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Leader legitimacy - a matter of education? Leading Highly Specialised People - A Legitimacy Challenge
|
[
"Leadership development",
"Management development",
"Leader education",
"Leader legitimacy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Leader legitimacy is a particular challenge for leaders who lead highly specialized/highly educated people from other educational backgrounds than their own (Mintzberg, 1993).\nLeader legitimacy - what is it? Why is it important?: Leader legitimacy concerns the degree to which leaders' decisions, communications, and actions are perceived desirable, proper, or appropriate by the people they lead and, in general, are perceived to be in accordance with the organization's norms, values, beliefs, and definitions. Thus, legitimacy is not something to be obtained. Legitimacy is to be earned. Without leader legitimacy, leaders are left with their formal power - which can \"easily be overwhelmed by the collective power\" (Mintzberg, 1993, p. 200) of people working in the organization. So, what is a leader to do?\nLeader legitimizing strategies: As leader legitimacy is a complex phenomenon, literature on leader legitimacy highlight how differing legitimizing sources (such as, for example, formal position, educational background, election/appointment for leader position), as well as power-imbalance, questions of loyalty and trust, contribute to the leader legitimacy challenge. However, leaders can also apply various strategies themselves to perceived (more) legitimate by the people they lead.\nSumming up - is leader legitimacy a matter of education?: Reviewing the three strategies above, they can be summarized into the following \"consequences\" for leaders, recruiters of leaders, and educational institutions:\nFuture research: Studying the dynamics between leaders and highly specialized/highly educated people can illuminate understandings of legitimacy in different organizations, situations, and to various work groups - and show what legitimizing sources, strategies and other elements are at work.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss and share some practical insights on how leaders can seek legitimacy when leading highly specialized/highly educated people from other educational backgrounds than their own.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on an initial literature review on leader legitimacy, this paper distills three strategies for strengthening leader legitimacy that can apply to leaders of organizations employing highly specialized/highly educated people.\nFindings: If these strategies are applied, leaders leading people from other educational backgrounds than their own will strengthen their possibilities for being perceived legitimate leaders. Further, for recruiters of leaders, awareness about the legitimacy challenge is an important step in choosing the \"right\" person for the job. For educational institutions and organizers of organizational-internal leader development programs, the strategies are important to consider when preparing and planning teaching on leadership.\nResearch limitations/implications: Research was based on a systematic literature review on leader legitimacy and the findings result from an initial categorizing.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical approaches with the potential to enhance leader and business effectiveness and informing leader-education approaches. The paper bridges theory and practice for leaders, recruiters of leaders and leader-education institutions.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by presenting pertinent information in a condensed and practice-oriented format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Credit risk signals in CDS market vs agency ratings
|
[
"CDS",
"Credit rating agencies",
"Credit risk",
"Credit default swap",
"Credit ratings",
"G10",
"G20",
"G24",
"G28",
"G32"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The primary purpose of a credit default swap (CDS) contract is to provide protection to the purchaser of a debt instrument in case of default or a related credit event, serving as a form of insurance. A CDS contract can also be used on the short side to bet against the credit quality, or to hedge a long position in the debt or equity of a reference entity. An investor in a CDS contract pays an annual premium to the seller of the contract. If a credit event such as default of the underlying reference entity occurs, the seller buys the underlying debt instrument from the investor at par. The annual premium, or CDS spread, ultimately reflects the market price of the credit risk with respect to the underlying instrument.\n2. Data and variable definitions: The data used in our study are obtained from Bloomberg. Our CDS sample consists of contracts denominated in US dollars with a five-year term on reference entities having at least one senior or subordinate issue, in addition to having US equity listings[5]. We exclude contracts with less than 100 days of spread data. Our final data set contains the daily five-year CDS spreads on 1,334 contracts on 392 distinct reference firms over the period from February 28, 2003, to December 31, 2010. We end our sample just after the resolution of the market turmoil in December 2010, as we are interested in analyzing the discrepancies in credit risk signals in CDS market and agency ratings through the global financial crisis (Ross, 2008), and also to avoid a period of new market conventions in the CDS market (the \"big bang\") in the years after the financial crisis (Mahfoudhi 2011).\n3. Empirical analysis: We model the degree of similarity or divergence between the credit risk signals from CDS-c and ACR-c, which represent both 5-category and 10-category versions. Similarity is modeled by:\n4. Conclusion: Before the inception of CDS trading, ratings assigned by agencies were the only signal of credit risk of fixed-income instruments. In that credit ratings rank order the relative credit risk of an entity, these assessments should be closely related to the CDS spreads on the corresponding defaultable instruments with respect to the obligors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This research aims to model the relationship between the credit risk signals in the credit default swap (CDS) market and agency credit ratings, and determines the factors that help explain the variation in such signals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A comprehensive analysis of the differences in the relative credit risk assessments of CDS-based risk signals and agency ratings is provided. It is shown that the divergence between credit risk signals in the CDS market and agency ratings is explained by factors which the rating agencies may consider differently than credit market participants.\nFindings: The results suggest that agency credit ratings of relative riskiness of a reference entity do not always correspond with assessments by CDS spreads, as the price of risk is a function of additional macro and micro factors that can be explained using statistical analysis.\nOriginality/value: This research is unique in modeling the relationship between the credit risk assessments of the CDS market and the agency ratings, which to the best of the authors' knowledge has not been analyzed before in terms of their agreement and the level of discrepancy between them. This model can be used by investors in debt instruments that are not explicitly CDSs or which have illiquid CDS contracts, to replicate market-based, point-in-time credit risk signals. Based on both market-based and firm-specific factors in this model, the results can be used to augment through-the-cycle credit risk assessments, analyze issues surrounding the pricing of CDSs and examine the policies of credit rating agencies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Application of Linked Open Data to the coding and dissemination of Spanish Civil War photographic archives
|
[
"Linked Open Data",
"Semantic Web",
"Ontologies",
"Digital humanities",
"OWL",
"Image retrieval",
"Photographic archives",
"Press photography",
"Spanish Civil War"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Information systems for photographic archives have been gaining relevance in recent decades in light of the revaluation of photographs as essential sources for historical, social and anthropological studies, as well as for illustrating and teaching history (Borchert, 1982; Pink, 2001; Achterberg, 2007; Riego, 1996; Riego and Vega, 1994; Pantoja Chaves, 2007, 2008; Rodriguez de las Heras, 2009; Sanchidrian Blanco, 2011; Diaz Barrado, 2012). The transformations in the organization of documentary collections spurred by the digital humanities are likewise a necessary context that informed this project. A growing number of institutions that house photographic archives with historical value are publicly offering them via the internet in a multitude of proprietary digital catalogs and repositories, as well as via social media services like Flickr and metadata collectors like Europeana. Despite the great volume, iconographic research is hampered by the limitations of the traditional search systems we might find in archives and libraries. Harris and Hepburn (2013) have noted the difficulty historians face in finding suitable photographs for their research, showing how the use of photographs in scientific literature within the history field has not increased with the growing availability of digital images through libraries and social media services.\nObjectives and method: The objective of this paper is to present the rationale and the design and development process for an ontology based on LOD technology according to the SW standards of the WWW Consortium. We have named the ontology Ontofoto. It must be able to represent and use the broad typology of data that arise from the processes of documentary processing, digitalization, representation and dissemination of the iconography of a photographic archive of a historical nature. We also present the results of our validation of the proposed model and processes by means of their implementation in an RDF triplestore-type information and dissemination system for a sample from the Skogler photographic archive. This archive is currently housed at the Fototeca of Huesca (Provincial Council of Huesca, Spain). The sample contains 113 silver gelatin negatives on a plastic base taken in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, between 1936 and 1938, which show scenes and places in the rearguard zone in the city of Zaragoza and its vicinity.\nResults: Conceptual schema and basic coding structure\nContribution and conclusions: This paper contributes a proposal of a conceptual model and its formalized coding under the form of an OWL ontology with full support for LOD for representing characteristics of the images that comprise historical photographic archives. To validate the consistency and effectiveness of our model, we have applied the competency questions methodology. The result was highly satisfactory, as high levels of efficiency and effectiveness were obtained in the 14 types of queries identified a priori.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model for coding and dissemination of data associated with historical photographic archives. The model is based on Linked Open Data technology and seeks to exhaustively represent the most relevant characteristics for the tasks of contextualization of the documentary groupings and units, management, document retrieval, dissemination and sharing of data about the historical photographs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An OWL ontology, called Ontophoto, was constructed following an adaptation of the methodology proposed by Uschold and Gruninger and Gruninger and Fox. The ontology was implemented using Protege 5.5 software. Next a Graph DB(r) graph database application (Ontotext) was created to generate a query system based on the SPARQL language. To validate the consistency and effectiveness of the model and ontology, a competency questions methodology has been applied using a sample from the Skogler photographic archive.\nFindings: The model facilitates the generation of systems for dissemination and retrieval of iconographic data for historical research, overcoming some of the limitations with respect to the design of methods of content and contextual information representation for heritage photographic archives.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is based on a sample. Future work should consider the implementation of the model on the totality of a photographic collection.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents a comprehensive ontological model that allows the creation of distributed systems of knowledge representation, which can be queried through SPARQL language.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An assessment of fit and sizing of men's business clothing
|
[
"Fit",
"Sizing",
"Men",
"Clothing",
"Business clothing",
"United States of America",
"Business environment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's competitive apparel market, menswear companies must work hard to produce a profit. Men are more frequently shopping for themselves than ever before, necessitating a shift in how clothing is designed and marketed. When shopping, men are loyal to brands and stores, very price conscious, and usually choose comfort over fashion (Frith and Gleeson, 2004). Several studies agree that men ranked fit as the most important clothing selection criteria (Hogge et al., 1988; Liu and Dickerson, 1999). This study was conducted to determine how successfully ready-to-wear clothing currently on the market fits men from the USA.To gain that competitive advantage in the menswear market, it is important for designers, manufacturers, and retailers to know what fit issues are being encountered by men. Clothing researchers have previously investigated both the fit issues faced by female consumers (Ashdown, 1998; Ashdown and Delong, 1995; Black, 1988; Carroll and Kincade, 2007; Workman, 1991; Yoo et al., 1999) and clothing problems faced by elderly male populations (Hogge et al., 1988). Other research into the fit of men's clothing has been performed by the US military and other uniformed services, using athletically skewed datasets (Brantley, 2001; Gordon et al., 1989; Laing et al., 1999). No research has been located that relates body composition as measured by Body Mass Index (BMI) to sizing or fit problems in a male population. Overall, little has been published regarding fit issues encountered by the general US male population.The men's business clothing market has experienced growth from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s, as male public figures have become more image conscious and office environments have shifted back towards formality. Recently sales have stagnated as the market has become more bargain-oriented due to an increasingly pessimistic economic outlook (Mintel, 2007). For best sales, manufacturers, and retailers should have consistent sizing that fits their target market.In addition to the fit of men's business apparel the relationship of sizing to garment fit may influence satisfaction with selected garment types. Sizing systems are designed to accommodate the maximum number of people while limiting the number of sizes manufactured. A thorough record of the fit problems faced by men of different sizes and statures will be beneficial for the design of practical and market-friendly solutions, therefore the primary goal of this study was to investigate fit issues with men's ready-to-wear business clothing and their relationships to sizing and overall body composition. By gathering this information, steps can be taken to improve the fit of menswear during the design stages of clothing production.\nConceptual framework: The functional design process is a conceptual framework that outlines a systematic approach for the assessment of user needs. DeJonge (1984) outlines seven stages that take the design researcher from design request to design evaluation (see Table I). During stage one (request made) of the design process the researcher identifies user problem. In this case the user, one researcher's husband was dissatisfied with the fit of business apparel. The researcher investigates the issue from different perspectives in stage two (design situation explored) including a literature review, observation, and/or market analysis. For the current study, literature was gathered covering the fit of both men's and women's apparel, standardized sizing, and BMI as an indicator of the relationship between sizing and fit. In stage three (problem structure perceived) the design scholars identify critical factors that comprise the problem. The present study applied a mass survey method to explore fit and size issues related to men's business clothing. Future work will include further research into issues found in this study and garment development to address the remaining stages of the functional design process.\nReview of the literature: A review of literature yielded limited research related to men's clothing issues and less research specifically focused on men's business clothing. Because of this issue, women's clothing research that was directly related to the current study has been included in the review of literature. Literature on satisfaction with fit, sizing, standardized sizing, and BMI relative to sizing was also reviewed.Satisfaction with garment fit\nMethod: Sample and description of the sample\nQuestionnaire: The questionnaire comprised of three sections. Part I of the questionnaire asked how often respondents wear business clothing and what type of business clothing they wear in order to establish their exposure level and ensure that respondents are referencing similar clothing for the rest of the survey. Part II of the questionnaire focused on satisfaction with the fit of dress shirts, dress pants, and suits. Respondents were asked about their overall satisfaction with each garment type, their ability to find garments that fit reasonably well, and additional fit items related to each garment type on a five-point Likert-type scale. Specific garment features, such as the seat of pants or tail length of shirts were evaluated on a three-point scale: too tight/short, appropriate, or too loose/long. These choices changed as appropriate for the feature being measured. The scale format and usage of a limited number garment features were similar to Mitchka et al. (2009) and Yoo et al. (1999) however the garment types and most of the garment feature items were derived specifically for the current study (Figure 1). While these are a self-reported measure of acceptability and may not be accurately depicting the fit problems that expert observers would discover, it is an accurate measure of the respondent's previous experience with the fit of business apparel. Photographic images of each garment type were overlaid with diagrams showing the locations referenced in the questions, such as crotch length. For each garment type (shirt, pants, and suits), respondents reported the size they normally wear. Self-reported size was used to gauge respondents' body sizes rather than actual body measurements as subjects were not trained in how to take their own measurements. Part III of the questionnaire was comprised of demographic data including place of residence, educational level, occupation, income, race, and marital status.\nResults: Characteristics of the sample\nSummary and conclusions: This study has revealed a wide range of fit issues experienced by men when choosing and wearing business clothing. As many as 40 per cent of respondents reported fit issues in certain garment areas. Most significantly, men reported issues with the dimensions of their garments which are fixed by the current sizing system: neck circumference, sleeve length, waist circumference, pants leg length, and suit chest size. Over 30 per cent of respondents reported issues with shirt neck circumference, shirt sleeve length, pants leg length, and suit torso circumference.Different issues were found in consumers purchasing their clothing in HE men's stores from those purchasing clothing at mass market retailers where less personal service is provided. While customers of HE stores are much more likely to have their garments altered, and more likely to be satisfied with the key sizing measurements of their garments, they seem to experience more issues in those areas not specified for the size of the garment than mass market consumers who may choose their garments from many brands and stores by overall fit rather than fit in the key sizing areas. Future studies should examine this phenomenon to determine if the HE customers are more critical of their garments than LE consumers, or if the overall fit strategy is actually a more effective method of accommodating the population. Future studies of fit issues need to take into account the type of consumers who make up their population, as purchasing criteria and store service levels have a measurable effect on reported fit issues.Some issues have their origins in sizing or grading practices, however others are less obviously related to known causes. Further research should be conducted to quantify the variations in body proportions that may contribute to fit issues in the population. This study did not collect actual body measurements or perform fit tests of standard sized garments. It was first necessary to establish a need for a future large scale study of men's actual fit issues using physical measurements of men and their clothing. The prevalence of both horizontal and vertical fit issues self-reported by respondents in this study shows that there will be value in collecting physical measurements of men's clothing on the body and compiling the results into a clearer picture of the factors involved in the fit of current men's business clothing.As identified above, there is also a need to quantify the actual fit issues experienced by men in their business clothing and to compare their actual fit issues as judged by expert observers to those issues perceived by the wearer.A study of the selection criteria used by men when choosing standard sized clothing will shed light into how the variety of body shapes in the population are accommodated or disaccommodated.Further study in this area is warranted as the market for men's clothing grows more prominent and workplaces shift back towards formal business dress. The same techniques that have been applied in fit and sizing studies of womenswear should be applied to menswear in order to fully understand all the issues that exist in the market.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to investigate issues with the fit and sizing of commercially available men's business clothing in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The functional design process is a conceptual framework used to frame an investigation of fit and sizing of men's business clothing. Data were collected from 322 men aged 20-55 at two different demographic levels. Sizing and fit of men's shirts, pants, suits and their garment features were reported to investigate fit issues with men's ready-to-wear business clothing and their relationships to sizing and overall body composition.\nFindings: - Results indicated that many men self-report fit issues with their business clothing, including issues with the key sizing dimensions of their garments. Consumers frequenting specialty stores with high service levels reported fewer issues with key sizing dimensions, but more issues in other areas of the garments. Many respondents did not know their garment size. Some consumers appear to be choosing their garments based on non key measurements to best accommodate their individual shape, while those choosing by their sized measurements may not achieve satisfactory fit in all areas.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample was generally located in the southeast United States. Sizing systems and clothing manufacturers vary globally.\nOriginality/value: - Little research into the sizing and fit of men's clothing has been performed. This article investigates self-reported fit issues to establish a baseline for further studies in the area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A survey of manufacturing engineering databases
|
[
"Production engineering",
"Information retrieval",
"Databases",
"Digital libraries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organized or systematic manufacturing can be traced back 6,000 years when manual forming processes began with the production of various articles made of wood, ceramic, stone, and metal. The history can be examined from two perspectives: how materials were discovered, developed and used to make things; and how systems of production were developed (Groover, 2001). Over the years, research in manufacturing has concentrated on the developments in engineering materials, as well as processes. The production world has evolved from manual to computerized manufacturing systems; from macro to micro- and nano-scale manufacturing. Not only is product design automated using computer-aided design (CAD) systems, but the control of the manufacturing process is automated as well using computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems (Benhabib, 2003).The current trends in product design and manufacturing emphasize simultaneous engineering and the multi-disciplinary approach in the discipline. To support this multi-disciplinary functionality, manufacturing engineering requires a diverse source of research information through accessible databases. There are numerous databases available for engineering, the most common being EI Compendex, which is the electronic version of Engineering Index. Other sources of information can be found directly from research consortiums such as OhioLink. Most importantly, the authenticity and usability of information obtained from these databases depends on who publishes the database.Engineering literature is very diverse and plentiful; knowledge of how searches are organized to best view developments across disciplines will enable the researcher to find the relevant information they need in a timely manner (Schaible, 2001). In addition, this provides researchers with the ability to connect their research information to applied engineering, thus enabling shorter product design cycles. Because scientific information is not limited to journal publications, but rather to a wide variety of information sources such as reports and white papers, organized databases provide a means by which a simple keyword search would enable information to be retrieved easily from any source. As suggested by Kostoff (2003), technical literature is very vital to the development of science and technology. Databases provide the means of tracking research data, evaluating science and technology programs and identifying promising research. Databases also prevent duplication of research and the costly consequences that might follow. Wenger (2002) reports on the various situations where an organized search prevented duplication of research by as much as 42 percent per publication found; and saved organizations as much as $1,000 per article read.To date, professional organizations have taken a lead role in publishing and maintaining such databases; for instance the IET's INSPEC database. Some companies, recognizing the need for timely access to relevant engineering or scientific literature, have developed their own databases. An example of this is Ricardo Consulting Engineers' POWERLINK database (Ward, 2001). It is a database that provides information readily to engineers at Ricardo and links them to the most powerful sources of information in engineering worldwide. In this paper, we shall present a variety of databases and discuss their relevance in manufacturing engineering. We also discuss the role of professional and private organizations in creating and maintaining these databases.This article has grown from the book chapter Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering written by the authors and published in the 2007 award winning reference book Using the Engineering Literature (Osif, 2006). Editorial arrangements of Osif's book did not allow for a complete discussion of specific databases related to manufacturing engineering; therefore. this article is a complement to the book chapter.In bringing these resources together we have envisioned the whole manufacturing process from the initial idea of creating a product to the final stages of having the product in the market. The complete process is complex and expensive, and it requires the expertise and skills of many people and departments within an organization. We hope that this survey would be beneficial to those involved in the learning, teaching and practicing of the profession.Therefore, this survey has three purposes: a guide to research resources for students, an easy ready reference source for teaching faculty, researchers and professionals working in the field, and a list of essential databases for librarians not well versed with the literature of manufacturing engineering.\nDatabases: We have divided the databases identified in this survey into eight groups which have been historically recognized as the main components of technical information: abstracting and indexing services, full-text databases, industrial standards and specifications, patents information, products information, technical reports, industrial and business data, and \"other\" resources. This is not a complete list and its emphasis is on databases produced in the USA and Europe. Finally, the databases listed in the next sections are provided with an URL address where more specific details of each of them are found.A few clarifications about the tables included in this survey will be of help to the readers:* Each table has five columns: the name of the database, publisher, a brief coverage, the country of the producer, and the type of the database. For the \"type\" we used the following abbreviations: FS = Free searching, documents may be purchased. OA = Open Access, documents are free. S = Subscription based product.* In some cases the producer has a \"family\" of databases, as for example: ABI Inform, LexisNexis and EBSCO. In those cases we have only listed one of their premier databases and hope the reader will investigate other options available by using the URL posted.* Current information is most often the key to the development of successful products, therefore, we have omitted in the \"coverage\" the time span of the databases. Some databases have significant retrospective archives, but without demeritting the historical value of technology as a whole we felt that the emphasis here is currency.\nAbstracting and indexing services: For many years, abstracting and indexing publications have been the most effective means of compilation and dissemination of technical information. Their main coverage most often is articles from journals, magazines, and conference proceedings, but some also include a very select number of other documents such as books, reports, and dissertations. The information obtained from searching indexes and abstracts is limited to the bibliographic information of the documents and an abstract of the contents of the documents. In today's digital library, indexing databases are networked with full-text databases through link resolving software like SFX (ExLibris) which allows the connection of the bibliographic information in the index with the full-text document in the full-text database. For example, a citation in Compendex is linked to the full-text document in SpringerLink (or in Emerald Engineering or whoever owns the document). If the full text of the document is not available, an automatic interlibrary loan request or purchasing request can be made (see Table I).\nFull-text databases: There are several types of full-text databases. Most publishers of journals have made full-text databases of their publications. Elsevier is a typical example, all of their journals can be searched using ScienceDirect. In an aggregated database, such as ABI Inform, the producer obtained permission from multiple sources to make their full-text journals available. Some publishers allow their titles in aggregated databases but have their more recent volumes of journals held in an \"embargo\" status which means that their last year of issues is not available in full-text. In this section we present full-text databases containing mainly articles from journals and conference proceedings. Full-text databases for other types of documents are included in the other sections of this article, for example, in patents and in technical reports (see Table II).\nIndustrial standards and specifications: Industrial standards and specifications have tremendous importance in the creation of goods and products. As indicated by Allot (1985): \"Standards underpin today's technology-based world and they are the essential common language of engineering. Without them no building, no structure, no machine could be brought into useful existence.\" This statement made over twenty years ago is even more valid today. The globalization economy has made it necessary for manufacturing companies to comply with these well-established rules in order to make their products successful in the market. Industrial standards are created by national, regional and international organizations. Often, professional organizations such and IEEE and ASME have a very important role in the development of these standards. In this section, we list examples of 'sets' of standards and sources for searching and obtaining them. Examples of standards organizations are: AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) Standards, ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Standards, API (American Petroleum Institute) Standards, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Standards, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Standards, ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Standards, AWS (American Welding Society) Standards, and ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (see Table III).\nPatents information: Patents are the engine for innovation. In the case of manufacturing engineering, the rights granted to a person, a company or an institution (such as for the creation of an industrial process, the design of a machinery, or a new use or the improvement of a material) can have significant influence in a particular industry. The process of granting patent rights is complicated and usually requires the support of a legal team. In general, the use of a patent is granted by a country for a specific length of time. To have a good grasp of how searching for patents is a very important skill, engineers can save a company a substantial amount of money if a good patent search is performed before an expensive design process begins. Patent searches are also used to determine what the competition is doing or to determine new trends in a specific technical field (see Table IV).\nProducts information: An essential part of having an efficient and well-managed production process is the acquisition of proper equipment, computer hardware and software, raw materials, and machinery. The amount of industrial product information in the market is significant. The key is to identify reliable sources that will give the engineers the detailed information about a product needed to make a purchasing decision. Another way of exploring product information is by identifying products and services that are not available at all (or those needing upgrades) and that have potential in the marketplace. Product information is available in many forms from catalogs and industrial directories on paper to sophisticated online services (see Table V).\nTechnical reports: A technical report is a document produced with a specific goal: to report the findings of a project. For Auger (1985), the main areas usually presented in a report are research results, development, testing, and evaluation. \"Typically, engineering reports will contain experimental details and production data which are then consolidated into definitive information such as statistics, materials properties and processed test results.\" The major producers of technical reports are research government agencies, international organizations, research institutions, and private companies (see Table VI).\nIndustrial and business data: In this section we included databases that are of supplementary value for manufacturing industries. It includes data on industrial statistics, market reports, company profiles, stock quotes, market positions, and strategies for major economic events (e.g. energy, technology) as well as statistical data related to consumers. These databases provide both national and international coverage. This is a representative list (see Table VII).\nOther resources: Materials properties, energy supply, transportation logistics, safety, storage of products and materials, and legal problems are just a few of the other important areas in which manufacturing personnel routinely make decisions. Access to reliable data and information can be essential for the successful generation of a product. Some examples are presented in this section (see Table VIII).\nConclusion: The results of this survey show that there is a robust body of technical information for manufacturing engineering. We have demonstrated the importance of literature mining in the manufacturing process. We have also identified a significant number of resources that can be utilized in industry as well as in research. This compilation of sources is not universal; for practical reasons we have limited our survey to mainly English speaking sources, mostly produced in the USA or in European countries. With the emerging industrial and manufacturing economies of China, India, Brazil, and Eastern Europe (as well as some well-established ones such as Japan and South Korea), further identification of sources covering additional geographical areas would be the next logical step.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine current databases available for manufacturing engineering and summarizes their relevance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To promote research in manufacturing engineering, comprehensive literature should be made accessible through relevant databases. Databases not only provide information on global research but aid in assessing the impacts of research and identify promising research directions. The databases are presented in eight sections according to the type of document being sought.\nFindings: - The manufacturing engineering literature is robust; there are excellent products available to support this highly technical field. The databases found are from many different sources: commercial publishers, professional organizations, national and international agencies, and collaborative endeavors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Sources found originate mainly from the USA and Europe.\nOriginality/value: - This paper demonstrates the importance of literature mining in manufacturing engineering which is ingrained in the processes to designing, developing and producing goods and services. It is also a teaching tool for students, a guide to professional engineers, and a valuable resource for librarians.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Earnings management and goodwill impairment: An empirical analysis in the Italian M
&
A context
|
[
"Intellectual capital reporting",
"Intellectual capital",
"Strategy",
"Accounting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Acquisitions are common phenomena still extensively debated at both academic and practitioners' level. They are typical means of internationalization strategy adopted by firms aiming to expand their scope or achieve new resources.\n2. Literature review and theoretical framework: Despite more than a number of scientific contributions, there is no universally accepted definition of EM. This is probably related to the different forms of manipulation of information and accounting values that can be realized in the process of elaboration of financial reporting of a firm.\n3. Hypothesis development: The Italian legislation provides the possibility to amortize goodwill over a period of five to ten years (and therefore at an annual rate included between 10 and 20 percent). The requirement under IAS 36 to make an annual impairment testing of goodwill offers, instead, wide discretion to management; indeed, managers can choose to not perform any write-down, as well as, on the contrary, fully depreciate the asset in the subsequent year, given the difficulty to criticize their decision.\n4. Sample selection: In the present work, the authors consider that an interesting context to verify the existence of EM policies - whether of income smoothing or big bath accounting or intermediate in nature between such these two extremes - is the one following M\n5. Methodology of analysis and results: For each of the 17 firms under examination, the authors analyzed financial reports data for the year in which each acquisition took place and for the following four years. In fact, some of the firms of our sample concluded more than one acquisition in the considered timeframe, as shown in Table II. Table III shows the 79 M\n6. Concluding remarks: The first limitation of this study relates to the sample. The total number of firms selected through Zephyr and Aida (17) is low because the method we employed for the analysis forced the authors to exclude all the non-publicly listed companies (because only the listed ones are to be IFRS-compliant). Moreover, they decided to consider only those firms whose goodwill is a relevant item (at least 10 percent of total assets), as explained in the introduction.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand whether managerial behavior in impairing goodwill arising from M\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper the authors tested the following hypothesis: H1. In the year of the deal's closure and in the following four years, the management detects impairment of goodwill in difformity with the previous Italian regulations and related accounting practices. Moreover, the authors tried to determine, for each considered firms, potential symptoms of typical DEM practices widely debated in the financial accounting literature (income smoothing, income minimization, income minimization, or big bath accounting).\nFindings: Our analysis does not prove evidence of certain EM practices, but it highlights very clearly that, after the adoption of IAS/IFRS, managers' behavior has deeply changed. Moreover, the analysis shows that there is no univocal choice in favor of a specific EM practice and that every firm pursues its own \"strategy.\"\nOriginality/value: Considering the importance of the topic from both the perspectives of managerial (with regard to M\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Research on capital structure determinants: a review and future directions
|
[
"Literature review",
"Leverage",
"Meta-analysis",
"Capital structure",
"Pecking order"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed enormous changes in terms of booms and recessionary phases. It is believed that these different phases of business cycles have impacted on the value of a firm. A firm is valued depending upon its past and future investments. To finance these investments, the firm has to choose an appropriate financial mix. Financing decisions also depend upon the business cycle dynamics (i.e. whether there is an upsurge or slump in the economy). Because financial decisions relate to market forces, they are vital for the economic welfare of the firm. Financial distress, potentially leading to bankruptcy may well be a reality where management make wrong or incorrect decisions with the balance of the capital structure (Eriotis, 2007). Optimal capital structure helps in providing momentum to the development of an organization. It includes how a firm decides its long-term investment decisions and identifies suitable sources of finance. Therefore, capital structure is one of the major areas of concern for a firm. Thus, the above decisions are crucial as they significantly affect the financial performance of the firm. Financial resources of a firm can be broadly classified into equity and debt. Capital structure is the explicit fusion of debt and equity which an organization uses to back up its operating and investment decisions.\n2. An overview of capital structure research: Major research work on capital structure originates from the well-known article of Modigliani and Miller (1958) which has led to the emergence of various theories of capital structure over the last five decades. Researchers, in general, tend to have different perspectives of capital structure. Table I summarizes all the major views of renowned researchers on capital structure.\n3. Earlier review of literature on capital structure: Although capital structure is considered as an important area, research has sought to produce evidence and new ideas on issues that affect the value of the firm, only a handful of papers have reviewed literature on the topic. One of the major breakthroughs in the literature review of capital structure is provided by Harris and Raviv (1991). The following is the list of review papers on capital structure in chronological order:\n4. Research methodology: The methodology used for reviewing the literature must be systematic; it must explicitly describe the procedure for conducting the review, comprehensive in scope and include all relevant material related to particular phenomena (Fink, 2005). In this paper, we have used systematic literature review methodology to analyze the research work on capital structure. A systematic review is a tool used to summarize, appraise and communicate the results and implications of a large quantity of research and information. It aims to provide an exhaustive summary of current literature relevant to the research question. The systematic review methodology is designed to reduce any unintended bias, which may occur in the use of other review methodologies (Bimrose et al., 2005).\n5. Research segmentation and categorization: The research articles that finally met our delimitation criteria were analyzed for the research outlets. After selection, we classified relevant research articles based on various parameters to better understand the research done so far regarding capital structure determinants. While designing the categorization parameters, we ensured that there was synchronization and relevance of classification so that a well-organized and systematic analysis of the extant literature was performed. We then classified our studies under the following categories:\n6. Research gaps: In this paper, we present our analysis sequentially, and we thereby make an attempt to unearth the gaps in the existing literature on capital structure determinants. We sum up our findings as follows:\n7. Future avenues for research: Although it is clear from our literature survey that researchers, academics and practitioners have considered capital structure to be one of the most interesting topics to explore in the past 40 years, capital structure decisions remain inconclusive (Harris and Raviv, 1991). This paper has shown the current status of the existing literature on capital structure determinants from the perspective of region, year of study, state of economy, size of firms, type of industry, data collection methods, data analysis techniques and theories supporting empirical literature. Undoubtedly, research needs to be done meticulously, and the focus should be on providing a solution to real-life problems. We have identified the following issues that may require further investigation:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the status of studies on capital structure determinants in the past 40 years. This paper highlights the major gaps in the literature on determinants of capital structure and also aims to raise specific questions for future research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The prominence of research is assessed by studying the year of publication and region, level of economic development, firm size, data collection methods, data analysis techniques and theoretical models of capital structure from the selected papers. The review is based on 167 papers published from 1972 to 2013 in various peer-reviewed journals. The relationship of determinants of capital structure is analyzed with the help of meta-analysis.\nFindings: Major findings show an increase of interest in research on determinants of capital structure of the firms located in emerging markets. However, it is observed that these regions are still under-examined which provides more scope for research both empirical and survey-based studies. Majority of research studies are conducted on large-sized firms by using secondary data and regression-based models for the analysis, whereas studies on small-sized firms are very meager. As majority of the research papers are written only at the organizational level, the impact of leverage on various industries is yet to be examined. The review highlights the major determinants of capital structure and their relationship with leverage. It also reveals the dominance of pecking order theory in explaining capital structure of firms theoretically as well as statistically.\nOriginality/value: The paper covers a considerable period of time (1972-2013). Among very few review papers on capital structure research, to the best of authors' knowledge; this is the first review to identify what is missing in the literature on the determinants of capital structure while offering recommendations for future studies. It also synthesize the findings of empirical studies on determinants of capital structure statistically.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Harm in price promotions: when coupons elicit reactance
|
[
"Promotions",
"Attitudes",
"Coupon expiration date",
"Coupon value",
"Psychological reactance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Price promotions such as Black Friday sales, discounts advertised in stores' weekly circulars and coupons sent to consumers' inboxes and mailboxes are ubiquitous in the marketplace. This research examines when price promotions, specifically coupons, may negatively affect consumers' attitudes toward a company. The popularity of coupons has risen in recent years, beginning with the onset of the economic decline in 2008 (Arends, 2010), and according to Inmar's 2015 report on coupon trends, 319 billion coupons were distributed in 2014 for packaged goods alone. When, however, do coupons hurt consumers' attitudes toward a company?\nConceptual background: Coupon goals\nThe current research: This research applies the theory of psychological reactance to understand consumers' responses to coupons with restrictive requirements for redemption. In particular, whereas prior research highlights the firm benefits of offering short-duration coupons (Inman and McAlister, 1994; Krishna and Zhang, 1999), the current study argues that harmful outcomes can result from this tactic. In particular, when promotions incorporate restrictive requirements, such as a short duration for coupon redemption, consumers might react negatively because they perceive these promotions as an overt attempt to guide decision-making. When this occurs, consumers' psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966) will lead to decreased attitudes toward the company - that is, the coupon backfires.\nStudy 1: Study 1 tests H1 and H2 to determine the role of reactance in consumers' responses to short (vs long) duration coupons and the effect of the face value of the coupon. This was done using a three-factor design: coupon duration (short vs long) and coupon value (high vs low) were manipulated between subjects; psychological reactance was measured with Hong and Faedda's (1996) scale. The dependent variable was consumers' overall attitudes toward the company, measured with Holbrook and Batra's (1987) attitude toward the brand scale.\nStudy 2: This study tests H3 - that reactant consumers will have lower attitudes toward the company when offered a low-value coupon with a short duration compared to in the absence of a coupon. To do so, participants were either shown a low-value coupon with a relatively short duration or shown no coupon at all - instead viewing the company logo. In addition, to further examine the role of psychological reactance in consumers' responses to short-duration coupons, half of the participants presented with the coupon were primed with psychological reactance, whereas the other half were not. In other words, participants saw one of three conditions: coupon/reactance prime, coupon/no reactance prime or no coupon. The coupon presented to participants in the first two conditions was a real-world coupon, with the same value (\"free appetizer or dessert with purchase of an entree\") and duration (four days, a Monday through a Thursday) as coupons actually distributed by Chili's, a popular casual dining restaurant chain. This approach was chosen to add external validity to the research. Finally, as in Study 1, the dependent variable was consumers' overall attitudes toward the company (Holbrook and Batra, 1987).\nGeneral discussion: Two studies examining consumers' responses to coupons for restaurants provide evidence that offering short-duration coupons can backfire for a company. Psychological reactance underlies this effect, suggesting that consumers respond negatively to short-duration coupons because they perceive these coupons as the company's attempt to limit their freedom of choice. Further, this research demonstrates that offering a high (vs low) value coupon can attenuate this effect. Specifically, in Study 1, we demonstrate that consumers prone to experiencing psychological reactance have lower attitudes toward a company when they are offered a low-value (10 per cent off) coupon with a short duration for redemption (good for one day only), which indicates the potential ill effects of offering coupons with restrictive redemption requirements. However, reactant consumers' attitudes toward the company are not adversely affected by a short-duration coupon when the value of the coupon is high (50 per cent off), which indicates that even these hard-to-please consumers can be \"bought\". Study 2 then provides further evidence for the role of reactance in consumers' responses to coupons while extending Study 1's findings. Specifically, Study 2 demonstrates that a reactant response to a low-value coupon with a duration of four days leads to lower attitudes toward the company compared to both in the absence of a reactant response to the coupon and in the absence of a coupon. Next we discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.\nConclusion: Consumers respond negatively to price promotions with overly restrictive requirements. In particular, low-value short-duration coupons hurt reactant consumers' overall attitudes toward the company. Although restrictive requirements aimed to increase incremental sales may provide benefits to the firm, marketers must carefully balance these with the possibility of such tactics backfiring. Two ways to strike such a balance are to ensure that the incentives for reactant consumers to take advantage of a price promotion are high enough (e.g. offer high-value coupons) and/or target promotions with restrictive requirements to consumers least likely to experience psychological reactance in response to these marketing tactics.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This research aims to demonstrate that coupons with short durations for redemption can backfire, lowering consumers' attitudes toward the company.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two experimental studies in the restaurant context demonstrate the backfire effect. A boundary condition of the effect as well as the underlying psychological process are identified.\nFindings: Consumers respond adversely to coupons with restrictive requirements for redemption - in particular, a short duration. Study 1 indicates that while a short-duration (vs long-duration) coupon may backfire when its face value is low, this backfire effect is attenuated when the coupon's face value is high. Furthermore, Studies 1 and 2 provide evidence that psychological reactance is the process underlying this backfire effect.\nOriginality/value: Consumers respond negatively to coupons with restrictive requirements for redemption because they perceive them as a company's attempt to limit their freedom of choice. Companies should take measures, including careful target marketing, to avoid rousing this reaction from their consumers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A reply to Lingard
|
[
"Lingard",
"Robert",
"Meaning",
"Truth",
"Information",
"Intentionality",
"Realism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: I am very grateful that Robert Lingard took the time to write his very thoughtful critical paper and that the Journal of Documentation has given me the opportunity to reply. One thing strikes me as obvious as I re-read my article and read Lingard's; I could have, and should have, been much clearer in my thinking and my expressing the thoughts. One source for Lingard's response is the confusion I created. Because of the confusion, it is apparent to me that Lingard and I are in fundamental agreement on many points. For example, I did not intend to communicate information's limitation to absolute meaning and/or absolute truth (neither goal would be attainable). Also, I did intend to include a breadth of potentially interpretable actions and sources, whether they be speech or something else. Architecture, for instance, is certainly an instance of an interpretable source. That said, the human action of which I wrote is indeed a deliberate limitation; it is an intentional action that I am able to address here. Lingard explicitly takes issue with this idea; he states his objection, in part, as a component of the \"anthropocentric criterion.\" I would counter that his objection at this point is a quibble; information, I would continue to argue, is that which is interpreted by humans. Bees can be said to communicate, but their communication is a stimulus to behavior on the part of other bees in the hive. Any behavioristic criterion could be rejected on methodological, scientific, and philosophical grounds. The scope of my concern, moreover, is beyond the scope of such methodologies as Dervin's \"sense-making.\"\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to provide a critical reply to Robert Lingard's close reading of a previously published paper of the present author's, \"Meaning, truth, and information.\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach adopted in this paper is an examination of Lingard's argument and counter-points, employing (primarily) logical and rhetorical analysis of his claims.\nFindings: - While some of Lingard's criticisms are legitimate and must be admitted, many have to be subjected to rebuttal on the basis of misreading, logical error, and discursive misapprehension of points made in the original article.\nOriginality/value: - Since the present paper is a reply to another author's work, originality is constrained by the arguments and claims made by that author. That said, additional analysis is added to the matters of meaning, truth, and information in an effort to clarify and expand upon the essence of the original article.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The dark side of social media connectivity: Influence on turnover intentions of supply chain professionals
|
[
"China",
"Work–life balance",
"Supply chain management",
"Turnover intention",
"Emotional exhaustion",
"Social media connectivity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social media refers to a group of internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content in real time (Brooks, 2015; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Examples include popular platforms like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and lesser known but widely used WeChat, Sina Weibo and Tencent QQ in China. Originally designed for individuals to connect with friends and relatives, the use of social media as a coordination and communication tool has spread rapidly in the business domain (Kane et al., 2010; Leonardi, 2014; Roth et al., 2016). A recent survey reveals that 77 percent of small businesses (Score, 2018) and 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies (Cohen, 2017) in USA use social media to facilitate business functions. Research also shows that 90 percent of Chinese professionals use WeChat for work-related communications (Jing, 2017). Being ubiquitous and easy to use, social media goes beyond traditional media (Aral et al., 2013) and has become a particularly attractive tool for supply chain professionals for coordinating spatially dispersed activities and relationships (Chan et al., 2017). In upstream processes of supply chain management, social media provides information that enables real-time monitoring of partner reputations, risk assessments and transaction analysis. In downstream processes, social media shifts service recovery to the online domain as customers increasingly use it for purchase decisions and service review (Gu and Ye, 2014). Thus, because social media allows users to communicate and share information easily with network members, there is a growing trend for supply chain professionals to use social media to manage manufacturing flows, track order fulfillment, forecast disruptions and orchestrate relationships (Barnawal, 2014; Chan et al., 2017; Loiacono and McCoy, 2018).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 COR: an information overload perspective\n3. Research methods: 3.1 Sample and procedures\n4. Analysis and results: Before testing the hypotheses, a series of statistical analyses was undertaken to ascertain reliability, multi-collinearity, discriminant validity and correlation. Table III summarizes the means, standard deviations, reliabilities and correlations of variables used for hypotheses testing. The correlations between the focal variables were statistically significant and in the direction as expected. SMC was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion (g=0.13, p<0.05) and turnover intention (g=0.14, p<0.05), and emotional exhaustion was positively correlated with turnover intention (g=0.42, p<0.01). In addition, variance inflation factors ranged between 1.01 and 1.07, demonstrating that multi-collinearity was not a concern (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). To further test the discriminant validity of the key variables, we adopted Fornell and Larcker (1981) criteria. The AVE for emotional exhaustion, turnover intention and work-life balance were respectively 0.55, 0.73 and 0.60, above the 0.50 threshold. The square roots of these AVEs belonging to the respective variables were also larger than the correlation between them, providing further support for discriminant validity.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: As social media technologies continue to evolve, they are predicted to become more widely used for managing supply chains (Cabosky, 2016; Chae, 2015; Lam et al., 2016) due to advantages they afford. However, there is increasing evidence that social media can also be harmful on users such as supply chain professionals and have negative consequences on organizational performance (Dhir et al., 2018). Surprisingly little attention has been paid to the human element associated with social media use in supply chain management. This research therefore contributes to a small emerging literature on the dark side of social media use by investigating the unintended consequences of SMC on the turnover intentions of supply chain professionals. The findings based on employees of a large manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceutical products in China confirm previous research that social media can have negative effects on employee work outcomes by depleting their psychological resources (e.g. Dhir et al., 2018; Fox and Moreland, 2015). Specifically, the study finds that SMC leads to emotional exhaustion which in turn exacerbates the turnover intentions of supply chain professionals. The study also finds that work-life balance provides positive resources that help supply chain professionals to mitigate the negative influence of SMC on their intention to quit the job. Together, these findings suggest that SMC has debilitating effects on supply chain professionals' intentions to voluntarily leave their jobs that can disrupt supply chain activities and negatively impact on the overall profitability of supply chain organizations. However, the findings also suggest that work-life balance may be a useful intervention tool for managing the depletion of emotional exhaustion and the feeling of being over extended from SMC.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The increasing use of social media after work hours for work purposes, termed social media connectivity (SMC), is an emerging phenomenon in supply chain management. Although SMC can have debilitating effects on supply chain professionals and their organizations, research on its effects on work-related attitudes, especially turnover intentions, remains largely unexplored. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of SMC on voluntary turnover of supply chain professionals and the resulting implications for them and their organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study draws from the conservation of resources theory and the concept of information overload to explain how SMC leads to emotional exhaustion and impacts turnover intentions of supply chain professionals, contingent on work-life balance. The model is tested using survey data (n=325) collected at multiple times from a large Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor with spatially dispersed workforce and distribution facilities.\nFindings: The results confirm that emotional exhaustion mediates the association between SMC and turnover intentions and that SMC exacerbates the intentions of supply chain professionals to quit their jobs. However, work-life balance is found to dampen the exhausting effects of SMC on emotional exhaustion thereby reducing its debilitating effects on turnover intentions of supply chain professionals.\nOriginality/value: The focus on SMC highlights the need for greater understanding of the dark side of social media on supply chain professionals and their organizations and how SMC can be better managed in an age of social media ubiquity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Leveraging creativity and innovation through training and development interventions: Learnings from the Spanish manufacturing industry's quest for enhanced financial performance
|
[
"Training and development",
"Innovation performance",
"Financial performance",
"Training and development for creativity and innovation",
"Manufacturing and personnel strategies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: SpaceX founder Elon Musk maintains that he prizes skills far above degrees, which accepts the realities of a global skills shortage and rapid shifts in the learning needs of people who can add value to engineering-focussed companies. A research paper by Manresa et al. (2019) concentrates on how training and development (T&D) practices impact an organization's innovation and financial performance, as well as the relationship between innovation performance and financial performance. In doing so the paper aims to raise awareness among managers of the value that T&D can bring to individual employees, and of T&D's contribution to achieving organizational outcomes. The authors also seek to help companies understand which T&D practices can be used to nurture the type of innovation they wish to develop. Data for the study consists of responses from 162 Spanish manufacturing firms, taken from a larger Europe-wide survey carried out in 2013. The respondents answered questions relating to innovation in the context of manufacturing and personnel strategies, and about the application of innovative concepts in production.\nInnovation benefits and the role of TD4CI: Innovation helps organizations become more agile, enabling them to flex and adapt more easily to changing market conditions and achieve continued success. Training and development for creativity and innovation (TD4CI) refers to specific training practices that aim to enhance the innovation performance of organizations, plus TD4CI also alludes to financial performance benefits. It's widely recognized that the continuous learning and development of employees helps create intangible resources for an organization that are capable of fortifying it with competitive advantage. For example, TD4CI practices could be deployed to better serve customers through employees using the principles they've learned to improve existing products and services or to develop new ones. In consequence, on a personal level, TD4CI could also promote career progression as a result of improving an individual's performance. This kind of innovation in business has the potential to create new markets, form customer preferences, and to even affect consumer behavior.\nThe survey results: The following four training practices were analysed within the study: employee training for creativity and innovation, formalized idea generation sessions, dedicated work time (WT) to focus on creativity, and dedicated WT to focus on talent development programs. Probing the respondents about their manufacturing and personnel strategies - by asking questions such as \"Has your factory introduced any products since 2009 that were either completely new to the factory or incorporated major technical changes?\" - generated the following results, that:\nInsights generated by TD4CI in practice: Overall, companies that chose to invest in TD4CI practices were more likely to produce new-to-the-firm products compared to those that didn't. This is because the results indicate that TD4CI practices encourage employees to think more creatively and generate more ideas, which can lead to enhanced innovation performance. However TD4CI is no innovation panacea, since the results also demonstrate that TD4CI practices are not enough alone to create new-to-the-market products. Indeed, TD4CI practices proved to be more effective in influencing product development innovation as opposed to service development innovation. Furthermore, TD4CI practices were found to be most effective in facilitating new service innovations in organizations that are 15 years old or younger.\nKey advice for HR managers: Based on the results, the authors offer the following guidance to HR managers interested in reaping the maximum benefit from a TD4CI implementation:\nCommentary: The review is based on 'The impact of training and development practices on innovation and financial performance' by Manresa et al. (2019), published in Industrial and Commercial Training. This research paper explores the potential of training and development for creativity and innovation (TD4CI) practices to enhance innovation and/or financial performance. The results demonstrate that companies who aim to develop new-to-the-firm product or service innovations should benefit from a TD4CI intervention, whereas those seeking to create new-to-the-market products are advised to find more effective training solutions. Applying TD4CI to new-to-the-firm product innovation produced the greatest increase in financial performance. The low take-up of TD4CI among Spanish manufacturers means they're missing out on potential innovation and financial performance gains where their objective is clear and TD4CI-compatible.\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 explores the potential of training and development for creativity and innovation (TD4CI) practices to enhance innovation and/or financial performance. The results demonstrate that companies who aim to develop new-to-the-firm product or service innovations should benefit from a TD4CI intervention, whereas those seeking to create new-to-the-market products are advised to find more effective training solutions. Applying TD4CI to new-to-the firm product innovation produced the greatest increase in financial performance. The low take-up of TD4CI among Spanish manufacturers means they're missing out on potential innovation and financial performance gains where their objective is clear and TD4CI-compatible\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A healthcare case study of team learner style and change management
|
[
"Change management",
"Team working",
"Learning styles",
"Change team",
"Health care",
"Implementation science"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Obama-Biden healthcare plan (2008) proposes to invest $10 billion a year for five years to adopt a standards-based electronic health information system (HIS) that includes electronic health records (Walker, 2009). Hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide are in the process of adopting or aligning their HIS with the standards set by the administration. These adoption or alignment projects can be defined as change management in the healthcare industry. Multilevel players (e.g. individuals, groups, subunits, organizations, inter-organizational networks, etc.) interact to impact the performance of an organization (Hitt et al., 2007). It is important - albeit complex - to understand organizational development in an era of team-based organizations (West et al., 2003), communities of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991), networks (Snow et al., 2000), strategic alliances (Hamel, 1991; Simonin, 1999), and virtual organizations. Using Kolb's (1984) learning style inventory, the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of learner style and change management success. Defining the team as the unit of analysis, data from non-participant observation, a survey, and semi-structured interviews were collected. We then examined the ratio and distribution of the learning profiles within and across teams and compared and contrasted patterns of successful and less successful change teams.\nLiterature review: Healthcare organization complexity and change\nResearch context and participants: To qualify for inclusion in this study, the subject team had to meet the criteria of both planning for and going through a change or transition. In September 2006, a qualified team was identified through the recommendation of the Provost of Research in a southeast medical university. The organization is a medical center whose hospital houses approximately 850 beds with a daily capacity of about 200,000 patients. The hospital was constructed in 1955 with federally supported funds. For six consecutive years, the National Research Corporation awarded this medical center the Consumer Choice Award for overall quality and image among hospitals in the primary service area. In the 2000s, the children's hospital, digestive disease, heart, and vascular centers were all ranked in the top 25 by US News and World Report's (2010) surveys of the best hospitals in America. The medical center also received the Outstanding Community Service Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges in its recent history.Since the 1990s, leadership in the organization placed increased emphasis on strategic planning for the new hospital. In response to changing market forces, the organizational strategic plan set up three major initiatives: to reduce costs through change management efforts, to increase primary care capacity, and to explore possible affiliations with other hospitals in the region. The subject team for this study, an Action Coordinating Committee (ACC), was charged with the responsibility of planning the move of selected units in the existing hospital to the new, replacement hospital. Members of the ACC included directors and team leaders of various clinical units (e.g. heart and vascular, digestive disease, nursing) and supporting business departments (e.g. hospital information technology, facility, human resources). ACC members met regularly for updates on project progress. Meeting frequency ranged from monthly to weekly as the targeted hospital opening date approached. General agenda items included personnel changes such as new hires and new coordinators assigned to leading key positions, reports celebrating good practice, milestone developments to inform peer team coordinators of progress, logistical arrangements concerning appropriate movements of facilities and people, financial reports, and construction updates on the progress of financing and operational planning.Members of the ACC team were invited to participate in our research with the knowledge that the team learner style survey would provide members with information about both personal and colleagues' styles and that this information might result in better communication and cooperation. All ACC team members and their respective departmental staff (e.g. heart and vascular leaders and staff in the whole unit) were invited to complete the learner style survey. In the debriefing process (feedback on the styles), the team leader was informed of his/her personal learner style and the overall team profile distribution (without specific individual information revealed to the team leader). Then, team leaders' permissions were obtained to share their styles with respective staff members. Individual learner style information was shared with respondents on a private and personal basis. After the debriefing, individuals were encouraged but not required to share their learner styles with colleagues with whom they worked closely. All team leaders agreed to share their learner styles with members and most respondents who participated in the exercise were eager to exchange learner style information with one other. An example team learner style distribution is shown in Appendix 1.Profiles and data demography\nOrganizational culture: This section discusses the background of the subjects under study, and their history, development and organizational culture.Change management history\nResearch approach: The field of implementation science has historically used case study to understand how complex interpersonal dynamics take shape in concrete situations (Petersilia, 1990; Taylor et al., 1999). We are especially interested in the role of learner style in the success of change efforts within a team setting. Thus, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was employed in this study to examine team behavior. As change in healthcare is an organic process that evolves over time with different unstructured and serendipitous situations, Strauss and Corbin (1990) suggest that exploration of an unrefined phenomenon is best researched through the use of qualitative methods such as interviews and case studies. Weiss (1994) particularly endorses the qualitative interview approach where the researcher can integrate multiple perspectives, describe the process, identify variables, and frame hypotheses for subsequent quantitative research.Survey questionnaire\nResults and discussion: Leadership assessment\nLimitations: This is a single case study that included examination of several sub-teams and how the sizes of the teams varied. Also, no comparison was made with other medical institutions. A larger-scale study involving comparison of more than one hospital's transition would be meaningful for further generalization. The possibility of observing more departmental meetings could further enrich the data collection, especially for relevant events that could not be captured in a standardized questionnaire.Some might argue that individual learner styles change over time and that subjects may tune to a different learning style as the situation or environment required. While it is valid to say that people change over time, the focus of this exercise is on the predisposition of the team members' learner styles (i.e. the most often used or predominate preference for the intake and processing of information) and their possible contribution in a change context. A longitudinal study of the team members' change/non-change in learner style may establish further insights into how learning styles affect change effectiveness.\nConclusion and contribution: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of team member learning styles (Kolb, 1984) on change management in a healthcare context. Extant literature has explored learner style and its impact on individual education (Weil, 1975) and career development (Kolb, 1984). However, there is limited understanding of how learner style distributions affect team members on task execution in a change management context, particularly in the healthcare industry. This study suggests strategic placement of personnel throughout the change process to initiate, support, and reinforce the change. It surveyed the learning styles of an action coordinating team of 23 senior managers (hospital administrators and directors) from 12 departments within a major medical university. Several departmental leaders volunteered to have their members complete a survey yielding 77 responses. Information collected from semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, and meeting minutes was analyzed to examine the patterns of communication and interaction among team members in the planning and execution of the hospital relocation.Results suggest that a learner ratio that favors convergers and assimilators over divergers and accommodators may be the most effective staffing strategy for change leadership teams in a health environment. Specially, the leadership team studied had a ratio of 6:2:1:2 for convergers, assimilators, divergers, accommodators. Research results regarding the effectiveness of team diversity on team performance is mixed (Knight et al., 1999; Mohammed and Angell, 2003; Horwitz and Horwitz, 2007). Kramer and Standifer (2009) discuss the impact of temporal diversity of team process and effectiveness. However, discussion on the degree and composition of the team diversity from a learner style perspective is still limited, especially in a change context. This finding is significant for exploring effective team management in a constantly changing and competitive healthcare environment.Implications for management\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the learner styles of a healthcare institution transition team and its respective members within a change management context. In particular we focus on the role of learner style in the success of change efforts within a team setting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper presents a case study that employs a questionnaire survey, non-participant observation, and semi-structured interviews as part of a larger study of healthcare change management.\nFindings: - Findings suggest that a mix of learning styles is ideal for successful healthcare change management. Specifically, this limited study suggests a learner ratio that favors convergers and assimilators over divergers and accommodators may be the most effective staffing strategy for change leadership teams in a healthcare environment.\nOriginality/value: - Managing change in healthcare has been researched from a process perspective but few studies examine the individual team members' learner styles and the impact of these learning styles over time. Implications for human resources and change implementation are discussed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A case study of functional benchmarking as a source of knowledge for car parking strategies
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Best practice",
"Airports",
"Employees",
"Financial benefits",
"Car parks (buildings)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Many international airports are operating close to capacity, a problem that is likely to become more acute given the projected long-term growth in air traffic. This growth is likely to have major implications on runway, terminal, and surface access capacity, infrastructure which is already experiencing constraints. The area of surface access is as much, if not more an issue in terms of employees accessing the airport as it is for passengers. Employees represent a particular problem for airports in terms of surface access due to the frequent, peak hour nature of trips made and their higher usage rates of the car compared to passengers. A range of initiatives exist to encourage the use of modes of transport other than the private car by employees but overall these measures tend to be \"soft\" in nature and one generally has to look to the non-airport sector to see examples of more innovative \"harder\" initiatives such as financial incentive and disincentive car parking measures direct to employees.This paper presents evidence from a functional benchmarking exercise which potentially has benefits for not just airports, but organisations wishing to learn from other organisations in the area of employee surface access and specifically car parking. It concludes that there are four key areas that organisations should focus on when exploring the issues surrounding the implementation of a car parking charge or car parking cash out direct to employees. This includes:1. The use of a package approach.2. A requirement for top management support.3. Gaining acceptance from employees.4. The issues surrounding the process of implementation.\n2 The problem of surface access to airports: Airport capacity is dependent on a number of factors including air traffic control, runway and taxiway, terminal and apron, and surface access. Constraints in any of these areas has a serious impact on the efficient functioning of the airport. Long-term projections in international air travel show continued growth of over 3-4 percent per annum (Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, 2005). This growth is likely to have major implications on runway, terminal, and surface access capacity, infrastructure which is already experiencing constraints to a greater or lesser extent.Surface access to the airport is a crucial part of the whole journey by air. Transportation time to the airport is one of the three most important factors affecting the choice of an airport by a passenger, the other two being the number of flights offered and the price of the flight ticket. It is not just passengers who use the surface access system however - employees, suppliers to the airport, so-called meeters and greeters and other visitors also make use of it (Kazda and Caves, 2000).At medium and large airports, the number of employees who commute represents between one quarter and one half of the daily number of airline passengers (Kazda and Caves, 2000). Employees also account for two access trips to the airport each day, whereas most passengers will only make one access trip in a day. For these reasons the employee surface access market is of the same order of magnitude as the passenger surface access market.2.1 The case study airport profile\n3 Literature review: Best practice benchmarking is a performance improvement technique \"through which organisations continually review the outputs from their operations and identify ways to make changes in their processes so that better outputs result\" (Holloway et al., 1998, p. 1). The essence of benchmarking can be traced to the Japanese word dantotsu, which means striving to be the \"best of the best\" (Camp, 1989). The term benchmarking covers a range of activities and the purpose and effectiveness of these varies between organisations. As a process insights into benchmarking can be found within the literature of management disciplines such as accounting and human resource management (Leseure et al., 2004 literature review of promising practices, which draws upon these and other disciplines).This range of practices means that a number of typologies exist (Francis and Holloway, 2007). The most commonly used and accepted typology is that of internal, competitive, functional, and generic benchmarking (Zairi and Leonard, 1994; Camp, 1995; Francis et al., 1999; Holloway et al., 1999; Hinton et al., 2000). These four categories have subsequently been expanded upon by other authors and a wide range of typologies now exist. These include \"results\" and \"process\" benchmarking (Trosa and Williams, 1996), \"problem-based\" and \"process-based\" benchmarking (Camp, 1995), \"compulsory\" and \"voluntary\" benchmarking (Helgason, 1997; Bowerman et al., 2002) and \"strategic\" and \"operational\" benchmarking (Camp, 1995).The most commonly accepted typologies are internal, competitive, functional and generic benchmarking. The benchmarking activity in this paper is perhaps best described as functional.3.1 Functional benchmarking\n4 Methodology: In this paper, there are two areas involved in the benchmarking exercise. The first was the nature of the car parking strategy being used within an airport context and the non-airport case studies in terms of which instruments are used to reduce the number of people driving to work. The second focused on how the non-airport organisations have implemented employee car parking initiatives and how they have gained staff acceptance. Including these issues within the benchmarking exercise allowed the airport to learn from other organisations who have successfully introduced such strategies. In this way the benchmarking exercise could be viewed as having two streams - one of \"practice,\" focused on the actual measures used in the strategy and one of \"principle,\" focused on the process of change, the reasons for the implementing the strategy and how it was implemented (Figure 1).The organisations selected were identified as \"leaders\" in terms of the car parking measures they have introduced and overall travel planning, although not necessarily as leaders in terms of implementing change. It is believed that by selecting organisations who have proved successful in terms of their car parking strategy and travel planning, however, that they provide valuable lessons not least in the areas of implementation and staff acceptance.Functional benchmarking is the most suitable approach to benchmarking the processes surrounding employee car parking with the processes and experiences of non-airport organisations. The organisations chosen from the non-airport sector represented examples of best practice in terms of travel planning and car parking strategies. As the processes being examined were within the same function of the business but the organisations were from another industry they fitted the definition of functional benchmarking. It could be argued that the non-airport sites selected demonstrated innovative and exemplar processes and hence the nature of the benchmarking may be generic.Owing to a need to keep participating organisations anonymous they are not named but the chosen cases include an airport from whose perspective the information was gathered, a hospital, university, and pharmaceutical company. The three non-airport case studies against which the airport was benchmarked were selected because of their recognised position of demonstrating best practice in terms of car parking policy and travel planning in general. The decision to investigate three case studies was taken so that a range of experiences could be explored, but without the original research becoming too large and unmanageable. Criteria were drawn up to enable a structured selection as listed below. The criteria developed stated that the organisations needed to:1. Have monitored travel plan/parking strategy effectiveness.2. Have achieved a reduction in car use.3. Exemplify aspects of best practice in travel planning.4. Have experience that is relevant to others.5. Be comparable to the airport, in terms of:* confined space on site;* shift workers;* range of car park users;* size of organisation (employees); and* commitment to travel plans.6. Where possible be recognised as being leaders, through:* awards gained; and* inclusion in guides and document detailing best practice organisations.7. Encompass a range of measures in their travel plan/parking strategy.The comparability of the cases to the airport is summarised in Table I.The data were gathered through a series of semi-structured interviews with 14 managers at the cases study sites. Semi-structured interviews and documentation were identified as the main methods for providing relevant data. The semi-structured interviews allowed for the flexibility required while also ensuring that the specific areas of interest were fully explored. All the interviews lasted approximately 1 h, the shortest was 45 min and the longest 1 h and 20 min, and were split into various sections to be covered. The same schedule of questions was used at each of the case study sites, with minor modifications being made to suit the individual characteristics of each site and the interviewees area of expertise.\n5 Findings from functional benchmarking at three non-airport organisations: As stated, the same processes were compared at three non-airport comparator organisations These processes have been defined as those areas which are most important to the airport in the area of employee car parking. The benchmarking process followed was set out in the methodology section (Figure 1) and in Table II.To this end, the analysis conducted in each sub-section of this section will allow for the increased understanding from the non-airport organisations, for improvement areas to be highlighted and for provisional findings and conclusions to be drawn as to how the situation at the airport could be improved in terms of introducing an employee car parking measure such as a direct parking charge or financial incentive.Selecting the most suitable measures to deal with the car parking issues Table III shows the issues surrounding the selection of the most suitable measures to deal with the car parking issues.5.1 A package approach\n6 Concluding remarks: This paper has presented a discussion of the findings from the functional benchmarking study conducted at the airport in comparison to those conducted at the university, hospital and the pharmaceutical company in order to explore whether good practice in the non-airport sector could be transferred to an airport context. Four main areas were addressed:1. Selecting the most suitable measures to deal with the car parking problem.2. Management support.3. Gaining acceptance.4. Implementation.Within each section the findings from the interviews conducted at the airport and compared to the findings from the non-airport organisation. This allowed for differences in each area of interest to be identified.This paper has sought to illustrate how functional benchmarking has been used as a tool to facilitate the comparison between the airport and non-airport organisations. The non-airport organisations had extensive knowledge based on their experiences. Research into the use of benchmarking in the airport sector revealed that it was widely used as a performance improvement technique but that airports almost exclusively benchmarked with similar organisations, almost invariably other airports. It was stated by Fry et al. (2005, p. 135) that \"further benefits from benchmarking may be realised if airport managers consider looking for exemplar practices of the processes they are trying to manage and improve at dissimilar airports or even generic examples within other industries.\" This is a key contribution of the research as it provides a rare in-depth example of benchmarking being conducted by an airport with non-airport organisations and therefore adds to the knowledge base in the area.The benchmarking exercise was conducted from an objective viewpoint in that it was carried out by a researcher not employed by the benchmarking organisation. This helped to remove any bias which may have existed had a similar benchmarking exercise been conducted by a member of airport's management. It can be argued that this may be a limitation because a member of staff from the benchmarking organisation would have a greater understanding of the processes being benchmarked.The notion of finding \"best practice\" has been questioned by some authors, most notably Cox and Thompson (1998), who argued that \"best practice\" differs for each organisation depending on their individual circumstances and the particular point in time. It was also stated that the \"best\" companies may not wish to take part in the benchmarking exercise (Anderson et al., 1999). While this potential limitation is important, it is considered that the selection of the organisations was justified on sound methodological grounds. The lack of comparability of the airport and the non-airport organisations was not sufficient to prevent beneficial inter-organisational learning taking place using a functional benchmarking approach. Despite the problems that have been noted with the way in which functional benchmarking has been conducted in this study, the authors contend that it can still be seen to be a useful tool, particularly when used together with the other methodologies.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the process benefits and findings of a functional benchmarking exercise. It explores the issues surrounding the potential introduction of a direct employee car parking financial incentive or disincentive measure at an airport, drawing on best practice from specific non-airport organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study approach is taken in which three different organisations are considered from a functional benchmarking perspective.\nFindings: - There are direct findings in terms of how to develop employee parking strategies/policies.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper adds to the practical literature on functional benchmarking by presenting evidence from a benchmarking exercise of three case study organisations.\nPractical implications: - There are practical findings in terms of the potential benefits and limitations from a functional benchmarking exercise. There are also practical recommendations in terms of organisations seeking to develop and implement staff car parking strategies.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides an illustration of functional benchmarking in practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Tax avoidance, anti-abuse clauses and arbitration courts: a note on capital gains' exemption
