boundary-spanning behavior.\nLimitation and future research: This research should be evaluated in light of limitations, one of which is the reliance on cross-sectional data. Although the proposed model assumed a certain casual sequence, one cannot rule out other casual explanations. For example, boundary-spanning behavior might decrease undermining behaviors from supervisors, coworkers, and customers. Researchers who observe group contexts over different time periods might overcome this limitation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of social undermining on the service employees' boundary-spanning behavior though perceived fit with job (P-J fit). This study also aims to examine the moderating role of ethical climate in the relationship between service employees' perceived fit with job (P-J fit) and boundary-spanning behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 469 Korean bank and insurance employees, research model and hypotheses were tested. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling and the hierarchical regression model.\nFindings: The results showed that supervisor and co-worker undermining have detrimental influences on the service employee's perceived fit with job. P-J fit has a positive effect on employees' boundary-spanning behavior and this relationship was positively moderated by the employee's prevailing perception of organizational practices and procedures that have ethical content.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research should be evaluated in light of limitations, one of which is the reliance on cross-sectional data. The generalizability of this research model across settings and across outcome variables is still an open question. The measures of social undermining were based on participant perceptions, and in each case, participants make judgments about their negative behaviors retrospectively. Furthermore, the data were collected in Korea, so generalizing the hypothesized model beyond this setting is limited. Since Korea represents a distinct cultural and economic context, future research could examine the model in different countries.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study confirm the crucial role of managers in creating an ethical climate where decisions are based on formally stated ethical guidelines. Such guidelines help service employees solve the ethical dilemmas that are common to their positions. These research findings demonstrate that creating an ethical climate is not only the right thing to do but also has significant benefits for both the service employees and the organization.\nOriginality/value: Considering the boundary-spanning role of the service employee, not only the organizational side (supervisor and co-worker undermining), but also the customer is specified as a major source of social undermining.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The values of IT in elderly care
|
[
"Elder care",
"Communication technologies",
"Sweden"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: New IT (information technology) systems are introduced either by purchasing an off-the-shelf IT system, or through in-house development. This is a socio-political process (Kling, 1987), which includes developing, implementing, as well as using IT systems (Kling and Iacono, 1996). Designing IT systems is, therefore, an act of having to make social and technological choices (Kling, 1987), with value conflicts as part of the development process (Kling and Iacono, 1996; Allen, 2005). IT is a result of a process of negotiation, where different actor groups (cf with the concept of \"relevant social group\" (Bijker, 1995) hold and promote various, and sometimes, conflicting values influencing the design, as well as evaluation of IT. These values are during the development process exposed to negotiations, where some values become accepted and part of the new IT system, while others are excluded (McMaster et al., 1998). Values relating to information systems are, therefore, important to recognize as values influence the design choices, as well as how we evaluate the outcomes of using IT.The purpose of this paper is to present four areas of values underlying the development, implementation, and use of IT in elderly care. A value area is classified from the organizational actors' anticipated and experienced effects of developing, implementing, and using IT (Hedstrom, 2004).The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: in the next section, the role of values in IT is discussed. The subsequent section outlines the research design. A presentation of the results follows, where the four value areas are outlined and related. The final two sections include a reflection on the study of values of IT, followed by conclusions and implications.\nThe role of values in IT: The development of IT systems is a process of making social and technological design choices, with the purpose of serving human interests. This means that the development of IT systems naturally involves moral value judgments (Klein and Hirschheim, 1996, 2001) and neither technology, such as IT systems, nor the development process can be seen as value neutral (see, e.g. Mumford, 1981; Winner, 1999; Klein and Hirschheim, 2001). Instead, they embody the interests and values of the people taking part in the development process. Values also have a role in the evaluation of IT systems as the evaluation of the effects of IT systems is influenced by the evaluator's interests and values (for a discussion on the politics of evaluation, see, e.g. Wilson and Howcraft, 2000). Our values guide the development process towards the anticipated effects (Mumford, 1981), and determine how we value the effects that we experience when we use the implemented IT system.Values can be defined as an individual's principles that decide what to prioritize and which actions to take (Kluckhohn et al., 1951; Rescher, 1969). IT systems are developed through peoples' actions, where every alternative reflects a specific standpoint. The values we hold guide our attention, decide our actions, and influence how we value what we experience. Values are, consequently, related to the driving forces of IT (cf Klein and Hirschheim, 2001) as well as to its effects (cf Wilson and Howcraft, 2000). Anticipated and experienced effects can thus, be seen as illustrations of values. Anticipated effects are possible to identify through the effects that different actor groups hope that the future IT system will contribute with. The anticipated effects include the intended and designed future effects as well as anticipated effects not explicitly included in the design. This can be compared with the design ideals, which can be described as the underlying rationality that legitimize and support design decisions (Klein and Hirschheim, 2001). Our values influence which effects we perceive and wish to support. Values are, therefore, also identified through an individual's experience of the various effects on their work practice from developing, implementing, and using IT systems.\nResearch design: Case selection\nResults: Four value areas of IT\nReflection - studying the values of IT: Designing IT systems requires choosing between competing and sometimes, conflicting values. What has, therefore, been most apparent when trying to understand the role of IT in relation to values, is how values stresses the importance of the negotiating character of designing IT systems. A focus on values when trying to understand the role of IT puts emphasis on the moral and ethical questions related to IT and IT use. Values are related to individuals, and the negotiating process means integrating individuals' interests and values in the IT system. A study of values, consequently, involves an examination of moral judgments, and how certain groups' interests are taken into consideration at the expense of others.As values guide peoples' actions, a study of values naturally necessitates an action and actor-oriented investigation, with the purpose of trying to understand the reasons behind peoples' actions. Values are intrinsically social. We hold and share values. Some values can even become \"objectified\" in the form of, e.g. laws, rules, or principles. This means that a study of values also involves an analysis of documents.\nConclusions and implications: The purpose of this paper was to analyze the values of IT in elderly care. The paper has illustrated how anticipated and experienced effects of IT can be grouped into four value areas. These value areas are administration values, integration values, care values, and professional values.Earlier research of IT in elderly care have often viewed IT as a tool for administration and management, and not as a way of providing support and facilitating the care worker's meeting with the elderly. This is in line with the prevalent view of administrative tasks in elderly care, where it is common, notably in relation to organization-wide IT systems, to separate administrative tasks and care activities. Administration includes access to information, which is vital in elderly care. I believe that we have to stop treating administration and care as separate, and opposing, entities, if we want to contribute to high quality care. Access to accurate information, which helps to develop well-functioning communication, is necessary in order to carry out elderly care with high quality. Care, administration, integration, and professional values are interrelated and together fundamental in order to provide high quality care. Access to accurate and timely information, as well as well-functioning communication channels, are necessary in order to carry out safe and competent care. Development of IT systems for elderly care should be based at the heart of care work, and developed with an awareness of the need for communication and information between actor groups on different organizational levels.Even though each of the value areas are important to address when designing IT systems for elderly care, and they together contribute to provide elderly care of high quality, designing IT systems for elderly care demands a prioritization between them. It is seldom possible, with scarce resources, to equally address every value area. These value areas are also, to some extent, related to certain actor groups. This means that designing IT systems for elderly care requires making ethical and moral choices, where some actor groups' interests are included at the expense of others.Future research will focus on developing a framework for analyzing the values of IT. Although the findings are related to elderly care, I believe that the value areas could be equally valid for all kinds of care work, and that the findings are relevant for researchers, as well as for practitioners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the values of IT in elderly care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is an empirical investigation based on four in-depth case studies concerning IT in elderly care. The study draws on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) with a focus on different actor groups' sense-making regarding the role of IT in elderly care. The empirical analysis is, however, influenced by Grounded Theory (GT). Values are studied through the concept of \"value areas\", which is a categorization of various actor groups' anticipated and experienced effects of developing, implementing, and using IT in elderly care.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the values of IT in elderly care can be organized in four related value areas: administration values, integration values, care values, and professional values. Research limitations/implications - Although the findings in this paper are related to elderly care it is believed that the value areas could be valid for all kinds of care work. Practical implications - The paper illustrates how different values are present during the development of IT, and discusses the importance of not only including, but also permitting, various actor groups' interests and values to influence the design process.\nOriginality/value: - This paper examines the value of IT in elderly care, as well as presenting an approach for analyzing the values of IT. The paper and its findings should be valid for researchers, as well as for practitioners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A comparative study of contemporary user involvement within healthcare systems across England, Poland and Slovenia
|
[
"Poland",
"England",
"Coproduction",
"Healthcare",
"Slovenia",
"User involvement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper reports on the qualitative, comparative study concerning healthcare user involvement in three European countries. The study was conducted in England, Poland and Slovenia in 2011 as part of exploratory research for the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) network. Authors reflect upon the ongoing discussion concerning the topic of healthcare user involvement and how our findings contribute to this area.\nHealth systems background: The origins of the healthcare systems of all three countries can be traced back to the provision of care for wage-earning employees. In England, the development of trade unions mounted pressure for the provision of health and welfare services (Boyle, 2011); in Poland health insurance was provided for wage-earning employees under the Law on Health Insurance (Sagan et al., 2011); and the adoption of the Miners Act in 1887 enacted within the Austrian part of the Habsburg monarchy (Slovenia) (Albreht et al., 2011).\nMethods: A small-scale qualitative research design with theoretical thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was employed as this approach enabled exploration of secondary sources as well as primary qualitative data. Though theoretical thematic analysis does not provide the richness of an inductive approach, we were able to provide a detailed analysis of themes relevant to user involvement. Prior to qualitative interviews, researchers reviewed secondary data including academic literature, legal and policy documentation in relation to patients' rights, responsibilities of medical professionals and medical institutions. Semi-structured expert interviews (Bogner et al., 2009) were then conducted with a purposeful sample of health professionals, healthcare experts and patients' representatives (n=21) (see Table I). The sample was chosen by healthcare studies experts affiliated with host institutions (Staffordshire University in England, Jagiellonian University in Poland, University of Ljubljana in Slovenia) based on inclusion criteria such as specific (professional) knowledge or experience either from managerial, health professional or patient perspective to provide a broad yet comparable range of perspectives of user-involvement within the respective healthcare systems. Interview questions addressed users' choice, ways of users influencing healthcare policy and engagement in individual treatment, followed by an assessment of the practical application of these areas and relayed barriers.\nFindings: Users' voice\nDiscussion and conclusions: Due to the complexity of the notion of users' involvement and the exploratory nature of this study, this paper should be considered as introductory with its findings requiring verification and expansion in future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare-users' engagement is perceived, how it occurs and how these perceptions differ between three European countries: England, Poland and Slovenia, using the concepts of voice, choice and coproduction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This comparative, qualitative study is based on a review of legal documents, academic literature and semi-structured interviews conducted in October and November 2011. A research sample consisted of 21 interviewees representing various stakeholders including healthcare-users, doctors and managers. Primary and secondary data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis. Emerging themes were identified from the interviews and related to the indicators describing healthcare-users' involvement in the voice, choice and coproduction model.\nFindings: Results of the comparative qualitative research suggest that the healthcare-users' influence is strongly grounded in England where the healthcare system and professionals are prepared to include healthcare-users in the decision-making process. In Slovenia, cultural development of healthcare-users' involvement seems to proceed the institutional development. In Poland, institutions are ready to involve healthcare-users in decision-making process although the cultural desirability of involving users among doctors and patients is lacking.\nOriginality/value: The notion of user involvement is increasingly gaining importance and research attention, yet there is still little known about the way cultural, political, historical differences between various European countries influence it. This paper explores this little known area using the original approach of user involvement (Dent et al., 2011) with input from various stakeholders including patients, healthcare representatives and academics.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Effects of perceived brand authenticity in health functional food consumers
|
[
"Brand loyalty",
"Brand authenticity",
"Brand relationship quality",
"Health functional foods"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The explosive spread of information and communications technology, which has created an environment in which one can search for information anytime and anywhere. Therefore, the consumption experience shared on social media and recommendation services through big data has come to have a greater impact at the time of purchasing than marketing activities led by enterprises (Schallehn et al., 2014). To attract consumers' voluntary referrals, it is necessary to induce an authentic empathy which is consumer-driven rather than corporate-driven. Accordingly, instead of focusing on artificial and fictional advertising and public relations, it has become more important to maintain productive relations with customers through community activities focused on authenticity.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Health functional food\n3. Conceptual framework: The research of BA has been conducted as a leading variable in the field of brand research, mainly as an antecedent for solidifying and positively developing the relationship between consumer and brand. Schallehn et al. (2014) have demonstrated empirically that BA has a positive effect on brand trust for consumers who purchase beer and fast food. The concepts presented in the study as sub-dimensions of BA are brand consistency, brand continuity, brand identity and BA that contained this concept, which had a positive impact on brand trust. Most of the empirical studies on BA reveal the properties of BA or enhance the quality of the relationship between consumers and brands as a prior variable. A new study on BA has recently been published that is worth noting as a more effective study on building the relationship between BA and consumer-brand. This is a study by Ilicic and Webster (2014), which applies BA to a wide range of products (financial, electronics, luxury goods, beverages and vitamins). The authors find that brand relationships are more influential than brand trust or brand commitment in predicting brand attitudes and purchase intention, and that brand trust and BRQ play a regulatory factor between BA, brand attitudes and purchasing intention. In other words, rather than serving as an antecedent to brand trust, it also serves as a real revenue boost in the overall quality of the relationship with consumers.\n4. Research methods: 4.1 Exploratory preliminary study\n5. Results: 5.1 Demographic characteristics of the subjects\n6. Conclusion: This study was designed to discover the brand attributes that make up a sub-dimension of the BA that consumers perceive in the HFF industry and to identify the relationships that affect the quality of the consumer-brand relationship. It is noteworthy that product authenticity does not significantly affect brand commitment, which, in the case of consumers of HFFs, is considered more important than product quality or safety and is perceived as a basic brand property for brand satisfaction and trust. Price authenticity, brand satisfaction and brand commitment have a greater impact than other brand attributes. In practice, the importance of price authenticity, which has not been established in prior research, represents a significant implication. As the FGI results show, HFF consumers carefully look at various attributes when choosing a brand, but the price is very influential when they decide to buy it. In addition, given that communication authenticity also has a high impact on brand satisfaction, trust, and commitment, it is necessary to note that the sincere communication of companies with consumers is an important strategy in the health-function food industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze how brand authenticity (BA) as perceived by consumers who take health functional foods (HFF) strengthen the brand relationship quality (BRQ) and positively affects brand loyalty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The five sub-dimensions of BA perceived by HFF consumers, elicited through a focus group interview, were conceptualized as a second-order reflective construct. To identify the influences of the sub-dimensions of BA on each construct of the BRQ and the influence on brand loyalty though mediating BRQ, an empirical analysis was done using partial least squares-based structural equation modeling.\nFindings: All the sub-dimensions of BA positively affect each of the BRQ s (brand satisfaction, brand trust and brand commitment) excepting product authenticity on brand commitment, and originality on brand trust. The impact of BA positively affects brand loyalty by mediating brand relationship qualities.\nOriginality/value: It is found that BA is an important antecedent for forming BRQ with consumers in the HFF industry, in which building trust with consumers is important. BA is an important factor in brand management of HFF.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Library training to promote electronic resource usage: A case study in information literacy assessment
