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A lack of authentic school improvement plan development: Evidence of principal satisficing behavior
|
[
"Principals",
"Leadership",
"Satisficing behaviour",
"School improvement plan",
"School turnaround"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: School improvement planning is a common undertaking in the USA and other Western nations (e.g. Fernandez, 2011; Muijs et al., 2004; Strunk et al., 2016). The basic idea behind improvement planning is for educational leaders (e.g. school principals) to develop a plan with measurable outcomes that, when implemented, will result in organizational improvements. Focus areas within plans could include, among others, addressing school climate, improving instructional quality, or implementing data-driven decision making. Such a planning process fits a rational organizational paradigm in which the development and enactment of a school improvement plan (SIP) should result in improved organizational processes, operations and outcomes, such as student achievement in schools (VanGronigen and Meyers, 2017).\nConceptual framework: what does it mean to satisfice?: In his conceptual formulation of satisficing, decision-making scholar Herbert Simon (1957) posits that the rational choice theory - or the position that an individual has preferences and acts accordingly (Krosnick, 1991) - is unrealistic because it fails to account for boundaries. That is, people can be only partly rational. Bounded rationality (Simon, 1978) suggests that people's rationality is limited by typically incomplete knowledge or understanding, time constraints, and the complexity of the problem at hand. And there are costs to gathering information, working through processes, and accounting for multiple perspectives and interests that negate a person or organization's ability to be completely rational. Although maximizing - or selecting the best option from all available possibilities - is ideal, it is frequently unrealistic (Simon, 1956).\nLiterature review: SIPs within the USA\nMethods: Our data context\nResults: In this section, we report the ways in which school principals appeared to engage in satisficing behavior when developing short-cycle SIPs. Overall, only 18 of the 364 (~5 percent) plans did not demonstrate any satisficing behavior, and four of those submissions were from the same school principal. In fact, more plans - 21 of them (~6 percent) - showed satisficing behavior in at least four (or half) of the eight coded categories listed in \"satisficing behaviors identified in short-cycle SIPs.\" The majority of plans contained one, two or three satisficing behaviors (23, 45 and 24 percent, respectively). The number of satisficing behaviors was relatively constant across the four submission time points (e.g. Fall Year 1, Spring Year 1). However, patterns of satisficing behaviors varied over time. A simple analysis comparing the number of satisficing behaviors in the first plan submitted to the last plan submitted by each school revealed that 32 percent of plans had fewer types of satisficing behaviors, 27 percent had more types of satisficing behaviors and 41 percent had no change.\nDiscussion and conclusion: SIP quality has implications for schools. It is important to school structure and organization, vision and goal setting, and progress monitoring (VanGronigen and Meyers, in press). Not surprisingly, pre-service and in-service school principal training programs frequently offer practical experience developing them in alignment with the US Government's mandate for SIP development in low-performing schools (e.g. Gardiner and Enomoto, 2004). Research suggests that plan quality is related to plan implementation and, ultimately, student achievement outcomes (e.g. Fernandez, 2011; Strunk et al., 2016). Thus, there are multiple streams of research that suggest SIPs matter. Still, nearly 20 years after Mintrop et al. (2001) and Mintrop and MacLellan (2002) found substantial evidence of satisficing behavior, we continue to find a lack of authentic school principal engagement in SIP development.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: School improvement planning, especially for low-performing schools, can be conceptualized as a planning process to strategically improve organizational processes, operations and outcomes. However, bureaucratic procedures and related inflexibilities sometimes results in inauthentic plan development. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent and ways in which principals engage in satisficing behavior - or being in the realm of \"good enough\" - when developing school improvement plans (SIPs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors qualitatively analyzed 364 short-cycle SIPs submitted by principals of 134 low-performing schools participating across three cohorts of a university-based systems leadership program focused on change leadership and school turnaround.\nFindings: Eight satisficing behaviors in the SIPs were identified. The five most prominent satisficing behaviors follow: plan content is consistent across schools within a district; a plan or plan features are resubmitted; plan priorities focus solely on test scores; plan timeline is insufficiently considered; and the directly responsible individual (DRI) (to complete tasks) is insufficiently considered. Overall, 80 percent of SIPs contained two to four satisficing behaviors, and fewer than ten SIPs were free of such behaviors or, in the authors' estimation, completely authentic.\nOriginality/value: The development of SIPs is mandated for the nation's lowest-performing schools, but little analysis of such plans has been conducted over the last 20 years. Moreover, although the notion that principals engage in satisficing behavior has been raised previously, to the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to systematically identify ways in which principals satisfice.\n",
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Evaluating and enriching information and communication technologies compliance frameworks with regard to privacy
|
[
"ICT security and privacy standards",
"Privacy compliance frameworks",
"Recommendations for information privacy standards",
"Data security",
"Communication technologies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Normative approaches for information and communication technologies (ICT) development, such as checklists or security standards, are widely known and accepted by both research and commercial communities. Under the premises of philosophy, normative statements affirm how things should or ought to be, how to value them, which actions are right or wrong. Such a normative perspective is adopted by technical standards, which are documents that establish uniform engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes, or practices. The value of ICT standards is commonly agreed, since they contribute to better regulation, enable and create active markets, encourage innovation, improve communication and bring important benefits to ICT business including a solid foundation upon which to develop new technologies and an opportunity to share and enhance existing practices.Information security standardization has rapidly evolved and currently numerous, international and national, security standards exist providing guidelines, promoting best practices, or being used as a basis for certification. Most widely accepted and applied security standards include ISO/IEC 27001:2005 (ISO, 2012), ISO/IEC 27002:2005 (ISO, 2012), NIST FIPS 140-2 (2001), Common Criteria or ISO/IEC 15408 series, COBIT v4.1. A similar compliance environment with regard to information privacy is unfortunately missing. Often security controls are seen as the solution to privacy protection and security compliance frameworks are regarded as guidance to information privacy as well. This is clearly the wrong approach since the main security and privacy attributes are different; information security refers to information stored, processed and transmitted for completing the information system's functions and purpose, while information privacy is the protection of the information's subject identity. On top of that, an organization considers information security as an important tool for protecting its business goals and assets and not really for preventing the privacy of its users/customers. This is also highlighted by the fact that the consequences of a security incident mainly affect the organization (economical losses, loss of reputation, inefficient operation of business, etc.), while a privacy violation incident affects the individual(s) whose personal information has been disclosed.Currently, information privacy is treated mostly as a legal compliance requirement and thus is not adequately handled by security standards; hence further guidance both in managerial, procedural and technical level is required. An indicative example is that by satisfying one of the most important security requirements, that of \"confidentiality\", we do not necessarily protect users' privacy. This is due to the fact that the main focus is to prevent disclosure of organizational, personal or other sensitive data to unauthorized entities without paying any attention on hiding the identity of the data owner or ensuring unlinkability between the data and the owner.The aim of this paper is to \"highlight gaps in compliance environments regarding information privacy and provide recommendations for global information privacy standards\". For this purpose we draw conceptually upon an existing security standard's framework and omissions in information privacy compliance frameworks are recognized. As a result, an extended framework of information security and privacy standards is developed. Moreover, taking into account the different attributes and focus of information privacy as compared to information security, the elicitation of usability criteria for web applications and interfaces that will assist users to protect their privacy, is being proposed.The paper is structured in five sections. Following the current introduction, Section 2 provides an evaluation of the information privacy guidelines' coverage by information security standards as well as the existence of sole information privacy standards and guidelines. In Section 3 a new extended framework of ICT standards for both security and privacy, is proposed based on the identified privacy gaps and recommendations for global information privacy standards. The following section further develops the proposal for standardized criteria for usable computer interfaces with regard to information privacy and presents a set of relevant criteria. Finally, the conclusions and pointers for further work are summarized in Section 5. Special emphasis is given on the work that should be carried out in order to justify the review/opinion-based work presented here.\n2 Information privacy within current ICT and security compliance frameworks: In general, the concept of privacy has three aspects (Warren and Brandeis, 1890):1. territorial privacy, by protecting the close physical area surrounding a person;2. privacy of the person, by protecting a person against undue interference; and3. informational privacy, by controlling whether and how personal data can be gathered, stored, processed or selectively disseminated.In this paper, informational privacy and the protection of personal information that is obtained, processed, distributed, shared and used by any other entity with the use of ICT, is discussed.2.1 Information privacy within current ICT standards\n3 Recommendations for global information privacy standards and the proposed extended framework: Following the evaluation of existing privacy compliance frameworks and the identification of relevant gaps, the recommendations for specific privacy standardization efforts are now presented. Specifically, an extension of the employed security framework towards an information security and privacy standards' framework organized in five layers is being proposed and is utilized as a tool for identifying and expressing the requirement for global privacy standards. The extension of the framework refers to the addition of:* Privacy management guidelines at layer 1.* Privacy risk analysis at layer 2.* Categories of privacy controls or PETs at layer 3.* Specialized standards on PETS at layer 4.* A new layer 5, that includes the user-centric guidelines and standards for information privacy.The extended framework is shown in Figure 1.3.1 Information security and privacy management standards (layer 1)\n4 User-centric usability criteria for information privacy: The primary emphasis of information privacy is the individual or subject of the information, especially since she is the one suffering the fundamental impact from a privacy violation incident. However, end-users are mostly not familiar with the technical terms and knowledge required to build a privacy policy/rules or to make prudent decisions when interacting with web applications or services. As such, the need for user-centric guidelines and criteria that should be developed in addition to the organizational-centric standards has been highlighted. More specifically, two different usage scenarios have been identified:1. Use of electronic applications offered through the internet. In this case the usability criteria should apply to the web application itself and specifically to the way the user is informed and, maybe, requested to provide her consent, about the way her personal data will be processed or/and distributed by the service provider. The objective in this case is to support the user to understand the privacy policy of the service provider and thus allow her to decide whether she is going to proceed and use the service or not.2. Utilization of privacy enhancing tools. An alternative scenario is when the user decides to employ specific privacy protection tools for setting up her privacy requirements and thus avoiding, in an automatic way, to access sites that do not fulfil these privacy requirements. It is evident that the usability of the aforementioned privacy protection tools is crucial for the users both in terms of their correct use and, as a result, for the accurate representation of her privacy requirements.The provision of usability criteria for information security is more mature and has its roots on human computer interaction area; that is to say the area concerned with the way user interfaces can be improved. The related work is based on the facilitation of users to set up security rules while the relevant term human computer interaction security refers to \"the part of a user interface which is responsible for establishing the common ground between a user and the security features of a system\" (Johnston et al., 2003). Several researchers have developed sets of usability criteria for assisting the development and design of interfaces used in a security environment (Johnston et al., 2003; Herzog and Shahmehri, 2007; Ibrahim et al., 2010). Most of the aforementioned studies on security usability criteria rely on the widely-accepted work of Nielsen (1994) in usable human computer interaction and the set of usability criteria that he proposed are presented in Table II.On the contrary, literature lacks of research work or proposals on privacy computer-human interaction. Based on the criteria of Table II, a set of usability criteria for privacy protection in both: \"electronic applications offered through the internet\" and privacy enhancing tools (Table III) is proposed, with the aim to assist users to develop their own privacy policy or to make informed decisions in relation to the collection, processing and distribution of their personal information.It is argued that ICT compliance frameworks should be enriched, additionally to the remarks made throughout the previous sections, with standardized usability criteria from the users' perspective on information privacy. A set of usability criteria for information privacy based on the widely accepted criteria for user interface design given by Nielsen (1994) has been proposed and the importance of developing internationally accepted criteria and guidelines has been highlighted.Somebody may argue that these extra standardized usability criteria are not in the interest of the organization to support or/and implement. This is absolutely true today. However, having these usability criteria part of an overall compliance framework for information privacy, will gradually turn them to requirements that organizations will be keen to satisfy in order to fully comply with the information privacy framework and thus attract, or maybe not repel, users/customers. In addition to that, by addressing the proposed usability criteria for information privacy the organization will be in line with all governmental/legal/regulatory requirements for the protection of citizens from privacy violation threats.\n5 Conclusions: The recent rapid evolvement of standardization tasks on information security has resulted in several widely-known and well-accepted standards on various information security topics ranging from security management to development of security tools.This paper highlights that similar attention has not been paid on information privacy, mainly because of the consideration that information privacy is handled as a compliance practice to data protection only. This argument has been justified by surveying existing widely-known standards, and identifying the information privacy issues for which guidelines are missing. The analysis carried out has identified the absence of guidance:* privacy risk management and information privacy management;* privacy controls' categories; and* privacy enhancing tools development and management.This is in line with the recent decision of the ISO to develop standards for a privacy framework (ISO/IEC 29100), for a privacy reference architecture (ISO/IEC 29101), and for identity management (ISO/IEC 24760). The lack of information privacy standards highlights the fact that there are still several issues unresolved which need to be further investigated before being regulated through a standard.As a result the paper formulates proposals for information privacy compliance frameworks. As a sensitizing tool for the exploration an existing classification of information security standards has been used. Information privacy has been found to be more individual-oriented and less organization-oriented. As a result it is required to elaborate and provide guidance on the development of web interfaces that assist the users to develop a privacy policy or establish a common ground between a user and the privacy features of an application. For that purpose, we relied on research done on human computer interaction in order to propose a set of user-centric usability criteria for information privacy.For future work, our first step will be to justify the gap analysis presented here through some formal methodological approach. Then, the proposed privacy preserving usability issues will be evaluated through a series of verifiable experiments conducted to better understand the effect some of these guidelines would have on people's perception of privacy settings.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The aim of the paper is to highlight gaps in compliance environments regarding information privacy and provide recommendations for global information privacy standards.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws conceptually upon an existing security standard's framework and omissions in information privacy compliance frameworks are recognized. As a result, an extended framework of information security and privacy standards is developed. Moreover, taking into account the different attributes and focus of information privacy as compared to information security, the elicitation of usability criteria for web applications and interfaces that will assist users to protect their privacy, is being proposed.\nFindings: - Within ICT standards numerous information security standards exist, which enable a common understanding of security requirements and promote global rules and practices for security mechanisms. Through their usage, designed information systems ultimately reach a commonly accepted security level and interoperate with other systems in an efficient and secure way. Nevertheless, a similar compliance environment is missing with regard to information privacy. Often security controls are seen as the solution to privacy protection and security compliance frameworks are regarded as guidance to information privacy as well. This is clearly the wrong approach since the main security and privacy attributes are different; information security refers to information stored, processed and transmitted for completing the information system's functions and purpose, while information privacy is the protection of the information's subject identity.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The identified gaps in compliance environments are based on extensive literature review, while the proposed enhancements for the information privacy standards are, at this stage, an opinion-based piece of work.\nOriginality/value: - Currently, information privacy is treated mostly as a legal compliance requirement and thus is not adequately handled by security standards. The paper provides recommendations and further guidance in managerial, procedural and technical level for handling information privacy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Sport and disaster relief: a content analysis
|
[
"Disasters",
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Athletes",
"Relief efforts",
"Sport organisations",
"Sporting events"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, disasters have caused significant damage to communities around the world. In 2013, a total of 330 natural hazards occurred worldwide, which killed over 21,000 people, affected 96.5 million individuals, and caused economic damages of roughly US$120 billion (Guha-Sapir et al., 2014). There were also 158 human-made disasters (e.g. wars, terrorist attacks) throughout the world, accounting for the death of approximately 6,000 individuals and US$9 billion in economic damages (Bevere and Mueller, 2014). Research has shown that a successful recovery from a disaster requires the activation of a comprehensive support network (Kaniasty, 2012; Norris et al., 2001). Such a network should consist of not only the immediate social circle of disaster victims including their family and friends, but also various social entities outside of this circle (Kaniasty, 2012; Norris et al., 2001).\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Corporate social responsibility and disaster response\n3. Method: We conducted content analysis to identify forms of activities that sport organisations and athletes implement to provide post-disaster social support. Content analysis was selected as the study method because of data accessibility (Kassarjian, 1977): this method was more appropriate than other methods, such as interviews, given our efforts to examine multiple cases of activities in different disasters. The unit of analysis was a news story reported in newspaper or magazine articles. We used the news media as our data sources because previous studies using content analysis indicated that sport organisations have rarely reported their disaster relief activities through their own media, including web sites (Walker and Parent, 2010) and newsletters (Walker et al., 2010). Articles were searched primarily through the LexisNexis Academic database, which includes the archives of more than 5,000 news sources around the world (LexisNexis, n.d.). We also hand-searched other sport-specific news media archives (Sports Illustrated and Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal) to achieve a comprehensive search. Articles containing disaster relief examples of sport organisations and athletes were searched with keywords, including \"sport and disaster\", \"sport and disaster relief\", \"professional sports disaster relief\", and \"professional sports red cross\", along with variations using the names of specific disasters (e.g. 9/11, Haiti earthquake) and major US and international sports organisations and events (e.g. NFL, FIFA). Such keywords were used to ensure that various disasters as well as sport organisations and athletes in different regions were represented. We searched articles published during an 11-year period between 2001 and 2011 because this timeframe allowed us to include both major human-made disasters (i.e. the September 11 terrorist attacks) and natural hazards (e.g. the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan). We completed the article search when examples of disaster relief activities identified began to repeat and no new information appeared to emerge (Creswell, 2007).\n4. Findings: Based on the content analysis of the 70 articles, we found 11 forms of activities that sport organisations and athletes have implemented to provide social support in post-disaster situations (see Table I for all forms of activities). These activities were classified based on the types of post-disaster social support (Kaniasty, 2012; Norris and Kaniasty, 1996; Norris et al., 2001). Eight forms of activities were categorised as tangible support, whereas the other three were categorised as emotional support. We did not find any activities designed to provide informational support - the third type of social support (Norris et al., 2001). This section provides detailed descriptions of the activities identified for tangible and emotional support.\n5. Discussion and implications: This study conducted a content analysis of news stories to explore disaster relief activities by sport organisations and athletes. The findings identified 11 different forms of such activities, classified into either tangible or emotional support based on the categorisation of post-disaster social support (Norris et al., 2001). The activities identified in the tangible support category are consistent with voluntary activities of sport organisations and athletes implemented to assume their CSR (e.g. Babiak et al., 2012; Babiak and Wolfe, 2006; Breitbarth and Harris, 2008; Inoue et al., 2011). One notable characteristic of disasters, however, is \"their ability to generate widespread helping behaviour\" (Ellen et al., 2000, p. 396). For example, Inoue et al.'s (2011) analysis of charitable giving data by the MLB teams' charitable foundations showed that these teams annually donated an average of just over half million dollars between 2002 and 2006; this is far below some donation amounts reported in the news stories analysed, such as a donation of US$5 million by each of MLB and its players association shortly after the September 11 terrorist (\n6. Conclusions: This study analysed news stories detailing how sport organisations and athletes helped the relief efforts following disasters. In total, 11 forms of relief activities were identified and classified as either tangible or emotional support. The popularity of sport can help public and non-profit organisations in recovery efforts through such activities as providing monetary and in-kind donations, spreading attention of the recovery effort beyond regional boundaries, and facilitating psychological recovery for affected individuals. In turn, associating with disaster relief efforts would enable sport organisations and athletes to receive some financial and public relations benefits. Sport can play an important role in community recovery efforts, and the findings of this study serve as a framework for future investigation that seeks to advance this role of sport.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore disaster relief activities implemented by high-profile sport organisations and athletes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 70 newspaper and magazine articles reporting the disaster relief efforts of sport organisations and athletes in various regions were identified and analysed through a content analysis.\nFindings: The authors find 11 forms of activities that sport organisations and athletes have implemented to provide social support in post-disaster situations. These forms are classified based on type of post-disaster social support: eight forms are categorised as tangible support, while the other three are categorised as emotional support.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings are based on the analysis of the news media that predominantly reported North American cases, and the current list of disaster relief activities may exclude some activities ignored by these specific data sources. Using the forms of disaster relief activities identified in this study as an initial framework, future studies should engage in the focused analysis of disaster response among sport organisations and athletes.\nPractical implications: The comprehensive list of the disaster relief activities identified by this study should aid the decision-making of sport organisations and athletes in facing disasters and enable them to better prepare for their disaster response.\nOriginality/value: This study reveals the extensiveness and uniqueness of disaster relief activities currently implemented by sport organisations and athletes.\n",
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The big exit: executive churn in the wake of M&As
|
[
"Acquisitions and mergers",
"Senior management",
"Leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 2003, Harvard Business Review published the results of the first author's initial research on top management team effects in M&As (Krug, 2003). He reported that M&As lead to long-term instability among target company top management teams. This finding was significant because previous studies had assumed that top management turnover rates, while high immediately after the acquisition, generally return to normal levels within two or three years after the acquisition. His research, however, indicated that M&As may create instability in target executive teams that lasts many years after the acquisition. Because research shows a strong association between executive turnover and poor post-merger performance, long-term instability among executive teams may be an important cause of merger failure.\nM&As destroy long-term leadership continuity in target firms: Figure 1 shows the trend in executive turnover rates for the 1,019 firms in the database. The blue line shows rates of turnover among executives in target firms acquired in year-1. The red line shows comparable turnover rates among executives in the non-acquired firms.The merged firms experienced an average top management team turnover rate of 24.3 percent in each of the ten years following the acquisition. This compared to an average annual turnover rate of 12.1 percent prior to the acquisition. In contrast, the non-merged firms experienced an average annual turnover rate of 9.8 percent during the entire period of the study. Top management teams included an average of 9.7 executives.T-tests were conducted to test for yearly differences in mean turnover rates between the merged and non-merged firms. In all ten years after the acquisition, the merged firms experienced significantly higher levels of turnover in their executive teams compared to the non-acquired firms (p < 0.001).An examination of pre-merger turnover rates shown in Figure 1 suggests that merged firms also experience higher turnover rates prior to acquisition. In fact, t-tests do indicate differences in four of the six years leading up to the acquisition. After analyzing the data in greater detail, however, we found that 33 percent of the 874 target firms were acquired two or more times during the 16-year study period. When we exclude the effect of multiple acquisitions, any differences in turnover rates prior to the target company's acquisition in year-1 disappear (see Figure 2)[1].These results show that most target company top management teams are relatively stable before they are acquired. This stability is similar to that experienced in firms that are not acquired. For the average firm, this leadership continuity is permanently altered once the firm is acquired. Target companies can expect to lose 21 percent or more of their executives each year - more than double that experienced in non-merged firms - for at least ten years after the acquisition!\nWhat happens to executives in firms acquired more than once?: Figure 3 shows average annual executive turnover rates for those target firms acquired more than once (blue line) and the non-merged firms (red line). All 291 target firms were acquired in year-1. Of these, 116 (40 percent) were also acquired several years earlier, while 175 (60 percent) were acquired several years later. The 116 firms previously acquired experienced significantly higher levels of turnover in each of the five years leading up to the acquisition in year-1 (13 percent per year). Turnover rates stabilized in the year of the acquisition in year-1, before rising again in year-1.Firms that were acquired multiple times lost an average of 48 percent of their executives in the first year after the acquisition in year-1. This compared to an average loss of 24 percent in firms acquired only once. During the ten years that followed the acquisition in year-1, these firms lost an average of 32 percent of their executives in each year. This compared to an average of 21 percent in target firms acquired only once. Thus, firms acquired multiple times during a short period experience much higher and unpredictable rates of turnover among their executives than either non-merged firms or target firms acquired only once. The mass exodus of half of the firm's executives in the first year after the acquisition indicates that these acquisitions are quite different from other acquisitions.What makes these acquisitions so much more unstable than other acquisitions? In many cases, failure of an earlier acquisition is the cause. Poor post-merger performance and unrealized synergy gains cause more than half of all M&As to fail. Up to one-half of all target firms are subsequently divested. The acquiring company often sets the stage for eventual failure when it acquires companies in unrelated areas, fails to integrate the target properly, ignores negative effects of the merger on target employees that eventually erode productivity, and pays little attention to reestablishing leadership continuity within the target firm's top management team.Not focusing sufficient attention on the issue of leadership continuity is especially critical. Instability within the top management team leads to the loss of firm-specific knowledge, damages established shareholder relationships, delays or terminates on-going strategic projects, and increases uncertainty over managerial discretion for executives who join the target several years after the initial acquisition.Daimler-Benz's acquisition of Chrysler in 1998 for $36 billion is one of numerous examples of acquisitions that fit this scenario. Many believed the acquisition of Chrysler was driven largely by the personal motives of Daimler-Benz's chief executive rather than synergy objectives. Performance deteriorated after the merger and DaimlerChrysler lost almost $13 billion in market value through mid-2007, when it announced it would sell 80 percent of Chrysler to the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LLC. The purchase price was $7.4 billion.For Chrysler's executives and employees, the 1998 acquisition was followed by nine years of uncertainty, instability, and downward performance. Their acquisition in 2007 will undoubtedly lead to new rounds of restructuring, uncertainty, and changes in executive ranks as the new owners attempt to turn Chrysler around. One could point to other examples of acquisitions that have produced similar results for target firms. As we evaluate the acquisitions in the database in greater detail, it will be possible to offer greater insight into the causes of the instability experienced by these firms.\nDo high rates of executive turnover from M&As in the 1980s hold for M&As in the 1990s and early 2000s?: Figure 4 shows annual executive turnover rates for M&As completed in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Target firms acquired more than once during the study period were excluded. Acquisitions during the 1990s and early 2000s were combined to increase sample size and the validity of the statistical tests.M&As have historically operated in cycles, with cycles showing common patterns. Unrelated acquisition activity, for example, characterized the merger wave during the 1960s. The M&A wave that began in the late 1970s and continued through the late 1980s was largely driven by related acquisitions. It also represented the first major wave of cross-border acquisitions, as European and Japanese firms made acquisitions in the United States, while USA and Japanese firms began investing heavily in Europe to take advantage of European integration.The M&A wave that began in the 1990s has included much larger domestic and cross-border mergers. Many have been motivated to consolidate industry capacity, create scale advantages, and increase market power. Because different merger cycles often have different characteristics, it was important to determine whether the long-term leadership instability created by mergers in the 1980s also characterized more recent mergers.T-tests indicate that, for the mergers completed in the 1980s, annual turnover rates were not significantly different between the target (10.7 percent) and non-merged firms (9.4 percent) during the six-year period leading up to the acquisition (target) or point-of-observation (non-merged firm) in year-1. For mergers completed in the 1990s and 2000s, however, turnover rates were significantly higher in the target firms during this pre-merger period (12.1 percent per year).For the ten-year period following the acquisition, annual executive turnover rates were significantly higher for both groups compared to turnover in the non-merged firms. Mergers in the 1980s experienced an average annual turnover rate of 20 percent, while mergers in the 1990s and 2000s experienced an average executive turnover rate of 22 percent.Two important conclusions can be drawn from these findings. First, mergers completed during the 1990s and 2000s produced patterns of long-term instability among the target firm's top management teams similar to those of mergers completed during the 1980s. Long-term instability appears to be a common result of M&As in general rather than a peculiar characteristic of mergers from the 1980s.Second, mergers from the 1990s and 2000s experienced higher rates of turnover before the acquisition compared to the non-merged firms. Mergers from the 1980s did not experience higher pre-merger turnover rates compared to non-merged firms.What explains the greater pre-merger instability of more recent mergers? Trends in competition, globalization, and technology during the last twenty years likely explain a great deal of this instability. Many USA firms in the steel, textile, automobile, semiconductor, computer, and motorcycle industries, among others, were subjected to intense foreign competition - predominately from Japanese firms - for the first time beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This led to a variety of import restrictions on foreign imports that were designed to give USA firms time to adjust to these new competitive pressures. Many USA firms shed unproductive assets, closed inefficient plants, thinned labor forces, and eliminated middle management layers during the 1980s and early 1990s to improve competitiveness.During the 1990s, globalization trends intensified. While globalization presented many firms with an opportunity to leverage domestic capabilities and increase volume by selling in multiple countries, it also represented a significant threat to many firms. It subjected firms to competition from a greater number of firms located in a greater number of countries and to competition from a wider range of substitute products. Domestic firms also found that foreign consumers were less brand loyal than domestic consumers. Moreover, firms have increasingly had to negotiate prices with larger multinational suppliers with greater bargaining power.Globalization has both stimulated and been driven by rapidly evolving technologies. Higher R&D and product development costs, for example, have forced firms to sell abroad to cover higher break-even points. In addition, shorter product life cycles have motivated many firms to integrate their worldwide value chains and standardize products and processes to lower costs. Deregulation and changing consumer preferences have further intensified competitive pressures and increased environmental effects.In sum, globalization and technology trends have intensified competition and created greater industry turbulence for many firms. Greater instability among top management teams may be a natural consequence of these competitive and industry pressures.\nPractical implications: What do these findings mean in practical terms? First, we should expect high rates of executive turnover in the target firm shortly after the acquisition. We should also expect leadership instability to continue over the long-term unless action is taken to restore stability within the target's top management team. In accordance with our current state of knowledge of top management team effectiveness, we expect long-term instability in leadership to contribute to lower performance. Short-term turnover among executives immediately after the acquisition may be a natural and acceptable outcome of the merger event. Continued long-term leadership instability, however, should be viewed as potentially harmful to integration and long-term performance.Second, globalization and technology trends should continue to intensify competition and increase environmental uncertainties for firms. This will put greater pressure on profitability and make strategy formulation more difficult. As a consequence, executives will be under greater pressure to be more actively engaged and will likely be held more accountable for performance outcomes. Thus, we should expect a certain amount of instability in executive leadership to continue given current trends and competitive pressures. The problem is to identify leadership instability when it occurs, understand the underlying causes and likely outcomes of this instability, and to take action to restore leadership stability in ways that increase decision making effectiveness and enhance long-term performance.There are a number of useful questions that we should ask. For example, was the firm acquired a few years before? Is the firm being divested? If so, is poor performance a cause? Was poor performance an outcome of poor integration by the acquirer, structure of the target's industry, or poor leadership in the target? What is the motivation for the acquisition? Is the target being acquired because of poor performance and leadership (i.e. market for corporate control) or is the acquirer interested in acquiring a valuable resource or capability? Last, what is the current state of stability within the target firm's top management team? Has it been relatively unstable compared to other firms? A history of leadership instability, poor firm performance, and industry turbulence within the target firm signals significant problems that will require greater effort and focus during the integration process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a ten-year study on the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on target company executives and discusses the importance of managing leadership issues during the merger integration process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - We followed the careers of more than 23,000 executives in over 1,000 target firms during a 17-year period surrounding the acquisition. We then compared trends in executive turnover rates before and after the acquisition to understand the long-term leadership effects of M&As.\nFindings: - Target company executive teams are generally stable before they are acquired. Following acquisition, however, firms can expect to lose 21 percent or more of their executives each year - more than double that experienced in non-merged firms - for at least ten years after the acquisition.\nPractical implications: - Results show that M&As destroy whatever leadership stability target firms may have had prior to acquisition. The problem is to identify leadership instability when it occurs, understand the underlying causes, and take action to restore leadership stability in ways that increase decision making effectiveness and enhance long-term performance.\nOriginality/value: - In total, roughly ten years were spent compiling the data reported in this study. Given the labor intensity and length of time needed for such an effort, it is highly unlikely that a comparable database will be compiled again in the near future. This creates a unique opportunity to generate deeper insights into a variety of top management team issues in M&As that can be leveraged to improve the effectiveness of post-merger integration engagements. We expect a variety of insightful findings to emerge as we continue to analyze these data and will report in future articles.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Cooking skills and socio-demographics among Portuguese university students
|
[
"Young adults",
"Portugal",
"Food preparation",
"Internal consistency",
"Culinary practices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nutrition knowledge without practical skills for food preparation can be insufficient to ensure the change of dietary habits (Caraher et al., 1999; Curtis et al., 2012). The lack of cooking skills has been referred as a barrier to healthy eating (Adams et al., 2015; Aranceta, 2003; van der Horst et al., 2010). People with poor cooking skills were more likely to eat ready meals, which are usually highly processed and have high fat, salt and/or sugar content, and their excessive consumption may lead to health problems, such as overweight and obesity (van der Horst et al., 2010). On the other hand, better abilities in cooking can increase diet variety and lead to more frequent consumption of fruit, vegetables and whole-grains (Larson et al., 2006). In fact, cooking skills have long been indicated as a factor affecting food choices, and therefore, influencing health (Aranceta, 2003; Fieldhouse, 1995; McGowan et al., 2017).\nMethods: Study design and data collection\nResults: Sample characteristics\nDiscussion: The Portuguese version of the CSS, tested among university students, showed excellent internal consistency (a0.9) (Cronbach, 1951; Tavakol and Dennick, 2011), a unifactorial structure and good repeatability, even if the test-retest results varied for different items of the scale. The KMO measure of sampling adequacy showed an excellent degree of common variance (>0.900) and Bartlett's test of sphericity demonstrated appropriate factor model (Child, 2006). The weakest were items regarding abilities in baking bread and cake; however, an exclusion of any of these items would not relevantly improve the internal consistency of the scale (items exclusion tested one by one; data not shown). The strength of agreement between two administrations of the CSS measured by Cohen's k was moderate for the CSS score, and varied from slight (baking bread) to moderate (preparing a hot meal without a recipe) for the items (Landis and Koch, 1977). However, the degree of concordance for test-retest was good (66.0 percent students were classified to the same tertile of the CSS score, and only few (2.1 percent) to the opposite ones). Considering other cooking-related features, the association with the CSS was strong for cooking confidence, but moderate for cooking frequency and enjoying cooking (Finney, 1980).\nConclusions: Very good psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the CSS were found among university students, providing a proper and simple tool to measure cooking abilities in future epidemiological studies with similar populations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the reliability of a Portuguese version of the cooking skills scale (CSS) and to evaluate the association between cooking skills and socio-demographic, psychological and other cooking-related variables.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study was conducted as an online survey among 730 Portuguese university students. Translation and back-translation of the CSS were performed. Data were assessed in two stages (test and retest) and the psychometric properties of the CSS were analyzed. The effect of socio-demographic variables was assessed by binary logistic regression analysis. The odds ratios for upper tertile of the CSS score were calculated using the lower tertile as reference.\nFindings: Cronbach's a for the CSS was 0.90. In the analysis of test-retest reliability, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was 0.79 and Cohen's k (for tertiles) was 0.49. Cooking skills were higher in respondents cooking more often, feeling more confident, enjoying more and indicating the personal interest as the main motivation to learn how to cook. Cooking skills were significantly better in females, older students and those with more independent place of residence.\nOriginality/value: Very good psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the CSS were found among university students, providing a proper and simple tool to measure cooking skills in future studies with similar populations. The interventions encouraging to acquire and improve cooking skills as part of promoting healthy eating should be targeted especially toward men and young adults.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An empirical study of information security policy on information security elevation in Taiwan
|
[
"Data security",
"Security products",
"Critical path analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With the prevalence of e-commerce, information security is of vital importance to many organizations nowadays. A number of organizations have set-up information security policies (ISPs) in the hope of protecting their organizations from security threats. For example, according to a survey in the US, 85 percent of respondents declared their firms have established or are establishing ISPs (Hinde, 2002).An ISP is any written corporate statements, principles and guidelines for organizational information security. Many managers believe an ISP can help deter improper actions of employees and increase employees' awareness of potential threats and attacks. When an organization builds and implements an appropriate security policy, it may upgrade business goodwill and bring out implicit value and competitive advantage (Blacharski, 1998; Hinde, 2002; Kuhnhauser, 1999).Despite the wide practice of ISPs in organizations, their effectiveness is not certain. As Fulford and Doherty (2003) noted that \"fewer or no empirical data exist on the important issues of ISP uptake, content and implementation\"; thus, two important questions to ask are:1. What are the possible factors of an organization to build an ISP?2. Whether the ISP is an effective managerial measure to elevate an organization's security level?\nLiterature review: An ISP is a policy targeting specifically at improving an organization's information security level. ISP is defined in this study as:* the rules set-up for the use of information assets, and the statement set-up for the security priorities to achieve organizational objectives;* the guideline for the scope of information security;* the principle for information management and resource use; and* the principle for supporting security techniques.Objectives and functions\nBuilding an information security policy: An ISP should be designed to support the core mission and values of the organization. The core values of an organization depend upon the nature of the organization. For example, the core value for government units could be the protection of people's privacy information; yet for enterprises, the value could be the protection of their business benefits. Because the core values vary with the organizational types, it is critical to understand these values before building an ISP.ISP has attained an international awareness and several international standards have been built already. As shown in Table I, these six standards could be useful reference while establishing an ISP.As for the procedures for building an ISP could be summarized as follows:* project initiation;* security policy development;* consultation and approval;* security awareness and policy education; and* disseminate policies (Lindup, 1995; Ward and Smith, 2002).Coverage\nResearch model: It is widely believed that an ISP may effectively elevate an organization's information security level. For example, the e-Policy proposed by Flynn (2001) covers comprehensive e-audit, e-risk management policy, computer security policy, cyber insurance policy, e-mail policy, internet policy, and software policy. However, there is rare empirical evidence in support of this speculation. Derived from the authors' prior research (Hong et al., 2003), the following research model is formed.* Information security=f (ISP)* ISP=f (build, implementation, and maintenance of ISP)* ISP establishment=f (organizational security requirements)Because organizational security requirements are mainly contingent upon organizational characteristics, the research model is derived as shown in Figure 1.\nResearch hypotheses: Two sets of research hypotheses are derived to address the specific two questions in the study. The first set deal with the relationship between organizational characteristics and the decisions to building an ISP, and the second on the relationship between the ISP characteristics and the information security elevation (ISE).According to the literature and authors' management experiences, an organization is characterized by its type, size, past history regarding IT application, the hierarchical level of MIS department, size of MIS department and the IT infrastructure, and these characteristics may serve as key determinants for an organization's general policy (Ryan and Bordoloi, 1997; Loch et al., 1992; Blacharski, 1998). That is to say, organizational characteristics may affect the organization's decision to building an ISP. The following hypotheses are derived:H1a. Organizational type will have an impact on the time of building an ISP.\nResearch method: To answer the above research hypotheses, survey method was adopted in this study.\nQuestionnaire development: The questionnaire was developed from the literature, and the initial version was pilot tested by some scholars and practitioners, and then revised accordingly. The questionnaire was divided into three sections: the first section was associated with ISP establishment; the second section with ISP's function, contents, implementation items, and the third section with basic data. The questionnaire is available upon request.Data collection\nResearch results: Sample profile\nReliability of the questionnaire: To measure the internal consistency of the same construct, Cronbach's a was adopted in this study. The reliability coefficients of the developed sub-scales ranged from 0.82 to 0.94, demonstrating that the questionnaire was reliable, as shown in Table II.Hypothesis testing\nConclusion: Although Dhillon and Backhouse (2001) called for more research on ISM, the empirical studies on ISP are still far and between (Fulford and Doherty, 2003). This study attempts to fill this gap and investigate two important questions:1. What are the possible reasons for an organization to adopt ISP?2. Whether an information security is an effective measure to elevate an organization's information security level?The findings are quite interesting. Similar to Fulford and Doherty's (2003) work, our findings show that many organizational characteristics (size of an organization is included) are not dominant factors of the ISP adoption time. Only organizational type (H1a) and MIS/IS size (H1e) might be good predictors for the ISP adoption time. That is, some sectors, e.g. banking, might be anticipated that security threats, and the need for security policies, and build or adopt ISP earlier. The size of MIS/IS is an index to which the organization puts emphasis on value of the information systems, thus, the larger size of an MIS/IS department, the greater possibility of building or adopting an ISP.The managerial effectiveness of an ISP has been validated in this study. That is, the functions (H2b), contents (H2c), implementation (sub-policy) (H2d) and procedures (H2e) of an ISP may contribute to the CIO's perceived elevation of information security, but the ISP adoption time maybe not. This finding shows the important things are what functions and coverage does the policy provide, and how is it executed, but how long has the organization adopted the ISP does not matter.Owing to the resource constraints, the survey only conducted from three professional associations in Taiwan, and no completely random sample was available.\nManagerial implications: * If an organization is in the hope of elevating its organizational information security, building or adopting an ISP may be an effective managerial measure to elevate its security level.* The building of an information security should focus on the comprehensiveness of its contents, procedures and implementation items, rather than the documents only.* The more MIS/IS staff in an organization, the more likely for this organization to build or adopt an ISP.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - With the popularity of e-commerce, information security is vital to most organizations. For managers, building and implementing an information security policy (ISP) has long been assumed to be an effective managerial measure to elevate an organization's security level. This paper attempts to investigate the dominant factors for an organization to build an ISP, and whether an ISP may elevate an organization's security level?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey was designed and the data were collected from 165 chief information officers in Taiwan.\nFindings: - The empirical results show that some organizational characteristics (business type and MIS/IS department size) might be good predictors for the ISP adoption and that the functions, contents, implementation and procedures of an ISP may significantly contribute to managers' perceived elevation of information security.\nPractical implications: - Building or adopting an ISP is examined empirically to be an effective managerial measure to elevate its security level in Taiwan, and that the building of an information security should focus on the comprehensiveness of its contents, procedures and implementation items, rather than on the documents only.\nOriginality/value: - Few empirical studies have been conducted so far to examine the effectiveness of an ISP, thus the value of this paper is high.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Application of value stream mapping in an Indian camshaft manufacturing organisation
|
[
"India",
"Manufacturing industries",
"Value chain",
"Waste management",
"Lean production"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Increasing competition has been compelling the manufacturing organisations to transform their pattern of manufacturing (Goh, 2006). The manufacturing paradigm originated with craft manufacturing where a group of specialists are engaged in manufacturing certain specific products. Then emerged the mass-manufacturing paradigm where large quantities of same product are being produced. This trend is followed by the need for manufacturing firms to redesign their manufacturing systems to cope up with demand fluctuations in the markets (McDonald et al., 2002; Devadasan et al., 2005; Singh et al., 2006). This situation necessitates the emergence of a new manufacturing paradigm to support the process of redesigning the manufacturing systems (Brown and Bessant, 2003; Barber and Tietje, 2008). Thus, the lean manufacturing paradigm has emerged with a focus on waste elimination thereby achieving competitiveness (Lummus et al., 2006; Seth and Gupta, 2005). Lean manufacturing is encompassed with various tools/techniques to achieve leanness in the manufacturing systems. One of the important tools of lean manufacturing is value stream mapping (VSM). VSM is an approach that is capable of tracking wastes existing in the manufacturing processes (Hines et al., 1998; Seth and Gupta, 2005; Lasa et al., 2008). It is a functional method aimed at reorganising manufacturing system with a vision of achieving leanness in practice (McDonald et al., 2002; Lasa et al., 2008). In this context, this paper reports a research project that has been carried out in an Indian camshaft manufacturing organisation. The emphasis is that the majority of the Indian manufacturing organisations are currently implementing lean manufacturing concepts (Anand and Kodali, 2008). Lean manufacturing techniques such as 5S, Kanban, Kaizen and total productive maintenance (TPM) are currently under implementation. On the other hand, the implementation of VSM is found to be feeble. In this context, this case study has been carried out. In the case study presented in this paper, it has been shown that the wastes such as inventory and defects have been reduced which improves the production time. In order to accomplish this task, the managers of the organisation have to implement approaches like 5S, Poka-Yoke, etc. Thus, VSM helps the managers to visualise the wastes occurring in the organisation and the future possibility of reducing/eliminating them. The experiences gained as a result of the conduct of this case study will be presented in the subsequent sections of this paper.\n2 Literature review: The literature has been reviewed from two perspectives namely principles and applications of lean manufacturing and application aspects of VSM.2.1 Literature review on lean manufacturing\n3 Research methodology: The methodology followed during this research project is shown in Figure 1.As shown, the literature review has been performed on lean manufacturing and VSM. This is followed by the selection of an appropriate manufacturing organisation for carrying out the implementation study. After identifying the organisation, the existing products as well as the processes followed by the organisation for manufacturing the products has been studied. Then the current state map has been developed after collecting the relevant data. Then the current state map has been analysed and various improvement proposals for improving the leanness of the organisation has been formulated and discussed with the company executives to develop the future state map. After the development of future state map, various inferences that would improve value addition of the processes have been derived based on the experiences of the conduct of the case study.\n4 Case study: This section deals with details about case company, background details of case study, product selection, current state map and future state map.4.1 About the case company\n5 Results and discussions: 5.1 Industrial impact\n6 Managerial implications: Owing to intensive competition, modern managers are realizing that cost reduction will pave the way for price reduction, which will help them to compete in the market. This exercise can be achieved through lean manufacturing which leads to waste elimination. But, modern managers find it difficult to identify the key areas and practices, which can be considered as the candidate for waste elimination. In order to carry out this task, the field of lean manufacturing has offered VSM as a tool. Using this tool, it is possible to map the current status and subsequently analyse for achieving waste elimination. In order to illustrate this aspect, the case study presented in this paper has shown the way the managers can use VSM for identifying the candidate areas for applying this waste elimination practice. In the case study presented in this paper, it has been shown that the wastes such as inventory and defects can be reduced which in turn improves the production time. In order to accomplish this task, the managers of CeeYes have to implement approaches like 5S, PokaYoke, etc. Thus, VSM helps the managers to visualise the present level of wastes occurring in the organisation and the future possibility of reducing/eliminating them.\n7 Conclusions: The manufacturing organisations are forced to adopt new manufacturing paradigms based on the two key decision variables namely product complexity and market turbulence. Lean manufacturing is focussed on the reconfiguration and restructuring of business processes based on waste elimination, thereby enabling cost reduction (Brown and Bessant, 2003; Barber and Tietje, 2008; Lasa et al., 2008). VSM is one of the most important lean manufacturing techniques which is capable of tracking the wastes existing in the manufacturing processes (Lummus et al., 2006; Hines et al., 1999). In this context, this paper reports a case study that is focussed on the development of VSM for shafts. Various proposals from the perspective of leanness improvement namely 5S, fool proofing, stage inspection, WIP reduction, IT-enabled logistics systems have been derived. It has been found that the proposals on implementation has contributed to the significant reduction of lead time, total cycle time, work in progress, defects as well as appreciable improvement in uptime and on time delivery. Based on the practical validation conducted, it could be claimed that VSM is an effective lean manufacturing technique, which could be deployed in industrial scenario for enabling improvement in leanness, thereby facilitating organisations to achieve competitiveness. Also, VSM helped the managers of CeeYes to visualise the wastes occurring in the organisation and the future possibility of reducing/eliminating them.7.1 Limitations and future research direction\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to apply value stream mapping (VSM) for enabling leanness in an Indian camshaft manufacturing organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Literature on lean manufacturing and VSM has been performed. A suitable organisation has been identified for conducting the case study. The current state map has been developed after making necessary observations and calculations. Then various improvement proposals have been identified and the future state map has been developed.\nFindings: - The industrial impact as a result of implementing the proposals has been determined. The improvement in leanness parameters has been found.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The implementation study has been conducted in only one organisation. But the organisation has implemented world-class strategies such as ISO quality management system. Hence, the experiences gained by the conduct of this implementation study are feasible and deployable in similar organisations.\nPractical implications: - In order to acquire lean characteristics, modern organisations are focussed on the test implementation of various lean tools. The results of the implementation study indicated significant improvement in lean characteristics.\nOriginality/value: - The implementation study reported in this paper is an original contribution of the authors, which has been conducted in a typical Indian industrial scenario. By the virtue of its research background and practical compatibility, the implementation study is considered to be highly valuable.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
University startups and special legislations: Genesis and developments in the United States of America, Japan and India
|
[
"Entrepreneurship",
"Bayh Dole Act",
"Legislations",
"University startups"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Till recent times, universities have been engaged primarily in teaching and research. The dual responsibilities of both teaching and research undoubtedly contributed to the advancement of mankind through creation of knowledge, creating the foundation for further progress in established knowledge, pushing the boundaries of knowledge frontiers, creating ground for modern industries and supplying adept manpower to facilitate the industries in production of economic profits.\n2. Literature review: University technology commercialization efforts in the world are relatively new. The movement began in the nineteenth century in Germany, where several chemistry professors founded companies on the basis of their technological developments and knowledge developed in various universities. One of the first university startups was established by Professor Jahann Pickel, who successfully commercialized his research and produced salts, potash and acetic acid on the basis of the same. Similarly, Justus von Liebig's startup manufactured chemical fertilizers based on technology developed in the university (Gustin, 1975).\n3. Defining university startups: Recent advancements in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and interest by large economies of the world have increased the scholarly work in the area manifold types. A number of scholars from functional disciplines of management have now started to suggest \"entrepreneurship\" as their core research area (Davila et al., 2014). Startups are made a generic term to represent enterprises which have the potential of scaling up fast. For the purpose of this paper, we first try and understand the definitions proposed by other scholars for university spinoffs and university spinouts and then propose a definition of university startups. University spinout according to Smilor and colleagues is a company formed by individuals who were former employees of a parent organization and is based on a core technology that is transferred from the parent organization (Smilor et al., 1990). Nicolaou and Birley (2003) proposed another definition of university spinouts suggesting university spinoffs must include the transfer of a core technology from an academic institution into a new company and the founding member(s) may include the inventor academic(s) who may or may not be currently affiliated with the academic institution. According to Klofsten and Jones-Evans (2000, p. 300), university spinoff is \"[a] new firm or organization to exploit the results of the university research\". Looking at these definitions, we propose an operational definition of university startups as a new company which evolves from an academic research and has prospects of scaling up initially by using the resources of the university.\n4. Contextual factors leading to university startups: University startups are a resultant of several factors. These factors include strong networks and social ties of founders (Perez and Sanchez, 2003), evolution of technology trajectories (Lowe, 1993), access to capital (Shane, 2004), rigidity or flexibility of academic labor market (Goldfarb and Henrekson, 2003) and industrial infrastructure and resource presence in the area (Shane, 2004). Networks and social ties of founders are considered to be important because founders discuss operational and business aspects of a venture at every stage with their network. Knowledge and access to supply and distribution networks is often seen to be easier in the case of founders having strong network and social ties (Greve and Salaff, 2003). As Lowe (1993) suggested in his conceptual framework, it is well established that one of the factors leading to university startups is technology trajectory. Technology trajectory within a country which is still in the evolution phase and where innovation is radical, there is a higher chance of success of university startup. As startups require additional technical and market development in the early stage, they require external capital. Formation of university startups is more likely in places where availability of capital at the seed stage is easier than in places where capital is difficult to find. Another factor that determines the formation of university startups is rigidity or flexibility of the academic labor market. It has been established that when labor markets are rigid, academics cannot move back and forth between the academic and the industry, leading to reluctance among faculty to become commercially oriented and creating a university startup. Industrial infrastructure heavily influences the choice of establishing a university startup. Empirical evidences suggest that university startups are more common in places which have achieved infrastructure advancement and have experienced managers, suppliers and channel partners.\n5. Economics of university startups: Economically, in terms of creation of financial value, university startups generate significant impact (Cohen, 2000). This in turn leads to substantial funds for industry-oriented research and development at universities which have startup activity (Golub, 2003). Not only for the university, but these startups have been equally important for the local community as well. They provide employment opportunities, source inputs from the community, provide better solutions and thereby create a multiplier effect on the overall economic development (Lowe, 2002). In addition to this, it has also been observed that university startups attract various other types of entities like venture capital firms and private equity firms and other service agencies that lead to the creation of clusters (Di Gregorio and Shane, 2003). These clusters act as hubs of economic activity, add substantial value and have hence become important for the local and national developmental interests.\n6. Legislations around university startups: three-country perspective: This section attempts to understand and critically analyze the legislations around university startups in three countries, namely, the USA, Japan and India. The reason for this selection is the advancement and well-documented distinctiveness of US universities in creation of high-tech companies (Utterback, 1994). Recently, it has been noted that Japan has emerged as one of the important destinations for university startups and university startup founders (Kondo, 2004). Japan followed a path much similar to the USA in the advancement of university startups and gave tremendous support to university research, allowing them to commercialize specially post 2001. In the case of India, university startups are still a very new phenomenon, and as there is an Asian model of Japan to be followed and also the US model of distinctively supporting university startups, this comparative perspective would add to the theoretical understanding from an emerging country perspective in general and India in particular.\n7. Conclusion: Our research has shown that the intention of the legislature and the laws that they enact forms a critical part of the ecosystem in which university startups can be created and develop. The potential of such enterprises was not identified and tapped into till the early 1980s when the American legislature took notice and enacted the Bayh Dole Act of 1980. The Act brought in several positive changes to the research conducted, disclosed and utilized in universities. By mandating utilization and creating timelines for researchers to seek out commercial opportunities for the results, the Act succeeded in harnessing the commercial value locked in state-funded research conducted in universities. Not all research outcomes were transferred to the industry. In fact, many of the researchers engaged in cutting-edge technologies went on to establish university startups. By 2012, there were 6,000 such startups contributing to the local and national economy by ways of creating jobs, new products and, moreover, better opportunities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims at exploring the role of legislations in university startups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Systematic review of legislations in three countries, namely, the USA, Japan and India, has been carried out to assimilate the role of special legislations in university startups.\nFindings: The findings of the study reveal the important role that legislations can play in bringing out more university startups. Legislations not only protect the interest of the founder but also provide a cushion to explore further opportunities.\nResearch limitations/implications: The implications for the makers of the legislations and policies start with the understanding that conducive legislations can help the founders to take up the challenge of starting a commercial entity out of research output.\nOriginality/value: The study adds to the limited literature connecting university startups and legislations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The relationships among work-family conflict, turnover intention and organizational citizenship behavior in the hospitality industry of Taiwan
|
[
"Service industries",
"Human resource management",
"Employee turnover",
"Employee participation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Under the pressure of global competition, the human resource is the critical factor in an organization striving to maintain a competitive edge (Wright et al., 2001). This is especially true for the hospitality industry, as it is well-known for its long and irregular working hours, heavy workloads (Karatepe, 2010; Karatepe and Aleshinloye, 2009) and incompatible work and family demands (Karatepe and Baddar, 2006; Karatepe and Sokmen, 2006; Namasivayam and Zhao, 2007), which are direct precursors to work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC; e.g. McNamara et al., 2011). Many studies have examined the relationship between high WFC/FWC and potential outcomes, such as higher levels of emotional exhaustion, higher turnover intentions (TIs) and lower job performances (Amstad et al., 2011; Sharma et al., 2010; Shockley and Singla, 2011; Tsaur and Tang, 2012). Therefore, the investigation of the relationship between WFC and TI is a critical issue for human resource management in the hospitality industry.\n2. Overview and hypotheses: 2.1 The relationship between WFC and TI\n3. Method: 3.1 The research structure\n4. Results and discussions: 4.1 Measurement detection\n5. Conclusion and suggestions: The policy of tourism development has been promoted proactively by Taiwan's Government in recent years, and with the rapid growth of the hospitality industry, service employees face a high degree of work-related pressure. However, there are insufficient studies that investigate the relationships among WFC, TI and OCB with respect to hospitality service employees. A review of the literature indicates that employees involved in conflicts between work and family are more likely to exhibit turnover behavior to achieve balance. Furthermore, as both WFC and TI affect OCB, WFC and FWC served as antecedent variables in this study to investigate the influence on employees' TI and OCB. The results indicate that the greater the individual's WFC and FWC, the greater the tendency for turnover. Thus, H1 and H2 are supported. Additionally, the results indicate that the higher the degree of WFC and FWC, the lower the degree of OCB, thus, H3 and H4 are supported. H5, which claims that as higher TI is correlated with dissatisfaction and the desire to \"break away,\" OCB declines, was also supported by the data analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The hospitality industry is well-known for its high turnover rate and shift work, both of which are direct precursors to work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC). The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of WFC and FWC on turnover intention (TI) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) via literature reviews and empirical analyses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research data were collected using questionnaire surveys from employees working in the hospitality industries in Taiwan. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part, which was conducted by interviewers, included questions about WFC/FWC and TI, and the second part, which was completed by pairing the respondents' answers with observations of supervisors, explored OCB. There were 325 effective samples collected. Reliability and validity were confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Sample properties were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis, and the relationship among control variables, predictor variables and outcome variables were explored via correlation analysis, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. Finally, the study hypotheses were verified by structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The paper attempted to identify the relationships among WFC/FWC, TI and OCB. The results revealed that: WFC and FWC were positively related to TI; WFC and FWC were negatively related to OCB; and TI was negatively related to OCB.\nPractical implications: While the policy of tourism development has been promoted proactively by Taiwan's Government in recent years, there are insufficient studies describing the relationships among WFC, TI and OCB with respect to hospitality employees. The findings from this study may contribute to human resource management and strategy development.\nOriginality/value: Because OCB is minimally regarded as an outcome variable, the results of this study support the relationships among OCB, WFC/FWC and TI. The results of this study will be of great benefit to supervisors as they seek to manage effectively human resources and improve and control the relationships among OCB, WFC/FWC and TI. The findings will also be of benefit to future studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Business impact of executive coaching: demonstrating monetary value
|
[
"Management development",
"Coaching",
"Return on investment",
"Training evaluation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Executive coaching is one of many executive development services offered by Booz Allen's learning and development organization, the Center for Performance Excellence (Center). The Executive Coaching Program enables senior leaders to quickly engage with an executive coach to accomplish their development goals. It also ensures quality and consistency of the coaching provided to senior leaders through out the firm.\nStep 1. Understand business expectations: 1. Ten officers from across the firm's Worldwide public sector business were interviewed2. Eight areas of potential business impact were expected from at least six of the ten (60 percent) officers included in the study:* Increased productivity.* Increased diversity.* Retention of leadership talent.* Increased team member satisfaction.* Accelerated senior leader promotions.* Increased client satisfaction.* Improved teamwork.* Increased quality of consulting services.\nStep 2. Document learning and impact: 1. An on-line survey was designed and distributed to all public sector principals and officers.2. Respondents stated that coaching assisted them in the development of three main competencies:* Leadership behavior (82 percent).* Building teams (41 percent).* Developing staff (36 percent).1. Respondents were very satisfied with coaching:* 86 percent rated coaching as very effective;* 95 percent are doing things differently as a result of coaching; and* 95 percent would recommend coaching to other Booz Allen staff.1. Not all respondents sourced their coach through the Center's Executive Coaching Program.\nStep 3. Exploring intangible and monetary benefits: 1. A total of 43 individuals were identified as having worked with a coach over the course of a year.2. A total of 28 respondents volunteered to provide additional information on their coaching experience (26 out of 28 volunteers were interviewed. Costs incurred by the 43 people known to have been coached were included in the ROI calculation).3. Interviews focused on how senior leaders applied their coaching to create value according to one or more of the eight business impact areas:* Increased productivity.* Increased diversity.* Retention of leadership talent.* Increased team member satisfaction.* Accelerated senior leader promotions.* Increased client satisfaction.* Improved teamwork.* Increased quality of consulting services.\nData collection and analysis procedures: 1. A total of 26 senior leader interviews were conducted by Center staff members and MetrixGlobal.2. Respondents described specific actions they took as a result of their coaching experience.3. Recognizing that other factors besides coaching may have influenced these actions, the effects of coaching were isolated as follows:* interviewees were asked to identify a monetary value for each benefit;* interviewees were asked to estimate (on a percentage basis) how much of the monetary benefit was attributable to coaching; and* interviewees were asked how confident they were in their estimates (on a percentage basis).\nFindings: 1. After the effects of coaching were isolated:* Monetary benefits were discounted by the isolation (interviewees were asked how much of the value did they attribute directly to their coaching experience) and error percentages.* Two extreme values were eliminated from the analysis, each totaling over a half million dollars.* All monetary benefits were summarily reduced by an additional 50 percent to ensure an extra conservative set of monetary benefits.Example: improved team work\nThe results - close to 700 percent return on investment (ROI): 1. Monetary benefits were identified by 61 percent of the leaders in seven of the eight business impact areas.2. Total monetary benefits=$3,268,325.3. Four impact areas were identified as having produced at least $500,000 of annualized benefit to the business:* Improved teamwork ($981,980).* Quality of consulting ($863,625).* Retention ($626,456).* Team member satisfaction ($541,250).1. Total cost of coaching=$414,310* Cost number was fully loaded with costs associated with administering and managing coaching, fees to the coaches, opportunity costs, etc.The ROI calculation formula is:(($3,268,325 -$414,310)/414,310) x 100=689%.\nSummary: 1. Officers who were interviewed about their expectations for executive coaching identified eight business impact areas:* Improved teamwork.* Team member satisfaction.* Increased retention.* Increased productivity.* Increased quality of consulting.* Accelerated promotions.* Increased client satisfaction.* Increased diversity.1. Coaching produced intangible and monetary benefits for all business impact areas except diversity.2. ROI of $3,268,325 (close to 700 percent).\nRecommendations: Attaining business benefits requires taking a more proactive stance in how coaching is managed:* Officer interview data supported centralized management of executive coaching by the Center for Performance Excellence - Qualification, engagement, conduct, evaluation and cost management/tracking of all coaching managed by the Center.* Ongoing measurement of the value of coaching should be linked to the achievement of specific business objectives and value propositions set by Booz Allen officers.* Periodic reviews of progress and business outcomes will suggest ways to increase business value and meet senior leader expectations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the business impact of executive coaching and enhance the utilization of coaching throughout the firm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The ROI study consisted of a three-step process: understand the business value expected by the firm's senior leadership; document what staff have learned from coaching; explore how staff applied what they learned from coaching to create intangible and monetary value for the business.\nFindings: - After the effects of coaching were isolated: monetary benefits were discounted by the isolation (interviewees were asked how much of the value did they attribute directly to their coaching experience) and error percentages; two extreme values were eliminated from the analysis, each totaling over half a million dollars; all monetary benefits were reduced by an additional 50 percent to ensure a conservative set of monetary benefits; Coaching produced intangible and monetary benefits for seven out of eight business impact areas; and ROI of $3,268,325 (689 percent)\nPractical implications: - Attaining business benefits requires taking a more proactive stance in how coaching is managed: ongoing measurement of the value of coaching should be linked to the achievement of specific business objectives and value propositions set by Booz Allen officers; periodic reviews of progress and business outcomes will suggest ways to increase business value and meet senior leader expectations.\nOriginality/value: - Provides leaders of executive development programs with an approach to assess the monetary value of executive coaching.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"Sites of control and resistance": outlaw emotions in an out-of-school book club
|
[
"Teaching literature",
"Literacy and identity",
"Culturally sustaining ELA",
"Emotion as literary response",
"Literacy and emotion",
"Outlaw emotion"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As I set down the final steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of Faith[1] at the coffee shop table, I checked in with the three youth huddled over their drinks. I reached into my backpack and grabbed my copy of Aristotle and Dante, peppered with green and pink highlights and post-it notes. The young women[2] almost immediately picked up their own copies and thumbed through the pages. Smiling with them and uncertain of any other way to begin, I settled rather anticlimactically on this rambling opener:\nTheoretical framework: \"Emotions bear the marks of the society that constructed them\" (Jaggar, 1989, p. 159).\nReview of relevant scholarship: Emotion and culturally sustaining literacy classrooms\nMethods: I used ethnographic methods (Emerson et al., 2011) and humanizing research (Paris and Winn, 2014; Paris, 2011) to guide this inquiry. Drawing from ethnographic, qualitative, and social language research (p. 137), humanizing research often utilizes interviews, participant observation, and field notes while also prioritizing relationship-building and \"dialogic consciousness raising\" between researchers and participants (Paris, 2011, p. 137). I hoped to discuss outlaw emotions in response to the text in ways that were dialogic and co-constructed, in that the youth participants were not the only ones deconstructing emotions and its rules, but that I was doing so alongside them. As Paris attests, this focus on dialogic-consciousness raising and relationship building is not only ethical, it also \"increases the validity of truths\" made possible through research (p. 137). I argue that, for researchers and ELA educators to deconstruct societal constructions of \"outlaw emotions\" with youth through literature, relationship-building and trust are vital.\nFindings: While members of subordinate groups are expected to be emotional, their anger will not be tolerated (Jaggar, 1989, p. 264).\nDiscussion and implications: In this article, I sought to understand how youth responded with outlaw emotions to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and how such responses demonstrated emotions as sites of control and resistance. While emotion in ELA classrooms is often relegated to \"personal responses\" to literature, all responses to literature are already rife with emotion.\nConclusion: CSP and emotions were a helpful framework for me to see the positive and negative outlaw emotions present in our literature discussion group, and how analyses of such emotions can help students liberate themselves from dominant, oppressive ideologies. This study may help teachers encourage analyses of emotional responses to literature with their students in order to construct a critical, culturally sustaining ELA framework. Emotions in ELA classrooms can be analyzed as \"public text\" that help students \"rethink normative conceptions of emotion\" and view emotions as \"part and parcel of our intellectual work\" (Stenberg, 2011, p. 360). Moreover, analyzing emotions in ELA classrooms can prove beneficial for another tenet of CSP: the refusal of deficit views of students (Paris and Alim, 2014). By privileging students' emotional responses to literature, ELA teachers can encourage students to see how their experiences are valuable, worthy of sustenance and provide profound intellectual insights for their construction of their worldviews.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how three young women of color responded with \"outlaw emotions\" to the novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz in a literature discussion group. This paper considers how readers respond with outlaw emotions and how responses showed emotions as sites of control and resistance. The aim of this paper is to help English language arts (ELA) teachers construct culturally sustaining literature classrooms through an encouragement of outlaw emotions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To examine how youth responded with emotion to Aristotle and Dante, the author used humanizing and ethnographic research methodologies and conducted a thematic analysis of meeting transcripts, journal entries from youth and researcher memos.\nFindings: Analyses indicated that youth responded with outlaw emotions to Aristotle and Dante, and these responses showed how youth have both resisted and been controlled by structures of power. Youth responses of supposed \"positive\" or \"negative\" emotion were sites of control and resistance, particularly within their educational experiences. Youth engaged as a peer group to encourage and validate outlaw emotions and indirectly critiqued emotion as control.\nOriginality/value: Although many scholars have demonstrated the positive effects of out-of-school book clubs, there is scant research regarding how youth respond to culturally diverse literature with emotion, both outlaw and otherwise. Analyzing our own and characters' outlaw emotions may help ELA educators and students deconstruct dominant ideologies about power, language and identity. This study, which demonstrates how youth responded with outlaw emotions and gave evidence of emotions as control and resistance, shows how ELA classrooms might encourage outlaw emotions as literary response. These findings suggest that ELA classrooms attempting culturally sustaining pedagogies might center youth emotion in responding to literature to critique power structures across the self, schools and society.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Theory of constraints: a theory for operations management
|
[
"Operations management",
"Management philosophy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In the quest to improve manufacturing performance, a number of broad-based operations management philosophies, e.g. total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT), or lean manufacturing (LM), theory of constraints (TOC), and more recently, six sigma (SS) and supply chain management (SCM) have been proposed in the literature and are being implemented in practice. It is widely held that the successful implementation of these philosophies requires systems thinking, functional integration, and flatter organizational structures. From the operations manager's perspective, these practices require managers to work on cross-functional implementation teams and participate in cross-functional decision-making processes. To do so, managers need a common language, the language of theory (Handfield and Melnyk, 1998). Areas such as marketing, finance, strategy, and organizational behavior are well grounded in theory-development methods but the need for theory-building, testing, and modification in operations management (OM) has been widely recognized (Meredith et al., 1989; Flynn et al., 1990; Swamidass, 1991; McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993).Westbrook (1995) suggested that OM academics must embrace creative tension between theory and practice and must develop new theories from the observation of actual practices. Theory development remains the most fertile research area in the field of operations management (Westbrook, 1995; Pannirselvam et al., 1999). A number of attempts have been made to develop and propose theories and theory-like principles of operations management. These attempts include: trade-off theory (Skinner, 1969), the process-product matrix (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1979), the customer-contact model (Chase and Tansik, 1983), the TOC (Goldratt and Cox, 1984; Boyd and Gupta, 2004), the cumulative theory (Ferdows and DeMeyer, 1990), the theory of production competence (Cleveland et al., 1989; Vickery, 1991), priority management theory (Westbrook, 1994), the theory of TQM (Flynn et al., 1994; Handfield and Melnyk, 1998), the theory of swift and even flow, and the theory of performance frontiers (Schmenner and Swink, 1998). This list is not exhaustive but rather an attempt to highlight major initiatives undertaken in the academic OM literature. Schmenner and Swink (1998) further suggested that these theories in operations management should be carefully examined, refined and, if warranted, abandoned.In this paper, we examine the TOC as a unifying theory in operations management. A significant number of journal articles have been written:* to trace the history of optimized production technology, the predecessor to TOC (Goldratt, 1988; Fry et al., 1992) as well as that of TOC (Gardiner and Blackstone, 1994, Watson et al., 2007);* to review the basic concepts of TOC (Ronen and Starr, 1990; Fawcett and Pearson, 1991);* to categorize TOC concepts and terms (Spencer and Cox, 1995);* to review TOC literature (Rahman, 1998; Balderstone and Mabin, 1998) and successful applications (Mabin and Balderstone, 2003, Kim et al., 2008);* to demonstrate applications of TOC in various areas such as SCM, enterprise resource planning, sales and marketing, human resource management (Blackstone, 2001), and strategic planning (Gupta et al., 2004)* to highlight its current applications (Gupta, 2003); and* to place it among extant operations research/management science methodologies (Davies et al., 2005).From a review of these articles, we conclude that the basic concepts of TOC have been fully described and have not changed significantly over the past decade or so. TOC terms are summarized in two dictionaries - Blackstone and Cox (2008) and Sullivan et al. (2007).Boyd and Gupta (2004) established TOC as a theory by clearly identifying the underlying construct \"throughput orientation\" along with its three dimensions: Mindset, Measures and Methodology. This paper goes beyond that by showing that TOC can serve as a unifying theory in operations management. A major contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how existing principles and concepts of OM (sometimes referred to as a tool kit) discussed in the published literature can be viewed as an integrated whole (Section 2). In addition, for researchers to accept TOC as a theory in OM, they must see that it meets the established criteria for a good theory. We believe that the second major contribution of this paper is showing that TOC meets these criteria (Section 3). Thus, the current paper further extends the existing body of TOC literature and also fills a gap identified in the OM theory development literature.\n2 A theory of constraints-based framework for operations management: The Section 1 mentions a number of theories in OM, none of which is comprehensive or serves to integrate the wide variety of concepts or methods considered part of OM. Several schemes or approaches (e.g. structural and infrastructural; long-, intermediate-, and short-term; tactical and strategic; and more recently, designing and planning the supply chain) have been proposed to classify OM concepts; however none of them provides an underlying theory that shows how the concepts and methods of OM are interrelated. A brief review of OM textbooks authored by leading OM scholars (Chase et al., 2006; Slack et al., 2006; Krajewski et al., 2007; Stevenson, 2007; Heizer and Render, 2008; Schroeder, 2008) reveals that the organization of OM concepts appears to differ among books based on each author's preference rather than differences in underlying theory[1]. The books almost always cover certain topics, including operations strategy, measures of operational performance or operations priorities, and major OM decisions. Schroeder (2008) organizes his textbook around the four categories of operations decisions: processes, quality, capacity and inventory. We will combine the three dimensions of TOC and Schroeder's four categories in order to structure the discussion of the relationship between TOC and traditional OM concepts. In this section, we demonstrate that the three dimensions of TOC - mindset, measures and methodology - can be viewed as a framework for OM (Table I).2.1 Operations strategy and organizational mindset\n3 The theory-development process as applied to TOC: As noted by Lewis (1998), prior to beginning a theory development project, theorists should explicitly state their criteria for a theory and their methods for developing a theory (Bourgeois, 1979; Eisenhardt, 1989). The following quote provides a glimpse of the rationale used by Goldratt (1990a, pp. 23-7) in the development of TOC:Each science goes through three quite distinct and radically different stages of development. In each stage every science completely changes its perspective, nomenclature and even its intrinsic premise [...] The three stages that every science has gone through are: classification, correlation and effect-cause-effect (emphasis added). [...] There are often some practical applications from this (first) stage but the major contribution is usually to create the basic terminology of the subject. The second step - correlation - is usually much more rewarding. It supplies us with procedures that are powerful enough to make some practical predictions about the future [...] But the most important stage-the one that is by far more powerful because it enables us to create things in nature-is the stage of effect-cause-effect. Only at this stage is there a widely accepted recognition that the subject is actually a science.Goldratt (1992) has developed a set of tools, formally known as the thinking processes (current reality tree, evaporating cloud, future reality tree, prerequisite tree and transition tree), for analyzing cause and effect relationships. Davies et al. (2005) explore the theoretical underpinnings of the TOC thinking processes by comparing them with existing classificatory frameworks in operational research/management science. Davies et al. conclude that the thinking processes \"share the ontological and epistemological characteristics and assumptions of extant OR/MS methodologies.\" In their text book, Cox et al. (2003) show excellent examples of the application of the thinking process tools to operations decisions. Although the thinking processes are very powerful methods of developing generic solutions in operations and other areas, we contend that it is the fundamental concepts of TOC that constitute a theory of operations management.Table II uses MRP, JIT, and TOC as examples of the three stages in the theory-development process. According to Goldratt (1990a), the purpose of science or the theory development process is to identify a minimum number of assumptions that will enable us to explain, by direct logical deduction, the maximum number of natural phenomena. In TOC, one assumption is postulated (i.e. the goal of an organization can be measured by throughput, inventory, and operating expenses), then everything else is derived logically from this assumption and from the fact that constraint(s) limit a system from achieving higher performance.Other questions that arise in the theory development process are:* what constitutes, or does not constitute, a theory? (Lewis, 1998; Bourgeois, 1979; Eisenhardt, 1989; Wacker, 1998);* how should a theory be evaluated? (Whetten, 1989); and* what are the basic characteristics of an operations management theory? (Schmenner and Swink, 1998). In this section, we address these questions with respect to TOC.3.1 Components of a good theory\n4 Conclusion: Kuhn, in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, noted that paradigm shifts in science are often accomplished by newcomers to the field adopting new concepts and methods and practitioners of the old paradigm dying off, with little \"conversion\" of practitioners from the old to the new paradigm. We believe that TOC offers a new paradigm in operations management, one that replaces an over-riding concern for efficiency with achievement of the organization's goal as the primary concern of operations management. We hope that adoption of this new paradigm will involve more conversion and less dying off than many of Kuhn's examples from the history of science. To this end, we have provided in this paper:* a discussion of the relationships between TOC and traditional OM concepts; and* an analysis of TOC from the standpoint of theory development.Our purpose is to demonstrate to those who teach or research in operations management that TOC provides a broad framework for viewing the relationship between operations management and the whole firm, that TOC concepts address many of the traditional concepts of operations management from a more unified perspective, and that a strong argument can be made that TOC is a viable theory of operations management.Generally, theories are developed from valid, operationalizable constructs related in a logically consistent manner, enabling empirical testing. Review of the literature, data from case studies, and personal assumptions/experiences form the bases of most theory development methods (McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993; Lewis, 1998). In order for TOC to take on the role of a unifying theory of operations management, several things must happen:* researchers must empirically test the theory of TOC;* the implications of TOC across the firm, and particularly its impact on other functional areas such as accounting and marketing, must be studied and developed; and* authors of operations management textbooks must take a broader view of TOC and address a wider variety of operations concepts and issues from a TOC point of view.Although efforts have been directed to accomplish these goals as pointed out in this paper, a number of research opportunities remain to be exploited in the near future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the theory of constraints (TOC) can serve as a general theory in operations management. The paper first investigate linkages between TOC and the core concepts/components of operations management (OM) and show how OM concepts can be integrated with TOC using examples from the published TOC literature. A second important purpose is to show that TOC, as a theory, has properties essential for a good theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using a commonly accepted categorization of operations decisions (process, quality, inventory and capacity), traditional views, and approaches to operations decisions to those inherent in the TOC are compared.\nFindings: - The paper concludes that the TOC provides approaches to operations decisions that avoid pitfalls of local optimization by reaching across functional boundaries in organizations. In addition, while the TOC appears to meet the criteria of a good theory, it has not been empirically tested for the most part.\nOriginality/value: - The TOC can serve as a unifying theory or theme for operations management, providing new insights for researchers and an organizing principle for teachers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Human resource management strategies under uncertainty: How do US and Hong Kong Chinese companies differ?