|
[
"Portugal",
"Tax planning",
"Anti abuse clauses",
"Capital gains"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, public awareness of tax avoidance, a major global problem, has emerged. Multinationals such as Starbucks or Google opted for voluntarily increasing their corporate tax paid in the UK after tax dealings with affiliates in Holland and Switzerland were exposed and questioned (Sikka, 2013). The revelations of Panama Papers called into question the motivations of many international flows of funds and their links to tax minimization. In the USA, some high prolife firms (e.g. Pfizer) have been on the spotlight because of strategies aimed at reducing taxes. The OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project and its recommendations for tackling tax avoidance is an example of international coordination of efforts to deal with the issue (OECD, 2013).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Tax planning, avoidance and evasion. Conceptual issues and empirical evidence\n3. Methodology: The methodology used in this paper is based on a mix of the legal research method and case analysis. Legal research methodology used here is indebted to the work of Chynoweth (2008) and van Hoecke (2011). Case analysis is an established research tool in the tax field.\n4. The taxation of dividends and capital gains in Portugal between 1989 and 2010: 4.1 The taxation of capital gains from corporate stock realized by individuals: the solution adopted by the 1989 tax reform\n5. The Portuguese general anti-abuse clause: a brief history and its application: In 1998, a General Tax Law (Lei Geral Tributaria) was enacted in Portugal. For the first time, its Article 38 established what is a rudimentary form of a GAAC. It stated:\n6. Tax arbitration in Portugal: an overview: Tax arbitration courts were created by Decree Law 10/2011. A detailed analysis of tax arbitration in Portugal can be found in Villa-lobos and Pereira (2015)[4].\n7. Arbitration courts and the application of the general anti abuse clause to LLC change of legal status and capital gains' exemption: 7.1 Description of divergent rulings related to capital gains exemption and their rationale\n8. Conclusion: In 1998, a GAAC was enacted in Portugal. It established that if an operation has as its sole or major goal to avoid taxes and has no economic substance, then its tax effects could be disqualified. However, its practical application, by tax auditors, was quite sparse, given the complexity of potential abusive cases and the almost inexistent body of doctrine and jurisprudence.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In Portugal, between 1989 and 2010, capital gains from corporate shares were exempted, while gains from other instruments, like limited liability companies (LLC) equity stakes, were taxed. Inevitably, this non-neutral tax treatment originated a notorious tax arbitrage, consisting in the transformation of the legal status of a LLC into a corporation, the subsequent share sale and tax exemption. In tax litigation, many arbitration rulings were delivered, with widely divergent decisions. The purpose of this paper, using a blend of the legal research method and case analysis, is to discuss three research questions. Should the general anti-abuse clause (GAAC) be applied to this tax planning operation? Why the divergence in arbitration rulings? Is this anomalous arbitration outcome because of the wording the GAAC and its complexity or, contrarily, does it emerge from the disconnection between the set of rules governing capital gains taxation and the legislative intent that is behind such rules?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The methodology used in this paper is based on a mix of the legal research method and case analysis. In the case of legal research, a hermeneutic approach - meaning that documents, texts and their interpretation can produce important fruits to the development of the field - is a tested and fruitful approach. Besides being a hermeneutic discipline, it is an argumentative one. By exposing arguments that confirm or deny particular solutions, legal research (e.g. in criminal, business or administrative law) can influence better legislative choices by political actors. Advantages of case analysis include lessons learned from observation. The author discusses if the application of the GAAC to an arrangement that originated a tax exemption can be validated by the usual interpretative lines that doctrine sustains should be observed when a GAAC is used to void legal schemes. The pros and cons of tax arbitration are also highlighted.\nFindings: The conclusion of this paper is that the GAAC is not the crux of the problem. Instead, a contradictory or, at least, disconnected relation between the expressed intent of legislators and the wording of capital gains tax clauses is, in our view, the main reason for such divergent arbitration rulings on the same issue.\nPractical implications: The author believes that the paper is a contribution to the literature, given the global use of anti-abuse clauses and the interpretative complexities they originate. Moreover, the analysis in this paper is carried out in a legal setting where a disconnection is detectable between the expressed legislative intent and the legal drafting of personal income tax rules related to the exemption of capital gains. Studying the complexity added by this feature of the Portuguese legislation serves as a reminder of the importance of careful and well-crafted wording to achieve consistent court outcomes.\nOriginality/value: The paper has value to governments, tax authorities and tax managers, given the ever-increasing use of anti-abuse clauses in many countries, and the potential use of arbitration in similar settings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Market intelligence effect on perceived psychic distance, strategic behaviours and export performance in industrial SMEs
|
[
"Market intelligence",
"Export department",
"Export performance",
"Industrial SMEs",
"Marketing mix adaptation",
"Perceived psychic distance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The globalisation of markets and the interrelation of economies have significantly accelerated internationalisation processes throughout the world. In this context, exporting is a traditional channel for entry into foreign markets and is a fundamental strategic option for ensuring survival and growth for companies that have chosen to start internationalising (Cavusgil and Zou, 1994). Many small- and medium-sized industrial companies (SMEs) regard exporting as a way of counteracting growing foreign competition in domestic markets, broadening their market coverage and improving profitability. However, exporting is not an end in itself, as the ultimate objective of any exporting company is to achieve competitive advantages in the countries and markets where it competes (Morgan et al., 2004). This aim requires effective and efficient marketing strategies which enable the firm to adapt to the needs of foreign markets to achieve ongoing improvements in export performance using the available resources and capabilities (Shoham, 1999; Navarro et al., 2010a). This adaptation must be based on knowledge of the economic, cultural, etc., differences or distances between the domestic and foreign markets. Market intelligence must be generated so that relevant information on customers, the competition, suppliers, etc., can be processed and made available to the entire organisation for strategic decision-making associated with the exporting activity. This is particularly important for industrial SME exporters when entering new countries and markets, given their lack of resources and information (Fish and Ruby, 2009). However, these interrelations have not been sufficiently examined in the marketing literature and even less so in the context of industrial SME exporters. This means that there is a significant gap in the literature (Haverila and Ashill, 2011). The first objective of this present study is to cover that gap, by meaning to analyse the role of market intelligence in the interrelations between the psychic distance perceived by export managers, strategic behaviours (adaptation vs standardisation of the marketing mix) and export performance.\n2. Theoretical framework and research hypotheses: 2.1 Direct effect of marketing mix strategic decisions - adaptation versus standardisation - on the export performance\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and information gathering\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 Evaluation of the measurement model\n5. Academic and managerial implications: This work offers important contributions for the export marketing literature and, in particular, the literature on industrial SME exporters:\n6. Limitations and future research lines: Although this study offers important new contributions from the international marketing perspective, specifically related to the topic of export, it has limitations which form the basis for future lines of research. The first limitation concerns the fact that the study uses information obtained at a specific moment in time. A longitudinal study is needed to analyse how variations in market intelligence in an exporting company over a period of time influence the interrelation between management perceptions, strategic marketing behaviour and export performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper has two objectives in the area of industrialised small- and medium-sized industrial company (SME) export activity. First, it responds to the gap in the literature on the role of market intelligence in the interrelations between perceived psychic distance, marketing mix decisions and export performance. The second objective concerns the influence of resource heterogeneity (size and export department) in the proposed model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The current paper tests a posited research model and its hypotheses using the data from a multi-sector sample of exporters (196 Spanish industrial SMEs). The data are analyzed using a partial least squares approach.\nFindings: The results of the empirical study show that: strategic decisions to adapt marketing mix elements to suit foreign markets have a positive effect on export performance; strategic adaptations are more numerous when export managers perceive a greater psychic distance; an export department helps develop market intelligence ability, which positively moderates the impact of strategic adaptations on export performance; and size does not have a significant effect on the interrelations studied.\nPractical implications: Export managers in industrial SMEs can use the results and conclusions of this present paper to systematise their decision-making in export activity.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes a significant contribution towards covering an important gap in research into industrial SME exporters, by demonstrating the importance of market intelligence in export activity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
In brief: the National Retail Planning Forum Briefing Paper series
|
[
"Retailing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The National Retail Planning Forum (NRPF) was established in 1995. The NRPF combines a focus for improving understanding between private and public sectors on planning and its impact on retailing, together with a strong research programme. A membership based organisation, the NRPF is specifically not a lobbying organisation. Drawing as it does on local and central government, the private sector and the academic arena, it aims to act as a bridge between the different interests involved in retail planning.From the outset, the goal of the NRPF has been to identify, understand and improve the knowledge about retail planning. Key components of this approach have been undertaken by the Institute for Retail Studies (IRS) at the University of Stirling on behalf of the NRPF. There is an established bibliography, updated annually, and now incorporated into the Retail Planning Knowledge Base. Associated with this is the regularly updated Planner's Bookshelf.In 2006 it was decided by IRS and the NRPF that a Briefing Papers Series could enhance the mission of the NRPF and focus attention on the evidence base in a changing retail scene.This short paper introduces this Retail Briefing Paper series. The series is intended to be a highly accessible web based source, informing users of current issues and drawing on the accumulated research expertise and evidence base. Together, the series helps deliver the belief of the NRPF that policy should be firmly based on evidence and expertise.This paper first considers the recent developments in the UK retail planning debate. The changing environment acts as a context for the Retail Briefing Paper series and to some extent drives the selection of topics. Secondly, the Retail Briefing Papers available are reviewed and details of access, etc. are provided. Finally, some thoughts for the future are presented.\nThe changing face of UK retail planning debate: It might have seemed that in 2005 with the new Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6) (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2005) that the direction of retail planning for some years to come was set, with discussion shifting to the detail of how to achieve the policy outcomes. However, the last two years have seen the policy itself challenged and the Communities and Local Government Department engaged in a major rethink. Table I charts the main investigations and publications from 2005 to early 2008.Pressure on PPS6 has come from two directions. First there was a government desire to \"modernise\" planning. The Barker Review of Planning (Barker, 2006) laid out the basic framework for the ensuing White Paper Planning for a Sustainable Future, published in May 2007 (HM Government, 2007). Perhaps, surprisingly Barker put forward some specific statements with regard to retail planning. These focused on the \"need test\", suggesting that it was no longer helpful to achieving retail planning objectives. Stakeholders responded in a variety of ways. For some there was real concern that any change to PPS6 could prejudice the policy's key aims of town centre vitality and viability and of course, the way that they had organised their future investment policies. Their scepticism has been further fuelled by the sometimes contradictory statements which have emerged from different government departments.Secondly, the nature and outcome of competition in retailing has become more strongly debated, including aspects of how the planning regimes and policies hinder or maintain free competition. This debate has involved an ever wider range of participants. Retailing is an emotive topic. Everyone thinks they have a legitimate view on retailing. There is a melange of informed and uniformed comment, personal views and some well researched understanding. The proliferation of \"voices\" of this populism has generated a whole literature of its own, but one which is not contextualised with the current expertise on retail planning. Popular commentary is not necessarily interested in the evidence. Legislators peddling personal prejudices or being hopelessly out of touch as in the recent House of Lords debates (House of Lords, 2008) and advocates of particular positions legitimising their point of view with selective examples have added to the difficulties.Essentially it was a result of this populist \"voice\" that the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group was established and its ACS inspired report of 2006 reflects its approach and beliefs. This report in turn led to the referral of the groceries sector to the Office of Fair Trading (2006) and subsequently to the Competition Commission (2007, 2008). The involvement of the Competition authorities in planning issues and some of their proposed remedies with respect to retail planning (Competition Commission, 2008) challenge some fundamental principles of planning. Ironically the review process, because it has focused on the major retailers, has offered an even greater opportunity for company lobbying to take place. Companies have developed their own sophisticated strategies for lobbying government policy makers (Pal and Medway, 2008) extending their previous activities (Pal et al., 2001).The Competition Commission published their final report in April 2008 but, at the time of writing, no decisions on their findings had yet been made and an appeal was still outstanding from Tesco. The Communities and Local Government Department decided to wait for Competition Commission recommendations before issuing a reworked PPS6 and are still considering their options. The Competition Commission alone has produced final and interim reports and many papers running to thousands of pages. A cursory glance at those submitting evidence to the Competition Commission Investigation reveals the nature of participation in the process from stakeholders, advocates of particular viewpoints and interested parties. Planners are notably under-represented. It is of course, entirely possible that the views of the populist voice which demanded the investigation will not be upheld. However, the process itself may nevertheless change retail planning (Guy, 2006). The sheer volume of material and views makes it harder than ever to follow what is happening even for the most dedicated observer. Furthermore, policy and policy initiatives often seem to be proceeding without reference to the limited existing evidence base, let alone new evidence.This changing context has also affected the development and output from the NRPF. Over the past ten years the NRPF has built up a substantial body of material on retail planning (Findlay and Sparks, 2006, 2007, 2008). Considerable expertise has been established both within the industry and in the academic arena. The NRPF has endeavoured to ensure that we remember the principles in retail planning policy and to ensure that future policy is based on evidence rather than myth or nostalgia (NRPF, 2007). But this seems to be getting more difficult all the time.There is therefore a need to provide a context within which to place emerging literatures to understand why, how and who is influencing the way issues are approached, to interrogate these points of view and understand them through the lens of the planner, the retailer and the consumer body as a whole. Underlying much of the debate about how to achieve retail landscapes, the question of what retail landscapes we actually want and need is the most contentious issue, but the one receiving least attention (Findlay and Sparks, 2007).\nA short tour of the National Retail Planning Forum Briefing Papers: In 2006 it was decided to produce a series of Briefing Papers as part of the NRPF agenda to increase awareness of the research and expertise that exists. Whilst in 2006 the succinct accessible approach of the Retail Briefing Papers seemed a good idea, the way the debate has evolved and the diverse range of literatures give the Briefing Papers an even greater raison d'etre. This short tour picks out a selection of the Briefing Papers and uses these to give a flavour of what the Briefing Papers offer individually and collectively.The Retail Briefing Papers attempt to assist in understanding the issues in specific retail planning topics. Each Briefing Paper comprises a short listing of abstracted references, a list of useful web sites, a list of researchers to contact and a key findings section. The key findings section provides a context for the references giving some insights into the papers which have contributed to different parts of a specific debate and which are based on original research. Each paper is approximately 8-10 pages long and provides a quick guide to the topic, both to provide the key points and if desired to allow follow-up activities.The series began with a paper on Farmers' Markets which placed farmers' markets within the research agenda and considered the challenges which they faced in the policy context. The findings drew on the literature base established from evidence based research (Study 1). The paper was primarily a means of bringing expertise and evidence on the topic together.Study 1: farmers' markets: key findings (extract from Briefing Paper 1):*Key agendas: local food, local identity, consumer identity, town vitality.*Customer loyalty is critical to the success or failure of farmers' markets. Better promotion must assist.*Farmers' markets are particularly popular with older consumers.*The regulation of farmers' markets is a local rather than policy prescribed activity.*The local food agenda is important to farmers' markets but increasingly major multiples are managing the supply of local foods better.*The contribution which a farmers' market can make and its success depends on the size of town and the location of the market with markets in central locations in smaller towns fulfilling the key roles of farmers' market more successfully than those in cities or peripheral locations. This is important for those trying to improve town promotion.*Research base: This is limited with no large-scale surveys but rather evidence based on a series of case studies with the contribution of the North West Advanced Food Centre being the most comprehensive.*Non-academic interest: Countryside Agency who are pioneering food audits and the Council for the Protection of Rural England who are interested in maintaining pressure to protect local institutions and identity.The second paper was motivated by the awareness that rhetoric was often progressing ahead of evidence based research. It tackled the issue of Food Deserts, always an emotive term, and emphasised the evidence of the impact of food retail-led regeneration being published as a result of major independent academic research projects (Study 2). Behind the \"food desert\" sound bite are complex structures and processes of retail change and regeneration, requiring an understanding of qualitative and quantitative provision which meets consumer needs and preferences. Evidence based research is an essential prerequisite to policy formulation, an assertion confirmed by the experience regarding food desert research.Study 2: food deserts: key findings (extract from Briefing Paper 2):*The social exclusion agenda initially envisaged small scale retailing and community measures to redress disparities in levels of provision. Tight planning controls and the regeneration agenda however became influential, and the major retailers and in particular Tesco, became involved.*Although social exclusion agendas were initially important the business in the community agenda of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has become instrumental in fostering partnerships to promote regeneration. It is under this policy umbrella that most retail regeneration partnerships find their place.*There seems to be wide agreement of the need to \"do something\" based on qualitative and quantitative analysis, analysis of provision and shopping habits.*Frequently it has been hoped that these initiatives could deliver solutions to a wide range of problems from employment to diet. Initiatives have been more successful in delivering some of these than others.*Impacts on employment have been largely positive in the immediate area and have been important in renewal and regeneration.*Impacts on shopping behaviour are positive with improved access, increased walking to the store, more independent shopping and a more positive outlook.*Impacts on diet are disputed. Even the most optimistic admit that the potential impact would be limited to a few particularly disadvantaged groups.*In an under served area a significant proportion of shoppers will switch to the new store often clawing back trade to the area. Not all shoppers will switch and indeed new marginal groups can emerge depending on the location of the store in relation to particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.Nothing has more appeal in the populist literature than an evocative term. \"Clone towns\" was just such a concept catching the attention of advocates of the small shop sector. How can it be understood beyond its attraction for those whose arguments it suited? Two Retail Briefing Papers engaged with related aspects. The first was Clone Towns (Study 3). It placed the concept within the established literature on retail structures as understood by planners. The importance of situating advocacy within the research base is very much an underlying theme in this paper. Making sense of the cocktail party of \"voices\" is a challenge to all those trying to understand current policy debates. A Briefing Paper on Neighbourhood Retailing (Study 4) set about offering a planning perspective on issues which impinge on the debate over small shops. Generic small shop problems go beyond planning issues. The populist resort to calling for planning solutions fails to engage with the realities of retailing, planning or consuming. The paper reiterates the importance of the evidence base and established knowledge. Distinguishing advocacy and evidence is critical to policy making, a point underlined not just by these two papers but by the series as a whole.Study 3: clone towns: key findings (extract from Briefing Paper 3):*The term was coined by the New Economics Foundation and is in danger of becoming a factoid.*It caught the public imagination but in terms of an understanding of retailing it is not very useful.*The results of the New Economics Foundation reflect their philosophy rather than an independent investigation. The data was collected by those committed to this philosophy.*The methodology is a self fulfilling prophecy. Only the first 50 high street shops are used in the analysis.*Academics and professionals concerned with the welfare of retailing recognise that secondary retailing is a crucial part of retail structure and that it is where smaller shops and independents are often located.*There are legitimate concerns about town and district diversity and these are issues taken up by town centre management experts.*Secondary shopping has been neglected by retail planning policy guidance.Study 4: neighbourhood retailing: key findings (extract from Briefing Paper 4):*Market structure is changing in neighbourhood retailing with increasing involvement of multiple retailers in this expanding retail sector, formerly the preserve of independent retailers and symbol groups. Forecourt retailing is also expanding.*Concepts of neighbourhood are changing and traditional measures of walking distances to neighbourhood shops may not be so appropriate and do not define neighbourhood or community.*Consumer expectations in terms of the nature of neighbourhood stores and product ranges are changing.*Multiple retailers are driving some of these changes. As they move from acquisition of c-stores to expansion of their neighbourhood store portfolios there is a demand for purpose built premises.*There is a relative lack of planning guidance for neighbourhood retailing in the new PPS6.*Generic small shop problems should be distinguished from location based issues relating to neighbourhoods.*The concepts of main and top up shopping may not adequately reflect shopping behaviour.*Successful independent neighbourhood retailers face an exacting task of meeting new and changing consumer demands although the more entrepreneurial ones are potentially better placed than multiples to do this in a neighbourhood context.*A key competency for independent retailers will be their ability to be integrated into the local community which means very different things in different social and cultural contexts.The complexity of the Competition Commission discussions and the proposals for retail planning emerging from Barker and the White Paper prompted Briefing Papers which explicitly tried to bring some structure and perspective to the discussion. These included papers on Competition in Food Retailing, The Need Test and The Sequential Test. The extract in Table II (Study 5), from the Briefing Paper on the Need Test is illustrative of the approach taken.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to make sense of recent developments in retail planning with reference to the changing agendas on retail planning, the disparate nature of participation in the retail planning debate and the diversity of literature on the subject.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper focuses on the work of the National Retail Planning Forum. Specifically, it examines the Briefing Paper Series using it as a way of seeing how the agenda has been changing and policy challenged.\nFindings: - The paper underlines the importance of distinguishing between evidence based research and rhetoric or advocacy in evaluating policy in retail planning.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides an accessible short tour of recent issues on the policy agenda whilst also counterpoising some of the underlying retail planning policy issues.\n",
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Remittances, ICT and doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa
|
[
"Africa",
"Development",
"ICT",
"Remittances",
"Doing business",
"F24",
"F63",
"L96",
"O30",
"O55"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Four main trends in contemporary literature motivate an inquiry into linkages between information and communication technologies (ICT) and remittances in the doing of business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), namely: growing trends of remittances in SSA; high potential for ICT penetration in the sub-region; the importance of doing business and private enterprises in addressing the issues of unemployment associated with SSA's growing population; and gaps in the literature on doing business.\n2. Stylize facts, theoretical underpinnings, intuition and related literature: Stylized facts in this section are engaged in two main strands, notably: the evolving trend of remittances inflow on the one hand and the growing depth of ICT on the other hand. First, as shown in Figure 1 from World Development Indicators (2016), compared to other regions of the world (East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean), remittances inflow into SSA has been consistently higher. The graph clearly shows that since the beginning of the third millennium, corresponding remittances into SSA have stood above 1.5 as a percentage of GDP (Efobi et al., 2016). Second, as apparent in Figure 2, one of the principal characteristics over the past decade in SSA has been the substantial rise in the penetration of ICT, notably in: mobile phone penetration, internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions. Externalities from such rise in ICT vary from socio-cultural to economic changes in society that have the potential of reducing economic vulnerability and unemployment on the one hand and increasing business opportunities on the other hand.\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 Data\n4. Presentation of results: The empirical results are presented in Tables I-III. Table I shows results related to the \"cost of starting business,\" \"contract enforcement procedure\" and \"number of start-up procedures,\" while Table II is concerned with the \"time to build a warehouse,\" \"time to enforce a contract\" and \"time to register a property.\" Table III focuses on the \"time to start a business,\" \"time to export\" and \"time to pay taxes.\" For all tables: four information criteria are employed to assess the validity of the GMM model with forward orthogonal deviations[2] and a net effect is computed to assess the impact of ICT in remittances for doing business.\n5. Concluding implications and future research directions: We set out to investigate the relevance of ICT in the role of remittances in boosting the doing of business in Africa. Nine doing business variables are used. While remittances are proxied with personal remittances received (as percentage of GDP), two main ICT variables are employed, namely: internet penetration per 100 persons and mobile phone penetration per 100 persons. The empirical evidence is based on GMM. While we have established some appealing results in terms of net negative effects on constraints to the doing of business (i.e. time to start a business and time to pay taxes), some positive net effects have also been apparent (i.e. number of start-up procedures, time to build a warehouse and time to register a property). Fortunately, two of the three corresponding conditional effects are negative, which imply that for certain thresholds of ICT penetration, the unconditional effect of remittances can be changed from positive to negative, notably: for the number of start-up procedures, an internet level of 9.00 (0.027/003) penetration per 100 people is required for a negative effect, while for the time to build a warehouse, a mobile phone penetration level of 32.33(0.485/0.015) penetration per 100 people is essential for a negative impact. These thresholds are within policy limits because they are within the ranges of ICT penetration disclosed in the summary statistics, namely: 0.005-43.605 for internet penetration and 0.000-147.202 for mobile phone penetration. The thresholds in ICT penetration when compared with their maximum limits imply that comparatively low levels of mobile phone and internet penetration levels are required to reduce constraints in the doing of business corresponding to variables for which positive effects have been established.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how linkages between information and communication technology (ICT) and remittances affect the doing of business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The focus is on a panel of 49 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries for the period 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on the generalized method of moments.\nFindings: While the authors establish some appealing results in terms of net negative effects on constraints to the doing of business (i.e. time to start a business and time to pay taxes), some positive net effects are also apparent (i.e. number of start-up procedures, time to build a warehouse and time to register a property). The authors also establish ICT penetration thresholds at which the unconditional effect of remittances can be changed from positive to negative, notably: for the number of start-up procedures, an internet level of 9.00 penetration per 100 people is required, while for the time to build a warehouse, a mobile phone penetration level of 32.33 penetration per 100 people is essential. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to assess linkages between ICT, remittances and doing business in SSA.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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From singular to plural: exploring organisational complexities and circular business model design
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Business models",
"Circular economy",
"Service shirt"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, there has been a surge of interest in business models, which is essentially about how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value (Evans et al., 2017; Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010; Teece, 2010). The business model language has also been integrated into the sustainability debates where scholars and practitioners now talk about green business models, inclusive business models, shared value business models, sustainability business models and triple bottom line business models (Pedersen et al., 2018). Business models for sustainability extends conventional business model thinking by adopting a broader and more holistic perspective of value (economic, social and environmental) and stakeholders (beyond direct customers) (Bocken et al., 2015; Joyce and Paquin, 2016; Stubbs and Cocklin, 2008). New business models for sustainability have also been explored and discussed within the fashion sector, which is well-known for having a significant environmental impact throughout the entire product lifecycle (Fletcher, 2008; Pedersen and Netter, 2015; Pedersen et al., 2018).\n2. Towards an understanding of circular business models: The business model concept emerged in the 1990s as a metaphor for describing various e-businesses that challenged conventional bricks-and-mortar businesses with new technological solutions (Boons and Ludeke-Freund, 2013; Zott et al., 2011). Business model thinking was popularised by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) whose \"business model canvas\" in particular became subject to extensive discussion, application and use in academia and practice. While the exact meaning of a business model remains debatable, there seems to be a consensus that \"value\" is at the heart of the business model construct (Chesbrough, 2007; Johnson et al., 2008; Morris et al., 2005; Teece, 2010). In this paper, a business model is defined broadly as \"the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value\" (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p. 14).\n3. Context and methods: The circular economy movement has also inspired designers to explore the potentials of circular design in the textile and fashion industry (Becker-Leifhold and Iran, 2018). For example, based on a series of interviews, Raebild and Bang (2017) explore the fashion collection as a design framework towards a strategic driver for longevity within circular fashion design. The key insights gleaned include the important role of gaining \"feedback from users, manufacturers and the garments themselves\" and how incorporating this insight into a collection differs from a traditionally linear collection.\n4. The Service Shirt concept: The Service Shirt is a speculative design prototype that explores how a polyester shirt can be kept in use for as long as possible by the fashion brand that produces it. In recognition of the reluctance of consumers to make and adapt clothing themselves (Updated T-Shirt, 5Ways project, Earley and Fletcher, 2003; Fast reFashion project, Earley, 2013), the Service Shirt scenario suggests that the brand provide the majority of material state changes as well as host various user interactions in their stores.\n5. Discussion: the organisational complexities of circular business models: As seen in the previous sections, the Service Shirt design concept is an attempt to operationalise the circular economy by designing a product that is able to go through a number of business models during its 50-year product lifecycle. The design concept was realised through a partnership between an academic researcher and a team of industrial design researchers resulting in a physical prototype for exhibition. The design and manufacturing process has been conducted both within the brand using company practices, and without the brand through periods of solo manufacturing and reflection.\n6. Conclusion: The purpose of this paper has been to examine the complexities of designing for circular business models in the fashion industry - an industry notoriously known for its investment in linear (and fast) business models. Circularity operating with time spans quite different from current linear business models, the designerly and practice-based approach represented by the Service Shirt brings about new opportunities to explore and discuss the future of circular business models. In the words of Ritzen and Sandstrom (2017): \"The ability to perform radical innovations is strongly connected to an explorative way of working, deeply connected to how knowledge is gained. In exploration, knowledge is looked for outside the company, and experiments are made for learning purposes in invention activities\" (p. 11).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how organisational complexities influence the design of circular business models, which have recently been introduced as a new panacea for aligning the interests of business with the needs of the environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The Service Shirt, a new garment concept, is used as an illustrative case example for demonstrating some of the organisational complexities of making circular business models operable. The shirt was developed through a series of design workshops for the fashion brand Fashion Alpha.\nFindings: The analysis highlights multiple challenges emerging when a fashion product with a significantly extended lifecycle passes through different users, organisations and business models. It is concluded that it is difficult to talk about a circular business model (singular) as circular economy solutions depend on the contributions of multiple stakeholders with business models.\nPractical implications: The findings illustrate how fashion companies interested in the circular economy fundamentally have to rethink conventional approaches to value, organisational boundaries and temporality.\nOriginality/value: Drawing on a case example from the fashion industry, the paper demonstrates the organisational complexities linked to the design of new business models based on circular economy thinking, as these require the coordination of actions between autonomous actors driven by different logics regarding value creation, value delivery and value capture.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Have you met your organization's computer usage policy?
|
[
"Computer crime",
"Information systems",
"Educational policy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Did you read the software license agreement the last time you installed software on a PC? What about the computer usage policy for your organization - have you read it? If you answered no to these questions, you are not alone. Although many organizations and universities have individuals read (and often sign) computer usage policies explaining acceptable and unacceptable uses of organizational/university computer equipment, the cost and frequency of information systems misuse and computer crime continues to climb. This paper evaluates awareness and understanding of computer usage policies using students in a university setting to address the effectiveness of computer usage policies in today's environment.\nWritten computer usage policies and the theory of general deterrence: Written policy statements explaining the correct and incorrect use of organizational information systems are thought to reduce the amount of misuse within an organization (Straub, 1987) and are considered to be a cornerstone of security (Backhouse and Dhillon, 1995; Chou et al., 1999). Using written statements to reduce the occurrence of some undesirable action is based on the Theory of General Deterrence (TGD) (Harrington, 1996), which suggests that punishing offenders will prevent others from committing the same action. In other words, \"the imposition of sanctions on one person may demonstrate to the rest of the public the expected costs of a criminal act, and thereby discourage criminal behavior in the general population\" (Nagin, 1978, p. 96).Awareness of deterrents (university computer usage policies)\nInformation systems misuse and computer crime: The first step in evaluating student awareness of university computer usage policies is understanding what these policies are intended to prevent. Various terms have been utilized to describe inappropriate or illegal activities involving information systems. Within the literature, terms such as computer crime and computer abuse are often found. Since the word \"abuse\" has such negative connotations within today's society, the term \"misuse\" is substituted herein. Information systems misuse and computer crime is defined as: unauthorized, deliberate, and internally recognizable misuse of assets of the local organizational information system by individuals. Possible abuses include violations against:* hardware (and other physical assets associated with computers, such as theft or damage to terminals, CPUs, disk drives, and printers);* programs (such as theft or modification of programs);* data (such as embezzlement or modification of data); and* computer service (such as unauthorized use of service or purposeful interruption of service) (Straub, 1986, p. 27).Frequency and cost of misuse\nMethodology: This paper examines user awareness of computer usage policies in a university setting. To accomplish this goal, subjects were asked to complete a survey regarding their awareness of university computer usage policies, the consequences of misuse, and methods of policy distribution before and after exposure to a generic computer usage policy. The survey items represented in this study are drawn from Straub's Computer Security Model (CSM) Victimization Instrument (Nance and Straub, 1988; Straub, 1990). Approximately half of the classes selected for the study were assigned randomly (as entire classes) to the control group, while the balance were assigned to the experimental group. All subjects were asked to anonymously complete the initial survey. After completing the initial survey, subjects in the experimental group were exposed to a standardized set of computer usage policies regarding the correct and incorrect usage of university computers (e.g. the deterrent), as well as penalties for computer misuse. Each student received a printed copy of the policies and the major points were verbally highlighted. Two weeks later, all subjects were asked to complete a second survey. Respondents were matched between surveys by the use of a subject-generated matching code, resulting in 185 responses in the control group and 231 responses in the experimental group. The difference in awareness between survey administrations is used as an indicator of the effectiveness of a single exposure to the university computer usage policies.Sample\nConclusion: This paper addresses the effectiveness of computer usage policies in today's environment by examining user awareness of such policies in three midwestern universities before and after a single exposure. Subjects responding anonymously to the survey were divided randomly into a control group and an experimental group based on the classes in which they were enrolled. After the initial survey, members of the experimental group were presented with a standardized set of deterrents.The results of this study suggest that most students have not read the computer usage policies at their university. However, the presence of a computer usage policy does influence students who have read those policies. Students that received a single exposure to the university computer usage policy reported a noticeably higher level of awareness of both computer usage policies and the consequences of misuse. These results suggest that even a single exposure to deterrents can increase awareness of the correct uses of information systems and the consequences of incorrect uses of information systems. However, these results also suggest that a single exposure is insufficient to influence all subjects.Although all members of the experimental group were exposed to deterrents, only half indicated having actually read the computer usage policies. Unfortunately, many universities and organizations expose students and employees to their computer usage policies at most once. The results of this study suggest that a single exposure is insufficient. Simply having a company computer usage policy in place does not correspondingly lead to the practice that the policy will be observed (or even enforced by the organization). Future research should examine the results of repeated exposure to deterrents as well as the implementation, communication, and enforcement of such policies.This study points out that the existence of computer usage policies within a university (or organization) does not ensure all users are familiar with the content of those policies and the penalties imposed for their violation. Moreover, providing a copy of computer usage policies to students (or employees) and verbally highlighting major points is not sufficient exposure to eliminate indifference about computer misuse. Additional means are necessary for every member of an organization to gain appreciation of, to understand, and to comply with computer usage policies.Written policy statements alone cannot serve as a cornerstone of security. As suggested by Harrington (1996), multiple factors must be used to communicate the content of the deterrents. In order to reduce the cost and frequency of information systems misuse and computer crime in today's environment, the authors recommend that an organization's (university's) employee (student) orientation program must include discussion of correct and incorrect computer usage, penalties for misuse, moral appeals, and methods of enforcement along with tougher enforcement policies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of computer usage policies in university settings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Students enrolled in business courses at three midwestern universities were divided, by class, into control and experimental groups. All subjects were asked to complete a survey regarding their awareness of university computer usage policies, consequences of misuse, and methods of policy distribution. The experimental group was exposed to sample computer usage policies. Two weeks later, all subjects were asked to complete the same survey again.\nFindings: - Results suggest that most students have not read their university computer usage policies. However, the presence of a computer usage policy does influence students who have read those policies, but a single exposure is insufficient to influence all subjects.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample is limited to students from three universities.\nPractical implications: - Written policy statements alone cannot serve as a cornerstone of security; multiple factors must be used to communicate the content of the deterrents.\nOriginality/value: - This study notes that the existence of computer usage policies within a university (or organization) does not ensure that all users are familiar with the content of those policies and the penalties imposed for their violation. Providing a copy of computer usage policies to students (or employees) and verbally highlighting major points are not sufficient exposure to eliminate indifference about computer misuse.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Children and the dynamics of poverty and social exclusion: empirical evidence for Portugal
|
[
"Social exclusion",
"Poverty",
"Children",
"Household",
"Dynamic analysis",
"Longitudinal typology",
"I32",
"J13"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This research approaches the dynamics of poverty and social exclusion among children in order to examine recent trends in this field and understand children's poverty and social exclusion trajectories in Portugal for the period 2008-2011. Child poverty remains a highly visible problem in the EU. EUROSTAT statistics detail how almost 25 per cent of children are poor or socially excluded, and show that nearly 20 per cent live in low-income households[1]. In Portugal, the situation for children is worse than the EU average. The relative position of Portugal in United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) league table of rich countries also highlights the scale of this problem, particularly in 2009 and 2010, which are years that are not only included in our temporal window (UNICEF, 2013) but also mark the beginning of the recent economic crisis. When analysing children's living conditions, Portugal falls into the bottom ranks in the aforementioned table (UNICEF, 2012). Moreover, a recent study on child poverty dynamics in the EU found that Portugal presents one of the highest rates of remaining in poverty for more than one year (UNICEF, 2016). This scenario establishes obvious and reasonable grounds for social concern regarding these children's futures.\n2. Prior research: Empirical research regarding poverty and social exclusion suggests that families with children are commonly worse off than those without. This is particularly true for Southern and Eastern European countries including Portugal (European Commission, 2013b). In particular, academics have documented the interrelationship between poverty and household composition (e.g. Bane and Ellwood, 1986; Bradbury and Jantti, 2001; Hantrais et al., 2006; European Commission, 2013b). Furthermore, the statistics on poverty produced by EUROSTAT also identify those households most at risk. However, this analysis commonly refers to income poverty and is generally based on cross-sectional data.\n3. Research design: 3.1 Data\n4. Assessing social exclusion: This analysis seeks to report empirical information answering the research questions that define the paper's aims:\n5. Discussion and concluding remarks: In this paper, we analysed statistical information on income and living conditions to create a picture of the dynamics underlying poverty and social exclusion among children, i.e., how individuals, and in particular how children, moved into and out of poverty or social exclusion during the 2008-2011 period. A multidimensional approach to poverty was adopted in order to evaluate the key socio-demographic and economic factors associated with the aforementioned movements.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: While the literature commonly analyses child poverty and social exclusion data covering a single year, less is known about children who fall in and out of poverty over a longer period. The present research intends to address this gap by investigating the dynamics of child poverty and social exclusion in Portugal. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate child poverty and social exclusion trajectories; and second to examine their association with specific socio-demographic and economic factors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Applying the definition of \"at risk of poverty or social exclusion\" given by Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT), the analysis extends beyond the concept of income poverty. The authors apply Portuguese data sourced from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for the period 2008-2011 to suggest a longitudinal poverty and social exclusion typology to analyse child poverty and social exclusion dynamics.\nFindings: The findings report that children constitute the age group experiencing the worst poverty and social exclusion trajectories. Furthermore, the presence of children in the household seems to be an increasing factor of poverty and social exclusion. This information is relevant to improving the design of children and family-focussed social policies as well as contributing to the setting of targets in order to achieve EU 2020 goals including the alleviation of poverty in general and of child poverty in particular.\nOriginality/value: The main contribution to child poverty studies derives from our analysis of the dynamics driving child poverty and social exclusion. The authors apply a methodological framework that is applicable to other EU member states and can thus enable an international comparison of poverty and social exclusion trajectories.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Linking network targets and site capabilities: A conceptual framework to determine site contributions to strategic manufacturing network targets
|
[
"Conceptual framework",
"Manufacturing networks",
"Site capabilities and characteristics",
"Strategic network targets"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Nowadays, a large number of companies operate in global manufacturing networks (Manyika et al., 2012). Scholars (e.g. Lambert and Cooper, 2000; Rudberg and Olhager, 2003) generally distinguish between two types of manufacturing networks: inter-company networks and intra-company networks. Whereas inter-company networks comprise multiple organisations that are related in a supply chain, intra-company networks describe the network of a focal firm, i.e. multiple sites belonging to the same legal entity.\n2. Literature review: The following paragraphs provide literature overviews on both, the strategic targets of a manufacturing network and the classification of manufacturing sites. The two literature streams are analysed separately because they have seldom been connected in prior research.\n3. Relating network- and site-level aspects: In the literature review, we have introduced the strategic network targets as bridge between the manufacturing strategy and the sites' capabilities and characteristics. To achieve the network targets defined, site capabilities have to be developed adequately. Current literature does not yet provide the connection between these two constructs. To fill this gap, we develop a conceptual framework. We take manufacturing strategy as a starting point to derive strategic network targets. Afterwards, we link the site capabilities and characteristics to the network targets. This allows us to compare the existing capabilities and characteristics of the sites with the capabilities and characteristics needed to achieve the network targets. Characteristics are linked to the network target accessibility. To change the level of accessibility, manufacturing network management must, most likely, invest in an additional site to access the characteristics of the location advantage. The categories thriftiness, mobility, and learning can all be achieved through the development or acquisition of capabilities. This can be done within the individual sites, triggered by internal or external sources of knowledge. When comparing required and existing capabilities and characteristics of each site, it is possible to identify and discuss mismatches and derive future development paths for the sites in the intra-company manufacturing network (Figure 1).\n4. Methodology: This research seeks to make a theoretical contribution on how to link strategic network targets with site capabilities and characteristics. In doing so, we engage in middle-range theory development (Merton, 1968). Middle-range theory merges theory with empirical work. From theory, we derived dimensions for a theoretical framework, which we validate based on case study data. Thus, we follow a qualitative research approach (Eisenhardt, 1989; Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Voss et al., 2002). In this way, we seek to gain a better understanding of the relationships between the site- and network-level perspectives and to gain initial insights into how individual sites contribute to the network target fulfillment. We chose the intra-company network as unit of analysis for a first validation of the conceptual framework. This provides us with the advantage that responsibility for the entire network is held exclusively by one legal entity and allows us to gain in-depth insights into the interaction of manufacturing strategy, strategic network targets, and site capabilities and characteristics.\n5. Case study: Our case describes the manufacturing network of a chocolate producer with eight manufacturing sites in Europe and the USA, called Chocolate Inc. Chocolate Inc. aims to provide the same quality standards worldwide. However, to serve additional tastes in various markets, the individual sites are given a certain degree of autonomy. Thus, each site has all of the necessary capabilities to act independently with respect to both R\n6. Conclusion: The objective of this paper was to link the site and network level perspective in intra-company manufacturing networks. In this way, we strived to shed light on the relationship between the strategic network targets of an intra-company manufacturing network and the individual capabilities and characteristics of its sites. Literature driven, we built a conceptual framework linking the constructs of manufacturing strategy, network targets, and site capabilities and characteristics. Specifically, the network targets of accessibility, economies of scale and scope, mobility, and learning were linked with the sites capabilities and characteristics related to the network level and the site itself. In this way, the framework established takes on several shortcomings from existing literature: first, so far, the four dimensions of accessibility, thriftiness (economies of scale and scope), mobility, and learning have hardly been addressed in a combined way (with exception of Miltenburg, 2009). Second, the developed framework indicates interactions between site and network level, a field of research that has been largely neglected (Cheng et al., 2015). Third, the framework establishes the first theoretical link between site capabilities and strategic network targets in intra-company manufacturing networks. Furthermore, the framework extends the literature concerning site roles (e.g. Ferdows, 1997; Vereecke et al., 2002) by displaying multiple dimensions, which need to be discussed in relation to a site's contribution to the network. In this, we follow the call of Feldmann et al. (2013) and provide a fresh perspective on the theory of site roles. We suggest moving beyond the two-dimensional discussions and the limited elements taken into account when defining site roles and enhancing the site role discussion by establishing new, multi-faceted roles, which are linked to the sites' contribution to the network's targets. In this way, we suggest to model manufacturing sites in a more realistic way and derive site roles that fit the individual context of an intra-company network. This marks a departure from generic ideal-typical site roles as derived in prior research towards a description of a site's contribution to network targets in multiple ways and develops the basic idea of Vereecke et al. (2006) further. Additionally, existing research has been claimed to be mainly conceptual in nature, which needs to be overcome (e.g. Feldmann et al., 2013; Cheng et al., 2011; Asmussen et al., 2009). Conducting a single case study, we strived to validate our conceptual framework in a practical setting. Although the framework's applicability was solely demonstrated within an in-depth single case study, and thus is of limited generalisability, we consider that it provides valuable insights for practitioners, too. First, manufacturing practitioners can more easily recognise the shortcomings and over-contributions of sites in their networks through the use of the conceptual framework developed. Second, the conceptual framework suggests a strategic process for network management. It starts with defining the requirements to network capabilities derived from manufacturing strategy. Next, it involves the individual capabilities and characteristics of each site, which the developed framework then translates into site contributions to strategic targets of the network. The accompanying manufacturing site portfolio helps to indicate gaps in the fulfilment of the strategic targets. It specifically enhances the work of Colotla et al. (2003) by showing the position of the individual sites in the network, which supports the definition of site assignments that are aligned to the strategic network targets. Practitioners can thus manage the network in a more target-oriented manner based on individual site capabilities. Consequently, the developed framework contributes to sustainably increase the networks' competitiveness (Furu, 2000).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: To cope with the increasing challenges of globalisation, various manufacturing companies have established intra-company manufacturing networks. The purpose of this paper is to link the strategic network targets (i.e. accessibility, thriftiness represented by economies of scale and economies of scope, mobility, and learning) with the capabilities and characteristics of the constituting sites of the manufacturing network and thus facilitate the identification of mismatches and the discussion of possible development paths for the network.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors derive a conceptual framework from the literature which is tested with a single case; a manufacturing network consisting of eight manufacturing sites. Case data were collected based on 24 interviews with operations managers at network level and a standardised online survey among the sites' management teams.\nFindings: Results indicate that manufacturing network and site levels need to be related when striving for a fit between manufacturing strategy, network strategy, and site capabilities and characteristics.\nResearch limitations/implications: Single case studies have only limited generalisability. Nevertheless, the case demonstrates the usefulness of several dimensions when analysing manufacturing networks on site and network level.\nOriginality/value: This paper represents the first attempt to link strategic targets of intra-company manufacturing networks with site capabilities and characteristics. Thereby, it provides a theoretical basis for future research on the relationship between strategic targets of manufacturing networks and their fulfilment. The developed manufacturing site portfolio, moreover, extends the site role typology discussion by a multi-dimensional perspective and represents a starting point for a multi-faceted discussion of site roles.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Modeling of workers' learning behavior in construction projects using agent-based approach: The case study of a steel structure project
|
[
"Social interaction",
"Simulation",
"Labour force",
"Construction projects",
"Agent-based modelling",
"Learning behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Learning is an enduring change in behavior, or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience (Schunk, 2012). In other words, learning is the way in which people obtain skills and application of new knowledge (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Lin and Lee, 2014; Petkovic, 2014) through the promotion of inquiry and dialogue and the creation of continuous learning opportunities (Watkins and Marsick, 1993). Kolb defines learning as the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (Kolb, 1984). In fact, learning is viewed as knowledge acquisition through cognitive possessing of information, acquired both from being a part of society and from individual thought process (Young, 2005).\nResearch methodology: This research presents an ABM approach to investigate the learning behavior of workers, taking into account the effect of their interactions as well as the workers' characteristics.\nWorkers' learning behavior through interaction: Interaction is the process by which an idea is transferred from a source to a receiver with the intention of changing his or her behavior. Such behavioral effects may consist of changes in knowledge and changes in attitude, as well as changes in overt behavior (Marzano, 1998). Interaction is closely linked to successful learning and interacting with others or with information can help clarify concepts, improve problem solving and enhance retention. Learning is not possible without interaction since it is a prime factor for learning (Lei et al., 1999). Without information exchange, employees cannot learn from other experts and the process of knowledge acquisition and sharing would be inhibited (Therin, 2003). Therefore, the interaction among learners plays an important role in fostering effective learning process (Piccoli et al., 2001).\nModeling of workers' learning behavior: the case study of a steel structure project: This research presents an ABM approach to investigate the workers' learning behavior. To evaluate the performance of the proposed ABM approach, it was implemented on a real steel structure project. The learning behavior of welders (agents) was simulated, taking into account their interactions as well as the factors affecting the welders' learning behavior.\nResults and discussion: The competency value of different agents (welders) is affected by the interactions between agents and the agents' characteristics. In this section, the variation in the competence value of different agents is simulated over time, taking account of the impact of knowledge flow between the agents as well as different influencing factors, and the learning behavior of different agents is predicted using the proposed ABM approach.\nConclusions and remarks: Learning as the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience is an important way for firms to acquire new knowledge and skills.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Learning as the way in which labor acquire new knowledge and skills has important strategic implications for the competitive advantage of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to present an agent-based modeling (ABM) approach to investigate the learning behavior of workers. The effect of interactions among different workers as well as the factors affecting the workers' learning behavior is assessed using the proposed ABM approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: For this purpose, the processes through which the competency value of worker is changed are understood and the workers' learning behavior is modeled, taking account of various influencing factors such as knowledge flow, social ability to teach and forgetting factor.\nFindings: The proposed model is implemented on a real steel structure project to evaluate its applicability and performance. The variation in the competency value of different workers involved in the project is simulated over time taking account of all the influencing factors using the proposed ABM approach.\nPractical implications: In order to assess the effect of interactions among welders as well as the welders' characteristics on their learning behavior, the competence value of different welders is evaluated.\nOriginality/value: This research presents an ABM approach to investigate the workers' learning behavior. To evaluate the performance of the proposed ABM approach, it was implemented on a real steel structure project. The learning behavior of different welders (agents) was simulated taking account of their interactions as well as the factors affecting the welders' learning behavior. The project involved the welding of a 240-ton steel structure. The initial project duration was estimated as 100 days. In this project, it has been planned to execute the welding process using three different welders namely welder A, B and C.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effects of gamified flipped instruction on learner performance and need satisfaction: A study in a low-tech setting
|
[
"Motivation",
"Gamification",
"Achievement",
"Flipped classroom",
"Low-tech settings",
"Basic needs satisfaction",
"Gamified flipped classroom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Global economic competitiveness has increased rapidly and, therefore, educational development is a major concern in many countries around the world. Information technology literacy plays a crucial role and is a key empowerment in teaching and learning (Ezziane, 2007). It is claimed that \"enabling every student to gain access to instructional resources, including technology and support services, would promote academic excellence\" (Mutula, 2005). However, in most developing countries, including Indonesia, technological infrastructure is still inadequate, and there is a limited budget allocated to design and develop an advanced technological platform for students' learning, or to access the high cost of the technological learning platform. In line with this, Pruet et al. (2016) also mentioned that in most developing countries, improving educational standards and equality is seen to be difficult and challenging due to inadequate educational resources or school budget. Instead, many assume that implementing innovative instruction for effective learning in the schools required advanced technological platforms with a high budget. On the other hand, the use of free technological platforms could be an alternative for a school with relatively unsophisticated technological development and budget. Indeed, many European or developed countries have adopted low-cost devices to provide a ubiquitous learning environment (anywhere, anytime access to information and communications technology learning resources), promote personalised learning and stimulate collaborative learning between teachers and students (Valk et al., 2010). Although the platform is free and low effort, rich information and meaningful experiences can be obtained by students and instructors. Thus, in this study, we considered using low-tech tools that only require the instructor to have an account or register without any payment or charge.\nLiterature review: The term \"gamified flipped classroom\" is derived from the combination of the gamification concept and flipped classroom instruction. The terms \"gamified flipped course\" and gamified flipped learning\" have also been used by Huang et al. (2018) in their study when combining these instructional pedagogies. Gamification is defined as the use of game-based elements or game mechanics, such as points, badges or leaderboards, to enhance students' interest and motivation through competition (Groening and Binnewies, 2019). The game elements or mechanics can be applied in various forms, including achievement badges, avatars, boss fights, collections, content unlocking, gifting, leaderboards, level progressions, point systems, quests, social graphs, teams groups and virtual goods (Buckley and Doyle, 2017). These mechanics are known in gamification as the elements to stimulate learners to achieve more goal orientation, by increasing persistence, learning by repetition and through collaboration and fun competition with peers (Buckley and Doyle, 2017; Kuo and Chuang, 2016; Lo and Hew, 2018). Refer to Table I for a brief definition of each element. Gamification has been applied to different fields and is found to dramatically transform student behaviour (Davis et al., 2018). It is about amplifying the effect of an existing, core experience by applying the motivational techniques that make games so engaging. As a matter of primary importance, the aesthetics of game design and mechanics are increasingly being recognised as the emotional driving force that evokes emotional responses in the player.\nSelf-determination motivation: According to the self-determination theory (SDT), three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) undermine or support individuals' intrinsic motivation to engage in a given behaviour (Abeysekera and Dawson, 2014). The SDT is a motivational theory that offers provisions that improve a student's sense of autonomy, competence and relatedness, which is supported by the internal factor of motivation or the so-called intrinsic motivation (Ryan et al., 2006). Autonomy is defined as the ability to complete a responsibility independently with limited supervision from the instructor, while competence can be perceived as the ability to master content efficiently and compete with others competently. Then, relatedness is viewed as the students' ability to interact and collaborate with peers and their instructor during teaching and learning activities (Abeysekera and Dawson, 2014). Students' activities in this study, including gamified, inquiry and experiential-based learning activities, are expected to magnify the students' high sense of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Therefore, to sum up, the three criteria: competence, relatedness and autonomy, are the building blocks of the SDT associated with flipped classroom learning and gamification.\nMethods: This preliminary study sets out to compare the students' learning performance between two instructional interventions: the gamified flipped classroom (GFC) and flipped classroom (FC) and to identify the students' learning motivation in terms of competence, autonomy and relatedness in the gamified flipped intervention. Thus, two types of independent variable are investigated in this, namely, students' learning achievement and perceived need satisfaction or motivation based on the SDT, while the independent variables were two types of flipped class instruction (i.e. gamified and conventional modes). The study used a quantitative research design (Creswell and Creswell, 2018), where the data were collected through formative assessments and questionnaire surveys. This methodology is in line with the previous studies on FC study by Hung (2014) using a quasi-experimental design (post-test-only design). Three formative assessments were used during the intervention period. This methodology made conceptual sense to investigate the gamified flipped approach implemented for a secondary school in Indonesia. The intervention was conducted in two science classes, related to natural disaster topics. Landslides and volcanic eruptions were discussed in Lesson 1, while illegal logging and flooding was the topic of Lessons 2, and Lesson 3 was about tsunami and earthquakes. The participants of this study comprised 56 students selected from two different science classes, 27 students from the gamified flipped class and 29 from the flipped only class. Their ages span between 15 and 16 years of age. All 56 students completed the survey questionnaires.\nResults: Formative assessments\nDiscussion: This study was conducted to compare the impact of students' learning performance and perceived basic needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness between two intervention groups. In terms of students' learning performance, the study has reached a positive learning outcome of gamification implementation in the FC context. The finding is in line with the previous studies (Huang and Hew, 2018; Huang et al., 2018; Jo et al., 2018; Lo and Hew, 2018; Zainuddin, 2018), in which the use of the gamification concept in the FC approach resulted in better learning performance of the students. For instance, Huang and Hew (2018) reported that learners in gamified flipped instruction were motivated to afford higher-quality out-of-class activity artefacts than in the non-gamified condition, and it led to a better student learning achievement. Huang et al. (2018) also reported that students in the gamification-enhanced FC group produced higher-quality artefacts than the non-gamified FC group before class activities and enhanced the levels of learning outcomes. Lo and Hew (2018) noticed that the FC with a gamification concept improved secondary school students' cognitive engagement and learning performance. Likewise, a study by Jo et al. (2018) reported that the degree of preparation of secondary school students in the GFC had a statistically significant increase compared with the non-GFC.\nConclusion and recommendations: Gamification as a current concept of a twenty-first-century instructional skill has proven to be remarkably influential. The use of game-like features can be a powerful means to produce more engaging and fun activities in the FC approach. This study has confirmed that integrating the gamification concept into FC instruction by adding challenges, incentives, points and rewards to quiz questions promoted a more engaging and enjoyable experience for learners. Meanwhile, although the findings of the study cannot be generalised to the whole secondary student population in Indonesia, which may be partially due to the diverse nature of different settings, the key findings offer indispensable insights into successful school change and promote positive learning outcomes among school learners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to assess students' learning performance and perceived need satisfaction between a gamified flipped classroom (GFC) and flipped classroom (FC) instruction in a low-tech setting. The iSpring Learn learning management system was used as a low-tech gamification application in gamifying the flipped learning class.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative research approach was used for collecting the data. Three formative assessments were used to examine students' learning performance during the intervention period, and a post-questionnaire survey was used to support the data collection process with regard to students' perceived needs satisfaction. In total, 56 students were involved in a non-randomised experiment with a control group design.\nFindings: The results reveal that Assessment 1 showed no significant difference between the two intervention groups (p > 0.05), while Assessments 2 and 3 were significantly different (p < 0.05). The survey results confirm that participants in the GFC have achieved a great level of motivation because their innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness are satisfied.\nPractical implications: The use of game-like features can be a powerful means to produce more engaging and fun activities in the FC context. The study has confirmed that integrating the gamification concept into FC instruction by adding challenges, incentives, points and rewards to quiz questions promoted a more engaging and enjoyable experience for learners.\nOriginality/value: Gamification as a current concept of a twenty-first-century instructional skill has proven to be remarkably influential. This study suggests that the FC and gamification concept might be possibly implemented in a low-tech information environment - without the required advanced technology platform.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Responsiveness, the primary reason behind re-shoring manufacturing activities to the UK: An Indian industry perspective
|
[
"Responsiveness",
"Offshoring",
"Re-shoring",
"Location decisions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's manufacturing environment location decisions for both OEMs and suppliers are considered to be core to business strategy. Companies are required to have a supply chain and business intelligence strategy designed to make the best total value decision (Tate et al., 2014). For over two decades, developed countries have been offshoring their manufacturing activities to the low-cost countries such as China and India (Lewin and Peeters, 2006). Initially the migration of these industries was solely with the purpose of reducing production costs in order to gain competitive advantage. This often overlooked what could be considered secondary-level factors such as supply chain reliability issues in respect of time and quality (Fratocchi et al., 2014; Harrington, 2011; Arlbjorn and Luthje, 2012). Despite the scale of offshoring strategies implemented every year, results from surveys showed lower success rates than what was expected initially (Herath and Kishore, 2009). As a result in recent years, there has been a decline in offshoring (Bals et al., 2013) and it is evident that some multinational companies have decided to re-shore parts of their manufacturing activities to their home countries (Bailey and De Propris, 2014). According to Koh et al. (2007), \"the globalization and intensive world-wide competition along with the technological advancements create an entirely new business environment for the manufacturing organizations\". In addition to this, the intensity of the global competition for customer satisfaction has made the customer-supplier relationship management more important than ever before (Choy et al., 2003). Tate (2014) suggests that the proximity to the emerging population of customer can be the motives behind the \"shoring\" decision. These indications have led to emergence of new trend called \"re-shoring\" in countries such as Germany, France, UK and USA (Bailey and De Propris, 2014; Ellram et al., 2013; Fratocchi et al., 2013; Kinkel and Maloca, 2009; Gray et al., 2013).\nRe-shoring: Investigation into the concept of re-shoring has gained considerable momentum in recent years (Kinkel and Maloca, 2009). A number of scholars have explored this phenomenon in different countries including USA, Germany and UK. A study conducted by Tate et al. (2014) states that 40 per cent of 319 US-based companies who had already been involved in offshoring activities, perceived a trend towards re-shoring in their industries. It is evident that previously businesses have looked at their location decisions in a static manner: generally ignoring the possibility of the long-term changes such as the rise in labour and fuel costs and change in customer demand (Tate et al., 2014). According to Wilburn and Wilburn (2011) the offshoring decisions were made based on piece-part cost reduction whilst assuming the competitive advantage would remain the same in future. It was identified that this could lead to risk of long-term misjudgement in respect of manufacturing location decisions (Kinkel, 2012). As a result the re-shoring phenomenon has emerged which Gray et al. (2013) defined as \"bringing manufacturing back home\". However due to the immaturity of the concept, several other names have been applied in the existing literature such as \"on-shoring\", \"back-shoring, \"home-shoring\", \"re-distributed manufacturing\" and \"repatriating manufacturing\" (Kinkel and Maloca, 2009; Fratocchi et al., 2013; Foerstl et al., 2016). A more comprehensive definition for re-shoring was given by Fratocchi et al. (2014) which defines it as \"A voluntary corporate strategy regarding the home country's partial or total relocation of (in-sourced or out-sourced) production to serve the local, regional or global demand\".\nMethodology: Scholars have traditionally adopted quantitative approach such as mathematical modelling and surveys to investigate issues related to supply chain management (Golicic and Davis, 2012; Sachan and Datta, 2005). In recent times, qualitative research has received more attention by European researchers (Taylor and Taylor, 2009; Spens and Kovacs, 2006; Tachizawa and Thomsen, 2007; Koste et al., 2004). However, there still remains a lack of qualitative studies on the manufacturing aspects of the re-shoring phenomenon. Due to the immaturity of the subject within the academic context and limited practical application of re-shoring at the industrial level, it was recognised by the authors that an in-depth approach was required, from a selected population of interviewees, to facilitate access to reliable information. Since the underlying dynamic of re-shoring phenomenon in the UK is still not well understood, qualitative research methods were selected to fill the gap in the literature. According to Golicic and Davis (2012) in situations where the phenomenon of interest in new, dynamic and complex and a detailed description of the problem is required, qualitative research is a preferred method.\nSupply chain responsiveness: When interviewing the organisations in the UK, the main objective was to identify the most important supply chain issues that UK industries experienced when collaborating with Indian suppliers which influenced their decision to re-shore. Table II provides a summary of the findings from the interviews and presents a series of bullet points to provide an indicative summary of the overall motivations behind re-shoring to the UK.\nResearch in India: After conducting the literature review on the concept of supply chain responsiveness and the first series of interviews in the UK, the framework for the interview in India was developed. It focussed on investigating the three factors that were considered to be the key enablers of responsiveness in the companies, namely, information technology (IT) solutions, manufacturing equipment and human factors. The interview guide was structured around these three factors. The insight gained from the interviews is expressed in Figure 1 which indicates that the responsiveness can be achieved by utilisation and integration of these three strongly linked factors. In the context of these three key enablers the Indian companies were interviewed to capture the overall picture of the issue on supply chain and assess their capability for being responsive towards the demand in Western countries. The next section provides a brief explanation on how these three factors can help companies to be more responsive.\nFindings: Responsiveness in Indian industries\nConclusion: Due to the urgent requirement to meet the customer specifications and survive in a dynamic business environment companies are revisiting their manufacturing location decisions. This has resulted in a gradual re-shoring of manufacturing back to the UK. However, the motivations behind such strategies appear to be inconsistent in the available literature. Two objectives were outlined in this paper. First it provides a clear viewpoint of the issues related to supply chain management that leads to re-shoring and second investigate the reasons from Indian perspectives. Results indicate that responsiveness plays a vital role in re-shoring decisions in the UK. This has ultimately led to number of industries re-shoring their production back to the UK. In addition, this study highlights four main elements which are currently slowing down the supply from India. These factors are logistics and transportation, electricity shortage, excessive paperwork and working attitude.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Due to today's volatile business environment companies have started to establish a better understanding of the total risk/benefit-balance concerning manufacturing location decisions of their component supply. The focus is now much more on comprehensive and strategic supply chain issues rather than simply relying on piece-part cost analysis. This has led to an emerging trend called re-shoring. The purpose of this paper is to understand the primary motivation behind the re-shoring strategy in the UK and investigate the factors that influence this decision from Indian industries perspectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis of the paper is based on interviews conducted in the UK and India (state of Tamil Nadu) in various industries including automotive, industrial goods, textile, and marine. For this purpose an interview framework based on key enablers identified from the literature, being information technology solutions, manufacturing equipment and human factors. This provided an assessment of the capability of the companies for being responsive to western demand.\nFindings: The findings indicate that re-shoring to the UK is the result of inadequacy in responsiveness and long production lead times of the Indian suppliers. The outcome of this paper indicates that the top factors behind this inadequacy in responsiveness are logistics and transportation, electricity shortage, excessive paperwork and working attitude.\nOriginality/value: This paper aims to fill the gap in the re-shoring literature by providing a clear picture behind the reason for re-shoring in the UK and identify the drivers behind this shortcoming in the component supply from India.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Open innovation: on the influence of internal and external collaboration on degree of newness
|
[
"Internal and external collaboration",
"Open innovation",
"Incremental and radical innovation",
"Survey"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Open innovation (OI) has been demonstrated to affect a firm's innovative output positively by providing three substantive benefits: knowledge sharing, risk reduction, and speed of development. Through collaboration, each partner can potentially obtain a greater amount of knowledge from the project than would have been possible from a comparable investment made independently (Berg et al., 1982). Resource sharing between two or more organizations is one of the ways of reducing the cost of product development and decreasing the risk of failure (Hagedoorn, 1993). Further, collaboration also permits firms to react swiftly to market needs through increased speed of development and heightened responsiveness to customer needs.\n2. Methods: This section provides an overview of the empirical data that constitute the basis of the present research. This includes a data description, an explanation of how the applied variables are operationalized, and an account of the analytical methods employed.\n3. Results and analysis: This section presents the results of the analyses. The findings are consecutively described and discussed in order to address each sub-question separately, providing evidence for the general research question of the paper.\n4. Discussion and conclusions: Through empirical analysis, this paper has provided a more detailed understanding of how different OI patterns affect the development of incremental vs radical innovation in existing organizations. In this section, we discuss the results more broadly in relation to how they support and expand on the knowledge of OI.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the understanding of the particular patterns of open innovation (OI) and what characterizes the innovation emerging through this approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Tests are performed on the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the understanding of the particular patterns of OI and what characterizes the innovation emerging through this approach. The empirical analysis is based on a data set including responses from 512 Danish engineers.\nFindings: The results show that external collaboration has significantly different effects on the degree of newness depending on the type of external partners involved, and they also show that radical innovation output is positively related to involving the R&D department (internal) and universities (external involvement) and negatively related to involving suppliers.\nOriginality/value: The results provide a more detailed understanding of how different OI patterns affect the development of incremental vs radical innovation in existing organizations. In particular, three findings add new insights into how OI affects innovation to reach the highest degree of newness: high importance of collaboration with external partners with distinct interests and skills; low reliance on existing customers and suppliers for the development of radical innovation; and narrow and focused internal involvement rather than broad internal involvement.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Academia and document supply: unsustainable contradictions at INIST?
