Split (2)

train · 145k rows

title stringlengths 6 301	keywords listlengths 0 23	messages listlengths 2 2
Exploring the impact of empowering leadership on knowledge sharing, absorptive capacity and team performance in IT service	[ "Leadership", "Absorptive capacity", "IT project management", "Knowledge worker performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research on effective team management has been highlighting the importance of team leaders' behaviors as one of factors critical for successful team performance (Judge et al., 2004). Among the team leaders' behaviors studied, empowering leadership is drawing attentions, recently, reflecting current trend toward increased autonomy of actuating employees (Bennis and Townsend, 1995). Though empowerment is not a new concept traceable back to the early work of Lewin (1947), recent literature on empowering leadership focus on leaders' empowering actions, such as enhancing meaningfulness of work, expressing confidence in performance, shared decision making, providing autonomy (Zhang and Bartol, 2010), leading by example (Kirkman and Rosen, 1997).\n2. Background and research model: IT service is one of those services that require high level of professional credence as the outcome quality of service is mostly invisible and knowledge intensive (Park et al., 2012; Carr, 2006). Also, as technical experts need to work closely with domain specialists from the beginning of requirements elicitation till the final implementation, team activities are critical for the success of project (Chen and McQueen, 2010). We define the empowering leadership as a critical variable that lead to higher level of knowledge sharing among team members, in turn increase the level of absorptive capacity of the team, so that the team can perform effectively and efficiently.\n3. Research method: 3.1 Measures\n4. Analysis: A partial least squares (PLS) analysis was performed to test the research model presented. PLS analysis is a component-based approach and thus does not have strict requirements for sample size and residual distribution (Lohmoller, 1989). Another advantage of the PLS analysis is that it can evaluate a theoretical structural model and a measurement model simultaneously (Chin et al., 2003). SmartPLS software was used in two stage approach. In the first stage, all measurement models were examined for proper psychometric properties, while the second stage was focussed on testing the research model and hypotheses - structural model.\n5. Discussions and conclusions: This study proposed an empirical research model explicating the impact of empowering leadership on the team performance via knowledge sharing and absorptive capacity in IT service environment. These constructs are adopted from prior research results in related areas and relations among these constructs are theorized also based on prior research on knowledge and team management. A survey instrument was constructed from the items in this research, and empirical data collected from 315 subjects across 82 different IT service projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the mechanism through which empowering leadership of a team leader might influence the team performance in IT service.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data of 315 individuals collected from 85 different IT projects through online survey is used to empirically test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results confirm that team leader's empowering leadership raises the level of knowledge sharing among team members and increase the absorptive capacity of the team, and lead to better team performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research theoretically presented and demonstrated the middle- and long-term impacts of empowering leadership resulting from the development of absorptive capacity as the effects of knowledge sharing in an IT project team are produced through absorptive capacity.\nPractical implications: The findings indicate that more effective in increasing the performance of IT project teams can be to strengthen empowering leadership than to promote traditional charisma or directive leadership. Knowledge sharing at a team level has the direct effect of improving project performance by providing information and knowledge regarding the related project, but on the other hand it contributes to making stronger the path of associating absorptive capacity with project performance.\nOriginality/value: The impact of empowering leaderships on team performance of IT project has received less research attention. Little prior research has carried out such an integrated analysis in IT service context. This study contributes to knowledge management research by identifying a key antecedent of knowledge sharing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Women academics and feminism in professional military education	[ "Feminism", "Academia", "Military", "Education", "Women", "Sex and gender issues" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The aim of this paper is to generate feminist insights on Professional Military Education (PME) through the experiences and reflections of academic staff. Unlike most research in this area (exceptionally, c.f. Higbee, 2011), we view PME as not only as a site of military activity but also of academia. In particular the focus is on how female academics experience daily life as academics, civilians and women in PME. This focus is because PME, like the military and academia generally, is male dominated (BLK, 2000; Bebbington, 2002; APSA, 2005; Monroe et al., 2008; Kantola, 2008; Henehan and Sarkees, 2009; Hoppen, 2006; Woodward and Winter, 2007; Kaufman and Williams, 2007; Goldstein, 2001; Cock, 1992). Therefore, like Kronsell (2005, p. 281) we're interested in \"what happens when women engage with such [male dominated] institutions? What types of insights do they gain? How can that knowledge be related to feminist projects?\".Our understanding of gender, identity and education, draws on the feminist adage that the \"personal is political, and the political is personal\". Therefore, central to our inquiry is the \"interacting individual\" (Gee, 2000), and we draw upon the \"fifth moment\" of educational research, which places questions of context, process and relationships at the centre of inquiry (Lincoln and Denzin, 1994). Consequently, we view gender as something which is \"performed\", it is therefore corporal and fleshy (Hey, 2004), and yet cannot be read directly from sexed bodies (Butler, 2004; Gherardi, 1994).We recognise that feminist theory, methodology and pedagogy are highly debated and contested. Nevertheless, feminism in academia:[...] is not just an \"area study\" (... not just about \"women\") but something much deeper: a way of orienting to academic work that is attuned to power relations, both within the academy and within knowledge construction itself (Crawley et al., 2008, p. 2).Bringing these aspects together: we are examining the situation of women and the micro-politics of academia in order to draw feminist insights about the \"charming absurdities of academic life\" (McWilliams, 2002), and it represents an attempt to make feminist sense of PME following a feminist ethic (Enloe, 2001).\nProfessional military education and male dominated institutions: Historically conflict has been viewed as a \"thinking man's\" activity, although militaries worldwide have frequently shown disdain for formal education preferring to prioritise experiential knowledge (Thoumine, 1968; Luttwak, 1995; Matthews, 2002a, b). Nevertheless historically militaries worldwide have invested in the education of their officers, often with renewed vigour following military defeat, long-running wars, or significant changes in geopolitics - such as the Skelton reforms in American PME that were triggered by the Vietnam War (Allen, 2010). The contemporary period is no exception, and since the end of the Cold War changes in military activities have lead to requests that PME should encourage a more \"enquiring\" \"empathetic\" and \"flexible\" officer mind (Kiszley, 2004; Scales, 2005; Patreus, 2007; Burridge, 2001; McCausland and Martin, 2001; Utting, 2009; Volker, 1999; Holder and Murray, 1998). Indicatively academic research on the nature of the delivery of PME also focuses on its value to the military as a \"force multiplier\" and as an example of \"the military\" (Barnett, 1967; Klinger, 2004; Williamson, 2009). Thus, formal education has been linked not only to increased efficiency but also serves to realign military ethos with the new \"liberal\" age (Forster, 2006; Stiehm, 1996; Dandeker and Mason, 2001). This has explicitly been the case for Canadian Armed Forces following the disbanding of Airborne Regiment in 1995 because of their activities in Somalia (Whitworth, 2005). As part of this realignment PME frequently brings together two professions - academia and the military (Utting, 2009; Allen, 2010).PME is frequently carried out at a distinct military institution - unlike other professions where it usually operates as a \"professional school\" within a university. Accordingly, it stands apart doctrinally and institutionally from daily military life and training, and is distinguished from vocational skills training, which rarely includes civilian staff (indicatively: MOD, 2011, p. 24). Although there is a historical legacy of academic support for military education, until recently this has not been expressly civilian or independent of military direction. Today PME curriculum is determined in partnership between the two professions. It is targeted towards developing professional capacity that imparts specialist knowledge and includes intensive socialisation into the values of the professional community. However, in contrast to other professions, civilian academics do not certify the professional competence of military personnel. Despite the presence of civilian faculty, PME is therefore seen to reflect the wider military culture, not only because students and some staff are military personnel, but also because the organisations use of language, norms, and dress are all similar to the military[1]. For example, PME institutions often use the naval term \"division\" to describe and organise a group of students. In most PME institutions students and military staff wear military uniform, although civilian academic staff do not, and the attire in \"the mess\" is also regulated for military and civilian personnel according to time of day and nature of duties. From this it can be observed that the distinct differences in cultural and intellectual expectations can, at times, cause confusion and in rare examples tension. And it is this cohabitation and tension, which makes PME such an interesting site for studying academic agency and identity. Although this adaptation is seen as a two way process (and it is of note that new military staff are \"inducted\" into academic expectations and conduct within the institution) the focus for this paper is how academics respond to the situation.More precisely, this paper examines one group of academics in PME: civilian women. Although very little research has looked at gender and PME, this research can be situated among a wider body of work examining women and gender in male dominated institutions (Kanter, 1977; Etzkowitz et al., 2000; Bennett et al., 1999; Whittock, 2002; West and Zimmerman, 1987; Martin, 2003; Butler, 2004). That research primarily reveals that successful women imitate male behaviours, accept official discourses of \"gender neutrality\", while at the same time engaging in culturally expected performances of femininity. Overall, whatever strategy is deployed, women tend to seek acceptance via already determined organisational and institutional gendered norms. Some research has examined the inclusion of women students in PME (Stiehm, 1981; Diamond and Kimmell, 2002; Pershing, 2006). As with research on other male dominated institutions, debates emerged over the degree of integration, assimilation and difference 'tolerated' and accepted, and the ways in which the female students adapted. However, unlike our research, they conceptualise PME as examples of military institutions and behaviours, and the attention is on the students rather than faculty. There are two exceptions. First, is a study carried out at the Swedish Defence Academy, which considered institutional gendered characteristics. Berggren and Ivarsson's (2002) found unequal gender conditions of PME by focusing on the institution's architecture. The second exception is an American study, which concludes that the presence of women in PME faculty is valuable, but that it is limited because of the small number of women present (Mahoney-Norris and Hampton, 2006). They also found that the institutional accommodation of women in American PME is akin to \"frostbite\" far beyond the \"chilly climate\" reported by women academics (APSA, 2005). Like these authors we address the issue of women faculty and gender in PME by concentrating on civilian academic staff and their everyday interactions. We do so because valuable insights into the nature of higher education can be gained from the \"mundane and quotidian\" realities of academic life (Chowaniec, 2005, p. 265, 269). Such habitual realities are made more visible when a minority group are the focus of study (Kronsell, 2005; Ravasi and Schultz, 2006). The presence of civilian female faculty in PME is more complicated than female soldiers or female academics generally, because they are neither \"the military\", nor apart from it.\nMethods: The results and analysis here represent a small section of a wider project on professionalism in academia. We studied one PME site, the \"North European Staff College\" (NESC) for a period of nine months. The student body are middle to senior ranking officers with approximately 10-15 years service. In line with ethical guidelines, the institutional site is kept anonymous, as are the interviewees. The respondents represent approximately 20 per cent of the total membership of the academic department within NESC. None of the informants have been in the military. Informants were self-selecting following a departmental wide e-mail request. Informants were a mix of male and female members of staff, with between six months and ten years employment at the NESC, they are from a wide variety of academic and professional backgrounds.The research process stems from participant observation, group discussions, and individual semi-structured interviews at the department level. Field notes were kept by the authors, and where possible institutional documents consulted. The group discussions data are the minutes kept from the departmental \"Gender and PME Working Group\".The data collected were analysed according to the processes and principles identified above. The analytic process followed Mason's (2002) three levels of readings:1. literal;2. interpretive; and3. reflexive.The first reading looked for the content, structure and style of the interviews. The second examined the implicit norms, social discourses that are used, and how interviewees made sense of their role and academic life. The third involved exploring the data in light of the research team's role in its generation and interpretation. Random samples of the data were parallel coded, where dissonance occurred negotiation and clarification was sought between coders. The use of multiple sources facilitated the comprehensiveness and triangulation of data. This process manages the difficulties with validity of qualitative data (Maxwell, 2005). Three key themes emerged from this analytic process:1. the visual;2. the vocal; and3. collective action.These are discussed in relation to the broader literature (direct quotes from data are italicised).\nFindings and discussion: The visual: \"putting on armour\" and \"dressing up\"\nConcluding remarks: By examining \"what happens\" when women participate in male dominated institutions, this paper reveals that by focusing on a double minority otherwise hidden masculine norms and unequal gender assumptions are uncovered. We have identified that the existence of a double minority resulted in continuous reflection both individually and collectively as to behaviour and gender identities. Specifically, three key sites of identity construction and professional practices emerged: the visual, vocal and collective. In each of these sites our research showed that women felt that they were not entirely successful in finding a \"comfortable place\". Through this we have discovered some of \"what happens\" to women and knowledge when they participate in these male dominated institutions, such as this PME site. First, women here, as with other male dominated institutions, tend to seek acceptance via already male determined organisational and institutional norms. Second, some women attempted - with varying degrees of success - to subvert or resist gender norms to find a \"comfortable place\". Third women found that their professional identities and knowledge constructions were assumed to be \"gendered\" whereas their male colleagues and the PME institution itself were presented as \"gender neutral\" in everyday practices despite being male dominated.Our work here shows what feminist insights about male dominated institutions can be gained by studying women's participation, however we also need to establish what happens to the institutions themselves as a result of women's engagement. Therefore, although outside the remit of the research carried out here, it will also be important to chart how the military perceive the existence of this double minority in their midst. For example, we indicate the widening definition of security might suggest that military cultures and practices are becoming more feminised, and therefore how they address this in the education of their officers would be revealing of military identity and practices. Thus discussion of gender identities can inform the ways and means by which PME institutions develop and construct their collective identities. This is an important insight: feminist work in research and teaching generates knowledge not only of \"women\" for women, but also creates insights of the institutions and contexts in which they work.Additionally, the feminist insights gained here show that although PME is an \"atypical\" military and academic institution it nevertheless contains a series of similarities with mainstream HE and other male dominated institutions. These relate to the existence unequal gender assumptions and the partial everyday strategies available to women to ameliorate them. Given similarities and the actions taken by women at the NESC this research also hints at the connections and possible points for feminist solidarity among women academics across diverse higher education institutions. Therefore, we also suggest that future comparative research would be helpful for revealing further ways in which the insights here can be linked to broader feminist projects. Nevertheless, the insights and practices at the NESC show that feminist projects of \"homesteading\" and overcoming the \"shame of silence\" in male dominated institutions can be empowering.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to explore the ways in which gender and feminism are practised in professional military education (PME), which is viewed as an atypical higher education institution, by focusing on the practice and discourse of female academics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses a case study approach using participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The authors' qualitative analysis is informed by feminist research methods.\nFindings: - The authors identified a number of key areas around which resistance and accommodation to gender norms are produced: the visual, the vocal and collective action. Analysis of these revealed the everyday practices of academic identities, the gendering of knowledge, and feminist interventions. The authors found that the practices and debates of academic women in PME reflect the wider debates in academia.\nOriginality/value: - PME and its relationship with gender and feminism have rarely been studied. This paper begins that task. The findings of this atypical case also add to the growing body of research on identity, gender, and feminism in academia, as well as to women working in male-dominated institutions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What patients do and their impact on implementation: An ethnographic study of participatory quality improvement projects in English acute hospitals	[ "Quality improvement", "Service quality", "Implementation", "Health services", "Patient-focused care" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Implementation Science is concerned with the use of evidence in health care practice in order to bring about improvements in the quality of healthcare. Growing international interest in implementation science is demonstrated by the establishment of the Global Implementation Initiative and an international journal Implementation Science. Following a long debate about the role of patient experience in evidence based health care (Partridge and Scadding, 2004), patient experience research has slowly gained acceptance as a valuable source of knowledge for policy and practice particularly relating to quality improvement \"work\" (Robert et al., 2011, 2015). With increased interest in processes of implementation and improvement (Eccles et al., 2009), existing frameworks such as the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework (Rycroft-Malone et al., 2013) have incorporated evidence from process data - including patient experience research - alongside clinical evidence. Furthermore, the goal of improving patient outcomes drives implementation interventions, with patients sometimes described - narrowly - as the \"target\" for implementation science (Nilsen et al., 2013).\nMethods: The intervention\nFindings: In the interviews, staff, patients and carers referred to what they perceived as distinct features of EBCD as a quality improvement intervention. In particular, the space (and support) to work together served to dispel preconceptions, improved staff motivation for change, increased the sense of mutual accountability and promoted greater valuing of patient responses. Participants described personal benefits derived from meeting others and taking part in the EBCD process. This intensive approach to engagement felt very different to patients and staff as compared to traditional public and patient involvement and engagement in quality improvement work. Two key themes emerged from our secondary analyses of the data relating to patient engagement: first, the different roles adopted by individual patients and carers in relation to implementation and, second, the nature and types of quality improvement achieved through close patient and staff engagement.\nDiscussion: Previous studies of implementation and improvement have considered the inclusion of the public and patients through patient experience research (e.g. in the PARIHS framework (Rycroft-Malone et al., 2013)). Others have looked at the power of patient insights in setting agendas and priorities (e.g., the work of the James Lind Alliance on patient involvement in priority setting), in developing guidelines (see e.g. the UK National Institute for Clinical Evidence) and in identifying outcomes (see e.g. the development of patient reported outcomes (PROMS)). Here we report on a more intensive approach to drawing patient experience into local quality improvement \"work\". The EBCD process harnesses patient experience knowledge and then includes patients and carers alongside health care staff in the subsequent quality improvement processes including implementing changes together. Participation in the co-design phase provides opportunities for such local knowledge to drive change that \"fits\" the specific context (Bate and Robert, 2007).\nConclusion: Previous evaluations have suggested that the EBCD intervention leads to both improvements in services and in the inter-personal dynamics of care (Iedema et al., 2010). Implementation studies have addressed the importance of health care staff as both barriers and facilitators of organisational change (Dopson and Fitzgerald, 2006). This study focused on the role of patients and carers in EBCD as an intervention designed to facilitate local quality improvement implemented by patients and staff working together. It highlights the range of different roles undertaken by patients and carers: sharing experiences, identifying priorities for quality improvement, developing potential solutions alongside staff, and helping to implement and evaluate these solutions. The space and flexibility within the EBCD approach allowed individuals to become involved in ways that suited their preferences and health status. Furthermore, the early stages (in particular the initial group session) gave patients and carers an opportunity - prompted by watching the \"trigger\" film and the sharing of their reflections - to appreciate the potential role they might play. A small number of patients continued working with the organisations after the end of the formal stages of EBCD.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The potential for including patients in implementation processes has received limited attention in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the different roles adopted by 63 patients that emerged during and after four participatory quality improvement interventions, and the nature of their impact upon implementation processes and outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-case ethnographic comparison of Experience-based Co-design in two clinical pathways in two UK NHS Trusts.\nFindings: Two key themes emerge from the data. First, the authors found a range of different roles adopted by patients within and across the four projects; some were happy to share their experiences, others also helped to identify improvement priorities alongside staff whilst others were also involved in developing potential solutions with the staff who had cared for them. A few participants also helped implement those solutions and became \"experts by experience\" through engaging in the whole co-design process. Second, in terms of the impact of patient engagement with the co-design process whilst the changes championed by patients and carers were often small scale, as co-designers patients provided innovative ideas and solutions. Through their involvement and contributions they also acted as catalysts for broader change in the attitudes of staff by providing a motivation for wider organisational and attitudinal changes.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was conducted in two clinical pathways in two NHS trusts. However, the findings complement and add to the growing body of knowledge on experience based co-design.\nPractical implications: Patient engagement is likely to require support and facilitation to ensure that patients can play a meaningful role as partners and co-designers in service improvement and implementation. Different roles suited particular individuals, with participants stepping in and out of the co-design process at various stages as suited their needs, capacities and (albeit sometimes perceptions re) skills. In this context, facilitation needs to be sensitive to individual needs and flexible to support involvement.\nSocial implications: Patients and carers can play active roles in service improvement, particularly where the approach facilitate active engagement as co-designers.\nOriginality/value: Analysis of the role patients and carers in implementation and improvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leaders, teams and work engagement: a basic needs perspective	[ "Social resources", "Engaging leadership", "Open conflict norms", "Basic needs satisfaction", "Work engagement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Work engagement is seen as a highly valuable quality of employees in the workplace. It is related to employee well-being as well as individual, team and organizational performance (Schaufeli, 2015; Bakker and Demerouti, 2017). Furthermore, it is related to the advancement of the career of the employee as it is related to increased employability (Schaufeli, 2015). Investing in work engagement is, thus, in the interest of the current and future organization and employee. Leaders often play a vital role in both the increase and reduction of work engagement of their followers (Bakker and Albrecht, 2018). Schaufeli (2015, 2016), therefore, introduced a new theoretical foundation and measure for engaging leadership, rooted in the basic needs of self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan, 2000). Engaging leadership was indeed positively related to work engagement, through the increase of followers' job resources (Schaufeli, 2015; Rahmadani et al., 2019). Leaders, however, do more than allocate and foster job resources, they have an impact on different team processes as well. These team processes have, in turn, an impact on the well-being at team level (Costa et al., 2014), as job resources impact the fulfillment of basic needs at individual level (Van den Broeck et al., 2008; Van den Broeck et al., 2016). But how do these social resources that the team shares, both the leader and team processes, impact individual well-being? Furthermore, to what extent do leaders impact these team processes?This paper investigates, therefore, the relationship between engaging leadership and work engagement through basic needs satisfaction and introduces a new social resource of open conflict norms (Jehn and Mannix, 2001). First, work engagement and basic needs satisfaction, as its proposed underlying mechanism, are introduced. Next, the impact of leaders on basic needs satisfaction is discussed, to finally introduce open conflict norms as a social resource, which will impact work engagement through the same mechanism (i.e. basic needs satisfaction).\nLiterature review: Work engagement and basic need satisfaction\nMethod: Procedure and participants\nResults: Preliminary analyses\nDiscussion: The results of the current study confirm our hypotheses; both social resources (i.e. engaging leadership and open conflict norms) impact work engagement through basic needs satisfaction. First, these results add validity to the emerging concept of engaging leadership (Schaufeli 2015; 2016) and provide us with insights on how leaders (and teams) can impact work engagement. As there was only an indirect effect through basic needs satisfaction, to increase work engagement, leaders should focus primarily on increasing these basic needs. This gives leaders a small set of concepts that they can work with to motivate their followers and increase their well-being.Second, open conflict norms were introduced as a social resource. The concept of open conflict norms is normally used in research on conflict (Jehn and Mannix, 2001; Rispens, 2007), and it is, to our knowledge, the first time that it has been used to investigate a positive motivational state. This study shows it also has a clear and strong impact on basic needs satisfaction, which is a driver for well-being (Van den Broeck et al., 2016). This means that the ability to speak up and confront conflict constructively in teams does not only have implications for the amount of conflict (Jehn and Mannix, 2001; Rispens, 2007) but addressing other team members improves well-being through basic needs satisfaction. Apart from the leader who influences these open conflict norms, employees can encourage themselves and each other to deal openly with conflicts, thereby actively increasing their well-being. This might be especially important in jobs where other resources, such as feedback and task variety, are not easily changed. Additionally, it might be an alternative bottom-up approach, complementary to individual techniques as job crafting (Bakker and Demerouti, 2017), to strengthen work engagement in teams, as a team may promote more open and better conflict norms, even, if necessary, without their leader. With these insights, this study also reconfirms the pivotal role of basic needs satisfaction as an underlying mechanism in the motivation process of the JD-R-model (Schaufeli and Taris, 2014; Bakker and Demerouti, 2017). So far this was only tested with job resources that referred to the work itself (Van den Broeck et al. , 2008) or leadership (Kovjanic et al., 2013; Breevaart et al., 2014) and not with other social resources.Finally, the results show that resources, and more specifically social resources, do not only increase basic needs satisfaction and work engagement but also may influence one another. This follows evidence showing that job resources (and job demands) are not isolated from each other, but rather interact and give rise to more complex processes (Bakker and Demerouti, 2017). In our case, leaders also influence team processes by promoting open conflict norms, which will also influence basic needs satisfaction and work engagement.Limitations of the study and future directions\nConclusion: The present study offers evidence for the important role of basic needs satisfaction that organizations can use to increase the well-being of their employees. More specifically, two social resources (i.e. engaging leadership and open conflict norms) are strongly related to these basic needs. These two resources have an indirect relation with work engagement, thereby contributing also to current and future team and organizational performance (Schnieder et al., 2018; Salanova et al., 2005). Actively increasing the engaging nature of leaders and open conflict norms in teams, through bottom-up or top-down approaches, will benefit both the employee and the organization. Further research is needed on the potential added value of the need for meaningfulness in the workplace and the search for validated tools and workshops to increase both engaging leadership and open conflict norms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between engaging leadership and open conflict norms in teams, with work engagement. A mediating role of basic needs satisfaction between these relations is proposed based on self-determination theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling was used with 133 employees who rated their leader, their team and their own basic need satisfaction and engagement to analyze the direct and indirect effects simultaneously.\nFindings: The analysis confirmed that both engaging leadership and open conflict norms had an indirect effect on work engagement through basic needs satisfaction. Furthermore, engaging leadership was positively related with open conflict norms.\nResearch limitations/implications: The current study adds to the validation of engaging leadership as it confirms that engaging leaders strengthen work engagement through basic need satisfaction. Furthermore, it shows that not only the leader is important, but the team can impact their well-being through the creation of other social resources as open conflict norms.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides evidence that not only leaders are important to increase work engagement through basic needs satisfaction but also other social resources, such as conflict management. This offers a brand new perspective and opportunities on how to increase work engagement using social resources as conflict management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Separate aspects of legal regulation of women's labour rights	[ "Discrimination", "Wage inequality", "Gender inequality", "Labour legislation", "Social rights" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social discrimination means the restriction or loss of rights according to gender in all areas of life. It leads to the lowering of social status and is one of the forms of violence against the person. The background of social discrimination dates back to ancient times, when scientists and politicians covered the unequal position of women in society by debating about whether a woman was a human being and whether she had a soul. The view of a woman as an inferior being is reflected in some philosophical works of the ancient world. For example, Socrates said:\n2. Methods and materials: The methodological basis of the paper is a set of scientific methods and techniques. The systems approach is used as a general scientific method, which enables determining the problematic issues related to the legal protection of women's labour rights.\n3. Results: It is proven that employment contracts do not protect employees, but rather allow the employer to manipulate various possibilities for their dismissal or extension of the contract term. It has been determined that a woman on maternity leave is not legally protected, because her workplace has not actually retained her if she has entered into an employment contract that lasts a specified period. The grounds for employers' criminal responsibility for violating women's labour rights have been established, and it is argued that violation of women's labour rights is a special form of discrimination.\n4. Discussion: Ukraine as a member of the ILO has signed and ratified a number of ILO conventions that supersede conflicting or overlapping provisions of Ukraine's Labour Laws. Ukraine has been a member of ILO since 12 May 1954 and ratified 61 ILO conventions. In June 2012, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine and ILO signed the new decent work program in Ukraine for 2012-2015. The main objective of this program is to promote decent work as a factor of productivity and as a key element of social and labour branch of Ukraine. The program defines the main objectives and expected results of joint activities implemented in association with the ILO tripartite partners of Ukraine.\n5. Conclusions: The protection of female labour is an important integrated institute of labour law, which is reflected in the labour legislation. Such attention of the legislator is not accidental, because the women's labour has a whole set of specific features that distinguish it and make the subject of legal regulations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to cover the problems arising in the process of women employment. The purpose is to investigate problems arising in the process of women employment, to analyse the existence of discriminatory aspects with regard to certain categories of workers, and to give recommendations for overcoming discrimination against women in the labour market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research was based on formal-logical and general scientific cognitive methods (analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization and deduction and induction). Systems and functional methods were used. The methods of concrete-sociological researches were used to gather, analyse and process legal information. The comparative-legal methods determined the actual realization of gender equality principles in different countries.\nFindings: The Ukrainian labour legislation is imperfect and should be reformed, so as to not only declare but also protect women's rights, in accordance with the current realities and fluctuations in the labour market.\nPractical implications: The research helps overcome gender and age discrimination in Ukraine's labour market, especially the relations that emerge at the employment stage. Discrimination against women at this stage is one of the most common forms of gender inequality.\nOriginality/value: Certain gaps in the labour legislation were found. The level of conformity of the current labour-relations-regulating legislation with the policy of equal rights and opportunities for women and men was determined. Recommendations, aimed at changing legal regulations to prevent gender discrimination, were developed, with a view to solving existing gender-related problems in the field of labour.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Firm-level agreements, employment strategies and temporary workers: Firm-level evidence from Italy	[ "Selection", "Collective bargaining", "Temporary workers", "Employee relations", "Flexible labour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In recent decades, several European countries have experienced a steady increase in precarious forms of employment, such as fixed-term contracts and temporary agency work. This process - usually defined as labor market segmentation or dualization - has been associated with the emergence of significant sets of social and economic inequalities (Barbieri and Cutuli, 2010, 2016; Barbieri, 2009; Gash and Mcginnity, 2006; Scherer, 2004).\nFirm-level agreements and demand for temporary workers: In understanding the relation between labor market inequalities and industrial relations institutions, the literature has usually focused on two contrasting views of trade unions (Pontusson, 2013; Davidsson and Emmenegger, 2012; Regalia, 1988; Flanders, 1970). This dichotomous understanding is best captured by the seminal work of Freeman and Medoff (1984), who distinguish between two opposite faces of unionism: the \"monopoly\" and the \"collective voice/institutional response.\"\nEmployment strategies and decentralized agreements: the issue of selection: In institutional contexts such as the Italian one, it is important to note that employers chose to sign a secondary agreement and firms are not randomly assigned to different bargaining levels. Thus, distinguishing the employment strategies and characteristics of those firms that decide to bargain with their labor force is a key to disentangling the actual impact of the agreement itself (Gurtzgen, 2005; Dinardo and Lee David, 2004).\nDecentralized bargaining in Italy: Until the early 1990s Italy was considered a typical example of a fully centralized industrial relations system. However, from 1993, a series of inter-sectoral agreements signed by the government and social partners - which introduced decentralized bargaining as an instrument to manage performance pay - started a process of bargaining decentralization which gave rise to the current system of multi-level bargaining (Pulignano et al., 2018; Regalia and Regini, 2018).\nData and variables: The empirical analysis in this paper is undertaken using the firm-level survey (Rilevazione Longitudinale Imprese e Lavoro, RIL) conducted by INAPP in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015 on a nationally representative sample of firms operating in the non-agricultural private sector. The data set has a panel structure with 50 percent of the firms in one wave re-interviewed in the subsequent one.\nMethods: Three different estimation strategies are applied in order to identify the impact of TTFA and account for firm's selection in bargaining levels. The first is a standard pooled OLS as given in the following equation:(1)\nResults: Table II reports the results for the pooled OLS and random-effects models. Column (1) shows the outcome for the pooled OLS regression controlling only for year. It indicates that the raw average differential in the share of outsiders between firms that apply a two-tier agreement is 4.63 percent point less than those that do not. Adding firm level and economic context controls reduce the difference to 2.24 percent. All firm-level covariates enter the specification with their expected signs. Firm propensity to promote training reports a negative coefficient of 0.08, suggesting that firms that systematically promote training programs for their labor force are associated with a lower share of precarious employees.\nConclusions: This paper has examined the relation between TTFA and firms' reliance on temporary employment in the Italian context. Using firm-level longitudinal data for the years 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015, it has investigated whether the application of a TTFA impacts the share of temporary workers employed by a firm.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of two-tier firm-level collective agreements on firms' propensity to use temporary employment, accounting for the process of self-selection of firms into different bargaining levels in the Italian context. It further examines which firm-level characteristics drive this process of selection.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis uses a panel data set of Italian firms for the years 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015. Estimations are produced and compared through ordinary least square regression, random-effects and fixed-effects models.\nFindings: Results show that enterprises adopting two-tier firm-level agreements (TTFA) are associated with lower levels of temporary workers. However, a longitudinal analysis suggests that introducing a TTFA does not impact firms' propensity to employ temporary workers. This novel finding highlights the presence of a selection process based on firm-level time-constant characteristics. The paper argues that these characteristics refer to management orientation toward high-road rather than low-road employment strategies. Further evidence is brought in support of this claim, showing that firms' propensity toward the provision of training for their labor force partially explain the process of selection.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first to analyze the impact of secondary-level collective agreements on firms' reliance on temporary employment, offering new evidence on the causes of the expansion of temporary employment. It further highlights the relevance of employers' strategies in shaping the impact of the bargaining structure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing the level of knowledge and practice of breastfeeding among factory working mothers in Kathmandu, Nepal	[ "Breastfeeding", "Factory working mothers", "Nepal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Feeding infants or young children with breast milk through lactation is called breastfeeding (BF). Breast milk offers benefits to both the baby and the mother. The World Health Organization has recommended exclusive BF for infants up to six months of age. BF provides an infant with essential calories, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients for optimal growth, health, and development. By virtue of the antibodies it contains, breast milk provides immunity to infants from different diseases[1]. It has a protective effect against infant gastrointestinal infections, which is observed not only in developing country settings but also in industrialized countries. It also prolongs the duration of lactation, amenorrhea and accelerates the weight loss of mothers[2]. The Pan American Health Organization reports that the nutrient needs of full-term, normal birth weighted infants typically can be met by human milk alone for the first six months if the mother is well nourished[3]. Studies suggest that optimal BF improves brain development in children[4]. Exclusive BF is uncontaminated and contains the entire nutrients needed by the infant in the first six months of life. Despite these benefits, there is a huge gap between existing knowledge and practice regarding BF especially among low-educated working mothers[5]. At present, common workforces in low-income jobs such as factory or construction sites include females; however, the actual statistics about their status is almost absent. The data on factory working women, to our knowledge, are almost lacking. The World Bank report mentions the labor force proportion rate (modeled on the International Labor Organization estimation) of the female population aged 15+, to be 83 percent in 2017[6].\nMethods: The study was a cross-sectional and descriptive type, carried out among the female population working in a garment factory in Kathmandu and having at least one child less than two years of age. Data were collected with respect to the youngest child if the mother had more than one child of less than two years of age. These factory working mothers belonged to the population with a low education and economic status and were engaged in the labor force. The survey was conducted during January and February 2015.\nResults: Socio-demographic detail is shown in Table I. Almost 42.0 percent of the mothers were Buddhists, 36.0 percent were Hindus and 18.0 percent Christians. The majority of them (94.0 percent) were Janjatis (a minority caste group in Nepalese society) and almost 88.0 percent of them were from a nuclear family. Among the children, 36.0 percent were of 7-12 months of age. The mother's literacy rate was 46.0 percent.\nDiscussion: This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and practice regarding BF among women working in a garment factory having at least one child less than 2 years of age in the Kathmandu district of Nepal. According to NDHS (2017), 89 percent of children were breastfed until the age of two years. This study showed that only 34.0 percent of the total respondent's breastfed their babies till their second birthday. The difference is quite large, and possibly because our study chose working mothers as a sample. However, the result was consistent with a review study of worldwide BF practices which showed 33.0 percent of the children were breastfed until two years old and the practice was increasing in South Asian regions[11]. The result was seen to be lower (26.1 percent) in Mauritius[17].\nConclusion: Knowledge and practice levels about BF are unexpectedly low among women working in garment factories in Kathmandu district. Most of the women are illiterate and do not have much knowledge of exclusive BF benefits and, as a consequence, this influenced the knowledge and practice levels of BF. Inadequate knowledge and inappropriate practice have negative effects on child health. Therefore, providing adequate facilities in the workplace for BF is important, and also the knowledge and practice of BF their children should be enhanced for the sake of children's as well as mother's health.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of knowledge and practice of breastfeeding among factory working mothers in Kathmandu who had a minimum of one child of less than two years of age.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey, with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire, was completed. kh2 or Fisher exact tests were applied for analysis using the SPSS program.\nFindings: In total, 36.0 percent of the mothers had adequate knowledge, and 40.0 percent had an appropriate practice of breastfeeding (BF). Also, 30 percent of them were supplementing their BF with additional milk and 54.0 percent began to give additional food at less than six months of age, mainly due to insufficient breast milk. However, 40.0 percent of mothers practiced exclusive BF; 34.0 percent of mothers continued BF until their child reached two years of age. BF was initiated within an hour by 64.0 percent of mothers. Regarding knowledge, the majority of them (82 percent) knew about initiation time of the feed, 64.0 percent of mothers knew that breast milk had positive effects on a child's health while 48.0 percent knew that it also had good effects on the mothers' health. There was a positive association between available facilities and BF knowledge levels (p-value<0.00, kh2=4.25, df=1). The associations of knowledge levels against the education status of mothers (p-value=0.11, kh2=2.59, df=1) and practice level of initiation of breast milk (p-value=0.96, kh2=0.02, df=1) were not significant.\nOriginality/value: The knowledge and practices of BF among factory working mothers are not satisfactory. Hence, an effective way to encourage BF is to increase the availability of facilities for the practice of BF at a mother's workplace.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Delivering an international HR strategy at DHL: Pole Position puts emerging-markets division at head of pack	[ "Employee involvement", "Communication", "Morale" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Everything travels fast in the transport industry. Speed is of the essence to keep up with the competition. It is no longer just a case of getting from A to B and being satisfied. These days, companies need to deliver solutions that do the job - and do it well. While a major part of the responsibility is down to the tools of the trade, the rest is reliant on the employee to give of his or her best at all times.\nThe challenge: The transport and logistics industry is one area where a solid internal-communications strategy is essential. However, with members of staff located all over the world, in different places at different times, internal engagement can be a challenge.DHL's emerging-markets division was one of the first to realize this. Started as a separate region in 2000, the division services 93 countries across a 14-hour time zone. The countries are grouped by area: Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States; south-east Europe and north Africa; the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Turkey.\"By aligning these countries according to similar needs, issues, potential and expectations, we made our venture into new territory more manageable,\" said David Wild, general manager, DHL United Arab Emirates. \"However, we were determined to be aware and to acknowledge that all the countries are diverse in culture, language and standards. This was the key to our success in these emerging markets.\"The emerging markets division now contributes some 200,000 customers to the company's 4.2 million across the globe.\nMission possible: In 2006, Maverick Events Worldwide developed a sub-brand umbrella under which all messaging within the emerging-markets division could be delivered across the entire workforce. It created the Mission Possible brand, based on the Mission Impossible movie, as it considered film to be one of the few media capable of translation across a culturally diverse region.A movie, filmed in 14 countries, was produced, featuring senior managers delivering their messages. All staff were \"agents\" taking part in a mission to make the emerging-markets division the fastest growing and most profitable in DHL. They were issued with \"agent\" packs containing the tools they needed to complete their mission.Mission Possible was directly responsible for additional revenue of EUR16 million in 12 months. The emerging-markets division saw 18 percent annual growth using Mission Possible as its internal focus. The campaign was subsequently taken forward in other regions of the DHL group.\nPole Position: The emerging-markets division approached Maverick to review its internal-communications campaign for 2007. Under a new chief executive, it required a fresh outlook for the year ahead. It was keen to illustrate to internal staff that they had had a successful year previously but they were heading for an even better year in 2007. Maverick given the task of creating an engaging way to deliver the campaign strategy.The most important element of the campaign was agreed from the outset: messaging. Particularly in the logistics and transport industry, it is important that this is consistent so everyone is \"singing from the same hymn sheet\". However, content needs to be flexible and open to change. Planning for this from the start should help to avoid any pitfalls further down the line.Delivering the key points in an uncomplicated format is also essential to ensure that messages are not diluted. The way these are conveyed can have either a positive or negative impact regardless of the core content, so it is important to strike a balance between representing the hard truth and keeping employees' interests at heart.Maverick created Pole Position - promoting to internal staff that they were at the front of the grid (ahead of competitors) because of the previous year's hard work but they still had to win the race in 2007. The connections between Formula 1 racing and business are extensive and this also created a chance to use unique venues and experiences to demonstrate the internal campaign.To launch 2007's internal message, regional managers congregated at the Dubai Autodrome. The guests were welcomed into the pit garages and spent two days both on and off the track immersing themselves in the new internal communications.A Formula 1-style foldout vehicle was transformed into an innovative mobile-communication unit that could literally drive the program to employees wherever they were based - in Russia, the Middle East or South Africa. The vehicle allowed Maverick to spread the message to a substantial percentage of the DHL workforce in or around its workplace.\nThe results: During the first few months of the campaign, the vehicle traveled to more than 5,600 employees, covering a distance of over 8,000 miles. The program was so successful that a replica version of the Formula 1 truck, which folds away into 21 cases and can be transported by land, air and sea, was created for remote areas, beyond the truck's reach. Even lighter versions are currently being introduced to suit smaller countries and offices.Interactive events are vital for employee motivation, particularly in the transport and logistics industry, where people are widely dispersed across the globe. If staff are satisfied, they will work harder, more productively and ultimately more profitably for the benefit of the company. Just because a job in logistics is not considered to be sexy, does not mean it can't be engaging!\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to demonstrate how logistics company DHL's work on incorporating events into its internal-communications strategy has enhanced employee engagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Draws specifically on one campaign within the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) regions. Examines how this helped DHL to communicate with its diverse and widespread employee audience.\nFindings: - Highlights the benefits of incorporating events into an internal-communications strategy. Reveals that DHL decided that one of the best ways to communicate with its selection of employees across the EEMEA region was physically to take the message to them.\nPractical implications: - Shows how investing in staff communication can have an impact on staff morale, communication and attitudes towards the company.\nOriginality/value: - Highlights an increase in employee morale and engagement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effect of leadership and communication practices on the safety climate and behaviour of construction workgroups	[ "Management", "Questionnaire survey", "Construction safety", "Leadership", "Communication", "Safety climate" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Management attitudes and behaviours are frequently measured as one of the core and most influential components of an organisation's safety climate, and driver of organisational health and safety (H&S) performance (Flin et al., 2000; Guldenmund, 2000, 2007).\nLiterature review: Supervisors' influence on H&S\nResearch methods: Data collection\nResults: Profile of respondents\nDiscussion: Supervisory leadership, safety climate and performance\nConclusions: Guldenmund (2007) writes \"The important role of supervisors as the tender of organisational culture in creating congruence by mixing organisation, group and individual interests into a meaningful whole cannot be overstated\" (p. 735). Our study confirms the important role played by supervisors of predominantly subcontracted workgroups in creating positive safety climates and influencing workers' H&S behaviours through their leadership styles and communication practices. The significant variation found between groups suggests that supervisors' leadership practices are not consistent in the Australian construction context and leadership development programmes targeting supervisors are recommended. The fact that we used a generalised (rather than a safety specific) measure of leadership also indicates that, to have positive H&S impacts, leadership styles and behaviours do not need to be H&S specific. Indeed, rather than isolate H&S leadership from general leadership practice, effective leaders are likely to be those who treat H&S as an integral part of group working and performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The leadership style and communication practices of supervisors in the Australian construction industry were measured. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of leadership style and communication practices of Australian construction supervisors on workgroup health and safety (H&S) climate and behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was administered to members of 20 workgroups engaged in rail construction work on the Level Crossing Removal Project and the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project in Victoria, Australia. The survey measured components of supervisors' transformational and transactional leadership, communication practices, the group H&S climate and workers' self-reported H&S compliance and participation.\nFindings: Supervisors' transformational and transactional leadership, as well as communication practices, were all positively and significantly correlated with group H&S climate and workers' self-reported H&S behaviours. The transformational leadership component of providing an appropriate model was the strongest predictor of H&S participation, while H&S compliance was predicted by the transactional leadership component of providing contingent reward, as well as supervisors' communication practices. H&S climate fully mediated the relationship between supervisory leadership and workers' self-reported H&S behaviour.\nOriginality/value: The research demonstrates that both transformational and transactional supervisory leadership are important in the construction context. Effective communication between supervisors and workers is also important for H&S. The findings suggest that supervisory leadership development programmes may be an effective way to improve H&S performance in predominantly subcontracted construction workgroups.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"A list" instructional design	[ "Instructions", "Design", "Learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n\"A list\" instructional design: In 1956 - over 50 years ago - Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behaviour that were said to be important in learning. Bloom found that over 95 per cent of the test questions which students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level: the recall of information.The result of this research was an instructional design (ID) theory that based itself around asking \"powerful\" questions. These techniques are still widely used today in the classroom and by coaches to ensure that students gain a better education from being tasked to respond to questions after thinking and replying, rather than giving closed answers such as \"Yes\" or \"No\", or a choice of one of four multiple choice answers.Attempts to bring this instructional design theory to e-learning have been less than successful with many of the questions requiring closed answers.Some 40 years ago we were introduced to Robert Gagne, who attempted to classify the types of learning. In 1965, Gagne published The Conditions of Learning (Gagne, 1965). This theory outlined the relationship of learning objectives to appropriate instructional designs and identified five categories of learning. In his later book, The Principles of Instructional Design (Gagne and Briggs, 1974), Gagne set out his model with \"The Nine Events of Instruction\", which has become the industry standard for an instructional design model. The nine events are:1. gain attention;2. inform learners of objectives;3. stimulate recall of prior learning;4. present the content;5. provide \"learning guidance\";6. elicit performance (practice);7. provide feedback;8. assess performance; and9. enhance retention and transfer to the job.When used in the classroom there is no better model in existence today. However many e-learning authors today have interpreted no fewer than three of these nine events by relying almost exclusively on questions and answers - a procedure which can be confusing and/or \"closed\". For example, here is a question from a recent course test:It is unlikely that a student who is unskilled in untangling negative statements(a) will quickly understand multiple choice items written in this way(b) will not quickly understand multiple choice items written in this way(c) will quickly understand multiple choice items not written in this way(d) will not quickly understand multiple choice items not written in this wayWith e-learning relying so heavily on questions and answers, we have created a culture of training by testing - and, with \"forced\" results of 100 per cent, how do we measure the true results?In 2005, the US market analyst and commentator Josh Bersin reported that the biggest priority for learning was to align it with business strategy. To reach this goal we need a shift in the approach we take to \"train\" staff - or ask our staff to \"learn\". We need to predict the needs of the user and move swiftly to select the most useful content and delivery techniques. We cannot expect the user to spend all day every day learning.Recently, there has been a major shift towards workflow learning, (task based) informal learning and far smaller modules of embedded learning in systems. Until now, the ID model for informal and workflow e-learning did not exist. We have been working with a hybrid of many styles of design concepts as well as a few new techniques we had learned along the way. The days of \"tell them what you are going to tell them ... tell them ... ask them questions to see if they understood ... then tell them what you told them\" are not relevant in the e-learning world, even if this might still be valid in the classroom.Realising that we are spending too much time with questions - and, as Benjamin Bloom recognised 50 years ago, all we are testing is the lowest level: the recall of information - in May 2006, I published a new ID model. It was called \"The Four As of Learning\" and was the result of 20 years research and experience of designing e-learning and related materials. In particular, this ID model was intended to relate specifically to task-based and workflow e-learning.Since 2006, the model has been augmented and now consists of six key areas.Attraction\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to outline an updated, six-point model for instructional design which takes account of modern delivery trends in learning, such as informal and workflow e-learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The model is based on empirical research carried out over at least 20 years.\nFindings: - The paper finds that to adhere to the modern goal of aligning learning with business strategy, we need to predict the needs of the user and select the most useful content and delivery techniques. Until now, the instructional design model for informal and workflow e-learning did not exist. Learners must be engaged by the learning programme/materials they are using. Learning modules should be narrowly focused to a single learning point. The learning content must be up-to-date and always retrievable. Learners must be motivated to use the new information they are being given via the learning materials. The effectiveness of learning materials is enhanced by the designer finding and exploiting something in the piece of learning that is significant to the learners and will affect them emotionally. Learners organise what they know through meaning and association; so, to get people to learn, we have to entice them - via building associations from what they know now to what we are going to teach them. Informal learning modules and workflow learning techniques do not always require delivery via a learning management system. Speed of access to learning materials is now an issue for users.\nOriginality/value: - This paper explores a new - and augmented - model of instructional design which applies particularly to the design of e-learning materials (which were unknown to the \"key\" instructional design gurus).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking of thesis research: a case study	[ "Benchmarking", "Knowledge management", "Sweden", "Iran", "Universities", "Theses" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge is at the heart of organizational capabilities. The need to continuously generate and grow this knowledge base has never been greater. Benchmarking is seen a managerial technique to identify performance gaps and improve operational performance (Yasin, 2002). It is a widely used tool in many traditional areas of performance and is expected to be beneficial in transferring best practices in directing thesis research within IEDs.The increasing economic importance of knowledge, which nowadays redefines the links among education, work, and learning, makes the role of knowledge management (KM) quite crucial. KM is the process of critically managing knowledge to meet existing needs, to identify and exploit existing and acquired knowledge assets and to develop new opportunities (Quintas et al., 1997).Universities have traditionally had two main roles: creating knowledge and disseminating knowledge. Research has been the main vehicle for creating knowledge and teaching has been the main vehicle for disseminating knowledge. Universities must recognize and respond to their changing role in a knowledge-based society (Rowley, 2000).Unlike competitive advantage, benchmarking goes beyond a comparisons of results to include an analysis of organizational processes and methods (Fitz-enz, 1993). Drew (1997) believes that benchmarking is one of the most popular tools for strategic management by demonstrating that all of the winners of the Baldridge award score highly on the use of benchmarking.The aim of this paper is to explore thesis research benchmarking. The focus of the research is on searching the best practices that leads to superior performance, and is directed towards acquiring explicit knowledge of one of the best practice universities, Chalmers University, in the area of directing industrial engineering related master's theses.The paper starts by defining the key issues of KM, and the criticality of KM to meet existing needs, to identify and exploit existing and acquired knowledge assets, and to develop new opportunities. The paper then discusses the absolute necessity of KM and benchmarking to universities, and then briefly defines benchmarking in the context of this research. Subsequently, the research methodology and the findings of the study are illustrated before the authors finally carry out comparative analysis between benchmarking department and the IEDs with IAU-STB, explain the limitations of research, and suggest new directions for future research.\nLiterature survey: According to a more recent approach, looking outside the firm boundaries and enabling comparison with others, in terms of both practices and performances enable the process of acquiring external explicit and tacit knowledge. Such newly acquired knowledge, once integrated with previous internal knowledge of the firm, creates new knowledge that may give rise to improvements and innovations (Massa and Testa, 2004). The learning organization promotes continuous improvement to survive in a turbulent environment. It does so by creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge (Garvin, 1993; Hyland and Beckett, 2002). Benchmarking is the search for industry best practices that leads to superior performance (Camp, 1989) and is widely used to promote and to measure the learning capability of a learning organization (Lahteenmaki et al., 2001; Zairi and Whymark, 2000a, b; Goh and Richards, 1997; Drew, 1997; Fedor et al., 1996; Laise, 2004).Knowledge management key issues\nMethodology: The purpose of having a methodology description is to explain how we will progress and justify our research. It also gives a view of how the work proceed as well as why and in what way we chose to do as we did. It is very important to get a persuasive research result, therefore the choosing of one or several suitable methods can be the vital part of the research work.Research design\nResearch findings: In Chalmers University, The implementation of education and research is taking place within 16 departments in research groups of varying size.In the departments, a departmental advisory team exists made up of external and internal members and equipped with an external chair to be consulted on issues of strategic importance. Department heads are responsible for providing departmental operational leadership. A pro- and a deputy head of department, as well as an administrative head, render assistance to department heads.Vision of the Department of Technology Management and Economics\nConcluding remarks: In this study, 17 thesis reports written in English from 2003 to 2006 and some other related documents were studied. Table II illustrates external knowledge (research findings) in comparison with internal knowledge (our departmental approach in IAU-STB).Table II shows that:* Research implementation process is monitored by two tutors in university and industry in benchmarking department, whilst it is done merely by one tutor in our departments.* Research design/strategy is mainly qualitative and relies on case study and systematic combining by means of participative observation and interview in benchmarking department, whilst it is mostly quantitative and relies on Survey, Study of collected records by means of archived documents, data bank, and predefined-structured questionnaire in our departments.* Literature review is brief in benchmarking department, whilst it is illustrative and includes thorough review of literature and executed theses in our departments.* Thesis work is undertaken mainly by two or three students in benchmarking department, whilst it is undertaken exclusively by one student in our departments.* Thesis presentation is performed together with students opposition in benchmarking department, whilst it is performed without students opposition in our departments.* Number of chapters of thesis report is completely flexible, and problem analysis including research question(s) and variable explanation builds an independent chapter of thesis report in benchmarking department, whilst it is less flexible in our departments and problem is defined shortly in the first chapter of thesis report.* The thesis is evaluated via categorical scale (fail or pass) in benchmarking department, whilst it is evaluated via cardinal scale (scoring point) in our departments.* Modeling attitude is explanatory and analytic in benchmarking department, whilst it is mainly statistical and mathematical in our departments.* The quality of research is assessed by qualitative research criteria in benchmarking department, whilst it is assessed by quantitative research criteria in our departments.* Divisions are interdisciplinary and oriented to the needs and requirements of ongoing socio-economic processes in home country, whilst the organization of our departments mainly depends on education programmes, and is less interdisciplinary.On the basis of comparative findings, the following directions can be proposed in short-term:* To use case study and systematic combining strategy along with survey and study of collected records.* To include problem analysis as an independent chapter and include thesis main question in this chapter. We may adopt more flexible chaptering given some mandatory chapters such as methodology, literature review, problem analysis, and conclusion are included.* To plan to make thesis opposition by students.In mid term, we must adopt the idea of dual tutors, and continuous monitoring on thesis work.Due to less collectivistic and more individualistic culture of our country, group work (team work) in thesis undertaking must be targeted in long-term. In addition, we must pursue the idea of research-oriented departments in long-term.In this research, we limit ourselves to study only industrial engineering related theses. We restrict the macro dimension affecting the thesis implementation to one variable: one aspect of culture (individualism-collectivism). We recognize that the span of subject/disciplines should be expanded to include other master's programmes; the number of macro variables can be expanded to include other dimensions of culture along with economic development level; and the impact of cultural variable in subject selection can be studied in future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of the thesis research in the industrial engineering related master's programmes in Chalmers University of Technology for benchmarking implementation in Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch (IAU-STB), taking into consideration the different conditions of two universities and respective countries of Sweden and Iran.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this research, case study strategy was employed. In total, 17 thesis reports from 2003 to 2006 and other related published/web-based documents were studied to explore the theses' execution procedure, research method and report organization. To gain primary data, some interviews were carried out. Qualitative research method, along with descriptive statistical method was used to illustrate structural points.\nFindings: - The results of the study help to develop group work in thesis execution, to identify the role of qualitative strategy in industrial engineering research, and to adopt a flexible approach in organization of thesis report provided that some mandatory regulations are followed. In addition, it helps to build research-oriented inter disciplinary departments vs traditional education-oriented departments on the basis of the requirements of ongoing socio-economic processes in national economy.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The acquired knowledge has been partly adapted and adopted by departments of industrial engineering in IAU-STB. The main implication is the need to explore how the entire industrial engineering departments (IEDs) in Iranian universities can efficiently and effectively adapt and adopt such knowledge for thesis research.\nPractical implications: - This work provides effective assistance for IEDs in Iranian universities embarking on their benchmarking journey on thesis research.\nOriginality/value: - This study represents a knowledge gap and offers practical help to IEDs in Iranian universities to leverage the skills and expertise of their faculty members together with the talents of their students and consequently to maintain and enhance their thesis research capability.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Hotel performance and research streams: a network cluster analysis	[ "Performance", "Hotel", "Cross-citation analysis", "Network cluster analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Hotel performance and competitive advantage has been gaining increasing momentum within the academic literature (Leonidou et al., 2013). Hotel firms need to innovate to face internal and external environment evolution, or they will not prosper (Sainaghi et al., 2017). These driving forces have led to academic inquiry, which in turn has shed light by providing published reviews in a number of hospitality and tourism journals (as discussed later and as reported in the Appendix).\n2. Literature review: This paragraph is structured around two topics. Previous hotel and performance research studies are identified and analysed (Section 2.1). Then we discuss the research questions, and a bibliometric approach is proposed, based on network analysis (Section 2.2).\n3. Methodology: This study performs a cross-citation analysis within the stream of \"hotel performance\" research. Two central themes were relevant: the sample selection, and the network and cluster analysis.\n4. Findings: Results of the study are now explored within the contexts of the two research questions. A full descriptive analysis of papers included in the network is given in Section 4.1. The following section paragraph (Section 4.2) depicts the main topics developed in each cluster, to identify the salient sub-fields of the hotel performance research stream.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: This paper explores two research questions, the first related to the general trends within the hotel performance study stream, and the second one focuses on topics. Section 5.1 outlines some conclusions related to trends, whereas Section 5.2 illustrates a few relevant themes. Both sections distinguish between theoretical and practical implications. Finally, Section 5.3 reports some study limitations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide a review of hotel performance within the hospitality and tourism research domain. The authors use network analysis to examine two research questions. The first relates to ascertaining general trends within the hotel performance literature, and the second focuses on identifying the salient streams and sub-topics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Articles were selected according to three criteria: keywords, journals and year of publication. The analysis embraces 20 years (1996-2015). These choices assure a wide coverage of the literature. Using these three criteria, the sample includes 1,155 papers. For the analysis, the authors created a network of papers designated as nodes, and the citations among the papers as links. A network approach recognizes the internal structure of the network by identifying groups of nodes (papers) that are more densely connected between themselves than to other nodes within the network (modules, clusters or communities).\nFindings: The authors found 761 papers that were \"connected\" studies within the network. By contrast, 34 per cent of the sample (394 papers) consists of \"unconnected\" studies. Excluding outliers, the net sample was 734 articles. The authors identify 14 clusters, which they break down into several sub-topics. The authors conclude by providing some conclusions regarding trends and future research directions. With regards to salient topics, cross-citation and network analysis provide a detailed picture of where the literature comes from and where it currently stands. Conclusions are articulated at the theoretical and empirical levels.\nOriginality/value: Compared with previous hotel performance reviews, the approach followed by this study enables the discovery of an analytical research map, which is able to identify both clusters and sub-topics populating each segment. Researchers are able to position their work and identify issues that are in growth and decline.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
National strategy for promotion of Russian universities in the world market of education services	[ "Global market of educational services", "Marketing strategy of higher education institutions", "Target audience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The Russian higher education sector has gone through significant changes through the last 25 years, including reforms in public governance, accompanied by drastic reductions in public funding, a newly established and rapidly expanding private sector, a decrease in enrollment figures geared by a declining demography, internal and external brain drain of academic staff and graduates, etc. While the period of the 1990s was the toughest time for the Russian higher education (with particularly poor financial conditions for universities and massive outflow of the academic staff to other economic sectors or abroad), a certain revival starting from the yearly 2000 was observed (Kastoueva-Jean, 2006). This revival is notably due to a \"coming back\" of the federal state in the higher education, notably through renewed regulation mechanisms and an increase in the public spending (Bydanova et al., 2015).\n1. Development of national policy framework enabling a proper institutional environment for the national higher education system marketing worldwide: According to Russian and foreign research on development of market potential of universities, the strengthening of a cross-border nature of education market development is directly caused by the rapid increase in consumption of higher education services in countries, the expanding of the scope of new information technologies, bringing into practice theoretical and applied ideas of the knowledge economy, the internationalization of the labor market and the need for skilled labor, the increasing number of organizations (other than universities) involved in the providing of educational services and the increasingly manifesting themselves in the world educational market (Agranovich, Kovaleva, Polivanova and Fateeva, 2010; Karram, 2014; OECD, 2015). The development of higher education internationalization trends benefit to direct actors of the higher education (students, their parents, employers, universities and other education providers), but also to regulating bodies and political actors (governments, international associations, political parties).\n2. From policy formulation to policy implementation: specific strategies to be put in place: In the current context, the most effective strategy for Russia seems to be the strategy of intensive growth, which is realized through a combination of penetration strategy, product development and market development strategies.\n3. Supporting internal changes in organization and management strategies within higher education institutions to empower them for competition at the global higher education market: The national, regional and global markets of higher education, as well as the expectations of students and other stakeholders, have changed in a few decades. Higher education institutions can no longer limit themselves to organizing knowledge-based learning programs based on top-down injunctions and with more or less autonomy for their implementation. The international competition brings about changes within higher educational institutions at the level of their internal organization and management strategies. Russian universities, which are still struggling to perform their shift from top-down approach to a market-oriented one, have a great deal of challenge to face in this regard.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The export of Russian educational services worldwide was not considered by the Russian Government as a full-fledged economic sector until recently. However, the situation has changed since the early 2000s, when in 2002, the Russian Government approved the national strategy for higher education promotion abroad and since then has been actively working on development of incentives and measures to support Russian universities to better market themselves in a global competitive market place of higher education. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors use a systematic approach to analyze different instruments for promoting higher education services abroad, consider the current state of this issue in Russia and look at what difficulties may arise at various levels when the state attempts to implement its strategy.\nFindings: They are formulated as a set of marketing activities at different levels (national, regional and institutional), allowing a more advantage positioning of Russian universities in the global environment.\nPractical implications: This paper focuses on the development of a marketing strategy for universities in a dynamic setting. The urgency of the problem is determined by the fact that today universities have to deal with a number of challenges: the reduced funding; increased competition at the regional, national and global markets; the growth of the importance of international and national rankings; and demographic and social challenges. Effective positioning in the global market place can be viewed as a source of new opportunities, as well as a challenge, not easy to master in some cases.\nOriginality/value: The paper scrutinizes strategies for the promotion of Russian universities to increase effectiveness of their positioning and create for them comfortable conditions for development in the world markets of educational services. The topic of marketing of educational services worldwide for a post-Soviet country is not an issue commonly addressed in the literature today.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Response awareness and instructional self-efficacy: influences on intent	[ "Mediation", "Empirical", "Instructional self-efficacy", "Information security", "Instructional self-efficacy", "ISec", "Response awareness", "Vicarious response experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: All modern organizations rely heavily on digital assets (Daugherty et al., 2015) and threats against digital assets are on the rise (Symantec, 2015). Technologies and controls surround and protect the organization's systems from external threats (Cavusoglu et al., 2009). Within the protective walls, employee actions represent potential threats that are often underestimated and at times overlooked (Warkentin and Mutchler, 2014). Because employees possess intimate knowledge of the organization's processes and have access rights to the organization's systems, they are uniquely capable of effecting harm to the organization through their actions (Im and Baskerville, 2005).\nLiterature review: The core objective of an ISec program is to ensure that the principles of confidentiality, integrity and availability of information are upheld (Stewart et al., 2008). The ISP documents the policies, procedures, and controls necessary to support these principles and secure the organization's information assets. The safety of an organization's information assets, therefore, depends on the success of the ISec program, and because employee participation is a necessary component of ISec activities, the ISec program is critically reliant upon employee compliance with the ISP (Balozian and Leidner, 2017). The potential influences on employee compliance as explored in the ISec literature include personality traits (Johnston et al., 2016), extrinsic and intrinsic motivations (Talib and Dhillon, 2015), social cues and social influences (Cheng et al., 2013; Warkentin et al., 2011), moral reasoning (Myyry et al., 2009) and neutralization and rationalization (Bulgurcu et al., 2010). An employee's awareness of the ISP and of ISec issues has also been explored and found to be among the most significant (Karjalainen and Siponen, 2011) predictors of compliance.\nResearch model and hypotheses: ISec-aware employees are more likely to perform secure behaviors (Kruger and Kearney, 2006; Puhakainen and Siponen, 2010). Prior studies have found that awareness of the ISP, of a security education, training and awareness program or of organizational ISec controls do influence the behavioral choices made by employees (D'Arcy et al., 2009; Dinev and Hu, 2007). The RQ1 is explored through a test of the H1, which states:\nResearch method and analysis: A Web-based survey instrument was developed to capture individual perceptions of response awareness, instructional self-efficacy and behavioral intent. Recommended instrument and scale development techniques were followed (MacKenzie et al., 2011; Netemeyer et al., 2003), and the reflective scales are presented in Table AI. The items for response awareness were developed informed by a composite of formative vicarious experience scale items in prior research (Warkentin et al., 2011). The instructional self-efficacy and behavioral intent scale items were informed by or modified from previously validated reflective scales (Bulgurcu et al., 2010; Johnston and Warkentin, 2010). Care was taken to reduce the threat of common method variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003) and reduce the potential for undesired item order effects (de Leeuw et al., 2008). A filter question was presented to verify that the respondents were members of the criterion population; those who stored important data they wanted to protect. To ensure all respondents understood the same meaning of data backup, the following definition was provided:\nHypotheses test results: The structural model was examined using IBM(r) SPSS(r) Amos. Covariance-based SEM was performed to test the hypotheses. The research model's structure included response awareness, instructional self-efficacy and behavioral intent along with the control variables of gender, age, years working, years computing and education, which are all known potential influences on behaviors regarding technology use (Leonard and Cronan, 2001; Venkatesh and Morris, 2000). To better understand the role played by each of the model's components, the SEM analysis used a three-phase approach much like hierarchical regression (Johnston et al., 2015; Siponen and Vance, 2010). The models for Phases 1 and 2 are shown in Figure 2 and the Phase 3 model is the research model shown in Figure 1.\nDiscussion and contributions: The goal of this study was to answer three research questions: what influence does a lower level of awareness of an ISec behavioral response (response awareness) have on the intent to perform that response (behavioral intent); what influence does a lower level of response awareness have on an individual's perception that they are capable of instructing others to perform that response (instructional self-efficacy); and in what way is an individual's perception of instructional self-efficacy toward an ISec response related to the intent to perform that response? The specific ISec response examined was backing up data, which is the most common response to protect against the threat of data loss. The three research questions were answered through a test of H3 and H4 was tested to determine whether instructional self-efficacy was a mediating influence on the relationship between response awareness and behavioral intent.\nLimitations, future research and conclusion: Although this study makes important contributions to research and practice, it does so with certain limitations. The respondents were primarily members of a public university in the southeastern USA. A large percentage of the population were students, and overall the respondents possessed higher levels of education and or years of working than the average population. Only a single response of backing up data was examined, and behavioral intent rather than actual behavior was the dependent variable. These limitations are acceptable for the purposes of this study due to its novel nature, but future studies should be performed to increase the generalizability and validity (Calder et al., 1981; Crossler et al., 2013).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the influence of response awareness on behavioral intent, and introduces instructional self-efficacy, a construct rarely examined within the context of information security (ISec).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A Web-based survey was conducted and a total of 211 valid responses were analyzed. The relationships among response awareness, instructional self-efficacy and behavioral intent were examined through a three-phase structural equation modeling analysis.\nFindings: The results indicate that even at low levels, response awareness has a strong influential effect on the behavioral intent to perform the secure response and on the self-efficacy to instruct others to perform the response. Instructional self-efficacy was also found to be a significant predictor of behavioral intent to perform the response. Finally, evidence was found indicating instructional self-efficacy fully mediates the response awareness to the behavioral intent relationship.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of the characteristics of the population, the focus on a single ISec response and the dependent variable of behavioral intent rather than actual behavior, the generalizability of the findings is impacted.\nPractical implications: The results contribute to practice by confirming the importance of response awareness and of instructional self-efficacy within an ISec context. Specific implications include the indication that informal communications about ISec issues among peers should be encouraged and that instructional self-efficacy should be targeted within ISec awareness training programs.\nOriginality/value: This paper's parsimonious model defined response awareness as vicarious experience with a response and presented instructional self-efficacy, a construct novel to ISec studies that was found to be a significant influence within the relationship between response awareness and behavioral intent.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Participatory action research in schools: unpacking the lived inequities of high stakes testing	[ "Youth", "Adolescence", "Youth Participatory Action Research", "Literacies", "Multimodality", "Epistemic privilege", "Community", "Activist" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Young people's experiences in school are impacted by high stakes testing almost daily - in the form of test preparation curriculum, benchmark assessments, or the exams themselves. Yet, young people have little voice in robust scholarly conversations about the impact of high stakes testing on pedagogy (Au, 2007). In much of their time in school, youth are asked to defer to authority figures (e.g. teachers, administrators, policymakers, test makers) in deciding both the content of their studies and how their learning is assessed. Constructions of adolescence/ts as \"not yet adult\" or lacking maturity serve to further disenfranchise and oppress youth (Lesko, 2012). Moreover, educators regularly dismiss adolescents as \"hormonal, apathetic, angsty, diffident, developing, risk-taking, emotional, moody, rebellious, insecure, contradictory\" (Niccolini, 2015, p. 22) - deficit assumptions that work to constrain and demean youth, especially youth of color (Vasudevan and Campano, 2009).\nTheoretical framework: Lesko's (2012) influential Act Your Age: A Cultural Construction of Adolescence demonstrates how adolescence is socially constructed, debunking ideas that frame adolescents as hormonal, apathetic and immature and tying these disparaging constructions of youth to a racist, sexist, class-based history. Building upon Lesko's work, Petrone et al. (2014) developed a \"youth lens\" to critically examine representations of youth in literature and provide opportunities for youth to \"talk back to how the world sees them as youth\" (Sarigianides et al., 2015, p. 13). YPAR, because it positions youth as knowers and doers, contests biological models of adolescence and invites young people into conversations often reserved for adult researchers and policymakers (Mirra et al., 2016). Educators who see youth as mature intellectual partners trust them with their own learning and build a curriculum that engages them deeply in critical thought and exploration.\nReview of relevant literature: YPAR offers a rich approach to examining educational inequities. Caraballo et al. (2017) note that YPAR historically highlights the \"organic intellectualism of those who are most affected by educational and social inequities\" (p. 1). Tuck (2012) and her New York City-based YPAR team Collective of Researchers on Educational Disappointment and Desire studied the lived impact of accountability policies (i.e. high-stakes testing, mayoral control and secondary school exit exams) on high school completion. They found that these accountability policies often served merely to push youth out of school, sometimes toward the General Educational Development (GED) credential rather more meaningful routes to graduation. For well over a decade, the Council of Youth Research (teams of youth, teachers, university faculty and graduate students in a summer institute) investigated school inequities, buoyed by the Williams v State of California lawsuit that called public attention to the separate, unequal and substandard schooling afforded low-income youth of color in Los Angeles (Mirra et al., 2016). Similarly, Fine et al. (2004) brought together urban and suburban youth from New York and New Jersey and university-affiliated researchers and artists to investigate the ongoing segregation of public schools on the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. YPAR projects such as these intentionally surface intersections of race, class and gender to create productive \"contact zones\" across differences where knowledge and experiences can be compared and deconstructed (Torre, 2005).\nContext: The small public high school in our study is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status: in the 2013-2014 school year, students identified as 36.2% Hispanic or Latino; 25% White; 24.1% Black or African American; 11.2% Asian or Native Hawaiian; and 3.4% multiracial. Also, in the year of the study, 45% of students were considered \"economically disadvantaged\"; 11% of students had individualized education plans (IEPs); and no students were currently classified as English language learners (New York State Education Department, 2014). The school's selective admission policy screened potential students with middle and high school reading and math scores and interviews. Overall, the school readily met state and district literacy and math standards, something that likely provided a protective layer for a critique of high stakes testing, which we will address in the study findings.\nMethods: Data sources for this inquiry included a digital portfolio of the research team's proposal, data collection plan, transcripts, analysis codes, archives of their final presentation (a Jeopardy game), photographs and videos of presentations and notes from educational conferences where we shared this work. Tiffany also used lesson plans, audio notes and teacher journal reflections of the class in the tradition of practitioner inquiry (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 2009).\nFindings: We trace the ways in which school-based YPAR projects enable youth who sit in classrooms together to realize common cause and engage with rather than flatten the differences in their experiences. Our findings illustrate:\nConclusions and implications: Like many approaches to critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970), affording youth agentic positions such as researchers and experts on their own experience (as test-takers, for instance) creates new possibilities for learning, engagement and advocacy. When youth researchers collaborate with one another, teachers and administrators to confront social inequities within their schools and beyond, they share power and responsibility for the curriculum as well as the social fabric of the school. In determining their curriculum, youth and teachers in this study were afforded unusual agency to question and critique institutional systems and speak back to the deficit assumptions about adolescents and their teachers made by the corporate testing industry. We would like to imagine more literacy and learning spaces where youth are engaged in \"deep participation,\" the kind that focuses their sights on what they can change.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine a school-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project on educational inequity and high stakes testing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A former high school teacher (currently a university professor) and two former students (currently research assistants and university students) take up a youth studies framework to collaboratively resee multimodal artifacts from a tenth-grade course in qualitative research.\nFindings: Findings illustrate the power of finding allies in peers and educators; the transformative power of deep participation; and the longitudinal nature of social change and action. Thus, this research demonstrates that when students are positioned as researchers, experts and knowledge producers, they can collaborate with one another, teachers and administrators to confront social inequities within their schools and beyond.