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Evasive knowledge hiding in academia: when competitive individuals are asked to collaborate
|
[
"Job design",
"Knowledge hiding",
"Competition–collaboration framework",
"Knowledge type",
"Trait competitiveness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge hiding, defined as \"an intentional attempt by an individual to withhold or conceal task information, ideas, and know-how that has been requested by another person\" (Connelly et al., 2012, p. 65) can significantly damage relationships at work, create distrust among co-workers, result in knowledge gaps and lead to lower individual and organizational performance. A human tendency to look guardedly at the knowledge possessed (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) is particularly problematic within the academic setting, where scholars are expected to share knowledge with colleagues and students alike, to advance the field and contribute to society. This paradoxical behavior is not expected to occur within a positive organizational knowledge culture (Serenko and Bontis, 2016) or when individuals possess a high level of cultural intelligence (Bogilovic et al., 2017).\nLiterature review: Evasive knowledge hiding\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Table II shows the descriptive statistics, reliability scores and correlations among all the variables included in the study. More than half of respondents (from 50.2 to 65.7 per cent of respondents) acknowledged that they engage in EKH when they do not trust their academic colleagues. However, although widespread, such practice does not occur often, as mean values for EKH (on a frequency scale 1-5) ranged from 1.68 to 1.88.\nDiscussion: University scholars often face a dilemma; they have competitive pressures to perform and even outperform others, yet other academics request their assistance. We therefore examined the personal (individual-level) and situational (job-related) factors that may lead scholars to engage in EKH. Our results suggest that academics hide more tacit than explicit knowledge, and that personal competitiveness predicts evasive hiding of both tacit and explicit knowledge. However, our results further suggest that the relationship between personal competitiveness and the evasive hiding of explicit knowledge is moderated by relational job design. When either task interdependence or social support is high, the relationship between personal competitiveness and evasive hiding of explicit knowledge is less negative. There are important theoretical and practical implications that follow from these findings.\nConclusion: Knowledge hiding in academic settings is a mixed-motive behavior that contains elements of both collaboration and competition. This unexpected and undesirable organizational paradox is still under-investigated. Therefore, we decided to explore how person-situation interactions might determine the level of this specific type of organizational misbehavior. Our findings reveal that personal competitiveness is a driving factor of knowledge hiding within mistrusted academic relationships, whereas relational job-design characteristics (i.e. task interdependence and social support) successfully diminishes the effects of negative personality trait when explicit knowledge is requested. However, socially enriched job design is less efficient if you ask a mistrusted and competitive academic colleague to share his or her tacit knowledge. Knowledge management issues have to be examined not only from technological or economic but also from sociological and psychological perspectives.\nAcknowledgements: The authors are grateful to Kenneth G. Brown, Marjolein Caniels and Anders Dysvik for providing useful comments on the earlier version of the paper, and to Ana Aleksic for her assistance with data collection. They acknowledge the anonymous reviewer who brought this paper to attention.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: Academic knowledge work often presumes collaboration among interdependent individuals. However, this work also involves competitive pressures to perform and even outperform others. While knowledge hiding has not yet been extensively examined in the academic environment, this study aims to deepen the understanding of the personal (individual-level) and situational (job-related) factors that affect evasive knowledge hiding (EKH) within academia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A field study was conducted on a nation-wide sample of 210 scholars from both public and private business schools in a European Union member state. A series of paired sample t-tests were followed by hierarchical regression analyses to test moderation using the PROCESS macro.\nFindings: The results suggest that scholars hide more tacit than explicit knowledge. The findings also indicate a consistent pattern of positive and significant relationships between trait competitiveness and EKH. Furthermore, task interdependence and social support buffer the detrimental relationship between personal competitiveness and evasive hiding of explicit knowledge, but not tacit knowledge.\nOriginality/value: The research provides insights into several important antecedents of EKH that have not been previously examined. It contributes to research on knowledge transfer in academia by focusing on situations where colleagues respond to explicit requests by hiding knowledge. The moderating role of collaborative job design offers practical solutions on how to improve knowledge transfer between mistrusted and competitive scholars. The collaboration-competition framework is extended by introducing personal competitiveness and relational job design, and suggesting how to manage the cross-level tension of differing collaborative and competitive motivations within academia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Employees as performers in knowledge intensive firms: role of knowledge sharing
|
[
"Knowledge sharing",
"Collaborative HRM practices",
"Employees’ recognition",
"Individual capability",
"Organizational capability",
"Reward systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In knowledge-intensive organisations, human resource management (HRM) practices are one of the major antecedents of knowledge creativity through knowledge sharing. This is achieved by leveraging human capital and the provision of benefit to both individuals and organisations through improved capability (Ipe, 2003; Lin, 2007). Despite the potential here, the knowledge management (KM) literature has made only limited use of HRM concepts and frameworks (Connelly et al., 2012). Recent studies suggest that knowledge sharing can be advanced through bridging both KM and HRM fields (Oltra, 2005).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: There are certain HRM practices that can be effective in supporting knowledge sharing behaviour in knowledge intensive organisations, like, recruitment and selection, employees' collaborative practices, reward systems, employees' recognition, and performance appraisal (Cabrera et al., 2006). In this study, specific HRM practices including: recruitment, reward systems, employees' collaboration and recognition are examined for possible effects on employees' knowledge sharing behaviour and its outcomes.\n3. Survey instrument: Question items of survey instrument were adopted from previous literature, as shown in Table I. For the detail of the studies from which these items were adopted is in Appendix 3. Moreover, questionnaire items of the survey are shown in Appendix 4.\n4. Data collection: We obtained samples from populations in the educational and telecommunication sectors. For this study, the population of interest was employees identified as knowledge workers in Pakistani organisations. A simple random sampling (probability) technique was applied to in these sectors, to select sample organisations. Initially thirty companies were contacted, however, due to severe weather events and the consequential flooding which occurred in Pakistan at the time the data were collected, only 19 companies made up the final sample. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, out of which, a total of 390 useable questionnaires were used in the data analysis, representing a response rate of 65 per cent. The response rate was encouraging, given that the questionnaire was relatively long. Baruch (1999) suggests that the average response rate is 55.6 per cent in academic studies based on 175 studies reported in journal publications. In this research contact persons are used for survey distribution and collection. Several research scholars used contact person(s) for the distribution of their surveys, for instance: Edgar and Geare (2005).\n5. Results: 5.1. Respondents' characteristics\n6. Discussion: In the discussion of this paper, we will discuss the results of alternative structural model. Our results suggest that employees' collaborative practices show a positive effect on their knowledge sharing behaviour at (b=0.339, p\n7. Conclusion: We conclude that our results show that Pakistani employees perceive that their personal and professional developments through collaborative practices are more important to improve organisational capability than are rewards and recognition. In contrast, reward systems and employees' recognition have no impact on employees' knowledge sharing behaviour. The reason we can make such a claim is because employee knowledge sharing behaviour is independent of rewards and recognition. We suggest that our results may be indicative that the first and highest priority for organisations, at least the ones studied in Pakistan, is to provide support for employees' collaborative practices. In addition, KM in Pakistan is in its infancy stage. So to boost the knowledge sharing processes within organisations, managers could focus on their policies related to managing employees' knowledge in organisations. Previous literature seems to emphasise the importance of rewards and recognition in driving knowledge sharing behaviour. However, there is no effect when compared to collaborative practices as a driver to improve individual and organisation capability in this study. Our results need to be thought of in the context that this is an employee perception study in knowledge intensive organisations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of specific human resource management (HRM) practices on knowledge sharing behaviour among employees of knowledge intensive firms (KIFs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on previous literature, a model is proposed for the study and hypotheses are formulated. The cross-sectional data set comes from a sample of 390 employees of 19 KIFs. Confirmatory factor analyses were employed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model and the research model was tested using structural equation modelling.\nFindings: The results suggest that collaborative HRM practices have a direct positive effect on employees' knowledge sharing behaviour. Surprisingly, the authors find that employees' knowledge sharing behaviour is independent of reward systems and employees' recognition. The authors suggest that organisational learning environments based on collaborative HRM practices can help employees' knowledge sharing behaviour and improve the capability of both individual and organisational capability.\nResearch limitations/implications: Knowledge-sharing behaviour is examined using specific HRM practices. Findings should be confirmed using a larger sample, as well as through longitudinal study.\nPractical implications: This study will be beneficial for researchers, practitioners, scholars, organisational leaders and employees. It will also be helpful for those interested in organisational structure and relationships across organisations in knowledge context.\nOriginality/value: This study makes a valuable contribution, given that there is a lack of empirical studies of this nature focusing on the South-East Asian region. The findings are more interesting given that the current study is based on employees' perceptions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Off-balance sheet activities and community bank performance
|
[
"Financial services",
"Risk",
"Community banking",
"Credit",
"Subprime",
"Loan commitments"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As the shadow of the credit crunch escalated into the 2008 credit meltdown both the loan market and the loan commitment market began to freeze. The profits and risks generated by off balance sheet items backed by the growth of commercial real estate (CRE) loans and construction and development (C&D) loans are associated with this crisis. This paper analyzes the impact of these off-balance sheet (OBS) loan commitments had on community banks' profitability and risk. By limiting this analysis to a more homogeneous subsector of banking (community banks) this assessment of the risk exposure of OBS activities offers insight into this specific sector's changing asset allocations. While community banks have varying asset sizes, geographical locations, and balance sheet composition, they differ significantly from larger regional and national banks.\nCommunity bank and OBS loan commitments: Community bank\nData: The initial balance sheet and OBS data for all commercial banks is derived from FDIC Call Reports. De novo banks (defined as banks less than five years old, as in Critchfield et al., 2004) are excluded from our sample due to their nascent lending behavior. In addition, the earnings, profits, and short-term goals of de novo banks may vary significantly from those of established banks. We use data provided by the FDIC's Summary of Deposit to identify community banks which have total assets below one billion dollars between 1993 and 2010 and have more than half of deposits drawn from one single county in 2010.\nCommunity bank loan portfolio and OBS activities: Loans secured by real estate comprise more than half of the sample's loans (Figure 1). This ratio has grown consistently from 56 percent in 1993 to almost 72 percent in 2010. The share of CRE loans almost doubled during the sample period (Figure 2), growing from 17 percent in 1993 to almost 32 percent in 2010. The increase in real estate lending by community banks did not simply offset other types of lending; the loan-to-asset ratio for community banks in our sample rose from 52 percent in 1993 to more than 65.5 percent in 2008, followed by only a four percentage points fall during the recent financial crisis (Figure 3).\nEmpirical specification: In order to explore the relationship between community bank performance and OBS activities, we test the performance effects of a range of variables:\nResults: Table I provides summary statistics on key characteristics for the full sample. Unused loan commitments are about 12 percent of community banks' total loans, while the standard deviation of individual bank's average ratios is also 12 percent. The summary statistics on different balance-sheet loan items confirm that real estate loans are the largest component of community banks' loan portfolio. The share of real estate loans to total loans has an overall average of 64 percent. CRE loans account for almost 24 percent of community banks' loan portfolio, while construction and land development loans, only account for 5.6 percent of total loans. 1-4 family loans are the second largest component of community banks' loan portfolio. The average annual growth rate of total loans over the whole sample period is 14 percent.\nConclusion: Prior to the 2008 credit meltdown, community banks significantly increased their issuance of OBS loan commitments. While the ratio of loan commitments to total loans has come down in recent years it continues to exceed the levels reached in the 1990s. This evolution has, however resulted in little research regarding its implications on community bank profitability and risk. OBS activities can potentially raise profitability because they allow banks to expand in investments that would not be possible if restricted to equity- or deposit-financing. However, since these financial instruments are not subject to regular capital requirements, the moral hazard hypothesis predicts that banks will increase OBS activities in a manner that increases risk (Angbazo, 1997). Consistent with our hypotheses, the empirical results presented here show that the use of loan commitments is generally associated with moderate increase in profitability and higher insolvency risk. However, during the recent financial crisis, the use of loan commitments becomes safer. While these coefficients after 2006 seem in contradiction, there appears to be a movement toward risk adverse practices in light of the recent economic turmoil that creates a circumstance of lower risk. One question for future research is whether these risk adverse practices degrade as the economy improves, thus returning to the earlier epoch of higher risk. The use of loan commitments is more risky for community banks that concentrate more on real estate loans, CRE loans, and C&D loans, while it is safer for community banks with higher equity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine loan commitments and lending patterns of community banks. The authors also test for shifts in these relationships in the period unwinding the subprime crisis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Standard panel fixed-effect models as well as hierarchical (mixed) regression models are estimated given that banks operating in a specific geographic market may vary systematically with differences in firm-level characteristics. Hierarchical (mixed) regression models can control for within-counties and within-banks similarities. The authors also employ pooled estimations with clustered standard errors at the bank level as robustness check.\nFindings: The empirical results show that the use of loan commitments is generally associated with moderate increase in profitability and higher insolvency risk. However, during the recent financial crisis, the use of loan commitments becomes safer. The use of loan commitments is more risky for community banks that concentrate more on loans that focus on real estate, while it is safer for community banks with higher equity. In regards to the performance of community banks' balance sheet loan activities, a more concentrated loan portfolio results in lower return and higher insolvency risks. High loan growth generates higher return and higher risks.\nOriginality/value: Prior to the 2008 credit meltdown, community banks significantly increased their issuance of off-balance sheet loan commitments. While the ratio of loan commitments to total loans has come down in recent years it continues to exceed the levels reached in the 1990s. This evolution has, however resulted in little research regarding its implications on community bank profitability and risk.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Executive chefs' calling: effect on engagement, work-life balance and life satisfaction
|
[
"Mediation",
"Work-life balance",
"Life satisfaction",
"Role theory",
"Spillover theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The hospitality industry necessitates that managerial employees such as executive chefs devote countless hours at work demanding sacrifices among their personal and family life (Bartholomew and Garey, 1996). Previous research has demonstrated that hospitality managers, including executive chefs, differ from other business managers relying greatly on experiential learning and playing a more integral role in their own development (Watson, 2008). Hospitality scholars have also called for more innovative hiring techniques that may make identifying the best candidate easier (Marco-Lajara and Ubeda-Garcia, 2013). Executive chefs are an important group to understand, as the position is unique and critical for the success of the restaurant and the position is not easily filled. The talent and skill that go into becoming an executive chef is at once inherent and cultivated and requires an unending commitment (Pratten, 2003).\nLiterature review: Calling\nMethod: Sample and data collection\nResults: Respondent characteristics\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to understand the relationships among calling, employee engagement, work-life balance and life satisfaction for executive chefs based on role theory and spillover theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Surveys were completed by members of the American Culinary Federation in North America, the Nevada Restaurant Association and attendees at the ChefConnect Annual Conference. The data were analysed with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.\nFindings: All relationships in the model were significantly positive except for calling to life satisfaction. Importantly work-life balance was a significant mediator between calling and life satisfaction as well as for employee engagement and life satisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research provides a more comprehensive framework for hospitality scholars to understand the outcomes of work as a calling through meaningfulness. The sample of executive chef limits generalizability.\nPractical implications: The identification of a calling through in-depth interviews is recommended. Once recognized, managers should further foster chef's passion through employee engagement facilitated by workplace autonomy and continuing education and work-life balance supported with human resource management practices including time off for critical life events. This will allow calling to flourish, increase life satisfaction and reduce the likelihood of turnover and burnout.\nOriginality/value: Outcomes reveal the complexity of the relationship between calling and life satisfaction. Contrary to previous findings, the presence of positive work-life balance was critical to attain life satisfaction, even when work was viewed as a calling.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exploring Industry 4.0 technologies to enable circular economy practices in a manufacturing context: A business model proposal
|
[
"Advanced manufacturing technology",
"Sustainable production",
"3D printing",
"Green operations",
"Additive manufacturing",
"Industry 4.0"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Industry 4.0 is increasingly being explored by academics, researchers, practitioners and other relevant stakeholders. The idea of Industry 4.0 is underpinned by the advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and data storage. In this sense, it is possible to integrate the workflows of advanced technologies into continuous improvement methodologies, incorporating factors such as the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality, additive manufacturing (AM), big data, cloud computing, simulation, industrial automation and cybersecurity (Barreto et al., 2017; Li and Yang, 2017; Trompisch, 2017; Wagner et al., 2017). There are great expectations in both, the research and business communities that such technologies will permeate the broadest range of production chains and the service sector (Wood et al., 2014). A considerable number of studies have already been published on the topic, proposing several scenarios and benefits of the implementation of Industry 4.0. For instance, Ivanov et al. (2016), Kang et al. (2016), Lom et al. (2016), Thoben et al. (2017), Wan, Tang, Shu, Li, Wang, Imran and Vasilakos, (2016), Wollschlaeger et al. (2017) and Zhou et al. (2015) have all suggested that these technologies enable operational efficiency, improved control of data operations, and reduction of energy wastes from machines and processes.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Transition towards CE\n3. Research method: This study used a qualitative research method that was deployed in three stages (see Figure 1). Stage 1 was a literature review of the concepts, successful factors and barriers related to the transition to a CE. It also addressed how SSCM, Industry 4.0 and AM support current CE practices. Stage 2 provided a conceptual framework for integrating and evaluating the synergistic potential of each of the concepts revealed in stage 1. Finally, stage 3 validated the proposed model by collecting rich qualitative data based on a focus group and semi-structured interviews with managers, researchers and professors in the field of operations management. The analysis was conducted using category analysis, which emerged from the literature review and from the most relevant issues pointed out by the experts. The approach followed in this work was exploratory in nature because it aimed at collecting the most relevant information available in the literature. It is descriptive because the study sought to reveal how information can be presented to society for CE purposes, and how best to replicate these methodologies and technologies in similar environments. The two approaches used as a research strategy were adapted from Voss et al. (2010): exploration and theory-building.\n4. CSPS model: 4.1 Overview of the circular model\n5. Analysis and discussion: To encapsulate Industry 4.0, AM, and the CE concepts, a sequence of steps were presented in the CSPS model: product life cycle; selective waste collection; waste sorting; waste treatment; product printing; if necessary, product assembly; and product selling. These steps were discussed in the FGIs, where the stages most frequently questioned were stages 4 and 5. Stage 5's main challenge is accomplishing the metallurgical engineering to validate the existence of a physicochemical treatment that produces the powder for input into 3D printers. In the validation of stainless steel for this purpose, mechanical tests of fatigue and micrographs should be performed, comparing the performance of the product between traditionally manufactured and recycled with 3D printing. Notably, however, there is a solution for recycling of cast iron, whether grey, white, nodular, malleable and/or rough (according to the carbon x silicon diagram). After it is sorted and separated by category, a mould is created from a PMMA polymer in the 3D printer. Next, a micro-fusion process can be carried out where the scrap cast iron is heated to 1,500degC, reaching the liquid state, and is then poured into the PMMA mould. Finally, both materials go through a heating process, and the mould evaporates without leaving any residue.\n6. Conclusions: The purpose of this study was to explore how Industry 4.0 technologies are integrated with CE practices. This allows for the proposal of a circular business model for recycling waste and delivering new products, significantly reducing resource consumption and optimising natural resources. In a first stage, the circular business model can be used to recycle electronic scrap, with the proposed integration of web technologies, reverse logistics and AM as a technological platform to support the model. These have several environmental, sociotechnical and economic implications for society. First, the impact of reusing materials to manufacture new products minimises resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. The circular model also encourages keeping hazardous materials that seriously threaten life in ecosystems out of landfills and oceans. For this study, it was found that most urban waste is plastic and cast iron, leaving room for improvement in increasing recycling of scrap metal and similar materials. Second, the circular business model promotes a culture of reusing and recycling and motivates the development of collection and processing techniques for urban waste through the use of 3D printing technologies and Industry 4.0. In this way, the involved stakeholders are focused on the technical parts of recycling and can be better dedicated to research, development and innovation because many of the processes will be automated.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how rising technologies from Industry 4.0 can be integrated with circular economy (CE) practices to establish a business model that reuses and recycles wasted material such as scrap metal or e-waste.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The qualitative research method was deployed in three stages. Stage 1 was a literature review of concepts, successful factors and barriers related to the transition towards a CE along with sustainable supply chain management, smart production systems and additive manufacturing (AM). Stage 2 comprised a conceptual framework to integrate and evaluate the synergistic potential among these concepts. Finally, stage 3 validated the proposed model by collecting rich qualitative data based on semi-structured interviews with managers, researchers and professors of operations management to gather insightful and relevant information.\nFindings: The outcome of the study is the recommendation of a circular model to reuse scrap electronic devices, integrating web technologies, reverse logistics and AM to support CE practices. Results suggest a positive influence from improving business sustainability by reinserting waste into the supply chain to manufacture products on demand.\nResearch limitations/implications: The impact of reusing wasted materials to manufacture new products is relevant to minimising resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. Furthermore, it avoids hazardous materials ending up in landfills or in the oceans, seriously threatening life in ecosystems. In addition, reuse of wasted material enables the development of local business networks that generate jobs and improve economic performance.\nPractical implications: First, the impact of reusing materials to manufacture new products minimises resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. The circular model also encourages keeping hazardous materials that seriously threaten life in ecosystems out of landfills and oceans. For this study, it was found that most urban waste is plastic and cast iron, leaving room for improvement in increasing recycling of scrap metal and similar materials. Second, the circular business model promotes a culture of reusing and recycling and motivates the development of collection and processing techniques for urban waste through the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies and Industry 4.0. In this way, the involved stakeholders are focused on the technical parts of recycling and can be better dedicated to research, development and innovation because many of the processes will be automated.\nSocial implications: The purpose of this study was to explore how Industry 4.0 technologies are integrated with CE practices. This allows for the proposal of a circular business model for recycling waste and delivering new products, significantly reducing resource consumption and optimising natural resources. In a first stage, the circular business model can be used to recycle electronic scrap, with the proposed integration of web technologies, reverse logistics and AM as a technological platform to support the model. These have several environmental, sociotechnical and economic implications for society.\nOriginality/value: The sociotechnical aspects are directly impacted by the circular smart production system (CSPS) management model, since it creates a new culture of reuse and recycling techniques for urban waste using 3D printing technologies, as well as Industry 4.0 concepts to increase production on demand and automate manufacturing processes. The tendency of the CSPS model is to contribute to deployment CE in the manufacture of new products or parts with AM approaches, generating a new path of supply and demand for society.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Exploring and verifying BIM-based energy simulation for building operations
|
[
"Building information modeling (BIM)",
"Energy simulation",
"Autodesk Revit",
"EnergyPlus",
"HOT2000",
"Energy monitoring"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomenclature\n1. Introduction: Building operations consume over a third of the world's energy consumption and carbon emissions (Pan and Garmston, 2012). In the USA, it has been reported that the construction sector and building operation combined account for 41% of the nation's total energy usage (United States Green Building Council, 2009). Moreover, the operational phase consumes 87 and 83% of the total energy of a building in Europe and the USA, respectively (Junnila et al., 2006). In addressing the detrimental impacts, the operational phase of a building's lifecycle is receiving increasing attention, for which energy simulation can play an important role in predicting energy performance and leveraging building design and operations.Building simulation has been described as a technique \"available to architects, engineers and building managers concerned with energy conservation\" (Hong et al., 2000); as an example, Pan et al. (2017) analysed the challenges for energy and carbon modeling for high-rise buildings, based on a comprehensive analysis of various tools, including EnergyPlus. Energy simulation engines and software applications are key prerequisites of energy simulation. Representative simulation engines and tools have been comprehensively reviewed and compared by researchers (Hong et al., 2000; Crawley et al., 2008). A commonly used tool is EnergyPlus provided by the Department of Energy, USA, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which combines the capabilities and features from BLAST and DOE-2 with new capabilities and is widely adopted around the world (Fumo et al., 2010). Green Building Studio (GBS) is another frequently used tool (Kim and Anderson, 2013; Kim et al., 2016a, b), which was originally launched in 2004, and now is an affiliate program for Autodesk, functioning as a Web-based platform able to run simulations using the DOE-2 engine. Chen and Pan (2016) used BIM and eQuest to develop a variable fuzzy-based decision model for low-carbon building design.In Canada, HOT2000, an energy simulation tool developed by Natural Resources Canada, is widely used as an energy simulation and design tool for low-rise residential buildings for the purpose of supporting programs, policy and regulatory development and implementation (Natural Resources Canada, 2016). HOT2000 has also been used by researchers to simulate energy performance (Li et al., 2017). Kneifel et al. (2016) have also analysed the energy variation caused by such factors as building design, heating and cooling temperature set-points, for which two heating temperature set-points and two cooling temperature set-points were simulated for the operational phase of buildings. To monitor the actual energy performance, Li et al. (2016) proposed an energy monitoring system using sensors, and the monitored data have been used to analyse actual performance in detail and to verify simulation results as well. Li et al. (2018) analysed the discrepancy of the actual energy performance of multiple NetZero energy homes based on monitored data using sensors.While energy simulation is applied to evaluate the energy performance of building operations, the emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology is expected to facilitate building lifecycle performance simulation with predefined and enriched building information (Shou et al., 2020a; Wang et al., 2016). As highlighted by Abdulaal et al. (2016), BIM will revolutionise the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, capitalising on its advanced functionalities such as improved interoperability and rich information hub (Yung et al., 2014; Shou et al., 2020b). Interoperability is defined as the ability of two or more systems to exchange information that is needed and available and to use the information (IEEE, 1990). Chong et al. (2017) have also conducted a comprehensive review of the application of BIM for sustainability, noting that substantial efforts have been dedicated to integrating BIM tools with energy simulation tools.\n2. Interoperability between Building Information Modelling and energy simulation tools: A number of studies have been conducted, discussing data exchange between BIM and energy simulation tools. Most of the proposed data exchange approaches can be classified into three schemes: API-based data exchange, gbXML-enabled data exchange and IFC-enabled data exchange. Each scheme is explained in detail as follows, as well as their issues in data interoperability. 2.1 API-based data exchange\n3. Research objective and methodology: This research explores the interoperability between BIM models and simulation tools and examines the quality of transferred building information; furthermore, the energy simulation results based on BIM are validated and compared using several sources, including another simulation tool and monitored data. Considering that Autodesk Revit (referred to hereafter as Revit) and EnergyPlus are the commonly used tools for BIM authoring and energy simulation, respectively, these application tools are selected for the BIM-based energy simulation in the present research.The proposed BIM-based energy simulation framework is illustrated in Figure 1. The building design is first digitalised using Revit, with such building information as building location, use, geometry, materials and mechanical systems defined during the process. Then, the modelled building information is converted into EnergyPlus files (IDF files) through the Revit built-in energy simulation program, GBS. During the file conversion and transfer process, some of the predefined building information of the building envelope and mechanical systems is lost; thus, the interoperability issues of Revit and EnergyPlus are examined. The identified issues are solved specifically in EnergyPlus, and energy simulation is conducted successfully based on the corrected building information. The converted IDF files form the analytical BIM model, weather data, occupant schedule and the simulation mechanism of the simulation engines are the inputs and constraints of the energy simulation using EnergyPlus, and the energy consumption by category is the output. The simulation results are compared with those of the monitored data using sensors and the simulation results from HOT2000, for which weather data and the simulation mechanism of the simulation engines are the inputs and constraints. This comparison also serves to validate the simulation results based on the BIM models. Furthermore, such parameters as schedules are examined, and sensitivity analysis is conducted for typical scenarios of building operations to showcase the applicability of the simulation approach in the operation of buildings. The research presented in this paper contributes to the development of a BIM-based energy simulation approach for building operations and provides validation by using sensor data and through comparison with another simulation tool (i.e. HOT2000).\n4. Building Information Modelling-based simulation: through a case study: 4.1 Project information\n5. Comparison of results and validation: EnergyPlus and HOT2000 simulate energy consumption by space heating and cooling, lighting, equipment and others, with the main components and parameters illustrated in Figures A7 and A8, respectively. The same case example was simulated using HOT2000 (V10.51) by Li et al. (2017), in which they observed a total annual energy consumption of 19,146 kWh, including 1,460 kWh for exterior lighting and electrical outlets. For comparison purposes, the exterior use is excluded from the total energy consumption in HOT2000. The results are presented in Table 7, from which it can be observed that: (1) EnergyPlus predicts slightly (0.8%) less total energy consumption than HOT2000; (2) more energy usage for space heating (by 33.2%), space cooling and heat recovery ventilator (HRV) and fans (by 51.8%) is estimated by EnergyPlus than by HOT2000; and (3) EnergyPlus predicts 34.9% less energy consumption for \"other\" (which includes all other energy usage, with the exception of space heating and cooling) than does HOT2000.Simulation results from both EnergyPlus and HOT2000 are compared with the sensor monitoring data, which serve as the validation dataset in this research. The annual sensor monitoring data used by Li et al. (2016) are used here as the benchmark to validate the simulation results. The monitoring data include energy consumption by space heating and cooling, DHW heating, HRV and base loads. To align the categories for the purpose of comparison, the comparison is conducted using the categories of space heating and cooling, \"other\" and total. As presented in Table 8 and Figure 14, both EnergyPlus and HOT2000 give total energy consumption predictions near to the sensor monitoring data, with differences of 8.0 and 7.1%, respectively. However, EnergyPlus achieves better predictions by category: (1) EnergyPlus overestimates energy usage for space heating and cooling by 4.8%, while HOT2000 underestimates energy consumption for space heating and cooling by 21.3%; and (2) EnergyPlus overestimates energy usage for \"other\" by 10%, while HOT2000 overestimates energy usage for \"other\" by 46.4%.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: As a major energy consumer and contributor of detrimental impacts on the environment, the energy performance of building operations is receiving increasing attention, for which energy simulation can be used as an approach to leverage building design and operations. Meanwhile, as an emerging technology, BIM facilitates building energy simulation with predefined and enriched building information. The research presented in this paper explores the interoperability between the commonly used BIM and energy simulation tools, i.e. Revit and EnergyPlus, and verifies the simulation results using another tool (i.e. HOT2000) and monitored data. This research identifies the following interoperability issues involved in BIM-based energy simulation and proposes corresponding solutions: (1) some of the predefined building information is lost during the file conversion and transfer process, resulting in incorrect simulation results, in which case the imported IDF files need to be edited in EnergyPlus to correct the building information; and (2) some of the building information and parameters are generalised, which is caused by the simulation tool itself. Therefore, these parameters need to be customised for specific building operations, and the modification of the schedule parameters is presented in this research as an example.Furthermore, to examine the variation of energy performance and showcase the applicability of the simulation approach in the operational phase of buildings, sensitivity analysis is conducted for typical scenarios of building operations. The results reveal that the energy usage for space heating is sensitive to the temperature set-point. If the temperature set-point is changed from 20.0 degC to 22.0 degC, for instance, the energy usage for space heating increases by 11.5%. This research also examines the effects of scheduled temperature set-points based on people schedules. The simulation results indicate that the scheduled temperature set-points can reduce energy consumption for space heating by 10.51% and overall energy by 5.78%.Additionally, this research verifies the accuracy of BIM-based energy simulation, through the comparison with the results of other sources, including HOT2000 and the monitored data using sensors. The comparison of results indicates that EnergyPlus predicts a similar total energy consumption to HOT2000, but EnergyPlus and HOT2000 result in significant differences for the energy consumption category. The simulated results from EnergyPlus and HOT2000 are also compared with the sensor monitoring data, and the comparison indicates that both EnergyPlus and HOT2000 are accurate in predicting the total energy consumption, with observed differences from the monitoring data of 8.0 and 7.1%, respectively, but EnergyPlus achieves better predictions for the energy consumption category.This research explores the application of BIM for building energy simulation, compares the simulation results among different tools and validates the simulation results using monitored data. This research also explores the interoperability between BIM and energy simulation tools. The identified issues can be referred to for the development and application of BIM-based energy simulation. Add-ons for BIM models could be developed to improve the interoperability issues involved in BIM-based energy simulation by automating the process for adjusting data after file conversion in future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The operational phase of a building's lifecycle is receiving increasing attention, as it consumes an enormous amount of energy and results in tremendous detrimental impacts on the environment. While energy simulation can be applied as a tool to evaluate the energy performance of a building in operation, the emergence of Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology is expected to facilitate the evaluation process with predefined and enriched building information. However, such an approach has been confronted by the challenge of interoperability issues among the related application software, including the BIM tools and energy simulation tools, and the results of simulation have been seldom verified due to the unavailability of corresponding experimental data. This study aims to explore the interoperability between the commonly used energy simulation and BIM tools and verifies the simulation approach by undertaking a case study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: With Autodesk Revit and EnergyPlus selected as the commonly used BIM and energy simulation tools, respectively, a valid technical framework of transferring building information between two tools is proposed, and the interoperability issues that occur during the data transfer are studied. The proposed framework is then employed to simulate the energy consumption of a single-family house, and sensitivity analysis and analysis on such parameters as schedule are conducted for building operations to showcase its applicability.\nFindings: The simulation results are compared with monitored data and the results from another simulation tool, HOT2000; the comparison reveals that EnergyPlus and HOT2000 predict the total energy consumption with a difference from the monitoring data of 8.0 and 7.1%, respectively.\nPractical implications: This research shows how to efficiently use BIM to support building energy simulation. Relevant stakeholders can learn from this research to avoid data loss during BIM model transformation.\nOriginality/value: This research explores the application of BIM for building energy simulation, compares the simulation results among different tools and validates simulation results using monitored data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Why do employees respond to hospitality talent management: An examination of a Latin American restaurant chain
|
[
"Talent management",
"Internal brand management",
"Hospitality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, talent management (TM) has seen a \"publication explosion\" (McDonnell et al., 2017, p. 89) resulting in several high-quality literature reviews trying to synthetize and map the field (McDonnell et al., 2017; Cappelli and Keller, 2014; Thunnissen et al., 2013a; Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen, 2016; Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2017). Within the hospitality literature, interest in TM has been long-standing, as witnessed by the 2008 special issue of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (Deery, 2008; Hughes and Rog, 2008; Baum, 2008) and numerous publications since (Deery and Jago, 2015; Reilly, 2018; Bratton and Waton, 2018; Hughes and Murray, 2018). In a field that has been frequently critiqued for conceptual ambiguity (Lewis and Heckman, 2006; Thunnissen et al., 2013b), Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen (2016, p. 50) have recently advanced a complete and clearly stated TM definition:\nLiterature review: Internal brand management\nMethods: The research took place in the regional operations (Mexico) of a Latin American restaurant chain characterized by a strong brand culture that implemented TM practices that reflect a hospitality TM mind-set. Among them, an inclusive approach that extends the TM program to all company employees. In fact, all employees are referred to and addressed as \"talents\". Other practices include values-based recruitment and selection, strong onboarding plus continued on-the-job training and a focus on establishing a relational psychological contract. The company has nine wholly owned stores plus a central production facility, with headcount exceeding 400. The company hires mostly women and offers training and career opportunities to foster retention. It was ranked a \"best place to work\" by a local business magazine. The owners understand the importance of employees to the restaurants success and given the modest socioeconomic status of most of their employees, they spontaneously mentioned developing employee self-esteem as a central training issue during the initial meetings with the researchers.\nResults: Using SmartPLS 3.2.7 (Ringle et al., 2015), the measurement or outer model was first evaluated. Table I shows the items, item loadings, alphas and composite reliabilities. All items had acceptable loadings, and composite reliabilities are well above 0.70, indicating good internal consistency (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). However, when the variance inflation factors (VIFs) of the indicators were examined, high values for items in the OBSE scale were detected (between 5.45 and 7.15), indicating a collinearity problem. Hence, items were removed one by one, starting with the highest VIF, until all VIF reached satisfactory levels (Hair et al., 2017). It was only necessary to discard OBSE-3 and OBSE-6. This is not considered problematic, as previous studies have used shortened versions of the OBSE scale without effect (Pierce and Gardner, 2004).\nDiscussion and implications: For hospitality organizations to realize a competitive advantage, via a differentiated service experience, a strong focus on the recruitment, selection, training and development of employees is required. It is from this perspective that two streams of parallel literature emerge, namely, TM and IBM, for the purpose of ensuring a productive hospitality workforce. Although both bodies of literature have methodically examined organizational actions to realize this, as well as considered employee outcomes, comprehension as to why employees are responsive to TM initiatives for the benefit of the hospitality organization is not well understood. Such insight is considered important because the hospitality industry faces a number of challenges that make it difficult to develop and sustain high engagement among employees. Characteristics such as low pay, long and anti-social hours, limited career opportunities (Sheehan et al., 2018), poor work-life balance and stressful emotional labor (Deery and Jago, 2015; Bratton and Waton, 2018) suggest that effective TM in hospitality organizations may benefit from understanding why hospitality employees would respond in a positive way, so as to ensure companies develop initiatives that will have a positive impact. In drawing on SET and relational psychological contract thinking, this study seeks to examine the psychological mechanisms that drive employees to be productive contributors to the hospitality organization's competitive advantage, thus having the potential to buffer the effects of traditional hospitality job characteristics. We have argued, supported by the results of this study, that in addition to traditional TM practices, a strong emphasis on the hospitality brand is a necessary feature of effective hospitality TM practices.\nConclusion: As a labor-intensive industry, the hospitality industry has a long history investing in employees for the benefit of the organization. Although productive employees are coveted by all organizations, they are considered critical for hospitality organizations given that a meaningful differentiated service experience, of which hospitality employees are responsible, is required for a competitive advantage. In recognition that employee actions that advance an organization are largely volitional, understanding why employees respond to hospitality TM initiatives is considered necessary insight to develop sustainable TM programs. It is from this perspective that this study, in drawing insight from the TM and IBM literature, promotes the psychological mechanisms that propel employees to behave in a manner that is consistent with the brand, the source of the organization's differentiated position in the marketplace. The results provide a compelling proposition for hospitality organizations to infuse traditional TM initiatives with the brand, as is often reflected in the IBM literature, given that it is the relationship employees have with the organization and the brand that contributes to their exhibition of productive behavior that is coveted in all TM studies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: In consideration that the purpose of talent management is to attract and nurture productive employees for the benefit of the hospitality organization, this study aims to examine why employees respond in such favorable ways. Recognizing beneficial employee behavior advances a hospitality organization through their ability to deliver an experience that aligns with the promoted brand promise, inspiration is drawn from both the strategic human resource management as well as the internal brand management literature. The power of this approach is illustrated through a survey of employees of a Latin American restaurant chain with a long-standing policy of values-based recruiting, inclusive talent management and progressive people management practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Informed by literature, employee perception of their relationship with the organization (i.e., relationship orientation) and alignment with the brand's values (i.e., brand fit) were considered drivers of favorable employee attitudes and behavior as a result of hospitality talent management practices. These were hypothesized to positively influence employee confidence and motivation as reflected in organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and brand motivation, which in turn drive employee brand-aligned behavior. A survey measured the variables of interest with the same employees over two time periods, matched using employees' identification code, resulting in 199 complete surveys. The structural model was estimated using partial least squares (PLS).\nFindings: Relationship orientation and brand fit were significant drivers of OBSE and brand motivation, respectively. In turn, they had a significant effect on employee brand-aligned behavior. Model estimation complied with all PLS quality criteria.\nResearch limitations/implications: Traditional talent management practices that tend to focus on the transactional benefits of the job/career can be strengthened by leveraging strong organizational relationships as well as engagement with the hospitality brand. In turn, employees have the confidence and motivation to exhibit brand-aligned behavior, a path to competitive advantage, which may also act as a buffer helping employees manage the stress of hospitality jobs.\nOriginality/value: Understanding why employees respond favorably to hospitality talent management practices, beyond simply transactional, monetary reasons, is important to designing relevant and timely initiatives that have the potential to enhance organizational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The swansong of the fascist octopus: creating effective change communications
|
[
"Corporate communications",
"Disruptive innovation",
"Change management",
"Change communications",
"Cliches",
"Corporate double speak",
"George Orwell",
"Reductions in force"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: George Orwell was talking about the correlation between authoritarian regimes and the corruption of language when he coined the undying phrase in the title (Orwell, 1946). But if he were alive today, he might have turned his holy anger on corporate change communications. For reasons that are not entirely clear, companies resort to the worst cliches and clumsy language at exactly the moment when they most need both clarity and empathy in their communications - when they are attempting \"transformative\" organizational change. Worn-out cliches and barbarous acronyms seem to have become the norm even as employee communications specialists gather behind closed doors to discuss the next big change announcement, pontificating to each other about the importance of WIFMs (what's in it for me) when communicating with employees. Understanding the reasons why this bizarre tendency is so common is the starting point for creating effective change communications. Corporate double speak can never be eliminated entirely, but awareness of the reasons for its existence can go a long way to mitigating its dire effects.\nCollaborate on change: The classic change management model involves appointing a high-level task force (there must be a code name!) led by a rising corporate executive who gathers a handpicked transition team to define the problem which inhabits a \"war room\" for six months and comes back with a change strategy and process. Toward the end of this period, communications experts are brought in to \"sell\" the initiative to employees.\nCelebrate the past not just the future: Any fundamental organizational change usually involves the elimination or dismantling of internal structures with some history and legacy attached. Even internal corporate-department names are brands to employees, and when they go away, employees can experience a sense of loss. When the reorganization also involves real brands, inherited from acquisitions, that are going away, that sense of loss is multiplied 10-fold.\nA new starting line: The new change initiative that senior executives have been working on for 11 months is finally ready to be shared with the organization. The very best communications experts have created a communications plan with \"train the trainer\" materials, videos from senior leaders and a cascading series of roll-down town hall meetings to communicate the benefits of the change across the organization and around the world. The posters are ready to go up. The announcement goes off like a charm, and the feedback you hear is highly positive, but two months later, it feels like the change process is foundering. When you query the organization's day-to-day leadership, you hear that there are many questions about the plan and what people should be doing to achieve it.\nChoose your words: Changing large organizations not facing a fundamental existential threat is a truly difficult challenge. This is why many senior executives try to create a dramatic narrative to underscore the importance of and the urgent need for the change. Their favorite term of art is to talk about a \"burning platform\" designed to conjure up the image of a burning oil rig with the implication that there is no choice but for all employees to leap together into the churning waves (the future) or face death. The difficulty this creates is that it produces instant skepticism in employees who understand perfectly well that the enterprise is not about to sink beneath the waves and that they can continue to do what they have been doing without risking their ability to deliver against their target. While defining the company's future as a rescue from a burning platform is appealing, it is better for leadership to use the language that more accurately corresponds to the reality on the ground.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine why corporations frequently do such a bad job in change communications and succumb to cliched terminology when communicating change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach was to identify particularly egregious examples of poor communications and to identify some reasons why change communications seems so difficult for large corporations.\nFindings: Poor change communications has a number of sources. Chief of these is the failure to involve employees in the change process from the beginning and to acknowledge candidly that all change processes have losers as well as winners.\nResearch limitations/implications: The views expressed in the paper are based on the author's own experience rather than extensively researched data.\nPractical implications: While poor change communications will always exist, leaders who understand the natural tendency to use obscure and cliched language in the field will be able to mitigate its effects.\nSocial implications: With trust in corporations at all-time lows, one can believe that more effective change communications will help to restore some of the lost trust between capital and labor.\nOriginality/value: While the cliched corporate language is the frequent target of critics, there are few treatments of its connection with change communications.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Disentangling customer orientation - executive perspective
|
[
"Customer orientation",
"Customer value",
"Strategic decision-making",
"Executive level",
"Value dimensions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Companies increasingly see customer orientation as a way to ensure long-term success. A multitude of studies have indicated that customer orientation has a positive effect on company performance (see e.g. Narver and Slater, 1990; Kohli and Jaworski, 1990), Deshpande et al., 1993; Becker and Homburg, 1999; Souchon et al., 2004). More recently, the focus has shifted from measuring its antecedents and impact on company performance toward better understanding how customer orientation is created in organizations (e.g. Gebhardt et al., 2006; Kennedy et al., 2003; Strong and Harris, 2004). Consequently, research on customer orientation has gradually moved beyond its embryonic stage unlocking new venues for exploration.\nBuilding customer orientation: As a managerial and executive level concept, customer orientation is closely related to other similar constructs such as customer driven or market oriented that emphasize the importance of generating insights about customer needs and translating that understanding into organizational behavior. These concepts are rooted in the foundational purpose of marketing as the fulfillment of customer needs (Levitt, 1960). As a broader concept, market orientation (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990) refers to the generation and dissemination of market intelligence and responding to that intelligence. In the context of this study, we follow Narver and Slater (1990) who consider customer orientation as one of the core components of market orientation that also includes competitor orientation and interfunctional coordination.\nMethodology: Existing literature on customer orientation is largely based on quantitative studies linking customer orientation to company performance. These studies have built the empirical basis of the domain, which has been and is still key when justifying the concept's relevance for scholars and practitioners. However, given the complexity of the concept of customer orientation, through qualitative inquiry current understanding can be enriched by addressing such aspects of the phenomenon that would otherwise remain uncovered. Case study research allows for the in-depth study of phenomena within their real-life contexts (Yin, 2009; Dubois and Gadde, 2002). It is characterized by a holistic approach that builds understanding on the basis of rich empirical data. Particularly in this study, the methodology employed is well suited to explore the dynamics involved in uncovering how customer orientation is implemented as a process over a period of time. The intensive single case study approach chosen for this study benefits from in-depth experiential understandings and knowledge of one of the authors, as complemented by other data sources.\nResults: In Figure 3, we delineate the way customer orientation is translated into specific executive priorities through four customer value dimensions: economic, functional, emotional, and symbolic. These dimensions not only illustrate the process nature and the different stages of implementing customer orientation, but also enable executives to go beyond the traditional customer orientation and adopt a customer value orientation instead. The first column contains the customer value criteria related to each value dimension in detail. It captures the customer's perspective, describing the value that he or she creates from each dimension by being a customer of the case company. Understanding value from the customer's perspective is the first step toward implementing customer orientation. The second column details the strategic priorities related to each value dimension. This is the phase where customer insight regarding value dimensions is translated into practice. It includes concrete executive level decision-making activities enacted within the company that are directed toward creating economic, functional, emotional, and symbolic value, respectively, for the customer. The timeline below the figure roughly represents how the process evolved through different value dimensions in the case company's strategic decision making. Next, the linkages between the customer value criteria and executive priorities are discussed.\nConclusions: The literature on customer orientation has paid attention to important matters regarding the enablers of customer orientation, what it requires, and how to align the organization accordingly (e.g. Van Raaij and Stoelhorst, 2008), but a more practical perspective is still required. Sometimes, customer orientation is used merely as a marketing communications slogan or part of the corporate lexicon that does not ultimately have any strategic resonance in the company's practical decision making. Toward that end, we find that the fact that consumer choice is driven by both utilitarian and hedonic considerations (Babin et al., 1994) is far too seldom linked to customer orientation and executive decision making. The study counteracts the inside-out perspective of implementing customer orientation by starting from the customer's perspective. The in-depth case study research has resulted in disentangling the concept of customer orientation by linking it with customer value and addressing its process nature. As a result, four sets of implications can be drawn.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Despite the fact that customer orientation is increasingly used as a strategic guideline to ensure companies' long-term success, it is too often left at conceptual level without any managerial or executive translation. To address this practical gap, the purpose of the paper is to build an executive perspective on customer orientation through the mechanism of customer value dimensions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An intensive case study from a successful retail service business is used to illustrate how customer orientation is applied in actual strategic decision making at the executive level. The case business is a multi-sector service business that took a strategic turn toward customer orientation in the 2000s. As a result, the company has been able to increase their market share to become the market leader as well as stay ahead of the competition and increase customer loyalty.\nFindings: The study provides a practical tool of disentangling customer orientation into four customer value dimensions and linking them with appropriate executive level strategic decision making.\nPractical implications: The study helps executives uncover the inner meaning of customer orientation, move beyond traditional conceptualization of customer orientation, and adopt customer value orientation. This necessitates not only understanding customer value criteria, but also linking the diverse criteria to executive level strategic decision making.\nOriginality/value: The study concretizes and uncovers how customer orientation can be implemented by incorporating both economic, functional, emotional, and symbolic customer value dimensions into executive level strategic decision making.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Determinants of telecommunication stock prices
|
[
"Telecommunications",
"Stock prices",
"Determinants",
"Mobile internet",
"Telecom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Stock prices essentially reflect the discounted value of expected future cash flows of publicly traded business units. The telecommunications (telecom) industry has experienced high volatility of stock prices over the past two decades. The privatization, deregulation, and technical innovations (DSL, UMTS, internet, etc.) of the late 1990s, led to extraordinary growth expectation among investors for telecommunication firms. This resulted in sharp rises in share prices of telecom stocks, which outperformed market indices. Consequently, telecom firms were able to expand rapidly and invest aggressively in infrastructure. Contrary to industry expectations, the many new and innovative mobile services did not result in commercial success (Constantiou et al., 2006). Basic mobile services are still the dominant revenue generators for telecom firms (Carlsson et al., 2006; Gerpott, 2010; Pedersen, 2005), while more advanced and sophisticated services are struggling to find mass acceptance among the consumers (Carlsson and Walden, 2008). The optimistic expectations of the industry, were challenged during the early 2000s downturn, and more recently since the financial crisis of 2008. In these periods, telecom firms found themselves with overcapacity, falling profit margins, and rising competition (Booz\n2. Empirical methods: In the following subsections we discuss: the data set, the choice of determinates, and our choice of multi-variate techniques.\n3. Results and discussion: 3.1. Analysis of descriptive statistics and correlation\n4. Conclusion: Electronic communication using mobile devices has become increasingly popular since the introduction of smart phones and tablets, and has quickly diffused into our daily lives. In addition to their use for basic mobile services (i.e. voice calls and short message service), these devices are increasingly being used for technically advanced and sophisticated services (e.g. e-mail, internet, mobile monitoring of Radio Frequency Identification information) as well. The recent momentum in the growth and development of mobile service innovation, and evolution of mobile communications (Fuentelsaz et al., 2008), coupled with the potential to attract new consumers is being seen as a significant source of revenue generation by telecommunication service providers, mobile device manufacturers, and application software developers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants affecting the stock prices of telecommunications firms in both developed and developing countries around the world.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is performed using panel data from 160 countries and 45 companies, covering the time period from 2000 to 2011. To identify the significant factors, company level firm-specific financial and non-financial factors have been analyzed that are expected to bear significant impact on price volatility of telecommunications stock.\nFindings: The test results reveal that capital expenditure and book value are the most significant factors. Dividends and debt levels only affect prices significantly in specification tests with either time-series or cross-sectional effects, whereas firms' earnings and numbers of mobile internet subscribers do not contribute to the explanatory power of telecommunication stock price variability.\nPractical implications: The study sheds light to the potential investors in evaluating the risk associated with investment in stocks of telecommunications firms and take informed investment decisions.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study that presents a comprehensive analysis of determinants affecting the stock prices of telecommunications firms in both developed and developing countries around the world.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A cross-cultural investigation of situational information security awareness programs
|
[
"Data security",
"Training",
"United States of America",
"Taiwan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Security awareness training of general users is negligible in many developing and under-developed countries. Additionally, the diffusion of the Internet and prevalent social technologies in both of these aforementioned types of countries impose grave threats to information security.Security awareness involves the human factor. No matter how advanced and stringent the security technological solutions, humans are generally the first line of defense to secure information assets. Security breaches, such as virus infections, identity theft, and dumpster diving, are the direct cause of carelessness and a lack of knowledge and action on the part of users. Technological solutions are effective only after users are knowledgeable and skillful at using them. Therefore, security awareness can be more important than the technology factor in contributing to the success of today's information security.Thus, cultivating security awareness in relation to an individual, a corporate, and on a global basis is a prerequisite to a more secure and protected world within the realm of information. A 2006 information security breaches survey found that the gap between the companies that have high security awareness and those that did not is widening (PriceWaterHouseCoopers, 2006). This gap may be explained in the fact that the larger enterprises spend more time in developing security policies, training, and institute proactively security measures such as anti-virus software. In the same logic, one effective approach to better secure a person's information is to make individuals as well as organizations more aware of security risks and their responsibilities.In general, security awareness programs provide users adequate knowledge to evaluate adverse consequences of security problems and take the appropriate actions to prevent and correct security breaches. International firms, such as DaimlerChrysler (Grant, 2007), consider security awareness of their employees as one of key performance indicators to their successful operation. Members of the European Network and Information Security Agency, representing 67 government departments and private companies in nine European countries are actively conducting internal and external auditing to assess their actual state of security awareness (Filipek, 2007). Although different countries may have different states of security awareness, the increase of security awareness of their national, corporate and citizen safety is unequivocally important for all countries. It is imperative that general users of all cultural backgrounds receive proper security awareness training in order to reduce security risks to themselves and to others.Different parts of the world have varying technological capacities and security challenges. Though this may be the case, improving the level of security awareness of general users is equally important in every scenario and must be addressed immediately. This study will investigate the efficacy of web-based information security awareness programs from a cross-culture perspective. Subjects from Taiwan and the USA participated in our web-based programs which were created to enhance their security awareness knowledge level. Both pre- and post-tests were given in order to assess whether these aforementioned cultures would be more receptive to the use of technology-driven security awareness programs.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 The importance of designing a culturally-aware security awareness training program\n3 Research methodology: This study used Macromedia Flash as the application to develop an animation-based security awareness program based on Endsley's (1995) Situational Awareness Dynamic Decision Making Model and Situation Awareness Global Assessment Techniques. Experimental sessions were conducted with 160 Taiwanese and 100 American subjects to assess if culture is a relevant element to be considered when adopting situational security awareness programs. To understand the moderating effect of culture, we compared results collected from two separate studies in the USA and Taiwan with respect to the impact of situational vs traditional security awareness programs on the improvement of three levels of security awareness. This manipulation control makes it possible to detect the effects of the single independent variable (training method) on training outcomes. With the training method as a control factor, any significant differences between these two studies indicate that the exogenous factors of computer self-efficacy, pre-test security awareness levels, and culture exist.3.1 Course materials\n4 Statistical data analysis: 4.1 Pre-test analysis\n5 Discussion: American users who received the situational security awareness training outperformed those who received the traditional step-by-step instruction. In contrast, Taiwanese users of both experimental and controllable groups had similar performances after receiving respective training approaches. Since the research findings at both sites go in the opposing direction, we are confident in stating that situational security awareness training is more useful and effective to high individualists than high collectivists.As seen below in (Table VIII), H1a-H1c are supported in the US site, whereas those hypotheses were rejected in the Taiwanese site.These findings confirm the potential influence of the individualism culture as a socio-technical factor concerning the improvement of knowledge surrounding the topic of security awareness. Our study further suggests that the cultural trait, particularly the individualism cultural dimension, is a strong dispositional predictor of the efficacy of situational training applied in the context of security awareness improvement.The positive influence of the individualism culture also corroborates with the finding in the field of consumer behavior that high individualists have a higher intention than high collectivists to purchase personalized products in an online retailing situation (Moon et al., 2008). This culture trait also exhibits its influence on the trust formation. For instance, a trustee's perceived ability and integrity are the source of trust to individualists and predictability as benevolent interactions are to collectivists (Branzei et al., 2007). The positive correlation between individualism culture and the efficiency of situational awareness programs has some commonalities between the topics of cultural traits and the acceptance of consumer goods, which in fact involves the fast formation of trust.It makes no significant difference for collectivists to receive either situational awareness or step-by-step instruction. However, situational awareness programs make individualists aware of their surroundings as well as the environmental elements and their contextual meanings in a more efficient and effective manner. Situational awareness programs are also an effective vehicle to help individualists form a mental model to both understand the current risks of a situation and to predict and possibly prevent the potential adverse effects of security risks and vulnerabilities.We administered a pre-test for both American and Taiwanese subjects before they were exposed to both the situational awareness and traditional face-to-face treatments. The purpose of this pre-test was to evaluate and minimize the impacts of extraneous factors, such as age differences, computer efficacy, experience, ethnical heterogeneity or family profiles. Students from universities in both the US and Taiwan are either juniors or seniors. They are all full-time students, with the studied American students in a public university and the Taiwanese students in a private university. About 99 percent of American students are Caucasian, and 100 percent of students from Taiwan are native Taiwanese. Therefore, the potential impact of ethnical diversity is minimal. It is highly probable that all the variables this study deliberately controlled have negligible effects on learning outcomes. We are confident that the impact of individualism culture on the efficacy of situational awareness learning does exist and needs to be paid attention to.\n6 Conclusions and future research: Security awareness is an important issue that all individuals must be concerned with as information is transferred around the globe. Global citizens also react differently to security awareness as would be expected due to differing cultures and the emphasis that is placed on individualism. Certainly, awareness of the risks and safeguards is the first line of defense that can be employed by any individual, but how individuals address these risks can be very dissimilar in different cultures.Through the use of different testing results at Taiwan and the US sites, the present cultural implications and opportunities for suggest future research. As we have seen, low individualists appear less receptive to situational awareness training than high individualists. More specifically, high individualists have a higher level of security awareness than low individualists after receiving situational training.For other cultures the question and future research remains \"How do we best or most effectively train individuals in relation to security awareness?\" Though the answer is currently not known within the international arena, more research may be able to provide this answer.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this research is to make users aware of the importance surrounding the issue of security and security awareness while at the same time making educators as well as other individuals aware of the differing effects of cultural dimensions into the learning process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An inter-cultural study was conducted to investigate if users from the USA and Taiwan exposed to the same situational awareness learning would have different performance in those security awareness outcomes.\nFindings: - The findings confirm that American users who received the situational learning outperformed those users who received the traditional face-to-face instruction. Taiwanese users did not perform significantly differently between these two treatments.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study was only focused on two countries and therefore may limit its implications worldwide. But the study does show that global citizens also react differently to security awareness as would be expected due to differing cultures. Certainly, awareness of the risks and safeguards is the first line of defense that can be employed by any individual, but how individuals address these risks can be very dissimilar in different cultures. Therefore, the implications are apparent that the issue of security awareness should be studied from different cultural perspectives.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers original findings and value into the investigation of whether or not situational security awareness training is culturally-bounded.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Towards Kyoto II: numbers matter!