|
[
"Information literacy",
"Usage",
"Digital libraries",
"Library training",
"E-libraries",
"Electronic libraries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasing the usage of electronic resources is an issue of concern for many libraries all over the world. Many users prefer to use popular internet search engines over the systems made available by libraries (Georgas, 2013; Wu and Chen, 2014). Consequently, many library resources tend to be underused (Hong et al., 2002; Chen and Chengalur-Smith, 2015). Stachokas (2014, p. 100) stresses that a greater emphasis should be placed on information literacy, instruction and in-depth subject expertise. He argues that librarians need to change what they know, how they work and how they are perceived to succeed. Agaba (2005) reveals that lack of training of staff and users is a challenging factor to the accessibility and utilization of e-journals, stating that users find access to resources difficult and that staff may not have adequate skills to assist users.\nExisting literature: The literature on library instruction offers some suggestions on the effect of training on the use of library resources as well as definitions of the electronic library and the role of training in that setting.\nMethods: The present study is a case study of a university that has access to many journals and databases but has offered very little training to staff and students on how to use these resources. This gives us a unique chance to analyse the effect of training on usage. At many institutions, training would be offered as access to electronic resources increased, making it difficult to set a baseline and to isolate the effect of training on usage. In this study, we are able to see the effect more clearly, as it captures the usage activity pre- and post-training.\nResults: To measure how the training sessions impacted Hinari and electronic resource usage, usage statistics were obtained through the Research4life programme. Figures 1-3 provide an overview of the number of Hinari sessions from the beginning of 2014 to mid-2017. All three figures are shown using the same scale to enable comparisons of usage. Hinari defines a session as a login that begins when a user logs in to Hinari with his/her institution's username and password and ends by either a logout or a timeout.\nDiscussion and conclusion: Before turning to the conclusions we need to take a look at possible constraints in the implementation of this novel training program. First, the study design allows us to analyse certain aspects, whereas others are left untouched. By combining the case study design with quantitative analyses of usage we are able to track usage of all user and thus include any ripple effect usage. It also allows us to analyse actual usage instead of self-reported usage that may tend to over-report the usage. However, it does not allow us to analyse actual learning as an effect of the training. We are assuming that learning is tied to usage but we do not know enough about that relationship. Furthermore, the quantitative analyses allow us to do a large-scale analysis at the institution, whereas most analyses of information literacy assessment include relatively few participants (recent examples include Michalak et al., 2017; Trogden et al., 2016). However, the disadvantage of the large-scale analysis using data on usage is that we lack in-depth information on behavior, actual learning and so forth. The two approaches do supplement each other and much can be learned from both approaches.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper in information literacy assessment is to explore how library training can promote electronic resource usage. Increasing the usage of electronic resources is an issue of concern for many libraries all over the world. Several studies stress the importance of information literacy and instruction to increase the usage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present article presents the results of implementing training programmes to increase the use of the e-library.\nFindings: Training sessions increase the usage of library e-resources significantly; however, the effect seems to be short-lived and training sessions alone may not increase the overall long-term usage.\nOriginality/value: The present paper presents a study of training sessions as means to increase awareness and usage of library e-resources. Implications for the planning of training are discussed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of financial and economic crisis on leverage: the case of Icelandic private firms
|
[
"Financial crisis",
"Leverage",
"Capital structure",
"Icelandic private firms",
"Internally generated funds",
"G31",
"G32",
"G34"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Flannery and Rangan (2006) and Strebulaev (2007) propose that highly leveraged firms use internally generated funds to adjust debt ratios when external financing is largely constrained. In a similar vein, Akbar et al. (2013) find that financing policies of private firms are susceptible to variations in the supply of credit, in particular, when these firms encounter high costs of obtaining external capital during the financial crisis. However, Buch and Neugebauer (2011) show that a financial crisis negatively affects firms' cash flow generation, which in turn reduces firms' opportunities to adjust their levels of leverage.\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: A number of studies reveal high levels of debt across many private firms, typically based on bank loans (Brav, 2009; Giannetti, 2003; Ortiz-Molina and Penas, 2008). In this regard, Faulkender and Petersen (2006) and Keasey et al. (2015) highlight that many private firms overly rely on bank lending due to better access to bank debt than to public bond markets. Beck et al. (2008) and Bhaird and Lucey (2010) find that special lending relationships with banks enhance the ability of private firms to access debt financing.\n3. Data set and methodology: 3.1 Data set\n4. Empirical findings: 4.1 The financial crisis, internally generated funds and leverage\n5. Conclusions: This study investigates the determinants of leverage among Icelandic private firms during the collapse of the financial system and afterwards. The paper reveals that the financial and economic crisis significantly influences the association between internally generated funds and leverage. In this regard, it shows that the level of internally generated cash flows is negatively linked with leverage, but the association is positive during a financial crisis. The paper also finds that during a financial crisis when banks' capability to lend is largely reduced and the equity market is dried-up, changes in internally generated funds have a stronger impact on leverage than in non-crisis years.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical insight into the impact of a financial crisis on capital structure of private firms. Specifically, the authors use the example of the systemic Icelandic financial crisis from 2008 to 2010 and analyze the influence of internally generated funds on leverage during the financial crisis compared to the non-crisis period.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a fixed-effects dynamic model to examine the impact of internally generated funds - measured as cash flow - with a data set that includes non-listed Icelandic firms. In addition, generalized method of moments is used to address potential endogeneity issues.\nFindings: The authors find that internally generated funds have a different effect on capital structure during the financial crisis compared to the non-crisis period. While cash flow has an overall negative association with leverage, a positive relationship appears to exist during the crisis. However, when analyzing changes in cash flow from one year to the other, the sample firms appear to rely more on internally generated funds to adjust leverage during the financial crisis than in the non-crisis period.\nOriginality/value: Analyzing the extreme case of the Icelandic financial crisis allows us to shed light on capital structure effects in situations when both debt financing and internal financing opportunities are heavily curtailed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Marketplace stigma: customers' stigmatization of employees with hepatitis C virus
|
[
"Stigma",
"Customers",
"Discrimination",
"Hepatitis C virus"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to the World Health Organization, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) - which infects 3 per cent of the world's population - is a \"viral time bomb\" (Momenghalibaf, 2013). It is well documented that victims of infectious diseases such as HCV suffer from social stigma (Butt et al., 2008). Stigma can have very detrimental physiological, psychological, social and economic effects on its victims (Major et al., 2002; Mak et al., 2007). For example, stigmatized people often face difficulty in establishing and maintaining social relationships. In some cases, individuals with the stigmatized trait might even internalize or self-stigmatize themselves (Earnshaw and Chaudoir, 2009). These negative consequences can increase the burden and suffering of the stigmatized groups.\nLiterature review: Social stigma\nMethodology: Instruments\nResults: We validated the new instrument in two studies. The purpose of the first was to identify and label the latent constructs underlying the set of items in the scale using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). This produced a parsimonious measure of the latent construct. The second study assessed the fit of each measurement item on the specified factor using data from a new sample through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). This study also assessed the model's overall goodness of fit. Combined, these two steps provided strong evidence for the new instrument's construct validity.\nDiscussion: Although management and psychology scholars have studied illness stigma in many life domains, the workplace has been largely neglected. Furthermore, very few studies have been conducted on the stigma of HCV. The purpose of this paper is to bridge this literature gap, by examining customer stigmatization of HCV-positive employees. More specifically, we attempted to develop and validate an instrument to measure this stigmatization.\nPractical implications: Stigma is used to control, regulate and dominate others. Questions that might be relevant here are: what specific governance functions are customers seeking when they stigmatize employees? and how might organizations respond? The data that supported the hypothesis showed that customers increased stigmatization with perceived danger. This could imply that customers penalize employees (and their organizations) for exposing them to what they perceive as the dangers of infection. This rationale, if understood by employers, might cause them to rethink the employment of ill workers, especially in positions that involve direct contact with customers. This will surely increase incidence of employment discrimination against HCV-positive people. Although we did not test this, some research does indicate that the behavior of non-stigmatized groups can, overtime, shape organizational discriminatory practices toward stigmatized groups. For example, Wiesenfeld et al. (2008) describe how organizations might depose top managers accused of failure (stigmatized) to protect and repair the organization's image with journalists and industry analysts (the stigmatizers).\nLimitations and future research directions: This study has four limitations. First, the data were collected from a convenience sample of adult Egyptian shoppers. Since convenience samples are non-probability samples, we cannot be sure that they represent the population they were selected from. As such, we are unable to generalize our findings to the adult Egyptian population. Second, since the number of items in the scale is relatively large, we did not include any additional scales that would allow us to check the discriminant validity of the new instrument. As a result, we are not able to fully judge the instrument's construct validity. Third, we did not include any manipulation check items to measure if subjects did perceive buying bread to be more dangerous than buying shoes. Finally, our data were gathered during a period when the national media had been focusing on a new ground-breaking HCV drug. This coverage may have affected the results by directing the attention of the subjects to the difficulty and cost of treating the illness. It is possible that the pity dimension in our data resulted from such coverage.\nConclusion: Although HCV stigma has major detrimental effects on its victims, few studies have examined it in the workplace. The purpose of this study is to call attention to the importance of studying customers' stigmatization of employees perceived to have HCV. More specifically, the study attempted to develop and validate a new instrument to measure such stigmatization. Data gathered in two studies confirmed that the instrument had acceptable levels of internal consistency, and showed that customers' stigma had three dimensions; devaluation, avoidance and exclusion and pity. The data also showed that customers stigmatized more in situations that involved a perceived higher risk of contagion than in situations that involved lower risk. We hope this study will motivate further research on workplace disease stigma in general, and HCV stigma in particular.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate the first instrument to measure the source of customers' stigmatization of employees with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Egypt.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The development and validation processes unfolded as follows: an item pool was generated from focus groups and previous studies on stigma; the initial instrument was evaluated by three experts and pilot-tested; the instrument was used to collect data from 500 Egyptian consumers to determine its dimensionality; to test this structure, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on a new sample of 300 Egyptian consumers.\nFindings: Exploratory factor analysis showed that the instrument captures three factors: devaluation, avoidance and pity. Results confirmed that customers' stigmatization of employees with HCV is a multidimensional construct that is manifested in these three dimensions.\nOriginality/value: Despite the importance of disease stigma, management scholars have not given it sufficient attention. This paper offers new insights into the study of a particular type of workplace discrimination and ways of measuring it.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Purchase intentions for domestic food: a moderated TPB-explanation
|
[
"Self-construal",
"Purchase intentions",
"Consumer ethnocentrism",
"Theory of planned behaviour",
"Domestic food"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers' food choices have been subject to rigorous research across a variety of disciplines, addressing choice decisions from several different perspectives. People are faced with numerous food choices every day, and even though the need for food is fundamental and basic in nature, the choice of food is multifaceted and not necessarily as straightforward as one might think. Actually, it seems like most of our food choices are based on intuitive thinking which results in fast decisions based on habits and routines (Koster, 2009). Most of the research on food choice have focussed on food choice in general, not considering specific product categories such as organic or functional foods (i.e. Arvola et al., 2008; Ares and Gambaro, 2007). Since food choice is such a complicated process one might think that when specifying the process to particular categories of food products, other mechanisms might be at work than when studying food choice in general.\nTheoretical framework and baseline hypotheses: There are several different factors affecting consumers' food choices, and Sheperd (2001) have summarized and divided these into three main groups. First, it is the product or food related factors, which rely on the physical or chemical properties of the food, sensory attributes, functional factors and nutrient content. Second, there are environmentally related factors including economic, cultural and social issues. Third, there are consumer related factors including personality, social psychological factors and physiological factors. A widely applied model that incorporates the elements proposed by Sheperd (2001) is the TPB, developed by Ajzen (1988).\nThe moderating effects of ethnocentrism and self-construal: Ethnocentrism is the belief that your own group is the center of everything and the group serves as a comparison standard to everything outside the group (Sumner, 1906). Also, the group thinks of itself as superior and looks with contempt at outsiders (Sumner, 1906). Ethnocentrism has been adopted by consumer researchers as consumer ethnocentrism, which can be defined as \"the beliefs held by consumers about the appropriateness, indeed morality, of purchasing foreign-made products\" (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). In other words, the degree of ethnocentrism affects the way consumers relate to domestic products and the beliefs they have about them.\nMethods: Design and sample\nResults: As can be seen from Table II, the results show that all regression coefficients for TPB-variables are positive and significant. Attitude has a standardized coefficient of 0.098 (t=1.749), and is significant at the 0.10 level (p=0.081). Subjective norm has a standardized coefficient of 0.314 (t=5.540, p=0.000), while PBC has a standardized coefficient of 0.298 (t=6.164, p=0.000). This implies that all hypotheses for the TPB-model (\nDiscussion and implications: This study has tested consumers' intention to buy domestic food products in an extended TPB context. Specifically, the paper has investigated the effect of attitudes, subjective norm and PBC on consumers' intentions to buy domestic food products. In addition, the paper tests the moderating effects of consumer ethnocentrism and self-construal.\nLimitations and future research: In this research, the empirical test is based on one product category only, and the relative importance of attitude, subjective norm and PBC in predicting consumers intention to buy domestic food products may vary across different situations (Ajzen, 1988). Therefore, the above model should preferably also be tested with other food products in order to generalize the results across larger parts of the food domain.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers' intention to buy domestic food applying the theory of planned behavior. Based on this framework, the authors investigate the moderating effects of consumer ethnocentrism and self-construal.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To test the conceptual model, a cross-sectional study from a random sample of Norwegian consumers was employed. A total of 501 consumers filled out the web-based survey. The data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression.\nFindings: The results show that subjective norm and perceived behavioral control (PBC) both have positive significant effects on consumers' intention to buy domestic food. Attitude also has a positive effect but is only significant on the ten percent level. The effect of subjective norm is reduced with increasing levels of ethnocentrism, and the effect of PBC is reduced when consumers are collectivistic rather than individualistic.\nOriginality/value: This study provides the food industry with useful information about which mechanisms underlie the consumers' intention to buy domestic food. In addition the study provides useful insight into how different personality characteristics affect the consumers' intentions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Consumer safety complaints and organizational learning: evidence from the automotive industry
|
[