\nOriginality/value: This study has value for applying critical, youth-centered pedagogies in secondary English language arts classrooms and schools.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the relationship between efficiency and profitability	[ "Efficiency", "Profitability", "Performance decomposition model", "Plant efficiency", "Process efficiency", "Profit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Economic profits are usually the measure of financial success for a company. From this point of view, meat products production in Greece seems to be a profitable activity with positive future prospects. The specific sector has additional benefits like increasing demand (4 percent per annum over 1994-2007, ICAP Hellas 2008). Given the dependence of this industry on imports of meat, a concern has been created over the recent years due to the rising prices of meat in international markets and the resulting negative impacts on the cost of production of meat products in Greece. Thus, the interest of managers and policy-makers focuses on how this industry can remain competitive and have positive results in the future. It is argued that one solution is to improve its performance. A practical question arises, concerning to what extent the manufacturing companies of meat products in Greece can enhance their performance, and how it should be measured.Although numerous models have been proposed for assessing efficiency, a new methodological proposition to capture overall firm performance has been recently developed by a team of few researchers. According to this line of research, the division of the production process into stages is needed for measuring the real firm performance. Supporting this view, authors Seiford and Zhu (1999) measure performance in terms of profitability and marketability, by using two independent data envelopment analysis (DEA) models where the outputs of the first model are the inputs of the second model. A complementary stream of active research, based on two-DEA models, too, evaluates performance focusing on efficiency and effectiveness in the USA's urban transit systems (Karlaftis, 2004), Taiwan's commercial banks (Ho and Zhu, 2004) and electronic industry (Ho, 2007), manufacturer-retailer networks in Germany and Switzerland (Mouzas, 2006), and the banking industry (Tsolas, 2010; Kumar and Gulati, 2010; Eken and Kale, 2011). Few authors extend this research methodology by measuring the efficiency of a three-stage production process via the use of a triangular DEA model (Keh et al., 2006; Garcia-Sanchez, 2007). In recent years, however, the literature states that the conventional DEA model is not an appropriate decomposition approach for performance evaluation, because it cannot take into account the series relationships of stages within the overall process (Kao and Hwang, 2008; Chen et al., 2009). For this purpose, new performance decomposition models are developed to provide more accurate estimates of the performance of a two-stage production system, such as the model of Kao and Hwang (2008) and the additive performance decomposition model of Chen et al. (2009). Despite this growing body of literature, no evidence was found on firm performance and the association between efficiency and profitability for the meat processing industry.This paper intends to contribute to this insight by evaluating the performance of Greek meat processing companies in terms of technical efficiency and profitability for the period 1994-2007. For this, the model proposed by Chen et al. (2009) is applied. The utilisation of this approach stems from the need to estimate the important aspects of sample companies' performance that are neglected in literature (e.g. profitability). Further, the division of the production process into the stages of efficiency and profitability contributes to the discovery of the drawback areas within each company in our sample so that appropriate efforts can be devoted to improve its overall performance. The discussion on these issues is becoming increasingly important, because during the last decades, Greece came to a phase where the financial difficulties of companies and the relocation of several industrial activities in other countries to lower costs put in question the survival of a number of manufacturing sectors. Notwithstanding, our findings relate to the context of meat processing production in Greece, they may be valuable for developing appropriate strategies to enhance performance in meat processing industry across the world.The next section explains the methodology and describes the data used in this paper. The third section presents the results regarding performance, profitability and efficiency assessment. The fourth and final section discusses and provides a summary of the results obtained from the analysis.\nMethodology: An approach for measuring the performance of two-stage production systems\nEmpirical results: Measures of efficiency, profitability, and overall performance\nDiscussion: This study was designed to identify the relationship between technical efficiency and profitability in the Greek meat processing industry for the period 1994-2007 by using the new performance decomposition model proposed of Chen et al. (2009). Results showed the firms with a higher technical efficiency were not usually the best performers in profitability. This result is consistent with some previous studies (Kumar and Gulati, 2010), but it also differs from others, which found a positive relationship between efficiency and profitability in other areas (Karlaftis, 2004; Mouzas, 2006). These ambivalent results could be explained by literature. Within framework of major stream of research on performance, the differences in the relationship of efficiency and profitability are usually due to a complex set of reasons. The efficiency and firm profitability heterogeneity may be derived by any differences among industries (Bain, 1956; Porter, 1985), firms (Penrose, 1959; Barney, 1991; Rumelt, 1991; Grant, 2002; Newbert, 2008), or strategic groups (Caves and Porter, 1977), which can be strategic beneficial with positive effect on firm performance.In order to investigate the sources of efficiency and profitability heterogeneity at the level of individual firms, an efficiency-profitability matrix is used. This matrix is a simple technique used in the literature for helping managers to identify the weak areas causing inefficiencies within the company and develop the appropriate strategy for increasing the performance of each firm. Results suggested the existence of a small number of large firms with higher profitability and higher efficiency, which in their majority, are members of a group. Such a finding is seen to support the view that the efficiency and profitability advantages of these firms could be a consequence of greater capabilities of a large firm to exploit economies of scale and scope, and to achieve a better market penetration. Given that group ownership was another characteristic of the large star firms, efficiency and profitability advantages observed in them might be due in other part to the greater capabilities of a company joining in a group to exploit economies of scope, to use the same brand name to promote multiple products, and to transfer knowledge and apply an internal benchmarking between the members of group. This finding is in agreement with past studies in other sectors that showed significant positive effects of group ownership on firm's performance (Assaf et al., 2011; Keramidou and Mimis, 2011). A relatively higher performance of large companies was also discovered in the Indian bank sector (Kumar and Gulati, 2010).Besides, the advantages of large firm size and group ownership, this study even discovered small firms with higher level of performance, efficiency, and profitability. From this outcome we infer that a superior performance can also be achieved by obtaining competitive advantages in narrow market segments, or advantages of conductive low costs, through the use of low cost family labour, various forms of flexibility, and other, often illegal, practices of cost economies (tax evasion, etc). These findings further support the evidence of past research that found small firms to attain a higher level of performance in other areas (Assaf et al., 2011; Keramidou and Mimis, 2011). Another important observation is that the majority of sample companies with higher efficiency or profitability were small-and medium-sized and simultaneously vertically integrated. This result supports the view that advantages in firm profitability or efficiency may be derived from their greater abilities of vertically integrated companies, to decrease the transaction cost or achieve market power and hence influence the term of a transaction, such as price, quality standards, and/or delivery dates.The empirical results of this study revealed further that Greek meat processing industry was underperforming by a great degree that tend to increase over the time. It is somewhat surprising why this should be the case, as it expected that the greater competition brought about by globalisation and the decrease of interest rates that comes along with the integration of Greece into the EMU in 2001 should produce performance gains over time through improvements in management and technology. Some efforts to understand why the efficiency and profitability tend to be decreased require knowing more information. Despite this, one might speculate that the new globalised environment favored the presence of investments which likely tend to increase the rate of sub-utilisation of existing capital resources. If this is the case, the capital overcapacity might be partly related to managerial practices of using subsidies provided by the European Union for purchasing machinery irrespective of firm size, needs of firm, and demand provision. A similar argumentation is developed by Keramidou and Mimis (2011) when they attempt to explain the weak relationships between the integration of Greece in the EMU and the technical efficiency of Greek poultry companies.Strategies for enhancing profitability and efficiency of firms was also attracted the interest of the present research. According to our results, the average sample company could increase its performance, by remedying managerial inability to fully exploit potential technology and human resources and increasing its profitability. Certainly, managers of the majority of sample firms need to concentrate more on profitability issues and make decisions that can leverage existing profit generating capabilities while developing new ones. A similar conclusion is reported by previous studies in others sectors (Eken and Kale, 2011; Kumar and Gulati, 2010), while a different image is presented by other authors such as Mouzas (2006) who found lower technical efficiency as the main cause of underperformance in the US transit systems. Beside this general conclusion, the findings of the current study supports the view that improvement of performance requires different strategies depending on the causes of inefficiencies within each company. The firms with lower profitability and higher efficiency should place more emphasis on generating profits, while the recommended strategy for the companies with higher profitability is improving mainly their technical efficiency by decreasing the waste of inputs. Managers could make their operations more efficient, by adopting similar practices, to those of best performers in the sample. It is obvious that a multitude of institutional interventions and managerial initiatives need to be undertaken to increase the return of capital employed, to promote staff efficiency and decrease the excessive use of labour. Additionally, our research results provide a ground to conclude that profitability may be improved through the cost-saving pathway in following the example of firms that identified here as benchmark firms. Profit enhancement strategies might be pursued by identifying non-value added costs and establishing a long-term framework for cost reduction including optimization of the material costs, changes to organisation structure, adoption of new technology, and working capital improvement. Further, profitability and efficiency improvement can be realized through additional measures for revenue growth. Lastly, special attention should be paid by the worst-performing companies to identify the sources of their inferior performance and to develop appropriate strategies for increasing their ability in using the resources and in generating profits. The specific group of firms should take actions for moving into the zones of higher efficiencies, or should investigate the possibility of leaving the market and entering in other sectors.\nConclusions: In an age of globalisation characterised by greater and more intense competition, the firms are increasingly forced to search for new ways of decreasing inefficiencies in order to maintain their competitive positions in the market. Meeting the needs of company management, a body of literature has evolved applying a performance decomposition model to identify the main source of inefficiencies within a firm. The motivation of this line of research was to provide more detailed information that could help managers to open the \"black box\" of production for detecting the weak areas that cause low performance, and simultaneously detect the strengths that could be proposed as a benchmark across the industry. This paper attempted to contribute to this insight, providing new evidence on the performance of Greek meat processing companies, focusing on technical efficiency and profitability over the period 1994-2007. This analysis was based on the performance evaluation model proposed by Chen et al. (2009), which has not yet applied in the Greek industries. The purpose for implementing this method is to obtain consistent inferences in measuring performance, efficiency, and profitability.The current research was the first to show that technical inefficiency and low profitability were the major sources of the poor performance of the Greek meat processing industry observed in the period 1994-2007. Surprisingly, performance, efficiency, and profitability were found to decrease in the same period, despite the new global economic framework and the integration of Greece into the EMU. It is interesting to note that except for the few companies with relatively high efficiency and profitability, 75 percent of the sample firms presented a relatively great degree of productive factors overcapacities or/and ineffectiveness in creating profits. The main source that caused low performance was mainly due to managerial inability to be effective in generating profits and less importantly to the inefficiency in using the productive factors. On the question of the relationship between efficiency and profitability, findings showed that the majority of the efficient firms are not the best performers in profitability. Investigating why some firms were capable of achieving superior performance, it was discovered that the differences in performance among the firms were derived from their different capabilities. The new insight, resulting from this analysis, might be of help in formulating strategies for performance improvement in the Greek meat processing industry context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to identify the relationship between efficiency and profitability by using data from Greek meat processing companies over the period 1994-2007.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The relationship of efficiency and profitability is studied, by applying a new performance decomposition model. This method is capable of making valid and consistent inferences about the performance of a two-stage production system, as well as the main sources of inefficiencies within a company.\nFindings: - A poor performance over the study period is observed in the sample companies. The low performance is mainly due to the low profitability. The results do not confirm the existence of a positive strong correlation between efficiency and profitability. The companies that have the capability of producing their products with the best practices are not always capable of generating the maximum profits.\nPractical implications: - The need for the improvement of performance has two aspects: first, it is a demand for the effective use of resources, and simultaneously, it is an urgent requirement for the generation of profits. According to the study findings, the long-term survival of firms in our sample seems to require adopting mainly profitability-enhancing strategies.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides one of the first evaluations of performance focusing on efficiency and profitability, by applying an innovative performance decomposition approach that has not yet been applied in Greek industries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
On the mechanical response of multilayered pentamode lattices equipped with hinged and rigid nodes	[ "Bending-dominated regime", "Layered systems", "Pentamode lattices" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The peculiar mechanical behavior of confined pentamode lattices, which allows such structures to carry unidirectional compressive loads with sufficiently high stiffness, while showing markedly low stiffness against shear loads, has been illustrated in a series of recent studies available in the literature (Amendola et al., 2016a, 2016b, 2016c, 2017). While many cell unconfined pentamode lattices feature zero Young modulus in the stretch-dominated limit (Milton and Cherkaev, 1995; Norris, 2014), the research presented in (Amendola et al., 2016a, 2016b, 2016c, 2017) has shown that single- and multi-layer structures formed by the alternating pentamode lattices and stiffening plates are able to oppose a noticeable degree of rigidity to unidirectional compression loads in the bending-dominated regime because of the confinement effect provided by the stiffening plates. Such a feature is essential when developing mechanical metamaterials that need to carry significantly large loads perpendicular to their outer surface while exhibiting low (theoretically zero) rigidity against transverse shear forces (Amendola et al., 2016a, 2016b, 2016c).\n2. Layered pentamode lattices: Throughout the manuscript, we examine laminated structures built by stacking layers of pentamode lattices and stiffening plates in the vertical direction.\n3. Stiffness properties of multi-layer pentamode lattices: 3.1 Bending-dominated regime\n4. Concluding remarks: We have reviewed recent studies on the elastic response of multilayered structures obtained by alternating pentamode lattices and stiffening plates. In particular, we have evaluated the effective stiffness properties of confined pentamode lattices in the stretching and bending-dominated regimes. We studied the variation of these values with the number of the unit cells in the horizontal and vertical direction. The analyzed results highlight that layered pentamode lattices exhibit high elastic stiffness against compression loads and, contemporarily, very low or nearly zero rigidity against shear and twisting loads. In particular, it has been shown that the ratio between the compression modulus and the shear modulus of FCC systems increases with the number of layers stacked in the vertical direction. These results allow us to conclude that such laminated metamaterials may be considered as innovative anti-seismic devices (Fabbrocino et al., 2016; Fraternali et al., 2015a, 2015b, 2015c), offering several advantages over other the available structural bearings (Kelly, 1993; Benzoni and Casarotti, 2009). Consider, indeed, that the European Standard EN 15129, as well as other international seismic engineering standards, defines a seismic isolator as a \"device possessing the characteristics needed for seismic isolation, namely, the ability to support a gravity load of superstructure, and the ability to accommodate lateral displacements\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review recent literature results on the mechanical response of confined pentamode structures behaving either in the stretching-dominated or the bending-dominated regimes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analyzed structures consist of multilayer systems formed by pentamode lattices alternated with stiffening plates and are equipped with rigid or hinged connections.\nFindings: It is shown that such structures are able to carry unidirectional compressive loads with sufficiently high stiffness, while showing markedly low stiffness against shear loads. In particular, their shear stiffness may approach zero in the stretching-dominated regime.\nOriginality/value: The presented results highlight the high engineering potential of laminated pentamode metamaterials as novel isolation devices to be used for the protection of buildings against shear waves.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Decision making under uncertainty? R&D activity and market value during financial crisis	[ "Innovation", "R", "D" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Among intangible assets, patents and research and development (R&D), have been the subject of thorough attention by scholars. R&D, in particular, is considered of paramount importance for the growth of modern industrial firms (Hall, 1999; Klette and Griliches, 2000; Shefer and Frenkel, 2005; Stam and Wennberg, 2009; OECD, 2013; and for a survey Hall and Lerner, 2010). This interest reflects widespread technological change and innovation, as indicated also by the rise in the importance of technology-oriented firms (in the biotechnology, ICT, etc., sectors), see for instance Hall and Bagchi-Sen (2002). In addition, R&D is widely considered as a critical input for innovation and an important driver of economic growth.\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: 2.1 Theoretical background\n3. Research methodology: This section provides the variables' definition in the regression models, followed by the sample and the data collection.\n4. Results: In this section we first present the descriptive statistics, the structure of the sample and the correlation matrix, followed by the regression analysis. The latter consists of the following sub-sections: the analysis of the full sample; the analysis with samples split by time period and the analysis with samples split by firm size.\n5. Discussion: In this section we discuss our results with the focus on the three hypotheses.\n6. Conclusion: This paper copes with the R&D expenditures-market value of firms relationship using panel data from firms listed in major European stock indices for the period 2002 to 2012. The full sample used in the current study consists of 1,463 firm-year observations (133 firms for 11 years each). The results presented refer to three different hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that R&D expenditures of a firm positively affect its market value (H1). The second is that major economic events (like the global financial crisis) negatively affect the effect of innovation expenditures on the market value of a firm (H2) while the third one is that R&D expenditures have a greater effect in the market value of large firms compared to small firms (H3). An econometric model that includes variables for R&D intensity, profitability, risk and growth was used in the regressions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the research & development (R&D) and innovation management literature, the question of whether or not to perform research in the private sector is always a pertinent one. Several studies have used market value to measure its association with a firm's R&D performance. Nevertheless, in Europe there have been considerably less studies as compared to the USA because the analysis is complicated by data issues and different country-specific laws. The purpose of this paper is to further advance this field of research. The study provides insights into the strategic decision behind conducting R&D.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The econometric analysis is based on a unique panel data set of 133 companies in 13 European countries which is collected from the Bloomberg database covering the time period from 2002 to 2012.\nFindings: The empirical findings are as follows: there is weak evidence in support of the hypothesis that R&D expenditure positively affects the firm's market value, a fact which is confirmed by other published works; there is weak evidence that economic events can disrupt the connection of R&D programs with the market value of firms; and for a highly controversial topic in the literature, data suggest that small firms are rather favoured more from R&D expenditure than large firms.\nOriginality/value: The current study expands the discussion regarding the effect of R&D on the market value of firms via empirical evidence, within the specific environment of the European financial crisis. Future managerial, informed-based, decisions can be drawn on the present results.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Interpersonal influence in the workplace - part one: an introduction to concepts and a theoretical model	[ "Influence", "Personality", "Team working", "Psychological tests", "Training", "Management development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This article is the first of a three-part paper considering influencing behaviour in the workplace, the ways in which people at work go about getting their way with others. It presents a research-based model of influencing behaviour to facilitate understanding of the strategies people use in their attempts to get others at work to do things they may otherwise not do, as well as the ways in which they combine these strategies in the form of an overall influence style. It specifically considers the relationship between an individual's influencing behaviour and personality and contextual variables that may impact on the use of such behaviour.The second part of the paper will present research findings that shine light on the nature of the relationship between influencing behaviour and both personality and contextual variables. The third part will present further findings that explore the relationship between influencing behaviour and team role behaviour.This article is divided into two main sections. The first section provides a theoretical introduction to the subject, proposing a definition of power and influence, and consideration of their inter-relationship. The second section of the article provides an account of a model of the process of interpersonal influence and a hierarchical model of influencing behaviour. The process model of interpersonal influence identifies three major elements that impact on an individual's choice of influencing behaviour, namely, the person, their role and their orientation to that role. These three elements are considered more fully, together with descriptions of how they are measured in the second part of the paper.Previous research into why people at work adopt particular patterns of influencing behaviour has tended to look at either personality variables (e.g. Lee-Chai et al., 2001) or situational variables (e.g. Kipnis et al., 1980) but not both. Moreover, when consideration has been given to personality variables, the focus has tended to be on specific traits like communal and exchange orientation (Clark et al., 1987) rather than the whole personality domain, as described by the \"Big five\" factor model of personality (e.g. Costa and McCrae, 1992). This paper combines an overall model of the process of interpersonal influence with a hierarchical model of influencing behaviour.Some elements of the model proposed build on a previous model (Manning et al., 2006) exploring the determinants of an individual's team role behaviour, i.e. their habitual way of behaving in a particular team, including behavioural strengths and weaknesses. The original model asserts that an individual's team role behaviour is related to three sets of factors, namely, their personality and two sets of contextual variables: the expectations of their work role and their orientation to that role. The first and second parts of this paper extend this theory, proposing that these three variables are likely to impact on an individual's influencing behaviour. The third part augments previous research by describing the relationship between influencing behaviour and team role behaviour.\nKey concepts: power and influence: In this article, we follow Dahl's (1957), widely quoted definition of power: \"A has power over B to the extent that A can get B to do something that B would otherwise not do.\" This definition indicates that power is the ability to get someone to do something, even if it is against their will. We accept Barry and Watson's (1996) definition of influence as the use of deliberate actions by an individual, the agent or influencer, with the expectation that those actions will bring about a desired change in the cognitions or behaviours of the target person, or influencee, that would not have occurred otherwise.It is implicit in the above definitions that the concepts of power and influence are closely inter-related. In simple terms, we can say that power is about being able to get to get someone to do something, while influence is about actually getting them to do it. Thus power is about potentiality, while influence is about actuality. Influence is about the exercise of power.In arguing that the concepts of power and influence are inter-related, we are not suggesting that there is a simple and necessary causal relationship, nor are we asserting that the necessary consequence of the exercise of power is successful influence. Indeed, interpersonal influence is a complex social psychological process between agent and target, within which the perceptions of both parties play a crucial role. In order to understand the nature of this social psychological process, it is useful to illustrate the main elements in diagrammatic form and then describe them in more detail.\nA social psychological model of the process of interpersonal influence: Figure 1 identifies two parties involved in the influence process, the influencer (or agent) and influencee (or target). At the heart of the process is the behaviour of the influencer that leads to a response from the influence. Perceptions, in the form of expectancies, play an important part in both influencer behaviour and influencee response. Jones (1990) and Kelley (1971) define these expectancies as prior judgements, hunches and predictions about the behaviour of others, as well as the social contexts within which interaction occurs.There are feedback loops between the behaviour of the influencer and the expectancies of the influencee and, similarly, the response of the influencee and the expectancies of the influencer. In other words, the responses of the influencee will impact on the judgments, predictions and hunches of the influencer. Similarly, the behaviour of the influencer will impact on the judgments, predictions and hunches of the influencee. These feedback loops serve to either confirm or refute the judgements, hunches and predictions about the other person. This is likely to result in either the confirmation or revision of expectancies and, in turn, is likely to result in behaviour being repeated or revised. Thus cognitive processes are seen to play a vital part in what might otherwise appear a deterministic process.Three sets of factors impinge on the expectancies of both influencer and influencee, namely, the characteristics of the person, the nature of their work role and their orientation to that role. These three factors arise from the individuals, the organisational contexts in which they operate, and their orientations to such contexts. The impact of these three sets of factors on behaviour and responses is mediated through expectancies. Once again, this highlights the ways in which cognitive processes are seen to play a vital part in what might otherwise appear a deterministic process.In order to understand this process more fully, it is useful to consider the nature of influencing behaviour and the three sets of factors that impinge on the expectancies of both the influencer and influence. The following two sections address these two sets of issues.\nA hierarchical model of influencing behaviour: Figure 2 depicts influencing behaviour in the form of a hierarchical structure. This hierarchical structure is based on empirical research on the ways in which people seek to influence others and the observed relationships between such behaviours. At the most specific level there are the tactics, or behaviours, associated with particular influence attempts, e.g. the use of logic or threat of sanctions. Clusters of tactics are seen to combine to produce sets of strategies, e.g. reason and coercion. Finally, clusters of strategies are seen to combine to produce style dimensions that are characterised in terms of pairs of polar extremes.The following account describes the various strategies that people use in their attempts to influence others, along with examples of specific tactics of which they are comprised, and the ways in which they combine to produce the dimensions of influencing style.\nInfluencing strategies: Manning and Robertson (2003) concluded that previous research into how people seek to influence others at work has identified six broad sets of influencing strategies, namely:1. Reason. Using reason, information and logic to justify a request.2. Assertion. Making a direct request for what we want and expressing how we feel about the situation, including persisting with requests.3. Exchange. Working together for the best overall result, offering an exchange of benefits, being prepared to compromise.4. Courting favour. Bringing oneself into favour with the other person by being friendly to them or positive about them.5. Coercion. Threatening to use, or actually using, some kind of sanction, including being unco-operative and doing as you wish.6. Partnership. Getting the support of others at all levels both within and outside the immediate situation.Further research by Manning and Robertson (2003) looked at the relationships between the ways in which individuals at work tend to use the six sets of influence strategies in combination. It found that these combinations can be accounted for in terms of three independent clusters or dimensions of influence. An individual's position on these three dimensions of influence describes their influencing style.\nInfluencing style: The three dimensions of influence are described briefly below.1. Strategist-opportunist\nFactors that impinge on an individual's choice of influencing behaviour: This article presents a framework for exploring the ways in which influencing behaviour, the strategies and styles described above, are related to the following three sets of variables:1. Personality i.e. an individual's enduring personal qualities or habitual ways of behaving.2. Team role expectations i.e. the expectations associated with a particular position in a team.3. Team role orientation i.e. the autonomy in that position and the individual's commitment to it.The above three sets of factors are illustrated in Figure 3. The second part of this paper presents research findings on their observed relationship to influencing behaviour. These findings confirm that these various sets of factors are inter-related and thus lend support to the model itself, as well as to the usefulness of the various measures employed in the research.The input and output variables in Figure 3, as well as instruments for measuring, are described more fully in Manning et al. (2006). It is, however, useful to briefly describe the various concepts, in order to understand the research findings presented subsequently, in the second part of this paper. Descriptions of the psychometric instruments used are listed in the Appendix.\nPersonality: First of all, it is necessary to outline the approach used to describe individual differences in personality. These are described using the \"Big five\" factor model. The five dimensions of personality described by this model are:1. Extroversion. This is about how comfortable people are in social relationships, how socially inhibited they are; at the two polar extremes are the \"introvert\", who is uncomfortable in social relationships and socially inhibited, and the \"extrovert\", who is comfortable in social relationships and socially uninhibited.2. Tender-mindedness (agreeableness). This is about people's sensitivity and responsiveness to others, including the extent to which they will defer to them; at the two polar extremes are the \"tough-minded\" individual, who operates at a thinking level and is reluctant to defer to others, and the \"tender-minded\" individual, who operates at an emotional level and tends to defer to others.3. Conscientiousness. This is about the number of goals an individual pursues and the extent to which they pursue them in a focused and structured way; at the two polar extremes are the \"spontaneous\" individual, who pursues many goals in an unfocused and unstructured way, and the \"conscientious\" individual, who pursues few goals but does so in a focused and structured manner.4. Anxiety. This is about the ways in which individuals respond to the stresses and pressures of life; at the two polar extremes are the \"stable\" individual, who is emotionally resilient, and the \"anxious\" individual, who is emotionally reactive.5. Openness. This is about an individual's openness to new experiences; at the two polar extremes are the \"conventional\" individual, who is relatively closed to new experiences, and the \"inquiring\" individual, who is relatively open to such experiences.\nTeam role expectations: Four dimensions of team role expectations are identified as follows:1. Overall responsibility. This is related to the overall level of responsibility associated with a given job, particularly the responsibility for managing or leading others, and is indicative of an individual's position in their organisational hierarchy. This ranges from positions with relatively low levels of overall responsibility or \"follower\" roles, to those with relatively high levels of responsibility or \"leader\" roles. This is linked to what French and Raven (1968) refer to as \"legitimate\" power, which they see as being based on the individual's position within a formal hierarchy.2. Generalist versus specialist. This appears to relate to the extent to which an individual is either a \"generalist\", and achieves results through interpersonal relationships at all levels, or is a \"specialist\", and achieves results through the use of specialist or technical knowledge and skills, including skills in problem solving. Low scores on this dimension seem to be linked to what French and Raven (1968) call \"personal\" power, which is based on the personal qualities of the individual, while high scores appear to be linked to what they call \"expert\" power, which is based on special knowledge or expertise.3. Completer versus creative problem solver. This appears to relate to the extent to which an individual's role is that of a \"completer\", with the focus on completing practical details, or that of a \"creative problem solver\", with the focus on analysing problems and coming up with well thought out, imaginative solutions.4. Implementer versus technical investigator. This appears to be related to whether an individual's role is that of an \"implementer\", with the emphasis on organising and implementing tasks, or that of a \"technical investigator\", with the emphasis on investigating technical or specialist developments externally.It should be noted that the labels used to describe the high scores on the third and fourth dimensions have been changed from those that appeared in the earlier article by Manning et al. (2006) that also used this framework. This follows reflection on the original research in the light of findings from this research study. It should be emphasised however, that the measures have not been changed, only the labels used to describe them.\nTeam role orientation: The relationship between influencing behaviour and team role orientation was also explored. Two aspects of team role orientation were considered, namely, the \"autonomy\" in a particular position, and the individual's \"commitment\" to that position.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to model the relationship between influencing behaviour, personality traits, work roles and role orientation. It builds on previous research into team roles, highlighting the relationship between influencing behaviour and team role behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Statistical analysis on questionnaire data from a mixed, work-based, UK sample is used to assess relationships between influencing behaviour, role expectations, role orientation and team role behaviour.\nFindings: - The paper argues that team roles access different types of power and influencing behaviours depending on role and role orientation. Findings establish a link between influencing behaviour and team role behaviour, as well as personality traits, developing the idea that there is a significant social dimension to team roles.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research does not consider specific influence attempts, nor does it present evidence regarding the effectiveness of patterns of influencing behaviour in particular contexts.\nPractical implications: - The paper highlights the relationship between influencing behaviour and personality and contextual variables. Considering \"when\" different strategies and styles are used may offer guidelines for action. Findings reinforce the significance of the social dimension of team roles and indicate a need for further research to consider the success of influencing behaviour in different contexts.\nOriginality/value: - Previous research into influencing behaviour has focused on its relationship to either situational variables or personality traits and, where personality variable have been studied, they have been specific traits. This research considers both sets of variables simultaneously and covers the whole personality domain. This is the first study of the relationship between team role behaviour and influencing behaviour.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Once learned, never forgotten: effective leadership development with social construction as a threshold concept	[ "Leadership development", "Leadership", "Attribution theory", "Social construction", "Autoethnography", "Threshold concept" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: For centuries, leadership development has focused on learning from leaders. What traits did they possess? What skills did they use? What challenges did they overcome? How did they change their behavior? What made them charismatic? How did they capture people's imaginations? How did they manipulate their followers? But, for centuries, those wishing to become leaders or hoping to improve their leadership skills have been frustrated that the leadership insights picked up from their analysis of leaders did not translate into positive change. They remained onlookers desperately seeking a definition of leadership and practical guidance for their own leadership development.\nUnlearning leadership: Over the years, I have taught many theories of leadership, leadership issues and controversies, and been engaged in practical leadership development. I shared the frustration of many leadership instructors as none of my teaching had the effect of creating leaders. I might have improved a few communication and persuasion skills and produced some interesting insights but not the wholesale change that my students were looking for. As a result, a few years ago, I changed my theoretical perspective. Instead of thinking of leadership as a quality of leaders, I adopted the social construction approach, also known as attribution theory (Meindl et al., 1985) and began thinking of leadership as a quality of observers, or, as the saying has it, as being in the eye of the beholder.\nThreshold concepts: A threshold concept is quite a new idea in educational technology. It denotes an idea that is fundamental to the subject, which once appreciated opens up new ideas, and once understood, can never be unlearned. Examples would be transaction costs in economics, or gravity in physics. The idea is that mastery of such concepts signals the end of rudimentary learning in a subject and opens up a new set of advanced ideas. Threshold concepts are the difficult ideas that, once conquered, mark the transition from basic to advanced learning (Meyer and Land, 2005).\nSocial construction as a threshold concept: Once students grasped social construction as a new approach to leadership, it looked and behaved as a threshold concept; it opened up a new appreciation of leadership. Students no longer wanted to learn the theories in the textbooks, instead they wanted to understand the leadership theories inside their own heads - their implicit or lay theories of leadership. These theories explain how they perceive leaders and how they behave when they want to be viewed as leaders. They wanted to know how their own brains were biasing their actions. To help the students surface and unravel their implicit theories, I used another suite of activities (e.g. word association, projective exercises, rich pictures, and cognitive mapping) that encouraged them to look inwardly (Schyns et al., 2011). From a rudimentary understanding of their own implicit leadership theories, the \"penny dropped\". To be seen as a leader by someone, there is no point doing what you think is leadership. Instead, you must be seen to do the things that accord with the observer's implicit theory of leadership. For my students, this was the big aha moment; the moment when they finally \"got\" leadership.\nConclusion: This is a practical and effective way to teach leadership that brings leadership alive for students and makes it relevant to their work. It requires the instructor to abandon their past notions of leadership being a quality of leaders and focus instead on individual's own behavior when they want to be seen as a leader. This puts leadership in a psychological realm in which sensation, perception, and attribution are the key factors. Rather than being grounded in an analysis of \"the good and the great\", it is grounded in an analysis of every person.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to discuss leadership development with social construction as the underpinning theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is an autoethnographic study of the author's insights from teaching leadership from a social construction perspective.\nFindings: The social construction approach to leadership looks and behaves as a threshold concept in leadership. It takes students' learning to a higher level, opens up a new curriculum, and changes their understanding of leadership for good.\nOriginality/value: The discovery that the social construction approach to leadership looks and behaves as a threshold concept suggests that there is something fundamentally important with this perspective. It positions the social construction approach as an overarching theory that helps students re-evaluate, appreciate, and find value in traditional leadership theories.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Collection development procedure adopted for acquisition of EIRs across agricultural libraries of northern India	[ "Electronic information resources (EIRs)", "Impact of EIRs", "Acquisition of EIRs", "Agricultural libraries of northern India", "Identification of EIRs", "Selection of EIRs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The process of collection development starts from identification of an information resource and its selection by subject experts and the efforts of library staff to identify and adopt the most suitable mode of identification, selection and acquisition. The advent of electronic information resources (EIRs) along with the associated ICT infrastructure is observed to continuously bring about one or another change in almost every library activity. The advent of electronic form of information resources has made it mandatory for the librarians to change their selection and collection development strategies. It is because of the fact that the nature, constitution and mode of availability, mode of storage and delivery, quantum and cost, opportunities of sharing and communication, etc. have registered a remarkable change. Identification of an information resource has become easy, fast, flexible and economical in the sense that a large number of catalogues displaying lists of information resources pertaining to a particular subject are readily available over the internet. Therefore, whenever a subject expert intends to prepare a list of information resources for procurement, he does not have to wander from place to place or from library to library to collect bibliographical details and compile such list. Moreover, at present, the publishers have kept the librarians on their mailing lists and keep them apprised about the newly published information resources through e-mail alerts. The librarians in turn immediately route these lists to teachers, scholars and sometimes even to students of specific disciplines through e-mail with utmost ease and with almost no monetary involvement. The publishers have even empanelled the reputed subject matter specialists on their mailing lists for making them aware about the latest arrivals in their respective fields. Thus, the subject matter specialist can choose the desirable items within minimum possible time, without any hard work and route the selected items to concerned librarians or the approving authorities for further process towards their procurement. However, the factors like that of high magnitude of information, diversity of products, multitude of formats, overlap between information products, complexities in licence models, range of delivery options, variation and escalation in cost, bundling, accessibility, coverage, reliability, authenticity, currency, support, backup, compatibility, etc. render the selection of EIRs much more complex than print era (Gupta, 2011; Singh, 2006). The libraries as such need to involve more and more subject experts and user communities in the overall identification and selection process. That is possible only once a dynamic, well-articulated and user-friendly mechanism is available for the purpose.\n2. Statement of problem: It is an admitted fact that e-resources are different in nature than their print counterparts; as such, the collection development process has also registered a significant change. The study in hand is an effort to explore the change(s), if any, registered by the collection development procedure (CDP). For this purpose, only a few constituent aspects of CDP have been studied, with an elaboration presented in objectives section. The outcome of the study will help to see if the advent of e-resources has laid any significant impact on this basic library affair and in turn may help the libraries under investigation to know the popular CDPs in vogue at present. The findings may also bring forth the necessary measures these libraries need to take for improving and easing out the collection development process.\n3. Objectives: The study has been conducted with following objectives in view:\n4. Scope: The scope of the study has been confined to agricultural libraries of northern India. Four out of seven north Indian states were selected randomly as a sample for investigation. Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab are thus the states under investigation. In total, seven well established agricultural universities exist in four selected states. All the seven universities were selected for study, whose detail is given in Table I.\n5. Review of literature: Because of the limited information resources at stake, the investigator could not locate any research study having a direct bearing with the topic or the objectives under study. However, a few studies deemed of some relevance are reviewed as under.The academic libraries at present are observed to prefer acquisition of EIRs as compared to print for bringing about quick improvement in teaching, learning and research through economical and speedy dissemination of information (Rao and Choudhury, 2009). According to Poornima and Goudar (2005), electronic means are increasingly substituting the print means of acquiring the information and carrying out the associated process. ICT is progressively replacing the old methods of collection development, storage, retrieval and communication of information (Saxena, 2009). In this context, Kaur and Verma (2009) are of the assessment that the libraries have developed new paradigms to sustain in the digital environment, and the technology has forced the libraries to digitise even the information available with them in print form. The electronic era has impacted the process of acquisition of information resources in the sense that the libraries are able to communicate with the publishers and vendors of information resources with utmost ease (Ashoor, 2000; Siddiqui, 2003):In the highly competitive and growing market of electronic information resources, an important area of concern for libraries is to see how to individually or collectively and cost effectively acquire the best of information products and services (Malhan, 2006, p. 487).The advent of ICT has opened doors for purchasing the information sources on the basis of a demand-driven acquisition, wherein only those documents which observe the highest demand are purchased to ensure efficient utilisation of budget (Currie, 2012, p. 4). However, in the changing scenario the publishers are observed to lay emphasis on selling their information products in a bundled mode.\n6. Methodology: A survey of the select universities was made during 2015 while using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. The investigator also interacted with the librarians through telephone and availed the e-mail service for required correspondence.\n7. Data analysis and interpretation: The essential aspects related to collection development process of e-resources have been investigated, and the data are analysed under following four sub-headings:\n8. Findings: As obvious from objectives, the term collection development in this study was used to mean identification, selection, recommendation and approval of acquisition of information resources. The facts ascertained about different aspects of electronic collection development in agricultural libraries of northern India are as follows:It is evident from the Table II that there is a major change in the identification, selection and acquisition procedures, as the libraries under scope of present study are seen to use different procedures than the ones used in print era. Contrary to print era when print type of catalogue and manual means played a main role, the e-resources are found to be identified and selected on the basis of the facts and features observed through:\n9. Conclusion: Change is the law of nature and is unavoidable under lively circumstances. Collection development in libraries is also considered as a living phenomenon and thus is vulnerable to change from time to time. It is evident from the findings of the study that because of the advent of EIRs, the CDPs have undergone a paradigm shift from manual (print) to automated (electronic) means. Though the identification, selection and recommendation authorities are uniform across the agricultural libraries of north India, the opinion of students and library staff needs to be given a due regard for this purpose. The libraries of northern India are also heading from ownership to access mode of collection development, but perpetual (lifetime) access to EIRs is proving to be of prime importance, rather a pre-requisite, for reliable and sustainable access of information in the electronic era.\n10. Suggestions: The librarians should arrange for an onsite demo of product and services and an online trial access from publisher or vendor at regular intervals. This needs to be done well ahead of the scheduled meetings of identification/selection committees, so as to collect adequate feedback of users and place the same before the authorities for deliberation. The requisitions from students and suggestions of library staff need to be given due consideration, which does not seems to be the case at present. This is owing to the fact that students constitute a major chunk of library clientele and are generally the most voracious users and the needy category among all. The members of library staff are the real observers of the actual usage of information, and hence, they are the best judges to decide the most relevant and useful information resources from the users' point of view. In view of the tendency of libraries to majorly opt for current and perpetual access to backfile collections, planning and financial authorities need to allocate adequate funds on recurring basis to enable the libraries to enrich the electronic information resource base in tune with the requirement of their clientele.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the change(s) brought about by the advent of electronic information resources in the overall collection development process across agricultural libraries of northern India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted in 2015 by using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. The investigator also interacted with the librarians through telephone and also availed the e-mail service for required correspondence.\nFindings: There is a major change in the identification, selection and acquisition procedures across agricultural libraries of northern India, as the majority of these libraries are seen to adhere to an onsite demo of products and services, as the publishers/vendors to set online trial for ample of time before any decision is taken. The libraries are also seen to take advantage of e-mail correspondence to identify, select and acquire best possible information products against utmost economical costs. The responsibility of identifying and selecting the required items devolves mainly with scientists/subject experts, whereas the requisitions of students and suggestions of library staff are comparatively taken as lesser cognisance, while executing this job Library advisory committee is the most prominent authority responsible for final approval of the purchase of e-resources, while \"Heads of Divisions\" also play a considerable role in this regard.\nResearch limitations/implications: Only seven agricultural libraries have been taken as a sample. Moreover, the work is confined to only four aspects, i.e. the identification, selection and acquisition procedures adopted and the authorities responsible for carrying out the job. Other aspects like that of adoption of proper collection development; policy and the criteria used for selection; and acquisition of information also need to be studied. Similar studies need to be conducted in other parts of India and also across libraries of other domains of knowledge.\nOriginality/value: This is a first work of its nature in northern India with its domain as agricultural libraries. The findings will help the librarians and the library advisory committees to decide on logical grounds about the identification, selection and acquisition procedures adopted at present and look forward for bringing about the uniformity and improvement in the process and make changes in the policy to make room for efficient acquisition of information resources.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring the effects of role efficacy enhancement on knowledge workers: Evidence from Indian IT industry	[ "Knowledge workers", "IT sector", "Organizational work stress", "Role efficacy", "HR interventions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The information technology (IT) industry has become one of the significant growth catalysts for India. As per the IT industry body NASSCOM, IT-business process management sector (excluding hardware) is estimated to have grown by 10.3 percent in 2013-2014 and is expected to touch the figures of USD100 billion by end of financial year 2015. Not only has this industry registers highest relative share in the national gross domestic product but has also emerged as the largest private sector employer employing 3.5 million highly skilled knowledge workers (KWs). Work-related stress has become a serious problem for many engaged in knowledge work occupations. Research on work stress has highlighted its negative effects for both individual and organizations. Overseas assignments are far more stressful than domestic assignments and also have high rate of failure. Expatriate management research has found that the foreign assignments are costly and also have a high rate of failure (Tungli and Peiperl, 2009). Satisfaction level of an expatriate is considered as a key indicator for continuing on the assignment. It has been identified by various researches that work stress has been the main reason for affecting job performance and satisfaction in domestic companies. Work stress increases absenteeism and turnover among employees. Work stress increases because during foreign assignments expatriates are required to adapt to unfamiliar environmental demands both inside and outside the workplace abroad. One of the major determinants of the work stress is the perception of an employee about his role. When a KW gets some foreign assignment then he projects his own expectation from the role and develops some perception about the role to be performed. Hence, the performance of an individual depends upon the way his role is designed. For effective performance on a role a KW is required to have technical competence and the other requisite knowledge and skills. Similarly the role is also required to allow him to utilize his skills and potentials. Therefore integration between the person's expectation from the role and the role offered to him is required for increasing the effectiveness at work. If the expectations of the KWs from the role to be performed is met by the role offered to them then they develops a positive perception toward the role which decreases their stress level. On the other hand if there are differences between the role expectations of the KWs and the role offered to them then they develop a negative perception toward the role. In such a case KWs cannot utilize their potentials and competencies in their current job.\n2. Theoretical foundation of the study: Organization with higher RE has higher organizational effectiveness (Kapoor, 2011). When the role receiver is not able to communicate his queries regarding his tasks to the role sender and also the role receiver does not get full information about his job tasks then he is likely to suffer from anxiety and uncertainty (Tubre and Collins, 2000). Desirable work-related outcomes cannot be achieved by individuals exposed to unclear and incompatible role expectations from companies, colleagues or customers (Rizzo et al., 1970).\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. Survey instrument development\n4. Results: The methodology for data analysis adopts two steps. The first explore the factor structure of measurement items. The second investigates the effect of each explored construct on intervening and dependent constructs.\n5. Discussion: For H1, b2-value is 0.298 and significance value is 0.036 which supported that influence is having a positive relationship with RE. When a person's role allows him to influence others or some situations like decision making, scheduling, implementation then he becomes more effective in his role.\n6. Conclusion: Given the fact that IT industry in India has enormous potential be in the form of its contribution to the export earnings for the country and employment generation of its skilled KWs, issues related to job efficacy and job satisfactory has emerged as a major challenge before HR professionals. The key HR trend to find \"right job for the right candidate\" assumes great significance for this knowledge-based industry which has emerged as the favoured destination for global sourcing. Although this study provides an insight into the relevance of RE in increasing the personal effectiveness of KWs and also about the role of enhanced RE in decreasing the stress of KWs, it has few limitations like sample size could have been increased to get more accurate results. More variables of RE could have been added to know the complete and full mechanism governing RE and stress of KWs. Future researches can also focus on the new dimensions of RE which have not been explored in the present paper. In the present paper impact of RE has been explored on KWs in IT sector only, it can be explored in other industries also.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Knowledge workers (KWs) in information technology (IT) sector have become one of the key drivers for strategic competitiveness as they contribute toward an organization's performance. In this context, the role of knowledge workers, who work on deputation to client side, is even more critical as they contribute directly to the revenue inflows. The purpose of this paper is to explore their role efficacy (RE) and organizational role stress dimensions, which have been affecting their performance and organization effectiveness. The study further explored the relationship between RE and role stress dimensions. Two distinct samples were identified, one where Indian KWs working in Indian company and Indian KWs working in foreign firm, where they have been discharging client facing technical roles.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A primary study has been conducted choosing questionnaire survey and telephonic interviews. A questionnaire was designed in such a manner so that the authors can extract the required information from the respondents about various dimensions of RE. This instrument was used to test the conceptual model of RE. Overall 50+ responses were obtained from IT companies in each of the two selected categories.\nFindings: The results have shown that role expectation conflict and role isolation are the two major dimensions contributing to role stress for the selected sample, while centrality and integration have contributed to overall role efficacy for both the categories. Human resource interventions were suggested to enhance their RE and reduce their role stress.\nOriginality/value: This study made an attempt to investigate the relationship between RE and role stress dimensions of the KWs which has not been attempted in any previous published literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Explaining the intention to use technology among student teachers: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)	[ "User studies", "Communication technologies", "Students", "Teachers", "Behaviour", "Singapore" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For many educational systems, the integration of technology has been recognized as one of the key drivers to the improvement of teaching and learning, leading governments to launch major initiatives and made considerable capital investments to build and maintain support information communication technology (ICT) infrastructures in the schools. Acceptance of technology has been a topic that has occupied researchers for the last two decades. From the literature, researchers were interested in identifying the conditions or factors that influence technology adoption and usage (Legris et al., 2003). Arising from this motivation, several models were developed to help in predicting technology acceptance. Among these models, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) is a widely-used and validated model.Theoretical framework\nMethodology: Research participants and data collection\nResults: The statistical analyses in this section include examining the descriptive statistics of the measurement items and assessed the reliability and validity of the measure used in this study. This is followed by testing of the hypotheses by assessing the model fit using various fit indices and evaluating the research model.Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and conclusion: This paper aims to examine the key predictors underlying pre-service teachers' intention to use technology. Using the TPB as a research model, the results of this study showed that attitude toward computer use and subjective norm have significant effect on behavioral intention to use technology, while PBC does not. Overall, the three variables contributed about 40 percent of the variance in behavioral intention to use. This suggests that the TPB is fairly efficient as a model to predict the behavioral intention to use technology among pre-service teachers in Singapore. It is possible that when pre-service teachers have positive attitude, they would be inclined to use technology. This finding supports current research, which found a close relationship between a positive attitude and technology use of technology (e.g. Teo, 2006, 2008, 2009). Also, when pre-service teachers think that others whose opinions they (pre-service teachers) value, they are motivated to use technology.Of the exogenous variables, behavioral intention was not significantly predicted by PBC, as hypothesized in the TPB. It was possible that PBC alone was not enough to motivate pre-service teachers to use technology. For example, pre-service teachers may not use technology simply because the conditions were favorable (e.g., technical support was provided), a facet of perceived behavioral control. However, the results in this study showed that perceived behavioral control is significantly correlated with attitude and subjective norm. An examination of the interplay of the three exogenous variables (ATU, SN, and PBC) on behavioral intention to use is warranted to acquire greater insights into the TPB's propensity to explain technology usage intention.This study is limited on several grounds. First, the data were collected through self-reports and a single method of data collection. This may have lead to the common method variance, a situation where the associations between variables tend to become inflated. To address the issue of common method variance arising from a single method of data collection, future research could employ the multi-trait multi-method (MTMM). Second, the sample in this study employed pre-service teachers as participants. The fact that the participants are teachers-in-training may have influenced their responses. For example, the items in the questionnaire may have been interpreted with a professional frame of mind. As such, the findings in this study may be limited in terms of it generalizability to other populations. Future research may include additional variables to assess their impact on the TPB to explain the behavioral intention use technology. In addition, attempts could be made to unpack and clarify the role and properties of perceived behavioral control as a variable in the TPB.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine pre-service teachers' self-reported intention to use technology by employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the research framework.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In total, 157 student teachers completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs in the TPB. These were administered at the beginning of the course in which technology was taught and used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the technique for data analysis.\nFindings: - The results of this study showed that attitude toward usage and subjective norms were significant predictors of behavioral intention to use technology while perceived behavioral control was not. Overall, this study found that the three explanatory variables in the TPB explained about 40 percent of the variance in behavioral intention to use technology.\nOriginality/value: - This study contributes to the growing interests among researchers in using models to explain users' intention to use technology. While prior research have use the theory of planned in explaining variables of interest in psychology, this study attempts to test the explanatory ability of the TPB on the intention to use technology in an educational setting. By doing so, the paper hopes to obtain greater insights into the applicability of TPB to explain issues of educational interests.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Labour market conditions and crime in Greece	[ "Greece", "Crime", "Unemployment", "Social deviation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Ever since the seminal work of Becker (1968), a growing body of empirical literature has addressed the issue of how criminal activity is affected by the prevailing social and economic conditions (inter allia: Fadaei-Tehrani and Green, 2002; Beraldo et al., 2011; Habibullah and Baharom, 2009; Buonanno and Montolio, 2008; Nelen, 2008; Ponsaers et al., 2008; Caruso, 2011; Rodgers et al., 2008). A strand of this literature, has focused on how labour market conditions and unemployment levels in particular affect criminal activity rates (inter allia: Lester, 1995; Yang and Lester, 1994; Lee and Slack, 2008; Calvo-Armengol et al., 2007; Lee and Holoviak, 2006; Tang, 2011; Witt et al., 1998). Essentially, as Habibullah and Baharom (2009) note, the economic approach to crime postulates that it is strongly associated with the prevailing economic conditions in a country and the situation in the labour market in particular since the up- and downturns of the economic cycle will invariably be reflected in the available employment opportunities. Ceteris paribus, unemployed persons are more likely to engage in illegal and criminal activity compared to people at work since the opportunity cost of crime for the former group is lower compared to that of the latter (Fadaei-Tehrani and Green, 2002). A policy implication of such an association is that, if indeed unemployment is an important determinant of criminal activity, it follows that any policy to curb crime needs to take into consideration the prevailing conditions in the labour market (Lee and Holoviak, 2006). On the other hand, however, it has also been argued that this causality direction may in fact be reverse, i.e. from crime to unemployment since a criminal record may adversely affect employment opportunities for people (Borland and Hunter, 2000).As already pointed out, a plethora of studies have empirically addressed the issue at hand. The reported findings, although by no means uniformed and unambiguous, provide strong evidence in favour of a close association between prevailing economic, social and labour market conditions on the one hand and criminal activity on the other in the sense that individuals that find themselves in a disadvantaged socioeconomic situation are more likely to engage in criminal activities (Tang, 2011; Habibullah and Baharom, 2009; Buonanno and Montolio, 2008; Entorf and Spengler, 2000). In particular, among other factors, inequality and unemployment have emerged as important determinants of crime rates in various countries, although this is not always the case for all types of crimes (inter allia: Witt et al., 1998; Carmichael and Ward, 2000, 2001; Wu and Wu, 2012; Lee and Holoviak, 2006; Narayan and Smyth, 2004; Allen, 1996; Scorcu and Cellini, 1998). Other studies, however, have failed to establish a statistically strong association that would support the unemployment - crime causal ordering hypothesis (Yang and Lester, 1994; Pyle and Deadman, 1994).In line with such studies, the purpose of this paper is to address the unemployment-crime nexus using Greece as the vehicle of empirical investigation and contribute to this growing body of literature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that this issue is being addressed in the case of Greece. Furthermore, the causality relationship between Greek labour market conditions and criminal activity is investigated using disaggregated crime data statistics published by the Greek police force. This data set includes 14 different types of criminal activities and this may provide a better framework for analysis and inference. The 14 crimes used in the analysis are: homicides, frauds, rapes, extortions, illicit trade in antiquities, beggary, animal theft, thefts and break-ins, vehicle theft, contraband and smuggling, robberies, sexual exploitation, forgeries and fire arm felonies. The causality issue between the variables involved is examined through a battery of tests for the period 1991-2007. The time period choice was very much dictated by data availability issues. In the section that follows, labour market and criminal activity trends are presented while in Section 3 the methodology and empirical findings are presented and discussed. Section 4 concludes the paper.\n2 Crime and unemployment trends in Greece: According to the crime data published by the Greek police[1], during the period in question, i.e. 1991-2007, recorded criminal activity has broadly exhibited a general upward trend with the inevitable annual variation. The total crime rate[2] increases up to 1997, it then declines for the next three years, and it roughly stabilizes until 2005 and then rises again. Unemployment[3] on the other hand has risen steadily up to the late 1990s and then has generally followed a downward through the period in question (Figure 1).Similar general upward trends were exhibited during this period by most of the 14 crime categories for which annual data are published by the Greek police force (Figure 2). Again, allowing for the inevitable annual variation vehicle theft, robberies, forgeries, fire arms felonies and frauds display a steady rise throughout the period. Thefts and break-ins have exhibited a more cyclical behaviour with a sharp increase up to 1997; they declined until 2004 and since then have steadily risen. Contraband and smuggling almost steadily increases up to 2003 and sharply declines ever since. Homicides have for the most part remained unchanged exhibiting only a slight downward trend from 1997 onwards and a roughly similar trend is observed with the other crime against persons, rapes. A sharp decline in the very first years and then a steady trend is also the case with extortions while illicit trade in antiquities has generally declined throughout the period in question. Finally, a more varied annual behaviour is observed in the cases of animal theft and beggary but with a declining overall trend. The period annual average crime rate stands at 7.13 while the maximum crime rate of 8.9 was recorded in the very last year of our sample period, while the minimum of 5.53 at the beginning of it in 1992 (Table I).In terms of the composition of total criminal activity by far the largest is thefts and break-ins (Table II). On average the this type of crime accounted for about 67.4 per cent of total crimes committed during this period taking a maximum value of 77.14 per cent in 1996 and its minimum of 60.16 per cent in 2004. The next largest contributor to total criminal activity in Greece is another property crime. Vehicle thefts have on average accounted for almost 21 per cent of total crimes recorded during this period with a maximum value of about 28 per cent in 1999 and a minimum of 14.9 per cent in 1992. These two types of property crime constantly account for about 85-90 per cent of recorded crimes annually throughout the period. More violent and serious crimes, such as homicides and rapes, are on average very low contributors to total recorded crime (Table II).Turning to the unemployment rate[4], during this period on average stood at 9.6 per cent as it can bee seen from Table I. In particular, it steadily rises up to 1999 when it takes its maximum value for the whole period of 12 per cent. Then, it follows an almost steady falling trend to reach 8.3 per cent in 2007. Its minimum price for the period is recorded right at the beginning in 1991, while if the sample is broken into two sub-periods (1991-1999 and 2000-2007), unemployment is slightly higher in the latter sub-period of our sample.In the section that follows, using a battery of tests, we examine the possible presence of a causal relationship between unemployment and recorded criminal activity in Greece for the period 1991-2007. The causality question between labour market conditions and illegal activity is investigated using disaggregated crime data statistics for 14 different types of criminal activities as published by the Greek police force.\n3 Methodology and empirical findings: 3.1 Granger causality tests\n4 Concluding remarks: The issue of the possible close association between labour market conditions and criminal activity has attracted considerable attention in the relevant literature. Essentially, the argument is that as employment opportunities deteriorate and unemployment rises, this will have a positive impact on crime. Thus, in this context, a growing number of studies sought to investigate whether this hypothesis can find a modicum of empirical verification. The issue of the nexus between unemployment and crime was taken up by this paper in the case of Greece a country for which no previous studies have addressed this question. Furthermore, the causal ordering between the two variables was examined using disaggregated crime data published by the Greek police force. In particular, in this study, the dynamic linkages between the unemployment rate and 14 different types of crime were investigated for the period 1991-2007. The empirical results reported herein, show a significant Granger type association of the unemployment rate with three, out of the 14, types of crime: vehicle thefts, robberies, contraband and smuggling. The reverse connection holds only for the contraband and smuggling type of crime with the unemployment rate. A plausible explanation for this finding may be that it reflects the possible adverse impact that a criminal record has on employment opportunities assuming that employers are more reluctant to employ people with a criminal record. But the fact that this was a finding in the case of only one crime type renders this explanation rather weak and perhaps warrants further investigation. Clearly of course, the small sample size, although marginally within the acceptable range (Maddala, 1992), does raise issues concerning the reliability of the results reported herein. On the other hand, however, our empirical results are robust with respect to various statistical tests used, including Granger causality tests, a variance decomposition analysis, and an impulse response analysis. Overall, it would appear that our findings in the case of Greece are mixed, just as in the case of previous studies mentioned above, since no Granger type nexus was established between unemployment and all types of crime. Out of the 14 different types of crime only in three cases, we can establish an association between unemployment and criminal activity. Namely, with vehicle thefts, robberies, contraband and smuggling. Given that such criminal activity is primarily motivated and driven by economic gain, our results offer support to the hypothesis that an unemployed person, i.e. in a disadvantageous socioeconomic position, is more likely to engage in illegal and criminal activities that are likely to yield economic benefits for the perpetrator. A policy implication of this finding, is that crime thwarting policies need to be complemented by corresponding labour market interventions especially in periods of recession when unemployment emerges as a major problem for disadvantaged social groups.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of unemployment on various types of crime in Greece.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A battery of econometric tests, including Granger causality tests, a variance decomposition analysis, and an impulse response analysis are used to explore the nexus between unemployment and 14 different types of crime.\nFindings: - Out of the 14 different types of criminal activity, only in the case of three - vehicle thefts, robberies and contraband & smuggling - was a nexus with unemployment established.\nPractical implications: - Given that such criminal activity is primarily motivated and driven by economic gain, a policy implication is that crime thwarting policies need to be complemented by corresponding labour market interventions, especially in periods of recession, when unemployment emerges as a major problem for disadvantaged social groups.\nOriginality/value: - The issue between labour market conditions and crime has not been addressed before in the case of Greece, a country that has experienced a generally growing crime rate.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Filling a position of corporate governance in France: a practical introduction	[ "France", "Insurance liability", "Insurance", "Delegation", "Dismissal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: France has been ranked the sixth most attractive destination in the world for foreign direct investment (A.T. Kearney, 2004). UK-based investors are estimated to be majority shareholders of approximately 310 subsidiaries in France (for a total investment of about EUR600 million), and US-based investors are estimated to be majority shareholders of approximately 620 subsidiaries in France (for a total investment of about EUR2.2 billion) (Kremp et al., 2004). Essential to the operation of these investments is the appointment of their officers and directors. However, appointments are often made without a full understanding of the risks entailed or the forms of protection available.In particular, those from \"Anglo-Saxon\" countries often overlook a fundamental difference between Anglo-Saxon and French perspectives: under the Anglo-Saxon perspective, the duties of a company's officers and directors are principally to its shareholders, and, specifically, they hold the duty to maximize shareholder value. On the other hand, the French perspective is much larger: a company's officers and directors also hold duties to the company itself, to its employees and its employee representative bodies, to other third parties, and to the public at large.This being said, the duties of the officers and directors of French companies are not incomparable to the duties of the officers and directors of \"Anglo-Saxon\" companies. In particular, the French concept of \"errors committed in the course of management\" (this concept is discussed in detail below) is in many ways similar to the Anglo-Saxon concept of \"duty of care\". Both are founded in agency law and result from the necessity to delegate responsibility. As open-ended obligations, both are intended to serve as cost-efficient means of monitoring the behavior of officers and directors over long periods of time, and under unforeseeable circumstances (Fanto, 1998). To this end, both concepts, stripped to their essence, require officers and directors to act reasonably and prudently. Where these concepts have arguably differed, at least until today, has been in their application: Anglo-Saxon courts have a history of applying these concepts with vigor and precision, whereas French courts, long criticized for their failure to adequately apply them, have only recently begun to do so on a consistent basis.The purpose of this article is to provide a practical introduction to the legal issues involved in serving in a position of corporate governance of a French company. This article describes the personal liabilities that someone serving in a position of governance of a French company may incur, considers the chances that a corporate governor will actually face personal liability, and explains the forms of protection that are available. These issues concern all governors of French companies, including those who do not have French nationality or who do not live in France. While many of the principles discussed in this article apply to publicly- and privately-held companies alike, this article focuses upon the situation of governors of privately-, wholly-owned or nearly wholly-owned subsidiaries. This article should be useful, on the one hand for foreign parent companies who seek to fill a position of corporate governance in a French subsidiary, and, on the other hand, for those who contemplate filling such a position.For the sake of simplicity, this article shall make reference to the governors of a societe anonyme (SA, which is comparable to a PLC under UK law and to a corporation under US law), and, more specifically, to the members of its Board of Directors (Conseil d'Administration) and its Directeur General (DG). However, most of the principles discussed in this article also apply with respect to the corporate governors of other forms of French companies, most notably the forms of societe par actions simplifiee (SAS) and societe a responsabilite limitee (SARL).\nForms of liability: Criminal liability\nConclusion: Many multi-national companies and other investors have subsidiaries in France, and they often appoint foreigners to serve as officers or directors of these subsidiaries. But these appointments do not come without risk, as well as some surprises. It would be wise for both foreign multinationals and those they appoint to have a full understanding of the legal issues involved.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to provide a practical overview of the personal liabilities (criminal, civil and other) that a governor of a French company may incur, to consider the chances that a corporate governor will actually incur personal liability, and to explain the forms of protection available.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This article is based on an analysis of French legal provisions and case law, as well as on both French and English-language commentary. It is written from the perspective of a governor of a French company and, especially, of a privately-held French subsidiary of a foreign parent. This article analyzes in a general manner the entire spectrum of possible liabilities that a corporate governor may incur.\nFindings: - There exist particularities of French law which often come as a surprise to foreigners. The corporate governors involved in an LBO of a French target must structure the acquisition carefully in order to avoid violating French criminal law. There has been an increasing trend in France to make corporate governors accountable, and French case law is full of examples of corporate governors being held liable by reason of their position, on the basis of many types of violations. A corporate governor may be at least partially protected from personal liability with insurance, with increased cash compensation, and/or with one or more delegations of powers.\nPractical implications: - Enables both foreign multinationals and those they appoint to positions of governance of French companies to obtain a full understanding of the legal issues involved.\nOriginality/value: - First English-language analysis of the legal issues involved in serving as a governor of a French company, from the perspective of a governor. This article is useful for both foreign parent companies who seek to fill a position of corporate governance of their French subsidiaries, and those who contemplate filling such a position.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Winery visitation sets: Intra-regional spatial movements of wine tourists in branded regions	[ "Winemaking", "Tourism", "Australia", "Regional marketing", "Brands" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The spatial movement of tourists within their primary destination has arguably been the \"cinderella\" research activity of tourism. While researchers are still fixated on elucidating tourist motivations and movements to and from a destination, the actual intra-destination movement should be viewed as a source of veritable new concepts and understanding.Wine tourism in Australia is considered to encompass visitation to wine producing areas and facilities to experience related wine, food, landscape and cultural activities (Winemakers Federation of Australia, 2002). The visitors to a wine region move within the wine region between different wineries and facilities catering for their various needs as tourists and visitors (wine, food, accommodation, petrol station, etc.), thereby creating spatial patterns of movement within the context of so-called wine tourism. The attractiveness of the wine region as a primary destination is on where it is located geographically and how all the inherent landscape and vineyards, as well as built characteristics (infrastructure and winery production facilities for example) are perceived. Furthermore, a variety of practical factors such as time available, weather, travel companions and so forth would impact on how the visit would occur or progress. Within this context, motivations and needs governing the choice of which wineries to visit, the first-time (FT) or repeat visitor (RV) dynamic, as well as visitors' familiarity with wineries, products or brands would arguably influence their behaviour and inter alia all movement patterns. It would therefore affect the visitor's spatial patterns of intra-wine region movement.Wineries compete to attract visitors. The relationship between wine producer, product and wine consumer has become a finely balanced business partnership in the context of the highly competitive global wine market (Hall et al., 2000; Getz and Brown, 2006). Wine tourism is recognised as a modern, economically based construct imbedded in consumptive behaviour and viewed by producers as an opportunity for direct wine sales (Bruwer, 2002; Dodd and Gustafson, 1997; Hall et al., 2000). More importantly, it is also regarded as a promising beginning at the place of origin for the long-term wine consumer-product relationship, to be nurtured perpetually. Consequently, the battle for visitors' attention is first fought at the level of providing a unique experience at the cellar door (or winery facility) that could be transposed into brand loyalty, repeat visitation and spreading the word (Dodd, 1995, 1999; Charters and Ali-Knight, 2002; Hall et al., 2000; Mitchell, 2006).Given the rich variety of factors influencing behaviour, it could be assumed that the intra-destination wine region movements are guided by both careful planning and conversely, on-the-spur-of-the-moment decision making. Whereas simultaneously predictable and random, the spatial movement of visitors in wine regions can be conceptualised in a theoretical construct, as will be demonstrated in this article.\n2. Literature framework: Wine tourism or visitation to wine regions is a phenomenon that has come under close scrutiny mainly in the last decade. The theory and definitions relating to the main field(s) of the research it is rooted in, namely tourism and leisure, has generated many still ongoing and much deliberated issues. Wine tourism as a fairly new special interest element thereof is however, not greatly endowed with in-depth theory. Themes prevalent in the emergent body of research in the field of wine tourism have only recently been identified. Mitchell and Hall (2006) list seven themes: the wine tourism product, wine tourism and regional development, quantifying winery visitation, segmenting the winery visitation market, behaviour of winery visitors, the nature of the winery visit and biosecurity and wine tourism. Carlsen and Charters (2006) in turn identify five thematic groupings in research publication: wine tourism culture and heritage, wine tourism business, wine tourism marketing, wine tourists and wine tourism systems. More specifically, the aspects most likely to be relevant to the intra-destination spatial patterns in wine tourism, namely the motivations of the visitor, the FT/RV dynamic and branding on regional level are broadly encapsulated within these.2.1 Motivations\n3. Winery visitation set (VS) conceptual theory: 3.1 Background\n4. Research study: The main aim of the study was to explore whether the visitation behaviour of visitors in terms of the choices of wineries to visit to a branded wine region would result in discernable patterns, which are related to individual winery identities. The secondary aim was to identify the antecedents to the visitation behaviour of the wine tourists. It should be noted that this exploratory study is focused on the conceptualisation, development and gathering of data to broadly support the directions identified towards what can eventually be developed as a well-rooted theory and is as such path-breaking in nature. No setting and statistical testing of hypotheses are therefore conducted as such in this article as this would be \"premature\".4.1. Study area\n5. Research findings: 5.1 Visitation dynamic\n6. Conclusions, implications, limitations and recommendations: 6.1 Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to discern the intra-regional visitation patterns of wine tourists. Exploratory research was conducted in two branded wine regions, to conceptualise the spatial movement of wine tourists in a theoretical construct.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Information was obtained from a random sample of 214 visitors to 25 wineries in two branded wine regions in South Australia. Data were collected by means of face-to-face interviews using a highly structured questionnaire at each of the winery cellar door venues.\nFindings: - A conceptual theory regarding winery visitation sets (VSs) was developed. Discernable spatial visitation patterns to wineries result from the dynamic interaction of visitors' needs and the incumbent winery profiles that exist in a hierarchy within a wine region. The grouping of sequentially visited wineries in the three-tier hierarchy form specific VSs of wineries. Winery profiles are initially determined by visitation incidence: the most visited Regional Centre Point (RCP) winery is followed by sequentially less visited regional profile (RP) wineries and a third tier of regional attribute (RA) wineries. Visitation pattern trends are identifiable and differ between first-time and repeat visitors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - It is possible to detail the market segmentation of wine tourists quite accurately in terms of their psychographics and demographics and favoured visitation patterns within the branded wine region. This will also provide important insights into the balance of winery and cellar door roles in the region and confirm the \"optimal\" number of wineries required to fulfil the needs of the ever-increasing numbers of wine tourists.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is of value to academic researchers, wine industry practitioners and travel and accommodation providers alike as it provides the foundation for a conceptual theory to explain the discernable intra-regional visitation patterns of wine tourists to the cellar doors of wineries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumers' willingness to pay for organic products in Thailand	[ "Welfare economics", "Agricultural economies", "Environmental economics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The growth and development of modern organic farming has at least in part resulted from the increasing support offered by both governments and non-government organisations (NGOs) (Lorlowhakarn et al., 2008). Organic farming in Thailand was initially implemented by local NGOs in the early 1980s. These groups established the Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN). Their goal was to educate and promote sustainable methods of agriculture via co-operation with farmer groups and traders. The Green Net Cooperative and Earth Net Foundation were established in 1993 by the AAN. These two organisations worked together to develop systems for organic agricultural production, and to provide a fair-trade market service to producer groups. They also worked to promote organic food consumption in both domestic and international markets. Organic farms supported by the AAN played an important role in developing organic farming in Thailand (Panyakul, 2001).\n2. Literature on consumers' WTP for organic products: Many studies have estimated the price premium that consumers are willing to pay. North American and EU researchers agree that consumers are willing to pay more for organic products and are generally willing to pay a premium of ten to 40 per cent for organic products. In one study, the WTP of Spanish consumers was in the range of 20-40 per cent (Sanjuan et al., 2003). Japanese consumers would pay a price premium of 8-22 per cent for certified organic vegetables (Sakagami et al., 2006). Vladicka and Cunningham (2002) reported that most Canadian respondents were willing to pay a 10 per cent price premium for organic products but Argentinean consumers were willing to pay more, with Rodriguez et al. (2009) reporting a very broad range of between about 6 to nearly 300 per cent more. However, the price that consumers are willing to pay for organic products above the price of conventional products does not follow a pattern.\n3. Method: 3.1. Measuring WTP - stated preference (SP) techniques\n4. Data collection: 4.1. Design and structure of questionnaire\n5. Empirical results: 5.1. Socio-demographic profiles of the respondents\n6. Practical implications: The results of this study provide insight for marketers to improve their strategies for enhancing sales of organic products and to assist farmers or producers to develop effective production strategies. Policy makers can use the findings to frame policies for developing the domestic organic product market.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for organics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data at five retail stores in metropolitan Bangkok. Exploratory factor analysis and the double-bound contingent valuation method were used for analysis.\nFindings: Results indicate WTP premiums of 88, 51 and 51 per cent for kale, jasmine rice and pork, respectively. Analysis indicates that respondents are willing to pay a premium if they have already purchased organic products, have good health, strong ethical and environmental concerns, think that organic products provide greater quality and health benefits, and reside in the city. Respondents with children, however, are less likely to pay a premium for organic products. Analysis also indicates that the price premium hinders purchase.\nPractical implications: Efforts should be made by policymakers, together with marketers and producers, to lower the price of organic products to attract more consumers.\nOriginality/value: To enlarge the organic market, one must understand consumers' preferences for organic products and the premium they will pay for them. This is not well-researched. Though several studies have investigated consumers' behaviour towards environmentally friendly products in Thailand, there is little research on WTP. This lack is a major impediment to the growth of organic consumption and the development of organic product markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Toward an understanding of brand sexual associations	[ "Brand gender", "Brand image", "Qualitative research", "Brand sex", "Brand sexual orientation", "Gender studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\n1. Literature review: One of the prime features of the brand is the symbols it represents (Escalas and Bettman, 2005). These symbols create specific meanings for each brand (McCracken, 1993). In this paper, we are particularly interested in using the metaphor approach to brands (Aaker, 1997; Fournier, 1998; Grohmann, 2009; Azar, 2013) to explore the conscious and unconscious (Suphellen, 2000) sexual symbolic meanings the brands incarnate. The use of metaphors to understand consumers' perceptions and behaviors is well documented in the marketing literature (Joy and Sherry, 2003; Fournier and Mick, 1999; Stern, 1995; for a review, see Hirschman, 2007). This approach is based on the idea that consumers may think of brands and products as maintaining some human characteristics. In what follows, we explore the roots and facets of the brand-as-a-person metaphor as used in the marketing literature. We then focus our analysis on the sexual associations studied in the marketing literature, pointing at the literature gap that this paper intends to fill.