|
[
"Ecology",
"Environmental management",
"Pollution",
"Natural resources",
"Databases"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Environmentalism, or the philosophy that demands more of policy making nationally, regionally as well as globally, has received such an amount of political attention in the first decade of the twenty-first century that one needs to have a basic picture of the most fundamental global ecology problems. In this paper, I will employ a unified data base to map the basics of the global environmental predicament today, namely the Living Planer Report (WWF International, 2008). It has been compiled by a number of established environmental organisations, which does not prevent that these data need to be discussed widely and perhaps also improved upon.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to employ a unified data base to map the basics of the global environmental predicament today, namely the Living Planer Report.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper provides review and critique of the measurement rod in the Ecological Footprint Framework consisting of the hectares, or area of land, air or sea, used by mankind in production and consumption (demand) as well as the hectares that a country has inherited from its past (supply). Biocapacity tends to be country specific.\nFindings: - When total ecological imprint is estimated, taking population size into account, then it is not tenable to argue that pollution goes with affluence. On the contrary, poor or medium income countries with a large population may have more ecological impact than super affluent countries, especially after biocapacity has been taken into account.\nResearch limitations/implications: - To be effective, a policy aiming at reducing the ecological footprint of social systems must take population numbers into account. The per capita figures present only half of the truth, as population size has a huge impact upon pollution and emissions.\nPractical implications: - Global ecological pressure is the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. A future global environmental policy - Kyoto II or Copenhagen I - must include the huge Asian countries - China and India - on an equal footing with other countries.\nOriginality/value: - The distinction between per capita emissions and total emissions. Any global ecology policy that confuses these two measures will be flawed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Sustainability performance assessment of an aircraft manufacturing firm
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"India",
"Sustainable supply chain",
"Aerospace sector",
"Aircraft manufacturing",
"Fuzzy best worst method (FBWM)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, several new concepts like green supply chains, closed loop supply chains, and sustainable supply chains have gained momentum. Incorporating environmental thinking into various aspects of supply chain management, such as product design, material sourcing, and selection of sustainable vendors, manufacturing processes, delivery of the final product to the consumers as well as end-of-life (EOL) management of the product after its useful life, is considered and defined as green supply chain management (Srivastava, 2007). The concept of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) integrates social aspects along with environmental and economic considerations. Sustainable supply chain and sustainable development are the need of the hour not only due to regulatory pressures but also to maintain a firm's competitiveness in the market. The benefits associated with sustainable development include an upsurge in economic success, mitigation of environmental issues, and increased satisfaction levels of employees and customers, irrespective of the industry or sector (Sabaghi et al., 2016). SSCM can assist firms to develop win-win strategies, build brand image, expand market share, and enhance profitability without degrading the environment (Kusi-Sarpong et al., 2016). For sustainable business development, the underlying principles and themes of sustainability need to be understood by practitioners. There are many research opportunities in the field of sustainability related to dimensions, characteristics, and performance management (Reefke and Sundaram, 2017). Furthermore, quantifying sustainability performance may become a regulatory requirement in the near future (Sabaghi et al., 2016). However, literature addressing the sustainability performance are scarce (Metaxas et al., 2016; Wan Ahmad et al., 2016). Particularly, some of the sectors such as aerospace have not been studied in the extant literature from a sustainability perspective.\n2. Literature review: We provide a brief contextual review of SSCM first. Thereafter, we present a literature review on sustainability frameworks, performance measurement, and indicators. Finally, we provide a review of the methodologies used in the extant literature for measuring sustainability performance.\n3. Research methodology: To fill the research gaps identified in the previous section, we propose a novel methodology for assessing the overall sustainability performance for a single firm. We propose a composite \"SI\" to measure sustainability performance and \"Fuzzy Performance Important Index (FPII)\" to identify the weaker performing attributes. Sustainability performance is influenced by simultaneous interaction of environmental, economic and social sub-dimensions. The three sub-dimensions have been further broken down to an attribute level. Thus, a hierarchical approach has been used to measure the SI for the firm. Based on the extant literature, various factors have been considered for selection of sub-dimensions' and attributes such as procurement of raw material, supplier selection and outsourcing, manufacturing, customer support, maintenance, repair and overhaul of the aircraft. In this paper, \"Fuzzy best worst method (FBWM)\" has been applied for performance assessment of sustainability. We adopted Rezaei's (2015, 2016) BWM method and integrated it with fuzzy logic and call it FBWM. This approach has two advantages: first, it captures uncertainties, and second, it requires less data for weight evaluation. It thereby, proves more efficient than other existing methods such as the fuzzy AHP. The main steps of the proposed approach are presented in Figure 2. These steps are described below in detail for proper understanding.\n4. Case study of an aircraft manufacturing firm: To demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed methodology, a real world case study of an aircraft manufacturing firm from India was carried out. This firm manufactures various types of aircrafts such as transport aircrafts, fighter aircrafts, and helicopters. The firm is also engaged in repair and overhaul of aircrafts. It has also taken several initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, AS9100C, ISO14000, etc. to improve on quality, productivity and other performance measures. This firm supplies aircraft components to several giant firms in aerospace industry such as Airbus, GE Aviation, and Honeywell International.\n5. Results and managerial implications: Our case study results reveal that the firm's performance ratings are excellent in three different attributes, namely \"Competitive advantage of the firm,\" \"Transparency in procurement\" and \"Employment stability.\" However, the firm is not performing up to the mark in 24 other attributes. Major issues are related to two different areas, namely \"meeting customer deadlines\" and \"strength of firm's trade network.\" Recently, the Indian government has allowed cent percent FDI in the defense sector. So, firms in this sector will derive and sustain their strength in the long run only if the managers think and work on overcoming these obstacles. Meeting customer deadlines (Ranking Score 0.87) is a serious concern for the firm in our case study. To tackle this issue, managers must undertake initiatives such as increasing the percentage of work outsourced, duplicating the subassembly line, implementing and reviewing initiatives such as Lean, TPM, Six Sigma, etc. 25 percent of the workload has been outsourced in the chosen firm. However, the outsourcing percentage is generally around 60-70 percent in global firms like Boeing. Increasing the outsourcing percentage will reduce the manufacturing time, reduce the costs and subsequently improve the takt time (the maximum amount of time in which a product needs to be produced in order to satisfy customer demand). The performance of suppliers is found \"very good.\" So, managers may consider outsourcing the whole packages such as wings, radars, etc.to enable the firm to concentrate more on manufacturing of critical components and other value adding activities. This will reduce the takt time drastically. Duplicating jigs and fixtures at sub-assembly section will reduce the workload and also improve the cycle time.\n6. Conclusions: There is extensive literature on economic and environmental impacts in aircraft manufacturing context. The investors are worried about aviation cycle taking a sharp downtrend and hitting the aircraft manufacturing firms (The Economist, 2016) and there are many environmental concerns. Therefore, investigative studies are necessary to keep aircraft firms sustainable in the long run. For this, a scientific assessment of SSCM performance is necessary in order to improve the effectiveness of sustainability activities of a firm. To meet this requirement, this paper proposes a practical approach for sustainability performance assessment of an aircraft manufacturing firm using FBWM decision-making. It uses fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach consisting of FBWM for evaluating overall sustainability performance of the firm. The proposed methodology is validated through a case study in which a firm is investigated in terms of predefined SSCM dimensions, sub-dimensions, and corresponding attributes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a composite index (CI) to evaluate the sustainability performance of an aircraft manufacturing firm using Fuzzy Best Worst Multi Criteria (FBWM) decision-making approach. It identifies a wide range of sub-dimensions and their attributes to measure sustainability in a multi-echelon supply chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: FBWM, a hybrid multi-criteria decision making method, relies on multiple sub-dimensions and attributes for assessment of sustainability. Sub-dimensions and attributes are identified from a detailed literature review and inputs from 17 experts. The weights are evaluated using best worst method (BWM). Quantitative measurements are very difficult for attributes like living conditions, noise emission, etc., so the performance of attributes are assessed using Fuzzy logic. The proposed methodology is validated with the case study of a single unit of an Indian aircraft manufacturing firm.\nFindings: Economic concerns emerge as the most influential dimension of sustainability in the aerospace sector. The results reveal that the firm considered in the case study is \"Very Sustainable.\" Firm's performance ratings are excellent in three out of 79 attributes considered for the study. Further, 24 weaker (least performing) attributes are identified with the help of fuzzy performance index. These require managerial action for improvements.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study is based on inputs from a small group of managers in a single firm in India. It can be extended to a large group of executives in other firms like Boeing, Airbus, etc. for testing the validity of the proposed methodology and generalization of the findings.\nPractical implications: Managers, consultants and audit agencies can use the proposed CI developed in this paper for evaluating the sustainability performance of a firm. It assists managers to identify weaker attributes for which they may plan and prioritize their activities for improvements.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to measure sustainability in an aircraft manufacturing firm. The paper proposes a novel framework based on fuzzy BWM, for assessing sustainability performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Developing the national communications and information infrastructure
|
[
"Communication technologies",
"Computer communications software",
"Public policy",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe importance of communications infrastructure: We stand at a critical juncture in the development of our nation's information infrastructure. The growing convergence of computer and communications technology has brought tremendous benefits to large organizations and technically sophisticated individuals. Those with the resources and the know-how have at their fingertips powerful information and communications tools: worldwide electronic mail, instant database access from any location, high-quality image storage and retrieval systems, and video-conferencing systems. Access to such services enhances the professional productivity, personal growth, and even the cultural life of those who use them. For these people, the information revolution has arrived.Yet, neither industry efforts nor telecommunications public policy has been successful at bringing the benefits of information age services to the mass market. These new technologies have tremendous potential for improving health and education services, for enhancing cultural and political expression, and for promoting new kinds of entertainment. But the underlying services are still unaffordable and inaccessible to the vast majority of the American public.However, the political dynamics of the telecommunications debate have largely stalled real progress on infrastructure in the last ten years, as en-trenched commercial interests wrestle over who will control and dominate markets such as information services, equipment manufacturing, and long distance service. We believe it is time to refocus the de-bate by seeking near-term technological, economic, legislative, and regulatory solutions which will en-courage the rapid development of a diverse information services market and help realize the democratic potential of new information media.Many voices in the communications infrastructure debate have suggested that information age services can only be brought to the American public by a massive, sudden investment in fiber optic cable to each home and office. But this view has only aggravated the gridlock by posing an \"all or nothing\" choice. We fully agree that the nation will need some such very high-capacity infrastructure in the future, but there are many steps along the way to that network (or networks) of the future. If we are to make progress in the near term, we must identify short-term goals that are achievable politically, technologically, and economically. We must find a way to jump-start the mass-market information revolution in the next five years, rather than waiting 20 to 30 years for a fiber optic network to be installed nationwide.\nThe Open Platform Proposal: The Open Platform Proposal (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1992) was conceived in testimony presented in late 1992 before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and much of the impetus for the Electronic Frontier Foundation's subsequent development of the proposal came as a result of the enthusiastic response from many committee members (Congress, 1992). At that time, progress on telecommunications infrastructure modernization was thoroughly stalled by the gridlock that has formed around the line-of-business restrictions of the Modified Final Judgment. In 1993, it appears that there is reason to be hopeful about progress on infrastructure modernization.The Open Platform concept\nPublic policy criteria for infrastructure modernization proposals: As the question of national information infrastructure is so important, Congress will, no doubt, be presented with numerous proposals for infrastructure modernization. In weighing the pros and cons of all these plans, the following criteria should be kept in mind.1. Ensure near-term availability of new services for the mass residential market\nConclusions: EFF's Open Platform proposal offers a feasible plan for more quickly and broadly bringing the benefits of the Information Age to people in the USA. Although a number of issues must still be resolved, the proposal provides a mechanism for re-source sharing that goes beyond that which is available to most people today, introducing the possibility for text, video, and interactive multimedia services in realms such as education, work, entertainment, and health care.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to discuss the importance of developing a national communication and information infrastructure that meets near-term needs and capabilities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The current status of Electronic Frontier Foundation's Open Platform Proposal, which is based on narrowband ISDN implementation, is described.\nFindings: - The advantages and drawbacks of Electronic Frontier Foundation's Open Platform Proposal are presented.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides recommendations for public policy criteria that should be used in evaluating different infrastructure proposals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Outsourcing connects BT with better and cheaper HRM: Deal builds on strengths of joint-venture partners
|
[
"Outsourcing",
"Strategic management",
"Human resource management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Whenever HR people get together to discuss outsourcing, their talk almost inevitably turns to one of the pioneering HR outsourcing deals in Europe - BT's 50-50 joint venture with Accenture in 2000.\nHR systems consolidated: BT not only reduced its workforce - from around 250,000 in 1990 to fewer than 100,000 by 2000 - but also restructured its HR. Ian Hunter and Jane Saunders, in their new book Human Resources Outsourcing, note that BT in 1990 had 14,500 HR specialists, using 26 separate HR systems and 30 telephone help lines. They worked from more than 25 HR offices based on the company's geographical districts.When the company changed from a geography-based to a function-based method of organization, HR systems were consolidated and the number of geographical sites reduced.In 1998, BT moved to a shared-services model for transactional HR. This was so successful in improving customer service, reducing costs, and increasing productivity that BT concluded it could commercialize the knowledge it had gained. And so the BT-Accenture partnership was born.Human Resource Management International Digest reported in 2001 (Vol. 9 No. 5) that the deal built on:* BT's inherent technological capabilities to provide more efficient self-service and reduce costs; and* Accenture's expertise in business transformation and technology.E-peopleserve geared HR services to self-use and introduced such innovations as a recruitment portal and e-performance reviews. Electronic personal profiles were created for every employee, tied to the capabilities and professional and technical skills that BT requires. The BT graduate-recruitment program was completely web-based. In short, e-peopleserve covered everything from recruitment and induction, through performance and rewards, to exit and pension.\nCosts went up initially: According to Ian Hunter and Jane Saunders, around 1,100 BT staff transferred to e-peopleserve, leaving 600 HR executives in BT to concentrate on strategic people issues. Moreover, apart from providing HR services for BT itself, e-peopleserve offered online solutions to major companies as a separate revenue stream for the business.The authors report:Initially, costs went up; in 2002, when the partnership was dissolved, BT found itself paying PS80 million against a projected cost of service of PS75 million. While the reasons for the cost overruns are not clear, BT has admitted that one of the biggest blocks in the early days was the attitude of the HR personnel who were most affected; the general workforce had already been introduced to the shared-services concept and was less concerned.Members of the transferred workforce also took time to adjust to their role as a service provider to BT and other companies. Initially, they lacked the experience and skills to deliver service and cost improvements. Over time, this has been addressed through self-development and process-improvement activities led by internal teams of process consultants.Accenture bought out BT's share of e-peopleserve in 2002 and rebranded it Accenture HR Services. By the end of the initial five-year contract, in 2005, the UK contract for BT's HR services - covering 87,000 employees and 180,000 pensioners - had saved the company around $30 million. Some of the savings and process improvements had come from offshoring elements of the recruitment process to Accenture's facilities in Mumbai, India, in 2003-2004.The success of the original partnership led the two companies to sign a new ten-year contract in 2005. This extended the relationship to another 10,000 BT employees in 37 additional countries.\nIncreased employee satisfaction: John Hindle, Accenture HR Services vice-president, marketing communications, Europe, told Human Resource Management International Digest in 2005 (Vol. 13 No. 3):The benefits of outsourcing have been more far-reaching than just direct cost savings. BT has rationalized its training catalog by 50 percent, reduced training waiting lists by 26 percent and saved $2.2 million in time and money lost because of sickness. It has also increased employee-satisfaction ratings across training and counseling - with 93 percent of employees reporting that counseling has made them better equipped to manage their challenges.Other benefits of the deal, which Ian Hunter and Jane Saunders outline, include:* one HR telephone number for BT staff;* a single Peoplesoft HR information system, which provides enhanced HR reporting capability and employee self-service; and* a company-wide learning-management system.Moreover, BT now has one HR specialist to every 200 employees, which is well ahead of the benchmarks in its sector. Jobs can now be offered within 24 hours, rather than up to 12 weeks. And centralized resourcing contracts are delivering annual savings of around PS1.2 million.Ian Hunter and Jane Saunders said: \"It is notable, however, that the technology component of the deal was returned to BT, with Peoplesoft implementation and maintenance now a retained function.\"\nChallenges to getting it right: John Hindle concluded:Outsourcing might seem to be a simple cost-reduction option, but there are challenges to getting it right. Knowing what benefits to expect in the first instance and setting measurable performance indicators for both the client and the outsourcer are important starting points.Incorporating critical-success factors - finding a supplier with the right cultural fit, defining the contract precisely, obtaining senior-management buy-in, clarifying roles, educating employees and installing a layered governance structure - will help to increase the odds of having a successful HR outsourcing relationship.While cost reduction remains the main driver, more importantly, HR executives will be free to focus on more strategic staffing matters - and then the real value of human resources will be seen throughout the company.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article. Human Resource Outsourcing: Solutions, Suppliers, Key Processes and the Current Market, by Ian Hunter and Jane Saunders (Orion Partners), is published by Gower, ISBN 978 0 566 08801 8, PS75, 2007. The book examines the main considerations for an organization investigating a large-scale transfer of HR transactional activity to an outsource provider. It furnishes an overview of the market for HR outsourcing services in Europe. There are sections profiling each of the main outsourcing providers in the UK and continental Europe and short case studies drawn from the public and private sectors. Readers of Human Resource Management International Digest can receive a 25 percent discount by quoting HRMID/25 percent when ordering either online, at www.gowerpub.com, or by telephoning +44 (0)1235 827730.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to trace the history of the BT-Accenture e-peopleserve joint venture, which provides HR services not only for BT but also for other clients.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Examines the changes to HR at BT post-privatization, the factors that gave rise to the joint venture and the way in which it has developed. Describes some of the factors that need to be considered for an outsourcing deal to be successful.\nFindings: - Reveals that initially, costs went up, and that the transferred workforce took time to adjust to their role as a service provider. This has been addressed through self-development and process improvement. By outsourcing, BT has rationalized its training catalogue by 50 percent, reduced training waiting lists by 26 percent and saved $2.2 million in time and money lost because of sickness. It has also increased employee-satisfaction ratings across training and counseling. Other benefits of the deal include: one telephone number for BT staff to contact HR; a single Peoplesoft HR information system that provides enhanced HR reporting capability and employee self-service; and a company-wide learning-management system.\nPractical implications: - Emphasizes that, while outsourcing might seem to be a simple cost-reduction option, there are significant challenges to getting it right.\nOriginality/value: - Reveals that BT now has one HR specialist to every 200 employees, which is well ahead of the benchmarks in its sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Influence of "health" versus "commercial" physical activity message on snacking behavior
|
[
"Behaviour change",
"Physical activity",
"Health message",
"Snacking",
"Commercial message"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers are frequently exposed to mass media health campaigns that promote physical activity (PA) (e.g. the NFL \"PLAY 60\" national youth health and fitness campaign launched in the USA in 2007) and to a bulk of advertisements developed by the sport and leisure industry that highlight PA as a way to improve well-being. Previous research has shown that in most cases, making the concept of PA salient to consumers increases the subsequent amount of food they ingested. Exposure to exercise health messages (Albarracin et al., 2009), imagining exercising (Werle et al., 2011) or watching a sports brand advertisement (Werle et al., 2017) was followed by higher immediate food intake. In addition, some studies have demonstrated that variables such as the body mass index (BMI) or the perceived ease of the portrayed PA moderated the effect with a decrease in food consumption following exposure to exercise commercial ads for high BMI people (Van Kleef et al., 2011), and when the portrayed exercise was perceived as difficult (Werle et al., 2017).\nTheoretical framework: Along with basal metabolic need, PA is the main antecedent of food intake as energy expenditure is compensated for by energetic inputs and nutrients found in food (Martins et al., 2007). This link between physical energy expenditure and food intake is physiologically grounded and regulated by cognitive, affective and social factors. For example, food intake can be experienced as a reward after an effort. According to the compensatory health beliefs model (Rabiau et al., 2006), people may believe that engaging in positive and normative behaviors (e.g. practicing PA) can allow them to be more open to subsequent indulgent behaviors (e.g. to increase their tasty food intake or snacking). Also, the labeling of PA matters. Participants consumed a larger quantity of pleasant food if their actual PA (one-mile walk) was labeled as an \"exercise walk\" rather than a \"scenic walk\" (Werle et al., 2015).\nThe effect of physical activity exposure on food intake: The link between physically energetic expenditure and food intake to compensate for the physical effort is also observed through passive exposure to PA. For instance, participants exposed to health messages that advertised exercise or exposed to subliminal words linked to PA (e.g. active) ingested more calories than participants of a control group (Albarracin et al., 2009). The same effect, as a trend, was observed when participants were exposed to a Nike sports advertisement displaying people engaged in exercise compared to a control commercial ad (Werle et al., 2017). In another study, participants asked to read about PA (i.e. a scenario describing a 30 min walk) ingested more calories than participants in the control group (no scenario; Werle et al., 2011). One of the reasons accounting for the phenomenon may be the activity of mirror neurons that modulate both when an individual executes a specific motor act and when he/she observes the same act performed by another person (Di Pellegrino et al., 1992; Keysers and Gazzola, 2010). So watching, reading or even imaging another person involved in a PA will make an individual experience the same action without actually performing it. Then subsequent food intake, as a compensatory behavior for energy expenditure, is likely to be observed afterward. Yet, moderators are likely to counteract this effect. A reduction of food intake was observed following exposure to commercial ads related to exercise equipment or fitness services in comparison to commercials that were not related to physical activities but were among participants with a high BMI (Van Kleef et al., 2011). In another study, the perception of easiness of the portrayed exercise in an ad was shown to be a moderator of food intake. People ate less when the exercise was perceived as difficult (Werle et al., 2017).\nCommunication's goal as a moderator of the effect of physical activity exposure on food intake: In the present study, we were interested in investigating the effect of exposure to PA on food intake according to the goal of the communication. Beyond PA, the goal of messages to which recipients are exposed to must be taken into account. An important argument in this domain is that people have a lay knowledge about the advertiser's intent in communication (Wright, 2002). People do know that a commercial advertisement's first intent is to promote a specific product, whereas health communication's first intent is to promote healthy behaviors.\nExperiment 1: Method\nResults: Manipulation check and controls\nDiscussion: As expected, on the basis of the very same communication content (e.g. a PA video), higher food intake is observed when the communication is believed to be a commercial one rather than a healthy one, supporting H1. The expected influence of the level of involvement on food intake for individuals exposed to the video labeled as a health message is not observed (H2). However, no conclusion can be drawn about this result other than that the involvement manipulation did not work.\nExperiment 2: Method\nResults: Manipulation check and controls\nDiscussion: Study 2 confirms the main hypothesis (H1) of a higher sweets consumption when the video is labeled as a \"commercial\" message rather than a \"health\" message. Besides, the equal ingestion of sweets in comparison with a control group supports the assumption that labeling the video as a \"health\" message is a means to control for higher food intake when exposed to PA, supporting H2b. In contrast, exposure to a video labeled as a \"commercial\" message have led to a higher number of sweets consumed in comparison to a control group, regardless of the intensity of the PA displayed, supporting H2a. Finally, the intensity of the PA displayed had no main effect on the number of sweets consumed, not supporting H3, but has moderated the effect of the type of communication on food intake. The difference in food intake according to the type of communication, with a higher number of sweets ingested when exposed to the \"commercial\" message rather than to the \"health\" message, is significant when the PA is low, supporting H4. However, when the PA is intense, the expected, but smaller, food intake difference between the two messages is observed, but is not significant.\nGeneral discussion: The present research examines and confirms the main hypothesis that people exposed to a video message labeled as a \"commercial message\" eat more sweets than the participants exposed to the same video labeled as a \"health message.\" A \"commercial message\" triggers more hedonic responses and impulsive behaviors (e.g. associated consumption behaviors), compared to a \"health message,\" which triggers more deliberate behaviors and self-regulation motives. This result sheds light on the processes by which participants may regulate their behavior. Lay knowledge about the implicit intents of the messages is plausibly an important factor that guides people to infer the goal of the message (Wright, 2002).\nTheoretical contributions and practical implications: On the theoretical side, the present study presents an important contribution to the field of research on marketing communication and other research fields working on health behavioral issues such as health psychology, sport and nutrition sciences.\nLimitations and future research: On the whole, these results extend previously mixed findings on the priming effects of exercise on food intake (Albarracin et al., 2009; Werle et al., 2017; Werle et al., 2011, Van Kleef et al., 2011). Future tests should be run on what is specifically and mainly primed in people's minds when they are exposed to different goal-oriented persuasive messages and according to the message content. Besides, it would be interesting to explore the influence of PA on food consumption when no food is available at the time of exposure. Does a PA exposure trigger an active search for food? Then if yes, toward which kind of food choices is the search directed?\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether the effect of exposure to video communication displaying physical activity (PA) would affect viewers' snacking behavior depending on the type of message. Specifically, it is expected that food intake would be significantly higher when the message is labeled as a \"commercial message\" rather than a \"health message\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two experimental studies are conducted that manipulate the type of message (commercial message vs health message). In Study 1, the participants' level of involvement (low vs high) is also manipulated. In Study 2, the intensity of the PA displayed in the videos (low vs high) is manipulated, and a control group is included. The main dependent variable is the number of sweets eaten while watching the ad.\nFindings: Results from both studies show that the influence of a PA exposure on food intake is influenced by the nature of the communication. Participants exposed to the commercial message eat more sweets than those exposed to the health message (ep2 = 0.06). Being exposed to a health message elicits self-regulated eating behaviors with no more sweets eaten than in the control group. In addition, the effect of the type of message is moderated by the intensity of the PA displayed. The difference of sweets consumed depending on the type of message is significant only when the physical intensity displayed is low.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present research emphasizes the moderating role of the type of communication on food intake when recipients are exposed to a PA message. Further research must be conducted to enlarge the understanding of the phenomenon considering other critical variables such as inter-individual differences (e.g. body mass index and self-regulation skills), types of food (e.g. healthy vs unhealthy) and other contexts (e.g. watching sports events on television).\nPractical implications: The present findings have implications for marketers, health practitioners, policymakers and consumers. They stress the significance of how the implicit goals of the messages are taken into account within consumers' information processing and how this can affect subsequent consumption behaviors. PA displayed through a commercial message has the most negative impact on food intake, especially when the intensity of PA is low. PA displayed through a health message shows no impact on food intake, whatever the intensity of the PA. It emphasizes the importance of combining exposure to PA through advertising or sporting events to a message promoting healthy and balanced eating behaviors.\nOriginality/value: The value of the present research lies in an additional understanding of the complex effect of passive exposure to a PA message on subsequent food consumption. Furthermore, the present study expands research on persuasive communication and has critical implications for public health issues.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Drivers of Twitter as a strategic communication tool for non-profit organizations
|
[
"Social media",
"Twitter",
"Communication",
"Social networks",
"Non-profit organizations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Online communication is considered to be a strategic resource for the success of non-profit organizations (NPOs) (Lee et al., 2001; Lovejoy and Saxton, 2012). In particular, it is a very useful tool for carrying out the social actions of NPOs such as community building (Briones et al., 2011), advocacy work (Saxton and Guo, 2012) and development (Kurniawan and Rye, 2013). In addition, it fosters the better functioning of the organization in activities such as public relations (Kang and Norton, 2004; Waters et al., 2009), the recruitment of volunteers (Briones et al., 2011) and fundraising (Gandia, 2011).\n2. Making use of Twitter content to improve NPO communication: Although social media are generally all designed to improve the interactions between an organization and its stakeholders, the attributes of Twitter are the most suitable to constantly provide information about the organizational activities and to respond, in real time, to the reactions of their stakeholders (Golbeck et al., 2010). Therefore, Twitter can give NPOs the opportunity of being more effective in transmitting credibility to their current public as well as in attracting new public. However to this end, the quality in the use of content for such purposes is crucial (Fussell Sisco and McCorkindale, 2013). In this vein, Guo and Saxton (2014) argue that it is more important for NPOs to understand how to use social media effectively than to merely adopt their use. Therefore, a greater knowledge of how NPOs should use Twitter in order to attain the full benefits of this tool as communication strategy is needed.\n3. Determining factors in the use of Twitter by NPOs: In the context of NPOs, few studies have examined the explanatory factors underlying online communication in the sector. In this respect, past research is focussed on explaining the level of information disclosed via web pages (Saxton and Guo, 2011; Saxton et al., 2012; Galvez-Rodriguez et al., 2014a) or on the adoption of social media (Bortree and Seltzer, 2009; Saxton and Guo, 2012; Nah and Saxton, 2012). However, the understanding of explanatory factors that affect the specific issue of using the contents available in Twitter as a communication strategy is still limited. Therefore, its analysis could provide a fruitful contribution to the existing literature related to micro-blogging technologies in general and to Twitter in particular.\n4. Methodology: The fundamental aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of certain factors in the use of Twitter as a communication tool and to this end, this study must first observe the content provided in Twitter by such entities and later identify if there is a causal relationship between the use of Twitter as a communication strategy and the factors selected. To achieve this result, a content analysis has been applied which is the methodology implemented in recent studies that have analyzed the content in social media (Saxton and Guo, 2012; Guo and Saxton, 2014) as well as a regression analysis in line with those recent studies focussed on identifying influencing factors in online communication (Chung-Chi et al., 2011; Bonson et al., 2012).\n5. Results: 5.1 Index of Twitter use\n6. Conclusions: For an optimum use of Twitter, this study considers that NPOs should implement one-way and two-way communication strategies in both their Twitter profile and tweets. In this respect, the results show that the perception of Twitter as a valuable strategy for one-way communication is unanimous, but that NPOs do not seem to be interested in fully implementing the contents that allow using it as a two-way communication strategy.\n7. Implications and further research: This paper has diverse implications for the existing literature and practice of the use of Twitter as a communication strategy. Regarding the previous literature, and particularly the one-way communication strategy, authors like Lovejoy et al. (2012) note that NPOs mainly use Twitter as a channel to disseminate information. By analyzing the case of the top 60 NPOs on the internet, whose results could be considered a benchmark for trends in the sector; this study argues that NPOs are increasingly mastering Twitter contents thus enabling their organizations to broadcast relevant information while also overcoming the limitation of 140 characters that this tool presents.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In view of the increased impact of social media, non-profit organizations (NPOs) should review their management model for stakeholder relationships. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of factors on the use of Twitter by NPOs as a mechanism for disclosing information and dialogue with their stakeholders, and in particular: \"donor dependence,\" \"fundraising expenses,\" \"organizational age,\" \"organizational size,\" \"online community size,\" \"network activity\" and \"board size.\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: A content analysis of Twitter use as a strategic communication tool was conducted and a multivariable linear regression analysis was performed.\nFindings: Smaller organizations and those with a larger online community are the most interested in implementing Twitter as a one or two-way communication strategy. Likewise, the NPOs with the highest degree of donor dependence strive most in the use of contents of Twitter as one-way communication mechanism.\nSocial implications: This study contributes to a better understanding of social media implementation in the NPO sector and advances the identification of the main causes that motivate NPOs to improve their accountability through social media.\nOriginality/value: The paper's subject is relatively innovative due to the scarce studies focussing on social media used by NPOs. In spite of the advantages offered by Twitter, few studies have specifically addressed NPOs' current use of this platform, and fewer still have analyzed the factors that motivate them to use this tool.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Entrepreneurial learning requires action on the meaning generated
|
[
"Innovation",
"Growth",
"Business development",
"Learning",
"Small firms",
"Entrepreneurial education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The European Union (EU) supports innovation and competitive advantages in Europe through planned initiatives with the aim of creating the 2020 \"innovation union\". Regarding this aim, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in society[1]. SMEs represent 99 per cent of all enterprises, 67 per cent of the total number of employees and 58 per cent of value added[2] (European Commission, 2013, p. 10). Due to the substantial value-added contribution made by SMEs, these enterprises and their managers are important for innovation and growth in Europe. Several of the initiatives under the 2020 \"innovation union\" umbrella focus on the general increase in the educational level of the population, which is expected to increase the long-term capabilities for innovation and growth in enterprises. Penrose (1959) originated this resource-based view in her theory on entrepreneurial growth.\nThe wind turbine industry context: The wind turbine industry has emerged within a relatively brief period of time. The first commercial windmill was established at the beginning of the 1970s (Madsen et al., 2012) in Denmark. The renewable approach to energy is a high political priority in Denmark, and therefore subsidies were provided to support the wind turbine industry. The industry pursues a European and global approach to enhancing renewable energy, as is documented by the exhibitor list for the European Wind Energy Association (2015) conference.\nLiterature review and propositions: The literature review will begin from the management context and the basic assumptions formed on the basis of this context. SME managers' principally serve a managerial function within their organisations. Moreover, the learning of SME entrepreneurs primarily relates to the practical context of utilising opportunities and solving problems. This reality demands a review of the literature on action- and experience-based learning in combination with organisational learning to reveal the learning approach of the participating SMEs. Moreover, the degree of open-mindedness - the absorption of knowledge for application in the organisation - is expected to affect innovation and growth in SMEs.\nMethodological approach: The research method is based on a qualitative approach that gathers information from interviews and network meetings across participating SMEs, thereby forming a cross-case approach to analysis. We employ a deductive approach, as highlighted in the literature review to test our propositions (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2009; Charmaz, 2006). We consider a longitudinal research period from June 2011 to December 2013 that consists of three phases: self-selection of participants into the research from June 2011 to September 2011; a project-based network and training course from September 2011 to March 2012; and the implementation phase of the learning, from April 2012 to December 2013. Comprehensive data are thus available for our research in relation to the selection of SME participants, the content of learning and the process of learning and its application in the research period. The selection of SME participants, the content of the learning and the process of learning will thus be revealed in the following.\nAnalyses and findings: The participating SME managers are highly focused on value creation. Throughout our research, they commented on the implementation and impact that the learning they received had on their SMEs. In the evaluation during the last network meeting, the SME managers were convinced that the presented concepts and models were useful in their own SME context. The SME managers rated the form, content and implementation opportunities from 1 to 7 using a Likert scale. The form, content and implementation received ratings of 5.2, 5.0 and 4.6, respectively. Although implementing the learning represented the most difficult aspect for the SME suppliers, they perceived a relatively strong potential for implementation. Therefore, it can be concluded that the SME suppliers perceived that they had learned about specific concepts, models and tools and that they would be able to utilise this learning after the network days. On the one hand, this finding could have been influenced by the self-selection bias of the SME managers with respect to innovation and growth. On the other hand, the SME managers were consistently critical of the learning provided and would have left the network days had they not perceived a practical use for what they were learning. In the follow-up interviews conducted from September to December 2013, after a period approximately 1.5 years, we analysed on the value that the SME managers actually gained from the network and training days.\nDiscussion of the findings: In our discussion of the findings, we will first consider the research context and then discuss the implications for SME managers and the facilitators of the research-based training. Finally, we will discuss the implications that our findings have for policy.\nConclusion: This paper reveals how SME managers can utilise their participation in research-based training at the university level. Empirical findings are provided from a longitudinal study performed from September 2011 to December 2013 that included ten SMEs in the wind turbine industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal how managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can utilise their participation in research-based training to enable innovation and growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Action research and action learning from a longitudinal study of ten SME managers in the wind turbine industry are applied to reveal SME managers' learning and the impact of the application of learning in the wind turbine industry.\nFindings: The findings of this study show that SME managers employ a practice-shaped, holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to learning. This learning approach is supported by theory dissemination and collaboration on perceived business challenges. Open-mindedness to new learning by SME managers and to cross-disciplinary collaboration with SME managers by university facilitators/researchers is required.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is conducted within the wind turbine industry, in which intense demands for innovation are pursued. The findings require verification in other industry contexts.\nPractical implications: This research contributes strategies for SME managers to utilise research-based training and for universities regarding how to work with SME training. In addition, public bodies can enhance their understanding of SMEs for innovation and growth. The learning approach that is suitable for specialisation in larger organisations is not suitable in the SME context.\nSocial implications: SME learning is enhanced by a social approach to integrating essential large-scale industry players and other SME managers to create extended action and value from learning.\nOriginality/value: The findings reveal the need for extended theory development for and a markedly different approach to SME training from that used for training managers in larger companies. This topic has received only limited attention in previous research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Quality assessment using concordance and discordance rates in medical findings
|
[
"Post‐mortem examinations",
"Quality assessment",
"Canada"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Autopsy diagnoses have traditionally been used as the \"gold standard\" for determining the cause of death, and can provide an invaluable retrospection into the ability of the medical staff to accurately diagnose the actual cause of death. Autopsy services also play a major role in contributing to clinical knowledge, medical education and quality assurance programs. Despite all of the technical advances in medical and diagnostic modalities, research concerning medical errors in hospitalized populations has consistently revealed high rates of misdiagnoses. While error is inevitable in any health care process, the prevalence of medical errors in health care systems has compromised the quality of health care delivery to a large extent. Autopsy, as an established quality assurance tool, would help identify the discrepancies between clinical diagnoses and post-mortem findings that could lead to effective interventions toward improvement in quality of care.Recent medical literature has been replete of discordance rates between clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings, ranging from 4 to 50 percent (Mort and Yeston, 1999; Ermenc, 1999; Shojania et al., 2003; Gibson et al., 2004). Several studies appear to suggest that length of hospital stay plays an important factor in one's chance of being subject to a clinical error. Andrews et al. (1997) reported that the probability of experiencing an adverse effect due to a clinical error increased by 6 percent each day one spent in hospital.The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of concordance and discordance between clinical diagnoses and post-mortem findings in patients admitted to the hospitals of the Saskatoon Health Region. It also sought to evaluate the influence of various determinants on the discordance rate (length of stay in hospital, age of patient, organ system involved, etc.), as well as the impact of diagnostic modalities, such as computerized tomographic scanning (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), on clinical diagnoses.\nMethods: The study conducted a retrospective chart review of all adults who died as in-patients and had an autopsy in the Saskatoon Health Region between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2004. During the study period 116,478 patients were discharged from hospitals in the Saskatoon Health Region, and a total of 3,416 in-patient deaths were registered.The two Saskatoon Health Region hospitals which performed autopsies were Royal University Hospital (RUH) and St Paul's Hospital (SPH). A total of 206 autopsies were performed on the deceased during this period, resulting in an autopsy rate of 6 percent. Paediatric autopsies were not reviewed, meaning that the study group's population only contained individuals 16 years of age or older at the time of death.Additionally, medico-legal autopsies and those with incomplete records were excluded from the review. In accordance with selection criteria, 158 cases were included in the study. The study group was charted and tabled in regards to their demographics, length of stay in hospital, clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings.\nResults and discussion: The mean age of the subjects was 66.6+-15.2 years with a range of 16-94. The study group consisted of 92 males (58.2 percent) and 66 females (41.8 percent), and an average length of stay at the hospital of 12.9+-10.9 days. The most common organ systems involved in the cause of death, as determined by autopsy, were cardiovascular, respiratory, central nervous and gastro intestinal systems. A total of 93 of the patients (58.9 percent) died while located in intensive or critical care units, 53 patients (33.5 percent) passed away in the wards, and the remaining 12 (7.6 percent) experienced various other places of death within the hospital.To discern whether concordance or discordance occurred between the clinical diagnosis and the actual cause of death revealed via autopsy, the well established Goldman's criteria of misdiagnoses was employed by the study (Goldman et al., 1983). The concordance rate between the clinical and autopsy diagnoses during the studied period of the two hospitals, collectively, was found to be 75.3 percent. The discordance rate was 20.9 percent. Additionally, a further 3.8 percent of the study's population lacked conclusive autopsy diagnoses, and were declared to be indecisive (see Figure 1).The high rate of misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses has become a common trend in post-mortem studies. A study of a Spanish emergency department detected important discrepancies between the autopsy reports and the medical diagnosis occurring in 26 percent of the 61 cases analyzed (Balaguer et al., 1998).A separate retrospective study of 524 in-patient deaths occurring at another Spanish hospital from 1990-1991 revealed that more than half of the risk of death could be traced back to clinical care that resulted in adverse effects (Garcia-Martin et al., 1997). Clearly, autopsy procedures remain extremely valuable for their ability to detect medical errors of omission, such as a missed diagnosis or an incorrect evaluation, and retrospective studies of autopsies can point to trends in factors that lead to medical errors.It is clear that the system involved in the discordant cases was an important factor. The organ system most susceptible for discordance was the cardiovascular system, which constituted for 42.2 percent of the 33 discordant autopsies. Diseases of the gastro intestinal system were also at a high risk for discordance, being involved in 18.1 percent of the discordant cases while only making up 8.9 percent of the total autopsy cases.While studies of post-mortem diagnoses are helpful in discerning the concordance rate between clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings, a retrospective study into the use of modalities in the medical staff's diagnostic decision is also valuable in gauging the extent to which modern medical technology aids health care professionals. The two diagnostic modalities that were surveyed by the study, CT scans and MRIs, were both noted to have a definitive effect on the staff's ability to diagnose. The impact of CT scans and MRIs in making clinical diagnoses, where used, was diagnostic in 12.0 and 14.3 percent of cases respectively.Clearly, modern medical technology has allowed medical professionals to become progressively more accurate when assessing patient's illnesses. However, the frequency of discordance has remained largely unchanged for over 40 years (Lundberg, 1998). As Lundberg (1998) notes, with the frequency of error staying unchanged, despite the advances in medical technology such as CT scanning and MRI, many health care leaders have denounced the falling rate of autopsies as compromising the quality of the health care industry.With an average discordance rate between clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings in the Saskatoon Health Region of 20.9 percent, the current performance of autopsies on only 6 percent of in-patient deaths seems insufficient. Not only is the concordance and discordance rate when compared between the two hospitals (RUH and SPH) very similar (see Figures 2 and 3), but the data are comparable with other reported findings in medical literature, including both modern and slightly older studies. While the legally responsible party of the deceased may not wish to allow an autopsy to be performed on the body for whatever reason, whether personal or cultural, it is clear that medical centers must take some initiative to stymie the trend of declining autopsy rates. A possible model should be examined by the health care industry that either incentivizes the legally responsible party to allow an autopsy, or involves the health care staff promoting the viability and benefits of the autopsy and postmortem findings.The benefits of hypothetically increased autopsy rates are clear, as they can aid the health care industry in minimizing the persistent discordance between clinical and autopsy diagnoses. Firstly, they contribute to clinical knowledge by enabling postmortem studies, and subsequent retrospective studies, to occur, which extends our understanding of the human body and disease processes. Secondly, they also aid medical education by allowing medical students and residents to train with greater efficiency via receiving access to actual human tissue and organs.Lesar et al. (1990) found that more prescribing errors, which are usually a direct result of inaccurate diagnoses, occurred amongst first year postgraduate residents more than among other clinicians. Wilson et al. (1998) discovered that the likelihood of error increased in a paediatric intensive care unit when new doctors joined the rotation. If the quality of medical education can increase, it is likely that inaccurate diagnoses made by new clinicians will decrease.\nConclusions: The results of the study suggest that, in spite of technical advances in medical and diagnostic modalities, there still persists a significant discordance in clinical and autopsy diagnoses. We encourage our residents and physicians to continue considering autopsy as an important tool that not only extends our ability to research and understand disease processes through postmortem and subsequent retrospective studies, but also as a means to support medical education.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of concordance and discordance between clinical diagnosis and post-mortem findings in patients admitted to the hospitals of the Saskatoon Health Region.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A retrospective record review of the medical and autopsy charts was carried out for all the deceased adult in-patients admitted during calendar years 2002, 2003 and 2004. A total of 3416 in-patient deaths were registered during the study period. Autopsies were performed on 206 of the deceased resulting in an autopsy rate of 6 percent. In accordance with selection criteria, 158 cases were included for this study. The mean age of subjects was 66.6+-15.3 years with a range of 16-94 years. The study group consisted of 92 males (58.2 percent) and 66 females (41.8 percent) with an average length of stay at the hospital of 12.9+-10.9 days.\nFindings: - The concordance rate between clinical and autopsy diagnosis was found to be 75.3 percent. The discordance rate was 20.9 percent and in 3.8 percent of the study population a conclusive clinical or autopsy diagnosis was not finalized.\nPractical implications: - These results suggest that despite of the technical advances in medical and diagnostic modalities, diagnostic discrepancies in the present day health care system remain prevalent.\nOriginality/value: - The authors encourage residents and physicians to continue using autopsy as an important tool to extend understanding of disease processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Managing informal service organizations at the base of the pyramid (BoP)
|
[
"Qualitative research",
"Content analysis",
"Base of the pyramid",
"Informal services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Around four billion people constitute the base of the world's economic pyramid subsisting on less than US$9 a day (Arnold and Valentin, 2013). This has motivated both scholars and practitioners in recent years to focus on better understanding the role of business and innovation in economic and social development in such \"base of the pyramid\" (BoP) environments (Chliova and Ringov, 2017; Bruton et al., 2013; Prahalad, 2009; Yunus, 1998).\nTheoretical background: Research at the base of the pyramid\nResearch design: This paper reports findings from a qualitative research conducted in Mexico aiming to contribute to our understanding of managing informal services at the BoP. In particular, this article focuses on learning about those managerial practices of informal service micro-businesses. This aims to be the basis for the development and discussion of a conceptual framework on service management dynamics at the BoP, integrating the owners, employees and customers' perspectives.\nFindings: The qualitative analysis conducted allowed to identify the most distinctive, typical managerial practices, as well as the main characteristics of relationships and interactions in informal service micro-businesses at the BoP. The main findings are presented below.\nDiscussion: Theoretical contributions\nConclusion: This research shows that BoP informal service micro-businesses are created as a need to provide financial support to the owners and their families, and only few eventually might get formalized. These informal micro-businesses originated not necessarily in a planned or organized way. However, even though they responded to a survival need, it is worth emphasizing that owners created business opportunities and started almost from scratch to provide services. So, creating a BoP informal micro-business is mainly a matter of having to satisfy basic needs, aiming to positively transform a group or community by improving well-being, than just having the physical or financial resources to formally start such a business. It is mostly a matter of attitude, to see an opportunity where others just do nt see it and then to translate this attitude into practice. BoP informal service initiatives have a clear customer focus; may not have sophisticated operational support, but their owners do know who their customers are and what do they want and work hard to build a long term trust-based relationship with them. Service management at the BoP is quite intuitive. Owners are \"running the show\" and getting support from family and close friends; they all benefit working together in win-win-win relationships, building a cohesive social network. Integration of tangible and intangible limited resources is a challenge in the co-creation of value in a business environment where internal and external different units of analysis are participating together. Informal entrepreneurs may eventually face the challenge to grow. Above all, the entrepreneur's profile is the key to successfully face financial, organizational and managerial issues surging from growth.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore and learn about managerial practices of informal services at the base of the pyramid (BoP).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study reports findings of an empirical research conducted in 16 cities in Mexico during a two-year period. Managerial practices in 327 micro-businesses were identified and analyzed after conducting direct observation and personal interviews with owners, employees and customers of these BoP informal service businesses.\nFindings: The paper shows that managerial practices of BoP informal service micro-businesses are developed through a dynamic, integrated network of owner, employees and customers who integrate scarce resources building win-win-win relationships to satisfy their basic daily needs.\nPractical implications: The creation and management of a BoP informal service business is mainly a matter of satisfying basic needs, aiming to positively transform a community by improving well-being. This paper provides insights to understand those relationships and interactions among the main actors involved, highlighting the need to identify and integrate the BoP service management cycle to better address their needs.\nOriginality/value: This paper proposes a conceptual service management framework for informal micro-businesses at the BoP integrating the owners, employees and customers' perspectives. Three corresponding cycles are identified and discussed, which are useful to elicit relevant characteristics of key roles, activities, interactions and relationships taking place in informal services.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Under pressure: an international comparison of job security, social security, and extra effort
|
[
"Organizational citizenship behaviour",
"Employee attitudes",
"Welfare state",
"Job security",
"Social security",
"Extra effort"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Even though several theories imply that the security that workers experience affects their work behavior, there is disagreement concerning at least two questions, namely: is there a negative or positive relationship between job security and employee effort? And what are the theoretical mechanisms explaining this relationship? These two questions are interrelated and in the existing literature two sides of the debate can be identified. On the one hand, there are economic approaches to employee behavior and motivation, like agency theory (Eisenhardt, 1989; Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Shapiro, 2005). Proponents of such economic approaches argue that security drives out motivation, thus decreasing the effort that workers put into their work. Therefore, insecurity may motivate employees and gives them an incentive to work. On the other hand, there are authors adhering to sociological and social-psychological theories like social exchange theory (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005) arguing that ongoing and secure employee-organization relationships are a necessary requirement for worker motivation and that increasing job insecurity therefore decreases work effort.\nExtra effort: Showing extra effort at work refers to the willingness of employees to do more tasks than those stated in their formal job description. This kind of behavior is often defined and conceptualized as one of the core dimensions of OCB (Organ, 1988). With regard to the extra effort that employees show, it makes sense to distinguish in-role behavior from extra-role behavior. According to this distinction, extra effort refers to behavior that can be regarded as extra-role behavior as it concerns behavior that is not specified in the employment contract (Van Dyne et al., 1995). Furthermore, to define extra effort more strictly, another distinction of work effort is in place. It is also important to explore whether extra effort can be regarded as involuntary work effort or as voluntary work effort instead (Ollo-Lopez et al., 2010; Vigoda-Gadot, 2007). While the first kind of effort refers to the minimal effort that employees need to show in order not to get fired and to stay with the organization, the second kind of effort includes those types of behavior that go beyond the formal requirements. As such, there seems to be a close relationship between voluntary work effort and discretionary work efforts like extra-role behavior (Macky and Boxall, 2007).\nThe (de)motivating effect of job insecurity: The issue of voluntary and involuntary work effort is relevant for understanding part of the difference between the two broad theoretical frameworks explaining employee effort examined in this study. Agency theory, like other economic approaches of organizations, assumes that employees are reluctant to work and as such it seems to view work effort as being involuntary. Social exchange theory, and other sociological and psychological approaches based on a broader set of work motivations, is based on the assumption that employees can show effort at work in response to the behavior of employers, leaving more room for the possibility of voluntary work effort. This means that agency theory and social exchange theory have different interpretations of work effort and provide different explanations why employees show it. These interpretations are further elaborated by theorizing its relationship with job security.\nThe role of the welfare state: The employment relationship, and the level of job security and employee effort associated with it, is part of a wider set of institutions that may affect its functioning and outcomes (Marsden, 1999). The welfare state consists of institutional arrangements to assure that citizens have a reasonable standard of living, even if they are not able to earn their own income (Lindbeck, 2006). Such arrangements are based on a set of rights and obligations and are financed with public resources (Swank, 1998). Parts of the welfare state arrangements are specifically related to employment and the labor market, for example government rules concerning the dismissal of employees (e.g. employment protection) and the benefits that employees receive if they become unemployed (Boeri and Van Ours, 2008). More in general, welfare state arrangements concern social policies related to schooling, pensions, health, and housing. Together, the social policies aimed at protecting the public against misfortune can have an impact on their attitudes about work as well as the level of job insecurity that people experience (Andersson and Pontussen, 2007; Erlinghagen, 2008). What is more, it may also have a direct effect on people's work effort (Ichino and Riphahn, 2005; Johansson and Palme, 2005). Besides that, the welfare state and the level of security it offers to citizens may moderate the relationship between job insecurity and extra effect. This is also suggested by theories focusing on labor-management conflicts (e.g. Korpi and Palme, 2003). The extent to which these conflicts are present in society, arguably depends on the level of social security. And, in turn, a reduction of such conflicts may affect the extra effort shown by employees. Given the hypotheses stated above, different hypotheses can be formulated.\nData and method: Data\nResults: Descriptive results\nConclusion and discussion: This study has brought together different parts of the literature to advance and test a theory of the relationship between job security and extra effort. Based on two seemingly conflicting approaches to the employment relationship and employee behavior - agency theory and social exchange theory - the results show that they may complement each other in some respects. Examining the direct relationship between job security and extra effort, the outcomes are supportive of social exchange theory. Nevertheless, acknowledging that agency theory and social exchange theory may focus on different sides of the relationship between job security and employee performance and taking into account the social context of this relationship, the analysis shows that combining these theories improves our understanding of the functioning and outcomes of the employment relationship. These results have a number of theoretical and practical implications and also lead to new questions for future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Previous research leads to contrasting hypotheses about the relationship between extra effort of employees and the level of job security. According to agency theory, job security leads to lower levels of extra effort and social exchange theory argues that extra effort requires job security. The purpose of this paper is to formulate a set of hypotheses based on these theories. Besides considering them as mutually exclusive, they are integrated into a single theoretical framework that argues that both theories can apply, depending on the conditions and social context (in terms of the social security system).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from the International Social Survey Program (2005) including 22 countries from around the globe are analyzed using multilevel analysis.\nFindings: The study provides evidence that social security moderates the relationship between job security and extra effort.\nOriginality/value: This study differs from previous research as it focuses on two sides of insecurity in the workplace and because it analyzes a large data set to include institutional factors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Mentors and career development: Influential factors for engineering proteges
|
[
"Engineering",
"Mentoring",
"Career outcomes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe important role of workplace mentoring: Mentoring is widely recognized as offering an effective means of employee development. This proven process enables an organization to enhance the competencies of its workforce so that performance and growth can be enhanced accordingly.\nMentoring within an engineering context: Engineering appears to be the exception to this particular rule. To some extent, it is understandable. The culture within the profession is somewhat unique in that is characterized by competition driven by individual proficiency. Mainstays of mentoring like communication and collaboration are often conspicuous by their absence.\nFactors likely to shape career outcomes: With all this in mind, it is readily apparent that those involved in the engineering profession would benefit from having greater awareness of mentoring-related factors most likely to influence career development outcomes.\nSome additional aspects to consider: When it comes to the associations between factors and career outcomes, the picture is less clear. For example, not everyone seems to link career mentoring with organizational support. Indications are similar where the impact of psychosocial mentoring on job satisfaction and organizational commitment is concerned. Such mixed and contradictory findings perhaps suggest that contextual and/or cultural factors might be at work.\nComment: The review is based on \"Impact of mentoring on practicing engineers: a meta-synthesis\", by Wong et al., 2018, published in Journal of Workplace Learning. Workplace mentoring possesses scope to considerably enhance career development. Firms can optimize the effect by ascertaining factors likely to impact most on the process. Consideration of unique characteristics within a particular discipline is essential in order to improve mentoring program effectiveness within that field.\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: Mentors can positively impact on job performance and career development of proteges. By focusing on critical factors, organizations are able to optimize mentoring effectiveness that might be further enhanced through a consideration of characteristics unique to the specific field.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Five promising methods for health foresight
|
[
"Health and medicine",
"Delphi method",
"Forecasting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Preparing for the future is a necessity for every health policy-maker, practitioner, and scientist, whether developing policy, treating patients, or creating new products in a lab. A growing toolkit of foresight methods can help - some technical, others narrative based; some oriented around experts, others around broad public participation (Glenn and Gordon, 2003; Lempert et al., 2003; UNIDO, 2005).Imagine you are developing a response strategy to an emerging infectious disease challenge, a point of care diagnostic device, or a more effective health intervention. How will these discoveries benefit the people who need them the most? How will the path look from idea to implementation?In considering these questions, we analyzed numerous applications of foresight methods to the health field. These applications include the Global Health Forecasting Working Group's advances in improving demand estimation for health products; the UK Office of Technology Foresight project \"Infectious Diseases: Preparing for the Future\", cited by Google.org as a factor leading to a recent $2M US investment in a new disease surveillance network; and the \"Dark Winter\" exercise of 2001, which simulated a covert smallpox attack on the US.We have drawn examples preferentially (but far from exclusively) from the global health field, due to their lesser discussion to date in the scholarly literature, their illustration of the value of foresight methods for challenging settings, and the authors' personal experiences in applying foresight for global health. Examples were chosen from a combination of literature review and authors' personal experiences - all three authors are health professionals, and two are also foresight professionals. Inclusion criteria were the impact of the foresight work (estimated future impact in the case of recent examples), the availability of implementation details, the relevance to the foresight methods being discussed, and the opportunities as assessed by the authors for building on the examples for future health foresight efforts.We discuss applications of foresight methods to health, including personal experiences from major projects that the authors have led. We review five approaches where health foresight has empirically shown strong value: forecasting, scenarios, Delphi, technology roadmapping, and mass collaboration.For each approach, we give examples and discuss use and potential (see Table I for a summary of strengths and weaknesses of each method, and when each might be used). These five approaches are not mutually exclusive, and several instances are discussed where they are combined. We conclude with an example of how the five methods might each add value in a hypothetical emerging disease threat scenario, and discussion of the implications of these methods for research and society.A note is in order about how applying foresight to medicine and global health differs from applying foresight to other areas. Health care has a number of aspects that make it special. There are many different stakeholders with different interests, including scientists, technology developers, doctors, patients, funders, and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The applicability of health care is universal as everyone interacts with health systems, yet there are widely varying demographics for health care, such as the elderly, or low-income populations in developing countries. Risk-pooling is critical to pay for health care, with individuals without access to such mechanisms at high risk of catastrophic health or financial setbacks.These health-specific aspects affect the application of foresight to health in several ways. First, factors can be ranked into a rough spectrum according to their uncertainty, and then methods chosen according to how uncertain the factors of interest are - extrapolations where demographic change are the main variable of interest are much more tractable than responses to unpredictable events such as novel zoonotic illnesses. Secondly, the global nature of many disease threats and opportunities makes purely local approaches less applicable - when new pandemics and their solutions can arise and rapidly spread from around the world, a global approach must be taken, even if only to set the context in which a local foresight exercise is done. Third, financial factors play a key role in decision-oriented health foresight - in terms of affordability of health care relative to other priorities, funding and appropriate reward mechanisms for new health technologies and services, and differing financial interests of different players in health care ecosystems.One other salient feature of health is its core importance to every human being - the absence of health, as of physical security, quickly becomes a paramount concern to be resolved. This implies that health threats can rapidly become the primary concern of societies, just as terrorist threats have become on many occasions. Foresight methods that hope to be capable of addressing such explosive concerns must be designed to accommodate and incorporate the immense pressures that any real large-scale health emergency will cause. They also face a tension between balancing preventive elements with treatment elements, and dealing with the statistical and abstract nature of some health threats.We turn now to consideration of the individual foresight methods. Whether for a scientist interested in how to bring her discoveries to end users, a policymaker understanding emerging disease threats, a doctor looking at how the practice of medicine might evolve, or an entrepreneur leveraging technological advances for better health care, foresight initiatives share the same goal: how can we design desirable health futures? The goal is not to foresee what will happen, but to prepare for what might happen - and to develop a common understanding of what should happen if threats are to be mitigated and opportunities seized.Foresight methodologies thus aid good decision making in the present. By understanding their relative merits, these methods can be customized for the health field - thereby developing a toolbox with which to design new health systems, improve existing ones, and prepare for future eventualities.\n2. Forecasting trends: Use: to extrapolate trends for which a reasonable degree of confidence exists\n3. Scenario planning: Use: to collaboratively create stories representing a range of plausible future worlds, and then \"back-cast\" to understand how those worlds can be sought out or avoided\n4. Delphi: Use: to combine the insights of a pre-selected group into a ranked list of consensus options, prioritizing solutions to a well-defined question\n5. Technology roadmapping: Use: to bring key stakeholders together to map out what must happen to make a new technology a reality, with one output usually being a graphical map of actions required\n6. Mass collaboration: Use: to enable low-overhead collaborations by leveraging technology and innovative processes (a developing method in the context of health foresight)\n7. Conclusions: This article analyzed applications of foresight to health, gave a concise guide for making use of health foresight methods, and argued for greater use and development of these methods in medicine and health. With massive investments being made into new health technologies and interventions, and future developments like personal diagnostics and pandemics having enormous potential for good and ill, foresight methods can reveal hazards and attractive possibilities.Returning to the first hypothetical situation posed in the Introduction, consider how the methodologies covered might be applied. Imagine you are developing a response strategy to an emerging infectious disease challenge. Forecasting might be used to estimate vaccine development time and likely demand, building on the work of the Global Health Forecasting Working Group. An interdisciplinary scenario exercise could suggest how this would impact clinical practice, emergency response teams, and citizen preparation, building on efforts like the Dark Winter exercise. Real-time Delphi might help to evaluate options from a group of infectious disease and response experts, or the Influenza Prediction Market example could be adapted for the new disease. Learnings from the \"Detection and Identification of Infectious Disease\" project might have informed previous preparatory capability building for national and international health systems, making the set of capabilities available more robust than it would have been without preparation. Finally, mass collaboration techniques could draw together interested parties worldwide to enable them to rapidly assess the situation, brainstorm options, and share response strategies - improving on the early collaborative techniques used worldwide in response to the SARS epidemic.What are the implications of these methods for research and for society? On the research side, better and greater applications of health foresight can guide medical and health systems research toward solving challenges that may be \"over the horizon\" for the typical busy researcher, and yet relevant due to their likely emergence or potentially serious consequences. For example, the \"Detection and Identification of Infectious Disease\" project discussed above provides an abundance of specific cross-disciplinary research opportunities, which arose out of systematic consideration of foresight implications of a common question. Similarly, the Malaria Vaccine Roadmap suggests where biomedical researchers could focus their energies, and where supportive infrastructure might be provided to help all researchers function more effectively.On the societal side, these methods can function as an \"early warning system\" to make threats and opportunities apparent early enough to prepare for them effectively. They can also involve the public at large in foresight exercises, particularly the last method which illustrates examples such as Superstruct and Healthcamp - examples which bring motivated amateurs into the process of elaborating future possibilities. Finally, these methods may promote a more proactive rather than reactive approach toward health policy; this may be aided by identifying specific examples of health foresight use that saved a health system significant funds, made it more effective, or saved lives directly through better emergency preparedness or clinical outcomes.The future is an undiscovered country, but one which can be partially illuminated through disciplined evaluation. For the time-pressed foresight practitioner, medical researcher, or policymaker, using and adapting foresight methods to think constructively about the future can ultimately act as an aid to good decision-making in the present.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to show through empirical examples how five foresight methods have provided value in medicine and global health, and to argue for greater use of health foresight.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Through evaluation, literature search, and personal experiences, five approaches were identified where health foresight has shown strong value: forecasting, scenario planning, Delphi, technology roadmapping, and mass collaboration. For each approach, compelling examples are given, and usage and potential discussed.\nFindings: - There is great opportunity to learn from and expand on past successes, and to customize foresight methods to help decision making in medicine and global health. The range of novel applications to date provides clear evidence that applying foresight methods to health can help prepare for the future, including development of policy and health interventions.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Metrics for the impact of health foresight are not widely used, and could be a focus of future research.\nPractical implications: - By seeing compelling examples of diverse foresight methods in medicine and global health, readers will be better equipped to improve health systems and interventions, and prepare for future public health incidents.\nOriginality/value: - The paper brings together discussion of a range of health foresight success stories, and suggests potential customizations of foresight for the health field. Readers who are health professionals or involved in making policy for health systems will gain a toolbox for creative planning. Readers who are foresight professionals will gain a better understanding of which foresight methods have shown value in medicine and global health, and potential refinement of foresight techniques for health applications.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
NGO accountability: retrospective and prospective academic contributions
|
[
"NGO",
"NGO accountability",
"Management control systems",
"Downward accountability",
"Hierarchical accountability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play significant roles in helping to protect, promote and advance human rights. These roles include deployment of aid to hundreds of millions of the most impoverished and vulnerable people on the planet. They also include advocating for or against public policies that proponents claim will protect and enhance the rights or interests of current and future sections of society, in addition to the natural environment and/or animal rights.\n2. Reflecting on the 2006 special issue: The introductory paper for the 2006 special issue offered an inclusive definition of an NGO and explained how the subject matter of each of the other papers in the special issue explored important issues of accountability in relation to organisations that conformed to this definition (Unerman and O'Dwyer, 2006a). Two broad NGO categories dominated the special issue: welfare provision NGOs, and campaigning, advocacy and hybrid (combinations of welfare and advocacy) NGOs (Dixon et al., 2006; Goddard and Assad, 2006; Gray et al., 2006; Unerman and O'Dwyer, 2006b). A key theme in many of the papers was the danger of inappropriate accountability mechanisms potentially threatening the viability of NGOs such that these mechanisms could be counterproductive and result in socially damaging outcomes. This was seen to be especially likely if downward accountability to beneficiaries was ignored or downplayed, or if accountability mechanisms were imported by NGOs directly from corporate contexts. The increasing reliance by funders on formally imposed mechanisms that significantly increased bureaucratic burdens on NGOs was central to some of the papers (Dixon et al., 2006; Goddard and Assad, 2006). The introductory overview paper concluded that it was unlikely that a single set of largely uniform accountability mechanisms would be suited to all NGOs, and called for future studies to develop suitable accountability mechanisms for a variety of NGOs (Unerman and O'Dwyer, 2006a).\n3. Key areas of development in the accounting literature: 3.1 Extending articulations and experiences of downward accountability\n4. Prospective perspectives: While much of the work in the intervening 14 years since the 2006 special issues were commissioned in 2004 has significantly enhanced our knowledge of NGO accountability, current developments in practice offer opportunities for more comprehensive advances on prior studies. For example, recently, traditionally large donor countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and France have radically reduced their funding for development NGOs and become more prescriptive about how this funding should be spent (Huyse and De Bruyn, 2015; Spitz et al., 2013). This gradual shift from a focus on \"aid to NGOs\" to \"aid through NGOs\" (Huyse and De Bruyn, 2015; Schulpen, 2016) is having significant impacts for how funded NGOs are governed and held externally accountable. Development NGOs are also increasingly being asked to adopt more entrepreneurial ways of working and to engage extensively with the private sector in order to demonstrate their self-sufficiency. Many have expressed fears that \"tied-aid\" - aid linked to specific governmental objectives - is becoming increasingly common, thereby reducing NGOs' autonomy or \"right of initiative\". For example, in the Netherlands and Belgium, funding cuts have been accompanied by explicit demands for policy coherence prioritising certain lobbying and advocacy roles among funded NGOs. Several NGOs claim that these restrictions make it impossible for them to retain their role as relevant actors in processes aimed at bringing about transformative, sustainable changes to civil societies (Banks et al., 2015; Elbers et al., 2014; O'Leary, 2017). Future research could study the impact of these developments on the accountability of NGOs, especially the processes through which changes in accountability demands have evolved and their impact on NGOs' core operations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a retrospective and prospective analysis of the themes explored in the 2006 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal special issue on non-governmental organisation (NGO) accountability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is a reflective review essay.\nFindings: The paper outlines how a number of themes in the 2006 special issue addressing downward accountability, hierarchical accountability and management control have been subsequently developed in a selection of papers from the accounting literature. The development of these themes leads to several suggestions for future research in NGO accountability.\nOriginality/value: The paper offers a systematic, original perspective on recent developments in certain areas of the field of NGO accountability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Critical literacies on the university campus: Engaging pre-service teachers with social action projects
|
[
"Critical literacy",
"Social action",
"Young adult literature",
"Community partnerships"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: For many teacher educators of English language arts, developing our candidates' critical literacies, and in turn preparing them to engage their future students' critical literacies, is at the heart of our teaching. Those of us who work in this area seek to broaden our students' capacities for understanding their worlds, hone their abilities to analyze ideological messages and facilitate their active engagement in their communities to affect change. Merely talking about how to do these things, however, is not enough. We must directly engage our students in such endeavors so that they can enact the process themselves, so that they can feel what it is like to engender change and, as a result, encourage their future students to do the same.\nEnglish language arts and social action across contexts: There is an abundance of scholarship related to engaging secondary students in social action. Many such studies occur outside of the traditional classroom space (Cridland-Hughes, 2012; Wright and Mahiri, 2012). They draw on frameworks including youth participatory action research (YPAR) (Cammarota, 2016; Duncan-Andrade and Morrell, 2008), which is \"built on the idea that young people have the capacity to conduct research, generate new knowledge, and create social change\" (Buckley-Marudas, 2018, p. 7). In YPAR, students are given the \"power over key aspects of the research and action process (e.g. defining the problem/topic to be addressed, research methods, data analysis and interpretation, action steps), with adults in a support role\" (Ozer, 2016, p. 263). Much of the work involving YPAR and similar approaches emphasizes the role of writing in action (Marciano and Warren, 2018). Students research topics of interest; compose presentations, letters and informative materials; and disseminate their work to community stakeholders in public forums (Burke and Greene, 2015).\nTheoretical frameworks: critical literacies and social action: Critical literacies are often broadly defined as the capacities to read one's \"ideologically constructed world\" (Young, 2017, p. 501) generally through lenses that examine oppression and privilege (Luke, 1991, 2000). As Borsheim and Petrone (2006) explained, critical literacies are the \"skills, strategies, dispositions, and habits of mind to understand, question, challenge, and transform the status quo (that which seems commonsensical or natural)\" (p. 79). With an emphasis particularly on deconstructing the way language operates in our world (Janks, 1993), critical literacies are skills and actions that unpack the meanings of axiomatic discursive practices and render dominant narratives transparent. Such skills are not those of rote memorization but rather a propensity for analysis, a mode of being and a practice. Cultivating these propensities is crucial to combat the gross social inequities that plague our society and develop civic-minded individuals who will participate in effecting change in their local, national and global communities (Boyd, 2017). We follow Campano et al. (2013) who noted, \"The pluralization of critical literacy to critical literacies suggests that there is no one framework by which to promote or transmit a critical orientation to students in the curriculum\" (p. 102), and that any such approach must be attentive to local context and to the specific students with which one works.\nData sources and analysis: Both of us are English teacher educators in two different states in the northwestern region of the USA. We also are both advocates for the potential of young adult literature to inspire concern for contemporary social problems (Boyd and Darragh, 2019). As such, we employed COAR with our students in three different courses (n = 70), all focused on young adult literature and required for ELA teaching certification. Reflecting the broader population of teachers (NCES, 2018), 78 per cent of our students are white, female and middle class. Our students of color include those who identify as Native Hawaiian, Latinx, African American and according to their Native American tribal affiliation. Ashley implemented social action projects in her fall 2018 and spring 2019 offering of her young adult literature course and Janine implemented them in her fall 2018 version of the same course. We asked our students to design their projects specifically for their peers at the university - to use their agency as college students to select a social issue about which they were concerned and to \"do something\" in their communities toward that problem. We wanted them to have an authentic audience and to determine what needed to be done related to their issue.\nResults and discussion: In what follows, we provide an answer to each of our two research questions:\nConclusions: We have known the power of social action projects at the secondary level (Cammarota, 2016), and in this study, we have learned that there is great potential in engaging preservice teachers in social action projects, especially as it relates to developing their critical literacies and their inclination to pursue community activism. We realize that this work is consuming and challenging, as various students explained. Projects like these are a \"huge commitment of time and resources\" and can be \"difficult to implement.\" It is true; the work is hard, but, we argue, important and necessary - not only to develop our students' critical literacies and community engagement but also to develop their own capacity in leading their future students in similar work.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how preservice teachers conceive of and implement social actions on their college campuses related to a chosen social problem developed in a young adult novel and to examine how social action projects develop teacher candidates' critical literacies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative exploratory multiple case study (Stake, 2005) investigated 70 pre-service teachers on two college campuses over two semesters as they engaged in social action projects. The researchers engaged in layers of open and thematic coding through the theoretical lens of critical literacies.\nFindings: Preservice teachers engaged in a range of direct and indirect action and, as a result, experienced varying levels of self-efficacy and impact. While most felt their endeavors were successful, those who conducted awareness campaigns noted an inability to measure the effects they had on their communities. Their development of critical literacies through social action was evidenced in the partnerships across campus they established as well as their levels of engagement with peers and local officials.\nOriginality/value: While the results of conducting social action with youth in secondary classrooms are well established in the literature, lesser well known are ways to engage preservice teachers in such endeavors. This study illustrates not only how teacher candidates can engage in social action as aligned with young adult literature but also offers insights gained from those processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Russia's energy in 2030: future trends and technology priorities
|
[
"Russia",
"Foresight",
"Energy research",
"Energy technologies",