|
[
"Human resource management",
"Uncertainty management",
"Labour market",
"Hong Kong",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An organization's human resource management (HRM) strategy may be a source of advantage that is difficult, if not impossible, for competitors to replicate or reverse engineer (Ferris et al., 1999; Schuler and Rogovsky, 1998; Teagarden and Von Glinow, 1997). In the past decade, theoretical perspectives about HRM strategy have been refined (Boxall and Purcell, 2000; Coff, 1997; Jackson and Schuler, 1995; Lepak and Snell, 1999; Wright and Snell, 1998) and some determinants underlying the use of different HRM approaches have been empirically investigated (Bae and Lawler, 2000; Delery and Doty, 1996; Fields et al., 2000; Gooderham et al., 1999; Huselid, 1995). Some studies have focused on the fit between a company's human resource (HR) and business strategies (Bird and Beechler, 1995; Youndt et al., 1996; Delery and Doty, 1996). Other studies have investigated the relationship of industrial, organizational, and environmental variables with HRM approaches (Fields et al., 2000; Gooderham et al., 1999; Jackson et al., 1989; Levin and Ng, 1995; Paik et al., 1996; Verma et al., 1995). A few studies have investigated the effects of culture on use of HRM strategies (Gooderham et al., 1999; Tregaskis, 1997), finding that the HRM strategies used by companies may reflect the cultural values of the managers and employees, (Boxall and Purcell, 2000; Gooderham et al., 1999; Hofstede, 1991; Schuler and Rogovsky, 1998; Westwood and Posner, 1997). However, the tendency of managers to use alternative HRM strategies in the face of environmental uncertainties, such as a shortage in the supply of labor, is relatively unexplored.\nTheoretical development: Alternative HRM strategies\nMethods: Sample of employers in Hong Kong\nResults: Table I presents the correlations among the study variables for US employers below the diagonal and correlations for Hong Kong employers above the diagonal.The mean correlation among the three HRM strategies is 0.25 for US employers and 0.22 for Hong Kong employers. Labor uncertainty is negatively correlated with all three HRM strategies for US companies but is positively correlated with emphasis on performance assessment and training and development for Hong Kong Chinese companies.We explored our expectations about the differences between Chinese and US companies in the use of HRM strategies by estimating moderated multiple linear regression models to predict the extent that companies from both countries emphasize internal labor markets, employee performance assessment, and training and developing. The moderator variable was calculated as the product of the indicator for Hong Kong companies and labor uncertainty. In each regression model, the control variables were entered first followed by labor uncertainty and the Hong Kong company indicator, and finally the interaction variable. The results are shown in Table II.In all three regressions, entering the interaction variable caused a significant change in fit of the regressions. The sign of the interaction variable is positive in all three regressions indicating that when faced with labor uncertainty, Chinese companies increased their use of the three HRM strategies more than US companies. A graph showing how emphasis on training and development varies for Chinese and US companies as labor uncertainty increases is shown in Figure 1. The patterns of the levels of emphasis on performance assessment and use of internal labor markets are very similar.\nDiscussion: This study investigated the extent to which Chinese and US companies tend to make use of three HRM strategies when faced with uncertainty in the supply of labor. Our data analysis supported the differences that we expected based on comparison of the cultural dimensions of Hong Kong and the USA. Specifically, in the face of labor uncertainty, Hong Kong Chinese companies increased their emphasis on training and development, performance monitoring and assessment, and use of an internal labor market.The results are intriguing given the scarcity of information about management decision-making patterns in companies located in cultures outside of the USA. For example, the threat-rigidity framework (Staw et al., 1981) predicts that when faced with threats from external sources, managers will tend to revert to behaviors and cognitive models that are readily accessed due to a manager's own previous experience in times of threat. For US companies, the threat-rigidity model predicts that organizations faced with threatening circumstances will tend to restrict information flow and centralize decision-making. However, these particular behaviors may reflect the individualistic perspective of USA. That is, the tendency to centralize control and limit information flow may be reactions that reflect an individualistic model that when thing get tough, one must be more self-reliant. Further, if other employees in the organization base their relation with the company on satisfaction of self-interest, limiting information flow may be seen as a hedge against these employees abandoning the organization for one that is less threatened. Our study results suggest that US firms faced with the threat of labor uncertainty seem to exhibit behaviors consistent with threat-rigidity response, reducing investment in employees and limiting the use of performance information.However, our results also suggest that the threat-rigidity response of Chinese companies may be considerably different. Other research has shown that managers from more individualistic cultures (USA and UK) tend to rely on their own experience and capabilities when faced with uncertainty, while Chinese managers tend to rely more on rules and procedures (Davis, 1997). It is possible that the threat-rigidity response in more collectivistic cultures like China is toward greater reliance on the organization and its members. In our study, this took the form of increasing investment in training and emphasizing performance assessment possibly to increase the visibility of the organization and trigger the moral connection of members.It is also possible that the responses of the companies reflect cultural differences in responses to the external environment. That is, Chattopadhyay et al. (2001) found that US organizations were more likely to undertake actions directed at targets outside of the organization when faced with threats that could lead to loss of resources. In the case of labor supplies, US organizations may have reduced their use of the three internally directed HRM strategies that we examined because they were directing more attention and resources into external interventions in an effort to overcome or alter the labor supply environment. The Hong Kong Chinese firms may have perceived chances of payoff to be larger from increasing commitment to the three internally directed HRM strategies. This response to external conditions that threaten loss of resources may also reflect cultural differences. Other research has suggested that USA may tend to view the external environment as a challenge that must be conquered, while Chinese may be more accepting of the external environment as a force that must be accommodated (Hofstede, 2001). This difference in view might lead Chinese organizations to attempt to deal with shortages in external labor supplies by increasing attention and efforts on retention and development of existing employees and wait for external conditions to change. The US organizations may reduce internal efforts in favor of alternative strategies intended to overcome the environmental conditions. Further exploration of cultural differences in the threat-rigidity response is an avenue that may lead us to much clearer understanding of how cultural differences are implemented in organizations.This study has some limitations. First, the data were collected in Hong Kong HRM managers were obtained in English. In most cases, English was the second language of the respondents. Thus, it is possible that the English language questions were interpreted in a cognitive framework that might vary were the same questions presented after translation into Chinese (Schmitt et al., 1994). In addition, the results reflect practices in each location during the mid-1990s and may not transfer to the present time. This study also focuses on HRM strategies affecting non-management personnel. While these employees are often the most numerous HRs in most organizations, our results cannot be generalized to HR practices affecting management employees.From a practical viewpoint, this study provides new information about how cultural differences may play out in business organizations. Our results may provide some insight into how competitors in a global marketplace may react to environmental uncertainties and greater resource dependence. Companies entering joint ventures with Chinese firms clearly need to be aware that cultural differences may be likely to play out in the way that managers from different backgrounds develop and implement responses to conditions of uncertainty. In addition, our results suggest that US companies establishing employment locations in more collectivistic settings need to consider approaches to handling times of labor uncertainty carefully, as more employees in the local market may be anticipating quite different responses from those that managers have implemented in more individualistic settings.\nCorresponding author: Dail Fields can be contacted at: dailfie@regent.eduOpens in a new window.Figure 1.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To compare the tendency of US and Hong Kong Chinese companies to utilize three alternative human resource management (HRM) strategies to offset uncertainties in the supply of labor.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected from 158 US and 66 Hong Kong Chinese companies concerning the extent to which these companies engaged in training and development, monitoring and assessment of employee performance, and staffing through an internal labor market. Data were also obtained concerning the uncertainty in the supply of qualified employees.\nFindings: - After controlling differences in industries and company size, the results show that, when faced with labor uncertainty, use of the three (HRM) strategies was increased by Hong Kong Chinese companies, but decreased by US companies.\nPractical implications: - This study provides new information about how cultural differences may play out in business organizations. The results may provide some insight into how competitors in a global marketplace may react to environmental uncertainties and greater resource dependence.\nOriginality/value: - This study fills a need to understand how organizations operating different cultural contexts differ in their reactions to uncertainties in the business environment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Barriers in contractual scope management of international development projects in Afghanistan
|
[
"Barriers",
"International construction",
"Afghanistan",
"Project management",
"Construction",
"International practice",
"Scope management",
"International development projects"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Decades of war and conflict have left Afghanistan in a severely dilapidated state. With the formation of the new government system in Afghanistan since the year 2002, various international organizations such as US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, etc., have invested in Afghanistan for different reconstruction projects in sectors such as irrigation, water supply, transportation, electricity, buildings, etc. Construction is a business that inherently involves significantly high levels of risk, yet it remains the instrument of choice for policymakers in international development (Ika et al., 2012). The resurrection of infrastructure in war-inflicted countries and the re-injection of life into their industries are substantial challenges for the numerous involved stakeholders, both international and domestic (Amirahmadi, 1990). The international agencies that arrived in Afghanistan understandably defaulted while trying to use the construction standards prevalent in their own countries, which they were familiar with. However, a holistic approach is required to understand the capabilities and limitations of the nation of Afghanistan as well as to potentially develop long-term sustainable solutions and best practices.\nBackground: International projects in Afghanistan\nUnderstanding barriers to contractual scope management: The scope management of a project primarily initiates from the scope definition stage, subsequently progressing to the selection of the appropriate procurement system and then landing on the effective control of any changes to the defined scope. Contractual scope management is a closely related function to project management that should ideally run parallel and throughout the entire duration of the project. While project management is a broad discipline that handles an overwhelming majority of planning and execution functions that power a project, contractual scope management has a narrow and specific focus. The primary character of contractual scope management is to operate as the barrier mitigation function that tries to pre-emptively identify barriers that may arise from changes in the scope of projects that have follow on impact to the complex matrix of contracts that form the legal and transactional framework under which the project operates and progresses forward.\nResearch approach: Understanding the barriers of scope management that the domestic contractors face while working on the international projects will help both entities to overcome any discrepancies and to have a successful endeavor. This paper focuses on the following major objectives:\nExperts' findings: The interviews of 14 experts, chosen for this study, lasted for an hour each. The responses to the well-defined, open-ended questions formulated from the extensive literature review were tape recorded and then the audio was transcribed into textual verbatim. The data were examined for keywords and statements for capturing the patterns that emerged. The barriers that were previously extracted from literature review were further analyzed and their significance in construction environment of Afghanistan was discussed. Finally, all the barriers to the effectiveness of scope management, which occur at different stages of the project, are tabulated in Table V. These barriers were categorized into five groups, as discussed below, and they reflected the different stages of a project.\nAnalysis and findings: The results and discussion on the findings of the four statistical tests of \"Cronbach's a,\" \"mean score,\" \"Kendall's test\" and \"independent sample t-test\" are illustrated below.\nDiscussion: This section discusses the critical findings of this paper and emphasizes on the most important stage of contractual scope management and the method to address the identified barriers. In this study, the most critical barriers were found to fall under \"scope completeness barriers.\" Inadequacies in site investigation reports are often caused due to the extended duration of the feasibility study period and the natural hard terrain of Afghanistan. Employing a local consulting firm with experience in Afghanistan could help mitigate this barrier. Attention should be given to the local insights, as it would result in an efficient site assessment as well as property acquisition process. A multi-disciplined team of geologists, engineers and local construction specialists should be employed to undertake a thorough geotechnical investigation.\nConclusion: The research work presented in this paper identifies the barriers to an effective contractual scope management as faced by the domestic contractors of Afghanistan while working with International agencies, namely, USACE, ADB, UNOPS, World Bank, etc. The Government of Afghanistan collaborated with these diverse international organizations for rebuilding the war-inflicted nation. However, understanding the impediments commonly faced by the domestic contractors is essential for the success of this collaborative effort. In total, 39 barriers were identified, which were divided into the groups of \"scope formulation,\" \"scope completeness,\" \"scope pricing,\" \"scope implementation\" and \"scope change control.\" The severity of these barriers in the Afghanistan construction industry was evaluated through an empirical questionnaire survey.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: For construction and management, the existing codes of practice of international organizations such as US Army Corps of Engineers, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Nations Office for Project Services, etc., often prove ineffective when applied in post-war countries like Afghanistan. Domestic contractors faced maximum challenges in contractual scope management, which was implemented by such organizations based on their existing codes of practice. The purpose of this paper is to understand these barriers in scope management as faced by the domestic contractors of Afghanistan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research employs a mixed methodology to cater to its objectives. Face-to-face structured interviews of 14 industry experts and extensive literature review were conducted to identify unique barriers pertaining to Afghanistan construction industry. Further, quantitative assessment of these barriers through the statistical tools of \"mean score ranking,\" \"Kendall's test\" and \"independent sample t-test\" was carried out to understand the severity of the barriers.\nFindings: In total, 39 unique barriers were identified under the groups of \"scope formulation,\" \"scope completeness,\" \"scope pricing,\" \"scope implementation\" and \"scope change control.\" The consequential impacts of these barriers and their existence at different stages of the project were illustrated. The most severe barriers were identified as the \"inadequacy of site investigation reports\" and the \"unavailability of resources in local markets.\"\nOriginality/value: The understanding of the challenges faced by local stakeholders, as highlighted by this study, can be utilized by these international organizations in their strategy and planning to ensure successful projects while also propagating the adoption of sustainable construction practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Abusive supervision, knowledge sharing, and individual factors: A conservation-of-resources perspective
|
[
"Knowledge sharing",
"Abusive supervision",
"Learning goal orientation",
"Self-enhancement motive",
"Conservation-of-Resources (COR)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Given the importance of knowledge in giving rise to a firm's competitive advantage in today's knowledge-based economy, it is not surprising that organizations are making efforts to develop effective knowledge management in order to encourage individuals to share their knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Pais and dos Santos, 2015; Quigley et al., 2007). However, considering that knowledge is a source of power (French and Raven, 1959), it is difficult to promote knowledge sharing among individuals as it may decrease the resources that are unique to knowledge providers (Frost and Morner, 2010). Furthermore, knowledge sharing is an effortful task that demands an adequate level of resources and time to perform (Szulanski, 2000). Thus, organizations must provide a sufficient level of resources or recognition to compensate for the risks involved in knowledge sharing among individuals (Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005; Wang and Noe, 2010). Leaders are organizational agents and key decision-makers; consequently, their behaviors could be an important factor in influencing the motivation and level of resources that employees can invest in knowledge sharing (Srivastava et al., 2006).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Abusive supervision and knowledge sharing\nMethod: Participants and procedures\nResults: The means, standard deviations, and correlations are given in Table I. We performed hierarchical regression analyses to test our hypotheses. As Table II indicates, H1, which proposed a negative relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge sharing, was supported; consistent with H1, the results indicated that abusive supervision and knowledge sharing had a significant negative relationship (b=-0.16, p0.01).\nDiscussion: In today's knowledge-based economy, employee knowledge sharing is crucial to ensure organizational effectiveness (Quigley et al., 2007). As a major influence in the workplace, supervisors can greatly affect employee knowledge-sharing behaviors (Srivastava et al., 2006). By applying COR theory, this research was intended to investigate the negative effect of abusive supervision on employee knowledge-sharing behaviors resulting from the depletion of subordinates' resources and the moderating role of employee factors in the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge sharing. Although abusive supervision discourages subordinates from sharing knowledge, its negative effects differ depending on individual characteristics and motivations. Our findings suggest that for individual employees with low levels of LGO or high levels of self-enhancement motive, the detrimental consequences of abusive supervision on knowledge sharing are worse.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: By applying conservation-of-resource (COR) theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of a leader's destructive behaviors, i.e., abusive supervision, on employee knowledge sharing and the moderating effects of learning goal orientation and self-enhancement motives on the aforementioned relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The hypotheses were tested using regression analysis on data from 245 employees in South Korea.\nFindings: The results showed that abused employees who experience depleted resources are likely to reduce their level of knowledge sharing, in accordance with COR theory. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that the negative effects of abusive supervision may differ depending on individual factors. Specifically, when an individual employee has low internal motivation or available resources for knowledge sharing (low learning orientation and high self-enhancement motive), the detrimental consequence of abusive supervision on knowledge sharing is worsened.\nPractical implications: The research suggests that managers should be aware of the deleterious effects of abusive supervision on knowledge sharing and should invest more time and effort in preventing abusive supervision in the workplace.\nOriginality/value: Although organizations might invest significant amounts of effort in knowledge sharing, abusive supervision could be a barrier that discourages employees' knowledge sharing. Yet, the strength of aforementioned relationship is dependent on individual factors. In order to achieve organizational effectiveness through knowledge sharing, the critical role of leaders' behavior and employees' characteristics or motivation should not be overlooked.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Customer relationship investment and relationship strength: evidence from insurance industry in China
|
[
"Customer relationships",
"Consumer innovativeness",
"Complaint propensity",
"Relationship investment",
"Relationship strength"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Exchanges in many service contexts involve long-term commitments and a continual stream of interaction between buyers and sellers (Lovelock, 1983). It is well documented that strong customer relationships enhance purchase intention and sales effectiveness in services industries (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Crosby and Stephens, 1987; Crosby et al., 1990; Barry et al., 2008; Dawes, 2009; Gregoire et al., 2009; De Canniere et al., 2010; Wang and Groth, 2014). Relationship investments have been shown to generate strong customer relationships (De Wulf et al., 2001; 2003; Yoon et al., 2008). As Yoon et al. (2008) pointed out that the best point of their models is to use a global construct, relationship quality to assess the strength of relationship between buyer and sellers\". They claimed that relationship quality (a combination of trust, commitment and satisfaction) was the best assessment. However, relationship quality as a construct has its intrinsic weaknesses. First, relationship quality has no clear definition itself. When Crosby et al. (1990) introduced it into the literature of relationship marketing, relationship quality was viewed as an undefined higher-order construct. And it has been used so far as an overall assessment of the strength of a relationship without specific definition (De Wulf et al., 2001; Liang et al., 2008; Palmatier, 2008). Second, without clear definition, it is difficult to talk about construct validity (Carnap, 1950); therefore, different researchers may include different dimensions for relationship quality. For example, Crosby et al. (1990) and Liang et al. (2008) consider relationship satisfaction and trust to be the dimensions of relationship quality; De Wulf et al. (2001) and Yoon et al. (2008) add relationship commitment besides satisfaction and trust, while Palmatier (2008) includes commitment, trust, reciprocity norms and exchange efficiency as the indicators of relationship quality. Scholars normally treated relationship strength as practically synonymous with relationship quality to describe the extent, degree or magnitude of a relationship between two parties in a commercial setting (Bove and Johnson, 2001; Aaker et al., 2004; Gregoire et al., 2009; De Canniere et al., 2010; Moore et al., 2012; Wang and Groth, 2014), while relationship strength has clear definition and valid measurement scale (Shi et al., 2009). Another weakness of the existing studies of customer relationship investments is the common method bias caused by the fact that all the variables are measured from the same source in terms of customer's self-report (De Wulf et al., 2001; Liang et al., 2008; Yoon et al., 2008). Although previous studies have investigated the impact of consumer characteristics on relationship marketing effectiveness (Beatty et al., 1996; Bendapudi and Berry, 1997), there is little research on moderation of consumer characteristics in studies of customer relationship investments.\nConceptual framework and hypotheses: Several studies have investigated the effects of service employees' attributes and relationship-building efforts on aspects of the service provider-customer relationship such as service domain expertise; similarity and appearance (Chen et al., 2008); relationship value; salesperson likeability and relational selling behavior (Shi et al., 2009); service provider perceived expertise (Spake and Megehee, 2010); and loyalty bonds including utilitarian bonds, affective bonds, symbolic bonds and obligatory bonds with consumers (Moore et al., 2012) as well as relationship investments, which have received more and more consideration in relationship marketing (Yoon et al., 2008). It was De Wulf and his colleagues who first attempted to test the utility of various relationship marketing strategies in a retailing context (De Wulf et al., 2001), and their results have received the most attention on this topic. De Wulf's group proposed a model representing how relationship marketing tactics affect seller-buyer relationships. They concluded that direct mail appeals, favorable treatment, interpersonal communication and tangible rewards all promoted consumers' perceptions of relationship investment and ultimately promoted relationship quality and consumer loyalty.\nMethodology: Research context\nResults: All of the scales demonstrated satisfactory levels of reliability (Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.72 to 0.86). A confirmatory factor analysis of the full measurement model showed that all of the indicators significantly loaded on their corresponding latent constructs (p < 0.01). The proposed model was then tested with the aid of the LISREL software package using the two-step model-building approach described by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). To reduce common method biases, the structural equation modeling used paired samples composed of exogenous variable data from the agent sample and other data from the client sample.\nDiscussion: Theoretical contributions\nLimitations and further research: Although it is a typical context for research on customer relationships in personal service industry (Crosby et al., 1990; Shi et al., 2009), China's insurance industry is, of course, a rather special context compared with other personal service industries such as legal consulting services, psychological counseling services, financial consulting services, medical services and beauty services. Life insurance is still a new idea in China and the market environment is dynamic and uncertain, with many new firms joining the industry. The study's findings must be generalized only with caution.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to elucidate how different relationship investment efforts by a service firm affect its customers' perceived relationship investment; to determine how perceived relationship investment influences various dimensions of relationship strength; and to explore the moderating effects of customer innovativeness and complaint propensity on the relationship between the perceived relationship investment and relationship strength.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To minimize common method variance, data were collected from pairs of life insurance agents in China and their clients using self-report questionnaires. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results indicate that customers value financial effort most followed by social effort and structural effort. Perceived relationship investment influences the affective strength most strongly, followed by cognitive strength and conative strength. Customer innovativeness and complaint propensity both moderate the effectiveness of perceived relationship investment in influencing two of the three dimensions of relationship strength.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to specify how service employees can guide consumer perceptions of relationship investment by applying three types of relationship investment effort. The impact of perceived relationship investment on different dimensions of relationship strength was assessed to demonstrate how service providers can benefit from investing in building consumer relationships. The moderating impact of consumer innovativeness and of complaint propensity was quantified. The research findings have important implications for managing different relationship investment as well as recruiting and training service employees.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An examination of feedback-seeking behaviors, the feedback source and career success
|
[
"Career development",
"Individual development",
"Performance appraisal",
"United Stated of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Practitioners are placing an increasing emphasis on continuous improvement and self-development in learning organizations while researchers have focused on identifying feedback environments that encourage employees to seek performance feedback at any time (Whitaker et al., 2007). However, research analyzing the effects of creating this kind of feedback environment on individual-level outcomes, such as individual career success is lacking. Increasingly, individuals are becoming more responsible for their own career development and may choose different proactive strategies to increase their value within the marketplace. Research focusing on career success stresses the importance of an individual proactively developing his or her own career path (Hall and Associates, 1996). Specifically, individuals that are actively pursuing opportunities to enhance their own individual skills and competencies will want to work in organizations in which a feedback seeking environment is available to evaluate their own performance. Moreover, researchers and practitioners should examine whether proactive strategies such as feedback seeking will relate to intrinsic or extrinsic career success (Crant, 2000). This paper makes an important contribution to research by specifically addressing whether the interaction between feedback seeking and feedback source will relate to intrinsic or extrinsic career success. Similarly, research related to outcomes of proactive behaviors may encourage organizations to develop supportive feedback environments that may enhance career development opportunities for employees.\nFeedback seeking sources: Early feedback researchers identified numerous feedback sources within an individual's work environment (Greller and Herold, 1975; Herold and Parsons, 1985). For example, Herold et al. (1987) examined the frequency of seeking feedback among various sources and also the feedback's consistency, reliability and usefulness. The authors concluded that individuals may seek feedback from different sources for different reasons and at different points in time. Further, from whom an individual seeks feedback may also lead to different outcomes. More recently, the feedback environment scale (Steelman et al., 2004) further emphasizes the importance of feedback source as a relevant consideration in the feedback seeking process (Whitaker et al., 2007).\nMethods: Participants and procedure\nResults: The means, standard deviations and zero-order correlations are presented in Table I. The hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression and results for these analyses are provided in Tables II and III. Although I did not present a hypothesis for the main effect of feedback seeking and extrinsic/intrinsic career success, I did test for it and found both relationships to be nonsignificant (b=0.01, ns; b=0.08, ns, respectively). This is important because the nonsignificant relationship hints at the presence of an interactive effect (Baron and Kenny, 1986).\nDiscussion: The results of this study further expand our understanding of proactive behaviors in relation to career success (Crant, 2000). In particular, this study examines an individual's propensity to seek performance feedback from either a supervisor or co-worker and how this relates to career success. Although only one interaction was statistically significant, the results provide further insight in the relationship between feedback-seeking behaviors and career success.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether individuals seeking feedback from either a supervisor or co-worker relate to intrinsic and extrinsic career success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 168 employees in three different organizations in the southeastern United States. Moderated multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Results support interactions of feedback seeking and feedback source (both supervisor and co-worker) to predict extrinsic career success. There was no support for the proposed interaction of feedback seeking and feedback source to predict intrinsic career success.\nPractical implications: The results support the need for organizations to focus on developing feedback environments that encourage feedback-seeking behaviors. Individuals that desire more feedback and take initiative within their careers by seeking feedback may have positive outcomes related to extrinsic career success.\nOriginality/value: The study is one of the few studies to evaluate feedback-seeking behaviors in relation to individual outcomes such as career success. The findings support proactive behaviors in relation to extrinsic career success and continue the call for more research related to proactive behaviors in the workplace.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Intention to use e-banking services in the Jordanian commercial banks
|
[
"Commercial banks",
"IT adoption",
"Intention to use",
"E-banking services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The banking industry around the world has been drastically changing by the advent of digital technologies and internet. The intensive use of digital and networking technologies has enabled banks to deliver services electronically at a relatively low cost, high quality, and to interact with clients and stakeholders effectively (Eisingerich and Bell, 2006; Gordon et al., 2008; Dajani and Yaseen, 2016).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 E-banking services adoption\n3. Research model and hypothesis: The current research adopts and modifies the UTAUT2 model, introduced by Venkatesh et al. (2012), to explain essential factors influencing e-banking services adoption in the Jordanian commercial banks.\n4. Research method: Before starting analysis, researchers conducted several steps to ensure screening and cleaning of the collected data. A total of 348 questionnaires were collected via a survey. Several checks were made for each construct and its related indicators. Then, the number of valid cases and missing data was verified and the results showed no missing cases in the collected data under analysis process.\n5. Conclusion, discussion, and implications: The current research reveals that the proposed UTAUT model which was originally proposed and tested in developed countries can also explain e-banking services acceptance and use in developing countries, such as Jordan. The modified research model explained 0.887 of the behavior intention variance and 0.516 percent of the intended degree of e-banking services use variance. This is consistent with the limited research work in the Arab countries using UTAUT (Nasri and Charfeddine, 2012; Riffai et al., 2012; Al-Somali et al., 2009; Al-Qeisi, 2009; AbuShanab et al., 2010). The results indicate that three constructs are significant predictors: EE, social influence, and perceived e-banking services quality. In contrast, the PE and hedonic motivation are not significant predictors in the model. Furthermore, the results of the moderating effect indicated that gender is not a moderating variable between predictors and BI. In contrast, age moderates social influence, EE, and perceived e-banking services with behavior intention. However, the proposed research model provides better explanatory power than previous research conducted in other Arab countries, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Tunisia (Nasri and Charfeddine, 2012; Riffai et al., 2012; Al-Gahtani et al., 2007). In addition, social influence strongly affects behavior intention. This result is consistent with those of previous research (Dajani, 2011; Al-Adwan, 2015; Al-Awadhi and Morris, 2009).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the essential factors influencing the adoption and use of e-banking services as perceived by customers of the Jordanian commercial banks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper adapts and modifies the unified theory of acceptance and use of the technology model. Modifications were made to explain intention to use e-banking services.\nFindings: The modified model explained 0.887 of behavior intention variance and 0.516 percent of the intended degree of e-banking services use variance. Three constructs are found to be good predictors: effort expectancy (EE), social influence, and perceived e-banking services quality. Performance expectancy and hedonic motivation are not significant predictors. However, all three predictors were significantly moderated by age only.\nResearch limitations/implications: As with any research in the field of IT adoption and consumer behavior, researchers should take into consideration the generalization of their empirical findings. The generalization could be enhanced if future research uses the Jordanian baking sector which includes Jordanian and non-Jordanian banks. Finally, the current research findings are based on the cross-sectional research method. Taking this fact into consideration, the relation between intention and actual use may raise questions. One solution is to study intention and actual use at different points in time by conducting longitudinal research to access and test the research hypotheses.\nPractical implications: Managers need to focus on promoting e-banking services in terms of consumer's EE, social influence, and e-banking service quality. Since young consumers are early adopters, Jordanian banks need to introduce added entertainment values for youth and extra convenience for older consumers.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions revolve around developing a better understanding of the essential factors influencing the adoption and use of e-banking services. This research incorporates a new variable: perceived e-banking quality. Thus, the proposed model provides better explanatory power than previous research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Nutritional evaluation and utilisation of composite whole flours for making functional cookies rich in b-glucan and isoflavones
|
[
"Health foods",
"Convenience foods",
"Cereal foods"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It has been globally realised that the majority of the non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and several cancers can largely be prevented by changing the dietary patterns. Such alterations in diet imply regular consumption of foods termed as functional foods. According to a report published by the Institute of Food Technologists, functional foods provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition and include conventional, fortified and enriched foods (MacAulay et al., 2005). They contain specific biologically active components which provide the desirable physiological effects. The development of functional foods requires identification of functional compounds and studies of their physiological effects by taking into account their bioavailability and potential changes during processing, preparation and storage (Kotilainen et al., 2006). Whole grains are an important source of such phytochemicals and have high antioxidant activity. These phytochemicals include secondary plant metabolites such as polyphenols that have a wide range of physiological activities in humans (Ohnishi et al., 2013). Regular consumption of whole grains prevents cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Slavin, 2004; Ferruzzi et al., 2014).\n2. Materials and methods: 2.1 Raw material\n3. Results and discussion: 3.1 Proximate and nutritional composition of whole flours\n4. Conclusions: Cookies were prepared from blends of wheat and oat, supplemented with QPM and soyabean flours. Spread ratio and spread factor increased significantly (p0.05), while fracture force and hardness of the cookies decreased with increase in oat flour incorporation. Cookies with 40 per cent oat incorporation had the highest overall acceptability. TPC and antioxidant activity of cookies also increased due to supplementation with QPM and soyabean flours. Increase in oat flour incorporation also resulted in significant (p0.05) increase in extractable b-glucan content and protein digestibility of cookies. Further, with improved genistein content, the developed cookies could be used as a functional food.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the bioactive ingredients of whole flours of oat, maize and soyabean, utilise them for developing functional cookies and evaluate their physical and nutritional quality parameters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Cookies were prepared from blends of whole flours of wheat, oats, maize and full fat soyabean. Whole wheat and oat flours were blend in different proportions (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60 and 20:80 and 0:100, wheat:oat, w/w) and supplemented with quality protein maize (QPM) and full fat soyabean flours, at 10 per cent (w/w) each, of the total blend. Cookies were studied for their physical attributes, proximate and nutritional compositions. A significant (p=0.05) increase in spread ratio, crude protein, crude fat and crude fibre contents of the cookies was observed with increase in the proportion of oat flour in the blend.\nFindings: Cookies prepared from blend containing QPM and soyabean flours had higher antioxidant activity than control whole wheat cookies. An increase in extractable b-glucan content and in-vitro protein digestibility was also observed with the increase in the proportion of oat flour. The highest overall acceptability was observed for cookies prepared from blends having a wheat-oat proportion of 60:40. These cookies also had a 17.5 per cent higher genistein content as compared to their raw flour blend. Higher genistein levels were observed in the composite cookies.\nOriginality/value: The cookies prepared from composite whole flours rich in isoflavones and b-glucan reflect their potential as a new functional food for the prevention and management of diseases such as cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Treating Ivanka unfairly: Understanding the impact of Presidential Tweeting on publics' perceptions and intentions to buycott or boycott corporations
|
[
"Buycott",
"Public perceptions",
"Perceived moral inequity",
"Presidential tweeting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: On February 8, 2017, the president of the USA, Donald J. Trump sent out a tweet in which he called out Nordstrom for being unfair to his daughter, Ivanka Trump. President Trump tweeted, \"My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person - always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!\" This tweet, posted on the president's personal Twitter account and retweeted by his official POTUS account, was sent out by the president in light of Nordstrom's decision to stop carrying Ivanka Trump's line of clothing and accessories on their website, purportedly due to poor performance. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary at the time, characterized Nordstrom's actions as \"targeting Ivanka Trump for political reasons\" (Easley, 2017, para. 3), while Nordstrom continued to defend its action as a business decision made based on sales performance (Abrams, 2017). Nordstrom is only one of many corporations that have been mentioned in the president's tweets, either positively or negatively, since he took office in January 2017.\nLiterature review: Boycott and buycott intentions\nMethod: Measures\nResults: To test the hypotheses using structural equation modeling, Kline's (1998) two-step procedure was utilized. First, the measurement model including all studied variables was tested. The measurement model was found to have good fit with CFI=0.971, TLI=0.958 and RMSEA=0.060 (kh2(94)=249.98, p<0.001). The structural model[3] was then tested and was too found to have acceptable fit, with CFI=0.931, TLI=0.907, and RMSEA=0.092 (kh2(92)=492.43, p<0.001). Error covariances were added between the five demographic variables, of which five were found to be significant. Political orientation and age, income and education, income and gender, education and gender, and age and gender were all found to covary.\nDiscussion and implications: The purpose of this study was to unpack the impact of presidential tweeting against a corporation on publics' perceptions of the corporation, as well as their behavioral intentions regarding the corporation. To do so, we chose the case of Nordstrom's decision to remove Ivanka Trump's clothing line from their website, and the subsequent tweet issued by President Trump against Nordstrom and in support of his daughter Ivanka. Condemnation against Nordstrom was then forthcoming from many of the president's associates. We used the dual framing of Nordstrom's actions by the president and his associates as being unfair and politically motivated, and by Nordstrom itself as being a sales-driven business decision, to understand whether acceptance of either of these framings contributed to individuals' intentions to boycott (Klein et al., 2004) or buycott (Paek and Nelson, 2009) Nordstrom.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of presidential tweeting about corporations on publics' perceptions of and behavioral intentions toward those corporations. Specifically, the authors examined publics' intentions to boycott or buycott (Friedman, 1996) Nordstrom, four months after President Trump's tweet denouncing the company's decision to discontinue his daughter's clothing line.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted among 517 American citizens using Qualtrics panels in June 2017. Respondents were compensated for their participation.\nFindings: The authors found strong associations between perceived moral inequity and boycott intentions, and perceived business/economic nature of corporate action and buycott intentions. Furthermore, demographic characteristics associated with both types of perceptions were also examined. Younger, more educated respondents tended to accept Nordstrom's actions as being routine business decisions, whereas conservative participants saw Nordstrom's actions as being morally iniquitous.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the first to explore the impact of presidential tweeting, albeit indirectly, on publics' perceptions and intentions toward corporations who form the subjects of said tweets. Practitioners may utilize these findings to provide guidance to corporations who may be at the receiving end of presidential tweeting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Haiti's caisses populaires: home-grown solutions to bring economic democracy
|
[
"Microfinance",
"Urban poor",
"Credit unions",
"Financial inclusion",
"Haiti",
"Social consciousness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Ever since Haiti's fight for independence in 1804, state leaders have oppressed its poorest people. Haitian political scientist Fatton (2002, 2007) has studied the country's authoritarian regimes led by elites noirs (black elites) and mulatres (mixed-race) with financial backing by the blancs (local whites) against the moun andeyo (excluded black masses). One Haitian scholar has also argued that over the years political elites have misused black power ideology to victimize the poor black masses. Bad governance and corrupt politics have left millions of people disenfranchised. Forty percent of the population lives in Port-au-Prince and the metropolitan areas and they have been moving to the bidonvilles (shantytowns) since the 1950s.\nThe global microfinance phenomenon and Haiti: Micro credit emerged in the 1980s as an important tool in development circles because of its potential to help poor people move out of poverty when many of their countries were undergoing structural reforms. At the very first summit on micro credit in Washington, DC in 1997, Mohammed Yunus, former Director of the Grameen Bank, claimed that micro loans could help these entrepreneurs move out of poverty. And while access to microfinance is very useful for 205 million people working in the informal sector many of them are still being excluded, this time by micro bankers (Reed, 2012; Roodman, 2012).\nMain argument: In recent years the microfinance industry has received much criticism on its exclusionary tendencies where lenders seem more interested in being paid than they are about bringing fundamental economic change. I posit in this Haiti case that micro loans are helping the economically active when local lenders are political agents in that they are socially conscious actors who offer financial services to the poor to upset the racialized class system in the country. Findings of this case reveal that micro lending has a grassroots influence. Organizations such as the caisses populaires and cooperatives, as well as sols, have long been part of the local environment. Even non-cooperative lenders have adapted to the local culture, adjusting programs to meet the needs of the entrepreneurial poor in the cities. And these micro lenders also hold a daring political rhetoric for \"economic democracy\", and know that they must incorporate indigenous systems to ensure that financial services reach the poor masses.\nMethodology in a complex setting: For this study, I interviewed 106 Haitian in Port-au-Prince and Cayes which included the period of March-May 2008 during the food riots and September-October 2010 in pre-earthquake Haiti, as well as two long trips after the earthquake in 2011. I conducted fieldwork in the bidonvilles (shanties) of Cite Soleil, Carrefour, Martissant as well as Bel Air in Centre-Ville (Aristide's Lavalas' stronghold) and Jalousie and Flipo in the hills of the chic suburb of Petion-Ville. In Port-au-Prince, an area greatly affected by the earthquake, I was not able to work in my original slums and had to choose a community that was advancing in its re-construction after the earthquake (Cite Soleil's rebuilding was rather slow). In Cayes, the floods delayed interviews and shortened the number of interviews. See Table I which outlines 61 interviews with sub-elites which included lenders (52 percent of the sample) and other stakeholders active in enterprise development lenders and 45 ti machanns (38 percent of the sample) and surveyed a dozen global and regional microfinance experts.\nSocially conscious lenders: Big businesses in Haiti are controlled by a few families who have inherited family businesses. For most blacks coming from modest backgrounds, education has been the vehicle for upward social mobility. Hence, many commercial banking managers and technical staff are black. Haiti's home-grown microfinance sector is staffed by bankers who have lived experience of the people with whom they work. In addition, these local leaders possess a race and class-consciousness that reveals they understand the experience of the ti machanns. Lenders in touch with the people understand that collective systems are home-grown and the urban poor gravitate to these familiar systems.\nAfrican legacy of collective organizing: Rural Haitians excluded from banking in towns and cities have created their own largely informal banking systems. The country's legacy of cooperatives, dating back to 1937, provides a way for the poor to come together and save money[3]. The informal institutions known locally as sols, or tontines in Francophone Africa, reach millions (Fieldwork, August-October 2011). Sols are the most important institutions in providing microfinance to poor Haitians, and a number of different types of these organizations exist, all informal groups locally run by women, that allow members to save and borrow money (UNCDF, 2003).\nCaisses populaires: building on local culture and traditions: Haiti's financial world is indebted to caisses populaires and cooperatives for developing inclusive financing that reaches the economically active masses[4]. In the early years, financing was exclusively for the whitened rich elites and elites noirs (educated blacks) and ignored the moun andeyo, poor Haitians. Entrepreneurially active poor Haitians have developed their own banking systems based on cooperatives and caisses populaires to meet their financial obligations. Out of respect (for people's demand for collective institutions, the state has elevated cooperative status into the nation's constitution (in preamble 4) and Haiti is declared a cooperative republic (Interviews, 12 October 2010).\nBlack Haitians: leading microfinance development: For most of the country's history, banks have ignored black Haitians and catered to business interests of les blancs (whites) and mulatres (mixed-race) Haitians. As recently as the 1990s, the commercial banks in the country had fewer than 10,000 clients in a country with a population of millions. In 2010, two international banks in Haiti, Canada's Scotia Bank and America's Citibank, reached 100,000 people or 1 percent of the population (Wells, 2010). Unlike the caisses populaires, the formal banks have not been to reach large number of lower income entrepreneurs.\nThe domination of caisses populaires and informal banks: Haiti's microfinance sector has three sections:\nThe diversity of micro lenders: Haiti's micro lending enterprises are largely run by (very dark-skinned) black Haitians, and this is particularly so in the caisses populaires and informal banks, which reach millions of poor entrepreneurs. In Haiti, I carried out a total of 61 interviews of banking managers, stakeholders, community experts, officials of government agencies, and members of research organizations. I was also able to witness that most of the Haitian micro lenders involved in micro lending at the national level were black (Fieldwork, 2008, 2010, 2011; Colloque sur la Microfinance, 2010).\nMicro lenders: inspired by the collective spirit of Haitians: When NGO-led micro lending emerged in the mid-1980s, the masses were already familiar with cooperative models of microfinance. As early as 1981, Fonds Haitien d'aide a la Femmes (FHAF), with the assistance of America's Women's World Banking, started micro lending to poor women (Anonymous Interview, 6 October 2010), and in 1983, Societe Financiere Haitienne de Developpement (SOFIHDES), a local MFI run by mostly black women leaders since it started.\nKillings of pro-poor financial professionals: A number of microfinance agencies use a radical rhetoric (push for economic democracy) when discussing microfinance. Persons working in microfinance who advocate for changing the bias in local business and financial systems take personal risks in doing so[16]. Unbeknownst to many, Haitians engaged in micro lending are targets and lose their lives. Some killings include: in 2000, a Fonkoze employee, Amos Jeannott, was kidnapped and murdered. No ransom was requested, only a threat to Fonkoze's director to close down operations (National Coalition for Haiti Rights web site accessed 20 September 2012; Anonymous Interview). In 2003, Danielle Lustin, former director of Fonds Haitien d'Aide a la Femme (FHAF) and vice-president of the board of KNFP (a rural microfinance network), was assassinated (\nCase study: ti machanns embrace microfinance: I carried out my four focus groups, in Bon Repos, a low-income urban area in Port-au-Prince and Cayes, the largest southern town. Organisation des Femmes, a local community organization in Bon Repos, claimed that some residents have difficulty accessing micro loans, yet 76 percent (n=34) of the ti machanns I interviewed had or have a micro loan (Table IV). I was also able to easily find business people in Port-au-Prince who had micro loans. All interviews were carried out either in March and April 2008 and post-earthquake in September and October 2011. In this case study, 106 Haitians were interviewed, of whom 45 were ti machanns. The average age of a ti machann was 42 years, and 71 percent (n=10) were single (heads of households) mothers often in a placaj (an unmarried relationship) (Girard 2010, p. 137).\nAn important finding: social inclusion by microfinance lenders: Microfinance lenders take careful steps and plan in a way to ensure their loans are structured to be socially inclusive. And the cooperative-type lenders like the caisses populaires and sols have been influenced by a tradition of collective organizing and they have systems that are responsive to ti machanns. However, no articles exist documenting this process. An important finding in this study is Haitian microfinance managers - both foreign and local - re-work financial services to fit the needs of the poor.\nConclusion: Micro banking has had a very long tradition in Haiti. Under repressive regimes, the excluded majority coped by coming together as a group kombit and pooling resources. Considering the enormous impact sols and cooperatives have on society, reaching millions of Haitians, it is surprising that political elites have not taken advantage of their extraordinary outreach to people left out of the system. A positive outcome of this is that micro loans and their allocation are less likely to be co-opted by politics. Caisses populaires, cooperative banks, and sols have emerged as major micro lenders because the collective model matches the social and cultural context of the urban poor.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Bad governance and corrupt politics have left millions of people disenfranchised. In spite of an oppressive and undemocratic state, poor Haitians have created their own informal groups, cooperatives and caisses populaires (credit union) movements - a testimony to the democratic spirit of the poor masses. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mixed qualitative study using interviews, surveys, focus groups, ethnography techniques and literature review.\nFindings: Lenders who run the caisses populaires are not class or race biased; they understand how to make microfinance assist the marginalized poor in a society segregated by class and race. Cooperatives and credit unions (called caisses populaires in Haiti) are able to reach hundreds of thousands of people.\nOriginality/value: These lenders one or two generations removed from the people they serve understand their reality and take careful steps and plan in a way to ensure their loans are structured to be socially inclusive. In fact, black microfinance lenders, as well as whitened local elites and foreigners, have a socially conscious philosophy of using microfinance as a vehicle to ensure economic democracy for the masses. In doing this, they take personal risks. The ti machanns recognize these efforts and as a result trust these credit programs.\n",
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Time dependent behavior of the Asian and the US REITs around the subprime crisis
|
[
"Real estate investment trusts",
"Stock market returns",
"Interest risk",
"Asymmetric effects",
"Real estate",
"Investments",
"Trusts",
"Australia",
"Japan",
"Taiwan",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are similar to a close-end fund, have been a popular investment tool for over 40 years in the USA since 1960. The REITs can offer investors an opportunity to participate in the property-related security in terms of higher liquidity and better diversification. The REITs are generally issued by financial institutions, which are responsible for gathering money, investing in real estate business and paying out dividends to the security holders. The REIT markets provide an alternative investment vehicle other than the stock market because it has become an asset class and thus have become an investment tool for investors, financial institutions, and portfolio managers (Chan et al., 2003).This study uses a non-linear asymmetric generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model proposed by Engle and Ng (1993) to investigate the pricing behavior of four REITs in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and the USA before and after the 2007 financial crisis, which was triggered initially by the real estate market in the USA. These four REIT markets have important real estate markets in the regions. Thus, our study contributes to the REIT literature in several ways.First, the return behavior of REITs based on a time-variant model, using GARCH has been examined in Europe and the USA (Devaney, 2001), while the Asian REITs are not. We intend to fill this gap. REITS are unique because of their organizational structure and regulations as shown by Chaudhry et al. (2004). It would be interesting to see how the Asian REIT markets differ from the US market.Since the summer of 2007, the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis has been spreading across the globe. This systematic financial disaster, triggered by a dramatic rise in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures in the USA escalated rapidly into the downturn of whole financial economics, causing the credit crunch, stock market collapse, and consumption reduction. Many banks, mortgage lenders, REITs, and hedge funds suffered significant losses as a result of the mortgage payment defaults. Because the subprime crisis was due to the decline in the US real estate prices, our study provides a good opportunity to examine how well the Asian REITs perform in a turbulent global market environment as compared to the US market.Second, an examination of the relationship between REIT and the stock market provides us information as how REIT provides an effective device related to the stock portfolio diversification (Klemkosky and Martin, 1975). Some studies attempted to treat REITs as a proxy of the assessment of market value of real estate (Gyourko and Keim, 1992), while Glascock et al. (2000) point out that REITs can hedge some economic risks such as inflation, which is consistent with the results of Darrat and Glascock (1989). Chandrashekaran (1999) supports the risk diversification argument and indicates that REIT returns are related to their historical returns, while Liu and Mei (1992) indicate that REITs are like the small stocks. Other studies tend to show that REITs behave like common stocks rather than the real estate variables but Hudson-Wilson (2001) concludes that the performance of REITs are inferior to the stock and bond portfolios.Third, we investigate how REIT returns are affected by the expected interest rate risk and the general economic environment. To this end, we examine the slope factor and credit spread that are two important variables from the bond market literature used to explain the stock returns (Chen et al., 1986; Shanken and Weinstein, 1990; Fama and French, 1993). The slope measure of the interest yield curve represents the expected forward interest rate movements, thus it is a proxy for the expected interest rate movements, while the credit spread variable is a proxy for the general economic activity. Chen and Tzang (1988) and Allen et al. (2000) have shown a strong linkage among the credit spread, interest rates, and REIT returns while others indicate that REITs are less exposed to the interest rate factor (Liang and Webb, 1995; Mueller and Pauley, 1995).Finally, we examine how the risk of the real estate price changes affects REIT returns by incorporating the EGARCH-in-the-mean model into our analysis. Corgel et al. (1995) show that the quarterly returns of RIETs have no significant relationship with the unsecuritized real estate index. Burns and Epley (1982) indicate that returns of REITs are time dependent, while Glascock (1991) shows that an asymmetric effect of the up-and-down stock markets on the REITs. Clayton and Mackinnon (2003) further points out that the value of REITs has increasingly reflected the nature of real estate market because of the greater participation by the financial institutions. We use an AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1) model that explicitly considers the return-risk relationship in the mean equation to examine how REIT returns are related to the risk of the real estate price changes before and after the 2007 financial crisis.The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we review the literature of time-varying static capital asset pricing model (CAPM) for REITs and the relationship between REITs return and real estate, capital market. Section 3 discusses the sample data and research methodology. Section 4 presents the following empirical results:* the data analysis;* the ARCH effect test;* the asymmetric effect test of variables; and* the analysis of empirical results from the AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1) model.In the final section, the conclusions are presented.\nLiterature review: Time-varying CAPM for REITs\nSample data and research methodology: Methodology\nEmpirical results: Sample data\nConclusions: This paper examines the pricing behaviors for the Asian and the US REIT markets before and after the 2007 financial crisis. Since REITs are known to have hybrid characteristics related to bond, stock and real estate market, these relationship might make REITs to be a good tool for inflation hedging and risk diversification. The 2007 subprime crisis happened because of the decline of the real estate market prices in the USA It represents a special opportunity to examine the time dependent behavior of REIT returns in a turbulent market environment.The study uses an AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1) model to investigate the pricing behaviors of the REITs for four countries (Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and the USA) before and after the 2007 financial crisis. We use three market variables (stock market variable, interest rate variable (long-term interest rate minus short-term interest rate), and the economic growth variable (high credit interest rate minus low credit interest rate) to test how the stock market and interest rate risk affect the REIT returns.Over the entire sample period, the lagged REIT returns have a significant impact on the current REIT returns. Among the three market variables, only the stock market variable is positive and significant in all countries during all observation periods. The tie of the REIT to its stock market is strong after the financial crisis, suggesting less benefit to investors for the portfolio diversification.As the credit spread variable, it affects negatively the Japanese REIT returns at pre-crisis period and the Australian REIT returns during the full period. The interest rate slope factor only affects the Taiwanese REIT returns for the post-crisis period. The REIT markets in all countries (except Taiwan) are not sensitive to the expected interest rate movements and thus could provide hedge against expected rising interest rates for investors for a market downturn.The coefficients of ARCH term (b1) and GARCH term (b3), for the most observation periods, are positive and significant in all countries, confirming time-varying heteroskedasticity and volatility clustering in the REIT returns. The significant coefficient of b2 indicates that asymmetric effect does exist for the REIT returns in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and the USA for the post-financial crisis periods and becomes stronger in the post-crisis period than the pre-crisis period.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The study uses an AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1) model to investigate the pricing behaviors of the real estate investment trusts (REITs) for four countries (Australia, Japan, Taiwan and the USA) before and after the 2007 financial crisis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study uses an AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1) model to investigate the pricing behaviors of the REITs.\nFindings: - The results show that after the financial crisis, REITS returns show a stronger linkage to the overall market returns but they are not sensitive to expected interest rate movements, except for the Taiwanese REIT market, which shows a negative and significant reaction to the interest rates. There are stronger asymmetric effects of good and bad news on REIT returns particularly after the post financial crisis for the four REIT markets.\nResearch limitations/implications: - An examination of the relationship between REIT and the stock market provides information as how REIT provides an effective device related to the stock portfolio diversification.\nPractical implications: - It would be interesting to see how the Asian REIT markets differ from the US market on return and risk behavior.\nOriginality/value: - The 2007 subprime crisis happened because of the decline of the real estate market prices in the USA. It represents a special opportunity to examine the time-dependent behavior of REIT returns in a turbulent market environment.\n",
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Impact of board attributes on the firm dividend payout policy: evidence from Malaysia
|
[
"Dividends",
"Board size",
"Board diversity",
"Board attributes",
"Board independent"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As Lintner's (1956) work on dividend payouts and the dividend irrelevance hypothesis of Miller and Modigliani (1961), dividend payout policy has become a highly debated topic and previous studies have strained to discover the key factors that affect dividend payout policy. Therefore, dividend payout policy and corporate board attributes is a most discussed topic in the financial management of emerging economies, especially ASEAN countries because of their unique ownership structures. Most ASEAN firms are family-owned and increasingly play an important role in most ASEAN economies, including Malaysia. Different countries have different ownership structures in ASEAN. This study specifically focuses on Malaysian firms, as Malaysia family-owned firms are a major part of total stock exchange share. Malaysia has the seventh-highest number of family-owned firms in the world according to the Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI). In total, 70% of Bursa Malaysia listed companies are held by families and family members hold many corporate board positions such as chief executive officer (CEO) and Chairman (Hirschey et al., 2010). In spite of the importance of family-owned firms to the Malaysian and ASEAN economies, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding the impact of board mechanisms on dividend payout policies in Bursa Malaysia (Al-Najjar and Kilincarslan, 2016; Byoun et al., 2016; Pahi and Yadav, 2019).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: The dividend payout policy is a common target of academic studies as it has a considerable impact on organizations. Relevant research themes comprise stockholders, firm board members, board compositions and business governance strategies (Bassam et al., 2019; Pahi and Yadav, 2019; Paniagua et al., 2018; Tahir et al., 2020). This study was built on agency theory, which is the most commonly used conceptual framework for examining board attributes (Fama and Jensen, 1983; Jensen and Meckling, 1976). According to this theory, management uses firm resources to benefit themselves instead of shareholders (Jensen, 1986). Board attributes somewhat explain this problem as it incorporates new matters such as information asymmetries that define agency conflict among proprietors and administration. This study recognizes two main attributes that impact dividend payout policy: board of directors and family ownership.\n3. Empirical techniques and data collection: 3.1 Data set\n4. Multivariate regression analysis: The empirical results associated with the impact of corporate board attributes on dividend payout policies (DPR) are described in Models 1 to 6 and variance inflation factor (VIF) is used for multicollinearity in Table 4. Explicitly, to analyze the impact of each independent variable on study outcomes, the study initially regressed board gender diversity along with control variables. This study included board size, board independence, board tenure, average board of director age and CEO duality in regression Models 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively. In general, as revealed in Models 1 to 6, the results show that board attributes provided support for H1 through a significant effect on DPR_NI. The female board members were positively associated with dividend payouts (Post and Byron, 2015). With reference to board size, a positive and significant association between B_SIZE and DPR_TA provides support for H2 and the findings of Gill and Obradovich (2012), Litai and Zuniu (2011) and Mansourinia et al. (2013), who revealed a positive and statistically significant association between board size and dividend payout policies among the USA, Iranian and Chinese listed companies, respectively. Theoretically, these positive and significant outcomes are reliable forecasts that better dividend payout is the result of good corporate attributes (Sawicki, 2009). As elucidated previously, larger boards enjoy numerous compensations, such as having more skilled and talented members Ntim et al. (2015), which can result in enhanced corporate attributes practices by allowing administrative monitoring and encouraging executives to follow wealth increase strategies, including paying stockholders' higher dividends.\n5. Results and discussion: The study-based country is Malaysia, which is a bias toward family possession, which must be accounted for when using this estimation model. Companies with high asset value and low capital require big financing and have on average high ratios of dividend announcements. In addition to corporate board attributes, this study controled for a number of variables that have been recognized by prior works as impacting DPR to decrease possible mislaid variables bias. As hypothesized and consistent with earlier research studies (Abor and Fiador, 2013; Byoun et al., 2016), this study revealed statistically significant and positive connotation among firm financial leverage, ROA and dividend payout policies.\n6. Conclusion: This work investigated the impact of board of director attributes on dividend payout policies. A multi-technique single-country approach was applied in this study. This research makes a couple of significant contributions to the business finance literature. First, this study shows the importance of using multiple experimental methods to improve outcome robustness. It also emphasizes the constraints of conventional multiple OLS regression techniques. The outcomes of this study proposed by FE and random effect models through the use of the Hausman test offer profound experimental intentions. Although the regression investigation fixed effect (LSDV) model introduced unifacial averages, it shows a supplementary path to increase dividend payouts even with high financial leverage. The application of multi-methods is convenient for understanding composite associations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the extent to which corporate board attributes influence dividend payout policies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total number of 2,842 firm's year-observations of Malaysian non-financial firms representing from various industries. The firms were scrutinized over a period of 14 financial years covering from 2005 to 2018. The data was in a panel form given the cross-sectional and time-series nature. The fixed effect is used as the main technique for analysis. The OLS and random effects techniques are used for robustness for this study.\nFindings: The results revealed that the proportion of board independence, board tenure, board size and CEO duality have a positive and statistically mixed effect on dividend pay-out. However, the corporate board diversity and board member age had a negative association with dividend payouts. Overall, the results suggest that firms with well-organized corporate board attribute affect positively on dividend pay-out policy.\nOriginality/value: This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of internal governance mechanisms by presenting evidence of the substitution hypothesis in an emerging economy in which firms operate within a unique regulatory framework and board composition.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Inter-organizational cooperation in automotive new product development projects
|
[
"Inter-organizational cooperation",
"Trust",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Coordination effort",
"Requirement uncertainty"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The development of new automobile products is one of important challenges facing the automobile industry, which has been playing an increasingly significant role in the era of industry 4.0 (Lin et al., 2018). In the field of automotive new product development (NPD) projects, hierarchically controlled structures with adversarial orientations toward inter-firm relationships in markets are evolving into dynamic cooperative arrangements to adapt to the uncertain environment (Townsend et al., 2017; Ates et al., 2015). In such situations, the buyer assigns different automotive components to the design agency who has the responsibility to coordinate and monitor the development activities among suppliers for satisfying buyers' product requirements (Tuli and Shankar, 2015; Ates et al., 2015). Therefore, suppliers are commonly managed through relationships. However, automotive NPD projects have continued suffering from poor performance over the last decade, particularly in China. For example, according to the data provided by US Consumer Product Safety Commission, 67 percent of product recalls are madein China (Wei et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2013). Especially for the automotive industry, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people die in traffic accidents in China every year due to the poor quality of automotive products, which may be caused by the increasing difficult cooperation among suppliers who jointly develop new automotive components (Wei et al., 2019; Hong et al., 2009). Therefore, investigating the mechanisms to promote or impede cooperation among suppliers is necessary and crucial in automotive NPD projects.\n2. Theoretical foundation: 2.1 Social exchange theory\n3. Research model and hypothesis development: In the production process of automotive NPD projects, there are several forms of costs during social exchange among suppliers, including opportunity costs, transaction costs and enforcement costs (Petersen et al., 2005). The form of coordination effort involves coordinating time, effort and resource allocation among suppliers, which may be considered as an opportunity cost because it will require suppliers to surrender their free or scheduled time (Wynstra et al., 2001). In addition, such initiative may increase a series of transaction costs, including the overhead of attending regular meetings and reporting the process; meanwhile, the overly specific provisions may cause rigidity and increase enforcement costs (Luo, 2002). SET argues that people would behave in a way that minimize the cost of exchange (Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Tanskanen, 2015). Coordination effort has also been proved to be a hindrance for joint production performance (Handley and Benton, 2013; Jean et al., 2014). According to SET, the requirement for coordination effort would send a negative signal to the other suppliers, which may lead to a negative attitude and behavior. In our research context, when suppliers perceive a high level of coordination efforts, they would likely assume that their partners are negatively engaging in exchange activities with them because the required coordination effort would signal that suppliers need to spend more time, efforts and other costs in the subsequent cooperation. As a result, suppliers may become less confident about the relationships with interactive suppliers over time and not share a mutual understanding, thereby becoming less trustful toward their partners (Wu et al., 2014). We therefore propose the following hypothesis:\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample and data collection\n5. Data analysis: 5.1 Testing results of measurement model\n6. Discussion: On the basis of SET, this research investigates the integrated effects of coordination effort, knowledge sharing, trust, and inter-organizational cooperation under the condition of requirement uncertainty in automotive NPD projects. The results confirm the power of SET in deepening the understanding of inter-organizational exchange behaviors in the field of NPD projects. The negative effect of the coordination effort required by the supplier's partner on the trust increases when the requirement uncertainty is high. By contrast, the knowledge shared by the supplier's partner is positively related to the trust. In particular, a higher level of requirement uncertainty indicates a stronger positive effect of knowledge sharing on trust.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to formulate and test a theoretical model to explain inter-organizational cooperation behaviors among suppliers in automotive new product development (NPD) projects. This study aims to investigate the effects of cost and benefit factors on trust and inter-organizational cooperative behaviors among suppliers in automotive NPD projects from the perspective of social exchange theory (SET).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The structural equation modeling method is applied to test the proposed model, which is based on the analysis of survey data from 272 product managers of automotive part suppliers.\nFindings: Knowledge sharing and coordination effort influence inter-organizational cooperation indirectly through trust. Specially, trust is negatively influenced by coordination effort but positively affected by knowledge sharing. Requirement uncertainty moderates the relationship between cost-benefit factors and trust differently. Specifically, requirement uncertainty increases the negative influence of coordination effort on trust but also strengthens the positive effect of knowledge sharing on trust.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a relatively comprehensive cost-benefit framework for further understanding the formation mechanism of inter-organizational cooperation among suppliers. It also contributes to SET by incorporating the contextual factor to explain the moderating effect of requirement uncertainty on the relationships between cost-benefit factors and trust in the context of automotive NPD projects.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The relationship between the shares of nutrient consumed across selected food groups and income in Nigeria: A short-run demand system
|
[
"Nigeria",
"Demand system",
"Nutrient intake"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Background information: Availability and accessibility, over space and time, to sufficient food nutrient for healthy and active life is synonymous to food security. In other words, the demand for food is closely associated with the demand for nutrients giving the fact that different food provides different nutritional values. However, it is widely established in the literature that the demand for food varies across food groups depending on nutritional values, availability of food products, cultural values, socio-demographic characteristics, preferences and lifestyles. Inasmuch this is fundamentally true, it is also important to understand that a change in the quantity of food products consumed by a consumer could as well be related to the quantities of nutrients available and the nutritional quality of the consumer's diet.\n2 The data and time series property of the data: 2.1 The data\n3 Conceptual framework and empirical model: 3.1 Conceptual framework\n4 Results and discussions: 4.1 Trends and pattern of nutrient intakes across various food groups and GDP in Nigeria, 1961-2007\n5 Conclusions and policy implications: The objective of this study is of twofolds. First, to take a critical look at nutrient intake and its trend in Nigeria and second, to examine the relationship between share of nutrient consumed across selected food groups and per capita income in the country. The three nutrients considered in the paper are daily per capita calorie, protein and fat intake based on annual series from 1961 to 2007 and supported by real per capita GDP as a proxy for national income. All the series are defined in logarithm. The composition of nutrient intake is grouped into five homogenous and non-homogenous food categories. The food items are grouped into the following food categories, which includes; cereals (maize, sorghum, millet, rice, etc.), roots and tubers (yam, cassava, cocoyam, potatoes, etc.), oil crops, vegetable oil, animal products (all animal meat, all poultry products, dairy products, etc.), other crops (majorly include fruits, vegetable, pulses, beverages, sweeteners', etc.).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The aim of this study is in twofolds. First, to take a critical look at nutrient consumed and its trends and second, to examine the relationship between share of nutrient consumed across selected food groups and per capita income in Nigeria.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author uses seemingly unrelated regressions.\nFindings: The result of the first objective reveals that the average calorie, protein and fat intakes were still below the recommended daily allowance since the 1960s as diets in Nigeria remained very much cereal-based over the years. Also, the results of objective two show that calorie, protein, and fat share of animal products respond positively but inelastic to the per capita income growth in Nigeria over the years.\nOriginality/value: Contrary to previous studies, the present study is designed not to fit aggregated nutrient demand from various food items as a function of income, but to relate the nutrient share of each homogenous and heterogeneous food product categories to the aggregated nutrient intake from these food groups and per capita income in Nigeria.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The Great Recession and wealth in the United States: differentials by religious affiliation
|
[
"USA",
"Wealth",
"Religion",
"Great recession",
"Religious affiliation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The burst of the housing bubble during 2007 sparked the worst recession in the USA since the Great Depression[1]. The country suffered sizeable wealth losses and American families faced significant challenges. While studies have examined whether the wealth losses were uniform among groups in the USA, such as retirees (Bosworth, 2012), and various income groups (Bricker et al., 2015; Kennickell, 2017; Pfeffer et al., 2013), no research of the Great Recession has focused on groups with differing attitudes toward wealth through a distinguishing factor, such as religion.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Religion and wealth\n3. Data, measures and empirical methodology: 3.1 Data and sample\n4. Empirical findings and discussion: To better understand the wealth dynamics, Table I shows the mean and median wealth and distribution of wealth by religious affiliation in the pre-Recession (Table I (Panel A)) and post-Recession (Table I (Panel B)) periods. All three measures of wealth provide useful comparisons. The mean is a good measure of the average wealth within each group, but it can be swayed by outliers. The median limits the influence of outliers, but it is not additive across groups. The share of wealth held by the wealthiest percentile within a religious group shows the distribution of wealth or inequality within that group.\n5. Conclusion: This paper finds differences in wealth losses among religious groups and higher wealth losses at the low end of the wealth spectrum. These findings contribute to our understanding of religion's relationship to wealth and economic shocks, and suggest that the Great Recession further increased wealth inequality yet along another dimension, religious affiliation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine wealth dynamics through the Great Recession along a dimension previously not studied, religious affiliation. Specifically, this paper analyzes wealth differentials and relative wealth losses among religious groups at the mean and along the wealth distribution before and after the Great Recession.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and including a wide array of control variables, the paper analyzes the impact of religious affiliation groups on wealth pre- and post-Recession, using OLS, generalized least squares and quantile regression models.\nFindings: The findings show that wealth differentials among religious groups exist both before and after the Recession and that wealth disparities are greater for people at the low end of the wealth distribution, who lost disproportionately more wealth across religious groups.\nSocial implications: The results suggest that the Great Recession further increased wealth inequality yet along another dimension, religious affiliation. These findings imply that in order to decrease wealth inequality and minimize other harmful effects of adverse macroeconomic events, religious institutions may provide education on financial management strategies, especially to those at the low end of the wealth distribution.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first of its kind to build upon two bodies of literature: the research on religion and wealth and the research on wealth losses and the Great Recession. It is also the first paper to explore the religion-wealth relationship after the Great Recession and along the wealth distribution.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Food-related lifestyle segmentation and beverage attribute' selection: toward understanding of sugar-reduced beverages choice
|
[
"Food-related lifestyle",
"Selection attribute",
"Consumer segmentation",