"Innovation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With a record number of vehicles recalled in the USA in recent years, safety defects in automobiles raise serious concerns. In several instances of major recalls, car crash fatalities possibly due to the use of defective components came in news. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration/Office of Defects Investigation (NHTSA/ODI) enforces safety performance standards for motor vehicles, investigates safety defects and oversees recall programs. Individual consumers can file complaints to NHTSA if they feel that unreasonable safety risk is associated with certain vehicle models. This safety complaint information is used by NHTSA along with other data sources to flag safety issues that warrant investigation on potential recall.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development: The purpose of this research is twofold: to explore the effect of model-year design changes on automobile safety performance and to explore whether organizational learning is driven by consumer safety complaints to improve product quality. As organizations get more experience in production, the unit cost and the production errors decrease at a decreasing rate, this is the fundamental concept behind \"organizational learning curves.\" There is a significant body of work on organizational learning, particularly on its effect in reducing production time. For a comprehensive recent review see Argote (2012). We outline a brief survey of organizational learning literature as it relates to our work.\n3. Methods and analysis: 3.1 Data and variables\n4. Results: Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix are provided in Table II. The strongest correlations are observed among the control variables as expected. First, we estimate the logistic regression model without using stage in generation, mileage and cumulative recall impact. Then, these three variables are added one at a time without observing any significant changes in the coefficients. The estimates obtained using this complete model based on Equation (1) is reported in Table III.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: The empirical results highlight four important findings in the context of the consumer complaints' role in organizational learning: the data shows the presence of learning curve for product quality as measured by the consumer safety complaint rate, previous learning on the production process is not very effective in case of radical redesign of the existing products, the complaint rates vary across different classes of the same product and \"learning-by-doing\" reduces complaint rates over time after introduction of newly designed/redesigned products. This work is probably the first to explore how new product release or design modification influences product safety hazard measured via consumer complaints.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value of information in consumer safety complaints for organizational learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Empirical analysis of this study uses a novel secondary data set, which is formed by combining complaints data filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for potential safety defects, and design change information from 2003 to 2011 model-year vehicles in the USA.\nFindings: First, the paper demonstrates the value of information embedded in complaints. Second, in the case of radical product redesigns, owing to the lack of direct applicability of consumer feedback based learning, the impact of learning on product safety is found to be muted, third, the results suggest that the safety complaint rates vary by vehicle classes/categories and, fourth, the findings differ from prior research conclusions on vehicle quality. Prior research finds the debuting car models have the lowest repair rates among all car models produced in a given year, but the current study finds the debuting models to have the highest rates of safety complaints.\nOriginality/value: Quality management literature rarely examines the safety complaints data (which, unlike other consumer feedbacks, focuses exclusively on the safety hazards due to flaws that result in accidents). This paper fills the gap in literature by linking safety complaints with future product quality and organizational learning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Information infrastructure capability and organisational competitive advantage: Framework
|
[
"Asia",
"Knowledge management (KM)",
"Competitive advantage (CA)",
"Information infrastructure capability (IIC)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge management (KM) is an important determinant for the information infrastructure capability (IIC) and organisational competitive advantage (CA) (Chang and Chuang, 2011; Li et al., 2012). This paper includes intensive reviews and classification of different dimensions of KM research, which provides a richer overview of KM-IIC-CA literature, entailing the strengths, weaknessess, key indicators and contributions of each literature.\n2. Review of important theoretical frameworks: It is important to review and explore previous related research and their interactions with technology and systems in order to have a deeper understanding on how IIC and organisational CA are associated. In this section, related and prominent research were reviewed and classified based on their research area:\n3. Development of proposed research framework of the current study: 3.1. Review of past studies\n4. Research design: 4.1. Data collection methods\n5. Results: 5.1. Case study 1\n6. Research implications: This study has successfully addressed the following major research gaps:\n7. Direction for future research: Quantitative survey for knowledge-driven organisation is recommended for future research. Samples could be targeted to at least 500 organisations by using simple random sampling method. By having an adequate quantity from the population, the chosen sample can represent properties of population elements (Sekaran, 2003). Hence, the results could be generalised to the whole population of knowledge-driven organisations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an inclusive research model to overcome the single perspective issues of the previous research which were looking at either on knowledge management (KM) activity, information technology (IT) applications or information infrastructure capability (IIC) independently.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviewed and categorised five knowledge management (KM) frameworks: first, KM foundation studies; second, resource-based view studies; third, IIC studies; fourth, competitive advantage (CA) studies; fifth, organisational information processing theory studies to propose research model. Case studies based on face-to-face interviews were conducted to empirically analyse the proposed research model.\nFindings: An inclusive research model was suggested to redress the key limitation of past studies in this research field.\nResearch limitations/implications: Since Asian countries are at present heading for the creation of a knowledge economy, the present study is important to assist government and researchers to develop the most suitable information infrastructure for effective KM in the organisation. The research model proposed by the present study can also become a key reference to the governments and researchers in other developing countries towards the creation of knowledge economy.\nPractical implications: The model proposed by the present study will help organisations to examine the performance of their current information infrastructure towards developing new business processes, techniques and decisions for effective KM in the organisations.\nOriginality/value: The present study is one of the pioneer studies that integrating important IICs such as the integrating capability, data management capability, security capability, utility capability and collaborating capability in the research framework to assist knowledge-based companies to enhance current KM practices and attain long-term CA.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Observing the invisible: Examining the role of observational learning in the development of leadership practice
|
[
"Learning",
"Leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nObservational learning and leadership practice: Leadership and leadership learning are arguably two sides of the same coin. One generates the other through practice. It is the intention of this paper to make visible a most salient and dominant formative learning process that for too long has been the Cinderella to its \"ugly sister\" learning-by-doing: namely a focus on observational learning. Attention is understandably oriented toward changing current leadership behaviour by best-practice models. Arguably too few designs commence with an examination of the antecedent learning processes that have generated the present undesirable leadership practice. A model will be outlined that seeks to make prominent historic influences on current leadership practice conveyed through observing notable people that may be useful to help theorizing and influence design intervention of this important first step to leadership development.Numerous commentators concur that the dominant \"crucible\" of leadership learning is through naturalistic and accidental events, rather than a deliberate and consciously planned approach to development (Bennis and Thomas, 2002; Burgoyne and Hodgson, 1983; Cox and Cooper, 1989; Davies and Easterby-Smith, 1984; Hill, 2003; Jackson and Parry, 2001; Luthans and Avolio, 2003; McCall et al., 1988). Recently, both Conger (2004) and Burgoyne (2004) have re-emphasized the dominance of naturalistic experience, mainly within organizational contexts, to the processes of leadership learning and development. A long standing yet still useful synthesis of the developmental role of experience is summarized thus:So it appears that experience - as we have all known for a long time - is the key to development of managers: but some kinds of experiences provide more effective development than others (Davies and Easterby-Smith, 1984, p. 180).The \"kind\" of experience that this paper explores in depth is learning through relationships and observation. Relatively limited attention has been made to the role of \"notable people\" in the milieu of lived experience. The phrase \"notable people\" is taken from McCall et al. (1988) who have made a significant contribution to learning through experience, judged by citations of academics commenting on this field of research (notably Wexley and Baldwin, 1986; but also Bass, 1990; Conger, 2004; Day, 2000; Yukl, 1998). The phrase \"notable people\" will be utilized throughout the paper to refer to the reported influence of good and bad individuals on the leadership learning of research respondents.The work of McCall et al. (1988) was based on interviewing 191 managers, from which 616 \"lessons of experience\" were identified and grouped into: line assignments accounting for 60 per cent; hardships 20 per cent; and \"notable people\" as the final 20 per cent. The significance of observational learning from \"notable people\" to leadership learning is rather under-developed in McCall et al.'s work and has not been the specific focus of subsequent related research on leadership development.Observational learning and the transmission of practices and meanings of leadership\nResearch approach: A qualitative-research approach is argued by Conger (1998); and similarly by (Bryman, 1996, 2004; Day, 2000; Lowe and Gardner, 2000; Parry, 1998) as the method of choice for leadership studies, with its emphasis on exploring a phenomenon embedded in a particular context. This is particularly significant in the context of this research, as it enables the emergence of nuance and context-rich data of leadership practices, meanings and identities connected with \"notable people\".A group of prominent researchers (Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Bennis and Thomas, 2002; Hill, 2003; Kotter, 1988; McCall et al., 1988; McCall, 1998) have written extensively on the broad patterns of leadership development using qualitative approaches. However, Day (2000) asserts that there is a dearth of specific, contextually based research. Similarly, there has been a call for a grounded, qualitative approach into the \"how\" issues of leadership and its development within particular contexts (Bryman et al., 1988; see also Bryman et al., 1996, Parry, 1998). It is perhaps understandable why this question has not been addressed, as a significant issue centers on identifying methods for eliciting tacit knowledge (Polyani, 1966; Handley et al., 2007) of how individuals believe they have learnt to lead. Limitations on empirical discussions appear to be constrained by an individual's ability to recall tacit learning. As a consequence, it has been necessary to develop a method of helping an individual to surface memories. Episodic memory is more readily accessed through the identification of events and people (Srull and Wyer, 1989; White, 1982). Similarly, if events are tied to processes of story telling, then individuals are more able to make sense of the experience and tie that experience to themselves and their development (Spradley, 1979; similar arguments to Ricoeur's, 1992 notion of a \"narrative identity\", amplified by Ezzy, 1998). With these principles in mind, a time-line narrative method was developed, building from the work of Kuhnert and Russell(1990).Time-line narrative of lived experience\nFindings: Prior to an examination of the influence of \"notable people\", it needs to be stressed that there was a most powerful and dominant impression most striking and common amongst all the managers: low awareness of influences shaping their leadership learning:It's actually amazing what has happened. Not really thought about it. Certainly sitting here and working through all that stuff brings it all back, particularly the people and their influence on me. It's like echoes from the past (Martin).For Martin, as with the other interviewees, there was a palpable recognition and sense-making of experiences that had not been part of their previous conscious recall. By the end of the interviews, all of the individuals had a clearer sense of a journey through a range of contexts. The nature of the contexts, their roles and participative relationships with notables in these contexts, was most significant to their leadership learning. As such this prominent empirical finding powerfully resonates with the postulated model of observational learning and the informal development of leadership practice (shown in Figure 1). The findings will examine the impact of \"notable people\" from five perspectives: male conceptions in pre-organizational and professional contexts, women's experiences, inter-generational and identity development, in order to explore applicability to the theoretical model.\"Notable people\" in pre-organizational contexts\nDiscussion: The empirical findings from the research and the central argument of this paper suggest that despite idiosyncratic experiences of these managers, a common process of learning through observation appears to be a prominent element of informal and naturalistic leadership learning: Such prominence is arguably a new finding. Commentators generally accept that informal leadership development, including relationships with notable people, prominently shape leadership learning (Burgoyne, 2004; Conger, 2004; and much earlier Cox and Cooper, 1989, and notably McCall et al., 1988). Acceptance of influence of informal development is also, and importantly, evidenced through practice consensus of interventions so that quasi-informal approaches, such as mentoring and coaching, appear to be increasingly prevalent in leadership development activities (James and Burgoyne, 2001). The arguments of this paper provide empirical evidence to affirm the value of informal approaches but raise the significant issue of the role of observational learning within the design of such approaches.The contribution this paper provides is toward both academics and practitioners by orientating our focus and extending our understanding of how we learn from notable others and how such vicarious learning transmits and continues meanings, practices and identities of leadership. As such the model of observational learning and leadership practice (adapted from Archer, 1995) appears to be most helpful in guiding our theorizing and design interventions for leadership development. Both the findings and the literature give support to the model. Bandura (1986) (and similarly argued but with less explicit focus by Markus and Wurf, 1987) asserts that a process of observational learning, through the practice of notable others, shapes attitudes, feelings and behaviour and is the dominant formative learning process: \"Learning through action [or practice] has thus been given major, if not exclusive, priority. In actuality, all learning of phenomena, resulting from direct experience, can occur vicariously by observing other people's behavior and its consequences for them\" (Markus and Nurius, 1986, p. 19).In essence, social learning through observation provides invaluable short cuts to leadership development. But awareness of its dominance has either been assumed to be axiomatic or overlooked. Either way its formative dominance and influence should warrant management development practitioners to be much more explicit in designing interventions with observational learning at the core. For example, action-learning, mentoring or coaching all create significant opportunities for social comparison and designs could consider the range of \"notable people\" in terms of observational learning relevant to the circumstances of the manager.The findings have shown that the variability of leadership practice and meaning may be related to practices transmitted through observational learning from notable others. Thus the role of individuals in the maintenance or elaboration of leadership practice is central. In essence, the dominant influence of naturalistic observational learning may provide a part explanation for the difficulties of changing leadership practice. With this in mind, design intervention may consider orientating organizations, seeking to change dominant leadership practice, to consider the antecedent influences of prominent key notable people and whether leadership practice can be changed in the desired timescales; or whether key people are in appropriate posts for sufficient time and impact to affect such changes in practice. The model of observational learning and leadership practice provides a theoretical frame for such a design intervention discussion.Design interventions could also look at the on-going nature of observational leadership learning within organizations through the influence of notable people. For example, the findings have shown that access and availability of appropriate practice to observe is problematic for both women and owner managers. The practices of leadership within particular organizations may stifle the development of women leaders. Design interventions in leadership development need to have gender issues upper-most in mind as women and men appear to be differentially affected from gender aspects of naturalistic observational learning. A corollary to the changing nature of leadership practice and gender, illustrated in this paper, is the notion that with an increasing number of women leaders prominent in organizational roles we may begin to see a changing nature of leadership practice. Finally, the dearth of notable people in the context of self-employment may have significant implications for leadership learning of owner managers and argued corollary to organizational growth. For example, mentors and coaches for owner managers are likely to have an unintentional impact in terms of observational learning as they become notable people in a world absent of other notable people.It is intended that the method of approach outlined in the methodology of this paper may also provide a contribution towards the problematic process of elucidating and making explicit tacit learning. The discovery by these managers of naturalistic leadership learning, and in particularly the impact of notable people, suggests that some gain has been made in this respect. However, this paper does not claim exhaustive retrieval of lived experience. Rather, a glimpse has been made of the past and the prominent aspect highlighted was that of notable people. Nevertheless, the importance of naturalistic learning to leadership development should not be understated. It occurs all the time yet its presence is difficult to reveal. Arguably management development practitioners need to embrace processes that elicit such learning within design interventions. The methodology utilized in this paper may give a frame for such work.If leadership is learned through a complex and invisible form of informal apprenticeship through social interaction with notable others in a variety of contexts, importance must be placed on making more visible such historic influences. Making more visible the impact of \"notable people\" through an examination of lived experience is perhaps the most accessible and influential starting-point. Martin neatly sums up the argument: \"It's actually amazing what has happened...Certainly sitting here and working through all that stuff brings it all back, particularly the people and their influence on me.\"\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the invisible role of observational learning in the development of leadership practice. A model of observational learning and leadership practice is suggested to help guide theorizing and design intervention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach takes the form of empirical qualitative research that utilizes a time-line interview technique with 34 managers to enable in-depth data to be revealed of observational leadership learning. Data analysis is through a phenomenological grounded theory approach.\nFindings: - The paper illustrates that observational learning from \"notable people\" is a prominent influence of these managers' conceptions of leadership. Such observational learning differed between men and women and between employed and self-employed contexts.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The variety, availability and diversity of people to observe and engage with are argued here to have significant implications for the development of leadership practice.\nPractical implications: - The conclusions suggest that interventions into the leadership development of men and women, and between the employed and self-employed need to be different and such interventions need to be responsive to established structural practices.\nOriginality/value: - The paper responds to a call for contextualized, in-depth qualitative research into leadership development, making prominent the significance of observational learning to leadership practice and how such observational learning varies between men and women, and between the employed and the self-employed. It also provides a model of observational learning and leadership practice to guide understanding of informal leadership development.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The future of management education: why I decided to create my own management school
|
[
"Management development",
"Education",
"Learning",