\n2. Methodology: To overcome the shortcomings of previous research, we conducted an exploratory qualitative study to investigate the sexual imagery that consumers hold about brands. This imagery is the result of consumers' lived experiences with brands and the beliefs they hold about them. Thus, the use of qualitative research methods was well suited to this task, as it urges the recounting of the life experiences of the participants, letting them tell their own visions and stories of brands (Malhotra and Birks, 2007). Moreover, some scholars recommend the use of a qualitative approach when identifying brand associations (Zaltman, 1997; Suphellen, 2000). In this paper, we mobilize a combination of methods and techniques, as discussed later.\n3. Findings: This study explores brand sexual associations. The projective technique, the pen-and-paper exercise and the interview approach helped us to discriminate between brands on a sexual basis. The findings seem to confirm our general assumptions that sexual associations can be inferred from brands and that these associations can be broken down into different constructs that need to be distinguished separately. Consequently, a brand's sex would be the metaphor or inference that a consumer makes when talking about the brand as being male or female. The brand's sexual orientation is then the masculine and feminine behavioral sexual traits applied to the brand, such as being heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. As for a brand's gender, this refers to the masculine and feminine personality traits applied to the brand (Figure 1). All three sexual aspects were evident throughout our sample, regardless of the sex, sexual orientation, religion, family situation, socioeconomic status and the age of the participants. This is evident in the following extracts:\n4. Discussion and conclusions: In this article, the nature of brand sexual associations has been explored. A conceptualization of brand sex, brand gender and brand sexual orientation was defined, categorizations were proposed and the links and divergence between the three constructs were defined. Moreover, nine antecedents of brand sexual associations were identified.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore brand sexual associations and to understand the antecedents of these associations by drawing from an anthropomorphic view of consumption and a socio-psychological perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An exploratory qualitative analysis based on 18 semi-structured interviews was conducted. Following symbolic interactionism and inter-subjectively reflective approaches, three main methods were used: interviews, projective drawings and a pen-and-paper exercise.\nFindings: The results of this paper strongly confirm that a brand is perceived by consumers as having a sex, a gender and a sexual orientation. These findings point toward a crucial distinction between these three constructs. Construct conceptualizations are developed and definitions are suggested. Nine antecedents for brand sexual associations are studied.\nResearch limitations/implications: French subjects constitute the sample. Future studies might investigate the transferability of our results to other cultures. The three constructs broadens the existing brand-as-a-person metaphor and brand gender literature.\nPractical implications: Managers need to consider the construction of their brands' sexual identities, namely, the sexual associations that brand strategists desire to create and maintain. The study of the antecedents of brand sexual associations provides brand managers the opportunity to manage actively those specific types of associations.\nOriginality/value: This research contributes to the brand-as-a-person metaphor and to the brand gender literature with new insights about the nature and structure of brand sexual associations. This paper moves the conceptualization of these constructs forward.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An experiential approach to learning about change management	[ "Change management", "Readiness for change", "Experiential learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The globalization of markets, major technological transformations (digital technology, digitalization and Big Data), transformations of working practices (teleworking, automation, etc.) and uncertainty about the future all combine to raise questions about the exceptional nature of organizational change. For instance, some researchers encourage us to see organizational change as a continuous phenomenon that participates in the evolution of the organization (Tsoukas and Chia, 2002; Autissier and Moutot, 2015). Other researchers emphasize the importance of preparing for change (Armenakis et al., 1999a; Armenakis and Harris, 2009; Holt and Vardaman, 2013). In this new context, it is necessary to question change management practices and the role of the different actors in the process.\nTheoretical framework: In this section, new challenges involved in change management are discussed, before showing how experiential learning can arguably meet these challenges.\nMethodology: Noting an evolution in the way change is being managed in organizations, and the increasing importance of preparing organizations for change, i.e., readiness for change, a group of teacher-researchers decided to develop a course about learning how to manage change differently. This course was devised using three learning tools: drawing, simulation and case studies. These three tools or artifacts (drawing, simulation and case study) draw on experiential learning. This course allows learners, like managers in Continuing Professional Development, to acquire knowledge and skills relating to change management by developing and using their own experiences of change. Whereas literature on readiness for change emphasizes individuals and organizational factors fostering this readiness, it focuses less on the way collective and individual experience helps shaping it.\nResults: The results of the analyses make it possible first of all to identify how the learners experienced the three situations of experiential learning. It is then possible to identify the content of the learning achieved during these experiences by means of the concept of change that they retained at the end of the course. Finally, results show their ability to see themselves as future change managers within their department. These are summarized in Table I.\nDiscussion: encouraging learners to better understand change: The most important result of this study is that it highlights the important role of experience in preparing future managers to face change. If literature related to readiness for change focuses only on individual characteristics and organizational resources, it cannot show how individual experience, nurtured by collective reflection, can itself expand this process of preparation. The experiences in which the learners were immersed during the course, whether their own experiences or developed from the feedback of other learners, becomes in this course a condition enabling them to learn. With this course, students undergo three different experiences of change. The first deals with their history and changes they have experienced in the past. Through the second, regarding teaching method change and simulation, students learn from their own reactions in a situation where they experience change through the new teaching approach or in a situation where they must themselves convince individuals to adopt change, i.e., through simulation. Finally, based on the case study, the last experience of change enables them to learn to reflect on the situations of change experienced by other actors. These results may mirror the current reflection on artificial intelligence. Indeed, literature is questioning the survival of human beings faced with machines of artificial intelligence (Bostrom, 2014; Walsh, 2018). The present results highlight the centrality of human experience in the learning process. Even if research is increasingly focusing on identifying the ways in which machines can learn from experience (Ghahramani, 2015), there are still significant questions raised about this possibility. For example, Ghahramani (2015) attempted to propose probabilistic methods for AI to solve problems wherein uncertainty plays a central role - quite a common situation encountered during change management processes. However, Ghahramani (2015) pointed out a set of issues relating to probabilistic methods, such as scientific model discovery, interpretation and personalization. At this stage, and despite its principle of intelligence based on knowledge acquisition from experience and errors, machine learning fails to understand and learn from all its experiences, from those of others and with others, and yet the learners of this study did just that during this course, therefore enriching the learning process.\nConclusion: This research attempted to show that it is possible to re-examine teaching practices in order to meet future managerial challenges and developments in our society. Consequently, noting first, the increasing importance of the role of change in organizations, and second, the necessary change in the behavior of learner, a change management course is proposed which is founded on the principles of experiential learning. The course used three teaching methods based on experiential learning: drawing, simulation and a case study. Learners were required to assess their own learning by writing reports (one at the end of the first session and the other at the end of the course). Analysis of these reports shows that the great majority of learners progressively changed their initial perception of change. They also learned through questioning individually and in groups the situations of change in which they were immersed in the different sessions of the course. This experience significantly contributes to the existing literature on readiness for change by highlighting the ways in which individual and collective experiences enrich the idea of the readiness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of experience in learning about, and preparing for, change management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A course with a different approach to teaching about change management has been proposed to learners. It uses drawing, simulation and exploration of case studies. Learners wrote reports on change management before and after the course and these reports were then thematically analyzed.\nFindings: Results show the specific ways in which the course places learners in a position to: experience change, use their collective experiences, acquire and develop practical knowledge, and prepare themselves for change. Capitalizing on such experiences of change could arguably become an integral part of an organization's \"readiness to change\" strategy.\nResearch limitations/implications: It would be useful to further investigate what happens after this experience by interviewing learners, later on, in order to analyze how they subsequently use, in a real professional environment, such knowledge and skills acquired during the learning process.\nPractical implications: Using this approach, future managers are arguably better prepared to implement change. Capitalizing on such experiences of change could become part of an organization's \"readiness for change\" strategy.\nSocial implications: The benefits of experiencing change management in a learning environment will only be reaped when firms allocate time and space to such experiential learning. This entails going beyond managing this change to a deeper perspective by identifying key elements to maintain and/or enhance one's experience of managing change.\nOriginality/value: The value of the present paper lies in individual and collective experience as a key element to prepare managers to change management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Establishing an ISO 10001-based promise in inpatients care	[ "Health care", "Standards", "Customer satisfaction", "Service guarantee", "Inpatients care", "ISO 10001", "ISO 10002" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Promises and guarantees have become common features for both products and services and are used by organizations frequently. Although quite similar in application, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2012a,b), a \"promise\" is the \"reason to expect something\" that provides the \"ground for expectation of success, improvement, or excellence,\" while a \"guarantee\" is \"an assurance for the fulfillment of a condition.\" It is evident that both promises and guarantees are connected with customer expectations. Hence, organizations use them to attract customers, to gain competitive advantage and to set high performance goals and thus improve the quality of the product/service (Wirtz and Kum, 2004; Hart, 1988). Well-designed and implemented guarantees help customers understand what to expect and how committed the organization is in meeting those expectations (Hart, 1988; McDougall et al., 1998; Hogreve and Gremler 2009). Such guarantees can enhance customer loyalty (Hart, 1988; McDougall et al., 1998) and satisfaction (McDougall et al., 1998; Levy, 1999). Poorly designed guarantees can damage the reputation of an organization (Wirtz, 1998), and may cause more problems than the intended benefits (Hart, 1988; Wirtz, 1998). When a business states: \"satisfaction guaranteed,\" more questions than answers can result. A customer may ask - what is exactly meant by satisfaction? How do I file a complaint when I am not satisfied? Therefore, \"promises\" and \"guarantees\" need to be clear, concise, accurate and not misleading (ISO 10001:2007, Clause 6.4, p. 4), and have well-designed and implemented supporting activities so that customers know what to expect (Hart, 1988).\nLiterature review: A literature search for \"promises\" in health care often returned the term \"service guarantee\" as an alternative. Hence, no difference between a \"service guarantee\" and a \"promise\" is made in this paper. Hart et al. defined the \"service guarantee\" as:\nResearch objectives and methodology: The research was divided into two phases. Developing the CSP was performed in Phase I, which had two sub-phases: the first involved planning, designing and developing CSPs based on Clauses 6.1-6.4 of ISO 10001:2007, and the second involved defining the CSP supporting activities based on Clauses 6.5-6.8 of the standard. For brevity, Phase II is illustrated in Khan and Karapetrovic (2013) by detailing the implementation of the CSP developed in Phase I (based on Clause 7 of ISO 10001:2007), as well as the maintenance and improvement activities (based on Clause 8 of ISO 10001:2007 and Clause 7 of ISO 10002:2004). As \"code\" has different connotations in health care, it was replaced by the term \"CSP\" throughout this research. The CSPs focussed on patients as the customers of the care. The research participants, in total, included one program manager (PM), two unit managers (UMs) and two registered nurses (RNs). The participants were chosen based on their association with, and knowledge of, the inpatients care. In total, there were five group meetings in which activities in Clause 6 (ISO 10001:2007) were developed and verified. In the initial meetings, participants were interviewed and requested to discuss and come up with the CSP objectives (Clause 6.1) and provide inputs on CSPs (Clause 6.2-6.3). During these meetings, the CSP selected for implementation was also developed (Clause 6.4). Subsequently, the CSP performance indicators (Clause 6.5), procedures (Clause 6.6) and communication plan (Clause 6.7) were defined, and in the following meetings, these items were presented to the participants for discussions.\nCSP planning, designing and development: This section illustrates how Clauses 6.1-6.4 of ISO 10001:2007 were used in constructing CSPs.\nCSP supporting activities: After drafting the CSP, supporting activities were developed and their appropriateness was verified through discussions with the research participants.\nConclusions: Systematic establishment of a CSP and its supporting activities for inpatients care of a hospital in Canada was presented in this paper. Activities needed for the actual implementation were detailed. The step-by-step process of constructing the CSP, based on meetings and interviews performed from 2010 to 2011 and involving caregivers and managers, was illustrated.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore ISO 10001:2007 in planning, designing and developing a customer satisfaction promise (CSP) intended for inpatients care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through meetings and interviews with research participants, who included a program manager, unit managers and registered nurses, information about potential promises and their implementation was obtained and analyzed. A number of promises were drafted and one was finally selected to be developed as a CSP.\nFindings: Applying the standard required adaptation and novel interpretation. Additionally, ISO 10002:2004 (Clause 7) was used to design the feedback handling activities. A promise initially chosen for development turned out to be difficult to implement, experience that helped in selecting and developing the final promise. Research participants found the ISO 10001-based method useful and comprehensible.\nPractical implications: This paper presents a specific health care example of how to adapt a standard's guideline in establishing customer promises. The authors show how a promise can be used in alleviating an existing issue (i.e. communication between carers and patients). The learning can be beneficial in various health care settings.\nOriginality/value: To the knowledge, this paper shows the first example of applying ISO 10001:2007 in a health care case. A few activities suggested by the standard are further detailed, and a new activity is introduced. The integrated use of ISO 10001:2007 and 10002:2004 is presented and how one can be \"augmented\" by the other is demonstrated.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Information sources for thrift shopping: is there a "thrift maven"?	[ "Marketing information", "Shopping", "Cost reduction", "United States of America" ]	[ { "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: One of the most enduring and widely supported concepts in consumer behavior is the ability of word-of-mouth communication to influence product and store choice (Duhan et al., 1997; Higie et al., 1987). While any consumer may provide information to another, marketing research has often focused on certain types of consumers who may have a disproportionate ability to influence purchasing (Feick and Price, 1987; Goldsmith et al., 2003; King and Summers, 1967). One of these consumer groups has been labeled market mavens (Feick and Price 1987) for the maven's ability and desire to provide consumers with information on a variety of products. The purpose of the current study is to develop a scale for identifying mavens in the thrift shopping area, assess its nomological validity, and investigate the demographic and shopping behaviors of these individuals.Thrift shopping can be broadly defined as consumers shopping in a number of alternative retail formats such as estate sales, garage sales, yard sales, flea markets, swap meets, and thrift stores (see Bardhi, 2003; Williams, 2003). Thrift shopping is not just for those individuals with limited economic resources (Bardhi, 2003; Sherry, 1990). Instead, it is a form of shopping which appeals to a large number of consumers with a wide range of household income. In spite of this broad base of consumer appeal, thrift shopping has largely been neglected by academic research. The research that has been done has tended to focus on either developing profiles of thrift shopper segments or examining the thrift shopping experience. Little has been done on the source of information or consumer decision process related to the use of thrift outlets.The research presented here will investigate one method consumers may use to develop information about where to go to satisfy their thrift-shopping urge. There are two related problems consumers face in deciding where to go thrift shopping. The first is deciding which thrift outlet would have the product the consumer may be looking for. Bardhi (2003) noted that thrift stores are often not well organized and product categories from glass wear to women's wear may be carried in a single outlet and displayed next to each other. The mix of product assortments becomes even more varied as one moves into the less structured markets such as flea markets and garage sales. However, the consumer is faced with a finite amount of time to spend thrift shopping. Allocating where to spend that resource is difficult without knowing which outlet may provide the best assortment of merchandise, especially since the assortment is constantly changing.Second, thrift outlets tend to spend little on promotional activities. Thrift stores, except for a few franchise chains, operate only in the local market and generally keep advertising to a minimum in order to maintain the lowest possible prices and, for those thrift stores which are non-profits, allow them to increase the resources available for their community service work. While most garage or estate sales will purchase a small advertisements in the classified section of the newspaper, these rarely provide much information beyond when and where the sale will be held. Thus, thrift shopping is faced with the double problem of consumers not knowing where to shop for the best selection of products as the assortment is always changing, and thrift outlets not providing a great deal of information to help in making the shopping outlet decision.O' Reilly et al. (1984) suggested personal sources of information may be important for creating awareness regarding thrift stores. One source of personal information that has been the object of frequent research in the last 15 years is the market maven. Feick and Price (1987) proposed that consumers may utilize a single source, a maven, for personal information about a broad range products and stores. This type of individual has been identified in multiple cultures (Abratt et al., 1995; Christiansen and Tsiourtis, 1998; Weidmann et al., 2001) and they appear to have a drive to share their information about products and stores with others (Walsh et al., 2004). A \"thrift maven\" may exist who could provide consumers with information on which thrift stores have the best merchandise or the best prices; or possibly, which neighborhoods have the best garage sales. If this type of maven does exist it would extend the concept of the market maven into a new type of market. Extant research of market mavens has focused on their influence of product purchasing for new (not previously owned) products.\nBackground: Market mavens\nMethodology: Research instrument\nData analysis: Examination of the scales\nDiscussion: The concept of a market maven has proven to be an enduring area for research since its introduction by Feick and Price (1987). The current research was undertaken to extend this concept from the new product area to the used product area. A revised scale to assess the consumer's level of thrift mavenism was constructed and examined within a nomological net that included both convergent and divergent measures. The revised scale appears to do a good job of capturing the consumer's self-assessment of their knowledge of the thrift shopping market and their willingness to share this expertise.While the demographic analysis of the thrift mavens only found one significant difference between the three maven groups, there are still some interesting assessments that can be derived from the findings. A number of studies that have examined the market maven concept have found that mavens are predominately female (e.g. Feick and Price, 1987; Higie et al., 1987; Williams and Slama, 1995). Two international studies have found mavens were more likely to be male (Abratt et al., 1995; Walsh et al., 2002). However, the current research found that thrift mavens are as likely to be male as female. This finding is interesting since males in our culture traditionally do not shoulder much of the burden of shopping. Furthermore, thrift shopping presents even more challenges than normal shopping given such issues as constantly changing merchandise, low rates of advertising, and sometimes inconsistent shopping hours. However, thrift shopping may present greater opportunities for males to bargain and feel that they have \"won,\" concepts which were suggested by Otnes and McGrath (2001) to be important components of male shopping behavior.Research on market mavens has also typically found no difference between the three maven groups for the level of income (e.g. Feick and Price, 1987; Walsh et al., 2004; Williams and Slama, 1995). In the current research, income was the only significant demographic difference between the three groups. As would probably be expected, those consumers low on the thrift maven scale had a higher income than either the moderates or thrift mavens. The income level for both moderates and thrift mavens was lower than the mean for the sample of $33,775.The participation of thrift mavens in the thrift shopping market is where we would expect the most differences between the groups. The thrift mavens were significantly different than the low thrift maven groups across all product categories in both the number of times they went shopping for used items in those categories and actually making purchases in those categories. It has been suggested that market mavens pass on information about products that they do not buy (Walsh et al., 2004) and there has been some research to support the notion that mavenism is not a good predictor of a consumer's shopping time or purchasing (Goldsmith et al., 2003). Thus, the finding that thrift mavens shop and buy more is interesting and may make the thrift maven more of a consumer of products than the market maven.Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Thrift shopping (the buying of previously owned products) provides products and shopping pleasure for consumers of all economic levels, however, little is known about how information regarding thrift shopping is acquired by consumers. This research aims to investigate whether there may be a \"thrift maven,\" someone who could and does transmit information about the thrift market to other individuals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A scale was developed from previous research to identify thrift mavens. Data were collected via survey to see if the scale could be used to segment the market and to assess differences in the mavens' demographics and shopping patterns.\nFindings: - The study found the scale valid and useful. Thrift mavens were found to have lower household incomes, but were as likely to be male as female. This finding was surprising since thrift shopping is a more difficult method of acquiring products, and males in the USA are notable for their dislike of the task of shopping. The study also found that thrift mavens both shop and purchase from thrift outlets more frequently than non-mavens.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This was a single study in a single setting. Future research should examine whether this type of individual exists across a range of living conditions (e.g. rural, urban settings) as well as examining such areas as the type of behaviors mavens may engage in to assist fellow thrift shoppers.\nOriginality/value: - The value of this paper is in identifying a segment of consumers who may be key informants for other consumers interested in thrift shopping. Thrift outlets typically have a limited promotional budget, at best, and thrift mavens would be a key resource to identify and encourage to shop at the outlet in order to pass on information.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Integrated FAHP-FPROMETHEE for thermal insulation of masonry buildings	[ "Thermal insulation", "Multi-criteria decision making", "FAHP", "Building user’s preferences", "FPROMETHEE", "Masonry buildings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The final energy consumption in Algeria reached 30 million PET (petroleum equivalent tons) in 2012. Residential and tertiary sectors represent one of the highest energy consumption, with 34 per cent of the total energy production. The existing building stock in Algeria has reached 6,500,000 habitations in 2016, of which 1,050,000 consist of masonry habitations built before 1945 (Denker and El Hassar, 2014). The majority of masonry buildings were constructed according to traditional techniques and materials during the French colonial period. Masonry buildings do not meet any current thermal regulations. The Algerian context offers a great opportunity to perform the thermal insulation of masonry buildings, and this for the two following reasons:\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Multi-criteria decision aid method and thermal renovation\n3. Methodology: This section presents an integrated FAHP-FPROMETHEE method to rank different insulation solutions. The proposed method consists of the following steps:\n4. Case study: In this section, the case study approach was chosen to test the applicability of the proposed method for the thermal insulation of masonry buildings. This approach has been widely used in the literature for the same purpose (Medineckiene and Bjork, 2011), (Zagorskas et al., 2014). The case was selected as a pilot study by the government. It is the building number 11 Boulevard Matta, Oran, Algeria. It is a neoclassical colonial collective building constructed in masonry between the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. An investigation on the building was carried out (Step1). The building has four flats occupied by four different users. The apartments are distributed, two per each floor. The total building volume is 2.320 m3. The floor-area is 580 m2. The building is equipped with four individual heating systems and four individual air conditioning systems. The annual heating and electricity consumption of the building is about 66,332 kWh. The roof is built in vaulted brick floor and metal beams; it has a U-value of 1.69 W/m2K. Exterior masonry walls have a thickness of 55 cm and a U-value of 1.19 W/m2K. The windows are all single glazed with a U value 5.68 W/m2K. Then the user of the method has formulated a set of thermal insulation alternatives and evaluated them in terms of the various criteria (Steps 2 and 3, as in Table III).\n5. Discussion: The MCDA approaches used for the thermal renovation considered that building users express strict preferences, as argued by Kontu et al. (2015) and Medineckiene and Bjork (2011). However, the proposed method extends the current knowledge by using the FAHP to consider uncertainties regarding the preferences of building users. The FAHP shows that the building users considered the criteria investment cost and energy consumption decrease as very important. While the criteria risk of the loss of building historic aesthetic features and the risk of the fabric decay were less important. Therefore, it is necessary to motivate the dwellers about the heritage preservation and help them to balance between their need for the energy efficiency and the preservation of the cultural heritage. The results indicate that the criteria weights obtained by FAHP had a higher level of consistency and accuracy. Most of the MCDA applied in the thermal renovation field uses the complete aggregation approach or the partial aggregation methods ELECTRE. The originality of the proposed method is to use FPROMETHEE to get a complete ranking of the thermal insulation solutions taking into account the uncertainties related to the alternative evaluations. Furthermore, the proposed method does not allow the compensation between criteria contrary to the complete aggregation approaches proposed by Zagorskas et al. (2014) and Kontu et al. (2015). In fact, results indicate that selected actions do not represent a high risk for the preservation of the case study building, despite the fact that the criteria risk of the loss of building historic aesthetic features and the risk of the fabric decay were the least important criteria. This implies that the best thermal insulation solutions are not those that have the best performance in the criteria with the highest weight but they are those that represent the best compromise. This agreed with the research carried out by Macharis et al. (2004), which argued that partial aggregation approaches do not allow compensation between criteria. Additionally, the method offers the possibility to introduce additional constraint through PROMETHEE V, which is very useful for real life problems when the number of actions or the available budget is limited according to Brans (1992). The validity of the method was assessed by the building users; they all agreed on the selected thermal insulation solutions. The method described in this article is universal and can always be applied for selecting thermal insulation solutions when masonry buildings or other types of buildings are considered.\n6. Conclusions: This paper considers the thermal insulation of masonry buildings with heritage value as a complex decision involving different criteria, including risks related to the heritage preservation. The paper has an innovative value owing to the proposal of an integrated FAHP-FPROMETHEE to rank different thermal insulation solutions. The application of the proposed method on a real case study showed that it was possible to get a full ranking of the alternatives. The ranking of the thermal insulation solutions and the criteria weights' are specific to this case and are not to be considered applicable to other buildings. The preferences of building users obtained by the FAHP had a higher level of consistency and accuracy. The case study demonstrates how, in a highly uncertain field such as thermal insulation of masonry buildings, the FPROMETHEE can prevent the loss of valuable evaluation data and overcome the difficulty in integrating linguistic assessments of the thermal insulation alternatives. However, the proposed method has several limitations. The FAHP-FPROMETHEE method requires judgments between each pair of criteria. The use of the method is pertinent only for the insulation of the building envelope. The method evaluates each alternative individually but does not take into account the combination of solutions. Furthermore, the developed method in its actual form is expected to be used by a facilitator who would help the building users to choose the best solutions. However, future improvements such as an automatic version of the proposed method would facilitate its use for the building users. From a more global aspect, the extensive application of any outcomes of the method might be challenging, and further social awareness is required to achieve a smooth operation in applying the agreed outcomes. All these limitations could be taken into account for further research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The need for the thermal insulation of masonry buildings in Algeria is no longer debated. This paper aims to propose an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision aid method for the thermal insulation of masonry buildings to rank the thermal insulation solutions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed method combines the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process with the fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation.\nFindings: A case study using the proposed method is detailed in this paper. The building users' preferences obtained by the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process had a higher level of consistency and accuracy. The case study demonstrates how in a highly uncertain field such as thermal insulation of masonry buildings, the fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation can prevent the loss of valuable evaluation data and overcome difficulty in integrating linguistic assessments of the thermal insulation alternatives.\nOriginality/value: The proposed method extends current knowledge by using the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process to consider uncertainties regarding the building users' preferences, and the fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation to get a complete ranking of the thermal insulation solutions taking into account the uncertainties related to the alternatives' evaluations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What is an author now? Discourse analysis applied to the idea of an author	[ "Search engines", "Catalogues", "Epistemology", "Postmodernism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: just what is an author?: We begin with a question, just what is an author? Is it a person who writes? Or, is it, in information, an iconic taxonomic designation (some might say a \"classification\") for a group of writings that are recognized by the public in some particular way? Barthes's (1968) \"The Death of the Author\" and Foucault's (1984) response, \"What is an Author,\" are considered pivotal moments that dismantled the authority of the author-figure. Foucault's view of the author function will be discussed in detail later, but it is instructive to briefly review relevant developments in Western literature and literary criticism that led up to the exchange between Barthes and Foucault. Generally, and perhaps simplistically, a long line stretches from Aristotle to the twentieth century, during which it would appear that unity existed among the major approaches to literary criticism that offered a combination of contextually-based analyses: social, historical, biographical, and the content based: morality and psychology of characters and, of course, author. These approaches typically relied on author intention and biography to critique text, which lent credence to the concept of the author-as-authority. Though the primacy of the author has persisted, a few schools of thought rejected any consideration of the author in favor of the work or the reader or a combination. Aristotle's Poetics, a response to Plato's Republic, set the stage for the opposition of author or authority to work or words and eventually led to the twentieth-century context in which Foucault attempted to break down the opposition by drawing out the complexity and interrelationship of both \"author\" and \"work.\" These work- and reader-driven movements had a range of goals, from professionalizing the act of criticism to making the analysis of literary works seem scientific (i.e. formal, rigorous, and synthetic), to acknowledging the reader's role in the act of reading; the author's role or function is a central theme in each.\n2. Methodology: phenomenological discourse analysis: Our method is simple. We use cases that we have studied before, but here we use them as bases of phenomenological discourse analysis, combining as best we can components of eidetic bracketing (a Husserlian technique for isolating noetic reduction) with Foucauldian discourse analysis. The two approaches are not sympathetic or together cogent, so we present them instead as alternative explanations alongside empirical evidence. In this way we are able to isolate components of iconic \"authorship\" and then subsequently engage them in discourse. In this way we are able to reveal a fuller conceptualization of the role of authors, built from both perspectives, as fundamental concepts in information discourse.\n3. Case studies: In two earlier studies (Smiraglia et al., 2010, 2011), the perceptions of authorship in the Anglo-American library cataloging tradition were examined. These studies revealed that the author had become an iconic denominator of an alphabetico-classed system of ordering approved texts. Elements of the Seven Epitomes and the example of Abelard's XX from Panizzi's nineteenth-century cataloging rules were used in both of those studies. A third study by Smiraglia and Lee (2012) added the case of The French Chef for the purpose of extending analysis of the role of the author as iconic class denominator in the online catalog environment. Thus the three cases presented here are those used in the earlier studies. Smiraglia and Lee (2012, p. 36) itemized the cases thusly:\n4. Just what is an author?: We return to our original question, just what is an author? In cataloging tradition, and to some extent in classical bibliography, an author is foremost a named entity to whom intellectual creativity is attributed. But also, and almost more importantly, in cataloging and bibliographical tradition, as the discourse has been transformed to this date, an author is the name of a class of related works that can be collocated with the iconic representation of the named entity. We turned to Foucauldian discourse analysis to discover the loci of power in the interactions of the public with the named authorial entities. We also looked to phenomenological analysis to consider the lived experience of users who encounter the same named authorial entities. The discussion leads inexorably to the conclusion that an author is not so much a person who writes, as it is the name of a class of works that can be related, either through power structures or lived experience, with a specific named entity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss and shed light on the following questions: What is an author? Is it a person who writes? Or, is it, in information, an iconic taxonomic designation (some might say a \"classification\") for a group of writings that are recognized by the public in some particular way? What does it mean when a search engine, or catalog, asks a user to enter the name of an author? And how does that accord with the manner in which the data have been entered in association with the names of the entities identified with the concept of authorship?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use several cases as bases of phenomenological discourse analysis, combining as best the authors can components of eidetic bracketing (a Husserlian technique for isolating noetic reduction) with Foucauldian discourse analysis. The two approaches are not sympathetic or together cogent, so the authors present them instead as alternative explanations alongside empirical evidence. In this way the authors are able to isolate components of iconic \"authorship\" and then subsequently engage them in discourse.\nFindings: An \"author\" is an iconic name associated with a class of works. An \"author\" is a role in public discourse between a set of works and the culture that consumes them. An \"author\" is a role in cultural sublimation, or a power broker in deabstemiation. An \"author\" is last, if ever, a person responsible for the intellectual content of a published work. The library catalog's attribution of \"author\" is at odds with the Foucauldian discursive comprehension of the role of an \"author.\"\nOriginality/value: One of the main assets of this paper is the combination of Foucauldian discourse analysis with phenomenological analysis for the study of the \"author.\" The authors turned to Foucauldian discourse analysis to discover the loci of power in the interactions of the public with the named authorial entities. The authors also looked to phenomenological analysis to consider the lived experience of users who encounter the same named authorial entities. The study of the \"author\" in this combined way facilitated the revelation of new aspects of the role of authorship in search engines and library catalogs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Facing the challenge of achieving career equality for men and women: Findings from a professional service firm in Norway	[ "Women", "Inclusion", "Norway", "Discrimination", "Professional service firm" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Much societal debate about equality in our workplaces continues, as even in developed Western countries where clear anti-discrimination legislation is in place women continue to experience the effects of a historically rooted culture of discrimination that restricts their career progress. Professional service enterprises such as law firms and accountancy firms in particular have a poor track record for elevating women to leadership positions, despite the fact that equal proportions of qualified men and women enter these businesses at the start of their careers.\nGender equality below the surface in a highly equal society: Norway has been heralded as a country of high equal opportunity by being ranked second in The Global Gender Gap Report, but even here, women in the professional services industry are weighed down by obstacles as they climb the career ladder in law and accountancy firms. Horizontal career equality has been achieved, as half the newly qualified entrants to these professions are women; however, achieving vertical career equality and receiving equal pay remains elusive for women, for example, it has been reported that just seven per cent of Norwegian CEOs are women. The term career equality can be understood as members of both genders enjoying level access to opportunities to develop in their jobs, without one gender experiencing an advantage over the other, such as by men gaining promotions and pay increases with less friction. The related concept of inclusion advocates the principle that both genders should naturally be treated fairly and be actively involved in organizational decisions and developments.\nDrilling down into inclusion, opportunity, and perception: The results that transpired from the Norwegian study are presented in the following three categories:\nTaking action to close the career equality gap: Based on the paper's concerning findings of pervasive gender differences in Norway, which is one of the most celebrated equal societies, it is recommended that organizations take career equality actions by first increasing their internal awareness of these specific trends. In particular, attention should be paid to how discrimination and subdued opportunities for women can vary across the life span of their careers and the seniority of their role. This awareness should then be translated into the action of committing to a fully inclusive, gender equal approach that actively improves on a consistent basis the development opportunities and career progression of women at all levels within the organization. As part of such an improvement program, company policies and processes must be scrutinized for facets of exclusion and indirect discrimination toward women and reformulated to remove any of these elements. Any policy or process elements that restrict the progression of women directly or indirectly can be replaced with a structure for providing equal development opportunities and transparent career advancement paths for both genders without equivocation.\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: This research paper concentrates on how organizationally ingrained career inequality obstructs the ability of women to gain equal pay and career-development opportunities compared to their male counterparts in a Norwegian professional service firm. The surveyed males at the firm reported experiencing greater inclusion and development opportunities than the surveyed females, while perceived gender discrimination was much higher among women. Crucially, the results also vary across seniority levels.\nOriginality/value: This 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" } ]
A collection explosion: finding our collection roots and examining how we got from there to here	[ "Collection development", "Collection management", "Library history" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Library collections behave in many ways like living organisms: they grow at different rates and in different directions, change shapes and sizes over time and can be surprisingly complex. As the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign approaches its sesquicentennial anniversary in 2017, it seemed a fitting time to examine the history of the University Library collections and their growth over time.\nThe original library collection: The University of Illinois, founded in 1867 under the original name of the Illinois Industrial University, was renamed the University of Illinois in 1885. The library was originally housed in the office of the first regent, John Milton Gregory, and students were \"required to check out each book with the Regent himself\". (Ebert, 1967, p. 1). The original collection consisted of 420 titles in 1,078 volumes and covered 7 subject categories: agricultural, educational, general literature, history and biography, law and politics, philosophical and scientific (Illinois Industrial University, 1868, pp. 209-215). As shown in Figure 1, nearly a third (32 per cent, 135 titles) of the collection fell under the history and biography subject area. Education covered 23 per cent (98 titles) of the collection, followed by general literature (14 per cent, 57 titles), scientific (11 per cent, 48 titles), philosophical (8 per cent, 35 titles), agricultural (8 per cent, 32 titles) and law and politics (4 per cent, 15 titles).\nGrowing the library collection: Library Hall (now known as Altgeld Hall) was built in 1897 and was the University's first \"purpose-built\" library. The library had the capacity for 90,000 volumes and held 30,000 volumes when it first opened its doors (Peoples, 2011). Space, therefore, very quickly became a cause for concern. In 1912, University President, Edmund James, set a goal to increase the library's holdings to one million volumes and create a new facility to house them in an attempt to rise to the academic level of what he considered to be the great German institutions (Peoples, 2011). Although the goal was worthy, it would also be difficult to achieve. The facility was already \"helplessly congested and deplorably overcrowded, to the point of serious embarrassment to both faculty and students\" (University of Illinois Senate Committee on the Library, 1913).\nGetting from there to here: Growth has always been a priority for the University Library. Dr. Gregory, the first regent, was proud of the Library and a strong supporter of its ongoing growth and development. In his annual report from 1873 to 1874, he indicated that:\nCollection milestones: The Library has celebrated each millionth volume acquired by purchasing a special item to commemorate the milestone, all of which are housed in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. In 1935, the University Library acquired its one-million volume. This first major milestone took 68 years to achieve. The growth of the collection sped up dramatically after that, developing a collection two-million volume by 1946, only 11 years later. A Three-million volume was reached by 1956, ten years later, and the four-million volume was reached within the next ten years in 1966. It only took nine more years to reach the five-million volume in 1975, with the acquisitions rate continuing to increase. The six-million volume was reached in 1982, seven years later, and the seven-million volume milestone took only four years to reach in 1986. The Library celebrated the addition of the eight millionth volume six years later in 1992, followed 6 years later by the celebration of the nine millionth volume in 1998. Reaching ten million volumes took five more years, which was achieved in 2003, and it took the Library six years to reach 11-million volumes in 2009. The rate of acquisition increased even more dramatically when the Library acquired its 12-millionth volume just one year later in 2010, and its 13-millionth volume two years after that in 2012 (Figure 9). As mentioned earlier, this most recent explosion is because of the increased acquisitions of traditional print materials, as well as an increase in purchasing electronic content and project-based work to add long hidden collections in various cataloging backlogs to the Library's catalog.\nConclusion: This project represents the first step in taking a retrospective look at the original collection at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and illustrates the extreme growth in the collections over the years. The University Library began with just 1,078 volumes in 1868, and that number nearly quadrupled in two years, increasing the collection to 4,051 volumes by 1870. Now, the collection has exploded to contain more than 13-million volumes. Currently, the Oak Street Library Facility (high-density storage), which opened in 2004, houses over 3,800,000 items and is growing daily. The main book stacks now actually houses a smaller collection, at 3,347,000. The virtual, online location within the library catalog, which was created in July of 2002 when the latest integrated library system was implemented, is more difficult to track, as there are not individual item records but rather holding records, includes over 1,200,000 records, the target that was initially sought for the print collections. As electronic access, shared repositories and access to shared content reshape the collection development landscape, the emphasis is shifting toward global access and unique local content. And yet, we see that this new model is built on a solid foundation of collection development almost 150 years in the making.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present research findings from a project to identify, locate and examine the first collection of a large academic research institution. The article also examines changes in collections over time and some of the factors influencing changing collection development policies and practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Methodology included historical archival research, collection discovery and item by item comparison.\nFindings: As electronic access, shared repositories and access to shared content reshape the collection development landscape, the emphasis is shifting toward global access and unique local content. And yet, we see that this new model is built on a solid foundation of collection development almost 150 years in the making.\nOriginality/value: Understanding how the University Library got to where it is will help inform future decisions and directions regarding collection development, and allow others to compare our findings against their own institutional growth and forward trajectory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The standardization/adaptation dilemma in agri-food exporters marketing strategies	[ "Marketing strategy", "Export", "Serbia", "Adaptation", "Standardization", "Agri-food industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A starting point of this research was a simple question - what kinds of marketing strategies were employed by agri-food firms operating in a small economy in a long time crisis, like Serbia, that enabled them to triple their export earnings in last decade? Ten years ago, Serbian agri-food sector export earning was only 0.8 compared to 2.7 million USD in 2013 that counts increase of 337.5 percent (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2004/2014).\nLiterature review: Having a successful marketing strategy is of key importance for firm export competitiveness. Also, the process of marketing strategy selection and design is one of a firm's most important managerial decisions (Mavrogiannis et al., 2008). Grounded on an understanding of market specifics, consumers' characteristics and behavior, the aim of export marketing strategy is to help a firm to serve selected markets better than competitors by a combination of various marketing mix elements (El-Ansary, 2006). In addition, main purpose of marketing strategy is to provide the best possible position to the firm, and therefore the process of its creation and implementation leads to establishing, maintaining and defending competitive advantage (Labvie, 2006).\nConceptualization and research hypotheses: Information presented in the literature review provided a guideline and an initial level in export marketing strategies analysis, but not enough of a comprehensive construct. Therefore, this level of knowledge has to be upgraded by linking types of marketing strategy selections and the firm's capability to successfully implement them, to some of the firm's characteristics.\nResearch methodology: Research methodology was based on quantitative approach and survey technique was chosen for data collection. The basic sample included 283 exporters from the agri-food sector in Serbia. This sample was derived from population of all Serbian exporters with export earning in the previous year at the level of more than one million euros, using Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency database.\nResearch results: Descriptive statistics\nDisscusion: Exact assessment of the appropriateness of export marketing strategies in the case of Serbian agri-food exporters is difficult to make in general because of several reasons. First, exporters with the same characteristics may have very different strategies and there is no guarantee that successfully implemented strategies from one will be appropriate for the other. Second, exporters in every country have their specifics regarding export destinations, trade relationships and circumstances. Third, marketing strategy is not a static concept and it has been influenced not only by a firm's characteristics but also by the numerous factors from export markets and from the domestic business environment.\nConcluding remarks: The research results have shown an impact of the firm's size and capital ownership on selection and implementation of marketing strategies in the case of Serbian agri-food exporters. It has confirmed that large and foreign-owned firms often selected levels of standardization in marketing strategies for product, distribution and promotion, but adaptation for price. In addition, those firms faced fewer difficulties in strategy implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical insight into types of marketing strategies and the implementation difficulties of agri-food exporters, with the purpose to get information about them related to firm size, export experience and capital ownership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Focussing on Serbian agri-food exporters, this study employed quantitative design and descriptives-causal approach. An e-mail questionnaire is used to collect data, with aim to determine the influence of firm characteristics on marketing strategy selection and implementation. Descriptive statistics, difference between group tests, and correlation are used in data analysis.\nFindings: Results indicate that large and foreign-owned firms opt for standardization of the product, distribution and promotion, while they prefer an adaptation strategy for price. These firms have fewer difficulties implementing selected strategies compared to small businesses and domestically owned firms. The impact of export experience is mixed and less influential.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main research limitations relate to the one country case, but results offer several implications for researchers, management of agri-food exporters, policy makers and society.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents the original insight from agri-food exporters originated from one small, emerging economy for all marketing mix elements. Due Serbian case uniqueness it challenges previous findings and provide a \"laboratory\" for testing export marketing strategies. Research is easy for replication in the other countries and its results might be used for comparisons in further studies of agri-food exporters' marketing strategies in other small, developing countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Creating consumer-based brand equity for young Iranian consumers via country of origin sub-components effects	[ "Brand equity", "Country of brand", "Country of manufacture", "Product involvement", "Iran", "Brand awareness", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many companies are setting the goal of attracting their consumers' attention (Kim et al., 2001). One way to achieve this goal is through differentiation. Due to the ease of imitation and difficulty of achieving a permanent competitive advantage, differentiation has become a key priority of today's companies. In general, companies can distinct their product by focusing on any physical (e.g. taste, design) or unphysical characteristics (e.g. price, brand name and country of origin (COO)) (Zeugner-Roth et al., 2008). Branding is a powerful mean of distinction (Pappu et al., 2005). Brand as a basic of today's competitive game, must be carefully defined, created and managed as branding enables a producer to obtain the benefits of offering products with unique or superior quality thus providing an opportunity to transfer this identifiable relationships to other products or services (Motameni and Shahrokhi, 1998).Strong brand names lead competitive advantages (Lee and Back, 2010), increase organization cash flow and accelerate liquidity (Miller and Muir, 2004), provide premium price, profitability and more loyalty for customers (Madden et al., 2006). It also support brand extension opportunity (Yasin et al., 2007).Building brand equity is considered as an important part of brand building (Pappu et al., 2005). Brand equity refers to the incremental utility or added value which brand adds to the product (Chen and Chang, 2008). In the late last decades, brand equity concept has grown and flourished rapidly. One reason for its popularity is strategic role which it has. The other reason is its importance in obtaining competitive advantage in strategic management decisions. Brand equity is an appropriate metric for evaluating the long-run impact of marketing decision (Atilgan et al., 2005). Appropriate management of brand equity leads to the increasing of loyalty, to decrease the risk of marketing activity and marketing crisis, flexible response to price fluctuations, more business support and cooperation, high effectiveness of marketing communications, licensing opportunities, additional opportunities for brand extension, more attraction and support from investors (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1998; VanAuken, 2005), greater profit margins (Kim and Kim, 2005), increasing the ability to attract good employees (DelVecchio et al., 2007), protecting of potential competitors which enter during outsourcing (Lim and Tan, 2009).Brand equity is the result of consumers' perception (Yasin et al., 2007). Many researches focuses on developing brand equity measurement tools, but little empirical researches attempt to perceive or evaluate the process of brand equity formation through an examination of antecedent (Valette-Florence et al., 2011). Most of these researches have been focused on marketing mix (Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Yoo et al., 2000; Tong and Hawley, 2009). Keller (2003) expressed that beside the company produces a special product, the country or geographical location which that product are being produced on, also has relation to the brand that generates secondary association (Baldauf et al., 2009). COO image (or country image (Lee and Chen, 2008)) is an important external indicator which is related to the products with brand name (Nayir and Durmusoglu, 2008; Baldauf et al., 2009). Awareness and understanding of consumers' perception and the way that they interact with COO image in target markets is also crucial. Studies prove this point, that \"made in [...]\" label is very important for consumer while evaluating product (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2002). In developing countries, consumers do not purchase imported goods due to lower price or appropriate ratio between quality and price. These consumers show that COO has high priority for them compared with either the price or the packaging in their decision to purchase something (Schnettler et al., 2008). Investigating on 11 product categories in the USA shows that COO affects the tending to pay more (Drozdenko and Jensen, 2009). Thakor and Katsanis (1997) claim that country image effect indicators directly and indirectly (through brand name) on perceived quality. In international environment, several studies show that COO influence the key dimensions of brand equity (Pappu et al., 2006, 2007; Yasin et al., 2007; Baldauf et al., 2009). The main purpose of this study is to explore the effects of sub-component of COO (include country of brand (COB) and country of manufacture (COM)) on brand equity formation. To achieve this goal, the brand equity of personal goods such as laptops and mobile phones were examined between young Iranian consumers. Secondary purpose of this research is in exploring potential effect of \"product involvement\" on COO image and brand equity relationships.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Country of origin\nResearch methodology: Sample selection and data collection\nResearch findings: We have done correlation analysis for identifying the relationship between model variables; therefore we used the mean of items' point for this case. Table III shows the means, standard deviation and correlation coefficients for variables.For hypotheses testing, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) by LISREL. Results of goodness of fit were measured and with results of rejection or acceptance of hypotheses gathered in Table IV.As Table IV results shows, COB has direct and positive on perceived quality, and brand association/awareness, these result supported H1b and H1c, also signs of coefficient were in the hypothesized direction. COB significantly influence brand loyalty but this influence is negatively (b=-0.02, t=-2.19). COB construct had very low or negative parameter estimate and were deemed not statistically significant, these estimated coefficients do not support the H2b and H2c.Brand loyalty unlike perceived quality (b=0.07, t=0.51) and brand association/awareness (b=0.02, t=0.62) positively and significantly affected overall brand equity, then H3a supported.Also results did not provided strong supports for H4, and H5, which indicated COB (b=0.05, t=1.20) and COM (b=0.00, t=0.01) direct and positive effect on overall brand equity.To examination the moderating effect of product involvement, the sample divided in two groups, high involvement and low involvement and more than 97 percent of laptop owners grouped in high involvement product group. This finding approves Cochrane and Quester (2005) and Drossos et al. (2007) researches that laptop is a high involvement product. For each group structural equations modeling was done separately, Table V shows results for each group.As seen in Table V, for high involvement products (laptop) COM image is effective on brand equity formation, in other words COM significantly affected brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand association/awareness and overall brand equity. While for low involvement product (mobile phone), COB effects only on brand equity dimensions are significant.\nConclusion: Consumers in making their decision to purchase something especially electronic products have to consider COO image as one of the most important and effective factors and also considers that as a sign of quality. Results of this study show, three factors named brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand association/awareness introduced as brand equity dimensions. This research also indicates that these three dimensions have significant effects on brand equity. In other words, these dimensions apart from the brand equity dimensions or the value added and by using these three dimensions we can evaluate the brand equity.In other words, the amount of brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand association/awareness indicate brand equity. Since the relations of three dimensions of brand equity with brand equity is positive, therefore, it can be said that whatever the brand loyalty be higher, it can leads to the increasing of their brand equity. The results also indicated that brand country image gives impact on consumers' perceived quality and brand awareness/association significantly and positively. Country image of a brand has very important role in consumer purchasing decisions, especially for electronic products. Consumers put their interest on a brand according to their perceptions of the origin country and they expand their information related to the brand. Appropriate information about the country helps to create a positive attitude towards the brand which will lead to the desired image that the brands want.The results indicate significant and positive impact of the brand owner's country, which indicate that consumers do think that the products in industrial countries with lots of experiences have higher quality compare to other countries which have little experience or which just joined the industrial countries. A probable interpretation for the expected relationship for Iranian students about the countries perceptions' with positive image is, the level of technological development in these countries and their history in the production of these products are important and whether Iranians students consider them as high quality and reliable or not. Although consumers encounter lots of brands in market which consumers almost receive equal perception of their performance and product profile, but image which is available from a country, adds more value on that and give more advantages compare with the other competitors.Consumer perceptions about the country almost transfer to the originality of a brand in which where a country produces the product. These consumers feel that the brands which belong to countries with good image are more reliable rather than brands that are produced in countries with a less desirable image. As a result these brands are preferred brands and selected during the purchasing decision process and consumers become loyal to them. Results indicated that image of the brand owner country has a significant effect on the association/awareness of the brand. For buying electronic products, this relationship may be interpreted almost all the time; consumers relate the brand quality with COO image. Since the consumers of this study are educated, this fact that they were aware of the country of their selected brands was probable. Countries with good image are almost familiar to the consumers and usually understood the brand producers with high quality. Such relationship exists between country image and the association/awareness of the brand. Research results confirm the previous researches and their results such as: Pappu et al. (2006, 2007), Yasin et al. (2007), Hamzaoui-Essoussi and Merunka (2006), Zeugner-Roth et al. (2008) and Baldauf et al. (2009).The results of the hypotheses related to the manufacturer country, confirm studies of Chang and Liu (2009) and recent research of Wong et al. (2008) in China. They express their idea about the importance of producer country effects on young people in this way:According to the globalization and since young people used to see the products from around the world which is produced by a country except the owner of that brand, therefore this issue confirm this claim that country image has no great effect on young people.Result only supports COM effects on brand loyalty.On the other hand, since the clients of the products in developing countries, tend to purchase products belong to famous countries in order to demonstrate their self-esteem and success, therefore the importance and effects of country image will be obvious. Thus, emphasizes on the countries which are the owner of brand for common products has more effect compared with the products which have personal and private usage.The purpose of the present study is not only considering the effect of subsets of origin country on brand equity, but we also wanted to show the moderating effect of product involvement on outlined relationships in model, in which the obtained results show the importance of that and the effects of manufacturer country for the product with high involvement and vice versa (for product with low involvement, country image of brand is important and effect directly on dimensions of brand equity). As result shows for product with high involvement (laptop) only manufacturer country has positive and significant on brand equity dimensions (brand loyalty and perceived quality). In developing countries, young consumers with lower income levels - who cannot afford to buy this products every year - they try to make correct purchase decision and in this process existing stereotypes of manufacturer countries is critical factor. In the other hand for product with low involvement (mobile phone) county of brand positively influence brand loyalty, perceived quality and association/awareness (as brand equity dimensions). Because these products are purchased several times a year, most of these young consumers are not looking for long-term performance in this product category but are looking to satisfy his/herself need for uniqueness through well-known brands which belongs to famous countries (like Japan), so this research findings is not unexpected.\nLimitations and future research: Despite lots of effort in this research, there are still several limitations. First, this study is merely on the basis of comments and opinions provided by Shahid Beheshti, Semnan, Tabriz universities and also the results derived from these three universities. Therefore, we should consider this point for extending the results to other students and consumers too. Future studies can be conducted by similar research for other product categories and the results should be compared with this study.Moreover, current study limits its evaluation on the country image to the manufacture and brand countries only. Other external effective factors such as advertising, brand personality and reputation had not been considered. Also Internal factors such as price is also not considered in this study. Therefore, it is suggested that future research should also evaluate external variables with long-term effects (e.g. brand personality) and the effect of short-term factors (e.g. advertising) on forming brand equity. Also it should be consider too the effect of other moderating variables such as product familiarity, culture, etc.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The main purpose of this study is to decompose the concept of country of origin (COO) and to investigate the influence of country of brand (COB) and country of manufacture (COM) on brand equity formation. Moreover, the secondary aim of this research is to examine the moderating role of product involvement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To accomplish this, a conceptual framework was designed and relationships between its constructs (COB image, COM image, brand equity dimensions, overall brand equity) were hypothesized. Data were collected from Iranian students who were the owners of selected brands of laptops and mobile phones. All hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL.\nFindings: - As a result of exploratory factor analysis, three factors, namely brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand association/awareness were introduced for the brand equity dimensions. Results indicated that unlike COM, COB has a direct and significant effect on brand loyalty and COB positively influences perceived quality and brand awareness or association. Brand loyalty has a positive and direct effect on the overall brand equity. The results also indicate the moderating effect of product involvement on relationships between COB and brand equity dimensions.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study only investigates in the country of origin of the product. The effect of laptops and mobile phones from a student's point of view were not taken into consideration, which includes other controlled variables (e.g. income, gender) and moderating factors (e.g. product familiarity).\nOriginality/value: - This paper is important in order to identify the effect of brand equity formation from the point of view of young Iranian consumers. Product involvement effect is another important case in this research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do psychological capital and work engagement foster frontline employees' satisfaction? A study in the hotel industry	[ "Romania", "Work engagement", "Psychological capital", "Hotel industry", "Employee satisfaction", "Frontline employees" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's competitive hospitality work environment, acquiring and retaining talented employees in frontline service jobs is a key to delivery of service quality and customer satisfaction. Such employees can develop new ideas for service improvement and contribute to service delivery and complaint-handling processes. It appears that management of hotels needs to hire individuals through rigorous selection techniques whose personality, skills and ability fit the demands of frontline service jobs (Karatepe and Demir, 2014; Magnini et al., 2011).\nTheoretical background, conceptual model and hypotheses: Background\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Assessment of psychometric properties of the measures\nDiscussion: Strengths of the study and evaluation of findings\nConclusion: This study develops and tests a conceptual model that examines the effect of PsyCap, as manifested by self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience, on job, career and life satisfaction, mediated by WE. These relationships are developed based on the COR theory, the motivational process of the JD-R model, and limited empirical evidence in the current literature. Such relationships are assessed through data obtained from frontline hotel employees with a time lag of two weeks in three waves in Romania. The present study expands current knowledge by investigating the abovementioned relationships. First, empirical research about the relationship between PsyCap and WE is scarce. More importantly, the current literature is devoid of empirical studies concerning the simultaneous effects of self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience on WE (Makikangas et al., 2013).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to develop and test a conceptual model that investigates the effect of psychological capital on job, career and life satisfaction, mediated by work engagement, drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the motivational process of the job demands-resources model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on data gathered from frontline employees in the international five- and four-star chain hotels with a time lag of two weeks in three waves in Romania, the relationships in the conceptual model were gauged through structural equation modeling. Self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience were treated as the indicators of psychological capital.\nFindings: The results suggest that optimism appears to be the best indicator of psychological capital, followed by resilience, self-efficacy and hope. Employees with high psychological capital are engaged in their work at elevated levels. Employees high in psychological capital are more satisfied with their job, career and life. The results reported in this study further suggest that psychological capital boosts work engagement that in turn leads to job, career and life satisfaction.\nPractical implications: The presence of rigorous selective staffing enables management to select a pool of employees high in psychological capital and work engagement. Inviting applicants to fill out an online questionnaire to identify their knowledge and skills and then using specific experiential exercises or short case studies to understand their tactics for handling service encounters can serve this purpose. Management can utilize the psychological capital questionnaire during and after the selection process. The availability of a resourceful work environment where there are training, empowerment, rewards and career opportunities is likely to stimulate employees' positive emotions that in turn relate to psychological capital.\nOriginality/value: Very little is known about psychological capital in the hospitality management literature. Therefore, this paper fills in this void by linking psychological capital to employees' job, career and life satisfaction through work engagement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assistive technology and schizophrenia	[ "Self-management", "Recovery", "Schizophrenia", "Assistive technology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: People living with schizophrenia can experience limitations to their functional ability within their day-to-day activities. Executive functioning skills can be impaired resulting in decreased motivation, ability to initiate and complete tasks and ability to plan and organise daily routines (Twamley et al., 2008). Engagement in self-care activities such as cooking, taking medications and attending hospital appointments can be impaired (Kessler et al., 2007). People living with schizophrenia can benefit from environmental support to enable them to self-manage their condition (Kessler et al., 2007; Zhou and Gu, 2014; O'Hanlon et al., 2016).\nSelf-management as a means to empower: Self-management is an approach to the delivery of health care that was first established for the management of chronic physical conditions. It is a complex, approach that can empower the person living with a chronic physical condition to maintain their health and well-being outside of the physician's office as they create daily behaviours that overcome the challenges that they can experience (Lorig and Holman, 2003). Self-management strategies can empower an individual living with a mental health condition similar in a way to \"Recovery\" (Davidson, 2016; Sterling et al., 2010). Engaging in self-management can be considered a step towards the ideologies that reflect a \"Recovery\" approach as individuals are facilitated to engage in behaviours that respect their individuality and promote their participation and engagement in health-related activities. Such self-management strategies have proved positive for people experiencing schizophrenia (Zhou and Gu, 2014).\nAssistive technology to promote Self-Management: According to the World Health Organization (2001), \"technology\" is any product, instrument, equipment or technology adapted or specially designed for improving the functioning of a disabled person (p. 173). Assistive technology (AT) is a term used for items that can enable a person to counteract the difficulties they experience from living with certain conditions and enable them to navigate their world (Cook et al., 2008; Aunger, 2010; Gillespie et al., 2012). AT can include items that enable a person to overcome forgetfulness or disorganisation, or which can act as a cue to prompt to attend to activities of daily living. AT can act as a supporting feature of the environment that that can enable a person to initiate, complete and engage in the health-care-related tasks of their choice (Cook et al., 2008). If selected correctly, based upon the needs of the person, their environment and the task at hand, the use of the AT becomes a harmonising aspect of the person and their daily routine (Gibson et al., 2012).\nAttitudes relating to assistive technology use: Globally, service users appear to have an acceptance to the use of technology to assist with the self-management of enduring mental health conditions (Alvarez-Jimenez et al., 2014; Ben-Zeev, 2012). In Ireland, there is currently no specific strategy to assist with the implementation of AT into the care plans of service users of mental health services (Cullen, 2018). It appears that introducing eMental Health through the medium of AT to facilitate self-management would be in keeping with European initiatives and also promote service user choice and preferences in their care plan. Research pertaining to this topic however is focussed on controlled trial studies highlighting a gap in the research regarding the attitudes of the stakeholder groups involved including service users, family members and health-care professionals (Cullen, 2018).\nMethod: The overall research project used a two stage exploratory sequential mixed method approach. The first stage used a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews to gather data, and the second stage used a quantitative approach using questionnaires to gather data. A total of eight participants engaged with the first stage of the research including one service user, one relative and six health-care professionals. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis and the themes were used in the design of questionnaires. For purposes of this paper, the results from the second quantitative stage of the research will be discussed in depth.\nThe research tool - the questionnaire: The second stage of the study used a questionnaire to gather data. The design of the questionnaire was influenced by literature related to the topic and by the results of a thematic analysis of the data gathered in the first stage of data collection of the overall project Figure 1.\nAccessing the stakeholder groups: The questionnaires were disseminated within a community mental health facility. The researcher was not allowed direct access to the population. The questionnaires were advertised through poster advertisement in the service. The questionnaires with an attached participant information leaflet were left in staff canteens, within family support group facilities and in clinical waiting rooms for the stakeholder groups to access. A drop box was left in these areas for people to return the questionnaires. A total of 120 questionnaires were left in the specified prominent areas - 40 questionnaires for each stakeholder group. In total 40 questionnaires were returned. The returned questionnaires included 12 from the service user group, 7 from the relative group and 21 from the health-care professionals' group.\nResults: The following section will discuss the results that were yielded from the questionnaires.\nDemographic results: Demographic information of all three stakeholder groups is depicted in Table I. The mean age of the service user and relative groups appear to be high in comparison to the health-care professional group which could infer that the results are coming from two distinct generations and that their relationships with technology could differ.\nCurrent level of knowledge and use of assistive technology: From the service user group, 58.33 per cent reported that they had used AT before. The majority of the relative group (85.71 per cent) maintained that their relative did not use AT. Of the health-care professional group, 57.14 per cent said they had direct experience of issuing AT to service users. Further on from these results, Table II highlights that all stakeholder groups have a desire to increase their knowledge about AT.\nViews outlined from the attitude tables: In Tables III, IV and V, the following abbreviations represent the different responses to the statements offered; SA = Strongly Agree, A = Agree, N = Neither Agree or Disagree, D = Disagree, SD = Strongly Disagree and Did Not Respond = the number of people who did not respond to the question.\nDiscussion: From the findings highlighted in this paper, attitudes from three stakeholder groups involved in the \"Recovery\" journey of a person living with schizophrenia regarding the use of AT have been highlighted. It appears that service users, relatives and health-care professionals are amenable to the use of AT as a tool to support self-management for a person living with schizophrenia. The three groups answered in a favourable manner to the introduction of AT to assist the self-management of schizophrenia. That is, there is an accepting environment to which AT could be introduced to within the mental health-care practice in this population.\nService users: The service user group appears to hold an attitude that is welcoming to the trialling of more AT in their health-care plan. The results demonstrated that 83.33 per cent of the service user participants replied \"Yes\" to the questions \"Would you like to learn more about assistive technology?\". Service users also appear to hold an attitude that identifies AT as a tool that can add a sense of independence, choice in and control over their ability to manage their health care as displayed in Table III. Such attitudes suggest that this group view AT as promoting the ethos of the \"Recovery\" movement (Davidson, 2016; Shah et al., 2016). This potentially highlights that AT can facilitate self-management in a manner that promotes \"Recovery\" and involve service users in their health-care plan (Davidson, 2016).\nRelatives: It appears that the relative stakeholder group could hold a positive view of AT however, the results were not strongly polarised in favour or against. The role of the relative is crucial, as they are considered to be key facilitators of the recovery process (Davidson, 2016; Shah et al., 2016) and could be assisting their relative in their daily self-management care plan. As highlighted in Table IV. There appears to be positive views regarding the ability of AT to support \"Recovery\" for the person living with schizophrenia. It is not clear from this study just how knowledgeable the relatives are in AT however a majority of 85.71 per cent reported that they would like to learn more about AT suggesting that they are open to education around this tool. Through providing education to relatives regarding AT, the family could perhaps become more involved in their relative's mental health care and develop familiarity in how to best support their relative in selecting appropriate AT. According to Cohen et al. (2013) the education of the family in mental health care could provide benefits to both the service user and the relatives alike. It is imperative that the relative is enabled to assist their family member who is living with schizophrenia to make informed decisions about their AT choice and support them when they are using it in their daily routine (Davidson, 2016).\nHealth-care professionals: The health-care professional group appears to hold positive views regarding AT (Table V). The health-care professionals provide service users with information to enable them to make informed decisions in regards to their health care. To enable this dynamic, it would be important that health-care professionals remain knowledgeable about the variety of AT devices that could benefit a person living with schizophrenia and promote self-management for this group. This group appear to be amenable to learning about AT which suggests that they would like to know more about this topic. The health-care professionals appear to agree with statements that link AT with the ethos of \"Recovery\" by highlighting that AT can afford service users more choice and control over their mental health care.\nThe role of the occupational therapist in AT provision: AT is a dominant intervention that an occupational therapist can provide in all practice areas of the profession (Federici and Scherer, 2017; Cruz et al., 2016). From an occupational therapy assessment it could be identified as a beneficial tool for an individual to use (Federici and Scherer, 2017). There appears to be more recent development in the use of advanced electronic AT as an intervention tool as the technological environment in which we navigate grows exponentially (Dicianno et al., 2015; Verdonck and Maye, 2016). To continue to provide socially appropriate interventions, the occupational therapist must remain educated in what AT is available on the market. This could allow them to facilitate a service user living with schizophrenia to make an informed decision about its use in their care plan (Verdonck and Maye, 2016; HSE Mental Health Services, 2017a). Future research could specifically explore how confident occupational therapists are in their knowledge of AT devices available on the market for this purpose and if they have had experience with assisting a person to incorporate AT into their daily routine. Case study examples of AT use with this population would be a welcomed addition to the mostly quantitative research relating to this topic (Cullen, 2018). Occupational therapy case study examples could further highlight the unique role that occupational therapy could offer to this intervention tool.\nFuture considerations to facilitate the progression of AT: Although the findings from this research prove positive for AT, certain key considerations must be addressed before AT progresses. People living with schizophrenia are more likely to be unemployed and in receipt of social welfare when compared to individuals who are not living with this condition (Brown, 2011). AT can be expensive to buy and maintain. This could be problematic for individuals who are not financially secure. Services would have to explore how they can ensure that they can equitably provide modern mental health care that is in alignment with our current technological environment. There will be a need for appropriate pathways and procedures to ensure AT is available to people who could benefit from it (Ruzek and Yeager, 2017).\nLimitations to the research: Despite many efforts to advertise the study to promote engagement, there was limited uptake. For ethical reasons access to participants was not premitted and this prevented individualised supports to be put in place to assist people with filling out the questionnaires (i.e. if they had literacy problems). Alongside this limitation, engagement in research by people who are experiencing a serious mental health condition such as schizophrenia can be poor (Brown, 2011), thus limiting a large representation of the views of this population regarding the topic.\nConclusion: This paper has highlighted attitudes held by three stakeholder groups involved in the health care of an individual living with schizophrenia regarding the use of AT to facilitate self-management. It appears that there is an interest from service users, relatives and health-care professionals to incorporate the use of AT into the self-management routines of people living with schizophrenia. This highlights that there is a positive environment for AT to develop within mental health-care services as it continues to progress. AT was viewed by the participants as a tool that can facilitate \"Recovery\" by promoting choice in, and control over, an individually tailored tool that promotes self-management. However, it appears that services could benefit from more service user and health-care professional education in AT. It would reflect best practice in \"Recovery\" to enable service users to discuss their experiences of using AT as a self-management tool with their peers and learn from each other (HSE Mental Health Services, 2017a; Shah et al., 2016). By supporting and educating people living with this condition to use AT, we will allow them remain included within a society that is becoming increasingly more infused with technology.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Assistive technology (AT) has been highlighted as a tool that can support self-management for people living with schizophrenia. A gap in the literature exists regarding the views held by the stakeholders involved in the health care of an individual living with schizophrenia regarding the potential use of AT to enable the self-management of this condition. The purpose of this paper is to explore how individuals living with schizophrenia, their relatives and their mental health care professionals view AT as a tool to facilitate self-management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This mixed methods research paper will discuss the findings of the second stage of a two-stage research study. The paper will discuss the findings of questionnaires that were disseminated to service users living with schizophrenia, their relatives and the health-care professionals of a community mental health service in the Greater Dublin area.\nFindings: The results indicate that the introduction of AT for the self-management of schizophrenia would be accepted by key stakeholders.\nResearch limitations/implications: As AT continues to develop, it is clear from the findings presented in this paper that the main stakeholder groups involved in the care of an individual living with schizophrenia are amenable to the use of AT to facilitate the self-management of this condition. Further research is required to explore correct policing and management of its implementation.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first study of its kind within an Irish context to explore the use of assistive technology as a tool for self-management from the perspective of those experiencing schizophrenia, their relatives and the health-care professionals working alongside them.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving organization forms in the agri-food industry	[ "Organizational change", "Transaction cost economics", "Hybrids", "Organization design", "Negotiation analysis", "Agri-food chains", "Pooled interdependence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is widely recognized that the agri-business sector is a field of key and renewed importance, not only in emerging but also in post-industrial economies. It is rich in opportunities for new types of entrepreneurship and younger generation occupation. It is central in national and European policies, not only for traditional issues in the cross-country division of labor and the organization of production, but also for new issues of quality, safety, health and traceability in the more globalized and integrated current state of the economy. The need for tools guiding policy making, both private and public, facilitating forms of organizing capable of supporting new developments in the primary sector is therefore important.\nTransactional problems in the agri-food chain: The agri-food value chain is characterized by significant sources of transaction costs, highly felt by operators as well as widely stressed in research. The core production stage, the growing activity, is linked to climate and terrain, hence it is subject to great and hardly reducible uncertainty affecting the quality and quantity of output, and to site specificities posing severe limits to the efficient size of single production units. Those reasons lie behind the common observation that the typical configuration of the agricultural sector, in its production stage, is \"highly fragmented.\" The uncertainties arising in the production stage are transmitted along the value chain toward final markets, so that the transactions between farming, processing and distribution can be qualified as highly uncertain. In fact, interview based research with operators in the sectors typically find that the relations between the farmers-producers and the distribution are highly problematic (Berardino, 2013); and so are those with the up-stream players of the supply chain (Cembalo et al., 2013). As those studies also find, however, vis a vis those transactional problems, contracts tend to be quite simple and largely informal; and parties, especially farmers, tend to lament inefficiencies and unfairness problems, and excessive risk transferring on their shoulders.\nFrom transactional to associational contracting: The above solutions to transactional problems rest on at least three assumptions. First, they assume that solutions lie on a continuum of degree of formalization and completeness of contracts between the two parties in the transaction. Second, they assume that one solution exists capable of minimizing costs for both the parties involved. Third, they consider, as extremes of the continuum of possible solutions, a pure market on one side and a (hierarchical) integration among the transacting two parties on the other side.\nFrom associations to \"societas\": If farmers can associate, why cannot they consider to associate in an even stronger way, say by setting up a joint firm, being able to pool assets for production, and eventually integrating also processing and perhaps even distribution activities? In fact, farmers quite often establish cooperative enterprises, capable of \"associating and dedicating assets in a continuous way\" to a purpose. The last quote is from Demsetz (1991) (re-)definition of a firm, and cooperatives are notoriously a quite diffused type of firm in agri-business. The following analysis may contribute in explaining why it is so.\n(Re)configurations for agri-business: The above analysis provided tools for assessing, and guiding change between alternative forms such as sub-contracting vs consortia vs cooperative firms. This is already a step forward with respect to the more coarse-grained comparison between markets, firms and hybrids. But more can be done in the direction of making the analysis more fine-grained and precise and therefore more useful for indicating avenues for organizational change, if we apply the same approach recursively at a more micro-level within one type of macro-agreement such as \"a consortium\" or \"a cooperative\" or a \"sub-contracting\" agreement.\nConclusions and implications for change: The analysis of the organization of the agri-food industry offered in this paper applies an extended version of TCEs, integrated with inputs from organization design and negotiation analysis, which make it more applicable to the specific sector, and more oriented to the development of proposals for change:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The variety and change of organization forms in the agri-business industry are analyzed, extending available comparative economic organization approach (most notably transaction cost economics) with negotiation analysis and organization design theory. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three extensions are proposed and argued to be particularly useful for analyzing economic organization in conditions such as those prevailing in agri-food industries. First, more consideration is given to horizontal structures and associational contracts as a particularly important response to transactional problems in this field. Second, it is acknowledged that different conditions of substitutability in different stages of the chain make it likely that transaction costs are different for different parties, bringing them to have different preferences over governance solutions, whereby a negotiation problem on efficient arrangements has to be solved. Third, the very process of integrating different parties' interests contributes in explaining the emergence of \"hybrids\" and in designing more efficient and more fair forms within the (very) large class of hybrids, and even within any sub-type of hybrid, such as sub-contracting, licensing, franchising, consortia, etc.\nFindings: New Pareto-improving and Nash-improving solutions are specified, and shown to provide indications for organizational change that differ from those predicted and prescribed by standard organizational economics. Those solutions are also shown to be realistic (possible in reality) through case studies on actual non-main-stream experiences approximating those arrangements. Both the analytic method proposed, and the solutions found, provide useful and currently missing tools to private and public policy makers for improving the organization of the sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study specify pre-conditions for reaching superior agreements, that suggest hypotheses for empirical further research on the factors that may favor or hinder those changes.