|
[
"Interlending",
"Resource sharing",
"Document supply"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (INIST) was created in 1988 in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy to facilitate access to results from all fields of world research, promote scientific production and provide services to people in Higher Education and Research[1][2]. I became director of INIST 18 months ago, but I was previously director of ABES (Bibliographic Agency for Higher Education) for eight years. ABES is responsible, among many other tasks, for Supeb, a computer application that manages the interlibrary loan network of university libraries. This means that I know the problem of document delivery from inside. I was also invited by Penti Vattulainen to make a presentation in Helsinki in October 2010 at the 9th Nordic inter library loan (ILL) Conference. This presentation was about \"Resource sharing in France: Academic libraries now engaged into a modernization scheme\".\n2. The revolt of the researchers: the controversy of October 2012: 2.1 The facts\n3. Is there still a future for document supply?: This was the question to be asked before any decision was made (Figure 1).\n4. The role of RefDoc in the new INIST project: See Figure 2 for a schematic of the system.\n5. What is the new scenario for RefDoc in the context of the CNRS?: We considered a number of factors:\n6. The impact on relations with the network of university libraries: RefDoc was convicted by the courts for the illegal sale of copyright material, but I believe that the situation of academic libraries is just as illegal as INIST's used to be. Indeed, contracts between CFC and universities do not seem to allow them to practice document supply on a commercial basis.\n7. The future: INIST has decided to change unilaterally. Does this mean the end of any collaboration with the French university libraries?\n8. The impact of OA in France on ILL: During the 2012 conflict discussed previously, the 600 signatories of the petition requested the withdrawal of their bibliographic references or the suspension of payment for the delivery of copies of their publications. This represented 2,400 documents (articles or books). INIST had tried to estimate the number of copies sold that issued from these publications. Only 48 copies had been delivered in 2011 and the first semester of 2012 (out of a total of over 280,000 copies during the same period).\n9. Conclusion: This article has presented a frank and honest account of the difficulties facing INIST as part of CNRS and the consequences that have flowed from them. These consequences include our estimation of the future for document supply in the context of the development of OA and the particular context of France where INIST operates under the direction of the CNRS.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to describe the current situation at the Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (INIST) the French document supply centre after their difficulties with open access articles during 2013.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A narrative and analytical explanation by the director of INIST.\nFindings: That INIST will no longer service the commercial sector and will provide documents to researchers in CNRS for free and priced to French higher education establishments. The growth in open access will mean that INIST is ceasing to be an industrial scale operation and will be concerned primarily with \"long tail\" requests.\nOriginality/value: Certainly, the only account in English of the difficulties that INIST has faced in the past three years and how they have been dealt with.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What determines customers' continuance intention of FinTech? Evidence from YuEbao
|
[
"Herding",
"Continuance intention",
"Trust",
"Subjective norm",
"FinTech",
"Structural assurance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Digitization is transforming the landscape of finance industry rapidly. The digital transformation in the finance industry gives rise to a neologism \"FinTech\" which is compounded from the words \"finance\" and \"technology\". FinTech refers to the technology-enabled or digitalization process of finance solutions (Arner et al., 2016). It is a dynamic segment at the intersection of the financial services and technology sectors. Within the segment, technology-focused start-ups and new market entrants innovate the products and services currently provided by the traditional financial services industry. The ascent of FinTech expands access to financial services (The Global Findex Database, 2018). Such access can exert a first-order impact on inclusive growth while alleviating poverty (Beck et al., 2007; Beck et al., 2008; Bruhn and Love, 2014), making FinTech an important financial sector.\n2. Hypotheses: Continuance intention can be influenced by two dimensions: customers' trust in the service and customers' trust in the environment that offers the service. Thus, the factors that influence the continuance intention of YuEbao are considered from two perspectives: trust in YuEbao service itself, and structural assurance of YuEbao. The antecedents to the trust in YuEbao service and the structural assurance are further considered from technical and social aspects.\n3. Methodology: A questionnaire was designed and distributed to collect data for examining the proposed hypotheses. All the measurement items of the constructs in this study were adapted from previous studies. Specifically, the measurement items of continuance intention and system quality were adapted from Fang et al. (2014), the measurements of trust in YuEbao, structural assurance and situational normality were adapted from Gefen et al. (2003), and the measurements of herding and subjective norm were adapted from Sun (2013). Although previous research usually uses the seven-point Likert scale to measure each item, in this study, a ten-point sliding scale with two-decimal points was employed, where 1 indicates strongly disagree and 10 indicates strongly agree. Such a slider-type scale approach can potentially capture the respondents' opinions more accurately and increase the variability of the responses because the respondents are allowed to choose a number with the accuracy of two decimals to describe their opinions.\n4. Results: 4.1 Assessment of measurement model\n5. Conclusion and future research: 5.1 Conclusion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of trust in service and structural assurance on the continuance intention of FinTech services, and the roles of technical factors (i.e. situational normality and system quality) and social factors (i.e. herding and subjective norm) in developing trust in service and structural assurance. YuEbao is selected as the subject as it is a representative example of FinTech services in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey questionnaire was deployed and a ten-point sliding scale with two-decimal points was applied to improve the accuracy of the questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.\nFindings: Trust in service and structural assurance can encourage continuance intention of FinTech service. System quality, situational normality and subjective norm can boost the development of trust in service. Both herding and subjective norm can affect structural assurance significantly.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study highlights the important roles played by technical factors (i.e. situational normality and system quality) and social factors (i.e. herding and subjective norm) in developing the two levels of trust (i.e. trust in service and structural assurance). It also validates the influences of trust in service and structural assurance on encouraging customers' continuance intention in the novel context of FinTech.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study can be used by practitioners to encourage customers to continue using their FinTech services. To encourage continuance, service providers can improve the quality of their system, design the system to be aligned with customers' using habits and show customers that their close friends are also using the service.\nOriginality/value: This study adds to the existing body of trust literature by investigating the direct effects of trust in service and structure assurance on continuance intention and how these two levels of trust are developed from technical and social aspects. It generates interesting insights into customers' continuance behavior of FinTech services.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
What drives organic food purchasing? - evidence from Croatia
|
[
"Organic food",
"Theory of planned behaviour",
"Intention",
"Actual purchase",
"Uniqueness-seeking lifestyle"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Sustainable food production at a global level is one of the most important preconditions for a sustainable society, and the most effective way to stimulate sustainable production is by increasing the demand side of the market balance. To achieve this goal and to remove the present barriers to purchasing organic food products, it is necessary to understand the main factors and predictors of consumer behaviour.\nTheoretical framework: TPB\nResearch methodology: Data collection\nResearch results: Exploratory factor analysis\nDiscussion: The results of the structural model show that positive attitudes towards the purchase of organic food, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control all have direct positive effects on the intention to purchase organic food, which supports H1-H3. These results are consistent with previous studies that sought to explain the purchase of organic food (e.g. Chen, 2009; Chih-Ching and Yu-Mei, 2015; De Maya et al., 2011; Thogersen, 2009; Vindigni et al., 2002). The findings of this study also support a postulate of the TBP that intention exerts a significant direct positive effect on actual purchase, thus confirming H5.\nConclusions: The findings of this study contribute to the development of the TPB, both in general and in the context of marketing for sustainability. It also provides empirical evidence of the role that desired uniqueness by consumers plays in the purchase of organic food. Consumers are aware that this behaviour is considered to be socially desirable. At the same time, consumers realise that this behaviour is not yet mainstream, which provides them with the opportunity to demonstrate their different lifestyle and positively impact their social identity. In a practical sense, the present findings suggest that it is possible to promote these products as beneficial to consumers beyond their health benefits. Therefore, managers could strive to promote organic food products as part of uniqueness-seeking lifestyle choice and use promotion concepts related to the expression of self-image and lifestyle. Future research could strive to discover other aspects of an individual's lifestyle that are correlated with this variable to make this communication more effective and the target segment more accessible.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the direction and strength of the influence of inherent factors of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and to extend a model with the variable \"uniqueness-seeking lifestyle\" to better explain the variance in the intention to purchase organic food and the referent actual behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors empirically investigated what drives consumers to purchase organic food using structural equation modelling in AMOS. The research was based on an in-person survey carried out on a convenient sample of 411 primary household shoppers in Croatia.\nFindings: The study was able to capture not only the influence of inherent factors in TPB and the extension variable (all proposed constructs were shown to have a significant positive influence on intention, and intention had a significant positive influence on actual behaviour), but also the indirect and mediation effects of the variables within the model, which explain 87 per cent of the variance in intention and 21 per cent of the variance in actual behaviour.\nOriginality/value: This study provides empirical evidence of the role that desired uniqueness plays in a situation involving the purchase of organic food and responds to the requests of many researchers to investigate beyond intention and to try to identify what influences actual behaviour. This study proposes a new way of measuring actual purchases by asking a respondent to consider their actual purchase in different product categories. Furthermore, this research proposes measuring intention as a latent variable that consists of the variable \"willingness to pay more\" as well as the \"commitment\" to the decision regardless of any perceived obstacles.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Interaction between task characteristics and technology affordances: Task-technology fit and enterprise social media usage
|
[
"Task-technology fit",
"Enterprise social media",
"Bonding social capital",
"Bridging social capital",
"System usage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Enterprise social media (ESM) - computer-mediated tools of the web 2.0 generation that makes it possible for individuals to communicate, share and collaborate in a variety of formats and communities - has become increasingly widespread in today's organizations (Leonardi and Vaast, 2017). In a study of social media use, researchers showed that 96 percent of the Inc. Magazine's Top 500 companies in 2017 use at least one form of social media in their daily work (Barnes et al., 2018). Such numbers represent an unprecedented scale and speed in the diffusion of technologies.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Enterprise social media\n3. Research model: Figure 1 depicts the research model examined in this study. The model examines the relationship between task-technology fit and ESM usage.\n4. Research methods: Figure 3 provides an overall snapshot of the major steps in the research process adopted in the study.\n5. Results: The results of the analysis for the 2x2 matrix are shown in Figure 4. Of the 216 observations that fit the classification criteria across the four cells, 168 observations were mapped into the 2x2 matrix for the bridging social capital and bonding social capital, that is n=2 in Cell 1, n=1 in Cell 2, n=11 in Cell 3 and n=154 in Cell 4. Due to the low sample sizes for Cells 1, 2 and 3, the results cannot be easily interpreted. However, for Cell 4, 153 of the 154 observations (i.e. 99 percent) reported HIGH for both bridging social capital and bonding social capital, consistent with the expectations of Cell 4. The results offer considerable support for the 2x2 matrix for task-technology fit.\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Findings\n7. Conclusion: This study examined the impact of task-technology fit on ESM usage by individuals within organizations. Conceptualizing task-technology fit based on task characteristics (i.e. task equivocality and task interdependence) and technology affordances (i.e. bridging social capital and bonding social capital), this study examined ESM usage reported by individuals in Chinese organizations. The results provide strong support for the notion of task-technology fit in ESM environments while also highlighting the conditions for ESM usage as well as the implications of social capital in evaluating task-technology fit.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Enterprise social media (ESM) usage has gained considerable momentum within organizations. The purpose of this paper is to seek a better understanding of ESM usage based on the task environments and the technology affordances of ESM.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on a survey consisting of 556 usable responses. Regression methods are applied to analyze the data.\nFindings: This study finds strong support for the positive impact of task-technology fit on ESM usage. Considering separately, task equivocality had no impact; task interdependence had a negative effect on ESM usage; bridging social capital had a positive effect; and bonding social capital had a marginal impact on ESM usage.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research incorporated social capital into discussions of task-technology fit. A 2x2 matrix based on task equivocality and task interdependence was developed, which may be extended to other contexts or technologies.\nPractical implications: ESM implementation should account for both task environments and the appropriate technology affordances. Individuals access bridging social capital to a greater extent than bonding social capital using ESM, and they do not use ESM when the task environments alone are considered.\nOriginality/value: This is an original study that considers task environments and technology affordances in the context of ESM usage. The findings offer valuable and timely contributions to both scholars and practitioners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Determinants of authentic experiences: An extended Gilmore and Pine model for ethnic restaurants
|
[
"Authenticity",
"Authentic experiences",
"Ethnic restaurants",
"Memorable experiences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Authenticity has become a buying criterion for customers to evaluate a business's product or services and how they sell them (Gilmore and Pine, 2007). Individuals increasingly want to buy authentic items from genuine sellers, rather than false items from disingenuous sellers. However, as previous researchers have noted, fully authentic products/services scarcely exist today (Goffman, 1963); they contend that in post-modern society, social and consumption experiences lack depth, originality and a sense of place (Baudrillard, 1988). These characteristics are particularly lacking for ethnic restaurants in a foreign country. Because ethnic restaurants are located in a foreign country, they may encounter difficulties in achieving objective authenticity, such as obtaining the exact ingredients used in their home country and/or following traditional cooking methods. Moreover, ethnic restaurants usually target local people in the foreign country in which they are located in rather than individuals from their home country (Jang et al., 2012). Thus, the original taste of a dish is often adjusted to enhance the familiarity and comfort qualities of the food. Therefore, an important question is posed: can customers still enjoy authentic experiences in this pseudo-event setting?\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Authenticity\n3. Method: 3.1 Participants\n4. Results: To determine the likelihood of having an authentic food experience and a clearer memory of the food, we conducted a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with recollection and vividness as the dependent variables and with the sauce (Korean vs Chinese), advertising (traditional vs localized) and the human factor (served by Korean vs Chinese students) conditions as independent variables. We also included a covariate to control for familiarity with Korean food. Tables II and III report the results of this analysis. The covariate was found to be significant (F[3, 259] = 5.429, p < 0.01). We also observed a significant main effect of the three variables at both the multivariate (sauce: F[3, 259] = 9.940, p < 001; advertising: F[3, 259] = 6.793, p < 0.001; human factor: F[3, 259] = 7.148, p < 0.001) and univariate levels.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: 5.1 Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to address a lack of studies on the attributes of ethnic restaurants that influence customers' perceptions of authenticity. Particularly, this study extended Gilmore and Pine's authenticity framework (is the offering true to itself and is the offering what it says it is) by incorporating a servicescape factor (i.e. employees).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used a 2 x 2 x 2 between-participants design which examined the effects of using an authentic sauce in a dish, advertising \"authenticity\" and employing staff from the native culture of the ethnic food on authentic experiences. Follow-up contact was made by phone and mail to assess their memory of ethnic Korean food tried in experimental conditions. Participants were asked how clearly and vividly they could recollect the food experience.\nFindings: The results showed that all of the tested factors significantly influenced the subjects' perceived authenticity of the food and recollection of the food experience. However, the authors did not find any significant interaction effects.\nPractical implications: This study suggests factors that influence customers' authentic experiences and memory. Thus, the findings provide important implications for delivering authentic and memorable experiences.\nOriginality/value: Previous researchers have emphasized the importance and urgency of providing authentic and memorable experiences. However, it is still unclear what specific attributes of ethnic restaurants influence individuals' perceptions of authenticity and memory.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Non-price competition in NHS secondary care contracting: empirical results
|
[
"England",
"National Health Service",
"Secondary care",
"Contracting out",
"Competitive strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Stewart (2002) notes that a fundamental reaction to the changes caused by the NHS reforms of the post-1997 period (i.e. after the \"New\" Labour government came to power) was a move towards a mixed mode of governance in the NHS combining market, hierarchy and network. This paper utilises a national postal survey to examine how the NHS governance system operates in reality in the area of secondary care contracting and compare/contrast this with what economic theory predicts. In addition, the research aims to identify the key determinants of relationship building within the contacting and commissioning of NHS secondary care by focusing upon non-price competitive behaviour. Logit analysis is used to identify and examine the key drivers of three non-price competitive, relationship building strategies. These strategies are contract augmentation, contract customisation and default contracting; all of which are deployed to tie in the purchaser more closely with the provider of secondary care, especially within the context of existing or emergent quasi-markets (Gray and Ghosh, 2000a). Moreover, the logit results are presented using marginal effects techniques to predict the impact upon the relevant relationship building strategies of unit changes in the appropriate independent variables. The policy context for the empirical research is the re-emergence of a quasi-market in the English NHS with an associated increase in competitive pressure upon providing NHS Trust hospitals.The structure of the remainder of the paper is as follows.Section 2 provides an introduction to the economic literature on contractual relations.Section 3 provides a backdrop to the development of the contracting mechanism in use in the NHS in the post-1997 period with this informing the construction and distribution of the survey, details of which are given in Section 4.The model to be used and the hypotheses to be tested are detailed in Section 5, with the results being presented in Section 6. Finally, some policy conclusions are drawn in Section 7.\n2 Literature survey: The empirical literature on why organisations would decide to cooperate rather than compete with one another has focused in recent years on two main schools of thought developed from economic theory. These are the resource-based view and the organisational economics view. In essence, the resource-based view proposes that managers choose those actions that will best capitalise on the unique endowments of resources and capabilities that their firm possesses, whilst the organisational economics view proposes that managers seek to organise activities as efficiently as possible.Given that the emphasis of our research is on governance and its impact on contractual relations within secondary care in the NHS, we are focusing on the second of these schools of economic thought, i.e. organisational economics.Organisational economics explores how conditions of high degrees of uncertainty within markets are transformed into structures of corporate governance; the central concern of organisational economics being the identification of those actions that will minimise the costs of corporate governance which, in turn, should maximise organisational performance. Thus, organisational economics seeks to be a means of explaining the particular way in which economic activity is organised.As such organisational economics uses ideas from New Institutional Economics (NIE)[1]; NIE begins from the premise that societies develop collective mechanisms to reduce the costs of allocating resources with this usually taking place under conditions of differing objectives, incomplete information and asymmetric information.These latter conditions are of primacy in healthcare where various principals and agents are seeking conflicting objectives, health outcomes are not certain, directly observed or easily measured and where information-asymmetries are predominant, e.g. in respect of the patient-practitioner nexus.A key characteristic of NIE is that it distinguishes between markets and hierarchies as alternative means of organising transactions with the decision on which mechanism is selected being determined by whether or not it is more efficient for transactions to be internalised or to proceed through the market. Where it is more efficient for transactions to be internalised a hierarchical mechanism will be used; where it is more efficient for transactions to proceed through the market, a market mechanism will be used.Two key themes within organisational economics are of primary importance within the context of contract governance in secondary care contracting in the English NHS.The first is the notion of asset specificity. Asset specificity is where there is a relative lack of transferability of assets, i.e. where the assets are intended predominantly for use in a single type of transaction. A situation where there are highly specific assets usually means that there are sunk costs within the organisation that have relatively little value beyond their use in the context of a specific transaction - this will often be the case in health care with both capital and human assets.Williamson (1983) outlines four types of asset-specificity which are likely to determine whether or not the market or the hierarchy is likely to allocate resources more efficiently. Two of these are particularly relevant to our analysis of health care:1. Site specificity. If the supplier and purchaser of a service are geographically close then they are likely to either operate in a purely hierarchical or a long-term contractual relationship. The latter is of relevance to our empirical analysis of contract augmentation, customisation and default contracting, given previous evidence (Gray and Ghosh, 2000a, b) that a key determinant of contractual behaviour in respect of governance systems is the numbers of competing acute NHS Trust hospitals within a thirty minute travel radius.2. Dedicated assets. This occurs where investments are made by a supplier that would not have been made in the absence of the probability of selling a significant amount of services to a specific buyer. For instance, an NHS Trust hospital may be concerned with Williamson's (1985) \"hold-up\" problem in respect of investing in dedicated, highly specific assets such as high-dependency maternity facilities because of the uncertainty surrounding the volume of use and timing of use of such care. Such uncertainty would make it problematic to estimate the risk to investment income in such dedicated assets. If this is the case then again they are likely to either operate in a hierarchical or a long-term contractual relationship.The second key theme in organisational economics of relevance to the current research is the notion of positive agency theory.Usually, in agency theory, there is a belief that self-interested agents will pursue their own goals, not those of their principals (customers). In the context of the NHS, the Primary Care Trust (PCT) effectively represents the principal whilst the NHS Trust hospital represents the agent. Economic theory would predict that self interested behaviour by NHS Trust hospitals would result in the PCT having to direct resources into the monitoring and control of the agent in order to ensure that the strategic objectives of the principal are met - this increases the costs of the customer. In the context of the current research, the \"customer\" could be seen as being encapsulated by the patient-tax payer nexus.It may be argued that shared social welfare objectives amongst the principal and agent within NHS contracting and the predominance of intrinsic motivation (Frey, 1998) amongst NHS resource managers will minimise \"gaming\" behaviour and subsequently the associated transaction costs. However, within the context of the former NHS Internal Market, there is compelling evidence that gaming was much more widespread than previously thought (Gray, 2000; Gray and Ghosh, 2000a).Meanwhile, Eisenhardt (1984) provides a good overview of agency theory in a management context. One key point made in this survey is that one issue in the governance of principal-agent relations is whether or not a behaviour-oriented contract (ones which specify the duties required in detail) is more efficient than an outcome-oriented contract (where commission and reward mechanisms ensure that that the desired duties are carried out). It is of note that evidence from previous research suggests that both of these are commonly found in NHS contracting (Gray and Ghosh, 2000b).It is in the interests of the principal to redirect the goals of the agent towards helping in the achievements of the goals of the principal. In the context of contracting in secondary NHS care, this would imply net benefits for those purchasers (i.e. PCTs) able to negotiate contracts with NHS Trust hospitals including elements of contract augmentation, contract customisation or default contracting. Prior research indicates that contract augmentation, customisation and default contracting are widespread within NHS contracting in England (Gray and Ghosh, 2000a, b, 2003). It is the determinants of such contracting behaviour which are focused upon in the logit analysis of the national postal survey.\n3 The purchaser-provider relationship in the English NHS: The first term of the 1997 Labour Government witnessed the abolition of the NHS Internal Market (Department of Health, 1989) and an end to competitive practices in respect of the NHS purchaser-provider relationship. The structural reforms which followed (Department of Health, 2000) witnessed the abolition of GP Fund-holding and the development of a bilateral monopoly between the newly emerging PCTs and NHS Trust hospitals, with an exchange culture based upon co-operation and collaboration in the commissioning of NHS health care services.More recent policy developments have suggested the re-emergence of a quasi-market (Le Grand and Bartlett, 1993, 1994) in NHS care. Of note, the central policy elements in this re-emergence have been:* The graduated devolution of power from PCTs to GP members (HMSO - Healthcare Commission, 2000).* A greater emphasis upon patient choice, the target being for patients choosing between five NHS and one private hospital provider (Healthcare Commission, 2000).* Increasing emphasis upon the measurement of NHS Trust performance via specific performance criteria (Crisp - Department of Health, 2002a, b).* The enhanced use of private healthcare providers to reduce waiting lists, with the current target being 15 per cent of non-essential surgery (Hewitt, 2005) to be provided by private hospitals.* The establishment of Foundation Trust NHS hospitals with greater devolved powers of financial control and decision-making autonomy than standard NHS Trust hospitals (Healthcare Commission, 2005).* The deployment of \"payment by results\" criteria which establishes clinical norms for the cost of treatments and will be a key element of NHS Trust hospital's funding formula (Department of Health, 2002c). This development mirrors the use in the US of health maintenance organisations to contain healthcare costs.Thus, whilst the structure of the NHS in 2006 is markedly different from that of the NHS during the early to mid-1990s, both represent variants of the quasi-market model given their emphasis upon responsiveness, efficiency, treatment access, patient choice, and equity of treatment (Le Grand and Bartlett, 1993, 1994).\n4 The national postal survey: design and focus: 4.1 Survey design\n5 The models and hypotheses: A logit regression is used to estimate those parameters which influence the value of the dependent variable which is limited to being in one of two states (0 or 1) corresponding to whether the questions was answered with a yes (denoted by a \"1\") or a no (denoted by a \"0\").The results reported will be the marginal effects calculated at the mean values of the independent variables[2].We will analyse three models here which will enable us to examine the extent to which the behaviour of NHS Trusts in respect of contract governance is in accord with that which we would expect from the perspective of the economic theory outlined earlier.In our first model, we are interested in what factors affect whether or not an NHS Trust will augment services to secondary care purchasers over and above the contractual minima (according to the survey, 69 per cent of English NHS Trusts offered augmented services to purchasers of secondary care over and above that required for contract fulfilment). In our second model, we are interested in what factors affect whether or not an NHS Trust will offer customisation of basic service agreements (according to the survey, 43 per cent of English NHS Trusts customised generic patient services to meet the needs of purchasers of secondary care as an integrated part of the commissioning process); both of these reflect the possible importance of competitive factors within the re-emergent quasi-market in the UK NHS.Finally, in our third model, we are interested in whether or not an NHS Trust will utilise default measures used to help realign contracts (according to the survey, 39 per cent of English NHS Trusts operated cost-sharing agreements to realign contracts and 43 per cent used other default measures to help realign contracts)[3].5.1 Model hypotheses 1\n6 Model results: marginal analysis: The full results for each model with t-ratios are presented in the Appendix.6.1 Model 1\n7 Summary and conclusions: 7.1 Summarising the results from the models\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is, for English acute NHS hospitals, to investigate how they operate their governance systems in the area of secondary care contracting and identify the key determinants of relationship building within the contacting/commissioning of secondary care focusing upon non-price competitive behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey instrument was designed and mailed to a sample of all acute NHS hospitals in England of whom 35 per cent responded. This survey was then analysed using logit techniques.\nFindings: - The analysis suggests that: those NHS Trusts offering volume discounts, non-price competitive incentives or having a strong belief in performance being by \"payment by results\" criteria are significantly more likely to offer augmented services to secondary care purchasers over and above contractual minima; those NHS Trusts strongly believing in the importance of non-price factors (such as contract augmentation or quality) in the contracting process are more likely to offer customisation of generic services; and those NHS Trusts using cost-sharing agreements to realign contracts when negotiating contracts or who strongly believe in the importance of service augmentation in strengthening relationships, or that increased hospital efficiency is the most important aspect of recent NHS reform are more likely to utilise default measures to help realign contracts.\nOriginality/value: - This paper fills a gap in the area of non-price competition in English NHS acute secondary care contracting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The creation of risk-related information: The UK General Medical Council's electronic database
|
[
"Risk management",
"Doctors",
"Medical information systems",
"Patients",
"Performance management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The changing context of medical and healthcare regulation, combined with new approaches to promoting patient safety has produced an intense search for reliable data on risks and patient safety incidents (see, e.g. Attride-Stirling et al., 2006; Vincent, 2006; Waring, 2009). Information about risks is fundamental to the risk-based approaches that have spread across regulatory fields in the UK in the past decade (see, e.g. Hutter, 2005), including the regulation of healthcare and regulation of the medical profession by the UK General Medical Council (GMC) (Lloyd-Bostock and Hutter, 2008). The approach emphasises systematic identification and assessment of risks, predicting potential harm rather than reacting after the event, and targeting regulation and inspection accordingly. The Care Quality Commission for example is creating \"Quality and Risk Profiles\" of NHS Trusts, assembling what is known about a provider to assess where risks lie and to prompt front line regulatory activity such as inspection (Care Quality Commission, 2009). The approach can only be as good as the available data. Gathering and integrating relevant risk data is resource intensive and difficult (Lloyd-Bostock and Hutter, 2008). Use of existing sources of data is highly attractive, but depends on the data's quality and relevance, and the context in which it was created (Attride-Stirling et al., 2006; Vincent, 2006).\nMethods: A confidentiality agreement was agreed with the GMC at the start of the project covering information made available by the GMC. The project received approval from the Research Ethics Committee at the London School of Economics.Information was gathered from a combination of sources. The GMC provided extensive assistance and support. The first stage was familiarisation with the GMC as an organisation, its FTP and registration procedures, and its systems for collecting and coding data. This included study of GMC guidance and internal documents; 13 hours of interviews with GMC staff at policy, senior management and case-processing levels within the Fitness to Practice and Registration Directorates, about case- and information-processing systems and the history and purposes of the Siebel database; and demonstration of the database by the information manager. Discussions were also held with the Head of Analysis and Feedback at the NPSA (one hour), and the Head of Information and Knowledge Management at NCAS (two hours).The second stage was exploration of the database itself. Siebel incorporates an \"Analytics\" function: selected coded data are saved daily in a \"data warehouse\" and can be downloaded for analysis. The GMC provided anonymous Analytics data on all complaints and referrals received by the Fitness to Practise Directorate 1/5/2006 - 30/4/2008, and any resulting FTP cases. The GMC also provided data on all registered doctors (excluding identifying information), derived from the register as it stood in March 2009. In addition, arrangements were made for exploration of the database in the GMC's offices.\nFindings and interpretation: Siebel and its use within the GMC\nConclusions: The clearest finding is the close fit of the GMC's database to its legal remit and the demands of the legal framework within which it operates. These explicitly frame the GMC's procedures, and through them the configuration of its registration and FTP database. Also to emerge clearly are the effects of organisation-level concerns with case- and data- management, which indeed determined the GMC's choice of a comprehensive CRM application. These shape both the configuration and content of the databases, and technical aspects of its usability. More tentatively, effects can be discerned of organisational concerns with accountability, legitimacy and defensibility. Here, it was suggested the database acts as a tool for managing organisational risk to the GMC itself. These various effects combine to produce data that is very rich but highly specialised for GMC purposes, of uneven quality, complex and technically difficult to use. A combination of the register and FTP data cannot on its own reliably tell us much about wider patterns of risks to patient safety from poorly performing doctors, though the database does tell us about the GMC as an organisation, its functions and priorities.The study was exploratory and limited in scope, aiming to provide initial insights and the basis for further and more detailed research. Study of Siebel illustrates how a database structures and filters information through the categories and options made available, which in turn are a function of the purposes of the database. As noted above, where identification of risks to patients is concerned, the coding of allegations is crucial. Waring (2009) shows how incident report forms shape \"knowledge\" about risks to patient safety. White et al. (2008) describe a similar process in their study of the impact of the Common Assessment Tool on professionals working with children, writing of the \"descriptive tyranny\" of a tool which forces the writer to present information within a certain structure and format. Much can be lost in the transformation of story told by a patient into codes relating to individual doctors and potentially provable allegations of departure from FTP standards. There are complex interactions to be empirically disentangled here. For example, how do social and cultural influences interact with formal legal and risk management frameworks and tools, and with psychological processes of routine case processing?In the regulation literature, organisational risks have been distinguished conceptually from the societal risks that are the object of regulation - such as harm to patients. The distinction is unclear in practice in the GMC context. Concerns with organisational and societal risk are not necessarily in conflict, nor even clearly distinguishable. Risks to the GMC's reputation and powers might be thought of as risks to the organisation rather than societal risks, and thus a distraction from its core purposes. However, maintaining its reputation is also arguably part of the GMC's remit. In addition to its broad duty to promote patient safety, the GMC has a duty to maintain trust in the medical profession, as was made explicit in the Merrison Report (Merrison, 1975) - a duty that entails maintaining the public's trust and confidence in the GMC itself. The risks associated with organisational complexity similarly have several facets, and managing the risks is part of the GMC's functions. Thus, it has explicitly confronted the need to integrate and confine its role within a network of regulatory activities in a \"four layer model\" of medical regulation, which distinguishes \"personal\", \"team-based\", and \"workplace\" from \"professional\" regulation where the work of the GMC is concentrated (GMC, 2006b).The study casts an unusual light on the effects of disasters on regulation. The impact of the Shipman case is deeply embedded in GMC procedures, in GMC concerns with accountability, and through these, in the database itself. The categories and options available are partly determined by processes of selecting and negotiating codes and dropdown lists when a database is designed, tending to crystallise concerns relevant at the time (Agrawal, 2008). The 2004 Fitness to Practise Rules, which underpin the FTP database, were devised in the aftermath of the Shipman case and incorporate responses to concerns about its procedures raised by the subsequent inquiry (see Smith, 2004, Ch. 25). The emphasis on recording legitimate reasons for decisions and maintaining paper trails of interactions with other bodies may also owe something to Shipman. Smith (2004) concluded that the GMC could not be held responsible for Shipman continuing to practise when he was murdering patients, and the value of the GMC targeting its efforts on preventing \"another Shipman\" is questionable. The GMC does, however, seem anxious to avoid another Shipman in the sense of avoiding the impact of such a case on the GMC. The GMC was sometimes in a difficult position when giving evidence to the Inquiry and responding to its questions and criticisms, for example, being unable to give reasons for GMC decisions because they were not recorded.At the practical level, there is probably more potential value in focussed study supplemented by other sources of data than in sweeping overviews of risk factors. Because the FTP data are inherently concerned with the fitness of individual doctors to practise, they do not map well onto contemporary approaches to patient safety, which emphasise system-based and human factors approaches to medical error and patient safety. However, the individual doctor and his or her individual failings remain an essential aspect of risk to patient safety. Leape and Fromson (2006) estimated that in the USA at least a third of physicians will, at some time in their career, have a condition (most often a health or drug dependency problem) that impairs their ability to practice medicine safely. Dealing with doctors whose health problems or clinical skills may present a risk to patients as supportively as is compatible with protecting patients has become a major part of the GMC's work. The GMC has a considerably larger fund of information than is readily accessible in Siebel. Its data and expertise can contribute to study of more closely defined risks, such as risks to patients arising from doctor's ill-health, or from different approaches to interaction with patients depending on where a doctor was trained.From the perspective of identifying risk factors, an important gap in the registration data was information about employment and employment history. The GMC's accumulated experience suggests that greater risks are associated with some work environments, stages in a doctor's career and specialties. More specifically, moving employment frequently and working as a locum may be signs that a doctor is in difficulty. The NHS holds much more detailed information about the registered doctors it employs than does the GMC. For example published NHS statistics show numbers practising in different specialties at different dates. Discussions with NCAS raised the possibility that a combination of GMC and NHS data, even if only at an aggregate level, would make fuller analysis possible. Optimising the quality and use of information in Siebel requires resources, but special studies and modifications to the database could make it possible to produce much more valuable information about risks to patients from poorly performing doctors and where the risks are most likely to arise.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to clarify the potential to use data on doctors and fitness to practise (FTP) cases held by the UK General Medical Council (GMC) for wider regulatory purposes, such as identifying risk factors. The paper aims to concentrate on how data are shaped by the GMC's functions and organisational concerns, and by the configuration and use of their electronic database.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The GMC provided samples of their data, access to documentation surrounding the configuration and use of the database, and meetings with staff able to provide background on the database, GMC procedures, and the GMC as an organisation.\nFindings: - The FTP database is designed to process cases within complex legal rules, and to provide for accountability. The database and its use are adapted to these purposes. Attempts to use it for other purposes are likely to find it difficult to use, the scope and quality of data uneven and some codes unsuitable. The register data are very narrow in scope. While combining register and FTP data to identify risk factors is by itself of limited value, the database can contribute to closer study of risks to patient safety from poorly performing doctors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research was exploratory. It provides initial insights and the basis for further research.\nPractical implications: - The data have potential policy use for the GMC, but it is essential to understand the limitations.\nOriginality/value: - The paper examines previously unanalysed influences on the GMC's data. It also develops new angles on questions in the regulation literature about organisational risks and the creation of risk data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Knowledge sharing in higher education institutions: a systematic review
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Academics",
"Higher learning institutions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge is widely considered to be an essential commodity to organizations, resulting in competitive advantage (Kukko, 2013; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Bello and Oyekunle, 2014). Knowledge management (KM) provides a means to align organizational goals with knowledge, leading to growth and further competitive advantages (Amayah, 2013; Howell and Annansingh, 2013; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). KM has been widely typically discussed in relation to for-profit organizations, but it is important to consider that knowledge plays a vital role to higher education institutions (HEIs), and thus they could benefit from established KM procedures (Prahalad et al., 1990). Universities are in the business of generating and disseminating knowledge (Basu and Sengupta, 2007; Cheng et al., 2009a; Daud and Abdul Hamid, 2006; Kim and Ju, 2008; Omerzel et al., 2011; Rowley, 2000; Sohail and Daud, 2009). With this in mind, it has become evident to such institutions that KM is a valuable tool to meet organizational goals (Loh et al., 2010). A primary KM process that impacts the success of KM programs is knowledge sharing (Amayah, 2013; Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005; Fullwood et al., 2013). However, some research suggests that knowledge sharing continues to be an area that is under-researched compared to the other KM processes (Jain et al., 2007; Amayah, 2013; Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005; Fullwood et al., 2013). Knowledge-sharing culture, trust, and motivations are considered vital enablers for knowledge sharing within an organization (Ipe, 2003). Therefore, creating the appropriate environment and culture to share knowledge freely among workers is vital to the success of organizations (Suhaimee et al., 2006). This also is true for HEIs. Whilst one might assume that due to the nature of HEIs, knowledge sharing would be intrinsic to the institutional culture, some research suggests that this is not necessarily so, and that knowledge sharing may be complicated due to several factors (Alotaibi et al., 2014; Cheng et al., 2009b).\n2. Knowledge sharing: an overview: Knowledge has become increasingly critical for organizations in terms of gaining a competitive advantage as they strive to compete in the knowledge-based era (Iqbal et al., 2011; Nonaka, 1994; Wei-Li et al., 2009; Nielsen and Cappelen, 2014)). To gain this edge, organizations elect to utilize available tools and strategies to systematically manage, store, and disseminate organizational knowledge (Begona Lloria, 2008; Wang and Noe, 2010). As a result, interest in KM has become a strategic agenda item for public and private sector leaders and managers (Ragab and Arisha, 2013). Nielsen and Cappelen (2014) noted that \"knowledge creation is vital to organisations of all kinds\" (p. 376). In order to gain the desired benefit from KM programs, senior management must consistently aim to encourage knowledge-sharing behavior and institute the appropriate culture needed for such activity (Cabrera and Cabrera, 2002; McAdam et al., 2012; Riege, 2005).\n3. Determinants of knowledge sharing: Establishing an actively cultivated knowledge-sharing environment is essential to effective KM across an organization (Jolaee et al., 2014; Smith and McKeen, 2003; Taylor, 2013; Zhenyuan et al., 2016). Wei-Li et al. (2009) commented that KM \"is one of the most important managerial concerns in organizations as it creates a competitive advantage in the knowledge economy\" (p. 84). Furthermore, Smith and McKeen (2003) described KM as one in which ideas are freely challenged, and knowledge learned and applied, and where willingness to share knowledge and teach others is the norm.\n4. Methodology for systematic literature review: The development of systematic reviews and its associated meta-analysis has been advancing over the last two decades (Tranfield et al., 2003). While systematic reviews highlight important contributions to a particular domain, meta-analysis, on the other hand, suggests a statistical procedure for synthesizing findings (Jesson et al., 2011). The literature presented further type of reviews such as narrative reviews and these narrative reviews are used by authors when small number of empirical studies exist in a domain and to extend understanding of theories and practices underpinning a phenomenon (Wang and Noe, 2010). However, some authors argue that narrative reviews may lack methodical approach (Jesson et al., 2011). A systemic literature review must be approached methodically to identify relevant published work and to be thorough (Ali and Miller, 2017; Williams et al., 2015). In addressing the question of determinants impacting knowledge sharing in HEIs, particularly cultural factors in developing nations, it is important to consider that limited research exists. Therefore, a method that permitted both depth and breadth in searching and arranging evidence is appropriate than it would be in an overly saturated research area (Ali and Miller, 2017). The literature provided number of systematic review frameworks including Tranfield et al. (2003) and Jesson et al. (2011). Both models offered step by step guide to conduct systematic reviews. However, Tranfield et al. (2003) focused on applying the systematic model used in medical disciplines into social sciences. In developing the methodology for this systematic literature review in such a way that it would meet the aims of the review, the authors applied the framework recommended by Jesson et al. (2011). It provides simple and systematic step by step guide to conducting a literature review in management field and has been used by several authors in KM and sharing studies (Ragab and Arisha, 2013; Durst and Runar Edvardsson, 2012). Jesson et al. (2011) arranged this framework in number of sequential steps starting by exercising a mapping activity in the relevant field domain (KM and in particular sharing among academics in HEIs) by utilizing a scoping review approach. Such approach starts with conducting comprehensive search while maintaining a robust quality assessment for the collected literature.\n5. Examining knowledge sharing in HEIs: Given that knowledge is HEIs input as well as output, they have maintained a unique and distinctive sittings compared to other organizations (Omerzel et al., 2011); studies point out that HEIs are in the business of both generating and disseminating knowledge (Alhammad et al., 2009; Amayah, 2013; Cheng et al., 2009a; Fullwood et al., 2013; Goh and Sandhu, 2013; Heydari et al., 2011; Howell and Annansingh, 2013; Jahani et al., 2011; Jolaee et al., 2014; Laal, 2011; Kim and Ju, 2008; Li et al., 2006; Nordin et al., 2012; Omerzel et al., 2011; Ramachandran, 2013; Ramayah et al., 2014; Rowley, 2000; Sandhu et al., 2011; Sharimllah Devi et al., 2007; Siddique et al., 2011; Sohail and Daud, 2009; Nielsen and Cappelen, 2014). Additionally, the authors agree that a positive approach to KM by HEIs would facilitate the transition to a knowledge-based economy, enhance knowledge sharing, improve educational programs, and consequently improve the overall performance of universities. A university is seen as a platform for academics to share ideas and insights (Martin and Marion, 2005; Tan, 2016; Nielsen and Cappelen, 2014). Effective knowledge sharing thus plays a critical role in knowledge-intensive organizations such as HEIs, where maximizing the intellectual capital allows them to compete in the global market (Fullwood et al., 2013; Goh and Sandhu, 2013; Laal, 2011; Kim and Ju, 2008; Siddique et al., 2011; Sohail and Daud, 2009; Swart and Kinnie, 2003).\n6. Discussions: Since knowledge sharing is a behavioral and voluntary activity related to knowledge donors and recipients (Davenport and Prusak, 1998), the majority of the reviewed studies investigated the behavior, attitudes, and intentions of academics toward knowledge sharing (Alotaibi et al., 2014; Babalhavaeji and Kermani, 2011; Fullwood et al., 2013; Goh and Sandhu, 2013; Jolaee et al., 2014; Nordin et al., 2012; Ramayah et al., 2014). Therefore, individual factors were dominant among the researched determinants followed by organizational and technology factors influencing knowledge-sharing activities among academics.\n7. Conclusion: For the past two decades, the value of KM has been widely established in commercial and public sectors. Overall, Knowledge-sharing has contributed toward shaping the performance of organizations. HEIs are knowledge organizations with tacit and explicit knowledge inserted in people and processes (Fullwood et al., 2013). In the context of HEIs, knowledge sharing among academics in higher learning institutions has been developing over the last decade. This paper attempts to provide the evidence base concerning knowledge sharing in HEI settings and offers a broader view of through systematic literature review providing researchers with a map of the current literature and insights into future research. This research presents a classification of KS determinants into four areas: individual, organizational, technological, and cultural. This paper highlighted obvious gaps in literature about knowledge-sharing practices in HEIs. The existing studies mainly focuses on small number of determinants which are examined in homogenous cultures. Trust and motivations emerged from the literature as critical antecedents, which can have direct effect on academics' knowledge sharing behavior (Goh and Sandhu, 2013, 2014; Norulkamar and Hatamleh, 2014). Literature has indicated that organizational culture is critical to promote knowledge sharing among academic staff (Wang and Noe, 2010; Nistor et al. (2015). Research also showed that positive organizational culture alone might not facilitate KS among academics (Hislop, 2009). Research suggest that it is important to supplement positive culture with other behavioral elements like motivations and use of right technology as communication channels (Riege, 2005; Cheng et al., 2009a). Although there has been small number of cross-cultural studies conducted to date, the results suggest that HEIs need to pay close attention to cultural characteristics in developing effective KS programs among academics. In summary, while the benefits of knowledge sharing have been recognized in the organizational knowledge-sharing literature (Casimir et al., 2012; Wang and Noe, 2010), it is quite surprising that little research has been conducted in higher learning institutions, especially among the academic community where they are considered special knowledge workers. Such research is needed from a culturally specific perspective.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to help in providing a better understanding on knowledge sharing amongst academics in higher education institutions (HEIs). The aim of this study is realized by profiling existing literature to understand the determinants of knowledge sharing, research trends, theories, and future research opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: After carefully examining the extant literature and by utilizing relevant academic-based research databases, a total of 73 papers published in peer-reviewed journals over the last decade were reviewed and analyzed using well-established systematic literature review methodology.\nFindings: The adopted systematic review revealed that there are limited contributions in understanding knowledge sharing in HEIs when compared with other sectors. The review provides a number of avenues for future research including technological, cultural, organizational, and behavioral aspects at different levels.\nPractical implications: This study helps in offering a focal point to senior management in HEIs for realizing the requirements for developing appropriate strategies and programs to promote knowledge sharing among academics and consequently enhance their institutions' performance.\nOriginality/value: This study utilized Jesson et al. (2011) in presenting a comprehensive systematic review of knowledge sharing specifically in the context of HEIs. This paper offers some theoretical and practical insights on what contributes toward understating the determinates affecting knowledge sharing practices among academics.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Employee workplace representation in Belgium: effects on firm performance
|
[
"Productivity",
"Belgium",
"Profitability",
"Industrial relations systems",
"Worker representation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the greater part of Continental Europe, employee workplace representation is characterized by the incidence of both trade unions and (mandatory) works councils (WCs). Only in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, WCs are evidently more important than unions at the establishment level; in most other countries, the WCs are either dominated by unions, or they are considered to be complements (Van Gyes, 2006, p. 65). An important underlying justification to give employee representatives a voice via WCs is that this promotes worker commitment and effort, hence benefitting the firm at large. By far, most empirical research in the industrial relations (IR) literature on the economic effects of WCs stems from Germany (for an overview, see Addison, 2009 and Jirjahn, 2010), modestly followed by a handful of Dutch studies on this issue (Sapulete et al., 2011, Van den Berg et al., 2011a, b). Although results for these two countries are mixed, researchers currently tend to find a positive connection between WC presence and several firm performance indicators such as labor productivity and employment growth.\n2. Workplace representation in Belgium in comparison to its neighbors: In the varieties of capitalism approach by Hall and Soskice (2001), the continental (West) European countries, including Belgium, are considered to be coordinated market economies (CMEs), in which workers enjoy more prerogatives than in the liberal market economies. In the ideal-type CME, investment in human capital is highly prioritized. At the meso-level, this is supported by concluding collective labor agreements with (non-radical) unions that are often extended to all firms in the sector, creating a level playing field. At the micro level, this is complemented with assigning participatory rights to worker representatives (in WCs) concerning employment and working conditions. Although this qualification is correct to a certain degree, it does not do justice to the actual differences that exist among these countries. When trying to categorize the IR system of Belgium and the ones of its direct neighbors, we observe a checkered array of system differences on which existing literature is ambiguous (or silent).\n3. Theoretical perspective and empirical evidence: Theoretical notions\n4. Data and estimation strategy: Halfway through 2011, CEOs (or their representatives) of Belgian private firms across the country and across all industries were approached with a survey containing all sorts of questions about their type of firm, the functioning of the board of directors, and the characteristics of the social dialogue inside their establishment. While some questions were purely factual, many others were more subjective in nature. In total, 1,128 firms were approached, of which 268 CEOs responded. After discarding the 35 respondents who appeared to be active in the public sector, we ended up with 233 usable observations, implying a gross response rate of about 20 percent. The firms these CEOs represent range from very small establishments of around ten employees to very large ones of up to over 2,000 employees. Our sample hardly deviates from the population with respect to geographical dispersion. Flanders is slightly overrepresented, whereas Brussels is slightly underrepresented[2]. With respect to industry, manufacturing companies account for 50 percent, against 43 percent in the population. Trading firms make up 26 percent, both in the sample and in the actual population. Services are somewhat underrepresented. Results also indicate that the sample does not differ from the population in terms of total assets (t=1.13, p=0.26) and return on assets (t=1.21, p=0.23).\n5. Estimation results: Productivity and moderation\n6. Conclusion and discussion: This study focuses on the economic effects of Belgian WCs, which contributes to the existing IR literature that is dominated by German studies. We introduce the IR system of Belgium against the background of existing models of concertation. We specifically compare the Belgium IR system with two other neighboring countries, France and the Netherlands - two other countries with a relatively short and limited research tradition in this field. With reference to the array of IR systems that circulate in the literature, it is difficult to classify Belgium without reservations. Each country has its own peculiarities. Overall, the Belgian system shares most similarities with the French, in the sense that in these two countries there is relatively less social peace, and that representation bodies feature employee and employer factions, are dominated by unions, and are not endowed with many legal powers, as compared to Germany and the Netherlands.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether works councils (WCs) in Belgium have a positive effect on firm performance, notably productivity and profitability, while taking the role of trade unions into account.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors first introduce the typical Belgian industrial relations system, discussing the similarities and differences with neighboring countries. This is followed by a brief overview of the relevant literature. Subsequently, the impact of Belgian employee representation on firm performance is estimated by means of OLS, using a newly developed questionnaire administered among Belgian CEOs. Special attention is given to moderating and mediating effects.\nFindings: The authors find that Belgian WCs have a small (direct) significantly positive effect on labor productivity, but not on profitability. The additional results of the mediation test show tentatively that WCs might affect profitability indirectly, through their impact on productivity. Despite trade unions' dominance in practice, the findings reveal that their impact is insignificant.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although nationwide, rich and representative, as well as statistically valid, the data set is rather small (196 usable observations). The data set offers ample opportunities to further explore what makes effective Belgian WCs different from their non-effective counterparts.\nOriginality/value: The data set is unique, and combines subjective CEO with objective performance data. The data offer the opportunity to do a first study into the special case of Belgium, which has a distinct union-dominated IR regime. In this study, the focus is furthermore on the rarely studied WC-trade union interaction. In addition, subtle moderation and mediation effects are estimated.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Collecting and preserving the Ukraine conflict (2014-2015): a web archive at University of California, Berkeley
|
[
"Conflict",
"Collection building",
"Crimea",
"Endangered archive",
"The Ukraine crisis",
"Web-archiving"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and problem statement: The Euromaidan civil protests that began in Kiev in November 2013 aimed at the closer integration with the European Union and were a sort of culmination of expression of popular sentiments of those who participated in them against the cronyism, corruption and lack of economic growth in Ukraine over the period of time. The election of the then President Yanukovich and his subsequent exit from the power were also fueled by the extensive use of the social media by the Ukrainian activists. Besides the opposing viewpoints, there were multiple websites that were providing, often times, conflicting information to their audiences. These websites varied from individual blogs, online news media, Facebook pages and also local governmental sites. The further continuation of the conflict meant multiple viewpoints, multitude of the differing opinions and the discerning response to the conflict by both governmental and non-governmental authorities on the web.\nLiterature review: The web archiving of the various websites has been discussed extensively in current Library and Information Science-related literature (Masanes, 2006a; Kavcic-Colic and Klasinc, 2011). The earliest concerns about the need for web archiving in light of the sheer size of the new web-based resources and their short web life were geared toward preserving what is possible. Various motivational factors behind the web as a platform for providing information have been discussed by Berners-Lee and Fischetti (1999). In 2008, Pinsent in the Preservation of the Web Resources Handbook has analyzed the motivations behind the web archiving. These motivations vary from need for providing access to the activities such as annual reports, limited financial data as an evidence for a particular organizations existence to preserving the scientific, cultural and intellectual output of a particular organization (Pinsent et al., 2008). This means that web archiving as a preservation technique can only preserve a limited portion of the web. The choices thus have to be made consciously about which websites one would choose to preserve as a part of the archive.\nWeb-archive platform and choices of the websites: The University of California's Web Archiving Service (WAS) has been described by the author in his earlier article (Pendse, 2014). It was established in 2007 and the WAS functions as the information storage and retrieval system for the websites that have been \"crawled and preserved\". The WAS allows its user to create and manage simultaneously multiple projects. It allows users to crawl and cull data from a particular website for brief 1-h interval or more detailed 36-h capture. The WAS allows its user to capture also the linked data if needed. The WAS also allows the user to compare the data from multiple captures. During the comparison of two or more captures, the user can tell how many new files have been added. How many files that were previously in the earlier capture have been replaced with the new files? What are their formats and what are their sizes. The other important features are automated captures by daily, weekly, monthly and custom capture options and ability to browse the archive using the WAS browser.\nDiscussion and comparison with Archive-It-Ukraine Conflict.: The Ukraine Conflict project at the Archive-It began one month earlier that our project at UC Berkeley Library. Since February 2014, the project has sought:\nConclusion: The UC Berkeley's Ukraine Conflict Archive was made available to public in March 2015 after we had archived enough materials[1]. The initial purpose of our archive was to selectively harvest, and archive those websites that are bound to either disappear or change significantly during the evolution of Crimea's accession to Russia. However, in the aftermath of the Crimean conflict, the ensuing of military conflict in Ukraine had forced to reevaluate our web-archiving strategy. The project was never envisioned to be a competing project to the Ukraine Conflict project. Instead, it was supposed to capture complimentary data that could have been missed by other similar projects. This web archive has been made public to provide a glimpse of what was happening and what is happening in Ukraine.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the web-archiving as a tool for possible collection development in a research level academic library. The paper highlights the web-archiving project that dealt with the contemporary Ukraine conflict. Currently, as the conflict in Ukraine drags on, the need for collecting and preserving the information from various web-based resources with different ideological orientations acquires a special importance. The demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of independent republics were heralded by some as a peaceful transition to the \"free-market\" style economies. This transition was nevertheless nuanced and not seamless. Besides the incomplete market liberalization, rent-seeking behaviors of different sort, it was also accompanied by the almost ubiquitous use of and access to the internet and the internet communication technologies. Now 24 years later, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine also appears to be unfolding on the World Wide Web. With the Russian annexation of Crimea and its unification to the Russian Federation, the governmental and non-governmental websites of the Ukrainian Crimea suddenly came to represent a sort of \"an endangered archive\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: The main purpose of this project was to make the information that is contained in Ukrainian and Russia websites available to the wider body of scholars and students over the longer period of time in a web archive. The author does not take any ideological stance on the legal status of Crimea or on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. There are currently several projects that are devoted to the preservation of these websites. This article also focuses on providing a survey of the landscape of these projects and highlights the ongoing web-archiving project that is entitled, \"the Ukraine Crisis: 2014-2015\" at the UC Berkeley Library.\nFindings: The UC Berkeley's Ukraine Conflict Archive was made available to public in March of 2015 after enough materials were archived. The initial purpose of the archive was to selectively harvest, and archive those websites that are bound to either disappear or change significantly during the evolution of Crimea's accession to Russia. However, in the aftermath of the Crimean conflict, the ensuing of military conflict in Ukraine had forced to reevaluate the web-archiving strategy. The project was never envisioned to be a competing project to the Ukraine Conflict project. Instead, it was supposed to capture complimentary data that could have been missed by other similar projects. This web archive has been made public to provide a glimpse of what was happening and what is happening in Ukraine.\nResearch limitations/implications: Now 24 years later, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine also appears to be unfolding on the World Wide Web. With the Russian annexation of Crimea and its unification to the Russian Federation, the governmental and non-governmental websites of the Ukrainian Crimea suddenly came to represent a sort of \"an endangered archive\". The impetus for archiving the selected Ukrainian websites came as a result of the changing geopolitical realities of Crimea. The daily changes to the websites and also loss of information that is contained within them is one of the many problems faced by the users of these websites. In some cases, the likelihood of these websites is relatively high. This in turn was followed by the author's desire to preserve the information about the daily lives in Ukraine's east in light of the unfolding violent armed conflict.\nOriginality/value: Upon close survey of the Library and Information Sciences currently published articles on Ukraine Conflict, no articles that are currently dedicated to archiving the Crimean and Ukrainian situations were found.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Private finance initiative as a new way to manage public facilities: A review of literature
|
[
"Procurement",
"Facilities management",
"Public sector",
"Literature"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It has been 20 years since the UK Conservative Government engaged in private finance initiatives (PFIs), these being an innovative way for public facilities to be financed and operated. In PFI procurement, the public sector defines the requirements to meet public needs and ensures delivery of the outputs through the contract, while the private sector is harnessed to deliver a perceived better quality of public services (HM Treasury, 2006). PFI procurement allows the private sector to finance the capital costs of the projects, which are paid back by the public sector, such as the local government, in the form of PFI grant over a period of time, namely, the concession period. The calculation of the PFI grant of a project is based on the PFI credit, which is issued by the Treasury to successful bid made by the local government. The central government uses PFI credit as a measure of the capital investment of the private sector, so that the private sector secures the PFI revenue grant that can be claimed once the project is in operation. The government assesses PFI by its commitment to, \"efficiency, equity and accountability, and on the Prime Minister's principles of public service reform\" (HM Treasury, 2006, p. 295). PFI provides innovative design and delivery of public services and \"optimal\" risk-sharing between the public and private sectors; therefore, the government claims that PFI can offer better value for money (VfM) than conventional procurement (Grimsey and Lewis, 2002). In most of the cases, the assets built by the private contractor will be handed over to the public sector who becomes the owner of the assets at the end of the concession period.\n2. The background of PFI: 2.1 The evolution of PFI\n3. Research methodologies: 3.1 Literature search\n4. Review of studies in PFI: 4.1 VfM and accountability\n5. Discussions: As a new way to procure public facility management, PFI projects have unique characteristics in comparison to conventional construction procurement. The review of the literature regarding PFI is important in terms of summarising the key findings and suggestions of studies for industry practitioners, as well as forecasting the future academic research trends in this area. The number of research works on PFI increased quickly in recent years; however, the review discovered there were still some issues not yet covered in the literature:\n6. Conclusion: The paper presented a review of recent academic studies on PFI as a new way to manage public facilities. The different research works were classified into six groups and compared from a project management perspective. The research methodologies and results were summarised. Suggestions to practitioners involved in PFI projects were given and future research trends were forecasted.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the findings of the relevant studies, to summarise what has been done in this area, to direct future research and to improve private finance initiative (PFI) practice. PFI is a new form of contracting out public facilities to the private sector, where facility management was integrated with construction. There have been a large number of academic papers published on this subject; however, there is a lack of a systematic review of the PFI-related studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The literature search focused on international peer-reviewed and published literature, with relevance to PFI. The search of literature, following the method of Tang et al. (2010) and Al-Sharif and Kaka (2004), involved the titles, keywords and abstracts, from some major electronic databases (Web of Science, Engineering Village, Science Direct (Elsevier) and Springer Link) of publications published between 1992 and 2011. The data were classified into six categories for further analysis.\nFindings: As a new way to procure public facility management, PFI projects have unique characteristics in comparison to conventional construction procurement. The review of the literature regarding PFI is important in terms of summarising the key findings and suggestions of studies for industry practitioners, as well as forecasting the future academic research trends in this area. The number of research works on PFI increased quickly in recent years; however, the review discovered there were still some issues not yet covered in the literature.\nResearch limitations/implications: This review is not exhaustive in nature, as the criteria in selecting research papers only included English-written, peer-reviewed journals from some major electronic literature databases. This is the limitation of the research. Further review on a wider range of literature is recommended for researchers.\nOriginality/value: Since PFI was introduced to the construction industry to fund infrastructure 20 years ago in the UK, it has gained interests from scholars. In this new form of contracting out public facilities to the private sector, facility management was integrated with construction. There have been a large number of academic papers published on this subject; however, there is a lack of a systematic review of the PFI studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Hierarchical control and performance regimes in local government
|
[
"Performance management",
"Local government",
"Governance",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Policy-makers in the UK have relied upon structural reforms to modernise and transform public services (Lapsley, 2008) and have claimed greater autonomy at local levels. In relation to local government, the White Paper Strong Local Leadership - Quality Public Services (Cm 5237) (Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions - DTLR, 2001), central government promises greater strategic freedoms and scope for managers to manage. Academic commentators, however, contend that government plans promote incompatible themes of both centralism and localism at the same time (Brooks, 2000). Furthermore, and contributing to discussions on the future role of the local government sector, Grace and Martin (2008) indicate a current reliance by local authorities on external validation and judgement and a preference for the sector to move beyond a compliance mentality.The introduction of formal performance regimes and inspectorates by central government has prompted academics to point to a centralist agenda and to question the extent of local freedoms (Bowerman et al., 2001; Sanderson, 2002). At the extreme, Boyne (1998) (paraphrasing Carter, 1989) has suggested that use of national performance indicators is indicative of \"front-seat driving\" and \"hands-on control\" (p. 48). More recent literature suggests that central government's decision to implement performance management regimes in local government is based upon a need to tackle poor performance at local levels and motivate local managers (Andrews et al., 2006; Grace and Martin, 2008).This paper considers hierarchical control as a mode of governance, and analyses the extent of control exhibited by central government over local government through national performance regimes. The paper begins with a discussion of the dimensions of hierarchical control as articulated by Ouchi (1979, 1980) and develops these to specify three key features of hierarchical control in a public sector context. The paper proceeds with a brief summary of best value (BV) and comprehensive performance assessment (CPA), and then with an analysis of the strength of control in the two regimes.\nHierarchical control and public services: Ouchi (1979, p. 833) begins his analysis with the question: what are the mechanisms through which an organisation can be managed so that it moves towards its objectives? Building upon the insights of Coase (1937) and, more specifically, the \"markets and hierarchies\" framework developed by Williamson (1975, 1978), he presents three governance modes: markets, bureaucracies and clans. The latter recognises that informal social systems can be more directive than other more explicit forms. Ouchi (1980, p. 130) argues that modes are dependent on the minimisation of transaction costs or, alternatively, achieving the greatest economies of cost and claims that his analysis is relevant to \"any collectivity which has an economic goal\".Ouchi (1979, 1980) distinguishes modes of governance on the basis of two dimensions: social requirements and informational requirements. Hierarchies or bureaucracies can be identified by both legitimacy of authority as a social underpinning and the existence of rules for the provision of information. In other words, hierarchies are characterised by superiors who have authority over the work of subordinates and that authority may be exerted with the availability of information based upon rules. Ouchi argues that hierarchies can operate because there is knowledge of transformation processes and outputs can be measured although in incomplete form. Hierarchies are deemed preferable to markets in conditions of uncertainty and/or when small numbers of participants exist and prices as an informational requirement are difficult to set. Moreover, hierarchies exist and not clans where a \"selfless devotion to the same objectives\" (Ouchi, 1980, p. 131) is missing or there is moderately high goal incongruence.Ouchi's framework has been utilised in the public sector context and has formed the basis of at least two studies analysing the introduction of market reforms in the UK public sector around the 1990s. Lapsley (1993) provides that Ouchi's framework is applicable to the National Health Service, and observes an inversion of governance modes from \"enucleated bureaucracy\" (i.e. dominance of the medical \"clan\" within bureaucratic elements, Bourn and Ezzamel, 1986) to markets when compared to the private sector. Ezzamel and Willmott (1993) claim that the markets and hierarchies framework is heuristically useful to examine shifts, but claim that governance modes are the outcome of politics and political struggles in contrast to a narrow notion of economic costs. This paper contributes to the literature by focusing on using one of Ouchi's governance modes to analyse shifts in performance regimes in the UK public sector.In the UK, there is a history of hierarchical control by central government over local public service agencies. The legitimate right of central government to direct activities is conferred on the basis of control (Broadbent and Guthrie, 1992) and funding (Boyne, 2002). In the local government sector, for example, authorities in England have no independent constitutional standing and are required to act intra vires in accordance with legislation. Additionally, central government provides more than 70 per cent of local government income (Talbot, 2001), raised largely through taxation. The legitimate authority of central government is implied in references to a \"principal-agent model\" (Kelly, 2003, p. 61) and principal-agent relationship (Lapsley, 2008, p. 82) with government as principal and individual local authorities as agents. The primary regulator of local authorities is the Audit Commission, and other bodies such as the Office for Standards in Education, Commission for Social Care Inspection, and the Benefits Fraud Inspectorate serve as complementary regulators/inspectorates.The exercise of authority in a hierarchical organisation is demonstrated in the direction of work activities of subordinates and monitoring of performance (Ouchi, 1979, 1980). In the public sector, de Bruijn and van Helden (2006) take the lead from Ouchi (1979) and put forward the output model which is characterised by command and control and the use of measures to appraise performance. They also suggest an alternative behavioural model of control characterised by a more interdependent relationship between actors that seems to be derived from Ouchi's clan mode of control. In the behavioural model, performance is managed through dialogue and performance measures are tools for learning. The exercise of authority, in terms used by Jones (1999), is dependent upon clear boundaries as opposed to reciprocal lines of communication.In a hierarchy, when expectations fall short, authority is exercised through the correction of subordinate behaviour in an explicit manner (Ouchi, 1979, p. 841). On this de Bruijn and van Helden (2006) provide examples of consequences attached to quantified performance measures in the public sector. These include naming and shaming through publication and rankings, financial implications in terms of funds allocated, and managerial attention on poorly performing organisations or organisational units. Conversely, and to further encourage desired performance, hierarchical control involves the provision of rewards as well as the application of sanctions.Rules are a feature of hierarchical control for Ouchi (1979, 1980) as superiors attach value to performance and then determine whether performance is satisfactory or not. In the public sector, it may be assumed that control is exercised by central government if rules exist with the intention of focusing the attention of local agents on government priorities. On the application of rules, and following the arguments of Meyer and Gupta (1994), control is exercised if good performance can be distinguished from bad. Good performance indicates that standards are achievable and provides justification for the targeting of poor performance. Control is possible if variability of performance outcomes can be ascertained, and is enhanced with the ability to compare performance across settings. Meyer and Gupta's \"Paradox of performance\" thesis relates to performance measures but, by extension, may apply to the broader notion of rules. The \"Performance paradox\" refers to control being best achieved through multiple, uncorrelated and changing performance indicators given that reported performance tends to converge with time if maintained. Following on, hierarchical control can be continued with the revision of rules, including the addition of new rules.The next sub-section provides the main features of the BV and CPA performance regimes prior to analysing the extent of hierarchical control exhibited by central government over local authorities.\nA summary of BV and CPA: BV and CPA are central to the performance management framework that forms part of the broader reform agenda for local government. Established by the Local Government Act 1999, BV became operative from April 2000, and required every local authority to agree on a programme of \"fundamental performance reviews\" of all services over a five-year period. The reviews were subject to Audit Commission inspection and complemented by a requirement to publish local performance plans setting targets for improvements in performance and efficiency. Local authorities were also required to report performance against a set of national measures and standards, referred to as BV performance indicators, with provision for central government intervention in the event of failure to meet minimal standards.CPA built on the performance measurement system created by BV, and was established with the aim of moving away from the fragmented system of single service assessments that characterised BV, and into a regime that evaluated a council's overall performance capabilities.CPA inspections result in an overall performance score for each local authority. For the period 2002-2005 council performance was categorised on a five-point scale as poor, weak, fair, good or excellent. In 2005, the scoring system was revised to NHS-style star ratings (0-star, 1-star, 2-star, 3-star and 4-star). Weak scoring authorities are subject to increased levels of central government intervention, whilst excellent scoring authorities are promised rewards.In the next section, we analyse the BV and CPA regimes in terms of the extent to which they display characteristics of hierarchical control.\nAnalysing BV and CPA performance regimes: Given Ouchi's (1979, 1980) identification of hierarchical control, the BV and CPA performance regimes are analysed according to:1. the extent of command and control by central government;2. use of rewards and sanctions; and3. alignment of government priorities and discrimination of performance.The first two categories refer to the exercise of authority, and the last category to the application of rules.Extent of command and control by central government\nConclusion: This paper has considered the BV and CPA performance regimes and the exercise of hierarchical control by central government over local authorities in England. It has taken the lead from various academic writers commenting on government's centralist agenda with the use of performance measures and the contradictions between an espoused strengthening of managerial freedoms at local level and a continuation of government steering.The paper utilises Ouchi's (1979) framework and, specifically, his articulation of bureaucratic or hierarchical control and uses this as a lens to focus upon the BV and CPA performance regimes. Hierarchical control is characterised by the extent of command and control by central government, use of rewards and sanctions, and alignment to government priorities and discrimination of performance. These features are derived from an interpretation of Ouchi's framework and have been used in turn to analyse both BV and CPA.The analysis indicates that whilst CPA represents a more broad ranging performance regime than BV, it simultaneously incorporated less dialogue with local government prior to its introduction. Furthermore, CPA entails closer alignment to government priorities in the weightings attached to service blocks combined with stronger provision of support for poorer performing authorities. The use of a single assessment score facilitates demarcation of better from worse performing local authorities that, in turn, provides the basis for legitimising intervention in the worst performing councils. In the shorter term, it appears that CPA constrains local autonomy, particularly in the poorer performing authorities. In the medium to longer term, however, it may serve to further empower managers through its provision of support and building of capacity.The paper has extended Ouchi's characterisation of hierarchical control, specified three key features that are relevant to a public sector context, and then analysed performance regimes according to these features in a local government context. Given that the three features have been useful in analysing the strength of hierarchical control in local government, this provides a basis for additional further research utilising a similar framework but in other public sector contexts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to consider hierarchical control as a mode of governance, and analyses the extent of control exhibited by central government over local government through the best value (BV) and comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) performance regimes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper utilises Ouchi's framework and, specifically, his articulation of bureaucratic or hierarchical control in the move towards achievement of organisational objectives. Hierarchical control may be inferred from the extent of \"command and control\" by Central Government, use of rewards and sanctions, and alignment to government priorities and discrimination of performance.\nFindings: - CPA represents a more sophisticated performance regime than BV in the governance of local authorities by central government. In comparison to BV, CPA involved less scope for dialogue with local government prior to introduction, closer inspection of and direction of support toward poorer performing authorities, and more alignment to government priorities in the weightings attached to service blocks.\nOriginality/value: - The paper focuses upon the hierarchic/bureaucratic mode of governance as articulated by Ouchi and expands on this mode in order to analyse shifts in performance regimes in the public sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A framework for the improvement of knowledge-intensive business processes
|
[
"Process management",
"Knowledge management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction and objective: Processes lie at the heart of everything that organisations do to maintain their existence and grow. Most processes involve knowledge to some degree. Improving organisational efficiency and effectiveness inevitably involves process improvement. In this paper, a framework for knowledge-based business process improvement (KBPI) is presented. This framework is grounded on Karl Popper's theory of knowledge as extended by Niiniluoto's (1999) Critical Scientific Realism, and can be applied to the process analysis and improvement of a wide range of business processes. In addition, to this epistemological foundation, the framework consists of an appropriate business process ontology and an improvement methodology. Collectively, the foundation epistemology, the ontology, and the methodology are referred to as the KBPI framework. The objective of this paper is to present the KBPI and its three components.1.1 Motivation for this research\n2 Review of literature: The paper focuses on a specific class of business processes, those that can be described to be of high task complexity and high knowledge intensity. Such processes can be referred to as \"knowledge-intensive\" (Remus and Schub, 2003). Knowledge-intensive business processes are those with which research in the joint KM - business process management (BPM) and improvement area is mainly concerned.BPM is well established as a distinct area of research. This is also true for KM. In the survey of literature it was possible to find only a few peer-reviewed articles, which treated both BPM and KM. The small number of papers suggest that this is an emerging area of research deserving attention.The review indicates that although the existing KM-BPM methodologies or frameworks demonstrate innovative concepts and applications, often they do not take into account important general business concerns, such as performance, business context, and constraints, nor special ones such as process function goals and purpose, associations between functions, function performance and metrics, functional requirements and constraints, and the role of human agents. In addition, the concepts and tools used make little sense to the average businessperson.2.1 From traditional approaches to process improvement and management\n3 The research methodology: The development of the KBPI was based on a series of case studies. These case studies were used to test and improve an early revision of the KBPI that was developed after the analysis of the existing literature.Myers notes that the case study is widely used in information systems research (Myers, 1997), and is compatible to different philosophical perspectives, including positivist and interpretive (Darke et al., 1998). In addition, Yin explains that the case study technique is well suited for exploratory question of the \"how\" or \"why\" type (Yin, 1994). They are appropriate for environments where the researcher has little or no control, or when the phenomenon under investigation cannot not be isolated from its context. The process of theory building and testing using case studies is also explained in detail by Eisenhardt (1989). As in the case of this research, the phenomenon under investigation is the business process, the case study method provides the best alternative to exposing weak assumptions.3.1 Summary of case study design\n4 A framework for knowledge-based business process improvement: Following from the above conclusions, the author designed a framework for the KBPI. This framework specifically targets only business processes that are knowledge-intensive. It consists of the following three parts; each one will be discussed in this section:1. A foundational theory of knowledge.2. An ontology for dissecting, describing and discussing business processes.3. A method for the evaluating and improving of business process performance.4.1 Foundation: theory of knowledge and business processes\n5 Case studies: Three case studies have been conducted as part of the research into the KBPI framework. A set of objectives guided the three case studies; these objectives are shown in Table IV.The business processes examined are critical for their respective organisations. In case A, the process is that of the new store opening for a large retail organisation in the Asia-Pacific region. In case B, the process is that of help desk incident handling for an international IT services corporation. In case C, the process is that of the R&D funding approval for an Australian engineering and project management contractor.In case A, the business process is facilitated by the use of mostly traditional business process tools, such as telephone, fax, and printed documentation. E-mail is also used for person-to-person and person-to-group communication, including the distribution of documents and instructions. The use of IT is minimal.In case B, and in a lesser degree in C, the business process is facilitated by the use of extensive enterprise-wide information systems. Traditional knowledge tools such as telephone, fax, and printed documents are also used. However, they are secondary to the IT infrastructure.5.1 Audit design\n6 Conclusion: In this paper, a framework for the improvement of knowledge-intensive business processes (KBPI) was presented. The framework is composed of three parts: a foundational theory of knowledge based on Karl Popper's epistemology, an ontology for the representation of a business process, and a method for process audit, evaluation and improvement.The framework focuses on the application of KM as the means for the improvement of a business process. The knowledge that is embedded in a business process is defined by the original concepts of the knowledge path, knowledge transaction, knowledge tool, function, knowledge transformation, knowledge object, member, knowledge container, and the environment. All of those concepts are included in the business process ontology.The framework was applied to three business processes in three separate case studies to assess its ability to detect potential improvement areas and to guide the development of recommendations for improvement in those areas.Using or creating classic metrics of performance for functions, knowledge paths, and knowledge transactions seems to be the most difficult part of the process audit and analysis, mainly because the KBPI is concerned with concepts that cannot be readily described in quantitative terms. Therefore, the use of critical knowledge success factors for functions, and qualitative units of performance for functions and knowledge paths is an idea that was coined but was not investigated thoroughly; this is the topic of further research.As the KBPI can help organisations improve the performance of their processes by improving the way that knowledge is managed within a process. The KBPI does not exclude the use of other improvement methodologies, and can be aided by the likes of SixSigma and TQM, and should be seen as a continuous process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to present research into the improvement of knowledge-intensive business processes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A literature review is conducted that indicates that a gap exists in the area of knowledge-based business process improvement (KBPI). Sir Karl Popper's theory of objective knowledge is used as a conceptual basis for the design of a business process improvement (BPI) framework. Case studies are conducted to evaluate and further evolve the improvement framework in two different organisations.\nFindings: - Highlights the gap in the literature. Draws attention to the merits of KBPI. Reports on the design of an improvement framework for knowledge-intensive business processes, and on the lessons learned from the conducted case studies.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Practical and time constraints limit the scope of the case studies. General applicability can be inferred, but not tested, due to the small number of case studies.\nPractical implications: - A new practical way to achieve performance improvement, that utilises structured tools on intangible organisational assets. The framework can be applied by organisations that run knowledge-intensive business processes.\nOriginality/value: - This paper addresses a gap in the area of KBPI. It combines concepts from business process management with a robust theory of knowledge to design a practical improvement framework. The paper also contains interesting argumentation supporting the use of Karl Popper's epistemology in BPI and knowledge management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Welfare effects of state-owned multinational enterprises: A view from agency and incomplete contracts theory
|
[
"State ownership",
"Multinational enterprise",
"International business",
"Welfare economics",
"Agency theory",
"Incomplete contracts"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: An important part of the recent reinvention of state ownership, based on such strategies as corporatization and the introduction of partial private ownership, is the increased focus of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on international operations (e.g. Bruton et al., 2015; Cuervo-Cazurra et al., 2014; Musacchio et al., 2015; Peng et al., 2016). SOEs can be defined as \"legally independent firms with direct ownership by the state\" (Cuervo-Cazurra et al., 2014, p. 923). In 2012, SOEs accounted for about 10 percent of world foreign direct investment (FDI) flows; and 18 of the largest 100 multinational enterprises (MNEs) were state owned (UNCTAD, 2013).\n2. The economics theory of state ownership: The economics theory of state ownership builds on a branch of theoretical economics called welfare economics. A key result from this theory (often called the first theorem of welfare economics) is that under a set of restrictive assumptions, the market outcome following from consumers' and producers' (i.e. firms') choices is \"optimal\" in the sense that no one can be made better off without somebody else at the same time being made worse off (Pareto optimality). When these assumptions, which include the absence of so-called public goods, externalities and natural monopoly are not fulfilled, there may be a rationale for government intervention in the market (Putnins, 2015).\n3. A typology of SOE's international operations: In the standard theory discussed above, all market failures exist within a single government's jurisdiction, and SOEs are operating strictly within the boundaries of this jurisdiction. In reality, market failures may simultaneously affect several countries, and SOEs frequently cross national borders and enter the jurisdictions of other governments than their own. In this section, we present a typology of the main forms of cross-border SOE activity, categorized along two dimensions: First, the country location of SOE operations, and second the country (countries) whose objectives are being pursued by the SOE cross-border operations. The typology is illustrated in Table I.\n4. Application of the key state ownership arguments to different types of SOE cross-border operations: This section applies the three conditions for state ownership discussed in Section 2 to each of the three key types of SOE cross-border identified in Section 3.\n5. Moderating effects of host and home country governance: 5.1 Ultimate control rights of the host government: sovereign risk\n6. Concluding remarks: Our analysis has demonstrated that with some modifications, the key conditions for when state ownership is preferable to private ownership (relating to private firms' risk aversion and financial constraints and the possibility of writing relatively complete contracts) are also relevant for SOEs' international operations. However, the analysis also highlights new theoretical issues arising from SOEs going outside the jurisdiction of their home governments and the resulting new home-host government incomplete contracting relationships.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to theoretically investigate the potential welfare effects of state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) international operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is conceptual, applying standard economics state ownership theory based on agency theory and incomplete contracts theory to different forms of SOE cross-border operations.\nFindings: When private firms are risk averse or financially constrained, or when writing complete contracts and making credible commitments are not possible, state ownership can achieve objectives such as international operations supporting domestic industrial policy, addressing social objectives in another government's territory and addressing transnational market failures. Welfare effects may, however, also depend on home-host country relationships.\nOriginality/value: This is the first application of standard economics state ownership theory to state-owned multinationals. The analysis shows that key conclusions from the state ownership literature in a domestic setting can be extended to international operations, and highlights new theoretical issues arising from SOEs going beyond their home jurisdiction to that of another government.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An empirical investigation of quality improvement initiatives in for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals: Environmental, competitive and outcome concerns
|
[
"Hospitals",
"Operations management",
"Quality improvement",
"Management skills",
"Environmental management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: The nature, scope, characteristics and customer-focus of today's marketplace are forcing modern organizations regardless of their product/service offerings to operate as open, operational, strategic systems. The operations of these open systems are guided by a new business model which capitalizes on the importance of innovative information technology to acquire, share and use knowledge in an effort to cope with the ever-changing marketplace and competitive pressures.In recent years, the forces of competition, technological advancements and changing consumer needs and expectations have led to a constant evolution of the competitive paradigms (Hitt, 1995; Hum and Sim, 1996; Senge, 1990; Wheatley and Lellner-Rogers, 1996). In this context, the open system business model, as applied in today's organizations, has effectively utilized numerous operational and strategic philosophies, techniques and tools in an attempt to successfully cope with the forces of change of the dynamic marketplace. These operational and strategic organizational philosophies, techniques, and tools include mainly: total quality management (TQM), continuous improvement (CI), just-in-time techniques (JIT), statistical process control (SPC), concurrent engineering (CE), business process reengineering (BPR) and benchmarking (BM). The implementation of these philosophies even as stand-alone has reshaped the operations' structure, systems, processes, strategy, culture and even external environmental linkages of the modern open system organization. As a result, organizations in the manufacturing sector have become more agile, leaner, cost-effective, customer-focused, and, above all, competitive (Roby, 1995). However, the unwillingness and apparent hesitation of service organizations to implement such innovative organizational philosophies has left these organizations without a true customer focus. In this context, most healthcare organizations are no exception (Yasin et al., 1999).An extensive literature review examining the extent to which these philosophies, techniques, and tools, seeking to systematically promote operational and strategic improvements in healthcare operational settings, underscored the infancy of the applications of these philosophies and tools (Zimmerer et al., 1999). The reasons behind these conclusions were attributed to cultural factors, management attitudes and the uniqueness of these operational systems.However, despite the hindering factors, some hospitals and other segments of the healthcare industry have attempted to implement total quality management (TQM), benchmarking (BM), process reengineering (PR) and time-based competition (TBC) into their operational service environment (Godfrey et al., 1992; Caldwell, 1993; Shortell, 1994; Shaw, 2000; Anwar, 1996; McAulay, 2001; Kilo et al., 2000a, 2000b; White, 2001). In most cases, however, such philosophies, techniques, and tools, which have proven to be effective in the manufacturing operational settings sectors, have not been implemented systematically and effectively in healthcare organizations. Again, the lack of complete utilization and full integration of these philosophies and tools is, to a large extent, attributed to historic internal barriers to change and the lack of overall strategy to integrate the implementation of such philosophies. Therefore, even when an attempt is made to implement these philosophies and tools, a piece-meal approach to implementation is utilized, thus often resulting in sub-optimal performance or complete failure.The objective of this study is to shed light on the current practices of for-profit, as well as not-for-profit hospitals with regard to the implementation and effective utilization of quality improvement efforts. Factor analysis procedures are used to identify environmental factors affecting these hospitals. Also, the competitive factors and their methods of response are identified using factor analysis. Finally, factor analysis is used to determine the factor related to the outcomes of implementation of quality improvement efforts.\nThe study: Sample and procedure\nResults: Sample profile and descriptive results\nConclusions: The results of this study clearly indicate that not-for-profit hospitals are becoming more and more like their for-profit counterparts. In fact, these hospitals appear to be more willing to implement certain quality improvement initiatives relative to their for-profit counterparts. This could be attributed to both customer pressures and government mandates. Not-for-profit hospitals unlike their for-profit counterparts are feeling environmental pressures. This is true despite the fact that the source of pressure may be relatively different in nature. Either way, the days of \"business as usual\" appears to be a thing of the past for both types of hospital. Both types of hospitals appear to be deploying competitive responses to counter these pressures. In this context, the willingness to implement quality improvement initiatives, as well as the operational and strategic outcomes achieved due to such implementation is very encouraging. This may not be true for hospitals only (regardless of type), bur perhaps for the healthcare industry of the future.For both types of hospitals, the implementation of quality improvement initiatives appears to be improving customer service, operational efficiency and strategic effectiveness. Perhaps this indicates the general utility of the seven quality improvement initiatives in this research. This fact appears to support the conclusion that the systematic, organizational investments in the implementation of these quality improvement initiatives is very much justified. This conclusion appears to be valid for both for-profit, as well as for not-for-profit hospitals. In this context, other health care institutions may not be exceptions. Overall, the results of this study, given its sampling limitation, tend to paint a relatively brighter picture than the questionable picture found in the literature of the ability of the US healthcare industry to adapt.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The objective of this study is to shed some light on quality improvement practices of for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The scope and effectiveness of several quality improvement efforts are studied for a sample of 110 hospitals. Factor analysis was utilized to analyze the data collected.\nFindings: - The results of this study tended to suggest that for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals were more similar than different with the regard to the effective utilization of quality improvement initiatives, thus underscoring the utility of quality improvement efforts despite differences in operating characteristics, strategies and operating constraints.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample used in this study is limited. Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly.\nPractical implications: - This study offers decision-makers in healthcare operational settings empirical evidence of the operational and strategic effectiveness of different quality improvement efforts, thus justifying investments related to the initiation and implementation of such quality improvement efforts.\nOriginality/value: - This study represents an important step toward understanding the effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does the informal economy link to organised crime?