"Ex post evaluation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Access to sufficient, affordable and reliable energy supply remains a key priority for most countries. Some countries have extensive deposits of hydrocarbons sufficient to cover national demand (or even export), while others have to assure uninterrupted imports. Today, with the growing economic and technological efficiency of renewable energy technologies, many more countries may become resource-rich. To assess own prospects in technological advancement and set the right energy targets, countries have initiated national forward-looking studies (OECD/IEA, 2015a).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is an attempt to evaluate the outcomes of the \"National Science and Technology Foresight\" exercise implemented in 2012-2014 by a team of researchers. The methods used for ex post analysis are the literature review of the research and analytical publications that appeared after 2014, policy analysis of new national energy regulations and technologies, assessing the impacts of the study on policy-making (Konnola et al., 2011) through interviews and expert panels (Fahrenkrog et al., 2002; Georghiou and Keenan, 2006), other types of impacts outlined by Miles (2002) and Johnston (2012) and performing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis (Sokolova, 2015).\nFindings: The entire National S&T Foresight was designed to address key social and economic goals that were extracted from the strategic policy documents at the initial phase of the project. The goals related to the energy part of the study include, for example, a sustained provision of fuel and energy resources to the economy and population, decreasing energy intensity to the level comparable with countries that have similar climatic conditions, consistent decrease in the sector's negative impact on the environment and climate and contribution to the reproduction of human capital (through the development of energy infrastructure and provision of energy goods and services at affordable prices). These were taken from the 2030 Russian Energy Strategy in 2009. The actual impact of the study on the attainment of these goals would be incorrect to judge before 2030 and without a direct link to the Energy Strategy until 2030 (and later - 2035). The National Foresight features a limited number of energy technologies that will be supported (out of a wide range of technologies offered by the Foresight), and the other are addressed in the sectoral strategies.\nDiscussion: The National S&T Foresight was developed as part of the national strategy-making process for the second time. In 2016-2017, the 2030 Foresight is undergoing a revision. The expected outputs of the 2030 Foresight were to provide lists of prospective global markets with corresponding products and technologies (R&D areas) and to identify Russia's capacities to produce these products and undertake research in these areas. These priority areas were agreed with a wide range of stakeholders and all sectoral ministries. Therefore, the core planned outputs were achieved but clearly require regular revision.\nConclusions: Based on the analysis presented in the paper, it is possible to outline the SWOT of the energy block in the National S&T Foresight 2030.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the study is to discuss and critically assess the outcomes of the Foresight study of the Russian energy sector, undertaken in 2014 in the course of a large-scale national Foresight exercise - \"Science and Technology (S&T) Foresight 2030\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the author performs an ex post evaluation of the Foresight study. The methods used are the literature review of the research and analytical publications that appeared after 2014, policy analysis of new national energy regulations and technologies, interviews and expert panels, and performing a final SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the Foresight study.\nFindings: As a result of the study, the expediency, efficacy, process efficiency, quality, impact and process improvement of the National S&T Foresight 2030 were assessed. Moreover, the SWOT for the National Foresight and its energy-related outcomes were identified. The National Foresight methodology and its outcomes are critically reviewed, and recommendations for their refinement are made.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research on the topic may include subsequent ex ante and ex post evaluations of energy technology foresights that will include revised lists of technologies, given the rapidly changing energy markets, as well as an assessment of the integration of the study results in the energy and S&T policy documents.\nPractical implications: The practical implications of the study are linked with turning the prospective R&D areas identified through the Foresight into state priorities for funding energy research. Energy companies may utilize the study results in their development plans and R&D strategies.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers a valuable insight in the future of energy research and technologies in Russia. It is a comprehensive study that covers all energy aspects from extraction of hydrocarbons to fuel cells and nuclear energy. An ex post assessment of the study is made with implications for the future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
European consumer perceptions and barriers for fresh, frozen, preserved and ready-meal fish products
|
[
"Consumers",
"Fish (Food)",
"Fresh",
"Frozen",
"Perception",
"Preserved",
"Ready‐meal",
"Food products",
"Europe"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Fish is generally perceived as a healthy food product by nutritionists, food scientists, food and health policy makers and consumers (Verbeke et al., 2005; Pieniak et al., 2009). Still, the majority of the European consumers do not meet the dietary recommendations of eating two portions of fish per week, of which one should be fatty fish (Kris-Etherton et al., 2003; Pieniak et al., 2008a). This turns research into consumer attitudes and behaviour in relation to fish consumption a relevant issue from a policy, a public health, and a food product marketing perspective. This study has the aim to investigate and compare barriers to fish consumption in different regions in Europe, and for different fish product categories. Within Europe, strong variations exist in terms of fish consumption levels, habits and traditions. According to FAO-figures, in 2008 fish consumption varied from about 55 kg per capita per year in Portugal to less then 5 kg per capita per year in Bulgaria (FAO, 2008). The countries with the highest fish consumption levels are typically those that are (partly) surrounded by oceans or seas, and that have as such direct access to fish resources. This concerns mainly the Scandinavian countries (Northern Europe), the Mediterranean countries (Southern Europe) and the Baltic States. Nevertheless, fish consumption habits and preferences between these regions also differ considerably. For instance, the Southern European countries have a clear preference for whole, fresh fish, whereas in Northern Europe, consumers are more averse to whole fish and are more open to processed products with an added value. For this reason this study has not only included different regions within Europe, but has broadened the discussion to different fish product categories in terms of level of processing. It also anticipates on changes and evolutions in consumption habits and food demand, such as the increased demand in Europe for innovative fish products and convenience preparations, e.g. sushi, filets, individual portions and mixtures of fried fish (Josupeit, 2004; Olsen et al., 2007). This ties in with the general tendencies in food demand towards more convenience (Bruhn, 2008; Grunert, 2006), despite a less positive image of convenience food products (e.g. Kennedy and Archer (1998) for frozen products). The shift in food demand is associated with the tendency to more busy lifestyles, to young and busy singles, and to dual-income couples with no children. As a consequence, an increased market share of products that are simple and quick to prepare, such as ready-to-cook, partly cooked or even ready-to-eat dishes, and also frozen fish appeared. Ready-to-eat dishes, further termed ready-meals, offer a possibility of quick purchase, preparation and consumption.New product categories and product innovations not only address changing lifestyles, they also respond to some barriers that prevent people from consuming more fish. The price of fish for instance is very frequently indicated as the main barrier. Fish is perceived as a more expensive food product category as compared to meat products (Verbeke and Vackier, 2005; Leek et al., 2000; Olsen, 2001). Price perception even emerged among the main barriers for fish consumption, across countries and user groups with a different fish consumption profile (Brunso et al., 2009). The interpretation of price however varied between regions. Price was deemed a strong barrier in some countries in Eastern and Central Europe, and in the Baltic States. Other countries, like Scandinavian countries, France or Spain, considered fish also as a more expensive food product, though consumers were willing to pay for a quality and healthy product. Other barriers documented in literature pertain to the presence of bones (Leek et al., 2000; Olsen, 2001; Verbeke and Vackier, 2005), smell when cooking fish (Brunso et al., 2009), contamination risk (Verbeke and Vackier, 2005), variation in quality (Myrland et al., 2000), perceived difficulties in and time-consuming character of the purchase, preparation and cooking of fish (Leek et al., 2000; Myrland et al., 2000; Nielsen et al., 1997; Scholderer and Grunert, 2000), the limited product availability (Myrland et al., 2000), and the perceived difficulty in evaluating the quality of fish (Brunso, 2003; Scholderer and Grunert, 2000; Verbeke et al., 2007; Verbeke and Vackier, 2005). Brunso et al. (2009) have indicated that attitudinal barriers for fish consumption were similar for groups where fish consumption levels differed considerably. Differences between countries and user groups were discussed in terms of preparation skills and the use of quality cues. Heavy users were very skilled in evaluating fish quality, while light users made seemingly irrational assumptions.Notwithstanding these possible barriers, consumers mainly eat fish for its healthy and nutritional properties and its taste. In this perspective it is relevant to investigate the perceptions of consumers with respect to different fish product categories. Information on these issues is not widely available in literature and mostly based on single country studies. Fresh fish is in general perceived as the more healthy alternative to frozen and processed fish products (SEAFISH, 2010). Compared to frozen fish, it is perceived superior in terms of taste, appearance, texture and shelf life (SEAFISH, 2010). However, this favourable perception does not necessarily translate into purchasing behaviour, for example because of some barriers mentioned before.Insights in the perceptions consumers have about different fish product categories will be relevant for further promotion of fish consumption. Country-peculiarities will assist in supporting the development of national generic campaigns.\nMaterial and methods: Research approach and sampling\nResults and discussion: Fish consumption frequency\nConclusions: The present study has concentrated on consumer perceptions about fish, and their perceived barriers to consume more fish. Studies on consumer perceptions about fish and discussions on barriers to consume fish are already widely documented in literature, however, mainly in relation to fish as a generic food category, or in relation to a specific fish species. In addition, many of the studies available in literature are single-country studies, or studies in a limited number of countries. The present research adds to the current knowledge base given that it has investigated and compared different fish product categories (fish as a generic product category; fresh fish; frozen fish; preserved fish; ready-meal fish), in eight countries covering the different geographical locations of Europe. The findings of this study are mainly descriptive, and provide insights for future research, with a specific focus. In that perspective, this study has for example not discussed differences within countries. Information on consumer perceptions and perceived barriers is relevant to stimulate fish consumption among European consumers, and appeals to public health authorities, policy makers and marketers.The overriding healthy perceptions consumers have about fish was confirmed in this study, and seemed to contribute very strongly to the general perception about fish as a food product. Fresh fish was perceived the most healthy fish product, followed by frozen fish, preserved fish and ready-meal fish products. Perceptions seemed to be highest correlated with self-reported fish consumption in the Mediterranean countries, which were the countries with the highest reported fish consumption levels in this study. With the exception of Romania, perceived barriers only poorly corresponded with the self-reported consumption frequencies of the different fish product categories. This has been related in the discussion to the possible influence of habit and tradition with regard to eating fish, or to the absence of strong motivations or drivers to consume fish in this study. In the Mediterranean countries, the fish consumption frequency is on a very high level, independently of perceived barriers and motivational aspects. Clearly, eating fish is strongly habitual and a part of the traditional Mediterranean diet.In this perspective, it seems reasonable to invest in further communicating to consumers about the possible benefits of fish in a healthy diet, and the importance of fish intake. Preferences, deduced in this study from self-reported fish consumption frequencies, for fish product categories differed between countries, and should be taken into account on national levels in efforts to stimulate or modify fish consumption, and exploring opportunities to trade fish products.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to investigate consumers' perceptions and barriers in relation to fresh, frozen, preserved and ready-meal fish products in a geographically diverse selection of European countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Cross-sectional data were collected through a consumer survey (n=3,213), conducted in June 2008 in the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the UK. Items measured were self-reported consumption frequencies, consumer perceptions of different fish product categories, and perceived barriers for increased fish consumption levels. Country specificities are discussed.\nFindings: - The overriding healthy perception consumers have about fish was confirmed, and contributed very strongly to the general perception consumers have about fish. Fresh fish was perceived the most healthy fish product, followed by frozen, preserved and ready-meal fish products. Perception scores were highest correlated with self-reported fish consumption in the Mediterranean countries. With the exception of Romania, perceived barriers only poorly explained self-reported consumption frequencies of the different fish product categories. This finding is related to the possible influence of habit and tradition with regard to eating fish, to the absence of measures related to motivations or drivers to consume fish, or to the possibility that some of the perceived barriers reinforce each other. In the Mediterranean countries, fish consumption frequency is on a very high level, independently of perceived barriers and motivational aspects, and part of the traditional Mediterranean diet.\nOriginality/value: - The strength of this study pertains to its international scope and geographical spread. Further, consumer perceptions and perceived barriers in relation to fresh, frozen, preserved and ready-meal fish products have rarely been studied in parallel. Findings are relevant to support efforts on national and international level to stimulate or modify fish consumption, and to explore opportunities to trade fish products.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The multi-generation: Generational differences in channel activity
|
[
"Mobile",
"Social media",
"Generations",
"Multi-channel",
"Xennials",
"Purchases"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As the retail marketplace becomes increasingly competitive, retailers have emphasized the need to connect with consumers via a wide variety of channels (NRF, 2018), which are touchpoints between retailers and consumers (Beck and Rygl, 2015). Consumers have a greater variety of channels to choose from in order to complete shopping and search, and different channels offer varying attributes that customers value (Gensler et al., 2012).Many retailers are taking broad steps to understand various consumers' shopping patterns within this multi-channel landscape (Verhoef et al., 2015) due to the intensification of competition in the marketplace and changing consumer demographics (Verhoef et al., 2015; NRF, 2018). By understanding each channel's strengths and weaknesses, retailers can better allocate resources and efforts; thus, multi-channel strategies should be driven by channel characteristics, such as utilitarian and hedonic dimensions (Yrjola et al., 2018a, 2018b). This is important, since operating in multiple channels may result in cannibalization of business between channels (Lapoule and Colla, 2016).Non-brick-and-mortar channels are quickly growing in influence within the retail landscape (Neslin and Shankar, 2009). Although global brick-and-mortar shopping channels are currently generating approximately $12.5 trillion per year (as opposed to e-commerce at $1.4 trillion), electronic channels are trending to grow to $2.6 trillion by 2022 (GMID, 2018). In fact, during the period 2017-2019, in-store sales were anticipated to decline from 42 to 36 per cent (eMarketer, 2018). However, in a recent marketing survey, a strong proportion of millennials (31 per cent), Gen X (28 per cent) and baby boomers (32 per cent) reported shopping in brick-and-mortar stores (Wallace, 2018). Boston Consulting Group (2018) found that 40 per cent of younger consumers surveyed shopped in a 'store-solo' environment, while 'online-solo' growth is being led by 'older generations' (p. 8). These statistics contradict popular thought that millennial consumers shop exclusively online due to being raised on technology (Dorie et al., 2016). Separate reports by Statista revealed that 36 per cent of consumers engage in mixed-channel usage (Criteo, n.d. a), and that 27 per cent of global retail sales (and 24 per cent of US sales) are conducted using a mix of multi-channel touchpoints (Criteo, n.d. b).In addition to traditional brick-and-mortar and online channels, consumers can engage with brands via mobile phones, tablets and/or social media platforms. Pew Research (2018) found that millennials, Generation X and baby boomers owned smart phones at rates of 92, 85 and 67 per cent, respectively, and a separate study found tablet usage by older consumers has increased over 20 per cent since 2013 (Anderson and Perrin, 2017). There are 2.32 billion active monthly users on Facebook and another 1 billion on Instagram (Statista, 2019). A majority (70 per cent) of millennials follow brands while using social media (Mezzacca et al., 2019). Interestingly, Wallace (2018) indicated higher social media engagement by Gen X, with 29 per cent of millennials, 34 per cent of Gen X and 25 per cent of baby boomers reportedly shopping via the channel. As usage of these technologies and sites has risen, there has also been an increase in social media shopping, with 25 per cent of businesses reporting sales through social media (Arnold, 2018). Due to a greater number of channels at consumers' disposal, it is increasingly important for marketers to understand consumers' multi-channel behaviours.The United States currently houses three times the amount of retail space than the second-place country worldwide, and the market is oversaturated with brands and stores (Lewis and Dart, 2014). The United States retail sector represents approximately $3.25 trillion within the current $15 trillion global retailing market, which is expected to grow to $16.2 trillion by 2022 (GMID, 2018). Confounding retailers, the US still trails other areas of the world in terms of adoption of digital channels, with North America at 29 per cent, Asia at 47 per cent, Latin America at 38 per cent and Europe at 31 per cent (Statista, 2018). In such a cluttered market, with so many retail dollars at stake, it is important for marketers to better understand US consumers' multi-channel behaviours to optimize sales.Retailers are attempting to stand out from competitors and are also grappling with appealing to a diverse consumer base. Key to marketing practice is segmentation analyses, which assist in better understanding of subgroups of the consumer population (Levy and Weitz, 2012), thus assisting retailers in establishing a unique position in the market. Segments may be established based on demographics such as age, income, geographical area and marital status (Armstrong and Kotler, 2014). Retailing researchers such as Neslin and Shankar (2009) have identified segmentation analysis as the first step in developing multi-channel strategies. Age, or generational segmentation, is important to consider, since members of various generational cohorts have been found to exhibit differences due to the experiences that they have encountered over their lifetimes (Devebec et al., 2013; Ryder, 1965). Additionally, researchers have found that sub-segmentation of generational cohorts is necessary due to heterogeneity within these groups (Bahng et al., 2013; Dorie et al., 2016; Ryder, 1965; Vouchilas and Ulasewicz, 2014).Due to the aforementioned importance of consumer channel usage to retailers' strategies, coupled with variances in channel choice amongst generational cohorts, it is also important for marketers to understand specific age-groups' use of multiple touchpoints. Lapoule and Colla (2016) noted that awareness of consumers' priorities in multiple channels is most important for marketers to optimize their strategies and to avoid counterproductive results. Therefore, the aim of this research is to understand different generational cohorts' channel usage and spending patterns in a multi-channel context.\n2. Previous research and theoretical foundation: 2.1 Multi-channel retailing\n3. Method: After Institutional Review Board approval, an online survey was administered to a sample of 49,999 alumni of a large Midwestern university. The survey included items developed to assess multi-channel purchasing behaviour, Internet, application and device usage, as well as demographic details of consumers in the baby boomer, Gen X, xennial and millennial generations. The generations were defined as birth years of 1943-1960 for baby boomer, 1961-1976 for Generation X, 1977-1983 for xennials and 1984-2004 for the millennial generations (Strauss and Howe, 1992; Wertz, 2018). 3.1 Instrument\n4. Results: A response rate of 2.99 per cent was obtained for the online survey. After removing incomplete responses and partitioning the data into baby boomer, Gen X, xennial and millennial cohorts, a sample of 1,103 remained for analysis. There were 348 (32 per cent) baby boomers, 336 (30 per cent) Generation X, 142 (13 per cent) xennials and 277 (25 per cent) millennials in the sample. The chi-square test for non-response bias indicated that the millennial generation was significantly more likely to complete the survey during the final quartile of data collection than the first (p = 0.02). 4.1 Sample characteristics\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Purchasing frequency\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The aim of this research is to advance the understanding of multi-channel behaviour in terms of different generational cohorts' usage and spending patterns.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Building on previous studies on multi-channel behaviour, differences in shopping channel usage and purchase amounts were investigated between baby boomers, Gen X, xennials and millennials.\nFindings: There were significant differences found between the generations in terms of multi-channel behaviour regarding purchasing frequency and average purchase amounts via a) mobile phone, b) tablet, c) computer, d) social media and e) brick-and-mortar. Fewer differences were found amongst the generational cohorts in terms of amount spent per channel.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was successful in analysing variances in multi-channel behaviour amongst the baby boomer, Generation X, xennial and millennial cohorts, while updating the body of literature to consider generational channel usage of mobile and social media in multi-channel retailing.\nPractical implications: Marketers should consider xennials' channel behaviour and focus on converting sales through integrated programmes based on their channel usage. Retailers should also consider millennials' heavy engagement with social media in their lives but spend lower amounts via the medium, which may be an opportunity to use this medium as a viable stand-alone channel in targeting millennials' shopping dollars.\nOriginality/value: This study updates the body of research on multi-channel behaviour by considering generation as a factor in channel usage and spend amount.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Assessing the credibility of Web information by university students: findings from a case study in Iran
|
[
"World Wide Web",
"Information literacy",
"Information behavior",
"Web information",
"Credibility evaluation",
"Shahid Beheshti University",
"University students"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As a communication and information medium, the Web is a great but a questionable source of information (Lovett et al., 2019; Robins and Holmes, 2008; Metzger, 2007; Rieh and Danielson, 2007). The Web is a widespread platform that includes a large variety of information resources from different perspectives. It is worth mentioning that the more access level to information, the higher the evaluation skills will be needed particularly when searching for such serious works as research or writing in academic settings (Chu et al., 2018; Huntington et al., 2007). Considering the foregoing, the attention must be paid to the assessment aspects of the resources available on the Web environment through all possible paths considered by researchers in this field.\n2. Literature review: With the advent of the Web, many studies have been conducted by researchers from different fields using various approaches. The evaluation of the credibility of Web resources is one of the areas of research for many related disciplines such as health information (Jung et al., 2016; Liew, 2011; Huntington et al., 2007; Chu et al., 2018; Gao et al., 2015; Yang and Beatty, 2016), media and communication (Shen et al., 2019; Stvilia et al., 2005; Mansour, 2016; Chung et al., 2010; Han et al., 2014; Flanagin et al., 2018), higher education (Metzger et al., 2003; Madden et al., 2012), academic content (Kubiszewski et al., 2011), accounting and finance (Epping and Wilder, 2011), information science (Lucassen et al., 2013), marketing (O'Reilly and Marx, 2011) and nursing (Cader, 2013).\n3. Methods: The present study is an applied one conducted in the survey-descriptive method. The population included 39,002 students, from which 380 participants were selected by the use of randomized stratified sampling method based on the Cochran sample size determination formula as follows:\n4. Findings: 4.1 Participants\n5. Discussion: The measurement model for all components both in standard estimation mode and in terms of significant values had the goodness of fit. All components and related items had the appropriate variance explanatory power and significant coefficients. It can be said that the tool with the goodness of fit could measure the sub-variables of the research. There were some dispersions, but some components, such as usability and interaction compared to personal information and website identity, were considered more powerful, in which students considered them to be an appropriate representation of conditions governing the real world of assessing Web information.\n6. Limitations and conclusion: As the study was conducted in a sample of one university, there are concerns related to generalizing the findings to the other settings. In other words, other settings can moderately use the identified factors and the final model for their assessment purposes. Given that the present study is descriptive and implemented in a limited community of users, it is recommended to use mixed and qualitative methodologies such as interviews, thinking aloud, video typing or very standards checklists and conduct more extensive researches to achieve broader and more generalizable results. Some values of the research are related to its validation and innovational nature. Conducting similar studies by having variables such as task settings, sex, age, education, experience and other psychological issues such as motivation and belief could enhance the related body of literature.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how university students assess the credibility of diverse information available on the Web.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper used applied study and was conducted using the survey-descriptive method. Using a randomized stratified sampling method and the Cochran sampling formula, a sample including 380 student participants was selected from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Data were gathered by administrating a validated questionnaire including eight components of ethics, writing style, website appearance, website identity, professional information, accuracy, usability and interaction. Data were analyzed by software SPSS 20.0 and LISREL 8.7.\nFindings: Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling indicated that the overall framework is reliable according to the goodness of fit indices for the measurement and structural models showing a high quality on measuring the variable in the context studied. Findings also showed that the components usability, interaction, accuracy, website appearance, writing style, professional information, ethics and website identity had the standard relevance.\nPractical implications: Users paid more attention to semantic- and expertise-related features compared to characteristics of the source and its authority. Such preference should be taken into account by providers when producing information and students when evaluating information.\nOriginality/value: The framework underlying this research had the required quality incorporating a set of most important criteria for exploring Web information evaluation behavior by the students, which is also useful for future related studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Green innovation and performance: moderation analyses from Thailand
|
[
"Technological turbulence",
"Green product innovation performance",
"Market resource intensity",
"Market turbulence",
"Firm’s financial performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In response to the increase in environmental concerns, firms have incorporated sustainability into their innovation strategy - i.e. green innovation - to remain competitive and mitigate any harmful effect on the environment. However, incorporating green innovation needs to align with a firm's strategic objectives to remain adequately profitable (Li, 2014). Firms need to address the critical question of whether involvement in green innovation enhances the financial performance (Cronin et al., 2011). Even though researchers have extensively investigated green innovation and firms' financial performance relationship, the relevant literature has offered only mixed results (Przychodzen and Przychodzen, 2014; Grewatsch and Kleindienst, 2017), and falls short of resolving the managerial concerns regarding the green innovation and financial performance relationship.\nLiterature review and research hypotheses: Green product innovation performance\nMethodology: Thailand as a study site\nEmpirical results: After data collection, first, this research assessed explanatory factor analysis to check construct validity of all the measures. We did not find any construct validity issues, and each item loaded on the relevant factor. Second, to ensure dimensionality, reliability and validity of the scales, we conducted CFA. This research also conducted composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). CR and the AVE for all constructs exceeded 0.7 and 0.5, respectively, confirming adequate convergent validity and reliability. Table II provides all values for the standardized loadings from CFA, Cronbach's a, CR and AVE, which suggest sufficient convergent validity. Moreover, the overall measurement model in CFA demonstrates a good fit to the data (CMIN=277.910, df=129, CFI=0.958, IFI=0.958 and RMSEA=0.076), showing undimensionality of the constructs.\nDiscussion and implications: GPIP has been recognized as an effective mechanism to mitigate any negative influence on the environment and remain competitive in business at the same time. This research analyzed the influence of GPIP on a firm's financial performance in terms of both firm's profitability and risk. In addition, it relies on the resource-based view and contingency theory to explore how a firm's market resource intensity and certain environmental factors, such as technological turbulence and market turbulence, moderate the GPIP and a firm's financial performance relationship.\nLimitations and future research: This research's findings are subject to some limitations. First, this research uses a sample of publicly listed manufacturing firms in Thailand, but did not incorporate the service sector. However, since the importance of the service sector's contribution to the overall economy is pivotal and highly acknowledged, future studies are highly encouraged to incorporate the service sector in empirical settings to gather more generalizable findings. Furthermore, a probable future research prospect could be to compare the level GPIP effort across listed vs non-listed firms, in order to understand which firms contribute more to environmentally friendly initiatives and subsequently reap greater financial advantages.\nConclusions: This research has addressed several overarching research questions related to GPIP, and how firms can reap higher financial benefits accordingly. First, previous literature explored GPIP's influence on a firm's financial performance with a specific focus on profitability. This research advances GPIP research by considering the influence of GPIP on both facets of a firm's financial performance, i.e. the firm's profitability and risk. This research's findings demonstrate that the successful implementation of GPIP can favorably influence a firm's financial performance in terms of both higher profitability and lower financial risk. Although GPIP effort requires additional investment, this can be offset through improved profitability and reduced financial risk. Consequently, by considering a firm's profitability and risk, this research's findings contribute by adding additional clarity to the ongoing debate of \"Does it pay to be green?\"\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of green product innovation performance (GPIP) on a firm's financial performance (i.e. a firm's profitability and risk). In addition, it has adopted the resource-based view and contingency theory to explore how GPIP and a firm's financial performance relationship is manifested when subject to the moderating role of a firm's market resource intensity and certain environmental factors, such as technological turbulence and market turbulence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 202 publicly listed Thai manufacturing firms. This research has used hierarchical regression analyses to empirically test the proposed research hypotheses.\nFindings: The findings reveal that GPIP exerts a significant influence on a firm's financial performance, i.e. higher the GPIP, higher the firm's profitability and lower the firm's financial risk. Moreover, findings support the theoretical assertions that the higher level of market resource intensity, market turbulence and technological turbulence further strengthens GPIP and a firm's financial performance relationship.\nOriginality/value: By considering the independent moderating role of market resource intensity, market turbulence and technological turbulence, this research has contributed to reconcile the previously disparate findings regarding the GPIP and a firm's financial performance relationship. Moreover, this research has highlighted the role of the essential moderators that business managers must understand and adjust to capitalize on and achieve superior financial performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effect of country of origin on brand equity: an empirical study on generic drugs
|
[
"Brand equity",
"Brand awareness",
"Country of origin",
"Generics",
"India",
"Pharmaceutical products"
] |
[
{
"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: Generic drugs are made to be chemically and therapeutically similar to the original brands, but are significantly cheaper because they are allowed to enter the market after the patent of the original brand expires. In this way, generic manufacturers do not incur R&D costs and are able to offer a significant price advantage to the originator brand (Kanavos et al., 2008). Generics are certified drugs equivalent to those brand-name medicines that are allowed to enter the market when the patents of original drugs expire (Moreno-Torres et al., 2007).The introduction of generics has not only helped control total health care costs, but also provided a unique opportunity to study market evolution of pharmaceutical products. Since the patent expiration dates can be well observed by the researcher, it is relatively easy task to define the market opening date, which is unlikely in other markets including the FMCG.The purpose of this project is to judge the brand equity and thereby, market acceptance of the generic drug in the Indian market, especially, considering the effect exerted by the random factor called country of origin. Variable like pricing has already been considered by many authors as it is a responsible one that determines the degree of acceptance of the generic products after patent expiration, but no concrete work has been carried out so far considering country of origin for the generic pharmaceutical products. It will be the endeavour of the researchers to study the equilibrium relationships amongst the factors that are deemed responsible for the demand estimation of the generic drug in the Indian market.\nBackground study: WTO Agreement and India\nLiterature review: A vast literature has analysed the dynamics of original brand market shares and prices responding to generic entry after patent expiration. With few exceptions, studies have mainly focused on the US market.Many of the authors have emphasised on the price factor that is a very important one to intensify the competition in the off-patent drug markets. Whether generic entry leads to a reduction in the market share of the originator product depends on factors that may encourage or discourage generic uptake besides the perceived price competitiveness of generics (Kanavos et al., 2008).Original brand market share has been found to be directly proportional to the age of the original brand, while it is negatively correlated to the number of entrants in the market. This latter variable was found to be proportional to the total size of the market and negatively related to the age of the original brand (Hurwitz and Caves, 1988).Even if their market share decreases after patent expiration, prices of original brand increase after the entry of generics. These enter the market at a significant price discount that then declines over time (Grabowski and Vernon, 1992).In a more recent study (1996), Grabowski and Vernon showed that in the US generic competition was found to be intensifying, with major brand names typically losing half of their market share within a year of patent expiry (Grabowski and Vernon, 1996). In his PhD dissertation, Ching (2000) developed an empirical dynamic oligopoly model to study competition between brand-name original and generic drugs. The model highlights the role of consumer learning and consumer heterogeneity in explaining respectively the initial slow diffusion of generic drugs into the markets and the pricing increase of original brand after generic entry.None of the above-mentioned literatures has considered the effect of country of origin on the perception of brand equity of generic products (branded or non-branded). One of the factors that is widely believed to have a high influence on customer perception toward a specific product, or brand, is the country of origin (O'Cass and Lim, 2002).There are literatures that have shown the effects to explore the impact of country of origin information on brand perception and brand image structure or brand equity (Koubaa, 2008; Yasin et al., 2007; Jin et al., 2006). It has been observed that country of origin influenced consumers' overall perception of brands and there were differences in influences across highly reputed brands and comparatively less reputed brands. Brand origin is found to be of significant impact on brand image perception. The effect of country of origin image on brand image is very strong (Koubaa, 2008). Again, country of origin image has a significant impact on brand equity dimensions and brand equity (Yasin et al., 2007). But both these literatures have derived their decisions particularly in consumer durables. According to Jin et al. (2006), brand origin is an \"identifiable feature\" for India, customers. In other words, consumer associates brands with countries where the brands are originally developed rather than with the countries in which the products are currently produced (Jin et al., 2006). This is a very important statement in favour of the country of origin effect, but the aforesaid literatures have been developed on FMCG like Cadbury or Colgate.Two things are taking place. First, these literatures have definitely emphasised on the importance of country-of-origin effect, but, they have either done their studies on consumer durables or FMCG products and not on any pharmaceutical products.In general, evaluations of a country in terms of favourable or unfavourable parameters associated with a product leads to a corresponding favourable or unfavourable evaluations of the product (Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran, 2000). In general, primarily motivational or cognitive factors have been analysed in the context of country of origin effects (Maheswaran, 2006). Previous research has shown that consumers have an active dislike or hostility towards certain countries due to certain historical circumstances, and then such enmity influences their subsequent purchase behaviour (Klein et al., 1998). But the type of emotion induced by historical evidences associated with these emotions will determine whether dislike or hostility effects will obtain (Maheswaran, 2006).But these literatures have only highlighted the country of origin effect on different factors related to brand equity study and brand perception phenomena. In an era of increasing globalisation, brand origin may be an important alternative for the more general concept of country of origin provided that the country of origin for a single product most likely becomes multi-nation orientated (Jin et al., 2006).Country of origin is often associated with product quality (Lusk et al., 2006). Consumers might use country of origin because quality cannot be determined until a product is actually consumed; that is, country of origin is used in place of missing product information. Consumers may use a country's reputation to predict the quality of products (Lusk et al., 2006). The multidimensional effect of country of origin image influences product beliefs and attitudes for brands with different levels of equity (Hui and Zhou, 2003). However, there are number of examples when the product is manufactured in a country with comparatively lower images than the country of brand origin, country of manufacturer information produces significantly negative effect on evaluation of products. This effect is more prominent for low equity than high equity brands (Koubaa, 2008). Again, Thakor and Lavack (2003) explored that the role of brand origin was potentially very important in determining brand image.To the best knowledge of the authors, no scholarly article was developed so far exploring the effect of brand's country of origin image on brand equity in Indian branded generic drug segment. Therefore, this study is expected to cover a new area in establishing relationship between country of origin image and brand equity of branded generic drugs in Indian pharma business environment.In our opinion, the country of origin effect will be of enormous importance especially in case of dynamics of entry of generic drugs in the era of globalisation with the expiry of patent of many blockbuster drugs within 2010. If the Indian pharmaceutical companies want to market generic drugs in international market, it is necessary to focus on the price factor as well as the quality that will be affected by the concept of Indian origin products. Our emphasis will be to make out a dynamic relationship incorporating the factors called the country of origin image and brand equity in Indian branded generics segment.What is brand equity?\nObjectives of the study: The main objectives of this study are to:* explore how the country of origin factor affects the brand strength of branded generic drugs;* study the effect of country of origin factor on the brand awareness of branded generic drugs; and* establish that the country of origin image of branded generic drugs has a positive impact on the formation of brand equity.\nMethodology: Research instrument\nData analysis and discussion: Factor analysis\nConclusion: Apart from the other variables that consumers perceive as being responsible for their choice of particular brands, country of origin image is already proved as a strong option to the consumers particularly in consumer goods and consumer durable goods segments. To the best of the knowledge of the authors, no study was available in this subject in pharma market. In this particular article, the authors have tried to investigate the relationships between country of origin image and brand equity in branded generic drugs in Indian pharma market. This study has proved that country of origin image definitely influences consumers' overall perception of brands. There were differences in influences across highly reputed brands and comparatively less reputed brands. The results of this study reveal three definite propositions. First, country of origin image has a high degree of positive effect on brand equity components (brand strength and brand awareness) and brand equity. Secondly, brand equity of branded generic drugs is significantly affected by the brand equity components and brand awareness has the major contribution, followed by brand strength to the formation of brand equity. This result suggests that the marketers should emphasise in creating extensive brand awareness of their products among the medical fraternities. Necessary marketing strategies should be taken up to enhance the brand recognition and in turn, brand recall for a sustained prescription support.Thirdly, both brand strength and brand awareness partially mediate the effect of country of origin image on brand equity. Brand strength has been proved to be very effective in this regard. A futuristic brand with definite characteristics of stability and leadership in market is expected to have a higher level of brand equity. The drug manufacturers should concentrate on the brand to exist in market for a longer period of time to enhance its stability. Again, pharma marketers who want to benefit from country of origin image should highlight the superior quality of their brands that originated from a particular country. It will add value to the promotional strategies of the pharma companies to establish their brand equity in the Indian market.\nImplications for managers: The current study was done in Kolkata megapolis area within the state of West Bengal, India by using a questionnaire to a sample of practicing physicians randomly selected from lists provided by the local chapters of Indian Medical Association. It focused on the brand equity of the branded generic products and its correlation with the country of origin of the products.This study inferred that brand equity is highly related to the two components, i.e. brand awareness and brand strength and their degree of relatedness is very high. Moreover, it shows that brand awareness contributes more than brand strength.When the impact of country of origin was taken into account, the following points were noted:* Country of origin has a distinct influence on brand equity.* A strong correlation is present between country of origin and brand awareness that finally acts as an influencing factor in differentiating the brands in the minds of physicians.* Country of origin plays an important role in building brand loyalty that leads to a consistent prescription support from the physicians.* There is a positive relationship between country of origin image and relevance of the branded generics.The study explored that in India, physicians prefer the pharmaceutical brands that originate from a country which is rich in research and development, maintains a high level of quality, maintains an image of more new drug development and prestigious in terms of drug manufacturing. In this particular case, country of image plays a very crucial role in establishing consumers' overall perception of brands. Country of origin influence will be stronger when the consumer is not familiar with a product category (Usunier, 2000), which can be categorised in novice. Novices are expected to use country of origin attribute under any circumstances as they have lack of sufficient product knowledge and limitation of time as well. Based on this theory, we can say that young and junior doctors would prefer country of origin image at any point of time. On the other hand, expert consumers, i.e. senior and experienced medical practitioners only rely on country of origin attribute when the product attribute is not very prominent. Managers, in this particular case, categorise the physicians and set their marketing communication strategy accordingly.The usage of country of origin attribute can also be determined by the types of products. Therefore, this effect varies by product category. Generally, the products that can be categorised as high involvement products are more relevant to the concept of country of origin than low involvement ones. Since, branded generics vary from low involvement (low level antibiotics, anti-acids, anti-pyretic etc.) to high involvement items (high level antibiotics, hormonal products, psychiatric products etc.), managers of related companies can utilise country of origin concept to the physicians accordingly for creating the long-term brand strength of the products.Country of origin is an important factor that increases the equity to the customers. Overall, this study aimed to prove the relationship between country of origin image and brand equity, a relationship mediated by the identified components of brand equity. The result shows that there is a high correlation between the variables discussed. Country of origin image upon the consumers can be considered as a factor that can not be easily regulated by the marketers, but, undertaking relevant marketing strategies, this factor may overcome the power of well-known brands in shaping brand image in consumer minds.\nLimitations and future research: Like any other research, this research has its own limitations. First, it analysed the whole process with a very specific type of product, i.e. branded generic drugs. Other complex products (e.g. industrial products) can also be taken into account. In this particular study, the influence of country of origin factor on brand equity in Indian branded generic drug segment is studied. Researchers can find out other factors mentioned in different literatures.The conclusion derived from the respondents is generally highly speculative and vary greatly as their preferences are not always very logical. Thus such conclusions might be misleading and might distort the whole result.The study has been carried out in the open market place where different variables act on the research settings, thereby, affecting the findings.Moreover, as this study deals with a specific aspect of consumer behaviour, future researchers may also incorporate some cultural and personal cues and test their effect as mediating variables on brand equity and establish the relationship between country of origin and brand equity through these variables.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of country of origin image on brand equity of branded generic drugs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Brand equity of branded generics is examined through an analytical review. Country of origin image is hypothesised to influence components of brand equity, i.e. brand strength and brand awareness, which in turn influence brand equity. An empirical investigation was carried out among professionally similar respondents, i.e. doctors of different categories in Kolkata megapolis, India.\nFindings: - Results showed that country of origin image had a positive and significant effect on components of brand equity, i.e. brand strength and brand awareness, derived from factor analysis conducted on brand equity components. The result also showed that country of origin image of branded generics significantly, but indirectly, affected brand equity through the mediating variables, brand strength and brand awareness.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Different variables have influence on brand equity. This study dealt with only one type of variable, i.e. country of origin image, that may limit the total process of brand equity enhancement.\nPractical implications: - Marketing actions should be implemented to enhance brand strength and awareness levels. Country of origin image should be assessed as a multidimensional concept for enhancing brand equity. Marketers should be aware of the fact that physicians are influenced by the brand's original country image.\nOriginality/value: - This research work has extended prior country of origin research by conceptualising the country of origin image as a brand equity enhancing tool in a new area called branded generic drugs.\n",
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Improving the performance of technology partnerships: a case study in the Turkish textile industry
|
[
"Turkey",
"Textile industry",
"Production improvement",
"Partnership",
"Supply chain management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Collaboration has become an established aspect of innovation strategy. Thus, it is of high concern to understand mechanisms behind the success of collaborations. Performance measurement system is one of these mechanisms that help not only to develop but also maintain collaborations. By studying collaboration experiences, it might become possible to develop and improve management of inter-firm alliances both in developed and developing countries.\nCollaborative effort in Turkish industry: Textile dying technologies (3T) is a collaborative effort in the Turkish textile dyeing and finishing industry that struggles to establish a performance measurement system for itself. This article summarizes its efforts and the results attained from its performance measurement.\nThe collaboration model of 3T: The textile sector continues to be one of the major contributors to the Turkish economy, being one of the fastest growing sectors in the 1990s with an average 12.2 percent annual growth, while the Turkish economy had an average growth of 5.2 percent per year. The sector has great significance in terms of economic development with a share of gross net product above 10 percent, industrial production around 40 percent, manufacturing labor force around 30 percent, and exports around 35 percent.3T is a joint venture company owned by six technology supplying and ten dyeing and finishing companies with each having an equal share. 3T develops and implements integrated automation systems (ranging from feasibility studies to after sales services). Dyeing firms are medium and large companies ranging between 70 and 1,000 while the partner suppliers are mainly small firms, employing less than 70 employees.3T exposes a collaboration model that is built on technology development, technology intelligence, and technology diffusion basis. In order to realize this sharing and diffusion, 3T meets with its partners regularly. In these meetings, partner dyers share customer needs and fashion trends they have determined with other partners and partner suppliers share their technological innovations and capabilities. Then, 3T matches these customer needs and fashion trends with the supplier capabilities and develops new products. In the projects, 3T first uses the products of its partner suppliers. However, for the exact integration of the system, it also uses additional foreign and domestic resources for the products that it cannot supply from its partner suppliers.\nA performance model for 3T: The company was established in 2001 and has planned to have a performance model since then. In 2003, the company accepted the authors' offer in preparing one for the company. After two questionnaires were conducted during the period of May and July 2003 and a set of interviews with the managers of 3T and a few partners, a model was developed in six months. Then, the results were presented in a board meeting to all partners of 3T to receive their comments.Based on the literature investigation and our interviews, we pulled together a set of metrics for measuring 3T's performance. In general, our model proposes that the performance measures for an alliance should include metrics for internal performance, perceptions of partners regarding the alliance performance, and the degree of inter-firm relationship.Internal performance is measured with productivity, innovation, and sales. Productivity is measured with a number of indicators related to product quality, project time, and so on. As 3T is a collaboration to develop high value-added products and technologies, innovation performance becomes a core measure and it is measured with percentage of the number of new products developed.Sales performance is measured with sales or purchasing volume generated through 3T partnership that is captured with three different metrics: percentage of dyer project proposals that are accepted by 3T, percentage of 3T projects proposals that are approved by the dyers, and percentage of projects that are done for partner dyers.\nPerceptions are measured: Perceptions of partners regarding the alliance performance aim at capturing the performance improvements gained in partner dyers and technology suppliers based on data gathered from them. These perceptions are measured with comparison of 3T's performance to other suppliers, the performance contribution of 3T to its partners (about defect rate, breakdowns, and production capacity), and low performance areas of 3T.In this study, communication metric is used to measure performance related to the degree of inter-firm relationship. Communication metric is derived from the participation rate of firms to meetings as well as the number of collaborating partners.\nThe performance of 3T: Internal performance\nPerceptions of partners regarding the performance of 3T: We used a five-point Likert scale in order to compare 3T's performance in terms of technical experience, price, quality, service, and financial support (credit terms, advance payment amount, etc.) to other suppliers of the partner dyers. The only criterion other suppliers outperform 3T is \"financial support.\" In terms of \"technical experience\" and \"service\" 77 percent of the partner dyers think that 3T is better/much better than other suppliers. Also, all of the partner dyers consider other suppliers no better than 3T in \"technical experience,\" \"quality,\" and \"service\" criteria.As the performance contribution of 3T to its partners about \"launching high quality products and services\" increases, the perceptions of the partners about the superiority level of 3T with respect to other suppliers in terms of the quality and technical experience criteria increase as well.In what follows, we will discuss the partners' perception of the 3T's contribution to partner firms' defect rates, breakdowns, production capacity, and product quality. Five of 11 dyers stated that their defect rate of their products decreased up to 5 percent after 3T projects and the remaining six did not see any contribution. The reason behind this relatively low performance might be the different scopes of different projects since the goals of implementing automation systems may differ from one dyer to another.Regarding the contribution of 3T projects to the breakdowns of the machines and automation systems of the dyers, six out of 11 dyers stated that the percentage of breakdown duration of the machines in total production time reduced after the implementation of automation system supplied by 3T. Three of 11 projects decreased the breakdown percentages by more than 5 percent. This result is not very surprising since 3T supplies automation systems to the dyers. Regarding the production capacities, four of the dyers realized an increase of more than 10 percent while two realized an increase up to 10 percent after 3T projects.\nTop-performing contributions: In evaluating the performance contribution of 3T, we used a fvie-point Likert scale. \"Launch of high quality products and services\" and \"increase in productivity\" are the top performing contribution areas as perceived by 67 percent and 58 percent of the partners, respectively, to achieve big/very big contribution. This is not a surprising result since 3T aims at letting its partners to produce high quality and value-added products through technology sharing and increasing their productivity. However, these percentages seem to be rather low. The reason might be the fact that 3T has completed a small number of projects so far.Regarding the quality of the products 13 out of 15 respondent partners stated that they have experienced improved quality in their products after having initiated collaboration with 3T. This result has great significance considering the goals of 3T.\nThe degree of inter-firm relationship: While 32 percent of the companies collaborate with more than five companies 56 percent do not practice any sort of collaboration at all. Collaboration is a new concept for textile industry as it also is for other industries in Turkey. Collaboration requires high level of trust and information sharing, but it is not very easy to build such a trustworthy atmosphere in this business environment. So, companies are reluctant to collaborate.Of the partners, 83 percent collaborate with more than five partners. This may certainly be due to their partnership to 3T, but the most interesting fact is that 17 percent of the partners stated that they collaborate with between one and five companies, although 3T has 16 partners. This means that they do not see all of the partners of 3T as their partners and it may be a significant problem for the future of this collaboration model.The bid evaluation, which is the strategy where the bids are evaluated only for that single purchasing, has been the most widely used strategy among the dyers in the past. However, the technological capabilities of the suppliers and strategic collaboration appear to gain importance in supplier selection. It may be claimed that the importance of collaboration is well understood by 3T dyer partners as 90 percent stated that they would seek collaborative strategies in the next two years. Thus, collaboration is a new but rapidly developing concept for dyeing and finishing industry in Turkey.In terms of communication, 3T organizes regular bimonthly meetings with its supplier and dyer partners. These meetings are important for the success of the collaboration since partner dyers share information about customer requirements while partner suppliers share their technological innovations in these meetings.\nMeetings and building trust: Technology and information sharing are the main infrastructure of this collaboration model. Thus, these meetings play a significant role in facilitating partners building trust on each other and increasing their understandings about the collaboration concept. However, while 3T attends to all meetings, partners do not show such a high performance, which appears to be a barrier in building high-level trust and sharing information among partners.We collected data on how frequent the partners participate to the meetings. Only a quarter of the partners \"participate all\" meetings while another quarter \"participate most of them.\" Actually, the geographic locations of the partners have a significant effect on this fact. We also observe that the attendance of the suppliers to the meetings is more frequent than the attendance of dyers.Participants that give high importance to \"willingness to share information with partners\" as a bridge to effective SCC also participate to the most of the regular meetings of 3T. These companies are able to comprehend the importance of the meetings for information sharing and building trust among the partners. Further, as the trust, information sharing, and the communication between the partners increase, the performance contribution of collaboration to the partners also increases.\nPractical implications for 3T: Overall, 3T is a successful venture, creating technologies that lead into the production of high value-added products in the industry. It is a profit making joint venture with expansion of new partners joining to the SCC. Its success is not limited to the creation of new technologies but also it covers the creation of positive perception of partners regarding the 3T's performance.Even though 3T is successful, there are some potential improvement areas, particularly in its internal activities and its relationship with the partners. Internal performance can be further improved with small changes. For example, 3T should improve its performance either in estimating the duration of the projects more accurately or in completing the projects on time. It might improve its cost/benefit and payback analysis in its proposals since it tends to overestimate the reductions in labor costs, energy costs, and particularly in raw material costs.The real benefit seems to come from the improvement of the degree of inter-firm relationship, in other words communication. Our study shows that as the level of information sharing and communication among the partners increase the performance and the benefits of the collaboration also increase. As the degree of inter-firm relationships affects the performance of SCC at a significant level, 3T should pay attention to develop its communication capability.This can be done in two ways. First, we observed that the involvements of the suppliers in the projects are not evenly distributed. The suppliers that take part in the projects less frequently may be included in the future projects by extending the scope of projects. More participation will help 3T build better integrated and higher value-added systems for its customers.Second, from the performance measurement analysis, we observe that the efforts of each partner to improve the collaboration are not at the same level. 3T should motivate its partners to improve the collaboration structure of 3T. An appropriate information infrastructure on which partners can share their demand forecasts, sales information, customer needs, etc. may be built to motivate the partners to share more information. In addition, more frequent attendance of the partners to the meetings will also improve the communication and information sharing level among the partners.It is not easy for SCCs such as 3T to measure its performance and evaluate its partners' performance in a comparative manner since the examples of such collaboration models are rare, preventing a benchmarking study. However, in order to improve the collaboration structure and to be successful in today's business environment, the performance of collaborations and their partners should be evaluated continuously.\nRevisions in performance systems: The continuous evaluations can further bring revisions in performance systems, making it dynamic and flexible. For example, new performance metrics, especially in the area of resource sharing, may be included when 3T extends its collaboration model to the area of resource sharing in the future.Benchmarking studies may also be performed in the future to compare the collaboration levels of different collaboration structures. In addition, the performance of collaborations can also be compared with past performances using historical data. Thus, a systematic and consistent performance evaluation scheme should be developed.\nConclusion: SCC is an advantageous strategy for technology-based competition, so companies must evaluate themselves and examine if there is a good fit between the value they promise to create and the value that is actually created by the supply chain.Companies might further reposition themselves as time passes, so it is crucial to evaluate the performance of SCC. However, the process of developing a performance measurement is not an easy task as the example of 3T shows. It requires considering metrics related to internal performance, perceptions of partners regarding the alliance performance, and the degree of inter-firm relationship.Similar to the Turkish textile producers, many firms in developing countries are faced with the challenge of producing high value-added and innovative products instead of low quality and cheap products and exporting them to the world. As 3T is a successful venture in creating new technologies and products by bringing the resources of partners together, these collaborations might be a tool for firms in developing countries in order to gain competitiveness in their respective industries at the global level.As the case of Turkish textile industry shows, SCC among small and large firms can be a successful tool in creating and diffusing innovation. Further, SCC can have long-term goals like continuous product innovation as experienced in 3T and this might increase overall performance of an industry\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: - Collaboration is an advantageous strategy for technology-based competition. Thus, it is of high concern to understand mechanisms behind the success of collaborations such as performance measurement system. This paper will present an empirical study conducted in the Turkish textile industry where performance measures are developed and applied.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper utilizes a combination of interviews and surveys to collect data from 3T partners that are six technology supplying and ten dyeing and finishing companies. The findings indicate that besides trust, the existence of a performance measurement system is an extremely important bridge for effective supply chain collaboration (SCC). Such a system should cover metrics related to internal performance, perceptions of partners regarding the alliance performance, and the degree of inter-firm relationship.\nFindings: - The paper is based on a technology partnership so the results need to be taken cautiously. However, it is clear that 3T is a successful technological partnership with six new technologies developed in two-year period. There are some potential improvement areas, particularly in its internal activities and its relationship with the partners. The study shows that as the level of information sharing and communication among the partners increase, the performance and the benefits of the collaboration also increase.\nOriginality/value: - SCC can have long-term goals like continuous product innovation as experienced in 3T and this might increase overall performance of an industry. That is why SCC might be particularly important tool for developing country firms that lack both financial and human resources.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Online corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the banking industry: Evidence from Turkey
|
[
"CSR",
"Banking",
"Turkey",
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Online reporting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increased among managers, investors, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, customers, and policymakers due to accounting scandals over the past two decades. Demand among these entities for mandatory and voluntary reporting of CSR activities has risen because of their increasing awareness and the expectation that businesses should be socially responsible. Recently, entities have been expected to reduce environmental pollution, conserve energy resources, maintain work force diversity, and eliminate gender and racial discrimination, among other CSR considerations (Adebayo, 2000).\n2. Literature review: Numerous terms are used to describe the non-financial disclosure practices of entities, including \"social and environmental,\" \"sustainability,\" \"ethical,\" \"triple-bottom-line,\" and \"CSR\" (Skouloudis et al., 2014). The modern era of CSR began in the 1950s with the publication of Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, by Howard Bowen (Carroll, 1999; Siregar and Bachtiar, 2010). According to Bowen (1953, p. 6), the social responsibilities of a business can be defined as \"the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those definitions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society.\" Following this, several definitions of the CSR concept were provided in the literature (see, e.g. Davis, 1960; Frederick, 1960; Johnson, 1971; Jones, 1980). The two most cited definitions of CSR were probably made by Carroll (1979, p. 500), these being the \"economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point of time\" and by Gray et al. (1996, p. 3) as being \"the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of organizations' economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to society at large.\" Those definitions denote that society has some expectations regarding entities' activities, and CSR establishes this communication among parties. Hence, CSR is the integration within business operations of social and environmental concerns (Fifka and Pobizhan, 2014).\n3. Theoretical background and hypotheses: Several theories explain CSR disclosure. The authors of previous studies have used two main theories for this purpose: the legitimacy theory (see, e.g. Cormier and Gordon, 2001; Newson and Deegan, 2002) and the stakeholder theory (see, e.g. Clarkson, 1995; Roberts, 1992).\n4. CSR in Turkey: The majority of Turkish companies perceive CSR as an issue of philanthropy (Kucuk-Yilmaz, 2008). On the other hand, these companies' awareness and interest in CSR has increased because they see it as being important for achieving their objectives and improving their image (Kucuk-Yilmaz, 2008). Statutory obligations and sanctions play an important role in entities' social and environmental activities. Three main constitutions either regulate or promote Turkish banks' CSR activities and disclosures, namely, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, the Turkish Commercial Code, and the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB).\n5. Data: As this study focusses on the Turkish banking industry, the sample in the study encompasses banks operating in Turkey. Two groups of banks have been excluded from the sample to get more homogenous data, including the development and investment banks and foreign banks which have only one or two branches. Turkey's 25 remaining banks were divided into four categories, namely, state owned, privately owned, foreign, and participation. The list of banks is presented in the Appendix.\n6. Results and discussion: 6.1. Descriptive statistics\n7. Conclusion: Business entities that only focus on the financial results of their activities while disregarding the social results have faced failures in recent years (Kilic et al., 2015). In both developed and developing countries, the expectations over the social impacts of all types of organizations have grown more than ever before. CSR reporting has become one of the main communication tools through which companies promote to stakeholders their sustainable and socially responsible operations (Golob and Bartlett, 2007). This study investigates the extent and manner of online CSR disclosure practices of banks in Turkey, analyzing the websites of 25 banks.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, this study analyzes the extent to which banks report online their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices; second, it determines the impact of size, ownership structure, multiple exchange listing, and the internationalization of banks on the level of their online CSR reporting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study examines the Turkish banking industry's online CSR communications by performing a content analysis of banks' online reporting of their CSR practices in four sub-dimensions, namely, environment and energy, human resources, products and customers, and community involvement. A sample of 25 banks in Turkey was grouped according to the criteria of size, ownership structure (listed or unlisted on stock exchanges), multiple exchange listing (listing on home and foreign exchanges), and internationality (local or foreign). This study employs a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the significance of the differences among these groups.\nFindings: The results of the study demonstrate that the most disclosed dimension on the websites of the banks is products and customers. In particular, there is a lack of disclosure on items of environment and energy. Further, the findings of the research show that size, ownership structure, and multiple exchange listing are significant in explaining online CSR disclosure level.\nOriginality/value: Several previous studies have focussed less on the CSR disclosure practices of companies in industries with little direct environmental impact, such as banking and finance. This study extends the previous studies of CSR reporting by gathering data from the banks' websites rather than their annual reports. This study contributes to the literature by examining the online CSR disclosure practices of banks from an emerging market context and, specifically, that of Turkey.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Determinants of firm competitiveness in Latin American emerging economies: Evidence from Brazil's auto-parts industry
|
[
"Manufacturing industries",
"Brazil",
"Automotive industry",
"Competitive analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the last couple of decades, scholars interested in Latin America and emerging economies in general have devoted increased attention to the study of firm competitiveness (Austin, 2002; Carrera et al., 2003; Fishlow, 2000; Hoskisson et al., 2000). In this literature, and in particular, the section concerned with Latin America, firm competitiveness (which we define as the ability of these entities to successfully compete in a given business environment - Porter, 1980, 1990) has often been portrayed as a result of factors of the \"macro-sphere\" environment; such factors include active and flexible government policy regulation and enforcement, solid infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunication systems (Porter, 1990, 1998; Ferraz et al., 1995) as well as stable macro economic foundations and strong development bouts (Coutinho, 1997; Austin, 2002; Fishlow, 2000).This focus on macro-sphere factors seems to have resulted from a long history of macro economic and political instability in Latin America across several decades, and the clear pattern of effects that such variations have had on the emergence of competitive national firms. At the same time, however, this focus also tends to obscure and even downplay variations in the creation of firm competitiveness as a result of more micro (i.e. firm and inter-firm) level factors, and even the interaction between micro level and institutional factors. This uneven view of firm competitiveness gains particular relevance as many large economies in the region - e.g. Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, to name a few - have entered new periods of economic and political stability, thus leading firms to enact several new intra-firm and inter-firm managerial practices with important consequences for their competitiveness (Coutinho, 1997; Hoskisson et al., 2000; Mesquita and Lazzarini, 2006; Wood and Caldas, 2002). As if to support our argument above, in their Academy of Management Journal seminal piece, Hoskisson et al. (2000) explain how the management academic literature has failed to more appropriately integrate firm-, inter-firm and institutional level theoretical perspectives to explain firm competitiveness in emerging economies, and what an opportunity the modern changes in those environments, mentioned above, represents for new studies to highlight just such theoretical perspectives.As such, this study seeks this theoretical integration. The question we seek to answer is: how do intra-firm, inter-firm, as well as institutional factors affect firm competitiveness in Latin American emerging economies? To answer this question, we theoretically connect three sets of theory elements that are likely to explain firm competitiveness: firm-level resources and capabilities (e.g. hard to imitate capabilities - Barney, 1991; Peteraf, 1993; Dierickx and Cool, 1989), inter-firm coordination (e.g. the coordination of joint action and interdependencies - Gulati and Singh, 1998, Thompson, 1967, Mesquita and Brush, 2005), and the support of micro-level institutional organizations (Hariss et al., 1995; Scott, 1995; Porter, 1998, Kogut, 2000). Specifically, we propose that the strength of the institutional support from associative organizations (e.g. business associations) positively affects the degree to which firms invest in, and possess, superior resources and capabilities as well as the degree to which firms coordinate actions and tasks amongst themselves. These resulting factors, in turn, affect firm competitiveness in the form of production efficiencies. We test our model through a structural equation model, based on exclusive survey data from 182 Brazilian auto-parts makers, as well as interview data from 15 industry executives. Our empirical findings generally support our integrated theoretical model.We believe our study brings significant implications for the theoretical literature and managerial practice for the region and other similar emerging economies. First, we demonstrate that apart from macro economic instability (which is controlled for, in our context), an appropriate integration of firm-, inter-firm and institutional factors is paramount to explain competitiveness. Moreover, albeit many Latin American firms seem to have mimicked the adoption of imported managerial practices such as modern manufacturing techniques developed in the US and Japan so as to satisfy stakeholder expectations (Wood and Caldas, 2002), we confirm that those firms who also more appropriately did so within a stronger institutional context (i.e. firms which replaced the institutions that are often missing in emerging economies, as explained in Hoskisson et al. (2000)) have attained a competitive advantage over those who have not. As a result of the above theoretical insight, manufacturing managers interested in a more strategic approach to their manufacturing competitiveness in emerging economy markets are to be concerned with integrating both vertical and horizontal relationship management practices within a suitable institutional context. The following section describes our model and hypotheses, derived from the literature. Subsequent sections describe our methodology, analyses and findings. We conclude with a detailed account of the implications for theory and practice.\nTheory and hypotheses: As shown in Figure 1, our model highlights the effects outlined above. Each of these effects is explained in turn.Associative organizations and firm investments in competitive resources and capabilities\nMethodology: We tested these hypotheses by surveying a large sample of parts manufacturers supplying the auto industry in Brazil. Our sample included only firms manufacturing parts in Brazil. Nearly, half (45 percent) of the firms surveyed were subsidiaries of foreign multinationals. Moreover, firms had a diverse scope as far as size is concerned. Measured by sales volume in millions of dollars, 7 percent of them had sales that were less than US$2.5 million, 25 percent had sales between $2.5 million and $10 million, 36 percent had sales between $10 million and $40 million, 22 percent had sales between $40 million and $200 million, 6 percent had sales between $200 million and $400 million, while 8 percent had sales of more than $400 million. We believe this population under study is highly appropriate since these industries have been the target of several governmental development programs (i.e. Brazil's industrial development policies) which include support from government agencies, targeted financing and government export support (Shapiro, 1991, Addis, 1999). Moreover, the population also has a history of active involvement with strong business associations (such as the ANFAVEA, Associacao Nacional dos Fabricantes de Veiculos Automotores, which represents the 16 car manufacturers present in Brazil, and the Sindipecas, the Sindicato Nacional da Industria de Componentes para Veiculos Automotores, whose members account for over 90 percent of the Brazilian parts sector), a fact which enables us to study the impact of these agencies on the competitiveness of firms (Addis, 1999). Moreover, our statistical approach avoids a recurring weakness of many extant studies that exclusively rely on qualitative methods that limit the ability to generalize (Boyer et al., 1998; Doner et al., 2000). As described in the methodology section below, our large N study relies heavily on quantitative methods - complemented with selected interviewing - that allows for more robust conclusions regarding the processes under study.Research design and data collection\nAnalyses and results: Building the structural equation model\nConclusions and future research: Extrapolating from the existing literature, this paper theorized how intra-firm, inter-firm, and institutional level factors influence the competitiveness of individual companies. We tested our model using survey research and interviews involving Brazilian and multinational auto part manufacturers with an installed base in Brazil. We found that all three sets of explanatory factors had a positive impact on firm performance as measured by increased production efficiencies. As expected, institutions exercised an indirect influence, by encouraging companies to work together and by supplying information and other resources that enhanced operations within particular companies. For their part, the adoption of firm-level practices and a willingness to develop closer ties with customers were directly associated with stronger performance at the company level. We failed to show a positive effect of horizontal cooperation with peers on the performance of suppliers. Apparently, in the Brazilian auto-parts sector, horizontal relationships do matter, but only when built up through inter-firm associations (Sindipecas) instead of direct ties among suppliers.From a theoretical point of view, our results are important. Our model and empirical findings offer a significant contribution to the literature by detailing a model of firm performance that integrates three sets of explanatory factors. In doing so, we show that these are not competing but complementary; and we detail the pathways through which they interact and combine with one another to enhance firm competitiveness. Explanations of firm performance that rely on only one of these three explanations miss the contribution, sometimes indirect, of the others. Hoskisson et al. (2000) had already pointed out that current management literature lacks a better understanding of how theoretical perspectives, highly emphasized in developed economy context studies, have not been appropriately integrated to explain firm performance in emerging economies, such as countries in Latin America. As such, our study advances strategic and operations management knowledge in that it explores the determinants of manufacturing competitiveness in emerging economy contexts. Our study highlights that firm investments alone (as proposed by the resource-based view of the firm) are unable to explain firm competitiveness, especially in contexts where strong institutions (e.g. judicial systems and more active governmental agencies) are lacking, such as emerging economies.At the same time, our findings are important in a more practical sense. Recent reviews of the strategy/operations literature note that despite massive investments by multinational firms in the region, throughout the 1990s, it is still unknown by the English-speaking academic community whether such investments in modern manufacturing and management techniques have yielded performance differences (Correa, 2005). Our findings suggest that at least for this sector in Brazil, prior investments in these \"firm-level practices\" are having a positive impact. At the same time, however, we find that other actions to increase firm performance must complement this investment. Our observation that major multinationals appear more likely to take advantage of institutional services and resources suggests that at least some firms understand that a strategy to maximize performance requires a multifaceted approach.From a public policy standpoint, there are additional implications from this research. It is clear that institutions - business associations, technical institutes, and the like - can help drive increases in firm competitiveness. Both the quantitative and qualitative data support this conclusion. But at the same time, institutions play a supporting role in this process; managers must often consciously seek them out or decide to avail themselves of the resources that institutions have to offer. By virtue of this fact, institutions typically receive less managerial attention than intra-firm operations and practices when it comes to devising strategies to increase competitiveness. However, managers must come to understand the positive benefits that can accrue from working with institutions, while institutional leaders must develop, and then actively reach out to market services which promote what we call firm-level practices as well as those that encourage inter-firm relationships. Helping to break down the barriers to trust and cooperation is an important function that institutions can furnish, provided that they act as an impartial intermediary. For their part, governments should be supportive of public and private institutions that provide important resources - albeit indirectly - which enhance their companies' performance levels. Instead of seeing institutions as interest groups that may be competing for scarce public resources, the public and private sectors must become partners in the globally competitive business environment. In the Brazilian context, government officials would do well not to treat horizontal cooperative actions as anti-competitive practices, hopefully in a way that does not discourage forms of inter-firm networking. They should also work with institutions like Sindipecas to promote more institutional interaction with Brazilian companies.Admittedly our research raises several other questions. First, our claim that engagement in associations enhances the effectiveness of intra- and inter-firm practices needs to be further studied in order to assess whether it can be generalized to other industries and countries. A recent study by Friedrich et al. (2006) indicates that even within Latin America, cultural differences may signify dissimilarities in institutional contexts where business dealings are conducted. Therefore, further research should replicate our study in other Latin American, and emerging economy contexts. Second, we need to understand more about the interplay between horizontal and vertical relationships and their impact on performance. Our findings suggest that horizontal involvement in associations is positively associated with vertical patterns of collaboration, which in turn leads to superior operational performance. However, we fail to find a direct effect of horizontal ties among peers on their performance. Further, research examining the differential effect of horizontal and vertical relationships on firm performance is needed. Such differential effects can also be established for the different items of the multidimensional constructs. Finally, in this study we have been more interested in the association among the constructs than the causal direction of the effect (see hypothesis statements). Future research may, therefore, benefit from an analysis of lagged dependent variables (i.e. through the recourse to a panel data set), so as to better establish causality. Particularly, the literature would benefit from longitudinal research examining how participation in associations evolves and influences the formation of inter-firm ties. Such an analysis would be particularly helpful for firms located in countries with weak institutional support, where complex patterns of inter-firm networking are critical to provide resources that are critical for the competitiveness of firms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to theoretically model and empirically analyze determinants of competitiveness of Brazilian manufacturing firms. Going beyond traditional manufacturing management literature, it integrates firm-, inter-firm, and institutional level theoretical arguments to explain manufacturing competitiveness in emerging economy environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The model investigates the influence of firm-, inter-firm, and institutional level factors on the competitiveness of individual companies. The authors surveyed 182 firms, and interviewed a representative sub sample of 15 general managers. The survey and interview questions covered practices at the three theoretical levels, as well as firm performance. In a subsequent step, the authors used this data to statistically model the theory framework through a structural equation system.\nFindings: - The paper finds that institutional level support, in the form of stronger participation in institutional organizations, enhances the effectiveness of inter-firm links. Moreover, this institutional support also provides firms with information and other resources that foster the development of superior intra-firm practices and inter-firm relationships. In sum, the combination of inter-firm and institutional associations lead to stronger performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The model and findings cannot be generalized across other institutional environments (e.g. developed economies). Moreover, the interplay between horizontal and vertical relationships must be studied further. Last but not least, causality must be better established.\nPractical implications: - Investments in manufacturing capabilities in Brazil have resulted in performance differentials. However, to accrue performance gains from such investments, firms must integrate those investments and alliance links with the appropriate institutional support, given the deficient institutional environment they are immersed in.\nOriginality/value: - The paper supplements traditional manufacturing management literature by integrating firm-, inter-firm and institutional level factors to understand the intricate forms by which firms in emerging economies accrue performance gains from their investments in manufacturing capabilities. Differently from other studies on emerging economies, the study spans beyond government investments in infrastructure to highlight that performance gains also depend on a cadre of other investments in firm-, inter-firm, and institutional practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An empirical investigation of brand equity: drivers and their consequences
|
[
"Brand equity",
"Food industry",
"Brand drivers",
"Price",
"Revenue",
"Differentiation",
"Perceived quality",
"Panel data",
"OLS",
"Organic food",
"Functional food"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Increasing interest in measures of marketing performance has arisen due to the necessity for marketers to justify the impact and expenditure of marketing efforts (O'Sullivan and Abela, 2007; Mizik and Jacobson, 2008). For instance, Mizik and Jacobson (2008, p. 15) have suggested that \"the issue of quantifying the returns to marketing activities in financial terms is one of the greatest challenges facing marketing and brand managers today\". This is the case because marketers have shown a lack of accountability for marketing performance to shareholder value, which undermines marketers' credibility (Rust et al., 2004; Mizik and Jacobson, 2008) and the overall contribution of marketing activities to the firm's performance.\n2. Research framework: 2.1 Brand equity as a conceptual disarray\n3. Model: As has been clearly noted from previous discussions, BEq is defined in different ways, usually depending on the researchers' approach to the problem and research goals.\n4. Results: In order to assess information on brand value, brand equity is regressed on marketing investments (service expenses) in a brand, price, revenues, perceived quality and brand ownership. The benchmark model is described in a formal econometric fashion in equation 4, in section 3.1. The results of these estimations are reported in Table IV.\n5. Conclusions, limitations and future research: This study presents the results of an empirical analysis to determine the drivers of brand equity. Six predictors have been controlled for (i.e. marketing investments, price, revenue, perceived quality [organic and functional] and brand ownership), while the impact of the brand equity drivers on brand value has been estimated. In order to facilitate this approach, a model has been formulated and estimated using a standard and robust OLS procedure. From the standard OLS procedure, an adjusted R-squared value has been reported, while from a robust OLS procedure an R-squared value has been obtained. The model has been constructed to determine the drivers of brand value in brand strategy. In general, the estimated results showed that the conceptualised variables have an impact on brand value and that they are in line with what has been reported in the literature. The extensive literature review (e.g. Simon and Sullivan, 1993; Srinivasan et al., 2005; Chu and Keh, 2006; Keller and Lehmann, 2009; Peterson and Jeong, 2010; Suri et al., 2002; Knox, 2000, etc.) has strongly suggested that marketing investment in the brand (or expenses for advertising, licenses, etc.), price, revenues, brand ownership (as a signal of quality and brand awareness) and perceived quality have all been key success drivers in developing brand value. In general, the brand model presented here strongly supports this viewpoint, as only the perceived quality (organic and functional) dummy variables have limited statistical effects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The author aims to present a model of the brand value drivers, measured by brand equity. The goal of this research is to identify the drivers, and determine how they influence brand equity performance in the researched industry, in order to develop a more effective brand strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author studied an aggregate dataset for 739 food brands. Six predictors were controlled for (i.e. marketing investments, price, revenue, perceived quality [organic and functional] and brand ownership), while the impact of the brand equity drivers on brand value was estimated. The model was formulated and estimated using a robust OLS procedure. Several data sources have were in this study, such as market-based data from ACNielsen, as well as information and variable constructs using data from the Bureau Van Dijk Electronic Publishing AIDA financial statements database.\nFindings: Results suggest that marketing investment, price, revenue, brand ownership and perceived quality are highly associated with brand equity, and consequently with a higher brand value in the food industry.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study has only studied one industry (food), one industry segment (enriched-food) and one country (Italy).\nOriginality/value: The majority of marketing studies apply a single research approach and measures. This is the first study of brand equity that combines consumer, financial and marketing approaches. The model contributes to theory and practice in terms of suggesting which business drivers create brand value and what type of brand strategy a firm can apply in order to create brand value.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Assess, enhance, repeat: fostering a culture of continuous improvement in document delivery
|
[
"United States",
"Continuous improvement",
"Document delivery",
"Electronic document delivery",
"User assessment",