"Experiential learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nA considered view: After over 40 years in management education I have become increasingly concerned about the kind of education that is generally on offer, not only in the UK but internationally. The growth of bureaucracy in business schools and the increasingly coagulated nature of the curriculum are two of the most obvious manifestations of what has gone wrong. MBAs are probably one of the worst examples in higher education of how content overrides the learning process because syllabuses are chock-a-block with barely relevant material.At one end there are the slick, quick fixes and short cuts of popular management bestsellers, generally promoting untested opinions. At the other end there is a turgid morass of esoteric research written in barely readable language seeming to have only the purpose of gaining a PhD. It says much about the whole business that there is such a proliferation of short cuts such as digests of the whole MBA syllabus.These thoughts might be considered to be the musings of a disillusioned old man who has passed into the afterlife of academic retirement. But in fact I am more closely involved in supporting business activity and supporting managers in real-life organizations than I have ever been. No full-time teacher can know what it is like to be the key person responsible for a business with the untimely demands management entails. Happily for me - though this depends on how you read the situation - I am now at the hard end of running a real SME, and it is a salutary experience.\nInstitutional failings: The language of business and management is littered with ambiguity and poor definition. Many of the most common terms are virtually useless because they are so vague and imprecise. Words such as \"leadership,\" \"strategic,\" \"mentoring,\" \"coaching,\" even \"learning,\" as in \"learning organization.\" There is, of course, nothing wrong with these broad terms; they abound everywhere in areas of conversation - education, health, wellbeing, sport, democracy, choice, competition, spirituality, and god. But somehow in management education there is far too often the assumption that we all mean the same things by the words we use. So sloppy and undisciplined thinking is everywhere.Business schools are almost exclusively situated in the higher education sector and consequently suffer from the growing bureaucratization of the system, nationally and internationally. Even the autonomous INSEAD has its internal critics as a bureaucracy rather than a business, and this must also be true for virtually every university-based school.\nRenewed impetus: The degeneration of business schools towards over-simplification and reductionism is probably related to the recent - indeed current - financial crisis. Some blame Harvard Business School for the decline in the creativity and good business sense of its graduates, especially in financial services. Harvard has centered its teaching mode on the case study method, which has an inbuilt fault in that a case study on paper can never replicate reality in practice. Otherwise economics would be a science of certainty. The case study approach has run its course, although its narrowness was not recognized soon enough.The new appointment as Head of the School appears to be a move to rectify the situation and bring a greater sense of the real world. The inclusion of philosophy and logic would probably have been much more useful than case studies. The essential quality in business education is the ability to think clearly, and lessons in business economics would probably have been better if they had been diluted with lessons in philosophy.\nA revised approach: Ways of learning about management and the dynamics of business and business organizations are not all the same and some are valid but contradictory. The essential and common quality is that learning the skills of management must be through experience and reflection. But governments like procedures that are measurable and quantifiable, which personal learning can never be. In fact, the urge to measure is the most destructive influence of governments and bureaucrats on education at all levels.When we decided to set up a social enterprise center (originally the Nantwich Learning Centre) we were interested in two things. One was to use the best experiential forms of learning that we know to be in existence and well practiced. We were aware that Summerhill School is still flourishing (and now run by A.S. Neill's daughter), and we knew about the South Downs Learning Centre venture led by Ian Cunningham. Secondly, we were interested in people who are at the margin of conventional learning provision.There are a lot of categories of people who want to learn differently and outside the traditional and formal system. And we noted that that there are large numbers of people who are not attracted by the school class based system of adult education. The truth is that most people actually learn on their own even when they join groups and classes. And few people gain much from instruction beyond the level of personal coaching. So the programs we are offering aim to cater for people who want to learn - or need to learn - to enrich the quality of their life but want to do so under their own steam. This includes many kinds of younger people such as young entrepreneurs, people with long-term depression, home-restricted mothers, sole traders, and people who want to learn a language or seriously consider a change a career.\nRationale for action: The idea of a management school was a natural development of this venture. There are a lot of very well qualified former executives and retired management teachers who know the value of experience and understand how people learn how to manage. This resource is largely untapped, though many mentally active retired experts have private consultancy jobs. Their experience and knowledge is unmatchable by younger academics and business teachers simply by virtue of the richness of their experience; they have seen much of it before and do not want to reinvent the wheel. But their maturity means they are also cautious about what they propound.It is from these older and mature, highly experienced and successful professionals that the faculty of the Grove International Management Schools are chosen. They are selected by invitation and there is a bespoke program of supported continual professional development (CPD). We added \"International\" because that describes our vision and ambitions. There is a growing list of corresponding experts from overseas and our branch offices in Reykjavik and Vienna will also host activities.\nCurrent state of progress: The decision to move forward has been reinforced by several aspects of UK government policy. Much more economic activity is going to fall to the private sector and the creation of local economic partnerships means that more attention can be focused on sub-regional needs. Initiatives will be closer to the ground than has previously been the case. The decision to open up higher education to the private sector will almost certainly produce a spate of new initiatives even if they do contain new thinking as our proposal does.We have realized that our interests are basically in leadership and strategic thinking, so we are calling our institution a \"management\" school instead of a \"business\" school. By taking a business approach we believe we can make good and speedy decisions. Many of the options open to us in the private sector would just not be open to us in bureaucratic terms. And we do not have to worry about the antipathetic attitudes in academia that support the academic career path - undue emphasis on research and professional discipline associations that determine how academic performance is evaluated.We have set up a Steering Group, which will soon be the main board of Grove Education Ltd (by guarantee) to be managed as a charity. We have our base within a Science & Technology Park in Runcorn, UK. We are busy scoping out our programs, strategy and tactics drawing on a lot of ideas about higher education and the labor market. We have brought a lot of perspectives into play that includes using the skills and experience of older people, drawing on a huge resource of voluntary and pro bono good will. Above all, we are looking forward to providing a real alternative to students of all ages from the UK and internationally.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - In this paper the author gives reasons for his discontent with current management education, particularly its over-bureaucratization and its concentration on the professional careers of academics instead of its usefulness in the field. It offers a coherent but historically based view of management learning that tends to be overlooked as institutions race to compete in international rankings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a case study based on the work in progress of creating a new management school.\nFindings: - Ways of learning about management and the dynamics of business and business organizations are not all the same, and some are valid but contradictory. The essential and common quality is that learning the skills of management must be through experience and reflection. But governments like procedures that are measurable and quantifiable, which personal learning can never be. In fact, the urge to measure is the most destructive influence of governments and bureaucrats on education at all levels.\nPractical implications: - Others interested in alternative, person-centered modes of education will be able to copy this model of learning.\nOriginality/value: - Describes the creation of an innovative management school in the UK where students will learn the skills of management through experience and reflection rather than in a classroom. Will be of use to anyone involved as a supplier/buyer of management education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"What should we do?" The after-action review of village heads' information seeking and decision making during the unprecedented Kaohsiung blast
|
[
"Decision making",
"Information seeking",
"Community leader",
"Community-based disaster risk deduction",
"The after-action review"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: On July 31, 2014, a number of massive underground explosions occurred in the Cianjhen and Lingya districts of Kaohsiung city, the second largest city in Taiwan. A total of 32 people died as a result of the explosions and 321 were injured, and around 6 km of road was damaged. According to the indictment of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office (2014), the explosions were caused by 3.77 tons of propene leaking from a section of an underground pipeline operated by the neighboring petrochemical factory, LCY Chemical Corp. Although pressure abnormalities were detected as early as 20:00 on July 31 and several gas leaks from manholes were subsequently reported, the LCY pipeline was not shut down until 23:40, 16 minutes before the first explosion at 23:56.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Village heads in Taiwan\n3. Research methodology: The explosions occurred along the main roads, including Sanduo 1st Rd., Kaixuan 3rd Rd., Ersheng 1st Road, and Yixin 1st Rd, and severely impacted 14 villages (see Figure 1). In this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 village heads and one officer of the district office from the most severely affected areas to determine the information-seeking strategies they used in the first 12 hours of the disaster. During the disaster, one village head took sick leave and resumed his duty 20 days after the explosions. One village was under the charge of an officer from the district office because the leader had passed away a few months before the explosions. Semi-structured in-depth interview questionnaires were used to collect data on the village heads' approaches to information seeking and decision making. The village heads were encouraged to talk in general about what happened before and after the explosions. All of the interviews were kept anonymous, and the numbers 1-14 were used to identify the 14 interviewees without revealing their affiliation or gender.\n4. Results: On July 31, 2014, residents of Kaohsiung reported a gas leak at the intersection of Kaixuan 3rd Rd. and Ersheng 1st Rd. The heads of the villages near the intersection stated that residents had noticed bad smells before 20:00. The earliest report of a leak from a resident to a village head was around 18:00. The smell then progressively increased, and the first call to the 119 emergency hotlines was reportedly received at 20:46 on July 31.\n5. Discussion: This study found that the village heads' personal attributes (actively or inactively seeking information and responding to the disaster), command authority (in this case, no formal command system was available in the first 12 hours after the discovery of the leaks), and knowledge (with or without) played important roles in their decision making around the time of the explosion. Although the active leaders with knowledge received no commands from the authorities, they adapted what they had learned to reduce the possible and unknown risks. For example, Nos 2, 4, and 10 not only launched large scale self-help measures and asked their residents to refrain from using fires, but also organized the residents to help prevent secondary harm (see Figure 6).\n6. Conclusions and recommendations: In conclusion, the Kaohsiung explosion was a rare type of disaster that had never occurred in Taiwan before. Thus, this case produced a number of new lessons. Accordingly, the Taiwan disaster authority is urged to study the incident thoroughly and to design disaster information and action plans accordingly. This study showed that the village heads played important roles as information hubs for the residents. However, few studies have examined the information seeking of first-level disaster management staff and their consequent decision making. In Taiwan, the village heads are elected administrators who do not have professional disaster management skills. It is worth paying more research attention to the role of leaders in disaster management.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine village heads' information seeking and decision making in 2014 Kaohsiung Blast and to analyze if the current disaster trainings help those leaders to enhance disaster risk deduction in an unprecedented disaster.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopts after-action review and information seeking and decision making literature both from communication research and disaster research. Document analysis, and in-depth interviews with 13 village heads, 1 district officer, and 15 residents from the affected areas are conducted.\nFindings: This study finds that the village heads have received trainings of regular types of disasters; however, most of them act like lay people in Kaohsiung Blast. In the beginning of the gas leaking, village heads slack off when first respondents arrive. After the Blast, most of them wait for authority orders and cannot launch minimum self-help and community help which they learned from the trainings.\nPractical implications: This study confirms that the leadership research should take different categories and levels of leaders into consideration to distinguish public leaders from non-public leaders, professional disaster risk reduction leaders from non-professional leaders, and higher authorities from basic levels of government. The findings from this study provide a basis for the rational design of the job descriptions of village leaders.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first empirical research to investigate first-level but non-professional disaster management staffs' information seeking and decision making after an unprecedented disaster in Taiwan.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Value creation through knowledge management in franchising: a multi-level conceptual framework
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Value creation",
"Franchising",
"Monitoring"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: This paper is the first to present an integrative systems model of knowledge management (KM) across the franchisor-franchisee-customer triad. Enhancing franchise network efficiency through effective knowledge management is important as franchises account for 40.9 percent of service firms in the US and comparable levels are in other countries (Dant et al., 2011; Weaven et al., 2009). Knowledge management promotes inclusion, coordination, and cooperation, and provides an environment for learning exchange, innovation and value creation. However, while substantial growth in franchising is evident, its continued success is reliant upon the effective transfer of knowledge so as to capitalize on new market opportunities (Grace and Weaven, 2011; Winter et al., 2012). Indeed, even iconic franchise brands have been said to have lost market positioning due to their inability to create and maintain \"an environment of effective and easy knowledge sharing\" (Paswan and Wittmann, 2009, p. 178). Thus, the effective design and implementation of knowledge constitutes one of the most important strategic challenges in franchise networks (Gorovaia and Windsperger, 2010).\nKnowledge management and propositions: Knowledge development\nDiscussion: The central purpose of this research was to conceptualize knowledge management in franchising and provide a platform to answer recent calls to investigate innovation and value creation within the trichotomy of relationships in franchising (Dant et al., 2011). We developed and presented an integrative systems model of franchise knowledge management through a synthesis of knowledge-based views of the firm (Windsperger et al., 2013), organizational learning theory (Baker and Sinkula, 1999), social exchange theory (Thibault and Kelley, 1959), relational exchange theory (Macneil, 1980), network theory (Paswan and Wittmann, 2009) and consumer perceptions of the firm (Sweeney and Soutar, 2001) across multiple levels of exchange in delivering franchise services. Our conceptually rigorous theoretical framework focuses on the franchisor-franchisee-customer triad to elicit intra-firm and firm-customer linkages in the knowledge management process.\nLimitations: Although the theoretical contributions of this research are manifold, the main limitation of this paper lies in that the proposed relationships have not been exposed to empirical scrutiny. However, our objective was to present a integrative conceptual model of knowledge management in franchising with a view towards generating discussion and debate in this important research area. Future research is needed to test and validate our conceptual model using a multi-informant (franchisor, franchisee and customers) research design.\nConclusion: Knowledge management has been described as a critical area in today's environment (Thomsen and Lumbye, 2012) where \"innovation and speed are needed and the contours of industry are changing rapidly\" (BusinessWire, 2009). Although franchising dominates the services sector in the economies of many industrialized nations (Dant et al., 2011; Weaven et al., 2009), there has been limited theoretical development outlining how these service firms can create, share and utilize knowledge to drive performance and increase competitiveness (Lindblom and Tikkanen, 2010). Our research explicitly focuses on how effective knowledge management promotes innovation and growth in the firm's dynamic capabilities, improvements in unit-level effectiveness and profitability, positive inter-firm relationships, and system survival. In so doing, our research makes two key contributions. Firstly, through adopting an integrative knowledge management perspective we draw attention to many (as yet) unanswered questions concerning the franchise relationship. Secondly, we re-position knowledge management research beyond consideration at a singular (firm, employee, supplier or customer) level by focusing on intra-firm and firm-customer linkages in the value creation process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an integrative systems model of knowledge management (KM) across the franchisor-franchisee-customer triad. The conceptual development of this paper focuses on the areas of knowledge development, knowledge transfer and knowledge use within the context of dyadic monitoring, and key relational outcomes (partner congruence, relationship quality, perceived conflict, opportunism), and performance results (franchisor, franchisee and customer welfare).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper critically reviews the relevant literatures in order to address three conceptual goals exemplified by the following research questions. How does knowledge development and organizational learning effectively facilitate knowledge transfer and knowledge usage in franchise systems? What role does monitoring play in the relationship between the knowledge management processes and the welfare of franchisors and franchisees? How does the process of knowledge management (development, synthesis, transfer, usage) influence franchisor, franchisee and customer welfare?\nFindings: An extensive review of the literature results in ten key research propositions being offered and these are graphically presented in the conceptual model in Figure 1. This model represents a multi-level perspective of KM which provides a solid platform for future empirical studies and further academic discussion.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes two key contributions. First, through adopting an integrative KM perspective it draws attention to many (as yet) unanswered questions concerning the franchise relationship. Second, it re-positions KM research beyond consideration at a singular (firm, employee, supplier or customer) level by focusing on intra-firm and firm-customer linkages in the value creation process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Cultural education organizations and flexible individualization of taste
|
[
"Organizational change",