|
[
"Crimes",
"Criminology",
"Economic conditions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBounding the informal economy: a necessarily plural disciplinary perspective: The words \"informal economy\" will have different resonances for each one of us. For some, it may conjure up images of seasonal agricultural workers in the fields. For others, house work, or market stalls, or drug dealing round the railway station. There are a myriad contexts for informal economic activity and which activities are prevalent at which location depends upon historical and cultural, as well as economic factors (Shapland et al., 2003). As Tarrius (2003) has shown for the Mediterranean region, the trade routes which used to be used by smugglers and for licit produce (such as tomatoes), can also carry illegal immigrant and drugs. The informal economy is a very broad, plural concept, encompassing many activities whose extent and participants depend upon a host of factors.It is also a concept which is peculiarly difficult to define in a way which cements the activities contained within it. The reason is that the informal economy is necessarily intertwined with official, primarily national governmental action. The informal economy is the reverse side of the official economy, the boundary between which is drawn by legislation and regulation. As governments decide to regulate or prohibit activity, so it may be drawn out of the official economy and into the informal economy. If governments decide to deregulate or decriminalise - not a very common occurrence in the last few decades - then activity may again become legal, taxable and within the formal economy. Moreover, the size of the informal economy also necessarily depends upon the fiscal and social policies of governments.Though regulation, at least in European countries, is increasingly being internationalised, under the influence of the European Union and bodies such as the World Trade Organisation, the scope of criminal law has remained more culturally based, with nation states still seeing the criminal law and its policing as their own purview. Hence, there remain considerable differences about the scope of the criminal law, and therefore the criminal side of the informal economy, between different countries. Prostitution and allied activities, for example, as shown by Sanders (this issue) are on different sides of the boundary in different European countries.It is not the task of this issue to seek a common disciplinary definition of the informal economy or to pursue the minutiae of definitional issues, but it is important to acknowledge the kinds of work encompassed within the informal economy, before turning to its potential links with organised crime. Official economic definitions of the informal economy, variously called the \"cash-in-hand\", \"undeclared\", \"black\", \"underground\", \"hidden\" or \"shadow\" economy/sector, have included three contrasting types of definition, namely enterprise-, jobs- and activity-based definitions. Although all define the informal economy in terms of what is absent from or insufficient about it, enterprise-based definitions denote the insufficiency or absence of informal enterprises compared with formal enterprises, jobs-based definitions the insufficiency or absence in informal relative to formal jobs and activity-based definitions in informal compared with formal economic activities. Which definition is taken will focus attention on particular aspects of the work and show up different links with criminality. In very simplistic terms, enterprise-based definitions focus upon the organisation of the work and the links between different actors (for example, is this transnational criminality? How do goods travel across borders? Is it a form of exploitation or not?). Jobs-based definitions may highlight the potential of the informal economy to provide income for marginalised groups, whilst activity-based definitions offer an examination of whether the activity itself is criminal (drug taking normally is; selling medicines not - except when the goods are not what they seem, or have arrived in the seller's hands in an unorthodox, unregulated way).Enterprise- and jobs-based definitions have until now dominated in studies of 30 (majority) world countries, with both at various times being used by the ILO to seek an international standard definition (Hussmanns, 2005; ILO, 2002a, b, c, 2007). In OECD nations and European countries more particularly, however, the widespread consensus has been that an activity-based definition should be used (European Commission, 1998; Renooy et al., 2004; Sepulveda and Syrett, 2007; Thomas, 1992; Williams and Round, 2008; Williams and Windebank, 1998), with the most frequently adopted being the activity-based definition published in 2002 by the OECD, IMF, ILO and CIS STAT (Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as a supplement to the System of National Accounts (SNA) 1993. This defines \"underground production\" (or what is here termed \"informal employment\") as:[...] all legal production activities that are deliberately concealed from public authorities for the following kinds of reasons: to avoid payment of income, value added or other taxes; to avoid payment of social security contributions; to avoid having to meet certain legal standards such as minimum wages, maximum hours, safety or health standards, etc. (OECD, 2002, p. 139).The only absence from, or insufficiency about, informal relative to formal activities, therefore, is that they are not declared to the authorities for tax, social security and/or labour law purposes. If activities possess additional absences or insufficiencies, they have traditionally not been defined by economists as the informal economy. If the good and/or service that is being traded is also illegal (e.g., drug-trafficking, slaves), for example, then these transactions are not in this economic definition treated as informal activities but instead are separately defined as \"criminal\" activities.Such a sharp distinction may, however, not be either helpful or productive (or reflect reality). Studying the informal economy needs to embody multidisciplinary perspectives, in order to enable us to look at social, cultural, fiscal and legislative elements which promote it or disable it (Vande Walle, this issue). In terms of definitions, in contrast to economists, criminologists would term both illegal and unregulated activities as the informal economy, recognising the constantly changing societal work on the part of governments, the media and individual citizens and citizen groups involved in the processes of criminalisation. Criminologists and socio-legal scholars would also be concerned about using an economic definition which depends upon the intentions of the actors, i.e. whether employers/workers intended deliberately to conceal activities from regulators. In these days of risk assessment and self-examination to create employment and environmental profiles, trying to decide whether an individual was not aware of a regulation or deliberately tried to flout it is difficult enough; probing into the mind of a company is almost impossible.\nThe CRIMPREV seminars: All of these questions, and more, arose during the series of seminars held in relation to the workpackage on \"The informal economy and organised crime\", as part of the CRIMPREV Co-ordination Action funded by the EU. The seminars were deliberately multi-disciplinary and comparative between countries of the EU. They hence exposed differences between different nation states' legislation and regulation - and brought up for discussion the taken-for-granted axioms of economics, criminology, sociology and social anthropology. Instead, however, of seeing these definitional differences as blocks or hurdles to be surmounted, the intention was to examine them and take them as instances which illuminate the nature of the informal economy in different cities and countries. Most of the previous research on the informal economy has tended to concentrate either upon one type of activity or upon one location (Shapland et al., 2003). We wished to use these national and disciplinary comparisons as opportunities to draw out the points at which different societal groups became involved and, particularly, where organised crime might profit.\nThe relationship between the informal economy and organised crime: One of the major conclusions from the seminars is that the informal and formal economies are not only intertwined, but that they may also, in terms of their structures, modes of operation and activities blur into each other in particular circumstances. Pinpointing where those circumstances exist is probably one of the most helpful crime reductive activities that governments and international agencies could undertake - because it is where activities become blurred that the greatest potential exists for organised crime groups to infiltrate the formal economy.Organised crime is itself a concept whose definition has always been problematic (Levi, 2008). For our purposes, we see it as where two or more people systematically offer services or manufacture goods in a manner or benefit activity which is prohibited by the criminal law of the nation state where at least part of that activity occurs[1]. In terms of the informal economy, these services may be an intrinsic part of the informal economic activity (for example, selling drugs, selling counterfeit goods, running a brothel or paying bribes to politicians), or they may be ancilliary services which are not in their nature illegal (informal banking, providing taxis for prostitutes, etc.).Opportunities for organised crime depend very much upon the exact forms taken by the informal economy in different countries and on social and cultural, as well as economic, factors. Transporting and selling illegal drugs almost entirely involves organised crime (on our, rather catholic, definition), but Seddon (this issue) shows how globalising processes which have facilitated legal trade and international financing have also benefited illegal trade, such as drugs. In other, very different spheres, the structure of markets and the increasingly international character of actors in those markets may allow licit and illicit transactions to be intertwined. Nelen (this issue) explores the potential in real estate transactions for fraudulent or money laundering activities. He points to the lack of transparancy in the particular markets and their increasingly international character as facilitating the potential incursion of organised crime.Similarly, the legal phenomenon of hawala banking (informal arrangements to transfer money between countries) has roused suspicions that it might be used for fraudulent activities and money laundering - because it lies outside national and international regulatory systems which aim to detect money laundering. Van de Bunt (this issue) shows how hawala banking can indeed be used to facilitate illegal transations (move criminal proceeds) but that, in a similar fashion to ordinary banking, it very much depends upon trust. Trust may be facilitated by strong social or ethnic ties but, when hawala banking is used for criminal purposes, reputation and results, together with facilitating secrecy, may be more important.Art crime, particularly the illegal digging up, sale and international transportation of cultural artefacts to markets in the developed world, again is intimately linked with legal markets and the legal international art trade. As Massy (this issue) shows, again, the characteristics of the market which lend themselves to infiltration and exploitation for illegal purposes include lack of transparancy (sketchy provenance of artefacts, secrecy about purchasers at auction and by dealers) and its international nature, which puts transactions above the normal scope of national legislation and police pursuit. It is interesting that it is in fact for art crime that national enforcement has sought international jurisdiction (source countries for artefacts claiming them as part of their cultural heritage; cooperation between police forces).Vander Beken (this issue) shows more generally how legitimate business can be vulnerable to organised crime and illegal activities, through a vulnerability analysis. Focusing on the waste management industry, he shows again how particular market characteristics (such as relatively ready transfer of products between categories with very different waste disposal prices; lack of transparency or regulation of waste brokers who are increasingly required as the market becomes more competitive; new possibilities for international transfer to less regulated environments) are entwining legal and illegal business.We argued above that formal economic activity and informal economic activity are mirrors, with the boundary between them constantly moving. We now see that they are also linked in their methods and opportunity structures, joined through common perceived opportunities. Where there is less transparency about transactions and structures, and where cultural or historical traditions make it more \"normal\" or \"accepted\", informal economic activity seems to be more likely to be able to penetrate these opportunities.Where regulation is less present or less enforced, it seems to be more likely to flourish. Given the largely national character of legislation and regulation, international transactions and businesses seem particularly tempting for informal activity. The increasingly international nature of many businesses and the extent of globalising factors would suggest that the possibilities for effective international regulation, rather than harmonisation of national regulation, need actively to be pursued.However, national economies may also prove fertile ground for informal economic activity, particularly when there is a time of transition and older economic possibilities, market stabilising factors and regulations have given way to new ones, without new effective regulatory capacities yet being established. Rodgers et al. (this issue) show how informal economic activities and corruption have become \"normal\" within ordinary manufacturing and service sector businesses in Albania, growing from practices which started in the time of the planned Soviet economy. Though they make it possible for people to survive, they also are seen as potentially unstable by workers. Dobovsek (this issue) shows that inequalities of power and capital in such transitional countries can result in far more damaging possibilities, whereby parliamentary processes and the ownership structure of the country can be affected by the prevalence of corruption, which has grown from many minor transactions to again appear \"normal\" business practice. He suggests that, when this stage has been reached, policing and regulatory enforcement in the normal sense is no longer effective. Preventive measures are more useful, such as making transparent the sources of funds of politicians, rendering state institutions accountable to citizens through the media and, above all, changing the cultural climate by educating citizens about the dangers posed by both corruption and such state capture.What then is the relationship between organised crime and the informal economy? The papers in this issue generally seek to challenge the recurring belief in the literature that crime and the informal economy are separate but strongly inter-related spheres. They begin to unravel, through looking at different sectors, how crime and the informal economy are not separate and discrete spheres but in practice blur into each other in a multitude of varying manners (Vande Walle, this issue). They consider what kinds of attributes of markets seem to facilitate both informal economic activity and the entry of organised crime and they touch on the influence of the growing internationalisation of many markets and its influence on both the informal economy and organised crime.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to introduce the topic of the informal economy, exploring its definition from both economic and criminological standpoints. It seeks to consider possible linkages with organised crime and the conditions under which these may be facilitated, with reference to the papers in this double special issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The papers in this issue are deliberately from different methodological perspectives, in order to illustrate the need for multidisciplinarity to show both the extent of the informal and criminal economies and their links to geographical and social context.\nFindings: - As well as revealing the endemic nature of corruption in Ukrainian workplaces and the high levels of informal activity undertaken by workers the research found that many people wish for their workplace to become more regulated.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The issue can only, for reasons of space, explore a number of facets of the informal economy. The nature of the informal economy depends upon place, time, social and ethnic context, and historical links and trade routes. The issue concentrates upon criminogenic potential, rather than the survival value of informal solutions or their place in cementing household and community economies and interactions.\nOriginality/value: - The issue contains papers which reveal new theoretical insights on this rather unresearched and complex topic, as well as new empirical findings. It highlights the impact of internationalisation and globalisation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Authenticity: Do tourist perceptions of winery experiences affect behavioral intentions?
|
[
"Authenticity",
"Behavioral intentions",
"Wine tourism",
"Winery marketing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As an ongoing research subject (Cohen and Ben-Nun, 2009) and/or as a tool for generating more value-added products (Koch et al., 2013), wine tourism has become a very popular and rapidly growing segment of the travel market within wine-producing regions globally (Alonso and Liu, 2010; Barth and Salazar, 2011; Cambourne et al., 2000; Charters and Ali-Knight, 2002; Hall, 2000; Hall and Mitchell, 2000; Koch et al., 2013; Qiu et al., 2013). Consequently, wine tourism has become a tourism development strategy for many wine-producing destination areas (Bruwer, 2003). Most existing wine tourism research appearing in scholarly academic publications has focused on definitions of wine tourism (Getz, 1999; Hall, 2000), market segmentation (Charters and Ali-Knight, 2002; Dodd and Bigotte, 1997; Getz, 1999; Hall and Macionis, 1998; Hall et al., 2000; Williams and Young, 1999), cultural aspects (Mitchell et al., 2000; Hall, 2000), wine routes (Bruwer, 2003) and motivations for travel (Alant and Bruwer, 2004; Carmichael, 2005; Galloway et al., 2008; Getz and Brown, 2006; Sparks, 2007). These research topics provide compelling evidence of this subject's importance.\nLiterature review: Wine tourism\nMethod: Instrument\nResults: Demographic figures and reliability\nConclusions and discussion: Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Based on the theoretical debates involving authenticity and consumer behavior intentions, this exploratory research study aims to identify whether the authentic experiences of tourists visiting wineries affect their behavioral intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A self-administered questionnaire was created to address authenticity issues within the context of the on-site winery experience and how they ultimately affected behavioral intentions according to selected demographic characteristics. Adapting Wang's categorization of authenticity as being composed of three dimensions, a total of 13 questions were developed and used to obtain consumer data. To determine whether these three dimensions related to authenticity affected visitors' behavioral intentions within the context of the winery experience, a standard multiple regression procedure was used at a levels = 0.05 and 0.01.\nFindings: The findings show that authentic characteristics play a substantial role in the behavioral intentions of winery tourists. Interestingly, there were no significant relationships between a visitor's willingness to recommend wineries and the on-site winery experience, presentation of wine bottle labeling and impressions about the overall winery experience.\nResearch limitations implications: Because this was an exploratory study, repeated applications of this experiment must be conducted in many other global destinations where winery visits occur, to establish generalizable research findings. Future applications of this research study should consider introducing new variables to further measure authenticity related to on-site winery visits, not only to build upon these study findings but also to assist the wine industry marketing professionals in acquiring a better understanding of the relationship between authenticity, as related to on-site winery visits, and the behavioral intentions of winery visitors.\nPractical implications: This study's findings will help to better understand the behavioral intentions of winery visitors based upon the perceived authenticity levels of on-site winery experiences. The results provide strategic and developmental directions for wine industry professionals, winery owners, wine producers and wine destination marketing organizations to more accurately promote winery visits, products and destinations.\nOriginality/value: Although authenticity and wine tourism have both received much attention as research topics, no research, to date, has addressed the importance of perceived authenticity, as applied to the on-site winery visit, within the overall wine tourism experience and its effect upon visitor intentions. This study endeavored to quantify the attributes of authenticity that are specific to winery tourism and consumer behavior issues.\n",
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Graduate entrepreneurship: intentions, education and training
|
[
"Graduates",
"Entrepreneurs",
"Education",
"Training",
"Self employed workers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Graduate entrepreneurship in the UK and around the globe is increasingly being seen as a vital source of competitiveness and the engine for economic growth and development. Higher education (HE) is producing an ever increasing number of graduates and government policy in many countries is seeking to promote self/small business employment as a viable career option, not least because of the fierce competition for \"large firm\" jobs in the graduate labour market. In the UK, for example, encouraging more graduates to pursue a career in self/small business employment sits comfortably with government aspirations for national and regional economic growth (Small Business Service - SBS, 2002; Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Development Agency, 2006). The government statement that Britain becomes the \"best place to start and grow a business\" (SBS, 2002), the establishment of the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship - NCGE (whose mission is to enhance the number and sustainability of graduate start-ups), and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (which acts as a global comparator comparing the entrepreneurial activity across nations) are significant indicators of a commitment to graduate entrepreneurship nationally and internationally. In sum, there is a strong global drive, towards encouraging a greater proportion of students to consider and pursue venture creation as an alternative graduate career path.The above context provides a backdrop to the importance of graduate entrepreneurship in general. More specifically, however, this special issue focuses on two main themes related to students/graduates:1. entrepreneurial intentions (e.g. transition and motivation to start-up, entrepreneurial attitudes); and2. entrepreneurship education and training (enterprise/entrepreneurship education experience, approaches taken by HE institutions, curriculum development, policy/practice implications).The special issue seeks to incorporate different regional and international contexts to obtain a diverse range of perspectives.Broadly speaking, there are three main reasons such a special issue is of potential interest to researchers, educators and practitioners. Firstly, whilst there is a body of Human Resource Development research that has largely focused on graduate training and career development in the context of an organizational context (Arnold and McKenzie Davey, 1992; Graham and McKenzie, 1995), there is a lack of research that focuses on graduate careers in a non-traditional context (King, 2003), specifically graduate entrepreneurial careers in terms of entrepreneurial intentions and developmental experiences. This is important given the increasing numbers of students considering or pursuing entrepreneurial careers (Robertson and Wilkinson, 2006; Harding, 2007; Holden et al., 2007) and the diverse range of contexts in which graduates pursue an entrepreneurial career.Secondly, there is a large body of research on entrepreneurship in general (Bridge et al., 2008; Henry et al., 2003), but much less so on graduate entrepreneurship (which as noted below has been distinguished from non-graduate entrepreneurship). This is consistent with the ISBA Consortium (2004, p. 8) report conclusion that \"the literature is generally broad, fragmented and growing\" and, critically, that \"despite a wealth of literature from business and management and other disciplines, only a minority focus on graduate entrepreneurship\" (p. 10). The continued interest in graduate entrepreneurship intentions and attitudes is important to understanding and potentially increasing the number and sustainability of graduate start-ups.Thirdly and finally, in relation to graduate start-up support, there are relatively few studies that focus on student/graduate enterprise and entrepreneurship education in varied and multiple contexts. This is important because lessons may be learned and shared about curriculum development and the relative impact of different approaches used towards enterprise/entrepreneurship education and training.This introductory paper is divided into three sections. It first examines the broader debates on graduate entrepreneurship and subsequently the two main themes of this paper, graduate entrepreneurial intentions and enterprise/entrepreneurship education and training. The intention is to provide a focused literature review of some of the key issues in the field and, against this background, introduce the papers in this special issue.\nWhat is graduate entrepreneurship? Issues and challenges: Whilst accepting that there is debate around the meaning of graduate entrepreneurship (see, Nabi et al., 2006a for example), in broad terms, it can be defined as the interaction between the graduate as the product of university education and business start-up in terms of an individual's career-orientation and mindset towards self-employment (European Commission, 2003; ISBA Consortium, 2004; Nabi et al., 2006a). Albeit with different emphasis, definitions tend to evolve around the notion that starting up or trying to start up a business as representing an aspect of entrepreneurship (see Nabi et al., 2006a for more detailed discussion). The role of HE is pivotal to students' career-related choices, decisions, and their perceptions of the attractiveness and feasibility of business start-up as a graduate career pathway (ISBA Consortium, 2004; Pittaway and Cope, 2007).A potential issue of debate concerns the extent to which there is a difference between graduate \"enterprise\" and \"entrepreneurship\", and similarly between \"enterprise\" and \"entrepreneurship\" education. Some prefer to use graduate enterprise (and enterprise education) in a broad sense to refer a set of life skills for students (e.g. coping with uncertainty) representing an \"enterprise for life\" approach that most students should possess, regardless of discipline and this is reflected in university-wide enterprise agendas for lifelong learning. Gibb (2005, p. 3), for example, sees this interpretation as one reflecting inclusivity, providing \"opportunities in organisations of all kinds and in all walks of life\". Others reserve graduate entrepreneurship (and entrepreneurship education) in a narrower sense for specific students/graduates who are in the process of starting up or trying to start up their own businesses and are learning skills for starting up a business. This has been referred to as an interpretation influenced strongly by an \"economist tradition\"; led predominantly by business schools and emphasising the centrality of the business plan and the need to mange relationships with banks, accountants, etc. (Gibb, 2005). These \"positions\" are relatively clear. However, many authors and organisations involved in HE support provision use the phrases interchangeably. The problems here include uncertainty about what the outputs are designed to be and concomitant issues of measurement and impact. Our position, as the editors of this special issue is to see graduate enterprise-entrepreneurship as a dimension from broad and generic (relevant to most students) to specialised and specific training (required for business start-up). Specifically, regarding HE programmes, Kirby (2004), for example, asks are they trying to develop enterprising graduates or entrepreneurial graduates? The answer has critical implications for HE-initiated programmes in terms of which tools and capabilities they seek to develop. Enterprise and entrepreneurship are, of course, inter-related (and some programmes and students may aspire towards both). It is important that this introductory paper, whilst not resolving, at least highlights this tension and provides the reader with an important conceptual \"question\" with which to view and consider the selected papers.Moreover, it is important to realise that the concept of the graduate entrepreneur is changing and evolving, and who and what constitutes a graduate entrepreneur is shifting from a skills-based agenda (looking at the tools and capabilities for start-up) to an entrepreneurial identity agenda (looking at the maturity of students/graduates, what it might be like to be a graduate entrepreneur, an understanding of themselves and the entrepreneurial lifestyle). Indeed, some of our research (Nabi et al., 2006b) and one of the papers in this special issue, by Hegarty and Jones, further addresses the notion of the graduate entrepreneur. In particular, the latter authors recommend that \"enterprise programmes should also focus on the aim to develop student understanding of what entrepreneurs do, why they are important to the economy and more importantly to society\".\nEntrepreneurial intentions: A major theme in the literature is entrepreneurial intentions (see, for example, Krueger, 1993; Krueger et al., 2000) which broadly speaking are related to include such factors as attitudes towards entrepreneurship in terms of perceived desirability of entrepreneurship as a career option, perceived feasibility in starting up (e.g. entrepreneurial skills and personality traits) and a willingness to act (i.e. actually start-up). Often research in this field is based around intentions models (such as Ajzen's (1987, 1991) theory of planned behaviour, and Shapero's (1982) model of the \"Entrepreneurial event\") underpinned by a fundamental premise that intentions translate to action in terms of actually starting up a business. This transition is often assumed and under-researched in terms of complexities, contexts and diverse processes involved (see Nabi et al., 2006a for further discussion). There are, of course, well-recognised barriers such as perceived desirability (for example, poor image or lack of personal desire): perceived feasibility (for example, lack of finance, skills or self-efficacy); or propensity to act on decisions (for example, a lack of self-efficacy to follow through and start up a business) (Henry et al., 2003; ISBA Consortium, 2004). This said, the failure to see relatively high levels of apparent intent to start up amongst students (circa 33 per cent) (see for example, Robertson and Wilkinson, 2005; Ward et al., 2008) translate into reality (estimates of graduate start-up suggest figures of between 3 and 4 per cent) (Harding, 2007) remains a critical research question.Whilst there is a body of literature on entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes, more work is required because there is a lack of research in different regional and international contexts. Harris and Jones (this issue) suggest that \"a more thorough understanding of students' entrepreneurial attitudes can also be used to develop more relevant education programmes\" and that the attitudes that underpin entrepreneurial intentions are learned and based on experience. Importantly, they argue that these can be measured and changed and thus allow for the possibility of attitude change and developing more appropriate student-centred education programmes for aspiring entrepreneurs.In this special issue, there are three papers focusing on the broad theme of intentions and attitudes, and importantly, in a diverse range of contexts. Harris and Gibson focus on entrepreneurial attitudes of American business students enrolled on an entrepreneurial training programme, and examine different entrepreneurial attitudes as a function of demographics (sex, ethnicity and discipline) and past business experience. Birdthistle, closer to home, examines entrepreneurial intentions, behaviour and personality traits in Ireland. And Hussain et al. look at the characteristics and motivations of Black and Minority Ethnic graduate entrepreneurs in England, who they argue are a distinct subset of the graduate entrepreneur population and worthy of research in their own right.\nEducation and training: Regarding specifically the issue of enterprise/entrepreneurship education and training and echoing the conceptual tension surrounding \"enterprise\" and \"entrepreneurship\", Hannon et al. (2005, p. 12), argue that current supply reveals \"confusion about the purposes and impact\" of enterprise/entrepreneurship education, whilst the NCGE acknowledge that such education and training is characterised by ambiguity and uncertainty about what and how it should be taught (Greene and Saridakis, 2007; Pittaway and Cope, 2007). This presents a challenge that is not easily addressed in the literature because of the diverse range of regional, national and international contexts, within which different HE institutions are working. Although there may not be a uniform standardised, one-size-fits-all approach that works, regardless of context, the three papers in this special issue looking at education and training do present some interesting approaches to enterprise and entrepreneurship education.Jones et al. appraise the delivery and impact of a business start-up course in Poland, pre- and post-course, and in terms of sex differences, motivations, prior experiences and future intent. Handscombe et al., use a case study approach, to focus on the challenges of embedding enterprise in a science and engineering department at a university in England. Finally, Hegarty and Jones present a cross-national paper comparing and contrasting enterprise programmes in Ireland and Australia and reinforce the shift from \"commercial strategies associated with entrepreneurial action towards developing essential life skills as core to any university agenda and important to developing entrepreneurial capacity amongst students\".\nConclusions: The intention of this introductory paper has been to provide a background context for the papers which follow. It has identified some of the issues, tensions and challenges within the field of graduate entrepreneurship, and introduced the two key themes of this special issue: graduate entrepreneurial intentions and education and training. Importantly, it has also highlighted the gap between intent and action, and the potential barriers to graduate entrepreneurship. Indeed, the journey from student to entrepreneur is unlikely to be straightforward, involving complex, contextualised and/or diverse processes.Despite student demand as well as government and HE policy to facilitate entrepreneurial activity, there is a lack of graduates pursuing this alternative graduate career pathway. What is needed is a further rethink as to why? Some of the research included in this special issue provides us with glimpses to the answer. Harris and Jones, for example, strongly argue that evolutionary approaches should be used to develop students as \"reasonable adventurers\" and to develop an \"enterprising mindset\". We concur that this would help some students relate entrepreneurial learning to individual life experiences and allow them to realistically and gradually translate entrepreneurial intentions into entrepreneurial activity.The most fundamental conclusion to this special issue, however, is that the link between education, training, intent and actual career choice to start up a business is a complex process and remains under-investigated. There is no universal approach to graduate enterprise/entrepreneurship that works for all contexts and graduates and different contexts require tailored approaches to best suit their individual needs. It is hoped that the papers in this special issue provide a step in the right direction in terms of informing debate, public policy and interventions related to pre- and post-graduation. It is also hoped they provide further avenues of research related to graduate entrepreneurship, the evaluation of related education and training programmes, what works in helping subsequent entrepreneurial activity, and in what context. The editors of this special issue would be delighted to hear from researchers, national or international, working in these areas, with a view to discussing collaborative research projects with us in the future.Finally, the editors would like to thank all the authors and reviewers involved in this special issue, along with the publishers, for their time, support and guidance.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The paper's purpose is to present an introduction to the special issue is that positions and explores some of issues and challenges in the field of graduate entrepreneurship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper examines a range of issues and themes and introduces papers of six authors/author teams. The introductory paper is divided into three sections: what is graduate entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial intentions; and education and training.\nFindings: - The paper finds that, despite increasing attention on graduate entrepreneurship, there remains a lack of research on entrepreneurial intentions and enterprise/entrepreneurship education and training in varied and multiple contexts. This special issue includes research from a number of countries, including England, Ireland, Australia and the USA.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides the basis for a more nuanced understanding of entrepreneurial intentions and related education and training - of interest to both researchers and policy makers in terms of the journey from student to start-up.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
CSR communication strategies and stakeholder engagement of upscale hotels in social media
|
[
"Facebook",
"Stakeholder engagement",
"CSR communication"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social media is transforming many corporation communication strategies because of its interactive nature. The ability of social media to facilitate two-way communication can lead to stronger stakeholder engagement (Dutot et al., 2016; Zhang and Lin, 2015). Many corporations are now using social media platforms to strengthen their communications related to both products and expertise as a way to increase stakeholder engagement (Kim et al., 2014). Given the increasing importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in corporate communication strategies (Kumar, 2014; Levy and Park, 2011; Holcomb et al., 2011), this study focuses on communication and stakeholder engagement within CSR practices on social media.\nLiterature review: Corporate social responsibility and stakeholders\nStakeholder communication strategies: Communication can be said to be the central issue of stakeholder engagement in CSR (Devin and Lane, 2014). Basic communication theory is multidisciplinary, and it studies the process of creating and interpreting messages. Currently, the information processing model of communication theory is the dominant theory in the CSR literature (Crane and Glozer, 2016). In particular, CSR communication theory focuses on CSR messages and consumers' reactions to those messages. In addition to stakeholder theory, to analyze the stakeholder engagement in CSR communication, this research also uses CSR communication theory to investigate the effectiveness of CSR messages.\nSocial media and corporate social responsibility communication: Social media can be an effective tool for corporations who wish to understand their customers' needs and expectations when drafting CSR initiatives. Social media are Web 2.0 platforms that enable internet users from across the world to interact, communicate and share ideas, content, thoughts, experiences, perspectives, information and relationships (Chan and Guillet, 2011). Distaso and McCorkindale (2013) identified user participation and engagement as the crucial distinctions between traditional media and social media. Traditional media, such as magazines and company reports, only allow for a one-way transmission of information and the response channels are limited (Kasavana, 2008).\nMethodology: Our methodology includes three steps, and it combines qualitative and quantitative approaches.\nSample and data collection: The Forbes Star Award system is used for hotel classification in this study because it is internationally recognized. We classify hotels with four- or five-star Forbes ratings as luxury hotels. A total of 13 hotels in Hong Kong meet this criterion, which are as follows:\nData coding: A content analysis was carried out after the data were extracted from the Facebook pages. As mentioned in the literature review, there are two predominant types of content in this study: CSR-related posts and marketing-oriented posts. Kim et al. (2015) three types of content orientations are adopted for both types of content, resulting in a total of six content orientations - three for each content type. Table II provides a summary of the six content types that have been adopted in this study.\nData analysis design: The data analysis includes three steps. The first step provides descriptive statistics for all of the posts included in our sample. Popularity, commitment, virality and engagement levels for all posts are examined based on the Facebook stakeholder engagement metrics (Bonson and Ratkai, 2013). After categorizing posts by content and media type, the numbers of each type of post are analyzed. The second step adopts a qualitative approach to more deeply examine the content of both CSR- and marketing-oriented posts. The final step applies a quantitative approach to scrutinize levels of engagement. It then provides an analysis of the likes, shares and comments for all media and content types.\nResults and discussion: In this section, the results for each step of the data analysis are presented. First, the numbers of posts, fans and levels of engagement are analyzed based on their descriptive statistics. Second, CSR-related and marketing-oriented posts are content analyzed. Third, the relationship between media type, content type and level of engagement is analyzed using a quantitative approach.\nDescriptive statistics: All of the sample hotels were active on Facebook. The descriptive statistics for activity on each hotel's Facebook page are summarized in Table III. Netvizz extracted 4,498 posts from the 13 official hotel pages. Despite the fact that all of the hotels that we included in our sample were rated as either four or five stars by Forbes Star Travel Guide (Forbes, 2015), the number of fans varied across the sample. The difference between the minimum and maximum thresholds is close to 10-fold. The number of posts that hotels uploaded during the period under study was also uneven. Some hotels posted multiple times per day throughout the specified period, whereas others only posted once every few days. In contrast, engagement levels do not vary significantly, with the exception of one extreme value at 8.74.\nContent analysis: The second step of the data analysis investigates the content of CSR-related and marketing-oriented posts. The most common activities and examples of these are specified in the following subsections.\nQuantitative analysis: For hotels to achieve higher levels of engagement, it is essential that they understand how different media and content types affect engagement levels in terms of likes, comments and shares. Engagement levels could be affected by numerous factors aside from media and content type. Scholars have investigated customer personality traits (Kabadayi and Price, 2014), the utility of Facebook functions (Tsai and Men, 2013), activity levels, the size of a page's audience (fans) and the number of rooms in the hotel (Bonson et al., 2015). To increase the credibility of this study, the relationship between audience size and engagement level is assessed. The results indicate that there is no significant relationship between the two variables. The number of rooms is not considered as a variable, because the number of rooms across the 13 hotels does not vary widely.\nConclusions and implications: This study provides several insights into how upscale Hong Kong hotels use Facebook in their communication strategies and how more effective CSR messages could be drafted for stakeholder engagement. Our investigation included an analysis of the frequencies of hotels' post with different media and content types, a content analysis and a quantitative analysis of the levels of engagement for different media and content types, for both marketing-oriented and CSR-oriented posts. This study contributes to the existing CSR communication theories with the exploration of factors that increase the effectiveness of messages in terms of public reactions in social media. In particular, the types of content and types of media are examined. Moreover, this study contributes to the stakeholder theory with the identification of the effective strategic approaches to stakeholder engagement on social media based on the examination of current hotels' strategies and their effectiveness.\nLimitations and future research directions: Because upscale and luxury hotels tend to be more invested in social media marketing and active on Facebook than lower or mid-scale hotels, only four- to five-star hotels were selected. Moreover, upscale and luxury hotels are more likely to expend resources when implementing CSR initiatives. Further research could be conducted to examine differences in communication strategies between upscale and mid-scale hotels. Second, only data extracted from a hotel property's Facebook page were analyzed and not the chain itself. For example, there may be CSR initiatives that are communicated on corporate pages, which we did not capture in our sample. Research could be conducted to compare CSR communication on specific hotel property pages and corporate pages. Third, because the aim of this study is to investigate how hotels communicate CSR in terms of media and content type, the sample excluded comments on posts because they did not contribute significantly to the findings. Consequently, research could be conducted to examine the mood and content of comments and hotel responsiveness. Finally, Facebook has recently launched a few more emoticons for customers to express their opinions beyond mere likes. It would be interesting to explore the effect of these emoticons on CSR communication in the future because this type of communication is controversial. Furthermore, future research may explore the possibility of strengthening communication through video to increase engagement. Because the primary purpose of customers interacting with companies on Facebook is to obtain information and discounts, media that is information-rich could encourage more engagement from the stakeholders. As mentioned, some CSR initiatives' context may be high; multimedia could improve communication according to media richness theory (Daft and Lengel, 1986) because videos could help explain the rationale and process behind CSR initiatives, thus increasing the effectiveness of CSR communication.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how hotels practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through social media, including which content type and media type receive the highest level of engagement. Two major aspects are considered, namely, CSR communication activity and stakeholder engagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is conducted for Forbes four-star to five-star hotels in Hong Kong. Facebook data are extracted from the property pages of the sample hotels by Netvizz, which is a Facebook data extraction application. The data analysis includes three steps and combines qualitative and quantitative approaches.\nFindings: The results indicate that the type of information has a significant influence on engagement and has even more of an affect than the message strategy. Although the number of CSR-related posts is significantly lower than marketing-oriented posts, they achieve a comparable level of popularity and engagement. Posts encouraging CSR practices show the highest level of engagement among CSR-related posts. In terms of media and content types, video achieves the highest engagement, and posts related to discounts achieve the highest engagement.\nOriginality/value: This study fills the gap in the current literature by conducting a comparison between marketing and CSR communication strategies on social media. It also provides insights on how to draft more effective CSR messages.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An identification perspective of servant leadership's effects
|
[
"Servant leadership",
"Turnover intention",
"Identification with the organization",
"Identification with the supervisor",
"OCB toward coworkers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: High-quality service delivered by front-line employees is considered a major source of a service company's competitive advantage (Babakusa et al., 2010); thus, much attention has been paid to understand how to boost the motivation of front-line service workers to serve external customers (e.g. Raub and Liao, 2012). However, although studies have extensively focussed on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in general and helping behavior in particular, the serving behavior of front-line workers, which is intended to benefit coworkers as internal customers, has been less known. The service industry is characterized by a high turnover rate (Babakusa et al., 2010). For instance, the turnover rate in the Chinese traditional service industry in 2013 is 19.4 percent, and this rate reached as high as 30 percent in the hospitality industry, compared with an average of 16.7 percent across all industries. The growing cost caused by employee turnover has placed a heavy burden to service companies. Moreover, employees in the service industry are normally undereducated and have not received sufficient on-the-job training. This phenomenon imposes difficulty in personnel management in the sense that the supervisors, promoted from below, lack necessary leadership so as to successfully carry out their responsibilities.\nTheory and hypotheses: Servant leadership and subordinate's identification\nMethods: Sample and procedure\nResults: Confirmatory factor analyses\nDiscussion: This study demonstrates several identification-related psychological mechanisms through which servant leadership exerts its influence on subordinate's turnover intention and OCB toward coworkers, two outcomes that are crucial for the service industry in general and hospitality industry in particular. In specific, we found that supervisor's servant leadership elicits subordinate's identification with the supervisor and reduces subordinate's supervisor-specific avoidance, both of which in turn influence subordinate's identification with the organization. Organizational identification directly helps reduce subordinate's turnover intention and facilitate coworker-oriented serving behaviors (i.e. OCB toward coworkers).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal the identification-based mechanisms through which servant leadership affects desired outcomes (organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) toward coworkers and turnover intention) in the service industry in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data of 293 pairs of valid subordinate-supervisor dyads were collected from the hospitality industry in China with a time lag of 30 days to reduce common method bias. Hypotheses were tested by a bootstrapping method and rival model comparisons.\nFindings: The authors demonstrate that both the subordinate's identification with the supervisor and identification with the organization play crucial roles in translating servant leadership's effects to subordinate's coworker-oriented OCBs and turnover intention. However, the occurrence of the two identifications seems to be not parallel but in sequence (i.e. pointing from identification with the supervisor to identification with the organization). In addition, results show that servant leadership's ability to reduce subordinate's fear of being close to the immediate supervisor is an equally significant route through which subordinate's identification with the organization can be established.\nOriginality/value: The research has extended the literature and provided a nuanced explanation of the identification processes underlying servant leadership. The differentiation between relational identification with supervisor and collective identification with organization has shed light on a socialization mechanism through which subordinates come to demonstrate other-oriented service behavior and choose not to leave the organization. Additionally, the way that servant leadership helps eliminate subordinate's fear in a supervisory relationship has proved to be in-negligible in enhancing organizational identification.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Service facility relocation decision: a case study
|
[
"Emerging economies",
"Decision-making",
"Performance improvement",
"Mathematical modelling",
"Equipment pooling",
"Facility relocation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Facility location selection is a strategic decision in supply chain management, which in turn impacts many tactical and operational decisions. While designing supply chains, firms are often faced with the competing demands of improved customer service and reduced cost. They also experience changes in customers' demographics and expectations, operational competency, changes in supplier and competitors' bases, operating costs, distribution networks, corporate re-engineering, business climate and government regulations. They try to explore ways and means to meet these dynamic challenges. Facility relocation could be one such way.\nLiterature review: Literature provides detailed accounts of location models and solution methods for siting facilities (Arabani and Farahani, 2012; Daskin, 2008; Klose and Drexl, 2005). These models can be broadly classified into three groups: continuous location models, network location models and discrete location models (Daskin, 2008). Continuous location models assume that the solution is feasible to be located on every point within a studied area. Network location models assume that the solution can be located anywhere on a network simulated from an actual site, while the alternatives considered in discrete location models are restricted to a finite set of potential locations (Klose and Drexl, 2005). A complete bibliography on facility location applications and methods can be found in Drezner (1995).\nProblem context/case overview: Concept of equipment pooling\nMethodology: This paper uses the case study method, which is a powerful method when researching a new field (Voss et al., 2002), a new topic area where little knowledge of the phenomenon is present, or in a setting requiring deep insights into the case subjects (Eisenhardt, 1989). The objective was to relocate a single facility so as to cover dynamically the demand service levels of a given set of customers. A research design based on three different steps was adopted. The first part of the research was based on an extensive literature review that has been summarized in the previous section. Given the problem, related literature (Eisenhardt, 1989; Jacobs et al., 1996; Sonmez and Lim, 2012; Yin, 2003) was reviewed to design and plan the methodology to tackle it. In the second step, detailed case data analysis of key issues concerning service facility relocation was carried out. Finally, implications for managers were derived.\nCHEPs service facility relocation decision for improved customer service: Prime considerations\nDiscussion of results: Moving closer to customers, CHEP was also able to enhance its service reliability in terms of ensuring on time deliveries and providing JIT service. The customers located in a range of 0-20 km increased drastically from 15 to 31 per cent, while those located in a range of 21-50 km increased from 27 to 36 per cent. Consequently, customers located at a distance of more than 50 km declined sharply from 58 to 33 per cent. Further, being closer to customer meant better responsiveness in terms of order execution lead times and increase in customer service levels. Improvements in order execution lead times for both issue and dehire movements after relocation from Lonikand to Chimbaliphata were observed for most locations. Moving closer to approximately 60 per cent of customer base resulted in 10-12 per cent consistent improvement in customer service levels from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014. Besides shorter lead times for delivery and on-time delivery as per customer need, customer service also improved due to increased product visibility leading to increased order fill rates and higher invoicing accuracy. As a result, CHEP had a continued average savings in transportation costs (approximately 2,000 litres of diesel per month). All this resulted in CHEP meeting extended customer demands as and when required making the firm efficient in terms of volume flexibility.\nManagerial implications: Relocating service facilities is a significant business decision. Managers must understand and appreciate that the whole objective of any business decision is to improve collaboration between the firm and its external partners, create greater supply chain effectiveness, reduce cycle time and procurement costs, lower operating costs and reduce order fulfilment times, increase inventory turns and reduce cash-to-cash cycle times. The relocation decision in the case was taken to adapt to dynamic changes in business environments surrounding the firm's supply chain operations. It clearly demonstrates that firms can create a rational, efficient and even-handed approach for relocation of facilities identifying that the root cause of good or bad performance stems from changing business environment. It also provides a means by which several objectives may be evaluated by a firm.\nConclusions: This paper uses the case study method, which is a powerful method in a new topic area where little knowledge of the phenomenon is present. It describes the actual experiences in service facility relocation in an innovative business in the Indian context. The case highlights the role of firms such as CHEP India, a pallet and container pooling-based supply chain solutions provider, in emerging markets. It clearly demonstrates the importance of qualitative and quantitative analyses in strategic and operations decision-making for a single facility relocation decision.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present issues and challenges faced during a firm's facility relocation decision aimed at improving both cost and service performance in an innovative service context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The reader is given background of the decision-making process behind single service facility relocation decision using a detailed case study. Key financial, operational and business data of the firm are collected, compiled and analysed. The solution methodology uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses to choose the best among the three possible discrete location choices. For propriety reasons, some information has been disguised, and some data have been sanitized.\nFindings: The factors that significantly influence relocation decision are proximity to high transaction customers, infrastructure and other input costs, customer service level requirements and extant regulations. Transportation has a direct impact on cost as well as service level. Most of the findings are in line with literature, but some of them differ too.\nResearch limitations/implications: The approach is focused on a single case study of a pooling container firm in the Indian context and thereby limits the ability to generalize the findings. Nevertheless, this study may serve as a significant starting point for future research.\nPractical implications: Firms can create a rational, efficient and even-handed approach for relocation of facilities applying a mix of qualitative and quantitative models judiciously. It provides managers better understanding and insights and actions needed for single service facility relocation.\nOriginality/value: This work is perhaps the first on facility relocation in emerging economies covering actual interventions and experiences. It gives new insights to a limited literature of relocating single service facility reflecting both theoretical imperatives and practitioner requirements.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Guadalajara
|
[
"Management accountability",
"Language"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Dear Sir\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To reflect on what evidence might be persuasive, powerful, and influential in decision-making.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Fictional poem.\nFindings: - Meditation on the way that we decide what to do, account for it, be responsible for it to others, and be accountable to them.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Stimulates thought about how organisations construct an agreed set of terms and language for measuring progress and organising accountability.\nOriginality/value: - An individual comment on assessing what language is appropriate for building organisations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Pragmatism and new directions in social and environmental accountability research
|
[
"Social and environmental reporting",
"Stakeholder engagement",
"Pragmatism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Humanity is facing a set of very real and serious problems. Sustainability issues are on the rise, of which the most salient include significant inequalities in income and health both between and within nations (e.g. Marmot, 2005; Milanovic, 2006; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2010), accelerating losses to biodiversity (International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 2008; World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 2008) and climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2008). Many of these problems are the direct result of commercial and industrial activity by various organisations aimed at meeting the financial demands of their shareholders and investors. Thus these social and environmental issues continue to worsen despite clear evidence about their existence and causes from the research community. Fortunately, a broader set of stakeholders including governments, NGOs and the media have sought to hold companies to account. As a result various forms of social and environmental reporting (SER) and accounting have evolved as a way for companies to inform their stakeholders about their activities and perhaps also to manage their collective opinion about the company as well as its brands and its products. This one-way form of communication has been complemented by a number of other engagement processes that have the potential to form a two-way dialogue between stakeholders and companies.\n2. Pragmatism and accounting research: Pragmatism stands as a large and well-developed philosophy that informs logic, metaphysics, philosophy of science, philosophy of the mind, ethics and aesthetics. Pragmatism has been explored by a number of great writers, such as Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), William James (1842-1910), Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841-1935) and John Dewey (1859-1952), and more recently by Richard Rorty (1931-2007), Richard Berstein and Richard Shusterman. These American scholars made pragmatism an American philosophy and part of the American zeitgeist that worked to empower its people as it became economically and culturally independent of Europe and rapidly industrialised during the turn of the twentieth century (Barnes, 2008). Originally pragmatism was developed based on the notion of anti-foundationalism, which is the belief that ideas do not exist as timeless and pre-existing perfect forms, but instead are formed contingently and experimentally in response to particular needs as people live out their lives in a given place and time (Barnes, 2008). In this way ideas are tools to accomplish particular tasks. Thus the early pragmatists all share the epistemological position that meaning and truth is inferential rather than representational; that meaning comes from relationships with other expressions rather than a representational relationship with objects.\n3. Pragmatism: In order to better apply the broader philosophy of pragmatism we will focus on two of its central and interrelated ideas: \"truth\" and \"sensemaking\". Developing these core ideas individually will allow for better application of pragmatism as a framework for thinking about SEA research. The first, truth, has been a central notion within the practice of accounting with legal and regulatory systems around the world viewing accounting as the primary means of providing \"true and fair\" information or faithful representations about the performance of companies (Alexander and Archer, 2003; Alexander and Jermakowicz, 2006; Kirk, 2006). As a result the concept of \"truth\" has been explored at length within accounting research (McKernan, 2011; Shapiro, 1997, 1998; Bayou et al., 2011; Lukka and Modell, 2010; McKernan, 2007; Macintosh, 2002, 2006, 2009). As well as providing representations of the financial reality of organisations, accounting has been seen to provide similar truth claims about the intangible aspects of companies (Cohen, 2011; Wyatt, 2005), as well as of a company's social and environmental performance (which we will explore specifically in this paper). Therefore it seems fitting that this concept should also be explored and challenged if we want to interrogate the usefulness of accounting. Pragmatism offers a way to do this because questions of \"what is truth?\" have lain at the heart of its endeavour since its beginning (Haack, 1976; Rorty, 1991). For Dewey, the aim of exploring truth was to \"gain a kind of understanding which is necessary to deal with problems as they arise\" rather than \"to uncover the antecedently real\" (Dewey, 1988, p. 14). Understanding how truth serves in dealing with problems then necessitated an exploration of the practical relevance of ideas for individuals in relation to their own objectives. This exploration of how individuals cognitively frame situations and come to know things as true or meaningful is the idea of sensemaking (Weick, 1993, 1995). Studying sensemaking is important for understanding pragmatism as it underpins the very \"site where meanings materialise that inform and constrain identity and action\" (Weick et al., 2005, p. 409).\n4. Exploring pragmatism in SEA research: In this section we will utilise the ideas of truth and sensemaking as outlined in the previous section to explore two areas of SEA research - SER and stakeholder engagement. Both of these areas of research have sought to explore the role of accounting in providing accountability to a variety stakeholders or users. In the following Section (4.1) we examine a range of research exploring the representation accuracy of SER but also the social, political and psychic processes involved in compiling the reports. However, SER offers a rather restricted a one-way view of accountability whereby managers attempt to sense give to stakeholders by influencing the way they understand or make sense of the organisation and its social and environmental performance (Gioia and Chittipeddi, 1991; Morsing and Schultz, 2006). In the second part of this Section (4.2) we explore how this circle may be completed and examine how stakeholders may in turn sense give to managers. We explore how accounting may operate as a medium of communication that facilitates an \"accountability relationship\" whereby organisations recognise and act on a set of moral obligations to their stakeholders (Lehman, 1995, p. 396). This second section will also provide a more useful model for encouraging engagement between different interest groups in relation to sustainability. Each of the sections will explore prior research in the area of interest and then discuss whether and how it adheres to pragmatism. We will then offer ways of extending research in this area through the lens of pragmatism.\n5. Conclusion: 5.1. Methodological implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is threefold. To clarify what is meant by \"pragmatism\" as a philosophy for social and environmental accountability (SEA) research, to survey its use within this research field and to explore how a further pursuit of pragmatism may extend this research field.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extensive review of the SEA literature was conducted in order to determine what aspects of the philosophy of pragmatism have been used within the research. The authors organised the discussion of the literature around the pragmatist ideas of \"truth\" and \"sensemaking\".\nFindings: SEA research is a heterogeneous space in which various ideas are commonly attributed to the philosophical notion of pragmatism. However, there is a tension in the literature between seeing accounting as a medium for representing social and environmental organisational activities and a pragmatist view of accountings as a way of allowing managers and stakeholder to make sense of these same activities.\nResearch limitations/implications: A clearer development of the ideas of pragmatism may be used to redirect the focus of SEA research in a number of useful ways. Seeing accounting as a medium of sensemaking between organisations and their stakeholders allows the authors to widen the exploration of accounting not only to the production of reports but also their interpretation by users. The ideas of pragmatism also allow the authors to explore the ways stakeholders might affect change within organisations and how accounting may support this process rather than capture or limit it.\nPractical implications: This paper concludes by providing a set of methodological prescriptions for conducting future SEA research in a way that is inspired by pragmatism. It outlines an approach to research that focuses on users and their sensemaking and encourages an exploration of the possible ways accounting may create positive change in organisations.\nOriginality/value: Overall, this paper refines what it means to follow pragmatism within SEA research. It will promote a clearer understanding of how we, as a research community, may engage with practice in more positive ways in order to facilitate corporate social responsibility.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An exploration on e-retailers' home delivery - strategic elements and their prioritisation
|
[
"China",
"Strategy",
"Logistics",
"E-commerce",
"Distribution management",
"Delivery services",
"E-retail",
"Home delivery",
"Importance-performance analysis (IPA)",
"Prioritisation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Evidenced by the continuously increased e-retailing sales (Chang et al., 2013; Clark, 2011; Lockwood, 2013), China with its vast online shopping consumer population (China E-commerce Research Centre (CERC), 2012; Zhang and Zhang, 2012), is a very profitable marketplace for e-retailers (Lockwood, 2013). Naturally, it is not a surprise that there are many foreign and Chinese e-retailers entering and operating in the market. Compared with their counterparts in the developed countries such as the UK, the e-retail businesses in China started later, but are performing well and growing rapidly (Chang et al., 2013; Clark, 2011; Liu, 2012).\n2. Literature review: 2.1. E-retailers' home delivery performance and its importance\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. General research approach\n4. Findings and analysis: The e-retailers participating this research all have at least nation-wide business coverage, and are located in the areas with well-developed logistics system infrastructure; the goods they are selling are all within the categories of those most often purchased by consumers (SJZTJ, 2015; CINIC, 2011); therefore, the consistency of the viewpoints from e-retailers in this research will only be examined based on their sizes.\n5. Conclusions, implications, limitations and future research: 5.1. Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a research exploring the important strategic elements and their prioritisation for e-retailers' home delivery logistics process efficacy improvement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research was completed through focus group, survey and importance-performance analysis.\nFindings: The research identified, confirmed and prioritised a set of explicitly important strategic elements currently deemed important by e-retailers for ensuring the efficacy of their home delivery logistics process in Chinese marketplace, and also referential to the other similar emerging marketplaces.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research contributes positively to the enrichment of the theoretical knowledge pool of e-retailers' logistics performance improvement.\nPractical implications: The research findings guide/inform the strategy development and implementation for e-retailers entering and/or operating in Chinese marketplace. And the findings can also be referential to the e-retail strategy development for entering and operating in other emerging markets similar to China's. This point is particularly meaningful for those e-retailers that want to expand the outreaching and increase the popularity of their businesses in the global marketplace.\nOriginality/value: Corresponding to the much needed further research on e-retailing home delivery performance improvement, the research provides findings that add substantial new insights into the field, with a particular focus on China, as one of the emerging developing marketplaces.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Comparing usage between a Dynamic and a Static e-monograph Collection
|
[
"E-books",
"Collection development",
"Academic libraries",
"Collection size",
"E-monographs",
"Usage statistics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This study explores the differences in usage levels between an e-monograph collection that has experienced continual growth and an e-monograph collection that has not experienced any recent growth whatsoever. Its purpose was to determine quantitatively if e-monograph collections with dynamic content experience greater levels of usage compared to e-monograph collections that are static in both size and content.\nMethods: Because it has been demonstrated that e-books of a monographic nature are used very differently from electronic reference books, usage were examined separately (Lamothe, 2012). Only e-monograph data were examined in this study.\nResults and discussion: Dynamic Collection usage analysis\nConclusions: E-monograph collections at the J.N. Desmarais Library of Laurentian University experienced continual year-to-year increases in the number viewings as long as the number of e-monograph titles continued to increase as well. The average use per title also increased as the collection continued to grow.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a quantitative analysis comparing usage levels between an e-monograph collection that has experienced continual growth and an e-monograph collection that has not experienced any recent growth whatsoever. The aim of the study was to determine quantitatively if e-monograph collections with dynamic content experience greater levels of usage compared to e-monograph collections that are static in both size and content.\nDesign/methodology/approach: E-monograph data were separated into a Dynamic and a Static Collection. Usage for e-monographs belonging to the Dynamic Collection was compared to usage of e-monographs belonging to the Static Collection. The number of e-monographs was obtained by simple count. Additional statistics tracked include the number of viewings. A linear regression analysis was used to determine the strength of the linear relationship between collection size and usage.\nFindings: Results indicate that e-monograph collections that continue to grow in both size and content also continue to experience year-to-year increases in usage, whereas e-monograph collections that remain static in size and content experience a decline in usage. A linear regression analysis indicates the existence of a very strong linear relationship that exists between Dynamic Collection size and usage. A weaker linear relationship was calculated for Static Collection size and usage.\nOriginality/value: This research is one of very few studies systematically and quantitatively comparing usage levels between e-monographs from growing collections to collections that have not had any new titles added recently.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
"Innovations" on hold: sex education in the Greek primary schools
|
[
"Greece",
"Health education",
"Educational innovation",
"Primary schools",
"Sex education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper examines the case of teaching about sex and relationships as part of Health Education in the Greek primary schools. Emergent problems in the sexual health of the population in general, and the young population in particular, made explicit the need for introducing Sex and Relationship Education into the Greek school curricula. For example, Greece holds one of the highest abortion rates in the world (close to 300,000 per year, a figure that is double the number of births) and is first among the countries of the European Union, where on average abortion rates represent approximately only one-fifth of the number of living births (WHO, 2003). Even more importantly, many abortions each year involve teenage girls (Ioannidi-Kapolou, 2004; Mavroforou et al. 2004). Sexual knowledge of the population is insufficient. A relatively small percentage of respondents (30.6 per cent of women and 14.7 per cent of men) of a nationwide research study were able to answer basic questions about contraceptive issues, correctly (Tountas et al., 2004). Moreover, in a study on the sexual relationships characteristics and safe sex practices of Greek young people, data indicated that about 58 per cent of them had used a condom during their first sexual intercourse, a number that was even lower for more recent sexual intercourses. One quarter of the participants had used no safe sex practices of any kind (Kordoutis et al., 2000). In contrast, in The Netherlands, for example, 93 per cent of the young people say that they always use contraception (Roberts, 2000). Finally, according to the Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2006), the cumulative number of reported HIV/AIDS infections in Greece shows a significant increase over the past years. In 2003, Greece reported double the number of cases of HIV infections as well as diagnosed AIDS cases of Scandinavian or central European countries (WHO, 2003).Health Education was introduced into the Greek elementary sector as part of a range of \"innovative activities\" during the educational reform of 2001 to advance a cross-thematic approach to learning. Innovation can be defined as the act of introducing functional changes in new ways, or an end product which is new (Inbar, 1996). For Rogers (1983, p. 11) \"an innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption.\" Innovations in education have been seen as a way of adjusting educational systems in the context of the demands of changing societies. According to the Greek Ministry of Education, the aim of Health Education is to protect, improve, and promote students' mental and physical health and social well-being by encouraging the development of social skills and critical thinking, as well as by improving their social and physical environment (National Gazette of Greek Republic, 2003, p. 4344).Health Education is not mandatory. Primary teachers interested in Health Education have two to four hours weekly for such activities. There are seven general categories or thematic units for Health Education programs' development. These are: nutrition, cardiovascular diseases - physical exercise, consumers' education, road and vehicle education - prevention of road accidents, dental hygiene, addictions - mental health, and sex and relationships education. The innovative aspect of these programs lies in the fact that they do not follow the traditional teacher centred teaching methods, but rather are based on active learning methods and project work:This innovative endeavour aims to focus on the adjustment of teaching aims and methodology, while focusing on the balanced distribution of teaching content among all grade levels and the horizontal linking of all subject content, seeking to cover a greater variety of topics (emphases added) (Pedagogical Institute, n.d., Introductory Note).The aim of this paper is to function as a critical response to those educational policy directives that do not differentiate among teaching topics and that treat them in a mono-dimensional way, as equal entities in the educational agenda. The objective here is to examine those factors that underline teachers' choices regarding these programs and their implementation and to argue that according to the subject matter, different conditions are needed to ensure that educational innovations are successfully dispersed. It is important therefore, before introducing any new idea, to take into consideration the special conditions that might predetermine the success or failure of the idea or activity.The theoretical framework for this study is based on the Diffusion of Innovations framework (Rogers, 1983). According to Rogers (1983, p. 5), \"diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.\" For this study, Sex and Relationships Education, one of seven recommended Health Education activities, is regarded as the innovative idea to be introduced, whereas the school community is seen as the social system. The diffusion process involves the initial introduction of an innovation, its communication to the system's members, and the evaluation of the innovation from the members' perspective that consequently leads to the adoption or rejection of the innovation (Rogers, 1983).In what follows, Sex and Relationships Education as a thematic unit for developing and implementing Health Education programs in the Greek elementary school is seen as an \"innovation\" on-hold. That is because, while there are references on the aims, targets, and even for suggested activities for teaching the subject in the National Curriculum, the data from the present study indicate that few elementary school teachers choose to implement such a program as part of their Health Education interventions. This is important since \"approval of sexuality education programs by the community, schools, and parents is negated if a teacher is not prepared or willing to carry out the program in the classroom\" (Bowden et al., 2003, p. 780).Conversely, a successfully introduced innovation is one that teachers have adopted, that is, teachers are able and willing to implement the innovation in class and are confident in their ability to adapt it to the needs and abilities of their students (Bitan-Friedlander et al., 2004). Teachers, therefore, have been recognized as significant agents for successful innovation implementation. Their attitudes and concerns towards specific innovations have been found crucial for adopting the particular innovation (Inbar, 1996; Buston et al., 2002; Cheung, 2002; Stevens, 2004; Bitan-Friedlander et al., 2004). According to research, the success or failure of an educational innovation depends on the attitudes, knowledge, and skills of the teachers, on the aid of the relevant administrators and other colleagues, and on the teachers' recognition of this support (Buston et al., 2002; Stevens, 2004; Bitan-Friedlander et al., 2004).Wight and Buston (2003) argue that many teachers consider the implementation of Sex and Relationships Education problematic for four main easons. First, owing to societal constraints, direct discussions about sexuality issues in social interactions are embarrassing. Second, teachers feel that they do not properly understand young people's lifestyles and the recent developments in sexual health. Third, they believe that the content and values of the existing sex education curriculum are disputable representing more their own and parental values or objections. Finally, they have little time to dedicate to sex and relationships education due to their heavy workload. The present study examines those factors that prevent Greek primary teachers from introducing sex and relationships as part of their Health Education interventions. I argue that there are both pragmatic reasons and moral considerations on the teachers' part that obstruct such teaching. Finally, I offer some suggestions on how to transform an innovation currently on-hold, into an active innovation.\nThe research study: This paper presents and discusses data collected from a survey study (February-March 2005) in Greece that involved 68 Health Education elementary school coordinators. Health Education coordinators are primary teachers who are responsible for promoting and further enhancing the implementation of Health Education programs. They do not have teaching responsibilities themselves but they provide teachers with material, information, or consultation, and they monitor and evaluate the various Health Education projects organized in the geographical district of their supervision.Aims\nMethod: The research goal was to outline the existing conditions regarding the implementation of Health Education programs' in Greek primary schools. In other words \"to describe the nature of the existing conditions\" regarding Health Education programs in Greek primary schools and to \"identify the standards against which those conditions can be compared\" (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 169), therefore, a survey research design was considered most appropriate. \"Survey responses are thought to mirror the nature of the social world under investigation at the moment of the investigation\" (Hutchinson, 2004, p. 287). In order to obtain the data, a survey questionnaire and an accompanying introductory letter were developed. The questions were based on a literature review on the limited publications about Health Education and Sex and Relationships Education in Greece (see Kakavoulis, 1995; Gouvra et al., 1999, 2001; Kreatsas, 2003); on a previously administrated questionnaire by the researcher exploring Greek teachers' opinions (Gerouki, 2008), on the researcher's experience while working in schools; on discussions with teachers and Health Education coordinators; and data from the evaluation report of another innovative activity (Pedagogical Institute, 2002).While structuring the questionnaire and conducting the research, care was taken to secure the respondents' understanding, ability, and willingness to answer. In the introductory letter, the purposes and intended usefulness of the research were discussed, and the anonymity of the responses and the confidential way that the derived data would be treated were verified. Both documents were developed in Greek.The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first part asked for general demographic information. The second part was dedicated to Health Education projects in general. The third part included questions devoted to the issue of Sex and Relationships Education as one of the seven Health Education thematic units.A pilot administration of the questionnaire was given to five primary teachers, who were not Health Education coordinators however, but who ascertained its comprehensiveness, clarity, length, and readability of the document.The statistical analysis of the data from the structured questions, in the form of simple frequency counts, was performed by descriptive methods using the statistical program SPSS 11.5. The presence of particular words or concepts, that is the content, placed each answer of the open questions in a broader group. Broader categories were established by means of a preliminary overall examination of the responses.All 68 questionnaires were mailed to the offices of the Health Education coordinators throughout Greece, followed by a follow-up four weeks later. These contacts resulted in 34 replies. However, at the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year, following a governmental change, about 25 per cent of the coordinators had been substituted, a fact that might have affected the response rate of the present survey.Respondents appeared to be familiar with the research topics. In addition, asking them to recall information from the previous school year yielded fuller answers. The decision to use a prepaid envelope for the answers, as well as the choice to keep answers anonymous, was taken in order to encourage respondents' participation in the research and secure reliable answers. At the end of the study, respondents' validation was also obtained: a summary of the survey's results was sent to some of the respondents asking for their comments. Three of them actively confirmed that the results reflected their personal opinions and expectations when answering the questionnaire, and none replied with any comments to the contrary.Although research questions were about teachers' choices and practices in school settings, regarding Health Education programs' development and implementation, the present study's target group was the 68 Health Education coordinators, who were, however, elementary teachers themselves prior to assuming their current position. This choice was made for economic reasons related to time and financial resources. Obtaining data from a limited group of professionals, who represent different parts of the country, can bring more insight into the issues under examination, particularly when the research is initiated by one researcher with limited financial and time resources. The choice of Health Education coordinators, as a target group of the research project, seemed more appropriate, because by definition of their duties, Health Education coordinators are responsible for advising, monitoring, and evaluating teachers on their effort to develop and implement Health Education projects. Therefore, they are in contact with the teachers and other members in school communities in the districts of their responsibility. Because of that they are able to have an overall opinion, on the one hand, although an indirect one, on teachers' problems and needs and, on the other hand, on the demands and expectations of the central administrators.\nResults: Characteristics of the respondents\nDiscussion: In this section I discuss the findings from questions that explored coordinators' perceptions of the popularity of the seven thematic units for Health Education programs' implementation, their opinions on the reasons that make some categories more selectable than others, and finally respondents' beliefs regarding the conditions that might increase the adoption of Sex and Relationships Education for Health Education programs' development. Both Nutrition and Sex and Relationships Education were two among the seven thematic units selected for Greece's Health Education innovative programs' development process. However, as the data showed, a great gap exists regarding the numbers of implemented programs for these categories, so I am taking Nutrition as an illustrative contrast. I will contrast those factors that aided the initial introduction and communication of Nutrition programs as innovative activities within the curriculum. I argue that at the same time lack of those conditions obstructed similar successful dissemination of Sex and Relationships Education programs.Choosing Nutrition\nConclusions: Sex and Relationships Education in the Greek school system. An \"innovation\" on hold!\n",
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{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to examine the way sex and relationships education programs, as part of Health Education extra curriculum activities, have been implemented in the Greek primary schools.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents and discusses data from an anonymous survey research questionnaire distributed to the 68 Elementary sector Health Education Coordinators throughout Greece (received responses n=34).\nFindings: - Findings indicate that there is an uneven distribution on teachers' choices when selecting a thematic unit for implementing Health Education projects. It has been found that Nutrition is by far the most popular topic for project development and implementation. In contrast, Sex and Relationships Education is by far the least popular, occupying only 1.6 per cent of the share of programs. Obstructive factors for Sex and Relationships Education implementation are related to the Greek educational system as well as pragmatic and moral reasons on the teachers' part.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A response rate of the survey of only 50 per cent is a limiting factor.\nPractical implications: - On the basis of these data, teachers' awareness and training, as well as material development, are important for Sex and Relationships Education programs to become an active innovation. The role of the central administration is emphasized as well.\nOriginality/value: - The paper raises an awareness of the issue of an unsuccessful implementation of Sex and Relationships Education programs in Greece, in the light of a range of sexual health-related problems that affect the population.\n",
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] |
The influence of general trust and specific trust on buying behaviour
|
[
"Trust",
"Retailing",
"Food products",