\nPractical implications: A \"trend\" for change is recommended for the agri-food sector, toward more associational and horizontal arrangements, rather than either toward market or hierarchical governance or any hybrid intermediate point between them. It has been shown that this prescription should hold not only across stages of the value chain, but also among firms within the same stage (in the case, the farming stage).\nSocial implications: The proposed changes should improve the fairness of economic organization in the sector. Re-equilibrating negotiation power is an alternative way of reducing transaction costs across stages and a pre-condition for reaching more efficient and fair agreements across stages.\nOriginality/value: Both the analytic method proposed, and the solutions found, extend economic organization theory, and provide useful and currently missing tools to private and public policy makers for designing and assessing the organization of the sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of effectuation on small firm buying decisions	[ "Networking", "Effectuation", "Small firm", "Buyer–supplier relationship", "Affordable loss" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Salespeople accept that more sales opportunities are lost than won; indeed, this, according to leading Customer Relationship Management software vendor Salesforce.com, could mean that as few as 6 per cent of business-to-business sales opportunities become orders (Raichshtain, 2014); simply put, 94 per cent of all sales attempts lead to failure. While there is a substantial corpus of literature to inform salespeople, covering a broad range of topics (Pullins et al., 2017), for example, buyer dissatisfaction with the seller's performance (Kaski et al., 2017), organisation relationships (Heidenreich et al., 2015; Sharma and Evanschitzky, 2016) and the importance of ethics (Bolander, Satornino, Hughes and Ferris, 2015; Bolander, Zahn, Loe and Clark, 2015), there is a dearth of literature that deals directly with the causes of sales failure (Johnson et al., 2016). This lack of extant literature coupled with such a high sales failure rate suggests this topic is worthy of further investigation.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Effectuation\n3. Conceptual development: This paper was developed using conceptual deduction (Meredith, 1993). By synthesising literature pertaining to small firm buying behaviour, IMP interaction and effectuation logic (Sarasvathy, 2009), it has been possible to propose new relationships (Gilson and Goldberg, 2015). A predictive model representing buyer-seller dynamics in the context of small firms is presented in Figure 1.\n4. Discussion: The model presented adds to theory by including the impact of affordable loss (Dew et al., 2009) and assessment of internal resources to the buying decision outcome. While extant literature tells us that a buyer will factor price and risk into their purchasing decision (Kraljic, 1983) and it has long been known that to avoid failure, salespeople should adapt their offer to suit the needs of the customer (Weitz et al., 1986), the impact of constructs associated with entrepreneurial behaviour provides a different lens through which to view the decision making of a small firm owner-manager.\n5. Conclusion: This study considered the impact of effectuation logic on the buying decisions of small firm owner-managers (Sarasvathy, 2001b). It proposes a new conceptual model in which the effects of effectuation logic were considered in relation to the predilection of small firm owner-managers to select trusted suppliers that offer sufficient available support resources to reduce potential losses to an affordable level, to use personal and business networks and to engage with them on flexible terms (Cambra-Fierro and Polo-Redondo, 2009; Dew et al., 2009; Morrissey and Pittaway, 2004, 2006; Sarasvathy, 2001b).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of effectuation logic on the buying intentions of small firm owner-managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature relating to organisational buying, marketing and personal selling and entrepreneurial decision making was synthesised.\nFindings: This paper presents a conceptual model based on propositions relating to how effectuation logic may explain the predilection of small firm owner-managers to select trusted suppliers from within personal and business networks, and to engage on flexible terms. It suggests that supplier relationship decisions made using effectuation logic may enable wider choice of suppliers than the formal processes of large firms.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings were developed from a narrative review of literature and are yet to be empirically tested.\nOriginality/value: By synthesising research findings on small firm buyer behaviour, the IMP interaction approach and effectuation, it has been possible to develop a predictive model representing buyer-seller relationships in the context of small firms which suggests that owner-managers select suppliers in line with the principles of effectuation means and effectuation affordable loss.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Market orientation in universities: A comparative study of two national higher education systems	[ "Market orientation", "Higher education", "Relationship marketing", "England", "Israel" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The higher education market is now well established as a global phenomenon, especially in the major-English speaking nations: Canada, the USA, Australia and the UK (Binsardi and Ekwulugo, 2003), where marketisation policies have been gradually introduced (Jongbloed, 2003). Following the marketisation and deregulation of universities in the UK (Middleton, 1996; Gibbs, 2001; Taylor, 2003) many universities are now applying marketing theories and concepts that have been successful in the business world to the HE context in an effort to gain a larger share of the international market (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). It is widely assumed that in the context of increasing competition, higher education institutions need to market themselves more explicitly.A crucial element in the marketing of HE institutions is based on a relationship marketing (RM) approach, which is characterised as helping to develop and foster interactions between the organisation and its customers (Brown et al., 1994). This approach emphasises the importance of developing a customer- (i.e. student-) driven organisational culture, and focuses on the quality of the service (Narver and Slater, 1990).Above all, however, the RM approach commences with a commitment to marketing orientation (MO), which is a set of beliefs that puts customers', i.e. students', interests first, in order to gain a competitive edge in the highly competitive global environment. MO frequently underpins the development and implementation of successful relationship marketing strategies in any organisation (Helfert et al., 2002). If a HE institution can develop or improve its degree of MO, then it should also be able to achieve improved levels of RM.This paper presents analysis of data gathered from an international study that compared the degree of MO in two universities, one in Israel and one in England, two countries that have experienced different HE policies in recent years. Thus, England has established international markets in HE although marketisation is at a relatively early stage (with undergraduate fees currently capped); in Israel there is no national quality assurance agency and every institution of HE has its own declared policy aims, and is therefore still largely autonomous.A published paper (Oplatka and Hemsley-Brown, 2007) previously presented the Marketing Orientation Inventory for use in educational institutions, and the pilot study findings (based on data from two countries) were later presented at the Academy of Marketing Conference, Budapest, (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2007). Data and findings from a study with a larger sample are presented in this paper.As there is already some empirical evidence for the positive impact of MO on industrial and service organisations (e.g. Cervera et al., 2001; Guo, 2002), it seems of high value to examine the degree of MO in HEIs in general and in different national HE systems, in particular because this kind of comparison could provide some clues about the relationship between market-oriented HE policies and the incorporation of MO in academic settings. Besides, whereas past research on MO found that it is positively correlated with innovation, excellence, employees' high levels of satisfaction and commitment, customers' satisfaction, and brand loyalty (Pulendran et al., 2003), HEIs have long been accused of neglecting these important issues. Understanding the context of MO within HEIs is, therefore, the first stage in attempting to increase this orientation in HE systems.Based on an instrument developed by the authors to measure perceptions of MO in universities, distributed by e-mail to faculties in both universities, the reported study tested:* whether there are significant differences between the two countries, in terms of perceptions of MO in HE;* which MO dimensions (student, competition, intra-functional) indicate more positive attitudes, and whether the differences are significant; and* the reliability of the instrument for using a larger sample of respondents internationally.MO: a key element in marketing the HE institution\nMethodology: In pursuit of the research answers, the authors conducted a comparative (online) survey of academics in England and Israel during the academic year 2007.Criteria for the selection of participants\nFindings: Prior to the presentation of the data gathered through the e-inventory, some background information to provide a profile of the respondents is warranted. Of the 68 respondents, 38 (55.9 per cent) are male and 30 (44.1 per cent) are female, 36 (52.9 per cent) live and work in England, while 32 (47.1 per cent) live and work in Israel. As to years at work, 13 respondents (19.1 per cent) are less than five years into their academic career, 11 respondents (16.2 per cent) have worked for six to ten years; 20 (29.4 per cent) for 11 to 20 years; and 24 (35.3 per cent) respondents have worked at their institution for over 20 years.Of the sample academics, 44 per cent are from the social sciences, which include education, business and management, sociology, and psychology, but a wide range of disciplines are represented. Just over a quarter of respondents are from the education discipline (26.5 per cent). Academics in the study, however, work in a wide range of disciplines including medicine, history, architecture, creative arts, mathematics, computing or related disciplines, veterinary science, physical sciences, engineering, and communications. A normality test was carried out using the total MO score as the dependent variable, and country as a factor. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic is 0.2 for both nationalities and therefore we use parametric testing.Customer orientation items\nDiscussion: With two conjectures in mind - that increased inter-institutional competition in the HE sector may result in greater attention to marketing and public relations (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006), as well as in the development of a student-driven organisational culture in HE institutions (Narver and Slater, 1990) - we compared the extent of MO among academics from two different HE settings. As these two arenas differ in the level of their HE marketisation, accountability and privatisation, we postulated that the degree of MO among academics in the two arenas would differ. Put simply, in a highly competitive environment it is likely that the attraction of new student-customers would be the responsibility of every member in the organisation, including academics. They will adopt a customer-oriented viewpoint, and will be engaged in the marketing processes of their institution.Overall, academics in both countries indicate that their HE institution is oriented towards meeting students' needs and desires, and cares for students' well-being, teaching and learning, a stance that is compatible with the common image of the university as a place of student growth and development well-rooted in the historical tradition of the Western university (Boyer, 1982). Note in addition that our respondents refrained from claiming any competitive edge for their university over other universities, perhaps due to the ethics of education, which is inherently against marketing and any notion of inter-institutional competition. This might be related to the academics' commitment and professional ethic in caring for his/her students, in developing skills and competencies, regardless of any inter-institutional competition (Coser, 1971). Thus, in spite of strong inter-institutional competition in HE, the strong professional culture of academics, which emphasises pure research, teaching and customer-care (service) seems to structure the respondents' attitudes towards MO more than any neo-liberal views of HE.As far as the marketing-like role of the academics is concerned, our respondents alluded to their contribution to internal marketing, i.e. to the promotion of their university through their own work tasks and performances. These sorts of data tend to align with schoolteachers' attitudes towards their role in the marketing of their school (Oplatka and Hemsley-Brown, 2004; Oplatka, 2006). Thus, as academics are expected to conduct research, publish, and then convey their knowledge to students through the design of new courses and participating in curricular innovations (Cardozier, 1987; Coser, 1971), our respondents view the effective performance of these tasks as their contribution to their HE institution.Notably, the academics identify their role in marketing activities as emerging through their obligation to promote effective teaching and conduct high-value research, two traditional aspects of the professoriate (Wolff, 1969). This goes hand-in-hand with one fundamental, essential factor underlying the marketing philosophy: improved performance. It is assumed that educational markets will drive up HEIs' performance through competition for students and the quality of teaching and research will be raised (Tooley, 2000; Walford, 1994).However, the respondents reject the notion of market-led curriculum development and initiatives, perhaps because this kind of action stands in stark contrast to fundamental beliefs about HE as an arena in which the knowledge is produced for its own sake and for the sake of the society as a whole (Boyer, 1982). Similar to schoolteachers (Oplatka et al., 2002), they seem to oppose any involvement of academics in direct marketing activities or in commercialising academic knowledge for external purposes such as the recruitment or retention of students.What has also come to light is the distinction between English and Israeli academics in respect to marketing and their own role in the process of recruitment and retention of students. Broadly, Israeli academics express more agreement with the statements, and more agreement between respondents, i.e. many of them advocate the role of the university and the faculty in supporting student development, as well as assume that their own university prioritises student needs and concern more than other universities in Israel. This distinction may be accounted for by the position of the Israeli university as a niche university (Yogev, 2007) which pushed its founders in the 1970s to strengthen the student-oriented image in order to attract prospective students rather than attempting to build an image of \"excellence in research\", which has long been associated with older universities. This image seems to have been thoroughly internalised given the beliefs of the Israeli respondents in this study.To sum up, both English and Israeli academics still adhere to traditional conceptualisations of the professoriate according to which a central part of the academic's role is to equip students for the work of inquiry (Boyer, 1982; Veblen, 1971). Thus, whereas more focus is assumed to be given by the contemporary academic to the organisational aspects of the HEI and its outcomes rather than merely to his/her own research and teaching, our respondents challenge this view in relation to marketing and promotion, giving an impression that issues of the HEI as an organisation are not necessarily part of the academic's role.\nImplications: The findings from the study indicate that a focus on students' needs (customer orientation) is strong in both institutions, despite the differences in HE marketisation in the two countries, and the historical development of HE in the two countries. The meeting of student needs, and a student centred approach can be an institutional mission, as well as a government drive initiative imposed on universities through the introduction of a market. Secondly, in Israel where there is little pressure on HEIs to be competitive compared with England, academics were more confident in the capabilities of the university to meet student needs effectively compared with competitor universities. Although it would be tempting to imply that the non-competitive environment contributes to this institutional confidence, it is possible that the ethos of the two sample institutions has also contributed to this difference. It is a limitation of this study that only two institutions were sampled and therefore external validity is somewhat low. The findings from the study, however, indicate that first, the instrument or e-inventory for MO is robust enough to justify further research; and secondly that a further study might draw on a larger sample of academics from a sample of universities in different countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper's purpose is to test: whether there are significant differences between England and Israel, in terms of perceptions of market orientation (MO) in higher education (HE); which MO dimensions (student, competition, intra-functional) indicate more positive attitudes and whether the differences are significant; and the reliability of the instrument for using a larger sample of respondents internationally.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A comparative (online) survey of 68 academics in England and Israel was conducted during the academic year 2007. The MO questionnaire used comprises 32 factor items rated on a six-point scale, categorised using three headings: market (student-customer) orientation; competitor orientation; and inter-functional coordination.\nFindings: - Overall, academics in both countries indicated that their HE institution is oriented towards meeting students' needs and desires, and cares for students' well-being, teaching and learning. In addition, the respondents alluded to their contribution to internal marketing, i.e. to the promotion of their university through their own work tasks and performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study was restricted to a comparison of only two universities, one in Israel and one in England, and the sample size is small.\nPractical implications: - The meeting of student needs, and a student centred approach can be an institutional mission, as well as a government driven initiative imposed on universities through the introduction of a market.\nOriginality/value: - As MO frequently underpins the development and implementation of successful organisation-environment relationships, the current paper is a first attempt to trace the contextual determinants of this orientation by comparing its frequencies and elements in two different HE systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Marketing strategy: taxonomy and frameworks	[ "Marketing strategy", "Formulation", "Implementation", "Taxonomy", "Frameworks", "Models" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The marketing literature is replete with normative and positive theoretical and empirical research-based papers and articles dealing with various aspects and elements inherent in the processes of marketing strategy formulation and implementation. Albeit robust in concept, unlike consumer behaviour, personal selling, and advertising, marketing strategy did not rise to the status of a sub-discipline of marketing! Surprising at first glance, but clear when subjected to scrutiny!\nTaxonomy of marketing strategy: At first we present taxonomy of marketing strategy formulation and implementation followed by an integrative framework setting the foundation for marketing strategy in the context of other strategies of the firm:* Marketing strategy formulation processes.* Marketing strategy implementation processes.* Marketing strategy formulation and implementation processes.* Marketing strategy in the context of other strategies of the firm.\nAlternative frameworks for integrating marketing strategy formulation and implementation: At first, we cast the design and implementation of a marketing-oriented, customer-focused marketing strategy into a framework that incorporate the strategic, structural, and management/operations antecedents to creating customer value. In the second, we cast marketing strategy formulation and implementation into a managerially-oriented, company-focused strategic planning framework. The framework incorporates dependent/marketing management, independent/marketing strategy, and mediating/firm orientation, branding, and organizational structure variables.1. Marketing process model. Creating a positive customer experience;* antecedents;* processes; and* outcomes.2. Strategic marketing planning model;* the role of firm orientation;* an apologetic for tiers I and II marketing strategy;* strategy must drive the structure; and* marketing strategy metrics.Throughout the paper we advance a number of propositions that constitute taxonomy of the concepts of marketing strategy formulation and implementation. The taxonomy and frameworks presented are based on deductive reasoning and collective evidence gathered from the literature. Selected references of the literature reviewed, classified by marketing topics are listed at the end of the paper for readers interested in further pursuing the subject. We hope that the propositions and frameworks constitute guidelines useful in the process of marketing strategy formulations and implementation by practitioners. Also, we hope that in the process of developing the taxonomy and frameworks, we improved the range of concepts and quality of frameworks; thus rendering more sound bases for the conduct of academic research.\nTaxonomy of marketing strategy: In this section we present taxonomy and integrative frameworks setting the foundation for marketing strategy formulation and implementation in the context of other strategies of the firm. At first, we set forth taxonomy and related frameworks for marketing strategy formulation and implementation. Later we present an integrative framework of marketing strategy in context of other strategies of the firm.Marketing strategy formulation processes - the mediating role of targeting\nAlternative frameworks for marketing strategy formulation and implementation: Earlier in this paper we indicated that the literature cast marketing strategy in the context of either marketing process models or corporate/business strategic planning models. Our contention was that while the focus of the strategic planning model variety is on achieving corporate financial objectives through designing and implementing product, pricing, promotion, and place (distribution) programs, the focus of the marketing process model variety is on the formulation of segmentation, targeting, differentiation, and positioning strategies designed to create, communicate, and deliver value to the customer to ensure their satisfaction and gain their loyalty, i.e. achieve marketing objectives. Since, neither of the models standing alone captures the multidimensionality of marketing strategy formulation and implementation from a customer, company, and competitor vantage, we decided to present both types of models accenting the view of the 3Cs of market places/space. In this section of the paper we start with the marketing process model of creating a positive customer experience.The marketing process model of creating a positive customer experience - antecedents, processes and outcomes\nIntegrating the strategic planning and the marketing strategy process models: Financial metrics reflect good/bad marketing performance. Therefore, we conclude with an \"Integrative Framework for Marketing Strategy Formulation and Implementation,\" shown in Figure 13. The framework integrates the strategic planning and the marketing strategy process models. The framework highlights the mediating role of positive customer experience in achieving strategic plan financial goals.\nConclusion: In this paper we present taxonomy and integrative frameworks for marketing strategy formulation and implementation. We advance propositions that clearly differentiate, but interrelate, marketing strategy formulation and implementation processes and recast the strategic planning financial-oriented model and the marketing strategy process models into sets of related frameworks designed to demonstrate that:* the road to healthy financial results must first be paved by sound marketing strategies;* explicitly state and underscore the role of branding and organizational strategies in mediating formulated marketing strategy into actionable marketing programs, and;* broaden the concept of firm orientation to reflect its role in mediating corporate strategy into a set of functional strategies including marketing.We view marketing strategy formulation as an interactive and iterative two-tier process:1. Segment the market, select target segments, design the offer to fit target market needs, brand naming the offer to differentiate it from the competitors' and position it in the customers' mind.2. Set product/brand, pricing, distribution, and promotion strategies as a prelude to tactical strategy implementation decisions involving the 4Ps or the marketing mix.We examined marketing strategy formulation and implementation in the context of two alternative models, marketing strategy process and strategic planning models. The focus of the marketing strategy process model is on the formulation of segmentation, targeting, differentiation, and positioning strategies to create, communicate, and deliver the value to the customer resulting in gaining customer satisfaction and loyalty; i.e. marketing objectives. The focus of the strategic planning model is on achieving corporate financial objectives through the implementation of product, pricing, promotion, and place (distribution) programs. Both frameworks underscore the mediating role of targeting and branding strategies. Targeting mediates the offer to the customer. Branding mediates differentiation of the offer from the competitors'. Branding mediates positioning of the offer in the customers' mind.The presentation is tantamount to a meta-theory of marketing strategy formulation and implementation because the propositions advanced throughout the paper clarify concepts and explore alternative frameworks useful in understanding concept differences and relationships. The propositions and frameworks classify the concepts as sets of dependent and independent variables and highlight the role of mediating variables such as branding, firm orientation, and organizational structure in transitioning strategy from the formulation stage to the implementation stage.The taxonomy and frameworks, albeit based on positive observations, are presented as normative theoretical propositions. It is hoped that this paper is a step in the right direction for academicians to design and implement research programs to test the validity of these propositions and for practitioners to guide their decision making in the process of marketing strategy formulation and implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present taxonomy of marketing strategy concepts and integrative frameworks that differentiate and integrate its formulation and implementation processes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is conceptual based on a review of academic literature on marketing strategy chronicled in major marketing journals January 1990-April 2006. We present selected references classified by key marketing strategy topics for further pursuit by interested readers. Also, the paper reflects our experience and views based on practices chronicled in corporate case studies and trade journals.\nFindings: - The literature casts marketing strategy formulation and implementation in the context of strategic planning and marketing strategy process models. The focus of the strategic planning model is on achieving corporate financial objectives through the implementation of product, pricing, promotion, and place (distribution) programs. The focus of the marketing strategy process model is on the formulation of segmentation, targeting, differentiation, and positioning strategies to create, communicate, and deliver the value to the customer resulting in gaining customer satisfaction and loyalty; i.e. marketing objectives.\nPractical implications: - The propositions and frameworks constitute guidelines useful in the process of marketing strategy formulations and implementation by practitioners and establish bases for academic researchers to test concept validity, examine concept differences, and explore concept relationships.\nOriginality/value: - This paper advances propositions that clearly differentiate, but interrelate, marketing strategy formulation and implementation processes and recast the strategic planning financial-oriented model and the marketing strategy process models into a set of frameworks to demonstrate that: the road to healthy financial results must first be paved by sound marketing strategies; explicitly state and underscore the role of branding and organizational strategies in mediating formulated marketing strategy into actionable marketing programs; and broaden the concept of firm orientation to reflect its role in mediating corporate strategy into a set of functional strategies including marketing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The competitive forces that shape Australian medical education: An industry analysis using Porter's five forces framework	[ "Medical education", "Strategy", "Higher education", "Leadership and management", "Porter’s five forces framework" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Medical education and research is one of the most highly regulated disciplines in higher education. It is an intensely evidence-driven professional field that operates in an increasingly regulated environment as compared to other fields within universities, which can have an impact on the role and character of an institution's strategy. From a review of websites, some faculties of medicine in Australia have annual revenues larger than some universities, or larger than all faculties put together within their university. Managing medical schools is a task complicated by complex, multistage regulatory processes (Mahat and Pettigrew, 2017). Many organizations, including governments, professional bodies, funding and accreditation agencies play important roles and provide various levels of input or control.\nPorter's five forces framework: According to Porter (2008), factors that influence the competitive position of a company in an industry or market are: bargaining power of buyers; bargaining power of suppliers; threat of new entrants; threat of substitute products; and rivalry among existing companies. Since an organization cannot be all things to all people, strategy is about making a deliberate and conscious choice to pursue things an organization wants and disregard things it does not want, and in the process be different from other organizations in the industry.\nResearch methods: At the time of study, there were 18 medical schools in Australia (Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ), 2015), located within Australia's universities, of which there are 40 (TEQSA, 2016). Six medical schools were selected in order to gain a range of perspectives from different size and/or groupings of universities in Australia (Maxwell, 2004). Two medical schools were established more than 50 years ago, two were medium term (between 10 and 50 years), and the last two were set-up in the last 10 years.\nFindings: As a \"tentative theory\" (Maxwell, 2004, p. 33), Porter's five forces framework has been very valuable in investigating the competitive forces that shape medical education and provided a conceptual map for analyzing medical education as an industry. The discussion in this section analyses the medical education industry based on Porter's five competitive forces of buyers' and suppliers' power, threat of new entrants and substitutes, and intensity of rivalry, with participants' perceptions interwoven into the discussions.\nDiscussion: Various schools of strategic management suggest that the environment is of primary importance to strategy formulation (Mintzberg et al., 1998). This is the central tenet of Porter's analysis of competitive positioning. In order for medical schools to gain and sustain their competitive advantage, the continuous review of the external environment should be central to any strategic planning and strategy formulation.\nConclusion and implications: The higher education world is undergoing rapid transformation, and is operating in a highly turbulent and dynamic environment that calls for medical schools to plan and anticipate uncertainties by developing appropriate and sustainable response strategies. Despite previous research, which has argued that strategy, in the business sense, does not apply to a substantially public and more institutionalized sector such as higher education (Amaral et al., 2002; Gumport, 2001) and is not achievable in complex, loosely coupled organizations such as universities (Leslie, 1996; Musselin, 2007), the findings of this study has shown the contrary, and accordingly challenge these assertions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Medical education is an evidence-driven professional field that operates in an increasingly regulated environment as compared to other fields within universities. The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which Porter's five competitive forces framework (Porter, 2008) can drive the management of medical schools in Australia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with over 20 staff from 6 case study Australian medical schools, this paper explores Australian medical education, by looking at the current policy context, structure and interactions between organizations within the system.\nFindings: The findings provide evidence that environmental forces affect the nature of competition in medical education, and that competitive advantage can be gained by medical schools from a sustained analysis of the industry in which they operate in. Consequently, it is possible to apply a pre-dominantly profit-oriented framework to higher education.\nResearch limitations/implications: As an industry facing increasing pressure toward marketization and competition, the findings provide sufficient evidence that an analysis of higher education as an industry is possible.\nPractical implications: The findings provide evidence that strategic leadership and management in higher education should encompass greater levels of delegation and decision making at all levels. Effective leadership should focus on creating an inspiring vision of the future through a sustained analysis of the industry in which they operate.\nOriginality/value: The study has made a key contribution through an industry analysis of Australian medical education, which provide important implications for leadership and management in higher education. The study is of significant value to researchers as well as senior management in higher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of relationship bonds on emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions in frontline employees	[ "Organizational commitment", "Turnover intention", "Emotional exhaustion", "Relationship bonds" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\n1. Introduction: Emotional labor is a person's effort to manage his/her feelings to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display (Hochschild, 1983) and to present organizationally desired emotions during service transactions (Meier et al., 2006). Thus, emotional labor jobs require the workers, such as frontline employees, to have face-to-face contact with the consumer and require the worker to control his/her personal emotions and display appropriate job-related emotions (e.g. smiling) to induce positive customer responses (Smith et al., 2009). Based on service management literature, emotional labor is particularly relevant to service encounters because frontline service personnel are situated at the organization-customer interface, have face-to-face interaction and represent the organization to customers (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: Hunt et al. (2006) indicated that Berry (1983, p. 25) first defined the \"relationship marketing\" term in service literature as attracting, maintaining and (in multi-service organizations) enhancing customer relationships. Relationship marketing is related to all marketing activities directed toward establishing, developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Relationship marketing has been heralded as an effective strategy to attract, maintain and enhance customer relationships (Ward and Dagger, 2007), and has received increasing attention in both marketing theory and practice (Huang, 2008). The initial objective of relationship marketing is to maintain a committed relationship between a customer and a business (Hsieh et al., 2005). In addition, the academic relationship marketing literature also highlights internal relationships (i.e. organization-employee) as having an important impact on business-consumer relationships (Herington et al., 2006; Liang and Chen, 2009). Thus, although the original applications of relationship marketing theory focused on the context of business-consumer relationships (Hsieh et al., 2005), the theory has been extended to help explain behavior in settings of business-business (Kim and Michell, 1999; Athanassopoulou, 2006) and organization-employee relationships (Bartels et al., 2006).\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Discussion: Because the frontline employee is critical to the success of numerous service industries, and simultaneously faces the continuing problem of employee emotional exhaustion and high turnover rates (Lv et al., 2012), understanding how to prevent emotional exhaustion and retain employees has become a crucial topic in service industries. Accordingly, this paper is the first study to clarify whether the three types of relationship bonds (social, structural and financial bonds) influence employee responses to affective, normative and continuance commitments. The effects of types of commitments on employee emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions are also examined. Analysis of the results reveals that emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions are directly affected by organizational commitments (e.g. affective, normative and continuance commitments) and preceded by social, structural and financial bonds. The findings show that financial bonding affects three types of commitments. Whereas social bonds positively influence affective and normative commitment, structural bonds positively affect normative and continuance commitment. The results further show that affective commitment has a negative influence on employee emotional exhaustion and turnover intention. Normative commitment also has a negative effect on emotional exhaustion and turnover intention. Continuance commitment, however, has a positive effect on emotional exhaustion. The findings also show that emotional exhaustion is a vital indicator of turnover intention. In sum, these findings show affective commitment as a critical factor in preventing emotional exhaustion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to extend the relationship marketing concept to examine which relationship bonds (social, structural and financial bonds) have different effects on employee affective (want to stay), normative (ought to stay) and continuance commitment (have to stay). Preventing emotional exhaustion in frontline employees and helping them stay on the job is an important topic for emotional labor research. The research also investigates which types of commitment influence emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions significantly.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire administered to 401 restaurant service industry frontline workers.\nFindings: The findings support the hypothesis that whereas social and financial bonds influence affective commitment, structural and financial bonds influence continuance commitment. Furthermore, affective commitment is a crucial factor for preventing emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions, whereas continuance commitment positively affects emotional exhaustion.\nOriginality/value: This research offers academic and managerial insights into the various types of relationship bonds and controls these bonds for facilitating employee organizational commitment, which consequently affects emotional exhaustion and turnover intention.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Antecedents of patient health outcomes in dialysis clinics: a national study	[ "Econometrics", "Clinical quality", "Dialysis", "Hospitalization", "Practice patterns" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: During the past two decades, the number of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) cases has continued to rise, and the number of patients needing hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) has risen to 600,000, according to the USA Renal Data System Annual Data Report[1]. In 2013, ESRD beneficiaries comprised 1.2 per cent of the Medicare population and accounted for an estimated 6.3 per cent of total Medicare spending, totaling over $30.9bn (CMS, 2015)[2]. ESRD beneficiaries often require visits to multiple providers and follow multiple care plans, and suffer from poor health outcomes due to their underlying disease complications and multiple comorbidities. Inadequate treatment of ESRD patients can lead to high rates of hospital admission and readmission, as well as mortality rates that are higher than the general Medicare population. These alarming trends raise the need for more effective health care resource utilization to improve the quality of healthcare delivery to chronic kidney disease and ESRD patients.\n2. Background: Dialysis is a clinical procedure that imitates the functionalities of a healthy kidney including removal of waste and excess water, keeping minerals in blood at a safe level, and controlling blood pressure. When a person loses certain kidney functionality, she is diagnosed as an ESRD patient and needs dialysis to help her survive. There are two types of dialysis: HD and PD. In HD, an external dialyzer is used externally to clean blood and wash out waste, fluid and excessive chemicals. Usually, HD is performed three times a week and 4 h in each time. In PD, blood is cleaned inside the patient's body through a catheter, which is placed on the belly for body access. PD is usually conducted on a daily basis. Both types of dialysis can be done in a hospital, in a dialysis center or at home. In this study, we focus on HD patients who receive dialysis in free-standing dialysis centers.\n3. Research data: Our main data sources are the Medicare Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) data set and Medicare cost reports for free-standing dialysis providers (CMS Form 265-2011). Medicare DFC is a public data service to facilitate the dissemination of detailed dialysis facility information about Medicare-certificated dialysis processes and to compare the quality of care provided by dialysis centers. It combines data from National Claims History Standard Analytical Files and Consolidated Renal Operations in a Web-enabled Network. From the DFC data set, we extracted data about a wide range of dialysis center characteristics and their patient profiles, including information on their chain affiliation status, ownership type, zip code, occurrence of PD and late shifts, number of dialysis stations, percentage of patients with AVF, percentage of patients with catheter left in vein longer than 90 days and several clinical process measures of dialysis adequacy and anemia management, as well as health outcomes measured as SHR.\n4. Empirical approach: Given the two-year panel data set, we use one-year lagged predictors for all analyses to address the potential endogeneity issue. For example, hiring more clinical staff, such as physicians and nurses, could impact clinical processes as well as patient outcomes. Conversely, a dialysis facility might decide to hire more clinical staff because the percentage of its patients with adequate dialysis is low. We mitigate the effect of reverse causality which may bias our estimation results, using lagged independent variable models. However, this may result in patient population mismatch for each facility because patients may sometimes change their attending facilities and our data set captures aggregated facility characteristics instead of patient-level determinants. Dialysis Patient Citizens (2012) reported that only 2 per cent of patients were highly unsatisfied with their care and nearly 80 per cent respondents were highly satisfied in its 2012 patient survey[8]. Therefore, we believe that the percentage of patients who switch their dialysis providers is small and our results are qualitatively robust. State dummies are included in all models to control for state-specific heterogeneity, such as various consumption price levels across states. Our results are qualitatively consistent when we use network dummies instead of state dummies. Our analysis of relations between facility practice patterns and clinical processes is based on estimation of the following system of equations:\n5. Results: 5.1 Practice pattern and clinical process measures\n6. Discussion: Beginning on January 1, 2011, Medicare launched the bundled payment system with pay-for-performance initiatives. The intent was to control unnecessary costs in dialysis services and improve the quality of care. The two metrics that are part of the dialysis QIP are urea clearance and Hgb levels. One of our objectives is to study how dialysis facility and practice characteristics impact clinical process quality measures and patient outcomes - a topic that has not been studied using recent data from a large sample of dialysis clinics. We further investigate the interdependent relationships among practice characteristics, clinical process measures and patient outcomes, thereby bringing new insights about the mechanisms through which facility characteristics and practice patterns impact patient outcomes.\n7. Conclusions: In this paper, we examine the interdependent associations among practice patterns, clinical processes and patient outcomes in the dialysis industry. We find that dialyzer reuse is positively associated with clinical process measures but is also associated with higher hospitalization risk. A higher nurses-to-patient ratio improves anemia management, whereas higher physician-to-patient ratio increases the likelihood of poor anemia control. While the nurse and physician caseloads are not significantly associated with patient hospitalization risk, we observe that the station-to-patient ratio improves dialysis adequacy and hospitalization risk. Offering PD as an optional modality is not preferable. It deteriorates clinical processes but does not significantly raise hospitalization risk. Providing late shifts reduces the percentage of patients who receive adequate dialysis and increases their hospitalization risk. Furthermore, our results show that facility ownership type, prolonged catheter usage and late shift have both direct and indirect associations with patient outcomes (measured as SHR) and are partially mediated through dialysis processes. We also find that the impact of treatment cost per patient, treatment volume per patient and station ratio becomes insignificant, after controlling for clinical processes, thereby suggesting the existence of full mediation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the determinants of health outcomes of dialysis patients, while specifically focusing on the role of dialysis process measures and dialysis practice characteristics. The dialysis industry is facing a major transition from a volume-based health care system to a value-based cost-efficient care model, in the USA. Under the bundled Prospective Payment System, the treatment-based payment model is subject to meeting quality thresholds as defined by clinical process measures including dialysis adequacy and anemia management. Few studies have focused on studying these two processes and their association with the quality of patient health outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, the authors focus on identifying the determinants of patient health outcomes among freestanding dialysis clinics, using a large cross-sectional data set of 4,571 dialysis clinics in the USA. The authors use econometric analyses to estimate the association between dialysis facility characteristics and practice patterns and their association with dialysis process measures and hospitalization risk.\nFindings: The authors find that reusing dialyzers and increasing the number of dialysis stations is associated with higher levels of clinical quality. This research indicates that deploying more nurses on-site allows patients to avail adequate dialysis, while increasing the supply of physicians can hurt anemia control process. In addition, the authors report that offering peritoneal dialysis and late night shifts are not beneficial practices in terms of their impact on the hospitalization risk.\nResearch limitations/implications: While early studies of dialysis care mainly focused on the associations between practice patterns and patient outcomes, this research reveals the underlying mechanisms of these relationships by exploring the mediation effects of clinical dialysis processes on patient outcomes. The results indicate that dialysis process measures mediate the impact of the operational characteristics of dialysis centers on patient hospitalization rates.\nPractical implications: This study offers several managerial insights for owners and operators of dialysis clinics with respect to the association between managerial and clinical practices that they deploy within dialysis clinics and their impact on clinical quality measures as well as hospitalization risk of patients. Managers can draw on this study to optimize staffing levels in their dialysis clinics, and implement innovative clinical practices.\nSocial implications: Considering the growth in healthcare expenditures in developing and developed countries, and specifically for costly diagnoses such as dialyses, this study offers several insights related to the inter-relationships between dialysis practice patterns and their clinical quality measures.\nOriginality/value: This study makes several major contributions. First, the authors address the extant gap in the literature on the relationships between dialysis facility and practice characteristics and clinical outcomes, while specifically highlighting the role of clinical process measures as antecedents of patient hospitalization ratio, a key metric used to measure performance of dialysis clinics. Second, this study sheds light on the underlying mechanisms that serve as enablers of the dialysis adequacy and anemia management. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore these relationships in the dialysis industry. The authors' approach provides a new direction for future studies to explore the pathways that may impact clinical quality measures in the delivery of dialysis services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intermedialists: Debussy and the influences of Whistler and Baudelaire	[ "Charles Baudelaire", "Claude Debussy", "Impressionism", "James Abbott McNeill Whistler", "Symbolism", "Synesthesia", "Intermedialists", "Interart aesthetic", "Cross modal", "Multisensory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were marked by the creation of artistic works which blurred the barriers between artistic media and genres. Also known as the \"interart aesthetic\" (Kramer, 1984), this inclusivity and interconnectedness enabled the creation of works which evoked a multisensory experience, or synesthesia. Synesthesia is a natural phenomenon in which one receives a multisensory experience through the stimulation of only once of the senses (Whitelaw, 2008). For example, one might experience the sensation of a color in relation to a letter or sound. This natural phenomenon was mimicked deliberately by intermedialist poets, painters, and composers of the Impressionist and Symbolist movements as a method of heightening the experience of the spectator (Dayan, 2010).\nSelection criteria: The selected resources provide an introduction to academic study of Debussy by examining the influential artists and poets who inspired him. This inclusive approach references the Symbolists' cross-modal mindset, embracing \"interart\" methods to seek a more complete understanding of Debussy's works. There is an established and rich body of French-language resources relating to Debussy and Baudelaire. It is not the intention of this paper to neglect that critical literature, but rather to highlight some notable English-language resources as well as translations of French-language resources. Selections include digital images of Whistler paintings, and poems of Baudelaire which were of particular import in inspiring the creative works of Debussy. Also included are letters, scores, literature review, and critical analysis of said works which reveal the interconnectedness of some of Debussy's works, and may forge a deeper understanding of the compositional techniques he employed to create a synesthetic experience through music.\nBibliography: Braus, I. (2000), \"Clouds or fog? Demystifying meter, harmony, and structure in Debussy's Nuages\", Journal of Musicological Research, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 329-372, available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=3989086&site=ehost-live (accessed 30 July 2013).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aimed to inform research or collection development on the topic of Claude Debussy, with particular attention paid to English-language resources that highlight the cross-modal nature of his work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This objective was achieved by examining primary and secondary sources relating to the works and correspondences of Debussy and those of painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and the works of poet Charles Baudelaire, whose work influenced Debussy.\nFindings: Holistically studying Debussy and his contemporary influences enables the researcher to develop a richer understanding of Debussy's work.\nOriginality/value: This paper may have implications for research on James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Charles Baudelaire, Impressionism, and Symbolism.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Integrating problem- and project-based learning into sustainability programs: A case study on the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University	[ "Project-based learning", "Problem-based learning", "Real-world learning", "Sustainability competence", "Sustainable solutions", "Institutional change" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An idea has started to conquer academic sustainability programs - the idea of educating students in real-world settings, in which they work on \"problems that were brought to higher education by cities, businesses, non-profit organizations and other institutions\", produce \"workable contributions to solutions\" and have \"a positive impact on the world through their academic learning\" (Rowe, 2007, p. 324). Over the past few years, this idea has developed into a guiding vision for education in sustainability science, an explicitly problem-driven and solution-oriented academic field (Kates et al., 2001; Clark and Dickson, 2003; Lang et al., 2012; Wiek et al., 2011a; Wiek et al., 2012). The key features of problem- and project-based learning (hereafter PPBL) are student-centered, self-directed and collaborative learning that focuses on real-world issues and may involve stakeholder engagement (Savery, 2006; Stauffacher et al., 2006; Brundiers et al., 2010; Brundiers and Wiek, 2011). In contrast to service learning, PPBL approaches engage students in inquiry-based research for complex problem solving.\nPPBL in sustainability programs: PPBL approaches have a rich history in the fields of health sciences, engineering, architecture and business, among others (Savery, 2006). In addition to providing experiential learning opportunities that are effective in all educational fields, there are several reasons that make PPBL necessary for sustainability education. Sustainability science is distinct from other disciplines because it develops solution options to specific types of complex societal problems (Wiek et al., 2012; Wiek and Lang, 2013). Developing solution options to these problems requires in-depth exploration, as well as collaboration across different types of expertise. Thus, sustainability programs must equip students not only with content knowledge and analytical skills but also with interpersonal competencies and transdisciplinary/transacademic work experience. These skills cannot be developed through lecture-based activities alone, but require hands-on practice, teamwork and community engagement opportunities.\nPPBL activities at the School of Sustainability: PPBL at SOS began in the academic year 2008/2009. Until academic year 2012/2013, the program has grown quickly and developed at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In total, there have been 82 PPBL courses at SOS (this number counts each course individually, even if it was taught in multiple semesters) that have involved 46 distinct faculty members and 2,746 students. Table I shows the number of courses, faculty and students involved in PPBL in each academic year and gives an indication of how the program has grown.\nInstitutional support structures for PPBL: Some of the most effective examples of PPBL are observed in schools where the institutional structure is closely aligned with the pedagogy, such as Expeditionary Learning Schools in the USA, where an explicit goal is to transform school culture (Expeditionary Learning, 2012). High Tech High, as another example from the USA, does not use textbooks, and instead teachers are given the flexibility and power to structure their curriculum around long-term projects. Classes are intentionally organized so that \"pairs of core-subject teachers (one humanities, one science/math) share the same two classes of students so they can collaborate on cross-disciplinary projects and better support students and each other\" (Rubenstein, 2008). Both examples are from K-12 schools, as adoption of PPBL approaches in the USA is more widely spread among K-12 schools compared to universities. However, worldwide, there are universities practicing PPBL across their academic programs such as Maastricht University in The Netherlands, Aalborg University in Denmark and McMaster University in Canada.\nChallenges, successes and impacts: A major challenge with PPBL is the issue of community fatigue and even resentment. In a workshop course in Spring 2012, students experienced this at a neighborhood association meeting where a community member expressed frustration with the researchers they had worked with in the past, resulting in reports \"that gather dust on the shelf\". Although SOS has had long-term relationships with community organizations over the past years, intermittent interactions, student turnover and the limitations of the academic schedule have been issues that can only be dealt with through careful relationship building, planning and impact orientation.\nOutlook on PPBL program advances after take-off: The initial insights presented above demonstrate a case of successfully inaugurating a PPBL program in sustainability at a major university in the USA. Yet, a key challenge for this program and similar programs around the world is how to maintain the institutional momentum and make advances after the initial take-off. Sterling and Thomas (2006) posit four stages in a transition toward strong sustainable education. The final stage is characterized by \"a deep, conscious reordering of assumptions which leads to paradigm change\" (Sterling and Thomas, 2006, p. 4). To consolidate and advance PPBL programs, SOS needs to:\nConclusions: Arizona State University's School of Sustainability has integrated a variety of PPBL opportunities in their undergraduate and graduate programs. This is one example of what higher education institutions can do in terms of curriculum development and aligning institutional structures with PPBL objectives. By sharing our experience and findings, other programs may be able to better articulate the benefits of PPBL initiatives, anticipate implementation challenges and successfully support their own PPBL initiatives through adequate institutional structures. In this article, the authors have presented examples of the variety of ways to incorporate PPBL opportunities into the curriculum, from components in classes to full workshop-courses, thesis work and international collaboration. The critical review of our experience points to the fact that the major impact on both student learning and outcomes for partner organizations is achieved through a concerted effort by the institution as a whole. Successful PPBL programs require both top-down commitment from the administration, bottom-up drive from interested faculty and students and openness on behalf of the project-partners. The findings can inform and support the ongoing transformation in sustainability education with the ultimate objective to build students' capacities to address and solve wicked sustainability problems in the real-world, competently collaborating with partners from government, business and civil society.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The article aims to describe the problem- and project-based learning (PPBL) program and the institutional context at Arizona State University's School of Sustainability (SOS), with the goal of offering experience-based guidance for similar initiatives in sustainability programs around the world.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This case study presents the diverse PPBL activities that SOS offers on the undergraduate and the graduate levels and examines the institutional structures in place that support these activities. Data were collected through literature and document reviews, observations, interviews, student evaluations and faculty surveys.\nFindings: The review of the PPBL program at SOS illustrates a case of successfully inaugurating a PPBL program in sustainability at a major university in the USA. Yet, a key challenge for this program and similar programs around the world is how to maintain the institutional momentum and make advances after the initial takeoff. SOS is attempting to address this issue by developing greater program cohesion and coordination, synthesizing past products and learning, monitoring and evaluating impacts, and developing PPBL training programs for faculty and graduate students.\nPractical implications: The experiences and findings presented can help other programs to articulate the benefits of a PPBL initiative, anticipate implementation challenges and successfully support their own PPBL initiatives through adequate institutional structures. The review points to the fact that the major impact on both student learning and outcomes for partner organizations is achieved through a concerted effort by the organization as a whole. Successful PPBL programs require both top-down commitments from the administration and bottom-up drive from interested faculty and students.\nOriginality/value: This case study discusses the PPBL program at SOS. The findings can inform and support the ongoing transformation in sustainability education with the ultimate objective to build students' capacities to address and solve wicked sustainability problems in the real world, competently collaborating with partners from government, business and civil society.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Training volunteers for the elderly in Israel	[ "Training", "Elderly people", "Voluntary organizations", "Continuous improvement", "Israel" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Training of volunteers is a major success factor in performing volunteering tasks and usually the volunteer is not a person with formal professional background in the area in which he/she volunteers. Using this as a basic assumption, this article deals with the training program developed and implemented at the Counseling Services for the Elderly (CSE) of the National Insurance Institute (NII) in Israel (Vitner et al., 2005).Several papers on training for volunteers have been published, though none of these provide any evidence of effectiveness of their appropriate programs. These papers are listed in Table I together with pertinent details of their applications.Observing details in Table I, one notices that most of the articles deal with training programs to support volunteers with ill or handicapped persons. Most of the programs run for only a few hours to orient volunteers prior the initiation of the task.The literature does not present any specific detailed program for volunteers with the elderly.The process of training volunteers aims at achieving several objectives:* Providing a qualitative, available and applicable service according to the needs of the target population.* Efficient exploitation of the volunteering investment in order to provide a suitable answer to the needs of the target population.* Maintaining volunteers with constant motivation for the long run.* Turning volunteering into an attractive activity.* Integrating the entire volunteering activity in the community.Thousands of volunteers at the Counseling Services for the Elderly (CSE) of the National Insurance Institute (NII) (Vitner et al., 2005), act in a manner that Schindler and Brawley (1987), calls the \"Front Life Line\". The volunteer provides defined and specific assistance services according to the needs of the receiver of the assistance. That service must be based on training that provides knowledge, skill, expertise and specialization without ignoring the emotions of the volunteer. In exchange for training, the volunteer should operate in a clear and defined manner. This is actually some sort of an \"agreement\" of knowledge and skills that will allow him to meet the arrangement (Fischer and Cole, 1993).When referring to the essence and importance of training we face several basic assumptions:* We are committed to provide a qualitative and constant service, so consequently, we are committed to develop the role of the volunteers and their expertise.* We are committed to define the role of the volunteer in professional terms and base them on principals and theories that are mainly derived from the profession of management and social working.* The procedures for developing the volunteers' job are aimed at motivating the volunteer on the one hand and set his work with significance on the other hand.Figure 1 illustrates the historical development of training volunteers at the CSE. It was initiated in 1972 with an 18 hours program, which was increased to 40 hours in 1985 and since 1995, the program requires a total of 64 hours (four weekly hours for 16 weeks).\nThe job of volunteers at the CSE: There are two principal jobs for the volunteers: home visits and consulting. These are illustrated in Figure 2 which shows that the consulting activity can begin only after at least one year experience at home visits. The volunteer must know his special and unique place at the general alignment of services for the elderly. He is a contact and the bridge between the elderly and the community and its representatives (Gidron and Levy, 1980). The volunteer simplifies bureaucratic procedures, mediates, defends and fights for his elderly clients. He represents the interests of the elderly in an effective manner in order to achieve the requested service.The home visits\nThe training model at the CSE: The training cycle of the CSE volunteer is illustrated in Figure 2. All volunteers must go through the following three phases:1. recruiting phase;2. orientation and the new volunteer course;3. training groups and proficiency development procedures.This paper does not consider the first phase (i.e. recruitment) but focuses on the latter two.Each volunteer joining the CSE is generally aware of the essence of the service and the role of its volunteers. The purpose of training is to prepare the volunteer for his job. It begins with the orientation phase (conducted at the specific NII branch where he will serve) which gives the volunteer the opportunity to examine his decision to be a volunteer while the system examines his suitability to serve. The orientation phase runs in parallel to the new volunteer course where he learns to become an effective home visitor. In the 16 week training period, the volunteer becomes familiar with the home visitor task and with the NII in general and the CSE systems in the specific NII branch where he serves.Once graduated from the course, he starts his duties as a home visitor and participates in a regular training group where he gets professional support on a routine basis. After about a year in the service, some of the volunteers (about 10 percent) are selected to be consultants starting with training in the consultant course. Once graduated, he begins to serve as a consultant and joins a consultants training group where he receives professional support on a routine basis.The orientation phase\nContinuous improvement process of the training program: In order to maintain the effectiveness of the training program in the long run, the CSE operates a continuous improvement process of the training program.Figure 3 illustrates the improvement process which integrates the efforts and experience learned from the daily performance of volunteers in the various branches together with the support of the academic professionals.The improvement process is conducted by a CSE professionals training team. Each branch submits the national team with feedback from the branch training groups on issues that may be important and finally will bring needed updates of the syllabus of the new volunteer course and the consultant course. Some updates suit a specific branch and are implemented in a given branch while others are dealt with on a national level.Each year, prior to the opening of the new volunteer course, CSE professionals discuss with relevant university personal revisions to be made in the training program. Experience shows, the improvement process to be very effective with several revisions being introduced since the new volunteer course began operations in 1972.\nSummary and conclusions: This article presents the training program of volunteers at the CSE of the NII in Israel. The program contains the orientation phase and the course, the training groups that support the volunteers in their daily activity and the consultant course. The continuous improvement process of the training program ensures that the program is continually updated.The training program supports the achievement of the CSE goals using volunteers in supporting the elderly population in the country.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive training program for volunteers for the elderly in Israel, which has been operated under the National Insurance Institute of the State of Israel.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper considers the need and values of training elderly volunteers to support the elderly in the community. The methodology of training is presented, starting with the first program of a new volunteer and continue with an advanced consultant course. The methodology of maintaining and continuous improvement of the training programs are also discussed.\nFindings: - Each year, about 500 volunteers participate in a 64 hours (four weekly hours for 16 weeks) new volunteer course, and about 50 volunteers participate in the consultant course. In addition, all active volunteers (about 4,000) participate in regular training groups, every alternate week for two hours.\nOriginality/value: - The paper introduces a unique training methodology and training programs for elderly volunteers to support the elderly in the community. A continuous improvement methodology is discussed to ensure training effectiveness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The influence of the diffusion of food safety information through social media on consumers' purchase intentions: An empirical study in China	[ "Food safety information", "Social media", "Purchase intentions", "Consumer behaviour", "Empirical study", "Information diffusion" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the rapid development of the Chinese economy and the significant improvement of the living standard in China, there is an increasing attention that has been paid to food safety across the country (Lu and Wu, 2014). Tremendous efforts have been made, and specific strategies and policies have been developed in ensuring the safe production and distribution of food products along the whole supply chain across the country. This leads to the availability of much food safety information for individual consumers in the marketplace through various communication channels including social media.\n2. Literature review: Social media are computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information and interests via virtual communities and networks. They include a group of internet-based applications built on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0 allowing the creation and exchange of user generated contents (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Karunasena et al., 2013). Such applications despites very much different share some common characteristics as follows:\n3. The research model and hypotheses: The purchase decision of consumers involves in a process in which consumers carefully evaluate the product with respect to the availability of information. It is a systematic decision-making process including requirements identification, information search, evaluation of products, purchase of the product and post-purchase evaluation. As the actual purchase decision of consumers is difficult to measure, it is therefore common to use the purchase intention of consumers as the leading indicator to predict the behavior of consumers. In this context, the purchase intention of consumers is the subjective probability of consumers to buy a certain product. It is usually measured by consumers' willingness to buy the product now or next time, and recommend the product to their friends (Erkan and Evans, 2016).\n4. Methodology and implementation: This study aims to investigate the influence of the diffusion of food safety information through social media on consumers' purchase intentions in China. To achieve the objective of this research, a survey-based quantitative approach is adopted in the study. The adoption of such an approach is due to the nature of this study in which some specific relationships that have been identified through the literature review need to be tested and validated with the data collected in a real situation.\n5. Data analysis: This study investigates the influence of the diffusion of food safety information through social media on consumers' purchase intentions in China in order to identify the critical factors. To adequately achieve this aim, SEM is used for analyzing the collected data because SEM is an appropriate technique for testing and validating the relationship between measured variables and unobserved constructs and for estimating the relationships between unobserved constructs (Duan et al., 2012; Deng et al., 2018). To assess the conceptual constructs, confirmatory factor analysis and analysis of moment structures version 21.0 are used.\n6. Results and discussion: The structural model in Figure 2 shows that a strong support is evident for the paths of friend recommendation-consumers' purchase intentions, opinion leader recommendation-credibility of information, quality of information-credibility of information, credibility of information-perceived risk, demand for information-perceived risk, perceived risk-consumers' purchase intentions, friend recommendation - opinion leader recommendation, quality of information - demand for information with the path coefficient values of -0.25, 0.29, 0.84, 0.34, 0.55, -0.70, 0.68 and 0.85, respectively (p<0.001). The GOF indices indicate that the model fits the data very well and that all the hypothesized relationships between constructs are significant.\n7. Conclusion: This study investigates how the diffusion of food safety information through social media affects consumers' purchase intentions in China. It identifies the critical factors including friend recommendation, opinion leader recommendation, quality of food safety information, credibility of food safety information, demand for food safety information and perceived risk that affect the purchase intentions of customer through the diffusion of food safety information using social media. The results of this study provide governments and enterprises with a profound insight into the use of social media to build a risk communication platform of food safety.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the diffusion of food safety information through social media affects customers' purchase intentions in China. This leads to the identification of the critical factors that impact the purchase intention of individual consumer through the diffusion of food safety information using social media in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A research model is proposed based on a comprehensive review of the related studies. Such a model is then tested and validated using structural equation modeling based on the survey of 199 individuals who have experience in purchasing food products online while having social media accounts.\nFindings: The study reveals that friend recommendation and perceived risk directly affect consumers' purchase intentions and opinion leader recommendation, quality of information, credibility of information and demand for information indirectly affect consumers' purchase intentions through the diffusion of food safety information using social media in China.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first of this kind in China for exploring the critical factors that affect consumers' purchase intentions through the diffusion of food safety information using social media. The findings of the study are significant for the government and food enterprises to make a full use of the advantages of social media to improve the communication of food safety information in ensuring the safety of the food supply in China.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Moving beyond the business plan in enterprise education	[ "Students", "Entrepreneurship education", "Business plans", "Curriculum design", "Enterprise education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurship education and the closely related area of enterprise education (EE) have arrived as fundamental course offerings for all students in Higher Education. While the rise of entrepreneurship education has to some occurred out of the blue; others (see Matlay, 2005, 2006, 2011) have observed the gradual legitimacy of the field. The issue of what is entrepreneurship education and it relates to EE is now a contemporary issue of increasingly interest to many scholars. We have chosen to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship education and EE through considering the role of the business plan in both areas. Few if any other issues more divide entrepreneurship educators than the role of business plans in our curriculums. In this paper we seek not to merely take sides of the never-ending debate (see Bridge and Hegarty, 2011; Honig, 2004), but rather, we seek to explain why business plans are not appropriate as a focal learning activity in EE.\nMethod: The paper reports upon the authors' pragmatic consideration of the role and place of the business plan in entrepreneurship/enterprise courses globally. Our methodological approach is best illustrated with direct reference to Hayward's (2000) cycle of reflective practice. This approach incorporates the philosophical approaches of Dewey (1933), Kolb (1984) and Schon (1983, 1987) to guide a process of reflective practice designed to allow the self-reflection of our own practices with the aim being the development of new knowledge that is personally relevant. These processes (united here) have been ongoing during recent times, with a continuous cycle of acquiring feedback from multiple sources (Brookfield, 1995); reflecting upon the information gathered; drawing inferences from that material; developing new patterns of thought; and then taking action to discuss and share our findings. Evidence of our reflection can be found in the peer-reviewed publications related to current and past thinking (see Jones, 2011; Jones and Matlay, 2011; Penaluna et al., 2012; Jones et al., 2013). Such reflection has enabled us to formulate eight specific arguments about our concerns of the role of the business plan in EE.\nArgument 1: unproven performance links: We acknowledge the logical claim that prior planning should increase eventual performance, but recognize there is little empirical evidence that this is so. Lange et al. (2007) argue that if there is a lack of any need to raise substantial capital, there is likely to be no need to write a business plan. Such thinking that is echoed by Bjerke (2007) who contends that the unpredictable nature of entrepreneurship renders the process of any such planning obsolete. With reference to a quote attributed to Winston Churchill, Bygrave (2010), noted that, however elegant the strategy, we should occasionally look at the results. The suggestion being that if we substitute business plan for strategy, the quotation hints at the problem faced by those that argue in favour of the business plans. The work of Lange et al. (2007) also provides little evidence that directly relates the skills of writing a business plan to actual superior performance or start-ups and/or firms in general. Indeed, we can draw further on Churchill's observations, drawing a distinction between setting plans and developing the capacity to innovate and outwit for competitive advantage (Rankin, 2008). We contend, the latter should be more the focus of EE than the former.\nArgument 2: actual start-up funding needs: There seems to exist a line of thought that students of EE should carry around a business plan on their person and lurk in elevators hoping to strike the jackpot by accidently ambushing a venture capitalist. Ask yourself this question; how many of your students have been funded by a venture capitalist immediately after or during your guidance? Given that we guess your answer is likely to be <1 per cent, we need to ensure that we focus on what is most likely to happen in the lives of our students, not what might happen elsewhere. The business plan is predicated upon the process of start-up and the subsequent need to obtain substantial funding. However, the vast majority of start-ups are known to commence without such funding (Shane, 2008). Shane suggests that we should not oversell the \"entrepreneurship via start-ups\" pathway to all, especially we contend, to students of EE. Indeed, to the extent that we are working with students who have developed valid and well thought through assumptions, we will have most likely bypassed many of the demands for significant capital funding. The reality is that an entrepreneur's resource profile (i.e. who and what they know) typically counts for more than their vivid imagination nearly every time.\nArgument 3: students always have great ideas?: We believe that the term \"Design Thinking\" (Brown, 2009) contributes to our arguments surrounding the enterprising mindset, as we posit the view that being enterprising is a human-centred concept that requires us to challenge existing norms and to test new mental constructs. Importantly, whilst the business plan may evaluate ideas, the question arises as to how does it inform and develop new ones? Typically, the business plan approach clearly assumes that an idea is ready to be tested, but does not support learning which develops the capacity to be innovative. Conversely, a recent review that that spanned over 40 years, \"found that entrepreneurs were significantly more innovative in their cognitive style than managers in large established organisations\" and that \"intuitive entrepreneurs with high-risk preference demonstrated higher levels of opportunity identification, self efficacy [...] [and were] [...] more effective in the initiation phase\" (Armstrong et al., 2012, pp. 247-248). This clearly raises the question as to whether we may be putting the cart before the horse when we start to teach enterprise with evaluation strategies, not ideas generation strategies.\nArgument 4: encouraging the right type of thinking: It is important that we ensure that innovative ideas are present in the minds of our students, not merely interesting ones. Informed and sophisticated design strategies are essential when seeking out opportunity, and opportunity can arise from contextualized situations where the unexpected and unusual combine to enlighten in new and unexpected ways. Further, there is evidence that \"field independent\" individuals who can experience targets as discrete from their field or context, exhibit, \"analytical perceptual abilities and greater fluidity in the capacity to associate freely and their better ability to differentiate and integrate information\" (Armstrong et al., 2012, p. 248).\nArgument 5: our students' career trajectories: We ask, from where do your students come? To where are they headed? Can you honestly see a business plan being used somewhere during this journey? We accept that for the less than approximately 10 per cent of our students who want to create some new value and/or who will need to be supported by external investment, they should have the opportunity to write a business plan. However, their need for such knowledge need not come at the expense of the other 90 per cent of students who will most likely not benefit from exposure to such a learning activity. We tend to provide other resources that allow us to impart guidance on the development of a business plan. During this process we work as mentors to those students who are in need of such assistance, or arrange for such assistance. However, it is the needs of the many that outweigh the needs of the few. Our position in this regard is not borne from our attitude to business plans, but rather the limited space in the curriculum and the pressing need to include other matters.\nArgument 6: the emergence of new planning processes: The ideas of Blank and Dorf (2012) are gaining significant traction in EE circles. They argue that most if not all business plans fail upon first contact with the assumed customers. If this is so, perhaps we should ban customers so that our students can complete their work in peace. Seriously though, we support the notion of naive business plans containing faulty assumptions. The notion of developing the customer and product simultaneously as espoused by Blank and Dorf and also Ries (2011) makes more than sense than not doing so. Their work brings the focus onto the plan's building blocks, that is, the untested assumptions within.\nArgument 7: effectuation: There is little doubt that that effectual logic (Sarasvathy, 2008) is impacting upon the domain of EE. Read et al. (2011, p. 7) see effectuation as \"using a set of evolving means to achieve new and different goals. Effectuation evokes creative and transformative tactics. Effectual logic is the name given to heuristics used by expert entrepreneurs in new venture creation\". We are somewhat concerned by this statement, are you? It would appear that the starting point in the effectual approach is the expert entrepreneur. We worry about a theory built around the cognitive abilities of experts with regards its application to novices in the domain of EE. As educators, we are not even working with seasoned or novice entrepreneurs. To be frank, quite often we are not even working with nascent entrepreneurs. Putting this concern to one side, let us move further into the world of effectuation to consider its use when writing a business plans.\nArgument 8: the need for flexible approaches: Our last argument is no less concerning. It would seem that every definition of enterprise includes creativity and or innovation, yet in a business education context, the assessment of such abilities appears to remain problematic, and we would contend, largely ignored. Recently, Pittaway and Edwards (2012, pp. 293-294) concluded, \"the study shows that there is a need for further research that explores assessment practice in entrepreneurship education in disciplines outside of business schools\", and that \"other forms of entrepreneurship education, assessment practice tends to be more reflective, more engaging of other stakeholders, more accepting of ambiguity and more formative in nature\".\nDiscussion: Taken together, we strongly believe that the above eight arguments provide a compelling case as to why the business plan should not be a focal learning activity in EE. Note, we are not arguing that the business plan should be banished all together, merely that it should not be a focal learning activity in EE. Ultimately, our curiosity rests in exploring with EE colleagues what it is they intend for their students to learn. We are always amused that very few educators explicitly state that want to be able to assist their students to engage in start-up activities; yet include a strong focus on the business plan. The work of Biggs (2003) is increasingly becoming more popular as constructivist approaches to curriculum planning occur. Biggs promotes the simple yet challenging process of constructive alignment. Put simply, what do your students need to learn? What would be the most effective form of learning activities to facilitate such learning? What would be the best approach to assessing the progress of the students towards the learning outcomes as stated in the first question? Taken together, these three questions place enormous strain on the retention of the business plan in EE. Once the learning outcomes are established prior to any consideration of what learning activities might be used, the direction of the conversation is essentially reversed. Now, the business plan is only discussed if it provides an appropriate learning activity (or solution) to the learning needs of the student.\nConclusion: We have attempted to sidestep the debate that haunts EE/entrepreneurship education, a debate we see as pointless. We have deliberately sought to separate EE from entrepreneurship education, seeing them as distinctly different educational processes. Using our combined experience we have constructed eight arguments that we seeing as establishing a threshold that separates EE from entrepreneurship education. Taken together these arguments take our field beyond semantics and into the reality of our students. We argue that it is through the eyes of our students that we must hereinafter base such competing viewpoints.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to approach the debate surrounding the role of business plans in enterprise/entrepreneurship education from a different perspective; that of the student. The paper argues that much of the consternation within this stubborn debate derives from a lack of appreciation of the context actually occurring in the lives of our students. The paper aims to explore several arguments directly related to these contexts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach is to build around a combining of cycles of reflective practice via the authors' iterative consultation with each other. The paper seeks to explore the world of the student via an enfolding of the literature, but ultimately we do not claim to have hidden our personal biases.\nFindings: It is important to separate enterprise education (EE) from entrepreneurship education when discussing the role of the business plan. While the business plan has a place in the latter, it makes little sense for it to be a focal learning activity in the former. In addition, we see this outcome as a positive outcome for our field with little point in continuing on with what has become a fairly pointless debate.\nPractical implications: The paper concludes that once EE is viewed as being distinctly different from entrepreneurship education it is free to be considered with more precision what learning needs exist. Focusing on learning needs changes the direction of the discussion, with the business plan only up for discussion if it contributes a learning activity related to pre-determined learning outcomes.\nOriginality/value: The paper offers a constructive way forward from a debate that has been beset with extreme vested interests for too long.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding human resource management practices in Botswana's public health sector	[ "Botswana", "Human resource management", "Institutional theory", "Public health sector" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper seeks to understand the human resource management (HRM) practices in the public health sector in Botswana. As other Sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana experiences numerous human resource (HR) challenges (Awases et al., 2010; WHO, 2006). Chronic staff shortages, limited skills, and poor motivation and retention, are some of the major threats to delivery of services and overall performance of the health system (MOH, 2001, 2009; Seitio-Kgokgwe, 2012). Nationally, the density of health personnel per 10,000 population has been persistently low by international standards (WHO, 2010, 2014). The World Health Organization (WHO) views personnel as the most critical of all health system resources. Countries with fewer health workers are unable to deliver services effectively or scale up interventions essential for achieving health goals (WHO, 2006).\nInstitutional theory, HRM and health: Institutional theory has been applied to HRM for over a decade (Mohamed and Terpstra, 1999; Najeeb, 2014). This theory permits a more expansive, system-wide view of HRM within health. Organizations in institutional theory are viewed as social entities that constantly adapt to their environments in order to gain social acceptance (legitimacy) (Meyer and Rowan, 1983). The environments are described as comprising rules, norms, standards and requirements that exert pressure on organizations influencing their structures, processes and practices (Fadare, 2013; Meyer and Rowan, 1983). These authors identified three categories of institutional pressure: regulatory (such as legal and government requirements which tend to be considered \"coercive\"); cognitive which are \"common knowledge\" and expectations of a group of professionals in the organization; and \"normative\", which reflect the values, beliefs and norms of the wider society (Meyer and Rowan, 1983; Scott, 1983b). Scott (1983b) argues that the value and belief systems in the organization's external environment are myths in the sense that they depend for their efficacy and reality on the fact that they are widely shared by individuals or groups that have been given the right to determine such matters. The normative and cognitive pressures can be summarized as \"informal\" institutions that \"attend to the deeper and more resilient aspects of social structure\" (Scott, 2004 cited in Amadi and Ekekwe, 2014, p. 170) while regulatory pressures can be characterized more as \"formal\" institutions.\nMethods: Setting\nFindings: HRM structures and policies\nDiscussion: HRM research in health in Sub-Saharan Africa has concentrated on service organization level practices (Marchal et al., 2010) or specific occupational groups (Abubakar et al., 2015). Such research is only just emerging in Botswana (Mkubwa, 2010) but as it develops it will provide important insights into technical aspects of HRM. For local HRM practices to achieve full impact, there also needs to be a strongly functioning national system comprising appropriate structures, policies, plans and systems for recruitment, retention and deployment as examined in this paper.\nImplications: Implications for theory\nConclusion: Despite the problems facing HRM in Botswana, there was no indication in any of the interviews that the health sector was subject to political manipulation. This is in contrast with some other African countries where the manipulation of senior roles on the basis of patronage may discourage a strategic approach to HRM (Lem, 2011). This confirms that the formal institutional arrangements for HRM are relatively stable and robust in Botswana and, despite current informal pressures and inefficiencies, can form the basis for improvement (Rowe et al., 2005).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the management of the public sector health workforce in Botswana. Using institutional frameworks it aims to document and analyse human resource management (HRM) practices, and make recommendations to improve employee and health system outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws from a large study that used a mixed methods approach to assess performance of Botswana's Ministry of Health (MOH). It uses data collected through document analysis and in-depth interviews of 54 key informants comprising policy makers, senior staff of the MOH and its stakeholder organizations.\nFindings: Public health sector HRM in Botswana has experienced inadequate planning, poor deployment and underutilization of staff. Lack of comprehensive retention strategies and poor working conditions contributed to the failure to attract and retain skilled personnel. Relationships with both formal and informal environments affected HRM performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: While document review was a major source of data for this paper, the weaknesses in the human resource information system limited availability of data.\nPractical implications: This paper presents an argument for the need for consideration of formal and informal environments in developing effective HRM strategies.\nOriginality/value: This research provides a rare system-wide approach to health HRM in a Sub-Saharan African country. It contributes to the literature and evidence needed to guide HRM policy decisions and practices\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mall brand meaning: an experiential branding perspective	[ "Retailing", "Experiential branding", "Shopping centre", "Corporate branding", "Shopping mall" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The context for this paper is the branding of shopping malls. Planned and managed shopping malls emerged as a format phenomenon in the mid-twentieth century. Arguably, the mall was a reinterpretation of the department store, which had offered a multiplicity of services and products, and which had been the site for the reimagining of shopping with the introduction of spectacle and emphasis on the shopping experience. The setting for this paper is consumer perceptions of shopping centres, also termed malls. The term, shopping mall, refers to planned shopping centres with a centralised management team. Despite their economic significance, there are relatively few image or branding studies of malls. Notwithstanding, industry continues to deliver ever more extraordinary malls such as the Chengde Tianshan Retail Center (Inside Retail Asia, 2015).\nThe literature: The literature, which forms the platform for this study, spans several domains: malls and consumers; experiential branding; branding and malls; mall image studies; the relationship between the retail mix and shopping malls; and malls and tenants.\nGap in the literature: In summary, there is a considerable literature on malls and consumers, mall image studies, atmospherics in the mall, malls and tenants but minimal focus on the overall mall brand. Specifically, prior research has not grappled with the determinants and nature of the overall, or holistic, mall brand. In particular, the notion of mall brand meaning, which has attracted some attention in the retail branding literature (see above), has drawn, nonetheless, very limited attention in the mall branding literature. This void leads us to our research question:\nConceptual model of consumer brand meaning: Previous quantitative studies of brand meaning across retailing (Merrilees and Miller, 2010b; Miller and Merrilees, 2013) and cities (Merrilees et al., 2009; Merrilees et al., 2012; Merrilees et al., 2014) provide the point of departure for the current study. Brand meaning derives from effective brand associations. The method in common with the above-mentioned quantitative studies is the identification of critical (statistically significant) brand associations that influence the consumer's overall evaluation of the brand, as measured by their brand attitudes. The main difference with the current study is the context, namely, shopping malls rather than individual retailers.\nResearch design: The study uses a quantitative research design strategy. A survey instrument was developed using variables from the literature that are known to influence brand attitudes. The personally administered survey included questions about the four major retail-marketing elements: merchandise, service, pricing and atmosphere, except all are in a mall context; the mall provides quality merchandise, for example. Additional questions asked consumers for their perceptions of customer mall satisfaction and mall brand-attitudes.\nResults: The results are presented in two parts. Firstly, the different scales and their item components are presented to ensure that we are dealing with meaningful and reliable scales. Secondly, the SEM is presented, which represent the core findings.\nUse of qualitative data to triangulate results: Although a separate qualitative study was beyond our initial scope, we did include an open-ended question on the primary shopping motivation for going to the mall. We have content analysed the open-ended responses (Denzin and Lincoln, 2004; Patton, 2002; Polonsky and Waller, 2015). In many ways, the results of this content analysis confirm the SEM results of the study. Mall atmosphere is the biggest group of attractors to the mall, with 35 per cent stating this category - with mentions of the open space, seating, nice atmosphere, etc. Variety of shops came second with about 26 per cent mentions. Another related attractor was merchandise, including specific retailer brands and quality being noted - about 21 per cent of the mentions. Location and convenience followed. At the extreme end, service received about 1 per cent of mentions and price virtually nothing.