"Yale University"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since its launch at the beginning of the Fall 2012 semester, the Scan and Deliver electronic document delivery service has enabled fast and convenient access to a wealth of print and microform resources across the Yale University Library (YUL). Scan and Deliver has already proven to be popular among our users - a key aspect of this success has been our commitment to assessment as a tool for service enhancement. In this case study we will present an overview of the Scan and Deliver service, including a breakdown of patron demographics, bibliographic data, and key performance metrics, as well as how we have combined this reporting with feedback from both users and library staff to foster a culture of continuous improvement.\nOverview of Scan and Deliver: Scan and Deliver launched at Yale on September 4, 2012. Five Yale libraries - the Sterling Memorial Library (SML), the Center for Science and Social Science Information (CSSSI), the Yale Divinity School Library (DIV), the Lillian Goldman Law Library (LAW), and the Cushing and Whitney Medical Library (MED) - launched as full participants in September, with access to the engineering collection mediated by SML staff. On October 1 the math, geology, and music libraries became available through the Scan and Deliver service, as did the general circulating collections held at our high-density storage facility (the Library Shelving Facility, or LSF); on December 4 the microform collections at SML also became available for request[1].\nOperations and cost: Various costs are included in the provision of Scan and Deliver:\nPatron assessment: After conferring with our usability and assessment librarian to determine the best way to elicit feedback from Scan and Deliver patrons, we decided to embed a short, five-question online survey link into the e-mail notification that users received upon the successful completion of their request. The survey also contains the ILLiad transaction number of the original Scan and Deliver request, so that if a patron expresses dissatisfaction with their service we can quickly correct the issue and address any training or quality control needs so as to maintain a cycle of continuous improvement.\nService provider impressions: Feedback about the Scan and Deliver service was also solicited from library staff members, both formally and informally. Shortly after launch a staff survey link was placed on the Basecamp site for the project, enabling staff to make anonymous comments about how to improve services. Staff also articulated any issues or concerns on the various YUL access services mailing lists - these were either addressed via email discussion or were discussed and resolved at monthly meeting of the Document Delivery and Circulation Committee (D2C2)[5]. At the end of the Fall semester participating libraries were also asked to contribute a summary of their experience with launching Scan and Deliver. Overall, staff feedback has been positive and constructive, and has already formed the basis for several service improvements; staff feedback has also enabled us to identify many challenges and opportunities for the service as it matures.\nChallenges and opportunities: Reporting and statistics\nConclusion: The purpose of this case study was to provide a review of the Scan and Deliver service at the conclusion of its first full academic year of operations. An honest and open commitment to assessment from the very launch of the service was a critical factor in its success, helping secure early loyalty from our patrons and buy-in from the library staff who were asked to add these new processing duties to their already broad range of job responsibilities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the launch of the Yale University Library's Scan and Deliver electronic document delivery service and provide an initial assessment of its first full academic year of operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author outlines how the service functions and how it is assessed both from the perspective of the library patron and the service provider.\nFindings: The author demonstrates how assessment, when incorporated from the very start of a new service, can be utilized as a tool for continuous improvement.\nOriginality/value: This case study will be of value to any ILL practitioners who are considering launching a similar service, or who wish to incorporate assessment or continuous improvement into existing library services.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Quality improvement through clinical communities: eight lessons for practice
|
[
"Health care",
"Quality improvement",
"Organizations",
"Health organization and management",
"Networks",
"Social sciences",
"Social norms",
"Quality",
"Professionals"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In many areas of healthcare, a substantial gap exists between what evidence indicates is best practice, and what actually happens in routine care. In the face of often disappointing results from a range of quality improvement (QI) initiatives (Powell et al., 2009), how best to close such gaps and improve patient care continues to puzzle policy-makers, managers and practitioners. What is clear is that securing quality in healthcare requires systems for sharing knowledge, coordinating and organising activity, and encouraging cultures supportive of improvement. The literature on healthcare QI to date has tended to focus on micro-level interventions to improve behaviour - such as education to improve hand-washing, system redesign to reduce handover errors, or checklists to reduce surgical errors. Much is to be gained, however, from recognition of the broader institutional and organisational structures that are relevant to QI, including the social structures known technically as networks. In contrast to hierarchical relationships within formal organisations, contracts, or market forces, networks are distinctive for being held together and functioning through cooperative social connections (Powell, 1990). In networks, exchanges occur through reciprocal, mutually supportive relationships, where aspects of trust, interdependence, and reputation are key to ensuring speedy and efficient exchange of \"know how\" (Powell, 1990).The interest in networks arises from growing recognition of their real significance in distributing knowledge, promoting new learning and harnessing collective action. A now impressive literature demonstrates the role played by networks operating across organisations in shaping knowledge flows within industry, in diverse fields (Lerner and Tirole, 2002, Buhr and Owen-Smith, 2010). Among other things, this work suggests that firms with more cohesive and extensive networks tend to perform better and be less prone to failure (Bunker Whittington et al., 2009). Networks are argued to help transmit information and produce innovation in high technology firms to the extent that \"effective social networks determine a firm's chances for survival\" (Castilla et al., 2000). Networks go beyond functioning as a facility for sharing valuable information; as social structures, they also help to condition and structure the norms and values guiding behaviour (Swedberg, 2003).In healthcare, networks are also the subject of a growing literature (Greenhalgh, 2010). The likely benefits of creating horizontal links across individuals, teams and organisations to open up communication channels between those who may be facing similar challenges, yet might not otherwise interact, has generated considerable excitement (Dopson et al., 2002; Bate and Robert, 2002; Ovretveit et al., 2002). In this review, we examine the role of network forms of organisation in healthcare QI. We build on both the general literatures on networks and those in healthcare specifically to identify and characterise the clinical community as a distinctive, especially promising, type of network-based QI effort. We use the same literatures to draw out practical lessons for those seeking to achieve change through this approach.\nMethods: This review relies primarily on an \"author-based\" approach (Dixon-Woods, 2010) that draws on long training and scholarly sensibility and skill to determine the relevance and quality of material. In order to structure the process, we drew on the principles of critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) (Dixon-Woods et al., 2006), though we do not claim to have conducted a full CIS. This approach seeks to provide an overview of a broad field that includes both empirical and theoretical work. It aims to analyse critically and build theory from the literature, taking account of the heterogeneous contexts and processes on which this evidence base is built. In carrying out this review, we:* treated the review question as a compass, not an anchor, so that the question was open to being refined as the review proceeded;* used iterative, intuitive searching of literatures combined with more formal systematic searching techniques;* engaged in selective, judicious sampling of relevant literatures; and* sought to integrate the various literatures through a narrative argument.The areas of literature in which we searched included: organisational studies; medical, economic and institutional sociology; social and community psychology; critical development studies; social movements; and innovation and diffusion studies. We examined original empirical research, theoretical and conceptual work, and reviews (both systematic and narrative). Systematic searching of Scopus citation and abstract databases initially used the following terms: clinical communit*[1], participat* governance, collaborative decision making, communit* of practice, clinical network, knowledge diffusion; plus, using Boolean \"and\", collaborative* and health, communit* and quality improvement, participat* and health. These formal searches were supplemented greatly by personal knowledge and contacts (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005). Relevant material generated through these searches was then supplemented through forward and backward reference chaining.\nFindings: The findings from our integration and critical analysis of these literatures are presented in three parts. First, we describe some of the key claims made about why a community-based approach (as opposed to a bureaucratic-hierarchical, legal, or market-based approach) might be successful in improving healthcare quality. Second, we characterise what we term the \"clinical community for QI\" as a particularly promising exemplar of network-based approaches to achieving positive change, and identify some of its key characteristics. Finally, we identify eight specific lessons for successful use of the clinical community approach, highlighting some key challenges and potential solutions.Ways of regulating activity and behaviour: law, hierarchies, markets and networks\nA clinical community-based approach to QI in healthcare: Network forms are drawing increasing interest in healthcare for their potential in transcending organisational \"silos\", which tend to constrain knowledge sharing (Sheaff et al., 2006). Networks have been around for a long time in healthcare, though it is only more recently that many forms of organisation have been recognised as networks. These networks vary in their origins, degree of formality, exclusivity of membership, and methods used to achieve their goals. What unites them is that they are \"complexes of links between individuals and organisations, driven largely by the interests of those parties and their recognition of the value of working together\" (Southon et al., 2005). Examples include the collegial structure underpinning the healthcare professions, \"communities of practice\" (Wenger, 1998), QI collaboratives using specific methodologies to implement evidence-based practice (Schouten et al., 2008), managed NHS networks (Addicott et al., 2007), and social or professional movements that mobilise around particular concerns (Bate et al., 2004).In addition to these, a newer network form that we term the \"clinical community for QI\" can be identified, and is especially interesting and important because of its combined focus on both learning and action directed towards improvement and consequent potential for effectiveness. Clinical communities exhibit many of the features of these other network forms, and to a large extent have evolved from them. In particular, they share many of the features of QI collaboratives, since the basic ideas behind them derive from the collaborative approach. However, unlike collaboratives, clinical communities are not distinguished by association with a particular QI methodology (e.g. rapid improvement cycles or plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles; Hulscher et al., 2009), but by the structure and organisation of the network. One good example of a programme that we would see as characteristic of this approach is the Keystone Intensive Care Unit project, which received international attention for its report of a dramatic average reduction in central venous catheter bloodstream infections in over 100 participating ICUs in Michigan (Pronovost et al., 2006; Dixon-Woods et al., 2011).What is a clinical community?\nAddressing challenges of community-based approaches: eight lessons: Though attractive in principle, analysis of the literature on participatory, community-based approaches highlights some potential challenges. In the discussion that follows, we draw on the current literature across healthcare and other sectors to identify key lessons for developing and refining the clinical community approach to QI.Lesson 1: Foster a strong vertically integrating core\nConclusions: \"Perhaps somewhat belatedly\" (Greenhalgh et al., 2004), QI interventions have increasingly recognised the need to understand that change processes operate at collective, organisational and cultural levels. Understanding QI as a social process counters the unhelpful but pervasive tendency to conceptualise the diffusion-uptake process as a technical-rational, linear process that is about putting into practice predefined strategies for changing (individual) clinicians' behaviours (Grol and Grimshaw, 2003). This review has identified the importance of network structures in QI, and has suggested we are now seeing the emergence of a network form that may be deemed a \"clinical community for QI\". This approach shares many features with - and has evolved from - other network approaches including QI collaboratives, communities of practice, and social movements.Successful clinical communities will make the most of cooperation and a sense of community, but avoid overly romantic notions that obscure the tensions and challenges communities face when trying to unite different groups, interests, and organisations to secure a common goal. Clinical communities that work well are characterised by the careful balancing of bottom-up, localising, participatory and informal social processes and strong leadership, coordination and impetus from within - and sometimes from beyond or even \"above\". The advantages of clinical communities are easily destabilised; those attempting to structure them must tread a fine line in ensuring that their input does not undermine the very characteristics that make clinical communities distinctive.This review has identified eight key lessons for those involved in clinical communities for QI. These lessons come from synthesising a wide range of literatures offering important insights into the use of network- and community-style approaches to achieving change. The diversity of approaches that have been adopted - and the diversity of contexts in which these have been attempted - have resulted in a rich and varied literature, replete with helpful examples of how to do network-driven QI, but lacking universal \"laws\" for success. As noted above, this is in part due to the importance of context in determining the usefulness or otherwise of particular strategies; more generally, as social processes are dependent on the agency of individuals, the interactions of groups and the cultures of organisations, community-driven approaches to QI cannot effectively be put into practice through the simple application of universal strategies. This also implies that understanding and optimising the clinical community approach to QI requires ongoing study - process evaluation - that examines how they operate in practice. Process evaluations can be sensitive to contextual contingencies of individual projects, while also generating more generalisable lessons that are useful to others, even if the idea of a strategy that will always deliver change - a QI panacea - is illusory.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Approaches to quality improvement in healthcare based on clinical communities are founded in practitioner networks, peer influence and professional values. However, evidence for the value of this approach, and how to make it effective, is spread across multiple disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise relevant literature to provide practical lessons on how to use community-based approaches to improve quality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Diverse literatures were identified, analysed and synthesised in a manner that accounted for the heterogeneity of methods, models and contexts they covered.\nFindings: - A number of overlapping but distinct community-based approaches can be identified in the literature, each suitable for different problems. The evidence for the effectiveness of these is mixed, but there is some agreement on the challenges that those adopting such approaches need to address, and how these can be surmounted.\nPractical implications: - Key lessons include: the need for co-ordination and leadership alongside the lateral influence of peers; advantages of starting with a clear programme theory of change; the need for training and resources; dealing with conflict and marginalisation; fostering a sense of community; appropriate use of data in prompting behavioural change; the need for balance between \"hard\" and \"soft\" strategies; and the role of context.\nOriginality/value: - The paper brings together diverse literatures with important implications for community-based approaches to quality improvement, drawing on these to offer practical lessons for those engaged in improving healthcare quality in practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
High-performance work practices, work social support and their effects on job embeddedness and turnover intentions
|
[
"Iran",
"Hospitality management",
"Hotels",
"Human resource management",
"Employees turnover",
"Working practices",
"Employee retention"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a market environment where there are competitive pressures, hospitality managers realize that acquisition and retention of high performing frontline employees is a key to delivery of service quality. Job embeddedness (JE) which is an employee retention strategy has three dimensions: links, fit, and sacrifice (Mitchell et al., 2001). Links are defined as \"formal or informal connections between a person and institutions or other people\", while fit refers to \"an employee's perceived compatibility or comfort with an organization and with his or her environment\" (Mitchell et al., 2001, p. 1105). Finally, sacrifice refers to \"the perceived cost of material or psychological benefits that may be forfeited by leaving a job\" (Mitchell et al., 2001, p. 1105). JE may enable hospitality managers to acquire and retain quality employees in the workplace.Studies have focused on high-performance work practices (HPWPs) that influence employees' motivation to have high-performance in the workplace (e.g. Tang and Tang, 2012). Human resource activities which are performance-enhancing are regarded as HPWPs. For example, training (TRA), empowerment (EMP), rewards (REW), work-family balance, employee selectivity, and/or employment security seem to be the potential indicators of HPWPs (e.g. Boselie et al., 2005; Huselid, 1995). Social support refers to \"an interpersonal transaction that involves emotional concern, instrumental aid, information, or appraisal\" (Carlson and Perrewe, 1999, p. 514). Social support received in the workplace refers to work social support (WSS). Employees with HPWPs and WSS appear to be more embedded in their jobs (cf. Bergiel et al., 2009). Such employees in turn are expected to have low levels of intentions to leave the organization. Accordingly, JE seems to mediate the effects of HPWPs and WSS on turnover intentions (TI).Purpose and contribution\nResearch model and hypotheses: Research model\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Respondents' profile\nDiscussion: Strengths of the study\nConclusion: Retention of employees has become a strategic issue for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. With this realization, the current study proposes and tests a research model that investigates JE as a mediator of the effects of HPWPs and WSS on TI. TRA, EMP, and REW are treated as the indicators of HPWPs. Similarly, WSS, as manifested by supervisor support and coworker support, is treated as a second-order latent construct. Based on data gathered from frontline hotel employees with a time lag of two weeks in Iran, the results suggest that JE completely mediates the effects of HPWPs and WSS on TI. That is, HPWPs and WSS mitigate TI only via JE. By examining JE as a mediator in the relationship between HPWPs and WSS and TI in the hospitality industry in Iran, this study contributes to JE research in the current literature.Investing in TRA, EMP, and REW simultaneously and providing supervisory and non-supervisory employees with continuous TRA programs that focus on the importance of WSS lead to elevated levels of JE. Managers have to hire individuals who fit well with the specific requirements of frontline service jobs and organizational culture through effective tools such as video cases and experiential exercises. They also have to establish and maintain an environment where there are attractive career and advancement opportunities so that they would be able to retain quality frontline employees. Such practices would also be useful for hiring the most suitable individuals for vacant positions in the organization. On a closing note, incorporating other critical HPWPs such as work-family balance and employment security into empirical studies would extend the present understanding about JE as a mediating variable in the relationship between HPWPs and various under-researched job outcomes such as team performance and creative performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a research model that examines whether job embeddedness mediates the effects of high-performance work practices and work social support on turnover intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on data gathered from 174 full-time frontline employees in the four- and five-star hotels, with a time lag of two weeks in Iran, the relationships were tested using LISREL 8.30 through structural equation modeling.\nFindings: - Results suggest that job embeddedness fully mediates the effects of high-performance work practices and work social support on turnover intentions. Specifically, frontline employees with high-performance work practices and work social support are more embedded in their jobs, and therefore, are unlikely to display intentions to leave the organization.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Testing hope as a moderator of the effects of high-performance work practices and work social support on job embeddedness in future studies would add to the existing knowledge base. The time lag used in this study provides limited support for causal inferences. Therefore, future studies should use a longer time lag than it was done in this study.\nOriginality/value: - The present study adds to the current literature by investigating the antecedents of job embeddedness. This study also adds to the current knowledge base by examining job embeddedness as a mediator of the effects of high-performance work practices and work social support on turnover intentions through data collected in the hotel industry in Iran, a developing non-Western country.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The use of imagery in the campaign speeches of Barack Hussein Obama and John McCain during the 2008 US Presidential Election
|
[
"Barack Obama",
"Leadership",
"John McCain",
"Presidential leadership",
"Speech imagery"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Presidential leadership in the USA has received considerable attention from leadership researchers (Bligh and Kohles, 2009; Williams et al., 2012; Beck et al., 2012). The 2008 presidential campaign forms the particular focus of this study and has emerged as one of the most analysed and debated campaigns ever. A variety of explanations have been proposed as to why Obama won the 2008 US Presidential Election. These explanations focus on the state of the economy (Fair, 2010), cynicism with politics and dissatisfaction with Republicans, and in particular, outgoing President George W. Bush (Bligh and Kohles, 2009), and the demonstration of charismatic leadership by Obama (Williams et al., 2009). However, the 2008 US Presidential campaign may perhaps best be remembered for its inspiring speeches and striking use of speech imagery. Increasingly, researchers such as Green and Roberts (2012) and Shamir and Eilam (2004) have placed emphasis on the importance of language and imagery in how a leader presents themselves to their followers and wider audience. Indeed, Burdett (1999) argues that language creates imagery and imagery in turn shapes behaviour. He maintains that the creation of new language and imagery is an important signal of change to followers and an indication of a discontinuity with the past order. Research has also revealed the importance of different dimensions of language in explaining perceptions of leadership (Bligh et al., 2004; Fiol et al., 1999; Mio et al., 2005). For their part, Tan and Wee (2002) have argued that leaders use language to create meaning, and align themselves with the values, interest and beliefs of followers. Thus, through the use of language, frames and imagery, leaders are inviting followers to enter a \"world of connections, a nexus of values\" (MacLeod and Webb, 2009, p. 5).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1. Role of imagery in articulating a leader's vision\n3. Method: 3.1. Sample\n4. Results: In the results section, we focus on the five speech images that were common to both candidates and look at the linguistic variation in how these speech images were used by the two candidates. The analysis of the speech imagery is organised under three key themes: describing a positive vision of the future; creating a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo and increasing the identification of the leader with followers.\n5. Discussion: The 2008 presidential election presented a valuable context to study the rhetoric of both presidential candidates and how they used imagery to connect with their potential followers and demonstrate their capability to be effective leaders. Our research provides tentative support for the notion that the use of images that resonate with potential followers can contribute to their influence. Based on the results summarised above, we advance a number of propositions derived from our data and analyses.\n6. Study limitations: It is very difficult to measure the effectiveness of speech images without taking into account wider factors such as tone of voice, facial expression and level of conviction (Mio et al., 2005). Davis and Gardner (2012) have argued that both the strength of a leader's delivery and their communicative style (including captivating voice, direct eye contact and animated facial expression) can affect follower perceptions of the leader's charisma and likeability. Similarly, Trichas and Schyns (2012) found evidence that a leader's facial expressions can affect the perceptions of the message held by followers - especially where such facial and emotional displays fit an individual's leadership internal schemata or prototypes. A leader's emotional connection with the audience will also elicit a strong affective response from followers. For their part, Sy et al. (2005) shows evidence for mood contagion for both positive and negative leader moods. A positive disposition was present among individuals when the leader displayed a positive mood and conversely, a negative disposition among individuals when the leader's mood was negative. Likewise, Barsade (2002) found that exposure to positive moods and tone elicited better task cooperation and less conflict from followers. Thus, speech images alone should not be considered a predictor of follower actions, but need to be considered within a wider contextual situation.\n7. Conclusion: This research examined the use of imagery and its linguistic characteristics in the campaign speeches of Obama and McCain during the 2008 US Presidential Election. The results reveal that both candidates used similar images, but employed them in different ways linguistically. The use of speech images played an important role in describing a positive vision for the future, creating a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo and increasing the identification of the leader with followers. In order to achieve these objectives, both candidates used images that emphasised the American dream, broken politics, images of decline, Wall Street and their own personal history. Both candidates differed in how these images were framed, the use of positive and negative images and the language in which these images were captured. Significant differences were proven in relation to the use of inclusive language in speech images employed. Leaders need to demonstrate through their rhetoric that they understand the context followers experience and be willing to articulate a hopeful future reality, creating a sense amongst followers that change is both possible and achievable.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The use of imagery in leadership speeches is becoming increasingly important in shaping the beliefs and actions of followers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of speech imagery and linguistic features employed during the 2008 US Presidential Election campaign.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors analysed a total of 264 speeches (160 speeches from Obama and 104 speeches from McCain) delivered throughout the 2008 US Presidential Election and identified 15 speech images used by the two candidates. Both descriptive coding and axial coding approaches were applied to the data and speech images common to both candidates were further subjected to Pennebaker et al. (2003) linguistic inquiry methodology.\nFindings: The analysis revealed a number of important differences with Obama using inclusive language and nurturing communitarian values, whereas McCain focusing on personal actions and strict, conservative individualistic values. The use of more inclusive language by Obama was found to be significant in three of the five speech images common to both candidates.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research acknowledges the difficulty of measuring the effectiveness of speech images without taking into account wider factors such as tone of voice, facial expression and level of conviction. It also recognises the heavy use of speechwriters by presidential candidates whilst on the campaign trail, but argues that candidates still exert a strong influence through instructions to speechwriters and that speeches should reflect the candidate's values and beliefs.\nOriginality/value: The research findings contribute to the emerging stream of leadership research that addresses language content issues surrounding and embedded in the leadership process. The research argues that leaders' speeches provide a fertile ground for conducting research and for examining the evolving relationship between leaders and followers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Fostering strategic awareness at an organization's boundary
|
[
"United States of America",
"Banks",
"Customer service management",
"Management strategy",
"Strategic awareness",
"Boundary personnel",
"Information dissemination"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: While primary responsibility for strategic planning activities and strategy formulation are typically vested with top management personnel, appropriate implementation of strategic activities is predicated on the actions of lower-level organizational members, with particular emphasis placed on the tasks performed by external boundary-spanners. Boundary-spanning roles are defined as positions which act as an interface between the organization and its external customers (Buttle, 2004), and these organizational members are responsible for managing the customers' relationship with the organization. Modern marketing thought holds that one of the more important functions in managing customer relationships is the customer contact role (e.g. Liao and Mahesh, 2008). Since boundary personnel directly interact with the organization's key constituency, its customers, and provide an all important interface between the organization and its market environment (e.g. Crosby et al., 1990; Donaldson and Hilmer, 1998), they are critical to the successful implementation of strategy (Singh and Rhoads, 1991).\nLiterature review: Sensegiving and sensemaking\nMethods: Data collection and measurement of variables\nResults: Contained in Table II is a list of descriptive statistics (i.e. means and standard deviations) and zero-order correlations between study variables. Top management message clarity was positively correlated to only one component of strategy (ENVIRAWARE, r=0.22, p<0.05), whereas middle management message clarity was positively related to three components of strategy (CUSTAWARE, ENVIRAWARE, and ADMINAWARE, r=0.22, 0.17, and 0.17, respectively, p<0.05). The initial correlation analysis results provide tentative support to H1, which stated that both top and middle management messages would be positively related to strategic awareness. The pattern of correlations suggested that middle management messages would be more strongly related to strategic awareness. This possibility was further examined using regression analysis.The results of the multiple regression analysis performed to examine the research hypotheses are presented in Table III. The regression analyses provided a more refined interpretation of results than that afforded by the correlation analyses. As is indicated, several significant main effects were observed, partially supporting H1. In terms of the effects of top management messages, three significant and positive main effects on strategic awareness were found for two of the five components of strategy: SELLAWARE and ENVIRAWARE. Consistent with H1, these results would support the clarity of top management messages as conducive to enhancing strategic awareness among boundary personnel concerning selling and market research, respectively. In contrast, with the sole exception of SELLAWARE, the results addressing the direct effects of middle management message clarity on strategic awareness were not evident. A comparison of the main effects of communication from top- and middle-management provides support for the arguments by authors such as Kets de Vries (1998) and Skivington and Daft (1991) that dissemination of strategy-related messages from top management are a productive modality for building strategic awareness among an organization's personnel. Two observations support this conclusion. First, two of the five observed top management driven beta coefficients were found to be significant (p<0.05), while only one such effect was found in the case of the middle management driven effects. Secondly, of the four positive beta coefficients for top management messages, all were stronger in comparison to those associated with the effects of middle management messages. These results suggest that the influence of the perceived frequency and perceived usefulness of messages emanating from top management predominate messages initiated from middle management in affecting strategic awareness among boundary role personnel, offering partial support for H2.However, the finding of significant interaction terms suggests that the two sources do not act independent of each other. Thus, these initial results should be approached with considerable caution. As shown in Table III, significant interaction effects were observed in association with the two significant main effects, as well as with administrative awareness.The question of interaction effects between the two sources of messages (top and middle management) was the subject of H3. In order to develop an improved interpretation of the nature of this interaction, we performed a split-group analysis on the basis of a median split of the middle management message clarity variable. In doing so, the intent was to examine the effects of the top management team's message clarity on strategic awareness among boundary personnel, while controlling for any possible confounding effects of middle management message clarity. The results of this split group analysis are shown in Table IV.The results shown in Table IV indicate that the clarity of messages existing between the boundary personnel and middle management plays an important moderating role by neutralizing (Howell et al., 1986) strategic awareness among the boundary personnel. Two pieces of evidence are important in interpreting the results. First, results indicate that, in the presence of low-clarity of middle management messages, messages from top management tend to positively affect strategic awareness among boundary personnel on four of the five strategic activities, however, none of the effects rise to the level of statistical significance used in the current study. Conversely, in the presence of high-clarity middle management messages, messages from top management negatively affect boundary personnel strategic awareness on all of the five strategic dimensions. These effects are significant (p<0.05) for ENVIRAWARE and ADMINAWARE. While this is suggestive of support for H3, the lack of statistical support at the required level leads us to reject this hypothesis.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Focusing primarily on the perceived frequency and usefulness of messages from management to boundary personnel (e.g. bank tellers and customer service representatives), we examined the extent to which an organization's vertical dissemination of information fosters strategic awareness. Our review of prior theory and empirical research led us to hypothesize (H1) that the clarity of management's message about specific strategic activities would play an important role in influencing strategic awareness among boundary personnel. Furthermore, it was hypothesized (H2) that employees' awareness of strategy would be more strongly affected by the clarity of messages emanating from middle managers (e.g., front-line supervisors) than from top management. Finally, we hypothesized (H3) that the perceived clarity of messages with middle managers would influence the ability of top management to disseminate messages of strategic importance to affect strategic awareness among boundary role personnel. However, the results only partially support the hypothesized relationships. Nevertheless, the relationships that were not statistically supported may suggest that, whenever the boundary role personnel perceive poor clarity from middle management, messages from top management can at least partially increase the level of strategic awareness.Among the most striking findings emerging from the study, and contrary to expectations (H2), was that top management messages were considerably more effective than middle management messages in developing strategic awareness among boundary personnel. In fact, middle management messages were found to exert almost no affect on boundary personnel strategic awareness. While it is tempting to do so, these results should not be viewed as supporting a single information source imperative. For example, organizational support theories suggest that managers and supervisors (i.e. mid-level managers) are often perceived as agents of the organization by employees (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002). As such, it is possible that mid-level managers serve as a transfer mechanism for top management's message dissemination on strategy. Future research could investigate the degree to which mid-level managers act as agents of the organization and provide indications of top management strategy.Further, interpreting the relative impact of top versus middle management dissemination on strategic awareness was clouded by the presence of interaction effects between the clarity of top and middle management messages with the boundary personnel. We observed that while middle management messages did not appear to directly influence strategic awareness among boundary personnel, it did interact with top management messages, suggesting that middle management message dissemination may be acting as a moderator variable (Howell et al., 1986). Indeed, the results of the split group analysis provide evidence that the directionality and strength of the effects of top management messages on strategy awareness among boundary personnel depend on the clarity of the messages these individuals reported with middle management.Two important insights were gained from the split-group analysis. The first was that when a focal individual's clarity of messages from his or her supervisors and middle managers is poor (i.e., low clarity), then the top management team tends to play an important role in generating an increased awareness of the organization's intended strategy. Among these front-line personnel, the poor clarity of their message dissemination relationship may become personally discouraging even becoming entangled with the formal relationships they have with middle managers. It may be that utilizing less proximate sources of strategic information (i.e., top management) allows these individuals to resolve ambiguity and minimize certain social, psychological, or organizational costs of embarrassing themselves or jeopardizing their performance and evaluation by appearing uninformed or incompetent to supervisors, peers, and/or customers.The second important implication emerging from the split group analysis concerns the situation in which the clarity of messages between middle management and boundary personnel is good, at least according to involved personnel's assessment. Here, the results suggested that boundary personnel become less receptive to messages from more organizationally distant sources (i.e. top management). Perhaps, as messages from middle management to boundary personnel become more frequent and useful, the receptivity of boundary personnel to messages along alternate pathways (e.g. from other organizational sources) are being attenuated.While it may be intuitively appealing to assume that involving more message dissemination sources would produce an increased understanding of strategy content, our results indicate otherwise. Paradoxically, when the clarity of messages with middle managers is high, it appears that acquiring more information than they can effectively use may lead to an information saturation effect. Perhaps, having obtained all necessary and relevant information from supervisors, the receiving of additional messages from top management regarding strategy may result in information overload (O'Reilly, 1980). Alternatively, when messages with middle management are perceived to be of a high clarity, messages received from other sources (e.g. top management) may be subject to substantial bias or distortion, particularly if they contain conflicting or disconfirming information compared to that received from more immediate supervisory personnel. Hence the observed negative effects of top management message dissemination. The net result for these individuals may be that in utilizing multiple sources of information they could come to have a less accurate understanding of the organization's strategic intent.Further insights into the findings come from sensegiving and sensemaking theory (Fiss and Zajac, 2006; Gioia and Thomas, 1996; Gioia and Chittipeddi, 1991; Weick, 1995), which suggests that the same internal stimulus (e.g. message dissemination) may be interpreted quite differently by managers within the same organization. To the extent that middle managers serve as information conduits regarding strategy content, the messages that boundary personnel receive from top and middle management could differ in their content. Of course, the fact that middle managers are one step removed from the formulation of the strategy could make the information they provide concerning strategy content less accurate and complete than that provided by top management. Additionally, boundary personnel may prefer information from middle management sources for reasons other than factors associated with their expertise (e.g. accessibility, familiarity, trustworthiness, proximity). Indeed, there is abundant evidence that individuals in organizations are noticeably biased in their procurement of information, often preferring to rely on the most accessible sources while ignoring other, perhaps more accurate sources (O'Reilly, 1982; Zimmermann et al., 1996).In summary, the most important contribution of this research is the empirical test of the impact that messages stemming from various levels of management (i.e., top, middle) have on the strategic awareness of boundary personnel. The study augments prior research on information seeking behavior among lower echelon employees that showed that they typically rated front-line personnel and middle managers as their preferred and most informative sources of role information (Ibarra, 1993). While some preference for messages stemming from middle managers and supervisors may exist, the evidence provided here supports a differential effect for top managers in creating and fostering strategic awareness at the organization's boundary depending on the relationship boundary personnel have with middle managers.Implications for practice\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of strategy messages emanating from both top and middle/supervisory managers regarding five different aspects of strategy on strategic awareness among boundary personnel.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The results come from a survey of bank tellers and customer service representatives within a single large regional bank.\nFindings: - The findings support a differential main effect on strategic awareness among boundary personnel depending on the source of messages, whether top management or middle management. More interestingly, there appears to be an interaction effect between the two sources regarding which will be the dominant information source for boundary personnel.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The survey data were collected within a single banking institution at one time point.\nPractical implications: - The results provide useful information concerning the efficacy of messages concerning strategy from middle and top management in organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The paper extends past research by investigating different levels of strategic understanding within the firm across different levels and determining information dissemination strategies for increasing the level of strategic awareness among boundary personnel.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Exploring perceptions of sustainable proteins and meat attachment
|
[
"Marketing",
"Edible insects",
"Laboratory-grown meat",
"Meat production",
"Meat substitutes",
"Plant-based"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Conventional meat production has a significant impact on the natural environment in numerous ways, including the emission of an estimated 18 per cent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2006; Steinfeld et al., 2006; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). A reduction in the consumption of meat has been suggested by a number of authors (Carlsson-Kanyama, 1998; Horrigan et al., 2002; McMichael et al., 2007) as critical to creating a more sustainable food system with fewer greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy, water and land usage and less pollution and biodiversity loss. Protein remains an essential component of the human diet (British Nutrition Foundation, 2016) and so increasing consumption of a number of \"alternative\" protein options could play a role in achieving such a reduction.\nMethods: A mixed method approach was taken using an exploratory sequential design where the findings generated from individual and small group interviews informed an online survey.\nResults: This study aimed to provide in-depth insight into key personal barriers and drivers to consumption of three alternative proteins, explore the role of meat attachment in influencing these perceptions, and explore the congruity of personal and global considerations. The results of the personal perceptions of survey participants are first outlined, regarding which alternative proteins they would or would not eat, and the top three drivers and barriers for each protein cited. Second, the influence of meat attachment on these personal perceptions is examined. Finally, whether personal and global perceptions of alternative proteins are congruent or incongruent, exploring the NIMBY style global advocacy yet personal aversion response is detailed.\nDiscussion: This study sought to explore the key drivers and barriers to perceived personal consumption of three alternatives to conventional meat when compared alongside each other for the first time. The study also sought to quantify the influence of meat attachment on those perceptions and aimed to gain deeper insight in to the congruity of personal and global perceptions.\nConclusion: This study sought to explore consumer perceptions towards more sustainable alternatives to conventional meat. Building on an existing body of research, this study has identified key drivers and barriers that influence the perceptions of lab-grown meat, edible insects and plant-based substitutes. This study has demonstrated an association between one's attachment to conventional meat and perception of alternative proteins and has highlighted the complexity of interactions between personal preference and more global perspectives. The findings of this study could be used in future research exploring tailored marketing of alternative proteins as viable and more sustainable options to conventional meat.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore consumer perceptions of more sustainable protein alternatives to conventional meat.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mixed method design of interviews and an online survey identified key drivers and barriers to the consumption of laboratory-grown meat, edible insects and plant-based meat substitutes, with meat attachment accounted for in analyses. Differences between personal preference and perceptions of alternative proteins' role in addressing global environmental concerns were also explored.\nFindings: Findings indicated that plant-based substitutes were favoured for personal consumption for moral and ethical reasons and edible insects were least favoured due to aversion. Meat attachment was significantly associated with personal willingness to consume alternative proteins in each of the three cases. Results challenged previous research that had proposed that when considering the effectiveness of certain alternatives in addressing global environmental issues, people may advocate them but not want to consume them personally. Results imply that the congruity of these perceptions is more complex.\nResearch limitations/implications: Avenues for future research, including applications for exploring tailored marketing are suggested based on the preliminary findings of this study.\nOriginality/value: This study asked consumers to consider three alternative proteins alongside one another for the first time, exploring how meat attachment is associated with perceptions and quantifying the congruity of consumers' personal perceptions and global perceptions of these alternative proteins.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The role of collective angst during and after a service failure
|
[
"Acculturation",
"Ethnicity",
"Service failure",
"Collective angst"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: Jassim, a middle-aged Kuwaiti man, sits for 20 minutes in a restaurant in Kuwait, waiting for the Egyptian waiter to take his order. Jassim becomes upset when he notices that the waiter is attending to another customer who arrived after him. He decides to leave and complains to the manager. This scenario illustrates a failed intercultural service encounter. Intercultural service encounters involve service employees and customers from different cultures (Sharma et al., 2009; Stauss and Mang, 1999). How angry will Jassim be as a result of this failure and how likely is he to recommend the restaurant after service recovery? Would his level of anger and response to a service recovery attempt be different if the service provider had belonged to his same ethnic group? How does the minority status of Kuwaitis in their own country and their resulting collective angst add to the complexity of this situation?\nLiterature review: Group-level trait differences in service research\nHypotheses: We expect that collective angst will play a role during a service encounter where the customer is from a group that is threatened and the service employee is from the threatening group. Just as individuals react negatively to other threatening groups, we expect that consumers will also react negatively to a service employee from a threatening group. We examine these negative reactions within the unique context of a service failure.\nResearch context: Kuwait, one of the six countries (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), was chosen as the context for this study. The GCC, in general, is experiencing an identity crisis in response to the influx of expatriates. For example, at a recent conference on gulf identity, several scholars expressed concern for how the presence of expatriates has had a negative impact on Gulf identity (Toumi, 2009). These threats are clearly expressed in the words of the former Labor Minister of Bahrain:\nMethodology: Participants and design\nResults: A 2 (collective angst: low vs high) x 2 (cultural distance: low vs high) MANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses. Gender and age were controlled in the experiment. There was a significant effect of collective angst on the dependent variables [F(4,10) 2.76, p < 0.05]. Univariate tests revealed that the effect of collective angst on anger was significant [3.33 vs 3.70 F(1,313) = 9.81, p < 0.01], supporting the first hypothesis (H1) . However, collective angst did not have any effect on any of the recommendation measures. Collective angst did not have any effect on the intention to recommend the service following an apology [F(1,313) 0.85, p > 0.05], following an apology and a refund [F(1,313) 0.083, p > 0.05] or when an apology and a full refund were offered [F(1,313) 0.01, p > 0.05]. Thus, the second hypothesis (H2) was not supported.\nConclusion and discussion: Our research contributes several novel contributions to the marketing literature. First, we introduce the impact of a group-based emotion in a service setting, namely, collective angst. Second, we expand the limited literature on cross-cultural service encounters (Paswan and Ganesh, 2005; Sharma et al., 2009; Stauss and Mang, 1999) by examining the impact of cultural distance on service failure and recovery perceptions. Third, we introduce a future group-based emotion oriented to the marketing literature -a type of emotion that has not been examined as yet in the marketing literature. Fourth, we conducted the research in an under-researched area of the world - the Gulf area.\nManagerial implications: Out results have several managerial implications. It is recommended that service establishments gauge the level of collective angst that exists in the local population where that population might be less forgiving in their reactions to service failures and recovery situations. For example, our research shows that collective angst leads to higher anger as a result of a service failure. Higher anger is dangerous because it leads to a variety of retaliatory responses (Bougie et al., 2003; Bonifeld and Cole, 2007). We suggest that employees be trained to read the facial expressions of angry customers to try and diffuse the situation quickly. Research also shows that anger is contagious, and it might be transferred from the customer to the employee (Dallimore et al., 2007). Thus, employees should be made aware that such anger can be transferred to them and inhibit them from responding effectively. Front-line employees must be educated to understand that consumer reactions to service failures can be driven by collective angst. For front-line employees, this education might alleviate the emotional stress that can be experienced from encounters with angry customers.\nLimitations and future research: In this study, we examined intercultural service encounters that involve an employee and a customer coming from a different background. Future research can look into service encounters that involve customers from different specific cultures. We expect that consumers high in collective angst might not be interested in interacting with customers from other cultures. We also sense that the negative impact of collective angst will be greater when the PCD from the customer is higher. The previous research shows that perceived cultural compatibility with other customers does lead to lower anxiety and greater customer satisfaction (Johnson and Grier, 2011).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the role of collective angst, the concern about the future viability of one's group, during service failure and recovery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To test this objective the authors utilize an experiment to examine how Kuwaitis react to service failures when the front-line employee is a foreigner.\nFindings: The results indicate that collective angst is associated with greater anger following a service failure. The authors also find that collective angst moderates the impact of cultural distance on anger and recommendation intentions following a service-failure recovery attempt. More specifically, cultural distance leads to greater anger and lower intentions to recommend a service establishment for consumers that experience greater collective angst.\nOriginality/value: The research provides the first attempt at examining how local consumers react to foreigner service providers, by examining how concern about the future vitality of one's national group, in other words collective angst, affects such reactions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Against medical advice: the anti-consumption of vaccines
|
[
"Anti‐vaccination movement",
"Anti‐consumption",
"Herd immunity",
"Free‐riding",
"Consumers",
"Consumer behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: To date, the link between anti-consumption and social marketing has predominately focused on encouraging people to practice the anti-consumption of socially undesirable behaviours, such as excessive drinking and smoking (Peattie and Peattie, 2009, Piacentini and Banister, 2009, Shiu et al., 2009). Furthermore, abundant literature indicates that researchers favour contexts where anti-consumption is driven by moral, ideological, or ethical reasons (Lee et al., 2009b; Kozinets and Handelman, 2004; Sandikci and Ekici, 2009; Varman and Belk, 2009). However, existing work fails to consider instances where anti-consumption may have detrimental consequences for society, despite originating from an equally moral and ethical place. We conceptually address this gap in three ways. First, we explore the anti-vaccination movement (AVM) revealing reasons similar to those driving anti-consumption of everyday commercial products and services. Second, we show that the AVM is a unique/different form of anti-consumption, which can only thrive under certain paradoxical circumstances. Third, we argue that while the AVM is driven by good intentions, it is not necessarily beneficial to society. Overall, unlike previous work in the area, our research intersects the boundaries of commercial interests (pharmaceutical companies versus alternative therapies), societal interests (communal well-being versus parental freedom of choice), and medical interests (confidence in science/medicine versus uncertainty), thereby showing that the understanding of anti-consumption behaviour can be applied to contexts beyond business.\n2. Literature review and methodology: As this is an exploratory study aiming to provide a conceptual contribution, the literature review forms the basis of our methodology. Hence we began by examining many online sources. Although a large proportion of material originated from upset parents or concerned doctors where blogging was used as a method of venting (e.g. \"vaccines have crippled my son\"; \"parents that don't vaccinate are selfish bastards\"), for the purposes of this study, we focussed on less emotionally laden blogs and other more \"rational\" sources. Since both sides of the anti-vaccination debate interprets data and research in a way that suits their opinion, a judgement call was made regarding the sources on which to focus, as is the case with any literature review/qualitative research. We made this decision by considering the number of times particular sources were mentioned in other blogs and arguments, and/or if the information came from what we deemed to be a credible sources. Table I displays the eventual data set.From our reading of the material, it became apparent that opposition towards vaccines originated in the 1800s when the small pox vaccine was first introduced (Wolfe and Sharp, 2002). Thus, vaccinations and the AVM have gone hand in hand from the beginning. In spite of the historical origins of AVM, the increasing popularity of vaccine anti-consumption is certainly an emerging issue in twenty-first century consumer marketing. With an exponential increase in the number of vaccines administered, the AVM has also continued to gain momentum, particularly over the last decade (Gill, 2009). In 2009, 10,000 American kindergarteners started school with vaccine exemptions, an increase from the 8,300 exemptions during the previous year and more than double since last century, in 1997, where only 4,318 vaccine exemptions were recorded (Lin and Poindexter, 2009). In Australia, The Daily Telegraph reported that, in 2010, the parents of 26,000 children conscientiously objected to vaccinations whereas in 2000 only 12,050 parents felt the same way (Weaver, 2010). This growth is mainly attributable to the Internet where thousands of web sites, debates, blogs, and arguments circulate.The debate is split into two main groups: the medical community (pro vaccine) and the AVM. Much of the previous work in this area has been bi-polar, conducted by medical professionals, pharmaceutical companies, and population health scientists; or conversely, by people within the AVM, and natural health or alternative therapy communities. Each side has a vested interest, views the argument through their own ideological lenses, and vehemently defends their position against the opposing group. This conflict of information and lack of balance regarding the benefits and risks of vaccines may create an atmosphere of uncertainty, which favours the AVM, since the inaction of not vaccinating is easier to bear for some parents than the thought of actively injecting a potentially dangerous substance into a child.While the medical establishment has always argued for the safety and efficacy of vaccines since their inception, the AVM still gains momentum. Impartial science lacks influence and appears impersonal when compared to glamorous celebrities like ex playboy-playmate turned actress Jenny McCarthy, who endorses the AVM on popular shows such as Oprah Winfrey. McCarthy, who believes her son's Autism was caused by vaccinations, and her husband Jim Carrey provide the AVM with an admirable and personable face. Their emotionally salient story also appeals to many fellow parents and is something that the medical establishment lacks. Other high profile and reputable figures such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr are also \"convinced that the link between Thimerosal (an ingredient of some vaccines) and the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders is real\" (Kennedy, 2005). Certainly, the presence of celebrities in the vaccination debate may be used by some parents as a heuristic cue. Thus, some of the AVM's increase in popularity may be attributed to superficial \"trend\" reasons. However, in general, rather than being naive and misinformed, parents who intentionally practice the anti-consumption of vaccines (conscientious objectors of vaccines) tend to be well educated and possess a high socio-economic status (Wallace, 2009). Ironically, parents and health workers, on either side of this debate, all share the primary concern of doing what is best for children.\n3. Findings: After applying thematic analysis to the available literature, we suggest four main themes/reasons motivating the AVM, despite the medical establishment communicating immunization as being: crucial to children's health, safe to administer, effective against vaccine-preventable diseases, and free in most countries. We overlay the AVM themes (religion, freedom of choice, risk, and uncertainty) with existing theory in anti-consumption, thereby linking the two areas together for the first time.3.1 Religion: ideological opposition\n4. Discussion: The previous section presented the main reasons for the anti-consumption of vaccines (religion, freedom of choice, risk, and uncertainty). Where relevant, we highlight the AVM's motivations that are similar to those driving the anti-consumption of commercial products and services. However, there is an important distinction between the anti-consumption of vaccines and the anti-consumption of products, which relies on the assumption of herd immunity and the efficacy of vaccines.Herd immunity occurs when the majority of a population is immune to a disease. In general, the medical establishment agrees that a high proportion of immune individuals prevent the disease from spreading as it cannot find new hosts easily (Fox et al., 1971). If the concept of herd immunity is influenced positively by vaccination rates, then the anti-consumption of vaccines poses an interesting paradox. It is an act of anti-consumption that actually becomes easier to practice as mainstream consumption increases. While the risk of a vaccine will remain constant, unless a vaccine is reformulated, the risk of catching a disease fluctuates, seasonally, depending on the level of herd immunity. If a majority of people practice the anti-consumption of vaccines there could be a re-emergence of some diseases. As the risk of catching a disease increases, the low risk of vaccine side effects should appear more acceptable in a relative sense, even though the actual risk has remained constant. So while the AVM believe what they are doing is the optimal decision for their own child, and children in general; widespread acceptance of their reasons would actually make individual anti-consumption harder to practice. It is common for consumers to form communities/tribes based on shared consumption and anti-consumption preferences. However, we argue that the AVM is a unique situation where large numbers of people sharing the same anti-consumption attitudes/behaviours are actually incompatible with, or even harmful to, one another.Free-riding occurs when individuals enjoy the benefits of a group's action, without incurring the cost/hardship of group effort (Alison, 1985). According to the medical establishment, herd immunity requires a certain percentage of the group to be vaccinated, so those not vaccinating are arguably free riding on herd immunity. Kidwell and Bennett (1993) suggest that members of large groups perceive their actions to have an insignificant impact on the group outcome. Since community sizes range from tens of thousands to millions, AVM members may believe their actions impose only a minimal effect on the greater group. However, when vaccination levels fall below the suggested herd immunity threshold, the potential exists for an epidemic. Free riders (people practicing anti-consumption of vaccines) may then become detrimental to the health of the community. Thus, another important difference exists between AVM and other forms of anti-consumption. Normally, a personal choice against consumption does not impact negatively on others (for instance, parents against fluorinated water, or brand avoidance behaviour directed at Nike or Starbucks), but in the case of AVM, there is the potential for individual anti-consumption choices to adversely affect the surrounding people.\n5. Managerial implications: Owing to the uncertainty surrounding pro and anti-vaccination, and the unlikely nature that the debate will be resolved anytime soon, we recommend that the risks of both vaccinating and not vaccinating must be taken into account. Voluntary vaccinations will not be enough to maintain herd immunity, especially if the AVM's arguments gain popularity. But mandating vaccines would not be appropriate either as it breeches an individual's freedom of choice, and since the side effects of vaccines can never be fully discredited, people should retain the right of refusal. Furthermore, previous work in psychology, politics, and consumer research, as well as our own findings, suggests that coercion incites even greater resistance. Pharmaceutical companies, the paediatricians, and governments should also realise that the debate is not black and white. Informed parents may wish to vaccinate their children against only one or two diseases at each instance, thereby spreading out the conventional vaccine schedule over a greater length of time. Or, they may prefer to limit vaccination to only those diseases they believe are the most dangerous for their children. So these parents are not against all vaccinations all of the time. Rather, these conscientious objectors practice anti-consumption of some vaccines some of the time, and merely want the freedom to design a schedule that they feel best balances the risk and benefits of vaccines for their children. Such parents are more likely to reject a one-size-fits-all approach that is offered by combination vaccines and mainstream vaccination schedules. Thus by ensuring that freedom of choice remains, these parents are still able to contribute something, rather than nothing, to herd immunity.Pro-vaccinators should continue to vaccinate but be respectful of the AVM's choices, while AVM parents, whose children are more likely to become carriers of vaccine-preventable diseases, should be careful if coming into contact with children too young to be vaccinated, or others who cannot safely receive vaccinations owing to health reasons. In any case, both groups should realise that the debate is far more complicated than what the medical establishment or the AVM suggest. The medical establishment states that vaccines have been beneficial in the cases of some serious diseases such as small pox, polio, and tetanus; however, it is also undeniable that the number of vaccines has increased (Generationrescue, 2007). Even though adverse side effects and vaccines can never be causally linked, neither can their absolute efficacy and safety be proven.Paediatricians, advisory centres, and general practitioners should take the concerns of parents seriously, offer unbiased information, and avoid being dismissive of parents who choose not to vaccinate. As this papers shows, the only certainty in this complex debate is uncertainty.\n6. Future research: Although a commentary on the AVM has never been attempted by business scholars, as consumer researchers we are in a good position to bring an impartial viewpoint to the debate. Unlike medical researchers, we are not associated with the medical establishment, nor are we concerned with pharmaceutical companies' commercial interests or the reduction in immunization rates, if vaccines do indeed have severe side effects. Similarly, while we are able to give the AVM's concerns more consideration than the medical establishment is willing to, we are still able to maintain a critical stance. Our focus is on the welfare of consumers and a less emotionally laden, more amoral, perspective on the topic should be welcomed by future researchers.Finally, increasing interest in this topic by business scholars may encourage social marketers to design and communicate programs eliciting a \"desired\" audience response (Kotler and Zaltman, 1971). However, before using marketing tactics to encourage a behaviour over another, social marketers need to critically assess what they propose to communicate to society. Are their recommendations defensible, does it consider both sides of the argument, or it is merely paternalistic propaganda guided by the dominant paradigm? In an environment of uncertainty, where information (\"good\" or \"bad\", \"accurate\" or \"biased\") flows freely, any approach to promote one-sided arguments may only increase scepticism and suspicion in the AVM, other conscientious objectors and informed parents considering the anti-consumption of vaccines.\n7. Conclusion: Unlike the majority of previous work, this conceptual article uses the AVM to show that not all well-intentioned anti-consumption behaviour benefits society. The complex anti-vaccination debate puts parental freedom of choice against community well being. Although arguments about the true efficacy of vaccines and the risk of their side effects are far from being resolved, we were still able to outline the main reasons driving the AVM. At a thematic level, we see the AVM is driven by similar reasons motivating the anti-consumption of products and services (religion, freedom of choice, risk, and uncertainty). More importantly, we improve our understanding in the area by arguing that unlike other forms of anti-consumption, the AVM is unique, in that anti-consumption is made easier when mainstream consumption is high. Ironically, as vaccines become better at eradicating diseases, and the occurrence of vaccine-preventable diseases decreases in a society, the risk of vaccination begins to outweigh the benefits of immunization, for some parents. This is a unique phenomenon where individual anti-consumption is easier to practice if wide spread anti-consumption has not yet occurred.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the main reasons driving the anti-vaccination movement (AVM) and relate similarities and differences of the AVM with the anti-consumption of other products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper conducts thematic analysis of various online sources, including medical journals, blogs, science articles and business/social science databases.\nFindings: - First, the paper outlines the main themes (religion, freedom of choice, risk, and uncertainty) driving the anti-consumption of vaccines. Second, it explains why the AVM is a unique and paradoxical form of anti-consumption. Third, although much anti-consumption behaviour is motivated by the belief that rejecting certain acts of consumption may be beneficial to society, the paper uses the AVM to show that not all anti-consumption behavior has clear-cut benefits for society.\nResearch limitations/implications: - While this is predominately a conceptual paper, a commentary on the AVM has never been attempted by business scholars. This is surprising since business scholars are able to bring a more impartial viewpoint to the debate than both the medical establishment and proponents of natural therapy. As this paper is not associated with medical interests, nor the AVM, the focus is on the welfare of consumers and as such, a more detached perspective may be useful in this controversial area.\nPractical implications: - Since the AVM debate is filled with much uncertainty, the paper recommends a more balanced/respectful approach by the medical community, pro-vaccinators and the AVM.\nOriginality/value: - Unlike previous work in the area, this research intersects commercial, societal, and medical interests. It also highlights AVM as an interesting case where large groups of people sharing similar anti-consumption behaviours are actually incompatible with one another.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Inter-organizational relationship strategies and management styles in SMEs: The US-China-Russia study
|
[
"Management styles",
"International business",
"Small enterprises",
"Channel relationships",
"Cross‐cultural studies",
"Strategic alliances"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rapid globalization of the world economy has increased interest in the analysis of different management styles across cultures (Hofstede, 2001; Husted et al., 1996; Trompenaars, 1994). The understanding of these differences has practical importance for managers of companies that enter foreign markets. It can be applied to building inter-organizational relationships (IOR) while forming multicultural management groups, creating various forms of network organizations, such as joint ventures or partnerships, and establishing subsidiaries abroad.Three countries - the USA, China, and Russia - were chosen for the study, taking into account the leading role of the first and the emerging roles of the latter two in the world economy and international economic relations. These three countries, taken together, account for more than 25 per cent of the world's population and 36 per cent of world GDP. China's recent entry into the WTO and Russia's forthcoming entry into this organization are opening new opportunities for the development of economic links in the USA-China-Russia triangle, including ones on the level of SMEs (small and medium enterprises constitute a significant part of these countries' economies, with their total numbers ranging from 20 SMEs per 1,000 population in Russia to approximately 30 SMEs in the USA; Sarkisov, 2005). All the facts mentioned above make comparative research involving these countries important from both academic and managerial points of view.The research is focused on small and medium enterprises, taking into account their emerging role in international business operations (Collinson and Houlden, 2005; Buckley, 1997). The changes in the domestic economies of these countries, as well as in the world economy, have stimulated greater international orientation amongst SMEs in all these countries. The diversification of international business links of SMEs in joint ventures and other forms of international integration of SMEs makes small business-focused IOR studies both an attractive and relevant research topic.The three countries considered in the study - the USA, China, and Russia - have different historical backgrounds, ethnic and religious roots, cultural and ethical values, as well as different degrees of cultural homogeneity. Because of this diversity, the study of IOR across countries should provide insight into how they vary and are utilized in international business practices.\nOverall objectives of the study: The overall objectives of the study are to examine empirically differences in managerial styles while investigating and conceptualizing the factors underlying these differences. Managerial implications for international business practitioners are then presented as a guide to engaging in future business relationships in these countries.\nLiterature overview: Three major areas of research appear to be of primary interest for this study:1. cultural influence on management style;2. comparative management research; and3. interorganizational relationships within the SME framework.These subjects are discussed in the following sections.Cultural influence on management style\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Management style\nSample and measurement: Data were collected through an online survey of managers of entrepreneurial firms from the USA, China, and Russia operating in the same industry (garments and textiles retailing). Sixty responses, 20 from each country, were obtained and used for subsequent analysis. All of the respondents were contacted in advance, and the questionnaire was sent only to those who expressed their consent to participating in the survey. The relatively small size of the sample was mitigated by diversifying the sample in terms of companies' size (though all of them qualify as an SME, i.e. they have less than 500 employees) as well as by region within the country. Further, the sample size of 60 respondents was considered acceptable since the majority of scales used in collecting the data (seven out of nine) contained only 3-5 items, and only two had seven and eight items, respectively (see Appendix 1).Part I of the questionnaire included questions regarding the four dimensions of the model introduced above. Each dimension is measured by the variables listed in Appendix 1. The measurement scales, to ensure content validity, were adopted from earlier studies (Culpan and Kucukemiroglu, 1993; Poon et al., 2005) that were validated in a multicultural setting. All questions were presented in a Likert-type format ranging from 1 to 7 with 1 being \"strongly disagree\" and 7 being \"strongly agree\".Part II of the questionnaire measured the prevailing type of the company's inter-organizational strategy. A list of inter-organizational activities adopted from Golden and Dollinger (1993) was included on the survey form. Respondents were asked to check all those activities that applied and then to evaluate on a seven-point Likert-type scale (1=\"very\" important, 7=\" of no importance\") the importance of these activities for the company's performance (see Appendix 2).Part III of the questionnaire measured environmental uncertainty. This was a five-item, seven-point, Likert-type, summated ratings scale adopted from Burton et al. (2002). This scale measures three different dimensions of environmental contingency:1. complexity;2. predictability; and3. equivocality (see Appendix 3).\nProcedure and research design: As the first step, the measurement tools were analyzed for reliability and validity.Measure validity\nResults: H1-H4 (between-country differences)\nDiscussion: The major finding of this study is the relationship found between managerial styles, degree of environmental turbulence, and types of IOR strategy pursued by SMEs. The cross-cultural managerial and IOR development differences in SMEs were revealed as well. The management pattern in US small businesses is characterized by more task-oriented and transaction-specific methods of supervision, decision making, and information exchange than in Russia and China. A somewhat surprising result was the significant distinction found between the US and Russia SME management styles (across all four dimensions) rather than between the US and China (one of the dimensions - decision making style - did not demonstrate significant differences). The possible reason for the difference could be explained by the longer history of Chinese over Russian SMEs (since the end of the 1970s in China versus the beginning of the 1990s in Russia), the higher average experience of Chinese SME decision makers in comparison to their Russian colleagues, and therefore their average higher qualification and closer proximity to Western standards. The relevance of this explanation and regularity of this relationship should be tested by the future research. Across all other dimensions, the lower degree of dissimilarity between Russian and Chinese management styles than within other pairs was expected and confirmed by the statistical analysis.The significance of dummy variables reflecting the small business country of domicile in the above regression models demonstrated the respective cross-cultural difference in terms of SMEs' orientation towards different types of IOR. In the US, small businesses are more predisposed to commensal types of IOR, while Russian SMEs are adherents to symbiotic ones. Chinese SMEs are the least adherent to commensal types of IORs among the three countries in the sample, but at the same time they are also not the leaders in symbiotic ones (see Table IX). Thus, the study showed that unreceptiveness to one of these types of IOR does not automatically mean higher involvement in the other one.In general, the empirical findings indicate a difference in managerial styles and interorganizational relationship strategies in the three countries investigated. These findings are consistent with earlier research and theories on comparative management (Hall and Hall, 1990; Maltz and Kohli, 1996; Lee et al., 2000; Nakata and Sivakumar, 2001; Bouncken, 2004; Poon et al., 2005). The managerial style differences documented in this study, if one were to conceptualize them based on the framework of Lee et al. (2000) may be due to the two major attributes of a country - national culture and level of development.The findings, in terms of influence of the national culture on managerial style, support the typology proposed by Poon et al. (2005). They make a distinction between Western orientation (individual initiative and utilitarian values) and Eastern orientation (Confucian perspective of societal well-being and committee submission to leaders). Taking into account the three-sided managerial style differences (between the USA, China and Russia), the study's findings may give rise to further conceptualization of these differences by outlining a third neither \"Eastern\" nor \"Western\" Russian style that is based on an Orthodox Christian mentality and system of values.The relationship between the decision making style and IOR strategy was found to be significant for all dimensions except paternalism, which, nevertheless, was found to be significant in the symbiotic IOR model. A more participative supervision style, more collective decision making and more widespread information sharing result in a higher preference for symbiotic types of IOR (networking with non-competitors that is not necessarily based on direct economic benefit). A higher degree of paternalism within the firm also contributes to its orientation towards symbiotic types of IOR. Another important finding is that the higher degree of environmental uncertainty plays a role as a moderating factor that contributes to small businesses' predisposition to symbiotic, rather than commensal, IORs. These results are quite consistent with the traditional perception of Chinese and Russian business networking models, where personal relationships (\"guanxi\" in China and \"svyazi\" in Russia) very often play a crucial role in making IOR decisions (e.g. Usunier, 1996).SMEs with more functionally allocated supervision, more formalized decision-making procedures and channel-directed information flow demonstrated a higher predisposition to commensal types of IOR (direct economic benefit-based relationships, including ones with competitors). This typology fits the postures of these IORs: while the first (symbiotic) type of IOR is more relationship-based, the second (commensal) is more transaction-based (Carney, 1987; Golden and Dollinger, 1993).\nManagerial implications: These findings have explicit managerial value. The study indicated that it is possible to predict prevailing IOR strategies based on cultural differences in a systematic way. The insights into the distinctions in managerial styles and IOR orientation of small businesses seem to be especially relevant to the conditions of SMEs' rapid globalization. The increased mutual penetration of the US, Chinese and Russian economies, boosted by China and Russia joining the WTO and the growing degree of their economic interdependence means intensification of between-SME relationships. The productive development of these relationships strictly depends on the correspondence and mutual operationalizability of IOR strategies employed by participating businesses.The small businesses going abroad should be aware of the distinctions in managerial styles and inter-organizational relationships that they will face in a foreign business environment. Knowledge of cultural variations in IOR management will make SME managers more effective in dealing with buyers, suppliers, networking companies, and supply chain members.This knowledge can also be helpful in dealing with international competition. It may be an important factor allowing one to predict the moves and responses of competitors, and design competitive strategies for the challenges an enterprise may face in the multicultural environment of international marketplace. Furthermore, the growing number of \"born global\" SMEs, where employees represent different cultures, would make knowledge of managerial styles and IOR distinctions an important success factor for building an effective management model.The study provides an insight not only in the differences, but also the existing similarities in IOR orientation and managerial styles. SMEs managers' awareness not only of distinctions, but also of these similarities, may be helpful in making practical business decisions. Understanding the common approaches to interorganizational relationship management may provide a base for building strategic alliances and other forms of international integration. Also, educational and training programs preparing international SME managers to distinguish substantiate and deal with these managerial, networking and communication differences, as well as the similarities, will be helpful for achieving this goal.\nStudy limitations and implications for future research: The study has definite limitations. It used a convenience sample of small businesses in three countries (reachable to the authors) which included 60 firms in one industry - garments/textiles wholesaling and retailing. For greater generalizability of the results across small businesses in the three countries, future studies should be performed in other industrial sectors as well.Future research should address the question of which elements of small businesses' management and IOR strategies are more culture-bound than the others. Some of the practices, techniques and types of relationships are specifically inherent for the cultures studied and therefore cannot be transplanted abroad. However, some of them can be, and should be, modified and universalized for achieving higher congruity and facilitating international cooperation between SMEs.To achieve this goal, future research should expand the sample of countries to those with more diversified historical, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. First of all, this sample should include Western European, Asian (India and Arabic world), and Latin American economies. The inclusion of other culture-related variables such as Hofstede's cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980), or cultural context (Hall, 1976) for investigating their influence on IOR strategy appears to be a promising direction of research as well.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to investigate and conceptualize differences in managerial styles and inter-organizational relationship (IOR) strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the international environment, and make managerial implications useful for business practitioners and educators.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study applies comparative management research methodology. The management style dimensions analyzed in the paper are supervision, decision making, information-sharing styles, and paternalistic orientation. The types of IOR strategies considered are conjugate, confederate, agglomeratic, and organic. Data were collected through surveying managers of entrepreneurial firms from the USA, China, and Russia, operating in the same industry. Factor analysis was applied for scale validation, and regression models were used for hypotheses testing.\nFindings: - The relationship between managerial styles and types of IOR strategies pursued by SMEs was documented. The cross-cultural differences in terms of SMEs' orientation towards different types of IOR were also revealed.\nPractical implications: - The study indicated that it is possible to predict prevailing IOR strategies based on cultural differences in a systematic way. Because of SMEs' rapid globalization, the study findings contribute to the efforts of achieving better correspondence between IOR-building strategies of small businesses in different countries. Educational and training programs preparing international SME managers to distinguish, substantiate and deal with the revealed cross-cultural IOR differences will be helpful for achieving this goal.\nOriginality/value: - The major value of the study is that it provides insight into IORs from the small business perspective in a cross-cultural setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The global internet market(s): a reconstruction of the views of the industry
|
[
"Electronic commerce",
"International trade",
"Videogames",
"Mobile internet",
"Live streaming"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As of 2019, the World Wide Web turned 30 [1] and the internet passed 50 [2]! the \"web\" still represents \"the internet\" for most users around the world. However, this \"mythical\" web has evolved tremendously over this period of time, leaving the \"little tool for sharing research findings\" far behind. Most connected activities now rely on recent innovations such as native mobile apps. Between 2009 and 2018, global internet penetration grew from 24% to 51% (Meeker, 2019, p. 170). Not only the growth and the global deployment of the internet did generate a huge amount of value that was difficult to predict at its beginning but also its horizontal strength disrupted most of the silo/vertical sectors generating much confusion about the (new) borders between former sectors of sub-sectors; an issue frequently referred to as convergence (between telecom and IT between media and telecom, media and IT [...]). Therefore, the assessment of markets with blurring borders became a rather difficult endeavor [3]. There are some frequent overlaps to describe these transformations between the information and communications technologies (ICT) industries, the digital economy, the internet economy, the \"apps\" economy, digital services, IT services [...]. This paper is an attempt to describe the various segments of the internet value chain and the evolution of the markets. It aims at briefly summing up the very dynamics of the sector.\nLooking at the internet value chain: One way to gauge the internet markets is through the economics of the internet along its value chain. The GSMA commissioned A.T. Kearney[10] (GSMA, 2016a) to that end. Taking all the players involved in the end-to-end service experienced by end-users using the internet for whatever purpose, the study retains five main segments, namely, content rights, online services, enabling technology and services, connectivity and user interface. These five main segments are subdivided into 37 categories (GSMA, 2016a, p. 12) (Figure 1). This figure also reveals how complex and sophisticated this value chain has become thanks to the array of recent innovations.\nThe evolution of the internet: a brief reconstruction: As noted, over the period 2009 to 2018, the global internet penetration grew from 24% to 51%, reaching 56% as of July 2019 (Table 1) (We Are Social/Hootsuite, 2019, p. 10). The number of internet users is steadily growing even if the growth rate has been decreasing since 2016 (Meeker, 2019, p. 7). Figure 4 gives the distribution of internet users across regions and leading countries.\nBusiness models and players: innovation in monetization across categories of online services: In the previous sections, we saw that all segments of the global ecosystem will continue to grow but that some will grow faster than others: online services such as content services and various forms of e-commerce. We can now look at the main business models and the various ways to monetize online services. There are two main ways to generate revenue, namely, direct sales to the customers and advertising. Firms can blend the two streams of revenues in numerous fashions. They can add other streams of revenues, such as in the case of videogames and video-streaming in Asia, in-app purchases and virtual items.\nConclusion: Over the past 30 years, the internet has changed significantly from both a quantitative (very strong growth of markets) and a quantitative viewpoint, offering an array of innovative products and services enabled by the deployment of new networks and the provision of new devices and services at affordable prices. Over this period, connectivity went from plain narrowband, to broadband and to the mobile internet. The internet value chain became more sophisticated, thicker and thicker, adding segments and categories of services. The new mobile platforms are becoming the key for the distribution of content and an array of \"apps\".\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide a synthesis of the evolution of the global internet markets through an assessment of their economic strength. It is an attempt to describe the various segments of the internet value chain and the evolution of the markets. It aims at briefly summing up the very dynamics of the sector, of the various subsectors while looking at the business models and the market capitalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is a descriptive paper, presenting market trends, based on desk research and trade press. It is not meant to provide any theoretical contribution but attempting to reconstruct the views from the industry as documented by trade literature. Hence, the paper relies mostly on industry and consultancy data. The paper builds on a database collected by the author over the past 30 years and the selection of the relevant data to document and identify the trends and offer a synthesis of the views of the industry.\nFindings: The paper shows how over the past 30 years the internet has changed dramatically from both a quantitative (reaching more and more users worldwide and witnessing a dramatic growth of all markets) and qualitative (offering an array of innovative products and services enabled by the deployment of new networks) and the availability of new devices. The paper reveals how each technological wave ushered in a series of innovation and new services, boosted the foundation and the growth of pioneering companies.\nResearch limitations/implications: Taking into account the lack of official data, the industry data used should be treated as just signals of potential trends, but sufficient to give an overview of the evolution of the global internet markets. Furthermore, detailed studies should complement this descriptive approach. The approach does have obvious methodological and theoretical limits, not providing a robust methodological framework just offering a reconstruction of the trends as documented by the trade publications. However, it concludes highlighting some of the tensions and contradictions.\nPractical implications: The paper closes with a summary of the main transformations and considers some future developments. The paper draws some lessons from some failures and from the strategies of firms.\nSocial implications: The paper hints at the way users developed \"unique\" behaviors using social media, taking advantage of the new opportunities to exchange with others. The paper hints at some regulatory issues and challenges.\nOriginality/value: The paper briefly sums up the very dynamics of the global internet market(s). It attempts to characterize some of the main features of their evolution and of the main segments. If offers a comprehensive overview of available data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Information richness and trust in v-commerce: implications for services marketing
|
[
"Information richness",
"Virtual worlds",
"Trust",
"Experimental design",
"E-commerce and v-commerce"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has transformed how business is conducted, how business partners interact and how information is shared between them (Agarwal and Wu, 2015). Different types of e-commerce platforms abound. Among them, virtual worlds have been called \"a significant new market environment for brand-building through experiential customer service interactions\" (Barnes et al., 2015, p. 12), and their impact on service innovation has been noted (Barrett et al., 2015). Despite their promise, electronic trading environments bear risks in the much greater scope for anonymity. The associated signals that moderate trade in traditional environments are not present in electronic shopping environments. As a result, online shopping is characterised by a lack of trust (Bauer et al., 2015, p. 57) and consequently a greater element of risk (Quigley, 2015, p. 7) which may deter consumers. To reduce consumers' inherent distrust of websites, firms need to develop ways to overcome the lack of physical cues that consumers use to assess quality, safety or security (Beatty et al., 2011, p. 2).\nTrust, e-commerce and information richness: Conceptualising trust\nResearch method and design: We have seen that the further progress of e-commerce may be hindered by its potential for low trust between trading partners when information richness is low compared with physical retail. Also, we argued that one promising avenue to overcome this problem lies in information-rich virtual worlds, electronic trading environments that simulate certain aspects of physical and social settings. We now outline how we examined this possibility in our experiment. We first outline our main variables, their measurement and our treatments. We then discuss the research design including operationalising e-commerce and v-commerce in our experiment to test whether differences in trust game behaviour exist between the two.\nResults: The data set our design generated consists of the behaviour we observed regarding trustingness (measured as the percentage of the stake sent by senders) and trustworthiness (percentage of the received amount returned by receivers). Table I provides summary statistics. Out of our four hypotheses, two (H3 and H4) were supported fully and two (H1 and H2) were partially supported by our data.\nDiscussion: The past decade has seen immense growth in the number of virtual worlds, their user bases and economies (Nazir and Lui, 2016). The resulting commercial opportunities for real-world firms and service providers (Khan and Brouwer, 2016) are limited by the extent to which trust can develop in electronically mediated transactions (Bauer et al., 2015; Beatty et al., 2011). Our objective was to use an experiment to assess the role of v-commerce in promoting trust in computer-mediated transactions. We found significantly higher trustingness and trustworthiness in the virtual commerce setting compared with the static electronic setting. Our results suggest that the features of v-commerce may be capable of promoting trust similar to brick-and-mortar settings. Our result chimes with that of Fullbrunn et al. (2011), who also find higher trustworthiness in SL than in their physical laboratory. This kind of finding is striking because online consumers may have ample reason to be more circumspect when trading with a faceless and anonymous other. The virtual setting thus promises to combine the respective advantages of traditional brick-and-mortar retail environments with those of e-commerce.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The potential for e-commerce is limited by a trust deficit when traders do not interact in a physical, bricks-and-mortar context. The theory of information richness posits that equivocal interactions, such as ones requiring trust, can be facilitated through communication media that transmit multiple cues interactively. This study aims to examine the potential of information-rich virtual worlds to reduce this trust deficit compared with more traditional Web-based e-tailing environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Rather than focusing on stated intentions, the authors adopt an experimental approach to measure behaviour. Participants receive performance-related financial incentives to perform trust games in different information-rich treatments that represent three retail environments: a physical environment representing bricks-and-mortar trade, an electronic environment representing Web-based online retailing and a virtual environment representing virtual world retail.\nFindings: The authors find that the two dimensions of trust significantly differ between the treatments. In particular, as hypothesised, both trustingness and trustworthiness are higher in the virtual than in the electronic environment. However, contrary to the hypotheses, physical trade is not associated with greater trust than virtual trade.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors extend previous research by demonstrating how the information richness of the virtual world interface can promote e-commerce by deepening trust between trading partners. This research also complements existing work that approaches product and service interfaces through the lens of servicescapes.\nPractical implications: The findings also contribute towards the development of services marketing practice and the design of e-commerce environments.\nOriginality/value: Much of the work in this space considers purchase intentions and attitudes around trust, whereas this study looks at actual trust behaviour in the virtual space.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Helping managers to more effectively delegate authority