"Germany"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the last few years, the construct of trust gained the increased attention of marketing research as well as marketing practise. As a consequence, publications in major marketing journals dealing with the construct of trust have multiplied within the last ten years (Moorman et al., 1993; Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Osterhus, 1997; Doney and Cannon, 1997; Rich, 1997; Tax and Brown, 1998; Madhavan and Grover, 1998; Siguaw and Simpson, 1998; Geykens et al., 1998; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Hewett and Bearden, 2001; Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; Kenning, 2002; Sirdeshmukh et al., 2002; Noteboom and Six, 2003; Atuahene-Gima and Li, 2002) An illustration of this development is given in Figure 1[1].However, although there is mounting literature on the role of trust for several marketing related outcomes there is also a broad variety of trust definitions. Accordingly, researchers use different concepts and indicators for measuring trust (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). But, what all those researches assume is, that trust can more or less easily be influenced by marketing management. Form a broader academic perspective this is astonishing since this assumption is in contrast to some findings in psychology where trust tends to be (also) a personal trait. Against this background it might be surprising, that only little research in marketing literature has focused on the question how general trust, defined as a personal trait which is mostly influenced in early childhood, can influence the meaning of trust for buying behaviour. We call this question to be relevant for marketing since we noticed that some firms try to enhance \"their\" trust with higher marketing spending for trust-building programmes, e.g. in the context of corporate social responsibility or price-fairness (Grewal et al., 2004). Accordingly, it is the goal of the underlying paper, to shed more light on the mechanism of trust and buying behaviour.Against this background the paper is structured as followed: at first, the reader will be given an overview of the existing literature on trust. Based on this, we differentiate two categories of trust which might have some distinctive influence on buying behaviour. We then develop some hypotheses about the meaning of trust for buying behaviour. After that, we report on an empirical study we conduct in food-retailing in order to test our hypotheses. Finally, we discuss our findings and the limitations of our study.\nStatus-Quo of trust research in marketing literature: Fundamental findings\nMethodology: Data collection\nDiscussion and implications: As expected, we found an overall positive effect of trust on buying behaviour in food retailing. Insofar our study confirms findings of other studies in other fields of study. In contrast to psychological research, we found that, general trust has no influence on specific trust. Theoretically, surprising, too, is the relatively high-direct relevance of general trust, which is neglected in marketing research, for buying behaviour. Taking into account how this construct was conceptualised one has to face the fact, that this kind of trust, although it has some influence on buying behaviour, can hardly be influenced by one specific retailer.Moreover, we found that the meaning of specific trust for buying behaviour increases when general trust is low. A possible explanation for this finding might be that general trust might moderate the influence of specific trust on buying behaviour. This could be due to some compensation effect, i.e. that general trust might compensate lacking specific trust. Beside this, general trust might lead to a more gullible attitude that diminishes the relevance of specific trust. Therefore, trust-building strategies induced by marketing management might be needless when customers have higher levels of general trust. Future studies in marketing research should show, if this moderating effect holds true for other branches and contexts (e.g. pharmacy, electronic goods or apparels).Taking into account that specific trust (e.g. between sales personnel and customers) has a slightly higher direct influence on buying behaviour than general trust, strategies for building up specific trust, should have an positive influence on buying behaviour. According to Luhmann (2000) one can separate two directions of trust-building. The first one addresses people's ability to build up trust in systems. In this system-trust context it could be a fruitful avenue for further research to investigate the interplay between successful branding and trust-building (Ailawadi and Keller, 2004). In this the brand might serve as an anchor for trust (Delgado-Ballester and Munuera-Aleman, 2001). In addition, while one factor influencing system trust is competence, marketing management should try to develop strategies to increase the perceived competence (Harris and Dibben, 1999, p. 467; Kenning, 2002). One of those strategies might be professional private label (or own brand) management (Olbrich and Buhr, 2005; Fernie and Pierrel, 1996). To the best of our knowledge, there is only sparse literature on the role of private labels for trust building in retailing. Last but not least, pricing could be an interesting instrument for gaining system trust, too. While in recent literature pricing became more and more a psychological issue, it could be interesting to combine research on behavioural pricing research with trust research, for instance, to shed more light on the meaning of price-fairness - as a symbol for retailers integrity, benevolence and ethical behaviour - on retailers trust (Xia et al., 2004; Roman, 2003).Besides system trust, another avenue for trust-building might be to increase the trust between consumers and the store personnel in order to gain interpersonal trust. In this the perceived credibility and benevolence of the sales person should be crucial elements. As far as we know, to date, retail marketing research does not know that much about the efficiency of those two trust-building strategies. Is it more efficient to build up system trust (e.g. via brands) or to build up personal trust (e.g. via sales personal), or is the best a combination of both? Further research is needed to answer this question, too.\nLimitations and conclusions: Like any other study our study has some limitations, too. First of all, we just used self-reported data from questionnaires to estimate buying behaviour. Accordingly, our study relied completely on self-reported data. Objective measures in particular of buying behaviour (e.g. by using club card data) may provide a purer test of our theory (Chandon et al., 2005). Moreover, we have measured trust just at one certain point of time. Accordingly, it might be helpful to add studies using some longitudinal data (Morrow et al., 2004, p. 61). In addition, we only collected data in supermarkets and discounters, so we cannot report on the influence of trust on buying behaviour in other kinds of outlets such as department stores or kiosks. While we used the intercept method, our study might suffer from some respondent bias caused by self-selection (Bush and Hair, 1985). Especially, customers with lowest trust levels might avoid participating in our study, therefore in our study those \"misanthropic\" customers might be underrepresented. Finally, one can argue that trust is generally hard to measure with the use of questionnaires because it can only be observed in risky decisions, and there might be no risk in answering questionnaires (Eckel and Wilson, 2004). As mentioned above we have tried to reduce this shortcoming while we choose the food sector for our study.However, although our analysis is limited, it provides further evidence on the economic relevance of several, theoretical distinguishable facets of trust. To the best of our knowledge it is the first one, which investigates the role of general trust on buying behaviour (Izquierdo and Cillan, 2005, p. 974). Facing that this general trust is relevant for buying behaviour researchers in future should shed more light on the fascinating construction of trust and its meaning for (retail) marketing.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - In the last perhaps ten years the interest of marketing research in the subject of trust increased dramatically. Although well known in several scientific disciplines, in marketing research trust is often conceptualized without the concept of general trust. Therefore, one main aim of this paper is to broaden marketing research understanding of trust by showing how general trust (which has the character of a personal trait) and, in comparison, specific trust (which is associated with a specific retailer) affects buying behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - After a review of trust-literature the paper identifies two subcategories of trust, which might be relevant for buying behaviour: general trust and specific trust. It then aims to test their influence on retail food buying behaviour empirically. To do so, it uses for the first time in marketing research the ITS-Rotter-scale for measuring general trust.\nFindings: - The results, including data from about 331 subjects in the German food-retailing market, indicate that general as well as specific trust positively affects buying behaviour. In contrast to expectations, it was found general and specific trust to be unrelated. Moreover, it was found that, the influence of specific trust on buying behaviour increases when customers scored lower on the ITS-Rotter-scale indicating lower levels of general trust.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first in marketing literature which integrates the concept of general trust and uses the ITS-Rotter-scale for measuring general trust in a marketing related context. Accordingly, it provides for the first time evidence on the positive influence of general trust on buying behaviour. It shows that general trust is able to substitute lacking specific trust.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Tensile strength of composite ties in business relationships
|
[
"Buyer-seller relationships",
"Strength",
"Dyadic"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the material sciences, the tensile strength of an object or substance is its ability to endure force or stress without permanent deformation (Narasimhan et al., 2007). This paper suggests there is an analogous tensile strength in business relationships. Tensile strength in business relationships is a property of resistance to distortion caused by relational stressors or forces. This is a new conceptualization of business relationship strength in the marketing literature. The explication of this conceptualization of tensile strength uses analogies from the material science's conceptualization of the tensile strength of composites.\n2. Literature review: In the marketing literature, there are multitudes of distinct theoretical themes addressing buyer-seller relationships. Within these perspectives, there are four frameworks identified by Palmatier et al. (2007). Additionally, there are various dimensions or components of the structure of those relationships. While other streams of research about buyer - seller relationship do exist, the four themes of transaction cost, relational norms, dependence, and commitment-trust seem to be the most salient to this research as they share the perspective describing some component of the structure of existing relationships. The tensile strength framework echoes the theoretical work and analogy of ionic bonding from chemistry to business-to-business relational ties (Xie et al., 2005). In this literature review, the emphasis is on the structure and the related components of that same structure from existing literature that best inform this research.\n3. Hypotheses: Empirically examining each component of the composite of a relationship's tensile strength against a variety of stressor helps support for overall conceptualization of relationship tensile strength. Each component individually and together should positively relate to relationship continuance. Additionally, embedded in the concept of composite strength is the implication that a specific component will show strength against some specific stressor. The resiliency or tensile strength is evident when the positive ties between the other non-stressed components maintain a positive relationship with continuance. Additionally, in buyer-seller relationships, the components will have tensile strength when there is not deformation of the relationship from the stress of a specific relational force. The strength is a property of the relationship while the measurement a deformation indicates that strength.\n4. Methodology: Heeding the continuing call for dyadic data (Krafft et al., 2015), this research gathered paired data from key informants of both the selling and purchasing organization in an existing exchange relationship. Dyadic data are seen as providing additional insights into buyer-seller relationships (Anderson and Weitz, 1989; Mohr and Sohi, 1995). The mailed sample frame is a list of account managers obtained from a random selection of state and local metropolitan chambers of commerce from across the USA.\n5. Findings: Support for the presence of a composite of components in business relationships begins with fitted regressions testing both H1A and H1B. The outcomes from the forward stepwise regression (equation below) in Table II show at the final iteration that relationship depth and relationship width and relationship breadth and relationship length have statistically significant positive relationships with behavioral loyalty. Support for H1B is also from the forward stepwise regression method. Each forward step indicates a statistically significant increase in the variance explained in the dependent variable, behavioral loyalty. The final iteration has corresponding R2 increase to 0.475 with a statistically significant F-statistic of 4.60:\n6. Managerial implications: The outcomes of the empirical analysis provide evidence of the existence of a composite of relational components in buyer-seller dyads. The evidence also indicate that the four components of relationships jointly have a positive linear relationship to behavioral loyalty that is greater than their individual association. Their inclusion in an overall framework explains a larger amount of variation in behavioral loyalty than any one component or subset of the four components. The results also indicate that the framework of four components has tensile strength. The overall relationship remains positive even as a stressor weakens the association of one component to the positive relational outcome. These statistical results lead to some managerially relevant implications.\n7. Limitations and future directions: The relatively small sample size and low response rate are limitations of the generalizability of these findings. The use of dyadic response and the high variation of the representative industries partially offset this sample size constraint. However, a repetition of the research with data collection that yields higher response rates as well as a larger sample size would extend the validity of these findings. Some of the stressors mentioned are unidirectional as is common in the literature. Future research could examine the implications of omni-directional stressors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to empirically examine the proposed framework that incorporates multiple business relational ties as components in a composite that can provide strength to relationships. Strength is conceptualized as tensile strength or an ability to withstand stress without permanent deformation of the relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses dyadic survey data collected by mail survey from the organizational buyers and suppliers. Analysis is through moderated multiple regression.\nFindings: Results indicate that stressors can disrupt individual components of relationships. However, the overall relationship outcome of behavioral loyalty remains intact with tensile strength coming from other components of the relationship.\nOriginality/value: This research introduces the concept of tensile strength from the material sciences as relevant to dyadic business relationship strength. The outcomes indicate that looking at multiple components of the business relationship provides greater insight into the tensile strength of business relationships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Periodicity analysis and a model structure for consumer behavior on hotel online search interest in the US
|
[
"Google trends",
"Discrete Fourier transform",
"Hotel online search",
"Model structure",
"Periodicity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Consumers heavily rely on search engine to find hotel information when they are planning for a travel (Xiang and Pan, 2011). Search engine data have been found very useful for hotel demand prediction in literature (Pan et al., 2010, 2012; Kadir et al., 2014; Bangwayo-Skeete and Skeete, 2015), but there is still a lack of a general model structure with good performance for all applications (Song and Li, 2008; Pan et al., 2012). The methods or model structures being used are often purely numeric or empirical without examining the hidden mechanism of the data or the regularities of consumer behavior. This might contribute to the issue that there is no single method consistently superior to others.\n2. Literature review: In this section, recent relevant literature on traditional methods for forecasting hotel room demand, forecasting with search engine data and its application in hospitality and tourism and periodicity analysis in business research is briefly reviewed.\n3. Data description: The data of consumer's hotel search interest were downloaded from Google Trends (http://www-google-com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/trends/hottrends). \"Hotel\" was used as the search term and the location was set as \"USA\". The query for the keyword of \"Hotel\" reflects the number of all the search records that include \"Hotel\", which is much higher than the number for searching a specific hotel. This can be easily verified from Google Trends. The query for \"Hotel\" thus can reflect the trend of overall interest in hotels except for differing by a scaling factor and can be considered as a sign of the potential hotel demand. Fourier transform is a linear transform and the scaling factor does not affect the analyzed periods. For the more specific periodicity analysis for a specific hotel and/or a specific location, corresponding data can be downloaded from Google Trends and analyzed by following the framework proposed in this research. Google Trends provides data on search interest after 2004 but only provides daily search interest when the query duration is set not longer than three months; otherwise, data are provided at weekly or monthly base. To obtain the daily search interest over years, the data were downloaded for three consecutive months each time with one month overlapping, for example, one query is from January to March, and the next one is from March to May. Because the Google Trends data are relative data for each query, the overlapping data were used to normalize all the downloaded data. In this way, the relative daily search interest from 2004 to 2014 was obtained.\n4. Periodicity analysis and development of a model structure for the online search interest: 4.1 Periodicity analysis\n5. Results: 5.1 Results of periodicity analysis\n6. Discussion and conclusion: 6.1 Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to analyze and model consumer behavior on hotel online search interest in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Discrete Fourier transform was used to analyze the periodicity of hotel search behavior in the USA by using Google Trends data. Based on the obtained frequency components, a model structure was proposed to describe the search interest. A separable nonlinear least squares algorithm was developed to fit the data.\nFindings: It was found that the major dynamics of the search interest was composed of nine frequency components. The developed separable nonlinear least squares algorithm significantly reduced the number of model parameters that needed to be estimated. The fitting results indicated that the model structure could fit the data well (average error 0.575 per cent).\nPractical implications: Knowledge of consumer behavior on online search is critical to marketing decision because search engine has become an important tool for customers to find hotels. This work is thus very useful to marketing strategy.\nOriginality/value: This research is the first work on analyzing and modeling consumer behavior on hotel online search interest.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
How operations matters in healthcare standardization
|
[
"Process management",
"Standardization",
"Cataract surgery",
"Healthcare sector",
"Multilevel analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Healthcare organizations face increasing pressure to improve their operations (Radnor et al., 2012). This explains the growing interest in applying industrial and business management concepts to patient care (Young et al., 2004). As a result, management techniques originating in manufacturing have begun to spread throughout the healthcare sector (Kaissi, 2012; Daultani et al., 2015). One major example of this is process management in the form of, for example, total quality management (TQM), lean and six sigma. A commonality of these approaches is that they pursue standardization in the sense of reducing variation whenever possible as a function of operational improvement. Generally, standardization is about ensuring that important elements of a process are performed the same way every time. This brings order and consistency to processes by introducing repeatable fixed patterns. A lack of consistency can cause the process to generate defects and to compromise safety (Timmermans and Epstein, 2010). Standardization also provides predictability, which allows the process owners to prevent problems before they can affect the customer. Standardization can be applied to all parts of production, including the input, the transformation and the output (Sorensen and Iedema, 2011).\n2. Theoretical background: Therapeutic freedom in judging and choosing appropriate treatments for different patients and their situations, the rapid pace of change in medical technology, the growth of patient participation and the complexity of healthcare delivery all introduce variation into medical treatment (Bohmer, 2009; Christensen et al., 2009). The removal of variation is often accomplished through standardization. The ability to identify the type of variation is fundamental to healthcare improvement (Gutacker et al., 2018).\n3. Research method: 3.1 Research design\n4. Findings: In total, 274 cataract surgeries were observed (a total of 218 h of observation), with multiple observations per physician (from 15 to 19). In total, 13 of the 16 physicians responded to our request for additional demographic and professional information. The mean age of these physicians was 47 years (30-69; n=13). Two physicians had low job experience, five had medium and six reported a high level of job experience. One physician performed less than 100 surgeries per year, four performed between 100 and 300 and the majority (n=8) carried out higher volumes. There were seven female and nine male ophthalmologists.\n5. Discussion: Process management approaches (such as TQM, lean and six sigma) originally intended for manufacturing settings are seeing increasing application in the healthcare sector (Kaissi, 2012; Daultani et al., 2015). They all aim at operational improvement through the pursuit of standardization, in the sense of reducing variation. In healthcare, the most common form of standardization is EBM (Adriaenssens et al., 2018; Jasti and Kodali, 2015). However, while EBM deals with improvement in clinical performance, one might wonder whether this also improves operational performance (Van Vliet et al., 2011). Conversely, there is hardly any evidence that the standardization pursued in process management approaches directly results in improvements in clinical performance. In summary, CPS and OPS do not coincide. Our research has thus highlighted the importance of explicitly making a distinction between the clinical practice and the operational process, and how they are standardized.\n6. Conclusion: Clinical guidelines are based upon the best available research evidence and practice experience. However, they do not address the operational organization of clinical practice - that is, the corresponding operational process is not taken into account. This study contributes to healthcare OM literature by distinguishing between CPS and OPS and looking at how the clinical treatment and the operational process are standardized in hospitals. It investigates how they relate to each other and simultaneously affect operational performance. They in fact represent two sides of the same coin: our results show that CPS and OPS are inextricably linked, in the sense that they both strive to reduce variation. In pursuing this goal, they can strengthen each other, but they can also work against each other.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Process management approaches all pursue standardization, of which evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the most common form in healthcare. While EBM addresses improvement in clinical performance, it is unclear whether EBM also enhances operational performance. Conversely, operational process standardization (OPS) does not necessarily yield better clinical performance. The authors have therefore looked at the relationship between clinical practise standardization (CPS) and OPS and the way in which they jointly affect operational performance. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a comparative case study analysis of a cataract surgery treatment at five Belgium hospital sites. Data collection involved 218 h of observations of 274 cataract surgeries. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used.\nFindings: Findings suggest that CPS does not automatically lead to improved resource or throughput efficiency. This can be explained by the low level of OPS across the five units, notwithstanding CPS. The results indicate that a wide range of variables on different levels (patient, physician and organization) affect OPS.\nResearch limitations/implications: Considering one type of care treatment in which clinical outcome variations are small complicates translating the findings to unstructured and complex care treatments.\nOriginality/value: With the introduction of OPS as a complementary view of CPS, the study clearly shows the potential of OPS to support CPS in practice. Operations matters in healthcare standardization, but only when it is managed in a deliberate way on a hospital and policy level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of project sustainability management (PSM) on project success: A systematic literature review
|
[
"Project management",
"Sustainability",
"Project",
"Project success",
"Project sustainability management",
"Triple-bottom line"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Project management\n2. Methodology: The authors carried out a SLR by selecting, extracting, analysing and critically appraising relevant literature that met pre-specified criteria by using transparent, well-organised and replicable steps (Tranfield et al., 2003; Littell et al., 2008; Aarseth et al., 2017). The main sources are publications in peer-reviewed journals regardless of their impact factor because the topic of incorporating sustainability in project management practices is restrained by a lack of research (Silvius et al., 2012; Carvalho and Rabechini, 2017; Aarseth et al., 2017). Also, the authors examined books and book chapters because SLRs should not just focus on journals as they do not contain all published trials (Shannon, 2002; Tranfield et al., 2003).\n3. Findings: 3.1 The strategy and focus of the studies\n4. Discussion and conclusion: This study carried out an SLR on empirical studies that focus on the relationship between PSM and project success to answer the research question:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question: \"does the incorporation of sustainability as a new school of thought in project management support project success?\" The authors carried out a systematic literature review (SLR) on relevant empirical studies before 2018 to answer this question.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors carried out an SLR by selecting, extracting, analysing and critically appraising relevant literature that met pre-specified criteria by using transparent, well-organised and replicable steps. The main sources are publications in peer-reviewed journals regardless of their impact factor because the topic of incorporating sustainability in project management practices is restrained by a lack of research.\nFindings: Based on the analysis, it seems that incorporating sustainability into project management may support project success. However, more evidence is required to support this finding as there are too few relevant empirical studies in the literature.\nResearch limitations/implications: Therefore, considering sustainability as a new school of thought in project management is premature, and there are recommendations for further research at the end of this study. There are several limitations to the studies chosen, which may have significantly affected results, and thus may affect outcomes in this study.\nOriginality/value: Project success needs to be the main endeavour when incorporating sustainability into project management, and it should be a key criterion when considering sustainability as a new school of thought in managing projects. The most challenging elements of project success that need to be addressed are cost and time. This study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of PSM on project success. It facilitates decision making in considering sustainability as a new school of thought in project management. Furthermore, it defines a need for more research work in this potential paradigm shift in managing projects.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The Leiden Manifesto under review: what libraries can learn from it
|
[
"Bibliometrics",
"Altmetrics",
"Libraries",
"Leiden Manifesto",
"Research evaluation",
"Responsible metrics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Recently, there has been increased interest in the assessment of research products and researchers. Some of the interest stems from the enthusiasm of having new countable items (such as data sets) and data sources (such as Twitter) available, whereas the other is a reaction to criticism of bibliometrics. Enthusiasts have embraced the field of altmetrics (Priem et al., 2010) that assesses diverse research products and forms of engagement with them (e.g. pageviews, savings to a Mendeley profile, tweets; Piwowar, 2012). The engagement primarily occurs on social media platforms, which offer the option of almost immediate (Shuai et al., 2012) \"impact measurement from areas outside science\" (Bornmann and Haunschild, 2016) because of the broad user base of social media. Of late, the European Commission under the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, has also emphasized the role of alternative metrics and ways of research assessments as incentives in open scientific practice, referred to as Open Science (EC, 2016). The NISO Alternative Assessment Metrics Project[1] aimed at formalizing altmetrics by providing definitions and use cases, has recommended the use of persistent identifiers for alternative outputs in scholarly communication, data metrics and a code of conduct for altmetrics data suppliers (NISO, 2016).\nRole of libraries in research assessment: Metrics and indicators which track the attention around scholarly products can be considered reflections of their impact. As signals of popularity, they increase the visibility of scholarly work and can be used for optimizing publication strategies. They are not only a helpful evaluation instrument to complement the peer review system but are also a compass for researchers in the \"publish or perish\" dilemma. In addition, metrics and indicators aid discovery of scholarly content and provide context about how users engage with it.Academic libraries have a long experience in dealing with bibliographic data and outcomes of scholarly publications. As the link between the library, publications (open access or traditional), and repositories strengthens and the demands for evaluation statistics by grant awarders and financers increase, this traditional role will most likely become of greater importance. Libraries that do not provide services around metrics may find themselves in a precarious position unless they incorporate this into their daily activities. Libraries already offering bibliometric services may need to expand these services. In addition to specific service organizations such as CWTS[8], research libraries are essential executives of the recommendations of Leiden and other similar documents. Through their expertise and services, as well as their direct access to researchers, research libraries are essential for the implementation and success of these recommendations.Although the recommendations of the reports are predominantly viewed positively, and the need for more reflection and discussion about how to conduct research assessments and the value of science is generally acknowledged, questions about the practicality of the manifestos have been raised. In particular, libraries have asked how to efficiently transfer the principles into the \"real world\" (Danish Research Indicator Network (FIN), 2016). These issues have gained urgency in light of the increased popularity of alternative metrics (amongst other altmetrics) and the European Commission's move toward Open Science as a fundamental principle for conducting science in the near future (EC, 2016).\nMotivation and approach: This paper presents a research library-focused discussion on the relevance of the recommendations of the Leiden Manifesto for the development and provision of metrics services in libraries. It presents work in progress by the Working Group on Metrics[9] established by the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) to support its mission to re-invent the library for the future by \"enabling open science, leading in changing scholarship and shaping innovative research\"[10]. The members of the Working Group represent a variety of research libraries and research institutions. They are considered experts in the field because they have worked extensively with or studied traditional (e.g. citation-based), as well as alternative, i.e. social media-based, metrics. The goal of the Metrics Working Group is to exchange best practices that can be used to develop recommendations for the optimal use of metrics in research libraries and information infrastructures.Focused on the evaluation of scholarly publications, many of the principles of the Leiden Manifesto (Hicks et al., 2015) provide a solid base for the beginner library, as well as more advanced principles for experienced libraries. However, the LIBER Working Group agrees with the conclusion of the fifth meeting of the Danish Research Indicator Network that for libraries \"the manifesto is not straight forward [sic!] to implement\" (Danish Research Indicator Network (FIN), 2016, p. 1). Thus, the Working Group set out to build upon the Leiden principles and translate them specifically for libraries. The Working Group discussed them critically to offer practical recommendations for the implementation of the principles[11]. In addition, the priority of the single recommendations is discussed, as well as, who (inside a library or institutional environment) should be responsible for its execution and who might request it. The criticisms and suggestions of FIN have also been incorporated, and expanded upon. Similar to Bornmann and Haunschild (2016) and their discussion of the Leiden Manifesto for altmetrics, the Working Group combines an evaluation of the high-level recommendations with practical examples by taking the heterogeneous state of knowledge of the libraries into account. Bornmann and Haunschild (2016) concluded after their extensive discussion of the Manifesto for altmetrics that \"the principles also have a great importance for altmetrics and should be taken into account in their application\". Consequently, we will review the principles for all metrics and will not focus on a particular kind of metrics.By taking an inclusive approach, the recommendations of the LIBER Working Group on Metrics will address beginners, as well as advanced metrics users, and will provide librarians with practical ideas, tools and starting points for the efficient use of metrics, regardless of the size of the library, its budget or location. In the future, the Working Group will discuss possibilities for open metrics, as reflected by the altmetrics and open science movements, and what this can entail.\nEvaluation of Leiden Manifesto for library work: The following will assess the relevance of the recommendations of the Leiden Manifesto for the development and provision of metrics services in libraries.\nConclusion: As the role of metrics in the evaluation process changes, the traditional role of the library must parallel it. As the evaluation of scholarly publications becomes of greater importance, so must the role of the library. Both traditional metrics, based on, for example, citations, and new metrics, based on, for example, social media activity, can be utilized for creating library services which assist and support different types of principles of research assessments (from individuals to larger groups). Those libraries not yet offering metrics services to researchers need to make this a priority. Those already offering services need to assess what they are currently offering and adapt to meet the changing requirements to develop into bibliometric experts. Modern scientific libraries must face the new challenges of the digital era and its potential for research assessment (e.g. open peer review) sooner rather than later.Recommendations for responsible research assessments presented in the Leiden Manifesto (Hicks et al., 2015) and elsewhere are essential reads for everyone involved in such exercises. Every effort should be made to meet the requirements formulated in those principles regardless of whether libraries are requested to work with more traditional forms of research assessment, e.g. citation analysis, or with altmetrics (Bornmann and Haunschild, 2016). It is important to acknowledge that these efforts may vary in intensity and quantity and that it is an evolutionary process that has to be undergone, rather than an instant turnaround. Libraries are an important hub of bibliometric practices, as well as indispensable executors and drivers, of responsible research assessments.This paper aims to translate the principles of the Leiden Manifesto into more practical recommendations that indicate the priority of each principle and the role of those involved. The analysis indicates that full compliance to the principles is time-consuming and expensive and requires a significant increase in bibliometric expertise with respect to both staffing and skill level. The need for time, funding and expertise is increasing given that the environment of research assessment and scholarly work is subject to constant change as are bibliometric methods and data sources (Gornitzki, 2015). Additional obstacles to adopting the principles are the current system of research evaluation and principles, as well as third party involvement in research assessment that limit, if not hinder, transparency, openness, simplicity and alignment of evaluations.The overall recommendation that can be derived from these findings is that libraries need to collaborate if they are to successfully face the new challenges of responsible assessments. Rather than performing individual analyses or developing in-house solutions that are of limited use libraries should work together and develop modular, broadly applicable services and standards that can be used throughout the library community. Ideally, libraries will increase acceptance of these exercises, educate about strengths of evaluations and weaknesses of \"irresponsible\" evaluations, and be actively involved in the design and development of proper and responsible systems, data sources, metrics and methods.To facilitate this, libraries need to build awareness first and then advertise their services. As responsible partners in the research assessment exercises, they should also clarify what services they offer, what results are to be expected, who might be customers of the services and with what guidelines they comply, e.g. Leiden Manifesto or DORA. Good examples are provided by University Library Vienna[20] or Loughborough University[21].In addition, libraries should emphasize the diverse fields where metrics are valuable tools and which go far beyond research assessment. They could, for example, demonstrate that bibliometric and altmetric methods also assist in discovering literature and research collaborators (e.g. via co-citation analysis or ranking mechanisms that take into account the number of citations) or in increasing the visibility of research products (via showcasing successful examples). At the university level, information taken from CRIS about newly published research products could be distributed to colleagues to build awareness about the excellence of local research (see Principle 3), as well as possible collaborators on site.This cooperative service development approach and the successful reuse of those services requires interoperability of systems and standards (e.g. for exchange or import of data or bibliographic records). This allows libraries to build on their experiences in developing such mechanisms and quality guidelines14,[22], at the same time as they can actively make the case for open standards (e.g. MODS[23]), data sources and software16. This guarantees service development and its provision outside from proprietary solutions, allows for uncomplicated travel of data, services and software, and enables easy reuse. In fact, this last benefit may be the primary incentive for researchers to provide information about research products.In conclusion, the Leiden Manifesto provides a solid foundation on which academic libraries can assess the implementation of metrics in their institutions. Through the prioritizing of its principles and the concrete and practical recommendations of the LIBER Working Group on Metrics, libraries can build the necessary skills, use the right tools and make the right collaborative efforts to enrich the academic world. Through these tools, libraries can remain relevant. They can move with today's growing popularity of (quantitative) research assessment and contribute to responsible metrics that increase equity in evaluation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical discussion of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries already engaged in bibliometric practices. It offers practical recommendations based on the work of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) Working Group on Metrics. This work is in the beginning phase and summarizes literature on the topic, as well as the experiences of the members of the Working Group. The discussion reflects today's growing popularity of (quantitative) research assessment which is seen in enthusiasts introducing new metrics (i.e. altmetrics) and by critics demanding responsible metrics that increase objectivity and equity in evaluations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper is the result of the Working Group on Metrics of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) that critically discussed the practicality of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries.\nFindings: Full compliance with the Manifesto is time-consuming, expensive and requires a significant increase in bibliometric expertise with respect to both staffing and skill level. Despite these apparent disadvantages, it is recommended that all libraries embrace the Manifesto's principles. To increase practicality, it is advised that libraries collaborate with researchers, management and other libraries at home and around the world to jointly design and provide services that can be reused within the library community.\nOriginality/value: Libraries have increasingly been confronted with questions about research assessment, responsible metrics and the role of digital products in evaluations and funding decisions. Although a wide range of recommendations and initiatives are available (e.g. DORA San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment), many recommendations are not straightforward enough to be implemented from a library perspective. This paper provides assistance for libraries to implement these principles by acknowledging the heterogeneous backgrounds the libraries may stem from.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The management of first party fraud in e-tailing: a qualitative study
|
[
"Retail crime prevention",
"Consumer fraud",
"Consumer misbehaviour",
"First-party fraud",
"Online consumer fraud",
"Retail fraud"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Advances in information technology have made e-commerce possible by eliminating the time and space limitations of traditional brick and mortar retailing. Whilst e-commerce provides many advantages over brick and mortar retailing, i.e. access to a global audience and convenience of shopping anytime and anywhere, it has generated new challenges/risks associated with information security, online frauds, etc.\nBackground: First-party fraud has been noted as one of the most significant challenges to online retailers, due to its prevalence and regularity (BRC, 2013; Retail Fraud, 2013; Hinsz, 2016).\nResearch framework: For effective fraud management, a coherent strategy is preferred rather than a focus on isolated fraud management activities (Bishop, 2004; Button and Brooks, 2009; Durbin, 2007; Wilhelm, 2004). We reviewed literature with an aim to find a framework that is either used in first-party fraud or similar context, so that the framework can be used to evaluate the existing management approaches adopted by the retailers in this study. There are a number of fraud frameworks in the literature such as Furlan and Bajec's framework that was developed for insurance fraud, Wilhelm's fraud management lifecycle theory, Government Accountability Office framework for disaster assistance programs, the anti-ID fraud framework and the identity fraud enterprise management framework. These frameworks contain essential elements or components for successful fraud management. Even though these frameworks bear many similarities, the fraud management lifecycle theory was chosen for this study mainly due to its flexibility and compatibility with the retail industry and nature of fraud studied. Besides, it has been empirically tested in a number of industries, designed with the private sector in mind although flexible enough to be adapted to other sectors and has received favourable reviews and citations in a number of research papers. Nevertheless, the framework elements represent in the authors' views appropriate components for successful fraud management. The other frameworks were either too complex or too simple to be used for this study.\nResearch approach: We adopted a qualitative case study approach as our research objectives were mainly about understanding how retailers are managing the problem of first-party fraud. Focus was on getting a detailed insight rather than surveying an entire industry so our choice of research method was made with the nature of research objectives in mind, which were:\nResults and discussion: A summary of frauds faced by the participating companies is given in Table II. Deshopping refers to the return of items (for a refund) after they have been worn. Refund fraud occurred when customers denied receiving all or some of the items delivered to them. Misuse of facility fraud occurred when customers fraudulently misused credit facilities with the intention that payment will not be made or made in full. Chargeback fraud occurred when customers deliberately denied making orders, while coupon fraud occurred when customers knowingly reused one-off vouchers/coupons as a result of system error/fault.\nConclusion and implications: This research sets out to investigate how retailers were currently managing the problem of first-party fraud and how this could be improved. The fraud management lifecycle theory (Wilhelm, 2004) was used to analyse the data gathered from the collaborating companies. More broadly, this study provided insight into our understanding of the growing problem of first-party fraud, existing management practices as well as presenting opportunities to build on.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: First-party fraud in which retail consumers commit fraud against retailers is a growing problem. However, to date studies on retail crime have focused almost entirely on fraudulent consumer behaviours in physical stores. With the growth of e-commerce, the losses to retailers from this fraud are growing so there is strong need to research this problem from multiple perspectives. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted three case studies and a total of 24 semi-structured interviews with retail managers, and evaluated their existing prevention-related documentation. Fraud management lifecycle theory was used to organise and discuss the findings.\nFindings: The authors found that many retailers are treating this problem as just a cost of doing business online and have no detailed plans for dealing with this problem or any reporting to law enforcement agencies. However, they have begun working with delivery companies for delivery accuracy. Use of convenience stores as collection points is also showing early improvements.\nResearch limitations/implications: The small number of cases and interviews used is a limitation of this study. However, the authors believe that the findings are useful for advancing knowledge in this emerging research area.\nPractical implications: This study provides insight into existing management practices in this domain, and makes recommendations on how to improve the management of first-party fraud. The study also makes a case for increased managerial interest and involvement in reducing first-party fraud. The study also helps bridge a glaring gap in existing literature and provides useful leads for further research.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the existing practices employed to manage first-party fraud in e-retail.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Building a comprehensive model to investigate factors behind switching intention of high-technology products
|
[
"Perceived ease of use",
"Brand switching",
"Theory of planned behaviour",
"Perceived usefulness",
"Switching intention",
"Consumer acceptance of technology",
"Smartphone industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The scholarly literature demonstrates that the long-term success of firms depends on maintaining consumer satisfaction, because a satisfied customer is expected to repurchase from the same firm (Heide and Weiss, 1995). Maintaining customer satisfaction, however, requires that firms continually improve their products capabilities to reflect changing consumers' preferences, especially in the high-technology field, where consumers prefer to have advanced technologies to enjoy life. This research study investigates consumer switching behavior in the smartphone industry, which is characterized by:\nLiterature review: It is important to consider consumer switching behavior because it reveals that consumers' needs are not satisfied by products that are not compatible with their expectations (Pae and Hyun, 2006; Burnham et al., 2003). Hence, these dissatisfied consumers start looking for alternatives they believe could better satisfy their unmet needs. From the negative side, switching might cause a reduced market share, a diminishing reputation and an unpredictable consumer mix (Levesque and McDougall, 1996). It also causes a decrease in sales volume, requiring intensifying marketing initiatives to acquire new customers (Zins, 2001). The relative cost of acquiring new customers is significantly higher than the cost of retention, and therefore, switching leads to profit erosion (Fornell and Wernerfelt, 1987; Kim et al., 2003). Statistics have shown that over a period of five years, many US firms lose half of their customers to their competitors, causing enormous marketing breakdowns (Reichheld, 1996).\nTheoretical framework and research model: Understanding brand-switching behavior of smartphone users requires a firm understanding of the precedent factors that may lead to such behavior. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) argued that consumers act in a rational way by systematically using all available information when making the decision to engage in a given behavior. To predict an individual's behavior, they developed the \"Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)\", which suggests that the consumer's intention to make a specific action is the immediate determinant of behavior. Intention is in turn affected by subjective norms and attitudes toward the behavior. The TRA has certain limitations, as the pursuance of behavior is to some degree influenced by non-motivational variables such as the availability of resources including money, time and skills (Ajzen , 1991). To address these limitations, Ajzen (1985) proposed the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which includes perceived behavioral control.\nResearch hypotheses: Cognition\nResearch methodology: Most of the existing studies on switching behavior focus on a single industry (Bansal et al., 2005; Seiders et al., 2005), because the selected model in each study is unique, based on the chosen industry. To study the dynamics of smartphone switching between the market leaders Apple and Samsung, we administered two surveys. The first survey tested switching from an Apple to a Samsung smartphone, in which Apple smartphone holders were asked questions about switching to a Samsung smartphone. The second survey focused on Samsung smartphone holders and tested their intentions of switching to an Apple smartphone. At the end, results of both surveys were compared to assess whether the two brands created differences that influenced the switching behavior of their holders.\nResults: Descriptive statistics of demographic variables\nDiscussion: H1 is supported in both Samsung and Apple models, confirming that higher perceived usefulness of the other smartphone increases the attitude toward switching to that smartphone. This finding is consistent with previous research that endorses the important role that perceived usefulness plays in determining attitude and behavioral intentions (Davis, 1989). It can be observed from Table II that Apple users' perceived usefulness of Samsung is higher than Samsung users' perceived usefulness of Apple, which means that Apple users believe that Samsung would provide better benefits and capabilities than Apple. Table II also shows that the Apple users' perceived usefulness of Samsung is the most important construct, even more significant than perceived ease of use, in explaining the attitude toward switching (Morosan, 2014).\nResearch contribution and marketing implications: This research contributes to the literature on brand switching by introducing a comprehensive model that explains consumer switching behavior of high-technology products. In the present study, different theoretical models were combined to account for the distinctive nature of high-technology products. The distinctive nature is derived from the rapid technological changes that constantly reform such products to address every aspects of our lives, something we would not find in non-high-technology products. This explains why previous studies used simple models to evaluate consumer switching behavior of other products.\nLimitations and future research directions: It is important to point out the main limitation of a study of this kind, which is the inability to generalize research findings to other incomparable industries. Most of the research on switching intention behavior focuses on a specific industry, where research findings can be generalized to similar industries or products that share the same characteristics. In our study, research findings could be generalized to other industries or products that have similar characteristics of a high-technology product. In this regard, similar products could include tablet, smart TV, new i-watch technology, high-tech home appliances and 3D printing technology. Although we selected smartphone users as a sample in Lebanon, and these users conduct various activities as part of their technology usage, users from other countries may show slight variations in technology usage, based on culture, social status and economic prosperity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that underpin consumer switching intention in the smartphone industry. Most of the literature on brand switching uses conventional models that lack the ability to explain this behavior for high-technology products. Such products have unique characteristics that make the switching process more challenging from the consumer perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed model is built based on the related theories that consider the distinctive aspects of high-technology products. Furthermore, two variables \"relative advantage of product features\" and \"company innovativeness\" are introduced for the first time to evaluate consumer attitude to switch a high-technology product. The smartphone industry was selected to test the proposed model, where an online survey was sent to Apple and Samsung users.\nFindings: The results confirm the expectation that perceived product usefulness, perceived ease of use and relative advantage of product features are the major factors driving the intention of users to switch, whereas subjective norms have limited impact. The financial cost of switching is the main barrier to consumers' decision to switch to a new technology. The pleasure consumers feel toward their brand and the other brand is positively associated with their attitude toward switching.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research contributes to the literature on brand switching by introducing a comprehensive model that explains consumer switching behavior of high-technology products. Research findings would allow managers to draft better marketing strategies to improve consumer brand awareness.\nOriginality/value: The majority of literature on brand switching uses simple models to explain consumer behavior. This study is the first attempt to build a comprehensive model that considers the characteristics of high-technology products and how they shape consumer behavior during the decision-making process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Trends of skills and productivity in the UK construction industry
|
[
"Social trends",
"Skills",
"Productivity rate",
"Government policy",
"Construction industry",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Improving productivity performance is a primary driver of the UK economic performance and long-term sustainable competitiveness (HM Treasury, 2006). Accordingly, the UK government has developed a strategy for improving productivity, which focuses on five key drivers: improving competition, promoting enterprise, supporting science and innovation, raising UK skills, and encouraging investment (Budget Report, 2005). Notably, government reports give the impression that skills hold the key to productivity improvement, a view, which is supported by its agencies. For example, the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) Strategic Plan 2005/08 (SSDA, 2005, p. 9) stated clearly that increasing participation levels in training (which is one of the common skills indicators adopted by the government) by 5 per cent points could increase productivity by 4 per cent - boosting GDP by PS40 billion.Most recently, the UK government published the Leitch Review of Skills (2006). The review was commissioned in order to assess the UK skills needs by 2020 in order to remain competitive in a rapidly changing global economy. It has to be noted that this was a clear indication of the importance given to skills development and training in policy discourse as a means of improving productivity across all sectors of the economy. There were no similar reviews carried out with respect to the other four drivers, mentioned above, in relation to their potential impact on improving productivity performance across different sectors of the economy. As for skills, the Leitch Review (2006, p. 3) claimed that \"UK skills base remains weak by international standards, holding back productivity, growth and social justice ... there is a direct correlation between skills, productivity and employment.\"The UK government set-up a network of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) in 2003 in order to promote its skills agenda within the context of all sectors of the economy. SSCs are responsible for: addressing skills gaps and shortages; improve learning supply including apprenticeships, higher education and National Occupational Standards (NOS); taking appropriate strategic actions to increase productivity - through proactively engaging with employers (SSDA, 2007).Given the government's emphasis on sectoral perspective in implementing its skills and productivity agenda, this paper examines the trend of construction industry productivity performance in relation to its skills profile - over the period 1995-2006 - through analysing the most up-to-date published construction statistics.This paper commences with a literature review, which discusses the relationship between skills development and productivity performance. Next, the research method will be described along with a description of the datasets used. Findings of the analysis will be reported and then discussed in light of similar findings in the literature.\nFactors affecting productivity: Previous research has attempted to identify and account for the range of factors that affect construction productivity performance. For example, Horner (1982) found that there are ten factors which affect construction productivity: quality; number and balance of labour force; motivation of labour force; degree of mechanisation; continuity of work; complexity of work; required quality of finished work; method of construction; type of contract; quality and number of managers and weather. Olomolaiye et al. (1998) also identified external and internal factors pertaining to construction productivity performance. External factors included: design, weather, changes made by client, level of economic development and political stability. Internal factors included: management practice, technology and labour skills and training.Despite the wide spectrum of factors affecting construction productivity, it is notable that workforce skills development and training featured as a commonly cited factor in many productivity studies and industry reports (see for example Lavender, 1996; Egan Report Rethinking Construction, 1998; Naoum, 2001).There is a surfeit of research evidence, which has suggested that skills are an important factor affecting productivity performance in the construction industry. For example, Rojas and Aramvareekul (2003) found that management skills and manpower issues are the two areas with the greatest potential for affecting productivity performance. Clarke and Wall (1996) compared the process of house building in the UK in relation to Germany and The Netherlands, where they found that the process in the UK depends on a lower level of skill than in Germany, which could explain the variation in productivity performance. Moreover, Arditi and Mochtar (2000) argued that poor quality on projects results in rework which causes drop in productivity levels. They explained that poor quality emanated from the scarcity of a properly trained workforce, which was caused by inadequate levels of training, in addition to the poor quality of training provision that resulted in such skills shortages. The case of workforce skills development and training as a significant factor for improving construction productivity performance is well rehearsed in the literature.Although the existing literature does not go beyond demonstrating that skills development and training are generally important for the industry, it is not clear whether or not this view is reflected and/or captured by officially published statistics. This makes it problematic for policy makers to see how the construction industry's overall productivity performance is changing over time in relation to its skills profile. The lack of a holistic view of the industry and how it has changed over time stems from the under utilisation of official statistics in research. Neely (2004) argued that the use of the data collected by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has not been fully exploited in research. He added that it is appropriate to invest time in exploiting these data rather than asking members of the industry to provide yet more data.Thus, the analysis of official statistics is essential in offering evidence and seeking the facts about the change taking place in the construction industry over time - an approach which was advocated by Pearce (2003). This becomes particularly crucial with the government policy and research evidence available pointing towards skills as being a key lever for productivity performance. Therefore, this paper examines the appropriateness of this assumption by looking at the change in the industry's skills profile and productivity performance over the past 12 years.\nResearch method: The approach adopted in this paper is based on an analysis of the most up-to-date published construction industry statistics. A trend analysis was conducted to study the change in the industry productivity performance; employment levels and skills base - over the period 1995-2006. Productivity was measured by Gross Value Added (GVA)/worker. This measure was chosen because it shows the net value (output) added from construction activities to the economy.Participation rates in training and qualification attainment levels were used as measures of the industry's skills profile - which are commonly used in government policy research in relation to skills and productivity. These data were extracted from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (2006). The LFS is a \"quarterly survey of households living at private addresses in Great Britain\", which provides \"information on the UK labour market that can be used to develop, manage, evaluate and report on labour market policies\" (Office of National Statistics, 2007). Official productivity figures for construction were based on the most recently published UK National Accounts (2006), which is also known as the Blue Book. UK National Accounts produces quarterly and annual estimates of sectors financial accounts based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) definition of each sector, where construction is defined by SIC45.\nFindings: An overview of construction\nDiscussion: The construction literature showed that there is a general consensus on skills development and training as being important factors to improving productivity performance, although the same picture was not mirrored in the construction statistics. Indeed it depicted the contradiction between the claims founded on industry's opinion and the overall industry's skills profile and productivity performance - as captured by officially published statistics.Increased qualification levels do not necessarily render itself to improved productivity performance within the construction industry. This makes the recommendations of the Leitch Review (2006, p. 5), which stated that increasing levels of qualification attainments (Levels 3 and 4) across all sectors of the economy would result in the UK being able to compete globally and improve its productivity performance, appear questionable. This becomes particularly crucial with the evidence underlying the relationship between qualification levels and performance, as cited by government research, relies largely on using indirect (proxy) productivity measure - namely earnings (see Tamkin et al., 2004). It has to be noted that using earnings as a measure of productivity could be misleading due to variations in wage structure that could be attributed to occupational or gender difference (Elliott and White, 1993). So, if men earn more than women then would this mean they are more productive? Clearly, this is a wrong inference - which shows the limitations with using this measure for productivity. This undermines the notion that improvement in qualification levels will improve productivity - using earnings as a measure - particularly if it is not supported by direct productivity measures (gross value added/worker) within the construction industry.This also shows the confusion in government policy of the role of skills (measured by qualification levels) as being a social good, helping people to become more employable and to attain higher earning levels, as opposed to being a business good aimed at improving productivity performance (see Keep et al., 2006). Moreover, when focusing on skills as a driver for improving productivity it should be viewed in the context of the workplace in terms of how skills are being utilised (ACAS, 2007).If more training what is its purpose? Is it related to productivity?\nConclusion: Despite the development of the construction industry's skills base in terms of increased qualification attainments and participation levels in training, this has not translated into concurrent improvements in productivity performance over the period (1995-2006). This brings into question the certainty with which the current UK policy on skills overemphasised the effect of skills development as the key to improving productivity performance with disregard to other factors. The modus operandi of the construction sector coupled with its fragmented employment structure affects participation rates in training as opposed to the need or drive to improve productivity performance. Moreover, the industry's productivity performance did not seem to be consistent over the past decade with the incidence of poor productivity performance superseding good productivity performance.Therefore, there is an urgent need to consider skills development and training within the context of construction businesses in relation to other factors in order to unpack how skills can bring about improvement in productivity performance. This is fundamental if employers are to buy-in the government skills agenda. How government agencies are supposed to proactively engage with employers without having the right evidence that directly relates to them?\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - UK government policy has emphasised the role of skills development and training as a means of improving productivity performance across all sectors of the economy. The purpose of this paper is to assess the appropriateness of this policy within the context of the construction industry, in light of the recently published statistics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A trend analysis of construction productivity (measured by Gross Value Added/worker) and skills indicators (qualification attainment and training) was conducted over the period 1995-2006.\nFindings: - There is inconsistency in the industry's productivity performance, despite the overall increase in qualification attainment levels and participation rates in training over the same period. However, the year-on-year change in the participation rate of training was not consistently associated with an improvement in productivity performance.\nOriginality/value: - It is argued that the effective utilisation of skills rather than mere increase in the supply of skills is a key to bringing about productivity improvements. Indeed future policy makers decisions should focus on addressing other influences on productivity performance such as work organisation and management practice to support further development and progression of the UK construction industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What makes sales in Chinese shampoo industry? A DEA study based on efficient market hypothesis
|
[
"China",
"Toiletries",
"Marketing strategy",
"Data envelopment analysis",
"Efficient market hypothesis",
"Sales analysis",
"Shampoo industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Proposed by Fama (1970), the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) theory is investigated on the share price movements in the securities market. Share price is assessed by company's profitability in the future and measured by the present discounted value of the company's future value which is often fluctuant due to the past, present and future events. EMH claims that prices on traded assets (e.g. stocks, bonds, or property) can fully reflect all public information in a strong efficient market, which is called \"informationally efficient\". That is, given the information publicly available to all participants, share price moves as soon as the information has been announced. EMH also believes that share price is the reflection of the balance between supply and demand. If this balance is lost, investors' buying and/or selling stock actions to arbitrage bring a new share price at a new balance point quickly. After reviewing previous theoretical researches and empirical studies, Palan (2007) states that EMH has become one of the most crucial theoretical fundaments in finance study.As a special case in the financial market, EMH is an extension of the Invisible Hand theory by Adam Smith (1761), which states that if each consumer is allowed to choose freely what to buy and each producer is allowed to choose freely what to sell and how to produce it, the market will settle on a product distribution and price that are beneficial to all the individual members of a community. The fact mentioned above is concluded as market mechanism that self-interest leads to beneficial behavior. Due to the existence of market mechanism, investors in securities market invest on industries aiming to maximize returns, and quit from those less efficient market. Similarly, managers in manufacture and service industries adopt efficient production to maximize revenue. Hence, without intervention from government or any other organizations, the forces of demand and supply can create economic order spontaneously and market mechanism would make resources be allocated efficiently. With regard to a goods exchange market, a product's sales can fully reflect its true information including price, quality, service, etc. In an efficient market, there should be prior sales for prior products and inferior sales for inferior products. If the quality, price, service and other characters are the same for two products, the sales of them are consequentially the same.What actually makes sales for a given product? Price, quality or what else? And how they can affect the sales or to what extent? For the researchers focusing on economics, marketing, and business, it is an interesting and important mission to probe the mechanism on how sales are created. A number of researchers have been studying on this topic for years. The first answer is given as price. Demand theory in microeconomics states that, for the vast majority of goods, change in price leads to change in sales, and more sales occur when price falls (Colander, 2008). Second, quality is regarded as another important factor. There is little dispute on the importance of quality for a product sales (Narasimhan and Mendez, 2001). Flynn et al. (1995) examine the effect of quality on sales performance. Some surveys also find that both American and European managers list improving product and process quality among their top priorities (Fortuna, 1990; Kim, 1994). Third, the importance of advertising is also emphasized. Borden (1942) concludes that the economic effects of advertisement include accelerating demand to grow or retarding demand to fall, encouraging price rigidity, and increasing quality and choice of products. Nelson (1974) and Krugman (1974) also make some researches on impact of the advertising on consumers' attitude to manufacturers' products. Besides, other researchers focus on other factors like channel (Taylor, 2002), promotion (Magee, 1953; Emmons and Gilbert, 1998; Chandon et al., 2000), etc.However, previous researches and work mostly focus on single or two factors mentioned in the above paragraph. And the question about which one is more important among these factors to make sales is still not answered. In this paper, we try to solve this problem by using an effective method in multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, namely data envelopment analysis (DEA). With the help of DEA technique, we investigate the sales of shampoo market in China and try to find a product sales function characterizing the relationship among the shampoo product's price, quality, marketing expense and sales under the assumption of efficient market.As an evaluation method initiated by Charnes et al. (1978) and then extended by Banker et al. (1984), DEA can provide a relative efficiency score based on the best practice frontier for each member in a group of decision making units (DMUs) which convert multiple inputs to multiple outputs. Since little additional information is required when using DEA method, it has been considered as an effective and powerful decision tool, and widely accepted by many researchers. Besides of its successful applications to operation performance measurement in hospitals, universities, governments, banks, Olympic nations, etc. (Banker et al., 1984, 1989; Charnes et al., 1985; Beasley, 1995; Seiford and Zhu, 1999; Wu et al., 2009; Cook and Seiford, 2009), DEA has also been employed in MCDM problems for evaluating the discrete multiple criteria decision information (Cook and Kress, 1991; Doyle and Green, 1993; Doyle, 1995; Cook et al., 1996a, b; Green et al., 1996; Stewart, 1996; Wu and Liang, 2010).The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the background of the problem is described and detailed data in Chinese shampoo industry is also given. In Section 3, we propose two sales function assumptions and our DEA-based models. The results and discussion are given in Section 4. Finally, some conclusions and comments are provided in Section 5.\n2 Problem description: In China, shampoo industry has made a rapid development in recent years. It is estimated that Chinese shampoo market is worth 4 billion dollars, with a gross profit rate of between 50 and 70 percent. Compared with other industries, the shampoo market and products have some special characteristics:* To a consumer, shampoo is a type of non-durable goods required daily. The consumer keeps limited inventory and prefers to purchase them frequently if required.* The consumer spends little time on the purchase decision. Rarely does he or she look for technical specifications in contrast to other industrial goods, especially the goods with high technology.* Trial of a new shampoo product, i.e. brand switching is often induced by heavy advertisement, recommendations of the retailers, neighbors or friends.* Price and income elasticity of demand varies across products and consumers. Just because of the special characteristics stated above, there are little obstructs and low barriers to enter the industry for a new investor.Hence we can view that the operations of the shampoo industry in China is under market mechanism rather than under the control of government interventions. EMH can be accepted in the study of the shampoo industry in China.Sales are a series of events referring to product research and development, designing, manufacturing, marketing and so on. In the process of sales, EMH makes sure that the products of higher degree deserve better sales. The degree of a product means comprehensively including price, quality, etc. In addition, from the point of firms, marketing expense has a significant influence on the sales. Although there are other factors affecting sales, such as pre- and after-sale service, products delivery service on time, quick response to customers, environment-friendly, products diversification, flexibility, and so on, those additional factors behave not so important in shampoo industry due to the special characteristics of shampoo products. Thus, we choose price, quality and marketing expense as the dominating influence factors on the amount of sales.Table I shows detailed data of 14 primary shampoo brands in the Chinese shampoo market which are the most popular brands and have taken mostly all Chinese market share together. Columns 2-6 in Table I are reported as the shampoo brand name, product price in yuan per 400 ml, product quality, total marketing expense in million yuan, and sales in million, respectively. The 14 brands include Clairol, Head&shoulders, Pantene, Rejoice, Vidal Sassoon from Procter&Gamble (P&G) company; Lux, Sunsilk from Unilever company, and Ariar, Bolisi, Caile, Houdy, Lafang, Raclen, Repand from Chinese domestic shampoo firms. The product price and quality in columns 3 and 4 come from taobao.com, which is the largest e-business company in China. The data of marketing expense and brand sales are from the annual report on Chinese shampoo industry.Table I reports that the price and quality difference among different shampoo brands is small. Three brands Rejoice, Head&Shoulders and Pantene, which are all from P&G company, lead among all brands in marketing expense, and also reach higher sales correspondingly.\n3 Proposed models: Suppose there are n brands as DMUs in the shampoo market, and the jth DMU is denoted by DMUj (j=1, 2, ... , n). Each DMU's sales amount, denoted by yj, is influenced by three factors including price, quality and marketing expense denoted by xij (i=1, 2, 3; j=1, 2, ... , n). Define sales as a function on three factors as follows: Equation 1 In the above expression (1), S means the sales and P,Q,ME are short for price, quality and marketing expense, respectively. Function f() describes the relationship among the variables. Next we will assume two forms of the function including linear and exponential forms.3.1 Linear sales function assumption\n4 Results and discussion: 4.1 Results\n5 Conclusions: The current paper links the ideas of market efficiency and DEA efficiency by a DEA-based technique to find the function characterizing the relationship among shampoo product's price, quality, marketing expense and sales under the assumption of EMH theory. In examining Chinese shampoo industry, we find out that an exponential sales function is more suitable to characterize it, and the price factor takes a major influence on creating sales. These would be useful information and managerial implications for senior managers and decision makers in marketing sector of a company.In our analysis, each brand's sales creating activity is regarded as a DMU which \"transforms\" the characters of each production into sales driven by \"Invisible Hand\". If the market is efficient, better production should be allocated more sales, and the transformation ratios for all brands should be same. Thus, the fundamental principle for the rationality of our proposed method is that the EMH stands true. The results from model (16) show that the sale allocating efficiency scores for almost all brands are close to one, which indicate that the EMH stands in Chinese shampoo market and our method is useful.Judging a market efficient or inefficient is important to decide whether or not to use our technique. For example, for a human resource market, it is usually affected by lots of non-market factors, such as government intervention, incomplete information on employees, and so on. Therefore, we cannot use the proposed method to find the relationship among characters of employees and salary level. However, our method is also useful to validate the inefficiency of human resource market quantificationally.Inevitably, this paper is limited in scope and can be extended in a number of directions in further studies. First, it should be noticed that the data used in the calculation are definite. Results may be varied since the data sources are heterogeneous and the data collection is inaccurately. Also, what if some key data are missing? This extension may require DEA technology on missing data. Second, the paper adopts rigorous hypothesis for market status while it is hard to tally with the actual situation. We could relax this hypothesis to apply to more markets.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to find the functional relationship among 14 shampoo brands' price, quality, marketing expense and sales in the Chinese shampoo industry. Also studied is which one, among these factors, is the more important.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - By using data envelopment analysis models, the authors propose to maximize the sale allocating efficiency scores to satisfy the hypothesis that the shampoo market is efficient, and then, the sales functions, linear and exponential, can be determined and specified.\nFindings: - It is found that an exponential sales function is more suitable to characterize the Chinese shampoo industry, and the price factor is a major influence on creating sales.\nOriginality/value: - The paper proposes a method, from an original perspective, to analyze the sales function among the influence factors and to determine which one is more important. The method can be applied to other markets if the assumed conditions could be satisfied.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Economic sustainability of additive manufacturing: Contextual factors driving its performance in rapid prototyping
|
[
"Performance",
"Rapid prototyping",
"Additive manufacturing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the leading technologies, creating a paradigm shift toward the so-called Industry 4.0. Scholars are still debating on actual and potential impacts of this technology not only on operations strategy, manufacturing and logistics processes, but also on the overall business strategy and sustainability perspectives.\n2. Theoretical background: Business models are always changing because of technological advancement and tough competition in the market.\n3. Research methodology: To address the above-mentioned research questions, we carried out a survey. The survey approach seeks to realize the relationships and provides generalizable statements about the object, through analyzing a representative sample of the target population (Forza, 2002). Using empirical evidences from the literature, we formulated two hypotheses. These hypotheses depict the operational factors driving the impact of AM on energy-related costs and profitability of the investment, respectively. Regarding the organizational factors, we considered the size of companies and their experience in using AM as the two factors that are likely controlling the performance variables.\n4. Results of the analysis: To test the research model, the stepwise logistic regression technique was run with independent and control variables entered in three steps for both dependent variables. The logistic regression technique is sensitive to multi-collinearity, so we also performed a correlation analysis among independent, dependent and control variables (Table II). The analysis of Table II suggests little collinearity among independent variables. However, moderate inter-correlation involving control variables suggest that including these variables in an analysis is important.\n5. Conclusions: This research attempted to evaluate the superior economic sustainability and higher potential profitability of AM technology for prototyping. Furthermore, we found the contingent factors driving two economic performances: energy consumption as a direct cost and profitability of investment. To do so, we conducted a survey, in which 105 companies from 23 countries answered to our questionnaires. The results of our analysis allow accepting our two hypotheses. According to the results, two main conclusions are obtained, dealing with the impact of AM for cost reduction and the status of profitability of investment of the technology.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate additive manufacturing (AM) phenomenon extending previous research results by studying in-depth the economic sustainability of AM technology and bringing out the contextual factors that drive its superior performances in comparison with conventional manufacturing, and justify its adoption in rapid prototyping (RP) from an economic point of view.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data have been collected through a worldwide survey. Respondents were from 105 companies adopting the technology from 23 countries worldwide.\nFindings: The results of this research show that although AM-based prototyping leads to significant cost reduction, it is not as good as conventional manufacturing in terms of the profitability of investment. It also demonstrates how cost reduction depends on production volume and payback period depends on the types of material and scope of AM implementation after controlling for firm size and experience.\nResearch limitations/implications: The performance indicator is measured using a Likert scale; however, more reliable conclusion could be made by real amounts. The research also took into account the economic aspects of performance; however, to evaluate the AM technology more comprehensively, other performance measures such as those of social and environmental ones should be considered.\nPractical implications: The paper provides insightful implications for the adoption of AM. In particular, it reveals the contingent performance of the technology in RP.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to expand the literature by demonstrating how different circumstances affect the performance of AM technologies for prototyping and by linking the operational and organizational factors with its performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Financial inclusion and socioeconomic development: gaps and solution
|
[
"Online banking",
"Economic development",
"Financial inclusion",
"Financial literacy",
"Demonetization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Defining financial inclusion (FI)\n2. Literature review: The literature on FI has been divided into three categories. First category discusses about the studies focused for FI in India. Second category is on studies done for FI in places other than India. The third category covers impact studies of FI and ED owing to FI.\n3. Theoretical framework: the proposed model: 3.1 Exploring the reasons for FE in emerging economies\n4. Data and research methodology: 4.1 Sample data and study variables\n5. Results and analysis: Data analysis has been done in three steps, as discussed in the previous section:\n6. Discussion: Various studies have been conducted on the topic of FI. Individually, the relationships between FL, UBS and OB with FI have been empirically tested. But collectively, in a structural model where FI is being caused by USB, OB and FL and ED is being caused by FI, their relationships have not been much observed by the authors in the literature.\n7. Conclusion and policy implication: Four relevant factors (constructs) for FI have been identified using EFA (OB, UBS, FL and BSD). Out of these four identified factors for FI, OB, FL and UBS have been found to have a direct association with FI. Therefore, these three factors (UBS, FL and OB) have been identified as the drivers for FI in India. A structural model has been empirically tested using these identified three drivers of FI as exogenous variables and FI as endogenous variable. Furthermore, in the same structural model, FI (as exogenous variable) is modeled to have a causal relationship with ED (as endogenous variable). The structural model is a good fit model.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify factors relevant for financial inclusion (FI) and establish a model that shows how these factors lead to economic development (ED) through FI.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Primary data were collected through structured questionnaire. Out of 350, 311 respondents accurately filled the questionnaire. The data were collected from rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Exploratory factor analysis has been applied to evaluate drivers/factors relevant for FI. Confirmatory factor analysis has been applied to establish reliability and validity of the identified factors. A structural model has been proposed and empirically tested for ED through FI.\nFindings: The main findings of the current paper are as follows: online banking (OB), understanding banking services (UBS) and financial literacy (FL) are the drivers of FI; FI can lead to ED, as the proposed model of ED, through FI, is supported in the paper (kh2/degree of freedom and CMIN/degree of freedom are less than 3; GFI and AGFI are more than 0.90 and 0.85, respectively). Behavior of the people, with respect to mode of financial transactions, has changed due to demonetization. (The kh2 test for mode of financial transaction is significant).\nResearch limitations/implications: The geographical reach of the sample should cover the whole India. The sample should also have equal representation from rural and urban areas.\nPractical implications: The identified factors for FI (OB, UBS and FL) should be more focused to bring about better results for FI in India. These factors can lead to a more effective execution of FI initiatives. In addition to this, policy makers can be confident of relying upon FI as a tool for ED.\nOriginality/value: The identified three drivers for FI have not been explored earlier. In addition to this, ED (through FI) in the form of structural model has also not been tested earlier. Government of India can realign their policies toward FI by using findings of this paper. In addition to increasing the access of formal financial system to masses, more thrust can be given to OB and FL for better results of FI in India.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effect of customer information during new product development on profits from goods and services
|
[
"Innovation",
"New product development",
"Service",
"Customer information"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Obtaining customer information during the new product development (NPD) process is considered to help firms improve business performance (Martin and Horne, 1993; Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000). Consequently, a considerable amount of research has focused on customer co-creation methods for acquiring customer information (von Hippel, 1988; Neale and Corkindale, 1998; Alam, 2002; and Svendsen et al., 2011). However, there is actually limited empirical evidence regarding the actual benefits of obtaining customer information in the NPD process, especially for services (Carbonell et al., 2009; Johne and Storey, 1998). In fact, Weterings and Boschma's (2009) even found that cooperation with customers does not help firms to generate higher turnover from new goods or services, and they even suggested that the relevance of customer co-creation in the NPD process should not be exaggerated.\nThe role of obtaining customer information in NPD: Customer information is a key success factor for NPD (von Hippel, 1988; Svendsen et al., 2011). Theoretical models and concepts describe how to involve customers (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000; Witell et al., 2011) or how to use the customer as a resource (Rothwell, 1976; von Hippel, 1988) to obtain customer information. Carbonell et al. (2009) suggested that having customer information can provide a more accurate and complete assessment of customers' needs and can contribute to the development of a differentiated and superior service (Alam, 2002). The present study contributes to this important literature stream by focusing on the effect that customer information has on profits from new offerings during each phase of the NPD process. Some studies have examined the relationship between access to customer information and the output of the NPD process; in these cases, however, the output is development time (e.g. Tessarolo, 2007), market newness (Callahan and Lasry, 2004) or managers' perceptions of performance (Gruner and Homburg, 2000; Carbonell et al., 2009). Previous research studies have acknowledged this limitation, and specifically suggested that future studies should extend previous research by using other performance measures such as profitability (Carbonell et al., 2009), which is what is done in this research.\nHypotheses: Based on the conceptual model depicted in Figure 1, this section develops a number of hypotheses concerning the role of customer information in the NPD process.\nResearch design: Sample\nDiscussion and conclusions: The empirical investigation, which used two different types of analyses, established a relationship between obtaining customer information in the NPD process and profits from new offerings. An aggregate measure of access to customer information was used in the first analysis, while the second analysis used measures for obtaining customer information at each phase of the NPD process. Two separate analyses were used to strengthen the external validity of the findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate how customer information obtained at different phases of a new product development (NPD) process influences profits from new offerings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted in the context of NPD in goods and services. A unique database was constructed that merged key informant survey responses with financial data for 244 firms. This database was used to replicate and extend previous research by posing a number of hypotheses regarding the role of obtaining customer information in NPD.\nFindings: The results show that obtaining customer information during NPD influences the profits from new offerings, which vary depending on the phase of the NPD process. The financial rewards from obtaining customer information for goods are highest in the early phases of the NPD process and decline in later phases. The financial rewards for services, on the other hand, are high in the early and late phases of the NPD process.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is based on a survey combined with objective financial data, that is, a combination of different data sources. The research would have benefitted from longer data series and a higher response rate.\nOriginality/value: This study replicates and extends previous research by testing the role of obtaining customer information in both manufacturing and service firms by combining survey data with objective financial data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Modes of service innovation: a typology
|
[