"Aesthetics",
"Cultural education",
"Cultural policy",
"Flexible individualization",
"Taste"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Cultural sector is inhabited by strangely, diverse types of organizational animals. This variety of operational modes and management styles are recently discussed and researched under the umbrella of creative and cultural industries (Poettschacher, 2010; Florida, 2002; KEA, 2006; Bilton, 2007). Design and architects studios, music labels, dance and theatre companies, publishing houses, radio brands, art galleries, film schools or theme parks and other entrepreneurial activities in the arts are reorganized and managed to fit individualized needs of crowds of consumers. Leaders and inventors of these businesses are strategically focused on keeping clients time and attention with their diverse narrations and well packed values, new services and tools constructed from cultural and art-like content. Creativity and talent development, ecology and sustainability, spirituality or slow-food, memory and local or other cultural identities are magnets for crowds striving for passion and sense of life. Not surprisingly, cultural and iconic branding (Holt, 2004), cultural strategies in marketing communication (Holt and Cameron, 2010), creative consumption (Bilton, 2007) or experience economy (Pine and Gilmor, 1999) are leading recent believes of corporate brands holders of any sort. That is a playground for global competitors who supply the content for individual and flexible identities of clients. Their public is paying not only with their money but free time they have and want to spend, the most precious currency they have as humans of twenty-first century societies. However, there are other, less business-oriented types of organizations, that are providing much more individualized content and are not taken into consideration as a creative industries engines.\nOrganizational landscape of cultural sector: Considering the role of organizations as impacting cultural public sphere or striving for culture as a public interest, we need a content that is far more complex and multidisciplinary than rather instrumental and political talk on cultural and creative industries. At one level we need to get into art practices and cultural activists work, at another level, this is a central problem for the relatively recent field of study that is cultural policy research. The range of topics covered by this domain is as broad and unlimited as meanings of the word \"culture\" itself, expanding raw tri-partite division drawn between \"culture\" as a form of Platonic ideal, \"culture\" as recorded experience, and \"culture\" as \"a way of life\" (Williams, 1958; Gray, 2009). The problem of definition, causality, measurement and attribution of culture are impacting corresponding dimensions in re-thinking and proper use of cultural policy as a concept and practice of research (Gray, 2009; Bennett, 1998). Nevertheless there is no doubt that for now, there is no better perspective of studying cultural organizations and cultural management in dynamic process of change, than a meta-level of thought offered within recent cultural policy studies. Organizational landscape of cultural sector as seen from that perspective is dealing with such a wide range of subjects and approaches as: audience development, cultural city planning, arts policies, managing heritage and memory, cultural diplomacy, culture and development, cultural education, cultural industry, cultural economy, intercultural dialogue, language policies, intellectual property, cultural marketing, music or film industries, book market, theater policies, arts and health, social impact of the arts, culture and democracy, measuring quality in the arts, cultural intelligence, culture and sustainability, culture and technology, creativity policies, censorship, media policies, culture and value, community and cultural development, citizens participation, cultural infrastructure, local identity, minorities policies, arts education, etc. The list is expanding as cultural practices and people's \"way of life\" getting more and more diverse, flexible and individualized.\nResearch case of cultural education organizations in Poland: The purpose of the research done in Poland in 2013 and coordinated by the author of this paper, was to investigate professional activity of individuals recognized, perceived by local community members as leaders in effective, visible, substantial, vibrant cultural eduaction for local social environment. The people in spotlight of the project were individuals working within the structure of public institution, civic organization, and private enterprise in cities of three types of size. Researchers were investigating quality of cultural education leaders interaction with their \"clients\", and they were looking for an appropriate set of leaders competencies in cultural education practice. The qualitative study was oriented to find existing organizational models of those who are impacting their cities, when bringing an offer of an individualized content for local inhabitants cultural identities and taste. The The main body of research was done with 48 deep interviews with leaders and 48 observations of their working days \"in situ\", 500 questionnaires addressed to culture and education professionals in researched towns and 18 focus interviews with opinion leaders and experts in capital towns of all 16 regions of Poland.\nEpilogue: flexible individualization or the power of taste: Aesthetic turn in marketing\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss structure, essence, and quality of a current organizational frameworks for the arts and culture, institutions, NGO's and enterprises that are core playgrounds for flexible individualization of taste, cultural literacy, individuals' expressions and their cultural identity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Paper design initiates with an analysis of the organizational landscape of cultural sector, including special focus on cultural education. This subject will be studied with a use of a case of cultural education organization leaders. The paper epilogue brings to the discussion inspirations from aesthetics and marketing studies.\nFindings: In cultural education organizations, there is: an urgency: for more hybrid and flexible organizational forms; cross-sectorial synergy; for more focused leaders competencies fitting into expected categories of: managerial, communicative, sensemaking, and entrepreneurial.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper is a stimulus for further research within cooperating disciplines of organization studies, cultural policy studies, marketing, and aesthetics.\nPractical implications: The text has practical implication for public administration, cultural policy makers and is an insight for cultural organizations leaders from public, private, and civil parts of cultural sector.\nOriginality/value: The topic of flexible individuation of taste in relations to cultural education institution practices, is reflected in a complementary approach, from triadic perspective of cultural policy, marketing and aesthetics, bringing new insights for organization change research and practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Engagement of family members, corporate governance and social responsibility in family-owned enterprises
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Corporate governance",
"Engagement of family members",
"Family-owned enterprises"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate governance (CG) is one of the most sought out topics in the organizational field and a continuing research focus amongst scholars, business journalists, and policy makers (Dalton et al., 2007; Hambrick et al., 2008). Several studies have been done on CG being a front-line topic. It refers to a system of mechanisms, processes, practices, and rules by which corporations are monitored, controlled, and directed. CG, in essence, involves the balance of the interests of the various stakeholders of a corporation. These comprise the shareholders, employees, management, suppliers, customers, and the community. Thus, since it incorporates virtually every scope of management, from action plans to performance control and corporate disclosure, it can play a significant role in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR).\nLiterature review: The area of CG discourses an inclusive diversity of subjects, concentrating on financial performance (Dalton et al., 2003; Tosi et al., 2000). Nevertheless, classic corporate scandals such as the cases of Enron and Arthur Andersen raise the debate over whether enterprises ought to embrace social factors as part of their corporate goals or continue to emphasize exclusively on maximizing earnings (Margolis and Walsh, 2003). This, in turn, led to enduring concerns augmenting over how firms are governed and what governance elements may effectively influence social business behavior.\nObjectives of the study: This study aims at recognizing the different levels of CG and CSR espoused by various FOEs in Lebanon. Moreover, this paper will examine the existence of a positive relationship between CG and CSR. It will explore if higher CG results in greater CSR. The particular components that promote CSR are to be identified, along with the moderating effects of family engagement on these relationships.\nHypotheses development: In their study, Khan et al. (2013) concluded that CG characteristics have significant positive impacts on CSR disclosure, which in turn plays a vital role in ensuring the organization's legitimacy. It was also found that better-governed corporations tend to have increased CSR practices and a more socially responsible agenda (Ntim and Soobaroyen, 2013). Moreover, Money and Schepers (2007) revealed a significant alignment between developing CG structures and CSR programs. For this reason, the following hypotheses are formulated, taking the BOD and the audit committee as the two CG components understudy:\nMethodology: Data for this quantitative cross-sectional study were collected through a self-administered survey. The questionnaire was distributed to employees working in FOEs operating in Lebanon. Most of these FOEs were selected from the database of the Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business, Lebanese American University. Out of the 320 questionnaires sent via e-mail, 212 were returned, in which 203 were usable, yielding a response rate of 63.43 percent.\nData analysis results: Demographics\nConclusion: Although CG may not have a unique definition, it is viewed as a framework and set of guidelines in order to achieve more effective results. The BOD and the audit committee presence and practices are high-important components of CG through which a company can exercise full control over its resources as well as contribute to its community maximizing by that the overall benefit of all stakeholders. Engaging in such contributions that aim to increase the well-being of the society and the environment is considered as a CSR practice. In this study, the relationships between each of the two CG components (board of directors and audit committee) and the three CSR dimensions (toward health, refugees, and community and environment) were studied. Moreover, the mediating role of family members' engagement in the business on these relationships was examined. Data were collected through a questionnaire answered by employees of FOE operating in Lebanon. The results showed that the audit committee component of CG has a significant positive impact on the three CSR dimensions. Furthermore, family members' engagement plays a mediating role on the relationship between the audit committee and CSR practices toward both health and community and environment as well as on the relationship between the BOD and CSR toward community and environment.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: With the increasing awareness and recognition of the importance of corporate governance (CG), its practices and mechanisms along with their effect on performance and general organization's behavior have become of interest for many scholars. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between CG, with a focus on the board of directors (BOD) and the audit committee, and the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices toward health, refugees, community, and environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 203 employees working at family-owned enterprises (FOE) in Lebanon. SmartPLS 3.0, statistical software for structural equation modeling, was used to analyze data.\nFindings: The results indicate that the audit committee component of CG has a significant positive impact on CSR dimension practices toward health, refugees, and community and environment. Furthermore, family members' engagement in the board of directors and decision making plays a moderating role on the relationship between the audit committee and CSR practices toward health, community, and environment, as well as the relationship between the BOD and CSR toward community and environment.\nOriginality/value: The role of family members' engagement in the effectiveness of CG and CSR practices FOE is studied.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Academics' perception of knowledge sharing in higher education
|
[
"Risk",
"Opportunity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The literature is inundated with the significance of knowledge management (KM) and in particular knowledge sharing (KS) for business survival and organisational success (Rowley, 2000). KM has been promoted as a practice with implications beyond that of merely developing information and communication technology infrastructures, with information sharing and retrieval potential. In these environments, employees are actively encouraged to share knowledge and new incentives. Consequently, reward programs have been developed, not only to encourage sharing but also to facilitate the process. Knowledge has no value unless it has been shared and used (Li et al., 2014). In other words, sharing knowledge is the natural way to increase the value of knowledge. However, if KS strategies are not appropriately planned and by default adequately implemented, this could result in a number of implications regarding breakdown of trust, communication, cooperation and even risks.\nKnowledge-intensive organisations - HE context: Organisational learning is always closely connected to KS (Swift and Hwang, 2013; Remedios and Boreham, 2007; Loebbecke et al., 2016). Individuals by sharing knowledge mutually achieve common understandings. Also, the effective transfer of knowledge within institutions and between people in different roles and relationships increase intangible knowledge, ideas, feedback and tangible values. According to Chua (2003) and Syysnummi and Laihonen (2014), knowledge is enriched with insights and is socially embedded in organisational practices and as such is highly difficult to imitate, trade or substitute. Consequently, KS is an effective strategy in building up competitive advantages for all types of organisations (Remedios and Boreham, 2007; Aminbeidokhti et al., 2016). Furthermore, Riege notes that competitive advantage is based on effectively sharing knowledge as a key component of KM programme. Universities, therefore, based on the characteristics offered by Alvesson (1995), can be classified as knowledge intensive, which are characterised by:\nMotivation for knowledge sharing in HE: Knowledge needs to be shared and distributed with clear awareness of the purpose, use and the potential beneficiary from the sharing processes (Ford and Staples, 2010; Aminbeidokhti et al., 2016). According to Al-Busaidi and Olfman (2017), although it is somewhat difficult to extract expertise and learning from one person and transfer it to another, the alternative is to lose knowledge gained through experience, training and teamwork. Without the sharing of knowledge, organisations would continuously reinvent themselves and there would be no way of leveraging experience and expertise. In HE, it is the crucial assumption that academics might gain knowledge from the experiences and expertise of their peers. Organisations that share knowledge increase the opportunities for the creation of new ideas that have the potential of adding value to their activities. Failure to manage and share knowledge could prevent the creation and distribution of knowledge. Therefore, critical to the HE process is the need to effectively exploit their intellectual and social capital gained through research and experience Syysnummi and Laihonen (2014). Social capital is the formation of strong networks and personal relationships between individuals or groups that provide the basis for trust, communication, cooperation and collaboration. Intellectual capital, on the other hand, refers to knowledge and the knowing capability of an organisation or community of practice (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). Even though academics are active creators of knowledge (intellectual capital), it is nonetheless challenging for HE institutions to get faculty to share through networks. Consequently, knowledge exists today in these institutions as separated and in knowledge silos.\nRisk, trust and opportunity associated with knowledge sharing: KS can lead to knowledge creation (Barker, 2015). However, individuals sometimes hesitate in sharing knowledge especially when there is risk that this could be exploited by someone else (Ford and Staples, 2010). Indeed, if organisational knowledge is a valuable asset/resource (Connelly et al., 2011; Williams and Jacobs, 2004), it needs to be protected as well as exploited for business and competitive advantage. Effective risk identification and management procedure need to be considered and implemented to protect this asset as with any other organisational asset (Rowley, 2000). However, KS risks are not quantifiable as they are not associated with easily interpreted data. These risks are highly subjective and depend on the perception of the decision maker. Consequently, KS risks will be labelled differently and the perception of their impact widely dispersed (Trkman and Desouza, 2011; Sadiq Sohail and Daud, 2009).\nParadigm of inquiry and methodology: This research adopts a phenomenological constructivist paradigm and ethnography as a methodological approach. It focuses on an understanding of the social world from the level of subjective experience. Based on the phenomenological perspectives, the constructivist ethnographic approach considers human understanding to be subjective and relative. \"Ethnographic studies [...] provide social scientific descriptions of people and their cultural bases; in such a way we can develop comprehensions of 'self' in relation to 'other' in terms of becoming\" (Howell, 2013, p. 129). A constructivist ethnographic study develops an integrated synthesis of theory and practice. Indeed the \"final interpretative theory is multi-voiced and dialogical. It builds on native interpretations and articulates what is implicit in those interpretations\" (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994, p. 120). \"Experience is intersubjective and embodies not individual and fixed, but social and processual. Intersubjectivity and dialogue involve situations where bodies marked by social [...] that is, by difference [...] may be presented as partial identities\" (Tedlock, 2000, p. 471). The constructivist ontological perspective and epistemological stance are concerned with relativist realism and the users' understanding of reality. It sees the social world as a social process that is continuously developing and evolving and consists of a network of assumptions and shared meanings. The phenomenological constructivist paradigm seeks to understand the perceptions and perspectives of the people who are involved in the KS and transfer activities in the organisation. From an ontological perspective, constructivist ethnographer researchers view the social world as highly complex and problematic, where everyday life is an incredible achievement. The constructivist ethnographer seeks to interpret, understand, experience or produce the very basis and source of social reality (Cranfield and Taylor, 2008; Wong, 2008). Based on these arguments and the need to extract the perceptions and perspectives of participants, in this research a constructivist ethnographic stance was appropriate (Cranfield and Taylor, 2008; Wong, 2008).\nDescription of findings: Trust - risk or opportunity\nDiscussion of findings: KS in HE leads to increase competitiveness and responsiveness to commercial or academic opportunities, as collective knowledge leads to sustainability, innovation and creativity. KS is critical for institutions which are competing for the same grants, contracts, ranking positions, ratings on student experiences, amongst others. Even though much knowledge is embedded in different departments and individual academic staff, the existence of such structures often results in these entities operating as separate bodies, thus creating knowledge silos (Maponya, 2005). However, to be successful, academics are encouraged to embrace KS. Hence, individuals, departments, faculties and schools can no longer operate in isolation but are adopting more collaborative, team-based structures - with emphasis on the performance (Maponya, 2005). Increasingly, communication, cooperation and collaboration are considered essential not only to transfer existing knowledge but for the development of new knowledge. This is evident from the emphasis placed by major funding bodies for cross-disciplinary collaborations.\nConclusions: To effectively accumulate knowledge, modern organisations must disseminate and share ideas, findings, interpretations and conclusions. This is particularly true in academic organisations, which have the dissemination of knowledge as their principal mission (teaching, conferences, research papers, monographs, etc.). Universities and research institutes aim at the development and dissemination of knowledge amongst their peers and society in general. In fact, like any other knowledge-intensive organisation, the university's competitive advantage lies in its ability to generate, disseminate and share knowledge as well as to prevent the loss of knowledge across the organisation's boundaries. Nonetheless, sharing of knowledge is based explicitly on trust, but sharing poses a number of risks and paradoxical opportunities. However, pressure to publish and disseminate early research results may lead to research ideas being adopted by others and even published first in more definite and prestigious terms, with greater recognition. On the other hand, fear of publishing early may lead to lack of peer support, scrutiny and critique which would otherwise be offered through the peer review process. Hence, academics find themselves in a precarious position of balancing what and when to share certain aspects of their knowledge.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Higher education (HE) institutions create, disseminate, share and exchange knowledge through relationships among people, processes and technologies. Knowledge sharing (KS) in academia enables people within the institute to develop practices which allow them to collect and share what they know. This often leads to actions that improve services and outcomes. Despite the opportunities, this sharing is not without implications as it exposes the knowledge sharer and recipient to a number of vulnerabilities and risks, which hinders the knowledge-sharing process. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper adopted a constructivist approach, which utilised focus group discussions within three UK universities. These were identified to improve the usefulness and effectiveness of the knowledge-sharing process.\nFindings: The paper concluded by purporting that by developing an understanding of the risks and opportunities of sharing HE, institutions will continue to grow, regenerate and develop knowledge. The results highlighted the plethora of risks and opportunities resulting from KS. These were further grouped into the political, social and organisational culture.\nOriginality/value: This paper addresses the gap of risks perceptions of KS in HE institutions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Alignment of large project management process to business strategy: A review and conceptual framework