"Sugar-reduced beverage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Excessive consumption of sugar is a public health problem because it contributes to not only type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dental caries and osteoporosis, but also to high-energy intake and obesity (World Health Organization, 2003). Several studies conducted in various countries, such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, have found that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a major source of sugar intake and suggested reducing consumption as a common goal for public health (Malik et al., 2006; Whatley Blum et al., 2008; Battram et al., 2016). Globally, many polices and trials have been undertaken to reduce individual consumption of SSBs to curtail sugar intake and improve health.One such policy is enhancing food labeling regulations (Acton and Hammond, 2018). Several countries have enacted food label policies including \"star ratings\" for health and \"traffic light\" nutrient-specific symbols (UK Department of Health, 2016; Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2019). Furthermore, San Francisco recently used \"warning labels\" on SSBs to alert consumers of the risks of excessive sugar intake (Schillinger and Jacobson, 2016). Another attempt to reduce sugar intake is SSBs taxation (Falbe et al., 2016). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended taxation of SSBs in 2017 based on the assumption that an imposed sugar tax that increases the price of SSBs by up to 20% would decrease consumption, reducing public health risks such as obesity and heart disease (World Health Organization, 2017). Based on this, the UK charges 24 pence per liter when the sugar content exceeds 8 g per 100 ml and 18 pence at 5-8 g (Burki, 2016). In addition, sugar taxes are imposed in the United States, France and Mexico (Park and Yu, 2019). Food labeling and sugar taxation have been enacted at the national policy level, and academic research about their effectiveness are being conducted (Brownell et al., 2009; Powell et al., 2014; Acton and Hammond, 2018). However, there is a relative lack of research on substitute beverages to replace SSBs and studies focusing on consumer behavior toward beverages. This study focused on sugar-reduced beverages (SRBs) as a replacement for SSB and consumer perceptions and attitudes toward low sugar drink.In addition to investigating the attitudes of an entire consumer group, we divided consumers and examined specific perceptions and attitudes by group. Consumer segmentation is more effective than analysis of a whole consumer group because it analyzes the attitudes and behaviors of specific groups in detail, rather than simply comparing the averages of all consumers' thoughts and behaviors (Nie and Zepeda, 2011). Consumer segmentation through lifestyle analysis has advantages for identifying not only consumers tendencies, but also individual consumers' value and attitudes, which can be used to establish marketing and sales strategies (Beane and Ennis, 1987). In particular, food-related lifestyle (FRL) studies segment consumers in relation to food behaviors and examine food choices and consumption behaviors. According to previous studies, various factors are considered when choosing foods (Kim et al, 2018). The present study classified consumers according to FRL and investigated attributes considered in beverage selection for use in development of marketing strategies.The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to classify beverage consumers by FRL; (2) to identify the characteristics and beverage selection attributes of consumer clusters and (3) to investigate attitudes toward SRBs among consumer segments. The results of the analysis will be used to promote SRBs.\nLiterature review: Sugar-reduced beverages\nMethods: Questionnaire and measurement scale\nResults: Beverage selection attributes\nDiscussion and conclusion: The World Health Organization (2015) strongly recommends lowering the level of \"free sugar\" in SSBs in the food industry. This study tried to provide basic information to suggest SRBs according to consumer preference by analyzing consumer FRL and beverage selection attributes.In overall beverage selection attributes, hygiene was the most crucial factor to consider when choosing beverages, along with taste, price and shelf life. In restaurant selection, hygiene/cleanliness was one of the most important factors, and price had a significant effect (Fatimah et al., 2011). The nutritional value of food showed lower consideration by consumers than other factors. These results suggest that consumers know that importance of nutritional value for health but they actually place more value on hygiene.In this study, we segmented Korean consumers and modified questions from the original version of the FRL questionnaire. Although the number of factors extracted was smaller than in previous works (Brunso et al., 2004; Hoek et al., 2004; Wycherley et al., 2008), the concepts were similar. A four-factor structure (enjoy eating, importance of health, importance of cost, importance of safety) was extracted to identify consumers into three different FRLs. These three clusters responded differently to beverage selection attributes and preference for SRBs, indicating the need to formulate marketing strategies based on consumers characteristics.Rational consumers were most concerned about food safety and tended to assess product quality and good hygiene when choosing beverages. The cluster showed similarities with FRLs of \"rational groups\" in a consumer behavior for local food study (Witzling and Shaw, 2019) and to a \"health-conscious utilitarian group\" of a home meal replacement study (Kim et al., 2018). While the groups in the previous studies were more concerned about health and nutrients, our group focused on hygiene and shelf life. It can be inferred that consumer values in food choices would be vary depending on the kinds of food like beverages and meals. Like this, there are significant difference between the value of customers who buy coffee in coffee shops and the factors of customers who order food in general restaurants (Oh et al., 2019). Therefore, it was concluded that consumers do not expect nutritional value or health from SSBs, and consumer expectations can vary among product groups.Preference for SRBs in rational consumers was close to the average level of all consumers. For these consumers, shelf life and flavor are the main reasons why they do not like SRBs, and brand popularity can increase the preference of SRBs. Strategies like brand development emphasizing product safety and the hygiene of beverage production can be useful for rational consumers, and continuous improvement in SRBs flavor is needed to satisfy this cluster.Value seeking consumers showed a tendency to focus on numerous values in FRL and beverage selection. They had similar profiles to \"variety seekers\" (Kim et al., 2018), tended to have high income and high education level, and focused on all aspects of FRLs and beverage selection attributes. From these results, we can infer that the current economic level affects FRLs more than do than sex and marital status. However, value seeking consumers in our study considered economic attributes including price more highly than other groups.Preference for SRBs was the highest among the other consumer groups. Value seeking consumers tended to have good attitudes on origin of ingredients of SRBs and liked promotions a lot. However, when the price is high, they do not like SRBs. In other words, value seeking consumers are oriented towards economic consumption in food. For this group, marketing strategies such as discount coupons or promotional event can be important for SRBs.Careless consumers tended not to give attention to health and safety, similar to a previous \"low health interest\" cluster (Saba et al., 2019), and showed analogous attitudes for health. Several sociological studies have suggested that unmarried men do not pay attention to health compared to married men or women (Umberson, 1992; Robards et al., 2012). Careless consumers consider taste most important when choosing beverages and have a tendency to be influenced by advertisements. There has been reported similar tendencies in the study for beverages intake behavior of university students (Kim and Kim, 2015), young men considered taste a lot and were heavily influenced by trend and advertising when they choose beverages.In our study, careless consumers showed the lowest preference for SRBs and considered them of good nutritional value. In other words, they evaluate the SRBs good for health but do not like them. Also, product novelty can positively influence preference for SRBs, indicating that visually brilliant product development can be a strategy for these consumersThese different tendencies between total consumers and specific consumer groups suggested that consumer segmentation is effective to analyze the market. However, this study collected participants through online surveys of a Korean research firm and has a sampling limitation. Careful consideration is needed when generalizing the results of the study. In addition, as the definition of SRB was presented in textual form, another limitation was that survey participants may have different conceptions about the sweetness of SRBs, which may affect their preferences. In order to apply this research to real product development, it is necessary to have consumers taste sugar-reduced samples.Nevertheless, this study is meaningful as a market segmentation study to analyze consumer attitude and motivations for SRBs by the diversified method. Although there have been many academic studies on reducing the consumption of SSBs, few have focused on sugar-reduced beverages, as this study has. However, in the growing beverage market, it may be more meaningful to develop alternative beverages (such as SRBs) that match consumer preferences and induce changes in consumer choice and behavior. Furthermore, the results can have a positive impact on public health by reducing consumption of sugary drinks and encouraging healthier beverage consumption.In relation to the sensory aspect of the questionnaires, consumers showed low expectation of SRBs (Oliveira et al., 2018), so it is necessary for SRB suppliers to improve taste and flavor to encourage consumers to choose them as alternatives to sugary drinks. In addition, the characteristics of the target consumer should be investigated and the SRBs sales promotion strategy varied according to the findings. For example, it can be effective strategies to emphasize nutrition strengthening and discount event for consumers with health and economics-oriented characteristics. In follow up studies, research will be carried out on the combination of consumers' value and SRB attributes and on the development of real sugar-reduced beverages.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: As the risks associated with sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) increase, various policies require sugar to be reduced in beverages. This paper segmented consumers according to food-related lifestyle (FRL), analyzed beverage selection attributes and preference for sugar-reduced beverages (SRBs) for each group and presented basic data for the strategies of SRBs for each consumer group.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 1,000 Korean consumer panels responded to the online survey. The questionnaire consisted of FRL, beverage selection attributes and attitude toward SRBs.\nFindings: Consumer groups were divided according to FRL: rational, value seeking and careless consumer. Rational consumers tended to be in their 30s or 50s and women, and they focused on product quality/hygiene when choosing beverages. Value seeking consumers were mainly in their 40s and 50s and were characterized by high education and income. They showed high scores in quality/hygiene, economy and sensory traits. Careless consumers were more likely to be in their 20s-30s, unmarried men and considered sensory traits as the most important factor.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is the lack of generalization of consumer panels to represent the entire population because they were part of an online research firm.\nOriginality/value: This study implies that segmenting consumers according to FRL allows detailed analysis of consumer attitudes and behaviors. Using this analysis, the complex consumer pattern can be used as basic data for promoting sugar-reduced beverages.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Examining the impostor phenomenon and work-family conflict
|
[
"Perceived organizational support",
"Emotional exhaustion",
"Work-family conflict",
"Impostor phenomenon"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: When role pressures in one domain are at odds with role pressures stemming from another domain, inter-role conflict will ensue (Kahn et al., 1964). Work-family conflict represents a form of inter-role conflict in which \"participation in the work (family) role is made more difficult by virtue of participation in the family (work) role\" (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985, p. 77). Not surprisingly, a number of studies indicate that work-family conflict is common among employees, and findings reveal that such conflict results in negative outcomes for both individuals and organizations (Allen et al., 2000; Carlson et al., 2000). Yet, despite the prevalence of work-family conflict in organizations, there is still much to learn about its causes (Byron, 2005). Much of the work-family conflict literature examines situational predictors and work-related demands, such as long hours and work overload (Kahn et al., 1964; Lambert et al., 2004). Although personal variables may be stronger predictors than situational variables (Allen et al., 2000), they receive much less attention. As a result, our study examines the influence of personal demands on individuals' experience of work-to-family-conflict (WFC). WFC refers to interference of the family role by virtue of participation in the work role. WFC is one direction of the inter-role conflict that may occur between the work and family domains. We define personal demands similar to job demands according to the Job Demands-Resources Model; that is, job demands represent \"physical, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical and/or psychological effort and are, therefore, associated with physiological and/or psychological costs\" (Xanthopoulou et al., 2007, p. 122). Similarly, we define personal demands as individual aspects that require sustained physical and/or psychological effort and are, therefore, associated with physiological and/or psychological costs (e.g. Type A personality, etc.).\nThe IP, WFC, and the mediating influence of emotional exhaustion: Clance and Imes (1978) first identified the IP in clinical observations of high-achieving women who felt undeserving of their accomplishments. Despite high praise and professional recognition from colleagues, the women could not internalize their success. They attributed their success to error or luck, believed they had fooled those around them, and feared others would discover their phoniness. Although Clance and Imes (1978) first observed the phenomenon predominantly in young Caucasian females, subsequent studies reported that differences in gender (Topping and Kimmel, 1985), age (Cromwell et al., 1990), and race (Ewing et al., 1996) do not exist among impostors. Impostors experience a discrepancy between their own and others' perceptions of their success (Clance and Imes, 1978). Impostors are considered successful by those around them, but they perceive themselves to be deficient. As a result, achievement and success cause impostors to experience negative feelings (Cowman and Ferrari, 2002).\nThe moderating influence of POS: COR theory predicts that initial resource loss will lead to additional resource loss unless the resource supply is replenished (Hobfoll, 2001). Thus, in the absence of resource replenishment, the IP will lead to emotional exhaustion in the work domain, which will subsequently lead to WFC. Individuals, however, are motivated to replenish their resources (Hobfoll, 2001). Congruent with COR theory's resource investment principle, impostors may turn to the organization to replenish their lost resources through replacement or substitution. Individuals who employ resource replacement will experience fewer negative outcomes when faced with stressors (Zellars et al., 2011). Organizations have an opportunity to provide support for impostors that will offset their resource deficit.\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Table I shows descriptive statistics, reliability estimates, and correlations for the study variables. In addition, the partial correlations for our CMV tests are shown above the diagonal.\nDiscussion: In this study, we developed and tested a model that examined the relationship between the IP and WFC. We found that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between the IP and WFC. However, this indirect relationship of the IP to WFC is impacted by POS. Relying on COR theory, we are able to explain how the IP represents a personal demand that leads to greater emotional exhaustion and subsequent WFC, and how the perception of organizational support, a source of resource replenishment, moderates the emotional exhaustion and subsequent WFC. In doing so, our study contributes to knowledge of the IP and WFC by enhancing our understanding of how feelings of impostorism influence individuals' attitudes and behaviors, and how this personal demand influences individuals' experience of WFC.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderated-mediational relationship between the impostor phenomenon (IP) and work-to-family conflict (WFC). Building on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors hypothesize that individuals who experience the IP lack the initial resources needed to meet work demands and, thus, experience emotional exhaustion, which leads to WFC. However, the authors hypothesize that additional resources provided by organizations, such as perceived organizational support (POS), may weaken the negative experiences of imposters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors tested a moderated-mediation model using data from a time-lagged survey study among 92 Midwest community college employees. Regression was used to examine the mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and the moderating effect of POS on the IP to WFC relationship.\nFindings: Results support the hypothesized model. Emotional exhaustion is a mediating mechanism in the relationship between the IP and WFC. POS is a moderator of this indirect relationship; the indirect relationship between the IP and WFC through emotional exhaustion is weaker when employees perceive high levels of POS.\nPractical/implications: The findings suggest that there are detrimental long-term effects associated with the IP for organizations. Thus, managers should curb feelings of impostorism within their organizations and provide impostors with organizational support in order to reduce their emotional exhaustion and WFC.\nOriginality/value: The present study indicates that individual dispositions play an indirect role in WFC. Furthermore, the authors identify organizational outcomes associated with the IP, whereas previous research has rarely emphasized outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
IJHG review
|
[
"Pharmaceutical industry",
"Public health",
"Healthcare",
"Health governance",
"Integrity",
"Patient engagement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In reading through all the articles in this quarter's journal two major themes seem to emerge. The first theme is the public's engagement with the health services, while the second one focuses on knowledge to protect the integrity of healthcare.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the this paper is to provide readers with a succinct summary of the issue's content.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Each individual article is reviewed, with common themes identified.\nFindings: The paper enables readers to scan content and select articles of most interest or relevance to their needs.\nPractical implications: The review sections enable readers to identify articles of special interest.\nOriginality/value: -IJHG is the only Emerald publication containing a review section of this kind. It has been a feature of the journal since its early inception as the British Journal of Clinical Governance (BJCG) and has developed over the years to reflect the current needs of the journal.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Supply chain integration: value creation through managing inter-organizational learning
|
[
"Innovation performance",
"Supply chain integration",
"Supply chain learning",
"Customer service performance",
"Imitation prevention",
"Mediation effects"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Nowadays, market competition takes place no longer between individual companies but supply chains (Farahani et al., 2014). Since the introduction of supply chain management (SCM), one of the main themes has been the crucial role of supply chain integration (SCI) in value creation (e.g. Dyer and Singh, 1998; Cao and Zhang, 2011), and two recent meta-analyses (Leuschner et al., 2013; Mackelprang et al., 2014) have presented empirical generalizations on the SCI-performance relationship. Despite their rigorous execution, the two meta-analytic consolidations of the extant research \"derive different conclusions pertaining to the overall 'value proposition' of SCI\" (Autry et al., 2014, p. 275). The inconsistent findings are largely due to the application of different definitions, operationalizations, and levels of analysis for SCI (Autry et al., 2014). In order to understand SCI and its relationship to performance and value creation, we will first present our definition, operationalization, and level of analysis for SCI in the Literature Review section. Furthermore, failure to consider the mediating routes by which SCI affects firm performance may have constrained the researchers from coming to comprehensive and generalized conclusions about the benefits of SCI (Chavez et al., 2015; Chang et al., 2016). Grounded in the relational view (RV) and knowledge-based view (KBV) of the firm, we argue that one of the mediating factors may be the way in which inter-organizational learning is managed. SCI can potentially result in supply chain learning (Bessant et al., 2003; Flint et al., 2008; Manuj et al., 2013). However, such learning behavior may also trigger unwanted imitative efforts of competitors (Zander and Kogut, 1995). Although facilitating supply chain learning and preventing rival imitation are the twin elements of managing inter-organizational learning along the supply chain, there are few studies considering them at the same time. As more customer value may be achieved through superior management of inter-organizational learning (Esper et al., 2009), there is a need to test the mediation effects of both supply chain learning and imitation prevention. In addition, as power can be the governance mechanism to promote SCI (Maloni and Benton, 2000) and there is a correlation between focal firms' ability to improve performance and their power circumstances (Cox et al., 2004), different results may be found between powerful focal firms (that have the most negotiation power on the supply chain) and weak focal firms (that have less negotiation power on the supply chain) from the transition cost economics (TCE) perspective.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Definition of SCI\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Measurement development\n4. Results: To estimate structural equation models by means of empirical data, researchers can choose either covariance-based methods (e.g. LISREL and AMOS), or variance-based partial least squares (PLS) approach. Following the rules to select the more proper method to estimate structural equation models (Hair et al., 2011), we decide to use the PLS approach. The first reason is that PLS is better suited to analyze exploratory models that are on the early stages of theory development and testing (Zack et al., 2009), as is the case of this research. PLS is also an analysis technique that enables the simultaneous estimation of both the measurement and the structural models (Tenenhaus et al., 2005), providing estimations that are robust against skewed data distributions and multicollinearity (Cassel et al., 2000). In addition, in comparison to covariance-based methods, PLS is advantageous if the sample size is small (Chin, 1998), as is the case of our two sub-group models. The software we choose for this research is SmartPLS Version 2.0 M3 Beta (Ringle et al., 2005). To estimate the significance of path coefficients and item loadings, we use a bootstrapping approach, where 500 random samples of observations with replacements are generated from the original data set (Chin, 1998). t-statistics are calculated for each parameter.\n5. Discussion and conclusion: 5.1 Discussion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how inter-organizational learning (including supply chain learning and imitation prevention) mediates the relationships between supply chain integration (SCI) and two dimensions of focal firm performance (i.e. customer service performance and innovation performance).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional approach was adopted with primary data collected through a survey in China. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with partial least-squares estimations.\nFindings: The findings verify that inter-organizational learning mediates the relationship between SCI and focal firm performance. The results of sub-group model analysis illustrate that both powerful and weak focal firms benefit from inter-organizational learning, but in different ways.\nResearch limitations/implications: The responses were all from young executives who had four years' work experience on average. Top-level executives may provide more comprehensive and accurate input for similar future research.\nPractical implications: The results suggest that successfully integrating the supply chain to create customer value requires both supply chain learning and imitation prevention.\nOriginality/value: This paper responds to calls for an inter-disciplinary research between supply chain management and inter-organizational learning by taking into account supply chain learning and imitation prevention as links between SCI and both customer service performance for current success and innovation performance for future prosperity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Framework for the implementation of lean construction strategies using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) technique: A case of the Saudi construction industry
|
[
"Construction",
"Engineering",
"Management",
"Project management",
"Construction site"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The construction industry is an important sector globally as it creates the built environment for a country through the production of a wide range of buildings, and civil and heavy engineering infrastructure (Jiang and Wong, 2016). This infrastructure serves to enhance the health, economic, social and cultural aspects of humanity (Xiong et al., 2016). In addition, the construction industry provides job opportunities and a livelihood for both professional practitioners and skilled and unskilled labourers (Lu et al., 2015). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has the largest construction industry in the Middle East with an approximate annual expenditure of more than $120bn (Alrashed et al., 2014), providing about 15 per cent of the total employment in the country (Dhahran International Exhibition Company, 2015).\n2. Review of existing lean construction frameworks: Conceptually, lean construction is rooted in lean operations in the field of operations management. According to Koskela (1997), the objective of lean production is to decrease the waste inherent in the conversion of physical inputs into outputs in the production process. Similarly, lean construction is therefore a way to design production systems in building construction to minimise waste of materials, time and effort in order to generate the maximum possible value (Koskela et al., 2002; Koskela, 2004). Thus, the value generated through the application of lean construction occurs during the construction project delivery process and it is often referred to as lean project delivery. According to Koskela (2011), lean project delivery pursues three goals. First, to transform inputs to outputs and get the production realised more efficiently. Second, to ensure the flow of materials, composed of transformation, inspection, moving and waiting, to eliminate waste (or non-value adding activities). Third, to create value for the client through the fulfilment of his/her objectives. These goals are complementary and should be integrated into the implementation of lean construction (Koskela et al., 2002; Koskela, 2004).\n3. Research methodology: As mentioned previously, this study builds on an earlier study by Sarhan et al. (2016), but the aim of this study is to develop a framework for the implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry using ISM. According to Warfield (1994), the ISM technique enables an understanding of the relationships among many elements associated with a system by developing a structured model of these relationships. This helps to impose order on, and direction to, the relationships among elements in a system, such that their influence can be analysed (Mandal and Deshmukh, 1994; Sharma et al., 1995; Singh et al., 2003). According to Kumar, Agrawal and Sharma (2013), Kumar, Kumar, Haleem and Gahlot (2013) and Kumar, Luthra and Haleem (2013), the various steps involved in ISM are as follows:\n4. Analysis of results: development of the ISM framework: Step 1: identify the CSFs - as mentioned previously, the first step in the ISM process was achieved in a study by Sarhan et al. (2016). Following a questionnaire survey of 282 construction professionals, the study identified the 12 CSFs for successful implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. The 12 CSFs are presented in Table I.\n5. Discussion: This study has developed a framework for the implementation of lean construction that is particularly applicable in the KSA construction industry context. As shown in Figure 2, the framework comprises a set of interrelated CSFs and their hierarchies (VII-I) for the successful implementation of lean construction. The CSFs reveal the actions (and activities) that must take place before the implementation of lean construction (Achanga et al., 2006), while the inter-relationships of the CSFs reveal the step-by-step approach required tackle these actions. Meanwhile, Jang et al. (2014) observed that many of the existing lean construction tools and techniques are not implementable due to the non-participation of the supposed implementers. Knowing this, this study specifically engaged operators in the KSA construction industry to validate and suggest improvements to the framework developed in this study. Therefore, to a large extent, the usefulness of the developed framework in practice is assured. In particular, the framework specifies the procedural manner for operators such as contractors, consultants, government departments and professionals to implement lean construction in the KSA construction industry.\n6. Conclusion: Although lean construction strategies have been introduced to improve project and organisational performance in the KSA construction industry, a framework for implementation has been lacking. Therefore, this study developed a framework for the implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. The validation process among construction industry operators indicated that the developed framework is useful for operators such as contractors, consultants, government departments and professionals to implement lean construction to improve construction processes and overall industry performance in the KSA construction industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for implementing lean construction and consequently to improve performance levels in the construction industry in the context of Saudi Arabia. There is currently no framework for implementing lean construction specifically tailored to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) construction industry. Existing lean construction frameworks are focussed on other countries and are less applicable in the KSA due to differences in socio-cultural and operational contexts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) technique for data collection and analysis. First, following a survey of 282 construction professionals, 12 critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry were identified by Sarhan et al. (2016). Second, 16 of these professionals who have 15 years or more experience were exclusively selected to examine the contextual relationship among the 12 CSFs. A row and column questionnaire was used for a pairwise comparison of the CSFs. A matrix of cross-impact multiplications (MICMAC) was applied to analyse the questionnaire data to develop an ISM model that can serve as a framework for implementing lean construction. Third, the framework was subjected to further validation by interviewing five experts to check for conceptual inconsistencies and to confirm the applicability of the framework in the context of the KSA construction industry.\nFindings: The findings reveal that the CSFs are divided into four clusters: autonomous, linkage, dependent and driving clusters. Additionally, the findings reveal seven hierarchies of inter-relationships among the CSFs. The order of practical application of the CSFs descends from the seventh hierarchy to the first hierarchy.\nOriginality/value: The new framework is a significant advancement over existing lean construction frameworks as it employs an ISM technique to specify the hierarchical relationships among the different factors that contribute to the successful implementation of lean construction. The primary value of this study is the development of a new framework that reflects the socio-cultural and operational contexts in the KSA construction industry and can guide the successful implementation of lean construction. Therefore, construction industry operators such as contractors, consultants, government departments and professionals can rely on the framework to implement lean construction more effectively and successfully.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Coaching: from challenge to opportunity
|
[
"Workplace",
"Best practices",
"Coaching",
"Business coaching"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Coaching, which evolved as a developmental practice over the last few decades, is now among the most widely used development techniques in the business environment on an international level. Yet, despite its growing tenure as a developmental practice, executive coaching has remained underutilized by many organizations and does not always achieve desired outcomes and impact. This is mainly due to organizations' immaturity and lack of knowledge in the proper use of this tool, since there are various critical factors that can determine the success of such an initiative. Several critical success factors are not well understood by organizations and this is derived from the fact that they do not pay adequate attention to the factors that define coaching effectiveness and enable companies to benefit from coaching's potential outcomes. This paper aims to gain some insight regarding these critical success factors and attempts to identify possible areas for improvement for companies. A further purpose of this paper is to present coaching opportunities and applications in the workplace as well as to point out that organizations that want to leverage the benefits of coaching must be mature enough to have certain processes and practices in place.\n2. Evolution of coaching: Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins states in his book The Selfish Gene that all life evolves by the survival of replicators that differentiate and adjust to their environments. Such replicators in biological evolution are genes. Considering other aspects of evolution, like culture in humans, he coined the word \"meme\" to describe a unit of cultural information or idea that can be transferred from one person to another, basically through imitation and telling. Once the idea is created in the human brain, the individual familiarizes with it and if he likes it, starts spreading it. The receiver does the same and the meme propagates itself from brain to brain. Moreover, consistently with natural selection theory, if memes fit the cultural and social values of the time they can develop and survive, otherwise they become extinct (Dawkins, 2006). They also need a means by which to travel. We could say that coaching has been a \"meme,\" evolved in a changing socioeconomic and business environment and spread rapidly during the past few decades (O'Connor and Lages, 2007).\n3. What is coaching?: 3.1. Origin of the word and concept\n4. Business coaching: As we have seen so far, coaching has grown tremendously over the past few decades, and business environments were a catalyst in this. Coaching opportunities and applications in the workplace are numerous, and so within corporations, coaching found rich soil to grow and flourish.\n5. Epilogue: Taking all the above factors into account and trying to put them in order, we could say that organizations that want to leverage the benefits of coaching must be mature enough to have certain processes and practices in place. First, being clear on coaching's target outcomes and the reasons it is employed and use coaching for the right people (not problematic employees) and the right reasons. Second, positioning coaching to the company in a positive sincere manner and communicate the initiative to the executive in a productive way that diminishes all second thoughts and misconceptions and reassures his willingness to undergo coaching and his engagement to it. Third, having definite, established high standards criteria regarding the selection of the professional external coach who will be employed and ensuring a match between coach and coachee. Fourth, managing and aligning all the internal stakeholders that participate in the coaching procedure with the goal to be clear and open when providing feedback during initial assessment and progress during coaching. Fifth, establishing all the necessary metrics and measurements to quantify the outcome of coaching, when it reaches its conclusion.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present coaching opportunities and applications in the workplace as well as to point out that organizations that want to leverage the benefits of coaching must be mature enough to have certain processes and practices in place. A further purpose of this paper is to gain some insight regarding several critical success factors are not well understood by organizations and to identify possible areas for improvement for them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors first presents the environment in which coaching was developed, from which disciplines was it affected, and how it was shaped into its current form. Then the authors focus on coaching used as a business development tool and critical factors that play an important role in the effectiveness of coaching from the organizations' side are presented. The paper ends with some qualitative conclusions.\nFindings: The value that organizations realize form coaching is proportional to the quality of coaching delivered. Organizations that invest in quality coaches, have, themselves, a clear understanding of what coaching really is and actively support coaching initiatives at every aspect of coaching's procedure, can reap the greatest benefits from it.\nOriginality/value: Several studies have been conducted to determine the organization-dependent factors that affect coaching and the quality of the result. However, do date it has not been highlighted that organizations that want to leverage the benefits of coaching must be mature enough to have certain processes and practices in place. Furthermore, possible areas for improvement for companies are identified regarding several critical success factors that are not well understood by them.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Productivity improvement in solid waste recycling centres through lean implementation aided by multi-criteria decision analysis
|
[
"Productivity",
"Lean manufacturing",
"Multi-criteria decision analysis",
"Solid waste recycling centres"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Solid waste management has been an integral part of every human society (Shekdar, 2009) and is one of the most challenging issues in urban cities, which are facing serious pollutions problems due to the generation of huge amount of solid waste (Kumar et al., 2009). The influence of improper management practices for municipal solid waste (MSW) has attracted the attention of various entities, professionals and researchers in recent years (Catapreta and Heller, 1999; Agarval et al., 2005; Mondelli et al., 2007; Taylan et al., 2008; Parrot et al., 2009), since these can cause serious threats to the public health and environment. MSW is the most complex solid waste stream, as opposed to more homogeneous waste streams resulting from industrial or agricultural activities (Troschinetz and Mihelcic, 2009). According to the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE, 2002), Brazil produces about 125,281 tons of MSW per day, 30.5 per cent of which are disposed off in garbage dumps, 22.3 per cent in controlled dumps and 47.1 per cent in sanitary landfills. Although the selectiveness of garbage disposal has improved in recent years, 63.6 per cent of Brazilian towns still dispose off their solid waste in dumps.\n2. Background: 2.1 Lean Manufacturing\n3. Method: The proposed method is comprised of seven steps, which are shown in the following list. The method aims at adapting a multi-criteria decision tool (i.e. AHP) into the application of VSM in five RCs in order to identify improvement opportunities for productivity enhancement, and assumes no previous knowledge on the tool.\n4. Results: Solid waste collection in Porto Alegre involves 150 neighbourhoods, with a population of more than 1.3 million. More than 60 tons of solid waste are collected per day and distributed to 18 RCs, in which only 18 per cent of total solid waste generated in the city is recycled. The collection and distribution of the solid waste are performed by Department of Urban Sanitation (DMLU), while the RCs are managed by cooperatives, whose members are mostly poor and not part of the mainstream economy. In these centres, the solid waste is separated, appraised, stored and commercialised. The profit remains with the cooperatives, making it an important income source (about R$812/person/month) for more than 500 workers, who present an average monthly productivity of 1.9 ton per person (DMLU, 2013). These RCs must be designed to minimise process lead time and maximise the output rate. Another design parameter is sorting quality; it must be easy to discard the waste in the correct waste fraction container. The importance of this is highlighted by Krook and Eklund (2010a, b).\n5. Discussion: Our results denote some interesting points with regards to the productive systems of solid waste RCs and lean implementation, summarised in Table VII. First, despite a careful sample selection process in order to ensure the uniformity of characteristics among the studied RCs, some contextual variables presented differences that may influence the results. For instance, size of the RC, which can be compared based on the number of involved personnel, vary from 22 at RC5 to 100 at RC1. A few studies (Dora et al., 2013; Ates, 2004) state that the larger the size of the plant the worse the information flows, which negatively affects the production scheduling process. However, RC1, which is the largest RC, currently presents nine scheduling points, as shown in Table II, while others that are smaller present 10 or 12 such as RC2 and RC3, respectively. Further, large size also implies the availability of human resources that facilitate adoption and implementation of change management practices (Foster et al., 2007; Herron and Braiden, 2006). Nevertheless, our findings show that smaller centres have presented significant changes with adoption of lean practices, such as RC5 and RC2, whose productivity improvements were approximately 112 and 105 per cent, respectively, comparing current and future states. Thus, although literature evidences that contextual variables impact the adoption and implementation of lean practices in solid waste RCs (Hemphala et al., 2010), results indicate that the direction of the effect is not always as predicted.\n6. Conclusion: MSW management is a major problem in most economically developing countries. This research suggests two major findings. First, while VSM theory brings valuable information to managers and facilitators, the most important benefit comes from actually applying the tool. During the mapping process insights grow, paradigms are shifted, and consensus is built. Not only the mapping activity leads to better and leaner processes, but also brings consensus that enables and enhances lean implementation in contexts other than manufacturing. Second, the integration of a multi-criteria decision-making tool to the VSM methodology characterises an important contribution to the area. VSM provides means to identify several systemic wastes and, hence, address improvement actions. However, due to the large amount of identified opportunities over several targeted objectives, the integration of AHP as a multi-criteria decision-making tool enables the establishment of criticality scores and prioritises the improvements. Therefore, AHP complements the final stage of VSM by ranking opportunities and facilitating the priorities decision within improvement teams. In particular, this contribution becomes especially important in cooperatives managed by community, such as RC, where decisions are often complex and time-consuming. Sundin et al. (2011) reinforce that the studied context usually presents certain reluctance in adopting formal controlling and management practices. Personnel training in RCs (whenever it exists) is usually task focused and does not emphasise the development of managerial skills. Due to their socio-economic condition, labour force usually comes without technical background and low educational level, which hinders the implementation of more complex management practices. Thus, incorporating a decision-making tool helps to address such issues. However, AHP might not be the proper tool choice if a larger amount of opportunities is identified, due to its operational characteristics. Further studies may investigate more practical multi-criteria analysis in order to overcome this barrier.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through a comparative analysis, the applicability of lean manufacturing practices, such as value stream mapping (VSM), for productivity improvement in recycling centres (RCs) aided by multi-criteria decision analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is carried out in five RCs that sort the municipal solid waste of Porto Alegre, one of the main cities in Brazil. Since all of the centres present their labour composed by poor communities' members, cultural and social characteristics may represent an incremental challenge for lean implementation. Further, these centres are organised in cooperatives, in which decisions are taken through a participatory way and all their members are entitled to vote, undermining and retarding the decision-making process.\nFindings: The integration of a multi-criteria decision-making tool to the lean practices enables the prioritisation of improvements, complementing the final stage of VSM. In particular, this contribution becomes especially important in cooperatives managed by community, where decisions are often complex and time-consuming. Finally, despite the increasing pressure for better performance of RCs, the existent mindset is still far from the private sector, where lean practices were conceived. Further, the findings suggest that, despite processes similarities, it is not feasible to declare the existence of a one-best practice to such scenario.\nOriginality/value: In theoretical terms, the authors demonstrate through a multi-case study the adequacy of analytic hierarchy process as a decision analysis tool complementary to the VSM, enabling a broader perspective about this subject. Concerning the practical contribution, the comprehension of the adaptation needs for lean practices implementation within the production context of solid waste RCs provides a framework with guidelines for this sector, when incorporating lean activities. Lean practitioners and eventual municipal authorities involved in improving productivity of community-managed RCs might benefit from this framework, since they will be able to emphasise the development of recommended and already tested lean practices that tend to improve their operational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Improvement of the inspection-repair process with building information modelling and image classification
|
[
"Automation",
"Facility management",
"Building information modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Facility management (FM) involves multitasking and complex processes, including environmental health and safety, space planning, security, building operation, repairing and managing emergencies. As the final and longest phase of a facility's lifecycle (Akcamete et al., 2010), FM requires day-to-day operation and maintenance (O&M) activities to optimise performance of buildings, systems and equipment for building occupiers. Ineffective building maintenance poses significant safety risks to building occupiers and results in great economic losses for building owners.\nLiterature review: Regular inspections help to ensure that building facilities and equipment can perform their intended functions, improving productivity and reducing running costs. In addition, regular inspections ensure that the regulatory compliance of buildings and safety requirements of occupiers are met. Traditionally, building inspectors undertake a manual process to identify the condition of and defects in facilities, inputting inspection data manually. However, this process is time-consuming and costly (Hamiledari et al., 2018). Missing or incorrect building information can arise in a manual process, reducing efficiency in decision-making processes in the O&M, leading to significant delays in responding to emergencies and daily requests of building occupants (Kang and Choi, 2015). Moreover, unintended errors or accidents can result from uncertainties around recognition of existing building documents and inaccurate assumptions regarding building conditions (Hamiledari et al., 2018). Problems with manual building inspection processes suggest that an automated inspection-repair system that can provide correct building information instantly would assist in FM decision-making. BIM is an emergent technology that provides a comprehensive platform in FM for up-to-date and accurate information.\nResearch method and system design: Little literature exists on automated systems that store data collected from inspections, identify data locations, classify data categories and communicate with repair decision automatically in FM. Motawa and Almarshad (2013) note that the current FM system fails to capture and retrieve detailed information and knowledge generated from building maintenance or operations. Photographs are acquired manually, which is impractical (Park et al., 2018). Because of the scarce literature in this field, the research methodology in this study involved an empirical study in which photo images were collected via smartphone from a bedroom and a kitchen. Methods including Bag of Words and a decoding system were chosen to classify images for automatic uploading and allocation to files stored in the BIM. For each element inspected, image classification algorithms were applied to identify the defect indicator, defect type, design inconformity and update the model type and property sets within the input BIM automatically. This allows relevant FM personnel to retrieve the images and conduct inspection-repair activities. Details of the inspection-repair automated system are described in the following four steps:\nEmpirical study: By following the system design procedure described in the previous section, the authors selected an apartment bedroom and kitchen to test the effectiveness of the developed system in the pilot study.\nEmpirical results: Accuracy and processing time\nDiscussions and conclusion: The innovation of this research is the application of QR codes and image classification using Bag of Words with BIM to facilitate the FM process. This empirical study has demonstrated that the developed system has improved the information flow in the inspection-repair process by enabling users to collaborate effectively using GUIs with the same 3D model when the information is accessed automatically from and stored in the BIM knowledge repository. All records of activity, images and comments are stored in the knowledge repository. This reduces information loss while enabling personnel to review these records at any time in the future. These records enable personnel, especially repairmen, to improve their understanding of the history of an object, facilitating their activities. It is concluded that the image classification algorithms and the use of QR codes reduce the amount of time consumed by the automation of the process.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Automated technologies have been applied to facility management (FM) practices to address labour demands of, and time consumed by, inputting and processing manual data. Less attention has been focussed on automation of visual information, such as images, when improving timely maintenance decisions. This study aims to develop image classification algorithms to improve information flow in the inspection-repair process through building information modelling (BIM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: To improve and automate the inspection-repair process, image classification algorithms were used to connect images with a corresponding image database in a BIM knowledge repository. Quick response (QR) code decoding and Bag of Words were chosen to classify images in the system. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) were developed to facilitate activity collaboration and communication. A pilot case study in an inspection-repair process was applied to demonstrate the applications of this system.\nFindings: The system developed in this study associates the inspection-repair process with a digital three-dimensional (3D) model, GUIs, a BIM knowledge repository and image classification algorithms. By implementing the proposed application in a case study, the authors found that improvement of the inspection-repair process and automated image classification with a BIM knowledge repository (such as the one developed in this study) can enhance FM practices by increasing productivity and reducing time and costs associated with ecision-making.\nOriginality/value: This study introduces an innovative approach that applies image classification and leverages a BIM knowledge repository to enhance the inspection-repair process in FM practice. The system designed provides automated image-classifying data from a smart phone, eliminates time required to input image data manually and improves communication and collaboration between FM personnel for maintenance in the decision-making process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The evolving gift-giving practices of bicultural consumers
|
[
"Acculturation",
"Chinese cultural values",
"Bicultural consumers",
"Chinese immigrants",
"Concept of the gift-giving process",
"In-depth interviews"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Because of migration and ethnic diversity, the twenty-first century has presented many countries with a challenging multicultural environment. Specially, there is a call for more studies to understand bicultural consumers and the impact of their acculturation practices on contemporary consumption behaviour. This study focuses on the gift-giving context. Gift giving can be seen as a language that uses objects and a place where people tend to create their own complex realities (Caplow, 1984). Furthermore, gift giving is a universal and a rich context to conduct consumer behaviour research (Belk, 1976). Gift-giving rituals have been studied extensively in the past few decades, but few studies have examined it from the perspective of bicultural consumers.\nResearch objectives and research questions: This study takes into account the cultural and ethnic factors which intersect and intertwine with the lifestyle and consumption behaviour of immigrants in a new country. When migrating to a new society, ethnic groups will experience the new cultural traits of the host country while maintaining their original ethnic identity (Laroche et al., 1996). Scholars have called for studies to offer in-depth understandings of this phenomenon within broader socio-cultural discourses (Penaloza, 1994; Oswald, 1999; Luedicke, 2011; Askegaard and Ozcaglar-Toulouse, 2011). It is important to note that changes in cultural values that occur over time may be the results of adaptation to new social, cultural, professional and marketplace experiences. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to explore the evolving practices and the underlying values of bicultural consumers during their acculturation process. This study was conducted specifically within the context of gift-giving behaviour in Canada and aimed to contribute towards better understanding within this domain.\nConceptual background: Culture is defined as:\nConceptual framework on gift-giving consumption behaviour: Different conceptual lenses from various disciplines such as sociology, economics, psychology and marketing have been applied to understand the gift-giving consumption behaviour (Qian et al., 2007). It is a challenging context as the gift-giving domain focuses on how one makes decisions for others (i.e. making purchases for others to use) (Steffel and Le Boeuf, 2013). Recognizing gift-giving consumption behaviour as a value-laden phenomenon, this study offers a conceptual framework (Figure 1) that encompasses the Chinese values on gift giving (Yau et al., 1999). The focus of this research is on the gestation stage from the perspective of the gift giver (Sherry, 1983). This framework includes the three main components: the role of gift-giving occasions, the role of gift receivers and the gift-giving motivational elements which include particularly the Chinese cultural values of face saving, guanxi, reciprocity and group orientation (Leung and Bond, 1989; Chan et al., 2003; Gong, 2003; Yau et al., 1999; Yau, 2001).\nResearch methodology: A qualitative research study using in-depth interviews methodology was implemented. Specifically, this study used the semi-standardized interview technique (Berg and Lune, 2012). As such, it followed a systematic ordering of pre-prepared questions that allowed the researcher to probe beyond the answers to those questions. The respondents first answered standardized questions in a logical order; scheduled or unscheduled probes were then asked to gain further elaboration on the participants' responses.\nFindings: evolving gift-giving occasions: Most interviewees believed that holidays relevant to the Canadian culture were more important gift-giving occasions than the holidays relevant specifically to the Chinese culture. Interviewees mentioned gift giving on typical Western holidays like Christmas, Valentine's Day, Father's Day and Mother's Day, which are usually not celebrated in China. While summer barbecues are a typical event in Canadian culture, this is not the case in China. As such, the interviewees mentioned that in Canada, they always bring something as a gift when they are invited for a casual barbeque, a formal dinner or just a social visit:\nFindings: varying categories of gift receivers: Varying categories of gift receivers were found to be relevant for bicultural respondents. First, interviewees mentioned significant others, parents and other immediate family members as the most frequent gift receivers. Also, because some grown-up children financially support their parents, they see what they give as simply a part of everyday life rather than as a special gift:\nFindings: gift-giving motivational elements (Chinese cultural values): Findings indicate that gift-giving motivations encompassing some Chinese cultural values are still important to the gift-selection behaviour of Chinese immigrants in Canada. Particularly, values such as \"social relation or guanxi\", \"reciprocity\" and \"group orientation\" were found to be still very important. However, the cultural value \"face-saving or Miantsu\" was found to be less critical in the context of gift giving.\nConclusions: This study highlights the gift-giving behaviour and the associated underlying values of bicultural consumers in Canada. Specifically, it offers evidence of how Chinese immigrants transform their gift-giving practices after they immigrate to Canada. It also offers how some Chinese cultural values still have an impact on their gift selection in Canada. Overall, the new gift-giving reality was captured in details through live experiences of respondents.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to offer a better understanding of contemporary consumer behaviour. This study relates to the complex and value-laden phenomenon of \"gift-giving\" from the perspective of bicultural consumers. The focus was on the gift-giving practices of Chinese immigrants in Canada within both their current and their past residencies (Canada and China, respectively).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Conceptual guidelines for this study embodied the gift-giving conceptual framework of Sherry (1983) and Chinese cultural values on gift giving (Yau et al., 1999). A qualitative research study was implemented. Specifically, in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrant women mainly from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada, offered empirical evidence relating to the gestation stage of gift giving.\nFindings: The findings indicate the complexity of acculturation in gift-giving practices. In terms of gift-giving occasions, Chinese immigrants in Canada, for the most part, adopted the Canadian gift-giving occasions. However, the important role of ethnicity in decision-making is found through their strong sense of differentiation between Chinese and Canadian gift receivers. The results also indicate some Chinese cultural values such as relationship, reciprocity and group orientation as being still important in shaping gift-giving practices, even after immigration to a new country quite distant from the homeland. One cautionary note is that some cultural values such as relationship can be common to both Chinese and Canadian cultural groups.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research was conducted mainly in the GTA in Ontario, Canada. Future studies could address other large Canadian cities with significant bicultural Chinese populations such as Vancouver in British Columbia and Motreal in Quebec.\nPractical implications: This research extends the knowledge of bicultural consumers by examining the evolving gift-giving practices of Chinese immigrants living in Canada. A good understanding of the cultural values important to bicultural consumers will help marketers to efficiently and effectively allocate their marketing resources in attracting these niche consumers.\nSocial implications: This study has contributed to the broader field of marketing research. Specifically, the current study offers the importance of understanding values transference of bicultural consumers and their behaviours in integrating into the mainstream gift-giving cultural context.\nOriginality/value: This study has contributed by offering evidence of how a minority consumer group formed complex acculturation realities within a gift-giving consumption context. This contribution can be counted as a step towards theoretical advancement in the field of acculturation and of understanding bicultural consumers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Lease structures and occupancy costs in eco-labeled buildings
|
[
"Commercial real estate",
"Energy efficiency",
"Green building",
"Real estate investment",
"Split incentive",
"Sustainable real estate"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Private benefits associated with energy efficiency - utility cost savings - create a theoretical market incentive for greenhouse gas mitigation, a public good. Yet, there is a literature that observes contradiction between uptake and expected profitability of energy efficiency investments (Kok et al., 2011). Exploration of the observed investment gap often arrives at a convincing principal-agent market failure narrative called the \"split incentive\" or \"landlord-tenant dilemma\": while building owners must fund capital asset upgrades, their occupants benefit from the operational efficiencies created by those investments (Heinzle et al., 2013; Janda et al., 2016; Schleich and Gruber, 2008).\n2. Background and hypotheses: At a fundamental level, there are two primary financial incentives that attract private investors into the market for eco-labeled property investment: capital value security (i.e. lower obsolescence risk) and operational expense savings. Capital value benefits accrue exclusively to owners. However, lease negotiations determine which party benefits from operational expense savings.\n3. Data and method: To test these competing hypotheses, we begin with data on urban office leasing transactions in Australia where there is a near binary mix of gross and net lease structures. Logistic regression models are used to describe the association between lease structure (net or gross) and lease transaction attributes. Mixed effects regression techniques are then employed to investigate the effect of lease structure on the total costs of occupancy. Further robustness tests are conducted, including a test for transferability using lease transactions in the USA.\n4. Methodology: To achieve comparability between NNN and gross contract rents[4], all observed NNN contract rents are converted to total costs of occupancy by adding all first-year operating charges, included in a gross contract[5]. The formula for TOC on an NNN lease is as follows (NLA refers to the net leasable area):(1)\n5. Results: We find that energy efficiency eco-labels are significantly associated with net lease structures. While tenants usually benefit from the operational savings offered by energy efficient space, we further find that their overall total costs of occupancy stay the same or increase.\n6. Discussion: There is significant association between net lease structures and operationally efficient eco-labeled buildings in open markets where lease structures vary. However, buildings with net lease structures are also associated with higher TOC on average, thus eco-labels may be a useful strategy to extract higher gross income out of tenants. Despite the appearance of a split incentive limiting investment in building energy efficiency, landlords indirectly benefit from investing in operational efficiencies that are passed on to tenants.\n7. Caveats and limitations: While this study offers important new insights into the relationship between eco-labels and lease structures for office markets with lease structure heterogeneity, there are some limitations that open additional avenues for further research. Notably, these data represent market outcomes at the lease transaction scale and do not allow comment on the owner's investment decision-making process or the owner's total investment return, which would need to be measured at the building scale.\n8. Conclusions: Using lease transaction data, this paper examines the complexity of who benefits from operational efficiency in commercial office buildings. There is a consistent association between the presence of an eco-label and the probability of a net lease structure observed in selected Australian and US markets. Further exploration associates net lease structures with higher total costs of occupancy relative to a statistically equivalent property using a gross lease. The magnitude of this cost premium for tenants offsets any savings traded to tenants. With tenants more likely to agree to net lease arrangements, landlords also benefit from reduced risk of adversely selecting resource-intensive tenants if CSR motivates efficient tenants to seek eco-labeled space.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether energy-efficient green buildings tend to provide net lease structures over gross lease ones. It then considers whether owners benefit by trading away operational savings in a net lease structure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Empirical models of office leasing transactions in Sydney, Australia, with wider transferability supported by analysis of office rent data in the USA.\nFindings: Labeled green buildings are approximately four to five times more likely than non-labeled buildings to use a net lease structure. However, despite receiving operational savings, tenants in net leases pay higher total occupancy costs (TOC), benefiting owners. On average, the increase in TOC paid by tenants in a net lease is equal to or greater than savings attributed to an eco-labeled building.\nPractical implications: A full accounting of TOC in eco-labeled buildings suggests that net lease structures provide numerous benefits to owners that offset the loss of trading away operational savings.\nOriginality/value: The principal-agent market inefficiency, or \"split incentive,\" is a widely cited barrier to private investment in energy-efficient building technology. Here, a uniquely broad look at rental cash flows suggests its role as a barrier is exaggerated.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Global brain-reflective accounting practices: Forms of intellectual capital contributing to value creation and sustainable development
|
[
"Sustainable development",
"Value creation",
"Intellectual capital",
"Blockchain",
"Augmented reality",
"Global brain ‒ distributed network"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Technology has significantly been altering our lifestyle and life concepts, impacting on the workplace and the private space, creating alternative realities that we can operate within, such as a \"real, or analog\" and a \"virtual and digital\" reality. Rapid change is a significant element of these developments (Bonilla et al., 2018). Also, new generations, such as Gen Y and Gen Z, consider speed an important work achievement (Barac et al., 2016). What is generically referred to as new technologies encompasses a wide variety of practices and artefacts that support, actively create and connect the various realities we can experience in different contexts.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Accounting practices and new technologies\n3. Theoretical context - the global brain concept: 3.1 Concept of the global brain\n4. Methodology - cyber-ethnography: The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersection of accounting practices and new technologies based on publicly available online user- and machine-generated content. Users in the current study refer to anyone who contributes to the internet, that is organisations, institutions and individuals (Caliandro, 2014), which contribute to creating data and metadata (Caliandro, 2014) where the latter seeks to provide explanations of events, practices and other data (Caliandro, 2014). Digital social spaces created \"through the networked technologies and the imagined collective that emerges as result of the intersection of people, technology and practice\" (Boyd, 2011, p. 39) are a main research site for online ethnographies, as they allow insight into the greatest varieties of opinions, social formations and shared identities that naturally emerge online (Caliandro, 2014).\n5. Findings: 5.1 Value creation and sustainable development\n6. Discussion and conclusion: The current study has investigated developments of accounting practices in the context of new technologies, in particular augmentation, blockchain and BDA and agile business models. It has added to the body of studies that investigate accounting practices and intellectual capital in the context of new technologies (Moll and Yigitbasioglu, 2019). These constitute new forms of intellectual capital, in particular the combination of human and machine skills, which support value creation and sustainable development for the organisation and society in general. The theoretical context employed by the current study is the global brain, which gives rise to these practices, as increasingly more users and actors are globally connected through the internet, creating a distributed intelligence network, a superstructure essentially (Heylighen, 2007, 2017). In this context, our findings illustrated that accounting practices can be augmented to conjure particular images and narratives that can be utilised in future to enhance the storytelling of accounting and business-based information through BDA, the visualisation of relevant information through augmented reality overlays on integrated reports, the relevant capital flows and business model illustrations. Thus, developing deeper knowledge in a new technology will enhance their ability to interpret with greater accuracy. Also, organisational narrative will matter with regard to providing integrated reports that allow for broader disclosure and organisational presentation than traditional annual reports, and are more reflective of new types of business models. Incorporating augmented reality practices to visualise the capital flows and developments in the business model and the contribution to broader value creation and sustainable development reflect on the significant advancement that can be achieved through adopting a distributed intelligence network and enhancing human abilities accordingly (Lenartowicz, 2017).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersection of accounting practices and new technologies in the age of agility as a form of intellectual capital, through sharing the conceptualization and real implications of accounting and accountability ideas in exploring and deploying new technologies, such as big data analytics, blockchain and augmented accounting practices and expounding how they constitute new forms of intellectual capital to support value creation and realise Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The adopted methodology is cyber-ethnography, which investigates online practices through observation and discourse analysis, reflecting on new business models and practices, and how accounting relates to these developments. The global brain sets the conceptual context, which reflects the distributed network intelligence that is created through the internet.\nFindings: The main findings focus on various developments of accounting practice that reflect, utilise or support digital companies and new technologies, including augmentation, big data analytics and blockchain technology, as new forms of intellectual capital, that is knowledge and skills within organisations, that have the potential to support value creation and realise SDGs. These relate to and originate from the global brain, which constitutes the umbrella of tech-related intellectual capital.\nOriginality/value: This paper determines new developments in accounting practices in relation to new technologies, due to the continuous expansion and influence of the intelligence of the collective network, the global brain, as forms of intellectual capital, contributing to value creation, sustainable development and the realisation of SDGs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
At their wits' end? How divorced women cope with workplace harassment in Sri Lanka
|
[
"Coping strategies",
"Harassment",
"Divorced women",
"Identity-management",
"Stigma-management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Although not formally, strictly or overtly frowned upon as in the past, divorced women, vis-a-vis divorced men, still get subjected to stigma and prejudice in many patriarchal societies around the world (Gerstel, 1987; Kung et al., 2004; Parker et al., 2016). Sri Lanka - a South Asian country - has a strong patriarchal culture, where marriage is seen as an indicator of a person's (especially a woman's) prosperity (Abeyasekera, 2013) and marriage and motherhood are considered social norms for women (Jayatilleke et al., 2010). Separation and divorce are thus condemned and discouraged, leading to divorced women being labeled and treated as deviants. Prejudices and stereotypes that divorced women are \"uncontrollable\", \"unpredictable\" (Newton-Levinson et al., 2014) and \"sexually available\" (Gerstel, 1987; Konstam et al., 2016; Kung et al., 2004) are very much present in the Sri Lankan society and can be identified as the main reasons for the stigma divorced women face. This stigma and prejudice about divorced women is starkly juxtaposed with gender role expectations, such as respectability, chastity, sexual innocence and subordination, thus disrupting their social identities as \"ideal Sri Lankan women\" or \"respectable women\". Consequently, divorced women get subjected to a myriad of negative outcomes, such as discrimination and harassment (Kung et al., 2004; Newton-Levinson et al., 2014).\nHarassment coping and stigma identity management strategies: As integrating stigma management and identity management research with research on responding to and coping with harassment is identified to enhance the theorisation of responding to harassment, the following review will focus on harassment coping, stigma and identity management strategies.\nClassifications of harassment coping strategies: There are a number of classifications on how recipients respond to harassment and how they cope with their experiences (Cortina and Magley, 2009; Fasting, Brackenridge, and Walseth, 2007; Johannsdottir and Olafsson, 2004; Knapp et al., 1997; Cortina and Wasti, 2002). These classifications mainly focus on the degree of assertiveness, directness or individuality of the responses. For example, Fasting, Brackenridge, and Walseth (2007) have presented four types of coping responses: confrontation, passivity and avoidance, regulatory challenges and public shame or humiliation under direct vs indirect and individual vs collective classifications, while Fitzgerald (1990) has presented internally focused strategies (endurance, denial, detachment, reattribution and illusory control) and externally focused strategies (avoidance, appeasement, assertion, seeking institutional or organisational relief and seeking social support). However, while these classifications and terminologies are sometimes different, many of the individual responses thus classified are analogous (for example, avoidance, assertiveness, denial, social coping and support seeking). Moreover, having mainly focused on the responses of white working women, these classifications and the behaviours therein neither does identify or explain the uniqueness of responses of different other types or categories of individuals such as minorities or stigmatised nor do they recognise the impact and the importance of culture in responses to harassment. In this milieu, there is a need to explore and integrate other explanations, frameworks and theories in understanding how divorced women (as a minority stigmatised group of individuals) in Sri Lanka (an Asian setting with different norms, values and behaviours) respond to harassment at work.\nStigma management strategies: A great deal of research has focused on how stigmatised individuals manage stigma or manage others' reactions to their stigmatised statuses. For instance, Goffman (1963) in his seminal work presents several such strategies of stigma management - directly correcting the stigmatised attribute, mastering areas that others assume to be weaknesses, the reinterpretation of the character that leads to stigma and using the stigma for secondary gains. Divorced women being a stigmatised group of individuals in Sri Lanka, and harassment being one of the reactions of others to their stigmatised status (divorced status), how divorced women manage harassment is inevitably linked to how they manage stigma. However, the many stigma management strategies previous scholars have discussed are not in relation to harassment or divorced women. Yet, stigma management strategies and harassment response strategies do carry certain similarities, even though they are studied in different settings and contexts. For example, Meisenbach's (2010) stigma management strategies such as accepting, avoiding, evading responsibility and reducing offensiveness are similar to Wasti and Cortina's (2002) and Fitzgerald's (1990) harassment response strategies, such as denial, avoidance and endurance. Hence, integration of stigma management strategies and harassment response strategies can provide additional insights and understanding of how and with what underlying intentions and emotions divorced women respond to harassment.\nManaging identity and identity threat: Identity management and identity threat management strategies can also significantly contribute in understanding responses to harassment by divorced women, as harassment clearly poses an identity threat to divorced women. Research has explored various reactions to identity threats, such as, derogation, concealment, positive-distinctiveness, changing the importance of the threatened identity (importance change) and changing the meanings associated with the threatened identity (meaning change) (Petriglieri, 2011). Clair et al. (2005) in a study on managing invisible social identities in the workplace, discuss how women make decisions on when and how to reveal or pass their identity. More specifically, researchers such as Shih et al. (2013) have reported identity management strategies individuals use to mitigate the negative consequences of discrimination which they term as identity switching (i.e. deemphasising target identities and recategorising to a more positively valued identity) and identity redefinition (i.e. stereotype reassociation and regeneration). However, according to Lutgen-Sandvik (2008), little is known about the specific identity threats related to harassment. Moreover, even though previous studies on identity have focused on divorced women, they have mainly looked at how the divorced status has altered or changed a person's self-concept and self-identity. Rarely have studies looked at stigma and identity in organisational settings (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2008) or in coping with harassment (Clair et al., 2005).\nMethodology: This paper is drawn from a study which looked at the experiences of harassment of divorced women at the intersection of marital status and gender (Adikaram, 2018). The responses of 12 participants related to responding to and coping with the harassment they faced at the workplace are taken as the main data of the current paper. The 12 participants were heterosexual divorced working women, who have been divorced for more than one year, belonging to the middle level of the management hierarchy, and coming from middle-class family backgrounds. The participants were identified employing the purposive sampling technique (Robinson, 2014) based on the required characteristics and approached through personal contacts and contacts of personal acquaintances. After this purposive selection of the participants, in-depth interviews were carried out face-to-face or over the telephone, which took a more conversation-type approach with the use of semi-structured, open-ended questions. The intention of the research, its voluntary nature, and how anonymity is protected were clearly communicated to the participants and their informed consensus to participate in the study was obtained (Robinson, 2014). Each interview took an average time of one hour to one and a half hours.\nFindings: The narratives of participants detailed the numerous ways in which they have experienced harassment and the different response and coping strategies they have employed. It is not surprising that participants focused on responding to harassment as well as on managing stigma, in a context where the participants believed that their experiences of harassment were a consequence of their divorced status and the stigma surrounding divorced women in the society. I have discussed elsewhere how the participants tended to see their harassing experiences as societal reactions to their marital status and an identity threat (Adikaram, 2018). Hence, while the participants coped with the harassing experiences, they were also struggling to maintain or reconstitute their identities and manage stigma and prejudices about divorced women. In this backdrop, the response strategies participants engaged in when coping with harassment were broadly categorised as stigma-focused strategies and harassment-focused strategies and organised into seven quadrants based on the focus of the strategies and the type of strategies. The resultant typology of harassment coping strategies of divorced women is depicted in Figure 1 and illustrated in more detail in Table II.\nStigma-focused and harassment-focused avoidance strategies: Avoidance strategies are found to be the most frequent reaction to harassment (Salin et al., 2014) as well as to being labeled and stigmatised (Glass et al., 2013). Similarly, among the harassment coping strategies participants resorted to, these avoidance strategies were found to be the most common. As shown in Figure 1, participants resorted to concealment and fabrication in avoiding stigma and managing their identities in the face of harassment, and passivity and appeasement in avoiding harassment.\nStigma-focused and harassment-focused withdrawal strategies: Participants also engaged in different withdrawal strategies to evade harassment on the one hand and to evade stigma on the other. Research on harassment documents comparable concepts, such as adaptive withdrawal (Hulin, 1991) and exit. In a similar vein, stigma research reports of social distancing (Glass et al., 2013), isolation (Smith, 2007) and secrecy.\nStigma-focused and harassment-focused defensive strategies: I could also identify few stigma-focused and harassment-focused strategies which I termed as defensive strategies as these strategies either challenged or attempted to guard/protect the participants against stigma and harassment.\nStigma-focused and harassment-focused social coping strategies: Social support seeking was identified as both a stigma-focused and harassment-focused social coping strategy as it entailed considerable elements of both stigma management and harassment coping.\nDiscussion: The study highlights how the responses to harassment by stigmatised divorced individuals are a co-construct of harassment coping and stigma management. On the surface, the reactions of the participants towards harassment do not appear to be different to the findings of prior research on responding to harassment. However, when analysed together with stigma and identity management strategies, it becomes clear how responding to harassment is different for divorced women as stigmatised individuals. All in all, coping with harassment is more traumatic and exhausting for divorced women as they engage in handling harassment, which is traumatic in itself, while also relentlessly engaged in coping with negative social identity and stigma.\nConclusion: Findings indicate how different divorced women respond to harassment. Being treated as a deviant and the resultant stigmatisation leads divorced women to cope with the harassment they face at work in specific ways. While prior research has talked about coping strategies, such as avoidance as well as stigma and identity management strategies, such as concealment, these researchers have not integrated these two response strategies to understand how stigmatised individuals respond to harassment. Hence, the present study illuminates the manner in which stigma management interacts with harassment strategies in dynamic ways through the strategy typology presented in Figure 1, depicting seven major quadrants and the nine major strategies within them.\nImplications for organisations: Implications of the findings of the study have applicability across the national setting as well as the organisational setting. Given the stigma focus and harassment focus responses the participants demonstrate, the need for creating a fair and equitable culture of inclusivity-both national and organisational -devoid of prejudices and stigma towards divorced women is pivotal. While the Sri Lankan legislative system does not prejudice or discriminate divorced women, it will be a challenge to change the attitudes and perceptions of the society to treat divorced women with equality and equity to break the vicious cycle of stigma and harassment.\nDirections for future research: Although I believe that the typology is comprehensive in explaining the response strategies of divorced women to harassment, I realise that the typology can be expanded or changed with regard to response strategies of other stigmatised individuals when their unique and contextual experiences are taken into consideration. Hence, researchers can shed further light to this typology by exploring the responses of other stigmatised individuals such as lesbian, bi-sexual, gay and transgender (LBGT). Such explorations would also assist in exploring the variations as well as similarities, in terms of not only responses and coping but also the nature of harassment experiences and workplace obstacles these different stigmatised individuals encounter. It would also be interesting to explore how divorced men are harassed at the workplace and how they respond to harassment. Also, future research can take a multi-stakeholder approach, exploring how different organisational factors perceive and respond to harassment of stigmatised employees as observers, complaint handlers or individuals with authority. There is also a pressing need for more nuanced theoretical explanations, conceptual frameworks and practical roadmaps to inform scholars and organisations on full inclusion of stigmatised individuals in organisations and how stigmatisation can be addressed at the organisational level.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how and with what reasons, divorced women respond to harassment they face at work, within a patriarchal culture of stigma and prejudice about divorced women. This inquiry will be performed by integrating stigma-management and identity-management research with research on responding to and coping with harassment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using qualitative research methodology, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were carried out with 12 divorced working women.\nFindings: Findings of the study illuminate the manner in which stigma management interacts with harassment coping/respond mechanisms in dynamic ways, leading to complex response strategies for divorced women, which can be broadly identified as stigma-focused response strategies and harassment-focused response strategies. A strategy typology - consisting of seven major quadrants and nine major strategies therein - is thus provided, explaining how divorced women struggle to maintain their identity and manage stigma while coping with harassment.\nPractical implications: The paper point towards the need for organisations to be mindful of the struggles of stigmatised individuals in coping and responding to harassment, and their distinct situations and experiences in developing and implementing interventions such as training, awareness creation and policies on harassment.\nOriginality/value: While research on reaction to harassment is abundant, how divorced women - as a stigmatised and marginalised group of individuals in society - cope with harassment at work is almost non-existent. The present study fills this gap by exploring harassment responses at the nexus of stigma and identity management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Safety coaching: a literature review of coaching in high hazard industries
|
[
"Behavioural-based safety",
"Coaching psychology",
"High-hazard industries",
"Safety coaching",
"Safety critical industries",
"Safety culture"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The benefit of coaching interventions in facilitating effective and long lasting behavioural change has been well evidenced. Grant et al. (2010) conducted a detailed literature review and concluded that coaching research offered significant empirical evidence that coaching was a valid organisational intervention. Further, more recent meta-analysis papers (Theeboom et al., 2014; Jones et al., 2014) have confirmed that coaching is a useful organisational intervention, with comparable effect sizes to other interventions including training and appraisals. However, there has been less research to review the application of coaching explicitly in safety critical environments, specifically in the oil and gas industry, which has started to make extensive use of the intervention in the past four years. This short paper critically reviews the research literature in safety critical environments.\nCoaching in safety critical environments: Many researchers have noted that many workplace accidents are foreseeable and preventable; the result of a build-up of small mistakes and seemingly unimportant incidents that together can create disaster (Pate-Cornell, 1993). Although the link between coaching and behavioural change has been investigated in an organisational context the classification of safety coaching specifically is not well defined and safety coaching in high-risk environments is a very under researched area. The link between the implementation of safety coaching programmes and improved workplace safety records has not been fully demonstrated.\nConclusion: The evidence suggests that coaching has developed an evidence base that supports the claim that coaching is an organisational effectiveness. Further, there is evidence that coaching may be an effective intervention to improve safety outcomes in some safety critical environments, particularly when used as part of a wider approach to safety.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically review the research literature on safety coaching, with a particularly focus towards work in safety critical environments such as oil and gas, manufacturing and driving.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature review was undertaken of existing research, specifically in high-hazard industries, to assess whether safety coaching could be applied in the offshore oil and gas industry.\nFindings: The paper suggests that coaching may offer some potential in helping support learning, behaviour change and is consistent with feedback and development approaches used in behavioural-based safety.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research would be needed to test the value of coaching to this new environment.\nPractical implications: The paper informs practice on the development of coach training for safety coaching offshore.\nOriginality/value: The paper offers a new understanding of the potential of safety coaching in a new area of practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The Tour de France: corporate sponsorships and doping accusations
|
[
"Sponsorship",
"Brand image",
"Crisis communication",
"Doping",
"Team brand",
"Tour de France"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nDoping and sponsors' images: The Tour de France is one of ten major sporting events in the world, attracting a global audience of cycling enthusiasts and followers. In 2012 and 2013, the values inherent in the sporting efforts and team spirit of the Tour were overshadowed by various scandals linked to doping affairs. Lance Armstrong, with seven winning yellow shirts, now admits to cheating seven times. The negative impact of the doping scandal endures.\nThe impact factors on mega-sporting events: In the context of sport, the consumption or use of chemical substances or other medical methods to enhance individual performance is considered both immoral and illegal. A doping case always impacts negatively on the sporting event and generally does not only lead to the punishment of an athlete but may also rebound on the sponsors themselves, or their brands, or even diminish the attractiveness and marketability of the event.\nInterviews with team sponsors: There is a scarcity of extant research on this topic, and we undertake an exploratory qualitative study here. Five major sponsors (four from France and one from Dutch) were contacted concerning their potential reactions. Initial letters were sent explaining the research in general terms. We did not want to offend the sensibilities of our interlocutors, and thus, doping was not announced as a central research concern. To collect qualitative data regarding sponsor reaction, arrangements were made for personal interviews. A semi-structured interview protocol facilitated the focus. Even when questions were subject to minor refinements and the interview protocol evolved during discussions, similar questions were asked of all interviewees. The interviewees, two people per team, were either in charge of communication or in charge of team sponsorship. The questions included the following six areas:\nSponsors are different while reacting in the same way: All sponsors had clear business objectives, which are linked to the Tour, other professional cycling competitions and brand equity, and this led to our first proposition for subsequent research:\nCommunication strategies and anti-doping policies: toward a conclusion: Our results indicate similar sponsor reactions, which are to exclude the cyclist and swiftly present an appropriate communication strategy in crisis situations. No sponsor will defend an employee/cyclist if he is considered guilty of doping or even if there is a suspicion. Contracts between sponsor and sponsored all have termination clauses if an athlete is found guilty of doping during the contractual term.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is show how sponsors in a major sponsored event may react when facing a potential doping affair. The Tour de France cycling competition is a premier global sporting event - broadcast worldwide - and thus attracts very significant sponsorship. Cycling teams are named after their team sponsors. Recent global news has, however, shown that there are doping scandals involved in this event which impact both teams and team sponsors. When a doping scandal occurs in a team, the sponsors have to react rapidly and expeditiously to protect their brand reputation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To ascertain potential reactions, team sponsors are interviewed in depth and their reactions to a doping affair assessed. The sponsors represent different brands and their commitment as team sponsors also varies.\nFindings: Research shows that sponsors react similarly when a doping scandal occurs in their team and adopt similar communication strategies in that situation. While best practice is apparent, doping policies put into place by sponsors nevertheless differ. These practices are more than just preventative in nature, i.e. they anticipate and try to prevent doping affairs.\nPractical implications: The teams and sponsors are engaged in a long-term relationship to build brand heritage. Undoubtedly, doping is taken very seriously, as consequences can be severe. In this sense, the sport, the teams and the sponsors share the same vision and objectives.\nOriginality/value: Team sponsors reactions while facing a potential doping affair have not yet been assessed. Best practices become visible which might serve as guidelines in other global sporting events, also generating significant sponsorships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Who benefits from CLIR in web retrieval?