"Typology",
"Innovation management",
"Service innovation",
"Business model innovation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The service sector has grown over the past three decades as services dominate in most advanced economies, and countries that historically focussed on manufacturing are now growing rapidly in services (Song et al., 2009). Service research has attracted scholars from different disciplines in recent years, but there is a growing need to refine and promote service research agendas (Ostrom et al., 2010, 2015). The importance of service innovation has become increasingly recognized. Menor et al. (2002) addressed the importance of service innovation research by examining areas covered by previous research as well as areas requiring discovery. Ostrom et al. (2010) identified service innovation as one of the research priorities in the science of service, and Ostrom et al. (2015) reemphasized that stimulating service innovation is a major strategic priority for service research. Spohrer and Maglio (2008) also pointed out the need for service innovations to fuel further economic growth. While there is a growing amount of research in this area, there are still many debates and uncertainties that need to be addressed in service innovation research.\n2. Literature review: The extraordinary power of innovation and its importance in economic development have been well acknowledged for over a century since Schumpeter in 1912 published The Theory of Economic Development. For services, the benefits that result from service innovation include enhancing the profitability of existing offerings, improving existing customers' loyalty to the firm, attracting new customers to the firm, and entering into new markets (Storey and Easingwood, 1999). Although an increasing number of manufacturing firms are also incorporating service components within their products (Boone, 2000), in this study, service innovation refers to innovation in services (Barras, 1986; Gallouj and Weinstein, 1997; Sundbo, 1997), which focusses on how firms design or improve service concepts to satisfy unmet customer needs.\n3. Methodology: The main research method used was the analysis of secondary data from multiple service innovation projects. As this research studies the modes of service innovation in different projects, the level of analysis is at the project level rather than the organizational level. To ensure comparability, examining multiple cases of innovation projects embedded in a single service company (with multiple business units) was chosen as an appropriate research design. Empirical case research utilizing multiple sources of evidence is suited to situations where there are complex variables and processes, but where the established theories are scarce (Yin, 1994). Multiple project design helps reduce observer bias and increase external validity, even though it may also reduce the depth of research when resources are constrained (Voss et al., 2002). A set of innovation projects from a large mobile telecom firm in China was identified and investigated. Secondary archival data from documents were collected as a major source of data for this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the innovation context and to clarify uncertainties in the secondary data.\n4. Results: Our analysis was conducted in two parts: first, we sought confirmatory validation of the typology and then addressed our first research question concerning patterns within the typology. We then explored our second and third research questions through examining data of multi-mode service innovations. Finally, we reviewed the potential organizational implications.\n5. Discussion: This paper set out to explore different modes of service innovation by using an existing typology of service innovation. An important contribution of our study has been to bring in business model innovation as a core mode of service innovation. Previous studies tend to focus on just service product innovation and service process innovation, whereas innovation in the business model has often been neglected by service innovation research. By validating the original typology, this study builds up a more comprehensive and workable typology of service innovation. The first step was to validate the typology empirically. To do this, we followed Snow and Ketchen (2014), who argue that well-developed typologies must be amenable to valid and reliable measurement. We developed and tested measurements for each of the three constructs in the typology and sought evidence that all three constructs could be found in service innovation. We then followed Delbridge and Fiss (2013), who argue that the emergence of new phenomena of interest provides enough impetus for the revision of existing typologies. Our empirical data indicate that a simple three-way categorization does not reflect the reality of much service innovation, and we revised the original typology to reflect multi-mode service innovation.\n6. Conclusions and future research: In this research, we set out to extend our understanding of service innovation through empirical analysis of modes of innovation in 69 service innovation projects. Our first major contribution has been to incorporate business model innovation into the study of modes of service innovation. To do this, we have taken an existing typology of service innovation, developed measures, and empirically extended it to reflect multi-mode innovation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore different modes of service innovation by examining business model innovation alongside two traditional modes: product innovation and process innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors first empirically test a typology using archival data from 69 service innovation projects in a major mobile telecom company. The authors then extend the typology by investigating the interrelationships among service product, service process, and business model innovation based on empirical evidence from multi-mode service innovations. Finally, the authors study the patterns of modes in a networked environment.\nFindings: The results indicate that the typology is applicable and all three modes of service innovation exist in the sample. The authors find that all of the business model innovations involve external partnerships during the development process, while only a small proportion of service process innovations involve external partnerships.\nOriginality/value: This study has empirically validated a typology of service innovation and discussed the theoretical and managerial implications of multi-mode innovations, contributing to service innovation literature and practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Careers development in construction firms: application of Sun Tzu's Art of War principles
|
[
"Career development",
"Construction professionals",
"Literature",
"Human resource management",
"Singapore"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Providing employees with career development opportunities is as important for the individual as it is for the organization (Turner et al., 2008). To develop one's career, various operational techniques including enhancements, creating opportunities, extended involvement and opinion conformity, may be employed (Gould and Penley, 1984). Getting a promotion and advancing in one's career involves strategies and tactics (Lee, 2002).The aim of the study is to investigate the strategies for career development in the context of construction firms using Sun Tzu's Art of War. The specific objectives are to: investigate the relevance of the Art of War to career development of construction professionals; and suggesting strategies that may be adopted by professionals for career development in construction firms. The Art of War is one of the oldest military treatises in existence and it contains the foundations on which modern military strategies are based (Wee et al., 1996). Gagliardi (2003) investigated how careers in general may be built based on the Art of War, while this study focused on career development of construction professionals (such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and project managers) working in construction firms in Singapore.\nBrief literature review: Sun Tzu's Art of War\nResearch method: Based on the Art of War, strategies for career development were operationalized, following Gagliardi's (2003) general career development framework. Using this framework, research questions applicable to professionals working in a construction firm were posed (see Table I, col. 3). The data collection instrument comprised a questionnaire which had two parts. The first part contained demographic questions, while the second part contained 13 open-ended interview questions on career development. Each question was used to test a specific Sun Tzu's military strategy for its applicability to career development in construction firms (see Table I, col. 3).The research design was based on survey. A survey design provides a description of some fraction of the population - the sample - through the data collection process of asking questions of people, which then enables generalization of the findings from a sample of responses to a population (Fowler, 1988). Survey was chosen because it allowed a large number of subjects to inform the research on the more effective strategies for career development in construction firms.The population comprised all professional (such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and project managers) working in construction firms in Singapore. Two sampling methods were used:1. random sampling; and2. snowball sampling.E-mails, to invite participation in the study, were sent to 150 randomly selected construction firms in Singapore, and 18 agreed to be interviewed. To supplement this, snowball sampling was also adopted by requesting these 18 interviewees to recommend other professionals. In all 168 (being 150+18) firms were approached, and 32 construction professionals were interviewed, giving a response rate of 19 percent.The data collection method was in-depth face-to-face interviews using the questionnaire specifically designed for the study. This method allows complex questions to be asked. It allows a relationship with interviewees to be established, hence enabling them to answer questions more comfortably (Gillham, 2005) and to express their viewpoints, feelings and perspectives in detail. However, in depth interviews may lead to biased results due to the appearance of the interviewer and the interview is usually lasts longer than self-administered ones (Hesse-Biber, 2006). Each interview was conducted at the interviewee's office for an average duration of 45 minutes.The characteristics of the interviewees are shown in Table II. All the interviewees work in the private sector, and 97 percent of them are employees; 72 percent are male. The average age is 36-years-old and they have worked in the construction industry for an average of 12 years.\nResults and discussion: When asked if they knew about Sun Tzu's Art of War, all interviewees said yes. However, more than half of them do not consciously refer to the Art of War in designing career development strategies. They knew the Art of War for its applicability in competition among businesses instead of the individual's career development. The results of the 32 interviews are now presented.Career planning\nConclusion and recommendations: The aim of this research was to investigate the relevance of Sun Tzu's Art of War principles to career development in construction firms. It assessed the applicability of this old military treatise to career development in modern construction firms. Research subjects were recruited through random and snowball sampling. Using a list of open-ended questions, in-depth interviews were carried out with 32 construction professionals working in Singapore.The study found that the 13 aspects of the Art of War's military principles are also applicable to career development. The first strategy on planning for war is found to be relevant for career entry. From the results, it is recommended that job applicants undertake career planning by setting career goals and analyzing job skills. When \"waging war\" to win the desired job in a construction firm, it is suggested that job applicants be thoroughly prepared for the job interview by finding out about the prospective company and job characteristics. An equivalent to Sun Tzu's \"attack by strategy\" is to pursue knowledge continuously to acquire superior hard skills and develop soft skills while maintaining good attitude at work. The equivalent of Sun Tzu's \"tactical disposition\" is job promotion. To win a job promotion, it is suggested that professionals out perform their peers by delivering excellent results and making no mistakes. In terms of posturing, it is suggested that junior construction professionals start off as team players so that senior colleagues are willing to teach and help them acquire technical competence and job experience. When the professional has gained seniority, it is proposed that he plays both the role of team leader and team player, but under different circumstances.Not surprisingly, office politics exist in construction firms. It is recommended that professionals avoid participating in office politics because it diminishes effectiveness of groups and fosters mistrust. Instead, they should focus on delivering excellent results and building a sound and honest image. In accordance with Sun Tzu, the findings show that conflicts should be avoided as \"war should be waged only for a specific purpose\". The recommendations on conflict management include avoiding open confrontation, allowing a cooling period and thereafter resolving the conflict through negotiation.Under Sun Tzu's \"variation in tactics\", it is proposed that professionals be flexible to seize advantages at the workplace. It is suggested that they keep up with state-of-the-art technology, deepen their core competence, and be prepared for career change. The biggest barrier to career development is the lack of career stability because construction demand is cyclical. It is proposed that professionals ensure they are maneuverable and flexible.When a promotion is offered, it is advised that construction professionals carefully evaluate the new job scope and competency level of the new supervisor before accepting the offer. The new supervisor should be an \"experienced general\" who, according to Sun Tzu, is \"never bewildered or at a loss\". The importance of networking is highlighted as relationships may be used as leverage for career advancement and obtaining foreknowledge. Interviewees recommended that networking be done purposefully. They also suggested that foreknowledge be obtained from mentors and friends through exchange of information.This research is significant because it shows that the military principles in the Art of War are applicable to career development in construction firms. This study is innovative because it involves amalgamates three knowledge areas: career development, construction industry and Sun Tzu's military principles. It contributes to knowledge by providing specific career strategies which are applicable to construction professionals. The practical usefulness is that construction professionals may apply the strategies uncovered in this study to help them to better prepare for career development.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Career development involves how employees manage their career advancement. This study aims to investigate the relevance of Sun Tzu's Art of War to career development of construction professionals with the aim of suggesting strategies that may be adopted for career development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data collection technique was in-depth interviews with 32 subjects who are Singapore-based construction professionals. The subjects were asked 13 open-ended questions which were developed based on the Art of War.\nFindings: - The main findings on the effective career development strategies are: outperforming peers by developing deep job experience and delivering excellent performance; adopting a team member posture before moving on to a team leader stance; handling office politics and conflicts effectively; maintaining flexibility and manoeuvrability in one's career; networking; and acquiring foreknowledge.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study is qualitative in nature, thus, the actual effectiveness of the recommendations for career development is not known. There may also be some more strategies undisclosed by interviewees as sharing them may cause them to lose their competitive advantage.\nPractical implications: - The effective strategies for career development are found. Construction professionals may adopt some military strategies that may help them in their career development.\nSocial implications: - The relevance of military strategies to career development in construction firms suggests that career progression is akin to war, where winning is important and strategizing to win is necessary.\nOriginality/value: - In this paper military strategies are mapped onto career development, and relevant career advancement strategies are identified.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The role of functional and symbolic brand associations on brand loyalty: A study on luxury brands
|
[
"Brand loyalty",
"Generation Y",
"Brand attitude",
"Brand tribalism",
"Personality congruence",
"Perceived quality",
"Brand prestige",
"Brand user imagery congruence"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The meaning of a brand exists in the minds of consumers (Homer, 2008). Brands can provide the primary points of differentiation between competitive offerings (Wood, 2000; Molina et al., 2009; Li, 2010) that help companies to develop loyalty (Reisenwitz and Gupta, 2011). Decreased marketing and operating costs, positive word of mouth, price premium, growth of per-customer revenue, low probability of switching to competitors (Lee and Back, 2009), representing a barrier to entry and against detrimental price competition (Aaker, 1996, p. 106), positive influence on customer retention, repurchase, long-term customer relationships (Reisenwitz and Gupta, 2011) and generating higher corporate profits (Hsieh and Li, 2008) are some benefits of loyal customers for a firm.\n2. Research model and conceptual framework: 2.1. Brand loyalty\n3. Research design: 3.1. Sample and product selection\n4. Data collection and analyses: In all, 500 questionnaires were distributed personally in Islamic Azad University and totally, 450 usable questionnaires were obtained. The majority of respondents (58.7 per cent) were female. Around 18.7 per cent of the respondents were born between 1997 and 1982, 38 per cent between 1983 and 1988, and 40.7 per cent between 1989 and 1994.\n5. Discussion and implications: This study presented and tested a brand loyalty model for the luxury brands on Generation Y consumers. This generation was chosen because they form more than one-third of Iran's population. The results of hypotheses testing indicated a positive and direct effect of brand attitude on brand loyalty, as previous studies (Eren-Erdogmus and Budeyri-Turan, 2012; Liu et al., 2012). Among the personality congruence, perceived quality, brand prestige, brand user imagery congruence and brand tribalism, only perceived quality had direct effects on both brand attitude and loyalty. According to results, personality congruence and brand user imagery congruence affected neither brand attitude nor brand loyalty directly. Although Liu et al. (2012) have also not observed any significant effect of personality congruence on the brand attitude in their study, but they found that brand user imagery congruence is a strong predictor of brand attitude and loyalty. Personality congruence had a positive effect on brand attitude and brand loyalty mediated by perceived brand quality and brand prestige had a positive effect on brand loyalty through perceived brand quality and brand attitude. Brand tribalism also had a direct, positive effect on brand attitude, as was suggested in literature (Taute and Sierra, 2014), and its effect on brand loyalty was mediated by brand attitude. Then perceived brand quality was a better predictor of brand attitude and brand loyalty. This supported Eren-Erdogmus and Budeyri-Turan's (2012) study.\n6. Conclusion, limitations and future research direction: This study has been performed with the aim of examining the combined effects of functional (perceived quality) and symbolic (personality congruence, user imagery congruence, brand prestige and brand tribalism) brand associations on brand attitude and loyalty of Generation Y's consumers towards two categories of luxury fashion brands. The findings reveal that, among the examined variables, perceived quality is the better predictor of brand attitude and brand loyalty. Therefore, paying attention to issues related to quality is of great importance in terms of planning elements of marketing mix and different stages of designing and producing luxury goods for Generation Y. Receiving feedback from consumers would lead to making effective decisions in this regard.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of functional (perceived quality) and symbolic (personality congruence, user imagery congruence, brand prestige and brand tribalism) brand associations in attitude and brand loyalty of Generation Y's consumers towards two categories of luxury fashion brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A structural equation modeling method is employed in this research based on data collected from 450 individuals born between 1977 and 1994 in Iran. Watches and sunglasses are two luxury product categories chosen in this study.\nFindings: The findings of the study reveal that perceived quality is the better predictor of brand attitude and brand loyalty. Personality congruence (mediated by perceived brand quality), brand prestige (mediated by perceived brand quality and brand attitude) and brand tribalism (mediated by brand attitude) have an indirect positive effect on brand loyalty.\nResearch limitations/implications: Due to the historical delay in the entrance and publicity of modern information and communication technologies in Iran compared with the western societies, the studied generation in this paper might not be completely conformed to the mentioned characteristics of Generation Y in terms of using media.\nOriginality/value: This study combines consumer-based and community approaches of creation and management of brand to examine loyalty towards luxury fashion brands in Generation Y's consumers as an attractive segment for luxury brands.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Too busy to reflect on their busyness: Wellbeing intervention seen as increased workload
|
[
"Stress",
"Environment",
"Awareness",
"Wellbeing",
"Schools",
"Engagement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: How do you make life better for hard-working school staff, including head teachers, who face each day with so many competing demands that stress may affect their health? How about asking them to spend time and thought on filling in a questionnaire about the effectiveness of an intervention made to make their working life better? Not surprisingly, when such a request was made and when compliance was voluntary, it became apparent that the staff were apparently suffering from questionnaire-fatigue, having been inundated with this form of evaluative methodology for many years from many sources.\nAssumption of head teachers' responsibility for health and well-being: Previously, the area's school improvement partnership (SIP) involvement in staff well-being had tended to be implicit - the incidental side effect of other interventions - though many felt it was not the place of the SIP or local authority to become involved at all. Nevertheless, stress or anxiety among both teaching and non-teaching staff and head teachers was being openly and increasingly cited as a reason for sickness absence.\nBreakthrough as fundamental issues were openly raised: It was against a vicious circle of people being too busy to reflect on their \"busyness\" and becoming ever busier as a result (an issue which remains widespread not just in schools but in many organizations), that the PWP was introduced. As it progressed, it emerged that the well-being challenges varied considerably according to each of the schools' circumstances, although there were common points of reference between the staff in all eight schools, including the threat of Ofsted inspection (the distracting and debilitating effect of); staffrooms (availability, use or non-use of, environment, and maintenance of, siting of); work-life balance (perceived lack of/right to); constant educational change (the sheer world-weariness of it all); and poor pupil behavior (the disruptive consequences of).\nCommitment and leadership demanded to create effective team: In an exploratory study to reflect on the PWP intervention, Jane Anderson and Petia Sice (2016) of Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, conclude that: \"Well-being still tends to be regarded as a luxury item in most organizations and institutions, despite growing evidence that it is integral to productivity and innovation. As the emphasis on personal accountability in every area of life increases, however, it may be that empowering people to assume or resume greater control of their own health and well-being though initiatives like the PWP could become the norm rather than the curious exception\".\nComment: This review is based on \"Evaluating the possibilities and actualities of the learning process: How a school pilot well-being programme worked as an organisational learning process intervention\" by Jane Anderson and Petia Sice (2016). The paper reflects on the opportunities and challenges of the learning process in practice, exploring the case of an intervention in eight schools in a United Kingdom local authority to encourage more personal accountability for health and well-being.\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: Head teachers are still playing a key role as caregivers to their staff. Well-being is something people in school generally expect to be \"done\" to them. Personal accountability for one's own health and well-being is still a growth area in schools. Any change processes implemented to support this process need to be continually tailored and respectfully nuanced to meet the evolving needs of the staff and organization throughout the intervention. Accruing quantitative evidence to support the effects of well-being work in schools is painstaking and challenging.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What problems manufacturing companies can face when providing services around the world?
|
[
"Marketing",
"B2B",
"Service",
"Value",
"Industrial marketing",
"Global services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service offerings have been adopted by manufacturing companies as a strategy for remaining competitive (Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988; Wise and Baumgartner, 1999; Tukker, 2004). The integration of services and products increases the value of the goods offered by a manufacturer. It also helps the manufacturers to better face the cost-based competition (Baines et al., 2010), as well as to construct barriers for other competitors (Schmenner, 2009).\nBundled products and services: The drivers for the offering of services\nMethodology: Research design\nProblems arising from the global service offer: Local regulations\nDiscussion: Operational elements\nConclusion: Theoretical contribution\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This article aims to adopt a complementary line of reasoning by investigating the problems that manufacturers can face when providing services in different countries. Studies of the relationship between products and services have focused on concept, model and classification propositions; the importance of building relationships with clients; and approaches for bundling services and products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative, multi-case research design was employed. The authors aim was to study similar services provided by the same company in different countries. The authors investigated the six most important service units of a company that sells 1.2 billion/year. This approach differs from the majority of the previous studies conducted at the global level (multiple case studies and/or distinct business sectors).\nFindings: The provision of service in different countries may face some challenges in the capital goods industry. Such challenges arise from the following elements: regulations that protect the local service companies from the competition with the manufacturers; operational problems (employee turnover, the distance between resources and clients and a shared structure between service providers and the factory); the manufacturer culture (goods-dominant logic prevail over the services-dominant logic); commercial approaches (lack of an open relationships between the manufacturer and the client in unforeseen situations, a poor understanding about how each customer can generate revenues and profits in the long run, the contract rigidity and a single sales team to sell products and services); and the poor knowledge presented by the manufacturer about the value demands of their customers (includes the acquisition, dissemination and utilization of the knowledge).\nResearch limitations/implications: The research findings are limited in generalizability because of the qualitative research methodology.\nPractical implications: Manufacturers of the capital goods must understand the constraints that limit the sales of services around the world. Such understanding will help them to redesign their value offerings, as well as their operational structure. Aiming to support them during the revision process, a preliminary model for global service management was included at the end of the article.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the debate regarding the provision of global services. The analysis of the findings unveils some avenues for future studies, namely: alternatives for reducing the turnover of the service teams; alternatives to mitigate the conflicts between the service department and the other company departments (engineering and manufacturing); methods to evaluate how and when local competitors can generate gains to the manufacturer; alternatives to mitigate the customer's concerns arising from the service outsourcing (e.g. reduction of their knowledge about the products maintenance); and methods to acquire, disseminate and utilize the knowledge required to improve the global service operations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exploring the role of networks in disseminating construction project knowledge through case studies
|
[
"Networks",
"Social capital",
"Construction organizations",
"Knowledge dissemination",
"Project knowledge",
"Structural dimension"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The success of a construction business in today's competitive market place depends critically on the quality of the knowledge it possesses regarding its markets, products and technologies (Anumba et al., 2000). Pathirage et al. (2007, p. 116) stated, \"as a consequence of knowledge becoming a valuable organisational resource within the business community, there is an increased concern in organisations' efforts to deliberately manage knowledge in a systematic manner\".\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Network ties as a social capital\n3. Research method: Literature offers different ways to identify social networks. Some favour quantitative measures. For example, some researchers had utilised techniques such as social network analysis (e.g. Pryke, 2012) or regression analysis (e.g. Comet, 2009). However, such measurements may not reveal important informal networks, which could be found by interviewing the key network players while making them reflect on their social relationships in a detailed manner. Hence, the study opted for a qualitative approach falling in line with the assumptions in the interpretive research paradigm. Qualitative approaches are essentially descriptive and inferential in character and focus primarily on the kind of evidence that will enable researchers to understand the meaning of what is going on (Gillham, 2010). Among the qualitative research, this research adopted the case study research approach as it allows an in-depth inquiry in a real-life setting.\n4. Findings and discussion: The key findings are discussed in detail under following sections.\n5. Conclusions: The aim of the study was to investigate the role of network ties in disseminating project knowledge within construction organisations to improve organisation performance and learning. Accordingly, the research conducted two case studies using construction organisations in Sri Lanka to investigate this research problem. The overall results indicated that strong network ties effectively enable project knowledge dissemination within construction organisations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Project knowledge in the construction context needs to be disseminated within organisations to improve organisations' performance and learning. Much of project knowledge is tacit, residing in social interactions in team relationships, and likely to be disseminated through social networks and processes within organisations. Social capital comprises both the network of strong personal relationships and the knowledge resources that may be mobilised through that network. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of \"networks\" in disseminating project knowledge within the construction organisations in Sri Lanka.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The case study research method was used to investigate the research problem. The principal data collection technique used was semi-structured interviews. Content analysis, tables and cognitive maps were used to analyse data.\nFindings: The findings revealed that strong network ties created with equal interaction of project and head office (H/O) individuals, frequent connectivity and much closer relationships enhance the flexibility of sharing project knowledge. The available invisible informal social networks within project and H/O individuals play a key role in disseminating project knowledge compared to business networks.\nOriginality/value: This research offers useful implications for construction organisation, in particular, to pay careful attention to nurture networks within their organisations in order to benefit from disseminating project knowledge widely within the organisations for effective re-use in future.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Fashion bloggers: communication tools for the fashion industry
|
[
"Fashion",
"Spain",
"Millennials",
"Communication",
"Buying behaviour",
"Fashion bloggers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Fashion bloggers are one of the newest players in the fashion industry and they perfectly represent the progressive democratisation of fashion and communication that we are witnessing nowadays (Allen, 2009). They have brought a shift of control from sender to receiver (Allen, 2009; Halvorsen et al., 2013), since they present a democratic user-generated medium (Jean-Kenix, 2009) that facilitates a quick diffusion of fashions and trends. Besides, they are generally recognised as an effective interpersonal communication channel in influencing consumers' decision-making processes due to their perceived credibility (Hahn and Lee, 2014; Kulmala et al., 2013; Sadaba and SanMiguel, 2016). This credibility can be related to their independence of the fashion business and their assumed role as experts, which have motivated the public to give power to them. Within the Spanish context, in which we are going to focus, according to some rankings, the most influential bloggers are LovelyPepa, Dulceida, Trendy Taste or Amlul[1].\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Millennials and their motivations to follow fashion blogs\n3. Methodology: In order to carry out this study, a mono method consisting relying on quantitative research was followed. Regarding the purpose of the research, this study is a \"descripto-explanatory\" one (Saunders et al., 2012, p. 140), and employed a survey as research strategy. More particularly, a structured self-administered questionnaire data collection technique was used, addressed to Spanish consumers between 18 and 36 years old who fitted the sample criteria.\n4. Findings and discussion: Within the 208 responses collected, 79.8 per cent were female (n=166), while 20.2 per cent were male (n=42), which shows a higher female participation, since generally they are keener on fashion and blogs. In relation to the age, the major age group was 18-23 (n=116, 55.8 per cent), followed by 24-29 (n=56, 26.9 per cent) and 30-36 (n=36, 17.3 per cent), thus, there is an unbalanced distribution, probably as a result of a major exposition to social media of the younger age groups regarding whether they were fashion blogs' habitual followers, 55.8 per cent (n=116) were followers and 44.2 per cent (n=92) were not, showing a significant difference between males and females (p-value=0.000<0.05). In this way, only 6 of the 42 males reached were habitual followers.\n5. Conclusion and implications: Through different analyses, this study has contributed to a better understanding of fashion bloggers as communication tools for fashion industry, defining their influence in Millennials' buying behaviour in Spain. According to the proposed objectives, in the first place, it has been concluded that the motives that lead Millennials to follow fashion blogs are in line with the literature review, information, entertainment, efficiency and social relation seeking. However, among them two are particularly influential: information seeking and entertainment seeking. Regarding this, fashion bloggers should focus on giving accurate and new information, as well as including vivid and interesting content, in order to maintain their reputation and catch the attention of their followers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate fashion blogs' influence on Spanish Millennials' buying behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research is quantitative in nature, utilising a mono method consisting of structured self-administered questionnaires. Data were exported to IBM SPSS Statistics, where different types of analyses were combined - such as frequencies, means, hypothesis testing analyses, principal components analysis or K-means cluster.\nFindings: Findings show that the most important motivations to follow a fashion blog are entertainment and information seeking. Besides, consumers' attitudes seem to be influenced by how consumers assess credibility, which is determined by trustworthiness, para-social interaction (PSI), expertise and message credibility. Finally, after showing covert and overt marketing posts, both trustworthiness and PSI were lower than before, identifying PSI as a possible moderator in these cases.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is the sample size, which does not make it possible to generalise conclusions.\nPractical implications: From this research, it can be said that, due to the importance of establishing a strong relationship with the public, bloggers should try to connect with readers on an emotional level, and brands need to select bloggers very carefully.\nOriginality/value: This paper reveals Millennials' attitudes whilst they are visiting a fashion blog and the influence that these attitudes can exercise on their purchase intention.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Challenges for corporate foresight: towards strategic prospective through scenario thinking
|
[
"Culture",
"Change management",
"Creative thinking",
"Communication"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nContext: The transformation\n1. Fostering a culture of foresight: Moving from traditional planning to futures and foresight-based strategic planning requires first and foremost a transformation of corporate culture. Many, probably most, of the problems of introducing foresighting into an organisation, stem from a failure to recognise the magnitude and duration of the implementation effort that is required to use a futures oriented approach to change management assumptions, attitudes and aspirations. Most corporate cultures, moreover, are still heavily biased towards quantitative analysis, whereas a futures approach, especially one using scenarios, is primarily qualitative.The three key action areas are:1. core values;2. civic responsibility; and3. credibility through scanning.Core values\n2. Envisioning change: Experience teaches us that some future events or potential surprises do seem to be predictable; or at least expectations have some chance of occurring. So what are the distinguishing traits of a predictable surprise? Some of the most common, and perhaps the most obvious, have been offered as follows (Bazerman and Watkins, 2004):* Leaders know a problem exists, and that it will not solve itself.* Organisational members recognise that a problem is getting worse over time.* Fixing the problem incurs significant costs now, with benefits delayed into the future.* Expenditure now avoids a cost in the future, but the reward will largely be unrecognised.* There is a tendency for decision-makers to maintain the status quo.* A small minority who benefit from inaction are motivated to subvert action for change.How can these be addressed? Well, foresighting, and in particular scenario planning, can be a major factor for change by enlisting the people in an organisation with the power to act; creating wide awareness of external imperatives for change; guiding the formulation of operational plans; and creating coherence in management action through the development of consensus in the management team. In addition, scenarios can make a contribution at leadership level through the diffusion of political tension around strategic issues (van der Heijden, 1996).Three key action areas are:1. chaos and complexity;2. cognitive roots; and3. capacity and capability.Chaos and complexity\n3. Creativity exploration: Arthur Koestler (1964) argued that creativity often springs from the unexpected juxtaposition of realms of thought not often combined. More recently, such multi-disciplinary creativity has been called \"intersectional innovation\", or more evocatively, The Medici Effect (Johansson, 2004). Intersection innovations are radical and change the world, the business environment and the market, in leaps along new directions. They can happen, however, in large and small ways, but share the following characteristics (Johansson, 2004):* they are surprising and fascinating;* they open up entirely new fields;* they provide a space for a person, team or company to call its own;* they generate followers, which means the creators can become leaders;* they provide a source of directional innovation for years or decades to come; and* they can affect the world in unprecedented ways.Creativity of this kind will more usually be found where different realms of expertise find themselves thinking together. The modern research university, or business management consultancy for that matter, with their departmental walls separating different specialities, are scarcely the vehicles for driving such creativity. Indeed, one could hardly do worse. Foresighting, and most especially scenario workshops, whose participants are selected precisely for the diversity of their expertise, offers a far richer medium for the cultivation of creative ideas (Ogilvy, 2002).Three key action areas are:1. conceptualisation;2. competitive advantage; and3. collaboration and concertation.Conceptualisation\n4. Communicating futures: Communications are clearly an essential part of strategic planning and policy implementation. If major changes in corporate culture are to take root, participants at every level must comprehend, define, clarify and communicate the nature and implications of those changes. And communications, of course, must fit the needs of the various internal and external audiences. Thus, \"communicability\" is a vital characteristic that companies must build into their visioning, foresight and scenario processes. To change the mind-set of planners, executives, and operatives for that matter, the leaders of change in a corporation must first capture and hold their attention. They must ensure a continuing interaction of interest, ideas, and information throughout the organisation.Three key action areas are:1. conversation;2. connectivity; and3. composition.Conversation\n5. Championing prospective through scenarios: The culture of a company and the way in which it is led are imperative to its successful functioning. Corporate culture and corporate leadership are inextricably linked. One without the other is useless. From the standpoint of culture, a company's top leaders are responsible for defining, upholding and where necessary - evolving the company's culture. Such leaders must provide direction, reason and motivation (Scott, 2001). They must also have the ability to prioritise, guide and work within teams, explaining the vision and strategic direction to others, and galvanising their collective and collaborative action towards it. Accepting the critical need for vision, Alberto Cohen of Shell (quoted in Scott, 2001) suggests two other essential qualities:One is \"sustainable thrust\", the never-ending push that maintains momentum at any stage of the process. The other is \"dialogue\", as the ability to keep open, clear and reliable channels of communications in time and space within a company.With regard to foresighting, leaders are able to use the information developed from the programme, especially where scenarios have been employed, to help identify trends, people and technologies that may impact on their business. Indeed, the very process of constructing scenarios requires inputs from throughout the organisation, which allows the communication and creativity between people to flow more freely, and provides the vision required for successful leadership. In fact, scenario planning, leading to the formulation of a \"prospective\" can be the discipline that helps corporations gain comfort with change, but it needs championing.Three key action areas are:1. commitment;2. confidence; and3. catalysts.Commitment\nConclusion: While this paper has concentrated on describing some of the \"grand challenges\" facing corporations in the modern world, and suggesting how foresight, more preferably prospective through scenarios, can help explore, explain and enact change, there is a bigger picture of organisational transformation that calls for a futures view and appraisal. Put simply, the accent of management theory and business practice will have to shift from a preoccupation with the \"formal organisation\" to focus on a kind of corporatism grounded in post-modern, disorganised capitalism. This will be characterised by discontinuity, loosely-coupled systems, synergies, and alliances, collaborative individualism, social sustainability, holism, leadership diversity and a participant-centred paradigm (Limerick et al., 2002). And, it will require a new philosophy, knowledge base and methodology. One which concentrates on the actor rather than the structure, and contextualisation rather that universalism. It is also one which treats the participant as researcher, promoting the role of involved individual's interpretations and explanations of subjective experience as essential for adequate strategic thinking, planning and action (Limerick et al., 2002). Above all, it will be a value-driven system that fosters the evolution of the socially sustainable organisation. This requires the \"proactivity\" of prospective founded on the \"imagineering\" of scenarios. For, to return to where we started, we can shape the future if we can first imagine it. This is the greatest challenge of all.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To reflect, first, that the global changes now washing over the people are probably far more profound than is commonly understood, demanding a new mindset on the part of corporate organisations. Second, that this cultural transformation engenders a fresh set of challenges facing the corporate world in tackling the inherent complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity which need a futures-oriented approach to comprehend and capitalize upon societal change. And third, that this organisational metamorphosis will best be understood, planned and managed through a process of foresight or prospective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The particular methodology proposed is that of \"prospective through scenarios\" which has been developed by The Futures Academy at DIT, and the five formative fields, together with their respective key action areas, have been identified from a review of the relevant recent literature and an evaluation of a number of case studies in which the author has been involved.\nFindings: - Apart from the more detailed findings recounted throughout the text, the main conclusion drawn is that new kinds of corporatism will require the \"proactivity\" of prospective founded on the \"imagineering\" of scenarios to shape their future in a changing world.\nOriginality/value: - In identifying some of the \"grand challenges facing corporations in the modern world, the article conceives a mind-set that accepts\" that one can shape the future if one first imagines it.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
How women traverse an upward journey in Indian industry: multiple case studies
|
[
"Career women in India",
"Gender gap in leadership",
"Managing female talent",
"Women in management",
"Women leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With an increase in women in the workforce leading to a shift in their roles at home, society and organisations (Levitt, 2010), one would expect their corresponding increased share in the senior corporate positions too; conversely, the percentage of women at the top is still very low. The under-representation of women in apex positions across the globe has been a subject of study in recent years. Research evidence suggests that both men and women enter the workforce at levels comparable to each other, but it seems that their corporate experience and career paths begin to diverge after a point (Davidson and Burke, 2002); thus, a few women are seen at the top as the majority do not make their way up. According to Catalyst (2013), women hold only 15.7 per cent officer-level, 18.1 per cent senior-level and 14.8 per cent board-level positions with only 4 per cent with chief executive titles in Fortune 500 companies. Prior research has identified gender bias and family responsibilities as barriers, which potentially limit a woman's success (Levitt, 2010). The literature yields a number of barriers to the advancement for women in management (Budworth and Mann, 2010; Eagly and Carli, 2007; Rhode and Walker, 2008; Sartore and Cunningham, 2007). These include issues of concrete wall (Eagly and Carli, 2007), glass ceiling (Schuck and Liddle, 2004; Michailidis et al., 2012), the labyrinth (Eagly and Carli, 2007), the family problem (Budig and England, 2001; Kilian et al., 2005; Hewlett and Luce, 2005), stereotyping (Schein, 1978; Olsson and Walker, 2004; Rajan and Krishnan, 2002), the gender congruence theory (Konrad and Cannings, 1994) and the socialisation process of women, which can be explained using the social constructionist theory and self-perception of women (Sartore and Cunningham, 2007). Kanter (1993) argues that organisational policies and processes hamper career advancement of women. Organisation culture that causes gender inequity and unfair treatment of women at workplaces has been studied internationally as one of the organisational barriers to the upward mobility of women (Davidson and Burke, 2002; Schein, 2007). The gender stereotypes associated with masculine traits and leadership positions have been studied as one of the major obstacles preventing the advancement of women to the top management (Powell and Butterfield, 2003). At the organisational level, the skewed gender ratios at the top management, a lack of requisite opportunities to women, old boys' network and tokenism have been researched (Heilman, 2012; Oakley, 2000). One of the earliest studies on the determinants of career success of women by Ragins and Sundstrom (1989) classified these into organisational, interpersonal and individual factors. Later, Ragins et al. (1998) reported the female gap in the executive suite by studying career strategies used by the successful women CEOs in USA. At the individual level, the role of human capital, social capital and socio-demographic status (Ng and Burke, 2005; Metz and Tharenou, 2001) have been identified. At the organisational level, studies reveal that though a number of organisational practices exist to facilitate the advancement of women, yet these are mere eye-wash and a lot of discrimination can still be seen in policies related to recruitment, selection and training (Eagly and Carli, 2007; Schein, 2007) besides the masculine expectation of leadership (Vasavada, 2012).\nResearch design and methodology: The leadership journey of women holding senior positions in organisations is likely to be different; thus, with a view to gaining insight into this complex phenomenon, a multiple case study research was adopted, which is a suitable methodology for the exploration of a contemporary phenomenon in its natural setting (Yin, 2011). Eight women in leadership positions from services and manufacturing industry comprising healthcare, telecom, consulting, defence, banking and oil and gas were chosen as cases to encompass a variety of industries to obtain a comprehensive picture of personal and organisational barriers and facilitators to women leadership. They represented different functions, namely finance, human resources, marketing, corporate communications and operations. The unit of analysis was an individual; there have been case studies earlier on individuals as cases (Yin, 2011). All the eight cases have been purposively selected, as they offered contrasting contexts and situations representing different industries, sectors and functions in Corporate India. Each of the eight cases are studied intensively, and each case has typically generated large amount of information relevant to the objective of the study (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Therefore, these eight cases are able to draw analytical generalizability rather than statistical generalizability about the women leaders (Curtis et al., 2000). According to Yin (2011), six to ten case studies would be similar to conducting six to ten experiments that hold valid results.\nAnalysis of data: Data reduction was done using thematic analysis and coding. The process of reducing data into meaningful groupings was accomplished using a block-and-file approach. A block-and-file approach involves underlining, italicising or colour-coding to group themes (Grbich, 2012), which was considered appropriate for the present study.\nResults: The analysis of data led to the identification of 22 themes. Also, a number of sub-themes were identified for each of the broad themes. Each of the themes identified after a within-case analysis for each woman leader in the context of each research question is presented in Table I.\nDiscussion: Relationship to literature and new emergent themes in the Indian context\nLimitation of the study: From the foregoing discussion, it becomes clear that it is challenging for women in India to climb the corporate ladder. Therefore, very few women reach senior positions in organisations and even fewer the top management positions in India. For the purpose of our study, we have chosen C-level women managers, namely function heads (CFO, CHRO, COO) of organisations similar in size and business. They head their respective functions for the organisation and are in the decision-making and strategic planning roles at the organisation levels. The number of cases for the purpose of the study was eight, which might be a limitation to the study. However, each case has not only been intensively studied and analysed but also been supported by empirical data collected through standardised psychometric measures and rigorously analysed to strengthen the validity of qualitative data of the study.\nContributions and direction for future research: This exploratory multiple case study opens the door for theoretical developments in the field of women leadership in the Indian context. It identifies challenges in women's advancement in organisations, the strategies required to be adopted to overcome the challenges, the personal factors critical to success and organisational facilitators that help women reach top echelons of the organisations. The study adopts qualitative approach to study the lived in experiences of women managers (Creswell, 2007).\nConclusion: The exploratory multiple case studies have focused on the experiences of women while traversing the career paths to the leadership positions in the organisations in India. Eight cases of women leaders were selected from diverse industries, different functions and distinct backgrounds. The study provides empirical data on the barriers, organisational and individual facilitators and strategies such as building support systems, efficient time management to balance work and family, reducing dependence on others; for women who have reached leadership positions in India. Thus, the organisations can introduce HR interventions for accelerating women's career which could be common with countries, which have high gender gap in women leadership. The study adds new knowledge to the extant literature by empirically identifying the emergent themes like the role of in-laws', the responsibility of taking care of extended family, the support system from a joint-family set up, religious and spiritual inclination to cope with the barriers faced, not explored earlier. The findings highlight the role of cultural context in women leadership and development of female talent some of which is typical to the Indian social context. The study paves the way for cross-cultural research on women leadership.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present multiple case studies of women in leadership roles in India with a view to identifying inhibitors, facilitators and the strategies adopted by them to mitigate the challenges in their odyssey to these positions. The paper contributes to the pivotal subject of under-representation of women in apex positions, which has garnered the attention of researchers in recent years grappling with the identification of the underlying causes. Thus, with a view to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions, a greater understanding of this phenomenon is called for.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper adopts exploratory case study method using multiple case studies. Empirical data were gathered using in-depth semi-structured interviews and personality test (NEO FFI) from women in leadership positions. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.\nFindings: The analysis of data has led to the identification of challenges faced by the women that were categorised as personal, professional, organisational and social issues. Further, six themes emerged as the strategies adopted by the women leaders to overcome the challenges. The paper also highlights the critical social, behavioural and organisational facilitators that played an important role in their leadership journey. The paper also includes context-specific findings of women leaders from Indian industry.\nPractical implications: The paper would have relevance for researchers and practitioners in the field of gender diversity, leadership, organisational behaviour and human resource management. The findings of this paper can be leveraged by organisations to retain and manage female talent, which is a focal area in the present dynamic business environment, when a need for gender diversity is widely acknowledged by the top management in organisations. The exploratory case studies provide vistas for gender-based context-specific and cross-cultural research on the challenges faced by women executives in their leadership journey and the strategies adopted to mitigate these.\nOriginality/value: Though a great deal has been written about the barriers to women's career advancement, less is known about the facilitators of women's advancement. Also, women in the Asian context face unique challenges which present a major problem for multinational companies whose hopes for growth are pinned on emerging markets. The paper has identified new emergent themes, which have not been mentioned in the extant literature nationally or globally. The findings provide inputs to companies to adopt policies and practices to facilitate gender equality in leadership. The paper bridges the knowledge gap and makes conceptual contributions for future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The effects of risk-reducing strategies on consumer perceived risk and on purchase likelihood: A modelling approach
|
[
"Brands",
"Quality assurance",
"Consumer risk",
"Food safety"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumer risk perception and its impacts on purchasing behaviour are a critical component of the management of food safety. Perception of consumers towards the safety of food products during periods of concern needs to be addressed since it affects the welfare of both consumer and producer, as evident during for example during UK BSE crisis (Magnusson et al., 2001). It is important, therefore for those risk regulators who are engaged in the operation and regulation of food supply chain, from farm to retail outlet, to take account of how and why consumers perceive food safety risk. Otherwise, risk communication can become distorted and misunderstood (Anderson, 1999). The food industry also needs to know how best to address these concerns in its risk management strategies.\nRisk perception and risk reduction: Bauer (1967) proposes that consumers are likely to develop strategies to reduce risk in order to ease a potentially averse situation once they perceive a risk with unanticipated outcomes. The greater the perception of risk exceeding the minimum tolerable level, the greater the consumer would take action to reduce the risk. The consumer will draw on a range of risk reducing strategies such as purchasing branded or quality assured products, taking advice or seeking endorsements from trusted sources. The strategies used will depend on the tolerance to the perceived risk of an individual consumer (Dowling, 1986).\nRisk perception and purchase likelihood: In a general food purchasing situation, consumer purchase behaviour is driven by a number of personal factors, such as preferences, beliefs, social values, experiences, motivations, and more specifically whether consumers may have allergic conditions to a particular food which influence their attitudes and purchase behaviour (Conner, 1993; Kuznesof et al., 1997). Mitchell and Greatorex (1988) however suggest that consumers purchase those goods with the least perceived risk, other factors being equal. With respect to food safety, concern about food risks is found to be a major factor in consumer purchase decision (MLC, 2001). For instance, a consumer survey revealed that between two-thirds and three-quarters of the respondents who were concerned about a particular food risk had changed their eating habits (TNS, 2001). This demonstrates perceived risk has impact on consumer behaviour.\nConceptual consumer risk-reducing behaviour model relating to food safety: Drawing on the research literatures, a conceptual consumer food-purchase model, with respect to food safety risk has been constructed in order to assess the links between risk reducing strategies, consumer risk perception, and purchase likelihood (Figure 1).\nMethodology: Measurement instruments\nResults: The risk reduction behaviour model was developed and finalized parameter estimations were obtained through applying the LISREL 8.301. Table I shows the items included in each of the main constructs to be used in the modelling process and their derived coefficients significant at p\nDiscussion: The analytical framework confirms the link between risk reduction, risk perception and purchase likelihood with respect to food safety related risk though the results require careful interpretation because of the nature and size of the sample. These findings are consistent with other research on perception of food risk (Yeung and Yee, 2003) and on purchase behaviour (Bauer, 1967; Mitchell and Greatorex, 1989; Tse, 1999). The fact that consumer perception of risk has a negative relationship with purchase likelihood is also in line with previous research (Huang, 1993; Eom, 1994, Yeung and Morris, 2006).\nRisk-reducing strategies and risk perception: Risk-reducing strategies identified in this study include \"brand\", \"information\" and \"quality assurance\". Among other constructs with significant value, \"brand\", with a coefficient of -0.34, has the highest causal effect on risk perception, followed by \"information\" (-0.25), and \"quality assurance\" (-0.19). On the other hand, \"post purchase control\" and \"price discount\" do not appear to affect either risk perception or purchase likelihood with respect to food safety issues. They are discussed in turn.\nManagerial implications: The study identifies brand, information and quality assurance as potential strategies to reduce consumer perception of food safety risk and to facilitate informed purchase behaviour during period of hazardous microbiological concern in chicken meat. Branding is found to be a good risk reliever; however, branding is rarely found in much of the primary meat sector (Euromonitor, 2000). During periods of concern about food safety, brand such as Welsh lamb, and Aberdeen Angus steaks, can give a high quality image to consumers and allow them to have wider food choice. For instance, poultry processing companies argue that their branded products create added value and maintain consumer confidence. They have improved the product acceptance by designing small portions of pre-cooked chicken meat in order to overcome the fear of Salmonella in raw meat. In this respect, fresh meat producers can position themselves by promoting a high standard of quality assurance. It is appropriate to incorporate trade practice as part of consumer brand experience into marketing programmes (Fuhrman, 2007).\nConclusion: To conclude, by joining together psychometric and marketing research paradigms, a consumer risk reduction model was built to assess the direct and indirect effects of risk reducing strategies on risk perception and purchase likelihood respectively. The results provide guidance of both proactive and remedial action that government agencies and the food industry can follow before or during the outbreak of a food hazard in order to inform consumers of risk reducing strategies. The food industry can allocate its resources efficiently in particular areas such as brand building, trading standards promotion, quality assurance, all of which imply communication strategies to alleviate consumer perceptions of risk.. As the survey used a non-probability sampling method with small sample size, the findings should be interpreted with caution. A research with a larger random sample is needed to facilitate generalization, applied to a wide range of food products. Given the current interest in healthy diets, the approach adopted here also has potential to inform consumer perceptions of diet related risks, and appropriate risk reduction behaviour.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Consumer perception of risk and its impacts on purchasing behaviour are critical aspects of food safety. Consumer risk management strategies influence, and respond to, the risk management strategies adopted by the food industry. This research, using poultry product as the focus, aims to identify the consumer risk-reducing strategies and their impact on perception of food safety-related risk and then on purchase behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By adopting a quantitative research paradigm with a quota sample of 200 respondents, a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) model was built to assess the direct and indirect effects of strategies taken by consumers to reduce perceived risk and the consequences for purchase likelihood, utilising LISREL 8.30.\nFindings: The research reveals brand, information and quality assurance as influential risk-reducing strategies to reduce consumer perception of food safety risk and subsequently to facilitate purchase likelihood during a period concerned about microbiological contamination in chicken meat.\nPractical implications: The results provide guidance of both proactive and remedial actions that the food industry can follow and also help to evaluate the effectiveness of its marketing activities.\nOriginality/value: The research provides an insight in assisting government agencies and the food industry to develop appropriate food-related risk management strategies to serve the interests of both consumers and producers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Trust determinants and outcomes in global B2B services
|
[
"Relationship marketing",
"Trust",
"Culture",
"Business‐to‐business marketing",
"Services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's rapidly changing competitive environment, service firms are quickly discovering that far greater profits are yielded from harvesting existing accounts than from cultivating new customers. Indeed, the net increase of the present value of profits resulting from a five percent increase in customer retention varies between 25 percent and 85 percent over different industries (Oliver, 1999). Nevertheless, marketing strategy arguably has had more to do with customer acquisition than with securing repeat business. Practitioners have focused on the traditional marketing mix highlighting product features, price and delivery to \"seal the deal\".However the literature on relationship marketing suggests that trust is a central tenet of customer retention. Broadly defined, trust is \"one party's belief that its needs will be fulfilled in the future by actions undertaken by the other party\" (Anderson and Weitz, 1989, p. 312). Trust takes on even greater importance in the arena of B2B services as buyers face the complexity of examining many intangible aspects of a service firm's offering. Coupled with the uncertain outcome of future performance, buyers must consider aspects of the relationship that suggest a service firm is aligned with the buyer's future needs and objectives. Indeed, the value of the transaction itself may take a back seat to evidence that a service provider can be trusted.Of particular interest to marketing scholars and practitioners alike are the factors surrounding long-term relationships characterized by trust. Much of the extant research has studied aspects of consumer trust, trust in channel relationships, or trust of the brand. However, there is a lack of research devoted to developing and testing a conceptual model that includes the drivers and outcomes of trust in a B2B services setting. To address this void, this study examines the degree to which social and offer related variables contribute to trust in a B2B services setting. The study also considers important relational outcomes of trust, loyalty commitment and share of purchases. Finally, the conceptual model is tested in a global setting, thereby accommodating cultural influences on relational variables discussed in the literature.The paper is divided into several sections. Starting with a literature review of relevant concepts, the conceptual model is developed and research hypotheses are formulated. The next section outlines the methodology for examining 202 buyers of aircraft component repair services across 42 countries. Results of research hypotheses tested using structural equation modeling are reported and discussed. Finally, implications and limitations of the study are considered, along with suggestions for further research.\nConceptual model and research hypotheses: The conceptual model in Figure 1 depicts social, offer-related and cultural antecedents of trust, and relational outcomes of trust, examined in our study. In the following sections we define trust, detail the logic underlying our conceptual model, and develop our research hypotheses. Selected empirical studies of the determinants and outcomes of trust are listed in Table I.Trust defined\nMethodology: Data for this study were collected through self-administered questionnaires mailed to buyers of aviation component repair services in 42 countries. A country distribution of the responses scored by Hofstede's individualism dimension is shown in the Appendix, Table AI. Following three waves of e-mails and posted surveys supported by two follow-up broadcast fax reminders and a pre-notification letter, 202 usable responses were collected. The effective response rate is 14 percent. Though somewhat low, this rate is not unusual for industrial survey research involving multi-country participation (Dillman, 2000; Harzing, 2000). Follow-up phone calls to a number of non-respondents revealed a vast majority unwilling to participate due to lack of interest, lack of time (especially in light of airline business pressures), or a concern that management would frown on their taking company time to complete the survey.Measures\nData analysis and results: The conceptual model depicted in Figure 1 was tested using LISREL 8 (Joreskog and Sorbom, 1996). All analyses used maximum likelihood estimation and the observed covariance matrix. Results are reported in the form of the completely standardized solution.Measurement model\nDiscussion: Our findings show that buyers assess trust building behaviors as well as tangible aspects of the service offering in order to gauge a service provider's trustworthiness. However, social behaviors seem to dominate the trust building process. An examination of standardized coefficients reveals that customer orientation (0.31) has almost twice the effect of offer quality (0.17) in building trust. Further, social interaction impacts loyalty commitment directly, as well as indirectly through trust.We also find that trust plays an important part in developing loyalty commitment and expanded business opportunities. Therefore it is safe to say that buyers do not necessarily develop loyalty to, nor extend broader business opportunities to service providers based solely on superior offerings. These findings have important implications for marketing theory and practice.Theoretical implications\nStudy limitations: The literature on culture would lead us to believe that buyers evaluating suppliers in more goal-oriented, individualist cultures value economic rewards attainable through the relationship - such as the deal and deliverables - over the relationship itself. In group-oriented, collectivist societies on the other hand, cultural norms and values resonate more with deriving value from the relationship itself and supplier selection based on trust between the partners.Our operationalization of national culture as GDP per capita did not have a statistically significant influence on buyer trust. In retrospect, our failure to obtain results may be due to the B2B services context of our study. As previously noted, intangibility may make the benefits of trust more critical for services because evaluations often are ambiguous (Palmatier et al., 2006). Similarly, trust may take on added importance in B2B markets where a firm's success depends directly on its working relationships. Thus it is possible that B2B service encounters elevate the importance of trust regardless of cultural norms and values.\nSuggestions for future research: Results of this study support the influence of trust on loyalty commitment and expanded patronage in a B2B services setting. Future research might consider the part trust plays in promoting other important relational outcomes in this context (e.g. relationship longevity, positive word of mouth). Additional study also is needed on other \"relational\" antecedents of trust (e.g. goal congruency, shared values). Finally, given our inability to demonstrate the impact of culture using GDP/capita, future studies might include other economic variables or measures of cultural distance. Together, such studies would enrich the field of B2B services marketing by improving the explanatory power of models predictive of buyer trust.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to specify and test factors surrounding trusting relationships between buyers and suppliers in a global, business-to-business services context. In so doing, the paper aims to help to extend relationship marketing theories to this under-researched domain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A literature review and results of qualitative interviews in the paper provide a conceptual framework for the trust formation process and relational outcomes of trust. The research then tests a model of hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: - The paper confirms the influence of trust building behaviors (social interaction, open communications, customer orientation) and service outcomes (technical, functional and economic quality) on trust formation. Trust is shown to have a positive influence on key relational outcomes, loyalty commitment and share of purchases.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample consists of buyers of aviation component repair services who may be susceptible to idiosyncratic industry pressures. Further, the sample of buyers in 42 countries includes a higher share of buyers from individualist countries.\nPractical implications: - The study provides managerially relevant (\"actionable\") results that may help buyers execute customer retention strategies that lead to higher customer profitability.\nOriginality/value: - This study adds to the limited literature on building trust in B2B services in a global context. The paper seeks to provide a balanced account of the interpersonal and tangible aspects of trust formation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Unlocking innovation in the sport industry through additive manufacturing
|
[
"Additive manufacturing",
"3D printing",
"Innovation matrix"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Background\n2. Literature review: The term \"innovation\" can be defined as developing a new or improved product or process (Damanpour, 1996; Baregheh et al., 2009; Tan et al., 2015, 2017; Tan and Zhan, 2017; Chung and Tan, 2017). Since new products tend to have an increased chance of being flawed, usually prototypes are developed to undergo testing and eradicate those flaws before considerable investment is made (Pham and Gault, 1998). Especially in the sports industry, a flawless product in terms of form, fit and functionality is very important to improve the performance of the athlete on the one hand, and to avoid pain and injuries on the other hand. In the following, an overview over the innovation process in the sports industry is given, and the implementation and impact of AM in this process is explained.\n3. Methodology: The aim of this research is to investigate the company's awareness of AM, its implementation and its impact on sports equipment innovation. In order to do so, this work followed a qualitative research approach that includes case studies from different companies, as well as a semi-structured interview with an outdoor manufacturer. The objective of this qualitative research is to obtain a detailed understanding and an in-depth view of the investigated topic, by answering questions concerning the \"How\" and \"Why\" (Eisenhardt, 1989; Hennink et al., 2011).\n4. Findings: 4.1 Case studies\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Reasons for the implementation of AM in the innovation process\n6. Conclusion: The purpose of this research project was to investigate the industry's awareness of AM, its implementation and its impact on the innovation process of the sports equipment industry. The results of this research show that the use of AM technologies in the innovation process of sports equipment can have a significant impact on both innovation speed and output. By using AM for the creation of prototypes, the possibilities of fast iteration and testing, combined with the creation of shapes that are not possible with conventional manufacturing, lead to optimised final prototypes in a shorter timeframe than with traditional prototyping processes. The fact that the prototyping process can take place where it is most efficient enhances the collaboration with the consumers, or \"prosumers\", which is key in the sport industry. This enables the production of equipment that provides a superior performance. Although the literature states that AM leads to entirely new products and therefore can open new markets, this could not be confirmed by the information generated from real-life companies. The sports industry's current awareness of AM technologies is still very low and not even close to the level of industries such as the aerospace industry or the jewellery industry. In addition, the technology itself is still evolving, meaning that there is still room for improvement. Especially the low range of processable material and the slow speed for mass production withhold the technology from making the major changes in the innovation process of sports equipment that can lead to new products, customers and markets.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Fast-changing customer demands and rising requirements in product performance constantly challenge sports equipment manufacturers to come up with new and improved products to stay competitive. Additive manufacturing (AM), also referred to as 3D printing, can enhance the development of new products by providing an efficient approach of rapid prototyping. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current adoption of AM technologies in the innovation process of the sports industry, i.e. level of awareness; how it is implemented; and it impact on the innovation process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This work followed a qualitative research approach. After conducting a research of the current literature, this paper presents findings that include case studies from different companies, as well as a semi-structured interview with an outdoor sports equipment manufacturer. Companies from all over the world and of different sizes from under 100 employees to over 70,000 employees were considered in this research.\nFindings: Literature research shows that AM brings many possibilities to enhance the innovation process, and case studies indicated several obstacles that hinder the technology from fully unfolding. AM is still at the early stage of entering the sports equipment industry and its potential benefits have not been fully exploited yet. The findings generated from the research of real-life practices show that AM provides several benefits when it comes to the innovation process, such as a faster development process, an optimised output, as well as the possibility to create new designs. However, companies are not yet able to enhance the innovation process in a way that leads to new products and new markets with AM. Limitations, including a small range of process able material and an inefficient mass production, still restrain the technology and lead to unused capability. Nevertheless, future prospects indicate the growing importance of AM in the innovation process and show that its advancement paves the way to new and innovative products.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations exist in the qualitative approach of this study, which does not include the quantitative verification of the results.\nOriginality/value: Very few studies have been conducted to investigate how firms can harvest AM to increase their innovation capabilities. How firms can use AM to shorten product development time is an emerging topic in business and operations but has not been studied widely. This paper aims to address this gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Corporate philanthropy and channel impact in food security: The case "Nourish" by Campbell's Canada
|
[
"Canada",
"Food security",
"Channel relationships",
"Food manufacturing processes",
"Channel relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many food companies and the food sector have faced public criticism and significant systemic risks related to corporate social responsibility over the last decade or so (Michael, 2006). The behaviour of food companies, most particularly multi-nationals, has never been more under the spotlight. It has been criticized for providing unhealthy and sometimes unsafe products to consumers. Transfats, excess sodium content and major food safety-related incidents, for example, have had a negative impact on how the public perceives major food companies. A new approach has been adopted by the food industry which focuses on food and nutrition. Many food companies are extending their focus on food products to matters of social responsibility, now concentrating their efforts on diminishing the inequalities in health between different socio-economic groups.\nFood insecurity, world hunger and corporate social responsibility: Riches (1999) has argued that obstacles standing in the way of achieving food security around the world include the increasing commodification of welfare and the corporatization of food. The depoliticization of hunger alleviation by governments and by NGOs has been noticed by corporations in the food sector. Some corporations have felt compelled to reverse that trend globally. As such, food systems globally are in in rapid transition. Unequal market power is ubiquitous and inevitable in agriculture and food, as land is not mobile (Murphy, 2008). As a result, many regions around the world experience food insecurity, for one reason or another. Food insecurity exists whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire suitable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain (Klein, 1996). Notably, unlike hunger or malnutrition, food insecurity is a state, a more quantifiable and measurable concept. Hunger would be considered a feeling as a result of food insecurity, whereas malnutrition would be a cause of food insecurity (Sperdea et al., 2011). Furthermore, it has been argued that food supply chains comprise an important subset of broader food security due to their vulnerability and importance to global and local populations and economic prosperity (Voss et al., 2009).\nNourish: The initial spark for Nourish actually originated in 2005 when the vision of Campbell's was renewed. As in other economic sectors, the vision in the food sector is updated, revised, and improved, in order to define a corporate identity. It may be used together with an overdetermined belief in cause and effect in strategic planning (Dartington, 1998). This effort was spearheaded by the leadership group from the start. The company wanted to develop and market authentic products which can be applicable to all Canadians, including those with fewer means. This vision became a strategic stimulus behind many of their campaigns, one of which involved reducing sodium to provide healthy food products to Canadians.\nMethodology: The research strategy proposed a conceptual model and developed a semi-structured interview as a basic instrument to apply it. The structure of the interview, before it was employed, was validated by it being used for other similar studies (Charlebois and Camp, 2007; Charlebois, 2011).\nFindings: In the first year after the launch, the company sold 200,000 cans in two waves. Net profits went to food banks. The campaign was designed to offer an opportunity for consumers to donate while satisfying their own need to eat. In addition, for each can sold, Campbell's donated one can as well. For the company, the launch was deemed a success. The product launch did not come without criticism. Some groups accused Campbell's of taking advantage of a popular cause to brand its own name. Campbell's Nourish campaign was already perceived as an attempt to institutionalize food banks when many believe that, with proper social policies, food banks would cease to exist.\nDiscussion: Food security and corporate philanthropy\nLimitations: To correctly interpret this case study, one has to keep in mind its major limitations. The single case study approach may prevent the generalization of results. The information for this study was collected from individuals who have a limited understanding about distribution and marketing channels. The information gathered is circumstantial by the respondents, which makes it difficult to establish its reliability. All the questions were open-ended, which may have led to difficulty by the respondents in correctly appreciating the problems, as there is no restriction for the respondent to answer the question.\nConclusion: Nourish can be considered as a successful project by Campbell's since it has been driven by altruistic and politically strategic motives. These corporate motives reflect the food processor's paternalistic and genuine attitude towards food security.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how corporate philanthropy influences channel behaviour in the context of food security.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors chose an exploratory case-study design to guide the investigation, based on Yin's (1994) argument that case studies are the preferred strategy when \"how\" or \"why\" questions are being posed, and when the focus is on a modern phenomenon within a real-life context. A survey study was focused on formal interviews onsite where product development and marketing occurred.\nFindings: It is known that the concepts of power and dependency are central to channel relationships. In food distribution, it has been argued that food distributors hold more power than food processors due to end-user proximity (Ruyter et al., 1996). For corporate altruism acts to have an impact when generated by functions other than distribution and retailing, one can only argue that channel members would require a significant number of antecedents to be successful. In Campbell's case, as shown in Table I, many became enabling to a successful outcome while others arguably made the project more challenging.\nResearch limitations/implications: With food security, the authors would need to consider other relationships within the marketing channel. The macro-environment of the marketing channel could also be incorporated in a future study. This study also does not compare other campaigns related to a similar product. In fact, it is believed that Nourish is unique in that it is the first ready-to-eat, ready-to-ship food product which was developed with the intent to serve the greater good.\nPractical implications: Philanthropic acts by one company can influence other channel members when intent is driven by clear altruistic and politically strategic motives, and reflects individualistic and paternalistic attitudes. Campbell's was paternalistic but attempted to serve many causes at once. Committing to only one cause in the future may help consolidate resources and corporate energy around one single cause.\nSocial implications: Corporate philanthropy describes the action when a corporation voluntarily donates a portion of its resources to a societal cause. Nourish's case is different in that it is not just a linear transactional gift between a corporation and an organization actively involved in the cause. The project relies on the active participation of other channel members, including consumers, to support the campaign led by Campbell's. It was a form of an extendable altruistic venture which allowed all channel members to contribute to the cause.\nOriginality/value: Food processors that want to address the issue of food security or any other societal causes, domestically or abroad, will not cease. The challenge for food processors lies in the functional nature of their role within marketing channels. Since they do not transact with consumers directly, they depend on distributors and retailers to relay their philanthropic convictions to consumers. Based on the Nourish case, this study set out a series of antecedents which would support similar initiatives.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Understanding the causes and consequences of work-family conflict: An exploratory study of Nigerian employees
|
[
"Work-family conflict",
"Work-family balance",
"Nigerian employees",