|
[
"Project management",
"Business strategy",
"Alignment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Projects have been a central activity in most companies and in particular in the telecommunications industry due to the dynamic market and the high competition. Many previous studies have demonstrated that most projects do not finish on time and on budget. Some failed to satisfy either the customer's or company's expectations (Miller, 2002; Mankins and Steele, 2005). Yet, the project's success means more than just meeting time and budget goals. This highlights additional success dimensions such as the business outcomes (Shenhar et al., 2007) which can be achieved through a proper alignment between the large project management (PM) process and the business strategy. A common factor in many organisations is that many large projects have been executed with no strong link to the business strategy or organisational goals (Miller, 2002; Eriksson, 2013).\n2. Relevant literature: 2.1 The concept of strategy\n3. Methodological consideration: Creswell (2012) suggests a number of practical criteria for selecting one of the deductive and inductive research methodology approaches. Perhaps the most important of these criteria depends on the nature of the research topic. For example, if the topic is new or under a thrilling debate, or there is little existing literature, it may be more appropriate to work inductively by generating data and analysing and reflecting upon what theoretical themes the data are suggesting. This is the case of this study, where the alignment between PM and business strategy as phenomena has not been research thoroughly and little has been researched. Also, the process of the alignment as well as the contribution of such alignment to the project success and the company performance is still need to be further investigated.\n4. Data analysis and results: After collecting the data, the next step was the analysis and make sense of the data collected. This helps to understand the relationship between the alignment and the project success as well as the company performance and the process of a successful alignment. Furthermore, the interview was a good chance for creation variables that have not been proposed in the conceptual framework. The research employed content analysis as a widely used in qualitative research technique. NVivo 2009 was used as a preparation method for data analysis. This programme helps to ensure the validity and the reliability of data analysis and the researcher use this tool as contributing to the research methodology.\n5. Conceptual framework: According to Dubin (1978) the characteristics of a theoretical framework should consist of variables or units of analysis, the laws of interaction among units of the framework, boundaries within which the theory is expected to hold, and propositions of the framework. These characteristics match the theoretical framework of the study and are explained. First, variables or units of analysis whose interactions comprise the focus of the study are (generic) business strategy and PM. Second, the framework indicates the manner in which these variables/units interact with each other. This is a two-way influence of business strategy and PM through a strategic alignment process. Third, the boundaries within which the framework is expected to hold, need to be determined. In particular, the anticipated application of the framework is with respect to various projects within an organisational business unit.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: 6.1 Implication for theory\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss in depth the factors that lead to misalignment between the project management (PM) and the business strategy by investigating four case studies in the telecommunications industry in Saudi Arabia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Due to the limited research on the subject of the alignment of PM and business strategy, the methodology used in this research was a case study in depth interview.\nFindings: The paper highlights the important factors that affect the process of aligning the PM to the business strategy. The companies that have strong alignment between the business strategy and the PM show successful projects outcome while the companies that have mismatch alignment show less successful projects outcome.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper has investigated four telecommunications companies only. However, more companies will be better to compare the finding. Due to time constrains, the research has studied one project in each company. Each project was supporting one of the company's business strategies. More projects and business strategies will lead to clear picture of the alignment. Access to executives' managers and CIO's was difficult. Several meetings were cancelled without short notice.\nPractical implications: This paper helps the companies to implement their business strategies with embedding their projects in the overall strategy. Also, helps the PM team to execute the projects in a strategic way.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the literature with a clear explanation of the concept of the alignment and provides a framework to ensure the alignment between the large PM process and the business strategy is achieved.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An extensive structural model of supply chain quality management and firm performance
|
[
"Firm performance",
"Supply chain management",
"Quality management",
"Supply chain quality management practices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As the competition moves beyond a single firm into the supply chain, organizations began to realize that it is not enough, if they only pay attention to improve performance throughout internal practices within their own company. According to Li et al. (2006), the development and implementation of supply chain management (SCM) practices can maximize customer value, gain competitive advantages in the marketplace and get good profits as well. Thus, SCM becomes increasingly important.\n2. Literature review: This section is composed by two parts. First, the concept of SCQM is explored. And empirical studies are then reviewed to explore research gaps in the literature.\n3. Identification of SCQM practices and firm performance's dimensions: 3.1. Methodology\n4. Structural model and hypotheses: The conceptual framework in the Figure 2 describes all the suggested dimensions of SCQM that suffered incomplete consideration in the literature. In the next stage, direct and indirect relationships of these constructs with various dimensions of firm performance will be developed, as illustrated in Figure 3.\n5. Conclusion: This paper considers the integration between quality and SCM that still remains limited in the literature. By examining QM issues within the internal and external supply chain contexts, an innovative conceptual framework that provides a comprehensive picture covering core dimensions of SCQM and various aspects of firm performance was proposed. This conceptual framework can be used as \"a guideline\" for theory building and measurement instrument development of SCQM and firm performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of supply chain quality management (SCQM) and to propose a research model that considers the impact of SCQM practices on firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a comprehensive literature review, SCQM most relevant practices were analyzed and selected. These practices were categorized into four dimensions: upstream (supplier assessment, supplier quality management (QM)), downstream sides of a supply chain (customer focus), internal process (product/service design, process management and logistics) and support practices (top management support, human resource management, information and supply chain integration). The measurement instrument of firm performance was also developed, including three aspects: operational performance, customer satisfaction and financial performance.\nFindings: An innovative conceptual framework that provides a comprehensive picture covering core dimensions of SCQM and various aspects of firm performance was proposed. This conceptual framework can be used as \"a guideline\" for theory building and measurement instrument development of SCQM and firm performance. More importantly, on the road to gain a further insight, an extensive structural model that identifies direct and indirect relationships between SCQM and firm performance was also developed. Practitioners/managers can apply this model as \"a road map\" for implementing SCQM practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: It is necessary to test the rationality of these models by using empirical studies in different contexts.\nOriginality/value: The integration of quality and supply chain management still remains limited in the literature. Therefore, it is necessary to have a more focussed approach in assessing QM issues within the internal and external supply chain contexts. This study concentrates on the practices which improve quality aspects of the supply chain, known as SCQM practices. Proposed research models in this paper not only fill out the voids in the literature, but also contribute with conceptual frameworks for theory building in SCQM and firm performance. The authors also expect that this research can offer a useful guidance for measuring and implementing SCQM practices as well as facilitate further studies in this field.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Mitigating hidden costs in service offshoring: a strategic management perspective
|
[
"Corporate strategy",
"Hidden costs",
"IT-enabled service offshoring",
"Offshoring experience",
"Task complexity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the past several decades, the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has enabled firms to increasingly offshore numerous business tasks and functions to various locations to support their domestic or global operations. Such IT-enabled offshoring has become a vital, widespread practice for firms seeking to realize cost reduction, market flexibility, talent exploitation or other advantages (Goh et al., 2007; Koong et al., 2007; Arlbjorn and Luthje, 2012). However, offshoring decisions also involve many risks and uncertainties (Tafti, 2005; Gonzalez et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2012; Nassimbeni et al., 2012). Without sufficient awareness and preparation for dealing with the potential uncertainties, firms may commit significant errors, and may find the implementation of their offshoring activities costlier than initially expected. Those additional, unaccounted-for expenses beyond the initial estimations are often referred to as \"hidden costs\" and such costs can cause an offshore project to fail (Dibbern et al., 2008; Sayeed, 2008; Larsen et al., 2013). For example, Dell Inc. had to move its service centers from India back to the USA after it encountered many unexpected problems, and found that the hidden costs of service offshoring were unaffordable (Stringfellow et al., 2008).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 Revisiting the hidden costs of offshoring from a strategic management perspective\n3. Data and methods: To test the proposed hypotheses, this study relied on primary data collected by the ORN, an international network of scholars and organizations that study the dynamics and trends in IT-enabled offshoring of service activities (i.e. activities that can be digitized, stored, processed and transmitted remotely). Since 2005, the ORN team has annually surveyed the offshoring practices of firms in the USA, Europe and Australia. The data collected have mainly included information on offshored functions, launch years, location choices and rationales for choices, governance models (captive or outsourced), drivers of offshoring, concerns, perceived risks, performance metrics and future plans. The survey was conducted online by sending e-mail invitations to companies that have engaged in offshoring. The companies were requested to forward the survey to managers with responsibilities for specific service offshoring implementations. This survey focused on concrete offshoring projects (or implementations) in which a specific function of a company was sourced from a particular location in a specific year (as opposed to inquiring about the general experience of companies that conduct offshoring). Thus, the specific offshoring project (or implementation) was the basic unit of analysis for this study.\n4. Results: 4.1 Hypotheses testing\n5. Discussion and implications: Due to the inherent complexities and uncertainties of international operations, the implementation of offshoring decisions is often associated with hidden costs, which are overlooked or unanticipated at the decision-making stage, and may cause failures to reach the expected outcomes. In this study, we investigate the role of corporate-wide strategy for guiding offshoring decisions and mitigating hidden costs under different circumstances. Based on the data set from the ORN, this study finds empirical support for the three proposed hypotheses are:\n6. Limitations and future study: Despite the new insights this study has provided, we acknowledge it has some limitations that should be identified and addressed in future studies. First, as this study relies on survey data and considers retrospective views about initial expectations, it provides no means of observing the actual decision-making process. Although this study makes reasonable inferences about the effects of strategic guidelines for aligning the expected and actual cost savings for individual offshoring implementations, it fails to directly examine the extent to which strategy specifically affects cost estimation behavior. Second, the indicator of corporate-wide strategy is mainly limited to considering the existence or absence of strategy. This measure fails to consider more specific information about the content and quality of strategy, and this simplified approach may contribute to the unexplained variance of the dependent variable in this study. Therefore, although our study touches on the central aspect of the organizational context (i.e. strategy) in explaining the expected-actual performance gap, more research is needed to further \"unpack\" this dimension. In particular, future studies may rely on qualitative methodology to better understand the effects of different strategy features for reducing decision-making errors, and to investigate the specific mechanisms and processes of such effects. Finally, the samples for this study are selected exclusively from IT-related or IT-enabled service offshoring implementations, which are conducted by companies from the developed economies. In the future, more diversified samples in other contexts are needed to verify or modify the conclusions from this study.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: IT-enabled service offshoring has become a vital and widespread practice for firms seeking to realize various advantages. However, many firms suffer from \"hidden costs\" (the discrepancies between the expected and actual costs of offshoring), and these firms often find a disappointing outcome from their offshoring decisions. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the adoption of an offshoring strategy can reduce such hidden costs and how this effect can be moderated by contextual factors, including the complexity of tasks and the accumulation of experience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on survey data from the Offshoring Research Network, this study uses hierarchical regression analysis to empirically test the hypothesized relationships.\nFindings: A corporate-wide strategy for guiding offshoring decisions may effectively reduce cost-estimation errors. This effect is amplified by increasing task complexity, but decreases with growing offshoring experience. Regardless of whether a strategy is initially in place, most firms learn to avoid cost-estimation errors only after several years. This finding suggests that firms have a limited ability to mitigate hidden costs in the short term.\nPractical implications: The guidelines specified by an overarching strategy can better rationalize cost estimation and goal setting for individual offshoring projects, provide incentives for project participants to achieve preset aspirations, and enhance cost-efficiency in fulfilling offshoring activities and in coping with emerging contingencies. Firms tend to benefit more from establishing a formal strategy to reduce the hidden costs of more complex projects, especially if the firms involved have little offshoring experience.\nOriginality/value: This study empirically examines the hidden costs in offshoring from a strategic management perspective. This approach extends our understanding of cost estimates in offshoring, and it explores the influence of corporate strategy in the alignment of expected and achieved performances from IT-enabled service offshoring. The study also examines the boundaries of strategy's ability to affect hidden costs, and it expands our knowledge of the relationship between strategy and experience.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Simultaneous development of guidelines and quality indicators - how do guideline groups act? A worldwide survey
|
[
"Clinical guidelines",
"Clinical indicators",
"Quality measures",
"Quality programmes",