|
[
"Information retrieval",
"World wide web",
"Language",
"User studies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The traditional laboratory IR model is based on a test collection and test topics with their binary relevance assessments. Test queries are usually formulated automatically from test topics. The performance of a system or a query is measured by recall and precision. The model is very controlled, enabling easy comparisons across various test situations. However, retrieval systems are designated for human users. Thus, user-oriented research is needed besides laboratory tests.The sizes of the traditional research collections are quite small. Hull asked in 1993 whether experimental results with small collections and short documents are applicable to large collections. He answered that there is no evidence that they would not be, but researchers must be cautious when generalizing specific test result into different environments (Hull, 1993). The test collection sizes have increased since that, but so have the real world collection sizes. There has been the terabyte track in TREC since 2003 (TREC, 2005a, b). The collection, GOV2, contains about 25 million documents (426 GB) from.gov pages (Over, 1998, www-nlpir.nist.gov/projects/terabyte/). In 2005, Google claimed to index over 8 billion pages and MSN about 5 billion pages. Gulli and Signorini (2005) estimated that the number of the indexable web pages was at least 11.5 billion in the beginning of the year 2005. The number of the GOV2 documents is about an eight hundredth part of the number of the Google documents. In addition to the size, diversity characterises the web. We can ask whether the GOV2 collection really stands for the whole web: all documents genres as well as languages. English dominates the GOV2 collection, and thus it is not the best possible test collection for non-English retrieval.Most of the interactive cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) experiments have been performed with test collections (e.g. iCLEF - interactive track for the Cross-Language Evaluation Forum (Oard et al., 2004, http://nlp.uned.es/iCLEF/index.htm, accessed May 2006); Petrelli et al., 2006). There is not much research on the applicability of query translation with large collections, or in connection with existing web engines. The performance of translated queries compared with target language queries in the internet has not been tested widely, either.Ogden et al. (1999), Ogden and Davis (2000), Capstick et al. (2000) and Penas et al. (2001) have reported of development of web-based CLIR systems. Their research has concentrated on operation and interaction of the systems, and they did not perform any user tests concerning the performance of the systems.This study focuses on possible benefits of query translation in the web for real users. Query translation (without document translation) might be useful for searchers with good or moderate target language skills: those with poor skills are not able to read the documents. We assume that users with moderate/passive target language skills benefit most of query translation: they are able to read documents, but they might have difficulties in formulating target language queries because of problems with the lexicon and/or the orthography. Query formulation is presumably easier for those with good/active skills, and thus they would not benefit from query translation so much. We have recruited participants with moderate and good target language skills for our user test in order to test whether our assumption is right. There is not much prior research on the usefulness of query translation for users with different language skills, although it is important to identify the potential target group when real CLIR systems are developed.The structure of this paper is the following: Section 2 discusses research on interactive CLIR and CLIR systems in the internet. The settings of this test as well as research questions are presented in Section 3. Section 4 describes the results and Section 6 contains the discussion and conclusions.\n2 Previous research: 2.1 CLIR user tests\n3 Test settings and research questions: The previous section showed that in prior CLIR research, user tests have been performed mainly in test datasets. Systems for query translation in the web have been created, but their usefulness has not been tested widely. Thus, there is not much research on the applicability of CLIR in the web.The main purpose of the current paper is to study whether query translation is advantageous in web information retrieval for users who are able to read documents written in the target language. We do not handle document selection, because our focus group is able to read and understand retrieved documents. Our focus group consists of users with moderate language skills: they are able to read target language documents, but query modification might be difficult for them. For comparison, we also had active target language users among our test persons. Presumably, they do not benefit from query translation very much. Instead, we did not recruit participants with poor target language skills: they might not be capable of reading documents. The participants are detailed in Section 3.3.We focused on three language pairs: Finnish-Swedish, English-German, and Finnish-French. We had 18 Finnish-Swedish, 12 English-German and 12 Finnish-German participants in our tests. We wanted to simulate a real world retrieval situation. The most authentic option would be to utilize topics created by each participant. On the other hand, result comparison would not be possible in that case. Giving the same topics for each participant would not have been realistic either, because users have differing interests. We concluded to introduce ten search tasks, out of which we asked participants to select four. We asked them to formulate their queries both in the source language (Finnish or English) and in the target language (French, Swedish or German). We translated automatically the source language queries into the target language, and compared the performance of the user formulated target language query with the performance of the translated query to test which one performed better.3.1 Research questions\n4 Results: 4.1 Participants\n5 Discussion and conclusions: Our first research question was: what is the relative performance of the users' direct querying in the target language vs the automatically translated target language queries. The answers were different depending on the language pair. In the Finnish-Swedish test, the target queries performed almost equally with the UTACLIR queries, the result of the latter being slightly better. In the English-German test, the UTACLIR queries attained the best results, the second was Babelfish, while the target queries got the worst results. The differences were not statistically significant, however. In the Finnish-French tests, the target queries performed twice as well as the UTACLIR queries, and the differences were statistically significant. The Finnish-French translation dictionary had shortcomings which affected the results. We found that the quality of the translation dictionary is very important: a defective dictionary does not help even those with not so good language skills.In conclusion, when the result of the Finnish-French test is downplayed because of the poor dictionary, query translation compared with target language queries seemed to perform much better in our test than it has performed in previous laboratory tests. The reason might be that in the laboratory tests the target language queries are worded on the bases of the topics, which have been formulated by native language speakers. Thus, the queries include all the important words with no spelling errors. On the other hand, the target queries formulated by test persons often are defective: they do not cover all the perspectives of the topic, they include spelling errors, they are too specific or too loose. Formulating a good query is not easy, especially in a foreign language. Thus, our test gives a more truthful image of the benefits of query translation for real users than the laboratory tests do.Our second research question was whether the language skills and the topic familiarity/the vocabulary familiarity have any effect on the performance differences between the target/UTACLIR/Babelfish queries. In the Finnish-Swedish test we found that the better language skills the user had and the more familiar she was with the vocabulary, the better were the results of the direct queries, while the results of the translated queries were approximately the same between the groups. The results of Finnish-French and English-German tests were parallel, even though the corroborating findings were not statistically significant.Thus, we can conclude that our assumption was right: the benefits of query translation in the web seem to depend on users' language skills and activity. We did not have participants with poor language skills in our test, but obviously that kind of users would benefit even more from query translation than those with moderate language skills. However, they would need quality translations of the documents found.The next issue to study would be whether multi-lingual query translation (one source language, many target languages) is advantageous for web users.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of the current paper is to test whether query translation is beneficial in web retrieval.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The language pairs were Finnish-Swedish, English-German and Finnish-French. A total of 12-18 participants were recruited for each language pair. Each participant performed four retrieval tasks. The author's aim was to compare the performance of the translated queries with that of the target language queries. Thus, the author asked participants to formulate a source language query and a target language query for each task. The source language queries were translated into the target language utilizing a dictionary-based system. In English-German, also machine translation was utilized. The author used Google as the search engine.\nFindings: - The results differed depending on the language pair. The author concluded that the dictionary coverage had an effect on the results. On average, the results of query-translation were better than in the traditional laboratory tests.\nOriginality/value: - This research shows that query translation in web is beneficial especially for users with moderate and non-active language skills. This is valuable information for developers of cross-language information retrieval systems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Optimal replacement of systems subject to shocks and random threshold failure
|
[
"Systems theory",
"Replacement control",
"Production methods",
"Production",
"Planning and control"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Systems deteriorate with age and usage. Amongst the many approaches in modeling such systems, shock models have found favor with reliability analysts because of their applicability to diverse areas, for example stochastic clearing systems (Serfozo and Stidham, 1978), drug administration in chemotherapy (Stadje, 1991), inventory models and fatigue failure (Srinivasan, 1974). The basic problem here is to consider a system which is subject to randomly occurring shocks. Shocks are events that cause perturbation to the system, leading to its deterioration. The effect of these shocks on the system is measured by a process called the wear or damage process. The contribution to the damage process by successive shocks is non-negative and cumulative. System failure is modeled as the first passage time of the damage process past a fixed or varying threshold. The particular shock that takes the cumulative damage past the threshold is referred to as the deadly or lethal shock. Interesting variations to the first passage problem were studied by Shanthikumar and Sumita (1983) and Stadje and Zuckerman (1990). The former did not consider the cumulative damage process, but considered failure to be caused by any shock that caused damage past a threshold, called the lethal shock. Stadje (1991) considered the tolerance of the system from a fixed threshold, using suitable objective functions. Yeh and Zhang (2003, 2004) studied a maintenance model for a deteriorating system subject to shocks. Shock models have been successfully applied to many different areas such as physics, communication, electronic engineering and medicine.Yeh and Zhang (2004) introduced a new model that is different from the above models, and called it a d shock model. While the existing shock models concentrated solely on the magnitude of the damages caused by shocks, Yeh and Zhang's model pays attention to the frequency of shocks rather than the accumulated amount of damage due to shocks. Thus a shock is a lethal shock if the time elapsed from the preceding shock to this shock is smaller than a specified threshold d and then the system fails. This approach is more practical because the cumulative damage process is abstract and not physically observable. In addition, systems may not withstand successive shocks at short intervals. For instance, elastic materials will stretch on the application of a shock and will take time to recover and any further shock before the recovery is complete will make the materials break. The threshold time d is the recovery time. For a multi-component system, a shock could be identified as the failure of a component. The system functions with reduced efficiency despite some failed components, which are then repaired. Any further failure before the failed components are put back in operation will make the system fail.In this paper, we generalize the d shock model in which the threshold time is a random variable and on failure the system is sent for repair. Threshold time intervals in successive periods between repairs and successive repair times are stochastically increasing (or decreasing), reflecting the deteriorating (or improving) nature of the system. We adopt an N-policy, by which the system is replaced by a new and identical one on the Nth failure.Section 2 presents the notation used in the paper, while in Section 3 we present the generalized shock model. In Section 4 we derive certain results needed to compute the long-run average loss per unit time. Special cases of the model developed are presented in Section 5. Optimal policies for the special cases and a numerical example are provided in the last section.\n2. Notation: Xn operating time of the system following the (n-1)th failure, called the length of the nth sub-cycle;\n3. The model: Our model is best described by the following assumptions.Assumption 1\n4. Long run average loss per unit time: The system renews itself after every replacement. With the N-policy adopted, the time until the Nth failure since its installation forms the length of each cycle. Thus the successive cycles together with the loss incurred in each cycle will form a renewal reward process. The long run average loss per unit time is given by: Equation 1 From Assumption 5, i.e. that the repair times {Yn, n=1, 2, ...} form an increasing geometric process with rate b, we see that E[Yn]=(m/bn-1), where E[Y1]=m. We now proceed to obtain E[Xn]=ln and rn.Consider the nth sub-cycle and define the conditional density functions of Unk and U-nk, the time between the (k-1)th and kth shocks, conditional on the kth shock being non-lethal and lethal, respectively, as: Equation 2 and: Equation 3 Thus the expectation of the conditional variables Unk and U-nk are given by: Equation 4 and Equation 5 where f1(nk)(s)* and f2(nk)(s)* are the Laplace transforms of f1nk(x) and f2nk(x).We observe that the probability that a shock in the nth sub-cycle is lethal is given by: Equation 6 and the probability that the shock is non-lethal is qn=1-pn.Also, the random variable Mn, the number of shocks in the nth sub-cycle excluding the one at the beginning of the cycle, is specified by: Equation 7 As the inter-shock intervals are independently distributed, we observe from equation (5) and equation (6) that Mn is geometrically distributed as: Equation 8 The expected length of the nth sub-cycle is given by: Equation 9 Using elementary probability arguments, the survivor function of Xn, the length of the nth sub-cycle is given by: Equation 10 where F(m)(*) is the m-fold convolution of F(*).The expected reward for the nth sub-cycle rn is given by: Equation 11 where Zin is the arrival time of the ith non-lethal shock in the nth sub-cycle given no lethal shock until Zin, where Z0n=0, [?]i=10E[ri(Zin)]=0, and: Equation 12 Substituting equations (8) and (11) in C(N) we obtain: Equation 13 We will consider some special forms of F and G and defer the problem of optimal N* to Section 6.\n5. Special cases: We will choose a specific form for the inter-shock arrival time density and compute ln for various choices of Gn( * ). Let f(t)=le-ltl, t>0. Thus: Equation 14 (Please refer to the Appendix for derivations of expressions in this section.)Case 1\n6. Loss analysis: The structure of equation (12) prohibits an explicit expression for optimal N*. However, when the reward rate is a constant, say r, independent of the shock number and the time of occurrence, the cost equation reduces to: Equation 33 This equation has been discussed in detail by Yeh and Zhang (2004).The corresponding N* exists and is specified by: Equation 34 where Equation 35 To illustrate the loss equation, we have plotted (N,C(N)) in Figure 1 for the three special cases discussed in Section 5, for the choice of the value of the parameters C=6, r=10, m=10, b=0.95, t=50, R=6,000; l=0.05, a=1.05, d=1. We wish to mention that while the threshold time distributions are different, we have chosen in each of the three cases the mean threshold times to be the same so as to bring out the effect of threshold time distribution on the cost equation. Thus dn=1/mn=an/2=an-1d.We observe from Figures 1-3 and Tables I-III that N* is a decreasing function of alpha, as it should be.Reverting to the random reward case, we demonstrate the computation of N* by choosing the random reward rate ri(t) to be normally distributed with mean kvie-dt and variance s2 (k,d>0, 0<v<1). Such a choice of a mean function is motivated by the fact that the expected reward rate function is a decreasing function in shocks and usage. It can be seen clearly from Table IV that variation in the parameters v and d results in a significant fall in the loss function. More precisely, the concavity of the loss function is more pronounced for increasing and decreasing values of d and v, respectively. Choosing the distribution function F( * ) and G( * ) as in Case 1 in Section 5, the total expected reward for the nth sub-cycle is given by: Equation 36 where: Equation 37 (see Appendix for details).Figure 4 plots (N,C(N)) for the parameter values C=6, k=5x104, m=10; d=2.31, ps=0.12, b=0.95, t=50, R=6,000, l=0.05, a=1.05, d=1 for the above model.\n7. Concluding remarks:: This paper generalizes LamYeh's random threshold failure model for deteriorating systems. As mentioned earlier, this model pays attention to the frequency of the occurrence of shocks rather than the accumulated damage due to these shocks. An interesting special case arises when the shock occurrences are deterministic. This will lead us to fatigue failure models with cyclic loading, which arise naturally. We also observe that the above model has practical applications in warranty cost analysis. The class of warranty models known as renewing warranty policies have been of interest. In such policies, if the system fails during the warranty period w (fixed or random) the manufacturer agrees to replace with a new item carrying a further warranty period of w. This goes on until there is no system failure during a warranty period. By identifying the instance of a shock as the failure of the system and the threshold times as the warranty period offered and changing the definition of lethal shock (system failure in this case) as the occurrence of a shock within a threshold period in our generalized model, we can study the renewing warranty cost analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to generalize Yeh and Zhang's 2004 random threshold failure model for deteriorating systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An N-policy was adopted by which the system was replaced after the Nth failure.\nFindings: - The model was found to have practical applications in warranty cost analysis.\nOriginality/value: - By identifying the instance of a shock as the failure of the system and the threshold times as the warranty period offered and changing the definition of lethal shock (system failure in this case) as the occurrence of a shock within a threshold period in our generalized model, one can study the renewing warranty cost analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Thriving and sustainable employee performance: Save money; invest in people
|
[
"Human resource management",
"Employees relations",
"Productivity",
"Performance",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In early 2012 various research around employee engagement found their way into the mainstream press in the UK. Studies show, said the reports, that the majority of firms' employees seemed to enjoy working for their companies and were satisfied with their working life. However only a very small percentage actually engaged with their firms, to the extent that they were willing to go the extra mile to make them successful.\nCreating a winning team: Managing to create a balance with a fiercely passionate workforce and low costs is of course the Holy Grail of many a human resource management (HRM) policy. Achieving this balance is another matter. The conventional view is that in order to fully engage a workforce, there needs to be considerable investment in the right people, and then in creating a dynamic, reward-laden environment for them to develop strong emotions towards their employer. To any board, this kind of Utopia sounds rather fanciful and long-term. And expensive.Over the years there has been many an academic that have aimed to push for these kinds of environments to be created, and weighed in with research evidence to show this. However such research often remains within dusty jackets of academic journals, or in the backwaters of online databases. And even when they do surface in mainstream media, they often lack the guarantees that business people constantly search for in aiming to back up their decision-making. In particular, the need to energize and invigorate people can come against the backdrop of an industry slump or global recession, when the means to invest in human resources are competing with so many other factors. The question remains: how can the balance be struck?\nThriving: In their article \"Creating sustainable performance (what makes for sustainable individual and organizational performance in employees),\", Spreitzer and Porath (2012) analyze the idea of thriving employees, and how such a state of mind can benefit firms, and be created. Their research centers around trying to identify exactly what characteristics make employees contribute the most to their employers, and they came up with the state of mind they define as \"thriving.\" As well as the notional meaning behind this of someone who is healthy, alert and growing in their position, thriving is also intended to encapsulate the twin modes of behavior of \"learning\" and \"vitality.\" This does have the benefit of enabling employers to immediately think of people with these personality traits, and in turn makes them think more deeply of exactly how these attitudes contribute to the performance of a business as a whole.In particular, the authors envisage thriving employees as those who are attempting to \"create the future\" for themselves and their company, and this long-term view is critical to understanding what Spreitzer and Porath are suggesting, as they very much have their eye on people who realize their work for their firms is, to use a sporting cliche, a \"marathon not a sprint,\" and unlike some people in an organization they do not want to sacrifice future achievement with short-sighted cuts in investment. This is backed up by some sharp statistics from their research with thousands of employees:* companies with thriving employees perform 16% more effectively;* there is 125 percent less burnout;* thriving employees are 32 percent more committed and 46 percent more satisfied; and* thrivers have fewer missed days and sickness days.\nHow and why: Identifying this improved performance is obviously the easy bit - good people do good jobs, right? How these levels of engagement can be achieved is the real challenge, and the authors provide four key measures that can be employed:1. Leeway. Traditionally firms have liked to exert control over their employees, yet in a more agile business environment, particularly in industries like social media, it pays to adopt a laissez-faire approach to people and allowing them to make key decisions, even if they are the wrong ones.2. Sharing. The mantra of all organizations is that they are transparent and keep their employees fully informed. But they don't and employees hate it - genuinely sharing everything with everyone gets buy-in from the shop floor upwards.3. Be polite. Laissez-faire does not mean anything goes, and polite and courteous people should be favored. Nice guys do win!4. Performing. People like to know where they are against goals, so dashboards monitoring personal achievement should not just be the preserve of the guys in sales.Understanding why this works for oneself is key to employing the strategy, and the authors recommend five individual performance challenges in order for managers to start to thrive themselves, as well as to indulge in a little \"hilltop' work to imagine the enervating effect on their teams:1. ensure a rest break includes an energizing activity, and this may help others if they get involved;2. make your job more meaningful by focusing on the holistic aspects of it;3. break out of the rigmarole of the job by refocusing on quick wins and short-term goals, and moving away from areas of frustration and long-term goals that do not seem achievable;4. make time to bring on board that cool guy called Tim in Finance - by investing in long-term, energizing relationships projects involving those people will be more productive; and5. thriving does not stop in the firm's lobby - energy derived from outside activities can be brought in-house, and vice versa, and enabling such activities by employees can have greater long-term benefits.\nThe detail is in retail: There are many responses to the kind of eulogizing remedy given above to solve the ills of an overworked and under-incentivized workforce, and one of them would be: \"Yeah, I would like to see that work in McDonalds or Wal-Mart!\" Rightly or wrongly, big retailers are not known for heavy investment in their staff. In fact, it is difficult to think of an industry with a worse reputation for trying to engage staff than major retail outlets. And this in an industry that is as customer-facing as it gets.In their article \"Why 'good jobs' are good for retailers,\", Zeynep Ton (2012) analyzes this dichotomy, and seeks to argue, along with Spreitzer and Porath, that retail would benefit by giving its hardworking employees some TLC. Ton points to the poor reputation of some big retailers, and explains this by identifying that for a low margin business such as retail, there is a high proportion of direct costs wound up in salaries, and reducing head count is a quick and direct way to control the bottom line should sales decline. But is this the only way to improve a downward line on a profit margin graph? Ton says not - the author points to evidence from studies with major US retailers such as Costco that show a combination of investing in employees and initiatives that have an holistic effect on both them and customers, can greatly improve overall performance.Ton argues that once in a \"vicious cycle\" of poor sales and staff reductions, it is difficult to break out of the slash and burn strategy of cost cutting. More preferable is attempting to enter the \"virtuous circle\" of high sales, quality employee programs and efficient operations. In order to do this, Ton suggests the following measures:* Sell less stuff. Often a mantra of effective retailing, it can benefit staff performance by reducing complexity and focusing on customer interactions and needs.* Everyone's a retailer. Ensure staff are trained in several positions to increase understanding of operations and flexibility.* Waste is evil. Paying attention to all aspects of waste, and empowering staff to identify it, will mean they are less disposable themselves.* Decisions, decisions. Ensure staff have the power and capacity to make decisions.\nFuture perfect?: So the evidence is clear: investing in ensuring a workforce thrives as much as possible has considerable performance benefits for companies acting on such enlightened policies. So why don't more do so? In a related article to the Spreizer and Porath paper, Porath et al. question in what direction future research and policy making in this area should go (\"Thriving at work: toward it's measurement, construct validation, and theoretical refinement,\" 2012). It is their contention that more investigation should be done on how disposed employees are to thriving in work environments, which has obvious implications to recruitment and retention policies. Furthermore, the authors question as to how much people may decide to thrive or not, i.e. how much they give of themselves to their work. Potential thrivers may choose to make more effort for a favorite manager for example, or pet project.Finally, as the authors point out, there is much to be learned about how thriving can upset a work-life balance, how periods of thriving change depending on life stages, and how it works culturally. As with most research, often the findings are as important as the questions in the first place, and it can't harm businesses as a whole to ask themselves once in a while if the people they depend on are indeed thriving in the first place.\nComment: The three articles reviewed here all point in the same direction when it comes to employee issues: it is a case of spare the rod and spoil the staff. However, by doing this you are unlikely to nurture a selfish adolescent, but more likely to promote flexibility, empowerment and loyalty among a firm's most prized asset. Spreitzer and Porath (2012) give sound reasons for such a policy, which are presented in more depth by Porath et al. (2012), while Ton (2012) puts the philosophy into a retail context. Overall, the evidence is compelling, and it is hoped HR executives read this and ensure they are maximizing the potential of both their staff and businesses as a whole.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - In early 2012 various researches around employee engagement found their way into the mainstream press in the UK. Studies show, said the reports, that the majority of firms' employees seemed to enjoy working for their companies and were satisfied with their working life. However only a very small percentage actually engaged with their firms, to the extent that they were willing to go the extra mile to make them successful.\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"
}
] |
Customer relationship management and innovation capability: an empirical study
|
[
"Customer relations",
"Customer service management",
"Innovation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In an era of rapidly changing technology and highly unpredictable markets, manufacturers must enhance their innovation capabilities to satisfy market demands and customer preferences in order to maintain a long-term competitive advantage (Panayides, 2006). Tidd et al. (1997) indicated that manufacturers possessing higher product and service innovation capabilities can earn twice the profits of those manufacturers without innovation. Given this, effective development of innovation capabilities to meet the demands of highly unpredictable competitive markets has become an important issue for manufacturing firms (Shane and Ulrich, 2004).Good customer relationship management (CRM) between manufacturing firms and industrial customers not only retains customers but also encourages them to provide important suggestions for improving products and service (Ramani and Kumar, 2008). CRM helps firms refine their knowledge about customers' tastes and preferences. The effectiveness and efficiency of CRM are increasingly recognized as means for developing innovation capability and providing a lasting competitive advantage (Ramani and Kumar, 2008; Sahay and Ranjan, 2008). However, previous CRM studies primarily focused on utilizing organizational structure and culture to increase operational performance (Lagrosen, 2005; Sin et al., 2005). The relationship between innovation capabilities and CRM has not been adequately studied. Therefore, the objective of this study is to empirically verify the relationship between these two important programs. Since both are multi-dimensional constructs, the one-to-one associations between them are to be developed and tested. The following section reviews the literature pertaining to the multi-dimensionality of innovation capability and CRM. Accordingly, several research hypotheses are established to examine the one-to-one relationships among the various dimensions of innovation capability and CRM. We then present the research design, including the survey questionnaire, samples, and measurement, followed by a discussion of the statistical results and managerial implications.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Customer relationship management\n3 Research model and hypotheses: 3.1 Information sharing and innovation capability\n4 Research design methodology: 4.1 Survey\n5 Statistical results: 5.1 Factor analysis\n6 Conclusions: CRM is touted as an imperative strategy to improve a firm's innovation capability and to enhance a firm's competitive advantage. Missing from the literature, however, is the knowledge of how these two strategic components can be integrated. The premise of this study is that both CRM and innovation capability are multidimensional concepts; thus, managers must understand how various CRM activities correspond to different dimensions of innovation capability. This study investigates the effects of several CRM practices on five types of innovation capability. The statistical results indicate that not all CRM activities contribute to all innovation capabilities. Manufacturing firms must carefully align their CRM practices with the specific types of innovation capability they desired to possess. The following is a summary of specific findings.First, technology-based CRM is the most effective mechanism for enhancing all five types of innovative capability. The manufacturers in our sample appear to be able to employee technology-based CRM mechanisms (e.g. ERP and CPFR) to effectively engage in various innovative activities with customers. Both information sharing and joint problem-solving practices also have positive influences on several innovative capabilities. Nonetheless, long-term partnerships have significant effects on the development of only two (product and process) out of five types of innovation capability. Most of the respondents in this study are small and medium firms that do not have substantial R&D budgets to engage in desired product and process innovations. Consequently, those firms often seek to establish long-term partnerships with the large international clients from whom they are able to obtain the necessary resources and support for product and process innovations. This finding is consistent with Lin's (2004) observations. Extending from the statistical results, we propose the following issues for future research.(1) CRM should be integrated with innovation programs\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of various dimensions of customer relationship management (CRM) on innovation capabilities. Five dimensions of CRM (information sharing, customer involvement, long-term partnership, joint problem-solving, and technology-based CRM) and five aspects of innovation capability (product, process, administrative, marketing, and service innovations) are identified. The one-to-one associations between the two constructs are developed and verified.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data from 107 Taiwanese computer manufacturers are collected. Multiple regression analysis is employed to examine the effects of CRM on innovation capabilities.\nFindings: - The following results are offered: computer manufacturers in Taiwan perform various levels of CRM and, consequently, display different levels of effects on each of the five innovation capabilities. Generally, firms are able to increase their innovation capability by ad hoc CRM; the relationship between customer involvement and process innovation; customer involvement and administrative innovation; and long-term partnership and marketing innovation are not significant; and technology-based CRM has positive effects on all five types of innovation.\nPractical implications: - The findings suggest that not all CRM activities contribute to innovation programs, which clearly indicates the need for applying other mechanisms, such as supplier integration, to form a complete innovation program. Managers should align the development of their supplier management and CRM practices with the desired innovation capability.\nOriginality/value: - The one-to-one relationships between CRM practices and innovation capabilities have not been properly examined. The findings suggest the need for more research in this area, and the statistical results provide managers with useful guidelines for implementing appropriate CRM practices to develop specific innovation capabilities to respond to enhanced competitiveness.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Value conflicts and non-compliance: Attitudes to whistleblowing in Swedish organisations
|
[
"Whistleblowing",
"Sweden",
"Information security",
"Organizations",
"Value conflicts",
"Non-compliance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The issue of non-compliance is a core theme in information security research. According to Bulgurcu et al. (2010), information security literature often assumes that non-compliance is an individual choice and therefore focusses on deterrence and prevention of such behaviour through punishment. A similar assumption about non-compliance as an individual choice is found in organisation literature. However, this research focusses more on how to encourage employees to behave in a desired way (ibid.). Recently, some researchers has moved away from a strict focus on strategies to affect people's behaviour, emphasising individuals' own beliefs and the role they play in (non-)compliance (Son, 2011). In addition, there is a growing recognition that organisational and information security research needs to move away from a strict compliance perspective on conflicts between information security and other values and toward a development of theories and methods that better accommodate value pluralism, or paradoxes, in organisations (Hedstrom et al., 2011; Lewis and Smith, 2014; Kolkowska et al., 2017). However, despite this shift in focus, little attention is paid to values and actions that traditionally lie outside the immediate internal interests of organisations. For instance, the overview by Karlsson et al. (2017) shows that research concerning competing values typically focus on generic (but essentially internal) organisational values. Other studies have focussed on organisation-specific values relating to employees' main work tasks (Hedstrom et al., 2011). Of course, many internal values such as quality in health care and protection of data are also external to the organisation and relevant for society at large. However, there are also values that may not be perceived as being in the immediate interests of organisations but are fundamental to an open democratic society and the rule of law. Examples of such values are transparency and accountability, and the past few years have seen an increased political interest in activities such as whistleblowing as a means to protect and promote these values.\nLiterature overview and conceptual points of departure: In the information security field, many studies have sought to explain why people do not follow information security regulations and how to remedy such problems. One main trajectory in this research has focussed on deterrence theory as a means to understand why employees comply or do not comply with information security policies. This research has mainly concentrated on strategies to increase employees' perceptions of certainty of detection and severity of punishments for violating information security regulations through policing activities, security education and training and spreading knowledge of information security policies (Straub and Nance, 1990; Lee et al., 2004; D'Arcy et al., 2009; Herath and Rao, 2009). Criticising this line of research for not acknowledging people's abilities to rationalise beyond fear of sanctions, other studies have focussed on neutralisation theory. This research has shown that neutralisation techniques can be more effective than the fear of sanctions, and it is therefore argued that challenging rationalisations used to defend breaches of information security regulations is a useful tool to stimulate compliance (Siponen and Vance, 2010; Barlow et al., 2013; Bauer et al., 2017). Departing from a strict focus on extrinsic motivations for compliance (e.g. punishments, rewards and neutralisation), some researchers have shifted attention to intrinsic motivations for employees to follow information security regulations, such as personal norms and moral beliefs. This research has shown that the perceived legitimacy of regulations, as well as social influence, organisational trust and employees' organisational commitment, affect their level of compliance (Son, 2011; D'Arcy et al., 2009; Herath and Rao, 2009; Lee et al., 2004). Moving beyond the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation models and the focus on compliance as the core value, competing values frameworks embrace value pluralism, or paradoxes, in organisations. This research argue that to understand why and how non-compliance occurs, one must also understand the role and importance of other competing values within the organisation (such as productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and quality) and find ways to strike a balance between such values (Karlsson et al., 2017; Hedstrom et al., 2011; Renaud and Goucher, 2012; Kolkowska et al., 2017).\nAim and research questions: This study focusses specifically on the (potential) value conflict between information security and whistleblowing. Drawing on the results of a large-scale survey, the aim of this study is to explore attitudes to whistleblowing among white-collar workers in Swedish organisations and how they relate to information security. Based on the key fault lines - inside/outside and public/private - identified above, the study addresses the following questions:\nResearch design and methods: Data\nResults: Q1. To what extent do white-collar workers in Swedish organisations accept violations of information security regulations to report serious wrongdoings, i.e. whistleblowing?\nDiscussion: This study breaks new ground in the effort to widen the perspective of how values are understood in the context of information security work. The analysis of the Swedish case points to several interesting results and questions for further research. First, the acceptance for acts of whistleblowing is highly dependent on the receiver of the information. There is strong acceptance for whistleblowing with the purpose of reporting serious wrongdoings within organisations. In contrast, there is a low level of acceptance for reporting serious wrongdoings to the media, which, interestingly, is the essence of the right to freedom of communication in the Swedish context. Acceptance for whistleblowing to a public agency falls between the other two, indicating that the variable inside-outside is still relevant but may not be as dichotomous, which begs further analysis. These results are in line with previous research, where employees blowing the whistle inside organisations are more accepted than those who report outside the organisation (Andrade, 2015; Cleary and Doyle, 2016). However, we still do not know why there is such a big difference in attitudes towards whistleblowing inside and outside organisations. Earlier whistleblowing research indicate that this is due to value conflicts between what is right and being loyal to the organisation (ibid.). Interestingly, information security research focussing on intrinsic motivations for (non-)compliance (Son, 2011; D'Arcy et al., 2009; Herath and Rao, 2009; Lee et al., 2004) has identified that factors such as organisational trust and employees' organisational commitment affect the level of compliance. It is plausible that these factors also correlate with (non-)acceptance for \"external\" whistleblowing. However, this is not something that was in focus for this study and would therefore be an opportunity for further research where acceptance for whistleblowing can be tested against organisational trust and commitment.\nConclusions: Four main conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, there is a substantial difference in acceptance for whistleblowing depending on whether it occurs inside or outside of an organisation. Swedish white-collar workers show a strong level of acceptance for whistleblowing within organisations, while whistleblowing outside of organisations show a much lower level of acceptance. This is particularly true for whistleblowing to the media, where less than 20 per cent of the respondents find this acceptable. The corresponding figure for whistleblowing to public agencies is just under 50 per cent. Thus, there is a strong hierarchical ordering of the acceptance for whistleblowing among white-collar workers in Swedish organisations. Second, a majority of the respondents (62 per cent) disagree with the proposition that whistleblowing procedures counteract information security measures. Third, almost four out of five respondents agree to some extent (partially, strongly or fully) that whistleblowing functions should be included in information security measures. Fourth, there is no statistically significant difference in acceptance levels for whistleblowing among respondents employed in the public and private sectors or in perceived conflicts between information security measures and whistleblowing procedures.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore potential value conflicts between information security work and whistleblowing activities by analysing attitudes to whistleblowing among white-collar workers in Swedish organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is conducted using survey data among (n = 674) Swedish white-collar workers. Statistical analyses are conducted to explore variations in acceptance of whistleblowing and analyse the relationship between acceptance for whistleblowing and information security attitudes and behaviours.\nFindings: The study finds strong support for whistleblowing in both public and private spheres, and by both private and public sector employees. The study also finds stronger acceptance for intra-organisational whistleblowing, while support for external whistleblowing is low. Finally, the study shows that the whistleblowing activities might be perceived as coming in conflict with information security work, even as the support for including whistleblowing functions in information security practices is high.\nResearch limitations/implications: With a focus on one country, the study is limited in terms of empirical scope. It is also limited by a relatively small number of respondents and survey items relating to whistleblowing, which in turn affects its explanatory value. However, the study does provide unique new insight into a specific form of \"non-compliance\", i.e. whistleblowing, which merits further investigation.\nOriginality/value: Few studies exist that combine insights from the fields of whistleblowing and information security research. Thus, this study provides a basis for further investigation into attitudes and behaviours linked to whistleblowing in public and private organisations, as well as attendant value conflicts related to information security management and practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The relationship between price and quality in durable product categories with private label brands
|
[
"Brand name",
"Product quality",
"Price premium",
"Durable-product",
"National–brand",
"Price quality relationship",
"Private label"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers often rely on price as an indicator of quality when selecting between unfamiliar products and services (Agarwal and Teas, 2002; Brucks et al., 2000; de Langhe et al., 2014; Rao and Monroe, 1989; Volckner and Hofmann, 2007). This may be especially so for higher-priced, infrequently purchased items, such as large household appliances (Boyle and Lathrop, 2009; Mitra and Golder, 2006; Sethuraman, 2003). Unlike purchases of low-priced, high-turnover consumer goods, where short purchase-repurchase cycles afford consumers the opportunity to sample various brand offerings in the category, purchase decisions for more-expensive longer-lasting durable products may be perceived as more risky; hence, consumers may be more likely to rely on price as a barometer of overall quality. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationships between price, objective quality and brand in these infrequently-purchased durable-goods categories in light of the presence of private label (PL) brands.\nRelated research and hypotheses: Our research builds upon previous work in the areas of PLs, price expectations and PQ relationships. In the sections below we summarize past empirical work that is related to the present research and discuss our hypotheses. To set the stage for our analyses of objective price and quality data, we begin with a discussion of consumers' subjective perceptions of the relationship between price and quality (that is, the belief that paying a higher price ensures the purchase of a product having higher quality), in particular with respect to PLs versus NBs. The next section examines the objective aspects of PL price and quality relative to NBs. The third section reports on work done by Apelbaum et al. (2003) to estimate the price premium NBs command over PLs. The final section deals with research on the relationship between objective-quality and price. The common theme across the three areas is the relationship between price and quality. In each section, the focus is on studies of durable products. Figure 1 depicts our conceptual framework delineating the relationships between brand name and brand importance for price and quality of PL and NBs. The framework summarizes our hypotheses.\nMethodology and data collection: We examine the relationship between price and quality of PL and NBs by employing two sets of data: the first, which is objective in nature, contains price, quality and brand information gathered from durable product tests published in Consumer Reports. The second, which is subjective in nature, deals with consumers' perceptions of price, quality and brand names.\nResults and discussion: In the sections that follow, we present the analyses and results addressing each of our research questions and hypotheses.\nConclusions: The present work examined PQ relationships using objective data drawn from published market PQ reports as well as subjective data based on consumer perceptions. Both sets of data offer empirical evidence of the interplay between consumers, PLs and NBs in the durable goods market that leads to the observed PQ relationships. Our findings provide empirical evidence that NB durables command a higher price premium relative to PLs, thereby reflecting consumers' PQ relationship expectations. They also support our hypotheses predicting how shoppers evaluate the PQ relationship based on brand importance and how PL and NB durables are positioned in the market in terms of their price and quality.\nLimitations and further research: The limitations of this study derive largely from the data sets used. One caveat derives from the nature of the subjective dataset of consumer responses. Although the respondents are likely to be representative of typical consumers, and our product categories are those commonly used or purchased by typical consumers, it is not assured that every respondent has first-hand experience with all of the PL and NBs. Nonetheless, their perceptions of brand importance are useful for categorization purposes. A second limitation relates to the nature of the price and quality scores used in the study, which are from a US publication, Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports a single, numerical quality score that readily lends itself to PQ-type analyses. Although widely used in previous studies because of the objective nature of the quality scores, that strength also implies a weakness in that scores necessarily encapsulate just a limited number of product dimensions which are easily objectified. As other researchers have noted (Hjorth-Andersen, 1992; Simonson, 2016), incorporating more subjective elements of quality evaluations may alter the picture of how price relates to quality. A second consideration is that the prices used in this analysis, while representative when testing was conducted, may not fully reflect promotional pricing efforts by retailers or producers at other times. Third, any analysis is necessarily incomplete if not all items are tested. While CR states that it makes every effort to include in its tests brands that are widely available to consumers, inevitably some are not included. The extent to which these untested brands might influence the results, while likely not profound, is unknown. A related issue, and potentially more serious concern, is that of how CR selects product categories to be tested. The editors of CR (or any consumer-oriented testing organization, such as Which? magazine) are selective in the products they evaluate, focusing on those they believe will be of most interest to subscribers. Because those products are likely to be ones consumers themselves find difficult to evaluate accurately, such data may be limited in generalizability to other products. Replications using other data sources and products from other markets would provide further insight.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate price and objective-quality in durable product categories containing national and private-label (PL) brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using data from consumer reports objective-test results of 14,476 durable products available in the US the authors identified product categories containing both national and PL brands; constructed relative price- and quality-indices for each category; calculated price and quality differentials for each category then modeled the relationship between them; estimated the price premium associated with national brands (NBs); and computed price-quality (PQ) correlations for each category. The authors also analyzed the same relationships using subjective brand-perception data collected from 240 consumers.\nFindings: Overall the price of NBs in durable products was substantially higher than the price of PL brands despite there being little to no difference in quality levels overall, with the proportion of categories having higher PL quality nearly equaling that of categories having superior NB quality. Correlation between price and quality was moderate. Accuracy of consumer perceptions varied depending on the importance of brand in the purchase decisions for particular product categories.\nOriginality/value: This paper uses a large objective dataset spanning a period of more than eight years to assess price and quality for durable goods in categories offering PL brands. It addresses an under-studied area, that of PL brands for higher-priced, longer-lasting products. The findings contribute to an existing understanding of PLs, especially in the domain of durable-goods, as well as to the body of research in the area of PQ relationships. It also adds to our understanding of consumers' perceptions of brand as a factor in durable product decisions and how the market aligns with those perceptions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
School human capital and teacher salary policies
|
[
"Human capital",
"Economic outcomes",
"Merit pay",
"Teacher evaluations",
"Teacher salaries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The Soviet Union was a communist country [...]. At first, many of the people thought this was a good idea. It seemed like a way to be sure that no one was poor. It turned out to be a terrible failure. In a communist country, people cannot start or own a business. People who work hard are paid the same as people who don't. In the end, the whole country was poor (Pelz, 2004, p. 154).\nDoes teacher quality matter?: Before any consideration of teacher salary is undertaken, it is essential to understand the role of teachers in determining student outcomes. Some have asserted that the only thing that really matters with regard to student outcomes is the family and that teachers and schools exert a relatively small influence on achievement[1]. If so, it would not make all that much difference how teachers are paid. But it is not so.\nHow are teachers paid?: The determination of teacher salaries, however, generally has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom or the incomes that they generate. The standard determination of a teacher's salary follows the single salary schedule. While there is some overall variation across districts, within a district no distinction is made between elementary teachers and high school teachers, between physical education teachers and physics teachers, or between highly effective and highly ineffective teachers[6].\nThe US productivity challenge: With that backdrop, it is useful to look at the productivity challenge of the US schooling system. For a long time the USA has been concerned about how students, and by implication how schools, are doing. Starting with the Sputnik launch in the 1950s, where the Soviet system seemed to surpass the USA in engineering skills, there has been almost continuous national attention to the need to improve US schools.\nThe new fiscal reality of schools: Until recently, limited policy attention focussed on productivity in schools. Virtually all attention went to the flat performance of students and the need to improve. The historic policy thrust has been \"performance is flat so we have to spend more.\" This stands in somewhat interesting contrast to healthcare where the prevailing argument in the USA has been \"even though spending has led to improved health outcomes, we need to spend less.\"\nThe other side of the coin: Teacher salary discussions nonetheless often go in a different direction. The general discussion is that average teacher salaries have slid relative to other wages in the economy and that this has been especially true for women. The discussions of history point to a period in the past when educated women had few occupational choices, being largely found in teaching or nursing. As the labor market opened for women, those with the highest achievement increasingly went into a broad array of occupations, leaving schools with a different slice of the working population.\nBut merit pay has not worked: The argument about leaving the single salary schedule and moving toward salaries more aligned with teacher effectiveness invariably leads into a discussion of merit pay. A large number of districts actually tried some form of bonuses designed to reward merit - and most abandoned them after a fairly short period of time (Cohen and Murnane, 1985, 1986). This historical evidence, repeated frequently, has led to the conventional statement that merit pay has been tried frequently, and it simply does not work.\nThe zero option: Designing a performance pay system that allows for enhanced pay to the more effective teachers is, however, insufficient by itself. Taking the current single salary schedule and paying bonuses, even substantial bonuses, to very effective teachers or to those in the shortage areas of math and science would tend to expand the supply of these people in teaching and to keep them in the classroom longer. But, it would do little to deal with ineffective teachers. These ineffective teachers already are content with the job and are willing to work for existing pay. They would not be induced to leave just because some other teachers were paid more.\nEvaluation of teacher effectiveness: A central issue revolves around developing reliable and acceptable evaluations of teachers. The teachers unions have argued that a system that makes any mistakes in evaluating teachers is unacceptable. Yet the current system, which generally provides few judgments about classroom effectiveness, can be thought of as consistently making mistakes. It is just that the cost of these mistakes is only borne by students and not by any teachers.\nTeachers and leaders: The discussion here has focussed exclusively on teachers, but in many ways this is much too narrow. Principals and other building leaders have a clear impact on the working conditions of schools (Hanushek and Rivkin, 2007; Grissom and Loeb, 2011). And if principals are to be involved in the evaluation process, they must have incentives that are compatible with those for teachers. This topic clearly goes further than can be covered here. Yet, while the consideration of principals is not nearly as advanced as that for teachers, virtually all of the previous discussion applies to them.\nConclusions: The urgency of putting the teaching corps on a better trajectory and of fixing US schools is not completely understood - a point highlighted by Joel Klein and Condoleeza Rice in their discussion of this as a national security issue (Klein et al., 2012).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider how the level and structure of teacher salaries affect student outcomes and the possibility of improving student achievement in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis integrates an underlying economic model of the role of salaries in the teacher labor market with existing empirical results.\nFindings: Much of the current policy discussion about teacher salaries is very unclear about how student outcomes will be affected by changing policies. The US is at a \"bad equilibrium\" where it cannot increase salaries for effective teachers without increasing salaries for ineffective teachers and thus it is stuck with a teaching corps that is harming both students and the future economic performance of the country. Dealing with problems of the productivity of schools must involve altering the structure of the single salary schedule for teachers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The discussion focusses exclusively on the US schooling system, although there are obvious parallels to systems in other countries.\nPractical implications: The paper provides an overarching model of how the structure of salaries for teachers has broad implications of school outcomes.\nSocial implications: Improved long-run economic outcomes depend crucially on reforms that involve rewarding the most effective teachers but not the least effective.\nOriginality/value: The integrated approach to the consideration of teacher salaries provides a way of assessing the discordant policy discussions related to teacher salaries.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
It is more blessed to give than to receive: examining the impact of knowledge sharing on sharers and recipients
|
[
"Performance",
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Knowledge breadth",
"Knowledge depth"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A company's knowledge is its know-what, know-how and know-why (Thierauf, 1999). Knowledge is therefore a highly valued corporate asset which contributes to a firm's competitive advantage (Alavi and Leidner, 1997; Davenport and Prusak, 1998; Grant, 1996; Schultze and Leidner, 2002; Teece, 2000). Companies implement knowledge management practices to increase their effectiveness, efficiency and competitiveness (Alavi and Leidner, 1997; Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Schultze and Leidner, 2002). Effective knowledge management requires companies to identify those who have the knowledge, translate the knowledge into explicit format and transfer knowledge from one employee to another (Dalkir, 2005; Davenport and Prusak, 1998; Grover and Davenport, 2001). Knowledge sharing is a critical part of knowledge management because if the knowledge is not shared among employees, the company will not be able to benefit from the knowledge to make better decisions. Even though employees' knowledge sharing will benefit the company as a whole, previous research also showed that individuals tend to hoard knowledge (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) because of the fear of losing one's competiveness inside the company (Kang et al., 2008; Renzl, 2008).\n2. Theories and hypotheses: 2.1 Deep learning and surface learning\n3. Research methodology and analysis: We used the survey method for data collection. A Taiwanese market research firm, iSurvey, was commissioned for data collection. iSurvey sent out 4,980 random online invitations to their nation-wide panel of 180,000 adults. Participants were compensated with \"survey cash\", which could eventually be converted into monetary compensation. Our survey had a number of requirements, such as:\n4. Analysis and results: 4.1 Reliability, validity and correlations\n5. Discussion and conclusion: Promoting knowledge sharing in organizations has always been challenging. Individuals fear that they may diminish their own opportunities for advancement or enhance the advancement opportunities of others, thus losing in internal competition. Despite popular beliefs about the outcomes of knowledge sharing, there has been little research that examines the impact of knowledge sharing on both the sharer and the recipient. Thus, this study investigates whether knowledge sharing truly diminishes one's competitiveness and benefits others in an organization knowledge sharing context. Based on learning theories, we argue that sharing knowledge is, by nature, a learning activity with active orientation. It facilitates the sharer's deep learning, thus enhances his/her depth and breadth of knowledge, and is therefore beneficial to one's performance; whereas being the recipient of knowledge sharing is likely to be learning with a passive orientation. While it could also enhance the recipient's depth and breadth of knowledge, it does so to a lesser degree, and thereby does not bring substantial performance enhancements.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to debunk the myth that knowledge sharing will harm one's competiveness, and argues, from the learning theory perspective, that sharing knowledge benefits both knowledge sharers and knowledge recipients.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 233 respondents across a variety of industries in Taiwan and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares analysis.\nFindings: The results showed that both knowledge sharers and knowledge recipients benefitted from knowledge sharing, developing deeper and wider knowledge, leading to better performance, and that the benefits were greater for the knowledge sharers.\nPractical Implications: It is suggested that managers advocate knowledge sharing as a learning activity for both knowledge sharers and knowledge recipients. Regular knowledge sharing activities are advised, with knowledge sharers engaged fully in active learning, and knowledge recipients encouraged to take a more active role, by not only listening but also starting to share themselves.\nOriginality/value: This research adds to the knowledge management literature by investigating the results of knowledge sharing for both the sharer and recipient through a learning theory lens. It challenges the conventional view that employees will be worse off if they share knowledge, and debunks it with theoretical argument and empirical evidence. It offers insights into the impact on knowledge breadth and depth at the individual level, which was previously only studied at the organizational level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Business networks along innovation life cycle
|
[
"Innovation",
"Longitudinal study",
"Business networks",
"Technology life cycle",
"Textile sector"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the most interesting features of innovation derives from the belief that it is a crossing activity, crossing in relation to the company's departments and crossing in relation to the company's boundaries. Innovation management often implies the involvement of different departments - in addition to R&D - and often needs to go beyond the company's boundaries, looking for the contribution of external actors. As a result, it is possible to state that the main point of new product development processes today is knowledge.\n2. Business networks and technology life cycle: a general framework: Despite the advantages attainable by innovation, there is an emerging need to manage complex activities that are aimed at building the knowledge basis necessary to develop new products. To create the capabilities necessary to develop a new product, companies have to expand their internal knowledge; this requires them to bring into action relationships with external and specialized sources of knowledge (Ford, 1980; Hakansson, 1987; Von Hippel, 1988; Webster, 1994).\n3. The methodology: The empirical part of this paper is a longitudinal case study.\n4. The longitudinal study: The longitudinal case study reported in this paper refers to a mechanical company in the knitting machinery industry. About 10 years ago, this company, originally operating in the manufacture of circular hosiery and knitting machines, launched a new technology that enabled the production of so-called \"seamless\" clothing.\n5. Findings and discussion: As a conclusion of the case study, we can posit that:\n6. Conclusions: This paper contributes to business networks literature, filling the gaps in information about how the relationships among the actors involved in a network can evolve over time, influencing the evolution of technology itself.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how the relationships among the different actors within the business networks affect the evolution of innovation along the different steps of technology life cycle.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is supported by a longitudinal case study referred to a mechanical company operating in the knitting machineries industry. A triangulation method integrating multiple data sources in a multiple method design was used to gather data.\nFindings: The longitudinal study supports the idea that interactions among the actors within the business networks heavily influence the technology evolution.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the longitudinal case study reported in this paper refers to a period of time of about 10 years, our findings refer only to a single case study in a specific sector and so they cannot be generalized.\nPractical implications: This paper provides important guidelines on how to manage the relationships emerging within a business network to influence the new technologies development.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to business networks literature, filling the gaps about how the relationships among the actors involved in a network can evolve over time and influence the evolution of technology in itself.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Diversity and employee turnover in the Dutch public sector: Does diversity management make a difference?