|
[
"Empowering employees",
"Delegation training",
"Training materials per delegation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In a previous issue of this digest, I attempted to \"make the case\" that delegation of authority (DoA) by managers was the most desirable practice, in general, embracing several positive features not the least of which are employee learning that improves performance, increased job satisfaction and a practice that helps diminish employee thoughts about leaving the organization.\nFoundational elements: We are in this together\nAssisting managers learn about delegation: What to do; what not to do\nSelf-assessment exercise: Instructions: For each of the following statements, select the answer that best describes your approach to delegating tasks to subordinates. Remember to respond as you have behaved or would behave, not as you think you should behave. If you have little or no managerial experience, answer the questions assuming you are a manager (Table I).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide human resources (HR) practitioners with some information and tools to assist managers become more effective delegators of authority. Included is information that might be used in a training session for managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawn from research and opinion is information that serves to help managers form solid partnerships with employees in sharing of some tasks and responsibilities. Several findings from research aim to illuminate key prescriptions for effective delegation. A survey instrument is provided to assist managers assess their own preferences in delegation practices.\nFindings: Findings clear the fact that delegation can be deliberately planned and executed. There are several areas that can be assessed to ultimately guide a manager in effective delegation.\nOriginality/value: The originality of this paper lies in its potential to: a) assist and guide a manager as he/she goes about establishing an effective delegation; and b) the arrangement of the content of the paper to enable HR practitioners to use the material as a training module for managers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Analysis of SME data readiness: a simulation perspective
|
[
"Small and medium enterprises",
"Manufacturing",
"Data gap filling",
"Data profile",
"Data readiness",
"Discrete event simulation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Throughout the world small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to their size and nature tend to operate in complex, fast-paced and unpredictable environments. Business is constantly changing and SMEs are continually faced with the need to find new and innovative ways to improve. Manufacturing SMEs play a significant role in many world economies and finding new ways to improve manufacturing design and operations is of crucial importance to their sustainability and performance. Consequently there is an increasing need for companies of this type to identify and explore new and innovative solutions for improving their operations and decision making. This will in turn lend itself to better and stronger manufacturing strategies thus potentially leading to improved performance and competitiveness. One such innovative avenue open to SMEs for improving their performance is that of discrete event simulation (DES).\n2. Literature review: While the majority of emphasis identified in literature (as described previously) is on the larger firm, the literature relating to DES in SMEs is beginning to gradually expand. However, what is still noticeable is the singular nature of the majority of these studies (Table II). In comparison to larger organisations, DES is not widely adopted by the SME sector and thus limits these companies in accessing the significant benefits that are accruing to their larger counterparts (O'Kane et al., 2007). Although, it can be generally observed that SMEs tend to hesitate in adopting DES technology due to perceived costs on time, resources and complexity, Hvolby et al. (2012) have noted based on the study of a single simplified case that it is possible that (very simple) simulation models can be more accessible than what most SMEs expect. In an articulation of the value of DES for SMEs, Hvolby et al. (2012) describe the companies perception of DES as a significant breakthrough following the completion of a simplified DES study, as it enabled the company to observe the actual status of production alongside changing planning principles and requirements. Similarly, both Ahmed and Latif (2010) and Jarkko et al. (2013) found that after modelling product returns in two SMEs in the consumer electronics market and the production process of a Swedish SME respectively, the organisations involved in both cases reported enhanced ability to operate their respective systems at an improved operational level.\n3. Methodology: The following section presents the research context for the study, the research objectives and hypotheses, followed by the theoretical framework and research model and finally the presentation of the data collection strategy and respondent rates and profiles.\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1. Respondent profile\n5. Discussion and conclusions: This paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the data profile of Irish-based manufacturing SMEs which was conducted to ascertain their readiness for DES from a data perspective. It has been proposed by Byrne et al. (2013) that the major limitation for SME engagement with advanced analytical techniques such as DES is attributed to a real \"data gap\". From the literature and organisational practice it is clear to see that data are one of the most critical components for any DES process and the data gathering and preparation phase of the process is one which many companies and in particular SMEs face difficulties with. If data are missing (not collected at all) or incomplete (companies do not systematically or comprehensively collect the data) then this can have a negative impact on DES modelling. Indeed, if data are not stored in a format compatible with DES modelling this can also delay or deter model development within an SME. All of these factors can prevent SMEs from accessing and utilising DES as a tool to aid and enhance their business decision making and strategising.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the data profile of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with specific emphasis on understanding the data readiness of SMEs for discrete event simulation (DES) modelling.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Research was conducted through a review of literature and a survey research strategy of manufacturing SMEs.\nFindings: This paper illustrates the data profile of manufacturing SMEs. Insight is provided on the types of data collected by SMEs, the collection methods used and how these data are stored by the SMEs. Additionally size and age effects are considered. Based on this data profile, conclusions are made regarding an indication of data readiness of manufacturing SMEs for DES modelling.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research is focused specifically on manufacturing SMEs in Ireland, other countries and sectors are not investigated.\nPractical implications: This paper provides owner-managers and senior management insight into the data profile of manufacturing SMEs and their potential for utilisation of DES for performance improvement and decision support.\nOriginality/value: This paper addresses the gaps that exist in the knowledge of the data profile of manufacturing SMEs and consequently the status of this profile with regard to the readiness of SMEs for DES modelling.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A detailed calculation model for costing of green manufacturing
|
[
"Green manufacturing",
"Carbon emission costs",
"Energy-saving activities",
"Process-based costing",
"Product life cycle",
"Systems dynamics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Recently, with growing concerns on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by industries, low-carbon manufacturing has gained very much attention. Manufacturing activities are one of the major sources of carbon dioxide emissions (IE Agency, 2007). Also, manufacturing firms have an estimated energy saving and energy efficiency potential of between 13 and 29 percent (European Commission (EU), 2006; IE Agency, 2009; IPCC, 2013a, b). Manufacturing firms are expected to implement green manufacturing and increase product complexity at a competitive price. However, a major problem for engineering managers is to ascertain the costs of embarking on green manufacturing. At the design stage of manufacturing processes, the machines, materials, machining parameters, cutting tools and operation sequences can be harnessed for efficient resource consumption and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at a competitive price. Thus, a planning and control methodology for costing of green manufacturing at the early design stage is important for engineering managers.\n2. Background: Manufacturing firms are facing intense pressures to embark on green manufacturing. It is therefore imperative to ascertain cost of green manufacturing at an early stage. The PBC model can assist managers to become aware of design parameters that cause demands on optional and indirect resources. Through using PBC model, non-value-adding activities can be removed during design for carbon emission cost reduction thus minimizing resource depletion.\n3. Methodology: The longitudinal and cross-wise designs were adopted to collect data on carbon emissions based on the activities in the relevant life cycle of manufactured product features. A manufacturing facility in China was used as the sample population. The case company is active in gear technology/manufacturing, and designs and produces components in partnership with their suppliers and customers. The company is situated in southern China and is fast expanding its china manufacturing footprint. In this study, the main gear manufacturing site is considered that is co-located with the product development site. This main manufacturing site has around 1,500 employees. The manufacturing facility includes more than 180 machines distributed in about 25 departments and provides maintenance operations to its coupled base of products in China. The manufacturing produces new gear part prototypes using collaborations from the designers at the development site. The engineering managers are faced with pressures to implement green manufacturing. However, they are unable to ascertain the costs of embarking on green manufacturing.\n4. Results and discussion: In this study, carbon emission quantities are evaluated using carbon emission factors according to IPCC (2006). The machining activities are carried out on CNC machines based on a typical high-production scenario for the gear part shown in Figure 1.\n5. Conclusion, managerial implications and recommendations: This paper integrates \"green manufacturing,\" concepts of industrial dynamics, and product lifecycle aiming at developing a methodology for cost calculation. The methodology comprises of a process-based cost model and a SD model. The process-based cost model focusses mainly on carbon emission costs and energy-saving activities. SD model was applied to incorporate important metrics usually ignored in traditional static modeling. The study provides a decision-making tool which will assist management in implementing green manufacturing by incorporating a life cycle assessment measurement into manufacturing cost management.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Manufacturing firms are expected to implement green manufacturing and increase product complexity at a competitive price. However, a major problem for engineering managers is to ascertain the costs of embarking on green manufacturing. Thus, a planning and control methodology for costing of green manufacturing at the early design stage is important for engineering managers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper integrates \"green manufacturing,\" concepts of industrial dynamics, and product lifecycle aiming at developing a methodology for cost calculation. The methodology comprises of a process-based cost model and a systems dynamics (SD) model. The process-based cost model focusses mainly on carbon emission costs and energy-saving activities. Important metrics usually ignored in traditional static modeling were incorporated using SD model.\nFindings: Equipment costs and carbon emission costs are major components of costs in manufacturing. The total life cycle cost of product in green manufacturing is lower than that of same product in conventional manufacturing.\nResearch limitations/implications: The specific results of this study are limited to the case company, but can hopefully contribute to further research on ascertaining cost of implementing \"green issues\" in manufacturing. The proposed cost calculation model can be efficiently applied in any manufacturing firm on the basis of accessibility of real cost data. This necessitates a comprehensive cost database. At the development of the model and database management system, time and cost resources could be demanding, but once installed, use of the model becomes less demanding.\nPractical implications: The cost model provides cost justifications of implementing green manufacturing. The reality is that green manufacturing will see its development peak with cost justifications. The results of the application show that the proposed detailed cost model can be effective in ascertaining costs of implementing green manufacturing. Manufacturing firms are recommended to adopt energy-saving activities based on the proposed detailed cost calculation model.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions of the study includes: first, to help engineering managers more accurately understand how to allocate resources for energy-saving activities through appropriate cost drivers. Second, to simulate with SD the dynamic behavior of few important metrics, often ignored in traditional mathematical modeling. The detailed model provides a pre-manufacturing decision-making tool which will assist management in implementing green manufacturing by incorporating a life cycle assessment measurement into manufacturing cost management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Enhancing employability in engineering and management students through soft skills
|
[
"India",
"Soft skills",
"Employability skills",
"Finishing schools",
"Soft skills training"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: You can give lifetime employability by training people, by making them adaptable, making them mobile to go other places to do other things. But you cann't guarantee lifetime employment (Jack Welch).\n2. Significance of the study: Companies such as Sun Microsystems, Mastek, Polaris and Infosys have included soft skills in their training agenda. They are aware of the significance of soft skills and they train and groom their employees to improve their productivity and performance.\n3. Objectives of the study: The objectives of the study are as follows:\n4. Review of literature: We will discuss various dimensions of soft skills before arriving at final definition on soft skills. Rowena Crosbie, writes in Learning the Soft Skills of Leadership as:\n5. Research methodology: The research study was conducted in the district of Nizamabad in India for both engineering and management students. At the time of executing the questionnaire there were nine engineering colleges in the district and in most of the colleges the management education (MBA) is included along with an engineering education (B.Tech). An interview questionnaire was designed containing open and close-ended questions to elicit views from four stakeholders such as faculty, students, recruiters, and directors of educational institutions.\n6. Data analysis and interpretation: The outcome of the results through SPSS is stated as follows: the respondents stated that soft skills are important in the present context of employability and for ensuring professional survival and success of the students. Looking at the objective of bridging the gap between the campus and the industry, the respondents suggested that there is a need to conduct \"Campus Connect\" programs the way \"Infosys Technologies Ltd\" is conducting currently in India.\n7. Tools and techniques in training: The right teaching and training methods will influence and motivate the students to acquire the skills and abilities effectively. It is essential to use diverse techniques to add joy to the learning process. First of all, it is essential to show the benefits of training methods and arouse interest among the students and encourage their active involvement with the training process.\n8. Findings: The research findings identify that the students must review and reassess the requirements of the recruiters. It reveals that those who are better equipped with hard and soft skills are likely to survive and succeed professionally. It reveals that students who are academically strong have an attitude of \"we know everything\". This prevents them from learning and growing. The recruiters stick to the slogan of \"recruit for attitude and train for skill\". The students need to know the basic expectations of the corporates in order to present themselves accordingly. The corporates reveal that those who succeeded at the workplace have the right attitude, personality and behavior.\n9. Suggestions: Institutions should place emphasis on experiential learning and blended learning in the classrooms. Benjamin Franklin rightly said, \"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.\" Hence, include role plays, debates, situation analysis, group discussions and drama to get the message across effectively. The educational institutions should encourage industry experts to visit educational institutions as this brings awareness among the students about the industry expectations. Above all, finishing schools should be made part of the engineering and management institutions to bridge the gap between campus and industry. Here are the suggestions for the faculty, industry, and parents to enhance employability:\n10. Recommendations: It is disheartening to note that the Indian education system is producing educated illiterates. It is here the collective role of all stakeholders such as faculty, recruiters, students and directors of educational institutions is imperative. There must be an integrated approach, in educational institutions, to handle unemployability. The educational institutions need to understand the requirements of industry. At the same time, the industry needs to understand the limitations of the educational institutions. As soft skills are directly proportional to employability, there is need to customize the soft skills training programs as per the needs of the industry, not the other way round.\n11. Discussion and conclusion: William James of Harvard University estimated that employees could retain their jobs by working at a mere 20-30 percent of their potential. His research led him to believe that if these same employees were properly motivated, they could work 80-90 percent of their capabilities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between campus and industry among the management and engineering students to enhance their employability. It equips students and faculty with creative tools and techniques to acquire soft skills and provides a new perspective to the discipline of soft skills.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper designs an interview questionnaire containing both open and close-ended questions to elicit responses from faculty, students, recruiters, and directors of educational institutions.\nFindings: The study found that there must be effective coordination among faculty, students, industry and directors of educational institutions for enhancing employability skills among students. It places emphasis on the role of Training and Placement Officer (TPO) in the educational institutions for better employability and calls for promotion of finishing schools to enhance employability.\nResearch limitations/implications: The article relies on limited survey and interview data from one particular district in India and from students of engineering and management education only.\nPractical implications: The study can be applied in any part of the world as there is a problem of unemployability everywhere currently.\nOriginality/value: The paper adds value to the little literature available in the area of soft skills. It sets the agenda for discussion in soft and hard skills and employability, presents problems and prospects and calls for blending both hard and soft skills to enhance employability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Consumers' brand images of wines: Differences between two leading Spanish denominations of origin
|
[
"Spain",
"Brand image",
"Denomination of origin",
"Multi-group",
"Umbrella brand",
"Wine consumers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Wine and food are said to be complementary industries that foster growth in certain rural areas. One of the main objectives of the governments in these areas is to maximise the size of the wine and food industry by increasing competitiveness, quality and employment in their regional economies. Food and wine have demonstrable synergies and are considered to be perfectly symbiotic (Macionis and Cambourne, 1998).\nThe nature of brand image: Before attempting to define brand image it is necessary to understand the term \"image\". This concept has been applied in many contexts and disciplines, to products and services alike (Buhalis, 2000). Image is defined as the attributes related to consumer behaviour, and is a holistic concept that includes cognitive components such as visual representation and affective components such as emotions or impressions.\nThe components of the DOs in the wine sector: In the wine sector, when a new brand region is formed, a brand identity can be established which is linked to the regional branding strategy (Bruwer and Lesschaeve, 2012). Quality, i.e. the specific characteristics and reputation of wines, are thus linked to the places in which they are produced (Johnson and Bruwer, 2007), and they are identified by their DOs. The effect of regional branding is fairly relevant as regards both purchasing decisions (Chamorro et al., 2015) and explaining the profitability of wineries (Sellers-Rubio and Mas-Ruiz, 2013). Bruwer and Buller (2012a) identify intrinsic and extrinsic cues around the DOs. Both are relevant, although some authors confirm that extrinsic cues are even more important in wine purchase decisions. The DOs are associated with the specific and intrinsic characteristics of wine, such as colour or taste, tradition or culture, or flavour, variety or vintage (Krishnan, 1996). The grapes in each wine region have specific identifiable characteristics, and the growing environment depends on the area (Remaud and Lockshin, 2009). Extrinsic signals are relative to packaging, store image or regional brand image. Specifically, Bruwer and Buller (2012a, b) define brand image as an external signal that is of great importance in the wine decision-making process. For these researchers, each regional brand image is a key element in the success of their wines. Hanf (2014) indicates that brand image is a further advantage for negotiations and management strategies in the wine sector. DOs act as quality signs for consumers, thus benefiting individual wine brands, particularly when their global image is even better known (Charters et al., 2013). For Le et al. (2013), perceived quality and perceived price refers to the evaluation of wine branding. A DO is not just a sign of product quality or the level of prices (functional image), but also reflects the identity and emotions of the region in which the wine is produced (affective image). Lockshin et al. (2009) additionally highlight that the main reason for choosing a particular wine from among various brands is its reputation, confirming the strong impact of a well-known and a positioned regional wine. There is consequently a link between a brand and its geographical origin and their perceived fit (Orth et al., 2004). Brand image can help to create the passion for a wine regional label (Correia and Ruediger, 2012). The aforementioned authors even indicate that there is a positive impact of brand image on brand love. Consumers can have real feelings of love towards a product. Building emotional brand images can increase market share, thus leading to a competitive advantage (Nowak et al., 2006; Barber and Taylor, 2011).\nThe role of the DOs from the marketing perspective: The existence of an indicator of origin elevates the image that a consumer has of a product (Krishnan, 1996). The brand image of a wine identifies its place of origin and is a key tool in its differentiation (Johnson and Bruwer, 2007). The DOs acts as umbrella brands and help to determine the differentiation among wines (Jimenez, 2001). Region of origin is identified as an attribute that influences wine consumers' purchase decisions (Orth et al., 2005; Schamel, 2006; Marzo-Navarro and Pedraja-Iglesias, 2009; Bernabeu et al., 2012; Bruwer and Buller, 2012a). For Lockshin et al. (2009), regional brand image is the most important factor in consumers' wine choice, playing a vital role in the wine decision-making process. Correia and Ruediger (2012) suggest that those wines with a good brand image are more likely to be chosen, thus signifying that preferences for wine are influenced by geographical factors (Guris et al., 2007; Cacic et al., 2011), and making it critically important for wine regions to work continually to develop effective marketing strategies that will enhance branding and brand image (Bruwer and Johnson, 2010).\nDifferences among DOs: Branding is a relevant concept that benefits the wine industry since it is a means of differentiation and competitive advantage. Building the brand image is therefore highly relevant in the wine sector owing to the competition among different wine areas (Vrontis and Papasolomou, 2007).\nMethods: This study was executed in several steps. First, the brand image scale was determined, along with the character of the model to be proposed. Second, a questionnaire was developed for wine consumers, which was then used by the research team to collect data regarding two Spanish DOs (Rioja and La Mancha). Third, partial least squares (PLS) method was used to test both the model and the hypotheses formulated.\nFindings and discussion: PLS modelling: evaluation and validation of the measurement model\nConclusions and practical implications: This study breaks away from previous research by establishing a link between functional image and reputation and affective image as antecedents of brand image, and the main differences observed in two wine Spanish regions, through a multi-group analysis. It therefore complements previous research found in wine DO brand image literature in several ways.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the formation of denomination of origin brand image in two different Spanish wine regions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sample of wine consumers was selected in two denominations of origin (DOs): Rioja and La Mancha. Partial least squares method was used to estimate the measurement and the proposed structural model. A multi-group analysis was also employed to determine the main differences between both wine umbrella brands.\nFindings: The main components that contribute to the creation of brand image were tested: functional image and reputation, and affective image. The comparison found that the values obtained for La Mancha are significantly inferior to those of Rioja as regards affective image.\nResearch limitations/implications: The choice of two Spanish wine regions and the analysis of wine consumers who were purchasing in wine shops suggest future research works that will consider not only extending the number of wine brands studied, but will also cover other kinds of commercial establishments, differentiating the place of consumption or suggesting a variety of wine styles.\nPractical implications: The results obtained suggest the relevance of DOs in the commercialisation of wines, and consequently the activities and alliances that should be developed to improve the main components of brand image.\nOriginality/value: A multi-group analysis focused on two Spanish DOs has been used to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each umbrella brand. The basis used for this has been the study of functional and affective aspects in one of the most traditional wine countries in Europe, Spain. This research is of value to academics, wineries and public institutions, as it may allow them to design marketing and commercialisation strategies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Beyond obscenity: an analysis of sexual discourse in LIS educational texts
|
[
"Ethics",
"Collection development",
"Censorship"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The popularity of E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy with the mainstream reading public represents a unique event where an erotic novel series became openly read and widely discussed. It is inarguable that the trilogy has gained far more public interest and public acceptance than any other erotica. The paperback release of the first novel surpassed sales of the Twilight paperbacks (Bentley, 2012) which is particularly interesting as Fifty Shades of Grey began its existence as Twilight fanfiction. James' trilogy is sold in warehouse clubs not normally known for selling erotica, book clubs advertise it, it has been the catalyst for new publishing within the genre, and unrelated businesses create advertising puns with the title. For example, a men's clothier advertised its \"fifty shades of grey suits.\"\n2. Literature review: The literature examining pornography, erotica, and other sexually themed materials in LIS focuses on examining collections, cataloguing and classification, and the social and cultural pressures librarians encounter. Fully framing the current project requires an understanding of the shift in the role of the librarian from one of \"censor\" to one of \"defender of intellectual freedom\" and an understanding of how controversial materials, writ large, have been explored.\n3. Current research and methodology: This project is informed by Michel Foucault's perspective on discourse and power as outlined in his lecture \"Discourse on Language\" particularly his understanding of education. Education \"follows the well-trodden battle lines of social conflict. Every educational system is a political means of maintaining or of modifying the appropriation of discourse\" (Foucault, 1972, p. 227). It is the contention here that cultural discomfort with sexual topics stymies discourse in the profession and impedes treating this topic in a manner consistent with professional ethics.\n4. Findings: Using the methodology outlined above, 85 texts, published between 1943 and 2012 were gathered for analysis. Table I depicts the breakdown between decade of publication and type of text analyzed. The results are presented by responding to each research question under investigation.\n5. Discussion: As seen in Figure 1, the disparity of sexual representation within LIS educational texts persists. LIS texts should not reflect a society in which we turn away from educational and professional guidance when talking about controversial topics, and instead turn to filtering, prohibiting and shielding (Kuipers, 2006). These cultural biases trap us in our own cultural constructs of what is appropriate. Rather than deferring to these biases, a more deliberate attempt should be made to recognize and interact with the intricacies of controversial collections.\n6. Conclusion: Collecting controversial materials, particularly those of a sexual nature, cannot be viewed as a choice between right or wrong. The cultural shift of sex into the mainstream enables us to readily interact with controversial information. The language and explicitness of what was once viewed as controversial, is now part of popular culture. \"Mainstream representation has become more explicit and \"perverse\" and imagery and language, which would have been classed as pornographic not very long ago, have become part and parcel of popular culture\" (Attwood, 2006, p. 96). Currently, no work better exemplifies this than Fifty Shades of Grey. Beyond changing social mores, there is the professional obligation to take into consideration. If a significant role of an LIS professional is to combat censorship and one of the most highly censored topics is sex, what does it say about the profession that the materials used to teach students tread lightly on the topic if they address it at all?\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This research seeks to discover the type of discourse encouraged around controversial materials, particularly those of a sexual nature, in LIS educational texts. Censorship and controversial materials are often issues addressed in the LIS literature, but even with ideals of neutrality it can be difficult to remain balanced on certain issues, particularly those dealing with sex.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A content analysis of 85 LIS texts on collection development, reference, and intellectual freedom was completed using the following thematic elements: sex, pornography, erotica, curiosa, facetiae, obscenity, censorship, and controversial materials. Deeper analysis of individual definitions and usages was informed by Michel Foucault's perspective that education \"follows the well-trodden battle lines of social conflict. Every educational system is a political means of maintaining or of modifying the appropriation of discourse\" (Foucault, 1972, p. 227).\nFindings: Findings from the investigation indicate that LIS texts are predominately pejorative when discussing sexual topics such as erotica and pornography. Few texts provide distinctions between different types or genres of sexual materials.\nResearch limitations/implications: The majority of texts analyzed for this study were published in the USA and hence have an American bias. This bias necessitated the use of American legal terminology and a reliance on American Library Association guidelines for examination purposes. The emphasis on American terminology may limit the applicability of the results outside of North America.\nOriginality/value: Sex is one of the most highly cited reasons for challenges to materials in libraries. At the same time the mainstream popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has created a new, widespread interest in the publishing, reading, and collecting of erotica. An understanding of how these texts are defined and identified in the LIS literature provides greater understanding of the discipline's biases.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does "meaningful gamification" address gen Y needs? Exploring its influence on creating meaningful engagement for gen Y workers
|
[
"Gamification",
"Employee engagement",
"Gen y",
"Meaningful gamification"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is expected that by the year 2030, about 75 per cent of our global workforce will be represented by the Gen Ys (born between 1980 and 1997) (Montes, 2017). However, this promising statistic hardly provides a satisfactory explanation to the difficult issue of Gen Y engagement for every contemporary organization. It appears that the model of engagement that worked pretty effortlessly with the previous generations does not obtain a similar result with the Gen Ys. This can be attributed to a different set of work values, organizational expectations, and altogether a different set of engagement drivers for the Gen Ys. The Gen Ys have been heavily attributed as a generation running on immediate gratification, public recognition, curiosity, social connectedness, independence, and transparency. Interestingly, empirical literature also indicates a close affinity toward meaning-based work value as a significant factor for engagement. In this line, it becomes imperative for contemporary organizations to create meaningful workplace scenarios for the Gen Ys to achieve their full potential.\nHow to apply \"meaningful gamification\" for Gen Y engagement?: \"Meaningful gamification\" is constructed on the premise of organismic integration theory (Deci and Ryan, 2004). This theory elaborates that when people find a personal relevance in doing an activity, they are more likely to do that activity out of their internal motivation. Naturally, it is the personal relevance that deems an activity \"meaningful\". However, as personal relevance changes for each person so does the meaningfulness of an activity. Keeping this in purview, \"meaningful gamification\" enables users to develop a personal connection with non-game activity through customizable gamified elements.\nConclusion: It is apparent from the aforementioned discussion that \"meaningful gamification\" holds the potential to address Gen Y needs. In that way, it creates a base of personal relevance for the Gen Ys to relate with their work. This ultimately translates into a meaningful experience for the employees to cherish their work for long.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the role of \"meaningful gamification\" in creating meaningful experience to engage Gen Y workers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper adopts a critical, practitioner perspective to review the role of \"meaningful gamification\" in creating meaningful experience to engage Gen Y workers.\nFindings: The author argues that \"meaningful gamification\" holds the potential to address Gen Y needs. In that way, it creates a base of personal relevance for the Gen Ys to relate with their own work. This ultimately translates into a meaningful experience for the employees to cherish their work.\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"
}
] |
Immigrants from ENP countries and employment dismissal in Spain
|
[
"Employment",
"Immigrants",
"Human capital",
"Europe"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The current economic crisis has meant that the EU and, in particular, certain Member States have had to face additional challenges associated with integrating and assimilating their immigrant populations into the labour market. Here we address one of these new challenges, namely, the increased likelihood of job loss faced by immigrants above all during the economic downturn. High exit rates from employment are likely to have negative effects on immigrants (e.g. undesired return to countries of origin, interruption of social integration, and labour market assimilation processes) as well as on host and home countries (e.g. disruption in pension system contributions, the discouragement of potential migrants, fall in remittances). Existing empirical evidence shows that job losses are not homogeneously distributed across population groups; specifically, the employment figures for developed economies show that exit rates are higher for immigrants than they are for natives. It is this difference in the job loss rates of natives and immigrants in the Spanish labour market, particularly since the beginning of the so-called Great Recession, that motivates the analysis conducted in this paper.\n2. Context of the study: 2.1. Brief description of recent immigration in Spain\n3. Data set: This study uses data from the annual sample of the Spanish LFS for 2006, 2008, and 2010. The LFS, which is produced by the Spanish National Office for Statistics, provides information about the personal characteristics of individuals as well as about the jobs and firms in which they are employed. Note that the sub-sample used in the annual version of the LFS is that of the households being interviewed for the sixth time, that is, those not included in the survey in the following quarters[2]. Interestingly, the LFS allows immigrants to be identified irrespective of their legal status in Spain, which means the sample potentially represents those whose situation is regular and irregular. Thus, despite the limitations of this database for measuring the immigrant population (probable underestimation), it is arguably the most appropriate for the type of analysis we intend to conduct. Interestingly, the micro-data provided in the annual sub-sample of the LFS allows immigrants to be identified by country of origin, and so they can be classified into the two groups of interest to us here: ENP and non-ENP immigrants.\n4. The role of differences in individual characteristics: 4.1. Descriptive analysis\n5. Decomposition of the immigrant-native gap: It can be argued that the analysis conducted so far imposes the same response in the probability of job loss on the observed characteristics for all groups of workers under analysis. If this were not the case, the estimates of the effect of being an immigrant (as reported in the previous section) would not be accurate. To explore this issue further, we estimate the marginal effect of the observed characteristics for non-ENP and ENP immigrants, and natives separately. Based on these estimates, we then apply an alternative methodology for verifying if the differences in the human capital endowment of natives and immigrants and/or their over-representation in certain occupations, sectors, and regions fully explain the gap in the rate of job loss.\n6. Conclusions: This paper has provided evidence of the widening of the immigrant-native gap in the rate of job loss since the beginning of Spain's Great Recession. By distinguishing between immigrants from the ENP countries and those from other emerging and developing countries, we have also shown that the increase in the rate for the former group has been much more pronounced than for the native-born and for the non-ENP immigrants. Our results suggest that this is due to the lower endowment in education of ENP immigrants and, in particular, to their segregation in the jobs of certain occupations, sectors, and even territories. The greater incidence of the downturn on these jobs accounts for the increase in the gap observed since 2008. Although the number of available observations in the ENP immigrant sample advises caution in interpreting the estimates for this demographic group, we believe that much of the gap between these immigrants and the natives can be attributed to differences in level of education and the aforementioned job allocation, thus ruling out any form of labour market discrimination or the existence of any immigrant penalties. Yet, it might be claimed that the market is characterised by a phenomenon of segregation, in which discrimination or penalties make themselves manifest via the possibilities of occupying quality jobs (in occupations and sectors of high added-value, with permanent contracts, and in medium- and large-sized firms).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to check if the rate of employment dismissal in the Spanish labour market is higher for immigrants from countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) than for the native-born and the immigrants from other developing countries. It also analyses the impact on this rate of the lower endowment of human capital and the segregation in particular occupations and sectors of ENP immigrants.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study exploits micro-data from the Labour Force Survey before and during the great depression in Spain. The authors define two groups of immigrants, one for those whose origin is an ENP country and another for those from the rest of the developing countries. Then the rate of job loss is computed for the natives and the two groups of immigrants based on the information for each individual in the sample for each of the years under analysis. An empirical model for the probability of employment dismissal is estimated to check if the immigrant-native gap vanishes when controlling for differences in human capital and occupational, sectoral, and territorial allocation of jobs. This traditional approach is complemented with a new proposal based on the decomposition of the gap using a method that does not impose the same response to the observed characteristics in the three demographic groups under analysis.\nFindings: Immigrants from ENP face a higher rate of employment dismissal. The gap with respect to natives and even to other immigrants increased during the crisis. Most of the gap can be explained by the lower endowment of human capital of the ENP immigrants and, particularly, by their allocation in certain occupations, sectors, and territories.\nOriginality/value: Novelties in this paper include: first, the study of employment layoffs for natives and immigrants in a period of crisis in a country such as Spain that attracted massive migration during the booming period; second, the analysis of the origin of the higher rate of employment dismissal for immigrants from the ENP; and third, the proposal of a new approach to assess the contribution of human capital and segregation on the immigrant-native gap in the rate of job loss.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The ethics of corporate governance: Crucial distinctions for global comparisons
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Business ethics",
"Stakeholder analysis",
"Shareholders",
"Globalization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: While comparative studies in corporate governance in general are quite common (cf. Clark, 2007; Gedajlovic and Shapiro, 1998; Hopt et al., 1998; La Porta et al., 1999; Nestor and Thompson, 2000; Shleifer and Vishny, 1997) similar comparative studies about the ethics that underpin corporate governance regimes around the world are much rarer. The book, Global Perspectives on Ethics of Corporate Governance (Rossouw and Sison, 2006) was an attempt to systematically compare the ethics that underpins corporate governance regimes around the world. In the said publication it became clear that there are vast differences around the world with regard to the ethics of corporate governance. Not only are corporate governance regimes around the world shaped by different sets of cultural values, but they are also divided with regard to question: For whose benefit should corporations be governed? The answers to this ethical question split the world of corporate governance into different camps of ethics.This special issue is dedicated to the question, whether there is an underlying ethic of corporate governance that is gaining the upper hand on a global scale, or whether there is a global divergence in this regard. In order to address this question about convergence or divergence concerning the ethics of corporate governance, perspectives from four continents were invited, viz. perspectives from Africa, Asia, Continental Europe and North America. The four perspectives form the core of this special issue of the International Journal of Law and Management. The debate was started in a plenary panel discussion at the Fourth World Congress of the International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics, held in July 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa, and is being continued here with revised and new perspectives that were generated since.The African perspective is offered by Andrew West, who indicates that African approaches to corporate governance are mostly underpinned by an \"inclusive\" ethic of governance. In his Asian perspective YKR Reddy presents a description of an ethic of corporate governance that he calls \"expansive\". Peter Koslowski, who provides a Continental European perspective, characterizes the ethics of corporate governance in his part of the world as \"participatory\". Finally, Stephen Young typifies the North American perspective as a \"shareholder\" oriented ethic of corporate governance.There are many pitfalls that need to be avoided when engaging in global comparative studies in any field of study and comparative corporate governance studies are no exception in this regard. In order to first of all make sense of regional perspectives in a global comparison one needs to be sensitive to differences in understanding of central concepts that are being used. Not only concepts that are commonly used within corporate governance discourse might have different meanings in different regional contexts, but the very concept of corporate governance might evoke different associations of meaning in different contexts. It is therefore vital to draw attention to some vital distinctions that should be kept in mind when reading and assessing the said regional perspectives. By way of introduction to the four regional perspectives that will be presented in this volume, three conceptual distinctions that are relevant to understanding and comparing the four regional perspectives will be introduced.\nThe ethics of governance and the governance of ethics: Ethics is associated in two different ways with corporate governance. The first way in which it is associated with corporate governance relates to the ethical values and assumptions that underpin a specific corporate governance regime or code. This is what is referred to as the \"ethics of governance\". The second way relates to the way in which corporations are expected or required to manage their own ethical performance. This is referred to as the \"governance of ethics\" (cf. Rossouw, 2005).The \"ethics of governance\" of a specific corporate governance regime is not always presented in an explicit manner. Often the underlying ethical orientation and ethical values that underpin a specific corporate governance regime have to be distilled in a second order analysis of what is presented on the surface in the form of principles or directives for corporate control and conduct. There is no doubt that all corporate governance regimes or codes have an underpinning ethic, irrespective of whether such an ethic is explicitly articulated or not. The principles, regulations and directives associated with corporate governance ultimately constitute a view of the role, responsibilities and obligations of corporations within a given society. Identifying the ethics of a specific corporate governance regime thus entails making explicit the moral responsibilities and obligations of corporations in society as well as the ethical values associated with these responsibilities and obligations.The \"governance of ethics\" to the contrary is always presented in an explicit manner. It deals specifically with what corporations are expected or required to do in order to ensure that they act in an ethically responsible manner. Consequently the governance of ethics deals with matters such as, for example, codes of ethics, rules of conduct, ethics training of boards of directors and staff, ethics audits, reporting on ethics performance, etc. Contrary to the ethics of governance that underpins an entire corporate governance regime in all its manifestations, the governance of ethics is just one aspect that might, or might not, be addressed within a specific corporate governance regime.The primary focus of the regional perspectives presented in this volume is on the ethics of governance rather than on the governance of ethics, although some references to the latter is also being made in some of the contributions.\nInternal and external corporate governance: The locus of control in corporate governance can be located either inside or outside of corporations or in a combination of inside and outside control. Corporate governance control located inside corporations will be referred to as \"internal corporate governance\" and outside control will be referred to as \"external corporate governance\".\"Internal corporate governance\" refers to the control exerted by a board and executive managers over the performance of a company. This control takes the form of steering the strategic direction of the company (performance) and ensuring that company adheres to formal and informal standards of corporate behaviour in a given context (conformance). As long as boards and executive managers remain within the bounds of legal and social norms they have considerable discretion to exercise internal corporate governance. National (or even regional or global) codes of corporate governance are often geared towards the domain of internal corporate governance and thus provides principles, standards and guidelines that boards and executive managers can apply in a voluntary self-regulatory manner (see, for example, the Second King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, IoD, 2002; and the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, OECD, 2004).\"External corporate governance\", in contrast, is per definition located outside of the corporation either in regulatory institutions, societal norms or in the market itself. When located in regulatory institutions, corporate governance can take the form of laws, regulations, professional standards, listing requirements, etc. that are imposed upon corporations. Regulatory institutions shape and determine the playing field or parameters within which corporations pursue their corporate objectives. External corporate governance is thus mandatory and corporations who do not abide by the set standards potentially run the risk of being sanctioned through fines, expulsion or other forms of formal penalties.External corporate governance can also be exercised in a more informal manner through societal norms that influence corporate behaviour. In contrast to external corporate governance via regulating institutions, the informal control exercised through societal norms comes in the forms of social values, practices and conventions that corporations have to heed. Although adhering to social norms is not mandatory, nor enforced through formal sanctions such as penalties, their influence is nevertheless real. Disrespecting social norms can potentially be detrimental to corporate performance and survival.A third way of external corporate control comes in the form of the market for corporate control in the form of corporate take-overs and acquisitions (cf. Gedajlovic and Shapiro, 1998, pp. 535-6). Underperforming and undervalued companies run the risk of being acquired by new owners who believe they can unlock the potential of the targeted company through better direction and control. At least in some markets the threat of take-overs and acquisition operate as an external control mechanism that has a direct impact on how companies conduct their business.This distinction between internal and external corporate governance as well as the distinction between different forms of external governance is quite relevant for interpreting and comparing the various corporate governance perspectives in this special journal issue. It is clear that external control through regulating institutions and the markets plays a much bigger role in the North American and Continental European context compared to the Asian and African contexts where external control via social norms and internal corporate governance is much more prominent.\nShareholder and stakeholder orientations in corporate governance: A distinction that is of particular important when the ethics of various corporate governance regimes are being compared is the one between \"shareholder\" and \"stakeholder\" orientations in corporate governance.In \"shareholder oriented\" corporate governance regimes, corporations are governed primarily to benefit the interests of shareholders. Managers of corporations are considered as the agents of shareholders and are thus expected to serve the best interests of their principals (cf. Monks and Minow, 2004, p. 111). The fact that other stakeholders of the corporation are not considered as primary beneficiaries of the corporation should not lead to an overhasty judgement that shareholder oriented corporate governance is premised on a very thin and exclusive ethic. Advocates of shareholder orientated corporate governance regimes argue that the primary focus on shareholder interests streamlines corporate decisionmaking and improves the efficiency of corporations, which ultimately (indirectly) benefits all other stakeholders of the corporation. Furthermore, they also emphasise that shareholder interests are best served by attending to the interests of crucial stakeholders of the corporation such as employees, customers and suppliers in order to gain and maintain their loyalty and support without which the corporation cannot prosper. In this way, the interests of other stakeholders are also attended to, but it is only done out of strategic considerations. In shareholder orientated corporate governance regimes the management of corporations thus have a fiduciary duty towards shareholders and their interests, while the interests of other stakeholders are instrumentally considered.In \"stakeholder oriented\" corporate governance regimes the interests of at least certain other stakeholders besides shareholders are also given primary status. It is for this reason that stakeholder oriented corporate governance is in some contexts referred to as inclusive corporate governance (cf. IoD, 2002). Whereas the interests of stakeholders enjoy only instrumental status in shareholder orientated corporate governance, the interests of stakeholders enjoy normative status in stakeholder oriented corporate governance (Donaldson and Preston, 1995, pp. 67 and 71). This implies that the interests of at least certain stakeholder groups need to be taken into consideration and balanced with the financial interest of shareholders. Stakeholder orientated corporate governance place more demands on the management of corporations since the interest of more than one stakeholder group have to be reckoned with in corporate decisionmaking. In some regions (for example in parts of continental Europe) this greater complexity in corporate decisionmaking is reflected in the two-tier board structure where employees are represented in the advisory board.The distinction between shareholder and stakeholder orientations to corporate governance is clearly reflected in the four regional perspectives that follow in this volume. The North-American perspective is a clear example of a shareholder oriented corporate governance regime, while the African, Asian and Continental European perspectives all show to a lesser or larger extent stakeholder orientations.\nConclusion: The distinctions introduced above are important for being sensitive to finer nuances in the global discourse on the ethics of corporate governance. They will assist first of all in making sense of the four regional perspectives that are presented in this special issue of this journal. But these same distinctions will also be relevant in the concluding section when the four regional perspectives will be compared in order to draw some conclusions about whether there is a global convergence or divergence with regard to the ethics of corporate governance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: - The principles, regulations and directives associated with corporate governance constitute a view of the role, responsibilities and obligations of corporations within a given society. Identifying the ethics of a specific corporate governance regime entails making explicit the moral responsibilities and obligations of corporations in society as well as the ethical values associated with these responsibilities and obligations. In order to make meaningful global comparisons between the ethics of corporate governance regimes, a number of vital distinctions need to be made. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss three such distinctions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Conceptual clarifications and distinctions are considered with regard to three pairs of related concepts: the ethics of governance and the governance of ethics; external and internal corporate governance; and shareholder and stakeholder orientations in corporate governance.\nFindings: - The conceptual distinctions that have been considered are vital for making useful comparisons between the ethics of different corporate governance regimes around the world. Neglecting these conceptual distinctions can lead to misunderstanding and confusion in the global discourse on the ethics of corporate governance.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides a theoretical framework for comparing four regional perspectives on the ethics of governance, namely from Africa, Asia, Continental Europe and North America. It also provides a framework for any other global comparative study on the ethics of corporate governance.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides a conceptual framework for making global comparisons with regard to the ethical underpinnings of corporate governance regimes. It thus assists in creating a framework for a global discourse on the ethics of corporate governance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Integrating resilience in a supply chain planning model
|
[
"Decision model",
"Resilient supply chain",
"Containment options",
"Resilience performance",
"Vulnerability indices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomanclature\n1. Introduction: Supply chains (SCs) are exposed to a variety of unpredictable disaster situations, and as such they must strive to develop resilient business systems capable of weathering or mitigating the subsequent effects while still achieving their planned objectives (Sheffi and Rice, 2005; Rice and Caniato, 2003; Lee, 2004). Most SCs use past experiences and historical data to address the variations and uncertainties in their operational parameters, such as the demand, supply, and capacity of their existing decision systems. However, historical data are very limited or nonexistent for unpredictable, high-impact disasters such as Hurricane (2005), the SARS outbreak (2003), major outages due to factory fires, and the Fukushima earth quake (2011) (Simchi-Levi et al., 2014). In this context, a question arises: what should an SC planning system consider to become resilient when faced with unpredictable disasters and situations? The recommended steps include supply, production, and distribution system flexibility; built-in quality systems; extra inventory; and safe distribution center (DC) planning (Lee, 2004; Chopra and Sodhi, 2004; Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005; Knemeyer et al., 2009; Elkins et al., 2005; Bhamra et al., 2011). To what extent each of these factors should be included in creating resilient SC functions must be determined through resilience evaluations that expose vulnerable products, inputs, and/or markets that are susceptible to potential disruption events or accidents (Bode and Wagner, 2015). The vulnerability of an SC function is scenario dependent, and as such, the estimation of a vulnerability index and its affect should be contingent on a scenario-based analysis. This scenario-based estimation procedure can then be used to develop plans for containing vulnerability and improving the resilience of SC functions.\n2. Literature review: Two streams of research are pertinent to this study: planning SC resilience, and measures for SC RP. This section reviews well-cited and recent literature in these two streams.\n3. Model formulations: This section presents the problem statement and integrated supply chain decision (ISCD) model to create SC resilience to disruptions. Compared to RP related models and formulations published in the extant literature, the ISCD model is new and unique in the caliber that it does not only evaluate RPs and vulnerability indices, it integrates them in the SC planning process. By such integration it facilitates SC manager to get insights on each performance metrics and take optimum decision in a what-if criteria based setting. As such, this research contributes significantly by formulating an integrated SC decision model to create and improve SC RP. The formulations and models available in the literature are suitable for RP evaluation only (see Soni et al., 2014; Bradley, 2014; Simchi-Levi et al., 2014), based on which the mangers cannot initiate actions.\n4. Numerical example: To illustrate the applicability of the model and the overall research approach, an example SC that manufactures five products in its eight plants using 15 inputs supplied by a pool of ten suppliers, and transports the products from plants to 11 DCs, which distribute them to seven markets (retailers), is considered. The input suppliers are from five locations.\n5. Conclusion: This research introduces a practicable integrated decision process for the overall improvement of SC RP within optimum cost. The decision model follows a step-by-step detailed procedure to evaluate RP, identify vulnerability, select options to contain the vulnerability, and estimate the cost of containment, based on existing SC decision processes. Simultaneously, the integrated model compares the overall estimated containment costs of existing vulnerability with the cost of deploying provisions and resources to prevent vulnerability. Based on a \"what-if\" analysis of these two alternatives, the integrated decision process selects the best alternative to improve overall SC resilience within optimum cost. The results provide options that allow individual SC functions to be considered separately when evaluating RPs and choosing improvement options. The resilience improvement options and vulnerability determinations can also be extended to the various functions of service industries. The formulation and numerical illustrations for RP index evaluation, vulnerability determination, and containment options are developed systematically to help SC managers apply the approach in their unique business processes. All of these planned steps create real implications for pursuing resilience creation in the overall business process, with the goals of containing the potential risks and disasters that threaten business sustainability and ultimately contributing to the well-being of business stakeholders and society at large. The prediction of disaster events, including those considered to be extreme, will be incorporated into the SC formulation in a future extension of this research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to create a resilient supply chain (SC) plan to contain disruptions and risks in the overall operations of a business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study integrates resilience considerations in a business planning model that formulates resilience performance (RP) of SC functions in terms of flexibility, reliability, and similar system factors. It evaluates the RP of SC plans and determines their vulnerability considering required and planned resources. The model estimates the possible effects of disasters on vulnerable functions using a scenario-based analysis and plans containment options. It also includes decision options for deploying resources to achieve the expected levels of resilience by preventing potential vulnerabilities. The model takes optimum decision in a what-if approach by comparing performance of the existing business plan, with options for containing the vulnerabilities inherent in not considering potential risks when planning to fulfill market demand, and the performance of a resilient plan that includes decision options to prevent vulnerabilities where possible and mitigate them otherwise.\nFindings: It is possible, for example, to evaluate RP of SC plans, identify vulnerable functions, and decide optimum option to create resilient business system.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study takes a generic approach and creates bases to explore its application in any industry-based case.\nOriginality/value: The research introduces formulations for RPs and vulnerability indices that can be included in a planning model to create a resilient SC.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Identification of barriers to PLM institutionalization in large manufacturing organizations: A case study
|
[
"Manufacturing",
"Barriers",
"DEMATEL",
"Institutionalization",
"MMDE",
"Product lifecycle management (PLM)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the advancement of manufacturing technologies at a faster rate, there is an urgent need for making the production processes more efficient in order to have innovative products. Out of the different management systems, product lifecycle management (PLM) is the latest and is considered to be the best in most manufacturing firms. It provides the facility of not only 3D designing of the products but also managing the entire lifecycle of the products in the organization, taking all its stakeholders together for the whole portfolio. Institutionalization of PLM makes the innovative product development easy.\n2. Literature review: Reports on failures of PLM implementation motivate us to study the barriers and to make an attempt to explore the reality of PLM success on practical grounds. Considering the rapidly increasing product-related data in manufacturing organizations, Singh and Misra (2018b) suggested the necessary need for PLM to manage products' lifecycle of complex products. Singh and Misra (2018b) explored the success factors to implementation of PLM systems through a case of an automotive firm. Each organization has different aims to implement PLM systems, and there are a plethora of PLM systems available with the vendors. Enriquez et al. (2019) proposed a model to choose the best suited PLM systems and validated the model in an aircraft firm. Meier et al. (2017) discussed the last 20 years of PLM by considering the participation of the blogger community also in case of PLM implementation. They studied the six cases based on the need of collaboration and integration of all enterprise systems in a common platform. Several other researchers have studied other aspects of PLM and PLM implementations. However, rare work has been done so far on barriers to PLM institutionalization. In this section, we perform reviews on existing literature in related areas, with the purpose of identifying the barriers.\n3. Research methodology: This section includes a systematic discussion on DEMATEL method and MMDE algorithm, which have been employed to perform the data analysis and determine the critical barriers to PLM institutionalization.\n4. Case description to identify the critical barriers to PLM institutionalization: As it is explained in Section 1 that the complexity of the aerospace and automobiles products are the motivation to the genesis of PLM concept; hence, we preferred to select an aircraft firm for illustrative case-based research. In this section, we take up the case of PLM institutionalization in an aircraft manufacturing firm, i.e., M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Various divisions of HAL are geographically scattered all over India in different cities. Some divisions are located in different areas of the same city also. HAL is involved in the manufacturing of various types of aircrafts such as light combat aircrafts, advanced light helicopters, and transport aircrafts.\n5. Conclusion and future scope: On the basis of the present analysis, we can conclude that the factors \"Training on PLM systems,\" \"High investment in PLM systems,\" \"Complex licensing policies,\" and \"Lack of technical knowledge to PLM systems\" constitute the cause group of barriers for PLM institutionalization in a large manufacturing organization. These four are core factors and are causal ones. Other barriers have hardly any relevant impact on any of them. But the remaining factors depend on these causal factors. The study reveals that the DEMATEL method along with the MMDE algorithm bears the potential to explore a variety of relevant information for identifying the critical barriers to PLM institutionalization. Although the research work has been performed for the Indian aerospace firm HAL, which is a vast organization. The observations of this study are well applicable to other similar organizations belonging to the developing countries of the world.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the barriers to institutionalize the product lifecycle management (PLM) in large manufacturing organizations. The paper explores the hurdles and identifies the causal barriers to support the organizations' transformation into digitized firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper utilized the multi-criteria decision making technique, i.e., DEMATEL (DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method to find the causal barriers, and adopted maximum mean de-entropy (MMDE) algorithm to determine the threshold value based on the information entropy of the relations among the barriers to PLM institutionalization.\nFindings: This study explored nine barriers to PLM institutionalization and empirically identified the four critical barriers among the nine.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present work is exploratory case-based research which is limited to a case of an Indian aircraft manufacturing firm with a limited number of respondents. More sophisticated statistical tools can be utilized to consider the subjectivity of the respondents. However, this research explores the various hurdles to PLM success and serves as a relevant outcome to identify the critical barriers to institutionalize the PLM concept.\nPractical implications: The findings of the paper provide guidelines to the case company and similar firms for obtaining maximum benefits of PLM. The methodology shown in this paper will be useful to various large scale industries in identifying the critical barriers to PLM institutionalization among all existing barriers so that they can take appropriate measures before they proceed to adopt PLM.\nOriginality/value: The present work discusses the different reasons for which the companies are not able to derive the maximum benefits of PLM even after the implementation of PLM systems. This work uniquely applied the DEMATEL and MMDE methods to investigate the critical barriers to PLM institutionalization in an aircraft manufacturing firm.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Gender bias in communal leadership: examining servant leadership
|
[
"Women",
"Leadership",
"Stereotypes",
"Social roles",
"Gender differences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Gender bias in leadership typically places women at a disadvantage relative to men (Eagly and Carli, 2007; Hogue and Lord, 2007) so that around the world, men continue to hold more powerful positions than women hold in both business and government (Hausman et al., 2012). Such bias often is explained as a mismatch between the cognitive categories of woman and leader with general conceptions of leaders being more masculine than feminine (e.g. Eagly and Karau, 2002; Ely et al., 2011; Hogue and Lord, 2007). To be masculine or feminine is to be agentic or communal, respectively. Agency involves displays of assertiveness, dominance, self-confidence, and control, while communality involves displays of supportiveness, nurturance, relationship-building, and modesty (Eagly and Karau, 2002; Eagly and Carli, 2007).\nRCT: In RCT (Eagly and Karau, 2002) gender roles are defined as socially shared expectations about the behaviors in which women and men should and do engage. Gender roles are normative in that they designate behaviors consensually believed desirable for members of each category (Eagly and Karau, 2002). Thus, they describe how women and men do behave and also prescribe how each group should behave. The communal behaviors normatively expected of women are not congruent with the agentic behaviors normatively expected of leaders, while the agentic behaviors normatively expected of men are (Eagly and Carli, 2007).\nLCT: LCT (Lord et al., 1984) provides an explanation of the cognitive processes involved in leader perception. According to LCT, individuals learn about leaders through experience, which can be similar across people in a culture and unique to individuals. Through these experiences, people build cognitive knowledge structures about leaders containing information that is both shared across people and unique to each individual. The complexity of the knowledge structures reduces efficiency in person perception, so from category knowledge, people generate prototypes. Prototypes are ideal images of category members used as a comparison standard to determine whether a target belongs in a category (Lord et al., 1984). When a target and leader prototype are compared and sufficient match is found, the target is categorized a leader (Lord and Brown, 2004). Gender bias occurs when sufficient match is not found for women.\nThe present study: Many types of leadership exist, each utilizing different behaviors (Bass and Bass, 2008). The previous descriptions of agency and communion correspond respectively with the traditional form of authoritarian leadership and the more contemporary form of servant leadership. The present research examines masculine and feminine prototype content by examining authoritarian and servant behaviors.\nMethod: Procedure and participants\nResults: H1-H4 predict effects of target leader gender and perceiver gender on servant and authoritarian leader behaviors. Effect sizes are interpreted according to Cohen's (1988) general guidelines wherein partial e2 effects of 0.01, 0.06, and 0.14 are considered small, medium, and large, respectively. Although no interactions between leader gender and participant gender were predicted, it was important to allow for the variance of a possible interaction. Moreover, because expectations for servant and authoritarian leader behaviors were related (r=-0.34, p\nDiscussion: RCT (Eagly and Karau, 2002) predicts that gender bias is affected by target gender, perceiver gender, and perceiver sexist attitude. These predictions were explored through an investigation of prototype composition consistent with LCT (Lord et al., 1984, 2001). Results showed that overall, regardless of leader or participant gender, expectations for servant behavior were greater than expectations for authoritarian behavior. This is not surprising given the description participants read about their leaders, but because gender bias is often a subtle, complex process (Hogue and Lord, 2007), the pattern of differences found provides important insight.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Theory suggests gender bias in leadership occurs through a cognitive mismatch between thoughts of women and leaders. As leadership incorporates more feminine qualities, gender bias disadvantaging women should be reduced. The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical investigation of that argument by examining gender bias in servant leadership. Predictions made by role congruity theory were investigated with principles from leader categorization theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In a survey design, 201 working college students from the Midwest USA were presented with either a female or male leader, each with identical servant leader attributes. Participants reported their expectations for the leader's future behavior.\nFindings: Expectations for servant leader behavior were greater for the woman than man leader, and expectations for authoritarian behavior were greater for the man than woman leader. Expectations for servant leader behavior were greater from the woman than man participants, and expectations for authoritarian behavior were greater from the man than woman participants, a difference that was enhanced by men's hostile sexism.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although limited by the sample of working students, important implications are the importance of using theoretical integration to examine contemporary forms of leadership for changing gender bias, considerations of self-concept in bias and examining perceiver characteristics when investigating gender bias.\nPractical implications: Awareness of the reduction of gender bias in communal leadership may allow an increase of leadership opportunities for women and leadership attempts by women.\nOriginality/value: This is the first empirical examination of gender bias in communal leadership through theoretical integration.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Concept theory in library and information science: an epistemological analysis
|
[
"Knowledge organizations",
"Knowledge organization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The organization of concepts and the development of knowledge organization systems (KOS) cannot be dissociated from the historical aspects and the pragmatist values that affect the epistemology of the library and information science (LIS) field. We understand KOS as \"a generic term used for referring to a wide range of items (e.g. subject headings, thesauri, classification schemes and ontologies), which have been conceived with respect to different purposes, in distinct historical moments. They are characterized by different specific structures and functions, varied ways of relating to technology, and used in a plurality of contexts by diverse communities\" (Mazzocchi, 2018). KOS should be understood as systems that organize concepts and their semantic relations (Hjorland, 2009). In this vein, any concept theory would be framed within one of the following four epistemological \"families:\" rationalism, empiricism, historicism, or pragmatism (Hjorland, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017a). Within empiricism, concept theories would rely on the induction of concepts from observations that are not theory-dependent, such as in the induction of clusters of similar objects without any theory or hypothesis guiding their selection and matching; concept theories in rationalism would rely on the deduction of concepts and sub-concepts from primitive concepts and rules that are given a priori. Logical divisions of concepts and facet analysis are characteristic traits of rationalist concept theories; concept theories within historicism seek to comprehend the concepts considering their historical transformations. This genealogical approach to concepts would define them in their cultural and social contexts and reveal them as dependent on theories and discourses; pragmatist concept theories would consider the goals, values, and consequences when defining concepts. In this sense, pragmatism does not regard knowledge or the development of concepts to be neutral as they are also theory-laden and fixated into the signs that best serve a given purpose. The four epistemological families and the concept theories they embrace coexist competitively in every domain of knowledge (Hjorland, 2009). The construction of KOS and the application of concept theories to other areas of LIS will inevitably follow one of these epistemologies.\n2. Methodology: We adopted a hermeneutic approach for the analysis of the texts that compose our corpus of study following contingency and categorical techniques for the analysis. The selection of the corpus was done in two stages. We used a contingency analysis (Bardin, 2011, p. 143) of the terms \"concept\" and \"theory\" that were searched on the database Library & Information Science Source (EBSCO). Contingency analysis takes into account the distribution of elements and their association, as these aspects constitute a significant point for interpretation while they also provide context. The place or section of the text in which the subjects appear and their co-occurrence with other topics provide relevant indicators for interpretation, which may be associative, equivalent or opposite (Bardin, 2011, p. 143). In the first stage, we based our analysis on the abstracts of the retrieved articles, while in the second stage we analyzed the full text of the papers that met the objectives of our study in the first stage. These procedures are part of the \"hermeneutic spiral\" (Kuckartz, 2014, p. 19) inherent to the analytical approach adopted and the progressive understanding of the texts analyzed. The following stages consisted on full and partial readings, creation of categories, coding and analysis, in an interactive process (Kuckartz, 2014, p. 47). As part of that process we have established analytical-theoretical categories (Kuckartz, 2014, p. 41), which have been assigned units of signification constituted by textual segments extracted from the corpus of study (Bardin, 2011, p. 134; Kuckartz, 2014, p. 44).\n3. Results and discussion: In our contingency analysis we identified eight papers that clearly deal with concept theory in line with Dahlberg's proposal (see Table II). In most cases, the authors do not always make their epistemological positions explicit and much less they point out a specific \"family.\" Thus, with the exception of the explicit pragmatist position of Hjorland, also expressed in terms of \"post-Kuhnian\" (Hjorland, 2009), the epistemological positions of the remaining authors/papers were implicit, albeit with different signs, and had to be inferred. It can be argued that the explicitation of the epistemological position is an act of honesty and transparency in research (Garcia Gutierrez, 2007; Martinez-Avila and Guimaraes, 2013), also linked to ethical aspects and verifiability. While authors ideally should be able to identify and let their positions be clear so readers and organizers can make a best use of the literature, these positions can also be identified by others (\"show me your classification and I'll tell you what theory you subscribe to,\" Hjorland 2013a, p. 171). In practice, the best way of identifying a position is not always by the words of the author but by the analysis of the methodology and logics the author uses. The work of identifying these different epistemologies and the knowledge that is needed can be considered a domain-analytic exercise and part of the domain-analytic skills that information professionals should have. The ability and process of identifying the competing theories and epistemological positions within a domain or field can be greatly assisted by the publication of reviews, systematizations and classifications of these positions.\n4. Conclusion: Our epistemological analysis of the literature has corroborated the scarcity of studies on concept theory in LIS and KO, something that had been already detected ten years ago by Hjorland (2009). However, since Hjorland's (2009) paper, we have witnessed an epistemological turn on concept theory that could be considered a continuation of a broader paradigm shift in LIS that has been called pragmatic turn in KO (Kleineberg, 2016; Guimaraes et al., 2017), following the introduction of the domain-analytic approach in the 1990s. This paradigm shift in the theory of KO and concept has brought richer discussions and better understandings of the problems that affect the representation and inclusion of diverse social groups and conflicting theories. If considered in practice by information systems, this paradigm could result, among other things, in a better information retrieval. The results of our study also reveal that after the publication of Hjorland's paper, that broke the hegemony of the rationalist approach to concept theory in KO and introduced the discussion of other epistemological positions, all papers except two have followed pragmatist or historicist approaches. The only clear exception to this turn (Szostak, 2011) can be regarded as a response to Hjorland and a proof that the rationalist tenets in KO are still pretty much alive, in the form of Dahlberg's concept theory, the facet analysis approach, and new proposals such Rick Szostak's Basic Concepts Classification. This plurality of views is a positive thing for KO as it is part the natural development of science in which different views are competing and struggling in a dialectical way to keep the field alive and move toward new findings and developments.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the literature on concept theory in library and information science (LIS) from an epistemological perspective, ascribing each paper to an epistemological family and discussing their relevance in the context of the knowledge organization (KO) domain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper adopts a hermeneutic approach for the analysis of the texts that compose the corpus of study following contingency and categorical analyses. More specifically, the paper works with Bardin's contingency analysis and follows Hjorland's families of epistemologies for the categorization.\nFindings: The analysis corroborates the observations made for the last ten years about the scarcity of studies on concept theory in LIS and KO. However, the study also reveals an epistemological turn on concept theory since 2009 that could be considered a departure from the rationalist views that dominated the field and a continuation of a broader paradigm shift in LIS and KO. All analyzed papers except two follow pragmatist or historicist approaches.\nOriginality/value: This paper follows-up and systematizes the contributions to the LIS and KO fields on concept theory mainly during the last decade. The epistemological analysis reveals the dominant views in this paradigm shift and the main authors and trends that are present in the LIS literature on concept theory.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Readers' perceptions of authors' citation behaviour
|
[
"Citation behaviour",
"Citation context analysis",
"Citer motivation",
"Readers",
"Information science"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The introduction of the ISI citation databases that became the Web of Science (and subsequently of other citation databases) has driven the development of many types of bibliometric research, as reviewed by Baird and Oppenheim (1994), Bar-Ilan (2008), Garfield (1979) and Nicolaisen (2007) inter alia. Here, we focus on studies of citing behaviour, specifically the reasons why authors make citations to the previous literature when they are preparing articles, books and other types of scholarly publication (Bornmann and Daniel, 2006; Cronin, 1984; Liu, 1993). Such studies are often referred to as citation context analysis, a technique that seeks \"[...] to illuminate the inter-document relationship implied by the presence of citations by devising a classification or taxonomy based on an analysis of the text surrounding the citations [...]\" (Bornmann and Daniel, 2006). Ritchie (2008) discusses the relationship between citation context analysis, and the related, partially overlapping approaches of citation content analysis, citation classification and content citation analysis.Two rather different approaches have been used to investigate the reasons for citing a particular reference. In the first, direct approach, authors are asked why they included each of the citations in their publications. Such studies can be problematic since it may be difficult to obtain an author's co-operation or an author may not be able to remember the rationale for a citation if the publication is at all old (Wilkinson et al., 2003). In the second, indirect approach, the rationale is obtained from careful reading by a non-author of the text that contains and relates to the citation under study. The latter, reader-based approach can be far more convenient and less intrusive than approaching the original author to provide the rationale for citing, but there are at least two consequent problems: the reader must have sufficient subject knowledge to be able to understand the contexts of the citations that are being studied; and, importantly, there is an implicit assumption that the contexts are written in such a way that the reader is able to recognise the original purpose of the citation when the article was written (Borgman and Furner, 2002).Bornmann and Daniel (2006) note that there has been no attempt to link citer motivation and citation context analyses by integrating the perspectives provided by authors and by readers. This paper attempts such an integration by comparing the reasons for citation suggested by the authors of a set of ten journal articles in librarianship and information science with the reasons for citation suggested by readers of that same set of articles. If it can be shown that there is a close measure of agreement between the results of the two approaches then this would validate the use of reader-based citation context analysis as an effective proxy for the citation behaviour of the original authors of articles. If, however, there is only a limited agreement then this would raise questions as to the appropriateness of this approach for the study of citation behaviour.\n2. Methods: 2.1 Basic procedure\n3. Results and discussion: Ten sets of author-reasons and 45 sets of reader-reasons were collected. The percentage frequency distributions for the resulting 100 author-reasons and 450 reader-reasons are shown in Figure 1. There appears to be no significant difference between the two distributions and this is confirmed by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (p=0.766 in a two-tailed test using the Aston University Statistical Software at www.wessa.net/rwasp_Reddy-Moores%20K-S%20Test.wasp/). However, this broadly comparable usage of the various reasons does not translate into high author-reader similarities. These similarities are shown in Table I where each element in a row of the table contains the number of author-reader comparisons with a particular similarity value. We consider first the results in column A, which represents the use of the 18-reason Harwood classification as listed in Appendix 2. Thus, for example, the first two elements in this column show that there was not a single reason in common for seven of the 45 author-reader comparisons, and that there was just a single reason (i.e. a Dice similarity of 0.1) in common for 12 of these comparisons.The distribution of the 45 values of the Dice coefficient in column A is shown in Figure 2. A basic assumption of citation context analysis is that readers are able to perceive the authors' reasons for citing, which would result in high mean values, ideally values of unity, for the Dice coefficient in our experiment. However, it will be seen that the distribution is shifted very markedly to the left, with a marked preponderance of low-values (mean=0.21, standard deviation=0.17). We have noted previously that between three and six sets of reader-reasons were available for each individual article. Very similar results (mean=0.22 and standard deviation=0.16) to those in Figure 2 were obtained using just the first three sets of reader-reasons in those cases where more than three readers had chosen to analyse a particular article, thus removing the possibility that the shifted distribution results from an over-sampling of particular articles.The preponderance of low similarity values that is observed corresponds to only a small degree of overlap between the authors' reasons for citing particular sources and their readers' subsequent perceptions of those reasons, a finding that immediately raises significant questions as to the appropriateness of citation context analysis as a means of investigating citation behaviour. That said, the results obtained here seem to be at least better than would be obtained if authors and readers assigned reasons for citation at random. With 18 reasons available for assignment, any one of them has an a priori probability of 1/18 (i.e. approximately 0.0556) of being chosen as the reason for a particular citation. A binomial test then shows that one would expect to get no matching reasons at all in over one-half of all the author-reader comparisons; in fact, Table I shows that such zero matches comprised less than 16 per cent of the author-reader comparisons, and Figure 1 shows that individual reasons are used to very different extents. Thus, while the observed author-reader similarities are markedly different from what be expected by chance, they are also markedly less than would be expected if readers were able consistently to perceive authors' reasons for citing. If the latter was indeed the case then one would expect many reader-author similarities of 1.0 but column A in Table I shows that this never occurred in our sample; indeed, even values of 0.5 were quite rare.Inspection of the reasons in Appendix 2 shows that some of them are quite specific, and a greater degree of overlap might hence be expected if a less specific matching criterion was adopted. This has been done in two ways. First, as described in the Methods section, the 18 reasons have been grouped into ten classes (Signposting, Supporting, Credit, etc.) as shown in Appendix 2. The original sets of author-reasons and reader-reasons, based on 18 reasons, were converted so that they were based on the ten broader reasons, hence increasing the potential overlap. For example, an author assignment of reason-8 to a citation would enable a match with a reader assignment of reason-10 since they are both examples of the class named Position. Second, when the authors and readers were asked to suggest the most appropriate reason for a particular citation, they were also allowed, if they so wished, to suggest one or more alternative reasons from among the 18 available. For example, an author assignment of reason-3 to a citation as an alternative to reason-9 would enable a match with a reader assignment of the former reason. The resulting distributions of coefficient values are shown in the columns headed B (ten reasons) and C (18 reasons but with alternatives) in Table I. There is clearly some increase in the similarities with the mean (standard deviation) values being 0.28 (0.18) and 0.43 (0.20) for columns B and C respectively (with one author-reader comparison achieving the limiting value of 1.0 when alternatives are included); however the values still indicate a substantial level of mis-match between author and reader perceptions.The focus of this paper is a comparison of author-reasons and reader-reasons and the results presented previously show that there is only a limited level of agreement between these two sets of reasons. A fair measure of disagreement was also noted when comparing the reasons suggested by different readers. For example, one of the articles was assessed by six different readers, with the six author-reader similarities being 0.2 (four occurrences), 0.3 (one) and 0.4 (one). The 15 distinct reader-reader similarities for this article were 0.0 (three occurrences), 0.2 (three), 0.2 (two), 0.3 (five), 0.4 (one) and 0.5 (one), from which it may be concluded that different readers understand the contexts of the same citations in very different ways.It is important to emphasise the limitations of this study. First, the use of a single classification scheme from among the many that are available (vide supra). However, we have used the Harwood scheme in three different ways, with little effect on the overall conclusion of a low level of author-reader similarity, and hence have no reason to believe that substantially different results would have been obtained if an alternative scheme had been employed. Second, the small scale of the exercise with only a few authors and readers working in a single subject area. This has, however, meant that we have been able to include authors only a short time after the writing of their articles and readers who have a high degree of subject knowledge, thus alleviating two of the problems in citation-behaviour studies noted in the introduction to this paper. Third, the use of the author's colleagues means that there may have been a greater degree of shared understanding than would have been be the case if the authors and readers had come from different organisations and different academic backgrounds. That said, such a shared understanding might have tended to increase the similarity values over those that would have been obtained if different organisations had been involved, i.e. the values would have been even lower than was the case here.We hence conclude that reader-reasons and author-reasons for citing particular references are typically so different that it would be unwise to use the former as a proxy for the latter, thus confirming the suggestion of Case and Miller (2010) that readers \"[...] may make judgments that differ a great deal from the intentions of the original author [...]\". The lack of agreement here is, perhaps, hardly surprising when one considers that marked levels of inter-individual disagreement have been found in several analogous contexts, such as the assignment of indexing terms (Markey, 1984), the creation of links in hypertext systems (Ellis et al., 1994) and the selection of search strategies (Iivonen, 1995).\n4. Conclusions: Some previous studies of citation behaviour have made the assumption that reader judgments of the reasons for citation provide an effective proxy for the judgments of the original authors. This small-scale study suggests that there is only limited level of agreement between reader and author judgments; accordingly, while reader-based studies of citation behaviour are relatively easy to carry out they are unlikely to provide accurate insights into the reasons why authors cite material in scholarly texts.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to determine the extent to which readers perceive correctly the reasons why authors cite items in scholarly texts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors of ten library and information science articles provided the reasons for citing material in their articles and these reasons were compared with those suggested independently by readers of the articles.\nFindings: - Readers are able to perceive correctly author reasons for citation only to a very limited extent.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations are a small sample of ten articles and 45 reader assessments of those articles, and the use of a single classification of reasons for citation.\nPractical implications: - The findings call into question techniques such as citation context analysis that are based on the assumption that readers understand the reasons why authors cite material.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first attempt to compare author and reader reasons for citation and hence to validate the use of citation context analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Hierarchical plateau and turnover intention of employees at the career establishment stage: Examining mediation and moderation effects