"Clinical governance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background: Quality indicators are increasingly used in many health care settings to measure, compare, and increase quality of care (Donabedian, 1966; Brook et al., 1996; Baker and Fraser, 1995; Mainz, 2004). Health care quality indicators are progressively more in the focus of researchers, politicians and other stakeholders. For example, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiated the OECD Health Care Quality Indicators Project for comparison of health at the national level[1]. Health care quality indicators are also used for the measurement of quality at the level of individual units of care (Campbell et al., 2003). Quality indicators are explicitly defined and measurable items referring to the structures, processes, or outcomes of care or other aspects such as safety and access (McGlynn et al., 1998; Campbell et al., 2003). Quality indicators are no final judgements on the quality of care provided, but can make it transparent, comparable and improvable. They must comply with high quality standards and should be constructed in a careful and transparent manner by means of a systematic method (Campbell et al., 2003). Several work groups have published studies on the state of the art of development methods for quality indicators (Brook et al., 2000; Campbell et al., 2002; Mainz, 2003a; Mainz, b; Hearnshaw et al., 2001; Fitch et al., 2001; Geraedts et al., 2003), and substantial work has been done to investigate strengths and limitations of these methods (Campbell et al., 2004; Marshall et al., 2003; Reeves et al., 2007; Hutchings and Raine, 2006).Quality indicators can also be derived from clinical guidelines (Frijling et al., 2001; Hutchinson et al., 2000; National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2002). Clinical guidelines are statements for practitioners and patients that are systematically developed to help them making decisions in specific clinical cases (Grimshaw and Russell, 1993). There is an enormous amount of clinical guidelines available from all over the world for many types of medical problems. In many countries, medical colleges and associations or other stakeholders develop guidelines tailored to their specific health care system with its contextual particularities even when guidelines for the same medical problem exist in some other health care setting in the world[2, 3]. Developing quality indicators is an expensive and time-consuming process. Therefore, it seems to be efficient with respect to time and financial resources to extract quality indicators from already established guidelines or to develop quality indicators during the authoring process of a guideline. As the interpretation of performance measured by quality indicators can have far-reaching consequences (e.g. public reporting or pay-for-performance models) they have to be as valid and reliable as possible and they should be widely accepted for the purpose they are intended to be used.There are different methodological approaches and concepts for extraction and de novo synthesis of quality indicators from clinical guidelines (Hermens et al., 2006; Eccles et al., 1009; Ouwens et al., 2007; Mourad et al., 2007; Wollersheim et al., 2007; German Agency for Quality in Medicine, 2009). In brief, these development strategies build on systematic methods combining evidence and expert opinion (e.g. consensus development conferences, Delphi technique, nominal group technique, RAND appropriateness method, iterated consensus rating procedure). This development process may be followed by a pilot or evaluation phase using healthcare data (Campbell et al., 2003). Although evidence for healthcare measures is shared across the world there remains to be large variability in the definition of standards of care, of indicators for quality of care and of the content and implementation of clinical practice guidelines developed for specific regions (Campbell et al., 2008; McKee, 2005; Sturm et al., 2007). Furthermore, indicators developed in one setting are not easily transferable to another setting due to differences in health systems and cultures (Marshall et al., 2003). Despite these differences, it has been shown to be possible to define quality indicators that may be used across countries (Engels et al., 2005; Engels et al., 2006).However, there is no existing international gold standard that is widely accepted by opinion leaders, quality of healthcare institutions and medical societies. Furthermore, it is unclear, how institutions and societies deal with the absence of methodological standards for the guideline based de novo synthesis of quality indicators, what procedures they use and how they evaluate major strengths and limitations of their methods. To examine these questions, we performed a web-based survey among institutional members of the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N).\n2. Methods: 2.1 Design of the study\n3. Results: 3.1 Characteristics of participating institutions\n4. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the state of the simultaneous development of guidelines and quality indicators that are aimed to measure, compare and increase quality of health care at the level of individual units of care. Our results indicate a broad variability in the approaches and methods used to simultaneously develop quality indicators and guidelines among G-I-N members. Additionally, there seems to be a lack of formal procedures for the simultaneous development. Only about half of the respondents stated to use formal procedures. In addition, only about half of respondents in this survey report to have a pilot system in place or are about to implement one. Significantly, respondents mainly reported that the procedure used in their organisation \"could certainly be more rigourous\". Besides various strengths, participants also reported a considerable number of limitations of the development process they use.There are various national or regional initiatives to standardise the simultaneous development process. In particular, specific instruments such as the Dutch AIRE tool (Appraisal of Indicators through Research and Evaluation) (De Koning, 2007) or the German instrument QUALIFY[6] have been developed for the structured assessment of quality indicators. Furthermore, the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method has been used for the simultaneous development of guidelines and quality indicators. The German Agency for Quality in Medicine issued a manual for authors of National Disease Management Guidelines containing a structured approach for the development of quality indicators for key guideline recommendations selected using QUALIFY criteria (German Agency for Quality in Medicine, 2009). However, these initiatives have until now been limited to specific regions or healthcare settings, and up to now, international standards that are widely accepted and supported by the world-leading institutions are lacking.Such standards are needed for several reasons. First, the development of quality indicators that were built based on explicit, standardised and publicly available criteria would be transparent and comprehensible. This may increase both acceptance and reproducibility of quality indicators developed simultaneously with guidelines. Additionally, transferring quality indicators between different countries or expert groups would be much easier because development criteria would be clear, and healthcare settings factors may be easier to identify. For example, when focusing on a specific risk factor, a quality indicator might be of high importance in a healthcare setting, but can be neglected in another due to its low prevalence. This reason for selection would be transparent and transferable when relevance for the health care system would be defined as a standard selection criterion. Standards, the criteria for selection or non-selection of quality indicators, may enhance the quality of the indicators and stimulate international exchange.There are several limitations that need to be considered when interpreting this research. First, our survey was done only among G-I-N organisational members. However, G-I-N involves a huge number of the leading institutions in the field. Even if we did not include all institutions that may be active in the simultaneous development of quality indicators and guidelines, we estimate that the results are fairly representative for what is going on in the field. Second, 41 per cent of G-I-N organisational members neither responded by e-mail nor answered in the survey questions. Nevertheless, an overall response rate of 59 per cent in this context is comparably high[7]. Finally, the study design and the available resources did not allow us to ask for a detailed description of the methods used for the simultaneous development of QIs and guidelines in each organisation. This inhibits an in-depth comparison of the methods applied, which should be done in future methodological studies.Nevertheless, several conclusions can be drawn from this survey. Given the fact that the target audience - the setting of application and the main purpose of guidelines, including indicators - is very similar across the developing organisations, there is considerable variability in the methodology and in the participants for the development process. In the absence of formal procedures - and foremost of a gold standard - for the simultaneous development of quality indicators and guidelines it seems obvious that the methodology used should be made transparent. Previous reviews also concluded that investment must be made in studies to further improve the development of clinical indicators and to maximise their applicability (Brook et al., 2000; Wollersheim et al., 2007; Engels et al., 2005). For the sake of the quality of quality measurement common standards and quality criteria for the simultaneous development process are needed.Starting from the strengths and limitations participants in this survey mentioned with respect to their processes, conclusions may be taken up for building standards for the simultaneous development of guidelines and quality indicators. For example, strengths mentioned were that specific development instruments such as the AIRE instrument are used and that processes should be based on evidence as opposed to consensus. A broad variety of stakeholders should be involved in the process to increase acceptance and applicability of the resulting quality indicators; and experts familiar with quality indicator development should participate to assure the methodological rigour of the development process. Additionally, it may be beneficial to focus on quality indicators for key recommendations or addressing practical priorities and patient preferences. Finally, practice tests or validation systems were felt to be indispensable to evaluate the effects of a (preferably preliminary) set of quality indicators developed simultaneously to a clinical practice guideline.For further steps to elaborate standards for the simultaneous development of quality indicators and clinical practice guidelines we propose to build an international working group of experts in the field familiar with different healthcare settings. This working group, which may be hosted by G-I-N, would be aimed at synthesising, assessing and appraising the methods currently used for the simultaneous development of indicators and guideline, and would come up with methodological standards that would be transferred to the various healthcare settings in which quality indicators and guidelines are simultaneously developed.In conclusion, this survey among G-I-N members - despite limitations - gives helpful insights in the state of the simultaneous development of quality indicators and clinical practice guidelines, and underlines the need for future activities in methodological standard development and quality improvement of these processes.\nAcknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the G-I-N Board for allowing them to distribute the survey through the G-I-N mailing list. The authors are grateful to the respondents from G-I-N member institutions who generously gave their time to complete the questionnaire.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the question of how official bodies, health care organisations, and professional associations deal with the absence of a methodological gold standard for the simultaneous development of clinical practice guidelines and quality indicators, what procedures they use and what they feel are major strengths and limitations of their methods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors conducted a web-based survey among 90 organisational members of the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) representing 34 countries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. All organisational G-I-N members were invited to participate in the survey by following a link provided in the invitation e-mail.\nFindings: - The responses of 24 organisations were included in the final analysis. The results indicate a broad variability in the approaches and methods used to develop quality indicators and guidelines simultaneously. The answers of the participants indicated a lack of formal procedures for the simultaneous development. Formal procedures exist in only about half of the participating organisations. In addition, piloting or evaluation of the procedures is almost completely missing. Significantly, respondents mainly reported that the procedure used in their organisation \"could certainly be more rigorous\". Besides various strengths, participants reported a considerable number of limitations of the development processes they use.\nOriginality/value: - This survey among G-I-N members - despite limitations - gives helpful insights in the state of the simultaneous development of quality indicators and clinical practice guidelines and underlines the need for future activities in methodological standard development and quality improvement of these processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A surrogate-based generic classifier for Chinese TV series reviews
|
[
"Classification",
"Data mining",
"Feature selection",
"Surrogate",
"Text processing",
"Topic modeling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With Web 2.0's development, more and more commercial websites, such as Amazon, Youtube and Youku, encourage users to post product reviews on their platforms (Munson et al., 2016; Goldner and Birch, 2012). These reviews are helpful for both readers and product manufacturers. For example, for TV or movie producers, online reviews indicate the aspects that viewers like and/or dislike. This information facilitates producers' production process. When producing future films or TV series, they can tailor their shows to better accommodate consumers' tastes. For manufacturers, reviews may reveal customers' preference and feedback on product functions, which help manufacturers to improve their products in future development. On the other hand, consumers can evaluate the quality of product or TV series based on online reviews, which help them make final decisions of whether to buy or watch it. However, there are thousands of reviews emerging every day. Given the limited time and attention consumers have, it is impossible for them to allocate equal amount of attention to all the reviews. Moreover, some readers may be only interested in certain aspects of a product or TV series. It is a waste of time to look at other irrelevant ones. As a result, automatic classification of reviews is essential for the review platforms to provide a better perception of the review contents to the users.\n2. Related work: As we are doing supervised learning task with text input, it is related with work of useful techniques like feature selections and supervised classifiers. Besides, there are only public movie review data sets in English right now, which is different from our language requirement. In this section, we will first introduce some existing feature selection techniques and supervised classifiers we applied in our approach. Then, we will present some relevant data sets that are normally used in movie review domain. Finally, text mining-related works are included and discussed.\n3. Chinese TV series review classification: Let R = r1,r2,[...],rn\n4. Experimental results and discussion: As our final goal is to learn a generic classifier, which is agnostic to TV series but can predict review's category reasonably, we did experiments following the procedure of building the classifier as discussed in Section 1.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, a surrogate-based approach is proposed to make TV series review classification more generic among reviews from different TV series. Based on the topic modeling results, we define eight generic categories and manually label the collected reviews. Then, with the help of Baidu Encyclopedia, TV series' specific information like roles' and actors' names are substituted by common tags within TV series domain. Our experimental results demonstrated that such strategy combined with feature selections did improve the performance and generalization of classifications. Through this way, one may build classifiers on already collected TV series reviews and then could classify those from unknown TV series. This will be quite meaningful for agnostic TV series review prediction, which is essential in current big data era. Such approach also has broad implications on processing movie reviews as well. As movie reviews and TV series reviews share many common characteristics like aspects being discussed and verbal selection, our model can be easily applied to understand movie reviews and help movie producers to better process and classify consumers' movie review with higher accuracy. Furthermore, if reviews of TV series or movies are part of digital information system, then our model can help automatically identify individual review according to different requirements. Then, during information sharing, user-interested recorded can be automatically retrieved.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is automatic classification of TV series reviews based on generic categories.\nDesign/methodology/approach: What the authors mainly applied is using surrogate instead of specific roles or actors' name in reviews to make reviews more generic. Besides, feature selection techniques and different kinds of classifiers are incorporated.\nFindings: With roles' and actors' names replaced by generic tags, the experimental result showed that it can generalize well to agnostic TV series as compared with reviews keeping the original names.\nResearch limitations/implications: The model presented in this paper must be built on top of an already existed knowledge base like Baidu Encyclopedia. Such database takes lots of work.\nPractical implications: Like in digital information supply chain, if reviews are part of the information to be transported or exchanged, then the model presented in this paper can help automatically identify individual review according to different requirements and help the information sharing.\nOriginality/value: One originality is that the authors proposed the surrogate-based approach to make reviews more generic. Besides, they also built a review data set of hot Chinese TV series, which includes eight generic category labels for each review.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Organizing supplier interfaces in technological development
|
[
"Supplier relationships",
"Supplier development",
"Interfaces",
"Technological development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In today's business landscape, technological development is not controlled by single companies, but rather organized in collaboration between companies. As a consequence, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to work together with suppliers on innovation and product development (Brem and Tidd, 2012; Caputo and Zirpoli, 2002; Melander, 2014; Wagner and Hoegl, 2006; Wynstra et al., 2001). Given that companies cannot own all necessary resources, suppliers are increasingly seen as collaboration partners rather than opponents. This view of suppliers as collaboration partners, in turn, results in relationships with suppliers being seen as resources (Ford et al., 2011; Gadde et al., 2010) and the degree of cooperation and scope of involvement becoming a key issues (Aune and Gressetvold, 2012; Gadde and Snehota, 2000; La Rocca et al., 2017). Collaborations between companies and suppliers in technological development can be organized in different ways. The scope of a collaboration can be dyadic, i.e. one customer working with one supplier or involve several suppliers, referred to as networking (Aune and Gressetvold, 2012). One approach to analyzing the content of a dyadic relationship between a customer and a supplier is in terms of the resources and the interfaces between them (Araujo et al., 1999; Gadde and Wynstra, 2017).\n2. Theoretical background: The theoretical background consists of two parts. The first part targets collaborative technological development in broad terms with special focus on collaboration with suppliers. The second part provides a more detailed conceptualization of the content of collaborative technological development in terms of resource interfaces.\n3. Method: To study the supplier interfaces in a buyer-supplier relationship, depending on the context, from idea and pre-development to development and, finally, in an industrialization phase, we rely on a qualitative approach and, in particular, a single case study methodology.\n4. The case of developing a supplier relationship: The case description below focusses on the development of a business relationship between, on the one hand, an established firm, a truck OEM and on the other hand, a company with activities in robot manufacturing for various industrial applications. The start of this relationship was through a minor project, and it developed into collaboration in a large development project that included other parties from academia. Based on the results of the projects, the solutions involving the robot equipment then became industrialized. The relationship has also continued in a research project focussing on future possibilities related to new technologies. The demands on the relationship, as well as the supplier thereby changed over time and throughout the four phases. The aim of the buying firm was to have a close collaboration with the supplier.\n5. Case analysis: In the case analysis below the two research issues are dealt with. First, the four technological development projects are analyzed with regard to resource development and identifying characteristic supplier interfaces. This is followed by an analysis of the organizing of the supplier interfaces in the collaborative technological development projects in terms of managing uncertainty.\n6. Concluding discussion and implications: Organizing technological development in collaboration with suppliers is multifaceted and centres on developing the supplier relationship itself and managing the technological uncertainty of the development process. It also centres on the two individual companies, their technology strategy, organization and resources, and their interaction pattern. Below conclusions are discussed to fulfil the aim of the paper, to investigate supplier interfaces in technological development and identify characteristic ones in the uncertain context of technological development. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are also presented.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate supplier interfaces in technological development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The theoretical framework is based on the industrial network approach and, in particular, the concept of supplier interfaces (standardized, specified, translational and interactive). The empirical study consists of a case study of a supplier relationship between an established truck manufacturer and one of its partners in technological development. This supplier relationship has its base in joint projects on developments in automation.\nFindings: The empirical study provides evidence of three types of interfaces that are characteristic of technological development and discusses their development and how they are used in combination. The three types are follows: specified, translational and interactive. The conclusions show that developing an interface from specified to translational or interactive is challenging and technological development characterized by uncertainty may call for certain interfaces that are not of value in other settings, such as industrial production.\nOriginality/value: By applying the interface concepts to technological development in collaboration with suppliers and related identifying characteristic interfaces, this paper aims to extend the literature on how suppliers can be engaged in uncertain endeavours such as development projects.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Co-workers with benefits: The influence of commitment uncertainty and status on employee engagement in romantic workplace relationships