|
[
"Employee turnover",
"Gender",
"Ethnicity",
"Public sector",
"Diversity management",
"Person‐environment fit",
"The Netherlands"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As in other European countries, diversity and diversity management have become a central concern in the human resource strategies of Dutch public sector organizations in recent years[1]. The increasing demographic diversity that characterizes the Dutch (and other Western European) labor markets increases the need to effectively manage a diverse workforce. Alongside this, it is argued that a fair representation of a diverse population in the public sector workforce would improve the legitimacy of the public sector (Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010). Through their diversity management initiatives, public sector organizations not only strive to offer equal opportunities to all groups, but also add a business case argument in favor of diversity: that is, it will improve their performance (Kirton and Greene, 2005; Wise and Tschirhart, 2000).Diversity management is viewed as helpful in the recruitment, selection, and retention of the diverse resources available in the labor market. However, there is little empirical research into the relationships among diversity, diversity management, and these work-related outcomes (Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010; Pitts, 2009; Pitts and Wise, 2010). Moreover, the limited findings seem to be mixed and depend on organizational and job characteristics and how outcomes are measured (Wise and Tschirhart, 2000; Groeneveld and Verbeek, 2010). Drawing clear conclusions about the impact of diversity management is further complicated because the diversity programs and instruments studied vary. While the \"traditional\" equal opportunity and affirmative action (EO/AA) approaches primarily aim at increasing the representation of target groups in organizations e.g. by setting numerical targets, the \"new\" managing diversity programs are focused on effectively managing a diverse workforce e.g. by providing diversity training to managers.Diversity management policies in the Dutch public sector aim at improving the representation of women and ethnic minorities (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, 2008a)[2]. In 2006 Dutch government formulated three goals with respect to the representation of women and ethnic minorities in public sector organizations in 2011: 50 percent of the influx into the public sector workforce are women, 30 percent of the influx into top level job positions are women, and the share of ethnic minorities in the public sector workforce is increased with 50 percent compared to the share of ethnic minorities in the public sector workforce in 2007 (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, 2008a).To date, in managerial practice most attention has been given to the recruitment of women and ethnic minorities. In this respect, the diversity policies seem to be rather successful as the share of women and ethnic minorities among new public sector employees is increasing (see Table I). Table I, however, also shows that the achievements are considerably better in terms of women than ethnic minorities (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, 2008b, 2009).The diversity policy instruments aimed at representation of target groups in Dutch public sector organizations are more and more complemented by managing diversity instruments aimed at effectively managing a diverse workforce and the retention of employees. Previous research showed that there are differences between the target groups with respect to their retention and turnover. Native Dutch and ethnic minority women turn out to be overrepresented in voluntary turnover, whereas the native Dutch men are underrepresented. However, native Dutch men between the ages of 25 and 44 years leave the public sector relatively often compared to native Dutch women in the same age group (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, 2008b; Groeneveld and van der Voet, 2009). The interests of this article centre on exploring these differences in turnover and turnover intention by gender and ethnicity. Examining these differences could provide an understanding of the strategies that Dutch public sector organizations could employ to limit turnover of both native Dutch and ethnic minority men and women. In addition, the effects of diversity management on turnover intention are examined. While some diversity management instruments can be successful in recruiting qualified ethnic minorities and women from the external labor market (Ng and Burke, 2005), their retention is at risk if other personnel management practices are not adjusted to the changing personnel composition (Roosevelt Thomas, 1990).In this research, the following questions will be answered:RQ1. Which factors are associated with the actual turnover and turnover intention of Dutch public sector employees?RQ2. Does diversity management affect the turnover intention of Dutch public sector employees?In the next section, we introduce the attraction-selection-attrition model as the framework adopted to analyze turnover and turnover intention of public sector employees. Section 3 describes the data and methods used and then Section 4 provides the results of our analyses. In Section 5 we discuss our findings and draw conclusions.\n2. Theoretical considerations: The attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework is used to analyze the turnover and turnover intention of Dutch public sector employees (Schneider et al., 1995). In this section, it is hypothesized that different categories of employees will consider different aspects of their public sector job as important (Groeneveld et al., 2009). As a result, different motives will underlie their decision to leave the public workforce. The same reasoning applies to the evaluation of diversity management. Some will consider diversity management as something to be valued, while others will experience it as conflicting with their needs and values. As a consequence, the presence of diversity management will have different impacts on willingness or desire to leave the public workforce.2.1 The ASA framework: diversity and turnover\n3. Data and measurement: 3.1 Data sources and samples\n4. Results: 4.1 Turnover\n5. Discussion and conclusion: This article has contributed to the literature by linking diversity and diversity management to the turnover of public sector employees. The research questions were: Which factors are associated with the actual turnover and turnover intention of Dutch public sector employees?; and Does diversity management affect the turnover intention of Dutch public sector employees?Women and ethnic minorities more often decide to leave the public sector than native Dutch men. Women in the 25-44 age range are however more likely to stay than their male counterparts. This is attributed to the importance attached to life course stability in the career decisions of women in this age band. This reduces turnover intention in general and, further, the work-family policies offered by public sector organizations are generally more generous than those found in the private sector which could be an incentive not to leave the public sector (Moynihan and Landuyt, 2008). However, we could not test the direct influence of work-family policies on turnover and turnover intention due to lack of appropriate data.Answering RQ1, our data on turnover show that women are more likely to change jobs due to intrinsic factors, whereas men are more likely to decide to quit for extrinsic motivations. In general, these findings are supported when analyzing turnover intention. For native Dutch men, satisfaction with career development opportunities is the most important factor in determining turnover intention. In addition to this factor, for ethnic minority men, the management of the organization and the leadership style of the supervisor are important motives behind an intention to leave the public sector. These results turn the attention to the second research question as to what extent diversity management affects the turnover intentions of various categories of public sector employees.Employees who believe that their employer implements diversity policies are less inclined to leave the public sector although the impact of diversity management on the intention to leave is modest. When analyzing the turnover intention of our four subgroups, native Dutch and ethnic minority men and women, separately, no significant effects linked to the presence of diversity management were found. In other words, there is no hard evidence that the turnover intention of the groups targeted by diversity policies is reduced. However, one must keep in mind that the number of ethnic minority respondents in the survey was rather low and this reduces the statistical strength of any findings. The opposite hypothesized effect, that diversity management increases the turnover intention of those \"not favored\", was not found: the turnover intention of native Dutch men was not affected by diversity management.The findings give support to the ASA and PE fit theories by suggesting that the correspondence between the needs and values of the employee and the characteristics of the job and the organization influences turnover intention. In this paper, PE fit was measured by the satisfaction with several aspects of the job and the organization, aspects that were derived from an analysis of push factors. In any future research on diversity and turnover, PE fit could be more adequately measured by comparing characteristics of the person with characteristics of the organization. Our satisfaction variables are closest to the so-called subjective fit measures, whereas job satisfaction is generally conceived as an outcome of the PE fit in the literature (Kristof, 1996; Hoffman and Woehr, 2006).In predicting that selective turnover leads to a homogeneous composition of work teams or even of complete organizations, the ASA framework is an interesting framework for analyzing diversity issues. Does diversity management contribute to diversity in work teams and organizations? On the one hand, our findings do suggest that the factors underlying a decision to quit do differ for different categories of employees, which implies that general policies to reduce turnover will have varying degrees of success in retaining different categories of personnel. As such, diversity policies could be very helpful in reducing turnover among specific categories of personnel by increasing sensitivity to the different needs and values of different categories of employees.On the other hand, our findings show only a modest effect of diversity management on turnover intention. In addition, there is no hard evidence that it reduces turnover intention of the target groups. In order to gain greater insight into the effects of diversity management on the retention and turnover of employees, more specific measures of diversity policies should be used. The survey questions that were used in this paper did not specify diversity management instruments and, as Dutch public sector organizations are currently implementing a wide range of diversity policies to varying degrees, it is not clear what policies respondents had in mind when evaluating the importance and presence of diversity management in their organization. Future research is needed to examine whether equal opportunity and affirmative action are successful in attracting target groups, but perhaps fail in their retention, whereas managing diversity policies are probably more successful in retaining personnel (Groeneveld and Verbeek, 2010).In addition, collecting further information on the diversity of the workgroups, departments, or organizations where respondents are employed would contribute to gaining a better understanding of diversity effects and the moderating influence of diversity management (see also Choi, 2009). In particular, a multilevel research design would make it possible to link diversity and its management, at the level of work groups, departments, or organizations, to outcomes on the individual level. In this way, the hypothesized processes that are part the ASA framework could also be more rigorously tested.Furthermore, our survey results point toward different reasons for native and ethnic minority men and women to stay or to leave their public sector employer. This quantitative research design however did not reveal how these different reasons and preferences emerged. Qualitative in-depth interviews could provide us with a deeper understanding of motivations and behavior. Differences in turnover may be the result of differences in the fulfillment of the capabilities of different groups in a specific work context (Cornelius and Skinner, 2008).Despite these limitations, our analyses do point toward several interesting findings that have implications for managerial practice. In showing that native Dutch and ethnic minority men and women decide to leave the Dutch public sector workforce to varying extents and for different reasons, it underpins the need for differentiated HRM policies. Managers will not be able to realize the full potential of their diverse workforce if their management techniques are based on general one-size-fits-all HRM models (Roosevelt Thomas, 1990). HRM policies that aim to retain qualified employees should therefore be differentiated according to the needs and values of the individual employees.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in turnover and turnover intention by gender and ethnicity. In addition, it seeks to examine the effects of diversity management on turnover intention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A theoretical framework is constructed on the basis of ASA- and PO-fit literature and previous research on diversity management and turnover. By analyzing two large-N survey datasets the determinants of turnover and turnover intention of both native Dutch and ethnic minority men and women are examined.\nFindings: - Results show that women's turnover is most commonly associated with intrinsic factors, whereas men's decisions to leave the public sector are most commonly motivated by extrinsic factors. For ethnic minority men, the management of the organization and the leadership style of the supervisor are important determinants of any intention to leave the public sector. There is only a modest negative effect of diversity management on turnover intention.\nPractical implications: - To build and retain a diverse workforce, HRM policies in the public sector that used to be standardized and collective, should be adapted to the needs and values of the various categories of employees.\nOriginality/value: - The effective management of diversity will increasingly be a central issue for public sector management. This article provides an understanding of the strategies that Dutch public sector organizations could employ to limit turnover of both native Dutch and ethnic minority men and women.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reaching escape velocity: A practiced approach to information security management system implementation
|
[
"Information management",
"Information systems",
"Standards",
"Data security"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nLift off: Two years ago the United Nations Secretariat initiated a global campaign to adopt, implement and achieve compliance with the ISO 27001 Information Security Management (ISO/IEC 27001:2005 specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining, and improving a documented Information Security Management System - ISMS. The standard is published by the International Organization for Standardization - www.iso.org) standard. The campaign was ambitious and would represent significant culture change, organizational adjustment and business process alignment. The project aspired to bring maturity to the management of ICT security and the institutionalization of an ISMS to duty stations worldwide. Project success required a departure from historical practice and a shift towards reformation. Achieving the goal was contingent on gaining and sustaining positive momentum, continued support, and proof of value.How can an international organization achieve such a goal? Lift off is easy, but how does one ensure success? As many organizations face similar challenges, this paper intends to share the lessons learned from a real-life ISMS implementation. The paper will demonstrate a tactic and tradecraft to attain the necessary \"escape velocity\" to achieve the expected results. We have defined the concept escape velocity as the momentum a project must have in order to escape resisting forces without reverting back and failing. This modified concept adopted from laws of physics is applied to the project management process and accentuates the basis of risk mitigation to ensure and sustain progress.Project risk is a common topic of research. Volumes of literature have been written on the programmatic success factors and common pitfalls to avoid with ISO 27001 initiatives. Gaining senior management buy-in and promoting adequate awareness on the importance of creating an ISMS are among the many challenges most often mentioned. However, the current field of research and industry at large has yet to address or provide supporting methods for the execution of the implementation process. This void is the center of focus for examination.Our approach emphasized a project management methodology and the use of a custom developed system modeled after the ISMS plan-do-check-act (PDCA) implementation process. The development of the system underscores the thesis of our lessons learned and the identification of a critical success factor - the need to establish an implementation capability. While this observation is obvious, the means of establishing capability are deserving of more detailed study. This paper will highlight how executing the steps and following the manual are not sufficient to effectively manage an ISO 27001 based security program. A candidate solution is presented for consideration.\nGaining altitude: The project began with conventional approaches guided by the PDCA lifecycle and the usual documental pursuits required of the standard: drafting policies, performing gap analysis and diagnostic reviews, administering risk assessments, and building binders. Although an ISMS gradually emerged, the shortcomings of this approach were quickly evident. Documents became outdated minutes after print; users where challenged in understanding what is the ISMS, how does it work, and where do responsibilities lie. The ISMS was less a system and more a file cabinet.Although templates were created, spreadsheets recorded assets and risks, version control was maintained, processes were defined and ownership was assigned, it became evident that a manual, labor intensive approach would lead to insurmountable gravitation resistance to progress; resistance stemming from lack of fluidity and the manual mechanics of the conventional methods of implementation. If we were going to manage a global security program, we needed a more advanced capability. A more agile, dynamic and responsive approach that would not only manage the implementation process, but also offer important collateral benefits to quantifying security-return-on-investment, strategic and tactical improvements to risk management, and effective policy formulation - an approach that would lead to a systematic and streamlined management process.We needed an approach that would enable us to:* sustain senior management support by demonstrating cost-benefit and performance;* manage an ISMS that can accommodate day-to-day operations and equally reflect evolving strategic positions;* promote a comprehension of the system and establish ownership, accountability and clarity in roles/responsibilities;* include both practitioner and audit perspectives; and* support the PDCA lifecycle with structured and repeatable workflows.These goals led to the construct of a more effective interpretation of the PDCA lifecycle. The development changed the course of our project and provided the necessary navigational assistance needed to reach our intended destination.\nSetting course: Drawing from disciplines in information visualization, graph theory, social network analysis, genetics and physics, a process control system was designed. Known as Six Degrees and borrowing its name from the adage of relationships and links among people, the concept was extended to relationalize our ISMS structure, workflows and resource allocation. The system is composed of numerous multi-dimensional models and orientations. The multi-dimensional nature offers advantages in reflecting perspectives, views, and a looking glass into the system custom tailored to the requirements of functions and roles.Six Degrees is comprised of three core components: a relational model, analysis engine, and process intelligence interface. This architecture provided the functionality to collect, analysis, and report on all inter-related ISMS processes. Interfaces were developed to ensure maximum analytical insight and provided a gateway for senior management, IT security officers, asset owners, and auditors to make decisions and provide input.Examples of Six Degrees usage are explained in further detail. A comparison of conventional practice taken from a review of dozens of case studies is provided to examine the potential opportunities for improvement.Systemics and visualization\nFull speed ahead: Based on the above approaches we made significant gains in realizing our intended results. In early March 2006, we initiated the certification audit. The audit was conducted in typical fashion - Stage 1 documental review, Stage 2 verification and validation. As we prepared to present our program, we questioned the salability of our departure from convention. We had no printouts, binders, and represented our ISMS more as a genetic structure than policy framework. We understood it, but would the auditors?The answer to the question, it seems, was yes. The approach was immediately favored by the auditor who appreciated the finger tip/mouse click access to clearly established relationships among ISMS controls, processes, and resources. Intricate questions such as which policy is linked to which process, who is responsible for which activity, and what risks were mitigated for which assets were all self-evident. Traditionally obscured relations that could only be expressed by selective interviews and fact chasing were mapped, clear, and readily accessible.With a close eye on the audit process, we noted the auditor's feedback:* the auditor endorsed and recognized the principle thesis of the approach;* the auditor spent less time looking, and more time understanding; a dividend that would pay off in subsequent certification audits; and* as auditees, we spent less time collecting and explaining - who, what, when, where and why were answered with point and click navigations.Overall, the marriage of structured project management and technology improved both our capability to execute and the auditor's capability to assess.On April 21, 2006 the United Nations Headquarters received formal notification of its certification and was subsequently registered as ISO/IEC 27001:2005 conformant with certificate No. IS 503951. This reinforcement of the approach enabled us to persist and extend the scope to offices in Austria, Chile, Ethiopia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Switzerland, and Thailand where active implementations are underway.\nSafe landing: The project began as a stepwise audit like exercise where the forces of inertia, caused in many cases by the mechanics of the standard and its application at an enterprise level, encumbered our agility to execute the PDCA lifecycle. We were entangled, inefficient, and failing to reach the necessary heights to manage the project. The failed flights provided cause for finding new methods and means. A search that led us to a new approach which, in retrospect, guided our path towards the institutionalization of an ISMS.What did we accomplish?* The ISMS is reflected and subsequently understood as a system.* The risk analysis process is repeatable and supported by established best practices.* Workflows are facilitated and mandatory documentation is generated with ease.* Status, progress, and performance are measurable.* The functions of practice and audit are unified, supporting a real-time and continuous audit approach, and generating a reliable audit trail.* Ownership and resource allocation are tightly coupled to the program.* The approach is ISO 27001 compliant.In theory, the results of the approach would suggest that the technique is repeatable and transferable. Establishing a management capability supported by a \"system\" enabled us to realize our intended results and would likewise support a similar project in any organization. The system continues to mature and with the contributions of the community may evolve and ultimately advance the state of current practice.Recalling that in the absence of an external force, all projects would naturally come to rest in a state of no movement, and that moving projects only continue to move so long as there is a force inducing them to do so, we hope this tool will provide such force and enable you to reach escape velocity in your program.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to demonstrate and offer an open source toolkit with the intent that making technology available to the community may serve to support organizations planning an information security management system implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study is presented which highlights the authors' approach to building capability and subsequently overcoming inertial forces which would otherwise have impeded the organization's compliance initiative.\nFindings: - The case study proposes a novel approach to managing an ISMS implementation through the use of a custom developed toolkit, which based on the experience of the authors enabled the subject organization to achieve ISO 27001 certification.\nPractical implications: - The adoption of the approach and tradecraft presented in the paper may enable similar organizations in building capacity to better manage information security programs.\nOriginality/value: - Insomuch as the recently revised ISO 27001 Information Security Code of Practice is well documented, comprehensive, methodological and widely supported, it is evident from the relatively low volume of certifications (a list of current certification registrations may be found at the ISMS International User Group Certificate Register - www.iso27001certificates.com), that many compliance initiatives are challenged in realizing full success. Based on the experiences presented in this paper, the authors believe these challenges must be overcome with appropriate capability building necessary to achieve a successful implementation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The validity of the classical Delphi applications for assessing the industrial sustainability-correction factor: an example study
|
[
"Validity",
"Review",
"Sustainability",
"Delphi method",
"Forecasting",
"Theory building",
"Correction factor",
"Property appraisal"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Delphi survey method (DSM) is a judgmental forecasting and decision-making instrument designed for qualitative prediction within a diverse group of experts. The experts make their predictions, and a facilitator controls these forecasts until the point of consensus is reached. The survey gathers input without expecting the experts to work face to face. A high volume of literature surrounding the conventional or classical Delphi method (CDM) reveals its iterative multi-stage process, contrived to transform opinion into a group consensus. Literature also documents the foresight-full accuracy in the method by many studies in information systems and management, public relations, real estate, nursing and general medicine. For instance, the new direction, as contended by Ibiyemi et al. (2015), could be the integration of its multidisciplinary nature to reflect the multidimensional realities in the field of industrial sustainability and real estate appraisal. Sekker (2015) also proposes an argument Delphi built on the contradictions of the ideas of the experts during the survey. Research work relating to a critical review was carried out by Keeney et al. (2001). The study of Balasubramanian and Agarwal (2012) was a narrative review of the classical Delphi process in which selected studies were compared and summarised. There is a need to offer a balanced view using an example study to present the validity of the method at this time. The discussion would consider the use of expert participants, the size of the panel, anonymity, Delphi rounds, analysis of sampling, reliability and validity and technique applications. The structuring of the work is from a review of its characteristics. Sackman (1975), Keeney et al. (2001) hint about the alterations in the traditional Delphi process, the application in diverse fields of research and the various modifications which might have compromised the rigours associated with its validity. Also, Landeta (2006) notes the infrequent use of the DSM because of the criticisms about its weaknesses and the diminishing confidence in its research results but verifies the incorrectness of Keeney et al. (2001) arguing that the method continues in use as a valid instrument. Nevertheless, the threat of probable methodological crises looms with futuristic implications for its validity. Therefore, there are concrete grounds to operationalise it continually to streamline its effective implementation. This work fulfils that aspiration by using the CDM to address the industrial sustainability appraisal issue that remains unresolved in valuation theory and practice. In doing this, it reviews the key process components and operationalises them for the validity of the assessments. This paper does not claim to be entirely conclusive, but it shows that the CDM has the profound scope for resolving single dimensional complex social issues and the practical ability to scale down errors of judgement in predictions when properly conducted with consideration of its validity.\nEssential elements of a classical Delphi survey: Dalkey and Helmer (1963) depict the CDM as a strategy used to receive the most reliable consensus of a group of experts in a series of questionnaires interlarded with controlled feedbacks. Somerville (2008), in his study, elaborates that the Delphi is an iterative process, normally three-four rounds, requiring a series of questionnaires, each reposing on the outcomes of the earlier one. The results of each round are assembled and interpreted to get consensus. There are three diverse forms in existence: The classical or conventional Delphi (Dalkey and Helmer, 1963; Balasubramanian and Agarwal, 2012). The real-time or modified Delphi exists when the traditional model is adapted (Beretta, 1996). For instance, close-ended queries are used, and it takes place during the run of an organised meeting that uses mechanisms to aggregate the experts' responses immediately. The selected experts know each other from the outset, but their questionnaire responses are anonymous (Hanafin, 2004; De Villiers et al., 2005). Others are the policy Delphi and the decision or focus Delphi (Crisp et al., 1997; Yousuf, 2007). Hanafin (2004) restates that the classical Delphi, as the conventional Delphi, prioritises facts and forecasts future events, using a set of open-ended questionnaires sent out to a group of experts, with a second questionnaire grounded in the results of the first. The following questionnaires refine and specify the facts or proposals, estimating their accuracy from the participating members. Forecasting of technological developments is the most popular implementation (Halal, 2013). In a policy Delphi, the intent is not to attain consensus or stability in responses among those with expertise but to generate a range of alternative options on the potential resolutions of a major policy issue. It applies the structured public dialogue. Here, the Delphi is a tool for policy development that advances participation by capturing as many distinctive views as possible (Linstone and Turoff, 2002). The decision Delphi obtains a joint decision by consensus from a diverse group of experts with different opinions (Nielsen and Thangadurai, 2007). In the policy and decision, Hanafin (2004) states that the panellists often come up together to a group meeting to debate differing views and conflicting answers. The classical form, on the other hand, sets out with the selection of the knowledge resource for the identification of disciplines, relevant organisations, literature and laws. Then, the initial questionnaire (round one) acts as an idea-generation scheme to reveal the issues within the area of study. The respondents referred to as panellists should bring up as many relevant issues as possible in round one. Feedback presented from round one responses complements the course of a second questionnaire which seeks an opinion on the subjects brought up. The succeeding series provide each panel member (expert) with his or her responses as well as those of the other panellists. Figure 1 identifies the essential elements of the classical Delphi study regarding panel composition and expertise, the number of rounds, outcomes and a graphic overview of how elements of the study proceed.\nConventional or classical Delphi method applications: Many researchers implemented the CDM in a broad range of studies, using, particularly the classical model. Beech (1997) utilises the Delphi of three rounds to achieve consensus for the development of community mental health centres over the track of two years in North Staffordshire. Holsapple and Joshi (2002) develop a descriptive framework of elemental knowledge manipulation activities in the knowledge management field. Gibson (1998), likewise, made use of a third-round Delphi to identify the substance and context of continuing professional development demands about medicine and surgery. Other surveys have been set about in the general field of health maintenance. Green et al. (1999) use a three-round Delphi technique in a Welsh health authority area to come to a consensus on the information requirements of general practitioners. CDM studies are in use on the fields of real estate (Black et al., 2003; Adnan and Daud, 2010; Liang and Lin, 2014): Accounting and forecasting the financial markets (Worrell et al., 2013; Kauko and Palmroos, 2014); Information technology (Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004), Computer appreciation (Sekker, 2015). Nonetheless, Wakefield and Watson (2014) in agreement with Keeney et al. (2001) report that there are a few of the surveys in the literature that used the CDM in the same mode. On this account, uniformity in approaches and procedures is one of the major criticisms of the method. Even so, the concept of reality in the Delphi derives from the consensus of experts, for which an alternative rarely exists.\nStudy operations and reviews for validity: Preliminary round: content area identification, selection of expert participants and reliability test\nValuation and industrial sustainability-related obsolescence correction factor applications: The purpose of valuation is for individual investment or operational objectives of the industry owner. The method of valuation is the cost based on the concept of Depreciated Replacement Cost. The basis of valuation is investment value (similar to value-in-use, worth, deprival value, value to the business owner or class of investors). Value to the business relates to the value of the contribution of an individual asset to the business entity based on continuing existing use. The study addresses the value of the asset to the owner or class of investors concerning the extent to which the property assets currently meet the local sustainability criteria.\nUse justification of the conventional or classical Delphi method for the study: The real and perceived weaknesses of the CDM over the years have included the credibility of the experts (Sackman, 1974; Walker and Selfe, 1996); convergence of opinion as the concept of the truth (Sackman, 1974); the limitation of the interaction to controlled feedback (Milkovich et al., 1972; Sackman, 1974); the impracticality of anonymity (Milkovich et al., 1972); the ease of manipulation by the coordinator for private interests (Welty, 1971); the difficulty of checking the method's accuracy and reliability (Martino, 1993); the time required (Huckfeldt and Judd, 1974); and the time and effort input from the participants and the non-consideration of possible interrelations between the forecast incidents (Gordon, 1994). Some of these weaknesses can be overcome through the diligence, sincerity and competence of the research coordinator. For instance, experts' credibility, anonymity and biases are diligence-based. Notwithstanding, the CDM as a forecasting procedure is of significant use in the area of identification, selection and prioritisation of critical factors. As an example, although we could conduct a traditional survey to gather input from members of the major stakeholder groups concerning industrial sustainability, CDM proved to be a stronger methodology for a rigorous query of experts. The method has been used in the real estate industry with an expert panel to identify SI of industrial buildings in a Petrochemical Industry; as a hybrid with regression analysis by Pivo and Fischer; and for Eco-industry parks impacts classification (Heravii et al., 2015; Pivo and Fischer, 2009; Valenzuela-Venegas, et al., 2016).\nReliability and validity: Research projects must stick to certain ethical rules to maintain the dignity and privacy of the participants. In sum, the primary ethical considerations in a Delphi that should consolidate the integrity of the data are Anonymity and confidentiality. That is, their involvement remains confidential. The confidentiality factor is of specific importance for a Delphi study because when certain panellists hold the opportunity to the flavours of the other panellists, it could skew their results. While the researcher knows the participants, it is important during the response gathering and analysis phases to learn ways to split up the data from panellists as much as possible, so interpretation to the data is not skewed by such knowledge of whom responded in what manner. Voluntary participation is a requisite of social inquiry. Advance instructions to respondents should state that any data or opinions they provide will be utilised for research purposes and publication. Also, the researcher should always protect the individual responses, turning out information only as aggregate data. Another concern in research projects is the ability to pick up the data without undue influence on the data collected. If the researcher influences the data in any manner that may hint at the respondents to share similarities and biased opinions, a skew outcome might also result (Somerville, 2008).\nLimitations: The Delphi is open to the same ethical considerations as any postal survey because the researcher cannot be sure that the nominated expert is the person who completed the questionnaire or that it has not been the focus of discussion with other individuals. It is, likewise, impossible to determine whether experts respond with honesty and sincerity or are influenced by the expectations of the researcher. Hitch and Murgatroyd (1983) observe that telephone contact with respondents while waiting for the responses to be passed over could cause respondents to feel pressured into returning the questionnaire. Ethically, the researcher is obliged to see to the anonymity of the respondents' identities and their responses. However, the theory of hidden identity does not resonate with the suggestion of Hsu and Sandford (2007) who advocates the use of referral lists.\nDiscussion and conclusion: The example study fulfils the requirements of a reliable and valid CDM study. The industrial sustainability indicators, the overall weighted ISRO-CF of (6.64 + 6.80)/2 = 6.71/10 = 0.671 and the ISRO index of 3.29/10 = 0.329 are well grounded results. This is evident in the methodological approaches that form the basis of the implementation of the example study. The intention is not to present a comprehensive report on the study as that is earmarked as a future work. Nonetheless. it might be sufficient to show that precise results depend on upon quality control throughout the organisation of the process. That includes maximising respondent motivation to participate, securing the clarity of the questions and respondent instructions, contriving a plan to follow up on non-respondents, pre-testing the questionnaire and survey operations, coding the survey information accurately and entering the information correctly (Scheuren, 2004; Cuhls, 2014). With the CDM, participants present and justify their feelings about the specified subject. Likewise, they take the opportunity to consider the positions of others, reconsider their judgements and evaluate the relative importance of each opinion presented. To ensure validity, the researchers paid special attention to the number and qualifications of the panellists, motivation, the questionnaire construction, process management and the method for aggregating panellists' opinions. The study considered elemental items that include method design and analysis for interpretation so that result would not be compromised. The focus in the Delphi literature to date has been on outcomes rather than on methodology and evaluation of design features (Scheibe et al., 2002; Balasubramanian and Agarwal, 2012). The work concentrated on the methodological approach to providing a deep discernment of current issues in industrial sustainability and property appraisal. It is intended to check the accuracy of the result with the international standards and to compare predicted results with real occurrences. Indeed, when investigators determine to use Delphi, careful thought must be contributed in planning, reviewing literature, organising essential resources, intercommunicating with people of interest, editing instruments, analysing data and managing time efficiently. CDM research risks losing steam despite its present popularity and its past key contributions to the foresight and decision-making. Nevertheless, when problems are thought out in the light of the study classifications, they provide promising boulevard for insightful research and value-creating practice to meet the expectations of the research society and the community. Nworie (2011) notes that evaluation findings will serve to plant up a body of knowledge about the validity of consensus studies. Perhaps this state of affairs reflects Green (2014) suggestion that low drop-out rates are important to ensure credibility in Delphi findings. Nonetheless, the CDM is useful in answering single-dimensional question. In that respect is less backing for its role to determine sophisticated forecasts concerning multiple factors. Such complex model building is more appropriate for quantitative models with Delphi results serving as inputs or a form of triangulation.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The study aims to build up knowledge for collateral exploration of the classical Delphi survey method for assessing the industrial sustainability-related correction factor using a real field study in Nigeria.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper elicits the character and the operational approaches using an example study to provide a critical review of the method. It estimates the correction factor for appraisal purposes by transforming expert opinion into a valid group consensus.\nFindings: The work considers the specific parameters of the method, design and analysis for interpretation to prove the reliability and the validity for the research results. Moreover, it emphasises that the validity of the traditional Delphi research demands cautious theoretical and practical applications by the coordinating researcher. The paper establishes the current validity and effectiveness of the classical Delphi method of foresight and streamlines their efficient implementation for theory building despite its numerous weaknesses.\nOriginality/value: It explores desirable futures for the method while analysing what is possible and probable.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Why does leader attention scope matter for innovation ambidexterity? The mediating role of transformational leadership
|
[
"Transformational leadership",
"Attention",
"Environmental dynamism",
"Innovation ambidexterity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rapidly changing business environment is creating a series of challenges for all enterprises. Continuous innovation is the only way to deal with the competitive situation. In the long run, the sustainable enterprises will be those which can implement innovative activities to handle their immediate interests through promotion of efficiency and exploitative tactics, and simultaneously develop great vision and courage to set foot in new technological areas with exploratory activities. The trade-off is described as ambidexterity (Duncan, 1976). In the research field of innovation, ambidexterity refers to the balance or combination of exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation (Danneels, 2002; He and Wong, 2004; Tushman and O'Reilly, 1996). Organizations that can handle the two contradictory activities flexibly will be more excellent, since they have the capability of reconciling today's business demand and future viability (He and Wong, 2004; Levinthal and March, 1993; Tushman and O'Reilly, 1996).\nTheory and hypotheses: Innovation ambidexterity\nMethods: Data collection and samples\nResults of the hypothesis testing: Measurement model\nDiscussion and implications: Based on upper echelons theory, this study was intended to investigate the inner mechanisms of LAS, TL behavior, and innovation ambidexterity within the framework of upper echelons theory, attention theory, and leadership theory. The study results concretely reflect the relationships between cognition, behavior, and organizational strategy. This paper approached the research object by investigation via questionnaire to top leaders whose firms had R&D functions. The researched firms were almost all small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises or high-tech enterprises, and the surveyed leaders played a vital guiding role in R&D functions. The SEM analysis of 188 samples revealed that LAS can directly affect innovation ambidexterity and indirectly affect innovation ambidexterity through TL. In addition, ED produced a negative effect on the relationship between TL and innovation ambidexterity.\nLimitations and future research: Several limitations of this study should be pointed out. First, one of the key points of this research is the introduction of LAS to solve the ambidextrous dilemma. Attention is taken as a psychological factor. However, human psychology contains complicated processes involving various factors. More research about the relationship between those component factors of leader psychology and organizational strategy should be conducted. Second, this paper only considers LAS as the determinant of TL. However, the formation of a specific leadership type is a comprehensive process. More internal and external situational factors affecting the development of TL should be taken into account. Finally, a subjective questionnaire method was adopted to measure leaders' psychological characteristics in this study. If conditions allow, more rigorous measurement methods, like lab experimentation on leader cognition, are encouraged.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role leader attention plays in the nurture of transformational leadership (TL) behavior, as well as the mechanism by which TL affects innovation ambidexterity, this research empirically studied the relationship between leader attention scope (LAS) and innovation ambidexterity (exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation) through the mediating role of TL. Further, the moderating effect of environmental dynamism (ED) on the relationship between TL and innovation ambidexterity was examined.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Empirical study was adopted by distributing questionnaires to high echelon leaders in mainland China to assess related variables. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships of the variables based on the 188 returned questionnaires.\nFindings: The results show that LAS had a positive effect on innovation ambidexterity, and the relationship was partially mediated by TL. ED negatively moderated the relationship between TL and innovation ambidexterity.\nPractical implications: The results suggest that upper echelon leaders receive more unfamiliar, outward-oriented, and source-diverse information to broaden their attention scope. The broad outlook they get obliges them to engage in TL behavior which is beneficial for innovation ambidexterity.\nOriginality/value: Based on upper echelons theory, this research reveals the realization mechanism of innovation ambidexterity from the perspectives of leader attention and leadership behavior. This paper avoids the previous research limitation of prevalently employing demographic measurements to substitute for leaders' psychological processes. The study of LAS also explains the formation mechanism of TL. ED is considered to examine the effectiveness of TL.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Advantages and potential challenges of data management in e-maintenance
|
[
"E-maintenance",
"Data management",
"Data quality",
"Data combination",
"Maintenance data",
"Data acquisition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: E-maintenance is an interdisciplinary approach to asset management, which thanks to information and communication technologies (ICTs), integrates and synchronizes various maintenance and reliability functions, such as monitoring, diagnosis, prognosis and decision processes, and delivers asset information where and when needed (Muller et al., 2008; Holmberg et al., 2010). Gathering all maintenance strategies in one place, e-maintenance incorporates maintenance with manufacturing and overall business operations by establishing an overlaying function over different organizational structures and links isolated processes into one transparent, integrated and value-adding system (Hausladen and Bechheim, 2004; Holmberg et al., 2010).\n2. Research method: The ultimate objective of this research is to discover data management challenges in e-maintenance systems. To achieve this goal, a literature review was performed to summarize earlier diverse research in e-maintenance field in context of data management. Literature review consists of an extensive review of peer-reviewed journal, scientific conference papers as well as textbooks, dealing with maintenance and e-maintenance in general and data management in particular.\n3. Literature review: Embracing different processes within and outside of an organization, high volumes of data need to be collected, stored, processed and shared in e-maintenance systems. Different data management challenges are, however, present which need to be overcome in order to make timely and appropriate maintenance-related decisions. Table I summarizes the most common data management challenges along with e-maintenance implementation.\n4. Current state analysis: E-maintenance data management process in the analyzed company has five different stages, namely, data collection, data transfer, data fusion, data analysis, visualization or information sharing that are in line with the studies of Aljumaili et al. (2015) and Jardine et al. (2006). Figure 2 shows this process. The process starts by acquiring versatile types of data from heterogeneous sources over different organizational levels. The purpose of data collection is defined collaboratively by customers and the studied company. This data collection also forms the basis for internal traceability of the products. An interviewee described the situation as: \"[...], equipping assets and their components with e-technologies enables tracing products from top level of the asset (as a whole product), down to different levels of Bill of Material.\" Condition monitoring data are collected via sensors in real-time or entered manually through mobile devices such as smart phones or PC tablets by professional service technicians.\n5. Discussion: Analyzing the current state of studied company's e-maintenance validates the findings of literature review on data management challenges in e-maintenance systems. The criticality of customers, number of stakeholders involved, type, size and complexity of services, such as different geographical locations, are among the relevant challenges. Looking at the current state of e-maintenance system, it has been observed that there are no actions on checking the collected data, whether or not it meets involved stakeholders' expectations. Therefore, in order to overcome data management challenges, following solutions are proposed (Table V) and future state is distilled (Figure 4). This future state has been presented and discussed with studied company and feedback has been collected.\n6. Conclusion: Data management challenges in e-maintenance have been studied with narrow focus to data and appear as one of the less studied topics in the literature. Hence, this paper further analyzes data management challenges in e-maintenance systems and proposes a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader. The identified data management challenges that relate to e-maintenance systems and their associated proposed solutions are summarized.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services.\nFindings: This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice.\nResearch limitations/implications: Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries.\nPractical implications: Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges.\nOriginality/value: The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The quest for strategic Malaysian Quality National Primary School Leaders
|
[
"Malaysian Quality National Primary School Leaders",
"Strategic leadership characteristics",
"National Education Master Plan",
"Primary schools",
"Malaysia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Quality School Improvement Program (QSIP) is pertinent for schools particularly as an agent for an excellent education system. Thus, positive changes are important both at the organizational (school) and at the classroom levels. With regard to the QSIP, there has been a lot of discussions and documentation on quality school improvement characteristics and efforts (Hopkins et al., 1994; Stoll and Fink, 1996 and Harris, 1999). Several studies have clearly shown that a purposeful leadership, teacher collaboration and a central focus on learning outcomes are the factors that support positive (quality) school change (Fullan, 1993). In supporting this claim, Davies (2006), Davies and Davies (2009) and Eacott (2008) reiterated that strategic leadership is a critical component and issue that are relevant to the school leaders in the effective development of schools.In strategizing the strategic leadership efforts, the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOEM) formulated an Educational Development Master Plan (EDMP, 2006-2010) and recognized it as the backbone of the national plan in ensuring the achievement of Malaysia's national mission[1]. The EDMP is a continuation of the previous plan, which emphasized on accessibility, equity, quality, as well as to enhance educational management and leadership effectiveness and efficiency.At first in 2005, a total of 350 school principals were given five days of the QSIP training (namely strategic planning in education) at the National Institute of Educational Management and Leadership (officially known as Institut Aminuddin Baki). The main objective of QSIP is to enable the educational system to develop strong, excellent and high-performing schools particularly among the National Primary Schools (NPS). Within a duration of two months, all schools involved were required to prepare and document their own five-year school strategic development plan (2006-2010). At the beginning of 2006, all 350 schools were expected to manage and implement their full-fledged strategic plans as well as to enhance their strategic leadership skills. It is believed that this would be the best time for the MOEM to monitor the Strategic Leadership Characteristics for Quality National Primary Schools Leaders (QNPSL), particularly for those who are involved with the QSIP.\nUnderstanding strategic leadership characteristics: The researchers in the area of school effectiveness development and school improvement (Davies, 2006; Davies and Davies, 2009), consistently emphasized the importance of leadership for organizational change, development and improvement, and in determining the motivation of teachers and the quality of teaching (Harris, 2004). Harris again emphasized the need to raise the standard and to improve the outcome of schooling. This increases the pressure on the school heads to secure, sustain and demonstrate the school improvements. This inevitably further extends the changing roles of the school heads (Cranston, 2000) and those who serving in other key leadership positions (Kouzes and Posner, 2003) within the schools.The terms used for the concepts of strategic leadership, such as \"what strategic leaders do\" and \"characteristics that strategic leaders display\" have been changed and then was elaborated further by Davies and Davies (2009). However, the author limits this study to the original nine-point model of strategic leadership (five organizational abilities and four individual characteristics of strategic leaders) that was highlighted previously (Davies, 2004; Davies and Davies, 2006, 2009). There are at least three pertinent reasons why this study employs Davies model (as depicted in Figure 1). First, the notions of strategic leadership in educational management and leadership are relatively new in Malaysia. Second, as far as strategic leadership in educational management and leadership are concerned, Davies is one of the most widely acclaimed scholars (Davies, 2004; Davies and Davies, 2006, 2009). Third, the model appears to be relevant to the present context of the Malaysian education system where the government is focusing on the outcome by referring to the key result areas (KRA).As a critical component in the effective development of schools, strategic leadership links the strategic function with the leadership function (Davies, 2006; Davies and Davies, 2006, 2009). Therefore, possessing the strategic leadership characteristics is important as it facilitates and drives the strategic cycle of a strategically focused school (Davies, 2004; Davies and Davies, 2004, 2006, 2009; Eacott, 2008). Davies and Davies (2006) identified a nine-point model of strategic leadership that combines five organizational capabilities, and four individual characteristics of strategic school leaders as depicted in Figure 1. The five Organizational Capabilities (ORGCAPAB) as used by Prahalad and Hamel (1990) and Stalk et al. (1992) in this study are assumed to represent the organizational capability characteristics of the Malaysian QNPSL (in his/her capacity) to successfully undertake and implement the strategies of the school or organization. The study also assumed that the Malaysian QNPSL possess all four Individual Characteristics (INDVCHAR) that the strategic leaders should display.Based on Davies and Davies (2004, 2006, 2009) nine-point model of strategic leadership and Eacott (2008), the study believes that it is justifiable to hypothesize that the strategic Malaysian QNPSL possesses five organizational capability (ORGCAPAB) characteristics such as: strategic orientation; strategic translation; strategic alignment; strategic intervention; and strategic competence. On the other hand, the study also hypothesizes that the strategic Malaysian QNPSL should be able to display four individual characteristics (INDVCHAR). These are: dissatisfaction and restlessness with the present (RESTLESSNESS); absorptive capacity (ABSORPTIVE); adaptive capacity (ADAPTIVE); and wisdom (WISDOM).\nResearch objectives: Eacott (2008) stresses that strategic leadership is a critical issue relevant to school heads and hence it is imperative to meet the needs of the communities, which has been overlooked in the present educational leadership literature. Hence, as depicted in Figure 2, the first objective of the study is to examine the strategic leadership characteristics for the Malaysian QNPSL involved in the QSIP, based on a nine-point model of strategic leadership, which combines five organizational capabilities and four individual characteristics of the strategic leaders (Davies and Davies, 2006, 2009). This objective also includes examining how the findings of the study implicate the present practices of educational management and leadership that are relevant to the quality improvement of the Malaysian education system. The second objective is to examine which strategic leadership characteristics for the QNPSL represent the strategic leadership characteristics of the Malaysian QNPSL.\nMethodology: Quantitative approach\nResults: Demographic profile of respondents\nDiscussion and managerial implications: The study identified that all senior management staff/teachers (also known as the deputies) such as senior assistants for administration, student affairs, extra co-curricular activities and the afternoon session supervisor (who were the respondents for the study) were the most powerful group members in their schools. The study assumed that to a certain extent, they managed to influence the school leadership. As the deputies, they were always shadowing their school leaders and hence became the most appropriate subordinates to evaluate their respective leaders (Kouzes and Posner, 2003).Organizational capability of the Malaysian QNPSL\nFuture research and conclusion: Generally, the study provides us with some insights on the status of the strategic leadership characteristics among the Malaysian QNPSL for the QSIP. The study also confirms that all Malaysian QNPSL generally possess six (out of nine) dominant strategic leadership characteristics as suggested by Davies (2004) and Davies and Davies (2004, 2006, 2009). Despite that, there is also a setback as the Malaysian QNPSL in this particular study was also found to be lacking in three important strategic leadership characteristics namely strategic \"intervention point\", \"strategic competence\" and \"leadership wisdom\" which are obviously very important for the school success. The implications could be very serious as it might hinder the achievement of the MOEM's Master Plan's (2006-2010) strategic goals. The findings from this study will obviously enhance the nation's indigenous knowledge in the area of strategic leadership characteristics for educational leaders that will ultimately ensure the quality of the Malaysian education system. For a wider perspective of research findings, it is suggested that a full-scale study using larger samples be conducted in future so that the findings will eventually be more applicable to the Malaysian educational setting. It is also suggested that future research should take into account of the latest strategic leadership thoughts and concepts as developed by Davies and Davies (2006, 2009) and Eacott (2008).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nine-point strategic leadership characteristics of Malaysian Quality National Primary School Leaders (QNPSL) and to indicate the implications of these findings for the current educational management and leadership practices in their quest for Malaysian quality education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study selected 600 senior management team members from 150 schools to complete a seven-page questionnaire survey and eventually managed to collect back 420 completed survey questionnaires. The study employed SPSS 15.0 and a full-fledged Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) software Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 16.0 to confirm the dimensionality and the psychometric properties of the scale, as well as to test the research hypotheses.\nFindings: - Despite what Davies and Davies suggested, the results confirm that the Malaysian QNPSL do not possess three out of nine predetermined characteristics of a strategic leader such as wisdom, strategic intervention point and strategic competence which are pertinent for efficient and effective leadership in realizing the objectives of the National Education Master Plan.\nPractical implications: - The findings from the study provide useful information to senior management team members of the respective schools, District and State Education Departments in improving the quality of Malaysian education.\nOriginality/value: - As this is the first research of its kind in Malaysia, the findings to a certain extent will be able to contribute to the efforts in achieving the accessibility, equity, quality and enhancement of management goals stipulated in the National Education Master Plan (2006-2010).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Meeting sustainability challenges of mega-event flagships
|
[
"Mega‐event flagship",
"Sustainability challenges",
"Case study",
"Development framework",
"Sustainable development",
"Sporting events"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Triple-C Gap\nA historical review: To raise awareness about the role the MEF clients should play, four historical cases are reviewed based on an interdisciplinary body of literature. A balance is made to include both successful and faulty cases which have certain merits in their own rights. They took place in the era of \"the city of renewal\" (Zimmerman et al. in Hall, 1992, p. 29) since 1962; which offers a logic place to understand how an MEF can impact on its accompanying regeneration process.Seattle, USA: Expo 1962\nSustainability challenges: Duality and priority\nA development framework: To assist future clients in producing enduring MEFs, this section draws from cases in the established and emerging hosts and puts forward a development framework containing five conditions, three tested approaches and an eight-dimension matrix.Five conditions to sustain MEFs\nConclusions: Reflections and prospects\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - A mega-event flagship (MEF) refers to a popular instrument developed for staging a mega-event and catalyzing area-based urban regeneration. Despite its lasting appeal and controversial nature, insufficient research on its critical early stage has been done to provide useful analysis. When the clients lack appropriate capabilities to confront sustainability challenges, MEFs may end up functioning poorly in the post-event era and even hindering the progress of intended renewals. The purpose of this study is to enhance MEF clients' capabilities in meeting sustainability challenges at the early stage and ultimately producing responsible MEFs of enduring worth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The multiple-case study method was adopted due to its widely recognized reliance on multiple sources to facilitate in-depth analyses. Data were collected through archival records, documentation, direct observation and participant observation.\nFindings: - By proposing a comprehensive development framework based on the findings of multiple-case studies, this paper corrects a misunderstanding of such a development being an end in itself, and contributes new insights into the definitional early stage of MEFs.\nSocial implications: - The fact that MEFs are a global phenomenon as well as a local undertaking leads to a need to develop a database of useful lessons and critical decisions from previous MEFs, to establish a best practice targets system in future research.\nOriginality/value: - As an initial attempt, this paper lays the groundwork for research on MEFs by investigating how mega-event hosts have prepared in meeting its sustainability challenges.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The link between transformational leadership and work-related performance: moderated-mediating roles of meaningfulness and job characteristics
|
[
"Job characteristics",
"Leadership",
"Moderated mediation",
"Meaningfulness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The link between leadership and organizational performance remains a pervasive topic of research interest in the fields of management and organization studies (Bass and Avolio, 1994; Ng, 2017). According to the longitudinal study of Yammarino et al. (1993), transformational leaders promote dramatic changes for individuals, groups and organizations from a long-term perspective. Although studies linking transformational leadership and performance have been conducted in various settings, it remains necessary to gain a clearer understanding of the mechanism governing the effects of transformational leadership on performance. Correspondingly, this study adopted the job characteristics theory to investigate the link between leadership and job performance. Relatedly, a recent work of Oldham and Hackman (2010) proposed that different psychology states may mediate or moderate the impact of job characteristics on work outcomes. Different employees may react differently to perceived leadership and job characteristics, which in turn may influence their job performance. This critical connection between job characteristics and job performance considered psychological states of experienced meaningfulness (Hackman and Oldham, 1976).Notably, Bass (1985) argues that transformational leadership motivates followers to perform beyond expectations. An examination of various performance criteria, such as task, contextual and creative performance (Wang et al., 2011), demonstrated that transformational leadership leads to higher levels of performance by causing more effort to be exerted on given job tasks. In this regard, a certain level of transformational leadership would influence task-related performance with concepts of systematic organizational control and support (Podsakoff et al., 1996). Despite the significant linear relationship between transformational leadership and performance, existing literature has not estimated the magnitude of the moderated mediating effect of job characteristics and job meaningfulness. This is unfortunate, as a highly active psychological state predicts important task performance.Based on the job characteristics theory (Oldham and Hackman, 2010), this study highlighted the mediating role of job meaningfulness as a critical psychological state. Employees' positive perceptions of job meaningfulness could maximize organizational positive outcomes based on task orientation and trustful relationship-based satisfying behaviors (Corley and Gioia, 2011). Further, job characteristics, identified as an appropriate principle for enriching jobs in organizational settings, could influence an employee's perception of job meaningfulness (Steger et al., 2012). Accordingly, an employee's meaningfulness affected by transformational leadership and job characteristics are critical determinants for organizational long-term success (Piccolo and Colquitt, 2006).The purpose of this research is to examine structural relations among transformational leadership, job characteristics, job meaningfulness and task-related job performance. The conceptual model of this research is developed based on the theoretical foundations for assessing the mediating and moderating path relations among exogenous and endogenous variables (Figure 1). Particularly, the mediating interaction of job meaningfulness and job characteristics is examined to further explain the relation between transformational leadership and task in-role behavior performance improvement.\nLiterature review and hypothesis development: Transformational leadership and organizational outcomes\nMethods: Data collection and participants\nResults: Table 1 presents inter-construct correlation, item internal consistency estimates (Cronbach a coefficient) and descriptive analysis. The reliability and validity of measures were tested by inter-variable correlation coefficient estimates, Cronbach alpha (a) coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) factor loadings.Table 2 illustrates that composite reliabilities for all constructs are acceptable (a ranges from 0.875 to 0.934). The inter-construct associations were found to be moderately related to one other (r coefficient ranges from 0.313 to 0.533; coefficient between two dependent variables: r = 0.313) at p < 0.001. Convergent validity was assessed by the average variance extracted (AVE). The overall proportion of the variance in the indicators was accounted for by each construct and registered above the recommended level of 0.50. Also, all factor loadings of the constructs were highly significant at the 0.01 level, with a critical ratio equivalent to t-statistics. Discriminant validity was checked with a comparison between the square roots of the AVE and each individual construct (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). It is obvious that Table 2 supports the discriminant validity of the constructs.To examine the hypotheses, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. In addition, to examine nonlinear complicated structural associations among these four research constructs simultaneously, conditional process analysis was employed. Table 3 shows the results of multiple regressions. The results demonstrated that TL had a positive relationship with ME (b = 0.25, p < 0.001) and IB (b = 0.09, p < 0.001). Thus, the effects of transformational leadership on meaningfulness (H2) and in-role performance (H1) were supported.In support of Hypothesis 3, four conditions of the mediation effect of meaningfulness were met. Table 3 shows that the impact of transformational leadership (b = 0.25, p < 0.001) became weaker after meaningfulness was accounted for. Albeit, it remained significant (b = 0.09, p < 0.001). This finding suggests that meaningfulness positively mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and in-role performance (b = 0.30, p < 0.001).In support of Hypothesis 4, the interaction effect in the regression model was tested to assess the moderating effect of job characteristics between transformational leadership and meaningfulness. Table 3 shows that the interaction terms for transformational leadership effects with job characteristics was significant, but it negatively resulted in predicting meaningfulness (b = -0.11, p < 0.05). Figure 2 represents the moderation effect of JC. The interaction between MNG and JC was negative and statistically significant. We plotted the significant interactions between transformational leadership and meaningfulness in Figure 2. As shown, for the high job characteristics group, the relationship between leadership and meaningfulness is weakened, and the relationship is positively strengthened by lower job characteristics.To specify the findings of the moderated mediation effects (H5), we assessed the conditional indirect effect of transformational leadership on in-role performance through meaningfulness based on levels of job characteristics (Preacher et al., 2007). The bootstrap method with 5,000 times resampling was employed to ensure statistical significance. The conditional indirect effect of transformational leadership on in-role performance via meaningfulness was moderated by job characteristics because it moderates the effects of transformational leadership on meaningfulness (H3). Table 4 shows the results of the conditional indirect effects. Based on the bootstrap results, indirect effects for all three job characteristics levels are significant; however, the indirect effect is higher in the low level of job characteristics group and lower in the high level of job characteristics group. In other words, the link between leadership and job performance through job meaningfulness is stronger when the job characteristics level is low, while the same mediational relationship is weaker when the job characteristics level is high. The conditional indirect effect is plotted in Figure 3.In sum, all the hypotheses were supported. These findings showed the mechanism of how MNG leads to IRP. The findings indicated that WE was moderated by the interaction term of MNG and JC; then, the moderated WE mediated the relationship between MNG and IRP.\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Based on the job characteristics theory (Oldham and Hackman, 2010), the authors highlighted the mediating role of job meaningfulness as a critical psychological state. Employees' positive perception of job meaningfulness could maximize organizational positive outcomes based on task orientation and trustful relationship-based satisfying behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relations among transformational leadership, job characteristics, job meaningfulness and task-related job performance. The conceptual model of this paper is developed based on the theoretical foundations for assessing mediating and moderating path relations among the exogenous and endogenous variables.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on the research questions with literature review, the research framework was developed to show the moderated mediating mechanism of the link between transformational leadership and in-role performance. Data analyses for hypothesis testing were conducted by Hayes' PROCESS macro-based hierarchical regression.\nFindings: Understanding how organizations can optimally design a job based on job characteristics and helping employees maintain psychological states having meaningfulness and responsibility for outcomes are critical. This paper calls attention to how job characteristics and an individual's meaningfulness of work embedded in a given job play a role in influencing job performance.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a snapshot for examining the job characteristic model on the link between leadership and job performance. By using process analysis (Hayes, 2013), this study examined the moderating role of job characteristics and mediating role of meaningfulness at work in the link of leadership-performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Breaking the ice of low financial involvement: Does narrative information format from a trusted sender increase savings in mutual funds?
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Communication",
"Marketing communications",
"Trust",
"Financial services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Legislation has in many countries transferred the responsibility for retirement savings from the government to the citizens. This has raised the need to understand citizens' retirement-savings decisions (Gough and Niza, 2011). During the last two decades research has documented citizens' shortcomings in this respect (e.g. Benartzi and Thaler, 2007), suggesting that an average retirement saver both lacks knowledge (Lusardi and Tufano, 2009) and involvement (Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2001).\nPrevious research: Financial decision making by consumers\nHypotheses: Based on the reviewed studies that financial information in a narrative format increases positive affect, interest in information and intention to save, we propose and test the following hypotheses:\nExperiment 1: Participants\nExperiment 2: Participants\nGeneral discussion: The results of the experiments are summarized in Figure 1. Compared to the proposed model also shown in the figure, we conclude that in both experiments a narrative information format had the expected effects of increasing positive affect of reading the presented information, and through positive affect, of increasing interest in the message. The effect of narrative format had in both experiments an effect on the ratings of intention to save mediated by the ratings of affect and interest. In both experiments we furthermore observed direct effects of trust on intention to save. In Experiment 1 also a direct effect of format on interest was significant, but since this was not observed in Experiment 2 when the instructions were changed, it is likely due to that participants in Experiment 1 did not separate the ratings of positive affect evoked by the reading experience from the ratings of interest in the message. In both experiments positive affect had an unexpected direct effect on intention to save. It is possible that a lingering positive affect directly increase the intention to save.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trust in the sender of financial information and a narrative vs fact-related format of the information influence intentions to save in a mutual fund.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In Experiment 1, 186 undergraduates participate and in Experiment 2, 434 Swedish citizens between 18 and 70 years randomly chosen from a consumer panel. In both experiments participants are randomized to two conditions in which they are presented with the same information about a mutual fund in a narrative or a traditional fact-related format. In four different between-groups conditions crossed with information format, pre-tested descriptions of different fictitious banks are presented. The descriptions are combined in a fractional factorial design such that one bank is low in the three trust determinants of competence, benevolence and transparency, whereas the other three banks are high in one of the trust determinants but lower in the others. Ratings are made of the information with respect to how much positive affect the information evokes, interest in the message and intention to save in the mutual fund.\nFindings: In both experiments the narrative compared to the fact-based information format increases positive affect, interest and intention to save. Trust in the bank has an independent effect of increasing the intention to save.\nPractical implications: The narrative format of financial information may be key to increase involvement in financial choices but needs to be supplemented by a message that reinforces the positive affect and interest evoked by the format.\nOriginality/value: A demonstration of how a narrative format of financial information and trust in the sender jointly influence intentions to save in a mutual fund.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Nexus between financial literacy and financial inclusion: Examining the moderating role of cognition from a developing country perspective
|
[
"Financial inclusion",
"Moderating effect",
"Financial literacy",
"Poor households",
"Cultural cognition",
"Procedural and declarative memories"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background: Recently, during the \"G20\" summit held in Hamburg, Germany (2017), the leaders hinted that financial inclusion still remains an overarching priority that needs attention in order to move the poor out of poverty. This is justified by the fact that about 3 billion individuals, especially in developing countries, are unbanked and under-banked with limited or no access to financial services (Schlein, 2017).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: 2.1 Financial literacy and financial inclusion\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Research design\n4. Study results: 4.1 Demographic characteristics\n5. Discussion of results: The results from the study revealed that financial literacy had a significant and positive impact on financial inclusion. This lends support to H1 of the study, which suggests that financial literacy significantly affect financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. Indeed, financial literacy helps the poor to make wise financial decisions and choices before consuming complex financial services and products provided by formal financial institutions. OECD (2009) elucidates that financial literacy is relevant for the poor who operates at the margin and are vulnerable to persistent downward financial pressures. Financial literacy helps by empowering and educating the poor so that they are knowledgeable and capable of evaluating different financial products and services in order to make informed decisions, so as to derive maximum utility (Lusardi, 2009; Greenspan, 2002). Cole et al. (2010) contend that financial literacy improves household financial decision making, and ultimately savings and welfare. Indeed, better financial literacy help individuals to save more and better manage risk by purchasing insurance contracts. Findings by Lusardi and Mitchell (2011) revealed that households with higher levels of financial literacy were more likely to plan and arrive at retirement with substantially more assets than non-planners.\n6. Conclusion and summary of findings: The main purpose of this study is to test the interaction effect of cognition in the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda.\n7. Implications for policy: The findings from the study enlightens policy-makers, managers of financial institutions, and financial inclusion advocates on the importance of cognition in enhancing financial literacy among the poor, especially in rural Uganda. Cognition combined with financial literacy helps the poor to make wise financial decisions and choices toward consuming financial services and products provided by formal financial institutions. This leads to increased scope of financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. Therefore, advocates of financial literacy should assess community cultural cognition and utilize them to design and fashion effective financial literacy interventions that promotes financial inclusion.\n8. Limitations and short comings: The study adopted cross-sectional research design and data were collected by use of only questionnaires. Future studies through longitudinal research design may be adopted. Additional studies may also adopt interviews. Furthermore, this study collected data from only tier 3 financial institutions, thus, ignoring the other financial institutions. Future studies could focus on financial institutions under the other tiers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Premised on the argument that cognition structures the way how individuals think and make decisions, the purpose of this paper is to test the interaction effect of cognition in the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used cross-sectional research design and quantitative data were collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Baron and Kenny guidelines were adopted to test for existence of moderating effect of cognition in the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. Furthermore, ModGraph excel software was used to establish the magnitude of moderating effect of cognition in the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda.\nFindings: The results revealed that cognition significantly moderate the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. In addition, both cognition and financial literacy also have direct effects on financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study adopted cross-sectional research design and data were collected by use of only questionnaires. Future studies through longitudinal research design may be employed. Besides, further studies using interviews may be adopted. Furthermore, this study collected data from only tier 3 financial institutions, thus, ignoring the other financial institutions. Future studies could focus on financial institutions under the other tiers.\nPractical implications: The findings from the study enlightens policy-makers, managers of financial institutions, and financial inclusion advocates on the importance of cognition in enhancing financial literacy among the poor, especially in rural Uganda. Cognition combined with financial literacy helps the poor to make wise financial decisions and choices toward consuming financial services and products provided by formal financial institutions. This leads to increased scope of financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. Therefore, advocates of financial literacy should assess community cultural cognition and utilize them to design and fashion effective financial literacy interventions that can promote financial inclusion.\nOriginality/value: The study uses Baron and Kenny and ModGraph excel software to test for the interaction effect of cognition in the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. While several studies exist worldwide on financial inclusion, this study is the first to test the interaction effect of cognition in the relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion of the poor in rural areas in a developing country context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Innovative ways for information transfer in biobanking
|
[
"Automation",
"Interdisciplinary education",
"Biobanking",
"Biobanking training",
"ISO-certificated biobank",
"Standardization",
"Biobank network",
"Research in biobanking"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Biobanking is a global trend and represents basic infrastructure servicing biomedical science. In Europe more than 300 biobanks exist at present. The ISO-certificated Biobank Graz (Medical University Graz) presents one of the largest biobanks with approximately six million biospecimens. This publicly owned non-profit organization contributes to the healthcare for all under protection of the individual rights. Biobanking involves the collection of biospecimens from residues of routine diagnostic or surgical procedures, e.g. residual blood from routine blood or from tissue biopsy. Such biospecimens include cryopreserved tissue samples and body fluids like serum or urine, which are archived in cold storage (-80 to -196degC) as well as paraffin-embedded samples which are stored at room temperature (Biobank Graz, 2012a ). These wide spread collection and collection strategies of biospecimens by different kinds of storage enable:\nTrainings in biobanking: Biobanking should been taught in an active manner according to the motto \"learning by doing\" because a passive seminar cannot impart the necessary know-how to manage a biobank. Based on this principle the Biobank Graz developed written working instructions called standard operating procedures (SOPs) which were designed theoretically and practically by experts for each respective worker and co-worker concerned. In this way, the Biobank Graz got the ISO 9001 certificate in 2008. These instructions of SOPs are repeated annually as well as after occurrence of any variation by every member of staff who works with related instructions (Macheiner et al., 2013). The implication of SOPs resulted in:\nMaster in biobanking - future prospects in university education: The extensive international growth of biobanks necessitates the education of experts in the field of biobanking and associated disciplines. This postgraduate master course should impart knowledge about building, management, features and challenges in biobanking as well as practical experience. The number of requests of biospecimens for medical research will continue to increase in the future; however, the demands in quality of biobank samples will also increase due to the ever expanding spectrum of possible methods for various analyses and other applications. The knowledge of such possible analyses and applications is pivotal for further development of biobank processes that the quality of biobank resources can keep step with novel methods for bioanalysis. An example for novel approaches is the investigations of microRNA, which play a pivotal role in gene-regulation. In 1993 microRNA was described the first time and the methods for microRNA analyses increased to a large number. However, the success of an analysis is dependent on the kind of sample, the sample quality and their storage. In the same way, a cell culture could be developed from a (without methyl-butane) cryopreserved tissue sample but it could not be successful with a paraffin-embedded tissue sample.\nBiobanking associated research - a forward looking research field: Biobanks are a hub for medical research and for this reason it is important to increase the sample quality as well as the range of possible sample types for any number of research project questions. In order to meet these challenges the Biobank Graz has started their forward looking research with the following projects:\nConclusion: All in all, biobanking is an upcoming field of research with a lot of important features for medical research today and in future. The biospecimens of biobanks represent valuable resources to investigate diseases and to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies such as screening methods. The fast growth and increasing of possible methods for analysis of biospecimens in biobanking is answered by automation, special education and providing of various forward looking biobanking-associated research, hence includes contributions from campus-wide or even lager information systems. Furthermore, standardization within a biobank network is pivotal for international sharing for a sustainable use of biobank resources.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Biobanks are collections of biological samples (e.g. tissue samples and body fluids) and their associated data intended for various approaches in medical research. The field of biobanking evolves rapidly as an interdisciplinary branch of research and requires educational efforts to provide skilled experts in Europe and beyond. New ways in research and research education play a pivotal role in the future of biobanking.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The increasing of requests and potential uses of biospecimens from biobanks necessitates an international and national intensified transfer of forward looking knowledge and know-how. In Austria, this could be realized by special trainings as well as a postgraduate education. Furthermore, the forward looking research and further development of infrastructure will play a pivotal role in biobanks in the future.\nFindings: Few opportunities are available for specific education on biobanking in Europe. This could be remedied by the creation networks of ISO-certified biobanks and co-operation with interested parties.\nResearch limitations/implications: The current research focuses on the situation of information transfer in the field of biobanking in Europe. A wider investigation in better harmonization and standardization of methods in other parts of the world would be beneficial.\nOriginality/value: The value of biomolecular resources such as biobanks has previously been discussed in detail, e.g. by the Time magazine. The paper focuses on demonstrating the importance for education in the future of biobanking in general.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Intellectual virtue and virtue epistemology: Leveraging knowledge for sustainable results
|
[
"Knowledge",
"Organizational development",
"Intellectual virtue",
"Virtue epistemology"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe problem to be addressed: Organizational desires to measure, track and predict when combined with worldwide technological access has led to exponential increases in available data. Not surprisingly however, excessive amounts of information make it increasingly difficult to discern the significant from the insignificant. Information availability combined with the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment of organizations requires employees who are able to create knowledge by appropriately and efficiently interpreting these increasing amounts of information.\nFoundations of organizational knowledge: Organizational knowledge is not a discrete item or data point, it emerges through the ongoing, collaborative and collective effort of individuals with diverse skills and abilities. In his discussion of intellectual virtue, Aristotle (2002) describes three foundational forms of knowledge: technical expertise, intellectual accomplishment and wisdom and suggests that intellectual virtue is the result of an appropriate balance of all three.\nBehaviors contributing to organizational wisdom: Introducing virtue epistemology\nConclusion: A virtue approach to knowledge and learning in organizations begins with understanding that an organization's collective knowledge is an amalgam of the foundational elements of technical ability, intellectual accomplishment and wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge that leads to appropriate decisions and positive outcomes; however, wisdom requires an organizational environment that promotes virtuous behaviors, which in turn converts the diverse knowledge and experiences of individuals from knowledge of what we can do to what we ought to do. Encouraging intellectual virtues as a necessary part of the problem-solving and decision-making process can help to ensure that the decisions made, and actions taken lead to the desired outcomes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce virtue epistemology as a complementary approach to how we learn and make wise decisions within organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on a philosophic history of intellectual virtue and recent research into virtue epistemology, this article presents an applied theoretical approach for practitioners to use in developing a more robust learning environment.\nFindings: With robust market and operational databases of information, organizations continue to face the difficult decision of what this data means and what they can do with it. This article suggests intellectual virtue as a tool to develop appropriate knowledge, informed practical actions and sustainable outcomes.\nPractical implications: Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity have led to increasing rates of change in organizations. Organizations rely increasingly on their ability to observe, analyze, interpret and ultimately make decisions and act in ways that ensure sustainable results. This article provides an alternative perspective to complement traditional problem solving and decision-making processes.\nOriginality/value: There is currently limited research into the applicability of intellectual virtue or virtue epistemology to the field of organizational development and learning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Action learning: understanding interpersonal relationships within learning sets
|
[
"Action learning",
"Emotions",
"Effectiveness",
"Interpersonal relationships",
"Learning set politics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper responds to calls for research into the use of action learning in management education (Hay, 2011). The focus of the paper is to enhance the understanding of the interpersonal relationships that exist within action learning sets, whilst considering the subsequent impact those relationships may have on the effectiveness of the action learning process. The paper problematises Revans' (1982) notion of \"comrades in adversity\", by introducing Vince's (2004) \"adversaries with commonality\", a view that suggests that some aspects of interpersonal relationships experienced by people who attempt to learn from one another can sometimes be complex and difficult. Postulating that the interpersonal relationships that exist within action learning sets may be more problematic than Revans originally believed. The research presents the student voice giving consideration to both positive and negative views, which both challenge Revans' and Vince's views. The research findings and conclusions have utility for those engaged in management and facilitation of the action learning process.\nAction learning: Action learning has long been recognised as amongst the most effective means of delivering professional education and management development training (Zuber-Skerritt, 2002; Kramer, 2008). It is a continuous process of learning and reflection that occurs with the support of a group or \"set\" of approximately six to eight colleagues, working on real issues with the intention of getting things done. The voluntary participants in the group or \"set\" learn with and from one another and take forward an important issue with support of the other members of the set. The collaborative process, which recognises each set member's social context, promotes the premise that managers learn most effectively with, and from, other managers whilst dealing with the real-world complexity of organisational life. Revans described these managers as \"comrades in adversity\" (1982, p. 720). However, this view is not universally shared as Vince (2004, p. 64) understood the term \"comrades in adversity\" to suggest a sense of togetherness, with the existence of a common aim and collective effort from all the participants in the set. However, he suggested that this ideology did not always capture both the complexity and reality of the interpersonal relationships that often exist within action learning sets, particularly those within organisational contexts. Vince (2004) problematises Revans' assertion by suggesting that these comrades in adversity are equally likely to be \"adversaries with commonality\", and that the emotions and politics experienced by people who attempt to learn from one another can sometimes be complex and difficult (Smith, 2001, p. 36). Vince (2004) promotes the concept of Critical Action Learning (CAL), which undertakes to explore the power relations and political underpinnings that that can exist in action learning sets, particularly organisational based ones which have the capacity to either support or avoid learning. Here Vince (2004) notes the individual's own enthusiasm for learning and change, but also acknowledges the political dimension within which this may reside in the set. In this way, efforts to promote change can be undermined and as a consequence, managers cease to be comrades and become adversaries. This was underpinned by Rigg and Trehan's (2004, p. 150) premise that \"tensions, contradictions, emotions and power dynamics\" inevitably exist within groups of managers. This paper considers these two contrasting views of the interpersonal relationships that exist in action learning sets within the research project, whilst considering the subsequent impact of those relationships on the effectiveness of the action learning process. The findings seek to inform those who are currently engaged in the action learning on either academic or management development programmes.\nMethodology: An \"interpretivist\" philosophy underpins the research framework adopted in this paper. It accepts the unique nature of individuals within the action learning sets and the inherent complexities within them (Schwandt, 1994). The sample comprised 65 part time MBA students aged between 24 and 53 years old, mainly middle managers from both the public and private sectors, which included both the health and fire services. Within the sample, there was a dominance of females.\nFindings and discussion: Comrades in adversity?\nConclusions: This paper has outlined various aspects of the interpersonal relationships that exist within one university's cohort of part time MBA students. As discussed in the methodology section, the response rate of the second questionnaire was disappointing, so the results from this research cannot be generalised to the experiences of other MBA programmes that have used a similar approach. Nevertheless, the research does provide an insight into the thoughts and feelings of those participants who were interested enough to respond to the questionnaires. However, in order to confirm the findings with a greater degree of confidence, the research would need to be repeated using a modified approach. Given this, the paper has considered respondents' views within two opposing perspectives. Revans' (1982) perspective of \"comrades in adversity\" was evident in the data, demonstrating that action learning sets are places where mutual respect is shown and a climate of trust exists. This climate creates synergy and reciprocity within the sets, thus encouraging individuals examination of individuals own views, with opportunities to reframing where appropriate. In contrast, Vince's (2004) perspective of \"adversaries in commonality\" was also evident in the action learning sets, illustrating the view that not all individuals thrive in a group setting, citing issues as hierarchy, gender and politics as barriers to collective performance and set effectiveness.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to respond to calls for research into the use of action learning in management education (Hay, 2011). It reports on student experiences of action learning in a final year module for part time Master of Business Administration students. It focuses specifically on the development of an understanding of the interpersonal relationships that existed within those action learning sets; both positive and negative. The paper then discusses the subsequent impact those dynamics may have on the effectiveness of the action learning process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An interpretivist philosophy underpins the research framework adopted in this paper. Data were captured by means of semi-structured questionnaires distributed at both the beginning and end of the module. The data were thematically analysed using open coding.\nFindings: The paper used two contrasting views of the interpersonal relationships in action learning sets: Revans' (1982) \"comrades in adversity\" and Vince's (2004) \"adversaries in commonality\" as a framework for discussion. It found that various interpersonal dynamics existed within the sets, which in this case, had the ability to influence individual satisfaction and the overall effectiveness of the set.\nOriginality/value: The findings provide insights, via participant voice, into aspects of interpersonal relationships within action learning sets. In particular, the politics and emotions that occur within the learning sets, whilst considering the subsequent impact on both participant satisfaction and the effectiveness of action learning sets.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Self-efficacy measure may enhance your recruitment and placement efforts