|
[
"Turnover intention",
"Career establishment stage",
"Hierarchical plateau",
"Theory of work adjustment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A hierarchical plateau is typically defined as the point in one's organizational career at which future promotions are unlikely in the current organization (Ference et al., 1977). To some extent, a hierarchical plateau is unavoidable because of the pyramidal hierarchy in an organization. Thus, the hierarchical plateau is also referred to as the structural plateau (Bardwick, 1986). In today's corporate environment, organizational flattening is common, and organizations are characterized by flat structures, de-layering, and downsizing (Hassard et al., 2012; Malone and Team, 2013; Vidal, 2013). The result of flattening is that there are fewer senior positions in the organization and, as a consequence, fewer opportunities for vertical mobility (Gordon and Storlie, 2013; Greenhaus et al., 2010; Lyons et al., 2015; Wynen and de Beeck, 2014). Meanwhile, the number of people going into higher education in China, which has increased the supply of labour in recent decades, is aggravating the situation. Taken together, career advancement in terms of vertical mobility has become competitive and difficult. Consequently, more employees will reach a hierarchical plateau before attaining their career goals (Xie et al., 2015). Generally speaking, a hierarchical plateau is viewed as an undesirable experience, and is closely related to undesirable consequences (McCleese et al., 2007; Xie and Long, 2005). In order to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of hierarchical plateau, researchers have recently made great efforts to find moderating factors. In the existing literature, the moderating factors include person-related variables such as career motivation and locus of control (Jung and Tak, 2008; Li and Zhang, 2012), and job-related variables such as mentoring others, job scope, role ambiguity, participation in decision making, and supervisor support (Jung and Tak, 2008; Lentz and Allen, 2009; Salami, 2010; Tremblay and Roger, 2004; Wang et al., 2014). However, no study has yet examined the boundary conditions for avoiding the negative effects of hierarchical plateau, using a person-situation interaction approach. Another gap is that much of the previous research on hierarchical plateau is inductive in nature, with scholars explaining patterns of relationships without a clearly articulated overarching theoretical framework (e.g. Drucker-Godard et al., 2015; Godshalk and Fender, 2015; Hofstetter and Cohen, 2014; Kim and Kang, 2013; Lapalme et al., 2009; Lentz and Allen, 2009; McCleese et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2014). A theory is needed to explain the links between hierarchical plateau and employees' work attitudes and behaviour, because theories have a powerful normative value and the ability to legitimate knowledge in scientific research (Suddaby, 2014).\nTheoretical foundation: The theory of work adjustment was developed by Dawis and Lofquist (1984) to address the issues of how the correspondence between the person and the work environment influences the organization's employment decisions and the employees' turnover. The TWA claims that satisfaction and quitting are a function of the correspondence between the need system of the individual and the reinforcement system of the work environment. Specifically, the TWA states that an individual has multiple needs (fulfilment, achievement, etc.) and the work environment has a variety of reinforcements (salary, opportunities for career advancement, autonomy, skill varieties, etc.). If the reinforcement system of the work environment corresponds with the need system of the individual, the individual will be satisfied with the work environment, which sequentially motivates the individual to remain in the work environment. Conversely, if the reinforcement system of the work environment does not correspond with the need system of the individual, the individual will be unsatisfied with the work environment, which sequentially motivates the individual to quit (Dawis and Lofquist, 1984).\nHypothesis development: Hierarchical plateau and turnover intention\nMethods: Procedure and participants\nResults: Descriptive analysis\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\nConclusions: To conclude, this research investigated the effects of hierarchical plateau on the turnover intention of employees at the career establishment stage, drawing on the theory of work adjustment. The findings provide new insights into the psychological mechanism underlying the link between hierarchical plateau and turnover intention. The results demonstrate that hierarchical plateau decreases job satisfaction, which in turn increases the turnover intention of employees at the career establishment stage. Person-job fit can lessen the negative effects of hierarchical plateau on employees at the career establishment stage. Building on the TWA, this research provides some practical implications for managers wishing to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of hierarchical plateau on the work attitudes and behaviour of employees at the career establishment stage.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Applying the theory of work adjustment (TWA), the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the effect of hierarchical plateau on the turnover intention of employees at the career establishment stage is mediated by job satisfaction and moderated by person-job fit.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey method was used and data were collected from 248 Chinese employees at the career establishment stage. Hierarchical regression analysis and moderated mediation analysis were used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results demonstrated that hierarchical plateau was positively related to the turnover intention of employees at the career establishment stage and that job satisfaction played a mediating role in the relationship. Person-job fit moderated the relationship between hierarchical plateau and job satisfaction, and the indirect effect of hierarchical plateau on turnover intention via job satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: This research offers new insights into the links between hierarchical plateau and employees' work attitudes and withdrawal behaviour within the TWA. The results suggest that managers can lessen the negative effects of hierarchical plateau on employees' attitudes and withdrawal behaviour by improving employees' overall person-job fit.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Predicting consumer healthy choices regarding type 1 wheat flour
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Healthy food",
"Basis types of wheat flour",
"Machine learning algorithms"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Open and dynamic innovations are more and more crucial in the food industry in order to meet the new challenges of the market and the current needs of the customers. Therefore, consumers have an increasing active interest about sustainable and healthy food (Hoek et al., 2017; Ghvanidze et al., 2016). Italian consumers' preference regarding the choice of wheat flour is \"type 1\" which is preferred for consumption because of the higher protein and ash content and nutritional information on the label (Pieniak et al., 2016; Boeing et al., 2012; Brewer, 2012). The concentration of essential nutrients and bran decreased when the extraction rate was lowered; the content of minerals was reduced to 30 percent of that in whole wheat, and the apparent minerals absorption is higher from the flours of high extraction than from the more refined flours (Taccari et al., 2016). The analysis assumes that \"type 1\" wheat flour (WF1) is a substitute for most common \"type 00\" wheat flour (WF00) for its nutritional value. Higher intake of whole grains has been associated with a lower risk of several diseases, for example, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular issues (Boeing et al., 2012; Bitzios et al., 2011).\nTheoretical framework: Many processed foods contain high levels of unhealthy nutrients such as salt, hydrogenated fats, sugar and saturated fat (Marotta et al., 2014). Since over two decades, a greater than before attention toward the correlation between nutrition and health/wellness has increasingly oriented consumers toward responsible purchase decisions and socially conscious behavior (Mancini et al., 2015, 2012).\nMaterials and methods: In order to investigate our research aims, data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey. Respondents were randomly selected at the exits of shopping malls, specialty stores and supermarkets in Apulia region, South-Italy. The latter step is related to a mall-intercept survey, whereby respondents are intercepted in malls, during their shopping. The interview schedule contemplates stopping shoppers, screening respondents for appropriateness, and administering the survey on the site. Although it can seem to be unrepresentative of the population in general, shopping mall customers do constitute a relevant share of the market for many agri-food products. Furthermore, in order to reach a robust sample, the research design forecasted a further web-based and e-mail-based survey, by means of Google forms suite, administered to an official universities mailing list by skimming based on responsibility in cooking/shopping. As the sample has not been stratified over any socio-demographic variable but the detection observations shown uniformity, our data do not aim to be fully representative of Italian consumers; by means of interviews, consumers were asked to select one among eight alternative products with different characteristics per choice options. These latter were the same attributes but at different levels. By borrowing from the choice experiment modeling (Birol et al., 2006), this strategy was adopted in order to recreate a realistic choice environment in which flour attributes in the survey correspond to the real set of information proposed to consumers on the labels at the shelves of the retail market.\nResults and discussion: The analyzed data set is made of 467 rows (answers) and 24 selected columns (questions, i.e. variables) from the original 31. In order to evaluate correlations among variables, we discarded the following ones (being them to some degree already \"embedded\" into the target Option variable): OrgCer, WheatTyp, CountrOr, ProcTyp, Brand, HealthPr, AncientGrains.\nConclusions: Consumers, even if aware of the close link between diet and health, do not seem to choose appropriate foods due to a lack of information about certain risks; literature on healthy choices (Marotta et al., 2014; Birkett and Cho, 2013) highlights employed marketing strategies may sometimes increase this confusion. Indeed consumers pay attention to information on health and nutritional aspects of foods especially well highlighted on food package labels (Barreiro-Hurle et al., 2010).\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Healthy and safety food issues are more and more becoming the purchasing process core of conscious consumer. \"Type 1\" wheat flour means higher protein and ash content. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attributes usually referred to the characteristics of wheat flour known to consumers and at implementing a predictive model of purchasing that allows to make correct decisions without the necessary experience of a real human expert.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to investigate the research aims of the paper, an online survey was carried out and conducted by means of the Google Forms in the detection time January-April 2016. The online survey collected responses from 467 Italian respondents asked to give feedback about their buying habits of various types of flour. The responses were analyzed through a data mining approach. This paper implements predictive analytics to create a statistical model of future behavior by means of a machine learning algorithms.\nFindings: In line with recent healthy and dynamic trends in the food industry, conscious consumer seems to be willing to pay a price for \"type 1\" wheat flour that is four times higher than the price related to the basic types of wheat flour.\nSocial implications: Consumer seems not to know well the \"type 1\" wheat flour and its healthy characteristics; then, it should be crucial to implement promotional strategies and marketing hand in hand. Promotion can be a key element in putting across the health benefits of special kinds of wheat flour.\nOriginality/value: Highlighting health issues about the \"type 1\" wheat flour gives insights and sheds some light on the crucial need of changing eating and purchasing behavior. Then, originality of this paper can be found in the used predictive algorithm of the artificial intelligence.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Creating a consumer market for scholarly journals
|
[
"Consumer marketing",
"Databases",
"Buying behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe scholar as a digital consumer: CIBER is an evidence-based research group that cares profoundly about the robustness and quality of data and in this regard has published widely about the information seeking behaviour of the virtual scholar (www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/research/ciber/virtualscholar/). However, this article is somewhat different from our other articles in that it is speculative and possibly controversial.Utilizing the millions of digital fingerprints people leave behind them, CIBER have been evaluating the behaviour of the virtual scholar for nearly four years now. As a result of examining the logs of ScienceDirect, EmeraldInsight, Blackwell Synergy, OhioLINK, Institute of Physics and OUP and profiling the behaviour of several million users we have discovered some very interesting facts about them.They are phenomenally active and seemingly very interested in scholarly journals. Take a few findings from our research studies. Thus, in regard to the number of visitors, Blackwell Synergy, attracted about half a million visitors a month in 2004 and these people viewed nearly 5 million items (abstracts, ToCs, full text articles and the like) during their visits, (Nicholas et al., 2005a) Those who doubted whether scholars would avail themselves of all the material they were provided with should think again; for in the case of the OhioLINK library consortium, where 6,000 journals were made available, all except five were used, in the month in which the survey was conducted, (Nicholas et al., 2005b). The demand is there and even from those people that do not have full download rights - and there are plenty of these. Thus, in the case of EmeraldInsight, two-thirds of visitors were non-subscribers, people just wandering around the digital shop looking for abstracts and full-text offers, (Nicholas et al., 2003). This has been a feature of all of our studies. The huge reach of the web and that fact that most scholarly sites allow search engine access means lots and lots of people will end up searching a site they would never have been in a position to before. This means far more casual use, from people on the periphery of a subject or simply informed, but not professionally educated users (the informed patient is a good example which has its equivalent in the scholarly field).A high proportion of virtual scholars (around 50 per cent) search horizontally and shallowly - seldom penetrating a website very deeply or spending more than a few minutes on a full-text download (a period of time that suggests they are not reading). They also tend not to come back to the same site very frequently. This makes them promiscuous in information seeking terms and we have found that the younger they are the more promiscuous they are. Their behaviour is best characterised as being a checking, comparing, dipping sort of behaviour, that has much in common with the way that children use the television remote (i.e. flicking from channel to channel). This is all a result of massive choice, easy access, a shortage of time and a strong reliance on finding via search engines.A bouncing, checking, promiscuous and consumer form of behaviour creates enormous volatility and unpredictability in which search engines, digital visibility and digital offers/promotions drive usage. This can lead to big (50 per cent+) increases/deceases in usage from one year to another, massive increases in use (1,000 per cent) as a result of \"free journals of the week\" offers and a rise in the use of older material as a result of the search engine's ability to provide such material with previously unheard of levels of visibility.All these factors, plus a common and multi-function retrieval platform, are creating a level playing field in which the once big differences between subject fields and institutions are narrowing.\nBut whither the digital consumer marketplace?: The very strong consumer traits which operate in the allegedly, conservative scholarly journal market and the huge consumer demand for the product have been clearly established. We now have enough data - and confidence in the data - to start asking where is it taking us and how can it be used to improve the scholarly communication system? The moment we do this we run into a major obstacle and that is we do not actually have a true consumer market/mechanism, and this distorts, frustrates and creates a myriad of problems for the user. What we really need is a major market re-alignment. Thus, while academic information consumers have a choice, albeit partly dependent upon the wealth of their own particular university, they do not really have a real or free choice, because librarians largely make choices for them, in that they determine which journals they get for free and which ones they do not etc. It does not help either that librarians are not always very effective at employing the available usage data to ensure their choices are indeed the ones the consumers would make themselves. Indeed, OhioLINK data has shown that when consumers are given a choice they often make different choices from librarians.The market is further distorted by the consumer. Thus, in the case of the digital journals for which they have free access, they are clearly not obliged to exercise any discretion over what they consume (download). Librarians are not inclined to intervene, as what they actually want is to show the big deals and the like, which they pay upfront for, deliver lots of downloads would seem to do just that.\nThe market solution: Would not a better solution be to give consumers what they actually want - full and largely unfettered choice; let them make the decisions about what they want to spend the money on, but at the same time make sure they are responsible in their decision making? Thus, for instance, they could be given so many download electronic credits by the library (or similar agency) at the beginning of each term, with a different tariff, maybe, for postgraduates, science students, and professors. These electronic credits could be accepted by any scholarly journal vendors - e-commerce has long ago sorted out the mechanics by which this can be done. Where the virtual scholar chooses to spend them is up to them, they could - and we have evidence already that they would - shop around.\nBenefits of the new market solution: 1. It fits perfectly into the general digital consumer marketplace in which scholarly publishing is now embedded, thanks to Google and the like, but in actuality sticks out like a sore thumb. It would offer a consumer-driven model, to replace the institutional driven model. It is essentially a free market model in which open access, institutional repositories and big deals sit naturally next to each other, with no conflict; they simply provide a rich array of choices for the consumer to make. In this new environment content will genuinely be king. Government would be happy too, they like consumer market solutions as they tend to be very democratic and require little intervention or control.2. It would be more efficient as consumers would have to husband their resources and act more responsibly over what they \"bought\". It would remove a vast amount of waste, people would not be downloading material they do not really need (and which may already be available in the library in hard-copy), but just wanted to husband or squirrel away for a rainy day.3. It offers better value for money. Universities and libraries would get much better value for their money. Genuine competition for thousands of virtual scholars would drive prices down. Publishers would now be dealing with genuine consumers, and not just a few hundred intermediaries. As a consequence, librarians would remove themselves from the firing line and leave criticizing publishers to the consumers!4. Librarians could enhance their status considerably. Firstly, consumers would need some guidance in becoming responsible (prudent) digital information shoppers, and this could provide a real incentive for consumers to sign-up to information literacy programmes (run by the library, of course) - and currently there is no big incentive for consumers to do so. Secondly, libraries would obtain greater visibility in the digital world, something they sorely need. Because of their role in supplying information credit and advice about it, consumers would have to deal with the library. Currently many users never have to contact the library and no one is really aware of the fact that the library is actually responsible for paying for online access to journals.5. We would not have to pull down the existing publishing system that our research indicates authors and users are generally happy with the publishing system that has given birth to the likes of ScienceDirect, Synergy and EmeraldInsight, (Rowlands and Nicholas, 2006). We would be building a more controlled and coherent publishing environment without destroying the old one. It would be an evolutionary, rather than a revolutionary approach and one that sits well in what is, after all, an essentially conservative environment. It would even offer a perfect solution to the ghettoizing of the hard-copy collection. Hard-copy would now be part of the consumer choice. It is there and it is free, let the consumer determine whether searching from home and having access to full-text digital journals is worth the extra expense. It also bring A&I or bibliographic services into the equation as they provide the means by which consumers can determine relevance, value for money and whether the library has a free hard copy alternative.6. The existing system is somewhat flawed, illogical and one in which it is almost impossible to determine academic value, outcomes or benefits or indeed to gain a grip of what is going on. The new, consumer-regulated system with the credits would provide excellent usage and value for money data. Downloads, the main currency and gold standard of the current system are not good indicators of satisfaction and benefit. Users would spend more time navigating the scholarly space than on full-text downloads and this would sit well with senior academic administrators.It is an approach that offers something for all the players and stakeholders, something that can hardly be said to be true about the other publishing models - big deals, open access and institutional repositories, which tend to set librarian against publisher, publishers against funders, with the detached user/author just looking on.\nConclusions: Let us first deal with possible lines of criticism that our proposition will attract. Firstly, it might be argued that big deals are really the big success story and we should leave it at that. Courtesy of big deals, many academics in the Western world have a bigger selection of journals available to them free at point of use than ever before - and CIBER research clearly demonstrates that they appreciate that. They have free and largely unfettered choice, but we have also demonstrated that this has led to widespread inefficiencies in use and a laziness in regard to the need for information skills. Most importantly, perhaps, we have shown that there are a lot of people outside the deals who would like to be allowed in. Furthermore, the publisher's \"walled garden\" approach to journal access does not sit well with what is going on in cyberspace and surely Google and Microsoft will force a more customer/user-driven model to be adopted? Secondly, it could be argued that psychologically such an arrangement is preferable to a metered one for publishers, librarians, and academics. It provides publishers with a comfort zone, but possibly not for long, what with librarians now monitoring use with some alacrity. It is said that librarians would not want to give up their existing control - although this control is exercised rather anonymously and publishers delude themselves if they think that librarians like this producer-led model. It might be envisaged that academic departments would not want metered access, but at the moment departments have very limited control or influence and get charged for it, so we would not be so sure. Thirdly, this is a (misguided) attempt to bring in the metering of something that is effectively cost free. However, there can be no principled objection to recovering revenue from digital sales and this is precisely how iTunes have made a successful business. The record company invests in creating and marketing an album, takes all the risks, and then allows download of tracks from the internet for a small fee (currently 79p per single). Exactly the same situation as we propose.This gives the consumer choice: you can buy the conventional CD or pick and mix and have the added convenience of downloading whatever tracks you want direct to your iPod (or burn your own custom CDs if you want to). It just adds to the business. Fourthly, the system of credits proposed is too complex or costly, yet such systems are used universally in academe for photocopying, printing, and buying food in canteens. Also this concept is not too far away from using credit cards to download articles, music, etc. Fifthly, if the big deal is not the panacea, what about the author-pays open access model? However, the current system is already too heavily weighted to the author and their friends. They are - as they admitted themselves in the 2005 CIBER survey - indifferent to the affordability to the reader of where they publish, because they just assume the taxpayer will see them all right. The open access proposal, to put the responsibility on research funders (rather than librarians) to fund the system creates as many problems as it solves. It removes all market forces and competition from the equation, a model with no consumers (either end-users or acquisitions librarians). It is essentially a form of censorship: only those authors with established track record in getting research funding can publish and it is a fundamental assault on academic freedom. Publishing or not publishing now becomes a highly political act, depending on how effectively you can wangle influence at the Faculty level. And, as we know, even in medicine a large proportion of papers (especially at the clinical level) do not have explicit funding. In the longer term, we just cannot see how removing market forces completely from the scholarly publishing system will be to anyone's benefit. And the reality will be regulation of the system by a small cabal of research administrators, faculty chairs and influential editors. Is that really a price worth paying for removing any shred of vulgar commercial forces from the system? As previously mentioned, the journals system has existed largely for the benefit of authors: it worked without readers (consumers). All authors wanted was a date stamp so that they could claim to be the first to an idea, a quality stamp (i.e. journal brand), and for their papers to be archived and indexed. They did most of the work for free because the system benefited them. Open this system up to reader control as envisaged and of course you change its nature (it is not just an alternative business model). As public agency after public agency attempts to drive another nail into the commercial publishing coffin, publishers are going to have to go further than (at the moment) just cultivating and pleasing authors and begin to pay attention to readers. Our proposal is a first step towards this goal. Currently the virtual scholar has choice, but not sufficient choice. However, not until we get the kind of changes suggested will we really see a scholarly communication market which provides the necessary price differentials to suit all consumers - for instance, to allow older material to be offered more cheaply than newer, in-demand, material; to allow lowly cited/used material to be sold more cheaply than heavily cited/used material; and to provide a foothold in the market for the \"disenfranchised\" (those not benefiting from being part of universities and big deals). At the moment we are probably in the worst of all scholarly worlds; digital content is variously neglected, abused, free, and expensive. This paper is as much about stimulating some new thinking in this important area as it is about setting out a new scholarly communication market model. When we first introduced the phrase \"digital information consumer\" back in 2003 we were howled down by publishers who explained to us that their clients' were not \"consumers\". \"Consumers\" was seen as a disparaging term not suitable for those that shopped in the scholarly marketplace. We no longer get howled down when we mention the phrase, a sure sign of the growing acceptance of consumerism in the scholarly publishing world, so it will be interesting to see the response to the ideas presented in this paper.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative method for individuals to obtain documents using credits supplied by their institution to purchase at article level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on the experience and knowledge gained from the extensive work that CIBER has done in analyzing the usage of large-scale journal databases.\nFindings: - It was found that such an approach has many advantages over the current librarian-driven process.\nOriginality/value: - Digital content is variously neglected, abused, free, and expensive. This paper is as much about stimulating some new thinking in this important area as about setting out a new scholarly communication market model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Clinical Assessment of Risk Management: an INtegrated Approach (CARMINA)
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Clinical governance",
"Patient safety",
"Risk management",
"Self-assessment",
"Clinical risk management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Clinical risk management (CRM) is a key clinical governance component, defined by Scally and Donaldson (1998, p. 62) as:\nDesign: The self-evaluation tool was developed by a CRM expert panel coming from eight Italian organizations, followed by a field testing and a validation phase by a second external expert panel (using a Delphi technique). Specifically, the development process followed six steps:\nFindings: Tool - final version\nPractical implications: Tool development method\nConclusions and recommendations: The European Commission report on implementing council patient safety recommendations, published in November 2012 (European Commission, 2012), highlighted priorities areas on which future work should focus raising the need to introduce, beyond the recommendations, clear and shared safety standards, considered also an indispensable condition for EU citizens as mobile patients (European Union, 2011). Adopting CARMINA in healthcare organizations can be useful for fulfilling these requirements as a starting point for achieving minimum CRM levels and as a benchmarking tool. At the same time, healthcare CRM is generally evaluated as a broader approach based on quality assessment and verified through accreditation processes. An inadequate CRM program (e.g. either safety indicators are not implemented or do not reach acceptable levels) plays a fundamental role the entire organization assessment (Accreditation Canada, 2013; Joint Commission International, 2013), making CARMINA helpful as an instrument for monitoring improvement on recognized standards over time. As CARMINA was conceived as a monitoring instrument, it needs to be regularly updated and expanded over time. First, a scoring system upgrade to include all the objective criteria is needed: the Delphi weighted score assigned for minimum levels will represent each standard's half score, while the other half sums the remaining objective criteria. Second, as CRM is a fast evolving field, the tool needs to be kept fresh with emerging issues and policy initiatives. Third, as the risks inherent in using a self-reported evaluation tool for institutional monitoring are obvious, adding a proof mechanism (e.g. protocols, reports and improvement actions documentation) has been contemplated as the tool's first upgrade. Fourth, the tool was inspired by European recommendations that call for common safety standards across the union, but was developed for Italian healthcare services (with some standards strictly connected to Italian ministerial initiatives). Nevertheless, its core can easily be expanded and adapted for other countries. Finally, the tools need to be tested for reliability (e.g. Cronbach's a, test-retest study).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The European Union recommendations for patient safety calls for shared clinical risk management (CRM) safety standards able to guide organizations in CRM implementation. The purpose of this paper is to develop a self-evaluation tool to measure healthcare organization performance on CRM and guide improvements over time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A multi-step approach was implemented including: a systematic literature review; consensus meetings with an expert panel from eight Italian leader organizations to get to an agreement on the first version; field testing to test instrument feasibility and flexibility; Delphi strategy with a second expert panel for content validation and balanced scoring system development.\nFindings: The self-assessment tool - Clinical Assessment of Risk Management: an INtegrated Approach includes seven areas (governance, communication, knowledge and skills, safe environment, care processes, adverse event management, learning from experience) and 52 standards. Each standard is evaluated according to four performance levels: minimum; monitoring; outcomes; and improvement actions, which resulted in a feasible, flexible and valid instrument to be used throughout different organizations.\nPractical implications: This tool allows practitioners to assess their CRM activities compared to minimum levels, monitor performance, benchmarking with other institutions and spreading results to different stakeholders.\nOriginality/value: The multi-step approach allowed us to identify core minimum CRM levels in a field where no consensus has been reached. Most standards may be easily adopted in other countries.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Adoption of mobile banking services: A comparative analysis of four competing theoretical models
|
[
"Online consumer behaviour",
"Perceived risk",
"M-banking",
"Innovation adoption models comparison",
"Technology-based services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mobile banking (MB), also known as m-banking, is one of the recent technology-based financial services provided by banks and other financial service providers (Shaikh and Karjaluoto, 2015) that allows its customers to conduct banking transactions remotely through an application and on a 24 h basis (Oliveira et al., 2014). MB provides access to customers' bank accounts through mobile devices in order to execute bank transactions such as checking account status, transferring money, etc. (Tam and Oliveira, 2017). Luo et al. (2010) define MB as an innovative method for accessing banking services via a channel where the customer interacts with a bank using a mobile device.\n2. Literature review and description of innovation adoption models: Although there are several models used to explain innovation adoption in the online financial services context, most of them are extensions or combinations of the four models compared in this study. This section describes the theoretical models used in the comparison study (i.e. TAM, TPB, DTPB and UTAUT) and reviews the most recent studies that use each of these models in the context of MB adoption.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Research setting\n4. Results: 4.1 Measurement model assessment\n5. Discussion and implications: 5.1 Discussion of findings and theoretical implications\n6. Limitations and further research: This study, despite the significance of its findings, has several limitations. First, it follows a hybrid convenient sampling strategy that does not ensure the full generalization of results. The proposed model can be used for further research using a random, more representative sample that will allow the extraction of more trustworthy results. Second, the findings and implications of this study are obtained using a cross-sectional study. This reduces the ability of the study to reflect the temporal changes in research constructs. A longitudinal study on the subject is necessary in order to clarify the effects of temporal changes. Furthermore, due to the globalization of services, it is important to test the comparison of the four models across various countries with different cultures, to identify differences or similarities due to culture (e.g. Zhang et al., 2018).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate which of four well-established theoretical models (i.e. technology acceptance model, theory of planned behavior, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB)) best explains potential users' behavioral intentions to adopt mobile banking (MB) services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on data from 931 potential users in Greece, the structural equation modeling method was used to examine and compare the four models in goodness-of-fit, explanatory power and statistical significance of path coefficients.\nFindings: Results indicate that the best model is an extension of the DTPB with perceived risk (PR). Customers' attitude, determined by three rationally-evaluated MB attributes (usefulness, easiness and compatibility), is the main driver of consumers' intentions to adopt MB services. Additionally, consumers' perceptions of availability of knowledge, resources and opportunities necessary for using the service, and the pressure of interpersonal and external social contexts toward the use of MB are the other two, less important, adoption drivers. Finally, PR negatively affects attitude formation and inhibits willingness to use MB services.\nPractical implications: Findings can help marketers of financial institutions to select the more parsimonious model to develop appropriate marketing strategies to increase adoption rates of MB services.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study that compares the performance of four well-known innovation adoption models to explain consumers' behavior in the MB context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Adaptive admissions process for effective and fair graduate admission
|
[
"Closed-loop control",
"Admissions instruments",
"Graduate admissions process"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Background: consequences of the Bologna Process in Switzerland\n2. Systematic design for an admissions process: As discussed, admission is to a great extent a prediction task, where admissions committees aim at estimating a candidate's chance of future study success. For these kinds of tasks, Meehl (1954) provided strong evidence for the superiority of the statistical approach over the clinical one. Since then, a plethora of studies has challenged this result but none contradicted Meehl's conclusion (Kahneman, 2011). Meehl suspected that experts try to be clever and use unnecessarily complex combinations of explanatory variables for predicting. Additionally, bounded awareness or cognitive blinders may cause decision makers to ignore key information that lay outside their focus (Bazerman and Chugh, 2006). Moreover, the inherent inconsistencies in complex decision-making situations (Kahneman, 2011) were found to have a surprisingly strong effect on sequential human decision making (e.g. Danziger et al., 2011). These factors may prevent experts from reliable decision making.\n3. Comprehensive evaluations of the admissions process: To investigate whether the admissions process led to effective and fair decision making and could be improved over time, we used student records from the master's program in computer science collected between 2006 and 2012 (Figure 8).\n4. Conclusions: The graduate admissions process is a critical step for quality assurance within higher education. Despite its importance, rules-of-thumb and domain-specific experiences still often dominate evidence-based approaches. In this paper, we presented the systematic design of a four-phase admissions process for effectiveness, fairness, and the ability to continually improve. We also showed how to condense and analyze the massive amount of data available from student records to obtain high-value feedback for admissions decision making. The three key features of our work, the three-stage decision-making hierarchy, the feedback mechanism, and the selection of valid admissions instruments, were supported by theoretical considerations and explained in detail. We also presented a comprehensive performance evaluation of an actual implementation. In the following, we discuss our main results.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Graduate admission has become a critical process for quality assurance in tertiary education. Hitherto, most research has investigated the validity of admissions instruments. However, surprisingly little work has been conducted on the overall organization of admission, which often remains \"informal, ad hoc, and lacking in continuity.\" The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to systematically design an admissions process for effectiveness, fairness, and the ability to continually improve, and determine how to condense and analyze the massive amount of data available from student records to obtain high-value feedback for admissions decision making.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An admissions process was systematically designed based on results from process management theory. Tenets of decision theory were applied to the organization of decision making and validity theory was utilized for validating admissions instruments. Performance of the implemented process was evaluated via student records covering a seven-year period.\nFindings: The authors have designed a four-phase admissions process that ensures high quality through screening, scoping, selection, and evaluation/feedback. The last phase introduces closed-loop control and facilitates stabilization and continual improvement. Additionally, the authors have established a three-stage decision-making hierarchy that promotes consistency and equal treatment in admissions. The evaluations of undergraduate achievements and GRE(r) General Test scores indicate that both are valid admissions instruments in the European context. Finally, the evaluation of the implemented process provides evidence that decision making has effectively improved over the years and has become more consistent.\nOriginality/value: The systematic design of the admissions process presented generalizes well and is a significant contribution to the organization of decentralized graduate admission.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
When customers are willing to disclose information in the insurance industry: A multi-group analysis comparing ten countries
|
[
"Customer value",
"Trust",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Multi-group analysis",
"Information disclosure"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Key phrases such as customer centricity, customer experience, and customer relationship management are at the top of many management agendas. What they have in common is their effort to place the customer at the center of attention and create value for that customer (customer value). Customer value is also a trending topic for researchers (Zeithaml, 1988; Parasuraman, 1997; Woodruff, 1997). Many studies have revealed the antecedents and consequences of customer value. Most of these papers provide an overview of how customer value can be analyzed and how it affects other variables, such as customer satisfaction and loyalty. Another possible consequence of customer value is information disclosure. With today's possibilities of new technologies, on the one hand, and data fraud, on the other hand, information disclosure is also a current topic in both research and practice. Researchers have studied information sharing in supply chains (Gaur et al., 2005), between firms (Carr and Kaynak, 2007), and in inter-organizational information sharing systems (Barrett and Konsynski, 1982). In the consumer goods industry, information disclosure is often associated with loyalty cards (Smith et al., 2003). On the one hand, customers are willing to share information on their purchase behavior with a provider to receive discounts or reward points (e.g. insurance customers with telematics in the auto insurance); on the other hand, consumer associations denounce the transparent customer. Therefore, it is important to take into account the context-sensitive nature of information (Smith et al., 2011; Belanger and Xu, 2015). However, in the digital world, customers share their information in blogs (Lee et al., 2008), chats (Dietz-Uhler et al., 2005), forums (Barak and Gluck-Ofri, 2007), and social networks (Taraszow et al., 2010). Customers even disclose sensitive data, like statistics from their wearable devices or fitness apps, to others on the internet. For most companies, this information is invaluable because it gives them the ability to analyze the behavior of their customers, exposing key aspects of the circumstances under which and how customers use their products and services. Thus, companies can improve and individualize their products and services to fit customers' needs. In addition, this information can facilitate communication with customers because a direct customer approach is possible.\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses development: Development of customer value\nMethodology and results: Pretest of the customer value constructs\nDiscussion, implications, and further research: The current research makes important contributions to the literature in the financial services area, especially the insurance sector. First, we demonstrated the antecedents of the willingness to disclose personal information to companies. In this context, the concept of customer value plays an important role because it influences the information disclosure directly and indirectly (via satisfaction and trust). These relationships are confirmed by our study with ten countries. Nevertheless, we also showed that, in relation to the cultural characteristics, customers of different countries vary in their extent of these relationships.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show antecedents of customers' information disclosure in the insurance industry and demonstrate central levers that foster customers' information disclosure to companies in the insurance sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A conceptual model is presented, which is empirically tested with 3,494 insurance customers from ten counties with structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis.\nFindings: Customer value in the insurance industry consists of three factors (customer value provided by the company, the agent, and the product) and affects information disclosure directly and indirectly (via satisfaction and trust).\nResearch limitations/implications: Antecedents of customers' information disclosure in the insurance industry were identified. Moreover, the authors show that, in line with resource exchange theory, customers are willing to disclose personal and behavioral data to an insurance company in exchange for lower premiums or additional services.\nPractical implications: Customers expect benefits in exchange for their personal data. In combination with new technologies (e.g. smartphones or wearables), companies can offer tailored products to their customers and can create a win -win situation for customers as well as insurance companies.\nOriginality/value: The paper identifies the antecedents of customers' information disclosure in the insurance industry with a conceptual model. This model is tested in ten countries and offers insights in established (e.g. USA) as well as emergent markets (e.g. Brazil).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
To help or not to help: antecedents of hotel employees' organizational citizenship behavior
|
[
"Organizational citizenship behavior",
"Perceived organizational support",
"Organizational support theory",
"Perceived supervisor support",
"Supervisors’ organizational embodiment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As the hospitality industry is one of the most rapidly changing sectors globally, human resources management has become more important (Choi, 2006). Concerning the process through which social influences affect hotel industries, supervisors play a crucial role in terms of guiding, evaluating and assisting their followers (Eisenberger et al., 2010; Meyer et al., 2015). Most supervisors support and nurture their subordinates, assisting them in effectively reaching organizational objectives (Kong, 2013). According to organizational support theory, perceived organizational support should elicit the norm of reciprocity, leading to a felt obligation to help the organization, as well as the expectation that increased performance on behalf of the organization will be noticed and rewarded (Kurtessis et al., 2015). As a result, employees with high perceived organizational support should engage in greater job-related efforts, resulting in enhanced in-role performance and extra-role performance that are helpful to the organization. Hence, the potential effect of supervisor and organizational support behavior on subordinates has always been a fundamental topic of concern in hotel employee studies (Loi et al., 2014; Guchait et al., 2014).\nTheory and hypotheses: Supervisors' organizational embodiment\nMethods: Sample and procedure\nResults: Following Anderson and Gerbing's (1988) recommendation, we first examined construct validity of the variables before testing the hypotheses. The construct validity was assessed using the average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) statistics. As shown in Table II, all items had significant factor loadings (t > 1.96, p < 0.05) on the corresponding factors. AVE ranged from 0.66 to 0.79, which also exceeded the recommended level of 0.50, and the CR of all constructs met the suggested threshold (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Comparison of the correlation with the square root of AVE shows that all correlations between two constructs are less than the square root of AVE of both constructs. Also, the Cronbach's alpha value for each of our constructs exceeds 0.7, suggesting reliability of the measurement scale.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Drawing on organizational support theory, this study aims to propose and test a moderated path analysis to explore the interactive effect of perceived supervisor support and supervisors' organizational embodiment on organizational citizenship behavior, as well as the mediating effect of perceived organizational support.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hypotheses are tested using two-phase survey data collected from 398 dyads of employees and their immediate supervisors from 26 (three-to-five star) hotels in Taiwan.\nFindings: The hierarchical linear modeling results suggest that perceived organizational support mediates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and organizational citizenship behavior. These findings indicate that supervisors' organizational embodiment positively moderates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational support, which, in turn, mediates the interaction between perceived supervisor support and supervisors' organizational embodiment on organizational citizenship behavior.\nResearch limitations/implications: This is the first study to examine the moderating role of supervisors' organizational embodiment in hospitality domain. In high or low supervisors' organizational embodiment context, hotels are supposed to assign representative managers that could strengthen the efficiency of perceived supervisor support. Finally, employees will perceive organizational support and then lead to employee organizational citizenship behavior.\nOriginality/value: Previous research indicates that perceived organizational support positively impacts various employee outcomes. However, the antecedents and psychological mechanisms of perceived organizational support are still not well understood. This research intends to fill these gaps in the literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effects of consumer perception of volume discount benefits on intention to purchase grocery products: Deal proneness as a moderator
|
[
"Malaysia",
"Perceived quality",
"Intention to purchase",
"Deal proneness",
"Perceived savings",
"Volume discount"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Sales promotions (SPs) are highly prioritised in the current market because consumers prefer to have SPs more frequently; and, it has persuading effects on potential consumers, which increase sales volume and profit. As such, marketers assign a higher proportion of their marketing budget to SPs compared to advertising. SPs consist of a wide range of marketing tools that are used by retailers to fulfil short-term objectives (Iranmanesh et al., 2016). Retailers use SPs in different forms, such as price discounts, volume discounts (VDs), free gifts, and sweepstakes, to attract consumers and, simultaneously, increase their business volume. There are certain reasons that the VD was selected at the business-to-customer (B-to-C) level as the focus of this thesis. First, the VD is one of the most common types of SPs at the B-to-C level, specifically in Malaysia (Mullin, 2010; Jayaraman et al., 2013). Second, despite the abundant research on other types of SPs, such as price discounts (Choi et al., 2014; Alvarez and Casielles, 2008), coupons (Garretson et al., 2002; Wierich and Zielke, 2014), and premiums (d'Astous and Jacob, 2002; Palazon and Delgado-Ballester, 2013), and the in-depth investigation into the crucial dimensions of these types of SP techniques in several contexts, studies on VDs, especially at the B-to-C level, are seldom researched (Gendall et al., 2006; Li et al., 2007). Third, the results of the studies on other types of SP techniques cannot be generalised to VDs since the objectives and nature of the different types of SPs are different. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is on VDs at the B-to-C level to fill up the literature gap.\nLiterature review: SP\nModel conceptualisation and hypothesis development: Figure 1 shows the proposed framework for investigating the effects of consumers' perceptions of VD benefits on their intention to purchase products under this scheme. This study also investigates the moderating effect of deal proneness on these relationships.\nResearch methodology: Variables selection\nResults: Sample characteristics\nDiscussion: The limited number of studies on VDs at the B-to-C levels and the insufficient knowledge of retailers with regards to the potential drivers of consumers' intention to purchase products under VDs have led to many failures in promoting a product under this scheme. The effects of consumers' perceptions of VD benefits on their intention to purchase grocery products under this scheme have been investigated in the current paper by using deal proneness as a moderator. Perceived savings, self-expression value, and convenience have all been shown to have positive and significant effects on consumers' intention to purchase grocery products under VDs. Furthermore, deal proneness moderates the relationship between perceived quality and consumers' intention to purchase under VDs.\nImplications: This paper contributes to the SP literature by analysing one of the SP techniques, namely, VD, which is increasing in its popularity but has been overlooked in the current literatures. In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to investigate the effects of consumers' perception of VD benefits on their intention to purchase grocery products. VD research is particularly important because the VD is an excellent SP that has received less attention in the literature. The significant effects of perceived self-expression value and perceived convenience on the consumers' intention to purchase products under VDs confirm the findings of Chandon et al. (2000), who reported that monetary savings is not the only benefit that consumers can obtain from SPs. In addition, the results of this study show that a general model cannot explain consumers' responses to all types of SPs. In Chandon et al.'s (2000) general model, perceived quality is recognised as one of the drivers of consumers' intention to purchase products under SPs, which has not been supported in the present study. Perceived quality is frequently used by researchers to explain the reason that consumers respond to a SP (Raghubir et al., 2004; Jin and Suh, 2005; Gatti et al., 2012; and Das, 2014). The insignificant effect of perceived quality in the VD context suggests that developing a specific framework for each type of SP is necessary, and that the results of studies on price discount cannot be generalised to VD. In addition, the significant effects of the perceived self-expression value and perceived convenience besides the perceived savings on consumers' intention to purchase products under VDs confirm Chandon et al.'s (2000) findings that monetary savings are not the only benefit of SPs to consumers.\nLimitation and future studies: Although the objective of the study was successfully accomplished, its limitations should be considered before presenting a generalisation of the results. First, the population of the present study was limited to Malaysian consumers who had experienced SPs under VDs during the previous year. Therefore, we must interpret the results as clarifying the stimuli of consumers with recent experiences. Identifying whether the results can be generalised to consumers with no experience during the previous year will require additional research. In addition, in future studies, researchers can test the proposed model of the present study in other countries to determine the drivers of successfully promoting grocery products under VDs and comparing the results with Malaysia. Second, the effects of purchase characteristics on consumers' purchase intention under VDs were investigated for grocery products. Although grocery products are the common type of products promoted under VDs, further studies on other types of products, such as textiles, are required so that the present findings can be generalised. Third, the present study shows that perceived savings, perceived self-expression value, and perceived convenience play important roles in consumers' decisions to purchase grocery products under VDs. The drivers of these benefits should be investigated to explore the most effective way of enhancing these benefits.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of consumers' perceptions towards volume discount (VD) benefits on their intention to purchase grocery products under this scheme using deal proneness as a moderator.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were gathered through a survey of 583 Malaysian consumers, and were analysed using the partial least squares technique.\nFindings: The results showed that perceived savings, self-expression value, and convenience positively affected consumers' intention to purchase grocery products under VDs. Deal proneness negatively moderated the relationship between perceived quality, innovation, and consumers' intention to purchase under VDs.\nPractical implications: The findings of the study will help retailers to understand the effects of consumers' perceptions of VD benefits on their intention to purchase products under VDs, thereby allowing retailers to promote products under VDs more effectively.\nOriginality/value: Although the VD is a common type of sales promotion, this topic is rarely explored. This study thus contributes to the advancement of knowledge by determining the effects of the potential benefits of VDs on consumers' intention to purchase.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An evaluation of handover for the core trainees in psychiatry in the North Western Deanery
|
[
"Quality",
"Qualitative research",
"Professional development",
"Evidence-based practice",
"Handover",
"Medical education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Clinical handover is defined as \"the transfer of professional responsibility and accountability for some or all aspects of patient care, on a temporary or permanent basis\" (National Patient Safety Agency, 2004). Timely and effective handover is crucial to ensure patient safety and high quality clinical care. If done badly, it can result in the delays in assessing patients for both psychiatric and medical problems, inaccurate assessments and treatments, clinical errors, duplication of work, reduced clinical efficiency, poor morale amongst staff, increased length of hospital stay, and even risk of actual harm to patients (Eaton, 2010; Temple, 2010). In addition, handover also affords a dynamic educational opportunity for trainees, although some studies seem to suggest that the educational and training opportunities are not always available during handover (Dracup and Morris, 2008).\nMethodology: Approval for this study was obtained by the National Health Service (NHS) North of England, and this project has been supervised by the Medical Education Fellowship (MEF) scheme for doctors in training in the North Western Deanery in England.\nResults: The overall process of handover\nDiscussion: This survey provides a cross-sectional snapshot of the trainees' experiences of clinical handover in mental health settings. There was a good response rate and the findings reflect psychiatric handover practices across a large region in the UK. The results indicate a wide range of handover practices for junior doctors in psychiatry, which are probably reflective of how mental health services are quite diversely organised across different mental health trusts (and probably even across sites within the same trust). This is consistent with the BMA report (BMA, 2004) which also highlights that there is a wide variety in the practice of handover. The wide variety in handover practice may also suggest that a \"one size fits all\" approach to handover probably won't meet the needs of all health service departments.\nConclusions: In conclusion it is clear that effective doctor to doctor handover is vital with regards to patient safety, and with the increase in shift pattern working, the importance of handover has never been so high. In the complex psychiatry setting that can include multiple sites and multiple teams working with both psychiatric and physical health problems, systems need to put in place that facilitate safe handover based on local needs. In addition, handover in psychiatry needs to develop a balance between service delivery and as an educational opportunity for trainees to meet their curricular needs. A recommendation is that trainees and their seniors including educational supervisors use the learning portfolio and training more innovatively and effectively to provide triangulated evidence of competence in handover which will potentially improve the quality of care provided to patients.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Handover is essential to ensure high quality care. It is also a dynamic educational opportunity for trainee doctors. In the UK, the General Medical Council's annual training survey has repeatedly highlighted handover as a major concern in the training of doctors in psychiatry. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the handover experiences for Core Trainees (years one to three) in psychiatry in the North Western Deanery (England).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online questionnaire focusing on current practice, safety and the educational aspects of handover was sent to all Core Trainees (years one to three) in psychiatry from the North Western Deanery in April 2013. The questionnaire had quantitative and qualitative elements and was analysed descriptively, with free text collated into themes by the authors.\nFindings: The survey was completed by 77.7 per cent of trainees, and indicated a wide variety in the structure of the handover process. There were no specific safety incidents but concerns regarding the handover of medical problems and handover from peripheral hospital sites. Trainees felt that handover was an important opportunity to learn, but in practice it had limited educational value. It is important to consider the robustness of handover in the context of the types of problems handed over, multiple sites and a lack of senior involvement. There also needs consideration as to how a high quality handover can be of educational value.\nOriginality/value: This is the first report that evaluates clinical handover between Psychiatry trainee doctors in the UK which evaluates both a clinical and educational perspective.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Unemployment, innovation and R&D: introduction
|
[
"Unemployment",
"Research and development",
"Innovation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The papers proposed in this Special Issue were selected from those presented at the International Conference organised by the Applied Econometrics Association on \"Policies against Unemployment\" held in Naples, Italy, 1-2 June 2006, at Parthenope University.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to introduce the contributions in this special issue on \"Unemployment, innovation and R&D\", and provide a brief outline of the international conference organised by the Applied Econometrics Association on \"Policies against Unemployment\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is descriptive in nature.\nFindings: - The papers presented in this special issue shed some light on the key determinants of unemployment levels, and help to identify policies that can tackle unemployment successfully.\nOriginality/value: - Some radically different approaches to the issue of tackling unemployment are presented. The special issue, of which this paper is a part, provides further new evidence on the impact of innovation and R&D on employment/unemployment and unemployment persistence.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Beyond dictionaries: Understanding information behavior of professional translators
|
[
"Interpreters",
"Qualitative research",
"Information retrieval",
"Individual behaviour",
"Semantics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As a result of the war on terrorism and a burgeoning global economy, skilled professional translators are in high demand, but far too few qualified translators are available to meet these needs, particularly in less commonly taught languages, such as Pashto and Cebuano. In 2002, the US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence highlighted this high demand/low supply situation in intelligence:The most pressing ... need is for greater numbers of foreign language-capable intelligence personnel, with increased fluency in specific and multiple languages ... this is the single greatest limitation in intelligence agency personnel expertise ... (US House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 2002).Throughout the world, 6,912 living languages, including sign languages, exist (Gordon, 2005a). In some countries, hundreds of languages are spoken by their citizenry. Collectively, for example, the people in Indonesia speak 737 living languages, 20 alone on the islands of Java and Bali (Gordon, 2005b).Several long- and short-term solutions are possible:* providing machine translation by itself or in conjunction with other technological support to increase the efficiency of existing translators;* offering incentives (increased pay, course-related financing) for translators to learn new languages;* using translators knowledgeable in one language to translate a related language;* recruiting and supporting students in high-need languages for translating careers; and* hiring and training native speakers as translators (Westin, 2002).Machine translation (MT) may seem to be a viable solution to the problem. On the web, translation software allows for cross-language retrieval from websites in different languages and quick translation of websites and e-mail, for example. In this context, translating for the gist or essence of the document and imperfect, incomplete translation have become acceptable. Hutchins comments that the \"aim of using computers for translation is not to emulate or rival human translation but to produce rough translations which can serve as drafts for published translations, as gists for information gathering, and as cross-language communication aids\" (Hutchins, 2005, p. 156). Still recognized, however, is that, for quality translation, human translators must become involved.With the growing global need for translation, especially for less commonly taught languages, and the limits of MT, the time is opportune to study information needs and behaviors of professional translators. Understanding the task of translation and its influence on information behavior is an important step in designing and building more effective tools and services for translators.1.1 Research questions\n2. Methodology: This project is exploratory and aims to characterize translation as a task and to identify how it influences translators' information needs and use of resources to meet those needs. It uses a qualitative methodological approach.2.1 Participants\n3. Results and discussion: The results are presented in the form of a narrative, drawing not only on the data from the study but also on related literature. The narrative emphasizes what is known and points out what still needs to be studied about this important, intellectually challenging task and the information behavior of people who perform it. The first section characterizes translation as a task and assesses its complexity. Subsequent sections describe the translators' information behavior.Finally, the conclusion and recommendations section relates the findings of this study to the information studies task-related research in which complexity of the task is a significant variable influencing information behavior. It establishes a model of translators' information seeking behavior and posits some relationships that need further testing. The conclusion also presents implications of the results for resources.3.1 The nature of the task\n4. Information behavior during the task: How do characteristics of the task of translation affect information behavior? This section focuses on the following information behavior variables: the type of information needed, the resources used, and problems in use that are often attributed to source characteristics.4.1 Knowledge requisites for the task\n5. Conclusion and recommendations: This section first comments on the study's findings for research related to task characteristics and their impact on information behavior. Then it recommends additions or modifications to translators' tools, based on the findings of this paper.5.1 Task-related information behavior\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper characterizes translation as a task and aims to identify how it influences professional translators' information needs and use of resources to meet those needs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research is exploratory and qualitative. Data are based on focus group sessions with 19 professional translators. Where appropriate, findings are related to several theories relating task characteristics and information behavior (IB).\nFindings: - The findings support some of Bystrom's findings about relationship between task and information use but also suggest new hypotheses or relationships among task, information need, and information use, including the notion of a zone of familiarity. Translators use a wide range of resources, both formal and informal, localized sources, including personal contacts with other translators, native speakers, and domain experts, to supplement their basic resources, which are different types of dictionaries. The study addresses translator problems created by the need to translate materials in less commonly taught languages.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Focus group sessions allow only for identifying concepts, relationships, and hypotheses, not for indicating the relative importance of variables or distribution across individuals. Translation does not cover literary translation.\nPractical implications: - The paper suggests content and features of workstations offering access to wide range of resources for professional translators.\nOriginality/value: - Unlike other information behavior studies of professional translators, this article focuses on a broad range of resources, not just on dictionary use. It also identifies information problems associated not only with normal task activities, but also with translators' moving out of their zone of familiarity, i.e. their range of domain, language, and style expertise. The model of translator IB is potentially generalizable to other groups and both supports and expands other task-related research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Benchmarking the interactions among performance indicators in dairy supply chain: An ISM approach
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Supply chain",
"Benchmarking",
"Technological innovation",
"Decision support systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The dairy industry has experienced outstanding changes during the last five decades in India as well as globally. With 146.3m tons of production in 2014-2015, India is the leading milk producer in the world and continued to be the largest milk and its product producing nation in 2015-2016 with an anticipated milk production of 155.5mtons. The country's share in world milk production stands at 18 percent. The per capita availability of milk has also improved from 273 grams per day in 2009-2010 to 337 grams per day by 2015-2016 (National Dairy Development Board, India). According to the pre-budget economic survey 2013-14, India recorded the peak production of milk at 132.43mtons (MT) in 2012-2013, becoming the top milk producer globally. A typical food supply chain (FSC) is a complex network of many creatures linked from \"farm to fork,\" like the farmers, input suppliers, cooperatives, village level societies, transporters, processing units, wholesalers, distributor, retailers, exporters, importers and finally the consumers. Dairy market fluctuations and price volatility will be a constant challenge to the future dairy industry (Geary et al., 2010). High competitiveness on the international dairy market requires dairy processors to optimize production and sales to ensure survival (Guan and Philpott, 2011). The actual structure of an industry determines its ability to cope with the following five competitive forces as the entry of new competitors, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of substitutes, and rivalry among the existing competitors (Porter, 1998). The progress of dairy industry will bring huge profits to the economy, raising the agricultural yields, increasing productivity, creating employment and raising the life standards in rural areas. There is an utmost need of the effectiveness of traceability and information systems in dairy sector (Bhardwaj et al., 2016). Supply chain management is an effective operations strategy for developing organizational competitiveness in the twenty-first century (Gunasekaran et al., 2008). Processors and retailers can maintain more of the increase of value added in dairy supply chains, and the opposite is also true as if the volume shrinks, processors and retailers are in a situation to sustain their net income out of the dairy products. Effective cold chain infrastructure can strengthen their competitiveness and market growth. Supply chain collaboration is the relation among supply chain members developed over a period of time to increase the quality, reduce costs, enhance the product innovation and market value (Gunasekaran et al., 2015).\n2. Literature review: Keeping in mind the objectives set forth for this study, an attempt has been made in this section to review the relevant available literature. Mangla et al. (2016) suggested that for achieving success in FSC, it is needed to focus on critical success factors that are necessary for an organization to improve its performance. Patushi and Kume (2014) recommended the cluster development to enhance the business competitiveness and a way for the effective utilization of the potential of dairy industry by policy guidance and their management focusing primarily the region of Tirana. Diallo et al. (2014) measured the extent of market power exerted by the protected designation of origin (PDO) supply chains, and found that the estimated point of market power is not statistically significant for both Comte and Cantal. Ayodele et al. (2014) identified the key research challenges in unpacking and knowledge optimization strategies and their effectiveness in food chains. Okano et al. (2014) proposed a classification of the dairy chain to demonstrate that it is possible to organize the estates of the dairy chain and model best practices to improve productivity. Bharti (2014) worked on the potential as well as the challenges and staggering losses in the frozen food sector due to ill-equipped and weak cold chain infrastructure of the country, ensuing post-harvest losses in the frozen food business in India. Lemma et al. (2015) presented the modeling and optimization approaches used in perishable FSC literature, and the waste assessment in FSC through modeling and optimization tools. Nicholas et al. (2014) applied the Q methodology to determine the attitudes of low input and organic dairy supply chain members in four European countries for the acceptability of various innovations in dairy supply chain practices. Ghosh et al. (2014) considered the dairy industry where both dairy farming and dairy processing industries face a lot of risk in its functioning, with the help of ISM tool. Kumar (2014) aimed to evaluate the usefulness of a novel conceptual model in dairy supply chain and proposed a conceptual model for integrated supply chain performance measurement by means of an extensive literature review.\n3. Problem description: In recent years, the increasing diversity and competition have stimulated the supply chain practices to achieve higher performance in dairy industry sector. On the other hand, the cost, quality and delivery requirements of organizations are the objectives shared by every stakeholder in every supply chain. Thus, it has been realized from the literature that most of the work in dairy sector is based on the dairy science and technology and does not take into account the supply chain practices comprehensively, especially in north Indian context. Although a few mathematical models have been formulated for valorization, policy interventions, informal distribution network etc., most of them address a single objective focusing primarily on enhancing the milk quality and getting higher procurement price at producer's end. Moreover, the existing studies focus on offering technological support to the farmers as well as linking them up with rural and urban markets; but no study yet relates the PIs in dairy supply chains (in the industrial context), and their interactions as well. Further, the literature review reveal that only a few dairy industries or regions have been covered in India, and many regions like northern India are still untouched which have been the focal point of the white revolution in the 1970s. Hence, the current research study attempts to address the PIs and their interactions by presenting an ISM model for dairy supply chains.\n4. Methodology: This work uses the ISM approach as a solution methodology. It helps to understand the contextual relationships among PIs, their interdependence and finally to implement the effective supply chain practices in Indian dairy industry. The used ISM approach followed by MICMAC analysis is discussed below.\n5. Application to the case illustration: This study has been divided into two main groups. The first group consists of the participants as experts from academics and research in the area of operations and supply chain management. The second group consisted of the people linked directly with dairy supply chains of case industry based in the northern India. Finally, the experts from academics and the industry people were contacted to secure participants for the study. The data have been collected through predesigned questionnaire and personal visits to the dairy industries. Following are the steps to analyze the collected data.\n6. Results and discussion: The objective of this research study is to first, explore the PIs in the case of Indian dairy industry, second, to study and analyze the interactions among identified PIs, and third, to develop a hierarchical model of PIs that will help to achieve higher performance in the Indian dairy industry perspective. An ISM-based hierarchical model has been developed to study the importance of PIs in assessing the dairy supply chain. The ISM model provides a hierarchy of actions to be taken to adopt the identified PIs for better supply chain performance. The representatives in dairy industry can get insight into these PIs to achieve higher competences. The observation from the proposed ISM-based model is that four PIs are at the level- I and form the top ISM hierarchy. These PIs have an average driving power, but higher dependence power. The PIs are classified into different levels as follows:\n7. Managerial/practical implications: ISM methodology facilitates the managers to establish a map of the complex relationships between various factors in a decision-making process. The theoretical implication of the ISM methodology is that it can explain the complex systems into a hierarchical model with multiple levels. Its practical implication includes to make use of the decision makers' knowledge in order to provide the fundamental understanding of a complex situation followed by a course of action for problem-solving. The structural model presented in the study suggests how these PIs are interrelated and interacted with each other for implementing the effective supply chain practices toward organizational performance. It is important as normally the management focuses the operations whom it thinks are significant without taking into account the combined effect of PIs, which might be very important for achieving higher organizational performance as revealed in this study. Outcomes of study suggest that the policy makers in dairy industry can understand different PIs and their interdependence in order to gain a competitive edge over competitors in the supply chain. This work may help practitioners, regulators, milk federations and dairy industry professionals to focus their efforts toward achieving high organizational performance through the effective implementation of the identified PIs. Finally, this model will help to achieve sustainability operations and will improve organization's economic performances in the supply chain.\n8. Conclusions: Indian dairy industry is known for the availability of milk in abundant, high demand and availability of manpower. On the other hand, it is strongly affected by the abnormal wastages at different levels of supply chain, lack of technological innovations and poor information systems. More wastages occur because of multiple points of handling, unhygienic practices, leakages and manual work involvement. Thus, an attempt has been made in this research work to explore the key variables which work as PIs in dairy supply chain. A total of 11 PIs have been identified based on the literature review and opinions of an expert team consisting of managerial and technical experts from dairy industry and academics. An ISM-based hierarchical model has been developed to study the importance of identified PIs. The insight from ISM-based model is that the PI \"Brand management and featured products, Information-technology enabled system support, Milk wastages management, Responsiveness in shipment accuracy, order-fill-rate and on-time delivery of products\" are at level- 1 and positioned at the top of the ISM hierarchy. These PIs have strong dependence and weak driving power. Similarly, the remaining PIs have been found at different levels and finally, the \"Traceability systems, and Production operations management\" form the base of ISM-based model at the fifth level of ISM-based hierarchy. The base PIs can be considered as the least important for the dairy industry. These indicators have the high driving power and low dependence power. Further, MICMAC analysis is also drawn to classify the PIs based on their driving and dependence power. Outcomes of MICMAC analysis show that out of the 11 PIs, 6 demonstrate both strong driving and dependence power. The absence of autonomous PIs in this study proves that all identified PIs have a significant role in assessing the performance of dairy industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the key performance indicators (PIs) that serve as a decision support tool in case of dairy supply chain practices and to analyze their interactions in the context of Indian dairy industry sector. A total of 11 PIs have been identified through the literature review and the opinions of an expert team consisting of managerial and technical experts from dairy industry and academics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A solution methodology based on the interpretive structure modeling (ISM) technique is used to analyze the interactions among PIs and to propose a structural model. The developed model not only helps in understanding the contextual relationship among the PIs, but also in determining their interdependence to assess the supply chain performance in dairy industry. Further, the importance of PIs has been determined based on their driving and dependence power by using MICMAC analysis.\nFindings: The ISM-based model suggests four PIs at first level, three PIs at second level, one PI at third level as well as one PI at fourth level and two PIs at fifth level. Model allocates to the effective information technology, brand management, responsiveness in shipment and accuracy and a control over wastages as the key PIs in the dairy industry sector. The effective traceability systems, cold chain infrastructure, quality management and the support for technological innovations are the next major PIs. There exists no autonomous PI in MICMAC analysis which proves the importance of identified PIs in the case study.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proposed model is an attempt to capture the dynamics of milk processing sector and to incorporate all relevant constraints related to internal and external environments that would significantly improve the supply chain performance in the dairy industry.\nPractical implications: The model developed in this study has been tested in the cooperative milk processing units based in India and also discussed with the experts from academics. This work may help practitioners, regulators and dairy industry professionals to focus their efforts toward achieving high performance by the effective implementation of the identified PIs.\nOriginality/value: In this study, 11 PIs are considered. Interactions among PIs are evaluated with the help of the ISM matrix. Out of the 11 PIs, six demonstrate both strong driving and dependence power as explained in the MICMAC analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs): an overview
|
[
"Universities",
"Sustainable development",
"Higher education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: At the UNU-UNESCO International Conference on Globalisation and Education for Sustainable Development in June 2005 in Nagoya, Japan, which celebrated the Asia-Pacific launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), the United Nations University (UNU) declared that the first group of seven Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs) launched during the conference[1] The network of RCEs continues to expand, and as of April 2008, there are 55 RCEs worldwide, in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. This article offers an overview of the UNU's RCE initiative-the global process created to contribute to the goals of DESD (2005-2014)-and discusses the roles of Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) in RCE efforts.First, this article provides a historical background of the RCE initiative and clarifies the underlying beliefs, values and principles that drove the creation of the RCE initiative. Second, it discusses the evolution of the concept and practice of RCEs, reporting on the development of a global network of RCEs and emerging \"communities of practice\". The article concludes by pointing out the potential role of IHEs in turning RCEs into dynamic learning networks.\nOrigins of the RCE initiative: An RCE is not a physical centre but an institutional mechanism to facilitate capacity development for sustainable development. An RCE is a network of existing local-regional institutions mobilised to jointly promote all types of learning for a sustainable future (Figure 1). RCEs, both individually and collectively, aspire to achieve the goals of DESD. Instead of further repeating what can be found on the UNU-IAS web site (www.ias.unu.edu) and promotional materials of the RCE initiative, this section reveals the UNU's views about effective strategies to promote education for sustainable development and clarifies the reasons behind the UNU's high expectations for IHEs in the RCE concept.The need for local initiatives: from words to actions\nEvolution of the concept and practice of RCEs: emerging \"communities of practice\": A global network of RCEs\nThe potential roles of IHEs in RCE efforts: In the international consensus and frameworks of action that emerged from a series of international conferences organized by the UN in the recent decades, IHEs are given paramount importance in achieving sustainable development because of their roles as knowledge generating and knowledge transferring institutions. The Higher Education Brief prepared by UNESCO for DESD highlighted two ways of fulfilling these roles-first through preparation of future decision makers and teachers and second through outreach and service to the society.Since the roles of IHEs in preparing graduates to lead society on a sustainable path have been articulated elsewhere (see, for example, Hopkins et al., 2005), this section does not discuss the role of IHEs as a socialising agent and a knowledge transmitter. While the importance of capacity building at the individual level in addressing sustainability cannot be overemphasised, the focus of this section is not the role of IHEs in shaping the ways in which future generations (especially future decision makers and teachers) cope with sustainability challenges vis-a-vis mainstreaming and institutionalising sustainability principles into the major areas of activity of IHEs. Instead of generally discussing how higher education can model sustainability in the areas of policy, planning and administration, curriculum/teaching and physical operations/infrastructure (e.g., greening campus), this section explores concrete ways in which IHEs can contribute to building a sustainable future as partners in RCE efforts.Overcoming compartmentalization of knowledge\nConclusion: There are still many challenges in front of us towards achieving sustainable development. Education and educators, especially IHEs, are expected to take on critical roles through engaging in efforts to promote the DESD. The RCE initiative can be a mechanism to facilitate IHEs to respond strongly to address sustainability challenges. RCEs will contribute to developing innovative ways of collaboration among IHEs, primary and secondary educational systems, local governments, and other local-regional stakeholders. RCEs will share their strategies, techniques, project descriptions, and other efforts amongst themselves and with organizations involved in ESD. RCEs will also promote international cooperation in ESD. This sharing and cooperation will be made possible and efficient through the use of ICT and facilitated by the Global RCE Service Centre, housed at UNU-IAS. RCEs could serve as collective and experimental contexts within civil society for exploring approaches to SD and ESD that support collective action and reflection directed towards a sustainable future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to offer an overview of the United Nations University's Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE) initiative-the global process created to support the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014)-and discuss the roles of institutions of higher education (IHEs) in RCE efforts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper provides a historical overview of the RCE initiative, clarifies the philosophy behind it, and describes the guiding principles for RCE establishment and operations.\nFindings: - The paper reveals the UNU's views about effective strategies to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and discusses the roles of IHEs as partners within and among RCEs. Highlights the potential roles of IHEs in overcoming the compartmentalization of knowledge and linking policy and practice.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper recognises that RCE is an evolving concept and calls attention to the RCE process as a promising example of \"social learning\" and \"communities of practice\", and at the same time, of \"knowledge management system\".\nPractical implications: - The paper clarifies the expected functions of RCEs as multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary partnerships and \"local-regional knowledge base\" and exhorts local ESD stakeholders, including higher education institutions to use RCEs as value-adding learning networks at the local and global levels.\nOriginality/value: - The paper refines the RCE concept and offers practical advice to RCEs and RCE candidates. Opportunities are indicated for higher education institutions in contributing towards ESD and sustainable development through RCEs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Novel measures for emission reduction in supply chains
|
[
"Performance management",
"Environment",
"Supply chain management",
"Organizational behaviour",
"Green issues"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Overview\n2. Contextual background and literature review: 2.1 Carbon emissions in the UK freight industry\n3. Research methodology, models and measures: 3.1 Research methodology\n4. Experience from the field: 4.1 Overview of the fieldwork\n5. Conclusions: The aim of the research has been to see whether or not novel measures, collectively known as relative turbulence, could be used to identify the types of avoidable waste that can be reduced without the need for capital expenditure. The approach has been to look at two sources of waste, excessive delays in the chains and under utilised vehicle capacity and to identify whether poor planning or execution caused the problems.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to look at how novel measures of supply chain performance can be used to identify unnecessary waste in terms of under-loaded vehicles and extended delivery times, along with their causes. In particular it focuses on problems that can be tackled without the need for capital expenditure. The measures go under the collective name of \"turbulence\". This represents the chain deviating from its goals. Quantifying unnecessary waste then allows unnecessary carbon emissions to be estimated while pointing to what changes will have the biggest impact. The measures have been used by three companies and some early results are provided.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach was first to use evidence from the literature to show the value of having a new measure. Next the creation of one specific new measure, called relative turbulence, a relative measure for the more general concept of turbulence. Third testing it in the field with data from companies. Then showing how carbon emissions can be derived.\nFindings: The first finding is that the analysis can pinpoint sources of unnecessary emissions. Second the results suggest excessive emissions arise both though poor planning and poor practice. Third that there is a need for two models - from the users' viewpoint and the carriers' viewpoint. Finally the approach can be used with field data that is currently available, thus avoiding expensive one-off studies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main research implication is that entropic measures are useful and can provide fresh insights. Being generic they may be applicable in other contexts. However, they can be mathematically tricky to use.\nPractical implications: The analysis has been tested in companies and findings are included in the paper. They provide an insight that is not available solely from current measures. Businesses cannot only measure emissions but start to pinpoint causes.\nOriginality/value: The main areas of original contributions are in the introduction of a new measure, based on entropic principles, particularly the one called relative turbulence. The second is juxtaposing this measure with standard measures to gain new insights. Finally the idea that supply networks can be built from, what is called the irreducible chain.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Environmental awareness raising through universities - city authorities' cooperation
|
[
"Sustainable education",
"Baltic Sea region",
"City authorities",
"Environmental awareness",
"Oil response operations",