"Spill-over"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: An understanding of the causes and consequences of work-family conflict (WFC) is of practical importance for both employees and employers. It will help employees work towards solving the problem of WFC by achieving a balance between their work demands and familial obligations (Burke et al., 2011). Employers will be able to offer help to employees in terms of ameliorating any WFC and will eventually have a healthy, happy, and productive workforce, thereby fostering societal harmony (Ransome, 2007; Kelly et al., 2011). This is, perhaps, why Harrington and Ladge (2009, p. 148) described work-family balance (WFB) as one of the \"most significant business issues of the 21st century\". It can be argued that WFC is an issue of global concern, with a great deal of research having been conducted about western countries (Brough and Kalliath, 2009; O'Driscoll et al., 2006). However, fewer studies have been undertaken about Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (specifically Nigeria) (Ajiboye, 2008; Akintoya, 2010). This paper provides an empirical insight into the causes and consequences of WFC by using Nigeria as the empirical focus. The social, cultural, and economic contexts differ from those of the west. This paper aims to provide a SSA context for WFC.\n2. WFC in context: WFC is a widely researched subject area in terms business and organisational behaviour (Poelmans et al., 2005). Its origin in literature can be traced to the studies of Rapoport and Rapoport (1965, 1969), Renshaw (1976), Kanter (1977), Pleck (1977), Handy (1978), and Pleck and Staines (1985). The main theme of all these studies is that work and family demands always contest for employees' time and energy, which eventually results in conflict (Poelmans et al., 2005). This means that different expectations in terms of roles in work and family domains can create conflicts which can result in reduced participation, satisfaction, and performance in either or both of these domains (O'Driscoll et al., 2006). Usually, employees experience WFC when work demands interfere with participation or performance in home demands and vice-versa (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985).\n3. Conceptual background: Work-family interface has been viewed and researched from different standpoints (Guest, 2001). This study is guided by the spill-over model (Staines, 1980), which explains how events, activities, emotions, and attitudes in one area can positively or negatively affect another (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000). According to the model, feelings, attitudes, behaviours, and emotions in work and family domains usually transcend the physical boundaries of those domains. In addition, the model provides that these domains affect one another through a permeable boundary either positively or negatively (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Staines, 1980). This implies that spill-over tends to occur between family and work. This typically arise when feelings, attitudes, and behaviours in one area are affected by role participation in another. For example, happiness at work leads to happiness at home and vice-versa (Barnett, 2005). Positive spill-over occurs when experiences and role performances in one domain manifest in enhanced emotions, attitudes, or behaviours (Carlson et al., 2006), contributing to greater involvement, satisfaction, or performance in the other (Rogers and May, 2003). Positive spill-over enhances employees' role performance (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Pedersen et al., 2009). Employees who experience positive spill-over will always want to keep their job (Haar and Bardoel, 2008). This is one of the great benefits of positive spill-over (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Grzywacz et al., 2002). Conversely, negative spill-over is experienced when pressures from work and family domains are incompatible (Bellavia and Frone, 2005). For example, if an employee has a frustrating day at work, they are more likely to carry the ruinous mood home. This will invariably affect the family domain (Staines, 1980).\n4. The Nigerian context: Nigeria is a West African country with a population of over 181 million people. There are over 250 ethnic groups, and more than 400 dialects in Nigeria (Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact Book, 2015). The workforce is estimated to be 57.46 million and the unemployment rate 23.9 per cent (CIA World Fact Book, 2015). These figures were disputed by the National Bureau of Statistics who stated the unemployment rate at 7.5 per cent based on those who worked for less than 20 hours in the week preceding the survey (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015). If one adds the 16.6 per cent who worked 20-39 hours in the week preceding the survey, then the figures are similar. The Nigerian health sector is formed of private and government/public hospitals and is regulated by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. The Nigerian health worker base is one of the biggest in Africa; yet, the health sector is struggling with a shortage of manpower (Human Resources for Health Fact Sheet, 2010). Nigerian universities, on the other hand, have a past glory of having been ranked among the best of all of the Commonwealth universities (Okebukola, 2006). The country possesses around 45 private, 37 state, and 36 federal universities which are attended by over a million students every year. The universities are supervised by the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission. However, there has been a significant increase in the number of new universities in the past decade. This vast expansion of educational institutions has led academic staff members to also take on administrative responsibilities. This has resulted in increased workloads (Nigerian University Commission, 2009). These two sectors (health and education) have been chosen due to the significance of health and education in terms of national development. In addition, these two sectors evenly employ people across the country. In addition, it is essential to note that Nigeria leans towards a collectivist culture and women are responsible for putting homes in order in terms of caring for the children, doing the cooking and other domestic chores regardless of their social and employment status (Okonkwo, 2012).\n5. Methodology: Studies of WLB and WFC in an African setting have largely been empirical and the majority used a quantitative methodology (Mokomane and Chilwane, 2014). Aryee (2005) specifically suggested that in-depth interviews would help to provide an understanding of how work and family roles are socially constructed and contribute to lives of urban African parents. Similarly, Bardoel et al. (2008) argued that counter-intuitive findings (which are common in studies which use quantitative methodologies) are not appropriate. This study uses in-depth semi-structured interviews and a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected from cities in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Medical doctors and lecturers from federal, state, and private institutions were interviewed. The full sample of this study was 88 (44 university lecturers and 44 medical doctors) as shown in Table I. Respondents were sought by e-mailing existing personal contacts and referrals and by a snowballing process. It was quite noticeable from the interviews that all of the respondents had varied demographic profiles. In terms of the suitability criteria, all of the respondents were vetted in order to establish whether the interviewees were medical doctors and teaching employees of their various hospitals and universities, respectively. As a rule of thumb, the researchers commenced the interviews by explaining the aims and objectives of the research. The interviewees were assured of the confidentiality and anonymity of their answers and places of work and were further guaranteed that only patterns across the answers would be reported. Open-ended questions were prepared and used as an interview guide. Each interview lasted between 35 and 40 minutes. The interviews were conducted in English. They were also voice-recorded and later transcribed for analysis. Following Braun and Clarke (2006), the generated data were analysed by using thematic content analysis. The themes became the categories for analysis (data analysis involved the use of pre-arranged codes which were verified by a second coder to ensure reliability). The codes were generated from the themes that emerged during the analysis stage. Coding was carefully undertaken in order to look for evidence which included the key research objectives. Pseudonyms were used to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.\n6. Findings: This study discovered four main causes of WFC among Nigerian employees. Respondents believed that work pressure, heavy familial duties, poor infrastructural facilities, and a lack of proper and practicable work-family policies are the main causes of WFC in Nigeria. Three significant consequences of WFC among Nigerian employees were also uncovered: broken marriages/families, unhappy workforce/performance at work, and aggravated juvenile delinquencies. The research questions, emergent themes, type of spill-over, and illustrative extracts are presented in Table II.\n7. Discussion: The abovementioned findings highlighted the major causes and consequences of WFC among Nigerian workers as perceived by the respondents. Consistent with previous research on WFC (Jager, 2002; Stier et al., 2012; Voydanoff, 2004), this study found that WFC is often caused by incompatible responsibilities in both the work and family domains. However, this study adds to extant research, thereby improving the understanding of WFC in a non-Western context (Nigeria). It especially contributes there to in terms of the causes and consequences of WFC.\n8. Implication of findings: for policy and practice: The importance of WFB for both employees and employers cannot be overstated (Fu and Shaffer, 2001). As these two domains (work and family) cannot be separated from each other, they often affect each other (Greenhaus and Parasuraman, 1987). Therefore, organisations should ensure a smooth relationship between the two domains (Fu and Shaffer, 2001). The findings reported in this paper have implications for organisations and employees. In order to reduce WFC, many organisations in the western world have adopted various WFB policies (Galea et al., 2014; Joyce et al., 2010; Russell et al., 2009). Such practices in Nigeria, however, are still relatively new (Adisa et al., 2014). With an increasing number of women in paid employment and a correspondingly high number of dual-earner families, there is an increasing need for Nigerian organisations to provide employees with alternative WFB policies in order to reduce WFC and enhance the quality of employees' work and family lives. Supportive WFB and other family programmes as well as employee friendly policies will help employees balance the competing demands of work and family responsibilities. Nevertheless, some researchers have cautioned that considerable care is needed before assuming that the more \"family-friendly\" policies and institutional arrangements present in western countries would be desirable in Africa (Korenman and Kaester, 2005; Mokomane and Chilwane, 2014).\n9. Conclusion: Overall, this paper adds to the overall literature on WFC by exploring the causes and consequences thereof among Nigerian medical doctors and university lecturers by using the spill-over model. The findings of this study offer insights which will be useful for academics, organisations, government, policy-makers, and other stakeholders in Nigeria with a possible ripple effect on other countries in SSA which have similar geographical, business, and economic conditions to Nigeria. More pre-emptive government intervention is necessary in order to ensure a more worker-friendly environment and to encourage the application and the use of family-friendly policies in the workplace. Despite the rationale provided for having collected data from only two professional groups (doctors and lecturers), the generalisability of these findings is limited. A broader spectrum of employees across a more varied sector would probably produce richer and more generalisable results. This is recommended for future studies. The use of survey research is also an option which could produce a much larger data set across a range of industries in the private and public sectors. This would provide more generalisability. Moreover, a quantitative study allowing for the control of several extraneous variables could affect the results of such a study, for example, location (urban/semi-urban/rural), gender, age, marital status, family size, income level, etc.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: An important theme for a twenty-first century employee is a desire for work and family balance which is devoid of conflict. Drawing on detailed empirical research, the purpose of this paper is to examine the multi-faceted causes and consequences of work-family conflict (WFC) in a non-Western context (Nigeria).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses qualitative data gleaned from the semi-structured interviews of 88 employees (44 university lecturers and 44 medical doctors) in cities in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.\nFindings: The findings showed that work pressure, heavy familial duties, poor infrastructural facilities, and a lack of suitable and practicable work-family balance policies are the main causes of WFC in Nigeria. Juvenile delinquencies, broken marriages/families, and an unhappy workforce are among the grave consequences of WFC among Nigerian employees.\nOriginality/value: This paper suggests that the availability of basic infrastructural facilities, more governmental support, practicable work-family policies, inter alia, will reduce the level of WFC for Nigerian employees and will also results in positive spill-over from the work domain to the family domain and vice-versa.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Organizing Latin American workers in Japan: The case of the community union MIE as an alternative space of regulation
|
[
"Japan",
"Regulation",
"Migrant workers",
"Community unions",
"Union activities"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The sociology of migrant workers and the study of the secular decline of trade unions, while typically treated separately, may nevertheless be brought together in the study of the phenomenon of community, or alternative, union forms. This linkage can be found in bringing together at least three lines of inquiry. While changes to the composition of the labor market and political economy (Rubery and Grimshaw, 2003; Rubery et al., 2003) compel unions to consider alternative strategies for renewal, or revitalization, in responding to their decline in a number of sectors and regions, the phenomenon of \"community unions\" (Shingata Kumiai - or \"new style unions[1]\") has become a focus of potential growth (Tattersall, 2005, 2010; Holgate, 2005). A second reason for pursuing such a link can be found in the concern with the increasing role played by migrant workers in a range of sectors and locales with the consequent interest in the implications this presents for working class action. A range of literature has addressed the role of migrant workers in the development of community, or alternative, unions in a number of countries including Brazil, India, Japan South Korea and other countries (see Suzuki, 2008; Denning, 2010). A third linkage can be sought in the argument that if the condition of labor of migrant workers becomes more, rather than less, typical, then the nature, form and character of trade unionism, will necessarily need to respond to accommodate increasing labor market precarity (Standing, 2009).\nCommunity unions and migrant workers in Japan: \"Community union,\" was a term used originally by Takagi (1988) but it was inspired by the United Automotive Workers in the 1960s. In the Japanese context, Obata (2004) argues that the existence of community unions depends upon individual enrollment comprising eight characteristics including; worker participation in small and micro firms; participation of part time workers; unionization of foreign workers; unionization and the improvement of labor conditions of dispatch workers from temporary labor agencies; the promotion of women workers and the fight against gender discrimination; unionization of managerial level employees in the fight against restructuring and dismissal; the participation of local community activists and; a high variation in the number of affiliates. Since arguably the test of a successful community union lies in the spaces it creates within and beyond the labor market, the relatively successful experience of Union MIE will be of interest to researchers in Anglo-Saxon countries (Wills et al., 2010; Urano and Stewart, 2007, 2009). While we have some evidence of their presence in Japan since the 1960s, it is only more recently that their role in the support and mobilization of migrant workers has gained prominence in debate[2] (Mouer and Kawanishi, 2005; Linger, 2001).\nUnion MIE: Union MIE is a joint labor union, having individual enrollment as membership and in the 1960s MIE targeted workers especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. In 1995, the union joined the Community Union National Network (CUNN) as part of its strategy to create a nation-wide association with small unions. The name Union MIE was coined in 1999 and in 2003 the union became part of the co-ordinating Japan Community Union Federation (JCUF), and a significant aspect of the strategy of community unions to extend their activities within the mainstream labor movement was fulfilled when JCUF affiliated to RENGO (see Urano and Stewart, 2007, 2009). It was a meaningful choice considering the needs of community unions seeking a more grass roots and distinctive agenda (Stewart, 2006). At the same time, this allowed it to be connected to mainstream labor and social movements in order to have some influence on broader policy making and decisions regarding labor. That said, due to what we might describe as union-social movement opposition, or a non-articulated sense union-cultural difference, CUNN members were far from unanimous in accepting the position of being formally affiliated to RENGO. Arguably this was the reason why a limited number of unions decided to participate in JCUF.\nMembers' perceptions union MIE: Table V ranks in order of importance members' perceptions of the difference the union makes to life at work. To take, in order of importance, \"Protection against dismissal\" (55 percent), \"Improvement of labor conditions\" (50 percent), \"injury compensation\" (36) and fighting bullying and violence from managers (29), perhaps unsurprisingly these are the most prominent issues raised by union members although the last, bullying, is significant to note given the context of generic insecurity. However, despite their precarity workers nevertheless perceive that MIE makes a significant difference when it comes to protecting them against the effects of their various labor processes and the behavior of their managers. Anya (Brazil), for example, argued that MIE is important because it \"[fights] to change impossible and repetitive work and the fear of dismissal.\" Although Toni (Brazil) stated that working for a sub assembly firm he felt his contract was anyway insecure and this made it easy to sack him, \"I was fired despite the fact that I was ill and had a medical certificate.\"\nConclusion: Findings from the current stage of what is a wider project on Japanese community unions highlight a number of significant aspects of the debate on trade union decline and revitalization. These results also are germane therefore to the question of how unions, in orientating to workers within and beyond the labor market, are relatively successful in seeking, and impacting upon, non-work specific regulatory spaces. It thus serves as an illustration of other, non traditional regulatory spaces, in which trade unions might seek to operate. Our argument is that member' perceptions of what it is that unions can be said to achieve and why they matter must be a critical starting point.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess difficulties facing the unionization of foreign workers focusing on the experience of trade unionists in Union MIE, an exemplar of what in Japan is known as a community union (sometimes described as a form of Minority union - Stewart, 2006). Union MIE is characterized by its orientation to the social and political agenda of Latin American workers, among whom Brazilians form the most numerous group. The paper also addresses the precarious nature of workers' employment including the condition of labor. The increasing significance of community unions raises the question as to the possibility of the reregulation of worker interests in ways not fully encompassed by traditional labor market-focused unions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper explores unique interviews using snowball technique and direct questionnaires to union membership of community union in Japan.\nFindings: The increasing significance of community unions raises the question as to the possibility of the reregulation of worker interests in ways not fully encompassed by traditional labor market-focused unions. In addition to having relevance to the wider discussion on union decline, this paper contributes to the debate on migrant workers, their condition of labor and one form of labor organization responsive to their concerns.\nResearch limitations/implications: A comparative approach would add even more to the weight of evidence accrued in the paper.\nPractical implications: Mainstream trade unions need to anticipate that the concerns of migrant and precarious workers will become increasingly common among their erstwhile \"regularly\" employed membership and so the activities of community and minority unions need to be taken on board in an organic, as opposed to an opportunistic, manner.\nOriginality/value: From unique interviews using snowball technique and direct questionnaires to union membership of community union in Japan, the paper presents original data not typically accessible in Anglo-Saxon research tradition.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Spear phishing in organisations explained
|
[
"Gender",
"Culture",
"Age",
"Spear phishing",
"Years of service"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Cyber security has for a long time primarily been treated as a technical problem (Rhee et al., 2009; Waldrop, 2016). However, cyber security incidents are often caused by human failure (Chan et al., 2005) rather than by technical failure (Schneier, 2000). Developing stronger digital security alone will not result in a viable long-term solution against cyber security. Instead, the solution should involve solving human errors (Waldrop, 2016). As people do not have sufficient cognitive capacity to process all sensory input, their decision-making involves using rules of thumb (i.e. heuristics; Cialdini, 2009). Heuristics work well in most circumstances, until a heuristic fails and a cognitive bias occurs (Gigerenzer, 1991; Tversky and Kahneman, 1974). Offenders are well aware of the flaws in human logic and nudge the heuristics of their targets into systematic errors (i.e. cognitive biases) to make them comply (Bosworth et al., 2014; Dang, 2008; Kennedy, 2011; Luo et al., 2011; Twitchell, 2009). This kind of trickery is referred to as social engineering. This paper focusses on social engineering via email, also known as phishing. In particular, it aims to establish whether victimisation differs for general and spear phishing (i.e. targeted or personalised) emails in the context of an organisation. Second, it aims to establish whether socio-demographic characteristics of targets influence victimisation. The reason behind this is 3-fold:\n2. Methods: The sample consisted of 593 subjects of both genders who worked in The Netherlands. All employees from one faculty were approached. The materials in this section are based on Bakker et al. (2015) and extended where necessary.\n3. Results: 3.1 H1 \"the opening sentence of a phishing email influences its success\"\n4. Discussion: This study investigated the susceptibility to two types of phishing emails and the personal characteristics that influence the probability of compliance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how the opening phrase of a phishing email influences the action taken by the recipient.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two types of phishing emails were sent to 593 employees, who were asked to provide personally identifiable information (PII). A personalised spear phishing email opening was randomly used in half of the emails.\nFindings: Nineteen per cent of the employees provided their PII in a general phishing email, compared to 29 per cent in the spear phishing condition. Employees having a high power distance cultural background were more likely to provide their PII, compared to those with a low one. There was no effect of age on providing the PII requested when the recipient's years of service within the organisation is taken into account.\nPractical implications: This research shows that success is higher when the opening sentence of a phishing email is personalised. The resulting model explains victimisation by phishing emails well, and it would allow practitioners to focus awareness campaigns to maximise their effect.\nOriginality/value: The innovative aspect relates to explaining spear phishing using four socio-demographic variables.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Critical areas of knowledge loss when employees leave in the oil and gas industry
|
[
"Knowledge loss",
"Oil and gas",
"Critical areas",
"Departing employees"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge in today's economy is the most valuable, competitive and strategic asset and plays a vital role in fostering innovation and improving the efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of organizations (Grant, 1996). Organizations can lose their competitive advantage through the loss of knowledge workers. Jennex (2014) stated that NASA was unable to return to the moon because they no longer had knowledge of how to build rockets and spacecrafts due to the loss of knowledge workers through retirements and deaths. Many researchers have identified retiring workers as key contributors to knowledge loss (Calo, 2008; Stevens, 2010; Ball and Gotsill, 2011), but knowledge loss also occurs due to turnover, job rotation and layoffs (Leibowitz, 2009). The current economic situation and changing workforce demographics have pressured companies to take some action, and as the baby boomer generation is now the largest generation to enter the workforce, companies are endeavoring to retain their knowledge (Stevens, 2010). Organizations need to assess how this demographic trend will affect their individual companies, analyzing its potential impact on each business unit, location and job function (Strack et al., 2008). There is a huge challenge in terms of the aging workforce as a large number of employees near retirement will soon leave the industry, thus begetting a profound knowledge loss. Layoffs also occur when businesses are not performing well, for example in the oil and gas sector at the moment because of low oil prices. In such scenarios, the knowledge loss is accelerated through the departure of employees (Durst and Aggestam, 2017). Thus, it is important to identify the critical knowledge possessed by departing employees and in responding appropriately to retain that knowledge. An important step in the knowledge retention process is to determine the critical \"at risk\" knowledge (Leibowitz, 2009). When critical knowledge workers leave the organization, there is a risk of knowledge loss which could be basis for competitive advantage for organization (Spender, 1996). These workers can take with them \"a substantial volume of tacit knowledge, operational heuristics, stores and organizational history\" (Jackson, 2010, p. 908). Ebrahimi et al. (2008) emphasized the importance of these workers as \"Their life experience, their in-depth knowledge of different professional environments (network of contacts, who knows what?), and their knowledge of the culture of these environments (collection of codes, symbols, shared significance, etc., permitting to know how to deal with who?) bestows them differentiated aptitudes to understand issues, interpret information, connect various information and data, integrate knowledge, and finally, connect and coordinate knowledge carriers\" (p. 129). Thus, the retention of such critical knowledge is of the utmost importance in view of an organization's continuity (Durst and Aggestam, 2017). The literature reveals that organizations do not have systematic procedures to assess the knowledge of departing employees (Jennex, 2014). Although firms are constantly investing in activities related to knowledge creation and technological capabilities, however, retention of critical knowledge is a neglected task. Further, there is lack of empirical research on identification of different knowledge types possessed by departing employees (Joe et al., 2013). If managers know what to retain from the departing employees, organizations can undertake retention of knowledge in more effective way. Previous studies have discussed the impact of knowledge loss (Levy, 2011; Massingham, 2008; Bleich et al., 2009; Cattani et al., 2013; Calo, 2008; Dumay and Rooney, 2011), knowledge retention strategies (Gotthart and Haghi, 2009; Parise et al., 2006; Bratianu and Leon, 2015; Daghfous et al., 2013; Durst and Aggestam, 2017), intergenerational learning (Ropes, 2015; Kuyken et al., 2009; Ropes, 2013; Harvey, 2012; Baily, 2009; Bratianu and Leon, 2015); however, there is paucity of research on what to retain from experts, especially the individual knowledge types of the departing employees (Joe et al., 2013). An employee who has been working for 20 or 30 years in an organization in different positions and at various locations in case of multinational corporations (MNCs), such as oil and gas, might have a varied skill set and expertise in different areas. To retain the vast amount of knowledge on know-how, know-what and know-who, it is required to know the different types of knowledge and skills employees acquire over the years. Thus, this qualitative study aims to address this research gap by addressing the following research question:\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Knowledge loss in oil and gas\n3. Methodology: The current study focuses on the oil and gas sector. The oil and gas industry is unique as it is spread across different geographical locations and people work in extremely different environments for example companies have installations under the sea, in mountains, in snowy areas and thus the type of experiences and knowledge that they possess might be quite different, especially for the retirees who spent around 20-30 years working in oil and gas. Further, oil and gas companies have larger setups and operate in different sectors such as upstream, mid-stream and downstream, each performing a different function, so, the types of knowledge possessed by employees are bit different as compared to those in SMEs as is discussed in the results section. Thus, this study aims to produce some fresh knowledge on the subject by conducting research in the oil and gas sector. Moreover, this retirement phenomenon is very critical in oil and gas (Ball and Gotsill, 2011; McKenna et al., 2006; Gould et al., 2007) and also because of the cyclic nature of the industry and fluctuating oil prices, there are no stable jobs causing an issue of retaining workers (Inkpen and Moffett, 2011; Sumbal et al., 2017). These factors make oil and gas sector an important industry for this research regarding knowledge loss due to exiting employees. Thus, an in-depth study with rich insights from the organizations can determine the different types of knowledge possessed by employees.\n4. Results: It is useful to identify the critical knowledge types possessed by departing employees as managers can assess what knowledge is to be captured and retained for the organization. So, the participants opined about the different knowledge types that the departing employees possess. A range of knowledge types were discovered and are discussed further.\n5. Analysis and discussion: 5.1 Assessing critical knowledge loss\n6. Conclusions: The oil and gas industry is facing an aging workforce issue in which knowledge loss due to retirements is inevitable in the near future. The study highlights this issue and focuses on the identification of different knowledge types possessed by departing employees. Six main knowledge types have been identified in the context of the oil of gas sector. The major knowledge types to focus on are specialized technical knowledge, contextual knowledge of working across different geographical locations, knowledge of relationships and knowledge of history of the company. The outcome of this study has several important implications.\nAcknowledgements: The work presented in this study was conducted at Knowledge Management Innovation and Research Center (KMIRC) and supported by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) of the Research Grants Council, RGC, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project Code: PF13 - 19,354). The authors would also like to express their sincere thanks to the research office of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the support of the research work under project no. 1-904Z. The Co-Author Dr Eric W.K. See-to was attached to Hong Kong Polytechnic University when this research work was carried out.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical types of knowledge lost when employees depart companies in the oil and gas field.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopts a grounded theory methodology. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with elite informants in the oil and gas sector to gain an in-depth insight into the research problem. ATLAS.ti was used for data analysis and coding.\nFindings: In the oil and gas industry, employees generally have job rotation and work at various geographical locations during their career. The departing employees possess valuable types of knowledge depending on the role and duties they have performed over the years. These include specialized technical knowledge, contextual knowledge of working at different geographical locations, knowledge of train wrecks and history of company, knowledge of relationships and networks, knowledge of business processes and knowledge of management.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study findings might only be applicable to the oil and gas sector.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfills an identified gap on the identification of critical areas of knowledge loss when employees depart from oil and gas companies. The study adds to the existing body of literature on this underexplored area in the knowledge management literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Causal ascription of rework in building and civil engineering projects: A multivariate exploration
|
[
"Multivariate analysis",
"Rework",
"Building and civil projects",
"Causal variables"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A significant factor that often contributes to the cost and schedule overruns in projects is rework (CII, 2001a, b; Love, 2002). Several definitions of rework can be found in the construction and engineering management literature (e.g. Ashford, 1992; Cooper, 1993; CIDA, 1995; CII, 2001b; Josephson et al., 2002), a common theme that can be derived from them is that it relates to \"the unnecessary of effort of re-doing a process or activity that was incorrectly implemented the first time\" (Love, 2002). The primary sources of rework that have been identified are design changes, errors, and omissions which have been found to account for as much as 79 percent of the total rework costs experienced in a project (Burati et al., 1992; Love and Li, 2000). An array rework causes have been identified and these included poor contract documentation, ineffective application of quality management, poor briefing, ineffective pre-contract planning, use of inexperienced design personnel (Love et al., 2005a, b, 2007). The costs of rework have also been found to vary between projects, e.g. from 6 percent (Josephson et al. 2002; Love, 2002) to as much as 25 percent of contract value (Barber et al., 2000).\nProcess of multivariate exploration: FA is a multivariate statistical technique to estimate the associated interdependence levels of multiple measured variables (i.e. correlations) so as to reduce them into a relatively smaller number of latent variables which no longer have any notable correlations. Each variable is assumed to be dependent on a linear combination of the common factors, and the coefficients are known as loadings. FA can also be used to generate hypotheses regarding causal mechanisms or to screen the set of variables for subsequent advanced analyses. Although the theory and methodology for exploratory FA have been well established for continuous variables, some suitable approaches can be applied for conducting FA runs with ordinal variables (Joreskog and Moustaki, 2001).\nResearch approach: A detailed review of the causes of rework can be found in Fayek et al. (2003) and Love et al. (2005a). To obtain a balanced understanding of the sources and causes of rework in Hong Kong a triangulated research approach was adopted (Love, 2002), which included interviews and correspondence with domain experts, and a targeted questionnaire survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 senior executives (e.g. chief executive, chairman, executive director, technical director, project manager) from five large contractor organizations to gain an understanding of the extent to which rework occurs in construction projects. The questionnaire survey developed by Love et al. (2005b) was then used to obtain project-specific information from random sample of Hong Kong contractors regarding the costs, causes, and effects of rework.\nDiscussion: A detailed multivariate exploration of the causal variables of rework for 112 completed projects was undertaken and the data sets were arranged in two groups: building projects and civil projects. Exploratory FA was conducted for 43 rework variables which were selectively clustered i.e. two \"agglomerated\" sets of 15 causes and 28 elements, respectively; and six \"customized\" subsets of rework variables. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was performed on the inter-correlations among the observed rework-related variables. Eigenvalues >1.0 was used for factor determination and corresponding scree plots were also checked. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's test of sphericity were used to check the FA.\nConclusion: Exploratory FA provided meaningful insights into the rework occurrences in construction projects, which include reduced number of uncorrelated factors of rework variables and basic identification of structure in the relationships between rework variables in construction projects. Also, the FA outcomes and other multivariate analyses revealed that there was a significant difference between most of the rework causes for building and civil engineering projects. Hence, the mitigation and management measures in those project systems should be different for better outcomes. The explorations made in this research with 43 rework variables and 112 data sets from building and civil engineering projects yielded encouraging results for further research on rework occurrences in the construction projects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Rework is an endemic problem in construction projects and has been identified as being a significant factor contributing cost and schedule overruns. Causal ascription is necessary to obtain knowledge about the underlying nature of rework so that appropriate prevention mechanisms can be put in place. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a supervised questionnaire survey and case-study interviews, data from 112 building and engineering projects about the sources and causes of rework in projects were obtained. A multivariate exploration was conducted to examine the underlying relationships between rework variables.\nFindings: The analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between rework causes for building and civil engineering projects. The set of associations explored in the analyses will be useful to develop a generic causal model to examine the quantitative impact of rework on project performance so that appropriate prevention strategies can be identified and developed.\nResearch limitations/implications: The limitations include: small data set (112 projects), which include 75 from building and 37 from civil engineering projects.\nPractical implications: Meaningful insights into the rework occurrences in construction projects will pave pathways for rational mitigation and effective management measures.\nOriginality/value: To date there has been limited empirical research that has sought to determine the causal ascription of rework, particularly in Hong Kong.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Public health laboratory quality management in a developing country
|
[
"Public health",
"Quality management",
"Laboratory",
"Thailand"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: The 1997 constitution (Office of the Council of State (OCS), 1997), which was the first constitution developed by representatives from all walks of life, stated that Thai patients have the right to access public health. In the same year, the Ministry of Public Health stated its policies for the quality of public healthcare. In 1998, ten patients rights were announced and publicized at outpatient departments in public and private hospitals. In addition, healthcare reform in 2000 helped the population of 65 million gain access to universal coverage. The National Health Security Act was established in 2002 (Thai Parliament, 2002) and was eventually promulgated in 2007. It was the country's first health law (National Health Committee, 2007).and firmly stated the quality control and healthcare standards that were expected. These events are evidence that the country has proceeded to the right direction to try and serve its patients with high quality care and treatment.However, the deaths of some patients due to inappropriate treatment, negligence or malpractice of health personnel became public knowledge due to the increased accessibility to information. As a result, the public became more aware of their rights when seeking healthcare. Accordingly, the Ministry has focused on quality issues and quality in laboratories is a crucial component of care and treatment in the public health service. Laboratory services should be able to meet quality standard requirements and satisfy customers. In 1997, the Ministry established a medical laboratory accredited body named the Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards (BLQS), which was under the Department of Medical Sciences. BLQS uses various International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards as its quality benchmarks (Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards (BLQS), 2008): ISO 17025 (General requirement for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories) and ISO 15189 (Medical Laboratory - Particular Requirements for Quality and Competence). Two years later, a group of medical laboratory professionals called the Association of Medical Technologists of Thailand (AMTT) developed and issued a country laboratory standard for public and private health laboratories (Association of Medical Technologists of Thailand (AMTT), 2004). Later on, this became known as the country laboratory standard. The AMTT subsequently transferred its certification role to the Thai Medical Technology (MT) Council when the Council was approved by the Ministry (Kanitvittaya et al., 2010).In this paper, the authors compared the ISO standards in use (ISO 17025 and ISO 15189) with the country laboratory standard and analysed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of public health laboratories in a resource-limited country like Thailand with the aim of minimizing laboratory problems and maximizing reliability.Public sector healthcare in Thailand are classified into three categories (Department of Health Service Support (DHSS), 2007): primary, secondary and tertiary, with a few levels in each category. They are different in terms of number of beds available, population coverage and distance from communities. Only secondary and tertiary have their own public health laboratories to serve both outpatients and in-patients. In general, primary healthcare centres do not perform any laboratory testing since they have very limited space, equipment and health personnel.Public health laboratories are located in 846 government hospitals (Chalermchan et al., 2007; Wattanasri, 2008). Other laboratories are operated independently or are located in private hospitals, clinics or polyclinics. Less than 50 per cent of public health hospital laboratories are headed by Medical Technologists (MTs) who have graduated after a four-year course and have passed a professional licensing exam following graduation (Bunyaratvej, 1998). However, more than 50 per cent of laboratories in community hospitals (secondary care hospitals with 10-800 beds) are led by laboratory technicians (who receive diplomas after a two-year course). Tertiary care hospitals (800-1,000 beds) have more MTs and also have laboratory technicians. Similar to other medical professions in the country, there is still a lack of laboratory professionals in the healthcare workforce. Some laboratory professionals have received recognition in other medical professions at both domestic and international levels.\nApproaches of the two systems: The two systems: ISO and country laboratory standard\nSWOT analysis: SWOT analysis is a tool widely used, especially by private companies, to detect and define elements through four factors (Mooney, 2001). It helps to identify what is required to accomplish the company's/institution's goal. The analysis was created by the private sector in the 1950s/1960s and consists of two internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and two external factors (opportunities and threats). All have positive and negative elements, which can be strategically managed (Clark, 1999). Many studies have found that SWOT analysis is a strong tool to identify where improvements can be made (Proctor, 2000).The elements in Table II were gathered following meetings with public health laboratories of two provincial laboratory networks (Chiang Rai and Ubon Ratchathani). The laboratory personnel voted on a weight and score for each element in the four factors. The total weight of each factor was 0.5. Each element was scored between 1 (least important) and 5 (most important). The scores were multiplied by weight to give a weighted score for each element. These were totaled to give the total weighted score of each factor (Table II). Figure 1 is SWOT matrix which was derived from Table II. It illustrates the weighted scores (by area) of the four factors (counterclockwise).Quadrant 1 (opportunities and strengths) had the largest area and Quadrant 3 (weaknesses and threats) had the smallest (Figure 1). The significant interaction between opportunities and strengths demonstrates there are areas where public health laboratories can be improved and these improvements have more chance of happening than weaknesses and threats or other areas of interaction. Nevertheless, all four areas were not much different and this could mean if the elements of each factor are not dealt with appropriately or carefully we could not expect to see any improvement in managing public health laboratories.The improvements from each quadrant can be elaborated as follows.Opportunities and strengths (Quadrant 1)\nConclusion: Over the past ten years (1998-2008), almost 200 laboratories have been accredited or certified, which is equivalent to an accreditation/certification rate of 20 laboratories per year. This rate is similar to the accreditation rate for the Hospital Accreditation program (a health quality management system for public hospitals in the country), which was 25 hospitals per year for the past ten years (Pongpirul et al., 2006; (The) Institute of Hospital Quality Improvement and Accreditation (HA), 2008). Despite limited resources, inappropriate budget allocations often occur which leads to many difficulties including dissatisfaction of stakeholders, e.g. physicians, nurses, patients or their relatives. The Ministry's policy requires maintaining quality management and this should be overseen by a professional institute such as the MT Council (Sithisarankul et al., 2002). Although improving laboratory quality takes time to achieve, certification is not essential. Learning and fully understanding the work process prior to getting certified is a lot more important than getting certified. Some laboratories will take only one or two years to accomplish this but many will take longer, say 10-15 years, especially in developing countries (Constantine et al., 2005). However, encouraging laboratory professionals to implement the improvements derived from the SWOT analysis will help them achieve good quality management and considerable progress will be made by the country's public health laboratories.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The article aims to give an overview of the system of public health laboratory quality management in Thailand and to produce a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis that is relevant to public health laboratories in the country.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The systems for managing laboratory quality that are currently employed were described in the first component. The second component was a SWOT analysis, which used the opinions of laboratory professionals to identify any areas that could be improved to meet quality management systems.\nFindings: - Various quality management systems were identified and the number of laboratories that met both international and national quality management requirements was different. The SWOT analysis found the opportunities and strengths factors offered the best chance to improve laboratory quality management in the country.\nPractical implications: - The results are based on observations and brainstorming with medical laboratory professionals who can assist laboratories in accomplishing quality management.\nOriginality/value: - The factors derived from the analysis can help improve laboratory quality management in the country. This paper provides viewpoints and evidence-based approaches for the development of best possible practice of services in public health laboratories.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Awakened leaders: who are they and why do we need them?
|
[
"Leadership",
"Business development",
"Emotional intelligence"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nWhat is an awakened leader?: There are many leadership theories, tailored to different leaders in different situations and with different followers. Without a doubt, there is merit in most of these theories. However, the major trouble with most leadership theories is that they do not adhere to today's most important requirement: multi-applicability. Most theories place leaders in specific corners, basically teaching us that task-oriented leaders cannot be people-oriented, servant leaders cannot be authoritative, and transformational leaders cannot be transactional, and vice versa. However, with the continuously changing social environment of today, we can no longer adhere to any one single leadership style. Flexibility may be the most valuable asset these days. This is where the \"awakened leader\" steps into the picture.In the past four years, I have interviewed over 100 leaders in for-profit and non-profit settings, in order to obtain an idea of the requirements to be a successful twenty-first century leader. I found the name for such a leader in Jack Kornfield's Teachings of the Buddha. Kornfield's (1993) book presents an anecdote of Buddha's post-enlightenment encounter with a man who was awestricken by his radiation. The stranger asked Buddha whether he was a God, a wizard, a king, or a man, upon which Buddha kept denying. Finally, the man asked, \"Well, what are you?\" and Buddha responded, \"I am awake\".Aside from the fact that wakefulness is, in my opinion, the only useful way to lead today, the story above also illustrates that the concept is not new. There have been many individuals throughout history who displayed a fairly high level of wakefulness. Jesus Christ is another great example. In more recent times, people like Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela could be considered relatively awakened persons. I state \"relatively\", because all of these individuals also lived with their own flaws.Nevertheless, some of the wakeful characteristics that the above share are:*adaptability to different circumstances;*drive;*passion and commitment to achieve their goals;*resilience;*using failures as lessons for growth;*clear vision of the bigger picture and the future; and*clear formulation of their values.Through their flaws, they also developed emotional intelligence, which enabled them to compassionately relate to even the most downtrodden among their followers. These individuals further share qualities such as courage, inspiration, and the ability to instigate positive change.Interestingly, the qualities enumerated above recurred in practically all of the interviews I conducted in my search for twenty-first century leadership requirements.\nAwakened leaders today: Awakened leaders are found not only among world-famous people. They reside in all types of environments. In the past years I have observed the Starbucks Corporation. I was intrigued that this corporation consistently made the top lists in publications such as Business Ethics, Fortune, Best Companies for Working Mothers, Best Companies for Minorities, and Best Companies for MBAs to Work for. Looking into Starbucks means learning about Howard Schultz, the man who made the corporation what it is today. Schultz came from a simple background. His father was a blue-collar worker who got laid off when he broke his ankle, a mishap that caused a severe financial crisis in the Schultz family. A 2004 Fortune article titled, \"Hot Starbucks to go\" (Serwer and Bonamici, 2004) paints a detailed picture of Schultz, who early on in his life pledged that he would never treat his employees the way his father was treated.Schultz' story reveals that awakened leaders are shaped by occurrences in their lives. These occurrences differ from one individual to another, yet they consistently pave the road to wakefulness. They incite two important qualities: reflection and empathy. In Schultz' life these qualities radiate throughout Starbucks' humane yet stellar financial performance. The company enables employees to become stockholders shortly after starting employment, and many part-timers enjoy medical benefits - unusual in the US. Starbucks is actively involved in a multitude of socially responsible projects, such as Hurricane Katrina relief, and has made a conscious choice to pay coffee bean growers 35 cents over the market price. This enables these growers to enhance the quality of life for their workers, families, and neighborhoods. And then there's the company's latest diversity policy that advocates the hiring of disabled workers. \"Enlightened self-interest\" is the term Starbucks uses for all these activities. I call it wakefulness. It entails benefit for all stakeholders in any deal: buyer, seller, and the environment.Another example of an awakened leader is Bill Herren, founder and CEO of American Vision Windows. I had the privilege of meeting Bill some time ago. Bill used to be an alcohol addict, who even became homeless in between halfway houses. Yet, once Bill pulled himself together through some deep self-reflection and the consequential realization that self-pity would only lead him further downhill, he got himself a job, followed by a wife, and children. He continued to use this reflective mode and decided to start his own company as a result from a poor experience with window suppliers while building his own house. Bill now owns a successful multi-million dollar corporation that is continuously expanding. His workforce adores him, because it consists of many people who have been given a second chance after facing failure. Like Schultz, Bill Herren practices empathy toward his stakeholders and is involved in various charity projects, not only within the US, but also in South America.Similar to Gandhi, King, Mother Teresa, and Mandela, as well as to the findings of my leadership study, Schultz and Herren demonstrate wakeful qualities such as adaptability, drive, resilience, vision and values, as well as passion for what they believe in, commitment, emotional intelligence, courage, inspiration, and drive to instigate positive change.\nAttaining wakefulness: Being awakened starts with the realization that you have the capacity to change your life. It also entails that you learn to adapt to different situations. Being \"awakened\" does not evolve through position, status, or financial affluence. It is not acquired through high education or through generational inheritance. Wakefulness is a skill that is developed by thinking, feeling, observing, experiencing, learning and unlearning, in other words, by living. It is an ongoing process - not an end result, achieved by the shifts that transpire within our minds and hearts over time.Wakefulness particularly requires the ability of letting go, that is, unlearning and releasing things and thoughts that misguide us. Releasing requires courage, for it means that we may have to turn away from certain goods, habits, people and places.Wakefulness is not an overnight accomplishment. The moment may strike like lightning, but the progression preceding it usually takes years. It requires emotional intelligence, which gets sharpened by the losses we suffer and the failures we encounter. In fact, wakefulness is a paradox: we win it by losing. Every time we lose something precious, one of two things can happen: either we become more disillusioned and bitter, or we become more understanding and sensitive. Usually people first get bitter and disillusioned about their loss, and then start accepting and understanding. It is the second phase that results in a degree of wakefulness, which only elevates with the disappointment of each loss. There are people who never transcend the stage of bitterness over their losses. But the ones that reflect and allow themselves to feel and learn ultimately emerge into wakefulness.These are the most essential requirements toward wakefulness:*Receptiveness to life. This entails, being amenable toward experiences, and knowing that experience is the most important way for us to learn.*Understanding to occurrences. After the first shock from an experience, we need to take a step back and try to see the philosophy behind what happened.*Willpower to emerge. Absorbing our pain may take a shorter or longer time depending on how painful the damage was and in which area it transpired.*Growth. After each experience we become wiser. We learn to accept things as they are and see things in perspective.*Wakefulness. We obtain a higher level of awareness after each previous phase in the cycle, until we reach the point of being awakened.The cycle of awakening is depicted in Figure 1.\nEndnote: Leaders who choose to become awakened will find themselves more in balance with everything around them - connected with everyone, yet detached enough to release whatever, whomever, and whenever they need to, when the moment requires it; enriched with inner gratitude for being who they are, and void of petty mentalities such as backstabbing, badmouthing, envy, and hate. They learn to turn inward for solutions, because they know that this is where the answers lie. They are awakened leaders.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Introducing awakened leadership, a flexible, human-oriented leadership style, based on ancient principles yet geared toward needs of today's working community.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the concept of awakened leadership; discusses some globally known awakened leaders, and presents their common characteristics; reviews some contemporary awakened leaders; and presents the essential requirements for becoming an awakened leader. Methods used for research: literature review; interviews; observations of leaders. The topic is approached as a leadership style that anyone can develop. The subject scope is leadership as it is needed in the twenty-first century.\nFindings: - Awakened leadership is a timeless concept: there have been awakened leaders since human existence. This age-old leadership style is time transcending and still works best today. Anyone can work toward becoming an awakened leader.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The theory is presented as a viewpoint in this article, but based on longitudinal interview process of more than 100 leaders. Yet, most of the interviewed leaders were living and working in the US. This might cause a limitation in cultural perspective. It would benefit the study to also include perspectives from leaders in other cultures to further solidify the theory.\nPractical implications: - Awakened leaders are aware of changing circumstances and think broadly. Consequently, they will make a greatly positive difference in the way corporations are led in the future.\nSocial implications: - Awakened leaders nurture the mindset of mutually and togetherness. This will create greater overall understanding, greater collaboration, less resentment, and increased vision. The effect on social responsibility and environmental issues will be highly beneficial, while the quality of life of all workers, including the awakened leader, will improve.\nOriginality/value: - The awakened leader as an attainable leadership style: comprehensive, yet simple - and universal. This paper is of high value to those who want to succeed while making a positive difference in the lives of others.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A continuum of transformative service exchange: insights for service and social marketers
|
[
"Qualitative research",
"Social marketing",
"Transformative",
"Service ecosystem"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social marketing and transformative service research (TSR) share a common goal, that is, to apply the principles of \"good marketing\" (Kotler and Levy, 1969) to encourage and support changes that influence behaviors that benefit the well-being of individuals and society (Kuppelwieser and Finsterwalder, 2016). The emergence of TSR offers an opportunity for social marketers to reflect on how service marketing theory can inform social change strategies. Broadened social marketing thinking is needed because its research remains entranced in an \"upstream\" policy focus or \"downstream\" individual and applied social change approach. Reflecting on this problem, Russell-Bennett et al. (2013) proposed service marketing as a meso-level approach to understand how service exchange influences and supports individual behavior change goals. More recently, Brennan et al.'s (2016) critique of social marketing's \"consumer myopia\" also called for consideration of multi-level - micro (individual), meso (community) and macro (societal) - system structures that influence social change. We argue that these calls from marketers with an interest in social change agendas can be addressed by examining the developments in service marketing thinking that have been advanced within TSR. By extension, this can elucidate further service marketers' understanding of transformative service exchange.\nClarifying \"transformative\" in service exchange: Transformative service exchange is an important, but often unclear term used in the TSR literature. The TSR literature claims that the life of consumer entities, i.e. individuals, communities and systems, can be transformed through service (Anderson et al., 2013). The desired outcome of this transformative effect is well-defined, that is to improve human well-being (Anderson et al., 2010). However, as Blocker and Barrios (2015) importantly highlight, transformation is not equal to well-being. Transformation rather \"serves as an intervening construct for advancing greater wellbeing\" (Blocker and Barrios, 2015, p. 269). The question this raises is how does this transformation or uplifting change (Anderson et al., 2010) occur, or what is this intervening \"transformative\" process?\nA shared vision of the realization of well-being outcomes: The extension of service research to deliberations of individual and societal transformation has established a conceptual bridge between social and service marketing. These sub-disciplines share a common vision of applying commercial marketing thinking to achieve well-being outcomes. TSR conceptualizes service exchange as a mechanism through which well-being outcomes can be achieved at multiple market levels. Social marketing scholars (eg. Russell-Bennett et al., 2013) suggest that service exchange can be applied to encourage and support consumers to improve their personal lifestyles and well-being. From this standpoint, social marketers' position service exchange as an integral part of social marketing programs designed to encourage individuals to engage in self-care behaviors that improve their health and well-being (Zainuddin et al., 2013). For example, cancer screening services that provide early detection or smoking cessation programs that use self-service technologies and telephone support services to guide smokers through a quit program. However, as others in social marketing have identified, surprisingly \"service thinking has not permeated the delivery of social marketing programmes containing service components\" (Gordon et al., 2016, p. 48).\nMethod and research approach: We conducted a scoping review to identify literature related to TSR. This scoping review directed our attention toward the potential size - scope of available articles, and nature and extent of published TSR work (Grant and Booth, 2009). The scoping review approach is differentiated from the widely known and more extensive systematic review with respect to three procedural steps. First, our scope was limited to the inclusion of TSR work located in service specific and more general marketing journals (Table I). Our initial exploration of the social marketing literature indicated that \"transformative\" and \"transformation\" were infrequently used nomenclature in this literature, so social marketing publications were not included in our review. On the contrary, a systematic review would include a more methodical appraisal and synthesis based on the undertaking to include an exhaustive search of all journals (Grant and Booth, 2009). Second, we did not aim to provide a quantitative assessment of identified gaps in the literature, rather our objective during the scoping phase was to catalogue the conceptual domain of transformative service exchange and to familiarize ourselves with the breadth of TSR published in marketing journals. Third, while a key contribution of a systematic review is the ability to set explicit criteria against which an assessment of quality, for example is conducted, we were not engaging in a review for this purpose. Rather, our approach focused on creating a corpus of knowledge from the TSR literature, and to then use text-mining software to inform our identification of concepts and conceptualizations as expressed by researchers when making claims about transformative potential within service research.\nFindings: The TSR concept map shown in Figure 1 visualizes the concepts and major themes drawn from the scoping review of TSR articles. This Leximancer map is generated via automatic concept discovery and manual seeding of new concepts, as outlined in the data analysis section. Our interpretation of the concept location phase identified nine themes (the dots on the map represent the 51 concepts retained in our analysis). The size and color of concepts indicate their frequency evidenced in the data; red signifies the most frequently discussed concept, and cool colors (blue and green) signify the less written about words in the data corpus. The concept map is presented using 60 per cent visibility of concepts (to elucidate the more frequent concepts that define each theme), and 40 per cent theme size - as this represented the key themes that we identified as being important to our continuum development.\nDiscussion: Our purpose in conducting a scoping review of the TSR literature was to elucidate high-level concepts for the purpose of identifying and explaining the role of service exchange in improving individual and societal outcomes. In understanding the relationships drawn between these concepts, we advance a continuum of transformative service exchange to enhance our understanding of transformative processes as they apply in the service context. Specifically, the use of text-mining software afforded a detailed lens to enrich our interpretation of the identification, conceptual meaning and clarification of key high-level concepts for inclusion on a transformative service exchange continuum. Our study advances knowledge through \"delineating\" and \"differentiating\" concepts - two ways in which conceptual contributions are made to a discipline (MacInnis, 2011). It also summarizes the diverse TSR literature in doing so (MacInnis, 2011). Therefore, our findings make a conceptual contribution to the TSR literature by delineating the domain of transformation as it relates to service exchange, and by differentiating six high-level concepts based on insights from the broad TSR literature. Based on our analysis, Table III summarizes the six high-level concepts of transformative service exchange to inform our conceptualization of a continuum.\nLimitations and future research: Notwithstanding the value of our study, several limitations need to be considered. First, our scoping review of the literature is limited to transformative service papers published in service and other marketing journals. We have excluded those papers relating to transformative service exchange published in other disciplines, e.g. health and education, which could limit the generalizability of our work. Second, our study focuses on transformative service exchanges from a consumer entity viewpoint, rather than the service worker perspective, given our link to social marketing, which is strongly consumer-/client-focused. Although a relatively limited number of studies examine transformative service exchange from the service worker perspective, e.g. service worker well-being (see, for example, Nasr et al., 2014), additional or different concepts of transformative service exchanges may have emerged, had we included these service worker-related studies. Third, our approach to developing a continuum was to use secondary data, i.e. an analysis of existing published marketing papers on the topic of transformative service exchanges, however other approaches can, of course be used to develop insight, such as collecting primary qualitative data, e.g. using depth interviews (see, for example, Beatty et al., 2016).\nConclusion: Our discussion here reflects the early thinking of marketing scholars who set the knowledge pathway to extending marketing principles to social problems and societal change (Bloom and Novelli, 1981). Based on our engagement with and analysis of the TSR literature, we believe that the relationship between social marketing and the emerging TSR domain is somewhat like that of sub-cultures sharing similar interests within the larger marketing discipline. We advance our continuum of high-level concepts of transformative service exchange as a lens that brings together shared thinking and common practices across these sub-cultures. In the context of commercial, not-for-profit and government organizations where service experiences and service systems are foundational to creating individual and societal change, our continuum provides a useful framework. This framework informs how decision-makers can exploit service exchange as a platform through which individuals, communities and the wider society can be engaged through service, to undertake and continue a journey toward positive social change and improved well-being outcomes for all.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: Transformative service research (TSR) and social marketing share a common goal, which is to institute social change that improves individual and societal well-being. However, the mechanism via which such improved well-being results or so-called \"transformation\" occurs, is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to examine the claims made in the TSR literature to identity the themes and scholarly meaning of \"transformative\" service exchange; ascertain the mechanisms used in service contexts to realize transformation, including to motivate long-term, sustainable societal change; and develop a transformative service exchange continuum to guide research and managerial approaches that aim to create uplifting social change. The authors recommend their continuum as a framework to inform how social marketing and service scholars design service solutions to address wicked social problems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper presents a qualitative study where Leximancer, a text-mining tool, is used to visualize the structure of themes and concepts that define transformative service exchanges as explained and applied in the literature. Additionally, a profiling analysis of transformation as it is discussed in the TSR literature is used to identify the mechanisms that service marketers have developed to establish current theorization of service thinking for social change. These qualitative phases of analysis then inform the development of the transformative service exchange continuum.\nFindings: A scoping review identified 51 articles across 12 journals, based on this study's selection criteria for identifying transformative service exchanges. The Leximancer analysis systematically and efficiently guided the authors' interpretation of the large data corpus and was used in the identification of service themes. The use of text-mining software afforded a detailed lens to enrich the authors' interpretation and clarification of six high-level concepts for inclusion on a transformative service exchange continuum.\nOriginality/value: This paper aims to unpack the meaning of transformative service exchange by highlighting the mechanism(s) used by researchers when designing social change outcomes. It contributes to TSR via the development of the continuum across micro, meso and macro levels. The temporal nature of transformative service exchanges is also elucidated. This continuum integrates current TSR studies and can guide future service studies in the TSR and social marketing domains.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Adaptive reuse of historical buildings: Service quality measurement of Kuala Lumpur museums
|
[
"Service quality",
"Adaptive reuse",
"Historical buildings",
"HISTOQUAL",
"National heritage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Museum buildings and grounds are not merely spaces to house exhibitions only, but rather a point of public interest that can extend their functions to give greater experience to the visitors. For visitors to museums and galleries, it is the total experience that will be remembered (Greenhill, 1994). Exhibitions and activities, the shop, the availability of a cafeteria, the cleanliness of the toilets, the friendliness of the staff and the quality of the museum visit all include in the total experience. However, the ambience and environment of museums can be intimidating for some people as they find little information to guide them through their visits. The staff members of the museum are also sometimes found as unapproachable and off-putting by the visitors. Greenhill (1994) further added that a welcoming atmosphere can be very encouraging for the visitors who are not used to visiting the museums. In order to create the welcoming atmosphere, the needs of certain target groups such as families, educational groups, people with disabilities and the elderly should be taken into account. Thus, it is important to gain feedback from the visitors to make sure that the museum services are satisfactory.\nMaterials and methods: Data collection technique\nResults and discussion: The findings and analysis of both case studies are described in the following sub-sections.\nConclusion: Findings of this study depicted that both respondents of Museum A and B were visitors with high expectations. Their overall satisfaction level with the museum service quality was also high. However, the respondents' perceptions of the museum service quality for both museums were lower than their expectations of the museum service quality. This shows that there are rooms for improvement that can be made by the museum management to meet the museum visitors' expectations. It was also observed that most of the respondents were also willing to recommend these two museums to others. This shows that the museum service quality was considered as acceptable by the visitors and thus encouraged them to recommend the museum to others. Based on the t-test results on the respondents' expectations and perceptions, a significant difference was observed in 15 items for Museum A and a significant difference was observed in 23 items for Museum B.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impacts that the adaptive reuse of historical building has on museum service quality by analysing the visitors' expectations and perceptions through the HISTOQUAL model. It looks deeper into investigating the enhancement of adaptive reuse approach to historical buildings not only to the surrounding environment, but also to the building's cultural significance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A field survey implementing quantitative approach was conducted by using questionnaires to collect the visitors' expectations and perceptions on their visits to the selected case study sites. The selected two case study sites are both newly adaptive reuse museums located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Through these case studies, the visitors' expectations and perceptions were analysed and the differences were identified.\nFindings: Positive feedback on the level of service quality provided at both museums indirectly shows the success of adaptive reuse initiative on the historical buildings towards adapting their new functions as a museum. It was also noted that foreign language leaflets and facilities for less able visitors were among the two service criteria that do not exceed the expectations of users. In general, these findings are crucial in identifying the gap within the services provided and appropriate measures that can be undertaken for further improvement.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further study can be employed to a larger population of study to cater for a variety of perspectives from both users and managers of the buildings.\nPractical implications: This paper highlights the implications of users' feedback towards building usability and functions. It provided imperative findings from the users' point of view pertaining to the services provided.\nSocial implications: The paper illustrates the significance of social perceptions on the implications of service delivery. It also reports empirical evidence in highlighting the importance of users' attributes towards excellent service delivery.\nOriginality/value: Up to present, there exists a small number of studies that look into reviewing the new functions of adaptive reuse buildings. This study now contributes to create a larger number of studies in this scope, especially within the context of Malaysia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"Reaching its limits": industry perspectives on salt reduction
|
[
"Interviews",
"Barriers",
"Policy implications",
"Product reformulation",
"Salt reduction"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Sodium requirements are met solely through the diet (Durack et al., 2008), with salt being the major contributor (Jebb, 2005). Its presence in the body is essential in maintaining osmotic pressure in the blood and tissue (Lean, 2006). An intake of 2.6 g/day of sodium, equivalent to 6 g/day of salt is the reference nutrient intake (RNI) for the UK (Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, 2003). However, this RNI is exceeded across all ages and genders, with average adult intakes currently at 8.1 g/day (Sadler et al., 2011). High-salt intakes are associated with elevated blood pressure which is a risk factor in stroke and cardiovascular disease (Doyle and Glass, 2010) and other conditions, such as kidney disease, osteoporosis and stomach cancer (NHS, 2011, 2012; Durack et al., 2008). A decreased salt intake is therefore considered a key preventative measure against coronary heart disease and strokes (World Action on Salt\n2. Methods: To explore a range of salt reduction barriers both experienced and perceived by food industry actors, a qualitative research approach typified by open questioning techniques was adopted (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). Interviews were identified as the most appropriate data generation technique with alternative approaches such as focus groups discounted due to concerns that interviewees may not speak candidly to protect company confidentiality and/or to preserve potential competitive rivalries, and the impracticalities of assembling geographically dispersed interviewees. Early in the development of the research design, the principle researcher (the first author) assumed the role of \"qualified naivite\" (Kvale, 2007), in which she sought to learn from the interviewees' knowledge and experiences to understand the practicalities of salt reformulation. This approach required the researcher to be informed of potential barriers and facilitators to food reformulation issues, to enable probing on the subject, whilst also being open to unexpected and new information. Entree into the domain of salt reduction policy and food industry concerns about product reformulation to lower salt content included both a literature review for the former, and an analysis of responses to the FSA's (2008) salt reduction consultation for the latter. In this consultation (FSA, 2008), 60 self-selecting participants predominantly industry based (n=42) responded to questions relating to product-specific feedback, proposed new targets and general comments. Representations were from manufacturing (n=18), retailing (n=4), trade associations (n=20) as well as various consumer and health-related organisations (Food Standards Agency, 2009). Using a thematic analysis, key barriers facing specific product areas were identified (Table I). These barriers were then compared across the cohort to identify category-specific and generalised concerns.\n3. Results: Product reformulation to reduce salt content had been trialled by all the experts' companies with varying degrees of success. Generalised and product-specific barriers to salt reduction, and the tensions and trade-offs relating to strategies to address these barriers were identified and are now discussed.\n4. Discussion: For most countries, implementing a national salt reduction programme is likely to be one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways of improving public health (Wilson et al., 2012). This requires consumers to reduce their salt consumption; either through the development of consumer education programmes to reduce discretionary intake (see inter alia, He and MacGregor, 2008; WHO, 2012); and/or the selection of low-salt processed foods (indicating the need for the development of an effective salt labelling policy); and/or reducing the salt content of foods available to the consumer (World Health Organization, 2010). Although examination of consumer education and taxation policies are beyond the scope of the current analysis (but see inter alia, Grimes et al., 2009; Mytton et al., 2012; Legetic and Campbell, 2011 for further discussion of this issue), it should be noted that consumers concerned about the potential risks of salt consumption may drive demand for processed foods with a reduced salt content, at least for a proportion of the market (Mohan et al., 2009). Industry responses to such demand may conceivably result in reformulated foods being promoted with a reduced salt USP in parallel with \"conventional\" foods. However, the intended \"stealth reduction\" (Wilson et al., 2012) of the present salt reduction policy assumes that gradual reductions will not be identified by consumers (Doyle and Glass, 2010) and that consumers' palates will change to prefer less salty foods (Bertino et al., 1982; Mitchell et al., 2011). While it is possible that healthier consumer choices may be facilitated by \"nudging\" sensory preferences for salt content downwards through reducing the salt content of processed foods (e.g. He and MacGregor, 2008; Dotsch et al., 2009), this requires widespread adoption of initiatives such as the UK DH Responsibility Deal. However, as fewer branded manufacturers than retailer own-label produces (DH, 2012a, b) and restaurants and takeaway establishments have signed up to the salt reduction pledge (Department of Health, 2014b), the palate adjustment theory is less likely to be realised. Additionally, the reduced sensory acceptability of reformulated foods compared to non-modified foods in benchmarking tests represents a competitive barrier to continued salt reduction. Other competitive barriers are now discussed.\n5. Conclusions: This study has shown that salt reduction (to meet salt targets) solely through reformulation has reached its limit in a number of products, and is approaching its limitation in others. Industry experts expressed grave concern regarding the setting of additional, more stringent, salt targets, following the challenging 2012 targets set by the DH. A number of barriers to further salt reduction were identified, some of which were apparent during the 2008 FSA salt reduction consultation process and remain unresolved, whilst others have emerged since. It is apparent that there is not one single barrier preventing further salt reduction, but a number of barriers encompassing different parts of the manufacturing process. These barriers, including food safety, manufacturing, development, organoleptic and quality concerns, all have a potentially negative impact on consumer acceptance of reduced salt products. If the UK wishes to achieve its target salt intake of 6 g/day, notice and action needs to be taken in light of these concerns. These include investment into pre-competitive R\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to, and implications of, salt reduction initiatives within the UK food manufacturing industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 13 technical and new product development (NPD) managers were purposefully sampled from businesses supplying foods within the chilled convenience food sector. Data were generated using semi-structured interviews incorporating the critical incident technique. Thematic and comparative analyses identified similarities and differences in the challenges facing different product categories within the sector.\nFindings: Barriers to further salt reduction included: manufacturing limitations; NPD constraints; food safety, quality and shelf-life trade-offs; and organoleptic acceptance. No single barrier dominated industry concerns and many barriers were interlinked. Overarching issues of competitive inequality between signatories and non-participants to voluntary salt reduction agreements, and the experience of product reformulation having reached its limits were prevalent.\nOriginality/value: This research provides a food industry perspective on the identified barriers faced by UK food processors and manufacturers in advancing salt reduction within the chilled convenience sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The relationship between intellectual capital, firms' market value and financial performance: Empirical evidence from the ASEAN
|
[
"Financial performance",
"Intellectual capital",
"Market value"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Intellectual capital (IC) literature has revealed the significance of IC to companies' financial and market performance and it has been shown increasing attention from both academics and practitioners over the last two decades. The world-wide recognition of IC and its popularity has confirmed it as an academic discipline (Serenko and Bontis, 2013). IC has been discerned as a key value driver of firms operating in the new economy and has become a most powerful factor for those companies in enhancing their competitive competence and achieving corporate success (Wang, 2008). The need for and benefit from IC for companies in knowledge intensive sectors, including high-technology and service industries is considerable; hence, they tend to invest substantially in IC. This fact makes high-technology and service sectors appropriate and attractive industries for IC research (Bontis, 2001; Hermans and Kauranen, 2005).\nLiterature review: Previous research applying Pulic's VAICTM model\nResearch methodology: Research setting\nEmpirical results: Descriptive analysis\nDiscussion and conclusion: IC is increasingly receiving attention as a value creator of firms and in order to generate competitive advantage in business, especially for those operating in knowledge-based industries. The current study provides empirical results exploring the level of IC among different ASEAN countries as well as examining the association between IC and both financial and market performance, in the technology sector. It is found that the proportion of total IC is not significantly different across countries. However, different IC components have contributed to total IC in different proportions that is the profile of IC differs across countries. The research further reveals a significant effect of IC on both firms' market value and selected financial performance measures. Specifically, a positive relationship between IC and firms' market value, and that between IC and two traditional financial performance measures, margin, and ROA, have been identified. CEE and HCE are found to be the most influential value drivers while SCE and RCE have no statistically significant positive relationship with financial performance. In establishing these relationships, firm size appears to be a significant control variable in most regression models; inflation rate and firm's age are found to possess less significant control influence.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the extent of intellectual capital (IC) and its four components among ASEAN countries, and examine the relationship between firms' IC, market value, and financial performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses the data of 213 technology firms listed on five ASEAN stock exchanges. Pulic's Value Added Intellectual Coefficient model is modified by adding an extra component, namely, relational capital efficiency (RCE). The Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis have been utilized to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results reveal that there is no significant difference in Modified Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (MVAIC) across five ASEAN countries; however, firms in each country tend to place a different degree of emphasis on components of MVAIC to generate corporate value. The results further indicate a positive relationship between IC and market value, confirming that firms with greater IC tend to have greater market value. Likewise, a positive relationship between IC and financial performance measures is confirmed. Specifically, IC is found to be positively associated with margin ratio and return on assets. Capital employed efficiency and human capital efficiency are found to be the most influential value drivers for both market value and financial performance while structural capital efficiency and relational capital efficiency possess less importance.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the IC literature by expanding our knowledge of IC in the emerging economies, and providing a national comparative IC research when such research is limited.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Accelerating the improvement process
|
[
"Innovation",
"Quality improvement",
"Continuous improvement",
"National Health Service",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For health services to be the best that they can be, we need to continually improve and develop them by testing and implementing new ideas and approaches to service delivery. The tools and techniques used to support this improvement effort are many, but the whole process of moving from an idea to successful implementation can be fragmented. Learning from various areas including new product development, user centred design and successful creative and innovative organisations, the NHS Institute has developed an improvement process that is used for all programmes of work.There is growing interest in how the NHS can use techniques and experiences from non-healthcare domains to deliver better services for patients. The majority of techniques that have, to this point, been tested and developed for use within healthcare are based on a variety of \"quality\" methods developed within manufacturing environments mainly from the 1950s onward. Quality gurus such as Deming and Juran developed tools and techniques which are now widely used (e.g. process mapping, statistical process control etc.). The philosophy behind the application of these tools is that healthcare systems are similar to industrial manufacturing systems and consequently tools and techniques will be applicable to healthcare. The mechanistic metaphor (Morgan, 1997), that healthcare systems may be thought of as \"machines\", has its roots in the work of Frederick Taylor (Taylor, 1911), and forms the basis for techniques such as Lean (NHS Institute, 2007) and others (Young et al., 2004) with which many healthcare practitioners will be familiar. This metaphor is appealing to many who believe relatively simple changes can result in performance improvements.Despite the undoubted success of many of these techniques, it is suggested that the reason for healthcare systems not being \"transformed\", is the limitations of this mechanistic metaphor (Plsek and Greenhalgh, 2001). The Institute of Medicine report \"Crossing the Quality chasm\" (Institute of Medicine, 2001) concluded:... that \"mechanical systems thinking\" won't produce a way out of our current healthcare problems (Kelley, 2001).An alternative to the mechanistic view of healthcare systems is one which views them as complex adaptive systems (Plsek and Greenhalgh, 2001; Plsek and Wilson, 2001). Viewing healthcare systems from this alternative metaphorical standpoint fits more with healthcare practitioners' experiences of the systems that they work within. There are multiple layers of interaction between different parts of the system as a pre-requisite for it to work and the systems that operate within healthcare have tended to evolve to their current state, as the clinical environment, technology and skills have changed. Recognising the value of both mechanically orientated and complexity related theories, we propose that a framework which builds on both is essential if the ambitious agenda for health reform is to be achieved and significant health care improvement is to be gained.The NHS Institute have developed, tested and use a high level improvement process for all of its programmes of work, which incorporates traditional improvement techniques but also draws on evidence and experience from three domains:1. The processes that commercial organisations use for the development of new products and services.2. Theory and wider concept of thinking about how design and design science (Bate, 2007) can be transferred into healthcare processes, thus, building in the human dimension.3. Evidence from how innovation and creativity can be best utilised within organisations.\nKey learning from new product development: Products v. services\nKey learning from user centred design: Focusing on the user of a product, user centred design, is an overarching philosophy used within the design industry. The interest in understanding how design and design science may be useful to healthcare improvement work has been described previously (Bevan et al., 2007); \"We were thus drawn to the idea of design because of this close connection between research, knowledge, and practice - the notion of actionable knowledge ... or research into practice\".One of the key aspects of user centred design is that assumptions are not made about users' requirements, but potential users are engaged at the start of the design process, so that the solutions developed meet their needs rather than providing a solution to what the \"designer\" believes the user requires (Burns et al., 2006)Within healthcare, there will be considerable benefits from involving patients as well as healthcare practitioners in the design process. Experience based design is a development of the principles of user centred design (Bate, 2007), a process which involves not simply asking patients or service users about their requirements, but taking a step further and involving both staff and patients in co-creating solutions.The design process\nKey learning from creativity and innovation: The third element that has been incorporated into our process is based on creativity and innovation. The concept of creativity links into the design process, particularly in steps 2 and 3 outlined above. Creativity may be derided and not seen as a positive attribute in the more transactional realm of healthcare. Within the commercial sector however, organisations increasingly encompass the concepts of creativity and innovation as they are seen as key drivers that can help them to maintain or develop their market share or, indeed, to evoke their own transformation into another market (IBM, 2006). Such organisations also recognise that the concept of innovation needs to move away from the stereotype of the lone inventor, to one that is an organisation's core business. Successful product design companies such as IDEO (Kelley, 2001) are renowned for the innovation process that they use to develop products or services for clients.Tidd et al. (2001) outlines the consequences of concentrating focus too much on \"breakthrough\" innovations and ignoring the significant potential of incremental innovation (improvement). This paradox, of being able to be transformational (or innovative) as well as making incremental improvements, means that organisations must be \"ambidextrous\" (Tushman and O'Reilly, 2004). This concept is particularly important as health organisations need to be both \"sustaining\", in terms of sticking to and incrementally improving their core business or services, and \"transforming\" in terms of making more radical changes to address the key pressures for \"step change\" in particular areas.Experience of improvement within healthcare suggests that there is a tendency to focus on incremental improvements at the expense of more transformational change. There are some key tools and techniques in the creativity domain that can help people to take a step back and see a different picture (Plsek, 1997). Edward de Bono (de Bono, 1992) characterises this as being able to break out of current ways or streams of thinking.\nPhases of our improvement process: Based on the literature above, we have developed a process that incorporates key learning from the three areas outlined. The NHS Institute process has six main phases with specific activities and elements within each phase.1. Setting direction and priorities: understanding the organisational, national and professional contexts related to a challenge area.2. Understanding the issue: concerned with really understanding the problem from multiple perspectives and searching widely for global best practice both within and outside healthcare.3. Developing ideas: creative idea generation, formulating and developing initial potential solutions to test.4. Testing and learning: undertaking quick simulation and testing to see if the solutions may work, developing them further prior to intensive field testing and evaluation.5. Designing the delivery: working with end-users to package the products and outputs to ensure that they will fit with their requirements.6. Implementation and benefits realisation: ensure that the solutions are appropriately marketed and spread as widely as possible. Measure whether the predicted benefits are being realised in practice and ensure that the learning is captured to feed in to future projects.Underpinning the high level phases are a number of themes and activities; relationship management, marketing and communications, research and evaluation, knowledge mobilisation, measurement, project management. The user centred design concept of \"co-production\", is fully embedded within the process to ensure that throughout, users are involved so that any solutions that are developed meet their requirements.The process has been used within all of the NHS Institutes programmes of work and has already demonstrated that the integration of knowledge, tools and techniques from different domains can significantly enhance a project and help to ensure that appropriate resources are concentrated at the appropriate stages. We are currently testing a specifically tailored and developing version of the improvement process for the use of NHS teams.Links to clinical governance\nSummary: The improvement process that has been outlined above has incorporated key elements from the three domains of new product development, user centred design and creativity and innovation. The process is currently used by all programmes of work within the NHS Institute and is currently also being tested with NHS teams. We believe that this structured, flexible approach, with its emphasis on working with users, really understanding the issues and generating and testing a wide variety of ideas rather than jumping in with a solution will provide a useful framework for all innovation and improvement work within healthcare.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of a structured improvement process that is used in all programmes of work of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (NHS Institute).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper outlines the background to the development of the improvement process, specifically how learning from the domains of new product development, user centred design and innovation and creativity have been incorporated into the process.\nFindings: - There are key elements of evidence and experience that can be taken from other domains and incorporated into a structured approach to healthcare improvement.\nPractical implications: - An improvement process is outlined that could be used as a basis for any healthcare improvement effort, and will help to ensure the development of better solutions more quickly.\nOriginality/value: - This paper introduces a process that will help anyone interested in improving healthcare create better solutions to the challenges they face in shorter timescales.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Student perceptions and trust of sustainability information