|
[
"Management",
"Commitment",
"Employee engagement",
"Motives",
"Workplace romance",
"Commitment uncertainty"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: As Freud aptly noted, love and work are cornerstones of the human experience. Given how much time individuals spend at work, the workplace can be a common setting in which to meet romantic partners (Rabin-Margalioth, 2006). More complicated, employees enter into romantic relationships for various reasons and undoubtedly, commitment and relationship satisfaction between partners change overtime (Lavner et al., 2012). Working with a romantic partner can bind partners together (for better or worse), as the pressures to stay together can have impacts with colleagues and potentially work performance (Owen et al., 2011). The motives an employee might commit to a romantic workplace relationship, and the potential variations in levels of commitment to the relationship, could affect variables such as an employee's level of engagement. Very little, however is known about the strength, direction, or the impact of such relations or what management scholars and practitioners might do to better understand the potential influence of workplace relationships on an employee's performance. Accordingly, the purpose of our work was to examine the relation between employee engagement, decisions to be in a relationship with a co-worker, and commitment uncertainty in a sample of adults who identified they were currently working with their romantic partner. Our findings showed that participants who reported they were motivated to be in a romantic relationship with a co-worker to increase their status within the workplace reported lower levels of employee engagement, even after controlling for other relationship (e.g. relationship adjustment) and workplace intention variables (e.g. intent to turnover).\nOverview of literature and hypotheses development: Among the many meaningful workplace outcomes in the management literature, employee engagement has attracted strong attention (Bakker et al., 2013; Gorgievski et al., 2014; Saks, 2006). Employee engagement is defined as an active, work-related positive psychological state (Nimon et al., 2015; Parker and Griffin, 2011; Shuck et al., 2014) operationalized by the intensity and direction of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral energy (for more information on employee engagement frameworks, see Rich et al., 2010; Shuck and Reio, 2014; Shuck et al., 2014; Shuck and Wollard, 2010). Perhaps increased interest in employee engagement has emerged due to its demonstrated empirical relations with a variety of significant organizational outcomes including turnover intention (Bal et al., 2011), health and wellness (Schaufeli et al., 2008), and profitability (Xanthopoulou et al., 2009). In short, employee engagement has shown to be a reliable predictor of performance (Gorgievski et al., 2014). Consequently, understanding those variables that influence engagement can provide a highly sought after and distinct competitive advantage (Ployhart, 2012).\nResults: The association between workplace status motive and employee engagement was statistically significant (r=-0.30, r2=0.09, p=0.02). Evidence suggested that employees who reported that their motive to be in a relationship with a co-worker was to increase their workplace status were less engaged in their job (supporting H1). In contrast, commitment uncertainty was not significantly associated with employee engagement (r=-0.01, r2=0.001, p=0.91; H2 was not supported; see Table I).\nDiscussion: This work provides a complex examination of the interplay between work and romance - an understudied context in the management literature. In our study, participants who reported they were motivated to be in a romantic relationship with a co-worker to increase status also reported lower levels of employee engagement. Although this finding is correlational, we offer two explanations. It is possible that employees who pursue status in the workplace through a romantic relationship could be generally less engaged to begin with. In other words, there could be a selection effect, wherein employees who are generally less engaged find ways to utilize status-building activities to get ahead at work (e.g. I am entering into an romantic relationship with you; because I am dating you and you have status, I do not need to work as hard). Alternatively, it could be an experience effect, wherein employees who are in relationships with a partner who has higher status may become less engaged (e.g. they feel less connected due to negative reactions from colleagues or they do not feel the need to be more engaged because of their status-enhanced relationship). Additional research and longitudinal studies are needed to better determine the directionality of these effects, however evidence from our work suggested that pursuit of status in the workplace via romantic relationships does not tend to be associated with higher levels of employee engagement.\nLimitations: The merits of our study should also be understood within the scope of methodological limitations. First, the cross-sectional nature of our study limits our ability to infer any kind of casual relation. Consequently, we would encourage caution in interpreting results beyond their intended boundaries. In perspective, it is challenging to conduct a longitudinal study of this manner due to several restraints (e.g. human resource policies, ability to find sufficient number of individuals who are not in a relationship with a co-worker then develop one and then to track them over time). For some, having a romantic partner at work can be grounds for termination as explicit codes of conduct forbid such crossover. We also note that within crossover research, survey responses can be low and are common (Bakker et al., 2013). Second, we recognize that our final sample was somewhat small; however, it was consistent with other studies (Bradford, 2013). We conducted a power analysis and determined that we had sufficient power to identify interaction effects with reasonable confidence for our hypotheses at 0.80. Power affects the ability for researchers to find an effect only if one truly exists (as in the case with our study) and does not make spurious results appear (cf. Owen et al., 2011). Additionally, researchers might consider qualitative approaches that more fully explore the individual nuances of such relations.\nImplications for management theory and practice: We have highlighted the potential, and perhaps unintentional spillover effect of personal and work relationships. We suspect that managers aim to keep employees engaged and striving toward optimal performance. To this end, engagement for employees who are involved in a romantic workplace relationship with a co-worker can be complex and multilayered. There is likely an artful balance for how managers can understand personal motives while also considering the reality and potential of relationships forming in the workplace. There are numerous documented pedestrian approaches to deal with this dynamic (e.g. open-door policies, no-romantic relationship clauses) yet we would implore managers to more fully consider how engagement and other performance-related variables could be influenced within the context of the workplace.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between employee engagement, decisions to be in a relationship with a co-worker, and commitment uncertainty in a sample of adults who identified they were currently working with their romantic partner.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Because workplace romance can be a taboo topic among working adults, we recruited participants anonymously from online social media websites (n=68). The use of non-experimental design limits the ability to draw causal references in relation to the variables of interest.\nFindings: Participants who reported they were motivated to be in a romantic relationship with a co-worker to increase status also reported lower levels of engagement, even after controlling for other relationship (e.g. relationship adjustment) and workplace variables (e.g. intent to turnover).\nPractical implications: Romantic relationships within the workplace will most certainly transpire yet the topic remains underexplored in the management literature. This work provides scholars and practitioners insight into the psychological mechanisms that influence workplace relationships and more, explores how relationships between co-workers impact performance variables such as employee engagement.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to examine the influence of workplace romantic relationships in the context of employee engagement. Moreover, this is one of only a handful of studies that has documented the empirical linkage between workplace relationships and performance variables.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Expectations, loss aversion and retirement decisions in the context of the 2009 crisis in Europe
|
[
"Behavioural economics",
"Job retention",
"Loss aversion",
"SHARE data"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The employment rate of older Europeans has been increasing since 2000 as a result of structural reforms of the labour market and pension plans of welfare states, and the 2009 economic crisis did not significantly impact this trend. Retirement decisions in the context of the contemporary \"great depression\" have been widely studied in the USA (Coile and Levine, 2011; Gustman et al., 2010; Goda et al., 2011; Szinovacz et al., 2014) and in Europe (Aranki and Macchiarelli, 2013; Garcia-Perez et al., 2013; Crawford, 2013). These empirical studies helped clarify the two-sided theoretical mechanisms at play. On the one hand, economic decline and unemployment reduced economic opportunities for job retention and favoured moderate increases in retirement, essentially among lower socio-economic groups. On the other hand, the decrease in the value of assets due to declining stock and housing markets led to modest or non-significant postponement of retirement. By and large, the major economic factors (changes in unemployment, stock market or housing market) have a contradictory and modest effect on changes in anticipated retirement age and retirement decisions. Goda et al. (2011) suggest that the wealth shocks per se may not have affected shifts in retirement decisions but rather other factors associated with the crisis and that also correlated with stock market indexes. The authors specifically pinpoint the potential influence of behavioural determinants via economic pessimism. They even assume that the latter could be the \"true driver of individuals' perceptions of their retirement security\".\n2. Previous literature: 2.1 Retirement decisions and job retention of older workers in the life-cycle framework\n3. Data and methods: 3.1 Source and sample\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive statistics\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Limitations\n6. Conclusion: We estimate a reduced form model of expectations-based reference-dependent preferences to explain job retention of older workers in Europe in the context of the 2009 economic crisis. We assume that an individual's expectation of her or his living standard in the near future was her or his reference point. Individuals who face a \"bad surprise\", i.e., they experienced a lower than expected level of economic well-being would feel it as a \"loss\" with regard to their reference point. Using SHARE micro-economic individual panel data in Europe between 2006 and 2011, we find that on average, individuals compensate their \"loss\" by remaining active longer in the labour market - where earnings and economic opportunities are higher. This effect was larger than the opposite effect of leaving the workforce in the case of a \"good surprise\" suggesting that individuals attach more weight to losses than gains. We interpret this result as evidence of loss aversion when the reference point is based on expectations. We also find that loss aversion is more common among men, risk-averse individuals and those with a higher perceived life expectancy.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate a reduced form model of expectations-based reference-dependent preferences to explain job retention of older workers in Europe in the context of the 2009 economic crisis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using individual micro-economic longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe between 2006 and 2011, the authors derive a measure of \"good, bad or no surprise\" from workers' anticipated evolution of their standard of living five years from 2006 (reference point) and from a comparison of their capacity to make ends meet between 2006 and 2011.\nFindings: The authors find that the probability to remain on the labour market in 2011 is significantly higher for individuals who experienced a lower than expected standard of living. The effect of a \"bad surprise\" on job retention is larger than the effect of a \"good surprise\" once netted out from the effects of expectations at baseline, change in consumption utility, and the usual life-cycle determinants on job retention of older workers.\nOriginality/value: The authors interpret this result as an evidence of loss aversion in the case the reference point is based on individuals' expectations. The authors also find that loss aversion is more common among men, risk-averse individuals and those with a higher perceived life expectancy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of online teaching videos on Canadian pre-service teachers
|
[
"Beliefs",
"Teachers",
"Students",
"Professional education",
"Online learning",
"Self development",
"Video",
"Canada"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: ICT, videos, and education: a century of promises: One day, people will learn through electronic circuits (Marshall McLuhan, 1965).Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian philosopher, showed great foresight when, in the 1960s, he claimed that technologies would one day play a crucial role in education (Garlock and Soles, 1965). But more than 50 years before McLuhan, another visionary, Thomas Edison, had already predicted a great future for technologies in schools. In fact, a few years after making an educational film in 1911, Edison proclaimed that, \"Books will soon be obsolete in schools [...] It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture\" (Edison, cited in Reiser, 1987, p. 11). Since Edison's prediction that teaching would be revolutionized by films (or videos), the integration of technologies in education has gone through many transformations and developments, including the use of television, videos, computers, and information and communication technologies (ICT).Thus, for about a century, technologies have been promised a major role in education. However, since the early 1980s when, for the only time in its history, Time Magazine departed from its annual practice of naming a \"Person of the Year\" and named a \"Machine of the Year\", the computer and the internet have become increasingly widespread in schools. In his introduction, Time Magazine publisher John A. Meyers wrote, \"Several human candidates might have represented 1982, but none symbolized the past year more richly, or will be viewed by history as more significant, than a machine: the computer\" (Meyers, 1983, p. 3). However, the technologies have yet to be used to their fullest potential. For example, the digital video has simplified the process of creating, viewing, and sharing as never before. This opens the way to almost limitless educational potential (Collins and Halverson, 2009).\n2. Problem: Teacher education programs in Canada face two major challenges: the dichotomy between theory and practice in teacher education programs and the shortage of French-speaking teachers. Online teaching videos could help to meet the challenges in both of these areas.2.1. The dichotomy between theory and practice in teacher education programs\n3. Theoretical framework: 3.1. Educational benefits of ICT\n4. Objective: With the aim of deepening our understanding of the potential of online videos to support the professional development of pre-service teachers, this study investigated the impact of online teaching videos on the development of self-efficacy beliefs in pre-service teachers.\n5. Method: 5.1. Participants\n6. Results: The results helped us better understand the impact of online videos on current and pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs with respect to two specific teaching skills or situations (classroom management and back to school). The results are highlighted in Figures 2 and 3.Figure 2 shows higher average self-efficacy scores from pretest (74.9 percent) to post-test (79.2 percent). This difference is significant (p < 0,001), indicating that the online self-training tool increased feelings of self-efficacy in the respondents, particularly concening back to school issues.Figure 3 shows the same trend as in Figure 2: a significant increase (p < 0,001) in average scores on the class management scale from pretest (77.2 percent) to post-test (79.2 percent). Again, the online self-training tool appears to increase feelings of self-efficacy in the respondents, particularly for class management.In both cases (Figures 2 and 3), a significant difference is seen between the pretest and post-test scores, suggesting that online self-directed training had a positive impact on the teachers' feelings of self-efficacy.\n7. Conclusion: Taken together, these data shed light on the impact of online teaching videos on the development of self-efficacy beliefs in pre-service teachers. To recap, we examined online videos of teaching practices as a self-directed learning tool. To assess its effectiveness, we administered a questionnaire to pre-service teachers before and after watching the videos. The main finding of this development research project is that these online teaching videos appear to have contributed positively to teachers' feelings of self-efficacy. Given the importance of self-efficacy for teachers' professional development, online videos could prove highly useful to this end. Apart from the impact of the videos themselves, self-directed learning has the benefit of flexibility in terms of time and space, which is typical of open and distance learning in general. Furthermore, online videos can be readily adapted to individual professional development plans, according to the teacher's needs, in contrast to more formal training programs (either initial or continuing), with their relatively rigid, predetermined contents. For all these reasons, self-determined learning appears to be highly beneficial for teacher training and development, including distance learning. To advance the knowledge in this area, a more comprehensive empirical approach would be useful in future studies. For example, interviews with the participants could be incorporated. The qualitative results could enrich our understanding of the impact of self-determined learning models.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - One of the major challenges in teacher training programs is the gap between the theory that is presented to pre-service teachers and actual classroom practice. Many researchers, educators, and pre-service teachers have emphasized the difficulty of linking theory and practice in teacher education programs. The purpose of this study is to better understand the impact of online teaching videos on the development of self-efficacy beliefs in pre-service teachers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Over 400 student teachers participated in this study. Statistical analyses of questionnaires were conducted to assess the impact of online teaching videos. The results reveal that online videos did affect the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers.\nFindings: - Online videos of teaching practices appear to contribute positively to feelings of self-efficacy in pre-service teachers.\nPractical implications: - Given the importance of self-efficacy for teachers' professional development, online videos could prove highly useful to this end. Apart from the impact of the videos themselves, self-directed learning has the benefit of flexibility in terms of time and space, which is typical of open and distance learning in general. Furthermore, online videos can be readily adapted to individual professional development plans, according to the teacher's needs, in contrast to more formal training programs (either initial or continuing) with their relatively rigid, predetermined contents.\nOriginality/value: - This study presents an original self-training online video device that could easily be integrated in teacher training to support effectively their professional development.\n",
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