\nDiscussion: The findings identify the nature of mall brand meaning, which was the motivating research question for the study. While there is an extensive literature on the mall brand image (Chebat et al., 2010; Dennis et al., 2002; Parsons and Ballantine, 2004), virtually no known studies address the issue of mall brand meaning. The research design proceeded through use of a structural model whereby brand meaning is ascertained by the brand associations connecting consumer mall brand attitudes and various attributes. Consumer mall branding is based on two critical mall brand associations, emanating from mall atmosphere and mall merchandise. A satisfactory mall brand experience also contributes to mall brand meaning as a mediator between mall merchandise and mall atmosphere. Merchandise assortment (tenant mix) is recognised in the literature as a contributor to mall image, but such studies have not connected merchandise to the overall evaluation of the mall brand. Thus, the current study advances our knowledge in this respect, by demonstrating that mall merchandise has a major influence on consumer mall brand-attitudes.\nPractical implications: The findings offer guidance to mall managers in suggesting priorities in shaping the mall brand. An emphasis on mall atmosphere might provide a rationale for many malls spending large amounts on a major refit or makeover. Six malls in the region of the sample mall are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each on refurbishments. Creating the right mall atmosphere is driving these expenditures. Our study reaffirms the logic of future mall rebranding efforts emphasising mall atmosphere. Our study confirms the direct contribution of mall atmosphere to mall brand meaning, as well as an indirect role via its contribution to a satisfactory mall experience, which also enriches mall brand meaning.\nLimitations and future research: The main limitation is that the study is conducted in one mall in one country. Although the large sample size is comforting, additional confidence in the results would come from extending to other malls and especially in other countries. It is highly possible that the factors salient in the current model might vary for other cultures, though one suspects that the experiential character of shopping malls is globally relevant. It would also be useful to conduct the study in a factory-outlet mall because price is likely to have a greater bearing in such specialised malls. Although the scales have been designed as Gestalt constructs to aid generalisation in future studies, it is still necessary to re-test this aspect in replication research.\nConclusion: The paper presents original research, which contributes to the sparse branding and shopping mall literature. First, the paper estimates a structural model with two key dependent variables, namely, customer mall satisfaction and customer mall brand-attitudes. Second, the paper makes an original contribution by pioneering the identification of two critical consumer mall brand-associations: mall atmosphere and mall merchandise. An experiential mall branding interpretation is given to the findings. The paper also contributes to practitioner guidance because future mall makeovers can use these findings to improve the effectiveness of their mall rebranding.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine mall consumer brand meaning through understanding consumer brand associations of shopping malls.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Building on the literature, a quantitative methodology is applied. A large sample (n = 755) of an Australian shopping mall is surveyed, and the data are analysed using structural equation modelling.\nFindings: The first set of findings is that mall atmosphere and mall merchandise are the main determinants of consumer mall satisfaction. In turn, consumer mall satisfaction and mall merchandise are the main determinants of consumer mall brand attitudes.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is the first known study to measure consumer-based mall brand meaning quantitatively. This discovery gives a more holistic understanding of the mall brand. Additionally, the study highlights that mall branding is essentially experiential branding.\nPractical implications: The study provides sound guidance for mall managers by suggesting priorities in shaping the mall brand, the emphasis on mall atmosphere and the criticality of tenant mix. Some malls spend hundreds of millions of dollars on refurbishments, enhancing mall atmosphere, consistent with the emphasis of this paper.\nSocial implications: More effective experiential branding could influence community well-being.\nOriginality/value: This original research pioneers the discovery of customer-based mall brand meaning. Additionally, the study adds to the experiential branding literature. Sensory experiences are not sufficient to examine brand experiences; additionally, the core product (mall merchandise in our context) enhances the total (mall) brand experience.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Researchers create framework for building "disability confidence" at work	[ "Discrimination", "Social inclusion", "Diversity", "Disabilities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Canadian researchers have provided a framework to help employers to develop \"disability confidence.\" The academics carried out a total of 35 semi-structured interviews with 18 employers of disabled people and 17 employees with a disability. Four major themes emerged: First, disability discomfort arose from a lack of experience working with the disabled, resulting in stigma and discrimination. Second, disability confidence involved \"reaching beyond comfort zones\" to find new ways of thinking. Third, broader perspectives came from challenging stigma and stereotypes. Finally, disability confidence among employers was critical in developing an inclusive working culture.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Many employers lack disability confidence about how to include people with disabilities in the workforce, which can lead to stigma and discrimination. This paper explores the concept of disability confidence from two perspectives - employers who hire people with a disability and employees with a disability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Thematic analysis was carried out of 35 semi-structured interviews (18 with employers who hire people with disabilities and 17 with employees with a disability).\nFindings: Four main themes emerged. First, disability discomfort arose from a lack of experience working with the disabled, resulting in stigma and discrimination. Second, disability confidence involved \"reaching beyond comfort zones\" to find new ways of thinking. Third, broader perspectives came from challenging stigma and stereotypes. Finally, disability confidence among employers was critical in developing an inclusive working culture.\nOriginality/value: The issue is important because negative attitudes to disabled people are common and they lead to stigma and exclusion. But there has been very little research exploring both employers' and employees' perspectives\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are workers less absent when wage dispersion is small?	[ "Belgium", "Matched employer-employee data", "Performance-related pay", "Personnel economics", "Sickness absenteeism", "Wage dispersion" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Absenteeism has become a major challenge for societies over time. Though great caution is required when comparing countries, given the different methodologies used, the average absence rates in the 27 member states of the European Union and in Norway are found to range from 3 to 6 per cent of working time. The main reasons for absenteeism are health problems, physical conditions, and work-related stress[1] (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2010). This results in a huge cost for societies: a report by the OECD (2009) indicates that, in 2005, OECD countries spent on average 0.8 per cent of their GDP on sickness benefits[2]. The overall cost of disability and sickness benefits is estimated to be almost 2.5 times that of unemployment benefits.\n2. Methodology: We estimate the impact of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism on the basis of the Winter-Ebmer and Zweimuller's (1999) methodology, which allows us to compute a conditional wage dispersion indicator. This rests upon a two-step estimation procedure: in the first step, we estimate by OLS the following wage equation for each firm and each year separately:\n3. Data: Our empirical analysis is based on a combination of two large data sets, the \"structure of earnings survey\" and the \"structure of business survey\", covering the years 1999-2006[8]. The first contains a wealth of information provided by the management of firms, both on the characteristics of these firms (e.g. sector of activity, number of workers, level of collective wage bargaining) and on the individuals working there (e.g. age, education, tenure, gross earnings, paid hours, sex, occupation). The second provides information on financial variables, such as firm-level value added. These data sets have been merged by Statistics Belgium using the firms' social security number as identifier. They thus provide linked employer-employee data for a representative sample of firms operating in Belgium, employing at least ten workers and whose activities fall into sections C to K of the NACE Rev. 1 nomenclature (i.e. the private sector)[9].\n4. Results: We first estimate Equation (2) by OLS. The results presented in the first column of Table II point towards the existence of a positive and significant impact of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism. Davidson and MacKinnon's (1989, 1993) version of the Hausman (1978) test indicates that wage dispersion is not endogenously determined. Furthermore, in order to test for a potential hump-shaped relationship between our variables, we add the wage dispersion indicator in quadratic form to Equation (2). The findings reported in column 2 of Table II show that the coefficient of wage dispersion in level is again positive and significant and that the wage dispersion indicator in quadratic form presents a significant negative coefficient. Thus, evidence appears in favour of a hump-shaped relationship between wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism: when wage dispersion is low, increasing it should increase sickness absenteeism. But, when a high level of wage dispersion is reached, increasing wage dispersion would then lower sickness absenteeism.\n5. Conclusion: This paper aims to examine the influence of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism in the Belgian private sector. While numerous approaches analyse the link between wage dispersion and firm productivity, few studies are devoted to the relationship between wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism. Yet, the outcomes in terms of productivity and sickness absenteeism may be different. Furthermore, the influence of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism does not seem unambiguous from a theoretical point of view. On the one hand, the incentive effect of the tournament theory could imply that increasing performance-related pay and therefore wage dispersion could reduce sickness absenteeism. But the latter could also increase due to adverse outcomes resulting from a race for higher productivity, in terms of accelerated work pace, stress, and feelings of discouragement. On the other hand, according to the theories based on \"fairness\" considerations, lower wage dispersion could lessen sickness absenteeism. But it could also increase it if this higher wage homogeneity is perceived as unfair by more-productive workers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism observed in Belgian firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use detailed linked employer-employee panel data for the period 1999-2006 that allow the authors to compute a conditional wage dispersion indicator following the Winter-Ebmer and Zweimuller (1999) methodology and to estimate the relationship between sickness absenteeism and wage dispersion while controlling for time-invariant workplace characteristics.\nFindings: The authors find a positive and hump-shaped relationship between intra-firm wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism, the turning point of this relation being extremely high. In addition, the magnitude of the influence of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism is found to be stronger in firms employing a larger share of blue-collar workers.\nPractical implications: The results could therefore suggest that wage dispersion, suggestive of larger pay-for-performance mechanisms, decreases worker satisfaction and the workplace climate in general. Only a minority of workers, who are less sensitive to equity and cohesion considerations, would be less absent as pay-for-performance increases.\nOriginality/value: While numerous approaches analyse the link between wage dispersion and firm productivity, very few studies we are aware of are devoted to the relationship between wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism. Yet, the outcomes in terms of productivity and sickness absenteeism may be different. Furthermore, the influence of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism does not seem unambiguous from a theoretical point of view. To the authors knowledge, it is the first time that this relation is analysed with Belgian data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A random shock model for a continuously deteriorating system	[ "Modelling", "Production planning", "Control systems", "Numerical analysis", "Failure (mechanical)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: We consider a random shock model for a system whose state deteriorates continuously. It is assumed that the state of the system is initially b>0 and, thereafter, follows a Brownian motion with drift m<0, variance s2>0 and reflecting barrier at b. b is assumed to be the perfect state of the system. It is also assumed that shocks arrive at the system according to a Poisson process of rate n>0. Each shock instantaneously decreases the state of the system by a random amount Y, where Y is a non-negative random variable with distribution function G. It is further assumed that the system is checked by a repairman who arrives at the system according to another Poisson process of rate l>0. If the state of the system has been below a threshold a (0<=a<=b) since the last repair, he instantaneously increases the state of the system up to b, otherwise, he does nothing. We, in this paper, obtain the stationary distribution of the state of the system by establishing the Kolmogorov's forward differential equations and by making use of a renewal argument.A diffusion model for a system subject to continuous wear is introduced by Baxter and Lee (1987, 1988). They obtain the distribution of the state of the system and study an optimal control of the system. Lee and Lee (1993, 1994) extend the earlier analysis to the system whose state decreases by random shocks. Park et al. (2000) generalize the random shock model of Lee and Lee (1993) to the case where the system is checked according to a renewal process. Sarada and Rangan (2000) consider a maintenance policy for tile system subject to random shocks. Lam (2003) study an inspection-repair-replacement model for a deteriorating system where a minimal repair is performed if the system is in down state. The present model is for the system subject to both continuous wear and random shocks.Let {X(t), t>=0} be the state of the system at time t in our model. To obtain the stationary distribution of {X(t), t>=0}, we divide the process {X(t), t>=0} into the following two processes: process {X1(t), t>=0} is formed by separating from the original process the periods in which the state of the system moves from b to a and by connecting them together. Process {X2(t), t>=0} is formed by connecting the rest of the original process together.In Section 2, we derive the stationary distribution of {X1(t), t>=0}, in Section 3 the stationary distribution of {X2(t), t>=0}, and finally, in Section 4, the stationary distribution of {X(t), t>=0} by combining the results obtained in Sections 2 and 3. In Section 5, after assigning several costs to the system, we show that there exists a unique l which minimizes the long-run average cost per unit time.\n2 Stationary distribution of X1(t): Let F1(x,t)=P{X1(t)<=x} denote the distribution of X1(t). Note that {X1(t), t>=0} is a regenerative process. Let T1(x0,a),=inf{t>0\|X1(t)<=a} be the first passage time to state less than or equal to a with X1(0)=x0(a<=x0<=b) and define Equation 1 with Equation 2 Then, w(x, x0) is the expected period where X1(t) is less than or equal to x during T1(x0, a). Since, {X1(t), t>=0} is a regenerative process, the stationary distribution of X1(t) is given by Equation 3 We, for the convenience of calculation, consider X1(t)-a instead of X1(t), since w(x,x0)=w(x-a,x0-a) and E[T1(x0-a)]=E[T1(x0-a,0)]. With this consideration, we obtain the formulas of w(x, x0) for 0<=x, x0<=b-a and of E[T1(x0, 0)] for 0<=x0<=b-a.We first derive the formula of E[T1(x0, 0)]. Notice that until the state of the system reaches 0, X1(t) can be expressed as Equation 4 where {Z(t), t>=0} is a Brownian motion starting at x0 with parameters m<0 and s2>0, and {S(t),t>=0}, Equation 5 is a compound Poisson process with {N(t), t>=0} being a Poisson process of rate n and Yi's being i.i.d. random variables having the distribution function G.Again, for the convenience of calculation, let {Z'(t), t>=0} be a Brownian motion starting at 0 with -m>0 and s2>0, and define a new process Equation 6 Then, by symmetry, it can be easily seen that the first passage time of X1(t) to state 0 is equal in distribution to that of X'1(t) to state x0, say T'1(0,x0): Equation 7 Since, T'1(0,x0) is a Markov time, an argument similar to that of Karlin and Taylor (1975, pp. 361-2) shows that the Laplace transform of T'1(0,x0) is given by Equation 8 where u is related to e by equation Equation 9 with mG(u)=E[euY], the moment generating function of Y. By differentiation, we can show that Equation 10 Now, we derive w(x, x0) by establishing a backward differential equation. Suppose that X1(0)=x0, 0<=x0<=b-a. Conditioning on whether a shock occurs or not during [0, Dt] gives that Equation 11 where Y is the amount of a shock and D=Z(Dt)-Z(0).Hence, we have for 0<=x0<=b-a, Equation 12 Taking Taylor series expansion on w(x,x0+D) with respect to D, rearranging the equation and letting Dt - 0 yield Equation 13 Then, w(x, x0) satisfies the following renewal type equation:\nLemma 1: Equation 14 with boundary conditions Equation 15 where Equation 16 with Ge being the equilibrium distribution of G.ProofIntegrating both sides of equation (2) with respect to x0 with boundary condition w(x,0)=0, we have Equation 17 If we integrate equation (4) again with respect to x0, then we obtain the given renewal type equation. It is well known (Asmussen, 1987, p. 113) that the unique solution of the renewal type equation in Lemma 1 is Equation 18 where Equation 19 Here, K(n) denotes the n-fold Stieltjes convolution of K with K(0) being the Heaviside function. To obtain Equation 20 we differentiate equation (5) with respect to x0 and put x0=b-a with boundary condition Equation 21 then Equation 22\n3 Stationary distribution of X2(t): Note that in our model the state of the system can cross a down either through a continuous path or by a shock. Hence, we first obtain the distribution of L(x0,a)=a-X1(T1(x0,a)), given that X1(0)=x0, a<=x0<=b. We, for the convenience of calculation, consider X1(t)-a instead of X1(t), since L(x0-a,0)=L(x0,a). With this consideration, we obtain the formula for the distribution of L(x0, 0) for 0<=x0<=b-a. Let Pl(x0,0)=Pr{L(x0,0)>l}, l>=0. Then, Pl(x0, 0) satisfies the following renewal type equation:\nLemma 2: Equation 23 with boundary conditions Equation 24 where Gl(x)=r[Ge(x+l)-Ge(l)].ProofConditioning on whether a shock occurs or not during time interval [0, Dt] gives that Equation 25 Hence, we have, for 0<=x0<=b-a, Equation 26 Taking Taylor series expansion on Pl(x0+D, 0), rearranging the equation, letting Dt-0 gives Equation 27 Integrating the above equation twice with respect to x0, while using the following identity on the way: Equation 28 we can derive the given renewal type equation for Pl(x0, 0).The renewal type equation in Lemma 2 has the unique solution as follows: Equation 29 Differentiating the above equation with respect to x0 and using the boundary condition Equation 30 we have Equation 31 Now, let F2(x,t)=P{X2(t)<=x} denote the distribution function of X2(t). We first assume that X2(0)=X1[T1(b-a)]=x0. Notice that until the repairman arrives, X2(t)=Z(t)-S(t). Hence, we can deduce an expression for F2(x,t;x0)=P{X2(t)<=x\|X2(0)=x0} when -[?]<x<=b by an renewal argument. Conditioning on whether a repair during (0, t] gives that Equation 32 where Equation 33 and the renewal function of the exponential distribution with rate l>0 is lt.The distribution of the compound Poisson process is well known (Tijms, 1986, pp. 37-8). Moreover, an argument similar to that of Cox and Miller (1965, pp. 223-4) shows that Equation 34 where Ph(x) is the standard normal integral.Therefore, by making use of the key renewal theorem, the stationary distribution of X2(t) when X2(0)=x0 is given by Equation 35 Finally, conditioning on X2(0), we have Equation 36\n4 A formula for F(x): We know that the points where the actual repair occurs form an embedded renewal process in {X(t), t>=0}. Let T* be the generic random variable denoting the time between successive renewals. Then Equation 37 where El is an exponential random variable with rate l.\nProposition: F(x) is given by the following weighted average of F1(x) and F2(x): Equation 38 ProofSuppose that we earn a reward at the rate of one per unit time when processes {X(t), t>=0}, {X1(t), t>=0} and {X2(t), t>=0} are less than or equal to x<=b, we see by the renewal reward theorem (Ross, 1996, p. 133) that Equation 39\n5 Optimization: Let c1 denote the cost per visit of the repairman, c2 the cost to increase the state of the system by a unit amount and c3 the cost per unit time of the system being in states below a threshold a. We calculate C(l), the expected long-run average cost per unit time for a given arrival rate l and a given threshold a. To do this, we define a cycle, denoted by T, as the interval between two successive repairs. Then, by the renewal reward theorem (Ross, 1996, p. 133), C(l) is given by Equation 40 where E(N) is the expected number of visits of the repairman during a cycle and E[X'(T)] is the expected amount of repair.Note that T* can be expressed as T=T1(b,a)+El, where T1(b, a) is the first passage time from b to a and El is an exponential random variable with rate l. Then, we can show that Equation 41 and Equation 42 E[X'(T)] can be calculated by using the argument in Section 2 as follows: Equation 43 Therefore, Equation 44 Differentiating the above equation with respect to l gives Equation 45\nLemma 3: If Equation 46 then C(l) achieves its minimum value (nm-m)c2+c3, at l=0, otherwise there exists a unique l(0 < l<[?]) which minimizes C(l).ProofSuppose that Equation 47 then Equation 48 Further, Equation 49 Hence, A(l)>=0 for all l>=0 and C(l) is minimized at l=0. Suppose, now, that Equation 50 then Equation 51 Since A(l) is an increasing function with Equation 52 there exists a unique l(0 < l<[?]) such that A(l*)=0.Figure 1 shows an example of C(l) when Equation 53\n6 Remark: In this paper, a complex model for a system whose state deteriorates both continuously and jumpwise due to the continuous wear and random shocks is introduced. The present model is more realistic than the previous models where the state of the system is subject to either one of continuous wear and random shocks. Hence, our model is expected to be more applicable to the real systems than the earlier models.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - A random shock model for a system whose state deteriorates continuously is introduced and stochastically analyzed. It is assumed in the model that the state of the system follows a Brownian motion with negative drift and is also subject to random shocks. A repairman arrives at the system according to a Poisson process and repairs the system if the state has been below a threshold since the last repair.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Kolmogorov's forward differential equation is adopted together with a renewal argument to analyze the model stochastically. The renewal reward theorem is used to obtain the long-run average cost per unit time.\nFindings: - An explicit expression is deduced for the stationary distribution of the state of the system. After assigning several costs to the system, an optimization is also studied as an example.\nPractical implications: - The present model can be used to manage a complex system whose state deteriorates both continuously and jumpwise due to the continuous wear and random shocks, such as a machine and a production line in a factory. The model can also be applied to an inventory which supplies the stock both continuously and jumpwise, such as a gas station and the distribution center for a franchise, if the continuous wear and random shocks are considered as demands for the stock.\nOriginality/value: - The present model is quite complicate, however, more realistic than the previous models where the state of the system is subject to either one of continuous wear and random shocks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Who is a terrorist? Exploring the utility of interdisciplinary fields	[ "Terrorism", "Psychology", "Aggression", "Interdisciplinary", "Social psychology", "Social identity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Terrorism is known to be a political phenomenon which is intriguing to many political scientists. Due to its complexity, political scientists who study terrorism celebrate their victory as they solve the mystery of this phenomenon. Truly, political scientists successfully revealed several aspects of the phenomenon. They contributed to defining the concept of terrorism (Weinberg et al., 2004), the causes of terrorism (Crenshaw, 1981; Gupta, 2004; Krieger and Meierrieks, 2011), state terrorism (Wilkinson, 1981; Byman, 2005), counter-terrorism (Mogire and Agade, 2011; Jarvis and Lister, 2010), the foreign policy of a country and its relation to terrorist attacks (Bolechow, 2005; Azam and Thelen, 2010) [...] etc.\n2. First: the contributions of psychology: Political scientists need to know who the persons capable of engaging in terrorist attacks are. If they are a group of lunatics, then political scientists should seek the assistance of scholars of the prominent and well-established discipline of psychology to explain the dynamics and mystery of the human soul. Psychology presents several theories in this regard and this section explains the most important ones.\n3. Second: Did psychologists enhance our understanding of terrorism?: Unexpectedly, what the psychologists offered us in the area of terrorism studies was harshly criticized. The aim of this section is to examine how different studies are doubtful of the findings of psychologists. This will help us know to what extent psychologists provided political scientists with the necessary assistance to comprehend this problematic aspect of terrorism.\n4. Third: the role of interdiscplinarity: social psychology: The field of social psychology has various theoretical premises, but this section is devoted to examining the theories and the main findings of social psychology that are related to terrorism or aggression in general.\n5. Fourth: discussion and analysis: This paper presented theories of psychology then theories of social psychology. Political scientists needed some help from psychologists to understand more about ordinary people who became terrorists and were willing to sacrifice innocent people's lives and even their own lives. This paper explained some main theories that psychologists presented to help answer this question. They discussed the effect of parents and the time of childhood on individuals, and they also explained how the feeling of guilt could motivate an ordinary citizen to turn into a terrorist. They also explained how the terrorists perceived victims as guilty. Digging deep into the human soul and mind, they revealed how suffering from low self-esteem, narcissism or the mental disease paranoia could push a person to carry out violent attacks.\n6. Conclusion: This research paper started from a dilemma that faced political scientists. When they studied a political phenomenon such as terrorism, they found themselves obliged to seek the help of scholars of other disciplines of knowledge. One aspect of the phenomenon (realizing how people turned to be terrorists) forced political scientists to resort to psychologists hoping to find answers to their question. Another aspect of the dilemma was related to the value of the psychological contributions and their efficiency in providing political scientists with concrete answers, which raised the question: Would political scientists benefit from their cooperation with a well-known and consolidated discipline (like psychology) or with scholars of an interdisciplinary field (like social psychology)?\n7. Future research: This research paper compared the significance of the psychological contributions to the social psychological contributions and revealed the importance of social psychology to understand some aspects of terrorism. The author recommends that future scholars interested in terrorism should be willing to study the phenomenon using an interdisciplinary approach.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the dilemma of terrorism as a political phenomenon that many political scientists care about; however, they find themselves incapable of explaining some of its aspects and they resort to other disciplines. The second part of the dilemma is related to the incapability of well-established disciplines to provide political scientists with much help. This raises the following question: Will political scientists be able to enhance their knowledge of terrorism with the help of scholars from consolidated and well-established disciplines or with the help of scholars from interdisciplinary fields?\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research depends on the main theories of psychology and of social psychology and adopts a comparative approach to assess the effectiveness of both disciplines in providing political scientists with the knowledge they lack.\nFindings: In spite of being a well-established and consolidated discipline, psychology is not the perfect discipline that can help political scientists know who a terrorist is. Social psychological theories of aggression provide political scientists with greater ability to understand what psychological and sociological factors motivate a person to turn to aggression and terrorism. Moreover, social psychology developed the \"terror management theory\" which clarifies various aspects of the phenomenon.\nOriginality/value: This research paper calls the attention of scholars of terrorism to the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach to understand the various aspects of a complex phenomenon such as terrorism. The interdisciplinary field adopted will differ according to the research question that a researcher needs to answer.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The model of HRM-trust-commitment relationships	[ "Organizational trust", "Affective and calculative commitment", "HRM system" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the era of the knowledge economy, human capital is the highest value, hence a development-oriented organisation must demonstrate supreme care in this area. The HRM system plays an important role in this process (Sonnenberg et al., 2011; Krot and Lewicka, 2011; Rau, 2012). The purpose of the activities within this system is to activate the human capital in the organisation by: maintaining a high level of employee commitment, obtaining outstanding results, creating innovative solutions, supporting learning, gaining knowledge and its use (Chow et al., 2008, Zakrzewska-Bielawska, 2008; Nankervis and Stanton, 2010). Positive feelings related to work contribute to the higher productivity and quality of life of employees. Therefore, it is worth focusing on examining factors influencing the quality of the work environment. Vital importance should be attributed to factors shaping affective commitment. An important issue to deal with is what conditions should be ensured by organisations so that people employed in them are able and willing to commit themselves (Coyle-Shapiro and Shore, 2007). Thus, this study is aimed at examining the influence of the HRM system, trust and calculative commitment on the perception of affective commitment.\n2. Organisational commitment: In literature, the issue of commitment in business relations has emerged only recently and related research areas, while often covered by researchers, have not been sufficiently explained. For this reason, the authors use different terms naming similar or even identical aspects. Despite some inconsistencies in terminology, research results have led to the identification of three dimensions of commitment: affective, continuance and normative commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1997).\n3. The role of the HRM system in building commitment and trust: Several studies have demonstrated the influence of a range of HRM practices on employee commitment (Katou and Budhwar, 2009). This role seems to be increasingly significant due to an increase in the importance of human capital as the key factor of enterprise competitiveness.\n4. The influence of trust on employee commitment: The growing importance of trust in contemporary organisations is increasingly reflected both by actions taken by business aiming at building trust, and by modern literature on the subject (Dirks and Ferrin, 2002). Simultaneously, trust among employees and between employees and supervisors may deteriorate and employees may actually become less trusting (Zeffane and Connell, 2003; Schoorman et al., 2007). Trust can be defined as faith in some activities or properties of an object endowed with trust. According to Tzafrir and Eitam-Meilik (2005), trust is the willingness to invest one's resources in a relationship resulting from positive expectations as a consequence of previous mutual interactions. It is worth noting that trust is a dynamic and temporary value that is developing or that may be lost (Krot and Lewicka, 2012).\n5. Methodology: 5.1. Research assumptions\n6. Results: The empiric material collected was first subject to an explorative factor analysis to find a smaller number of mutually independent but interpretable key factors. It is exploratory when you do not have a pre-defined idea of the structure or how many dimensions are in a set of variables. It helped to eliminate data which gave only marginal and insignificant information for the phenomenon studied and made it possible to compare information as synthetic variables. The analysis was used for all the scales in the model.\n7. Conclusions: Research results allowed for the positive verification of the model presenting relationships between the HRM system, organisational trust and commitment. The starting point for developing trust in the organisation, which is followed by commitment, is the HRM system in two areas: HRM practices and HRM process. They build up the HRM climate of the organisation on the basis of feelings and observations made by employees, as well as their evaluation of HRM practices and process (Kinnie et al., 2005). It seems that HRM process activities concerning the perceived HRM rank and a message concerning the influence of the HRM system on the organisation's performance are more universal and global for creating organisational trust. The authors' results in this aspect are supported by the research results obtained by Dirks and Ferrin (2002), as well as Tzafrir et al. (2004), who confirmed the role of HRM practices and process, which served business solutions known to all employees nourishing a high-trust environment. Analogous results were achieved in research carried out by Katou (2013), who revealed that the HRM process has a higher impact on employee reactions than HRM practices.\n8. Limitation of the study and further research: The quantitative research in the sample group of 370 people supplements the present knowledge about the influence of the HRM climate on the dimensions of affective commitment accompanied by different dimensions of trust. A relationship between calculative and affective commitment has also been shown.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: It is worth focusing on the examination of factors influencing the quality of the work environment. The purpose of this paper is to verify the influence of the HRM system and organisational trust on employee commitment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The survey was conducted in Poland among 370 employees in organisations from two sectors of the economy: services and industry. The verification of the theoretical model was performed based on structural equation modelling.\nFindings: Research findings made it possible to successfully verify the model of the relationship between the HRM system (practices, process), organisational trust and commitment. The starting point for trust in an organisation followed by commitment is the HRM system. It seems that the impact of the HRM process on creating organisational trust is higher. Research findings have also confirmed a relationship between each type of organisational trust and calculative commitment based on benefits, which is a strong determinant of affective commitment. Organisational trust is, therefore, an intermediary factor because the organisation must build trust in employees first before they become affectively committed.\nOriginality/value: Current studies have not examined the issue of a mutual relationship between three constructs: perceived HRM practices and process, organisational trust and commitment. What is more, previous research was confined to the constructs analysed holistically without considering their complexity (different types of trust and commitment). In addition, the authors attempted to enrich Allen and Mayer's (1991) model with a new aspect of the commitment - calculative, which is linked to the benefits received by employees. The authors also identified the mediating influence of the trust and calculative commitment onto the affective commitment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
It's not an exact science: teaching entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland	[ "Entrepreneurialism", "E‐learning", "Teaching methods", "Northern Ireland" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nStudy background: Entrepreneurship education and policy\nPilot investigation: Approach to teaching entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland\nLearning domains for entrepreneurship education: Both educators and learners were subjected to individual thinking and group discussion on the following three questions:1. What do you think (cognitive) about entrepreneurship?2. How do you feel (affective) about entrepreneurship?3. What do you know (psychomotor) about entrepreneurship?The responses to these questions were examined and are summarised in Table II.Table II highlights first that there can be opposing views towards entrepreneurship for both educators and learners which may symbolise that certain individuals have no interest or desire to teach or learn entrepreneurship. They perceive it as a buzzword in the economy. Second, educators and learners think entrepreneurship is about the individual and organisational development process. They do have positive feelings towards the concept of \"entrepreneurial people\" but some are less interested in entrepreneurship as a subject with the interest of educators deterred by their lack of knowledge on the subject. Third, educators and learners are equally aware of the role of organisations in industry namely Invest NI and organisations in education namely NICENT with an entrepreneurship remit. They frequently link entrepreneurship to innovation and are aware of unique traits which \"entrepreneurially-minded people\" possess. One-to-one teaching is the only strategy that rates high for learning in all three (cognitive, affective and psychomotor) learning domains but since this is highly improbable at third level, it is important to consider how varied strategies can be effective and best fit entrepreneurship education.\nAttitudes of educators towards teaching entrepreneurship: In the first instance, the perceptions of educators towards teaching entrepreneurship as part of existing courses were gleaned from focus groups within the NICENT partner institutions[2]. A list of teaching strategies for delivering entrepreneurship was generated along with proposed advantages and disadvantages. The implications of these strategies were also noted as illustrated in Table III. This comprehensive list shows there is a blend of traditional and modern techniques but it suggests educators are enthusiastic about using alternative strategies to deliver course content since they do not feel \"experienced enough\" in entrepreneurship to fully embrace \"the concept\". Whilst case studies and site visits are useful in explaining the entrepreneurial process their potential very much depends on suitability of site/case choice. The latter is also true for the more modern technique of guest speaking. Whilst guest speakers can act as motivators they can be too inspirational and students can miss out on much of the entrepreneurship theory; for instance global facts about success rates, success is defined as those enterprises surviving beyond three-year period, if co-preneurs involved (couples matched in terms of entrepreneurial zest) this is reduced to 2.5 years. Interactive strategies involving team work and practical demonstrations would be advantageous for educators with relatively less knowledge in the subject of entrepreneurship and for learners to express their creative streak. Interactive sessions need to be embedded within a wider programme for entrepreneurship to increase knowledge effectiveness.The focus groups generated more advantages than disadvantages to novel assessment methods, non-hypothetical projects and student exchange (Table III). These strategies may be more effective when used with final year or mature learners. Educators were cautious of how to assess this subject given its \"newness\" and how \"different it was to existing modules\" which thus shifts an onus onto the learner to take control of their knowledge capacity as was the case for using non-hypothetical projects. Student exchanges were proven to remove the insular mentality and considering only 4 per cent of all new start-ups globally are truly novel in the sense that they do not exist elsewhere, this would be considered an appropriate strategy for delivering entrepreneurship. Finally, there were very mixed views about using e-learning. This individuated form of learning is conducive to different learning styles because it incorporates video clips and computer simulations. However, in negative contrast, it may not be conducive to learning if the learner lacks ICT skills and is not comfortable with this form of communication. Educators must assume different roles as e-tutors. They must be knowledgeable in the software and its applications in order to instil a sense of trust in the online tools for the learner. The potential of e-learning will now be explored in more detail.\nChange in attitudes towards NICENT e-learning modules: To monitor the change in attitudes towards NICENT e-learning modules there are four data sets worth observing:1. educators interested in using a nicent e-learning module with students;2. students who will be exposed to a nicent e-learning module;3. educators who have used a nicent e-learning module with students; and4. students who have undertaken a NICENT e-learning module.Educators interested in the possibility of delivering an e-learning module were given an introductory demonstration and access. It was agreed that during the initial period these educators would use the NICENT e-learning module as a support-teaching tool. These educators were generally overwhelmed by the amount of content in the online module and expressed concerns about how students could interpret the content. It was pointed out to them that content could be automatically released on a weekly basis and customised to suit the educational needs of the learner. On a positive note they were amazed at \"how easily the technology worked\" and \"how it was possible to incorporate multi-media into the classroom\". Generally, they thought their students would find e-learning more exciting since it was very different to the norm. It would take considerable time for the educator to regulate the learning environment and ensure each learner knew how to access the course, how to use the tools and how to communicate effectively on subject matters.There were a number of interesting findings when a small cohort of students who will be exposed to the NICENT e-learning module were asked about their overall thoughts about using WebCT as part of their Masters course which specialises in training and professional development. Considering some students had not heard of WebCT before many wondered what the word \"WebCT\" meant. The word was most simply explained as the name of the software programme for this virtual learning environment similar to Excel or SPSS for data entry and manipulation. Others who had used the technology before did not use it strictly as a virtual environment but a ready source of information for accessing class notes after lectures and for online research - accessing useful links, web addresses etc. for project assignments. When WebCT was used in this way to support face-to-face teaching students indicated they did not feel e-learning was a particularly interesting concept. They did point out that they sensed their e-tutors had not much experience of using WebCT.Therefore, regardless of using WebCT before overall the student group had no exposure to using WebCT as a virtual environment to learn a stand-alone module that is generally supported by two to three workshops interspersed throughout the semester. By exploring the possibilities of using WebCT in this way to gain academic credits, students were able to extrude more benefits than costs. The ability to learn at your own pace, learn independently and being different to lectures was important. One student pointed out how online learning was more inclusive since it provides a flexible approach for people with learning difficulties. WebCT was perceived to be particularly suited to the subject of entrepreneurship. This was because learners could be anonymous which is important when the culture towards entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland was deemed negative or the attitude was \"small-minded\". One student cited the value of e-learning for mature learners where the competitiveness of the classroom situation is removed and the learner feels in a more comfortable learning zone. Students also indicated their preference for interactive computer simulations and seeing and hearing the evidence from the \"entrepreneur's mouth\" through video clips. On the negative aspects, students questioned how their progress would be monitored online and how \"Big Browser\" might equate the amount of log on time as actual work online without breaks.The issue of online assessments was discussed to gauge if someone other than the student could complete assessments. A final concern would be if the technology would actually work on a 24-hour basis, e.g. downloading notes before exams.Regarding the third data set for educators who have used a NICENT e-learning module with students, the feedback was extremely positive suggesting both educators and students were able to fully embrace WebCT as a learning environment. E-tutors had to gently caution learners as to what type of messages were suited to discussions and how to post messages relating to particular subject matters in specific locations. Getting the right balance between hands-on and hands-off on the discussion board was difficult for e-tutors. For instance, when students vent their frustration with a particular topic, e-tutors would try to \"hold-off\" and let a student peer respond, \"before stepping in to advise\". Some e-tutors led excellent threads for online discussions that naturally sparked sub-topics for discussion. Sometimes e-tutors typed erratically, which caused poor spelling. Monitoring online activity was time consuming but necessary. For instance, one student communicated to her peers that she missed a workshop class but was able to catch up online. Her e-tutor had to point out 10 per cent of overall credit marks was for attendance. Discussions were used for clarification similar to a Q&A session after face-to-face teaching. If students had successfully completed the module they were advised by their e-tutor of an online follow-up module and how to continue their online discussions.The final data set for students who have undertaken a NICENT e-learning module takes us through the WebCT learning curve. Students start off by communicating how different this learning environment is to other modules but may express concern about their ICT skills. When they become more familiar with the tools they tend to make suggestions for its uses for example to arrange assignments or to compile notes. Discussions can affirm their positive feelings towards the WebCT environment since students reiterate how they are able to study at their own pace. WebCT seemed to generate a certain amount of goodwill among student peers online for instance; students were able to assist each other with highly specific queries relating to individual assignments. Later into the course, students indicated how they were looking forward to the face-to-face mentoring session in the classroom as it provided realism to the course. In terms of the online assessments, which contribute to their overall module credits, students questioned the validity. For instance, in quizzes with multiple choices answers, students might reflect on how both answers could be possible. This proves that entrepreneurial case studies must be unambiguous. Students can get overly concerned with the time limit to complete the test and fail to read instructions and questions properly - a test-run is essential.At the end of the module, students articulated how this module was the \"most practical\" and \"real-life learning experience of running your own business or seeing someone else's\". Post-module evaluations revealed students could see themselves as becoming entrepreneurial and they had improved their entrepreneurial skills set including: team working, negotiation, confidence and ability to communicate and plan. The module had clarified misconceptions about entrepreneurship and not only exposed them to entrepreneurship but a blended learning approach.\nComparing value of e-learning to an intensive study programme: Feedback from students exposed to entrepreneurship e-learning during a full academic semester was compared to those who participated in an intensive one-week study programme. To create maximum effect from the intensive programme students needed to know what to expect from the programme, needed to evaluate why they wanted to be involved and how they would benefit form the programme. \"Meeting like-minded people\", \"broadening horizons\" or one's \"potential\" are some of the central values of an intensive entrepreneurship programme. Students are aware that they are lacking in an entrepreneurial skills set, they want to know more about entrepreneurship and know more about how other students think and about the experiences of other students. They become involved in the intensive programme because they believe they could have a \"fun time\", learning in a \"foreign environment\", the programme would give them strategic direction if they are willing to loose their inhibitions including cultural ones. A briefing before the event was used as a precursor for both educators and students as it allowed educators to somewhat assess student knowledge of enterprise and entrepreneurship, and it allowed students the opportunity to meet with other participants and forge relationships with peers in different institutions and campuses throughout Northern Ireland before they were interspersed with students across the UK and beyond. A debriefing session after the event is also essential to sustaining their motivation and entrepreneurial dreams. Similar to the e-learning experience, after the intensive programme students feel they could choose to be entrepreneurial. There is a greater need for the intensive programme than for the e-learning module to be built into a wider programme. Some examples of wider application in NICENT are encouraging engagement in an institutional society or regional network for entrepreneurship or entering the PS25,000 or All-island Competitions and providing interaction with local entrepreneurial champions.\nConclusions and implications: This paper has dealt with the practical aspects of embedding entrepreneurship in course programmes within the curriculum in diverse disciplines. By monitoring change in both educator and student perspectives towards entrepreneurship education, research has proven that entrepreneurship education is increasingly valued but it is subjective to learner needs. As a relatively new subject, educators face challenges in delivering the subject at third level but are receptive to novel ways of teaching and practice as illustrated in this paper. By stating a number of core learning objectives, NICENT has a framework for course programmes and students can be certified upon completion of these core learning outcomes. Due to the demand for entrepreneurship education at third level in Northern Ireland, the centre devised a distance learning option to counteract demand and expose a greater number of students to the entrepreneurial agenda. There are additional teaching strategies that are as appropriate especially when built within a wider programme for supporting entrepreneurial activity. The findings have illustrated certain benefits in working with different institutions to prevent students from nurturing an insular institutional mentality. Secondly, there are benefits in working with industry partners to provide as real-life enterprise scenario as possible.Whilst there is a growing consensus regarding how to develop entrepreneurial behaviours there is widespread concern as to how to define and monitor the outcomes of entrepreneurial education. Evidence suggests students favour the practical approach of thinking about business ideas, writing business plans and participating in very potential enterprise scenarios. The end-result of entrepreneurship teachings should be a dynamic mix of process and action.As a result of completing some form of entrepreneurship education students can see themselves as becoming entrepreneurial that can translate as real ventures but just as importantly, it contributes to attitudinal change towards entrepreneurship and change within the Northern Ireland entrepreneurship culture. Consistent monitoring of entrepreneurship education (even for cohorts who have graduated) and sharing of best practices is essential to an emergent entrepreneurial future.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the approach to embedding entrepreneurship within third level education in Northern Ireland by assessing the perceptions of lecturers and learners and monitoring the effectiveness of teaching methods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Surveys and focus groups were conducted with lecturers and learners from different disciplines as part of a pilot investigation under the Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship (NICENT) with a view to establishing a longitudinal study.\nFindings: - Evidence suggests that NICENT has increased interest and positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland. E-learning can meet high demand, intensive programmes are equally effective in improving the skills set. Entrepreneurship education needs sub-sequential support.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study provided preliminary findings for entrepreneurship teachings in different disciplines. Further dissecting of lecturer/learner analyses by course/year etc. is possible. Effectiveness could be assessed through graduate behaviours in the future in order to build longitudinal data.\nPractical implications: - The results prove that lecturers/learners are willing to embrace new subjects (entrepreneurship for scientists) and new teaching methods when blended with traditional approaches. Whilst WebCT environment can facilitate a comfortable action-learning zone, entrepreneurship education needs personalisation and industry engagement.\nOriginality/value: - The study reports from the developing face within Northern Ireland and provides insightful observations of new subject adoption, the learner's curve and changing cultural attitudes within tertiary education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Microbiological and chemical quality of tahini halva	[ "Microbiology", "Chemicals", "Quality", "Public health", "Turkey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Halva (also called halawa, halaweh, havah) is one of the oldest traditional desserts and is popular in Middle Eastern and North African countries. The volume of halva production is in the range of 35,000 and 40,000 tons per annum in Turkey. It is a traditional Turkish food consumed generally at breakfast (Birer, 1985). Halva is one of the most nutritional food products consisting of: 500 g/kg tahini (sesame oil), 250-350 g/kg sugar, 120-250 g/kg glucose, and 10 g/kg additives, such as flour and whipping agents (Eissa and Zohair, 2006). Tahini (tehinah, tehena, tehineh), the basic ingredient of halva, is mainly composed of 57-65 per cent oil (oleic and linoleic acid), 23-27 per cent protein (rich in methionine, cystine and tryptophan) and some minerals, such as calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium (Abu-Jdayil et al., 2002; Yamani and Isa, 2006). Generally, in the production of halva, tahini is mixed with sugar, citric acid, tartaric acid and Saponaria officinalis (common soapwort) root extract. The prepared mixture is then cooked together with flavouring substances, such as cacao, pistachio, vanilla, bergamot, natural essences and milk powder. The traditional production of tahini halva is shown in Figure 1 (Var et al., 2007).Tahini halva has a long shelf life (approximately two years from the production date) because of its low moisture content (<3.0 per cent). Depending on temperature and humidity conditions, changes during production, storage, distribution and usage, condensation problems may occur and this cause the growth of microorganisms (Sengun et al., 2005). Furthermore, mishandling and poor production processes may also affect the hygienic and chemical quality of halva. Several studies regarding the microbiological and chemical properties of halva were carried out by Eissa and Zohair (2006) in Egypt, and Kotzekidou (1998) in Greece. In Turkey, properties of halva have not been extensively investigated.The present study was undertaken to determine the microbiological and chemical quality of halva samples collected from retail markets and producers in Marmara region. Marmara region has a geographical importance due to its location and represents a transit corridor between Europe and Asia.\nMethodology: Sample collection\nResults and discussion: The count ranges and means of APC, S. aureus, coliforms, E. coli, MY and Salmonella spp. detected in the tahini halva samples are given in Table I. Overall, 44 of 120 (36.66 per cent) tahini halva samples were of unacceptable quality based on recommended criteria of microbiological (39 of 120, 32.5 per cent) and chemical quality (21 of 120, 17.5 per cent) by the Turkish Food Codex (TFC, 2002).Halva can be contaminated with different kinds of microorganisms due to direct or indirect contact with any source of external contamination during all the steps of production, packaging and transport (Abu-Jdayil et al., 2002). APC is used to measure its sanitary quality. In this study, 20 per cent (24/120) of samples were within unacceptable limits. In previous studies, low levels of APC were reported by Kotzekidou (1998) and Sengun et al. (2005) which averaged 1.1x102 cfu/g and 9x103 cfu/g, respectively. By contrast, in Saudi Arabia (Ayaz et al., 1986) and in Jordan (Yamani and Isa, 2006) tahini samples (the main constituent of tahini halva) were detected in the range of 101-1.7x105 cfu/g and 1x102 to 4x104 cfu/g, respectively. Results from our study indicated that Turkish halva samples had high microbial loads. These high counts may originate from the initial microflora of ingredients, insufficient heat treatment and poor personal hygiene during manufacture.S. aureus is the causative agent of numerous outbreaks of foodborne diseases worldwide that many healthy people carry as part of the normal microflora associated with the nose, throat, perineum or skin (Bremer et al., 2004). In this study, S. aureus was detected and ranged from <101 to 1.3x102 cfu/g with a mean of 3x101 cfu/g in all samples. Previous studies with higher mean results for S. aureus (80 cfu/g and 40 cfu/g) than ours were done by Kotzekidou (1998) and Sengun et al. (2005), respectively. In another study in Egypt (Eissa and Zohair, 2006), S. aureus could not be isolated from halva samples. Differences between the findings obtained from several studies and our findings can be related to the production techniques, contamination after production, preservation conditions and inadequate personal hygiene. On the other hand, SE could not be determined. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA, 1992) reported that effective doses of staphylococcal enterotoxin which result in foodborne illness occur when populations of S. aureus reach 105 cells per gram.The counts of coliform bacteria and E.coli are an indicator of fecal contamination. In our study, coliform bacteria and E. coli were found at acceptable levels. The lower counts of coliforms than ours (28 MPN/g) were reported by Sengun et al. (2005) (41 cfu/g) and Kotzekidou (1998) (30 cfu/g). Coliform bacteria were isolated from 98 of 120 samples. These samples were assessed to fall within the satisfactory limit according to the microbiological criteria (460 MPN/g) by the Turkish Food Codex (TFC, 2002). E. coli in all samples was less than 3 MPN/g, below the detection limit (9 MPN/g). On the contrary, a study that was conducted by Ozkaya (1988), detected E. coli in 2 out of 93 (2.2 per cent) halva samples.Salmonella is one of the most important pathogenic genera implicated in foodborne bacterial outbreaks has previously been reported in halva. In 2001, an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium definitive phage type (DT) 104 was reported from Sweden involving 27 cases, and was associated with the consumption of halva (Andersson et al., 2001). Subsequently, S. Typhimurium was also isolated from halva in Germany and Australia (Fisher et al., 2001). In another study in Turkey, Ozkaya (1988) collected 93 halva samples from different supermarkets and only one sample was positive for Salmonella spp. Other studies were unable to detect Salmonella spp. in halva samples (Kotzekidou, 1998; Sengun et al., 2005). In the present study, Salmonella spp. was also not detected. The presence of Salmonella spp. has not been cited as a microbiological safety criterion for halva by the Turkish Food Codex (TFC, 2002). The results for the coliform and E. coli counts may further support the conclusion that the samples were free from Salmonella spp. Collins et al. (1995) reported that Enterobacteriaceae, the family of E. coli and coliform bacteria, include other organisms, such as Salmonella and various non- lactose fermenters (Al-Tahiri, 2005). Ozkaya (1988) further demonstrated that halva samples which were positive for E. coli, also tested positive for Salmonella spp.MY are distributed widely as environmental contaminants of air, water, soil and dust that present a potential threat to the health of the consumer as a consequence of mycotoxin production and allergic reactions (Jarvis et al., 1983). In this study, 31.7 per cent (38/120) of samples were not satisfactory, based on the Turkish Food Codex (TFC, 2002) standard. It is seen that the mold contamination level (10/38) was lower than the yeast contamination level (20/38). In previous study in Turkey, which has lower mean results (1.5x102 cfu/g) than ours were done by Sengun et al. (2005). In another study that was conducted by Kotzekidou (1998) in Greece, yeast counts of 4.9x103 cfu/g were detected, while molds were not detected in all samples tested. Our findings showed similarities to the latter results. The reason of the presence of MY may be due to insufficient hygiene of raw material, production area and storage conditions.The results of chemical analysis of tahini halva samples are shown in Table II. Based on the Turkish Food Codex (2008), 99 of 120 (82.5 per cent) tahini halva samples were of acceptable quality while 21 of samples were of unacceptable quality.The oil content of food contributes to the initial appearance and aroma of the product, but also affects texture and flavour and thus plays a vital role in the sensory quality of food. Sesame seeds are the source of the oil of halva. As the oil content of halva decreases, the quality also deteriorates. In this study, 11.66 per cent (14/120) of samples were within unacceptable limits. Similarly, a previous study by Eissa and Zohair (2006) reported the sesame oil content of halva as 31.0 per cent. By contrast, another study in Turkey (Ceyhun, 2003), detected the oil content of halva in the range of 27.5-35.2 per cent. The authors revealed that all samples were within satisfactory limits. Differences between the findings obtained from several studies and our findings can be related to using cheaper vegetable oil instead of sesame oil by halva producers in Turkey.Food proteins play an important role in human nutrition. They are major nutritive and structure-forming components of generally complex multicomponent food systems. In our study, all samples were within acceptable levels based on the Turkish Food Codex (2008) standard. The mean protein levels in our study were similar to the levels (12.75 per cent) reported by Eissa and Zohair (2006), but were higher than those found by Ceyhun (2003) and Cula and Kucuktekin (1986) (9.23-15.12 per cent, and 9.40-11.90, respectively). Such differences may be accounted for by variations in production and raw material content.Moisture content is critical to the quality and safety of foods (Labuza and Hyman, 1998). In our study, it was determined that the moisture content of samples were within satisfactory limits. These results are in good agreement with those of Eissa and Zohair (2006) and Ceyhun (2003). Karakahya (2006) reported that moisture content increases during the storage period. The result of this study indicated that suitable storage conditions and raw materials were used in production.Ash is a natural part of food products and includes metal salts, minerals, carbonates and bicarbonates, which are essential for strengthening defense mechanism in body against diseases. Results from this study showed that five (4.16 per cent) samples exceeded the limit value of Turkish Food Codex (2008) standard. These results were similar to those observed in previous studies (Cula and Kucuktekin, 1986; Eissa and Zohair, 2006).Peroxide content (or peroxide value - PV) is used as an indicator of early stages of oxidation in oils that generally believed to measure the effectiveness of storage conditions (Sumainah et al., 2000). In this study, 9.16 per cent (11/120) of samples were within unacceptable limits. This may be due to storage conditions of our samples. Baker et al. (2002) reported that PV increased over time for all storage conditions. Contrary to this, Namiki (1995) stated that tahini is resistant to oxidative deterioration due to endogenous antioxidants (sesamol and sesaminol) together with tocopherols.Sugar content is one of the important aspects for examining the quality and nutritional value of halva. Likewise, acidity is also an indicator of freshness of oil and products. Acidity indicates spoilage of oil according to increased concentrations of free fatty acids. Fresh foods have a low free fatty acid value, but this will increase with time during processing and storage (Taufel, 1993). In our study, all samples were within satisfactory limits for sugar and acidity. A similar result was found by Karakahya (2006) in which sugar and acidity values were determined at 43.63 and 0.69, respectively, but lower than those reported by Eissa and Zohair (2006) and Cula and Kucuktekin (1986). Differences in sugar and acid values between products from different sources may be due to a lack of standardisation, storage conditions and using different types of product components.In conclusion, the microbiological and chemical results from this study indicated a general lack of sanitary practices and quality control during the production and storage of tahini halva. There is a necessity to standardise the process, improve the sanitary conditions and storage of product, and use quality raw materials in halva manufacturing. Further studies which identify risk factors for the presence of high microbial loads in tahini halva should be carried out.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to determine the microbiological and chemical quality of halva samples obtained from retail markets and producers in the Marmara region.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Halva samples (120) were collected at intervals between March 2007 and February 2008. Samples were investigated for the microbiological (aerobic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, molds/yeasts, Salmonella spp. and staphylococcal enterotoxins) and chemical (sesame oil, protein, moisture, ash content, tahini, acidity, total sugar content and peroxide values) quality.\nFindings: - Overall, 36.66 per cent (44/120) tahini halva samples were of unacceptable quality based on recommended criteria of microbiological (39 of 120, 32.5 per cent) and chemical quality (21 of 120, 17.5 per cent) by the Turkish Food Codex. Salmonella spp. and staphylococcal enterotoxins were not determined in the samples.\nOriginality/value: - Tahini halva, which is one of the oldest traditional desserts and is popular in Middle Eastern and North African countries, has not been extensively investigated for microbiological safety. This study is important in the identification of risk factors for the presence of microorganisms and assessment of the quality of halva.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Workforce-management system boosts efficiency at Sysco: Firm can track employees' comings and goings more accurately	[ "Time management", "Flexible working hours", "Attendance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A Liverpool-based training and consultancy company increased staff efficiency after implementing a new workforce-management system that enables administration staff to monitor employees' hours, holidays, sickness and flexible-working hours more effectively.\nRobust procedure to track employees: Simon Birchall, Managing Director at timeware, said: \"The management team at Sysco understand the benefits of flexible working hours but realized that the firm needed a robust procedure in place to ensure that it was tracking everyone's movements effectively. With more than 70 staff members, it is important that it has a trouble-free system in place to maintain accurate records of its employees' working hours.\nUncovering people who do not play by the rules: Meanwhile, hardware-technology company, Scan Computers, has also implemented the biometric workforce-management system. The system has helped the Bolton-based business to speed up the payroll system, flag up absentee employees and uncover individuals who are not playing by the rules.\nQuicker payment process: Meanwhile, absence management was used to record employees' days off, track holiday entitlement and manage holiday schedules. Payroll link and reports were also implemented, simplifying the payroll system and making the payment process quicker.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Observes how two companies are benefiting from a new workforce-management system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Examines how new software is helping the Sysco Group and Scan Computers.\nFindings: Shows how the two companies are better able to track each employee's working hours and absences including sickness and time-off, to make things easier when it comes to things like payroll and holiday entitlement.\nPractical implications: Reveals that the biometric employee-attendance software uses fingerprint identification to track employees' whereabouts throughout the working day. The software can cope with any type of work pattern and calculate overtime using its script engine.\nOriginality/value: Explains that, with so many companies opting for flexible working hours or rotational shifts, the software makes these easier to put into practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The dimensionality and utilization of performance measures in a manufacturing operational context: Organizational change implications	[ "Performance measures", "Manufacturing industries", "Organizational change", "Portugal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Due to the increasing competitive pressures in the marketplace in recent years, the different facets of performance measures and measurement have captured the interest of both practitioners and researchers. However despite this growing interest, successful implementations of performance measurement systems (PMSs) remain the exception rather than the rule. This apparent lack of implementation success can be attributed to many environmental and organizational factors. In this context, the lack of a clear understanding of the dimensionality of manufacturing performance, and its effective utilization patterns tends to negatively impact successful implementation and utilization of manufacturing PMSs. Thus, the first step towards the effective implementation of a dynamic, integrated performance measurement and evaluation system is the understanding of the dimensionality and effective patterns of utilization of performance measures in an organizational context.Motivated by the discussion above, the main objective of this research is to investigate the dimensionality of performance and its effective utilization in a manufacturing operational context. In the process, the nature and the scope of performance measures utilized by executives of manufacturing organizations in the evaluation of their organizational performance are examined. A sample of 92 executives of Portuguese manufacturing organizations is used to study the dimensionality of performance, and the current patterns of utilization of performance measures. Understanding the multi-faceted nature of performance and its measurement should contribute to the effective implementation and utilization of PMSs. Such systems are needed to track and monitor the different aspects of performance relevant to the dynamic, and highly competitive manufacturing marketplace.\nRelevant literature: Before the 1980s, the performance measurement process was consistent with a cost accounting approach which emphasized selective financial indicators, such as profit and return on investment. This approach received considerable criticism due to solely focusing on financial indicators. Critics argued that focusing only on financial indicators could encourage organizational short-term thinking (Banks and Wheelwright, 1979; Hayes and Garvin, 1982; Kaplan, 1983).In the late 1980s, some frameworks which attempted to present a broader view of performance measures and measurement begin to appear in the literature (Khadem, 1988; Cross and Lynch, 1988-1989). Meanwhile, criticisms of the traditional performance measurement approach continued to mount (Lemak, 1996; Clinton and Hsu, 1997; Upton, 1998).Reviewing the recent literature concerning manufacturing performance measurement, measures, and related implementation issues, two distinct themes emerge. The first theme may be labeled as the \"universal\" theme. The second theme, on the other hand, may be labeled as the \"contingency\" theme. While these two themes are not intended to be definitive in nature, nevertheless, they provide a context in which one can begin to attempt to understand the current state of the relevant literature.The first theme includes approaches to performance measurement and implementation methodologies which advocate transferability across organizational contexts and operating environments. The second theme includes approaches which stress the unique characteristics of given organizations, functions or business units in relation to performance measurement and implementation methodologies. These unique characteristics are considered very important to the effective implementation of PMSs. and their related performance measures.While the approaches advocated under these two themes tend to differ with regard to their views on the relevance of different organizational and environmental contexts, these approaches tend to point to the increasing importance of the non-financial aspects of manufacturing performance (Dempsey et al., 1997; Gomes et al., 2004a). Some of the approaches under these two themes are reviewed next. In the process, the differences among these approaches with regard to performance measurement and related implementation issues are highlighted. For a more detailed review of the literature, the reader is referred to Gomes et al. (2004b).Consistent with approaches under the \"universal\" theme, the strategic measurement analysis and reporting technique (SMART) is considered among the earliest approaches to advocate integrated PMSs. The SMART, also known as the \"Performance Pyramid\" (Cross and Lynch, 1988-1989; Lynch and Cross, 1991), is noted for incorporating performance dimensions specified by the previous literature as being indispensable to the global performance measurement of organizations.The Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1993) is noted for being extensively cited in the literature. At the time of its introduction, this approach to performance measurement was considered revolutionary, as it presented an innovative multi-dimensional approach to performance measurement. Initially, the Balance Scorecard was positioned by its authors as a PMS. Later, however, it was repositioned as a centralized management system to be used in association with the implementation of a strategic vision for the organization (Kaplan, 1994).Consistent with the \"universal\" theme to performance measurement, Keegan et al. (1989) presented the PMM-performance measurement matrix approach, where performance measurement was based on four dimensions organized in a 2 x 2 matrix. This two-dimensional matrix consisted of four cells: internal/cost; internal/non-cost; external/cost and external/non-cost. Also, consistent with the \"universal\" theme, Ghalayini et al. (1997) proposed the Integrated Dynamic Performance Measurement System approach. The system was based on the integration of three main organizational dimensions, which included management, process improvement teams and factory shop floor.Some authors have touched on the fragile nature of the \"universal\" approaches (Brignall, 1992 (cited in Sinclair and Zairi, 1995a); Neely et al., 1995; McKenzie and Shilling, 1998; McCunn, 1998; Lipe and Salterio, 2000; Ahmed, 2002). As alternatives to the approaches of the universal theme, some authors offered specific and/or contingency-based approaches. Consistent with this segment of the literature Dixon et al. (1990) proposed the performance measurement questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to evaluate the relationships between the PMs and the perceptions of organizational members with regard to critical success factors. Eccles and Pyburn (1992) suggested a methodology to aid managers in the design and implementation of (PMSs). The authors contended that, for the most part, the apparent lack of success of PMSs implementations could be attributed to managers lack of experience in developing, consensual models of performance for their organizations. Crowther (1996) considered three dimensions, through which performance should be analyzed and evaluated. Theses dimensions focused not only on the reasons behind the need for evaluation, but also on those who would be using the results.Among the group of authors concerned with implementation issues, the contributions of the researchers at the Centre for Business Performance (CBP) of Cranfield University are noted. These researchers concluded that the problems related to the design of PMSs were, mainly, related to three dimensions (Neely et al., 1995), as follows:(1) the performance measures individually;(2) the PMS, as an entity, and(3) the relationships between the PMS and the environment in which it works.Waggoner et al. (1999), from the CBP, emphasized the forces which influence the utilization of PMSs in manufacturing organizations. The authors pointed out the fact that PMSs should not be considered static in nature. They maintained that these systems continue to evolve over time. Waggoner et al. (1999) identified four categories of forces that could influence the evolution and transformation of PMSs. These four categories are highlighted as follows:(1) the internal influences;(2) the external influences;(3) the problems related with the process; and(4) the issues related with the changes that happen in the organization.The most recent research from the CBP resulted in the development of the Performance Prism (Neely et al., 2001, 2002). The Performance Prism was founded on a multi-dimensional framework which considered the stakeholders as the focal point of the performance measurement process. This approach to performance measurement not only stressed stakeholder satisfaction, but it also emphasized their contributions to the organizational performance measurement process.Some authors addressed performance measurement in the context of specific organizational problems faced by manufacturing organizations. In the process, they suggested specific methodologies and frameworks to address performance issues in relation to these specific problems. Some of these problem-specific approaches to performance measurement are highlighted as follows:* processes and tasks flexibility which are indispensable as an answer to the market volatility and to the most varied customers' specific needs (Koste and Malhotra, 1999; Golden and Powell, 2000; DSouza and Williams, 2000);* quality of the products, processes and services, or even in the context of total quality management (Sinclair and Zairi, 1995b; Forker et al., 1996);* effective management of the environmental problems generated by the manufacturing processes (Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996; Klassen and Whybark, 1999);* intangible issues such ethics (Winstanley and Stuart-Smith, 1996; von Drongelen and Fisscher, 2003), or attitudes of elements of the organizations (Ward et al., 1994);* specificity of some manufacturing environments, as is the case of Just in time (JIT) manufacturing (Crawford and Cox, 1990, Ahmad et al., 2004), or of the Synchronous Management (Lippa, 1990);* issues related to the growing significance of information and related systems on the performance measurement process (Forza and Salvador, 2000); and* issues related to the simultaneous achievement of the different aspects of manufacturing performance excellence (Mapes et al., 2000)A group of authors chose to focus on specific approaches, to manufacturing performance measurement in relation to organizational changes, specific projects, functions and business units. In the process, they suggested methodologies and indicators to measure the manufacturing performance in a context pertaining to these concerns:* products development and other R&D initiatives (House and Price, 1991; McGrath and Romeri, 1994; Bond, 1999; Hagedoorn and Cloodt, 2003);* manufacturing strategies (Leong et al., 1990; Azzone and Noci, 1998; Berry and Cooper, 1999; Rho et al., 2001);* human resources (Fitz-Enz, 1993; Hedges and Moss, 1996; Burney and Al-Darrab, 1998; McKenzie and Shilling, 1998; Firth et al., 1999; Duberley et al., 2000);* logistics and planning issues in manufacturing organizations (Daugherty et al., 1996; Ellinger and Daugherty, 2000; De Toni and Nassimbeni, 2000; Usher, 2003; Rafele, 2004);* maintenance (Tsang, 1998; Cholasuke et al., 2004);* supply chain activities (Little et al., 1995; Gunasekaran et al., 2004);* supplier's evaluation (Wafa et al., 1996; De Toni and Nassimbeni, 2000);* JIT implementation (Kazazi, 1994; Yasin et al., 1997; Wafa and Yasin, 1998, Ahmad et al., 2004);* changes in layouts (Marsh and Meredith, 1998; Akright and Kroll, 1998);* automation of manufacturing resources (Wong and Ngin, 1997);* conveyor systems in flexible productive environments (Devise and Pierreval, 2000);* the quality control of products (Hart and Hart, 1994; Tannock, 1995);* quality circles (Mathiyalakan and Chung, 1996); and* productive resources (Azzone et al., 1995).Based on this brief literature review and Gomes et al. (2004b), it appears that as manufacturing executives and managers struggle to design and implement PMSs to monitor and track the performance of their organizations, the literature tends to offers them, mostly, broad guidelines based on case studies (De Toni and Tonchia, 2001). To facilitate the practical operationalization of these broad guidelines, the gap between the practice, and the theoretical approaches and frameworks found in the literature must be reduced.\nMethodology: Instrument\nResults and discussion: Factor analysis results\nConclusion and implications: The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the practices related to manufacturing performance in the Portuguese manufacturing environment. In the process, the performance dimensions characterizing the Portuguese management practices were examined. The factor analysis and cluster analysis results derived from this study based on a sample of 92 Portuguese manufacturing executives and 63 performance measures pointed to the following conclusions and implications.The factor analysis procedure resulted in the extraction of nine factors (dimensions) with multiple variables and three factor with only one variable in each. The nine multi-variate factors included a traditional financial dimension, efficiency-based dimensions and effectiveness-dimensions. On the other hand, the uni-variate factors represented some specific dimensions relevant to the uniqueness of the Portuguese manufacturing environment. It is to be noted that while the Portuguese manufacturing executives appeared to be aware of the multi-faceted nature of organizational performance, they did not tend to utilize these different facets equally. For example, some important measures related to the costumer dimensions were not relatively utilized as much as other measures.The cluster analysis results underscored the over-utilization of the financial and efficiency-based performance dimensions. These results also pointed clearly to the under-utilization of important performance effectiveness dimensions, such as the customer-orientation, strategic competitiveness and marketing-related. The under-utilization of measures in these dimensions is alarming, as they are critical to the pursuit of the competitive advantage in a dynamic marketplace. The relative priorities given to the utilization of other effectiveness-oriented performance dimensions, such us management-related, employee-related and maintenance-related are encouraging. This is especially true when viewed in the context of the need for broader organizational performance measures and their utilization patterns.Based on the results of this study, it appeared that the Portuguese manufacturing executives are in need of re-orienting their organizational performance evaluation measures and utilization practices. This is by no means an easy task, given the mere efficiency-orientation of most Portuguese manufacturing organizations, which was prevalent for a long time. For this re-orientation to be effective, organizational culture, structure and information systems must be re-engineered to promote and support the effective utilization of critical performance measures and dimensions. Towards this end, the conceptual approach outlined in Figure 2 is advocated. Based on this approach, once the organizational culture, structure and information systems are re-engineered, a new PMS would be implemented. This system would incorporate and integrates performance measures and dimensions identified in this study and cited elsewhere in the literature. In this context, the role of organizational information systems in terms of making available internal- and external-related performance information is underscored.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Owing to the increasing competitive pressures in the marketplace in recent years, the different facets of performance measures and measurement have changed. In this context, the lack of a clear understanding of the dimensionality of manufacturing performance tends to negatively impact successful implementation and utilization of manufacturing performance measurement systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dimensionality of performance and its effective utilization in a manufacturing operational context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using a sample of 92 Portuguese manufacturing executives, this study investigates the dimensionality of manufacturing performance and its associated current utilization practices. Factor analysis and cluster analysis are used to analyze data collected on 63 performance measures.\nFindings: - Based on the results of this study, a conceptual framework is advanced. The framework is intended as an aid to manufacturing organizations in their efforts to modify their patterns of utilization of performance measures in order to be more consistent with the emerging changes and challenges of the global marketplace.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample used in this study is specific in nature (Portuguese manufacturing organizations). Thus the results should be interpreted accordingly.\nPractical implications: - Based on the results of this study, some important organizational implications regarding the practices related to performance measurement in the manufacturing environment are identified.\nOriginality/value: - This study empirically examined the manufacturing Portuguese executives' opinions regarding the dimensionality and utilizations of performance measures. In this context, this investigation contributes to the understanding of the implementation and utilization of performance measures and measurement systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of supervisor support and self-efficacy on call center employees' work engagement and quitting intentions	[ "Work engagement", "Quitting intentions", "Self-efficacy", "Supervisor support", "Call center employees" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Call center employees answer customer service questions, handle confidential customer data and information, and are involved in repetitive but complex work processes (Ashill et al., 2009). Not surprisingly, they are required to display the organizationally sanctioned emotions to customers. These emotions may not coincide with their real emotions and hence employees perform emotional labor from the effort of expressing emotions that are not congruent with their true feelings.\nTheoretical focus and hypotheses: Theoretical focus\nMethod: Participants and data collection\nResults: Measurement results\nDiscussion: Evaluation of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate work engagement as a mediator of the impacts of supervisor support and self-efficacy on quitting intentions, and examine self-efficacy as a mediator between supervisor support and work engagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 177 call center employees in Malaysia. The aforesaid linkages were tested through structural equation modeling.\nFindings: As hypothesized, self-efficacy mediates the relationship between supervisor support and work engagement, while work engagement mediates the impacts of supervisor support and self-efficacy on quitting intentions.\nOriginality/value: Though work engagement is on the decline and employee turnover is on the rise, no attention has been given to investigating the impacts of supervisor support and self-efficacy simultaneously on call center employees' work engagement and quitting intentions so far. Therefore, the study aims to fill in this void.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Postcolonial feminist analysis of high-technology entrepreneuring	[ "Gender", "Entrepreneurship", "Identity", "Postcolonial", "Feminist", "High-technology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: High-technology entrepreneurship associated with Silicon Valley is made possible through a nexus of hard-working and educated entrepreneurs (i.e. science and engineering degrees), market institutions (i.e. venture capital), and intellectual labor (i.e. innovation, creativity). In effect, the explanation for how high-technology entrepreneurship happens is that entrepreneurial traits and abilities are coupled with the extraordinary labor, financial, and intellectual resources, capabilities, and institutions found in the Silicon Valley area (Adams, 2005; Kenney, 2000; Lee et al., 2000; Sydell, 2012). At least so goes the Silicon Valley start-up story whose \"mythic\" hero is based on the experiences of young (white) male engineers and computer scientists.\nPostcolonial and feminist intersections: gender, identity formation, and reflexivity: In general, postcolonial frameworks attend to questions of subjectivity and knowledge production with respect to representations of the non-west and non-westerner in western texts (Loomba, 1998/2005). In this sense, postcolonial approaches, particularly those that deploy textual analyses and focus on language, embark upon critique of and recovery from western knowledge production endeavors on and about the non-west (Said, 1978, 1991). More importantly, such approaches speak to how encounters played out in social, cultural, and political spheres between the West and \"Rest\" can lead to the colonization of non-western notions of self-hood under cultural labels imposed upon them through western approaches to knowledge (Said, 1978; Bhabha, 1994). However, attempts to \"recover\" knowledge that may have been effaced under colonizing forms of western knowledge and practices are precarious at best as notions such as \"truth\" and \"authentic self\" are contested ideas under postcolonial premises (Bhabha, 1994).\nFieldwork and methodology: I relied on a combination of critical ethnography and auto-ethnography as loosely borrowed tools from cultural anthropology to study high-technology entrepreneuring through identity formation and networking practices. Critical ethnography recognizes the limits of researcher authority when carrying out field observations and collecting material artifacts (Holmes and Marcus, 2005) while auto-ethnography reflects \"the study, representation, or knowledge of a culture by one or more of its members\" (Buzard, 2003, p. 61). To examine entrepreneuring (Johannisson, 2011; for an overview, see Steyaert and Landstrom, 2011) based on these approaches, I utilized observations and participant-observations while being mindful of the researcher's role during fieldwork and in the production of knowledge (Lal, 1996; Sato, 2004). As a Turkish-American woman scholar located institutionally in a US-business school, these approaches allowed me to acknowledge my own position and privilege during the research process and engage with feminist aims of social change and gender equality (Jones, 2005) in the local context, Silicon Valley, under study.\nEmergent masculinities in high-technology entrepreneuring: Masculinities can be conceptualized as particular norms, ideas, and behaviors associated with men and over time, valued more than those associated with women (Connell, 1995; Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005) including those arising in work situations and organizations (Alvesson and Billing, 2009). Yet the production of masculinities is not necessarily a singular process or the same across different contexts. In this sense, there could be competing forms of masculinity such that the emergence of one type of masculinity as the norm would signal hegemony, or a hegemonic masculinity (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005). As Cooper (2000, p. 379) suggests, Silicon Valley is the hub of \"male-dominated, turbo-capitalism\" and the site of different emergent masculinities that enable particular men to participate in entrepreneurial activities and organizations more generally.\nWomen and feminized Others: gendered technology knowledge and networks: At each TABA conference, attendance was between 150 and 200 people with the number of women attending usually around 20-25. During the 2005 and 2006 conferences, there were no women panelists. In 2007, the conference included two different panels where one of the four panelists was a woman. At these panels, one of them spoke about venture capital funding in Turkey, while the other discussed working for a US-based non-profit that identifies \"high-impact\" entrepreneurs in developing nations (e.g. Turkey). Despite the inclusion of women on the panels, the 2007 lunch break coupled with my experiences around networking proved to be a turning point in the experiences of women and older men attending the conferences over the course of three years.\nChallenging gendered high-technology entrepreneuring: possibilities for voice and change?: While the TABA conferences were aimed to \"bring people together\" in order to discuss business opportunities and expand professional networks, the kinds of people they brought together were, over time, the same: young Turkish men. The very practices aimed at \"giving voice\" ended up silencing and putting the \"Other\" back in their place (Lal, 1996; Spivak, 1988) as conferences aimed at inclusion with regards to the Bay Area Turkish community produced \"exit\" rather than \"voice.\" These \"Other,\" the women and older men who felt marginalized and placed in a feminized position, were produced through gendering in which a more \"macho culture\" (young Turkish males) created subalternity of gender, which was then silenced.\nConclusion: Guided by postcolonial feminist perspectives, my aim was to outline how the nexus of gender, identity formation, and networking practices relate to high-technology entrepreneuring in the Turkish business community in Silicon Valley. Within this context, the hegemonic masculinity of the \"Young Turk\" emerged as the voice and identity for successful Turkish entrepreneurship activities in high technology through unchallenged gendered assumptions around women's role in family and caregiving and micro-practices of business networking. Moreover, subalternity of gender with respect to high-technology entrepreneuring took place when women and feminized Others become marginalized through networking and relationship-building activities that were considered the norm during conferences. Within this context, there were few possibilities for enacting dialectic resistance as a strategy for dismantling hegemonic masculine ideologies and practices that guide high-technology entrepreneurship activities in the Turkish business community in Silicon Valley.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine identity formation and networking practices relevant for high-technology entrepreneuring or the enactment of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley by Turkish business people.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Guided by postcolonial feminist frameworks, the author conducted a combination of ethnographic and auto-ethnographic fieldwork at high-technology conferences in Silicon Valley by focussing on talk and text as relevant for understanding entrepreneuring. Through a reflexive stance, the author analyzed observations, conversations, and experiences inclusive of her own positionality during the research process as they related to entrepreneurial identity formation and networking.\nFindings: During business networking conferences taking place among Turkish business people in Silicon Valley, women and older males became marginalized through the emergence of a hegemonic masculinity associated with young Turkish male entrepreneurs. In addition, local context impacted whether and how actors engaged in practices that produced marginalization and resistance simultaneously.\nOriginality/value: The research is of value for scholars interested in understanding how identity formation and networking in high-technology entrepreneuring take place through gendered practices and ideas. Scholars interested in deploying postcolonial feminist perspectives will also benefit by understanding how key analytic tools and research methods from these lenses can be used for conducting fieldwork in other contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Boosting service performance by dark chocolate seduction	[ "Emotion", "Service encounter", "Satisfaction", "Experimental design", "Dark chocolate", "Small things", "Mood" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Both practitioners and academics constantly look for simple interventions to improve customers' satisfaction, increase positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and stimulate customers to return to their businesses (Ostrom et al., 2015). Offering customers a small piece of candy as part of their service could serve as such an easily implementable intervention, especially in retail and small businesses (e.g. hairdresser). In service practice, we find many examples of these type of interventions, think about serving candy at the counter, a mint with your restaurant bill or the Marriott hotel that puts dark chocolate on customers' pillows.\nDark chocolate as a mood-enhancer: People believe that dark chocolate elevates mood (Scholey and Owen, 2013). Macht and Dettmer (2006) demonstrated that eating dark chocolate elevates mood more than eating other types of food such as apples. Other studies indicated that dark chocolate reduces negative mood (Macht and Mueller, 2007). However, some studies did not find any effect of dark chocolate on mood, possibly due to the brevity of the mood-enhancing effect of dark chocolate (Parker et al., 2006). Yet, the meta-analysis of Scholey and Owen (2013) concludes that dark chocolate has the potential to influence mood: five out of the eight included studies showed either an improvement in mood state or reduction in a negative mood. Recent studies confirm the positive effects from eating dark chocolate on mood (Tuenter et al., 2018), for example, Pandolfi and colleagues (2016) showed that even eating a small piece of dark chocolate (5 g) increased happiness directly after food intake and this effect was still present after 5 min.