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Higher education",
"Attitudes",
"Climate change",
"Business students",
"Behaviour change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent research suggests that university students are reluctant to consider major lifestyle choices, and that they demonstrate a:\nLiterature review: The theory of generational replacement (Wray-Lake et al., 2010) suggests that changes in adolescent attitudes are indicators of long-term social change; thus, if changes are evident in attitudes of students as they progress through their studies, this may indicate the prospect of changes within society as a whole. Nikel (2007) in a study of student teachers concludes that teachers need to \"generate a sense of responsibility in the student learner\" (Nikel, 2007). Azapagic et al. (2005) in a similar study of engineering students concluded that \"if engineers are to contribute truly to sustainable development, then sustainability must become part of their everyday thinking\". Prior studies of the extant literature have found that students \"undergo profound changes in epistemological assumptions and in identity during their undergraduate years\" (Myers and Beringer, 2010). Thus, changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviours regarding sustainability and related issues may occur as students' progress through their studies. How much can be attributed to formal study versus maturity and the impact of wider social factors, discussed in a later section of this paper, is unclear. Mixed results have been found from the limited number of business education studies, with some suggesting positive increases only in awareness and others negative results such as an increased level of cynicism (Sammalisto et al., 2016; Harring et al., 2017). Thus, there is a need to be realistic about expectations of the potential impact of sustainability-related curriculum content.\nResearch objectives: Higher education is increasingly shifting from teacher centred to learner centred, and it is progressively becoming more focussed on learning outcomes (McDaniel et al., 2000). New models for evaluating institutional quality, needs to become based more on student talent developed in institutions than on resources (Astin, 1993). McDaniel et al. (2000) call on universities as role models to \"do whatever it takes to enhance student learning\" this study applies the call to action to the topic of sustainability and climate change and in doing so exposes its students to role models in an educational context. Universities as role models are increasingly recognised as potential change agents in addressing long-standing problems of indifference and inaction regarding climate change impact, environmental protection and sustainability among students (De La Harpe and Thomas, 2009).\nMethodology: This paper presents the second phase of a longitudinal study of first- and third-semester undergraduate business students (in 2012) in an Australian university, it uses the same methodology as the first phase of the study as summarised below (Eagle et al., 2015). Phase one consisted of students commencing their first semester of study and phase two consists of students finishing their third semester of study in 2012 (approximately 250 students) that were not subjected to proposed changes to the curriculum. The third phase of data collection has been completed and the cohort was surveyed at the end of their final semester of study in 2015 (approximately 150 students), after the curriculum change had taken place (Hay et al., 2019 for results of the third phase of the study). A paper-based survey form was delivered as per the schedule of Surveys by Cohort in Table I.\nStatistical analysis: The analysis compares first- and third-semester students in 2012 prior to a curriculum change to sustainability course material taught in an undergraduate business degree at an Australian university. The reliability of the two cohorts was assessed using Chronbach's alpha coefficients. An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare self-reported knowledge of key terms related to sustainability between the first semester and third semester cohorts (2012). A factor analysis using the confirmatory factor analysis tool in SPSS Version 24 explored the data set for its suitability for Principal components analysis (PCA), with oblique rotation of factors using Oblimin rotation (delta = 0). The number of factors to be retained is guided by Kaiser's criterion (eigenvalues above 1), inspection of the screeplot and through Monte Carlo PCA for parallel analysis (Watkins, 2000). The size of eigenvalues obtained from PCA was compared with those obtained from a randomly generated data set of the same size. Only factors with eigenvalues exceeding the values obtained from the corresponding random data set are retained for further investigation.\nConclusions and directions for future research: Knowledge provision by tertiary education providers alone is not likely to overcome climate change scepticism, particularly if family members and social networks reinforce this scepticism outside the classroom. In communicating real-world sustainability challenges, there is a need for an integrated programme that stresses salience, legitimacy and credibility in order to motivate individuals and communities to consider the likely effects of climate change on their lives. Motivated people cannot see the link between their behaviour and its outcomes and, therefore, do not see the point of taking action (Cooke and Fielding, 2010). Before any such programme is instigated, there is a clear need to investigate barriers to, and potential enablers of behaviour change and the most effective spokespeople, communications channels and message frames that will make sustainability issues personally relevant in terms of immediacy and significance of local impacts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report student attitudes and beliefs towards climate change adaptation and sustainability-related behaviours.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A paper-based questionnaire was completed by 247 first-year (students in their first semester of study) and third-year (students in their final semester of study) students in the same year (2012) of the study (Table I). A factor analysis shows that common themes previously identified failed to reflect the diverse range of influences on young people, including family, friends and news media.\nFindings: Contrary to the literature, few significant differences were found in sustainability-related behaviours between first- and third-semester students, with an increase in scepticism regarding the reality of climate change among the latter.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study focused on Australian undergraduate university business students. As a single-institution case study, the results may not be generalised to all university students. As such the authors recommended that the study be completed in other universities from around the world. The study was undertaken over one year, but the participants may not have necessarily been the same students in third semester as they were in first semester. Therefore, it is recommended that the study be repeated in future years so that the same cohort can be measured over time, providing a more accurate account of the development of student knowledge and perceptions of sustainability during their time at university.\nPractical implications: Achieving significant long-term changes in behaviours will be a substantial challenge for tertiary curricula. The findings of this study can inform instructors in higher education of student attitudes towards sustainability and climate change adaption and in turn inform changes to tertiary curriculum in sustainability and climate change adaption.\nOriginality/value: This paper reports on the second phase of a longitudinal research project examining the effects of an undergraduate business studies curriculum on student views of sustainability. The authors confirm that the research is original and that all of the data provided in the study are real and authentic. Neither the entire work nor any of its parts have been previously published.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Corporate identity, corporate identity scholarship and Wally Olins (1930-2014)
|
[
"Design",
"Identification",
"Corporate identity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper is both an appraisal and panegyric of Wally Olins (1930-2014). It focuses on his corporate identity work which not only inspired captains of industry but, significantly, inspired and influenced the first generation of corporate identity scholars. In particular the paper details the nature of his influence in the formative years of corporate identity scholarship. Today, corporate identity enjoys a respected place in the broad domain of business identity scholarship (namely: Cornelissen and Elving, 2003; Cornelissen et al., 2007; He and Balmer, 2007; Balmer, 1998; Perez and Rodriguez del Bosque, 2014) and Wally Olins provided an impetus for its establishment and development.\nClassifying Wally Olins' oeuvre: 1978-2014: the three eras: Remarkably, Olins' written work spans five decades. His written work has reached a wide international audience and his books have been published in 16 languages. In scrutinising the impact and focus of his written output, to me, three distinct stages can be discerned:\nOlins' contribution to corporate identity scholarship: In appraising his contribution to corporate identity Olins' publications:\nWally Olins and the English corporate marketing revolution: The above being noted, and as an important aside, Wallace (Wally) Olins was, albeit unwittingly, part of what I have called \"The English Corporate Marketing Revolution\". As part of this revolution, a number of prominent English marketing practitioners and academics - Bernstein (1984), King (1991) and Olins (1978, 1989) - argued (albeit along narrow lines and in specific to regard to communications, branding, and identity) for the corporate-level to be emphasised within the strands of marketing to which they were aligned.\nDiscussion: In appraising the legacy of Wally Olins, for me, a number of conclusions can be reached. First, it was his considerable published output (rather than his many successful and varied corporate identity change consultancy projects) which helped to launch corporate identity as an area of identity scholarship. For me, this will be his enduring bequest.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The role of Wally Olins (1930-2014) vis-a-vis corporate identity scholarship is appraised. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of Wally Olins published output on corporate identity. Specific focus is accorded to his two seminal publications (books): The Corporate Personality: An Inquiry into the Nature of Corporate Identity (1978) and Corporate Identity: Making Business Strategy Visible through Design (1989).\nFindings: Olins' contribution to corporate identity scholarship is fivefold, namely: inspired and greatly influenced the first generation of corporate communications and corporate marketing academics; provided binary definitions of corporate identity; noted the importance of the Corporate Personality vis-a-vis the corporate identity; introduced the heroic and technocratic identity notions; and identified three, core, corporate identity structures (monolithic identity, endorsed identity and branded identity). In terms of his entire opus three distinct eras can be discerned, namely: 1978-1979: the identity exposition era; 1985-1999: the identity reiteration era; and 2000-2014 brand adherent era.\nPractical implications: Olins was also part of the English corporate marketing revolution where the importance of organisations (other than products and services) were recognised. His reflections and those of others inspired Balmer (1998) to formally introduced the corporate marketing perspective where the focus of marketing focuses on organisations, stakeholders, societal concerns and the temporal dimension.\nOriginality/value: This is the first assessment of Olins' influence on corporate identity scholarship. It critically appraises the nature of his contribution in his three writing periods vis-a-vis corporate identity scholarship and identifies five, significant, contributions he has made to the corporate identity canon.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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How will service robots redefine leadership in hotel management? A Delphi approach
|
[
"Hotel management",
"Human resource management",
"Leadership",
"Service robots"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Robots have been used in industrial applications since the early 1960s when specialized machines began appearing on factory assembly lines to reduce personnel costs and increase reliability. Since then, robotic technologies have developed beyond industrial automation applications and are now increasingly found performing service tasks for humans outside of the controlled environments of a factory. Service robots, therefore, are designed to operate in human environments. Companies now expect significantly higher returns and business value from investments in robotic technologies (Finch et al., 2018). In addition, using service robots may help combat the issue of labor shortages (Ahmed, 2017).\nBackground and literature review: Service robots\nMethod: This study used a Delphi methodology to find consensus opinion about hospitality leadership in the context of robotized hotels and to bring clarity as to how robotic technology can influence leadership and HRs in the future workplace. The Delphi method is considered a qualitative analysis by which a group of experts anonymously share their opinions on a complex issue over several rounds of questionnaires and is particularly useful for forecasting emerging issues (Linstone and Turoff, 1975). During the first round of a Delphi study, experts are presented with open-ended questions soliciting their opinions about the issue (s) of interest. The experts' responses are then summarized into a series of statements. In the second round of the Delphi survey, experts indicate their level of agreement with each statement (typically using Likert scales) and to provide comments supporting their decisions. In the subsequent rounds of a Delphi survey, the experts' aggregated opinions are presented and individual respondents are given the opportunity to re-evaluate and revise their agreement with each statement and provide additional comments (Linstone and Turoff, 1975).\nResults: This section presents quotations and the experts' opinion with the 54 expert-identified items related to leadership and HR in the context of robotized hotels. Tables II-VI present the stability and the agreement ratings for each item after the final round of the Delphi survey (n = 13).\nDiscussion: Business and management research has rarely examined the role of robots, although this increasing adoption of technology in organizations requires greater understanding (Phan et al., 2017). This study is one of the first to examine hospitality leadership and HR issues in the context of robotized hotels and brings clarity as to how robotic technology will influence the leadership role in the future workplace. As hotels invest more heavily in robotic technology, they will also need to invest in leaders who understand it. By embracing the notion that service robots will complement employees and endow them with new capabilities, hospitality organizations can start to secure impressive benefits (Papathanasis, 2017).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Using the Delphi technique, this paper aims to investigate how human resource experts perceive service robots will impact leadership and human resource management in the hospitality industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A three-stage Delphi study with hotel industry human resource experts was conducted to identify the key trends and major challenges that will emerge in the next ten years and how leaders should deal with the challenges brought about by service robot technologies.\nFindings: The results show that while service robots are anticipated to increase efficiency and productivity of hotel activities, they may also pose challenges such as high costs, skill deficits and significant changes to the organizational structure and culture of hotels. Therefore, the anticipated applications and integration of robotic technology will require leaders of the future to carefully consider the balance between the roles of service robots and human employees in the guest experience and to nurture a work environment that embraces open-mindedness and change.\nOriginality/value: This is the first type of study to examine hospitality leadership and human resource management in the context of robotized hotels. This study has taken an important step to understand the leadership role in robotized hotels from a human resource perspective and brings clarity as to how robotic technology can influence leadership in the future workplace.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The construct of absorptive capacity in knowledge management and intellectual capital research: content and text analyses
|
[
"Literature review",
"Intellectual capital",
"Knowledge management",
"Absorptive capacity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Cohen and Levinthal (1990, p. 128) published the seminal work on absorptive capacity defined as the \"ability of a firm to recognize the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends\". Since the seminal contribution, numerous articles referred to absorptive capacity, presenting various, and often conflicting, conceptualizations (Roberts et al., 2012). As of November 2013, the construct was cited more than 20,000 times in the management literature (Source: Google Scholar).\nAbsorptive capacity construct definition: Since the publication of the seminal work (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990), absorptive capacity has received increasing interest in the management literature. Extended conceptualizations have been proposed (Jansen, 2005; Lane and Lubatkin, 1998; Lane et al., 2006; Todorova and Durisin, 2007; Vinding, 2006; Volberda et al., 2010; Zahra and George, 2002) and have focused on related aspects of absorptive capacity such as potential and realized absorptive capacity (Zahra and George, 2002), and knowledge assimilation and transformation processes (Todorova and Durisin, 2007), including feedback loops to \"capture the dynamic aspects of the phenomenon\" (Todorova and Durisin, 2007, p. 776).\nResearch methodology: content and text analyses: To facilitate research comparison, the original research framework developed by Roberts et al. (2012) to assess absorptive capacity in the information system field was used to conduct the content analysis part of this study, supported by the recommendations of Webster and Watson (2002) on a concept-centric approach to literature review. The content analysis was further complemented with text analysis performed with the use of VosViewer software developed at the University of Leiden. The research methodology included three major steps:\nFindings: Findings from the analysis are reported in the following sections. In the first four sections, absorptive capacity is discussed in terms of content analysis, focusing on categories, conceptualizations, level of analysis (Roberts et al., 2012) and temporal evolution of the construct. In the fifth section, the authors discuss text analysis reporting the results of keyword frequencies to highlight the major research themes developing the construct of absorptive capacity in the KM/IC fields, and additionally report the results of the co-occurrence network analysis. Finally, in the sixth section, the authors specifically focus on those studies where absorptive capacity was used as the theoretical base of the articles, providing a detailed examination of the general topic of the papers, methodology, industry and region(s) of investigation, conceptualizations, level of analysis, research themes, citation counts and future research suggestions classified in terms of area(s) of study, methodological suggestions and industry/geographical region(s) recommendations. Additionally, the authors provide recommendations for future research directions (Webster and Watson, 2002). Findings are represented in terms of figures and tables, following a concept-centric approach (Webster and Watson, 2002), with in-depth descriptions additionally provided.\nConclusions: In sum, it was discovered that in the KM/IC fields, absorptive capacity was mostly cited as background or minor citation and thus it was largely underdeveloped. The authors also discovered that one-third of articles did not explicitly conceptualized absorptive capacity, and consequently, missed an important aspect from current theoretical and empirical discussions. On the other hand, the majority of articles (93 out of 186) conceptualized absorptive capacity as a capability which the authors believe should be the correct approach for further explorations, as also recommended by Roberts et al. (2012). Similarly, the authors discovered that absorptive capacity was mainly discussed at the organizational level of analysis (73 per cent of articles) which the authors also believe should be a correct approach, as absorptive capacity value is proven to be higher than the sum of individual contributions (Nieminen, 2005; Kale and Little, 2005). The construct developed consistently over the years, with a few exceptions (2006-2009 years). Finally, the authors discovered that KM, knowledge transfer and innovation were the major research themes connected to absorptive capacity, together with other closely aligned concepts such as knowledge transfer and sharing, and knowledge creation and learning.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic picture of how and to what extent Cohen and Levinthal's (1990) seminal article on absorptive capacity was used in knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) research from 1990 to 2013.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, 186 articles extracted from eight KM and IC journals were reviewed by conducting both content and text analyses. To facilitate research comparison, content analysis followed the method used by Roberts et al. (2012) and thus was based on categories, conceptualizations, levels of analysis and, additionally, temporal evolution of absorptive capacity from 1990 to 2013 was looked at. Text analysis was performed to identify major research themes developing the absorptive capacity construct.\nFindings: Finding showed that absorptive capacity was largely underdeveloped in the KM and IC fields. KM, knowledge transfer and innovation were the top three research areas investigating absorptive capacity in the KM and IC fields.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study had limitations related to time frame, covering a period from April 1990 to November 2013, and accessibility of articles due to specific restrictions in journal subscriptions.\nOriginality/value: This paper is a first attempt to review absorptive capacity in KM and IC research. It represented a primary reference for those interested to research absorptive capacity in the KM and IC fields.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Characterising spatial logistics employment clusters
|
[
"Inter-firm networks",
"Cluster theory",
"Logistics landscape",
"Spatial autocorrelation",
"Spatial logistics cluster"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: With globalisation has come the agglomeration of global manufacturing output in specific regions of the world (Porter and Solvell, 1998). The consequent spatial and temporal distances between producers and the markets they serve have thus increased dependence on increasingly sophisticated high-throughput global logistics hubs and networks (Sheffi, 2012). Here, we show that as other industry sectors such as manufacturing have clustered in specific geographic regions to leverage economies of scale, scope and specialisation (Grandori and Soda, 1995; Scott, 1998), so too have logistics service providers clustered to develop a spatially concentrated and distinctive \"logistics landscape\" (Waldheim and Berger, 2008).\n2 Cluster theory and inter-firm networks: Cluster theory is not a new term, it existed (Motoyama, 2008) first as a concept of \"externalities\" and \"agglomeration\" (Marshall, 1890), then later as \"innovation milieu\" in 1980s, and more recently as industrial districts (Brusco, 1982; Piore and Charles, 1984) and services hubs. The intellectual antecedents of clusters date back at least to 1890-1920 when Marshall (1920) described the externalities of specialized industrial locales. The locational theories such as growth pole theory (Darwent, 1969), agglomeration economies (Porter and Solvell, 1998; Scott, 1998) and Weber's (1909) theory of industrial location have similar premises to that of cluster theory. More recently, Porter (2000) provides a systematic analysis that consolidates some of these arguments to theorise that companies cooperate and simultaneously compete to generate wealth when located within a geographic area. He defines an industrial \"cluster\" as a group of inter-related companies and associated institutions that cooperate and compete to generate wealth located within a geographic area (Porter, 2000). Commonly known clusters in the world include California's Silicon Valley in the USA, Bangalore (for software development) in India and Cambridge (for biotechnology) in the UK.\n3 Datasets used: Two primary data sources are used in this study: 2006 census journey to work (JTW) data (using the Australian New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)) and geospatial information system (GIS) coverage for destination zones; in this case, statistical local areas (SLA). The unit of SLAs is similar to a typical suburb. The JTW data provided information about where people live and work, what industry they work in and what transport modes they use. The types of industry in the JTW data are classified using the ANZSIC codes at a four-digit level, supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from the 2006 census, where JTW data comprise the number of jobs by industry type. Destination data are used to capture logistics-related industries and associated levels of employment. Data are imported into geographic information systems (GIS), and combined with the JTW data using the SLA codes as a primary key. We note that employment in logistics occupations also exist in manufacturing and service-based businesses, however these are not differentiated in the JTW data so are not included in this analysis as our research is focused on logistics-specific service providers. Furthermore, the reporting of an individual's main job and its location held the week before census night does not adequately capture the JTW characteristics of workers in the transport and logistics sector. Some workers in the sector are relatively much more mobile and are likely to undertake projects across multiple locations (e.g. truck drivers).\n4 Statistical analysis - identifying and delineating logistics functions: Statistical analysis was conducted in two sequential stages. Stage 1 identified logistics-related industries at a small area level using four-digit data, and stage 2 compressed those industries into components called \"logistics functions\" to characterise the underlying structural dimensions of the logistics sector. These stages are discussed below.\n5 Spatial analysis - mapping the spatial logistics employment clusters: In order to generate representations of the Victorian regional logistics landscape, the logistics-related industries were aggregated to form the logistics sector and then mapped. It is important to visualise the regional logistics landscape so that the degree of spatial clustering around areas of strategic importance such as ports or intermodal hubs can be identified and the associated infrastructure to support those activities can be spatially correlated.\n6 Discussion and conclusions: The significance of spatial logistics employment clusters to the regions they support is increasing as our dependence on international trade grows as a consequence of globalisation. While this is a critical consideration for policymakers, the purpose of our study is to posit the empirically-grounded concept of the \"spatial logistics employment cluster\" to capture a significant agglomeration of logistics activities, as identified here in Victoria, Australia. Undoubtedly, the shifting sands of globalisation and the economic uncertainty it creates is constantly transforming logistics landscapes at an unprecedented rate. Nonetheless, opportunities exist to capture the volatility of regional logistics landscape, which we considered to be a critical antecedent of regional prosperity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold. First to identify economic activities and broader spatial logistics functions that characterise an urban setting, and second to delineate significant spatial logistics employment clusters to represent the underlying regional geography of the logistics landscape.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using the four-digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, industries \"explicitly\" related to logistics were identified and aggregated with respect to employment. A principal component analysis was conducted to capture the functional interdependence of inter-related industries and measures of spatial autocorrelation were also applied to identify spatial logistics employment clusters.\nFindings: The results show that the logistics sector accounts for 3.57 per cent of total employment and that road freight, postal services, and air and space transport are major employers of logistics managers. The research shows significant spatial clustering of logistics employment in the western and southern corridors of Melbourne, associated spatially with manufacturing, service industry and retail hubs in those areas.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research offers empirically informed insights into the composition of spatial logistics employment clusters to regions that lack a means of production that would otherwise support the economy. Inability to measure the size of the logistics sector due to overlaps with other sectors such as manufacturing is a limitation of the data used.\nPractical implications: The research offers policymakers and practitioners an empirically founded basis on which decisions about future infrastructure investment can be evaluated to support cluster development and achieve economies of agglomeration.\nOriginality/value: The key value of this research is the quantification of spatial logistics employment clusters using spatial autocorrelation measures to empirically identify and spatially contextualize logistics hubs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Forecast-driven or customer-order-driven? An empirical analysis of the Chinese automotive industry
|
[
"Mass customization",
"Automotive industry",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In mature markets, automotive firms face stiff competition and demanding customers. The implementation of mass production, which is based on a forecast-driven strategy, leads to overstocking, extra marketing expenses and low profitability (Holweg and Pil, 2004). Hence, many vehicle manufacturers (VMs) adopt mass customization and customer-order-driven strategy in the hope that the drawbacks of mass production can be overcome. However, such transformation is a complex reengineering issue, as many aspects have to be considered (Eisenstein, 2002; Moozakis, 2002; The Economist, 2001).In emerging markets, market demand increases sharply. For example, China has become the world's fourth largest automotive producer, with 5.07 million vehicles manufactured in 2004, and is expected to overtake Germany in 2005 and Japan by 2010 (Wang, 2005; The Economist, 2005). This is mostly achieved by mass production with rapid expansion of capacity. However, with a paradigm shift to mass customization (Lampel and Mintzberg, 1996; Pine, 1993; Kotler, 1989; Davis, 1989), firms in the emerging market also confront numerous challenges, which place them in a rather difficult dilemma. That is, to stick to mass production in order to maintain high efficiency and low variable cost, or to shift to mass customization in order to meet the customers' individual demands.Currently, there is a lack of empirical analysis of this strategic transition in emerging automotive markets. Thus, the objective of this paper is to investigate whether it is necessary to carry out the customer-order-driven strategy in a fast developing market. Based on the findings of an extensive field study, this paper contributes to the literature in two aspects: first, it provides empirical evidence that customer-order-driven production outperforms mass production in this emerging market. The respective advantages and disadvantages of these two manufacturing strategies are analyzed and a framework is established. The evidence of mass customization fills a gap in the empirical literature and the findings of mass production help cross-validate the fundamental problems with other studies. Second, this study presents a transition model to facilitate automakers to analyze the complex phenomena in a systematic way when they make the strategic transition. The drivers of the transition have been analyzed and the obstacles of transition are identified. Finally, the specific benefits of a successful mass customization implementation are listed.\nLiterature review and research background: Literature review\nMethodologies and samples: The research is exploratory in nature. Owing to the lack of theory in emerging markets, complexity and lack of well-supported definitions and metrics, field study is considered the most appropriate because it may contribute to literature through observation of complex phenomena (Stuart et al., 2002).In this paper, findings of five commercial VMs located in four provinces in China are reported and examined. Although there is no ideal number of cases, a number between four and ten is usually considered appropriate (Eisenhardt, 1989). The sample was not random, but reflected the selection of specific cases to generalize the theory (Eisenhardt, 1989). They are characterized by:* commercial vehicle sector;* geographic distribution in China; and* polar types to make transparent observations (Stuart et al., 2002).This sample encompasses the major players in the Chinese automotive market. The market share of both truck-makers A and B are among the top three in the respective sub-sectors in 2004. C is one of the four biggest mini-vehicle firms in China. More than 90 percent of products of A, B, and 85 percent of C were mass produced based on forecasts for the mass market. Thus, the data from these three firms support the analysis of forecast-driven production.The annual sales volume of the two medium-to-large bus manufacturers, i.e. D and E, covered 35 percent market share in 2004. Customized products account for more than 90 percent of total volume. Hence, the data from D and E support the analysis of customer-order-driven production. In each polar situation, multi-methods and multi-informants were involved to help maintain the internal validity of the data (Stuart et al., 2002). The information about the sampled firms is shown in Table II.Because of the multi-faceted aspects of this study, the fieldwork was organized in stages, as shown in Figure 2. Stage one of the research involved developing and defining the research objectives, constructing key research questions and reviewing relevant literature.In the second stage, the research strategies were explored. Group discussion and interviews with practitioners were conducted to identify important issues. Owing to the innovative nature of the study, there was no readily available questionnaire on this aspect. Therefore, a number of open-ended questions was developed and applied in semi-structured interviews. The open-ended questionnaire was tested in a pilot study and the final version of the questionnaire was completed after a few minor modifications were made based on suggestions from practitioners, experts, professors and investigators (The questionnaire is available from the authors upon request.).The third stage was designed to collect and validate the data. Semi-structured interviews and examination of plant documents were used as the main methodologies in this stage. Qualitative methods (e.g. interviews) are most appropriate to provide a better understanding of the context while quantitative methods (e.g. document examination) may provide hard evidence to generalize the findings (Frechtling and Sharp, 1997). All semi-structured interviews were conducted and audio-recorded by the investigators according to the schedule shown in Table III. Field notes were written immediately following each interview. In addition, document examination was carried out to collect quantitative data and understand different process and regulations. Observations (e.g. plant tours) coupled with other methods, including process mapping, on-site communications, informal discussion with high ranking managers, and visits to both suppliers and customers, were utilized as supporting methods to enrich the data sources and avoid negative impacts of the \"group effect\" (Morgan, 1995; Janis, 1982). A multi-method approach can increase both the validity and reliability of evaluation data (Stuart et al., 2002; Eisenhardt, 1989) and is consistent with the triangulation data gathering approach (Jick, 1979).In stage four, the field data was categorized and analyzed. An \"annotating-the-scripts approach\" was used. This involved reading the field notes, listening to the audio records and writing interpretive notes about the data in the margins (Gordon and Langmaid, 1988). The benefits of this approach are that each transcript is considered as a whole rather than as a set of discrete responses and the researchers are able to re-experience the group context and tone of the discussion. Cutting and pasting of text segments and content analysis, both qualitative and quantitative, were also used as advocated by Morgan (1995). Relevant frameworks to help recognize the fundamental problems were established based on the analysis. These will be discussed in detail in the following sections of this paper.Owing to the confidentiality requirement, the names and identification data of the companies are disguised. However, the information provided is sufficient to reflect the research theme of this paper. Of course, there are a range of other external factors that impact on the performance of VMs and every firm has its own unique problems, such as common management issues, technological issues, and those unique to the particular firm. However, further examination of these problems is beyond the scope of this paper.\nFindings at make-to-forecast companies: Scheduling and sequencing\nFindings at build-to-order companies: Acquiring real customer information\nThe obstacles to transformation: Although numerous benefits can be gained by the implementation of a customer-order-driven strategy, it is not an easy task, especially in an emerging market. Several obstacles that make the transformation complicated are identified and addressed as follows.Demand uncertainty\nDiscussion: Two cycles of manufacturing strategies\nConclusions: Currently in order to meet the booming demand and economy of scale, most of the vehicles in China are still mass-produced and sold from stock. However, the results of this study indicate that there are severe problems (i.e. schedule disturbance, overstocks, extra marketing expenses and low profitability) that are inherent in mass production when automakers deal with fast changing individual demands. The root cause is the misalignment of the manufacturing paradigm of mass production with the already changed customer demands and competition.Successful implementation of customer-order-driven production can build the capability to deal with market uncertainty and provide tremendous benefits, i.e. higher profit, lower levels of finished products and more accurate information of customer preference. However, a number of obstacles make the strategic transition difficult. A strategic transition model is presented to help to systematically explore the sophisticated transformation. Based on the findings and analysis, this paper concludes that the customer-order-driven strategy is a promising direction for automakers in this emerging market.The strategic transition from mass production to mass customization is a complex issue with radical changes. Hence, more studies should be carried out. This study generates two important implications for future research. First, the emerging market is booming with more demanding consumers that render it largely different from the mass-market age. The firms in an emerging market have to confront two-fold challenges: to meet the rapid expanding volume by increased efficiency and to prepare for the transition of paradigm from mass production to mass customization. How can firms integrate the key elements, such as cost, capacity, efficiency, customization and booming but radically changing demand to achieve operational optimization? Second, although previous studies provide valuable information regarding the development of a mature market and this study present the analysis of an emerging market, a large-scale comparative study between emerging and mature automotive industries may bring more insights.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - A successful implementation of mass customization and customer-order-driven production can bring numerous benefits to automakers. However, the transition from mass production to mass customization is difficult. Most of the previous studies focus on mature markets, leaving emerging markets untouched. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the necessity of making the strategic transition to mass customization in an emerging market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research is based on an extensive field study. A multi-method approach (including semi-structured interviews, document examination and plant tours) was used to collect the data at different levels in five commercial vehicle manufacturers.\nFindings: - The respective advantages and disadvantages of these two manufacturing strategies are analyzed based on the findings and a framework is established. The drivers of the transition to mass customization have been recognized and the obstacles of transition are identified. The specific benefits of a successful mass customization implementation are listed. According to the empirical evidence, this paper concludes that customer-order-driven production is a promising direction in a rapidly changing market such as China.\nOriginality/value: - This study makes a contribution in two aspects. First, the evidence of mass customization fills a gap in the empirical literature and the findings of mass production help cross validate the drawbacks reported in other studies. Second, this study presents a transition model to facilitate automakers to analyze the complex phenomena in a systematic way when they embark upon the strategic transition to mass customization.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Working together: a corrections-academic partnership that works
|
[
"Partnership",
"Mental health services",
"Public sector organizations",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Much has been written about the potential of academic-practice collaborations (Graham, 1994; Mattessich and Monsey, 1992; Poyago-Theotoky, 1997; Weber, 1957), as well as their difficulties (Bartunek and Louis, 1996; Nyden and Wiewel, 1992). Growing the knowledge base in this way can enhance effectiveness and efficiency of private and public organizations through the adoption and diffusion of best practices (Rynes et al., 2001). Working together, these partnerships can produce research that generates peer-reviewed publications that inform the field, external funding that expands the base of services and training available within practice settings and academe, as well as knowledge on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of practice (Bartunek, 1988; Bartunek and Louis, 1996). Also possible, but often overlooked, is the opportunity that these partnerships provide to expand the infrastructure of the respective organizations to more broadly achieve their missions.Herein, we explore the capacity building aspects of a corrections-academic partnership drawing on the experience of a five-year relationship between the Center for Mental Health Services and Criminal Justice Research (referred to as the \"Center\") and the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC). It is important to begin by noting that correctional organizations are insular in their orientation. This is due in part to their security missions and in part to their high media profiles. Risk aversion discourages correctional agencies from partnering with researchers because research requires gaining access \"behind the wall\" and may produce evidence that has adverse media-manufactured consequences. Risk aversion is a major barrier to develop an academic and corrections partnership. Our ability to breach this barrier is significant by itself. But, as a consequence of the partnership, over the past five years, it has yielded over a dozen peer-reviewed publications and another half dozen under review, five policy reports, and over $3 million in external funding. What has been learned from this research has informed the treatment and release of inmates with mental disorders, as well as sex offenders. It also has provided a strong evidence base on victimization inside prison including levels of victimization, what contributes to it, and what can be done to prevent it. In the process of conducting research, the partnership has grown the research infrastructure of both the Center and NJDOC. In the next sections, we first introduce the concept of \"boundary spanner\" and summarize other essential ingredients of the productive partnership between researchers and a public agency[1]. In general, partnerships will not work if the parties cannot work together (Beyer and Trice, 1982). Following this section is a description of how working together through a productive partnership builds the infrastructure and capacity of the partnership and the respective partners to conduct useful and informative applied research.\nEssential ingredients of productive partnerships: While practice-academic partnerships exist between distinct organizations, they are represented and facilitated by individuals within these organizations (Organ, 1971; Osborn and Hunt, 1974). The individuals building the social ties that bridge the organizations have been referred to as boundary role persons (Adams, 1976), interface managers (Wren, 1967), and boundary spanners (Allen and Cohen, 1969; Tushman, 1977). Boundary spanners, as they are more commonly called, perform roles as gate keeper and fiduciary (Friedman and Podolny, 1992). In terms of forging and maintaining cross-organization partnership, the boundary spanner's role as fiduciary is critical. Here, particular individuals in each organization span the organizational boundaries to represent the interests of their respective organizations. Through social exchange and experience, trust forms between the respective boundary spanners. This trust reconnects back to the organizations through the boundary spanner and facilitates exchange that supports and facilitates research. To grow collaboration beyond that of the boundary spanners, boundary spanners must broaden the social connection to include other members of their organization. This activity of the boundary spanner is termed reticulist (Power, 1973) and refers to the ability to bring diverse groups of people together within and between their respective organizations to collaborate across organizational boundaries. In general, it is the ability of boundary spanners and their reticulist skills that bring organizations (academic and practice organizations) and their units together and creates the environment of trust that supports collaborative research across the organizational boundaries that divide them.With this as an active element, the productivity of practice-academic partnerships depends critically on the extent to which the parties of the partnership understand and respect the other's expectations and sensitivities (Amabile et al., 2001; Lasker and Wiess, 2003; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Irresponsible or insensitive behavior, by either partner, weakens, if not destroys, the willingness to work together. More specifically, any action, statement, or omission that fosters distrust or ill will threatens the productive potential latent in these partnerships (Grovier, 1994; Robinson, 1996). Once distrust or incompetence becomes the expectation, interactions between researchers and practitioners become less open, more contentious, and, as a consequence, less useful.Trust and goodwill are, indeed, elemental to any productive practice-academic partnership, especially between the principal boundary spanners. Yet how to build and fortify these key elements is less clear. The active ingredients within the Center and NJDOC partnership that have built and fortified trust and goodwill are as follows:Sensitivity to perceived risks\nPartnership, infrastructure, and capacity building: Practice-academic partnerships have the potential to build and strengthen the infrastructure that supports research, as well as the capacity to conduct it independently within practice and research settings. By working together, partners develop parallel procedures for conducting and facilitating research, strategic networks and resources that foster research, and the ability to write competitive applications for external funding. In this section, we describe the ways in which the partnership between the Center and the NJDOC has contributed to the building and fortification of their respective infrastructures and how these infrastructures have facilitated the capacity of each to participate in research.Research procedures building\nGrant writing capacity: Applying for and receiving external funding for research and services is central to the missions of researchers and practice agencies. Indeed, many public and private funding agencies require collaboration between academic and practice settings as a condition of funding. Working together, here, provides dollars to practice agencies to implement new programmes and training and dollars to academic organizations to research the new programmes. Researchers have the skills to develop, design, and write the research part of the application, while the practice staff has the capability to justify the need for the services and/or training. One of the first collaborative projects between the Center and NJDOC was in writing a grant application to fund treatment for sex offenders upon release from prison and its evaluation. The Director of the Center worked with a staff person of the NJDOC's grant office to develop the application, which was subsequently funded. The staff person credited the Center director with teaching her how to write grant applications. Since that initial application, the Grant Management Unit of the NJDOC has been awarded over $6 million in external funding and the Center, $3 million on projects related to corrections.\nWorking together productively: The collaborative partnership between the Center and the NJDOC works; it works in ways that develops and diffuses evidence while building infrastructure and capacity. When collaborations work, they are synergistic in that they produce more than they cost. More specifically, like any asset, collaboration across organizational boundaries for research purposes requires an investment by boundary spanners and their organizations; both organizations must be willing to engage in some risk taking and invest some human, social, and financial capital. Maturing the asset requires patience, goodwill, and time. Yet even with these investments, the collaboration asset will not form in the absence of boundary spanners with reticulist skills. They are the primary active ingredient that pulls people together; they instigate, manage, and grow the collaboration asset. For this reason, the principal boundary spanners of any collaboration must trust each other and be trusted by their respective organizations if the collaboration asset is to survive the process of cross-organizational learning. As with any learning process, there are unexpected speed bumps and road blocks, especially in politically charged environments, such as criminal justice organizations. There will be misunderstandings, frustrations, and differences of opinion, practice, and values. But, so long has each boundary spanner trusts that the other will act reliably and responsibly, the collaboration asset will grow. Opportunistic behavior or behavior that is inconsistent with a trust relationship, however, will destroy the asset that yields knowledge benefits and that builds and sustains the infrastructure of cross-organization research. Working together works only if the working together process produces trust as a by-product.\nNote: 1. The authors of this paper are the boundary spanners for the collaboration between the New Jersey Department of Corrections (Gerardi) and the Center for Mental Health Services and Criminal Justice Research (Wolff).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe a corrections-academic partnership that works, the essential factors that influence its success and productivity, and how this partnership builds the capacity to conduct research on corrections issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study design was used. The corrections-academic partnership has been in existence for five years.\nFindings: - Over the five years, the partnership has yielded over a dozen peer-reviewed publications and another half dozen under review, five policy reports, and over $3 million in external funding by the academic partner and over $6 million by the corrections partner. By working together, partners develop parallel procedures for conducting and facilitating research, strategic networks and resources that foster research, and the ability to write competitive applications for external funding.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Findings are based on a single partnership but they are consistent with the broader literature on practice-academic collaborations. Practice-academic partnerships have the potential to build and strengthen the infrastructure that supports research, as well as the capacity to conduct it independently within practice and research settings.\nPractical implications: - Collaborative partnership between practice and academic units can work; they can work in ways that develop and diffuses evidence while building infrastructure and capacity. When collaborations work, they are synergistic.\nOriginality/value: - Provides clarity about the benefits of collaboration.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Framework for enhanced progress tracking and control of linear projects
|
[
"E-mail",
"As-built documentation",
"Critical path segments",
"Linear projects",
"Project control",
"Scheduling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Road construction projects are linear and repetitive in nature, and thus have unique challenges not only in determining a planned schedule that meets project constraints, but also in tracking and controlling the project efficiently throughout execution. Traditional CPM-based scheduling methods have been reported as inadequate for scheduling such projects (Reda, 1990; Suhail and Neale, 1994). Despite of the multi-project and resource leveling capabilities of CPM-based software, their scheduling methods are not formulated to respect a given deadline, do not maintain crew work continuity, and do not synchronize the progress speeds of successive trades, which are important requirements in repetitive projects. Since the 1960, therefore, a large body of work has been accumulated in the literature on scheduling repetitive projects. Some of recent efforts are highlighted in Figure 1, related to the three main types of repetitive projects: linear (highways, pipelines, etc.); non-linear vertical (high-rise buildings); and non-linear scattered (e.g. rehabilitation in multiple locations for roads, bridges, etc.).\nLiterature review: Linear scheduling\nCPS technique: In existing scheduling tools and commercial software, each activity is typically represented as a continuous block of time, with the progress documented in the form of a cumulative percentage complete (top part of Figure 3(a)). This is also true for repetitive schedules, as shown in Figure 2, where each section has a continuous block of time to represent its duration. Because of this continuous block representation, activities' total float values calculated by CPM may include errors when complex relationships (other than finish-to-start) are used. In addition, during construction, this representation cannot easily accommodate mid-activity events, and therefore, cumbersome manipulation becomes necessary. To represent activity interruptions due to both owner and contractor delays, for example, Stumpf (2000) manipulated the software by breaking a single activity into several smaller sub-activities and then added more relationships, as shown in Figure 3(b). Such manipulation was necessary to force the software to recognize these events and thus facilitate delay analysis. However, it substantially increases the number of activities making the schedule difficult to read, requires large manual effort to update the schedule, and does not represent a systematic simple-to-use approach for documenting and managing the project during construction. Therefore, to avoid cumbersome manipulation and improve project control for non-repetitive projects, recent developments introduced the CPS technique, which is utilized and adapted in this paper to linear projects.\nProject control framework for linear projects: To improve project control capabilities for repetitive projects, the proposed framework adopts the CPS method to address the challenges in linear projects. The framework has been designed with three main components, as shown in Figure 4: first, enhanced CPS-LOB scheduling mechanism; second, an e-mail-based automated system for as-built documentation following CPS representation; and third, project control features for reporting and corrective action optimization. These components are explained in the following subsections.\nPrototype and case study: A prototype computer program of the proposed framework has been developed integrating various commercial tools through macro programs developed using their unified Visual Basic for Applications programming language (bottom part of Figure 4). These tools include Excel (for the CPS-LOB scheduling technique); Microsoft Project software (for import, export, and reporting functions); and Microsoft Outlook (as an e-mail server). The prototype has been applied to a case study project to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed project control system, as compared to existing tools. The case study also serves as a performance test for the framework to ensure that the requests for progress sent properly; responses received and analyzed properly; schedule is updated automatically; RFI circulated to appropriate parties; and reports are accurate, timely, and legible.\nDiscussion and future extensions: The prototype system has been used in a number of experiments and was shown to several industry experts to test its functionality and potential improvements. The small case study was used to prove that the framework works properly (schedule computation is correct, requests for progress sent properly, responses analyzed properly without errors, schedule is updated automatically, and RFI circulated to the appropriate parties). Based on many experiments carried out using the proposed framework, several observations are as follows:\nConcluding remarks: Typical project control methods do not adequately capture or dynamically respond to the variety of mid-activity as-built events that affect project time, cost, and related decisions. While the schedule is an essential visual tool for communicating the project plan among all parties, existing tools record fewer progress details on the schedule than is needed to support forensic analysis and corrective action decisions. This, in the authors' opinion, is not a reflection of software drawback, rather is more related to the scattered nature of progress information and the difficulty in timely collecting it from site. This project control challenge is even more in repetitive projects which exhibit a large number of parallel tasks, thus being susceptible to large delays, cost overruns, and disputes. To improve the tracking and control for repetitive projects, this paper presented a practical framework for automatically documenting mid-activity events on the schedule and introducing improved linear scheduling formulations that can appropriately update project time and cost. The framework employs the CPSthat consider durations as separate time segments, thus providing dynamic place holders to document variety of progress events, which are collected using an automated e-mail-based system with bidirectional communication with site supervisors. The improved linear scheduling formulation is also responsive to the as-built information to accurately and timely update the schedule. A prototype of the proposed framework has been developed and its project control features were demonstrated on a case study. Continued work is currently being carried out to incorporate corrective action optimization and schedule forensics, extend the system to other types of repetitive projects and experiment with the developed prototype on large-scale real-life projects. The proposed approach will enable project managers of repetitive projects, often associated with infrastructure, to have better control over the execution of projects, achieve large time and cost savings, and avoid lengthy disputes and problems. In this paper also, CPS proved to have good potential to revolutionize the way schedules are generated and managed. It can further be extended by other researchers and practitioners to greatly improve the economics of the multi-billion dollar construction industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims at improving progress tracking and control of repetitive projects by developing a novel framework that automates the documentation of as-built information directly into the project schedule and also introduces enhanced linear scheduling formulation to support project control decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed framework uses e-mail technology to facilitate detailed tracking of daily as-built events of all parties through bidirectional communication between site and head office. It also provides a new formulation for more accurate critical path and linear scheduling computation to accurately update the project's time and cost during construction.\nFindings: Using a case study of a road project, the paper proves that the proposed framework reduces as-built documentation effort and its schedule updates are more responsive to all as-built events than traditional scheduling techniques.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proposed method applies to linear projects (e.g. highways) and can be extended to other repetitive projects such as high-rise buildings. It can also be extended to include voice features and procedures for forensic schedule analysis.\nPractical implications: The developed methodology presents a low-cost approach to document timely progress information for decision makers of massive linear projects (often associated with infrastructure) to have better control over the execution of projects, save documentation time and cost, and avoid disputes and problems.\nOriginality/value: This research contributes in improving construction productivity by collecting timely as-built information using affordable communication technologies. It also presents novel advancements to the existing scheduling and control techniques to suit linear projects, which are most challenging.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Beyond brand fit: The influence of brand contribution on the relationship between service brand alliances and their parent brands
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Service quality",
"Consumer experience",
"Brand alliance",
"Brand fit",
"Brand contribution"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Strategic brand alliances are an increasingly popular approach used by brands to gain a competitive advantage and expand their customer reach. As the concept of branding moves beyond the corporate domain, alliances are being established between a range of entities. Many brands, especially those in the service industry, have aligned themselves with other organizations to become better positioned to explore new markets and to appeal to different audiences while associating themselves with unique brand attributes of the partner brand. For example, Uber, a ride-sharing platform, has partnered with Spotify, a music and radio streaming service, to offer consumers a personalized ride experience with the ability to control the driver's sound systems (Huet, 2014). This addition improves Uber's ride-sharing service and crosses into the lifestyle branding space. Another case of service brand alliance is a partnership between the renowned event brand Art Basel and the city of Miami. Art Basel's parent company, MCH Group, initiated a collaboration with Miami that led to the creation of Art Basel Miami Beach (U.S. Mission in Switzerland, 2017). In this case, the city brand offers functional (i.e. the environment) and symbolic (i.e. the city as an event endorser) value to the aligned event. Reciprocally, the event generates benefits that contribute to the city's brand profile as artsy and hip.\nLiterature review: Schema theory and spillover effects in brand alliance\nResearch context: In this research we explored the relationship between a service alliance and its parent brand in an event marketing context, using \"Bath on Ice\" in the city of Bath, England, as the research setting. Bath on Ice is a regional ice-skating event held during the Christmas season, running from late November to early January. The event opened during the 2013-2014 holiday season and was organized by the event organization company \"This Event Co.\" as a service brand alliance with the city of Bath. We used the \"city of Bath\" as the parent brand in our context, as the city seeks to use this event to enhance its brand image during the holidays.\nPretest: exploratory qualitative study: Method\nStudy 1: Method\nStudy 2: Study 1 revealed that the value-oriented construct - perceived brand contribution - was driving the spillover effect, and it was heavily impacted by the consumer's actual experience with the brand alliance, but not as much by the perceived brand fit. That is, brand fit as a functional attribute of brand alliance was secondary to the experiential outcome of such consumption in prompting the spillover effects from the alliance level to the present brand level (cf. Lam et al., 2013). However, existing research indicates that both the consumer's experience and brand fit influence consumers' connection with a brand, representing the symbolic value of the brand alliance to the consumer (Fournier, 1998; Riley et al., 2015). Therefore, the purpose of Study 2 was to explore the role of the consumer's connection with the alliance to determine the spillover effect from the brand alliance to the parent brand. We revisited data from the pretest and Study 1, where we collected participants' qualitative responses to the event. Responses varied with some consumers providing brief general feedback while others provided more detailed feedback on concrete aspects of the event indicating high \"personal relevance\" (Peschel et al., 2016, p. 59). These differences showed various degrees of involvement with the event, which prompted us to further examine the role of consumers' involvement as a symbolic outcome of their service brand consumption and its influence on their post-consumption evaluation. The following section addresses consumer involvement in detail.\nDiscussion: The objective of this research was to investigate the spillover effect of consumer evaluations of a service brand alliance on their perceptions of the parent brand at the post-consumption stage. Qualitative and quantitative data provided insights into how experiential and non-experiential aspects of service alliance consumption impact on consumer's value inference. Overall, the findings have shown that the alliance experience and perceived brand contribution are primary drivers of the positive image spillover effect at the post-consumption stage.\nTheoretical contributions: This study contributes theoretically to branding knowledge by demonstrating how consumers navigate the relationship between a service brand alliance and its parent brand at the post-consumption stage. In exploring the mechanism of spillover effects after experiencing the service, the current research extends existing literature that focused on factors impacting consumer responses to brand alliances or parent brands in a hypothetical consumption context. In doing so, we address calls to investigate spillover effects using real brands (e.g. Pina et al., 2010) and identify mediating factors to these spillover effects.\nManagerial implications: The findings of this research are relevant to organizations across multiple sectors that plan to extend their brand portfolio. The findings of this research show that consumer experiences at the alliance-level and the perceived contribution of the alliance exceeded the role of brand fit in driving consumer perceptions of the parent brand. This is good news for managers because the service provider has a large degree of control over the brand experience if processes are in place that account for the intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability of services. Corporations that do not have the capacity to deliver an outstanding service experience can partner with other brands to strategically create brand alliances. The service experience dimensions of service quality, physical environment, and atmosphere should be considered for brand alliances beyond the context of this research. For example, Capital One Bank formed a brand alliance with Peet's Coffee for their Capital One Cafes, which provided a service space for customers to plan their financial future, participate in online security or relaxation workshops, or to enjoy a coffee with peers - even if they are not a Capital One customer. Findings from the current research indicate the consumer experience at the cafe can drive the spillover effects through its brand contribution to the parent brand if the brand alliance is situated in a pleasing physical space, delivers high service quality, and creates a positive atmosphere.\nLimitations and future research: The current study has three limitations that offer opportunities for future research. First, the response rate to the online survey was not high, potentially reducing the generalizability of our findings. Although the response rate is in line with research employing similar recruitment methods (e.g. Kunkel et al., 2016), future studies need to consider using mixed-mode surveys that contact some participants via e-mail and others via regular mail or social media to optimize the response rate and increase the representativeness of the sample (Deutskens et al., 2006).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying mechanism of the spillover effect from a service brand alliance to its parent brand at the post-consumption stage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Online surveys were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from participants of an actual event. Conceptual models were developed and tested on two cross-sectional samples using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Results demonstrate perceived brand contribution and consumer involvement mediate the relationship between the service brand alliance experience and the evaluation of its parent brand at the post-consumption stage. While perceived brand fit had an indirect effect on the parent brand, the spillover was mostly driven by service alliance experience and perceived brand contribution.\nPractical implications: Findings indicate brand managers should focus on consumers' brand experience of the service brand alliance to drive spillover evaluations to the parent brand, and organizations could extend brand alliances to services with low category fit to the parent brand if consumers are to have a good experience with the service brand alliance.\nOriginality/value: This research extends findings on brand alliance research that was based on hypothetical brands and indicated that the spillover effect from a brand alliance to the parent brand is influenced by perceived brand fit. The findings highlight the importance of consumer experiences in driving the spillover effect at the post-consumption stage, where consumers evaluate brand relationships from a value-added perspective that goes beyond the service category fit.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Greening retail: an Indian experience
|
[
"India",
"Sustainability",
"Green marketing",
"Green retailing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Consumers, at present, look for and pay logical attention to environmental actions and practices of companies. This has increased the demand of environmentally friendly business activities and green products in the market (Gam, 2011; Phau and Ong, 2007). So, companies intend to develop their responsible social personalities in the society by communicating their core corporate environmental values and sustainability-related business operations (Peters et al., 2007; Silva and Alwi, 2006). Also, they launch their products redesigned to have least environmental impact (Jones et al., 2007; Bergstrom et al., 2005) which are intended to develop their positive image in the minds of environmentally conscious consumers. In this attempt, innovative role of retailers has increased in showcasing their green products and in communicating their environmental practices. In this direction, this paper determines the extent of greening retail taking place in Indian context, investigates various initiatives taken by the retailers and therefore, identifies the core groups of green retail practices that could be relevant in the process of greening retail.\nReview of literature: Retail store is a platform where consumers' interaction with products is facilitated and their responses towards the products are used by the companies to learn about their needs, demands and intended behaviour. Hence, retailing has emerged as an important building block of green marketing program and has raised significance of retail-focused sustainability research (Wiese et al., 2012). Green retailing incorporates availability, display and promotion of green products, sustainability practices in the retail stores, and ethical business practices. But, illustration upon the efforts made by retailers in retailing of green products and in enhancing consumers' shopping experience in green marketing literature is largely unexplored. Hence, this study attempts to conceptualise two aspects of greening retail: promoting green products and retail design and environment.\nResearch methodology: The objective of identifying core groups of green retail practices makes it exploratory in nature and demands in-depth investigation of related research issues. Guided by key exploratory studies in marketing management and robustness in their results (Hutchinson and Quinn, 2011; Anselmsson and Johansson, 2007), the study adopts an interpretive research paradigm and employs case-based approach.\nCaselets: Caselet 1\nDiscussion: Three dimensions of greening retail, i.e. environmental, social and ethical emerge from the analysis. Environmental dimension is related to sourcing and promoting environmentally friendly products and practicing environmentally friendly business operations. Social dimension is concerned with sourcing products from manufacturers who are committed to nurturing communities, preserving traditions (culture, skills and wisdom), developing economic opportunities and generating employment (livelihood). Ethical dimension includes sourcing products from manufacturers who practice fair trade and no child labour, defend human rights, support local communities and NGOs and meet national and international standards.\nConclusion, limitations and direction for future research: Outlining the concept of greening retail, the study looks into retailers' commitment towards the environment and in retailing of green products. In this direction, it highlights innovation and new thinking in retailing by developing seven caselets and synthesises them to identify nine core groups of green retail practices. The suggested core groups of greening retail enable researchers in developing a broad understanding of retailing of green products. Though the study does not generalise the findings, it proves to be a milestone in developing further work in the domain of green retailing. It is believed that the results can be considered as a starting point for future investigations in retailing of green products.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of greening retail taking place in Indian context and identifies its core groups of green retail practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed and used to collect data from retailers of green products, and caselets were developed.\nFindings: Nine core groups of green retail practices are identified - distinctness of green products, promoting sustainable business practices, use of environmental keywords, promotion for awareness, promotional offers for sale, ensuring availability and visibility of green products, approval for environmental claims, environmentally friendly appeal of store and consumer involvement approaches.\nResearch limitations/implications: Findings of the study should be generalised with its limitations; though are useful in understanding greening retail concept.\nOriginality/value: This paper is original in terms of its value addition to the green marketing literature and extends the concept of sustainability to retailing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What defines "successful" university brands?
|
[
"Higher education",
"Brand management",
"Universities",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The particular contribution of this research is its context; whilst there has been considerable work on what constitutes a successful brand in commercial organisations, this work questions what constitutes and underpins a \"successful\" brand among UK universities.The rationale for the work is that UK higher education institutions (HEIs) are behaving increasingly as corporations (Veloutsou et al., 2004; Bunzel, 2007). The view of education as a \"quasi- commercial service industry\" (Brookes, 2003) shapes most areas of activity, not least branding and reputation management. Stamp (2004) offers a number of factors that have driven the UK higher education (HE) branding agenda, including; tuition fees, competitive differentiation, league tables, organisations attaining university status and the mis-match between brand perceptions and deliveryBrand management is a central organisational competence that needs to be understood and developed (Louro and Cunha, 2001), as strong brands affect almost all marketing activity and are claimed to receive preferential evaluations of attribute and benefit information as well as generally higher overall preference (Hoeffler and Keller, 2002; Aaker, 1991). They can also be important when consumers are making an initial choice (Kay, 2006). However, much academic work focuses on advantages of brands in relation to product marketing and, although associations with league table rankings have been made, the desired outcomes of branding universities may need further investigation. It seems clear, though, that the desire to brand has significant implications in an age of increasing competition among universities, both internationally and nationally (Veloutsou et al., 2004; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). The challenge for HEIs may be that whilst product branding theory has evolved and its techniques are now established, the application to services is a little more uncertain (De Chernatony et al., 2005) and the more specialist areas of marketing, such as education, are even less developed (Hankinson, 2004).Aims of the research\nLiterature review: A review of the literature was undertaken to explore current knowledge on successful brands, application of branding to higher education, and in particular the level of understanding of successful branding of higher education.Defining brands\nMethodology: This research was exploratory in nature; the principal focus was to \"seek a deeper understanding of factors\" (Chisnall, 2001) involved in successfully branding UK universities. Interviews and smaller samples were therefore considered appropriate (Christy and Wood, 1999; De Chernatony et al., 1998).The broad approach was a phenomenon driven inductive one that sought to understand the social world through an examination of the interpretation of that world by its participants (Bryman and Bell, 2003). However, it is accepted that in qualitative research of this nature boundaries are never quite as solid as a rationalist might desire (Miles and Huberman, 1994). The sample size, whilst appropriate for an exploratory qualitative study, can at best be argued to offer indicative results or \"generalisations\" that put flesh on the bones of general constructs (Miles and Huberman, 1994) and it is accepted that results are representative but not necessarily conclusive. The particular questions explored in the context of the interviews linked back to the objectives of identifying commonalities between successful university brands.A total of 22 interviews were conducted among HEI heads of marketing/external relations (HOM) and heads of careers (HOC) for UK universities over an eight-month period between February and September 2007. The sample comprised respondents from 11 universities identified in previous research (Chapleo, 2005) to have successful brands. In this 2005 paper the successfully branded UK universities were identified by research carried out with 40 higher education opinion formers broadly consistent with a Delphi technique (Proctor, 2000) that focuses on future trends, using trendsetters in any market as a barometer.Chapleo's (2005) definition of what comprises a successful university brand was agreed with respondents and they were then asked to discuss qualities identified in Chapleo (2005) as associated with successfully branded universities. In addition they were allowed to offer their own opinions on what underpinned a successful university brand. The sample in this research, reflecting that in Chapleo (2005) therefore comprised four newer universities (1992 and post-1992), \"Red-Brick\", three middle group universities (1950s-1960s) and four older universities (incorporated before 1950).The sample size of 22 was appropriate based on recommendations by McGivern (2003) who suggests that sample sizes of between 20 and 30 as appropriate to understand interviewees' collective views on a topic. Senior marketing, external relations and careers personnel were selected as they represented experts with a breadth of experience who can draw on their specialist knowledge to define the fundamental characteristics of relevant matters (Tremblay, 1982; De Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2003).Semi-structured interviews were considered to be most suitable, as \"complex and ambiguous issues can be penetrated\" (Gummesson, 2005, p. 309) providing an illustration of the participants' true feelings on an issue (Chisnall, 1992). This technique is reinforced by other branding studies such as Hankinson (2004). An interview guide was used to steer the discussion, but respondents were also invited to expand upon ideas and concepts as they wished. A copy of the interview guide is included in the Appendix.The average duration of each interview was 19 minutes, which it is accepted is comparatively short for exploratory work, but includes a small number of respondents who gave rather succinct answers to aspects of the questions.To assist in the content analysis process interviews were recorded (Goodman, 1999) and transcribed. The analysis was informed by Miles and Huberman (1994) who advocate coding that identifies any commonalities or trends in responses, and the particular qualitative approach of Schilling (2006) in \"condensing content analysis through paraphrasing\" to \"reduce the material while preserving the essential contents\" and then structuring the content analysis by coding and attaching each statement or phrase to one of the defined dimensions. These dimensions were derived from theory and prior research and related to the questions explored. Once this initial content analysis was completed, the results were checked by an independent research assistant as providing an accurate summary, and then findings of a qualitative nature drawn out by viewing the summary in the context of the interview questions. This part of the process was informed by Flick (2006) and utilises the benefits of qualitative research by allowing a degree of subjective judgement on the part of the researcher and therefore hopefully data of a \"richer\" nature (Daymon and Holloway, 2004).It is important to recognise that the anonymity demanded by participants made the attribution of direct quotes challenging. Nevertheless, a number of pertinent quotes were assigned by job title and age category of university (as detailed above) in an attempt to partly address this issue.\nFindings: Size of marketing function, growth and structure\nConclusions: It seems that there is a clear wish among UK universities to embrace the branding concept and articulate their brands, as suggested in the literature (Hemsley-Brown and Goonawardana, 2007). However, there was limited suggestion of a uniform strategy for doing this, although a number of factors associated with \"successful\" brands seemed to be evident. These are worthy of closer investigation and can be termed as \"attributes associated with a successfully branded university\". These are represented in Table I. The two columns correspond to those attributes that, on the basis of these interviews, demonstrated a clear association with \"successful\" brands and those attributes that may have some association with \"successful\" brands, but for which the link seems tenuous.Marketing has \"grown\" as an organisational function in most HEIs, but it is debatable whether this correlates closely with the \"successful\" brands investigated in this sample. Respondents certainly did not cite this as a factor, although clearly a proactively managed \"brand\" in the full sense of the word requires certain knowledge and personnel to do so effectively.Public relations, and particularly press coverage, was an interesting factor. This marketing communications tool seemed to be favoured by many institutions in the sample, especially in \"older\" universities where there was reliance upon it as the key brand communication tool. Whether this is pragmatic, as it can be seen as lower cost, or whether it indeed is the most appropriate tool for building a \"successful\" brand is again open to some debate, but there is no doubt that it is synonymous with the \"successful\" brands in this sample.Wider marketing communications were considered less clearly associated with \"successful\" university brand building, although at least two \"newer\" brands do expend considerable resources on advertising in particular. The link between brand and marketing communications in anything more than an awareness sense, as in some commercial arenas, seems to require greater investigation. It may be that, as literature suggests (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006; Maringe, 2005), commercial approaches have been borrowed but are not necessarily adapted to the specific needs of the sector.On the marketing \"spend\" theme, it was interesting that budget was not necessarily thought by many to be a limiting factor in brand building to the extent that might be expected. Whilst resource was not a critical issue, then, the element of \"buy in\" or \"engagement\" with the brand from the internal audience was considered to be so by many of the sample.The opinion that universities are complex organisations and differentiation therefore could be problematic was evident and supports Jevons (2006). Arguably branding could help simplify positioning (Bulotaite, 2003) and one emergent area where newer universities in particular seem to be talking of differentiating is that of \"experiential brands\". Whether the concept of \"experiential branding\" offers a genuine basis for brand differentiation in this sector remains unclear.Sample respondents made frequent references to supportive and informed leadership as an important factor in building and then managing a \"successful\" brand. There was also a potential risk identified because brands were suggested to be vulnerable to personal \"whim\" on occasion.Perhaps the factor that was considered most important among the sample as being a prerequisite for a \"successful\" brand, (and one that is closely linked with the previous point) is the need for a \"clear vision\" - a purposeful longer term strategy and sense of identity \"from the early days\". The institutions that were most strongly identified as having \"successful\" brands were those that clearly articulated that a vision and purpose had, and continued to be, in place.The greatest challenge for the future, however, appeared to be the building of true \"international brands\". This obviously affects some institutions more than others depending on their \"market focuses\", but was thought be an area where many institutions have considerable work to do.Beyond the immediate scope of the research, wider issues were evident when the findings were viewed in the context of the existing literature. It seems that much HE branding practice borrows heavily from commercial knowledge and there has been limited effort to \"domesticate\" branding theory to the HE sector (Maringe, 2005). This can lead to unclear objectives (Bunzel, 2007) and inappropriate allocation of resources. There is also perhaps an implicit assumption that branding is desirable and increasingly necessary for universities, without empirical proof of the benefits (Bunzel, 2007)Overall this research, exploratory as it was, emphasised that this is very much an emergent area and that knowledge of several related areas, as detailed above, would be greatly enhanced by closer empirical examination.\nImplications for practitioners: It is apparent that there are challenges facing UK universities in terms of brand management, but there are a number of positive steps that university leaders and marketers may take towards building successful brands.Several factors are worthy of particular consideration:* Clear vision and the support of leadership seem to be factors that particularly support successful brand building.* HEIs seem to be experimenting with the optimum structure and role of marketing as a function, with widely differing structures. Currently few HEIs seem to have anyone with explicit and exclusive brand responsibility (NB a \"brand manager\" role).* As in previous studies, the challenge of \"getting staff behind the brand\" presents a great challenge, but it was interesting that international branding was also cited as a great challenge for UK HE overall.* Finally, the role of traditional marketing communications tools such as advertising is subject to some debate but many of the sample respondents did not necessarily perceive a crucial role for marketing communications in building a successful university brand.\nFurther research: This work raises several questions that may be in need of further exploration:Firstly, work on the objectives of HE branding programmes appears to be desirable, as this is a little explored but important area.International branding was identified as a particular issue, and certainly the perception of UK HEIs internationally is an area worthy of considerable investigation.The natural progression of this work is to elicit constructs associated with successful institutions, with a view to ranking these and moving towards an index of the factors associated with successful university brands. This is driven by the ultimate aim of suggesting appropriate models for managing a brand in the particular context of higher education. As has already been argued, branding in UK HEIs is not served well by established brand management models.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - Branding in universities has become an increasingly topical issue among practitioners, with some institutions committing substantial financial resources to branding activities. Although it is receiving increased academic investigation, to date this has been limited. The particular characteristics of the sector present challenges for those seeking to build brands and it therefore seems timely and appropriate to investigate the common properties of those universities perceived as having successful brands; this paper aims to do that.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study employs qualitative research techniques in an exploratory study, examining the institutions perceived to be \"successful\" in terms of brand management, and seeking to explore any commonalities of approach or circumstance.\nFindings: - The findings and conclusions identify issues surrounding university branding activity. It was found that even among those brands considered \"successful\", challenges such as lack of internal brand engagement and limited international resonance may be apparent. Certain common positive success factors are also suggested, however.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Exploration of the literature does point to a gap that makes this work challenging - a seeming lack of knowledge underpinning the precise objectives of university branding programmes. In other words; it is hard to measure how successful university brands are when there is little empirical literature on the aims of branding in universities.\nOriginality/value: - From an academic viewpoint gaps in current literature on branding in the education context are identified and the need for a model of brand management that addresses the particular qualities of higher education is reinforced.\n",
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