"Youth environmental volunteers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Environmental awareness raising is an important part of education for sustainable development. Actions can be taken in a variety of areas to increase environmental awareness for sustainable education. Some of these categories are environmental legal rights and responsibilities, associated consequences, use of the media, awareness raising campaigns, incorporation of environmental issues in mainstream education, increasing awareness and education in target groups and encouragement of public participation in environmental matters.\nEducation for environmental and water awareness raising: One of the approaches to environmental awareness raising that could be mentioned is public education and involvement of youth. Here the main role belongs to high schools and universities, which specialized in different environmental and sustainability issues. These activities are especially important because they have a high chance for success to promote sustainable development in practice via education. First, for most people in the Baltic region, the environmental priority is in the protection of the place where they live and in the sustainable management of their resources used. Second, the development of the region's environmental policies and regulations during the past decade and nowadays has been directed based on the result of the public call for a safer and cleaner environment.\nEnvironmental safety of oil transportation: The biggest city of the Baltic region, St. Petersburg has a lot of important environmental issues and problems to be dealt with: water and air pollution, soil re-cultivation, waste management, etc. The city is situated in the delta of the Neva River on the coast of the Baltic Sea and has access to the river and sea waters. It causes one of the most important environmental issue - sustainable water management and solution of environmental problems connected with oil spill prevention and response.\nStarting of Youth Environmental Volunteers Movement: Some of the young people studying at universities in St. Petersburg are getting a feeling of environmental awareness and inspiration to take part in environmental activities in practice. They could try by themselves to be environmental volunteers and participate in oil combating training and oily birds cleaning exercise, organized by the Environmental Committee in St. Petersburg. The first initiative was successfully started in autumn 2008, when several students - ecologists - took part in the regional oil combating exercise on the coastal zone of the Gulf of Finland. After this event, the Environmental Committee organized the first working meeting with representatives of universities, where it was decided to organize the Environmental Volunteers Movement in the area of coastal oil recovery operations in St. Petersburg.\nOrganization of environmental volunteers' preparation: Tuition of environmental volunteers is an ongoing study as part of the optional professional-educational program offered to students at several universities in St. Petersburg. It includes a combination of theoretical and practical study, oriented on the interdisciplinary education, which could be applied in practice during the real-life oil spill accidents and response operations on the coastal zone. Basic elements of the program are:\nPerspectives for international collaboration: Developing partnerships with the community in the field of education for sustainable development in two coastal community outreach projects were analyzed in Japan. The most effective means for promoting education for sustainable development based on community-university partnerships is to reach out to and network with local individuals who have been active in community projects and embed the program concept into the activities of those individuals. Mediators who link the academic community with the local community are helpful in promoting the partnerships, and university students were found to be successful mediators (Kawabe et al., 2013).\nConclusions: Practical implementation of the Environmental Volunteers Movement tuition provides support and assistance to the Environmental Committee, City of St. Petersburg, to achieve several environmental objectives and targets. It contributes to the improvement of the marine environment and protection of birds and animals, objects and areas of environmental significance. Definitely, it will contribute to the dissemination of ideas about environmental and water awareness among the local population and youth to obtain the necessary experience and skills for implementation of new initiatives in the field of environmental protection and ensuring environmental security in the Baltic Sea region.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to the environmental awareness raising as a key issue of education for sustainable development. Youth Environmental Volunteers Movement in the area of coastal oil response operations in St. Petersburg is presented in this paper as a successful initiative in the field of environmental awareness through universities and city authorities' cooperation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The main approach is to explore ways of environmental awareness raising through the cooperation between universities and city authorities in practice. It is shown as a system of preparation by environmental volunteers for oil recovery operations in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea. The use of a voluntary rescue movement as an organization for support state authorities is investigated.\nFindings: The program for environmental volunteers' tuition was created due to mutual cooperation between universities and state authorities. The purpose is to give necessary knowledge to and skills required by experts and young people on how to run together rescue and oil spill response operations. Practical field trainings with simulated oil accidents were realized in situ on the coastal zone of the Gulf of Finland.\nSocial implications: Coastal oil recovery operations are the key responsibility of state authorities and professional organizations in all countries around the Baltic Sea. Active involvement of young people in public participation helps to solve environmental problems at local and regional levels.\nOriginality/value: The Environmental Committee, City of St. Petersburg together with universities, provided practical implementation of the Youth Environmental Volunteers Movement. It contributes to the improvement of the marine environment and gives a necessary experience for implementation of new initiatives in the field of sustainable education and environmental protection in the Baltic Sea region.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Designing for and facilitating knowledge-building discourse in online courses
|
[
"Social network analysis",
"Design",
"Scaffolding",
"Sociocultural",
"Online teaching",
"Knowledge building"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nObjectives: Participating in a learning community where all learners contribute to collective knowledge building - which we define as participation in generative and productive communities - can be an enjoyable and empowering educational experience with positive implications for the trajectories of learners' lives. Educational institutions all over the world are currently undergoing a shift from face-to-face to distance learning, making community building that might have been possible for educators in face-to-face classrooms may seem unreachable in online settings. Sociocultural and situated learning theories indicate that learning is collaborative in nature and highly dependent on the context in which it occurs, particularly when using technology (Barab and Plucker, 2002; Siemens and Tittenberger, 2009; Zhao et al., 2002). In addition, Borba and Villarreal (2005) argue that technologies mediating learner interactions (e.g. chalkboard, pencil and notebooks or online discussion boards) shape collaborative knowledge building. This implies that designing instruction that supports the emergence of community is fundamentally different in online and face-to-face settings.\nDesign principles: This section presents two design principles grounded in sociocultural theories of learning for designing for the emergence of generative and productive online learning communities:\nDesigning for and facilitating the emergence of generative and productive learning communities: In this section, we will connect our design principles with practical approaches to designing an online course. We view the design of learning experiences as a combination of tools, materials and teaching strategies. The following design features (see Table 2 for an overview) emerged from our synthesis of existing research and frameworks.\nDesigning for high-quality, generative interactions: Structuring collaboration\nDesigning for a highly connected social network: Instructor as an experienced colleague\nConclusion: Learning theory indicates that design for collaborative knowledge building is fundamentally different in online settings than it is in face-to-face settings. Our goal was to highlight two general principles: high-quality posts along with specific patterns of learner interactions can result in greater communal knowledge building. The six design principles we discussed - structures for collaboration, explicit discussion criteria and examples, appropriate supplemental tools, instructor disposition, instructor interaction strategies and grouping considerations - are offered here as practical ways to apply these principles. Online environments offer two key affordances that are not available when teaching face to face, namely, asynchronous opportunities for reflection and discussion, along with automatic archival of these activities. By designing courses that maximize this potential, we can create a better learning experience for our students.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Founded in sociocultural theories of learning, the authors argue that engaging learners in collaborative knowledge building is critical. When responding to others' ideas, research shows that learners in online settings more frequently focus on surface-level aspects of colleagues' contributions - sharing, comparing and praising - rather than engaging in knowledge building. Collaborative, knowledge-building discourse includes generative interactional practices that feature disagreeing, negotiating meaning, testing and reflecting on co-constructed ideas, summarizing conversations and making metacognitive contributions to discussions. The purpose of this paper is to review studies that show evidence of key design features and pedagogical practices that support collaborative knowledge building by promoting generative interactional practices and particular patterns in interaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper presents pragmatic design and instructional guidelines for online course discussions. The purpose is to synthesize existing research and share a detailed framework for supporting generative discussion in asynchronous online work.\nFindings: The authors review studies that show evidence of key design features and pedagogical practices that support collaborative knowledge building. Design features to promote generative discourse include using the asynchronous nature of online settings to have students work privately, share their work, discuss their work with the class and then revise; providing instructions/discussion criteria that scaffold knowledge building; and using appropriate digital tools that mediate interaction around content. The pedagogical practices that affect patterns of interaction include modeling generative discourse, promoting increased interactions by and between participants and using opportunistic grouping strategies.\nOriginality/value: The authors include examples from one of their existing online courses that include these design features and pedagogical practices and discuss results from their ongoing work regarding the generativity of learner interactions in this course.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Haptic information processing and need for touch in product evaluation
|
[
"Haptic information",
"Purchase environment",
"NFT",
"Cognition",
"Affect and overall evaluation",
"Need for touch"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Online shopping has become one of the most prevalent online activities across the globe with e-retail sales reaching $1.86 trillion in 2016 (ComScore, 2016). Over 60 per cent of US consumers make at least one online purchase annually (eMarketer, 2014), and over 100 million consumers purchased via catalogs (Unglesbee, 2017). Research on online retailing has garnered considerable attention, primarily because online shopping has seen substantial growth in the last decade across the globe (Saleh, 2019). The continued widespread growth of online retailing channels has spurred researchers to evaluate the importance of touching a product during the purchase decision.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses development: The effects of perceived psychological distance\nOverview of studies: We conducted two experiments in two countries to examine the effect of the purchase environment, product type, and NFT on consumer perceptions and product evaluation. In study 1, we test the effect of purchase environment on overall product evaluation (H1) and mediation effects of cognitive response and affective response (H2 and H3) in the US context by priming the purchase environment. In Study 2, we replicate study 1 and extend it by examining the moderating role of NFT (H4) in an Indian sample.\nStudy 1: the effect of purchase environment and product type: Method\nStudy 2. The moderating role of need for touch in product evaluation: Pretests\nGeneral discussion: This investigation contributes to the literature on haptic information processing, psychological distance, and the NFT in multiple ways. First, findings reveal the influential impact of purchase environment on cognitive response, affective response, and overall product evaluation by investigating haptic and non-haptic products in two consumer markets. Second, this research adds to our current understanding of construal level and psychological distance by empirically examining the psychological distance between the product and the consumer (Trope and Liberman, 2010; Trope et al., 2007). We unravel the underlying mechanisms of cognitive response and affective response between the purchase environments and overall evaluation of a haptic product. We find affective response is a stronger mediator between a touch environment and overall product evaluation than cognitive response. Finally, results suggest that the individual difference variable, NFT, and the instrumental dimension of NFT has a significantly higher impact on the cognitive response for a haptic product in a touch environment, but the autotelic dimension of NFT has a significantly higher impact on affective response for a haptic product in a touch environment.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the effects of purchase environment, product type and need for touch (NFT) on cognitive response, affective response and overall product evaluation in the USA and India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two experiments were conducted in two different consumer markets. In Study 1, participants evaluated haptic and non-haptic products and gave responses on cognitive response, affective response and overall product evaluation measures in the US market. In Study 2, the authors replicate Study 1 in a culturally different market of India and extend Study 1 by examining the moderating role of instrumental and autotelic dimensions of NFT on the effect of purchase environment on cognitive and affective responses.\nFindings: Research findings suggest that cognitive and affective responses are the underlying mechanism between the purchase environment and overall response only for haptic product among Indian consumers. In contrast, affective response is the underlying mechanism explaining this relationship among US consumers. Furthermore, the instrumental dimension of NFT moderates the impact of purchase environment on cognitive but the autotelic NFT moderates the effect of purchase environment on affective response only for the haptic product but not for the non-haptic product.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study uses a relatively homogenous sample in the Indian market in contrast to the US market.\nPractical implications: Results advance the understanding of the importance of haptic information processing in consumer decision-making across different purchase environments, product types and NFT using psychological distance (proximity) as a theoretical underpinning. With non-haptic shopping environments (i.e. online and mobile) growing rapidly, the results have critical implications for development of marketing strategies in Asian and US markets.\nOriginality/value: Empirical research examining the underlying mechanism by which purchase environment influences overall evaluation for haptic product is scarce. Additionally, understanding of the differential roles of instrumental and autotelic dimensions of NFT on cognitive and affective responses is very limited. This research fills this void and provides an understanding of the specific environment in evaluating haptic and non-haptic products in two distinct markets.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of learning culture on worker response to new technology
|
[
"Manufacturing systems",
"Blue collar workers",
"Learning",
"Factor analysis",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the USA, the viability of manufacturing companies is challenged by high capital investment and low returns on that investment. Despite this, companies invest in new technology for a number of reasons. Companies look to increase productivity, improve product quality, respond more quickly to the marketplace, and decrease operating costs, while complying with governmental safety and environmental regulations. Managers often invest in new or improved technologies to meet one or more of these goals, and technological change is happening at unprecedented rates in many manufacturing sectors.\nMethod: The intent of this work was to determine the relationship of learning culture in manufacturing to the response of blue-collar workers when new technology is introduced into the workplace. To do this, data were collected from a number of manufacturing sites with a survey questionnaire.Survey development\nDiscussion: Learning culture\nSignificance: Much has been written about learning organization and its benefit to the success of organizations (Marsick and Watkins, 1999; Senge, 1990). Scholars such as Haasen and Slocum (1996) have linked the learning culture of manufacturing organizations with productivity. Others (Peter and Ross, 2003) have found that learning organizations have the potential to have more continuous improvement through such processes as total quality management. However, little has been written about the link between learning culture and the success of new technology in manufacturing.In this study, we found that learning culture had an inverse relationship with the negative employee responses of disgruntlement and job-security concerns. Additionally, learning culture had a strong positive relationship to the incorporation of technological innovations into their day-to-day work activities. These relationships are all beneficial; to the employee, the organization, or both, and should help maximize the positive consequences associated with implementation of new technologies in manufacturing. These findings also bring another level of support to the construct of learning organizations in manufacturing.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to provide a framework to measure the response of blue-collar workers to new technology in manufacturing and to establish the relationship between learning culture and that response.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data were collected with a survey questionnaire from 12 manufacturing sites that were implementing a number of diverse new technologies. The dimensions of worker response were identified with exploratory factor analysis and the relationship between these factors and learning culture was established with path analysis.\nFindings: - Factor analysis identified seven dimensions of worker response: disgruntlement, job-security concerns, accommodation, informal learning, resistance, discussion, and formal learning. Learning culture had a large, statistically significant relationship with disgruntlement and medium, statistically significant relationships with job-security concerns, accommodation, informal learning, and formal learning.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample was limited to manufacturing locations in the southeastern USA and the respondents were almost all male and either White or African-American.\nPractical implications: - These findings establish a strong positive relationship between learning culture and behavioral, affective and cognitive responses of workers to new technology. This is key for supporting learning culture in organizations that naturally are inclined to worker isolation and independence.\nOriginality/value: - Empirical work of this nature is limited in manufacturing facilities. These organizations tend to be closed to research because of concerns regarding the security of proprietary information or the personal safety of the researcher.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Knowledge management practices in a public sector organisation: the role of leaders' cognitive styles
|
[
"Cognitive styles",
"Adaptor‐innovator styles",
"India",
"Knowledge management",
"Public sector organizations",
"Leaders",
"Indian work context",
"Managers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Scholars have argued for the relevance of knowledge management (KM) in increasing organisational effectiveness across industrial sectors in developing and developed countries. Current literature in the field of KM is focusing on certain sectors or industries, for example the public sector (Ferguson et al., 2013; Salleh et al., 2012; Chong et al., 2011), non-governmental organisations (Corfield et al., 2013), the banking industry (Bidmeshgipour et al., 2012; Oluikpe, 2012; Dutt et al., 2011), small to medium-sized enterprises (Durst and Edvardsson, 2012), manufacturing organisations (Birasnav and Rangnekar, 2010), and human service and professional services firms (Austin et al., 2008; Palte et al., 2011). Many of these studies were conducted in developing countries due to their focus on economic and social growth processes. In developing countries, public sector organisations are increasingly embracing KM tools and practices for the holistic growth of society. Public sector organisations are stakeholder-dependent, while the private sector is shareholder-dependent. Also, the public sector emphasises democratic values like participation, citizen-orientation, and knowledge-orientation (e.g. Adel and Shaghayegh, 2010; Salavati et al., 2010). Further, it is often argued that public sector organisations face greater pressures for representativeness, accountability and responsiveness than private sector firms. The range of legitimate demands placed on public-sector organisations may also be greater in the public sector than in the private sector (Jaffee, 2001). Therefore, this necessitates the improvement of KM practices in public sector organisations for the growth of developing economies.Researchers have examined the relationship between transactional and transformational styles of leadership in managing knowledge (e.g. Bryant, 2003). Other studies have shown the significant impact of the delegating style of leadership on creating and managing knowledge for competitive advantage in software firms in India (Singh, 2008). Case studies suggest that leaders provide vision, motivation, systems and structures at all levels of the organisation, which facilitates the conversion of knowledge into competitive advantages (Bartlett, 1995, 1996). This study investigates the role of KM tools and practices in a large power generation organisation in the public sector in India and how the cognitive styles of the leaders influence KM practices. Knowledge is a cognitive resource that may be influenced by the thinking styles of leaders in the organisational context. We have been unable to locate any study that has examined the impact of cognitive styles on KM practices in public sector organisations. This study conceptualises cognitive style, which is measured by Kirton's (1976) adaptor-innovator inventory, as a predictor variable, and KM practices, which are measured by a KM assessment tool (Arthur Andersen and The American Productivity and Quality Center, 1997), as criterion variables in the Indian work context.1.1 Knowledge management\n2. Methods: 2.1 Participants and procedure\n3. Results: Exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The results of the factor analysis were based on principal axis factoring and a rotated component matrix. According to the criterion of factor loadings, factors extracted by factor analysis were greater than or equal to 0.5, and the Cronbach's a reliability coefficient was greater than or equal to 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978). A factor analysis was performed on KAI since the research findings about the dimensionality of KAI were inconclusive. However, a factor analysis was not performed on KMAT, although reliability analysis was done.3.1 Kirton's Adaptor and Innovator questionnaire\n4. Discussion: 4.1 Summary of results and interpretation\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the cognitive styles of leaders on knowledge management practices in a public sector organisation in India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data were gathered from 210 middle and senior managers who were employed in different projects across the country. Self-reported questionnaires were administered to collect the data on the cognitive styles of leaders and knowledge management practices.\nFindings: - The results of exploratory factor analysis showed three significant factors of cognitive styles - i.e. radical, innovative-collaborator, and adaptor. The knowledge management questionnaire had five dimensions - i.e. KM process, KM leadership, KM culture, KM technology, and KM measurement. The results of regression analysis showed a negative impact of the radical and innovative-collaborator styles, while the adaptor style had a positive impact on knowledge management practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study was conducted in a large thermal power generation organisation in India. Hence, its generalisability is limited to other similar contexts. Public sector work norms and organisational size may influence the interpretation of the results.\nPractical implications: - The results show the relevance of the adaptor style of thinking in promoting knowledge management practices, which is consistent with the prevailing public sector work norms in India, which do not support any radical changes in their ways of working and solving problems.\nOriginality/value: - This is an empirical study about the relationship between cognitive styles of leaders and knowledge management practices in the Indian work context, and no such study exists in the literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Online journals: their impact on document delivery
|
[
"Electronic journals",
"Document delivery",
"Interlending",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a common concern amongst academic librarians of interlibrary services about the influence of the growth of electronic journals (e-journals) on document delivery, in particular whether the increase in e-journals will result in a decline in document delivery services. This study examines how full-text articles are reducing the traditional level of requests made at a university library.\nInstitutional background: The Library of Medicine of University Autonoma of Madrid (UAM), Spain, serves 1,300 students and also serves the teaching and research needs of 600 PhD students, and 350 faculty members (lecturers and professors).The productivity of publications of members in 2003 was: 310 articles, 177 dissertations and 72 research projects. The impact factor (IF) of publications was 16.7, on average, for the years 1990-2000, with an acceptable international visibility.\nE-journal collection: UAM libraries have experienced a huge growth in the number of e-journals in recent years as shown in Figure 1.The growth is largely due to cooperative participation in the Madrono Consortium, whose collection represents 57 per cent of e-journals, with 9,556 titles in 2003.It is notable that 2,200 of those titles are biomedical journals and currently we hold 29 per cent of journals indexed on Medline in electronic format.In addition, 38 per cent of the total of these titles are included in Journal Citation Reports (ISI).\nUse of electronic resources: It has been difficult and complex to obtain reliable data from publishers. This has created problems in obtaining accurate use statistics for our medical journalsHowever, we have used statistics of the general use of the collection of UAM's e-journals, as indicating meaningful data for the current trends of full-text usage. A summary is shown in Figure 2.Full-text downloaded articles during 2001-2002 rose by 73 per cent and for 2002-2003 by 183 per cent, which indicates an enormous increase in the last three years.These data show a significantly high acceptance of e-journals and can be used to measure how familiar the researchers are with current e-journals, which surpasses all our expectations.\nMethodology: The Library of Medicine has conducted this study using both quantitative and qualitative data.The qualitative data were gathered through a questionnaire about the impact of electronic resources and the use of ILL.\nSummary of the questionnaire results: A total of 86 users completed the questionnaire, comprising academic staff, post-doctoral students, professors, and postgraduate research students.We were interested in some variables about user behaviour, points of view and opinions concerning databases and e-journals:* The first question focussed on which databases were consulted. The results confirmed that Medline is the most important database for researchers, followed by Web of Science - ISI, ISI, Current Contents and Cochrane.* We asked users about the access to Medline via the EBSCO interface, which provides links using SFX to articles available in e-journals subscribed to by the Library of UAM. The results indicated that 65 per cent of users chose PubMed rather than Ebsco/Medline.* The users were asked about the greatest advantages of e-journals. First came the time saved in access to e-journals, followed by the direct accessibility and up-to-date information that e-journals provide over print versions, and the possibilities of downloading and filing.* Of respondents, 81 per cent preferred the online version to the print, which is interpreted as an overwhelming acceptance of e-journals in terms of availability.* The advantages of new technological possibilities in e-journals (animation, multimedia, integration of video) were perceived by only a few users as advantageous. This may indicate that only a few of the researchers were using e-journals which incorporate multimedia or other new technologies.* We were interested in the importance of quality information and whether or not this was sacrificed for convenience. The answers of the questionnaire indicated that faculty members and researchers compromise quality for convenience in selection \"just some times\". These responses are consistent with a study by Joswick and Stierman (1997), who found that information use by researchers working in specialized disciplines is quite different to undergraduate students; the latter preferring the immediate gratification of using full text than any other criteria.\nDocument delivery trends: Statistical data for document delivery in Spanish University libraries\nReasons for change: We have tried to identify the reasons for this change and the characteristics of current ILL.Date of publication of articles\nResults: The survey shows that in general the usage of document delivery in the university libraries has decreased since the introduction of a critical mass of online journals from 2000 onwards.In our library we have observed stagnation regardless of the improvements in our service which include reduction of delivery time and electronic format delivery.As Milton (1998) remarks, \"This is quite a staggering increase in full-text usage and represents the most significant factor that has contributed to the decline of ILL activity\".As a consequence of this evidence some academic libraries are tending to redeploy ILL staff resources elsewhere as the number of transactions decreases (Robertson, 2003).As Leo Waaijers says: \"Libraries, especially their document supply services, could better prepare for inescapable reorganizations in five to ten years' time\" (Line et al., 2002).However, from another perspective Mary Jackson says: \"Our job will change from one focussed on getting the requests processed the day arrive to one evaluation performance of suppliers, monitoring advances in technologies for managing and delivery, and providing data to collection development specialists on what is being requested, etc.\" (Line et al., 2002).\nConclusion: The impact of online journals on document supply needs to be studied for a longer period of time to achieve better understanding of emerging use patterns.It is too soon to evaluate document delivery in the near future because it is changing too fast. According to Line et al. (2002): \"It seems [the future is] to be a combination of old-fashioned transfer of printed works from one library to another by loan or photocopy, online transmission of 'born-digital', and online transmission of digitised works, whether through host or direct from producers\".Finally, the electronic full-text is as yet unable to fully meet the needs of our researchers. Until full-text can approximate what is available in print both in journals and monographs, the need for document delivery services will remain.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To examine some of the ways in which electronic resources have made an impact on traditional interlending practices and how some user-practices have begun to change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study uses both quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data were gathered through a questionnaire about the impact of electronic resources and the use of ILL. Comparisons of change were made with document suppliers.\nFindings: - The electronic full-text is as yet unable to fully meet the needs of the researchers. Until full-text can approximate what is available in print both in journals and in monographs, the need for document delivery services will remain.\nOriginality/value: - An insight into the state of e-journal penetration and its impact on document delivery in Spain - a country where few studies have been carried out in this area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A template for integrated reporting
|
[
"Integrated reporting",
"Intellectual capital",
"Reporting",
"Organizations",
"Vision",
"Values",
"Corporate strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In an era in which news spreads as it happens through the internet and social media networks, investors, society, and governments are increasingly demanding that organisations be accountable to stakeholders, not merely shareholders, and be transparent about their activities. Sizeable investments are made by superannuation funds and investment funds, and the ultimate investors in these funds are doing so with a long-term objective such as savings for retirement. These investors are individuals who are concerned not only about the financial and non-financial performance of the fund, but also about how the investments impact on the environment and on society. The change in investor landscape from a typical investor whose only focus was financial return to investors with a broad focus on sustainable responsible performance, has not only demanded that organisations re-think their use of resources but also how the information should be reported to those concerned. These ultimate investors are aware that action falling short of taking care of society and the environment can cost them via taxes to repair damage caused by organisations that reap short-term benefits. They have witnessed financial crises at a global scale, corporate failures and bank failures at a national scale, and the impact on individuals through loss of paid work, taxpayer-funded welfare, and schemes to repair damage to the environment and society - and sometimes to bail out organisations responsible for such damage under the rationale that liquidating them would result in loss of employment.Although the broadening of accountability and reporting aspects has already begun among organisations, such initiatives are reported with no coherence to organisations' long-term objectives, and are often presented as unconnected activities undertaken by organisations, in separate reports such as annual reports and sustainability reports. Integrated reporting attempts to combine the reporting of different facets of organisational activities on a common platform with a unified objective. KPMG (2011, p. 8) views it as a way of demonstrating how corporate strategy \"fits\" with the financial aspects so that capital market participants can fully understand how corporate strategy affects corporate performance and corporate value.The purpose of this paper is to introduce integrated reporting and its implications, and propose a template for such reporting. To that end, Section 2 of this paper discusses relevant literature, proposes a conceptual framework, and outlines how the content should be reported in a given context. Section 3 outlines a template for integrated reporting, and Section 4 presents concluding remarks.\n2. Concepts of integrated reporting: 2.1 Relevant literature\n3. Template: Following is an illustration of reporting intellectual capital, social capital, and environmental capital of a hypothetical organisation. However, I suggest that commentary should be oriented towards the organisational vision, and this is a re-orientation of reporting for many organisations that engage in voluntary reporting.The suggested format begins with the organisation's vision statement. It then presents resources that had a significant influence on the vision during the reporting period. This section outlines the mission undertaken with the given resources and its implications towards reaching the vision. The visual presentation is followed by a brief explanation. Although I do not put a ceiling on the maximum number of pages, I suggest the report should not exceed ten pages or 2,500 words. This is because interested parties can read details elsewhere.3.1 Sample report\n4. Conclusion and future steps: An integrated report attempts to tell a story about an organisation's journey towards reaching its vision, reporting about its historical and intended performance. The intended performance is presented with assumptions and the judgements underlying them. These assumptions and judgements can serve as a hedge against litigation. Most importantly an organisation should demonstrate that its focused tactics and strategies underlie its values and are enacted towards reaching the vision during the reporting period. Integrated reporting should make accountability and performance in an organisation transparent, but depends on the ethical qualities (such as honesty, fairness) embedded in the organisation's values being upheld. Accountability and performance are bounded by content and context factors in which the organisation operates, such as competitive secrecy, but withholding such information should only protect the organisation's position and practices from untoward malpractice by others, and not mislead the stakeholders.Integrating financial performance with the social and environmental performance of an organisation requires modification to the business model. A business model is the process whereby an organisation creates and sustains value, and changes to the business model alter the sources of risks and uncertainty, and how these risks and uncertainties are managed. Integrated performance can thus require alterations to the business model which assigns importance to multiple dimensions of organisational performance relating to the past, present, and future. Reporting about multi-dimensional performance brings new challenges to auditors. Organisations must now provide detailed information in an integrated report about assumptions behind disclosures, measurement bases, and sources of uncertainty estimates of disclosure, to help auditors develop an informed opinion about information outside financial reports.Auditors must then form an opinion on whether such disclosure is relevant to users of reports, and faithfully (i.e. in a manner that is complete, neutral, and free from error) represents the phenomenon disclosed. These two qualities (stakeholder relevance, and faithful representation of the phenomenon) relating to disclosures are fundamental, as more emphasis is placed on reporting about the future (vision) that includes uncertainty. Faithful representation means the information is described clearly and accurately as being an estimate, explaining the nature and limitations in the estimation process assumptions; neutral means that information is presented as is, and is not slanted or manipulated to present disclosure favourably or unfavourably; finally, free from error means there are no misstatements or omissions in describing the phenomenon, but should not be taken to mean it is perfectly accurate in all respects. It can be verified whether different knowledgeable and independent observers reach consensus that the information is faithfully represented, although they need not completely agree on all details (IAASB, 2011).The financial auditor should be able to offer limited assurance (e.g. ASAE 3000) through engaging an audit that assures no obvious errors were detected, rather than testing for the systems and processes that led to the reported information (AAuSB, 2007), or reasonable assurance on some or all aspects of an integrated report that it represents a true and fair view by testing of the systems and processes that led to the reported information. Additionally, various aspects of integrated performance and reporting can be certified for assurance (e.g. ISO 14000 and ISO 26000) by various quality accrediting bodies such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO, 2007) and National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS, 2010). AccountAbility (AA) 1000 standard is designed to provide high or moderate assurance on an organisation's sustainability principles. It can also provide assurance on specific sustainability-related performance activities with financial reporting and assurance AccountAbility (AA, 2008).The integrated reporting framework is an opportunity for reporting formats that focus on single aspects of reporting to work together to achieve a more holistic reporting format that reports about the simultaneous web of interactions and implications of financial, social, environmental, and governance-related organisational activities for stakeholders. For instance, the GRI version 3.1 and UN Global Compact attempt to report on non-financial, environmental, and social transactions and events of organisations while leaving the financial information to be reported using frameworks such as International Accounting Standards. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 imposes governance requirements on senior management, requiring CEOs and CFOs of public organisations to personally certify that financial statements fairly present all material aspects of the organisation's operations and financial conditions. Section 404 of the Act requires each organisation's annual report to include an internal control report that contains an assessment of internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting (InConsult, 2012). The effectiveness of internal controls can be voluntarily extended into organisational non-financial, environmental, and social transactions and events under an integrated reporting platform. Enterprise reporting and performance are potential platforms that can be modified and expanded towards developing technologically enabled integrated reporting platforms.The template proposed here can be used as a springboard for future research. First, the transformative power of integration of various aspects of organisational capital on the deliverance of organisational performance is a proposition that can be addressed in the future, given that organisational content and contexts can shape the strategic decisions made. Second, the relative importance of various aspects of organisational performance and capital, vision, and values, can be different between profit-making private sector and service-oriented public sector organisations. A comparative study can provide valuable insights as to the details (why and how) of each factor playing a role in the organisation in integrating various aspects of capital, performance, and reporting. Third, integrating various aspects of organisational capital and their reporting, poses a challenge to the existing capital and reporting boundaries, which leads to challenging organisational accountability and transparency. Future research can use this template to examine those capital and reporting boundaries of organisations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to outline the concept of integrated reporting and to propose a template for integrated reporting in organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach to the conceptual model is founded on concepts proposed on integrated reporting by the King Report on Governance for South Africa (King III), and the International Integrated Reporting Council in the UK.\nFindings: - The integrated report should explain the story of reaching the organisation's vision, underpinned by its values, enacted by management, monitored by governance, and using facets of resources relating to financial capital, intellectual capital, social capital, and environmental capital.\nPractical implications: - The paper proposes an integrated reporting framework, and provides an example of a template to be used in organisations.\nOriginality/value: - To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first academic paper that provides a coherent framework on integrated reporting, with a template.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Board structure in listed firms: evidence from an emerging economy
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Turkey",
"Boards of directors",
"Board structure",
"Board composition",
"Emerging economy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: During the last decade, due to problems faced by economies and firms, there has been a remarkable emphasis on corporate governance, in both developed and emerging economies. Although governance practices in different institutional, legal and cultural contexts diverge, there is a common understanding that good governance should incorporate protection of minority and majority shareholders, well-articulated disclosure standards, board structures that promote the containment of fiduciary responsibility and means for stakeholders to participate in decision making. In this vein, boards of directors, their structure, function and responsibilities, as well as the remuneration policies for board members, have been a central issue.\n2. Corporate governance systems and boards of directors: Because corporate governance systems and practices are shaped by and evolve according to the institutional context in which they are part of (Johanson and Ostergren, 2010) in this section after providing a summary of related studies in stock market-based governance systems, an institutional framework will be developed for studying the structure of board of directors in emerging economies.\n3. Turkish institutional context: Turkish business and thus governance system are characterized by the creation of a business class by state, pyramidal structures controlled by few families, concentrated ownership, a dominant state, inefficient financial markets and weak protection of investor rights.\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Research design\n5. Findings: The average board size is six members for both family-owned and non-family-owned firms in the sample which complies with the minimum board size requirement, as stated by the Turkish Corporate Law. It is observed that there is a weak and positive correlation (Table II) between board size and firm size which is significant at p < 0.05. The board size changes based on the industry that the firm operates in such as in manufacturing, electricity, gas, water, construction and mining industries; board size is about seven, while in education and health sectors, there are, on average, five members.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: The results of this study reveal a high level of similarity of board structures of Turkish listed firms; size of the boards is small, they have non-executive directors, CEO duality does not exist except in very few cases and CEO tenures vary between 4-7 years. Boards do not have independent members, and even if they do, the number is very low to provide an impartial monitoring and voting; listed firms mainly do not rely on committees, if otherwise they have only an audit committee.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to understand the determinants of board structure of listed firms at institutional, industry and firm levels within an emerging economy. At the institutional level, the paper explores laws, managerial culture and the role of state in instituting and endorsing corporate governance practices. At the firm level, ownership patterns (family and non-family), experience in the capital markets, age and size of the firms are studied to find out the relation between these variables and the board structure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research domain of the study is listed firms operating on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. The data for the study are collected at two phases; at the first phase, compliance reports, annual reports, articles of association and annual shareholders' meeting reports of each firm in the sample are analyzed. At the second stage, secondary data are used for understanding the dynamics of Turkish institutional context.\nFindings: The results of this study reveal that boards of directors of listed Turkish firms comply with the governance practices instituted by state agencies, except on issues as independent members and committees that will influence the majority owners' control domain and private benefits.\nOriginality/value: This paper draws attention on institutional context and argues that \"good governance\" instruments developed for Anglo-Saxon stock market-controlled business systems provide limited explanation for an emerging economy that is characterized by close cooperation between the state, family-owned businesses and financial markets. The study offers insight to policy makers at a national level, interested in developing corporate governance principles regarding boards of directors of listed firms.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Kit preparation for mixed-model assembly: efficiency impact of confirmation methods
|
[
"Order picking",
"Confirmation methods",
"Kit preparation",
"Kitting",
"Mixed-model assembly",
"Order batching"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mixed-model assembly often involves numerous component variants and the materials supply to assembly is critical (Kilic and Durmusoglu, 2015). Kitting - a materials supply principle by which assembly is supplied with kits of components sorted by assembly object (Bozer and McGinnis, 1992) - is associated with many benefits when applied in mixed-model assembly (Hanson and Brolin, 2013) and has received increasing attention in recent years (Sali et al., 2015). When kitting is applied, the kit preparation is a central process, which typically is performed by manual labour and needs to display a high efficiency to ensure a low running cost (Caputo and Pelagagge, 2011; Hanson and Medbo, 2016). Moreover, kit preparation must ensure a high quality, so that each kit contains the right components in the right amounts, otherwise costly disruptions are likely to occur in the receiving assembly processes (Boysen et al., 2015; Caputo et al., 2017a, b).\n2. Literature review and problem formulation: Here, the problem addressed by the current paper is formulated. Section 2.1 presents an overview of previous research dealing with confirmation methods in warehouse order picking and kitting systems and, thereafter, the research problem is formulated in Section 2.2.\n3. Experimental settings: This section presents the experimental settings applied in the paper.\n4. Method: The empirical basis of this paper consists of an industrially relevant laboratory experiment which was set up to simulate a dense picking area for kit preparation supplying a mixed-model assembly line. The experiment was designed in accordance with the procedure outlined by Coleman and Montgomery (1993). The confirmation methods were installed in the kit preparation workspace by the developers of the equipment and a custom software programme was developed for combining the various confirmation methods. Experts from industry were consulted to ensure the industrial relevance of the setup.\n5. Results and analysis: Overall, the results indicate significant differences between the methods when applied as pick-from, place-to or as the combinations of confirmation methods. The results are presented in five subsections: Sections 4.1-4.3 present the results related to the methods applied as pick-from confirmation, place-to confirmation and the combinations of methods, respectively. The results related to the quality outcome are presented in Section 4.4 and the findings are summarised in Section 4.5.\n6. Discussion: The findings show that the methods applied for pick-from and place-to confirmation impact the time efficiency of preparing component kits with an order batching approach. It seems that methods that minimise interrupting the picker's motions when the confirmation is performed are beneficial to apply as pick-from confirmation to achieve efficient order batching of kits. Moreover, methods that allow placing components and performing place-to confirmations by both hands simultaneously seem beneficial for efficiency when applied as place-to confirmation. In the current study, button presses and RFID scans by double wristbands - which displayed the highest efficiency among the methods applied as both pick-from and place-to confirmation - shared these two properties.\n7. Conclusions: By mimicking a typical application for the order batching of component kits in mixed-model assembly, this study has presented empirical evidence of how four methods - barcode scans with ring scanner, button presses, voice commands and RFID scans with double wristbands - when applied for pick-from and place-to confirmation affect the time efficiency of kit preparation. A batch size of four kits was considered in a dense picking area and the picked components were of small-to-moderate size - all of which could be grasped by one hand. The paper demonstrates that combining different methods for pick-from and place-to confirmation can support efficient order batching of kits and shows that the means of information conveyance - light indicators in the current study - is not necessarily bound to specific methods for performing confirmations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Confirmations are applied in kit preparation for mixed-model assembly to promote quality, but research that explains the impact on time efficiency has been lacking. The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which the type of confirmation method relates to time-efficient kit preparation when order batching is applied.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An industrially relevant laboratory experiment is applied, simulating kit preparation with order batching for mixed-model assembly. The time efficiency is studied as associated with four confirmation methods - barcode ring scanner, button presses, voice commands and RFID-reading wristbands - when applied as pick-from and place-to confirmation. Furthermore, the paper also considers the quality outcome.\nFindings: Efficiency is promoted by methods that minimise interrupting the picker's motions when performing pick-from confirmations and with methods that allow each hand to place components and perform place-to confirmations simultaneously - here represented by button presses and RFID-reading wristbands. Moreover, combining various methods for the tasks of pick-from or place-to confirmation can benefit efficiency.\nResearch limitations/implications: Pickers at an early stage of the learning curve (one shift of training) were considered.\nPractical implications: The findings promote the customised applications of picking information systems in industry.\nSocial implications: Combining various methods for the tasks of pick-from and place-to confirmation can provide more fitting applications that better align with the picker's preferences.\nOriginality/value: Combinations of various methods when applied as either pick-from or place-to confirmation, or both, are studied.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"Tell her she's wrong!" Triangulation as a spousal influence strategy
|
[
"Influence",
"Family",
"Decision making",
"Systems theory",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Israel"
] |
[
{
"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: Most of the couples tend to engage in joint discussion before purchasing a product for their common use, such as electric appliances, furniture, financial investments, etc. In a study of recent purchasers of major durables, Spiro (1983) found that a surprising 88 percent of the married couples in her sample reported that they had encountered disagreements during the purchasing process. Each spouse will often try to persuade the other in various ways, employing a range of influence tactics, communication styles, and behaviors designed to help them secure their desired outcome (Mallalieu and Faure, 1998).Six influence strategies described by Raven et al. (1975) are: expert, legitimate, reward, identification, coercion, and information management. Expert influence is reflected in the spouse's enumeration of specific information concerning the various alternatives. Legitimate influence deals with one spouse's attempts to draw upon the other's feelings of shared values concerning their role expectations. Reward influence is based on the reward that the influencer can give the person being influenced. Identification is the feeling of oneness of one person with another. Coercion is the punishment or unpleasant results and behavior that one spouse can employ. Information management includes the content of the persuasive attempts and careful and successful explanations or arguments, sometimes by attributing the influence attempt to external pressures beyond the influencer's control. Spiro (1983) suggested also the use of an emotional strategy, which involves displaying some emotion-based reaction.The six strategies introduced by Raven et al. (1975) and the emotional strategy introduced by Spiro (1983) relate to influence between partners without the intervention of other people. A family systems perspective emphasizes the importance of considering third person intervention in understanding spousal influence during a purchase decision process. One of the pivotal family theories is the family systems theory (Bowen, 1978; Kerr and Bowen, 1988). Based on this theory, the present study explores the triangulation strategy. Triangulation is a process by which a third person is enlisted by the one of the spouses to intervene and convince the other spouse, and consequently diffuse the tension between the spouses; this person can be a friend, a relative, or one or more of the couple's children. This strategy is employed in addition to other spousal influence strategies. There is virtually no research bearing on the question of whether couples enlist a third person to persuade during a purchase decision. The only tangentially relevant research suggests that couples use mediation as a tactic for conflict resolution (Sheth and Cosmas, 1975). Mediation means that both the husband and the wife go to a third-party for help in resolving the dispute (Sheth and Cosmas, 1975). Triangulation is a strategy that one spouse initiates in order to persuade his partner to have/get his way.\nTheoretical background: Bowen defined the family as a \"naturally occurring system,\" that is - a system that developed from the natural evolutionary process and which is regulated by principles found in nature. The family is an emotional system, and family members' emotional functioning is based on reciprocity (Bowen, 1978; Kerr and Bowen, 1988). In order to reach an accurate understanding of human behavior, it is important to look beyond the individual and examine the relationship system within one participates. According to Kerr and Bowen, a dyad, a \"two-person\" system, is inherently unstable since it is more vulnerable to internal and external stress. Thus, the triangle is the smallest stable relationship unit (Kerr and Bowen, 1988, p. 134). When one partner experiences anxiety or tension on a level they are unable to contain, they will enlist a third individual in order to diffuse this tension. The enlisting of a third person is called triangulation, and it may occur in any of the following ways:* one of the partners enlists a third person by complaining about the spouse and/or the relationship;* the couple engages in conflict in the presence of a third person; and* a third person invites themselves into the center of the couple's conflict (Kerr and Bowen, 1988).Since this study deals with persuasion strategies, the use of the term triangulation in this context will relate only to the first way. Based on Bowen's theory, it is reasonable to assume that when a couple experiences tension and conflict during a purchase decision process, at least one of them will try to reduce the tension and persuade his spouse by enlisting a third person to persuade his mate in favor of his preferred alternative.\nResearch questions: Do spouses employ a triangulation process during a purchase decision process?If this type of influence strategy is found, additional questions are raised:* Are there gender differences in the use of the third person influence strategy?* Who are the most frequently triangulated persons? Are they family relatives, friends, or the couple's children?* In which product categories people are more likely to use the triangulation strategy?* Is there a correlation (positive or negative) between the use of triangulation strategy and the duration of marital relationship?\nMethodology: Measurement\nResults: The first research question was: \"Do spouses ask a third person to persuade their mate in favor of their preferred alternative during a purchase decision process?\"In order to examine the first research question, the internal consistency of the triangulation strategy was examined by calculating the Cronbach's alpha of the five items described previously at the Measurement section.Table III presents the values for Cronbach's alpha for each product separately, and for men and women separately.The range of the alpha values was 0.84-0.90 for women and 0.89-0.95 for men. As for the item \"ask our child/children,\" only the answers of couples who have children over the age of six were considered.The second research question was: \"Are there gender differences in the use of the triangulation strategy?\"T-test for independent samples reveals that men reported a significantly greater use of triangulation strategy than did women (Table IV).As for the vacation, living room furniture, and TV set, men reported a significantly greater use of triangulation strategy than did women. No significant difference was found between men and women regarding the decision to move to a new residence.The third research question was: \"Who are the most frequently triangulated persons? Are they family relative, friends or the couple's children?\"Table V presents the averages of triangulation frequencies, for each product separately, for men and women.Separate one-way ANOVAs was conducted to test the effect of third person identity on the wives' and the husbands' triangulation frequency. As can be seen in Table VI, it was observed that there were differences in triangulation frequency based on the third person identity. Among men, the most frequently triangulated party in a vacation and a TV set decision were children, less frequently were relatives, followed by friends. No differences were found between third persons in the other two decisions. Women reported a significantly greater tendency to ask the child/children than all other third persons, in all of the four products.The findings of the ANOVA provide the answer to the third research question, and show that the most frequently triangulated persons are the couple's children.The fourth research question was: \"in which product categories people are most likely to use of the triangulation strategy?\"Separate one-way ANOVAs was conducted to test the effect of product category on the wives' and the husbands' triangulation frequency. As can be seen in Table VII, it was observed that there were differences in triangulation frequency based on the product in debate. Men tend to triangulate most frequently in a vacation decision. Less frequently triangulation was found regarding a new residence place, followed by Saloon furnishing and TV set. Women tend to triangulate most frequently in a new residence place, followed by a vacation, saloon furnishing and TV set.The findings of the ANOVA provide the answer to the fourth research question, and show that triangulation is most frequently used during a vacation and a new residence place decisions.The fifth research question was: \"Is there any correlation (positive or negative) between the use of triangulation strategy and the duration of marital relationship?\"In order to answer this question, Pearson Correlation was calculated between the average of triangulation strategy of the four products and the duration of marriage. Pearson correlation value was -0.151, p<0.042 among men, and -0.044, n.s. among women. The longer the marriage relationship is, the lower the use of the triangulation strategy among men.\nDiscussion: According to Bowenian theory, in order to reach an accurate understanding of human behavior, it is important to examine the relationship system within one participates. This theory has long recognized that spouses tend to request third persons for a persuasive intervention during a conflict. Findings of the present study support this view and explore third parties' influence on purchase decisions.This paper highlights a spousal influence strategy that has not previously been studied by consumer researchers. In addition to the strategies introduced by Raven et al. (1975) and Spiro (1983), couples tend to request third parties for persuasive interventions during a purchase disagreement.Although the frequency of the use of the triangulation strategy seems low at first glance, it should be taken into account that most of the other strategies were also reported as being used relatively infrequently, since each spouse uses multiple strategies during a purchase decision, and not necessarily one (see the appendix).Husbands and wives differed in their reported frequency of use of triangulation as a strategy for influencing spouses. Men use triangulation more frequently than women; this may imply that they found it effective. If women are affected by third parties more than men, men will use third parties more often. As for the preference for the triangulated person, in most cases children were triangulated more frequently than other third persons, by both women and men. Children were most frequently triangulated by women in all of the four decisions (as compared to other third persons), whereas men triangulated children most frequently only in saloon and a new residence. Asking the child to persuade his parent may arouse/activate emotional responses from the parent, which in turn can change this parent's attitude. In this respect, this finding is in line with Spiro's (1983) finding that women tend to use emotional tactics as influence attempts more than men. It is also consonant with the low power distance between parents and children in Israel (Shoham and Dalakas, 2003). Israeli teens influence family purchasing decisions more than their peers in the US (Shoham and Dalakas, 2003), and this makes the triangulation of children an effective influence strategy.Differences in triangulation frequency between products were found among both men and women. Men triangulated most frequently during a vacation decision process. As mentioned in the methodology section, vacation has been found to be as a wife-dominant decision (Foxman et al., 1989; Rice, 2001; Shoham and Dalakas, 2003). A possible explanation for this finding is that fathers try to counter-balance and get more influence by triangulation of the children, who are likely to join the vacation. As to women, the decision in which they tend to triangulate most frequently is a purchase of a new residence place. Women in general tend to use triangulation very rarely, mainly during a decision of such major importance. Thus, the tendency to triangulate is product-dependent, rather than a general one that is used - or not - for all decisions.The longer the marriage relationship is, the lower the use of the triangulation strategy among men (r=-0.151*). Couples who live together for a long period of time develop conflict-resolution tactics and hence experience fewer disagreements over purchasing decisions; thus they experience less tension, and have less need to triangulate. This negative correlation is consonant with Spiro's (1983) finding that the younger couples tend to use more influence attempts than the older couples.These findings contribute to a better understanding of the process of couple consumption decision making. Consumer researchers should take into account the influence of close friends and relatives that might play a role in couple consumption decision processes. Future research should focus on the perceived effectiveness of the triangulation strategy, as well as of the other strategies. Furthermore, if multiple strategies are in use in each purchase decision process, it would be of interest to reveal a chronological order of use, i.e. which is been used first, second, etc., and by whom.An obvious limitation of the generalizability of this research relates to the sampling. Couples were enrolled for the study after they were promised a $20 coupon; this may impair the representative nature of the sample.In conclusion, this study has shown that during a purchase decision process, couples do not live in a social vacuum; one or both of the spouses may attempt to persuade their partner by using a third-party.\nManagerial implications: Marketers have apparently lost sight of the family as an open unit. Couples do not live in a social vacuum, rather they share their difficulties with friends and relatives.Marketers should understand how customers behave during a family decision process, and direct their efforts toward securing the most positive response.An interesting observation found in this study is, that men tend to triangulate more frequently than women. A possible explanation may be the perceived effectiveness of this behavior. If women are affected by third-parties' interventions, then marketing campaigns of products which are women-dominated should be aimed not only to potential customers but also to potential third persons that influence these customers.A practical suggestion is offering a discount for a customer who brings his friend - \"bring your friend and both of you get a 20 percent discount\". If the triangulated person has an interest in purchasing the product, he is likely to convince his friend/relative to purchase this product or to prefer the brand that offers the special deal.Another application stems from the finding about triangulation of children. If children are triangulated during a decision process of various products, it is recommended to highlight the added values for the children. For example, when advertising a vacation package, marketers should emphasize the activities for children. When triangulated by one parent, children will try to persuade the other parent to choose the vacation that is more attractive to them. Similarly, Cable TV company that offers attractive channels for kids will encourage triangulated children to prefer this company over the others.Another interesting observation is that different products elicit different tendencies to triangulate a third person. Men triangulate most frequently during a vacation decision. Less frequently triangulation was found regarding a new residence place, whereas women tend to triangulate most frequently in a new residence place, followed by a vacation. Marketing practitioners should take this finding into consideration, while planning a marketing strategy or an advertising campaign. Advertising messages for products which are purchased by a joint decision can encourage or discourage triangulation. If there is a reason to expect that triangulated persons would have a positive attitude toward the product, the message would be more effective if it encourages triangulation, and vice versa.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The objective of this paper is to focus on a spousal influence strategy that has not been investigated previously by consumer researchers: triangulation. Triangulation is the process by which a third-party is enlisted to intervene and convince the other spouse; this person can be a friend, a relative, or one or more of the couple's children.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey questionnaire was completed by 192 couples who were asked to evaluate their own and their mates' influence strategies in four different purchase decisions.\nFindings: - It was found that, in general, men tend to triangulate more frequently than women. Men triangulate most frequently during a vacation decision. Less frequently, triangulation was found regarding a new residence place, followed by Saloon furnishing and TV set. Women tend to triangulate most frequently in a new residence place, followed by a vacation. Regarding all of the third persons which comprised this strategy, with the exception of \"ask our child/children\", men reported a significantly greater tendency to ask a third person to influence. Conversely, women reported a significantly greater tendency to ask the child/children to influence their husbands. The longer the marital relationship, the less the use of triangulation strategy among men.\nPractical implications: - Advertising messages for products that are purchased by a joint decision can encourage or discourage triangulation. If there is a reason to expect that triangulated persons would have a positive attitude toward the product, the message would be more effective if it encourages triangulation, and vice versa.\nOriginality/value: - Findings documented in the paper shed light on the triangulation strategy, a hitherto unexplored aspect in consumer behavior literature. Consumer researchers should take into account the influence of close friends and relatives that might play a role in couple purchase decision processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An evaluation of the Brazilian informal labor market from 1995 to 2008
|
[
"Informal labour market",
"Evolutionary game theory",
"Brazil",
"Pay",
"Labour market"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: There are many ways of defining informality and each definition may give rise to different sizes of informality. Such activity may include self-employment, employment in micro-businesses or family-run activities, as well as employment without appropriate access to social protection or formal registration (Henley et al., 2009). In the present paper we define informality as tax avoidance: firms and workers in the informal sector avoid tax payments but suffer other constraints such as limited access to legal protection, hedge and credit. According to Williams (2006, p. 370):[...] [s]hadow work involves the paid production and sale of goods and services which are unregistered by or hidden from, the state for tax and/or benefit purposes but which are legal in all other respects.The World Bank estimates that this informal economy generates 40 percent of the GNP of low-income nations and 17 percent of the GNP of high-income ones. In some industries, such as retailing and construction, informality can account for as much as 80 percent of employment[1].In this paper, we do not treat informality as the result of exclusion but rather as the outcome of rational decisions taken by firms and workers. We acknowledge that the issue has many dimensions but we focus on the informality that arises as the optimal outcome of rational agents playing their best responses in a specific institutional set-up. This view is in accordance to Hirschman (1970) who considers that workers and firms make implicit cost-benefit analysis when deciding to act in formal or informal sectors. This view has found empirical support in a number of papers. In Maloney (2004), for instance, informal urban micro-firms can be seen as agents that, on behalf of the lack of enforcement, may opt for which degree of formal activity they wish to produce. He also observes that, even at lower wages, workers in these economies choose informality due to a level of dignity and autonomy that this type of work might offer.Following this rationale, Fortin et al. (1997) have developed a model with firm heterogeneity in which a formal and an informal market emerge in some sectors of the economy as the optimal response against the effects of taxation and wage controls. By studying the informal sector in the Republic of Cameroon, these authors have found that the average wage paid in the formal sector is higher than the average wage in the informal sector. This view was disputed by Mattos and Ogura (2007) studying the Brazilian economy: controlling for individual characteristics it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that wages in the formal sector are similar to wages in the informal sector. Besides, they have concluded that in the same industry more efficient firms are formal while the less efficient ones are informal. They assumed that the cost of informality increases with production, and this implies that formal firms have a greater probability of employing more workers than informal ones.While most of these studies focus on informality from the viewpoint of firms Loayza and Rigolini (2006)[2] found that the size of informal employment is given by the proportion of workers whose skills fall below a threshold level where the worker is indifferent between the two sectors. They have found that informality not only responds to fundamental, long-run forces but also to inter-temporal economic conditions related to the business cycle and transient policies. Thus, for example, the informal sector could act as a buffer that expands in economic recessions or as an adjustment mechanism during temporarily high tax regimes. Fiess et al. (2010) have developed a labor market model and embedded it in a standard macroeconomic framework that allows capturing additional information on the sectoral origin of the shocks through the real exchange rate - a measure of relative prices of tradables and non-tradables. These findings suggest that the pro or counter-cyclicality behavior of the informal sector is more complex than that reported by Loayza and Rigolini (2006), since it depends on the sectoral origin of the shocks and the presence of binding wage rigidities. They found numerous examples where either a positive productivity or demand shock to the non-tradable/informal sector leads to its expansion.Albretch et al. (2008) have built a search and matching model to analyze the effect of labour market policies in an economy with a significant informal sector. By running numerical simulations they found that a severance tax greatly increases average employment duration in the formal sector, reduces overall unemployment, reduces the number of formal sector workers, and reduces the number of workers who accept any type of offer (formal or informal). A payroll tax reduces average employment duration in the formal sector, greatly reduces the number of formal sector workers, and significantly increases the size of the informal sector and the number of workers accepting any type of offer.In this paper, we intend to perform an empirical evaluation of a model of the informal labor market inspired by the model developed by Araujo and Souza (2010) by focusing on the Brazilian labor market by using data from the National Household Sampling Survey - PNAD/IBGE, from 1995 to 2008. According to this modeling workers and firms' decision to engage in the formal or informal sector arise as the outcome of bounded rational decisions. We must recall that preferences are wide-ranging and can include both pecuniary and non-pecuniary aspects of work. In fact, wages and tax schemes although important determinants of utility are not unique and other factors such as autonomy, flexibility, working hours, distance to work and opportunities offered in the informal sector also should taken into account. They may determine job satisfaction and may lead workers to choose informal employment[3].Comprehended in this time scale we can observe two opposition parties in power. The 1995-2002 and 2003-2008, which represent two different governments: the Fernando Henrique Cardoso - hereafter FHC - Government from 1995 to 2002 and the Luis Inacio da Silva - hereafter Lula - Government from 2003 to 2008. We analyze if there were any substantial movements in the formal employment among both governments and if there were focused policies in order to obtaining such results.In the next section we perform an empirical evaluation in order to investigate which are the determinants of the workers' and firms' choices in the labor market. A number of characteristics such as years of study, tenure, gender and race are considered so as to establish the main factors that lead workers into formality and informality.Our empirical findings show that although wages play an import role in the decision of workers and firms all wage gaps between formal and informal markets reduced considerably as been pointed out by Mattos and Ogura (2007). An increase in one year of study would raise the probability of participating in the formal and informal sectors, although formality shows higher probability. Besides, the skill premium in the formal sector is higher than in the informal sector. This paper is structured as follows: in the next section we present the empirical evidence of determinants for labor participation in informality in Brazil. Section 3 brings conclusions to the study.\n2 Empirical analysis: In this section we aim to analyze the main factors that drive the Brazilian labor when deciding to participate in the formal or informal sectors. We accomplish this analysis by using four different methodologies, ascertaining for sample selection and endogeneity.2.1 Data\n3 Conclusion: Empirical studies on informal employment in Brazil indicate that this market has gone through deep changes. Emerging evidence suggests that a share of informal employment is chosen and may offer specific benefits and opportunities to certain individuals. In particular, depending on their characteristics, some individuals may have a comparative advantage to work in the informal sector.An empirical analysis was made to assess the main factors that drive the Brazilian labor when deciding to participate in the formal or informal sectors. In particular, we intended to observe if the game theory evolutionary model developed by Araujo and Souza (2010) is suited to describe the evolution of the informal market in the Brazilian economy. We used four different methodologies: the OLS, pseudo-panel with fixed effects, instrumental variables and the Heckman selection model. The data for this study were obtained at the National Household Sampling Survey - PNAD/IBGE, from 1995 to 2008, with an exception to the years of 1994 and 2000, when this survey did not occur. The cross-section data were pooled and divided in two periods: 1995-2002 and 2003-2008, representing two different parties government - FHC and Lula. The sample ranges individuals from 22 to 57 years of age.Results indicate that the main difference between the 1995-2002 and 2003-2008 period is the impact of education over wages. Returns to education for the second period are greater than for the first period analyzed. The monetary gains for the first period vary from 16.5 to 18.2 percent for formality and from 12.2 to 14.3 percent for informal labor. Whereas, for the second period these gains range from 19.7 to 22.6 percent and from 16.9 to 18.2 percent, for formality and informality, respectively. According to these findings, investments made on education were more profitable for the 2003-2008 period. However, all wage gaps between formal and informal markets reduced considerably, which reinforces the fact that workers are increasingly deciding in which market to operate. In this vein we conclude variables such as education and skills have been pointed out as important factors that also affect the decisions of workers and firms.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to perform an evaluation of the Brazilian informal labor market, following the lines suggested by Araujo and Souza. The paper focuses on the Brazilian labor market by using data from the National Household Sampling Survey - PNAD/IBGE, from 1995 to 2008.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses four different methodologies: the OLS, pseudo-panel with fixed effects, instrumental variables and the Heckman selection model. The data for this study were obtained at the National Household Sampling Survey - PNAD/IBGE, from 1995 to 2008, with an exception to the years of 1994 and 2000, when this survey did not occur. The cross-section data were pooled and divided in two periods: 1995-2002 and 2003-2008. The sample ranges individuals from 22 to 57 years of age.\nFindings: - The empirical findings show that although wages play an import role in the decision of workers and firms, all wage gaps between formal and informal markets reduced considerably, as has been pointed out by Mattos and Ogura. However, an increase in one year of study would raise the probability of participating in the formal sector while diminishing the probability of joining the informal sector. Besides, the skill premium in the formal sector is higher than in the informal sector.\nOriginality/value: - Results indicate that the main difference between the 1995-2002 and 2003-2008 period is the impact of education over wages. Returns to education for the second period are greater than for the first period analyzed. The monetary gains for the first period vary from 16.5 to 18.2 percent for formality and from 12.2 to 14.3 percent for informal labor. Whereas, for the second period these gains range from 19.7 to 22.6 percent and from 16.9 to 18.2 percent, for formality and informality, respectively. According to these findings, investments made on education were more profitable for the 2003-2008 period. However, all wage gaps between formal and informal markets reduced considerably, which reinforces the fact that workers are increasingly deciding in which market to operate.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Cheese perception in the North American market: Empirical evidence for domestic vs imported Parmesan
|
[
"Market segmentation",
"Consumer perception",
"CUB model",
"Feeling and uncertainty",
"Parmesan brands",
"Place of origin"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the last decade, exports of Parmesan cheese from Italy to North America have steadily increased. This trend has mainly been driven by Italian-type cheese consumption (e.g. Romano, Provolone, Parmesan and Mozzarella). However, the increasing demand for these cheeses has mostly been covered by a supply derived from domestic production. Consequently, in the last decade, the share of Parmesan imports in total consumption has decreased from 25 to 10 percent.\n2. Methodology: The research design can be summarized as consumer perception and CUB models, questionnaire and survey.\n3. Results: The analysis of the survey data was performed by estimating the following CUB models: the model CUB(0,0) without covariates, which estimates, for each of the variables rated by the respondents, the latent components of feeling and uncertainty; the models CUB(0,1) and CUB(1,0) with covariates, which evaluate the effect of the covariates on the feeling and uncertainty components, respectively; the model CUB(0,2), which estimates the joint effect of the two covariates on the feeling component; and the model CUB(0,0), where the shelter effects are checked.\n4. Discussion: The model findings demonstrate that the ratings are converging for the questions about knowledge, appreciation and taste of Parmesan, i.e., the respondents show high awareness and similar involvement, while their other answers report quite different opinions. The results for taste are confirmed by sensory studies carried out on Parmesan and other cheeses that stress the importance of taste and aroma and their components such as \"umami\" (Kurihara, 2009; Zannoni, 2010; Parcell and Gedikoglu, 2012).\n5. Conclusions: This study applies CUB models to different questions and opinions on Parmesan cheese. These models can contribute to analyzing two latent variables that are assumed to be involved in the choice process of a rating.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to detect market segments where consumers have a different knowledge of domestic and imported Parmesan cheese in USA and Canada. The results may be helpful in understanding to what extend North America consumers appreciate Parmesan cheese and brands, Parmesan consumption and price while recognizing market segments according to consumer awareness, involvement and covariate effects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A class of mixture models, known as combination uniform binomial (CUB), is applied to survey data collected in USA and Canada. A questionnaire, filled out by 540 restaurant customers, collects opinions about consumption, purchase features and price. The CUB model estimates the two latent variables, known as feeling and uncertainty, explaining the respondent's behavior as awareness and involvement variability while the CUB clustering procedure detects market segments.\nFindings: CUB results show that the Parmesan is a well-known cheese but also that a small share of consumers look for the place of origin. The model detects market segments where consumers express better awareness on taste, price and origin while the knowledge of imported Parmesan brands is lacking. Most of consumers, not paying attention to the origin, would hardly switch to the imported Parmesan because of higher price or because they are already satisfied of the domestic cheese.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results suffer some restrictions in the sample representativeness. A further analysis, where the survey is done at retail and advances in CUB models, may improve the market segmentation procedure allowing a better generalization of results.\nPractical implications: The survey results highlights the appreciation and consumption of Parmesan cheese, especially for its taste, as well as a low perception of Italian brands. Consequently, trade companies should focussed their communication strategy on activities encouraging North American consumers to taste Italian Parmesan brands (e.g. tasting sessions, price promotions) instead of costly and less effective advertising campaigns.\nSocial implications: Parmesan brand misunderstandings are often associated with market information asymmetry. The paper results show a market segmentation where purchases are mainly driven by Parmesan taste regardless of domestic or imported brands. Likely, the consumption of domestic Parmesan is well consolidated and it is not a consequence of brand information asymmetry.\nOriginality/value: The CUB model is an innovative and flexible no parametric approach for evaluating consumer behavior and for segmenting the market while dealing with complex problems of food knowledge.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
School-level organizational routines for learning: supporting data use
|
[
"Performance management",
"Decision making",
"Assessment",
"Organizational learning",
"Organizational routines",
"Data use",
"Evidence-based decision making",
"Data-based decision making"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Administrators and teachers have been inundated with data, such as performance, standardized, and benchmark assessments. At the same time, limited research exists regarding how educational practitioners use data on a daily basis. Coburn and Turner (2012b) argued that future research on data use ought to focus on teachers' practice, meaning \"understand(ing) what actually happens when people engage with data in the course of their ongoing everyday work and how that relates to instructional change and organizational learning\" (p. 102). Similarly, Little (2012) only identified five studies that addressed the nature of the interactions between educators as they make sense of their data. The research questions that guided this case study were:\nLiterature on data use: Although literature has prescribed how educators might utilize data at the school level (e.g. Boudett et al., 2005; Boudett and Steele, 2007; Earl and Katz, 2006; Wayman and Chu, 2009), researchers have only begun to understand organizational contexts that support data use from exploratory research. Prior to considering the previous research, I defined an understanding of data and its purposes. Coburn and Turner (2012b) provided a broad understanding of \"data,\" which might come from a classroom observation or a standardized test. Although data use has been commonly associated with decision making, Knapp et al. (2007) argued that data have multiple uses. Four uses primarily benefited audiences internal to a school: diagnosing or clarifying instructional and organizational problems, weighing alternative courses of action, informing daily practice, and managing meaning, culture, and motivation.\nSetting the context: District context: Chicago public schools (CPS)\nCase: Abbott International School of Chicago: Case selection is essential for a quality case study (Merriam, 2009). I aimed to select an extreme case (Flyvbjerg, 2006). Based on the framework (Coburn and Turner, 2012a), having a school with strong leadership that supported data use was essential. I also wanted to ensure that the school had data available to use, which was straightforward to determine at the outset of the study. Selecting a case based these two elements allowed for me to explore the other contextual elements.\nResearch design and methodology: I used case study research methodology (Stake, 1995) to provide a rich description of school-level organizational and political contexts that might support processes of data use and their outcomes. Although a case study does not provide generalizations from a sample to a population, case studies do provide analytic and naturalistic generalizations. Analytic generalizations are from the case to theory (Yin, 2009), such as theories on organizational routines and data use. Given rich, thick description, readers of the case might also make naturalistic generalizations from the case to their circumstances.\nFindings: Routines influenced processes of data use\nDiscussion: The case of Abbott has implications for understanding data use among practitioners within contexts that have emphasized performance management. All the elements of Coburn and Turner's (2012a) framework - routines, leadership, access to data, time, norms, and power relations - were evident at Abbott, and this case study supported the central role of routines. This case study demonstrated how the routines might also facilitate outcomes of data use - organizational learning and student learning. First, Abbott had a system of collaborative teams that met regularly, used protocols to facilitate discussion, and fostered group norms of respect and challenge. Second, Abbott had a continuous improvement cycle, or processes of inquiry routine, which linked externally initiated and internally initiated assessments to instructional practices. It illustrated its potential to foster organizational learning.\nConclusion: My intent has been to make naturalistic generalizations, particularly for practitioners, regarding organizational routines in a school (i.e. collaborative teams and processes of inquiry) that have facilitated data use, as well as to understand how routines have influenced processes of data use and outcomes of data use. In this case study, I learned that routines (i.e. collaborative teams and processes of inquiry) were the most central organizational and political context to facilitate data use in a manner that seemed to contribute to organizational and student learning. Data use at Abbott was not primarily about reducing teaching to a technical matter driven by numbers; rather, it was about having a high value for teachers as professionals that had expertise to make autonomous, informed judgments about their craft. Drawing from the model of the knowledge creating company rather than performance management might facilitate the development of organizational routines for learning about instructional practices.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use an extreme case to identify and describe the nature of routines that might support processes and outcomes of data use, drawing from a framework developed by Coburn and Turner (2012a).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author conducted a four-month case study (Stake, 1995) of an elementary school in a large urban school district that had implemented balanced score cards. The author identified a school that had strong qualities to support data use, including leadership and information systems.\nFindings: Two school-level organizational routines facilitated teachers' data use: collaborative teams and processes of inquiry. These routines stored knowledge about the types of data teachers ought to notice, and to a lesser extent, how they ought to interpret data and construct implications for practice. These routines also provided opportunities for single and double-loop learning (Argyris and Schon, 1996) and might contribute to improvements in student learning. This case provides an example of how a school negotiated external performance management pressures, and maintained their professional autonomy, focussing on internally initiated assessments.\nOriginality/value: Relatively little research has described what organizational routines support data use among practitioners. In addition to describing two routines, this case also demonstrated the need to frame these routines as organizational routines for learning. To further develop these routines, the author drew on the notion of the knowledge-creating company (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) to explain how the school used their organizational routines to share tacit knowledge (socialization), and to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge (externalization), which supported instructional innovations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A decision support simulation model for bed management in healthcare
|
[
"Discrete event simulation",
"Capacity management",
"Capacity planning",
"Bed management",