|
[
"Self-efficacy",
"Performance",
"Recruitment",
"Measures",
"Reinforcement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In all types and sizes of organizations, human resource practitioners can benefit from examining different measures and tools to augment efforts in the selection of new hires and for various training and placement decisions. A dizzying array of surveys, tests, questionnaires, and checklists is currently available for screening and selection work. Some of these tools have a solid grounding in conceptual development, as well as validity and statistical reliability. Many available measures do not have such an underpinning.\nWhat self-efficacy is - and what it is not: An employee's self-efficacy can be viewed as their beliefs about their capabilities to produce at a designated level of performance in an area where they exercise influence over events and conditions relative to their occupation or career. It helps to equip the employee with the confidence and energy to influence, shape, and expand what happens at work. People high in self-efficacy have been found to perceive demands as opportunities for greater skills development, as well as challenges to overcome. In his wide-ranging studies of the concept, Bandura (1986) found that self-efficacy beliefs nurture other important personal resources such as one's self-confidence and self-control - two valuable characteristics in the employment setting.\nHow do efficacy beliefs grow?: It is all about reinforcement\nSelf-efficacy and work performance: Much of what we know about self-efficacy is grounded on task performance, whether that performance takes place at work, in school, or even in sports/athletics. The preponderance of research in work settings clearly supports strong relationships between observable job results and outcomes, and positive employee self-efficacy beliefs. In one large-scale study of self-efficacy and work performance, the authors reported a positive, average significant correlation (0.38) across many independent studies representing many different types of business organizations.\nThe occupational self-efficacy scale: Below are six statements related to you and your views related to work/occupation. On the line preceding each statement, place the number of one of the six response categories that appear here. Thank you for your assistance:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to offer the views that the psychological construct, self-efficacy, is significantly related to high or strong performance at work and that a brief, efficient survey allows for managers and HR practitioners to assess individuals per the characteristic.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors performed a broad review of literature, mostly empirical research, focused in particular upon the linkage of self-efficacy with work performance. Important conclusions of this review are reported. Also researched were the existing measures (surveys and scales) of self-efficacy that demonstrated validity and reliability.\nFindings: Hundreds of studies, in combination, have concluded that the construct, self-efficacy, is highly and positively related to individual motivation, self-confidence, proactive behavior, and work performance, among other valued characteristics. There are measures to use to assess individual beliefs regarding self-efficacy that may be used in for recruitment and placement decisions.\nOriginality/value: Clearly expressed is the substance and value of the self-efficacy construct which has been the subject of hundreds of studies. The importance of self-efficacy and its linkage to motivation and performance is expressed. A brief, statistically valid, and reliable instrument is offered in its entirety for use by managers and/or HR practitioners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The impact of customer relationship marketing on the firm performance: a Spanish case
|
[
"Relationship marketing",
"Services marketing",
"Customer loyalty",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"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: The findings of several studies on services marketing have suggested that in order to acquire and maintain a competitive edge, service organizations should develop long-term relationships with their customers (Gronroos, 1991, 1994; Berry, 1995). Firms have accepted that customer retention is even more profitable than customer attraction and we can observe the interest of firms in adopting relationship marketing principles and designing strategies to develop close and long-lasting relationships with the most profitable customers. A long-term orientation that puts the emphasis on commitment to customers seems to be essential (Sheth and Parvatiyar, 1995; Richards, 1998).As Anderson (1995) reminds us, value creation and value sharing can be regarded as the raison d'etre of collaborative relationships. The objective of the interaction between suppliers and customers is to create and to share value. Some authors suggest that value can only be obtained if customers are willing to engage in long-term relationships and perceive them as valuable. Hence, they study relationships from the customer's point of view and analyze how relationship marketing helps to create value to costumers. However, the positive benefits of relationship marketing for companies have not often been contested.It is evident that relationships are only appropriate when they create higher value than transactional exchanges. Therefore, we consider a priority to estimate what sort of results a firm can expect from attraction and loyalty programs in order to decide the best use of marketing resources. In that sense, several questions should be answered: \"Can the building of strong relationships between a firm and its customers help the firm to increase customers' loyalty and/or commitment to the firm?\"; \"Do attraction and loyalty programs contribute to value creation?\"; and \"What sort of value?\"In this context, the aim of this research is the analysis of marketing activities and programs implemented in order to establish, develop and maintain relationships with customers and the impact these activities have on the firm performance. This paper will focus on assessing the effect relational activities have on market and economic performance.With this aim in view, the study is divided into three sections. First of all, relationship marketing strategies, attraction and loyalty programs are described and the empirical evidence about the value to firms of such programs is reviewed. We propose two types of value: market performance, which is reflected in loyalty, market position (awareness and penetration) and positioning (customers' perception about the service), and economic performance, which alludes to the impact of relationship marketing on incomes, benefits and profitability. The second section explains the empirical study designed to assess the validity of the model and reports data analysis results. In view of the special characteristics of customers-suppliers relationships in car repair and maintenance services, we chose this sector as the source of data. The final section sets out the principal conclusions and implications for theory and practice.\nTowards value creation in consumer-firm relationships: The process of developing customer-firm relationships starts when the firm invests in activities directed towards attracting customers and positioning on the market. However, a greater effort is needed in order to turn these customers into loyal ones. Hence, both attraction and loyalty programs are necessary in the process of creating customers-firm relationships that are valuable both to customers and the firm. Following this reasoning, this section analyses the content of attraction and loyalty programs and their effect on the firm's economic and market performance.Attraction and loyalty programs\nMethod: Sample, data and measures\nDiscussion and implications: Recently, Sheth (2002) posed a question that could change the course of relationship marketing: \"Does relationship marketing pay?\". The empirical evidence is inconclusive despite our confidence in lifetime value of the customer. In the present study, we sought to make a contribution to the investigation of relationship marketing programs in terms of performance.Our research supports a positive influence of service quality on awareness and penetration and an indirect effect of contact with customers and customer satisfaction on customers' loyalty. Results suggest, however, that commercial practices (promotions, advertising) do not have a great impact on attraction or awareness. In the same way, bonus to existing customers (reduction in prices, fidelity cards or free services) does not contribute to retain customers, but, indirectly, it implies a reduction in loyalty. We have to note, however, that these activities are not frequent in car repair services.According to our results, attraction and loyalty programs may also affect the image the garage shows up. We have identified four different perceptions of a garage and their respective antecedents. First, service quality, concern about complaints and, less strongly, contact with customers create an image of an expert garage. Besides, it can be note a certain negative influence of the bonus given to existing customers on the firm's expert image. Second, commercial practices and concern about customers' satisfaction provoke an image of a convenience service, whereas contact with customers has a negative relation to convenience garages. Third, commercial practices and bonus to existing customers create an image of a promotional establishment. Fourth, although less clear than previous effects, the firm's concern about customer's satisfaction and complaints engender an image of personalized relationships with the garage.A more important contribution of this study derives from the findings concerning how loyalty and market position affect economic outcomes. The greater impact on economic performance derives from the market performance, whereas loyalty has a moderated influence on economic results. The indirect effect of relationship marketing activities on economic performance is not so clear. Only service quality and contact with customers, and to a small extent, affect results. Thus, we can conclude that awareness in the market and market share are much more related to economic performance than loyalty. Moreover, we have found difficulties to explain the real reasons of customer loyalty. As results have proved, loyalty programs have a weak impact on loyalty. Curiously, in case a promotional image affects loyalty, it does it with a negative influence, whereas convenience establishments seem to achieve a greater degree of loyalty.These results are consistent with some previous research. For instance, Sin et al. (2002) analyze the impact of relationship marketing orientation on business performance in a service context. Although their findings indicate that the firm's degree of relationship marketing orientation is positively associated with sales growth, customer retention, ROI, sales growth and overall performance, they also obtain a low level of explanation.Our study provides a number of managerial implications. Although the analysis focuses on the sector of car repair and maintenance services, our results also have implications to other services that show similar characteristics, such as high involvement, high degree of professionalism and being a credence-based service. Some examples are travel agencies, medical services and other professional services.Existing literature on marketing relationships has pointed out that retaining customers is more profitable than attracting new ones. Although we cannot be conclusive about that, our findings suggest that attracting customers through a good service quality and reaching a good position in the market have greater impact on economic results than loyalty. Service providers should put their efforts on improving quality rather than on promotion, advertising or economic bonus to customers.Notwithstanding these results, the positive effect of loyalty on outcomes has been verified. Hence, service providers have to prioritize suitable actions to get loyal customers. We suggest that contact with customers seems to be the best way of retaining profitable customers. We may add concern about customer's satisfaction and complaints as necessary actions for the service to be perceived as one that allows the development of personal relationships with customers. However, customer loyalty behavior continues to be a black hole. Our results show that convenience establishments (those that offer proximity, broad business hours and a quick repair) achieve greater loyalty than those more concerned about loyalty programs. As several authors have insisted, relationship marketing presents considerable barriers in consumer markets. Loyalty is difficult to achieve. Many customers do not really want a long-term approach, but good service and convenience.Nevertheless, relationships value will be dependent on the nature of the service, the nature of the consumer and the nature of the situation. Rich (2000) observes that the process of establishing relationships that have meaningful sales results will require that individuals in both the buying and selling organizations desire such relationships. Only when that linkage is sought will the efforts of the selling organization bear results in terms of economic rewards.Limitations and directions for future research\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - While a vast number of studies have pointed out the keys of relationship marketing practices in consumer markets, little attention has been paid to the value the organization can get from such strategies. The literature provides relatively little support for the effectiveness of relationship marketing programs. The purpose of this research is to produce some evidence of the association between customer relationship marketing strategies and the market and economic performance of the firm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The proposed hypotheses are tested in the case of car repair and maintenance services, as a case where long-term relationships are frequent. The hypotheses were evaluated using a path analysis, which associates relationship marketing activities with market performance (customers' perceptions, market position and loyalty) and market performance with economic performance.\nFindings: - The findings suggest that the effect of attraction and loyalty programs is greater on market performance than on economic performance. Furthermore, the results show that attracting customers through a good service quality and reaching a good position in the market have greater impact on economic results than loyalty.\nPractical implications: - As a managerial implication, the authors suggest that service providers should put their efforts on improving quality rather than on promotion, advertising or economic bonus to customers.\nOriginality/value: - This article realizes the importance of product and service quality rather than promotions, advertising or economic bonuses in retaining customer loyalty.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Segregation dimensions and development differentials of ethnic enclave
|
[
"Migration/immigration",
"Social economy",
"Entrepreneurship",
"Ethnic enclave",
"Segregation dimensions",
"Thai migrants"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Hong Kong is a Chinese dominated society. According to the 2011 Population Census, ethnic minorities constitute only 3.0 per cent, excluding domestic helpers, with Thais in particular, 4.4 per cent of the ethnic minority population. In 2010, the population of ethnic minorities was slightly less than 200,000, constituting 3.0 per cent of the population of Hong Kong[1]. These ethnic minorities comprise Filipinos, Indonesians and Thais. Thais only represent a small proportion even within the ethnic minority population. However the presence of a Thai community in Kowloon City, a district of Hong Kong is significant as spatial concentrations of ethnic minority groups is not common in Hong Kong.\nLiterature review: Ethnic economy\nEthnic minorities in Hong Kong: Regardless of the overwhelming majority of Chinese in Hong Kong, the ethnicity in this former British colony includes a variety of minority ethnic groups. In 2010, the population of ethnic minorities was slightly less than 200,000, constituting 3.0 per cent of the population in Hong Kong[7]. Half of the ethnic minorities comprised Filipinos (7.9 per cent), Indonesians (1.7 per cent), Thais (4.4 per cent); with South Asians slightly comprising less than one-third (30.8 per cent), and the other half being Caucasians, Japanese and others. The number of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong has increased by 20 per cent from the previous census. More Caucasians have contributed to the rise while the population of Filipino and Indonesians decreased (Census & Statistics Department, 2011). This reflects that more businessmen and expatriates from Western countries are coming to Hong Kong as the economy of China blooms and becomes increasingly globalized. On the contrary, the economy of ASEAN states as fast growing markets has attracted back some of their nationals. The economy of Hong Kong was stagnated during the last decade which was hit by two financial crises and two health disasters on top of long-term economic restructuring[8] (Table I).\nMethodology: Kowloon City was well-known for the Kowloon Walled City which was a small coastal fort erected during the Qing Dynasty of ancient China in around 1810. Nevertheless, the urbanization of this place did not start significantly until the establishment of Kai Tak Airport, the former international Airport of Hong Kong in the 1990s. During the post-Second world war period, the economy of Hong Kong developed rapidly. A lot of tourists and commercial travellers arrived in Hong Kong via this gateway - Kowloon City. This brought along the development of this airport town. A lot of restaurants were opened up providing a wide range of choices of international cuisines at more reasonable prices, compared with those inside the airport terminal. Among them, some Thai restaurants established successful business there. The number of Thai restaurants was growing; several Thai grocery shops were opened up too. In addition, there were salons, bars, CD shops, currency exchanges and shops selling religious products operated by Thais. Even after the relocation of the airport, the Thai restaurants and shops have almost remained unchanged.\nResults and discussion: Basic findings of this round of interviews are as follows. Almost all of the interviewees had stayed and/or worked in Hong Kong for ten years or more. The duration of residence predicts fluency in Chinese, position in an enterprise and size of social network including inter-ethnic networks.\nConcluding remarks: Thais concentrated in Kowloon City became significant since the post-WWII economic development of Hong Kong when Thai grocery shops and restaurants started operating in the 1970s. Kowloon City, the former airport town, has amassed Thai restaurants and shops as well as drawing critical amounts of customers, making the ethnic business achieve success.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to employ enclave economy in the perspective of economic sociology to explain the existence and process of the Thai enclave in Hong Kong.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews and case studies are employed in relation to Thai restaurant and grocery shop owners and employees in Hong Kong.\nFindings: This study is an attempt to explain the clustering of Thai ethnic small businesses in Kowloon City through a discourse on the ethnic enclave economy. The Thai migrant enclave in Hong Kong is explored with dimensions of segregation, namely evenness, exposure, clustering, concentration and centralization (Massey and Denton's, 1988). This study suggests that these Thai enclave businesses have two differentials compared to the findings of Zhou (1992) in Chinatown restaurants in New York.\nSocial implications: The findings provide evidences for social workers, migrant associations and policy makers in developing ideas of ethnic business enabling. There should be wide range of supporting and welfare policies for the empowerment of migrants and minority ethnic groups. An immigrant enclave should no longer be regarded as a ghetto for many business chances can be found there.\nOriginality/value: Two ethnic economy development differentials are developed. First, ethnicity similarity between the minority group and the majority ethnic enables ethnic business accessing earlier to an interethnic clientele from wider society. Second, internal factors of the ethnic enclave and external factors of the wider society have constrained the diversification of ethnic business.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Re-visiting an old topic with a new approach: the case of ethical clothing
|
[
"Ethics",
"Social responsibility",
"Fashion",
"Clothing",
"Clothing industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Climate change, pollution and the over-use of pesticides all pose a major threat to life on this planet. In addition to environmental degradation, there is also the problem of resource depletion (NASA, 2013). Whilst the clothing industry makes a major contribution to the global economy via the trade, income and employment it generates (MacCarthy and Jayarathne, 2011), these benefits can come at a great cost. The clothing industry contributes to environmental degradation via the pollution it generates and the many natural resources it consumes. Moreover, its negative impacts extend beyond the environment in general, to include direct impacts on humans and animals specifically. In the case of the former, industry practices in some developing nations often result in labour violations (Jagel et al., 2012), while in the case of the latter, many animals suffer via damage to their habitats and the use of their fur or skin as clothing materials (Choose Cruelty Free, 2014). Further compounding these problems is fast fashion. By encouraging the increased consumption of clothing, fast fashion magnifies the fashion industry's negative impact on resource consumption and pollution, and the welfare of clothing employees and animals.\nReview of the literature: The attributes that comprise a garment of clothing play a key role in influencing purchase behaviour because they serve as the criteria consumers use to evaluate it (Rahman et al., 2008). Moreover, because consumers' evaluate clothing using multiple metrics (Abraham-Murali and Littrell, 1995; Swinker and Hines, 2006), the key to marketing success lies in determining those attributes that are most important to consumers (Forney et al., 2005). In the specific context of ethical clothing, environmentally responsible attributes, employee welfare attributes, animal welfare attributes and slow fashion attributes all serve as potentially salient influences.\nMethodology: Attitude context\nAnalysis: Reliability and validity\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: A recent study by Reimers et al. (2016) suggests that the attitude-behaviour gap, as it applies to ethical clothing, may be due to academics having defined it differently to the way that consumers do. The purpose of this paper is to serve as a direct follow-up to that study by employing their consumer-based definition in order to help identify the clothing attributes that influence the purchase of ethical clothing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A consumer household sample in combination with a quantitative survey approach was used to collect the data, while structural equation modelling was used to analyse it.\nFindings: In spite of the ethical clothing context, only two of the four ethical clothing dimensions were found to influence consumer attitudes. In contrast, all three conventional dimensions were found to be significant.\nOriginality/value: Ethical clothing has typically been operationalised using just two of these four dimensions. Ironically, one of the two dimensions often overlooked by academics, slow fashion, had one of the strongest influences on consumer attitudes. In addition, the cost of buying ethical clothing has often been defined in unidimensional terms; typically price. This study adopted a broader conceptualisation, defining it in terms of price, time and effort, and found it to serve as a salient influence over consumers' attitudes to ethical clothing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Patterns of co-authorship and research collaboration in Malaysia
|
[
"Co-authorship",
"Malaysia",
"Academic research",
"Bibliometrics",
"Joint authorship",
"Scientific collaboration"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Collaboration is a going concern in the knowledge-based economy. Through joint efforts, individuals are able to compete better in this increasingly dynamic, complex and interactive economy. In particular, collaboration in research is even more important, as knowledge is becoming more specialised as a result of the division of labour. The importance of research collaboration is clearly illustrated by Hausmann et al. (2011, p. 15), who maintain that \"the amount of knowledge embedded in a society, however, does not depend mainly on how much knowledge each individual holds. It depends, instead, on the diversity of knowledge across individuals and on their ability to combine this knowledge, and make use of it, through complex webs of interaction\". Research collaboration bridges the different pieces of knowledge and integration allows for the creation of new knowledge. Thus, research collaboration is greatly emphasised and encouraged.\nResearch collaboration in Malaysia: In an effort to realise the nation's vision of becoming a fully developed nation by 2020 and of developing the nation as a regional and international hub of higher education, various measures have been taken to enhance the quality of higher education in Malaysia. In 2007, the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia introduced the National Higher Education Strategic Plan (2007-2020) to spearhead the transformation and to develop a competitive higher education system in Malaysia. Seven main thrusts were formulated and various action plans have been and will be undertaken in four phases spanning the years 2007 to beyond 2020 (Malaysia, Ministry of Higher Education, 2007). Among the efforts taken has been the implementation of the Malaysian Research University programme.\nLiterature review: Collaboration in research is not a new phenomenon for scientists and academics. However, there is continued interest in exploring the topic, as different contexts produce different forms of research collaboration. In addition, there have been significant changes in terms of the quantity and structure of research collaboration during the past few years, due to changing communication patterns, the mobility of scientists and the emphasis on research funding (Glanzel and Schubert, 2004).\nMethod: Publications by authors in the five RUs were retrieved from the Scopus database as raw data. There are many different document types available on the database, such as articles, reviews, conference papers, etc. In this study, the focus is on the \"article\". Search by institution was conducted from 2008 to October 2011. As the search was based on institutions rather than on authors, papers with at least one author from the RUs were retrieved. Thus, the researchers did not need to be Malaysian, but they had to be affiliated with one of the RUs in Malaysia. Publication records were manually classified based on authors, journals, institutions, countries, keywords, disciplines and times cited. Discipline was classified based on keywords provided by the authors in the article and followed the subject areas provided by Scopus. Categorised data were analysed to paint a picture of interactions for researchers in Malaysia. The main analysis includes the number of authors involved in the paper, who the leading researcher (first author) is and the disciplines of the article. The addresses of all the authors were examined to categorise the types of collaboration that prevailed in the research and the extent of research collaboration. Collaboration exists if the paper is produced by authors from different institutions. Sooryamoorthy (2009) defines the degree of collaboration in terms of the number of authors in a paper, while the type of collaboration is measured in terms of domestic (domestic intra-institution and domestic inter-institution) and international collaboration. In this study, we have adopted the definitions suggested by Sooryamoorthy.\nResults and discussion: The number of publications in each RU increased significantly over time. From 2008 to 2010, total publications by these five RUs increased by more than 100 per cent (as the data for 2011 were only collected until October, they are not included in the calculations). Generally, engineering is the most productive discipline, having produced about 18 per cent of the total number of publications during the period January 2008 to October 2011. It is followed by computer science (about 11 per cent) and health professions (about 10 per cent).\nConclusions: Structural analysis of scientific collaboration through co-authorship networks provides insights into the type and degree of collaboration among researchers, which contributes to a better understanding of the nature of research collaboration. As a country which is currently undergoing a series of pre-emptive transformations and is armed with the ambition to develop the nation as a regional education hub, achieving research excellence is essential for Malaysia. The implementation of the Research University Programme and the identification of five research universities in Malaysia mark the determination of the government to develop a competitive higher education system in Malaysia, which puts greater emphasis on research performance. Collaborative efforts in R&D, which are typically translated into joint publications, are generally accepted as a way to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the production, distribution and application of knowledge and innovation, and are, therefore, greatly emphasised.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: By exploring the patterns of co-authorship, this paper aims to identify the degree and type of research collaboration in Malaysia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 22,244 publication records from five research universities in Malaysia were retrieved from Scopus database. Journal articles published for the period between 2008 and October 2011 were collected. Indicators such as number of authors, subject areas, number of local institutions and foreign countries, were analysed using simple statistical tools to identity the degree and type of collaboration.\nFindings: The findings reveal that in Malaysia, researchers tend to work in teams but collaboration is more dominant in science-based research than social sciences. Academics published extensively with their colleagues from the same university or from other academic institutions, but there is little collaboration with researchers from public research institutes or industry. In terms of international collaboration, Iran, India, UK, Japan and the USA are the top five collaborating countries. Disciplines with significant international collaboration are physics and astronomy; chemistry; agricultural and biological sciences; engineering; health profession and computer sciences.\nOriginality/value: This paper is among the few that study the patterns of co-authorship in Malaysia and most probably the first to examine the patterns in the Malaysian research universities. The study highlights the skewed distribution of co-authorship patterns where there is limited evidence of cross sectors collaboration in journal publication. The findings call for policy makers as well as universities to look into the constraints as well as drivers that would enhance the linkage of different actors in the national research system.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Collaboration in a distributed research program: Islands of intensity in a sea of minimal interaction
|
[
"Research work",
"Scientific collaboration",
"Information science",
"Global research",
"Distributed work",
"Minimal interaction",
"Team science"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: No single research institution can address all the interdependent issues posed by challenges such as climate change, poverty and sustainable food production. To engage these challenges researchers must collaborate. While scientific collaboration has become increasingly common and researched (Bennett et al., 2010; Olson et al., 2008; Sonnenwald, 2007; Stokols, Hall, Taylor and Moser, 2008), large-scale scientific collaboration remains a challenge in its own right. This challenge stems, in part, from the spatial distribution of the collaborating researchers (Olson and Olson, 2014). In this study we investigate a globally distributed research program and ask how the researchers interact to move their research forward.\n2. Related work: Scientific collaboration has been defined as the \"interaction taking place within a social context among two or more scientists that facilitates the sharing of meaning and completion of tasks with respect to a mutually shared, superordinate goal\" (Sonnenwald, 2007, p. 645). Typically, such collaboration involves distributed work because the collaborating researchers are in different spatial locations all or part of the time.\n3. Method: We investigated scientific collaboration by conducting a case study of a globally distributed research program. Data were collected by means of interviews and analyzed through a process of theme building.\n4. Results: As a precursor to the analysis we determined the level of distributed collaboration by looking at the number of co-authored Flagship publications for the period 2015-2017. As much as 106 (79 percent) of the 135 publications from this three-year period were co-authored by researchers from multiple countries, ten were co-authored by researchers from multiple institutions within the same country, and the remaining 19 were by authors from the same institution and in the same country. Only 10 (7 percent) of the publications were single-authored.\n5. Discussion: The minimal-interaction strategy cannot function without the islands of intense interaction. Together they constitute an approach to scientific collaboration in distributed settings. While this strategy is generally effective and well-liked in the Flagship, it is not a panacea.\n6. Conclusion: We have investigated how the researchers in a distributed, agricultural research program - the Flagship - interact to move their research forward. The Flagship participants display a strategy of minimal interaction punctuated by islands of intense interaction when they occasionally meet in person. The minimal-interaction strategy rests on a belief in leaving busy researchers to get on with their individual contributions to the joint work. In conclusion, this study contributes three findings:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Researchers need to collaborate to address grand challenges such as climate change, poverty and sustainable food production. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the researchers in a globally distributed research program interact to move their research forward.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed 14 participants in the research program.\nFindings: In spite of the spatial distribution of the researchers the output from the research program is predominantly collaborative; as much as 79 percent of the publications are co-authored by researchers from multiple countries. However, the researchers mostly work alone on their contributions to their joint work and spend minimal time interacting. This strategy of minimal interaction is punctuated by islands of intense interaction when they occasionally meet in person. Interaction feels natural, productive and satisfying to them when they are co-located but less so when they are distributed, probably because they experience technology-mediated interaction over a distance as somewhat impoverished. The interviewees mention that the minimal-interaction strategy incurs the risks of cracks in common ground and of misconstruing minimal interaction as lack of commitment. But the strategy is generally well-liked.\nResearch limitations/implications: The experience of technology-mediated interaction as impoverished points to an explanation for the finding of less interaction in distributed than co-located research. It should be noted that the study is restricted to one research program.\nOriginality/value: By questioning widely touted recommendations for ongoing, regular and sustained interaction this study provides a fresh look at scientific collaboration.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Analysis of the impact of improved market trading efficiency on the speculation-hedging relation
|
[
"Exchange-traded funds",
"ETF options",
"ETFs",
"QQQ",
"QQQ options",
"Spectral analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In this study we attempt to empirically test the relation between speculation and hedging in segmented markets and suggest that increased market trading efficiency due to technical advances has an impact on this speculation and hedging relation. Market trading efficiency includes microstructure effects such as reductions in a security's trading fragmentation, increased consolidation of trading, higher trading volumes and reduced trading costs. We use spectral analysis to examine the behavior of QQQ option markets at the time of the QQQ move from AMEX to NASDAQ on December 1, 2004. Therefore, the event of the QQQ move provides us with an excellent laboratory to examine the impact of increased market trading efficiency on the relation between speculation and hedging.\n2 Literature review: Goldstein et al. (2013) provide a theoretical model of the relation of speculation and hedging in today's segmented markets. They suggest that increased market trading efficiency due to technical advances has an impact on the relation between speculation and hedging. They base their model on two types of rational traders - S-traders such as individuals or mutual funds, and L-traders, such as hedge funds. In their model there are also two types of correlated risky assets - Asset A such as stocks and bonds and Asset B such as convertible bonds, options and CDS. Additionally they postulate that markets are segmented, such that S-traders can only trade the A-asset, while L-traders can trade both types of assets.\n3 Data and methodology: The options implied volatility data are daily and are obtained from deltaneutral.com but modified to account for the fact that QQQ options are American options. Unfortunately, we do not have access to option bid-ask spread data, open interest, traded volume data and other variables. The implied volatility data are over the period - January 2, 2003 to December 29, 2006. QQQ is designed to replicate the performance of the NASDAQ-100 index, NDX, and is legally structured as a unit investment trust. QQQ has been moved from the AMEX to NASDAQ on December 1, 2004, with the announcement made on November 9, 2004. In contrast to QQQ, the options have been consistently traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's (CME) Globex platform. QQQ options are all electronic American style options. Considering that QQQ options are American style options, we do not use QQQ's option implied volatility from the database because in the database the implied volatility is computed based on the Black-Scholes formula which is for European style options. Therefore, similar to Ivanov et al. (2011) we re-compute the QQQ option implied volatility based on a 100-step binomial tree model.\n4 Analysis: Summary statistics on call and put option implied volatilities are presented in Table II. The table shows a decrease in implied volatilities for both call and put options. The implied volatility of call options decreases from an average of 0.4159 before the move to an average of 0.3224 after the QQQ move. Implied volatility of put options decreases from 0.4233 in the period before the move to 0.3217 after the move. Decrease in the medians of both call and put options implied volatilities is observed as well. Examining simple correlation between the two series indicates an increase in the correlation after the QQQ move. However, the implied volatilities time series are clearly positively skewed; even though, the fat tails exhibited prior to the move of QQQ almost disappear after the move, represented by the kurtosis decreasing close to zero after the move.\n5 Conclusion: In this study we use the non-parametric tools of spectral analysis to examine the behavior of QQQ option markets at the time of the QQQ move from AMEX to NASDAQ on December 1, 2004, which has diminished fragmentation and increased market trading efficiency in the trading of this ETF. We address the question - considering the improvement in market trading efficiency around the time of the QQQ move, did the relation between speculative demand for options and hedging demand for options change at the time of the QQQ move. We find that indeed the relation between speculative demand and hedging demand for options exists and strengthens following the time of this event and that hedging activities follow speculation. The fact that relation exists is economically meaningful since this is established for the first time empirically. The only other suggestion of such relation is theoretical and established by Goldstein et al. (2013).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In this study, the author aims to examine the behavior of QQQ options at the time of the QQQ move from AMEX to NASDAQ on December 1, 2004. The author addresses the questions: is there a relation between hedging and speculation, if such a relation exists considering the improvement in market trading efficiency after the QQQ move did the relation between speculative demand for options and hedging demand for options strengthen at the time of the QQQ move, if such a relation exists does hedging activity follow speculative activity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author uses the fact that deep-out-of-the-money puts are used for hedging, whereas deep-out-of-the-money calls are used for speculation. The author uses spectral analysis on QQQ options in the attempt to answer the research question. The author uses spectral analysis because the data in the study are non-normally distributed which would make parametric testing meaningless.\nFindings: The author finds that indeed the relation between speculative demand and hedging demand for options exists and strengthens after the consolidation of trading on NASDAQ and that hedging follows speculation. The fact that this relation exists is economically meaningful in that this is established for the first time empirically in support of the theoretical models predicting this relation's existence.\nOriginality/value: Market participants on both the speculation side of the investment spectrum, such as hedge funds, and hedging side of the investment spectrum, such as mutual funds and money managers, would be interested in this topic and the findings of this paper. The main contribution of this study is in examining the relation between differential demand for options by using the non-parametric tools of spectral analysis. This helps extend the understanding of exchange traded funds' (ETF') option behavior and contributes to this strand of the ETF literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Causes of slope instability in the Himalayas
|
[
"Landslides",
"Disasters",
"Hazards",
"Risk management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction:: Landslides (mass wasting) are an integral part of the process of cyclic development of landforms though sequential development of slopes. It is well known that mass movements and slope failures owe their existence to several attributes that directly or indirectly cause slope instability most of which (if not all) are either man-made or man accelerated. Thus, most of the disasters are natural events aggravated by undue human intervention.In every slope gravity induced shear stresses exist which increase with the slope height, slope inclination, and unit weight of the slope forming materials. Shearing stresses are also added, particularly in the surface zone, because of thermal expansion and contraction, freezing-thawing action and a host of other factors. Under normal conditions, the shear stress along the slope is in equilibrium with the shear resistance of the slope. But these are often influenced and modified by external and internal factors and as soon as the shear stress along the slope exceeds the shear resistance, landslides and other mass wasting phenomenon set in along the most vulnerable, critical, or the weakest surface and the slope is modified to new values of equilibrium. (Zaruba and Mencl, 1982) (see Figure 1).Landslides occur when:* The slope or the angle of repose is increased such that mg sinth is increased (due to the increase in th), e.g. by road cutting, mining and excavation works, etc.* The pore pressure of water is increased and the soil is saturated by building up of canals, reservoirs, drainage failure, etc.* The load on the slope (rock/earth material) is increased, e.g. by construction activities, etc., so that the value of mg sinth is increased (due to increase in mass-m)* The frictional force m acting against mg sinth is reduced due to lubrication by water, drainage failure, devegetating of slopes etc.* When the rocks and soil layers are weakened and their cohesive forces compactness is reduced, e.g. by blasting of rocks by dynamite, by mining and excavation, by tunneling and building up of sewer lines, by deforestation, devegetation (see Table I).Factors that are more or less long lasting and inherent in the constituent rock and the soil can be called the primary causes of failure. The basic factor is the force of gravity. There are also many other factors like: rock and soil type and strength, rock structure (folding, faulting jointing, foliation, bedding, etc.) soil depth, porosity and permeability.The factors that are either variable or very short lived can be called the secondary causes or triggers. They are seismicity, intensity of precipitation, land use, natural slope conditions, rock and soil weathering conditions, presence or absence of gullies, streams and rivers, ground surface temperature and its variations and ground water conditions.A brief description of landslide causing factors is presented below.\nGeological factors: Lithology\nWeathering: Mechanical and chemical weathering changes the strength parameters of the rock and soil considerably. In many landslide events, chemical alterations, such as hydration and ion exchange in day thought to have contributed to triggering of landslides (Zaruba and Mencl, 1982). Chemical weathering in rocks along the discontinuities may reach tens of meters below the surface and thus weaken the rocks considerably. Himalayan rocks, especially in the warm-temperate and subtropical climatic zones, are usually deeply weathered (see Table II).\nGeotechnical properties of the soil: The geotechnical properties of the soil including both physical and chemical characteristics besides texture and chemical composition are the main factors contributing to soil slope failures. Soil composition, depth, shear strength (which depends on density, cohesion, plasticity, dilatancy and the angle of internal friction), porosity, permeability, grading, packing, moisture content and organic material content are some of the important geotechnical parameters for soil study. Genetically, the soils on the hillslopes of the Himalayas can be classified in to colluvium, alluvial and residual soils. All these types of soil are often silty gravel and occasionally clayey silt. Debris slides are observed in coarse grained soils with steeper slopes (35deg to 45deg) and rotational slides are characteristic of fine grained and thick soils with gentler slopes (less than 35deg)\nNatural slopes: Change in slope gradient is one of the principal factors causing landslides. The change may be caused by natural processes such as the rising of mountains due to tectonic forces, river under cutting of the toe of a slope, or bank scouring by debris flows. Change may also be caused by excavation, blasting, cultivation or removal of material from the slope. An increase in the slope gradient produces a change in the internal stress of the rock or soil mass, and equilibrium conditions are disturbed by an increase in shear stress (Zaruba and Mencl, 1982). Similarly, change in the slope height due to tectonic forces or human activity leads to an increase in shear stress and the formation of cracks along the weak zones which may be saturated with water, thereby causing the failure. Relative relief also plays an important role in landsliding. From past researches (Gao, 1995), it has been found that most landslides occur at elevation of 400-500 meter (and more relative relief) and on slope inclination of 35-45deg.\nVegetation: Vegetation plays a vital role in slope stability and the soil erosion process. Rainfall erosivity increases during the monsoon, as does the ability of vegetation to protect the topsoil through increased growth rate, consequently reducing the surface erosion rate as the monsoon progresses. However, mass wasting probably increases during the monsoon because the sub soil becomes saturated with moisture (Galay, 1987). Generally, the vegetation cover increases the shear strength of the soil with its root network through mechanical reinforcement, anchoring and compaction; drying effect through absorption of some of the ground water, dewatering (by evapo-transpiration) etc. However, if the landslide is deeper than the penetration depth of the roots, the vegetation cannot stabilize the slope (see Table III) (Greenway (1987)).Overall we can say that vegetation has a high positive correlation with slope stability (see Figure 2).\nGround water: Flowing ground water exerts pressures on soil particles thus impairing the slope stability. Abrupt changes in the water level, as might occur in reservoirs cause the pore water pressure on slopes to increase and this, in turn, may lead to the liquefaction of sandy soils. Ground water can wash out soluble cementing substances and thus weaken the inter-granular bonds and reduce the mechanical strength of the ground. Flowing groundwater flushes out fine particles in fine sand and silt and the strength of the slope in reduce by the cavities formed in the process (Zaruba and Mencl, 1982).Perched groundwater exerts upthrust on overlying beds. The most important aspect of pore water pressure on rock and soil is that it reduces the normal stress but does not affect the shear stress of the material. According to Takagi and Murai (1991) most landslides occur of groundwater level 3-6 m.\nLand surface temperature: Variations and extremes of land surface temperature greatly influence slope stability. Variations in land surface temperature lead to thermal weathering (by alternate expansion and contraction of rock and soils) hence lead to weakening of rocks. Freeze and thaw action is also controlled by land surface temperature. According to Shikada et al. (1994), most landslide areas have land surface temperatures between 24-26degC.\nCloud bursts and precipitation: Rainfall is one of the main factors controlling the frequency of landslides. The magnitude of the influence depends upon climatic conditions, the topography of the area, the geological characteristics of the slope, and the porosity and permeability of the rocks and soils. The variation in soil depth and the nature, density and frequency of discontinuities on the rock may also play their roles. Rainfall thresholds for triggering (initiating) landslides therefore vary regionally depending upon climate and geology of the region. The slope instability evidences of Central Himalaya reveal that most of major mass movements have taken place during the monsoon season. Rainfall measurements have shown that recurrent slope movements occur during periods of exceptionally high rainfall. Reactivation of old Himalaya landslides invariably takes place following heavy or prolonged rains and cloud bursts. The scientific cause behind this mystery seems to be the increase in pore water pressure on soils(and consequent rise of water load during the monsoon period) and consequent decrease in shear strength due to rains, i.e. S=C + (p-u) tan th; (S=Shear strength, C=cohesion, th=angle of internal friction, p=normal stress on the slip plane and u=pore water pressure on the slip plane) (see Figure 1). Actually the piezometric pressure across the critical surface determines the stability. The clayey and marly materials shrink during dry spell, but swell under moist conditions and this increase volume and overall weight creates situation conducive to mass movements including earth flows. Rain and meltwater pressure penetrate joints and produce hydrostatic stress in rocks. In the higher Himalaya zone, the water freezing in the fractures and discontinuities increase in volume and hence tends to widen them. As a result the rock becomes weak and vulnerable to sliding.There seems to be a relationship between event coefficient and landsliding. Event Coefficient (Ce)=Precipitation record of the event/mean annual precipitation. The 'Cloud Bursts' of intensities exceeding 1,000 mm in 24 hours (Ce > 0.2) trigger mass movements practically in any circumstances, and for 0.1 < Ce < 0.2, probability of mass movement is pretty high. For Ce < 0.1 a biunivocal relationship between rain and slides does not seem to exist. In Japan, rainfall from 150-200 mm, with an intensity exceeding 20-30 mm per hour, in considered to be critical. In the western Alps and their fore hills, the most frequent critical rainfall is 100-200 mm/day. (Cotecchia, 1978). Li (1990, p. 27), found that when cumulative precipitation in NNW of Chengdu region of China exceeds 250 mm in two days, with an average intensity of more than 8 mm/hour in one day, the number of large landslides increased abruptly. Here cumulative precipitation of 50-100 mm in one day was found to be enough to trigger small scale shallow landslides.\nEarthquakes: Earthquake induced first time landslides are few but earthquake triggered landslides are many. In a great majority of cases, landslides take place with the earthquake shock, and a few of them also occur hours and days after the shock. Landslides get triggered when the limiting thresholds for slope failure get crossed. An earthquake above M ~ 4 is enough for the reactivation of most landslides (see Table IV) (Keefer, 1984).Keefer (1984) believed that the extent of area within which landsliding is generated tends to increase with shock magnitude, from less then 100 km2 at magnitude 4, to about 500,000 km2 at magnitude of 9.2; the influence zone gets modified by external factors such as ridges, convex hills and escarpments.Ground shaking, caused by earthquakes, large scale explosions, vibration of the tress by strong wind and mechanical vibrations affect slope equilibrium on account of the temporary changes of stress caused by oscillations of different frequencies. In water saturated fine send and sensitive clays, the displacement and rotation of grains can result in sudden liquefaction of the soil. Movements of earth crust are accompanied by major deformations of the ground surface and destruction of mountain slopes. (Zaruba and Mencl, 1982).Oldham(1899), provided a very simple model to explain earthquake triggered landslides. He considered a section of a simple slope, covered by a soil mass which derived its stability through friction between itself and the underlying rock. When the underlying rock is set into motion by the shock waves of an earthquake, the surficial portion of rock will, at one period of the shock or the other, acquire outward motion. This motion will get communicated to the soil cap. In the next semi phase of the wave, the movement of the surface of the rock will be inwards, but the inertia of the over tying soil cap will prevent the soil cap to respond instantly, and the consequence would be more or less complete loss of pressure of the soil cap on the rock. Oldham said \"this reduction of pressure means a reduction of friction which alone prevent the soil cap from sliding bodily down the hill, and so landslip is formed, where the reduction of resistance, and the slope of the hill, are sufficient to allow of it\". That is how the threshold for slope failure is crossed, and a landslide follows:The earthquake releases a considerable amount of strain energy which adds or lot to the shear stress in a slope instability mechanism. The amount of energy released depends on the magnitude of the earthquake and increase logarithmically with increase magnitude. One scale variation in earthquake magnitude means 31.6 times variation in energy released. In the 1950 Assam earthquake energy equivalent to more than 100 million tons of TNT (100 times greater than energy released by the Hiroshima atoms bomb) was released causing hundreds of landslides over 15,000 km2 area and involving an estimated total displacement of 50 billion m3 material.It is well established that earthquakes of equal magnitude differ in their ultimate effect, because of the difference in the focal depths and the natural site conditions, including surface structure.The Himalaya are geodynamically very active, sensitive and vulnerable to earthquake induced landslides as the Himalaya is located in the moderate (M6) to great (M-8) seismic zone.\nAnthropogenetic factors: Road and construction activities\nConclusion: Thus as we know, the basic causes behind landslides we can reduce and mitigate the landslide disasters by minimizing (or removing) these human factors responsible for slope failures. The impact of landslides are reduced considerably if the hazard prone zones are identified and marked by proper surveying and research, and such areas can be avoided or any such landuse can be permitted which does not promote slope instability or in such areas preventive and precautionary measures can be adopted so that slopes are stabilized.Besides a system of prediction of both long and short term and warning needs to be developed and adopted in such landslide prone areas. Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland provide an excellent example in this regard.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to attempt to generate a better, systematic and scientific understanding of the basic reasons behind slope instability to help in developing the basic principles of landslide hazard zonation, monitoring and forecasting of landslide hazards for better and more effective landslide hazard mitigation and management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study is based on extensive field observations and intensive reviews of literature from secondary sources.\nFindings: - Mass movements especially landslides as they are known to common man are a recurring natural phenomenon and are an integral part of any geological/geomorphological circle of landform development through sequential development of slopes in any elevated region and especially in young fold mountain chains.\nPractical implications: - The paper presents a valuable insight into the basic reasons behind a landslide to spread awareness, to educate and sensitize people towards better and effective landslide hazard mitigation and thereby ensure people's participation in disaster management. It also aims to initiate and encourage research in the field of landslide management.\nOriginality/value: - Landslides occur frequently and without any appreciable warning as such causing havoc and often insurmountable damage to life and property but despite their uncertainty, their causative factors and indicators of slope instability are very well known to an extent that the magnitude of these events, susceptible areas, the timing of such events and their potential impact can be studied, analyzed and evaluated on the basis of past occurrences and existing knowledge to mitigate their impact. The real value of the present study is to minimize losses due to landslides through better knowledge and enhanced levels of understanding of the phenomenon and its management by simply avoiding those particular reasons that could lead to slope instability problems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Faking it or feeling it: The emotional displays of surface and deep acting on stress and engagement
|
[
"Stress",
"Emotional labor",
"Surface acting",
"Deep acting",
"Engagement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To create a strong service-oriented organizational culture, service organizations often have strict emotional display rules, which are explicit norms and expectations of emotional displays by service employees that are defined by the organization (Gosserand and Diefendorff, 2005). Employees in service organizations often engage in emotional labor when interacting with customers (Li and Liang, 2015) because emotional labor is the regulation of feelings and emotional expressions to support the display rules promoted by an organization (Grandey, 2000). Emotional labor is fundamental to achieving a strong service-oriented organizational culture but can weigh heavily on employees.\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: Emotional labor strategies\nStudy 1 methods: Sample and procedure\nStudy 1 results: Psychometric analyses\nStudy 2 methods: Sample and procedure\nStudy 2 results: Psychometric analyses\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\nConclusion: Using two studies, the current paper shows the effect of deep and surface acting on engagement is through two different emotional displays and their stress levels. Display rules in the hospitality industry require the expression of positive emotions and employees can achieve this goal through either deep (via expressing genuine positive emotions) or surface acting (via suppressing negative emotions). Surface acting is positively related to stress, whereas deep acting is negatively related to stress. Thus, deep acting and surface acting and their corresponding emotional displays influence engagement via stress. These results provide a better understanding of how employees use emotional labor with their coworkers and provide implications for how service organizations can manage employees' use of emotional labor to positively influence engagement.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how emotional labor strategies (deep and surface acting) impact engagement through stress via two different emotional displays (suppressing negative emotions and expressing positive emotions) in coworker-to-coworker relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used psychological and temporal separation techniques to survey hotel managers (Study 1) and hospitality students with frontline service jobs (Study 2).\nFindings: Across both samples, the results showed that surface acting was related to suppressing negative emotions, which was positively related to stress, deep acting was related to expressing positive emotions, which was negatively related to stress, and stress was negatively related to engagement, suggesting that emotional labor affects engagement through either deep acting or surface acting and their related emotional displays.\nPractical implications: The results show that hospitality employees either genuinely express positive emotions as a strategy to deep act or suppress negative emotions as a strategy to surface act with coworkers. Both emotional displays were related to engagement, suggesting that employers should alter expectations for emotional displays among coworkers and train employees how to manage their emotions to have a positive impact on engagement.\nOriginality/value: The unique contribution of the current paper is showing how emotional labor is related to engagement in the context of coworker-to-coworker emotional labor, which is rarely found in customer-based emotional labor. The results also provide a better understanding of how surface and deep acting are used in a hospitality context, because the measures of surface and deep acting usually focus on broad emotions rather than discrete emotions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Green supply chain management and organizational performance
|
[
"Green supply chain management",
"Electronics industry",
"Small and medium enterprises",
"Business performance",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Supply chain management",
"Republic of Korea"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Globalization has changed not only the range of potential competitors but also the possible horizon of expansion and organizational structures. Krueger (1998) argued for the following benefits of globalization:* contractors in developing countries may gain more knowledge from the interactions with their foreign buying firms and as a result attain higher productivity; and* exporters benefit from trade liberalization by achieving higher levels of efficiency more rapidly and economies of scale which are limited in protected nations.In the past couple of decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) began to accept the necessity of environmental management and started to implement environmental management programs to compete in the global market.In the resource dependence perspective, establishing inter-organizational collaboration is essential to gain competitiveness, especially as risks in firms' global supply chains have been amplified and relying solely on internal resources is not sufficient to compete with other global firms (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). As a matter of fact, while making major efforts in greening their supply chains to maintain competitiveness in the global market, MNEs have paid less attention to their upstream members in the supply chain (Lee and Klassen, 2008; Lee, 2009). One of the major reasons that focal firms should be interested in supply management is that it is still the firms' responsibility to the public even if incidents occur in the upstream of the firms' supply chains. Some of the best known cases are: Mattel's Fisher-Price recalled over 10 million lead-painted toys (Burke, 2007), McDonald's fiasco with 12 million drinking glass gift sets (Pepitone, 2010), and 1.3 million Sony PlayStations seized by The Netherlands Government because of excessive cadmium detected from the game consoles (Franklin, 2004; Carlton, 2006). Many studies argue that the main reason that suppliers cause such problems is because they are mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which often lack human resources with expertise on Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive compliance, as well as financial resources to initiate expensive environmental management systems (EMSs) such as ISO 14001 (Lee, 2009).In the supplier firms' perspective, the current situation could create potential business opportunities. Supplier firms that have already implemented EMSs are in a better position to win more business from large customer firms. Many buying firms are demanding that their suppliers implement green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and fulfill even additional environmental requirements (Jabbour and Jabbour, 2009; Lee, 2009). On the other hand, because large manufacturers have been adopting environmental audit programs to better control their vendors, these suppliers have been able to keep and extend their current contracts (Lee, 2009). In fact, suppliers will be hard pressed to find any business opportunities elsewhere without initiating GSCM practices (Nishitani, 2010).This study focuses on GSCM practice of SMEs in the electronics industry. We aim to explore the direct and indirect paths of related factors between the implementation of GSCM practices and the firm's business performance outcome. The results of statistical analyses of the collected data from operations managers will enrich this research on GSCM. Furthermore, the results of this research will provide new insights to SMEs, which are planning or currently implementing GSCM practices, toward enhancing their green operations for better performance outcomes.This paper is organized as follows. Second section provides background of the study. It describes the fast changing environment in which firms compete and the characteristics of SMEs. In Third section, we develop hypotheses based on previous studies. Fourth section describes research methods including data collection and test of hypotheses. Fifth section presents the results and sixth section discusses the findings of the study.\nLiterature review: RDT and organizational performance\nHypotheses development: Figure 1 outlines the theoretical model that guides this research. We propose a mediated model where implementation of GSCM practices has a positive influence on the firm's business performance (BP) directly and through firm's operational efficiency (OE), relational efficiency (RE), and employee job satisfaction (SAT). Definitions of the constructs employed in this study are provided in Table I.Implementation of GSCM practices and business performance\nResearch methodology: Questionnaire development\nResults: Responding firms' characteristics\nHypotheses testing: Direct effects\nConclusion: Implications of the study\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to explore green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and their relationship with organizational performance. More specifically, this research explores the effect of GSCM efforts and other organizational factors on firm performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that serve as suppliers to large customer firms in the electronics industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study developed a research model relating GSCM practice and business performance through three organizational variables (employee satisfaction, operational efficiency, and relational efficiency) as moderators. Statistical analyses were based on the data collected, through survey questionnaires, from 223 SMEs in the electronics industry in Korea. Reliability, validity, and goodness-of-fit of the research model were tested by the widely accepted statistical tools. To test the hypotheses relating GSCM practice implementation and business performance, structural equation modeling was used.\nFindings: - The most anticipated finding of the study was a direct link between GSCM practice implementation and business performance. However, no statistical significance was found. Instead, significant indirect relationships were found between GSCM practice implementation and business performance through mediating variables of operational efficiency and relational efficiency. This result indicates that business performance will be improved when GSCM enhances operational efficiency and operational efficiency.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Research on GSCM is still at the early stage. Further refinement of the questionnaire is needed. Generalizability of the findings is also limited because of data collected from electronics firms in Korean. This study shed several important insights. The findings of this study are generally consistent with prior studies in other parts of the world. SMEs in the Korean electronics industry believe that GSCM practices help generate new opportunities to attract clients in addition to complying with the buyer firms' demand. It was also found that implementation of GSCM practices help improve operational and relational efficiencies of supplier firms.\nOriginality/value: - Few empirical studies have been done in GSCM based on the conceptual footing of resource dependence theory. Also, this study was conducted from the supplier's perspective in examining the weaknesses of SME suppliers. Thus, the authors emphasize the importance of support from large buying firms for improving SME suppliers' green management capabilities.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Small business owners: too busy to train?
|
[
"Small enterprises",
"Training",
"Human resource management",
"Skills",
"Adult education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Poor managerial competencies have often been linked to small business failure (Gaskill et al., 1993; Jennings and Beaver, 1997; Perry, 2001). However small business[1] is vital to all economies and within the Australian context, small business represents a significant employer of labour as well as providing employment for the owners of the business. Of the 1,179,300 small businesses in Australia, an estimated 1,591,500 people were business operators (ABS, 2004). Consequently, small enterprises represent a significant component of the private sector workforce in Australia.It is also acknowledged that small business owner-managers, compared to owner-managers of larger businesses, have lower formal education levels and participate less in skills development and training activities (Bartram, 2005; Billett, 2001) and that there is a lack of emphasis on the relationship between successful business operation and management training (Billett, 2001; Westhead and Storey, 1996; Wooden and Baker, 1995). An educated and skilled labour force is considered to be essential to the success and growth of small business and for businesses to gain some competitive advantage in the global economy (Cosh et al., 1998; Huang, 2001). The influence of the human resource capabilities of the small business owner-manager is therefore critical in this process.Recently, Hiltrop (2005, p. 122) has asserted that a number of studies have provided growing evidence that \"indicate overwhelmingly that good management fosters organisational success, whereas less effective people management practices foster failure and distress.\" A key to gaining small business interest in training per se may be to establish sufficient evidence of the relationship between participating in training, increased people management skills and improved business performance. Hiltrop (2005) has suggested that the level of business performance achieved will be directly related to the extent that the owner-manager is able to implement the management practices required to manage people and their contribution to the success of the organisation. Therefore, the better skilled owner-managers are at human resource management, the better potential they will have to contribute to the success of their business.Whereas it could be assumed that all small business owner-managers want their businesses to be successful and strive towards that goal on a daily basis, the reality is that many small business owner-managers are poorly equipped to deal with the continual and relentless issues that face business today. Indeed many small business owner-managers have few managerial competencies when they start their businesses and do not actively seek opportunities to further develop their managerial skills (Webster et al., 2005).To facilitate greater participation by owner-managers in training activities Ehrich and Billett (2004) have recommended the development of pedagogic principles that are suited to the changing skills development needs of small businesses. Of particular interest to the business owner-manager will be the impact that training will have on the business, not just in terms of the bottom-line, but also for its relevance and application to day-to-day operations. Storey (2004) and Westhead and Storey (1996) have also highlighted that there is not enough emphasis placed on the link between management training of small business owner-managers and business performance. This is despite owner-managers recognising the importance of developing and maintaining management skills (Loan-Clarke et al., 1999; Smith and Whittaker, 1996).\nLiterature review: While it has been found that small business owner-managers are reluctant to participate in formal training and development, they do acknowledge that human resource management is important to their businesses (Webster et al., 2005). Unfortunately, there are few empirical studies on the relationship between small businesses and human resource management practices. One of the challenges facing small and medium enterprise (SME) researchers according to Mazzarol (2004, p. 1) is that \"the majority of small firms are led by owner-managers who are strategically myopic\" and \"lack the long term vision that is required for owner managers to identify the future direction of their business\". It is therefore important to know why many small business owner-managers do not embrace lifelong learning for their business and personal development.Current training practices of small businesses\nMethodology: Aim\nResults and discussion: Before the program\nConclusion: The key finding of the research was that given certain conditions and business requirements, small business owner-managers are not too busy to train. Two factors appear to influence the small business owner-managers' attitudes toward training and development, which are the relevance of the training and the delivery process. Small business owner-managers will participate in training opportunities if they are directly applicable to current situations in their business, and if the delivery process is carefully structured in terms of location, time of day, and length of session. This confirms the work by Loan-Clarke et al.(1999, p. 306) who after surveying 551 UK small businesses and found that \"small businesses not only recognise the potential benefits of MTD [management training and development] but are prepared to support their belief with cash\".If there is a down side to this particular type of skills development training for small businesses, it is that the process was found to be most often an operational rather than a strategic decision by the owner-managers to become involved. This confirms existing research that small business by nature does not have long term strategic plans in place to manage their resources.To enhance participation in training by small business it is suggested that the location of the training venue needs to be in close proximity to the businesses operating base, as travelling long distances inevitably takes precious time away from the business. In addition, the time of day is also important. Business owner-managers are unwilling to participate in training if it removes them from their business during the busy periods in their day. This recognition was a factor in structuring the sessions over a fortnightly period. This structure was designed to limit the amount of time the owner-managers were required to commit to participate in the training, and also provided important opportunities for participants to put the knowledge gained during each session into practice. They were then able to come to the following session with any questions or feedback. This structure was integral to the quality of the learning process, especially for adult learners and when providing for the many small businesses who are resource poor.It is acknowledged that this particular delivery method is neither new nor revolutionary and is in fact what advocates of just-in-time training for small business have been arguing for. However, the Vocational Educational and Training sector in Australia has been slow to pick up on this and therefore it is hoped that this piece of research adds more evidence to the just-in-time delivery argument. The fact that 80 small businesses completed this program, demonstrates that there is willingness on the part of small business owner-managers to learn and to implement new ways of managing business, so long as certain conditions exist.In relation to the actual content of this particular program, the initial findings were that these small business owner-managers had recognised that they had little knowledge of human resource issues prior to the training. They initially expressed a strong need to learn more about recruiting, retaining and dismissing staff using correct procedures. However, following the workshops, all participants acknowledged that they felt more competent and informed about human resource issues, particularly in recruitment and selection, retaining good staff, legal requirements and procedures, job advertisements, motivating employees and developing vision statements for their small business. These results highlight the need for small business owners and their staff to recognise their human resource training needs, and to have a broader understanding of the importance of their training and development needs.This paper provides much needed evidence of the capacity of appropriate training to provide positive outcomes for small business, in this instance in relation to human resource management. The next stage, currently being undertaken, is a longitudinal study on this particular cohort, to determine whether any longer term behavioural changes on the part of owner-managers who participate in human resource training occur and whether or not this type of training is able to assist small businesses in regard to operational performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The reason often cited for the poor relationship between small businesses and their uptake of vocational education and training is that small business owner-managers claim that they are too busy to engage in training or any type of learning activity and that most training is of little value to them. The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between these factors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using qualitative research methods the study collected data of the knowledge, attitudes and needs of small business owner-managers, both before and after participation in a training program.\nFindings: - This study has indicated that small business owners are interested in skills development and training opportunities, provided that they are directly applicable to the current situation in their business, and as long as the delivery process is carefully structured in terms of location, time of day, and length of session.\nPractical implications: - The success of a human resource management training program offers both an incentive for other educators to continue to pursue small business participation and useful guidelines for the implementation and the development of new programs for the small business sector.\nOriginality/value: - The approach taken in this research has offered important insights into the value of training and how it is evaluated by small business owner-managers. This is important as owner managers are the primary decision makers about whether or not training takes place.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A multi-level study of servant leadership on creativity: The roles of self-efficacy and power distance
|
[
"Creative self-efficacy",
"Employee creativity",
"Servant leadership",
"Team creativity",
"Team efficacy",
"Team power distance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Given the important role of leaders in the workplace, leadership has been widely treated as a substantial factor that affect employee and team creativity (Shin and Zhou, 2007; Liden et al., 2014). Recently, servant leadership has presented its theoretical significance and the potential substantial influence on employee and team creativity (Neubert et al., 2008; Liden et al., 2014; Yoshida et al., 2014). This leadership reflects the focus of leaders on helping followers and striving to bring out the followers' full potential (Liden et al., 2015). Servant leadership is theoretically distinct from transformational leadership, which moves \"the follower beyond immediate self-interests through idealized influence\" (Demir, 2008, p. 95), while some scholars argued that these two leadership styles share some conceptual similarities (Yoshida et al., 2014). Although the literature provides rich evidence supporting the role of servant leadership on creativity, Liden et al. (2014) argued that exploring the mediating mechanisms in \"the relation between servant leadership and individual and group outcomes\" is significant and necessary (p. 1448).\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 Servant leadership, employee creativity, and team creativity\n3. Methods: 3.1 Sample and procedures\n4. Results: 4.1 Confirmatory factor analyses\n5. Discussion: By utilizing the efficacy theory (Bandura, 1995), the present study aimed to examine how servant leadership affects employee creativity and team creativity through various mediating effects. At the individual level, we found that the relationship between servant leadership and employee creativity can be partially mediated by employee creative self-efficacy. Meanwhile, at the team level, the relationship between servant leadership and team creativity can be partially mediated by team efficacy. These findings provide empirical evidence for the argument of Liden et al. (2014) that other mediating mechanisms should exist in \"the relation between servant leadership and individual and group outcomes.\"\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the influencing mechanism of servant leadership on employee and team creativity based on efficacy theory. Specifically, the study intends to develop a model of efficacy beliefs that mediates the relationships between servant leadership, employee creativity, and team creativity at different levels. The study also aims to investigate the moderating effects of team power distance on the relationships between servant leadership, creative self-efficacy, and team efficacy at both individual and team levels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Servant leadership, employee creativity, creative self-efficacy, team creativity, team efficacy, and team power distance were assessed in an empirical study based on a sample of 466 employees and 83 team leaders from 11 banks in China.\nFindings: From efficacy theory perspective, this paper finds that servant leadership promotes employee creative self-efficacy and team efficacy, which enables the simultaneous promotion of employee creativity and team creativity. Team power distance also moderates the relationship between servant leadership and team efficacy.\nPractical implications: The results suggest that it is important to encourage managers to engage in servant leader behaviors, which is conductive to enhancing employees' self-efficacy beliefs and thereby improving creative outcomes of employees. The results are also helpful for managers to enhance their understanding of the differences in cultural values in management behavior and the effects of behavior on team efficacy.\nOriginality/value: The research findings provide a significant contribution to the literature in that it shows self-efficacy as a crucial mediating mechanism through which servant leadership influences creativity at individual and team levels. Moreover, the findings support the view that power distance is an important contextual factor that affects the influencing mechanism of servant leadership on team creativity. Furthermore, this paper is one of the few studies answering the call to examine the effect of leadership at multiple levels.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Fintech: research directions to explore the digital transformation of financial service systems
|
[
"Text mining",
"Digital transformation",
"Fintech",
"Financial service systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 significantly decreased customer trust in financial services, and helped spark the growth of financial technology or \"Fintech\" ventures (Muzellec et al., 2015). Fintech offerings challenge the status quo of mainstream banking (Zhang et al., 2016), and range from peer-to-peer (P2P) lending (Pena et al., 2018) to cryptocurrencies (Nakamoto, 2008), or applications of blockchain technology that omit intermediaries in financial service processes (Nofer et al., 2017), and represent a $5bn market in the USA alone (Zavolokina et al., 2016).\n2. Conceptualizing Fintech as an emerging context for service science: Finance and technology evolved together for decades (Arner et al., 2016). Starting in the 1950s, ATMs were introduced to replace human tellers and enabled customer self-service in banking. Credit and EFTPOS cards eventually aimed to eliminate the need to carry cash, while pervasive internet connectivity in the late 1990s led to 24/7 online banking, thus rendering visits to physical branches obsolete for many customers. At the same time, computational risk management, big data analytics or electronic stock trading were introduced to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of service operations (Mackenzie, 2015).\n3. Methodology: Use-inspired research philosophy\n4. Analytical framework and research directions: We now delineate an analytical framework to theoretically underpin and structure our RDs, and to highlight the link between empirical data (i.e. managerial challenges pertaining to Fintech), and the extant literature. Specifically, our framework integrates prior work associated with technology-enabled service (Breidbach et al., 2018), the role of individual actors in service exchanges (Storbacka et al., 2016) and the microfoundations of value co-creation (Barro, 1993; Conduit and Chen, 2017; Kleinaltenkamp et al., 2017), thus culminating in three complementary perspectives and level of abstraction (see Figure 2).\n5. Conclusions: Fintech represents an emerging area of interest for service science. However, the disciplinary silos, ambiguous definitions, a-theoretical work and disconnect between current academic research associated with Fintech and managerial practice resulted in a knowledge vacuum. Though challenging, we see this situation as a unique opportunity for service research to contribute to the societal understanding of a truly disruptive technological phenomenon, while also advancing theoretical knowledge in our discipline. This present work aimed to address the unique challenge of stimulating theoretically and managerially relevant research by adopting a use-inspired research philosophy. As such, we perceive our study not as an end, but rather as a starting point toward a novel line of inquiry that advances knowledge about Fintech and the digital transformation of financial service systems in service research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to delineate a research agenda to guide future service research investigating the digital transformation of financial service systems through Fintech - disruptive innovations by new market entrants that challenge the position of mainstream financial institutions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Rooted in the philosophical foundations of \"use-inspired research,\" this paper addresses the managerially and societally relevant phenomenon of Fintech by identifying, and responding to, the individual challenges and problems associated with the digital transformation of financial services. This is accomplished through a computational text-mining approach to analyze the corpus of 1,545 published practitioner articles associated with Fintech, identification of managerial challenges therein and subsequent delineation of a novel research agenda.\nFindings: By connecting managerial challenges relating to Fintech with the service literature, this paper develops a use-inspired research agenda that provides scholarly and managerially relevant research directions (RDs). These pertain to the complexity of digital financial service systems (micro level), orchestration of value co-creation with Fintech (meso level), and the development of elastic infrastructures, models and markets (macro level).\nResearch limitations/implications: Fintech is an emerging phenomenon associated with the digital transformation of financial services. However, actual guidelines on how service research related to Fintech could be advanced from a theoretically as well as managerially relevant angle are unavailable to date. Here, the authors address this challenge and provide the field with 18 tangible RDs to advance service theory and practice.\nPractical implications: The purpose of this paper is to guide future academic research addressing managerial challenges associated with Fintech and the digital transformation of financial service. Due to the explicit use-inspired nature of the work, the future research stemming from the agenda that the authors put forward here will be of benefit to decision makers and society more broadly.\nOriginality/value: This empirical research contributes to the discourse regarding the role of information and communication technologies in service in general, and the digital transformation on financial services in particular. The in-depth computational text-mining analysis is unbiased, replicable and provides the foundation for a use-inspired research agenda that is subsequently delineated.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Predicting wine preference: testing the premises of the vinotype theory
|
[
"Purchasing",
"Wines",
"Regression",
"Consumers",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Alcoholic drinks",
"Survey research",
"Catering industry",
"Phenotype/Vinotype"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Considering that US consumers have a \"galaxy of choices\" (Veseth, 2013) when it comes to wine and that retail stores may carry more than 800 unique varieties of wine (Howard et al., 2012), it is no surprise that many consumers are bewildered and confused when making a purchase decision. In the restaurants, the number of choices is typically more limited, but the purported need to make the ideal wine and food match (Beckett, 2014; Arnone and Simonetti-Bryan, 2013; Pettigrew and Charters, 2006) increases the perceived risk in wine purchase (Lacey et al., 2009) and may increase anticipated regret (Bathae, 2013), thus potentially influencing the purchase. This is aggravated further by the fact that there is no consensus on wine quality across wine experts or between experts and consumers (Hanni, 2013; Gokcekus and Nottebaum, 2011; Hopfer and Heymann, 2014).\nThe Vinotypic approach: While Hanni's (2013) approach is consumer centric, allowing for significant variations in food and beverage preferences across consumers, it is also a systematic and ordered approach. Rather than considering the inherent qualities of specific wines and foods, Hanni (2013) recommends that we recognize consumers' sensory thresholds and taste preferences. This seems to suggest that there is no order in food and wine matching and that every consumer has uniquely different preferences. This is not the case. Hanni's (2013) approach does provide order and structure. Specifically, he takes a phenotypic approach.\nComparing the traditional and the Vinotypic approach: In this paragraph, we compare the traditional approach to wine choice in a meal setting and the vinotypic approach. Goldstein (2006), for example, suggests that Cabernet Sauvignon wines work particularly well with red meats, roasted and charred foods, herbs and mushrooms, given the bold notes, tannins and herbal character of such wines. From his perspective, the body and the tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon wines need fat, protein and ample foods to provide counterbalance. Specifically, he suggests that a mature, complex Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect match for a rib roast. From his perspective, the roast will highlight the wine in that the caramelized glaze and crust will contain sweet, charred elements that will enhance the wine and the wine will be large enough to stand up to the bold and ample meal. The tannins in the wine are expected to harmonize with the flavors of the rub and crust.\nResearch questions: The above-mentioned vinotypic work (Hanni, 2013) suggests that individuals' interaction with their environment over time will place them into one of the four above vinotypes. If this is correct and wine preferences are a result of such interaction, then we should be able to find some associations between individual's consumptive patterns, identified food and beverage preferences and their preferred wines. Specifically, we set out to test whether we can predict individuals' wine preferences based on their reported consumptive patterns and food and beverage liking. Finding such would add fundamental support to Hanni's (2013) vinotypic approach. The following research questions are offered:\nMaterials and methods: Subjects responded to a web-based questionnaire outlining their food and beverage consumptive patterns as well as their food and beverage preferences. Participants were invited to a reception at no charge, although they were required to answer a few questions about their liking of the foods and beverages at the reception. The reception area would contain 12 stations. Each station would offer a wine and the food prepared to be served with the wine.\nResults: Correlational analysis\nConclusions: The four research questions are all answered affirmatively. Support is found for the foundational premises of Tim Hanni's (2013) vinotype theory. Order and structure was found in that subjects' food and beverage consumptive patterns and preferences related to the wines they liked. The subjects' near-past typical food and beverage consumption correlated in meaningful ways with the wines they liked. This confirms RQ1. The consumer-identified like or dislike for specific foods and beverages correlate in meaningful ways with the wines they like. This confirms RQ2. Some of the foods and wines with which the subjects were presented correlated. This confirms RQ3. Finally, the subjects' hedonic response to specific wines and composite wines could be predicted using past food and beverage consumption and current food and beverage preferences. This confirms RQ4.\nLimitations and future research: Hanni's (2013) vinotype was not tested directly, rather research questions were developed and tested based on the premise of his proposed theory. The complete model should be put to the test. Future research needs to assign subjects to vinotypic categories based on Hanni's (2013) approach, and their preferences established as a further test of his approach.\nRecommendations: Restaurateurs and other retailers that sell wine should consider Hanni's (2013) approach and categorize their offerings accordingly. For example, they could develop displays or recommendations that directly target the four vinotypes. Restaurateurs should revisit their wine lists. Wines are traditionally grouped by categories such as region of origin, color, varietal or course - e.g. appetizer. On the other hand, progressive wine lists (The Restaurant Wine List, 2016) organize wine by flavor characteristics and typically lists wine in order of intensity. Such a list could specifically addresses vinotype preferences and help the restaurateur develop a balanced list while assisting the consumer in findings wines they like. Retailers could also develop a wine list of sorts based on progressive principles to help people navigate the store to find wines they like even if the retailer groups wines traditionally. Both restaurateurs and other retailers should train their staff on the approach and find questions to ask consumers to reveal the consumers' wine preferences or vinotype and assist them in recommending wines the consumer would find delicious. In addition, they could have some fun in their establishment by offering vinotype assessments on paper (as in Hanni, 2013) or via electronic device to www.myVinotype.com so that consumers could learn, make choices accordingly and test the choices for match/deliciousness. Finally, restaurateurs and other retailers could offer classes for a fee that emphasize vinotype theory and put it to practical test with wine and food matchings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline Tim Hanni's vinotype theory and to test some of the theories foundational propositions. Specifically, this paper tests whether the wine preferences of novice wine consumers can be predicted using novice consumers' historic and current food and beverage consumption patterns and preferences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample consists of college students at a large Midwest University in the USA with an average age of 21.5 years. Data are collected via focus group (n = 4), a web-based survey (n = 231) and via recorded hedonic responses to food and wines in a controlled lab setting (n = 75). Correlation, regression and factor analyses are performed.\nFindings: The findings support the vinotype theory. Predicted order and structure was found and near-past consumer consumption patterns and preferences predicted the consumer wine preferences of novice wine consumers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The use of a convenience sample of college-student wine drinkers from a single university in Midwestern USA limits the paper. While the paper provides support for the vinotype theory, the results are not generalizable to other countries, regions or populations with a different wine-consumption culture. Additional research is necessary to further test and validate the vinotype theory and model.\nPractical implications: The support for the foundational propositions of the vinotype theory suggests that it is reasonable to consider adopting the vinotypic approach. Businesses that sell wine can have their sales and service staff use the vinotypic approach to assist consumers in selecting wines the consumer will find delicious. This should lead to customer satisfaction and possible repeat sales/visits. Consumers can use the vinotype theory to develop an understanding of which wines they like and the reason for liking such. Researchers should use this foundational support to test the model outright.\nOriginality/value: This is a first academic review of the vinotype theory and a first test of the theory's foundational propositions independent of the theory's author. This paper is important, as it provides some independent support for the vinotype theory. The vinotype theory provides a basis for increased understanding and clarity in the realm of wine choice and preference.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Domiciliary care and migrant domestic workers: grasping the new institutional landscape