\nConsequences of mood: Mood state is defined as a mild temporary affective state that can be easily induced (Gardner, 1985; Mattila and Enz, 2002). Mood functions at an automatic level and can bias memory and evaluation (Clark and Isen, 1982; Luomala and Laaksonen, 2000). Mood plays a chief role in an enormous amount of processes and behaviors such as consumer behavior (e.g. (brand) evaluations, impulse buying; Cohen et al., 2008; Pornpitakpan, Yuan, and Han, 2017), cognitive processes (e.g. decision-making; Forgas, 2017; Gardner, 1985) and attention (Pourtois et al., 2013). For instance, people in a positive mood have an increased attentional preference for positive stimuli (Pourtois et al., 2013). Generally, a positive mood leads to more positive evaluations, including more positive customer judgments.\nHypotheses: This paper proposes that eating dark chocolate before a service interaction enhances the mood of consumers, which positively colors the service experience, and hence, leads to enhanced reported service performance evaluations such as satisfaction. This mediating role of mood between environment and behavior or other outcomes (e.g. satisfaction) is consistent with the Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) S-O-R model. In our case, a customer eats dark chocolate (stimulus) and his mood (organism) is enhanced. This improved mood than can lead to a better service experience and overall service satisfaction (response; Mattila and Enz, 2002; Pugh, 2001). Importantly, accidental increases in mood that are, for example, induced by a small detail, most likely spill over to service evaluations when a customer is not motivated to process or to understand the underlying reasons of her/his service evaluation (Cohen et al., 2008). Interestingly, these conditions are particularly met when a service encounter is perceived as moderately positive (or decent) or positive, as a moderately positive or positive experience is, in fact, the default situation for customers (Diener et al., 2015; Schneider and Bowen, 1999). Hence, when everything goes as expected, there is no need to process or to evaluate the service experience (Diener et al., 2015; Schneider and Bowen, 1999). Thus, we suggest that a small detail can help elevate the positive experience of customers when a service is perceived as positive or moderately positive (Schneider and Bowen, 1999). A distinction was made between positive and moderately positive to confirm that a minimum requirement for a small detail to be successful is a decent service during, which customer' expectations are met (Schneider and Bowen, 1999). Hence, we propose:\nStudy 1: Design and procedure\nStudy 2a: Design, procedure and measures\nStudy 2b: Design, procedure and measures\nStudy 3: Design and procedure\nDiscussion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the effect of offering dark chocolate before the service encounter on service evaluation (Appendix A for result overview). Several studies were conducted to test H1 and H2 while altering the studies features in various ways; service contexts, different types of food, scenario valence and design.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Past research suggests that small details during a service may have a big impact on the service experience. Drawing from this literature, this study aims to test the impact of offering dark chocolate during a service on service performance outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three scenario-based studies and one field study tested the hypotheses. The scenario-based experiments varied in both service context (e.g. restaurant and mobile phone store) and service quality.\nFindings: Eating dark chocolate positively impacts service performance outcomes. This effect is fully mediated through mood. However, this effect disappears in negative valenced service encounters.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes a unique contribution, by testing whether changing a small detail at the start of a service improves mood and, in turn, customers' outcomes in different service quality contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of firm exit in Slovenian manufacturing	[ "Innovation", "Competitors", "Manufacturing industries", "Slovenia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the last decade an important number of papers have been written on various aspects of firm performance, manufacturing flexibility and management data systems for firm performance management (Chang et al., 2005; Bose, 2006; Lee et al., 2006; Law et al., 2006; Phusavat and Photaranon, 2006; Koh and Gunasekaran, 2006; Prajogo et al., 2007). The number of studies analysed the relationship between firm performance and ownership (Frydman et al., 1999) often suggesting that new private firms and in some contexts privatised firms outperformed state owned firms. Some of these studies looked at the relationship between firm performance and competitive pressure (Konings, 1997; Nickell and Nicolitsas, 1999), often arguing that stronger competition increased firm productivity and/or growth. Some studies also looked at the potential complementary effect of ownership and competition policy. Yet some others have analysed the presence of soft budget constraints (Kornai, 1998) and the effect of trade orientation (Walsh and Whelan, 2001).Despite the existing literature for the Western economies (Dunne et al., 1988; Baldwin and Gorecki, 1991), relatively little is known about market dynamics, notably firm exit and its determinants in transition countries (Bojnec and Xavier, 2004). The transition process has implied an important market selection process by firm creation and destruction affecting both traditional firms and newly established firms. With institutional and economic deregulations during the 1990s, the most striking institutional changes in transition economies include increased competition, the hardening of budget constraint for firms and the stipulation of provision of bankruptcy and liquidation of the inefficient enterprises. These institutional changes might ease firm exit unless soft budget constraints do persist.This paper investigates determinants of firm exit focusing on competition and potential sources of soft budget constraints that may prevent firm exit contributing to better understanding the determinants of firm exit. A well-functioning market selection process is a necessary condition to guarantee competitive markets. Indeed, market selection should imply that the least efficient firms exit. It is important to investigate whether such a market selection process is under way in new market economies such as Slovenia, or whether there are any important obstacles that continue to prevent an efficient market selection process to take place.This paper is one of the first studies to pursue an in-depth analysis of market dynamics in terms of firm exit in a transition economy. Its makes use of a representative data set which includes virtually all the firms in the manufacturing sector in Slovenia and applies both pooled and panel probit estimation techniques. Firm specific and sector characteristics explanatory variables, notably those capturing competitive pressure and firm financial performance, are used to explain the probability of a firm exiting the Slovenian manufacturing sector. We expect that firm specific and sector characteristics may have an effect on firm exit as found in market economies. The persistence of some sort of soft budget constraints may reduce the probability of a firm exiting the market.Next section introduces the methodology and data used to estimate the probability of firm exit and explains the hypothesis and the potential relationships between explanatory variables and the probability of a firm exiting manufacturing in Slovenia. The third section presents the results of the variables used on the regression framework, the pooled and panel probit analysis. The fourth section concludes and derives implications.\nMethodology and data used: Probit model and hypothesis\nEmpirical results: Descriptive statistics\nConclusions: Despite a reasonable amount of literature written in the last decade on firm ownership, competition and trade and their relation to firm performance, relatively little is known about market dynamics and determinants of firm exit in emerging market economies including Slovenia. The exit rates on average were around 5 per cent for the whole analyzed period, but differ across manufacturing sectors and years indicating a reasonable evidence of market dynamics. This paper has pursued a more in-depth analysis of firm exit looking at Slovenian manufacturing firms and focusing on competition, financial constraints, firm- and sector-specific factors as potential determinants of the firm exit process from taking place. The paper used pooled and panel probit models on a representative firm level data set. The results suggest the presence of barriers to exit and soft budget constraints which biases the firm exit process and only foreign competition, more than domestic competition, appears to be ensuring market selection discipline.The most interesting results are related to competitive pressure, as they are statistically the most significant in the different model specifications used. First, we found that the higher the import penetration ratios as a proxy for foreign competitive pressures, the higher the probability of firm exit. Foreign competition through trade liberalisation has had an important market disciplinary effect in Slovenian manufacturing and an increasing pattern of firm exit is likely to be the result of greater liberalisation and marketisation of the economy. Second, domestic competition as the opposite of market concentration is also found to increase the probability of exit, as could be expected, although the association was not statistically significant. Third, foreign competition seems to be a substitute for domestic competition in highly concentrated markets. Finally, firms with lower cost to sales ratios and those with higher net profits were less likely to exit. Lower costs to sales and firm accounting profits should indeed be a proxy for the degree of competitiveness of the firm.Firm export market orientation is found to decrease the probability of exit in a statistically significant way. This confirms that firms involved in selling to more competitive international markets are more technologically and managerially advanced and produce more viable and high quality products potentially at more competitive prices. Firms that spent more on innovation, research and development are also found less likely to exit as expected.Private ownership appeared to increase the probability of exit thus suggesting that private firms do face hard budget constraints and a higher risk of bankruptcy. However, the fact that the probability of exit is negatively associated with being a pre-mass privatisation firm suggests the persistence of soft budget constraints. Second, the probability of exit is decreasing with the increase in firm capital intensity measured as the ratio of capital to labour of the firm indicating that capital intensive firms are more efficient and thus less likely to exit and to a lesser extent with firm financial health expressed by increase in the long-term debt ratio. The latter result suggest the presence of soft budget constraints consistent with the persistence of governmental soft-budget constraint policies, restructuring and rehabilitation programmes that have reduced the exit chances of inefficient firms in need of deep restructuring.Our empirical results confirm the importance of firms' ability to compete in an open international environment. In this context, it is crucial that firms' global management strategies focus on innovation, cost efficiency, efficient supply management, and export orientation. The results do support the EU Commission's (2006) assessment which indicates that, although some positive steps have been taken notably in terms of regulation and a more stable and transparent tax environment, structural rigidities remain in the labour and output markets. Slovenia therefore needs to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and strengthen the framework for competition at enterprise and national levels. More needs to be done to redirect public funding for R&D towards priority technological sectors and to reduce the time and costs of enterprise start-ups. Further privatisation (which has experienced some delays) is expected to attract more foreign capital and may contribute to enhance market dynamics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper sets out to present the determinants of firm exit at the micro firm-level of Slovenian manufacturing derived from the results of pooled and panel probit models.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Empirical research is conducted on the basis of the Slovenian firm registry data which include virtually all the firms in manufacturing. This data set is complemented with sector level trade data to investigate import competition. A representative panel data set of Slovenian manufacturing firms is used to estimate pooled and panel probit models focusing on the effect of firm specific characteristics, domestic sector and import competition, and financial variables on firm exit. The results of the analysis are compared with research for other countries.\nFindings: - The econometric results show a consistently positive, highly significant effect of import competition offsetting the impact of domestic competition on firm exit. Firm's export orientation, capital intensity, innovation expenditures, firm profitability and sector's real sales growth reduce exit, while private ownership and lower firm cost efficiency increase it.\nOriginality/value: - The uniqueness of this paper is twofold. It is one of the first empirical studies to conduct an in-depth analysis of market dynamics and the determinants of firm exit at the firm level for transition countries, and the first one for Slovenia. The study applies a comprehensive research model to virtually all the Slovenian manufacturing firms and provides valuable insights into the relationship between firm exit and firm specific characteristics, competition and finance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of change readiness on commitment to technological change, focal, and discretionary behaviors: Evidence from the manufacturing sector of Karachi	[ "Structural equation modeling", "Cooperation", "Compliance", "Championing", "Commitment to change", "Readiness for change" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Leading strategic change in an organization engrains long-term changes in any one of the seven aspects namely, strategy, skills, structure, subordinate goals, staff, systems, and style (Waterman et al., 1980). This strategic-level change may introduce better innovative ideas and working practices for businesses. Since a high rate of successful change is only possible if it is secured from learners (Mazmanian et al., 1997), it is the core responsibility of all of its stakeholders to get themselves ready to accept the change. In fact, the top management is mainly interested in identifying the level of organizational commitment and often condones or underestimates the importance of leadership behavior, the prevalent culture of the organization and the antecedences of increasing their change readiness. Theoretically, if an employee remains committed with her job and performs all of the assigned duties but remains reluctant in willfully accepting the corporate change then the management could not bring meaningful and useful financial and non-financial results on time. Therefore, acceptance to on-going change is now an integral part of an organization which requires an immediate attention among all of its stakeholders in Asian countries (Santhidran et al., 2013).\nLiterature review and development of hypotheses: Readiness for change\nMethodology: Sample\nMeasures: Readiness for change\nData analysis: Descriptive statistics\nTest of generalizability: The study used ECVI in SEM analysis to test whether the research findings may be generalized or expected to cross-validate in a new sample (Loehlin, 2004). Albeit, it has no range of values (Byrne, 2010) however, \"[...] smaller values indicate greater likelihood of generalization\" (Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002, p. 479). The ECVI value of the structural model was 0.92 exhibiting the greatest potential to be generalized to other samples within the same industry.\nDiscussion: The study examines the impact of change readiness on C2C and then the impact of C2C on the focal (compliance) and discretionary (cooperation and championing) behaviors. With a total of 18 hypotheses, the results of the measurement and structural models demonstrate a very good model fit in relation with the sample drawn. It is important to note that testing the statistical significance of individual hypothesis in structural equation modeling is less important than testing the overall model fit (Byrne, 2010) because all of the variables are entered simultaneously and then the overall model fit is estimated when controlling for gender, qualification, experience, marital status. Most recently, Adil (2015) has detailed two other reasons and concluded that testing the statistical significance of individual hypothesis in SEM has been a contradictory issue for the last four decades.\nLimitations and directions for future research: The findings of the present study should be viewed in the light of the following limitations.\nConclusion: There are three main latent constructs used in this study namely, \"readiness for change,\" \"commitment to change,\" and \"change-related behaviors.\" Readiness for change was measured by three sub-scales: appropriateness, management support, and change efficacy. C2C was measured by three sub-scales: affective C2C, continuance C2C, and normative C2C. However, change-related behaviors were classified into employee's one focal (compliance) and two discretionary (cooperation and championing) behaviors. The present study used structural equation modeling method to test two major hypotheses in order to answer two research questions. The study revealed that appropriateness has significant positive impact on affective C2C and negative impact on continuance C2C when controlled for gender, qualification and experience. Moreover, affective C2C has significant positive impact on compliance behavior; continuance C2C has significant negative impact on cooperation; and normative C2C has significant positive impact on cooperation when controlled for marital status. Based on the ECVI value, the study concluded that the SEM findings may be generalized on a larger population in the private manufacturing companies of Karachi. Thus, the TCM of Herscovitch and Meyer (2002) may also be applied in the private manufacturing organizations of Karachi (Pakistan).\nTheoretical contribution: Out of 13 studies on C2C (including the present study), only six studies used focal and discretionary behaviors (see Appendix). Likewise these studies, the present study also reflects a good reliability statistics after factor analysis with a minor exception of championing (0.66). The CFA (measurement model) shows very good model-fit indices having very low discrepancies between the theoretical model and the sample drawn. To the best of my knowledge, there are two studies on C2C in the context of Pakistan (Baraldi et al., 2010; Kalyal et al., 2010) however, both of them applied TCM in a public sector organization. Therefore, it may be concluded that the TCM of C2C developed by Herscovitch and Meyer's (2002) which has been tested in the Western context and Pakistani public sector may also be applied in the private manufacturing organizations of Pakistan. Interestingly, it is also identified that none of the three items of \"Personally beneficial\" adapted from Anjani and Dhanapal (2012), was loaded during factor analysis therefore this scale needs major revision by adding five to seven more relevant Likert-scale items ensuring good content validity as well as high internal consistency of the measuring scale in Pakistani context, in particular.\nPractical implications: In the context of the manufacturing sectors operating in Karachi, the findings indicate that managers need to take change recipients into confidence regarding the appropriateness of the desired change well before the implementation of the change program. It will increase the level of affective C2C by significantly decreasing the continuance C2C. In other words, employees have a tendency to relate the instant messages of a corporate change with their official responsibilities and then compare it with the competencies they hold. If managers remain successful in effectively communicating the message that the desired change is appropriate for the long-term benefits of the organization, the change recipients would accept the change willfully instead of demonstrating their commitment to the change as a compulsion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Commitment to change (C2C), focal and discretionary behaviors are under-researched areas in the context of developing countries such as Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of change readiness on employee's C2C, focal and discretionary behaviors when controlling for gender, qualification, experience, and marital status. In addition, the goal of this study is to determine whether the three-component model of Herscovitch and Meyer (2002) may also be applied in the private manufacturing companies of Karachi (Pakistan).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sample of 205 fulltime employees having administrative and managerial responsibilities in the manufacturing operations is drawn from the manufacturing companies of Karachi undergoing major technological change. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model. Besides, hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling in AMOS version 22.\nFindings: The standardized estimates of SEM revealed a very good model fit between the structural model and the sample drawn using different modification indices. The results show that appropriateness has significant positive impact on affective C2C and negative impact on continuance C2C when controlling for gender, qualification, and experience. Moreover, affective C2C has significant positive impact on compliance behavior. However, the continuance C2C has significant negative impact and normative C2C has significant positive impact on cooperation when controlling for marital status. The findings may be generalized on other private manufacturing organizations of Karachi.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the first to empirically establish a relationship among change readiness, C2C and active/passive change-related behaviors in the private manufacturing companies of Pakistan. One of the important theoretical contributions of the study is that the three-component model which has been empirically tested in various socio-economic settings in the Western context and in a Pakistani public sector organization may also be employed in the private manufacturing organizations of Pakistan. In particular, with respect to research instrument of \"readiness for change\" scale, it is also argued that the scale of the fourth dimension (i.e. personally beneficial) needs major revision by adding five to seven Likert-scale items having good content validity and high internal consistency of the measuring scale in the Pakistani context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A sensory perspective in the Italian beer market	[ "Brand equity", "Consumer behaviour", "Structural equation model", "Beer", "Sensorial preferences", "Social media communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The main aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between social media brand communication and brand equity considering the possible impact of sensorial preferences of active fans and followers in the beer industry on consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). According to Yoo and Donthu (2001), the CBBE can be defined as follows: for consumer-based, it is intended as the \"measurement of cognitive and behavioral brand equity at the individual consumer level through a consumer survey\" (p. 2), and for brand equity (by using a consumer-based behavioral lens), it is intended \"as consumers' different response between a focal brand and an unbranded product when both have the same level of marketing stimuli and product attributes\" (p. 1).\nLiterature and hypotheses development: Some authors have investigated the relationships existing between communication tools and the components of CBBE by using different perspectives of brand equity as a parameter to assess the performance of marketing and communication activities (Farquhar, 1989; Aaker, 1991; Baldinger, 1992; Kim and Kim, 2004; Vukasovic, 2009; Moradi and Zarei, 2012). From this point, social media contents have a different impact on brand equity and sensorial aspects play a crucial role in the relation between brand experience and brand equity (Kumar et al., 2013). In order to understand whether the effects of social media brand communication on CBBE changes according to sensorial perceptions of users, this paragraph formulates different hypotheses on: the relationships among the different components of brand equity; the relationships among social media communication - FCC and UGC - and brand equity; and the influence of sensorial perceptions.\nResearch design and methodology: This research employed a survey methodology to test the conceptual framework. A final sample comprised 183 valid questionnaires collected by using social valid accounts.\nResults: Exploratory factor analysis\nDiscussion and conclusions: Some previous studies have dedicated attention to investigate the multisensory brand experience as sensorial preference (Shepherd, 1990; Booth, 1991; Freeman et al., 1993; Hulten et al., 2009; Hulten, 2012, 2017; Krishna, 2013; Kumar et al., 2013; Haase et al., 2018). This paper tries to fill the gap in the literature that consists in the measuring the impact of social media brand communication on the preference of users-consumers in the Italian beer sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: From literature, an uncovered issue around the customer-based brand equity (CBBE) is detected: the influence of sensorial preferences on the relationship between social media communication and CBBE. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects produced by social media brand communication - both firm-created content (FCC) and user-generated content (UGC) - on CBBE, according to the sensorial preferences in the beer industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature review has been used to develop a research model and hypotheses. The research is based on online survey carried out on a sample of 183 valid questionnaires of Italian active fans and followers in the beer industry. A multi-group analysis applied to structural equation modeling is used.\nFindings: The sensory dimension prevails limiting the operating range of brand awareness that does not strongly affect CBBE. In brand equity development' process, non-sensorial users do not consider sensorial preferences. The brand equity can become stronger by stimulating the reaction of customers through firms' communication by using social media platforms. Therefore, the quality of peer interactions in the social media communication has a positive impact on brand loyalty. When firms use social media communication to increase overall brand equity, they have to foster and monitor FCC and UGC responses that affect different CBBE components.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides empirical evidence about the relationship between social media communication and CBBE, according to the importance given to sensorial preferences by beer lovers. This can be considered as the first study on this specific topic focused on the CBBE issue.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The emergence of professional learning networks in Spain	[ "Collaboration", "Community", "Professional capital", "Collective capacity", "Professional learning networks" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.(Martin Luther King Letter from Birmingham City Jail, April 1963)The network society has to do with the type of social organization that has come into being internationally with the information age (Castells, 2010, 2016). It is an age of complex skills, cultural diversity and high-speed changes (Hargreaves and Ainscow, 2015). The scenario is one in which collaboration crosses borders and networking is the new orthodoxy (Feys and Devos, 2014). It is, in this context, that the emergence of liquid modernity appears and underpins the discourse of Bauman (2013), one of the most brilliant and provocative thinkers of our time. According to these concepts, and following Bauman's reasoning, there is, within this network society, a need to establish a dialogue between cultures in which communities open up to each other and initiate exchanges that will enrich them in the search for one common humanity. This double view, adapted to the sphere of education, stresses the importance of sharing knowledge and is a constant call to learn from others within an environment that, it is presupposed, is permanently interconnected (Azorin and Muijs, 2018). Burns and Koster (2016) consider that networks adjust appropriately to the dynamics of liquid modernity precisely because they leave behind the traditional, and mostly obsolete, hierarchical organization forms.\nThe power of collective capacity: Contemporary educational debate revolves around putting into effect effective and successful schools, and reflecting on how these can be more inclusive and respectful of the principles of equity and social justice (Ainscow, 2016b; Florian et al., 2016; Sapon-Shevin, 2013; Ward et al., 2015). Various studies state that in the area of inclusive education the moment has come to reconsider the opportunities and complexities that inclusion brings with it, with the intention of building and sustaining inclusive practices both inside and outside the schools (Azorin and Ainscow, 2018; Ekins, 2017; Messiou, 2017; Lozano et al., 2018; Pearson, 2016; Sales et al., 2018). Indeed, how to respond best to student diversity in the school and the social setting is an unavoidable question on today's educational agenda (Azorin, 2018; Causton and Tracy-Bronson, 2015; Messiou and Ainscow, 2015).\nNetworking in education: One of the main developments in education over recent years has been the growth of networking in school settings. The importance of collaboration between and among education professionals within and across classrooms, schools, districts and education systems is widely supported in the literature on effective professional learning (Campbell, 2017; Darling-Hammond et al., 2009). In order to clarify a starting point, this section provides a brief explanation of the concept of educational networks and presents some of the experiences reported in the international literature in this respect. In their influential article \"On Network Theory,\" Borgatti and Halgin (2011) define the concept of network as a set of actors or nodes that share a series of links. According to the authors, the pattern of the links in a network produces a particular structure within which the nodes occupy positions. Ideally, networks should be conceived as intermediate structures where interdependent processes occur in which new ways of learning and cooperation between individuals and institutions are explored (Rauch, 2013). Put simply, networks are groups of people, and sometimes organizations, and the direct and indirect connections that exist between them (Chapman and Muijs, 2014).\nContext matters: The UK has been a forerunner in considering networks as an integral part of their policy in education and significant resources have been invested to develop more collaborative approaches between schools (Chapman, 2008; Chapman and Muijs, 2013; Katz and Earl, 2010). Many initiatives have been developed in this country over the last few years to create local education partnerships that support schools and help drive improvements in terms of outcomes for children and young people (Gilbert, 2017). In this sense, the report \"Optimism of the will: the development of local area-based education partnerships\" (lead by Gilbert) includes relevant information about: supporting a self-improving system, building professional capital, developing the role of the local authority and growing effective networks in education, among others. Regarding networking in English schools, Azorin and Muijs (2017, p. 276) explain that:The notion of networks and inter-school collaboration currently features highly on the educational policy agenda globally, nowhere more so than in England where the concept of a self-improving system is underpinned by the idea that schools will work together as a means of educational improvement.\nPLNs in Spanish schools: This section is dedicated to the construction of Spanish PLNs and may be quite interesting for the non-specialized reader who is interested in knowing about the reality of education networks in Spain. As indicated in the previous section, the notion of networks and collaboration is very present in world education agendas. In recent years, the Spanish education system has been influenced by the international context. Indeed, in this country networks between schools are a powerful research line. However, Spain does not have the advanced school networks that exist in other places such as England, where networks are established as a result of participation in particular projects or initiatives in a specific area where schools share the same interest (Chapman and Sammons, 2013).\nConclusion: The analysis summarized in this paper points out the trends that are giving rise to the current educational research in the school landscape. The paper is, thus, tapping into a relevant and current issue and debate within the political and scholarly spheres. It reports on emerging work within a context where inter-school collaboration has clearly evolved organically to take a number of forms. The Spanish context is described in order to offer a meaningful insight into this school system and its peculiarities. However, we have to recognize that Spain is a nascent case, and the construction of a policy map of PLNs is still a complex arena. In line with the aims of the study, the review of the networking organization, objectives pursued and scopes in the territories provide new knowledge in this respect.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to construct a policy map of professional learning networks (PLNs) in Spain. It includes initiatives prompted in Spanish schools in which social, political, cultural and educational elements are integrated. At the same time, it analyses which organization promotes each of the networks, the objectives pursued and the scope of the network in the territory in which it is created.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The methodology followed is essentially descriptive and incorporates the first experiences with school networks which have been disseminated in the Spanish literature. It stimulates reflection on the role networks are expected to play in relation to local developments in this specific school system.\nFindings: The cases described (Castellon, Catalonia, Malaga and Seville) suggest a way forward for practitioners to advance toward an educational paradigm based on greater collaboration. This includes a partnership approach among professionals within and across classrooms, schools, communities, districts and education systems. In particular, the results place the focus of the network on the prevalence of the following school classification, included schools (community networks linking to the territory), extended schools (socio-educational networks), equity schools (equity fostering networks) and partnership schools (school-to-school support networks), whose objectives and scopes are reviewed.\nResearch limitations/implications: With the Spanish context in mind, it is essential to recognize that more empirical evidence is still needed to make a significant contribution toward building knowledge in this research line. Indeed, sustainability seems to be an important point to consider in a short-term world where quick-fix solutions are required. However, PLNs need time to know how beneficial they really are, for example, in terms of student outcomes and school improvement.\nPractical implications: The argument developed assumes networks as a mirror wherein the present and future of education takes place. In this sense, the scientific and educational communities have both a challenge and an opportunity to rethink the potential of networking and collaboration in education. The article tries to be attractive to a specialized reader or one simply interested in the problem of networks in education and the reality of PLNs in Spain.\nSocial implications: The network society demands a network school environment where communities are part of a local character strategy.\nOriginality/value: This document offers an interesting view on networks that not only focus on education but on social and welfare issues and it aims to target education from a broader perspective; so resulting in opening schools to the community, which is not a widely covered topic in education research. In summary, the paper can be considered as a pioneer study in the Spanish context, which contains valuable information about PLNs, their origin and current status in this part of the world.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How do a buyer's political ties affect the market-based selection of suppliers?	[ "Emerging economies", "Technological uncertainty", "Business ties", "Market-based selection of suppliers", "Political ties", "Social control preference" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Managerial ties serve as an important relational governance mechanism that enables a buyer to gain access to strategic external resources (Fletcher-Chen et al., 2017; Sheng et al., 2011; Shou et al., 2016). A buyer establishes not only business ties with its suppliers to deepen the collaboration (Villena et al., 2011; Zhou et al., 2014b) but also political ties with the government to navigate the complex regulatory environment (Peng and Luo, 2000; Xin and Pearce, 1996). Table I provides a comprehensive literature review of political and business ties. As the table shows, this stream of literature began by considering political and business ties to have the same effect on firm performance (Li et al., 2008b; Peng and Luo, 2000), and later explored the differential effects of political and business ties (Sheng et al., 2011; Wang and Chung, 2013) and of different types of political ties (Zheng et al., 2017; Zhu and Chung, 2014). However, little is known about the interplay between political and business ties in the previous literature.\n2. Hypothesis development: 2.1 Political ties and the market-based selection of suppliers\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data\n4. Data analysis and results: We used a stepwise hierarchical regression approach to test our hypotheses (Aiken and West, 1991), allowing the observation of the explanatory power of each set of variables. Variables were mean-centered before entering the interaction term to overcome the multicollinearity problem. In Table IV, we present the results of the standardized regression estimates for H1-H3, allowing a direct comparison between the coefficients of these variables. In Models 1-5, the social control preference was operationalized as the difference between the mean scores of social control and contractual control. In Models 6 and 7, we used the ratio of the mean score of social control to the sum of the mean scores of social control and contractual control as an alternative operationalization of the social control preference to assess the robustness of the results.\n5. Conclusion: 5.1 Theoretical contribution\n6. Limitations and further suggestions: Our study has several limitations that further research should address. First, the cross-sectional nature of our study limits the testing of causal linkages in our model. Therefore, further research should undertake a longitudinal approach to examine the causality between political ties and the market-based selection of suppliers. Second, our findings may be limited to China. Although political ties are a widespread phenomenon in other emerging economies and developed economies (Faccio, 2006; Hillman et al., 2004), further examination of political ties in either developed economies or other emerging economies would offer a contrast with our findings. Third, the life cycle of business ties experiences formation, maintenance and termination (Autry and Golicic, 2010), yet our study explores the effect of political ties on the formation stage of business ties only. Future research should explore the effect of political ties on other stages of business ties.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although the differential roles of political and business ties are recognized in the literature, the interplay between political and business ties remains unclear. This study aims to explore how political ties affect the formation of business ties with unfamiliar partners by analyzing how a buyer's political ties affect the market-based selection of suppliers, an important channel through which the buyer forms business ties with unfamiliar suppliers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey of 204 Chinese manufacturing firms was conducted to elucidate the relationship between political ties and the market-based selection of suppliers.\nFindings: The findings suggest that buyers with strong political ties are more likely to engage in the market-based selection of suppliers; this positive relationship is diminished when social control is preferred over contractual control in the buyer's supplier governance and is enhanced when technological uncertainty is high.\nOriginality/value: First, this study sheds light on the interplay between political and business ties by revealing how the buyer's political ties affect the formation of business ties with unfamiliar suppliers, as represented by the market-based selection of suppliers. Second, it uncovers the boundary conditions of the effect of political ties by revealing the moderating effect of social control preference and technological uncertainty. Third, it extends the interorganizational governance structure literature from its focus on the complement-substitute debate on social control and contractual control to examine the contingent effect of a hybrid governance structure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing the relationship between patient satisfaction and clinical quality in an ambulatory setting	[ "Patient satisfaction", "Physician compensation", "Physician quality metrics", "Financial structures", "Clinical quality", "Clinical quality measures", "HEDIS" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Physician reimbursement and overall physician compensation are increasingly becoming tied to quality-based factors such as patient satisfaction results and performance on clinical measures such as those provided by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and less based strictly on the volume of healthcare services provided (MGMA, 2014). According to MGMA, in 2013 almost 6 percent of physician total compensation was linked to clinical quality measures, with another 2 percent of physician compensation tied to patient satisfaction (MGMA, 2014). Other surveys have shown that up to 59 percent of physicians have at least some portion of their compensation tied to patient satisfaction results (Zgierska et al., 2014).\nConceptual framework: The primary question of interest is how physician clinical quality, as measured by HEDIS measures, is related to patient satisfaction scores. To allow the relationship to vary by types of HEDIS measure (e.g. HEDIS measures related to chronic care or HEDIS measures related to prescription of antibiotics), a regression with patient satisfaction as the dependent variable will be estimated separately for each of five HEDIS composite measures: vaccine, preventative measures, prescription of generics, chronic conditions, and appropriate use of antibiotics. For example, critics cite prescribing antibiotics as one of the major areas where there is asymmetric information, i.e. the patient desires to be prescribed an antibiotic to cure their condition, but the doctor rather than the patient has the knowledge to know whether or not an antibiotic is an effective treatment for the condition (Pilnick and Dingwall, 2011). And, oftentimes taking an antibiotic can be detrimental to the patient's health and to the general health of the public (antibiotic resistant bacteria) (Ong et al., 2007). Thus, the argument is that if physicians are incentivized to improve patient satisfaction, they may inappropriately prescribe antibiotics in order to keep patients happy, even though there are negative health consequences; thus we may expect the HEDIS measures related to antibiotic prescription to be negatively correlated with patient satisfaction (Ong et al., 2007). In contrast, the prescribing of generic prescription drugs may save the patient money and increase satisfaction (Pham et al., 2007). Previous literature does not provide as much insight into how physician performance on clinical quality metrics for preventative measures, vaccination, and chronic condition will be related to patient satisfaction. Given that patients with chronic conditions generally see a physician more often, it is hypothesized that the relationship between the chronic condition HEDIS measures and patient satisfaction will be stronger than between preventative or vaccination and patient satisfaction.\nData and descriptive statistics: In 2012, a regional hospital organization in Northeast Ohio designed and implemented a physician performance bonus program across all of its physician practices in efforts to begin linking physician reimbursement to clinical quality and patient satisfaction metrics. The organization consists of approximately 120 physicians across various specialties, with a strong primary care base. We link the clinical quality database from calendar year 2013 with the patient satisfaction database and physician demographics for all physicians in the practice. The focus is patient satisfaction as expressed by patient ranking of their physician on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, and its connection to physician performance on clinical quality metrics as measured by individual physician performance on HEDIS measures. Every patient satisfaction response received during calendar year 2013 was included so long as there was corresponding clinical quality performance data for the designated physician. The unit of observation, then, is at the patient level with every patient satisfaction score representing an observation. The total sample size is 2,808 observations.\nMethodology: Regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between patient satisfaction and physician clinical quality across a variety of HEDIS measures with an extensive set of physician and patient variables also included in the model. In each regression, the patient satisfaction score is the dependent variable and independent variables include the relevant HEDIS composite measure, physician and practice volume variables, physician credential variables of MD and board certified, physician age, physician gender, patient age, patient race, patient age, and insurance status. Sequist et al. (2008) and Schneider et al. (2001) also used composite measures, but they applied composites to the CAHPS survey responses in assessing overall patient experience where this research focuses on the overall rating of the physician as a measure of patient satisfaction.\nResults: The results of the regressions for each of the HEDIS composite measures are reported in Table III. Each column of the table reports the results for an ordered probit regression with patient satisfaction as the dependent variable and the column heading indicating the physician clinical quality variable used in the estimation. The appropriate prescribing of antibiotics, prescribing generics or documenting medical necessity for brand name drugs, and appropriate vaccination are all positively and statistically significantly related to patient satisfaction. For antibiotics and generics the magnitude of effect is similar, associated with 33.4 and 30.5 percent higher probability of a satisfaction score of 10; the magnitude of effect for vaccination is about half the size but still is associated with a 16.3 percent higher probability of a score of 10. In contrast to these positive effects, the coefficient estimate on the preventative composite is negative and statistically significant at the 0.06 level; it is associated with a 14.9 percent lower probability of a patient satisfaction score of 10. The chronic condition clinical quality measure is not related to satisfaction, with a statistically insignificant coefficient estimate and small marginal effect.\nLimitations: This study has several key limitations. First, the data for this study come from a single hospital provider organization in Northeast Ohio and the generalizability to other settings is not known without conducting studies in multiple, diverse settings. Second, the response rate for the satisfaction survey is only 12 percent. The potential bias of a low-response rate depends on the selection of who responds as well as the correlation between selection and the physician HEDIS measures. For example, if patients who are very satisfied are more likely to complete the survey but this is unrelated to physician HEDIS scores, then average satisfaction will appear higher in the sample than it is in the population, reflected in a higher coefficient estimate on the intercept, but the coefficient estimate on the HEDIS variable will be unbiased because there is no correlation between unobserved selection factors and the HEDIS variables. If, however, those satisfied patients who have doctors with high HEDIS scores are more likely to respond than are low-satisfaction patients of the same doctors (or more likely to respond than high satisfaction patients of doctors with low-HEDIS scores) then it will appear that the HEDIS variables are more strongly related to patient satisfaction than in the population and the coefficient will be biased upwards. Third, it is not possible to link whether the HEDIS quality measure was met for the individual patient who is completing the satisfaction survey. Rather, the physician clinical quality measure is the percent of the physician's relevant patient population that met the HEDIS measure. This would be less of a concern if the survey response rate were high, as the sample who took the survey would be more likely to mirror the population. If, however, the patients who had the HEDIS standard met for them are more likely to complete the survey (regardless of the overall HEDIS score of the physician), then the ability to measure the relationship between patient satisfaction and clinical quality measures would be muted with a bias toward 0 for the coefficient estimates on the HEDIS variables. Finally, there is no way for the study to determine if there are systematic differences in physician behavior by age or gender; therefore, it is not possible to distinguish if the significant coefficient estimates on these variables are capturing systematic differences in physician behavior or capturing patient bias.\nConclusion: This study uses a unique data set of HEDIS quality variables and patient satisfaction data to examine the relationship between physician clinical quality and patient satisfaction. The results suggest that different types of clinical quality measures are not necessarily correlated and they may have different effects on patient satisfaction. While some aspects of clinical quality, such as appropriate prescribing of antibiotics and generics as well as vaccination are positively related to patient satisfaction, other measures, like preventative measures and treatment of chronic conditions, are negatively related to satisfaction or not related at all. The results suggest patient satisfaction and physician clinical quality may occupy the same domain across some clinical quality measures but for other measures satisfaction and clinical quality are unrelated or negatively related. Therefore, for some clinical quality metrics, it will be important to separately compensate clinical quality and satisfaction. In addition, in designing a physician compensation program, it is important to have a variety of clinical quality measures. Finally, the strong relationship between the variables of physician age, physician gender, and patient age and the level of patient satisfaction are important to consider when designing a physician compensation package based on patient satisfaction.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between patient satisfaction and a variety of clinical quality measures in an ambulatory setting to determine if there is significant overlap between patient satisfaction and clinical quality or if they are separate domains of overall physician quality. Assessing this relationship will help to determine whether there is congruence between different types of clinical quality performance and patient satisfaction and therefore provide insight to appropriate financial structures for physicians.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Ordered probit regression analysis is conducted with overall rating of physician from patient satisfaction responses to the Clinician and Groups Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey as the dependent variable. Physician clinical quality is measured across five composite groups based on 26 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures aggregated from patient electronic health records. Physician and patient demographic variables are also included in the model.\nFindings: Better physician performance on HEDIS measures are correlated with increases in patient satisfaction for three composite measures: antibiotics, generics, and vaccination; it has no relationship for chronic conditions and is correlated with decrease in patient satisfaction for preventative measures, although the negative relationship for preventative measures is not robust in sensitivity analysis. In addition, younger physicians and male physicians have higher satisfaction scores even with the HEDIS quality measures in the regression.\nResearch limitations/implications: There are four primary limitations to this study. First, the data for the study come from a single hospital provider organization. Second, the survey response rate for the satisfaction measure is low. Third, the physician clinical quality measure is the percent of the physician's relevant patient population that met the HEDIS measure rather than if the measure was met for the individual patient. Finally, it is not possible to distinguish if the significant coefficient estimates on the physician age and gender variables are capturing systematic differences in physician behavior or capturing patient bias.\nPractical implications: The results suggest patient satisfaction and physician clinical quality may be complementary, capturing similar aspects of overall physician quality, across some clinical quality measures but for other measures satisfaction and clinical quality are unrelated or negatively related. Therefore, for some clinical quality metrics, it will be important to separately compensate clinical quality and satisfaction and understand the relationship between metrics. Finally, the strong relationship between the level of patient satisfaction and physician age, physician gender, and patient age are important to consider when designing a physician compensation package based on patient satisfaction; if these differences reflect patient bias they could increase inequality among medical staff if compensation is based on patient satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to use physician organization data to examine patient satisfaction and physician performance on a variety of HEDIS quality metrics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modelling non-linear behaviour of block price deviations when trades are executed outside the bid-ask quotes	[ "Bid-ask quotes", "Block prices", "STAR models", "G10", "C22" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There has been a great emphasis on research in the liquidity of large trades over the last two decades. Large trades are defined in the academic literature by Madhavan and Cheng (1997) as block trades, which are transactions of 10,000 shares or more. Block trades have a significant influence on financial markets because they encapsulate over 25 per cent of the entire trading volume in US equity markets[1].\n2. Specification and estimation of STAR models: The degree of misalignment between executed block prices and their quoted prices derived from the bid-ask quotes are computed as:(1)\n3. Data: We obtain data on all the block trades defined as transactions of 10,000 shares or more, executed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) during 2014. There are a total of 2,136,451 transactions of which 662,312 were traded outside the bid-ask quotes. All the block trades that are traded outside the quoted prices are in excess of 50,000 shares. This supports the international evidence reported by Chakravarty (2001) and Alzahrani et al. (2013), which supports the notion that large transactions exhibit liquidity problems and are therefore executed outside the bid-ask quotes.\n4. Results: 4.1 Unit root tests\n5. Conclusions: In this paper we model buy and sell block trade price deviations from their quoted prices on the LSE, for 662,312 transactions that were traded outside the bid-ask quotes in 2014. We postulate that transaction costs deter investors from trading when faced with market impulses. In order to capture this behaviour, we explicitly allow for a non-linear dynamic adjustment of block price deviations. The empirical analysis provides support for this hypothesis as block price deviations are classified as ESTAR models for both purchase and sale transactions. The estimated ESTAR models pass all the main diagnostic tests and provide a very good description of the non-linearity found in block price misalignments from their quoted prices. Our empirical findings have two fundamental implications for the block price literature. First, when the block price deviations are close to the quoted prices, they are less responsive to new information then we would have anticipated as the benefits of trading are partly offset by trading costs. Second, there is evidence of stock market efficiency in the block trading equity markets, as when the deviation of trades from their quoted prices is large block prices adjust quickly back to their quoted prices limiting the arbitrage opportunities for trading.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test and model non-linearities in block price deviations when they are executed outside the bid-ask quotes. The author conducts an empirical analysis on 662,312 transactions that were traded outside the bid-ask quotes in 2014 on the London Stock Exchange.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The tests reject the linearity hypothesis and the paper shows that the exponential smooth transition autoregressive model is capable of capturing the non-linear behaviour of block price misalignments.\nFindings: The findings imply that when the deviation of block prices from their quoted value is small (large), trading will occur slowly (rapidly) to restore equilibrium, suggesting that trading costs eliminate continuous trading and that the block trade market is efficient.\nOriginality/value: The purpose of this paper is to re-model block price deviations from the bid-ask quotes. The major contribution is that the paper presents new empirical evidence, which explicitly allows for the possibility that block price misalignments from the bid-ask quotes can be characterized by a non-linear mean reverting process. The author demonstrates that the presence of transaction costs induces non-linear adjustments of block trade prices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The mediating role of autonomy in the effect of pro-innovation climate and supervisor supportiveness on innovative behavior of nurses	[ "Autonomy", "Innovative behaviour", "Mediating role", "Nurse", "Pro-innovation climate", "Supervisor supportiveness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Innovative behavior (IB) is defined as all individual activities pertaining to the development, promotion and implementation of a useful innovation at any organizational level (Rank et al., 2004; Moisio et al., 2007). IB includes the development of new ideas, technology and techniques, as well as the trial and application of new methods related to business procedures in specific work areas (Moisio et al., 2007). Studies have emphasized the importance of developing IB in healthcare professionals to ensure that healthcare institutions are able to deliver rapid, reliable and high-quality patient care (Reuver et al., 2008; Xerri and Brunetto, 2012). IB practiced by healthcare professionals has been shown to be significant for improving patient outcomes and organizational performance (Bunpin et al., 2016).\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Figure 1 shows the research model and hypotheses developed based on the conceptual framework of this study.\nResearch methods: Design and purpose of the study\nResults: Socio-demographic characteristics of the nurses\nDiscussion: In this study conducted with a nursing sample, a significant, positive effect of a pro- innovation organizational climate, supervisor supportiveness and autonomy on IB was determined by confirming all hypotheses. In addition, the full mediating role of autonomy was determined in the effect of pro-innovation organizational climate and supervisor supportiveness on IB. It is believed that the obtained results will contribute to studies on IB and autonomy.\nConclusion: This study focused on the role of autonomy in the nursing profession by examining the effect of pro-innovation organizational climate, supervisor supportiveness and nurses' autonomy level on their innovative behavior. Previous studies have found that pro-innovation organizational climate and supervisor supportiveness increase employees' innovative behavior by boosting their risk-taking and use of initiative (Ohly et al., 2006; Parzafall et al., 2008). Most research explaining the relationship between these variables has been conducted with different samples, and the model used in the present study has not been tested in previous studies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the mediating role of autonomy in the effect of a pro-innovation organizational climate and supervisor supportiveness (SS) on the innovative behavior (IB) of nurses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample of this cross-sectional, correlational study consisted of 332 nurses, who were selected, on the basis of the convenience sampling method, from among the nurses working at two public university hospitals in Istanbul. The data of the study were collected between February and May of 2015. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analysis were used for data analysis, and the bootstrapping method was applied to test the significance of the mediating role.\nFindings: The model used for examining the mediating role of autonomy was found to be statistically significant, as it explained 36 percent of the variance of IB. When the significance of the mediating role was tested, its effect on both innovation climate and SS was observed to be significant.\nOriginality/value: The obtained results indicated that a pro-innovation organizational climate and SS functioned as premises for autonomy. In turn, the rise in autonomy level that served to innovative climate and SS increased the IB of the nurses through boosting their autonomy level. From these results, it can be argued that nurses with a high level of professional autonomy can create innovative outputs and provide added value through the IB they practice in providing patient care and general health services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Students' perceptions of education and employability: Facilitating career transition from higher education into the labor market	[ "Career development", "Higher education", "Education", "Individual development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Contemporary society faces challenges that are more testing than ever due to the fast pace of development and the interconnectedness of different facets of life. The landscape of vocations and professions is also changing due to the increasing and significant role that technology plays. Furthermore, the key role for economic stability and progress is the utilization of the human resource, and whereas in the past job security was the desired state, in today's turbulent employment system, the key for sustainability is employability. Employability is the ability to acquire employment when needed, or as Rothwell and Arnold (2007) suggested, it is the ability to keep the job one has or to get the job one wants. For individuals, perceived employability is one's perceptions of the \"possibilities of obtaining and maintaining employment\" (Vanhercke et al., 2014, p. 593). The increased relevance of employability for a sustained society is the result of the changes in both career systems and the psychological contract between individuals and organizations (Baruch and Rousseau, 2018). Employability is shaped by many factors, but education is a major determinant of employability, in particular for graduates.\nLiterature review: HE has traditionally been associated with increased employability, earnings and life aspirations (Brooks and Youngson, 2016). However, these relative advantages continue to be eroded by increased participation in HE and the associated debt. Students are now seeking to differentiate themselves; to stand apart when applying for graduate employment, recognizing that a degree alone is no longer sufficient (Stevenson and Clegg, 2011). Given the importance of understanding the factors that can enhance the student career transition from HE into to the global labor market, there is now a greater impetus on students gaining other skills whilst at university, relating to both their perceived employability and what skills can realistically be transferred to the workplace from an employers' perspective. Demographic characteristics influence the perception of employability and gender is such a critical factor (Morley, 2001). In an experimental design assessing resumes of business graduates, European research examined the link between academic performance, gender and extracurricular activities on perceived employability (Pinto and Ramalheira, 2017). Interestingly, gender effects were insignificant, however, results confirmed that high academic achievement and high active engagement in extracurricular activities were positively related to job suitability and employability skills including time management, personal organization and learning skills, which concurs with other research (Hassanbeigi et al., 2011; Nemanick and Clark, 2002; Roulin and Bangerter, 2013). However, when the two independent variables were combined, no effects were reported. Pinto and Ramalheira concluded that engaging in extracurricular activities enhanced graduate's chances in the selection process in terms of future sustainable employment. Such findings suggest that it is as important for graduates to gain transferable skills from engaging in activities promoting for example commercial awareness, teamwork, leadership and communication as it is to achieve academic success.\nMethodology: The adopted methodology for this paper was a qualitative approach where the authors wanted to explore in more detail results gained from an earlier quantitative two-wave study of 387 undergraduates in their penultimate (2015/2016) and final (2016/2017) years of undergraduate study within a UK University. This study, therefore, employed semi-structured interviews on a cohort of 38 undergraduates in their final year of study (2016/2017), who had previously engaged in the quantitative survey (Donald et al., 2017a). This approach allowed a sample of the original participants in the quantitative study, to share their experiences, perceptions, opinions, feelings, and knowledge, in order to provide more depth and meaning to the findings (Patton, 2015).\nFindings and analysis: The documentation provided in Figure 1 provides a clear audit trail, enabling replication of the study, and promotes reliability of the treatment of qualitative data. It evidences the final data structure (phase six) representing the documentation output from phases one to five, based on guidance and notation by Gioia et al. (2013, p. 21).\nDiscussion and conclusions: We started with three identified aims: how undergraduates perceive their future careers and how university has prepared them to enter the global labor market; student perceptions of the benefits of pursuing HE on employability and earnings vs associated costs; and the anticipated barriers and students' plans to overcome these in their pursuit of career sustainability within a career ecosystem, drawing on CET. These aims were reflected in our research questions. Our paper now provides a discussion for each of the four research questions, which, in-turn, respond to the three aims:\nTheoretical implications: The CET theory is awaiting empirical testing, and this is one of the first studies to explore its relevance and applicability. This research advances the understanding and relevance of the CET (Baruch, 2013, 2015) in exploring and explaining students' perception of how HE prepares them for the global labor market. We achieve this by highlighting the interconnected nature of stakeholders of graduate employability and the dependency of these loosely coupled actors on each other (Baruch, 2013, 2015; Baruch et al., 2016). We build on the premise stated in the literature review that an essential component of an ecosystem is career mobility, realised through the balance of needs and requirements against the constant flux of supply and demand (Baruch and Altman, 2016). Our findings validate the CET as they manifest the multiplicity of stakeholders in the careers of graduates and the interdependencies they share. In support of our claim for validation of CET, we offer a new employer and university careers advice model (Figure 3).\nLimitations: First, participants came from a single university, and while this is the case for similar publications (e.g. Direito et al., 2012), it would be preferable to have a representation of more universities. Our paper, however, does offer coverage of wide specialist and generalist degree subjects. Due to the sample size, we can only comment on specialist and generalist degree subjects rather than on individual degree subjects within these categories.\nRecommendations for future research: In response to calls by Creswell (2015), future work could replicate this research across other universities to compare students' perceptions across different geo-locations. Replication should continue the multidisciplinary approach applied here between education and HRM, and may further benefit from drawing on other disciplines. Research should continue the pursuit of collaboration across all actors of employability, and offer clear and pragmatic links between academic findings and practical or policy contributions.\nPractical contribution and policy implications: The robust theoretical underpinning and pragmatic nature of this research lead to a number of valuable practical contributions and policy implication. Our paper offers valuable guidance to governments facing similar funding challenges.\nConclusions: Students continue to perceive the benefits of HE to outweigh the associated costs, highlighting the array of benefits from HE to their personal development, future career and life aspirations. However, the perceived gap between benefits and costs has narrowed significantly with increased tuition fees, interest rates and other university-related debts. With the exception of students studying degree subjects with the highest earnings potential (e.g. Engineering, Mathematics and Business), the majority of students did not expect to repay their university debt in full. Student perceptions aligned with debt expectations (Future Finance, 2016) and expected earnings (The Complete University Guide, 2018). Students felt that an individual needed a clear reason for pursuing HE and university may not be suitable for everyone. There was a strong perception from current university students that increased tuition fees were putting off students from disadvantaged backgrounds.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how students perceive their future careers and how university has prepared them to enter the global labor market; student perceptions regarding benefits vs associated costs of pursuing higher education (HE) on employability and earnings; and the anticipated barriers and how to overcome these in pursuit of career sustainability within a career ecosystem.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews on a small sample of 38 final year students from a UK university who were also participants in an earlier two-wave quantitative survey, which was conducted with 387 penultimate and final year undergraduates from the same UK-based University.\nFindings: Findings revealed that undergraduates perceive their investment in HE to offer a net financial gain; however, this is narrowing due to increased tuition fees, associated student debt and interest payments eroding earning premiums. As undergraduates progress, they feel more employable from a personal perspective, but less employable from a market perspective due to competition for graduate jobs and the cost/benefit conflict of resources.\nPractical implications: The authors provide nine opportunities for enhancing the employability of graduates collaborating with graduate employers, providing a timely contribution to the social, political and economic debate on the funding of HE.\nOriginality/value: The authors advance career theory via the new perspective of Career Ecosystem Theory by: explaining student career perceptions in terms of how university has prepared them for the global labor market; exploring the perceived costs vs benefits of pursuing HE in relation to employability; suggesting a two-dimensional model of personal and market factors of employability; providing a model of careers advice from employers and universities for supporting students' careers; and offering policy implications in relation to the future funding of HE and employability of future graduates.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the development of a protean career orientation: values and image violations	[ "Career development", "Careers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is argued within the careers literature that modern careers are increasingly characterised by discontinuity and non-linearity (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Nicholson, 1996; Sullivan, 1999), and that greater imperatives exist now for individuals to manage their own careers (Arnold, 1997). Hall's (2004) notion of the \"protean\" career, one that is managed proactively by individuals according to their own values, has thus gained increasing relevance and research attention. Hall first described the protean career in 1976 by drawing on the mythology of the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape at will, and he drew later on Shepard's (1984) discussion of careers as pursuing personal meaning along the \"path with a heart\" (Hall, 1996). More recently, it has been argued that a protean career orientation reflects the extent to which an individual adopts such a perspective to their career (Briscoe and Hall, 2006).Attempts to clarify the protean career both conceptually (Briscoe and Hall, 2006; Briscoe et al., 2006), and its operationalisation (Baruch et al., 2005) have been valuable contributions to our understanding of this career orientation. This work emphasises two central elements of the protean career: self-directed career behaviour, driven by the individual's deeply held personal values (Briscoe and Hall, 2006). Our aim in this paper, however, was to clarify the nature of personal values pursued in the protean career orientation. That is, we wanted to consider whether they are consistent with Hall's (2002) theorised core values of freedom and growth, as opposed to extrinsic values such as material gain. Or, does value congruence, where the individual is pursuing values consistent with their own preferences, regardless of their nature, define the protean career?Further, we sought to explore two other conceptual issues regarding the protean career orientation. First, the protean career has been described principally with reference to the mid-career stage (for exceptions, see Hall and Mirvis (1995) on older workers, and Briscoe et al. (2006) who studied undergraduates). So, we were interested in considering whether the protean career is identifiable within a cohort in an earlier career stage: in adults early in their careers. Second, Hall (2004) has explored whether the protean career orientation is shaped by career experience or whether it is an individual trait, arguing that some combination of both contextual and individual factors may form the orientation. We aimed then to consider the processes through which a protean career orientation develops.In summary, this research was designed to investigate the development of the protean career orientation, with a view to engaging with the unresolved issue of personal values, as well as how the experiences of one early in their career may shape a protean orientation. To explore these issues, we adopted a qualitative research design that was best-suited to considering questions of what was occurring in our interviewees in terms of meanings and the processes involved in the development of a protean career orientation (Lee et al., 1999a, b). Next, we examine the nature of the changing career experiences for those early on in their working life.Early career and the protean career orientation\nMethod: The aims of this paper were exploratory: to develop further insight into the protean career orientation in a novel group. For this reason, we employed a qualitative research design, argued to be suited to understanding participants' meanings, and the processes of phenomena (Maxwell, 1996). While we were guided by a priori conceptualizations of the protean career, this qualitative research design also allowed us to gather rich data from which to inductively generate new insights (Neuman, 2000).Research context\nFindings: Our findings are divided into two sections: first we report the categorisation of a protean orientation and second, the processes through which a protean career orientation developed in our interviewees. Table I provides a summary of our interviewees, including age, sex, work experiences and their protean career orientation categorisation, which will be discussed next.Self-directed career management\nConclusions: Overview of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to examine the development of a protean career orientation. In doing so, the paper also aims to assess how work experience, parents and peer networks co-influence the development of a protean career orientation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses semi-structured interviews with young adults and explores their past, present and future work and career experiences. They were also asked them to explain what career success meant to them. Interview transcripts were reviewed and coded based on two main categories representing protean orientation: self-directed career management and the expression of personal values as a mechanism for career decisions. The paper also process mapped how a protean career orientation developed in the interviewees. Those who reported a protean career orientation were interviewed two-and-a-half years later so as to further explore their career experiences and the extent to which self-directedness and value congruence influenced career decisions.\nFindings: - Results suggest that some reported a protean career orientation and of those that did they reported experiencing an image violation based on their personal values. Two types of personal values appeared important to the protean group, they were, making a contribution to society and maintaining work-life balance. Those that were categorised as having a protean orientation also engaged in critical reassessment by interrogating the basis of their career values and strategies and this distinguished them from the rest of the interviewees who exhibited a more traditional career orientation. These findings are consistent with image theory's concept of a progress decision. This concept encapsulates the idea that individuals decide whether a career plan is moving them towards achievement of a career goal and if it is not, new or modified plans need to be taken up.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The exploratory findings have important implications for understanding the career strategies of protean careerists. Specifically, they elucidate how violations of values, goals and plans lead to career reappraisals. This paper provides important insights into reframing career choice and change in terms of image violations.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides a process map of the mechanisms that contribute to the development of a protean career orientation. Specifically, it focuses on image violations that appear to distinguish protean careerists from the remainder of the interviewees. Thus, the paper links protean careers with image theory as a means of understanding the underlying processes involved in early career decision making.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Simulation based reliability evaluation of AC power supply system of Indian Nuclear Power Plant	[ "Probabilistic analysis", "Monte Carlo simulation", "Markov processes", "Nuclear energy industry", "India" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Reliability management programs ensure safe, economical, and efficient design and operation of engineering systems. The reliability indices such as Availability, Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Failure frequency, etc. provide measures of system effectiveness (Misra, 1992; Modarres et al., 1999). Reliability indices evaluation can be done by direct analytical techniques or stochastic simulation approaches (Billinton and Allan, 1992; Marquez et al., 2005). Reliability Block Diagram (RBD), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Markov models fall under analytical techniques. Analytical techniques represent the system by a mathematical model and evaluate the reliability indices from this model using direct mathematical solutions. The disadvantage with the analytical approach is that the model used in the analysis is usually a simplification of the system; sometimes to an extent it becomes totally unrealistic. In addition, the output of the analytical methods is usually limited to expected values only. The complexity of the modern engineering systems besides the need for realistic considerations when modelling their availability/reliability renders analytical methods very difficult to be used. Analyses that involve repairable systems with multiple additional events and/or other maintainability information are very difficult (if not impossible) to solve analytically. Modern engineering systems are having complex environment as depicted in Figure 1. In these cases, analysis through simulation becomes necessary.Simulation technique estimates the reliability indices by simulating the actual process and random behaviour of the system in a computer model in order to create a realistic lifetime scenario of the system. This method treats the problem as a series of real experiments conducted in a simulated time. It estimates the probability and other indices by counting the number of times an event occurs in simulated time. Simulation is a very valuable method which is widely used in the solution of real engineering problems (ReliaSoft, 2003). Lately the utilization of this method is growing for the assessment of availability of complex systems and the monetary value of plant operations and maintenances (Zio, 2006; Yanez et al., 1997; Taylor et al., 2000; Marseguerra and Zio, 2000).The simulation approach overcomes the disadvantages of the former method by incorporating and simulating any system characteristic that can be recognised. It can provide a wide range of output parameters including all moments and complete probability density functions. It can handle very complex scenarios like inconstant transition rate, multi state systems and time dependent reliability problems. However, the solution time is usually large and there is uncertainty from one simulation to another. But the recent studies show the demerits of simulation can be easily overcome with few modifications in the simulation (Yanez et al., 1997). It is to be noted that the experimentation required is different for different types of problems and it is not possible to precisely define a general procedure that is applicable in all circumstances. However, the simulation technique provides considerable flexibility in solving any type of complex problem.In this work, stochastic simulation approach is applied to availability evaluation of AC Power supply system of Indian Nuclear Power Plant (INPP). The AC power supply consists of grid supply and emergency AC supply (1 out 3: success diesel generators). The presently followed test, maintenance policies on diesel generators and circuit breakers are considered to exactly model the practical scenario. System success logic incorporates the functional dependencies and dynamics in the sequence of operations and maintenance policies. Steady state unavailability is chosen as the required reliability index. In each iteration (random experiment), from simulated random behaviour of the system, uptime and down time are calculated based on system success logic. After sufficient number of iterations, unavailability is estimated from the results. In addition to calculation of unavailability of the system, probability density function (PDF), cumulative distribution function of time between failure and time to repair random variables are obtained from the analysis. Section 2 introduces the Monte-Carlo simulation approach and highlights the benefits, limitations and various other applications. Section 3 is devoted to the modelling of case of application giving system description, maintenance policies and system failure logic development. The obtained results and discussion are given in the following section.\nReliability evaluation in complex environment: In the analytical (or algebraic analysis) approach, the system's PDF/other reliability indices are obtained analytically from each component's failure distribution using probability theory. In other words, the analytical approach involves the determination of a mathematical expression that describes the reliability of the system in terms the reliabilities of its components. When considering only the failure characteristics of the components, the analytical approach is generally used. However, when both the failure and maintenance characteristics need to be considered, the simulation method must be utilized to take into account the additional events. This is due to the fact that the uncertainties that arise due to simplification by the analytical mathematical models can be eliminated with simulation. Nevertheless, the experimentation required in simulation is different for different types of problems and it is not possible to precisely define a general procedure that is applicable in all circumstances. Due to this reason and simplicity that are offered by Fault tree approach and Markov Models, they are often used in the reliability evaluation of reactor systems in Level-1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) of Nuclear Power Plant. However, the uncertainty in modelling is always there with these analytical approaches. The models are only applicable with exponential failure/repair probability density functions. They are invalid for components having non-exponential failure/repair PDFs.In simulation, random failure/repair times from each components failure/repair distribution are generated. These failure/repair times are then combined in accordance with the way the components are reliability-wise arranged within the system. The overall results are analysed in order to determine the behaviour of the entire system. Sound understanding of the system behaviour is the prerequisite for system success/failure logic. It is assumed that the reliability values for the components have been determined using standard (or accelerated) life data analysis techniques, so that the reliability function for each component is known. With this component-level reliability information available, simulation can then be performed to determine the reliability of the entire system. The random failure/repair times of components is obtained using uniform random numbers and converting these into required density function as per the component PDF.Simulation procedure\nCase of application to AC power supply system of Indian NPP: Reliability Analysis for a practical system by adopting procedure mentioned in the previous section is presented here. AC power supply system is chosen as the case of application as it is very important system in the safe operation of Nuclear Power plant. This system is having redundant components having multi state systems with different maintenance policies. The dynamics of system motivated to look for alternate to presently followed analytical methods. System specific information to the extent possible is used in the modelling.Description of the system\nResults and discussion: Fault tree analysis approach with suitable assumptions is being used at present for unavailability assessment as a part of Level-1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment of NPP. It is assumed that the unavailability of a standby system can be reasonably approximated by the use of fault trees (or some other logic models) in which the component time averaged unavailabilities are used as the probabilities of basic events (IAEA, 1992). To reduce the burden of calculations, the time dependent unavailabilitites of the components are substituted in some logic models by their average values over the period of analysis. In addition to these assumptions and approximations (rare event), actual processes (complex interaction and dependencies between components) and random behaviour of the systems are depicted with simplified logic models. The output results from this approach are limited to point estimates only. Using this fault tree (cut-set) approach, unavailability thus obtained is 5.87e-7.An alternative approach could be based on Markov models. These models can take into account wide range of dependencies; however, they are restrictive in terms of number of components, preventive maintenance and failure/repair time distributions. Furthermore it is not possible to take into account any trends or seasonal effects. Another alternative could be the use of semi-Markov models. The scalability in terms of number of possible states of the system, and number of maintenance actions, is an important advantage of this models, however they are also complex and therefore very difficult to handle when the number of system possible states increases.The subsystems of AC Power Supply System are having multi-states due to surveillance tests and scheduled maintenance activities. In addition, the operation of DG involves starting and running (till its mission time) which is a sequential (or conditional) event. Furthermore, the redundancies and dependencies are adding to the complexity. Thus, this complexity or dynamic environment of the chosen problem is making Monte-Carlo simulation approach obvious choice as this method allows considering various relevant aspects of system operations which can not be easily captured by analytical methods.In-House computer code has been developed for carrying out time dependent simulation for repairable systems having periodically tested standby components. Number of iterations is kept as the convergence criteria for simulation. Crude sampling approach is adopted in the present problem, however, variance reduction methods such as Latin hypercube sampling or importance sampling also can be used to improve the performance of simulation. Table III gives the summary of results obtained from simulation of 10,000 iterations and mission time of 106 hours of operation. Average unavailability calculated from simulation approach is 7.14e-7 where as from analytical approach (fault tree-cut set approach) is 5.87e-7. The under estimation of unavailability in case of analytical approach is due to its inability to incorporate down time due to scheduled maintenance and surveillance test activities in the model. The output results from analytical approach are limited to point estimates of unavailability only. But simulation approach in addition to the parameters such as average unavailability, expected number of failures, failure frequency, Mean time between failures and mean time to repair, it can give Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of random variables time between failures and time to repair for the system under consideration (Figure 4 and Figure 5). The generated failure times of the system can be used to see how the hazard rate is varying with time. Furthermore, average unavailability with respect to time is plotted against mission time (Figure 6). The results of the analysis have been used in level-1 PSA modelling of Indian NPP to quantify core damage frequency. It has been found that the target reliability figure is achieved with the current design of the power supply system. The results of the analysis are very important as severe accident resulting from loss of power supply is a significant event to the risk of core damage of NPP. This Simulation model can also be used for optimising inspection interval or the replacement time of components in the system, for example, surveillance interval standby power supply can be optimised based on this model.The Monte-Carlo simulation approach is having flexibility in solving any kind of complex reliability problem. It can solve problems of dynamic in terms of sequence occurrences, time dependent, having any kind of component PDF and it can give the required system attribute. However, the solution time is usually large and there is uncertainty from one simulation to another. It is to be noted that the experimentation required is different for different types of problems and it is not possible to precisely define a general procedure that is applicable in all circumstances. However, the simulation technique provides considerable flexibility in solving any type of complex problem.The incredible development in the computer technology for data processing at unprecedented speed levels are further emphasizing the use of simulation approaches to solve reliability problems. Use of simulation approach eliminates many of the assumptions that are inevitable with analytical approaches. In order to simplify the complex reliability problems, analytical approaches make lot of assumption to make it to a simple mathematical model. On the contrary, Monte-Carlo simulation based reliability approach, due to its inherent capability in simulating the actual process and random behaviour of the system, can eliminate the uncertainty in system reliability modelling. One shall not forget the Einstein's quotation in this regard, \"A theory should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.\"\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of simulation approach for performance evaluation in a complex environment with a case of application from Indian Nuclear Power Plant.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this work, stochastic simulation approach is applied to availability evaluation of AC Power supply system of Indian Nuclear Power Plant (INPP). In the presently followed test, maintenance policies on diesel generators and circuit breakers are considered to exactly model the practical scenario. System success logic incorporates the functional dependencies and dynamics in the sequence of operations and maintenance policies. In each iteration (random experiment), from simulated random behaviour of the system, uptime and down time are calculated based on system success logic. After sufficient number of iterations, unavailability and other required reliability measures are estimated from the results.\nFindings: - The subsystems of AC Power Supply System of NPP are having multi-states due to surveillance tests and scheduled maintenance activities. In addition, the operation of DG involves starting and running (till its mission time) which is a sequential (or conditional) event. Furthermore, the redundancies and dependencies are adding to the complexity.\nOriginality/value: - This paper emphasizes the importance of realistic reliability modelling in complex operational scenario with Monte-Carlo simulation approach. Simulation procedure for evaluating the availability/reliability of repairable complex engineering systems having stand-by tested components is presented. The same simulation model finds application in importance measures calculation, technical specification optimization and uncertainty quantification.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Using electronic information resources to solve cultural translation problems: Differences between students and professional translators	[ "Acquisition of the translator’s cultural competence", "Cultural translation problems", "Process-oriented research", "Quasi-experimental study", "Translation competence", "Use of electronic information resources" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The aim of this paper is to present partial results of a quasi-experimental study on the acquisition of the translator's cultural competence in the case of German-Spanish translation. Specifically, we present the results regarding the use of electronic information resources to solve cultural translation problems at different stages of the acquisition of the translator's cultural competence. Cultural competence is defined as \"the translator's capacity to mobilise and contrast his/her knowledge about the source culture and the target culture in relation to a cultural phenomenon perceived in the source text, in order to achieve an acceptable solution in the target text\" (Olalla-Soler, 2017, p. 673).\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Information literacy of translators\n3. Research design: The design of the cross-sectional, quasi-experimental study was based on PACTE's (2014) TCA experiment. Although acquisition processes should be investigated with longitudinal studies with repeated single-sample measurements, it was decided to use a cross-sectional design due to the methodological limitations of longitudinal studies when long periods of time and many repeated measurements are involved. These are: the excessive length of time for data collection, the possible high subject-abandonment rate and the complexity of validating parallel data collection instruments. Although the results obtained do not strictly describe an acquisition process and their generalisation is not appropriate, several factors that influence the process of acquiring the translator's cultural competence have been controlled: the subject's age (minimum and maximum age ranges were established for each year), the pedagogical input received (the students that had not passed a previous course of German as a second foreign language or of translation from German into Spanish or Catalan were not selected), the completion of stays abroad (the students who had completed a stay abroad in a German-speaking country longer than a month were not selected) and the subject's professional experience (the students who had translated more than 50 pages professionally in the moment of participating in the study were not selected), among others. These factors were controlled by means of an initial questionnaire in which information of the samples of students and of translators were gathered. All the students that did not meet the pre-established criteria were not selected to participate in the study. In this way, it was intended to control the students' pedagogical context to facilitate the comparison between groups and, thus, be able to attribute the changes recorded to the effect of the acquisition of this competence.\n4. Results: 4.1 Acceptability of the translation solutions to the segments of interest\n5. Discussion: In this section the results obtained are discussed and related to those of other investigations. Since this study is based on that of the TCA from Kuznik and Olalla-Soler (2018), the results will be primarily related to those of that study. In Kuznik's and Olalla-Soler's (2018) study, the translation problems that subjects had to solve were of different types: linguistic, extra-linguistic, textual and of intentionality. Thus, the purpose was to investigate the use of information resources in general (only one of the five segments of interest was an extra-linguistic, cultural problem), while the study presented in this paper focussed on cultural translation problems.\n6. Conclusions: The most relevant conclusions of the study in relation to the three research questions that had been posed are presented below:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of electronic information resources to solve cultural translation problems at different stages of acquisition of the translator's cultural competence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A process and product-oriented, cross-sectional, quasi-experimental study was conducted with 38 students with German as a second foreign language from the four years of the Bachelor's degree in Translation and Interpreting at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, and ten professional translators.\nFindings: Translation students use a wider variety of resources, perform more queries and spend more time on queries than translators when solving cultural translation problems. The students' information-seeking process is generally less efficient than that of the translators. Training has little impact on the students' use of electronic information resources for this specific purpose, since all students use them similarly regardless of the year they are in.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study has been conducted with a small sample and only one language pair from a single pedagogical context. The tendencies observed cannot be generalised to the whole population of translation students.\nPractical implications: This paper has implications for translator training, as it encourages the development of efficient information-seeking processes for the resolution of cultural translation problems.