"Heathcare"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and motivation: Proper and effective allocation of limited resources is a ubiquitous problem across hospitals and healthcare delivery systems. The most common limited resource is the finite number of beds. Hospitals frequently have more patients than they can handle resulting in significant scheduling delays and increasing queue length (Green et al., 2006). To address these problems hospital management requires an understanding of the hospital's internal functions, operations and level of care to effectively plan and staff operations. Furthermore, hospital administrators should know each department's operational behavior and inter-departmental relationships to decrease waiting times and increase timely delivery of care to patients (Haraden et al., 2004). Allocation of a bed to a patient with minimum waiting time and reduction of the number of patients waiting for beds are the basis for the research. To address this common problem in hospitals, a detailed understanding of each department's average length of stay (LOS) of patients, waiting times, bed turnover time and queue length should be analyzed to enable a complete understanding of the functioning of a hospital.\nLiterature review: Patient flow, bed allocation and resource utilization in hospitals through the application of queuing and simulation models have been extensively studied (Sargent, 2011; Eddy et al., 2012; Miller et al., 2003). Harper and Shahani (2002) argue that a hospital system is complex and reducing its complexity does not result in an ideal model.\nHospital background: For this research, the Sacramento Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) was used to develop the simulation model. The Sacramento VAMC provides comprehensive healthcare services and has all acute beds, in which patients are treated for brief stays related to surgery recovery, disease, trauma or illness. It consists of 50 beds distributed in the ICU, transitional care unit (TCU), and medical surgical unit (MSU). Patients admitted to the hospital are assigned to the ICU, TCU and MSU departments based on their level of acuity. The ICU consists of 10 beds, TCU consists of 16 beds on the third floor (three TCU), and MSU consists of 19 beds on the third floor (three MSU) and five beds on the fourth floor (four MSU).\nResearch methodology: In order to develop simulation model, data were collected from the Sacramento VAMC on patient movement throughout the hospital. The data were comprised of multiple large sets of data and spans across all major units within the hospital. Specifically, the data contained all departments and units within the hospital with the exception of the behavioral health unit. Hence, the data are comprised of high fidelity information for each patient, which included admission time and date, discharge time and date, ward/unit of admission, ward/unit of discharge and spanned from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2014. The data set contained information on 23,019 patients. From the total data, the records from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2013 were used for the analysis. Initially data were filtered in Excel to determine the details for each department individually. Therefore, the details for direct admission to a department for each patient and their LOS were determined. In a similar manner, the transfer data contained details of how patients moved throughout the hospital. In these transfers individual patients are tracked from admission to discharge with transfer information regarding the unit of care. However, it is important to note that these transfers may in many cases not directly correspond to a physical movement of the patient's location, but rather correspond to a lower or elevated level of care. Also, in some cases patients were elevated to levels that required a physical movement of the patient. The data on patient transfers spans from April 2014 to March 2015 and consist information for 1,129 patients. The data were used to calculate the LOS of patients transferred from one department to another department. The data were filtered initially in Excel to separate transfer patients records individually by department. From the data, transferred patients' LOS in ICU, three TCU, three MSU and four MSU were calculated. The length and detailed information facilitated the statistical analysis associated with all patient flow within the hospital across the various units within the hospital.\nModeling and simulation methodology: The simulation model was developed using the ARENA(c) software package, which uses entity-based, flowcharting for modeling dynamic processes. Entities in the simulation model proceed through a flow chart of the process and seize control of resources as they are processed. Resource units can be changed according to the patient flow requirements and results can be used to understand the changes in system behavior.\nModel verification and validation: Verification of the model was performed in three stages. First, the arrival of patients were examined to confirm that they were embedded into the simulation appropriately by exporting the arrival time information for each patient to an Excel file using the ReadWrite module. In the second stage, the model was verified using the check model function in Arena. Finally, the information logic was verified with the staff and administration of the hospital.\nAnalysis of simulation results: Arena generates output reports which give details about the patient waiting times, average LOS of patients of each department, average queue length of patients, average waiting times, statistics of each department admissions and records of patients transferred to another hospital because of restricted queue length at ICU department.\nConclusions and implications: A simulation model of the hospital system was constructed using ARENA to understand admission and transfer patients LOS, waiting time and queue lengths. Through the analysis of the historical data and the simulation model it was shown that the wait times are highest for three TCU and four MSU and transfers to three TCU with an average waiting time of 8.95, 13.10 and 9.07 h, respectively. With the current LOS and bed turnover time, the patients wait in long queues before being admitted. If the following reccommendations are implemented there will be decrease in patient wait time.\nLimitations and future research: Due to the limitations in the data, the current model only accounts for a maximum of one transfer between departments for each patient. Data were not available on multiple transfers. In reality, patients that require a high level of care or have frequent changes in their condition can be transferred more than once during their hospital stay.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In order to provide access to care in a timely manner, it is necessary to effectively manage the allocation of limited resources. such as beds. Bed management is a key to the effective delivery of high quality and low-cost healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to develop a discrete event simulation to assist in planning and staff scheduling decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A discrete event simulation model was developed for a hospital system to analyze admissions, patient transfer, length of stay (LOS), waiting time and queue time. The hospital system contained 50 beds and four departments. The data used to construct the model were from five years of patient records and contained information on 23,019 patients. Each department's performance measures were taken into consideration separately to understand and quantify the behavior of departments individually, and the hospital system as a whole. Several scenarios were analyzed to determine the impact on reducing the number of patients waiting in queue, waiting time and LOS of patients.\nFindings: Using the simulation model, it was determined that reducing the bed turnover time by 1 h resulted in a statistically significant reduction in patient wait time in queue. Further, reducing the average LOS by 10 h results in statistically significant reductions in the average patient wait time and average patient queue. A comparative analysis of department also showed considerable improvements in average wait time, average number of patients in queue and average LOS with the addition of two beds.\nOriginality/value: This research highlights the applicability of simulation in healthcare. Through data that are often readily available in bed management tracking systems, the operational behavior of a hospital can be modeled, which enables hospital management to test the impact of changes without cost and risk.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Building bridges or gates? Gated communities' escape from reality
|
[
"Cities",
"Society",
"Urban",
"Boundaries",
"Inequality",
"Space",
"Gated communities"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There has been a considerable growth of interest in recent years surrounding the emergence of \"gated communities\" and other forms of privatised public space (Atkinson et al., 2004). The interest in \"gated communities\" stems from that fact that it is a recent development with an elitist dimension (Atkinson and Flint, 2004; Amin and Thift, 2002; Marcuse and Kempen, 2000; Pick and Butler, 2000). In a number of African countries, gated communities suggest habitats of affluence. It is also illustrative of a culture of fear and risk avoidance (Garland, 2001). It is presumed the basis of their existence lies in the fact that they want to isolate themselves from social problems, located outside the gates (Atkinson and Flint, 2004).\nThe case of the gated communities: Much interest has been generated in recent years concerning \"gated communities\" and other types of privatised residential spaces in cities. A range of perspectives currently prevail as a result of this. According to Dehaene and De Cauter (2008) there is a profound redrawing of the contours of public and private space in the contemporary transformation of the city, which has brought in its wake an equally treacherous and fertile ground of conditions that are not merely hybrid, but rather defy an easy description. It is on this treacherous terrain that Michel Foucault's (2008) notion of heterotopia can shed some light. Foucault called these places \"heterotopias\" - literally \"other places\". Foucault introduced the term \"heterotopia\" in 1967, pointing to various institutions and places that interrupt the apparent continuity and normality of ordinary everyday space (Dehaene and De Cauter, 2008).\nTheoretical underpinning: The paper adopts a sociological approach to the study. It does so initially by focusing on the social constitution of a gated community. The gate becomes a focal point of the analysis because by its function, its separates the residents from others. The gate, by its physical feature, is the starting and end point of the fence or wall that surrounds a gated community. The symbolic nature of the gate leads one to assume the exclusivity that is enjoyed in there. The gate, by its symbolic meaning, is also the entrance to an exclusive world in another opening and yet it also prevents others from having a foothold in there. It creates the basis for divisions and is also part of a wider cessation of social relations (Cashin, 2001; Damstra, 2001). When space is privatised, it is often enclosed within material barriers, which become visible evidence of social classification (Gieryn, 2000).\nMethodology: The study limited itself to ten gated communities in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Field methods included open-ended interviews with residents, participant-observation within and around the gated communities, interviews with key informants such as the developers and real estate agents and the collection of marketing, sales and advertising documents. An unstructured interview guide was developed to elicit residents' decision-making processes concerning their move to the gated community. The interviews lasted between 45 minutes and 1 hour. Based on the answers provided by the respondents, the study was able to build themes around the key issues pertaining to the patronage of gated communities.\nFindings and discussions: A large number of factors were posited as explanations for the desirability of gated communities as places of residence. These included security, privacy, proximity to the country's only international airport, living among discerning people, cosy atmosphere and privacy (see Table I).\nConclusion: The study examined the gated community phenomenon in Ghana. It looked specifically at the symbolic nature of the \"gate\" and found that it generates some exclusivity around it. It also noted the ability of the gate to create the basis for divisions and the cessation of social relations. What also emerged from the sociological analysis put up by the paper also showed that gates do not only define or redefine social interaction and social distance between areas, they also increase stigma and prestige at opposite ends of the scale.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to look at the emergence of \"gated communities\" in Ghana. It explores gated communities as a nexus of social and spatial relations within the context of urban inequality. It is concerned with the phenomenon in which the rich now live in isolation behind barbed wires and gates, fearing for their lives and properties.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a sociological approach to the study. It does so initially by focusing on the social constitution of a gated community. The gate becomes a focal point of the analysis because by its function, it separates the residents from others. This spatial construction of gated communities does not only preserve the social stratification of class and demographic groups, it institutionalises this already extant stratification. The paper, therefore, uses social inequality and the status attainment theory as the basis of its work. Status processes play a part in the development of powerful inequalities, which shape the structure of groups and societies as well as, directly and indirectly, the opportunities of individuals (Berger et al., 1980).\nFindings: The paper finds that although people feel safer behind gates, at the same time the fear of the outside world increases for them. Their desire to find a small area in which they feel secure, meanwhile, only expands the vast areas in which they feel insecure. It notes that security can be achieved only and much better, if the causes of insecurity, namely poverty and exclusion, are addressed.\nOriginality/value: The paper wades into the gated communities' phenomenon. It contributes to the discussion in which social difference and inequality have become more marked features of urban society. Its relevance lies in the fact that it analyses this issue through a sociological perspective.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Subversive leadership and power tactics
|
[
"Principals",
"Power tactics",
"Subversive leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: School principals work in a hierarchical system in which they are responsible for enforcing policies and practices that sometimes do more harm than good to their students (Ryan, 2010). As a result, principals often find themselves in a moral dilemma between adhering to the system's expectations of their job and working toward the well-being of their students without unwittingly supporting policies and practices that are counterproductive and unjust. Faced with more and more dilemmatic situations, principals are becoming more creative in deciding what to endorse, what to block, and what to ignore in schools as they carry out their own educational agenda (Canadian Association for Principals, 2014). Increasing workload, uninspiring compliance, and competing accountability requirements seem to have exacerbated such behavior (Starr, 2011). Principals' leadership has become a subversive activity that is carried out strategically to challenge and disrupt the status quo and resist policies and practices that are counterproductive to their work (Wang, 2016). Subversive leadership is the exercise of such subversiveness as a process of influence for the educational interests, benefits, and well-being of the students (Wang, 2016). Subversiveness here is not about breaking the rules, but is concerned with \"challenging inert ideas, asking hard, uncomfortable, and uninvited questions, and refusing to accept the status quo\" (MacBeath, 2015, p. 27).\nLiterature review: Context for subversiveness\nConceptual framework: MacBeath (2007) claimed that subversive leadership is grounded in three dimensions: moral, intellectual, and political. The moral dimension distinguishes subversiveness that effects positive change for the betterment of the students from subversiveness that undermines (Wang, 2016). The intellectual dimension implies that subversive leadership is grounded in knowledge and wisdom which allow leaders to \"recognize changing circumstances, make sound judgement, and act expediently\" (Wang, 2017, p. 8). Subversive leadership also requires a political edge (MacBeath, 2007). When their essential values are threatened, subversive leaders need to live up to their ideals. The three dimensions underlie subversive activities school leaders engage.\nResearch methodology: This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with school principals reflecting on their subversive practices. The larger study[1] explored all aspects of subversive leadership, but this paper focuses specifically on subversive tactics principals employ to navigate the social and political pressures at work. A total of 18 school principals (nine female, nine male) from six district school boards were selected for a Skype or face-to-face interview in the Metro Vancouver area. Principals were approached through the British Columbia Principals' and Vice-Principals' Association (BCPVPA) and other work-related contacts. Recruitment ads detailing the nature and requirements of the study were distributed among BCPVPA members through their e-newsletter. Principals who volunteered represent different career stages, gender, school locations, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Three participants were principals of visible minority backgrounds (see Table I). For confidentiality, pseudonyms are used for participants in reporting the findings.\nResearch findings: In light of the conceptual framework, the presentation of research findings is organized around leadership dimensions (see Table II), tactics (see Table III), and the challenges and risks associated with subversive practices. The dimensions define subversive leadership and set its boundary. Tactics illustrate actions and reasoning processes school leaders take in their subversive leadership practices. The challenges and risks illuminate struggles and dilemmas school leaders have and issues and concerns that arise from subversive practices.\nDiscussion: Subversiveness, though an undesirable choice, is a political expediency that principals exercise to counter established practices and institutional constraints that work against their social justice advocacy. Study participants challenge and subvert political procedures or power dynamics at the micro and meso levels, but tend toward caution at the macro level, even among those who acknowledge being subversive.\nConclusion: Principals sometimes find themselves torn between conflict situations when the system's demands are indicating one course of action and their personally held values are suggesting another (Ehrich et al., 2015). When their essential values are undermined and threatened and they cannot endorse or perpetuate what is manifestly wrong (MacBeath, 2007), principals are likely to disrupt and subvert unjust practices and policies that may do more harm than good. The power tactics available to principals defines the parameters of specific actions they take to achieve what they believe in. Identifying the dimensions and tactics of subversive leadership contributes to school leaders' understanding of its potential and limits.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Principals' leadership has become a subversive activity that is carried out strategically to challenge and disrupt the status quo and resist policies and practices that are counterproductive to their work. The purpose of this paper is to reveal subversive tactics principals use in pursuit of justice and equity in schools and identify challenges and risks associated with their subversive leadership practices. Power tactics were used as a conceptual framework to guide the analysis of subversive activities by school principals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative study focuses on 18 elementary and secondary school principals from six district school boards in the Metro Vancouver area who participated in the semi-structured interviews on their practices that epitomize different tactics in response to increasing demand and accountability.\nFindings: The power tactics identified in this study illuminate many of the dilemmas principals face in their work and demonstrate the various ways principals exercise their political acumen to \"act strategically to determine which tactics to use, when, and with whom.\" In exercising ethics of subversion and critique, participants are more likely to use soft, rational, and bi/multilateral rather than hard, non-rational, and unilateral power tactics. Such tendency reveals their concern about causing relational harm and shows their strategic avoidance of direct confrontation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Considering the limitations on the sample size and the research context, more research is needed to examine to what extent subversive practices are exercised and how they play out in different contexts.\nOriginality/value: The study shows that leadership involves upholding morals and values, even if this means having to use subversive practices to ensure inclusive, equitable, and just outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Individual spirituality, workplace spirituality and work attitudes: An empirical test of direct and interaction effects
|
[
"Attitudes",
"Job satisfaction",
"Leadership",
"Research",
"Beliefs",
"India"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nWorkplace spirituality: introduction and existing research: Recent research (e.g. Duchon and Plowman, 2005; Fry, 2003; Fry et al., 2005; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003; Milliman et al., 2003) suggests that workplace spirituality reflects employee experiences such as a sense of meaning, purpose, community, and transcendence at workplace. Workplace spirituality research is in its early stage (Dent et al., 2005; Duchon and Plowman, 2005; Sheep, 2006). Some research has focused on defining and operationalizing workplace spirituality (e.g. Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Moore and Casper, 2006), mapping the area of workplace spirituality research and suggesting guidelines for the research in workplace spirituality and outlining methodologies for studying workplace spirituality (e.g. Benefiel, 2003; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003; Lund Dean et al., 2003; Tischler et al., 2007). Research has also focused on describing workplace spirituality manifestations in organizations (e.g. Milliman et al., 1999). Some research has studied leadership as a mechanism for facilitating workplace spirituality (e.g. Fry, 2003, 2005; Fry et al., 2005). Research has also examined outcomes of workplace spirituality such as employee work attitudes, (e.g. Kolodinsky et al., 2008; Milliman et al., 2003; Rego and Pina e Cunha, 2008), organizational productivity (Fry et al., 2005), and work unit performance (Duchon and Plowman, 2005).\nWorkplace spirituality's linkages with leadership and organization development: The relevance of workplace spirituality topic to the Leadership & Organization Development Journal can be noted from the following. In some of the recent research (e.g. Fry, 2003, 2005; Fry et al., 2005), a specific form of leadership - spiritual leadership - has been linked to the outcomes such as calling and membership, which are similar to the meaning and community aspects of workplace spirituality. This line of inquiry suggests workplace spirituality as an outcome of leadership or spiritual leadership. Further, French and Bell (2001) suggest that spirituality or the aspect of community will have an important place in organization development (OD) efforts. Referring to such works, a recent paper (Pawar, 2008) has outlined extensive linkages of workplace spirituality with the topics of leadership and organization development. Thus, the topic of workplace spirituality is of relevance to Leadership & Organization Development Journal.\nRequired research in workplace spirituality and this study: Researchers have noted that empirical research on the effects of workplace spirituality on organizational outcomes is both important (Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003) and inadequately examined (e.g. Duchon and Plowman, 2005; Milliman et al., 2003). The present study addresses this inadequacy. It examines the effect of workplace spirituality on one category of organizational outcomes - employee work attitudes. It focuses on three employee work attitudes namely, job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. The employee work attitudes examined in this study are extensively studied work attitudes in organizational studies (Mathieu and Farr, 1991) and have been found to be distinct from each other (e.g. Brooke et al., 1988).Further, in light of the fragmentary and non-cumulating nature of the existing workplace spirituality research (Tischler et al., 2007), this study builds on and extends the existing research on the effect of workplace spirituality on employee work attitudes. In particular, it builds on and extends the existing research of Milliman et al. (2003) which found considerable support for the hypothesized relationships between three workplace spirituality dimensions -meaningful work, sense of community, and alignment of values- and five work attitudes - intrinsic job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment, intention to quit, and organization-based self-esteem. It builds on Milliman et al. (2003) study by including workplace spirituality as an antecedent of work attitudes and extends Milliman et al. (2003) study by adding individual spirituality and examining two theoretically plausible alternative models - one model specifying simultaneous direct effects of workplace spirituality and individual spirituality on work attitudes and an alternative model specifying interactive effects of workplace spirituality and individual spirituality on work attitudes. Its research direction is also consistent with Kolodinsky et al. (2008) who recently examined the direct and interactive effects of personal spirituality and organizational spirituality on work attitudes of satisfaction with rewards, organizational frustration, job involvement, and organizational identification. Kolodinsky et al. (2008) study found considerable support for the relationship between organizational spirituality and these outcomes but only marginal support for the relationship between personal spirituality and these outcomes. They also found only marginal support for interactive effects of personal spirituality and organizational spirituality on these outcomes. Their discussion of study findings suggested the need for further research on organizational spirituality and personal spirituality. The present study's focus is consistent with the direction adopted and the need for further research suggested in Kolodinsky et al. (2008). However, in comparison to Kolodinsky et al.'s (2008) study, the present study includes more comprehensive theorization for explicit specification of hypotheses, focuses on three separate aspects of workplace spirituality rather than on just overall organizational spirituality, adopts a multi-dimensional conceptualization and measure of workplace spirituality, and focuses on a sample from India.\nTheory development: workplace spirituality definition and hypotheses: Workplace spirituality definition in this study\nHypotheses: Direct effects model\nMethods: Sample and procedures\nResults: The descriptive statistics, inter-scale correlations, and reliability levels for scales are reported in Table I. For all multiple item scales used in the study, the reliability levels were good or very good ranging from 0.79 to 0.94.Results of direct effects model (Figure 1)\nDiscussion: The findings of this study indicate that workplace spirituality is positively associated, to a considerable extent, with work attitudes of employees. In particular, results from the test of nine hypotheses (H1a-H3c) indicate that two of the three workplace spirituality aspects have significant positive association with job satisfaction and job involvement while all three aspects of workplace spirituality have significant positive association with organizational commitment. At an aggregate level, these findings are consistent with Milliman et al. (2003) but go beyond it in that they point out significant effects of workplace spirituality, beyond the effect of individual spirituality, on work attitudes. Further, individual spirituality, in the presence of workplace spirituality aspects, is not significantly associated with any of the three positive work attitudes included in this study. These findings are consistent with the conclusions derived by Kolodinsky et al. (2008) from their study of the effects of personal spirituality and organizational spirituality on work attitudes.In order to further understand the independent effects of workplace spirituality and individual spirituality on each of the three work attitudes, some post-facto analysis, using hierarchical regression analysis of blocks of variables, was performed. When individual spirituality is alone entered in regression equations as the independent variable for work attitudes, it accounted for significant variance in two of the three work attitudes - job satisfaction (3.6 per cent variance, p<0.05) and organizational commitment (4.1 per cent variance, p<0.05). However, when individual spirituality was added in the regression equations after the block of three workplace spirituality aspects, it did not make a significant incremental contribution to the variance accounted for in any of the three work attitude dependent variables. On the other hand, workplace spirituality, when entered as a block after individual spirituality, accounted for significant variance beyond that accounted for by individual spirituality in all three work attitudes (20.9 per cent variance in job satisfaction, 32.7 per cent variance in job involvement, and 44.6 per cent variance in organizational commitment, all significant at p<0.001). Thus, while individual spirituality has some significant effect on two of the three work attitudes, it does not have a significant effect on these work attitudes beyond the effect of workplace spirituality. In contrast, workplace spirituality has a significant effect on all three work attitudes even beyond the effect of individual spirituality. This pattern provides a more detailed insight into the direct effects of individual spirituality and workplace spirituality and this insight is beyond the conclusions specified by Kolodinsky et al. (2008) who also found considerable support for the relationship between organizational spirituality and work attitudes but only a marginal support for the relationship between personal spirituality and work attitudes. These findings are associated with the test of the direct effects model (see Figure 1).However, the results of the examination of the interactive effects model (see Figure 2) indicated that individual spirituality, to a minor extent, seems to positively moderate (i.e. strengthen) the relationship between workplace spirituality and work attitudes. While the present study findings are consistent with those from Kolodinsky et al. (2008) in terms of only marginal extent of the support for interactive effects, the present study's findings on interactive effects are finer than those of Kolodinsky et al. (2008). In particular, the findings of the present study focus on interactions of individual spirituality with specific dimensions of workplace spirituality whereas Kolodinsky et al. (2008) examined the interaction of personal spirituality with organizational spirituality rather than with the specific dimensions of workplace spirituality.\nConclusions: The following conclusions can be drawn from the study results and above discussion. First, workplace spirituality has considerable association with the work attitudes. Second, the association of workplace spirituality with work attitudes remains even after accounting for the effect of individual spirituality on work attitudes. The results of post-facto analysis described in the preceding part of the discussion indicated that the variance accounted for by workplace spirituality in job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment was 23.5, 33.4, and 48.3 per cent respectively without accounting for the effect of individual spirituality on these work attitudes and 20.9, 32.7, and 44.6 per cent respectively after accounting for the effect of individual spirituality on these work attitudes. Third, individual spirituality has marginal association with work attitudes. Fourth, even the marginal association of individual spirituality with work attitudes does not remain significant after accounting for the effect of workplace spirituality on work attitudes. Fifth, individual spirituality only marginally moderates the association between workplace spirituality with work attitudes.\nLimitations: One limitation comes from the potential for common method variance as the measures of both dependent and independent variables in this study were collected from self-report measures from the same source. To address this concern, Harman's single-factor test, which \"is one of the most widely used techniques that has been used by researchers to address the issue of common method variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003, p. 889)\", was used. The procedure is to \"include all items from all of the constructs in the study into a factor analysis to determine whether the majority of the variance can be accounted for by one general factor\" (Podsakoff et al., 2003, p. 890). Thus, items from all study scales were entered into a principal component factor analysis and the unrotated factor structure was examined. The factor structure revealed no single factor as there were 14 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. There was not even a general factor accounting for the majority of data variance. Thus, substantial amount of common method variance is unlikely to be accounting for the study results. Use of mostly managerial and male sample may constitute another limitation of the study.\nImplications for future research: The study findings suggest some directions for future research. First, the findings of this study indicating the association of workplace spirituality with employee work attitudes can provide an added justification for the future research to examine organizational outcomes that are associated with workplace spirituality. Second, researchers have noted linkages of workplace spirituality with several organizational studies topics such as leadership theory (e.g. Dent et al., 2005), leadership practice (e.g. Duchon and Plowman, 2005; Fry et al., 2005), organization development (French and Bell, 2001), and prosocial behaviors and work group cohesion (Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003). Thus, the added justification for workplace spirituality research, emerging from the present study findings, can contribute to research activity that links workplace spirituality with various topics of organizational studies. For example, the effect of various leadership styles on workplace spirituality experiences by subordinates could be one research question linking workplace spirituality with the topic of leadership.Third, the findings from the present study indicate that while individual spirituality has some relationship with work attitudes, which is consistent with the existing research (e.g. Elankumaran, 2004; Komala and Ganesh, 2007), it has no significant effect on work attitudes after accounting for the effect of workplace spirituality on work attitudes. This finding from the present study suggests that the future research for examining the effects of individual spirituality on work attitudes may need to specify models that also include workplace spirituality in order to assess whether individual spirituality has an effect on work attitudes beyond the effect of workplace spirituality.Fourth, though present study findings from the interactive effects model are marginal, they indicate that the future research needs to specify and test more complex models assessing the joint (e.g. interactive) effects of individual spirituality and workplace spirituality on employee work attitudes.\nImplications for practice: The study findings suggest a few implications for practice also. First, the findings indicate that workplace spirituality variables accounted for a large amount of variance (23.5 per cent of variance in job satisfaction, 33.4 per cent of variance in job involvement, and 48.3 per cent of variance in organizational commitment) in employee work attitudes. This may suggest the likely positive benefits of enhancing workplace spirituality in organizations. This can provide a relevant input for the leadership actions and OD efforts aimed at implementing workplace spirituality in organizations.Second, the findings indicate that workplace spirituality has an effect on employee work attitudes even after accounting for the effect of individual spirituality but that individual spirituality does not have a significant effect on work attitudes after accounting for the effect of workplace spirituality. This may suggest that for improving employee work attitudes, it may be more appropriate to focus on designing suitable organizational processes that provide to employees workplace spirituality experiences of a sense of meaning, community, and positive organizational purpose than to focus on selecting employees with high level of individual spirituality or on enhancing individual spirituality levels through employee development efforts. The strength of this implication is limited by the non-causal nature of the assessment of the relationship between workplace spirituality and work attitudes done in this study. This also can serve as a relevant input for leadership actions and OD efforts aimed at workplace spirituality implementation in organizations.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine the direct effects of three workplace spirituality aspects - meaning in work, community at work, and positive organizational purpose - and individual spirituality on three work attitudes - job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. It also seeks to examine the interactive effects of these three workplace spirituality aspects and individual spirituality on these three work attitudes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper briefly outlines the existing workplace spirituality research, indicates the required research and places this study in that backdrop. It then outlines theory building for specifying a set of hypotheses. It uses data from a sample of managerial level employees from India to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: - The study results provided considerable support for the hypothesized relationships between workplace spirituality aspects and work attitudes but not for the hypothesized relationships between individual spirituality and work attitudes. The results provided only marginal support for the interactive effect model, which hypothesized that individual spirituality will moderate the effect of workplace spirituality aspects on work attitudes.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Research implications of the findings outlined in this paper will encourage research to link various organizational topics such as leadership with workplace spirituality. They also highlight the need to examine more complex models to examine joint effects of workplace spirituality and individual spirituality on work attitudes.\nPractical implications: - The findings can provide some relevant inputs for leadership actions and organization development efforts aimed at implementing workplace spirituality in organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The paper's value partly comes from the outlined research and practice implications.\n",
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] |
Coping with institutional complexity: Intersecting logics and dissonant visions in a nation-wide healthcare IT implementation project
|
[
"Digital transformation",
"Institutional logics",
"Institutional complexity",
"IT implementation",
"Organizing vision",
"Human resource information systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Digital transformation is concerned with the adoption and use of information and digital technologies to change different aspects of an organisation, ranging from the creation of new business models, to improvements in existing organisational processes and customer experience (Berman, 2012). A key aspect of digital transformation projects is the implementation of new information technology (IT), often involving large-scale projects that are expected to achieve these transformative outcomes. Over the years, encouraged by improvements in IT capabilities, many organisations across sectors have invested in such transformative projects. Yet, despite decades of research, most new IT projects continue to disappoint, with outcomes well below expectations (Doherty et al., 2012). Recent information systems (IS) research reports many high-profile digital transformation projects that have either been abandoned or failed to achieve their objectives (e.g. Currie, 2012; Omar et al., 2017). Such reports parallel earlier studies of IT implementation projects that highlighted the unfulfilled potential of many such endeavours (e.g. Davenport and Stoddard, 1994; Zuboff, 1988). Failure to achieve the expected transformative outcomes from new IT implementation projects is often attributed to misalignments between the technology and social context (Davidson and Chismar, 2007; Orlikowski, 1992) that emerge as the implementation unfolds (Robey and Sahay, 1996). Research often points to the institutional complexity of the environment in which these projects take place to explain their unfulfilled expectations (Avgerou, 2001). Complexity arises as modern organisational environments contain multiple sets of expectations and values (Currie and Guah, 2007). Research also highlights that new technologies introduced into organisations may be understood and interpreted differently by different groups of organisational actors, depending on their interests, power, expertise and context of use (Davidson, 2002; Orlikowski and Gash, 1994), who inscribe it with different sets of meanings, values and assumptions (Robey and Azevedo, 1994), thus developing different perceptions of the technology as the implementation unfolds (Abubakre et al., 2017; Leidner and Kayworth, 2006). Faced with an unfamiliar technology, actors form their own interpretation of different aspects of the technology project, ranging from its business value and rational for implementation, to its material features and practices associated with its use (Davidson and Pai, 2004), thus collectively envisioning the application of the technology within an organisational context - its \"organising vision\" (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997). Thus, to understand how IT implementation projects develop in such complex environments, we need to account for both the multiplicity of logics that shape actors' behaviour (the macro level), and their emerging envisioning of the technology project (the mezzo level) during its implementation. Just because the environment is complex, does not explain why actors pursue certain courses of actions during IT implementation. Research has shown that within complex environments, actors may often overcome tensions and achieve implementation (Berente and Yoo, 2012), whilst at other times their efforts fail and implementation is abandoned (Bunduchi et al., 2015). Moreover, just because different actors form different visions of the technology as its implementation unfolds, does not explain how these visions change over time (Davidson and Pai, 2004), nor how these changes shape actors' actions vis-a-vis its implementation. Considering how actors' responses to institutional complexity relate to their evolving interpretations of the technology project may provide new insights into how IT implementation projects unfold and with what outcomes in complex environments. Given the sustained investments organisations make in large scale IT transformative projects, and the expectations for widespread improvements in organisational performance, understanding how such implementations projects unfold and with what outcomes is a key aspect of the digital transformation research agenda (Agarwal et al., 2010).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Research on IT implementation in social complex environments\n3. Methodology: The research follows an interpretative qualitative case study design. Case studies allow access to rich and contextualised data (Yin, 2009) about actors' behaviours which aligns with this study's aim to examine actors' responses to their institutional environments, and their shifting interpretations during the technology project. The study's focus on the social context in which actors implement the technology also aligns with the interpretative approach (Walsham, 1995).\n4. Findings: The analysis of responses, at the NHO and RHO levels, revealed four dominant institutional logics shaping the comprehension, adoption, and implementation of the HRIS innovation across the public-sector organisations. A public-sector logic characterised the NHO as a government institution with a remit to deliver healthcare services to the nation's citizens whilst also responsibly managing public finances; a corporate logic emphasised the improved efficiency and effectiveness of the NHO through better use of information; a market logic prioritized the competitive status of the NHO relative to international and private-sector benchmarking points, and a professional logic emphasised the importance of delivering high-quality care to patients.\n5. Discussion: Research examining the implementation of transformative IT projects in institutionally complex settings highlights both the multiplicity of logics that characterise such environments (Berente and Yoo, 2012; Currie and Guah, 2007) and the shifting envisioning of the technology by organisational actors as the project unfolds (Abubakre et al., 2017; Robey and Azevedo, 1994). To bridge these levels, our interpretative framework draws on the concepts of institutional logics, organising vision and strategic responses to examine how actors' responses to institutional complexity and their emerging interpretations of technology interact to shape the outcome of an IT implementation project. The findings are summarised in Figure 1 (see also Table IV) and discussed in the rest of the section.\n6. Conclusion: The struggle to cope with tensions between multiple logics, and the difficulties involved in aligning diverse and shifting interpretations of the technology across diverse groups of actors, characterise many IT implementation projects in complex settings (e.g. Berente and Yoo, 2012; Currie, 2012). This analysis demonstrates how actors' efforts to cope with complex IT implementation initiatives result from the interaction between the multiple institutional logics guiding their behaviour and their shifting interpretations and expectations of the projects' objectives, technological scope and required actions (\"organising vision\") as the implementation project unfolds and changes in the nature of the task at hand. While other research has pointed to the role of institutional logics and tensions between actors' interpretations in shaping IT implementation process and outcomes (e.g. Abubakre et al., 2017; Berente et al., forthcoming), this analysis is unique in three main ways. First, by showing how the relative influence of different logics (here, public sector, corporate, professional) and elements of the organising vision can change as the nature of key task changes during the project's progression from comprehension to implementation. Second, by demonstrating the importance of coherence of visions within groups of actors as well as between them. Third by revealing how actors' visions of a project's business problem, technology solution and organisational practices shape their coping responses to institutional complexity during IT implementation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Digital transformation projects are complex, lengthy and difficult to implement, often failing to meet their objectives. Previous research has attributed this failure to competing institutional logics influencing actors' coping responses, and differences in actors' interpretations of the project's goals, technology and processes - their \"organising vision\". The purpose of this paper is to analyse a complex technology implementation project from an institutional perspective, to further elucidate the role of multiple logics and organising vision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative single study approach was used to investigate a public-sector technology project aimed at delivering a unified Human resource information system (HRIS) across regional health organisations in one country.\nFindings: Four logics characterised the project (public sector, professional, corporate and market), but their relative dominance shifted as the project transitioned through stages, from comprehension to implementation. These shifts exposed tensions between components of actors' organising vision, which influenced their coping behaviours in response to unexpected changes in the project's strategic ambitions and technological scope. Coherence of vision, both within groups of actors and between them, was a key mediator of coping responses and project outcomes.\nOriginality/value: This analysis demonstrates the role of actors' organising vision in bridging institutional logics and coping responses to shape digital transformation projects. It highlights the need to account not only for diverse institutional logics, but also for their changing influence as projects unfold and actors' attention is directed onto different aspects of the organising vision. From a management perspective, it illustrates the importance of clear and consistent communication, to avoid entrenching conflicting interpretations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Global information literacy: a content analysis of three journals
|
[
"Information literacy",
"United Kingdom",
"United States of America",
"Content analysis",
"Norway",
"Journal articles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: We live in an increasingly globalized society. As reflections of the communities they serve, libraries are no exception to the effects of globalization. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has recognized the need for a global vision for \"a strong and united library field powering literate, informed and participative societies\" (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 2019). At the core of this vision is information literacy. Across the globe, librarians are engaged in teaching information literacy skills and concepts to their communities, preparing the informed citizens of our global society. In its whitepaper Global Perspectives on Information Literacy, the Association for College and Research Libraries (2017) states, \"Information literacy is a concept without geographic boundaries in librarianship\" (p. 5). But how do the scholarly conversations about information literacy playing out in the research literature reflect the boundless nature of information literacy? To what extent do these conversations demonstrate a shared global understanding of information literacy? How close are we to a united field of information literacy? To explore these questions, the authors turned to information literacy publications from across the globe, focusing on journals devoted entirely to the subject of information literacy. Specifically, this study analyzed Communications in Information Literacy (CIL), published in the USA, Journal of Information Literacy (JIL), published in the UK and Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education (NORIL), published in Norway. Through a content analysis of these journals, this paper aims to examine the global understanding of information literacy. It will compare the contributing countries and themes represented in the journals under study in order to analyze the inclusion of global perspectives on information literacy and to identify common themes that suggest a global understanding of information literacy.\nLiterature review: Thematic analyses in information literacy publications\nResearch questions: This study investigates the following questions:\nMethodology: A content analysis was conducted to determine the contributing countries and themes represented in information literacy journals. Content analysis allows for the interpretation of texts by describing common themes and frequencies (Hsieh and Shannon, 2018). Different databases have been used in previous content analysis studies to collect information literacy articles. Web of Science (Kolle, 2017; Aharony, 2010), Scopus (Bhardwaj, 2017; Majid et al., 2015), and Library Information Science Abstracts (LISA) Plus (Nazim and Ahmad, 2007; Pinto et al., 2010) were used in previous studies. Rather than using a database to identify information literacy articles, this study identified information literacy journals, publications whose primary purpose is to engage the focused discourse of the information literacy field. Information literacy journals were identified through a title search in Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory for titles containing the phrase \"information literacy\". Three journals from three different countries were identified by this method: Communications in Information Literacy (CIL), Journal of Information Literacy (JIL) and Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education (NORIL).\nBackground information about the journals: All three journals are open access journals and do not charge any publication fees. Each journal also publishes articles in English. NORIL is the only journal in this study to specify acceptable languages for article contributions, including Swedish, Danish and Norwegian in addition to English.\nResults: Journal articles by publication year\nDiscussion: The findings of this study suggest the existence of a common discourse around shared information literacy themes. The top three themes identified, \"IL competencies\" (n = 30), \"IL theory\" (n = 29), and \"instructional design\" (n = 29), demonstrate a strong interest in both information literacy theory and practice that is shared across CIL, JIL and NORIL. The prevalence of the themes \"IL competencies\" and \"instructional design\" indicate a practical focus on information literacy instruction while \"IL theory\" indicates the importance of the conceptual foundations of information literacy to the field.\nConclusion: Our content analysis of CIL, JIL and NORIL indicates that theoretical and practical issues of information literacy are of shared significance across international publications. Looking to the themes most prevalent among contributing countries, IL competencies, assessment, and collaboration emerge as top priorities for information literacy scholars and practitioners. IL competencies focuses on the development of specific information literacy skills. That 78 per cent of contributing countries (n = 14) wrote on the theme of IL competencies suggests international agreement on the importance of an information literate populace. This finding resonates strongly with IFLA's vision of \"literate, informed and participative societies\" (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 2019). Assessment focuses on specific ways of evaluating information literacy skills. That assessment was addressed by 44 per cent of contributing countries (n = 8) suggests the emerging importance of measuring the impact of information literacy programs. Collaboration focuses on ideas and examples of working with internal and external constituencies. That collaboration was addressed by 33 per cent of contributing countries (n = 6) suggests that finding partners in information literacy is a significant interest. The authors conclude that the foundations of a shared future global understanding of information literacy will include IL competencies, assessment, and collaboration.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to perform a content analysis of information literacy specific journals to determine what contributing countries and predominant themes are represented in the field leading to a global understanding of information literacy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data for this study were collected through a content analysis of journal article publication information, titles, abstracts and keywords in three journals: Communications in Information Literacy (the USA), Journal of Information Literacy (the UK) and Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education (Norway) from 2012 to 2017.\nFindings: The USA contributed the most to the literature, though the top information literacy themes were addressed by each of the 18 countries that contributed articles to the journals under study. Some themes emerged that suggest the existence of a common global discourse around shared information literacy concepts, including themes related to information literacy theory and practice.\nPractical implications: The shared information literacy themes can be used to help solidify a global understanding of information literacy.\nOriginality/value: This study fills a gap in the content analysis of information literacy journals by identifying themes that demonstrate a shared global understanding of information literacy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Journey or toolbox? Integrated reporting and processes of organisational change
|
[
"Sustainability reporting",
"Integrated reporting",
"Organizational change",
"Metaphor"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The journey metaphor pervades practitioner discussions of integrated reporting (IR), including texts authored by the International Integrated Reporting Council (e.g. IIRC, 2013a, b, c, 2017; IIRC and Black Sun, 2015) and professional accounting bodies and firms (e.g. ACCA, 2018; EY, 2016). While academic scholars also use this term widely (e.g. Adams and Simnett, 2011; Beck et al., 2017; Guthrie et al., 2017; Haji and Anifowose, 2016), neither practitioner nor academic discussion articulates exactly what an IR journey entails for organisations. This paper aims to (re)evaluate the \"journey\" that the IIRC, as well as associated practitioner and academic literature, claims companies are on as they implement IR. More precisely, the paper aims to clarify the specific organisational practices the IIRC's journey metaphor implies, and assess to what extent IR induces or enables these practices. The journey metaphor implies organisations follow deliberate processes of implementing and improving IR over time. Our paper explores whether, and how far, these processes reflect the impact and trajectory of IR in organisations.\nIntegrated reporting and change: The \"business case\" for IR rests on similar prior arguments for reporting reform; most notably, the need to integrate the issues that shape organisational performance (Stubbs and Higgins, 2014). The case for IR also rests on perceived limitations of sustainability reporting, especially that separate reports reinforce silo thinking in organisations, and thereby limit understanding of the role social and environmental performance plays in company strategy and value creation. IR is also expected to clean up \"the patchwork of laws, regulations, standards, codes, guidelines and stock exchange listing requirement\" (Frias-Aceituno et al., 2013, p. 45), reflecting concerns that organisations face a confusing range of reporting requirements.\nFraming: the IR journey as root metaphor: Audebrand (2010) distinguishes three approaches to analysing metaphors in organisational research. The first views metaphors as \"ornamental devices\" without substantive meaning. This approach, therefore, primarily aims to replace metaphors with more \"scientific\" discourse (e.g. formal hypothesises). The second approach views metaphors as \"ideological distortions\", and primarily aims to expose this ideology. The study of \"transparency\" and \"caring\" in Shell's reports (Livesey and Kearins, 2002) and Milne et al.'s (2006) study of the journey New Zealand companies invoke are examples. This second perspective is the most common in prior research (Brown et al., 2015; Duriau et al., 2007; Tosey et al., 2014). The third approach views metaphors as \"a way of thinking\", and so as cognitive - rather than simply ideological - devices. This third approach, which Morgan (1986/1997) exemplifies, aims to elucidate what existing metaphors mean or imply, and to propose new metaphors to better understand and manage organisations in practice.\nResearch methods: Research on the journey metaphor and its effect on actors' framing is still developing - hence we adapt Morgan's approach of using metaphor as a projective device (Carlsson-Wall et al., 2016; Englund and Gerdin, 2015). Morgan encourages metaphor to be understood as interactively creating meaning between a source and target and not exclusively as a tool for meaning-classification for emphasising pre-existing similarities (Cornelissen, 2005; Morgan, 2016; Oswick et al., 2004). Inter alia, this implies we cannot simply interpret what an IR journey means from prior discussions of \"journeys\" in other contexts. Rather, we should interpret what an IR journey means in the context where it occurs.\nFindings: In this section, we report interview findings against the 11 changes our textual analysis identified as characteristics of an IR journey, grouped under the three elements \"Structural changes\", \"Cultural changes\" and \"Reporting Practices changes\" (Table I). By investigating the extent to which each change is evident in our \"critical cases\", we analyse in what specific respects the IIRC's journey metaphor illuminates our understanding of IR's development, and in what respects it distorts understanding, \"becomes a way of not seeing\" (Morgan, 1986/1997, p. 5), IR's actual organisational impacts. We found evidence of a reporting journey underway, with changes in organisational arrangements to produce an integrated report. However, we found little evidence of wider organisational integration driven by organisations implementing IR. This suggests the journey metaphor can illuminate changes in how organisations are adopting IR. However, it distorts understanding of the deeper organisational causes of those changes, and therefore of what changes organisations can expect adopting IR to trigger.\nDiscussion and conclusion: This study aimed to explore in what respects the metaphor of an IR journey captures the experience of six early IR adopters after four years. As Morgan stresses, metaphors have a critical role in both understanding and shaping organisations. The journey metaphor pervades the IIRC literature, and - as our analysed showed - implies deliberate and systematic progress towards new ways of reporting, thinking and operating. Within this metaphor, much is made of the agency - or the ability - of this new reporting framework - to drive change. At its simplest, IR promises to streamline the suite of reports organisations produce. However, IR's ultimate purpose is to usher in new thinking about value-creation and new approaches to decision making, prompting structural and cultural changes, not just changes in reporting practices. By analysing the putative IR journey of six Australian firms over four years, we analysed whether developments in their reporting and organisations in fact reflected this promise.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Motivated by Morgan's (1997) analysis of the \"paradoxical\" role of metaphors in understanding and managing organisations, the purpose of this paper is to assess in what respects organisations using integrated reporting (IR) are on a \"journey\" of organisational change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper analyses IR practitioner literature to interpret the IR journey metaphor more precisely. The authors then use in-depth interviews to assess the extent to which this metaphor captures how six early adopter organisations in Australia implement IR, and what changes result, over four years.\nFindings: The journey metaphor implies substantive and holistic organisational change. By contrast, the authors find organisations use IR in contextual, instrumental and piecemeal ways. The authors propose a \"toolbox\" metaphor to help (re)present how organisations adapt their reporting to fit decisions already made, and challenges presented, through ordinary and ongoing strategic management.\nResearch limitations/implications: Morgan (1997) stresses metaphors are invariably used to both describe and manage organisations. The authors' analysis identifies specific ways the IR journey metaphor is descriptively misleading. The authors' \"toolbox\" metaphor suggests different ways organisations are, or could, manage IR to create value.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper to provide a systematic analysis of the IR journey metaphors, and to assess in what respects this metaphor captures actual organisational practice. The findings also challenge the broader notion in academic research that reporting frameworks can lead organisational change.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Towards more interactive and sustainable food retailing: An empirical case study of the supermarket of the future
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Consumer decisions",
"Interactive displays",
"Retail innovations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food retailing in conventional supermarkets is under pressure, not only because consumers more often purchase online (Elms et al., 2016), but also because they are increasingly critical about the safety, sustainability and origin of food products (Pearson et al., 2011). Consumers are becoming more concerned with the negative consequences of industrialisation and mass products, as sold in conventional supermarkets (Zoll et al., 2018). Therefore, they increasingly value information on the origin of products and their production process. Whereas personnel in specialty stores (e.g. butchers, bakery and natural food stores) can provide detailed supply chain information (Huddleston et al., 2009) and adapt to specific persona and consumer needs (Goudge et al., 2017), this is difficult to realise in a supermarket chain setting. Gielens et al. (2017) showed that supermarkets can play a key role in sustainability improvements in the supply chain, but translating sustainability strategies to the market requires substantial time and effort (Lehner, 2015; Elg and Hultman, 2016). That goes together with the need for innovations in in-store customer experience management in which supply chain information processes are a critical element (Grewal et al., 2009).\nLiterature review: The use of digital displays\nMethod: Supermarket of the Future\nResults: Store visit\nGeneral discussion: Traditional supermarket retailing is under pressure, with the risk of being squeezed between convenience and efficiency of online retailing on the one hand and the service and value-driven approach of specialty stores on the other hand (Carpenter and Moore, 2006; Huddleston et al., 2009). Consumers consider it increasingly important to have information on the origin of products and production processes (Pearson et al., 2011). Interactive displays in supermarkets allow consumers to easily access such informational aspects. This study showed that supermarkets that intensively make use of interactive displays for sustainability and health information could be effective in having consumers spend more time in the supermarket and make more extensive product comparisons. This is especially the case when consumers are brought in a sustainable mind-set before store entrance. This seems to enhance interest in the innovative shopping concept and increase conversion rates compared to store visitors who did not receive a pre-task. At the same time, we find that enhancing consumers to use sustainable information through interactive displays is challenging. Neither putting consumers in a sustainable mind-set nor the Supermarket of the Future visit itself, led to heightened awareness on attention and importance to sustainability cues displayed on interactive displays. However, we found some evidence that being in a sustainable mind-set translates to more attention to origin of raw materials.\nLimitations: The specific setting of the Supermarket of the Future makes that this study is not without limitations. The results may partly be caused by information sequence, as price and nutritional values were presented first on the interactive displays. Moreover, previous research has also shown that food choices seem often prioritised by healthiness and prices, rather than their environmental impact (Kriflik and Yeatman, 2005; Lang and Rayner, 2003). Further research should investigate whether attention paid to sustainability information and the importance of this information in (future) food choices will be higher if sustainability information stands out more on the displays. However, our study did show that when an environment is created in which sustainability information is presented to consumers in an interactive way, consumers are triggered to take sustainability information more into account, an effect that might possibly be enlarged by presenting sustainability information up front.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential of digital displays to enhance consumers' shopping experience and sustainable consumption by more specifically informing consumers on the origin and sustainability of products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An experimental field study was conducted in the Supermarket of the Future at the World Expo where sustainability information was displayed on interactive screens. There were three experimental groups: supermarket visitors who were put in a sustainability mind-set, supermarket visitors without a sustainability mind-set activation and non-visitors.\nFindings: Store visitors extensively used the interactive displays, they intent to behave more sustainable in the future, and act more sustainable outside the food domain. Sustainability information through digital displays thus triggers consumers to think more about environmental concerns. Consumers who were activated to process sustainability information before entering the supermarket, show increased interest in the innovative shopping concept. Strong evidence that the increased interest translates into more sustainable consumer choices in the supermarket itself is lacking.\nOriginality/value: The authors obtain insight in consumer use of sustainability information presented on interactive displays in a retail environment and how this in turn affects behaviour. The study reveals that consumers can successfully be motivated to become more sustainable through interactive displays.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Institutional types and institutional change in healthcare ecosystems
|
[
"Customer centricity",
"Institutions",
"Service-dominant logic",
"Service ecosystems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Prior research in service-dominant (S-D) logic has emphasized the need to develop mid-range theories in order to bridge the gap between abstract general theories and empirical findings (Brodie and Gustafsson, 2016; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), and thus between theory formulation and verification (Brodie et al., 2011). While the purpose of general theories, such as S-D logic, is to explain everything about a general topic, mid-range theories focus on a particular phenomenon or construct in a particular context (Brodie et al., 2011).\nLiterature review: Service ecosystems\nA typology of institutions: This study proposes a mid-range theory of institutions enabling or constraining interactions and collaborations with customers in service ecosystems. Specifically, this study proposes a typology which is \"a conceptually derived interrelated set of types representing forms that may exist, without necessarily having rules for their classification, including types that may be partly overlapping\" (Frow et al., 2016, p. 25). This typology is presented in Figure 1 and explained in Table I.\nMethodology: The aforementioned typology (see Figure 1 and Table I) provides additional insights into which types of institutions exist and how they manifest in practice. In a next step, we investigate how companies can deal with these institutions not only by reacting to them but also by inducing institutional change (breaking, making and maintaining).\nCase study findings: This section illustrates the typology of institutions (see Table I) with relevant examples from Company Yellow and Company Red. Following Siggelkow (2007), we used citations for increased transparency and depth. It should be noted that the list of illustrations is not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, the objective is to illustrate how institutions can affect customer centricity and value co-creation in a specific setting and how organizations deal with institutions or even induce institutional change to facilitate interactions and collaborations with customers/patients (see Table III for key patterns).\nConclusion: The aim of this paper was to propose a typology of institutions enabling or constraining customer centricity and value co-creation in service ecosystems; illustrate the various types of institutions with examples from healthcare; and provide case study evidence on how pharmaceutical companies react to and induce institutional change. This paper provides several theoretical as well as managerial implications.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a typology of institutions enabling or constraining customer centricity and value co-creation in service ecosystems; illustrate the various types of institutions with examples from healthcare; and provide case study evidence on how pharmaceutical companies react to and induce institutional change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, a typology of institutions enabling or constraining customer centricity and value co-creation is proposed and illustrated with examples from healthcare. Next, to clarify how companies deal with these institutions by reacting to or inducing institutional change, two case companies from the pharmaceutical industry are described.\nFindings: The research identifies and illustrates nine types of institutions (culture, structure, processes, metrics, language, practices, IP, legislation and general beliefs) grouped by three levels of analysis (micro, meso and macro). Furthermore, the findings of the two case studies indicate that companies react to, but also proactively induce, institutional change.\nResearch limitations/implications: The investigation is limited to two case studies.\nPractical implications: Organizations need to understand the micro-, meso- and macro-level institutions of their service ecosystem; react to institutional changes imposed by other actors; and proactively change institutions by breaking, making or maintaining them.\nSocial implications: Pharmaceutical companies can improve patient well-being by inducing institutional change.\nOriginality/value: This research develops a mid-range theory of service ecosystem institutions by developing a typology. This typology is empirically examined in a healthcare context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The big bang: the birth of human resource management in New Zealand hotel sector
|
[
"New Zealand",
"Employment relations",
"History",
"Human resource management",
"Corporatism",
"Hotels"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The New Zealand hotel and tourism sector is currently booming, having become the largest export revenue earning industry in the country (McCrone, 2016). It is well placed to exceed the Tourism Industry Association's goal of $41bn in revenue by 2025 (Tourism Industry Association New Zealand, 2015, 2014). The hotel sector has always been, and remains, a crucial part of the New Zealand tourism industry. Yet, despite its importance to the economy, the New Zealand hotel sector demonstrates many of the poor employment conditions also seen in the international hospitality sector: low pay, low productivity, low yields, high labour turnover and poor career pathways (Lincoln University, 2007; The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2013; Tourism Industry Association New Zealand, 2015).\nHistorical human resource management literature: This article addresses a considerable gap in the literature around the history of human resource function, both in general management studies and in hospitality and tourism specific research. Be it from the perspective of generalist HRM, hospitality and tourism HRM, or even labour history, the literature is problematic because it generally fails to address wider social, economic, political and legislative contextual influences on the historical development of the HRM function.\nHistorical methodology: The data for this article were gathered as part of a larger historical study of employment relations in the New Zealand hotel sector from 1955-2000 (Williamson, 2017b). The main methods included semi-structured interviews and archival research. The participants for this study were recruited using a snowball sampling technique (Denzin and Lincoln, 2008), where initial participants invite other relevant people to be interviewed. Both the interview transcripts and the archival data underpinning the historical study underwent manual thematic analysis.\nContributions: The influence of changes in national economic and employment relations approaches, the demise of national corporatist structures, and individual and enterprise level agency, all intersect in a highly visible way in the advent of the introduction of the human resource management function in New Zealand hotels. It is here that we see the valuable contribution made by the historical, complex analysis of employment relations over this period, by allowing a clear view of individual and enterprise level agency in the face of a collapsing corporatist consensus. This perspective allows us to see that freed from the needs of property upkeep and tourism infrastructure and skills development, the SPHC seized the opportunity provided by the ECA to replace union negotiated awards with individualised human resource management approaches, emphasising employee \"engagement\".\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a narrative history of the birth of human resource management in the New Zealand hotel sector. This historical development is analysed through the influence of changes in the national economic and employment relations context, the demise of national corporatist structures and individual and enterprise level agency. Thereby, the paper provides a new explanatory framework for the origins of human resource management in hotels and also presents this unique birth of human resource management as a microcosm of the wider social, political and economic \"big bang\" that fundamentally changed the course of employment relations in New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data for this paper were gathered as part of a larger historical study of employment relations in the New Zealand hotel sector from 1955 to 2000. The sources for the study included semi-structured interviews and archival research, which were interpreted using manual thematic analysis.\nFindings: The paper presents an original explanation of the birth of human resource management in New Zealand hotels by drawing on historical changes in national frameworks, corporatist approaches and individual agency, and thereby, it illustrates the uniqueness and intensity associated with the implementation of human resource management in New Zealand hotels.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes a significant contribution to the scant literature on the historical origins of human resource management. It also explains the historical and contextual embeddedness of various employment relations approaches in New Zealand hotels.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Impact of IT practices and business value of IT measurement
|
[
"IT governance",
"IT benchmarking",
"IT business value",
"IT efficiency",
"IT practices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The complexity and importance of IT business value are well established by both researchers and practitioners alike. Without a doubt, the IT business value research agenda has progressed significantly in the last 25 years. Researchers have used various frameworks, theories and perspectives to address the famous productivity paradox problem (Brynjolfsson, 1993) and the \"IT doesn't matter\" provocation by Carr (2003). The question of whether IT matters or not may be inconsequential in the current time of IT innovations, but the exigencies of a dynamic and digital organization characterized by firm-specific IT practices due to cloud technologies, cloud computing, digitalization, distributed processing and automation pose a fresh challenge to this quintessential research problem and need a new expression of interest. We are motivated by the difficulties in measuring the business value of IT (BVIT) at a firm level and the impact of specific IT practices adopted by the firm on the IT business value generated.\n2. IT practices: Weill and Ross (2005) suggest that governance decisions regarding IT infrastructure and resources affect the IT capabilities of a firm. Based on a survey of 255 firms, Weill and Ross (2005) suggested that governance decisions may have profit taking, asset utilization or growth as their strategic objective. IT capabilities provide the means to achieve these strategic objectives. IT capabilities exist because an IT resource exists. A critical factor in the generation of IT capabilities is IT practices. IT practices convert a firm's IT resources into IT capabilities (Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; Sanchez et al., 1996). IT resources include tangible, human and intangible resources. A commonly and widely used classification of IT artifact included tangible, intangible, human and interpersonal IT resources (Bharadwaj, 2000; Karimi et al., 2007; Nevo et al., 2007; Wade and Hulland, 2004; Zhu, 2004; Itami and Roehl, 1991; Srivastava et al., 1998). In short, the IT resources consist of the following six key components:\n3. BVIT - measures: We discussed the theoretical foundations of the impact of IT practices on the BVIT. In this section, we provide a background on the BVIT measures from the literature and the input and output measures selected for this study.\n4. Research methodology: In this work, we explicate and examine the impact of IT practices on the BVIT at a firm level using the theoretical concepts related to IT capabilities, adoption of specific IT practices in a particular firm and role of these practices in aiding firm performance and realization of a superior BVIT. To illustrate and explicate superior BVIT performance, we propose a methodology to evaluate a firm's BVIT in comparison with its industry peers and identify the specific IT practices adopted by the firm. As we intend to examine contemporary phenomena in one particular firm without any manipulation and control, and with an intent to analyze the data for specific themes or issues (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005), the case study approach is considered as the most suitable method for our study.\n5. Discussion and implications: We explore the reasons for the firm's superior BVIT in this section. The subject firm of the case study is a medium-sized player in the telecom industry with asset utilization as the driver behind IT infrastructural decisions. We infer and argue that under a steady state scenario, and similar market and industry conditions - if the BVIT outcome measures (IERR and IETR) are better than the industry peers and benchmarks, as is in this case, then the specific firm is making sufficient contribution to generating value - from its IT investments. However, the relation between the IT practices followed by the firm and the outcomes is unknown. We explicate this causality by the IT practices followed by the firm, which creates IT capabilities that are unique to the firm. The IT practices followed by the focal firm are listed in Table VI. The list of practices followed by the firm includes selective offshoring; shared services approach for IT workforce and systems; process automation; adoption of open source platforms and selective upgradation; managed services model; and routine vendor performance review. The practices mentioned above are elaborated in subsequent Sections 5.1 and 5.2. In the long run, if the firm continues to do better than its peers regarding IT asset utilization, the IT capabilities derived from firm-specific IT practices may be considered to offer it a sustainable competitive advantage. We suggest some managerial and research implications of our work.\n6. Conclusion and limitations: In this work, we have used a case study methodology to study the impact of IT practices on the BVIT. The case illustrates a method to capture IT-related expenses and to determine the BVIT from both strategic and operational perspectives. We first reviewed the concepts related to the choice of IT practices based on governance literature, and its role in transforming IT resources into IT capabilities and, ultimately, aiding firm performance. Our review of the literature on BVIT identified measures from both strategic and operational perspectives. We then used the collected capital and operational IT expenses. The collected data was synthesized and used to benchmark the firm's performance against its peer's using industry reports. Later, we discussed in detail, the adoption of IT practices which led to the realization of a superior BVIT in the subject firm of the case study. The contribution of the work is manifold: establishing the relationship between IT practices, IT expenses and BVIT; illustration of a methodology to evaluate firm-level BVIT; an approach to collect IT expenses - both strategic and operational level; and simple measures to determine BVIT. Later, we described the impact of IT practices followed by the subject organization in research implications and related them with previous literature. However, there are certain limitations to our approach. In this case study, we have been able to look at data from only one year. To improve the generalizability of the results, data from many consecutive years may be used. Further, BVIT research suggests that there is a lag between IT investments and its benefits. Accounting for time lag factors and possibly longitudinal research could be an interesting area to explore. While there are many operational and strategic measures on BVIT, we have used only two measures for benchmarking purpose. Future research could improve this work by extending comparison across multiple measures and possibly across multiple industries and geographies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the business value of IT (BVIT) and illustrate the relationship between IT practices and BVIT.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses a case study approach to collect the subject firm data over a period of one year. The data are about various IT systems used in the firm and their associated capital and operational cost components. The derived data are then compared with industry benchmarks.\nFindings: The IT practices employed by the firm enable it to achieve a BVIT which is higher than the industry norm, from both strategic and operational perspectives.\nResearch limitations/implications: In this study, a year's worth of data from a single firm is considered. The temporal frame of the research data limits the generalization of the results. To improve the generalizability, data from many years and across many firms may be used.\nPractical implications: The paper provides insights to managers to identify the measures of BVIT. Further, managers can make necessary interventions based on IT practices to derive IT capabilities which, in turn, impact the firm's performance.\nOriginality/value: The contribution of the work is manifold: illustration of the relationship between IT practices and BVIT; illustration of a methodology to evaluate firm-level BVIT; and an approach to collect IT expenses - both capital and operational level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Extracting appropriate scope for information systems: a case study
|
[
"Contingency planning",
"Information systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In recent years, organizations have invested large amounts of money in information systems (IS) (Waldron, 2005). Earlier studies show that organizations faced difficulties during IS implementation (Cheng et al., 2007; Waldron, 2005). However, it is difficult to assess IS investments because there is no single definition of IS success. IS can provide several different benefits such as improving productivity, innovation, market share and cost savings (Nevo and Chan, 2007). DeLone and McLean (2003) define IS success using six different categories, of which this study focuses particularly on information quality.Information quality is affected by the IS scope. The scope refers to the dimensions of the focus, quantification and time horizon (Brecht and Merle, 1996; Chenhall and Morris, 1986; Sharma et al., 2006; Tillema, 2005), and concentrates on the dimensions of information produced by IS. The focus dimension investigates if information is internal or external, the quantification dimension on whether information is financial or non-financial, and the time horizon dimension on whether information is future or historically oriented (Chenhall and Morris, 1986). Therefore, narrow (or operational; Brecht and Merle, 1996) and broad (or strategic; Brecht and Merle, 1996) are two extremes of IS scope (Tillema, 2005). Broad scope IS produce external, non-financial, and future-oriented information for decision making while narrow scope IS are strongly limited to internal, financial and past-oriented information (Brecht and Merle, 1996; Chenhall and Morris, 1986; Linn et al., 2001; Sharma et al., 2006; Tillema, 2005).The scope has to be determined before implementing IS. The evaluation of the scope enables organizations to develop IS in the way that satisfies users' requirements. Furthermore, for instance Sharma et al. (2006) and Baines and Langfield-Smith (2003) find a positive relation between information scope and performance, i.e. broad scope IS increase job relevant information which enhances performance, however, they are not appropriate for every organization.The appropriateness of broad scope IS depends on contingency factors. Earlier IS scope studies used quantitative data to investigate the relation between contingency factors and scope (Agbejule and Burrowes, 2007; Baines and Langfield-Smith, 2003; Chenhall and Morris, 1986; Jusoh and Parnell, 2008; Linn et al., 2001; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2006; Sharma et al., 2006). Only a few studies on IS scope have used qualitative methods (Tillema, 2005). On the other hand, only Moores and Yuen's (2001) contingency theory study combine both quantitative and qualitative methods. The combination of methods is important because it improves research validity (Modell, 2005). This study overcomes the limitations of earlier studies and follows Modell's (2005) suggestion in applying both qualitative and quantitative data in assessing the scope of IS.There are few contingency theory frameworks which can be used to determine appropriate IS scope. The frameworks presented by Tillema (2005) integrated contingency framework (ICF) and by Dixon et al. (1990) performance measurement questionnaire (PMQ) are rare examples of such contingency theory frameworks. However, there is a lack of case studies which evaluate the suitability of these frameworks for determining the appropriate IS scope for new IS in practice. Tillema (2005, p. 123) suggests empirical suitability investigation, and further states that it would be fruitful to investigate the usefulness of her contingency framework in explaining the IS scope. Tillema's case study deals with an energy company. However, she suggests also investigating ICF in companies from other sectors. She summarizes that the application of the contingency framework to other organizations and the subsequent adjustment and extension of this framework would imply a theoretical generalization of the contingency framework. PMQ by Dixon et al. (1990) is developed to assist in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of existing performance information and in determining the fit between strategies, actions, and measures. However, it has not been applied to determine the scope of IS.The objective of this study is to analyze the suitability of ICF and PMQ for determining the appropriate scope of IS in a case company. This study contributes to earlier IS studies in several ways. Firstly, it evaluates the practical appropriateness of ICF and PMQ for assessing the IS scope of an existing system. Secondly, this study investigates whether these frameworks can be helpful in determining appropriate scope in implementation of the new IS.The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 1 discusses the importance of the IS scope and the contingency theory frameworks for it. Section 2 presents some prior studies of information characteristics and IS scope. Section 3 discusses applied case method, data gathering, and case description. Section 4 presents the results. Finally, conclusions are drawn.\n2 Earlier IS scope studies: Earlier IS scope studies have usually used contingency theory (Agbejule and Burrowes, 2007; Baines and Langfield-Smith, 2003; Chenhall, 2003; Linn et al., 2001; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2006; Sharma et al., 2006). Contingency theory utilizes different factors to investigate IS. Usually, the contingency factors relate strategy, size, structure and perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) with the scope of IS (Chenhall, 2003). PEU is related to the usefulness of broad scope information (Chenhall, 2003; Chenhall and Morris, 1986; Chong and Chong, 1997; Gordon and Narayanan, 1984; Gul and Chia, 1994). Uncertainty may differ between the departments of the firm and higher uncertainty leads to the utilization of broader scope information (Mia and Chenhall, 1994).PEU is also associated with technology and strategy. Chenhall (2003) states that the more technologies are characterized by high levels of task uncertainty the more useful is broad scope IS. In addition, advanced technologies require control systems based on broad scope information. Chong and Chong (1997) and Guilding (1999) find a correlation between prospector strategies, perceiving environmental uncertainty, and the use of broad scope information. Moores and Yuen (2001) apply both survey and field research and show that that firms at the growth and revival stages in their lifecycle, rely on broader scope information than firms at other stages. Gordon and Narayanan (1984) found that organic structures were best served by broad scope information.Contingency theory-based research implies that the enhanced performance and IS usefulness is dependent on the appropriateness of the systems to the organization (Chenhall, 2003). These contingency theory studies have primarily been quantitative and have considered a limited number of contingency factors (Tillema, 2005). In addition, these studies do not particularly address the question of whether the hypothesized fit between contingency factors and the scope of IS results in better performance. However, an exception is Gul and Chia (1994) who showed that under high-PEU, decentralization and broad scope IS are associated with higher managerial performance. Chong (1996) showed that the use of broad scope IS leads to improved managerial performance under high-task uncertainty. Similarly, Abernethy and Guthrie (1994) found that broad scope IS has a more positive effect on performance for prospectors than it does for defenders. Thus, the fit between the scope of information and contingency factors can be an important determinant of performance.Tillema (2005) summarizes contingency-based research on the scope of information and states that it focuses on the relationships between contingency factors and the scope. However, it refrains from presenting relationships between multiple contingency factors, and from presenting relationships between the scope and performance. The contingency factors analyzed in previous studies may represent only a small subset of the factors that may be significant explanatory factors of the scope. In addition, the number of interactions investigated earlier is rather limited. Tillema (2005) concludes that this leads to the contingency framework for the scope of IS being fragmented rather than integrated, and that more insight is needed into the mechanism through which contingency factors influence IS sophistication. The limitations of previous studies can be attributed partly to the quantitative method traditionally used in contingency research. Tillema applies two qualitative case studies and results within a framework she calls an ICF.The ICF aims to show how various contingency factors influence the scope of information. Scope refers to the dimensions of focus (on events within or outside the organization), quantification (either in financial or non-financial terms), and time horizon (related to either historical of future events) (Tillema, 2005). Narrow scope IS provides information on events within the organization, is financial, and related to historical events. Broad scope IS provides supplemental information on events outside the organization, is non-financial, and focuses on future events. Tillema distinguishes three levels of scope: narrow scope, average scope, and broad scope. Her analysis shows that nine contingency factors influence scope at four levels: accounting innovations and trends, regulation (beyond-organizational influences), importance of financial objectives, interactions between organizations and organizational parts (organization and sub-unit level), visibility of operating tasks, complexity of operating tasks, dynamism of the environment (operating-task level), significance and clarity of the financial consequences (accounting-task level).Tillema (2005) states, that ICF can increase knowledge of the interactions that exist between contingency factors and the IS. She urges further research on different firms using survey or case study approaches, favoring the case study approach herself. The present study uses a case study approach but also quantitative data to analyze Tillema's ICF differently. First, ICF is applied in a case study to assess the fit between contingency factors and the scope of the current IS. Second, it is applied to design a scope for the new IS to be implemented. In this way ICF may provide us with a tool to assess the suitability of the current scope of information and to design a more appropriate scope where appropriate.ICF provides us with a framework to analyze the fit between contingency factors and scope in a firm. However, ICF does not provide any practical tool to determine the specific measures within the scope. The PMQ approach of Dixon et al. (1990) could investigate the specific measures in practice. PMQ is developed in the spirit of contingency theory to align strategy, actions, and performance measurement IS. The selection of valid measures is important for the company to implement its strategy and take into account stakeholders' requirements (Jusoh and Parnell, 2008; Pongatichat and Johnston, 2008). PMQ tries to avoid inconsistency with the preferred strategy, intended actions and required measures. It is a survey instrument assessing the fit between an organization's performance measurement system and the employees' perceptions of factors that are critical to the organization's success (McMann and Nanni, 1994). PMQ is used here to gather detailed information for assessing the scope of IS in the framework of ICF. ICF is utilized in the qualitative part and PMQ in the quantitative part of the study. Therefore, we assess the usefulness of both ICF and PMQ simultaneously.\n3 Methodology: 3.1 Collection of case data\n4 Scope of IS - Tillema's (2005) ICF: ICF suggests four levels of analysis: beyond-organizational, organizational/sub-unit, operating-task and accounting-task levels (Tillema, 2005). This study focuses on the levels of organization and sub-unit, operating task, and accounting task because they seem most relevant to this case firm.4.1 Organizational/sub-unit level: importance of financial objectives\n5 Scope of IS - Dixon et al. PMQ: 5.1 Measurement of scope\n6 Discussion and conclusions: This study contributes to previous research in several ways. Firstly, earlier contingency theory has used primarily quantitative methods and a small number of contingency factors (Chenhall, 2003; Sharma et al., 2006). Secondly, only a few case studies (Tillema, 2005) have been conducted utilizing contingency theory in the IS scope field. Thirdly, earlier contingency studies have seldom used method triangulation to improve the research validity (Modell, 2005). Fourthly, only a few practical frameworks can be used for determining the organizations' appropriate IS scope due to the methodologies used (Dixon et al., 1990; Tillema, 2005). Fifthly, the suitability of these practical frameworks for determining an appropriate scope for new IS has not been assessed with case data.To avoid the limitations of earlier studies, this study uses a larger number of contingency factors to determine the appropriate IS scope, and a rarely used case study method allied to method triangulation to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative data. We also found that Tillema's (2005) ICF is not as useful to determine IS scope as the PMQ of Dixon et al. (1990) because the ICF does not provide detailed conclusions. ICF showed that the scope of the current IS is too narrow and thus suggests broadening it, and also gives such recommendations for different levels of analysis. This kind of recommendation may direct the design of new IS but does not give any detailed advice.However, Dixon et al's PMQ framework can be used to extract details. The PMQ specifically proposed that the case organization needs a broad scope IS, and that the new IS should provide more information on improvements in employee or customer efficiency, quality and service issues, external and future-oriented financial targets and more information on customer and employee satisfaction and relationship issues, and external and future oriented non-financial targets. These areas require a broad scope IS. The results of the PMQ can also be analyzed by improvement areas (55 in this case) to further increase the level of detail in the analysis.This study has managerial implications. Firstly, it is important to consider the appropriate IS scope before developing new IS, thus permitting integration of users' requirements into the new IS. Secondly, the developers of an IS have to investigate which information is needed and most highly valued. Thirdly, the investigation should be performed by utilizing different frameworks such as Dixon et al. (1990) and Tillema (2005). These frameworks can be used in combination to understand the contingencies affecting information scope and to extract important areas of information. Fourth, the IS requirements differ between users. Thus, it is important to conduct user-level analyses.This study has limitations which primarily relate to the case method employed. Therefore, the results can be contextually generalized. Therefore, companies with moderate similarities, like international business-to-business firms with a similar strategy can learn from this study. Our foundations could be enlarged by utilizing a survey approach in the future. The low number of interviewees could be another limitation. However, we interviewed all those whose views were relevant to the research question. The last limitation may relate to the five-point indexation of scope used.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to evaluate the practical suitability of the frameworks of Tillema and Dixon et al. for assessing the scope of information systems (IS). The study also investigates whether these frameworks help determine an appropriate scope for a new IS before implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative data from a case company. The company is a middle-sized Finnish international technology company with about 1,000 employees.\nFindings: - Both frameworks are useful in assessing scope. The integrated contingency framework (ICF) by Tillema lacks detailed suggestions of how to design an IS. The performance measurement questionnaire (PMQ) by Dixon et al. makes it possible to determine detailed information requirements in addition to an appropriate scope.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study has the general case study limitations.\nPractical implications: - Companies should utilize both ICF and PMQ frameworks when implementing IS. ICF allows determination of the general scope of IS whereas PMQ enables investigation of the specific measures of IS.\nOriginality/value: - Earlier IS scope contingency theory studies used few contingency factors, and were primarily quantitative and so did not provide useful frameworks for determining scope in practice. ICF and PMQ are exceptions but their usability in determining the appropriate IS scope is not evaluated in earlier studies. This study also combines both quantitative and qualitative approaches; which has been a limitation of earlier studies.\n",
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