|
[
"Gender",
"Migration",
"Domestic work",
"Private sector",
"Care",
"Nongovernmental organization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Considerable attention has been recently paid to migrant women recruited to provide care services in private households. This phenomenon touches upon several issues of social policy that remain largely unresolved. One of them pertains to the organization of unpaid domestic and family labour insofar as working individuals, especially women, experience significant pressures in the articulation of their duties and responsibilities. This problem is amplified by shortages in public care systems. While the situation differs across countries, recent research suggests a common trend in Europe towards the pursuit of private solutions in the market, namely through the recruitment of domiciliary care workers, including under \"live-in\" arrangements. At the same time, the vulnerability of migrant women employed as domestic workers poses an additional set of challenges to policy making. These various sources of concern can be addressed separately, but there is also a growing awareness that they intersect in problematic manners, especially in times of economic downturn as both states and private households are expected to favour cost containment strategies. Demand and supply dynamics thus remain attached to inequality grounded on gender, ethnic, class, or age differentiation.\nResilient challenges, emerging actors: The latest upsurge of paid domestic labour in contemporary western societies is far from surprising by now. Developments in various countries have been widely documented, with a notable emphasis on the recruitment of migrant women to provide domiciliary care under more or less formal arrangements (e.g. Anderson, 2000; Hochschild, 2000; Parrenas, 2001; Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2002; Lutz, 2008; Pfau-Effinger et al., 2009; Pratt, 2009; Abrantes, 2012). Before proceeding, a word on the distinction between domiciliary care and domestic work is required. Importantly, the concept of \"care work\" is task based: it comprises the services that are necessary to the well-being of a dependent individual, typically a child, an elderly, or a frail adult. Such services can be provided either in the care recipient's private residence or in a collective facility, and they can be arranged through the market or by public institutions. Instead, \"domestic work\" is more adequately understood as a context-based concept: it \"is not definable in terms of tasks but in terms of a role which constructs and situates the worker within a certain set of social relationships\" (Anderson, 2000, p. 21). Significant differences exist between domiciliary care and traditional housework such as cleaning and cooking. At the same time, empirical contexts may render this distinction ambiguous or artificial. While many domestic workers are expected to be recruited as either carers or cleaners, others accumulate assignments and find themselves in an overlapping area.\nMethodology: The empirical study was conducted in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, the largest urban agglomeration in Portugal. Case study techniques of data collection and analysis were deemed especially adequate to grasp the dynamic interplay between systemic trends and local contexts and meanings (Yin, 1989; Burawoy, 1998). The following pages draw chiefly from the examination of institutional records (in particular, relevant documents produced by state institutions or the organizations under study) and 25 open-ended interviews with managers of commercial companies and activists of nongovernmental organizations. Interviews conducted during the same research project with domestic workers, private employers, and privileged informants provide useful background contributions.\nCommercial companies: Among the 15 companies examined in detail, four of them provide only domiciliary care, while eight others provide both domiciliary care and domestic cleaning services, and the remaining ones are exclusively devoted to cleaning. All the companies advertise and sell care and cleaning services as distinct products. Still, the line separating tasks - care and housework, eldercare and childcare, or medical and nonmedical care - may be a little bit thicker and clearer in minds than in practice. More often than not, company managers are engaged in a daily struggle to operationalize and consolidate the compartmentalization of services as they entail distinct skills, modes of organization, and costs. The relative youth of the companies reflects the novelty of formally organized entrepreneurship in this sector. At the time of the interviews, their years of activity ranged between one and 15, the average being seven (i.e. created in 2005). Two are aggregated with national or international partner or franchised units, whereas all of the others are micro-enterprises in which one or two of the founding members hold a managerial position.\nNongovernmental organizations: In the same urban area where these companies operate, two distinct initiatives addressing the rights of domestic workers have been recently developed by nongovernmental organizations. Both initiatives are led by immigrant organizations. Although they promote a broader claim to dignify domestic work and encourage the participation of native workers in their activities, the original motivation has been to attend to the particular vulnerabilities of immigrant women in this sector of employment.\nConclusion: This paper builds on the notion that empirical evidence is required to grasp the contribution of commercial companies and nongovernmental organizations to emerging dynamics in paid domestic work. Differently than in other sectors of employment characterized by low wages or little educational requirements, the collective representation of domestic workers and their employers remains minimal. The development of industrial relations is thus hampered by the lack of consolidated actors and institutions which could otherwise promote negotiation at the local or national scale. At this juncture, the organizations examined in the present paper offer a significant and innovative contribution to raise and shape the voice of typically silent actors. More than introducing a radical perspective on the nature or content of domestic work, they are engaged in stimulating a more efficient or sustainable organization of paid labour in private households. To be sure, the exploratory character of this paper leaves much of the regulatory interactions and behavioural patterns in the penumbra. Future research should include a more systematic and detailed scrutiny of the role of organizations, as well as incorporate the political relevance and behaviour of other key institutional actors such as state bodies and the charitable organizations that remain active in the provision of domiciliary care.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper addresses the nexus of domiciliary care demand and vulnerable migrant women recruited as domestic workers, focusing on the role of two types of organizations operating at the meso-level: commercial companies and nongovernmental organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the ways in which these organizations seek to change the dynamics of paid domestic work and explore how they attempt to shape the voice of domestic workers and their employers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An actor-based approach is applied to the metropolitan area of Lisbon, a relevant setting for empirical research given local developments in the realms of care, employment, migration, and public policy. Qualitative case study techniques of data collection and analysis are adopted. The analysis is based on institutional records and open-ended interviews with managers of commercial companies and activists of nongovernmental organizations. Background contributions are drawn from interviews with domestic workers, private employers, and privileged informants.\nFindings: Data from fieldwork demonstrate that the organizations under examination offer a significant and innovative contribution to raise and shape the voice of both paid domestic workers and their employers. More than introducing a radical perspective on the nature or content of domestic work, these organizations are engaged in stimulating a more efficient and sustainable organization of paid care in private households.\nResearch limitations/implications: Given the novelty of the approach, the present analytical endeavour is chiefly exploratory and much of the regulatory interactions and behavioural patterns remains in the penumbra. Suggestions for future research include a more systematic and detailed scrutiny of the role of organizations, as well as the incorporation of other institutional actors such as state bodies and charitable organizations active in this field.\nSocial implications: The findings show that commercial companies and nongovernmental organizations may become increasingly influential in the negotiation of working conditions for domestic workers while they remain highly experimental collective actors. The policy recommendation is to incorporate them as privileged subjects and actors in the public debate about the topical nexus of care crisis and migrant domestic labour. From the standpoint of social policy, the marketization of care provision is still lacking this crucial step: empowering representative bodies and fostering dialogue between them.\nOriginality/value: The original emphasis on a meso-level of analysis and the choice of empirical qualitative examination - against a normative landscape of public regulation at the top and individualized actors down below - furthers the understanding of the topic and paves the way to promising developments in both scholarly research and policy debate.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Extending working lives: age management in SMEs
|
[
"United Kingdom",
"Older workers",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Human resource management",
"Ageing population",
"Age management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper presents a study of age management in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Populations across Europe and elsewhere are ageing (Lisenkova et al., 2010) and in the UK it is projected that by 2035, 23 per cent of the population will be aged 65 or over (Office for National Statistics, 2012b, p. 3). This will have a significant impact on labour market and employment practices, in particular on the greater need for employers to employ relatively more older workers, extend people's working lives and increase the productivity of all workers (McQuaid, 2007). Indeed the number of people working beyond state pension age has doubled in the last two decades (Office for National Statistics, 2012a). Employers' age management policies will become increasingly important, as they play a crucial role in increasing and sustaining the labour market participation of older workers.Half of those working beyond state pension age are employed in small organisations (under 25 employees) (Office for National Statistics, 2012a) yet many SMEs, as well as larger employers, are unaware of demographic trends and their likely impacts (e.g. labour supply) (Loretto and White, 2006b; Hollywood et al., 2007). While some employers may expect labour market shortages, they do not see older workers as a major solution (Van Dalen et al., 2009). Poor age management practices and prejudices against older workers are often not noticed, and there may be a gap between formal age policies and practices (OPASG, 2009). Employer awareness raising campaigns (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), 2006; Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 2011) can change ways of working, but while considerable research exists on age management in larger organisations, there is limited research on SMEs. Nevertheless, existing research and theory highlights that SMEs often face a different set of issues: fewer human and capital resources (e.g. in terms of having dedicated human resources (HR) personnel and time available) or \"resource poverty\" (Cassell et al., 2002); less formalised and strategic approaches to training and flexible working or \"short-termism\" (Maxwell et al., 2007); and fewer opportunities for flexible working (due, for instance, to being unable to cover the absence of an employee). SMEs often do not have the resources to develop a HR management strategy or to identify and seek advice regarding age management; therefore, those responsible for age management awareness raising activities may need to approach SMEs directly.This paper contributes to the body of research on SMEs, particularly in the area of age management. It addresses the following research questions: what are SMEs' policies, practices and attitudes towards older workers, age management and future demographic trends; and how do SMEs respond to age management awareness raising activities. The following section reviews the relevant literature, Section 3 sets out the methods, and Section 4 reports the findings, which consider SMEs' age management practices, their recruitment, retention and retirement practices. Conclusions are then drawn about the ways in which working lives can be extended and about the potential benefits of age management awareness to influence attitudes and practices towards older workers.\n2. Extending working lives and sustaining older workers in employment: There is debate in the policy and academic literature on the best way to retain and sustain older workers in employment. This section considers the UK policy context and the role of employers in extending working lives, before examining age management issues faced by SMEs.2.1 Extending working lives: the UK policy context\n3. Methods: The study involved longitudinal in-depth interviews (two interviews per participant) with managers and employees in SMEs between August 2010 and October 2011 in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland.3.1 Study design\n4. Findings: This section discusses the participating SME's practices, policies and attitudes in relation to recruitment, retention and retirement; highlighting potential barriers to later life employment.4.1 Policy, practices and attitudes in recruitment\n5. Discussion and conclusions: This paper has explored age management in SMEs; investigating policy, practices and attitudes towards older workers in recruitment, retention and retirement, and how SMEs respond to awareness raising activities such as the distribution of age management information, feedback on current practices and suggestions for improvement, and attendance at an age management workshop. This final section considers ways in which the participation of older people in paid employment, specifically in SMEs, can be improved and the implications for policy and practice.Although participant SMEs were aware of the demographic trends, their effect with regard to the direct impact upon their recruitment and staff was in most cases regarded as very distant. This, however, is a development from previous research findings, which found that many employers were unaware of the ageing population, perhaps reflecting the prominence of new legislation on retirement and age discrimination and the recognition of ageing in the labour market. The current discourse in Europe and the UK stresses a medium- to long-term future of potential labour shortages and the need for employers to adapt and recruit an increasingly older workforce (Lisenkova et al., 2010), with higher labour market participation rates but relatively modest impacts on economic growth (Bloom et al., 2010). Although older age groups were initially affected to a lesser extent than young age groups by the economic recession (Jenkins and Leaker, 2010), unemployed older workers may face barriers in re-entering the labour market (Irving et al., 2005). The current study found that having \"no gaps in employment\" was important to managers in a hiring situation, therefore re-entry into the labour market could be especially difficult for those that have been unemployed and who also have, in the case of older workers, an alternative of leaving the workforce through retirement.5.1 Stereotypes and preconceptions\n6. Conclusions: While half of those working beyond state pension age are employed in SMEs (Office for National Statistics, 2012a) there remain negative practices and attitudes towards older workers in some of these businesses, with positive and negative age stereotypes coexisting. Discriminatory practices against older workers are often not noticed, with age discrimination not having the same social unacceptability as other forms of discrimination (Metcalf and Meadows, 2006; Loretto, 2010). There may be a gap between policy and practice (Walker and Taylor, 1999; McCracken and Winterton, 2006; OPASG, 2009), with negative stereotypes focused on the economic value (Finkelstein and Burke, 1998) and \"useful life\" (Yeatts et al., 2000) of older workers. While good practice on age management can be found in these SMEs, it is not as part of a systematic strategy; this coincides with findings from gender equality research (Woodhams and Lupton, 2009) and general HR management research (Cassell et al., 2002), where a lack of formal models has been identified. Existing research and theory highlights that SMEs often face different contexts and issues, therefore not all of the considerable research that exists on age management in larger organisations is directly applicable to SMEs. Such literature on large firms often fails to adequately take account the limited resources for both assimilating and developing age management policies and practices, and the ability of SMEs to adopt policies such as more flexible working patterns. The large differences between SMEs themselves, in terms of different types and sizes and sectors, further increases the need for more extensive research on age management in SMEs.Within the limitations of this study it can be suggested that there is scope to influence age management practices in SMEs through awareness raising activities that stress the benefits of an age diverse workforce and help reduce economic prejudices against older workers. Awareness raising should discuss the legislative requirements against discrimination and highlight adequate good practice examples. Wider campaigns, targeted at both employers and wider society, challenging both economic and social stereotypes, could also be beneficial. Asymmetric information flows are important, and SMEs often do not have the resources to seek advice regarding age management, therefore those responsible for age management awareness raising activities may need to approach businesses directly, rather than expect businesses to approach them. As demonstrated through the activities conducted as part of this research, even relatively limited activities offering new perspectives can be a trigger to change policy or prompt SMEs to think a bit more widely about age management.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a study of age management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Qualitative data collection and exploratory research with six SMEs comprising of: initial interviews with representatives from the SMEs; action research activities designed to raise awareness of age management issues and age discrimination legislation; and follow-up interviews to ascertain if awareness raising activities resulted in any changes, or planned changes, in policy, practice and attitudes towards older workers.\nFindings: - Good practice in age management can be found in SMEs, but was not found to be part of a systematic strategy. Negative practices and attitudes towards older workers are observed, with positive and negative age stereotypes coexisting. Negative stereotypes displayed can undermine the perceived economic value of older workers. There may be a gap between policy and practice, but awareness raising campaigns that reach employers can influence existing ways of working by showing the benefits of an age diverse workforce and helping reduce prejudices against older workers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample size is small and context specific. However, the study usefully illustrates different approaches to age management policies and practices in SMEs, and the potential benefits of age management awareness in influencing attitudes and practices towards older workers in SMEs.\nOriginality/value: - The experience of age management in SMEs is under researched and examples of good practice in age management are often drawn from large organisations. The paper highlights that SMEs often lack the resources to seek advice regarding age management; therefore, those responsible for age management awareness raising activities may need to approach businesses directly.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Information orientation and its impacts on information asymmetry and e-business adoption: Evidence from China's international trading industry
|
[
"Information strategy",
"Information modelling",
"Electronic commerce",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Strategic orientation refers to the firm's philosophy of how to conduct business through a deeply rooted set of values and beliefs (Gatignon and Xuereb, 1997). For decades, two strategic orientations, namely customer and competitor orientations, have been well defined and examined in the marketing and strategic management literatures. Customer orientation emphasizes on driving business decisions to meet customer needs (Gulati and Oldroyd, 2005), while competitor orientation emphasizes on observing and responding to the competitive moves of competitors (Porter, 1980, 1985). Evidences are abundant that these strategic orientations help companies to adapt to customer needs and respond to rival firms' moves, and thus result in superior performance (Narver and Slater, 1990; Porter, 1980, 1985; Lee and Tsai, 2005).Importance of information orientation, another form of strategic orientation, however, has only been barely addressed. Even though customer orientation and competitor orientation may lead to superior performance (Narver and Slater, 1990), the superior performance may, at least partially, come from strategic use of information and effective information-based decision making (Lee and Tsai, 2005). A firm with strong orientation regarding information processing, including such as integration, capture, access and use, could achieve better performance and reducing information asymmetry.As more and more businesses are exploring the competitive opportunities that internet might offer, how information orientation may influence information asymmetry and e-business adoption would be another important area to investigate into. Since, information asymmetry plays an essential role in decision making, companies with more information about such things as price, quality, and, etc. tend to enjoy better competitive advantages (Barney and Ouchi, 1986). Lesson learned from supply chain management further suggests that information asymmetry is a key source of bullwhip effects (Filia, 2005). Therefore, reducing information asymmetry is imperative for companies.For years, many previous studies have shown that organizational factors are important determinants of e-business adoption (Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990). But the majority of organizational factors addressed involve such organizational characteristics as size, industry type and business scope (Zhu et al., 2004, 2006). Studies addressed the relationship between information orientation and information asymmetry are very limited.In this report, theory and hypotheses pertaining to the relationship between information orientation and information asymmetry will be presented. Methodologies developed to conduct empirical testing of the presented hypotheses will then be described. Data collected from companies in international trade industry in China will then be used to empirically testing the validity of these hypotheses. Results derived from empirically analyses will then be used to propose some practical managerial strategies. A brief discussion on major findings of this study and the limitations conclude this report.\nTheoretical background: An important measurement of a firm's capability is its strategic orientation, which reflects the firm's philosophy of how to conduct business through a deeply rooted set of values and beliefs (Gatignon and Xuereb, 1997). These values and beliefs define the resources to be used, transcend individual capabilities, and unify the resources and capabilities into a cohesive whole (Day, 1994).Several types of strategic orientations, such as customer, competitor, and technological have been proposed in marketing and strategy literatures (Gatignon and Xuereb, 1997). Customer orientation refers to company's business decisions, which are based on \"to meet the needs of customers drive\". In contrast, competitor orientation refers to company's business decisions, which are based on \"to response to the competitive moves of rivals in the market\" (Gulati and Oldroyd, 2005). As suggested in some previous studies, marketing orientation consists of primarily customer and competitor orientations, and has been a significant indicator of business financial performances and new product innovation (Cooper, 1994; Narver and Slater, 1990; Slater and Narver, 1994; Zhou et al., 2005). It is because when companies are aware of their customers' needs, they will be in adapting to those needs. Similarly, as firms become better aware of the competitive moves of competitors, they will be able to develop effective counter- or anticipatory-moves to enhance firm's performance.Unlike customer- and competitor-pull philosophy of market orientation, technology orientation reflects the philosophy of \"technological push\" which posits that consumers prefer technologically superior products and services (Gatignon and Xuereb, 1997; Wind and Mahajan, 1997). Accordingly, a technology-oriented firm would advocate a commitment to R&D, the acquisition of new technologies, and the application of the latest technology (Gatignon and Xuereb, 1997).Both market orientation and technology orientation are \"outside in\" (Baker and Sinkula, 1999; Celuch et al., 2002). This means that they tend to focus the firm's attention on factors external to the firm. However, the \"outside in\" strategic orientations may overlook important internal factors (Barney and Zajac, 1994; Henderson and Mitchell, 1997). Therefore, an \"inside out\" orientation, namely \"learning orientation\" (Bunderson and Sutcliffe, 2003; Garvin, 1993) has been suggested (Baker and Sinkula, 1999; Celuch et al., 2002) in an effort to reflecting an internal management focus on establishing organizational learning a priority for organizational participants (Baker and Sinkula, 1999; Bunderson and Sutcliffe, 2003; Celuch et al., 2002; Garvin, 1993).There are two important reasons to necessitate the establishment of \"information orientation\". First reason is that the important role of organizational information process (e.g. information acquisition and dissemination) in shaping how firms respond to their market environment has long emphasized in market orientation and organizational learning processes (Jayachandran et al., 2005). However, there is no dedicated measure to examine this strategic role. The other reason is that it is probably because of the strategic use of information and effective information-based decision making that the marketing and technological orientations of the firm lead to superior performance. Clearly, there is an \"information orientation\" which is a glue to integrate external factors focused by marketing and technological orientations and internal factors focused by learning orientation.Drucker (1988) introduced an \"information-based organization\" as an advanced development stage of companies that employ information effectively. Davenport (1997) proposed \"information ecology\" as an effective \"business model for information management\". Choo (1998, p. 3) defined the concept of the \"knowing organization\" as an \"organization that is able to integrate sense making, knowledge creation, and decision making effectively\". In fact, in the era of information economy, an increasing number of organizations centre their businesses on information (Desai et al., 2004). Therefore, these organizations demonstrate a strategic orientation towards information, which is referred to as \"information orientation\" in this study.To be consistent with concepts of marketing orientation, learning orientation, and knowledge management, in this study information orientation is defined as the company's deeply rooted set of values and beliefs regarding information. The definition was further expanded to operational aspects of a company as strategic perceptions of values and beliefs towards information acquisition and dissemination in the company. This definition reflects the degree to which an organization acquires and dissimilates the information within the organization.Based on the knowledge management literature and information processes theory, special emphasis will be put on information acquisition and dissemination. In the knowledge management literature, there are five phases to the knowledge management process - acquiring, coding, developing, applying and disseminating information (Van Zolingen et al., 2001). Information acquisition refers to the process of collecting and filtering new information and storing it in memory (Sternberg, 1983). Information dissemination is defined as managing the way information is shared within an organization (Yang et al., 2006). Among these phases, information acquisition and dissimilation are the two endpoints in the information value chain, which represent the most important knowledge management processes (Yang, 2004). In the relationship marketing literature, it has been long emphasized that information processes play a key role in building and maintaining customer relationship (Selnes and Sallis, 2003; Jayachandran et al., 2005).The information processes systematize the capture and use of information, and alleviate information loss and overload (Sinkula, 1994; Jayachandran et al., 2005). Further, the information processes has been conceptualised as information reciprocity, information capture, information integration, information access, and information use (Jayachandran et al., 2005). These information processes may be largely grouped into information acquisition and information dissemination. Figure 1 below shows a model whereby the varying firm information orientation influences information asymmetry and e-business adoption.Shown in Figure 1 are seven important strategic relationships associated with information asymmetry reduction. These are labelled as H1 through H7, which denote the hypotheses that must be empirically tested. Detailed discussion on these hypotheses is presented in the following section, followed by the sections reporting the procedures of conducting the empirical test and the results.\nHypotheses: Apparently, a firm's information orientation critically influences the firm's behaviors, particularly the decision making, because the firm's information orientation is the deeply rooted set of values and beliefs regarding information acquisition and dissimilation. These rooted values and beliefs may serve as powerful signals to the managerial community to guide managers about the information acquisition and dissimilation. Further, these values and beliefs can legitimise the willingness of managers to commit resources and managerial efforts for the information acquisition and dissimilation (Chatterjee et al., 2002).Meanwhile, acquiring and disseminating information tends to promote the development of new knowledge (Ghoshal and Moran, 1996; Tsai, 2002) and to increase the diversity of knowledge (Slater and Narver, 1995). This new knowledge and diversity of knowledge improve an organization's ability to innovate (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Damanpour, 1991, Zhang et al., 2004). This will help the firm to recognize early on new opportunities, and this in turn will spur the firm on to develop new strategic initiatives for innovations, such as e-business adoption. Together, this suggests that:H1. Information orientation positively relates to e-business adoption.\nResearch design and methodology: Data collection\nData analyses and results: Partial least squares (PLS) was chosen to conduct data analysis in this study. PLS has been widely selected as a tool in IS/IT field (Wasko and Faraj, 2005). Unlike structural equation modelling (SEM), which is based on the covariance structure of the latent variables, PLS is a component-based approach. Thus, PLS is suitable for predictive applications and theory building because it aims to examine the significance of the relationships between research constructs and the predictive power of the dependent variable (Chin, 1998). Further, SEM, such as LISREL and AMOS, cannot model formative indicators effectively, but PLS can handle both reflective and formative scales (Chin, 1998; Fornell and Larcker, 1981) and also has the advantage of modeling single-item scales and summated scales (Chin et al., 2003). In addition, PLS does not place a very high requirement for normal distribution on the source data, and thus works better than LISREL and AMOS under conditions of non-normality (Chin, 1998; Gefen and Straub, 2005). PLS also has the ability to handle relatively small sample size (Chin, 1998; Barclay et al., 1995). Therefore, PLS is an appropriate choice for testing research model (Ko et al., 2005).PLS was chosen for two reasons. First, our model has formative constructs, which can be handled by PLS, rather than LISREL or AMOS (Chin, 1998). Second, PLS is more appropriate when the research model is in an early stage of development and has not been tested extensively (Teo et al., 2003). A review of the literature suggests that empirical tests of information orientation, e-business adoption, and information asymmetry are still sparse. Hence, PLS is the appropriate technique for our research purpose. Specifically, PLS-Graph 3.00 was used in this study.Measurement model\nDiscussions and conclusion: This study defined the \"information orientation\" which reflect the deeply rooted set of value and beliefs from two fundamental dimensions, information acquisition and information dissemination. The information orientation of a company may significantly help the company to guide its behaviours regarding e-business adoption, information sharing, and information collection.It was suggested by the results of the empirical testing that the information orientation directly influences e-business adoption. The finding means that a company should foster the culture of information orientation, namely the values and beliefs on information. These value and beliefs serve as a power signal to guide managerial community for their commitment regarding resources and participation in new information-related strategic initiatives, such as e-business adoption.Results also confirmed that information orientation has significant influences on information asymmetry reduction. The influences can be both direct and indirect. The indirect influences are through information sharing and information collection, which significantly alleviate information asymmetry. Meanwhile, the e-business adoption facilitates the company to share information among internal employees and among supply chain members, which in turn alleviate information asymmetry. Putting together, the information orientation - the deep root values and beliefs - motivates the company to share and collect information, and thus reduce information asymmetry and improve decision making.In summary, information orientation defines the fundamental strategic values and belief regarding information. Companies with stronger information orientation may have less information asymmetry problems, and thus would be more capable to make appropriate decisions based on information. The information sharing and information collection partially mediate the effect of information orientation on information asymmetry. The information orientation also motivates the e-business adoption, which in turn could help the company to more effectively share information among supply chain members and among internal employees.While this study has made a significant contribution regarding information orientation and information asymmetry, it also has some limitations. First, the construct implementation needs further development, especially for information orientation and information asymmetry. Second, although this study investigated the influences of information orientation and information asymmetry, it would be useful to further clarify how information orientation influences business performance. Nevertheless, this study should shed the lights for other researches in this regard. Third, further studies are needed regarding how information orientation and such other strategic orientations as marketing orientation and learning orientation may interact to influence business performance and organizational innovation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To define the term \"information orientation\" and to propose a model to investigate how information orientation influences information asymmetry and e-business adoption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The model was tested using survey data from 307 international trading companies in Mainland China. Partial least squares was chosen to conduct data analysis in this study.\nFindings: - Results suggested that information orientation could significantly reduce information asymmetry. This influence may be mediated by information sharing and information collection. It has been found that information orientation could also significantly influence e-business adoption.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further studies are needed regarding how information orientation and such other strategic orientations as marketing and learning orientations may interact to influence business performance and organizational innovation.\nPractical implications: - Companies with stronger information orientation may have less information asymmetry problems and would be more capable to make appropriate decisions based on information. The information orientation also motivates the e-business adoption, which in turns would help the company to share information among supply chain members and among internal employees.\nOriginality/value: - This study provides valuable insights for managers that building a stronger information orientation may help companies motivate e-business adoption and alleviate information asymmetry, thus improve decision-making processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
New breed of European executives is not a luxury, but a matter of survival
|
[
"Leaders",
"Europe",
"Talent"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The global financial crisis created not only high levels of economic uncertainty, but also led to a dramatic transformation of the long-standing skills and qualities required of European business leaders to succeed. Since the financial crisis, a new range of challenges have led to a fundamental re-prioritization of the leadership skills and styles required of the best European executives.\nSnapshot of the global landscape: The European Commission recently joined other international organizations in admitting that the Eurozone economy would contract in 2013, and rifts between the stronger and weaker economies within the Eurozone persist. Unemployment levels are predicted to remain at elevated levels in many southern European nations in 2013, enforced austerity measures exacerbate social tensions and fears about the viability of the common currency resurface with each new political flashpoint. The situation outside the Eurozone has not been any more predictable; instability in the Middle East, political deadlock in the USA and a slowdown in growth in China all contribute to a precarious economic and geopolitical picture.In this uncertain environment, European business leaders are required to invest time and energy into winning over consumers with fast-changing demands. At the same time, companies are working with much more limited informationthan in the past, setting three-month or six-month goals rather than annual ones. In contrast to the pre-crisis era, the stability of a company depends on rapid and frequent shifts in its strategic planning. This illustrates a climate in which intrinsic innovation is key. Executives we spoke to in our study frequently reported reconfiguring whole processes or procedures to build organizational resilience to the market's unabating ambiguity.\nThe post-crisis executive: meeting the new reality: This climate of constant change demands a class of leaders with new capabilities and strengths (see Table I). Executives who could once steer growth by building on continuity or incremental progress must now have the fluidity to manage disruption and maximize the creativity - and opportunities - that can emerge from constraint.The composite picture of the New European Executive - one able to rekindle and sustain growth - is a leader more visionary, more driven by competence and expertise, more flexible and adaptable to rapid change, more courageous, and more strategic than before the onset of the financial crisis.The most important characteristic for business leaders in Europe now is the ability to deal with ambiguity, a trait that did not even make the top 10 five years ago. As the direction of the economy, market movements and demands placed on businesses by European and domestic governmental bodies have become ever more difficult to predict, the ability to negotiate these unknowns is more vital than ever before.Managing vision and purpose - being able to define what success looks like in a flat economy and communicating that to stakeholders - is another key new attribute, ranked third in the current list. Another new attribute, managerial courage, enters the list at number five as business leaders need to make bolder decisions in an environment where they frequently have to act quickly on a limited amount of information.The most successful decision-making styles have also evolved over the past five years. Competitive and relationship driven leadership styles have been replaced by an openness to new information and ways of doing business. Decision-making styles for the post-crisis executive need to be anchored in intellectual argument, competence and expertise rather than power and influence. The most valued competencies in the new profile, however, are exceedingly challenging to develop. Managerial courage and the ability to deal with ambiguity are typically developed through experience in challenging, often emotionally charged situations and executives with these most critical skills will be in short supply.\nFinding and developing successful leadership qualities: The question that these changes pose to organizations is how and where to find or develop such talent. There are a number of steps that companies should consider taking in order to ensure they have leaders with the right blend of skills to steer them through the murky waters of post-crisis Europe.First, companies should audit their talent to find out whether they have the necessary New European Executive profiles within their ranks, and put in place plans to keep and develop these individuals.Once skills gaps are recognized, firms should put in place talent acquisition strategies that attract and \"test for\" these competencies. More emphasis should be put on an individual's \"agility\" when making hiring and promotion decisions: that is to say, their willingness and ability to learn from experience and apply those lessons to perform well in new and challenging situations, rather than just his or her specific experience.Companies should also look to recruit globally. Candidate pools need to be wide-ranging, in order to access the widest selection of high-potential candidates.Motivating and making the best use of your most talented individuals is essential to making sure you retain their services, and do so in the most productive way for your company. One executive we talked to described how he frequently moved people into different roles to fill information gaps and let them gain new perspectives.Organizations should use the portrait of the New European Executive as a key element in any model for the competencies they want in their ranks. Even in challenging financial times, forward-looking companies still prioritize leadership assessment and development programs focusing on this most precious asset. Developing talent with an eye to cultivating the New European Leader profile, starting early in their careers, will help ensure that organizations have access to the innovative, change-fluent leadership they need. Companies that don't, will struggle to secure such leaders in an ever more competitive talent landscape.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to illustrate the skills required of an effective business leader in Europe in the current economic climate and how these have changed over recent years.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The author interviewed 109 business leaders working at European and UK companies. For the research on pre-crisis comparison, the study used European executive norm data from 360-degree job performance appraisals collected between February 2007 and March 2008. The 26 competencies were ranked by mean \"importance level\" as scored by the peers, boss and direct reports of 344 leaders (executives, directors and managers).\nFindings: - It was found that the skills required of European business leaders have changed dramatically since the financial crisis.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research base, while robust, is limited, and required competencies of business leaders may differ from sector to sector.\nPractical implications: - Companies should: audit their talent to find out whether they have the necessary New European Executive profiles within their ranks, and put in place plans to keep and develop these individuals; put in place talent acquisition strategies that attract and \"test for\" these competencies; look to recruit globally; and motivate and make the best use of their most talented individuals.\nOriginality/value: - This new research will be of value to companies who want to ensure they have the most effective leadership.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Diversity in the workplace: Hispanic perceptions of the hiring decision
|
[
"Recruitment",
"Hispanics",
"Human resource management",
"Selection",
"Individual perception",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Official estimates as of July 1, 2002, place the US Hispanic population at 38.8 million, making this group the largest minority in the USA. This rapidly growing sub-culture accounted for roughly one-half of the USA's population increase of 6.9 million from 2000 to 2002 (US Census Bureau, 2003a). As this segment continues to grow, companies have realized the necessity of building a multicultural workforce and have actively recruited greater numbers of Hispanics at all organizational levels. The US Federal government, as well, in Executive Order 13171: Hispanic Employment and the Federal Government, recognized the under-representation of Hispanics in the Federal workforce and has sought to correct this problem through better recruitment, retention, and development programs (Office of Personnel Management, 2001).With greater numbers of Hispanics and other minorities in management positions and engaged in the hiring process, there is a growing possibility that interviewer and interviewee may come from different subcultural backgrounds, each with their own value sets (Harris and Moran, 1996, p. 209). As a result, job applicants may not be aware of what those involved in hiring think important. As diversity increases in the public and private sectors, it is important to assess what qualities Hispanics look for when hiring and examine whether non-Hispanics look for similar qualities in job candidates.\nSignificance and objective: Individuals in organizations rely on a set of implicit and explicit criteria to make their choices in hiring decisions. At the same time, applicants tend to emphasize those attributes that they possess and that they also believe are being sought by the hiring organization (Holland and Herron, 1982). However, job candidates cannot know exactly what criteria managers are using nor can they know the relative importance of individual criteria in the set. As a result, job applicants emphasize certain attributes and de-emphasize others based on their perceptions of the importance of specific criteria to the interviewer.With the diversity that exists in the US workplace, it would seem probable that there would be culture-related differences in the importance placed on different job applicant attributes by those involved in hiring. In an effort to explore this issue and given the growing importance of the Hispanic subculture in the USA, this study compares the importance ratings of 26 job selection attributes by a sample of Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents who had been involved in hiring. Of particular interest was to determine the criteria that were important to each group, and to see if statistical differences existed between the importance ratings of Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents. It should be noted that, in this study, the terms Hispanic and Latino are used synonymously, reflective of the new terminology in the standards issued by the US Office of Management and Budget (US Census Bureau, 2003b).\nJob candidate selection: The following paragraphs present a review that is representative of the literature most relevant to this study. For the purposes of clarity, findings have been grouped into two sections: hiring criteria and interviewer subjectivity.Hiring criteria\nMethodology: The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if there were significant differences in the importance given to 26 job selection attributes by sample groups of Hispanics and non-Hispanics who had been involved in hiring. It was hypothesized that significant differences in the importance ratings of the two groups would be found.Sampling\nResults: Demographics\nConclusions and suggestions for further research: Of the 13 criteria for which significant differences were found, the ratings of the Hispanic group were higher for community involvement, disposition, initiative, and loyalty. This result reflects the common threads of respect, loyalty to family, friends and the organization, cooperation, group cohesiveness, and the desire to be friendly that run through the various Latino cultures (Delgado, 1994). In addition, the rating for initiative may have been influenced by a minority's striving to attain and advance. The ratings of the non-Hispanic group were higher for age, mannerisms, marital status, oral communication, school-age children, school reputation, sex, willingness to relocate, and work experience. Some of these ratings (for age, mannerisms, marital status, school-age children, sex) may have resulted from greater sensitization of this group to non-discrimination issues in the USA. The ratings for oral communication, school reputation, willingness to relocate, and work experience reflect the US American core values of individualism, self-reliance, and competitiveness (see for example, Daniels and Radebaugh, 1995, pp. 51-66; Griffin and Pustay, 1996, pp. 478-86; Harris and Moran, 1996, pp. 209-18; Hofstede, 1983). It is noteworthy that, taken as a whole, the Hispanic sample appears to attach greater relative importance to more subjective traits, while the non-Hispanic group, in contrast, had higher ratings for more objectively-assessed traits.Given recent efforts of organizations to increase diversity as well as changing demographics in the US workforce, the results of this study should prove useful to individuals and organizations in the private and public sectors. The findings show that the Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents had significantly different perceptions with regard to the importance of certain job selection criteria and hence, may assess candidates differently because of what they consider important.Growing subcultural identification and the celebration of such diversity in the USA suggests that there is greater homogeneity in terms of certain values within than among subcultures. However, as US subcultures exist within the context of a broader US-based system of values, it is important that subcultural similarities as well as differences be identified (see, for example, Peppas, 2001; Roosevelt, 1996). The findings of this study indicate that there were also similarities, as well as significant differences, between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents in terms of the perceived importance of selection criteria by those involved in hiring.As is often the case, research often points out the need for additional research. Future researchers may wish to replicate this study using larger sample bases. In so doing, they may wish to test whether other factors, e.g. regional differences, have an impact on the importance ratings. As the term Hispanic is an umbrella for many national-based subcultures, it would be interesting to replicate this study using more narrowly-defined subcultural groups. Future researchers may also wish to explore the impact of industry or job-specific differences on the relative importance of job attributes across subcultures. Finally, researchers may wish to focus on longitudinal studies to track changes in importance ratings over time to see if there is convergence or divergence in perceptions.With increasing government and corporate emphasis on diversity, it is important to understand what attributes may be valued by individuals making hiring decisions and it is hoped that this study sparks further research of this topic. It has been suggested that a company's productivity and success in a highly competitive global economy requires having employees who are comfortable working in an environment comprised of individuals from different races, classes, and backgrounds. Diversity, for the sake of competitiveness, has become an imperative (Gummer, 2000). Findings of this and other similar research should lead to better understanding and communication among US subcultures, help organizations manage cultural diversity, assist academicians in preparing students for careers in business, and improve the matching process between hiring organizations and job applicants.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Given the growing importance of the Hispanic population in the USA, the increasing presence of this minority at all organizational levels, and the possibility that different subcultures would value different traits when hiring, the purpose of this research was to determine if there were culture-related differences in the importance placed on 26 job applicant attributes by Hispanics and non-Hispanics who were involved in hiring.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study compares the importance ratings of 26 job selection attributes by Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents to determine the hiring criteria that are important to each group, and to see if differences are statistically significant.\nFindings: - Significant differences in mean rating scores were found in 13 of the 26 criteria. The Hispanic sample attached greater importance to subjective traits, while the non-Hispanic group had higher ratings for objectively-assessed traits.\nPractical implications: - Given organizational efforts to increase diversity and changing demographics in the US workforce, the results of this study should prove useful to individuals and organizations in the private and public sectors. The findings show that Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents had significantly different perceptions with regard to the importance of certain hiring criteria and hence, may assess candidates differently because of what they consider important.\nOriginality/value: - These findings should lead to better understanding among US subcultures, help organizations manage cultural diversity, assist academicians in preparing students for business careers, and improve the matching process between hiring organizations and job applicants.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Understanding the intention to use medical big data processing technique from the perspective of medical data analyst
|
[
"Technology acceptance model",
"Social influence",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Usage intention",
"Medical big data processing technique",
"Medical data analyst"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Large amounts of medical data are generated from hospital due to the development of hospital information system and the widely usage of cloud computing (Azar and Hassanien, 2015). Recently, there is a specific term to define these data, namely, big data. According to Pawar (2016), big data refers to the structured data, semi-structured data and unstructured data which accumulated from various data sources. There are three basic characteristics of big data: volume, velocity and variety. Volume means the data keep growing rapidly and the size of data could reach exabytes, zettabytes and more; velocity means the data generate very fast; variety means the type of data and the data source are diverse.\n2. Theoretical background and research hypotheses: TAM is a commonly used framework to understand individuals' acceptance of a new technology, and it is first proposed by Davis in 1989 (Toft et al., 2014). The basic factors of TAM are attitude, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. According to TAM, if individuals think the new technology is easy to use and helpful to obtain their goals, they will more likely to form a positive attitude toward this technology and then intend to use this technology (Davis, 1989). Otherwise, individuals are not likely to use this technology.\n3. Data and research method: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Data analysis and results: In the following data analysis, the validity and reliability of the constructs were assessed to estimate the measurement model. Then the structural model was estimated to test the relationships among the hypothesized constructs (Chin, 1998; Anderson and Gerbing, 1988).\n5. Discussion and implication: The present research used an extended TAM to examine medical data analyst's intention to use medical big data-processing technique. The results suggest that the perceived usefulness is affected by the perceived ease of use. This finding confirms the importance of the processing technique being perceived as easy to use. Medical data analyst's attitude toward medical big data-processing technique is affected by perceived usefulness and not affected by perceived ease of use. A reasonable explanation for this result could be that most respondents in this research are familiar with big data, and they have some knowledge about data-processing technique, so they think that medical big data-processing technique is also easy to use. Thus, their attitudes depend completely on the perceived usefulness of medical big data processing technique.\n6. Conclusions and limitations: Using medical big data-processing technique is valuable to improve health-care services and clinical research. However, as a new data-processing technique, many medical data analysts are reluctant to use and a limited amount of literature has explored the factors that influence medical big data-processing technique usage. This research is one of the initial attempts in this research domain. In this research, an extended TAM has been exploited to examine medical data analyst's intention to use medical big data-processing technique. The findings indicate that medical data analyst's attitude toward medical big data-processing technique, perceived usefulness and social influence are the determinants that affecting medical big data-processing technique usage and perceived usefulness is the most important determinant. Perceived usefulness has a significant effect on medical data analyst's attitude, while social influence and perceived ease of use has no any significant effect. Medical data analyst's attitude plays a mediating role between perceived usefulness and usage intention. In addition, the perceived usefulness is influenced by the perceived ease of use. The model and the findings in this research not only make a contribution to the existing literature but also have some implications for improving medical data analyst's intention to use medical big data-processing technique.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply an extended technology acceptance model to examine the medical data analyst's intention to use medical big data processing technique.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Questionnaire survey method was used to collect data from 293 medical data analysts and analyzed with the assistance of structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results indicate that the perceived usefulness, social influence and attitude are important to the intention to use medical big data processing technique, and the direct effect of perceived usefulness on intention to use is greater than social influence and attitude. The perceived usefulness is influenced by perceived ease of use. Attitude is influenced by perceived usefulness, and attitude acts as a mediator between perceived usefulness and usage intention. Unexpectedly, attitude is not influenced by perceived ease of use and social influence.\nOriginality/value: This research examines the medical data analyst's intention to use medical big data processing technique and provides several implications for using medical big data processing technique.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Consumers demand for products with animal welfare attributes: Evidence from homescan data for Scotland
|
[
"Organic",
"Animal welfare",
"Area of deprivation",
"Consumer demand"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Modern agricultural practices have increased the efficiency of food production, which has been reflected in lower prices for consumers. However, that increase in efficiency might have been to the detriment of ethical issues such as the way animals are treated in the production process, particularly in more intensive production systems. For instance, the aim of reducing production costs has led farmers to raise a large number of animals (e.g. pigs and hens) in limited spaces where their movement is restricted and their well-being is consequently decreased. Furthermore, to reduce the problems caused by the high stocking density of animals, such as tail biting for pigs and injurious pecking for hens, farmers have used practices such as confinement, tail docking and beak trimming that although they partially solve the problem, make animal well-being worse in other ways.\n2. Literature review: This section reviews recent literature on two topics: first, consumers' attitudes towards farm animal welfare and related issues such as barriers to the demand of animal-friendly products and the profile of animal welfare minded consumers; and second, consumers' WTP for animal welfare and some empirical evidences on the attitude-behaviour gap.\n3. Methodology: Data\n4. Results: Demand for meat in Scotland\n5. Discussion and conclusion: Overall, the results showed that there is a demand for animal-friendly pork and organic pork in Scotland. Although the demand for animal-friendly pork is low compared with regular pork, it was found to be significantly higher than the demand for organic pork. The high retail price of organic pork compared with conventional and animal-friendly pork is one of the major to the purchase and consumption of this type of products (Soler et al., 2002; O'Donovan and McCarthy, 2002; Roitner-Schobesberger et al., 2008; Akaichi et al., 2012). Interestingly, several studies found that consumers purchase organic animal products because they are more animal-friendly compared with non-organic animal products (e.g. Harper and Makatouni, 2002; Chen, 2007; Miele, 2010; Akaichi et al., 2012). Furthermore, a study conducted by D'Eath et al. (2014) showed that animal kept in organic farm enjoy a higher level of welfare compared to animals raised in conventional farms. Therefore, labelling organic animal products as animal friendly could increase its demand by consumers due to its superiority in terms of animal welfare and environmental sustainability compared with non-organic animal products. Nonetheless, stakeholders interested in promoting animal welfare should be aware of the fact that organic and non-organic animal-friendly foods are competing. As a result, increasing the demand for organic foods labelled as animal friendly might be in detriment of non-organic animal-friendly foods which in turn might lead to a decrease of non-organic farmers' interest and motivation to invest in voluntarily improving their animals' welfare.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess Scottish consumers' demand for animal welfare and organic pork. The paper also tried to answer the following questions: first, are animal-friendly pork and organic-pork complements or substitutes (competing)? Second, what is the relationship between pork products with different animal welfare labels (i.e. \"freedom food\" pork vs \"specially selected pork\")? Third, does the demand for animal-friendly and organic pork vary with the level of deprivation of the area where consumers are living?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The dataset used in the analysis is the Kantar Worldpanel dataset for Scotland, which contains weekly data of food and drink purchases for consumption at home, covering the period 2006-2011. The panel is representative of the Scottish population and covers about 3,694 households. The linear version of the almost ideal demand system was estimated. Then, the own- and the cross-price elasticities as well as the expenditure elasticities for the 22 food categories and products were computed.\nFindings: The results indicate that when the price of animal-friendly pork increases, consumers decrease their consumption of this product and substitute it by organic pork or regular pork, especially in the case of fresh pork, bacon and sausages. It was found that products with different animal welfare accreditation are substitutes in the eyes of Scottish consumers and are, therefore, competing for the market share of animal-friendly foods. The results also show that the demand for animal-friendly pork is more elastic in the most deprived areas in Scotland.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that estimates the demand for conventional, animal-friendly and organic pork using a scanner data in Scotland and controlling for the variation by area of deprivation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Design principles for the development of the balanced scorecard
|
[
"Balanced scorecard",
"Strategic performance management",
"Design-based research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many organizations face difficulties due to the lack of effective performance management systems which could respond to the needs and expectations of the both organization and staff. Another difficulty is related to the execution of strategies at an organizational level (Niven, 2002). Research provides evidence that balanced scorecard (BSC) plays an important role in providing an effective solution to overcome these difficulties (Niven, 2008).\nBSC in education: The BSC method was initially designed for the private sectors (for-profit organizations) but its use spread in the course of time. It was started to be used for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and public institutions after the introduction of the second generation of BSC in 1996 (Kaplan and Norton, 2001b). BSC is also widely used in educational institutions all over the world. Today students' academic achievement is not regarded as adequate alone (Sarrico et al., 2004). Bringing up individuals who can keep up with the changing conditions, have problem-solving skills, think analytically, make sound social relationships and have a tendency towards teamwork has gained increasing importance. In this sense, if student achievement is accepted as a lagging indicator, making strategic decisions, the leading indicators that school administrations have to achieve could be learning about the developments in all fields and adapting these to education and instructional services, establishing relationships with the closer environment and improving customer satisfaction.\nMethod: This study adopts a DBR approach which is particularly useful to develop solutions to the problems encountered in the field of education.\nBSC development and implementation process for private a school: Before starting the study, the researcher offered to implement BSC to Private A School. As a result of mutual meetings between the school administration and the researcher, a confidentiality protocol was signed. The research started to conduct the study afterwards. It is natural to make such agreements because BSC is a tool revealing the operation of all of the departments and the strategy of an institution.\nConclusion: The description given so far leads to the extraction of 12 important design principles for the BSC development and implementation process. These principles might show slight differences depending on the school type where the BSC is applied in (public-private), the number of the staff (academic and non-academic), and variations in the practices of managerial processes such as decision making, planning, organizing, leading and evaluation. However, we believe that these general principles are important for those to develop and implement the BSC in educational settings. These principles might be particularly useful for those educational institutions which do not have a strategic performance management background:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development and implementation process of the balanced scorecard (BSC) approach in an educational institution in the context of the Turkish educational system. It also aims, on the basis of the results of the applications in a particular school, to define principles through which the development of BSC could be successfully achieved.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopts a design-based research method which provides a particularly useful approach to the solution of real problems in the field of education. The study was carried out in a private educational institution with 161 members of staff including managers, teachers and personnel of the support units. Scorecards for the institution as well as 161 members of staff were developed.\nFindings: The examination of the developmental process suggests 12 design principles: willingness to change; managerial support; flexible management structure; appropriate team members; training of staff; availability of strategic planning; distinctive BSC dimensions; smart strategic objectives; balance between leading and lagging indicators; developing individual scorecards; open communication system; structured report format.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study that develops BSC for a school in a Turkish context. The design principles, the author believes, are particularly useful for schools that do not have a strategic performance management background. This study is also important in terms of putting forward the applicability of BSC in educational organizations in different cultures and thus gaining new insights about the developmental process of BSC.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The influences of advertisement attitude and brand attitude on purchase intention of smartphone advertising
|
[
"Brand attitude",
"Advertisement value",
"Advertising attitude",
"Context awareness value",
"Purchase intension"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Along with the rapid spread of smartphones, the global mobile advertising market is entering a new phase. Global mobile advertising revenue increased from $9.8 billion in 2012 to $13.1 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $41.9 billion in 2017 (Gartner, 2014; Lee et al., 2012). On the other hand, the paper advertising market declined by more than 50 percent between 2009 and 2013, and its revenue has decreased by more than 66 percent over the past ten years (Kim and Han, 2014). The mobile advertising market - a new advertising channel that uses smartphones to offer innovative features - is expanding, and mobile advertising is expected to lead the entire advertising market for a long term. In particular, the mobile communication market in South Korea has diffused rapidly, with mobile phone penetration exceeding 100 percent in 2010. The mobile advertising market grew by as much as 184 percent in 2012 (Lee et al., 2014).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Advertisement value and context awareness value\n3. Research hypotheses: 3.1 Generalized advertising\n4. Method: 4.1 Data collection\n5. Findings and results: 5.1 Reliability and validity (measurement model analysis)\n6. Conclusions: The beginning of the LTE era and the generalization of smartphone use made businesses pay more attention to the mobile advertising market. Because smartphone advertising can utilize various features of these devices, it has an advantage that distinguishes it from non-mobile advertising. Smartphone advertising can make use of advertising strategies that consider consumers' context awareness value through smartphones, so the success or failure of mobile advertisements can vary significantly. Previous studies on advertisements emphasized only on location, one of the features of smartphones, as an extension of non-mobile advertisements. The focus on LBS meant that the various context awareness attributes of smartphones such as personalization, activity, and timing were overlooked.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the purchase intention in the case of smartphone advertising, which is unlike any other advertising media.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study examines the characteristics of recent mobile advertisements such as brand attitude and context awareness value, which have not been considered in studies on non-mobile advertisements, to address purchase intention through smartphone advertisements using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results are as follows. Together with entertainment, information, irritation, and personalization in non-mobile advertisements, timing and location in mobile advertisements are the main factors for establishing consumers' purchase intention. Further, although mobile advertisements' context awareness value strongly impacts consumers' advertising attitude and brand attitude, purchase intention receives greater impact from brand attitude than from advertising attitude because the products/services lack feel and touch.\nOriginality/value: These results imply that contextual advertising and new technology enabling feel and touch for products/services can maximize the effect of mobile advertisements.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Lemons problem in collaborative consumption platforms: Different decision heuristics chosen by consumers with different cognitive styles
|
[
"Netnography",
"Behavioural economics",
"Anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic",
"Collaborative consumption platforms",
"Lemons problem",
"P-to-P system"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: emergence of collaborative consumption platform (CCP): Collaborative consumption (CC) has begun to gain a great deal of attention among prudent consumers. Studies have attributed the emergence of CC to the global financial downturn in 2008 and public concern over sustainability amid energy crises and environmental issues such as over-consumption (Takahashi, 2000; Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015). Increasing CC is expected to gain significant market power and societal impact, and is thus of great interest to both practitioners and public policy makers (Hamari et al., 2015).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 CCPs and related issues\n3. Overview of the study: This exploratory paper reports on two studies. The first provides background information about consumers who have used CCP platforms. As mentioned in the literature review, most studies deal with the diverse aspects of consumer motivations for participating in CCPs. The research has rarely sought to determine what information or signals participants search for and use or how they evaluate these signals. This study addresses this gap by exploring what kinds of informational cues CCP participants use and which aspects of those cues they prefer to use in decision making.\n4. General discussion: 4.1 Summary\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Most of the research on collaborative consumption platforms (CCPs) has focused on motivational drives, and little research has been conducted on the problem of unbalanced information sharing, also known as the \"lemons problem,\" and signals. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study conducted a netnography and an experiment.\nFindings: The netnographic study showed that participants tend to use low ratings and negative reviews as cues implying more searches, use ratings as an anchor to adjust other information, and employ differing cognitive information-processing styles. The experimental results show that, in a normal environment (when ratings are high), visualizers (verbalizers) have more of an intention to use CCPs when they are exposed to abundant pictures (textual cues); however, when the cues lead to a further information search (when the ratings are low), this search behavior pattern is reversed: visualizers (verbalizers) have more of an intention to use CCPs when they are exposed to abundant textual cues (pictures).\nResearch limitations/implications: This study extends previous research by showing that people frequently use differing heuristics depending on the context; that ratings have an anchoring effect and guide people in selecting a signal to use and condition how they use it; and that visualizers prefer text cues to pictorial cues when trying to make informed decisions under a condition that points to a further information search. These results are opposite of previous assertion.\nPractical implications: Marketers are advised to provide a mechanism by which users can extract the cues they need and reduce the less urgent ones; devise a mechanism that screens participants and divides them into two categories: those who post honest evaluations and those who do not; and reduce the opportunistic behaviors of partners on both sides.\nOriginality/value: The current study addresses consumers' use of information posted by other consumers on CCPs and demonstrates that participants use low ratings and negative reviews as cues implying more searches, use ratings as an anchor to adjust other information, and employ differing cognitive information-processing styles. Previous research rarely addressed these information search behaviors of consumers on CCPs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Using multiple Web resources and inference rules to classify Chinese word semantic relation
|
[
"Ontology",
"Chinese word semantic relation",
"Inference rules",
"Lexical relation",
"Morpho syntactics",
"Semantic relation classification"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Word semantic relation classification is a challenging task for natural language processing. If we can distinguish between different semantic relations, it will have good effects in many natural language processing (NLP) applications. For example, when retrieving information, performance can be improved if carefully extending synonyms (Haas and Riezler, 2015). Word embedding will be more useful when combining thesauri information (Zhang et al., 2014). Knowing the semantic classes of words (e.g. \"trout\" is a kind of fish) can be extremely valuable, give an instance, this is the first step in semantically typing the NP and mapping it to a node in a taxonomy (Kozareva et al., 2008).\n2. Related work: There have been extensive researches on linguistic and cognitive aspects of synonym, antonym, hyponym and meronymy (Murphy, 2003; Lehrer and Lehrer, 1982; Budanitsky and Hirst, 2006). In this section, related works about semantic relation recognition of words are divided into three parts.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Framework of Chinese word semantic relation classification\n4. Experiments and results analysis: 4.1 Data set and evaluation method\n5. Conclusion and future works: Apparently, Chinese word semantic classification is a fundamental task for Chinese information processing. In this paper, we have proposed an algorithm to classify four Chinese word semantic relations, which respectively are synonym, antonym, hyponym and meronymy. Multiple Web resources and inference rules are applied in this paper where utilization of search engine makes it easy and efficient to conduct. Although our method obtained low recall for hyponym and meronymy, it has the ability for initially inference of the semantic relation between words, which can potentially help to improve performance of NLP tasks.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to classify Chinese word semantic relations, which are synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms and meronymys.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Basically, four simple methods are applied, ontology-based, dictionary-based, pattern-based and morpho-syntactic method. The authors make good use of search engine to build lexical and semantic resources for dictionary-based and pattern-based methods. To improve classification performance with more external resources, they also classify the given word pairs in Chinese and in English at the same time by using machine translation.\nFindings: Experimental results show that the approach achieved an average F1 score of 50.87 per cent, an average accuracy of 70.36 per cent and an average recall of 40.05 per cent over all classification tasks. Synonym and antonym classification achieved high accuracy, i.e. above 90 per cent. Moreover, dictionary-based and pattern-based approaches work effectively on final data set.\nOriginality/value: For many natural language processing (NLP) tasks, the step of distinguishing word semantic relation can help to improve system performance, such as information extraction and knowledge graph generation. Currently, common methods for this task rely on large corpora for training or dictionaries and thesauri for inference, where limitation lies in freely data access and keeping built lexical resources up-date. This paper builds a primary system for classifying Chinese word semantic relations by seeking new ways to obtain the external resources efficiently.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
ERP institutionalization: exploring the influential factors
|
[
"Institutional theory",
"Assimilation process",
"Enterprise resource planning (ERP)",
"Institutional change",
"Institutionalization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system has become a core technology in many businesses since the past two decades (Holland and Light, 1999; Davenport, 2000; Gargeya and Brady, 2005; Seddon et al., 2010). Activities involved in development and use of technologies in general and ERP systems in particular are subject to social, cultural, organizational, technical, and other institutional pressures. In many organizations, top management views ERP as simply a software system and its implementation is primarily considered as technical challenge; however, ERP system represents a complex technological innovation for any organization since it fundamentally changes the way the organization operates (Umble et al., 2003; Kumar et al., 2003; Ngai et al., 2008). The process of ERP implementation is not complete when the software is installed. Implementation of ERP in an organization is a continuous process aimed at assimilation of technology within the organizational environment. ERP assimilation could be defined as the extent to which the organization progresses from understanding the ERP system's potential and functionalities to mastering and deploying them in their key value chain processes (Bajwa et al., 2004; Kouki et al., 2006). Once the organization is making optimal advantage of ERP, its use will be taken-for-granted by the organizational stakeholders to contribute to the value of the organization. This taken-for-grantedness to provide value in day-to-day operations results in institutionalization of the ERP system. At this stage, ERP becomes aligned with the organizational environment and achieve social approval and/or political, financial, organizational, and cultural legitimacy (Schutz, 1976; Zucker, 1987; Maheshwari et al., 2010). Looking at ERP implementation through the lens of institutional theory provides fresh insights that may help organizations better understand and manage ERP systems to achieve success.\n2. ERP institutionalization framework: As mentioned before, ERP assimilation refers to the diffusion of ERP usage across organizational business processes and the routinization of activities within these processes. After ERP is implemented in an organization and its usage becomes routinized and embedded within the organization's work processes and value chain activities, it leads to institutionalization of ERP (Kouki et al., 2006; Maheshwari et al., 2010). At this stage, ERP is taken-for-granted by all sub-institutions in the organization. Information system assimilation has been the focus of research activity for a long time. Cooper and Zmud (1990) define initiation, adoption, adaptation, acceptance, routinization and infusion as the six stages of their proposed IT implementation model. Later, Gallivan (2001) divided these six stages into two categories, initiation and adoption as the early stages of assimilation and the rest as the later stages. Bajwa et al. (2004) introduce a five-stage ERP assimilation process called ERP lifecycle starting from awareness for the need of ERP implementation to selection of appropriate package, preparation, implementation and finally operation. It is clear that various authors have explained the same process in different ways. However, this research concurs with Zhu et al. (2006) who suggest initiation, adoption, and routinization as the core elements of IT assimilation process. These three steps embody the pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation stages of ERP assimilation, and thus, provide a more comprehensive foundation for ERP assimilation. A fully assimilated ERP system would bring many tangible and intangible implications for all functional, managerial, strategic and organizational areas of the organization (Gargeya and Brady, 2005; Liang et al., 2007).\n3. Organization's institutional environment: Organizations are influenced by the players in their external environment, such as, competitors, customers, suppliers, business partners, vendors, related industries, government, rules and regulations. Through interaction of organizations with external environment, they could adopt shared notions and routines internally. Besides, they could define how legacy systems of the organization are to be replaced with the new technology.\n4. Research methodology: This research follows a qualitative interpretive approach with an interpretive case study method. Case study research is an appropriate strategy for answering \"how\" and \"why\" questions that investigate a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context especially when the boundaries between these two concepts are not clearly evident (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2009). The authors will be exploring four to five case studies among large Australian organizations that are implementing ERP systems in their organizations. These organizations represent different types of ERP implementation and assimilation arrangements, where these organizations either own ERP solution, partly outsourced ERP, or rely on cloud ERP. This paper presents the result of the first phase of study. In this phase, participants from three large size Australian organizations participated. In order to comply with the conditions sets by ethics committee of the university, case participants of this study cannot be identified by their real names. Therefore, the case participating organizations will be referred to as communication organization, electricity utility organization, and utility distribution organization, and the research participants will be referred to by their job description, for example, enterprise architect, IT manager, business development manager, solution architect, and senior project manager.\n5. ERP assimilation influencing factors: The use of ERP systems is shaped, designed, constructed, and modified by the interests, values, and assumptions of a wide variety of organizational stakeholders (Xue et al., 2004; Kwahk and Ahn, 2009). The theory of social shaping of technology explores the effects of social, organizational, and cultural factors on technology and the processes involved in the introduction of technology in an organization (Law, 2004). The field study conducted so far in this research has highlighted eight critical success factors influencing social and cultural environment of the organization which facilitate the institutionalization of an ERP system.\n6. Conclusions: ERP assimilation is the extent to which the organization has progressed from understanding the ERP system's potential and functionalities to mastering and deploying them in their key value chain processes. A fully assimilated ERP system would bring many tangible and intangible advantages for all functional, managerial, strategic and organizational areas of the organization. However, previous empirical studies report high percentage of failure in achieving pre-determined corporate goals and desired benefits in ERP projects; as they are extremely complex and difficult to implement. After ERP is implemented in an organization and its usage becomes routinized and embedded within the organization's work processes and value chain, it leads to institutionalization of ERP. At this stage, ERP becomes aligned with the organizational environment and achieves social approval and/or legitimacy. Organizational culture changes dramatically by implementing ERP system and institutionalizing its usage within organization, and many organizations have found themselves hard pressed to accomplish this successfully. Organizations should review their organizational culture, the social structure and attributes, and the readiness of management and employees to change throughout all stages of ERP assimilation to improve their chances of successful assimilation of ERP system. In many organizations, top management view ERP as simply a software system and the implementation of ERP as primarily a technical challenge; however, ERP fundamentally changes the way an organization operates.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the external and internal factors that contribute to assimilation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in the organization through the processes of adapting, routinizing and institutionalization of technology.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research follows qualitative interpretive approach. The results produced in this paper are based on thematic analysis of responses from open-ended interviews with ERP stakeholders in large size Australian organizations. The research findings have been further triangulated with surveys and content analysis.\nFindings: This research is still in progress; therefore, this paper presents the results of the field study conducted so far along with the instrument used to collect data. This instrument consists of a list of selected questions based on the thorough review of current information systems literature. However, the major finding of this study, thus far, is that the ERP implementation is a process of aligning technology with organizational, social, cultural, economic, technical, and other organizational environmental institutions.\nResearch limitations/implications: The major research limitation of this study is that it is still in progress, therefore, the results reported in this paper are emergent and not complete. Another limitation of this paper is that it is Australian specific; therefore, the generalizability of the results in other settings cannot be ascertained. Nevertheless, this research contributes to the ERP implementation literature by applying a stage-based model which takes into account the pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation stages of ERP assimilation into an integrated structure.\nPractical implications: This research concludes that ERP assimilation is characterized and shaped by mutual interactions of various organizational, social, cultural, environmental, and other institutional factors. The research framework developed in this study may be mastered as a decision-making tool by business manager to guide the organization through various stages of ERP institutionalization.\nOriginality/value: Institutionalization of ERP technologies is a recent phenomenon and this field is far for being matured. This research is based in Australian settings where they have been no previous study of institutionalization of technology.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Leadership in health care: Developing a post-merger strategy for Europe's largest university hospital
|
[
"Leadership",
"Health services sector",
"Hospital management",
"Strategic planning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: In May 2003 an editorial in Nature drew international attention to \"Berlin's university crisis\" (Anonymous, 2003). Among other structural problems, major cutbacks in federal and state funding for universities have become common throughout Germany. Although the reasons for these cutbacks are varied, they are at least in part due to the tremendous costs of German reunification and the enlargement of the European Union. As part of this trend, the Berlin state legislature passed a bill in 2003, stipulating the merger of Berlin's two medical schools: Charite at Humboldt University in former East Berlin and Benjamin Franklin University Clinic at Free University in former West Berlin. The goal of the merger was to reduce funding to these by 98 million Euros annually by the year 2010 (Wissenschaftsrat, 2003a; Anonymous, 2002a). Current annual funding totals approximately 300 million Euros. This merger created Europe's largest medical school \"Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin\" (Charite - University Medicine Berlin). Since early 2003 Charite has been a public corporation owned and controlled by the state of Berlin (please refer to Table I). Through the health care services it provides, the newly restructured Charite generated an estimated 1.2 billion Euros of revenues annually as of 2003. In addition, the state of Berlin currently provides 300 million Euros in funding per year for medical education and for clinical and basic research (Wissenschaftsrat, 2003a; Anonymous, 2002a). The new school, which belongs to both the Humboldt and the Free University systems, has four campuses (Steglitz, Mitte, Virchow, and Buch; see Figure 1), in addition to affiliations with 24 separate teaching hospitals. The facilities at the Buch campus were sold to a for-profit hospital chain in 2001; however, Charite still runs teaching and research in a public-private partnership. As of 2003, Charite had a total of 3,500 beds for inpatients, as well as numerous outpatient clinics and research facilities. The staff was comprised of 15,000 professional and support personnel working in 128 departments. A total of 8,000 medical students were enrolled in a traditional and a reformed curriculum, both six years long (Wissenschaftsrat, 2003a; Anonymous, 2002a).The key challenges facing the newly restructured entity were to implement a careful post-merger integration; to establish a new management/leadership structure that was unique among public sector health care and university facilities in Germany; to cut annual costs in medical education and research by one-third by 2010; to compete with other health care providers in a fee-for-service system (Ahrens et al., 2005); and to maintain Charite's excellence in medical education and biomedical research.The objective of the case was to new concepts for the future organization, management, and leadership of Charite. We were particularly interested in whether management and staff of the organization, with the help of external consultants, could come up with quantifiable preferences. There are a number of studies published describing the re-engineering of fully integrated university medical centers (Phillips and Rubenstein, 2008), entirely separate teaching hospitals (Schwartzstein et al., 2008), and hybrid models (Levine et al., 2008). However, semi-quantitative methods for scenario development incorporating both internal and external input were not readily available. To our knowledge, this is the first case study describing semi-quantitative and semi-structured interviews as a basis for scenario development and evaluation with traditional methods.\nMethods: For this study, we used the Delphi method and the power questions methodology, analyzed driving forces and very important factors (VIFs), developed scenarios, and subsequently weighted them. The process over time is displayed in Figure 2.In the preparation phase, both internal and external sources and documentation were used to design a questionnaire for the Delphi Method-part of the study (Anonymous, 2002a, b; Seibert, 1999; Sachverstandigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, 2003). The goal of the Delphi method is to gather all pertinent expert information about a pre-defined issue (Sackman, 1974). Uniquely, the experts in our Delphi study are considered to be the employees from all layers of the organization. They were interviewed using a standardized survey (see Appendices 1-4) which does not include input, but asks the interviewees about VIFs and solutions, and subsequently asks them to rate these solutions. Hence, our Delphi study is a type of applied coaching (Smith and Sandstrom, 1999). We used coaching techniques in order to unlock the interviewees' full potential to engage in the survey and create avenues to solutions.In the next phase, data gathered were analyzed and organized by the most important factors. Corrected for minor changes the factors were summarized in two \"Very important factors\" (VIFs): management and funding. Management was defined as the overall impression of the interviewees how well the organization would be run in the future. Funding was defined as the overall impression of the interviewees how well the organization would be funded in the future.Data were sorted on a visual analog scale and grouped into a matrix of positive (+) and negative (-) VIFs. For example, if the interviewee believed that the management structure would develop negatively but the funding would be good, the input would be considered in the matrix field - Management/+Funding (see Figure 2). The combination +Management/+Funding was only chosen by n=2 interviewees and was not further analyzed. We speculate that this VIF combination was not chose as frequently as the other combinations because of the extremely pessimistic outlook that many employees shared for the organization at the time of the study.In the next phase the data from the interviews was analyzed within each VIF group. Consistent ideas and concepts were identified and. Key ideas, combinations and concepts were presented to external experts using power questions. Power questions is a coaching technique. They open up new perspectives, in stark contrast to \"closed\" questions (Smith and Sandstrom, 1999). By using a modified questionnaire based on lateral thinking (De Bono, 1970), managers and executives from Calixto Garcia, (Havana, Cuba) and Ahus Hospital (Ahus, Norway) were asked for other ways to find new ideas, concepts and driving forces. With input from the external experts more concrete future models emerged. After developing these models further they were again discussed with experts. This process was repeated two to three times until the three final scenarios emerged. The results of both rounds of power questions are the basis for developing scenarios.In addition we used conventional methods such as developing scenarios (Schwartz, 1991; Mercer, 1996). and SWOT analysis (Selznick, 1957; Chandler, 1962; Learned, 1965). After describing the findings using these methods, we will discuss the scenarios that were developed. We will also discuss advantages and disadvantages of the non-conventional methods (Delphi method, VIFs, Power questions) that we used.\nResults: We developed three different scenarios.Collaboration scenario\nDiscussion: What is the optimal future for Charite? Several different concepts have appeared on the horizon since the Delphi Study was conducted using the input of employees and management of Charite.In sum, Charite must either cut costs and/or increase revenues in order to cope with cuts in funding from the state of Berlin. Ideally, funding from the state of Berlin would be used only for research and teaching, whereas revenues from insurance companies and private patients would cover the costs of health care. However, currently no precise distinction is made between the two forms of revenue, and there is no cost accounting at the present time. As a result, the cut in funding from the state of Berlin will undoubtedly have considerable repercussions in both areas.Overall, the possibilities to increase profitability are:* to raise prices;* to drop certain unprofitable programs and limit the current range of products/services in health care, research, and/or teaching;* to reengineer Charite operations and optimize processes in order to raise efficiency;* to increase capacities in profitable areas; and* to establish products and services in new and profitable fields.Raising prices\nConclusions: In complex mergers of knowledge-driven organizations, the employees of the own organization (in addition to external resources) might be tapped as a valuable source for input before a strategy is being developed.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper's aim is to identify existing and developing new concepts of organization, management, and leadership at a large European university hospital; and to evaluate whether mixed qualitative-quantitative methods with both internal and external input can provide helpful views of the possible future of large health care providers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using the Delphi method in semi-structured, semi-quantitative interviews, with managers and employees as experts, the authors performed a vertical and a horizontal internal analysis. In addition, input from innovative faculties in other countries was obtained through structured power questions. These two sources were used to create three final scenarios, which evaluated using traditional strategic planning methods.\nFindings: - There is found a collaboration scenario in which faculty and hospital are separated; a split scenario which divides the organization into three independent hospitals; and a corporation scenario in which corporate activities are bundled in three separate entities.\nPractical implications: - In complex mergers of knowledge-driven organizations, the employees of the own organization (in addition to external consultants) might be tapped as a knowledge resource to successful future business models.\nOriginality/value: - The paper uses a real world consulting case to present a new set of methods for strategic planning in large health care provider organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Unlearned lessons from the past: an insider's view of Enron's downfall