\nOriginality/value: Unlike other studies, this paper focusses on a specific translation problem type. It provides information related to the students' information-seeking strategies for the resolution of cultural translation problems, which can be useful for translation training.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Estimating the cost of capital: considerations for small business	[ "Capital budgeting", "Risk management", "Analytical hierarchy process" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In all types of businesses, the selection and employment of processes and techniques to decide upon major financial commitments are crucial (Zhou, 2001; Hamilton, 2000; Himmelberg et al., 1999). The effectiveness with which a business channels capital towards its most productive uses is referred to as allocational efficiency (Kidwell et al., 2003). The increased efficiency at the capital markets requires that capital allocation within businesses becomes more efficient and it is, therefore, not possible for companies to allocate capital in an arbitrary and capricious way. With particular reference to small businesses, which tend to be cash oriented, they are concerned with basic survival (Kane and Mebolugbe, 2002). The tendency therefore is to look at expenditures from the standpoint of their near-term effects on cash, which together with the survival orientation leads small businesses to concentrate on short time horizon. The allocation of capital in small firms is as important as it is in large ones. Moreover, given small businesses' lack of access to the capital markets, it can be considered more important since the funds necessary to correct mistakes may not be readily available. Large businesses allocate capital to multiple and mutually exclusive projects, so mistakes on one can be offset by successes with others. Several reasons may be advanced for small businesses adopting less sophisticated capital budgeting techniques than the ones adopted by large businesses (Runyon, 1983; Farragher et al., 2001; Hatfield et al., 1998).One of the issues associated with capital budgeting is the cost of capital, which is defined as the rate of return required to compensate providers of those funds (Brigham and Houston, 2001). A business' cost of capital provides both a benchmark to evaluate its performance and a discount rate for evaluating capital investments (Copeland et al., 2000). Inadequate evaluation and decision tools risk the possibility of applying scarce resources to areas, which promote a return less than the cost of capital. This ultimately results in a destruction of value. Moreover, appraisal systems that fail to apply resources to projects offering a return greater than the cost of capital result in an opportunity cost and potential loss of competitive position. Therefore, a reasonable estimate of a firm's cost of capital is essential for good decision-making. In practice, however, this cost is difficult to estimate (Brigham et al., 1999). In small business and firms that are not publicly traded, the cost of equity capital is not easily determined since P0 in equation (1) is not observable: Equation 1 where k^ is the discount factor and is equivalent to the cost of equity capital, D1 is the expected dividend in period 1, P0 is the price of the stock in period 0, and g is the growth rate.With specific reference to risk, the external capital market considers only the \"systematic\" risk in a well-diversified investment portfolio. This risk is commonly represented by the business' \"market beta\" (b), where Equation 2 The beta (b) for small business cannot be observed since it is computed as the covariance of a stock's return with the market (sr, m) divided by the variance of the market (s m2), as shown in equation (2). An understanding of this relevant measure of risk nevertheless allows large corporations the prospect of determining an expected rate of return on a risky asset and thereby using it as the required rate of return in a valuation model. This is illustrated in equation (3), where E[Ri] is the expected return, Rf is the risk-free rate, b is the beta of the corporation, and Rm-Rf is the market risk premium: Equation 3 The concept of beta as a measure of systematic risk is widely used by academics and practitioners. Despite this usage, some researchers cast doubt on beta as the sole risk factor to explain the expected return on securities. Fama and French (1992) reduce the importance of beta as the sole measure of risk by advocating a different model that can draw the relation between risk and return based upon factors other than beta. The factors of their model are: the excess return on the market; the return on a portfolio of small stocks minus the return on a portfolio of a large stocks; and the return on a portfolio of high-book-to-market stocks minus the return on a portfolio of low-book-to-market stocks. They argue that their model can capture most of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) anomalies (Fama and French, 1992).As owners and managers of small businesses usually do not view their businesses as part of a diversified portfolio but more as a capital project, the models presented above may have limited usage. It cannot be denied that non-systematic risk factors are also critical to operating, investment, and financing decisions of small businesses. Moreover, these non-systematic factors have serious implications for the businesses' financial statements and on lender perceptions (Reeb et al., 1998). Consequently, consideration of total risk is more relevant to estimating a cost of capital for these firms, and that is the perspective taken in developing the model presented in this study.\nRisk determinants and the cost of capital in small business: The required rate of return is a key concept because it is the discount rate used to determine the present value of an investment's expected cash flows (Kane and Mebolugbe, 2002; Kidwell et al., 2003). It compensates providers of funds for both the risk-free interest rate and the riskiness of an investment. Key issues for small businesses include financing, growth, profitability, and ownership structure. These concerns, and others, are addressed by research in the areas of small firm and entrepreneurial finance, both of which are producing a rapidly growing set of findings (Copeland et al., 2000). Some of the most interesting questions in small firm finance research relate to the extent to which the principles of corporate finance \"fit\" the small firm. These theories and principles, which were developed within the context of the large, publicly owned firms, tend to be dysfunctional when one applies them to small firms. As small firms vastly outnumber large ones, it would be appropriate to develop techniques and decision theories for small businesses.It is widely accepted that there is a direct relationship between small business entrepreneurial activity and risk bearing (Kidwell et al., 2003; Zhou, 2001; Hamilton, 2000; Himmelberg et al., 1999). Small business entrepreneurs are considered creative people who are willing to risk their personal assets to acquire more. With limited resources they build their ideas into new ventures. They are often cash poor and need to bootstrap their new businesses. They become niche finders, niche makers, or niche expanders. As a result, sometimes an entire industry evolves. Risk of failure for entrepreneurs may be perceived as just one step closer to success. Banks have for long argued that entrepreneurs tend not to talk about risk as much as they talk about the opportunity for greatness that they see and focus on (Copeland et al., 2000; Kidwell et al., 2003). Since life around the typical entrepreneur is not one of complete order, the bureaucracy banks as lenders to entrepreneurs may mitigate against funding some entrepreneurial opportunities.An extension of this view is that individuals who opt to be entrepreneurs are likely to exhibit a relatively low degree of risk aversion. There have been several debates in the literature over the issue of small businesses and their impact on profitability and risk. Previous literature suggests that small businesses tend to decrease their systematic risk (market risk) by engaging in a capital structure (debt and equity) that seemingly benefits them (Runyon, 1983). More recent empirical evidence has surfaced suggesting the contrary in that small businesses may increase their risk due to an inability to determine the appropriate cost of capital and the resultant increase in the use of own capital results in an increase in the standard deviation of cash flows from such additional risk factors as business risks, financial (leverage) risks, liquidity risks, exchange rate (exposure) risks, and country risks (Zhou, 2001; Hamilton, 2000; Himmelberg et al., 1999). The goal of the small business is to maximize owners' equity. In exchange for the investment that they have made in the business, owners' have the expectation for the highest return on their investment with a particular risk exposure. Owners can improve their equity by either increasing return or reducing risk. On the surface this seems like a very simple premise. To determine the return, one must be able to measure the risks involved. One measures risk in two ways. First, there is the risk that is caused by random events that are unique to a particular firm, which is called diversifiable or unsystematic risk. Secondly, there is risk that stems from market factors that affect most firms, which include, inter alia, inflation, recessions, high interest rates, that is undiversifiable or systematic in nature. Small businesses like shareholders are most concerned with systematic risk. Risk is unavoidable, although it is definable. Given that risk is unavoidable, the first question for small businesses becomes: where will one incur the least amount of risk, while gaining the best return. When assessing where the highest correlation of these two factors will be found, the decision factor is whether the maximization of wealth will take place with the lowest cost of capital.Owned capital and borrowed capital are the two main components of the capital of any business. Small businesses that have a tendency to rely on debt capital are also particularly susceptible to the problems of financial distress and failure. High failure rates are commonly cited amongst small businesses and this makes it difficult for small firms to raise external capital from either debt or equity providers. Because of the lack of publicly available information and the higher risk of failure, monitoring costs are relatively higher for suppliers of capital to small firms than for those dealing with larger, established firms (Kidwell et al., 2003; Reeb et al., 1998). Thus, capital may be unavailable to small firms, or it may be available only at relatively high rates of interest. Frequently, lenders try to mitigate the risks of lending to small firms by demanding collateral or personal guarantees. Since there is often a fine line separating the finances of the business from the finances of the business owner in the case of the small firm, such requirements tend to add to the risks faced by small business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as limit their flexibility.\nCost of the equity component in small business: The cost of equity represents compensation to investors for time and for risk. While the rate for time (risk-free rate) changes constantly, and varies with the term of the capital commitment, it is the same for all organizations. The level of compensation for risk (the risk premium) depends, though, on the particular characteristics of the firm using the capital. Hence, a method for incorporating the risk dimension is a prerequisite to computing an organization's risk premium and cost of capital.In assessing the risk of an enterprise, an analyst would benefit from a method that incorporates both quantifiable and non-quantifiable risk factors, as well as both direct and indirect effects of these factors on the organization's total risk. The purpose of this article and its immediate sequel is to offer such a method, and to demonstrate how that method can be readily applied in estimating the cost of capital for an organization particularly a small business.\nApplication of proxy techniques in cost of capital determination: Assessing the risk of acquiring an asset is an important issue in business. When financial analysts evaluate capital investment projects or securities, they need to come up with some estimate of the required rate of return in order to discount the future returns. The required rate of return should reflect the individual riskiness of specific projects or securities. Thus, risk measure plays a key role in constructing the appropriate discount rate. Financial economists have devoted tremendous efforts in developing theoretical and empirical models for estimating appropriate risk measures. The risk-return trade-off suggests that a higher perceived risk in a business demands higher expected return. However, the functional relationship between the level of perceived risk and the level of return required to compensate for that risk is not consistent across perspectives (Copeland et al., 2000). The risk-return trade-off question can be seen, then, as having two distinct parts. The first is assessing the amount of risk that exists in a given organization; the second is determining the amount of risk premium necessary to justify assuming that risk. Since market stock prices are not available, and historical market betas cannot be computed directly estimating the cost of equity for small businesses, the entails the use of proxy techniques.A first proxy technique - \"pure play\"\nContinuation of work: In the sequel to this article, we provide an application of a multi-criteria model - an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) - to determine the cost of capital for small businesses.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - For publicly traded firms, calculating the cost of capital is predicated typically on information from the financial markets. Small businesses do not have the necessary market-based information. As an alternative to traditional proxy approaches, this paper argues for a multi-criteria model to determine an appropriate equity risk premium, and thereby, a cost of capital.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study proposes a multi-criteria model - an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) - to determine the cost of capital for small businesses.\nFindings: - Since the three proxy methods are shown to have numerous shortcomings, the use of the AHP model is clearly a method to determine the equity risk premium and the cost of capital for small businesses.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The model requires small business managers to identify all information sources for the required input data.\nOriginality/value: - The article offers practical help to lenders and small businesses wishing to invest in new capital projects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Adopting environmentally friendly mechanisms in the hotel industry: A perspective of hotel managers in Central and Eastern European countries	[ "Environmental management", "Perception", "Sustainability", "Central and Eastern Europe", "Hotel management", "Multivariate analyses" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Tourism is considered as an important polluter of the environment (Gossling, 2002; Becken and Simmons, 2008; Della Volpi and Paulino, 2018) where consumption of resources linked with accommodation services raises many questions (De Grosbois, 2012). Therefore, it can be argued that the role of hotel managers related to pollution and consumption of resources in tourism sector prove to be significant (Prud'homme and Raymond, 2016). The introduction of environmental management into business and adoption of pro-environmental measures has been a common concern for already a significant period of time in the hospitality industry in Western world - at least in reputable hotels (Kirk, 1998).\n2. Methodological practice: Data, necessary to test our hypothesis, were acquired through primary research - by questioning hotel managers via electronical questionnaire in different CEE countries.\n3. Results: The main aim of our paper is to evaluate the possible impacts of a hotel location in different countries of Central and Eastern Europe on the complexity of environmental practices using ordination methods.\n4. Discussion: Hotel managers started recognizing that their hotels could be more environmentally conscious many years ago (Kirk, 1998; Bohdanowicz, 2005; Pirani and Secondi, 2010). Eco-friendly tourism started to grow in 1980s and developed into the tourism's fastest growing subsector in Western countries in the early 1990s (Buckley, 1994). Specifically, the interest in eco-friendly activities generally varies among each European country in both parties - the entrepreneurs (Bohdanowicz, 2006) as well as the consumers (Bohdanowicz, 2006; Pirani and Secondi, 2010).\n5. Conclusions: Based on multivariate analysis of many aspects of sustainability and environmental protection regarding hotel industry, we have found differences in perception of environmental practice implementation in different countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We have confirmed the influence of star rating level of hotels and hotels' affiliation with a hotel chain on perception of different aspects of adopting environmentally friendly practices in the hotel industry. We have also identified hotels' geographical position within Central and Eastern Europe as the far most important factor. However, this factor is not \"geographical\" in sense of position in coordinate system. Identified were two groups of CEE countries. The complexity of aspects of sustainability and environmental protection regarding hotel industry differs between CE countries and EE countries. Thus, the differentiation of the aspects mentioned above comes from the social and culture policies, company policies and business cultures between these two sub-realms. Pro-environmental actions are apparently promoted less publicly in EE countries than in CE countries. The reaction to the trend for demand of greener hotels is stronger in the West, and its hotels are more likely to have legislation requirements and public support as an incentive to adopt pro-environmental measures in their business operations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to assess how a hotel geographical location in different parts of Central and Eastern Europe influences the complexity of perception of pro-environmental behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To find out, whether hotel location in a specific country influences the complexity of environmental practices, this study used two closely connected multivariate statistical techniques analyzing gradients: principal components analysis and partial redundancy analysis. The research comprises data collection from seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In all, 25 randomly selected hotels (based on star rating) from various countries were approached to complete a questionnaire. Environmental practices were studied based on motivations, perception of barriers, perception of support from different levels of public sector, will of managers to promote pro-environmental measures based on sufficient funding, perception of legislation and perception of various other important factors.\nFindings: The study reveals significant differences between hotels in Central Europe and Eastern Europe in the perception of the complexity in implementation of the environmental practices by hotel managers. The character of the present study, however, needs to address the identification of particular aspects that are relevant to the geographical differences among the studied countries.\nResearch limitations/implications: Research was limited to a selection of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. There is still probability that managers in hotels from Poland and Croatia could possess different preferences. Other limitation of this study is that only special part of hotels were asked - hotels certified by star grading, out of our scope remained other hotels. It is also known that important factor is precise location of hotel within country - hotels in established tourism destination behave other way that those outside recreational areas. These factors deserve further study within this topic. There are many aspects of sustainability and environmental protection regarding hotel industry. As we have found in our principal correspondence analysis, different environmental measures were different location in biplot - some were affected by country, the other by star grading and affiliation to hotel chain. The complexity deserves to be studied in depth.\nPractical implications: The importance lies first in the identification of the aspects that are governed by geographical differences among the countries studied. These aspects are the initiatives and support from the government and the local governments, which counteract the perception that there is a lack of financial resources and the return on investments is slow. So, based on the data, which included information from various types of hotels from seven CEE countries, the activities of national and local authorities were identified to be the main differentiating variable. The support of the environment-friendly conduct of business in the hotel industry is appreciated by hotel managers from Central Europe. On the other hand, hotel managers from Eastern Europe do not feel any significant support from either national or other public institutions. The second factor of differentiation is represented by the perception of the lack of funds. Hotel managers from Eastern Europe feel strongly about funds limitation. The coherence of both those factors is obvious in the results, as they show the same direction but opposite orientation. It has already been discussed above. When looking at the results, the authors find the perception of availability of funds to be a fundamental difference between hotel management in Central Europe and in Eastern Europe. The lack of funds is perceived more intensively in Eastern Europe than in Central Europe, particularly because of a stronger awareness of direct or indirect support for such activities by national and other public institutions in Central Europe.\nSocial implications: The differentiation of the aspects mentioned above comes from the social and culture policies, company policies and business cultures between these two sub-realms. Pro-environmental actions are apparently promoted less publicly in Eastern European countries than in Central European countries. The reaction to the trend for demand of greener hotels is stronger in the West, and its hotels are more likely to have legislation requirements and public support as an incentive to adopt pro-environmental measures in their business operations.\nOriginality/value: The study is based on data obtained from seven countries. The results revealed a problem of the macro-environmental influence on hotels' potential to implement environmentally sustainable approaches and procedures throughout the industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring organizational trust and organizational justice among junior and middle managers in Saudi Arabia: Trust in immediate supervisor as a mediator	[ "Arab Middle East", "Organizational trust", "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", "Organizational justice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational justice (OJ) and organizational trust (OT) have attracted the interest of scholars and practitioners for decades given their impact on organizational effectiveness and influence on employees' willingness to cooperate and produce (Aryee et al., 2002; Wong et al., 2002; Moye and Henkin, 2006; Wong, 2012). For example, Cheng (2014) found that OJ is highly associated with the level of organizational commitment, Moye and Henkin (2006) revealed how trust is associated with organizational effectiveness, and Dietz and Fortin (2007) demonstrated how trust influences the formation of join consultative committees. Although there are several studies related to OJ and OT, most examine their relationship with other organizational factors such as justice and workplace deviance (Liu and Ding, 2012), justice and organizational citizenship behavior (Gupta and Singh, 2013; Elamin and Tlaiss, 2015), or trust and organizational commitment and intentions to quit (Redman et al., 2011). Accordingly, few studies have explored the relationship between OJ and OT. Furthermore, while scholars in organizational studies have differentiated between three distinct dimensions of OJ (i.e. distributive, procedural, and interactional) and two foci of trust (trust in organization and trust in immediate supervisor), much of the empirical work has examined only one or two types of justice (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001; Cheng, 2014) and one foci of trust (Redman et al., 2011). For these reasons, we need to investigate the relationship between all three constructs of OJ and the two foci of trust in a holistic manner in order to garner a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship among them. Moreover, although empirical research has demonstrated that perceptions of trust and justice are important predictors of work-related factors, there are several important questions that remain unanswered. One of these important questions is: Can these findings be generalized to non-western countries such as those of the Arab Middle East (AME) region? Even though there are a number of studies exploring the relationship between OJ and job characteristics and work attitudes (Elanain, 2009) or work outcomes (Elanain, 2010), and trust and job satisfaction (Redman et al., 2011) in the AME region, our knowledge about how employees from non-western countries perceive fair judgments or establish trust in supervisor or organization is minimal (Liu and Ding, 2012; Gupta and Singh, 2013). Perceptions of organizational fairness and the formation of OT among employees require understanding and consideration of the prevailing cultural values within which these individuals and their organizations operate.\nReview of the literature and hypotheses: The following section considers a representative and selective review of the literature related to OT and OJ. It serves as a foundation for reviewing relevant studies and postulating a number of hypotheses in line with the objectives of this study.\nTrust in immediate supervisor/manager and in an organization: Trust has long been recognized as an important component of the effective functioning of organizations and a critical element in constructive human relationships (Moye and Henkin, 2006). Not only does trust reinforce the effectiveness of decision-making processes (Mishra and Morrissey, 1990), it also enables the open exchange of ideas, improves the quality and quantity of information exchanged, and strengthens the willingness of employees to collaborate and their capacity to handle crises (Mishra and Morrissey, 1990; McAllister, 1995; Whitener, 1998; Aryee et al., 2002). Companies continue to seek ways to improve cooperation and collaboration among their employees; mistrust in management has been found to be the primary obstacle in the employee/employer relationship (McCune, 1998). In other words, employees who do not trust their management and organization are less likely to be committed and effective. Similarly, Davis et al. (2000) argue that management has a direct impact on trust. Based on empirical data, this latter study found that organizational outcomes, including profitability, sales, and employee turnover are directly linked to trust in management.\nOJ: This study is focussed on trust and so we have chosen the \"related yet distinct\" concept of OJ to complement the trust lens (Dietz and Fortin, 2007, p. 1161). Defined as the psychology of justice applied to organizational settings (Cropanzano et al., 2002), OJ refers to employees' perceptions of fairness of treatment by an employer and their behavioral reactions to this fairness (James, 1993). Accordingly, research on OJ often focusses on workplace fairness and employees' perception of fairness in organizational practices, processes, and procedures (Cropanzano et al., 2002; Suliman, 2013). In other words, when employees perceive fairness in their workplace and their overall situation is seen to be fair and equitable to that of others, they are more likely to demonstrate and adopt better work behaviors. These claims have been established by previous studies arguing that workplace fairness and employee perceptions of fairness are likely to predict their behaviors and attitudes in area including innovation, improved job satisfaction and work performance (Suliman, 2013), and increased employee commitment (Cropanzano et al., 2002). Research also suggests that OJ is also positively related with organizational citizenship behavior (Elamin and Tlaiss, 2015), organizational commitment, and higher moral standards (Croponzano et al., 2002).\nTrust in an immediate supervisor/manager as a mediator between OJ and trust in an organization: As previously suggested, numerous studies argue that OJ is a significant predictor of trust in an immediate supervisor (Aryee et al., 2002; Cropanzano et al., 2002; Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005; Wong, 2012) and that trust in an immediate supervisor is a predictor of trust in an organization (Whitener, 1998; Redman et al., 2011). These suggestions have been explained by virtue of SET as well. In other words, the fair treatment of employees by organizations initiates a social exchange relationship that reinforces the trustworthiness of the immediate supervisor over a period of time (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005; Agarwal, 2014), which in turn creates trust in organizations. One can therefore expect that when employees perceive their organization as fair, they also perceive their immediate manager as trustworthy and reciprocate by trusting the organization as well. Hence, we hypothesize the following in a Saudi Arabian context:\nInfluence of culture and religion on trust and justice in KSA: Research suggests that an understanding of OJ and trust cannot be thoroughly achieved without an understanding of the social context and the cultural and structural factors impacting these constructs (Greenberg, 1987; Aryee et al., 2002; Redman et al., 2011; Liu and Ding, 2012; Gupta and Singh, 2013). Exploring all the national context factors that influence OJ and trust in KSA is beyond the scope of this paper. Therefore, in the following section we will briefly review some of the research that discussed the impact of the cultural values and religious teachings on employees' organizational behavior in the AME region, including KSA.\nMethodology: Participants and data collection\nResults: SPSS 19 software was used to analyze the data collected. Means, standard deviations, correlation matrices, and hierarchal regression were also used to explore the relationship between the dual foci of trust and between trust and OJ. Given the objectives of the study, the nature of the constructs, and the hypothesized relationships, these statistical tests were carried out and deemed suitably in line with many other empirical investigations (see e.g. Elanain, 2010; Gupta and Singh, 2013).\nDiscussion: This study is an exploratory investigation of the OT and OJ perceptions of Saudi Arabian junior and middle managers. Given the wide gap in our knowledge of the organizational experiences of careerists in the AME, the current study aims to narrow our knowledge gap and enhance our understanding of how the organizational experiences of careerists can be explained by the cultural and religious aspects of their context. As such, the discussion of our findings is framed in a context-embedded approach as advocated by a number of recent studies and scholarly calls (Elamin, 2012; Agarwal, 2014; Tlaiss and Mendelson, 2014; Elamin and Tlaiss, 2015).\nContributions and implications: The findings and implications of the current study are manifold. First, although organizational studies have differentiated between three distinct dimensions of OJ, much of the previous empirical investigations have examined one or two dimensions (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001; Cheng, 2014). This study investigated all three constructs of OJ and measured them separately, thus adding to the literature with regard to our knowledge of OJ in non-western contexts. Second, previous studies regarding OT focussed on one foci of trust. However, we investigated trust in immediate supervisor and in organization, thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of the foci of trust and their relations. Third, past research on OJ and trust focussed on the relationship between OJ and work outcomes (Elanain, 2010) and attitudes (Elanain, 2009) or trust and employee satisfaction (Redman et al., 2011). To attend to this knowledge gap, we explored the relationship between the three dimensions of OJ and two foci of trust in KSA or the larger AME in a holistic manner, thus providing a better understanding of the relationship between PJ, DJ, and IJ and trust in immediate supervisor and an organization, and the mediating role that trust in supervisor plays in the relationship between OJ and trust in an organization.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Few studies consider the relationship between organizational justice (OJ) and trust in Non-western contexts. In an attempt to address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational trust (OT) and OJ in Saudi Arabia. First, the authors examine two foci of trust and explore whether trust in an immediate supervisor/manager is correlated with trust in an organization. Second, the authors test the relationship three widely used constructs of OJ and two aspects of OT. Third, the authors examine the mediating role played by trust in immediate supervisor in the relationship between the various aspects of OJ and trust in an organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using Social Exchange Theory, this study reports the responses of 231 junior and middle managers from eight organizations in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire that used standard scales on distributive justice, procedural justice (PJ), and interactional justice (IJ), as well as trust in immediate supervisor and trust in organization.\nFindings: Consistent with studies conducted in western contexts, the findings revealed a positive, significant, direct relationship between trust in immediate supervisor and trust in organization. However, contrary to what has been reported in the majority of western studies, among the three dimensions of OJ, IJ was the only predictor for trust in immediate supervisor. PJ and IJ were predictors of trust in organization, with PJ the stronger predictor. Finally, trust in immediate supervisor mediates some of the relationship between OJ and trust in organization.\nOriginality/value: The current study is the first to explore the relationship between OJ and OT, with the latter being measured in more than one focus, in the Arab Middle East. Therefore, this study contributes to bridging the gap in the understanding of the relationship between OJ and OT in non-western, Arab and Muslim Middle Eastern contexts. The interconnectedness between the organizational experiences of Saudi Arabian managers and cultural values highlighted in this study has significant implications for researchers, managers, and HR departments.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Costs and benefits of using cross-docking in the retail supply chain: A case study of an FMCG company	[ "Cost analysis", "Retail supply chain", "Cross-docking", "Cross-docking typologies", "Traditional warehousing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The paper deals with a multi-echelon distribution network where the retailer distribution centre (DC) can be a traditional warehouse (\"traditional warehousing strategy\") or a cross-docking facility (\"cross-docking strategy\"). Traditional warehousing is a distribution strategy widely used in the retail supply chain. Suppliers and retailers keep inventory at their DCs. Products are first received and stored at the retailer DC, and when a store places an order, products are prepared from the retailer DC inventory and shipped to the destination (Benrqya et al., 2014; Pires et al., 2017). Cross-docking is a distribution strategy in which the retailer DC operates as a transfer point rather than as a storage point. In the cross-docking strategy, products arrive at the retailer DC from the suppliers, are transferred to vehicles serving the stores and are then delivered as quickly as possible (Benrqya et al., 2014; Hubner et al., 2013; Shah and Khanzode, 2017). In addition, there are numerous typologies of cross-docking distribution strategy and several characteristics can be considered to distinguish between the various types (Vogt, 2010; Benrqya et al., 2014). In our study we focus on the classification related to the sorting and the allocation of the products. The allocation of the destination refers to the point in the supply chain at which a product is allocated a destination (e.g. the retail store). The allocation can be done via labelling or grouping in a dedicated box or pallet. The physical sort of the product refers to where the sorting (physical allocation) of the products per destination is done. This requires the consolidation of products per destination (e.g. retail store), on a pallet or in a container box. From this classification, we identify two types of cross-docking strategies: pick-by-line cross-docking, where the allocation and sorting is done at the retailer DC level, and cross-docking pick-by-store, where the allocation and sorting is done at the supplier DC level.\n2. Industrial context of the case study: The case study under consideration fits into an overall European and especially French context, featuring an increase in new distribution channels. The distribution channels moved from simple models of distribution, directly linking the supplier and the point of sale (retail stores), to more complex schemes in which a number of intermediate echelons interpose.\n3. Research methodology: Our case study followed a five-stage research process (see Figure 1) as proposed by Stuart et al. (2002). Case studies have been widely used in recent years as a research methodology to develop an understanding of real-world phenomena in the field of logistics and supply chain management (Seuring, 2008; Sharma and Shah, 2015; Sweeney et al., 2015; Abushaikha, 2018). According to Stuart et al. (2002), one of the weaknesses of case research is that they cannot be extrapolated and generalised to other cases. On the other hand, the authors explained that case study research can be a good approach to explain a number of emerging areas in supply chain management that are still in the discovery and description stage. In this research, the case study provided the opportunity to generate deep insight into the problem, producing rich explanations using a cost analysis and deriving proposals for further research.\n4. The supply chain configurations studied: 4.1 The AS-IS configuration\n5. Results of the analysis: For confidentiality reasons the results of the model will be expressed in terms of relative variation (i.e. percentage) compared to the AS-IS configuration (the reference configuration for comparison). Hence, in the following we will present for each echelon the variation in cost compared to the AS-IS configuration.\n6. Conclusions: This study provides a quantitative investigation of the costs/benefits of implementing the cross-docking strategy in a retail supply chain context. In particular, the effects of using different typologies of cross-docking compared to traditional warehousing are investigated, taking into consideration an actual case study of an FMCG company and a major French retailer.\n7. Limitations and future research: The research conducted in this paper is based on a case study of an international FMCG company and a major French retailer. Therefore, the findings form a foundation for further understanding of the reconfiguration of a retail supply chain. However, it is obvious that a quantitative case study may not be highly generalisable. Hence, extending the analysis by including more business cases from the retail industry would be an interesting avenue for further research, contributing to the generalisability of this paper's findings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the costs/benefits of implementing the cross-docking strategy in a retail supply chain context using a cost model. In particular, the effects of using different typologies of cross-docking compared to traditional warehousing are investigated, taking into consideration an actual case study of a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company and a major French retailer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on a case study of an FMCG company and a major French retailer. The case study is used to develop a cost model and to identify the main cost parameters impacted by implementing the cross-docking strategy. Based on the cost model, a comparison of the main cost factors characterizing four different configurations is made. The configurations studied are, the traditional warehousing strategy (AS-IS configuration, the reference configuration for comparison), where both retailers and suppliers keep inventory in their warehouses; the cross-docking pick-by-line strategy, where inventory is removed from the retailer warehouse and the allocation and sorting are performed at the retailer distribution centre (DC) level (TO-BE1 configuration); the cross-docking pick-by-store strategy, where the allocation and sorting are done at the supplier DC level (TO-BE2 configuration); and finally a combination of cross-docking pick-by-line strategy and traditional warehousing strategy (TO-BE3 configuration).\nFindings: The case study provides three main observations. First, compared to traditional warehousing, cross-docking with sorting and allocation done at the supplier level increases the entire supply chain cost by 5.3 per cent. Second, cross-docking with allocation and sorting of the products done at the retailer level is more economical than traditional warehousing: a 1 per cent reduction of the cost. Third, combining cross-docking and traditional warehousing reduces the supply chain cost by 6.4 per cent.\nResearch limitations/implications: A quantitative case study may not be highly generalisable; however, the findings form a foundation for further understanding of the reconfiguration of a retail supply chain.\nOriginality/value: This paper fills a gap by proposing a cost analysis based on a real case study and by investigating the costs and benefits of implementing different configurations in the retail supply chain context. Furthermore, the cost model may be used to help managers choose the right distribution strategy for their supply chain.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
OhioLINK: a US resource sharing facility - issues and developments	[ "Document delivery", "Libraries", "Digital storage", "Resource sharing", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Ohio academic libraries have been delivering an expanding set of documents to their patrons through the OhioLINK program since 1992. This article will survey our progress to date and look more broadly at how we will continue this success in the future. Documents are broadly defined to include print books, e-books, paper and electronic journal articles, physical and electronic video and audio, electronic maps and satellite images, and digital images of a wide variety of physical objects.First who are we? We have grown operationally over the years to include 13 public universities, two private universities, two standalone medical colleges, 43 private liberal arts colleges, 17 community colleges and six technical colleges (two-year programs), and the State Library of Ohio. Included in these 84 institutions are nine law schools, seven medical schools, and 25 branch libraries.In total, we have over 487,000 full time equivalent students (FTE) as measured in traditional US terms. The FTE figure for the State Library of Ohio is an arbitrary figure used in licenses. Its use of resources is generally consistent with an academic institution of that size (see Table I).In 2004 and 2005 we expanded our patron-initiated requesting service from our shared central library catalog to include two Ohio public libraries. In 2007 we will add four more. All utilize the same ILS vendor as OhioLINK across its entire community, Innovative Interfaces Inc. (III), and thus can be easily integrated into our resource sharing system (see Table II).OhioLINK has state government funding to the tune of US$11 million per year. Given the weak state of the Ohio economy, funding was reduced by $400,000 in fiscal year ending June 2002 and has been flat ever since. In 2005, OhioLINK instituted a modest annual membership fee which adds $200,000 annually. These combined funds cover central staff and administrative costs, central computer hardware and software purchases and maintenance, all out-of pocket costs of the patron-initiated, statewide circulation system (Pcirc) such as courier, bag, and other material costs, statewide ILS enhancements if essential to group resource sharing operations, and a portion of electronic content licenses and purchases. Approximately $7.5 million, 68 percent of annual funding, is applied to group content purchases and delivery. Library members contribute significantly more than OhioLINK to group content purchases. About $24 million annually from library budgets is used for electronic journal, book, and database licenses. There are a variety of approaches to the sharing of license costs ranging from 100 percent centrally funded to 100 percent library funded. That is an article unto itself and will not be explored here.\nSome strategic perspectives: Before surveying our progress in document delivery, we first need to summarize the strategic perspectives and objectives underlying our decisions. From the beginning, in the mid-1980s, the creators of OhioLINK recognized that to be successful several economic objectives must be met. Foremost is that more information must be delivered per dollar spent. The required caveat is that this must also be done at more sustainable rates over time given the realities of limited library funding increases. Library budgets will neither keep up with the explosion in information creation nor the rising user expectations brought about by the prospects of electronic desktop delivery. If Ohio academic libraries are to participate in this so-called information age, new and more sustainable economies of purchase must be created to move away from the limited, rationed access of the print world and of individual library purchases. A more robust collection of accessible print and electronic must be made available across the consortium. This fundamental need to lower the per-unit cost of information bought and used is at the core of our economic principles.As we began executing this principle, it became clear that to make the best decisions we must first reorient our thinking to a group decision-making context. The old saying, \"what's good for General Motors is good for the US\" can be translated somewhat loosely to \"what's good for the OhioLINK community is good for each OhioLINK member.\" This is very much an over simplification, but before we let the devil in the details overwhelm us, it does represent how the members will first consider and evaluate proposals for group action. By and large this necessary reorientation has served us quite well.We also have recognized the need to act strategically in order to affordably meet the simultaneous goals of expanding short-term access while meeting our obligations for preservation. With all the focus on expansion of access via electronic delivery we considered it equally important, if possible, to maintain control of our archival information regardless of the archival format; physical or electronic. It became clear early on that the multiple formats in which we may simultaneously buy content must be bought or licensed in a coordinated fashion to be economically viable. Likewise, coordination facilitates our ability to manage and control long-term preservation.Given OhioLINK's early entry into some content areas, it was not only a desire, but also a necessity to create our own systems to achieve both access and long-term preservation. The Electronic Journal Center (EJC) is a prime example. Beginning in 1996 and 1997 as we started negotiations with Academic Press and Elsevier, and then moved on to others, there were no vendor sites to access. Likewise, having many services under our own control allows us to customize and build horizontal bridges across resources. Vendors tend to think more vertically conditioned by their own stable of assets. In the early days there were few if any horizontal building tools, such as link resolvers, ERMs, or DOIs.The final strategic perspective worth mentioning deals with our attitude toward our users. Our services reflect the belief that they should be empowered to act on their own with as many resources as possible at their disposal. Patron-initiated borrowing was not an accident - it was intentional. Our general preference for licensing the same and broadest set of material for every institution is not just driven by the desire to get the biggest collection per dollar spent, but also by the desire to allow for the maximum serendipity of desktop access. We recognize that the old perspectives of what users need are no longer valid in a desktop delivery world. We strive to set the economics to provide the broadest institutional access to the broadest set of resources.\nService capabilities: Let's turn to the broad array of services which constitute OhioLINK's document delivery capabilities. Acronyms will help us get through this more efficiently. Covered will be our Pcirc, EJC, Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD), Electronic Book Center (EBC), Open Text, OLinks our home grown link resolver, Digital Media Center (DMC) which is morphing into its second generation as the Digital Resource Commons (DRC), and related services underneath these broad headings.A. The central shared library catalog and statewide circulation program\nThe future of document supply: What about the future of all these pieces of the document supply puzzle? Can any generalizations be made for other consortia beyond OhioLINK's own experience?Certainly at the broadest level, this array of document supply services indicates an enormously rich, varied, and growing set of opportunities to make library operations more effective and efficient through group action. The need to buy more information per monetary unit spent transcends material format. The business principles to do so cut across all material format types. The need to invest in effective technology to deliver services across all member institutions is at least constant, if not increasing. Reducing duplication of efforts and bootstrapping smaller institutions through shared technology is a necessary approach to technical investments.As OhioLINK looks at its current array of services we believe they are effective. But we ask ourselves, are they as well used as they should be in today's world, and will they be as well used as they should be in tomorrow's world? Our community has been focusing on these questions as have many other libraries and consortia. Our Fall 2006 OhioLINK Update (www.ohiolink.edu/about/update/fall2006/fall06.pdf) summarizes our thinking. The world today is drastically different than it was in 1989, when the Ohio higher education community conceived OhioLINK. Since beginning operations in 1992, OhioLINK has been viewed as one of the most successful academic library consortium worldwide. But in order to respond to the changed world and to succeed long-term, the OhioLINK community must critically consider strategic and fundamental changes. If need be, elements of OhioLINK and Ohio academic libraries must be reinvented.The world has changed. When OhioLINK was conceived, Ohio students and faculty had few information alternatives. Most information was accessible only in print or other physical formats. There was a newly emerging internet, but no world wide web and no Google or Yahoo! In the course of 15 years, information and communications technologies have merged and dominate our daily life. Today's students have always known: cyberspace, PCs and Macs, video games, e-mail, MP3 players, music file sharing via the web, cell phones and digital camerasDuring this same time frame we have seen continued rising costs and decreasing library purchasing power under a dysfunctional scholarly publishing system. There remains a rapidly increasing volume of information, with expanding user needs and expectations for immediate, desktop access to information resources of all types. Rapid advancements in the web and in technology as tools of information delivery make it difficult or impossible to keep up. Limitations on global, let alone Ohio, higher education and library funding, do not give us a great deal of long term optimism.A consideration of these issues leads us to these sets of priorities and initiatives for consideration. While stated in OhioLINK terms I believe these can be considered applicable to many other consortia:* We must utilize user-based research to improve electronic information delivery systems and connect users to needed information effectively. There is no doubt libraries are not at the center of our users' information seeking behavior. It is not sufficient to fly by the seat of our pants based on what we see from the reference desk or our own limited perceptions. We need a stronger grounding in what our users really think and want.* Discovery, discovery, discovery is the first priority. We must create the ability to search as many OhioLINK and library resources as possible at one time. Our current just in time technology for multi-databases searching will not scale up to do so. We must learn from and adapt to our purposes Google-like technologies to provide broadband options for easy access.* Simultaneously, we must create customization options to meet individual needs, including options activated by users and options within the system that respond to specific actions. Our one-size-fits-all web sites will not compete. All our web sites and interfaces, including our catalogs, are in need of significant face lifts, learning from the attractiveness we see on commercial sites. We have a robust set of the most relevant educational material; we cannot be shy in suggesting to our users what these might be as they use our services. We must deliver OhioLINK services to all platforms (PCs, PDAs, tablet devices, etc.).* Research and our own experiences make it clear that improving our own services will not be enough. The habits and rewards of starting with Google, Yahoo, and others cannot be overcome. All techniques must be applied to provide access to OhioLINK resources through the popular web sites utilized by our users. They must first discover us and our value if we expect them to come back regularly.* We must maximize access to the intellectual resources of our member institutions and libraries as well as those freely available on the web. We have often treated our licensed materials as a separate silo from the free web resources. At best we have struggled to keep up and combine the best free resources with ours. This struggle will remain, but we must determine how to maximize accessibility of relevant freely available web resources (e.g. the growing array of open access journals) in concert with licensed content as more relevant content is more freely accessible.* We must exploit the unique resources that are ours (the library's, the institution's, the faculty and students') We see development of the Ohio DRC and related services as essential. We must accelerate our ability to digitize the intellectual assets of our member institutions and libraries.* We remain committed to providing more content statewide through sustainable economic models. If this is an information age the unit cost and use of information must go down if we are to provide more information. We have yet to see this in the commercial sector except through group action - the Big Deal in all its variations. The Big Deal is not a panacea and has its own associated problems, but it does demonstrate the necessary quantum leap in buying efficiency needed to be relevant to our institutions in the future. The Big Deal addresses the symptoms to great effect, but does not by definition resolve the fundamental problems of the publishing world - more information and rising costs beyond what our budgets can afford.* We still must find the backbone as individual or group buyers to exercise the power buyers have through simply saying no. OhioLINK will continue to develop its group approaches as we seek to manage licenses aggressively to focus on the most essential and affordable content. We have no economic choice. We expect to both add new content providers at the same time as we adjust the content levels of existing ones if, with experience, content is deemed non-essential and unaffordable. We will attempt to be better buyers for the long term. We believe there are still great economies and improvements to be made across journal, books, videos, audio, and other materials. Each format poses special challenges but the underlying business objectives and techniques are common to all. Within this context we will be active contributors helping meet the objective of more affordable textbooks.* They say all politics is local. We will seek to collaborate with other Ohio library, education, and business organizations to coordinate and expand services and value. The more value we provide to a greater range of clientele within our political bubble the better are our prospects for long-term funding.In our experience we have seen that information use simply breeds more information use. As long as we can contribute to our users' educational activities through access to and use of the documents and information resources which we can best supply, that is what we will strive to do.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of the paper is to describe the development of OhioLINK - a world famous US consortium - and the issues that it currently faces as well as its responses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper employs a descriptive approach.\nFindings: - The paper suggests that information use simply breeds more information use, and OhioLINK contributes to its users' educational activities through access to and use of the documents and information resources which it supplies. It provides a set of priorities and initiatives for consideration\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides valuable insights into the workings of a leading resource sharing consortium of libraries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Tax aligned global supply chains: Environmental impact illustrations, legal reflections and crossfunctional flow charts	[ "Supply chain management", "Taxation", "Globalization", "Supply chain design", "Tax aligned supply chains", "Indirect tax", "VAT", "CIT", "Logistics management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Direct distribution, such as drop shipment and merge-in-transit, is an example of how logisticians try to simplify the logistics systems and reduce transportation work by changing the network structure and the business processes. Drop shipment is, e.g. when the seller of a good does not touch it, but ships directly from a subcontracted manufacturer to the final customer. This creates shortcuts in the goods flow, which reduces lead-time, tied up capital, logistics costs - but also environmental impact such as CO2 emissions due to reduced transport. Hence it makes perfect sense from a logistics and environmental perspective. But a dark side of direct distribution has been observed: the \"perfect\" logistics solutions could be either very costly, or even impossible to implement, when meeting the legal and fiscal reality of the companies' legal structure and the specific countries involved. Our observation is hence that new logistics solutions have to be carefully evaluated also from a legal/fiscal perspective.A literature review of leading logistics journals shows that the link between supply chain management (SCM) and the legal/fiscal domain has only rarely been a topic in the logistics domain. Van Hoek et al. (2008) asks for more research regarding internal alignment between logistics and other peer functions, and points explicitly to the legal function as an important interface where they did not found any research performed. Also Trent (2004) gives legal as an example of a function that is interacting with logistics.From a legal/fiscal perspective, logistics and SCM have historically not been a topic of interest. Lawyers normally do not understand the logic and the principles logisticians base their decisions on, and, frankly, they do not care. But finance departments in multinational companies are starting to look at the link between global tax burden and effective SCM as a way to minimise their global tax charge. State and local governments are also competing to attract companies to locate in certain areas by offering different \"packages\" of tax incentives (Sweeney, 1998; Gooley, 1998). In recent years, major consultancy firms in law and accounting have launched ideas and \"products\" such as \"tax aligned supply chain\" (Deloitte), \"tax efficient supply chain management\" (KPMG), and \"tax efficient supply chain\" (Grant Thornton). Their message is that companies can benefit a lot by adopting a joint fiscal and logistics perspective on supply chain design. These issues have to some degree been proposed in tax journals (Secular, 1999; Sweeney, 1998), and recently in practitioner-oriented tax books and journals, mainly by consultants (Adams, 2008; Finnerty et al., 2008; Banker, 2009; Irving et al., 2005).But sometimes, supply chains developed on the basis of tax optimizing principles by tax specialists become very strange from a logistics perspective. Effects could include that cross-border transports are introduced that, from a total business perspective (focusing on profit after tax), are efficient, but from a logistics and environmental point of view seem unnecessary. From a sustainable society perspective, the value and logic of rules and regulations driving \"unnecessary transports\" could be questioned. It seems that there is a need for a joint perspective, and especially for logisticians to better understand the interaction between supply chain design and fiscal issues.The purposes of this paper are to:* illustrate the impact the tax system could have on supply chain design;* reflect (both from a legal perspective and a logistics perspective) on how the rules function; and* propose a common communication platform for supply chain issues and tax issues.This study will provide illustrations from Europe, North America and China, where a European company perceived short drop shipment solutions to be impossible due to tax reasons, so that the transports must instead take long routes across borders - sometimes to another continent and back again.\nMethodology: This study is by nature interdisciplinary in examining the intersection of domains with different paradigms. On a general level, it is based on a systems approach, addressing the intersection of the logistics system and the legal/fiscal system. The systems approach, according to Gammelgaard (2004), has long been pervasive in the logistics discipline, and she quotes, e.g. Bowersox (1969). Some characteristics of the systems approach are that \"the world must be understood in terms of mutually dependent 'components', as systems with parts, links, goals and feedback mechanisms\", \"the approach is holistic as opposed to atomistic\", \"it is pragmatic by nature, and the search for an absolute truth is replaced by the search for a problem solution that works in practice\" and it \"seeks to show concrete systems as maps and models because logistics is considered to be too complex for deriving cause-effective relations\" (Gammelgaard, 2004, pp. 481, 488). To derive knowledge, cases are analysed and compared. Both quantitative and qualitative methods can be used, but case studies are often preferred (Churchman, 1979). However, on a specific level, a method for legal analysis is also used in this study. Below we discuss briefly the methods used for describing the case illustrations and for the legal analysis.Method used for system descriptions of illustrations\nThe overall system studied: The overall system, as defined and studied by us, consists of four subsystems: the logistics systems and separate systems for direct taxes, indirect taxes and customs. The latter three could be grouped into a fiscal system with internal interactions (Figure 1). The article is structured to facilitate the understanding of each subsystem and its impact on the others.Below follows an introduction of each subsystem, which is further developed later when necessary.Logistics and SCM\nCombined framework for logistics and fiscal mapping: For the third of our purposes, we start with proposing a common communication platform for supply chain issues and tax issues, as this will partly be used in the following illustrations. Based on a systems approach, logisticians have long perceived and analysed their world in networks and processes, often mapping the material and information flow in charts by using arrows (for movements), triangles (for stocking points) and circles (production). This provides an overall structure of the system, where attributes like volumes, time, capital, costs, frequencies, uncertainties, locations, etc. can be added later (Jonsson and Mattsson, 2005, pp. 491-499; Persson, 1995). Based on those detailed flow charts, how to improve the systems can be studied. Lately, the financial flow, of, e.g. payments, is sometimes proposed as important for logisticians to analyse, but is seldom part of the mapping.Within the fiscal and legal domain, this kind of mapping is not as entrenched (but examples of flow charts of course exist (Petriccione, 2007)). However, to make proper decisions, fiscal experts need to understand certain attributes of structure, processes and management. Oster (2009) proposes location of functions, assets and risks as important for tax-effective SCM.For direct taxation (income tax), the issues of \"what, who and where\" are important for analysis: what kind of product (income item) is sold (e.g. good, service or interest); who are the buyer and seller and what relationship do they have; in which country is it sold; in which country is the residence of the companies?For indirect taxation (VAT and sales tax) it is also important to analyse \"what, who and where\": what kind of transaction is it; who are the seller and buyer and what type of relationship do they have; what route does the product take (where do transports begin and end); and in what territory is the product delivered?For customs it is important to analyse \"who, what and from where\": who is importing, what type of product is it, and where does the product originate?Starting off with established symbols for physical constructs from the logistics domain and adding symbols (Figure 2) representing other types of products (e.g. services), different kinds of territorial borders connected to custom procedures, payment flows and change of risk (ownership) and finally different kinds of establishment, the result has been a collection of symbols that could be used as framework for a flow chart providing both domains with valuable information. The framework as such could facilitate communication between the domains.\nCase illustrations: Below follows a brief description of three different sets of circumstances, one European, one Asian, and one US-European situation. The focus company HighCorp, the seller, is a high-tech enterprise with headquarters in Sweden, where it also has most of its costs for research and product development. As HighCorp would like to get most of its revenue where it has most of its cost, the CIT policy is to close most contracts with the Swedish-based headquarters. (Whether the customer contracts directly with headquarters, or with subsidiaries established locally, makes a difference. We are focusing on the situation where sales contracts are concluded by headquarters.) For all three case illustrations, the original idea from the logisticians has been to apply drop shipment from HighCorp's local plants or suppliers and ship directly to its local customers. When discussed with the fiscal experts at HighCorp, the logisticians got the perception that drop shipment was impossible or too costly to implement, and hence the goods flows were rerouted.European reroute\nExpounded legal framework: In this section, the functioning and content of the fiscal rules are discussed in more detail. This is done in order to support the aim of reflecting on the rules and their impact on supply chains illustrated above. In that analysis, it is interesting to see whether it is the fiscal rules in themselves, the rules as practiced in the country in question, or the perception of the rules that is the cause of the reroutes illustrated.Direct tax - CIT\nLegal analysis of illustrations: The previous section provides the legal background to facilitate a reflection on the impact of the legal rules on the supply chains illustrated. It is evident from the illustrations that the legal rules as such were perceived to restrain, or even make impossible, the drop shipments contemplated. In the following section, it is further scrutinised whether the internationally agreed principles (CIT) or fundamental functioning of the systems (VAT and sales tax) are the cause of this impact, or whether there are other features of the fiscal systems and enforcement that caused the reroutes.European reroute\nDiscussion: Tax implications on supply chain design and environment\nConclusions: This study has illustrated the impact the tax system could have on supply chain design, e.g. when planned drop shipments within a country were rerouted with extra cross-border transportation after discussion with the fiscal practitioners. That the logistics and fiscal systems do interact should be obvious, as for both domains how material flows is important: from where is it sourced, where value is added, to where is it distributed, where is ownership changed, etc. Whether the company starts with optimizing its global tax structure or its global logistics structure does not matter: when changing the structure in one domain there will be an impact on the other, and we believe the interaction should be better analysed.How the rules and principles from different tax systems (e.g. CIT and VAT) function might be clear to legal experts, but the systems' interaction could make it difficult, especially for logistics practitioners, to understand the full import. Further, actions in reality could be due to perceptions of the principles based on limited knowledge and distorted communication. Interrelated impacts could also result in societal inefficiencies, such as the extra cross-border transports in this study instead of drop shipments. This may not have been the desired result from the policy makers' perspective, but it resulted when the rules were applied in reality in certain contexts.To facilitate joint communication and understanding of supply chain design and tax issues, we have proposed that a common platform with additional symbols be used when making flow charts of the combined systems.This study increases the understanding of potential alignment problems between logistics and legal issues, as asked for by Van Hoek et al. (2008). More research could be directed at defining and analysing areas where fiscal and logistics systems could be better aligned, and submitting those areas to policy makers with the purpose that those principles, or combinations of principles, that potentially create inefficiencies should be re-evaluated. One area of certain interest seems to be that related to more sustainable supply chains.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Both logisticians and tax lawyers design global supply chains - but based on different logics. If they do not align each other's perspectives, problems might occur in different areas. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the impact the tax system could have on supply chain design, reflect (from both perspectives) on how the rules function, and propose a common communication platform for supply chain issues and tax issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This interdisciplinary research is based on a systems approach, combining logistics system descriptions (based on interviews, workshops and company data) with legal analysis. Main principles of the tax system were applied to the system descriptions (the principle approach).\nFindings: - Logistics and tax systems interact. Issues of implementing drop shipment in different global contexts are shown. One issue is cross-border rerouting leading to unnecessary environmental impact. Hence interaction between the domains should be improved before starting to optimize global logistics or tax structures. A combined platform for mapping flow charts jointly is proposed.\nPractical implications: - Practitioners from both domains acquire increased understanding of each other's perspectives and a joint tool for flow mapping, combining facts both sides need in their overall analysis. Logisticians will gain better insight into general fiscal principles.\nSocial implications: - Societal inefficiencies due to extra cross-border transports instead of drop shipments were the result when the fiscal rules were applied in reality in certain contexts. This was probably not desired from the policy makers' perspective, so it might lead to policy makers to better try to understand the combined impact of the domains.\nOriginality/value: - The paper usefully combines legal and logistics approaches.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entrepreneurs' attitudes towards failure: An experiential learning approach	[ "Careers", "Experience", "Experiential learning", "Business failures", "Sweden", "Enterpreneurs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a strong success bias in contemporary entrepreneurship research, where many studies focus on identifying successful entrepreneurs or \"best practice\". Failure in the context of new and small businesses is on the other hand often overlooked or even viewed in a negative light, even though it represents a significant outcome of entrepreneurial activity (Aldrich and Fiol, 1994; McGrath, 1999). However, recent research in the entrepreneurship domain has recognized that failures can be an important source for the development of skills and knowledge that can be highly useful in subsequent entrepreneurial undertakings (McGrath, 1999; Minniti and Bygrave, 2001). For instance, Sitkin (1992) argues that experiencing failure is an essential prerequisite for learning since it provides the opportunity to pinpoint why a failure has occurred. This line of reasoning is also in accordance with McGrath (1999) who stresses that failures in the form of terminations of initiatives that has fallen short of their goals can help entrepreneurs to reduce uncertainty and expand the search for new business opportunities.When discussing the issue of failure in the context of new venture creation there is a need to acknowledge the different senses of the concept in prior research. One sense of the concept is to equate failure with business closure, which then includes all businesses that have closed down and ceased to exist for any reason. However, this practice has been criticized as it assumes that all entrepreneurs who close down their businesses have been unsuccessful in some way. There are in this respect a variety of reasons for why a business is closed down - from a successful sale to an involuntary liquidation (Bates, 2005; Headd, 2003; Watson and Everett, 1993). Another more narrow sense of the concept is to speak about business failure, which usually refers to a business that has fallen short of its goals or become insolvent, thus requiring involuntary termination or discontinuation of the business (Bruno et al., 1992; McGrath, 1999; Shepherd, 2003; Singh et al., 2007). A third sense of the concept does not necessarily require involuntary termination or discontinuation of a business, but can instead be associated with the entrepreneur experiencing a deviation from expected and desired results when establishing or managing a business (e.g. Sitkin, 1992; Cannon and Edmondsson, 2001, 2005). It is this latter sense of failure that we will use in this study, thus not only encompassing factors requiring a complete termination of a business, such as bankruptcy and insolvency, but also personal mishaps and hardships experienced by the entrepreneur in the business venturing process. The reason for this choice is its inclusion of failures of diverse types and magnitude from the very start to the very end of an entrepreneurial initiative. Thus, the study is of broad relevance for both entrepreneurship theory and the practice of entrepreneurship.A prerequisite for coping effectively with failure is that the entrepreneur has a positive attitude towards the act of failing. A positive attitude towards failure can for example enhance the willingness to learn from a failure situation and help gaining insights and changing mindsets so that mistakes are not repeated (Cannon and Edmondson, 2005). It can furthermore be argued that a higher failure acceptance stimulates entrepreneurs to pursue an explorative search for new possibilities where learning through experimentation becomes a central learning technique (Sarasvathy, 2001; Politis, 2005). An anti-failure bias can on the other hand have counterintuitive negative effects on entrepreneurial undertakings as it may interfere with individuals' ability to make sense of failure experiences (McGrath, 1999; Shepherd, 2003). The willingness to accept failure can in this respect promote entrepreneurs' willingness to take risks, deal with uncertainty and foster resilience-enhancing experimentation.Despite the widespread recognition of the role of failures in the entrepreneurial process (Cardon and McGrath, 1999; McGrath, 1999; Thornhill and Amit, 2003) there are remarkably few studies that have examined reasons why entrepreneurs differ in their attitudes towards failure. To meet this shortcoming we will in this paper examine why some entrepreneurs have developed a more positive attitude towards failure compared to others. Our guiding proposition is that attitudes are largely learned and that this learning chiefly occurs through entrepreneurs' life and work. Based on this guiding proposition, we employ experiential learning theory to identify a set of critical career experiences that may have an impact on entrepreneurs' attitude towards failure. In sum, we expect experienced entrepreneurs to have developed a higher acceptance of failures as a way of reducing uncertainty, increasing variety and expanding the search for opportunities (McGrath, 1999; Minniti and Bygrave, 2001).The rest of the paper proceeds as follows. The next section presents our theoretical framework where we develop hypotheses of why entrepreneurs can be expected to differ in their attitudes towards failure. Thereafter follows the method section with a description of the sample and variables used in the empirical study. Then we present a section with results and analysis. The paper ends with a discussion of the findings and its implications for research and practice.\nTheory and hypotheses: Entrepreneurs' attitudes toward failure\nData and methods: Sample\nAnalysis and results: The empirical data were analyzed through multiple regression analysis in SPSS. Before introducing the variables in the regression models we carefully examined the data to detect problems of multicollinearity. All correlations between independent variables were below 0.70. Moreover, VIF factors were also below the threshold levels suggested by Hair et al. (1998) implying that there were no problems of multicollinearity in our data. Correlations, means and standard deviations for the variables are presented in Table II.The variables were included in three steps in the regression analysis so that we could identify the separate effects of the different sets of variables. First, the statistical control variables were included as step one. Then the independent variables connected to H1-H3 were included as step two. Finally the variables connected to H4 were included in step 32. The results of the multiple regression analysis are presented in Table III3.As can be seen in Table III, both the second and third steps in the regression model are significant in explaining the variance in our dependent variable (p<0.01). Interestingly, the findings suggest that women seem to have a significantly more positive attitude toward failure compared to men (p<0.05). In addition, individuals with experience from taking a university level course in entrepreneurship also have a more positive attitude towards failure (p<0.05). Among other things, these findings suggest that studies at least should consider these variables when examining entrepreneurs' attitudes towards failure in the future.When it comes to our hypotheses, we can in step two in the regression analysis see that H1 is supported with a reported significant association between start up experience and positive attitude towards failure (p<0.01). There is however no empirical evidence of any significant association between experience of critical setbacks in the new venture creation process and a more positive attitude toward failure. There is consequently no support for H2 in our analysis. However, the results suggest that experience from closing down a business is significantly associated with a more positive attitude towards failure (p<0.05). Thus, there is overall support for H3. Finally, we can in step three in the regression analysis see that there is support for H4 as different kinds of business closure experience seem to have different influence on the attitude toward failure among entrepreneurs. Here we can see that closing down a business due to poor performance is positively associated with a more positive attitude toward failure (p<0.01) while the more personal reasons for discontinuing operations do not show any significant associations, which is in line with our theoretical predictions. Thus, there is overall support for H4.\nDiscussion and implications: Discussion\nConclusions: To conclude, we have in this study provided some preliminary insights with respect to the role that critical career experiences can play for the development of entrepreneurs' attitudes towards failure. A positive attitude toward failure can be a significant asset for entrepreneurs as it can help them to deal with and learn from their mistakes and to move forward. However, so far little effort has been made to examine why some entrepreneurs exhibit a more positive attitude towards failures compared to others. The main focus in prior research on failures in entrepreneurial settings has rather been to investigate the causes of failure, often with the intent to give prescriptions of how to avoid them. Failure in this stream of research has thus been treated as an anomaly or a deviation from the normal state of affairs. In contrast, we believe that a much more fruitful path is to view failure in processes of new venture creation as something natural and unavoidable that, if effectively coped with, can present opportunities for learning and development (McGrath, 1999). Rather than continuing a research path where we continue to add further stigma to the failure concept in lectures and academic writings this approach can increase our knowledge of how budding and practicing entrepreneurs can use failures as valuable learning experiences. Hopefully, future research will continue to add to our emerging knowledge base of how enterprising individuals can develop and nurture a favourable entrepreneurial mindset where failures are not one-sidedly viewed in a negative light but used as opportunities for learning and development in the process of new venture creation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper employs theories of experiential learning to examine why some entrepreneurs have developed a more positive attitude towards failures compared to others.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper conducts statistical analysis on a sample of 231 Swedish entrepreneurs that have started new independent firms in 2004.\nFindings: - The empirical findings support the guiding proposition that more favourable attitudes towards failure could be learned through entrepreneurs' life and work. The results suggest that previous start up experience is strongly associated with a more positive attitude towards failure. The paper also finds that experience from closing down a business is associated with a more positive attitude towards failure. In addition, a more fine-grained analysis suggests that experience from closing down a business due to reasons of poor performance is a highly valuable source of learning while closure due to more personal reasons does not lead to the same result.\nResearch limitations/implications: - In sum, the findings add to the knowledge of why some entrepreneurs have a more positive attitude towards failure compared to others. It also provides some general implications for the understanding of entrepreneurial learning as an experiential process.\nPractical implications: - A positive attitude toward failure might be a significant asset for entrepreneurs as it might help them to deal with and learn from their mistakes and to move forward. The results indicate that the attitudes toward failure are not homogeneous among entrepreneurs. Rather, this attitude can, at least to some degree, be influenced due to new experiences and new information.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides novel insights with regard to the role that critical career experiences can play for the development of entrepreneurs' attitudes towards failure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are controlling shareholders extracting private benefits from European public acquisitions?	[ "Controlling shareholders", "Private benefits", "Takeover premiums", "G32", "G34" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) represent distinct managerial initiatives with measurable consequences for corporate performance. A vast and growing literature on the performance implications of M&A finds that many deals lead to disappointing post-M&A performance. As a result, M&A are increasingly viewed through the prism of an agency cost framework (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). For instance, management may seek acquisitions not to create value for shareholders, but instead to diversify their employment risk (e.g. by smoothing corporate earnings over time). Alternatively, managers may seek acquisitions in order to increase company size. This would allow managers to consume perquisites such as increased prestige and executive remuneration in the post-M&A period. However, when the ownership structure of bidding firms is concentrated, any merger-related conflicts between managers and dispersed shareholders are replaced by concerns over how dominant shareholders may use M&A to expropriate minority shareholders (La Porta et al., 2002).\n2. The institutional environment: This study is based in Europe for a variety of reasons. First, concentrated ownership is commonplace in most European countries. Faccio and Lang (2002) report that 63 percent of publicly-traded firms in Europe have a shareholder which controls more than 20 percent of the voting rights. Second, most European firms suffer from relatively weak investor protection regimes. This leaves controlling shareholders with fewer constraints when pursuing their private objectives. Finally, most European public firms are affiliated within a business group. Bae et al. (2002) show that within business groups, controlling shareholders may exert power over subordinated firms which is in excess of their cash-flow rights. Claessens et al. (2002) report that the possibility of expropriation arises where corporation firm is affiliated to a large group of firms, all controlled by the same shareholder. Faccio and Stolin (2006) note that group structures allow controlling shareholders to divert the resources of a company further down the pyramid by transferring assets, by lending or borrowing at non-market rates, by guaranteeing other companies borrowing or, generally, by \"unfairly\" pricing transactions with other corporations higher in the pyramid in which the controlling shareholder has a larger ownership stake.\n3. Related literature: 3.1. Concentrated ownership and acquisitions deals\n4. Hypotheses: In this paper, I assume that a controlling shareholder is able to compel his firm to pay a higher premium for a deal which serves his private interests. Therefore, the power and the entrenchment level of the controlling shareholder can affect the amount of the premium. The controlling shareholder derives his power mainly from voting rights, which allow him to make corporate decisions in shareholder meetings. The negative entrenchment effect becomes greater when the voting rights notably exceed his cash-flow rights.\n5. Data and methodology: 5.1. The sample\n6. Analysis: In order to determine how the incentives of bidder controlling shareholder are reflected in takeover premiums, I examine, in a multivariate setting, the relationship between takeover premiums and the extent to which bidding firm shareholders exert control as well as the arrangement which underlie this. Below, I examine the effects of voting rights and excess voting rights, respectively.\n7. Conclusion: In this paper, I find evidence that the premium paid in European M&A transactions is affected by the level of ownership exerted by the controlling shareholder. I argue that the premium paid by acquirers with entrenched, controlling shareholders can be viewed as an indirect indicator of the private benefits of control. The results show that premiums are positively and significantly associated with higher levels of voting rights, as well as with the level of separation of ownership and control when the controlling shareholder's ownership is low. Pyramiding structure seems to be the mechanism of separation most associated with takeover premiums. Previous studies show that the premium reflects the private benefits of control in privately negotiated transactions (mainly block transactions). In the present study, I show that the premium can also reflect private benefits in public merger transactions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the incentives of controlling shareholders in the market for corporate control. The author investigates the takeover premiums paid by a sample of European acquiring firms with voting rights structures that are highly concentrated. The results show a positive relationship between takeover premiums and the bidder's concentration of both voting rights and excess voting rights over cash-flow rights. The author argues that with higher levels of entrenchment, takeover premiums reflect the private benefits of control which controlling shareholders in bidding firms seek to extract from a public transaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses cross-sectional regression analyses to examine the relationship between takeover premiums and the extent to which bidding firm shareholders exert control as well as the arrangement which underlie this. The sample is composed by 210 deals. The data are collected from various databases (Thomson Financial's Mergers and Acquisition; Faccio and Lang's (2002); Datastream/Worldscope, LexisNexis).\nFindings: The premium paid in European M&A transactions is affected by the level of ownership exerted by the controlling shareholder. The results show premiums are positively and significantly associated with higher levels of voting rights, as well as, the level of separation of ownership and control when controlling shareholder ownership is low. Pyramiding structure seems to be the means of separation the most associated with takeover premiums.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper can be improved by other specifications. First, it would be interesting to analyze premiums paid by firms with dispersed ownership structure and to compare these premiums with those paid by firms with controlling shareholders. Second, the author suggests to examine whether a controlling shareholder occupy the seat of a CEO or a chairman. In these cases, the author assumes that the controlling shareholder can benefit from more discretion and can extract more private benefits. Third, the author suggests extending the sample period to 2007 at least to include the sixth wave. This wave was even more significant than the high-tech wave and has not been studied much. In these cases, the author assumes that the controlling shareholder can benefit from more discretion and can extract more private benefits.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies show that the premium reflects the private benefits of control in privately negotiated transactions (mainly block transactions). In the present study, the author shows that the premium can also reflect private benefits in public merger transactions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of negative network externalities in SNS fatigue: An empirical study based on impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload	[ "Social overload", "SNS users", "Privacy concern", "SNS fatigue", "Impression management concern", "Negative network externalities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social networking sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, MySpace have become some important channels for people's daily communications and interactions. Meanwhile, in recent years, the popularity of portable devices (smartphones and tablet PCs) and mobile technologies have further promoted this trend. Nearly, every moment, a great number of people use SNSs to interact with others, express emotions, read current news, display beautiful pictures or just share their daily lives. But on the other hand, as users are always encouraged to pay continuous attention to SNSs and respond to an overwhelming volume of social demands timely (Lee et al., 2016), physical and psychological strain is more likely to occur, which can be called SNS fatigue. Prior literature has empirically revealed that SNS fatigue would damage users' satisfaction and further contribute to discontinuous use intention (Zhang et al., 2016). SNSs are social platforms based on users' participations, and the long-term operation and development of them are mainly based on users' continuance intention (Hsu et al., 2014). Therefore, how to mitigate users' fatigue can be considered as an approach to retain SNS users and then enhance competitiveness of SNS providers.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 SNS fatigue\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Data analysis and results: We employed a two-step methodology recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) to analyze data. It tests the measurement model and structural relationships among the latent constructs, respectively. Two statistical software - Mplus 7.4 and SPSS 21.0 - were employed for the data analysis process in this study.\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether negative network externalities would contribute to social networking site (SNS) fatigue and how this mechanism works.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A research model was proposed integrating two dimensions of negative network externalities and three dimensions of mediators (impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload) to indicate how negative network externalities affect users' SNS fatigue. Online questionnaires were adopted to collect data, and 307 valid samples were analyzed by structural equation modeling approach.\nFindings: The findings indicate that negative network externalities have significant indirect effects on SNS fatigue through impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload, and among the three dimensions, privacy concern plays a more important role.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study offers a solidly grounded and well-demonstrated conceptual model that not only indicates the effects of negative network externalities in the context of SNS but also facilitates the understanding of SNS fatigue. Some theoretical and practical implications are also provided.\nOriginality/value: This study is novel in exploring users' SNS fatigue a perspective of negative network externalities. Besides, the mediating roles of impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload have been employed to indicate the formation of SNS fatigue.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Innovation capabilities for global R&D projects in subsidiaries	[ "Project management", "Emerging markets", "Product innovation", "Process innovation", "Subsidiaries", "Global R&D", "Local innovation capabilities", "Innovation in emerging markets", "Global R&D projects", "Collaborative R&D" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the face of the decentralization of organizational innovation process activities (Papanastassiou and Pearce, 2005), both for developed countries (Hakanson and Nobel, 1993) and developing countries (Zeschky et al., 2011), the activities of subsidiaries, initially focused on simple adaptations aimed at the local market, began to share their competition strategies in building innovation capabilities for the world market (Cantwell and Zhang, 2009). This shift of knowledge flow was fostered by gradual technological changes in the formation of local capabilities (Marin and Sasidharan, 2010) and has opened new opportunities to subsidiaries for participating in global innovation projects (Ernst, 2009).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: Increasing changes in the fragmented and specialized management of innovation, combined with the speed, complexity and multidisciplinary nature of scientific research and the competitive demands of a global environment, have resulted in global networks of innovation whereby multinational organizations offshore their activities (Schmitz, 2007). Characterized by networking and knowledge exchange outside the geographic boundaries of organizations, this structure is a network of laboratories that are distributed in different countries focused on the same technology but have autonomy to advance the R&D activities that can be used (Chiesa, 2000). Active participation of the subsidiaries in the operating flow of knowledge exploitation (Marin and Sasidharan, 2010) promotes the development of R&D centers distributed in each country (Chen, 2004; Chiesa, 2000; Gassmann and von Zedtwitz, 1999) since global innovation processes are often fragmented into multiple nationalities characterized by global networks of innovation (Hagedoorn et al., 2006; Ernst, 2009; Parrilli et al., 2013). Due to these circumstances, global innovation networks, through geographically dispersed research activities, aim to yield a return on investments through global competition based on technology, expanding the project's exploration of both developed and emerging markets (Parrilli et al., 2013).\n3. Research methods: To answer the research question by means of the formulated assumptions - i.e., the association of local process and product capabilities in global projects and the existence of mediating local innovation capacity in R&D on these associations - a survey was used to collect primary data. This study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the data according to the impact relationship investigation model generated by the independent variables on the dependent variable, in the analysis of relations of independent variables on the dependent variable (Hair, 2010).\n4. Results and analysis: Our results show in Table III the means and standard deviation of all constructs after Pearson's correlation. The coefficients assume that there is linearity of the data, by the positive result of all the coefficients and values smaller than 0.85 with a significance of p<0.001.\n5. Discussion: The results indicate that product and process innovations alone do not guarantee the insertion of emerging market subsidiaries into global innovation projects. Insertion into global innovation projects depends on the subsidiary's accumulation of R&D capacities. In turn, the subsidiary only manages to reach this advanced accumulation of R&D capacity when it continuously performs product and process innovation activities. In other words, our results prove our thesis regarding the evolutionary process of accumulating innovation capacities in emerging market subsidiaries. Initially, the subsidiary needs to develop its product and process innovation capabilities through the development of basic, intermediate and advanced innovation activities. Once the product and process innovation capabilities are established, it is the responsibility of the subsidiary to carry out these activities to ensure its local competitiveness. This pattern of action tends to call headquarters' attention, prompting leadership to grant support and recognition and issue a mandate for the subsidiary to undertake R&D activities. This means that product and process innovation will no longer be an isolated act of the subsidiary but will have headquarters' recognition and follow its rules. Headquarters grants the subsidiary the mandate for R&D activities, often with the establishment of laboratories that mirror headquarters'. From that moment, the subsidiary starts to accumulate R&D capabilities. Only then, when carrying out high-performance R&D activities (whether internal or with local partners' cooperation) is the subsidiary eligible to engage in global innovation projects.\n6. Conclusion: The research question that guided this paper is whether local product and process innovations are sufficient for emerging market subsidiaries to fit into MNC' global innovation projects. The results show that local innovations are not enough. Local innovations are the principle way to accumulate product and process innovation capabilities. However, for integration into global projects, the subsidiary's innovation capabilities must evolve to a degree of R&D capacity accumulation. In short, this evidence not only confirms the evolutionary perspective of innovation capacities, but also extends it by showing its evolution within emerging subsidiaries wishing to expand to global R&D projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Is the development of local innovation capabilities enough for foreign subsidiaries in emerging markets to be able to integrate into global R&D projects? The authors argue that it is not. The purpose of this paper is to show the central role of R&D capacities when it comes to inserting foreign subsidiaries in emerging markets into global R&D projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study investigated 131 foreign multinational subsidiaries operating in Brazil. For each subsidiary, the authors surveyed two to five directors or C-level executives from innovation, R&D, engineering, product development and projects. the authors used structural equation modeling for analysis.\nFindings: The results indicate that product and process innovations alone do not guarantee the insertion of the emerging market subsidiaries into global innovation projects. Such insertion depends on the subsidiary's accumulation of R&D capacities.\nPractical implications: The results reinforce the central issue of building product and process innovation capabilities as the first step toward a blueprint for global projects. However, the effort is not limited to these initiatives. Product and process innovation efforts need be reverted in headquarters' eyes in order for subsidiaries to gain R&D center status. To achieve this, subsidiaries must align their technological innovations with multinational corporations' innovation strategies.\nOriginality/value: In authors' view, this study contributes to the literature in three main areas: the evolutionary process of innovation capability in subsidiaries, the reverse innovation debate and the discussion of subsidiaries' initiatives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Designing a model for Web 2.0 technologies application in academic library websites	[ "Academic library", "Web 2.0 tools", "Model", "Web technology", "University library", "Top universities", "Web 2.0 capabilities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The past two decades have witnessed fast changes in the use of information technology (IT) in academic libraries. Libraries have developed and diversified their services based on advanced ITs. One of the common technologies in this regard is Web 2.0 that is perceived as a second generation of Web-based services emphasizing online collaboration and sharing (Linh, 2008). These advances have led to the emergence of Library 2.0 whereby library services have been developed based on Web 2.0 tools (Mansor and Idris, 2010). It seems that academic libraries are more influenced by Web 2.0 technologies owing to dealing with more educated users and librarians. Application of these technologies in the library website can play a significant role in the development of academic libraries. Web 2.0 technologies such as social networks, blogs, podcasts, Vodcasts, RSS, social bookmarking, wikis and mashups have generated new opportunities for academic libraries acquiring, organizing and disseminating information, sharing knowledge and providing services that facilitate the cooperation and interaction between librarians and users. According to Anderson (2007), by using new technologies, libraries have been changed into places to create knowledge and allow users to develope and consume information in their own way. This can create new oppurtonities for libraries and meet the users' changing needs.\nLiterature review: Literature review reveals that Web 2.0 tools have been increasingly adopted and used by academic libraries. Researches in many of the countries through out the world, especially in Europe, America and Australia suggest a high level of Web 2.0 adoption and application. A study in the USA showed a high level of blog and RSS use among the academic libraries (99 and 97 per cent, respectively) (Boateng and Liu, 2014). Another study in Australia (Linh, 2008) gave a holistic picture of the Web 2.0 programs for Australian academic libraries. A similar study in China distinguished the library services using Web 2.0 technologies (Han and Liu, 2010). Moreover, there was another study which revealed two-thirds of these libraries have applied one or more of these technologies already (Si, Shi, and Chen, 2011). In contrast, some other studies have shown that Web 2.0 implementation in the Middle Eastern academic libraries is very low (Abde Khoda and Mohammadi, 2011; Bahrami, 2012; Saidizadeh, 2012; Ebrahimzadeh, 2012; Alipour, 2012; Latifi et al., 2013; Esfandiari and Hosseini, 2011; Moradi et al., 2011; Ghasemi and Fatehi, 2014; Al-Kharousi et al., 2016).\nResearch questions: RQ1. What are the priorities of the top universities in the world in use of Web 2.0 tools?\nMethodology: The present research was a comparative study of the use of Web 2.0 capabilities in the libraries of top 100 universities in the world. The following five steps were taken to collect data:\nFindings: Table I shows the distribution of the sample universities by country and region. In total, 69.2 per cent of these libraries were from North America, 19.8 per cent from Europe, 5.5 per cent from Asia and 4.4 per cent from Ocieana. It is to be noted that nine universities were excluded because of a variety of reasons, including lack of library pages and subpages in English language and lack of a website for central libraries.\nConclusion: Given the increasing need for information, using Web 2.0 tools has become inevitable in libraries, especially academic libraries. The results showed that the top universities in the world use at least one or two Web 2.0 tools in the website of their central libraries. Among the Web 2.0 tools examined in this research, social networks were the most commonly used technology, followed by mashups, RSS, social tagging, blogs, vodcasts, instant messaging, wikis and podcasts. The high percentage of social networks' application in these libraries indicates the value of these tools in promoting the practices and services provided by the new generation of libraries, i.e. Library 2.0. Our findings are consistent with the results of Ghasemi and Fatehi (2014), Wordofa (2014) and Boateng and Liu (2014). Problems in downloading large audio and video files from the internet may be one reason for less popularity of vodcasts and podcasts in library websites.\nRecommendations: Academic libraries are recommended to use the present model in designing their Web 2.0-based websites.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the application of Web 2.0 technologies in the libraries of the top 100 universities in the world to provide a model for Web 2.0 application in academic library websites.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from the universities' library websites for three months based on a Web 2.0 checklist. The list of universities was extracted from Webometrics Ranking of World Universities in 2015.\nFindings: The research shows the priorities of these universities in their use of Web 2.0 tools include social networks and mashups at the most (94.5 per cent), followed by RSS (91.2 per cent) and social tagging (82.4 per cent) and other tools with lower priorities. Moreover, it revealed the most common applications of these tools in the mentioned websites followed by their objective evidences in different libraries. The results indicate that the total Web 2.0 application in the libraries of the top 100 universities was below average (40.23 per cent). Finally, the model for Web 2.0 application in academic library websites was designed.\nOriginality/value: The focus of this study is on the value and application of each tool in the websites and demonstrate a clear model to apply in other library websites. The model for Web 2.0 technologies application in academic library websites has not been designed and pictured before.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