|
[
"Ethics",
"Governance",
"Organizational culture",
"Leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Alan P. Warnick was the Vice President of Organization Development and Training for Enron Operations and was an insider during the years leading up to the corporation's downfall. His previous experience also includes positions as Chief Human Resources Officer for Enron Chemical and Great Lakes Chemical Corporations, General Manager of Human Resources Strategy and Change at Reliant Energy, and a consultant with Chase Manhattan Bank and American Training. Al is a senior level human resources executive with broad experience in large, multidivisional and international corporate environments. He has initiated and led many large-scale organizational change projects focused on building organizational capability. He has substantial experience in reengineering critical HR processes, working with business units to develop high impact people strategies, and realigning the mission, role, and structure of the HR function. He has extensive background in mergers and acquisitions, business ethics, culture change, and organization development and learning. His corporate accomplishments have been widely published and cited in leading professional journals and magazines, and he has been a guest speaker at numerous management meetings and professional conferences. Al is currently the interim department head and executive-in-residence in the Department of Management and Human Resources at Utah State University.\nInterview: Authors\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to capture an insider's view of the organizational culture and management practices that contributed to the downfall of Enron. In light of the current worldwide financial and economic crisis, this article aims to highlight some of the unlearned lessons from the past.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative interview case study was used for the basis of this paper.\nFindings: - This article shares an insider's (former vice president's) insights related to the practices and culture that led to Enron's unethical decisions and strategies. It discusses one man's view of the history of Enron, as well as what should have been learned and applied to the global financial industry to help to minimize or even avoid today's painful economic crisis.\nPractical implications: - Six main causes of unethical behavior for individuals in organizations are outlined, and important lessons learned are presented. The article also discusses the importance of reflecting and remaining inwardly vigilant, while outwardly thinking of and serving others.\nOriginality/value: - The information for this article was based upon an original interview.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Executive coaching: The effect of working alliance discrepancy on the development of coachees' self-efficacy
|
[
"Executive coaching",
"Coaching relationship",
"Working alliance",
"Discrepancy",
"Self‐efficacy",
"Management development",
"Leader ship"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Executive coaching has come to play a key role in the field of leadership and management development (O'Leonard, 2009; Bono et al., 2009). A recent survey from the Conference Board of Canada (Hughes and Campbell, 2009) revealed that 72 percent of organizations surveyed use coaching to support leadership development. However, despite its growing popularity in applied settings, this developmental intervention has to date received little attention in empirical research. Few rigorous quantitative empirical studies have been conducted, and most of them have focused on the effectiveness of coaching (Kampa-Kokesch and Anderson, 2001; Smither et al., 2003).With respect to the coaching process or, in other words, the conditions favoring effective executive coaching, numerous authors have suggested that a good working relationship constitutes an essential condition for successful executive coaching (Kilburg, 2001; Kampa-Kokesch and Anderson, 2001; Lowman, 2005; Kampa and White, 2002). Although the impact of the working alliance on treatment outcomes has been widely documented in the psychotherapy literature (Castonguay et al., 2006; Horvath, 2005; Martin et al., 2000), to our knowledge, only a very small number of studies have investigated the concept of working alliance in a coaching context (Baron and Morin, 2009; Berry, 2005; Dingman, 2004). Furthermore, none of these empirical studies have compared the working alliance ratings of the coach and coachee. What happens when these two individuals have a different perception of the working alliance between them? This question is very pertinent, given that in a psychotherapeutic context, similar client-therapist alliance ratings in the middle and late phases of treatment are positively linked with treatment outcomes (Horvath and Bedi, 2002).The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of working alliance rating discrepancies on the development of coachees' self-efficacy. This study endeavored to contribute to the literature in two ways. First, it aimed to increase our knowledge of the working alliance concept in the context of executive coaching. Although, authors have suggested that this variable plays a key role in coaching effectiveness, empirical research is lacking on the topic. Second, and most importantly, this study intended to delve deeper into the complexities of the coaching process. Given the increased use of executive coaching by organizations, an understanding of the conditions under which coaching is most effective is highly relevant (Paradise and Mosley, 2009).\nConceptual framework: Executive coaching\nMethod: Field setting\nResults: Preliminary analyses\nDiscussion: The objective of this study was to explore the effect of working alliance rating discrepancies on one key coaching outcome, namely self-efficacy. Our results indicate that coachees having worked with coaches who overestimate the working alliance experienced less growth in self-efficacy than coachees having worked with coaches who accurately estimated the working alliance and that coachees having worked with coaches who accurately estimated the working alliance experienced less growth in self-efficacy than coachees having worked with coaches who underestimated the working alliance. Thus, in this study, coaches' underestimation of the working alliance is the best predictor of post-coaching self-efficacy in coachees. This result differs from findings in the psychotherapy literature, which have shown that similarity or low client-therapist rating discrepancies in working alliance is the best predictor of positive therapy outcomes (Hersoug et al., 2002; Kivlighan and Shaughnessy, 1995).One possible explanation for our findings comes from de Haan (2008, p. 104), who advances that:[...] coaches all have the tendency to want to eliminate doubts and anxieties. [...] The more we coach, the more we ourselves build up long-term defenses against our tensions and existential doubts without realizing it. This is perhaps the main reason why inexperienced therapists often appear to perform better than experienced ones (Dumont, 1991). They set to work with more enthusiasm, involvement and vulnerability.In consequence, this author encourages coaches to coach with an \"ongoing and deliberately maintained doubt as their only certainty\" (p. 106). According to this argument, coaches who overestimate the alliance with their coachee may feel overconfident about the coaching they are providing, which might lead them to be less sensitive to signs of what the coachee is experiencing, and not take the initiative to verify the coachee's comfort level with the way coaching is proceeding. On the other hand, coaches who underestimate the alliance with their coachee may be more humble and have more doubts about their capacity to support the development of others. This stance may lead them to pay closer attention to what the client is experiencing and, consequently, to offer a coaching that is more person-centered than problem-centered. Since the \"only thing the coach can actually influence to exert albeit an indirect influence on the outcome of coaching is the relationship between coach and coachee\" (de Haan, 2008, p. 53), a coach who puts greater emphasis on the coaching relationship might provide better support to the development of others and, in so doing, facilitate the enhancement of others' self-efficacy.Another explanation for our findings rests on a coach's inability to perceive what is called an alliance rupture or a breakdown in the collaborative process in the psychotherapy literature (Safran and Muran, 2006). This inability might be as detrimental in the context of executive coaching as it is in the psychotherapy context (Safran and Muran, 1996, 2000). In line, results from empirical studies have suggested that, when faced with therapeutic impasses, therapists' rigid adherence to prescribed techniques failed to repair such ruptures and even exacerbated them (Castonguay et al., 1996). These results suggest that in a coaching context, a coach who feels that the working alliance or the coachee are not developing as well as they should be might become more concerned with procedures and results. This in turn would negatively impact the coachee. A coach absolutely needs to be sensitive to the coach-coachee interaction during the session, in the here and now (Rogers, 1961).Results for this study have important practical implications for coaching. First, they suggest that a coach should regularly evaluate the working alliance with his or her coachee to make sure that he or she adequately perceives feelings from the client in regard to the coaching process. To do so, one might use a formal questionnaire (e.g. the WAI-S) or simply proceed with an open discussion. If this (regular) exercise reveals a gap in working alliance perceptions, addressing that gap should take precedence over all other goals for the coach (Castonguay et al., 2006). To maximize success, coaches can also take into account advice given to therapists about the working alliance (Safran et al., 2001, 1990). This advice is as follows: First, therapists should be aware that patients often have negative feelings about the way therapy is going or the therapeutic relationship, but fearing the negative reactions of their therapist, they are reluctant to address them. Therapists should thus take the initiative in exploring what is transpiring in the relationship when signs of alliance rupture appear, for instance overt expression of negative sentiments, hostility, disagreement about the goals or tasks, and compliance and avoidance maneuvers, to name a few (for an extended review of alliance rupture markers, Safran et al., 1990). Second, it is important for clients to have the opportunity to express negative feelings about the therapeutic process, should they emerge. Third, when this takes place, therapists should adopt an open, non-defensive stance and accept responsibility for their contribution to the interaction, while empathizing with the client's experience.Some research evidence suggests that resolution of working alliance impasses can be potential change events associated with good therapy outcomes. For this reason, coaches must be sensitized to the importance of addressing these impasses, even though it may be an uncomfortable or threatening experience for them - \"one that activates concerns around competency as a [coach] \" (Safran et al., 1990, p. 164). This clarification of what each party is experiencing could also allow the coachee to gain an awareness of the role he or she plays in the difficulties encountered in the coaching relationship, which in turn could help the coachee to adopt a different stance from that point forward. In summary, a coach should exercise caution about his or her perceptions of what is going on in the coaching room, and not take for granted the satisfaction of his or her client.Limitations\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Despite its growing popularity in applied settings, executive coaching has to date received little attention in empirical research, especially in regard to the coaching process. This paper aims to investigate the effect of working alliance rating discrepancies on the development of coachees' self-efficacy, a key outcome in leadership development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper reports on a pre- post-test study of a leadership development program taking place in a large North American manufacturing company. Data were collected from two samples: managers receiving coaching over an eight-month period and internal certified coaches. In total, 30 coach-coachee dyads were analyzed.\nFindings: - Results from an analysis of covariance did not support the authors' hypothesis, by indicating that coachees having worked with a coach who underestimated the working alliance, in relation to his or her coachee, experienced more growth in self-efficacy than coachees who worked with a coach who either accurately estimated or overestimated the working alliance.\nPractical implications: - The results sugges that coaches should coach with an \"ongoing and deliberately maintained doubt as their only certainty\". The importance for coaches to be sensitive to signs of what the coachee is experiencing, and to take the initiative to verify the coachee's comfort level with the way coaching is proceeding is addressed.\nOriginality/value: - This study intended to delve deeper into the complexities of the coaching process by linking a key coaching process variable, the relationship, to coaching outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Glocalizing cures for China's brain drain ills: The Thousand Talents Plan in Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangdong
|
[
"China",
"Comparative education",
"Glocalization",
"Human capital",
"Brain drain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The exodus of talented and educated people out of a given society is referred to as brain drain (Baldwin, 1970). This phenomenon has negatively impacted a diverse range of communities across the world, but has been especially detrimental to non-western nations since the end of the Second World War. These areas have often sent students abroad to learn from more technologically advanced nations, leading to permanent migration of many top minds. Since the opening up and reforms of the late 1970s, the educational sector in the People's Republic of China (PRC or China) has heavily focused on this kind of migration outflow (Hayhoe and Zha, 2004). There has been a guiding principal that the nation needed to better develop human capital to properly modernize and grow the economy, despite the risks of losing the best and brightest to brain drain (Hou, 2001).\n2. Human capital theory and brain drain in Chinese development: Human capital theory posits that a nation or society can modernize and develop through an investment in its people (Schultz, 1961). Education and training are the most important aspects to human capital development (Becker, 1994). This theory was largely tied to modernization, an umbrella theory on state development that viewed societies in certain stages, moving from traditional to modern (Rostow, 1991). These developmental theories were born out of the Cold War's geopolitical and ideological fight between the Soviet bloc and the US western-led bloc, as each power attempted to mold still developing nations, then called the \"third world,\" in their own interests (Steiner-Khamsi, 2006). Human capital theory grew from this development fight, with an added theoretical framework that placed an importance on individual citizens need to be educated and trained to become modern (see Inkeles and Smith, 1974 for early theory building). The importance of education and training, combined with capacity issues in still developing nations, has created a global flow of students migrating for educational purposes, often in the direction of the so-called Global South to North (see analysis from Castles, 2009).\n3. Case study cities and policies: While the central government unveiled its own national recruitment policy, municipalities were able to glocalize their own approaches to their plans, pinpointing narrower needs and using local characteristics as an advantage. The chosen metropolises and geographic areas are critical to Chinese economic development - all located on China's affluent eastern coast, which accounts for a lion's share of GDP growth and development for the Chinese economy. The regions also contain the top three special economic zones (SEZs): Bohai Bay, Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta. These areas are ripe with international expansion and hotbeds of innovation in the research and development sectors. Often they have been the epicenters for the so-called floating population of migrants (Zhang et al., 2017). But, with the economy slowing in recent years and factory labor needs cooling, high-level human capital endeavors may only become more important, as the nation hopes that innovation from human capital will continue the growth. This competitive aspect is important because the national plan allowed talents to choose any city, meaning the glocal versions should highlight parochial characteristics. The following analysis has been dichotomized from each of the localities' individual plans, explaining how each looked to glocalize their recruitment of global human capital.\n4. Implications and conclusion: Brain drain continues to be an ill related to unequal social development. Around the world, societies lose their best and brightest to other more affluent areas. While this is a global problem, solutions must be adapted to fit local contexts. Each of the areas in the study had their glocalized versions of the national human capital projection. Shanghai attempted to use its economic prowess to recruit even more talented entrepreneurs and scientists. Likewise, Tianjin aimed at attracting sophisticated experts by building high-density state-of-the-art zones for the concentrated experts. Guangdong focused on its proximity to highly skilled Chinese populations in Hong Kong and also on team recruitment efforts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Chinese Central Government's plan to alleviate brain drain, called the Thousand Talents Plan, has been glocalized by three major local governments: Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangdong.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The lens of glocalization pays special attention to the impact of local reactions to global forces. Materials from the Recruitment Program of Global Experts for three major cases were examined for glocal characteristics. An analysis of each case was carried out to compare the strategies and implementations to explore the individual glocalizations and larger national similarities.\nFindings: The findings show that each of the localities has distinct regional variations in their strategies: Shanghai utilized its economic prowess, Tianjin focused on clustering experts, and Guangdong maximized its geographic proximity to Hong Kong. At the same time, all three policies were still rooted in human capital development theory, with a keen emphasis to attracting migrants with greater propensity for staying long term in China.\nOriginality/value: The study of brain drain is important because it is a problem that plagues communities around the world, especially non-western societies. While China's tactics to combat brain drain have been examined, the consideration of glocalization in the cases of Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangdong have not been carried out.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Emerging risks in out-of-hours primary care services
|
[
"Primary care",
"Health services",
"Medical care"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The implementation of the new general medical services contract (nGMS) in April 2004 brought about major changes to primary care (NHS Confederation and General Practitioners Committee, 2003). One of these changes gave GPs the opportunity to opt out of providing out-of-hours (OOH) services - passing responsibility for commissioning and delivering these services to primary care organisations (PCOs) in December 2004.Patient care is provided by OOH services for 70 per cent of the week (ie, Monday-Friday, the hours outside normal GP surgery opening times (18.30-08.00); Saturdays, Sundays and bank and public holidays). This represents a huge strategic change in the NHS as well as a challenge to maintain a high quality of OOH service provision.PCOs need to ensure that OOH services (commissioned or provided in house) are underpinned by robust corporate and clinical governance systems and processes and meet the National Quality Requirements in the Delivery of Out-of-hours services (NHS Executive, 2006). These quality requirements have been developed following the Carson report and Standards for Better Health (NHS Executive, 2000 and 2004).Implementing risk management strategies (identifying and assessing the risks within the organisation and ways of delivering services) is paramount for providing and maintaining a quality and safe service to patients (Price et al., 2005). Is this being done? The National Audit Office says that OOH providers are beginning to deliver a satisfactory standard of service but the vast majority are not yet meeting all the national quality requirements, particularly on speed and response (National Audit Office, 2006). The report goes on to state that \"there were some shortcomings in the initial commissioning process because PCTs lacked experience, time and reliable management data\".This article reviews the complaints and claims related to OOH services that have been reported to the Medical Protection Society since the nGMS contract came into force to try and uncover some of the emerging risks in this service.\nWhat does the new service look like?: Before April 2004 GPs provided their own OOH services - many through GP co-operatives (where local GPs would join together and pool their responsibilities through a rota system). According to the National Association of GP Co-operatives (NAGPC) there were over 300 GP co-operatives in operation. The NAGCP represented and supported co-operatives but closed in November 2005 saying that \"it has been increasingly difficult to represent service providers and the service has become significantly fragmented\" (National Association of GP Co-operatives, 2005).Hurst states that only 3 per cent of GPs intended to continue providing OOH services and, as of April 2005, the National Audit Office says that 75 per cent of service provision was PCT organised or contracted through co-operatives and similar companies, with the remaining 25 per cent provided by commercial providers (Hurst, 2006; National Audit Office, 2006).Two-thirds of the former GP co-operatives have now disappeared - at least 75 per cent of the service provision is organised by the NHS, contracted through co-operatives of various types, with the remaining 25 per cent provided by commercial organisations. Most providers are now introducing multidisciplinary teams (doctors, nurses, emergency care practitioners and paramedics) into their organisations. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are taking on more responsibility.A recent MPS survey of more than 50 companies providing OOH services found that 21 per cent have nurses that prescribe and 44 per cent have nurses that triage. It is widely believed that the role of non-medically trained staff will also increase as a result of the difficulty in getting doctors to work out of hours and the cost implications.There is therefore no common model of OOH provision, with differences existing across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Care may be delivered in the following ways:1. PCOs run or commission an NHS organisation to provide the OOH services.2. The PCO commissions an OOH provider to deliver the service This may be in the form of:*a commercial organisation;*a GP co-operative that continues in its current form as a Company Limited by Guarantee; and*a community benefit society.3. GPs, particularly in rural areas, do not opt out and continue to provide OOH services, as before the nGMS Contract.This is a complex picture of service. However, irrespective of the provider arrangements all service providers must comply with the OOH standards and provide a quality and safe service for patients.The Medical Protection Society, the largest provider of indemnity for OOH providers, estimates that there are approximately 70 co-operative type companies providing these services. These organisations vary hugely in size - providing care for between 55,000 and more than 3 million patients. There are at least seven companies that provide services for more than one million patients. The structure of some of these larger providers is becoming increasingly complex.Many of the larger providers have decided that they need to become more commercial, taking on other contracts, such as providing care for army personnel or inmates at local prisons. As an example, one company offers a broader range of services including providing emergency in-hours cover and a locum bank to help the PCT meet 48-hour access targets. From the MPS questionnaire, 89 per cent of organisations are now offering some in-hours services.How has this new, complex landscape of OOH care affected the risks for patients?\nEmerging themes of risk related to OOH service: Before the nGMS contract\nAnalysis of MPS complaints and claims: Rudeness and attitude\nOOH risk assessment: MPS Risk Consulting (MPSrc) undertakes risk assessments of general practices, prison medical services and latterly out-of-hours providers.Key recommendations found from these risk assessments include:*Train staff in the importance of reporting patient safety incidents and near misses. Improve the use of other healthcare professionals (e.g. using qualified nurses to take on greater responsibilities in the provision of out-of-hours).*Develop mandatory training and staff induction programmes.*Review all aspects of health and safety legislation in accordance with the Health and Safety Act 1974.*Discuss and agree contingency plans for use in the predicted influenza pandemic.*Review communication within the organisation. Hold regular team meetings, which are essential to help communication between staff and to discuss problems. This can be difficult to organise due to the majority of the staff employed working part time for the provider and being OOH.*The record system should be regularly audited to ensure that all patient contacts and home visit consultations are recorded on the computer and that the record contains adequate details.\nExample audit of record system: The audit could examine:*Type of contact (Advice, Primary Care Centre or Visit).*Was the record medically understandable (i.e. were incomprehensible terms or abbreviations used which would not make sense to another doctor?)?*Was the record medically appropriate (i.e. was the diagnosis and management compatible with the other information recorded?)?*Was an adequate history recorded (i.e. sufficient to defend the doctor's actions in the event of complaint)?*Was the examination adequate (i.e. sufficient to defend the doctor's actions in the event of complaint/claim)?*Was the diagnosis recorded (this could include a differential diagnosis or a symptom or sign requiring further elucidation)?*Was the advice to the patient recorded?*Was medication, including dosage, recorded?*Was the follow-up care clear in the record?\nConclusion: The delivery of safe OOH care requires a special set of skills, particularly communication skills. Patients contacting these organisations normally do so by phone, often in a distressed state. Indeed it may well not be the patient who makes contact initially, but a friend or relative. Their medical history is almost certainly not known.It is difficult for OOH providers to put themselves in a position to make a clinical judgement about the patient before offering advice. Training in these skills is essential, particularly where children are concerned.However, the heterogeneity of the commissioners and suppliers of these services means that there it is difficult to develop common ground. The early evidence is that many complaints and claims revolve around rudeness and attitude yet the quality requirements all focus on working arrangements rather than soft skills. These soft skills are essential in providing quality care.More research is needed on the genesis of OOH complaints. Are the communication needs different for patients in OOH situations? Are the communication skills of doctors working in OOH situations superior to, or even equal to, their in-hours colleagues?More attention should be focused on what is happening out of hours (national complaints statistics, for example, are not currently broken by OOH and in-hours).In the future, the picture looks set to become more complicated. The government's white paper on community services calls for more flexibility on GP opening hours (Department of Health, 2006). The in-hours/out-of-hours boundary looks likely to blur even further.The MPS experience suggests that problems with communication are an emerging concern for OOH care. Suppliers and commissioners of OOH care have an opportunity to develop programmes of training and support to address this issue.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of recent changes to out-of-hours primary care services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The changes to out-of-hours primary care services since the introduction of the new GP contract in 2004 are considered. A recent survey of out-of-hours providers helps to give a view of how these organisations have diversified. An analysis of recent claims and complaints handled by the Medical Protection Society highlights the risks of this new approach.\nFindings: - There have been significant changes in the way that out-of-hours care is delivered and this has led to a number of emerging risks. In particular, problems with communication skills are the most frequently occurring factor in out-of-hours incidents.\nPractical implications: - Quality standards currently focus on working practices, rather than soft skills such as communication. Training for out-of-hours providers in these skills is essential, particularly where children are concerned.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights the areas of risk which contribute to substandard out-of-hours care.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Leader behavior and LMX: a constructive replication
|
[
"United States of America, Leadership",
"Managers",
"Employees behaviour",
"Leader behaviour",
"Leader‐member exchange"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory describes the dyadic process by which a leader develops a relationship with each subordinate (Dansereau et al., 1975; Graen and Cashman, 1975). The theory emphasizes that a leader's relationship often varies from one subordinate to another and that high quality LMX relationships are developed with some subordinates whereas low quality LMX relationships are developed with other subordinates. LMX has been found to correlate positively with several desirable outcomes, including: subordinate performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment (Gerstner and Day, 1997). Liao et al. (2010) also recently found a statistically significant relationship between LMX and employee creativity, and Wilson et al. (2010) speculated that there are likely additional benefits of achieving high LMX relationships such as employee willingness to share important information with the leader.Studies on antecedents of LMX have examined leader and member characteristics (Nahrgang et al., 2009; Schyns et al., 2008), temporary versus full time employment status of the subordinate (Lamude et al., 2000), and a leader's upward and lateral social network ties (Venkataramani et al., 2010). A recent study by Mahsud et al. (2010) found that relations-oriented behavior fully mediated the effects of leader empathy on LMX, and their findings suggest that leader behavior has a more direct effect on LMX than other leader characteristics that have been examined as antecedents of LMX.Only a few studies have included leader behavior as the focal antecedent of LMX, and they have limitations that make it difficult to determine how leaders actually influence exchange relationships. One limitation is to use only a broadly-defined measure of transformational leadership behavior as the antecedent (Yukl, 1999, 2010). Transformational leadership involves behaviors that motivate subordinates to achieve more than they initially expected (Bass, 1985). In total, eight studies found that LMX was related to a composite measure of transformational leadership (Basu and Green, 1997; Bettencourt, 2004; Howell and Hall-Merenda, 1999; Lee, 2008; Piccolo and Colquitt, 2006; Pillai et al., 1999; Tse and Lam, 2008; Wang et al., 2005). A study by Deluga (1992) examined how specific types of transformational leader behavior are related to LMX; in the multiple regression analysis a statistically significant positive relationship was found for individualized consideration and idealized influence, but not for inspirational motivation or intellectual stimulation. The study showed that specific component behaviors have different effects on LMX, and when only the meta-category is used in an analysis these differences will not be discovered. Another limitation of the earlier studies is failure to include some types of leadership behavior likely to influence LMX but not included in the measure of transformational or transactional leadership, such as recognizing, consulting, and delegating. Taken together, these two limitations mean that it is difficult to interpret a significant correlation between transformational leadership and LMX.A recent study by Yukl et al. (2009) included a much broader range of specific leader behaviors and found that several of these behaviors had positive, independent effects on the quality of the leader-member exchange relationship. However, the Yukl et al. (2009) study did not include the transformational behavior called \"intellectual stimulation,\" which involves encouraging subordinates to question their assumptions about the work and find better ways to do it (Bass, 1985). In addition, the Yukl et al. (2009) study employed the LMX-7, which some scholars view as too limited in scope as a measure of exchange relationships.The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the results from the study by Yukl et al. (2009) with a different sample, a different measure of LMX, and a more comprehensive measure of leadership behavior. The present study includes an important transformational behavior that was not in the study by Yukl et al. (2009), and it uses the LMX-MDM rather than the LMX-7 as the measure of leader-member relations. The LMX-MDM was developed by Liden and Maslyn (1998) to address what they saw as deficiency in the LMX-7. Liden and Maslyn (1998) found that the LMX-MDM explained more variance than the LMX-7 when predicting various outcome variables such as satisfaction with supervision and turnover intentions. Replication studies offer the opportunity to further validate or disconfirm the results of prior studies, and they are especially beneficial for verifying the findings of same-source survey studies. A replication can demonstrate that the findings from an earlier same-source survey study were not merely statistical artifacts or exclusive to the original sample (Schwab, 2005).\nHypotheses: As this study is a constructive replication, the hypotheses are similar to those in Yukl et al. (2009). Each of the five hypotheses is listed next, and a more detailed rationale for each hypothesis can be found in the article by Yukl et al. (2009):H1. The amount of supporting behavior used by a manager with a subordinate is positively related to the quality of the exchange relationship with the subordinate.Supporting behavior was explicitly mentioned in the early LMX literature as a type of behavior that fosters a high exchange relationship (Graen and Cashman, 1975). Supporting is similar to individualized consideration in transformational leadership theory. A positive relationship between the amount of supporting behavior used by a manager and LMX was found in Yukl et al. (2009):H2. The amount of developing behavior used by a manager with a subordinate is positively related to the quality of the exchange relationship with the subordinate.Developing includes coaching and developmental opportunities to increase a subordinate's relevant skills and advance the subordinate's career. This type of leadership behavior is likely to increase a subordinate's perception that the leader cares about the welfare of the subordinate. Developing was correlated with LMX in the study by Yukl et al. (2009), but it was not a statistically significant predictor in the multiple regression analysis:H3. The amount of recognizing behavior used by a manager with a subordinate is positively related to the quality of the exchange relationship with the subordinate.Recognition of a subordinate's achievements and contributions to the work unit shows appreciation of the subordinate and is likely to improve the interpersonal relationship. A positive relationship between the amount of recognizing behavior used by a manager and LMX was found in Yukl et al. (2009):H4. The amount of consulting behavior used by a manager with a subordinate is positively related to the quality of the exchange relationship with the subordinate.Consulting involves checking with people before making decisions that affect them, encouraging participation in decision making, and using the ideas and suggestions of others. This type of behavior signals that the leader respects and values a subordinate's ideas, and it is consistent with the conception of a high quality exchange relationship in LMX theory. A positive relationship between the amount of consulting behavior used by a manager and LMX was found by Yukl et al. (2009):H5. The amount of delegation used by a manager with a subordinate is positively related to the quality of the exchange relationship with the subordinate.Delegating is another key leader behavior suggested by LMX theory for a high-exchange relationship. Delegated responsibilities convey a leader's confidence in a subordinate's skills and motivation, which can enhance the subordinate's view of that relationship (Yukl et al., 2009). Yukl et al. (2009) found a statistically significant and positive relationship between the amount of delegation used by a manager and LMX, and it is likely that reciprocal causality is involved.No hypotheses were proposed for three \"transformational\" behaviors that are not relations-oriented (e.g. envisioning, leading by example, and encouraging innovative thinking). There is no strong conceptual framework to explain a causal effect, and in each case there are good reasons to doubt that a positive effect will occur. Envisioning is similar to inspirational motivation in transformational leadership theory, and it was not a statistically significant predictor of LMX in the study by Yukl et al. (2009). Leaders with a radical vision often alienate subordinates who do not share their values and priorities or who doubt that the vision is feasible. Mutual trust and respect will be undermined for subordinates who resist the sacrifices and changes required to implement the leader's vision.Leading by example is similar to idealized influence in transformational leadership theory, and a statistically significant relationship was found with LMX in the earlier study. However, there are credible reasons why a relationship may only occur in limited situations. Leading by example may impress subordinates that the leader actually believes in his/her espoused values and priorities, but subordinates may not agree with those values (Yukl et al., 2009). Moreover, the behaviors modeled by the leader may not motivate subordinates to improve their task performance. For example, the leader may demonstrate compliance with bureaucratic rules and regulations or loyalty to traditional strategies that are no longer relevant for effective performance.Encouraging innovation is similar to intellectual stimulation in transformational leadership theory. This behavior was not included in the earlier study, but it is unlikely to improve relations with subordinates if it raises fears that the leader wants to make changes that are not beneficial to them. For example, if the leader encourages subordinates to find ways to do the work more efficiently, they may perceive it as an effort to exploit them and to dismiss some of them who are no longer needed.\nMethods: Sample\nResults: Table I shows the alpha values for the eleven leader behavior scales. Alpha values for the MPS scales ranged from 0.87 to 0.96. Most of the behavior scale scores were slightly lower in the present study than in the study by Yukl et al. (2009), but the standard deviations are similar to those in the earlier study. Table II shows the zero-order correlations between LMX and each of the leader behaviors in the present study. As is typical for leader behavior description questionnaires, many of the behaviors were moderately or highly inter-correlated. The correlations between each leader behavior and LMX are consistent with the findings in Yukl et al. (2009). Consistent with our five hypotheses, supporting, recognizing, developing, consulting, and delegating had high correlations with LMX.A multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationships when controlling for inter-correlations among behaviors. Leader-member exchange was regressed onto the eleven leader behaviors, which is a similar procedure to the one used in the final step of the regression analysis by Yukl et al. (2009). Table III shows the results of the regression analysis for the present study.Supporting, delegating, and leading by example each had a statistically significant relationship with LMX in the regression analysis. Recognizing, developing, and consulting behaviors were not statistically significant predictors of LMX. Statistically significant results were not found for any of the three task-oriented behaviors (clarifying, short-term planning, and monitoring operations) or for envisioning change or encouraging innovative thinking.\nDiscussion: The present study is the first to test the relationship between LMX as measured by the LMX-MDM and a wide range of leader behaviors that may be antecedents of LMX. As in the study by Yukl et al. (2009), statistically significant zero-order correlations were found between LMX and each of the five relations-oriented behaviors (supporting, recognizing, developing, consulting, and delegating) and with leading by example. In the multiple regression analysis we replicated the finding by Yukl et al. (2009) that supporting and leading by example were statistically significant predictors of LMX, and these results are also consistent with the results found by Deluga (1992). We also replicated the results for delegation as a predictor of LMX in the study by Yukl et al. (2009), but unlike their study, our results for recognizing and consulting were not statistically significant. One possible explanation for the discrepant results is the use of a different LMX measure in each study. It may be helpful in future studies to include both of the LMX measures. The high inter-correlations among the behaviors and the reliance on a same-source measure of LMX are other possible reasons for the discrepant results. Future studies should include an independent measure of leader behavior and investigation of relationships as they develop over time.Leading by example had a considerably stronger relationship with LMX in the current study than in the study by Yukl et al. (2009). An experimental design would be useful to determine the relative influence of the different behaviors on LMX and to resolve the discrepant results in the two studies for recognizing and consulting.Implications for theory\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to determine if the relationships found between a leader's behavior and the quality of the exchange relationship with a subordinate can be replicated using a different measure of leader-member exchange (LMX) and a different sample.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper reports the result of a survey study with a sample of 239 employees who rated specific behaviors of their manager and the quality of the LMX relationship.\nFindings: - In a regression analysis that included several other important leader behaviors, supporting, delegating, and leading by example were statistically significant predictors of LMX.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings suggest that the positive relationship found in several earlier studies between LMX and a broad measure of transformational leadership was not interpreted correctly.\nPractical implications: - The results from this study identify specific leader behaviors that are likely to be useful for developing a stronger exchange relationship with individual subordinates.\nSocial implications: - The leader behaviors identified in the present study also have clear implications for the effectiveness of top executives and political leaders.\nOriginality/value: - More types of leadership behavior were measured than in earlier LMX studies, the limitations of broadly-defined behaviors were avoided, and a different measure of LMX was used than in most prior studies on the relationship of leader behaviors to LMX.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effects of customer service management on business performance in Malaysian banking industry: an empirical analysis
|
[
"Customer service management",
"Business performance",
"Banking",
"Malaysia",
"Linear structure equation modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Malaysia, formed in 1963, is a country consisting of 13 states and three federal territories. The population is around 24 million people across a 329,733km2 land area. In 1997, the country endured the Asian financial crisis that saw the country's gross domestic product shrink by 7 per cent. However the GDP bounced back to 5.3 per cent in 2003 and surged to 8 per cent in the mid of 2004. To the country's economy, the past eight years has been volatile and erratic. Many Asian countries have suffered the economic and financial setbacks similar to Malaysia. While some of them opted for IMF assistance, Malaysia remains steadfast with its economic and monetary governance.The banking industry underwent a consolidation exercise in 1999 in which 54 domestic banks merged to form ten domestic anchor banks to meet the challenges of globalisation and liberalisation (see Table I).The aftermath of the consolidation led to radical changes in the way these enterprises conduct businesses. While the domestic anchor banks regroup from the massive consolidations, foreign banks seized the opportunity to impose themselves in the industry. With the banking industry opened to foreign competition in 2007 through liberalisation and globalisation, the competition in the banking industry is expected to intensify dramatically. As the market begins to saturate, customer retention will be a key factor in determining the success of enterprises. In short, under such intense competition the bank that has the largest customer base and highest customer retention rate will be a market leader in the industry. Ultimately the quality of customer service becomes a driving force in ascertaining business survival in the banking industry (Tang and Zairi, 1998).As mentioned, the degradation of customer service level is highly probable. According to Khong and Richardson (2003), when customer service level is compromised during bank mergers there is a high possibility that business performance will be affected as well. Therefore merged banks are not guaranteed immediate success albeit the merger plan is preparing them to meet the challenges of globalisation and liberalisation. Although the rationalisation of resources allocation and business processes such as customer service, human resource and productivity is inevitable, these problems can be resolved with proper integration and management transitions. As such, the maintenance of customer service level, when consolidation is put into practice, necessitates the need for effective customer service management (CSM). Hence, with effective management of customer service, business performance of banks and finance companies can be improved.Consequently it is the aim of this paper to report the level of CSM of the banks and finance companies in Malaysia. This paper also examines how CSM can affect the business performance of these enterprises. The gauging of business performance is based on perceived measures which will be discussed later.\nLiterature concerning CSM and PBPM: Two important constructs are highlighted in this paper, i.e. business performance and CSM. Business performance refers to how well an enterprise performs while CSM refers to how well the enterprise manages its customer service in terms of effectiveness, productivity and quality. Nevertheless it is important to stress the measures of business performance is perceptual in nature. Discussion follows.Perceived business performance measures\nThe survey and method: Of the 700 questionnaires sent to the ten anchor banks (see Table I), 128 were returned: an 18.3 per cent response rate. However 25 questionnaires were incomplete either with too many missing values or pages hence discarded from analysis. The sending out of these questionnaires was assisted by the Institute of Bankers Malaysia (IBBM) via their branches across the country. IBBM also assisted in reminding respondents to complete the questionnaires before the deadline of participation of the survey (which was set for three weeks). However it is difficult to justify as to how many questionnaires were returned as a result of these reminders. Nevertheless, completed questionnaires continued to trickle in for three months after questionnaires were sent out. It is important to highlight that IBBM is a professional and educational body for the banking and financial services industry in Malaysia. Its assistance to the survey will not trigger any intervention from top management of banks. Therefore, the quality of the sampling units within the banks will be preserved.Of the 103 completed questionnaires, 79 (76.7 per cent) were from anchor bank HQs and branches while the remaining 24 (23.3 per cent) were from primary finance HQs and branches. Of the 79, 15 were from anchor bank HQs while the remaining 64 were from anchor bank branches. Meanwhile, of the 24 primary finance companies, ten were from HQs while the remaining 14 were from branches. Results based on the 103 respondents are tabulated in Table VI.Of the 50 questionnaires sent to the respective HQs, 25 were returned: a 50 per cent response rate. Of the 650 questionnaires sent to the branches, only 78 were returned: a 12 per cent response rate. Considering the design, length and respondents' incentive of the survey instrument the response rate was encouraging. Therefore this rate is considered acceptable (Hague and Jackson, 1999; Churchill, 1995). In addition, the total sample size was within the required 100-150 (Hair et al., 1998).Table VII shows the response rates of banks and finance companies (HQ and branches) for each state. The overall response rate was satisfactory with most states having response rates above 10 per cent.The statistical procedures and measures used in this paper are methodologies recommended by Hair et al. (1998), Bontis et al. (2000), and Khong and Richardson (2003). These methodologies aim to find the causal relationships between CSM and the PBPM. The procedures and measures, in chronological order, are:1. (1) Reliability analysis2. (2) Exploratory factor analysis3. (3) Confirmatory factor analysis4. (4) Structural equation modelling (SEM)\nFindings: Reliability analysis\nDiscussion: Findings based on the survey revealed that CSM could positively affect PBPM. Although this is somewhat an expected result, the implication suggests the influence of CSM towards improving PBPM is very significant (p=0.000). However not all of the manifesting variables in CSM were positively affecting PBPM and this was shown in Tables X and XI. Both tables indicated the exclusion of A9 and A10 from the analysis. In short, there was insufficient evidence based on the dataset that these two variables had statistically significant affect on PBPM. From the remaining eight variables manifesting CSM, they can be ranked according to their importance in the construct (see Table XIV).Referring to Table XIV, implementations of effective CSM to improve PBPM should begin with A1, A8, A2, A7, A4, A3, A6 and finally A5. The first four variables being the most influential in carrying out effective CSM, i.e. A1, A8, A2 and A7, suggest that market research on customers' expectation and monitoring of customer satisfaction can bring about the improvements in customer satisfaction. Through customer satisfaction, PBPM can be improved. This is clearly substantiated in other studies in the literature. When customers' expectations are researched upon via market research, enterprise can address their needs and demands spot on. Once the needs and demands are addressed, the enterprise can constantly evaluate and monitor the level of customer satisfaction achieved in contrast between the present and the past. Changes in this level, to the worse, suggest that corrective actions need to be taken. This can enhance customer retention rate thus bringing forth a stream of satisfied customer who will continuously subscribe the services of the enterprise. As the industry becomes more competitive and saturated, the enterprise's ability to address customer needs and demands better than its competitors will be an important factor in determining its competitive position in the industry.The last four manifesting variables of CSM (A4, A3, A5 and A6) refer to the importance of customer assessment and handling of customers in support to the market research in increasing customer retention rate hence improving customer satisfaction. While market research plays a primary role in pinpointing the customers' needs and demands, customer assessment and handling of customers can be carried out to assist and provide support to the former. The assistance and support can be in terms of recording customers' requests, complaints and transactions, feedback on the products and services for further market research analysis and interpretation. Besides, the information collected from the above can be used to make decisions like enhancing banking product features that can address customers' needs and demands or analyse the reasons of reduced customer retention rate as a result of lost sales.One contrast of the results compared to the conceptual framework was the CSM construct was factorised into a single dimension where there should have been at least three. However there seemed to be sufficient evidence, based on the survey, to say that the variables manifesting the CSM construct have shared variances and measure the construct in a summated scale. In short, participants do not view CSM as sets of differentiated constructs but rather a series of interrelated sets of activities within a construct. With efficient coordination of activities, customer value can be created (Cravens and Piercy, 2003). In a management point of view, managers must find the right balances of activities to help them find the best possible approach to superior customer value and business performance. The combined efforts of the manifesting variables in CSM suggest a very probable positive impact on PBPM. As such efforts represented by the variables must be scrutinised.\nConclusion: In this paper, we provided an empirical framework to assess the impact of CSM on PBPM for the Malaysian banking industry. The study shows that to enhance their competitive position, Malaysian banks and finance companies should give high priority to CSM. This paper identifies market research, customer satisfaction, customer assessment and handling of customer as important key drivers towards successful implementation of CSM. It must be stressed that the questionnaire used is a reliable tool to measure the impact of CSM on PBPM in Malaysian banks and finance companies. The modest overall response rate of 18.3 per cent was due to the assistance from IBBM. There are several other research implications. Some of the more imperative research would be measuring the customer satisfaction level via an improved survey instrument to test its causal relationships with CSM. The future research can entail foreign banks so that the results can be compared in contrast with the ones gathered in this paper.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to examine the degree of how customer service management (CSM) affects perceived business performance measures (PBPM) in Malaysian banks and finance companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The aim was achieved through an empirical study involving a survey. Of 700 questionnaires sent out, 128 were returned. The dataset from the sample underwent series of statistical analyses, i.e. reliability test, factor analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) and structural equation modelling (SEM).\nFindings: - Factor analyses extracted two dimensions, i.e. CSM and perceived business performance. All related indicators manifested their constructs respectively. Although there were expectations where CSM would diverged into more dimensions via exploratory factor analysis (i.e. market research, customer assessment, customer satisfaction and customer relationship management), the results show that CSM were encapsulated as a single construct by respondents. The findings confirmed that CSM had significant association on PBPM, i.e. 0.83 standardised regression weights.\nResearch limitations/implications: - One limitation was the size of the sample. Although the permissible threshold of sample size was met, the research would not be jeopardized with larger sample size. Future research can entail foreign banks so that the results can be compared in contrast with the ones gathered in this paper.\nPractical implications: - The results can help bankers enhance their competitiveness with more emphasis on CSM through market research, customer satisfaction, customer assessment and handling of customer. These aspects are important key drivers towards successful implementation of CSM.\nOriginality/value: - Although CSM is multi faceted, it was viewed by the respondents as a single construct. The paper empirically justified the effectiveness of CSM on PBPM. Bankers may find this paper useful as perceptual measures can be empirically substantiated using SEM.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Training delivers for Hallmark Consumer Services: Warehouse team's new IT skills improve productivity and profitability
|
[
"Distribution management",
"Warehouses",
"Communication technologies",
"Training",
"Organizational performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Previously untrained staff have conquered their fear of information technology to deliver major productivity improvements for a UK logistics company.\nThe company needs: \"During 2004 we recognized that our mix of services was shifting towards single-order dispatching - that is, individual customer orders rather than bulk orders,\" said Chris Hall. \"We could see the market for this type of fulfillment was increasing because of the growth in online shopping.\"\"We wanted to capitalize on this opportunity but our productivity was only just acceptable for this work. We also realized that online customers were valuing fast delivery of the goods that they ordered. We wanted to make this a feature in our selling process by offering same-day dispatch. This would be a major change and require an IT process to manage these needs effectively.\"Hallmark worked with a software company to develop a warehouse-management system (WMS), which would evidently mean the introduction of IT equipment into the warehouse.\"Our warehouse staff were loyal and long-serving but with few educational qualifications and little or no experience with IT equipment, either at home or work,\" Chris Hall explained.If the project failed, customer service would be hit and this could threaten Hallmark's relationship with its clients. Moreover, the productivity gains the company needed would be delayed, and the firm might have had to recruit new warehouse people with the necessary skills, \"although we felt it would be difficult to recruit IT-literate people from rural Leicestershire to pick and pack,\" said Chris Hall.The company sought to:* maintain its service-level agreements during the commissioning and training;* reduce picking time from an average of 35 seconds per item to 20 seconds;* guarantee same-day dispatch, for existing and potential new clients, for all order requests received by 1 p.m.; and* transfer the task of entering goods-in data into the stock-control system from the client-management team to the warehouse.The seven-member warehouse pick-and-pack team and the stock controller were aged from 25 to 60. All had at least four years' experience with the company, but their IT skills were limited. Some had keyboard and e-mail experience, but others had none at all. They would all need to be able to use keyboards, mouse, scanning equipment and printers, understand the process logic and be able to select the relevant screens on the PCs to carryout the appropriate tasks.The specific tasks they would need to be able to carry out were:* Pick, pack and dispatch. As an order was picked the picking note would be scanned to confirm the pick and, at the packing stage, the team member would need to select the correct postage method based on priority, weight and dimensions. This would be done using keyboard, mouse and the correct screens. The final task would be to print the dispatch label for the Royal Mail, parcel carrier or haulier.* Stock control. For the new stock-control process, the controller would enter all the deliveries straight on to the WMS as the goods arrived. The current process was to carry out all these tasks in the office.* Pick-cart process. The software would organize the travel path to pick up to ten orders at a time and minimize the distance traveled. The picker would have to follow the designated route and pick and place the items into the correct bins on the picking cart. The current process was to pick each order individually.* Processing and printing orders. The plan was to bring this process from the office to the warehouse and allow the warehouse staff to pull off orders as and when.\"We knew that the management of this change was going to be very intense,\" Chris Hall explained.\nDesigning the learning: Hallmark decided to use the next monthly company meeting to describe the WMS it was about to purchase, point out the benefits to the business and the opportunity for individuals to gain new skills. Subsequent company meetings would be used to present progress reports and remind everyone of the benefits.Hallmark would review each person's capability potential for using the system. The firm would encourage volunteers from the warehouse team to enroll on a course to gain the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL).\"We decided to keep the whole issue as low-key as possible and not to do specific keyboard skills in advance, as we felt that this might start to put pressure on the team,\" said Chris Hall. \"They were well aware of the very proficient keyboard skills in our call center and we did not want to raise the fear that we were expecting them to have similar skill levels.\"Hallmark decided on a cascade style of training so the trainer would be someone the trainee would feel comfortable with. The first step would be for the software supplier to train the operations director and IT manager. These two would then train the warehouse team leader and stock controller who, in turn, would train the rest of the team.\"The training was programmed in a step-by-step approach,\" Chris Hall explained. \"The various actions were broken down into tasks and taken one at a time.\"The company checked that each team member was competent at the process and, as sensitively as possible, continued to support the team members through warehouse trainers. A skills matrix was used to record team members' competency as the training progressed.The company estimated that some 490 employee-hours of training would be needed within the company, and a further 700 hours to train for the ECDL.\nDelivering the learning: \"The team achieved the performance we wanted but the project was not without its trials and tribulations because of external factors,\" said Chris Hall.\"The ECDL was to be a major plank in our preparation for the warehouse team handling the hardware and software, but turned out to be a disaster. Despite our briefing, the teacher provided by the training provider failed to take into account the inexperience and nervousness of our 'students'.\"One Hallmark employee commented: \"When I last went to school, 45 years ago, I was used to a teacher standing in front of us and telling us how things worked. I found it very strange to take instructions from a book and when I got stuck the teacher either wasn't around or would just push a few buttons. I got badly lost.\"\"Group members became demotivated. They felt belittled and, after a few weeks, the majority did not want to continue,\" said Chris Hall.Two did continue, and one went on to gain an ECDL certificate.\"After our disappointment with the ECDL course we had to rely on our own resources to teach the team the relevant skills and knowledge,\" Chris Hall continued. \"The whole team picked up the keyboard and mouse skills quickly and felt under no pressure being trained by their peers.\"Learning the process took more time because some did struggle to start with. One of the reasons was that the software had some major bugs and the team members were unsure at times whether it was something they had done incorrectly or if it was a new bug. An excellent team spirit and 'hand-holding' got them through this and, as they became more experienced, they were able to help to identify faults in the system, which helped the software developers in problem-solving.\"Just under two years elapsed between the time work began on developing the software, to installation of the software and completion of the training.\nThe performance achieved: Within two weeks the whole team had become competent at using the hardware and software to operate the pick, pack and dispatch process. The team's competence at using the IT equipment encouraged Hallmark to transfer more IT applications from the office to the warehouse.The three team members trained on stock control were able to place the details of goods in stock straight into the system within minutes of the goods arriving, and make stock adjustments for goods that had been returned. The office staff handed over these tasks within four weeks of this part of the software going live.\"Although I was initially nervous because our clients' stock is a big responsibility, I and the rest of the team were grateful for this change,\" said Ruth Palmer, client-services manager. \"It released a lot of my time to get on with other client issues.\"There was a long delay in the software being fully developed for the pick cart, but when it was commissioned team members were able to use the processes after seven days' training. The biggest challenge was getting the team to accept that this was saving at least 50 percent of the travel time.Hallmark has cut pick time per item from 35 seconds to 25, saving around PS3,000 a year. It is on the way to achieving its target of 20 seconds. \"We need some tweaks to the software to achieve this,\" said Chris Hall.Printing and processing orders proved to be the most complex of the new operations. The operators have to use a precise process and make decisions on priorities. This part of the process did require some considerable support from the office, but is now working well.\nBenefits of the training: \"The success of the training, despite the bugs and delays in the software, has given us a process that can compete effectively against our rivals,\" said Chris Hall. \"Web-order fulfillment has become a very successful part of our business.\"The company won seven new clients over 12 months and generated more than PS100,000 a year in extra sales.\"Its ability to provide same-day dispatch was a key criterion for choosing Hallmark and I am delighted with the responsive service from its warehouse team,\" said David Edwards, owner and managing director of Summit Toppers.The warehouse can now operate autonomously on stock, and this has released the client-services managers to spend more time with their clients' business. Members of the warehouse pick-and-pack team have broken the barrier of using IT hardware and software. This has not only encouraged others in the warehouse to use IT but has also enabled the company to develop other IT applications for them. For example, the warehouse now handles the web-based Royal Mail accounts system and uses Excel spreadsheets for recording packaging usage. Two team members are undertaking a level 2 National Vocational Qualification in business-improvement techniques.Hallmark won the East Midlands Development Agency award for Best Use of ICT to Increase Productivity, with a prize of PS5,000. The training won a regional award in the UK National Training Awards. And Microsoft is using Hallmark as a case study for its small-business division.\"The training cost us PS7,500 and the productivity gains alone were PS7,000 in our first full year,\" said Chris Hall. \"The WMS software was an investment of PS20,000 and will have paid for itself in less than three years on labor savings alone.\"\"It was almost an act of faith to go ahead with this investment knowing that there was a high risk that the warehouse staff may not be able to cope. To say that they were fearful would be no exaggeration, but we knew that, for the company to progress, we had to move in this direction.\"\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This purpose of this paper is to detail the reasons for the training, the form it took, how it was delivered and the advantages it brought.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Describes how training helped warehouse staff to conquer their fear of IT and to deliver major productivity improvements for Hallmark Consumer Services, UK.\nFindings: - Reveals that the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) course was launched, but largely failed, and the team being trained became very demotivated. The company had to rely on its own resources to teach the team the relevant skills and knowledge, and this system of being trained by peers worked very well indeed.\nPractical implications: - Shows that, within two weeks, the whole pick-and-dispatch team had become competent in using the IT equipment, encouraging the company to bring in more IT applications from the office to the warehouse. Those trained on stock control could now place the details of goods in stock straight into the system within minutes of the goods arriving and make stock adjustments for goods that had been returned. Office staff handed over these tasks within four weeks of this part of the software going live. The pick time per item was reduced from 35 seconds to 25, on the way to reaching Hallmark's target of 20 seconds.\nOriginality/value: - Demonstrates that the success of the training, despite the bugs and delays in the software, has improved the company's productivity, customer service and profitability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Digital transformation of global business processes: the role of dual embeddedness
|
[
"Embeddedness",
"Digital",
"External",
"Global",
"Headquarters",
"Internal",
"MNC",
"Multinational",
"Subsidiary",
"Transformation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Multinational corporations (MNCs) are embarking on a digital transformation of their global business processes to improve competitiveness and profitability (Mithas et al., 2017). In this digital transformation, MNCs are implementing and upgrading information technology (IT) and internet-enabled applications to achieve operational efficiencies (Whitaker et al., 2017), reshape relationships with customers and integrate with suppliers (Kim et al., 2018), resulting in profound impacts to corporate strategy and financial performance (Mithas et al., 2012).\n2. Literature review: In this section, we review two sets of literature that are relevant to this paper - the literature on embedded MNCs and the literature on MNC digital transformation. For each set of literature, we summarize what is known, and discuss how this paper can build on existing knowledge to generate new insights.\n3. Case study methodology and data: 3.1 Methodology and firms\n4. Findings and implications: In this section, we build on the data and coding described above to provide findings and identify implications of those findings. We begin with a discussion of the HQ perspective as a starting point for digital transformation, then discuss the complexities and challenges that arise as HQ and subsidiaries engage in digital transformation, and then discuss how researchers and managers can apply our findings to navigate digital transformation efforts.\n5. Contributions and conclusion: Consistent with the theory of embeddedness, our data show that MNC digital transformation is a struggle between HQ desires and subsidiary needs, and a process of continuous negotiation between HQ and subsidiaries where subsidiaries holding important local markets or strong internal positions strive for influence. CIOs at HQ offered an understanding of why MNC digital transformation colored by global IT-business alignment is attractive in theory but difficult to achieve in practice.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: While much existing research on multinational corporation (MNC) digital transformation has followed a linear design and implementation logic using cross-sectional data, the multiple and divergent needs of headquarters (HQ) and subsidiaries suggest that MNC digital transformation actually involves a more iterative journey. The purpose of this paper is to apply the theoretical perspective of embeddedness to better define the complexities of MNC digital transformation, and identify how HQ and subsidiaries can navigate the complexities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper presents a longitudinal multi-case study of five Forbes Global 2000 firms that are HQ in Europe with large subsidiaries in the USA. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 26 senior executives at HQ and subsidiaries over a 15-month period.\nFindings: The process of digital transformation is significantly influenced by internal embeddedness (relationship of HQ with subsidiaries and across subsidiaries) and external embeddedness (relationship of subsidiaries with their local markets), and also by strategy, financial and technology considerations. While HQ and subsidiaries have different perspectives, an understanding of these influences can help HQ and subsidiaries navigate digital transformation.\nResearch limitations/implications: HQ and subsidiaries can apply insights from this research to navigate the complexities of digital transformation.\nOriginality/value: This paper demonstrates that embeddedness is a useful theory to understand the complexities of MNC digital transformation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Communication, work systems and HRD
|
[
"Communications",
"Work systems",
"Human resource development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The purpose of this article is to show the foundational place that communication theory and its practice occupies in functioning work systems. Since Human Resource Development is applied, practiced, and used predominantly in work systems, sensitivity to the fundamental role that communication plays in work systems may allow HRD practitioners to take a communicative perspective in analyzing and solving problems. A successful workplace environment recognizes the social and, especially, the communicative aspects of its members and develops effective communication systems based on its central core, the human worker (Pace, 1983).\nWhat is a theoretical foundation?: Scholars in any particular academic program and field of study are obligated from time to time to examine its theoretical foundation. Many definitions of the term foundation exist, depending on the context of their use. For our purposes, the concept of foundation is taken to refer to the basic principles, axioms, and tenets that serve as disciplinary base of the HRD field of study and practice (Pace et al., 1991). That is, although HRD, as many have asserted, may draw upon a multitude of ideas from many areas to guide its curricular development and practice, this article makes the argument that communication should be considered the most fundamental body of principles that undergirds human resource development as a discipline (Pace, 2000, p. 46).\nHRD driving force: It has also been argued that a field thrives when it is true to its driving force. It is postulated here that the field of HRD thrives because of its \"development\" driving force, rather than a management, systems, economic, learning, or psychological driving force (Pace, 1996, pp. 20-3). The development driving force comes from pride in helping individual human beings expand, unfold, and grow. As human beings develop, they contribute to the achievement of work systems goals. Individuals are not, however, fungible tools of the system, marketable like goods and services. In addition, the development of individuals also leads to the development of the system, making it more efficient, effective, and productive. Consequently, HRD is most effective when it adheres to its driving force of development (Pace, 2000, pp. 46-7).\nThe meaning of communication: How do we distinguish communicative phenomena from other behaviors? For example, which of these constitute forms of communication: writing a letter, saluting a flag, creating a sculpture?\nA model of people, the communicators: To recognize the centrality of communication theory in HRD, we need to understand what constitutes the interpretive mechanisms of the human being. Communicating involves the four basic elements of people described by Bois (1973). His model portrays people in terms of \"what they do,\" not what they \"are\", which allows us to pinpoint four sets of activities that affect communication processes: Electro-chemical activities (the metabolism of cells, the firing of neutrons, and general biological processes), Self-Moving activities (sensory perceptions and the autonomic movements of vital organs such as the heart, lungs, stomach, and vascular system, as well as the skilled movements of athletes and artists, muscular tenseness and relaxation, and proper posture), Feeling activities (affects, motives, and drives, purposes, ambitions, love, hate, indifference, commitment, joy, sorrow, dedication, contempt, trust, frustration, and anxiety), and Thinking activities (symbolization, such as conceptualizing, talking to ourselves, talking to others, writing, sign language, drawing, gesticulating, showing facial expressions, listening, reading, asking questions, solving problems, planning, and reaching decisions). This model is based on the widely accepted idea that human beings are always in movement. After people are born, all one can do, for the most part, is alter their activities - speed them up, slow them down, give them some other direction - in an environment.\nA communication unit: When people grow up and join an organization or system, they become communication units - that is, people in positions who display and interpret displays - and use their energies to accomplish both individual and organizational goals (Pace, 1983). As they interact, their four human elements contribute to the formation of communicative displays that are interpreted by their colleagues and other organization members. Since the four elements are in continuous activity, individuals are continuously affected by their own activities as well as the activities of people around them. Displays by parties involved in communicating encourage changes in mental activities, feeling activities, self-moving activities, and even electro-chemical activities. Changes in everyone involved in communicative transactions never end, resulting in different interpretations and, often, different communicative displays.\nCommunication rules: The powerful effect of communication on organizational and work system functioning can be illustrated by the concept of \"communication rules\" (Cushman and Whiting, 1972, pp. 217-38).\nWhat effect does the system have on communication?: The idea of work\nA work system: A \"system\" is broadly conceived of as a set of elements or parts interconnected and interdependent so as to form an operating whole. A work organization consists of a number of individuals who put physical and mental effort into accomplishing something. It becomes a system when it contains all of the basic parts to form a functioning whole. A \"work system\" consists of all the key elements that make up what is necessary for several people to devote energy to making or doing something.\nThe worker: The first element of a work system is the worker. The worker resides in the center of the system and makes all of the other elements function. Without the worker, the system lacks action. The work system is created, maintained, expanded, and developed through the efforts of the individuals of which it is comprised; how those efforts are applied to the system depend in great part on the other elements of the work system.\nThe work itself: Work that people do is comprised of formal and informal tasks completed in order to achieve specific goals assigned to them by the organization. Griffin (1982, pp. 5-7) explains that \"job design variables [effort, quantity, and quality of output] are positively correlated with work effectiveness.\" Because the jobs workers perform are part of the technical system of the organization, the Work Itself - both its tasks and technology - are critically important to the way people understand themselves and others in the organization, and the way they communicate.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show the foundational place that communication theory and its practice occupies in functioning work systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper defines the word communication in terms of the creation and interpretation of displays, describes what it means to have a theoretical foundation for a discipline, identifies and elaborates on the development driving force of human resource development (HRD), presents and explains a model of a work system in which HRD functions, and elaborates on the role, function, and place of communicative acts in the maintenance of the work system and the work of HRD professionals.\nFindings: The article posits that communication theory underlies the processes and activities of both scholars and practitioners of HRD. Finally, it argues that courses in communication theory and organizational communication are essential in the preparation of both scholars and practitioners.\nResearch limitations/implications: Research on the vagaries of communication in work systems may need to focus on identifying the causes of more easily identified symptoms. Researchers must be constantly alert to the changing role of communication as both a symptom and a cause of effective and ineffective work system functioning.\nPractical implications: Since human resource development is applied, practiced, and used predominantly in work systems, sensitivity to the fundamental role that communication plays in work systems may allow HRD practitioners to take a communicative perspective in analyzing and solving problems.\nOriginality/value: This article directs readers to the main, fundamental issue in organizations and highlights the central role of communication in the functioning and development of both the human resources and the work system.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Establishing a radon management program for public university facilities
|
[
"Facilities management",
"Occupational health/safety",
"Building maintenance",
"Health safety",
"Environmental testing",
"Radon gas"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Radon is a radioactive element and noble gas, with the periodic table abbreviation Rn. Radon is found in the rocks and soil of regions where natural deposits of uranium (U) and radium (Ra) exist. The most common isotope of radon is 222Rn, a radioactive element that is a product of the decay chain of 238U. Gaseous radon can migrate through fissures in rocks and soil and seep into basements through cracks in floors or walls; if these areas do not have significant air movement, radon can build up in basements, crawl spaces or lower-level building floors (USDHHS, 2013). Radon is much less likely to be present in indoor spaces that are not in direct contact with the earth (e.g. above-grade floors) because of the high density and molecular weight of radon compared to air.\nMethods: Selection of buildings to monitor\nResults: Figure 1 shows the linear regression analysis of measured radon activity levels by age of the building. The slope of the line shows a downward trend of activity levels as building age decreases. The R2 coefficient of determination value of 0.2012 shows a weak linear relationship caused by large variation in the radon levels among buildings constructed before 1960. The analysis shows that older buildings tended to have higher radon levels. None of the tested buildings constructed after 1960 had levels exceeding 1.4 pCi/L, while 5 of 11 samples from buildings built before 1960 revealed levels in excess of 4 pCi/L.\nDiscussion: Based on the findings of the present study and literature review, it was determined that a sampling strategy which focuses first on older buildings, and those with troublesome building envelope maintenance histories, would be the best use of resources. Furthermore, a tiered approach of action levels for radon risk assessment and management would be more appropriate than strict reliance on the USEPA's residential radon action level of 4 pCi/L, given the epidemiologic uncertainty, shorter exposure windows and the need to optimize use of limited infrastructural funds (see the \"Choosing an action level\" Section).\nConclusions: While no samples exceeded 32.7 pCi/L during the present round of testing, any buildings with levels exceeding this going forward will require the installation of a mitigation system to depressurizes soils underneath the building, and thus decrease radon activity levels. Follow-up testing of buildings with mitigation systems will be conducted to determine if average activity levels decrease. The second tier of the radon action levels strategy includes areas where one or more sample indicates radon activity levels between 4 and 32.7 pCi/L. Retesting at least quarterly would be necessary for areas within this second tier, in addition to sealing visible cracks/fissures and consideration for ventilation controls. All campus buildings with average radon activity levels below 4 pCi/L require no regular action other than sporadic resampling, unless changes are made to building structures that involved excavation of the ground under or around the building, or if changes occur in the ventilation systems of the building. Sporadic resampling of these third-tier buildings can help determine whether aging building envelopes or changing seasonal and climatic patterns are affecting building radon activity levels. When determining which buildings should receive priority for radon sampling, it appears that building age and building condition are significant predictors of higher radon activity levels in subterranean occupied spaces.\nAcknowledgments: The authors wish to acknowledge Drs Wayne Sanderson, T. Scott Prince and John Williams for their invaluable assistance in data analysis, organizing and editing this manuscript, and Lee Poore and the University of Kentucky Department of Environmental Health & Safety for lending support, expertise and monitoring equipment to this endeavor.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elucidate best approaches for facility radon management in a resource-limited environment such as a public university. Radon exposures are believed to be a risk factor for lung cancer. However, the degree to which typical indoor radon levels within settings such as the university campus contribute to lung cancer risk is controversial. The authors sought to develop a risk-balancing approach to safe and cost-efficient facility radon management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors collected pilot monitoring data to determine radon activity levels at a large public university within a projected high-radon region of the southeastern USA, then reviewed scientific literature, trade literature and regulatory guidance to determine radon risk knowledge and best practices for mitigation. From this body of data and information, the authors determined the safest and most resource-effective means for campus radon management.\nFindings: The developed program for comprehensive radon management included guidance on building selection for most effective use of monitoring, tiered response and mitigation strategies based on radon activity levels and faculty, staff and student education.\nResearch Limitations/implications: The radon management strategies might not be generalizable to facilities with usage patterns that differ from a public university, and should be extrapolated with caution.\nPractical Implications: This paper shows how building managers can address indoor radon in a manner that maximizes both safety and cost-efficiency.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfills a need for evidence-based and prudent approaches to radon management for campuses with mixed residential, educational and occupational contexts and limited resources.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Readiness assessment of leagility supply chain based on fuzzy cognitive maps and interpretive structural modeling: a case study
|
[
"Supply chain",
"Readiness",
"FCM",
"ISM",
"Leagility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Effective development and management of supply chain networks help businesses cut costs and enhance customer value (Christopher, 2016). The leagile supply chain is a hybrid model of lean and agile systems defined to address the issue of satisfactory response to unstable market demand. The lean system is a complex operational procedure centered around resource efficiency, whereas agility is a comprehensive strategy centered around unpredictable marketing environment (Sanchez and Nagi, 2001).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Leagility of supply chain\n3. Research structure: This study aims at evaluating the readiness of supply chain leagility based on the mixed approach of FCM and ISM. Readiness evaluation can be carried out qualitatively (through observation and interview) and quantitatively (by questionnaire) (Holt et al., 2007). As to the adopted mixed approach in the current research and reviewing the literature, 39 effective factors on readiness and 41 factors affecting supply chain leagility were identified. Then, through Delphi method and statistical analysis (i.e. mean, median, mode, standard deviation, formation of a Delphi team, designing questionnaires, data collection and data analysis, the main factors determining the leagility in supply chain), the required data were gathered by the participation of experts with higher educational degrees and more than 20 years of working experience. The results showed 11 main factors of readiness and 16 significant factors of supply chain leagility. In addition, through FCM and ISM modeling, the interaction among the factors was initially measured and subsequently the readiness of supply chain leagility was examined according to static and dynamic variables (Figure 1).\n4. Problem-solving methods: 4.1 Delphi\n5. Case study: Time and location domains in this case study span six months (between 2015 and 2016 evenly) and various divisions of the maritime supply chain were located predominantly in the northern and southern ports of Iran, respectively. Evaluation of readiness in leagility of supply chains using the FCM and ISM methods is the topic of the case study as a major strategic topic in the field. It is also noteworthy that the study sample include knowledgeable experts in maritime supply chain. The participants have professional and educational experiences in maritime logistic and management. Prior to the administration of the questionnaires, the participants were thoroughly informed regarding the purpose of the study. Readiness evaluation is a key to the leagility process in supply chains given the numerous factors involved and also the need for accommodating optimum use of resources in the supply chain. It is through evaluation that the importance of factors on readiness of leagility in the maritime supply chain can be derived, enabling maritime supply chain managers to infer decisions with regard to appropriate resource allocation and optimum strategies for creating a leagile maritime supply chain. Integration of maritime supply chain and FCM-ISM would provide more realistic and thus efficient results.\n6. Findings: Results initially demonstrated a classification of factors influencing supply chain leagility into static and dynamic variables based on the resultant behavior of FCM and ISM according to the degree of their dependence and driving power on readiness or the way interaction takes place between them. In addition, readiness evaluation of leagility in supply chain is dependent on the divisions of the variables, i.e. static and dynamic. Based on the interrelated, cause and effect approach of the FCM and ISM, and combining it with evaluation of readiness, the model introduces a flexible and dynamic analytical tool that shows its superiority. Readiness evaluation is to a large extent based on the type and the role they play in leagility. Results also contributed to the increase in performance improvement and productivity.\n7. Model validation: Validation of the proposed model of the study was performed via assessment indices including mean squared error and correlation coefficient in the context of five different scenarios. Here, mean squared error and estimates approach zero and the correlation coefficient between the dependent and independent variables is positive and close to the value of one. Moreover, outcomes in every scenario are close to the predicted outcomes. Results obtained from the assessment indices and the various scenarios indicated validity of the proposed model in the evaluation of readiness levels in supply chains. Consequently, the proposed model introduces an appropriate model for assessment of readiness levels in the leagility of supply chains compared to other classical models.\n8. Conclusion: This study aimed to propose an FCM model with ISM to evaluate the readiness in leagility of supply chains. Readiness evaluation in leagility of supply chains is one of the key tools in structural analysis of supply chain leagility levels by which the extent of readiness is determined in terms of leagility criteria. Evaluation of readiness in leagility of supply chains is absolutely crucial for unpredicted conditions to support operational units. Here, findings revealed a classification of factors influencing readiness in leagility of supply chains into static and dynamic variables according to the value of their influence achieved by the resultant behavior of FCMs and ISM. In addition, evaluation of readiness in leagility of supply chains using the FCM and ISM is more flexible and dynamic, because the mixed approach (FCM and ISM) is initially based on the interrelated, cause and effect relationships among the variables and is able to determine the variables' interactions dynamically. Therefore, the proposed model has great practical importance regarding estimating readiness in leagility of supply chains explained by benefiting from the necessary efficiency assessment indices in the FCM, ISM and the demonstration of results accuracy for five different scenarios. The limitations of the study are more related to the organizational hierarchy of the respondents and their different geographical locations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The evaluation of readiness provides insight into the readiness of its individual components for successful accomplishment of tasks. This study aims to evaluate readiness in leagility of supply chains based on the design and analysis of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) and interpretive structural modeling (ISM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: On the basis of the purpose of this study, data are gathered via the Delphi method. Moreover, FCM and ISM are also used to evaluate readiness.\nFindings: Findings initially demonstrate a categorization of factors influencing leagility into static and dynamic variables according to the degree of their influence derived from the resultant behavior of FCM and ISM. It is also found that evaluating readiness in leagility of supply chains with ISM and FCM was done with respect to the type and role of the study variables, which were determined within the minimum and maximum ranges of 20 to 100 per cent, respectively.\nOriginality/value: The evaluation of the readiness using the FCM and ISM is proved to be more efficient than other classical methods. Experimental results of the study contribute to improve readiness of leagility of supply chain as well as develop functional areas of business.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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