ManAGEment: the challenges of global age diversity for corporations and governments	[ "Change management", "Diversity", "Demographics", "Age management", "International public policy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There are no serious ongoing discussions over what some have called the \"grey dawn\" - the aging of our societies. Although societies are growing older, it is not uniform across borders and nations. The developed western nations are seeing enormous increases in the age of their populations and falling and non-sustainable fertility rates. The emerging nations, however, are still experiencing significant fertility rates in excess of the generally accepted sustainable level. The future will not be dominated by technology but by global competition for human capital in business and government. What does this mean for management of an increasingly older workforce, against a backdrop of decisions for our economies and for a myriad of public policy issues around retirement, healthcare and taxation?\nAging issues: To place the organizational challenges to an aging workforce in context, we want to draw attention to three of the key issues as: the issues around replacement birth rates, the impact of dependency ratios and health care costs. These three issues, when taken in combination should raise serious concerns around the issue of aging and its management, or non-management and demand our attention. These issues provide an important context that underscores the need for organizational responses and for the development of sensible public policy - public policy that needs to be coordinated on a global level for sustained success. The need for a \"global response\" cannot be understated as every nation will be impacted by aging and we can either cooperate to achieve equitable and sustainable solutions or we can engage in vicious and self-destructive strategies and actions in the pursuit of human capital. To understand the depth of these changes we need to look at replacement birth rates.\nDealing with a multi-generational workforce: a comparison between Europe and the USA: Analyzing the differences between Europe and the USA with regards to aging and managing a multi-generational workforce we found were a result of: public policy approaches to retirement; the social context; and myths around the older worker. Curiously, the differences are far less than one might believe.\nOrganizational action for managing a multi-generational workforce: One of the first actions organizations can take is to deal with the myths surrounding aging noted above - clearly and consistently. Another immediate action is to help younger managers develop their skills to deal with an aging population. Macleod et al. (2010) found that 59 percent of line managers agree that younger managers often find it difficult to manage older workers and that 89 percent of them noted that this kind of training is not offered in their organization, and only 7 percent state that it is available. They note there is demand - 47 percent of respondents believe that such training is needed and one out of five do not know whether it is needed or not - but these numbers reflect the uneven and insufficient views among managers in dealing with an aging workforce. Curiously these issues do not seem to exist with older managers dealing with younger subordinates.\nConclusion: We have tried to illustrate the nature of the challenge of an aging population and make the case that this is an issue that cannot be ignored and that organizations can best face up to it by taking proper account of the varying demographic and social parameters of the populations affected. Thus, while there is a need for a global perspective, there also needs to be a willingness to experiment with creative solutions over time - in both public policy initiatives and in individual organizational action. The issue will not go away and the costs, to the individual, to the organization and to society continue to mount: the longer we wait to deal with it, the more expensive and intractable the solutions will become.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges, worldwide of managing an aging workforce. The paper offers suggestions for public policy and for individual organizational approaches to developing, managing and motivating an aging workforce.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reviews in depth international literature, public policies and corporate policies that deal with an aging workforce.\nFindings: In virtually every nation in the world, society is aging and the costs to society - on multiple dimensions demand organizational action and changes in public policy. For the first time in recorded history the number of people aged 65+ will exceed those 15 and under starting in 2015. It is also predicted that those 80+ will be greater than those under 15 in Europe by 2060.\nOriginality/value: This paper explores the impact of a worldwide aging society on the management of organizations and the demands that this aging will place on public policy. It addresses the profound impacts of changing dependency ratios on nations and on their future competitiveness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Relational embeddedness, tertius iungens orientation and relationship quality in emerging markets	[ "Networking", "Channel relations", "Strategic business units", "India", "Emerging markets" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There has been a relatively recent realization of the inherent limitations in studying dyadic relationships from an atomistic perspective, which is now giving way to the evolution of the networks perspective to \"more completely capture the complexity of inter-organizational relations\" (Achrol et al., 1983), given the evolution of network forms of organizations in recent years (Snow, 1997; Achrol, 1997). From the network perspective, any network of actors is more than the sum of the dyadic interactions between them (Walker, 1997), as each such dyadic relationship gets affected by the \"embedded context\" in which it operates (Anderson et al., 1994) and the \"connectedness\", which is defined as the extent to which any exchange relationship is contingent (either positively or negatively) on the exchange in any other relationship (Cook and Emerson, 1978). Due to the structural properties of the network, traditional constructs commonly used to explain dyadic exchanges like power, trust, conflict and others would differ considerably in the network context. Taking a specific instance, we conjecture that the six social norms for relational governance proposed by McNeil (1981, 1983): solidarity, mutuality, flexibility, role integrity, harmonization of conflict and restraint of power, assume a different contextual meaning in the network perspective, vis-a-vis the dyadic exchange perspective (Achrol, 1997). According to Gadde and Hakansson (1991), these dynamic aspects are captured through the mutual dependencies between \"stability\" and \"change\", one being a prerequisite for another. The impact of the environment external to the dyadic relationship has been studied in various contexts, and its importance in the dyadic relationship has been emphasized in several studies (Achrol, 1991).According to Achrol et al. (1983), a dyad faces a primary task environment (suppliers and customers), a secondary task environment (customers-to-customers, regulators, competitors) and a macro environment (social, economic, political and technological forces). They suggest that higher uncertainty in suppliers and customers may lead to higher level of conflict, and hence requires higher co-ordination within the dyad which results in increased co-operation. Since the nature of these three \"categories\" or \"types\" of a environment are still not fully and completely explained using the dyadic framework, a clearer picture is likely to emerge, if we take a network perspective. Thorelli (1986) states that early conceptualization lies in the realization that the salient part of a firm's external environment consists of other firms. Similarly, Granovetter (1985) also suggests that the exchange relationships can be better understood if viewed as embedded in a network structure.Relationship quality (RQ) has been studied in the past to determine strength and quality of embedded relationships between actors in the network. Similarly, TIO has been scantily studied to evaluate the binding role of boundary personnel in maintaining network relationships. The purpose of this study is to extend the knowledge of business networks perspective, and evaluate how relationally embedded dyadic business relationships impact RQ and its three constituents-trusts, commitment and satisfaction, and the extent to which TIO moderates this relationship, in an emerging markets context, like India. The rest of the paper is laid out thus: First, I review the literature on network connectedness and RQ and its three constituents, and TIO. This is followed by proposed theoretical model and set of hypotheses, data collection and analysis and finally results, discussion, managerial implications and limitations of the study.\nLiterature review: Network connectedness\nModel and hypotheses: The study tests the model depicted in Figure 1 that shows the network connections of the focal dyad (manufacturer-customer), and their connections to other parties like suppliers, other customers, customers' customers, ancillaries and so on. The model proposes to empirically validate the impact of network embedded dyadic business relationships on relationship trust, relationship commitment and relationship satisfaction that are integral components of RQ. The model also tests the moderating effect of TIO of this causal relationship between network embeddedness and RQ. There is a void of empirical validation of this causal relationship in the extant literature.Anderson et al. (1994) distinguish the various primary and secondary functions. Primary functions connote the positive or negative effects of the interaction between the two partners in the focal dyadic relationship.Secondary functions or network functions connote the indirect positive or negative effects of the relationship which arise due to its connectedness with other relationships. The authors also emphasize that secondary relationships is at least as important as primary one, if not more. Primary functions of the focal relationship consist of the efficient interlinking of activities, leveraging of resources and mutuality among actors. Adaptation of activities in several relationships to each other results in increased complementarity of other interdependent activities across several firms. In a similar way, resource complementarity occurs by utilizing resources of one relationship in others. The critical point of departure between an atomized view of a dyadic relationship from a network view, is that in the latter, secondary functions, as mentioned above, form part of the networks. Business networks are both formed and caused by secondary functions. We now propose the following hypotheses based on the above hypothesized model as follows:H1. Higher network embeddedness of the focal dyad leads to higher relational trust in the dyad.H2. Higher network embeddedness of the focal dyad leads to higher relational commitment in the dyad.H3. Higher network embeddedness of the focal dyad leads to higher relational satisfaction in the dyad.H4. Higher TI Orientation in the focal dyad increases relational trust in the dyad.H5. Lower TI Orientation in the focal dyad decreases relational trust in the dyad.H6. Higher TI Orientation in the focal dyad increases relational commitment in the dyad.H7. Lower TI Orientation in the focal dyad decreases relational commitment in the dyad.H8. Higher TI Orientation in the focal dyad increases relational satisfaction in the dyad.H9. Lower TI Orientation in the focal dyad decreases relational satisfaction in the dyad.\nMethod: The sample\nInstrument development and refinement: My study used standard and validated scales for measuring all the constructs, namely RQ and TIO. Since 5-Connections (5-C) connection scale is a relatively recent one (item wise connection details are shown in the appendix), I have used that without any major modification. All scales were pre-tested with a group of ten experienced managers who were undergoing Executive MBA program/Management development program at IIM Ahmedabad in India. The required changes in form of re-wording and minor rephrasing of items were carried out to enhance understanding of target respondents and reduce ambiguity where any.\nDescription of variables: I would now describe the variables used in the study.5-C business connections\nResults: Table I reports the mean, SD and reliabilities, measured using Cronbach's (1951) alpha.Except for H2, H6 and H7, other hypotheses have not been supported in my study. There may be several reasons for this. One probable reason for no support for most of the hypotheses is the small sample size, which is a major limitation of the study. Relationship trust, commitment and satisfaction and RQ as a higher order construct have been found out to be negatively related to A-connections, whereas other connections show non-significant relationships. However, the interaction term of TIO and A-connection has a positive significant relationship with each of the three components of RQ and with RQ as a separate construct. However, commitment shows the most strong relationship and trust the least (positive in interaction and negative in direct effect). relationship satisfaction also shows similarity in sign of relationship, although moderate in its strength.\nDiscussion: It can be seen from Table II that, except for A-connections, the other four connections (V, E, I and C connections) are non-significant. The reliabilities of these four connections (except for A-connection) are however low. We also observe that R2 values for all three components of RQ show reasonable fit (~30 per cent). Primarily, the most important finding is that A-connections across all four outcomes (satisfaction, trust, commitment and overall RQ) are negative in sign, contrary to our a priori expectations and theory. It can be understood from the perspective that, since A-connections denote auxiliary connections of an organization with regulatory and service providing agencies like governmental agencies, banks, MR firms, advertising firms, these connections are not perceived to strengthen the overall RQ as well as each of its three constituents-trust, commitment and satisfaction, but are perceived to negatively impact trust, satisfaction and commitment in the relationship, probably due to organizations' sharing common resources e.g. personnel, to maintain these relationships that are not directly fruitful. However, when TIO is high, the interaction term of TIO with A-connection is positive and significant, due to the effect of \"bonding\" nature of TIO shown by the boundary person in the organization, although TIO itself is not significant; one probable reason may be the small sample size.Besides the moderated regression analysis, I also carried out a median split method of finding the possible moderating effect of TIO of the boundary personnel on the 5-C-RQ relationship. The sample was split at the median value of TIO (5.5) and a simple t-test was carried to determine the presence of significant differences of mean across both sub-samples (low TIO vs high TIO) of all predictor variables. Again I found that most of the effects were non-significant except for the effect on commitment (p < 0.1), which was found to be significant. Thus, the findings indicate that when TIO is high, the likely impact of 5-C on commitment (unlike trust and satisfaction) of the relationship partners is likely to be high. I refrain however to generalize any of my findings.\nManagerial implications: Despite its limitations in terms of low reliability of few constructs and counter-intuitive results, these findings have several important implications. First, it shows that out of the several connections that an organization may have, and contrary to popular belief that competitor connections have the most impact on RQ, it was not supported through this empirical study. Moreover, the findings also suggest that the other secondary functional connections like those with suppliers' suppliers or customers' customers are not important for impacting on RQ with customer firms. However, the supporting auxiliary connections like the linkages with government agencies, MR firms and advertising agencies do impact, albeit negatively on RQ with customers. The negative impact is probably due to the negative externalities associated with sharing the limited resources of the firm with non-customer firms like government, MR and ad agencies. Interestingly, however, it is also found that when the boundary personnel exhibit high TIO (when they are able to bring together weakly connected actors in their firms' networks), the impact of these A-connections on RQ is positive and strong. They impact satisfaction, commitment and trust powerfully and also RQ as a whole. The impact on commitment is however slightly higher than that in trust and satisfaction. Although it is possible that these findings may be partly due to the nature of the sample (respondents are drawn from a mix of industries), yet these are interesting findings with important implications for managers of these firms. It shows that probably commitment is the most important element of RQ that trust and satisfaction, and hence gaining commitment should be accorded more resources from the organization, which finds support from the trust-commitment theory of relationship marketing (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Hence, businesses in emerging markets should manage relationships with government agencies, MR agencies and advertising agencies in such a way that their other connecting partners like those connected to suppliers and customers do not perceive them as draining huge organizational resources like manpower, manhours and financial resources, at the cost of relationships with them. However, with sales people who have strong TIO and can bring together unconnected persons would help in mitigating this problem to a large extent. This finding has key implication for sales managers that they should be careful not only in hiring their sales people to screen them for high TIO (ability to bring people together across various relationships) but also make sure that the sales training provided to sales and service personnel who are dealing with customers and suppliers directly, to also inculcate building soft skills in managing strong relationships with disparate people in different roles and contexts, and the display the key ability and willingness to \"knit them together\" in relationships.\nLimitations and directions for future research: The study has several limitations. First, the results of the study cannot be generalized due to the small sample size used. However, being an exploratory study, the purpose was to determine how TIO of boundary personnel impacts the relationship between embeddedness of dyadic business relationships and RQ. I could have also analyzed for each specific industry, instead of clubbing them together, had the sample size been larger. Future research can look at the model from a particular industry perspective with a large sample in order to determine significant relationships. Second, limitation of my study is that the respondents are from various hierarchical levels of their respective organizations, and so their perspective would differ from the position they hold in the organization. However, since they were the most informed person to respond on the specific dyadic relationship between their organization and their network partners. However, collecting data on primary and secondary network partners of an organization should have been carried out using multiple respondents, instead of a single respondent. Another limitation of my study is that the three elements of RQ-trust, commitment and satisfaction are themselves causally inter-related, though my study does not delve into these interlinkages. Lastly, this study uses TIO, which is an interpersonal construct[1] in triadic relationships, together with other constructs that are organizational constructs. However, doing so may result in confounding results as interpersonal constructs may have different impact than interorganizational ones, and hence, the results should accordingly be viewed with certain degree of caution. Future work should also look at incorporating these causal linkages and incorporate other relevant variables in the model to make the findings more generalisable in nature\nNote: 1. I thank an anonymous reviewer for bringing this to my notice, and flagging it as a limitation of this study.Opens in a new window.Figure 1\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate in an emerging market (India), the impact of relational embeddedness of dyadic business relationships on relationship quality (RQ) and the moderating impact of tertius iungens orientation (TIO) on this relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A sample of 75 business managers from various industries in India was surveyed, and analysis was done using moderated multiple regression analysis.\nFindings: - The key finding of the study is that among the five different types of connection that a firm has (with competitors (C), value chain partners (V), internal (I), external (E) entities and auxiliary (A) connections), the A-connections like those with banks, MR agencies, advertising agencies and other service providers, have the most favorable impact on relationship quality with firms' customers, when its boundary personnel exhibit high TIO (bonding) towards their customer. However, the direct impact of A-connection on RQ is negative, possibly due to the negative externalities such as sharing limited common resources. Other four connections were found to be insignificant.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A major limitation of this study is sample size (75). Hence, the findings of this study may not be generalisable.\nPractical implications: - The findings of this study suggest that higher ability to bond disparate actors in network of business firm (TIO) have a strong and favorable impact on improving the RQ with its customers in embedded relationships.\nOriginality/value: - The major contribution of the study is to explain the moderating role of TIO in the network embedded dyadic business relationships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Menstrual management: a neglected aspect of hygiene interventions	[ "Uganda", "Hygiene", "Emergency response", "IDP camps", "Menstrual management", "Sanitation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Improvements in water quality and quantity, sanitation and hygiene practices have the potential to prevent at least 9 per cent of the global disease burden (in disability adjusted life years) (Pruss-Ustun et al., 2008). Menstrual hygiene is one aspect that needs to be improved and indeed this is starting to be recognized when designing sanitation programmes at both a global policy level (e.g. Gomez, 2006; Ten, 2007; Raralio and Ebo, 2009) and by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2010). Specific examples include Bharadwaj and Patkar (2004) and Mahon and Fernandes (2010) working in India, Ahmed and Yesmin (2008) working in Bangladesh, Lal et al. (2007) working in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps after the Pakistan earthquake. Menstrual management is mentioned in the UNHCR's commitments to refugee women (UN High Commission for Refugees, 2001) and in commonly used reference manuals like \"Engineering in Emergencies\" (Davis and Lambert, 2002), but these only address menstruation briefly and whilst the importance of addressing the problem with sensitivity is stressed, no specific recommendations are made. The latest version of the Sphere Project (2011) now contains a number of specific recommendations and this has increased from previous editions. Sphere standards are internationally recognized sets of common principles and universal minimum standards in life-saving areas of humanitarian response.\nBackground and methodology: The district of Katakwi in North East Uganda (see Figure 1 for location) was selected for the research because this region contained both villages and IDP camps in close proximity, enabling a comparison of menstrual management in different settings to be made. At the time of the research (2005 and 2006), Katakwi was affected by two ongoing conflicts. First, the area suffered from incursions by the Lord's Resistance Army, which had a record of murder, torture, rape and abduction. Second, there were violent attacks from neighbouring Karamoja. This started as cattle rustling, but in more recent times included rape and murder (International Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2005). All the camps had more women than men, with the proportion of women for individual camps ranging from 51 to 62 per cent. Lutheran World Federation (LWF) staff reported that this imbalance was caused by men being killed, abandoning their families or being away in the army or towns where they are seeking work.\nResults: In each of the following sections, the three contexts of villages, schools and camps are compared for each of the four menstrual management themes.\nDiscussion: There is a clear and compelling basis for intervention in menstrual hygiene management. Females unable to manage their menstruation feel undignified by the sights, smells, teasing, discomfort and infections that can result. Productive time spent at work and school suffers.\nConclusions and recommendations: The menstrual hygiene needs of women and school girls have been gravely overlooked in both relief and development programmes forcing them to cope with their menstrual management in any way possible. This has negative impacts on the dignity and mobility of women and school girls. Davis and Lambert (2002) recommend that communities are consulted at all stages in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of a sanitation programme in emergency camps. This research has shown that women and girls in the IDP camps of Katakwi were not sufficiently consulted about their menstrual needs, which has been reflected in the poor menstrual management practices they have been forced to adopt.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Effective menstrual management is essential for the mental and physical well being of women. However, many women in low-income countries lack access to the materials and facilities required. They are thus restricted in their activities whilst menstruating thus compromising their education, income and domestic responsibilities. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study describes the menstrual management challenges faced by women in an emergency situation in Uganda. Totally, 50 interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with women from villages, internally displaced person (IDP) camps and schools so that the menstrual management of the host population could be compared with the IDPs.\nFindings: This study showed that in IDP camps there was a significant lack of materials including soap, underpants and absorbing cloth, and facilities like latrines and bathing shelters. As a consequence women in IDP camps suffer with poor health and diminished dignity. There is also a lack of education about menstruation and reproductive health and practices are strongly influenced by cultural taboos.\nOriginality/value: This is the first time that the menstrual management of women in IDP or refugee camps has been studied.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Micro-enterprise development training and entrepreneurial competencies among low-income households in Malaysia	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Training", "Competencies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Poverty and inequality are longstanding issues prevalent in developing countries. Sizable populations of most developing countries have been experiencing high levels of material deprivation and disproportionate individual well-being. Understandably, developing countries prioritize alleviation of poverty and reduction in income inequalities over and above the other millennium development goals (MDGs) of the United Nations. As future poverty concept and scenarios continue to be vastly discussed, the events of international economic shock, such as back-to-back global economic crises unfortunately, spiked the rates of both poverty and hardcore poverty adversely affecting millions worldwide (Heltberg et al., 2015). In Malaysia, the reported reduction rates in both poverty (income range at RM451-RM720 or less than poverty line income) and hardcore poverty (income less than RM450 or below half of poverty line) were determined based on the quantitative money-metric measures in terms of Poverty Line Income (Al Mamun and Mazumder, 2015; Ahmed et al., 2016); the persistence of income inequality and socio-economic vulnerability continue to threaten low-income households, as experienced by other developing countries (Nair and Sagaran, 2015).\nLiterature review: This study attempts to empirically examine the effect of enterprise development training programs on entrepreneurial competencies. Entrepreneurial competencies is the aggregate ability towards successful job role performance (Man et al., 2002; Bird, 1995; Man et al., 2008). Barazandeh et al. (2015) and Al Mamun et al. (2016), among others, found that entrepreneurial competencies positively impacts firm performance. This phenomenon can be explained by the resource-based view (RBV). RBV stipulates that resources, which are owned and managed, can serve to create and implement strategies to improve effectiveness and efficiency (Barney, 1991). In this context, entrepreneurial competencies are the resources (capabilities, traits and skills) inherent within the entrepreneur that are channeled towards increasing firm performance. Furthermore, Barney (1991) suggests that a firm's value creation process solely lies in the owner-manager's ability in acquiring the resources. Therefore, fitting into the Barney's RBV and based on prior studies that focused on micro-entrepreneurship within a similar context, it can be assumed that entrepreneurial competencies of owner-managers of firms that identify and acquire resources can lead to superior firm performance, wherein such required competencies are triggered by relevant training programs (Zainol et al., 2017; Mustapa et al., 2018a, 2018b; Al Mamun et al., 2018).\nResearch methodology: This study adopted cross-sectional design in the collection of quantitative data. Structured interview was conducted to assess the impact of enterprise development initiatives, in particular those that focused on access to financial services and microenterprise development training programs targeted at low-income households. The respondents were participants of development programs listed in eKasih National Poverty Data Bank. Complete information regarding the development organizations, participants, and list of low-income and poor households were obtained from eKasih National Poverty Data Bank. This process provided a list of 400 randomly selected low-income and poor households from the four states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis. A total of 300 respondents agreed to participate in the research survey and consented the research team to conduct interviews in their residents.\nSummary of findings: Demographic characteristics\nDiscussion and conclusion: It is widely accepted that microenterprise development programs are recognized to have a major role in increasing enterprise performance and entrepreneurial competencies. These programs are specially designed to help micro entrepreneurs better execute business tasks. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of microenterprise development training programs on entrepreneurial competencies among microentrepreneurs. The findings from the study revealed that training programs has a positive and significant effect on opportunity recognition competency, organizing competency, and relationship competency among microentrepreneurs in Malaysia (H3, H4 and H5). This indicates that training programs and initiatives of concerned entities may enhance the ability amongst micro-entrepreneurs to recognize (identify, assess and seek) market opportunities, along with their ability to plan, organize, lead, motivate and delegate resources (e.g. human, physical, financial and technological), as well as their capacity to interact and establish networks both on one-to-one and group bases.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Low-income households form a significant portion of the Malaysian population. To improve the socio-economic condition of low-income households, development organizations in Malaysia offer a wide range of development trainings, discussions and group or center meetings. This study aims to examine the impact of enterprise development training programs on entrepreneurial competencies among Peninsular Malaysia microentrepreneurs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Adopting a cross-sectional design, the authors collected data from 300 randomly selected microentrepreneurs from the list of microentrepreneurs provided by eKasih (the National Poverty Data Bank), across four states of Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews with the respondents from October to November 2017.\nFindings: The findings revealed that enterprise development training programs significantly affected three of six entrepreneurial competencies (i.e. opportunity recognition competency, organizing competency and relationship competency). These findings highlight the importance of enterprise development training programs towards microentrepreneurs in increasing their competencies.\nOriginality/value: Through its insights, the study enriches the understanding of low-income communities in emerging economies, while offering significant practical implications. Based on findings, it is recommended that development organizations should therefore continue the current microenterprise development training programs. With improved entrepreneurial competencies, microentrepreneurs can thrive amidst competition yet sustaining business performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Depicting the arena in which Brazilian local government authorities make decisions: What is the role of stakeholders?	[ "Stakeholder analysis", "Case studies", "Local government", "Brazil" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Stakeholder theory is well established, but as a tool for explaining the relationships formed between public managers and the environmental influences they face in managing complex and multi-customer organisations it still needs further development in order for it to be helpful. There are few empirical, or even theoretical studies, on the subject of stakeholder analysis involving government at the local level.Stakeholder theory has been explored in some specific public services, such as health services. In this vein, Burton (1999) discussed the importance of stakeholder analyses for city health projects. She concluded that it could be an important tool for identifying the risks and opportunities posed by the stakeholders (Burton, 1999). In another empirical study, Carruthers et al. (2006) examined the importance of positive relations between suppliers and purchasers of health services. They concluded by proposing a framework for categorising stakeholders based on four themes that emerged from their investigation. Those four themes were: relationship dynamics, people/organisations, propensity and capacity to cooperate and systems and procedures (Carruthers et al., 2006). In a later study, Daake and Anthony (2000), looked at the relative power of stakeholders, and contended that stakeholders are likely to accept roles and responsibilities in the strategic planning processes of health care organisations. They concluded that \"the typical managerial practice of ranking stakeholder influence needs to be supplemented with stakeholder self-perception measures\" (Daake and Anthony, 2000, p. 104). All previous studies dealing with stakeholding or stakeholder analysis, have failed to depict the whole picture, and have focused instead on some particular detail of the relationship between organisation and stakeholder.In terms of theory building, stakeholder theory can be developed as \"descriptive/empirical, instrumental, and normative\" (Donaldson and Preston, 1995, p. 66). It is descriptive because \"it presents a model describing what the corporation is. It describes the corporation as a constellation of cooperative and competitive interests possessing intrinsic value\" (Donaldson and Preston, 1995, p. 66). It is also instrumental because \"it establishes a framework for examining the connections, if any, between the practice of stakeholder management and the achievement of various corporate performance goals\" (Donaldson and Preston, 1995, p. 67). And it is normative because it focuses on how things should be or ought to be, i.e. how managers should deal with corporate stakeholders (Jawahar and McLaughlin, 2001). The present investigation focuses on the descriptive basis, and the author agrees with the declaration by Jawahar and McLaughlin (2001, p. 399) that \"very little descriptive theory or research, which describes how organizations interact with stakeholders, exists in the extant stakeholder management literature.\"The present study starts from the assumption that a picture of the participation of stakeholders in local government decision making is needed; there is a need to understand the arena in which this sort of organisation operates. In this way, the main objective of this paper is to offer a model for representing the web of relationships formed between stakeholders and local government organisations and for describing what sort of role stakeholders are likely to play in this network.The aim of this paper is to present new empirical evidence on stakeholder management obtained by an investigation carried out with small municipalities in Brazil. That investigation aimed to portray the arena in which this type of organisation makes their main decisions. In the investigation, the key research question was: How stakeholders do influence the decision-making process of municipal districts? Assuming the nature of this particular sort of organisation to be multi-service and multi-client, the study was designed to focus on the Health office (information about the administrative structure of Brazilian local government will be provided in the following text).In order to answer the research question, four case studies were carried out employing in-depth semi-structured interviews with the main actors in the process (managers and stakeholders). Data were analysed using content analysis and displayed in a partially ordered meta-matrix with the help of QSR N6 software.The paper concludes by proposing a model that can be used to explain the arena in which local government organisations operate. The model comprises five clusters. In each cluster, there are different stakeholders who are able to influence decision making in different ways and to push management to different directions.\nTheoretical framework: The investigation is based on two main theories: resource dependence theory, which is helpful in explaining why the relationships are formed, and social network theory, which was helpful in explaining how the connections come about.Resource dependence theory\nResearch methods: Before providing details of the methodology, it is necessary to clarify the administrative structure of Brazilian municipal districts. At the local level, government is carried out by the executive power (the mayor and his/her secretaries, described here as managers) and by the legislative power (City Council). There is no judiciary power at the local level. Municipal districts are led by an elected mayor and a vice-mayor, who substitutes for the first mayor in the case that the mayor is not within the limits of the city. The mayor is entitled to be advised by secretaries appointed by him/herself.In Brazil, some public services are of the responsibility of the local government (such as refuse collection and disposal, social benefits, traffic control, buildings and tourism), while others are provided in partnership with federal and regional government (such as education, in which local government looks after only primary education, and health which has been delegated by the federal government to local government as part of the development of the unified system of health) and still others are provided within the city limits by other tiers of government, and without the intervention of municipal government (such as public safety which is a responsibility of the regional government).The investigation lasted one year from August 2005 to July 2006. In order to answer the research question, a case study design was used, with four embedded case studies (Yin, 2003) with small size municipal districts in the southeast of Brazil. The focus of the study was health services. Because of lack of information about stakeholder theory in Brazil, with no prior investigations dealing with this specific subject, data were collected using the framework of grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). The cases were cities at the state of Minas Gerais, whose population ranged from 10,000 to 70,000 inhabitants.Data were collected by in-depth unstructured interviews with managers and with some important stakeholders. First, the interviews with managers were conducted in order to establish the whole decision-making process of this type of organisation. In these interviews, the respondent was asked to describe how decisions are made in his/her municipal district regarding the delivery of public health services. If stakeholder influence was not mentioned in their answers, they were prompted to talk about stakeholders. By prior agreement with the interviewees, the interviews were recorded, transcribed and thereafter returned to the respondent for validation. According to Yin (2003) this procedure ensures construct validity. The analysis of these interviews identified the relevant stakeholders that should be interviewed in order to describe their participation in the decision-making process. Interviews with stakeholders followed the same procedures as had been used with managers.Data were analysed using content analysis (Bryman, 2004). In order to separate the stakeholder influences, a tool called a \"Partially Ordered Meta-matrix\" was used (Miles and Huberman, 1994) with the help of the QSR N6 software, which was selected because of its facility for coding, searching and retrieving data for theory building (Miles and Huberman, 1994). After being sorted, the data were organised in tables in order to look for commonalities. At this stage of the analysis, data were dealt with in two phases: the within-case analysis whereby an in-depth analysis of a single case was carried out (Table I) and the cross-case analysis, where the findings from each case were compared with each other in order to identify commonalities (Table II). After this procedure, and using cluster analysis, it was possible to infer the commonalities among the influences identified in the investigation. This made it possible to deduce that stakeholder influences are very likely to be understood in clusters.\nFindings: The cross-case analysis produced evidence concerning the pattern of influences that some key stakeholders are likely to exert in the arena in which the health office managers of Brazilian municipalities make decisions. The results of this analysis is summarised in Table III and presented as follows.The empirical evidence gathered leads to the inference that stakeholder influences upon local government decision making can be seen as working in clusters because they have commonalities each other. The analysis indicated that stakeholder influences can be gathered into five clusters and they are: limitation, collaboration, orientation, legitimacy, and inspection. Evidence is presented in the following sections and the findings are summarised in the model depicted in Figure 1.The limitation cluster\nDiscussion and conclusions: This paper aims to contribute to the public management literature with empirical, descriptive evidence relating to stakeholder theory in developing countries. The investigation presented here depicts the arena in which local government managers (in this specific case, the health offices of Brazilian municipal districts) make decisions, together with the patterns of influence that stakeholders are able to exert. In order to achieve this end, cross-sectional case studies were carried out with municipal districts in Brazil. The investigation employed an inductive perspective and data were collected and analysed employing the approach of grounded theory.The findings lead to the conclusion that local government, like any other type of organisation, needs to create mechanisms for involving stakeholders in its activities, as well as creating mechanisms for managing its relationships with them. Such mechanisms would allow them to see more clearly the environment in which they make decisions, as well as to pinpoint strategic issues that would help them to make plans that more closely reflected reality. As the main contribution of this paper is to provide a model for summarising stakeholder influences, a main conclusion is that there is a huge amount of influence that managers have to deal with (the bad news); nevertheless these influences are very likely to be clustered into five groups of influence (the good news), which can make this job easier.In order to manage the health office in such complex networks, managers need to identify strategies for managing their relationships with stakeholders who are able to exert influence through the technical and institutional networks. In the technical network, there are stakeholders that have power over necessary resources. In the institutional network, there are those stakeholders who are entitled to define and to set rules and regulations that managers have to comply with.In the case of Brazilian local government, resources are primarily connected with finance and with skills. Finance has to do with the budget and local government managers need to manage their relationships with the financial office and with the city council. Skills have to do with employees and with organisational partners. Rules and regulations are laid down by federal government, state government and by the city council. Different demands require different action plans and the model provided helps in the identification of the sort of influence each stakeholder is able to exert. By using the model, managers are more likely to be able to develop more acceptable strategies because it shows the actors and the roles of each participant in the network.One limitation of the present investigation is that public organisations belong to a distinct set of organisations due to their nature as multi-customer, multi-interest organisations with complex ownership, which means that several actors are able to influence, and interested in influencing, their performance and outcomes. This argument highlights the need for further studies to identify more pieces in this puzzle that still has some blanks to be filled out. Looking at local government organisations, each office is in charge of attending to a whole set of service users with completely different expectations. In this way, every single office is very likely to have its own set of stakeholders who are able to exert different sorts of influence and hold different expectations of public services.For further research, it would be desirable to replicate this investigation in other public service offices, such education, social benefits, transportation and others, in order to verify whether or not these zones of influence can be generalised across the whole municipality. In addition, it would be desirable to conduct cross-national investigations looking differences and commonalities among stakeholder influences. This would be a reliable path for constructing a stronger normative stakeholder theory capable of defining strategies for managing relationships with these powerful actors in the domain of public organisations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to describe the arena in which managers of small size Brazilian municipalities make decisions as constrained by stakeholder influence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Four case studies were carried out with municipalities in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The investigation was carried out using grounded theory. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with managers and with the main stakeholders. Data were analysed using content analysis, supported by QSR N6 software.\nFindings: - The contribution of this paper to theory is based on a description of the arena in which Brazilian municipal districts make decisions. In so doing, it endeavours to model this arena as comprised of five clusters of stakeholder concerns: limitation, collaboration, orientation, legitimacy, and inspection. The paper raises some issues that are helpful in explaining the relationship between stakeholder influences and public organisations. In other words, it helps to label stakeholder influences and to make stakeholder influence more manageable by public organisations at the local government level. In practical terms, the paper concludes that the number of stakeholders is less important than the sort of influence they are supposed to exert upon organisations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The limitations of this investigation relate to the features of the case study methods employed. The results show the particular situation of the State of Minas Gerais (at the southeast of Brazil) and represent the situation of small municipalities.\nOriginality/value: - There has been very little prior analysis of stakeholder influence focusing on local government. This investigation is the first with a specific focus on identifying the arena in which Brazilian municipalities make decisions and the relationship of those municipalities with stakeholders.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Carroll's dimensions and CSR disclosure: empirical evidence from Pakistan	[ "Pakistan", "Corporate social responsibility", "Developing country", "CSR disclosure index", "Carroll’s four dimensions of CSR", "Greenwashing effect" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A number of studies have explored the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the developed economies whereas the research regarding the relevance of CSR in the socio-economic context of developing economies is emerging gradually (Blowfield and Frynas, 2005; Visser, 2006; Jamali, 2014; Aguinis and Ante, 2012; Jamali and Karam, 2018). Jamali and Karam (2018) argue that recent calls for closer attention are being made to examine context-dependence of CSR in the setting of developing economies. These investigations can facilitate to understand the indigenous expressions of developing economies about CSR (Jamali and Neville, 2011; Visser, 2008). As per this research gap, this study extends the scope of CSR research in the context of a developing economy and examines the context-dependence of CSR in Pakistan (Jamali and Carroll, 2017; Jamali and Karam, 2018; Windsor, 2019).\nTheoretical and empirical underpinnings: The idea of ethics in business is almost 2,000 years old and main religions namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam prohibited unethical business (Blowfield and Frynas, 2005; Hou and Li, 2014). In the context of UK, history of CSR activities dates back to over 200 years (Idowu, 2011). Conversely, the contemporary CSR literature has emerged 60 years ago (Blowfield and Frynas, 2005). In the mid of the twentieth century, CSR was widely discussed in the context of developed economies and usually referred to certain virtuous endeavors of corporations toward society (Marens, 2013; Aras et al., 2010; Garriga and Mele, 2013; Donaldson and Dunfee, 1999; Aguinis and Ante, 2012; Lockett et al., 2006).\nResearch methods: Sample selection\nResults: To explicate the relevance of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR through disclosure practices of the leading firms in Pakistan, longitudinal data for years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 were analyzed. The data analyses were performed via series of parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. The results with respect to each dimension have been discussed next. Table II presents values of mean and standard deviation from 2008 to 2012. The descriptive statistics show an increasing trend for disclosure levels of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR during the past five years.\nDiscussion: In the light of the above-mentioned results, it is inferred that there has been a positive impact of time-regulatory reforms on the disclosure level of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR. More importantly, these analyses permit us to ascertain the unique relevance of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR as a unified whole. For instance, the trend of each dimension assists to explicate the relevance of Carroll's four dimensions in the context of Pakistan and make contribution toward context-dependence debate of CSR. As per Table III, the discretionary dimension is considered to be the most important and relevant dimension as evident from disclosure level of CSR of PSX-100 index firms. The discretionary dimension is followed by legal, ethical and economic dimensions, respectively.\nConclusions and implications: Our paper investigated the CSR disclosure level of the leading firms of Pakistan and more importantly it ascertained the relevance of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR as an integrated representation of CSR. It has been argued by following researchers (Jamali, 2014; Jamali and Mirshak, 2007; Visser, 2006; Frynas, 2006; Asyraf Wajdi et al., 2008; Khavul and Bruton, 2013; Jamali, 2008) that the notion of CSR in developing economies equates to discretionary or philanthropic dimensions. Moreover, it has been argued by Dahlsrud (2008) that there is not much confusion about how CSR is defined and conceptualized but there is dearth of research as to how the notion of CSR is socially constructed especially in the context of developing economies (Jamali and Karam, 2018; Windsor, 2019). We have taken the debate of context-dependence of CSR further and examine the relevance of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR in the context of a developing economy. In so doing, this study sheds light on the role of context-specific conditions that have facilitated the social construction of CSR in a developing economy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to ascertain the relevance of Carroll's four dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR), namely, economic, legal, ethical and discretionary in a dynamic regulatory context of a developing economy - Pakistan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study has operationalized these dimensions as four categories of CSR disclosure index. This disclosure index measured the relevance of CSR dimensions by examining CSR disclosure practices of Pakistan Stock Exchange-100 index firms.\nFindings: The authors have found that the firms of Pakistan disclose more information pertaining to discretionary dimension of CSR than economic, legal and ethical dimensions. Interestingly, the authors have observed that after the enactment of state regulation, there is an increasing trend of the overall CSR disclosure level at a decreasing rate.\nPractical implications: For policymakers, these findings imply that firms tend to perceive law as a box-ticking exercise and refrain to involve in those CSR activities that can have both strategic and societal benefits over the long run. These finding imply for business managers that if they will not undertake CSR notion seriously then the policymakers will take statutory initiatives to curtail the greenwashing effect and these initiatives can lead to higher transaction costs.\nOriginality/value: This study presents evidence about the relevance of Carroll's four dimensions of CSR in a developing economy. The evidence shows that the CSR disclosure in developing economy continues to take a largely philanthropic form thereby dominating other CSR dimensions namely ethical, legal and economic. These findings also confirm that CSR practices are context-dependent and these cannot be isolated from their unique social context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effect of older adults' age identity on attitude toward online travel websites and e-loyalty	[ "Older adults", "Attitude", "Age identity", "E-loyalty", "Motivational orientation", "Online travel websites" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Literature highlights that older adults are entering the virtual environment rapidly. In one recent investigation into US-based adults and their technology use, 59 per cent of the elderly aged 65 and older go online, a 6 per cent annual increase; the digital world was considered an important element of the older adults' daily lives (Pew Internet and American Life, 2014). In addition, previous literature highlights that older adults are an important age group in the online travel market due to their credentials and the positive influence of being online (Nimrod, 2010; Mathur et al., 1998).\nLiterature review: Age identity\nMethodology: Measurement\nData analysis: Characteristics of sample\nDiscussion and implications: The current study attempted to verify the effects of psychological, physical and social age on attitude toward online travel websites, examine the impact of this attitude on e-loyalty and test whether older adults' motivational orientation (i.e. recreation-oriented vs task-oriented) moderates on the link from attitude to e-loyalty. Theoretical and practical implications, followed by limitations and future research, are discussed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to identify the effect of age identity on attitude to online sites, examine the impact of this attitude on e-loyalty and investigate the moderating effect of motivational orientation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was distributed to an online panel consisting of US-based adults older than 50 and usable data were collected from 284 participants, followed by an analysis using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Psychological and social age negatively influenced older adults' attitude toward travel websites. Recreation-oriented motivation influenced the effect of online attitude on e-loyalty more strongly than did task-oriented motivation.\nOriginality/value: Unlike previous studies, the current study provided several managerial implications for e-marketers intending to attract older adults by adopting the multidimensional scale of age identity to predict older adults' online attitude.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
English education as democratic armor: Responding programmatically to our political work	[ "Partnership", "Teacher education", "Democratic English education", "Political work of teaching", "Preservice English education", "Programmatic coherence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Schools - and all of the teaching and learning that goes on within them - are inherently and unavoidably political spaces, not in the partisan sense where ideological agendas and camps are staked out and argued from, but in the sense that Hess and McAvoy (2015) discuss in their work on the political classroom: \"We are being political when we are democratically making decisions about questions that ask, 'How should we live together?'\" (p. 4, original emphasis). The understanding that our work as teachers and teacher educators is political is not new. What is new, however, is the polarized and increasingly toxic zeitgeist in the USA. Compounding the political, economic and social pressures are the continued evaporation of public funding for universities and schools, steady decrease in colleges of education, and public attacks on \"liberal\" professors. While these trends were certainly under way before the 2016 election, since the election the quality of civic discourse has declined, especially in schools (Costello, 2016). The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit dedicated to tracking hate groups and racism, has called this \"The Trump Effect\" (Costello, 2016; see also www.splcenter.org/hatewatch). For people teaching K-12 and for those educating future teachers, this is an especially precarious and anxiety-ridden historical moment.\nReview of the literature: The fields of secondary English and English education have historically been rich sites for democratically oriented work. In secondary English, some of this work has explored the unique potential for American Literature to develop students' critical lenses related to voice, power and silence (Petrone and Gibney, 2005) and to engage students in critical debate of \"the American Dream\" (Hurst, 2013). Other research and scholarship in has focused on the role of writing for advocacy (Barton, 2005), activism related to policymaking (Easton, 2005) and \"inside-out\" community writing projects aimed at promoting civic participation with 9th grade Latinx and Chicanx students in Arizona (Saidy, 2013). Other researchers have focused on the democratic potential of teaching Young Adult (YA) literature. For example, Wolk (2013) advocates for the inclusion of more YA literature in English classes as a way promote democracy and social responsibility. Taking a more critical approach to the selection and inclusion of YA literature, Thein et al. (2013) offer an in-depth analysis of the differences between two versions of the same story: The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (for adults) and Discovering Wes Moore (written for adolescents). The authors call for a more critical analysis of the difference between versions of texts and challenge teachers to be critical consumers when selecting a particular version of a text.\nShared vision: According to Grossman et al. (2008), having a shared vision is central to programmatic coherence. Developing a shared vision for our program required that we consider both the pragmatic and aspirational aims of our work, such that we could structure coursework and clinical experiences around these goals. In addition to the professional vision of our program - namely, that our graduates are well-prepared to teach all students effectively - we also agreed that effective teaching requires engagement with the political nature of the field. Because preparing teachers for an educational landscape that is constantly in flux seems a Sisyphean task, we wanted to ensure our students were equipped to weather professional storms with a strong, democratically oriented foundation in place. To this end, Cornel West's (2004) text, Democracy Matters, pushed us to consider the necessity of providing our students with a \"democratic armor\" comprising three pieces: Socratic questioning, prophetic witness and tragicomic hope.\nOperationalizing our shared vision through programmatic coherence: Developing and sustaining programmatic coherence not only requires that the individual courses within a particular program reflect a shared vision for teaching and teacher education, but also requires that courses deliberately and systematically reinforce and expand that vision. In this section, we describe the programmatic infrastructure that shapes and defines our English education program and then offer three illustrative vignettes that show how our courses aim to cultivate democracy-sustaining dispositions in our preservice teachers.\nStriving for symbiosis in university coursework and fieldwork: Field experiences often constitute the beating heart of teacher education programs. Grossman et al. (2008) explain, \"What may matter most are not the number of hours but the extent to which these assignments that link coursework and fieldwork are well-constructed\" (p. 283). In each of the four semesters of our English education program, our students are involved in at least one field experience. Some of these take place in English courses (Composition Theory and Reading Theory) and others take place in Education courses (Young Adult Literature, Methods I and Methods II).\nConclusion: towards coherence in English education: In this essay, we have illustrated how one cadre of English Educators has worked to actualize the kind of programmatic coherence that Grossman et al. (2008) advocate for teacher education. While West's \"democratic armor\", comprising Socratic questioning, prophetic witness and tragicomic hope, has helped us to articulate the shared vision for our program that Grossman et al. (2008) suggest is central to strengthening teacher preparation, we recognize that this need not be the only vision for English education in the USA and around the world. Our shared commitment to cultivating democracy-sustaining dispositions in our preservice teachers is a reflection of our own values and hopes. In another program, perhaps that shared vision is centered on critical literacy, or social justice, or cultural pluralism (Macaluso et al., 2016). We would argue that the only requirement for this kind of programmatic work is that the shared vision for English education advances the democratic potential of public schools for all students. As Britzman (1986) writes:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ways in which attention to programmatic vision and coherence - rather than foci on individual courses - might advance the work of justice-oriented, critical English education in important ways. The authors propose that consciously attending to the work of English education on the programmatic level can better enable English educators to cultivate democracy-sustaining dispositions in preservice teachers. Using Grossman et al.'s (2008) definition of \"programmatic coherence\", the authors illustrate how one interdepartmental partnership is working to create a shared programmatic vision for English education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on Cornel West's call for the development of a three-piece democratic armor - Socratic questioning, prophetic witness and tragicomic hope - the authors describe their programmatic vision for cultivating democracy-sustaining dispositions in preservice teachers. They show how this shared vision constitutes the foundation for the organization, purpose and sequence of the four-semester cohort program. Finally, the authors describe how this vision helps facilitate meaningful and purposeful symbiosis between field experiences and university coursework.\nFindings: In an effort to promote replicability regarding programmatic coherence, the authors share structural aspects of their program as well as pose generative questions for colleagues who are interested in approaching the work of critical, democratic English education from the programmatic level.\nOriginality/value: Addressing the challenges of teacher preparation - especially in this polarized and pitched historical moment - requires shifting the focus from individual courses to a more expansive view that might enable English educators to consider how courses within a program might collectively advance a particular vision of critical and democratic English education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Diversity and equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Limits to legislation, public debate and workplace practices	[ "Diversity management", "Equality", "Women in management", "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Diversity", "Ethnic diversity", "Anti-discrimination law", "South-eastern Europe", "Multi-ethnic countries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Management scholarship into diversity and equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina (thereinafter: BiH) can, without a doubt, be described as under-researched (Velikonja, 2017; Vinkovic and Beslagic, 2011). To the best of our knowledge, to date there is only one scientific publication on diversity management in practice which examined its adoption in a Bosnian subsidiary of a multinational financial company (Besic and Hirt, 2016). Apart from this, we identified a small number of research reports addressing equality and (anti-)discrimination and a few studies on women in management (see Section 5 of this paper).\n2. The historical-political, economic and socio-demographic context in BiH: BiH is located in the Western Balkans, one of the Yugoslav successor states bordering on Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro with a population of around 3.5m people (Agency for Statistics of BiH, 2016). The recent history of BiH is shaped by the war between 1992 and 1995. Until 1992, BiH was a republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a multi-ethnic, secular and socialist authoritarian state. Diversity in BiH was marked by a high level of integration, intermarriage and low ethnic distinction, at least in urban centres. Following multiple, interlocking crises in socialist Yugoslavia - economic, social, political and ideological - the country moved towards disintegration when the northern republics Slovenia and Croatia sought greater autonomy and Serbia and its allies favoured centralisation. Following the independence of Slovenia and Croatia in the late 1991 which was internationally recognised in early 1992, war began in BiH as an armed insurrection of Bosnian Serbs forces against Bosnian independence. This was marked by wide scale ethnic discrimination, ethnic cleansing, expulsion and mass murder.\n3. Legislation: In BiH several laws address equal treatment and anti-discrimination. This section provides an overview of the most relevant laws, starting at the international level, touching upon BiH's constitution and turning to more specific laws. It is important to note that the two entities - FBiH and RS - have different legislation and enjoy considerable autonomy in the field. The following paragraphs consider both laws that apply in both entities or are similar as well as laws applying in one entity only.\n4. Public debate: The public debate on diversity and equality is shaped by the prevailing ethno-nationalist political parties ostensibly representing the interests of their respective group. The focus in media and public discussion is usually on the disadvantage a particular group faces in the current, complex and cumbersome institutional system. While the debate in the RS focuses primarily on safeguarding the entity from intervention by the central state or external actors, the debate in the FBiH is focused on the discrimination of Croats at the entity level and of Bosniaks in areas with a Croat majority. Occasionally, discrimination of \"Others\", a term lifted from the constitution and describing both minorities and citizens who reject identification with the three dominant ethnic groups, is debated, mostly by small civil societies and multi-ethnic parties. The debate over the Sejdic and Finci ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in 2009 turned quickly from minorities to constituent people. While the ruling criticised the exclusion of a Jewish and a Roma from running for the presidency, debates on the implementation primarily focused on how to ensure the representation of a Croat member without being outvoted by Bosniaks rather than on national minorities (Hodzic and Stojanovic, 2011).\n5. Research on diversity and equality in BiH: Our literature review is based on extensive searches in the database provided by EBSCO Information Services, the Research Gate portal and with the Google search engine. We used search terms such as \"diversity\", \"diversity management\", \"discrimination\", \"anti-discrimination\", \"equality\" and \"equal opportunity\" in combination with \"Bosnia\", \"Bosnia and Herzegovina\" and \"BiH\" in both English and Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian. Additionally, through personal networks we searched for the \"grey\" literature. This search yielded different types of literature, including journal articles, book chapters and research reports. The following paragraphs summarise all the literature on diversity and equality in BiH we found.\n6. Conclusions: This paper sought to provide comprehensive insight into workplace diversity and equality in BiH. By examining the country's legislation, public debate and previous research in the field, it contributes to knowledge about diversity and equality in an under-researched country. This knowledge may not only serve as a starting point for future research and business practice in BiH, but also for a better understanding of other transition economies and other countries in south-eastern Europe, as well as deeply divided post-war societies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to knowledge about workplace diversity and equality in an under-researched country. Focusing on the south-eastern European transition economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), it elaborates on the country's legislation, public debate and previous research in the field.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws on a synopsis of the legislative framework, existing literature, public media and personal communications with human resource (HR) practitioners.\nFindings: There is only limited research on diversity and equality in BiH. Ethnicity and gender are the most common grounds for discrimination. Although a solid body of legislation addressing anti-discrimination and equality issues exists, implementation is insufficient. The public debate tends to reinforce inter-ethnic conflicts and a negative atmosphere regarding sexual minority rights.\nResearch limitations/implications: Due to the general lack of research on diversity and equality in BiH, the findings presented in this paper only can serve as a first approximation of the topic. Further academic research on concrete business practices and perspectives of HR managers is needed.\nPractical implications: Firms not only need to increase compliance with anti-discrimination law, but they should also focus more on the benefits a multi-ethnic society can offer.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper in the management literature that provides comprehensive insight into workplace diversity and equality in BiH.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is the 2014 E-Rate reform a game changer? An empirical analysis of Pennsylvania data	[ "Digital divide", "School districts", "E-Rate", "Universal access" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a major reform of the Schools and Libraries (E-Rate) program, which has subsidized telecommunications and broadband access in schools and libraries since its inception in 1998. The Second E-Rate Modernization Order (FCC, 2014a) set three goals, \"ensuring affordable access to high-speed broadband sufficient to support digital learning in schools and robust connectivity for all libraries, (2) maximizing the cost-effectiveness of spending for E-Rate supported purchases, and (3) making the E-Rate application process and other E-Rate processes fast, simple and efficient\". In a major change, the order increased the overall funding for the E-Rate program from US$2.4bn to US$3.9bn (FCC, 2014a; FCC, 2014b).\nOverview of the E-Rate program: The Schools and Libraries (E-Rate) program is one of a series of universal service initiatives mandated by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Funded through the Universal Service Fund, the E-Rate program provides discounts to eligible schools, libraries and other educational institutions to help them access telecommunication and communication services. The FCC appointed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) as the administrator of the program. The grantees themselves fund end-user equipment, such as cellphones and computers, and personnel (FCC, 2018).\nThe 2014 E-Rate reform: In 2014, the FCC adopted the E-Rate Modernization Order in July and the Second E-Rate Modernization Order in December (hereafter referred to as the \"Order\" or \"Orders\") (FCC, 2014a; 2014b). From the 2015 funding year, a series of significant changes were made to the program, as detailed in this section.\nData: For the reasons stated above, this analysis is based on data for Pennsylvania school districts. While using only one state inevitably makes the findings less generalizable, PA presents a better standard of comparison than many other states. The state matches the national average on many demographic and socioeconomic dimensions, though it has a higher percentage of Whites and a more rural population than the nation (Table I). Moreover, as the sixth largest state in the USA by population, PA has 500 school districts[3]. Thus, a reasonably large data set of school districts can be constructed.\nMethod: The methodology of our paper may be summarized as follows. To test whether the 2014 reform had any significant impact on the pattern of applications and funding the following year, a prediction model was first built and estimated with data from 1998 to 2013. Then, the prediction model was validated by comparing the estimated values for 2014 to the actual values. Next, using this validated prediction model, the values of the dependent variables were estimated for 2015. The predicted values for 2015 serve as the counterfactuals: the values the dependent variables would have had if the 2014 reform did not take place. In other words, the estimated values are the expected outcomes if the only changes from 2014 to 2015 were the shifts in the school districts' eligibility and application skills, which are captured by the independent variables included in the regression model. If the 2014 reforms had an impact, these estimated values will differ significantly from the actual 2015 values.\nAnalyses and results: Before the regression analysis, the general trend of E-Rate funding committed to school districts in Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2015 was explored. As shown in Figure 1(a), the committed amount of funding per school district in Pennsylvania peaked in 1999, then plummeted and later recovered till 2003. From 2004, a long-term decline of the committed amount continued until 2014. A noticeable increase in the committed amount was observed in 2015.\nConclusion and discussion: This paper was aimed at analyzing the impact of the 2014 reforms on the pattern of distribution of funds from the E-Rate program. If the reforms worked as intended, it would encourage applicants to apply more often and/or increase the amount of funding committed to each application and applicant. Moreover, by simplifying the application process, it would encourage poorer and rural school districts, previously disadvantaged by managerial and technical complexities, to apply for funds. Therefore, the project investigated whether each school district that successfully applied for funding received increased support post-reforms, and what socio-economic characteristics of school districts were associated with successful applications.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to analyze the impact of the 2014 E-Rate reforms on the pattern of distribution of funds of the program.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using Pennsylvania data, the paper investigates whether a school district that successfully applied for funding received increased support post-reforms, and what socio-economic characteristics of school districts were associated with successful applications. Furthermore, it asks whether the reforms reduced the barriers that disadvantaged school districts face in obtaining support.\nFindings: The finding suggests that, even after controlling for changes in the school districts' eligibility and application skills, the amount of funding committed to the school districts was still significantly higher after the reform.\nOriginality/value: The analysis shows that, immediately after the reform, the non-urban school districts were committed more funding than urban school districts were; they also received more funds than they would have without the reforms. This indicates that the 2014 reform might have benefited disadvantaged applicants, especially rural school districts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
When organizational complexity helps corporation improve its performance	[ "China", "Organization", "Fitness", "Environment", "Complexity theory", "Corporate" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There existing theories to explain the performance difference between corporations are the industrial organization theory (Bain, 1986), the resources-based theory (Wernerfelt, 1984) and the organization management theory (Gronhaug and Kaufmann, 1998). Though these theories have different perspectives, they all consider corporation's environment as an exogenous variable to corporation performance. When the environment is stable or with smooth changes, its impact on corporation performance can be considered tiny and trivial. However, the environment nowadays is becoming more complex and uncertain. It is becoming critical to the survival and development of a corporation. The corporation and its environment mutually constitute a complex adaptive system. In this system, the corporation becomes a \"node\" of value network consisting of various related corporations and other agents. As a result, the environment is more considered as an endogenous variable in explaining corporation behaviors (Anderson and Tushman, 2001; Ashmos et al., 2000; Rybakov, 2001).\nTheory and hypotheses: When a corporation gains its best performance?\nThe sample corporations: Since environmental complexity is difficult to observe and to measure, we selected corporations share the same or similar environmental contextualization, and measure the fitness of environmental complexity and organizational complexity by comparing the organizational complexity of the corporations with the best performance. It is based on the premise that if the best performance corporations within a given environmental complexity have close organizational complexity, then the hypothesis that a corporation obtains the best performance when the environmental complexity matches its organizational complexity will be supported.\nMeasurement of organizational complexity and corporation performance: Organizational complexity\nAnalyses and results: As to corporation that has the best performance in each level of corporations, its organizational complexity is, respectively, 28, 33, 29. Even the organizational complexity of the corporation that had the best performance in the second-level corporations is a little bigger than other two, but their value are quite close. Their deviance is 5 (33-28), while the whole deviance is 18 (40-22). Although we are unable to calculate the value of the environmental complexity of each level of corporations and the fitness of environmental complexity and organizational complexity in number, we can still conclude that theH1 and H4are partially supported from this approach.\nConclusions and discussions: This research implements organizational complexity as an endogenous variable to explain corporation performance differences and considers environmental complexity as a moderation factor. The results showed that the relationship between corporation performance and organizational complexity follows an inversed U-shape curve under the given environmental complexity. Also since different corporations have different development models and corresponding complex adaptive ways, the inversed U-shape curves associated with different categories of corporations display hierarchically. For each category of corporations, their performances first increase and then decrease along with the accumulation of their organizational complexity. A corporation obtains the best performance when its organizational complexity fits its environmental complexity. And all corporations with the best performance in each cluster have close organizational complexity under the same environmental complexity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the assertion that the relationship between corporation performance and organizational complexity follows an inverted U-shape curve, and a corporation gains the best performance when its organizational complexity fits its environmental complexity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research did not directly measure environmental complexity to verify the relationship between corporation performance and complex environment, but measured organizational complexity to subtly display the effect of the organizational complexity on the corporation performance while controlled the environmental complexity. To do so, a set of corporations that shared the similar environment was selected, and then these corporations' performance and organizational complexity were calculated, the related hypotheses were tested empirically.\nFindings: The paper proved the inverted U-shape relationship between organizational complexity and corporation performance, and also found that different corporation chooses different complex adaptive way, so the inverted U-shape relationship displays hierarchy.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research should search out to calculate corporation's environment complexity the fitness of organizational complexity for testing hypotheses.\nPractical implications: The regularity of relationship between organizational complexity and corporation performance is helpful for managers to understand that a way to improve a corporation's performance is to enhance the fitness of organizational complexity and environmental complexity.\nSocial implications: Organizational complexity may be competitive advantage, but excessive growth of it will be harmful.\nOriginality/value: Usually organizational complexity is thought of as a negative factor to corporation performance and tends to be constrained, but this research explored the role of organizational complexity to corporation performance and the findings helps managers to understand when to enhance organizational complexity and when to weaken it. The methodology of calculating the fitness of organizational complexity and environmental complexity by fixing environment is a contribution to complexity theory research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Professional involvement in the design of accreditation manuals	[ "Healthcare quality", "Accreditation", "Clinical competence", "Health services", "Professional practice", "Advisory committees", "Spain" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Participation is a widely used concept not only in the academic world but also in politics, media, social associations and the general public. Given that participation does not arise in theoretical scenarios but within social and political praxis, its transfer to conceptual schemes should be performed with caution. Our intention is to present and share an experience of participation in the healthcare quality field and highlight the main contributions about participation taken from literature. Arnstein (1969) tackled the participation according to a metaphorical \"participation ladder\" and defined an eight step scale: the first two were \"no participation\"; three more steps represent \"symbolic participation\"; and three steps that eventually lead to \"citizen control\". Thomas (1990) proposed another conceptual approach in which it is not enough to simply define the participation function. Key variables should be taken into account, such as \"problem nature\" and \"participation strategy\". From a blend of these two axes, different participative tools emerge, which range from highly structured formulae (consultant committees) to more flexible proposals such as key contacts or group meetings. A third conceptual approach defined participation as a continuum in which participation depends on government objectives ranging from information to control, through consultation, co-operation and delegation (Shand and Arnberg, 1996; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2001). However, Bishop and Davis (2002) point out the relevance for public administrations to recognise overlapping participation mechanisms and the importance of local factors.We focus on the healthcare quality field, describe and analyse the healthcare professionals' involvement in several disciplines as stakeholders to successfully defining the Skills Manuals supporting professional accreditation in Andalusia and to analyse participation process drivers and barriers, promoted by the Andalusian Agency for Healthcare Quality (Agencia de Calidad Sanitaria de Andalucia). In the healthcare sector, participation has been especially focused on patients' involvement (Fraenkel and McGraw, 2007; Florin et al., 2006; Sang, 2004; British Medical Association (BMA), 2000) and society as a whole (Martin-Garcia et al., 2001; Anderson et al., 2006). Even though healthcare professional involvement in designing and implementing healthcare policies has scant coverage in the literature (Jordan et al., 2002; Lewis and Hinton, 2008).Within quality and accreditation, several examples can be identified. Some are more reflexive or analytical in character, based on a participative experiment in Parisian hospital quality management (Giraud and Jolly, 1992), or based on a Boston hospital (Weinberg and Stason, 1998), where a participative method was applied to identify and implement improvements. Other descriptive articles show schemes involving professional participation, generally related to project design or specific consultation. In this sense, well-known examples can be found, such as a South African accreditation method (Whittaker et al., 2000), an initiative carried out at the Centre for Human Services (USAID) in Zambia (Bukonda et al., 2000), accreditation in American hospitals (Novaes and Neuhausern, 2000), or a collaboration model implemented in various US states (Brewer et al., 2007).The contributions from international institutions such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua), about involving health professionals are especially relevant. In 2006, WHO published a document (Bengoa et al., 2006), which establishes three essential roles that contribute from different viewpoints to quality improvement: political decision-makers, healthcare service providers and users. Regarding healthcare professionals, WHO acknowledges that the challenge for those sponsoring participative initiatives is to achieve a suitable balance in the involvement of different agents that reflects their quality improvements. In 2004, ISQua published an article on accreditation (Shaw, 2004), which reinforced the need to identify different stakeholders and to involve them in designing and monitoring accreditation programs. Regarding clarity in relationships among stakeholders, it refers to the need to guarantee that sufficient co-operation and communication mechanisms exist among professionals, accreditation agencies and other stakeholders.\nMethods: This observational study focused on 439 health professionals participating in a complex process aimed at defining 58 Skills Manuals. Our methodological approach had the following objectives, to: describe healthcare professional participation as stakeholders or critical agents; successfully define Skills Manuals supporting professional accreditation in Andalusia; and analyse participation process drivers and barriers. The research method used to analyse the enablers and barriers to participative process is based on the semi-structured interview qualitative research technique. Interviews ranged from thirty minutes and one hour. Answers were transcribed and grouped thematically. Redundant answers were eliminated. The most significant answers were analysed in depth and categorized into the two main dimensions: enablers and barriers. Interviews were strictly confidential. Our questionnaire is illustrated in the Appendix.\nFindings: A total of 58 Skills Manuals were drafted (one per discipline or speciality) covering relevant skills, best working practices and best evidence for measuring performance. The 58 Manuals, published by the Andalusian Agency for Healthcare Quality (AAHQ), are designed to facilitate accreditation process for over 35,000 Andalusian Public Health System doctors, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, pharmacists, psychologists and dentists. Defining the manuals took place between March 2005 and January 2008, setting up 58 Technical Advisory Committees, including clinical leaders and Scientific Association representatives coordinated by AAHQ. Analysing participants in 58 Technical Advisory Committees showed: an average 7.5 +- 2.4 participants per committee. Table I details the participants by Committee, gender distribution and Scientific Association participation.Committee representatives are illustrated in Table II.Almost 70 per cent of the participants were men; a 2.3 male to female ratio. However, 17 committees (29.3 per cent) were exclusively male. Almost 88 per cent of the committees had Scientific and Professional Association representatives.\nResearch limitations: The study has some limitations: it relates to a specific geographical context (Andalusia, Spain); Scientific Associations were over represented on some committees. However, Scientific Association channelled the scientific support provided by their representatives.\nDiscussion: Participation was conditioned by several factors grouped as enablers or challenges to the participation process (Table III).Enablers/drivers\nConclusions: Participation, as an associative task, implies different healthcare professionals transferring information and experiences, making organisational knowledge widely available. Trust-based cooperation is essential for any participative method's success. Although committees were guided by a general framework, work methods meant that drafting the standards wasn't allowed full freedom. Our approach, which allowed debate and brainstorming, led to variability among different Accreditation Manuals. Subsequently, Manuals had to be homogenised to guarantee that similar efforts would be required from all professionals seeking accreditation, whatever their speciality. The main factors that enhanced this participative process were:* involving managing authority from the start point;* stakeholders (medical societies, professional associations and clinical leaders) inclusiveness;* agreeing common discussion-framework;* deliberation based on scientific evidence;* focussing on tangible results; and* encouraging workgroups and committee co-ordinators to use on-line tools.The most significant barriers to this participative process were initial scepticism about participating; informal leaders emerging on some committees that biased the outcome; and efforts demanded from some participants.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to describe the participation of health professionals as key agents for the successful definition of skills manuals supporting professional accreditation in Andalusia (Spain).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The increasing extent to which different stakeholders are recognized reflects the importance they hold in all decision-making processes. The Andalusian Agency for Healthcare Quality's commitment to this process has facilitated the healthcare professionals' participation when professional skills manuals are designed for their respective specialities.\nFindings: - The process involved over 400 healthcare professionals from 58 disciplines between March 2005 and January 2008. Results were conditioned by several factors, some acting as drivers while others represented a barrier.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The experience relates to a specific geographical context. Healthcare professionals eligible to participate had to be in active employment and working for the Andalusian Public Health Service. There was an overrepresentation of members from scientific associations.\nPractical implications: - Co-operation based on mutual trust is the essential ingredient accounting for the success of participative involvement.\nOriginality/value: - The paper incorporates all categories of personnel and specialities in a regional healthcare system that covers eight million inhabitants and employs over 90,000 professionals, includes 33 public hospitals, more than 1,500 primary care centres and other healthcare units.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.